Comprehensive Psychology: Stress, Consciousness, Development, and Autism

How common is it for college students to be stressed?

Very common — the majority of college students report experiencing significant stress.

What are the three major sources of stress?

Major life events, daily hassles, and catastrophes.

What is stress?

A psychological and physiological response to perceived demands or threats.

What is a Type A personality?

A personality pattern characterized by competitiveness, time urgency, impatience, and hostility.

What is a Type B personality?

A personality pattern characterized by relaxed, easygoing, and patient behavior.

Which trait is associated with coronary heart disease?

Type A personality, particularly the hostility component.

How does stress impact physical health?

Stress suppresses the immune system, increases inflammation, raises blood pressure, and increases risk of chronic conditions.

What is the General Adaptation Syndrome?

It describes the body's response to stress in three stages: Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion.

What does the Yerkes-Dodson Law predict about stress and performance?

Performance follows an inverted U-shape; optimal performance occurs at moderate levels of arousal.

How can mindset help manage stress?

Viewing stress as a challenge can improve performance and health outcomes.

Are traumatic events common?

Yes — the majority of people will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime.

How is trauma different from stress?

Stress is a response to everyday demands; trauma involves exposure to deeply threatening events.

Is PTSD incurable?

No — PTSD is treatable and many people recover with proper intervention.

What types of treatment work for PTSD?

Evidence-based treatments include Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure therapy, and EMDR.

Do we report subjective gains from experiencing a traumatic event?

Yes — many report post-traumatic growth, including greater appreciation for life.

What is consciousness?

The awareness of oneself and one's environment.

What are the properties of consciousness?

Properties include subjectivity, unity, intentionality, and selectivity.

What are the hard and easy questions of consciousness?

Easy questions involve cognitive functions; the hard question is why brain processes give rise to subjective experience.

How can researchers measure consciousness in a vegetative state?

Using fMRI to observe brain activity while patients imagine performing tasks.

What is blindsight?

A phenomenon where individuals respond to visual stimuli without consciously seeing them.

What is a split brain?

A condition resulting from severing the corpus callosum, affecting information sharing between hemispheres.

What is the circadian rhythm?

The body's internal 24-hour biological clock regulating sleep-wake cycles and other processes.

How do stages of sleep vary?

Sleep cycles through stages: Stage 1 (light sleep), Stage 2 (sleep spindles), Stage 3 (deep sleep), and REM.

What is REM sleep?

A stage characterized by vivid dreaming and important for memory consolidation.

What are the different drug types and their physical effects?

Depressants slow CNS activity; stimulants speed it up; psychedelics alter perception.

Is multitasking effective?

No — the brain cannot truly multitask; it results in rapid task-switching.

Why is adolescence a critical time of development?

The brain undergoes significant changes, impacting decision-making, identity formation, and risk-taking.

What is developmental psychology?

The scientific study of how and why humans grow and change across the lifespan.

Why study developmental psychology?

To understand human growth processes and address developmental challenges early.

What's the difference between qualitative and quantitative development?

Quantitative refers to measurable changes; qualitative refers to fundamental changes in thinking or functioning.

What are distinct periods of development?

Qualitative changes characterized by different abilities, behaviors, or ways of thinking, occurring in a fixed sequence.

Who is Jean Piaget?

A Swiss developmental psychologist known for his theory of cognitive development.

What are schemas, assimilation, and accommodation?

Schemas are mental frameworks; assimilation is fitting new information into existing schemas; accommodation is changing schemas to fit new information.

What are Piaget's four stages of cognitive development?

1. Sensorimotor (0-2 years): learning through senses and motor actions; develops object permanence. 2. Preoperational (2-7 years): develops language and symbolic thinking but is egocentric and lacks logic. 3. Concrete Operational (7-11 years): develops logical thinking about concrete objects; masters conservation. 4. Formal Operational (12+): develops abstract and hypothetical reasoning.

Who is Erik Erikson?

A developmental psychologist known for his theory of psychosocial development involving eight stages across the lifespan.

How does human development begin?

At fertilization, when a sperm and egg combine to form a zygote, which develops into an embryo and eventually a fetus over approximately 40 weeks.

What is the neural tube?

An early embryonic structure that develops into the brain and spinal cord.

What are teratogens?

Environmental agents that can disrupt fetal development and cause birth defects.

How do the brain and body change during adolescence?

Rapid physical growth, sexual maturation, hormonal changes, and ongoing brain development, particularly in the prefrontal cortex.

What are cross-sectional, longitudinal, and sequential designs?

One compares different age groups at the same time. The other follows the same individuals over time. There is also one that combines both approaches.

How can development be studied through multiple levels of analysis?

By examining biological, psychological, and social/environmental factors simultaneously.

Are social relationships predictive of mortality?

Yes, strong social relationships are associated with longer life.

What is attachment?

A deep, enduring emotional bond between an infant and caregiver.

What are the functions of attachment?

Provides comfort during stress, a secure base for exploration, proximity maintenance, and separation distress.

When do babies attach to their caregivers?

Clear attachment behaviors emerge around 6-8 months of age.

What are the signs of attachment?

Seeking proximity to the caregiver, using them as a secure base, showing distress upon separation, and joy upon reunion.

What patterns do we see related to separation anxiety across cultures?

Separation anxiety is universal and typically peaks around 12-18 months.

Why do infants become dependent on their caregivers?

Psychoanalytic theory: attachment satisfies drives; Learning theory: caregivers are associated with food; Bowlby's theory: attachment evolved for survival.

What do Harlow's Monkey studies show?

Infant monkeys prefer comfort and contact over feeding.

What does Lorenz's work show?

Imprinting in animals, where they form an attachment to the first moving object they see.

What is secure attachment?

An attachment style where the infant uses the caregiver as a secure base and is easily comforted upon reunion.

What is insecure attachment?

Attachment styles characterized by anxiety, avoidance, or disorganization.

What is an internal working model?

A mental representation of relationships formed in early childhood based on attachment experiences.

How do peer relationships develop?

Early friendships are based on proximity; as children age, they become based on trust and shared values.

What are early and later friendships like?

Early friendships are activity-based and short-lived; later friendships are more intimate and stable.

If you don't have a romantic relationship in high school, are you doomed for life?

No, many people who don't date in high school have healthy relationships later.

How does infant attachment impact later relationships?

Secure attachment is linked to better social competence and healthier romantic relationships in adulthood.

Can attachment style be altered?

Yes, positive experiences and therapy can shift attachment patterns.

What are some key summary points about human development?

Development is lifelong, shaped by biology and environment, and early experiences have lasting effects.

How is language development marked?

Infants progress from cooing and babbling to full sentences, with major milestones in the first few years.

What is universal adaptability?

The ability of infants to discriminate between phonemes of any language, present at birth.

What is a sensitive period?

A time when an organism is especially responsive to certain environmental influences.

When does universal adaptability decline markedly?

Around 6-12 months of age, infants begin to lose the ability to distinguish phonemes that are not part of their native language.

Is there a way to reverse the decline in the ability to discriminate foreign-language phonemes?

Live social interaction with a native speaker of a foreign language can restore some phoneme discrimination in infants, but recorded or video interactions are much less effective.

In what way is language a specialized function?

Language is processed in specific brain regions (Broca's area for production, Wernicke's area for comprehension), and humans appear to have a unique biological predisposition for language not seen in other species.

What seems to drive specialization in language?

Exposure to a specific language environment during the sensitive period drives the brain to specialize in the sounds, grammar, and structure of that language.

What is the evidence for innate language capacities?

Children across all cultures acquire language at similar rates and stages without formal instruction. Chomsky proposed a Language Acquisition Device — an innate mechanism for learning grammar.

Can children learn grammar without instruction?

Yes — children naturally and spontaneously develop grammatical rules from exposure to language alone, without being explicitly taught.

What is meant by resilience in language development?

Language development is remarkably robust — even children raised in deprived language environments or who experience early hearing loss often develop language, though delays can occur.

Is language resilient? What is the evidence?

Yes — studies of children with early brain damage show that language functions can shift to the opposite hemisphere if damage occurs early enough.

What is nosology?

The classification and categorization of diseases and disorders — in psychology, it refers to how mental health conditions are defined, grouped, and named in diagnostic manuals like the DSM.

What changes happened with DSM-5 for Autism diagnosis?

Previously separate diagnoses (Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, PDD-NOS) were collapsed into a single diagnosis: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

What are the DSM-5 criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.

What are the core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Difficulties with social communication and interaction, and restricted/repetitive behaviors.

What is prevalence vs. incidence?

Prevalence is the total proportion of a population that has a condition at a given time. Incidence is the rate of new cases occurring in a population over a specific time period.

Why has there been an increase in ASD diagnoses recently?

Primarily due to broadened diagnostic criteria, increased awareness, better screening, and reduced stigma.

What is meant by Autistic traits being normally distributed in the population?

Autistic traits exist on a continuum across the general population, with those diagnosed with ASD falling at the extreme end.

How is Autism a heterogeneous disorder?

People with ASD vary enormously in their abilities, symptoms, and support needs.

What is the biopsychosocial model?

A framework that considers biological, psychological, and social factors together in understanding health and illness.

What are stress appraisals? What's the difference between primary and secondary appraisal?

Appraisals are how we evaluate stressors. Primary appraisal asks 'Is this a threat, challenge, or irrelevant?' Secondary appraisal asks 'Do I have the resources to cope with this?'

Does humor help us cope?

Yes — humor can reduce perceived stress, improve mood, strengthen social bonds, and serve as an effective coping mechanism.

What is a cross-sectional study?

A study that compares people of different ages at a single point in time.

What is a longitudinal study?

A study that follows the same individuals over a long period of time.

What is a cohort and cohort effects?

A cohort is a group of people who share a common experience at the same time. Cohort effects are differences between groups resulting from different historical or cultural contexts.

What are newborns born being able to do?

Newborns can recognize their mother's voice, respond to faces, root and suck, grasp objects, and show preference for their native language's rhythm.

What is cognitive development?

The process by which thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, memory, and language abilities develop and change across the lifespan.

In Piaget's model, how are assimilation and accommodation different?

Assimilation is incorporating new information into existing schemas. Accommodation is modifying existing schemas to fit new information.

What are Piaget's four stages?

Sensorimotor (0-2), Preoperational (2-7), Concrete Operational (7-11), Formal Operational (12+).

What is a schema?

A mental framework that organizes and interprets information about the world.

What are Baumrind's parenting styles?

Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, Uninvolved/Neglectful.

What is Kohlberg's model of moral development?

A three-level model of how moral reasoning develops: Preconventional, Conventional, Postconventional.