Science skills, Psychological Development

IV and DV

independent variable: The variable that the researcher manipulates (controls, selects or changes)

Dependent variables: The variable that the researcher measures. Research seeks to find out the effect of an IV on a DV

Population and sampling

Population: The wider group of people that the researcher is interested in understanding

Sample: The participants selected from the population who participate in the investigation

Sampling methods

Random sampling: Selects participants from the population in a way that means each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected to participate in the study

Stratified sampling: Divides the population into subgroups, and then randomly selecting participants from each subgroup in the proportion that they appear in the population
Convenant samping: Researcher uses anyone available or present, and no attempt to make representative sample is made 

Investigation methodologies

Between subject design: when participants are randomly allocated to either the control or the experimental condition(s).

Strengths:

• Time efficient because both groups can be tested at the same time and no pre-testing is required.

• Lower rates of participants withdrawing because they only complete one condition.

• Better control of participant knowledge of the study and there is no effect of prior participation extraneous variables influencing results compared with a within subjects design. 

Limitations:

• More participants are needed in a between subjects design than a within subjects design. 

• Less control over the extraneous variable of participant variables between groups, which may influence results in an unwanted way, lowering validity. 

Within subjects design: involves all participants in the sample completing both the experimental and control conditions. 

Strengths:

• No extraneous variable of participant variables between groups, improving validity.

• Fewer participants are needed than in a between subjects design.

Limitations:

• Less control over participant knowledge of the study. The extraneous variable of prior participation in the first condition may influence their behaviour while completing the second condition. 

• Time consuming, cannot be tested at the same time.

• Higher rates of participant withdrawal.

Experimental design

Random allocation: Dividing the sample into groups in a way that each participant has an equal chance to be placed into the experimental group or the control group.

Quantitative vs qualitative data

Quantitative data: Information that can be counted or measured and is expressed as numbers.

Qualitative data: Descriptive information that cannot be counted or measured numerically

Ethical considerations: 

General ethical considerations used to analyse the ethical and moral conduct surrounding psychological issues and psychological investigations.

Ethical principles:

• Beneficence: An ethical concept involving the commitment to maximising benefits and minimising risks and harms.

• Non-maleficence:  An ethical concept involving the avoidance of causing harm. If some discomfort or stress is involved, it should be minimal and justified by the potential benefits of the research. 

• Integrity: An ethical concept involving the commitment to searching for knowledge and understanding and the honest reporting of all sources of information and results.

• Justice: An ethical concept involving fair consideration of competing claims, no unfair burden on a particular group, and fair access to benefits of an action.

• Respect: An ethical concept involving the consideration of the value of living things, giving due regard, and consideration of the capacity of living things to make their own decisions.

Environmental and hereditary influences

Hereditary factors are internal, biological influences on development that result from the genetic information passed from biological parents to their offspring.

Environmental factors refer to the different external influences within a person’s environment that can affect their development. 

The biopsychosocial model
reflects a holistic view of mental health — the individual is considered as a ‘whole person’ functioning in their unique environment.

Emotional Development: How a person experiences, expresses & interprets emotions positively & their ability to cope with them appropriately.

Social Development: The ability to form and maintain meaningful relationships, interacting with others and functing as a member of society, like sharing language interpersonal skills etc.

Cognitive Development: Development in an individual’s ability to think and reason. Mental abilities include thinking, learning, imagination, perception, reasoning & decision-making, memory, ability to problem solve & use of language.

CRITICAL VS SENSITIVE PERIODS
Sensitive periods: A period during development in which the effects of experience on development are particularly strong. 

Imprinting: When a newly born animal forms an attachment to the first thing it sees. 

Critical period: A specific period in development during which the individual is most vulnerable to the absence of certain environmental stimuli or experiences.

PIAGET'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT STAGES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Sensorimotor stage(0-2years)

• Object permanence: An understanding that objects continue to exist even if they can’t be touched, seen or heard. 

• Goal-directed behaviour: a planned series of actions with a purpose. 

Pre-operational stage (2- 7 years)

• Symbolic thinking: a type of thinking that uses symbols, such as words or images, to solve simple problems and to talk about things that are not physically present. 

• Animism: the belief that inanimate objects have feelings and intentions. 

• Egocentrism: See the world from one's own perspective, struggling to understand perspectives of others.

• Transformation: the understanding that something can change from one state, form or structure to another. 

Concrete operational stage (7- 11 years)

• Reversibility: the understanding that actions can be undone or reversed.

• Conservation: the understanding that certain qualities of an object remain the same even when its appearance changes.

• Classification: the ability to sort objects into groups based on their features.

Formal operational stage (11+ years)

• Hypothetical deductive reasoning: a way of thinking that involves developing a hypothesis based on what might logically occur.

• Abstract thinking: a way of thinking that is not reliant on directly observing, visualising, experiencing or manipulating something to understand it.
  
  

Assimilation and accommodation
Assimilation: Fitting new information into existing schemes, for example, calling a pen a pencil.

Accommodation: More advanced thinking, adjusting schemas based on new information.

Attachment experiments: Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Harlow’s monkeys

Ainsworth stated an integral part of emotional life is 

Attachment: the formation of a close, social & emotional bond between the infant & their caregivers. 

Secure attachment: 

Child feels safe and explores freely when caregiver is present 

Shows distress when caregiver leaves, comforted when returned 

Not comforted by stranger 

Caregiver's Role: Consistently responsive and nurturing

Insecure avoidant attachment:

Child shows little distress when caregiver leaves, avoids them upon return 

May prefer to play alone. 

Not comforted by stranger, shows no distress. 

Caregiver's Role: Emotionally unavailable or unresponsive to child's needs. 

Insecure resisant attachment:

Child is highly distressed when caregiver leaves, not comforted upon return

Clings and resist the caregiver 

Not comforted by stranger still distressed 

Caregiver's Role: Inconsistent responses to child's needs.

Insecure-disorganised attachment:

The instinct of the child is to seek comfort, but as they get near

Bandura’s social learning theory (Bandura’s Bobo Doll study)

One of the ways we know which behaviour to repeat or not to repeat is 

Observational learning the acquisition of new behaviours as a result of observing the actions of others and the consequences of those actions.

Modelling a form of learning whereby we observe the behaviour of others and then replicate it

Neurodiversity VS Neurotypicality

Neurodiversity the idea that every human has a unique nervous system with a different combination of abilities and needs.
Neurodivergent: People whose brains function differently to other people.

Neurotypicality standard or typical brain functioning, processing and behaviours.

Atypical VS Typical behaviour

Atypical behaviours: Patterns of behaviour that are not expected for an individual, falling outside the expected range of development, or progress at a different pace compared to similar-aged peers.

Typical behaviours: When individuals' actions and behaviours fall within expected range of development, or progress similar to peers same age

Psychological Criteria used to determine typical and atypical

Cultural perspectives: A criterion for determining whether a behaviour is typical or atypical, by accounting for cultural norms or societal standards. 

Social norms: Define Social norms Shared standards or social beliefs about what is normal, acceptable or typical behaviour.

E.g. Line queuing

Statistical rarity: A criterion that views abnormal or atypical behaviours as deviating significantly from the statistical average or mean. 

Personal distress: A state in which a person experiences unpleasant or upsetting emotions, such as sadness, anxiety or feeling overwhelmed.

Maladaptive behaviour: Behaviours not helpful, interfering with ability to adjust to environment appropriately. On the spectrum where behaviours are minor, or severe impacting function.

ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, neurodevelopmental disorder that can affect some areas of brain function. 1 in 20 Australians.

Symptoms: Hyperactivity, Inattention, Impulsivity, distractibility.

Cognitive variations in include differences in: executive functioning, working memory, arousal, alertness, time estimation.

Roles of psychiatrist and psychologist, differences and similarities

Psychiatrist: Diagnose and treat people with mental disorders, they can prescribe medication and perform medical procedures, and even admit patients to hospital.

Psychologist: Assess an individual’s mental health overall, provide management plans, counselling or psychotherapy, and treatments for mental disorders. They cannot prescribe medication.

Psychologist:

• Study for six years, not including a medical degree.

• Focus on the thoughts and emotional state of the individual.

• Tend to provide counselling or psychotherapy, which can involve changing thinking patterns and behaviours to improve mental wellbeing. 

Psychiatrist: 

• Study for 12 years, including a medical degree.

• May focus more on medical or biological causes for mental disorders, like chemical imbalances in the brain or hormonal issues. 

• Can prescribe medications, perform some medical procedures and admit someone to hospital if required. 

Similarities: 

• Specialise in mental wellbeing.

• Can assess mental health, diagnose and manage mental disorders and associated atypical behaviours.

• Can provide psychological treatments such as counselling or psychotherapy and perform psychological testing. 

Mental health support workers: provide day-to-day support, develop individual goals, manage daily activities, and connect people with their local community.

Neuroimaging techniques

Structural: Shows physical structure of the brain 

Functional: Shows brain activity and function in real time

fMRI

A functional scan involving a technique that shows brain activity by measuring oxygen consumption by cells in the brain.

PET: Positron emission tomography

A functional scan involving a technique that provides information not only about brain structure but also brain activity and function, in full colour, by observing the use of glucose by cells in the brain.

MRI

A structural scan involving a technique that uses magnetic fields to activate atoms in the brain, which then allows a computer to generate an image of the brain.

CT/CAT: Computed axial tomography

A structural scan involving a combination of a series of x-ray images taken from different angles to create cross-sectional images of the body.
Detects: Brain tumors and changes from diseases

The nervous system

Central nervous system (CNS): All neural pathways within the brain and spinal cord; transmits information to, and receives information from, the peripheral nervous system

Peripheral nervous system (PNS): Carries messages to and from the central nervous system and is all neural pathways outside the brain and spinal cord.

The somatic nervous system: Carries messages from sensory neurons to the CNS and then transmits information from the CNS along motor neurons

The autonomic nervous system: Connects the CNS to the organs and glands of the body

Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity: The ability of neural networks in the brain to change as a result of experience.
A person learns to play the guitar, and their brain rewires to improve finger coordination and memory of chords.

Long-term Potentiation: The relatively permanent strengthening of synaptic connections as a result of repeated activation.

A student repeatedly practices maths problems, strengthening the brain pathways involved in problem-solving.

Long-term Depression: The relatively permanent weakening of synaptic connections as a result of repeated low-level activation.

Someone stops speaking a second language for years, and their ability to recall vocabulary weakens.

Pruning: The elimination of unused synapses

During adolescence, the brain removes unused childhood connections, like ones related to early reflexes, to boost efficiency.

Rerouting: When healthy nearby neurons create alternative neural pathways when existing connections are lost through injury.

After a stroke damages part of the brain responsible for movement, nearby healthy neurons form new paths to help regain motor control.

Sprouting: When existing neurons form new axon terminals and dendrites to allow new connections to be made.

Following a brain injury, surviving neurons grow new branches to reconnect and compensate for the damaged area.

Symptoms of acquired brain injuries

Stroke: An acquired brain injury involving an interruption to the blood supply in the brain or bleeding in the brain, resulting in deterioration of brain tissue.

Blood clots block blood vessels in the brain

There is a gradual closure of blood vessels 

There is severe bleeding.

Symptoms: Drooping face, weakness in arms, diffuclty in speech.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

What is it?
A neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated impacts to the head.

Causes:
- Concussions etc

Diagnosis:
Currently, only diagnosed through a brain autopsy after death, where the presence of tau protein deposits is identified.

Biological symptoms: Headaches, fatigue, poor balance, slurred oor slowed speech

Psychological symptoms: Memory loss, confusion, depression, irritability, emotional instability

Social symptoms: Impaired social skills, isolation, impulsivity, aggressive verbal or physical behaviour.

First brain experiment

Ablation the surgical removal or destruction of tissue (e.g. brain tissue) by lesioning or using electrodes 

Lesioning the creation of small areas of damage (lesions) in the brain