contemporary debates

all 5 flashcard sets

home - YES

has been shown to be effective in preventing bed-wetting

home - YES: benjamin & gebbert

• 90 parents rated their youngest night trained child on interactions during night training

• positive reinforcements (hugging, kissing) encouraged staying dry

• punishment (shaming, spanking) delayed learning

• operant conditioning helps learn key behaviours, punishment hinders progress

home - YES: ethical implication

• encourages positive behaviour

• safe environment to increase likelihood of encouraged behaviour

home - NO

smacking has been shown to be ineffective

home - NO: george holden

• audiotaped families in the evening over 15 night period

• 41 incidents of smacking or hitting

• ten minutes after being smacked, children were misbehaving again in 75% of incidents

• therefore, hitting to control behaviour is ineffective + counterproductive

home - NO: ethical implication

• smacking causes aggressive behaviour

• may create abusive adults who can pass on these traits, continuing the cycle with their children

school - YES

can increase continuity of positive behaviour

school - YES: lee ross, lewin

• spiral model: as each cycle pass, stricter more rewarding methods used to see how student behaviour develop over time

• more positive reinforcement → more likely to respond than when less positive reinforcement was used

• therefore, posit. reinfo. can yield continuity of positive behaviour

school - YES: social implication

• creates well behaved children who go on to behave appropriately in society

• leads to reduced crime rate and a more cohesive society

school - NO

reduces their intrinsic motivation

school - NO: lepper et al

• one group children told they would get reward playing with markers

• another group got no reward, then got surprise reward

• told get no reward, significantly less interested in playing with markers

• therefore, using conditioning can reduce intrinsic motivation to do tasks, shouldn’t be used

school - NO: economic implication

• creates strain on a limited school budget

• increases extrinsic motivation and anticipation for rewards in place of completing expected behaviours

vulnerable groups - YES

research has shown that time outs are effective

vulnerable groups - YES: wolf, risely and mees

• time outs effective in reducing stuttering and behavioural issues

• token economic successful in teaching reading, increasing work time, improving behaviour by rewarding positive behaviour

• therefore, operant cond. should be used can enhance behaviour through strategic use of rewards and punishment

vulnerable groups - YES: social implication

• token economies can reinforce social norms and expectations, helping individuals especially children or learn acceptable behavior

vulnerable groups - NO

it has been found to be unethical and lacking any proof of effectiveness

vulnerable groups - NO: the independent

• judge rotenberg centre ruled by judge to continue using electric shocks to manage inappropriate behaviours in special needs students

• some parents praised the technique as life-changing

• therefore, shouldn’t be unethical, no longer method that is used

vulnerable groups - NO: ethical implication

• mass electric shocks can cause more damage beyond conditioning process

• can also become long-term issue that cause psychologlocial damage

vulnerable groups conclusion

• used over a long period of time both in school and at home to encourage positive behaviour and discourage negative

• using rewards reduces intrinsic motivation

• therefore, conditioning only used sparingly and only in appropriate situations + using rewards should be avoided

neuroimaging - ethical

can be used to improve the understanding of criminal behaviour

neuroimaging - ethical: raine

• raine et al studied the brain activity of NGRIs compared to non-NGRIs using PET scans.

• PET scans inject a radioactive glucose tracer. brain uses glucose to function so the brain areas that are more active will have a higher glucose metabolism

• NGRIs lower activity in the brain areas responsible for emotional processing and impulse control such as the prefrontal cortex and amygdala

neuroimaging - ethical: economic implication

• economic implication - can be used as early intervention

• criminal behaviour can be predicted using PET scans in early stages

• less people in prisons, less court proceedings saves money

neuroimaging- unethical

results can easily be misinterpreted

neuroimaging - unethical: phelps et al

• fMRI scans to study brain activity related to unconscious racial evaluation

• fMRI scans measure brain activity by detecting changes in the blood flow

• strong magnet and radio waves, images showing which parts of brain are active

• white participants viewed unfamiliar black and white male faces while measuring amygdala activation

• they found greater amygdala activation to black versus white faces, indicating implicit racial bias.

neuroimaging - unethical: social implications

• can cause public to believe that fear and negative reactions to races are biologically driven

• worsen social divisions → justify prejudice and racial discrimination

brain enhancement - ethical

can help prevent PTSD symptoms

brain enhancement - ethical: pitman et al

• patients either received propranolol (medication for heart problems or anxiety)

• or placebo within 6 hours of traumatic event

• PTSD symptoms were measured at 1 month using a structured clinical interview

• 3 months later, emotional reactivity was assessed using a script-driven imagery test

• propranolol group had lower PTSD symptoms, suggesting reduced traumatic memory consolidation

brain enhancement - ethical: social implication

• helps change public perception of ptsd

• ptsd can be medically managed, people with condition dont think as lifelong burden

• people to seek help openly and normalise early treatment

brain enhancement - unethical

poses a risk to the autonomy of users

brain enhancement - unethical: darps, modafinil

• cns stimulant that treats excessive sleepiness caused by narcolepsy

• improves performance in high stress, sleep-deprived situations such as helicopter simulations

• aims to boost soldier capabilities like endurance

• may have civilian applications

brain enhancement - unethical: social implications

• pressure people to enhance their performance

• prevalent in places such as military or workplace

• social pressure to use cognitive enhancers to keep up

neuroimaging - ethical

can improve the quality of life by reducing treatment-resistant symptoms

neuroimaging - ethical: mayberg

• electrodes implanted into brain + electrical impulses stimulate certain brain areas

• has shown safety efficacy in treated movement disorders

• also caused increase of interest and dbs has been able to grow better and techniques have been able to improve

neuroimaging - ethical: economic implications

• dbs expensive

• pre surgical assessment £600

• dbs device £8000 and more

• high cost makes treatment inaccessible

neuroimaging - unethical

can reduce quality of life for patients and worsen any symptoms

neuroimaging - unethical: castrioto

• electrodes in brain send electrical impulses to target brain areas

• both motor and non-motor improvements

• can cause excessive inhibition, affecting movement, cognition and emotions

neuroimaging - unethical: economic implications

• if emotional side effects are too extreme, patient may struggle with employment

• lacking employment → dbs treatment may lose financial priority, revert to original symptoms

neuroscience conclusion

• unethical - cost outweighs benefits

• should only be considered for general usage with law and guidelines

• used effectively and safely → no one can take advantage of it

future relationships - YES

without the mother the child will lack attachment, influencing future relationships

future relationships - YES: bailey et al

• 99 mothers and their one-year-olds through interv + obvsr

• mothers who had poor attach. with their own parents more likely to have children with a poor attach.

• supports bowlby’s monotropic theory: attachment to a mother is unique and different to others → int. wor. mode.

• IWM: quality of relation. with your mother determines quality of future relationships

future relationships - YES: ethical implications

• asking mothers about parents can cause emotional distress

• if relation. was negative or traumatic

• could be hesitant to recall details, which could then furhter affect the validity of the results

future relationships - NO

there is research to suggest that the relationship with parents has little effect on future relationships

future relationships - NO: zimmerman

• longitudinal study between 12 months and revisited again at 16 years

• interv. determine if attachment types in infancy affected relationships into adulthood

• little relationship between quality of infant attachment and attachment of adolescents with parents

• contradicts bowlby’s monotropic theory

• attachments made in childhood do not affect those made in adulthood → pcg doesn’t matter

future relationships - NO: social implications

• mothers may feel like not as much effort needed to raise children

• if relationship with child wont affect future relationships

feeding - YES

they can provide breastmilk which contains the best nutrients for babies, most crucial at that stage of life

feeding - YES: NHS

• milk changes as the baby grows to meet nutritional needs

• can help protect babies against some short and long term diseases

• lower risk of SIDS

• sids: unexplained death of seemingly healthy baby, usually during sleep in first year of life

feeding - YES: social implications

• stigma for mothers breastfeeding in public

• despite benefits and biological explanation, some mothers may still feel ashamed to do it in fear of being judged

feeding - NO

food is not the most important thing, only a connection and attachment

feeding - NO: harlow

• infant monkeys raised by surrogate mothers

• wire: provided milk, soft cloth: no milk

• monkeys spent more time with cloth, seeking comfort, even tho. didn’t provide milk

• infant went to wire when hungry

• when scared went to cloth for security + explore more when cloth present

• mother not PCG sensitive response of security of CG is more important than food

feeding - NO: lack of generalisability

• assumed findings could be generalised to humans

• monkey and humans behave similarly, differences in social structure

• cannot be certain that experience of maternal presence can be compared

sex role relationships - YES

biologically women are more attentive to children

sex role relationships - YES: national institute of health

• men and women let their minds wander played recording of white noise interrupted by infant crying

• brain activ. recorded using MRI

• brain areas involved in mind-wandering remained active in men when infant cried

• for women, activ. in these regions was decreased

• mother as PCG because brain have heightened auto. response to child crying.

• more attuned to responding to child needs

sex role relationships - YES: brain scans are objective

• brain scans are a scientific process

• findings are accurate and difficult to be manipulated by researcher bias

• validity of research is high

sex role relationships - NO

men can also form the neural connections needed to raise a child

sex role relationships - NO: feldman et al

• studied 89 first time parents

• mothers showed more activity in emoti. unit (amygdala)

• men showed bigger response in cognitv. circuit

• more time men spent alone with children, greater connectivity between two regions of the brain

• mother not PCG because both men and women have the neural capacity for effective caregiving

• increased parental involvement increases the necessary neural connecti.

sex role relationship - NO: social implications

• encourages fathers to be proactive in maintaining parent-child relationship

• if this is widely accepted → can be improvement in laws such as parental leave

mother as PCG conclusion

• mixed evidence whether or not

• biological benefits for mother being PCG for child’s first few years of life

  HOWEVER

• sever. studies as long as there is at least one PCG give adequate care, being a mother has no effect on child’s development

• in future: should be more open to having different PCG as we diverge from trad gender roles and trad nuc. families

weapons focus - unreliable

• considered unreliable due to weapons focus theory

• eyewitness will notice and remember details about the crime if a weapon is present

weapons focus - unreliable: loftus et al

• lab exp to test impact of WF on accuracy of recall

• p’s into 2 conditions watching people move through queue at taco restaurant

• one group saw customer hand cashier bill, other saw customer pull a gun

• monitoring eye movements p’s in gun condition spent longer fixated on gun

• therefore, weapons focus can easily distort any accounts

weapons focus: strength evaluation

• p’s watched videos

• no experienced actual armed robbery

• avoiding reliving trauma or causing distress

weapons focus - reliable

• eyewitness accounts have been shown to remain accurate despite a weapon being present

weapons focus - reliable: yuille and cutshall

• case study on eyewitness memory of a crime

• canada, man attempted to rob a gunshop - shot 6 times and killed by owner

• police investigated witnesses

• 4 months after first interview, interviewed 13 witnesses

• witnesses recalled incidence in great detail and accounts did not alter after 2 misleading questions

• therefore, presence of weapon, ewt can still be reliable and remain consistent over time

weapons focus - reliable: case study evaluation

• in depth investigation into a unique person or group

• presence of weapon may not always effect the ewt

• this case study may have been a coincidence

post event information - unreliable

can easily be manipulated and contaminated by external factors

post event information - unreliable: gabbert et al

• 60 students from uni of aberdeen, 60 adults from local community watch video of girl stealing from wallet

• either tested individually or in pairs

• p’s in cowitness group were told watched same video but had seen diff perspectives of the same crime and only one person saw girl stealing

• cowitness group discussed crime, all p’s completed questionaire

• 71% of cowitness group recalled info they hadn’t seen

• 60% said the girl was guilty, though no crime was observed

• therefore, not reliable as memoru can be contaminated to influence accuracy of event

post event information - unreliable: ethical implications

• ewt declared unreliable, devalues witness’ experience

• decrease in people contributing court case evidence

• could make difference between wrongful conviction and criminal being charged

post event information - reliable

memories can be resistant to false information

post event information - reliable: loftus

post event information - reliable: social implications

• if ewt reliable, fairer sentencing

• good welath of evidence to use in court cases

• ewt used alongside CCTW, dna and physical evidence

• more evidence → increase likelihood of case being solved fairly

emotions - unreliable

an influx of strong emotions can contaminate the accuracy of memories

emotions - unreliable: peters

• used p’s who were visiting a health centre for routine injections

• researcher took details and recruited, got injection from a nurse then went home

• 1 week later, asked to see nurse and researcher from set of photos

• more likely to identify researcher

• meeting researcher → low anxiety, injection → high anxiety - results predicted using inverted u theory

• therefore, crimes are often high stress, if ewt too stressed, recall of info will be poor

emotions - unreliable: inverted u theory

• low levels of anxiety → memory accuracy is low but as anxiety increases so does cognitive performance until it reaches an optimal level

• after any increase in anxiety causes memory accuracy to drop significantly

emotions - reliable

in high stress situations, witnesses can still recall information accurately

emotions - reliable: christianson and hubinette

• 110 witnesses of 22 bank robberies interviewed sometime after

• victims recall of robber's clothing and behaviour accurate, and accuracy evident 15 months later

• oppposing to results that weapons focus and inverted u theory would predict

• flashbulb memories

• therefore, even in high stress situations, accurate retain of key details over an extended period, likely due to flashbulb memories

emotions - reliable: flashbulb memories

• vivid memory associated with an emotional event including details such as where they were and what they were doing

• may play a role in enhancing reliability of eye witness testimony

emotions - reliable: mundane realism

• interview and time left between crime and interview are representative of an EWT

• information recalled will have higher level of validity

reliability of eyewitness testimony conclusion

• unclear whether ewt is effective or not - evidence to support both sides

• yes: memory difficult to manipulate, accounts more valid

• no: weapons focus, witness unreliable

• therefore, ewt should still be used but not independently

• used with cctv and dna which are objective, unable to manipulate

workplace - relevant

• help employees return to work with a healthy mindset and wellbeing

workplace - relevant: netterstrom et al

• 198 employed patients on sick leave split intro three groups

• mindfulness intervention group, psychotherapy sessions and control group put on a waitlist

• compared to control, both intervention and treatment showed greater improvement in stress symptoms

• higher rate of P’s in mindfulness group returned to work (67%) compared to 36% in treatment and 24% in control

• therefore, encourage sick leave employees to return, relives work load on others

workplace - relevant: ethical implications

• forcing people to engage in something they don’t like

• could cause more harm or stress 

• compared to what they were already experiencing

workplace - not relevant

• too easy for cooporation to exploit their power and not choose anything helpful

workplace - not relevant: chris tamdiji

• ‘corporations look for quick fixes’

• mindfulness requires time and patience

• prioritising quick money rather than investing in long term solutions such as making work conditions healthier

• interventions offered often unregulated

• therefore, corporations prioritise profit over wellbeing

workplace - not relevant: ethical implications

• pp can be dangerous

• encouraging avoiding negative emotions

• cause people to ignore unpleasant things going on in life

education - relevant

evidence to show that it can reduce symptoms that are detrimental to educational performance in students

education - relevant: uni of cambridge

• 616 students randomised into two different groups

• both groups offered support at the uni counselling service

• half also offered mindfulness skills for students course

• p’s encouraged to meditate at home for 8 minutes per day

• course led to lower distress scores during exam terms compared with students who had regular support

• therefore, structured, skill-based approaches can improve traditional services and positively impact MH during stress periods e.g. exams

education - relevant: population vailidty

• lacks pv as all p’s from uni of cambridge

• all from similar age group and demographic

• findings of study can’t be easily generalised to other populations such as different uni students

education - not relevant

does not take into account different factors that affect wellbeing

education - not relevant: ford et al

• survey of 85 schools, showing that MH challenge in young people persists

• 33% of young people reported signif. socio-emtio-behav. problems and depressive symptoms

• found that certain groups more likely to report problems: girls, older teenagers, those living in areas of poverty

• therefore, ignores systematic issues that contribute to student’s mental health challenges which cannot be treated by promoting optimism

education - not relevant: ecological validity

• conducted in schools

• findings more accurate compared to if conducted in different environment such as a lab

health - relevant

can give ill people a sense of hope and positive mindset

health - relevant: cerezo et al

• 175 breast cancer women assigned to experimental group with intervention or waitlist group w/o intervention

• group intervention used, improving psychological strengths

• self esteem, well-being and happiness were assessed before and after intervention

• experi. group showed higher scores on all the study variables after the intervention

• participants showed improvement in resilience, optimism and happiness

health - relevant: ethical implications

• negative ethical implications

• mindfulness only helps psychological issues

• cannot help treat terminal illness such as cancer

• gives false hope, using mindfulness as coping mechanism

health - not relevant

• not relevant in terms of healthcare as it causes small improvements in wellbeing

health - not relevant: boiler et al

• lit search using 39 studies about self help, group training and indvi. therapy

• mean diff. for SWB was 0.34, 0.20 for psychological wellbeing, 0.23 for PP interventions

• variables effected impact on depression

• interventions more effective if longer duration, if recruitment was via referral or hospital, if study design was of low quality

• therefore, research shows it has little effect on wellbeing

health - not relevant: social implications

• positive social implications

• if children are taught about mindfulness at young age

• increased chances of being well-rounded adults with better well-being

pp in the workplace conclusion

• view that pp is more relevant than other approaches is unclear

• evidence of being effective, improving wellbeing

• however, pp only helps with mental wellbeing

• any psychological illnesses are unaffected by it

• therefore, should still be used but limits should be known