Positive Psychology: WJEC: As Psychology Terms Part 1

Pharmaceutical drugs used to treat anxiety - e.g., benzodiazepines act as a sedative – slowing down the body’s functions – and are used for both sleeping problems and anxiety.

They work by increasing the effect of a brain chemical called GABA (gamma amino butyric acid). GABA reduces brain activity in the areas of the brain responsible for:

rational thought

memory

emotions

essential functions, such as breathing

The main effects of benzodiazepines are:

sedation

reduced anxiety

muscle relaxation

CRITIQUE

Benzodiazepines are very effective in the short term but they may stop working if you take them continuously for more than a few months. This is because your brain adjusts to their effect, and may be hypersensitive to natural brain chemicals when they are stopped.

Vertical (y) axis shows the variable SCORE.

Horizontal (x) axis shows the variables that were MEASURED.

An approach or school of thought that sees abnormal (and normal) behaviour as learned through conditioning processes.

Behaviourism rejects free will and is deterministic such that if X conditions occur, Y behaviour will (or probably will) happen.

An approach or school of thought that sees psychological problems and issues as a result of physiological origins and symptoms - accordingly, treatment focuses on bio-chemistry or altering physiological conditions.
The mind IS the brain according to this school.
E.g., depression is seen as a chemical imbalance, hence biochemical drugs may be used or surgery.

Investigation of a single participant/patient rather than a study of many people - useful for reviewing extraordinary issues or problems.

Behaviourist theory: we learn from the associations we make between two events - e.g., bell rings, we get food => salivation;

Brownie point explanation from Watson:
“If you pair a neutral stimulus (NS) with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that already triggers an unconditioned response (UR) that neutral stimulus will become a conditioned stimulus (CS), triggering a conditioned response (CR) similar to the original unconditioned response.”

e. g., go to a pub with smoking friends => take out a cigarette.
e. g, enter headmaster’s office => stress :)

An approach or school of thought within the Cognitive Approach: CBT seeks to identify errors or distortions in thinking and to help people see things differently so they may in turn act/behave differently.

This is a statistical technique used to explore whether two variables RELATE in some way or other. Researcher uses DEPENDENT and INDEPENDENT VARIABLES (and tries to keep it to two only)
Positive correlations increase together (e.g., fitness and time in the gym)
Negative correlations - one increases while the other variable decreases (maths scores vs alcohol units)

A statistic describing the correlation that may exist between two variables.
+1 = perfectly positive (x goes up same rate as y goes up)
-1 = perfectly negative (x goes up at the same rate as y goes down)
0 = no correlation
Researchers speak of 'strong' or 'weak' correlations depending on the number.
0.0 to 0.3 is weak,
0.3 to 0.7 is moderate,
above 0.7 is strong.

Used in correlation research: reviewing how data may correlate that are not set up by the researcher (i.e., no dependent or independent variables) but to see if one set of data has a relationship with another.
E.g., urbanisation vs depression.
The covariate/covariable may explain a psychological issue. So, "A high level of urbanisation is associated with increased risk of psychosis and depression for both women and men."
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/urbanisation-and-incidence-of-psychosis-and-depression/AF3FDF51E9DA192097BEF153D9A02148