implications in the real world

Question 1

Outline two biological explanations of criminal behaviours.

Answer 1

 The inherited criminality explanation which states that genetic factors are responsible for crime. For example the results of twin and adoption studies such as Hutchings and Mednick (1973) who found a significant correlation between the criminal convictions of biological fathers and the number of criminal convictions of their sons who had been adopted into other families.
 The role of the amygdala in controlling aggression. For example the work of Raine, Buchsbaum and LaCasse (1997) who used PET scans to compare the brain activity of 41 convicted male murderers with 41normal males (who were matched controls). They found that that the murderers did have different brain functioning compared to the normal controls in some areas. Among other findings, the murderers had reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex and abnormal activity in the amygdala.

Question 2

delusions of grandiosity:

Answer 2

Indiv believes that they are special/ powerful/ have superior knowledge/ may assume identity of a particular historical figure

Question 3

Briefly describe the characteristics of schizophrenia.(5)

Answer 3

delusions of persecution based on idea that a person/organisation wants to harm the individual.

delusions of grandiosity: Indiv believes that they are special/ powerful/ have superior knowledge/ may assume identity of a particular historical figure

hallucinations (auditory/visual) many ppl with schizophrenia report hearing auditory hallucinations (hearing voices/noises) but hallucinations can present themselves in any sensory modality

disorganised speech: negative symptom
poverty of speech - causes reduction in total amount of speech produced, ppl with schizophrenia lack meaning so short/simple answers can be a problem

disorganised thinking: often described as derailment/ knights move thinking.
persons thoughts + discourse seem to jump from 1 topic to another + show no logical flow of discussion
patients speech may be muddled + incoherent

thought insertion: schizophrenic individuals report the thoughts in their heads are not their own and have been placed there by someone else

Anhedonia: individ does not react appropriately to pleasurable experiences
rugby fan not displaying pleasure at their team winning.

Flatness of Affect: indiv appear to have no emotions. May converse without the usual emotional intonation, + how little or no facial emotional expressions (smiling/grimacing)
Speech patterns = very monotonous + do not rise and fall as normal speech patterns do

Catatonic Behav: range from fast, repetitive useless movements to little/no movement
Indiv may energetically pace or wander in circles
May make unexpected gestures + emit loud utterances

Echopraxia: mimic movements of others around them.
May remain immobile for prolonged periods of time
May demonstrate waxy flexibility where limbs and body can be moved but still will remain in rigid/unnatural posture
May also adopt bizarre postures + facial contortions

Avolition: seems to be indifferent/ unconnected to their surroundings or show desire to take part in activities (work/personal activities) they may have once enjoyed.
Distinct lack of goal-directed behav.

Question 4

disorganised speech:

Answer 4

negative symptom
poverty of speech - causes reduction in total amount of speech produced, ppl with schizophrenia lack meaning so short/simple answers can be a problem

Question 5

delusions of persecution

Answer 5

based on idea that a person/organisation wants to harm the individual.

Question 6

hallucinations (auditory/visual)

Answer 6

many ppl with schizophrenia report hearing auditory hallucinations (hearing voices/noises) but hallucinations can present themselves in any sensory modality

Question 7

thought insertion:

Answer 7

schizophrenic individuals report the thoughts in their heads are not their own and have been placed there by someone else

Question 8

disorganised thinking:

Answer 8

often described as derailment/ knights move thinking.
persons thoughts + discourse seem to jump from 1 topic to another + show no logical flow of discussion
patients speech may be muddled + incoherent

Question 9

Avolition:

Answer 9

seems to be indifferent/ unconnected to their surroundings or show desire to take part in activities (work/personal activities) they may have once enjoyed.
Distinct lack of goal-directed behav.

Question 10

Anhedonia:

Answer 10

individ does not react appropriately to pleasurable experiences
rugby fan not displaying pleasure at their team winning.

Question 11

Catatonic Behav:

Answer 11

range from fast, repetitive useless movements to little/no movement
Indiv may energetically pace or wander in circles
May make unexpected gestures + emit loud utterances

Question 12

Flatness of Affect:

Answer 12

indiv appear to have no emotions. May converse without the usual emotional intonation, + how little or no facial emotional expressions (smiling/grimacing)
Speech patterns = very monotonous + do not rise and fall as normal speech patterns do

Question 13

Echopraxia:

Answer 13

mimic movements of others around them.
May remain immobile for prolonged periods of time
May demonstrate waxy flexibility where limbs and body can be moved but still will remain in rigid/unnatural posture
May also adopt bizarre postures + facial contortions

Question 14

1 Of Siwans symptoms od schizo is disorganised thinking + hallucinations + dellusions

evaluate how effective CBT could be
intro

Answer 14

Intro: CBT helps individuals with schizophrenia to consider + organise their disordered thoughts in a rational way. CBT aims to challenge a patients interpretation of events by asking them to discuss the evidence for their beliefs. For example, many ppl hear voices (auditory hallucinations) but learn to live with them.

Question 15

Siwans symptoms

Strength: research

Answer 15

CBT is an effective treatment in modifying schizo.
For example, research like Kuiper’s et al (1997) which found that after 9mths of CBT, 50% of participants improved with only 1 patient’s symptoms getting worse. This research supports the use of CBT and shows how CBT is applicable and effective in reducing symptoms of schizo.

Question 16

Siwans symptom

weakness: limitations

Answer 16

Although CBT has been proved to be effective in treating schizo, the limitations to access CBT raises a particular ethical issue, Kingdon + Kirschen (2006) reported that out of the 142 individuals who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in a specific time frame, only 49% of these had been referred for CBT. This raises the ethical issue of psychiatric prejudice, as this prejudice by psychiatrists may be limiting the access to CBT from indiv who may benefit from it. This weakens the Cognitive behavioural therapy’s effectiveness as a whole.

Question 17

Siwans symptoms

strength : cost effect

Answer 17

A strength of CBT as a method of modifying schizo is that the treatment is cost-effective. Elizabeth Kuiper’s (1988) reported that although the use of CBT may initially be more costly, in the longer term are likely to be recouped as the individuals need for emergency psychiatric services decrease. This demonstrates how the the treatment is cost effective and benefits its patients allowing them to save money for other health treatments, avoiding social implications.

Question 18

Briefly explain how biological explanations could be applied to methods of modifying addictive behaviours (5)

griff 94
erica adam 2012

Answer 18

it is possible that measuring cognitive biases in gamblers could have useful implications for treatment. In cog restructuring, clients are taught to see that the thoughts they have are irrational.
Griffiths (1994) : suggests that the verbalisation he asked gamblers to make while gambling, could be played back to them + might help to highlight their irrational thoughts.

Erica Fortune + Adam Goodie (2012) : report that some studies have used these ideas as part of a broader cognitive behavioural therapy while others focused on correcting beliefs + biases.

Both methods have showed some success in treating gambling addiction = suggesting that cognitions may play a role in contributing to these problems.

Question 19

briefly describe and evaluate 1 social psychological explanation of addictive behav (10)

social norms

Answer 19

Social norms:
an indiv acts in the way they think the group is acting (descriptive norms). This can lead to addiction if ppl over-estimate the descriptive and injunctive norms within their peer group.

Question 20

briefly describe and evaluate 1 social psychological explanation of addictive behav (10)

SLT

Answer 20

SLT: explains that a person will observe + imitate peers that have higher social status or appear to be rewarded (vicarious reinforcement) through their behaviours. If those behaviours are addictive then this is how an addiction could be initiated.

Question 21

briefly describe and evaluate 1 social psychological explanation of addictive behav (10)

research strengths

Answer 21

A strength of peer influence as a social psychological explanation is that there is research to support the link between behav of peers and engagement in addictive behav.
For example: Bruce Simons-morton and Tilada Farhat (2010) reviewed 40 prospective studies into the relationship between peers and smoking and found that all but one showed a positive correlation between the two.
Maxwell 2002 also supports this explanation with similar results being found for there addictive behaviours. This demonstrates how there is evidence of a causal relationship between behav of peers and engagement in addictive behaviours.

Question 22

briefly describe and evaluate 1 social psychological explanation of addictive behav (10)

weakness: other psychosocial factors

Answer 22

A weakness of peer influence as an explanation for addictive behaviours is that it may be too simplistic in saying peers are the only social factor that influences the development of addictive behaviours.

Kimberly Kobus 2003: suggests we need to consider larger social contexts like family and neighbourhood.
There may be other processes involved such as conformity and social identity that are involved.

This weakens the explanation as it could be viewed as reductionist.

Question 23

briefly describe and evaluate 1 social psychological explanation of addictive behav (10)

methodological issues

Answer 23

A weakness of this explanation is its methodology. For example, defining peer relationships is very difficult, s friendship groups change over time and people may associate with different ppl for diff activities.

It may be that students are more accurate in their perception of their best friends drinking habits than they are others and therefore using the term peer influence is too broad.