International Baccalaureate: Psychology

According to the National Research Council, discrimination has a two-part definition: a) different treatment based on an individuals race and b) different treatment based on inadequately justified factors other than race

The psychological explanations about discrimination include the following theories: a) Genetic predispositions. The individuals who are prejudiced might have a particular personality type known as "the authoritarian personality "(Adorno,1950).The authoritarians personalities have a set of inflexible and rigid beliefs ,which make them to immediately reject or act against to individuals with different values/ethics/ cultures and ethnicity (Adorno,1950). Moreover, Individuals with authoritarian personalities tend to adapt themselves to the group whose ethnic dimension and nation belong (Adorno, 1950).

• Word count: 737

• Save

Discuss the use of technology in investigating cognitive processes

PET scans have been used in research such as that by Raine et al. (1997) who conducted research with the aim of discovering whether murderers who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) showed evidence of brain abnormalities. The scans showed that the NGRI group had reduced activity in the amygdala and the hippocampus in comparison to the control group. The PET scans also highlighted many smaller differences in the brains of the NGRI group, leading Raine (1997)

• Word count: 854

• Save

Explain the functions of two hormones on human behavior. Oxytocin and Adrenaline.

The two hormones that are discussed here are: Oxytocin and Melatonin, both of which may affect the human behavior. Oxytocin is a hormone produced in the hypothalamus (a region of the brain that links the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland). It is released either directly into the blood via the pituitary gland, or to other parts of the brain and spinal cord. Oxytocin is often called the 'love hormone'. It is known to increase feelings of generosity, relaxation, and facilitates relationship formation and positive communication.

• Word count: 617

• Save

Statistical Analysis for IB Psychology. The chi-square test is a method of statistical analysis used for comparison of observed/ actual data to expected data.

He observes that 30 people came in on Monday, 14 on Tuesday, 34 on Wednesday, 45 on Thursday, 57 on Friday, and 20 on Saturday. We will assume the owners distribution is correct. Day M T W T F S Expected % 10 10 15 20 30 15 Observed 30 14 34 45 57 20 Expected # 20 20 30 40 60 30 Total of 200 Customers throughout the week. Chi-Square Statistic = ?2 To find this, you would take the (Observed Value - Expected Number)

• Word count: 959

• Save

Compliance Techniques. Aim: To determine which of the four compliance techniques elicits the greatest compliance, measured by the number of yess from people to participate in an experiment for a week.

Door in the face - ask people first if they could participate in an experiment that involves them to attend for a whole term. Then if they reject, ask them if they could at least do 1 week then. d. Low balling - tell people if they participate in the experiment they will receive free goods (chocolate) instantly, but then look into the bag after they say yes and tell them there isn't anymore, and ask them if they're still willing to participate.

• Word count: 901

• Save

Lack of sleep and recklessness in gamblers.

For most of us, it's a bit hard to pinpoint what cause a bad sleep. Well, recent research has found that there are at least 5 major cause and they can be either singular or more than two. 1. Anxiety and stress. 2. Working in shifts, life habits - this can be a serious trigger to a lack of sleep. Not everybody is affected by it, but more sensitive people's lives can be impacted in a way that lack of sleep is a sad outcome 3. The usual suspect: tea, coffee, alcohol and cigarettes. 4.

• Word count: 731

• Save

Evaluate schema theories with referance to relevant research studies

They were not de-briefed and did not know the aim of this study, but a week later they were asked to come back and write down what they could remember of that story. With more time interval, the participants had to repeat this a few times and were then debriefed when the 6-7 times where finished. It was found that with more time passed, less the participants could remember about the story, which resulted in their story becoming shorter and shorter as time passed.

• Word count: 968

• Save

Explain social identity theory with referance to relevant research studies

Another factor for a person to replicate the behavior is if they can identify with the model of if they feel like they can relate to them. Rewards and punishments, decides whether an action is favorable or not this will affect the desirability of the observer to replicate that action. Whether the model is liked or disliked can also affect how the observer sees the model as something to imitate or not for example a nice model is more likely to be imitated than a mean one.

• Word count: 716

• Save

PLAN - Discuss three sampling techniques appropriate to qualitative research

The three types of sampling: Purposive Sampling * Targets a particular group of people * The participants are chosen on the basis of particular characteristics that will help the researcher to explore their chosen topic. (Important to have diversity) * Useful in situations where the researcher needs to obtain a sample quickly to investigate an urgent problem.

• Word count: 303

• Save

PLAN - Discuss how researchers analyse data obtained in observational research

Description includes; the context of the action, the intentions of the actor, and the process in which the action is embedded. A 'thick' description provides rich data. Coding and Connection Themes Coding of the data = organizing into categories. The purpose is to provide tools for analysis Without categorization, it isn't possible to know what is analysed and know possible to compare the data. The Classification Process * Consists of reading, and rereading the field notes in an interactive way.

• Word count: 527

• Save

Explain effects of neurotransmission on human behaviour: synaptic transmission

Once the message is passed on, the neurotransmitters are either broken down or reabsorbed. This process is called reuptake. 2 There are various different types of neurotransmitters in the bran and each of them have their own effect on the human body. One example of a neurotransmitter is acetylcholine, which has a strong effect on memory and learning processes. Another is serotonin, which has an effect on sensory perception, sleep and arousal. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which has a significant effect on motor activity and co-ordination .3 There is a deficiency of this neurotransmitter in victims of Parkinson's disease. The effect of acetylcholine was investigated in an experiment by Martinez and Kesner4 in 1991.

• Word count: 818

• Save

Psychology Essay

People need to pay attention to something in order to remember it, and they need to give the material a form which enables them to remember it. Rehearsal means keeping materials active in memory by repeating it until it can be stored. A strength of this model is that it puts the process of memory into simple, specific steps. This model sparked research based on the idea of information processing. The model contains several stores. Information from the world enters sensory memory, which relates to different senses.

• Word count: 613

• Save

Psychology Essay

Next, the animal has to run through the maze again. This procedure, which is called lesioning, is a number of times until the animal can no longer perform the task. Evidently, scientists cannot do this to humans so they turn to study people who already have existing brain damage. Several case studies show that long-term memory (LTM)

• Word count: 495

• Save

Psychology- Internal Assessment

The high-cost group was told that Carol would be in their psychology class when she returned to school. The low-cost group believed Carol would finish the class at home. The two emotions previously mentioned were personal distress (like anxiety and fear) and empathetic concern (sympathy, compassion, tenderness). Findings: The result confirmed the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Those in the high-empathy group0 were almost equally likely to help Carol in either set of circumstances, while the low-empathy group helped out of self-interest. Thinking about seeing her in class every day probably made them feel guilty if they did not help. Evaluation: Though Boston's model makes it easier to predict behaviour, it is difficult to measure one's level of empathy.

• Word count: 801

• Save

Localization of functions in the brain

The outcome of the study was rather intriguing; Sperry and Gazzaniga concluded that each hemisphere specializes in different areas. Even though the communication between the two hemispheres in a split brain patient is very limited, Sperry and Gazzaniga stated that the hemispheres worked as two separate minds, both having the ability to process information separately as well as specializing in different tasks. Method and design of the study The study involved patients who all had underwent the corpus callosum being severs in order to alleviate their epilepsy.

• Word count: 936

• Save

Julius Ceasar

He will try to get the soldiers out of Iraq and quickly and safely as possible. As someone once said, "The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has ended. Nothing was found," and another said, "We should begin the discussions now as to how we can bring our troops home." Brutus agrees with both of these statements and he wants to make a decision that will benefit the most people. It was said that the goal from our previous leader, "to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger," which has now

• Word count: 860

• Save

Describe two cognitive theories that help to explain one human behavior

• Word count: 200

• Save

Commentary on "Blessing" by Imtiaz Dharker

Commentary One technique that Dharkar uses to convey the desperation and the terrible drought of the land is through different sounds, including alliteration, onomatopoeia, and sibilance. Dharkar uses onomatopoeia, which is a word that imitates a sound, throughout the entire poem. At the beginning the word "cracks" (1) represents the dry and withered earth, which is then replaced by the words "drip" and "splash" (3), which are also examples of onomatopoeia, highlighting the need, the desire for water. These words emphasize the desperate need for liquid, that only a tiny amount is cherished and desired.

• Word count: 581

• Save

Examine the ethical controversies related to one method associated with the biological perspective.

To ensure that participants know exactly what will happen to them in such experiments, and what conditions they will be put in they should be briefed and sign a consent form. These are only two of the regulations that experimenters have to follow to ensure that there are no ethical implications. The subject needs to give informed consent before the experiment starts, there should be no harm or long-term damage done to the individual, the participant has the right to withdraw there should be a debriefing at the end where the subject is told what the aim of the experiment was, and the individuals name and details should be kept confidential.

• Word count: 811

• Save

The Biological Perspective believes that correlates exist between physiological and psychological behavior. Use one psychological study to explain this statement.

Especially threatening or submissive gestures are important because it warns another animal that it will defend itself or flee, which would stop the fight. Both behaviors are there for communication before the actual attack. Aggression within predation is when an animal of one species, acting as predator, hunts and attacks an animal of another, the prey which serves as food. Aggressive behaviors within the same species cause arousal and excitement, because the sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive. Aggressive behaviors are different and specific for each species and they are organized by neural circuits.

• Word count: 577

• Save

Examine How Physiological Processes May Influence Psychological Behavior or Vice Versa, Using a Research Study To Illustrate Your Point (8 marks)

Selye also modeled stress as G.A.S or General Adaptation Syndrome and split it into three parts. The initial, acute reaction is called the "flight or fight" impulse, so the heart rate rises, the blood pressure rises, the autonomic nervous system shuts off digestion because of the release of hormones called adrenaline and noradrenaline from the adrenal gland. If the stress continued through this phase, which cannot be maintained long, the body goes into the resistance phase.

• Word count: 397

• Save

Freud's Theory on Structure and Functioning of Personality

and our conscience (superego). It is the Freudian structure of personality that deals with the demands of reality. The ego develops out of growing awareness that one can't always get what he wants and realises the need for compromise. It functions with the rational part of the mind, relates to the real world and operates via the "Reality Principle". The ego's job is to get the id's pleasures but to be reasonable and devise a realistic strategy to make decisions and obtain pleasure. The ego has a conscious and an unconscious part. The id and the ego have no morality.

• Word count: 924

• Save

Briefly describe and compare each of three Psychological Perspectives covered by the course (Learning, Biological, & Cognitive). What are their basic assumptions about the nature of behavior? How are they similar? How do they differ?

Skinner's assumption was that behavior is determined by the "reward or reinforcement" (Eysenck 23). Watson thought that behavior is determined by the environmental factors rather than the inheritance. The learning perspective differs from the cognitive because it bases its assumptions purely on the observable behavior. However they are similar because both perspectives regard the concept of stimuli and response as part of their assumptions about behavior, even though behaviorist reduce it to just this concept. In contrast to the learning perspective which focused on observable behavior, the cognitive perspective looks into the internal processes, understanding how humans process and treat information.

• Word count: 591

• Save

To what extent does genetic inheritance influence our behavior?

The similarities just went on and on and it was very hard to find Differences than finding similarities. Thomas Bouchard and David Lykken work at university of Minnesota in Minneapolis is a review of research began in 1979 to examine the question if how much influence your genes have in determining your personal psychological qualities. They began in 1983 to identify, locate, and bringing together pairs of 56 monozygotic reared-apart (MZA) twins from United states and seven other countries who agreed to participate in this psychological measuring and testing. To prove this research psychologists did this study were they took a lot of monozygotic twins who were separated in early in life, and were apart for almost all their lives and reunited as adults and compared them.

• Word count: 710

• Save