Psych paper 3

When does Neophobia diminish?

Once we learn that the food won’t poison us

Taste Aversion supporting study

Garcia + Koeling (1966) - rats given sweetened water, then exposed to radiation or drugs that made them sick = acquired aversion to sweetened water

Seligman’s theory of biological preparedness

humans are genetically hardwired to learn taste aversions that make us less likely to eat food that has gone bad/is toxic

when are Fats especially important?

in times of famine

Learning theory peer influence

Birch (1980) - children sat next to children with dif veg preference at lunchtime and after 4 days, changed their own preference

Parents are the…

gatekeepers of their children’s eating

Shutts et al (2013)

children acquire preferences of role models especially if they are enjoying the food - ensures children eat foods which are obviously safe

a form of classical conditioning

flavour-flavour learning

The eating system works…

on feedback received from the stomach via hormone secretions

Fluctuations in blood glucose are detected by…

glucose sensing neurons in the hypothalamus

relationship between blood glucose and hypothalamus’

LH = activated when glucose falls below certain level

VMH = activated when glucose rises above certain level

What detects Ghrelin levels?

arcuate nucleus receptors in the hypothalamus

who conducted the VMH lesion study

Hetherington and Ranson (1942)

cholesterol is…

a fat-like substance

People with AN have higher…

cholesterol levels to compensate for not eating

Holland’s sample

25 MZ, 20 DZ

what is inherited (AN)

a genetic sensitivity to environmental factors

Tryptophan is…

an amino acid

Homovanillic acid and AN

HVA is lower in AN, produced when dopamine is broken down in the brain

Rigidity

interactions within the fam are inflexible, members deny need for change and when problems arise, they are too rigid to adapt

Link between rigidity and AN

daughter seeking independence isn’t accommodated, so she had no room to grow resulting in dysfunctional behaviours e.g. eating disorder

Autonomy

our experience of freedom in decision how we should behave and degree of independence from others

Control

the experience of being in charge of ones own self and behaviour

Brockmeyer et al (2013)

112 female AN patients had greater desire to be autonomous and had stronger desire to avoid dependency + more controlling style of regulating behaviours

Obesity is…

polygenic

What did Adam Locke suggest?

genetic variants play a role in influencing body fat distribution

Role of serotonin in obesity

serotonin normally inhabits activity of sites in the hypothalamus but lower serotonin levels mean VMH is not switched off

Gene-Jack Wang et al (2001)

obese individuals had fewer dopamine receptors in parts of brain compared to controls

What do cognitive distortions suggest?

A person with AN had disturbed perceptions of body image

Murphy et al (2010)

ppl with AN are more critical of their own bodies - unable to recognise dif emotional states so its always “feeling fat”

Williamson et al (2013)

ppl with AN consistently overestimated their body size when choosing silhouettes and their ideal body shape was significantly thinner

Examples of irrational beliefs

1. Catastrophising

2. Perfectionism

3. Absolutist thinking

Hewitt et al (2013)

AN patients reach goals but then raise the standards higher so they’re forever pursuing unrealistic goals

People with anorexia…

lack cognitive flexibility

For AN’s, weight loss is…

a solution to a problem that no longer exists

Dittmar sample

162 British girls aged 5-8

Jones and Morgan (2010)

bigorexia in men was developed as a result of cultural ideas of masculinity and strength communicated via the media

Wood et al (2004)

The LH feeding centre always detects glucose levels idea is outdated, doesn’t acknowledge externalities e.g. traditional mealtimes

Wardle and Beates (‘88)

restrained eater group ate more + more calories

Hawton et al (2019)

ghrelin suppression post-meal was greater in slow-eating rate group

Equilibration

the force driving us to reach equilibrium - seeking to restore the balance via accommodation

Ages of children in Bower and Wishart

1-4 months

Age when 90% gave correct answers in Hughes study

3.5-5yrs

Liquids task procedure

started with 2 vessels of the same size, then poured one into the taller, thinner glass

McGarrigle’s two questions

1. More black cows or more cows? (25%)

2. More black cows or more sleeping cows? (48%)

McGarrigle and Donaldson ages

between 4-6 yrs and more the half gave correct answer to “is there the same number of sweets?”

Bruner’s two scaffolding features i forget

direction maintenance + marking critical features

Innate physical reasoning system

Baillargeon’s idea that children have this innate system which enables them to learn about the physical world more easily

Baillargeon key facts

window test ‘87 - 24 infants aged 5-6 months

Selman’s names and ages

1. Egocentric 3-6yrs

2. Social informational 5-9yrs

3. Self-reflective 7-12yrs

4. Mutual 10-14yrs

5. Societal 14+

What causes ‘mind blindness’?

ToM deficits

When does ToM develop?

3-5 years old

Sally-Anne sample

20 children ages 3-5 yrs

How to test ToM in adults?

eyes task = reading complex emotions

What is a Mirror Neuron?

a type of sensory-motor cell

Where are mirror neurons typically located?

in the inferior frontal cortex and superior parietal lobe

Mirror neurons could be…

the basis to social cognition

Mirror neurons are responsible for

the human ability to share understanding of emotional experiences

What is the problem with fMRI’s only giving a general region?

we can’t establish a cause and effect relationship

What did the children have to do in Siegler’s study?

successfully predict the lean of the bean with different discs

the AO3 dif between Sally Anne and Holly kitten

Holly Kitten involves emotional consideration, Sally Anne is more objective with one definitive answer

What are the types of offender categories based on?

the idea that serious offenders have signature “ways of working”, their Modus Operandi

what does the MO usually correlate with?

a set of social and psychological characteristics about the offender

Holmes and Holmes 3 goals of profiling

1. Social and psycholgical assessment

2. Psychological evaluation of belongings

3. Interviewing suggestions and strategies

Canter et al (2004)

Content analysis of 100 US serial killers and found high number of disorganised crimes

why is the bottom up approach unlike the top down approach?

it does not begin with fixed typologies

Aim of bottom up profiling

to generate a picture of offender through systematic analysis of the crime scene

Aim of investigative psychology

to establish patterns of behaviour that co-exist across crime scenes

Egger investigative psych Key assumptions

1. Interpersonal coherence

2. Time and place

3. Criminal characterisitcs

4. Criminal career

5. Forensics awareness

the principle which geo profiling is based on

spatial consistency

Crime mapping

using the location of linked crime scenes to make an inference about the likely home base or base of an offender

Spatial patterns

assumption that serial offenders work in geo locations they are familiar with

principles of geo profiling

1. Locatedness

2. Systematic crime and location choice

3. Centrality

4. Comparative case analysis

Canter and Heritage (1990) AO3

content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases using computer programme which allowed them to identify correlations of patterns of behaviours - commonly identified lack of reaction to victim etc.

Lombroso and untamed nature

Offender have untamed nature meaning they find it impossible to adjust to demands of civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime

Tilhonen et al (2015) candidate genes

Low MAOA and CDH13 activity in 900 offenders - estimated 5-10% of all Finnish violent crime is due to abnormalities in one of these genes

What is Monamine A?

an enzyme produced by the MAOA gene

Role of dopamine in offending

Buitelaar (2003) - juvenile delinquents given dopamine antagonists showed decrease in aggressive behaviour

what is the PFC linked to?

decreased activity indicates that offenders are unable to to consider the consequences of their actions and control their behaviour

What is the amygdala?

a structure in the limbic system that linked to emotional regulation and aggression - the older region of the brain

Eysenck biological basis

personality traits are bio determined by the type of nervous system we inherit - under active NS (high E) = extravert who constantly seeks excitement and stimulation so likely to engage in risk taking behaviours are don’t condition easily - overactive NS (high N) = nervous and jumpy with unstable behaviour and difficult to predict

Neuroticism

a persons emotionality

Psychoticism traits

aggressive, masculine, egocentric

Extraversion traits

sociable, irresponsible, risk taking

Neuroticism traits

anxious, depressed, guilt

Eysenck saw criminal behaviour as…

developmentally immature in that it is selfish and concerned with immediate gratification

Process of Socialisation

1. Child is conditioned (socialised)

2. Child learns sense of right and wrong

3. Child avoids behaviour which leads to punishment

4. Child controls own impulses

conditioning those with high E and N scores

they were hard to condition due to the nervous system they had inherited and were less likely to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety

Kohlberg suggested criminals…

have a need to avoid punishment, need to gain reward

kohlberg attempted to…

objectify the process of moral reasoning

Hostile Attribution bias

offenders may misread non aggressive cues and act upon these with a disproportionate response

Schonenberg and Justye (2004) procedure

55 violent offenders presented with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions

Barbaree (1991) findings

26 convicted rapists 54% denied, 40% minimised

Thornton and Reid AO3

found pre-conventional moral reasoning is associated with crimes such as robbery, but impulsive crimes like assault didn’t involve any reasoning

Sutherland wanted…

to develop a set of scientific principles that could explain all types of offending

learning of criminal behaviours accounts for…

recidivism

individuals with an over-harsh superego

they are crippled by guilt and anxiety

What happens if a child internalises deviant values?

they are unlikely to associate guilt with wrongdoing

other part of the psychodynamic explanation

maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy

What are DIRR?

the aims of sentencing