Intro to Psych Exam 2

explain nature vs. nurture

it is a convenient jungle of words, for it separates under two distinct heads the innumerable elements of which personality is composed.

nature

is all that a man brings with himself into the world

nurture

is every influence without that affects him after his birth

what are the two types of twins?

monozygotic and dizygotic

what is the difference between monozygotic and dizygotic?

monozygotic: identical, twins develop from a single fertilized egg and have identical genes

dizygotic: fraternal, twins develop from two eggs and share only half of their genes, like any other sibling set

genes

the genes that form the sections of the chromosomes control the chemical reactions that direct an individual organism's development

- they produce specific characteristics

heritability

- some traits are easily traced to a single gene (ex. huntington's chorea)

- mental processes and behaviors develop through complex interactions of the influences of genes and environment

what is Huntington's Chorea?

a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder characterized by involuntary, jerky movements, cognitive decline, and behavioral changes

what is heritability an estimate of?

it is an estimate of the variance in a population that is due solely to heredity

why is it difficult to know the exact degree of genetic influence?

because...

- environments are hard to "standardize" or make identical (except in the laboratory, perhaps)

- the environment can start to impact an individual right from conception (a mother's lifestyle and nutrition affect the growing fetus)

what are the two genetic principles?

genes & heritability

at what age is the hindbrain and midbrain developed enough to produce movement?

7 weeks

at 7 weeks old the _________ and _________ are developed enough to produce movement.

hindbrain & midbrain

by ________ weeks those brain structures (hindbrain and midbrain) produce head and eye movements in response to sounds, a sleep-wake cycle, and REM sleep

36 weeks

describe maternal-fetal connection

the original environmental influence

- everything that mother consumes reaches the baby through the placenta

- if mother's nutrition and prenatal care are poor or deficient, baby will also be deprived

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

during prenatal development, growing neurons need persistent excitation to survive

- alcohol facilitates GABA, the main inhibitory neurotransmitter of the brain which leads the neurons to "self-destruct"

- any chemicals that increase activity at inhibitory synapses, such as tranquilizers, anesthetics, and anti-depressants, should be avoided

describe Jean Piaget's views of development

he believed that a child constructs new mental processes as he or she interacts with the environment

- behavior is based on schemata (singular-schema)

what did Jean Piaget use to study development?

he used his own children to investigate how thinking changed with maturation

- he believed these changes to be biological and universal

what is a schema?

it is an organized way of interacting with objects in the world

when does adaptation of old schemata take place?

- through assimilation: a person applies an old schema to a new object

- through accommodation: a person modifies an old schema to fit a new object

in Piaget's theory what are the four stages of intellectual development and what ages do they correspond with?

- sensorimotor: birth to 1 years of age

- pre-operational: 1 to 7 years of age

- concrete operations: 7 to 11 years of age

- formal operations: 11 years of age and older

describe the sensorimotor stage

behavior consists primarily of simple motor responses to sensory stimuli (examples would be grasping and sucking reflexes)

- piaget believed that infants responded only to what they see and hear, not what they remember

when does object permanence happen and in what stage?

it occurs in the sensorimotor stage

- piaget believed that infacts lacked a concept of object permanence during the early months

- 8 to 9 months of age

describe the preoperational stage

piaget called the second stage of cognitive development the preoperational stage because the child lacks operations

- the term "operations" refers to reversible mental processes

- the lack of operations leads to errors in cognition such as egocentric thinking

what is missing in the preoperation stage?

conservation.

- fail to recognize that changes in shape and arrangement do not always signify changes in amount or number

difficulties of inferring children's concepts

- symbolic thought: 2.5 year old children cannot use a model room as a "map" when trying to locate a hidden toy in a regular sized room

describe the concrete operations stage

- age 7 children begin to exhibit reversible operations and seem to understand conservation

- children can perform mental operations on concrete objects

- they may, however, have trouble with abstract or hypothetical ideas

describe the formal operations stage

- formal operations is Piaget's term for the mental processes used to deal with abstract, hypothetical situations

- Piaget proposed that children reach this stage just before adolescence (at about age 11)

- researchers have found that some people take longer to reach formal operations, and some people never do

describe Erikson's Ages of Human Development

Erikson divided the human life span into 8 ages, each with its own social and emotional conflicts

- when the conflict is resolved in a positive manner, the person moves into the next stage in a psychologically healthy state

- if the conflict is not resolved, the negative effects will most likely carry over into future stages

what does ages 0-1 mean for Erikson?

basic trust vesus basic mistrust

what does ages 1-3 mean for Erikson?

autonomy versus shame and doubt

what does ages 3-6 mean for Erikson?

initiative versus guilt

what does ages 6-12 mean for Erikson?

industry versus inferiority

what does adolescence mean for Erikson?

identity versus role confusion

what does young adulthood mean for Erikson?

intimacy versus isolation

describe adolescence

identity development

- james marcia developed a set of identity statuses based on two major elements of identity development:

1. whether or not one is actively exploring the issues of identity development--"crisis"

2. whether or not one has made any decisions--"commitment"

what are the four types of identity development?

• diffusion.

• foreclosure.

• moratorium.

• identity achievement.

describe the "Personal Fable" in relation to adolescence

according to David Elkind, teenagers are particularly prone to harbor beliefs such as:

- "it won't happen to me!"

- "nobody understands how I feel"

- "everyone cares about how I look and what I am wearing"--also known as the "imaginary audience"

what does middle age mean for Erikson?

generativity versus stagnation

what does late adulthood mean for Erikson?

ego integrity, versus despair

what can a persona be referred to as?

a mask

what is personality divided into?

- persona

- characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling & acting

schools of thought

reflect a different view as to how best to understand personality

what are the four schools of thought and describe them?

1. learning: personality doesn't exist. behavior is governed by environmental influence

2. humanistic: humans seek personal growth

3. trait: describe how people behave on specific dimensions of behavior

4. psychoanalytic: unconscious motivations & conflicts

what is the Psychoanalytic Theory?

the unconscious interplay of conflicting forces of personality

- Id: seeks out instant gratification. pleasure principle

- Ego: seeks to satisfy the id while avoiding negative consequences. reality principle

- superego: internalization of society's moral standards. punishes failure to maintain moral standards with shame & guilt

what are the structures of personality (an unconscious war)?

libidinal energy: id ("i want to do that now!" & superego ("it's not right to do that")

both lead to ego ("maybe we can compromise"

what are the ego defense mechanisms

ego tries to protect itself from guilt-wielding Superego

psychosexual development

freud hypothesized how the id, ego, and superego developed in children

what are the details of psychosexual development?

- 5 stages of development

-centered around "erogenous zones"--source of libidinal energy

- fixation: arrested development. continue to focus on an earlier stage in development

what are the stages of Freud's psychosexual development?

1. Oral stage

2. anal stage

3. phallic stage

4. the latent period

5. genital stage

describe the oral stage?

-0 to 1 year of age

-Infant derives pleasure from stimulation of the mouth: Breast feeding & Putting objects in mouth

-Oral fixation

describe the anal stage

- 1 to 3 years of age

-Child derives pleasure from stimulation of the anal sphincter: Potty training

- Anal Fixation: Anal retentive, Anal expulsive

describe the phallic stage

- 3 to 6 years of age

-Child derives pleasure from stimulation of the genitals: Oedipal complex--Male child develops sexual attraction to mother and Develops fear of father as rival--Castration anxiety

describe the latent period

- 6 to puberty

-Child suppresses psychosexual interest

-Focus on developing same sex peers

describe the genital stage

- puberty+

- Develop strong interest in developing sexual relationships

- IF one reaches this stage, libidinal energy is acquired through sexual intercourse

dream interpretation

- manifest content: What the dreamer remembers about the dream. & The "story" of the dream as it is experienced by the sleeper

- latent content: Underlying symbolic meaning of the dream--Dreams as wish fulfillment, Dream transforms forbidden wish into a non-threatening for, Universal dream symbols

what are the two forms of dream interpretation

manifest content and latent content

projective tests

- rorschach inkblot test

- thematic apperception test (TAT)

describe the rorschach inkblot test

- most widely used projective test

- a set of 10 inkblots designed by Hermann Rorschach

describe the thematic apperception test (TAT)

- provide ambiguous stimulus and have subject to tell a story

- reflects hidden inner motivations

trait perspective

- state: temporary activation of a particular behavior or mood

- trait: consistent and long-lasting tendency in behavior

Hippocrates proposed 4 bodily humors that influenced health & temperament. what are those?

- black bile

- yellow bile

- phlegm

- blood

describe each of the four humors and their tempermants

1. blood --> enthusiastic & social

2. yellow bile --> aggressive & irritable

3. black bile --> analytical & quiet

4. phlegm --> relaxed & peaceful

describe Eyesenck's two-trait theory

Eysenck's two-trait theory, also known as the PEN model, posits that personality can be understood through two main dimensions: extraversion/introversion and neuroticism/stability, with later additions including psychoticism

what are the big 5 traits that scientists believe best describe and predict behavior

1. openness (imagination, feelings, actions, ideas)

2. conscientiousness (competence, self-discipline, thoughtfulness, goal-driven)

3. extroversion (sociability, assertiveness, emotional expression)

4. agreeableness (cooperative, trustworthy, good-natured)

5. neuroticism (tendency toward unstable emotions)

describe social psychology

- Social psychologists study in the ways people influence and are influenced by each other.

- Attitudes and perceptions, persuasion, & typical behaviors of relatively normal people in their relationships with others.

describe interpersonal influence

- Other people influence us in two major ways:

-They give us information about situations.

-They set the norms (the rules that establish expected behavior) by which we conduct ourselves in situations.

what is conformity

-Conformity is the maintenance or alteration of one's behavior to match the behavior and expectations of others.

-At first it was believed that people would most likely conform in ambiguous situations.

-Asch's classic experiment demonstrated that conformity was also likely even when one could be sure that a judgment was correct.

describe Asch's stimuli test

In Asch's conformity studies, a participant was asked which of three lines matched another line. Before answering, the participant heard other people answer incorrectly.

how can conformity be good and bad?

Conformity: Good and bad

- Conformity to rules that benefit the members of society in general is necessary for our survival as a species.

- Conformity can also lead us down a dangerous path

what were the predictions for Milgram's obedience to authority experiment

-Many experts predicted a different result when told about this experiment.

- It was thought that only a few, very abnormal people would agree to give the higher levels of shock.

describe Stanley Milgram's Obedience to Authority experiment

- Stanley Milgram set up an experiment to find out how realistic such a claim actually was.

- Almost 3/4 subjects followed orders to hurt someone if the authority figure and the situation demanded it.

- 50% went to the highest level of shock intensity

- Some scientists and others refused to believe these results.

- Milgram's career suffered because what he told us about ourselves was not very comforting.

what is the Stanford Prison Experiment and why is it important?

- "Focus on power of roles, rules, symbols and group identity in behavior"

- Two-week prison simulation

- Converted basement of psychology building into prison

- 24 participants assigned to be prisoners or guards

describe altruism

- accepting some disadvantage to ourselves in order to help others

- Why do we sometimes compete against each other, other times work together at some cost to ourselves?

altruism in nature

- Vampire bats have a fast metabolism

- Must feed on the blood of cattle or other animals every 36 hours, or they die.

- feed "friends" unrelated bats they roosted with.

- The friend would return the favor later

- Bats that share live twice as long

how is the prisoner's dilemma related to cooperation and competition?

- The prisoner's dilemma

- In the prisoner's dilemma a person must choose between a cooperative act or one very beneficial only to him or herself that is hurtful to others.

- people have great difficulty choosing the cooperative option, even with the possibility of the selfish strategy backfiring.

what does the prisoner's dillema engage in?

reciprocal altruism, helping others with the understanding that they should eventually help us (aka. tit for tat)

describe cooperation and competition

- Responsibility toward others

qSocial loafing

- Social loafing is the tendency to "loaf" or to do less work in groups.

- Its extent depends on members' perceptions of each other's ability levels.

- The effects are greatest when the task is considered unimportant.

describe the bystander effect

- Why do people fail to intervene sometimes during a crime or accident?

- The presence of many people during a crime may create a sense of diffusion of responsibility.

- Convince ourselves that if there are many other people present, someone else will help.

learning morality and cooperation

our powers of reasoning change as we mature, and so does our reasoning about issues of right and wrong

describe Kohlberg's method of evaluating levels of moral reasoning

-Kohlberg believed that people start at a low level of moral reasoning and progress through higher stages.

-He measured the maturity of an individual's moral reasoning by evaluating the responses given to moral dilemmas - problems that pit one moral value against another.

describe the Heinz Dilemma

Heinz's wife was near death from cancer. A druggist had recently discovered a drug that might be able to save her. The druggist was charging $2000 for the drug, which cost him $200 to make. Heinz could not afford to pay for it, and he could borrow only $1000 from friends. He offered to pay the rest later. The druggist refused to sell the drug for less than the full price paid in advance: "I discovered the drug, and I'm going to make money from it." Late that night, Heinz broke into the store to steal the drug for his wife. Did Heinz do the right thing?

interpersonal attraction

- how do we choose our friends and our mates?

- how do they choose us?

establishing lasting relationships

- How do we choose our friends?

- Proximity - we are likely to become friends with people who live near us and become familiar to us.

- Mere exposure - the more often we see someone or something the more likely we are to start to like the person or thing.

- The mere exposure effect will not change our feelings if we hate the person or thing.

- Similarity - we are drawn to those who are like ourselves in background, attitudes, interests and other important ways.

- We choose people who'll confirm our self-concept and level of self-esteem.

- According to exchange or equity theories we seek people with whom we feel we can make equitable transactions of goods and services.

what are special concerns in selecting a mate?

- Physical attractiveness

- Is important to both sexes (despite reluctance to admit it).

- Attractive people are generally treated better than others, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that confirms their good self-evaluation.

- Research suggests that in other species attractiveness may be seen as an indicator of good health and good genes.

- "Attractive" in most cultures is what is considered "normal" or "average-looking."

-Research evidence for these hypotheses is mixed and should be interpreted with caution.

- marriage

what are characteristics of successful marriages?

- Partners have similar attitudes and personalities.

- They find the relationship sexually satisfying.

- They earn an adequate income for their lifestyle.

- The husband feels pride in his job.

- The wife was not pregnant before the couple married.

- The couple's parents also had successful marriages.

describe identity achievement.

Having explored the possibilities and made one's own decisions is a state of it

describe moratorium

Seriously considering issues without making any decisions is a state of moratorium.

describe identity diffusion

Having given decisions no real thought and having no clear sense of identity

Describe foreclosure.

Having made firm decisions without giving them much thought