Module 3 Flashcards
What is the most common application of VR in psychology?
The treatment of phobias and trauma symptoms through virtual exposure
What were the main findings of Serrano et al. (2016) on VR-Mood induced procedure study?
- After VR-MIP, for all participants, levels of relaxation increased and arousal decreased
- Relaxation levels after the VR-MIP were not significantly different between experimental groups ie. the stimulation of touch and/or smell does not appear to significantly improve the state of relaxation (however, there was a trend - “the groups whose sense of touch was stimulated seemed more relaxed”)
- After VR-MIP, for all, participants, levels of presence in the VE increased
- There were no significant differences found in presence related to the stimulation of touch and smell (however, there was a trend)
What is the Proteus effect?
When people infer their expected behaviours and attitudes from observing the digital representation of themself
What has research found people with more attractive and taller avatars do?
- People with more attractive avatars walk closer to and disclose more information to strangers
- People with taller avatars negotiate more aggressively
What are the 5 types of e-health application?
- Online support groups and health-related virtual communities
- Self-management/self-monitoring applications
- Decision aids
- Personal health records
- Internet use
What are the 3 types of attention that TALI trains?
- Attentional control
- Sustained attention
- Selective attention
Which TALI task showed the most promising results? What other aspect of learning did it improve?
The selective attention (fish) task was most effective. It lead to improved numeracy abilities over time
What kinds of things are the creators of Mood Mission measuring in their randomised controlled trial?
- Emotional self-awareness
- Mental health literacy
- Coping self-efficacy
- Emotional mental health (anxiety and depression)
- Well-being
What does it mean when a given treatment is described as ‘acceptable’?
When it is perceived as appropriate, fair, reasonable, and nonintrusive
What were the main findings of Wallin et al. (2016) study on the acceptability of internet interventions?
- Most participants preferred face-to-face treatment over internet treatment
- Participants that often used the internet for health info were three times more likely to prefer internet treatment
- Communicating with others online about health issues was not related to a preference for internet interventions
- People born outside Sweden were significantly more likely to prefer internet interventions
What percentage of kids that are bullied online are also bullied at school?
85%
What are some factors associated with victims of cyber-bullying?
- Anxiety
- Loneliness
- Somatic symptoms
- Suicide ideation
What are some of the factors associated with perpetrators of cyber-bullying?
- Delinquent behaviour
- Substance use
- Aggression
What are some of the factors associated with people who are both victims and perpetrators?
- Poor relationships with caregivers
- Conduct problems
- Depression
- Substance use
What is the main problem with studies that have looked at the relationship between cyber-bullying and health? Provide example. How can researchers overcome this limitation?
- These studies are correlational, so we cannot comment on causation eg: we don’t know if loneliness is a result of bullying, or if loneliness places someone at greater risk of being bullied.
- This can be overcome by doing longitudinal studies
According to the findings of Baldry et al. (2015), what are the risk factors associated with being a cyber-bully?
- Being male
- Low school commitment and achievement
- Use internet devices a lot
- Lack emotional and cognitive empathy
- Don’t have a great idea of themselves
- Impulsive
- Tend to break rules
- Involved in bullying at school
- Morally disengaged
According to the findings of Baldry et al. (2015), what are the risk factors associated with being a cyber-victim?
- Being female
- Low school achievement
- Online much more than non cyber-victims
- Lack social skills
- Poor self-esteem
- Depression, anxiety, anger and maladaptive behaviour symptoms
- Tend to be victimised at school, but also tend to be bullies and cyber-bullies
- Have parents with limited knowledge or control of child’s internet use
According to Baldry et al. (2015), what is the strongest risk factor associated with cyber-bullying?
School bullying
How much time per week do Australians spend on Facebook?
12.5 hours (approx half a day)
What percentage of adolescents and adults are classified as heavy users of social media in Australia?
56% adolescents
23% adults
With regards to social media, what is the displacement hypothesis?
Social media use displaces valuable time that people would otherwise spend with existing (more valuable) friends
With regards to social media, what is the stimulation hypothesis?
Social media use enhances the quality of existing friendships, and consequently, improves well-being
What did Valkenburg and Peter (2007) find regarding what people do with their time on social media?
Participants spent significantly more time private messaging existing friends, compared to public chat rooms
Explain the relationship between quality of friendships, time spent private messaging, and well-being
Quality of friendships mediates the relationship between time spent private messaging friends and well-being
What did Donchi and Moore (2004) find about gender differences in the benefits gained from social media use?
- Online friendships were associated with better well-being for girls, but the opposite was true for boys.
- A higher number of regular online friendships amongst boys was related to lower self-esteem and greater loneliness
Explain the relationship between high Facebook use, negative relationship outcomes, and conflict stemming from Facebook use, as found by Clayton et al. (2013).
Conflict stemming from Facebook use mediates the relationship between high Facebook use and negative relationship outcomes.
Explain the difference between bridging and bonding social capital.
- Bridging (heterogenous): weak ties, usually between ethnic and occupational groups, expands social horizons but does not provide much social support
- Bonding (homogenous): strong ties, usually between close friends and family, not different backgrounds but emotional support is provided
What were the main findings of Johnston et al. (2011) study on the association between Facebook use and social capital?
- Facebook use was positively associated with perceived bridging social capital
- Facebook use was positively associated with perceived bonding social capital
- However, Facebook had less of an impact on perceived bonding social capital (perhaps due to features of FB that encourage weak ties)
- The relationship between Facebook use and bridging social capital did not vary with different levels of self-esteem OR satisfaction with university life
- The relationship between Facebook use and bonding social capital did not vary with different levels of self-esteem OR satisfaction with university life
- Facebook use significantly predicted maintained social capital (this was the strongest correlation)
Therefore students seemed to use Facebook to maintain relationships and develop maintained social capital
With regards to Facebook use, what is the objective self-awareness theory (OSA)?
OSA says that Facebook use will lead to lower self-esteem, as being prone to self-evaluation as a result social standards and norms lowers self-esteem
With regards to Facebook use, what is the hyperpersonal model?
Hyperpersonal predicts that Facebook use will enhance self-esteem, as it gives users autonomy and control over how they present themselves
Discuss the effectiveness of VR exposure therapy
- promising results indicating better performance on behaviour assessments post treatment
- Similar results to conventional therapies on behavioural measures
- 30 mins in VR showed sig decrease in paranoia transferable to real world
What is the Brave Mind program and what can it be used to address?
- VR that recreates battlefield experiences
- Used to treat PTSD
What are some benefits of VR interventions?
- Can bring out emotions that can’t come out in other ways
- Use simulations that brings up the emotion (e.g., battlefront, flying) then teach ways to deal appropriately
- allows systematic desensitisation (vs. flooding)
- Allows therapist greater control over intensity and duration of experiences
- Advantages over imaginal techniques for those who have trouble confronting feared situation
- Enables context conditioning
What does the Virtually Better clinic treat?
- Everyday phobias such as fear of flying
Explain how VR can help with context conditioning
VR exposure to phobia/fear helpful in several ways:
- Habituation. Reactions decrease over time with exposure
- Extinction. Repeated exposure can weaken previously learned associations between feared object/situation and negative outcomes
- Emotional processing. Learn to attach new and more realistic belief to feared object/situation and become increasingly comfortable
- Self efficacy. Helps demonstrate to individual that they’re capable of confronting fears and managing feelings of anxiety
What was the first approximation of Virtual Environment to simulate various senses?
‘Sensorama’ in 1957 by Morton Helig.
- Consisted of a display enriched with objects from physical world (images, sounds, doors)
- Provided illusion of reality using 3D motion picture, with smell, sound and seat vibration or increasing sense of movement by blowing wind into users’ faces
Why are senses important in Virtual Environments?
The more senses that are stimulated, the higher the sense of presence especially when touch and hearing introduced
e.g. add a physical touch rather than a simulated hand
What is olfactory (smell) stimulation suggested to treat and why?
- PTSD
- Smell can influence emotional and affective response, facilitate real or increased sense of presence.
What are the strengths of online support groups and virtual communities?
- Empowerment
- Increased health outcomes
- Feelings of unity
- Less loneliness
- Anonymity
- Greater self disclosures
- Promotes honesty and understanding
What are the weaknesses of online support groups and virtual communities?
- Absence of visual, oral, and contextual signals
- Misunderstandings
- Impersonal and remote features of communication
- Potential for development of imprecise, dangerous/erroneous medical info
What are the strengths of self management and self monitoring?
- Greater QOL
- Fewer risk behaviours
- Fewer determinants of illness
- Self monitoring is feasible and acceptable by patients, nurses and practitioners
- Facilitates better awareness and adherence to guidelines
- Allows measurements for practitioner between visits
What are decision aids? What are their strengths?
Facilitate making decisions through information (benefits/risks) on options and outcomes relevant to health conditions
Strengths:
- Increased knowledge and agreement between values and choices
- Realistic expectations are met’
- Lower level of decisional conflict
- Encourages to be more active in decision-making
- Informs of alternative treatment choices
What are the weaknesses of decision aids?
Non-verbal prompts to convey info do not identify needs and requirements of individuals
What is a personal health record?
- Allows access, coordination and control of health info
- Combines data, knowledge and software tools
What are the strengths of personal health records?
- Motivates to become more involved in health care
- Assists with understanding instructions from practitioner, preventing medical mistakes
- Increased control over care
- Increased questions asked of practitioners
- Fewer geographical barriers to patient care
What are weaknesses of personal health records?
Concerns regarding value, privacy and security
What are concerns of people using the internet to acquire health information?
- Quality
- Quantity
- Completeness
- Accuracy
What are some benefits of wearable tech?
- Important in self managing and self monitoring
- Allows practitioners to look at fuller picture of patient’s health
- Better tailoring of diagnoses and treatments
- Real time
What is TALI?
- Tablet technology that assists children with developmental disabilities in attention training
- Born from gaming tech
- Increases attention in kids aged 4-8 by focusing on strengthening and profiling underlying attention processes
- Allows identification of individual strengths and weaknesses
- Can also be used by neurotypical children
What is Mood Mission?
- A mobile app that addresses both low mood and anxiety
- Give distress ratings and app will suggest 5 things you can do tailored to you
What are some e-health service considerations?
- Is it a good fit?
- Any regulations or legal requirements?
- Etiquette of use e.g. camera and mic placement
- Security and storage of data
- Procedures for handling emergencies
What are two competing theoretical perspectives of self-esteem?
- Objective Self Awareness Theory (OSA). People make self evaluations based on broader social standards
- Hyperpersonal Model (HM). People devise self-concept from information they self-select to present online
What did Gonzalez & Handcock find re: self esteem and Facebook use?
What is a criticism of this research?
- Participants who updated and viewed their own profile reported higher SE (supporting HM)
- Suggested FB activates and reinforces ‘ideal’ self as opposed to harming the actual self
Criticism:
-Did not consider how often FB used.
Is self esteem higher or lower amongst those addicted to FB?
Lower in addicted persons vs intense/ordinary use
What did Hana et.al. (2017) find FB is associated with?
- Higher social comparison and self objectification
- Lower self esteem
What are the 2 classes of social capital?
- Cognitive. Linked to personal aspects e.g. beliefs, values, norms, attitudes. By product of cultural norms
- Structural. Outwardly visible features e.g. patters of social engagement, density of networks.
What is the potential result of low social capital in the community?
- Associated with more social disorder, high distrust
What are some negative factors of social capital?
- Can lead to development of hate groups
- Strong ties between group members can lead to outsiders’ exclusion
- Participation generally dictates certain conformity restricting individual freedom
- Individual successes undermine group cohesion
With regard to repeated actions, what is argued to be enough in the case of cyberbullying?
- 2 experiences
- Due to remaining online, prolonging harm
Regarding cyberbullying, what are static risk factors?
- Cannot change them
- Age, gender, prior involvement in bullying
Regarding cyberbullying, what are dynamic factors?
- Change with time or as consequence of an intervention
- School policies, parental supervision, academic achievement
What are the cyberbullying risk factor levels according to Ecological Framework?
- Individual level (ontogenetic) e.g. use of tech, hours, self esteem, empathy etc.
- Interpersonal (microsystem). Comprised of family & peers.
- Community/School (mesosystem). e.g. school climate, policies, programs
- Societal/cultual (macrosystem) e.g. cultual norms re violence
What is the role inversion hypothesis?
Those bullied also bully others
Explain Psychoanalytic Theory in regards to fame
Freud argued artists’ motivated by fame, wealth, love. Culture created to keep minds off sex.
Explain Personality Theory in regards to fame
Drive to succeed (type A), tendency to take risks, ability to easily read situations and improvise when planning fails
Explain the Developmental Theory of fame
Social class is a predictor of fame. However, evidence adversity in early life can play a role
What are the 2 forms of narcissism?
- Grandiose (overt). Most familiar, extroversion, dominance, status, pursue attention and power. Correlates positively to SE
- Vulnerable/hypersensitive (covert). Quiet and reserved but strong sense of entitlement. Easily threatened. Dark side shows over longer term. Correlates negatively to SE
In terms of selfies, what did narcissism predict?
- Intention to post and frequency
- No age association
- However, posting may be a manifestation of more adaptive self-enhancement forms of narcissism rather than socially noxious tendencies
- Effect was reinforcing. Increasing numbers of selfies appears to raise narcissism levels
