Summer homework- miscellaneous active recall

Define internalisation

Going along with the group because we accept their beliefs and attitudes into our own cognitions

Define compliance

Going along with the group, even if we do not really agree with what they are doing

Give two situational variables that can affect obedience

Proximity, location

Using your knowledge of psychology, explain why some people might resist pressures to conform

Some people may have an internal locus of control- meaning they believe they are in control of the events in their life. They tend to be less influenced by the opinions of others, and so therefore are less likely to conform, in comparison to those with an external locus of control

Explain how a minority can bring about social change

A minority group can bring about social change by firstly drawing attention to an issue. By being consistent and committed regarding their viewpoint, the snowball effect occurs, which is when some members of the majority join the minority, gathering momentum for the movement

The following results are percentages of participants who gave the maximum shock, in variations of Milgram’s experiment into obedience to authority

What do these results suggest about the power of the confederates in variations of Milgram’s study

These results show that the confederates have a large power in altering obedience levels (an increase of 82.5%) by obeying or not obeying. They act as a dissenter when disobeying, which means participants are less likely to obey

In an experiment into conformity, an experimenter varied both the number of confederates (stooges) and the ambiguity of the task. The bar chart below shows the findings.

What does the bar chart show about conformity

• The larger the majority, the higher the levels of conformity

• The more ambiguous the task, the more people will conform

• In a situation with an unambiguous task and a small majority, only 2% of people conformed, in comparison to 47% in an ambiguous task with a large majority- suggesting that these things strongly affect conformity rates

Define duration

The length of time the memory store holds information

Define encoding

Transforming incoming information into a form that can be stored in memory

Give two features of the working memory model

Central executive, phonological loop

Traditionally, police have questioned eye witnesses using the standard interview procedure. This involves a period of free recall about an event , followed by specific questions. However, an increasing number of police forces are now using the cognitive interview technique

Explain how a cognitive interview differs from a standard interview

A cognitive interview is a method of interviewing eyewitnesses which uses 4 techniques- report everything, reinstate the context, report in reversed order, and report in changes perspective. In this way it differs demo a standard interview, as it is supported by psychological research to enable accurate testimonies, however it also differs as it is more time consuming

Distinguish between procedural memory and semantic memory

Procedural memory is the type of long term memory for how to perform motor actions, it is not time stamped and does not require conscious effort to recall. On the other hand semantic memory is the memory store for facts about the world, which is also not time stamped, but does require conscious effort to recall

In the context of explanations of forgetting, what is meant by interference

Interference is when two similar memories compete, resulting in one of both of them being distorted or forgotten

Choose one study in which the effects of interference were investigated. Briefly outline what participants had to do in the study

Baddely and Hitch (1977)- rugby players were asked to remember the names of the teams they had played in the season, week by week

Briefly discuss one limitation of interference as an explanation of forgetting

One limitation of interference as an explanation of forgetting is that it is limited in that it can only be used to explain forgetting of similar memories, not those that are different

One technique used in cognitive interviews is report everything. When using this technique, the police officer in this investigation read the following instructions to the participants

“Please tell me everything that you can remember about what you saw in the film. Do not leave anything out, even the small details you think may be unimportant”

Identify one other technique which could have been used by the police officer in this cognitive interviews. Write down the instructions that he could have read out to the participants

Technique- report in reversed order

“Please tell me everything in the opposite order than it happened in. Start with the events that happened last, and end with what happened first”

The psychologist also recorded the number of correct items recalled and the number of incorrect items recalled in each type of interview. The following results were recorded

From these results, what might the psychologist conclude about the effectiveness of cognitive interviews

Cognitive interviews draw out not only a larger amount of information from a person, but a larger amount of information overall

Explain how counterbalancing might improve the design of a study

Counterbalancing removes order effects, as if the study is a repeated measures design. Thus avoiding the skewing of results from fatigue or learning the material

Give two examples of behaviour of a securely attached child in the strange situation

The infant goes to the caregiver when she returns and is easily soothed

The infant explores a strange environment, plays happily with toys and uses the caregiver as a safe base

In Van Ijzendoorn’s cross-cultural investigations of attachment, which one of the following statements is correct

The variation within cultures was greater than the variation between cultures

Learning theory provides one explanation of attachment. It suggests that attachment will be between an infant and the person who feeds it. However, some findings of research studies do not support this explanation

Outline research findings that challenge the learning theory of attachment

Harlows research on monkeys showed that when scared, they go to the cloth ‘mother’ that cannot feed them instead of the wire ‘mother’ that can. This means that they develop attachment based on comfort, rather than the ability to obtain food, which contradicts the learning theory

Some researchers believe that caregiver-infant interactions influence the development of attachment

Explain one reason why it is difficult to draw conclusions about the role of caregiver-infant interactions in the development of attachment

It may be difficult to draw conclusions based on caregiver-infant interactions as babies may complete movements or make noises unconsciously, and so it may be hard to draw conclusions

Briefly evaluate learning theory as an explanation of attachment

One strength of learning theory is that it provides a valuable insight into how an infant form attachment to its main caregiver. However, an issue is that many infants form attachments to people who do not feed them, which contradicts learning theory, and a lack of support from animal studies

Give two statements that describe the deviation from ideal mental health definition of abnormality

Not achieving self actualisation, not being able to resist stress

Define statistical infrequency

Behaviour which is rare and not exhibited by many people

Define deviation from social norms

Behaviour which does not fit the rules of expected behaviour

Define failure to function adequately

Behaviour which shows an inability to cope with everyday life

Outline the characteristics of obsessive compulsive disorder

The behavioural characteristics of OCD include compulsive behaviours and avoidance

The emotional characteristics of OCD include feelings of anxiety, distress, shame and disgust

The cognitive characteristics of OCD include persistent obsessions and awareness of excessive anxiety

Outline cognitive behaviour therapy as a treatment for depression

Cognitive behaviour therapy helps treat depression by changing negative thought and behaviours. The therapist works with the patient to spot unhelpful thinking patterns and challenge them. Patients also do activities that improve their mood, called behavioural activation activation.CBT is usually a short-term structured therapy where the patient and therapist works together

What are the elements of Beck’s negative triad

Negative views about the self, the future and the world

Briefly discuss one reason why systematic desensitisation might be a more successful treatment for phobias than flooding

Systematic desensitisation may be less traumatic than flooding which reduces the number of people who will drop out of the therapy (making it more successful overall)

Is negative schema best described as measuring a cognitive, emotional or behavioural characteristic of depression

Cognitive

What is Wundt’s method of introspection

Introspection involves reporting present experience

What best describes the aim of cognitive neuroscience

To relate mental processes to brain structures

Briefly explain what social learning theorists mean by modelling in relation to gender development

Modelling is someone who influences another person by being imitated. Someone is more likely to act as a model for someone if they are able to identify with them

Explain how reinforcement might be used to encourage primary school children to pick up litter in the playground

Positive reinforcement can be used by rewarding children for picking up litter. Vicarious reinforcement will then encourage more children to pick up more litter, as they will see that the other children were being rewarded, and they want that reward

Explain what is meant by an inference

An inference is making a conclusion based on a set of data

Describe the structure of the personality according to the psychodynamic approach

According to the psychodynamic approach, the personality is made of the id, which is purely selfish and fuelled by wants, the superego, which contains the conscience and morals, and the ego, which tries to find a balance between the two