PSYC 290 Exam Prep Units 1-10

William James

founder of functionalism; 'stream of consciousness"

John B Watson

founder of behaviourism; observable behaviours; influenced by environment; scientific approach; rise in animal research; stimulus-response research; Little Albert

Six major contemporary theoretical perspectives

Behavioural: observable stimulus-response

Psychoanalytic: unconscious drives behaviour, early childhood experiences

Humanistic: free will and personal potential, unique

Cognitive: mental processes; acquired, stored, processed

Biological: physiological influences; structures, biochemical

Evolutionary: traits that encourage survival

Positive psychology

Martin Seligman; positive, adaptive, creative, fulfilling

Seven major areas in psychology

1. Developmental: lifespan

2. Social: interpersonal behaviour; social forces

3. Experimental: traditional core topics

4. Physiological: genetic factors; other body systems

5. Cognitive: higher mental processes; memory, reasoning, language, problem-solving)

6. Personality: consistency iand factors

7. Psychometrics: measurement

Three goals of the scientific enterprise

Measurement and description

Understanding and prediction

Application and control

* clarity and precision/ relative intolerance of error

Theory

explain a set of observations; testable; constructed in steps: theory is developed, hypothesis is developed, empirical research

Descriptive / correlational method

when variables cannot be manipulated: naturalistic observation, case-studies, surveys

Statistics

- descriptive: organize, summarize data

- inferential: interpret data, draw conclusions

Central tendency - what constitutes a typical or average score

Three measures of central tendency are:

Median - exact middle

Mean - calculated average (generally most useful but can also be influenced by extreme scores in which case median is better)

Mode - most frequent

Frequency distribution - frequency of scores

Symmetrical frequency distribution - when measures of central tendency fall together

Neg skewed distribution - scores pile up on high end

Pos skewed distribution - scores pile up on low end

Variability - how much scores differ from each other and the mean

Standard deviation - the index of the amount of variability in a set of data (large = greater variability, small = lower variability)

Relative measures - how people compare to one another

Percentile score - percentage of people who score at or below a particular score (ex. if score is 10% that means that 10% score same or below you, means you did poorly because 90% scored above you

Ethical guidelines for research in Canada

- respect for the dignity of all persons

- responsible caring

- integrity in relationships

- responsibility to society

Psychological tests

Mental ability tests:

- intelligence: general

- aptitude: specific

- achievement: mastery/knowledge of various subjects

Personality tests

- scales; not right or wrong; motives, interests, etc

Test norms

where a score ranks in relation to other scores on that test

Reliability

consistency of measurement; closer to +1.00 the more reliable it is; checked by test-retest

Criterion validity

predict performance; how scores correlate to concrete experience or to another trait

Construct validity

extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure; abstract quality such as creativity

Intelligence testing

Galton - children; focus on genetic inheritance; measuring simple sensory processes; little success; created interest

Binet - children; abstract reasoning skills; predicted school success well; "mental age"; evolved to the Stanford-Binet Intelligence scale; IQ is a child's mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100

Wechsler; adults; two major innovations: included non-verbal reasoning, scoring scheme based on normal distribution

- have adequate reliability; correlated around 0.90's

- have reasonable validity when used to measure academic potential; correlated 0.40-0.70;

- only test verbal intelligence; not practical or social intelligence

- heritability ratio is 60% and 40% due to environmental factors; group stat, cannot be applied to individuals

Factor analysis

clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score

Fluid intelligence

reasoning ability, memory capacity, speed of information processing

Normal distribution

symmetric, bell-shaped curve, represents the pattern in which many characteristics are dispersed in the population

Standard deviation

an index of the amount of variability (how much they vary from the mean and from each other) in a set of data

- mean of the distribution is set at 100 and the standard deviation is set at 15

- giftedness 130 and above; disability 70 and below; majority are mild

Reaction range

Sandra Scarr; genetically determined limits on IQ

Sternberg Triachic Theory of Human Intelligence

1) Contextual Subtheory: intelligence is a culturally defined concept

2) Experiential Subtheory: relationship between experience and intelligence

Two factors:

a) ability to deal effectively with novelty

b) ability to learn how to handle familiar tasks automatically and effortlessly

3) Componential Subtheory: three types of mental processes that intelligent thought depends on

a) meta components

b) performance components

c) knowledge-acquisition components

Three facets of successful intelligence:

1) analytical: abstract reasoning, evaluation, judgement

2) creative: generate new ideas, inventive

3) practical: problems of everyday life

Gardener's Eight Intelligences

LINIBLMS - logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist

Emotional intelligence

perceive, understand, manage, use (NOT open expression)

Organic origins of mental retardation

phenylketonuria and fragile X

Biological factors in the regulation of hunger

Brain

- hypothalamus (lateral and ventromedial areas) and arcuate nucleus and paraventricular nucleus; focus on neural circuits that pass through

Glucose and digestive

- glucostatic theory: fluctuations in glucose levels are monitored in brain where they influence the experience of hunger, cells in stomach send signals to brain stem

Hormonal

- Insulin: allows cells to extract glucose from the blood

- Gherline: causes stomach contractions; Cannon Washburn

- CCK: after eating, sends signals to brain to reduce hunger

- Leptin: provides hypothalamus info about fat stores

Individual difference in the need for achievement

stable aspect of personality; can be measured with Thematic Apperception Test; projective test that reveals personal motives and traits

- characteristics of high scores: work harder and more persistently, handle negative feedback more effectively, future-oriented, delay gratification in order to pursue long term goals, enjoy intermediate difficulty

- high need for achievement will choose moderately difficult task

Affective forecasting

predict one's emotional reactions to future events; unreliable

Emotion

- a subjective conscious experience (cognitive)

- bodily arousal (physiological)

- characteristic overt expressions (behavioural)

Cognitive component of emotion

- some degree of control is possible, automatic reactions that are difficult to regulate; unconscious processing

- cognitive appraisals, evaluative aspect; are key determinants of emotions experienced; characterize emotions as pleasant or unpleasant

Physiological component of emotion

- visceral arousal

- autonomic nervous system: activity of glands, smooth muscles, blood vessels

- fight or flight response; adrenal hormones

- galvanic skin response (GSR); increase in electrical conductivity of the skin that occurs when sweat glands increase their activity

Affective neuroscience: neurobiology of emotions

Emotion depends on activity in a constellation of interacting brain centres:

- limbic system: hypothalamus, amygdala, "seat of emotion"

- amygdala: lies at the core of a complex set of neural circuits that process emotion; sensory inputs eliciting emotion arrives in the thalamus, route fast to amygdala and slow to cortex; amygdala process quickly and if detects threat triggers neural activity that leads to autonomic and endocrine response; independent of cognitive awareness

- prefrontal cortex: voluntary control of emotional reactions, pursuit of goals

- front portion of the cingulate cortex; pain-related emotional distress; conflicts about choices- mesolimbic dopamine pathway: reward centre, activated by drugs

- mirror neurons

Behavioural component of emotion

- body language or non-verbal behaviour

- facial expressions; identification occurs quickly and automatically; innate response

- emotional efference: changes in facial muscles and expressions change the temperature of blood going to the brain, resulting in distinct emotions

Facial feedback hypothesis

Theories of emotion

James-Lange Theory

- the conscious experience of emotion results from one's perception of autonomic arousal

- different patterns of autonomic activation lead to the experience of different emotions

Cannon-Bard Theory

- emotion occurs when the thalamus sends signals simultaneously to the cortex (conscious experience of emotion) and to the autonomic nervous system (physiological visceral arousal)

Schachter Two-Factor Theory

- experience of emotion depends on two factors:

1) autonomic arousal

2) cognitive interpretation of that arousal - search the environment for an explanation for reactions; look for external cues to help label emotions

Subjective well-being / happiness

Do not predict happiness: money, age, parenthood, intelligence, attractiveness

Moderately good predictors: health, social activity, religion

Strong predictors: love and marriage, work, genetics and personality

Positive but weak correlation between income and subjective feelings of happiness

Hedonic adaptation

mental scale that people use to judge the pleasantness-unpleasantness of their experiences shifts so that their baseline for comparison changes

- hedonic treadmill: tendency to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes

Five fallacies

1) Irrelevant reasons or non sequitur: reasoning does not follow

2) Circular reasoning: restatements of each other

3) Slippery slope: if you allow X to happen, things will spin out of control and worse events will follow

4) Weak analogies: similarity is superficial, irrelevant or minimal

5) False dichotomy: either-or choice

Prenatal development

Zygote: one-celled organism formed from sperm and egg

1) Germinal: 1st two weeks

2) Embryonic: two weeks until end of 2nd month

3) Fetal: two months until birth (22-26 weeks is viable)

Motor development

Cephalodcaudal - head to foot

Proximodistal - centre-outward

* maturation becomes less influential and experience becomes more critical

Longitudinal study

one group over a long period

Cross-sectional

groups of different ages at a single point in time

Cohort effects

differences between age groups due to growing up in different time periods

Thomas and Chess

longitudinal study of infant temperament; well established by 2-3 mths

Easy (40%) / Slow to warm up (15%) / Difficult (10%)

(remaining 35% were a mixture)

Jerome Kagan

- inhibited temperament (15-20%)

- uninhibited temperament (25-30%)

Attachment Theories

Harry Harlow - behaviourist; feeding is a conditioned reinforcer of attachment; rhesus infant monkeys; terry cloth and wire "mothers"; frightened monkeys would scramble to cloth "mothers" even if they weren't being fed by them

John Bowley; evolutionary theories, biological basis; infant behaviour triggers affection and protection from adults; adults respond with warmth and love

Contemporary Theorists; reproductive value; age and social maturity for successful mating

Patterns of attachment

Mary Ainsworth; "Strange Situation"

- maternal behaviour and infant temperament both influence

- internal working models develop from early attachment; influence future social and cognitive development

Three patterns (fourth added later)

1) Secure: play, explore comfortably, upset when mother leaves, quickly calmed by her return

2) Anxious-ambivalent: anxious when mother is near, protest excessively when leaves, not particularly comforted when she returns

3) Avoidant: seek little contact with mother, not distressed when she leaves

4) Disorganized-disoriented: confused about approaching or avoiding mother, especially insecure

Piaget's stages of cognitive development

Sensory-motor stage: birth-2 years; coordinate sensory input with motor actions; gradual appearance of symbolic thought (mental symbols) from innate reflexes, object permanence (begins 4-8 months of age and masters at 18 months)

Preoperational stage: 2-7 years; flaws in mastering concepts:

- conservation (physical quantities remain constant in spite of changes to appearance or shape)

- centration (focus on one feature of a problem while neglecting the other aspects)

- irreversibility (inability to envision reversing an action)

- egocentrism (limited ability to share another viewpoint)

- animism (belief that all things are living)

Concrete operational stage: 7-11 years; children master reversibility and decentration, decline in egocentrism, gradual mastery of conservation, develop a variety of new problem-solving capacities, hierarchical classification problems

Formal operational stage: 11-adult; apply operations to abstract ideas; systematic, logical and reflective problem-solving efforts

Vgotsky

sociocultural theory of cognitive development; language acquisition plays a crucial, central role; private speech (speech of others, private speech, internalized speech; which turns into the foundation of cognitive processes); zone of proximal development and scaffolding

Innate cognitive abilities and research methods

Habituation - gradual reduction in strength of a response when a stimulus event is presented repeatedly; (heart and respiratory rates decline and they spend less time looking at it)

Dishabituation - occurs if a new stimulus elicits an increase in the strength of a habituated response; patterns of dishabituation provide insights into what types of events infants can tell apart, surprise or interest them and which violate their expectations

- researchers have discovered that infants understand basic properties of objects and some of the rules that govern them- 3-4 months; objects are distinct entities with boundaries, move in continuous paths, one solid object cannot pass through another, object cannot pass through an opening smaller than the object, objects on slopes roll down rather than up, liquids are different from objects

- 5-month-olds seem to be able to add and subtract small numbers

- basic cognitive abilities are built into neural architecture

- Nativists: strive to understand what is prewired and what isn't

- Evolutionary theorists: strive to understand why, natural selection perspective, understanding adaptive significance

Development of understanding mental states

- around age 2: distinguish between mental states and overt behaviour; understand desires / emotions

- by age 3: talk about others' beliefs and thoughts, their own desires

- about age 4: connection between mental states and behaviour, understand how peoples beliefs, thoughts, and desires motivate and direct their behaviour

- understanding turns a corner between age 3-4 so that they gradually begin to understand that people hold false beliefs

Kolbeg's theory of moral development

Preconventional - external authority

Conventional - rules are necessary

Post conventional - personal code of ethics

Adolescense

age 13-22 (not universal); growth spurt age 11 for girls and 13 for boys

- pubescence: secondary sex characteristics

- puberty: primary sex characteristics

- increase in white brain matter; decrease in grey brain matter

- not a time of turmoil unless additional risk factors are present; cultural differences exist; personal and cultural continuity factors are foundational

James Marcia and four identity statuses

Diffusion: rudderless apathy, no commitment

Foreclosure: premature commitment to visions, values, roles; usually prescribed by parents; conformity

Moratorium: delaying commitment to experience with alternatives

Achievement: arriving at a sense of self and direction after some consideration of alternatives

Five factor model of personality

ONACE - openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

Three levels of awareness

Conscious, preconscious, unconscious

Id is entirely unconscious, while the ego and superego operate at all three levels

Types of defense mechanisms

reaction formation: behaving in a way that is the exact opposite of one's true feelings

identification: forming an imaginary or real alliance

sublimation: unconscious, unacceptable impulses are channelled into socially acceptable (even admirable) behaviours

undoing: making restitution for an unacceptable thought or act

Jung

identified introverted and extroverted personality types; analytical psychology

1) personal unconscious: repressed, forgotten

2) collective unconscious: memory traces from ancestral past; archetypes

Adler

individual psychology; striving for superiority; feelings of inferiority are motivation; social context affects personality

- compensation: efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one's abilities

- inferiority complex: exaggerated feelings of weakness and inadequacy

- overcompensation: conceal, even to themselves, feelings of inferiority; worry more about appearances, flaunt success, work to achieve status, power and trappings of success

Bandura and social learning theory

bobo experiment

Reciprocal determinism - internal mental events, external environmental events and overt behaviours all influence each other

Mischel

critic of personality trait-theory, felt situations decide actions, not personality

Fleeson

situational factors are minimal, personality traits shape larger chunks of behaviour

Phenomenological approach

assumes that one has to appreciate individuals' personal, subjective experiences to truly understand their behaviour

Roger's person-centered theory

Eysenck's biological theory of personality

determined by genes, some people can be conditioned more easily; all aspects of personality stem from:

1. extraversion/introversion: sociable, assertive, active, lively

2. neuroticism/stability: anxious, tense, moody, low self-esteem

3. psychoticism/self-control: egocentric, impulsive, cold, antisocial

Heretibility of personality

each of the Big Five traits is about 50%; shared family environment appears to have little impact; identical twins are much more similar than fraternal

Evolutionary approach to personality

Buss; adaptive implications; bond and cooperate with others, handle stress, reliable and ethical, problem-solving

Nettle; traits themselves are products of evolution; have adaptive costs and must weight trade-offs

Biological approach to personality

genetic factors exert considerable influence; however not entirely independent; separating them is artificial

Four types of principal stress

frustration, conflict, life changes, pressure

Barbara Frederickson

broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions

General adaption syndrome

alarm (fight or flight)

resistance (prolonged stress)

exhaustion (resources are depleted)

Two major endocrine pathways

First pathway:

- hypothalamus activates sympathetic division of the ANS; adrenal glands release catecholamines; heart rate and blood flow increase, respiration and oxygen speed, increased alertness, digestive processes are inhibited, pupils dilate increasing sensitivity

Second pathway:

- hypothalamus signals pituitary which secretes ACTH hormone; stimulates release of corticosteroids; increases energy and inhibit tissue inflammation

Behavioural responses

Learned helplessness, blaming oneself, aggression, displacement, catharsis, self-indulgence

Immune response and stress

body's defensive reaction to invasion; multifaceted but depend heavily on actions initiated by specialized white blood cells - lymphocytes

- release of pro-inflammatory cytokines; chronic stress can foster persistent overproduction leading to chronic inflammation

- possibility of a third variable

Individual difference in stress tolerance

Social support: aid and emotional sustenance; one's social networks; positive correlations in immune functioning, greater physical health; increased odds of survival 50%

Explicit social support: overt aid from others

Implicit social support: knowing that one has access

Albert Ellis

rational emotional therapy: approach that focuses on altering clients patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive emotions and behaviour; detecting catastrophic thinking, learn to dispute the irrational assumptions that cause it; ABC

A - activating event

B - belief system: irrational appraisal, rational appraisal; catastrophic thinking

C - consequence: emotional distress or calm

Three factors of critical evaluation

1) correlation is no assurance of causation

2) statistical significance is not equivalent to practical significance

3) base rates should be considered in evaluating probabilities

Thinking systematically:

1) seek information to reduce uncertainty

2) make risk-benefit assessments

3) list alternative courses of action

Medical model

etiology: cause and development of an illness

- abnormality is a continuum; disorders are extreme

Criteria of abnormality:

deviance: from socially accepted behaviour

maladaptive: everyday behaviour is impaired

personal distress: individual report

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Axis 1 (diagnoses on 1 and 2)

- Clinical Syndromes

Axis 2

- Personality Disorders

Axis 3 (supplemental information 3-5)

- General Medical Conditions

Axis 4

- Psychosocial and Environmental Problems

Axis 5

- Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale of 1-100

Epidemiology

the study of the distribution of mental or physical disorders in a population

Etiology of anxiety disorders

Biological

- concordance rate: percentage of twin pairs or other pairs of relatives who exhibit the same disorder

- inherited temperament: moderate genetic predisposition

- anxiety sensitivity: some are highly sensitive to the internal physiological symptoms of anxiety and are prone to overreact with fear

- neurotransmitters: GABA and serotonin

Conditioning and Learning

- anxiety responses may be acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

- preparedness: biologically prepared by evolutionary history to acquire some fears more easily than others (ie. snakes, spiders)

- critics: many cannot recall traumatic experiences or many have traumatic experiences that don't induce phobias, some phobias can be triggered by observing another's fear

Cognitive Factors

1) misinterpret harmless situations as threatening

2) focus excessive attention on perceived threats

3) selectively recall information that seems threatening

Dissociative disorders

losing contact with portions of consciousness or memory; disruptions in sense of identity

- Dissociative Amnesia: sudden loss of memory; single traumatic event or period surrounding the event

- Dissociative Fugue: memory loss for entire lifetime, along with loss of personal identity; names, families, where they live, but can still do math or drive a car

- Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

- various personalities are different and unaware of each other, transitions can occur suddenly

- controversial: lack of empirical evidence for DID should not be used to conclude that it does not exist; if some cases of DID turn out to be faked, we cannot generalize and conclude that all cases are faked

Mood disorders

- disturbed emotion

Major Depressive Disorder

- anhedonia: diminished ability to experience pleasure

- Susan Noel-Hoeksema: attributes higher prevalence of depression in women to greater stress and adversity

- dysthymic disorder: chronic depression that is insufficient in severity to justify diagnosis

Bipolar Disorder

- 1 percent of population; age on onset often in '20s

- euphoric mood elevation; optimism, energy,

- paradoxical negative undercurrent of irritability and depression; spend more time in depression than mania

- cyclothymic disorder: chronic but mild symptoms of bipolar disturbance

Factors of mood disorders

Genetics

- 65% concordance rates for identical twins, 14% for fraternal twins

- creates a predisposition, environmental factors likely determine if the disorder develops

- stronger genetic influence for bipolar than unipolar

- genetic mapping is inconsistent; constellation of many genes

Neurochemical

- heredity may create predisposition; abnormal levels of serotonin and norepinephrine (others may be possible); drug therapies affect availability of those chemicals

- structural abnormalities; depression and reduced hippocampal volume; memory; 8-10% smaller; suppression of neurogenesis might be the cause; serotonin promotes neurogenesis

Hormonal Factors

- HPA axis; one of 2 stress pathways; releases cortisol which is elevated in depressed patients

Dispositional Factors

- Perfectionism: self-oriented, other-oriented, socially-prescribed

- Aaron Beck: two personality styles are related to depression; sociotropic (please others, avoid interpersonal problems); autonomous (independence and self-achievement)

- Blatt: introjective personality orientation; excessive self-criticism and overdependence on others

- personality variables operate as vulnerabilities in response to stressors related to that specific disposition

Cognitive Factors

- Aaron Beck- negative cognitive triad: negative views of themselves, world and future; dysfunctional schemas

- Martin Seligman: learned helplessness

- pessimistic explanatory style: attribute setbacks to personal flaws

- hopelessness theory: many factors including pessimistic explanatory style, high stress, low self-esteem, etc.

- emphasize importance of cognitive reactions

- rumination increases negative thinking, impairing problem-solving, undermining social support

- cognitive models: negative thinking is what causes depression

Stress

- link between stress and mood disorders is moderately strong; stress also affects how people respond to treatment and whether they relapse

- impact of stress varies in part because of varied vulnerability

Schizophrenia

- disturbed thought

- delusions and irrational thought; hallucinations

- deterioration of adaptive behaviour: work and social relationships, personal care

- disturbed emotions: little responsiveness; inappropriate / volatile responses

Schizophrenic subtypes

Four subtypes:

1) Paranoid: delusions of persecution, along with delusions of grandeur; suspicious

2) Catatonic: striking motor disturbances; muscular rigidity to random motor activity

3) Disorganized: severe deterioration of adaptive behaviour; often involving bodily functions; frequent incoherence, emotional indifference, babbling, giggling

4) Undifferiented: cannot be placed into other 3 categories; mixture of schizophrenic symptoms

Negative symptoms: behavioural deficits

Positive symptoms: behavioural excesses or peculiarities, hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behaviour, wild flights of ideas

Factors of schizophrenia

Genetic vulnerability

- twin studies; concordance about 48% for identical; 17% for fraternal

- two schizophrenic parents; 46% for child (general population about 1%)

Neurochemical factors

- excess dopamine

- neural circuits using glutamate may also play a role

- marijuana use doubles risk; THC may increase activity in dopamine circuits

Structural abnormalities

- deficits in attention, perception and information processing; impairments in working memory

- enlarged brain ventricles assumed to reflect the degeneration of nearby brain tissue; deterioration could be a consequence or a contributing cause

- reductions in both grey and white matter; reflect loss of synaptic density and myelination; disruption in the brain's neural connectivity

Neurodevelopmental hypothesis

- disruptions in the normal maturational processes of the brain before or at birth

- sensitive phase of development; subtle neurological damage occurs that elevates vulnerability

- possible causes: viral infections, malnutrition, birth complications

Stress

- biological and psychological factors influence vulnerability; stress induces a disorder in someone that is vulnerable; can trigger relapses

Family dynamics

- expressed emotion; highly critical or emotionally overinvolved attitude; source of stress rather than support

Antisocial personality disorder (APD)

Antisocial personality disorder (APD) (psychopathy)

- impulsive, callous, manipulative, aggressive and irresponsible behaviour that reflects a failure to accept social norms

Etiology

- genetic vulnerability; 67% concordance with identical twins and 31 % with fraternal twins

- sluggish autonomic systems lead to slow acquisition of inhibitions through classical conditioning; findings are inconsistent

- inadequate socialization; erratic or ineffective discipline; physical abuse and neglect

- observational learning; parents

Personality disorders

Personality disorders

- marked by extreme, inflexible personality traits that cause subjective distress or impaired social and occupational functioning

Three related clusters:

Anxious/fearful

Odd/eccentric

Dramatic/impulsive

- overlap makes diagnosis difficult; categorial approach is questionable; dimensional approach may be more effective

Effects of culture on pathology

Relativistic view: criteria of mental illness varies greatly across cultures; there are no universal standards of normality/abnormality

Pancultural view: criteria of mental illness are much the same around the world, basic standards of normality/abnormality are universal

- the stronger the biological component, the more it tends to be expressed similarly across cultures

- cultural variations in symptom pattern; specific delusions related to culture

- most variable symptom patterns in depression; western cultures in terms of feelings, non-western in terms of somatic symptoms

Availabilty heuristic

estimating probability of certain events in terms of how readily they come to mind (eg. influence of heavy media coverage)

Conjunction fallacy

two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event alone

Representativeness heuristic

the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Theoritical approaches

Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic perspective

- Freud, Jung, Adler, and Erikson

- behaviour is determined by dynamic forces and conflicts within the mind; unconscious

- early childhood experiences are largely influential

- abnormal behaviour arises from conflicts between these dynamic forces and the resulting guilt and anxiety

Learning perspective (a.k.a. social learning theory):

- Watson and Skinner

- normal and abnormal behaviours are learned the same way; classical and operant conditioning, modelling, and imitation

Cognitive perspective:

- Bandura

- emphasizes information processing rather than simple conditioning; for example, problems in receiving, storing, retrieving, or making sense of information

Humanistic/existential perspective:

- Rogers, Maslow, May, and Frankl

- developed in reaction to the psychodynamic and behaviouristic views

- abnormal behaviour results from a discrepancy between one's real and ideal selves, which causes stress, tension, anxiety, and so on

- anxiety results from existential crises that occur when individuals face difficult decisions about the directions in their lives

Biological/physiological perspective:

- abnormal behaviour is a result of biological or physiological causes

- there is an interrelationship between the body and the brain; any threat or challenge an individual perceives in the environment triggers a chain of neuroendocrine events

Insight therapies

verbal, increase insight, possible solutions, greatest improvement in early treatment (13-18 weekly sessions); evaluation is subjective, effects are reasonably durable, equal efficacy as drug therapy

Psychoanalysis - inner conflicts id, ego, superego, defence mechanisms, unconscious; resistance - largely unconscious defence mechanisms; transference - helpful, relationships can be reenacted

Free association - expression of thoughts/feelings

Client-centred therapy - Rogers; work together as equals, supportive emotional climate, alleviates incongruence

Behavioural therapies

symptoms ARE the problem, insights are not necessary, direct application of learning principles, behaviour is a product of learning, what can be learned can be unlearned; more emphasis on measuring outcomes shows efficacy of most; used to treat phobias, OCD, sexual dysfunction, eating disorders, hyperactivity, etc.

Systematic desensitization - reduce anxiety responses through counterconditioning; weaken the association between the CS and the CR.

Three steps:

-building anxiety hierarchy

- training the client in muscle relaxation

- client tries to work thought the hierarchy, learning to remain relaxed by imagining each stimulus

Exposure therapies - clients are confronted with situations that they fear so that they learn that these situations are really harmless; used with the full range of anxiety disorders

Cognitive-behavioural treatments - use varied combinations of verbal interventions and behaviour modification techniques to help clients change maladaptive patterns of thinking

Cognitive therapy - modelling, systematic monitoring of one's behaviour, behavioural rehearsal; change clients negative thoughts and appraisals and maladaptive beliefs; taught to detect automatic negative thoughts; trained to subject thoughts to reality testing

Beck; according to cognitive therapists depression is caused by errors in thinking; blame personal inadequacies; focus selectively on negative events; make unduly pessimistic projections; draw negative conclusions about their worth as a person

Self-instructional training - develop and use verbal statements that help cope with difficult contexts

Biomedical therapies

Drug Therapy:

- produces clear gains, not as effective as advertised, over prescribed, damaging side effects

1) Anti-anxiety

- benzodiazepine family, tranquillizers; valium, Xanax

- side effects, drug dependence, overdose and withdrawal symptoms

2) Anti-psychotic

- schizophrenia and severe mood disorders with delusions; gradually reduce psychotic symptoms including hyperactivity, mental confusion, hallucinations and delusions

- decreases activity in the dopamine synapses; work gradually, respond within 1-3 weeks, many unpleasant side effects including muscle tremors

- tardive dyskinesia - neurological disorder involuntary writhing and tic-like movements of the mouth, tongue, face, hands, feet

- new class called atypical antipsychotic drugs

3) Anti-depressant

- before 1987: tricyclics and MAO inhibitors

- SSRI's are used now; gains similar to tricyclics but with fewer side effects; work gradually; major depression is improved; may increase risk of suicide in adolescents

- SNRI's are newest class that inhibit reuptake at both serotonin and norepinephrine

4) Mood-stabilizing

- bipolar disorders

- lithium; alternatives such as valproate

- dangerous side effects if not monitored correctly

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT):

- electric shock produces a cortical seizure accompanied by convulsions; electrodes are attached to the skill over the temporal lobes, light anesthesia and drugs to reduce complications, electric current applied to right or both sides for about one second, 6-20 treatments over period of a month

- treat depression in patients that don't respond to medication; improvement is seen

- relapse rates are high, 64% within 6 months

- risks: memory loss, impaired attention, cognitive deficits; assert that these are mild and temporary while some maintain that they ware significant and sometimes permanent; very controversial

Newer Techniques

1) Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) - temporarily enhance or depress activity in a specific area of the brain; magnetic coil is mounted on a paddle; held over specific areas to increase or decrease activity to discrete regions of the cortex; well-tolerated, minimal side effects

2) Deep brain stimulation (DBS) - thin electrode is surgically implanted into brain; connected to a pulse generator so that currents can be delivered to the brain tissue; currently exploring treatment values

Factors in person perception

- Social schemas: ideas about categories of social events and people; helps effeciently store info

- Stereotypes

- Self-fullfilling prophecy

- Priming

- Illusory correlation: people see what they want to see

- Memory processes: selectively recalling facts

Attributions

inferences people draw about the causes of events, others behavior, and their own behavior

Internal - personal dispositions, traits, abilities, feelings

External - situational demands, environmental constaints

Weiner's theory of attribution

- focuses on stability of the causes underlying behaviour

- creating four categories: internal-stable, external-stable, internal-unstable, external-unstable

Attributional bias and cultural variations

Actor-observer bias: actors favour external attributions, whereas observers are more likely to explain the same behaviour with internal attributions

Defensive attribution: blame victims for their misfortune so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way

Self-serving bias - attribute one's success to personal factors and one's failure to situational factors; prevalent in Western society

Self-effacing bias - tendency to attribute their successes to help they received from others or to the ease of the task

Three key factors in attraction

1) physical attractiveness - "matching hypothesis"

2) similarity - race, religion, social class, etc.

3) attitude alignment

Attachment

Hazan and Shaver

- romantic relationships follow the same attachment style as infancy; people relive their early bonding with their parents in adult romantic relationships:

Secure: 56%; trusting

Anxious-ambivalent: 20%; volatile, jealousy, expects rejection

Avoidant: 24%; lacking intimacy and trust

Attachment anxiety: worry about abandonment, doubts their lovability

Attachment avoidance: uncomfortable with closeness and intimacy