paper 1 -2022

Question 1

define obedience

Answer 1

a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order.
the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who had the power to punish when obedient behavior is not forthcoming

Question 2

what did Milgram aim to study

Answer 2

obedience

to understand why such a high population obeyed hitler

Question 3

Milgrams baseline procedures

Answer 3

40 American men - volunteer sample -though they were randomly given a role
pair with a confederates who acted as the learner within the experiment
instructed by an experimenter (grey lab coat) - shock learner when they answer wrong
volts increased after each shock - 15volts to 450 volts
told the confederate had heart condition before beginning
confederate never shocked

Question 4

what % did Milgram psychology student predict would go to 450volts

Answer 4

3% - 450volts

14 psychology students

Question 5

what % of participants ended up going to 450volts

Answer 5

12.5% - 300volts (5 participants)

65% - 450 volts

Question 6

what type of findings did Milgram find

Answer 6

65% - 450volts
qualitative date - interview + observation
observation = signs of extreme tension, sweating, biting lip, groaning (3 seizures)
interviews = 84% said they were glad they participated

Question 7

what did Milgram conclude

Answer 7

German people in ww2 - weren’t different

Question 8

a strength of Milgram’s study - research support

Answer 8

replicated in French documentary - made about reality tv
participants believed that were on a game show’s pilot episode
paid to give fake shocks to other participants who were actors
80% went to max shock of 450volts to an “unconscious” man
behavior identical to Milgram’s participants - sweating nail biting
therefore result are not due to special circumstances

Question 9

weakness - Milgram - low internal validity

Answer 9

may not test what was intended
75% participants believed shocks were real (Milgram stated)
psychologists argue that participants believe they behaved that way as they were play acting
when listening to Milgram’s tapes - only half believed it was real and 2/3 of participants were disobedient
therefore participants were responding to demand characteristics

Question 10

counterpoint to low internal validity - Milgram evaluation

Answer 10

a study conducted like Milgram’s - but puppies were shocked instead
gave real shocks
54% of male students 100% female students delivered the shock - when they though it was fatal
this suggests that Milgram’s finding are correct as people behave the same way when shocks are real

Question 11

weakness - Milgram - ethical implications

Answer 11

deception - lied about it being a real shock, participant was a confederate, heart condition
participant harm - 3 seizures and clear signs of distress
social sensitivity

Question 12

define situational variables

Answer 12

features of the immediate physical and social environment which may influence a person’s behavior.

Question 13

what situational variables did Milgram study

Answer 13

proximity
uniform
location

Question 14

why did Milgram study situational variables

Answer 14

to see if they led to more or less obedience

Question 15

situational variable - proximity results

Answer 15

teacher and learner in the same room = obedience dropped form 65% to 40%
touch proximity - move their hand onto the electric plate = dropped to 30%
remote instruction variation - experimenter in another room, instructed through telephone
= obedience dropped to 20.5% and participants pretended to give shocks

Question 16

situational variable - proximity explanation

Answer 16

decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions.
e.g. less aware of the harm they course the learner when they were separated

Question 17

situational variable - location findings

Answer 17

obedience dropped to 47.5% from 65%

when the experiment was conducted in a rundown office building instead of at Yale university

Question 18

situational variable - location explanation

Answer 18

prestigious university gave legitimacy and authority to Milgram’s study
so more likely to obey in this location as they saw the experimenter as sharing this legitimate and thought obedience was expected
however obedience in the office was still high in the office block because of the perceived scientific nature of the procedure

Question 19

situational variable - uniform findings

Answer 19

baseline = experimenters wore a grey lab coat as a symbol of authority

experimenter called away because of an inconvenient telephone call at the start of the experiment - replaces with an ordinary member of the public (confederate in normal clothes)
obedience dropped to the lowest rate of 20%

Question 20

situational variable - uniform explanation

Answer 20

uniforms encourage obedience - widely recognized as symbols of authority
we accept that someone in an uniform is entitled to obedience as their authority is legitimate
someone without an uniform is less right to expect our obedience

Question 21

strength of situational variables - research support

Answer 21

other studies have demonstrated the influence of situational variable on obedience.
field experiment in NYC - had 3 confederate dress up 1 milkman 1 in suit and 1 security guard
all 3 confederates stood in street and ask individual to pick up litter/ put a coin in parking meters.
people x2 likely to help the security guard than the one in the suit
therefore support situational variables, such as uniform, effect obedience

Question 22

strength of situational explanation - cross-cultural replications

Answer 22

other psychologists create a more realistic version of Milgram’s experiment on Dutch participants. - participant ordered to say stressful things to (confederate) someone desperate for a job.
90% of participants obeyed and also replicated Milgram’s findings concerning proximity. - obedience decreased when the person giving instructions wasn’t present
this suggest that the findings are not limited to American males, but is valid across cultures and genders

Question 23

limitation of situational variables - low internal validity

Answer 23

participants may have been aware that the procedures were fake.
psychologists have criticized Milgram’s baseline procedures - but suggest that it is even more likely in the variables because of the extra manipulation of variables e.g. when a member of the public replaced the experimenter.
and even Milgram recognized that this situation is so contrived that some participants may have worked out the truth.
therefore in all of Milgram’s studies it is unclear if the findings are because of obedience or demand characteristics and play acting

Question 24

define agentic state

Answer 24

a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behavior because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure. this frees us from the demands of our conscience and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure.

Question 25

what is an agent

Answer 25

is someone who acts for or in place of another.
experience high levels of anxiety / moral strain when they realize what they are doing is wrong
feel powerless to disobey

Question 26

what is the autonomous state

Answer 26

is a state when an individual is independent or free

behave according to their own principles and feel a sense of responsibility their own actions

Question 27

what is the agentic shift

Answer 27

the shift from autonomy to agency

when an authority figure has greater power or higher position in the social hierarchy instructs them - course shift

Question 28

what are binding factors and how do they effect the agentic shift

Answer 28

Milgram observed how participant want to stop but didn’t, so suggested binding factors.

an aspect of a situation that allows the individual to ignore the damaging effects of their behavior and reduce moral strain .
for example, shift the responsibility onto the victim or deny the damage coursed to the victim

Question 29

strength of agentic state theory - research support

Answer 29

studies support that the agentic state has a role in obedience
most of Milgram’s participants resisted giving shocks at some point but asked questions to the experimenter about the procedures
p=”who is responsible if he is hurt” E= “I’m responsible”
after participants often went through the procedure quickly with no further objections.
this shows that once the participant is no longer responsible for their actions they acted more easily as the experimenter agent, as Milgram suggests

Question 30

weakness of the agentic state - limited explanation

Answer 30

the agentic state doesn’t explain many research findings about obedience
for example, one study found that 16 out of 18 nurses disobeyed orders from a doctor when told to administer an excessive drug dose to a patient.
the doctor was an authority figure but all nurses stayed in an autonomous state.
therefore the agentic shift can only account for certain situations of obedience.

Question 31

define legitimacy of authority

Answer 31

an explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us.
this authority justified by the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy.

Question 32

legitimacy of authority

Answer 32

society is structure with a social hierarchy- so people in certain position hold authority over us.
authority weighs legitimacy as it is agreed upon within society.
accepted that authority figures are allowed to excessive power over other as it allow society to run smoothly.

Question 33

what is a consequence of legitimacy of authority

Answer 33

some people are granted the power to punish others

this can led to destructive authority

Question 34

what is a destructive authority

Answer 34

a powerful leader that uses their legitimate authority for destructive purposes, ordering people to behave in cruel and dangerous ways
e.g. hitler, stalin or pol pot
this type of leader is clear in Milgram’s experiment, as participant behavior went against their consciences

Question 35

strength of legitimacy of authority - explains cultural differences

Answer 35

many studies have shown that different countries differ in the degree to which people obey authority. - Milgram-style studies
16% of Australian participants went to 450volts
85% of German participants went to 450volts
this shows that in some cultures authority is more likely to be legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals.
this also reflects how differ cultures raise children to perceive authority figures.

Question 36

weakness of legitimacy of authority - cannot explain all disobedience

Answer 36

cannot explain disobedience within the hierarchy when authority is clear and accepted
rank and Jacobson’s -16/18 nurses refused to give a lethal dose to patients when instructed to do so by a doctor, a clear authority figure.
also a minority of Milgram’s participants (5) disobeyed despite recognizing the experiencers scientific authority.
this suggest that some people are less/ more likely to obey and it is possible that innate tendency may greater influence on behavior than legitimacy of authority.

Question 37

define authoritarian personality

Answer 37

a type of personal that Adorno argues was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority . such individuals are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors

Question 38

define dispositional explanation

Answer 38

any explanation of behavior that highlights the importance of the individual’s personality.

Question 39

what dispositional explanation tries to explain obedience

Answer 39

authoritarian personality

Question 40

who suggest the authoritarian personality explanation to obedience

Answer 40

Adorno et al

Question 41

why did Adorno what to study obedience

Answer 41

to understand anti-Semitism

Question 42

authoritarian personality characteristics

Answer 42

extreme respect for authority
view society as weaker than it was - so need strong leaders to enforce traditional values
likely to follow orders from an external source of authority
show contempt for weaker members of society
fueled by an inflexible view of the world - no grey area

Question 43

origins of the authoritarian personality

Answer 43

forms in childhood as a result of harsh parenting
parenting style = strict disciplines, expectation of absolute loyalty, impossibly high standards and severe criticism of perceived failing.
conditional love - depends solely on how they behave
childhood experience of resentment and hostility that they cant express to parents due to a fear of punishment. - displace fear onto weaker people (scapegoating)
psychodynamic explanation

Question 44

Adorno’s research - procedures

Answer 44

2000 - middle class white Americans participants
studied their unconscious attitudes to racial groups
developed serval measures scales - including the potential-for-fascism scale (F-scale)

example Q’s of the F-scale - obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues for children to learn.

Question 45

Adorno’s research - findings

Answer 45

people with authoritarian leanings identified with strong people and were generally contemptuous of the weak ( scored high on the scale)
very conscious of status and showed extreme respect for people in high status
had a certain cognitive style - no crossovers between categories of people and distinctive stereotypes about other groups
found a positive correlation between authoritarian personality and prejudice

Question 46

strength of the authoritarian personality - research support

Answer 46

elms and Milgram
interviewed a small sample of people who had participated in the ordinal obedience studies who had been fully obedient - completed the f-scale
these 20 participants scored significantly high on the overall f-scale than a comparative 20 disobedient group of participants
2 groups clearly different in terms of authoritarianism
support Adorno’s view that obedient people have very similar characteristics to people with authoritarian personalities

Question 47

counterpoint to research support - Adorno’s research

Answer 47

researchers analyzed the individual subscales of the f-scale
found that the obedient participants had a number of characteristics that were unusual for authoritarians
e.g. didn’t usually glorify their fathers, didn’t experience high levels of punishment in childhood and didn’t have hostile emotions towards their mothers
this means that the link between obedience and authoritarianism is complex. - participants not authoritarian - unlikely to be a useful predictor of obedience

Question 48

weakness of the authoritarian personality - limited explanation

Answer 48

authoritarianism cannot explain obedience behavior in the majority of a country’s population.
e.g. prewar Germany million of people showed obedience to racist and anti-Semitic
despite them all having different personalities
seems unlikely that they could all possess an authoritarian personality
an alternative view is that they could identified with the anti-Semitic Nazi state and scapegoated the outgroup of Jews, a social identity theory approach
therefore limited and alternative explanation is much more realistic

Question 49

define resistance to social influence

Answer 49

refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority.
this ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors

Question 50

define social support

Answer 50

the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same.
these people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible

Question 51

define locus of control

Answer 51

refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives.

Question 52

social support - resistance to conformity

Answer 52

pressure to conform can be resisted if there people present not conforming.
Asch - confederate not conforming
this person provides social support enabling the naïve participant to follow their own consciousness
confederate - acts as a model of independent behavior
there dissent leds to more - as shows the majority is not longer unanimous

Question 53

social support - resisting obedience

Answer 53

pressure to obey can be resisted if another person disobeys
Milgram - 65% to 10% when there was a disobedient confederate
don’t follow the disobedient behavior but the disobedient person acts as a model of dissent to copy and this allows him to act on his consciousness
disobedient model challenges the legitimacy of the authority - make it easy for more to disobey

Question 54

strength of social support - real world research support

Answer 54

research support for the positive effect of social support
teen fresh start USA - an 8 week program to help pregnant adolescents (14-19) resist the pressure to smoke
social support provided through a buddy/mentor
at the end of the study those with a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke than the control group without a buddy
this show that social support can help young people resist social influence as part of an intervention in the real world

Question 55

strength of social support - research support for dissenting peers

Answer 55

evidence support the role of dissenting peers in resisting obedience
Gamson et al - participants tole to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign.
found higher levels of resistance than in Milgram’s study -88% rebelled against their orders
this could be because participants were in a group so could discuss
this shows that peer support can led to disobedience by undermining the legitimacy of an authority figure.

Question 56

locus of control

Answer 56

internal control vs external control.

psychologist = Rotter et al

Question 57

locus of control continuum

Answer 57

people are not just either external or internal
LOC is scale and people vary where they are positioned on it
high internal LOC one end and high external LOC on the other

Question 58

resistance to social influence - LOC

Answer 58

people with high internal LOC are more able pressure to conform and obey.
take responsibility for there actions and experiences - also tend base their decision on their own beliefs
another explanation - people with high internal LOC are more self confidence, more achievement orientated and have higher intelligence
these trait led to greater resistance to social influence
theses are also traits of leaders who need much less social approval.

Question 59

strength of LOC - research support

Answer 59

research evidence to support the link between LOC and resistance to obedience
Holland - repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measures if participants had internal or external LOC.
found = 37% of internal didn’t continue to 450 volts whereas only 23% of externals didn’t.
this shows that internal have a greater resistance to authority in this situation.
therefore, resistance is partly linked to LOC and increases the validity of LOC as an explanation.

Question 60

Weakness of LOC - contradictory research

Answer 60

evidence that challenges the link between LOC and resistance.
analyzed data from American LOC studies conducted over 40 years period
the data showed that people came more resistant to obedience but also more external over this time period.
this show that resistance may not be linked to LOC as people should have become more internal.
this suggests that locus of control is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence

Question 61

define minority influence

Answer 61

a form of social influence in which a minority of people persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviors. leads to internalization or conversion, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behavior.

Question 62

what are the 3 factors course minority influence

Answer 62

consistency
commitment
flexibility

Question 63

consistency - minority influence

Answer 63

when the minority keeps the same believe both over time and between all the individuals that form the minority.
is effective as it draws attention to the minority view.
synchronic consistency = between people
diachronic consistency = overtime
start to make people rethink their own beliefs

Question 64

commitment - minority influence

Answer 64

minority demonstrates dedication to their position by making personal sacrifices
this is effective as it show the minority is not acting out of self-interest
augmentation principle = majority members pay more attention because of the risks they take

Question 65

flexibility - minority influence

Answer 65

relentless consistency counter-productive as it can be seen as unreasonable and unbending. therefore minority influence is more effective if they show flexibility through the possibility of compromise.
key is to strict balance between consistency and flexibility by changing when presented with a valid counterargument

Question 66

explaining the process of change - minority influence

Answer 66

3 factors led to people thinking about the minorities views or cause
hear something new = think deeply about especially with the 3 factors
deeper process which is important in the process conversion - converted when they switch to the minority view.
faster rate of conversion is the snowball effect. - leading the minority view slowly becoming the majority.

Question 67

strength of minority influence - research evidence for consistency

Answer 67

research demonstrating the importance of consistency
Moscovici’s blue/green slide study - showed that a consistent minority had greater effect on changing views than an inconsistent option.
meta-analysis conducted of almost 100 similar studies and found that minority that were consistent were most influential
this suggests that presenting a consistent view is a minimum requirement for a minority trying to influence the majority.

Question 68

strength of minority influence - research support for deeper processing

Answer 68

evidence showing that a change in the majority’s position does involve deeper processing of the minority’s ideas.
study = presented a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured participants agreement.
one group heard minority agree and second heard a minority agree, then both exposed to a conflicting view and there agreement was measured again.
found people were less likely to change their view if they heard the minority groups view.
this suggests that the minority view had been deeper processed and had more enduring effects, supporting the view of the central argument about minority influence

Question 69

short term memory - capacity, coding and duration

Answer 69

capacity = 7 +/- 2 
coding = acoustically 
duration =  around 18 seconds

Question 70

long term memory - capacity, coding, duration

Answer 70

capacity = unlimited 
coding = semantically 
duration =  up to a lifetime

Question 71

define coding

Answer 71

the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores

Question 72

define capacity

Answer 72

the amount of information that can be held in a memory store

Question 73

define duration

Answer 73

the length of time information can be held in memory

Question 74

multi store model diagram

Answer 74

stimulus from environment 
sensory resistor - store 
attention  
STM - store 
prolonged rehearsal 
(+response) 
LTM 
maintenance rehearsal 
(+ retrieval)

Question 75

define the multi - store model of memory

Answer 75

a representation how memory works in terms of three stores called the sensory register, short term memory and long term memory.
it also describes how information is transferred from one store to another and what makes some memories disappear.

Question 76

sensory register store

Answer 76

any stimulus in the environment passes information into the SR
comprised of the 5 senses making coding in this store modality - specific
coded = visual = iconic memory acoustically - echoic memory
capacity = very high
duration = less than half a second

Question 77

short term memory store

Answer 77

once attention is given to something in the sensory resistor it is passed into the STM
coded = acoustically
duration = 18 seconds (unless rehearsed)
capacity = 7 +/- 2
information can be moved from LTM to STM store with retrieval

Question 78

maintenance rehearsal

Answer 78

occurs when we repeat material to ourselves multiple times
by repeating it we can keep information in the short term memory or if repeated enough information is passed to LTM store

Question 79

long-term memory

Answer 79

information moves to LTM store with prolonged rehearsal
coded = semantically
duration = up to a lifetime
capacity = unlimited

Question 80

strength of MSM - research support

Answer 80

support from studies showing that the STM and LTM are different
e.g. Baddeley - mix up words that are acoustically similar when using our STM but mix up words that are semantically similar if using our LTM
this led to the conclusion that they are separate stores as they are encoded differently
further studies show that STM and LTM also have different capacity and duration
Therefore, studies also highlight that STM and LTM are separate stores

Question 81

weakness of MSM - more than one STM store

Answer 81

evidence of more than one store for STM
psychologists studied a client referred as KF who had a clinical memory disorder called amnesia
they found KF’s STM for digits was very poor when they read them aloud to him but had much better recall when reading digits for himself.
further studies on KF found that there may even be a STM store for non-verbal sounds
therefore evidence suggest the MSM is incorrect when it states there is one STM store processing different types of information

Question 82

weakness of MSM - elaborative rehearsal

Answer 82

prolonged rehearsal is not needed for transfer to LTM
MSM suggest that the more you rehearse something the more likely it is to transfer into the LTM.
however, studies have found that the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount.
Elaborate rehearsal is needed for LT storage - this occurs when we link new information to existing knowledge. this means that information can be transferred to LTM without prolonged rehearsal.
this means that the MSM doesn’t fully explain how long term storage is achieved

Question 83

define episodic memory

Answer 83

a long term memory store for personal events. it includes memories of when the events occurred and of the people, objects, places and behavior involved. memories in this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort

Question 84

define sematic memory

Answer 84

a long term memory store for our knowledge of the world. This includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean. these memories usually also need to be recalled deliberately.

Question 85

define procedural memory

Answer 85

a long term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things. this includes our memories of learned skills. we usually recall these memories without making a conscious or deliberate effort.

Question 86

define working memory model

Answer 86

a representation of short term memory. it suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using subunits coordinated by a central decision - making system

Question 87

working memory model

Answer 87

Baddeley and Hitch
explanation of how STM is organized and how it functions
is concerned with that mental space is active when we are temporality storing and manipulating information
the model has 4 main components each qualitatively different - especially in terms of coding and capacity

Question 88

central executive

Answer 88

supervisory role
focus and divided our limited attention
allocates slave systems to tasks
capacity = very limited and doesn’t store any information

Question 89

phonological loop

Answer 89

1 of the slave systems - in charge of acoustic information
preserves the order in which the information arrives in
subdivided into the phonological store and articulatory process

Question 90

phonological store

Answer 90

a component of the phonological store which acts as an inner ear by storing words you hear

Question 91

articulatory process

Answer 91

allows maintenance rehearsal
by repeating words or sound in a loop to keep them in the working memory whilst they are needed
capacity of the loop is 2 seconds worth what you can say

Question 92

visuo-spatail sketchpad

Answer 92

second slave system
stores visual and/ or spatial information when required
e.g. how many window are on your house - visualize it
capacity = Baddeley suggest 3 to 4 objects
Logie subdivided the VSS into visual cache and inner scribe

Question 93

visual cache

Answer 93

stores visual information, such as the arrangement of objects

Question 94

inner scribe

Answer 94

records the arrangement of objects in the visual field

Question 95

episodic buffer

Answer 95

temporary stores information, integrating the visual spatial and verbal information processed by other stores and maintaining the sense of time sequencing
basically the record of events
storage component of the central executive and has a limited capacity of 4 chunks (Baddeley’s research)
links the WMM to LTM and other cognitive processes

Question 96

strength of WMM - clinical evidence

Answer 96

support from a case studied conducted on patient KF who suffered from Amnesia.
after his brain injury - poor STM ability to store auditory information but could process visual information normally.
example - immediate recall of letter and digits he read himself was better than when other read them to him.
this suggest that KF’s phonological loop was damage but his visuo- spatial sketchpad was intact
support the existing of separate visual and acoustic memory stores

Question 97

counterpoint to clinical evidence - WMM

Answer 97

unclear is KF had other cognitive impairments which might have affected his performance on memory.
for example, his injury was caused by a motorcycle accident, so the trauma may have effected the performance of other cognitive processes apart from brain injury.
this challenges evidence that comes from clinical studies of people with brain injuries that may have be affected many different systems

Question 98

strength of WMM - Dual task performance

Answer 98

studies of dual- task performance support the separate existence of the visuo - spatial sketchpad
Baddeley = participants carried out visual and verbal tasks at the same time, their performance of both task was similar to when they carried them out separately
however when both task were visual or verbal the performance on both declined substantially.
this could be because both visual task was using the same slave subsystem whereas there was no competition when visual and verbal tasks where competed together
this shows there may be separate slave systems that processes visual input and one for verbal processes

Question 99

Weakness of WMM - nature of the central executive

Answer 99

lack of clarity over the nature if the central executive
Baddeley - recognized this and stated that the central executive is the most important but least understood component of the WMM
CE needs to be more clearly specified than just being simply attention, for example some psychologist that it may have subcomponents
this means that the CE is an unsatisfactory component and this challenges the integrity of the WMM

Question 100

define cognitive interview

Answer 100

a method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories.

Question 101

the cognitive interview - development / beginning

Answer 101

fisher and Geiselman argued that eyewitness testimony could be improved if the police used better techniques when interviewing
thus developed cognitive interviews

Question 102

report everything

Answer 102

witnesses are encouraged to state every detail they remember of the event even if they see it as irrelevant or they don’t feel confident about it
gain trivial detail that may become important and help trigger over memories

Question 103

reinstate the content

Answer 103

witness return to the original crime scene in their mind by imagining the environment and their emotions
this relates to context - dependent forgetting

Question 104

content related forgetting

Answer 104

recall depends on external cues e.g. weather or a place

Tulving - retrieval failure due to the absent of cues

Question 105

reverse the order

Answer 105

events recalled in a different order from the original sequence - end at beginning or start in the middle
help prevent people reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened rather than reporting actual events - prevents dishonesty

Question 106

change perspective

Answer 106

witnesses should recall events the incident from other peoples perspective e.g. other witnesses or the perpetrator’s
done to disrupt the effect of expectations and the effect of schema on recall
schema you have for a particular setting generate expectations of what would have happened and it is the schema that is recalled rather than what actually happened

Question 107

the enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 107

Fisher et al
additional elements of the CI to focus on the social dynamic of the interaction
interviews need to know when to establish eye contact and when to remove it
included ideas on - eyewitness anxiety, minimizing distractions, getting witnessed to speak slowly, and asking open-ended questions

Question 108

strength of CI - support for the effectiveness

Answer 108

evidence that it works
meta-analysis combined data from 55 studies comparing CI and standard police interviews
CI gave an average 41% increase in accurate information compared to standard interviews
only 4 studies showed no difference between the interview techniques
this show that CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses to recall information that is stored in memory but is not immediately accessible

Question 109

counterpoint for support of effectiveness of the CI

Answer 109

however same psychologist also found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by participants
particular an issue with ECI which produced more inaccurate detail than CI
CI and ECI may sacrifice quality in favor for quantity
this means that police officers should treat eyewitness evidence from CI / ECI with caution

Question 110

weakness of CI - some elements may be more useful

Answer 110

in original CI not all elements are equally effective or useful
was found that each of the 4 techniques used alone produced more information than the standard police interview.
but also found only using only resistant context and report everything produced better recall than any other combination of the 4 techniques
this confirmed police officers suspicions that some aspects of CI are more useful than others
this also casts doubt on the creditability of the overall CI

Question 111

weakness of CI - time consuming

Answer 111

police officers may be reluctant to use CI because it takes more time and needs more specialist training than standard police interviews
e.g. need time to establish a rapport with the witness and allow them to relax
CI also requires specialist training that some forces may not have the resources or time to provide towards it.
this suggests that the complete CI as it exists is not a realistic method for police officers to use and it might be better to focus on just a few key elements

Question 112

define reciprocity

Answer 112

a description of how two people interact.
caregiver - infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other

Question 113

define interactional synchrony

Answer 113

caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated way

Question 114

Lorenz - procedures

Answer 114

aim to research imprinting
randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs - half hatched with the mother goose and the other half hatched in an incubator and the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz

Question 115

Lorenz - findings

Answer 115

incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group followed the mother goose.
when the groups where mixed the experimental group continue to follow Lorenz.
imprinting = birds that are mobile from birth attach to and follow the first moving object they see
this led to Lorenz identify the critical period - time period where imprinting need to take place in.
critical period - 4 to 25 hours after hatching - if it doesn’t take place the chicks didn’t attach themselves to a mother figure

Question 116

Lorenz - conclusion

Answer 116

imprinting is a form of attachment that is exhibited in birds that typically leave the nest early, whereby they imprint on the first moving thing they see

Question 117

Harlow’s research - Aim

Answer 117

to examine the extent to which contact comfort and food influence attachment behavior in baby rhesus monkeys

Question 118

Harlow’s research - procedures

Answer 118

place to surrogate mothers in the monkey cage - 1. harsh wired mother and a second soft toweling mother
16 monkeys + 4 caged conductions
1. wire mother with milk and soft mother without
2. wire mother no milk and soft mother with milk
3. wire mother dispensing milk
4. soft mother dispensing milk
timed how long they feed at each one and tested mother preference during a period of stress by making loud noises
large cage was also used to observe the degree of exploration

Question 119

Harlow’s research - findings

Answer 119

baby monkey’s preferred to make contact with the soft toweling mother irrespective of whether if she dispensed milk - stretch across from clinging to the soft mother to feed the wire mother
showed signs of distress if only had wire mother - diarrhoea
when startled the monkey would cling to the soft mother when she was available.
greater levels of exploration with a toweling mother when in the bigger cage - this indicates better emotional security

Question 120

Harlow’s research - conclusion

Answer 120

baby rhesus monkeys appear to have an innate drive to seek contact comfort from their parents this suggests that attachment id formed through an emotional need for security rather than food.

this contact comfort provided by the mother is associated by a higher willingness to explore their surroundings and lower levels of stress

Question 121

strength of Lorenz research - research support

Answer 121

existence of support for the concept of imprinting
chicks were exposed to simple shapes combinations that moved
e.g. a triangle in front of a rectangle
then a range of combinations were exposed to them but they followed the original most closely.
this support the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the critical window of development, as predicted by Lorenz

Question 122

weakness of Lorenz research - generalizability to humans

Answer 122

lack ability to generalize the finding onto humans due to Lorenz only studying non-human animals. e.g. gooselings and we are unable to conclude that they behave in the same way as humans
the attachment formed in mammals appears to be very different from birds species with parents as they show more of a emotional reaction to their offspring.
so with mammals attachment may be a two-way process and this may allow them to able to form attachments after a few hours.
therefore, Lorenz research has been influential at expanding our understanding of birds attachments but the findings cant be generalized to humans attachments

Question 123

weakness of Lorenz research - later research

Answer 123

later research casts doubts on some of the conclusions drawn from Lorenz research into imprinting.
Guiton et al - found that chickens would imprint on a yellow washing up glove if it was first moving object they saw after birth and they would try and mate with this object in adulthood.
however he disagreed with Lorenz that this relationship was irreversible since the chickens could learn to mate with other chickens instead.
this suggest that imprinting may not be as permanent as initially thought

Question 124

strength of Harlow’s research - real-world value

Answer 124

important real-world application
for example, can help social workers and clinical psychologist to understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes
we also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programs in the wild.
this mean that the value of Harlow’s research is not just theoretical but also practical.

Question 125

weakness of Harlow’s research - generalizability to humans

Answer 125

lack of ability to generalize findings and conclusions from monkeys to humans
Rhesus monkeys are mammals meaning they will have a similarities in attachment to humans due to shared common attachment behavior. however the human brain and behavior is more complex than that of monkeys. also psychologists argue to the extent to which studies of animals should be generalize to humans due to these apparent differences

Question 126

weakness of Harlow’s research - ethics

Answer 126

(ethical issue doesn’t = invalid)
heavily criticized for the ethics of his research on rhesus monkeys
as the monkeys suffered greatly in terms of emotional separation from their biological mothers at a young age due to the procedures of Harlow.
especially if species of primates are considered to be sufficiently human-like to generalize the results beyond the sample used then it stands that the effects of psychological harm that they will endured are similar to human babies.
however, there is question if whether the insight provided into attachment by Harlow justified his approach

Question 127

Harlow’s research - maternally deprived monkeys as adults

Answer 127

observed the difference between monkeys who grow up with a surrogate mother and those with a normal mother.

• they were more timid
• they didn’t know how to interact with other monkeys and could be aggressive
• difficulty in mating
• females were inadequate mothers and some even killing their offspring

Question 128

Harlow’s research - the critical period for normal development

Answer 128

also found that there was a critical period
a mother figure needed to be introduced to a young mother within 90 days for an attachment to be formed
after this period attachment was impossible and the damage done by early deprivation becomes irreversible.

Question 129

define monotropic

Answer 129

a term sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory
mono means one and tropic means learning towards
this indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to a child’s development

Question 130

define critical period

Answer 130

the tome within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all
Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkey had critical periods
Bowlby extended the idea to humans, proposing that human babies have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment

Question 131

define internal working model

Answer 131

our mental representations of the world e.g. the representation we have of our relationship to our primary attachment figure.
this model affect our future relationships because it carriers our perception of what relationship are like

Question 132

name 5 key terms from Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 132

( A Snap Chat Makes Images )
Adaptive 
Social releaser 
Critical period
Monotropy 
Internal working model

Question 133

Bowlby - Adaptive

Answer 133

attachments are adaptive which means they give humans an advantage, making them more likely to survive.
if an infant has an attachment, they are kept safe, given food and kept warm by their caregiver

Question 134

Bowlby - social releasers

Answer 134

infants possess inborn social releasers, which unlock an innate tendency in adults to care for them.
social releasers are:
physical - the typical ‘baby face’ features that make babies appear cute such as big eyes and a button nose
behavior - crying, cooing and smiling to get attention
both infants and mothers are hardwired to attach

Question 135

Bowlby - critical period

Answer 135

between 3 and 6 months
later acknowledge that infants could form an attachment after this period - up to 3 years of age
however the successful formation of an attachment would be increasingly difficult after the initial period
attachment didn’t form during this time period would be damaged for life - socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically

Question 136

Bowlby - monotropy

Answer 136

infants form one very special attachment with their primary caregiver, most frequently the mother
if mother is not available, the infant can bond with another ever-present adult, known as a mother substitute.
believed the more time spent with this primary attachment figure the better
2 principles - law of continuity = stated that the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of attachment
- law of accumulated separation = stated that the effects of every separation from the mother adds up add and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose

Question 137

Bowlby - internal working model

Answer 137

through a monotropic attachment an infant forms an internal working model that acts a template for future relationships
a strong and healthy attachment with primary attachment figure led to them developing strong and healthy relationships later in life. however a negative relationship with primary attachment will led to negative social and romantic relationships.
also affects the Childs later ability to be a parent themselves - children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves

Question 138

weakness of Bowlby’s theory of attachment - validity of monotropy challenged

Answer 138

the concept of monotropy lacks validity
Schaffer and Emerson = found that although most babies do attach to 1 person at first, a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time.
also, although the 1st attachment does appear to have a strong influence on later behavior this may simply mean stronger and not necessarily different in quality from the child’s other attachments.
for example, other attachments to family members also provide all the same key qualities e.g. emotional support.
this mean that Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and importance to the child’s primary attachment.

Question 139

strength - Bowlby - support for social releasers

Answer 139

clear evidence that cute baby behaviors are designed to elicit interactions from caregivers.
psychologists observed babies trigger interactions with adults using social releasers.
instructed the primary attachment to ignore their babies social releasers. this coursed the babies to become increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and lay motionless.
this illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment development

Question 140

strength - Bowlby - support for internal working model

Answer 140

the idea of the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next.
Hazan and shaver assess the internal working model with a questionnaire called the love quiz and they found a positive correlation between early attachment types and later adult relationships.
this supports Bowlby’s idea that internal working models exist and influence over later relationships

Question 141

counterpoint - support for internal working model - Bowlby

Answer 141

although Hazer and shavers questionnaire may had some issue with validity, due to its reliance of participants being honest and remembering elements of their childhood correctly.
especially since it was a self-repot questionnaire participants may have been affected by social desirability bias coursing them to change their answer to what they believed they should answer with.

Question 142

learning theory - explanation of attachment

Answer 142

cupboard love approach - emphasizes the importance of the attachment figure as a provider of food
suggest the infant will be come attached to who ever feeds them

Question 143

explanation of attachment - classical conditioning

Answer 143

process of learning by associating 2 stimuli together to condition a response.
food = unconditioned stimulus
relief of hunger = unconditioned response
caregiver = natural stimulus - leds to no conditioned response
associate the caregiver who feeds them with food ^
through repeated pairings the caregiver becomes the conditioned stimulus and leds to a relief in hunger becoming a conditioned response and allowing an attachment to form

Question 144

explanation of attachment - operant conditioning

Answer 144

skinner - studied operant conditioning and saw that non-human animals learned consequences through it
when baby is hungry they they have a drive to reduce these unpleasant feelings by crying in order to receive comfort.
positive reinforcement = infant crying when hungry as caregiver provides food (reward)
thus behavior repeated
negative reinforcement = reciprocal process in caregiver when infants stops crying.

Question 145

explanation of attachment - attachment as a secondary drive

Answer 145

primary drive = hunger - innate and biological motivator
primary reinforcer = food
secondary reinforcer = caregiver
secondary drive = attachment - infant will seek the person who feeds them

Question 146

weakness of learning theory- counter-evidence from animal studies

Answer 146

lack of support from studies conducted on animals
Lorenz goslings imprinted on the first moving object they saw regardless of whether this object was associated with food.
also Harlow’s research with monkeys showed no important to food in forming an attachment but highlighted the importance of comfort when the monkeys choose a toweling surrogate mother instead of the hard wire mother provided food.
this shows that factors other than food are important in the development of attachments.

Question 147

weakness of learning theory - counter-evidence from studies on humans

Answer 147

lack of support from studies on human babies
Schaffer and Emerson found that babies tended to have an attachment with their mothers first regardless of whether is she fed them or not.
also Isabella et al found that higher levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of the attachment. these factors aren’t related to feeding
this suggest that food is not the main factor in the formation of human attachments

Question 148

strength of learning theory - some conditions may be involved

Answer 148

element of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment
unlikely that association with food plays a central role in attachment but it may still play a role in attachment.
for example, babies may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult and this may influence the baby’s choice of their main attachment figure.
this means that learning theory may still ne useful in understanding the development of attachment.

Question 149

counterpoint of learning theory as an explanation of attachment

Answer 149

however both classical and operant conditioning explanations see the baby playing a passive role in attachment development, simply responding to associations with comfort or reward.
although research ahs found that babies play a very active role in the interactions that produce attachment and they go through an alert phase were they signal they are ready for spells of interaction. these signals led to mothers picking them up 2/3 of the time.
this means that conditioning may not be an adequate explanation of any aspects of attachment.

Question 150

Ainsworth’s strange situation - aim

Answer 150

was to be able to observe key attachment behaviors as a means of assessing the quality of a baby’s attachment to a caregiver.

Question 151

Ainsworth’s strange situation - procedures

Answer 151

controlled observation - designed to measure the security of attachments
laboratory - controlled conditions = two-way mirror and camera
observed behaviors = proximity seeking, exploration and secure base behavior, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, response to reunion.
7 stages / episodes each lasting 3 minutes.

Question 152

Ainsworth’s strange situation = the 7 stages

Answer 152

1. mother and infant in room - exploration tested - infant left on floor to play
2. stranger enters room and talks to mother - stranger anxiety tested -plays with child
3. mother leaves room and stranger comforts baby - separation and stranger anxiety
4. stranger leaves room and mother returns - reunion behavior
5. mother leaves again - separation anxiety
6. stranger re-enters and offers comfort - stranger anxiety
7. mother return and stranger leaves = reunion behavior

Question 153

Ainsworth’s strange situation - findings

Answer 153

secure (type b) =66%
insecure - avoidant (type a) = 22%
insecure- resistant (type c) = 12%

Question 154

secure attachment + characteristics

Answer 154

exploration = explores environment, return to mother at regular intervals = safe-base
moderate separation anxiety = play is disrupted when they leave
moderate stranger anxiety = move closer to mother when stranger is present
joy on reunion - seek proximity and is easily comforted

Question 155

insecure avoidant attachment + characteristics

Answer 155

exploration = explores the environment and doesn’t return to mother
low separation anxiety = not concerned
low stranger anxiety = unconcerned and little preference
reunion behavior = little reaction, ignore her, doesn’t seek proximity or comfort

Question 156

insecure resistant attachment + characteristics

Answer 156

exploration = doesn’t explore environment
high separation anxiety = distressed and violent
high stranger anxiety = extremely distressed
reunion behavior = not easily comforted, seeks and rejects comfort

Question 157

strength of Ainsworth’s study - good predictive validity

Answer 157

outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development
large body of research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed as type B/ secure, tend to have better outcomes than others.
better achievements in school and less involvement in bullying, also likely to have a better mental health as an adult.
those babies asses as having an insecure-resistant attachment and whose not fitting into an attachment type tend to have worst outcomes.
this suggests that the strange situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby’s development

Question 158

counterpoint to good predictive validity - Ainsworth’s study

Answer 158

clearly measures something important that is associated with later development, however not all psychologists believe this something is attachment types.
for example, some suggest that genetically influenced anxiety levels could account for this variation in attachment behavior in the strange situation and later development.
this means that the strange situation may not actually measure validity

Question 159

strength of Ainsworth’s study - good reliability

Answer 159

good inter-rater reliability
tested inter-rater reliability of the strange situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment types in 94% of cases.
high levels of reliability may be because the procedures takes place under controlled conditions and because behaviors being observed are largely involve movement so can be easily identified.
this means that we can be confident that attachment types as assessed by the strange situation does not depend on subjective judgement.

Question 160

weakness of Ainsworth study - the test may be cultural-bound

Answer 160

may not be valid measure of attachment in different cultural context.
strange situation developed in UK and USA and may be culture-bound to western cultures.
one reason for this is because babies have different experience in different cultures that may affect their response to the strange situation.
for example, Japanese babies displayed high levels of separation anxiety, so a disproportionate number of babies were classified as insecure-resistant. however psychologists suggest this anxiety response may not be because of high rates of insecure attachments but the usual nature of the experiment, as the Japanese are rarely separated from their mothers.
this means that it is very difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring when outside western Europe and the USA

Question 161

Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research - aim

Answer 161

to investigate cross-cultural variations in attachment

Question 162

Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research - procedures

Answer 162

conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies, 8 countries that had used Ainsworth’s strange situation.
total of 1,990 infants
8 countries = USA, great Britain, Germany, Japan, Sweden, China, Netherlands, Israel

Question 163

Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research - findings

Answer 163

secure attachment were the most common attachment types in all cultures examined.
Japan(27%) and Israel(29%) had the highest level of insecure resistant attachments - collectivist cultures (china 25%)
Germany showed higher levels of insecure- avoidant attachments (35%)
variation with one country was 150% greater than between cultures - e.g. in USA one studies found 49% securely attached and another found 90%.

Question 164

cultural variations = Italian studies

Answer 164

aim = to see if the proportion of Italian baby’s attachment types matched previous studies.
procedures = 76 babies, 12 months old, strange situation
findings = 50% secure, 36 insecure- avoidant = lower rates of secure and higher avoidant found in other studies
suggest this is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional child-care.
this suggest that patterns of attachment types are not static but vary in line cultural change

Question 165

cultural variations = Korean study

Answer 165

compare attachment types in Korea to other studies
procedure= strange situation, 87 babies
findings = overall proportion of insecure and secure attachments were similar to other countries, however more were classified as resistant whereas only one was classified as avoidant
similar to the distribution in Japan
since Japan and Korea have similar child -rearing styles this may explain the similarity in attachment types.

Question 166

Van ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research = conclusion

Answer 166

secure attachments are the norm in a wide range of cultures
supporting Bowlby’s idea that idea that attachment is innate and universal and this type is the universal norm.
however this research also shows that cultural practices also influence attachment types

Question 167

strength of Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research = indigenous researchers

Answer 167

most of the studies were conducted by indigenous psychologists, who’s are from the same cultural background as the participant.
for example included research from the German researcher Grossmann et al when studying Germany - this kind of research allows for potential problems in cross-cultural research to be avoided. such as researcher misunderstanding the language used by participants or having issue instructing participants. - also avoid issues of bias and stereotype are a nation that a research may have.
this mean there is an excellent change that researchers and participants communicated

Question 168

counterpoint to indigenous researchers = Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Answer 168

however this has not been true of all cross- cultural attachment research
for example, Morelli and Tronick were outsiders from America when they studied child-rearing and patterns in attachment in the Efe of Zaire.
their data might have been affected by difficulties in gathering dat for participants outside their own culture.
this means that the data from countries might have been affected by bias and difficulty in cross-cultural communication

Question 169

weakness of Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research - confounding variables

Answer 169

limitation of cross - cultural research is the impact of confounding variables on findings 
studies conducted in different countries are not usually matched for methodology when they are compared in reviews or meta-analyses. 
sample characteristics such as poverty, social class and urban/rural make up can confound results as can the age of participants and confound results. for example the size of the rooms with attractive toys there - baby might appear to explore more in studies conducted in small rooms with attractive toys compared to large, bare rooms. less visible proximity seeking because of room size might make a child more likely to be classified as avoidant. 
this means that looking at attachment behaviour in different non-matched studies conducted in different countries may not tell us anything about cross - cultural patterns of attachment

Question 170

weakness of Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research - imposed etic

Answer 170

cross cultural psychology includes the ideas of emic and etic. imposed etic occurs when we impose an idea or technique that works in one cultural context to another.
an example of this in attachment research is in the use of babies response to reunion with the caregiver in the strange situation. in Britain and the USA, lack of affection on reunion an avoidant attachment. but in Germany such behaviour would be more likely interpreted as independence rather than insecurity.
Therefore that part of the strange situation may not work in Germany. this means that the behaviour measured by the strange situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts and comparing them across cultures is meaningless

Question 171

define maternal deprivation

Answer 171

the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother or primary attachment.
Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother essential for normal psychological development, and that prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual development.

Question 172

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - separation vs deprivation

Answer 172

separation = the child not being in the presence of primary attachments figure. This is only a problem if the child becomes deprived of emotional care. (particularly is the child is with a substitute caregiver that can provide emotional care)

extended separations can lead to can led to deprivation, which by definition causes harm

Question 173

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - the critical period

Answer 173

saw the first 2 and half years of life as a critical period for psychological development.

if absence of suitable substitute care and deprived of the mother’s emotional care for an extended duration during this critical period then psychological damage was inevitable.

he also believed there was a continuing risk up to age 5

Question 174

effects of maternal deprivation on intellectual development ( Bowlby)

Answer 174

led to abnormally low IQ (average IQ 96)
has been demonstrated in studies of adoption
William Goldfarb = found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care
68 IQ average - below the cut-off point used to define intellectual disability

Question 175

effects of maternal deprivation on emotional development

Answer 175

Bowlby identified the affectionless psychopathy = inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards others
prevents the development of normal relationship and is associated with criminality
- cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions

Question 176

44 Juvenile thieves study = aim

Answer 176

to see if early separation from the primary caregiver was associated with behavioral disorders

Bowlby defined a particular behaviour disorder as affectionless psychopathy to describe individuals who have no sense of shame of guilt

Question 177

44 juvenile thieves study = method

Answer 177

examined children referred to a guidance clinic in London, aged 5-16 years old
44 of the children were criminals (guilty of thieves) and 44 were non-criminal participants were used as a control group.
interviewed the children and their families to create a record of early life experiences

Question 178

44 juvenile thieves study = results

Answer 178

identified 14 of the 44 thieves as affectionless psychopaths
86% of the 14 of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced early and prolonged deprivation
only 17% of the other thieves had experienced such separation and 4% of the control group had experienced frequent early separations.

Question 179

44 juvenile thieves study = conclusion

Answer 179

these findings suggest a link between early separations and later social maladjustment.

the maternal deprivation hypothesis appear to lead to affectionless psychopathy and antisocial behaviour

Question 180

limitation of maternal deprivation - flawed evidence

Answer 180

poor quality of the evidence it is based on
Bowlby 44 thieves study is flawed because it was Bowlby himself who carried out both the family interviews and the assessments for affectionless psychopathy. This left him open to bias because he knew in advance which teenagers he expected to show signs of psychopathy.
other sources of evidence are equally flawed. for example Bowlby’s was also influenced by the findings of Goldfarb’s research on development of deprived children in wartime orphanages. this study has a problem of confounding variables because the children in Goldfarb’s study has experienced early trauma and institutional care as well as prolonged separation from their primary caregiver
this means that Bowlby’s original sources of evidence for maternal deprivation had serious flaws and would not be taken seriously as evidence nowadays

Question 181

counterpoint to flawed evidence - maternal deprivation evaluation

Answer 181

a new line of research has provided some modest support for the idea that maternal deprivation can have long-term effects.
Levy et al showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development though not other aspects of development.
this means that, although Bowlby relied on flawed evidence to support the theory of maternal deprivation, there are other sources of evidence for his ideas

Question 182

limitation of maternal deprivation - deprivation and privation

Answer 182

confusion between different types of early experiences
Rutter drew an important distinction between 2 types of early negative experiences.
deprivation refers to the loss of the primary attachments figure after attachment has developed.
on the other hand privation is the failure to form any attachment in the first place this may take place when children are brought up in institutional care. Rutter pointed out that the serve long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is actually more likely to a result of privation. so the children studied by Goldfarb may actually have been prived rather than deprived.
similarly, many of the children in the 44 thieves study had disrupted early lives and may never have formed strong attachments.
this means that Bowlby may have overestimated the seriousness of the effects of deprivation in childhood development.

Question 183

limitation of maternal deprivation - critical vs sensitive periods

Answer 183

For Bowlby, damage was inevitable if a child had not formed an attachment in the first 2 and half years of life. hence this is a critical period. however there is evidence to suggest that in many cases good quality aftercare can prevent most or all of this damage.
for example psychologists reported the case of the Czech twins. the twins experienced very serve physical and emotional abuse from the age of 18 month until they were 7 years old. although they were severely damaged emotional by their experience they received excellent care and by their teens they had recovered fully.
this means that lasting harm is nit inevitable even in cases of severe privation. the critical period is therefore better seen as a sensitive period

Question 184

define institutionalisation

Answer 184

a term for the effects of living in an institutional setting.

Question 185

Rutter et al - aim - Romanian orphans

Answer 185

aimed to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions

Question 186

Rutter et al - procedures - Romanian orphan

Answer 186

followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee study
orphans adopted by UK families
111 of the children were adopted at age 2 and 54 of them at the age 4
physical and emotional development was measured at age 4, 6, 11, 15, 22-25
a group of 52 English adopted children were used a control group

Question 187

Rutter et al - findings - Romanian orphans

Answer 187

at the point of adoption, the Romanian orphans showed delayed development on all element of social, cognitive and physical progress - physically smaller, weighed less on average and many were classified as mentally retarded.
adopted before the age of 6 months caught up on these measures of development when compared to the British control group
if adopted after 6 months the children continued to show significant deficits in term of social, cognitive and physical development - likely to experience difficulties making or maintaining peer relationships and often categories as having disinhibited attachment disorder.

Question 188

Zeanah et al - aim - Romanian orphans

Answer 188

to investigate attachment type of children who had spent most of their life in institutional care.

Question 189

Zeanah et al - procedures - Romanian orphans

Answer 189

sample = almost 100 children aged between 12 months and 31 months
90% of whom spent most of their lives in an orphanage
control group of children who had never been institutionalised
using strange situation methodology - assed the infants attachment types
additionally the careers and parents were asked about several aspects of the infants’ behaviour: clinging, attention seeking and appropriateness of behaviour towards adults (disinhibited attachment disorder)

Question 190

Zeanah et al - findings - Romanian orphans

Answer 190

74% of the control group were securely attached to their caregivers
19% of infants from the experimental group were secure attachments
65% of the experimental group appeared to have a disinhibited attachment

Question 191

Zeanah et al - conclusion - Romanian orphans

Answer 191

infants who spent their early years in institutional care, with the absence of a primary attachment figure to provide consistent and sensitive emotional caregiving, are less likely to develop a secure attachment and are far more likely to experience a disinhibited attachment.

Question 192

effects of institutionalisation = disinhibited attachment

Answer 192

equally friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers
no sign of stranger anxiety
Rutter = an adaptation of living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation
in poor quality institutions, like those in Romania, a child might have 50 cares but doesn’t spend enough time with any one of them to form a secure attachment

Question 193

effects of institutionalisation = intellectual development

Answer 193

Rutter study = most children showed signs of intellectual disability when they arrived in Britain
when adopted at 6 months they caught up with the control group at age 4
if adopted after 6 month of age they didn’t recover

Question 194

effects of institutionalisation = physical development

Answer 194

physically small

Gardner found that a lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment was the cause of deprivation dwarfism

Question 195

effects of institutionalisation = poor parenting

Answer 195

Quinton et al found that women raised in institutionalisation found it extremely difficult to act as parents compared to a control condition.
in fact a number of children raised by ex-institutional women went into care for a period of time
(Bowlby - internal working model and Harlow’s - maternally deprived monkeys)

Question 196

strength of Romanian Orphan studies - real world application

Answer 196

application to improve conditions for children growing up outside their family home.
studying Romanian orphans have improved psychologists understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects. this has led to improvements in the conditions experienced by looked after children. e.g. children’s home now avoid having large numbers of caregivers with each child. instead children tend to have 1 or 2 key workers who play a central role in their emotional care. also institutional care is now seen as an undesirable option for looked after children. considerable effort is made to accommodate such children in foster care or to have them adopted instead.
this means that children in institutional care have a chance to develop normal developments and disinhibited attachment is avoided.

Question 197

strength of Romanian Orphans studies - fewer confounding variables

Answer 197

there were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphans were studied. many children studied in orphanages had experienced varying degrees of trauma and it is difficult to disentangle the effects of neglect, physical abuse and bereavement from those of institutional care.
however the children from Romanian Orphanages had been mainly been handed over by loving parents who couldn’t afford to keep them.
this means that results were much less likely to be confounded by other negative early experiences. (higher internal validity)

Question 198

counterpoint of fewer confounding variables - Romanian orphans studies

Answer 198

on the other hand, studying children from Romanian orphanages might have introduced different confounding variables. the quality of care in these institutions were remarkably poor, with children receiving very little intellectual stimulation or comfort.
this means that the harmful effects seen in studies of Romanian orphans may represent the effect of poor institutional care rather than institutional care per se

Question 199

weakness of Romanian Orphans studies - lack of adult data

Answer 199

current lack of data on adult development
the latest data from the ERA study looked at the children in their early to mid 20’s.
this means that we do not currently have data to answer some of the most interesting research questions about the long term effects of institutional care.
these research questions include the lifetime prevalence of mental health problems and participants success in forming and maintaining adult romantic and parental relationships. it will take a long time to gather this data because of the longitudinal design of the study.
this means it will be some time before we know more completely what the long term effects are for the Romanian orphanages. it is possible that late adopted children may catch up.

Question 200

internal working model - influence of early attachments

Answer 200

Bowlby - suggest the baby’s first attachment to their primary attachment figure leads to a mental representation of this relationship. that acts as a template for future relationships (childhood + adult)
secure attachment - seek out a functional relationship and behave functionally with them
insecure avoidant = too uninvolved or emotionally close
insecure resistant = controlling and argumentative

Question 201

relationships in childhood

Answer 201

attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood
secure = best quality childhood friendships insecure = difficulty forming friendships
bullying behavior can be predicted by attachment type
Wilson and smith = assessed attachment type and bulling involvement - questionnaire to 139 7-11 year old’s in London
secure - unlikely to be involved
avoidant - most likely to be victims
resistant - most likely to bullies

Question 202

romantic relationships in adulthood - love quiz - aim

Answer 202

Hazan and shaver = love quiz
designed to test the internal working model to assess if attachment type formed as an infant influence friendships and adult relationships.

Question 203

love quiz - procedures

Answer 203

3 section - questionnaire
published in a local newspaper
620 volunteer participants
1 section = assess the individuals most important relationship
2nd = ascertaining general experiences in love
3rd = self-selecting participants about their feelings in relation to some statements

Question 204

love quiz - findings

Answer 204

56% respondent = securely attached
25% = avoidant
19% = resistant
positive correlation between early attachments type and experiences in love
secure - loving and lasting romantic relationships
avoidant = feeling of dislike in relation to intimacy
resistant = shorter relationships, 6 years compared to a secures attachment average of 10 or more years

Question 205

love quiz - conclusion

Answer 205

indicated that specific attachment type behaviour are reflected in adult relationships because of an internal working model formed infancy to guide expectations

Question 206

relationships in adulthood - parenting

Answer 206

bailey et al
looked at attachment type of 100 mother and their infants with the relationships they had with their mothers
vast proportion of the women had the same attachment type to their infant as to their own mother, supporting the concept of the internal working model influence parenting style.

(Harlow support - monkeys with poor or no attachments had difficulties parenting)

Question 207

influence of early attachments strength - research support

Answer 207

studies have linked attachment to later development and reviews of such evidence have concluded that early attachment consistently predicts later attachments, emotional wellbeing and attachment to own children.
how strong the relationship is between early attachment type and the aspect of later development. so whilst insecure-avoidant attachments seems to convey fairly mild disadvantages for any aspects of development, disorganised attachment is strongly associated with later mental disorders.
this means that secure attachment as a baby appears to convey advantages for future development while disorganised attachment appear to seriously disadvantage children.

Question 208

counterpoint of research support - influence of early attachments

Answer 208

not all evidence supports the existence of close links between early attachments and later development.
for example, a longitudinal study followed 43 individuals from 1 year of age. at age 16 attachment was assessed using the adult attachment interview and there was no evidence of continuity.
this means that it is not clear to what extent the quality of early attachment really predicts later development. there may be other important factors.

Question 209

definition of abnormality - statistical infrequency

Answer 209

occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic or behaviour
used when dealing with a characteristic that can be measured (majority scores cluster)
example - IQ and intellectual disability disorder
average IQ is around 100 - normal distribution most people around 85 and 115
only 2% of people score below 70 - liable to receive a diagnosis of intellectual disability disorders

Question 210

strength of using statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality - real world application

Answer 210

used in clinical practice, both as part of formal diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of an individual’s symptoms. for example a diagnosis of intellectual disability disorders requires an IQ of below 70.
an example of statistical infrequency used in an assessment tool is the Beck depression inventory. a score of 30+ is widely interpreted as indicating severe depression.
this show that the value of the statistical infrequency criterion is useful in diagnosis and assessment processes.

Question 211

weakness of using statistical infrequency as definition of abnormality- unusual characteristic can be positive

Answer 211

infrequent characteristics can be positive as well as negative.
for every person with an IQ below 70 there is another with an IQ above 130. yet we would not think of someone as abnormal for having a high IQ.
similarly, we would not think of someone with a very low depression score on the BDI as abnormal. these examples show that being usual or at one end of the psychological spectrum does not necessarily make someone abnormal.
this means that, although statistical infrequency can form part of assessment and diagnosis procedures, it is never sufficient as a sole basis for defining abnormality

Question 212

definition of abnormality - deviation from social norms

Answer 212

concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society (explicit and implicit)
norms are specific to the culture we live in, e.g. homosexuality is viewed as abnormal is viewed as abnormal and illegal in some cultures
examples = antisocial personality disorder (impulsive, aggressive, irresponsible) - don’t conform to social standards

Question 213

strength of deviation of social norms as a definition of abnormality - real world application

Answer 213

deviation of social norms is used in clinical practice. for example, the key characteristics of antisocial personality disorders is the failure to conform to culturally normal ethical behavior.
e.g. recklessness, aggression, violating the right of others and deceitfulness.
these signs of the disorder are all deviations from social norms
such norms also plays a part in diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder, where the term strange is used to characterise the thinking, behaviour and appearance of people with the disorder.
this shows that the deviation from social norms criterion has value in psychiatry.

Question 214

weakness of deviation of social norms as a definition of abnormality - cultural and situational relativism

Answer 214

variability between social norms in different cultures and even different situations
a person from one cultural group may label someone from another group as abnormal using their standards rather than the person’s standards
for example, the experience of hearing voices is the norm in some cultures but would be seen as a sign of abnormality in the UK.
also, even one cultural context social norms differ from one situation to another. Aggression and deceitful behaviour in the context of family life is more socially inacceptable than in the context of corporate deal-making.
this means that it is difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different situations and cultures.

Question 215

definition of abnormality - failure to function adequately

Answer 215

occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day to day living

example - depression = may struggle to get out of bed and go to work, find it difficult to communicate with family - inability to cope with the demands of everyday life.

Question 216

failure to function adequately - strength - represents a threshold for help

Answer 216

the criterion is that it represents a sensible threshold for when people need professional help.
most of us have symptoms of mental disorder to some degree at some time. in fact, according to the mental health charity mind, around 25% of people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in any given year. however, many people press on in the face of fairly severe symptoms.
it tends to be at the point that we cease to function adequately that people seek professional help and are noticed and referred for help by others
this criterion means that treatment and services can be targeted to those who need them most

Question 217

failure to function adequately - weakness - discrimination and social control.

Answer 217

easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices as abnormal.
in practice it is hard to say when someone is really failing to function and when they have simply chosen to deviate from social norms.
for example, not having a job or permanent address might seem like failing to function and for some people it would be. however people with alternative lifestyles chose to live off grid. similarly those who favour high risk leisure activities or unusual spiritual practices could be classed, unreasonably, as irrational and perhaps a danger to self.
this means that people who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and their freedom of choice may be restricted.

Question 218

definitions of abnormality - deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 218

occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health.

• no symptoms or distress
• rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
• self actualisation
• can cope with stress
• realistic views of the world
• good self esteem
• independent to other people
• can successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure

Question 219

strength - deviation from ideal mental health - comprehensive definition

Answer 219

concept of ideal mental health includes a range of criteria for distinguishing mental health from illness.
in fact it covers most of the reasons why we might seek help with mental health. this in turn means that an individual’s mental health can be discussed meaningfully with a range of professionals who might take different theoretical views e.g. medically trained psychiatrist might focus on symptoms whereas a humanistic counsellor might be more interested in self-actualisation.
this means that ideal mental health provides a checklist against which we can assess ourselves and others and discuss psychological issues with a range of professionals.

Question 220

weakness - deviation from ideal mental health - may be culture - bound

Answer 220

different elements are not equally applicable across a range of cultures
the criteria for ideal mental health are firmly located in the context of USA and western Europe.
in particular the concept of self-actualisation would probably be dismissed as self-indulgent in much of the world. even within western Europe there is quite a bit of variation in the value placed on personal independence e.g. high in Germany and low in Italy
furthermore what defines success in our working, social and love lives is very different in different cultures
this means that it is difficult to apply the concept of ideal mental health from one culture to another.

Question 221

cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 221

selective attention to the phobia stimulus - struggle to concentrate on something else then their phobia.

irrational beliefs - hold unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimuli, that cant be easily explained and don’t have any basis in reality.

cognitive beliefs - the perception of a phobia may be inaccurate or unrealistic

Question 222

behavioral characteristics of phobias

Answer 222

panic - response when in presence of the phobia stimulus - crying, screaming or running away
avoidance - conscious effect to prevent contact with phobia stimulus
endurance - remain in the presence of the phobia stimulus to keep an eye on it.

Question 223

emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 223

anxiety
fear
emotional response is unreasonable - greater than the usual and disproportionate.

Question 224

behavioural characteristics of depression

Answer 224

activity levels - reduced levels of energy or psychomotor agitation, struggle to relax
disruption in sleep and eating behaviour
aggression and self harm

Question 225

emotional characteristics of depression

Answer 225

lowered mood
anger
lowered self-esteem

Question 226

cognitive characteristics of depression

Answer 226

poor concentration
attending to and dwelling on the negative
absolutist thinking

Question 227

define two process model

Answer 227

an explanation for the onset and persistence of disorders that create anxiety, such as phobias
the two processes are classical conditioning for onset and operant conditioning for persistence.

Question 228

behavioural approach to explaining phobias

Answer 228

two processes model - classical and operational conditioning

Question 229

little albert - classical conditioning and acquisition of phobias

Answer 229

Watson and Rayner
little Albert - 9 month old baby
started with no anxieties - show white rat and tried to play with it
even ever rat was present made a loud, frightening noise
UCS - noise
UCR - fear
NS - rat
CS - rat
CR - fear
conditioning generalised to similar furry objects e.g. non-white rabbit, fur coat, Santa clause beard

Question 230

maintained by operant conditioning

Answer 230

classical conditioning tends to decline over time but phobias are long lasting.
Mowrer explains this as the result of operant conditioning
behaviour is reinforced or punished
negative reinforcement - avoid negative situation - result in a desirable consequence of not being scared - repeat the behaviour

Question 231

strength of the two process model for explaining phobias - real world application

Answer 231

real world application to exposure therapies
the distinctive element of the two process model is the idea that phobias are maintained by avoidance of phobic stimulus. this is important in explaining why people with phobias benefit from being exposed to the phobic stimulus. once the avoidance behaviour is prevented it ceases to be reinforced by the experience of anxiety reduction and avoidance therefore declines.
in behavioural terms the phobia is the avoidance behaviour so when this avoidance is prevented the phobia is cured.
this shows that value of the two -process approach because it identifies a means of treating phobias.

Question 232

weakness of the two process model at explaining phobias - cognitive aspect of phobias

Answer 232

doesn’t account for the cognitive aspects of phobias
behavioural explanation, including the two-process model, are geared towards explaining behaviour. in the case of phobias the key behaviour avoidance of the phobic stimulus.
however, we know that phobias are not simply avoidance responses, they also have a significant cognitive component. for example people hold irrational beliefs about the phobic stimulus. the two process model explains avoidance behaviour but does not offer an adequate explanation for phobic cognitions.
this means that the two process model does not completely explain the symptoms of phobias

Question 233

strength of two process model (phobias) - phobias and traumatic experiences

Answer 233

evidence for the link between bad experiences and phobias
little albert illustrates how a frightening experience involving a stimulus can lead to a phobia of that stimulus. more evidence comes from a study that found that 73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience, mostly involving dentistry. this can be compared to a control group of people with low dental anxiety where only 21% had experienced a traumatic event.
this conforms that the association between stimulus and an unconditioned response does lead to the development of the phobia.

Question 234

counterpoint to phobias and traumatic experience - two process model evaluation

Answer 234

not all phobias appear following a bad experience. in fact some common phobias such as snakes phobias occur in populations where very few people have any experience of snakes let alone traumatic experiences. also considering the other direction not all frightening experiences led to phobias.
this means that the association between phobias and frightening experiences is not as strong as we would expect if behavioural theories provided a complete explanation.

Question 235

systematic desensitisation

Answer 235

gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning.
learn to relax in the presence of the phobic stimulus - learn new response/ counterconditioning
3 processes:
1.the anxiety hierarchy - client and therapist rank a list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety in order of least to most frightening.
2. relaxation - breathing exercises or mental imagery techniques or mediation or medication
3. exposure - exposed to the stimulus while in a relaxed state. serval sessions, starting at the bottom of the list.

Question 236

strength of systematic desensitisation - evidence of effectiveness

Answer 236

Gilroy et al followed 42 people who had SD for spider phobias in 3, 45 minute sessions.
at both 3 and 33 month the SD group were less fearful than control group treated by relaxation without exposure.
in recent review psychologists have concluded that SD is effective for specific phobias, social phobias and agoraphobias
this means that SD is likely to be helpful for people with phobias

Question 237

strength of systematic desensitisation - people with learning disabilities

Answer 237

some people requiring treatment for phobias also have a learning disability. however the main alternatives to SD are not suitable. people with learning disabilities often struggle with cognitive therapies that require a high level of rational thought. people with learning disabilities may also feel confused and distressed by the traumatic experience of flooding.
this means that SD is often the most appropriate treatment for people with learning difficulties who have phobias

Question 238

flooding

Answer 238

exposing people with a phobia to their phobic stimulus but without a gradual build-up in an anxiety hierarchy. - long sessions
how it works - process of extinction = extinguish the conditioned stimulus by not encountering the unconditioned stimulus resulting in the conditioned stimulus to be avoided
achieve relaxation in the presence of the phobic stimulus
ethical safeguards = informed consent

Question 239

strength of flooding - cost effective

Answer 239

highly cost effective
flooding is clinically effective and can be easily implicated with the NHS as a clinical treatment due to it being cost effective and not expensive. this is because flooding can be used in one session as opposed to 10 session in treatments like SD when achieving the same results. even allowing for longer session this makes flooding more cost effective.
this means that more people can be treated at the same cost with flooding than with SD or other therapists.

Question 240

weakness of flooding - traumatic

Answer 240

highly unpleasant experience
confronting one’s phobic stimulus is an extreme form provokes tremendous anxiety. it was found that participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD.
this raises the ethical issue for psychologists of knowing causing stress to their clients, although this is not a serious issue provided they obtain informed consent. more seriously the traumatic nature of flooding means that attrition rates are higher than for SD
this suggests that overall therapists may avoid using this treatment

Question 241

genetic explanation

Answer 241

genes are involved in individual vulnerability to OCD
Lewis - observed that 37% of his OCD patients had parent with OCD, and 21% had siblings with OCD. - genetic vulnerability
diathesis-stress model = some environmental stress necessary to trigger the condition

Question 242

genetic explanation - candidate genes and polygenetic

Answer 242

230 genes involved in the condition and different genetic variations contributions to different types of OCD.
COMT gene = dopamine neurotransmitter, higher levels
dopamine = associated with motor functions, pleasure and impulsive behaviour
SERT gene = linked to serotonin and affects the transport of this neurotransmitter, lower levels
serotonin = role in sleep, emotions, social behaviour and also believed to have a role in preventing repetition of tasks.

Question 243

strength of the genetic explanation for OCD - research support

Answer 243

strong evidence base
multiple source of evidence from a variety of sources that strongly suggest that some people are vulnerable to OCD as a result of their genetic vulnerable to OCD as a result of their genetic make up. one source of evidence is twin studies have founded that 68% of identical twins (MZ) shared OCD as opposed to 31% of non-identical ( DZ) twins. another source of evidence for a genetic influence on OCD is family studies. research has found that a person with a family member diagnosed with OCD is around 4x as likely to develop it as someone without.
these research studies suggest that there must be some genetic influence on the development of OCD

Question 244

weakness of the genetic explanation of OCD - environmental risk factors

Answer 244

strong evidence for the idea that genetic variation can make a person more or less vulnerable to OCD. However, OCD does not appear to be entirely genetic in origin and it seems that environmental risk factors can also trigger or increase the risk of developing OCD. in one study it was found that over half the OCD clients in their sample had experienced a traumatic event in their past. OCD was also more severe in those with one or more traumas
this means that genetic vulnerability only provides a particle explanation for OCD.

Question 245

neural explanation for OCD

Answer 245

OCD is likely to affect the levels of key neurotransmitters as well as structure of the brain.

role of serotonin = help regulate mood, normal transmissions of mood relevant information doesn’t take place and people may experience low moods and a reducing in the functioning of the serotonin system

decision making = impaired decision making, abnormal functions in the frontal lobe that is responsible for logical thinking and making decisions. Parahippocampal gyrus associated with processing unpleasant emotions, functions abnormally.

Question 246

neural explanation - worry circuit

Answer 246

orbitifrontal cortex sends signal to the thalamus about potential worry
usual minor worries are suppressed by the caudate nucleus - OCD damaged CN
worry not suppressed and the thalamus is altered and confirms the worry to the OFC.
an over active thalamus would in a increased motivation to clean or check for safety.
if the thalamus was overactive the OFC would also become overactive
creating the worry circuit

Question 247

strength of the neural explanation - research support

Answer 247

antidepressants that work purely on serotonin are effective at reducing OCD symptoms and this suggests that serotonin may be involved in OCD. also, OCD symptoms form part of conditions that are known to be biological in origin, such as Parkinson’s disease, which cause muscle tremors and paralysis. if a biological disorder produces OCD symptoms, then we may assume the biological processes underlie OCD.
this suggest that biological factors may also be responsible for OCD

Question 248

weakness of the neural explanation for OCD - no unique neural system

Answer 248

serotonin-OCD link may not be unique to OCD
many people with OCD also experience clinical depression, means they are facing co-morbidity. this depression probably involves disruption to the action of serotonin. this leaves us with a logical problem when it comes to serotonin as a possible basis for OCD. it could simply be that serotonin activity is disrupted in many people with

Question 249

what do drug therapists aim to do

Answer 249

decrease levels of neurotransmitters in the brain to increase or decrease their activity
low serotonin in OCD - drug therapists work in various of ways to increase serotonin.

Question 250

SSRIs - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

Answer 250

medical treatment for OCD - type of antidepressant
serotonin system - affected
take daily for 3 to 4 months to impact symptoms
fluoxetine

Question 251

Serotonin and neurons

Answer 251

serotonin released from presynaptic neuron
travels across the synapse
neurotransmitter chemically conveys signals from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron
serotonin is broken down and reused
- inhibitory = decrease firing potential

Question 252

what SSRIs do

Answer 252

prevent reabsorption and breakdown of serotonin (neurotransmitters) - block reuptake
increase levels of serotonin in the synapse
thus serotonin continues to simulate the postsynaptic neuron

Question 253

combining SSRIs with other treatments

Answer 253

SSRI used along side CBT to treat OCD
drugs reduce emotional symptoms e.g. feeling anxious or depressed
allowing patients to engage in CBT more effectively

Question 254

strength of drug therapies - evidence of effectiveness

Answer 254

clear evidence that to show that SSRIs reduce symptoms severity and improve the quality of life of people with OCD.
for example, studies comparing SSRI’s and placebos in the treatment of OCD found that in all 17 studies SSRIs showed significantly better outcomes than the placebo condition
typical symptoms were reduced by around 70% for people taking SSRIs and the remaining 30% of symptoms could be help with therapies and other drug treatments
this means that drugs appear to be helpful for most people with OCD

Question 255

counterpoint of the effectiveness of drug therapies - evidence

Answer 255

some evidence to suggest that even if drug treatments are helpful for most people with OCD they may not be the most effective treatment available.
when a study carried out a systematic review of outcome studies, it concluded that both cognitive and behavioural therapies were more effective than SSRIs in the treatment of OCD.
this means that drugs may not be the optimum treatment for OCD.

Question 256

strength of drug therapies - cost effective and non-disruptive

Answer 256

a strength of drug therapies in general is that they are cheap compared to psychological treatments because many thousands of tablets or liquid doses can be manufactured in the same time it takes to conduct one psychological therapy session.
using drugs to treat OCD is therefore good value for public health systems like the NHS, and represent a good use of limited funds. as compared to psychological therapies, SSRIs are also non-disruptive to peoples lives. as drug therapies mean that you simply have to take a pill to decrease symptoms whereas psychological therapists involve spending time in attending therapy sessions.
this means that drugs are popular as a treatment for doctors and OCD patients.

Question 257

weakness of drug therapies - serious side effects

Answer 257

although drugs such as SSRIs help most people, a small majority don’t benefit for people. some people also experience side effects such as indigestion, blurred vision and loss of sex drive. these side-effects are usually temporary, however they can be quite destressing for people and for a minority they are long lasting. for example 1 in 10 people experience erection problems and weight gain, 1 in 100 become aggression and experience heart-related problems.
this means that some people have a reduced quality of life as a result of taking drugs and may stop taking them altogether, meaning the drugs cease to be effective.