All posts by Psych Yogi

Frowd et al., (2007)

October 2, 2014Forensic Psychology, Interviewing Witnesses, Making a Case, OCR A2 PsychologyForensic Psychology, Interviewing witnesses, Making a case, OCR A2 PsychologyPsych Yogi

Frowd et al., (2007) – The relative importance of external and internal features of facial composites

Background

This is the first study we look at from the ‘Interviewing Witnesses’ section of ‘Making a case’. As part of your OCR A2 Psychology Exam. It is further categorised into ‘Facial Reconstruction.’

Research by both Fantz and Goldstein and Chance highlight the perceptual preference for faces. This leads to increased memory of faces. Fantz showed newborns this image:

Fantz's Face Shapes, Fantz Psychology faces — Fantz’s Face Shapes

The babies all spend the longest time looking at the face on the left. Thus demonstrating an innate human preference for looking at faces.

Goldstein and Spencer showed participants unique images such as snowflakes, ink blots and faces. They found statistically significantly more faces were recalled than any of the other images.

Sinha’s Meta analyisis of stranger face reconstruction (2006) concluded with eight key points.

Firstly, try to identify this image:

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Learned Helplessness

October 1, 2014Articles, Psychology ConceptsAbnormal Psychology, Behaviourist, Psychology ConceptsPsych Yogi

Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness was discovered by Martin Seligman at the university of Pennsylvania. Seligman was conducting behaviourist style experiments on dogs, when he discovered that dogs placed in a position of helplessness learn about their helplessness and then give up all hope.

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PEC Structure for GSCE and AS Exams

September 30, 2014Exam TechniqueA2, As Level, Exam Technique, Exam Techniques, Exams, GSCE, How to pass exams, PsychologyPsych Yogi

PEC Structure for GSCE and AS Exams

What is the PEC Structure?

Simply put, the PEC structure is a way of answering 3 mark questions in GSCE and AS exams.
Continue reading PEC Structure for GSCE and AS Exams →

Daly and Wilson (2001)

September 20, 2014Biology, Forensic Psychology, OCR A2 Psychology, Turning to CrimeBiology, Forensic Psychology, OCR A2 Psychology, Turning To CrimePsych Yogi

Daly and Wilson (2001) – ‘Risk-taking, intrasexual competition, and homicide’, Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 47, 1-36.

Background

This is the third study we look at from the ‘Biology’ section of ‘Turning to Crime’. As part of your OCR A2 Psychology Exam. It is further categorised into ‘Gender.’

Daly and Wilson’s study focuses on gender differences in criminal behaviour. Typically there is an 80/20 spilt between the males and females who are convicted of committing crimes.

There are many explanations offered for this unequal gender divide in crime, including evolutionary explanations and social explanations.

The study took place in Chicago which has around 77 different areas, all of which have varying levels of social and economic prosperity.

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Abnormality

September 18, 2014ArticlesPsych Yogi

Abnormality

‘Abnormality’ was defined by Rosenhan and Seligman (1989) as the absence of normality. This however raises a problem, what is normality? What is it to be normal? Definitions of normality is a controversial topic in Psychology. For now, the simplest way of definition abnormality is: dangerous or harmful behaviour which deviates from the statistical norm. For example a person who self-harms may be labelled as abnormal through this definition. This definition is known as the statistical criterion. Psychologists may use interviews, psychometric tests, neurological tests or observations to diagnose people as abnormal. Continue reading Abnormality →