Psychological Knowledge in Society Flashcards
List 2 areas of Cognitive Psychology that can apply its psychological knowledge to society.
1) Memory models
2) Baddeley (1966)
Describe how the Mem models in Cognitive Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.
MSM
- States that rehearsal of information strengthens the memory so it is less likely to decay
- SO revision techniques via rehearsal so info stays in LTM
S - Clive Wearing’s case study supports the real life application of the MSM and its structure due to having retrograde amnesia and being unable to form new LTM butfunctioning STM, showing separation of stores
W - MSM is too simplistic, it reduces memory down to 3 components with little detail on the complex functions and processes of each and doesn’t account for when rehearsal is not needed to form a new LTM, therefore its explanation of memory and so advice is not sufficient
WMM
- states that there are 3 slave systems(name them), phonological loop being one that process auditory information subvocally
- Offers an explanation for dyslexia being an impairment in the phonological loop in that they find it difficult to process/rehearse a sequence of auditory info so support such as extra time in exams can be given
S - KF’s case study supports the real life application of the model and its structure due to suffering a motorcycle accident which decreased his digit span to 1 but his visual memory remained intact showing separation of slave systems
W - WMM is too simplistic, it explains very little and the processes and functions in the LTM due to only focusing on the STM, therefore is limited to explaining memory as a whole which lacks credibility
Tulving’s
- states that episodic memories have cues that are encoded at the point of learning and are used to retrieve the memory
Offers advice for EWT in that the cues from a crime scene that can be accessed through contextual reinstatement used in the cognitive interview will produce more accurate episodic memory recall
S - Kenealy’s (1997) research into cues supports as he found that ppts recalled more words when in the same mood at the time of learning
W - HM’s case study rejects this theory as improved at drawing a star every day but had no recall of drawing one before, this suggests a third type of memory called procedural in which skills can be carried out without thinking about it
Reconstructive mem
-states that people’s schemas reconstruct the original memory through the rationalisation and confabulation of information
Offers implications for EWT in that people’s schemas will change parts of information they remember to make it make sense to them and so people should not be convicted on EWT alone due to its unreliability
S - Bartlett’s theory can be scientifically tested due to operationalising reconstruction in the form of remembering details of a story accurately that can be counted each time making its reductionism scientific
W - Flashbulb memory is an alternative theory which states that the details of a specific memory are less susceptible to change due to the significance in their distinctive nature making them more vivid which rejects the notion of reconstruction
Describe how Baddeley (1966b) in Cognitive Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.
Baddeley
-Found LTM encodes sem, STM encodes acous
> S- helps improving mem in education via maintenance rehearsal for info to enter LTM
S - High internal validity due to the high control over EVs and the manipulation of the IV (semantically or acoustically similar words and their controls) and the DV (how many words were accurately recalled from the list) which allows a causal relationship to be established
W - Low task validity due to operationalising memory as accurately recalling the correct order of words from a list of 10 semantically or acoustically similar which lacks mundane realism as doesn’t reflect how memory works in real life
List 3 areas of Social Psychology that can apply its psychological knowledge to society.
1) Theories of obedience
2)Theories of prejudice
3) Sherif e al (1954)
Describe how Theories of Obedience & Prejudice in Social Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society
Agency Theory
- states that people lose their autonomy in the agentic state, giving up their free will to an authority figure and blindly obeying their instructions
> SO understand Nazis
S - Hofling’s (1966) study supports as he found 95% of nurses would administer an overdose to a patient when told to do so by a doctor over the phone, therefore they gave up their autonomy in the agentic state
W - Deterministic due to stating that people are not in control of their actions in the agentic state due to giving up their free will to the authority figure but people are more complex than that
Social Impact Theory
- states that a high number of people conforming, a close proximity to the authority figure, and power are all situational factors that increase levels of obedience
> understanding of the events of WW2 and the Nazis’ obedience to Hitler as there were a high number of people conforming to killing Jews, Hitler’s proximity was increased with propaganda and his patrols, and he had power
S - It is generalisable to other cultures due to the situational factors that can arise anywhere at anytime due to describing ideas present in all groups, making it more credible
W - It is reductionist as it assumes obedience can be understood with 3 factors of number, proximity, and power and so ignores dispositional factors that may determine how obedient someone is - such as authoritarianism
RCT
- states that prejudice arises as a result of competition for limited resources and conflict of interest between groups
> SO solution of a superordinate goal
S - It also states that competition can be a perception meaning there may not actually be a lack of resources or a reason for competition suggesting that prejudice can be more easily reduced
W - Reductionist as it only states that prejudice arises as a result of situational factors from competition for resources from the environment which ignores individual’s disposition toward prejudice against others
Describe how Sherif et al (1954) in Social Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society
> States friction can be reduced via superordinate goals
S-High test-retest R, standardised procedures, 3 stages so controlled for EVs so could determine if situational factors lead tp prejud and can be replicated by other researchers to test for consistency to understad prej in society
W- Low V, field study so cant control EVs eg weather, can;t establish cause & effect for artificially created friction & prejudice, so decr int V for understanding prejudice in society
List 2 areas of Biological Psychology that can apply its psychological knowledge to society
1) Explanations of aggression
2)Raine et al (1997)
Describe how explanations of aggression in Biological Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.
NTs
Evolution
Brain structure
S- Objective data eg brain scanning techniques produce maps of activation so results for areas of aggression can’t be misunderstood amongst researchers, high inter-rater R OR high int V bc reduces researcher bias
W- Case studies eg Charles Whitman, results mayve been skewed due to unique situation of brain injury in specific area so cant generalise to wider populations as an explanation of aggression
Hormones
Psychodynamic
Twin & Adoption studies
Describe how Raine et al (1997) in Biological Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.
> Found brain structure in NGRI murderers v non-murderers was diff so could lead to lesser sentencing and accountability NGRI as they may not have control over their aggression
S- Standardised proceds eg 10 mins before FDG, the CPT trials began, 30 secs before FDG real CPT began fir 32 mins. So incr test-retest R to understand aggression in society
W- Only studied NGRI crims, not generalisable to wider pops of crims
List 3 areas of Learning Psychology that can apply its psychological knowledge to society.
1)Theories of conditioning
2) Phobias
3)Watson & Rayner
Describe how Watson and Rayner’s (1920) study can apply its psychological knowledge to society.
Found phobia of fear can be conditioned and generalised
S-Standardised proceds also control over EVs eg presented stimuli before study to test for a potential predisposed fear response in LA, there wasnt so they could establish better cause & effect for conditioning and resulting phobia
W- Singular case study exp, not generalisable to older children, adults or other toddlers as LA was said to show little emotion for a child of his age (9-11 months)
