IB Psychology HL

5.2 Discuss validity and reliability of diagnosis. Diagnosis Diagnosis within abnormal psychology means identifying and classifying abnormal behaviour on the basis of symptoms, the patients’ self-reports, observations, clinical tests or other factors such as information from relatives. Clinicians use psychological assessment and diagnostic manuals to make diagnosis. The diagnostic manuals help to classify and standardize diagnosis. Diagnosis involves matching the results of the psychological assessment with classification systems such as DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10. The purpose of diagnosis is to find a treatment for the patient and to make a prognosis. Diagnostic manuals DSM-IV, now in its fourth revised version, is developed by the American Psychiatric Association. The manual lists what it terms “mental disorders”. For each of the 300 disorders there is a list of symptoms that the clinician could look for in order to diagnose correctly. A new fifth version is on its way...

Rogers and Kesner (2003) Aim: To investigate the role of acetylcholine on memory encoding and memory retrieval. Method: It was a laboratory experiment using rats. Rats were trained to learn a simple maze, but before the memories could be learned well-enough to be transferred from short-term memory to long-term memory, the rats were divided into groups and injected with drugs: Group 1 was injected with scopolamine, which is known to block the reception of acetylcholine by the post-synaptic neurons. This means that acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter expected to help form memories, cannot travel from one neuron to another. This was the no acetylcholine condition. Group 2 was injected with physostigmine, a drug that blocks cholinesterase, which is what cleans up the acetylcholine from receptor proteins on the post-synaptic neurons, returning the neurons to their resting potential, where no nerve impulse is being sent. Therefore the acetylcholine continued to act. This was the h...

Bouchard et al. (1990) Aim:  To investigate the relative influence of environment and genetic factors on human characteristics and behaviours, including intelligence. Method: A cross-cultural correlational study of more than 100 pairs of reared-apart twins and siblings whose data was compared with twins and siblings reared together. The participants comprised identical (monozygotic/MZ) twins and non-identical (dizygotic/DZ) twins, with an average age of 41 years. MZ twins are often used in genetic research because they have identical or almost identical genes. Each participant underwent over 50 hours of psychological testing and interviews. In twin research, the correlation found between each twin and therefore presumable between genetic inheritance and a particular behaviour is called the concordance rate. Results: The concordance rates for IQ were: MZ twins reared together: 86% (0.86) MZ twins reared apart: 76% (0.76) DZ twins reared together: 55% (0.55) Biologi...

5.1 Examine the concepts of normality and abnormality Defining normality Mental health model of normality (Jahoda, 1958) The model suggests criteria for what might constitute normal psychological health (in contrast to abnormal psychological health). Deviation from these criteria would mean that the health of an individual is “abnormal”: The absence of mental illness Realistic self-perception and contact with reality A strong sense of identity and positive self-esteem Autonomy and independence Ability to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships Ability to cope with stressful situations Capacity for personal growth and self-actualization Evaluation of the mental health model of normality The majority of people would be categorized as “abnormal” if the criteria were applied to them. It is relatively easy to establish criteria for what constitutes “physical health” but it is impossible to establish and agree on what constitutes “psychological healt...

Introduction Define localization of function Paragraph 1 Study: Maguire et al. (2000) Aim: The aim of this study was to examine possible changes in the brain of taxi drivers, and specifically focusing on the development of the spatial memory in the hippocampus. The researchers also wanted to find out if there was a correlation between the duration that the taxi drivers had been working and the size of the hippocampus. Method: The participants of this study were 16 males. They were all right-handed, physically healthy and between the ages 32 and 62 years. They were all licensed taxi drivers that had been working for at least 1,5 years. There was also one control group with 50 randomly selected participants. These were all also male, right-handed, physically healthy and in the same age range (32-62) as the original participants. The researchers had MRI scans of all the participants and the control group to compare them. In the MRI scans, there was grey matter that rep...

4.12 Explain, using examples, emic and etic concepts Pike (1967) suggested the emic and the etic concepts to address the issues of ‘culture specific’ versus ‘universal’, i.e. what is consistent across cultures. Emic Emic research studies one culture alone to understand culture-specific behaviour. Researchers attempt to study behaviour through the eyes of the people who live in that culture. The way the phenomenon is linked to the culture (structure) and the meaning it has in this particular culture (context) is emphasized. The focus is on the norms, values, motives, and customs of the members of the culture as they interpret and understand it themselves, explained with their own words. Example 1: Bartlett (1932) mentioned the extraordinary ability of Swazi herdsmen to recall individual characteristics of their cattle. He explained that the Swazi culture revolves around the possession and care of cattle and it is important for people to recognize their animals because this i...

4.11 Examine the role of two cultural dimensions on behaviour A dimension of culture is an aspect of culture that can be measured relative to other cultures. The conceptual framework “cultural dimensions” was suggested by Hofstede (1980) in his survey of 88000 IBM employees working in 66 countries across the world. Hofstede argues that differences in behaviour are a consequence of culture. Culture should be seen as a collective phenomenon that may distinguish one group from another on specific dimensions. Culture is seen as ‘mental programming’ or ‘mental software’. An individual’s mental software will determine the way the person acts and thinks and the mental software is resistant to change. Unlearning what is once learned and internalized is very difficult. According to Hofstede, understanding the influence of cultural dimensions on human behaviour can facilitate international understanding and communication Collectivism and individualism This relations to the relationship ...