Psychological Methods of Managing Stress: Stress Inoculation Training

Ethical Issues in Social Influence Research

This article examines the ethical issues that arise when conducting social influence research, as specified by the AQA-A specification. The ethical guidelines do, however, apply to any psychology research conducted by members of the British Psychological Society.

Theories of Obedience: Milgram’s Agency Theory

Autonomous state

In this state individuals make decisions based on their own ideas, beliefs and experiences.

Agentic State

In this state individuals give up their own responsibility, deferring to those of higher status.

Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Vygotsky criticised Piaget’s emphasis on the child’s interaction with the environment, claiming that Piaget ignores the role of social interaction. Vygotsky, in contrast, sees the child as an apprentice who learns through interacting with others rather than as a scientist acting alone.

Vygotsky claims that children experience abrupt changes in their ability to solve problems. This is the result of being taught culturally specific mediators by others which then allow them to think at a higher level.

Obedience to Authority: The Milgram Experiment (inc. Derren Brown Video)

Stanley Milgram (1961) was particularly interested in why millions of Germans blindly obeyed orders that resulted in the mass slaughter of millions of Jews during WWII. One theory at the time was that Germans were different to people of other nationalities in that they were more likely to have a personality type that makes them defer to those of higher authority (the Germanic Personality).

Experimental Designs

Independent Groups

This is where the Independent Variable is operationalised by having two or more separate groups, that are as identical as possible, take part in the experiment in each of the conditions of the Independent Variable.

Working Memory (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)

Baddely and Hitch believed that the STM store in the Multistore Model was too simplistic: they thought that short term memory was not a passive store, but several active processes that manipulate information.

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Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget believed that there is a qualitative as well as a quantitative difference in the intelligence of young children, compared with older children and adults. There is a quantitative difference because adults have more knowledge of the world and there is a qualitative difference because children do not use the same logic in their thinking as adults do. Children's logic changes as they develop though the four stages (see below).

Depression

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People who are more unhappy than usual often say that they are “depressed”. In most cases, however, they are describing a normal mood change in response to sad events or fatigue. In psychopathology, however, depression does not refer to a normal mood, but to a dysfunctional clinical syndrome. An ordinary, short-lived depressed mood can often be beneficial, in that it allows a person to explore themselves, their values and the situation. People may emerge from a normal depressed mood with a sense of greater strength, clarity and resolve (Comer, 1995). Clinical depression, on the other hand is so severe and long lasting that it can seriously debilitate a person and may even intensify over a period of time. Depressed patients may find the simplest of tasks so difficult that they cannot complete them. Some people with depression even try to end their lives.

This article examines what depression is and several theories regarding the causes of the disorder.

The Case of Genie

Genie was discovered when she was 13 years old. She had been kept in a small room and not spoken to since she was an infant. She could not stand erect and could not speak, she could only whimper. Naturally she attracted the attention of many psychologists and linguists who were keen to study her. She was given the Vineland Social Maturity Scale and the Preschool Attainment Record, on which she scored as low as a normal one year old. Her linguistic abilities were very poor: she could only understand her own name and the word ‘sorry’. She was unsocialised, she did not know how to chew, salivated constantly and was not toilet trained.