VCE Psychology Unit 1 - Flashcards

Psychological Development and Developmental Psychology

  • Psychological development: ongoing progression of cognitive, emotional, and social functioning throughout life.
  • Developmental psychology: scientific study of age-related changes in physical, cognitive, and emotional development.

Influences on Psychological Development: Nature and Nurture

  • Nature vs. nurture: debate on whether development is influenced by genetics or environment.
    • Nature: biological inheritance.
    • Nurture: environmental influences.
  • Interactionist view: development results from both genetic and environmental factors.
  • Twin studies: evidence for the interactionist view.

The Biopsychosocial Model

  • Development as an interaction between:
    • Biological factors: genetics, brain chemistry, physical health.
    • Psychological factors: cognition, emotions, learning, behaviours.
    • Social factors: family, culture, relationships, social contexts.
  • Explains individual differences and mental wellbeing.

Psychological Development Across the Lifespan

  • Development progresses through identifiable stages.
  • Emotional development: how people express emotions and form attachments.
  • Attachment styles (Ainsworth’s Strange Situation):
    • Secure
    • Insecure avoidant
    • Insecure resistant

Defining and Supporting Psychological Development

  • Typical behaviour: aligns with societal norms and developmental expectations.
  • Atypical behaviour: deviates from these norms.
  • Assessment criteria:
    • Statistical rarity
    • Social and cultural norms
    • Level of distress
    • Adaptiveness or maladaptiveness

Normality, Neurotypicality, and Neurodiversity

  • Normality: behaviour consistent with functioning societal standards.
  • Neurotypicality: typical cognitive and neurological functioning.
  • Neurodiversity: variation in brain function is natural and should be respected.

Cognitive Development: Piaget’s Four-Stage Theory

  • Four sequential stages:
    • Sensorimotor (0–2 years): sensory exploration, object permanence, goal-directed behaviour.
    • Preoperational (2–7 years): symbolic thinking, egocentrism, animism, centration.
    • Concrete Operational (7–12 years): conservation, classification, reversibility.
    • Formal Operational (12+ years): abstract and hypothetical reasoning.
  • Criticisms: underestimating children's capabilities and limited attention to cultural/social influence.

Critical and Sensitive Periods in Development

  • Critical period: strict window for certain experiences.
  • Sensitive period: heightened learning potential.
  • Brain plasticity: supports learning during these times.
  • Case study of Genie: missed critical input can cause permanent developmental delays.

Understanding Brain Function

  • Techniques to study brain function:
    • Ablation: surgical removal of brain tissue.
    • Lesioning: damaging parts of the brain.
    • Split-brain surgery: severing the corpus callosum, revealing brain lateralisation.

Regions of the Brain

  • Cerebral Cortex: higher-order functions.
    • Frontal lobe: reasoning, planning, voluntary movement.
      • Broca’s area (speech production)
      • Primary Motor Cortex (PMC)
    • Parietal lobe: sensory processing.
      • Primary Somatosensory Cortex (PSSC)
    • Occipital lobe: visual processing.
      • Primary Visual Cortex (PVC)
    • Temporal lobe: auditory information and language comprehension.
      • Primary Auditory Cortex (PAC)
      • Wernicke’s area

Acquired Brain Injuries and Their Impact

  • Acquired brain injuries (ABIs): occur after birth from trauma, stroke, infection, etc.
    • Biological: impaired movement, sensation, or control.
    • Psychological: memory loss, attention issues, emotional changes.
    • Social: difficulty with relationships, work, or communication.
  • Impact depends on injury severity, location, and plasticity.

Research on Neurological Disorders

  • Parkinson’s disease: progressive motor disorder due to dopamine loss.
  • Epilepsy: seizure disorder caused by abnormal brain electrical activity.
  • Emerging research: machine learning for diagnosis, gut-brain axis.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

  • CTE: degenerative condition caused by repeated head injuries.
    • Mood swings
    • Memory loss
    • Aggression
    • Cognitive decline
  • Diagnosis is only possible post-mortem.
  • Prevention and symptom management are current priorities.

Brain Plasticity and Brain Injury Recovery

  • Neuroplasticity: the brain's ability to reorganise after injury or learning.
    • Synaptogenesis: forming new synaptic connections.
    • Synaptic pruning: eliminating weak/unused connections.
    • Myelination: increasing signal speed.
  • Types of Plasticity
    • Developmental plasticity: natural changes across childhood and adolescence.
    • Adaptive plasticity: reorganisation following brain damage.
    • Mechanisms include:
      • Rerouting: undamaged neurons forming new pathways.
      • Sprouting: new growth from existing neurons.

Ethical Considerations in Brain Research

  • Ethical principles:
    • Beneficence: maximise benefit, minimise harm.
    • Non-maleficence: do no harm.
    • Justice: fair treatment of all participants.
    • Respect: for rights, culture, and autonomy.
    • Integrity: honesty in research and reporting.
  • Ethical Guidelines:
    • Informed consent
    • Voluntary participation
    • Confidentiality
    • Withdrawal rights
    • Deception and debriefing (if necessary)

Key Variables in Research

  • Independent variable (IV): manipulated by the researcher.
  • Dependent variable (DV): measured response.
  • Controlled variables: kept constant.
  • Extraneous variables: could unintentionally affect the DV.
  • Confounding variables: interfere with the IV-DV relationship.

Hypotheses and Sampling

  • Hypothesis: a testable prediction.
  • Population: the full group of interest.
  • Sample: a smaller, representative subset.

Participant Selection Methods

  • Convenience sampling: quick and easy, but often biased.
  • Random sampling: equal chance for all, more representative, but time-consuming.
  • Stratified sampling: divides population into strata for representativeness; complex but accurate.
  • Sampling bias: occurs when a sample doesn't accurately reflect the population.

Participant Allocation

  • Random allocation: participants randomly assigned to groups, reducing bias.
  • Non-random allocation: introduces potential bias.
  • Experimental group: receives the IV.
  • Control group: does not receive the IV.

Types of Psychological Investigations

  • Controlled experiments: manipulate IV under controlled conditions.
  • Correlational studies: examine relationships between variables.
  • Literature reviews: summarise and synthesise prior research.
  • Case studies: in-depth focus on individuals/groups.
  • Fieldwork: real-world observation.
  • Product/process development, modelling, and simulation: practical and theoretical applications of psychological methods.

Experimental Research Designs

  • Within-subjects design: same participants in all conditions.
  • Between-subjects design: different participants in each condition.
  • Mixed design: combines both approaches.