PSY341 Exam 1

Trauma

The response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms individuals, causing feelings of helplessness, altering one's sense of self, emotions, and experience of the world.

Acute Trauma

Trauma with a clear start and end, such as a car crash or natural disaster.

Chronic Trauma

Trauma that occurs over a longer period of time, like consistent abuse or rape.

Major Trauma

Severe trauma affecting a person's sense of security and perception of the world.

Minor Trauma

Traumatic events that do not involve violence or disasters but cause significant distress, like bullying or psychological abuse. Really common forms of trauma that can happen frequently

Single-generation Trauma

Trauma experienced by one person in a family that does not affect later generations.

Multi-generational Trauma

Trauma that continues to impact members of a generation years after it occurred, like the effects of slavery on African Americans.

Vulnerability

Involves uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

Shame

Belief that one is inherently bad, positively correlated with addiction, depression, suicide, bullying, aggression, violence, and eating disorders.

Primary Emotions

Fear, anger, sadness, shock - the initial emotions experienced after a traumatic event.

Secondary Emotions

More complex emotions that take longer to develop after a traumatic event, such as guilt, shame, despair, suffering, hopelessness, grief.

Core Belief

Deep-seated beliefs about oneself (e.g., "I'm bad").

Intermediate Beliefs

Attitudes, rules, and assumptions that influence behavior (e.g., "People can't be trusted").

Automatic Thoughts

Thoughts that spontaneously arise in response to stressors (e.g., "I'm going to fail").

Reactions

Emotional, behavioral, and physiological responses to environmental stressors.

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental discomfort experienced when holding conflicting beliefs or attitudes.

Coregulation

The process of interpersonal regulation of emotion and physiology characterized by attunement and interdependent responding, happening on a physiological level through synchronization of cortisol, brain stimulation, EDA, and heart rate with family members and romantic partners.

Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn

The main possible reactions to trauma in terms of the stress response, where individuals may choose to fight, flee, freeze, or be agreeable to gain protection.

Validation

Affirming a person's emotions as valid and acceptable, helping decrease emotional discomfort in the long term by letting them know it's okay to feel what they are feeling.

Problem Solving

Providing solutions to issues, which can be helpful in some cases but not all, as immediately giving advice may overlook acknowledging the person's emotions and cause them to feel stuck.

Innate Immunity

The first line of defense against pathogens, including barriers like inflammation, with trauma amplifying this response in the short term.

Adaptive Immunity

A slower immune response that "remembers" infections to mount strategic responses, with trauma weakening this adaptive response in the long term.

Telomeres

Caps at the end of DNA strands protecting chromosomes, shortening with each replication, and accelerated by childhood trauma, aging a person on a cellular level.
*Too short telomeres damage chromosomes (index of cellular age)

Allostasis

Constant adjustment of physiological parameters to maintain stable function, impacted by chronic stress leading to neural function consequences.

Homeostasis

Maintaining stable physiological parameters within a certain range, disrupted by chronic stress or severe trauma, leading to health issues.

Allostatic Load

Prolonged neurochemical imbalance from chronic stress negatively impacting normal neural function, associated with various health problems and elevated in individuals who have experienced significant trauma.

Headwinds and tailwinds asymmetry

People tend to notice adversarial headwinds more than helpful tailwinds, impacting our perception of bias and discrimination.

• Helps us see how bias and discrimination impact us. Sometimes we don’t see or register its impact on our ability to get ahead because of its subtlety. 

• Most of us tend to ignore or forget about advantages we’ve received but remember the obstacles we’ve overcome. 

  • ex) white people not understanding the trauma and how steep the road is people of color have to cross. 

Microaggressions

Indirect, subtle, unintentional discrimination against marginalized groups, impacting self-view and potentially leading to further trauma.

Person-first language

Centers the person before the identity, such as "person with depression," aiming to avoid categorization solely by identity.

Sex

Refers to sex traits at birth like chromosomes and external genitalia.

Racial capitalism

A racially hierarchical political economy sustained by imperialism, militarism, and labor exploitation.

Race

A social construct based on shared physical characteristics.

•  social construct based on the idea that groups share outward physical characteristics.

Interpersonal racism

Racism between individuals, like Mexicans being racist toward Cubans.

Medical model of disability is it problematic

•  emphasizes the role of the medical field in understanding disability. 

  • Problematic: Considers disability something to diagnose, treat, and “cure” suggesting there is something broken that needs fixing. 

    • Gatekeeping based on medical diagnosis is problematic because of access to medical diagnosis intersects with classism 

Sizeism

Discrimination based on body size.

Systemic trauma

contextual features of environments and institutions that give rise to trauma, maintain it, and impact posttraumatic response

Social Determinants of Health

Social risks that influence health and well-being positively or negatively, including access to healthcare, education, income, neighborhood, and social community. They occur where people live, learn, work, and play but affect the family immediately

SEAM Model

A model promoting positive attachment consisting of Safety, Emotional container, Availability, and Mind in Mind components.

Internalized Voicelessness

Impairment in advocating for oneself due to racism, leading to becoming victims of others' perceptions.

•  Racism impairs the ability to advocate for oneself because doing so is potentially dangerous. Children and adults can become victims and prisoners of others’ perceptions of them. 

Internalized Devaluation

Idolization of whiteness and demonization of color, are perpetuated in society, leading to disparities like higher arrest rates for Black individuals.

•  The idolization of whiteness and the demonization of color. It is perpetuated and reinforced throughout the society. 

  • (ex. Black kids are more likely to be arrested.) 

There are twelve types of evidence-informed positive parenting strategies. Name and describe three

• Time in: Spending quality time with your child 

  • Reading together,  arts and crafts

• Attuned attentive listening: Listening to your child and showing that you did listen and understand what they are saying

• Catch the child being good and offer specific praise: Noticing behavior you want to see (good) and praising your child for it. 

  • “Good job on bringing your dishes to the sink”

• Routines: having a clear routine that helps your child go throughout their day

  • Bedtime routine

• Ignoring Minor negative behaviors: Ignoring minor bad behaviors in your child, not yelling at them for it. 

  • Not yelling at your child for the makeup they chose to wear (adolescents)

• Being a role model: making good choices and setting a good example for your child. 

  • Not being wasted in front of them 

• Distraction and positive messaging: Not yelling No at your child and instead distracting them or teaching them a valuable lesson

  • Kid touching hot stove tell them why they can not do that and ask if they want to help make cupcakes batter instead

• Rewards and privileges: Rewarding your child to keep up good behaviors 

  • Getting good grades maybe a frozen yogurt trip 

• The law of logical consequences: Allow the child to experience the fallout of their actions or behaviors can be incurable 

  • “There are a lot of toys and books on your floor” The child may get a hint to pick up room 

• Collaborative problem solving: The Caregiver assigns child behaviors on a specific spectrum from a minor negative behavior to a safety issue. The behaviors in the middle are open to negotiation and compromise.

  •  Parent and child discussing the problem of a too-early curfew. On Fridays your curfew can be extended by 1 hour (problem solved) 

• Teach self-soothing behaviors to caregivers and children: Teach kids and adults healthy self care habits 

  • Drinking tea, taking bubble bath, exercise

• Time out: Time out 

  • caregiver uses it by remaining calm, stating the behavior they want their child to stop and/or stating the behavior they wish to observe, warning their child that the consequence of disobeying will be a time-out, counting down to the time-out, and then putting their child, if they do not respond to the warning and countdown, on a time-out in a safe setting for a specified amount of time. Some caregivers use a timer that should be set to a number of minutes less than or equal to the child’s age

Collaborative Problem Solving

Assigning child behaviors on a spectrum and negotiating compromises, like extending curfew, to solve issues effectively.

Parenting Styles

Authoritative (nurturing with firm limits), Authoritarian (strict and directive), Permissive (nurturing but lax), Uninvolved (less responsive or involved).

Describe the six steps in the pyramid model of how Adverse Childhood Experiences impact health and mortality

• Adverse childhood experiences: Trauma (i.e. sexual assault) 

• Disrupted neurodevelopment: Heightened activity in the amygdala,  stress hormone dysregulation, decreased executive function ) 

• Social, emotional, and cognitive impairment: (no trust in people or adults) (frequently anxious) 

• Adoption of health risk behaviors: (begin smoking, drinking) 

• Disease, disability, and social problems: (lung cancer, cirrhosis, don't show up to work) 

• Early death: (die at age 40) 
  

• Beginning with ACE each one can affect the one above it. (ace affects neurodevelopment and neurodevelopment affects social impairment) 

• ACE can have an impact on a child’s development which leads to long term consequences

Describe how the ace impact health and mortality

• Beginning with ACE each one can affect the one above it. (ace affects neurodevelopment and neurodevelopment affects social impairment) 

• ACE can have an impact on a child’s development which leads to long term consequences

Insidious trauma

• Not known or recognized as harmful (hidden) Not easy to tell it is traumatic

Obvious

• It is known as harmful (Domestic violence) It is and a person can tell it is traumatic 

Brown lists three things in the “vulnerability armory.” List, and define vulnerability armor.

• vulnerability armor are: An armor we use to protect ourselves from being vulnerable

• foreboding joy

• perfectionism

• numbing

define and give an example of three things in vulnerability armor

• Foreboding joy: a continuum that runs from rehearsing tragedy to what I call a perpetual disappointment. Preparing for the worst when things are going good in life Paradoxical dread that clamps down on momentary joyfulness (expecting to not get a position you want so it doesn’t hurt as much)

• Perfectionism: Doing everything perfect so you will never feel shame

• Numbing: embrace of weather deadens the signs of pain of discomfort and pain. (ex. Doing drugs) 

Guilt

• Is when the individual feels that they did something bad and is negatively correlated with addiction, depression, suicide, bullying, aggression, violence, and eating disorders 

Is vulnerability a weakness or courage

• Vulnerability is courage you are opening yourself up to the chance of getting hurt but having the better ability to connect with others. Being vulnerable pushes you to take great risks by leaving yourself open to the world. 

Describe Bartholomew’s two-dimensional model of attachment. List the four attachment styles described and list their qualities in terms of (1) high versus low avoidance, (2) high versus low anxiety, (3) beliefs about the self, (4) beliefs about others, (5) high versus low self-esteem, and (6) high versus low sociability

• Bartholomews' two-dimensional model of attachment has a x axis of low and high anxiety, and a y axis of low avoidance and high avoidance. Within the 4 quadrants there are different qualities a person can have that can have an affect on their relationship style. The 4 qualities are:

  • Low avoidance and low anxiety: A SECURE ATTACHMENT

    • Belief about the self: Positive 

    • Belief about others: Trusting 

    • Self-esteem: high 

    • Sociability: High   

    • Mate: With other individuals who have a secure attachment

      • I'm okay, you’re okay 

  • High avoidance and low anxiety: A DISMISSIVE ATTACHMENT

    •  Belief about self: Positive 

    • Belief about others: Not trusting 

    • Self-esteem: High 

    • Sociability: No

    • Mate: With other individuals a preoccupied attachment 

      • I'm okay You’re not okay

  • Low avoidance and high anxiety: A PREOCCUPIED ATTACHMENT 

    • Belief about self: Negative 

    • Belief about others: Positive trusting

    • Self-esteem: Low 

    • Sociability: High 

    • Mate: With others who have Dimissive attachment 

      • I'm not okay, You’re okay 

  • High avoidance and high anxiety: A FEARFUL ATTACHMENT 

    • Belief about self: Negative

    • Belief about others: Negative 

    • Self-esteem: Low 

    • Sociability: Low 

    • Mate: Other fearful people 

      • I'm not okay You’re not okay

what makes a secure attachment

• Low avoidance and low anxiety:

  • Belief about the self: Positive 

  • Belief about others: Trusting 

  • Self-esteem: high 

  • Sociability: High   

  • Mate: With other individuals who have a secure attachment

    • I'm okay, you’re okay

What makes a dismissive attachment

• High avoidance and low anxiety:

  •  Belief about self: Positive 

  • Belief about others: Not trusting 

  • Self-esteem: High 

  • Sociability: No

  • Mate: With other individuals a preoccupied attachment 

    • I'm okay You’re not okay

What makes a preoccupied attachment

• Low avoidance and high anxiety:

  • Belief about self: Negative 

  • Belief about others: Positive trusting

  • Self-esteem: Low 

  • Sociability: High 

  • Mate: With others who have Dismissive attachment 

    • I'm not okay, You’re okay 

What makes a fearful attachment

• High avoidance and high anxiety:

  • Belief about self: Negative

  • Belief about others: Negative 

  • Self-esteem: Low 

  • Sociability: Low 

  • Mate: Other fearful people 

    • I'm not okay You’re not okay 

Describe how trauma relates to attachment style

• We tend to mate with people who share similar attitudes about ourselves

  • If YOU believe that YOU’RE BAD and others are good, you are likely to find a PARTNER who thinks YOU are BAD and that THEY’RE GOOD

Are traumatized brains damaged or specialized? Why or why not? provide an example of each

• Yes, experiences of trauma damage brains because of the release of cortisol which damages brain development. Damaged brains are also specialized they are more likely to 

  • Orient to angry faces more quickly 

  • Are more accurate at identifying angry faces 

  • Have a better memory for aggressive stimuli 

  • Recall negative events with more necessary  

What is Beck’s cognitive triad

• Never-ending circle of how the view of the self affects the view of the world and the view of the future 

Describe the four elements that make up the cognitive onion. Define each and describe their relationship to each other

• The 4 elements that make up the cognitive onion are: from deeper layer of onion to outer layer of onion

  • Core belief: What you believe about yourself deep down (i.e. I’m bad)

  • Intermediate beliefs: Attitudes, rules, and assumptions (i.e. People can’t be trusted)

  • Automatic thoughts: Thoughts that automatically pop into your head when you experience a stressor. (i.e. I’m going to fail)  

  • Reactions: Your emotional, behavioral, and physiological responses to environmental stressors (Being sad, crying)

• The core belief affects the intermediate belief which affects the automatic thoughts which affects the reactions AND THEN STARTS THE PROCESS ALL OVER AGAIN.

Describe the cognitive model of psychopathology. List and define each element and give an example of a situation and resulting sequence following this model

• Show how childhood trauma can affect an individual's core belief, which then affects their intermediate belief which then affects their automatic thoughts that are caused by a situation and then affects their reactions which then circle back to their core belief. 

  • Discusses how cognitive schemas comprise core beliefs, intermediate beliefs, automatic thoughts, reactions to those thoughts and how they are all connected. 

• An example would be if someone thought the world was dangerous, they may not trust people or settings outside of their home, so they do not put themselves in situations that might be dangerous (going to a party). If they are in a stressful situation, they might have the automatic thought that someone is following them which results in emotions like fear and anxiety, and cause their heart rate and breathing to increase. This reaction then strengthens their core belief.

Describe the model of cognitive dissonance created by trauma

• The cognitive dissonance model shows how one can have the SCHEMA that they are good and the world is good and how a traumatic event can affect them.(trauma affects their schema). This effect causes the individual to wonder how could this happen to them which is known at the phenomenon COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. From there the person can experience ASSIMILATION: which is them thinking what they should have done and if only… They interpret in a way that fits their schema and the mental undoing of guilt. This can create consonance. After cognitive dissonance the person can also experience OVER-ACCOMODATION: where they believe they are and the world is bad. These individuals change their schema to fit the event and are over-vigilant and have extreme beliefs.  

How does coregulation develop through the lifespan

• Parents scale back regulatory influence over time

  • WAY MORE HELP WHEN INFANT COMPARED TO TEEN

• A lot of caregiver regulatory influence from infant to preschool

• During preschool the child realizes mom and themselves are separate people: at this stage the baby learns to say no 

• During adolescence there is an increase in youth self-regulation; all the way up to young adulthood.

• NEED ENOUGH FOR CHILD TO LEARN BUT STILL FEEL SAFE AND SUPPORTED. 

Describe how to coregulate and provide emotional support to others. Describe at least three effective ways

• You can coregulate by validating the person’s emotions.

  • Key components of validation are awareness and acceptance. 

• In early childhood, this includes mimicry, attuned facial expressions, emotion labeling, and soothing 

• As the child gets older this includes paraphrasing and reflection. 

Describe how to coregulate and provide emotional support to others. Describe at least three ineffective ways

• Being unresponsive or unattuned 

• Criticizing, invalidating, or attempting to shut it down

• Catching the negative emotion yourself

• Jumping to give advice 

 Is validation helpful? Why or why not

• helpful because you affirm a person that it is okay to be feeling what they are feeling. You let the person know that it is okay to come with you with negative emotions as well as their happy ones. You are able to decrease emotional discomfort in the long term

Is problem solving helpful? Why or why not?

•  can be helpful in some cases but NOT ALL. Immediately giving advice can frustrate someone when they just wanted someone to talk to and not get a lecture from. You do not acknowledge the emotion the person is feeling and instead steamroll over it. This can cause a person to feel stuck because they didn’t get a chance to process whatever emotion they were feeling before fixing the problem.   

What are the main three possible reactions to trauma in terms of the stress response

• The main three possible reactions to trauma in terms of the stress response are FIGHT, FLIGHT, and FREEZE, AND FAWN.

Why might you choose one stress response versus the other in a threatening situation

• FLIGHT: one might choose to flee a situation when they know they can not fight their “attacker” and have a chance to escape. In this case their behavioral response is to AVOID. 

• FIGHT: one might choose to fight in a situation when they stand a chance and can win, or they’re protecting someone (i.e. parents and kids). Their behavioral response is to APPROACH. 

• FREEZE: one might choose to freeze when they’re powerless to fight or flee so they submit and play dead.

  • These individuals tend to blame themselves 

• FAWN one might choose to be really agreeable with a group in order to gain their help for protection. 

How are these systems impacted by stress and trauma?

• Chronic stress leads to arousal pathology where there is constant deviation from regular physiological parameters 

  • Homeostasis: Acute stress can trigger the body's fight-or-flight response, leading to temporary deviations from homeostasis. However, the body is generally well-equipped to return to a balanced state once the stressor is removed. Chronic stress or severe trauma, on the other hand, may disrupt the body's ability to maintain homeostasis, contributing to the development of health issues.

  • Allostasis: Allostasis involves adaptive responses to stress, but chronic stress or trauma can lead to a state of maladaptive allostasis. Prolonged activation of stress response systems, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, can result in dysregulation and contribute to allostatic load.

  • Allostatic Load: The ongoing activation of stress response systems without sufficient recovery time can contribute to allostatic load. High allostatic load is associated with an increased risk for various health problems, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and mental health issues. Individuals who have experienced significant trauma may be at a higher risk for elevated allostatic load.

Is minor trauma really minor?

• Minor trauma is not really minor it can continue to build up to become major and have big cumulative impacts. 

• It is not always recognized as traumatic by others which makes us prone to self-blame when they occur. 

Why is insidious trauma so harmful?

• It is HARMFUL because we do not recognize the impact of trauma which causes us to be more damaged by it. 

  • When people do not recognize the trauma they are re-traumatized and our wound is repeated 

  • It perpetuates the self-blame cycle and deepens symptoms. 

what is social identity

• Physical, social, and mental characteristics of individuals. (i.e. race, gender, and sexual identity) 

List different types of social identity based on the ADDRESSING FRAME WORK

• Social identity: Physical, social, and mental characteristics of individuals. (i.e. race, gender, and sexual identity) 

• Age: A 20 year old

• Disability: with down syndrome

• Disability acquired: Paralyzed from accident 

• Religion: Catholic

• Ethnicity: Mexican 

• Social status: Lower class 

• Sexual orientation: Asexual

• Indigenous heritage: Navajo 

• National origin: U.S.A.

• Gender: Non-binary 

what is the addressing framework

Age
Disability (congenital)
Disability (acquired)
Religion
Ethnicity
Social status
Sexual orientation
Indigenous heritage
National origin
Gender

define intersectionality and give an example

• The interconnected nature of social categorizations, such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. 

  • A black gay women ( being a minority gender ties in with her minority race, and sexual orientation) can affect her getting the same opportunities as others.

Provide an example and describe how microaggressions impact development and functions

• (ex) Oh you’re really good at math for being a girl

• (ex) I'm surprised you’re a Hispanic who is really good at reading.

• They can affect the view we have of ourselves without even realizing it

  • It can lead us to question and judge ourselves which can further traumatize us.

  • The slap: Unexpected microaggressions in contexts thought to be safe can mess with our trust in people. 

Do microaggressions matter? Why or why not?

•  YES, microaggressions do matter the little things can build up and cause further harm to us. 

Define person first (centered) language

• Centers the person before the identity

  • Person with depression

Define identity centered language

• centers the identity before the person 

  • Depressed person

Why might you use one versus the other?

• I would personally use the person's centered language because I do not want to categorize them by their identity and cause them to feel like a distinction and not a person. If we believe there is nothing more than to us than our identity that can send us into a crisis

define sexual orientation

• Someone's romantic sexual attraction or lack thereof 

  • Lesbian, gay. 

define gender

• Someone’s innermost concept of self

  • Trans male

define human giver syndrome

•  deeply buried, unspoken assumption that women should give everything, every moment of their lives, every drop of energy to the care of others. 

• Mothers are frequent sufferers of this syndrome they give and give themselves to their children and families, etc. 

 How does human-giver syndrome contribute to discrimination and violence

• Women are not seen as human beings who have needs but are seen as vessels that will provide for every need and can be control 

• They do not own or have any control over anything including their bodies

define chattel enslavement

•  the buying, selling, trading, inheriting, and ownership of enslaved African American people as property. 

provide a contemporary example of racial capitalism and chattel enslavement

• An example would be mass incarceration: prison labor sustains many major companies and allows for greater profit

• (ex) child labor or child prostitution

Ethnicity

• markers of a shared group such as cultural, traditional, and family bonds

Racialization

• the categorization of people according to race 

define institutionalized racism and give an example

• systemic racism that exists as the foundation of our institutions including in education, government, finance justice, healthcare, religion, housing, and employment  

  • Racial profiling from police officers to brown and black people 

define white saviorism and provide an example

• an unfair and unjust treatment of non-white people where a white person is inaccurately depicted as “saving” “uplifting” or “rescuing” non-white people. Nonwhite people are wrongly depicted as passive recipients of white beneficence rather than active and powerful agents 

  • (ex) catholic missionary work (building a school) people view them as a saviors to the individuals they worked with at their mission trips

what is the individual model of disability is it problematic?

•  places the responsibility on the disabled individuals to deal with the challenges that come with having a disability 

  • Problematic: suggest that tools like discipline and sacrifice ALONE can free people from oppression 

what is the social model of disability is it problematic?

•  holds that disabled people are not impaired by their bodies or diagnoses but by ableist ideologies and social constructions 

  • Problematic: ableist perspective suggests that disabled people do not fit their society 

    • Ableist society creates and maintains obstacles that isolate disabled people. 

what is the economic model of disability is it problematic?

•  how much money someone can earn, how much work they can do or how productive they are.

  • Problematic: categorizes them and high and low-functioning

    • Intersects with classism because it suggests that worth relates to productivity 

what is the tragedy model of disability is it problematic?

•  treats disability as something that is tragic or inherently involves loss. 

• Problematic: prioritizes acquired disabilities and makes assumptions about people’s lives 

  • Treats them as objects of pity.