Next homework essay due

‘Outline and evaluate the working memory model’  (12 marks)

•Describe each component

•Describe supporting research evidence

•Evaluate this evidence if appropriate

•Evaluate the model as a whole

DUE FRIDAY 30th NOVEMBER

Factors affecting eyewitness testimony

Children are sometimes used to give evidence in criminal proceedings - can their evidence be relied upon? What about elderly people? We discussed further factors that might affect eyewitness testimony. You need to be familiar with the following terms/concepts:

Anxiety & eyewitness testimony
The Yerkes-Dodson law
The weapon effect
Schemas & eyewitness testimony
Age & eyewitness testimony
Own-age bias
Differential experience hypothesis

Today's ppt is here and the writing frame to fill in on age and eyewitness testimony is here.

Biological Therapies

Our abnormality topic concludes with a look at the therapies used by each approach to abnormality. There are two biological therapies you must be able to describe and evaluate - Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and drug therapy (also known as pharmacotherapy or chemotherapy). Psychosurgery is also worth knowing, particularly as the ethical issues that apply to this rather extreme case can be used to evaluate the other therapies that you might be asked directly about.

For example, a criticism of drug therapy is that it doesn't really solve the problems patients have, they simply remove some of their troublesome symptoms (this is probably particularly true in the case of schizophrenia). In a similar way frontal lobotomies didn't really address the symptoms patients with schizophrenia or extreme anxiety had, but they made them much easier to manage - are modern antipsychotic drugs simply chemical lobotomies? If so, at least their effects are reversible...

Homework for next Tuesday is to make detailed notes on the three biological therapies. You need to cover the following:

• ‘6 mark’ and ‘3 mark’ descriptions – what is it and how does it work? 
• How effective is it? For what disorder(s)? 
• What are its strengths? 
• What are its limitations? 
• What ethical issues arise?

Here is the presentation from today's lesson.

The Cognitive and Psychodynamic models of abnormality

The cognitive model of abnormality states that it's not the problems we encounter in life that cause us to become mentally unhealthy, but the way we think about them. Unlike other explanations for psychopathology, this leaves quite a lot of room for Free Will (it is a less Determinist approach) - you, the individual, can take control and learn to think in a more positive way.

Here is the presentation.

An essay - 'Describe and evaluate the cognitive model of abnormality' - 6 marks AO1 for describing + 6 marks AO2 for discussing strengths and limitations - is now overdue!

We have also re-examined the psychodynamic model, and in particular Freud's theory of abnormality. This also stresses mental causes of abnormality (remember, the biological model deals with physical causes, and the behavioural model with 'non-mental learning' - simple learning that we can study in animals) but here the idea is that the causes of psychopathology are buried in the subconscious thanks to defence mechanisms like repression.

Here is the presentation.

Eyewitness testimony

Can evidence from eyewitnesses be relied upon in court? Is it accurate? What factors affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony? Do some people have better eyewitness testimony than others?

We have been looking at the work of Elizabeth Loftus and colleagues investigating these questions. This is one area of psychology in which research has informed public and legal policy, and we have seen why. The intro ppt is here and the ppt summarising the relevant studies is here. 

Progress tests November 2012

The abnormality progress test for Mr Lawrence is here

If you missed the memory progress test you will need to see Mrs Watson in person for a paper copy