PSYC 322: midterm 2

marriage

legally sanctioned union

• file joint income tax returns, sharing of finances, healthcare, hosing, entitlement to retirement, life, health insurance benefits

• protected by the federal divorce act

common law

cohabitation either under particular circumstances or for a determined amount of time

• governed at provincial legislation level

marriage & age in canada compared to 1981 to 2011

1981: more people getting married at an earlier age

2011: more people are getting at a later age and not as often

prevalence of common law in canadians

percentage of individuals in a common law relationship increase from 1996 to 2016

what is the main reason why men and women aged 25-34 do not intend to marry?

they don’t believe in the institution of marriage

attitudes about marriage: younger generations (18-44) compared to older generations (45-65+)

younger generations learning towards a disagreement of the statement: “marriage is just as relevant today as it’s ever been”

primary caretakers of individuals ages 75 and older

spouse

• longterm relationships will dictate the are one will receive when they are older

why was there an increase in divorce rates in 1968 and 1985?

first divorce act and divorce act amendment

divorce act (1968)

introduced federal unfied divorce law in canada

divorce act amendment (1985)

adjusted how divorce was treated and viewed

• emphasis on “no-fault” and “irretrievable breakdown” over blame-centric causes 

• not just infidelity or abuse

different types of couples

• 50/50

• lowkey siblings

• opposites attract

• love languages

• pragmatic/logical

50/50 couple → equity theory

satisfaction and stability based on equity between partners

• feeling under-benefitted leads to sense of exploitation

• feeling over benefitted leads to sense of guilt/shame

what type of evidence supports the equity theory?

evidence surrounding income/finances

• greater satisfaction among couples who identify a co-providing relationship

• more equal distribution of hosuework → higher satisfaction

what is a flaw of equity theory? 

subjective optimization of different exhcanges/resources/contributions

• sometimes people give or need more

lowkey siblings → similarity hypothesis

similarity of personality

• values predict intial attraction and long-term satisfaction

what evidence supports the similarity hypothesis

evidence of marital satisfaction and stability correlating with homogamous relationships 

• based on religious, cultural, race/gender, and age similarities

opposites attract → need complementarity hypothesis

partners who are the opposite of oneself is desired

• focus on behavioural differences

what evidence supports the “need complementarity hypothesis”?

evidence in social psychology

• viewing marriage as a “team” that requires problem-solving

• people tend to take on complementary roles (dominant vs. submissive)

love languages → behaviour theory

the exhibited behaviours that partners engage with each other during marital interactions predict long-term success

what evidence supports the behaviour theory?

evidence pointing to sexual satisfaction as a key predictor of marital satisfaction and stability

pragmatic/logical → social exchange theory

satisfaction in a relationship depends on weighing the rewards/benefits against the costs of alternatives to that relationship

what evidence supports the social exchange theory

financially this relationship makes sense

• evidence pointing to sexual satisfaction as a key predictor of marital satisfaction and stability

true or false

pre-marital /newlywed communication patterns are not predictive of subsequent outcomes

false

suffocation model of marriage

contemporary couples place more emphasis of marriage as a source of self-expression and fulfillment 

• thye have less time to devote to sustaining a healthy partnership

maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the suffocation model of marriage

the higher a couple individually moves up the hierarchy of needs, the more frustrated they may become in their partnership

• ex. feeling like the other person is lagging behind when the other person moves up

what are potential pathways in long-term relationships?

• enduring dynamics

• emergent distress

• disillusionment

enduring dynamics

dynamics before marriage predicts future quality

emergent distress

issues/distress develop over time (post-marriage)

disillusionment

starts happy, gradual falling out of love

factors in the costs of raising a child in canada

• household income

• housing situation

• transportation

• food

global barriers to having children

multifactorial

• economic

• health

• desires changed/influenced

• concerns over future

reasons for declines in fertility

• finances

• personal choice

• changes in social acceptability of being child-free

• infertility rates increasing 

transition into parenthood (TtP)

period of adjustment to the new family status represented by the presence of a child in the home

• first-time parents experience greater and more sudden decline marital satisfaction than non-parents 

biological factors related to TtP

biological changes in birthing parent primarily

• whoever gives birth will experience change such as post-partum depression

psychological factors related to TtP

identity changes

• as a parent, you need to rewire your brain so that your identity is “mom” or “dad”

post-partum depression in both parents

sociocultural factors related to TtP

taking on gender roles

social attitudes on same-sex parenthood 

what are the results of agreeing to have children?

• improve family ties

• give parents a feeling of immortality and sense of accomplishment

• expands social networks

• increases personal growth

• fulfils an expected adult role in society

• children may eventually care for their parents 

aspects of adult child-parent relations

• filial maturity

• filial anxiety

• filial obligation

• filial piety

filial maturity

relating to parents as equals

• ex. talking to parents about taxes

• ex. no longer being financially dependent

filial anxiety

fear of having to take care of aging parents

filial obligation

cultural value in which adult children are expected to care for their parents, including having them live in their home

filial piety

implies a set of behaviours and attitudes that indicate feelings of love, respect and care towards one’s parents + expectations of obedience and compliance

intergenerational solidarity model (ISM)

six independent dimensions of solidarity characterize adult family relationships 

• associational

• functional

• structural

• affectual

• consensual

• normative

they don’t have to be “perfect”, they just need to be aligned

associational dimension of ISM

• intergenerational solidarity model

frequency of interactions

• how often do we need to see each other in a week? 

functional dimension of ISM

• intergenerational solidarity model

help exchange 

• the degree to which financial assistance and service exchanges occur

affectual dimension of ISM

• intergenerational solidarity model

feelings

• mutual exchange of feelings

structural dimension of ISM 

• intergenerational solidarity model

availability (distance, health)

• if you live far away from parents, are you able to structurally support parents?

normative dimension of ISM

• intergenerational solidarity model

commitment to fulfill family obligations

• can be based on different levels of the relationship

consensual dimension of ISM

• intergenerational solidarity model

agreement of values, views

• sociopolitical world views 

structural ambivalence 

society’s structures do not make clear how family members should behave 

cognition: information processing model (modified atkinson-shiffrin model)

external event/sensory input → sensory memory → attention → short term/working memory ←→ long term memory

short term/working memory

15-30 seconds to process

• rehearsal maintenance

• involves newer understanding of short-term memory

• focuses on conscious active processingof incoming auditory and visual-spatial information

• handled by a central executive 

long term memory

more than 30 seconds to process

• implicit memory

• explicit memory

processing speed

amount of time it takes for someone to analyze incoming information, formulate decisions, and then produce a response

relationship between processing speed and reaction time compared to different age groups 

as the task becomes more difficult, older adults take much longer with processing speed and reaction time 

attention

ability to selectively focus/concentrate on a part of experience and shift focus based on the situation

• while coordinating information from multiple sources 

SART: sustained attention to response task

task in which participants view flashing numbers on the screen

• they are asked to press the spacebar when the number is different from the original number

sustained attention

focus on one stimulus type for a long amount oftime

age differences in attention: how does our attention change as we age? 

• attentional resources theory

• inhibitory deficit hypothesis

• scaffolding theory

attentional resources theory

everyone has a limit of attentional resources

• older adults have less resources/energy to expend

possible mechanisms: 

• metabolic constraints 

• more cognitively demanding → more energy required by brain to process

evidence for attentional resources theory

multitasking tasks - divided attention

• focus on two stimuli simultaneously

pond et al. (1998) - attentional resources theory

participants simulate driving on the road

• rear view has a bunch of dots

• participants are then asked to count how many dots flash while driving

pond et al. (1989) results

• driving task 

older adults sacrificed driving task performance for dot counting task

• driving abilities decrease due to divided attention

• overall performance worse compared to young and middle-aged adults 

inhibitory deficit hypothesis

older adults have more difficulties inhibiting irrelevant information

• central executive constraints

• issues with filtering information (prefrontal cortex)

evidence: stroop visual search

simple visual search 

• utilizes parallel processing (automatic)

• color and shape of target different from distractions 

conjunction visual search

• serial processing

• color and shape of target similar to distractors → we have to go through multiple aspects 

• adults typically perform worse at this 

scaffolding theory

older adults recruit alternate neural circuits as needed by task demands to make up for losses suffered elsewhere

• focus on compensatory mechanism

• possible mechanism for cognitive reserve theory

visuo-spatial sketchpad

temporary mental representation of 3d space

phonological loop

temporary hold of sound information

rehearsal 

maintaining that information from repetition

• processed in language areas (broca) pareital lobe

central executive

allows for decisions to be made based in maintained information

• where information manipulation occurs

• processed primarily by the prefrontal cortex 

episodic buffer

integrates all information processing

• likely regulated by network encompassing hippocampus, medialtemporal lobe, prefrontal cortex, parietal lobe

N-back memory test results

• asks participants to remember what happened N times ago

• working memory test 

older adults don’t perform as well when it becomes more difficult 

consolidation

process in which memories become stable in the brain shortly after encoding

• memory consolidated and stored (difficult to remove/change)

• memory disrupted in consolidation (memory susceptible to change)

reconsolidation

taking information into working memory to manipulate/ignore

• memories are vulnerable to change again when recalled 

explicit memories

• long term memories

• declarative memories 

with experience and practice, explicit memories become automatic 

implicit memories

• long term memories

• non-declarative memories

implicit memories include automatic skills and classically conditioned associations

• information is automatically processed about: space, time, frequency 

types of explicit memory

• episodic memory

• semantic memory

episodic memory

chronological temporally dated recollections of personal experiences 

• explicit memory

semantic memory

semantic memory general knowledge no longer tied to the time when the information was learned

• explicit memory

hippocampus, medial temporal lobe, and frontal lobe

• consolidation

• explicit memory consolidation and storage

• registers and temporarily holds elements of explicit memories before moving them to other brain regions for long-term storage 

hippocampus (HPC) - memory purpose

consolidating all information of an explicit memory (integrated memory)

perirphinal cortex/lateral entorhinal cortex - memory purpose

consolidates “what” information (objects, items)

• not to be confused with the “what” pathway of vision

parahippocampal/medial entorhinal cortex - memory purpose

consolidates “where” information (context, spatial)

• not to be confused with the where pathway of vision

neocortical areas

consolidates and stores fragments of the memory

multiple trace theory

retrieval seems to follow the reverse process and always involve the HPC, even for very old/distant memories 

• every memory is a reconstruction made of different traces 

systems consolidation theory

retrieval for older memories rely less on the

true or false:

research suggests that there are many age-related deficits in semantic memory

false

there are few age-related deficits

• may rely on semantic memory to compensate for loss of episodic memory

crystallized intelligence (Gc)

accumulated/acquired knowledge (often semantic information)

• reflected by learning, experience and education

• increases as we age

fluid intelligence (Gf)

ability to reason speedily and abstractly, as when solving unfamiliar logic problems

• independent from learning, experience, and education 

• decreases with age, declines gradually until age 75 and then more rapidly after age 85

cerebellum - memory

plays an important role in forming and storing memories created by classical conditioning

basal ganglia - memory

helps form memories for implicit memories of physical skills

procedural memory task results

• motor task - unscrew a nut from differently shaped rods 

older adults have slower performance 

• statiscally significant performance improvement within session (over 5 trials)

• retention of procedural memory 2 years later 

cognitive reserve theory 

idea that cognition is adaptive and can be preserved/”banked” through crystallized intelligence

• strengthening of cognitive functioning over time

• neural plasticity is the mechanism for this

neuroplasticity

brain’s ability to rewire itself and create new connections

• possible mechanism for cognitive reserve

brain reserve

the brain is a reserve for communication, metabolism

• deteremined by brain volume, neuron count 

retrograde amnesia 

loss of memory before point of injury/disease 

• long-term memory storage damage 

graded amnesia 

earlier/remote memories are more preserved than recent memories 

• gradual change and shift in memories that can be remembered

• more likely to remember what occured way before the accident

• ex. childhood

ungraded amnesia

memory loss distributed over one’s history

• more random

• no consistent pattern of memory loss

anterograde amnesia

loss of memory after point of injury/disease (long-term memory encoding/consolidation damage)