Outline and evaluate one psychological therapy for schizophrenia (12) + outline how the learning approach would explain the maintenance of gambling (4)

a.) Outline and evaluate one psychological therapy for schizophrenia (12) Cognitive behavioural therapy is a type of psychotherapy in which negative thoughts of oneself, or triggers to the onset of their psychotic symptoms are identified so they can develop their own methods of coping with the disorder. Tarrier used strategies including distraction, concentrating on a specific task and positive self-talk, as well as relaxation techniques such as focusing on your breathing. The client is then given homework tasks to make sure the strategies are being practiced. This method was proved to be quite effective when Tarrier et al. found a significant alleviation of symptoms when comparing a group who had gone through the coping strategy enhancement, and a control group, who had not been treated. He also found that those who were being treated had more effective coping skills, and showed improvement of effectiveness as well. This shows that the coping strategy enhancement is effective as it provides people with strategies to help cope with their disorder and control their symptoms. Another form of cognitive behavioural therapy is based on the work of Beck and Ellis. The main aim of their therapy was to alleviate negative and irrational beliefs about oneself by challenging them. For example, the therapist would ask for evidence that supports a particular delusion and the client

  • Word count: 478
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

Outline and Evaluate explanations of media effects on anti-social behaviour

Outline and Evaluate explanations of Media effects on anti-social behaviour. One explanation of media effects on anti-social behaviour is called observational learning, which is described to be where we observe and identify with onscreen hero models. We will start to imitate their behaviour depending on the consequences and since we see that heroes are successful we wish to repeat the success. This is social learning theory since the reward of success increases the chances of imitating the behaviour. However, since heroes also use violence and can still gain success it means that observing an onscreen hero may lead an individual to repeat the violent behaviour and an explanation for anti-social behaviour. In support of this explanation Bandura set up an investigation using a bobo doll and children aged 3 to 5 years old. Bandura wanted to see whether children observing behaviour will imitate them, so split the children into groups were they either watched adults beat the bobo doll or act gently towards it. In a variation to the original study the violent group also used an action word such as ‘pow’. The findings show that the children who watched the violent adult when allowed to interact with the bobo doll also showed higher levels of violence compared to the children who watched the gentle adult. Although the gentle group showed violent behaviour it was shown that anti

  • Word count: 898
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

Discuss free will vs determinism in psychology (25)

Discuss free will vs determinism in psychology (25) The debate surrounding free will and determinism is one that has occupied psychologists and philosophers for centuries. Those who believe in determinism believe that all behaviour is determined by external and internal forces acting on the person. An example of an external force would be parents rewarding certain type of behaviour, therefore further encouraging it, whilst an internal force would be that of hormones. Those who believe in free will believe matters are slightly more complex. They agree that external and internal factors do exist but that people have free will to choose their behaviour. The argument of freewill and determinism can be summed up by the questions “could a person’s behaviour have been different in a certain situation if they willed it?” Those who believe in determinism would argue no whilst those who believe in free will would say yes. Determinism is supported more in psychology than free will. Behaviourists are strongly determinists. Determinists claim that each action is caused by a cause and human action is no exception. But the simple reply to this point is that people do make decisions. They are not bound to certain pathways in life. (They can choose whether they want to write… another essay! or just say that they ‘forgot’ and not write it). However Skinner argued that all

  • Word count: 912
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

Discuss the role of neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression.

Discuss the role of Neural and/or hormonal mechanisms in aggression: The neural mechanisms that are most associated with aggressive behaviour are neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that allow impulses in one area of the brain to be transmitted to another area. Two neurotransmitters are believed to be important in the control of aggressive behaviour; serotonin and dopamine. It is thought that Low levels of serotonin and high levels of dopamine are associated with aggressive behaviour. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that, when it is at a normal level in the body, exerts a calming, inhibitory effect on neural firing in the brain. However, when levels of serotonin are low, particularly in the pre-frontal cortex, this inhibitory effect is removed, with the consequence that individuals are less able to control their impulsive aggressive behaviour. Serotonin works in the frontal parts of the brain to inhibit the firing of the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls fear anger and other emotional responses. However if there is less serotonin in these areas, there is less inhibition of the amygdala. As a result, when the amygdala is stimulated by external events, it becomes more active, causing the person to act on their impulses and making aggression more likely. Although not as well established as the link with serotonin, there is some evidence that

  • Word count: 1066
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

Outline and Evaluate Research into Stress in the Work Place

Outline and Evaluate research into stress in the work place There has been much research to show that stress in the work place that is suspected to be caused by several different factors, can have a negative effect of people’s health. Marmot et al in 1997 carried out a follow up study to the earlier Whitehall I study carried out by Marmot and Theorell in 1988. In this longitudinal study with an average follow up of 5.3 years, all female and male civil servants between the ages of 35 and 55 were sent an introductory letter and screening questionnaire. In addition an offer of a screening examination for cardiovascular disease was extended to participants. There was a response rate of 73% to the introductory letter which resulted in over 10,000 participants examined of which over 3000 were women and around 7000 were men. Participants were sent a postal questionnaire during 1989-1990 and then once again in 1991-1993 yet this time they were also screened once more. The participant rates for these two phases rose from phase one’s 73% to 79% in phase two and 83% in phase three with 72% (making up over 7000 people) participating in each three phases. The Employment grades of participants were summarised in three groups: administrators, clerical support staff and executive officers. The amount of job control participants had was assessed through the questionnaires distributed in

  • Word count: 991
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

Outline and Evaluate one biological therapy and one psychological therapy for schizophrenia

Outline and evaluate one biological therapy for schizophrenia and one psychological therapy for schizophrenia. (8 marks + 16 marks) A01 The main type of drug therapy for schizophrenia are antipsychotic drugs.They are considered the most effective because they allow the patient to function in society to a reasonable extent and feel like they have abit more control.Antipsychotic drugs can come in many forms , one being typical drugs like Chloropiazine where it is believed that schizophrenia is caused by the neurotransmitter dopamine so the drugs attach to the dopamine receptors so they isnt as much dopamine in the syynapse which reduces the positive symptoms like delusions and hallunications.There are also atypical drugs like clorapine which avoid some of the side effects as the old drugs by controlling serotonin levels aswell. There is supporting evidence for this e.g Julien which found that neuroleoptics are effective in relieving positive symptoms and allow patients to be able to live outside insitutional care.This suggests that antipsychotic are effective to an certain extent in allowing schizophrenia sufferers to be able to try and live a normal life. But antipsyhotics arent effective treatment for schizophrenia because it doesnt relieve negative symptoms of schizophrenia which are the symptoms that would prevent from socializing effectively in first place. A limitation

  • Word count: 629
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

My Grandparents.

My Grandparents My grandparents are now well into their '70'. According to their ages we would call them 'elderly people'. The image of elderly people is that they are unglamorous, grumpy and old-fashioned. But my grandparents are different. My grandma has short, thin, gray hair. The silver hair forms a shiny texture, which changes in different lights. Grandma always keeps her hair neat. She wears her golden-rimmed glasses for reading and she has wrinkles that almost entirely cover her little cheeks when she smiles. She dresses to fit almost any occasion. She has a collection of clothes that are all similar in design, but different in colour. My granddad is a small man but he is still very energetic and vigorous. He has a soldier's spirit and consciousness. He always wears the same-styled and dark coloured clothes as if they are his uniform. My grandparents took me home when I was only eight days old and brought me up until I came here joining my parents when I was twelve years old. During the twelve years, my grandma has had a great influence on me. Her kindness touched my heart because she brought me up without a moaning word. However, we all know that to bring up a child is a great difficult task. I felt that she would always stand by me whenever I was upset or in trouble. I used to, when I was little girl. Just sit on her lap and listen to her old sweet

  • Word count: 1075
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

My grandparents.

'Write about people who had an influence on you' My grandparents When I was only eight days old, my grandparents took me to their home and brought me up until I was twelve years old. During the twelve years my granny has had a great influence on me. Her kindness touched my heart because she brought me up without saying anything. But we all knew that to bring up a child is a very difficult task and I could feel that there is always someone who will care about me and I could go to her when I was sad. I remember when I was a little girl, I always liked to just sit on her lap and listen to her songs and sometimes we could talk lots of things until I was tired. Her habits also influenced me, she always told me, not to waste things when I was little. The food she liked to eat, mostly I liked it too. When I was only in nursery sometimes I was a little naughty girl because every afternoon we had to go to bed and sleep. I remembered one afternoon when everyone went to sleep only me couldn't get into sleep. I was trying not to annoy anyone but after two minutes I gave up. So, I started annoying the girl who was in the next bed from me. Then she called the teacher and I was in trouble and she was very angry " Lily I told you not to disturb anyone when it's sleep time. Do you not understand me?" I was so ashamed by what I had done so I said " Sorry Mrs." Then she said " I

  • Word count: 699
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

Stress in the work place

Stress in the work place No work is without stressors, but some jobs seem to produce particular stress and to have clear risks to health. Air-traffic controllers and Marine Navigation Officers, for example, who must make split-second decisions that affect the lives of hundreds of people, have an extremely high turn-over rate and an incidence of gastric ulcers that is well above average. People who must adapt their sleep patterns to the changing hours of a rotating shift suffer stress as a result of the disruption of their circadian (daily) rhythms. Women who must balance the demands of a job with those of child care are twice as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease as housewives with the same number of children. Here are a few workplace stresses, Noise, Length of working day, Inherent danger, Such as relationship with co-workers, Organisation of work, Role responsibility There are many environmental factors in the workplace that increase aggression and stress. These include, the noise in which the workplace is at, the heat of the room, Poor lighting within your workplace making barriers of seeing, an overcrowded workplace The effect of unpredictable noise was demonstrated in a study by Glass et al. (1969). Sixty undergraduates completed various cognitive tasks in one of 5 conditions; loud or soft noise that was either random (unpredictable) or at fixed intervals

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 830
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay

Reticular Activating System.

RETICULAR ACTIVATING SYSTEM + dreaming theories R.A.S. is very susceptible to damage. Is suppressed by chemicals during sleep. Acts as a filter of sensory messages passing through to the cerebral cortex. Function of R.A.S. Cut/lesion above R.A.S. This would cause a permanent coma. Cut/lesion below R.A.S. This would cause paralysis from the point below the lesion. Cut/lesion through RAS Damage to this will keep a person awake. Diagram including location of R.A S., pons, & Raphe nuclei. Chemical analysis of the RAPHE found SEROTONIN. (This was investigated to find a cur for coma victims). Serotonin is a neurotransmitter. This acts an inhibitor on the R.A.S. This leads to a gradual decrease in arousal. This is the mechanism for falling asleep. R.A.S. is also inhibited by nor-adrenalin, released by the pons. This closes the RAS system down further. Noradrenalin acts as and exitory agent on motor/sensory pathways and could cause REM/dreaming sleep. Havever found a system which reinhibits the motor pathwau after it has been stimulated by noradrenalin. (This stops you acting out your dreams.) He damaged this area in animals and they seemed to act out their dreams. (see animal experiments.) 2 There is a lot of complex bio-chemistry in the base of the brain controlling sleep. But they can hardly be there by accident of merely as remnants of past

  • Word count: 4016
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
Access this essay