Psychology 101 Exam Study Guide

Flashcards for Psychology 101:04 Spring 2025 Final Exam Study Guide - New Material (4.25.25)

What is cooperative interdependence?

Relationship in which the outcomes of multiple people or groups depend on each others’ actions

How did Sherif reduce prejudice in the Robber’s Cave study?

He created two groups and introduced competition.

What is a jigsaw classroom?

To eliminate competition and introduce cooperation in classrooms; groups of students each has a unique skill or piece of information and must cooperate to succeed.

What is the drive theory of aggression?

Aggression results from situations that stimulate the internal motive to harm others.

What is catharsis?

Expressing aggression or watching others engage in aggressive behaviors reduces aggressive drive (not supported).

What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

Frustration increases the probability of aggressive behavior.

How does similarity predict liking?

Birds of a feather flock together.

How does proximity predict liking?

Liking those who are near us.

What is the mere exposure effect?

Repeated exposure to a person increases our liking for the person.

What is the bystander effect?

The presence of other people makes it less likely that anyone will help a stranger in distress.

What is diffusion of responsibility?

The presence of other people makes each individual feel less personally responsible.

What is pluralistic ignorance?

Bystanders assume nothing is wrong in an emergency because other bystanders don’t appear concerned.

What is evaluation apprehension?

Concern about social approval or disapproval.

What is the psychoanalytic perspective of personality?

Explains behavior and personality in terms of unconscious processes.

What is the unconscious?

Impulses, wishes and memories of which people are not consciously aware but affect thoughts and behavior.

What is the id?

Most primitive part of personality; basic biological impulses and drives; pleasure principle.

What is the superego?

Internalized morals and values of society; conscience.

What is the ego?

Delays fulfillment of impulses until the situation is appropriate; mediates id and superego; reality principle.

What are psychosexual stages?

Theory of personality development reflecting conflict between child’s desire for pleasure and social expectations.

What is fixation?

Occurs when conflict within a stage isn’t resolved well.

What are Freud’s defense mechanisms?

Unconscious mental processes used to protect self from unpleasant emotions.

What is repression?

Thoughts that are too anxiety provoking to acknowledge are blocked from conscious awareness.

What happens during the oral stage (birth-18 months)?

Explore world through mouth; dependence, trust; oral fixation.

What happens during the anal stage (ages 18 months-3 years)?

Conflict with parents about compliance and defiance; attitudes towards order and disorder; anal fixation.

What is psychological determinism?

All thoughts, emotions, and behaviors have causes; unsatisfied drives and unconscious wishes.

What are projective tests?

Present ambiguous stimulus to which person responds.

What is the Rorschach test?

Individual views a set of inkblots and tells what each inkblot resembles.

What is the humanistic perspective of personality?

Emphasizes realization of human potential.

What is empathy?

Capacity to understand another person’s experience cognitively and emotionally.

What is unconditional positive regard?

Being given the sense that individual is valued by parents and others.

Give an example of Openness to experience

Imaginative, witty.

Give an example of Conscientiousness.

Cautious, dependable.

Give an example of Extraversion

Enthusiastic, sociable.

Give an example of Agreeableness.

Friendly, cooperative.

Give an example of Neuroticism

Nervous, worrying.

What is the DSM?

Used to make clinical diagnoses (current DSM 5 TR).

What is labeling theory?

Psychiatric diagnosis is a way of labeling individuals a society considers deviant.

What are anxiety disorders?

Characterized by intense, frequent, or continuous anxiety.

What is generalized anxiety disorder?

Global, persistent, chronic, and excessive anxiety; constant sense of tension and fear (free-floating anxiety).

What is panic disorder?

Attacks of extreme fear that are out of proportion to what the situation calls for.

What are phobias?

Irrational fear of a specific object or situation.

What is social anxiety disorder?

Intense fear of being in social or performance situations.

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Recurrent obsessions and compulsions that cause distress and significantly interfere with an individual’s life.

What are obsessions?

Persistent thoughts.

What are compulsions?

Behaviors that must be performed.

What is major depressive disorder?

Feelings of extreme sadness, emptiness; thoughts of hopelessness; depressed mood may emerge without clear trigger.

What is bipolar disorder?

Extreme mood swings alternating between depression and mania.

What is mania?

Period of abnormally euphoric mood, increased energy.

What is schizophrenia?

Severe disorder of thought, emotion, and perception associated with psychotic symptoms.

What does it mean to have psychotic symptoms?

Out of touch with reality.

What are delusions?

Strongly held, fixed beliefs that have no basis in reality.

What are hallucinations?

Sensory perceptions that distort or are experienced in the absence of an external stimulus.

What is disorganized speech?

Skips from topic to topic.

What are catatonic symptoms?

Motor problems.

What are positive symptoms?

Presence of something not usually there (delusions, hallucinations).

What are negative symptoms?

Absence of something (flat affect, expressionless faces).

What are dissociative disorders?

Disruptions in consciousness, memory, sense of identity, or perception of the environment.

What is dissociative identity disorder (DID)?

At least two separate and distinct personalities within the same person (formerly known as multiple personality disorder).

What are personality disorders?

Personality traits that are inflexible and maladaptive across a broad range of situations.

What is borderline personality disorder?

Extreme variability in mood, relationships, and self-perceptions.

What is narcissistic personality disorder?

Grandiose sense of self-importance.

What is the goal of psychoanalytic therapy?

Goal: make the patient aware of unconscious processes.

What is humanistic therapy?

Emphasizes realization of human potential.

What is behavioral therapy?

Addresses maladaptive behavior with learning and conditioning principles.

What is exposure therapy?

Confronts clients with what they fear.

What is flooding?

Client confronts the feared stimulus all at once.

What is systematic desensitization?

Client taught to relax as they are gradually exposed to what they fear; uses counterconditioning.

What is a token economy?

Desirable behaviors are rewarded with tokens that patients can exchange for rewards.

What is cognitive therapy?

Focuses on thought processes that are the basis of psychological symptoms.

What is cognitive-behavioral therapy?

Combination of cognitive and behavior therapies; identifies automatic irrational thoughts; focuses on changing thoughts and behaviors.

Is psychotherapy effective?

All forms more effective than no therapy; efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy better established than other forms.

What drugs are used to treat schizophrenia?

Antipsychotic medications (dopamine antagonists); effective for delusions, hallucinations, but has side effects.

What drugs are used to treat anxiety?

Anti-anxiety meds (GABA agonists); useful for short-term to calm jittery feelings and relax muscles; antidepressant medications.

What drugs are used to treat depression?

Antidepressant medications (most common - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)).

What drugs are used to treat bipolar disorder?

Mood stabilizers; atypical antipsychotics often used to treat mania.

What is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)?

Brief burst of electric current to induce seizure in brain; more effective than antidepressant drugs; side effect is memory loss.

What is the life change approach to measuring stress?

Brings changes that require considerable adaptation; life change is associated with illness.

What is the daily hassles approach to measuring stress?

Minor annoying events which require some degree of adjustment; daily hassles lead to poorer health.

What is perceived stress?

Subjective interpretations of events or life circumstances as stressful; negatively correlated with health.

What is Cannon’s fight-or-flight mechanism?

When animals perceive threatening situations, they respond with a physiological reaction to prepare for fighting or running away (stress response).

What is Selye’s general adaptation syndrome?

Body responds to threatening stimuli by arousal of a system of defenses.

What are the 3 stages of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome?

Alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

What is the tend-and-befriend hypothesis?

Females’ responses to stress may be different than males’ (tending/befriending).

What is the indirect effect model of stress and illness?

Stress leads to unhealthy behaviors in an attempt to cope with stress.

What is the direct effect model of stress and illness?

Stress leads to physiological reactions that lead to disease.

What is a Type A behavior pattern?

Competitive, hostile, tense; link between Type A personality and heart disease.

What is Type B behavior pattern?

Relaxed, less competitive.

What is problem-focused coping?

Actions taken to change a stressful situation or reduce its effects.

What is emotion-focused coping?

Attempts to reduce distress.

How is control related to health?

Greater control leads to lower stress response and better health.

What is perceived control?

Beliefs about the ability to affect one’s outcomes; perceived control leads to better health.

How is optimism related to health?

Tendency to believe that one will generally experience good vs. bad outcomes; generally associated with positive health outcomes.

What is the relation between social support and health?

Social connection leads to better health

How is expressive writing related to health?

Lower stress and has health benefits.

How is exercise related to stress and health?

Reduces anxiety and depression.

How is mindfulness related to stress and health?

Focus on and awareness of current thoughts; accept and acknowledge the present; associated with positive health outcomes.

How is religiosity related to stress and health?

Religious attendance, finding strength and comfort from one’s religious beliefs, leading to better health and lower risk of death.

How is gratitude related to stress and health?

Expressing or noting gratitude leads to lower stress.

How are acts of kindness related to stress and health?

Doing acts of kindness leads to lower stress.