2021 Flashcards
Identify two behavioural characteristics of depression.
[2 marks]
Disruptions to sleep
Furthermore, sufferers often experience disturbances with their sleeping pattern, with some sufferers sleeping significantly more, while others experience insomnia, an inability to sleep.
Disruption to eating behaviour
Finally, sufferers often experience changes in appetite, which cause significant weight changes. Some sufferers will eat less and lose weight, while others will eight more and gain weight.
Briefly outline one way that a cognitive psychologist might treat depression by challenging
irrational thoughts.
[2 marks]
They can treat depression by using rational confrontation - ABCDE model where D stands for dispute and E for effect to cause the reduction of irrational thoughts.
Describe the biological approach to treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
[4 marks]
They can use drug therapy to correct the imbalance of neurochemicals such as serotonin to reduce symptoms associated with OCD.
SSRIs prevent the reabsorption and breakdown of serotonin in the brain and continue to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron.
It normally takes 3-4 months of daily use for SSRIs to make an impact on the symptoms.
There are alternatives to SSRIs for example, tricyclics and SNRIs.
Discuss statistical infrequency and deviation from social norms as definitions of abnormality.
[16 marks]
Statistical infrequency defines abnormality as those behaviours that are extremely rare. Its when they take a position on the extreme ends of a normal distribution curve. For eg, low IQ is defined as an intellectual disability disorder.
S - Real-life application, used in c**linical assessments for example diagnosing intellectual disability disorder. **The severity of symptoms is compared to statistical norms. A useful definition of abnormality which can lead to diagnosis and eventually treatment.
L1 - Statistical deviation does not always mean undesirable. High IQ is a statistical deviation but sought-after characteristic- no need for treatment. Limited definition of abnormality and unlikely to be used alone to make a diagnosis of abnormality.
L2 - Statistical deviation may lead to unnecessary labels. Some individuals function well despite being statically abnormal. Accepting/ using this definition could mean some individuals suffer the negative effects of being labelled abnormal. This may effect the way they see themselves and how others see them.
Deviation from social norms - i**s when any behaviour does not conform to expected standards is considered abnormal. However, norms vary between different cultures.
**
S - Real-life application, used in clinical assessments for example diagnosing antisocial personality disorder. A useful definition of abnormality to assess what is normal and abnormal which can lead to diagnosis and eventually treatment.
L1 - Limited definition on its own. Social norms are not fixed they change (time and place), for example, hearing voices is acceptable in some cultures and not in the UK. Additionally, the role of context is important its also important to distinguish between eccentrics and those with psychological abnormality as both deviate from social norms, but the latter is likely to need treatment. Therefore in practice, other factors will need to be considered when defining abnormality and deviation from social norms is unlikely to be used alone to make a diagnosis of abnormality.
L2 - Reliance on this definition of abnormality can lead to systematic abuse of human rights and social control. For example, the diagnosis of Drapetomania- the overwhelming urge of black slaves wanting to run away and Nymphomania- women’s sexual attraction to w/c males were classified as abnormal to systematically control these social groups. Consequently, accepting/ using this definition could mean some individuals suffer the negative effects of being labelled abnormal. This may affect the way they see themselves and how others see them.
Describe the structure and function of a neuron. [6 marks]
Neurons enable communication within the nervous system
* the cell body (soma) contains the genetic material
* branch-like dendrites extend from the cell body (often with dendritic spines)
* dendrites carry functional information towards the cell body **
* dendrites can receive information from other neurons **
* axons **carry messages away from the cell body **
* axons can be myelinated to increase the speed of nerve transmission (saltatory conduction between nodes of Ranvier)
* terminal boutons are at the end of axons, these make synaptic connections with other cells
* axon terminals contain neurotransmitters.
Studies have identified Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area as responsible for language.
Outline the difference in function between Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. [2 marks]
Broca’s area is responsible for speech production whereas Wernicke’s area is responsible for
language comprehension
Broca’s area enables speech to be fluent whereas Wernicke’s area enables speech to be meaningful.
Discuss ways of studying the brain
[16 marks]
FMRI involves measuring brain activity by detecting changes in blood oxygenation in particular brain areas, indicating increased neural activity. EEG measures electrical activity through electrodes attached to the scalp.
EEG scanners work on the idea that information is processed in the brain as electrical activity in the form of action potentials or nerve impulses. Small electrical charges are detected by the electrodes attached to the scalp.
Post-mortem examinations study the brain after death to try and correlate structural abnormalities to behavioural changes. ERPs use electrodes fixed to a participant’s scalp to detect neuronal activity in response to a stimulus introduced by the researcher
One major strength of fMRI is that it has high spatial resolution compared to EEG which has poor spatial resolution. fMRI has a spatial resolution of 1-2 mm, which helps psychologists to discriminate between different brain regions with greater accuracy in comparison to EEG. As it can only detect the activity in superficial regions of the brain, they are unable to provide information on what is happening in the deeper regions of the brain such as the hypothalamus. This makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact source of activity as several electrodes pick up the same electrical activity. For this reason, it may be best to consider the use of other **diagnostic tools/neuroimaging for a more holistic understanding of a patient’s disorder and effective treatment. **
An advantage of EEG is that it has a good temporal resolution of (1-10ms). It takes readings every millisecond, so it can record the brain’s activity in real time. This leads to an accurate measurement of electrical activity when undertaking a specific task, and this may be useful in diagnosing brain conditions, especially epilepsy and other seizure disorders. In contrast, fMRI has poor temporal resolution of (1-4 secs) after activity. This makes it difficult to predict an accurate reading of the brain activity. For this reason, it might not be encouraged to use fMRI all the time, as it’s not available in every hospital and is very expensive, creating a financial burden on the NHS.
An advantage of EEG and ERP is that both techniques are non-invasive. Unlike other scanning techniques, such as (PET), EEG and ERP do not use radiation or involve inserting instruments directly into the brain and are therefore virtually risk-free.
Furthermore, EEG and ERP are much cheaper techniques in comparison with fMRI scanning and are therefore more readily available. Consequently, this should allow more patients/participants to undertake EEG/ERPs, which could help psychologists to gather further data on the functioning human brain and therefore develop our understanding of different psychological phenomena, such as sleeping, and different disorders like Alzheimer’s.
However, one strength of post-mortem examinations is that they provide a
**detailed examination of the anatomical structure and neurochemical aspects of the brain that is not possible with other scanning techniques **(e.g. EEG, ERP and
fMRI). Post-mortem examinations can access areas like the hypothalamus and
hippocampus, which other scanning techniques cannot, and therefore provide
researchers with an insight into these deeper brain regions, which often provide a useful basis for further research. For example, Iverson found a higher
concentration of dopamine in the limbic system of patients with schizophrenia
which has prompted a whole area of research looking into the neural correlates of this disorder.
Which of the following best describes the experimental method used in this study?
Shade one box only.
[1 mark]
A Field experiment
B Laboratory experiment
C Natural experiment
D Quasi-experiment
A – Field experiment
Write a directional hypothesis the researcher might use for this study.
[3 marks]
students will give a higher rating of how well rested they felt when they saw good sleep data rather than poor sleep data.
Which of the following best describes the sampling method used in this study?
Shade one box only.
[1 mark]
A Opportunity sampling
B Stratified sampling
C Systematic sampling
D Volunteer sampling
D – Volunteer sampling
Explain one strength and one limitation of using this sampling method in this study. [4 marks]
one strength is that it is not a time-consuming method/minimal input from the researcher as the psychologist only puts up a poster at the university and waits for students to volunteer
one limitation is that it would provide a biased sample as it would only include psychology students at one particular university which would not necessarily reflect the population as they are all of a similar age/academic level
- Explain one strength of collecting quantitative data in this study. [2 marks]
would enable the researcher to easily analyse the sleep data * would enable the researcher to perform a statistical test to enable conclusions about how beliefs about sleep affect feelings of restedness.
One ethical issue in this study is deception, as the students were unaware that the sleep data they could see on their phones had been manipulated by the researcher.
Explain one way in which the researcher might deal with the deception in this study. [2 marks]
at the end of the study students should be given a full debrief where they are made aware that the sleep data provided was manipulated
they should be given the right to withdraw their data if they would like to.
- Apart from the question about how well rested the students felt, the researcher’s questionnaire contained nine other questions. The responses to these questions were not analysed. 1 5 Explain one reason why the researcher decided to include these additional questions on the questionnaire. [2 marks]
- additional questions distract the students from realising that the focus of the study is on their
perceived quality of sleep (rating scale 1-10) - students would be less likely to alter their ratings about their sleep quality, reducing demand
characteristics (improving validity).
Explain one limitation of assessing sleep quality using a rating scale of 1–10.
[2 marks]
sleep quality is subjective and so may be interpreted differently by each student
* a rating of 3, for example, might mean something different for different students
* students are not able to explain their rating.
