(Y2) Activities

Page 1

Quotes

National Geographic

"Not long ago the idea of repairing the brain's wiring to fight addiction would have seemed far-fetched. But advances in neuroscience have upended conventional notions about addiction - what it is, what can trigger it, and why quitting is so tough." (Smith, within Goldberg, 2017, p.1)

"Addiction is a disease, not a moral failing. It's characterized not necessarily by dependence or withdrawal but by compulsive repetition of an activity despite life-damaging consequences. This view has led many scientists to accept the once heretical idea that addiction is possible without drugs." (Smith, within Goldberg, 2017, p.1)

Goldberg, S. (2017, September). New Insights Into Addiction. National Geographic, 232(3), 1.

"[Dr. Luigi] Gallimberti, a gray-haired bespectacled psychiatrist and toxicologist, who has treated addiction for 30 years, runs a clinic in Padua. His decision to try the technique, called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), stemmed from dramatic advances in the science of addiction - and from his frustration with traditional treatments. Medications can help people quit drinking, smoking, or using heroin, but relapse is common, and there's no effective medicinal remedy for addiction to stimulants like cocaine." (Smith, 2017, p.34)

"...experimental treatment - the application of electromagnetic pulses to his prefrontal cortex.." (Smith, 2017, p.34)

"After spending decades probing the brains of drug-loving lab animals and scanning the brains of human volunteers, scientists have developed a detailed picture of how addiction disrupts pathways and processes that underlie desire, habit formation, pleasure, learning, emotional regulation, and cognition." (Smith, 2017, p.36)

"Addiction causes hundreds of changes in brain anatomy chemistry and cell-to-cell signaling, including in the gaps between neurons called synapses, which are the molecular machinery for learning. By taking advantage of the brain's marvelous plasticity, addiction remolds neural circuits to assign supreme value to cocaine or heroine or gin, at the expense of other interests such as health, work, family, or life itself." (Smith, 2017, p.36)

"In a sense, addiction is a pathological form of learning." (Bonci, within Smith, 2017, p.36)

Smith, F. (2017, September). The Addicted Brain. National Geographic, 232(3), 30–55.

Page 2

Nature V Nurture - 12/09/2021

Read and make notes from chapter 50 of Gross, R. (2020) Psychology: Science of Mind and Behaviour (8th Edition).

Gross, R. D. (2020). Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour (8th ed.). Hodder Education. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2550075&site=eds-live&authtype=sso&custid=s2173719

introduction and overview

controversial topic

covers fundamental questions about humanity and why we become who we are

nativism, empiricism, and interactionism

nativism - knowledge is innate and heredity, that knowledge impacts us

empiricists - tabula rasa, we learn through experiences and our senses

are nativism and empiricism mutually exclusive?

no

evidence has shown correlation between the two

what do we mean by 'nature'?

genetics, inherited genetic differences, chromosomes and genes,

neurogenetic determinism: are there genes 'for' everything?

Rose (1997), direct link between genes and behaviour

objections to neurogenetic determinism

generally genes don't cause behaviour, but can influence it

FOXP2, doesn't cause speech but mutations in it can causes a specific language impairment

phenotypes cannot be measured like this theory says

what do we mean by 'nurture'?

environmental impact, other people, places, and experiences

immediate environmental influences are the family that one lives with

remote environmental influences are culture and the wider society

cannot say that the personal exists independently from the environment, it will always be there to influence a person

shared and non-shared environments

"assumed that children from the same family will all be similarly and equally affected by those environmental factors" p.864, shared environment

but most children even from the same environment are not similar

individual-by-individual basis, not family-by-family (Plomin, 1996)

this is due to the non-shared environment which has a larger influence on development

gene-environment correlations

used to try and answer why parents treat their children differently in the same family and how they come to have different experiences

Plomin et al (1977)

passive - passive inheritance from behaviour impacted by genetics, above-average IQ parents creating a more stimulating environment than ones with lower IQ

reactive - experiences are based on the reaction towards them, happy babies get happy responses, whereas sad or 'difficult' babies get sadness, stress and/or anger

active - trying to separate the individual from environment is not possible, children create their own environment and experiences

gene-environment interactions

PKU, created by biology but can be stopped by environment

a facilitative environment will also impact a child, a resilient child will do fine in a poor environment and a non-resilient in a high environment but a non-resilient in a poor environment will not do well

behaviour genetics and heritability

behaviour genetics

attempt to determine how much of a trait can be decided by genes, shared environment, and non-shared enviroments

importance of genetics is shown in many twin studies, especially of monozygotic twins

effect of shared environment seems to decrease over time (Loehlin et al., 1988)

heritability

very controversial

how much of the individual differences are caused by genes

environment has been shown to have an impact on the consequences of genes

conclusions

biological does not always mean genetics

environment can refer to biology, psychology, social and cultural influences

Chapter Summary (Gross, 2020, p.869)

"The nature–nurture debate concerns fundamental questions about the causes of human behaviour, sometimes focusing on behaviours and abilities shared by all human beings, and sometimes on individual differences.

Nativists see knowledge of the world as largely innate, while empiricists stress the role of learning and experience. These extreme viewpoints are reflected in early psychological theories, such as Gesell’s maturation and Watson’s Behaviourism, respectively.

The concept of maturation continues to be influential in Psychology, in biological processes such as puberty and ageing, and stage theories of development.

Watson’s environmentalism was adopted in Skinner’s radical behaviourism.

Nativism and empiricism aren’t mutually exclusive. Not only must the environment be benign, but particular environmental input is often necessary.

In both Freud’s and Piaget’s theories, experience is just as important as the underlying maturation. Both are interactionists.

Genetics is the science of heredity; genes are the basic units of hereditary transmission.

Neurogenetic determinism makes the false assumption that causes can be classified as either genetic or environmental. The phrase ‘genes for’ is a convenient but misleading shorthand for complex biochemical processes.

The term ‘environment’ is commonly used to refer to postnatal influences lying outside the body of a passive individual who’s shaped by them. However, people also make their own environments, and for most characteristics, the shared environment seems to have little impact on development compared with the non-shared environment.

Two ways in which non-shared environments arise are gene–environment correlations and gene–environment interactions.

PKU illustrates the lack of a one-to-one relationship between genotype and phenotype. Other examples include cumulative deficit and Horowitz’s concept of facilitativeness.

Behaviour genetics attempts to quantify how much of the variability for any particular trait is due to heritability, shared environments, and non-shared environments.

Heritability estimates describe the relative contributions of genes and environment for particular traits, in a specific population, at a particular place and time.

A key environmental process involved in epigenetic variability (EV) is methylation. This can account for different epigenomes between MZs.

Human traits are determined by both nature and nurture. Where researchers may still disagree is over the relative contributions of each, and the specific genetic and environmental mechanisms involved"

Page 3

Bio. Explanation of Addiction - 21/09/2021

250+ word summary - critical analysis of the biological explanation of addiction. (255 words)

One strength of the biological explanation of addiction is the abundance of evidence supporting it. Medical procedures have shown that addiction changes a person's brain chemistry to place emphasis on the drug/substance, rather than other things, such as family or health (Smith, 2017).

Another strength is that there seems to be a high concordance rate between biological relations in regard to addiction. There have been studies that show a genetic factor that can influence how likely it is that a person will become an addict. That shows that there is a biological component to addiction. For example, Nielsen et al. (2008) found a genetic link to the addiction of heroin, Comings et al. (1997) found a link between genetics and cocaine and cannabis addiction, and Overstreet et al. (1993) found a link between rats and alcohol.

One weakness of the biological explanation of addiction is that it is reductionistic. It does not take into account other factors that influence a person, such as their environment. For example, the gene that creates PKU is biological, however, if the gene is found at birth, there are environmental things that are done to stop the impact of PKU. Therefore, showing that the environment was as important as genetics in influencing behaviour/health.

Another weakness is that many of the experiments showing the impact of drugs/addictive substances were performed on rats. That brings into question whether or not humans react to the drugs/substances in the same way, therefore, questioning whether these experiments are actually supporting evidence or not.

Page 4

Behavioural Explanation of Addiction - 28/09/2021

1. How confident do you feel about your understanding of each of these concepts?

Classical conditioning

unconditioned stimuli = unconditioned response

unconditioned stimuli + conditioned stimuli = unconditioned response

conditioned stimuli = conditioned response

Operant conditioning

positive punishment - give them something to decrease a behaviour

negative punishment - take something away to decrease a behaviour

positive reinforcement - give them something to increase a behaviour

negative reinforcement - take something away to increase a behaviour

Social Learning Theory

learning through watching the actions of others, imitating what they do, upbringing, social circle

Sociocultural factors

where you live, who you live with, peer pressure, who you hang out with, conformity, gender, job, social class, upbringing

Try and describe them to find out

2. Identify the Unconditioned Stimulus, Unconditioned Response, Neutral Stimulus, Conditioned Stimulus and Conditioned Response for the following addiction:

Association of payday with visiting casinos

unconditioned stimulus - money/payday

unconditioned response - happy

neutral stimulus - going to the casino

conditioned stimulus - spending paycheck at the casino

conditioned response - happy

3. What do we mean by critical evaluation?

Critically evaluate the role of one of the following environmental factors in explaining addiction:

Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Social Learning Theory

Sociocultural Factors

One strength of sociocultural factors is that it takes into account a person's environment, therefore, how easy it is to access something addictive. That has a serious impact on addiction as people cannot become addicts if there is nothing for them to become addicted to, and explains the correlation between families being addicted to the same thing - because they all had access to it due to the others.

However, it doesn't take into account biology, which has evidence showing that there is genes that can make you more susceptible to certain addictions.

4. What reinforcers and punishers may be involved in gambling and/or drug addiction?

How do they have an effect?

gambling - reinforcer (happiness/money), punishment (sadness/anger/losing money)

drug addiction - reinforcer (happiness), punishment (withdrawal/biological issues)

To what extent do sociocultural factors influence addictive behaviour?

How do we tell which has had an effect?

observation and case studies

Do these factors demonstrate cause and effect or correlations?

correlations

Page 5

Addiction: Nature vs. Nurture - 26/10/2021

You will be allocated one of these addictions (if you are working asynchronously, select an addiction):

Alcoholism

Smoking

Drug addiction

Find research that shows a nurture explanation of the addiction

Find research that shows a nature explanation of the addiction (Remember nature is about inheritability/innateness)

For each source:

Summarise its contents and explain how it shows the nature/nurture perspective in relation to the addiction you are looking at

Find evidence/explanation that outlines how the interactionist perspective can be used to explain the addiction you are exploring

Include APA references along with your information

Upload your work to the Journal: Nature & Nurture of Addiction

Alcoholism

One nurture explanation of alcohol addiction is childhood peer groups. The people that a child grows up with have been shown to have an impact on that child's behaviour and habits. For example, Dishion, McCord and Poulin (1999) found that there was a higher chance of teenage boys beginning to drink alcohol if they were part of a deviant friend group. Ali and Dwyer (2010) found that increasing the amount of people who were willing to drink would increase overall drinking by about 4%. That shows that some children are more likely to drink because other children are. Therefore, showing the impact that peer groups have an impact on a child's decisions.

One nature explanation of alcohol addiction is genetics. There are specific genes that can cause an increased risk of alcohol addiction, however, many of these genes are still being uncovered through technological advancements (Ducci and Goldman, 2009). For example, newer technology, such as MRIs, can be used to show the changes that alcohol can cause to the brain and its pathways. Studies involving families (including adoption studies and twin studies) have shown that there is a concrete link between alcohol addiction vulnerability and specific genes.

The interactionist perspective can be used to explain alcohol addiction through a combination of genes and stress during childhood and/or life. There has been evidence that shows that stress can increase a person's vulnerability to substance abuse (Sinha, 2010). For example, Blomeyer et al. (2008) found that someone who had the CRHR1 gene and went through stressful events was more likely to be addicted to alcohol. There also seems to a cyclical aspect to stress and addiction in regards to nature and nurture. A person with both stress and an alcohol addiction will have altered brain pathways, which can in turn have an effect on a person's stress level. That stress could bring them to keep on drinking, leaving the cycle to repeat (Sinha, 2010).

Reference List

Ali, M.M, and Dwyer, D.S. (2010). Social network effects in alcohol consumption among adolescents. Addictive Behaviors, 35(4), 337-342. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306460309003256

Blomeyer, D., Treutlein, J., Esser, G., Schmidt, M.H., Schumann, G., and Laucht, M. (2008). Interaction between CRHR1 gene and stressful life events predicts adolescent heavy alcohol use. Biological Psychiatry, 63(2), 146-51. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17597588/

Dishion, T.J., McCord, J., Poulin, F. (1999). When Interventions Harm: Peer Groups and Problem Behavior. American Psychologist, 54(9), 755-764. http://rescueproduction.free.fr/pdf/1999/When%20Interventions%20Harm%20Peer%20Groups%20and%20Problem%20Behavior.pdf

Ducci, F., & Goldman, D. (2009). Genetic approaches to addiction: genes and alcohol. Addiction, 103(9), 1414–1428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02203.x

Sinha, R. (2010). Stress and Addiction: A Dynamic Interplay of Genes, Environment and Drug Intake. Biological Psychiatry, 66(2), 100-101. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2730917/

Page 6

Gross: Psychology as a Science - 04/11/2021

Read chapter 3 of Gross (2020) (the chapter about Psychology As A Science) and make notes about the key points. Particularly:

Scientific method

definable subject matter, theory construction (explaining observed phenomena), hypothesis testing (predictions and testing), empirical methods (collect data)

sequence of events

observation (no unprejudiced observation) - generalised statement (data is not facts) - empirical methods (data needs theories so that it means something) - experiments (not value-free) - knowledge (periods of peace and revolutions)

Kuhn and Paradigms

kuhn

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)

discontinuities - alternating periods of normal and revolutionary (uncertain) times

changing opinions and definitions, determines investigations and study methods

paradigms

studys can only be science if they follow a paradigm

lots of paradigms in psychology

theory is part of paradigm, different theories can coexist, different paradigms can coexist

Objectivity

goal of science and psychology/sociology in the 1850s by Comte, positivism

complete objectivity is impossible

revolutions in science = 'truth' can and does change

Validity

internal validity

external validity

control through variables, to determine variable impact, experiments have to be done in controlled environments

The issues around doing actual research

difficult to control participant variables

never full control and objectivity, only degrees

difficult to study humans as there is variability between them, individual differences

reductionism through independent variable

greater control (better internal validity) lowers the external validity

You will be able to use your notes in next week's class to discuss and share some of the points you make

Page 7

Attachment and Separation - 04/11/2021

Task 1:

Internal Working Model

scenario 2

self - mix of feeling important and unimportant, self-dependent, nervous

others - closed off, untrusting,

relationship - emotional neglect?, failed understanding of relationship

scenario 3

self - divided care, competition for care

others - expect care but divided

relationship - satisfied, divided care, based on competition

scenario 4

self - comforted, routine, cared for, adaptable

others - comfort and care from different people

relationship - cared for by au pair, rely on many people, adaptable, power dynamics

scenario 5

self - feels lack of importance, constantly unhappy and in pain, insecure (being in hospital and lack of central carer)

others - always changing, no stable carer

relationship - doesn't feel like they have stable relationships and therefore lonely

scenario 6

self - important, secure, stability, loved

others - stable (same group of people), acceptance, safety (know they'll get help if they need)

relationship - knows there will always be someone to help them, mutual affection

Create an original scenario with the resulting IWM elements identified.

Be prepared to share your example in class

A child is born to be a saviour sibling, they have two parents but aren't the focus of their attention and always come second to their older sibling.

Self - unimportant, secondary, competition for care (but loses), unhappy

Others - lack of care, always wondering what the other person wants/needs

Relationship - neglectful, unstable, insecure, failed understanding of what a relationship should be

Task 2:

Mary Ainsworth - The Strange Situation

research technique(s) and science behind it

lab setting, controlled

observation led to experiment

different levels of experiment

leaves crying child - unethical?

looking at child's reaction/anxiety levels (dependent variable)

mother/stranger (independent variable)

attachment/anxiety types

Type A - insecure-avoidant - no stress signs

Type B - secure - cries only when mother leaves

Type C - insecure-resistant/ambivalent - crying all the time with strangers

scientific - repetition within experiment (mother leaves twice and baby cries both times)

scientific - empirical qualitative evidence through controlled observation

scientific - easily repeatable experiment, just need a mother, baby, stranger and room

unscientific - subjective? trying to determine what the child is feeling/why the child is crying

unscientific - low ecological validity, baby may be upset about new room + stranger but okay with home + stranger

Create a mindmap or essay plan to answer the following question:

“To what extent is the Strange Situation test a valid measurement of attachment?

- Describe attachment and validity

- Describe the Strange Situation experiment

- Explain why the test was scientifically valid

- Explain why the test wasn't scientificallt valid

- Conclusion stating an overall opinion answering the question

Page 8

Attachment: Factors - 09/11/2021

While watching this video make notes about any three key factors that you consider are relevant to our understanding of attachment.

Crash Course (2014). Monkeys and Morality: Crash Course Psychology #19. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcQg1EshfIE [Accessed: 9 November 2021].

innate survival instinct?

vital - foundation for basic trust and adult relationships and personalities

harry and margaret harlow

unethical and sad, separating baby monkeys from mothers

attached to blankets in cages, created artificial mothers, wire mother and cloth mother

contact and touch

learning and environment impact

conveys emotions through different touches

helps babies feel security and trust

the baby monkeys grew up to have many social issues, never recovered

familiarity

strangers are not the same as someone you know

emotional attachments to people, places and things

strange situation experiment

baby in unfamiliar room with mother, then stranger, with comfort

found: separation anxiety, exploration, stranger anxiety, and reunion behaviour

70% had secure attachment attachment (usually raised by sensitive, attentive mothers)

15% had insecure ambivalent attachment (usually raised by super-anxious mothers)

15% had insecure avoidant attachment (usually raised by less responsive mothers)

abuse

babies that were abused and/or neglected are usually withdrawn or frightened

abuse victims can become abusers - due to attachment issues

abused children are at a higher risk of psychology disorders, health problems, and substance abuse

understaffed romanian orphanages - lower in cognition tests, 2x as likely to have anxiety as romanian children in foster homes

parenting style

authoritarian - make the rules and expect you to follow them, not very warm/affectionate

permissive - caves to demands, spoils, little control

authoritative - balance, demanding but explains reasoning, loving and responsive to needs, research shows that this is the best method

Page 9

Attachment Theories - 18/11/2021

Activity 1:

Watch the two videos and consider the effect that different attachment types and experiences can have on a child as they grow up and the effect it could have on their adult life.

Video 1:

Bowlby's theory

born needing to attach for survival, evolved to increase survival and reproduction chances

provides template for future relationships

internal working model - expectations about relationships, if its faulty then it will have a bad impact

social releasers - smiling and crying, elicit caregiving, innately driven to comfort and ensure survival and own genes

sensitive period - development of all biological systems

monotropy - primary attachment mainly

secure base - attachment is needed for protection and exploration and safety

continuity hypothesis - link between childhood attachment and later behaviour

imprinting - innate need for a strong bond during critical period

strength

supporting evidence, lorenz (1952), imprinting goslings, innate behaviour BUT low generalisability differences in cognition and therefore attachment

love quiz shows that childhood attachment impacts later relationships

influential, lots of research and impact on caregiving, influenced adoption times (real world application)

weaknesses

doesn't acknowledge other types of attachment, believes in one main attachment that influences relationships

Video 2:

bowlby's theory

investigated due to separation of mothers and children during world war 2

looked at biology of primates, weaned but seeks proximity and contact, cornerstones of attachment behaviour

child needs more than food, needs love for optimal outcome

half century of evidence that he was more or less right

centre for attachment research - to help form secure attachment - families go when the parents had childhood issues (like neglect) and are struggling, so they get help from experts to learn how to properly care for their children e.g., Pearl and her child

test for effectiveness of centre - stranger situation, replication of ainsworth's experiment

measure cortisol through cheek swab, investigate patterns of cortisol over time

6 months plus = 70% secure attachment, up from 15% at the start of the centre

helped Pearl be able to stand her crying child

life long consequences

psychological effects like SAD or cardio diseases etc., chronic inflammation - counteracts infection, situations connected to traumatic experiences where cortisol does not help reduce inflammation, cortisol is important

learned to take attachment seriously and how vital it is for the future, the impact is inevitable

Activity 2:

Find a suitable academic source that outlines the affects different attachment types may have when the child becomes an adult.

It must refer to at least one specific piece of research

Write a brief summary – less than 500 words – that outlines the affects (include a full APA reference)

In the summary consider one piece of research and the extent to which it is and isn’t scientific

Copy and paste your summary into the “Blog: Summary”

Leenders et al. (2018) investigated the impact of attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety attachment types on how an individual attempts to get a job. Specifically, they looked at the effort the individual was putting into finding a job, the way that the individual thought about their skills/qualifications, and their feelings towards job searching. The research was conducted in the Netherlands, with 180 individuals participating. 77% were men, and 12% were women, with the average age being 49.13 years old.

Leenders et al. measured the job intentions through thirteen questions which were analysed using a Likert scale. Those who scored higher were more likely to complete activities needed to get a job. They measured their self-efficacy through eight scaled questions, using corresponding numbers for analysis. Those who scored higher meant they had more self-efficacy and, therefore, increased belief in their own abilities. They measured their self-esteem the same way, with eight scaled questions and corresponding numbers. Those who scored higher had better self-esteem in relation to searching for a job. They measured the attitude of the individual through six scaled questions with corresponding numbers for analysis. Those with higher scores were more positive about trying to find a job. There is evidence of a strong link between job attitude and job search intentions.

The results found that those who were typed attachment avoided were impacted more negatively by their attachment type than those who were typed attachment anxiety. The specific variables that had a major impact on job search intentions were self-efficacy and job search attitudes. The results concur with attachment avoidance models, which link that attachment type to dysfunctional attitudes. They found no evidence linking attachment anxiety to the job search variables they measured. That could be because those who are attachment anxious avoid socialisation less than attachment avoidant individuals. It could also be because attachment anxious individuals might try to find jobs faster to decrease negative moods caused by the isolation and insecurity of being unemployed.

This research is scientific as it gathers empirical evidence through scaled questions. However, it is less scientific as the individuals have to answer the questions about themselves, and therefore, it is subjective. That could mean that the results are less accurate as it is their interpretation of themselves, which could be influenced by personal bias. However, subjectivity is also a good aspect as the investigation is focused on the person's feelings and behaviour, and therefore, it needs to be subjective in some aspects.

Leenders, M.V.E., Buunk, A.P., and Henkens, K. (2018). 'Attachment Avoidance and Attachment Anxiety as Individual Characteristics Affecting Job Search Behavior'. Journal of Career Development, 46(5), 487-501. Sage Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0894845318772091

Page 10

10/02/2022 - Prejudice and Discrimination

Read and take notes from pages 409-418. These will link into the work done this week.

introduction and overview

prejudice is an attitude

prejudice as attitude

allport (1954) five stages of prejudice: antilocution, avoidance, discrimination, physical attack, extermination

discrimination is behaviour (ABC)

definitions of prejudice

hard to define, lots of technicalities

institutionalised prejudice and discrimination

great deal is unconscious, inherent, so used to being seen

theories of prejudice and discrimination

three categories: personality variables, environmental factors, group membership

prejudice and personality

the authoritarian personality

adorno et al. (1950) - personality traits predispose someone to being prejudiced, studied antisemitism in Nazi Germany. created the F scale to measure authoritarian personality

what's the authoritarian personality like?

usually hostile to 'inferiors', rigid, intolerant to uncertainty, conventional values

how does the authoritarian personality become prejudiced?

due to a harsh upbringing, high opinion of parents, low opinion of others

unconscious hostility due to displacement (Freudian link)

scapegoating: the frustration-aggression hypothesis

dollard et al (1939), frustration causes aggression and aggression causes frustration

can't vent about the actual frustration so it is moved onto something else (scapegoat)

the open and closed mind

dogmatism - close minded, lack of flexibility, authoritarianism

limitations of the personality approach

reductionistic - only looks at individuals not society

individual - how can it explain a population's racism?

sudden rise and fall of prejudice?

are we all unconsciously racist?

implicit racial prejudice and the brain (Phelps et al., 2000)

an evaluation of the IAT