unit 2 psyc AQA A

1. Unit 2 Psychology
Social, Biological and Individual Differences

2. Social Influence
Conformity – Yielding to group pressure
Obedience – responding as instructed to a direct order
Why do people conform?
• Social Judgement – ASCH 1951
- 1 real participants and a group of confederates doing a task which involved ‘the odd line out’, when confederates give the
wrong answer, the majority of the participants conformed – giving into group pressure
- In conclusion, when participants did the experiment on their own, they were more likely to give the right anwers because
there was a lack of social judgement.
• EVALUATION – could be era dependent because in America at the time, you wanted to prove that you were a true
American and therefore wouldn’t want to stand out from the rest.
• Ps resisted conformity by the social support of allies removing social judgment.
• Culture – Smith and Bond meta analysis
- Where culture determines whether you conform or not, collectivist countries, EG Japan have high conformity unlike
individualist countries, EG Germany
- Conformity levels depend on cultural context, if you are independent and individual you are less likely to conform, also
and age and gender can effect this.
• EVALUATION – depends on the culture, may not be applicable, no evidence.
• Ps resisted conformity because of individualist culture VS collectivist culture

3. • IQ and personality, Crutchfield 1954
- Individual cubicles with a flashing light to show other P’s answers but answers were made up. If there was a low IQ, the
participants were more likely to conform and people with vulnerable personalities were also more likely conform.
- Your IQ and personality can affect whether you conform or not
• EVALUATION – dated study
• Ps resisted conformity by having a high IQ level
• Group norms, Sherif 1935 (Kinetic effects)
- There was a spot light in a dark room and 3 conditions, alone, with a group and alone again the light didn’t move, the final
estimate of different length and light from the participants was closer to the group estimate than their original
estimate.
- Group norms have an effect on conformity because estimate first answer alone to third estimate after being in a group
was different. So therefore, hearing other people’s opinions on the distance altered the original particaptants estimate
by the 3rd estimate.
• EVALUATION – dated study, low ecological validity
-

4. Explanations for why people obey
• Presence of authority figure (Hofling)
- Nurse was told to double dosage by a patient via phone. Nurse didn’t know drug wall or doctor and didn’t communicate
with other nurses so they ere more likely to conform.
- Rank and Jacobson had 3 main changes 1. They knew the doctor, 2. they knew the drug. 3. they could speak to other
nurses. They were less likely to obey as other people had an effect and were there for reassurance.
• EVALUATION - study was good because it was replicable and nurses in their natural environment. Ethical issues, they
were being observed without consent.
• Agentic state (carrying out an order on behalf of someone else more likely to obey)
EG MILGRAM VARIATIONS
• 161, 900 participants and 17 variations of same experiment
• Made participants believe that they were administrating and electric shock which went up in 15 volt intervals, up to 150v
which is potentially fatal
• In the original experiment 2/3 of P’s obeyed, found that obeying increased with presence of authority but decreased
with absent authority, and setting of experiment, when it was set in a shabby office obeying decreased.
• EVALUTATION – unethical, deception of participants and lack of consent
• Ethnocentric and androcentric bias(all men)
• High internal control, influencing demand characteristics
• Low realism
- Ps resisted conformity by being made aware of actions, presence of allies

5. Bickman – appearance of authority figure
• 3 male actors dressed in normal clothes, a milkman or a security guard
• Actors asked a passer-by to do things such as – pick up paper bags and give them a coin for parking
• The passer-by was most likely to obey the actor dressed as a security guard and least likely to obey the actor in normal
clothes.
• It was field experiment with high ecological validity using an opportunity sample
• Ps resisted obedience by appearance of an authority figure
Meeus and Raajmaker – Dutch Study
• Replicate of Milgrams study and improved the problems
• 15 stressful remarks in an interview by yourself/ in front of boss
• When authority is present P’s most likely to give remarks, without authority the P’s didn’t give as many remarks
• 91.5% obeyed when an authority figure was present
Rank and Jacobson – Repeat of Hofling with minor changes
• They used Valium/nurses were familiar with 3 times the dose
• There was a confederate pretending to be a well known doctor on the phone and could discuss orders with another nurse
• Only 2/18 participants following the order
• HIGHER REALISM – HIGHER OBEDIENCE
• Ps resisted obedience by conferring with colleagues and knowing the drugs and the doctor

6. Authoritarian Personality
• Conventionalism
• Submission
• Authoritarian aggression power and toughness
• Destructiveness and animism
•
• Hostility towards the ‘outgroup’ leads to prejudice
Locus of control
• Refers to peoples beliefs and expectations about what controls the events in their lives
•
Internal
(what happens is within your control)
• High internals actively seek information useful to them … less likely to rely on others opinions
• High internals are more achievement orientated … more likely to become leaders and entrepenurs … better able to resist
coercion
External
(what happens to you is outside your control)
Social Changes
Conformity
• Terrorist Minorities – Al Qaeda
• Presence of a Dissenter – Martin Luther King
•
Obedience
• The role of disobedient models – Suffragettes movement
•
• Widespread motivation to obey – Nazi Germany

7. Biological Psychology

8. What is stress?
A state of psychological and/or
physical tension caused by a
perceived mismatch between a
stressor and a person’s ability to
cope

9. Bodies response to stress
Sympathetic-adrenal-medullary system (SAM)
1. Perception/Evaluation of a stressor
2. Activation of sympathetic nervous system (Preparing for fight or flight response)
3. Stimulation of adrenal medulla
4. Release of adrenaline
5. Increase in HEART RATE, BLOOD PRESSURE, RESPIRATION, PERSIPIRATION AND BLOOD
CLOTTING FACTOR
6.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA)
7. Hypothalamus is alerted
8. Stimulation of pituitary gland
9. Release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone
10. Stimulation of adrenal cortex
11. Release of gluco-corticoids
12. Increased SALT AND WATER RETENTION, BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS AND IMMUNO
SUPRESSION

10. Stress and the immune system
Evans (1994,1997) stress can enhance the immune system
• In 1994, Evans looked at the activity of antibody slgA, which helps the body to fight against infection. In 1994, he arranged for
students to talk to others (mild – acute stress), they showed an increase in slgA whereas levels of slgA decreased in exam
periods
• He proposed that stress may have two effects on the immune system, increased efficiency from mild, short form stress and
down regulation for chronic stress
•
Relationship stress – Kiecolt-Glaser (2005) and Malarkey (1994)
• Kiecolt-Glaser tested the impact of interpersonal conflict on wound healing, he found that blisters on arms took longer to heal
when the married couples had discussions that were conflicting rather than supporting
• Malarakey et al studied 90 newly wed couples over 24 hours in a lab, they were asked to discuss and revolve marital issues
likely to cause conflict such as finances, Marital conflict produced significant changes in adrenaline and modrenaline which
could lead to poorer immune functioning
•
Kiecolt-Glaser (1995) – Carers of relatives with Alzheimer's
• 13 women were measured on their time taken for a wound to heal whilst looking after a relative with Alzheimer's, found that
they healing time of the caregivers was 48.7 days on average, whereas the control group averaged at 39.3 days
• + same wound on all P’s punch biopsy on forearm, high control
• - caregivers and controls have differed in other ways than stress

11. Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 1984 – NK cells
• Aim – if stress of exams effects the immune system
• Procedure – 75 ps, natural experiment, blood samples were take before and during exams
• Findings – all NK cell activity was reduced in second sample
• Nk cell activity was most reduced in Participants who also reported high levels of loneliness
• Conclusions – exam stress decreases the function of the immune system and is effected by psychological variables like
stress and loneliness
Segerstromand Miller (2004) Meta-Analysis
• 293 studies conducted over 30 years
• Short term acute stressors can boost the immune system prompting it to ready itself for infections
• Long term, chronic stressors lead to suppression of the immune system
• The loner the stress the more the immune system shifted from potentially adaptive changes to potentially detrimental
suppression
• (the greater the stress the greater the suppression)
•
Lazarus stress and illness (a02)
1. Health is effected by many different factors eg lifestyle. As a result there maybe little variance left that can be accounted
for stress
2. Health is generally fairly stable,as a result it is difficult to demonstrate that explosive to particular stressors can effect
health
3. To demonstrate how stress affects health would involve continuous measurement which is expensive

12. Daily hassles and uplifts.
• Delongis et al (1982) focussed on the stressors of daily life.
• 100 ps, aged 45-64, well educated with high incomes
• Asked to complete a number of questionnaires, once a month for a year
• Hassles scale (117 items eg losing things, appearance) Uplifts scale (135 items ie good weather) Life events scale,Health status
questionnaire
Results
• Frequency and intensity of hassles were significantly crenelated with overall health status and bodily symptoms
• Daily uplifts had little effect on health
• Relationship between life events and health was not found
• Relationship was found for life events which took place two years prior to the study
•
Daily Hassles
• Bouterye et al (2007)
• Investigated the relationship between daily hassles and the mental health of students during the initial transition from school
to university
• Students completed the hassles section of HSUP and the Beck Depression Inventory as a measure of depressive symptoms,
that could’ve been caused by the hassles of transition
Results
1. Results showed that 41% of the students suffered from depressive symptoms
2. There was a positive correlation between scores on the hassles scare and indication of depressive symptoms

13. Daily uplifts
Gervais 2005
• Asked nurses to keep diaries for a month and record all of their daily uplifts and hassles at work
• It was clear from findings that daily hassles were found to increase job strain and decrease job performance
• Nurses felt positive responses from patients counteracted negative effects of daily hassles

14. Work place stress
Workload/Job type – Johanasson Swedish study
• Compared finishers to cleaners
• Found that the finishers had higher illness rates, more stress related hormones and more absenteeism because they were
under more stress to do their job because higher up in the company
A02
• Cant compare a before and after
• Link is only causal, couldn’t repeat experiment
• Ethnocentric bias to Sweden, not representative
•
Control Marmot et al
• 10,308 civil servants, whiterall study (government self evaluation)
• Longitudinal study (5 years)
• Autonomy – have rules but you can do your job the way you want to do it
• These people were 4 times more likely to have a heart attack because od low job control
•
Job strain model Karasek
• Suggests two ways a job can create stress
High world load + low job control = job strain
• Link to Marmot
•

15. Effort-reward imbalance Smith
• High effort, low reward
• 812 workers followed up for 25 years
• Associated with increased cardio-vascular disease symptoms because they experienced more anger
• Longitudinal study
Transaction model Lazarus 1995 a02 point
• Suggests that the study if stressful factors in the workplace misses the point that there are wide individual differences
in the way that people react to cope with stressors
• The model suggests that the degree that a stressor is perceived as stressful depends on the persons perceived ability
to cope.
• Therefore high job demands and role ambiguity may be perceived as stressful to one person but not to another,
particularly those of a hardiness personality.
•
Other factors influencing work place stress include
Type a/b personality
Age
Gender
Wage
•

16. Personality and Stress
Type A & B & D personalities Freidman and Rosenman, western collaborative study
• Type a = the type behaviour is characterised by constant time pressure, competitiveness in work and social situations and
anger, easily frustrated and achievement orientated
• Type b = characterised by an easy going, relaxed and patient life style
A02
Personality type could be contextual (changes depending on the situation)
Freidman and Roseman longitudinal study 1960
• set up the western collaborative group study
• Approx 3000 men age 39-59 living in California were examined for signs of coronary heart disease, over 8.5 years
• Personality was measured + assessed by interviews
• Their findings were, twice as many type A p’s had died from cardiovascular problems
●Type a ●Type b
●
●Heart attacks ●12.8% ●6%
●Recurring
heart attacks
●2.6% ●.8%
●Fatal heart
attacks
●2.7% ●1.1%
A02
Era dependent and bias towards men, more women word
more

17. Hardy personality theory
• Type A personality appear to be resistant to Coronary heart disease
• Kobasa & Maddi suggested that some people are psychologically hardy
• The hardy personality includes a range of characteristics which can act as defences against negative effects of stress
CONTROL
COMMITMENT
CHALLENGE

18. ●Stress management
methods
●Outline (a01) ●Advs ●Disadvs
●Biological drug therapies
●
●BENZODIAPINES
●(effect the brain)
●Librium and Valium are most
common
●Enhance gamma-aminobutryic acid
(GABA)
●General quieting influence on the
brain
●GABA supporting by BZs which make
neurons more resistant to anxiety
●Quicker + easier than psychological
●Kahn et al 250 patients over 8 weeks
Bzs superior to placebo
●Hildaglo et al meta-analysis of
treatment of social anxiety, Bzs most
effective
●Addiction – can lead to withdrawal
symptoms
●Ashton said could be limited to 4
weeks effectiveness
●Side effects = aggressive, cognitive
effected, paradoxical symptoms
●Biological drug therapies
●
●BETA-BLOCKERS
●(effect the heart)
●Act on SAM, do not act directly on brain,
●Reduce adrenaline activity by affecting ‘fight
or flight’ which slows HR and BP
●Used for control of arousal in music and
sport
●Lessens heart contractions and blood
vessel contractions
●Life-long compliance
●Effective
●Cheap
●Increases risk of developmental
diabetes
●Treats symptoms rather than the
problem
●Psychological
●
●STRESS INOCULATION TRAINING
●
1. Conceptualisation
2. Skills training and rehearsal
3. Application
Intended to inoculate a person against
future stressful occasions
Skilled experience needed
●Long lasting
●Deals with cause
●Positive method
● increase self esteem
●Expensive
●Effort required
●Time-consuming
●Psychological
●
●Hardiness training
1. focus, clients encouraged to
identify stress signs
2. Relieving stressful encounters
3. Self improvement, recognising
and taking on challenges
●Long lasting
●Deals with cause
●Positive method
●Self esteem
●
●Expensive
●Effort
●Time-consuming

19. Abnormality / psychopathology

20. Definitions of abnormality
• General
‘Deviating from what is normal or usual’ Eyseneck 2003
Failure to function adequately – Rosehan and Seligman 1989
Violation of normal and ideal standards
Observer discomfort
Irationality/ Incomprehensible
Vividness and unconventionality of behaviour
Unpredictability and loss of control
Maladaptiveness
Suffering
A02
Not all people are aware of their problems
May be distressing to others
Symptoms are easy to indentify

21. Deviation from social norms
• People who behave in a social deviant way should be regarded as abnormal
• Eg- anti-social personality disorder
• Deviation from social norms is abnormal and undesirable
• Often implied through a set of moral/societal codes
• What is implicit becomes acceptable behaviour
•
A02
Subjectively defined by society (eg single mums)
Social deviance is defined by context and culture
Social disadvantages are not necessarily a bad thing
Allows for change with time/generation

22. Deviation from ideal mental health
• Johada 1958, concept of abnormality is useless due to cultural/group context
• 6 asepcts of mental health
1. Self attitude
2. Personal growth
3. Integration
4. Autonomy (independence)
5. Perception of reality
6. Environment mastery
A02
Focusses on the aspects of mental health
Criteria used is vague
Not all societies feel that these 6 criteria describe mental health
6 criteria = difficult to measure

23. Additional a02 points
• cultural relativism – value judgements are relative due to the individuals context
• Definitions of abnormality vary within the same culture from different periods of history
• 1968 DSM2 – homosexuality classed as deviation
• 1994 DSM4 sexual disorder not otherwise specified, with persistent and marked distress about others sexual orientation
•
4th definition of abnormality can be used as an a02 point
Normal distribution of IQ statistical infrequency
AV score = 100
If you score before 70 or over 130 you are abnormal
Psychosis = fantasy (D.I.D, schizophrenia)
Neurosis = real life (OCD, Phobia)

24. The biological model of abnormality
(BING)
Biochemistry
Infection
Neuroanatomy
Genetic factors
1. Biochemistry
• Dopamine hypothesis
• Schizophrenics experience more dopamine binding which may lead to attentional and thought problems
• The drug chlorpromazine has proven useful in treating schizophrenia – it blocks dopamine receptors (1952 Henri
Cobine) it was the first drug used to help schizophrenics. He found that too much dopamine = schizophrenia and too
little dopamine causes Parkinson’s disease (treated with H.Dopa which increases dopamine)
• Neurotransmitter imbalance can also explain depression and anxiety
2. Infection
• Germs, bacteria and viruses produce physical disease states
• Infection can also produce psychological disorders
• Barr et al 1990 said there’s an increased the risk of schizophrenia for a child who’s mother suffers from flu during
pregnancy
• 1st trimester = 7x greater risk
• 2nd trimester = 5x greater risk
• 3rd trimester = 3x greater risk

25. Neuroanatomical
• abnormality is caused by a problem with the actual structure of the brain
• Charles Whitman case study focusses on the problems with brain structure and CNS (he shot people from texas university,
he was found to have had a brain tumour in the temporal lobe)
• Post-mortens of schizophrenics show their brains differ from those of normal individuals
eval = not an explanation point in itself, case study was generalised
•
Genetic
• Assessment of patterns of disorders within families or twin pairs
• Concordance rates are measured for M2 and D3 (twins and triplets)
• Consider Holland (1988) as a genetic cause of anorexia nervosa
•
Eval = for twins there’s a 55% chance if one gets anorexia the other will but there’s also 45% if other mitigating factors not
taken into account
Assumptions of the biological model
All mental disorders have a physical cause
Mental illnesses can be described in terms of clusters and symptoms
Symptoms can be identified , leading to the diagnosis of an illness
Diagnosis leads to appropriate physical treatments

26. Psychodynamic model of abnormality
• behaviour is driven by unconscious motives
• Childhood is a critical period in development
• Mental disorders (abnormality) arise from unresolved conflicts
• Evidence Little Hands (1909) Sigmund Freud
Personality theory
Superego
• Oedipus complex
Boys at age 4+ see themselves in
Competition with their fathers and want to
Get rid of them to get all attention from
Their mother, ‘moral conscience’ is
Developed
• Elektra complex
Girls at 4+ see their mother as competition for
Sexual attention from father, she will resent mother
Because she believes that she castrated her at birth, develops
A moral conscience
ID
0-1, present from birth, core part of
personality it is the ‘pleasure principle’
Freud referred to infants as savage
because they cry when they don’t get
what they want
Ego
1-3, ego and ID compete from
dominance, we are still
developing starting the form
primitive communications
becoming mobile. ‘Reality
principle’ allows us to interact
with our environment,
manipulating it.

27. Psychosexual stages of development
Libido = sexual energy (Freud)
1. ORAL ,food (0-1) if there is a trauma in early life the child gets an oral fixation (chewing gum constantly for example)
2. ANAL, potty training (1-3) too much control = anal retentive (perhaps OCD), no control = anal repulsive
3. PHALLIC (4+) become interested in other sex, realise the differences
4. LATENCY (6-12) separate off into own groups, same sex friendships
5. GENITAL (13+)
6.
Evidence = little hans
Evaluation
• Abstract concepts, id, ego and superego hard to define and research
• Sexism – Elektra complex is far less developed than the Oedipus complex (era dependent)
• Lack of research evidence. Hard to prove and disprove his theory, lacks falsifiability
• Lacks validity because case study
• First theory to focus on psychological causes of disorder
• Unique approach – linked to unresolved conflicts
• In depth qualitative data
Assumptions
Much of the behaviour is driven by unconscious motives
Childhood is a critical period in development
Mental disorders arise from unresolved, unconscious conflicts originating in childhood
Resolution occurs through accessing and coming to terms with repressed ideas and conflicts

28. Cognitive model
Cognitions = memory, language, attention, problem solving and thinking
INPUT Processing Output
• Abnormality is caused by distorted, irrational thinking, rather than maladaptive behaviour
• It is the way you THINK about a problem rather than the problem itself, that causes the disorder
• Individuals can overcome mental disorders by learning to use rational thinking
• Warren and Zgourides (1991) The MUST qualities of irrational thinking
• Beck uses the cognitive triad to explain three areas of unrealistic and negative thinking
World
Self Future
• Ellis’ ABC model of abnormlity
Actuating event
Belief
Consequnce

29. Evaluation of cognitive model
• Cognitive model blames the patient rather than the situational factors, overlook life events etc
• it is not clear whether consequence comes before or after cause. Do thoughts and beliefs really cause disturbance or does
mental disorder lead to faulty thinking?
• Irrational beliefs may be realistic. Alloy and Abrahmson (1979) suggest that depressive realists tend to see things for what
they are (normal people see things through rose tinted spectacles
• Congnitive therapy is very successful
• Applicable
•
Assumptions
Maladaptive behaviour is caused by faulty and irrational cognitions
It is the way you think about a problem, rather than the problem itself, that causes mental disorder
Individuals can overcome mental disorders by learning to use more appropriate cognitions
Aim to be positive and rational

30. Behavioural model
‘Tabula rasa’ – blank slate, at mercy of the environment
Learning theory, pavlov, in 1920 John Watson applied learning theory to a child ‘Little Albert’
• Playing with a rat, hit iron bar with hammer
• Conditional fear of rats
• Wanted to extinct the fear but mother withdrew him from experiment
• Generalisation, started to fear white and fluffy things, his phobia extended
Learning by association
UCS Loud noise = UCR fear
UCS loud noise + NS rat = UCR fear
CS rat = CR fear
=PHOBIA OF RATS
Assumptions
All behaviour is learned and maladaptive behaviour is no different
The learning can be understood in terms of the principles of conditioning and modelling
What was learned can be unlearned, using the same principles
The same laws apply to animal and human behaviour

31. Treating abnormality
Biological therapies
1. Psychosurgery – involves systematic damage to brain,
lesioning of the amygdala to reduce violence.
Frontal lobotomy to treat schizophrenia (Walter
Freeman). Rapidly replaced with drugs in 1950s,
now only used for extreme depression. Only
makes patients more manageable it’s a drastic
procedure.
2. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) – involves a small
electric current being passed through brain
causing a seizure. Popular in 1950s. Concerns over
ethics, drugs have led to less use, seizures now
prevented with muscle relaxants, use is restricted,
50% effective when other treatments have failed
3. Drugs – modern societies most likely treatment. Eval –
effective in treating disorders. Could become
addictive, contains symptoms doesn’t cure, no
long term solutuons, easy to use, side effects
Psychoanalysis
Goal = client to gain insight into emotional significance
of his/her traumatic childhood experiences
1. Hypnosis
2. Free association
3. Dream analysis
4. Transference (feelings transferred onto therapist)
Qualatative date, easier to analyse, controls client and
targets the cause, high training required, time
consuming long lasting. But false memory syndrome,
patients remember things that didn’t actually happen

32. Behavioural therapies
1. Systematic desensitisation involves being
systematically exposed to phobia,has stages, gets
patients to control their anxiety
2. Flooding person is immediately exposed to the source
of their phobia
3. Aversion therapy uses strict version of classical
conditioning where the stimuli is paved with
unpleasant feeling (biting nails eg)
4. token economy used with drug addiction, focusses on
operant conditioning, looks to shape behaviour,
tokens collected = reward
5.
Time consuming compared to medications
Stressful for patient because of anxiety
Deals directly with the cause
It is effective with specific phobias
Cognitive therapy
Tries to change the way that you think, attacks the
belief of Ellis’ ABC model
1. Logical why do you think this?
2. Empirical, evidence, what evidence is there?
3. Pragmatic – refers to a person trying to
understand how it is affecting their life and
behaviour
4.