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PSYCClinical perspectivesClinical perspectives in psychology clinical psychology = deals with the understanding, preventing, relieving of mental disorders based on scientific method -> set psychology apart from other mental health methods that are considered to be more an art than a science scien...

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PSYC1001 Clinical perspectives Clinical perspectives in psychology ! - clinical psychology = deals with the understanding, preventing, relieving of mental disorders based on scientific method ! -> set psychology apart from other mental health methods that are considered to be more an! art than a science !

- scientific method = has experimental control (controlling variable, street measurement of domains), difficult to measure as behaviour, emotion, intelligence is not quantitative !

Stress Disorders ! - Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) : the psychological reaction that develops after trauma eg terrorisms, war, accidents !

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Real world problem ! Marked by distressing memories of the event, anxiety, avoidance of reminders ! Affects 10% of survivors ! Terror management theory : aware of their vulnerabilities and inevitable death creates the potential for paralyzing$terror, cope with managing fear !

Managing stress responses ! -

Psychological debriefing : trauma counselling offers to everyone with trauma! Occurs within 48 hours of exposure ! Over 50 years most common response! Requires people to discuss their experience and their emotional responses ! Intended to prevent PTSD ! Scientific method principles were ignored for decades! Everyone believed debriefing worked because people said they liked it due to spilling your guts ! Controlled trails prove debriefing does not prevent psychological disorders, even make it worse ! Debriefing has been debunked !

Scientific method! How to tell if a study, method or drug works by scientific method?!

- Measurement : ! -> must assess people before their treatment with standardised measures! -> find the striating point of the stress ! -> use properly developed measurement tools !

- Comparison! -> a comparison condition is needed ! -> know whether a treatment work if we compare it against something else ! -> observed changes may instead to due to : asking people how they feel simply makes people process, distress eases naturally over time. Receiving attention in general is beneficial !

- Controlling for bias : ! -> must avoid any sources of bias in a sample using randomisation ! -> to avoid biased allocation to a treatment condition ! -> randomised controlled trails : random allocation of groups, independent assessments, standardised assessment, strict protocols for interventions, check the interventions are valid !

- Assessment bias : ! -> assessment needed after the treatment which must be independent ! -> the assessor must be blind to what the treatment was given so the assessor is unable to unconsciously or consciously bias the results !

- Double blind studies :! -> patients o not know what the treatment they are getting! -> clinicians do not know what drugs they are giving ! -> assessors do not know what the patient was given !

- Quality checks : ! -> critical to always check that procedures are followed properly ! -> treatment fidelity checks to ensure people do what they are doing !

- Need for evidence ! -> policy makers realised that evidence is needed to shape practices ! -> WHO requires multiple trails to validate psychological intervention, must have been subjected to randomisation !

Australia’s changing policies ! - 2019-2020 bushfire, psychological debriefing was not done! - Government actively did not promote this ! - Vastly different response to a decade ago !

Classical conditioning ! - Classical conditioning : the principal of learning certain environmental stimuli predict harmful events!

- Fear conditioning : the same principals classical conditioning that is used in animal models to shape how we understand and treat traumatic stress disorders!

- Eg : if you turn a light on and give a rat an electric shock at the same time, the rat will associate ! the light with the shock; when the light is then turned on without the shock, the rat will get a fear ! response as a neural pathway has been formed between the trauma reminder and the fear response!

Extinction ! - Extinction = the process of new learning when a stimuli is repeatedly presented without a negative outcome, which teaches that the stimuli now signals safety!

- Eg : if the rat keeps being exposed to the light with no shock, the rat will eventually learn to ! override the link between the light and fear response!

- Studies show that the rate of PTSD over several months will naturally decline with no psychological intervention, which is thought to be due to extinction!

- Eg : a rape victim will have many reminders of the trauma i.e. men, night, knives, aftershave etc. ! which in the first few months following the rape will all be exposed to them, allowing the person to new earning!

Link between extinction learning and stress disorders ! - Eg UNSW ran a group of firefighter cadets though a fear conditioning/extinction paradigm before trauma using coloured shapes and a shock!

- Four years later, after they were exposed to trauma, they were assessed for stress disorders! - It was found that those who developed stress disorders were poorer in extinction learning before they became firefighters!

- This highlights that basic animal models of learning are crucial to understanding how humans respond to stress!

- Can help identify people who are at risk for developing PTSD and can potentially lead to better prevention methods!

Treatment ! - Exposure therapy : the process of exposing people to the reminders of trauma in a safe way that leads to a new learning that the world is safer!

- Is based on the basic animal model of exposing the rat to the light until it learns that the chamber is safe (extinction learning)!

- Exposure to the reminders may be physical or mental (remembering memories)!

Neurobiological model of PTSD ! - The same brain regions underpinning extinction learning in rats predict exposure therapy for fear in humans!

- Amygdala = a very small part of the brain, where the associations between stimuli and fear are made!

- Medical Prefrontal Cortex = MPFC; regulates the amygdala! - Extinction learning requires the MPFC working well in order to inhibit the amygdala effectively! - Those who form PTSD have a MPFC that is not effectively inhibiting the amygdala which leads to hyper reactivity in PTSD!

- Glutamate = the major excitatory neurotransmitter, linked to emotional learning! - By increasing glutamate experimentally (by injection) before extinction trials, there is an increase in extinction learning (in rats)!

- This has big implications for humans, as we can improve therapy for anxiety by increasing glutamate prior to therapy session !

- Reduced MPFC Inhibition on amygdala underlies hyperreactivity in PTSD - This advancement is a direct result of psychological models tested by animal research!

Psychological perspectives Psychological perspectives in psychology! - Psychology = the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes which is empirical! - Behaviour = overt (observable) actions; physiological correlates of actions! - Mental Processes = thoughts (memories, imagery, concepts etc.), emotions (fear, happiness, anger etc.) and interactions between the two (decision making etc.)!

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Empirical = based on systematic observation! Experiments = try to manipulate a certain variable and then observe the effect of the behaviour! Analysis = examine data to determine conclusions that can be drawn! Theory = used to generate predictions and summarise existing knowledge ! Autonomous state: people direct their own actions and take responsibility for the result of those actions.!

- Agentic state: people allow others to direct their actions and pass off the responsibility for the consequences to the person giving orders!

Factors affecting obedience to authority ! -

Perceived authority of the person giving the orders ! Presence of a contradicting authority ! Proximity of victim ! Level of direct responsibility for the outcome ! Blind obedience more likely to occur when people shit the responsibility for their actions onto someone or something else !

Goals of scientific psychology ! - Description : being able to describe behaviour using careful observations and following scientific methods that allow for one outcome to be properly observed! -> Maintaining the same strict control of other scientific experiments !

- Prediction : allows for specification of the conditions under which a behaviour will or will not occur -> Which becomes harder when there are more possible outcomes !

- Explanation : being able to identify the cause(s) of behaviour ! - Facilitating changes : the basis of psychology is facilitating changes in behaviour through exploring the description, prediction and explanation to create a desired change (e.g. therapy, consumer theory)!

Science VS common sense !

The best way to learn ! Strategies result in better learning :!

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Start with the facts ! Self testing eg quizzing yourself ! Distributed practice for best results, spread study over time ! Elaborative interrogation! Self-explanation! Interleaved practice ! Frequent testing leads to higher retention of both current information and new information (!)!

Perception ! - Perception = the way in which something regarded, understood or interpreted! - Human’s sensory receptors are constantly collecting information from the environment, but not all sensations result in perception (leads to inattentional blindness) -> whatever one is conceiving is actually one’s own reconstruction of the world !

- Inattentional blindness = the failure to notice a fully-visible but unexpected object/change as one’s attention was engaged elsewhere !

- Eg : Milgram’s studies of obedience ! -> Volunteers were asked to play role of “teacher” in learning experiment (paired associate learning e.g. (bank = hat) and asked to administer electric shocks when someone responds

incorrectly, although both “researchers” and the “responders” were part of the experiment so weren’t actually being shocked! -> Got to the point where the “responders” faked saying ‘Stop I have a heart condition!’ and the “researchers” (authority) would say ‘Don’t stop’ and the volunteers would continue administering shocks! -> Designed to see what it is about putting someone in a situation that makes them do things they wouldn’t normally do if in the presence of a perceived authority!

- Factors affecting obedience ! -> Perceived authority of the person giving orders (lab coat etc. increases obedience) ! -> Presence of a contradicting authority (contradicting parties reduces obedience)! -> Proximity of victim (more separation of victim results in increased obedience) ! -> Level of direct responsibility for the outcome (researcher absolving the volunteer of ! responsibility results in increased obedience)! -> Blind obedience is more likely to occur if you shift the responsibility for one’s actions to ! someone or something els!

Brief history of Psychology ! - Psychology emerged in part from philosophy, however, it defined itself as an empirical science ! - Empirical Science = a science where evidence is based on, concerned with, or verified by observation or experimentation (scientific method) rather than theory or pure logic!

- The early assumption was that the goal of psychology was to understand the structure and contents of the mind !

First scientific psychologist introspection! - introspection = the metaphor of ‘looking inwards’ to examine one’s own conscious experience or ‘phenomenology’ !

- EXAMPLE: Wilhelm Wundt (Leipzig) trained observers to report on their experiences under difference experimental conditions ! -> “Tell me everything that comes into your head when you look at this object” !

- CONCLUSION: Not effective as there are a whole range of things that you don’t have full conscious awareness of,or something you are consciously aware incorrectly of is dictating your behaviour and the way you perceive things! -> self report : unreliable ! -> E.g. you don’t have access to see what’s going on in the production of emotions, and even if you are aware you still have no control%

Next wave of psychologist functionalism (late 19th to early 20th century)! - Functionalism focuses on identifying the rules or steps by which a particular task is achieved, not on the underlying mechanism !

- Essentially founded by William James, who emphasised the analysis of psychological processes in terms of their function ! -> E.g. can propose a phenonium known as attention, and an attention’s function is to highlight and focus analysis on any stimuli! -> While attention is focused on this stimulus, a whole range of other stimuli will be missed! -> A lot of what he proposed is still used today in other forms!

- Consistent with evolutionary framework (similar time as Darwin’s theories) ! - The philosopher Jerry Fodor has argued that the task could then be implemented on any information-processing system, such as a computer or an alien’s nervous system, similar to a software algorithm!

Behaviourism ! - Argue that subjective experience could not be verified by an objective observed ! - Highly successful approach! - One of the early challenges to introspection!

Two variants radical behaviourism ! - Founded by B.F. Skinner and John Watson! - The theory that only the study of observable behaviour qualified as scientifi! - ‘Internal states’ (thoughts, emotions etc.) are unobservable and therefore not part of scientific psychology!

- Rejected the idea of self-report and instead on placing a stimulus in the world and observing the response!

Two variants methodological behaviourism ! - Founded by Edward Tolman! - The theory that it is acceptable to study ‘internal states’ as long as these can be linked to observable behaviours!

- This is still the approach that underlies much of modern Cognitive Psychology and Associative Learning (i.e. closest to modern cognitive therapy and psychology) !

Psychoanalysis ! - Freud argued that many important psychological events are unconscious ! - Although the details of Freud’s theory have not been supported, the idea that many psychological processes proceed without full conscious awareness is well established !

- Another challenge to introspection !

Psychology and the brain ! - It is known that psychological processes depend on physical activity in the brain! -> E.g. damage to some part of the brain has an effect on psychological functioning!

- Presents the question as to whether it is possible to sidestep the study of behaviour and mental events, and focus instead on neurons and neurotransmitters! -> Several reasons as to why the answer is no, but most importantly is the notion of levels of analysis!

- Psychology tries to describe the psychological processes, such as emotion or memory, and the brain is able to be examined while these are happening, but the two go hand in hand and cannot replace one another !

- The better our functional understanding of the psychological process, the better we can identify the neural mechanisms responsible for the various steps in that process!

Psychology as a natural science ! -

Empirical: based on systematic observation ! Experiments: manipulate one variable to observe effect on another ! Analysis: examine data to determine conclusions that can be drawn ! Theory: used to generate predictions and summarise existing knowledge ! Public: results are subject to review by others!

Developmental psychology Nature VS Nurture ! - Nature: largely genetic (biology and genes); maturation independent of experience! - Nurture: experience and the environment ! - Development proceeds as an interaction of genetic and environmental factors! -> Neither one or the other solely contributes! -> May be a genetic predisposition that only plays out in certain environments e.g. abuse!

Early experience VS later experience ! - To who extent does early learning experience shape later functioning? ! - Can we make up for a lack in optimal early experience later on with no consequences? ! - Critical Period = a period of time during development when certain experiences are crucial for a particular feature of development to emerge! -> Relatively uncommon as there is a fair amount of elasticity in the brain, so it can often make up for a lackof human experience at the critical time! -> E.g. the visual cortex has to have input from the eye at an early stage in order to be set up properly, this may not happen for a number of reasons, such as cataracts!

- Sensitive Period = a period of time during which experience is optimal for the development of a particular function, but is not critical!

Continuity VS discontinuity ! - What is the nature of developmental change? ! - Continuous Development = changes that are gradual and uniform, quantitative and change in amount of skill/behaviour!

- Discontinuous Development = changes that are abrupt and step-like, qualitative and change in kind of skill/behaviour!

- Development is both continuous and discontinuous! - E.g. Locomotive development can look discontinuous as they go from lying, to crawling, to walking. However there is some research to show that newborns can have a stepping motions if their feet are placed on a hard surface and so would then indicate continuity!

Longitudinal studies ! - Longitudinal studies = the same participants are observed, tested, or interviewed repeatedly over a period of time!

- Test the same babies at 6 months and 9 months and 12 months to see how the individual baby changes !

- Single group that you test repeatedly over time! - Measures age-related changes! - Issues : Time consuming, expensive, attrition (loss of participants), generational effects (are studies gained from the sample applicable to other sample and generalised to future generations?)!

Cross-sectional studies ! - Cross-sectional design = Participants from different age groups are studied at the same point in time!

- Different groups of babies that are different ages and your comparing ACROSS categories! - Measure age-related differences!

- You’re not measuring change within individuals you’re just testing the difference in development stages, so can only make conclusions about age-related differences!

- Benefits : Less time-consuming/expensive, take snapshot of time ! - Issues: Cohort effects is when it looks like you have differences but in reality, there’s something else that may account for your differences - create effect in short amount of time !

- E.g. when you’re comparing 20 year olds to 40 year olds there’s something different in life experience that effects your findings!

Eg of the differences : Longitudinal studies & Cross-sectional studies! STUDY 1 : Pascalis et al, (2002) Cross-sectional design with three groups!

- Method: used visual paired comparison (VPC) to see if babies can discriminate between faces, as babies have a novelty preference (prefer new things rather than familiar)!

- Results: found that 6-month babies were able to discriminate between monkey faces and human faces, but this was lost from the 9-month babies and into adulthood!

- Reason : babies experience with faces gradually shapes the way their brain processes faces, initially a baby is open to discriminate all species’ faces but gradually learns that it only needs to be able to distinguish human faces so loses the ability to distinguish between other faces!

- Concluded : something was happening between 6 and 9 mo...