An Understanding of how Psychology had Developed Over Time

Question 1

Why has psychological knowledge changed over time?

Answer 1

The scientific method produces new findings that overturn old theories and give rise to new ones

Psychologists develop better research paradigms and tools

We learn new things from the interplay between ‘pure’ and ‘applied’ psychology

Technological changes presents new ways of investigating psychological processes

Societal changes bring new and different questions to the fore

Psychologists adopt new metaphors for thinking about mental processes

Question 2

define scientific method

Answer 2

a way of producing knowledge of the world by testing hypotheses against observable (empirical) evidence and eliminating theories that are shown to be false

Question 3

define research paradigm

Answer 3

a standard and accepted way of investigating a topic e.g. the use of lab experiments in cognitive psychology or the use of the Skinner Box in learning theory

Question 4

define pure psychology

Answer 4

research that aims to generate new knowledge of psychological processes.

Question 5

define applied psychology

Answer 5

research that aims to solve real-world problems.

Question 6

define societal change

Answer 6

alterations in the structure and functioning of a society that affect significant numbers of its members e.g. World War II, the civil rights movement (equality of ethnicity, gender, sexuality), the shift to consumer capitalism.

Question 7

define metaphor

Answer 7

the use of one thing to understand another. Mental processes have been compared to mechanical automata, hydraulic systems, telephone exchanges and digital computers. A new metaphor changes the way researchers think about and investigate psychological questions

Question 8

What are the main changes over time in social psychology?

Answer 8

Milgram showed that destructive obedience is a response to the situation, not a moral deficiency. Tajfel showed that prejudice and discrimination are group processes, not individual attitudes.

Question 9

What are the main changes over time in cognitive psychology?

Answer 9

Atkinson & Shiffrin presented the MSM as a theory of how memory is structured and functions. Baddeley showed that STM could be subdivided into PL, VSS and CE.

Question 10

What are the main changes over time in biological psychology?

Answer 10

Cajal discovered that the nervous system consisted of separate cells, communicating chemically, not an undifferentiated mass of tissue. Many researchers have shown how functions like speech (Broca) and aggression (Raine) are localised in the brain.

Question 11

What are the main changes over time in learning theories?

Answer 11

Skinner showed that the behaviour of organisms is shaped and maintained by its consequences, not by ‘instinct’. Cover-Jones showed that phobias could be deconditioned

Question 12

What are the main changes over time in clinical psychology?

Answer 12

DSM has gone through five editions so far. The explanation and treatment of schizophrenia have become dominated by biological concepts, rather than psychological ones. Beck and others used cognitive concepts to explain and treat depression.

Question 13

What are the main changes over time in criminological psychology?

Answer 13

Raine and others have shown that violent crime is a biosocial process, rat,her than a purely moral failing. Loftus showed how EWT can be altered by PEI. The UK police started using cognitive interviewing

Question 14

What did we used to think when focusing on social psychology?

Answer 14

In the 1950s social psychologists used to focus on internal, dispositional explanations of social behaviour.

Question 15

What do we now think/do when focusing on social psychology?

Answer 15

Now, we use social situations such as individuals within a group in order to understand social behaviour

Question 16

Why did we change our thinking when it comes to social psychology?

Answer 16

Milgram (1963) discovered that obedience was caused not by a moral depravity, but rather the situation in which the participants were placed. His study’s replication with Burger (2009) convinced people that external factors have much more influence on social behaviours than internal explanations

Question 17

How have we benefitted from our changes to understanding social psychology?

Answer 17

We have many more theories such as Social Impact Theory, which shows the factors in which a ‘source’ can become obedient. We have more explanations about our social behaviours.

Question 18

What are the drawbacks from our changes to understanding social psychology?

Answer 18

We have neglected our internal explanations, focusing wholly on the external, which reduces the quality of explanations that can be produced.

Question 19

What did we use to do when it comes to biological psychology?

Answer 19

Before the 1980s -1990s, we investigated the brain through a combination of animal vivisection studies, post-mortem investigations of the brain and clinical studies or brain damaged/surgical patients,

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory meant that we approached behaviour from a theoretical perspective, rather than a physical one

Question 20

What do we think/do now when focusing on biological psychology?

Answer 20

We use scanning and imaging technologies like PET and fMRI to study the causes of human behaviour.

Question 21

Why did we we change our thinking when it comes to biological psychology?

Answer 21

MRIs using Magnets and CT scans using X-Rays were developed in the 1980s so more brain areas were able to be studied.

PET scans were developed in the 1970s which lead to brain activity and brain function being able to be seen in one scan.

Question 22

What have been the benefits from changing our approach to biological psychology?

Answer 22

It allowed us to develop a higher understanding of the structure and functioning of the brain and its many processes in an ethical manner

Question 23

What were the drawbacks to changing our approach to biological psychology?

Answer 23

We may have lost the intricacies of each individual case, and treating everyone as generalised objects, rather than different unique symptom

Question 24

What did we used to think/do in terms of cognitive psychology?

Answer 24

In the early 1900s we used to study cognitive processes by introspection (looking inward at our own thoughts).

Question 25

What do we now think/do in terms of cognitive psychology?

Answer 25

Now we do experiments that manipulate how people process stimuli like wordlists and compare inputs with outputs.

Question 26

Why did we change our approach to understanding cognitive psychology?

Answer 26

Watson (1919) founded the behaviourist approach, and convinced many psychologists that psychology would only succeed if it adopted the methods of the physical sciences like chemistry and physics. Cognitive psychology grew out of behaviourism.

Question 27

What have been the benefits towards changing our approach to understanding cognitive psychology?

Answer 27

Well controlled studies where variables are carefully operationalised and clear inferences about the cause and effect relationships that govern processes like memory (e.g. Baddeley, 1966)

Question 28

What have been the drawbacks to changing our approach towards understanding cognitive psychology?

Answer 28

We have lost sight of the importance of meaning and emotion in cognition, and produced a science all about the storage and retrieval of meaningless stimuli.

Question 29

What did we used to think/do in terms of learning theories?

Answer 29

In the 1950s we tried to explain behaviour without making reference to internal mental processes

Question 30

What do we now think/do in terms of learning theories?

Answer 30

Now we reference both internal and external mental processes when trying to explain behaviour.

Question 31

Why did we change our approach towards understanding learning theories?

Answer 31

Watson and Rayner’s (1920) found that children can be conditioned to fear.

Pavlov’s (1927) proof of the theory of classical conditioning through his dogs (salivation).

Question 32

What have been the benefits of changing our approach towards learning theories?

Answer 32

We know behaviour can be induced, and therefore we can prevent this i.e. Nazi Germany.

We can provide effective treatment to behavours that produce irrational fears that hinder quality of life e.g. fear of flying

Question 33

What have been the drawbacks of changing our approach towards learning theories?

Answer 33

We’ve lost sight of the internal process, as we’re more focused on external factors.

Question 34

What did we used to think/do in terms of clinical psychology?

Answer 34

We used to think of mental health to be due to a certain cause i.e. a physical cause, rather than psychological. We treated the symptoms rather than getting to the heart of the problem.

Question 35

What do we now think/do in terms of clinical psychology?

Answer 35

Since the 1990s there has been increasing acceptance that there is not only biology involved, but culture, social interactions and emotions have an impact on brain processing.

Question 36

Why did we change our approach towards understanding clinical psychology?

Answer 36

PET scans lead to the neuroscience that lead to Lowei’s theory that neurotransmitters were a signalling system between neurons which lead to the discovery of the first effective drug treatments for schizophrenia.

Question 37

What are the benefits of changing our approach towards understanding clinical psychology?

Answer 37

There are more valid explanations for what causes mental illness, but also takes account of different perspectives.

Question 38

What are the drawbacks towards changing our approach towards understanding clinical psychology?

Answer 38

Less generalisable evidence
We have become drug-orientated towards fixing mental health, through a Westernised perspective, where this may not be beneficial for other cultures where mental health can be asign of something good.

Question 39

What did we used to think/do in terms of criminological psychology?

Answer 39

Up until the 1990s the dominant ideas about offending explained it in terms of social and psychological processes and emphasised influences such as the family and the peer group

Question 40

What do we now think/do in terms of understanding criminological psychology?

Answer 40

Since the 1990s, we explain offending in biological causes as well as social and psychological causes. We also try to prevent crime, instead of dealing with the aftermath.

Question 41

Why did we change our approach towards understanding criminological psychology?

Answer 41

Raine et al. (1997) discovered that brain structures in those who pleaded NGRI to murder, in comaprison to their matched controls.

Question 42

What are the benefits of changing our approach towards understanding criminological psychology?

Answer 42

There is a stronger focus on crime prevention.

Question 43

What are the drawbacks towards changing our approach towards understanding criminological psychology?

Answer 43

We have become focused on aggression as the main cause of most crimes, whereas this may not always be the case.
If crime is biologically induced, this is an ethical concern.

Question 44

What gave rise to Sherif et al. 1954/1961 (scientific/societal context)?

Answer 44

Sherif was interested in the prevalence of prejudiced attitudes in the post-war US (e.g. racism against African Americans and Jews).

Question 45

What were the resultant changes to knowledge and understanding of social psychology following Sherif et al. (1954/1961)?

Answer 45

Sherif’s study contributed to a new understanding of how competition could contribute to prejudice, and also insights into how it could be reduced by fostering cooperation.

Question 46

What were the resultant changes in research and methodology following Sherif et al. (1954/1961)?

Answer 46

Sherif’s study was influential in establishing extended field studies as an important research technique. Many other social psychologists e.g. Milgram’s studies of obedience.

Question 47

What were the resultant changes in applications of psychology following Sherif et al. (1954/1961)?

Answer 47

Sherif’s findings about the important of superordinate goals have been used to reduce prejudice in schools e.g. through teaching techniques that require cooperation (e.g. The Jigsaw technique)

Question 48

What were the resultant changes to society following Sherif et al. (1954/1961)?

Answer 48

Possible social impact in that many/most governments have policy goals of reducing prejudice and discrimination - although difficult to say how far Sherif’s work has succeeding in changing things.

Question 49

What gave rise to Raine et al. 1997 (scientific/societal context)?

Answer 49

Raine et al. were interested in the then-new PET functional brain imaging technology that could throw light on the biological influences on aggression and violent offending. They wanted to know whether they could confirm or challenge what was already known from animal studies

Question 50

What were the resultant changes in knowledge and understanding following Raine et al. (1997)?

Answer 50

Raine et al.’s study led to the understanding that there can be a genetic predisposition towards aggression (there is a link between brain structure and aggression).

Also that animal studies can be generalised to human studies.

Question 51

What were the resultant changes to research metholodolgy following Raine et al. (1997)?

Answer 51

Raine et al. was influential in establishing a more scientific research method in terms of use of scans, not research on animals. Many scientists still use scans to this day.

illustrates the power and shortcomings of the natural (or quasi-) experimental method, because the participants’ criminal background was a naturally-occurring variable outside of Raine’s control.

Question 52

What were the resultant changes in application of psychology following Raine et al. (1997)?

Answer 52

Intervention with at-risk children to help them to steer away from drugs

More initiative to monitor those who have had a brain injury

Question 53

What were the resultant changes in society following Raine et al. (1997)?

Answer 53

If damage can be prevented, they can be prevented from having a murderous disposition: early intervention with children at-risk

Possibility of treating brain deficits with drug therapy which overall has a cost-benefit analysis of less money for the government than prison placements.

Question 54

What gave rise to Baddeley 1966b (scientific/societal context)?

Answer 54

Baddeley was in the first wave of cognitive psychologists. His thinking was influenced by the scientific methods introduced by learning theorists early in the C20th, and by George Miller and others, who encouraged psychologists to think of the mind and something like a computer (the information processing metaphor. Prior to the multistore model, there was an ongoing debate about how many memory stores people have

Question 55

What were the resultant changes to knowledge and understanding following Baddeley (1966b)?

Answer 55

Baddeley’s study led to the understanding that there is more than a single unit when discussing memory, and it is more complex than we may think.

Question 56

What were the resultant changes in research methodology following Baddeley (1966b)?

Answer 56

Shows the importance of experimental design, as it uses both Repeated Measures and Independent Groups Design.

Question 57

What were the resultant changes in application of methodology following Baddeley (1966b)?

Answer 57

Help teachers teach - semantic links between topics rather than reading out the slides

Question 58

What were the resultant changes to society following Baddeley (1966b)?

Answer 58

Can build on Baddeley’s research (led ot the Working Memory Model)

Help students revise - if LTM encoded semantically, then mind maps can be seen as a most effective method

Question 59

What gave rise to Watson and Rayner (1920) (scientific/societal context)?

Answer 59

Watson challenged the dominance of Frieudian psychology in the early C20th US. Watson insisted that psychology must study observable behaviour using scientific methods and abandon ‘mentalistic’ ideas. He proposed that human behaviour could be explained using Pavlov’s ideas about classical conditioning.

Question 60

What were the resultant changes in knowledge and understanding following Watson and Rayner (1920)?

Answer 60

Watson and Rayner led people to believe that our behaviour cannot only be innate, but is as a result of our surroundings as well.

Question 61

What were the resultant changes in research methodology following Watson and Rayner (1920)?

Answer 61

It shows the importance of ethical research, and raised the bar for BPS guidelines, in order to not leave a participant in distress.

Question 62

What were the resultant changes in application of psychology following Watson and Rayner (1920)?

Answer 62

Leads to self-treatment

Helps psychiatrists figure out treatment best for patient

Question 63

What are the resultant changes in society following Watson and Rayner (1920)?

Answer 63

Lead to treatments such as flooding or systematic desensitisation

If our emotional responses can be learned, they can also be unlearned.

Question 64

What gave rise to Rosenhan (1973) (scientific/societal context)?

Answer 64

Rosenhan believed that the process of psychiatric diagnosis was lacking in validity but, at the same time, the diagnostic labels used by psychiatrists were a powerful, detrimental influence on how people with mental health problems were treated.

Question 65

What were the resultant changes in knowledge and understanding following Rosenhan (1973)?

Answer 65

Led to the conclusion that not all diagnostics are reliable and valid and that prior knowledge is often taken into account, when thinking about mental health.

Question 66

What were the resultant changes in research methodology following Rosenhan (1973)?

Answer 66

Shows the importance of reliability and replicability.

Question 67

What were the resultant changes in applications to psychology following Rosenhan (1973)?

Answer 67

Better conditions overall

Guidelines for keep of Governmental Buildings i.e. hospitals

Question 68

What were the resultant changes for society following Rosenhan (1973)?

Answer 68

Helped change psychiatric hospitals for the better, and gave voice to those problems that were unknown.