IB Psychology SL

BLA: Learning Objectives

General

Ethical considerations related to research studies in the biological approach to studying behavior

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1:

• Study 2:

How and why particular research methods are used in the biological approach

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1:

• Study 2:

Evaluation of research methods used to study the brain, hormonal and/or genetic influences on human behavior

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1:

• Study 2:

The brain and behavior

Techniques used to study the brain

• Important Ideas: MRI/brain scans-useful for detecting abnormalities, high resolution, 3D imaging, analyze pattern emission of energy to see magnetic fields in the brain

• Study 1: Maguire (2000)

  • Aim: find the structure of hippocampus in humans v. animals

  • Procedure: (non) London Taxi-drivers, MRI’s on both groups

  • Findings: grey matter found in different areas of the hippocampus in both groups, grey matter had shifted

  • Connection: MRI showed where the grey matter was in the brain with both groups

• Study 2: Draganski (2006)

  • Aim: what parts of the brain grow when studying

  • Procedure: 3 brain scans (3 months before exam, 1-2 days before exam, 3 months after exam)

  • Findings: increase in grey matter in parietal cortex and posterior hippocampus, continued growth after exam, potentiation through revision of material, depression caused from stress of exam

  • Connection: used MRI to show growth in grey matter throughout different parts of the brain

The role of localization of function in behavior

• Important Ideas: each structure of the brain has its own task (relative localization), memory isn’t localized, basic functions, cognitive process

• Study 1: Milner (1966)

  • Aim: gain better understanding in the effects of hippocampal removal

  • Procedure: IQ testing, behavior observation, cognitive testing, interviews

  • Findings: hippocampus is important in STM to LTM, HM retained memory before surgery, implicit memory contains several stores

  • Connection: memory is found all over the brain

• Study 2: Maguire (2000)

  • Aim: find the structure of hippocampus in humans v. animals

  • Procedure: (non) London Taxi-drivers, MRI’s on both groups

  • Findings: grey matter found in different areas of the hippocampus in both groups, grey matter had shifted

  • Connection: memory isn’t found in one area of the hippocampus

Neuroplasticity

• Important Ideas: ability of the brain to change throughout life by making/breaking synaptic neural connections

• Study 1: Maguire (2000)

  • Aim: find the structure of hippocampus in humans v. animals

  • Procedure: (non) London Taxi-drivers, MRI’s on both groups

  • Findings: grey matter found in different areas of the hippocampus in both groups, grey matter had shifted

  • Connection: grey matter in taxi-drivers increased because of their jobs?

• Study 2: Draganski (2006)

  • Aim: what parts of the brain grow when studying

  • Procedure: 3 brain scans (3 months before exam, 1-2 days before exam, 3 months after exam)

  • Findings: increase in grey matter in parietal cortex and posterior hippocampus, continued growth after exam, potentiation through revision of material, depression caused from stress of exam

  • Connection: students increased neural networks overtime because of studying, breaking synaptic connections because of stress of the exam

Neurotransmission and its role in human behavior

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1: Troster and Beatty (1989)

  • Aim: determine the role of acetylcholine in formation and retrieval of memory

  • Procedure: 2 groups (placebo, antagonist), free-recall tests, new map test, remote memory battery

  • Findings: antagonist inhibits coding of new memories, agonist helps encode sematic and spacial memories

  • Connection:

• Study 2: Antonova (2011)

  • Aim: how do neurotransmitters play a role in behavior

  • Procedure: 2 conditions (scolopomine and placebo), MRI and played a game to test spacial memory

  • Findings: Scolopomine reduces activity in hippocampus compared to placebo

  • Connection:

Explain the role of one antagonist with reference to one study

• Important Ideas: Scopolamine-chemicals preventing signals being passed between neurons, agonist-acetylcholine

• Study 1: Troster and Beatty (1989)

  • Aim: determine the role of acetylcholine in formation and retrieval of memory

  • Procedure: 2 groups (placebo, antagonist), free-recall tests, new map test, remote memory battery

  • Findings: antagonist inhibits coding of new memories, agonist helps encode sematic and spacial memories

  • Connection:

Explain neural pruning with reference to one study

• Important Ideas: Neuroplasticity-brain changing overtime through making/breaking synaptic connections of neurons (pruning, potentiation, depression)

• Study 1: Draganski (2006)

  • Aim: what parts of the brain grow when studying

  • Procedure: 3 brain scans (3 months before exam, 1-2 days before exam, 3 months after exam)

  • Findings: increase in grey matter in parietal cortex and posterior hippocampus, continued growth after exam, potentiation through revision of material, depression caused from stress of exam

  • Connection: neural pruning due to stress, the depression in neural networks

Explain the formation of neural networks with the use of one study

• Important Ideas: pathways created through repetition, change overtime because of development through the environment (neuroplasticity)

• Study 1: Maguire (2000)

  • Aim: find the structure of hippocampus in humans v. animals

  • Procedure: (non) London Taxi-drivers, MRI’s on both groups

  • Findings: grey matter found in different areas of the hippocampus in both groups, grey matter had shifted

  • Connection: different area/structure of grey matter of hippocampus in both groups, increased neural networks in taxi-drivers

Explain the role of one agonist with reference to one study

• Important Ideas: enhance the action of neurotransmitters (increase creation of neural pathways), acetylcholine helps encode spatial memories in humans

• Study 1: Antonova (2011)

  • Aim: how do neurotransmitters play a role in behavior

  • Procedure: 2 conditions (scolopomine and placebo), MRI and played a game to test spacial memory

  • Findings: Scolopomine reduces activity in hippocampus compared to placebo

  • Connection:

Explain the role of inhibitory or excitatory synapses in one behavior with reference to one study

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

Hormones and behavior

Hormones and their role in human behavior

• Important Ideas: hormones-endocrine system, send messages across the body to regulate fundamental systems of the body

• Study 1: De Dreu (2011)

  • Aim: can oxytocin be associated with something that isn’t the “love hormone”

  • Procedure: exposed to images of people in an ethnic in/out group, moral choice dilemma tests

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

• Study 2: Kosfeld (2005)

  • Aim: support the claim that oxytocin increases trust in humans

  • Procedure: 2 groups (oxytocin and placebo), trust game

  • Findings: higher oxytocin meant a higher trust level in the control group, oxytocin reduces risk aversion in general, oxytocin increases trust in others

  • Connection:

Pheromones and their role in human behavior

• Important Ideas: pheromones are part of animal behaviors and aren’t seen in humans

• Study 1: Wedekind (1995)

  • Aim: determine if one’s MHC affects mate choice (Major Histocompatibility Complex)

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

• Study 2: Zhou (2014)

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

Genetics and behavior

The role of one gene and its inheritance in human behavior

• Important Ideas: genes and DNS, nature and nurture, epigenetic changes, methylation (neurons produce stress center of the brain: cause/effect with environmental and chemical), selective placement

• Study 1: Bouchard and McGue (1981)

  • Aim: correlation between relatives and IQ

  • Procedure: analysis of 111 studies

  • Findings: intelligence to a large extent (54%) is genetically inherited, limitation found with twin studies

  • Connection:

• Study 2: Scarr and Weinburg (1983)

  • Aim: malleability of intelligence in adopted children

  • Procedure: 2 studies combined, black children raised by white families performed the same as other adoptees, differences in cognitive ability accumulate over years of adolescence

  • Findings: support that genetics and environment influence development in IQ, early adoption has better results that late adoption

  • Connection

Evolutionary explanation of behavior

• Important Ideas: theory of evolution, survival of the fittest, natural selection

• Study 1: Curtis, Aunger, and Rabie (2004)

  • Aim: disgust evolved as a protection from risk of disease

  • Procedure: survey of BBC documentary, demographic questions, rate 20 photos on level of disgust

  • Findings: supported aim, consistent across multiple cultures, woman rated higher than men, age-based decline in sensitivity, disgust felt stronger with strangers than relatives

  • Connection:

• Study 2: Fessler (2005)

  • Aim: disgust sensitivity is a function of immune system during pregnancy

  • Procedure: web survey, disgust levels compared with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters

  • Findings: 1st trimester had highest level of disgust; disgust sensitivity related to nausea levels

  • Connection

Genetic similarity on one behavior

• Important Ideas: niche picking-genetic predisposition is the ind. selecting their environment, genes and environment develop dynamically, additive influence ()

• Study 1: Bouchard and McGue (1981)

  • Aim: correlation between relatives and IQ

  • Procedure: analysis of 111 studies

  • Findings: intelligence to a large extent (54%) is genetically inherited, limitation found with twin studies

  • Connection:

• Study 2: Scarr and Weinburg (1983)

  • Aim: malleability of intelligence in adopted children

  • Procedure: 2 studies combined, black children raised by white families performed the same as other adoptees, differences in cognitive ability accumulate over years of adolescence

  • Findings: support that genetics and environment influence development in IQ, early adoption has better results that late adoption

  • Connection

CLA: Learning Objectives

General

Ethical Considerations Related to Research Studies in the Cognitive Approach to Studying Behavior

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1: Milner (1966)

  • Aim: gain better understanding in the effects of hippocampal removal

  • Procedure: IQ testing, behavior observation, cognitive testing, interviews

  • Findings: hippocampus is important in STM to LTM, HM retained memory before surgery, implicit memory contains several stores

  • Connection:

• Study 2:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

How and Why Particular Research Methods are Used in the Cognitive Approach

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection

• Study 2:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection

Evaluation of Research Methods Used to Study Cognitive Processes

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

• Study 2:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

Cognitive Processing

Schema Theory

• Important Ideas: past experiences, reconstructive memory, raises a number of biases and memory fabrication, retrieval of existing memory, activated recall

• Study 1: Brewer and Treyens (1981)

  • Aim: investigate the tole of schema in encoding and retrieval of episodic memory

  • Procedure: staged office, memorize contents in room, questionnaire of what participants remembered

  • Findings: only remembered items congruent to their office schema, changed nature of objects of match schema

  • Connection: their schema of an office didn’t allow them to remember the things that didn’t align to their office schema because it didn’t already exist in their memory, causing them to reconstruct their memory to fit the questionnaire

• Study 2: Anderson and Pitcher (1979)

  • Aim: how people think/remember stories

  • Procedure: open house, read passage, reproduce story after reading, recall test again without reading the story

  • Findings: each role found info of their role, if changed their role they remembered more of their 2nd role than the first

  • Connection: remember things based on the schema of their roles because it activated their recall to their LTM

Multi-store Memory model

• Important Ideas: sensory memory turns into STM, rehearsing turns into LTM (bi-directional flow of memories), can go to STM with retrieval

• Study 1: Craik and Tulving (1975)

  • Aim: to find the depth of processing with memory recall

  • Procedure: list of words, yes/no questions, free-recall task, shown another list to pick out old words

  • Findings: 16% structural processing, 57% phonetic processing, 83% semantic processing

  • Connection: depicts how participants use the different stores to process the information, showing how that information is going into LTM

• Study 2: Baddely, Lewis, and Vallar (1984)

  • Aim: to congest the inner ear

  • Procedure: repeat a sequence of sounds over and over while performing a task

  • Findings: written info enters visuospatial pad, phonological similarity effect isn’t observed

  • Connection: because the ear is congested, there is no ability to have repeated sounds being transferring into LTM because they are not the same sounds every time

Thinking and Decision Making

• Important Ideas: verbal protocols, cognitive process to modify info, theory of reasoned action-behavioral intention, attitudes and subjective norms

• Study 1: Albarracin et al (2001)

  • Aim: why people do/don’t use condoms with attitudal/behavioral predictors

  • Procedure: meta-analysis comprised of 42 articles of 96 data sets

  • Findings: more likely to use condoms if there were previous intentions, TRA and TDB are successful predictors of condom use

  • Connection: men that had the behavioral intention, attitudes, or subjected to social norms were the ones who used condoms

• Study 2: Ajzen and Fishbein (1973)

  • Aim: a person’s choice of a particular behavior is based on behaviors of that outcome

  • Procedure: meta-analysis studying several behaviors

  • Findings: higher correlation for prospective than retrospective (both were combined)

  • Connection: predisposition to choose behavior leads to a good outcome, having a higher intention leads to better behaviors

Working Memory Model

• Important Ideas: central executive-how you remember words, auditory memory going through the stages, phonological loop-repeatedly hearing words going into LTM, episodic buffer-episode memory to LTM, visuospatial pad-visually remembering words from memory, not really used

• Study 1: Conrad and Hull (1964)

  • Aim: memory recall in the phonological loop

  • Procedure: list of words (1: phonologically similar, 2: not phonologically similar)

  • Findings: memory for speech material uses a sound-based storage (phonological loop)

  • Connection: able to hear the words from the words from the list because the words were repeated enough to go into LTM

• Study 1: Milner (1966)

  • Aim: gain better understanding in the effects of hippocampal removal

  • Procedure: IQ testing, behavior observation, cognitive testing, interviews

  • Findings: hippocampus is important in STM to LTM, HM retained memory before surgery, implicit memory contains several stores

  • Connection: HM remembers things from before the surgery, the things that he had in LTM stayed, but the function to process information to LTM, phonological loop, episodic buffer, visuospatial pad, were not able to transfer the information because the connection was broken

Reliability of Cognitive Processes

Reconstructive Memory

• Important Ideas: memories aren’t complete in LTM, retrieval is influenced through schema and perceptions and beliefs

• Study 1: Loftus and Palmer (1974)

  • Aim: extent memories can be altered by irrelevant external influences

  • Procedure: watch films of car accidents, distraction questionnaire, asked about speed of car

  • Findings: people aren’t good at judging, same film had different speed estimates, response bias, memory change

  • Connection: changed their answers based on the perception of the speed word, not remembering the actual speed of the cars, perception changed because of schema of speed word

• Study 2: Neisser and Harsch (1992)

  • Aim: determine whether flashbulb memories are susceptible to distortion

  • Procedure: questionnaire, description of news, retake questionnaire 2.5 years later

  • Findings: how content were participants out of 7, average score was 4.17

  • Connection: can’t fully remember events of the news, can’t become sure of oneself because there are no indicators to influence the retrieval of their memory, schema of 9/11, and lots of time inbetween questionnaires

Cognitive Biases

• Important Ideas: types of thinking- (system 1: highly influenced by bias, automatic, instinctive, emotional, based on prior experiences and survival motives), (system 2: controls for biases, logical, rule-based, post system 1 failure), cognitive dissonance- 2 or more contradicting beliefs, seek to reduce stress

• Study 1: Leon Festinger (1956)

  • Aim: what drives what, ‘belief drives behavior’ or vice versa

  • Procedure: recorded behaviors of a colt, cognitive dissonance

  • Findings: cultees in state of tension, spread more of their message, change beliefs when possible so they become more justifiable

  • Connection: experience cognitive dissonance because their beliefs didn’t come true, fake scenario for why their beliefs didn’t come true to relieve stress in their brains

• Study 2: Freedman and Fraser (1966)

  • Aim: to test the theory of cognitive dissonance through the induced-compliance paradigm

  • Procedure: sign petition on safe driving, asked to put “drive carefully” sign in their yard

  • Findings: small percentage of control group agreed to the sign, half of experimental group agreed to the sign, avoided psychological discomfort by adjusting original beliefs

  • Connection: first part they use system 1 thinking because they want to be part of the larger in-group, use system 2 on second part because they had time to think and are influenced by the biases of the people around them

Emotion and Cognition

• Important Ideas: flashbulb memory, emotional memory, cause by personal consequences, importance driven model

• Study 1: Sharot (2007)

  • Aim: determine if flashbulb memory is a special type of memory, does it have a unique natural mechanism

  • Procedure: participants remember event from 9/11, placed in MRI, retrieve 60 autobiographical memories

  • Findings: flashbulb memories have a unique neural basis only in those personally experiencing the event, a close personal experience causes flashbulb memory

  • Connection: those who were first person for the event can remember better because the memory is associated with a certain emotion

• Study 2: Neisser and Harsch (1992)

  • Aim: determine whether flashbulb memories are susceptible to distortion

  • Procedure: questionnaire, description of news, retake questionnaire 2.5 years later

  • Findings: how content were participants out of 7, average score was 4.17

  • Connection: Schema of 9/11 events, schema of emotions is why they were not able to remember well or not sure of their memory, causing their memory to be more fictional

SCLA: Learning Objectives

General

Individuals and Groups

Social Identity Theory

• Important Ideas: how you feel about yourself, creating groups on commonalities, social categorization-stereotypes, positive distinctiveness-inner group believes they are better than external group, in/out groups

• Study 1: Bandura (1961)

  • Aim: to find out whether certain social behaviors specifically aggression can be acquired by observation and imitation

  • Procedure: pre-tested children’s levels of aggression, aggressive model is shown to 24 children, the non-aggressive model is shown to 24 children, and the remaining 24 are not shown anything,

  • Findings: children were able to pick up on aggressive behavior in models and display it during interactive activities, aggressive with aggressive models and same-sex models

  • Connection:

Social Cognitive Learning Theory

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1: Taylor and Jaggi (1974)

  • Aim: see how this group would attribute in/out groups to external factors

  • Procedure: rate Hindu/Muslims based on 12 characteristics, imagine story of how they view themselves socially, in/out groups of both religions

  • Findings: positive descriptions of their in-groups, vice versa for out-group

  • Connection:

Stereotypes - origins

• Important Ideas: personal experiences/interactions with social group, gatekeepers, illusory correlations-seeing something as related even if they aren’t

• Study 1: Hamilton and Gifford (1976)

  • Aim: research how expectations of events can alter the processing of information

  • Procedure: read descriptions of people of 2 groups (a and b), descriptions were either harmful or helpful traits

  • Findings: b was less desirable than a, made illusory correlations that stereotypes the groups

  • Connection:

Stereotype Effects

• Important Ideas: (threats), self-fulfilling prophecy-change how you see yourself and a behavior, not always negative, can impact performance,

• Study 1: Steel and Aronson (1995)

  • Aim: study effects of stereotype threats on intellectual test performance of African American students

  • Procedure: test to stress students, (3 conditions- 1: describe racially, 2: unrelated to intellect, 3: described as a challenge to increase motivation

  • Findings: white student out-performed black students on condition 1, black students performed better in conditions 2 and 3

  • Connection:

Culture, Behavior, and Cognition

Cultural Dimensions

• Important Ideas: PDI-measure extent of less powerful members in a group, trends by society, compare each other based on extreme cultures in the trend, lower scale they stay the same, higher scale tries to get higher

• Study 1: Eylon and Au (1999)

  • Aim: understand cultural empowerment in the workplace

  • Procedure: high vs. low PDI based on language and culture, either empowerment situation or non-empowerment situation

  • Findings: more satisfied in empowerment situation, differences in work performance, higher scores were more successful

  • Connection:

Effect of Culture on Behavior and Cognition

• Important Ideas: PDI, self-direction-independent thought/action, what people deem acceptable

• Study 1: Eylon and Au (1999)

  • Aim: understand cultural empowerment in the workplace

  • Procedure: high vs. low PDI based on language and culture, either empowerment situation or non-empowerment situation

  • Findings: more satisfied in empowerment situation, differences in work performance, higher scores were more successful

  • Connection:

Enculturation

• Important Ideas: the process of learning necessary/appropriate skills in their culture group, norms, bi-directional-go with their culture while out-group goes against it, schema and cognitive biases, (formal-instruction), (informal-observed), (conscious-intention), (unconscious- immersion)

• Study 1: Martin and Halverson (1983)

  • Aim: investigating gender schema on children’s ability to recall info that wasn’t connected to their gender schema

  • Procedure: tests to access level of gender stereotyping, viewed pics of people within their gender schema, see if they can remember the pictures 1 week later, rate their confidence

  • Findings: distorted memory of pics outside of their schema, more confident in pics that aligned with schema

  • Connection:

Acculturation

• Important Ideas: cultural contact to exchange with another culture, (assimilation-doesn’t care about loss of original culture), (integration-original values and new culture’s values), (separation- avoid other cultures to avoid losing original culture), (marginalization- no interest in maintaining original culture and new culture)

• Study 1: Delavario et al (2013)

  • Aim: the relationship between acculturation and obesity among Hispanic immigrants in the US

  • Procedure: literature review of immigrants from 8 different countries

  • Findings: higher acculturation equals higher BMI score, higher acculturation equals lower BMI score mostly in women.

  • Connection:

Paper 2- Abnormal Psychology: Etiology of Major Depression Disorder (MDD)

General

Approaches to Research in Abnormal Psychology

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

• Study 2:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

Ethical Considerations in Abnormal Psychology

• Important Ideas: voluntary participation

• Study 1:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

• Study 2:

  • Aim:

  • Procedure:

  • Findings:

  • Connection:

Explanations (etiologies) of Depression

Biological

• Important Ideas: strengths- high reliability in twin studies, large sample sizes, relation between environmental and genetic factors, limitations- correlation doesn’t have cause/effect, hard population validity in twin studies because they aren’t representative of everyone, doesn’t account for symptom variation across cultures, serotonin hypothesis, reductionist vs. holistic

• Study 1: Kendler (2006)

  • Aim: determine the role that genetics plays in MDD

  • Procedure: twins from Sweden, phone interviews, assessed lifetime MD in twins with shared environment

  • Findings: concordance rates higher in women than men, higher in mono that dizygotic twins, no correlation between years twins were together and depression, sex-specific risk factors, confirms heritability and reliability

  • Connection: depression is partly a genetic based disorder, shows the epigenetics and environment can cause depression

• Study 2: Caspi (2003)

  • Aim: determine whether there is evidence for a gene-environment interaction for a mutation of the serotonin transporter gene

  • Procedure: (short alleles, 1 short 1 long, 2 long alleles), “stressful life events” questionnaire, assessed for depression, 5-6 year period

  • Findings: those with short alleles demonstrate more symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation with 3 or more life events, depression is more prevalent in those that inherited the gene and had stressful life events

  • Connection: limitations: need more research between gene and environment, results can be limited or skewed because of use of questionnaire, strength: the study can be replicated because it has low reliability

Cognitive

• Important Ideas: Beck’s Cognitive Theory (cognitive triad-automatic thoughts, emotional responses: negative view of self, world, and future), (negative schema: problems around self, ineptness, self-blame, negative self-evaluation schemas)

• Study 1: Nolen-Hoeksma (2000)

  • Aim: carry out a prospective study of the role of rumination on symptoms related to depression

  • Procedure: interviewed 2 times in one year while given rumination and a questionnaire

  • Findings: if one showed signs of MDD they had higher scores of ruminations, lowest scores for those who never had depression, those who had depression and improved had lower score than chronically depressed.

  • Connection: limitation: cultural bias,

• Study 2: Joiner (1999)

  • Aim: determine the role of depressive and anxious thinking patterns on the development of depressive symptoms

  • Procedure: students assessed 2 weeks before and after mid-term exams, 3 tests

  • Findings: high scores in BDI mean higher depression

  • Connection:

Sociocultural

• Important Ideas: (factors in the environment increase risk: environment, lack of resources, cultural attitudes), (Diathesis-stress model: stress is a trigger to activate biological predisposition), (vulnerability models: more risk than protective factors, child, family, service, life events, socio-cultural)

• Study 1: Brown and Harris (1978)

  • Aim: investigate how depression could be linked to social factors and stressful life events in a sample of women

  • Procedure: South London, surveyed on daily life and depressive episodes, measured social class based on husband’s occupation

  • Findings: risk of depression because of stressful life events, acute and ongoing stress, grief and no social support, developed depression in spite of factors

  • Connection: follows vulnerability models and factors in the environment. limitation: some limitations because of the use of surveys and interviews, strengths: high relevance because of large sample size, can be replicated since this study is focused on women, another can be focused on men

• Study 2: Taboussum (2000)

  • Aim: determine the difference in emics of depression and Western etics used to evaluate and treat depression in ethnic populations while living in Western society

  • Procedure: at-home interviews consisting of 21 questions

  • Findings: unhappiness, marriage, language barriers, religious beliefs, cultural practices, have all seen to cause depression in the Pakistani women

  • Connection: cultural and social influences attitudes of treatment or diagnosis. More cultural consideration when addressing mental health issues. limitations: language barriers, at-home interviews with limiting husbands, strength: demonstrates causality and internal validity

Prevalence Rates of Depression

• Important Ideas:

• Study 1: Brown and Harris (1978)

  • Aim: investigate how depression could be linked to social factors and stressful life events in a sample of women

  • Procedure: South London, surveyed on daily life and depressive episodes, measured social class based on husband’s occupation

  • Findings: risk of depression because of stressful life events, acute and ongoing stress, grief and no social support, developed depression in spite of factors

  • Connection: follows vulnerability models and factors in the environment. limitation: some limitations because of the use of surveys and interviews, strengths: high relevance because of large sample size, can be replicated since this study is focused on women, another can be focused on men

• Study 1: Kendler (2006)

  • Aim: determine the role that genetics plays in MDD

  • Procedure: twins from Sweden, phone interviews, assessed lifetime MD in twins with shared environment

  • Findings: concordance rates higher in women than men, higher in mono that dizygotic twins, no correlation between years twins were together and depression, sex-specific risk factors, confirms heritability and reliability

  • Connection: depression is partly a genetic based disorder, shows the epigenetics and environment can cause depression