1
Q
localisation of brain function (biological)
A
- human behaviour is determined by a physiological cause, being g the activity on individual parts of the brain
- 2 hemispheres and 4 lobes
- Phineas gage, metal rod penetrated through frontal lobe showed aggression
2
Q
neurotransmitters (biological)
A
- suggests that behaviour is caused by electrical and chemical communications in the brain
- e.g. raised levels of dopamine have been linked to schizophrenia, and low levels of serotonin have been linked to depression
*neurons pass neurotransmitters through the synapse and are released from presynaptic vesicles
3
Q
evolutionary influences (biological)
A
- Charles Darwins theory of natural selection
- males subconscious desire for fertility in females
- e.g ostrich may dance to attract a mate
4
Q
humans are born as a blank slate (behaviourist)
A
- idea that humans are born as “tabula rasa”, and that behaviour is environmentally determined and humans are born with hunger, pain and crying
- dies developed by Watson, he stated that he could turn a “dozen infants” into “any type of specialist”
- bandura tested with bobo doll experiment
5
Q
behaviour is learned through conditioning (behaviourist)
A
- classical conditioning suggests that behaviour is learnt through association. pavlov (1902) tested with dogs teaching them to salivate with bell and treats
- operant conditioning is behaviour learnt through reinforcement. skinner (1936) tested with rats
- Gill proves operant conditioning as effective as he claims that children who get pocket money complete 20% more household chores
- Watson and Rayners little Albert study supports
6
Q
humans and animals learn in similar ways (behaviourist)
A
- suggest that humans and animals behave in similar ways due too shared traits such as fear
- joint stimulation was used with pavlovs dogs and little Albert
- operant conditioning has been proved effective in schools and prisons
7
Q
tripartite personality (psychodynamic)
A
id ego and superego
id is primitive, requires instant gratification and is pleasure seeking principle. ego is mediator and superego is concerned Sith moral values
each part represents a part of the brain. id represents limbic system and ego represents prefrontal Cortex
8
Q
unconscious mind (psychodynamic)
A
conscious preconscious and unconscious
preconscious are things such as memories or knowledge that could be easily retrieved
anxiety acts as a signal to the ego that there is dysfunction somewhere
ego defence mechanisms such as repression help ease these feelings
9
Q
childhood experiences (psychodynamic)
A
freuds psychosexual stages of development refers to a stage and age theory that all children go through at roughly the same time influenced by the location of libido
stages were: oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
for example, Freud believed fixations at the oral stage of development could lead to an eating disorder in adulthood or an addiction such as alcohol or smoking. A fixation at the anal stage of development could lead to an adult developing potential OCD. A fixation at the phallic stage
of development could lead to a confused
sexuality
10
Q
internal mental processes (cognitive)
A
cognitive psychologists see humans as information processors
memory, perception, attention, thinking and language
eg. to recognise a dog, you need to pay attention, perceive its features, then search through our memory store to see if anything matches and we use language to name it
11
Q
computer analogy (cognitive)
A
both humans and computers are the same in the way that they process information
mental processes used: input, processing and recall
process stage involves memory, perception and attention
multistore model of memory made by Atkinson and shiffin (1968) shows how long term and short term memory are stores as “hardware”
12
Q
schemas (cognitive)
A
pockets of information built from experience
built up via social interactions, which can potentially distort the information as humans may select and interpret environmental stimuli using irrelevant schemas
this may explain inaccuracies in EWT
e.g schema for burglar
13
Q
bowlby methodology
A
opportunity sample and matches pairs design
The Binet Scale was used to test their intelligence.
The average IQ for both groups was higher than the average for the population.
quasi difference experiment
iv: whether they had stolen or not, DV: whether they were an “affectionless psychopath”
31 boys, 13 girls aged 5-17
control experiment used of children who went to the same child guidance clinic but had not stolen.
Half of the cases- instances of chronic and serious thieving lasting very long periods (Grade 4)
10 cases- persistent but irregular, mild thieving (Grade 3)
8 cases- a few thefts only (Grade 2)
4 cases- only one theft (Grade 1)
14
Q
weaknesses of bowlbys methodology
A
unrepresentative as not all children are emotionally disturbed
violent homes could be a confounding variable
15
Q
strengths of bowlbys methodology
A
used a control group so more reliable results and higher ecological validity
16
Q
bowlbys procedure
A
- mental test given to children to test intelligence and how well they emotionally reacted to it
*preliminary psychiatric history was gathered from the social worker
- psychiatrist interviewed mother
*then bowl by examined the mother and child together
*psychotherapy for at least 6 months after
17
Q
weakness of bowlbys procedure
A
could be social desirability bias in mother’s interview
18
Q
strength of bowlbys procedure
A
strong qualitative data gained from multiple sources
19
Q
bowlbys findings
A
- 6 categories of children: affectionless, hyperthermic, normal, depressed, circular and schizoid
- majority were affectionless, 14 out of 44
- out of those 14, 12 of them had prolonged separation from mother
*40% of thieves had prolonged separation from mothers, compared to 5% of control group
20
Q
main components of systematic desensitisation
A
*phobia is learnt response
- sd uses reciprocal inhibition in order to counter condition the patient
- developed by Wolpe (1958)
- relaxation techniques and desensitisation hierarchy
*in vivo
*in vitro
21
Q
strengths of systematic desensitisation
A
usefulness: Capafons et al (1988) found that after 12-28 weeks of SD, clients with a fear of flying showed less fear in a flight simulator. they also found lower objective physiological measures (such as heart rate) than the control group
holistic: MCGrath found SD successful for a wide range of anxiety disorders. 75% of patients with phobias responded to the treatment
positive ethical implications: anxiety controlled, able to provide valid informed consent and patients attend at their own free will
22
Q
main components of drug therapy
A
antipsychotic drugs: conventional antipsychotics for positive symptoms. the drug blocks the action of dopamine by binding to the dopamine receptors
antianxiety drugs: Bz’s bind to the sites on GABA receptors and enhance the action of GABA (calming neurotransmitter)
beta blockers: reduces the activity or adrenaline, binds to receptors in the heart and reduces activity or the autonomic nervous system
23
Q
strengths of drug therapy
A
Soomro et al reviewed 17 studies of the use of SSRI’s with OCD and found them more effective than placebos in reducing the symptoms of OCD up to 3 months after treatment.
cheaper and easier to administer
24
Q
weaknessesof drug therapy
A
side effects: nausea, headaches and insomnia
Ashton (1997) found Bz’s should only be used for 4 weeks
Ferguson (2005) found people taking SSRI’s are twice as likely to commit suicide
ethical issues: deception, physical harm and valid consent
25
main components of REBT
Ellis (1962) ABC model, activating event, beliefs, consequences, disputing beliefs effects of disputing. D and E are the most important parts.
logical disputing, empirical disputing (is it consistent with reality) and pragmatic disputing (are they useful)
mustabatory thinking- holding beliefs such as 'i must be treated fairly and give me what i need or they are rotten'
unconditional positive regard- key to successful therapy, therapist must be non-judgemental at all times.
26
strengths of REBT
meta analysis by engles et al (1993) concluded that REBT is effective in treating a range of disorders
Ellis (1957) claimed a 90% success rate taking on average 27 sessions, also useful for non clinical populations for exam anxiety
Silverman et al. (1992) conducted a review of studies that used REBT. It was shown to be more effective or equal to other types of therapy (e.g. systematic desensitisation) for a range of disorders: 49 showed REBT to be more effective, 40 showed no difference.
27
weaknesses of REBT
doesn’t always work, Ellis (2001) believed that they may not be putting their revised beliefs into action and may not be putting cognitive effort into their recovery
ethical issues: forceful therapy, could lead to anxiety
client and therapist may have differing beliefs over religion
28
loftus and palmer methodology
two lab experiments
independent groups design
different participants used each time
ex #1: 45ppts
ex #2: 150ppts
29
strengths of loftus and palmer methodology
conducted in a lab, therefore controlled experiment. the experiment leads to casual findings, and there are fewer confounding variables that can change or influence behaviour. this is a strength because it means the study has high internal validity, so can be used for wider applications.
30
weakness of loftus and palmer
lack of ecological validity, foster et al (1994) found that if participants thought they were witnessing a real life crash, their recall would be more accurate
31
loftus and palmer procedure
ex 1: 7 clips of traffic accidents, 5 groups, each group had a questionnaire but the verb changed (bumped, smashed, collided, contacted, hit)
ex 2: 150 ppts divided into 3 groups, car accident film shown. 50 were asked “how fast were the cars going when they hit”, 50 were asked the same question but the verb changed to “smashed” and a week later 50 were asked if they saw a broken glass one week later
32
loftus and palmer findings
ex 1: smashed had highest speed estimate of 40.8 and contacted had the lowest of 31.8
ex2: “smashed” group was higher than hit and control
33
weaknesses of loftus and palmer procedure
lack of valid consent, could cause psychological harm
Huff et al found that nearly 60% of 500 cases of wrongful convictions involved EWT
34
watson and rayner methodology
sample was 1 participant, 9 month old little albert
well lit dark room on mattress on table
lab study, in controlled conditions at john Hopkins university
controlled conditions such as baseline condition and the use of building blocks.
35
strengths of watson and rayners methodology
controlled conditions meant little/no extraneous variables
OH Mowrer (1947) found that operant conditioning could explain the maintenance of phobias made by classical conditioning- two process theory
36
weaknesses of watson and rayner methodology
case study and sample means they cannot generalise results so it has a low population validity
conducted in a lab so lacks ecological validity
seligman (1971) predisposed to fear
fear response could be due to frustration of having his thumb removed from his mouth so lacks internal validity
37
watson and rayners procedure
stage 1- establishing a conditioned response. showed no fear to initial white rat but joint stimulation with white rat and loud noise 6 times
stage 2- testing conditioned response. a week later, just the rat was presented
stage 3- generalisation: he was presented with a range of stimuli e.g. the rat, wooden blocks, a rabbit, a dog, and John Watson's hair.
stage 4- changing the environment, he was taken to a lecture theatre.
stage 5- the effect of time. a month later he was tested agai in the lab with a santa mask, fur coat, rabbit, dog and mask.
38
watson and rayners findings
stage 1- When the bar was struck he jumped and buried his head on the table but didn’t cry. The second time, he whimpered a little. albert reached for the rat when first presented
stage 2- Just stared at the rat. When it was nearer he reached out but withdrew hand when it started to nuzzle it. Played with blocks happily showing caution was towards the rat.
stage 3- When rat was shown he responded immediately with extreme fear (same for the rabbit). Dog and fur caused less fear and demonstrated mild caution at the cotton wool.
stage 4: Less fear than in the lab, but still more than when playing with blocks. After ‘freshening up’ conditioned fear was stronger
stage 5: Responded to test objects in clearly different way to control objects. Reactions not as extreme as previously but clear avoidance and whimpering.
39
weaknesses of cognitive approach
deterministic as schemas create stereotypes which determines the way we see situations
nature and nurture- genes are ignored and social and cultural factors are also ignored
40
strengths of cognitive approach
Piaget (1970) children's thinking is nit the same as adults, EWT research shown how witnesses are distorted by past event information which influenced police interviewing techniques
scientific approach, PET scans used to locate areas of the brain for short and long term memory
41
weaknesses of dream analysis
conducted in sleep labs which means low ecological validity. secretion of sleep hormones and neurotransmitters can cause confounding variables
false memory syndrome- toon et al (1994)
subjective interpretation
42
strengths of dream analysis
Solms (2000) used PET scans to highlight regions of the brain that are active during dreaming. Results showed that the rational part of the brain is inactive during REM
43
weaknesses of psychodynamic approach
reductionist- simplifies it down to mechanics of the mind and ignores biochem
deterministic- follows the idea that we have no free will in how we behave and cannot change behaviour
cannot be proved wrong- Karl Popper (1934)
44
Raine methodology
quasi difference experiment
IV: pleaded NGRI
DV: glucose metabolism in regions of the brain
NGRI group: 39 men, 2 women, mean age of 34.3 years old with a history of brain injury
control group: not criminals, mean age of 31.3
matched pairs design
45
Raine procedure
CPT 10 minutes before allocated start time to illicit brain activity in areas associated with impulse and response control
FDG tracer 30 seconds after they started the CPT
CPT for 32 minutes then was transferred to the pet scanning room
PET did 10 scans using cortical peel and box techniques
46
Raine findings
parietal lobe, prefrontal cortex and corpus callosum had lower glucose levels than the control group
temporal lobe was found to have no differences
occipital lobe had higher glucose metabolic rates than control group
23 NGRI's with a history of head injuries had no significant difference beyond slightly lower corpus callous activity. 14 NGRI were non white and showed no significant difference
47
Raine conclusions
statistically significant differences in brain glucose metabolism between NGRI and controls
findings are not conclusive and may be one of many predispositions to violence, and further research needs to be conducted
generalisations cannot be made to other murderers or other types of crimes
48
strengths of Raine methodology
PET scans and a FDG tracer are objective standards of measure, so we can more strongly establish a casual relationship between the IV and DV
laboratory experiment means high internal validity because the researchers were able to control any confounding or extraneous variables that may arise
repeatability with the use of PET scans
49
weakness of Raine methodology
CPT may not be internally valid because the difference between completing a CPT and killing someone is astronomically large and may activate other regions of the brain that a CPT would not.
50
ethical issues of Raines research
lack of informed consent, the participants were off medication two weeks prior to the experiment so they were not In the right state of mind to give any consent
they may have not understood their right to withdraw at any time
51
describe the positive assumption “focus on the good life”
Seligman (2003) argues that the way to happiness, and the way to experience the best life you can is to develop our strengths and virtues. By bettering ourselves, and strengthening our natural “signature” qualities, such as kindness, courageousness and bravery, we can live “a good life”.
Seligman argues that we should start by achieving a pleasant life, then a good life, then finally, the optimum which is a meaningful life. Essentially, the three can be broken down as follows:
1. The Pleasant Life: positive emotions and daily satisfaction
2. The Good Life: discovering our strengths and enhancing our lives
3. The Meaningful Life: using our strengths for a greater purpose
Seligman argues that the way to live a good life is to develop positive connections with others, t
52
describe the positive assumption “acknowledgement of free will”
the positive approach focuses on free will and according to Seligman, happiness is not a result of either genes or good luck, it is a result of recognising and developing key strengths. The free will assumption is supported by research of Diener, who carried out research into the reasons why people are happy. Research by Diener and Seligman (2002) looked at the ties that students had with friends and family, measured in terms of the amount of time invested in these relationships. They found that the students who have the strongest ties were happier and there was also a negative correlation between level of happiness and depression. This emphasises the fact that we are in control of our happiness.
53
describe the positive assumption “authenticity of goodness and excellence”
- feelings of happines and goodness are as natural as negative ones such as depression and anziety, so psychologists need to assign as much attention to positie states as they do negative ones
- traditional psychology e.g. behaviourist, biological and psychodynamic follow seligmans (2002) disease model, the belief that traits such as virtue and happiness are less authentic than anxiety and stress
- seligman also felt that traditional psychology focuses too much on mental illness rather than how humans can flourish and succeed. for example, from 1972-2006 the ratio of depression publications to wellbeing publications was 5:1
- an example of the focus on goodness and excellence in psychology can be seen in seligman's (2002) theory of signature strengths, which suggests theres 24 character strengths such as curiosity, honety and fairness which each individual has, and should be encouraged to nurture and develop these strengths to improve their wellbeing
54
steps of systematic desensitisation
1. The patient is taught relaxation techniques, e.g. breathing exercises or how to relax their muscles
2. the therapist and patient works together to form a desensitisation hierarchy- a searies of imagined events each causing more anxiety thn the last. ordered from least anxiety to most
3. patient works through the desensitisation hierarchy at their own pace, whilst practicing relaxation techniques e.g. breathing techniques or muscle relaxation
4. once the patient has mastered one step, they move onto the next step
55
weaknesses of systematic desensitisation
- ignores nature, biological preparedness sleigman we fear things that are of biological significance to us, ancient fears are an adaptive behaviour
- reductionist, only treats symptoms rather than cause of phobia so if cured, the problem still remains and the problem could come back in a different form
56
mustabatory thinking (REBT)
An individual who hold these beliefs will (at least) be disappointed and at worst be depressed. An individual who fails an exam becomes depressed not because of failing the exam, but because of the irrational thoughts surrounding the failure (e.g. ‘If I fail people will think that I’m stupid’). These musts have to be challenged in order for the individual to become psychologically healthy.
57
REBT ethical considerations: what is rational?
Alloy and Abrahamson (1979) suggest that depressed people see the world as it really is, and non-depressed people see the world in a more positive way (rose-tinted glasses). They call this the sadder but wiser effect and actually depressed individuals are more accurate in their estimates of the likelihood of disasters.
58
loftus and palmer experiment 1
Participants were shown 7 clips of traffic accidents, ranging from 5-30 seconds. The clips were originally part of a driver safety film.
After each clip a questionnaire was given. They had to recall the accident and asked a series of questions about the accident.
There was one critical question:
"About how fast were the cars going when they ____ each other?"
There were 5 groups, 9 participants in each. The blank was smashed, collided, bumped, hit, or contacted.
Estimates of speed were given in miles per hour.
59
loftus and palmer experiment 2
The second experiment investigated whether leading questions bias the response, or whether the individual's memory of the event was altered.
Part 1: A film was shown of a multiple car accident, it lasted less than 4 seconds. They were asked a series of questions, with one critical question of speed estimate. Each group had 50 participants.
Group 1: How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?
Group 2: How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
Group 3: Control group. No questions asked.
Part 2: One week later they returned to the lab. There was one critical question:
Did you see any broken glass? There was no glass.
60
loftus and palmer conclusions
form of question can affect memory in 2 main ways:
[Experiment 1] Response-bias factors: the speed estimates occur differently due to the critical word (smashed, hit etc) and this influences a person's response.
[Experiment 2] The memory representation is altered: the critical word changes a person's memory so that perception of the accident is affected. Some critical words imply the accident is more serious.
61
loftus and palmer ethical considerations: valid consent
Lack of valid consent
No valid consent was given by participants. If they were told the true aims their behaviour would change, and then it would not reflect EWT in real life.
62
loftus and palmer ethical considerations: psychological harm
Watching a film of a car accident means the participants may not have responded in the same way as if they had a real accident.
Could you expose participants to a real accident? This might be very distressing and lead to psychological harm that might not be diffused by a debrief.
63
strengths of the cognitive approach: scientific
s- It is objective and controlled scientific research.
e- Brain scanning techniques, e.g. PET scans can be used to investigate memory and locate specific areas for short- and long-term memory.
E- This means that, cognitive neuroscience has been used to pinpoint the exact biological mechanism for our cognitive processes.
W- strength because it can be useful in finding out what the brain does 'at rest', and is a valid basis to other psychological research in this area
64
strengths of cognitive approach: usefulness
S- one strength of the cognitive approach is its usefulness.
E- Developmental psychologists have used their theories in schools (e.g. teaching practice). Piaget (1970) said that children's thinking is not the same as an adults, and said, for example, that at age 8 or 9 children cannot think abstractly - and so cannot solve a mathematical equation without physical objects such as sticks.
E- this has given schools an idea on how to most effectively teach their students, and this is demonstrated in schools with the use of concrete examples with younger children. furthermore, Eyewitness testimony research has shown how witnesses can be distorted by post-event information and this has influenced police interviewing techniques, e.g. no leading questions.
W- this is a strength because it shows the broad, real world applicability of the cognitive approach
65
weakness of cognitive approach: nature and nurture
S: One weakness of the cognitive approach is that it does not fully consider both nature and nurture.
E: While it does look at internal mental processes and the development of schemas through experience, it largely ignores the influence of genetic factors (nature) and social or cultural influences (nurture).
E: For example, Piaget's theory of cognitive development overlooked the role of social interactions and culture in shaping children's thinking.
W: This is a weakness because by neglecting important biological and social influences, the cognitive approach fails to give a complete or accurate explanation of human behaviour.
66
weakness of cognitive approach: deterministic
S- One weakness of the cognitive approach is that its deterministic.
E: This is because it assumes that once we form schemas through experience, they automatically shape how we interpret situations and behave, leaving little room for free will.
E: For example, Piaget argued that schemas are essential to a child’s cognitive development. A child may initially believe that anything with fur and four legs is a dog, until they learn to adjust this schema and recognise differences, like between dogs and cats. However, when this idea is applied to social development, it suggests that if someone grows up around racist beliefs, they will develop racist schemas and that this would determine how they think about and act towards others.
W: This is a weakness because it underestimates the role of free will, meaning it may not fully explain how people change or challenge harmful beliefs.
67
weakness of cognitive approach: reductionist
Some say that the approach is too mechanistic, stating that human behaviour is like a machine.
For example, the computer analogy for the mind.
This is a weakness because social and emotional factors are ignored. For example, the role of emotions are ignored in their influence on cognitive processes. A computer is not influenced by emotion but a human is, so we cannot reduce and liken a human to a machine.
68
bowlby research methods
The 44 children within the case study were given tests to assess their intelligence and their emotional attitude.
Then interviewed by a psychiatrist- information pooled together for a diagnosis.
Weekly assessment continued for several months.
69
bowlby weakness: alternative evidence
research from Lewis (1954) challenges Bowlby's findings into maternal deprivation
For example, Lewis partially replicated Bowlby's 44 thieves study on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people. In her sample, a history of prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty in forming close relationships
This is a problem for the theory of maternal deprivation because it suggests that other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal deprivation
70
bowlby weakness: retrospective recall
retrospective recall might be inaccurate
As Bowlby was asking the adolescent participants to recall separations that they had experienced years earlier, e.g. at 14 with prolonged separation and earlier families
their responses would have been subject to inaccuracies/ distortions
71
manifest content
Freud distinguished between the manifest content of a dream (what the dreamer remembers) and the latent content, the symbolic meaning of the dream (i.e. the underlying wish).
The manifest content is often based on the events of the day. The process whereby the underlying wish is translated into the manifest content is called dream-work. The purpose of dream work is to transform the forbidden wish into a non-threatening form, thus reducing anxiety and allowing us to continuing sleeping. Dream work involves the process of condensation, displacement, and secondary elaboration.
72
condensation
The process of condensation is the joining of two or more ideas/images into one.
For example, a dream about a man may be a dream about both one's father and one's lover.
73
displacement
Displacement takes place when we transform the person or object we are really concerned about to someone else.
For example, one of Freud’s patients was extremely resentful of his sister-in-law and used to refer to her as a dog, dreamed of strangling a small white dog.
Freud interpreted this as representing his wish to kill his sister-in-law. If the patient would have really dreamed of killing his sister-in-law, he would have felt guilty. The unconscious mind transformed her into a dog to protect him.
74
secondary elaboration
A person dreams they are walking through a beautiful garden, picking flowers, and chatting with an old friend. On the surface, this dream seems calm and logical (manifest content).
However, according to Freud, secondary elaboration has organised random wish-fulfilling images into a believable sequence.
75
strengths of dream analysis: research evidence
Solms (2000) used PET scans to highlight the active regions of the brain during dreaming.
The rational part of the brain is inactive during REM sleep, whereas the memory and motivation areas are very active. Relating this to Freud, the id is given free rein while the ego rests.
This research is effective because it provides empirical evidence to back up Freud’s psychoanalytic ideas with the use of modern neuroimaging techniques, which is an objective measure - validity.
76
weakness of dream analysis: ethical issues
False memory syndrome (FMS) is a condition where someone's identity and relationships are affected by false memories of traumatic experiences. These false memories come to light during psychoanalysis when the therapist uncovers past traumatic events.
The patient is likely to believe the therapist as the authority figure. Toon et al (1996) even suggests that therapists implant false memories to make financial gains ( the therapy will take longer) - Also the result of FMS is that patients may experience much anxiety because of ‘memories’ of events that didn’t even happen.
77
findings of myers’s and diener: age
age had no effect on subjective well-being, people were equally happy. inglehart (1990) conducted a survey of 170000 people from 16 different countries and found that there were no age differences. the mean score across all ages was 80% satisfaction.
mccrae and costa (1990) found that people do experience crises, however these aren’t restricted to a certain point in life, for example the stereotypical “midlife crisis”
78
findings myers’s and diener: gender
there were also no gender differences in life satisfaction, with both males and females 80% happy. however there are gender gaps in misery. Robins and Regier (1991) found women are twice as vulnerable to depression and anxiety, and men are five times as susceptible to alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder.
79
myers’s and diener findings: race and culture
a persons race gave little indication to their happiness, the difference between African and European American’s self reported happiness was minimal.
(Crocker &Major) the discriminated groups tend to maintain self esteem by focusing on skills that they excel in and focusing their negativity onto external problems such as prejudice.
however inglehart 1990 nations do differ in happiness, 10% Portuguese reported being “very happy” compared to 40% in netherlands. collectivist cultures in general report lower subjective well-being that individualist
80
conclusions of Myers’s and Diener: adaptation
the effects of positive and negative circumstances are short-lived and therefore it is the individuals ability to adapt to these circumstances that can determine their SWB. for example, in the case of Gill Hicks she has recovered her hope and happiness after she lost both legs in an explosion in 2005.
81
main components of mindfulness: gaining control of your thoughts
Being mindful trains us to focus on our present thoughts, emotions and feelings.
Through their focus on the present, individuals gain greater awareness of unhelpful, negative thoughts that dominate them, allowing them to control and minimise them.
Mindfulness helps the individual to recognise when these negative thoughts are occurring and to alter their response to be more reflective than reactionary.
82
main components of mindfulness: meditation and mindful breathing
Guided meditation involves getting the client to sit comfortably, keeping their spine straight and asking them to focus their attention on their breathing, paying attention to their body’s sensations, thoughts and emotions.
This alone stops automatic, negative thoughts from occurring. Meditation also helps the individual to accept that their thoughts are impermanent, the individual is therefore less likely to react automatically.
83
main components of mindfulness: informal practices
Once learned, Mindfulness can be practiced informally during everyday life, such as whilst driving, walking or cleaning.
Informal Mindfulness is the opposite of multi-tasking.
When the mind begins to wonder, the individual should bring their attention back to the sensations their experiencing.
84
strength of mindfulness: effectiveness
crane et al (2014): for people who experienced three or more previous episodes of depression, mindfulness based cognitive therapy reduces the reoccurrence rate over 12 months by 40-50% compared with usual care
williams et al (2013) MBCT is as effective at reducing reoccurrence as antidepressants
85
weakness of mindfulness: impracticality
mindfulness grew from buddhism, and was not originally developed for mental illness. its main aim is to control thoughts and fully experience the present which may be way more useful for the mentally healthy rather than the mentally ill. when treating disorders, it doesnttackle the root cause of the disorder so would be impractical to use for phobias.
86
social implications of watson and rayner
use in schools, shows that childrens behaviour can be conditioned. can be used in classroooms to maximise childrens learning and behaviour
mcallister (1969) found that increased 'teacher praise' and 'teacher disapproval' led to a decrease in the incidence of innappropriae talking compared to a control condition where there was no conditioning.
ensures children are ready for the workforce
87
strengths of myers and diener
s- postitive economical implications
e- implementation of the findings for happiness into many areas of society can have huge economic benefits
e- for example, stress and poor health (in the form of staff sickness) costs he NHS £26 billion a year. furthermore, Oswald et al (2009) found happy workers to be 12% more productive in the workplace. this shows the effect happiness has on the economy
w- strength because with this knowledge, healthcare professionals can focus on reducing stress in order to overall save the NHs money, and this knoslege can also be applied into may different areas
88
weakness of myers and diener: self report measures
s- one weakness is the use of self report meausres
e- many of the studies in the literature review used self reported SWB to determine happiness, e.g. inglehart (1990) survey on SWB
e- this means that, their answers were subjective to SDB and DC
w- weakness because, reduces internal validity of their findings
89
weakness of myers and diener: ethical issues
s- ethical issues
e- studies directly ask participants for their happiness, which they may have never thought about before
e- this could make them come to the realisation that they're not very happy, or it can remind them of certain trauma they may have experienced
w- this is a weakness because it may cause psychological harm to the participants
