Psychcast

the effects on consciousness (cognition, concentration and mood) of one night of full sleep deprivation as a comparison with effects of legal blood-alcohol concentrations.

changes in levels of alertness as indicated by brain waves patterns (beta, alpha, theta, delta) due to drug-induced altered states of consciousness (stimulants and depressants)

changes in a person’s psychological state due to levels of awareness, controlled and automatic processes, content limitations, perceptual and cognitive distortions, emotional awareness, self-control and time orientation

the measurement of physiological responses to indicate different states of consciousness, including electroencephalograph (EEG), electromyograph (EMG), electro-oculograph (EOG) and other techniques to investigate consciousness (measurement of speed and accuracy on cognitive tasks, subjective reporting of consciousness, including sleep diaries, and video monitoring)

consciousness as a psychological construct that varies along a continuum, broadly categorised into normal waking consciousness and altered states of consciousness (naturally occurring and induced)

the reconstruction of memories as evidence for the fallibility of memory, with reference to Loftus’ research into the effect of leading questions on eye-witness testimonies.

the factors influencing a person’s ability and inability to remember information, including context and state dependent cues, maintenance and elaborative rehearsal and serial position effect

the effects of brain trauma on areas of the brain associated with memory and neurodegenerative diseases, including brain surgery, anterograde amnesia and Alzheimer’s disease

methods to retrieve information from memory or demonstrate the existence of information in memory, including recall, recognition, relearning and reconstruction

interactions between specific regions of the brain (cerebral cortex, hippocampus, amygdala and cerebellum) in the storage of long-term memories, including implicit and explicit memories.

the multi-store model of memory (Atkinson-Shiffrin) with reference to the function, capacity and duration of sensory, short-term and long-term memory

the ‘Little Albert’ experiment as illustrating how classical conditioning can be used to condition an emotional response, including ethical implications of the experiment.

observational learning as a method of social learning, particularly in children, involving attention, retention, reproduction, motivation and reinforcement

operant conditioning as a three-phase model (antecedent, behaviour, consequence) involving reinforcers (positive and negative) and punishment (including response cost) that can be used to change voluntary behaviours, including stimulus generalisation, stimulus discrimination and spontaneous recovery (excluding schedules of reinforcement)

classical conditioning as a three-phase process (before conditioning, during conditioning and after conditioning) that results in the involuntary association between a neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response, including stimulus generalisation, stimulus discrimination, extinction and spontaneous recovery

the role of neurotransmitters and neurohormones in the neural basis of memory and learning (including the role of glutamate in synaptic plasticity and the role of adrenaline in the consolidation of emotionally arousing experiences).

neural plasticity and changes to connections between neurons (including long-term potentiation and long-term depression) as the fundamental mechanisms of memory formation that leads to learning

context-specific effectiveness, coping flexibility and use of particular strategies (exercise and approach and avoidance strategies) for coping with stress.

models of stress as a psychological process, with reference to Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman’s Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (stages of primary and secondary appraisal)

models of stress as a biological process, with reference to Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome of alarm reaction (shock/counter shock), resistance and exhaustion, including the ‘fight-flight-freeze’ response and the role of cortisol