AQA A-Level Psychology Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Long video covering AQA A-Level Psychology by Tim.
• Not all information needed for every exam.
• Options in the last paper; use timestamps to navigate.
• Additional resources and courses on the speaker's website.

Conformity

• Types of Conformity: Internalization, Compliance, Identification
  • Internalization: Adopting beliefs/behavior of a group.
  • Compliance: Aligning behavior despite personal doubts.
  • Identification: Adopting norms associated with a particular role.
• Explanations for Conformity
  • ISI (Informational Social Influence): Based on information from others.
  • NSI (Normative Social Influence): Based on social norms and expectations.
• Sheriff's Study (1935)
  • Investigated ISI using optical illusion (autokinetic effect).
  • Participants' estimates converged to a group norm.
• Ash's Study (1951)
  • Investigated NSI using line matching task.
  • Confederates influenced participants to give wrong answers.

Factors Influencing Conformity

• Situational Factors
  • Group Size: Influence peaks at a certain point.
  • Social Support: Reduces likelihood of conforming.
  • Task Difficulty: Increases conformity.
• Dispositional Factors
  • Gender: No strong conclusions.
  • Experience and Expertise: Reduces conformity.

Social Roles

• Definition: Positions within society with expected behaviors.
• Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)
  • Examined conformity to social roles.
  • Severe ethical issues, both guards and prisoners conformed to roles.
• Orlando's Mock Psychiatric Ward (1973)
  • Hospital staff began to assume roles of real patients.

Obedience

• Milgram's Experiments (1963)
  • Participants instructed to deliver shocks; high obedience observed.
  • Ethical issues: deception, stress, nervous breakdowns.
• Factors Influencing Obedience
  • Proximity: Reduced obedience when learner was visible.
  • Allies: Presence of dissent reduced obedience.
  • Location: Prestige of location increased obedience.

Agency Theory

• Concept: Obedience due to being in an agentic state.
• Binding Factors
  • Reluctance to disrupt.
  • Pressure from authority figures.

Legitimacy of Authority

• Legal Process: Authority backed by law.
• Knowledge/Experience: Trust in experts like doctors.
• Social Norms: Authority derived from social norms.

Authoritarian Personality

• Definition: Obedience to superiors, aggression to inferiors.
• Research by Adono (1950)
  • Developed F-scale to measure authoritarian traits.

Resistance to Social Influence

• Social Support: Increases likelihood of dissent.
• Aspects of Personality: Internal locus of control reduces conformity.

Minority Influence

• Moscovici's Experiment (1969)
  • Minority influence on majority through consistency and flexibility.
• Social Impact Theory (1981)
  • Factors: Strength, Numbers, Immediacy.
• Snowball Effect: Minority view becomes majority.

Memory

• Types of Memory
  • Sensory Register: Stores sensory information briefly.
  • Short-Term Memory (STM): Limited capacity, stores acoustically.
  • Long-Term Memory (LTM): Infinite capacity, stores episodic, semantic, procedural memories.
• Key Experiments
  • Sperling (1960): Sensory register.
  • Peterson & Peterson (1959): STM capacity and duration.
  • Bahrick et al. (1975): LTM for classmates.

Memory Models

• Multi-Store Model (1968): Atkinson & Shiffrin.
  • Information passes through sensory register, STM, LTM.
• Working Memory Model (1974): Baddeley & Hitch.
  • Central executive controls three slave systems: visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, phonological loop.

Forgetting

• Interference Theory
  • Retroactive: New information affects old.
  • Proactive: Old information affects new.
• Cue Dependent Forgetting
  • Retrieval based on cues and triggers.

Eyewitness Testimony

• Loftus & Palmer (1974)
  • Impact of leading questions on memory accuracy.
• Factors Influencing EWT
  • Post-Event Information
  • Age: Young and old recall less accurately.
  • Anxiety: Affects recall accuracy.
• Cognitive Interview Technique
  • Developed by Geiselman (1984) to improve EWT accuracy.

Attachment

• Definition: Emotional bond between infant and caregiver.
• Infant Interactions
  • Sensitive Responsiveness: Caregiver responds to infant signals.
  • Imitation: Infant mimics caregiver.
  • Interactional Synchrony: Reactions in time with speech.
  • Reciprocity: Turn-taking in interactions.
  • Motherese: Sing-song speech to infants.
• Stages of Attachment (Schaffer & Emerson, 1964)
  • Pre-Attachment: Birth to 3 months.
  • Indiscriminate: 6 weeks to 7 months.
  • Discriminant: 7 to 11 months.
  • Multiple Attachments: 9 months onwards.

Animal Studies in Attachment

• Lorenz (1935) and Imprinting
• Harlow (1959) and Contact Comfort

Learning Theory of Attachment

• Classical and Operant Conditioning

Bowlby's Monotropic Theory

• Concept: Single primary attachment forms basis for future relationships.

Types of Attachment

• Secure
• Insecure Avoidant
• Insecure Resistant

Strange Situation Research (Ainsworth, 1978)

• Meta-Analysis by Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988)

Disruption of Attachment

• Separation and Deprivation
• Robertson & Robertson (1968)

Institutionalization and Privation

• Rutter et al. (2007) and Romanian Orphans

Internal Working Model

• Influence on future relationships

Abnormality

• Definitions and Deviations
  • Statistical Norms
  • Failure to Function
• Jahoda's Ideal Mental Health (1958)

Mental Illness Symptoms

• Impairment of Intellectual Functions
• Alterations to Mood
• Delusional Beliefs
• Disordered Thinking

Depression

• Types: Major and Manic Depression
• Symptoms: Behavioral, Cognitive, Emotional

Phobias

• Types: Specific, Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety Disorder
• Characteristics: Cognitive, Behavioral, Physical, Emotional

OCD

• Obsessions and Compulsions
• Types of Compulsions

Cognitive Approach to Depression

• Ellis' ABC Model (1962)
• Beck's Negative Triad (1963)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Process and Goals

Behavioral Approach to Phobias

• Classical and Operant Conditioning

Treatments for Phobias

• Systematic Desensitization
• Flooding

Biological Approach to OCD

• Genetic, Biochemical, Neurological Factors
• Drug Treatments

Psychology Overview

• Psychology vs. Psychiatry
• Is Psychology a Science?
• Approaches in Psychology: Behavioral, Psychodynamic, Cognitive, Biological, Humanistic

Research Methods

• Scientific Process and Peer Review
• Types of Experiments: Lab, Field, Natural, Quasi
• Observations and Correlational Research
• Questionnaires and Interviews
• Case Studies
• Research Aims and Hypotheses
• Experimental Designs: Independent Groups, Repeated Measures, Matched Pairs
• Control of Variables
• Reliability and Validity
• Improving Validity and Reliability
• Sampling Methods: Random, Opportunity, Volunteer, Systematic, Stratified
• Bias and Ethical Issues
• Analyzing Data: Descriptive Statistics, Qualitative Data, Primary and Secondary Data
• Writing a Research Report

Issues and Debates

• Gender Bias: Alpha and Beta Bias
• Cultural Bias: Ethnocentrism
• Free Will vs. Determinism
• Holism vs. Reductionism
• Nature vs. Nurture
• Idiographic vs. Nomothetic Approaches
• Socially Sensitive Research

Relationships

• Evolutionary Psychology: Partner Choice and Sexual Selection
• Physical Attraction and Self-Disclosure
• Filter Theory
• Social Exchange and Equity Theory
• Investment Model of Relationships
• Duck's Phase Model of Relationship Breakdown
• Virtual and Parasocial Relationships

Gender

• Sex vs. Gender
• Sex Roles and Stereotypes
• Androgyny and Gender Identity Disorder
• Biological Explanations of Gender
• Cognitive Development and Gender Schema Theories
• Freud's Psychodynamic Approach to Gender
• Social Learning Theory and Gender Universality

Cognitive Development

• Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
• Vygotsky's Theory
• Bellagion's Research on Object Permanence

Social Cognition

• Self Sense and Theory of Mind
• Perspective Taking (Selman)
• Mirror Neurons and Social Neuroscience

Schizophrenia

• Symptoms and Types
• Diagnosis and Issues of Comorbidity
• Biological and Environmental Explanations
• Therapies: Drug, CBT, Family, Token Economy, Interactionist Approach

Eating Behavior

• Evolutionary, Social, and Cultural Influences
• Appetite Regulation: Hypothalamus, Hormones
• Anorexia and Obesity Explanations

Stress

• Definitions and Responses
• Effects on Health
• Life Events and Daily Hassles
• Stress in the Workplace
• Measurement and Individual Differences
• Treatments for Stress

Aggression

• Definitions and Biological Explanations
• Ethological and Evolutionary Explanations
• Social Explanations and Media Influence
• Aggression in Prisons

Forensic Psychology

• Definitions and Measuring Crime
• Offender Profiling: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches
• Biological and Psychological Explanations of Crime
• Custodial Sentencing and Alternatives
• Rehabilitation Techniques

Addiction

• Definitions and Types
• Smoking and Gambling Addictions
• Risk Factors for Addiction
• Treatments for Addiction

This comprehensive overview captures the main topics, concepts, and research related to AQA A-Level Psychology, as elaborated in the lecture. It includes foundational theories, key studies, and modern applications across various psychological domains.