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Flashcards in Psychology Deck (52)
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1
Q

At what point in development does the brain double in size? And why?

A

Third trimester to age 2 due to increased synapses and myelination

2
Q

Describe Hubel and Wiesels theory of critical periods of brain development

A

Periods when environmental stimulation causes very active wiring/reshaping the brain: experience causes constellation of neural
firing patterns, Experience repeats, firing pattern repeats, Neurochemicals finalise pattern by switching off ability to
rewire/refire in alternate pattern, Critical period ends
No stimulation during critical period: no proper brain development
Development of social brain: empathy, ability to regulate emotions, ability to delay gratification
Childrens’ brains more plastic than adults

3
Q

Describe Piaget’s theory of human cognitive development

A

Children all go through same universal process of cognitive development
Child is born with a small number of innate schemas (cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions tightly interconnected and governed by core meaning) including thoughts, actions and knowledge about a particular situation
Due to biological maturation and environmental stimulation, child builds more and more schemas of increasing complexity
Eg Innate and simple: sucking reflex, Learned and complex: ordering food at a restaurant

4
Q

According to Piaget, what are the 2 ways in which a child can build up knowledge?

A

Assimilation: existing schema works well for new situation, knowledge attached to new situation is assimilated into existing schema
Accommodation: No existing schema fits new situation, so a schema must be altered to accommodate the new information

5
Q

What are piagets stages?

A

Sensorimotor 0-2 y object permanence
Pre-operational 2-7 y egocentric
Concrete operations 7-11 y conservation of number
Formal operations 11+ y abstract thinking

6
Q

What is object permanence?

A

infant looks for an object after it is hidden

7
Q

Describe the pre operational stage of Piaget

A

Child is egocentric: sees the world from own perspective, language development rapidly progresses, use of symbols (play, magical
thinking), does not yet understand conservation of number/volume

8
Q

What is the concrete operations stage of Piaget?

A

onset of logical thinking, children can now understand conservation of number, volume

9
Q

What is the formal operations stage of Piaget?

A

onset of abstract, systematic thinking, ability to manipulate different
aspects of a problem to come to imaginative solutions
If A>B and B>C, then A>C

10
Q

What are the implications of piagets work?

A

Children need to be ‘ready’ before they can move to the
next stage (don’t try teaching trigonometry to a three year old)
Students must be active in their own learning
Teachers should help children ‘discover’ the world, providing experiences that force accommodation of schemata

11
Q

What are criticisms of piagets work?

A

Research based on subjective data, small sample size
No account taken of culture
Underestimates childrens’ abilities
Overestimates adults’ abilities (only 40-60% of college students may reach formal operations)

12
Q

Describe Vygotskys social and cultural development theory

A

Learning does not follow a universal process in all cultures
Learning happens socially, and can be rapidly increased through help from others
Learning happens through language: self-talk, private (inner) talk

13
Q

Describe the theory of mind

A

Children do not automatically know that others do not know the
same things they know: it develops over time
Developing this skill helps children to understand and anticipate the actions of others, understand feelings of others, empathise

14
Q

Which groups of people may have deficits in their theory of mind skills?

A

Autism
Schizophrenia
Attention deficit disorder

15
Q

What factors may affect the way a person responds to a situation?

A

Temperament: inborn tendencies: (novelty-seeking, reward dependence, harm avoidance, persistence)
Personality: develops with experience
Life experience
People tend to have set patterns of perception, emotional and physical reactions, automatic thoughts, and behavioural tendencies in response to a situation

16
Q

What are the Theories of cognitive development?

A

Piaget
Vygotsky
Theory of mind

17
Q

What factors increase the complexity of healthcare?

A

Patient: co morbidities
Deprivation index
Hospital environment: culture, leadership, staffing
Workload: defensive practice, paperwork, training, understaffing, no time
Team: supportive? Right mix? Adequate training?
Culture: how doctors are perceived

18
Q

What is heuristics?

A

rule of thumb solutions
quick decision-making process, takes best-fit approach to find solution, often does not take all information into account
allows one to focus on KEY facts
Often the easiest…but not always the BEST solutions

19
Q

What shortcuts in thinking do we have?

A

Heuristics: best fit, rule of thumb
Auto pilot: use pre-existing schema to react to a situation
often works well, trouble occurs when schema does not fit the situation

20
Q

What is attribution bias?

A

attribute our errors to situational factors
We attribute errors of others to character flaws
I was a bit unkind today,but only because I’m so overworked
SHE on the other hand is such a complete !*&%’

21
Q

What is Discounting of disconfirmatory evidence?

A

Tendency to stick with a diagnosis once it’s been chosen, even when new/conflicting information comes in

22
Q

What errors of thinking do we have?

A
Attribution bias
Discounting of discomfirmatory evidence 
Availability bias 
Affective bias 
theory of cognitive dissonance
Effects of stress and fatigue 
Diffusion of responsibility 
Pressure to conform
23
Q

What is availability bias?

A

Tending to come up with a solution that happens to be on your
mind
that’s the fifth depression I’ve seen this week

24
Q

What is affective bias?

A

Basing your decisions on your emotional reaction to a patient
Oh, she’s really needy, she’s just looking for attention

25
Q

What is the theory of cognitive dissonance?

A

If we find ourselves acting in a way that does not fit with our
thoughts or values, this causes discomfort…
Often we change our thinking, rather than altering our actions…
‘Stealing is wrong’
I have taken 3 staplers from work, Well, I’ve only borrowed them

26
Q

What is pressure to conform?

A

several people give a wrong answer, even if clearly wrong, others feel pressured to agree
Having a ‘mate’ greatly increases ability to give correct answers
3 or more opposing people is enough to encourage conformity

27
Q

What effects do stress and fatigue have on thinking?

A

To fully perceive a situation accurately and respond appropriately is effortful
When stressed, our ability to think flexibly declines
We are far more likely to resort to quick/automatic/error-prone thinking
Errors are more likely

28
Q

What is diffusion of responsibility?

A

The more people are aware of a problem, the more

everybody else thinks someone else will do something about it

29
Q

How can you best avoid medical errors?

A

Be realistic: have a system that helps recognise when likely to make errors, ensure to check thinking at those times with others
Safety netting: ‘Come back in 2 days if you’re no better’
Diagnosis: Every diagnosis is provisional, until new information
Red flags: prompts to help you act
Insert thinking points into your care plan: rethink cases from scratch
Hierarchy and pressure to conform: Errors more likely if junior staff too trusting of what they are told, teams should have processes to help
people speak up
Teams: Share your work, be supervised, keep checking your work against others (reflective practice)

30
Q

Aside from feelings, what other things can affect the way we act?

A

Environment around us
Roles we are assigned
What we learn from others

31
Q

Which psychological experiments looked at external environmental factors in how people behave?

A

Milgram’s experiments: power of an authority figure
Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment: power of roles, power of example
Grossman: psychology of killing

32
Q

What is attribution bias?

A

Cognitive bias
Systematic errors made when people evaluate or try to find reason for their own or others behaviour
Attributions do not always mirror reality

33
Q

What gender differences exist in how people cope with med school and future careers?

A

Men: increased levels of hazardous ignorance, don’t do as well in medical school, but do better later
Women: too cautious in negatively marked exams, excel early on, but still not getting to top jobs

34
Q

How does adopting an assigned role help people to deal with feelings?

A

Comfortable, don’tneed to think/feel

35
Q

How does submitting to authority help people to deal with feelings?

A

Removes responsibility, don’t need to think/avoid feeling helpless and/or responsible

36
Q

How does hiding behind bureaucracy help people to deal with their feelings?

A

Provides clear processes that are at least fairly applied: don’t need to think of individuals

37
Q

How does blindness to prejudice help people to deal with their feelings?

A

Comfortable, tendency to think everyone has the same advantages we have

38
Q

What strategies can people use to help them deal with feelings?

A

Adopting an assigned role
Submitting to authority
Hiding behind bureaucracy
Blindness to prejudice

39
Q

A patient who falls ill has certain rights and obligations, what is the sick role?

A

Exempt from duty
Exempt from blame
Must try to get better
Must seek and comply with treatment

40
Q

What are difficulties with the sick role model of patients?

A

Patients now often work through illness
Many illnesses now known to have behavioural contributors
What about chronic disease, where people cannot get better?
Patients now more likely to have to self-manage their illnesses

41
Q

Describe the main aim of the chronic care model

A

Perfect health not the goal: a return to as normal a life as possible the new standard in healthcare

42
Q

The Chronic Care Model identified the major changes the healthcare system must go through in order to complement the patient’s priorities, what are they?

A

Creation of a healthcare culture and delivery system which promotes safe, high quality care
Empowering of patients to achieve self-management in the community
Decision support and clinical information systems which make it easy to transfer between care settings

43
Q

Why is the expert patient an important part of the chronic care model?

A

They can tell us how to minimise effects of illness on their life

44
Q

Within the reciprocal roles model, what roles can the patient adopt?

A

Compliant patient
Rebellious patient
Silent patient

45
Q

Within the reciprocal roles model, what roles can the doctor adopt?

A

Healer
Carer
Authority figure
Partner in care

46
Q

What reciprocal roles are adopted by patient and doctor in the chronic care model?

A

Patient is the expert

Doctor compliant with needs of patient

47
Q

What are the branches of the cognitive behavioural model relating to dealing with feelings?

A
Situation
Sensations
Feelings
Thoughts
Behaviour
48
Q

What are the branches of Malans triangles?

A
Situation
Current 
Past
Feelings 
Defences
Anxiety
49
Q

What antigens are present on RBCs in a person with A+ blood group?

A

A antigen

Rhesus D antigen

50
Q

What determines which blood group antibodies a person will express?

A

Body develops antibodies to the antigens it lacks
ABO antibodies present constitutively from 6 months of life
Other types of blood antigen need prior exposure to develop antibodies

51
Q

What determines antigen specificity in the ABO system?

A

Sequence of oligosaccharides making up antigen

52
Q

What do the A, B and O genes code for in the ABO system?

A

A and B: Enzyme that catalyses final step in antigen production
O: inactive enzyme, H antigen remains unmodified and this is not antigenic