Psych 120 Exam 3

Purdue Psychology 120

Motivation

the want or needs that direct behavior toward a goal

Intrinsic Motivation

the pursuit of activity because of internal factors like love

Extrinsic Motivation

the pursuit of activity because of external factors like money or fame

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

motivated by needs not being met

Self-actualization

our inner talent, fulfillment and creativity

Drive (reduction) theory

Organisms seek to exist in a state of homeostasis within various biological needs

Homeostasis

an optimal balance

Primary drive

those that are biological and innate

Secondary drive

those that are conditioned and learned

Optimal arousal theory

we are motivated to maintain an optimal level of physiological and psychological arousal

Self-determination theory

we are motivated by intrinsic goals and want to feel like we are in control of our destiny; focused on autonomy, competence, and relatedness within social groups

Autonomy

in control of destiny

Competence

mastery in domain of which we’re intrinsically motivated

Relatedness

want to feel purpose in our organization

Goals

Should be specific and achievable to enhance motivation

Learned helplessness

a self-fulfilling prophecy in which you learn you have no self-efficacy; common after continued frustration

Approach goals

goals we seek or aspire toward (ex. Trying to become good at a sport)

Avoidance goals

goals we want to avoid (ex. Avoiding public embarrassment, financial ruin)

Performance goals

performing well in front of others, being judged well (ex. Hitting off the first tee of a golf course)

Mastery goals

increasing competence and skills (ex. Hitting the ball well even when no one’s watching)

Approach-approach conflict

Choice between two appealing activities or goals (ex. Choosing a new car when you have money for it)

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

Choosing between the “lesser of the evils” (ex. Many people feel this way about elections)

Approach-avoidance conflict

Choice has both positive and negative outcomes (ex. Offered a promotion, but requires a transfer)

Personality

the long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways; distinct and relatively stable

Trait

a unit of personality; a characteristic that describes a habitual way of behaving, thinking, and feeling

Attributions

what is it that motivates you

Situational attributions

behavior is a product of a situation

Dispositional attributions

a reflection of who you are as a person

Fundamental attribution error

tendency to attribute motivation of others more to personality factors than to situational factors

Self-serving bias

personality drives our successes, situations drive our failures

Projective tests

based on the assumption that the test taker will project unconscious conflicts and motives onto an ambiguous stimulus

Personality inventories

Answers a series of questions about self; There are no right or wrong answers; From responses, develop a personality profile

Thematic Apperception Test

person is asked to tell a story about the “hero” in the picture then a psychologist interprets the needs and motives that are projected via the story

Rorschach Inkblot Test

show the person an ambiguous stimulus, ask them to explain what they see

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Measures personality across several personality “types” identified by Carl Jung; Often used for employment/personnel management purposes

Factor analysis

used to identify how these traits cluster together across the population

Five factor model by Costa and McRae

Openness to experience; Conscientiousness; Extroversion; Agreeableness; Neuroticism

Reciprocal determinism

how cognitive processes, behaviors, and situational factors all interact to reinforce or punish personality traits

Freud’s psychodynamic theory

Emphasizes interactions between different components of personality; Emphasizes psychosexual development of the Id, Ego, and Superego

Freud’s stages

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital

Humanistic theories

Focus on personality development as part of our quest for growth and achievement of potential

Abraham Maslow

emphasized pursuit of self-actualization

Carl Rogers

described the importance of unconditional positive regard, and congruence between real self and ideal self

Paul Baltes’ Framework

Development is lifelong, depends on history and context, multidirectional and multidimensional, plastic

Prenatal dangers

Proper maternal nutrition is vital; Maternal age outside of optimal range can pose difficulties, both for teens and above 35

Teratogens

external/environmental contaminants that can penetrate the maternal protections of pregnancy and cause harm to the fetus

Teratogens Examples

Medical drugs, Environmental pollution, Alcohol: fetal alcohol syndrome, Nicotine, Illegal drugs

Sight at birth

stimulation builds quickly, binocular depth perception by 4-5m, 20/20 by 6m

Reflexes at birth

innate, unlearned, adaptive behaviors; Includes grasping, stepping, a basic swim reflex

Piaget’s cognitive development

Driven by improving skills to organize information

Sensorimotor stage

learning and thought is centered on the senses and the motor skills

Sensorimotor facts

Lasts from birth to about 2 years old; No sense of object permanence; End goal is mental representation

Piaget’s preoperational stage

Can now manipulate information in the mind, but with limitations; follows the onset of mental representation at the end of the sensorimotor stage

Centration

a tendency to focus on only one dimension of a problem

Conservation tasks

Preoperational limit; water bottle example with different sizes

Egocentrism

a tendency to only be able to reason about a problem from one’s own viewpoint; three mountain problem

Piaget’s concrete operations

Onset of logical, but not abstract thought; Now able to reason better in multiple dimensions

Piaget’s formal operations

Ability to think abstractly; Able to deal with hypothetical-deductive reasoning; brain maturation, specifically synaptic pruning

Adolescent barriers

Argumentativeness, Indecisiveness, Finding fault with authority, Self-consciousness - the imaginary audience, Assumption of invulnerability

Violation of expectations paradigm

infants show surprise at impossible events; carrot example

Behaviorism development of gender identity

gender identity is based on reinforcement and punishment

Cognitive development of gender identity

Children categorize or develop gender schemata

Temperament

innate traits that influence how one thinks, behaves, and reacts with the environment

Authoritarian

Everything related to authority, no reasoning; Demand strict conformity, no questioning; Strict punishment for rules violations

Permissive

Value self-expression at the expense of structure; Not demanding, rarely punish

Authoritative

Mesh the two, firm, but loving; Emphasize social rules, but within context of individual values; Use reason in explaining punishments and rules

Power assertion

reliance on authority; Physical discipline often stimulates aggression

Induction

attempt to reason with the child; Better for extending discipline to social situations

Withdrawal of love

ignoring, isolation

Primary aging

inevitable process of deterioration

Secondary aging

product of disease, abuse, poor care

Dementia

deterioration in cognitive functioning from physiological causes

Alzheimer’s disease

A highly heritable, progressive, degenerative neurological disorder characterized by irreversible deterioration in memory, intelligence and awareness, leading to death

Norms

rules that govern our behavior in a social context

Roles

a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group

Entrapment

Having the teacher commit first to less dangerous steps; “Foot in the door” approach

Deindividuation

A loss of awareness of one’s identity in a group

Diffusion of responsibility

The tendency of members to avoid taking responsibility, under the assumption that someone else will

Social loafing

Members of a group do less work individually

Bystander apathy

People stand and watch rather than take action

Conformity

A tendency of people to go along with the group

Groupthink

In close-knit groups, the tendency for all members to think alike and suppress disagreement for the sake of unanimity

Attachment

a long-standing connection or bond with others.

Secure base

a parental presence that gives the child a sense of safety as he explores his surroundings

Secure attachment

where a toddler prefers their parent over a stranger

Avoidant attachment

child is unresponsive to the parent

Resistant attachment

children tend to show clingy behavior, but then they reject the attachment figure’s attempts to interact with them

Disorganized attachment

they freeze, run around the room in an erratic manner, or try to run away when the caregiver returns

Adrenarche and gonadarche

the maturing of adrenal glands and sex glands

Menarche and spermarche

the beginning of menstrual periods and first ejaculation

Attitude

A relatively stable opinion based on both a cognition and emotion

Explicit attitude

you are aware of your opinion

Implicit attitude

you act on your opinion without awareness

Self-perception theory

argues that we also infer our attitudes based on internal observation of our own behavior

Prejudice

An implicit or explicit attitude driven by negative feeling about individuals based on group membership

Stereotypes

Negative beliefs about individuals based solely on group membership

Discrimination

Negative behavior toward an individual based solely on group membership

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Discrimination can lead to a negative response from the discriminated individual, which in the mind of the discriminator confirms their prejudicial stereotyping

Persuasion

An effort to change an attitude

Direct persuasion

an effort to persuade based primarily on the merits of an argument