Psychology Test

Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory

Individuals are motivated to perform if they know that their extra performance is recognized and rewarded. They are motivated to select a specific behaviour over others due to what they expect the result of that selected behaviour will be. The expectancy does not always match the outcome. 

Self-determination Theory

Suggests that all humans have three basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—that underlie growth and development.

Incentive Theory

People are only motivated to work towards rewards they want and that are attainable.

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning

Proposes that new behaviours can be acquired by observing and imitating others. Our personalities are a product of our observational learning experiences from those around us. 

Social Interaction Theory

Peoples' social behaviours are determined by the social pressures they encounter.

Ivan Pavlov

Developed the concept of the conditioned reflex.  Trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell, where he previously fed them.  Studied the importance of conditioning relating to the nervous system

Carl Jung

Disagreed with Freud on sexuality and human behaviour, founded analytical psychology. Believed that there are four functions that control the way people view and act in the world: thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition

Sigmund Freud

Believed the human consciousness consisted of 3 parts. The Rational part (Ego) tries to suppress the instinctive parts (ID) to control our actions. The Ego: The rational part of the mind which operates on the reality principle, suppresses ID. The ID: Instinctual part of your mind, operates on the pleasurable principle. The Superego: The moral centre of the mind, it acts as the mind’s conscience. Conscious mind: Our conscious mind is the tip part above the water, the part we are familiar with. Unconscious mind: The things that we suppress and are unfamiliar with (ID and Superego). Believed that children could become fixated on things at a certain stage, and this fixation results in over-indulgence, which leads to predictable behaviours

B.F Skinner

Studied how human behaviour and responses are influenced by environmental stimuli.  Developed radical behaviourism, founded experimental analysis of behaviour.  He said free will is an illusion, and that human action is based on the consequences of previous actions.

Alfred Binet

Believed that intelligence can be defined by the comparison of the performance of children at the same idea. The concept is that there are certain tasks that most six-year-olds can complete. Binet asserted that children who could not complete those tasks were below average. His work helped diagnose children with autism/special needs.

Pavlov Dog Case Study

Animals (in this case, dogs) learn to associate a neutral stimulus with a reflex response. Pavlov discovered that through repeated pairings of a bell ringing (neutral stimulus) with the presentation of food (unconditioned stimulus), the dogs eventually began to salivate at the sound of the bell alone, even when no food was present. This demonstrated that a learned response could be triggered by a previously unrelated stimulus, providing key insights into the mechanisms of behavioral conditioning.

Asch Conformity Case Study

Tested to see to what extent an individual’s opinions were influenced by others. People were willing to ignore reality and conform with what the group said. Study was based on the hypothesis that the actual participants in the study would respond to the group pressure to conform to an incorrect answer on a task when the incorrect answers were unanimous. The method of the experiment was placing an individual unbeknownst to the experiment with all the other members of a group, and measuring the effect upon them in quantitative terms. A group of eight individuals was instructed to match the length of a given line, with one of three unequal lines. Each member of the group announced their incorrect judgments. In the midst of this test, the tested individuals found themselves suddenly contradicted by the entire group, and once 

Monster Case study

Study was completed to test the hypothesis that telling half of the group of orphans that they had stutters would cause them to develop a stutter, as well as problems with self-esteem. Although none of the children became stutterers, some became self-conscious and reluctant to speak. The theory associated with it is the diagnosogenic theory, which states that calling attention to a child's normal hesitations could cause stuttering. The theory was based on the fact that isolated tribes had no enforcement of stutterers, and therefore, no one stuttered.

Little Albert Case Study

The experiment was conducted to test John Watson’s theory that if in infancy, the original emotional reaction patterns are few, consisting only of fear, rage and love, then there must be some simple method by means of the range of stimuli which can call out these emotions. The method consisted of pairing a white rat with a loud bang repeatedly to create an association between the two unrelated stimuli, and little Albert, an 11 month old healthy baby, began fearing the white rat without the noise. Soon, Albert got scared just seeing the rat from a distance. 

Psychology

Study of the human mind and its mental state. Studies the characteristics of temperament and the behaviour of a person or group.

What are the different systems in the brain?

Peripheral (motor functions) and Autonomous (instinctual)

Types of Brain injuries or brain disorders

Alzhimers’s, strokes, concussions

Psychopharmacology

the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, behavior, judgment and evaluation, and memory.

Instincts

Instincts are unlearned (inherited genetically), and they are uniform in expression and universal in species.  They are composed of perception, behaviour, and emotion. He believed they serve a purpose. Eg. Fight of flight 

Fixed Action Patterns

The predictable series of actions triggered by a cue (sometimes called the key stimulus). Though these action patterns are more complex than a reflex it’s still automatic. Imprinting actions taught to children from their parental figures in order to convert it to an instinct. (Ex. manners)

Clark Hull Drive Reduction Theory

Claimed that no learning occurred unless a drive produced tension and impelled the organism into activity to procure a reward that would reduce the drive and satisfy its related psychological need. (Eg. Cravings [when you want something sweet but then after you have it that desire is gone]). Homeostasis. In relation to addiction, which can become severely harmful. 

Abraham Maslow

Psychologist & philosopher best known for his self actualization theory of psychology. It argued that the goal of psychotherapy should be the integration of self.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

5 categories of needs, top to bottom, self actualization, esteem, love, safety, and physiological. He feels that people must meet one level to move to the next level.

Victor Frankl

developed logotherapy. The primary motivation of an individual is the search for meaning in life and that the primary purpose of psychotherapy should be to help the individual find that meaning. Observed prisoners that had no motivation to live, and found that when they had a purpose to live, they were more likely to hold onto that motivation. In relation to Maslow’s pyramid of needs because those at the bottom (physiological needs) have no motivation to live and nothing to overcome. In relation to the drive reduction theory in the sense that there is a lack of drive/motivation for those at the bottom of the pyramid, and therefore a lack of purpose in life.

Carl Rogers

People are inherently motivated toward achieving positive psychological functioning.  The client is the expert in their life and leads the general direction of therapy, while the therapist takes a non-directed role. Self awareness -> self fulfilment balance between it

Humanistic Psychology

A movement in psychology supporting the belief that humans are unique beings and should be recognized & treated as human beings from psychologists & psychiatrists 

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Performance increases with increasing amounts of mental arousal, stress, or pressure, but only up to a certain point. The goal is to get to the optimal level of stress which differs for each individual. (Ex. Athletes)

Opponent-Process theory

The brain avoids extremes of emotional experiences by countering the stimulation it receives with an opposite or “opponent” reaction. A positive emotional experience may be followed by a secondary negative emotional response (Ex. receiving a reward and being happy in the moment, but being sad/unfeeling later on or getting a good mark and feeling happy but feeling sad after wondering why you didn’t get a 100)

Cannon-Bard theory

Theory of emotion (also known as the Thalamic Theory of Emotion). It’s a physiological explanation of emotion developed by Walter Cannon and Phillip bard. It states that we feel emotion & experience physiological reactions such as sweating, trembling & muscle tension simultaneously.

Two-Factor theory

States emotion is based on two factors, physiological arousal and cognitive label, a physiological response is identified by the mind

Classic Conditioning

the process in which an automatic, conditioned response is paired with a specific stimulus. 

Operant Conditioning

A method of learning that uses rewards and punishments to modify behaviour, behaviour that is rewarded will likely be repeated, and behaviour that is punished will rarely occur.

Erik Erikson

believed that humans continue to develop over their lifetime rather than only during childhood

Object Relations Theory

The idea that a person’s pattern of relating to others is established during the interactions of early childhood. The assumption that whatever pattern is formed, it tends to recur over and over again throughout a person’s life 

John Bowlby

Attatchment Theory states that infants are dependent on their caregivers for providing the necessities of life. When an infant finds himself in a threatening situation, he attempts to reconnect to his primary caregiver. Anything an infant does to attain or maintain closeness to someone perceived as better able to cope with the world. A primary caregiver is viewed as an attachment figure. If you know that your attachment figures are available when you need them, you feel more secure. 

Lev Vygotsky 

proposed that a child’s social and cultural environment determined the types of and extent of the cognitive skills and abilities that get developed . The demands of the social and cultural environment emphasize what is necessary and important cognitively. 

Attribution Theory

we decide a lot about a person based what we think is their  disposition and not situational factors. We need to know if we like a person and can  trust them, so we make snap-decisions about  their personality and behave accordingly

Cognitive dissonance Theory

We experience discomfort when we realize that  our behaviours do not match our attitudes. To relieve this discomfort, we either  change our attitudes or change our behaviours.

Intrinsic Motivators

An internal drive, self-determined will to behave. (Ex. personal achievement)

Extrinsic Motivators

An external drive to receive a reward/avoid a punishment, may be dictated by external forces. (Ex. Beating someone else in a competition)

Psychoanalytic Theory

All human behaviour is influenced by early childhood and that childhood experiences influence the unconscious mind throughout life

Karen Horney

Neo-Freudian who founded feminist psychology. Argued that women were pushed by society and culture to depend on men for both love & status 

Mental Representation

A symbol we use to represent something else (Ex. Thinking of a red rose can represent emotions such as love)

Focused Attention

Concentration on one source of input to the exclusion of everything else (Ex. a novice driver)

Divided attention

Focus on two or more inputs simultaneously (Ex. an experienced driver)

James-Lange Theory: Body or Mind?

When a person encounters a situation or stimulus that leads to an emotional reaction, his body reacts first

Extinction (conditioning)

If a conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus the conditioned stimulus eventually ceases to elicit the conditioned response. Ex. Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate at the sound of a bell. But if the bell continued to be presented without the delivery of food, the dogs would eventually stop slobbering to the bell

Thorndike’s Law

behaviors followed by a reward or reinforcement are more likely in the future, whereas behaviors followed by a punishment are less likely in the future

Positive Reinforcement

The use of any reinforcer that increases the likelihood that a behaviour will occur again. (Ex. giving a child a treat when they do well in something)

Negative Reinforcement

Occurs when the removal of negative stimuli leads to an increased likelihood of a behaviour occurring again. (Ex. a student gets disruptive in a class he is trying to avoid or escape. The teacher sends him out of class, but this act reinforces the negative behaviour as the student got what he wanted

Primary Reinforcers

Rewards that don’t require shaping or prior training to be effective. Ex. Food

Secondary Reinforcers

Things that are reinforced through experience and learning. This takes place by associating the secondary reinforcer with a primary reinforcer through the use of classical conditioning.. Ex. The pairing of a bell with food

Issue with Secondary Reinforcers

Secondary reinforcement often leads to extinction of the conditioning, as the individual becomes desensitized to the reinforcer. Thus, the behaviour isn’t modified anymore.

Issue with Primary Reinforcers

When the reward is taken away, the expectation associated with it is diminished, which can hinder the practiced behaviour. (Ex. promising a child a toy if they do something the first time, but when a toy is not given the next time they do it, the behaviour is disrupted)

Antonio Damasio

emotions can influence future decision-making processes. This influence can occur both consciously and unconsciously and helps us make difficult decisions quickly.

Gate-control theory

The spinal cord contains a neurological 'gate' that either blocks pain signals or allows them to continue on to the brain, which explains phantom and chronic pain issues

primitive instinct rehearsal theory

the content of a dream is significant to its purpose. Whatever you are running from a lion or fighting with a ninja, these dreams help you practice your fight or flight instincts.

Trichromatic theory

theory of color vision suggests that people have cells that detect blue, red, and green wavelengths. By combining these three cones, we create all visible colors.

threshold theory

the minimum stimulus required to consciously perceive the stimulus

Signal detection theory and Principles

the intensity of the stimuli and the psychological and physical state of the person contribute to whether or not the person is able to detect the stimuli.

Sleep disorders

Parasomnia and Insomnia

Freudian Dreams vs Jungian Dreams

Freud's theory of dreams suggests that dreams represent unconscious desires, thoughts, wish fulfillment, and motivations. Jung believed that dream analysis allowed for a window into the unconscious mind. But unlike Freud, Jung did not believe that that the content of all dreams was necessarily sexual in nature or that they disguised their true meaning