3. Relationships
Discuss the influence of childhood on adult relationships. (8 marks + 16 marks)
The continuity hypothesis suggests that an individual’s relationship with their primary caregiver provides foundation
for adult relationships by creating an internal working model (IWM). The IWM influences a person’s expectation of
later relationships thus affects his attitudes towards them.
Adult relationships are likely to reflect early attachment style. This is because the experience a person has with their
caregiver in childhood would lead to the expectation of the same experiences in later relationships. This is illustrated
in Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz experiment. They conducted a study to collect information of participants’ early
attachment styles and their attitudes towards loving relationships. They found that those who were securely attached
as infants tended to have happy lasting relationships. On the other hand, insecurely attached people found adult
relationships more difficult, tended to divorce and believed love was rare. This supports the idea that childhood
experiences have significant impact on people’s attitude toward later relationships.
However, the association made by Hazan and Shaver might not be reliable because of the use of a questionnaire.
Although this method can provide quantitative and qualitative data participants might answer in a biased way to be
more socially desirable, which is called social desirability bias. Moreover, the data might be retrospective since
participants had to recall experience from early childhood which can be inaccurate thus reducing the reliability of the
findings.
Another methodological flaw of this study is the sample bias. The questionnaire was posted in an American
newspaper and people volunteered to answer. This can raise the problem of individual differences, for example
people who volunteer tend to be more socially outgoing or have more free time. Therefore the finding cannot be
applied to the whole population due to low generalisability.
There is difficulty in investigating the role of childhood experiences in adult relationships due to the concerns of
stability of attachment styles. Securely attached children can become insecurely attached due to life events. This
suggests that the influence of early childhood on later relationships can be varied.
This theory is accused of being reductionist because it assumes that people who are insecurely attached as infants
would have poor quality relationships. This is not always the case. Researchers found plenty of people having happy
relationships despite having insecure attachments. Therefore the theory might be an oversimplification.
Nevertheless supporting evidence comes from Simpson who did a longitudinal study on participants from their early
childhood to their twenties. They found that securely attached children tend to grow up to be more socially
competent and develop secure friendships and have happy relationships.
Peer relationships in this period also have an important influence on how people approach adult relationships.
Children develop a sense of their own values and others based on specific experiences which then become
internalised and affect the way they behave in adult relationships. Nangle supports this by highlighting the importance
of having a friend to trust which creates a sense of being loved and understood. These characteristics are important in
adult relationships.
There are gender differences in the early friendship with peers. Boys tend to have more competitive friendships while
girls are more cooperative and sharing activities. This suggests that the influence of early childhood peers interaction
can be different for males and females. However Erwin argues that sex differences have been over emphasised and
many similarities have been overlooked.
Adolescence is a critical period marked by the increasing importance of friendship and the emergence of romantic
relationships. Social learning theory suggests that parents can transfer their idea about opposite sex to their children
by the process of modelling. Gray reported how adolescents who were raised in caring warm families are better
prepared for adult relationships.
Friendships at this stage are more important because friends provide a secure base for independent exploration to the
adult world. Romantic relationships in this period allow individuals to develop physical and emotional intimacy which
then affects adolescence and attitudes to adult relationships.
Marsden claims that although romantic relationships have positive benefit, too much dating can have negative
consequences. This is supported by Neuman who concluded that romantic dating in teenagers is linked to low
academic achievement and antisocial behaviour.
One criticism for this is cultural bias, if the social context affects adolescent’s dating then the studies which are based
on small sample size cannot be applied universally.
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5. Eating behaviour
Not an A*
Outline and evaluate psychological explanations for the success and/or failure of dieting. (24 marks)
There are many different types of dieting, the definition ‘restricting oneself to smaller amounts of certain kinds of
foods’. The restraint theory was developed to investigate the causes and consequences of dieting. The theory
suggests that for some individuals dieting can be successful with weight loss as a result of undereating. On the other
had, it can also be unsuccessful resulting in overeating and weight gain.
There are many different pressures for individuals to lose weight such as family, social class, peer groups, ethnicity
and the media. The media plays a big role as to why some people feel the need to lose weight. There is a certain level
of individuals observing and imitating celebrities. This is because of positive reinforcement which comes from fame
and money and punishment is seen through bad publicity. Therefore there is more attraction for the individual to be
like celebrities and ‘skinny’.
There are three main categories which are effective in losing weight these being calorie control diets, behavioural
therapy and healthy eating. There are different types of dieting available such as surgery, drugs, external monitoring
(such as keeping food diaries) and low calorie diets. Wilenbring et al (1986) carried out a laboratory study on humans
which they found that research participants ate less during periods of stress. This study is easy to apply to the target
population as it was carried out on humans. There is also ease of replication, however it lacks mundane realism
because it was carried out in a laboratory.
Many studies have been carried out as to the successfulness of dieting. Rodin (1977) found that central to dieting
success was individuals’ belief about the cause of their obesity and their motivation for change. Kiernan (1998) carried
out a study which found that people who were most dissatisfied with their bodies prior to dieting were more likely to
succeed in their dieting attempts. Ogden and Hills interviewed people who had successfully lost weight and
maintained weight loss. It was found that a life event such as a milestone, illness or divorce had an effect on their
eating style. Therefore research shows that it is four main factors that help increase the successfulness of dieting, this
being motivation, individual belief, dissatisfaction with their body and life events.
Dieting is not always successful and can often fail. Davey suggested that stress is directly related to overeating. This
suggestion is subjective as individual differences are not taken into account. A dramatic restriction on calorie intake
over a short period of time is ineffective, therefore people who diet by just reducing their calorie intake are not
actually successful in their dieting. Research has suggested that a reason for why diets fail can be due to a negative
mood, dieters tend to overeat in response to their low mood. Another reason for why diets fail could be due to the
fact that today there is greater availability of food choices, combining this with an evolutionary tendency to store fat
has contributed to weight gain.
External eaters will eat for other reasons rather than just when they are hungry, restrained eaters are careful about
their diets and watch the calorie intake therefore when put under stress could eat a lot more and emotional eaters
eat what they want and when they want depending on their mood. These are all examples of diets failing, it is due to
vulnerability.
Studies have been carried out on unsuccessful diets and assess the reasons why. Herman and Mack (1975) took a
sample of dieters and non dieters. They were then given a high or low calorie pre-load and then a high calorie load. It
was found that the dieters who ate high calories in the preload stage continue to eat in the loading stage, whereas
non-dieters continued to binge because they were psychologically hungry. Therefore the study suggests that dieting
can lead to overeating and excess calorie intake. Although the study had ease of replication, the study had low
ecological validity and mundane realism as it is unlikely that individuals would be put in a situation like this in real life.
Another study was carried out by Wardle and Beales (1988) to investigate whether dieting results in overeating. They
randomly assigned 27 obese women to a group, either a diet group, exercise group or a control group. It was found
that the participants in the diet group ate more. They concluded that attempting to diet can increase the desire to
overeat. Due to small samples of 27 women it is hard to generalise as it was found that 70% of women diet in a
lifestyle.
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6. Gender
(a) Outline psychological and biological explanations of gender development. (8 marks)
One psychological explanation of gender development is the cognitive developmental theory by Kohlberg. He
suggested that children go through three different stages. The first one is gender identity which occurs between 2½
and 3½ years and this is when the child is aware of their own gender but no aware that this gender is unchanging. The
second stage is gender stability which occurs between 3½ and 4½ years. At this stage a child does realise that their
gender is stable. However they still do not have an understanding that gender cannot be changed by external changes
to appearance such as cutting your hair shorter might make someone a boy. The final stage is reached between 4½
and 7 years and is called gender constancy when a child realises that gender is constant over time and situation. They
now realise that gender will remain constant even if there are external changes.
Biological explanations of gender development involve the idea that our biology determines gender. A Y chromosome
determines whether an individual is a male, a female has XX chromosomes and a male is XY. These chromosomes lead
to the production of hormones which influence gender development, testosterone for males and oestrogen for
females. During a critical period of development these hormones will affect gender. The hormones affect the brain
development and determine whether you have a male or female brain.
There are studies that have looked at how hormones affect gender. For example Money and Ehrhardt studied women
who had been given a drug to stop miscarriages when they were pregnant. The drug contained testosterone which
meant that any daughters actually had a male brain. They found that these girls did behave like males when
comparing them to ‘normal’ girls in the kinds of things they were interested in, thus showing how gender can be
affected.
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(b) Consider whether psychological or biological approaches provide the better explanation of gender
development. (16 marks)
You can look at both the psychological and biological explanations for gender development and decide which provides
the better explanation.
With the psychological approach of Kohlberg you can see how this fits with Piaget’s idea of conservation and see how
gender constancy can only be achieved at the age of 7. Also studies do show that children go through stages in their
gender development, however researchers such as Campbell have shown that babies as young as 3 months prefer to
watch a video of a same sex baby. However it is difficult to really prove the cognitive approach because you can’t ask
small children to say why they had made certain choices and therefore their choices may be due to other influences
such as genetics.
The biological approach has been supported by studies such as the one in the Dominican republic where boys had
undeveloped testes and were raised as girls until puberty when the surge of hormones led to male development. They
found it easy to change to a feminine role which shows that biology is more important in gender as they were
biologically male.
This research also relates to the nature-nurture debate and although their gender up until puberty was determined by
nurture, the biological (nature) factors eventually overrode this showing how important biology is in gender. Also this
study can show the importance of hormones because when there was a surge of hormones the ‘girls’ realised that
something was wrong and it might be that their brains were actually male from the beginning.
Another issue related to the biological approach is free will which suggests that if your genes influence your gender
than you have no say yourself in your gender and cannot change it. However there are cases where people have
changed their gender for example when people have gender dysphoria and are successful able to change to the
gender they feel they actually are.
In terms of reductionism it may not be the approach itself that is reductionist but the person using the approach.
Looking at both approaches you can see how important to take both of them into account when trying to understand
gender development as they both contribute to our understanding.
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0 8 Describe and evaluate the gender schema theory of gender development. (8 marks + 16 marks)
The gender schema theory of gender development assumes that schema is a network of associations that organise
and guide an individual’s perceptions.
The schema is considered to be an anticipatory structure that is ready to search incoming information and identify and
pick out information that matches existing schema in order to impose some structure and meaning onto the array of
incoming stimuli.
Bem considers the phenomenon of sex-typing to be based partly on the generalised readiness to sort information
based on sex linked associations in the schema.
These associations are based partly on what society considers each attribute to be attributed to each sex, e.g. boys
are strong and this is reinforced by adults, particularly parents, or children, for example, comment on how strong a
boy is.
Martin and Halverson agree with Kohlberg that a child’s thinking is one basis for their gender identity and
development, but they argue that this process begins much sooner than Kohlberg suggests and that gender identity is
established when a child recognises whether it is a boy or girl. At this stage the schema is very simple, comprising an
‘ingroup’ of their own and an ‘outgroup’ of the opposite sex.
Children will then actively seek out information to include in their schema and all activities and interactions in the
environment are judged on their perceived gender appropriateness.
Martin, Wood and Little suggest the gender schema develops in 3 stages. The first stage is when the child identifies
and labels everything in their environment based on their perceived gender appropriateness, focusing on their
ingroup. The second stage occurs when the child is 4-6 years old and is when the child begins to link sex-typed
activities together and draw inferences from them based on actual expectations. This is still mainly focused on their
own sex. The final stage occurs when the child is 7 years old and is when the child begins to make inferences based on
the opposite sex e.g. they will hand a boy a truck to play with or a girl a doll.
This concept of gender schema is supported by Campbell 2000 who found that children aged 3 months will look for
longer at children of the same sex who are playing with toys, especially boys. This observing a child of the same sex
increases with age in 9 months and again at 18 months in boys, therefore showing how the gender schema and ability
to recognise children of the same sex increases with age.
However, the fact that the children were able to recognise and stared for longer at the same sex at 3 months old
suggests that there is an innate and biological component as children at this age have not developed their gender
schemas. Therefore this argues in favour of nature and innate mechanisms in the development of gender (possibly
brain structures such as the sexually dimorphic nucleus) as opposed to nurture and the gender schema theory as the
environment influences what associations are made and what the schema is constructed of.
There are issues with Campbell’s study as young children and babies cannot tell you what they are thinking, therefore
results are based on inference and psychologists could misinterpret the babies’ actions, causing the results to be
inaccurate and invalid. The use of the preferential technique also causes an issue as some psychologists suggest that
children look for longer at children of the same sex because they enjoy observing this, but they stare for longer at
children of the opposite sex for longer because this stimulus is novel and attracts more attention.
With Campbell’s study, girls looked at males more than females and this could be based solely on the fact that male
toys are more exciting so attract more attention. Therefore it is unclear whether babies recognise children of the
different sexes, excluding the activities they engage in.
Campbell 2004 found in a longitudinal study that 53% of 2 year olds could complete a gender labelling task and 94%
could aged 3. 20% could complete a gender stereotyping tasks at age 2 and 51% at age 3, and only 1/6 of children
aged 3 could complete a gender activity labelling task, therefore providing support for gender schema and its
development and progression with age.
There are, however, ethical issues using under 16s as they cannot give fully informed consent, so researchers rely on
consent given by parents or adults in loco parentis, such as a headteacher.
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1 1 Discuss Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. (8 marks + 16 marks)
Cognitive development can be defined as the study of the development of thinking. Piaget proposed that a child must
pass through a number of stages, but to go through these, he/she must be biologically ‘ready’, reaching the correct
maturation in order to progress. He developed this idea from the knowledge of a baby’s reflex actions. Piaget believed
that children were the important agents of thinking and that teachers should play a back seat in learning.
Within his theory, he also incorporated schemas: packets of knowledge built from experiences. When new
information is learned, if it can be fitted into an existing schema, the information is assimilated as it relates to existing
knowledge. Otherwise, the brain experiences disequilibrium, with nowhere for the new knowledge to go, and so
accommodation of this is provided via a new schema. Piaget’s stages are based around these two basic points.
Stage one is known as the sensorimotor stage, during the ages of 0-2. Piaget suggested that at this stage children
experience the world through their senses. The major development here is object permanence. Piaget suggested that
from 8 months children begin to show surprise when an object disappears and is found again, after actively searching.
Before 8 months it is believed that children could not understand that the object still existed when out of sight.
However, Dasen (1974) conducted a study and found that children as young as 5 months could display an
understanding of object permanence, suggesting that Piaget underestimated children’s abilities, ultimately reducing
the reliability of his research.
Stage 2 is the pre-operational stage during 2-7 years of age, split into two smaller stages. In the first of the two,
children begin to develop knowledge but their schemas are not fully developed. For example, they know that daddy’s
car is blue and so also believe that every blue car is daddy’s car. Also animism is introduced, applying life-like qualities
to non-living objects in order to make things easier to understand e.g. ‘naughty table hurt me’. During the intuitive
stage aged 4-7 children develop the ability to decentre, being able to give the perspective of another. Piaget
demonstrated this with the three mountains task. If the child could say what the doll would see the child possessed
the ability to decentre. Otherwise the child was not at the point of readiness to continue. However, Hughes (1975)
criticised this, suggesting that the 3 mountains task was too complicated. He conducted the Policeman study and
found a lot more children aged 7 and under had the ability to decentre.
Stage 3 is the concrete operational stage between the ages of 7 and 11. By the age of 11 children should be able to
perform conservation and transformation tasks. For example, being able to apply sequences and put things in order,
for example in order of height. Piaget tested this with water and beakers, tipping water into different shape beakers
and asking if there was more water. This has been criticised for demand characteristics, as researchers continued to
ask the same question even after being given an answer, implying there must be another answer. Rose and Blank
(1974) suggested the task could be made much more simple via the use of ‘naughty teddy’ (referring to animism) but
Moore and Fry criticised this further to say that children were too absorbed by naughty teddy to concentrate on the
task.
The last stage is formal operations for children 11 years and up. Here children have learned and can apply complex
relationships in order to solve in-depth problems. Piaget tested this with the beaker problem study (1956) asking
children decide out of a number of beakers containing coloured liquid, which one could contain the yellow liquid.
Although some children were successful, the majority of children were not, ultimately suggesting that not many
children ever reach this stage of cognitive development.
Piaget’s theory of the development of thinking was the first comprehensive theory and received much commendment
from psychologists. Along with this, it has been used very positively in education, with the Plowden Report showing a
request for more child centred learning.
However Piaget has been criticised for consistently under-estimating children’s abilities, meaning his ages and stages
may be mismatched.
Furthermore, Vygotsky suggested that the teacher can play a vital role in learning, guiding children through learning,
providing a model for them to learn from. This theory has also been praised and applied within the education system.
Piaget’s theory has been regarded as over-simplistic ignoring the aspect of what a teacher could do for a child’s
learning.
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UNIT 4
O 1 Outline and evaluate one biological therapy for schizophrenia and one psychological therapy for schizophrenia.
(8 marks + 16 marks)
Schizophrenia is a biological disorder characterised by symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, affective
flattening and catatonic behaviour. Many therapies have been developed to deal with the positive and negative
symptoms of schizophrenia.
One biological therapy for the disorder is drug treatment. The use of chlorpromazine drugs helps to alleviate the
positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions, and aids patients to, in some circumstances,
live outside of institutionalised care by managing the symptoms and enabling them to live a more normal and
functioning life. These drugs work by binding themselves to dopamine receptors in the brain, thus preventing
dopamine release as it has been found that high levels of dopamine are in part responsible for some schizophrenic
symptoms.
This method of treatment is advantageous as it helps alleviate the positive symptoms, however it does nothing to
prevent the negative symptoms caused by schizophrenia. In addition to this, the effectiveness of the drug must be
considered, as 30% of people with the disorder do not respond, or are intolerant to, this type of drug. Furthermore,
drugs can produce side effects such as drowsiness, depression and, in some cases, tardive dyskinesia – a disorder
present in 24% of patients who have taken chlorpromazine drugs for over 7 years. This debilitating side effect causes
problems with motor processes and speech. This may also cause a patient to stop taking drugs for treatment, and thus
they may relapse and be rehospitalised. Nevertheless, drug treatment is effective for 70% of patients with the
disorder in managing and controlling some of their symptoms. Other drugs, such as clopamine, have been developed
more recently, which do not have the same negative side effects and often work for those who are non-respondent to
other drug treatments.
Although schizophrenia is a biological disorder caused by physiological processes in the body. It has been shown that
psychological treatments can also alleviate some of the symptoms of schizophrenia and allow the patient to live a
more functioning life. From past research, it has been shown that the disorder can be worsened by faulty cognitions,
and so Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) aims to reduce these faulty cognitions. Pioneers of CBT, Beck and Ellis,
developed a technique in which the therapist challenges a patient’s outlook on something and suggests more realistic
explanations for events. This was supported by research by Chadwick et al who asked a participant who claimed to be
able to predict events (as a result of delusions) to predict what would happen in fifty videos. The fact that he got none
of his predictions right challenged this faulty cognition he had about himself and offered a more rational view, thus
making him see that his delusions were not accurate perceptions of reality. Tarrier et al also developed a form of CBT
called Coping Enhancement Strategy in which the first stage of treatment, Education and Rapport Training, the
therapist identifies coping strategies that the patients has already started using to deal with their symptoms (this
often includes techniques such as distraction from delusional thoughts and social contact or withdrawal) and teaches
the patient how to implement these more effectively. The second stage of the training involves symptom targeting,
where specific symptoms are identified and coping strategies are used to alleviate these symptoms.
CBT has been shown to be effective as it not only deals with cognitions associated with schizophrenic mindset, but
also the behaviour it produces as a result. It helps the patient to gain control over their own symptoms rather than
relying on drugs, although this method is often supplemented by drug use. It is also advantageous as it can be tailored
to an individual’s own symptoms, which is beneficial because everyone has different symptoms. However, this
method is not suitable for everyone because of the nature of symptoms of schizophrenia may mean that it is difficult
for a patient to recognise their disorder and they may not be in a position to implement techniques of education and
rapport training and symptom targeting due to their ill health and inability to process accurate cognitions.
In conclusion both drug treatments and CBT can be effective therapies of schizophrenia, dependent on the course of
the disorder and the symptoms shown. They are often most effective when used in conjunction with each other as
they help to target not only the physiological processing affecting the brain but also cognitions relating to the
disorder.
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Addictive Behaviour
0 9 Outline and evaluate the cognitive approach to explaining problem gambling. (4 marks + 6 marks)
The cognitive approach suggests that problem gambling is a result of maladaptive thinking and faulty cognitions.
These both result in illogical errors being drawn, for example gamblers misjudge the amount of skill involved with
‘chance’ games so are likely to participate with the mindset that the odds are in their favour so they may have a good
chance of winning. However in reality ‘chance’ games are very biased but include ‘near misses’ in order to keep
someone interested. Another common misjudgement is that regular gamblers lose track how much money they have
lost and are under a misconception about their winnings.
Griffiths carried out a study that compared the thoughts of regular gamblers with nongamblers whilst they were
participating in gambling activity. It was found that regular gamblers were more concerned about staying on the slot
machine longer – showing that simply participating in a gambling game provides enough ‘buzz’ and excitement for
them to want to continue without having to win a prize. It was also found that the regular gamblers struggled to
verbalise their thoughts while they were playing indicating that they enter automatic pilot mode and are not making a
conscious effort to participate. This helps to explain how they misjudge the amount of time and money they have
spent on a machine. However a criticism of this study is the participants used. All of them were University students so
of similar ages, therefore it is difficult to generalise the findings to age groups outside this age bracket, decreasing the
ecological validity that the study has. Also the regular gamblers group consisted of 29 males and 1 female whereas the
nonregular gamblers group had 15 females and 15 males making the gender ratio between the groups was uneven.
Therefore gender differences were not taken into account in this study.
Cognitive explanations have also suggested personality traits linked to problem gambling as there is a strong positive
correlation between competitiveness and gambling, as gamblers will always want to improve on any winnings.
Questionnaire studies have shown that regular gamblers would prefer to make a loss on a gamble rather than small
winnings. Another cognitive element is that regular gamblers are optimistic about gambling and are under the
influence that they will win next time or win more next time therefore they continue to gamble.
Cognitive explanations also taken into consideration operant and classical conditioning of problem gambling. Classical
conditioning suggests the reason as to why someone starts to gamble, so occurs during the initiation phase. It is the
appeal of the gambling game that entices someone to play and they become conditioned to associate the exciting
light effects with the game meaning that when they’re not participating they become anxious and bored. Operant
conditioning is helpful in explaining the maintenance phase of addiction – why continue the behaviour. It suggests
that behaviour is reinforced through the reward that the game offers meaning someone will continue to gamble.
Neither operant or classical conditioning are sufficient explanations on their own as one suggests initiation and the
other maintenance.
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1 0 Describe one way in which media may influence addictive behaviour. (4 marks)
The media is a large source that is included in every aspect of life and therefore has some influence over everybody.
However the influential effect it has can either promote addictive behaviour or highlight the detrimental
consequences that addictions can have for instance when there was an advertising ban on tobacco products
consumption of cigarettes reduced, showing that advertisements had been influencing people to buy them. Another
example is that since gambling has been deregulated meaning all forms of gambling advertisements are allowed the
number of people reporting to have a gambling addiction has risen showing that the media has influenced them. It
has done this by glorifying gambling and focusing on the benefits, the large winnings available. This influences people
into starting gambling which could potentially lead someone to gain an addictive problem. A criticism of research into
the effect of the media is that most of it is based on questionnaires meaning the magnitude of the media’s influential
power cannot be measured. Also, although there has been a correlation established between the media and its
influencing people to become gamblers a direct causality has not been proven.
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1 1 Kerry has recently married and she and her partner would like to have a baby. She is keen to give up smoking.
However, she has tried several times and finds that she experiences unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Kerry’s job
is stressful and most of her co-workers also smoke. She has started to despair and thinks that she will never
succeed.
Identify one or more interventions which could be used to help Kerry to stop smoking and explain, with reference
to the scenario, why your chosen intervention(s) would be appropriate for Kerry. (10 marks)
The first step for Kerry would be to attend motivational interview sessions as these would help to change her attitude
so she is back into the frameset of ‘I want to make a change’. This intervention is based upon the cognitive approach
because it aims to replace the thoughts of dependency and despair with a more positive outlook. Also clients should
feel empowered and even more inspired to quit, without these cognitions it is very unlikely that someone will be
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successful in changing their behaviour and stopping an addiction. Kerry may also find combining biological therapies
helpful as they work to block the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms by filling the craving with a substitute substance.
By using the substitute cravings are no more but there is no positive reward associated therefore the person can be
weaned off the substitute drug in comfort. However a problem with biological therapies is that they only tackle the
addictive behaviour, rather than the underlying causes of what made the person start in the first place. In order to
solve this Kerry should also participate in some sort of rehabilitation in order to ensure that abstinence from smoking
is maintained. This will ensure that she does not form an addiction to the substitute drug that decreases the craving
for nicotine. One rehabilitation example is if she joins a self help group therapy. These are based on a 12 step guide to
quitting, the steps being personal to each group. They are run by addicts who provide inspiration to new members.
During therapy addicts learn to accept responsibility for their actions and learn that addictions cannot be treated but
merely arrested. Kerry would find these sessions beneficial as the other group members would support through
quitting smoking but also they would provide positive reinforcement through appraisal of maintaining abstinence
from cigarettes.
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Anomalistic Psychology
1 2 Describe one way in which researchers have studied psychokinesis. (4 marks)
Despite the concept of psychokinesis being open to speculation surrounding its existence and the unconventional
methodology used to test it, Schmidt revolutionalised the way researchers study the phenomenon. Previously it had
been difficult to accurately ensure sound methodology but Schmidt developed an electronic coin flipper which
ensured randomisation by relying on the random decay of radioactive particles which are not influenced by the
environment’s conditions such as temperature, noise and light. This, for the first time, made the study of
psychokinesis less criticised by the scientific community as research surrounding the matter was able to be done more
accurately and validity increased as fraud was almost impossible. The research allowed the study of psychokinesis in
relation to whether a participant could influence the results of the coin (i.e. whether it would land heads or tails).
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1 3 Harry had a dream last night about his aunt Susan. She emigrated to Canada years ago and he has not heard
from her for three years. This morning, he received a letter from his aunt saying that she was going to visit. He
thinks that he might have psychic powers.
How might psychologists explain Harry’s experience? Use your knowledge of the psychology of coincidence in your
answer. (4 marks)
Some psychologists attempt to explain coincidence by the fact that it is an intuitive reaction in order for us to
maintain an illusion of control over their lives. As Harry’s experience cannot be explained, he may put these two cooccuring events down to his ‘psychic abilities’ as it makes him feel more in control of events he cannot explain
(Whitson and Galinsky). Some psychologists such as Brugger et al. suggest that we find links that are not there due to
dopamine regulation in the brain, as people who believe in coincidence have been found to have a much higher
concentration of the neurotransmitter than those who don’t. These psychologists argue that the coincidence Harry
experienced is due to biochemistry in the brain. Brooks argues that cognitive ability plays a role in the belief of
coincidence, in that people with more intelligence are more likely to attribute two co-occuring events to coincidence
rather than believing they possess special powers. These psychologists would suggest that Harry has lower cognitive
ability and is therefore less able to separate co-occuring events that are not related in any way.
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1 4 Discuss how Harry’s anomalous experience can be explained by personality factors. (6 marks)
Eysenck believed that personality factors affected belief in anomalous experience. He identified two types of people,
those with neurotic behaviour and those with extrovert behaviour, who are more likely to believe in paranormal
events and processes such as ‘psychic powers’. Neuroticism relates to showing a range of negative emotions such as
anxiety and anger. Eysenck suggests that people with this type of behaviour are more likely to believe in the
paranormal than stable, happy people. This was supported by Wiseman and Watt who found that this personality
type was characteristic of believers in the paranormal. If Harry did not have neurotic behaviour, Eysenck may attribute
his belief in ‘psychic powers’ to having an extravert personality, who have been found to be more likely to believe in
anomalous experience than introverts. Thalbourne suggests that people with a creative personality, however, are
more likely to believe in anomalous experience as their mind is more imaginative and creates links that are not
actually there.
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1 5 Outline and evaluate research into out-of-body experience and/or near-death experience. (4 marks + 6 marks)
The term ‘out of body experience, first coined by George Tyrrel, refers to the phenomenon that people describe when
they re able to see their own body from outside or above themselves.
Ehrsson conducted research to test this phenomenon where he stood participants in front of a video camera whilst
wearing video projection googles so the participant was able to see a virtual image of their back in front of them.
When he stroked their back with a pen, participants described to the experimenter a sense that they could feel their
virtual body’s back being stroked. Interestingly, when the participant’s googles were removed and participants were
asked to stand where they think they stood for the experiment, all participants overshot and stood where their virtual
image had been projected. This showed that out-of-body experiences may be caused by a disconnection of the brain’s
sensory receptors, causing people to think they can see something when they actually can’t. This research was
ingenious as it allowed a replicable study of a phenomenon that is hard to test using regular scientific methodology.
However, only a small sample of 47 participants were used, making it hard to generalise the findings in a wider
context. It is also not concurrent with the findings of Blake, who suggests that out-of-body experiences have a
historical and cultural context based on our expectations and schemas of our experiences with past events.
Furthermore Ehrsson would have had to ensure that participants were not subject to any ethical harm, and
confidentiality of participants must have been guaranteed. Cultural and historical bias must also be taken into account
as all research is era-dependent, and the fact that the research was limited to a single country within a single time
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period means that it lacks generalisability, and does not account for the fact that out-of-body experiences may differ
in different cultures dependent on people’s expectations and schema.
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