Give a brief account of the biological model of abnormality and consider its strengths and limitations.

Q. Give a brief account of the biological model of abnormality and consider its strengths and limitations. (18 marks) This model uses physical illness as a model for psychological disorder, suggesting that like physical illness, mental illness has an underlying bodily cause. It proposes that genetic, organic or chemical disorders cause metal illnesses which give rise to behavioural and psychological problems. Thus, abnormality has physical causes such as brain dysfunction (neurological), biochemical imbalances, infections or genetics and so can only be cured through medical treatments. Therefore it implies that abnormality results from properly functioning physiology, a properly functioning nervous system and no genetic predispositions to inherit mental disorders. It is the dominant model, as medical practitioners naturally favour it; but it has been expanded upon by the diathesis-stress model, which seeks abnormality as an interaction of genetic predisposition and the environment. The biological model has positive ethical implications in removing the 'blame' culture from the mentally ill patient; as abnormal individuals are more likely to be seen as a victim of a disorder in need of care, therefore not responsible for their predicament. However a negative ethical issue is that genetic explanations of mental illness may result in relatives becoming anxious and such

  • Word count: 1059
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Sexual Selection and Human Reproductive behaviour

PYA4 - Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour Sexual Selection and human reproductive behaviour (mate choice) Putting it all together: Writing a model answer Darwins' theory of natural selection suggested that all species were motivated by ensuring their survival. From this idea, came the concept of 'survival' of the fittest, through which only 'adaptive' traits and/or characteristics would be 'naturally selected'. Darwin came to believe that human reproductive behaviour could be explained through a similar process - sexual selection. Sexual selection represents a 'special' case of natural selection, introduced by Darwin to resolve the problem that some traits/characteristics continue to be naturally selected, despite not offering any advantage in terms of survival. The basic motivation behind sexual selection is that, rather than ensuring our ultimate survival (which is futile as we will surely all die), we are motivated to maximise our chances of reproductive success - in doing this, our DNA will pass on and so indirectly we survive through our offspring. In other words, some behaviours, traits and characteristics continued to be reproduced, even though they made the survival of that species LESS likely. An example of this might be the peacock's tail, which has evolved over time to become lengthy and beautiful. However, rather than aiding the survival of the

  • Word count: 1808
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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The human condition can be defined as the interpretation of humans in the world, physically and psychologicallyinfluenced by the social and political environment. It describes the nature andbehaviour of humans, and the habitual developments involved ...

The human condition can be defined as the interpretation of humans in the world, physically and psychologically influenced by the social and political environment. It describes the nature and behaviour of humans, and the habitual developments involved in a human life. Aspects of the human condition are depicted through the poems Mending Wall by Robert Frost and Grandparents by Robert Lowell. Frost uses such techniques as imagery, repetition and irony to convey his ideas of separation in humans and the tendency for humans to hold an invisible barrier between one another. Lowell's Grandparents communicates the respect we pay towards the departed family members by use of imagery along with suitable enjambments to extend the understanding of his ideas. Both of the poems associate with the idea of social change and also a few negative qualities of the human condition. Other texts that represent the human condition include The Plodder, an animated cartoon by Michael Leunig, plus the photograph Markets at the Rocks by Gerry North. The Plodder is a comical animation illustrating life as a journey of oneself, resisting the pressure of conformity, and Markets the Rocks is a photographic representation of the significance of the individual and the right to express oneself. These two texts convey mutual ideas of the resistance of conformity and the appreciation of life; a positive

  • Word count: 2148
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Outline and evaluate evolutionary explanations for food preferences.

Outline and evaluate evolutionary explanations for food preferences When the world began human kind was primitive and people had to hunt to find food. Therefore the early human diet consisted of deer, berries, nuts and rodent size animals. As the world evolved so did our taste buds which have now been established as sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami. Each taste bud is essential for the survival of human kind. Salt is necessary in our diets for survival as without it we would dehydrate and die. There is not a large amount of salt within the human diet because it can lead to high blood pressure and other associated health risks. Fessler (2003) assumed salt was so essential that humans are expected to have a uniform preference for salty foods and natural selection would have removed these differences. However, there are differences in salt preference which he explains by references to the fact that high salt intake protects against sudden dehydration. He believed that an adaptive mechanism calculates salt preferences as a function of the risk of dehydration as indicated by past experience of dehydration and maternal salt intake. There has been no key research to support Fessler's theory and so it may not be reliable in explaining why humans incorporate salt in their diet. Salt is also key for animals as high sodium concentrations maintain the body's nerve and muscle activity

  • Word count: 1038
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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"Outline and evaluate two definitions of abnormality: statistical infrequency and deviation from social norms."

Abnormality "Outline and evaluate two definitions of abnormality: statistical infrequency and deviation from social norms." The term "abnormality" is defined as 'deviation from a norm or standard' and in psychology, it is essential to look at what abnormality is. Several ideas have developed for its definition, none of which are entirely apposite since the best way to define abnormality may be a combination of the varying ideas. Two definitions of abnormality that are probably most obvious and most often used are 'statistical infrequency' and 'deviation from social norms'. These define that abnormality is rare, i.e. the majority of the population are not abnormal and that a small minority are, and also that a person who is abnormal deviates from social norms, meaning that the person differs from or does not conform to what is socially accepted. Statistical infrequency is based on the idea that particular behaviours are statistically rare since if few people show a certain kind of thinking or behaviour, it is deemed as abnormal. When any aspect of human behaviour is measured, e.g. height and intelligence, it usually prevails that people with varying degrees of behaviour are usually distributed around the mean. For instance, when measuring intelligence, the vast majority of the individuals are grouped round the mean and the further away you deviate from this, the fewer

  • Word count: 1141
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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whether leading questions can affect a person's memory of a question and insert an object that is not there into the memory.

Introduction Memory is the minds ability to store information and use it. A single process has yet not been defined about it and several theories exist about its nature. It has a huge role on our everyday lives and can be categorised into two main parts: short-term memory and long-term memory. Short-term memory stores a limited amount of information for a period of a few seconds. It can also be referred to as the 'primary', 'working' or 'active' part of the memory. On the other hand, long-term memory is stored as meaning and can last from 30 seconds to time periods as long as decades. The reliability of memory is often questioned. Memory is extremely malleable. Studies have shown that memories are often constructed after the fact has been told, and suggestions from others help fill the gaps. For example, if a police officer shows a witness a picture of an assailant and then shown a line-up of possible assailants, whether the witness is recalling the person they saw or the person in the picture is questionable. Bartlett (1932) investigated the effect of schema on a participant's recall of a story. A schema is a mental structure that represents some aspect of the world. They are used by people to organise current knowledge and is thought to provide a framework for future understanding. His theory of reconstructive memory is crucial to an understanding of eyewitness testimony

  • Word count: 5180
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Atkinson & Shriffin in 1968 proposed the Multi-Store Model of memory. It contains 3 permanent structural components; sensory, short-term (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).

Introduction Atkinson & Shriffin in 1968 proposed the Multi-Store Model of memory. It contains 3 permanent structural components; sensory, short-term (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). It attempt to explain how information flows from one storage system to another using the key process of rehearsal. Many studies have produced results which suggest STM & LTM code in different ways. In 1964 Conrad compared recall with acoustic and visual data. Participants (ppts) were presented with 6 letters at a time for 0.75 seconds. They were then asked to recall in the same order. Conrad found mistakes made with words that are acoustically similar suggesting STM must mainly code information according to how it sounds. LTM however encodes mainly semantically (by its meaning). Baddely in 1966 found that when he presented ppts with acoustically similar/dissimilar words and semantically similar/dissimilar words. With LTM fewer semantically similar words were recalled were as acoustically similar words had no affect in LTM recall. Suggesting that LTM mainly encode semantically. In 1950 Miller & Selfridge presented ppts with sentences of varying length which resembled true English to different degrees. Ppts were then asked to recall them in order they were presented. It was found that the closer a sentence approximated true English, the better it was recalled. This suggests that knowledge of

  • Word count: 392
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Psychological Theories on Crime Prevention and Offender Treatment

Evaluation of Crime Prevention And Offender Treatment Programs. This essay will discuss and critically evaluate methods used by psychologists in environmental crime prevention and offender treatment programs. One theory of how the environment could both prevent or encourage crime came to our understanding through architectural journalist Jane Jacobs (1961) when she identified a relationship between the design of the urban environment and criminal activity believed that these older urban developments had a steady community spirit in place which acted as a form of surveillance against street crime as people knew each other and recognised outsiders more easily but these older urban developments also had unsafe places where criminals could carry out their deviant trades without fear of apprehension. Jacobs further identified that whilst the older urban developments encouraged community spirit the newer urban developments encouraged a fortress spirit and communication between neighbours was more limited. She pointed out that the new forms of urban design broke down many of the traditional controls on criminal behavior, for example, the ability of residents to watch the street and the presence of people using the street both night and day, she suggested that this lack of natural guardianship in the environment promoted crime. Jacobs believed that crime flourishes when people

  • Word count: 1701
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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In this essay, I am going to analyse the source material that I have been given. These sources describe the working conditions of children working in textile mills; I am going to conclude if they are reliable or unreliable.

Working Conditions. In this essay, I am going to analyse the source material that I have been given. These sources describe the working conditions of children working in textile mills; I am going to conclude if they are reliable or unreliable. The conditions of children working in textile mills during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, were in some mills inhumane but in many mills such as Quarry Bank Mill indications are that the conditions in the mill were good. Source A says that workers were " Well paid, comfortable" however mills were rarely inspected. This quote reflects the view that Samuel Greg actually did care for his workers, but that he was also a shrewd businessman because he knew that a healthy workforce would reap rewards and profit. The children worked shifts of "12 hours" and this paid for their accommodation as they weren't paid, they only received money if they worked overtime which would pay them 1 penny an hour. Sickness was rare "Mr Greg pays the doctor for all medicines" in Quarry bank Mill. During 22 years "Seventeen deaths" occurred which for the period was very low indeed. From my visit to Quarry bank Mill, I can also comment on what happened "outside" of the mill. Samuel Greg built an apprentice house the accommodation was good considering that many of his children were paupers and had previously never slept in a bed. The

  • Word count: 1480
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Success & Failure of Dieting

Explanations for success or failure of dieting Why do so many females want to lose weight? It's estimated at any 1 time 40% of the female population is trying to lose weight, usually by dieting. If you are obese, losing weight has many health benefits. But many females diet when they have faulty perceptions of their actual body or are simply dissatisfied with their bodies. Ogden ('07) suggests some factors: Media Influence, Family, Ethnicity, Social Class, Peer groups & social learning. Why doesn't dieting work? Some women can lose and maintain weight using diet only. However, most can't and bizarrely they end up eating more. Boundary model; Normal circumstances- Body weight set point controlled through homeostatic mechanisms, can't fluctuate too much (PHYSIOLOGICAL BOUNDARY). But in restrained eaters person also has a COGNITIVE lower than PHYSIOLOGICAL. Tested using Preload/taste test. Non-dieters eat until they're full; physiological. Dieters eat until cognitive reached; if high calorie preload disinhibits eating behaviour so eat until satiety. Ogden 'what the hell' Herman and Mack: 3 conditions: 1st group no preload, 2nd group 1 milkshake, 3rd group 2 milkshakes - 2 & 3 asked to rate quality of the milkshakes then all given 3 flvours of ice cream given 10 mins to rate taste, told eat as much as they want. All pps given questionnaire to assess degree of dieting. All

  • Word count: 786
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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