LEARNING - KEY QUESTION

Question 1

what is the learning key question?

Answer 1

is the influence of role models/celebrities something that causes anorexia?

Question 2

AO1:

Answer 2

what is AN? what are the symptoms?
->believing you’re fat when you’re a healthy weight or underweight
->physical problems like feeling lightheaded/dizzy, hair loss, dry skin
->period stopping (in older women) or not starting (in younger girls)

what are some long-term effects of this disorder? what are the death rates?
->long-term effects include: hormones and growth problems, heart problems, neurological problems
->AN has the highest mortality rate for any mental illness, with 20% of all ED cases ending in death
->the mortality rate is 5.9% and female victims have a 12x higher likelihood of death

what is the social norm for body image in Western society?
->TV and media has normalised an unhealthy weight

where is help available?
->there is not enough help available
->the NHS provide help, but the wait time is around 2 years, which can be fatal

why is this question important to the individual and society?
->so we can learn how to effectively treat and prevent it, especially as AN has the highest mortality rate for mental illnesses

Question 3

AO2:

Answer 3

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY:
->who would be the role model & why?
–>celebrities and fashion models
–>they promote Western/modern culture standards
–>they have fame, adoration, etc

->how would the 4 stages apply to this behaviour?
–>attention: social media (is always active)
–>retention: mental image, body shape, steps to get there (latest diet trend etc)
–>motor reproduction: self efficacy, belief in ability to look like their role model
–>motivation: motivation can be internal (joy from praise) or external (praise), or vicarious (watching role model get praise)

->how can we apply vicarious reinforcement to AN?
–>celebs get attention and are rewarded for how they look, so victims think if they look the same then they will gain the same rewards

OPERANT CONDITIONING:
->what would be positive reinforcement for AN?
–>being complimented that they look good or “skinny”
–>moving up social status (maybe they were bullies before)

->what would be negative reinforcement for AN?
->staying away from food decreases their anxiety
–>removal of negative comments (being “skinny” is praised)

Question 4

AO3:

Answer 4

RESEARCH TO SUPPORT: Fear (1999)
->found a sudden increase in EDs among teenage girls in Fiji, which is thought to be linked to the arrival of TV in 1995. Since then, there was a sharp rise in indicators of disordered eating. 74% of Fijian teen girls reported feeling “too big” or “fat” in a1998 survey (conducted 38 months after the one TV station began broadcasting)
–>traditionally, Fijians have preferred a “robust, well-muscled” body for both genders

RESEARCH AGAINST: Eysenck and Flanagan (2000)
->they pointed out that, whilst virtually all young women are exposed to the same role models in media, only 3-4% develop an ED. This means that the learning approach cannot explain individual differences; if most people in Western culture are exposed to the same role models, why does the whole population not develop EDs?
–>therefore, other factors must be involved

ALTERNATE THEORY: biological approach
->there is evidence that AN could be passed on through genetics. Holland (1984) looked at 34 pairs of twins and found that in each case (either MZ or DZ) at least one twin had a diagnosis of AN
–>researchers found that 9/16 MZ twins showed concordance, and 1/14 DZ twins showed concordance, suggesting that there is a genetic element to AM

APPLICATION:
->it is important that we understand the causes of AN in order to understand how to effectively treat it,
–>eg. we use TEPs to make positive reinforcement (OC)
–>we also know that we should prevent edited images in media as it promotes an unrealistic, unattainable standard