Psychology Lecture Notes

Flashcards for vocabulary terms in the psychology lecture notes.

Stress

Tension, discomfort, or physical symptoms arising from a situation that strains our ability to cope effectively

Stressors

Situations that cause stress

Examples of Stressors

Major life events; daily hassles

Stress as a stimulus

Focuses on measuring stressors and who is most susceptible following certain events

Social Readjustment Rating Scale

List of 42 life events scored by estimate degree of adjustment they require

Stress as a response

Focuses on psychological and physical reaction to stressors

General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye)

Body responds to stress by “kicking into high gear”

Three stages of General Adaptation Syndrome

Alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

Alarm Stage

Activates autonomic nervous system, releases adrenaline, physical experience of anxiety; emotion brain= amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus; HPA-axis triggers 'fight or fight' response

Resistance Stage

Focus on adaptation and coping; thinking brain= cerebral cortex; problem-solving

Exhaustion Stage

After too long, resistance breaks down; leads to burnout, mental and physical illness

Eustress

Sometimes stress can be a good thing; leads to better focus and performance

Stress as a transaction

Focuses on how people interpret, cope with stressors; Emphasizes that our evaluations of an event determine stress

Primary appraisal

Assess situation as harmful or non threatening.

Secondary appraisal

Decided how well we can cope with the situation

Problem-focused coping

Focus on tackling the problem “head on”; use when confident we can cope with the stressor

Emotional-focused coping

Focus on a change in perspective to lower stress; used when stressors feels out of our control, or we cannot change

Coping

Mental and behavioral efforts that we use to deal with problems relating to stress.

Internal Locus of Control

Achievements/outcomes, determined by own decisions and efforts.

External Locus of Control

Achievement/task comes determined by/luck or other outside of their control

Perceived Self-Efficacy

Believes in our own ability to complete task and reach our goal goals.

Stress-Related Growth

A dispositional response that focuses on opportunities for growth rather than threats or debilitation.

Social Support

Relationships with others — individuals, groups, communities — can provide emotional comfort, advice, resources, etc.

Gaining Control

Increasing one sense of agency and ability to influence their environments and experiences.

Behavioral Control

Taking action to prevent stressors — active problem-solving

Cognitive Control

Thinking differently about stressors— involves emotional-focused coping— reframing stressors can lead to less distress

Decisional Control

Ability to choose between different options — we can include advice-seeking, empowering ourselves to make a good choices.

Informational Control

Ability to acquire information about a stressor — involves proactive coping— anticipating stressors, taking actions to prevent or minimizing them in advance.

Emotional Control

Ability to express or suppress emotions — example: “opening up” about traumatic/emotional experiences.

Social psychology

The study of how people influence our thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes

Attribution

Process by which we assign causes to behavior

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

Tendency to overestimate dispositional influences on behavior and underestimate situational influences on others’ behavior

Cognitive Dissonance

Unpleasant feeling of tension resulting from conflicting thoughts or beliefs

Conformity

The tendency to alter behavior as a result of group pressure

Informational Influence

Others might know better

Normative Influence

We want to fit in

Bystander Nonintervention

The presence of others makes us likely to act in emergency

Pluralistic Ignorance

Error of assuming no one is a group perceive thing we do

Social Referencing

Look to others for cues — we tend to act in accordance with others

Diffusion of Responsibility

The presence of others make each other feel less personally responsible

Obedience

Adherence to instructions from those of higher authority

Deindividuation

The decency for people to engage in uncharacteristic behavior when stripped of usual identity

Personality

Characteristics, traits and behaviors that are consistent across time and situations— how we are as individuals

Psychogenic Causes of Illness

Caused by mind not body

Id

Controls primitive urges

Superego

Sense of morality

Ego

Main decision maker

Repression

Memory is driven into the unconscious

Denial

Refusal to admit or remember

Regression

Acting out qualities of a younger age

Reaction formation

Reversing anxiety-causing emotion

Projection

Attribution of negative qualities onto others

Rationalization

Twist unreasonable to sound reasonable

Intellectualization

Focus on facts or impersonal thoughts

Displacement

Redirecting emotions to safer outlet

Sublimation

Transforming socially unacceptable impulse into a admired goal

Oral Stage (0-1 years)

Children start sucking and tasting — putting things in there mouth

Anal Stage (2-3 years)

Children begin potty training

Phallic (3-6 years)

Children are attracted to opposite sex parent

Latency (6-12 years)

Sexual impulses are submerged into the unconscious — no sexual interest

Genital (12 years and up)

Sexual impulses reawaken — if no fixation has occurred, person engages in healthy romantic relationships

Traits

Relatively consistent predispositions that influence our behavior across situations

Genetic Factor

Genetic influence on personality

Shared Environment Factors

Experiences individuals share (and make us more alike, hobbies)

Non-Shared Environment Factors

Experiences individuals do not share (and make us less alike)

Fraternal (Dizygotic) Twins

Shared 50% genetic information

Identical (Monozygotic) Twins

Shared 100% genetic information

Minnesota Twin Studies

Set of studies investigating genetic and environmental influences on the development of psychological traits.

Family-Resemblance View

Members of a category share some, but not necessarily all, features (looks similar but not the same)

Statistical Rarity

Are uncommon in the population

Subjective Distress

Cause the person distress

Impairment

Interfere with daily functioning (stops you from doing the things you would normally do)

Societal Disapproval

Socially unacceptable

Biological Dysfunction

Involves brain impairments

DSM-S

Manual outlining a standard system for labeling and diagnosing mental disorders

Bio Psychosocial Approach

Recognizes the interplay of biological, psychological and social factors

Comorbidity

Co-occurrence of 2 or more diagnoses

Anxiety Disorders

Disorders in which the most common symptoms is fear or anxiety

Panic

Feeling of helpless terror

Panic Attack

Brief/intense episode of extreme fear and feeling of pending death or insanity

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Constant, undifferentiated worry

Phobias

Specific, irrational fears

Agoraphobia

Fear situations where escape may be difficult, or help may not be available if needed

Social Anxiety Disorder

Excessive fear of social situations: being closely watched, judged

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Repeated lengthy immersion in obsessions and /or compulsions

Obsessions

Persistent ideas thoughts or impulses that are unwanted, inappropriate and cause distress

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts to reduce or prevent distress

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Marked emotional disturbance after extremely traumatic event

Mood Disorders

Disorders which involve a disturbance in mood or emotions (too high or too low)

Major Depressive Disorder (Depression)

Prolonged sadness, self-blame; Feeling or worthlessness;Absence of pleasure; Changes in sleep or eating habits;Suicidal thoughts

Persistent Depressive Disorder

Mild depressive symptoms for at least 2 years

Bipolar Disorder

Presence of both depressive and manic episodes, in alternation

Manic Episode

Dramatic elevated mood; Heighten self-esteem; Decreased need for sleep; Hyperactivity; Reckless decisions