Asses the use of psychological knowledge in society – refer to two topics in your answer (20
Marks)
One aspect of biological psychology that illustrates how psychological knowledge can be used to
benefit society by putting drug treatments in place for disorders such as Schizophrenia. For example,
the dopamine hypothesis explain that that increased levels of dopamine (hyperdopaminergia)
causes the positive symptoms of SZ. This knowledge help clinicians to prescribe the right drug
treatments for the patients such as Risperidone which would make the society feel more
comfortable in taking drug treatments to cure SZ. However, these drug treatments has side effects
that may limit the patient in taking these drugs. Other theories such as the clinical approach suggest
that non-biological treatments such as CBT may be more helpful in terms of having less risk which
Kuipers at al have found to be a good option for drug treatment resistant patients. This is important
as it shows that the psychological knowledge of both clinical and biological psychology gives an
option for the patients with SZ and also the clinicians to choose which treatments are suitable, which
puts more confidence for SZ patients to function in society by going to being able to go to work or be
employed.
One aspect of social psychology that illustrates how psychological knowledge can be used to benefit
society in the methods of decreasing prejudice levels and conflict. For example, the realistic conflict
theory suggests that conflict and prejudice occurs when two groups compete on achieving a goal
that only one group can succeed. Furthermore, the introduction of superordinate goals would help
reduce levels of prejudice and conflict in society based on the findings of Sherif et al on their
Robbers Cave experiment. This is important as it highlights that prejudice and conflict will be
reduced once institutions or the society start giving opportunities for groups to work in achieving
one specific goal for everyone. However, Sherif’s experiment may illustrate the importance of
superordinate goals in society his sample are not generalisable and are culturally biased consisting of
only protestant boys from America. This is important as it shows that even if the understanding of
the realistic conflict theory to reduce prejudice and conflict in society, this could not be applicable in
other cultures.
One aspect of cognitive psychology that illustrates how psychological knowledge can be used to
benefit society by improving student’s memory for revision. For example, the Multi-store model
shows that the STM is encoded acoustically (Baddley, 1966b) and has a limited capacity of 5-9 items
(Miller, 1956) that if a student tries to exceed it, it will not be retained. The method of chunking
helps to store more than the limited capacity, by linking ideas together. For example, 15 letters C A R
D O G L I T P E N B U Y can be chunked into groups: CAR, DOG, LIT, PEN, BUY. This is important as it
shows that the knowledge in cognitive psychology can help improve memory in practical ways which
could be applied in revisions. Furthermore, other mode suggest that the STM can also encode
visually. Baddley (1975) for example explains that the visuo-spatial sketchpad and the phonological
loop can work together. This shows that in addition, the use of visual techniques could also help in
improving memory of students, so listening to tutorial videos may help revisions.
One aspect of learning psychology that illustrates how psychological knowledge can be used to
benefit society by treating phobias. For example, the learning approach explains that phobias are
conditioned and in order to treat them they can be unlearned or counter-conditioned. The process
of systematic desensitisation is a method for a person to overcome their phobias. The anxiety
hierarchy allows patients with phobias to associate calmness to the fear object. This is important as
it highlights that treatments in phobias will help people to contribute in society by being able to go
improve their quality life such as going to work.
Marks)
One aspect of biological psychology that illustrates how psychological knowledge can be used to
benefit society by putting drug treatments in place for disorders such as Schizophrenia. For example,
the dopamine hypothesis explain that that increased levels of dopamine (hyperdopaminergia)
causes the positive symptoms of SZ. This knowledge help clinicians to prescribe the right drug
treatments for the patients such as Risperidone which would make the society feel more
comfortable in taking drug treatments to cure SZ. However, these drug treatments has side effects
that may limit the patient in taking these drugs. Other theories such as the clinical approach suggest
that non-biological treatments such as CBT may be more helpful in terms of having less risk which
Kuipers at al have found to be a good option for drug treatment resistant patients. This is important
as it shows that the psychological knowledge of both clinical and biological psychology gives an
option for the patients with SZ and also the clinicians to choose which treatments are suitable, which
puts more confidence for SZ patients to function in society by going to being able to go to work or be
employed.
One aspect of social psychology that illustrates how psychological knowledge can be used to benefit
society in the methods of decreasing prejudice levels and conflict. For example, the realistic conflict
theory suggests that conflict and prejudice occurs when two groups compete on achieving a goal
that only one group can succeed. Furthermore, the introduction of superordinate goals would help
reduce levels of prejudice and conflict in society based on the findings of Sherif et al on their
Robbers Cave experiment. This is important as it highlights that prejudice and conflict will be
reduced once institutions or the society start giving opportunities for groups to work in achieving
one specific goal for everyone. However, Sherif’s experiment may illustrate the importance of
superordinate goals in society his sample are not generalisable and are culturally biased consisting of
only protestant boys from America. This is important as it shows that even if the understanding of
the realistic conflict theory to reduce prejudice and conflict in society, this could not be applicable in
other cultures.
One aspect of cognitive psychology that illustrates how psychological knowledge can be used to
benefit society by improving student’s memory for revision. For example, the Multi-store model
shows that the STM is encoded acoustically (Baddley, 1966b) and has a limited capacity of 5-9 items
(Miller, 1956) that if a student tries to exceed it, it will not be retained. The method of chunking
helps to store more than the limited capacity, by linking ideas together. For example, 15 letters C A R
D O G L I T P E N B U Y can be chunked into groups: CAR, DOG, LIT, PEN, BUY. This is important as it
shows that the knowledge in cognitive psychology can help improve memory in practical ways which
could be applied in revisions. Furthermore, other mode suggest that the STM can also encode
visually. Baddley (1975) for example explains that the visuo-spatial sketchpad and the phonological
loop can work together. This shows that in addition, the use of visual techniques could also help in
improving memory of students, so listening to tutorial videos may help revisions.
One aspect of learning psychology that illustrates how psychological knowledge can be used to
benefit society by treating phobias. For example, the learning approach explains that phobias are
conditioned and in order to treat them they can be unlearned or counter-conditioned. The process
of systematic desensitisation is a method for a person to overcome their phobias. The anxiety
hierarchy allows patients with phobias to associate calmness to the fear object. This is important as
it highlights that treatments in phobias will help people to contribute in society by being able to go
improve their quality life such as going to work.
