November mocks
Social influence
Types of conformity, internalisation, identification and compliance. Explanations for conformity; informational social influence and normative social influence, and variables affecting conformity including group size, unanimity and task difficulty as investigated by Asch
Conformity- a change in a person’s opinion/behaviour as a response to real or imagined group pressure
Internalisation- a deep type of conformity involving a genuine change of private views to match those of the group
This change is usually permanent because attitudes have been internalised, becoming a part of how the person thinks
The change in opinions/behaviour persists even in the absence of other group members
Eg conversion to a new religion
Identification- a moderate type of conformity involving changing out behaviour and opinions to those of a group because there is something about the group we value and we want to be a part of it
We change our behaviour to be part of the group, even if we don’t agree with everything the group stands for
Eg Emily prefers to wear jeans but wears smart trousers at work because she wants to look professional in front of her work colleagues
Compliance- a superficial/weak type of conformity. Publicly going along or conforming to the group, whilst privately not changing your own behaviour or opinion.
The behaviour or opinion stops as soon as the group pressure stops
Eg smiling at someone’s joke even though you did not find it funny because you don’t want to offend the person
There are two explanations for why people conform
Normative social influence- this explanation is about the ‘norms’ or typical behaviour for a social group. People comply to social norms because they want to be liked and gain approval
NSI is likely to occur in situations with strangers where you may feel concerned about rejection. It may also occur with people who you know because we are most concerned with gaining the approval of our friends
The type of conformity this produces is compliance, where people will agree publicly with the group but privately do not change their personal opinions
Informational social influence- we change our behaviours or ideas because we want to be right
When we are uncertain, we follow the behaviour of the group. For example, if you do not know the answer to a person, and most of the class are giving a certain answer, you are likely to accept it because you feel that they must be right
This occurs particularly in new or ambiguous situations where the correct answer or behaviour is unclear
The type of conformity this produces is a genuine and long lasting change of private as well as public ideas and behaviour known as internalisation
Aim
To see if participants would yield (conform) to majority social influence and give incorrect answers in a situation where the correct answer is always obvious.
Procedure:
• Asch misinformed the participants to the true aim of the study.
He said they were taking part in a study on the perception of line length.
• The sample consisted of 123 American male college students who had volunteered to take part.
• Participants, in groups of 6 or 7, were seated about a table and asked to look at 3 lines of different lengths.
They took turns to
call which of the 3 lines they thought was the same length as a ‘standard line’.
• Only one of the participants was a genuine participant. The others were 'confederates of the experimenter. In other words, they were pretending to give genuine responses but were really acting in line with the wishes of the experimenter.
The real participant always answered second to last.
Confederates gave unanimous wrong answers on 12 out of the 18 trials. These were called the critical trials.
Findings
• On the 12 critical trials the mean average conformity rate was 33%
• 75% conformed at least once.
To confirm that the task was indeed unambiguous, Asch conducted a control group without the distraction of the confederates giving wrong answers. In this condition, he found that participants made mistakes about 1% of the time, suggesting that the task did have a clear and obvious answer.
Conclusion
• A majority can influence a minority even in an unambiguous situation in which the answer is obvious. Thus, demonstrating normative social influence.
Asch carried out THREE variations of his original study to find out which variables had the most significant effects on the level of conformity.
1. Group Size
Condition One - 1 real participant with 1 confederate:
• 3%
Condition Two- 1 real participant with 2 confederates:
• 13%
Condition Three - 1 real participant with 3 confederates:
• 32%
Further increases of the group size did not lead to any further increases in conformity suggesting size of the majority is important but only up to a point.
The unanimity of the majority
In Asch's original study, all the confederates gave a unanimous answer.
In this variation, Asch broke up the unanimity of the group by introducing a confederate who gave right answers. In the original experiment 33% of participants conformed on the critical trials, whereas when one confederate gave the correct answer on all the critical trials this conformity dropped to 5%.
Next, Asch wanted to find out what would happen if the confederate gave both an answer that was different from the majority and different from the true answer? In this condition, conformity rates dropped to 9%. This led Asch to conclude that it was breaking the group's unanimous position that was the major factor in conformity reduction.
The difficulty of the task
In this variation, Asch made the differences between the line lengths much smaller (the correct answer was less obvious). Under these circumstances, the level of conformity increased.
This suggests that when the situation is ambiguous (unclear), so we are more likely to conform due ISI.
Explanations for obedience, agent in state and legitimacy of uthority, and situational variables affecting obedience including proximity and location, as invested by Milgram and uniform. Dispositional explanation for obedience- the authoritarian personality
Agentic state
One explanation for obedience is the ‘agentic state’ explanation
This is a mental state where you are more likely to obey an order because you see yourself as having no personal responsibility for your behaviour as you are acting for the authority figure
The opposite of being in Agentic state is being in autonomous state. The shift form autonomy to agent is called the agentic shift. Milgram suggested that this occurs when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure
Once in agentic state, the person starts to believe that they are no longer responsible for their own actions. Instead, they feel responsible to the higher authority and are mainly concerned that they should ‘do the job right’
Legitimacy of authority
We are socialised to recognise the authority of people like parents, police officers, doctors, teachers, etc. these kinds of people are legitimate authority figures. Usually we a re willing to give up some of out independence and to hand control of our behaviour to these legitimate authority figures
Certain factors such as the presence of a uniform can increase the legitimacy of the authority figure. For example, you are more likely to obey a policeman when they are wearing a uniform than when they are plain clothes
A legitimate authority has the power to punish. For example, a policeman has the legitimate authority to issue a ticket if you exceed the speed limit whilst driving.
Three types of sitiational variables: location, proximity and uniform
VARIATION
WHAT HAPPENED
OBEDIENCE RATE
Original experiment.
65%
Location (venue moved from Yale University to seedy offices
Obedience fell when the experiment was in less respectable and prestigious surroundings. This drop in obedience can be explained through a lack of legitimate authority
47.50%
Proximity of the victim (teacher and learner in the same room)
Obedience fell when participants were forced to see and hear the distress caused by their actions
40%
Touch proximity of the victim (teacher had to force the learners hand onto an electrified plate to receive the shock)
Obedience fell further when participants were required to use physical force to personally administer the shock
30%
Proximity of the authority figure (experimenter left the room and gave instructions over the phone)
Obedience fell considerably when the experimenter supervised the participants less closely. This drop in obedience can be explained through agentic state
20.50%
Uniform: in the baseline study, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat as a symbol of this authority (a kind of uniform). In this variation, the experimenter was replaced with an ordinary member of the public in everyday clothes, rather than a lab coat
Obedience rates fell to the lowest level of these variations. This drop in obedience can be explained through a lack of legitimate authority
20%
Authoritarian personality:
Rhododendron Adorno disagreed with Milgram’s explanation for obedience. He believed that high levels of obedience are caused by a person’s personality, rather than the situation. Adorno’s explanation is a dispositional explanation because it suggests that obedience is caused by internal factors, such as ones characteristics
A personality type especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. People with this personality type:
Are extremely respectful for and submissive to those in authority
Believe that strong and powerful leaders are needed to enforce traditional values, such as love of country and family
Are hostile to people of inferior social status. For these individuals, there are no grey areas, everything is either black or white. Therefore, people who belong to other ethnic groups, for example, are responsible for the problems in society
Origins of the authoritarian personality:
According to Adorno et al, an authoritarian personality type is formed in childhood, mostly because of harsh parenting. Such a parenting style features extremely strict discipline, impossibly high standards, and severe criticism of perceived failings
Adorno argues that these childhood experiences create resentment and hostility in a child. However, the child is unable to express their feelings to their parents because they fear punishment. Therefore, the child displaces their fears onto others who they percieve to be weaker, in a process known as scapegoating
Research into the authoritarian personality (Adorno et al, 1950)
Procedure:
Attitudes towards racial minorities were measured in 2000 middle class white Americans
The F scale was also used to measure the different components that make up an authoritarian personality
Findings:
Those with an authoritarian personality (who scored high on the f scale) were:
Contemptuous of those thought to be weak
Conscious of other people’s status
Had fixed stereotypes
A strong positive correlation was found between those with an authoritarian personality and prejudice
Conclusions:
People with an authoritarian personality tend to be very obedient to authority because they have enormous respect for authority figures. They also show contempt for people who they perceive as having inferior social status. They believe that we need strong and powerful leaders to enforce traditional values
Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social support and locus of control
Resistance to social influence refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or always obey authority. Although most people may conform or obey, there are always those who refuse to do so. Even in Milgrams study, 35% disobeyed the researcher at a certain point
Social support
An explanation of resistance to social influence is the social support explanation. Pressure to conform is at its most powerful when a group is unanimous. Likewise, pressure to obey is at its most powerful when everyone obeys the figure of authority
However, if one person resists the pressure to conform or obey (called a dissenter), this can help others to do the same. These people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible by demonstrating how to resist as well as demonstrating the consequences of resisting
For example, if someone rebels and disobeys an authority figure but avoids punishment, this may reduce the fear of obeying in others. The social support provided by allies ‘frees’ others up to act according to their own conscious
Research support
Asch found in his line judgement task that when one of a group of confederates became a dissenter and gave a different answer to the other confederates (who gave a deliberately wrong answer), the conformity rate dropped from 33% to 5%
This was true even when the dissenter gave a different incorrect answer to the majority
Memory
The multi-store model of memory: sensory register, short-term memory and long term memory. Features of each store: coding, capacity and duration
Specification: The multi-store model of memory: sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. Features of each store: coding, capacity and duration.
Atkinson & Shiffrin’s 1968 multi store model was the first cognitive explanation of memory. The model argues that memory is made up of three separate unitary stores.
The three stores are the Sensory Register, Short Term Memory and Long Term Memory. For information to be retained as a memory, the processes of attention and rehearsal are required.
Each store differs in terms of coding, storage and retrieval
1. The Sensory Register (SR)
The Sensory Register receives a huge amount of information through the five senses but most of it receives little or no attention and is lost. The sensory register can only hold information for a very short time. If a person pays attention to the information, it is transferred to the short-term memory store.
Each of the five senses has its own sensory register. Most of the research into sensory memory focuses on visual (Iconic Memory) and auditory (Echoic Memory) senses.
Coding: Duration: Capacity: Iconic for visually material and Echoic for acoustic material
Very brief, usually only 1-2 seconds
Very large as it includes material from all 5 senses.
2. Short term Memory (STM)
STM is for events in the present or immediate past (e.g. trying to remember an order of drinks from the bar). STM codes all information acoustically, that is, according to sound. Visual information is transformed to its acoustic (sound/language) codes. E.g. the image of a bus is transformed into the word ‘bus’. If you find yourself talking or reading aloud while doing your homework, you are using acoustic encoding.
Coding: Acoustic (sound-based)
Duration: 18-30 seconds
Capacity: 7 (+/-) 2 items or chunks
Long term Memory (LTM)
The memory for events that have happened in the more distant past is referred to as long-term memory (LTM).
Information is coded into LTM using semantic coding. This required information to be meaningful in order for it is be stored e.g., remembering a meaningful date, like a birthday or a meaningful event, such as your high school prom. Once info is stored in LTM it is stored permanently. According to the model, any ‘forgetting’ at this stage is because of a failure to retrieve rather than an actual loss of the information.
Coding: Semantic
Duration: Up to a lifetime
Capacity: Unlimited
Research support for the MSM
A major strength of the MSM is that it is well supported by a range of research evidence.
For example, Glazner and Cunitz (1966) provide clear support for existence of the STM and LTM as distinct memory stores.
Procedure: Participants heard a list of words and had to recall them immediately, in any order.
Findings: Participants had good recall for the first part of the list (primacy effect) and the last part of the list (recency effect). Words in the middle of the list had the poorest recall.
This supports the MSM as it suggests STM and LTM are distinct separate memory stores.
STM is too simplistic
A weakness of the MSM is that it is too simplistic.
The MSM states that STM is a unitary store, in other words there is only one type of short-term memory. However, evidence from people suffering from a clinical condition called amnesia show that this cannot be true. For example, Shallice and Warrington (1970) studied a patient with amnesia known As KF. Although KF’s memory for verbal material was poor, his memory for visual information was unaffected.
This suggests that there may be more than one store for STM (one for verbal information and one for visual information).
This is a very serious limitation of the MSM because it is another research finding that cannot be explained by the model. Later memory models (e.g. working memory model) give a more accurate depiction of STM
Types of long-term memory; episodic, semantic and procedural
Episodic memory
Is our ability to recall events from our lives.
They are time stamped so you will know when they happened
They are single memories which include several elements such as places, people, objects and behaviours
We have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories. It may only take a few seconds to recall the name of your English teacher, for example, but you are still aware of searching for it
Semantic memory
Is our knowledge of the world. This may include facts, and this memory is often likened to a dictionary or encyclopeadia
Not time stamped
Make a conscious effort to recall
Procedural memory
Is our memory for motor actions and skills
These memories can be recalled without conscious effort or awareness
Some examples of procedural memory are riding a bike or swimming
Explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive interference and retrieval failure due to absence of cues
Interference
Interference occurs when two pieces of information conflict with each other resulting in forgetting of one or both
Interference has been proposed mainly as an explanation for forgetting in LTM. A common everyday example of proactive interference is when you rearrange the location of items in a room. You may keep going back to the place where items used to be instead of where they are now
Proactive interference
This occurs when an older memory affects the recall of a new memory
Pro in this context means working forwards, from old to new
Retroactive interference
This occurs when a newer memory affects the recall of an older memory
Retro in this context means working backwards
Effects of similarity
Interference is worse when the memories are similar, as discovered by McGeogh and McDonald (1931)
Procedure- participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy. They then learned a new list. There were six groups who had to learn different types of lists, for example words that are synonyms, antonyms, etc
The findings show a highest level of accuracy when the words have nothing in common
This supports the theory that interference is strongest when the memories are similar
Retrieval failure
This is failure due to lack of accessibility rather than lack of availability
Retrieval failure occurs when we do not have the necessary cues to access memory. When information is places in memory, associated cues are stored at the same time. Of someone gives you a cue, then the memory might be more easy to recall, but in the meantime you are faced with a blank. A cue therefore is something that triggers memory. Cues can either be external or internal
Encoding specificity principle
Tulving reviewed research into retrieval failure and discovered a consistent pattern to the findings. He summarised this pattern in what he called the ESP. This states that if a cue is to help us to recall information then it must be present at encoding and retrieval. It follows from this that if the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different (or if cues are entirely absent at retrieval) there will be some forgetting
Context dependent forgetting
The context in which we experience or learn something is crucial. Many of us will have had experience of memories coming “flooding back” when we return to old haunts. Similarly, we may be able to recall the names of classmates who we have not seen for many years if we see an old school photograph
The effect of context on forgetting is known as context dependent forgetting or cue dependent forgetting. Provided with the right cues, we can quickly recover memories
Godden and Baddely
Procedure- the divers were required to learn a list of words and then recall them either under water or on land
There were four conditions
Learn on land- recall on land
Learn on land- recall underwater
Learn underwater- recall on land
Learn underwater- recall underwater
Findings- participants recalled the words better in the place they had originally learnt the list of words
This study clearly demonstrates the usefulness of environmental cues in aiding recall, and of course, explains why police officers often use reconstructions in their investigations
State dependent forgetting
It is not only the physical context that can affect memory retrieval. Recall is also impaired if we try to remember something when we are in a different physical or mental state. For example, if we were to learn something when we felt happy/sad/sleepy, we could remember this information when we are in the same state, but have difficulty recalling it in a different state. This would explain why we tend to remember more bad memories when we are in a sad mood and why we remember fewer of these memories when happy
Goodwin (1969) found that people who drank a lot forgot where they had put items when they were sober. However they could recall the locations when they were drunk again
Attachment
Explanations of attachment; learning theory and Bowlby’s monotropic theory. The concepts of a critical period and an internal working model
Learning theory
Learning theory argues that attachment is learnt through classical and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning-
The infant learns to associate the primary caregiver (usually the mother) with food
The food is an unconditioned stimulus. Being fed produces feelings of pleasure. We don’t have to learn to like food therefore it is an unconditioned stimulus.
The caregiver starts as a neutral stimulus. In other words, the child does not respond any differently to the caregiver than any other adult
However, when the caregiver repeatedly provides the food the child learns to associate this person with food and pleasure. Thus, the neutral stimulus has become the conditioned stimulus
The child now feels pleasure in the presence of the caregiver. This is a conditioned response, and an attachment is formed
Operant conditioning
Reinforcement produces an attachment. For example. Crying leads to a response from the caregiver, for example feeding. As long as the caregiver provides a pleasant response, crying is positively reinforced. This means the behaviour sis likely to be repeated to illicit the response
This reinforcement is a two-way process. At the same time as the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the crying stops- escaping something unpleasant is reinforcing. So attachment is reinforced for both infant and caregiver
Attachment as a secondary drive
Hunger can be thought of as a primary drive. This is because it is an innate, biological motivation. We are motivated to eat to reduce the hunger drive. It is suggested that, as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them. Therefore attachment is a secondary drive, learned by association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive
Bowlby’s monotropic theory
John Bowlby’s rejected learning theory as an explanation of attachment. Instead, Bowlby’s proposed an evolutionary explanation- that attachment was an innate system that increases our chances of survival
Monotropic bond- this attachment is to one specific caregiver. This usually is to the biological mother. The monotropic bond is more important than any other attachments that the child may form
Internal working model- the monotropic bond acts s a template for all later relationships. This template, known as the internal working model, has a powerful effect on the nature of a child’s future relationships. Most importantly, the internal working model affects the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves, as it appears to be passed on through families. If a child is insecurely attached to their parents, they are likely to have a similar attachment to their own children
Critical period- according to Bowlby’s the first 2.5 years of life are the critical period for attachment to develop. If the attachment does not develop, it might seriously damage the child’s social and emotional development
Evolutionary principles- Bowlby’s explanation of attachment is based on evolutionary principles and argues that humans have evolved a biological need to attach to a caregiver to increase their survival chances
Infants show innate behaviours (eg smiling and crying) which make attachment to a maternal figure possible. Bowlby called these behaviours social releases because they bring out care giving behaviours from adults
Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation. Romanian orphan studies, effects of institutionalisation
Maternal deprivation is caused by prolonged separation from the attachment figure
According to Bowlby, deprivation during the critical period (first 3 years of life) is particularly harmful. Deprivation results in irreversible long term negative consequences
These consequences include:
Effects on intellectual development- cognitive delays and low IQ- Goldfarb 1947 found maternally deprived children in orphanages had lower IQ than those who were fostered
Effects on emotional development- affection less psychopathy- Bowlby suggested these children would develop an inability to show affection of concern for others, acting on impulse with little regard for the consequence of their actions
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study
Aim- this study examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
Procedure- the sample consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. All ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy. Their families were also interviewed to establish whether the ‘thieves’ had suffered prolonged early separation from their mothers
A control group of 44 non criminal butemotionally disturbed teenagers was set up to see how often maternal deprivation occurred in children who were not delinquent
Results- thieves- 14/44 were described as affectionless psychopaths. Of this 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation in the first two years of life
Control group- 2/44 had suffered maternal separation but 0/44 were categorised as affectionless psychopaths
Conclusion- prolonged separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy
Romanian orphan studies
An institute is a place where someone lives outside the family home. For example, children’s home, hostel, prison etc. institutionalisation causes harmful effects such as apathy, loss of personal identity and interdependence
A tragic opportunity to look at the effects of institutionalisation arose in Romania in the 1990s. Due to government requirements for women to have large families, many Romanian parents could not afford to keep their children, and many ended up in huge orphanages in very poor conditions. In 1989, the government was overthrown, and the world became aware of the poor state of these orphanages. Many of the children from these institutions were eventually adopted by British parents
Rutter et al
Aim- to investigate if good care could make up for poor early experiences in an institution
Michael Rutter and colleagues followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain. Physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4,6,11 and 15 years. A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time as the control group
Findings- when they first arrived in the UK half the adoptees lagged behind their British counterpoints on all three measures of development
At age 11, recovery depended on the child’s age when adopted: (mean IQ score)
6 months or younger- 102
Between 6 months and two years- 86
After 2 years of age- 77
Impaired social skills- those adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment. This is when the child shows equal affection to strangers as they do to people they know well, eg they may hug or cuddle unknown adults. Attention seeking and clinginess were also more common in the late adopted group
The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model
Internal working model- Bowlby suggested that the monotropic bond acts as. Template for all later relationships. This template, known as the internal working model, has a powerful effect on the nature of a child’s future relationships
A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will assume that this is how relationships are meant to be and will this seek out fulfilling relationships in the future. However, if the first experience of a loving relationship is on an unreliable, insensitive caregiver, then the child may seek out dysfunctional relationships
Attachment type and effect on adult behaviours:
Insecure avoidant- I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others. I am nervous when anyone gets too close. Romantic partners want me to be more intimate
Securely attached- I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am comfortable depending on them and having them depend on me
Insecure resistant- Others are reluctant to get s close as I like. I want to merge completely with another person and this can scare me away. I worry my partner does not really love me
Relationships in childhood:
Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood. Youngblade and Belsky (1992) found that 3-5 year old securely attached children were more self-confident, got along better with other children, and were more likely to form close friendships
Myron-Wilson and smith assessed attachment type and bullying using questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London. Secure children were unlikely to be involved in bullying. Insecure avoidant children were more likely to be victims and insecure resistant children were more likely to be bullies.
Kern- securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached babies later have friendship difficulties
Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners- Hazen and Shaver (1987)
Hazen and Shaver wanted to find out if the type of attachment that a person has in infancy has an effect on the type of romantic relationships they would form in the future
Procedure- they analysed 620 responses to a ‘love quiz’ posted in an American local newspaper
The quiz had 3 sections:
1- assessment of their current or most significant relationship
2- assessment of their love life, eg number of partners
3- assessment of their attachment type
Results:
Attachment type
Relationship experiences
Average length of relationship
Secure (56%)
Happy, friendly and trusting. Happy being close to others
10 years
Avoidant (25%)
Jealousy and fear of intimacy. They are uncomfortable depending on or being close to others
6 years
Resistant (19%)
Obsessive in romantic relationships, desire for intense closeness
5 years
Relationships in adulthood with/as a parent- the internal working model also affects the child’s ability to parent their own children. Research shows that attachment types tend to be passed on through generations of a family. For example, Bailey (2007) assessed the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and their own mothers. The majority of women have the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers. This supports the importance of early in ones ability to parent successfully
Psychopathology
The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of phobias, depression and OCD
Phobias:
The DSM:
There are a number of systems for classifying and diagnosing mental health problems. Perhaps the best known is the DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association
The DSM is updated every so often as ideas about abnormality change. The current version is DSM-5, published in 2013
DSM-5 categories of phobias
Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder. All phobias are characterised by excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation. The extent of the fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus
The latest version of the DSM recognises the following categories of phobias and related anxiety disorder
Specific phobia- also known as simple phobia, this is fear of an object, such as an animal, or a situation such as flying or having an injection
Social phobia- phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet
Agoraphobia- fear of leaving home or a safe place. Can be characterised by fear of being outside or in a public place
Behavioural characteristics
Panic- most phobic people panic in response to the presence of a phobic stimuli. Panic can be in the form of behaviours such as crying, screaming, running away or freezing
Avoidance- as anxiety increases by being close to the feared situation, it is natural to avoid certain situations where the object will be. For example, is someone has a fear of ghosts, they will not take a short-cut home through a graveyard at night
Disruption of functioning- anxiety and avoidance responses are so extreme that they severely interfere with the ability to conduct everyday working and social functioning. For example, a person with a social phobia will find it very hard to socialise with others, or indeed interact meaningfully with them at work
Emotional characteristics
Anxiety- an unpleasant state of high arousal which makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotions. The anxiety anticipation of feared objects and situations
Fear- the emotional responses of fear which accompanies many phobias stimuli is often extremely unreasonable. For example, an individual’s fear of spiders will involve a very strong emotional responses to a tiny, harmless spider. This fear is disproportionate to the actual danger posed by the spider
Cognitive characteristics
Irrational beliefs- people with phobias of then hold irrational beliefs in relation to the phobic stimuli. They are also very resistant to rational arguments, for example a person with a fear of flying is not helped buy arguments that flying is actually the safest form of transport
Selective attention- people with phobias will often look intently at a phobic stimulus and find it very difficult to look away from them. It is usually useful to keep out attention on something dangerous so that we can react to the threat quickly. However, it is not useful when the fear is irrational as this can interfere with day to day life. For example, a pogonophobic will struggle to concentrate on what they are doing if someone in the room has a beard
Depression
Depression is characterised as a mood disorder. DSM-5 distinguishes between major depressive disorder, which is severe but often short term, and persistent depressive disorder, which is longer term and/or recurring
Behavioural
Disruption of sleep and eating- depression is associated in out normal eating and sleeping behaviours. Insomnia (reduced sleep) and hypersomnia (increased need for sleep) are common and appetite can also increase or decrease with depression, which can lead to weight changes
Loss of energy- some depressed people have reduces energy resulting in fatigue, lethargy and high levels of inactivity eg they may struggle to get out of bed and do usual daily activities
Emotional
Sadness- sadness is the most common description people give of their depressed state, along with feeling empty. Associated with this, people may feel worthless, hopeless and/or experience low self esteem
Anger- negative emotions can, also be shown in the form of anger. This anger can be directed as aggression towards oneself (eg self harming) or towards others (eg close family members)
Cognitive
Focus and dwelling on the negative- people with depression often view themselves, the world and the future in negative ways. They may have a bias towards reporting unhappy events in their lives rather than happy events. Such negative thoughts are irrational
Poor concentration- people with depression often find themselves unable to stick to a task or make decisions (indecisiveness). This is then likely to interfere with a person’s work and ability to communicate
OCD
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is classed as an anxiety disorder. The disorder usually begins in young adult life and has two main components: obsessions (recurring thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive behaviours)
Behavioural
Compulsive behaviours- people with OCD feel compelled to repeat a certain behaviour in order to reduce anxiety. These behaviours are extremely visible and repetitive. Examples include handwashing, counting or tidying
Avoidance- people with OCD may avoid situations which usually trigger their anxiety. The aim being to reduce their anxiety through avoidance. For example, people who compulsively was their hands may avoid coming into contact with germs. However, this behaviour may interfere with normal day to day life
Emotional
Anxiety and distress- both the obsessions and compulsions are a source of considerable anxiety and stress. Feelings of anxiety are often reduced by carrying out the compulsive behaviours. For example, compulsive handwashing may reduce the anxiety caused by an excessive fear of germs, encouraging more handwashing
Shame/disgust- people with OCD are aware that their behaviour is excessive, and this causes feelings of embarrassment and shame. Additionally, irrational levels of disgust are felt over germs/mess
Cognitive
Obsessions- the major cognitive symptom for 90% of people with OCD. Obsessions are persistent, recurring thoughts that often drive anxious feelings. Obsessions could be ideas, doubts, impulses or images. These thoughts are seen as uncontrollable, which creates anxiety
Awareness of excessive anxiety- one key element required for a diagnosis of OCD is that the person is aware that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational. An individual who believes that their obsessive thoughts were grounded in reality would have a very different form of mental disorder7
The behavioural approach to explaining and threading phobias, the two-process model, including classical and operant conditioning, systematic desensitisation, including relaxation and the use of hierarchy, flooding
Behaviourists argue that, like any other behaviour, phobias are learned through the environment
Explaining phobias:
According to the two-process model, phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and maintained because of operant conditioning
Classical conditioning- initiation
A phobia is acquired through the association of a stimulus with a resounded. For example, Watson and Rayner induced a fear of white rats in Little Albert by pairing the rat (neutral stimulus) with a loud noise (unconditioned stimulus). This resulted in a new stimulus (conditioned stimulus) being learnt
The same steps can explain how a person might develop a fear of social situations after having a panic attack in such a situation
Operant conditioning- how a phobia is maintained
With negative reinforcement, an individual avoids a situation that is unpleasant. For example a person with a fear of dogs will avoid visiting friends with dogs. A person with a fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) will avoid going into a lift
In these examples, avoiding the phobic stimulus will allow them to escape the fear and anxiety that they would have suffered if they had remained. This reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour and maintains the phobia
Treating phobias
Systematic desensitisation
Systematic desensitisation is a behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principles of classical conditioning. If the person with a phobia can learn to relax in the presence of the phobic stimulus, they will be cured
Essentially a new response to the phobic stimulus is learned. This learning of a different response is called counterconditioning
There are three processes involved in SD:
Anxiety hierarchy- a phobic patient works with a therapist to develop an ‘anxiety hierarchy’. This is a list of situations related to the phobic stimulus, starting with the least fearful situation at the bottom, and the most fearful at the top
Relaxation- it is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time, as one emotion prevents the other. This is called reciprocal inhibition. Therefore, teaching relaxation techniques is a vital part of SD. Typical relaxation techniques that are taught include deep breathing, mindfulness and visualisation. Alternatively, relaxation is sometimes achieved using anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium
Exposure- finally the patient is exposed to a phobic stimulus whilst in a relaxed state. The patient starts at the bottom of the fear hierarchy, and when they can remain relaxed at that level, they progress onto the next level. Over several sessions, the patient gradually moves their way up the hierarchy, SD is successful when the patient can maintain relaxation in the most feared/highest level on the heirarchy
Exposure can be done in two ways:
In vitro- the client imagines exposure to the phobic stimulus
In vivo- the client is actually exposed to the phobic stimulus
Flooding
Flooding also involves exposing phobic patients to their phobic stimulus but without the gradual progression seen in SD. Instead, clients are immediately exposed to a very frightening situation. For example, a person with a fear of flying may pre taken up in an aircraft
Usually one long session is used in which the patient experiences their phobia at its worst, whilst at the same time practicing relaxation. The session continues until the patient is fully relaxed
Flooding stops phobic responses very quickly. This may be because the patient cannot avoid the stimulus. Therefore they quickly learn that the phobic stimulus is harmless. In classical conditioning terms, this process is called extinction. A learned response (CR) is extinguished when a CS (eg dog) is encountered without the UCS (eg being bitten), resulting in the CS no longer producing the CR (fear)
The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression, Beck’s negative triad and Ellis’s ABC model, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), including challenging irrational thoughts
Explaining depression
According to the cognitive approach, it is not the events in peoples lives that cause depression, it is the way they think about these events. There are two main examples of the cognitive approach to explaining depression; the ABC model and the negative triad
Ellis’ ABC model:
Albert Ellis (1962) proposed that the key to mental disorders such as depression, lay in irrational beliefs
In his ABC model
A refers to an ‘activating event’- for example getting fired at work. Events like this may trigger irrational beliefs
B refers to the belief, this may be rational or irrational. According to Ellis, the source of irrational beliefs lies in mustabatory thinking. This is the belief that we must always succeed or achieve perfection
C is the consequences- rational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions, including depression
Beck’s negative triad
Aaron Beck (1967) believed that depressed individuals feel as they do because their thinking is biased towards negative interpretations of the world
Negative self-schemas- when you studied the cognitive approach, you learnt that a schema is a packet of ideas and information developed through experience. It seems that depressed people acquire negative core beliefs about themselves (self schema) during childhood. These beliefs are often caused by parental and/or peer rejection and criticism in early childhood
Negative core beliefs lead to cognitive biases in thinking
Negative core beliefs and cognitive biases maintain what Beck called the negative triad. The negative triad is a pessimistic and irrational view, caused by three types of negative thinking that occur automatically, regardless of the reality of what is happening at the time.
These are negative views of:
The self. Such thoughts enhance any existing depressive feelings because they confirm the existing emotions of low self esteem
The world. This creates the impression that there is no hope anywhere
The future. Such thoughts reduce any hopefulness and enhance depression
Beck argues that this triad of negative thoughts creates a ‘cognitive vulnerability’ that may then lead to depression
Treating depression
The cognitive treatment for depression is known as CBT- cognitive behavioural therapy
The aim of CBT is to replace maladaptive thoughts experienced by depressed patients with more adaptive ones, leading to more constructive emotional and behavioural responses.
CBT begins with an initial assessment in which the patient and therapist identify the patients depressive symptoms and agree on a set of goals. In order to help the client achieve their goals and change their negative thinking, most CBT therapists use techniques taken from both forms of CBT- Beck’s cognitive therapy and Ellis’ rational emotive behaviour therapy
Beck’s cognitive therapy
The idea behind this therapy is to identify negative thoughts the client has about the world, the self and the future (the negative triad). Once identified, these thoughts must be challenged
Patients are often set homework such as to record when they enjoyed an event of when someone was nice to them. Homework can also be used to encourage depressed clients to become more active and engage in pleasurable activities. For example, a patient who is anxious in social situations may be set a homework assignment to meet a friend for a drink
Cognitive therapy also aims to help patients test the reality for their negative beliefs. This is referred to as the ‘patient as scientist’, investigating the reality of their negative beliefs in the way a scientist would
Ellis’s rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT)
REBT extends the ABC model to an ABCDE model- D standing for disputing the irrational beliefs and E for the effects of disputing the beliefs
REBT focuses on challenging or disputing the irrational beliefs and replacing them with effective, rational ones. For example:
Logical disputing- self-defeating beliefs do not follow logically from the information available
Empirical disputing- self-defeating beliefs may not be consistent with reality
Pragmatic disputing- emphasises the lack of usefulness of the beliefs
The effect of challenging these irrational thoughts is that the patient will develop more rational beliefs. This in turn helps the client become less depressed, leading to constructive behaviours
Approaches
Learning approaches: the behaviourist approach, including classical conditioning and Pavlov’s research, operant conditioning, types of reinforcement and Skinner’s research; social learning theory including imitation, identification, modelling, vicarious reinforcement, the role of mediational processes and Bandura’s research
Behaviourism:
Behaviourists believe that humans are born a blank slate and that our behaviours are learnt from the environment, eg upbringing, culture and society, etc. this means that behaviourists are strongly on the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate, and regard genetic influences on behaviour as minimal
Methods used by the behaviourist approach
Behaviourist psychologist use the scientific method, and study only things that could be directly observed and measured, ie behaviour and the environmental conditions that produce it.
In their controlled laboratory experiments, behaviourist often use animals. A lab experiment can be defined as an experiment that takes place in a controlled environment within which the researcher manipulates the independent variable to see the effect on the dependent variable, whilst maintaining strict control of the extraneous variables
Behaviourists accept Darwin’s theory of evolution- which states human beings have evolved from lower animals. As a result, behaviourists see the basic processes of learning as being the same for all species. Consequently, animals can replace humans as experimental subjects/participants
The key assumptions of behaviourism
Behaviour is learned through association
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, who was studying the digestion systems of dogs by collecting their saliva, developed classical conditioning. Pavlov noticed that the dogs began to salivate before food was brought to them. He hypothesised that the dogs had learned to anticipate food and this triggered their salivation.
Classical conditioning
1. Pavlov presented the dog with food. This triggered salivation in the dog. Pavlov called food an unconditioned stimulus which produced an unconditioned response, the dogs salivation is a reflex that has not been learned, and is a natural body reaction
2. Pavlov rang a bell, but the dog did not respond. Pavlov called the bell a neutral stimulus as it did not lead to salivation
3. Every time food was presented to the dog, the bell was rung at the same time to create an association between the bell and food. This learning stage was repeated every time the dog was fed.
4. Eventually the dog learnt to salivate to the sound of the bell alone. This is a conditioned response as it is the result of learning to associate one stimuli (a bell) with another (food). The bell is no longer neutral but a conditioned response because the fog now salivated to the sound of the bell
Pavlov also made several other points about the process:
Timing- Pavlov found that the association only occurs if the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus are presented at the same time, or around the same time as each other. If the time between presentations is too threat then there will be no association made
Stimulus generalisation- Pavlov discovered once an animal has been conditioned, they would also respond to other stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus
Extinction- in the example of pavlova dogs, if the bell (conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly sounded without the food, salivation (conditioned response) slowly disappears. The behaviour is extinguished
Operant conditioning
Not all behaviours are classically conditioned responses. Other behaviourists, such as BFSkinner recognised that most learning occurs though the consequences of behaviour
Skinner’s research: skinner developed the Skinner box in order to test the effects of rewards on behaviour. A hungry rat was placed in the box. The box contained a lever and as the rat moved around the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately, a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever. After a few trials, the rats quickly learned to press the lever to gain the food reward. The consequence of receiving food ensured that the rat would repeat the action again and again
Skinner identified three types of consequences that can follow behaviour:
Positive reinforcement- positive reinforcement is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed. For example, the lever pressing behaviour of the rats in the Skinner box was positively reinforced with food pellets. In attachment, the mother rewards the babies crying with food.
Negative reinforcement- negative reinforcement occurs when an animal or a human avoids something unpleasant. For example, in the topic of attachment, the mother feeds the baby milk to avoid it crying
Punishment- punishment is the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it. It is an unpleasant consequence that decreases the behaviour that it follows. Skinner investigated the effects of punishment by introducing an electrified grid floor to the Skinner box so that pressing the lever resulted in a brief electric shock. Unsurprisingly, the rats quickly learnt not to press the lever
Social learning theory
Methods used by social learning theorists
Social learning theory shares with behaviourism a commitment to the scientific method and has mostly employed the laboratory experiment to investigate observational learning. A lab experiment can be defined as an experiment that takes place in a controlled environment within which the researcher manipulates the independent variable to see the effects on the dependent variable, whilst maintaining strict control of the extraneous variables
Key assumptions of SLT
Albert Bandura, founder of SLT, agreed with behaviourists, that much of our behaviour is learnt through conditioning. However, he suggested we also learn through observation and imitation. SLT suggests that learning occurs indirectly, as we observe the consequences of other people’s behaviour (vicarious reinforcement)
Modelling, identification and imitation
SLT says people (especially children) learn by observing what other people say and do. They are more likely to observe and imitate some people rather than everyone, these people are called role models
For social learning to take place, someone must first carry out the behaviour or attitude to be learned (this is called modelling). The individual that performs this role is referred to as a model. There are many different types of models: a live model might be a parent or member of peer group. A symbolic model should be someone portrayed in the media. These models provide examples of behaviour that can be observed by the individual and later reproduced by imitating them
Identification refers to the extent to which an individual relates to a model and wants to be like them. It is more likely to happen if the individual feels they are similar. In order to identify with a model, the observer must feel that they would be likely to experience the same outcomes in that situation. If an individual can identify with a model, this means they are more likely to imitate their behaviour
An easy way to remember whether identification is likely to occur is through FLAGS:
F - Friendly
L - Likeable
A - Age (older)
G - Gender (same)
S - Status (higher)
Vicarious Reinforcement
Vicarious reinforcement refers to reinforcement that is not directly experienced but that occurs through observing someone else being reinforced.
An individual who observes a model being rewarded for a certain behaviour is more likely to imitate that behaviour as they want the same reward. This is the idea that individuals do not need to experience rewards or punishments directly in order to learn. Instead, they can observe the consequences experienced by a model and then make judgments as to the likelihood of experiencing these outcomes themselves. When the opportunity to perform the learnt behaviour occurs the behaviour will be modelled. Similarly, if the individual observes a behaviour being punished it makes it less likely that the behaviour will be imitated.
The Four Mediational Processes (ARRM)
We do not automatically observe the behaviour of a model and imitate it. There are certain thought processes (mediational processes) that take place prior to imitation.
Learning the behaviour:
ATTENTION - the observer must be paying attention and observing the model e.g. they must notice and pay attention to the behaviour being modelled
RETENTION - the observer must remember the behaviour they have seen. Behaviour may be noticed, but it is not always remembered.
Performing the behaviour
REPRODUCTION - the observer must be capable of reproducing the behaviour they have seen e.g., they must be physically capable of imitating the behaviour. Imagine the scenario of a 90-year-old woman watching Dancing on Ice. She may really enjoy seeing the moves shown, but she will not attempt to imitate them because she physically cannot do it.
MOTIVATION - the rewards and punishments that follow behaviour will be considered by the observer. If the possible rewards are greater than the costs, then the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated by the observer.
KEY STUDY: The Bobo Doll Experiment - Bandura (1963)
PROCEDURE: Children aged 2-6 years watched a film of an adult punching and shouting aggressively at a Bobo doll. The children were divided into 3 groups with each group viewing a different ending:
• Group 1 the adult was rewarded with sweets for their aggressive behaviour
• Group 2 the adult was punished (told off) for their aggressive behaviour
• Group 3 acted as the control group and did not see an ending to the film
The children were then placed in a room with various toys, including a bobo doll and were observed.
FINDINGS: Bandura found the children's play was influenced by whichever ending they had seen:
• Group 1 showed a high level of aggression in their play
• Group 2 showed a low level of aggression
• Group 3 showed medium levels of aggression
CONCLUSION: This study supports the idea of vicarious learning, e.g. the children learnt from watching the consequences of the adult's aggressive behaviour.
The cognitive approach; the study of internal mental processes, the role of schema, the use of theoretical and computer models to explaining and make inferences about mental processes. The emergence of cognitive neuroscience
The cognitive approach in psychology revolves around the idea that if we want to know what makes people tick, then the way to do it is to figure out what processes are actually going on in their minds.
Methods used by the Cognitive Approach
Cognitive psychologists mainly use controlled lab experiments to investigate mental processes in humans. They believe that internal mental processes should be studied scientifically. They also use case studies such as those of HM or Clive Wearing (Memory Paper 1).
The Key Assumptions of the Cognitive Approach
Internal Mental Processes should be studied scientifically
Cognitive psychologists explain all behavior through the internal, mental processes, such as memory, attention, problem solving and perception. Whereas the behaviourist approach is only concerned with behavioural responses to a stimulus, the cognitive approach is concerned with the mental processes that occur IN BETWEEN stimulus and response.
The Role of Schemas
Schemas are "packages" of information, beliefs and expectations in the mind developed through experience.
They act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system: for example, if you witness a crime scene your schema will help you interpret what you have observed and heard. Your schemas that have been acquired through experience help you to respond to the object/situation appropriately. It could also affect what you recall about the situation.
As we get older, our schemas become more detailed and sophisticated. Schemas enable us to process lots of information quickly and this is useful as a sort of mental short-cut that prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli.
However, schemas may cause errors in our processing of the sensory information that we receive. If we experience a situation or object that we do not have a schema for we might ignore that information or misinterpret it so that it fits in with our existing schemas.
Schemas also contribute to depression and other mental disorders. For example, if a child is overly criticised by their parents, they may develop a negative self-schema, causing them to interpret information about themselves in an abnormal way.
Theoretical and Computer models.
One way to explain and study mental processes is through computer and theoretical models. We cannot see mental processes therefore using a model enables psychologists to make inferences (assumptions) about how these mental processes work. There are overlaps between these two models, but theoretical models are abstract whereas computer models are concrete things.
A theoretical model of something should never be taken as an exact copy of the thing being described, but rather as a representation of it.
The Multistore Model
An example of a theoretical model is the Multi-store model (Paper 1 memory see below).
As you can see, in line with the information processing approach the information flows through our memory system in a series of stages. The cognitive approach recognises that the mental processes in these models (attention/rehearsal/retrieval/encoding) cannot be observed directly and so must be studied indirectly in lab settings and then inferences are made about what is happening in the mind. This enables cognitive psychologists to develop theories about our how our mental processes work.
Computer models compare the mind to a computer (computer analogy) by suggesting that there are similarities in the way information is processed. These models use the idea of the brain being the hardware (hard drive) and the mental processes e.g. attention and perception are the software. They use the concepts of 'stores' to hold the information and the concept of 'coding' to turn information into a useable format.
Cognitive psychologists use the computer analogy to simulate human mental abilities in artificial intelligence, to perform tasks that require decision making. Artificial intelligence is concerned with producing machines that behave intelligently. Expert systems are programmed with a body of knowledge and then used to deal with real world problems to replace the work of humans. An example is the Dendral programme which has been used to help chemists to establish the structure of complex molecules.
The Emergence of Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the brain structures, mechanisms and processes that are responsible for cognitive thinking. This involves the mapping of brain areas to specific cognitive functions. As early as the 1860s Paul Broca identified how an area of the frontal lobe is linked to speech production.
PET scans and fMRI scans now help psychologists to understand how areas of the brain are
linked to different cognitive activities and emotions. The scans show which parts of the brain become active when someone is engaged in a cognitive task e.g. a STM task.
Cognitive neuroscientists also study atypical brains (e.g., people who have suffered brain damage). Brain injuries can be located using scans and patients are then asked to undergo cognitive tasks (e.g. memory test) while scanning takes place. If the person with the injured brain has difficulty with the task, it is inferred that the damaged part of the brain is responsible for that cognitive function.
Cognitive neuroscientists study many different mental processes including the brain activity linked to memory, attention and perception. They are also interested in the neuroscience of social cognition (the brain regions involved when we interact with others), and how abnormalities in these brain regions may be associated with different psychological disorders.
The PET scan below shows brain activity in a normal brain compared to a brain with Alzheimer's disease.
The psychodynamic approach; the role of the unconscious, the structure of personality, that is the id, ego and superego, defence mechanisms including repression, denial and displacement, psychosexual stages
The main figure in the psychodynamic approach is Sigmund Freud. Freud was one of the first people to challenge the view that mental disorders were physical illnesses. Instead, he proposed that psychological factors cause mental illness. He also believed that psychological rather than medical treatments are more appropriate for the treatment of these disorders.
Methods used by the Psychodynamic Approach
Freud's psychoanalytical theory was based on case studies, which gather large amounts of detailed information about individuals or small groups. These cases were of patients with which he used psychoanalysis ('talking cures'), the aim of which to bring unconscious mental activity to the conscious to release anxiety.
The Key Assumptions of the Psychodynamic Approach
The Role of the Unconscious
According to the psychodynamic theory, we have an 'unconscious' mind which influences our behaviour. Our conscious mind is unaware of what thoughts and emotions occur in the unconscious. However, these unconscious thoughts and feelings can have an effect on behaviour.
Freud proposed that the mind is structured like an iceberg. Most of what occurs in the mind lies beneath the surface. This is where the pre-conscious and the unconscious parts of the mind exist. The conscious mind is above the surface and is the logical part of the mind. The preconscious mind contains stored memories. These memories are easily accessed and made conscious. In contrast, the unconscious is inaccessible and has a major influence on our behaviour. The unconscious mind is irrational and ruled by pleasure-seeking impulses.Although we are unaware of what goes on in our unconscious, Freud developed several methods of accessing it such as dream analysis and word association
The Structure of Personality
Freud suggested that the personality has THREE parts, the ID, the EGO and the SUPEREGO. According to Freud, a HEALTHY PERSONALITY is a BALANCE between these three personality structures.
Age/stage
Principle
Description
Effects on behaviour
ID
From birth (oral stage)
Pleasure
Throughout life, the id is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs. The id operates at an unconscious level and is therefore not affected bu the outside world. It consists of the sex (life) instinct- Eros (eg the libido) and the aggressive (death) insticnct- thanatos
An overly strong id can cause impulsive and immoral behaviour
EGO
1-2 years (anal stage)
Reality
The ego is the decision making part of personality. It tries to work our realistic ways of satisfying the ids demands. The main role of the ego is to try and find a balance between satisfying the demands of the id with the expectations of the superego and the outside world
if the ego is unable to find a balance, abnormal behaviour may occur, such as phobias
SUPEREGO
2-5 years (pahallic stage)
Morality
The superego incorporates the values and morals we learn from our parents and from society. It also contains the conscience. If the ego gives into the id's demands, the superego may make the person feel guilty
Anxiety disorders are due to an over-developed superego. This causes a person to worry far too much
Ego defence mechanisms affect behaviour.
Ego defence mechanisms protect the ego from stressful thoughts and feelings.
Defence mechanisms either push a desire or conflict out of conscious thought or transfer it onto something safer. These defence mechanisms may help in the short term, but if over used, can lead to disturbed behaviour. While Freud detailed many defence mechanisms, three of the most common are detailed below:
Repression: Pushing bad experiences or negative emotions into the unconscious so you no longer think about them. For example, you were humiliated in the dining room at lunch, but can no longer remember the event.
Displacement: Transferring undesirable impulses from one person to an object or another person. For example, someone who is angry with their boss may go home and kick their cat.
Denial: This is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred. E.g., drug addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem.
Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development
Freud argued that childhood experiences affect our personality. According to Freud, each person passes through five psychosexual stages. During each stage, the libido focuses on a particular part of the body. If conflicts are not resolved, fixation occurs.
Sources of fixation:
Frustration: The child's needs are not being adequately met.
Overindulgence: The child's needs may have been so well satisfied that he/she is reluctant to leave that particular stage
When fixation occurs, a portion of the individual's libido is permanently 'stuck' at that stage of development. This fixation affects adult personality.
Stage
Description
Effects of frustration on adult personality
Effects of over-indulgence on adult personality
Oral (0-1 years)
The focus of pleasure is the mouth. The baby gets much satisfaction from sucking the breast/bottle and from putting things in its mouth. The source of conflict is weaning
Aggressiveness, dominating, perssimsitic and suspicious
Optimistic, gullible, dependent and trusting
Anal (1-3 years)
The focus of pleasure is the anus. The child gets pleasure from defecating. The ego develops. The source of conflict is potty training
Anal retentive character- neat, stingy, precise, tidy, stubborn
Anal expulsive character- messy, generous, careless and disorganised
Phallic (3-5) years
The focus of pleasure is the genitals. The outcome of the Oedipus and electra complexes affect the development of the superego
Phallic-reckless, self assured and vain. Freud believed that fixation in this stage can lead to homosexuality
Latent (6 years-puberty
None (period of sexual calm, interest in school and hobbies)
Genital (puberty +)
Genitals (establishment of mature adult relationships
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
Oedipus Complex: Little boys develops desires for his mother. The boy thinks that if his father were to find out, his father would cut off the boy's penis, so he develops castration anxiety. The little boy resolves this problem by imitating, copying and joining in masculine dad-type behaviours, thus developing a male gender role.
Electra Complex: The young girl desires the father, but realizes that she does not have a penis. This leads to the penis envy and the wish to be a boy. The girl resolves this by repressing her desire for her father and substituting the wish for a penis with the wish for a baby. She identifies with mother to take a female gender role
KEY STUDY: Little Hans Case Study (Freud, 1909)
In 1909, Freud published a case study on a phobia. A 5-year old boy named Little Hans had developed a fear of horses after seeing an accident involving a horse.
Freud concluded that Hans was battling with an unresolved Oedipus complex. He argued that the boy's ego had used the defence mechanism displacement to transfer his unconscious fear of his father onto horses. For example, Little Hans said that he was especially afraid of white horses with black around the mouth who were wearing blinkers. Hans' father interpreted this as a reference to his moustache and spectacles.
Biopsychology
The function of the endocrine system; glands and hormones
The Endocrine system
The endocrine and nervous system work closely together to regulate various physiological processes in the human body. The endocrine system works much more slowly than the nervous system but has a widespread effect.
The endocrine communicates chemical messages to the organs of the body. These messages, known as hormones, regulate the body's growth, metabolism, and sexual development and function.
Hormones are released from glands in the body. The major glands of the endocrine system are the pituitary, pineal, adrenals, the reproductive organs (ovaries and testes) and the thyroid.
The pituitary gland is often called the master gland because it controls several other hormone glands in your body, including the thyroid and adrenals, the ovaries, and testicles.
Glands
Organs in the body that produce and secrete hormones (chemicals that circulate in the bloodstream) to regulate many bodily functions. The major endocrine gland is the pituitary gland, located in the brain. It is often called the 'master gland' because it controls the release of hormones from all other endocrine glands in the body.
Hormones:
Chemicals that circulate in the bloodstream and influence target organs (or any cell in the body that has a receptor for that hormone) in order to regulate bodily activity. They are produced in large amounts but disappear quickly. Their effects are very powerful.
The timing of hormone release is also important. Too much or too little at the wrong time can result in dysfunction of bodily systems.
Gland
Hormone(s)
Function
Adrenal
Adrenaline
Triggers the fight or-flight response in a stressful situation by increasing heart rate dialating the pupils, etc
Testes
Testosterone
This causes the development of testes in the womb. A surge of testosterone during puberty is also responsible for secondary sexual characteristics such as facial hair and deepening voice
Ovaries
Oestrogen, progesterone
These help to regulate the menstrual cycle. Oestrogen is involved in repairing and thickening the uterus lining whilst progesterone maintains the uterine lining
Pineal
Melatonin
Regulates the sleep-wake cycle. High levels of melatonin cause drowsiness when daylight is low
The fight or flight response including the role of adrenaline
When we experience an acute stressor (e.g., a sudden fright), the hypothalamus directs the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to send neurotransmitters (biochemical messengers) to the adrenal medulla (inner core of the adrenal glands).
This results in the release of adrenaline into the bloodstream. The relesse of adrenaline. as well ad noradrenaline, causes a "fight or flight" response by triggering several physiological reactions.
These reactions include an activation of emergency functions such as increased heart rate and blood pressure so that oxygen is pumped to the muscles to enable increased physical activity. Non-emergency bodily processes such as digestion are suppressed here, leading to the 'dry mouth' and changes in stomach activity often associated with these situations.
When the threat has passed the parasympathetic branch of the ANS returns to body to normal.
Sympathetic state
Parasympathetic state
Increases heart rate
Decreases heart rate
Increases breathing rate
Decreases breathing rate
Dialates pupils
Constricts pupils
Inhibits digestion
Stimulates digestion
Inhibits saliva production
Stimulates saliva production
coontractsrectum
Relaxes rectum
Stressor activates the Hypothalamus that activates the Sympathetic branch of the ANS Which activates the Adrenal Medulla Which releases Adrenaline and Noradrenaline:
Increase:
heart rate and blood pressure
glucose release (energy)
respiration (breathing rate) and perspiration (sweat)
blood coagulation
Decrease:
digestion
It appears that the fight or flight response may be different in females. For example, Taylor et al (2002) found that females adopt a 'tend and befriend' response in stressful or dangerous situations.
Women are more likely to protect their offspring (tending) and form alliances with other women (befriending), rather than fight an adversary or flee.
This suggests that research into the fight or flight response is gender bias as the biological processes that occur during stress (e.g., the SAM response) may only apply to males.
Localisation of function in the brain and hemispheric lateralisation; motor, somatosensory, visual, auditory and language centres; Broca’s and Wernike’s areas, split brain research, plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after trauma
It was first thought that all parts of the brain were involved in the processing of thoughts and behaviour. This is known as the holistic approach. However, during the 19th century scientists such as Paul Broca and Karl Wernike cast doubt on this theory
Localisation of function is the idea that specific functions (e.g. language, memory, etc.) have specific locations within the brain. Therefore, if a certain area of the brain is damaged, through illness or injury, the associated function will also be affected.
The brain is divided into two symmetrical halves called the left and right hemispheres. Ie outer layer of both these hemispheres is called the cerebral cortex (or 'cortex').
Auditory centres
The human brain has two primary auditory cortices, one in each hemisphere. The primary auditory cortex in both hemispheres receives information from both ears via two pathways that transmit information about what the sound is and its location. It is located in the temporal lobe either side of the brain. Damage to this area may produce partial hearing loss, the more extensive the damage, the more extensive the loss.
Motor centres
Movement is centred on the motor cortex of the brain which sends messages to the muscles via the brain stem and spinal cord.
The motor cortex is responsible for generating voluntary motor movements. It is located at the back of the frontal lobe in both hemispheres - the motor cortex in each hemisphere controls movement in the opposite side of the body. Damage to this area may result in a loss of control over fine movements.
Somatosensory centres
Somatosensory is referring to the sensation of the body. The somatosensory cortex lies next to the motor cortex in the brain. The somatosensory area is where sensory information from the skin (e.g., related to touch, heat, pressure etc) is represented. It perceives touch, so the number of neuronal connections needed dictates the amount of somatosensory cortex needed for that area of the body. It is located at the front of the parietal lobe in both hemispheres. The somatosensory cortex on one side of the brain receives sensory information from the opposite side of the body.
Visual centres
The brain has two visual cortices, one in each hemisphere. The visual cortex is in the occipital lobe, which is at the back of the brain. This is seen to be the main visual centre. It is located in the occipital lobe at the back of the brain. Each eye sends information from the right visual field to the left visual cortex and from the left visual field to the right visual cortex. This means that damage to the left hemisphere, for example, can produce blindness in part of the right visual field of both eyes. It is specifically an area called Area V1 which seems to be necessary for visual perception. Individuals with damage to that area report no vision of any kind.
Broca's area
Broca's work identified the area of the brain responsible for speech production. It is located in a small area in the left frontal lobe. Damage to Broca's area causes Broca's aphasia which is characterised by speech that is slow, laborious, and lacking in fluency.
Wernicke's area
Wernicke found that patients who had damage in an area close to the auditory cortex had specific language impairments. These included the inability to comprehend language and anomia, which is when someone struggles to find the word they need. However, Wernicke noticed that these people did have fluent speech when they could access the words quickly. This led Wernicke to suggest that the area now called Wernicke's area was important for understanding language and accessing words. Patients who have Wernicke's aphasia will often produce nonsense words as part of the content of their speech. This is in a small area in the left temporal lobe.
Hemispheric lateralisation: This refers to the idea that the two halves (or hemispheres) of the brain are functionally different, and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other.
The human brain has two hemispheres which are bridged by the corpus callosum. This 'bridge', which is a bundle of fibres, is a communication pathway so that the two hemispheres can exchange information.
The brain is contralateral (opposite sides) in most people; so, parts of the left hemisphere deal with the right side of the body and the right hemisphere does the same for the left side of the body.
Left hemisphere - For most people, language processing is done in the left hemisphere. Therefore, for many people, if they have a stroke on the left side of their brain, their speech is affected. This is because the Broca's and Wernicke's areas are found on the left side of the brain.
Right hemisphere - The right hemisphere is particularly dominant for facial recognition. A case study of a woman who had right hemisphere damage highlighted that the right hemisphere also seems more adept at spatial relationships. The woman would often get lost, even in familiar situations. This suggests that the right hemisphere deals with spatial information.
Supporting evidence: Fink (1996) used PET scans to identify which brain regions were active during a visual processing task. When participants were asked to attend to global elements of an image (e.g. a forest as a whole) regions of the right hemisphere were more active. When required to focus in on the finer detail (e.g. a specific tree) specific areas of the left hemisphere were more dominant. This suggests tasks such as visual processing are a feature of the connected brain.
However
Evidence from plasticity studies fails to support lateralisation. When the brain has become damaged through illness or accident and a particular function has been lost, the rest of the brain is able to reorganise itself to recover the function. For example, Turk et al (2002) discovered a patient who suffered damage to the left hemisphere but developed the capacity to speak in the right hemisphere. This suggests that functions are not lateralised, and the brain can adapt following damage to certain areas.
Furthermore
Contradictory evidence against lateralisation also comes from animal research:
Lashley (1950) removed between 10-50% of the cortex in rats that were learning a maze and found that no area was more important than any other in terms of their ability to learn the maze. This is a problem as it suggests that higher cognitive processes, such as learning, are not lateralised but distributed in a more holistic way, involving the entire brain. This reduces the validity of the theory of lateralisation.
However, it is difficult to generalise from animals such as rats, to human behaviour. For example, learning may be localised in humans more than animals.
Split-brain studies
Sperry, 1968, studied 11 'split brain' patients who had had their corpus callosum cut to cure severe epilepsy. This was done to prevent electrical signals crossing between the hemispheres.
Procedure
Verbal recognition - A visual image, e.g., a picture of a pencil, was presented to the left visual field (which would be processed by the right hemisphere) via a tachistoscope. The participants were asked to describe what they had seen. This would then be repeated using the right visual field (processed by the left hemisphere)
Touch recognition - In this variation, the patients' hands were screened so they could not see the objects in front of them. Participants would be asked to pick up an object using their right hand (processed in the left hemisphere) and then asked to describe what they had felt. This would then be repeated using the left hand (right hemisphere).
Key findings:
Verbal recognition - When a picture of an object was shown to patient's right visual field, the patient could easily describe what was seen. If, however, the same object was shown to the left visual field, the patient could not describe what was seen, and reported that there was nothing there.
This is because, for most people, language is processed in the left hemisphere and therefore, when a picture was presented in the left visual field, this was processed by the right hemisphere which has a lack of language centres to be able to describe it. This allows us to infer that, in the normal brain, messages from the right hemisphere would have been relayed 'across hemispheres' to the language centres in the left hemisphere to describe it.
Recognition by touch - Although patients could not verbally describe objects projected in their left visual field, they were able to select a matching object from a grab-bag of different objects using their left hand (linked to the right hemisphere). The objects were placed behind a screen so as not to be seen. The left hand was also able to select an object that was most closely associated with an object presented to the left visual field (for instance, an ashtray was selected in response to a picture of a cigarette). In each case the patient was not able to verbally identify what they had seen but could nevertheless 'understand' what the object was using the right hemisphere and select the corresponding object accordingly.
Sperry's work has helped understand the function of the hemispheres and how they communicate.
Plasticity & Functional Recovery
Plasticity refers to the brain's capacity to change or adapt because of new learning or brain trauma.
NB: The brain is not actually plastic. It is just a metaphor to describe its ability to adapt!
This capacity is also known as neuroplasticity and cortical rewiring.
It is well known that a child's brain changes during infancy as they acquire new knowledge and encounter new experiences however, it is now known that this ability of the brain does stop in childhood and that new neural connections can be made at any time of life.
Functional Recovery (after brain trauma)
Much recovery after trauma is due to anatomical compensation, brought about by intensive rehabilitation.
The brain learns to compensate for lost functions. The brain can be taught to learn how to use the working faculties and function to compensate for the ones that are lost forever.
What happens in the brain after recovery?
The brain can rewire itself by forming new synaptic connections. This process is supported by several structural changes in the brain including:
1. Axon Sprouting - The growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways.
When an axon is damaged its connection with a neighbouring neuron is lost. In some cases, other axons that already connect with that neuron will sprout extra connections to the neuron, replacing the ones that have been destroyed. It is compensating for the loss of a neighbour. The brain can re-wire itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the area of damage (a bit like avoiding roadworks on the way to college by finding a different route). This occurs for the most part two weeks after the damage happens. It helps replace function, but only if the damaged axon and the compensatory axons do a similar job. If not, problems can occur with function.
2. Recruitment of homologous (similar) areas on the opposite side of the brain to perform specific tasks. An example would be if the Broca's area was damaged on the left side of the brain, a similar area on the right-side of the brain would carry out its function.
3. Neuronal unmasking - some of the brain's neurons are 'dormant'. These neurons are alive but are not doing their specific function, for example, they may fail to send messages to a muscle. However, when a brain area becomes damaged, these dormant areas become 'unmasked'. The unmasking of dormant neurons opens connections in regions of the brain that are not normally activated which, in time, gives way to the development of new structures.
Factors affecting recovery of the brain after trauma
1. Age
There is a deterioration of the brain in old age, and this therefore affects the extent and speed of recovery. A study by Marquez de la Plata et al (2008) found that, following brain trauma, older patients (40+ years old) regained less function in treatment than younger patients and they were also more likely to decline in terms of function for the 5 years following the trauma.
2. Gender
There is research to suggest that women recover better from brain injury as their function is not as lateralised (concentrated in one hemisphere).
Ratcliffe et al (2007) examined 325 patients with brain trauma for their level of response for cognitive skills to rehabilitation. The patients were 16-45 years old at injury, received rehabilitation at a care facility, and completed a follow-up one year later. None of them had learning problems prior to the trauma. When assessed for cognitive skills, women performed significantly better than men on tests of attention/working memory and language whereas men outperformed females in visual analytic skills.