Studies - Paper 2 Flashcards

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1
Q

What’s the method of Gilroy’s (2000) study?

A

45 patients with arachnophobia randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups where they received 45 minute sessions:
A) computer-aided vicarious experience
B) therapist - delivered live exposure
C) relaxation placebo
Phobic symptom severity was measure pre, post and 3 months following treating using questionnaires and behaviour tests.

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2
Q

What were the results of Gilroy’s (2000) study?

A

A was effective and comparable to B at reducing the phobic symptoms.
A and B were both more effective than C.

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3
Q

What were the results of the follow-up study of Gilroy’s (2000) study?

A

42 out of the 45 patients were followed up 33 months later.
Assessor was unaware of the treatment group.
Improvements made with A and B were maintained almost 3 years later.

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4
Q

What was the conclusion of Gilroy’s (2000) study?

A

Treatments including gradual exposure were effective in the short term and long term.
These improvements were more significant than C so it’s not based on extraneous variables.

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5
Q

What was the aim of Cook and Mineka’s (1989) study?

A

To test whether monkeys may be biologically prepared to learn to be afraid of snakes.

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6
Q

What’s the background information on monkeys in the wild important in Cook and Mineka’s (1989) study?

A

Monkeys in the wild show strong fear reactions to snakes, however lab-reared monkeys do not so they’re not innately scared of snakes.

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7
Q

What was the method used in Cook and Mineka’s (1989) study?

A

None of the rhesus monkeys had seen snakes of rabbit prior.
Monkeys were shown a picture of a snake/rabbit accompanied with a video of their mother acting fearfully. The researchers then measured how quickly the monkeys began to show fear responses to the snake.

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8
Q

What was the results of Cook and Mineka’s (1989) study?

A

Monkeys quickly learned to fear the snake but not the rabbit.

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9
Q

What conclusion was drawn from Cook and Mineka’s (1989) study?

A

Baby monkeys were biologically prepared to learn to be afraid of snakes but not rabbits.
We still need to understand the interaction between biological factors and learning experiences before we fully understand phobias.

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10
Q

What was the aim of Watson and Rayner’s (1920) ‘Little Albert’ study?

A

To investigate whether fear could be acquired through classical conditioning.

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11
Q

What method was used in Watson and Rayner’s (1920) ‘Little Albert’ study?

A

11 month old boy initially showed no fear of a white rat.

Watson accompanied the White rat with a loud clanging sound which frightened Albert.

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12
Q

What were the results of Watson and Rayner’s (1920) ‘Little Albert’ study?

A

Gradually Albert began to show fear towards the White rat as well as other small, white, furry animals.

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13
Q

What was the conclusion made for Watson and Rayner’s (1920) ‘Little Albert’ study?

A

Albert began to associate fear with the White rat.

Supports the role of classical conditioning in phobias and the role of vicarious learning.

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14
Q

Name a weakness of Watson and Rayner’s (1920) ‘Little Albert’ study.

A
  • Little Albert was never de conditioned.

- To maintain Albert’s fear his conditioning had to be continued.

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15
Q

What was the aim of Gilroy’s (2000) study?

A

To test whether gradual exposure would be an effective treatment for arachnophobia.

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16
Q

Summarise Wolpe’s (1960) case study.

A

Drove a girl with a driving phobia around for 4 hours until her anxiety reduced and she overcame her fear. Supports flooding.

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17
Q

Summarise Teasdale’s (1977) analysis.

A

Reviewed evidence for the effectiveness of flooding and found the evidence was mixed. Research suggests that the patient must be exposed to the phobic object for a long time in order for flooding to work.

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18
Q

What did Barlow (2002) discover?

A

If a patient is willing to undergo flooding, then it is just as effective as systematic desensitisation.

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19
Q

What was the aim of Hollon et al’s (2005) study?

A

To investigate the long term effectiveness of CBT compared to medication.

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20
Q

What was the method of Hollon et al’s (2005) study?

A

104 patients who had responded well to either CBT or antidepressants were followed up over 12 months.
Relapse rates were monitored, this were defined as the return of symptoms for at least 2 weeks.

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21
Q

What were the results of Hollon et al’s (2005) study?

A

30% of patients who used CBT as a treatment relapsed in the 12 months after treatment.
60% of patients who used antidepressants as a treatment relapsed in the 12 months following treatments.

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22
Q

What conclusion was made about Hollon et al’s (2005) study?

A

CBT has more enduring long term effectiveness compared to medication.

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23
Q

Summarise Craighead and Dunlop’s (2014) study.

A

Conducted a meta-analysis of treatment trails.

Found that the best outcomes are achieved by combining CBT with medication.

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24
Q

What was the aim of Clark and Teasdale’s (1985) study?

A

To test whether depressed mood is associated with biased memories.

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25
Q

What was the method of Clark and Teasdale’s (1985) study?

A

Tested patients with depression for their memories of events that had happened in their lives.

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26
Q

What were the results of Clark and Teasdale’s (1985) study?

A

Those whose depressed mood was worse in the morning recalled more negative memories then than in the evening.
The opposite pattern was found for those whose mood was worse in the evening.

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27
Q

What conclusion was made in Clark and Teasdale’s (1985) study?

A

Depressed mood causes biases in memory towards recalling more negative events which would worsen depression.

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28
Q

What was the aim of Lewinsohn’s (2001) study?

A

To find out if negative thinking causes depression or if depression causes negative thinking.

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29
Q

What method was used in Lewinsohn’s (2001) study?

A

Negative attitudes in adolescents were tested at the beginning of the study, none were depressed initially.
They were followed up a year later to assess whether they were suffering from depression and whether they had experienced unpleasant life events.

30
Q

What were the results of Lewinsohn’s (2001) study?

A

Those who’d experienced negative life events and who held negative attitudes at the start were more like to be suffering depression at the end.

31
Q

What conclusion was drawn from Lewinsohn’s (2001) study?

A

Supports Beck’s hypothesis that negative schema make people more vulnerable to depression after a triggering event.
Suggests that the way they were thinking made them more vulnerable to depression.

32
Q

Summarise Nestadt et al’s (2010) study.

A

Reviewed evidence from twin studies and found a concordance rate for MZ twins was 68% and for DZ twins it was 31%.
This was assumed to be because MZ twins are more similar genetically.

33
Q

Summarise Van Grootheest et al’s (2005) study.

A

Reviewed 19 twin studies since 1965 with nearly 10,000 twin pairs.
It was found that OCD has a stronger genetic component if developed in childhood not adulthood.
This suggests that nurture causes adults to acquire OCD even if they’re not genetically vulnerable to it.

34
Q

What was the method of Soomro et al’s (2008) study?

A

Reviewed 17 studies which compared SSRI’s with placebos in the treatment of OCD.
300 patients were included in the analysis.

35
Q

What were the results of Soomro et al’s (2008) study?

A

70% of patients showed a reduction in OCD symptoms.

It’s important to note that companies may lie about their results so this result could contain anomalous data.

36
Q

What was the conclusion of Soomro et al’s (2008) study?

A

30% if patients don’t respond to SSRI’s.

This suggests that other treatment methods are needed.

37
Q

What was the aim of Polak et al’s (2012) study?

A

To investigate a case of compulsions following damage to the basal ganglia.

38
Q

What was context of Polak et al’s (2012) study?

A

A 65 year old, who’d suffered a heart attack at 42, developed compulsive whistling behaviour after his brain was starved of oxygen.

39
Q

What were the results of Polak et al’s (2012) study?

A

His symptoms reduced with an SSRI.
This suggests symptoms of OCD can be reduced by altering the activity in the circuit between the orbitofrontal cortex and the basal ganglia through surgery or DBS.

40
Q

Summarise Damian Denys study.

A

Treated 59 patients with OCD using DBS to the basal ganglia.

He found improvements in OCD symptoms in 60% of patients.

41
Q

What was the aim of Koran et Al’s (2006) study?

A

To assess whether adding olanzapine to treatment with the SSRI, fluoxetine would be more effective at reducing OCD symptoms.

42
Q

What method was used in Koran et al’s (2008) study?

A

10 patients with OCD who’d not yet responded to Fluxoetine consented to take part.
OCD symptoms were assessed using the Y-BOCS and the mean symptom score was 29
Patients continued to take Fluxoetine, but also began taking olanzapine gradually increasing the dose to 10mg.

43
Q

What were he results of Koran et al’s (2008) study?

A

1 patient dropped out
Overall reduction in OCD symptom severity with the mean Y-BOCS score decreasing to 24.
Patients varied in how well they responded.
One patients symptoms improved by 60% which was sustained for 6 months

44
Q

What were the conclusions of Koran et al’s (2008) study?

A

There are apparent benefits of using olanzapine with patients who do not respond to SSRI’s.
2/3s of patients gained considerable weight.
Very small sample and no placebo control.
Patients could have improved due to hope of a new medication.

45
Q

Who developed psychology?

A

Wundt

46
Q

What’s a weakness of Wundt’s contribution to psychology?

A
  • Wundt found that introspection is unreliable as its too subjective.
  • Many mental processes occur automatically and we are not aware of exactly how we are recalling information or how we are paying attention.
47
Q

What are the strengths of the biological approach to psychology?

A

Scientific methods are used

Leads to practical application

48
Q

What are the weaknesses of the biological approach to psychology?

A

Overly simple, humans have conscious thought and aren’t just a product of our genes
Could be deemed deterministic as some people may worry how much their genes control their lives.

49
Q

What are the features of the biological approach to psychology?

A
Genes
Biological structures
Neurochemisrry
Genotype and phenotype
Evolution's effect on behaviour
50
Q

Who developed behaviourism?

A

John Watson

51
Q

What are the features of the learning approach to psychology?

A

Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Social learning theory

52
Q

Which study supports the theory of classical conditioning?

A

Ivan Pavlov and his dogs.

53
Q

Which study supports operant conditioning in behavioural approaches to psychology?

A

BF Skinner

54
Q

In BF Skinners experiment, how did he demonstrate positive and negative reinforcement in rats?

A

The rats were rewarded with food if they pressed the leaver, this is positive reinforcement.
If the rat pressed the leaver when the red light was on, it would recieve an electric shock. Avoiding the shock is negative reinforcement.

55
Q

What are the strengths of operant and classical conditioning?

A
  • Scientific methods are used and objectivity is strived for.
  • Leads to practical application, like training guide dogs.
56
Q

What are the weaknesses of operant and classical conditioning?

A
  • Much research is done on animals and generalised to humans, however the human brain is more complex.
  • Could be deemed deterministic, as it gives people an excuse for their crimes.
57
Q

What are the basic assumptions of social learning theory?

A
  • Behaviour is learned by nurture.

- Behaviour is learned vicariously via the operant conditioning of others.

58
Q

Which study supports social learning theory?

A

Bandura’s (1961) study.

59
Q

What method was used in Bandura’s (1961) study?

A

Participants aged 3-6 were shown adults playing in a room of toys. They either saw:

  • an adult play aggressively with a large bobo doll
  • nothing
  • an adult playing in a friendly way with a large bobo doll
60
Q

What were the findings of Bandura’s (1961) study?

A

Those who watched the aggressive model behaved aggressively, whereas the others didn’t.
The children repeated a significant amount of the standardised actions and phrases.
Boys produced more physical aggression than girls, verbal was equal.

61
Q

What’s a strength of Bandura’s (1961) study?

A

Reproducible, extraneous variables controlled.

Has practical applications

62
Q

What’s a weakness of Bandura’s study?

A

Young sample - poor generalisibility
Lab - low ecological validity, demand characteristics
Poor ethics
Low temporal validity

63
Q

What were the 4 factors, Bandura’s claimed led to social learning?

A

Paying attention to model
Remembering the action
Having the ability to replicate the action
Being motivated to replicate the action

64
Q

When Bandura altered his study so that the model was either:
- rewarded for their aggressive behaviour
- punished
- no consequence
What were the results and why?

A

Those who saw the model be rewarded were the most aggressive, followed by the no consequence group, etc.
This supports the importance of motivation in social learning.

65
Q

What are the strengths of the social learning theory?

A
  • The approach can explain why certain behaviours are imitated.
  • The approach combines thought processes with behaviourist principles, making it a holistic theory.
66
Q

What are the weaknesses of the social learning theory?

A
  • Bandura’s research was heavily artificial and can accused of being prone to demand characteristics.
  • Could be used to excuse people from their crimes.
67
Q

What are the features of the cognitive approach?

A
  • Internal mental processes
  • Schema
  • Using theoretical and computer models to make inferences about behaviour
  • The emergence of cognitive neuroscience
68
Q

What is assumed in the cognitive approach?

A
  • Processes should be studied scientifically in a lab
  • The mind works like a computer, in that it has an input from our senses which it then processes and produces an output in terms of language or behaviour.
69
Q

What’s a strength of the cognitive approach?

A
  • Uses experimental methods and emphasises the use of objective measures.
  • Some research has led to treatment.
70
Q

What’s a weakness of the cognitive approach?

A
  • Lab studies lack ecological validity

- The use of models overly simplifies complex human thought and behaviour.

71
Q

What is schema?

A

Internal building blocks of knowledge. They are formed through experience and help us to understand the world.

72
Q

What is introspection?

A

Analysing how the mind works by asking people to think carefully about how they do mental tasks.