Exam number 2- Psychology

What is Social Psychology

study of how we think, influence and relate to one another

What is Scientific Identity Theory

people derive part of their self concept from group memberships

What is Attribution Theory

we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the persons dispositions

What is Attribution Affect Theory

our internal beliefs and prejudices can shape the way we treat others (homeless- lazy- not give money- well they are lazy so.)

Attitudes activate…

emotional responses (External belief, focus on it, leads to that feeling- makes behavior which then you justify. 

what does this mean- Action Affects Attitudes 

When out behavior conflict with our beliefs= discomfort

You don’t know why you did that, so you justify it. (I am kind, but they deserve that) We change our belief to fit behavior 

what is Prejudice?

Unjustified and negative attitude toward group and its member

Neg emotions- not just belief but emotion

Stereotypes- lump everyone together

Discrimination- Neg Behavior toward group

Ingroup

A group you identify with or feel a sense of belonging

Outgroup

A group you don’t identify with or see as different from you 

Ingroup Bias…

the tendency to favor your own group (bad- prejudice)

what is Explicit Prejudice

people know they have these beliefs and views and can Cleary articulate them, these attitudes drive discrimination (yes I am sexists) 

what is Implicit Prejudice

People may not be aware of their belief- raised in a place that is sexists, you say you aren’t but still hold some belief of it. 

You reject them- but do them

Microaggression, avoidance, discomfort, hesitation 

Split second decisions (Unconscious mind)

what is the Scapegoat Theory

person or group that is unfairly blamed for other troubles

• united ingroup to a common enemy

• corrupt leaders

What does prejudice effect

• life and death (black vs white man holding gun)

• mental health (men seeking mental health support)

• Medical care (doctors assuming things about woman)

• getting hired (men get hired easier at certain jobs)

What reduces Prejudice

Laws- marriage laws, disability

Vocal Minorites- black lives matter

representation- media

Moscovici’s Theory of Minority influence…

consistent and confident message 

what is Conformity

• Mimic and conform social contagion

• behavior

• emotions- friends sad you are to 

• Empathy  

what is Normative Social Influence

reasons why we do things (best friend doing it)

what makes people conform?

• feel insecure/incompetent 

• 3 or more people doing it 

• everyone else is doing it '

• admire group status or attractiveness

• did not appose the idea  (you don’t care)

• observed by other 

• culture strongly encourages respect for social standard

what was the Milgram Study?

Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, teacher and learner shock

what makes us follow orders…

• Obedience highest when- person give order is near by, perceived as legit authority figure

• Powerful or prestigious institution

• think they are acting for common good

• victim is depersonalized or at a distance 

• no role model for defiance 

what is Deindividuation 

people lose self awareness and sense of individual responsibilities, become impulsive and deviant behavior in a group (riot)

what is Social Loafing?

exert less effort when working in a group then when working alone. 

• you feel less accountable 

• view individual contribution as dispensable 

• overestimate your own contributions

• ride on others efforts 

Observation, how does it effect us?

• others presence effect out behavior

• social facilitation- preform better on simple tasks or well known when other around, hard task or not as know, not as much

• observation increase arousal which amplifies reaction 

what is Social Facilitation

individuals perform a task better in the presence of others than when alone, particularly for well-learned or simple tasks.

depends on- personality and social orientation (extravert/introvert)

Who is the audience 

what is Group polarization

group al agree, or agree with you

attitudes become more extreme after talking with like minded people

informational influence- people say good point that agree with you 

normative influence- desire to fit in (bond with group)

Sociology and psychology

Work together

other around you impact how we behave, how society treats us impact us…examples of what makes other treat us differently?

Family, friends, religion

gender, race, sexuality, disability

what is developmental psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social development through out life span 

what is cross sectional studies

comparing people of different ages

Pro- easier to collect data at one time 

con- connote determine cause and effect just correlation 

what is Longitudinal Studies

following people across time (follow age 5 to 15)

pro- can determine causation

con- costly, hard to keep people enrolled 

Why are we studying this? What question are we asking?

Nature vs Nature- genetic interaction with environment

stability and change- aspect of personality/traits stable through life while other change 

continuity and stages- continuously develop/critical stages (milestones)

protections and deterrents- what impact healthy development  

what is Nature vs Nurture in the idea of development?

unique gene combination that predispose you to many characteristic, which may be encourages or suppressed by environment

Nature vs Nurture encouraging and suppressing factors examples 

• encouraging parents 

• getting bullied

• well funded school

• Gene environment interaction 

  • mental illness

  • stress management

  • academic achievement

Nature vs Nurture longitudinal and cross sectional studies 

Longitudinal- allows us to trach individual to find causation (twins- how does genetic/up brining effect  behavior)

Cross sectional- compared groups with diff backgrounds to see if variables interact with specific traits  

Continuity and Stages, are they linear?

Development is slow '

major stepping stones- learning to walk

can be slow or quick depends on person  

Stability and Change in development?  

• some traits are stable some change

• through life, we experience stability and change

• stable- temperament (behavior/emotional tendencies form from your foundation of personality)  

• change- social attitudes (political beliefs)

• We study this with Longitudinal Studies 

what are Protections

buffers, supportive parents, stable home life, community support, available resources 

what are deterrents

risks, poverty, exposure to stress, harsh parenting, lack of resources

How do protections and deterrents interact

when one effect of one factor, the development of that factor depends on presence or the level of another factor (risks and protections combine to shape outcome)

What is optimal development?

everyone is different, culture, family and more can effect and define what is success or healthy development. 

Conception

egg + sperm

egg comes from maternal grandmother 

sperm is produced at 1000 per second

started in puberty 

prenatal development- stages (in womb)

Zygote- fertilized egg

cell division- day 7- 100 cells

10 days the Zygote attaches to uterian wall 

becomes embryo, grows for about 2 months

 fetus- 9 weeks after conception

prenatal development- environment

genetics and environment can effect development 

sound fetus can respond to

6th month fetus is responsive to sound (kicks)

newborns like moms voice over others 

newborns cry- melodic pattern of mother native tongue

stress exposure- effect babied brain 

prenatal development- toxins 

Teratogens- cause structures or functional birth defect in fetus (alcohol poisoning) 

Environmental toxins- lead, mercury, pesticides 

newborn reflexives

touch cheek- turn head

general habituation- used to something (clock ticking)

preference to human faces and object 8-12 inches away from face 

Infancy 

Infancy amnesia- remembers very little before age 4 

unconscious memories 

• languages

• fears

little albert- white rabbit

Synaptic Pruning

unused or weak neutral connections are eliminated as we age (makes brain effective/stronger pathways)

Visual cortex- prunes early

prefrontal cortex- prunes later (early 20)

Environmental influence and Synaptic pruning

enrich enviorment- strong neuron connections in language, memory and attention systems (early stimuli) 

deprived- underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, hippocampus

Romanian Orphanages  

Kids are not

mini adults

maturing brain builds schemas- how brain forms understanding of world 

Schemas

mental molds into which we put our experiences

Stages of cognitive development (birth from 2)

Sensorimotor- learning occurs through sensory and motor, lack object permanence (cant see, does not exist), baby math- pattern recognition (puppet jump 3 then 2 reaction)

2-7 age

preoperational, can represent things with words and images, pretend play, lacks mental operations-manipulation representation (mom with short hair),egocentric- not see others perspective and other different ideas 

what is Theory of mind 

ability to determine the mental state of others (connect others experiences),children realize other may hold false beliefs (band aid experiment) 

4-7 ages 

concrete operational- development of logical thinking- think through problems, mental operations- understand/reverse/cause and effect 

12+ ages

formal operational- abstract, ability to think abstractly, hypothetically and logical, can reason with possibilities, not just reality (what would life look like if..), can plan ahead, image future scenarios, and understand complex concepts 

continues to develop through adult

social development in babies…

stranger anxiety- baby (scared of others)

body contact- monkey experiment 

familiarity- grandparent scary then see a lot then fine 

Attachment Styles-

secure attachment, insecure attachment, anxious attachment, avoidant attachment

Secure attachment…

comfortable around parents, upset when leaves but can be calmed down/self regulates 

Insecure attachment…

anxiety/avoidant parents leads to clingy baby (clings, extreme distress, not consolable

Anxious attachment

same as insecure

Avoidant attachment

do not care about if caregiver leaves

Diffrent attachment with nature vs nurture

how parents parent and bio effect (more anxious baby)

socioeconomic factors- do not connect with kid due to work, 

attachment style in adults

Same as when kid usually

anxious attachment- craves acceptance (hyper sensitive to rejection)

Avoidant attachment- discomfort getting close to people, push them away to not get hurt 

parenting styles…

authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, neglectful  

Authoritative

high response, high demands (communicates but expectations)

Authoritarian 

low response, high demand (I said so, no negotiation)

Permissive 

highly responsive, low demand (whatever my child wants, they cant do anything wrong, no rules or expectations)

Neglectful

Low responsiveness, low demand (I don’t care what kid does, no expectations/rules  and no engaging 

how can chronic stress effect development?

Dandelion vs orchid, stress on brain development leads to- heighted amygdala (sensitive to angry face, aware of environment), altered stress response (shut down cortisol, blunted response to stress), executive function challenges (reduce activity and good function of frontal context/cognition

Adolescence…

10-19 but really depends on place and culture

storm and stress

tug between adult and not

diminished parental control 

crave social experience 

increase substance abuse, anxiety and depression 

puberty…

period/mensuration, surge of hormones, intensify moods, triggers physical development, starting earlier world wide

what is happening in the brain of a teen?

Pruning- kid skill stopped bad at

prefrontal cortex and Limbic system- developed stronger connection then as a child

prefrontal and Amygdala- connection which leads to stronger emotions 

dopamine- more active so driven by reward stimuli 

Teenage cognitive development

Egocentrism- self focused

imaginary audience

personal fable- no one has experienced this

invincible- not part of statistic

Conventional morality..

Preconventional- before age 9, obey rules due to reward and punishment

Conventional- early adolescence, rules and laws for social approval

Postconventional- adolescence and beyond, belief, self defined, ethical principles, culture impact

morality intuition

moral instinct- unconscious reaction (gut feeling)

moral reasoning- think before react, deliberate justification for instinctual reaction 

TPJ

Temporal Partial Junction- accident or not, patters you can see in brain, different for everyone, similar patter they see accident similar to intentional 

adolescent social theory

try on different identities to find in group, heavily influenced by others

code switching

adjusting how you speak, act or present yourself to other and social setting

emerging adulthood-

18 to mid twenties, not yet assuming adult responsibilities and independence but not a kid (insurance),feeling in between adult and teen, some delay being a full adult by going to school etc 

middle adult hood

40-60, physical changes- menopause, decrease in sperm, testosteronal, erection and ejaculations, “midlife crisis”- what have I don’t with my life, what are my priorities and what do I want to do with the rest of my life. learn what your commitments are- love, work

late adulthood

65+, physical changes- visual, hearing, memory (hippocampus), muscle, immune, and frontal lobe. To help slow that- exercise and mental abilities (learn)

death and grief

people reflect when closer to death- either ego integrity (i did well) or despair (I regret), grief is price for love, cant rush it maintain schedule and relationship with grief, grief different by culture (grief practices)

Studying gender and sex

how hormones, socialization and culture norms interact to shape behavior, mental health and thought process

Prenatal Sexual Development 

Chromosomes- thread like structure made of DNA 

we have 43 chromosomes that are arranged in 23 pairs 

What pair of chromosomes determine male or female?

xx-female

xy- male

how do you get chromosomes?

you inherit one chromosomes from each parents, dads sperm determine sex of child

father can either by y or x

what is SRY?

SRY is a gene that activates the process of developing testes

the gonade is what develops btw

When do babies have external testes?

8-12 weeks

What happen is so SRY?

Then the baby is female and begin to develop ovaries through the Gonades

does Testosterone masculinize the brain?

not in humans- in animals yes

What is Intersex?

term for people who were born with biological sex characteristics that don’t fit the typical definition of male or female 

What is Tuner syndrome?

missing x chromosome (lives a pretty normal life)

What is Klinefelter Syndrome?

extra x chromosome (less testosterone, smaller breasts, and not be able to have kid)

what is Androgen Insensitivity syndrome (AIS)

XY chromosomes, they do not respond to testosterones. They develop typical female but they do have a uterus and their testes are internal  

what is Guevedoces Syndrome

a person born a female, but then in puberty develop an penis and testes. This is due to the SRY gene not developing in womb but later in puberty. These people often switch to being a male 

Social Gender Development- who was Bruce Reimer

raised as a female, after a failed circumcizer then later switched to male

What is social learning theory?

we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being reward or punished for behavior (boys are praised for physical play or assertiveness, girls are praised for kindness and appearance) 

social development…

it means that when neurons are active at the same time, the connection between them gets stronger 

are studying sex differences difficult?

Yes, put just throw in sex as a variable, and often if you test enough time you will get lucky and get the result you want