In Milgram’s obedience experiments, which of the following decreased the tendency of the subject to administer shock to a victim?
B. Milgram conducted controversial experiments to explore why many conscientious individuals in Nazi Germany obeyed Hitler. In his paradigm, subjects were asked to administer a (sham) electric shock to a victim under some false pretence by pressing a dial. The victim can cry in agony to the awe and shock of many subjects. It was noted that most subjects would obey an authoritative experimenter and administer shocks, especially if they are not in close proximity to the victim or if the authority is keeping a close watch on the subjects. Peer rebellion against the orders of experimenter reduced obedience while proxy administration increased obedience. When the subjects were given more responsibility regarding the pain inflicted on the victim, the obedience (administering shocks) decreased.
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Discussing a controversial decision in a group strengthens average individual inclinations to vote against the risky decision.
What is the name given to the above process?
D. Group polarization refers to the phenomenon described in Question 57. There are various processes that influence individuals when making decisions as a part of a group. The group can make more risky decisions than those that an individual him/herself can. This is called risky shift. A group discussion process can strengthen average individual inclinations and polarize the group in the direction where most individuals were heading already. This is called group polarization. While making extreme decisions, the desire to agree with other members of a group can override rational judgment applicable in individual decision making. This is called groupthink. Conformity is a process whereby no explicit requirement is made to do a certain task, but peer influence and need for acceptance pushes one to carry out the task. Obedience refers to conditions where the individual is explicitly asked to do a task and this instruction comes from an authority.
Which of the following statements with respect to language development is incorrect?
C. At 18 months of age, the number of words understood by the child will usually exceed the number of words that the child can produce. Initially, a child uses words in a contextual fashion, for example the word duck is used only when a toy duck is pushed face down on the floor. Later the words get decontextualized and used more generously. At one point during development, the child uses ‘holophrases’ which are single words substituting the function of a full sentence. Verbal use of language is learnt earlier than propositions such as ‘to’, ‘as’, etc. Telegraphic speech consists of using two or more connected words without functional elements such as conjunctions or propositions for example ‘Papa go bye’. This occurs around 18 months of age.
In a behavioural therapy session for repetitive hair pulling, the patient is asked to wear gloves when he finds himself in a stressful situation that can promote hair pulling. This technique could be termed:
B. The technique described here is called stimulus control. This is often utilized in relapse prevention for drug users and also in compulsive behaviours such as hair pulling or skin picking. It is not usually employed as a stand-alone therapy but is provided in combination with other behavioural and cognitive techniques to control compulsive symptoms. Self-monitoring refers to keeping a logbook or diary of problem behaviour in order to reflect and work through the problem. Chaining is a behavioural technique where successive reinforcement of simple behaviours leads to learning of a complex behaviour. Negative practice is a behavioural technique used in tics and Tourette’s syndrome. Exposure and response prevention is used to reduce compulsions in OCD where exposure to an anxiety-provoking situation is deliberately coupled with not responding in a problematic fashion, that is compulsive behaviours.
Repeated eye movement during a conscious recollection is used as a psychotherapeutic technique in which of the following disorders?
D. The treatment described here is EMDR—eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. This technique was serendipitously discovered by Shapiro. When repeated eye movements in a relaxed state are induced by the therapist, conscious recollection of traumatic material can be successfully combined with positive thoughts. This has been advocated and practised for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The three components are:
The role of the latter is not clearly established and it does not compare well against simple exposure therapy.
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