PSYC1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Confirmation Bias, Psychological Trauma, Scientific Method
PSYC1001
26TH FEBRUARY 2018
CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES IN PSYCHOLOGY
× CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS-
- Perform assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders
× Seek out psychological techniques to alter their emotions or behaviours,
rather than prescribing pharmaceutical drugs (as a psychiatrist would)
- Conduct research on people with mental disorders (focusing on the abnormal
emotions or behaviours that people may experience)
- Work in colleges & universities, mental health centres or private practice
RECOGNISE AND APPRECIATE THE ROLE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN PSYCHOLOGY
× Psychology is based on the ‘scientific method’
- The scientific method is adopted as a procedural safeguard against errors
(especially those which could work in their favour), thus enabling scientists to
overcome confirmation bias
× Confirmation bias- the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our
hypotheses and deny, dismiss or distort evidence that contradicts them
HOW THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS RELEVANT AND APPLICABLE TO PSYCHOLOGY:
× (Prof. Richard Bryant’s area of expertise): post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety
condition experienced by some people who are exposed to a traumatic incident or set of
circumstances, typically a war, natural disaster, rape, terrorism or serious car accident
- Characterised by distressing memories of the event, anxiety, and avoidance of
(intrusive, plaguing) reminders
× A common measure taken to prevent post-traumatic stress has been to offer counselling,
termed “psychological debriefing”- occurring within 48 hours of trauma exposure, and
requires people to discuss their experience and emotional responses
- THIS DOES NOT WORK (controlled trials have proven this)- the scientific method is
utilised to invalidate this strategy
1. What is being tested needs to be measurable, using standardised
assessment- e.g. PTSD needs to be assessed in a reliable, standardised and
objective way, despite emotions being a more ‘abstract’ thing to measure
a. Immense effort has gone into developing measurement tools to
standardise what all the different symptoms are (meaning that
regardless of the person displaying the symptom, the same
result will be produced)
b. However, this needs to be measured before and after
treatment, to determine whether change has occurred
(assessment must be independent)
c. These tests have been performed for psychological debriefing,
and shown immense change before and afterwards ® a
remarkable decrease in symptoms observed- but this could be
due to a range of factors (see 2)
2. We can’t actually attribute the change to a certain method or technique
(such as psychological debriefing), unless there is a control (comparison)
condition, as there are a multitude of factors that could cause a desirable
result
