Psychology and Everyday Life

Question 1

How did Charcot, Freud and others look at psychiatric symptoms as different from those before them?

Answer 1

They saw them as expressions of diseases

Question 2

What is meant by neurosis?

Answer 2

unconscious conflicts express themselves in symptomatology

Question 3

What was informative in regards to psychology during world war one?

Answer 3

shell shock becomes important: soldiers develop PTSD-like symptomatology partly as a result of trauma

For the first time, psychological factors are being posited as causes of symptomatology

Question 4

What effect did psychiatry have on the view of mental disorders?

Answer 4

People discover that certain drugs can be effective treatments (e.g.lithium for psychosis). Antonio Mogaz receives the 1949 de Nobel prize for inventing the lobotomy. This fits with a strongly medical view of mental disorders

Question 5

What opinion did Carl Rogers have on this?

Answer 5

Carl Rogers introduces humanistic psychology; Unconditional acceptance of patients. Therapist treats by listening as much as by talking. This fits with a strongly psychological view of mental disorders

Question 6

What input did Aaron Beck have?

Answer 6

Cognitive therapy; Diseases or patterns of interactions between affect, cognition, and behaviour. Again, more psychological

Question 7

Despite their differences, psychological and psychiatric views of mental disorders share a very important ingredient in comparison to earlier views. What was this ingredient?

Answer 7

They see mental disorders as a part of the natural world that can be systematically studied and understood; Naturalisation.

Question 8

What is meant by antipsychiatry?

Answer 8

In the 1960s, “antipsychiatry” develops. The way people are treated in psychiatric hospitals is demeaning and expels them from society. Perhaps what psychiatrists consider abnormal is actually just normal!

Question 9

Describe Rosenham’s study and what effect it had

Answer 9

8 pseudo patients get themselves admitted into psychiatric hospitals
•The say they hear voices saying ʻemptyʼ and ʻhollow’, but present no other symptoms.
•7 out of 8 received the diagnosis ʻschizophreniaʼ… And the pseudopatients spent 7 to 52 days in the institution
•Rosenhan: “We cannot distinguish the sane from the insane in psychiatric hospitals”
-This strengthened the anti-psychiatry movement (although it may have never of happened)

Question 10

How are these antipsychiatry criticisms still relevent today? (2)

Answer 10

Sharp increases of medication for depression but evidence for effectiveness does not justify this increase. Dehue: Our conception of disorders like depression has radically medicalised. Increasing prevalence indicates a change in society rather than in people

Increases of medication are a general phenomenon, E.g.SSRI’s for depression, Ritalin for ADHD in children. Prevalence however does not seem to get any lower. How should we interpret this?

Question 11

What is interesting about the concept of burn-out?

Answer 11

It is a prevalent diagnosis of this day and age, especially among our generation. This increase in prevalence raises the question: why and how has this become such a prevalent diagnosis? Burn-out did not develop in a ‘historic vacuum’ (neither do other diagnostic categories)

Burn-out was first observed among employees in human services (health-care, psychology, education). Until 1990s, burn-out was restricted to these professions. •Later, research follows. Now, there is an incredibly extensive line of research on burn-out. Since2003 official diagnosis in Sweden, not in other countries(not part of DSM V), however, informally, we treat it as an official diagnosis.

Question 12

What argument is there for burn-out not being a 21st century disease?

Answer 12

Neurasthenia and burn-out have some interesting parallels. Fatigue and stress are symptoms that are universal and not time-specific. However, social factors seem to be a crucial aspect of burn-out.

Question 13

How did Michael Foucalt draw a relation between Psychology and power?

Answer 13

Because scientific categories order society, they are political as well. According to Foucault, mental illness is a way to exercise power and to outcast people. Mental disorders legitimise exercising power and have often done so in the past (runaway slave syndrome, societ union etc). To bring aberrant behaviours ‘under the scientific gaze’ is an important step because disorders become real in the public image.

Question 14

Describe Ian Hacking’s looping effect of social kinds

Answer 14

Social kinds can start out as arbitrary, but acquire causal power in our social system. Psychological categories often do this, because they become part of people conceptualisation of their own identity.

E.g.the diagnosis “Major Depressive Episode” has arbitrary components (“5 out of 9 symptoms” etc.). However the diagnosis steers social reality. After diagnosis, people may interpret their behaviour differently. Society also treats people differently (e.g. they become eligible for therapy and can access supporting funds)

Question 15

Who did the first modern psychological test and what did it consist of?

Answer 15

Binet attempts to assess children’s level of intelligence. Instead of assessing basic psychological function like Galton (e.g.response time), he lets children solve problems. Binet’s tests are used as a practical method for the teacher to identify the kids who are in need of extra help.

Question 16

Why did Binet’s test take off in america rather than europe?

Answer 16

Many(European) immigrants come in through Ellis Island (NY): who are ‘good enough’ to be useful? WWI: which soldiers are mentally stable enough to fulfill their tasks?•How to structure this ‘new country’ (a country without an aristocracy, like manyEuropean countries)

Question 17

What did Lewis Terman accomplish?

Answer 17

Revised the Binet-Simon test into the Stanford-Binet test.

Question 18

What did Lewis Termin further argue?

Answer 18

Fascinated by the genetic basis of intelligence. Argued for a social order based on intelligence tests.

Tests were expected to ‘bring tens of thousands of these high-grade defectives under the surveillance and protection of society’ (Terman, 1916), so that crime and poverty could be eliminated.

Question 19

What was the psychometric core of Binet’s approach?

Answer 19

The total score

Question 20

Are tests or teacher judgements more reliable?

Answer 20

Tests + less biased

Question 21

What aspect of psychology did most influences of psychology have to do with? Define this

Answer 21

Applied psychology = the application of psychological knowledge and research methods to solve practical
problems.

Question 22

What appeared at the end of the nineteenth century which brough about a new era?

Answer 22

Neurologists = physicians who treated milder forms of mental problems outside the asylums using communication, hypnosis and suggestion.

Question 23

Why were psychologists largely excluded from treatment pre WWII? What was they confined to?

Answer 23

Psychologists were largely excluded from treatment because psychiatrists lobbied to have psychoanalysis confined to practitioners with a medical degree. The main task of psychologists was to administer psychological tests.

Question 24

What happened during WWII which had an effect on psychology?

Answer 24

One well-known phenomenon during the war was shell-shock. Because of this, among other things, there was increased need for advice (who is prone to shell-shock) and treatment (for those suffering from shell-shock) during the war, so psychologists became more involved.

Question 25

What other effect did the rising demand for treatment have on psychology?

Answer 25

The rising demand for treatment also provided room for new developments in therapy. Rogers proposed client-centered therapy as an alternative to psychoanalysis.

Question 26

Name three characteristics of a good therapist according to Rogers

Answer 26

* Unconditional positive regard: unconditional, non-judgmental support; * Empathic understanding: ensuring that one understand the client’s thoughts, feelings and point of view; * Congruence: genuine support and understanding, not just the implementation of a therapeutic technique.

Question 27

What six developments strengthened the position of psychologists after the war?

Answer 27

(1) Antipsychiatry movement: the treatment of patients in asylums was questioned. Psychiatry had experimented with a number of controversial and invasive biological treatments (lobotomy, electric shocks) which had adverse consequences. (2) Input from science: researchers started to evaluate the efficacy of therapies. (3) Psychoactive drugs: psychiatrists increasingly turned toward medicines as the preferred treatment for mental health problems, which gave them an edge over psychologists, lowering their resistance to them. (4) Social management: care for deviant individuals or those in need shifted from private settings to official social services, which led to the welfare state. (5) Individualization: greater focus on the self increased the likelihood that people would want to talk to a professional counsellor about their functioning. (6) Public interest: psychological knowledge became part of general knowledge of the public.

Question 28

Throughout history people have used tests in what three types of situations

Answer 28

(1) Authenticity tests = tests that are used to determine whether a person is who he/she pretends to be and to ascertain guilt or innocence. (2) Qualifying tests = tests that are used to find the person that is best suited for a task. (3) Diagnostic tests = tests that are used to determine which condition a person has.

Question 29

According to Hanson tests involve 3 basic conditions. Explain these

Answer 29

(1) Condition of intent: test are planned, arranged and given by someone with a purpose in mind. (2) Indication: a test is not administered to collect information about performance on the test itself, but as an indication of some other condition. (3) Status: a test involves a difference in status between the test giver and taker.

Question 30

What problems were found with face-to-face interviews when assessed?

Answer 30

It was found that clinical impressions and unstructured interviews did not score high on reliability and validity: there are big differences between raters (inter-rater reliability) and there is little correlation between scores given and subsequent performance levels (validity).

Question 31

What did decisions on the basis of interviews depend on?

Answer 31

Psychologists showed that decisions on the basis of interviews largely depended on the first impression candidates make, which are based on the implicit personality theory the assessor has. Implicit personality theory = mixture of stereotypes and individuation information about associations of personal characteristics, that people use to predict how others will behave in social situations.

Question 32

What is meant by individuation information?

Answer 32

everything known about a person as an individual; the more contact one has with a person, the more individuating information replaces the stereotypical views.

Question 33

Having found ways to measure the quality of a test and that face-to-face interactions didn’t score well, psychologists started to develop which better alternatives? (2)

Answer 33

1. Structured interview = interview in which all interviewees receive the same set of questions. This solved the problem of asking questions depending on the first impression of a candidate. 2. Standardised psychological tests = tests for which psychologists have information about the reliability, validity and expected performance, and which were administered in a uniform way.

Question 34

Why did tests become more popular?

Answer 34

partly because of increased individualisation.

Question 35

Name three of the most frequently used standardised tests

Answer 35

(1) the intelligence test, | (2) the achievement test and (3) the personality test.

Question 36

Describe the IQ test

Answer 36

A test which is supposed to measure the intelligence of a person. It is focused on learning potential and the results correlate with school performance and suitability for intellectually demanding occupations. It was found that intelligence didn’t consist of a single ability, but of a group of abilities.

Question 37

What is meant by an achievement test

Answer 37

A test which measures the knowledge of a particular topic or set of topics. These type of tests were/are used to compare performance of pupils and for the entrance to universities and other positions.

Question 38

What is meant by a personality test?

Answer 38

A test to measure relatively stable and distinctive patterns of behaviour that characterise individuals and their reactions to the environment.

Question 39

Name one of the first personality tests, its purpose and who the creator was

Answer 39

One of the first personality tests was the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet, used to identify those susceptible to shell-shock.

Question 40

What was Woodworth's approach to constructing this questionnaire?

Answer 40

Woodworth’s approach of using his own judgement to decide which questions were informative was rapidly questioned.

Question 41

What did Langer contribute to this field?

Answer 41

Langer tested the usefulness of his questions by administering them to psychiatric participants and non- psychiatric participants. He only retained the questions that made a clear difference between the 2 groups, thus, empirically testing his validity and not only taking face validity into account.

Question 42

What is meant by face validity?

Answer 42

estimating the validity of a test by estimating to what extent the items of the test agree with one’s own beliefs.

Question 43

What is meant by social desirability?

Answer 43

bias people have to present themselves in a manner they think will be viewed favorably by others. (This was another problem with the publication of Woodworth’s test.)

Question 44

What is meant by the term personality traits?

Answer 44

basic dimension used to describe differences in personality between people. It is often bipolar with opposites at the extremes.

Question 45

What did Allport contribute to this field?

Answer 45

Allport initiated the research into traits to find the number of dimensions.

Question 46

What did Cattell and Eysenck contribute to this field?

Answer 46

Cattell and Eysenck came with different conclusions (16 traits and 3 traits). In the end, researchers more or less settled on a total of 5 fundamental traits: the Big Five.

Question 47

What is meant by scientific management

Answer 47

Scientific management= the division of production into a sequence of stages that would be easy and could be performed rapidly. This approach was developed by Taylor and inspired industrial psychology.

Question 48

Explain industrial psychology

Answer 48

= first theory about how work should be organised. It was strongly influenced by Taylors’ scientific management. Employees were seen as the hands of the company that would accept any work if compensated enough. Tasks had to be made simple so that anyone could do them without much practice

Question 49

What conclusions did Mayo come to during the hawthorne studies? What movement did this lead to?

Answer 49

A number of studies were run at an electric plant which led to the conclusion (by Mayo) that it was not so much physical circumstances or pay that determined productivity, but the extent to which workers found themselves valued and esteemed. This was the start of the human relations movement.

Question 50

What was the human relations movement?

Answer 50

Human relations movement = second main theory of how work should be organised. Stressed the humanity of the employees and the importance of social relations.

Question 51

Name and describe the third main theory of how work should be organised

Answer 51

third main theory of how work should be organised. Stressed the desire for self-actualisation in employees: they would perform best if given autonomy and authority. Work is no longer a chore, but an opportunity.

Question 52

What criticisms were there of the Hawthorne studies?

Answer 52

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Hawthorne studies were of much lower quality than most people believe. Some even question whether anything relevant was found at all. Multiple flaws were listed.

Question 53

Still these studies, and many other, studies keep being cited and praised in introductory books. What is this an example of?

Answer 53

Pseudohistory of science = attempts to excite enthusiasm for science by narrating simplified and heroic stories that promote false ideas of how science works.

Question 54

How did science overtaking religion affect psychology?

Answer 54

Initially, psychologists had strong connections with religion. Experimental psychologists rapidly distanced themselves from religion because it jeopardized their scientific credentials. Without the increasing status of the natural sciences, there would never have been sufficient critical mass to start the scientific study of the mind.

Question 55

How did changes in society affect psychology? (3)

Answer 55

Massive changes in the organization of Western society in the 19th- and 20th-centuries generated ideas and research opportunities for psychologists and provided new metaphors. The changes also impacted clinical practice: mental disorders show variation between cultures and time.

Question 56

What is meant by metaphors in this context?

Answer 56

an analogy from another area that helps to map a new, complex problem by referring to a better understood phenomenon. Metaphors allow researchers to formulate and test hypotheses on the basis of the analogy, which would otherwise remain abstract. The most famous metaphor has been the computer.

Question 57

What is meant by socio-political biases?

Answer 57

Scientific research is influenced by the culture in which the researchers live. Socio-political biases influence psychological theories and research conclusions. Even ‘objective’ findings can be distorted by the researchers’ expectations

Question 58

How did Morton and Gould demonstrate these biases?

Answer 58

Morton was famous for his skull collection. He published a volume on brain sizes of Americans from different descent and 'proved' the mean skull size of white people was larger than that of Native Americans and black people. Gould showed that, when controlling various biases, racial differences in skull sizes were wiped out. Gould concluded that fraud wasn't involved, because Morton published a full account of his raw materials. Morton accepted the data in line with his expectations, and 'corrected' for data he didn't understand. = the same data can lead to different conclusions

Question 59

How else can hidden racism be seen in these scientific processes?

Answer 59

advancing one’s own race by subtle biases against other groups, usually by ignoring their contribution. In science, scientists from non-dominant groups find it harder to get their manuscripts accepted and if they do, very few colleagues from the dominant group take notice of their articles.

Question 60

What effect does socio-political context have on ethics in psychology? (2)

Answer 60

There has been an increased concern for ethical issues, which has led to ethical codes of conduct, because of 2 social changes (1) Past experiments: the acknowledgement that some past experiments were run despite knowing that they would harm participants; this in particular led to informed consent. (2) Legal action: there was increased probability of legal action in case of a participant making a complaint.

Question 61

What is meant by informed consent?

Answer 61

Informed consent = central principle in ethics, stating that people can only take part in a study after they have been informed of what will be involved and after they have explicitly and voluntarily agreed to participate.

Question 62

How do power games play a part in psychology?

Answer 62

Psychologists are entangled in the struggle for power in various groups. They try to improve their standing by manipulating others, but also are constantly being used by other groups as part of their power struggle.

Question 63

What input did Michel Foucalt have in this discussion?

Answer 63

Foucault argued that psychologists were primarily used for the surveillance of various groups (mental health patients, students), not to help them. While in the early days, power was exerted by brute force, now it is surveillance and correction. According to him, because society needs outcasts, the notion of mental illness was invented.

Question 64

What link exists between psychology and pseudoscientists?

Answer 64

Psychologists’ findings have also been used by pseudo-scientists, who freely combined evidence-based statements with made-up claims. All that matters to them is whether a statement advances the case.

Question 65

Some authors argue that psychologists have not player their cards well in the power games so far, so their standing in society is lower than it could be. Name five of their arguments.

Answer 65

* Psychologists haven’t been able to convince society that they have specific, worthwhile knowledge; * Psychology has failed to form a proper alliance with medicine. * Psychology has failed to form a proper alliance with religion. * Academic and professional psychologists have failed to form a proper alliance. * Psychologists have depreciating attitude to and deficient knowledge of money and economics.

Question 66

What is meant by psychologisation? (2)

Answer 66

(1) the fact that emotional ties and personal well-being have become important in primary social relations, or (2) the growing impact of psychology on the way people see themselves and interact with others.

Question 67

How does psychology play a part in individualisation?

Answer 67

because many concepts (labels) through which people differentiate themselves come from psychological writings. (The concept of ‘intelligence’ didn’t exist before the Binet-Simons test.) Once labels have formed, society starts to adapt itself to them, which further increases the reality of the concept.

Question 68

What is meant by individualisation?

Answer 68

Individualisation = trend, in a society, towards looser social relations and a greater focus by individuals on themselves than on the groups they belong to.

Question 69

What is meant by the reflexivity of a situation?

Answer 69

A situation in which the act of examining changes the event that is examined. Psychology is reflexive, because the concepts we examine change what will be observed in the future.

Question 70

What is meant by the arbitrariness of labels?

Answer 70

Labels are to some extent arbitrary, because when they are introduced there isn’t good understanding of what is involved yet. (Intelligence is what an intelligence test measures, so if the Binet-Simons test had measured totally different things, intelligence might have been defined totally different nowadays.)

Question 71

Psychologists have tried hard to associate themselves with the natural sciences. However, the position of psychology to the natural sciences was rarely equal, so it was desirable to find other allies. What other allies did psychology find?

Answer 71

The educationalists welcomed input from psychology. Psychologists and teachers agreed that psychology was a core component of a teacher’s qualification and psychology started to introduce its intelligence tests in schools. Psychologists also became involved in advising parents about how to raise children.

Question 72

How else have psychologists attempted to increase their "power"?

Answer 72

By creating new needs for which they claim to have solutions; Some authors view that normal everyday worries are given unnecessary psychological labels to be treated and become dependent on psychological services.

Question 73

What was Ivan Illich's view on this situation?

Answer 73

Illich argued that the greed for power is true for all sections of society and that they try to increase it by creating new needs. He states that medical and pharmaceutical worlds enormously overstate their significance for the health of people.

Question 74

In what way is politics involved in psychology?

Answer 74

Psychologists within the Western world are not politically neutral. Conservatives are vastly under-represented in psychology. Published articles mostly reflect liberal values.

Question 75

What effect does this political bias have on standing society? (3)

Answer 75

* Psychologists have less influence on socio-political issues under conservative rule; * less to offer to individuals with conservative values, and; * researchers are not critical enough when it comes to evaluating liberal policies.

Question 76

What are the general attitudes towards religion in psychology?

Answer 76

There are also skeptical views about religion: few psychologists are able to see religion as a source giving meaning to life and adversity. These attitudes impose values on people they work with.

Question 77

What largely drives the knowledge of the public regarding psychology and what effect does this have? (2)

Answer 77

Knowledge of psychology is largely driven by the media, which often brings simplified and sensationalised stories in line with popular beliefs and social biases. People with mental disorders are stigmatised in the media, leading people to believe that they are more aggressive than is the case.

Question 78

What is meant by the term meritocracy?

Answer 78

Meritocracy = a political system in which economic god and/or political power are vested in individuals on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement, rather than wealth or social class.

Question 79

What is meant by a looping effect?

Answer 79

a feedback effect wherein the meaning of a human science classification (depression) affects the behaviour of those who fall under that classification (someone with depression acts in accordance with expectations related to the classification). People interpret their behavior differently after diagnosis and they are also treated differently (they become eligible for therapy and/or supporting funds).