Outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to abnormality This approach focuses on the behaviour of the person to explain psychological abnormalities. It believes that the behaviour is learnt‚ and therefore can be unlearnt. It focuses on 3 different things: classical conditioning‚ operant conditioning and social learning theory. Classical conditioning was developed by Pavlov through his work on animals. He explained the development of abnormal behaviours through stimulus-response associations
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Outline and evaluate biological explanations for aggression (24) The biological explanation for aggression states that aggression is innate behavior in people and the environment around them does not cause it. Neurotransmitters in the brain‚ chemicals that allow impulses to be transmitted from one area to another‚ can be used to explain why some people are aggressive. There is evidence to suggest that the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine are linked to aggression‚ low levels of serotonin
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Outline and Evaluate strategies for memory improvement. (12 marks) The first main memory improvement technique is the use of verbal mnemonics that focuses around words. For example acronyms‚ (where a word or sentence is formed from the initial letters of other words) e.g. - UNICEF - The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. Another technique is an acrostic (a poem or sentence where the first letter in each line/word forms the method used for the item being remembered). E-g Homework
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Outline and evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment (12 marks) Bowlby was an evolutionary Psychologist who believed that attachment is a part of evolutionary behaviour and focus on an animal’s instinctive and innate capabilities‚ and the functions of their behaviour. They believe this is useful for learning about human instinctive and biological behaviour. Attachment behaviour keeps a young animal or human safe. It is behaviour seen in all species of animal. Many species of animal form rapid attachments
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Outline and Evaluate Biological Explanation for Mental Illness The Biomedical model of Mental Illness states that metal illness is caused by either a physical problem with the brain‚ for example that some schizophrenic patients have parts of there hippocampus missing. Genetics‚ meaning that you inherit a genetic pre-disposition to depression or some other mental illness as someone in your close family had that mental illness‚ or down to neurotransmitter (serotonin‚ dopamine...) imbalances in
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Outline and evaluate the evolutionary theory of attachment Bowlby came up with this theory and believed that attachment is innate and adaptive. His theory states that we are born with an inherited need to form an attachment in order to help us survive. This involved Darwins theory of natural selection as any behaviour that helps you survive will be kept in the gene pool. In terms of humans‚ babies are helpless and rely completely on the primary caregiver which is normally the mother. Interestingly
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Outline and Evaluate the Working Memory Model The working memory model is a theory for how short-term memory works‚ and an expansion of the views expressed in the MSM theory. Baddeley and Hitch in 1974 felt that STM was not just one store but a collection of different stores. These concepts lead them to form a model which consists of three slave systems; the central executive‚ the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. They used the phrase ‘working memory’ to refer to the division of
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Outline and evaluate psychological explanations for schizophrenia (24) One psychological explanation of SZ was put forward by Bateson et al (1956) who looked at childhood as a base for developing SZ‚ for example the interactions children have with their mothers. His explanation‚ the Double Bind theory‚ states that schizophrenia can occur due to conflicting messages given from parents to their children‚ for example when a parent expresses care but does so in a critical way. This means that the child
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Outline and evaluate research into the duration of memory (12 marks) Peterson and Peterson researched into the duration of the STM. They used trigrams and asked their participants to recall them after a retention interval‚ the retention interval was different every time. They found that after 3 seconds participants could recall about 90% correctly but after 18 seconds only 2% could be recalled correctly. Peterson and Peterson concluded that the STM has a limited duration and when rehearsal is
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Outline and evaluate the psychodynamic approach to abnormality The psychodynamic approach to abnormality assumes that unconscious desires and memories influence behaviour and may lead to abnormality. It claims that personality develops in the childhood through a number of psychosexual stages and that too much or too little pleasure at one of these can lead to fixation and abnormal behaviour. For example‚ between the ages of two and four‚ children are in the anal stage- too much focus on holding in
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