paper 2 Flashcards
What’s the main assumption of psychodynamic approach
A perception that describes unconscious forces that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour
What did Freud suggest?
Most of our mind is made up of unconscious
The unconscious contains suppressed memories, these can be excesses through dreams or parapraxes
The preconceived contains thoughts and memories which aren’t currently in conscious awareness but can be excesses if desired
Describe the ID
Is entirely selfish and operates on the pleasure principle
Is present at birth
Entirely unconscious
Describe the EGO
Mediator between the ID and SUPEREGO
Develops at the age of 2
It prevents conflict through regression, denial or displacement
describe SUPEREGO
It our internalised sense of right and wrong
Formed at 5
Describe the oral stage and the consequence
0-1
Pleasure in the mouth, mothers breast is the desired object
Oral fixation- smoking sarcasm nail biting
Describe anal stage and consequence
Pleasure is the anus, with holding or expelling po
Retentive- perfectionist
Exclusive- thoughtless
Describe the phallic stage and consequence
Pleasure is the genitals, Oedipus complex
Phallic personality- reckless narcissistic homosexual
Describe the Oedipus complex
In the phallic stage boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mum and hatred towards their dad
Fearing castration, boys resent their feelings and identity with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values
describe the Electra complex
Girls experience penis envy, they desire their father and hate their mother.
Girls overcome this by replacing their feelings with a desire for a baby
Evaluate the psychodynamic approach
Strength - - -
Many people who experience psychological disturbances do recollect childhood traumas (face validity)
By developing a method of treatment, Freud encouraged a more optimistic view regarding psychological distress. Treatment?
Weakness - - -
Lacks scientific validity therefore isn’t falsifiable
Freud used a biased sample of middle-class Viennese women 20-44 who had emotional problems, therefore can’t generalise
He only studied one child to developed his theory on psychosexual development
Very deterministic
What are the main assumptions of the humanistic approach
An approach to understanding behaviour that empathises the importance of subjective experience and each persons capacity for self-determination
Define free wills
The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external factors
Define self actualisation
Desire to grow psychologically and fulfil ones full potential. All 4 levels of mols lows hierarchy must be met to achieve this
What’s Moscow’s hierarchy of needs
Self actualisation Self esteem Love and belongingness Safe and security Psychological needs
What did Rogers argue
He argued that for personal growth to be achieved an individuals self concept must have congruence with their ideal self
We behave as we do because of the way we perceive the situation
Why would someone need client-centred therapy and what is it
Client-centred therapy aims to reduce the gap between self concept and ideal self in order to reach self actualisation
In therapy the client is responsible for improving their life, the client is consciously and rationally decides for themselves what is wrong and what should be done about it
Therapist hope to help their client to achieve personal growth and eventually self-actualise
Evaluate humanistic approach
Strength- - -
Real life application- therapy
Shifted the focus of behaviour to the individual rather than unconscious/genes
More holistic information into behaviour therefore more valid
Weakness- - -
Ignores biology
Unscientific- subjective concept
Ethnocentric ( biased towards western culture)
Their belief on free will is opposite to the deterministic laws of science
What’s the main assumption of the rcognitive approach
Behaviour is hard on internal mental process e.g. memory and perception. These processes can’t be observed so cognitive psychology is a study them indirectly by making inferences
Describe schema
Is a package of information developed through experiences
They act as a mental frame work for the interpretation of incoming information
Enables us to process information quickly and creates mental shortcuts that prevent us getting overwhelmed
Describe Theoretical and computer models
It is one way to study mental processes, it suggests that info flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input storage and retrieval msmm
Computer models compares the mind to a computer by suggesting there are similarities in the way info is processed.
These modes use the concept of coding (turning info into useable format) and the use of stores to hold info
Describe cognitive neuroscience
Is the study of the influence of brain structures on mental process in advanced in brain imaging techniques such as fMRI
The focus on cognitive neuroscience has expended to include the use of computer generated models that read the brain
What are the advantages of advances in cognitive neuroscience?
Scientists have been ale to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes
Scanning techniques are also useful in the neurological basis of mental disorders
Evaluate the cognitive approach
Strength- - -
Employs highly controlled and rigorous methods of study, this involves lab experiments to produce reliable objective data
Is the most dominant approach in psychology today and has been applied to a wide range of practical and theoretical contexts
Weakness- - -
Has a narrow focus on mental process, logical rather than emotional
Reductionism
Comparisons with computers the mind is infinitely more powerful and flexible than most advanced computer
What is the main assumption of the biological approach
Certain behaviours such as intelligence are genetically determined as evident from twin and adoption studies
What are genes, genotype and phenotype
Genes- set of instructions that’ll determine your phenotype
Genotype- set of genes you inherit at conception. They only determine the potential for a characteristic to develop
Phenotype- the observable characteristics. Genes and environment
Describe what monozygotic and dizygotic twins are
Mz identical twins 100%
Dz non-identical twins 50%
Describe the theory of evolution and behaviour
As mammals we have evolved over time to adapt to our environment, however our biological basis is still very similar to the original human beings. These biological structures have a direct affect on our behaviour
Evolutionary psychologists believe that memory attachment domestic abuse and adultery have evolved in our species because they have adaptive advantages
What does biological structure and neurochemistry focus on?
Focuses on neurotransmitters which are essential for transmission of nerve impulses across the synapse and therefore involves in all aspects of behaviour
In relation to the biological approach how does cocaine and depression affect your behaviour
Cocaine acts as a synapse blocking the trip take of dopamine back into the pre-synaptic neuron. This temporarily makes more dopamine in the synaptic gap which causes a euphoric rush, however eventually dopamine becomes depleted and insufficient amounts are repressed. This leads to a loss.
Disruption of neurotransmitters is implicated in OCD and depression. Depression is characterised as having an imbalancement of serotonin dopamine and noradrenaline. Treatment for depression includes SSRIs which balance levels of neurotransmitters
Evaluate biological approach
Strength- - -Provides clear predictions that can be scientifically tested and supported with evidence Real life application-therapy Weakness- - - Ignores meditational processes Too deterministic Reductionist
Describe the main assumptions of the behaviourist approach
All behaviour is learnt through association and reward and punishment
what’s the difference between classical and operant conditioning
Classical- learning through association
Operant- learning through reward and punishment
Describe positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment
Positive reinforcement- reviving a rewards for good behaviour
Punishment l- being punished for bad behaviour
Negative reinforcement- avoiding something unpleasant
Describe pavlovs experiment
Dog bell stimulus salvation
Describe skinners experiment
Skinner boxes
Pigeons
Rats
Evaluate the behaviourist approach
Strength- - -
Real life application, the principle of conditioning has been applied to a wide range of real world behaviours e.g. prisons and school
Scientific credibility, replicable
Weakness- - -
Ethical, the animals were exposed to harmful conditions
Deterministic, behaviourists see all behaviour as being determined by past experiences that have been conditioned
Skinner suggests that everything we do it sum total of our reinforcement history, ignoring influence of free will
What’s the main assumption of SLT
we learn through observing behaviour of a model and the outcomes of those behaviours
Describe vicarious reinforcement
For direct learning the individual overages the behaviour of others, the individual may imitate the behaviour depending on the consequence
The learner most important observes the consequence of behaviour
Describe the 4 meditational processes
SLT is the bridge between cognitive and learning theory
Attention- extent to which we notice
Retention- how well we remember it
Motor reproduction- our ability to perform
Motivation- depending on consequence
Describe identification
People are more likely to imitate behaviour of people of whom they identify with (role model) I
A person is a role model if they have similar characteristics, are attractive or have a higher status.
Role models may not be physically present
Describe bandura et al study
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Evaluate SLT
strength- - -
High internal validity because there a clear chase and effect relationship
Weakness - - -
Ethical, exposing children to aggressive behaviour
What does lateralisation of function mean?
Refers to the dominant side of one hemisphere of the brain for particular function
What is the right and left side dominant in?
Right- artistic emotional musical
Left- linguistic scientific rational
What are split brain patients?
Patients who have had their corpus callusom severed
Who’s roger sperry
He conducted an experiment to support brain lateralisation. The Ps were asked to focus on the centre of a screen and then words/pictures would appear on either the left or right side
In split brain studies what are the results of ‘describe what you see’
Pictures shown to their right visual field could easily describe it. However if it is shown to their left visual field, they couldn’t. This is because language is processed in your left hemisphere r
In split brain studies what are the results of recognition by touch?
Although ps couldn’t describe the object they were able to select a matching object using their left hand. Therefore they could understand what the object was using their right hemisphere
In split brain studies what are the results of composite words
If 2 words appeared on the screen in each visual field e.g. key ring the P would write with their left hand key and say the word ring. This is because the right hemisphere is superiority in drawing
In split brain studies what are the results of matching faces
The right hemisphere appeared dominant in recognising faces. The Ps ere asked to match faces from a series of other faces, the picture processed by the right hemisphere was consistently selected, whilst in the left hemisphere it was ignored
Describe localisation of brain function
Specific areas of the brain control different functions
How was Broca involved in localisation of brain functions?
Broca reviewed Ps with brain damage and concluded that damage to the left hemisphere effected their speech
Broca’s area seems to control the ability to produce speech and damage
What does motor aphasia mean?
The ability to produce speech and damage
How was wernicke involved in localisation of brain function
wernicke reporter that injury to the left temporal lobe caused problems understanding speech, including ones own speech
What does receptive aphasia mean
The ability to understand speech
What is each part of the brain responsible for?
Broca’s area- ability to produce speech
Motor area- controls movement
Somatosensory- processes sensory info
Wernickes area- processes understanding speech
Visual area- processes visual information
Auditory area- analysis of speech
Describe the structure of the brain
Broca’s Motor Somatosensory Wernickes Visual Auditory
Give 2 strengths of the localisation of brain function
Peterson et al used brain scan to demonstrate how Wernicke’s area was active during listening tasks and Broca’s area during reading tasks
Dougherty et al studied 44 OCD patients who had undergone cingulotomy. after 37 weeks a 3rd had met the criteria for a successful response, suggesting that mental disorders are localized.
give 2 weaknesses of the localisation of brain function
brain plasticity- when the brain is damaged brains are able ti compensate by other parts of the brain taking over and performing that function
Lashley suggests that higher cognitive functions aren’t localized, he removed areas of the cortex in rats that were learning mazes, no areas proved to be more important when learning the maze
give 3 weaknesses of hemispherical lateralisation and split brain research
sperry’s study involved 11 epilepsy Ps, which means it lacks population validity and is unrepresentative with such a small sample
Zaflarki et al found that language becomes more lateralised to the left hemisphere in children and adolescents but after 25 lateralisation decreased with each decade of life, which questions where everyone has one dominant hemisphere and if this changes with age
Turk et al discovered a p with a damage left hemipshere but developed the ability to speak in the right hemisphere. this suggests that perhaps lateralisation isnt fixed and the brain can adapt following certain damages to certain areas
give a strength of hemispherical lateralisation and split brain research
Sperry’s research into split brain phenomenon has produced an impressive body of research
describe the 3 biological rhythms and give an example of each
circadian rhythms- once every 24 hours, sleep/wake and body temp
untradian rhythms- more than once every 24 hours
heartbeat
infradian rhythms- over a greater period
mentrual cycle
evaluate circadian rhythms
practical application within the knowledge of sleep disruption. Night-workers experience a reduced conc at 6am meaning more mistakes are likely to occur
drug treatment, research into circadian rhythms reveal the peak times that drugs will be best absorbed into the body. this led to guidelines.
case studies and small samples, meaning the Ps arent representative which limits generalisability
whos Bolvin et al
he suggested the relationship between shift work and health, shift workers are 3x more likely to develop heart diesease
evaluate ultradian rhythms
the BRAC describes how our levels of alertness goes through peaks and troughs, each cycle lasts 90 minutes. this idea has face validity because is appears that most people find it difficult to conc for more than 1 hr 30 mins
Dement and Kleitman monitored the sleep patterns of 9 adults in a sleep lab. brain activity was recorded on an EEG. REM activity was highly correlated with the experience of dreaming, brain activity varied depending on how vivid the dream was, replications of this study show simular findings
evaluate infradian rhythms
Russels et al studied the effect of other peoples hormones on the menstrual cycle, a daily sample of sweat from one group of women and rubbed on the upper lip of another group of women. these women were kept separate during the duration of the study. they became syncronised with their sweat doner
however schank argued that this would have evolutionary flaws to cycle at the same time. also methological flaws, various things can influence the menstruak cycle.
SAD occurs during winter months. exposure to light suppresses melatonin, darkness increases it. SAD ps have high levels of melatonin which could suppress serotonin and dopamine
whats the difference between endogenous pacemakers and external zeitgebers?
endogenous pacemakers- your bodily clock which regulates bodily rhythms
external zeitgebers- external influences (e.g. light)
evaluate endogenous pacemakers and external zeitgebers on the control of circadian rhythms animal studies stephan and zucker damiola DeCoursey miles
animals maintained a daily rhythmic cycle of 24 hours when kept under constant light conditions, which suggests that circaidna rhythms are controlled by endogenous pacemakers. HOWEVER pacemakers didnt maintain this cycle perfectly, which means zeitgebers must play a role.
stephen and zucker investigated the effects of damage to the SCN on circadian rhythms. rats housed in labs with 12 hours of light followed by 12 hours of dark showed circadian rhythms in terms of behaviour. damage to the SCN eliminated these behaviours. they concluded that the SCN is one of the key pacemakers controlling circadian rhythms.
Damiola demonstrated how changing feeding patterns in mice altered their circadian rhythm of cells in the liver whilst leaving the SCN unaffected, suggesting there are other more complex factors to the sleep wake cycle
DeCoursey animals were exposed to risk when they returned to natural habitate.
miles external cues may be overstated. a blind man from birth had a circadian rhythm of 24.9 hours. despite social cues his sleepwake cycle couldnt be adjusted.
what is the main endogenous pacemakers?
the superchiasmatic nuclei (SCN) located n the hypothalamus
