Psych Flashcards
Outline Wundts method of introspection (4)
It involved training people to analyse and report in detail their inner thoughts and then break them down into separate parts, in response to a standardised task or stimulus in controlled lab conditions. Introspection can be used to systematically observe mental processes such as memory and perception.
Also define introspection
Describe the Id, ego and super ego (3)
We are all born with the Id, it is the childlike, selfish part of your personality. The ego aims to keep the balance between the influence of the id and the superego. The superego acts as an individuals conscience, it is the opposite of the id as it feels guilt and holds us back from doing things that are thought to be wrong.
How does neurochemistry influence behaviour?
-serotonin
-low levels associated with anxiety and depression
-selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor’s (SSRI’S) work by increasing levels of serotonin to reduce symptoms of anxiety and/or depression and improve mood
Outline the three selves: humanistic psychology
The self concept: who you perceive yourself to be largely based on experience
The ideal self: who you wish to be e.g. goals and ambitions
The real self: the person you actually are- not who you think you are (self-concept) or who you wish to be (ideal-self)
-someone may be incongruent if they have low self esteem and self doubt could show a lack of alignment between their ideal self (who they want to be) and their real self (who they are) as they do not have an accurate concept of who they are.
How can someone become congruent?
They could go to client-centered therapy as they may not have experienced unconditional positive regard. This would provide a non-judgmental, supportive and empathetic environment. This then enables the client to gain a positive self-worth and reduces incongruence e.g. if there was a gap between their ideal self and their real self
Compare OC with SLT
Whilst both approaches believe that behaviour is affected by reinforcement, The OC approach suggests that we directly learn through consequences of our own behaviour. Whereas, the SLT approach believes that we are reinforced vicariously; we learn behaviour by observing the positive and negative consequences of someone else’s behaviour, we do not recieve the reward or punishment ourselves, the person who is modelling the behaviour does (the role model).
Another difference between the two approaches is that the SLT approach also considers the thought processes that underlie our behaviour, arguing that the reinforcers and punishment merely inform the individual of the consequences and it is down to them as to whether their behaviour is affected by the potential consequences. It also does not focus solely on behaviour, it also considers cognitive processes such as mediational processes; attention, retentin, reproduction and motivation. Whereas, OC does not put as much emphasis on cognitive processes.
Outline 2 hormone and explain its function (other than adrenaline)
m…
th…
-Melatonin is responsible for important biological rhythms such as the sleep wake cycle. It is produced by the Pineal gland.
-thyroxine, which is produced by the thyroid gland, which increases the heart rate and metabolic rates.
Ethical issues (3)
-Confidentiality; any personal data should be protected such as name, age, sex, location etc. The data they provide should not be able to be traced back to them i.e. they should be kept anonymous
-Protection from harm
-Consent: fully informed consent making sure they are fully aware of the aims, methods, procedure and purpose of the study
The sleep-wake cycle A01
-circadian rhythm; its a biological rhythm that lasts around 24hours
-The ‘free-running’ internal circadian ‘clock’ maintains a cycle of 24-25 hours even in the absence of external cues such as light.
-It is disrupted by major changes in sleep schedules e.g. jet lag or shift work
Endogenous pacemakers A01
include two examples of EP’s
-Internal body clocks that regulate many of our biological rhythms, such as the influence of the SCN on the sleep/wake cycle
-Example of an EP is the SCN
-tiny bundle of nerve cells in the hypothalamus
-nerve fibers in the SCN are connected to the eye and so the SCN receives info about light
-The pineal gland is another example of an Ep, which receives info about day length and light from the SCN, during the night it increases production of melatonin and inhibits it during the day.
Exogenous zeitgebers A01
-two examples
-Light is a key EZ and can reset the bodys main EP (the SCN)
-Social cues: eating (adapting to new meal times when entering a different time zone rather than maintaining those followed at home, which can be effective for overcoming jet lag) and parents (for new born babies) and bedtimes
Evaluation of the effects of EP’s and EZ’s
(+)EP
(-) EP
(+)Supporting evidence for the claim that humans have a circadian rhythm of approx 24hrs that is governed by an EP. Siffre maintained a sleep-wake cycle of 25-30 hours in the absence of daylight and other EZ’s, whilst letting his internal body clock ‘free-run’. Strength of EP’s ad it suggests that in the absence of EZ’s such as natural light sources, circadian rhythms are roughly maintained which supports the existence of an internal body clock.
(-)Case study. With himself as the sole ptp. Potentially unrepresentative and has low pop validity. Cannot be certain that his findings in relation to the fact that EP’s and EZ’s work together are valid as they may not apply universally.
However, there is no reason to believe that Siffre is not representative of the human race and it therefore may be perfectly possible that his findings do indeed apply to others.
Evaluation of the effects of EP’s and EZ’s on the sleep wake cycle
(-)EP’s
(-)Limitation of research into the effects of EP’s and EZ’s is the reliance on…
(-)EP’s are essentially impossible to study in isolation from other factors which may affect the sleep/wake cycle such as light or social cues. Even Siffre used artificial light in his CS - which may have reset his biological clock. Very difficult to prove the significance of the role played by EP’s in the sleep/wake cycle. Particularly since, in ‘real life’, EP’s and EZ’s interact.
(-)Reliance on animal studies, which may not be generalisable to human behaviour. For example, in the case of Morgan’s research, it is not certain that transplanting the SCN neurons into human brains would have the same affect since human brains are far ore sophisticated than those of hamsters. Means any conclusions drawn from this research about the affects of EP’s on the sleep/wake cycle must be treated with caution.
content analysis method
-Read the book/diary
-identify potential categories
-re-read the book/diary and count the number of examples that fall into each category to provide quantitative data (coding)
-compare the different categories to see if the results support the hypothesis
How to assess the reliability of content analysis
-Inter-rater reliability: would involve other researchers independently coding the same material to see if they come to the same conclusions. Then correlating the results using the appropriate stats test, a correlation co-efficient of +0.8 or more suggests good inter-rater reliability
What is a type one error?
When you accept the hypothesis when it is false (also when you reject the hypothesis and its true). i.e. the researcher incorrectly rejects the true null hypothesis. More likely to make a type 1 error if the level of significance is too lenient (too much room for chance) (e.g. 0.1 or 10% rather than 5%)
*** The results are not significant, they have occurred by chance
- i.e. it is a false alarm/false negative, whereas a type II error would be missing a genuine effect
what is the difference between a one tailed and two tailed test?
A one tailed test is directional and a two tailed test is non-directional
