component 1 Flashcards
localisation of brain function (biological)
- human behaviour is determined by a physiological cause, being g the activity on individual parts of the brain
- 2 hemispheres and 4 lobes
- Phineas gage, metal rod penetrated through frontal lobe showed aggression
neurotransmitters (biological)
- suggests that behaviour is caused by electrical and chemical communications in the brain
- e.g. raised levels of dopamine have been linked to schizophrenia, and low levels of serotonin have been linked to depression
*neurons pass neurotransmitters through the synapse and are released from presynaptic vesicles
evolutionary influences (biological)
- Charles Darwins theory of natural selection
- males subconscious desire for fertility in females
- e.g ostrich may dance to attract a mate
humans are born as a blank slate (behaviourist)
- idea that humans are born as “tabula rasa”, and that behaviour is environmentally determined and humans are born with hunger, pain and crying
- dies developed by Watson, he stated that he could turn a “dozen infants” into “any type of specialist”
- bandura tested with bobo doll experiment
behaviour is learned through conditioning (behaviourist)
- classical conditioning suggests that behaviour is learnt through association. pavlov (1902) tested with dogs teaching them to salivate with bell and treats
- operant conditioning is behaviour learnt through reinforcement. skinner (1936) tested with rats
- Gill proves operant conditioning as effective as he claims that children who get pocket money complete 20% more household chores
- Watson and Rayners little Albert study supports
humans and animals learn in similar ways (behaviourist)
- suggest that humans and animals behave in similar ways due too shared traits such as fear
- joint stimulation was used with pavlovs dogs and little Albert
- operant conditioning has been proved effective in schools and prisons
tripartite personality (psychodynamic)
id ego and superego
id is primitive, requires instant gratification and is pleasure seeking principle. ego is mediator and superego is concerned Sith moral values
each part represents a part of the brain. id represents limbic system and ego represents prefrontal Cortex
unconscious mind (psychodynamic)
conscious preconscious and unconscious
preconscious are things such as memories or knowledge that could be easily retrieved
anxiety acts as a signal to the ego that there is dysfunction somewhere
ego defence mechanisms such as repression help ease these feelings
childhood experiences (psychodynamic)
psychosexual stages refers to a stage and age theory that all children go through at roughly the same time influenced by the location of libido
e.g. oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital
being stuck at a stage, eg oral, leads to adult fixations such as nail biting
internal mental processes (cognitive)
cognitive psychologists see humans as information processors
memory, perception, attention, thinking and language
eg. to recognise a dog, you need to pay attention, perceive its features, then search through our memory store to see if anything matches and we use language to name it
computer analogy (cognitive)
both humans and computers are the same in the way that they process information
mental processes used: input, processing and recall
process stage involves memory, perception and attention
multistore model of memory made by Atkinson and shiffin (1968) shows how long term and short term memory are stores as “hardware”
schemas (cognitive)
pockets of information built from experience
built up via social interactions, which can potentially distort the information as humans may select and interpret environmental stimuli using irrelevant schemas
this may explain inaccuracies in EWT
e.g schema for burglar
bowlby methodology
opportunity sample and matches pairs design
The Binet Scale was used to test their intelligence.
The average IQ for both groups was higher than the average for the population.
quasi difference experiment
iv: whether they had stolen or not, DV: whether they were an “affectionless psychopath”
31 boys, 13 girls aged 5-17
control experiment used of children who went to the same child guidance clinic but had not stolen.
Half of the cases- instances of chronic and serious thieving lasting very long periods (Grade 4)
10 cases- persistent but irregular, mild thieving (Grade 3)
8 cases- a few thefts only (Grade 2)
4 cases- only one theft (Grade 1)
weaknesses of bowlbys methodology
unrepresentative as not all children are emotionally disturbed
violent homes could be a confounding variable
strengths of bowlbys methodology
used a control group so more reliable results and higher ecological validity
bowlbys procedure
- mental test given to children to test intelligence and how well they emotionally reacted to it
*preliminary psychiatric history was gathered from the social worker
- psychiatrist interviewed mother
*then bowl by examined the mother and child together
*psychotherapy for at least 6 months after
weakness of bowlbys procedure
could be social desirability bias in mother’s interview
strength of bowlbys procedure
strong qualitative data gained from multiple sources
bowlbys findings
- 6 categories of children: affectionless, hyperthermic, normal, depressed, circular and schizoid
- majority were affectionless, 14 out of 44
- out of those 14, 12 of them had prolonged separation from mother
*40% of thieves had prolonged separation from mothers, compared to 5% of control group
main components of systematic desensitisation
*phobia is learnt response
- sd uses reciprocal inhibition in order to counter condition the patient
- developed by Wolpe (1958)
- relaxation techniques and desensitisation hierarchy
*in vivo
*in vitro
strengths of systematic desensitisation
usefulness: Capafons et al (1988) found that after 12-28 weeks of SD, clients with a fear of flying showed less fear in a flight simulator. they also found lower objective physiological measures (such as heart rate) than the control group
holistic: MCGrath found SD successful for a wide range of anxiety disorders. 75% of patients with phobias responded to the treatment
positive ethical implications: anxiety controlled, able to provide valid informed consent and patients attend at their own free will
main components of drug therapy
antipsychotic drugs: conventional antipsychotics for positive symptoms. the drug blocks the action of dopamine by binding to the dopamine receptors
antianxiety drugs: Bz’s bind to the sites on GABA receptors and enhance the action of GABA (calming neurotransmitter)
beta blockers: reduces the activity or adrenaline, binds to receptors in the heart and reduces activity or the autonomic nervous system
strengths of drug therapy
Soomro et al reviewed 17 studies of the use of SSRI’s with OCD and found them more effective than placebos in reducing the symptoms of OCD up to 3 months after treatment.
cheaper and easier to administer
weaknessesof drug therapy
side effects: nausea, headaches and insomnia
Ashton (1997) found Bz’s should only be used for 4 weeks
Ferguson (2005) found people taking SSRI’s are twice as likely to commit suicide
ethical issues: deception, physical harm and valid consent
main components of REBT
Ellis (1962) ABC model, activating event, beliefs, consequences, disputing beliefs effects of disputing. D and E are the most important parts.
logical disputing, empirical disputing (is it consistent with reality) and pragmatic disputing (are they useful)
mustabatory thinking- holding beliefs such as ‘i must be treated fairly and give me what i need or they are rotten’
unconditional positive regard- key to successful therapy, therapist must be non-judgemental at all times.
strengths of REBT
meta analysis by engles et al (1993) concluded that REBT is effective in treating a range of disorders
Ellis (1957) claimed a 90% success rate taking on average 27 sessions, also useful for non clinical populations for exam anxiety
Silverman et al. (1992) conducted a review of studies that used REBT. It was shown to be more effective or equal to other types of therapy (e.g. systematic desensitisation) for a range of disorders: 49 showed REBT to be more effective, 40 showed no difference.
weaknesses of REBT
doesn’t always work, Ellis (2001) believed that they may not be putting their revised beliefs into action and may not be putting cognitive effort into their recovery
ethical issues: forceful therapy, could lead to anxiety
client and therapist may have differing beliefs over religion
loftus and palmer methodology
two lab experiments
independent groups design
different participants used each time
ex #1: 45ppts
ex #2: 150ppts
strengths of loftus and palmer methodology
conducted in a lab, therefore controlled experiment. the experiment leads to casual findings, and there are fewer confounding variables that can change or influence behaviour. this is a strength because it means the study has high internal validity, so can be used for wider applications.
weakness of loftus and palmer
lack of ecological validity, foster et al (1994) found that if participants thought they were witnessing a real life crash, their recall would be more accurate
loftus and palmer procedure
ex 1: 7 clips of traffic accidents, 5 groups, each group had a questionnaire but the verb changed (bumped, smashed, collided, contacted, hit)
ex 2: 150 ppts divided into 3 groups, car accident film shown. 50 were asked “how fast were the cars going when they hit”, 50 were asked the same question but the verb changed to “smashed” and a week later 50 were asked if they saw a broken glass one week later
loftus and palmer findings
ex 1: smashed had highest speed estimate of 40.8 and contacted had the lowest of 31.8
ex2: “smashed” group was higher than hit and control
weaknesses of loftus and palmer procedure
lack of valid consent, could cause psychological harm
Huff et al found that nearly 60% of 500 cases of wrongful convictions involved EWT
watson and rayner methodology
sample was 1 participant, 9 month old little albert
case study
well lit dark room on mattress on table
strengths of watson and rayners methodology
controlled conditions meant little/no extraneous variables
OH Mowrer (1947) found that operant conditioning could explain the maintenance of phobias made by classical conditioning- two process theory
weaknesses of watson and rayner methodology
case study and sample means they cannot generalise results so it has a low population validity
conducted in a lab so lacks ecological validity
seligman (1971) predisposed to fear
fear response could be due to frustration of having his thumb removed from his mouth so lacks internal validity
watson and rayners procedure
stage 1- establishing a conditioned response. showed no fear to initial white rat but joint stimulation with white rat and loud noise 6 times
stage 2- testing conditioned response. range of stimuli
stage 3- change of setting to lecture hall
stage 4- 1 month later testing effects of time with a range of stimuli
watson and rayners findings
began crying in joint stimulation phase, cried and crawled away when rat was presented without the loud noise
crawled away from rabbit, turned his head to the dog, kicked cotton wool
no sudden fear reaction in lecture hall
cried at fur coat
pushed rabbit away
weaknesses of cognitive approach
deterministic as schemas create stereotypes which determines the way we see situations
nature and nurture- genes are ignored and social and cultural factors are also ignored
strengths of cognitive approach
Piaget (1970) children’s thinking is nit the same as adults, EWT research shown how witnesses are distorted by past event information which influenced police interviewing techniques
scientific approach, PET scans used to locate areas of the brain for short and long term memory
weaknesses of dream analysis
conducted in sleep labs which means low ecological validity. secretion of sleep hormones and neurotransmitters can cause confounding variables
false memory syndrome- toon et al (1994)
subjective interpretation
strengths of dream analysis
Solms (2000) used PET scans to highlight regions of the brain that are active during dreaming. Results showed that the rational part of the brain is inactive during REM
weaknesses of psychodynamic approach
reductionist- simplifies it down to mechanics of the mind and ignores biochem
deterministic- follows the idea that we have no free will in how we behave and cannot change behaviour
cannot be proved wrong- Karl Popper (1934)
Raine methodology
quasi difference experiment
IV: pleaded NGRI
DV: glucose metabolism in regions of the brain
NGRI group: 39 men, 2 women, mean age of 34.3 years old with a history of brain injury
control group: not criminals, mean age of 31.3
matched pairs design
Raine procedure
CPT 10 minutes before allocated start time to illicit brain activity in areas associated with impulse and response control
FDG tracer 30 seconds after they started the CPT
CPT for 32 minutes then was transferred to the pet scanning room
PET did 10 scans using cortical peel and box techniques
Raine findings
parietal lobe, prefrontal cortex and corpus callosum had lower glucose levels than the control group
temporal lobe was found to have no differences
occipital lobe had higher glucose metabolic rates than control group
23 NGRI’s with a history of head injuries had no significant difference beyond slightly lower corpus callous activity. 14 NGRI were non white and showed no significant difference
Raine conclusions
statistically significant differences in brain glucose metabolism between NGRI and controls
findings are not conclusive and may be one of many predispositions to violence, and further research needs to be conducted
generalisations cannot be made to other murderers or other types of crimes
strengths of Raine methodology
PET scans and a FDG tracer are objective standards of measure, so we can more strongly establish a casual relationship between the IV and DV
laboratory experiment means high internal validity because the researchers were able to control any confounding or extraneous variables that may arise
repeatability with the use of PET scans
weakness of Raine methodology
CPT may not be internally valid because the difference between completing a CPT and killing someone is astronomically large and may activate other regions of the brain that a CPT would not.
ethical issues of Raines research
lack of informed consent, the participants were off medication two weeks prior to the experiment so they were not In the right state of mind to give any consent
they may have not understood their right to withdraw at any time
describe the positive assumption “focus on the good life”
Seligman (2003) argues that the way to happiness, and the way to experience the best life you can is to develop our strengths and virtues. By bettering ourselves, and strengthening our natural “signature” qualities, such as kindness, courageousness and bravery, we can live “a good life”.
Seligman argues that we should start by achieving a pleasant life, then a good life, then finally, the optimum which is a meaningful life. Essentially, the three can be broken down as follows:
1. The Pleasant Life: positive emotions and daily satisfaction
2. The Good Life: discovering our strengths and enhancing our lives
3. The Meaningful Life: using our strengths for a greater purpose
Seligman argues that the way to live a good life is to develop positive connections with others, t
describe the positive assumption “acknowledgement of free will”
the positive approach focuses on free will and according to Seligman, happiness is not a result of either genes or good luck, it is a result of recognising and developing key strengths. The free will assumption is supported by research of Diener, who carried out research into the reasons why people are happy. Research by Diener and Seligman (2002) looked at the ties that students had with friends and family, measured in terms of the amount of time invested in these relationships. They found that the students who have the strongest ties were happier and there was also a negative correlation between level of happiness and depression. This emphasises the fact that we are in control of our happiness.
describe the positive assumption “authenticity of goodness and excellence”
The assumption states that feelings of happiness and goodness are as natural as anxiety and stress and therefore, Psychologists need to assign as much attention to positive states as we do to negative ones. Traditional Psychology such as the Biological, Behaviourist, and Psychodynamic approach follow the ’disease model’. According to Seligman (2002), the belief that traits such as virtue and happiness are less authentic than traits such as depression and anxiety. Seligman felt that traditional psychology focused too much on mental illness, and not enough on how humans can flourish and succeed. For example, from 1972-2006, the ratio of depression research publications to wellbeing publications was 5:1. Seligman and others felt that psychology had be distorted; it had moved away from a science that helps people reach their potential, and had become all about curing the sick.
steps of systematic desensitisation
- The patient is taught relaxation techniques, e.g. breathing exercises or how to relax their muscles
- the therapist and patient works together to form a desensitisation hierarchy- a searies of imagined events each causing more anxiety thn the last. ordered from least anxiety to most
- patient works through the desensitisation hierarchy at their own pace, whilst practicing relaxation techniques e.g. breathing techniques or muscle relaxation
- once the patient has mastered one step, they move onto the next step
weaknesses of systematic desensitisation
- ignores nature, biological preparedness sleigman we fear things that are of biological significance to us, ancient fears are an adaptive behaviour
- reductionist, only treats symptoms rather than cause of phobia so if cured, the problem still remains and the problem could come back in a different form
mustabatory thinking (REBT)
An individual who hold these beliefs will (at least) be disappointed and at worst be depressed. An individual who fails an exam becomes depressed not because of failing the exam, but because of the irrational thoughts surrounding the failure (e.g. ‘If I fail people will think that I’m stupid’). These musts have to be challenged in order for the individual to become psychologically healthy.
REBT ethical considerations: what is rational?
Alloy and Abrahamson (1979) suggest that depressed people see the world as it really is, and non-depressed people see the world in a more positive way (rose-tinted glasses). They call this the sadder but wiser effect and actually depressed individuals are more accurate in their estimates of the likelihood of disasters.
loftus and palmer experiment 1
Participants were shown 7 clips of traffic accidents, ranging from 5-30 seconds. The clips were originally part of a driver safety film.
After each clip a questionnaire was given. They had to recall the accident and asked a series of questions about the accident.
There was one critical question:
“About how fast were the cars going when they ____ each other?”
There were 5 groups, 9 participants in each. The blank was smashed, collided, bumped, hit, or contacted.
Estimates of speed were given in miles per hour.
loftus and palmer experiment 2
The second experiment investigated whether leading questions bias the response, or whether the individual’s memory of the event was altered.
Part 1: A film was shown of a multiple car accident, it lasted less than 4 seconds. They were asked a series of questions, with one critical question of speed estimate. Each group had 50 participants.
Group 1: How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?
Group 2: How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
Group 3: Control group. No questions asked.
Part 2: One week later they returned to the lab. There was one critical question:
Did you see any broken glass? There was no glass.
loftus and palmer conclusions
form of question can affect memory in 2 main ways:
[Experiment 1] Response-bias factors: the speed estimates occur differently due to the critical word (smashed, hit etc) and this influences a person’s response.
[Experiment 2] The memory representation is altered: the critical word changes a person’s memory so that perception of the accident is affected. Some critical words imply the accident is more serious.
loftus and palmer ethical considerations: valid consent
Lack of valid consent
No valid consent was given by participants. If they were told the true aims their behaviour would change, and then it would not reflect EWT in real life.
loftus and palmer ethical considerations: psychological harm
Watching a film of a car accident means the participants may not have responded in the same way as if they had a real accident.
Could you expose participants to a real accident? This might be very distressing and lead to psychological harm that might not be diffused by a debrief.
strengths of the cognitive approach: scientific
It is objective and controlled scientific research.
Brain scanning techniques, e.g. PET scans can be used to investigate memory and locate specific areas for short- and long-term memory.
This is a strength because cognitive neuroscience has been used to pinpoint the exact biological mechanism for our cognitive processes. This can also be used to find out what the brain does ‘at rest’.
strengths of cognitive approach: usefulness
Developmental psychologists have used their theories in schools (e.g. teaching practice). Piaget (1970) said that children’s thinking is not the same as an adults, and said, for example, that at age 8 or 9 children cannot think abstractly - and so cannot solve a mathematical equation without physical objects such as sticks. Now this is demonstrated in schools with the use of concrete examples with younger children.
Eyewitness testimony research has shown how witnesses can be distorted by post-event information and this has influenced police interviewing techniques, e.g. no leading questions.
weakness of cognitive approach: nature and nurture
the cognitive approach has studied nature and nurture: the processes within the mind (internal) and the role of experiences in the development of schemas (external). However, the elements of nature and nurture have not.
Genes are ignored completely.
Social and cultural factors (nurture) are also ignored, for example Piaget ignored social factors in the development of thinking in children.
This is a weakness because it therefore does not give a true account of human behaviour.
weakness of cognitive approach: deterministic
Piaget stated that schemas are essential for a child’s cognitive development; at the beginning anything with fur and four legs may be a dog, until they learn the difference between cats and dogs.
Schemas mean we acquire stereotypes about people which supposedly determines how we act towards others or interpret situations. The idea is that having racist parents would give us racist schemas. This is deterministic because it ignores our ability to reject stereotypes with our agency and free will.
weakness of cognitive approach: reductionist
Some say that the approach is too mechanistic, stating that human behaviour is like a machine.
For example, the computer analogy for the mind.
This is a weakness because social and emotional factors are ignored. For example, the role of emotions are ignored in their influence on cognitive processes. A computer is not influenced by emotion but a human is, so we cannot reduce and liken a human to a machine.
bowlby research methods
The 44 children within the case study were given tests to assess their intelligence and their emotional attitude.
Then interviewed by a psychiatrist- information pooled together for a diagnosis.
Weekly assessment continued for several months.
bowlby weakness: alternative evidence
research from Lewis (1954) challenges Bowlby’s findings into maternal deprivation
For example, Lewis partially replicated Bowlby’s 44 thieves study on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people. In her sample, a history of prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty in forming close relationships
This is a problem for the theory of maternal deprivation because it suggests that other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal deprivation
bowlby weakness: retrospective recall
retrospective recall might be inaccurate
As Bowlby was asking the adolescent participants to recall separations that they had experienced years earlier, e.g. at 14 with prolonged separation and earlier families
their responses would have been subject to inaccuracies/ distortions
manifest content
Freud distinguished between the manifest content of a dream (what the dreamer remembers) and the latent content, the symbolic meaning of the dream (i.e. the underlying wish).
The manifest content is often based on the events of the day. The process whereby the underlying wish is translated into the manifest content is called dream-work. The purpose of dream work is to transform the forbidden wish into a non-threatening form, thus reducing anxiety and allowing us to continuing sleeping. Dream work involves the process of condensation, displacement, and secondary elaboration.
condensation
The process of condensation is the joining of two or more ideas/images into one.
For example, a dream about a man may be a dream about both one’s father and one’s lover.
displacement
Displacement takes place when we transform the person or object we are really concerned about to someone else.
For example, one of Freud’s patients was extremely resentful of his sister-in-law and used to refer to her as a dog, dreamed of strangling a small white dog.
Freud interpreted this as representing his wish to kill his sister-in-law. If the patient would have really dreamed of killing his sister-in-law, he would have felt guilty. The unconscious mind transformed her into a dog to protect him.
secondary elaboration
A person dreams they are walking through a beautiful garden, picking flowers, and chatting with an old friend. On the surface, this dream seems calm and logical (manifest content).
However, according to Freud, secondary elaboration has organised random wish-fulfilling images into a believable sequence.
strengths of dream analysis: research evidence
Solms (2000) used PET scans to highlight the active regions of the brain during dreaming.
The rational part of the brain is inactive during REM sleep, whereas the memory and motivation areas are very active. Relating this to Freud, the id is given free rein while the ego rests.
This research is effective because it provides empirical evidence to back up Freud’s psychoanalytic ideas with the use of modern neuroimaging techniques, which is an objective measure - validity.
weakness of dream analysis: ethical issues
False memory syndrome (FMS) is a condition where someone’s identity and relationships are affected by false memories of traumatic experiences. These false memories come to light during psychoanalysis when the therapist uncovers past traumatic events.
The patient is likely to believe the therapist as the authority figure. Toon et al (1996) even suggests that therapists implant false memories to make financial gains ( the therapy will take longer) - Also the result of FMS is that patients may experience much anxiety because of ‘memories’ of events that didn’t even happen.
