Decades (Time) Flashcards
How has psychology changed over time? (4 points)
It has developed over time from a philosophical to a scientific discipline - understanding significantly influenced by advent of technology and human genome sequencing
The psychological field has moved away from speculation and theoretical ideas, toward an objective and empirical scientific approach
Most early psychologists were men, but now most practising psychologists, including the presidents of important psychological organisations like the APA, are women
Some areas of psychology have developed to a lesser extent - Freud’s theories created a new approach to understanding the human psyche but such theories remain limited by falsifiability and scientific credibility
What is the essay plan for the Time essay? (3 points)
Most: Bio & Clinical
Bio: Brain scanning techniques and Raine
Clinical: Advances in medical treatments
Mid: Cognitive
Supported by: Tulving and Schmolck
Challenged by: Episodic Buffer
Least: Social & LT
Supported by: Burger
Challenged by: Our understanding of obedience and Becker
How has biological and clinical psychology developed the most over time? (3 points)
The influential factor of technological and scientific advancement has been important in using brain scanning techniques
In clinical psychology, development in understanding human behaviour has led to advances in treatments for the mentally ill
This has direct, real-life implications on the livelihoods of people in society
How do brain scanning techniques support biological psychology having developed the most over time? (4 points)
Brain scans used to be simple axial CAT scans that used multiple X-ray radiation beams to create a low-resolution black-and-white still image
Now fMRI is used:
Involves exposure to radio waves and a magnetic field to monitor the uptake of oxygen by respiring cells
They are more ethical as they are non-invasive - does not require exposure to harmful X-ray radiation
They also provide a more advanced understanding of human behaviour - brain structure and functionality is indicated by active regions ‘lighting up’ in real-time as participants conduct a cognitive task
How does Raine et al support biological psychology having developed the most over time? (4 points)
Found that NGRI participants had less glucose metabolism in the left hemisphere pre-frontal regions than the control group (1.09 < 1.12)
Prefrontal cortex typically regulates decision-making and moderates social behaviour - impairment could lead to impulsive behaviour and a loss of control
This psychological understanding, which has come from the use of PET scanning techniques, has implications for the wider world
Lawyers can advocate for lighter sentencing as violent criminals plead NGRI
How do advances in medical treatments support clinical psychology having developed the most over time? (3 points)
Early treatments for undesirable symptoms included lobotomies in the 1950s (20,000 conducted in the US alone) - involved severing the processes between the pre-frontal cortex of the brain
Effective in changing human behaviour - patients were left emotionless and in a catatonic state for the rest of their lives
However, such unethical practices are now obsolete - progress in our understanding of clinical psychology means that clinical symptoms are now managed through medicinal drug therapy
What are 2 examples of advanced medical treatments? (4 points)
Haloperidol
+ First-generation anti-psychotic drug
+ D2 antagonist (inhibitor) - decreases dopamine activity in the mesolimbic pathway of the brain
+ Reduces positive Sz symptoms like hallucinations
Clozapine:
+ ‘Atypical’ SGA
+ Improved to have fewer side effects, including reduced tardive dyskinesia
How has cognitive psychology had a mid-level of development over time? (3 points)
Models of memory have been developed to be more complex when understanding human behaviour
For example, the oversimplified, passive, input-output linear MSM only ever considered memory as a single unitary store
It was developed into the active processes of the WMM, which includes the 3 slave systems: visual-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop and episodic buffer, all controlled by the central executive
How does Tulving support cognitive psychology having a mid-level of development over time? (2 points)
Tulving later proposed that the LTM was not a unitary store and instead consisted of both episodic and semantic LTM
He went on to propose that semantic memories are qualitatively different in terms of time and spatial referencing, retrieval and input
How does Schmolck’s study support cognitive psychology having a mid-level of development over time? (3 points)
Development over time can also be seen with the use of more empirical, quantifiable experimental measures
E.g: in support of Tulving, Schmolck found that semantic memories reside in the anterolateral temporal cortex and episodic memories reside in the medial temporal lobe
Such advances in our understanding of memory have been made possible with the application of brain imaging techniques
How does the Episodic Buffer challenge cognitive psychology having a mid-level of development over time? (2 points)
By adding the Episodic Buffer in 2000 to the original model proposed in 1974, Baddeley could be perceived to be undermining the scientific credibility of his work
This highlights a limitation of why researchers are reluctant to develop their original psychological models over time - it renders their research less credible
How have social psychology and learning theories developed the least over time? (4 points)
Theories from social psychology and learning theories remain time-locked - they are only applicable and reflective of a particular decade
The least development over time can be seen in theories primarily formulated in the era of the 1940s-1960s and some cases as with Pavlov’s CC as early as 1920
However, technological advances over time have increased exposure to Western TV, which can perhaps explain dissatisfaction with body image and the onset of eating disorders through Bandura’s SLT
Psychological understanding of human behaviour has developed the least for such theories because, without practical application, the theory remains superficial and has no direct influence on real-life contexts
How does our understanding of obedience challenge social psychology having the least development over time? (3 points)
There’s been some development in the psychological understanding of obedience over time through repeated testing in a variety of research settings
E.g. Milgram’s Telephonic Instruction where obedience rates fell from 65% to 22.5% for 450V
Furthermore, Adorno’s Fascism scale (1920), which focused primarily on the authoritarian personality type, has now been developed to the present day, where our understanding encompasses 16 different personality types
How does Burger’s study support social psychology having the least development over time? (4 points)
However, there has been no change to Milgram’s Agency Theory, as demonstrated by Burger’s (2009) replication of Milgram’s original 1961 study
He found that 50 years later, there were similar levels of blind obedience towards an authority figure when committing harmful acts against another human being
This is partly due to the establishment of the BPS ethical guidelines - would be deemed unethical for psychologists to replicate Milgram’s study today
Attempting to develop agency theory as an understanding of human obedience has practical limitations
How does Becker et al challenge learning theories having developed the least over time? (3 points)
Exposed Fijian adolescent girls to Western role models - caused an increase in their EAT-26 scores from 12.7% in 1995 to 29.2% in 1998
This demonstrates how our understanding of human eating behaviours has developed with the rise of technology in the 21st century
Interesting to note: Becker is a female researcher - she and Schmolck are females who have led contemporary studies
