Psychology: the science of the mind and behaviour

Transcription

1 Psychology: the science of the mind and behaviour The purpose of this workbook is to help prepare you for the AS level course. The first pages contain an overview of the psychology specification. We will be following Edexcel AS psychology. There are four taster sections that relate to the four topic areas that you will study plus research methods. Research methods is integrated into each topic area and forms a large part of the course. Assessment will be by two written exams in May, both 90 minutes long. There is no coursework. Outside of class there will be two assignments each week, together with further reading tasks and revision for class/ CAT tests. A text book will be provided. You will need to buy a calculator, a folder, lined paper, pens, pencils and a ruler. Highlighters are useful for key terms and definitions. Hard backed notebooks are not suitable. This is a new specification starting September Name 1

2 There are four topics to cover at AS: Topic 1: Social psychology Topic 2: Cognitive psychology Topic 3: Biological psychology Topic 4: Learning theories All topics include research methods and statistics. It is essential that you have a calculator. 2

3 What do psychologists do? Some popular choices 3

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5 Topic 1: Social psychology taster: obedience In this topic we will study obedience, prejudice and discrimination. Obedience is linked to the Holocaust. For a brief reminder of events go to How would you define obedience? Social psychologist Stanley Milgram carried out a study to test the idea that the Germans were somehow different from other people, in that they were able to carry out barbaric acts against the Jews and other minority groups. Milgram wanted to see if volunteer participants would obey orders to give electric shocks to someone they thought was just another participant. If they did give shocks to another participant, was this because of a deviant personality? Or because of the situation in which they found themselves? 5

6 The following pages give an overview of Milgram s study. Read the study and then fill in the table below to show the results in percentages. A sample from the text book has been provided but you can also carry out an internet search. Situation Level of obedience Original experiment at Yale University Experiment carried out in a run-down office block The researcher gave the participant instructions by phone An ordinary man gave the participant orders You should be able to draw a conclusion from research. Link the results back to the aim and write a short conclusion for Milgram s research. You may want to consider the differences between personality characteristics and situational factors.... 6

7 example of social psychology is how and in what circumstances people obey other Another Salvatore and Shelton (2007) carried out a study to examine the effect of 7

8 Topic 2: Cognitive psychology taster: reconstructive memory In this topic we focus on the structure and function of memory. But first we need to think about what is meant by the term memory. Find a definition of the term memory 8

9 How is your memory for new events influenced by your past experiences? Read the article on the left and try the activity below. Ask someone else to do the activity. Did they perceive the image in the same way? Why might people perceive images differently?.. 9

10 Topic 3: Biological psychology taster: The nervous system Below is a diagram of a typical neuron. Label the following parts: Axon: Schwann s cells: nucleus: dendrites: myelin sheath: node of Ranvier: axon terminal: cell body 10

11 The brain has four main lobes: the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the temporal lobe and the occipital lobe. Identify the four lobes on the line drawing below and briefly describe the function of each lobe: 11

12 Brain scanning techniques are used to investigate brain structure and function. As part of the course you will need to know three scanning techniques. Carry out an internet search to briefly describe each technique. CAT scan. C. A.. T How do CAT scans produce images of the brain? PET scan P. E.. T. 12

13 How do PET scans produce images? fmri f. M.. R. I. How do fmri scans produce images? Topic 4: Learning theories taster: Pavlov s dogs The behaviourist approach: Classical conditioning Classical conditioning originated in a series of experiments carried out in America and Russia in the early part of the twentieth century. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who was studying dogs to establish how digestive juices (for example, saliva) were secreted in response to different kinds of food. He became interested in learning this when he noticed that the dogs in his laboratory would start to salivate at the appearance of the research assistants who fed them. Pavlov referred to this kind of salivation as psychic secretion and he was initially irritated by the disruption of his research. However, Pavlov became intrigued as to how the process occurred and he carried out a series of experiments, which established the basis of classical conditioning. Pavlov was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 1904 and you can read translations of his lectures online. 13

14 Some associations do not need to be learned. For example, we do not have to learn to take our hand away from a hot flame. Alternatively, we do not need to learn to blink when a puff of air is directed into our eye. However, some associations are learned. For example, we learn that when the alarm clock goes off we need to get up. At around the same time as Pavlov was establishing the principles of classical conditioning in Russia, Watson was exploring the same principle of learning in the US. Rather than using animals, Watson and his colleague Rayner carried out a now infamous experiment using an infant, Little Albert. At the start of the process, ten- 14

15 month old Albert showed little fear and was a bold child. The only stimulus that appeared to frighten Albert was loud noises, which made him cry. Albert had a pet rat, of which he was very fond. In a series of trials, Watson conditioned Albert to be afraid of the rat by pairing it with a loud noise. Each time Albert reached out to touch his pet, Watson struck an iron bar with a hammer. In a very short length of time, Albert showed extreme fear towards his pet rat and would cry whenever he saw it. Little Albert learned an association between and. ACTIVITY 5.1 You can see a video clip of Little Albert on youtube. Either type Little Albert experiment or use the following link: Units 1 and 2: Research methods taster: Experiments All experiments have an Independent variable (IV) and a Dependent variable (DV). The IV is the variable that changes The DV is the variable that is measured. So, if a researcher wanted to find out whether students learn keywords better in the morning or the afternoon, the IV would be the time of day (half of the students would learn the 15

16 keywords in the morning and half would learn the words in the afternoon) and the number of keywords learned is the DV: measured by a test. Identify the Independent variable and dependent variable for the following research: To find out whether males or females have a faster reaction time: Independent variable. Dependent variable. To find out whether eating bananas improves maths ability Independent variable. Dependent variable. To find out whether premier league footballers or championship league footballers score more penalties Independent variable. Dependent variable. What are the assignments like? Below is an example of some of the assignments that you will complete as part of the AS course. A list of assignments for each topic area will be given out at the start of the topic. As some topics are broader than others the number of assignments for each topic will vary. You will usually have two assignments per week. 16

17 You will receive feedback on your learning and be expected to develop throughout the course. From the feedback given, you will identify one or more targets to improve your learning. Lesson title Lesson outcomes. Questions you should be able to answer by the end of the lesson Assignment. Approx. 300 words. 1 Prejudice and discrimination Target for improvement 1. Describe the Robbers Cave Experiment by Sherif (1954/61) 2. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the above study using GRAVE Describe and evaluate the classic study of prejudice and discrimination 12 marks. 2 Obedience 1. Describe all three variations on Milgram s original experiment 2. Compare the results and assess the impact of each situational variable on levels of obedience Target for improvement Discuss the effects of situational variables on obedience. 12 marks 17