Professional Development and Training 6PS03 and 6PS04 Raising A2 Achievement

Slide 2 6PS04 How Psychology Works 2 hours 90 marks Two compulsory sections 1.Clinical Psychology 2.Issues and Debates Short answer questions; one 12 mark essay at end of each application and a final essay question worth 18 marks

Professional Development and Training Clinical Psychology

Unit 4 Schizophrenia Identify and describe the symptoms of schizophrenia Features vs. symptoms Don't just describe all the different types of delusions to the exclusion of other symptoms. Best explanations of schizophrenia > Biological then >Social then >Cognitive Social drift is only appropriate as an evaluation of social causation theories, not as an explanation in its own right. Slide 4

Use research to support arguments as it makes an answer more convincing. There are numerous studies (e.g. Kapur et al) that have used PET scans to demonstrate the differences in dopamine activity in schizophrenic brains. When evaluating primary or secondary data make comparisons between them Most popular other studies in detail Brown et al (1986) Depression and social support Mumford and Whitehouse(1989) Asian schoolgirls in Bradford Goldstein (1988) Gender differences in schizophrenia Cook and Mineka (1988) Fear in rhesus monkeys Slide 5

It is important that candidates are made aware of the dangers of using general evaluation points about a study in detail Token economy: needs to link to clinical not criminal psychology i.e. Mental health rather than disruptive behaviour in prisons Systematic desensitisation: Use research undertaken into the effectiveness of the therapy e.g. McGrath et al (1980) found 75% of ps got better following SD Slide 6

Choose two research methods that fit with schizophrenia studies e.g. If doing Gottesman and Shields (1966) then use twin studies as a method Can evaluate one explanation of schizophrenia by contrasting it with another explanation Biological explanation can include either/all of: 1. Genetics (Twins) 2. Bio Chemical (Dopamine) 3. Brain structure / abnormalities Slide 7

Idea to use the same 2 treatments for schizophrenia as part of the 5 for each approach e.g. ECT for Biological and schizophrenia e.g. CBT for Learning and anorexia Issues of validity, reliability and culture regarding diagnosis of disorders (including the DSM) must have some research evidence: Heather (1976) Low percentage of predictive validity Cooper (1972) US – UK poor reliability for same symptoms Fernando (1992) Misdiagnosis of ethnic minorities Slide 8

Slide 9 Comparisons A comparison is an evaluation point IF it shows a similarity or a difference E.g. the psychodynamic approach suggests that the cause of mental disorders is an imbalance between the id, ego and superego whereas the social approach views them as caused by social factors such as stress and family circumstances E.g. both the psychodynamic and social approach stress the importance of parents in determining our behaviour through early childhood experiences and current family relationships respectively

Slide 10 Rubric rules If asked to describe two theories etc and you only describe one, the marks will be “maxed” Watch out for part (b) relying on part (a) Do mention the content of the question e.g. One of the problems in using the token economy to treat offenders is … Take note of the word(s) in bold they are in bold for a reason

Slide 11 How to evaluate G R A V E Generalise Reliability Application (to real life / society) Validity (task and setting) Ethics

Slide 12 QualitativeMethod Quantitative (observations; surveys;(lab.exps) case studies etc.) RichType of information producedNarrow SubjectiveScientific statusObjective NaturalisticSettingArtificial UnstructuredDesignStructured HighValidityLow LowReliabilityHigh The table above can be used for A02 marks when evaluating methods in general!

Slide 13 Professional Development and Training from Edexcel - Issue 1 September 2009 © copyright Edexcel Ltd AO3 CHECKLIST – Planning a study of your own EthicsDescribe 5 BPS guidelines involving use of humans. Describe 5 ethical guidelines with regard to use of non-human animals. Methods Describe use of following methods: experiments, observations, questionnaires, interviews, case study and content analysis. Advantages and disadvantages of each. Designs Describe following designs used: independent measures, repeated measures(inc. counterbalancing) matched pairs and correlations. Advantages and disadvantages of each. Samples Describe random, self selected, opportunity, stratified and volunteer sampling. Advantages and disadvantages of each. Hypotheses Null, experimental/alternative, one and two tailed. Variables IV, DV, operationalisation of variables, confounding/extraneous variables (e.g. Participant and situational) and control of these.

Slide 14 DO’S AND DON’TS DO adapt your body of knowledge to the specific requirements of the individual questions cross out wrong answers make reference to both IV and DV in hypotheses know the difference between a practical and a key issue always describe a study using the following format: aim; procedure; results; conclusion;

Slide 15 DON’T pre-prepare answers and then make to fit the nearest question Make careless errors, such as missing out the odd word or number, means you won’t achieve full marks for a question ignore questions that have specific requirements. Thus a question that asks for two criticisms is not an open-ended invitation to present every evaluation you know Give too many one-word answers for one-mark questions (IV / DV) or get them mixed up Make scripts difficult to read by using text language (e.g. L8 for late) use bullet point in your answers draw maps with lots of arrows of where you have written the new answer