Psychological Knowledge

Question 1

What is this debate mostly concerned with?

Answer 1

The application of psychological knowledge to society.

Question 2

List 5 areas of Cognitive Psychology that can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 2

1) Memory models
2) Key Question
3) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
4) Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil (2012)
5) Baddeley (1966)

Question 3

Describe how the Multi-Store Model in Cognitive Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 3

• States that rehearsal of information strengthens the memory so it is less likely to decay
• Offers advice to students in that if they keep revisiting information learned it will be less likely to decay in the LTM

Question 4

Offer a strength and weakness of the MSM applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 4

S - Clive Wearing’s case study supports the real life application of the MSM and its structure due to having retrograde amnesia and being unable to form new LTM showing a degree of separation
W - MSM is too simplistic, it reduces memory down to 3 components with little detail on the complex functions and processes of each and doesn’t account for when rehearsal is not needed to form a new LTM, therefore its explanation of memory and so advice is not sufficient

Question 5

Describe how the Working Memory Model in Cognitive Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 5

• It states that there are 3 slave systems, the phonological loop being one that process auditory information subvocally
• Offers an explanation for dyslexia being an impairment in the phonological loop in that they find it difficult to process/rehearse a sequence of auditory info so support such as extra time in exams can be given

Question 6

Offer a strength and weakness of the WMM applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 6

S - KF’s case study supports the real life application of the model and its structure due to suffering a motorcycle accident which decreased his digit span to 1 but his visual memory remained intact showing separation of slave systems
W - WMM is too simplistic, it explains very little and the processes and functions in the LTM due to only focusing on the STM, therefore is limited to explaining memory as a whole which lacks credibility

Question 7

Describe how Tulving’s theory in Cognitive Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 7

• It states that episodic memories have cues that are encoded at the point of learning and are used to retrieve the memory
• Offers advice for EWT in that the cues from a crime scene that can be accessed through contextual reinstatement used in the cognitive interview will produce more accurate episodic memory recall

Question 8

Offer a strength and weakness of Tulving’s theory applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 8

S - Kenealy’s (1997) research into cues supports as he found that ppts recalled more words when in the same mood at the time of learning
W - HM’s case study rejects this theory as improved at drawing a star every day but had no recall of drawing one before, this suggests a third type of memory called procedural in which skills can be carried out without thinking about it

Question 9

Describe how Schematic theory in Cognitive Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 9

• It states that people’s schemas reconstruct the original memory through the rationalisation and confabulation of information
• Offers implications for EWT in that people’s schemas will change parts of information they remember to make it make sense to them and so people should not be convicted on EWT alone due to its unreliability

Question 10

Offer a strength and weakness of schematic theory applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 10

S - Bartlett’s theory can be scientifically tested due to operationalising reconstruction in the form of remembering details of a story accurately that can be counted each time making its reductionism scientific
W - Flashbulb memory is an alternative theory which states that the details of a specific memory are less susceptible to change due to the significance in their distinctive nature making them more vivid which rejects the notion of reconstruction

Question 11

Describe how the key question in Cognitive Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 11

• How can psychologist’s understanding of memory help dementia patients?
• Memory models offer explanations for dementia and methods that may help a dementia patient to remember
• MSM states separate stores can lead to no new LTM being formed if STM impaired or decay if retrieval failure
• MSM offers advice of labelling things to limit rehearsal
• WMM states impairment in central executive making dual tasks hard to coordinate
• WMM offers advice of limiting distractions when talking
• Tulving’s theory states cue retrieval failure of episodic memories due to their higher susceptibility
• Tulving’s theory offers advice of using cues that are familiar to patient like favourite music

Question 12

Offer a strength and weakness of the key question in Cognitive Psychology applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 12

S - Baddeley’s research into dual task for dementia patients supports as they performed the same as control on different encoding tasks (visual and auditory) but significantly worse of same (2 auditory)
W - Drugs that reduce symptoms of dementia by decreasing the breakdown of acetylcholine suggests cause for dementia is more biological than cognitive

Question 13

Describe how cognitive behavioural therapy in Cognitive Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 13

• It uses cognitive and behavioural principles to alter the way someone thinks and behaves in response to something
• Offers benefits to violent criminals with anger management programs to help reduce aggressive behaviour

Question 14

Offer a strength and weakness of cognitive behavioural theory applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 14

S - The programmes offer criminals long-term life skills to do their focus on changing behaviours with methods that can be applied to real life that lowers their risk
W - Howells (2005) found that anger management programs only work for those who are motivated to change therefore for criminals who take part in them as a condition for their release may not benefit if they aren’t committed

Question 15

Describe how Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil’s (2012) study can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 15

• They found that digit span increased with age up until age 17 where the average is 7 and that subvocal recall developed age 7 due to the significant difference in result of age 5 (3.7) and 8 (4.6)
• Offers implications with the understanding of the development of the phonological loop and how it can become impaired which may reduce digit span for those with learning disabilities as an identifier

Question 16

Offer a strength and weakness of Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil’s (2012) study applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 16

S - High validity due to using a matched pairs design in which none of the 570 Spanish children had learning disabilities that would affect results and therefore is credible in its demonstration of the development of the phonological loop
W - Low task validity due to recalling a list of digits, increasing in length after every accurate recall lacks mundane realism as everyday verbal memory is used to hold sequences of words to form sentences

Question 17

Describe how Baddeley’s (1966) study can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 17

• He found that STM encodes acoustically and LTM encodes semantically
• Offers advice to methods of revision for students as simply rereading content will not

Question 18

Offer a strength and weakness of Baddeley’s (1966) study applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 18

S - High internal validity due to the high control over EVs and the manipulation of the IV (semantically or acoustically similar words and their controls) and the DV (how many words were accurately recalled from the list) which allows a causal relationship to be established
W - Low task validity due to operationalising memory as accurately recalling the correct order of words from a list of 10 semantically or acoustically similar which lacks mundane realism as doesn’t reflect how memory works in real life

Question 19

List 6 areas of Social Psychology that can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 19

1) Theories of obedience
2) Theories of prejudice
3) Key question
4) Assertive Community Therapy
5) Milgram (1963)
6) Sherif (1954)

Question 20

Describe how agency theory in Social Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 20

• It states that people lose their autonomy in the agentic state, giving up their free will to an authority figure and blindly obeying their instructions
• Offers an understanding about why people blindly obey authority figures and so provides opportunities for solutions to reduce blind obedience as it can be harmful

Question 21

Offer a strength and weakness of agency theory applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 21

S - Hofling’s (1966) study supports as he found 95% of nurses would administer an overdose to a patient when told to do so by a doctor over the phone, therefore they gave up their autonomy in the agentic state
W - Deterministic due to stating that people are not in control of their actions in the agentic state due to giving up their free will to the authority figure but people are more complex than that

Question 22

Describe how social impact theory in Social Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 22

• It states that a high number of people conforming, a close proximity to the authority figure, and power are all situational factors that increase levels of obedience
• It offers understanding of the events of WW2 and the Nazis’ obedience to Hitler as there were a high number of people conforming to killing Jews, Hitler’s proximity was increased with propaganda and his patrols, and he had power

Question 23

Offer a strength and weakness of social impact theory applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 23

S - It is generalisable to other cultures due to the situational factors that can arise anywhere at anytime due to describing ideas present in all groups, making it more credible
W - It is reductionist as it assumes obedience can be understood with 3 factors of number, proximity, and power and so ignores dispositional factors that may determine how obedient someone is - such as authoritarianism

Question 24

Describe how realistic conflict theory as an explanation for prejudice in Social Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 24

• It states that prejudice arises as a result of competition for limited resources and conflict of interest between groups
• It offers the solution of a superordinate goal to reduce prejudice by getting groups to work towards a common goal or interest

Question 25

Offer a strength and weakness of realistic conflict theory applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 25

S - It also states that competition can be a perception meaning there may not actually be a lack of resources or a reason for competition suggesting that prejudice can be more easily reduced
W - Reductionist as it only states that prejudice arises as a result of situational factors from competition for resources from the environment which ignores individual’s disposition towards prejudice against others

Question 26

Describe how authoritarianism as an explanation for prejudice in Social Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 26

• It states that those with strict parents would feel hostility towards them however they fear punishment if they do act hostile towards them and so suppress it and displace it onto a weaker target of minority groups
• It offers understanding of why people are naturally prejudice towards others when there are no social factors affecting it and so interventions can be put in place to change this personality type

Question 27

Offer a strength and weakness of authoritarianism applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 27

S - Adorno’s (1950) questionnaire supports as he found that those who scored highly on the F-scale shared traits of hostility towards minorities which would lead to prejudice
W - Low validity due to researcher bias from Adorno’s (1950) experiment when he interviewed people with a high F-score to see if there were any correlations in their childhood and so he would be subjective in looking for factors they share

Question 28

Describe how the key question in Social Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 28

• Why do ordinary people commit genocide?
• Theories of obedience and prejudice offer explanations as to why people commit genocide
• Agency theory states it is due to an authority figure giving an instruction (such as genocide) which puts people in the agentic state and gives up their free will
• Social identity theory states the social comparison of ‘us’ and ‘them’ may escalate to prejudice towards the out-group with the want to get rid of them through genocide
• Realistic conflict theory states that competition for resources and a conflict of interest between groups causing prejudice
• Authoritarianism states that prejudice arises as a result of a strict upbringing that causes inward hostility towards parents that can’t be expressed due to fear of punishment so it is instead directed to minorities

Question 29

Offer a strength and weakness of the key question in Social Psychology applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 29

S - Sherif’s (1954) study found that prejudice due to competition can be resolved with superordinate goals of working towards a common interest and so is a more credible theory at understanding prejudice due to providing a solution
W - Wetherall’s (1982) study rejects social identity theory causing genocide from prejudice as he found that Polynesian children were more generous in giving points to the out-group of white American children suggesting a difference in cultures that the theory doesn’t address

Question 30

Describe how assertive community therapy in Social Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 30

• It applies the explanation of social causation hypothesis causing the development of SZ as a result of lower social status, social adversity, and immigration
• It offers treatment to those with SZ by helping them deal with stressful factors in life that can improve their functioning by aiding them with things like banking

Question 31

Offer a strength and weakness of assertive community therapy applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 31

S - Bond et al (2000) supports ACT as he concluded from 25 studies that it was highly effective in engaging clients and preventing rehospitalisation
W - It is insufficient as a therapy for SZ alone as it doesn’t help with any positive symptoms of the disorder such ass delusions and hallucinations that can only be resolved with medication therefore is less credible

Question 32

Describe how Milgram’s (1963) study can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 32

• He found that 65% of ppts administered the full 450V when asked to do so by the experimenter even after the bang on the wall at 300V which indicated that the confederate learner was experiencing pain
• It benefits society as it showed how dangers blind obedience can be and that it isn’t just the German population who blindly follow authority and commit severe actions

Question 33

Offer a strength and weakness of Milgram’s (1963) study applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 33

S - He operationalised obedience into a measurable concept of increase in voltage of electric shock administered to a confederate which made the data more objective and scientific
W - Low ecological validity as it took place in a prestigious, artificial environment that was unfamiliar to the ppt and so may not have reflected their obedient behaviour in real life where they are in situations familiar to them

Question 34

Describe how Sherif’s (1954) study can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 34

• He found high prejudice between the two groups of boys during stage 2 when competition was introduced as friendship levels were 6% for the Rattlers and 7% for the Eagles compared to stage 3 when prejudice was reduced with a superordinate goal of fixing the water shortage when friendship levels went up to 36% for the Rattlers and 23% for the Eagles
• It disputes the contact hypothesis as a way to reduce prejudice and offers superordinate goals as the solution in which groups work towards a common goal/interest

Question 35

Offer a strength and weakness of Sherif’s (1954) study applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 35

S - High ecological validity due to the ppts being unaware of the study and having it take place in a summer camp setting and so the 22 11-year old boys’ behaviour will be natural and free from DCs
W - Low validity due to the experiment only lasting 2 weeks which lacks mundane realism of the complexity of how extreme prejudice is formed against other groups over time

Question 36

List 4 areas of Biological Psychology that can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 36

1) Explanations for aggression
2) Psychodynamic approach
3) Twin and adoption studies
4) Raine (1997)

Question 37

Describe how evolution as an explanation for aggression in Biological Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 37

• It states that certain genes that aid the survival of ancestors are passed on to offspring through natural selection causing a predisposition to certain behaviours such as aggression
• It offers implications of certain behaviours being innate and so are harder to change due to being related to genes and eugenics is unethical so predictions for those who are likely to show the behaviour is useful for early intervention

Question 38

Offer a strength and weakness of evolution as an explanation for aggression applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 38

S - Lorenz’s (1963) research supports as he found that male animals used aggression to fight off other males to protect offspring which is a trait that would be inherited
W - Deterministic due to failing to consider the role of free will by assuming that behaviours are innate as a result of evolution and so are unavoidable however humans and behaviour is more complex than that

Question 39

Describe how brain structure as an explanation for aggression in Biological Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 39

• It states that areas of the brain have certain functions and so damage to them can cause certain behaviours, such as damage to the prefrontal cortex (which is responsible for self-control) may lead someone to become impulsive and violent
• It offers advice when convicting criminals in that if they have brain abnormalities they may not be fully accountable for their actions and so their sentence may be reduced

Question 40

Offer a strength and weakness of brain structure as an explanation for aggression applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 40

S - Raine’s (1997) research supports as he found that the brains of murderers pleading NGRI were different to non-murderers in activity that was assessed using a PET scan
W - Reductionist as it ignores the role of the environment on aggressive behaviour, SLT states that aggression can be learnt through the observation of role models being aggressive instead of a biological reason

Question 41

Describe how neurotransmitters as an explanation for aggression in Biological Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 41

• It states that increased dopamine (responsible for pleasure) causes aggression and low levels of serotonin (responsible for mood and cognition) can’t inhibit the amygdala and so causes increased aggression
• It offers solutions of drugs treatments that can regulate neurotransmitters, such as antipsychotics and SSRIs to reduce the risk of individuals’ aggression in society

Question 42

Offer a strength and weakness of neurotransmitters as an explanation for aggression applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 42

S - Popova (2006) found that selectively bread dogs are docile and have high levels of serotonin which shows a link between level of serotonin and aggression
W - Brendgen (2005) found that social aggression (verbal violence) is a result of the environment and how it shapes the expression of a predisposition to aggressive behaviour suggesting it isn’t purely genes that defines how aggressive behaviour is caused

Question 43

Describe how hormones as an explanation for aggression in Biological Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 43

• It states that high levels of testosterone (a male hormone responsible for reproduction and muscle maintenance) and high levels of cortisol (responsible for stress) cause high levels of aggression
• It offers solutions of hormone therapy in the form of injecting other hormones that regulate the high levels of the ones that cause aggression to reduce the risk to society caused by those being aggressive

Question 44

Offer a strength and weakness of hormones as an explanation for aggression applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 44

S - Wagner’s (1979) found that castrated rats showed little aggression compared to when they were injected testosterone and the aggression levels rose
W - Majority of research is only correlational as high levels of some hormones can be present at the time of aggression meaning a causal relationship cannot be established reducing its credibility

Question 45

Describe how the psychodynamic approach as an explanation for aggression in Biological Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 45

• It identifies that behaviours and reasons for behaviours are buried in the unconscious and so cannot be accessed themselves, such as causes for aggression being due to the Oedipus and Electra complex
• It offers mental health treatment with things like hypnotherapy to access the unconscious mind which has benefited society due to gearing mental health therapies away from barbaric methods such as electrotherapy

Question 46

Offer a strength and weakness of the psychodynamic approach as an explanation for aggression applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 46

S - High validity with Freud’s use of case studies which gather rich in-depth detail about the individual to develop understanding of the topic being researcher=d
W - Concepts that Freud uses are not measurable (e.g. the id, ego, and superego) meaning his hypotheses can’t be falsified which reduce their scientific status

Question 47

Describe how twin and adoption studies in Biological Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 47

• They study twins and adopted children to determine if a behaviour is nature or nurture, using comparisons between MZ and DZ twins for nature and adoption studies for nurture
• It offers understanding as to whether behaviours such as aggression are caused by genes and other biological factors or nurture from the environment which has further implications for treating the undersirable behaviours

Question 48

Offer a strength and weakness of twin studies applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 48

S - High reliability due to using scientific methods such as DNA sequencing and brain scanning which provides objective, quantitative data which is scientific
W - Low validity due to there never being a 100% concordance rate between MZ twins which means that a cause and effect relationship between behaviour being purely biological cannot be established

Question 49

Describe how Raine’s (1997) study can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 49

• He found that the brains of murderers pleading NGRI were different to the brains of non-murderers in terms of activity when tested under a PET scan, such as murderers having lower activity on the left side of their amygdala compared to non-murderers
• It offers advice when convicting murderers pleading NGRI in that if they have brain abnormalities that cause them to be different they may not be fully accountable for their actions and so their sentence may be reduced

Question 50

Offer a strength and weakness of Raine’s (1997) study applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 50

S - High reliability due to using a PET scan which provides objective, quantitative data in the form of an image that can be analysed by multiple researchers and so is more scientific
W - Low task validity due to the CPT involving spotting targets instead of a task that would elicit a violent response to check the difference in activity of aggression therefore lacking mundane realism for brain activity of murderers

Question 51

List 3 areas of Learning Psychology that can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 51

1) Theories of learning
2) Treatments of phobias
3) Watson and Rayner (1920)

Question 52

Describe how classical conditioning in Learning Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 52

• The principles state that people can learn behaviours via an unconditioned stimulus causing an unconditioned response being conditioned to cause that behaviour again
• The principles of learning by association due to behaviour being mainly a result of nurture suggest that undesirable behaviours such as aggression can be unconditioned

Question 53

Offer a strength and weakness of classical conditioning applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 53

S - Pavlov’s (1927) study supports as he conditioned a dog to salivate (unconditioned response) at the noise of a bell (unconditioned stimulus) in the presence of food (neutral stimulus) demonstrating their effect
W - Deterministic as it states that people will learn a behaviour through conditioning regardless of their free will as they cannot change it however learning behaviour is more complex than that

Question 54

Describe how operant conditioning in Learning Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 54

• It states that positive and negative reinforcers can shape our behaviour by rewarding desirable behaviour and punishing undesirable behaviour
• These principles offer a treatment structure for AN called token economy in which patients receive secondary reinforces (a token) as a reward when they gain weight to exchange for primary reinforcers (money) which motivates them to continue

Question 55

Offer a strength and weakness of operant conditioning applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 55

S - High reliability due to research (e.g. Skinner) using standardised procedures of administering a reinforcer every time a desirable behaviour is shown (e.g. rats receiving a treat every time they pushed a lever) which means procedures can be replicated to test for consistency and compare
W - SLT as an alternative learning theory which states that behaviours are learnt through observation and are imitated if desirable consequences follow without the need for trial and error

Question 56

Describe how social learning theory in Learning Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 56

• It states that people learn behaviours through observing role models by paying attention to their behaviour due to idolising them, retaining the information by rehearsing it due to seeing them a lot, reproducing the behaviour if they have high self-efficacy and low self-esteem and having the motivation to continue through vicarious reinforcement
• It offers advice on presenting positive role models to children so that they don’t learn undesirable behaviour which is why the Watershed was put in place to show violent programs after 9pm when children go to bed

Question 57

Offer a strength and weakness of social learning theory applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 57

S - Bandura’s (1961) study supports as he found that children who observed adults being verbally and physically aggressive towards a bobo doll reproduced the same behaviours
W - Studies into SLT (e.g. Bandura 1961) only show the short-term effects and don’t look further into whether the behaviour is continued to be reproduced in the future, limiting credibility of real life applications

Question 58

Describe how treatments of phobias in Learning Psychology can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 58

• Treatments of phobias use principles from classical conditioning to associate something positive with the subject of the phobia to remove the fear
• Systematic desensitisation and flooding teaches the patient relaxation methods that they carry out when presented with a depiction of their phobia to associate it with something positive in place of the negative

Question 59

Offer a strength and weakness of treatments of phobias applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 59

S - McGrath’s (1990) study supports as found that 75% of those with specific phobias showed significant improvements following systematic desensitisation
W - The treatment of flooding is unethical due to forcing the patient to experience the highest tier of their phobia which can cause them further stress and fear, resulting in more phobias or PTSD which suggests these principles may not be the best solution

Question 60

Describe how Watson and Rayner’s (1920) study can apply its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 60

• They found that Little Albert had been conditioned to fear a rat due to classical conditioning principles of the rat being an unconditioned stimulus paired with the unconditioned fear response that was a result of the neutral stimulus of a loud bang making him jump
• It suggests that if a fear can be conditioned then it can be unconditioned using the same principles, which is what many therapies for phobias are based on

Question 61

Offer a strength and weakness of Watson and Rayner’s (1920) study applying its psychological knowledge to society.

Answer 61

S - High internal validity due to lab conditions limiting effect of EVs with manipulation of the IV (fear of objects before and after conditioning) and the DV (number of fearful responses) leading to a causal relationship
W - Low generalisability due to using one ppt that was an infant boy from America which doesn’t represent conditioning of phobias for people from other countries, ages, or genders