Pyschology

Question	Answer
AGGRESSION	Can be physical or verbal. A disturbing social behavior that has an impact on the target and aggressor.
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY	A behaviorist approach. This was developed by Albert Bandura in the US. He tested it using his bobo doll lab experiment.
Observational Learning	May occur without modelling, we may not copy everything we see, but we still learn it.
4 components of observational learning	Attention: paying attention to the person being observed. Memory: being able to remember what we've seen till we need it. Reproduction: being able to act out what we see. Motivation: The incentive to copy what has been seen.
IDENTIFICATION	A feeling of similarity with a role model that leads to imitation of their actions.
ROLE MODEL	A person whom people look up to and copy.
MODELLING	Observing, identifying with and copying the behavior of a role model.
VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT	Learning through the positive consequences of other people's actions.
BANDURA'S BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT. 1961	Bandura conducted an experiment to see if children would copy aggressive behavior from adults.
WHAT DID BANDURA FIND?	Bandura found that children were more likely to copy an adult attacking a bobo doll if they were being rewarded for it. If the adults, were punished, the child would be less likely to copy the behaviour.
What does Bandura's experiment tell us?	Children can learn aggression from role models which supports the SLT in particular, vicarious reinforcement.
Strengths of SLT	-Bandura's theory supports the SLT as he found that children do copy aggression. -Many tragedies such as school shootings have been linked to TV and video game violence.
Weaknesses of SLT	-Many children watch violence but not all copy it. -Watching violent TV and video games can actually lower aggression.
Charles Whitman	-Charles Whitman was a mass murder who was convicted with killing his mother and wife, but later it was found out that he had a tumor touching his amygdala which could have possibly affected his aggressive behavior.
AMYGDALA	The brain structure thought to be involved in aggression an creating an emotional response. If the amygdala is removed in animals, they become calm.
LIMBIC SYSTEM	-An area of the brain involved in triggering responses such as fear and aggression. -Closer to the skull than the amygdala. -People with emotional disorders have damaged limbic systems.
CASE STUDY	An in depth study of an individual / small group.
HORMONES	Chemicals produced by the body which send signals to organs around the body via the bloodstream.
TESTORONE	-A hormone secreted by the adrenal glands and testes. -High levels can cause aggression -Produced in higher quantities in males -Injecting testosterone in animals increases aggression. -Castrating animals, lowers aggression.
STRENGTHS OF BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF AGGRESSION	-Generic research is scientific as physiological and bodily measures can be taken as evidence. -Objective measures can be taken of hormone levels/genes/brain scans which are scientific.
WEAKNESSES OF BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION	-SLT says that we model aggression from role models we identify with not because of hormones or the brain. -Animal studies suggest a biological explanation for aggression, but they are different to humans. -It is unknown whether testosterone causes aggression as we cant reliably establish the cause and effect. -The biological approach doesnt take account of other factors such as upbringing/peer influence. -It can't explain why some women are violent than some men. -
RAMIREZ ET AL: AIM	Is there a link between culture and aggression?
PROCEDURE	-400 psychology students -200 were Japanese students -200 were Spanish students -gave them questionnaires with "Likert style" questions on 4 types of aggression: anger,hostility,physical aggression and verbal aggression. 1 on the scale was "extremely uncharacteristic of me" well as 5 was "extremely characteristic of me"
FINDINGS	-Japanese students were more physically aggressive -Spanish students were more verbally aggressive -Males were more aggressive in general in terms of physical, verbal aggression and hostility -Females and males showed equal amounts of anger
CONCLUSION	-Culture affects aggression -This study supports the SLT -Despite cultural stereotypes, japanese were more more aggressive than Spanish. -Males may e more aggressive because they have higher levels of testosterone or because they have been raised to be more masculine.
STRENGHTS	-Quantitative data which means it's free from bias and is interpreted the same way by all researchers. -All students were psychology students and knew the results would be published so it is an ethical study.
WEAKNESSES	-The participants were all psychology students so they could have guessed the aim and changed their answers accordingly called DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS. -They could have answered in a socially desirable manner. -Students may have answered according to how they think they would act, not to how they would actually act.
ANDERSON AND DILL AIM	To find whether people who play more video games become more aggressive.
PROCEDURE	-Lab experiment -210 psychology split into 2 groups: one group played a violent game while the other group played a non violent game. -Participants were placed in a cubicle and told they would be playing against an opponent in another cubicle -After 15 minutes of playing, they were asked to begin a competitive game involving a reaction test. The opponent pushes the button fastest will be able to administer a loud noise on their opponent for however long they desired. -Once the study was over, the experimenter entered as debriefed the participants on what the true aim of the study was.
FINDINGS	-Loudest and longer blasts were given by participants who played the violent video game -Therefore violent video games increase aggression. -Women gave greater punishments to their opponents than men.
CONCLUSION	-Playing violent video games affect the level of aggression in participants.
STRENGHTS	-Findings of study has application in real world. We know for sure that age restrictions need to continue being implemented, if not young people may expose themselves to harm -Lab experiment, so strong controls could be kept.
WEAKNESSES	-Participants weren't informed about the actual aim of the study meaning they were deceived. -While giving blasts or receiving blasts of noise, the participants may have been stressed out. -Although participants were deceived about the aim, they could have guessed the real aim
Charlton et al: St Helena study AIM	To investigate the effects on children's behaviour.
PROCEDURE	-Charlton and his colleagues began observing the children's behavior 2 years prior to when tv was naturally introduced to the island. -Researcher collected information by using questionnaires to ask parents and teachers about the behavior of children. -Observation of children's behavior was made on the playground especially of levels of aggression. - Researchers content analysed how much and what the children viewed on tv and how violent the content was. -Video cameras were put up around school, in classrooms and playgrounds to watch levels of aggression.
RESULTS	-Very little difference was found before and after the introduction of television as the island had a very low rate of behavioral problems. -St Helena is a small island and parental control was very strict so children were restricted on certain things which reduced the impact of tv on the children.
CONCLUSION	-Tv didn't have a significant impact on rate of aggression. -If aggression was watched, it wasn't copied as there was strong parental and community control over behavior.
STRENGHTS	-Natural experiment meaning the independent variable was being naturally introduced into the environment, in this case tv. -Discreet cameras were used so children acted normally as they couldn't see them.
WEAKNESSES	-As a result of strong control, even if the children became more aggressive after viewing tv, they would have been restricted from acting that way and would have been quickly corrected. -The parents are teachers may have withdrew the truth to keep a good impression of St Helena. -The more aggressive tv shows watched by mainland children weren't aired on the island.
WILLIAMS ET AL AIM	-To compare children's behaviour before and after the introduction of tv and the comparison to other town with tv.
PROCEDURE	-Natural experiment -The experimenters measured a range of experiments before and after the town received television. Such as: aggression leisure activities the community were into IQ of children creativity and reading ability of children. -To measure aggression, 2 observers watched children play at school in the playground and classroom once they got used to them. -They used content analysis to measure the amount of each violent act was displayed. -This town was called "notel" and two near by towns were studied named "unitel" and "multitel"
RESULTS	-The children were twice as aggressive after tv was introduced. -People spent less than half the time they usually spent on other leisure activities. -Children began to increase gender differences. -Children became less creative. -IQ levels dropped slightly after TV was introduced. -Notel had the biggest increase in aggression in comparison to the other towns.
CONCLUSION	-Notel showed increased amounts of aggression because of the introduction of tv. We know this because aggression increased far more here than in towns that already had tv.
STRENGTHS	-Natural study so done in a real place where t was naturally introduced. -Same children were followed over a two year period meaning their behavior before and after could be directly compared. -Children were observed in their natural environment only after they were comfortable with the researchers.
WEAKNESSES	-Researchers didn't control what or how much tv the children watched or the extent of adult supervision. -Observations may be biased as researchers may be reporting what they want to see.
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CHARLTON ET AL AND WILLIAMS ET AL	-They were natural experiments -Real communities -Both communities had never had access to tv -Both studies conducted observations and used questionnaires to measure aggression.
DIFFERENCES	-Remote island vS Mainland -Different sense of community -Different guidance and parental monitoring -Differences between locations. -St Helena was more isloated and wasn't as exposed to popular trends s the mainland. -St Helena was so remote that it could have developed its own style of parental control.
WHY WAS THERE SUCH A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESULTS?	- The children on St Helena were monitored more closely by family and friends as a result of the community being more isolated. As a result, children would have been reluctant to carry out aggressive acts because of the strict control. -Their behaviour was influenced more by their community than the tv -In Notel the children were monitored less and as a result were able to act as they desired.
CONCLUSION	--Children are affected by watching tv but parents and community can lessen the influence of tv because of their strong control. -However, aggression could have also occured as a result of friendship groups, biological factors.
CENSORSHIP	-Preventing the circulation of information. -Info is censored if it is considered to be harmful to others or too sensitive or private in some way.
MORAL CENSORSHIP	- Material that is considered obscene or objectionable is censored.
FOR CENSORSHIP	-Children learn through observing, so preventing them from viewing inappropriate content will protect them from harmful learning. -Bandura's study proved that children copied violent behaviour which suggests the watershed is a good idea -Violence and aggression can cause fear.
AGAINST CENSORSHIP	-Censorship violates civil liberty -Restriction canlimit legitimate expressionof views and expression -Aggressive children seek out aggressive tv so censorship is not the issue. -Censorship regulations can be violated my parents, children, peers so is not effective.
Educational pyschologist - where they work	-local authority -schools -self employed
What they do	1) Observe child in the situation and try to identify the incident before it occurs 2) Gather information by talking to parents and asking teachers what time of day or environment the problems usually occur in to identify trends. 3)Helping to solve the problem they may work with teachers to identify when the problem is going to happen and teach the child techniques to calm them down to control themselves. -If needed they can recommend the child onto a specialist.
Skills required	-Good communicators -Be able to do empathetic listening so they listen to the child with understanding.
Qualifications required	-Degree in pyschology recognized by the BPS -Relevant work experience (eg: with kids) -Three year doctorate in educational pyschology.
Clinical pyschologists- who they work for	-The NHS or private practises -Universities -In a team and focus on one client
What they do	-Work with people with mental issues and phobias etc -They make assessments of the clients needs and plan interventions -Gather evidence by listening and discussing with clients. -Offer therapy and counselling and advice.
Skills required	-Good listener and be able to understand -Be able to ask open questions -Understanding of diversity -Communication skills and body language -Be able to search for solutions
Qualifications	-Degree in pyschology recognized by the BPS. -Relevant work experience -Three year doctorate in clinical pyschology.
How they help people with phobias	-Flooding, Systematic desensitization -CBT: Cognitive behavioural therapy, cognitive meaning thoughts. Involves identifying negative automatic thoughts and trying to replace them with less negative thoughts. Changing the client's thinking patterns will lower their fear response.
Forensic Psychologists - what they do	-Work in courts -Make offender profiles -Setting up treatment programmes -Carrying out one to one assessments and treatments of prisoners.
Skills required	-Communication skills -Good writing skills -Problem solving skills -Be able to work within BPS guidelines
Who do they work for?	-NHS -HM Prison Service -Social services -Self employed
Qualifications	-Degree in pyschology -Work experience -Masters in forensic pyschology -2 years supervised practise
How they help treat offenders	Develop rehabilitation programmes.
Personal Construct Therapy	Therapy where someone finds their own way of looking at people and understands their own constructs. After some intervention the person judges their constructs again to see what has changed.
Treating drug abuse	Prescribing substitute drugs and monitoring addicts progress closely -providing counselling and support -Ensuring they have adequate funding and housing to prevent them returning to drugs
Treating sexual offenders	-Treatment program -Medication can be prescribed to reduce sex drive
Gestalt Laws	1)The whole is worth more than the sum of the parts 2)Figure and ground: a figure is more complex, smaller and more symmetrical. 3) Similarity: grouping things together with the same characteristics. 4) Proximity: objects close together are perceived to be related. 5) Continuity: Straight lines, curves and shapes are perceived to carry on being the same. 6) Closure: Lines or shapes perceived as complex
Gregory's monocular depth cues	-Superimposition -Height in the plane -Texture gradient -Relative size -Linear perpective
Gestalt theory strenghts	1)Good explanation for ambiguous figures eg: leepers lady as we can't differentiate between figure and ground. 2)Good explanations for fictions eg: Kaniza triangle we use closure to fill in the gaps.
Gestalt theory weaknesses	1) Can't explain distortions apart from Muller Lyer illusion. 2) Uses different laws to explain different illusions. eg: Kaniza triangle we use closure to establish figure. However if whole was worth more than the sum of the parts then we would see a six pointed star instead of 2 seperate triangle.
Gregory's strenghts	1) it explains distortion illusions because they work using depth cues like linear perspective 2) it explains some ambiguous figures; eg depth cues in the Necker cube make the box go in or out; 3)it explains some fictions;
Gregory's weakness	1) it doesn’t explain fictions (very well); the Kanizsa triangle as well as Gestalt theory; 2) Gestalt theory can explain ambiguous figures well/better; it doesn’t explain the circles Muller-Lyer illusion; because there are no depth cues angled lines. 3)it can’t even explain some distortion illusions; where we can’t interpret the 2D image as 3D
Illusions	1) Distortions 2) Ambiguous figures 3) Fictions
Distortions (According to Gestalt)	eg: Muller Lyer illusion an aspect of this illusion deceives us: (GESTALT) . When the fins or circles are added to the image we tend to perceive the figure as a whole (the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts), so we add the fins or circles to the central lines. Therefore the image appears bigger or smaller than it actually is. (Depending on whether the fins or circles extend beyond the central lines)
Ambiguous Figures (According to Gestalt)	eg: Kaniza triangle- perceiving something that isn't really in the stimulus. (Like the bright white triangle which is perceived in the middle of the gaps formed by the shapes in the stimulus. Gestalt says that when we see a figure incomplete, we want to make it a "whole" shape so we use closure to make a regular shape. This is the figure in the figure and ground relationship. (However: if whole was really more than the sum of the parts we would see a six pointed star instead)
Ambiguous figures (According to Gestalt)	1)Leeper's lady: We can't differentiate between figure and ground and therefore this could lead to the stimulus having two possible interpretations. 2) Necker cube: We can either perceive the cube with a red dot in front or a red dot at the back. 3) Rubin's vase: In this image we can perceive the situations as either figure or ground making it an ambiguous figure
Distortions (According to Gregory)	1) Hering illusion: We use the radiating lines as a linear perspective depth cue. We then use size constancy to scale the person who appears furthest away up which makes them look bigger and the person who appears closer down to make them look smaller. 2) Muller Lyer illusion: With the arrow heads pointing outwards we scale it down as they are closer to us. (Can't explain Muller Lyer with circles instead of arrows as depth cues can't be applied) 3) Ponzo illusion: The railway tracks are a perceived as linear perspective: a cue to depth. We then use size constancy and scale up the line that seems further away making it appear larger and scale down the line which is closer making it seem smaller.
Ambiguous figures ( According to Gregory)	eg: Necker cube can be perceived as two different solids. This is ambiguous as perspective cues can be interpreted in different ways.
Fictions (According to Gregory)	Can explain some depth cues (like the one with the different positions of the lines) The background lines appear closer to the horizon and therefore further away. By seeming nearer, the lines of the oval are perceived as separate.
Bartlett: Aim	to investigate how information changes with each reproduction and to find out why the information changes
Procedure	An unfamiliar story- the War of Ghosts was given to participants. The participants were split into two groups. Group one: Serial reproduction group of 10 people. The first pp would read the story and then wait 15 minutes before retelling the story to the next person. This was done in a chain. Group two: Repeated reproduction group of 20 people. Each pp was tested separately. Each person read the story twice they then had to wait 15 minutes before giving their first reproduction. Then after 20 hours, 8 days, 6 months, 10 years. They recorded the difference between the reproductions as the DV.
Results	Few participants recalled the story accurately The most common changes that were made were the story was: -Form: the order of the events generally were the same -Details: the details became simplified especially details such as names, numbers etc. They also become stereotyped -Simplification: Events are made less complex, details are left out or changed to make the story more familiar -Addition: inaccurate details are added in
Conclusion	Unfamiliar material changes when it is recalled. It becomes shorter, simpler and more stereotyped. This could be due to the effect on schema on memory.
Strenghts	-Both repeated and serial reproductions were done many times so it's reliable -Other stories were also used in the serial reproductions which shows that the results for the serial reproductions are generalisable.
Weaknesses	-By choosing unfamiliar material, Bartlett couldn't be sure that the results could be generalized to stories with familiar content. -Bartlett didn't always test the repeated reproduction participants after the same time intervals, so the changes over time can't be compared fairly.
Palmer: aim	To find whether context affects perception
Procedure	-64 students -Lab experiment -Pps were shown visual scenes for two seconds and provided a context. They were then shown an object to identify. The objects included a mail box, a loaf and a drum. There were four conditions of the IV: -Appropriate: eg- recognizing a loaf after seeing a kitchen scene -Inappropriate, similar object: eg- recognizing a mail box which looks like a loaf after seeing a kitchen scene -Inappropriate, different scene: recognizing a mailbox after seeing a kitchen scene -no context Every participant tested in all 4 conditions: Repeated measures design The number of correctly identified objects was the dependent variable
Results	Participants correctly identified the most objects after being shown an appropriate context and the least after seeing an inappropriate context.
Conclusion	Expectations affect perception. People have a perceptual set on context which affects how accurately they recognize objects.
Strenghts	-Palmer controlled how long participants saw the context and the object for, so the differences in accuracy were not caused by having longer to remember some objects -Participants had instructions so they knew exactly what to do -Data from two participants was not used as they had forgotten their glasses. This is good because poor vision may have affected the results.
Weaknesses	-Because pps knew what they'd be doing they may have been trying hard in some conditions and been trying to please the experimenter -Because data from 2 pps couldn't be used, there was less data.
Carmichael: aim	To find out whether words shown with pictures would affect the way pictures were remembered
Procedure	-Lab experiment -95 pps split into 3 groups -They were shown 12 pictures. There were 2 word lists. Between each picture, the experimenter said "the next figure resembles..." followed by a word from either list 1 or 2. The last group was a control group. -Experimental design was independent groups The participants were then asked to draw what they had seen and this was compared to the originals this was the DV.
Results	The drawings produced by people who had heard the words from list 1 were very different by people who heard words from list 2. In each case the words drawn resembled the words the pps had heard. -There were 3000 reproductions and of these 905 were classified as almost completely changed. These were analyzed further. - In the list 1 group, 73% of the drawings resembled the words given and in group 2, 74% of the drawings resembled the words given. -In the control group, only 45% resembled either of the words.
Conclusion	Memory for pictures is reconstructed. The verbal context in which drawings are learnt affects recall because the memory of the word alters the way in which the picture is represented
Strengths	-By using a control group, Carmichael could be sure that verbal contexts did actually affect the way people's drawings had changed. -By using 2 different lists of verbal labels, he could be sure that the specific verbal label given with the picture affected the drawing -Having 12 participants and many pps gave them lots of evidence so it is reliable -Findings were supported by recent evidence that verbal labels affect memory by Lupyan.
Weakness	-In real life, things aren't generally as ambiguous as the stimulus figures were. Therefore the study wasn't very realistic and valid. -Prentice tested the effect of verbal labels on recognition rather than recall. The results showed that verbal labels didn't affect recognition. This contradicts Carmichael's results and shows that his findings weren't very reliable.
The unconscious and conscious	-Our unconscious is what we are not aware of and we cannot describe. Our unconscious controls most of our behaviour. -Our conscious is what we are aware of and can describe
Manifest & Latent content	Manifest: What the dreamer tells the analyst about their dream Latent: The underlying meaning behind the dream- the hidden content
Dreamwork	Work our mind does to keep the unconscious hidden. Dream work includes: Condensation, Displacement and secondary elaboration.
Condensation	Many ideas appearing as one idea in a dream. The seperate elements are important in uncovering repressed material in the dream.
Displacement	Shifting the attention away from what is really important in the dream to something unimportant.
Secondary elaboration	When the dreamer adds bits to their story (the manifest content) to make their dream make sense. This gets in the way of understanding the latent content.
Pyschoanalysis	Designed to help release unconscious thoughts to uncover hidden desires. This is done by uncovering symbols which the unconscious desires leak into the dream through. -Uses slip of the tongue, free association and dream analysis
Slip of the tongue	When someone uses the wrong word for something. Freud analyses these slips to help uncover unconscious thoughts.
Free association	Method used by Freud where the patient is encouraged to express a flow of consciousness. This process helps to uncover links which can then be interpreted.
Dream analysis	Method used by Freud to uncover unconscious thoughts by analyzing dreams and uncovering symbols.
Strengths of Freud	-Used unique methods to find data that was difficult to access -Gathered in depth and qualitative data about valid data.
Weaknesses of Freud	-His sample was biased and therefore not generalizable -His concepts were immeasurable -He interpreted his own findings so they may have been biased. -Subjective as they may have been biased.
Activation Synthesis (REM sleep)	- Where during REM sleep, we experience sensory blockade and movement inhibition. So during REM sleep, no information is coming into the brain and no outgoing movements are made by the body.
Activation & Synthesis	-The neurons in the brain are active during REM sleep as they are activated as random impulses that 'give' information as it were from the senses. This is knows as random activation. This information that comes from inside the brain is known as internally generated information. -To 'synthesize' the information the brain tries to make sense of the nonsense it has generated and it synthesizes the information into a dream.
Strengths of the Activation Synthesis theory	-Objective as it uses scientific measures such as scanning and experiments. -Has credibility because of scientific methods and evidence from animal studies
Weaknesses of the Activation Synthesis theory	-Biological theory suggests that dreams have no meaning however many people claim that they recognize parts of their dreams from what happened earlier on in their day. This means dreams aren't random. -Lucid dreaming suggests that we can control our dream, this contradicts the theory of activation synthesis which suggests that dreams are random. -Young children have a normal amount of REM sleep but seem to dream less than the average person. This suggests that dreams are not simply linked to REM sleep.
Pyschoanalysts :what they do	Help people with mental disorders, phobias and anxiety.
How do they help	-They do this by uncovering unconscious wishes and desires to find the reasons for the patients problems. -They listen and observe
How they use dream analysis	The aim to make the unconscious conscious. -Analyst considers manifest content and uses symbols to uncover latent content. They use other info from free association to add detail to the dream analysis. -During dream analysis, transference and counter transference is important. Transference is the way the client transfers their emotions onto the analyst. Counter transference is how the analyst transfers their own feelings back onto the client.
Who they work for	They work for: -themselves -in private clinics
Skills required	-good listening -Building a strong relationship with the client without being judgmental. -Being able to detach yourself from their problems -
Qualifications	-A degree in pyschology -Undertake training that is approved by the IPA.
Training	-The training lasts 4 years. -The trainee must undergo psychoanalysis for 4 or 5 50 minute sessions a week. -They also need to attend seminars -Final part of training involves the psychoanalysis of 2 patients while being supervised by a qualified psychoanalyst. -CPD required.
Sleep disorders	-Insomnia -Hypersomnia -Circadian rhythm disorder -Parasomnias
Insomnia	-Where someone cannot go to sleep or stay asleep. -Diagnosed if someone's lack of sleep is affecting their daily activities. -Can be caused by prescribed drugs, mental health issues and stress. -treatments include going to a sleep disorder clinic and teaching the sufferer relaxation techniques.
Hypersomnia	When people feel sleepy at all parts of the day. -Can be caused by narcolepsy which is a brain disorder where people have sudden attacks of sleep throughout the day. -Can also be caused by not getting enough sleep at night perhaps because of breathing difficulties.
Circadian Rhythm Disorders	-Disruption of sleep-wake cycle -Can be caused by odd work shift times which require people to go to bed at different times so their body can't settle to one pattern. -Using bright lights at certain times can help reset the body clock. -Using acupuncture can also help
Parasomnias	-Disorders which occur while the person is asleep ie: nightmares, sleep walking etc. -Can be treated using psychotherapy and relaxation therapy.
Treatments	-Medication -CBT -Acupuncture -Hypnotherapy
Medication	-Prescribed drugs usually help with sleeping disorders.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy	-Changing the negative thoughts people may have about waking up to more positive thoughts to reducing anxiety levels. -CBT finds a way of replacing automatic negative thoughts with more positive thoughts.
Acupuncture	-Involves inserting needles into certain points of the body. Acupuncture can help to reset the body's sleep-wake cycle.
Hypnotherapy	-Involves the client relaxing thoroughly with a therapist so that the therapist can help uncover any problems the client has and make suggestions about overcoming their disorder. -Helps people with insomnia and parasomnias.
TOPIC D: PHOBIAS Classical conditioning	-Learning process which builds up an association between two stimuli through repeated pairings. Association occurs between the neutral and unconditioned stimulus this makes the neutral stimulus cause the same response. NS---------UCS--------UCR NS+UCS----------------UCR CS----------------------UCR
Generalisation	When a conditioned response is produced to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. Eg: the CR of being scared of the sea may lead to being scared of taking a bath because water (the CS) is present in both.
Phobia	An intense fear which prevents 'normal living' in some way
Extinction	The loss of a classically conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeated many times without the unconditioned stimulus.
Mineka et al	To see if animals (monkeys) could learn phobias. Mineka thought that monkeys in the wild learned the phobia by watching adult monkeys. Procedure: To test this idea they used: -snakes (real, toys & models) -objects (eg; cords). They used wild born and lab born monkeys. Findings: The wild born monkeys were scared of the snakes, while the lab born monkeys weren't scared of either. The lab born monkeys watched the wild monkeys reacting to each monkeys and they then began to fear snakes Conclusion: Phobias can be learnt by monkeys
Evolutionary preparedness	-The tendency to learn some phobias more easily, quickly and permanently than others -This theory was developed by Seligman and he believed our ancestors would have feared certain things over others (eg lightning over clothes) in order to survive and these fears passed down to us through preparedness.
Evaluation of questionnaires	Strenghts: -Can use standardized instructions -Allow for informed consent -Allow for the right to withdraw Weaknesses:-Reponse bias (when pps fall into a pattern while answering questions -Social desirability bias: when pps give answers they think are more socially acceptable to make themselves look better. -The need to hide aims
Ethical issues using animals in experiments	1)Causing pain and fear 2)Social isolation 3)Number of animals 4)Choice of species (eg use a species that doesn't find social isolation distressing.)
Practical issues using animals in experiments Strengths and Weaknesses	STRENGTHS-They are simpler to humans (they're behavior is simpler so we can tell why humans react the way they do) -Their environment can be controlled -They can be used in deprivation experiments -Animals are interesting and can benefit as the research and findings from experiments can be beneficial to animals. WEAKNESSES: -Animals are different to humans.
Jones (curing a boys phobia) AIM:	To investigate whether a phobia in a little boy could be deconditioned and whether this would generalise to other objects
Procedure	Peter was 2 years and 10 months when they began observing him. -He was shown a white rat, he screamed and moved away, leaving his beads behind. When the rat touched his beads he protested however when other children touched them, he didn't mind. -The next day it was observed that Peter's fear of rats had generalized to other objects. -He was shown a white rabbit and he was even more afraid of this than the rat so this was used for deconditioning. -Peter had play sessions with three other children and the rabbit. The other children didn't fear the rabbit. -These sessions were ordered into a list.
Results	-Peter's behaviour improved and worsened. -6 people were given the list from a-q and asked to order it in a tolerance series. -From session 8 onwards, classical conditioning was used. Peter was given food he liked while the rabbit was moved closer to him. -With SLT, the other children acted as role models and Peter imitated and learnt their behaviour.
Conclusion	Both classical conditioning and SLT helped to decondition Peter. The deconditioning also helped to reduce his generalised fears and helped him to cope with new animals.
Strenghts	-Jones made detailed observations over a long period of time so the Peter's progress can clearly be seen. -She asked other people to order the tolerance series so she would avoid bias. -She used different ways to help Peter
Weaknesses	-The gaps between sessions were variable so progress could be due to time rather than deconditioning. -Jones used 2 different methods so it makes it difficult to tell which was the most effective.
Bennet Levy and Marteau AIM	-To see whether we are more afraid of or avoid animals that: -move quickly -move suddenly -look very different to people
Procedure	-2 questionnaires used. Both asked about the same 29 animals. -Questionnaire 1:- 64 men and women answered -Asked about fear of animals and how close the person would get to them. -Fear scale (1-3) 1 not afraid, 3 not afraid -Nearness scale (1-5) 1 enjoy picking it up, 5 move further than 2 metres away. -Questionnaire 2: 49 men and women -Measured how pps felt about each animal. They rated them on a three point scale, (1=not 2=quite 3=very) for: -ugliness, speediness, sliminess, sudden movers.
Findings	-The most feared animal was the rat and the least was the rabbit. -People were less likely to approach people that were ugly or slimy, speedy or sudden movers. -They were more afraid of ugly, slimy, speedy or animals that were sudden movers. -Thought speedy animals moved suddenly.
Conclusions	-The features of ugliness, sliminess, speediness and sudden movement all make animals more scary. -Animals which cause phobias tend to be ugly, slimy, sudden movers or speedy. -Supports evolutionary preparedness as it relates to us being afraid by an animals features.
Strengths	1) Different pps answered different pps so they didnt know what they study was about 2) Used both men and women, so findings apply to both genders. 3)The pps didn't need to see the animals which may have frightened them. This may have caused ethical issues. 4)Findings explain that fears are not always linked to actual experiences.
Weaknesses	1) Pps were told that the animals were not dangerous however many pps still thought rats were harmful so the instructions weren't very successful. 2) Questionnaires were only asked about 6 factors. In interviews, pps mentioned other things that made animals scary.
Treating phobias (flooding)	-Involves confronting your fear directly. At first, the client panics but after awhile, the body naturally calms down and relaxes. -When we calm down, we associate the fear with relaxation. PROBLEM: -Unethical as patients dont have the right to withdraw as this could make their phobia worse later on.
Systematic desensitization	1)Patient identifies feared object or situation. 2) They develop a hierarchy of fears with their list of least feared situations leading up to their most feared situations. 3)The therapist teaches them relaxation techniques to get the through the hierarchy of fears. 4)Patient moves up becoming more relaxed each time.
Heinrichs AIM	They wanted to see if being brought up in different cultures affected social anxiety and fear of blushing.
Procedure	-909 university students from 8 different universities. -Divided into individualistic and collectivist cultures eg (Australia and Japan). -Pps were given a short description of a social situation and asked to say how they would react. If pps said they would speak up, they had low social anxiety. However if people said they wouldn't do anything this was a high social anxiety answer. -Pps were also asked to complete a questionnaire of blushing and their fear of social situations.
Results	-Pps from collectivist cultures responded to descriptions in a way showing high social anxiety. They gave answers which avoided public interactions or speaking up. These pps were afraid of blushing.
Conclusion	-Collectivist cultures show greater social anxiety and fear of blushing than individualistic cultures. -In collectivist cultures, if someone breaks a social norm, they are in greater risk of punishment and they hold back in fear of letting their group down -However in individualistic cultures, a high value is placed on standing out and individuality.
CRIMINALITY (biological explanations) ADOPTION STUDIES	-Mednick studied 14,427 adopted children -He looked at how many of them had criminal records compared to their biological fathers. -He found that when adopted children had criminal records their biological fathers also had criminal convictions even though they were not raised by them.
TWIN STUDIES	-Christiansen studied 3586 pairs of twins in Denmark. -He found that if an identical twin was a criminal, then 52% of the time, the other identical twin was also a criminal. -However in non-identical twins, only 22% of the time, if one twin was a criminal the other was. -This shows that criminality has a biological link as people which share the same genes are more likely to be criminals.
Theilgaard: chromosome abnormality aim	To see if criminals had a gene that could be responsible for their criminal behaviour
Procedure	-30,000 men were tested. 16 had the XXY chromosome abnormality while 12 had the XYY chromosome abnormality. -Men were interviewed by a social worker to avoid researcher bias. They were interviewed about their criminal backgrounds and history. They were also given intelligence tests.
Results	-XYY males had slightly lower levels of intelligence than average and tended to be more aggressive than normal men. -This could show evidence that a criminal gene exists. -However they were far more similarities between the XYY and XXY men than differences. -No solid evidence of a criminal gene found.
Conclusion	Provides limited evidence for XYY males being more aggressive than XXY males. However, there are more similarities than differences between them.
Strengths	-All tests and interviews of men were conducted by independent social worker who had no knowledge of aim so he would not have been biased in reporting and not led the males to answer in a particular way. -Theilgaard used a vast range of tests to measure the different aspects of the men's lives.
Weaknesses	-Only a small sample of men with genes so results are not generalisable. Also, difficult to find people with abnormality as it is not inherited. -The link found between ,ales with XYY gene and aggression is only a correlation. This means the XYY gene may not have even caused aggression, it could be the result of other factors. -The most obvious reason for this would be because the men have lower levels of intelligence, they wouldn't have been able to understand things at school as well as everyone else which would have led them to feeling frustrated. -Also, not everyone with the chromosome abnormality is a criminal therefore we cant be sure that the chromosome abnormality causes criminality at all.
Social explanations for criminality: DIVORCE	-Research suggests that children from broken families are twice as likely to become criminals compared to those from intact families. -Boys tend to turn to aggression as they don't have a father figure as a role model. -Girls tend to become depressed. -Divorce can result in financial difficulties which could increase the impact on the child.
Maternal Deprivation	-When a child is seperated from their primary caregiver during the first two years of their life. They feel rejected and suffer long lasting effects. -John Bowlby studied 44 boy offenders. He found that 14 of the boys felt no guilt for their crimes. Of the 14, 12 had been separated from their primary caregiver before the age of 2. When he studied the other 30 boys, he found that only 5 of them had suffered maternal deprivation.
Family size	-Families with many children are more likely to be linked with criminality. -Could be due to the lack of attention and parental supervision. Also, larger families tend to have lower incomes and therefore the children have lower educational opportunities.
Understanding family patterns	-David Farrington studied 411 boys over 40 years in a longitudinal study. -The study found that if the boys turned to crime it was linked to -low supervision by parents, poor housing, parental neglect, harsh or inconsistent parenting, separation of parents.
Child rearing: Induction	-Involves explaining to a child what they have done wrong and it helps them to understand the consequences of their actions. -Encourages empathy in the child as they see from another person's perspective.
Love withdrawal	-Parent withdraws their love from their child to make the child feel guilty for what they have done. -Parent says they dont love their child and their child feels rejected.
Power assertion	-Physical or verbal punishment which can lead to delinquency and low self esteem of the child. -It can also develop into aggression if: -The punishment is inconsistent, the punishment is inconsistent and severe and if each parent applies different standards of punishment.
Self fulfilling prophecy	-When people conform to the expectations others have of them which cause them to change their behaviour. This may lead them to turn to criminality.
Rosenthal and Jacobsen	-Conducted an experiment to see whether achievement can be self fulfilling. -They gave the children an IQ test and told the teachers whild students were going to be average and which students were the "bloomers". However, these lists weren't real. -After about a year they retested the children and found that the IQ of the bloomers had risen while the IQ of the average students had fallen. -This shows that the teachers expectations affected the children's abilities this is a self fulfilling prophecy.
Gustav Jahoda	-Studied ashanti people who have a custom of of naming their kids after the days of the week. They believed that boys born on Mondays are calm and peaceful and boys born on Wednesday tend to be aggressive and angry. -When Jahoda studied arrest records he found that 22% of the boys arrested were born on Wednesday while only 6.9% of the boys were born on Monday.
Sigall and Ostrove Aim	-Whether attractiveness affects jury decision making -Whether there is a relationship between attractiveness and the type of crime committed.
Procedure	-120 pps given a piece of card with a crime written on it and a photgraph of a women named Barabara Helms -They were split into 6 groups of 20. Each group saw either an attractive or unattractive of Barabara along with a crime. 1)attractive photo-burglary 2)unattractive-burglary 3)no photo with burglary 4)attractive photo with fraud 5)unattractive photo with fraud 6)No photo with fraud. -Before starting, pps were asked to rate how attractive Barbara was to ensure that they agreed which photos showed her as attractive or unattractive -They then were asked to give her a prison sentence ranging from 1 to 15 years.
Results	-Attractive picture had a big effect on pps decision. They felt that the attractive Barabara should spend more time in prison for fraud and less time for burglary. -Attractive people are associated with crimes like this because they use their good looks to swindle money out of others. They look more trustworthy. -However we dont associate good looking people with burglary as we dont believe they would break into a flat to steal.
Conclusion	-Highlights impact good looks has on a jury -Good looking people get away with some crimes but if they used their looks to commit a crime they are less likely to get away with it.
Strengths	-The study uses strong controls. Pps were given standardised instructions. Few extraneous variables so results are reliable. -Control group was used to show whether pps were affected by photos. -Pps were less likely to guess the aim of the study as they didnt know what other groups were doing. -Study has real life applications as it informs jurors that they shouldn't base their decisions on what a defendant looks like. They should only use the evidence presented in the courtroom. -Pps were asked to rate the attractiveness of Barbara to ensure they agreed that the photo was of an attractive person. People's perception of looks can vary so this was a good control.
Weaknesses	-Experiment is not realistic as in real life, people see the defendants and listen to their evidence and testimony not just see brief details. -Juries normally only decide whether a defendant is guilty or not, the judge decides the prison sentence.
Madon Aim	-To see if a parent's expectation of their child's drinking habits would become a reality.
Procedure	-115 children aged between 12 and 13 years old and their parents were given questionnaires. -Parents were asked to predict how much alcohol their child regularly drank or would drink over the coming year. -A year later, the children were asked to say how much alcohol they had actually consumed.
Results	-Children who drank the most alcohol were the ones whose parents had predicted a greater use of alcohol. It only took one parent to have a negative opinion of their child's drinking habits to show a relationship with high levels of drinking. Child at greater risk of higher alcohol use if both parents had negative beliefs.
Conclusion	-Study shows that this is a self fulfilling prophecy as parents views on their child's drinking habits had a big influence on their child's behaviour .
Strengths	-Large sample of pps so the results are more likely to be valid. -Study has real life applications as it tells us that parents shouldn't hold negative beliefs of their children as this could cause their child to actually behave in the way they are expected to.
Weakness	-Parents may not have influenced their child, they may have just been very accurate at predicting how much their child actually drank -Many other influences could have affected the children eg- friends. -Study only shows a correlation as researchers cant be sure that there is a definite link between parents predictions and child's drinking habits. -Questionnaires used can have social desirability bias. Children may say they drink more to look tough.
Practical issues with biological research	-Samples are too small as only a handful of people have the XYY chromosome therefore lower validity -Chromosome abnormalities are difficult to detect as there are a few obvious signs a person has it. -Catching the criminals to use them in adoption studies or twin studies is hard as the criminals may be good and hard to caught so less can be used for studies.
Ethical problem with biological research	-Unethical as telling someone they are more likely to become a criminal because they possess a gene could result in a self fulfilling prophecy even though they are not criminals. -Telling a criminal that their behaviour was due to a chromosome abnormality may lead them to believe that they are not responsible for their actions. -If psychologists found a genetic link to criminal behavior this can be used to control individuals with the abnormality and would prevent them from leading a normal life.
Practical issues with social research	-We cannot carry out research to make someone criminal so any social research only results in finding a link. -Research involves questioning people about why they turned to crime. This has problems such as: -Memory is not very reliable -Asking criminals themselves is unreliable as they may blame some aspect of their upbringing and not actually state the true reasons. -It could be a way for criminals to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions.
Ethical problems with social research	-The children may blame their parents for their behaviour.
Practical problems while gathering information from convicted offenders	-May use the research as a way of getting early research

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	Created by Natasha James about 9 years ago