Psychology Express: Cognitive Psychology

Psychology Psychology The Psychology Express undergraduate revision guide series will help you to understand key concepts quickly, revise effectively and make sure your answers stand out. ‘Very useful, straight to the point and provides guidance to the student, while helping them to develop independent learning.’ Prepare for exams and coursework using sample questions and assessment advice Make your answer stand out Q Sample question Essay Critically evaluate the risks to development during the prenatal period Maximise your marks and approach exams with confidence It is really easy to fall into the trap of simply describing a number of teratogens and how they affect human development during the prenatal period. A good answer will remember to take a critical stance, evaluating the impact of the risk for later development and will focus clearly on psychological aspects of development including cognitive, social and emotional. Linking your evaluation to what you know about other periods of development will demonstrate your ability to synthesise the information you have learnt. Evaluating the methodological approaches of any research studies cited will also make your answer stand out. Quickly grasp key research and methodological issues Cognitive Psychology Lindsay Pitcher, Psychology student at Anglia Ruskin University KEY STUDY Mattson, S. N., et al. (2010) Toward a neurobehavioral profile of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Alcoholism, Clinical & Expimental Research, 34(9), 1640–50 Excessive prenatal alcohol exposure can result in a number of developmental difficulties including problems with cognitive functioning and behaviour. However not all infants exposed to large amounts of alcohol prenatally go on to develop FAS. A primary goal of recent research is to enable better and quicker diagnosis of problems in alcohol exposed infants to enable more timely interventions. The study by Mattson and colleagues is a good example of recent work which has attempted to use neuropsychological data to develop a battery of tests to identify and differentiate FAS. The researchers were able to distinguish children with FAS from a control group not exposed to alcohol prenatally with 92% accuracy. More importantly they were able to distinguish children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure but without FAS and nonexposed controls with 84.7% accuracy. Overall the neuropsychological test battery was more successful at distinguishing the groups than IQ testing. Measures of executive function and spatial processing were found to be especially sensitive to prenatal alcohol exposure. £12.99 > UNDERSTAND QUICKLY > REVISE EFFECTIVELY > TAKE EXAMS WITH CONFIDENCE www.pearson-books.com/psychologyexpress Ling and Catling Use the subject-specific companion website to test your knowledge, try out sample exam questions and view guided answers, and keep up to date with the latest study advice CVR_LING7988_01_SE_CVR.indd 1 > UNDERSTAND QUICKLY > REVISE E