Psychology and abnormality 9990/41/O/N/18
5.The feeling-state theory proposes that impulse control disorders are caused by intense positive
feelings that become associated with an experience such as stealing or gambling.
(a) Design an experiment to investigate the intensity of positive feelings about an event, in people with
and without an impulse control disorder. [10]
(b) Explain the psychological and methodological evidence on which your experiment is based. [8]
Answer
(a) The aim of the experiment is to investigate the intensity of positive feelings about an event, in
people with and without an impulse control disorder. The sample of the study would 25
individuals, 25 who have been diagnosed with kleptomaniac, obtained from a clinic and 25
normal individuals. There will be an equal ratio of males and females, all participants would be
from a wide age range from 18-55years old. The participants would have a wide range of
occupations. The 25 individuals with an impulse control disorder is obtained through a
opportunistic ( opportunity) sampling technique and the other 25 normal individual would be
asked to join the study, therefore opportunistic sampling is used as well. The independent
variable of the experiment is having an impulse control disorder or not and the dependent
variable is the intense positive feelings. This is an independent measures design as the
participant can only go under one IV, they can either have the disorder or not have it. The
participants who have kleptomania and the 25 normal individuals would be given a
questionnaire which contains a scenario such as, “Imagine you walk into a store and steal a box
of biscuit. You steal it in the midst of a lot of people, yet no one sees you stealing the biscuits.
You successfully steal the box and leave the store without creating any suspension’( suspision)’,
on a rate of 1-5 how pleasurable does this activity make you feel?” Likert scales are used to
collect quantitative data about how the individual feels toward the situation. Moreover, the
questionnaire also contains open questions such as, “Describe in detail how you would feel with
getting away with stealing?”. Open questions like this collect quantitative data (?). All
participants are asked to complete the Kleptomania symptom assessment scale. The
quantitative data collected by the Likert scales can be used to asses the differences in positive
feelings towards stealing in the normal population and the adult population. The quantitative
data can be statistically analyzed by making bar chart out of the results obtained. The qualitative
data can be used to further identify how intense the individuals positive/negative/neutral
feeling are toward stealing. All individuals will be given the exact same questionnaire, this will be
done to ensure replicability and reliability of the findings. The results obtained from the study
will be valid as the questionnaires directly correlates to the emotions of an individual. The
experiment is ethical as no psychological harm is caused and informed consent is obtained for
the participant.
10/10
The design is appropriate to the named investigation and is based on thorough psychological knowledge
The design is accurate, coherent and detailed, and it tests the proposed investigation competently.
(b) The psychological evidence in which the study is based on is the intense positive feelings that
cause an individual to repeatedly engage in the certain behavior that made the person feel
5.The feeling-state theory proposes that impulse control disorders are caused by intense positive
feelings that become associated with an experience such as stealing or gambling.
(a) Design an experiment to investigate the intensity of positive feelings about an event, in people with
and without an impulse control disorder. [10]
(b) Explain the psychological and methodological evidence on which your experiment is based. [8]
Answer
(a) The aim of the experiment is to investigate the intensity of positive feelings about an event, in
people with and without an impulse control disorder. The sample of the study would 25
individuals, 25 who have been diagnosed with kleptomaniac, obtained from a clinic and 25
normal individuals. There will be an equal ratio of males and females, all participants would be
from a wide age range from 18-55years old. The participants would have a wide range of
occupations. The 25 individuals with an impulse control disorder is obtained through a
opportunistic ( opportunity) sampling technique and the other 25 normal individual would be
asked to join the study, therefore opportunistic sampling is used as well. The independent
variable of the experiment is having an impulse control disorder or not and the dependent
variable is the intense positive feelings. This is an independent measures design as the
participant can only go under one IV, they can either have the disorder or not have it. The
participants who have kleptomania and the 25 normal individuals would be given a
questionnaire which contains a scenario such as, “Imagine you walk into a store and steal a box
of biscuit. You steal it in the midst of a lot of people, yet no one sees you stealing the biscuits.
You successfully steal the box and leave the store without creating any suspension’( suspision)’,
on a rate of 1-5 how pleasurable does this activity make you feel?” Likert scales are used to
collect quantitative data about how the individual feels toward the situation. Moreover, the
questionnaire also contains open questions such as, “Describe in detail how you would feel with
getting away with stealing?”. Open questions like this collect quantitative data (?). All
participants are asked to complete the Kleptomania symptom assessment scale. The
quantitative data collected by the Likert scales can be used to asses the differences in positive
feelings towards stealing in the normal population and the adult population. The quantitative
data can be statistically analyzed by making bar chart out of the results obtained. The qualitative
data can be used to further identify how intense the individuals positive/negative/neutral
feeling are toward stealing. All individuals will be given the exact same questionnaire, this will be
done to ensure replicability and reliability of the findings. The results obtained from the study
will be valid as the questionnaires directly correlates to the emotions of an individual. The
experiment is ethical as no psychological harm is caused and informed consent is obtained for
the participant.
10/10
The design is appropriate to the named investigation and is based on thorough psychological knowledge
The design is accurate, coherent and detailed, and it tests the proposed investigation competently.
(b) The psychological evidence in which the study is based on is the intense positive feelings that
cause an individual to repeatedly engage in the certain behavior that made the person feel
