Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Studies will be well introduced in the exam and then any such question would just be asking what the study was showing
16/05/14: Learning Theory: David Murphy
Los (from booklet):
Explain Learning Theory
Understand and be able to explain Classical Conditioning
Understand and be able to explain Operant Conditioning
Differentiate between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment.
Define and describe the various schedules of reinforcement.
Define observational learning, describe Bandura’s Social Learning theory, and outline the steps in the modeling process.
Understand and explain approaches to increasing the likelihood of desirable behaviours and decreasing the likelihood of undesirable behaviours.
Notes:
Learning: o “a process by which experience produces a relatively enduring change in an organism’s behavior or capabilities.”
3 elements of a behaviour (..it’s as easy as ABC) o Antecedent (or cue): environmental conditions or stimulus changes that exist before the behaviour of interest, these may be either internal or external to the subject o Behaviour: the behaviour of interest emitted by the subject. Future instances of this behaviour will be influenced by both antecedents and consequences o Consequence: a stimulus change that follows the behaviour of interest
1
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
John Watson: behaviourist point of view saying that only environment is what shapes us
(ignored genetics)
Four basic learning processes: o Habituation/Sensitization o Classical conditioning o Operant conditioning o Observational learning
Four basic learning processes: o Habituation/Sensitization – Learning to notice or ignore
Habituation: Eg reduced gill withdrawl response of the sea slug; recovery of response if a resting period occurs
Sensitization: electric shock makes subsequent withdrawl response stronger; ie inc sensitivity to a range of subsequent stimuli
Relevance: consider when patient report a change in perceived pain o Classical conditioning – Learning what events signal [Antecedents behaviour]
“when one thing leads to another”
Eg ringing bell eventually sufficient to cause dogs to salivate
Response will be lost after a period of non-training
Eg can get hair loss with placebo chemotherapy!
Eg A significant proportion (25-30%) of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience anticipatory nausea and vomiting.
Stimuli
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): o A stimulus that elicits a reflexive or innate response (the
UCR) without prior learning
Conditioned stimulus (CS): o A stimulus that, through association with a UCS, comes to elicit a conditioned response similar to the original UCR
Responses
Unconditioned response (UCR): o A reflexive or innate response that is elicited by a stimulus
(the UCS) without prior learning
Conditioned response (CR): o A response elicited by a conditioned stimulus.
Classical conditioning is strongest when:
There are repeated CS-UCS pairings
The UCS is more intense
2
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
The sequence involves forward pairing
The time interval between the CS and UCS is short
Stimulus Generalization
Similar stimuli will also elicit the CR, but in a weaker form
A tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar, but not identical , to a conditioned stimulus. E.g. responding to a buzzer, or a hammer banging, when the conditioning stimulus was a bell
Stimulus Discrimination:
The ability to respond differently to various stimuli. o E.g. A child will respond differently to various bells (alarms, school, timer)
Example:
“Little Albert” Experiment (Watson & Raynor 1920) o Classical conditioning with stimulus generalisation: fear in response to white rat due to loud sound when he touched rat; extended to white cotton etc via generalisation o Operant conditioning - Learning one thing leads to another [Behaviour consequences]
Operant conditioning: o the process by which animals utilize trial and error to achieve the desired outcome
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
Law of Effect: o A response followed by a satisfying consequence will be more likely to occur Positive Reinforcement o A response followed by an aversive consequence will become less likely to occur Negative Reinforcement
Positive Reinforcement [“bribery”]: occurs when a response is strengthened by the subsequent presentation of a good stimulus
Primary Reinforcers: o stimuli, such as food and water, that an organism naturally finds reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs
Secondary Reinforcers: o stimuli that acquire reinforcing properties through their
association with primary reinforcers e.g. money
Negative Reinforcement [“blackmail”]: occurs when a response is strengthened by the removal (or avoidance) of an aversive stimulus
Negative Reinforcer: o the aversive stimulus that is removed or avoided (e.g.
speeding alert)
“Positive” and “Negative” refer to presentation or removal of a stimulus, not
“good” and “bad”
Punishment
Aversive / Positive Punishment:
3
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o occurs when a response is weakened by the presentation of a stimulus: VIOLENCE
Negative Punishment / Response Cost: o occurs when a response is weakened by the removal of a stimulus (e.g. “you’re grounded!”)
Shaping
Complex behaviours are learned in small steps.
Behaviours are rewarded that are increasingly similar to the desired behavior.
Eg successively stringent demands required to give fish to dolphin
Application of shaping o Parent brushes teeth child holds brush o Child moves toothbrush up and down o Child places loaded toothbrush in mouth and moves up and down. o Parent hold toothpaste child squirts onto brush, puts in mouth and moves up and down. o Child opens toothpaste, squirts on brush, puts in mouth and moves up and down.
Operant Extinction: o the weakening and eventual disappearance of a response because it is no longer reinforced o Resistance to Extinction:
the degree to which non-reinforced responses persist
Operant Generalization: o an operant response occurs to a new antecedent stimulus or situation that is similar to the original one
Operant Discrimination: o an operant response will occur to one antecedent stimulus but not to another
Reinforcement schedules o Fixed interval schedule: reinforcement occurs after fixed time interval o Variable interval schedule: the time interval varies at random around an average o Fixed Ratio Schedule: reinforcement is given after a fixed number of responses o Variable Ratio Schedule: reinforcement is given after a
variable number of responses, all centered around an average
Reinforcement schedules o Continuous reinforcement produces more rapid learning than partial reinforcement
4
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
The association between a behaviour and its consequences is easier to understand o However, continuously reinforced responses extinguish
more rapidly than partially reinforced responses
The shift to no reinforcement is sudden and easier to understand o Observational learning – Learning from others
5
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
“Occurs by watching and imitating actions of another person, or by noting consequences of a person’s actions; Occurs before direct practice is allowed”
Observational (vicarious) learning o We observe the behaviours of others and the consequences of those behaviours.
Vicarious reinforcement o If their behaviours are reinforced we tend to imitate the behaviours
Steps to Successful Modeling o Pay attention to model o Remember what was done o Must be able to reproduce modeled behavior o If successful or behavior is rewarded, behavior more likely to recur o Bandura created modeling theory with classic Bo-Bo Doll experiments
All children spent time in a playroom with an adult who modelled either non-aggressive (building tinker toy) or aggressive play (punching and striking the
Bobo doll with mallet)
Children who observed aggressive behaviour showed a much higher level of aggression towards the doll.
Explain the role of behavioural factors in the aetiology of major diseases.
Define and give examples “health behaviour”.
Explain the role of health education in disease prevention.
Explain the role of learning and habit in health behaviour.
Explain the role of attitudes and beliefs in health behaviour.
Explain the influence of social environment on health behaviours.
Define “self-efficacy” and describe the factors which influence it.
Outline the Health Beliefs Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour.
Identify effective approaches to modifying health behaviour
Behavioural factors in the aetiology of major diseases o 1. Smoking behaviour lung cancer
6
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o 2. Increased eating behaviour and decreased physical activity behaviour obesity and obesity related deaths o 3. Alcohol consumption behaviour disease o Unsafe sexual behaviours disease
Health behaviour o “Any activity undertaken by an individual believing himself to be healthy, for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage” o The Alameda Study
6,928 residents of Alameda county, CA, completed a list of 7 health behaviours they practised regularly including; not smoking, eating breakfast every day, taking regular exercise etc.
The sample was followed up nearly 10 years later. The mortality rate in individuals who practised all 7 behaviours was less than 1/4 of that in individuals who practised between 0-3. o What approaches are effective in encouraging people to adopt health behaviours?
increasing knowledge
Nutbeam et al (1993) o Smoking: The programme involved specially trained teachers providing teaching sessions spread over a 3 month period. The outcome was evaluated using a self report questionnaire combined with a saliva test. o Effective in increasing knowledge but negligible effect on decreasing smoking rates
changing cues & reinforcement
Examples of stimulus control techniques to change eating behaviour: o Don’t keep prohibited foods in the house o Don’t keep biscuits in the same cupboard as tea & coffee o Eat only at the dining table o When meal finished leave the table and put left over food away o Use small plates
Positive reinforcement intervention Kegels et Kegels et al (1978) o Children given a talk on dental hygiene and then received one of three types of follow up:
No further input
Discussion session
Reward for compliance with programme o Compliance with mouthwash programme assessed over 20 weeks.
Was seen to improve compliance o Problems with reinforcement programmes
7
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Lack of generalization: only affects behaviour regarding the specific trait that is being rewarded
Poor maintenance after the reward is eventually removed
Impractical, expensive
Negative Reinforcement o The effect of fear arousal Janis & Fesbach (1953)
“avoidance rater than behavioural change”
High school students given one of three different lectures on dental health.
Lectures designed to induce low, moderate or high fear.
Effect on subsequent behaviour measured.
Result: people in high fear lecture reported greater intention but in fact had the lowest rates of
actually changing their behaviour in practice
Reason is that the response is often just to ignore the subject entirely due to their negative association with the subject
8
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Social Learning = vicarious learning
Eg pupils watching movies with more instances of smoking matched with their subsequent smoking rates
Eg pupils match their smoking frequency with those of members of their household
Social learning interventions o Epstein et al (1990)
76 Children aged 6-12 years >20% above ideal body weight.
One of three interventions:
9
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Education only
Education & behavioural strategies
Education and social learning [involving family]
Result: social learning gives slower initial effect but it was then maintained for a longer period subsequently
Ie don’t just change behaviour of that one person; need to change the behaviour of the people around them too.
Health Beliefs [attitudes and beliefs] o Rosentock 1966: Health Beliefs Model
Uptake of vaccine determined by how threatening they perceive the disease is:
Perceived susceptibility
Perceived seriousness
Also affected by perceived costs and barriers
“The injection will be painful, I might get side effects, I haven’t go time to go to my GP”
Also affected by cues
such as frequent exposure to people with that disease
10
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Expectancy-value theory: Rotter (1954)
The potential for a behaviour to occur in any specific situation is a function of the expectancy that the behaviour will lead to a particular outcome and the value of that outcome” o Expectancy: Bandura 1977:
Outcome efficacy
Individuals expectation that the behaviour will lead to a particular outcome
Eg running would help health
Self Efficacy
Belief that one can execute the behaviour required to produce the outcome
Eg not physically able to get up early to go running
Factors influencing self efficacy o Mastery experience [success of related things is beneficial, failure is harmful to self efficacy] o Social learning o Verbal persuasion or encouragement o Physiological arousal
The Theory of Planned Behaviour: (Ajzen 1991)
Same as prev + Adds idea of subjective norm: = what other people think about the behaviour
Eg if family accepting of smoking then will mean more likely to continue smoking
11
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Health Beliefs and Behaviour o Preventing commonest diseases means changing behaviour.
Behaviour is determined by:
Knowledge
Learning
Beliefs o Changing behaviour
Identify and remedy any gaps in knowledge
Identify cues and reinforcers – modify if possible. Consider reinforcement programme as a “kick start”.
Identify and attempt to modify unhelpful beliefs.
12
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
20/05/14: Developmental psychology: Dr Becky Armstrong
Los (from booklet):
Learning objectives
1. Distinguish the relative influences and interaction of heredity and environment in human development.
2. Describe what and how babies contribute to their own development and the process of reciprocal socialization.
3. Explain how parents can provide a supportive environment for development.
4. Define attachment and describe how disruptions in attachment affect psychological development.
5. Explain Piaget’s stage model of cognitive development.
6. Outline cognitive, emotional and relationship changes during adolescence.
From slides:
To consider the relative influences and interaction of heredity and environment in human development
To describe what and how babies contribute to their own development and the process of reciprocal socialization
To describe how parents provide a supportive environment for development
To define attachment and describe how disruptions in attachment affect psychological development
To describe Piaget’s stage model of cognitive development.
To describe cognitive, emotional and relationship changes during adolescence
Notes:
Good mental health in children (Outline of lecture) o Ability to sustain satisfying relationships (temperament and attachment) o Progressive psychological development (nature via nurture) o Ability to play and learn (play; Piaget) o A moral sense of right and wrong (parenting) o Psychological distress remains within normal limits (a look at adolescence)
What is developmental psychology?
13
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o The changes that occur over time in the thought, behaviour, reasoning and functioning of a person due to biological, individual and environmental influences
Methods of study o Folk theories of psychology o Observation o Experimental methods (Strange situation) o Psychological testing (temperament, IQ) o Correlational studies (correlates of secure attachment)
Observation in developmental psychology o Piaget’s theories originally derived from close observation of his own children o Natural observations in Uganda and US led to conception of strange situation test of attachment o Child psychotherapy training involves weekly infant/young child observation as well as reading of child development papers o RCPCH Child in Mind Course Reflective observations of baby in neonatal unit o Observations in clinic (bringing generalised developmental knowledge to individual child and circumstances)
Physical Development o Maturation: the genetically programmed biological process that governs our growth
Infants vary in the age at which they acquire particular skills
Sequence in which skills appear is typically the same across children o Environmental and Cultural Influences:
Diet
Enriching environment
Physical touch
Experience o Three Basic Principles:
Biology sets limits on environmental influences
Environmental influences can be powerful
Biological and environmental forces interact (e.g. Dynamic systems theory of motor development)
Newborn o Touch:
By 32/40 skin of foetus sensitive to a hair’s stroke o Sight:
Responds best to strong contrasts and movement
14
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Preference for human face or similar forms e.g. upside down triangle of dots o Hearing:
Receptive hearing begins 16/40 functional from 24/40
Foetus learns to recognise mother’s voice and shows preference at birth o Smell and taste:
Prefer sweet taste o Turn to smell of mother’s milk
Activates pre-feeding behaviour o Biology ensures that by the time babies are delivered (40 weeks gestation) they are able to recognise their mother as a memory of her has been built up inutero via hearing, smell and taste. o Hearing:
newborn babies are already familiar with their mothers’ voices when delivered. Prefer their mothers’ voices to the voices of other women when recorded voices were played back o Smell
Babies seem primed to learn very quickly about the smells associated with their mothers.
Newborns can recognize the smell of their own amniotic fluid. (Varendi et al
1996)
Newborns recognise the smell of maternal breast odours (Varendi and
Porter 2002)
Newborns showed preferred to smell of their mother’s expressed breast milk compared to others’ EBM (Mizuno et al 2004) o Taste
A newborn senses all of these tastes except one: salt they cannot taste this until about 4 months old (Beauchamp et al 1986)
Newborns love sugar solutions-the sweeter, the better – Sweetease
Newborns also seem to like the taste of glutamate, which is found in breast milk (Beauchamp and Pearson 1991). o Sight
Babies 12 - 36 hrs old shown video playbacks of women’s faces. Preference for watching their mothers’ faces (rather than the faces of strangers).
(Bushnell et al 1989).
Newborn infants have shown a preference for looking at faces and face-like stimuli (Batki et al 2000; Turati et al 2002).
Show a preference for faces with open eyes and look longer at happy face stimuli (Farroni et al 2007).
Temperament o Easy infants: eat and sleep on schedule, playful, accept new situations with little fuss
15
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Slow-to-warm-up: the least active, mildly negative reactions to new situations, adapt over time o Difficult: irritable, fussy eaters and sleepers, react negatively to new situations o Non-linear pattern: extreme temperaments show stability, mid-range temperaments may be more open to change through environmental factors
Reciprocal socialization o Baby: cries, moves, grimaces, smiles, calms, looks o Parent: Mirrors, repeats, interprets, responds o Reciprocal socialization is bidirectional; children socialize parents just as parents socialize children. o The behaviours of mothers and infants involve substantial interconnection, mutual regulation, and synchronization. o Psychologists have a method of testing for this understanding, and it’s called the Still
Face paradigm.
Baby picks up impassive face of mother and reacts to it trying to get mother to engage and continue the reciprocal socialisation. o Scaffolding:
The behaviours of mothers / carers and infants involve substantial interconnection, mutual recognition and synchronisation. If parents responses supports or reinforces the infants efforts the infant will build on
this interaction or experience and continue to develop in this area. This is called SCAFFOLDING. Scaffolding can occur in lots of different types of interactions not just parent child.
parental behaviour that supports children’s efforts, allowing them to be more skilful than they would be if they were to rely only on their own abilities.
E.g. It is evidenced when parents time interactions in such a way that the infant experiences turn-taking.
Scaffolding is not confined to parent-infant interaction, but can be used to support children’s achievement-related efforts in school (Vygotsky, zone of proximal development e.g. younger child engaging in pretend play with older child) o So Parents through scaffolding, reciprocal socialisation, provision of a stimulating
and enriching environment (both physiologically and psychologically) give babies the resources to thrive and develop. o An “internal working model” Bowlby (1969) is established through this social process; The baby doesn’t do this on his own but coordinates his systems with those of the people around him
Babies of depressed mothers adjust to low stimulation and get used to lack of positive feelings. Baby’s of agitated mothers may stay over aroused and have a sense that feelings just explode out of you and there is much you or anyone else can do about it (or they may switch off their feelings all
16
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology together). Well managed babies (where there is reciprocal socialisation) come to expect a world that is responsive to feelings and helps to bring intense states back to a comfortable level, through the experience of being supported to do this they learn how to do it for themselves.
This “internal working model” is the very start of what we call attachment. o Attachment and how disruptions in attachment affect psychological devpt
Attachment is a theory defined by Bowlby which describes a biological instinct that seeks proximity to an attachment figure (carer) when threat is perceived or discomfort is experienced.
This sense of safety the child experiences provides a secure base from which they can explore their environment thus promoting development through learning whilst being protected in the environment.
Process of establishing the attachment bond begins even before birth
(supported by reciprocal socialisation).
The Internal working models formed inform our expectations and behaviour in wider relationships throughout our lives.
This process is mediated by “Mind – mindedness” (Meins, 2012). Parents with mind-mindedness treat their children as individuals with minds; they respond as if their children’s acts are meaningful—motivated by feelings, thoughts, or intentions (an attempt to communicate); this ultimately helps the child to understand others’ emotions and actions. o Development of Attachment over 1st Year
Birth to 3M; prefers people to inanimate objects, indiscriminate proximity seeking eg clinging
3-8M; smiles discriminately to main caregivers
8 – 12M; selectively approaches main caregivers, uses social referencing / familiar adults as “secure base” to explore new situations; shows fear of strangers and separation anxiety
From 12M (corrected age); the attachment behaviour can be measured reliably.
Strange Situation Test (Ainsworth et al 1978) was designed to present children with an unusual, but not overwhelmingly frightening, experience. It tests how babies or young children respond to the temporary absence of their mothers. Researchers are interested in two things:
1. How much the child explores the room on his own, and
2. How the child responds to the return of his mother
Securely-attached children (65%): o Free exploration and happiness upon mother’s return. o The securely-attached child explores the room freely when
Mum is present. He may be distressed when his mother leaves, and he explores less when she is absent. But he is happy when she returns. If he cries, he approaches his mother and holds her tightly. He is comforted by being held,
17
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology and, once comforted, he is soon ready to resume his independent exploration of the world. His mother is responsive to his needs. As a result, he knows he can depend on her when he is under stress (Ainsworth et al
1978).
Insecurely attached children (35%):
Avoidant-insecure children: Little exploration and little emotional
response to mother o The avoidant-insecure child doesn’t explore much, and he doesn’t show much emotion when his mother leaves. He shows no preference for his mother over a complete
stranger and, when his mother returns, he tends to avoid or ignore her (Ainsworth et al 1978).
Resistant-insecure (or “ambivalent = mixed feelings”) children: o Little exploration, great separation anxiety and ambivalent
response to mother upon her return. o Like the avoidant child, the resistant-insecure child doesn’t explore much on her own. But unlike the avoidant child, the resistant child is wary of strangers and is very distressed when her mother leaves. When the mother returns, the resistant child is ambivalent. Although she wants to reestablish close proximity to her mother, she is also resentful—even angry—at her mother for leaving her in the first place. As a result, the resistant child may reject her mother’s advances (Ainsworth et al 1978).
Disorganized-insecure children: o Little exploration and confused response to mother. o The disorganized child may exhibit a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours. But the main theme is one of confusion and anxiety. Disorganized-insecure children are at risk for a variety of behavioural and developmental problems.
Attachment in Child Development o Defined by Bowlby as a biological instinct in which proximity to an attachment figure is sought when the child senses or perceives threat or discomfort o Sense of safety the child experiences supports them to explore their environment so supporting development through learning while protecting from environmental dangers o Process of establishing the attachment bond begins at, or even before, birth
(supported by reciprocal socialisation)
18
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o A theoretically based concept (Bowlby), empirically validated (Ainsworth) o Menatal representations ‘internal working models’ are formed on the basis of early attachment experiences which inform our expectation and behaviour in other close relationships
Strange situation test (Ainsworth) o Secure (65%):
cry when mother/father leave them in playroom with stranger; seek contact and soothed by parent on their return o Insecure (35%)
Avoidant: do not appear distressed on separation; neither cling to nor resist parent on return
Ambivalent: angry and resistive on parent’s return; not easily soothed by parent
Disorganised: show confused and contradictory behaviours e.g. look away while held, unpredictable crying
Not due to infant factors (e.g. temperament) as infants show statistically independent attachment to mothers and fathers
Good enough parenting o Even securely attached infant-parent show mismatches in about 50% of interactions o Repair of interaction may be important mechanism o Affect cycle: Positive feelings – negative experience and feelings – recovery of positive affect o Child learns that negative experiences and concomitant feelings can be tolerated and endured o resilience in the face of stress is an ultimate indicator of attachment capacity o Once emotional equilbirium restored, enhancing of positive emotion through interactive play also important in supporting development of curiosity and exploration
The intergenerational transmission of Attachment o securely attached baby: caregiver sensitive to baby’s signals and consistently available to respond to infants’ needs: parent tends to be secure and autonomous in own attachment o insecure
avoidant babies: caregiver tends to be unavailable or rejecting: parent dismissive of own attachment experiences
19
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
resistant babies: caregiver sometimes responds to their babies’ need and sometimes does not: Adult insecure and preoccupied about their own early experiences
disorganized babies: caregiver may neglect or physically abuse their babies, or may suffer from depression: parent unresolved with regard to own past loss or trauma in attachment relationships)
Secure Attachment o Promotes
Independence
Emotional availability
Better moods
Better emotional coping o Associated with
fewer behavioural problems
higher IQ and academic performance o Contributes to a child’s moral development o Reduces child distress o In adolescence and adulthood associated with
Social competence
Loyal friendships
More secure parenting of offspring
Greater leadership qualities
Greater resistance to stress
Less mental health problems such as anxiety and depression
Less psychopathology e.g schizophrenia o In the school years is associated with:
Ease of making friends
Better peer relationships at school
Positive relationships with teachers
Better problem solving skills
High self-esteem
Self-confidence
Self-reliance
Less anger and anxiety
Higher levels of emotional health o In adolescence & adulthood is associated with:
Social competence
Loyal friendships
More secure parenting of offspring
Greater leadership qualities
Greater resistance to stress
Less mental health problems such as anxiety and depression
Less psychopathology e.g. schizophrenia
Less violence and criminal activity
20
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Summary o Secure attachments formed in infancy are a protective factor leading to resilience throughout the lifespan. o Insecure attachments place the individual at risk but are not causative for later problems.
Benefits of play o Has important positive effects on the brain and on a child’s ability to learn o Engage and interact with world o Create and explore own world o Experience mastery and control o Practice decision-making, planning o Practice adult roles o Overcome fears o Develop new competencies o Learn how to work in group o Develop own interests o Extend positive emotions o Maintain healthy activity level
Cognitive Development: Piaget o Piaget’s Stage Model: proposed that children’s thinking changes qualitatively with age o Results from an interaction of the brain’s biological maturation and personal experiences o Schemas: organised patterns of thoughts and action
Development occurs as we acquire new schemas and as our existing schemas become more complex
Process of assimilation (incorporating new experience into existing schema) and adaptation (whereby new experiences cause existing schema to change)
Cognitive Development: Piaget: Piaget’s Stage Model: o Sensorimotor Stage: birth to age 2; infants understand their world primarily through sensory experiences and physical (motor) interactions with objects
21
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Principle of Object Permanence develops: the understanding that an object continues to exist even when it cannot be seen
Gradually increasing use of words to represent objects, needs, and actions
Learning is based on trial and error (although errors do not become assimilated!) o Preoperational Stage: age 2-7; the world is represented symbolically through words and mental images; no understanding of basic mental operations or rules
Rapid language development
Understanding of the past and future
No understanding of Principle of Conservation: basic properties of objects stay the same even though their outward appearance may change
Mental Irreversibility: cannot mentally reverse actions
Animism: attributing lifelike qualities to physical objects and natural events
“the chair got in my way / was trying to hurt me”
Egocentrism: difficulty in viewing the world from someone else’s perspective
“can’t imagine what the other person is viewing from their position” o Concrete Operational Stage: ages 7-12; children can perform basic mental operations concerning problems that involve tangible (“concrete”) objects and situations
Understand the concept of reversibility
Display less egocentrism
Easily solve conservation problems
Trouble with hypothetical and abstract reasoning
Limits / Criticisms of Piaget o Outcomes have been replicated in populations around the world o Some researchers query whether children respond as they do to please the adult asking the question o Some argue the (repeated) question is so weird (as the answer is so obvious) the child thinks the adult wants or expects you to change the original answer– when more naturalistic ways of asking the questions were developed children performed much better (Goswami and Pauen, 2005).
Development of children’s concept of death o Under 5s: do not understand that death is final, universal, will take euphemisms concretely, may think they have caused death. o 5 to 10 years: gradually develop idea of death as irreversible, all functions ended, universal/unavoidable, more empathic to another’s loss; may be preoccupied with justice o 10 through adolescence: understand more of long-term consequences, able to think hypothetically, draw parallels, review inconsistencies o Dependent on cognitive development and experience
22
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Social-Emotional Development o Styles of Parenting: two key dimensions
Warmth (affection, acceptance) versus hostility
Restrictiveness versus permissiveness o Authoritative Parents: provide structure, warmth and support autonomy
Establish clear, consistently enforced rules
Compliance is rewarded with warmth and affection
Support autonomy as child develops
Associated with most positive childhood outcomes o Authoritarian Parents: controlling; cold, unresponsive, and rejecting relationship
Children have lower self-esteem, are less popular, and perform more poorly in school o Indulgent Parents: warm, caring relationships; no guidance and discipline
Parents fail to teach responsibility and concern for others
Children tend to be immature and self-centered o Neglectful Parents: do not provide warmth, rules, or guidance
Children are most likely to be insecurely attached
Low achievement motivation, disturbed peer relationships, impulsive, aggressive
Associated with the most negative developmental outcomes
Adolescence o Puberty: a period of rapid maturation in which the person becomes capable of sexual reproduction
Puberty is a biologically defined period; adolescence is a broader social construction o In addition to bodily changes, adolescence brings changes in thinking and emotions, family experiences, relations with peers, identity, and social expectations
Typically encompasses 12- to 18-year-olds
Piaget on adolescence o Formal operational stage o Using logic to solve abstract problems o Develop and test out hypotheses o Project over time o Understand contexts influencing own and other’s reaction o Limitations in solving interpersonal conflicts that entail logical conflicts and contradictions
23
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological human development that generally occurs from puberty (biologically defined period of rapid maturation in which a person becomes capable of sexual reproduction) to legal adulthood (a social construction). o Adolescence involves cognitive development and physical growth, as distinct from puberty, which can extend into the early twenties. o Chronological age only provides a rough marker of adolescence. o Transition to Formal Operational Stage; Where Abstract thought emerges.
Adolescent begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social and political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning. o Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific information.
The Adaptive Adolescent Brain o 12 – 25yrs extensive brain remodelling (myelinisation, synaptic pruning – reason for so much sleeping!) o Cognitive changes may help journey from the secure world parent(s) provided to fitting into world created by peers o Thrill seeking o Openness to new experiences o Risk taking o Social rewards are very strong o Prefer own age company o Emotionality becomes less positive through early adolescence o But level off and become more stable by late adolescence o Storms and stress more likely during adolescence than rest of the lifespan but not characteristic of all adolescents.
Adolescence and identity o Search for Identity identified as the key crisis during adolescence (Erikson):
Children typically define self by physical characteristics
For adolescents sense of identity has multiple components:
Gender, ethnicity, and other attributes by which we define ourselves as members of social groups
How we view our personal characteristics
Our goals and values
Culture plays a key role in identity formation
Influences the way we view concepts such as “self” and “identity”
Adolescence and Adulthood o Relationships with Parents and Peers:
Conflict between teens and parents is not as severe as often assumed
Parent-teen conflict is correlated with other signs of distress
24
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Causal direction is unclear
Peer relationships increase in importance during adolescence
Friendships become more intimate and involve a greater sharing of problems
Peers strongly influence values and behaviours
Emotional Changes in Adolescence: o Emotionality becomes less positive through early adolescence
Changes level off and become more stable by late adolescence o 34% show major downward changes; 16% show major upward changes o Storm and stress more likely during adolescence than rest of lifespan; but not characteristic of all adolescents
Achieving adulthood o When does development end? o Driving a car o Having first intimate relationship o Getting married o Deciding on a career o Owning your own home o Having children o Retirement o Time Magazine telephone Poll of 601 emerging adults, ages 18-29. November 1-4,
2004
61% would describe themselves as an adult
Almost 2 in 5 (39%) say they are either just entering adulthood or are not there yet.
Even over the age of 21, about 1 in 4 (27%), do not consider themselves adults.
How come? 35% reveal that they're "just enjoying life the way it is," while
33% say they're not financially independent yet.
What defines "adulthood" for these young adults? Many in this age group say "moving out of a parent's house" (22%), "having your first child" (22%) and "getting a good job with benefits" (19%).
25
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
23/05/14: Perception & Attention: David Murphy
Los (from booklet):
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Notes:
Learning objectives
Define, and differentiate between, sensation and perception.
Contrast bottom-up and top-down processing of sensory information.
Define Attention and contrast focussed and divided attention
Describe the biological development of perceptual skills, and explain how they are affected by cross-cultural factors, critical periods, and experience.
Outline the stages in Humphreys & Riddoch’s hierarchical model of object recognition.
Define Apperceptive and Associative Agnosia
Sensation and perception o Sensation:
the stimulus-detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain
“Is there anything out there?”
For humans is fairly average vs other species o Perception:
The active process of organizing the stimulus output and giving it meaning
“What is it, where is it, what is doing?”
This is the aspect that is superior in humans
Absolute threshold = the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected 50% of the
time
[dhtk]
26
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Difference threshold = Just Noticeable Difference (JND) o = The difference threshold is the smallest difference between two stimuli that people can perceive 50% of the time
Attention o Refers to the process of focussing conscious awareness, providing heightened sensitivity to a limited range of experience requiring more intensive processing.
Components of attention o Orientating
Initially grabbing the attention: affected by intensity, novelty, movement, contrast and repetition also internal factors e.g. when hungry more likely to notice food-related stimuli, threat o Focused attention
The ability to respond discretely to specific visual, auditory or tactile stimuli. o Sustained attention (vigilance)
The ability to maintain a consistent behavioral response during continuous and repetitive activity. o Selective attention:
The ability to maintain a behavioral or cognitive set in the face of distracting or competing stimuli. Therefore it incorporates the notion of "freedom from distractibility." o Alternating attention:
The ability of mental flexibility that allows individuals to shift their focus of attention and move between tasks having different cognitive requirements. o Divided attention
Multitasking: The highest level of attention and it refers to the ability to respond simultaneously to multiple tasks or multiple task demands
Stimulus characteristics that affect attention: o Intensity o Novelty o Movement o Contrast o Repetition
Personal factors that affect attention: o Motives o Interests o Threats to well-being
e.g. Participants are faster at finding a single angry face in a happy crowd than a single happy face in an angry crowd
27
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
The Cocktail party effect (Cherry 1953) o Don’t hear conversations going on around you at a busy party but can switch between conversations at the cost of losing ability to hear the initial continuing conversation o Is often affected in a traumatic brain injury
Dichotic Listening Task o Even if can’t report on other conversations are still processing the information to some degree o Tested by sending different info to each ear; one not listening to still effect interpretation of the sound that are trying to listen to
Attended ear:
“They were standing near the bank”
Unattended ear:
One of the following was presented o “river” o “money”
Participants interpreted “bank” as
a riverbank if they heard “river”
a financial bank if they heard “money”
Attentional capacity model Kahneman (1973) o There is a maximal unchangeable capacity for attention which is filled to diff degree due to contextual factors and it is this that is then divided between tasks
28
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Perception o Individual elements of the stimulus are combined to produce a coherent, unified perception. o What are the key principles the brain uses in constructing our perception of the world?
Gestalt principles o The word Gestalt in German literally means "shape" or "figure." o The Gestalt effect refers to the form-forming capability of our senses, particularly with respect to the visual recognition of figures and whole forms instead of just a collection of simple lines and curves.
Figure-Ground perception
It seems that our visual system simplifies the visual scene into a
figure that we look at and a ground which is everything else and forms the background.
“we are effective at pulling figures from the ground even when the image is very ambiguous and very similar in mammy ways to the background”
Gestalt principles
Similarity – we tend to group similar elements together to form a distinct percept.
Proximity – The brain tends to group together objects that are close to one another.
Closure – If part of a familiar pattern or shape is missing, our brains will “fill in the gap” to create the perception of a complete object
Continuity – If possible the brain organizes stimuli into a continuous perception.
29
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Perceptual constancy o The visual system compensates for the fact that the same object casts a different image on the retina in different light conditions, from different perspectives and at different distances. o The process by which we compensate for and consider these problems is perceptual constancy:
7 monocular depth cues to create a 3-dimensional depth effect.
1 : Linear perspective
2 : Relative size
3 : Height in the horizontal plane
4, 5 : Texture and clarity
6 : Interposition
7 : Light and shadow o Binocular Depth Cues:
Require the use of both eyes
Binocular Disparity: each eye sees a slightly different image. o Try catching a ball with one eye shut. o Effect enhanced in 3D movies
Convergence: produced by feedback from the muscles that turn your eyes inward to view a close object
Factors Affecting Perception: o Bottom-up processing
Perception that consists of the progression of recognizing and processing information from individual components of a stimuli and moving to the perception of the whole. o Top down processing:
Perception is not only affected by the visual stimulus but also by our experiences and expectations o Top-down and bottom-up processing occur simultaneously and interact with each other in our perception of the world around us.
30
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Schema = a mental representation of something
Top-down processing o Perceptual Schema: a mental representation or image containing the critical and distinctive features of a person, object, event, or other perceptual phenomenon
Schemas provide mental templates that allow us to identify and classify sensory input
Each of our perceptions is essentially a hypothesis about the meaning of the sensory information
Allows shortcuts instead of interpreting things from scratch every time
Are not inbuilt; acquired over time hence people of different cultures interprets things differently
Eg westerners perceive depth with a greater extent / priority than
African cultures
Critical Periods o Certain kinds of experiences must occur if perceptual abilities and the brain mechanisms that underlie them are to develop normally
Kittens raised in completely vertical environments were unable to see horizontal objects, and vice-versa (Blakemore & Cooper, 1970)
Must be exposed to certain stimuli during a specific period of life otherwise will fail to later deveop the relavant perception of that object (cats only exposed to vertical lines can’t perceive horizontal lines)
31
Giles Kisby
Object recognition (after Humphreys & Riddoch)
GE Y1 Psychology
Visual Agnosia (literally “not knowing”) o Agnosia = visual not impaired o Apperceptive visual agnosia is characterised by intact visual ability on a basic sensory level, but a defect in early stage visual processing that prevents a correct percept of the stimulus being formed. The patient is unable to access the structure
or spatial properties of a visual stimuli and the object is not seen as a whole or in a meaningful way.
Problem pulling the object out of the background o In Associative visual agnosia, primary sensory and early visual processing systems
are preserved. The patient can perceive objects presented visually but cannot
interpret, understand or assign meaning to the object, face or word.
CK (Behrmann, Winocur & Moscovitch) is severely agnosic. He is able to produces accurate drawings…but cannot later recognize the identity of his own drawings.
32
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Perception and attention - Summary o Sensation o Components of attention o Gestalt principles o Perceptual constancy o Depth perception o Top-down vs bottom-up processing o Cultural differences in perception o Development of perception o Object recognition and agnosia
33
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
23/05/14: The perception of physical symptoms: David
Murphy
Los (from booklet): o o o o o o o
- o o
Notes:
Learning objectives
Explain the limitations of a uni-dimensional model of pain.
Outline the Gate Theory of Pain and explain the mechanisms through which the psychological factors influence the experience of pain.
Discuss the lack of concordance of physiological parameters and symptom perception.
Discuss the role of attention in symptom perception (esp pain).
Describe the role of anxiety and mood in symptom perception.
Describe the role of culture and social environment in symptom perception and illness behaviour.
Define the different methods of measuring pain
Define the placebo effect and possible mechanisms of action
Explain the differences between acute and chronic pain.
Descartes’ Concept of “The pain pathway” from L’Homme (1644) o Direct proportionality of stimulus to perception o “If for example fire (A) comes near the foot (B), the minute particles of this fire, which as you know move with great velocity, have the power to set in motion the spot of the skin of the foot which they touch, and by this means pulling upon the delicate thread (cc) which is attached to the spot of the skin, they open up at the same instant the pore (d.e.) against which the delicate thread ends, just as by pulling at one end of a rope makes to strike at the same instant a bell which hangs at the other end.”
34
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Perception of symptoms is typically more important than the status of the underlying pathology from the patients perspective o Henry Knowles Beecher (1904 –1976) The relationship between wound severity and pain (1956)
Disproved Descartes model: showed was not as straightforward and that the perceived meaning of the injury affects perception
Eg End of danger for soldiers vs start of hardship for civillians (see below)
Eg Annual hook-swinging ceremony celebrating end of harvest: celebratory event so pain not felt
Soldiers in World War II:
49% “Moderate” or “Severe” pain.
32% requested medication.
Civilians with similar wounds:
75% “moderate” or “severe” pain
83% requested medication
Gate Theory of Pain (Melzack & Wall) o Ascending pain pathway is combined with descending inhibitory pain signalling hence cortical signalling etc can reduce pain perception in certain circumstances o Other peripheral fibres can act to increase or decrease OVR signalling o All pain lies on the Psychogenic / somatogenic continuum and considers both mental and physical aspects for OVR perception
35
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Perception and attribution of bodily symptoms o A physical symptom is a perception, feeling, or belief about the state of our body.
(It)….is often-but not always – based on physiological activity. Above all, a physical symptom represents information about our internal state
Factors affecting perception
1. Attention inc perception
2. Anxiety attention inc perception o Arntz et al (1991): Anxiety in itself is not a key factor in perception; only if subsequently leads to inc attention will it lead to inc pain perception etc
3. Expectation attention inc perception o Role of expectancy in pain perception
(Anderson & Pennebaker 1980)
49 College students participated in an experiment which involved placing one hand in an apparatus consisting of a vibrating piece of sandpaper.
Participants were told either:
1) That the experience may be painful or
2) The experience may be pleasant
Or
3) Not given any prior information.
36
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o “Given an undefined state of bodily arousal, individuals will seek and labels, and given a label individuals will seek and find symptoms” Meyer et al (1985)
Perception of symptoms while jogging on a treadmill
56 male participants walked on a treadmill for 11 minutes on two separate occasions.
On first occasion wore headphones but heard nothing
On second occasion one group heard amplified sounds of their own breathing perceived more symptoms.
The other group heard street sounds e.g. noise of cars, snippets of conversation perceived fewer symptoms
Measure of symptom perception eg pain: o 1. Subjective measures
Verbal measures
a. Unstructured
b. Verbal rating scales e.g.
“Mild, Moderate or Severe”
c. Visual/graphical rating scales o 2. Physiological measures
Galvanic Skin response
Heart rate
Breathing rate o 3. Pain behaviour
See pic on right
Use vs neonates
37
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Illness representations model (Leventhal et al 1980) o Definition: “A patients own implicit, commonsense beliefs about their illness”
Identity
Identity can be considered the label of the illness and the symptoms the patients view as being part of the illness
Cause
Cause is the patients’ views about what may have caused their problem, such as genetic factors, family circumstances, trauma, etc.
Consequences
Consequences include the effects the clients are expecting from their illness and their views on the outcome
Time line
Time-line is the clients’ view about how long their problem will last and whether it is seen as acute, chronic or episodic
Curability/controllability
Cure/control is about the patients’ expectations as they recover from or control the illness o Component Items
Cause – “A germ or virus caused my illness” “Pollution of the environment caused my illness” “Stress was a major factor in causing my illness.”
Timeline - “My illness is likely to be permanent rather than temporary” “My illness will last for a long time.”
Consequences - “My illness has major consequences on my life” “My illness is a serious condition”
Cure-Control - “There is little that can be done to improve my illness.”
“My treatment will be effective in curing my illness”
38
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Factors influencing illness representations o Previous personal experience
e.g. previous illness o Social learning
e.g. Parental modelling o Transmission of information
(e.g. Medical student’s disease - Mechanic 1962)
Perceiving symptoms of diseases leart about due to focussed attention on details of that state o Culture
e.g. idea of Imbalance between Hot & Cold food giving problem, Evil eye o Individual differences
i.e. Personality, health beliefs
Why patients consult when they cough Cornford (1998) o Representations of illness differed between consulters and non-consulters
Consulters of cough:
Identity – “bronchitis”
Cause – “virus”
Consequences – “worried that cough is putting strain on the heart”
Time-line – “it’s not going away” “it recurred”
Curability – “need antibiotics”
Placebo: o Pain relief from 10mg Morphine vs Saline (Houde et al 1960)
39
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Factors associated with placebo response o Patient factors
no clear “placebo-responder” personality o Therapist factors
e.g. status of practitioner, confidence in practitioner. o Treatment factors
injections>pills, larger pills more effective, green & brown most effective colours for pills
Amanzio et al (2001)
278 patients recovering from thoracic surgery given IV analegics.
Drugs were either given by doctor injecting into cannulae in view of the patient (Open: greater effect resulted) or via a programmed infusion machine (Hidden: less effect).
86 health volunteers underwent ischaemic pain task and given open or hidden analgesic plus Naloxone (an opiate antagonist: cancelled out the placebo effect so suggest endogenous opiates mediate the placebo effect)
40
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Possible mechanisms underlying the placebo effect o Classical Conditioning o Expectancy/Anxiety/Attention o Release of endogenous opiates o N.B. Not mutually exclusive
Acute vs Chronic Pain o <1 month
Usually obvious tissue damage
Increased nervous system activity
Pain resolves upon healing
Serves a protective function o >3-6 months: chronic: other factors come into effect that worsen the OVR pain state
Pain beyond expected period of healing
Usually has no protective function
Degrades health and function
41
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
23/05/14: Individual differences: Dr Stephen Gunning
Los (from booklet):
Learning Objectives
Outline psychodynamic theory of personality development.
Describe the ‘Big Five’ trait model of personality
Explain how psychometric testing is used in personality measurement
Describe Spearman’s g factor of intelligence and cite evidence that supports it.
Differentiate between crystallised and fluid intelligence and explain how they are affected by aging.
Explain how psychometric tests help differentiate between normal changes in cognition through aging and those caused by disease
Define IQ and explain why it is not always a useful concept to describe an individual’s abilities.
Describe the findings of twin studies on the roles of heredity and environment in intelligence research
Define Simon Baron-Cohen’s Systemising and Empathising Quotients and how they relate to autism.
Notes:
Why important? o Not working with ‘consistent’ phenomena
e.g. human vs litre of hydrogen o Averaging and need to consider gender, level of physical activity etc
e.g. metabolic rate
42
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Personality: o the distinctive and relatively enduring ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that characterise a person’s responses to life situations o Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory:
Studied ‘hysteria’ with Jean Charcot
Believed that symptoms were related to repressed memories and feelings
Personality is an energy system
Instinctual drives generate psychic energy, which constantly seeks release
Three “structures”:
Id (~ hippocampus) o the only structure present at birth o Exists totally within the unconscious mind o Pleasure Principle: seeks immediate gratification and release, regardless of rational considerations and environmental realities
Ego (~ ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) o Operates primarily at the conscious level o Reality Principle: tests reality to decide when and under what conditions the id can safely satisfy its needs
Superego (~ prefrontal) o Last to develop o Contains the traditional values and ideals of family and society o Morality Principle o The Trait Perspective
Personality Traits: relatively stable cognitive, emotional, and behavioural characteristics of people that help establish their individual identities and distinguish them from others
A trait is a continuum along which individuals vary, like nervousness or speed of reaction.
43
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
We can’t observe traits but infer from behaviour o Eysenck’s Two Factor Model
Hans Eysenck (1916-1997)
British psychologist, who, at the time of his death, was the most frequently cited psychologist alive
Personality theory has two main factors:
Neuroticism or stability – the tendency to experience negative emotions
Extraversion – the degree to which a person is outgoing and seeks stimulation o The Five-Factor Model of Personality
The big five factors of personality (“supertraits”) are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality—specifically, neuroticism (emotional instability), extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.
Use the acronym OCEAN to remember the big five personality factors:
44
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
How tested:
Personality Test Example o Openness e.g. “I enjoy philosophical discussions” o Conscientiousness e.g. “I am usually well prepared” o Extraversion e.g. “I am the life of the party” o Agreeableness e.g. “I put other people down” o Neuroticism e.g. “I seldom feel blue”
The Trait Perspective
Some personality dimensions tend to be more stable over the lifespan than others o Introversion-extraversion remains relatively stable o Openness and extraversion tend to decline with age o Agreeableness and conscientiousness tend to increase with age o Females tend to decrease in neuroticism
Evaluation
Focuses attention on the value of identifying, classifying, and measuring stable, enduring personality dispositions
Need to focus on how traits interact with each other
45
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Some behaviours may be more situation dependant rather than personality dependant o Bandura’s Key Terms
Reciprocal determinism
Cognitions, behaviours, and the environment interact to produce personality
Self-Efficacy (person’s expectation of success) is shown to be a strong determinant to of whether able to implement a behaviour change
Ie this can be thought of as separate to their personality
Eg rodger bannister and the 4 min mile: it had shown to be possible so more people had sufficient self efficacy
Four sources of Self Efficacy:
Focuses only on description, not explanation; attempts to explain: o Eysenck proposed a biological, genetic basis for personality traits
Differences in customary levels of cortical arousal
Introverts are overaroused; extraverts are underaroused
Suddenness of shifts in arousal
Unstable (neurotic) people show large and sudden shifts in limbic system arousal; stable people do not o Genetic Influences on Personality
123 pairs of identical twins and 127 pairs of fraternal twins
46
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Measured on “Big Five” personality dimensions
Results suggest that personality differences in the population are approximately 50% genetically determined. o Personality & Intelligence
Locus of control
Extent to which people believe they can influence events that affect them
Which of the ‘big five’ personality traits correlate with intelligence?
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness,
Neuroticism o Openness positively correlates with measures of verbal intelligence o Conscientiousness negatively correlates with intelligence test scores
Intelligence:
the ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively, and to deal adaptively with the environment
“Intelligence is what intelligence tests measure” (Boring, 1923) o Is defined by how we measure it
Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon o Develop first intelligence test to identify French children that might have difficulty in school o All children follow the same course of mental development, but at different paces
47
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Binet-Simon scale measures mental age rather than a chronological age
Lewis Terman o Converts the Binet-Simon scale to suit California children
(Stanford-Binet scale) o Introduced the IQ score (intelligence quotient)
Term coined by William Stern
A score of 100 is considered average
Test-taker’s performance relative to average performance of other’s the same age
Charles Spearman
Believed intellectual activity involves a general factor (g) and specific factor
Develops factor analysis o People who excel in one area often excel in other areas o Statistical procedure which examines inter-correlations between different tests of mental ability
48
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
The Psychometric Approach
Cattell and Horn (1971, 1985) broke down Spearman’s ‘g’ into two distinct but related subtypes (with a correlation of about .50)
Crystallized Intelligence (gc): o the ability to apply previously acquired knowledge to current problems. Will commonly improve with age.
Fluid Intelligence (gf): o the ability to deal with novel problem-solving situations for which personal experience does not provide a solution.
Shows pattern of decline in aging.
The utility of IQ scores
Is an average of several factors so an abnormality in one may be missed:
This criticism is especially relevant for clinical applications of such tests e.g. Stroke pts o Consider a doctor who devises a limb strength quotient or
LQ by totalling the strength of all four limbs, again with a mean of 100. o Now consider a tennis player who sprains his left ankle reducing his left leg score to 50, but his right leg scores 140 and his right and left arms score 160 and 130 respectively. o His LQ would be 120 – well above average, so no problem, right? (Lezak, 1988)
Changes with age occur so must consider people vs same age:
49
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Intelligence is relatively stable with age:
Stability of Intelligence
Taking the same IQ test at age 11 & age 80: Scottish Mental Survey
1932
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences o Linguistic Intelligence: e.g. Shakespeare o Logical-Mathematic Intelligence: e.g. Einstein o Spatial Intelligence: e.g. Gaudi o Musical Intelligence: e.g. Lennon.
Furthermore, Gardner believes cardiologists may have this kind of intelligence in abundance as they make diagnoses on the careful listening to patterns of sounds. o Bodily-Kinaesthetic Intelligence: e.g. Messi o Intrapersonal Intelligence: e.g. Socrates o Interpersonal functioning: e.g. Freud
More recently he proposed Naturalistic Intelligence, the ability to understand and work effectively in the natural world (Gardner,1999) e.g.
Ray Mears, and Existential Intelligence (Gardner, 2000), the philosophical ability to ponder questions about one’s existence e.g. Sartre.
50
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Heredity and Environment o Genetic factors can influence the effects produced by the environment
Accounts for 1/2 to 2/3 of the variation in IQ
No single “intelligence gene” o Environment can influence how genes express themselves
Accounts for 1/3 to 1/2 of the variation in IQ
Both shared and unshared environmental factors are involved
Educational experiences are very important o An Example of “Genetic Vs. Environmental” Influences on Intelligence (Plomin et al.
2007): o The Intelligence Controversy: Are IQ Tests Culturally Biased?
Can’t compare genetics different races in different conditions due to the differences in env factors that will predominate o Gender Differences in Intelligence
Gender differences in performance on certain types of intellectual tasks, not general intelligence
Men generally outperform women on spatial tasks, tests of target-directed skills, and mathematical reasoning
Women generally outperform men on tests of perceptual speed, verbal fluency, mathematical calculation, and precise manual tasks
51
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Autism Research
Autism and Asperger’s syndrome share three core diagnostic features
Difficulties in social development
Difficulties in development of communication
Narrow interests and repetitive behaviour
They are distinguished by Asperger’s syndrome requiring at least average IQ and that the child spoke on time
There is a normal distribution of autistic traits in the general population o Sex differences and autism: “extreme male brain”
Classic autism has a 4:1 male: female ratio
Asperger’s syndrome has a 9:1 male: female ratio
Baron-Cohen (2002) explains the social and communication difficulties in autism and Asperger’s syndrome by delays or deficits in empathy whilst explaining the narrow interests with reference to skills in systemising
Empathising consists of both being able to infer the thoughts and feelings of others (‘Theory of Mind’) and having an appropriate emotional reaction
Systemising is the drive to analyse or construct any kind of system i.e. identifying the rules that a govern a system, in order to predict how that system will behave (Baron-Cohen, 2006)
Empathy Quotient Examples
I get upset if I see people suffering on news programmes.
I can pick up quickly if someone says one thing but means another
I can’t always see why someone should have felt offended by a remark
Systemising Quotient Examples
I am fascinated by how machines work
I find it very easy to use train timetables, even if this involves several connections
I do not keep careful records of my household bills.
52
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Cohen: 5 types of brain: see booklet for explanation of each type o Criticism: ‘Neurosexism’?
Env effects: boys and girls given different toys etc to favour diff type of brain
Fine (2010) argues that impossible to exclude contribution of environment and culture
Findings of sex differences reflect bias in gender roles
Science meets politics?
53
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
23/05/14: Coping with treatment: Dr Stephen Gunning
Los (from booklet):
Learning objectives
Describe with reference to Lazarus & Folkman’s Transactional definition of stress why some medical and surgical procedures are stressful.
Identify strategies to prepare patients for treatment
Describe the two different types of information which can be provided and their relative efficacy in reducing distress.
Describe the effect of perceived control on patient distress.
Define and give examples of problem-focussed and emotion-focussed coping strategies.
Discuss the importance individual differences in preferred coping style and the importance of matching preparation to patient preferred coping style.
Describe the specific considerations for helping children cope with treatment.
Give examples of effective strategies to help children cope with treatment.
Notes:
Transactional definition of stress o Stress is a condition that results when the person / environment transactions lead the individual to perceive a discrepancy between the demands of the situation and the coping resources available.
Why is patient distress a bad thing? o Moral/ethical responsibility to minimize suffering if possible. o If treatment is distressing there is a greater chance of patients avoiding or not complying. o Distress during treatment related to longer term psychological morbidity. o Distress during treatment related to wide variety of treatment outcomes.
54
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Problem vs Emotion Focussed coping o Problem Focussed coping
Efforts directed at changing the environment in some way or changing one’s own actions or attitudes o Emotion focussed coping
Efforts designed to manage the stress-related emotional physical responses in order to maintain one’s own morale and allow one to function.
1. Increasing predictability o Egbert (1964)
Randomly allocated 97 patients to receive preparation for surgery or normal care.
Prepared group reported less pain, used less analgesic medication and their post-operative stay in hospital was an average of 2.7 days shorter. o Procedural vs sensory information: Johnson (1973)
Procedural information
Information about the procedures to be undertaken
Sensory information
Information about the sensations that may be experienced.
Participants (male undergraduates) were given either sensory or procedural information before undergoing a pain task.
Results showed that the participants given sensory information reported significantly less distress during the procedure
Patients about to undergo a cholecystectomy were randomly assigned to one of three preparation groups:
Sensory information
Procedural information
Routine preparation
Results
Both procedural and sensory information led to lower levels of helplessness but only sensory information led to reduced fear.
Length of hospitalization: o General information – 6.7 days o Procedural information – 4.7 days o Sensory information – 3.3 days (Statistically significant)
Dual process hypothesis
Proposes that procedural and sensory information work in different ways.
Procedural information works by allowing patients to match ongoing events with their expectations in a non-emotional manner.
Sensory information works by “mapping” a non-threatening interpretation on to these expectations.
55
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o How much information is enough?
Auerbach (1983)
40 patients undergoing dental extraction surgery were either given general or detailed information in a pre-operative preparation.
Krantz Health Opinion Survey administered (assesses desire for information).
Distress during procedure measured.
Result: best amount of information really is dependent on patient preference (no absolute correct amount of info to give)
56
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
2. Increasing control o Long term setting: Nursing Home Study Langer & Rodin (1976)
Floor 1
In a meeting, emphasized to residents that they could make choices and had responsibility:
Could rearrange furniture in rooms.
Could decide what to do in their free times.
Choice of movies.
Offered choice of plant which they looked after themselves.
Floor 2
Similar meeting—emphasized to residents how staff wanted them to be happy.
Told that staff will ensure rooms are pleasant.
Given a timetable of activities.
Movie night, but no choice.
Given a plant but nurses watered and cared for it.
Results
On behavioural measures floor 1 residents (enhanced control group) showed greater engagement in activities.
Self report and nurse's ratings showed Floor 1 residents had better
general well being.
Link to mortality: 18 Months later – 15% of Floor 1 residents had died compared to 30% of Floor 2 residents. o Acute setting:
Dental traffic lights activated during pain by patient and seen by dentist:
Vs pain: Discomfort decreased only if patient signalled and dentist responded
Vs anxiety: information giving alone is sufficient to decrease discomfort o Emotion vs Problem Focussed coping
Many studies have found that use of emotion focussed coping strategies associated with poorer adjustment and greater levels of depression e.g.
Holahan & Moos (1990)
However, need to beware of circular reasoning (i.e. those who are more distressed may need to engage in more emotion-focussed coping).
Optimal coping strategy depends on both the individual’s coping style and also the situation
Emotion-focussed coping
Examples: o Meditation o Relaxation techniques o Deep-breathing o Distraction o Praying
57
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Problem focussed coping:
Directed towards reducing or eliminating a stressor, adaptive behavioural o Coping strategies in an uncontrollable situation (Strentz & Auerbach 1988)
Airline employees participated in an FBI training programme to train them to cope with hostage situations. Employees were randomly assigned to training in:
Problem focussed coping strategies
Emotional focussed strategies
Control condition – no coping training
Some weeks later they were unexpectedly kidnapped by FBI agents posing as terrorists and held captive for 4 days.
Emotion focussed was most helpful in the context of uncontrollable situations o Martelli et al (1987)
46 patients awaiting pre-prosthetic oral surgery
Administered the Krantz Health Opinion Survey
Given a 20 minute preparation either emotion focussed or problem focussed or a mixed preparation to people with high or low preference for information
Results: see below: must adapt tactics to patient
58
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Effect of social support (Kulik and Mahler (1989)
Male patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery allocated to share a room with either a pre-operative or post-operative patient.
Patients who shared with recovering patients left hospital on average 1.4 days earlier.
Helping children to cope with treatment o Presence of parent in treatment
Level of parental anxiety is highly influential
Marzo et al (2003) assessed behaviour of children during dental treatment.
Half children had parent present, half did not. 89% of children with the parent out were “fully cooperative” compared to 63% of the group with the parent in.
Frank et al (1995) found children’s distress during a routine immunization was correlated with the amount of distress shown by parents but not to subjective anxiety. o Chambers et al (2002)
120 children aged 8-12 years
Mothers randomly allocated to training in one of three interaction styles:
Pain promoting (reassurance & empathy etc)
Pain reducing (distraction, humour etc)
No training
[All children underwent a cold pressor task]
Effect of training on pain experience seen for girls (although not boys)
Pain promoting inc parental anxiety inc pain experience by child
59
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Modelling intervention for children undergoing surgery Melamed & Siegal (1975)
Children aged 4-12 years old undergoing operations e.g. tonsillectomy.
Half of children shown a film “Ethan has an operation” depicting child in hospital. The other half watched a control film.
Observer rating of verbal and non-verbal anxiety behaviour measured.
Lower anxiety with those shown the hospital film o Preparing children for treatment
Studies have found that children under 7 benefit most from information presented shortly before a procedure.
However, in older children information presented immediately before an event may increase distress (Blount et al 2003). Baldwin & Barnes (1966)
60
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology found that older children benefit most from information presented 4-7 days before a procedure.
However, most parents believed their children should not be given information until the day of the procedure. o Jaaniste et al (2007)
78 Children aged 7-12 years
Completed Pain Coping Questionnaire to identify preferred coping strategies
(inc behavioural distraction)
Underwent a cold pressor task
One group received an imagery based distraction read to child (50 seconds duration)
Another group no special preparation
Results: had shown that they were able to identify the style that was best for them o Combined approach
Tell: Using simple language and a matter-of-fact style, the child is told what is going to happen before each procedure.
Show: The procedure is demonstrated using an inanimate object, a member of staff or the dentist him or her self.
Do: The procedure does not begin until the child understands what will be done.
61
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
23/05/14: Coping with illness and disability: Dr Stephen
Gunning
Los (from booklet):
Learning objectives
Describe with reference to Lazarus & Folkman’s Transactional definition of stress why some medical and surgical procedures are stressful.
Identify strategies to prepare patients for treatment
Describe the two different types of information which can be provided and their relative efficacy in reducing distress.
Describe the effect of perceived control on patient distress
Define and give examples of problem-focussed and emotion-focussed coping strategies.
Discuss the importance of identify individual differences in preferred coping style and the importance of matching preparation to patient preferred coping style.
Describe the specific considerations for helping children cope with treatment.
Give examples of effective strategies to help children cope with treatment.
From slides:
Describe Kubler-Ross’s Stage Theory model of grief
Discuss the evidence for the existence of discrete universal stages of adjustment and give examples of some limitations of stage theories.
Outline the Crisis theory of adjustment, give examples of illness and background factors affecting adjustment and describe the role of appraisal.
Define Leventhal’s five dimensions of illness representations.
Describe how illness representations can influence recovery after illness or injury
Cite evidence that demonstrates how psychological factors can affect outcome in long-term health conditions
Give examples of how psychological interventions can improve coping behaviours and emotional adjustment to illness and disability
Notes:
Transactional definition of stress o Stress is a condition that results when the person / environment transactions lead the individual to perceive a discrepancy between the demands of the situation and the coping resources available.
Cognitive Appraisal
62
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o For example, when considering an exam you will evaluate how hard it will be and how much it counts (primary appraisal) and how your current knowledge equips you to pass (secondary appraisal) o You will also take into account potential consequences of failing with regards to their likelihood and seriousness o Finally, the psychological meaning of the consequences may be related to your beliefs about yourself or the world, e.g. “I am a total failure if I don’t do well in all my exams”
Stage model: Elizabeth KÜbler-Ross o Reactions to terminal illness o Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross became internationally known in 1969 for her book Death and Dying. o From interviewing dying clients she outlined five reactions of the person facing death:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance o Denial
The person thinks "This isn't really happening”. They may lie about the situation and tell themselves that this is just temporary and everything will be back to normal soon. It is often used as an attempt to cushion the impact of the source of grief. o Anger
The person thinks "Why me" or "How could God do this to me“. The person feels generalized rage at the world for allowing something like this to happen. They feel isolated and furious that this is happening to them. They think it's unfair and may feel betrayed. Outbursts of anger in unrelated situations can occur. o Bargaining
The person thinks "If I do this, I can make it better, I can fix things." One may feel guilt and feel it is their responsibility to fix the problems. They make an attempt to strike bargains with God, spouses, or parents. “I’ll be a good person, if I get another chance” o Depression
The person thinks "My heart feels broken" or "This loss is really going to happen and it's really sad." At this stage, the person is absorbed in the intense pain they feel from having their world come apart. They can be overwhelmed with feelings of helplessness and sadness.
“Confronting denial”: IS WRONG (cf MYTHS)
63
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
“It is often necessary to confront the patient gently but firmly with the reality of his situation and force him into a period of depression
while he works out his acceptance of his loss”
May fail to exit this phase:
Pollard & Kennedy (2007) o 87 people with spinal-cord injuries assessed at 12 weeks post injury and followed up 10 years later. o At 12 weeks 38% of patients above threshold on depression questionnaire. o At 10 years 35% above threshold. o No statistically significant difference between scores at 12 weeks and 10 years and these were the same people
Resilience persists and is the norm; are not in danger of a later period of depression o Acceptance
The person thinks "This did occur, but I have great memories" or "It is sad but I have so much to live for and so many to love." The loss is accepted and we work on alternatives to coping with the loss and to minimize the loss.
Weaknesses of stage models o Don’t account for variability in response o Place patients in a passive role o Fail to consider social or cultural factors o Focus on emotional responses and neglect cognitions and behaviour o Pathologise people who do not pass through stages
Crisis theory: Crisis theory of coping with serious illness (Moos & Schaefer 1982)
64
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
[influences cognition behaviours outcomes] o Factors affecting adjustment [see diagram]
Illness related-factors:
Unexpected
Cause & Outcome (eg assault)
Prior experience
Pain
Disability caused
Disfigurement / visibility
Uncertainty/progressiveness
Background/Personal factors:
Age of onset
Gender
SES & occupation
Religious/philosophical views
Pre-existing personality [see below detail]
Pre-existing self esteem
Locus of control
Pre-existing illness beliefs
Physical and Social environment:
Hospitalisation
Accommodation and physical aids/adaptations
Stigma
Social support o social isolation is a robust predictor of cardiac mortality as in pic o Brummett et al (2001) found that the most socially isolated cardiac pts scored higher on a hostility measure, had lower incomes, and were more likely to be smokers.
65
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
However even when these variables were adjusted for, social isolation still remained a robust predictor
of cardiac mortality o Significantly increased risk of cardiac mortality if isolated (1-
3) but no benefit of very big support network
Pre-existing personality: o Boyce & Wood (2011)
4-Year prospective study of life satisfaction 307 individuals who were newly disabled (from rep. sample of 11,680)
Different adaptation for high and low Agreeableness: high value gives crisis theory trajectory, low value gives progressive decline as below
High agreeableness high life satisfaction at time progresses
Big Five Personality Traits:
66
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Openness to experience: o
(inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious). Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience. Openness reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has. o O – not linked to health
Conscientiousness: o
(efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless). A tendency to be organized and dependable, show self-discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather than spontaneous behavior.
o C - +2 years life expectancy
Extraversion: o (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved). Energy, positive emotions, surgency, assertiveness, sociability and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others, and talkativeness.
o E – lower rates of CHD
Agreeableness: o (friendly/compassionate vs. analytical/detached). A tendency to be compassionate and cooperativerather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. It is also a measure of one's trusting and helpful nature, and whether a person is generally well tempered or not.
o A – Hostility associated w/ CHD
Neuroticism: o ( sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident). The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, and vulnerability. Neuroticism also refers to the degree of emotional stability and impulse control and is sometimes referred to by its low pole,
"emotional stability".
o N – higher rates of alcohol and smoking; higher symptoms report o Coping process
Coping appraisal:
67
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Definition: “A patients own implicit, commonsense beliefs about their illness”
Considers factors such as o Identity - E.g. “I have a cold, with a sore throat and runny nose” o Cause – “A germ or virus caused my illness” “Pollution of the environment caused my illness” “Stress was a major factor in causing my illness.” o Timeline - “My illness is likely to be permanent rather than temporary”
“My illness will last for a long time.” o Consequences - “My illness has major consequences on my life” “My illness is a serious condition” o Cure-Control - “There is little that can be done to improve my illness.” “My treatment will be effective in curing my illness”
influence of illness beliefs on recovery: o Petrie et al (1996) found that measures of illness representation after MI were better predictors of return to work than severity of illness
74 patients with acute MI were asked to draw pictures of their heart (before discharge from hospital)
Recovery was assessed 3 months later, measuring work, exercise, distress about symptoms and perceptions of recovery
Patients who drew damage to their heart perceived that their heart had recovered less at 3 months, that their heart condition would last longer and had lower perceived control over their heart condition
Extent of damage drawn correlated to slower return to work
Peak troponin-t not related to 3-month outcomes or return to work
“Drawings of damage predict recovery better than medical variables” o Patients who have weaker belief in the control or cure of heart condition were less likely to attend cardiac rehabilitation (Cooper et al., 1999) o Attributing the cause to ‘stress’ was predictive of mortality 7 years after MI (Weinman et al., 2000) o Cherrington et al. (2004) found that negative illness perceptions were predictive of in-hospital complications in recovery
Adaptive tasks
68
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Tasks related to illness or treatment o Coping with symptoms or disability o Adjusting to hospital environment and medical procedures. o Developing and maintaining good relationships with healthcare professionals.
Tasks related to general psychosocial functioning o Controlling negative feelings and retaining a positive outlook for the future o Maintaining a satisfactory self image and sense of competence o Preserving good relationships with family and friends o Preparing for uncertain future o When fail to do so:
Depression:
Prognostic studies conclude that CHD pts with depression have 2.0 to 2.5 times higher risk of mortality in first two years
Explanations vary from physiological changes (e.g. platelet activity) to affect on health behaviours (e.g. levels of physical activity)
Coping Skills
Denying or minimizing seriousness
Seeking relevant information
Learning specific illness related procedures
Setting concrete limited goals
Rehearsing alternative outcomes
Seeking reassurance and emotional support o Importance of social support
69
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
86 women with breast cancer were randomly assigned to a support group or control – i.e. normal medical care
Aim was to improve quality of life
BUT, 48 months later all the women in the control had died whereas a third of the women from the support group were still alive (Spiegel et al. 1989)
NICE recommended treatments in adults with chronic physical health problems o Psycho-education o Group-based skills training o Individual and group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) o Treatment of identified specific co-morbid mental health disorders, for example, CBT or anti-depressants for the treatment of depression.
The myths of coping with loss/disease: o Distress or depression is inevitable. / Distress is necessary, and failure to experience people are not at risk of a later period of depression onset o Expectations of recovery
People prone to neg attitude may have them long term o Reaching a state of resolution
Not the case for all people eg chronic pain patients – never “resolved” distress is indicative of pathology. / The importance of “working through” the loss.
As prev resilience determines extent of neg effect on patient and such
70
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Not All Downhill! o Many (>30%) people report significant and valuable changes from the experience of the illness.
Stronger relationships, intimacy, sex life improved
Sense of purpose and meaning
Active coping, renewed interests
Active in self-management of illness
Reaction to diagnosis o “The main thing I remember about being told the diagnosis was an overwhelming sense of relief. At last I had reasons and explanations for feeling so terrible......Looking back I am amazed at all the false explanations I had come up with for the way I had been feeling for the couple of months before going to my GP.
The muscle cramps I had put down to being unfit, and the skin troubles to poor diet. I had given up smoking a few months before, and when I developed an unquenchable thirst, I assumed that I had exchanged one oral addiction for another! What a relief it was to discover that, far from being unfit, inadequate and neurotic I was merely diabetic”
WHO:
WHO definition of Health o “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Quality of life o “Quality of life is defined as the individuals perception of their position in life...It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complex way by a person’s physical health, psychological state, level of independence and their relationship with salient features of their environment”
ICF model: International Classification of Functioning (ICF) o Body Functions - physiological functions of body systems o Body Structures - anatomical parts of the body such as organs, limbs and their components. o Impairments - problems in body function or structure such as a significant deviation or loss. o Activity limitation - the execution of a task or action by an individual. o Participation restriction - involvement in a life situation.
71
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Environmental Factors - make up the physical, social and attitudinal environment in which people live and conduct their lives. o Personal factors
Appraisals are often what is important regarding life satisfaction rather than the actual functional status of the individual: o Helplessness
e.g. “Because of my condition I miss the things I like to do most” o Acceptance
“I can handle the problems related to my condition” o Disease benefits
72
Giles Kisby
“My condition has taught me to enjoy the moment more”
GE Y1 Psychology
73
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
10/01/14: Memory and cognitive aspects of mental health disorders: Dr Alexandra Garfield
Los (from booklet):
Learning Objectives
Define memory and the processes of registration, encoding, storage and retrieval
Describe the components of working memory
Describe the different types of long-term memory
Differentiate between effortful and automatic processing
Define schema and explain how schemas enhance encoding and influence memory construction
Define an associative network
Outline the role of cognitive factors in depression
Notes:
Define memory and the processes of registration, encoding, storage, and retrieval o Memory: defined
Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain and later retrieve information. There are three major processes involved in memory: encoding, storage and retrieval
74
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Memory involves a number of stages: o Input from our senses into the memory system o Processing and combining of received information o Holding of that input in the memory system o Recovering stored information from the memory system (remembering)
Registration o Registration is necessary for storage to take place but not everything that a person registers is stored o Something has to be stored to be retrieved but the fact that it is stored does not guarantee it will be retrieved on a particular occasion
Encoding o More effective encoding into long-term memory increases the likelihood of retrieval o Effortful Processing:
initiated intentionally
requires conscious attention o Automatic Processing
occurs without intention
requires minimal attention
Depth of processing o In 1975 Canadian psychologists Fergus Craik and Endel Tulving conducted a set of experiments that demonstrated this effect. The experimenters asked subjects to answer questions about a series of words, such as bear, which were flashed one at a time. For each word, subjects were asked one of three types of questions, each requiring a different level of processing or analysis.
1) asked about the word’s visual appearance: “Is the word in upper case letters?”
2) asked to focus on the sound of the word: “Does it rhyme with chair?”
Or
3) to think about the meaning of the word: “Is it an animal?” o When subjects were later given a recognition test for the words they had seen, they were poor at recognizing words they had encoded superficially by visual appearance or sound. They were far better at recognising words they had encoded for meaning
Storage o There is more than one type of memory store o Each has its own performance characteristics and function o Each is the function of a different neuroanatomical system
Retrieval
75
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Failed retrieval does not always mean that information is lost from memory o Internal or external retrieval cues can activate information stored in long-term memory o Multiple cues enhance retrieval o Conscious (effortful) or unconscious (automatic)
The Multi-Store Model of Memory: Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) o 3 classifications of memory based on duration of memory retention:
Sensory Memory
(STM) Working Memory
Long-term Memory o Sensory Memory
Sensory memory is the earliest stage of memory.
Sensory information from the environment is stored for a very brief period of time (<1/2 sec for visual info; 3 or 4 sec for auditory info)
Contains more information than can be reported before the memory decays
We don’t attend to everything.
Overwritten by subsequent perceptual information
What we do attend to then passes into our working memory. o Working Memory
A short-term memory store- but not a unitary store as previously suggested by Atkinson and Shriffin but multi modal.
limited capacity in terms of information content NOT time
George Miller’s 7 items ± 2
7 for digits, 6 for letters, 5 for words
Can remember more short words than long words
Chunking allows more to be remembered
E.g. 1066 can be 4 digits 1-0-6-6 or grouped as a year 1066 battle of
Hastings
Telephone numbers we recall in chunks e.g. 0208 123 4567
New information pushes out old
Distraction
Long lists
Rehearsal can maintain information in memory
Information in store can be actively manipulated, hence ‘Working Memory’
“imagining how a sofa will fit in house”
Multicomponent Model of Working Memory (Baddeley 1974-2003) o Visuospatial Sketchpad (Occipital Lobe)
Visual o Phonological Loop (Left Parietal)
Language
76
Giles Kisby o Episodic Buffer
Combines info from the two
GE Y1 Psychology o Central Executive
Manipulation of information and direction of attention- driving
Suppression of irrelevant information and undesired actions
Supervision of information integration
Coordination of multiple tasks to be executed in parallel
Co-ordination of the sub-systems of WM o Visuospatial Sketchpad
storage of visual and spatial information
e.g. for constructing and manipulating visual images, for the representation of mental maps o Phonological loop
storage of auditory/verbal information
preventing decay by silently articulating contents, refreshing the information in a rehearsal loop
e.g. phone number/ reading o Episodic Buffer
Temporarily integrates phonological, visual, and spatial information in a unitary, episodic representation = autobiographical.
Provides interface with episodic long-term memory
77
Giles Kisby
A Model of Memory:
GE Y1 Psychology
78
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Long-term Memory o Store of all things in memory that are not currently being used but are available for use in the future o Allows use of past information to deal with present and the future o Can hold unlimited amount of information o Retrieval from long term memory may be:
Explicit/Declarative (conscious)
Implicit/Non-declarative (unconscious) o Types of Long-term Memory:
Explicit
Episodic
Semantic o Facts and meaning of words
Implicit
Procedural o Doing up buttons
Emotional conditioning o Arachnophobia
Priming o Racial stereotypes
Conditional o Near hot pan
79
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Non Declarative Memory o Familiar with something, know how to interact with object or in situation but don’t have to think about it o For actions or behaviours is called procedural memory o Can carry out complex activities without having to think about them e.g. walking, eating
Declarative Memory o Store of our knowledge o There are two separate types
Episodic
Memory related to personal experience
What we generally think of as ‘memories’
Knowing what you did last night or where you went on holiday
Semantic
Memory for facts
What we think of as general knowledge
Knowing the capital of France or the colour of a bus
Autobiographical Memory o We learn simple associations before we are born. o Not until aged 2-3 yrs does autobiographical memory develop- we need language to help remember. o Typically aged 6 is when we remember autobiographical events. o 'Reminiscence bump'- we remember the most during later adolescence. o Frontal Lobe development? o Emotionally driven learning? o Important, defining events- love, driving, graduation?
Summary
Type of Memory o Episodic memory o Semantic memory: o Implicit memory: o Prospective memory
Type of Information
Personal memories/ Events
Facts
Skills and procedures
Remembering to do things in the future
How do we remember?
(LO: Define an associative network) o Associative Network
80
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Stored ideas are connected by links of meaning, strengthened through rehearsal and elaboration.
Multiple links to a given concept in memory make it easier to retrieve because of many alternative routes to locate it.
Each concept represented by a node
Short link between nodes means nodes more closely related
Activation of one network leads to spreading activation of related concepts
Activation of node results in increased ease of activating related
(neighbouring) node
Works to a lesser extent for indirectly related nodes
Schemas o a mental structure that represents some aspect of the world [“one filing cabinet”] o used to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding o Automatic not effortful thought o e.g. stereotypes, door schema o Expertise: process of developing schemas that help encode information into meaningful patterns
81
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o For example we will have a schema for weddings, so that when we attend our first wedding we are able to behave in accordance with social norms without having researched it first. o Our schema for wedding will exist even if we have never been to a wedding before, because we will have read about them, heard about them and seen them portrayed in TV shows etc. o False Memories
Brewer and Treyens (1981) demonstrated that the schema-driven expectation of the presence of an object was sometimes sufficient to trigger its erroneous recollection.
An experiment was conducted where participants were requested to wait in a room identified as an academic's study and were later asked about the room's contents.
A number of the participants recalled having seen books in the study whereas none were present. o False Memories
Of those that remember meeting Bugs:
62% said they shook his hand
46% remembered hugging him
Others remembered touching his ear or tail,
or even hearing him speak (“What’s up, Doc?”).
Define the misinformation effect o Distortion of a memory by misleading post-event information (role of schema?) o Example: Eyewitness testimony
Loftus tested whether the language used to question witnesses can change what they actually remembered.
Subjects see a film depicting car accident or other naturalistic eyewitness event
“How fast were the cars going when they
Smashed/Collided/Bumped/Hit/Contacted each other?”
One week later, participants were asked if they had seen any broken glass. Although there was no broken glass, 32% of the ‘smashed’ condition said they had compared to only 14% of the ‘hit’ condition.
82
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
The Serial Position Effect:
Committing information to memory- how to study for exams
83
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o 1. Rote
Frequent repetition (verbal)
Forms a separate schema, not closely linked to existing knowledge
Least efficient
Less deep processing o 2. Assimilation
Fitting new information into existing schema(s)
Learning by comprehension
Can only be used where there is link between old and new knowledge
Deep processing
Wholly Declarative o PQRST
P = Preview the information to learn
Q = Question, write down the questions that you want to be able to answer once finished
R = Read through information that best relates to questions you want to answer
S = Summary, summarise the information by writing, diagram, mnemonics, voice recording
T = Test, try to answer the questions o 3. Mnemonic device
Artificial structure for reorganising or encoding information to make it easier to remember
Useful when info doesn’t fit existing into schemas
Examples: hierarchies, chunking, visual imagery, acronyms
Need to recall artificial structure to access information
E.g. Naughty Elephant Squirts Water: compass o 3.Move your body
Parker and Dagnall: people remembered more words on a learning test when they moved eyes L-R (only for R- Handed).
Other experiments found acting out idea with relevant hand gestures improved recall.
Links learning abstract concepts to simple physical movement.
Short, intense bursts of exercise helps learning- subjects asked to learn new vocabulary performed better if studied after two 3 min runs vs 40 min jog. o Why do we forget?
Ineffective encoding – information not encoded in the first place
Decay theory – forgetting occurs because memory fades with time if not used
Interference theory – forgetting occurs due to competition ‘for space’ from other material either from previously learned or new information
Encoding Specificity Principle – retrieval will occur depending on how well the retrieval cue corresponds to the memory code o Describe the neural correlates of memory
84
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
In Alzheimer's disease the hippocampus is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage; memory problems and disorientation appear among the first symptoms.
Damage to the hippocampus can also result from anoxia, encephalitis or medial temporal lobe epilepsy. o Role of the hippocampus
Older memories remain stable- this sparing of older memories leads to the idea that consolidation over time involves the transfer of memories out of the hippocampus to other parts of the brain.
This is difficult to test. In some cases of retrograde amnesia, the sparing appears to affect memories formed decades before the damage to the hippocampus occurred, so its role in maintaining these older memories remains uncertain.
The hippocampus has an important role in the formation of new episodic or autobiogrpahical memories (eg: Squire, Eichenbaum,O’Keefe). Some researchers prefer to consider the hippocampus as part of a larger medial
temporal lobe memory system responsible for general declarative memory.
Making memory and consolidate knowledge prior to transfer to long term memory o Medial temporal lobes
HM & CW
Significant anterograde amnesia for autobiographical information following bilateral Medial Temporal Lobe ablation
Implicit memory intact- piano playing
Ie skill based learning occurs in a dif part of brain to other types o Episodic Memory:
Involves the medial temporal lobes including the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex o Memory systems:
Semantic - Knowledge
Procedural – how to do things
Working – short term o Other:
Other brain regions are also important as neural networks develop in the formation and retrieval of long term memories.
Networks develop by changes in neurotransmitters, growth of new receptors, and new ion channels.
The same pattern of neurons (network) fire when we recall a memory.
Every time we recall a memory new proteins are made, changing the network/memory in subtle ways.
85
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Beck (1963) Thinking and depression: dysfunctional schema: o Recorded psychotherapy sessions with 50 depressed patients. o Identified three recurring themes in the content
Self – e.g. I’m useless
World – e.g. My life is unfulfilling
Future – e.g. Things will never get better
86
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o These became known as the depressive triad o His thoughts:
Dysfunctional schema: see below
Negative Thinking Traps
LABELLING: Place a fixed, global label on oneself without considering evidence that leads to a less disastrous conclusion o “I’m a loser” ; “I’m no good.”
OVERGENERALIZATION: Drawing general conclusion based on single incident o “I felt nervous with others at the party; I don’t think I have what it takes to make friends.”
PERSONALIZATION: Inappropriately relating external events to oneself without an obvious basis for making such connections o “She didn’t say hello to me because I must have done something wrong.”
DICHOTOMOUS THINKING: View a situation in only two categories instead of on a continuum o “If I’m not a total success, I’m a failure”
87
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
The effect of induced mood on recall (Teasdale et al 1980) o Subjects:
43 undergraduate students o Procedure:
S’s underwent Velten mood induction procedure to induce both elated and depressed mood.
Presented with series of words e.g. “train, water, meeting” and asked to recall an personal experience related to that word.
S’s then rated memories on a happy-unhappy scale.
88
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Clark’s (1986) theory of catastrophic interpretation o Individuals with Panic Disorder interpret certain bodily sensations in a catastrophic fashion o Sensations (esp. those involved in normal anxiety responses e.g., palpitations, breathlessness, dizziness, paresthesias) are considered to be a sign of impending physical or psychological disaster o e.g. palpitations having heart attack
7–28% of population will experience an occasional unexpected panic attack
Only go on to develop Panic Disorder if they develop a tendency to interpret in a catastrophic fashion
Studies demonstrate that Panic Disorder can be alleviated with cognitive techniques e.g. cognitive restructuring
89
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Evidence Base for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) o CBT has been shown to have significantly lower relapse rates than anti-depressant medications.
Panic disorder:
Social Phobia:
OCD:
Depression
5% vs 40%
0%
12%
45% vs 33% vs 45% vs 86% o NICE guidelines
CBT recommended as first line treatment for: Depression, Social anxiety,
PTSD, etc
90
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
10/01/14: Understanding and recall of health care advice and adherence to treatment regimes: Dr Alexandra Garfield
Los (from booklet):
To define the terms “adherence” and “compliance” and describe the limitations of these terms.
To develop an understanding of the scale of non-adherence to health care advice
To describe the clinical and economic consequences of non-adherence
To identify the main causes of non-adherence
To describe the role of failure to understand and recall in non-adherence
To describe ways of improving recall of health care information and enhancing adherence to advice
Notes:
Defining terms o Compliance
Do they start treatment
Acting according to request or command (Oxford dictionary). o Adherence
Do they continue treatment as asked
“to stick fast to” (Oxford dictionary)
“the extent to which a person’s behaviour – taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes– corresponds with agreed recommendations from a health care provider” (WHO 2003) o Self management behaviours
focus simply on whether target behaviour occurs no assignment of “blame”.
Taxonomy of adherence (Vrijens et al 2012): o Describe the whole process o Monitoring and support for the whole process is required
91
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
-
Macintyre et al (2005) o 173 patients being treated for active tuberculosis. o Nurses and infectious disease physicians rated if patients were ‘‘always compliant,’’
‘‘mostly compliant,’’ ‘‘sometimes compliant,’’ ‘‘rarely compliant,’’ ‘‘never compliant,’’ and ‘‘unsure.’’ o Also took patient rating, urine drug level and colour. o Doctors and nurses assessed patients as ‘‘sometimes, rarely, or never compliant’’ in
11% (19/173) and 7% (12/173) of cases, respectively. Only 50% of patients who were rated non adherent by doctors were also rated non adherent by nurses.
Methods of Measuring Adherence
92
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Direct methods
Directly observed therapy
Measurement of the level of medicine or metabolite in blood
Measurement of the biologic marker in blood o Indirect methods
Patient questionnaires, patient self-reports
Pill counts
Rates of prescription refills
Electronic medication monitors
Measurement of physiologic markers
Patient diaries
Seriousness of problem: o Watchdog/Health/NOP (2000)
1137 million prescriptions issued in 2011
Cost approximately £10 billion
11% prescribed medications never started
34% medication courses not completed
£37.6 Million worth of unused medication handed in to pharmacies each year in the U.K. o Fletcher et al (2010)
Follow up of nearly 200,000 prescriptions
Only ¾ ever dispensed o Consequences of non-adherence
Increased hospital admissions – 20% of all hospital admissions probably due to non-adherence
Rejection of transplants
Occurrence of complications
Development of drug resistance
Increased mortality
Variability between treatments:
93
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
What are the causes of non-adherence? o That don’t affect:
No consistent relationship with age, SES or intelligence (Haynes et al 1979,
Ley 1988)
No consistent relationship with personality variables (Kaplan & Simon (1990)
Non-adherence not greater in psychiatric patients (Ley 1976) o Factors affecting compliance
Characteristics of regime
Patient-practitioner interaction
Psycho-social variables
o
o
o
Characteristics of regime
94
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Physical aspects
e.g. packaging, font size o Complexity of instructions o Frequency of schedule:
greater frequency = more likely to forget ie lower adherence seen o Duration
Adherence is worse for chronic conditions o Cost
Greater adherence if have paid more for it o Side effects
Patient-practitioner interaction o Communication style
Communication style
It depends… o On the person (preferred level of involvement) and o On the situation (acute v chronic)
Szasz & Hollender (1956): three models; is context dependant as to which
is best:
Activity – passivity o Health professional’s role:
Does something to pt o Patients role
Passive recipient o Example:
Trauma, coma patients
Guidance – cooperation o Health professional’s role:
Tells patient what to do o Patients role
Co-operator (obeys): “just tell me what to do Dr” o Example:
Acute infection
Mutual participation o Health professional’s role:
Helps patient to help him/herself o Patients role:
Active participant o Example:
Chronic illnesses o Effect of General Practitioner’s consulting style on patient satisfaction (Savage &
Armstrong 1990)
95
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Patients (n=359) attending a group practice in Inner London were randomly allocated to one of two conditions:
“Sharing” consulting
(e.g What do you think is wrong? What were you hoping I could do?)
“Directive” consulting style
(You are suffering from..., It is essential that you take this medicine.....”)
Satisfaction with Dr’s understanding of problem, adequacy of explanation and feeling helped were all measured.
Patients in the Directive style condition were more likely to report feeling satisfied in all aspects of consultation.
However doesn’t consider what conditions were eg may have just been many acute cases o Wilson et al (2009)
612 patients with poorly controlled asthma randomly allocated to either normal care or shared decision making where treatment was negotiated to take account of patient goals/preferences.
Shared decision making was associated with better adherence to medication and clinical outcomes (inc. asthma control and lung function) o Understanding and recall of information: v poor!!!
7-53% of patients do not understand instructions (Ley 1980)
But 50% of patients who would like more information do not ask for it (Klein
1979)
Hospital outpatients recalled on average 63% of the information presented in a consultation. (Ley & Spelman 1967) o Factors affecting recall
Individual factors
Anxiety
Medical knowledge
Memory impairment
Type of information and recall
Diagnostic statements – 87%
Information re: illness – 56%
Instructions – 44%
Presentation factors
Amount of information:
96
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Order o Serial Position Effect:
Stressing importance
Specificity – relevance to the person
Mode of presentation o The use of written information
Most patients would like to receive written information (97% in study by Gibbs et al 1990)
97
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
The majority of patients report that they do read written information when it is given to them (88%
Gibbs et al 1987)
Written information leads to increased knowledge
(in over 90% of studies) and adherence (in 60% of studies) (Ley and Morris 1984) o Readability of health information o The Flesch formula is based on the average sentence length in words of any given text and the number of syllables per
100 words. The formula gives a score for reading ease on a scale from 0 (practically unreadable) to 100 (easy to read). o The formula for the Flesch Reading Ease score is: 206.835 –
(1.015 x ASL) – (84.6 x ASW)
A score of 70-80 is taken to be plain English: about
20 words per sentence and 1.5 syllables per word.
98
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Presentation factors o Amount of information o Order o Stressing importance o Specificity o Mode of presentation
Psycho-social factors o Health Beliefs (esp Health Belief Model & Theory of Planned Behaviour) o Illness representations o Self efficacy o Social support
99
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Summary:
Factors affecting compliance o Characteristics of regime
Complexity
Duration
Cost
Side effects
100
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Patient-practitioner interaction
Satisfaction
Communication style
Understanding and memory o Psycho-social factors
10/01/14: Social Psychology: David Murphy
Los
Learning objectives o Define Attitudes and discuss the relationship between attitudes and behaviour (NB.
This links to the Health Beliefs session esp. Theory of planned behaviour) o Define prejudice and describe how prejudice is maintained o (NB This links with Cognitive Psychology esp. the effect of schemas) o Define conformity and discuss the factors predicting conformity o Define Group Processes of Social Loafing, De-individuation, Group Polarization and
Group Think. o Discuss the factors which predict helping behaviour including the “bystander effect” o Define “Leadership” and styles of leadership o Discuss characteristics of effective leadership
Notes:
Social Psychology: the study of: o Social Thinking: how we think about our social world o Social Influence: how other people influence our behaviour o Social Relations: how we relate toward other people
Attitudes and Prejudices [dhtk detail] o Attitude: a positive or negative evaluative reaction toward a stimulus, such as a person, action, object, or concept
Attitudes influence behaviour more strongly when situational factors that contradict our attitudes are weak o Stereotype – Schemas about characteristics ascribed to a group of people based on qualities such as race, ethnicity, or gender. o Prejudice – A negative prejudgement of a group and its individual members o Discrimination – behaviours that follow from negative evaluations or attitudes towards members of particular groups
101
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Effect of prejudice on perception Ickes et al (1982) o Introduced pairs of college aged men to each other. o Before introduction one of the pair was told that the other was “one of the unfriendliest people I’ve talked to lately”. o The two were then introduced and left alone for 5 minutes. o Those in both conditions were friendly, in fact the pre-warned individuals went out of their way to be friendly and received warm responses. o However, after the encounter those who were prejudiced attributed their partner’s warm responses to their own behaviour. o They also reported more mistrust and dislike for the person and rated his
behaviour as less friendly. o Similar studies have found the effect of prejudiced information persist even when
the participants were told it was randomly allocated.
Social Loafing o Definition - the tendency for people to expend less individual effort when working in a group than when working alone o More likely to occur when:
The person believes that individual performance is not being monitored
The task (goal) or the group has less value or meaning to the person
The person generally displays low motivation to strive for success
The person expects that other group members will display high effort o Depends on gender and culture
Occurs more strongly in all-male groups
Occurs more often in individualistic cultures (eg western culture) o Social loafing may disappear when:
Individual performance is monitored
Members highly value their group or the task goal o Max Ringleman, a French Engineer carried out a famous experiment in which he measured the force generated by different numbers of workers pulling on a rope
102
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Conformity o Factors that affect conformity:
Group size:
Conformity increases as group size increases
No increases over five group members
Presence of a dissenter:
103
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
One person disagreeing with the others greatly reduces group conformity
Culture:
Greater in collectivistic cultures
Conformity (Asch 1956)
All in on experiment except one person
Will agree with line length even when clearly wrong; more likely to go with wrong answer if group do
Obedience o The Milgram Experiment (1974)
One “learner”, one “teacher” – told that experiment studied the effect of punishment on memory.
Shock generator used to apply punishment
Shocks grew increasingly intense with each mistake o Factors That Influence Obedience:
Remoteness of the victim
Closeness and legitimacy of the authority figure
Diffusion of responsibility: obedience increases when someone else does the dirty work
Not personal characteristics
104
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Group decision making o Often better decision making as an individual than as a group o Groupthink
the tendency of group members to suspend critical thinking because they are striving to seek agreement
Symptoms of Groupthink
Direct pressure applied to people who express doubt
Mind Guards: people prevent negative information from reaching the group o Don’t want to be the bearer of bad news
Members display self-censorship and withhold their doubts
An illusion of unanimity is created
Groupthink most likely to occur when a group:
Is under high stress to reach a decision
Is insulated from outside input
Has a directive leader
Has high cohesiveness o Group polarization
is the tendency of people to make decisions that are more extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently
suspended critical thinking
shared responsibility
de-individualisation
Factors in de-individuation
Proportional to Group size o Mann 1981 studied incidents of individuals threatening to jump from a building and found that the onlookers only encouraged the person to jump when there was a large group
Physical anonymity o Zimbardo 1970 found that found that when participants were wearing a mask they delivered electric shocks to helpless victims than when they were identifiable
Arousing and distracting activities o e.g. Chanting, dancing etc
Helping o The Bystander Effect: presence of multiple bystanders inhibits each person’s tendency to help
Due to social comparison or diffusion of responsibility o Concept of de-individuation is also relevant o Darley & Latane Experiment
Helping student having an epileptic seizure in an adjacent room.
105
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
87% helped if they believed it was just them and the other student.
But only 31% helped when they believed they were in a group of 4 people, hardly anyone helped if group was above 4.
If participant had not acted within first 3 minutes they never acted.
5-Step Bystander Decision Process (Latané & Darley 1970)
1. Notice the event
2. Decide if the event is really an emergency o Social comparison: look to see how others are responding
3. Assuming responsibility to intervene o Diffusion of Responsibility: believing that someone else will help
4. Self-efficacy in dealing with the situation
5. Decision to help (based on cost-benefit analysis) o Increasing helping behaviour
Reducing restraints on helping
Reduce ambiguity and increase responsibility
Enhance guilt and concern for self image
Socialize altruism
Teaching moral inclusion
Modeling helping behaviour
Attributing helpful behaviour to altruistic motives
Education about barriers to helping
Leadership styles (Kurt Lewin) o Autocratic or authoritarian style
Under the autocratic leadership style, all decision-making
powers are centralized in the leader, as with dictator leaders.
They do not entertain any suggestions or initiatives from
subordinates. o Participative or democratic style
The democratic leadership style favours decision-making by the group as shown, such as leader gives instruction after consulting the group. They can win the co-operation of their group and can motivate them effectively and positively. o Laissez-faire or “free rein” style
A free-rein leader does not lead, but leaves the group entirely to itself as shown; such a leader allows maximum freedom to subordinates, i.e., they are given a free hand in deciding their own policies and methods.
106
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
10/01/14: Clinical Decision Making: David Murphy
Los
Learning Objectives o Describe why people are generally very poor at making probability judgments o Contrast System 1 (or “hot”) thinking and System 2 (or “cold”) thinking o Define the most common types of error made in decision making. o Describe how these errors can affect health-related decisions by both patients and doctors o Describe “Anchoring” and the “Framing effect” o Define the “Availability”’ and “Representativeness” heuristics o Describe methods to improve clinical decision making. o Define “algorithms” and discuss their potential benefits and limitations in clinical situations
Notes:
Medical error o An error is defined as the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended
(i.e., error of execution) or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim (i.e., error of
planning). o E.g. incorrect diagnosis, failure to employ indicated tests error in the performance of an operation, procedure, or test, error in the dose or method of using a drug. o 1999 report from Institute of Medicine in USA estimated that between 44,000 and
98,000 patients die in hospitals in the USA each year because of medical error. o Wayne Jowett
Wayne Jowett was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 1999 aged 15.
By June 2000 Wayne was in remission, but still needed three-monthly injections of two chemotherapy drugs - Vincristine (IV) and Cytosine (IT).
On 4 th January 2001 Wayne was mistakenly given Vincristine intrathecally.
He became slowly paralysed and almost a month later his parents agreed to turn off his life support machine.
Similar errors involving Vincristine had been made 14 times in Britain since
1985, 11 resulted in death the other 3 in paralysis. The Specialist Registrar involved, Dr Feda Mulhem, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to
8 months imprisonment.
Dr Morton “...said to Dr Mulhem “Vincristine?” Dr Mulhem replied in the affirmative. Dr Morton then said “intrathecal Vincristine?” Dr Mulhem again replied in the affirmative.
107
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Dr Mulhem couldn’t recall if the SHO “...actually said the word ‘Vincristine’” but stated “once again I had clearly fixed in my mind that the drug was
Methotrexate and not a drug for administration other than IT. “
Can you identify the presence of any of the psychological factors we have come across?
Top down processing re packaging
Obedience
Group
Two systems for decision making (Metcalfe and Mischel 1999/Kahneman 2011) o 1. Hot system o 2. Cold system o The two systems operate as an elephant and the rider – Jonathan Haidt (2006)
Nisbett & Wilson (1977) = example of default processing of people o An experimenter conducted a “consumer study” in a shopping mall. He laid out four pairs of tights in a row and asked consumers to pick out the pair they liked the best.
In reality all four were identical. However, consumers were significantly more likely
108
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology to select the far right most pair (even though they were switched around randomly each time). o Moreover when asked about their selection the consumers were able to provide justifications for their choice e.g. sheerness, strength etc. None mentioned the position, indeed when the experimenter suggested that position may have influenced their choice they looked at him as if he was mad! o System 1 (Hot) often controls our actions automatically but system 2 (Cold) is blisfully unaware believing himself to be in charge!
Confirmatory bias and over-confidence Slovic (1973) = example of overestimating their active processing o Experienced horserace handicappers given a list of 88 variables relating to past performance of horses and riders. o Asked to predict outcome of a race based on five most important items, then 10, 20 and 40 most important variables. o Preferentially focus on further stats that enhance their previous hypothesis (ones that do not fit are just explained away)
109
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Sunk Cost Fallacy o Arkes & Blumer (1985) Arranged to have season tickets sold to visitors to the ticket booth randomly at full price ($15) or at a discount ($13 or $8) o Then observed frequency of attendance at plays over the season. o Rationally, the price paid for ticket should not influence how often it is used o However, they found that the people who paid a higher price used the ticket more than those who paid the discounted price. o Sunk costs are any costs that have been spent on a project that are irretrievable ranging including anything from money spent building a house to expensive drugs used to treat a patient with a rare disease. o Rationally the only factor affecting future action should be the future costs/benefit ratio but humans do not always act rationally and often the more we have invested in the past the more we are prepared to invest in a problem in the future, this is known as the Sunk Cost Fallacy or the “Concorde Effect”.
Anchoring o Individuals poor at adjusting estimates from a given starting point (probs. & values) o Adjustments crude & imprecise o Anchored by starting point
Probability o Many clinical situations involve making decisions on the basis of probabilities e.g. two or more competing diagnoses, alternative treatments which may be effective etc.
Predictions o I toss a coin and it comes down heads, I toss it again and it comes down heads, I toss it twice more; each time it comes down heads. o If I toss the coin again what are the odds of it coming down heads? (nb it’s not a trick coin)
Gambler's fallacy o The gambler's fallacy is a logical fallacy involving the mistaken belief that past events will affect future events when dealing with independent events. o In clinical situations it could encompass a belief that if one patient in a clinic presents with a rare condition it would be impossible for the next patient to present with the very same condition. o Or alternatively that if not a single patient out of several seen in a speciality clinic then the next patient is more likely to be a true case.
Assessing conditional probabilities o A woman presents to you with a lump in her breast. From your examination, her age and your previous records of similar cases, you estimate that the chance of cancer is low, about 1% (p=.01).
110
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o You send her to the radiologist for a mammogram and the radiologist says the mammogram is positive, indicating cancer.
But there is a probability associated with the test being right or wrong
New probability is only 8% for cancer
Framing o Diff judgement if gives lives saved vs number that will die
Representativeness heuristic o Subjective probability that a stimulus belongs to a particular class based on how
‘typical’ of that class it appears to be (regardless of base rate probability) o While often very useful in everyday life, it can also result in neglect of relevant base rates and other errors. The representative heuristic was first identified by Amos
Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. o Medical student at party example
The Availability Heuristic o Probabilities are estimated on the basis of how easily and/or vividly they can be called to mind. o Individuals typically overestimate the frequency of occurrence of catastrophic, dramatic events.
How can decision making be improved? o Recognize that heuristics and biases may be affecting our judgement even though we may not be conscious of them o Counteract the effect of top-down information processing by generating alternative theories and looking for evidence to support them rather than just looking for evidence which confirms our preferred theory. o Understand and employ statistical principles e.g. Bayes Theorem o Use of Algorithms and decision support systems
Algorithms o An algorithm is a procedure which, if followed exactly, will provide the most likely answer based on the evidence. o The rules of probability are examples of algorithms. o Algorithms are most useful in situations where the problem is well defined which excludes most everyday decisions o For the most part, people have to be specially taught how to use them
111
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
1 – Learning Theory
Key concepts
Habitualisation and sensitisation o Classical conditioning (basic definition & terminology) o Where one thing leads to another o UCS – stimulus elicits UCR without prior learning o UCR – reflex elicited by UCS without prior learning o CS – stimulus that through association with UCS elicits a CR similar to initial UCR o CR – response stimulated by a CS o Strongest when
Repeated CS-UCS pairings
UCS is more intense
Time interval between CS and UCS is short
Sequence involves forward pairing o Extinction – where CS gets smaller o Generalisation of stimulus - respond to similar stimuli to CS o Discrimination – respond differently to various stimuli o Operant conditioning (basic definition & terminology) o Behaviour is modified by consequence o Trial and error – Thorndike’s law of effect o Extinction – weakening and disappear of response as no longer reinforced
Resistance = degree to which non-reinforced response persist o Generalisation – operant response to new antecedent stimulus similar to original o Discrimination – operant response to one, but not another antecedent stimuli o Types of reinforcement (i.e. positive & negative) & schedules of reinforcement. o Positive – response strengthened by subsequent presentation of stimulus
Primary – stimuli that organism needs e.g food
Secondary – associated with primary reinforces e.g. money o Negative – response strengthened by removal of aversive stimulus
E.g. removal of speeding alert o Positive punishment – response weakened by presentation of stimulus o Negative punishment – response weakened by removal of stimulus o Schedules
Fixed interval
Variable interval
Fixed ratio
Variable ratio
Continuous = more rapid learning than partial
Continuous – extinguishes more rapidly than partial o Vicarious conditioning (aka social learning) o Shaping o Observational - Observe behaviour of others and consequences of those behaviours o Vicarious reinforcement – if behaviours are reinforced = more likely to imitate
Key studies:
Pavlov’s Dogs – Classical conditioning – made tuning for cause salivation in dogs
Watson & Raynor (1920) Little Albert Experiment – Classical - loud noise = scared of rat
112
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Bandura (1961) Bobo Doll Experiment – Observational learning children copied either aggressive/non-aggressive behaviours depending on what they had observed
2 - Health beliefs and behaviour
Key concepts o Definition of health behaviour o Activity undertaken by an individual believing himself to be healthy, for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage o Effect of education on health behaviour o Nutbeam et al 1993 – education in school increased knowledge levels more so than control. Not much difference in percentage smoking following education/control. o Effect of positive reinforcement and limitations o Kegels et al 1978 – talk on dental hygiene – then either no further input/discussion session/reward for compliance with programme – reward = best compliance.
o Lacks generalisation/poor maintenance/impractical and expensive o Negative reinformement o Jains and Fesbach 1953 – Low/moderate/high fear lectures about dental health. Low = biggest change in behaviour, then moderate, then high fear had least impact. o Expectancy–Value model (basic idea) o Potential for a behaviour to occur in any specific situation is a function of expectancy that the behaviour will lead to a particular outcome and value of that outcome o Definition of self-efficacy and sources of self-efficacy (need to know both) o Belief that one can execute behaviour required to produce outcome
Mastery experience
Social learning
Verbal persuasion/encouragement
Physiological arousal o Health Belief Model (Need to know the components)
113
Giles Kisby o Theory of Planned Behaviour (Need to know the components)
GE Y1 Psychology
3 - Individual differences
Key concepts
Personality theories – Freud and Big Five (Basic outline only) o Openness (decline with age) – correlates with verbal intelligence o Conscientiousness (increases with age) – negative correlation with IQ test score o Extroversion (decline with age) o Agreeableness (increases with age) o Neuroticism (females decrease)
Locus of control (basic definition) o Extent to which individuals believe they can control events that effect them
Definition and limitations of IQ o Ability to acquire knowledge, think and reason effectively and deal adaptively with environment o Normal distribution of IQ
114
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Crystallized vs fluid intelligence (definitions and changes with age) o Crystallized - ability to apply previously acquired knowledge to current problems – increase with age o Fluid – deal with novel problem solving situations for which experience doesn’t provide solution – declines with age
Genetic & environmental contributions to IQ (esp. correlations between IQ of sibs) o Genetics influence effects produced by environment – ½-2/3 of IQ variation o Environment influences how genes express – rest of variation in IQ o Shared and unshared environmental factors are involved o Men outperform on spatial/target-directed skill/maths reasoning o Women outperform on perception/verbal/math calculation/precise manual tasks o Monozygotic twins highly similar in IQ – Dizygotic less so – adopted not at all
Baron Cohen’s Empathizing/Systematizing Theory (basic idea only) o Communication difficulties due to shortcomings in empathy with skills in systemising resulting in narrow interests – Autism/Aspergers o Empathising – infer thoughts and feelings of others and having appropriate emotional reaction o Systemising – drive to analyse or construct any kind of system
4 – Developmental psychology
Key concepts o Nature vs Nuture (general idea) o Nature – understanding children as going concerns = respect internal elements contributing to development o Nurture – understanding importance of environment helps protect and facilitate optimal developments o Temperament (general definition) o Easy = little fuss o Slow to warm up = adapt over time (note these are least active) o Difficult = negative and fussy o Reciprocal socialization (what is means) o Sensory development = can recognise the mother when born
115
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Scaffolding = parental behaviour supporting childs efforts o Development of attachment (outline of the stages & strange situation test) o Strong emotional bond that develops between children and primary care givers over first few years of life – enhances adjustment throughout lives o Strange situation test:
Child plays with parent
Stranger enters (child interested in stranger)
Parent leaves = child distressed
Parent returns = child happy
Stranger and parent leave = child distressed
Stranger returns = cannot console child
Parent returns = child happy again o Secure response (65%) – child uses parent as source of safety o Insecure (35%) – absent from secure response – individual at risk of later issues (but this is NOT causative for these issues) o Piaget’s model of cognitive development (only basic outline of the stages) o Sensorimotor - birth 2 years
Differentiate self from objects
Recognise self as agent of action – begins intentional acts
Achieves object permanence o Preoperational – 2 7 years
Language and represent objects by images and words
Egocentric
No understanding of principle of conservation
Cannot mentally reverse actions
Animinism – attribute lifelike qualities to physical objects o Concrete operational state – 7 12 years
Basic mental operations with tangible objects and situations
Reversibility
Less egocentrism
Easily understand conservation
Trouble with hypothetical and abstract reasoning o Understanding of DEATH? o Accommodation vs Assimilation (need to understand definitions) o Assimilation – person takes material into mind from environment, which may mean changing evidence of their senses to make it fit.
o Accommodation – difference made to ones mind or concepts by process of assimilation
– mutual with assimilation, not one or the other.
5 – Coping with treatment
Key concepts o Transactional definition of stress (definition and application) o Stress is condition that results when person/environment transactions lead the individual to perceive a discrepancy between the demands of the situation and coping resources available o Procedural and sensory information and the Dual process hypothesis (definitions) o Procedural = info about the procedure to be undertaken o Sensory = info about sensations that may be experienced
116
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Dual process hypothesis:
Procedural info works by allowing patients to match ongoing events with their expectations in a non-emotional manner
Sensory info works by mapping a non-threatening interpretation onto these expectations o Effect of perceived control on distress o Nursing home study – when given control of living situation, ward 1 were better off than ward 2 who were not given control of living. o Problem focussed and emotion focused coping (definition and examples) o Emotion focussed – meditation/distraction/deep breathing – changing own reaction to a sensor o Problem focussed – seek social support - Reduction or elimination of stressor o Individual differences in coping style (why they are important) o Optimal coping strategy depends on individual coping style and the situation o Strategies for helping children cope with treatment o Parent out of room = more cooperative o Stress correlated with stress shown by parent o Pain reducing behaviours – distraction/humour o Calming anxiety from previous experiences o Timing of information delivery (depending on age of child (<7/>10) o TELL/SHOW/DO o Influence of parental behaviour
Key studies
Auerbach (1983) Amount of information and distress – dental surgery patients given general or detailed info in preop preparation. Those who wanted info and got general reported higher distress than those who didn’t want info and got general. When given specific info, those who wanted info reported lower distress.
Langer and Rodin (1976) Nursing home study (aka the flower power study) – when one ward (1) given choices, and other ward just looked after (2) = floor 1 had greater engagement in activities/better well being/more psych and physically well than floor 2.
Thrash et al (1982) Traffic light study – control group when not given lights reported less distress than when given the opportunity to make a red light flash to indicate pain.
Martelli et al (1987) Problem focussed vs emotion focused coping – mixed coping strategies was equally average in both high/low preference groups. High preference were better with problem based coping. Low preference were better with emotional based learning.
6 - Perception and attention
Key concepts: o Sensation and perception (basic definitions)
117
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Sensation - Stimulus detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses sent to the brain o Perception – active process of organising the stimulus output and giving it meaning o Bottom-up and top-down processing (what they mean) o Top down – start with larger concept and mental schemas and using this do work down to components of system o Bottom up – Start with small finer details and work up to larger picture o Types of attention (basic outline) o Attention – processing of focusing conscious awareness, providing heightened sensitivity to a limited range of experience requiring more intensive processing o Orientating - e.g. when hungry more likely to recognise food related stimuli o Focussed – respond discretely to specific visual/auditory/tactile stimuli o Sustained – maintain consistent behavioural response during continuous and repetitive activity o Selective – ability to maintain a behavioural or cognitive set in the face of distracting of competing stimuli = incorporates the notion of freedom from distractibility o Alternating – mental flexibility that allows individuals to shift their focus of attention and move between tasks having different cognitive requirements o Divided – highest level of attention and it refers to the ability to respond simultaneously to multiple tasks or multiple task demands (e.g. driving). o Perceptual schemas (definition) o A mental representation or image containing the critical and distinctive features of a person, object, or other perceptual phenomenon o Humphreys & Riddoch’s hierarchical model of object recognition (just the general ideas) o Visual perceptual analysis viewer centered representation Visual object recognition Semantic system Name retrieval o Apperceptive and Associative agnosias (characteristics of each) o Apperceptive – Intact basic sensory vision - defect in early stage visual processing that prevents a correct percept of the stimulus being formed. Patient is unable to access the structure or spatial properties of visual stimuli and the object is not seen as a whole or in a meaningful way – Visual perceptual analysis and viewer centred representation affected. o Associative – Patient can perceive objects presented visually but cannot interpret, understand, or assign meaning to the object – Visual object recognition system and semantic system affected o Critical periods in perceptual development (just what this means) o Certain experiences must occur if perceptual abilities and the brain mechanisms that underlie them are to develop normally.
o Cultural factors in perception (meaning and example) o Answers differ depending on culture – e.g. Africans believe hunter will kill elephant, whereas westerners will believe hunter will kill antelope (on painting)
7 - Perception of physical symptoms
Key concepts
118
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Factors affecting perception of physical symptoms (examples) o Attention o Anxiety o Expectation o Gate theory of pain (explanation) o Activating larger neurones by ‘rubbing’ area that is painful has a stimulatory effect on the nucleus gelatinosa releasing endogenous opiods and reducing pain from intial stimuli o Measurement of pain – (3 components and how to measure each) o Subjective – unstructured/verbal rating scale o Graphical rating scale o Physiological measures – HR/BR o NIPS = expression/breathing/cry o Illness representations Model – (Need to know the 5 components) o A patients own implicit commonsense beliefs about their illness
Identity
Cause
Consequence
Time line
Curability/Controllability o The placebo effect definition, poss modes of action and influencing factors o Improvement in condition of a sick person that occurs in response to treatment but cannot be considered due to the specific treatment used o Mechanism
Classical conditioning
Expectancy
Anxiety/attention
Release of endogenous opiods o Influencing factors:
Patient factors – ‘placebo-responder’ personality
Treatment factors – injections>pills / larger>smaller pills / green and brown pills
Therapist factors – status of practitioner o Differences between acute and chronic pain (to be able to list a few differences) o Acute
< 1 month
Obvious tissue damage
Increased NS function
Pain resolves on healing
Serves protective function o Chronic
> 3-6 months
Pain beyond expected period of healing
Usually no protective function
Degrades health and function
Key studies
119
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Beecher (1956) Wound severity and pain – WW2 soldiers report less pain and request less meds than civilians with similar injuries
Anderson & Pennebaker (1980) Effect of expectancy of perception – told participants that experience would be painful/pleasant/not given any info = post ratings as expected – hurt more in
‘painful group’
Arntz et al (1991) Attention vs anxiety – In High and low anxiety groups – attention reduced pain rating
8 - Coping with illness and disability
Key concepts
Kublar-Ross’s stage theory of adjustment (basic outline) o Denial o Anger o Bargaining o Depression o Acceptance
Lack of evidence for stages o No variability o Places patients in a passive role o Fails to consider social or cultural factors o Focuses on emotional response and neglects cognition/behaviour o Pathologise people who don’t pass through the stages
5 Myths of coping with loss (Wortman & Silver 1989) o Distress or depression is inevitable o Distress is necessary and failure to express = pathological o Importance of ‘working through’ the loss o Expectation of recovery o Reaching state of resolution
Moos’ Crisis Theory of coping with serious illness and applications (basic outline not all detail)
120
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Key studies
Pollard & Kennedy (2007) Long term follow up in spinal cord injury - Rates of post-traumatic psychological growth were associated with higher levels of psychological distress.
Broadbent et al (2004) A picture of health – illness belief affecting recovery – pt who drew damage to their heart following MI recovered less at 3 months due to perceived damage/duration/control over situation.
9 - Memory and cognitive aspects of mental health disorders
Key concepts o Stages of memory process o Registration Encoding Storage Retrieval
Working memory (Baddeley Model) o Types of memory inc Declarative vs Non Declarative, Episodic vs semantic (what they are) o Declarative is memory that can be consciously recalled whereas non-declarative
(procedural) refers to unconscious memories such as riding a bike. o Declarative is divided into:
Episodic – memory of autobiographical events/past experiences
Semantic – conscious recollection of factual knowledge – meanings, understandings, and concepts. o Differentiate between effortful and automatic processing. o Effortful processing – encoding that is initiated intentionally and requires conscious attention o Automatic processing – encoding that occurs without intention and requires minimal attention o Define schema, and explain how schemas enhance encoding and influence memory construction. o Mental framework about some aspect of the world. A mental representation or image containing the critical and distinctive features of a person, object, or other perceptual phenomenon o Can be used in an associative framework – ideas and concepts linked
121
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Define an associative network o Network of associated ideas and concepts o Activation of one network leads to a spreading activation of related concepts o Priming – activation of one concept by another o Outline the role of cognitive factors in the aetiology and treatment of depression. o Depressive triad – Self/World/Future
Key studies
Loftus and Palmer (1974) Eyewitness testimony – Memory distorted by verbal label/response bias factors
Beck (1963) Thinking and depression:
10 – Adherence to treatment
Key concepts o Definition, prevalence and consequences of non-adherence to treatment regimes o Adherence is rarely ‘all or nothing’ o Medicine possessions ratio o 75% of patients reported non-adherence in 2006 o Consequences:
Increased hospital admissions
Transplant rejection
Complication occurrence
Drug resistance
Increased mortality o Factors affecting adherence o Patient/Professional/Treatment o Factors affecting recall of health care information o Individual factors – anxiety/medical knowledge o Presentation factors affecting recall of information o Amount of info/order/stressing importance/specificity/mode of presentation o Effects of written information and importance of readability o Most pt like to receive written info
122
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o Majority don’t read when its given to them o Written info leads to increased knowledge and increased adherence o Flesch formula – 70-80 = plain English. o Ways of improving adherence to treatment o Ask patient about adherence o Simplify regime and packaging o Improve communication and presentation o Identify and modify beliefs o Involve significant others
Key studies
Ley & Spelman (1967) Amount of information and recall – 87% recall diagnostic statements, 56% recall info about their illness, 44% recall instructions.
Ley (1975) Effect of readability on adherence – medication errors higher as understanding of instructions decreases.
11 - Social Psychology
Key concepts
Attitudes and prejudice (definition & self-fulfilling prophesy) o Attitude – positive or negative evaluative reaction towards a stimulus, sich as a person, action, object, or concept o Stereotype – schemas about characteristics ascribed to a group of people based on qualities such as race, ethnicity, or gender o Prejudice – negative prejudgement of a group and its members
Conformity and influencing factors o Adjustment of individual behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs to a group standard o Group size – conform increases as group size increases up to 5 members o Presence of a dissenter – one person disagreeing with the others greatly reduces group conformity o Cultural differences
Obedience and influencing factors o Remoteness of the victim o Closeness and legitimacy of the authority figure o Diffusion of responsibility – obedience increases when someone else does dirty work o NOT personal characteristics
Social loafing and influencing factors o Tendency for people to expend less individual effort when working in a group than when working alone o More likely if:
Believes performance is not being monitored
Task is not meaningful to person
Person displays low motivation
Expect others to display high effort
More so in all male groups and in individualistic cultures o Disappear when:
Individual performance is monitored
Members highly value group or task goal
Group decision making esp: “Group think”, definition and influencing factors o Group think – tendency of group members to suspend critical thinking because they are striving to seek agreement o Symptoms of group think –
123
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
Direct pressure applied to people who express doubt
Mind guards – people who prevent negative info from reaching the group
Self censorship and withhold doubts
Illusion of unanimity is created o More likely when – under stress to reach decision/insulated from outside input/has directive leader/has high cohesiveness o Group polarisation – tendency of people to make decisions that are more extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently
The bystander effect (5 steps in the process) and how to overcome it o Presence of multiple bystanders inhibits each persons tendency to help
1.
Notice the event
2.
Decide if event is really an emergency
3.
Assume responsibility to intervene
4.
Self efficacy in dealing with situation
5.
Decision to help (based on cost benefit) o Reducing restraints on helping:
Reduce ambiguity and increase responsibility
Enhance guilt and concern for self image o Social altruism
Teaching moral inclusion
Modelling helping behaviour
Attributing helpful behaviour to altruistic motives
Education about barriers to helping
Leadership styles (Kurt Lewin) (just basic outline) o Autocratic – don’t entertain any suggestions from subordinates o Participative(democratic) – group decision making – leader gives instruction o Laissez-faire – lets group have freedom regarding group decisions
Key studies
Asch (1956) Conformity – group told to match wrong line – study participant after initially picking correct choice, conformed to group choice and continually picked incorrectly
Darley & Latane – Helping behaviour – Student helped person having fit if on their own, less so if in a group of 4, very few if group was over 4
Milgram (1974) Obedience – learner and teacher – shock generator for punishment and shocks increase with each mistake – 65% gave maximum voltage shock
Ringelman (1913) Tug of war study – measured force generation – 8 people should = 8x the force as one person. Force generated doesn’t increase in linear manner = ringleman effect. More difficult to coordinate and more significantly social loafing.
12– Clinical decision making
Key concepts o Hot and cold system of thinking (definitions and examples of each) (EXAM!) o Hot – Emotional (Simple, Reflexive, Fast, Develops early, Attenuated by stress, stimulus control)
Drive car on empty road
2+2
Detect hostility o Cold – Cognitive (Complex, Reflective, Slow, Develops late, Attenuated by stress, self control)
Tell someone phone number
Compare 2 appliances for value
Complete a tax form o Influence of extraneous factors on decision making o Overestimate probabilities rather than based on calculation o Confirmatory bias (explanation) o Tendency of people to favour information that supports their hypothesis/beliefs
124
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology o The sunk cost fallacy (explanation) o If paid a higher price for season ticket, then the ticket was used more than discount o If invested more in the past, more prepared to invest in the future = concorde effect o The anchoring effect (explanation) o Individuals poor at adjusting estimates from a given starting point o Adjustments were crude and imprecise, and anchored by the starting point o Gamblers fallacy (explanation) o Belief that past events will affect future events when dealing with independent events o e.g. believing patient following another has the same rare disease o Conditional probabilities and the use of Bayes’ Theorem o Comparing probabilities to determine clinical risk o The availability and representativeness heuristics (definitions) o Availability – estimates based on how easily they can be called to mind – typically overestimate occurrence of catastrophic effects o Representative – subjective probability that a stimulus belongs to a particular class based on how typical of that class it appears to be – use extraneous factors o Strategies for improving clinical decision making o Recognise heuristics and bias affecting judgement o Counteract effect of top down info by generating alternative theory and looking for new evidence o Understand and employ statistical principles o Use Algorithms and decision support systems
Key studies
Nisbett & Wilson (1977) Effect of extraneous factors on decision making – laid 4 pairs of tights – asked consumers to pick best pair – all picked the pair on the right hand side even thought they were identical. Hot control automatic actions, Cold tried to give rational justification.
Slovic (1973) Confirmatory bias – bookies asked to predict outcomes of a race based on 5 most important itemts, then 10, 20, 40 most important. With more information – bookies more confident, but outcomes are similar in accuracy.
125
Giles Kisby GE Y1 Psychology
126