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Biofeedback is part of the _____ approach
How many participants were there in Budzynski’s
study?
What type of method did Meichenbaum use?
What did Meichenbaum conclude?
In what ways were both studies ethically dubious?
What increased the reliability of Budzynski’s study?
What increased the validity in Meichenbaum’s
study?
Quick recap quiz: 5 mins!
Waxler-Morrison
Social:
Relationships and cancer survival
Background:
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A strong, social support network can be critical in helping
individuals through stressful situations.
It has been shown that cancer growth is amplified by
stress and therefore by reducing this stress, there are
positive outcomes on the cancer.
Aim:
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To look at how women’s social relationships influence her
response to breast cancer and survival.
Methodology:
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A quasi experiment where women were already
diagnosed with breast cancer.
Used questionnaires and 18 interviews plus an
examination of medical records.
The women naturally fell into categories based on social
support networks.
Procedure:
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133 women all under 55 years old who were referred to
a clinic in Vancouver after being diagnosed with breast
cancer.
Mailed questionnaires to gather information about their
demography and existing social networks.
Questions included education level, who they were
responsible for- children- contact with friends and family
and perceived support from others.
Details of their diagnosis were taken from their medical
records as were their survival and recurrence rates.
Results:
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6 aspects of social networks were significantly linked with
survival;
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Marital status
Support from friends
Contact with friends
Total support
Social networks
Employment
Qualitative data showed that practical support, such as
childcare, were the concrete sources of support.
Conclusions:
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Several characteristics of women's social networks are
significantly linked with survival rates.
So, the more social support networks, the higher the rate
of survival in breast cancer patients.
It has been acknowledged that the main factor
influencing survival is still the state of the cancer at
the time of diagnosis
Issues:
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Ecological validity
◦ Quasi experiment so was naturally occurring- no manipulation
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Demand characteristics
◦ Questionnaires can lead to social desirability- not wanting to
seem unsupported
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Subjective
◦ Questionnaires and not physical measurements
Debates:
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Individual vs Situational
◦ Your social support networks influence survival
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Reductionism vs Holism
Determinism vs Free-will
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Usefulness
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◦ How to reduce stress and therefore increase survival rates in
women diagnosed with breast cancer.
◦ The power of the social group on illness recovery rates –applied
to other illnesses
Homework
Write an essay plan for timed assessment
on Wednesday:
Compare the techniques for managing
stress. (15)
 Use
the work you have done in today’s
lesson.
Evaluation Exam Questions
Compare requires a response that looks at similarities
or contrasts in juxtaposition. The specification refers
to cognitive, behavioural and social (support)
approaches so SIT, biofeedback or self-help groups
can be compared such as drug therapy, yoga or
humanistic approaches for example. Issues such as
reductionism, effectiveness, individual differences and
possibly ethnocentrism may be likely to feature.
Where the technique is covered within a study the
commentary can be credited where issues are
explicitly relevant to techniques.
Top band candidates will provide an accurate response
specific to the question and show extension, for example
through evaluating the strengths or weaknesses of an
approach to managing stress, the effectiveness of an
approach in dealing with stress or contrasting approaches
to managing stress.
Second band will be accurate and specific to title but may,
for example struggle in its attempt to assess; third band
will be superficial; or accurate or appropriate material
but not used to effectively or precisely address question.
The bottom band is for responses that may be flawed but
have some creditworthy material included.
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Compare and contrast
Reductionism/holism A
To what extent do the theories/studies support
psychology as a science? B
Nature/nurture C
Ethics D
Application of research A
This task will help
Usefulness B
you with your
Validity C
homework – you
Reliability D
can select your
Approach A
best points to write
Determinism/freewill B
your answer with
Research methods C
Subjective/objective D
So, which do you think is the best
method of managing stress, and why?
Exit Q