The use of psychological Knowledge in society

Question 1

What are the main topics in cognitive?

Answer 1

1) MSM
2) WMM
3) Tulvings
4) Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil (2012)
5) Baddeley (1966)

Question 2

Describe how the MSM can apply its psychological knowledge to society?

Answer 2

→ Multi- Store Model → States that rehearsal of information strengthens the memory so it is less likely to decay
→ Offers advice to students in that if they keep revisiting information learned it will be less likely to decay in the LTM

Question 3

Strength and weaknesses using psychological knowledge applying to society - MSM?

Answer 3

→ Strength - 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 showing a degree of separation
→ Weaknesses - 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

Question 4

Describe how the WMM can apply its psychological knowledge to society?

Answer 4

→ Working memory model - It states that there are 3 slave systems, the 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

Question 5

Strength and weaknesses using psychological knowledge applying to society - WMM?

Answer 5

→ Strength - 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
→ Weaknesses - 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

Question 6

Describe how the Tulvings can apply its psychological knowledge to society?

Answer 6

→ Tulvings - It 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

Question 7

Strength and weaknesses using psychological knowledge applying to society - Tulvings

Answer 7

→ Strengths - 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
→ Weaknesses - 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

Question 8

Describe how Sebastion and Hernadez can apply its psychological knowledge to society?

Answer 8

→ Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil’s (2012: They found that digit span increased with age up until age 17 where the average is 7 and that subvocal recall developed age 7 due to the significant difference in result of age 5 (3.7) and 8 (4.6)
Offers implications with the understanding of the development of the phonological loop and how it can become impaired which may reduce digit span for those with learning disabilities as an identifier

Question 9

Strength and weaknesses using psychological knowledge applying to society - Sebastion and Hernadez?

Answer 9

→ Strengths: - High validity due to using a matched pairs design in which none of the 570 Spanish children had learning disabilities that would affect results and therefore is credible in its demonstration of the development of the phonological loop
→ Weaknesses - Low task validity due to recalling a list of digits, increasing in length after every accurate recall lacks mundane realism as everyday verbal memory is used to hold sequences of words to form sentences

Question 10

Describe how Baddeley can apply its psychological knowledge to society?

Answer 10

→ Baddeley’s (1966): He found that STM encodes acoustically and LTM encodes semantically
Offers advice to methods of revision for students as simply rereading content will not

Question 11

Strength and weaknesses using psychological knowledge applying to society - Baddeley?

Answer 11

→ Strengths - 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
→ Weaknesses - 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

Question 12

What are the main topics in social?

Answer 12

1) Agency theory
2)Social Impact Theory
3) Realistic Coflict theory

Question 13

Describe how Agency theory can apply its psychological knowledge to society?

Answer 13

→ Agency Theory- It states that people lose their autonomy in the agentic state, giving up their free will to an authority figure and blindly obeying their instructions
- Offers an understanding about why people blindly obey authority figures and so provides opportunities for solutions to reduce blind obedience as it can be harmful

Question 14

Strength and weaknesses using psychological knowledge applying to society - Agency theory?

Answer 14

→ Strengths - 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
→ Weaknesses - 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

Question 15

Describe how social impact theory can apply its psychological knowledge to society?

Answer 15

→ Social Impact Theory: It 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
- It offers 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

Question 16

Strength and weaknesses using psychological knowledge applying to society - Social Impact theory?

Answer 16

→ Strengths: - 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
→ Weaknesses - 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

Question 17

Describe how Realistic Conflict theory can apply its psychological knowledge to society?

Answer 17

→ Realistic Conflict theory :It states that prejudice arises as a result of competition for limited resources and conflict of interest between groups
It offers the solution of a superordinate goal to reduce prejudice by getting groups to work towards a common goal or interest

Question 18

EVOLUTION

Answer 18

→ Evolution: It states that certain genes that aid the survival of ancestors are passed on to offspring through natural selection causing a predisposition to certain behaviours such as aggression
→ It offers implications of certain behaviours being innate and so are harder to change due to being related to genes and eugenics is unethical so predictions for those who are likely to show the behaviour is useful for early intervention

Question 19

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - EVOLUTION

Answer 19

→ Strengths - Lorenz’s (1963) research supports as he found that male animals used aggression to fight off other males to protect offspring which is a trait that would be inherited
→ Weaknesses - Deterministic due to failing to consider the role of free will by assuming that behaviours are innate as a result of evolution and so are unavoidable however humans and behaviour is more complex than that

Question 20

BRAIN STRUCTURE

Answer 20

→ Brain structures: It states that areas of the brain have certain functions and so damage to them can cause certain behaviours, such as damage to the prefrontal cortex (which is responsible for self-control) may lead someone to become impulsive and violent
→ It offers advice when convicting criminals in that if they have brain abnormalities they may not be fully accountable for their actions and so their sentence may be reduced

Question 21

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - BRAIN STRUCTURE

Answer 21

→ Strengths - Raine’s (1997) research supports as he found that the brains of murderers pleading NGRI were different to non-murderers in activity that was assessed using a PET scan
→ Weaknesses - Reductionist as it ignores the role of the environment on aggressive behaviour, SLT states that aggression can be learnt through the observation of role models being aggressive instead of a biological reason

Question 22

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Answer 22

→ Neurotransmitters → It states that increased dopamine (responsible for pleasure) causes aggression and low levels of serotonin (responsible for mood and cognition) can’t inhibit the amygdala and so causes increased aggression
→ It offers solutions of drugs treatments that can regulate neurotransmitters, such as antipsychotics and SSRIs to reduce the risk of individuals’ aggression in society

Question 23

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Answer 23

→ Strengths - Popova (2006) found that selectively bread dogs are docile and have high levels of serotonin which shows a link between level of serotonin and aggression
→ Weaknesses - Brendgen (2005) found that social aggression (verbal violence) is a result of the environment and how it shapes the expression of a predisposition to aggressive behaviour suggesting it isn’t purely genes that defines how aggressive behaviour is caused

Question 24

HORMONES

Answer 24

→ Hormones It states that high levels of testosterone (a male hormone responsible for reproduction and muscle maintenance) and high levels of cortisol (responsible for stress) cause high levels of aggression
→ It offers solutions of hormone therapy in the form of injecting other hormones that regulate the high levels of the ones that cause aggression to reduce the risk to society caused by those being aggressive

Question 25

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - HORMONES

Answer 25

→ Strengths - Wagner’s (1979) found that castrated rats showed little aggression compared to when they were injected testosterone and the aggression levels rose
→ Weaknesses - Majority of research is only correlational as high levels of some hormones can be present at the time of aggression meaning a causal relationship cannot be established reducing its credibility

Question 26

RAINE

Answer 26

→ Raine → He found that the brains of murderers pleading NGRI were different to the brains of non-murderers in terms of activity when tested under a PET scan, such as murderers having lower activity on the left side of their amygdala compared to non-murderers
→ It offers advice when convicting murderers pleading NGRI in that if they have brain abnormalities that cause them to be different they may not be fully accountable for their actions and so their sentence may be reduced

Question 27

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - RAINE

Answer 27

→ Strengths - High reliability due to using a PET scan which provides objective, quantitative data in the form of an image that can be analysed by multiple researchers and so is more scientific
→ Weaknesses - Low task validity due to the CPT involving spotting targets instead of a task that would elicit a violent response to check the difference in activity of aggression therefore lacking mundane realism for brain activity of murderers

Question 28

BIO EXPLANATIONS

Answer 28

1) Explanations for aggression
2) Psychodynamic approach
3) Twin and adoption studies
4) Raine (1

Question 29

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Answer 29

→ Classical conditioning → The principles state that people can learn behaviours via an unconditioned stimulus causing an unconditioned response being conditioned to cause that behaviour again
→ The principles of learning by association due to behaviour being mainly a result of nurture suggest that undesirable behaviours such as aggression can be unconditioned

Question 30

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Answer 30

→ Strengths - Pavlov’s (1927) study supports as he conditioned a dog to salivate (unconditioned response) at the noise of a bell (unconditioned stimulus) in the presence of food (neutral stimulus) demonstrating their effect
→ Weakness - Deterministic as it states that people will learn a behaviour through conditioning regardless of their free will as they cannot change it however learning behaviour is more complex than that

Question 31

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Answer 31

→ Operant conditioning → It states that positive and negative reinforcers can shape our behaviour by rewarding desirable behaviour and punishing undesirable behaviour
→ These principles offer a treatment structure for AN called token economy in which patients receive secondary reinforces (a token) as a reward when they gain weight to exchange for primary reinforcers (money) which motivates them to continue

Question 32

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - OPERANT CONDITIONING

Answer 32

→ Strengths - High reliability due to research (e.g. Skinner) using standardised procedures of administering a reinforcer every time a desirable behaviour is shown (e.g. rats receiving a treat every time they pushed a lever) which means procedures can be replicated to test for consistency and compare
→ Weaknesses - SLT as an alternative learning theory which states that behaviours are learnt through observation and are imitated if desirable consequences follow without the need for trial and error

Question 33

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Answer 33

→ Social learning theory → It states that people learn behaviours through observing role models by paying attention to their behaviour due to idolising them, retaining the information by rehearsing it due to seeing them a lot, reproducing the behaviour if they have high self-efficacy and low self-esteem and having the motivation to continue through vicarious reinforcement
→ It offers advice on presenting positive role models to children so that they don’t learn undesirable behaviour which is why the Watershed was put in place to show violent programs after 9pm when children go to bed

Question 34

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Answer 34

→ Strengths - Bandura’s (1961) study supports as he found that children who observed adults being verbally and physically aggressive towards a bobo doll reproduced the same behaviours
→ Weaknesses - Studies into SLT (e.g. Bandura 1961) only show the short-term effects and don’t look further into whether the behaviour is continued to be reproduced in the future, limiting credibility of real life applications

Question 35

WATSON AND RAYNER

Answer 35

→ Watson and Rayner → They found that Little Albert had been conditioned to fear a rat due to classical conditioning principles of the rat being an unconditioned stimulus paired with the unconditioned fear response that was a result of the neutral stimulus of a loud bang making him jump
→ It suggests that if a fear can be conditioned then it can be unconditioned using the same principles, which is what many therapies for phobias are based on

Question 36

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - WATSON AND RAYNER

Answer 36

→ Strengths - High internal validity due to lab conditions limiting effect of EVs with manipulation of the IV (fear of objects before and after conditioning) and the DV (number of fearful responses) leading to a causal relationship
→ Weaknesses - Low generalisability due to using one ppt that was an infant boy from America which doesn’t represent conditioning of phobias for people from other countries, ages, or genders

Question 37

TREATMENTS OF PHOBIAS

Answer 37

→ Treatments of phobias use principles from classical conditioning to associate something positive with the subject of the phobia to remove the fear
→ Systematic desensitisation and flooding teaches the patient relaxation methods that they carry out when presented with a depiction of their phobia to associate it with something positive in place of the negative

Question 38

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - TREATMENTS OF PHOBIAS

Answer 38

→ Strengths - McGrath’s (1990) study supports as found that 75% of those with specific phobias showed significant improvements following systematic desensitisation
→ Weaknesses - The treatment of flooding is unethical due to forcing the patient to experience the highest tier of their phobia which can cause them further stress and fear, resulting in more phobias or PTSD which suggests these principles may not be the best solution

Question 39

MILGRAM

Answer 39

→ Milgram 1963 → He found that 65% of ppts administered the full 450V when asked to do so by the experimenter even after the bang on the wall at 300V which indicated that the confederate learner was experiencing pain
→ It benefits society as it showed how dangers blind obedience can be and that it isn’t just the German population who blindly follow authority and commit severe actions

Question 40

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - MILGRAM

Answer 40

→ Strengths - He operationalised obedience into a measurable concept of increase in voltage of electric shock administered to a confederate which made the data more objective and scientific
→ Weaknesses - Low ecological validity as it took place in a prestigious, artificial environment that was unfamiliar to the ppt and so may not have reflected their obedient behaviour in real life where they are in situations familiar to them

Question 41

SHERIF ET AL

Answer 41

→ Sherif et al → He found high prejudice between the two groups of boys during stage 2 when competition was introduced as friendship levels were 6% for the Rattlers and 7% for the Eagles compared to stage 3 when prejudice was reduced with a superordinate goal of fixing the water shortage when friendship levels went up to 36% for the Rattlers and 23% for the Eagles
→ It disputes the contact hypothesis as a way to reduce prejudice and offers superordinate goals as the solution in which groups work towards a common goal/interest

Question 42

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES - SHERIF ET AL

Answer 42

→ Strengths - High ecological validity due to the ppts being unaware of the study and having it take place in a summer camp setting and so the 22 11-year old boys’ behaviour will be natural and free from DCs
→ Weaknesses - Low validity due to the experiment only lasting 2 weeks which lacks mundane realism of the complexity of how extreme prejudice is formed against other groups over time