Aim: To investigate whether psychiatrists can reliably tell the difference between people who have a mental disorder and those that do not. Method Study 1: The main study was a field experiment involving participant observation. The participants were hospital staff in...
Aim: To investigate whether rhesus monkeys can learn fear through observing it in other rhesus monkeys. Method: Two experiments were conducted where videotapes of model monkeys behaving fearfully were shown. The videos were spliced so that it appeared that the models...
Clinical Psychology: The branch of applied psychology that deals with understanding mental health and illnesses, such as Anorexia Nervosa. Sometimes referred to as ‘abnormal psychology’ as it is concerned with the study of behavior that is not regarded as ‘normal’....
Primary Data: Primary data are gathered first hand from source directly by the researcher(s). For example, Milgram (1963) collected primary data during his study into obedience in a laboratory environment, and Bandura et al. (1961) collected primary data when they...
Twin studies involve comparing MZ and DZ twins to see what differences there are in the incidence of a certain characteristic. MZ twins are identical in genetic make-up as they come from one egg. DZ twins share 50% of their genes like any other brother/sister pair as...
Interviewing can take the form of questionnaires, in which case the interviews are structured. The questionnaire will remain the same for all respondents, so each person is asked the same questions in the same format. Another form of interviewing is the...
Diagnostic classification systems: There is no one manual for diagnosing mental illness. There are two classification systems which are most widely-used in western cultures: The APA’s (American Psychiatric Association) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental...
Reliability and validity in clinical psychology: To be reliable as a diagnostic classification system, there would have to be consistency with the DSM. This means that the DSM is reliable if the clinicians using it consistently arrive at the same diagnoses as each...
Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that affects about 1% of the population. It is the condition most associated with ‘madness’. Schizophrenia is not a ‘split personality’, but there is a loss of contact with reality and in severe cases a complete disintegration of...
A phobia is defined as an irrational and intense fear of a specific object or situation. In DSM-IV-TR phobias fall under the broader category of anxiety disorders. DSM-IV indicates that the fear experienced is intense & persistent & that individuals are...
Aim: To find out if gender has an effect in obedience. Hypothesis (Non-directional): It is predicted that there would be a significant difference in levels of obedience between males and females. Method: Survey Variables: DV – score of obedience out of 50 ...
Suggests that existence of groups cause prejudice. Humans have a natural tendency to form groups. Stereotyping is pre-conceived judgments about certain groups/people based on characteristics. Based on normal cognitive process – tendency to group things together. When...
Aim: Investigate how in-group behaviour develops to include related out-group hostility. To see how friction between groups could be reduced. To see how attitudes & behaviours change by introducing competition. Sample: 22 boys from white middle class background,...
States that inter-group hostility can arise due to result of a conflicting goal & competition of limited resources. Prejudice is more likely if the resource is finite. Explains prejudice & discrimination towards outgroups. Groups may be in competition for real...
Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil (2012): developmental issues in memory span development Children ages between 5-8 years old have a digit span of around 4 items, which raises to around 5 items by the age of 17, when it stops developing Digit span is additional evidence...
SIT: States as humans we form groups for protection & to help survive. We categorise people into certain groups to understand how to behave around them. We then compare them using prejudice to make out-groups seem inferior & identify more openly to our...
Processing Speed and Capacity: different due to the speed at which they process information and their ability to stretch the capacity of their STM Miller: magic number 7 – we can hold 7 plus or minus 2 items of information in STM Chunking: grouping together connected...
Social dominance orientation: Ideology of attitude of someone who sees society as a hierarchy with themselves in dominant position while others in a lower status. (Don’t believe in equality) Those who believe in hieratical society are more likely to be prejudice...
The social approach is studying individuals in a social context such as family, friends, institutions and wider society. Social behaviour may involve activity within a group or between group. Concerned with the way our interactions with other people affected the way...
Collective & Individual cultures - collective cultures emphasise the need of groups: holding duty to the in-group. Characterised by strongly emotional attachment to in-group. Collective culture relies on mutual independence & co-operation, prejudice between...
We can influence someone else’s behaviour by issuing a command which we are obligated to obey. People in society are in a position where obedience is expected of them and yet at the same time, we expect each person to act of the dictates of their own conscience....
Issue: Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group. E.g the holocaust is the world’s most known instance – it was an attempt by the Nazi government to exterminate Europe’s Jewish population....
Aim: to investigate levels of obedience when authority figure tells them to give an electric shock. Investigate the ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis. (assumption obeyed due to blind obedience not because of who they were. Method/Procedure: Sample of 40 men recruited...
Baseline study (experiment 5) – 26/40 went up to 450v (65%) 100% went up to 300v mark, 5 refused after this – showing reluctant to disobey experimenter as they were alone in unusual setting & experiment seemed professional. Telephonic instructions – instructions...
Aim: To investigate obedience by replicating Milgram’s study to examine situation factors affecting obedience to authority figures. To test if there is a gender difference in obedience. Procedure: Advert responses. Ppts were screened for if they knew Milgram’s work,...
Developed through a series of experiments (grounded in research). Milgram believes we are all capable of extreme obedience which serves as evolutionary societal function. To live in a hieratical society, we must give up our free will and obey the few people at the...
Location: Study show that location picked can undermine experimenter’s authority to limited extent. Shown by variation of run-down office with no link to yale uni & obedience dropped to 48%. The original study took place in prestige yale uni giving social power as...
Gender: Burger found no significant difference 27% (27.3%) 6 female and 33% (33.3%) 6 males. Milgram found no difference, used sample of 40 women and got result of 65% same as his base line experiment. However females had higher levels of moral strain, stress and...
Munroe & Munroe – notes African cultures are more obedient in comparison to other cultures. Due to higher obedience in countries with military gov or dictator. Edwards – 87.5% obedience in south Africa. As a collective culture meaning it is one that values need of...
Highlights two types of people for social influence; Source (provides influence) target (those influenced) Number – the number of sources will increase influence. The law of diminishing effect states number is affective till a great amount of people is present, one...
Issue: Can be said if behaviour is caused by behaviours factors we can choose not to behave in that way. They could avoid stimuli which could trigger aggression. Choice to act differently by not reacting to cues. If behaviour comes from genes there is no element of...
Effort after meaning: trying to make sense of an event in terms of what they already know Information may be remembered in a distorted way because they are imaginative reconstructions of the original information in light of each individual’s past experiences and...
Aim: To investigate whether there is a positive correlation between masculinity score & aggression score as measured frim self-report questionnaires. Co-variables: Masculinity (/40) on attributes questionnaire. Aggression (/145) Bussy Perry aggression scale....
Previous research has shown that STM for word sequences is affected by acoustically similar words but less affected by semantically similarity Aims: To test whether LTM will be similarly affected as STM by word sequences To test the effect of semantic and acoustic...
Process speed: ppl complete tasks at different times & speeds, likely due to speed they can process information & ability to stretched capacity of STM. Use of chunking to expand capacity of STM, Miller proposed magic number of 7 (can hold + or – 2 pieces in...
Digit Span: memory span and capacity of STM without rehearsal: it can be tested by reading a sequence of numbers to someone which increases each time Aims To study the developmental pattern of working memory over time, including changes from ageing or dementia To...
Memory & age: Processing speeds differ between individuals, ppl write & read with different speeds linked with capacity of their STM. Younger children have a shorter digit span (capacity & memory span of STM without rehearsal) than older children. Memory...
Had brain surgery to alleviate the severe symptoms of epilepsy which involved removal of the hippocampus Suffered anterograde (can’t store new memories) and retrograde amnesia (loss of memory of events) Retrograde amnesia meant he was unable to retrieve memories from...
Cognitive psychology is how we think and process information to get a mental output. 1950’s is when cognitive psychology arises, following the end of the second world war, more studies of understanding human performance e.g best train soldiers to use technology. Led...
Sensory memory: Enters via sensory input Brief and only lasts 1-2 seconds. Paying attention to the info passes it to STM Forgotten through decay/ lack of attention to info Short Term Memory (STM): Lasts 15-30 seconds, stores 5-9 items. Has subvocal rehearsal loop Not...
Central executive: Modality free attention mechanism with limited capacity. Decision making, involves problem solving Controls attention & plays role in planning information Control; over other slave systems. Phonological loop: Speech based sounds, limited...
Aim: Test the effect of sematic & acoustic similarity on the learning & recalling of word sequences in LTM using control to prevent rehearsal between presentation & testing to minimise STM effects. Procedure:78 ppts used in independent measures. Lab based...
Semantic: Facts, meaning and knowledge. Information about ourselves, stores information about the world. Involves conscious thought & doesn’t rely on cue’s for retrieval. Can work independently. Found in frontal & temporal lobe. Fragmented structure. Episodic:...
The idea that memory is not recorded passively, suggesting that memories are stored in bits We extract the underlying meaning but don’t necessarily recall info entirely. Perception is an active construction of what we think we seeing using prior knowledge Current...
HM was diagnosed as suffering with anterograde (inability to form new memories due to impairment of moving data from STM to LTM) & retrograde amnesia (person’s pre-existing memories are lost to conscious recollection but can form new memories). In 1953, Hm aged 27...
Aim: Study developmental pattern of working memory over time, including changes from ageing & dimension. Analyse development of phonological loop in children 5-17 years old looking at age digit span stopped increasing See if Anglo-Saxon data (15 years end) were...
Evolution is how inherited characteristics in organism which change from generation to generation. Changes in inherited characteristics lead to differentiation within a species. Natural selection is the process organisms better adapted to their environment, healthier,...
Describe: Dementia is umbrella of neurological diseases which hinders brain functioning especially everyday activities e.g. making a cup of tea. Leads to memory loss, confusion. 850,000 people predicted to have Dementia by 2015 – 1 million in 2025. 2 million by 2051....
Males choose to mate with as many females as possible to pass on his genes more to have as many offspring as possible, so they too will pass on their gene line. Men can have as many children as they want while women’s bodies change from reproduction when carrying a...
Sensory memory is taken in from the environment, it lasts 1-2 seconds and then if no attention is given to it, then the information is forgotten If information is given attention then it is passed on into the short term memory, which can hold 5-9 items at a time There...
To understand aggression we have to look at our evolutionary past to see displays of aggressive behaviour such as increased reproductive fitness. Trait passed through genes showing trait ensured reproductive success. Concern for male ancestors was not getting a mate...
Proposed as an alternative for MSM, challenging the concept of a single unitary store for STM Four Components: central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad, episodic buffer Central Executive: controls the slave systems, directs attention to particular...
Background: Conscious mind: everything we are aware of. Aspect of our mental processing that we can think & talk rationally. Preconscious mind: Represents ordinary memory, we are not consciously aware of this information at any given time, can retrieve it &...
Semantic Memory: structured record of facts, meanings, concepts and knowledge about the external world Episodic Memory: stored information about events that we have experienced in our lives Procedural Memory: involves the knowledge of knowing how to do things (memory...
CNS is made up of brain & spinal cord. The NS is brain, spinal cord and network of neurons. It is responsible for sending, receiving & interpreting info from all over the body. The NS monitors & co-ordinates internal organ functions & responses to...
Cells electrical action start small as electro-impulses generated at AXON HILLOCK, but once it reaches axon terminal the neuron’s terminal button can pass its chemical message across the synaptic gap. Each Neuron is responsible for producing a certain NT and when the...
Cocaine makes the user feel on top of the world, wide awake and confident. Getting a surge of energy. It takes 15 minutes to get into system but only lasts 10-20 minutes. Cocaine works on the reward pathway (Mesolimbic) & dopamine receptors. It releases additional...
A correlation is the measurement of extent in which pairs of values on two variables change together. They describe the relationship between 2 variables in statistical terms. Not a research method. No IV or DV but described in co-variables because they both vary &...
Twin Studies: One way to investigate genes & if cause behaviour is to study twins. Monozygotic (MZ) [Identical] who share 100% of their genes as they came from the same fertilized egg Dizygotic (DZ) [Non-identical] who share only 50% of their genes as they came...
Aims: To see if social aggression could be caused by genes or the environment, see if social aggression is shared the same cause as physical aggression, if one type of aggression leads to another. Social aggression: Socially manipulative e.g ignoring others, spreading...
Aim: How many adopted children of BIO mothers with SZ would go on to develop SZ themselves. If Sig number sis be powerful evidence of genes in SZ. Procedure: Experimental sample born between 1915 & 45 to SZ mothers in Oregon state psychiatric hospital (47)....
Cat Scans They can show us tumours or brain damage and used following head traumas to show damage done. Unable to show us how brain functions. Multiple beams will pass around the head gathering large amounts of data and it is processed through a computer for a...
Aim: -Investigate relationship between Chronic Heroine use & effects on the Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC). Wanted to see if Heroine changes brain functions. Look at brain damage compare to control group. Sample: 14 Heroin addicts matched to 15 controls, aged...
Aim: Show brain of murders who plead guilty by reasons of insanity (GBRI) were different from brains of non-murders. Especially relatively localised brain dysfunctions in pre-frontal cortex, amygdala and thalamus. Sample: 41 murders pleading NGRI matched to 41...
Basics: 4 lobes (frontal, temerpal, parietal & Occipital) 2 Hemispheres (left, right) Prefrontal cortex: -Responsible for personality expression, planning complex cog behaviours, controls social inhibitions, input to emotional responses and emotional regulation....
Dopamine: -Neurotransmitter which mediates pleasure and excitement along the mesolimbic pathway. -Lavaine: Found that an increase in Dopamine levels through use of amphetamines is associated with aggression. Suggests that higher levels of dopamine correlates with high...
Method Sample: 48 girls, 48 boys aged 35 – 69 months (mean = 52 months) Group 1: watched real life male/female models be aggressive to Bobo doll Group 2: watched 10 minute film version of model be aggressive to doll Group 3: watched cartoon of female model dressed as...
Biological (physiological) Approach: Seeks to explain mental process & behaviour by focusing on the function of the nervous system at the cellular and structural level. Theorists in the bio study behavioural genomics consider how genes affect behaviour. Factors...
NATURE: This side of the debate has its roots in nativist philosophy, BIO & evolutionary theory. Believes that behaviour is caused by genetic determinism, inherited influences, maturational blueprint, neurochemical & hormonal influences and Brain activity....
Learning through association with a neutral stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus, which produces a natural unconditioned response. Neutral Stimulus (NS): an environmental stimulus that does not naturally produce a response Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS):...
Pavlov developed classical conditioning after studying secretion in dogs Aim To study how the cerebral cortex works in making associations To look for a mechanism linking reflexes to cerebral cortex Procedure Pavlov studied the reflex of salivating, to see if a dog...
Aim To see if they could condition fear of an animal by simultaneously presenting the animal and striking a steel bar to make a loud noise and frighten the child The fear would be transferred to other animals and objects There would be an effect of time on the...
The learning of voluntary behaviour through consequences When people behave in a particular way and are rewarded for that behaviour, then they will repeat it; if they are punished for it they will stop the behaviour
He put a cat in a cage with a latch across the door and a piece of salmon outside the cage. Thorugh trial and error the cat unlocked the door and ate the fish. With repetition each effort become quicker. Behaviour that produced the desired effect became dominant and...
Contained a lever for an animal to press for food to be delivered. Had a speaker and lights that could be used to trigger a behaviour and a shock generator was connected to the food to deliver an electric shock in response to a behaviour Stimulus response association...
Reinforcement tells you what to do, punishment tells you what not to do Reinforcement: any consequence that strengthens a behaviour Positive Reinforcement: strengthens a response by presenting positive stimulus Negative Reinforcement: strengthens a response by...
Fixed Ratio: applying the reinforcement/punishment after a specific number of behaviours. The problem is that the person involved will begin to notice the pattern Fixed Interval: after a specific amount of time. Problem is people tend to improve their performance just...
Any behaviour leading to the target behaviour is rewarded. Giving the bird food when it turns slightly in the direction of the spot – this increases the frequency of such behaviour Withhold reinforcement until a slight movement is made toward the spot By reinforcing a...
S – Thorndike – trial and error with cats – shows behaviour learnt through reinforcement S – Skinner – positive reinforcement - shows behaviour learnt through reinforcement C – animal research – cannot generalise – different cognitive abilities C – high reliability –...
Social: Reduction of prejudice, increase of obedience. Explaining football violence/terrorism/historical atrocities. Cognitive: Help with dyslexia and dementia. Helping aid revision techniques for students. If eyewitness testimony is reliable or not. Biological:...
Learning through observation, imitation and modelling of another person or role model People can learn through observation Live Model: involves an actual individual demonstrating or acting out a behaviour Verbal Instruction Model: descriptions and explanations of a...
Social: Prejudice links to racism and impact of research on ppts and the groups they represent. Cognitive: Issues of memory loss due to dementia and how study of this is socially sensitive to individual and family. Biological: Linking biology to behaviour such as...
S – Bandura, Ross & Ross (1961) – children do copy aggression, vicarious reinforcement, watched an adult play aggressively with a Bobo doll, child would also repeat the same thing as the role model was not punished – children learn through observation S – Boesch...
Social Self-reporting data, questionnaires and interviews Cognitive Field and lab experiments, case studies of brain damaged patients Biological Correlations, brain scanning, twin and adoption studies Learning Observations, content analysis, animal experiments...
Aim To find out if children would show more aggressive behaviour if exposed to an aggressive role model and less aggressive if exposed to a non-aggressive role model To see if the sex of the role model and the children made a difference, specifically to see if the...
To what extent is it better for psychologists to use animals rather than humans in research? [12] With reference to both social and clinical psychology to what extent can psychology be called a science? [20] Evaluate the ethical issues involved in the use of human...
Pavlov (1849 – 1936) 1897: experiment on conditioning after originally studying digestion in dogs, found that dogs would salivate at the sound of a tone that had previously been associated with the presentation of food Watson (1878 – 1958) 1920 – Watson found that...
Scientific Approach: theories need to be supported by empirical data obtained through careful and controlled observations and measurement of behaviour Focus on Observable Data: Watson thought that instead psychologists should only study things that could be directly...
Eyewitness testimony (EWT) comes from someone who has seen a crime. They give a statement, might identify someone from a line up and may have to give testimony in court. This can have important consequences such as deciding at who is at fault in a car accident. If EWT...
Social: Issues of informed consent, causing psychological harm and right to withdraw within obedience research. The necessity of creating these conditions in order to study prejudice and obedience. For example, Milgram’s study was very unethical. Sherif also...
Bandura, Ross & Ross – children copied aggressive models, reproducing verbal/physical aggression towards a BoBo doll and were more likely to copy a model if it was the same gender as them. Williams et al – the introduction of broadcast TV to a remote community...
Social: Practical issues when researching prejudice, such as social desirability or demand characteristics. Issues with interviews/self-reports when measuring obedience/prejudice. Importance of sampling ppts into conditions. Sherif – naturalistic observation so high...
Stereotyping means thinking of a whole group as having certain characteristics and then using evidence from one member and applying it to all the people from that group. Labelling links stereotyping – labels come from stereotypes. Labelling comes from a majority group...
Social: Social impact theory reduces behaviour down to a mathematical equation. Measuring prejudice attitudes by questionnaires can reduce complexity of behaviour. Sherif reduces prejudice to being caused by conflict – ignores upbringing and biological aspect....
Evidence of the SFP can come from Rosenthal and Jacobson, even though it is about education and not specifically to do with crime – they told teachers that certain pupils were about to blood on the basis of a test but they picked the students at random. Those labelled...
Social: Issues of personality, culture, gender and situation in explaining obedience and prejudice. Use of two different theories to explain prejudice (Realistic Conflict and Social Identity) and obedience (Agency and Social Impact). Cognitive: Four models of memory...
Similarities There is a lot of research evidence to support both of them (SLT – Bandura, Ross & Ross, SFP – Rosenthal and Jacobson) A variety of methods have been used to test them They are both nurture based Differences SLT considers reinforcement whereas SFP...
Social: Controls over variables in lab experiments can lead to replicability and high reliability. However bias in questionnaires raises issues of validity. Can be criticised for not being able to generalise findings to real world. Cognitive: One of the most...
The media refers to ways of communicating information to the public such as TV, radio, newspapers, adverts, films and video games. The vast majority of us see more criminality in the media that in real life. A lot of what we see is designed to attract our attention...
Social: Obedience found not to be influenced by gender (Milgram). However, there are cultural differences (collectivistic versus individualistic) in obedience. Cognitive: Sebastian and Hernandez Gil found differences in digit span length among English and Spanish...