PSYCH EXAM UNIT 1

Critical + Sensitive periods & how they Impact dment

Critical + Sensitive periods & how they Impact dment

• critical: a specific period in dment when an organism is most vulnerable to deprivation/absence of certain enviro. exp.

→ will not recur at later stage → can have permanent/irreversible effect on develop

• sensitive: a period of time during dment when an organism is more responsive/sensitive to certain types on enviro exp./learning

→ windows of opp. for learning ‘ (EG learning native language in this period is up to 12 yrs, window gradually closing from age 7).

Harlow’s theory -attachment

• Wire Surrogate Mother vs Cloth Surrogate Mother

to find out whether provision of food or contact comfort was more important in formation of mother-infant attachment.

→ 8 newborn rhesus monkeys separated from mothers after birth.

- Grp 1: 4 isolated in cage where cloth mother provided food and wire mother didn’t.

- Grp 2: ““ wire mother provided food and cloth mother didn’t.

→ Result: all monkeys spent more with cloth surrogate mother → contact comfort over food

→ also found that privation was as important in attachment through

• Exp 2: Deprived rhesus monkeys from Social Contact.

→ Taken from mothers after birth.

- Grp 1 - isolated 3 mths

- Grp 2 - 6 mths

- Grp 3 - 12 mths

→ Result: More destructive, withdrawn and unable to relate socially the longer they were isolated.

• Privation - involves absence of the opportunity to satisfy something that is needed/desired (social contact in this case)

Ainsworth’s theory -attachment

• the strange situation: a standardised test for measuring attachment relo a child has with caregiver.

→ infant and caregiver taken into unfamiliar room before infant is exposed to series of sep. and reunions involving infant, caregiver, and stranger.

→ found that infants can form diff. types of attachments w caregiver. - varies on who strong connection is.

Types of Attachment (Ainsworth’s theory cont.)

• Secure Attachment: infant shows balance between dependence and exploration.

→ able to feel safe and depend on caregiver.

• Insecure Avoidant Attachment: infant doesn’t not seek closeness or contact w caregiver and treats them like a stranger.

• Insecure Resistant Attachment: infant appears anxious even when caregiver is near.

→ become upset when separated from cg, re-establishes contact upon reunion but then resists contact after.

• Disorganised Attachment: shows inconsistent/odd and contradicting behaviours during sep. from and reunion w caregiver.

→ no reaction to caregivers’ return etc, or cries when cg leaves but also when cg returns

types of plasticity (Experience-Dependent & Experience-Expectant)

• Experience Dependent: involves brain change that modifies some part its neuronal structure that is already present.

→ depends on exposure to various environmental experiences unique to each indiv. & may occur at any time during the life span.

• Experience Expectant: involves brain change in response to environmental experience that is ordinarily expected.

Case studies

• an in-depth investigation of some behaviour, event or problem of interest in a single individual, group, organisation or situation.

→for scientific research purposes often used when large no. of participants are not available for an investigation.

• Pros:

-  useful way of obtaining detailed information when large no. of people can’t be accessed.

- can avoid artificiality and provide a ‘snapshot’ of actual/real-life experience of indivs. at particular time/situation.

- useful for tracking + describing experiences & change over time. → can be conducted over a prolonged period

- valuable source of hypotheses for further research/data on theory

• Cons:

- cannot test or establish a cause–effect relationship

- small sample size → (case studies focus on rare/unusual indivs, situations etc) tentative and limited support for drawing conclusions.

- can’t be generalised to others in relevant population (involve rare or unusual disorder/ability).

- painstaking and time-consuming → detailed + comprehensive

- susceptible to biased information from the participants or the researcher. → influence accuracy.

- usually conducted by one researcher → possible bias

Research methods

• Aims: a statement outlining the purpose of the investigation.

• Sample: the subset or part of the population that is selected for a research investigation

→ Sampling: process of selecting participants from a population of research interest

• Population: the entire group of research interest from which a sample is drawn

• Hypothesis: a testable prediction of the relationship between two or more variables (events/characteristics).

• Variables: something that can vary in amount or type and is measurable

→Independent variable: variable that is manipulated (cause).

→Dependent variable: variable that is used to observe & measure the effects (effect).

→ Controlled variable: variable that is considered to have an effect on the DV in an experiment (constant).

→ Operationalising: how variables will be manipulated as measured

Controlled experiments

• Experimental investigation to test the relo between indep. & dep. variable, whilst controlling all other variables

→ Experimental group = exposed to IV

→ Control group = not ^

Experimental designs (controlled experiments cont.)

• Between subjects design: participants randomly allocated to one of two (or more) groups/conditions & provides one score for data analysis

• Within subjects: each participant take part in both the experimental & control groups (all the treatment conditions if no control group)

• Mixed design: combines features of both between subjects design and within subjects design.

→ can assess differences between two or more separate groups of participants (ibetween subjects),

& the change in the indiv. members of each group over time (within subjects).

Neurodivergence/Neurodiversity

• used to describe people whose neurological dm & cognitive functioning are atypical and deviate from what is considered normal/typical in the population.

→ indivs diagnosed w intellectual disability (eg learning disabilities) may be described as neurodivergent

Nature (hereditary) v Nurture (environment) debate

• A debate whether heredity (nature) or environment (nurture) determines how we develop.

→ Nature refers to how genetics influence an individual's personality,

→ Nurture refers to how their environment (including relationships and experiences) impacts their development.

Piaget’s theory - Stages of Cog. Dment.

• suggests that children move through 4 diff stages of learning in cog. develop:

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth - 2 yrs)

infants explore & learn about the world through senses and motor activities

→ develops:

• object permanence (understanding object exists if they can’t be seen, heard or touched),

• goal directed behaviour (perform & complete seq of actions w purpose)

2. Pre-operational stage (2 - 7 yrs)

children become increasingly able to mentally rep. objects & experiences. (to think abt & imagine something)

→ develops:

• symbolic-thinking (use of symbols to rep objects)

• egocentrism (tendency preceives world solely from one’s pov)

• animism (belief that everything that exists has consciousness)

• transformation (understanding one thing can change from one state/form to another)

3. Concrete operational stage (7 - 12 yrs)

capable of true logic and thoughts & can perform mental operations - however, only applied to concrete objects/events

→ develops:

• mental operations (ability to accurately imagine conseqs. of something happening w/o it needing to happen)

• conservation (understanding that certain properties of object can remain same if appearance changes)

• classification (ability to organise into categories based on common ft.)

4. Formal operational stage (12 yrs+)

more complex thought process is evident and thinking becomes more sophisticated.

→ develops:

• abstract thinking (way of thinking that doesn’t rely on able to see, visualise, exp. or manipulate in order to understand)

• idealistic thinking (ability to realistically think abt future & what is possible, then make plans to achieve goals)

CTE

• A progressive brain degeneration and fatal condition thought to be caused by repeated blows to the head/repeated episodes of concussion.

• Symptoms:

→loss of memory

→mood/personality changes

→difficulty controlling impulsive or erratic behaviour

→increasing confusion and disorientation

→difficulty thinking - making decisions, impaired judgements

→motor impairments - tremor, slow movement, slurred speech

• Diagnosis:

Cannot be diagnosed in a living person, only during an autopsy → diagnosis is based on a history of contact sports, symptoms, repeated concussions

→ Autopsy may show atrophy of the brain/build up of tau protein that interferes with the functioning of neurons.

• Research:

CTE is not very well understood and it an emerging area of research

→uncertain about the no. & types of head injuries that increase the risk of CTE.

→not all athletes who experience repeated concussions develop CTE - has been diagnosed in people without a history of brain injuries.

→contribution of confounding variables (e.g. genetic predisposition, alcohol/drug use, co-existing dementia) is not accounted for in research.

ABI

• A brain injury acquired after birth → used to differentiate between brain injury from neurodevelopment disorders that people are born with

→ Can have sudden or insidious onset

• Bio changes:

→movement disorders

→dizziness and balance problems

→eyesight, hearing problems

→impaired speech, reading, writing,

→fatigue and sleep problems

→hormonal imbalances

• Psycho changes:

→memory problems

→difficulty problem-solving

→poor concentration and attention

→reduced ability to organise and plan

→lack of insight and awareness, and poor judgment

→personality changes

→mood disturbance, e.g. irritability, anger

• Social changes:

→social isolation, e.g. difficulties in making and keeping friends

→disrupted family relationships

→different educational opportunities

→financial hardship

→legal restrictions

→social stigma

Wernickes and Brocas areas

• Wernickes area (Temporal lobe): speech comprehension

• Brocas area (Frontal lobe): speech production

Lobes of the brain

• Frontal lobe:

→Prefrontal cortex: occupies most of the frontal lobe, involved with sophisticated mental abilities (reasoning, planning, problem solving), personality and regulation and expression of emotion

→Primary motor cortex: initiates and controls voluntary movements

→Broca’s area: speech production

• Parietal lobe:

→Primary somatosensory cortex: receives and processes sensory information from the skin and body parts.

• Occipital lobe:

→Primary visual cortex: processes visual sensory information

• Temporal lobe:

→Primary auditory cortex: receives and processes sound → different areas are specialised to identify different sounds

→Wernicke’s area: speech comprehension

Sprouting and Rerouting

• Sprouting: creation of new connections between neurons, or nerve cells. → new & stronger connections between neurons

• Rerouting: creation of an alt. neural pathway by re-establishing damaged neurons & forming a new pathway between active neurons. → go around damaged areas.

Typical and Atypical behaviours

• Typical: behaviour that would usually occur and is appropriate and expected in a given situation.

- It is what most people would ordinarily do in that situation at that time.

• Atypical: behaviour that differs markedly in some way from what is expected in a given situation.

- It is uncommon and not what most people would ordinarily do in that situation at that time.

Maladaptive behaviours

• Any behaviour that is detrimental or interferes with an individual’s ability to adapt tp enviro and fulfil typical goal in society

→ eg self-isolation due to anxiety, sleeping too much due to depression, and lashing out at others when overwhelmed or angry.

Statistical Rarity

• behaviour that does not occur frequently in a population

• refers to someone who is atypical in some way, and because of that, they are engaging in behaviour that is considered abnormal.

→ therefore, typical and atypical behaviour can be determined by how often or how rarely they occur.