Learning Flashcards
What was the key question in learning psychology?
To what extent do role models in the media influence anorexia
What are the AO1 skills being assessed in the learning key question?
AO1- Describe what anorexia is (symptoms), who it affects (statistics) and why anorexia is a key issue.
What are the AO2 skills being assessed in the learning key question?
AO2- Application of Operant, Classical and Social Learning theories to explain anorexia.
What are the AO3 skills being assessed in the learning key question?
AO3- Strengths and weaknesses of the learning theories to explain anorexia i.e. can other theories explain it better? Do we have any supporting or conflicting research?
AO1: In 2023/2024 how many people in the UK were affected by an eating disorder?
Between 1.25 and 3.4 million people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder (75% female)
AO1: Which age group are most commonly affected by an eating disorder
Eating disorders are most common in people between the ages of 16 and 40 years old
AO1: True or false - Eating disorders have the highest mortality rates among psychiatric disorders
True
AO1: True or false Anorexia nervosa has the lowest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder in adolescence
False - it has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder in adolescence
AO1: What are some of the long term complications with eating disorders?
Anorexia has long term implications for a sufferers such as disruption to menstrual cycle, tiredness and physical pain
AO1: What is the recovery rate?
70% recover within 10 years
AO1: What BMI does a sufferer of anorexia fall to?
anorexia is diagnosed when BMI falls below 17.5
AO1: What cognitive distortions does a person with anorexia have?
Distorted self perception of body shape & overemphasis of its importance for self-esteem
AO1: Give some symptoms of a person with anorexia has
Hair loss
Dizziness and headaches
Frequent sore throats and/or swollen glands
Low blood pressure
Loss of menstrual cycle and infertility
Constipation or incontinence
AO2: How can classical conditioning explain how the media affects eating disorders?
Advertisers use classical conditioning to associate thinness/fashion with fame and popularity which
encourages weight loss and reduced BMI.
AO2: How can operant conditioning explain how the media affects eating disorders?
Operant conditioning suggests if someone is complimented on initial weight loss they would continue
losing weight and this makes them ill.
AO2: How can social learning theory explain how the media affects eating disorders?
Celebrities and models are used to advertise products such as fashionable clothing so individuals will
observe and imitate these role models.
AO2: How can vicarious reinforcement (from social learning theory) explain how the media affects eating disorders?
Vicarious reinforcement - the models get lots of attention and praise for their looks which motivates the person with an eating disorder to reduce their body mass in order to achieve this figure
AO3: How can Bandura 1961 support the argument that role models in the media may cause eating disorders?
Bandura (1961)
Found that children will imitate aggressive role models when given the opportunity. Also found that boys imitate boys and girls imitate girls. Therefore it is credible that young boys and girls may copy
AO3: How can Bandura 1965 support the argument that role models in the media may cause eating disorders?
Bandura (1965) -
The children, especially girls, who saw the model being punished showed lower imitated aggression towards the bobo doll. This supports the idea that vicarious reinforcement has an impact on imitative behaviour. Therefore it is credible that this could also lead to eating disorders being reinforced vicariously.
AO3: AO3: How can Becker support the argument that role models in the media may cause eating disorders?
Becker (2002)
Increase in eating disorders in Fiji with the introduction of American television programmes, which emphasise a westernised idealised body shape.
AO3: What did Holland 1984 find which may in fact suggest that eating disorders are biological?
Holland et al (1984)
High concordance rates of Anorexia were found for MZ female twins – 55% compared to 7% for DZ female pairs.
AO3: How can operant conditioning fail to explain eating disorders?
Does not help explain why that so many anorexics continue to starve themselves when they no longer receive praise and compliments about their size – it could be about the attention that they receive that’s reinforcing being anorexic.
What is the aim of your learning practical?
To conduct an observation into males and females behaviour on public transport (comparing ‘good manners’ against
‘bad manners’) using a covert, non-participant observation
What is the null hypothesis of your learning practical?
Null hypothesis: There will be no difference in the number of polite and rude behaviour seen by males and females
on public transport to and from college during morning and evening rush hour (approximated 20m journeys)
What is the alternative hypothesis of your learning practical?
Alternative hypothesis (One-tailed): Males will show more polite and less rude behaviours than females on public
transport to and from college during morning and evening rush hour (approximated 20m journeys).
What was the sample of your learning practical? CONTEXT
Sample: Opportunity sampling gathering 100 participants gathered from public transport to and from college during
morning and evening rush hour (approximated 20m journeys).
What type of observation did you complete for your learning practical?
Naturalistic, participant, covert
How did you collect quantitative data in your learning practical?
We created a coding scheme which identified good manners i.e. putting your bag under your seat, saying excuse me and bad manners i.e. putting your feet on a chair or standing in the way of the doors when people are trying to get one.
We sat on the metro and recorded the number of behaviours we saw in other passengers during rides we tallied the number of behaviours based on a pre-set coding scheme
How did you collect qualitative data in your learning practical?
We gathered qualitative data in this study by noting down phrases people were saying when they were talking loudly or making a note on what types of music people were listening too if their headphones were too loud.
What was the method of your learning practical?
We created a coding scheme which identified good manners i.e. putting your bag under your seat, saying excuse me and bad manners i.e. putting your feet on a chair or standing in the way of the doors when people are trying to get one.
We piloted the study first to ensure inter-rater reliability and then sat on the metro every morning in pairs for a week keeping track of when males and females showed these behaviours.
We recorded the first behaviour that we saw from our coding scheme and then didn’t count any others to ensure it was nominal data
We sat on the metro and recorded the number of behaviours we saw in other passengers during rides we tallied the number of behaviours based on a pre-set coding scheme
How did you analyse the quantitative data from your learning practical?
We calculated the chi squared formula for these results.
How did you analyse the qualitative data from your learning practical?
We noted down other qualitative data during the observation and read through the notes looking for themes in the data.
We also identified themes from the qualitative data using a simple thematic analysis.
What were the results from your learning practical? (remember that you can make the number up)
The results showed 30 rude males, 20 polite, 16 rude females, 34 polite. We calculated a chi-squared value of 4.68 therefore the results are significant as this value exceeds the critical value of 2.71 p>0.05
What did we conclude from our learning practical?
There is a significant difference between males and females and the number of rude manners shown on public transport in rush hour as the calculated value exceeds the critical value at 1 d.f. and p>0.05(x^2 = 4.68, CV = 2.71)
AO3: Give two strengths of the sample of your learning practical
Large sample of commuters which increases the generalisability. This makes the results about politeness more
representative of a wider population
* Males and females as we were looking at gender’s impact on rudeness which increases the generalisability. This
makes the results about politeness more representative of a wider population
AO3: Give two weaknesses of the sample of your learning practical
thnocentric all from the north east so their politeness is not generalisable. This means their results about rude and
politeness is not generalizable and might not represent a wider population
* Opportunity sampling (on public transport) means they all share characteristics in their polite/rude behaviour so it
isn’t generalisable. This means their results about rude and politeness is not generalizable and might not represent a
wider population
AO3: Give two strengths on the reliability of your learning practical.
There was high inter-rater reliability as we completed the observation in pairs and agreed on the rude and polite behaviours. This is
good as we were able to check the results against that of another person to see if we had scored them the same
* Standardised coding scheme- what the rude and polite behaviours were. This makes the study easier to repeat
AO3: Give two strengths of the validity of your learning practical
This study has high ecological validity as they were going about their normal morning/evening routine on public
transport. This means the results we gained about politeness and rudeness can be applied to behaviour in everyday
life
* The study is low demand characteristics since covert and the commuters didn’t know we were observing their
positive and negative behaviours. This means that they wouldn’t change their rude/politeness because they knew
they were being studied which makes the results gained more valid.
AO3: Give a strength in regards to the ethics in your learning practical
no harm as we simply observed their polite and rude behaviours and didn’t impact on them. This makes the study
ethical as it didn’t break the ethical guideline of harm
AO3: Give two weaknesses about the validity of your learning practical
Extraneous variables such as mood and what day they’ve had may effect results more than gender. This means the results about how
gender impacts on politeness might not be valid because it is this other factor which is influencing it
* May miss behaviours when noting things down/only counting the person once (which means if they show a rude
behaviour followed by 2 polite ones, the polite wasn’t counted). This means the results about the
rudeness/politeness might not be accurate as it was incorrectly recorded.
AO3: Give two reasons why the learning practical may not have been ethical
No consent was gained from the commuters making it unethical. This is because they didn’t know they were taking part in an observation of their rude and polite behaviours.
* No withdrawal was gained from the commuters making it unethical. This is because they didn’t know they were
taking part in an observation of their rude and polite behaviours so couldn’t opt to have their results removed/not be
observed.
Systematic Desensitisation is based on which theory?
Classical Conditioning
What is it called when you replace one learned response with another?
Counter conditioning
What is reciprocal inhibition?
You cannot be both scared and relaxed at the same time
How does the main process of this treatment work?
You create a hierarchy of fears and work from the bottom up using relaxation techniques
What are you taught during this therapy?
Relaxation techniques
How does the treatment work?
You start at the bottom of the hierarchy and practice your relaxation technique to relax before moving up
What is the first step of systematic desensitisation?
Functional analysis
What is the second step of Systematic desensitisation?
Creating a fear hierarchy
What is the third step of Systematic desensitisation?
Relaxation techniques
What is the fourth step of Systematic desensitisation?
Gradual exposure
Functional analysis means?
Identifying which things about the phobic stimulus trigger your fears
Creating a fear hierarchy means?
You put the details about your fears from lowest to highest
Relaxation techniques means?
You are taught deep breathing or muscle relaxation etc
Gradual exposure means?
You start at the bottom of the hierarchy and practice your relaxation technique to relax before moving up
What would be the UCS in this therapy?
The relaxation techniques
What would be the UCR/CR in this therapy?
Relaxation
What would be the NS in this therapy?
The phobic stimulus
What happens to the phobia by the end?
It goes extinct
What is a benefit of Flooding over Systematic desensitisation?
It is quicker/takes less time
What is a benefit of Systematic Desensitisation over Flooding?
It is more ethical as it is more gradual so doesn’t cause as much panic/anxiety
What did Willis and Edwards find?
compared SD and flooding to treat mice phobics and found SD to be more effective (flooding no better than no therapy)
What did McGrath find?
It is 75% effective in treating people with specific phobias i.e. of objects
What did Gilroy find?
When examine three months and 33 months later, the systematic desensitisation group were less fearful than a control group (who were only taught relaxation techniques).
What did Capfons find?
has shown that it can be used to get rid of fear of flying. (The results showed all but two those who had systematic desensitization treatment reported lower levels of fear)
What is an issue with this therapy?
It Is prolonged and can take a long time to complete
What can happen with the phobia after the treatment?
Spontaneous recovery- it comes back
What types of phobias might this have a bigger issue with dealing?
Social phobias/ones not caused by classical conditioning
Aim
They wanted to see if people who were exposed to western media were influences in their eating behaviours
What was the sample in Becker?
63 & 65 17 year old girls from the island of Fiji
What design is Becker’s study
Independent measures
What years did the study take place in?
95 & 98
Why did they wait 3 years between legs of their study?
To see the effects before and after TV exposure
What measures were done on the girls?
EAT-26, BMI, questions about TV ownership
What was involved in the EAT-26 questionnaire?
26 questions including short answer and long answer qualitative data
What was considered a high score on EAT-26
20
What happened to the girls who scored highly on EAT-26?
They were given semi-structured interviews about things like self-induced vomitting
What were the results between EAT-26 scores between the two years?
Those scoring highly (over 20) increased from 12.7% to 29.2%
What happened to rates of self-induced vomitting?
They increased from 0% to 11.3%
What result did we see about those with a TV in 1998?
3 times as likely to have a score over 20
What % felt ‘too big’ or ‘too fat’?
74%
What % felt TV had influenced a change in body shape in themselves or a friend?
77%
What are weaknesses with the sample of Becker?
It is Ethnocentic and Gynocentric as it is all girls from Fiji
Is this study reliable?
Yes- because the procedure and questionnaire is largely standardised so you could repeat it with the same stimulus etc
Becker is high or low in ecological validity?
High in ecological validity because their exposure to TV and their lives were in the real world so this is like real life
What is a problem using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews?
Social desirability/Demand Characteristics as they might lie about their resposnes on such a sensitive topic/guess the purpose
Why is this study ethical?
The TV exposure is naturally occurring and therefore the researchers are not responsible, It got consent both from the teens and their parents
What is a problem with the validity of Becker’s study?
There are other EVs like consumerism that might have interfered not just TV
What is an issue with semistructured interviews in Becker?
The semi-structured interviews make the study less reliable as different girls could get asked different questions
What is an issue with the design of Becker?
This is an independent measures design so there could be differences between the groups of girls which could influence the results about eating behaviour
Flooding is based on which theory?
Classical Conditioning
What is reciprocal inhibition?
You cannot be scared and relaxed at the same time
How does the main process of this treatment work?
You are put into a situation with the phobic stimulus you cannot escape from
What happens when you’re in the situation you cannot escape from?
You go into a panicked state via sympathetic nervous system but cannot maintain this and must calm down eventually
What would be the UCS in this therapy?
Exhaustion from the fear
What would be the UCR/CR in this therapy?
Relaxation
What would be the NS in this therapy?
the phobic stimulus
What happens to the phobia by the end?
It goes extinct
What is a benefit of Flooding over Systematic desensitisation?
It is quicker/takes less time
What is a benefit of Systematic Desensitisation over Flooding?
It is more ethical as it is more gradual so doesn’t cause as much panic/anxiety