The basic study of eyewitness testimony

The basic study of eyewitness testimony was held by Loftus and Palmer’s (1974). In this study, their aim was to investigate how information supplied after an event, influences a witness's memory for that event.

 Loftus and Palmer showed a series of car crash’s video to 45 students. They asked each student to fill in a questionnaire after they had seen video. One of the question was ‘How fast were the cars traveling they (smashed / collided/ bumped/ hit / contacted) into each other? Each group receives a sentence with different verb.

That finding was that the estimated speed was affected verb used. The verb implied information about the speed, which systematically affected the participants’ memory of the accidents. For example in Loftus and Palmer's second experiment, the participants first form some memory of the video they have witnessed. The experimenter then, while asking ‘Did you see any broken glass?’

It is very clear that questions following an event can influence our memories, so much so that those who were asked about speed of the car using the word ‘smashed’ felt that there was indeed smashed glass. Those not asked about the speed, and those in the group where the word ‘hit’ was used, were much less likely to remember seeing glass.

This research suggests that the wording of questions can affect the judgments of an eyewitness, and may prompt false memories.

Individual difference in modifying the effect of stressors

Not everyone reacts to stress in the same way, Individual differences are important when considering the effects of stressors. Key variable to consider include:

Personality: Type A individual cope less well with stress and are more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease. Type B individuals are more relaxed. Type C individuals may be more prone to cancer because they respond to stress by suppressing their emotions.

Hardiness: Hardly individuals cope better with stress than those who are not hardy.

Gender: Women have smaller physiological reactions than men to some stressful situations. They tend to respond to stressful situations with a tend-and-befriend response whereas men show a fight-or-flight response. The effect of oxytocin (which makes people less anxious) are reduced by male sex hormones but increased by female sex hormones.

Culture: Some cultural practices may reduce stress and increase longevity. Black Americans may have more essential hypertension than white Americans which may be because of psychological factors, or because they are more likely to respond to stressful situations with suppressed anger.

The relationship between stress and illness

The relationship between stress and physical illness is extremely complex. Caution is needed before generalizing from animal research to humans, and inferring causation from corelational studies needs to be avoided. However, research has suggested that stress can cause colds, gastric, ulcers, and cardiovascular disorders. Stress may cause illness directly by affecting the working of the immune system (the activity of lymphocytes, natural killer sells, endorphins). The field that investigates this is called psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), but the approach has been criticized for being oversimplified. Stress may cause illnesses indirectly by affecting people’s life style in that they might drink or smoke more, or take less care of themselves.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis governs the stress response in that first is that the hypothalamus directs ANS activity via the corticotrophic releasing factor (CRF). Secondly, CRF stimulates the anterior pituitary and this triggers the release of hormones in the endocrine system (which is a group of ductless glands). Thirdly, the pituitary hormone AVTH stimulates the adrenal cortex, which produces adrenaline and nonadrenaline. Fourthly, Both of these are released as respone to stress, and they then create sympathetic arousal (which includes raised heart rate and sweating). Finally, the adrenal cortex also releases hormones such as cortisol which result in parasympatheric activity such as suppression of the immune system.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS)

The ANS is concerned with involuntary movements and vital bodily functions, and is automatic. It is divided into two branches which are the sympathetic branch, which activates internal organs for flight or flight. The second is the parasympathetic branch, which conserve energy and promotes metabolism. These two branches often operate in opposition to each other and maintain homeostasis. The ANS achieves its effect via the endocrine system which produces hormones. In stress situations, the immediate shock response arouses the sympathetic branch which prepares the individual for flight or fight. This followed by the countershock response which is designed to minimize any damage caused by the shock response. It involves the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and seeks to return the body to its parasympathetic state.

Stress

Stress is an innate, defensive response to situations that threaten survival.

The bodily response to stress can be explained by looking at:

-       -The role of the autonomic nervous system and

-       -The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. However, the beneficial effects of activity in this system (described below) are achieved at much cost, and it cannot continue indefinitely at an elevated level of activity.

Continued stress can deplete our resources and may lead to illness.

Effects of Day Care

The effects of day care on social, emotional and cognitive development. The effects of social and emotional development are contradictory in many children benefit from attending day care and in that they become more sociable, for children who are shy, and insecurely attached children do not thrive in day care. However children seem to be attached to their primary caregivers, whether or not they are in day care. The effects of day care on cognitive developments depend very much on whether the cognitive stimulation provided at day care is an improvement on that provided at home. Day care has been shown to improve cognitive development in disadvantaged children, especially where intervention continues throughout childhood.

Critical Issue of Day Care

Day Care is mentioned to care infant that is provided by people which is other than the parent of relatives of the infant. It can take different form as nurseries, childminders, play groups, etc. Some people interpret that day care is bad thing. Separation of the infant and their parent would harm the child`s emotional development if the infant spent time away from a primary caregiver. In America in the 1960s there was a move towards providing pre-school care for disadvantaged children to enable them to start school on a par with their more middle-class peers. There are arguments for and against it.

Individual Differences

The main idea of “Individual Differences” is that everyone responds differently and their way of reaction. These may be caused by their innate temperamental, differences as concerning their learning terms or by following (modeling) other one’s behavior. Or it could be that differences may be related to cultural styles. For example the Japanese try to accept problems, but on one hand the Westerners take control and try to change stressful situation. The type of personality has long history in psychology. In the 1950s Friedman and Rosen man introduced a new “typology” to psychology. They showed two important personality types which were Type A and Type B. Type A is competitive, ambitious, impatient, and restless and pressured. Type B is lake these characters and are generally more relaxed than Type A.