PSCL 101 Unit 3: Developmental, Social, Personality, Clinical Psychology

Social Development / Social Perception / Social Influence / Research Ethics / Personality / Psychopathology + Disorders / Psychological Treatment

What did Harlow's 1958 study on monkeys demonstrate about infant attachment?

Infants prefer comfort and security from a 'cloth mother' over a 'wire mother' that provides food.

What is the primary basis of the mother-infant bond according to Harlow's findings?

The bond is based on comfort and security, not just feeding (feeding - Freudian perspective).

Define attachment in the context of child development.

Attachment is an enduring emotional bond with another person, providing comfort and security during distress.

What is the role of attachment in early development according to John Bowlby?

Infant attachment to a primary caregiver is evolutionarily adaptive for survival.

What is meant by 'secure-base behavior' in infants?

Infants use their attachment figure as a secure base, feeling comfortable to explore but returning when unsafe.

What predicts attachment security according to Mary Ainsworth?

Parenting behavior, such as sensitivity, responsiveness, and consistency.

What are internal working models (IWMs) in the context of attachment?

mental models of close relationships that influence expectations of relationship partners.

security ties to ___ of self, others, + relationships + r reflected by attachment styles

What are the four attachment styles identified by Ainsworth?

Secure, Insecure/Avoidant, Insecure/Ambivalent, and Insecure-Disorganized.

What is the 'Strange Situation' procedure?

A method to observe attachment behavior in infants through separations and reunions with caregivers and strangers.

What are caregiver responses associated with secure attachment style?

Consistenly responsive / sensitive / appropriate to child's needs

What are IWMs formed with secure attachment?

positive, secure

What characterizes a secure attachment style in infants?

Infants use the parent as a secure base, are upset during separation, and seek contact / shows positive affect during reunion.

What are caregiver responses associated with insecure/avoidant attachment style?

Consistently unresponsive / insensitive / inappropriate to child's needs

IWMs formed with insecure/avoidant?

negative, avoidant

What behavior is typical of insecure/avoidant infants in the Strange Situation?

explores freely, similar behavior to stranger as parent. do not show much emotional response during separation or reunion and may appear indifferent. may mask emotions

What are caregiver responses associated with insecure/ambivalent attachment style?

Inconsistently responsive / sensitive / appropriate

IWMs formed with insecure/ambivalent?

negative, anxious

What behavior is typical of insecure/ambivalent infants in the Strange Situation?

Clingy, very upset during separation (even more so than secure infants), not easily soothed during reunion, may both seek + resist contact w/ parent

What are the features of parenting styles?

warmth/responsiveness (sensitivity, responsiveness, positivity; promotes emotional connection)

control/demandingness (demands, rules, expectations, supervision, feedback; promotes maturity + alignment w social standards)

What is a key feature of authoritative parenting?

Clear and reasonable expectations combined with warmth and sensitivity to the child's needs. High warmth and high control.

What are the characteristics of authoritarian parenting?

Heavy control over child behavior with lower displays of warmth and affection, desire for authority. Low warmth and high control.

What are the characteristics of disengaged parenting?

Low involvement in terms of supervision and responsiveness to child's needs. Low warmth and low control.

What defines permissive parenting?

High responsiveness to the child but weak or inconsistent enforcement of rules. High warmth and low control.

What are the characteristics of adolescence?

Ages 12-18. In between adult and child. Growth in autonomy and self-regulation. Good at regulation but big on reward sensitivity. Increasing role of peer relationships. Risk-taking, sensation-seeking, but also executive function skills. Growth in moral reasoning and self-identity.

Characteristics of emerging adulthood?

Ages 18-25. Delay in typical adult milestones compared to older generations. Increasing autonomy, self-regulation, self-identity.

Characteristics of young and middle adulthood?

Less focus in developmental frameworks.

Major areas:

relationships (parenting, family; close/romantic; adult attachment),

work-life balance (spillover between work + personal life; social clock; sandwich generation; achieving productivity)

What's a social clock?

Achieving a certain milestone at a certain time

What is the significance of the 'sandwich generation'?

Individuals feel pressure to care for both their children and aging parents.

Characteristics of older adulthood?

Socioemotional selectivity theory

What is socioemotional selectivity theory?

The theory that older adults become more selective with their socioemotional resources, focusing on the present. May predict biases favoring positive information.

What is person perception?

How we perceive ourselves and others.

Define attitude in psychological terms.

An evaluative orientation toward a particular target, associated with emotions, cognitions, and motivations.

Stereotype

Mental representation (schema) about a social group

What are examples of bias in social perception?

person bias (fundametal attribution error), self-serving attributional bias, baby face and attractiveness biases

What is the fundamental attribution error?

The tendency to attribute others' behavior to internal factors rather than situational ones.

What is self-serving attributional bias?

Attributing personal success to internal factors and failures to situational factors.

What is the baby-face bias?

The perception that individuals with baby-like features appear more honest and sincere, but less competent.

What are reasons for forming and relying on stereotypes?

Social learning and reinforcement (people are socialized by others to have certain perceptions of social groups)

Inherent motivations (perceived competition, in-group favorability vs out-groups, need for self-esteem and dominance)

Requires fewer cognitive resources

3 multiple choice options

What is the impact of stereotypes on social perception?

Stereotypes can lead to prejudice and discrimination based on group membership.

What is the difference between explicit and implicit bias?

Explicit bias is consciously held, while implicit bias operates unconsciously.

What are the consequences of relying on stereotypes?

They can lead to negative attitudes (prejudice) and differential treatment (discrimination) of group members.

What motivates the formation of stereotypes?

Social learning, perceived competition, and the need for self-esteem and dominance. Requires fewer cognitive resources.

What is the difference between explicit and implicit biases?

Explicit biases are consciously held beliefs that can be stated, while implicit biases operate below conscious awareness.

What is the Modern Racism Scale?

A tool that asks participants to self-report their biases on a scale from 1 to 6 regarding racial/ethnic groups.

What does the Implicit Association Test measure?

It measures automatic associations between concepts by analyzing reaction times when participants classify items.

What is cognitive dissonance?

The discomfort that arises from a conflict between one's beliefs and actual behavior, motivating a desire to resolve the conflict.

What is social influence?

the effect that the words, actions, or mere presence of other people have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behavior

What is conformity?

A change in behavior to mimic the preferences of others due to real or imagined group pressure.

What are the two types of influences leading to conformity?

Informational influence (pressure to be correct) and normative influence (pressure for social approval).

What is the bystander effect?

The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to intervene in an emergency when others are present.

What is pluralistic ignorance?

The case in which people think that everyone else is interpreting a situation in a certain way, when in fact they are not.

What is a psychological phenomenon where individuals privately reject a belief but assume most others accept it?

Pluralistic ignorance.

What leads individuals to publicly conform to a belief or norm they privately reject?

Pluralistic ignorance.

Diffusion of responsibility

the tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way

What is social loafing?

The tendency for individuals to put in less effort when working in a group compared to working alone.

What are factors that impact conformity?

Group size, unanimity, expertise/status, ambiguity

What is the effect of status and expertise on conformity?

More value on a group increases conformity

What is compliance in social psychology?

A change in behavior in response to a request from another person.

What is the foot-in-the-door technique?

A compliance strategy where a small request is followed by a larger request.

What is the door-in-the-face technique?

A compliance strategy that starts with a large, unreasonable request followed by a smaller, more reasonable one.

What is the bait-and-switch technique?

initial commitment to one offer, then make the offer not available and put a more costly option as an alternative

What is low balling?

Involves changing an offer to make it less attractive to the target person after that person has agreed to it

What is the labeling technique?

assign a label to someone, then request a favor that is consistent with that label

What is reciprocity?

the social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action, and a negative action with a negative one. a person already doing a behavior for a person is more likely to engage.

What are factors that impact compliance?

reciprocity, liking/friendship, commitment/consistency, social proof, authority

What is obedience in social psychology?

A change in behavior in response to direct commands from an authority figure.

What factors influence obedience?

Legitimacy of authority, extent of responsibility or impact of actions, proximity to the authority figure, and models of behavior.

What are the ethical principles in human subjects research?

autonomy, beneficence, justice, and integrity

What is the ethical principle of autonomy in human subjects research?

Respecting and protecting the personal needs and rights of people who participate in research, including those in vulnerable populations

What ethical principle involves minimizing risks to participants in research?

Beneficence.

What does the principle of justice in research ethics entail?

Distributing risks and benefits of research equally across different populations.

What is informed consent in human subjects research?

Providing participants with information about the study's purpose, procedures, risks, and benefits before obtaining their consent.

What is the significance of debriefing in research?

Debriefing is important to inform participants about any deception used in the study and to clarify the study's purpose.

What is the role of autonomy in ethical research?

Respecting and protecting the personal needs and rights of research participants.

What is the impact of group size on conformity?

Larger groups (4 or more) lead to rapid conformity.

What is the effect of unanimity on conformity?

If one other person dissents, conformity decreases.

What is the relationship between ambiguity and conformity?

In more ambiguous situations, individuals are more likely to conform.

What is the concept of pluralistic ignorance?

A phenomenon where individuals privately reject a belief but assume most others accept it, leading to public conformity.

What is the role of authority in compliance?

Individuals are more likely to comply with requests from those they perceive as having authority.

What is the low-ball technique in compliance?

Offering an attractive option and then increasing the terms of that option.

What is labeling in the context of compliance?

Labeling a person as someone who would comply with a request to increase the likelihood of compliance.

What is the significance of reciprocity in compliance?

The social norm of responding to positive actions with positive actions increases compliance likelihood.

What are the ethics in data collection with humans?

Informed consent, lack of coercion, anonymity and confidentiality, and approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB)

What is the role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

review all aspects of human subjects research studies to judge risks/benefits, confidentiality, and ethical concerns.

What must every project with human participants in the US receive before collecting data?

IRB approval.

What does the principle of integrity in research require?

To be as accurate as possible when collecting and analyzing data, even when results do not match hypotheses.

What is HARKing in research?

Hypothesizing after results are known, which involves analyzing data and then explaining patterns after the fact.

What is p-hacking?

Making selective choices with data or analyses that encourage significant results.

What is the 'file drawer problem'?

The issue of underreporting non-significant results, where null findings may never be publicized.

What are false positives?

over-emphasizing significant results found in just one sample, which may not replicate or even exist in the population

What does the term 'replication crisis' refer to?

The prioritization of novel findings over the replication of past work, leading to questionable research practices.

What is a conflict of interest in research?

Holding a financial or meaningful stake in the findings of one's own research.

What practice involves disclosing funding sources and conflicts of interest?

Transparency in research ethics.

What are practices that help against iffy practices?

Transparency about conflicts of interests, team science (active collab + accountability), study preregistration (logging hypothesis + analysis plan before data collection), open data (publicly available data), open materials (public study mats), meta-analysis + replication encouragement

Personality

relatively consistent patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior

What is the Big 5 Personality Traits model?

A trait approach that includes Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

What does 'Openness to experience' refer to in personality traits?

The tendency to pursue and be comfortable with novelty, variety, and creative thought.

Define 'Conscientiousness' in the context of personality traits.

The tendency to control one's behavior to meet goals, being organized, careful, and responsible.

What is 'Extraversion' in personality psychology?

The tendency to enjoy interpersonal interactions and be outgoing and assertive.

What does 'Agreeableness' signify in personality traits?

The tendency to regard others with warmth, sympathy, and concern; to be good-natured, trusting, helpful, etc.