Paper 1 - Psychology Flashcards
Social Influence, Memory, Psychopathology, Attachement, Research Methods
1
Q
Define compliance.
A
A person’s public behavior changes due to group pressure but does not change their personal beliefs.
2
Q
Define identification.
A
A person’s public behavior changes when they want to be liked by a group, but only changes their personal beliefs in the group’s presence.
3
Q
Define internalisation.
A
A person’s public behavior changes when they accept the group opinion as their own, changing their personal beliefs.
4
Q
What is the difference between informative and normative social influence?
A
Informative social influence is when a person conforms because they believe the group is correct, while normative social influence is when a person conforms to be accepted or liked by the group.
5
Q
Lucas’s Mathematical Self-Efficacy Study.
A
Informative - 45 high MSE and 42 low PPTs read aloud their answers after hearing three responses from CONs. All PPTs resisted conformity when the task difficulty was low, but the low MSE gp conformed 50% more in the critical trials.
6
Q
Asch’s Line Study.
A
Normative - 50 male PPTs sat 6th in gp of CONs and were asked to match the line to the standard line. Each PPT completed 18 trials, and CONs gave the incorrect answer of 12. 32% (1/3) gave the wrong answer even when compromising the truth.
7
Q
Asch’s Line Study - Variations
A
Increased group size up to three CONs, increases conformity.
The presence of another disenterner enables PPTs to defy group norms.
Increased task difficulty, increased conformity.
8
Q
What is obedience?
A
A form of social influence where an individual follows a direct order or command from an authority figure.
9
Q
Zimbardo’s Prison Study.
A
24 male volunteer PTTs were accessed psychological and physicians before being assigned randomly to the role of guard or prisoner. Prisoners were taken from their homes and blindfolded by a real police officer and taken to the basement of the Stanford psychological department, which had been set up by the guards.
10
Q
Zimbardo’s Prison Study - Issues
A
Low ecological validity - Real guards would have been given a code of conduct; without it, the PPTs could act in extreme ways. They were also paid $15.00 for 2 weeks.
Demand characteristics - One guard claimed to base his role on Cool Hand Luke. However, the prisoners rioted like real prisoners would.
11
Q
Zimbardo’s Prison Study - Unethical
A
Prisoners were taken from their homes, and they believed they could not leave. Prisoner 8612 acted crazy to get out, and Prisoner 416 starved himself in permanent isolation.
12
Q
Zimbardo’s Prison Study - Ethical
A
PPTs knew they were taking part in the study, which gave the researcher informed consent as they volunteered. The Ethics Committee gave its approval to conduct the experiment, and they said the PPTs had the right to withdraw at any time.
13
Q
Milgram’s Obedience Experiment.
A
Volunteer PPTs from Yale were instructed by an experimenter (CON) to shock the learner (CON) to increase learning, and the shock was tested on the PPTs at 45 volts (Shocks were fake to the learner). At 300 volts, the learner would bang on the wall, but the PPTs were encouraged to continue to 450 volts. Despite the warning marked at 420 volts, 65% continued and 5/40 stopped at 300 volts.
14
Q
Milgram’s Obedience Experiment - Variations
A
Increased proximity, decreased obedience by 40%.
Physical contact decreased obedience to 30%.
The absence of the experimenter decreased obedience to 20% (1/5).
Location (Rundown Offices), decreased obedience to less than 50%.
15
Q
Milgram’s Obedience Experiment - Issues
A
Low ecological validity - PPTs may have placed the responsibility of their action on to the researcher, and they were paid $4.00.
Low generalizability - All male sample. Androcentic not representing women presents a beta bias.
16
Q
Milgram’s Obedience Experiment - Unethical
A
PPTs were deceived four times: aim of study, precence of confederates, fake shocks and the distress of the leaner. Three men had seizures, and two continued with the experiment.
17
Q
Milgram’s Obedience Experiment Ethical
A
PPTs gave informed consent by volunteering. The Ethics Committee gave its approval to conduct the experiment, and they said the PPTs had the right to withdraw, even though this wasn’t easy with the prods.
18
Q
Define agentic state.
A
When an individual feels no personal responsibility for their actions because they believe themselves to be acting for an authority figure, freeing them from the demands of their conscious.
19
Q
Define autonomous state.
A
When an individual feels they are free to act according to their own principles and are responsible for the consequence of their actions.
20
Q
Define authoritarian personality.
A
An individual who is highly obedient and has a conformist mindset, often showing submission to authority, hostility toward subordinates and security in their opinions.
21
Q
Rotter’s Locus of Control
(Holland found that external locus of control PPTs were more likely to continue to 450 volts)
A
High internal locus of control means that an individual believes they have control of the events in their life, making them less obedient because they have high confidence and a positive outlook.
External locus of control means that an individual believes they have no control of the events in their life, making them more obedient because they have a stronger need to be a part of the majority.
22
Q
Mosscovici’s Majority Influence Study
A
172 Female PPTs were put into groups of six, including two CONs, and viewed 36 blue slides of varying shades. The consistent condition had the CONs say all slides were green. The inconsistent condition had them say 24 green, 12 blue. There were higher rates of conformity in the consistent group.
23
Q
Six Stages of Social Change
A
Drawing Attention
Consistency
Deeper Processing
Augmentation Principle - The minority shows they’re willing to suffer or sacrifice for their cause, boosting their credibility (e.g., arrests, hunger strikes).
Snowball Effect - More people adopt the minority view until it becomes the majority view.
Social Cryptoamnesia - Society accepts and remembers the change but can’t remember how it happened.
24
Q
Multi-Store Memory Model (MSM) by Atkinson and Shiffrin
A
This model describes memory as consisting of three stores: the sensory register, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
25
The Sensory Register
This register info from stimulus. Spirling's pictorial flash showed that it has a large capacity and a duration of 1/2 second.
26
Short-Term Memory
Hold info in current conscious thought. Jacob's female digit span test showed the capacity is 7 ± 2 items. Perterson interval recall test showed the duration is 18-30 seconds without rehearsal. Baddeley's cat, sat, mat, rat list showed that the info is coded acoustically.
27
Long-Term Memory
Stores unlimited info for the duration of a life, which was discovered by Bahrick when he asked people to recall classmates 15/45 years after graduation. Baddeley's large, big, great, huge list showed that the info is coded semantically.
28
Case of HM Supporting the Multi-Store Memory Model
Milner reported the case of HM, who had brain surgery removing part of his temporal lobe (hippocampus), which resulted in memory problems. He could recall his early life but not 10 years before surgery. He repeatedly read the same magazine.
29
Tulving's Types of Long-Term Memory
Declarative - Episodic memory (Right Prefrontal) is the memory of personal experiences and specific events, while semantic memory (Left Prefrontal) is the memory of facts and general knowledge.
Non-Declarative - Procedural memory is the memory store for skills and actions (Basal Ganglia).
30
Case of Dr.S Supporting the Types of Long-Term Memory
Butterworth described the case of DR. S, a neurologist who fell while skiing. It was shown by using a PET scan that his procedural memory (skied down the mountain) was intact, but his episodic memory was damaged (lost the past 25 years of his life as he could not recognise his wife and younger colleagues). This supported that the memory stores are individual from each other and reconfirmed Tulving’s locations of the memory stores.
31
The Working Memory Model (WMM) by Baddeley and Hitch
This is an updated model of how the brain processes memory centralised around the functions of the STM.
32
Central Executive
Manages/controls what goes on in the system, hence the name 'Slave System.' It has a limited Capacity and is coded modality free.
33
The Phonological Loop (Phonological Store and Articulatory Control)
This component has a limited capacity and is an auditory store which rehearses sound-based information to prevent the rapid decay of information.
Phonological Store: This store is often referred to as the inner ear and deals with perceptions of sound (speech).
Articulatory Control: This system links to speech production, often referred to as the inner voice. It is a sub-verbal rehearsal system which is used to prevent the decay of verbal material by repeating it until used with a duration of two seconds.
34
The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (Dual Task Performance)
This component is referred to as the inner eye. For example, recreating a mental sum or map in our mind.
Dual Task Performance: PPTs were asked to complete a verbal reasoning task while repeating a sequence of digits. As the number of digits increased, response time slowed, but accuracy remained stable. This supports the model of the working memory with multiple individual components having a limited capacity.
35
Episodic Buffer
This component was added in 2000 to account for the interference between STM + LTM. It has a limited Capacity and is coded modality free.
36
Case of KF Supporting The Working Memory Model
Shalice and Warrington presented the case of KF, who was in a bike accident which caused brain damage to his short-term memory in the phonological loop – unable to recall information linked to sound – but the visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS) was intact – could process visual information. This shows supporting evidence of Independent stores in the STM.
37
Retroactive Interference
This is when new information affects the old information in the Long-term memory.
McGeoch and McDonald tested individual groups of participants to see how many words they could remember from the old list of 10 words after they were given a new list of words. The most similar lists of words were recalled the worst, which shows that interference is strongest when memories are similar.
38
Proactive Interference
This is when old information affects new information.
Keppel and Underwood presented repeat participants with meaningless three letter trigrams at different intervals (3, 6, 9 secs). Participants typically remembered the trigrams that were presented first showing that new memories are interfered with due to similar information presented.
39
Leading Question
Loftus and Palmer did a study where all student PPTs were made to watch a series of car crashes and were then asked, “How fast were the cars going when they … into each other?” For each question, a different verb was added, and they found that the estimated speed was affected by the verb used. Smashed = average of 40.5mph and contacted = average of 31.8mph. Clearly shows that one word can significantly affect the accuracy of the EWT.
40
Post-Event Discussion
Gabbert had 60 students and 60 older adults from the local community watch a film of a woman stealing money from a wallet. There were two groups that each had a different point of view for the film so when they discussed their information would affect each other. PPT’s then filled a questionnaire and 60% said the woman was guilty dissipate not seeing the woman commit the crime. Memory conformity occurred as the EWT was affected.
41
Negative Effect of Anxiety on Recall
Johnson and Scott experimented to see the negative effect of anxiety on EWT – PPTs either witnessed the target leaving with a greasy pen or a letter opener in a rush, then we are then asked to ID the target from 50 images. 33% correctly ID the target with a letter opener showing that anxiety has a negative effect on EWT.
42
Positive Effect of Anxiety on Recall
Yuille and Cutshall experimented to see the positive effects of anxiety on EWT – witnesses to a shooting came back 5 months later and recalled the event with slight changes to the accuracy. This shows that it can have a positive effect on EWT.
43
Cognitive Interview (CI) by Fisher
Reinstate the context - This is when the witness needs to return to the environment in which the event occurred in their mind by thinking back to before and after the event – recalling feelings, mood, what and where.
Report everything - This is when the witness must recall everything, even details that may seem unimportant or irrelevant.
Change the order - This is when the Witness is asked to recall events out of chronological order. This ensures that the witness is not skipping details which may be important and may help to fill in any gaps in the story.
Change perspective - The witness may be asked to think what another observer would recall of the event or asked to consider the events from another point of view.
44
Cognitive Interview (CI) by Fisher Experiment
Fisher showed 89 participants a police training film of simulated violent crimes. 48 hours (about 2 days) after the witnesses viewed the film, they were interviewed to see what they could recall. They were either interviewed using the cognitive interview standardized police interviews or hypnosis. Fisher found that the cognitive interview had the most accurate recall, then hypnosis and then standardized police interviews. The standard interviews were worse because of the repeated focus on recalling key information without retrieval aids.
45
Meltzoff Reciprocity Expressions
Reciprocity: Behaviour is matched, like smiling back when someone smiles at you - a conversation.
12 babies aged 16-21 days (about 3 weeks) old were exposed to three different facial expressions, and their responses were recorded to be analyzed by an independent observer. The results showed that babies can imitate facial expressions, showing it serves as an important building block to development.
46
Giselle's Still Face Paradigm to Measure Interactional Synchrony
Interactional Synchrony: Behaviour becomes synchronized so that they are in direct response to one another, like a dance.
A mother stares at her infant between two periods of normal interaction. Infants decrease smiling and can become very upset at mothers.
47
Stages of Attachment by Schaffer and Emerson
Asocial (0-6 weeks) – Responds the same to objects and people, preferring eyes and faces.
Indiscriminate attachments (2-6 months) – Able to distinguish between people over objects but comfortable with anyone caring for them.
Specific attachments (7-12 months) – Look for a specific person for safety, security and comfort, showing separation anxiety to PCG.
Multiple attachments (12+ months) – Attachment behaviours are displayed to many people.
48
The Role of Father by Fields
The aim was to investigate if there was a difference in the role of a father as the PCG than 2ndCG. He filmed babies' interactions for 4 months with father PCG, mother PCG, and father 2ndCG. Results showed that fathers engaged in more play as well as smiling and held their infants less, but it does not seem to be a fixed role.
49
Lorenz Gosling's Imprinting
Half the goslings which imprinted with Lorenz followed him even when they were placed under a box with the other goslings and the mother. Once they were released, the incubator followed Lorenz with no bond to the mother. Lorenz found that imprinting would occur between a few hours of birth, 4-25 hours, and the effects would be permanent.
Kendrick reared infant sheep with goats, presenting comparable results to the gosling study as their sexual preferences were also altered. The goslings would attempt to mate with humans as adult birds, which was similarly found in the male sheep kept in mixed flocks for three years.
50
Harlow's Monkey Privation Experiment
Four monkeys were given milk from a wire mother and four from a cloth mother. Despite being fed by the wire mother, both groups spent more time with the cloth mother and would only go to the wire mother if hungry. Once fed, they would return to the cloth mother for comfort. This is similarly presented when the infant is placed under stress. The infants were presented with a loud moving toy and went back to the cloth mother for comfort.
Klaus and Kemell found that mothers in hospitals given more skin-to-skin contact with their newborns often showed a stronger attachment. This shows that contact comfort is more important in attachment than the provision of food.
51
What is learning theory, and how does it relate to the development of attachments?
Babies learn to form attachments through nurturing. An example of positive reinforcement would be if an infant feels hungry and discomfort, she cries, causing the mother (PCG) to remove the discomfort by feeding the child. An example of negative reinforcement would be if the mother is distressed by hearing her baby cry, so she decides to remove this discomfort by feeding the child.
Evidence that opposes this theory is presented in children who show a strong attachment towards parents who have been very cruel to them. Similarly, Harlow's study contradicts the learning theory as it shows that monkey infants prefer contact comfort from the surrogate mother over nourishment.
52
What are the four types of attachment identified by Ainsworth?
Ainsworth found that 70% of American infants presented a type B secure attachment, 15% of American infants presented type A insecure-avoidant attachment, and 15% of American infants presented type C insecure-resistant attachment.
53
What is the strange situation?
The caregiver and infant enter the room.
While the infant plays, the parents sit to observe the secure-based behaviour.
A stranger enters the room and speaks to the caregiver. This presents stranger anxiety.
The caregiver leaves the room, and the stranger says to offer comfort to the infant, presenting separation anxiety.
The caregiver re-enters the room, and the stranger leaves to observe the reunion behaviour.
The caregiver leaves the infant alone in the room, which will present separation anxiety.
The stranger enters the room to offer comfort, presenting stranger anxiety.
The Caregiver returns and offers comfort to observe the reunion behaviour.
54
What is the concept of 'monotropy' in Bowlby's attachment theory?
The idea that infants form one primary attachment figure that is more important than others.
55
Internal Working Model (IWM)
A mental blueprint for what we believe relationships are like and influences our experiences and perceptions of others.
56
Van Ijzendoorn Cultural Variations in Attachment
Meta-analysis - The most common type of attachment presented in all countries examined is the secure attachment type B. The country that presents the highest insecure-avoidant attachment Type A is Germany at 35. This means that this country promotes independence in their infants. The country that presents the highest rate of attachment C insecure-resistant is Japan at 27. This shows that Japanese infants are rarely separated from their mothers, and they are hardly ever left alone with strangers.
Disproportional data - There are 18 studies from the US but only one from China. This means that there is a cultural bias towards US customs as they are the main comparison. This proposes an ethic - suggesting that there is a universal rule that applies to all cultures. However, this is unlikely, and a more accurate conclusion would be an emic - a unique rule for a specific culture.
57
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation: 44 Thieves Study
He interviewed 88 children (44 were juvenile thieves, and 44 were a control group) from a child guidance clinic assessing childhood separation from the mother and signs of affectionless psychopathy.
14 of the 44 thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths, and 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers before the age of 5.
This is an over-simplification of separation, as the nature and consequences must be considered. There are many ways in which deprivation may occur, like death, hospitalization or divorce, all having different effects on the infant.
58
Rutter's Romanian Orphan Study
165 orphans from Romania were tracked longitudinally to see how they formed attachments after experiencing privation. 54 of the infants were adopted after the age of 2 and experienced mental deficiencies, and delayed language and physical development like stunted growth. Whereas those adopted earlier quickly caught up with the British children. These findings support the idea of Bowlby’s critical period, as those who did not form an attachment in this period never seemed to recover properly.
The results of these findings are limited in generalizability due to the atypical sample of extreme privation. This research is also reductionist as the physical conditions of the orphanage impacted the infant's health due to the lack of cognitive stimulus.
59
Continuity Hypothesis
The quality of early attachment experiences with caregivers forms a template (internal working model) for future relationships.
A child who forms a secure attachment with a caregiver is more likely to grow up being confident, trusting, and socially competent.
A child with an insecure attachment may struggle with relationships, emotional regulation, and self-esteem later in life.
60
Deviations from Social Norms
This is when the unwritten rules created by society to guide behaviour are challenged by an individual. Some examples of abnormal behaviour include walking around in public areas with no shoes and kleptomania.
This model does not have temporal validity as the norms of society change with time for example the views of homo, education of women, divorce and slavery have all changed. This model also does not account for cultural norm differences as what cultures consider normal varies. For example, the men of the Gururumba society run will, stealing and being aggressive between the ages of 25-35 before starting a life.
61
Failure To Function Adequacy (FFA)
This is when an individual is not able to cope with the aspects of their personal and professional everyday life, suggesting they are unable to perform the basic behaviours to function.
This model does not follow that abnormality means dysfunction, as there are instances of people who kill others and yet live normal lives. The FFA is also a subjective analysis of opinion. This model also does not account for cultural differences in what cultures consider to be ‘adequate’ functioning, which presents an ethnocentric bias as individualistic and collective cultures.
62
Seven Aspects of FFA
Personal distress - This behavior indicates that a person is suffering in some way.
Maladaptive - The behaviour prevents people from achieving major goals in life.
Vivid or unconventional - The behaviour stands out as being different from the usual observed behaviour.
Unpredictability or loss of control - The behaviour appears uncontrolled, inappropriate, and random.
Irrationality or incomprehensibility - It is hard to understand why anyone would behave in that manner.
Observer discomfort - Observations of the behaviour feel uncomfortable to observers.
Violation of moral standards - Behaviour is more likely to be judged abnormal when it violates established moral standards.
63
Statistical Infrequesncy
This is when the behaviour or characteristics presented are in less than 5% of the population, which is objective and quantitative; however, not all behaviour that is rare is undesirable, like high intelligence.
There is a possibility of cultural bias as one person’s behaviour might be statistically rare in the culture they are currently in but would not be rare in another culture. This can lead to one person being judged against one culture's statistical norms.
64
Deviastions from Ideal Meantal Health
Marine Jahoda (1958) talked about normality being a positive state of mind and mental health. This is the only model that focuses on the positive and desirable nature of health.
Some of the criteria are vague and difficult to assess as it is reliant on subjective judgments of a person. Also, some have criticized the criteria for being too demanding as few people meet all of them. Therefore, most people would be considered abnormal. This model also does not account for cultural differences in what cultures consider to be acceptable, which presents an ethnocentric bias as individualistic and collective cultures.
65
Six Aspects of Ideal Mental Health
Positive view of self - The person must have a feeling of self-worth within a responsible level of self-esteem.
Self-actualization - The person must have personal growth so that they can become the best that they can be.
Autonomy - The person must not rely on others for everything and show a level of independence in their behaviour.
Accurate view of reality - The person's view of the world around them must not be distorted. For instance, they must not think everybody is watching them or unworthy.
Environmental Adaptability or mastery - The person must be able to change their very behavior to suit the environment and situation.
Resistance to stress - The person must be able to deal with a regular amount of stress in their life.
66
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - Behavioural
Compulsive actions or an attempt to avoid the trigger to ease anxiety. However, this avoidance can lead to people avoiding ordinary situations like emptying the rubbish, which interferes with normal life. Common examples of compulsions are hand washing, counting, praying, cleaning, or ordering things. 10% show compulsive behaviour with no obsessions.
67
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - Emotional
Specific feelings of anxiety, depression (low mood and no enjoyment), guilt, or disgust. Obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening, which causes elevated levels of anxiety. Some who experience OCD experience depression due to the thoughts being forbidden or persisting, causing higher levels of anxiety.
68
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - Cognitive
Reoccurring and persistent thoughts, impulses which are intrusive and obsessive. (90% experience reoccurring thoughts) For example, reoccurring thoughts of being contaminated by dirt or that intruders will come into the house if the doors are not locked. Individuals who experience OCD are aware that their thoughts are irrational; if not, then this may be characterised as another mental condition.
69
Nestdat Family Studies
The research aimed to explore the strengths of inherited genetic vulnerabilities to OCD. 80 cases had specific OCD traits, and 73 were controlled cases. The patients and their first-degree relatives, like siblings and parents, were evaluated by psychiatrists and clinical psychologists using a semi-structured interview. The results concluded that individuals were more likely (11.7% chance) to experience OCD if relatives also had OCD.
70
Grootheest Twin Studies
This study aimed to measure the level of genetic vulnerability to OCD using a meta-analysis of twins, which has a long history starting in 1929. Over 70 years of research concluded that OCD symptoms for children are heritable with genetic influences in the range of 45% to 65% however, the concordance rates are inconclusive. Carey (1981) found MZ twins showed a concordance rate of 87% for OCD symptoms compared to 47% for DZ twins.
The twin study supports the idea that genes play a role in OCD, but concordance rates are never 50% for DZ twins, which would be expected if only genetics affected the experience of OCD.
71
Whiteside’s Study into Brain Dysfunction with Meta-Analysis
The brain regions implicated in OCD are the basal ganglia (cluster of neurons involved in the coordination of movement) and the orbito-frontal cortex (converts sensory info into thoughts and actions). This study aimed to bring together existing literature on neurological studies into OCD and look for trends. The 13 research studies each had a control group and used empirical data collection methods like PET scans to increase the validity. This showed that OCD and the caudate nucleus play a neurological role in the experience of OCD like compulsions.
72
Thoren's Role of Serotonin Study
Low levels of serotonin affect the normal transmission across the synaptic gap, so information does not get transmitted thus, the mood is affected. After carrying a message, serotonin is usually reabsorbed by the nerve cells, which is called reuptake. The SSRIs work by blocking the reuptake or inhibiting this process, meaning more serotonin is available to pass further messages between nearby nerve cells.
This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of SSRIs in managing OCD compared to a control group using a random double-blind longitudinal trial with 22 19–60-year-old patients who had OCD and completed a self-report. This study showed that serotonin does appear to have an active effect in the experience of OCD, but the neurotransmitter does not act in isolation.
73
Strengths of the Biological Approach for OCD
Strengths of biological medication: This is a cost-effective treatment for OCD as it is beneficial for health service providers and a lower long-term cost for patients with only the medication charge. This also means drugs are more successful for patients who lack the motivation to complete intensive therapy.
74
Weaknesses of the Biological Approach for OCD
Weaknesses of the biological approach: There are side effects to the drug treatments like indigestion, reduced sex drive and high blood pressure, which require more drugs to manage. Also, the drugs only treat the symptoms of OCD and not the causes, which means the cause goes untreated as there is a lack of a potential cure.
75
Phobias - Behavioural
Elevated levels of avoidance and anxiety responses are presented in confrontation with feared stimulus. Disruption of functioning is also presented when extreme fear and anxiety interfere with the ability to function every day. This relates to the Yerkes-Dodson law that when anxiety is too high, it causes a drop in performance.
76
Phobias - Emotional
Phobias produce elevated levels of excessive persistent fear or anxiety due to the presence of fear stimulation. This causes immediate fear responses like panic.
77
Phobias - Cognitive
Selective attention on fear stimulus means that keeping attention on the perceived danger would be a good thing to increase survival as it would allow for better reactions but not useful when fear is irrational meaning, they hold unfounded thoughts related to the stimulus.
78
Mowrer Two-Process Model
The combination of classical and operant conditioning work together to develop and maintain phobias.
79
The Role of Trauma
In 2006, An De Jongh conducted a study assessing how traumatic backgrounds are associated with elevated levels of anxiety. He gathered a volunteer sample of individuals suffering from dental anxiety and asked them to complete a questionnaire to determine if they had a traumatic experience. The higher the anxiety, the more likely the individual had reported a traumatic event which led to the development of a phobia.
80
Weaknesses of the Behavioural Approach for Phobias
Lack of validity: Munjack found that half his control group did not have a phobia despite having a frightening experience involving a car, suggesting an association between two events is not enough to develop a phobia.
Reductionist approach: Seligman suggested that ancient fears of danger from the evolutionary past are programmed into us, but the model does not express this. We acquire phobias of past threats like animals or the dark but are less likely to develop phobias of modern things like guns, possibly because there is not a biologically prepared response.
81
Systematic Desensitisation
This is a behavioural approach to gradually treating phobias. The process of Systematic desensitization can be broken down into 3 components: Relaxation therapy is given to the client to calm themselves in stressful situations. This is important because of reciprocal inhibition, as an individual cannot be calm and anxious at the same time. The client then creates an anxiety hierarchy with the help of the therapist, from the least fearful to the most fearful situation involving the fear stimulus. Finally, the therapist gradually exposes the patient to their phobic situation while at each stage using the Relaxation techniques to calm down.
82
Flooding
Flooding is a form of therapy resembling desensitisation but more extreme and sudden exposure. Phobic individuals are exposed to the object of their fear for lengthy periods and are unable to avoid it until they are exhausted from the fear response or the level of anxiety has reduced to sustainability, causing the extinction of the fear response.
83
Depression - Behavioural
Reduced or increased levels of activity: For example, individuals may report low levels of energy, a sense of tiredness and sleeping all the time, as well as a limited diet. However, the reverse can also be presented. Aggression is linked to depression, as can sometimes become physical or verbal aggression.
84
Depression - Emotional
Lower mood swings: These are more profound in everyday experiences, and patients say they feel empty. Although sufferers of depression tend to experience more negative emotions, these emotions are not limited only to sadness, anger is also highly represented in individuals who are suffering from depression. Low self-esteem is the emotional experience of how much we like ourselves, and sufferers of depression report low self-esteem.
85
Depression - Cognitive
Low levels of concentration: People find it difficult to stick with a task as they usually would. Poor concentration and poor decision-making may interfere with an individual's work. Most individuals suffering from depression tend to dwell on negativity, creating a negative view of life. This may also lead to black and white thinking. This means that when a situation is unfortunate, those experiencing depression tend to see it as an absolute disaster.
86
Beck’s Negative Triad
Beck claimed that cognitive biases and negative self-schemas maintain the negative triad, which is a negative and Irrational view of ourselves, our future, and the world around us. For those experiencing depression, these thoughts occur automatically and are symptomatic of depressed people. An example of a negative view about the world would be ‘everyone is against me because I am worthless.’ An example of a negative view about the future would be ‘I will never be good at anything.’
87
Ellis’s ABC Model
This model suggests that an activating event leads an individual to develop a certain irrational belief caused by a negative schema, which causes a behaviour change. For example, passing a friend in the corridor at school and them not saying hello may lead an individual to believe that their friend dislikes them and never wants to talk to them, so they ignore them and delete their information on their phone first.
88
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)
CBT is an application of Beck's explanation of depression. The idea behind definitive therapy is to identify automatic thoughts about the negative triad. Once identified, these thoughts can be challenged. The therapist will work with the client to teach them to identify manipulative thought processes and replace them with more adaptive thoughts that will reduce emotional stress and depression. This can be achieved by asking the client to keep a thought diary.
89
Embling's Effectiveness of CBT
Embling conducted a longitudinal study that aimed to assess which types of depressive patients benefit most and least from CBT. There were two participating groups, one which received antidepressants (control group – but there could have been no treatment to see the effects more clearly) and the other which received the treatment. Patients recorded dysfunctional thoughts records to monitor and record mood changes using a One to 100 scale (Ordinal data).
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Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT)
REBT is a development of Ellis’s ABC explanation of depression to include D (dispute – to challenge the irrational beliefs) and E (effective new beliefs replacing old ones), which aims to challenge irrational thoughts through ‘dispute’ (argument). However, Alice points out that this is not necessarily easy achieved as people cling to irrational beliefs using ‘musturbatory thinking’ which refers to the three musts that people commonly assume (I MUST do well to win the approval of others, or I am no good. Others MUST treat me kindly. Life MUST be easy and without inconvenience.)
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Weaknesses of the Cognitive Approach for Depression
The ABC model of depression is reductionist as it suggests there must be an activation event for depression to occur. However, this is not the case in many cases of depression. CBT has a high relapse rate. 42% of clients relapse into depression within six months of ending the treatment, and 53% relapse within a year, suggesting a dependency on the therapist.
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Strengths of the Cognitive Approach for Depression
These models is that they can be applied to therapy to develop and manage treatments and economic implications. This means that state sick pay can be used elsewhere for such things, like further research into treatments and the individuals can pay tax into the economy.
