PSYCH 108 - Final Exam

Temperament

biologically based levels of emotional and behavioral response to the environment

Reactivity

quickness and intensity of emotional arousal, attention, and motor activity

Self Regulation

strategies that modify reactivity

Goodness-of-fit Model (Thomas and Chess)

creating a child-rearing environment that recognizes each child’s temperament whilst encouraging adaptive functioning

Attachment

an emotional bond that leads a person to want to be with someone else and to miss them when separated

Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment

infants and adults biologically predisposed to form attachments

Pre-Attachment Phase

relationships begin with innate signaling, smiling, grasping, and crying that elicits attention from parent that comforts infant

Attachment in the Making

differentiation between response to parent and stranger develops

Clear-Cut Attachment Phase

attachment to parent is evident; separation anxiety may develop

Formation of Reciprocal Relationships

2 y/o has representation and language skills; develop an understanding of parents leaving and returning

Secure Attachment

use parent as secure base; some distress when parent is absent

Avoidant Attachment

unresponsive to parent when present; react to stranger similarly to parent

Ambivalent Attachment

seek closeness to parent and fails to explore

Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment

greatest levels of insecurity; show confused contradictory behavior, unresponsiveness and sudden emotion with parent return

Attachment - Cultural Differences

attachment patterns may be interpreted differently in cultural groups

Socialization

process whereby individuals learn the rules, conventions, accepted norms of society

Social Learning

we learn from those around us, we observe others get rewards or punishments

Cognitive Development

emphasis on the role of understanding interpersonal thoughts and actions

Authoritative

warm, responsive, attentive, reasonable demands, open communication, joint decision making

Authoritarian

cold, rejecting, power assertive, little attention to child’s autonomy

Uninvolved

emotionally detached and withdrawn, lack of responsiveness, few or no demands, neglecting, indifferent to child’s decision making or POV

Adolescence - Traditional View

period of turmoil, extreme mood swings, unpredictable, difficult behavior

Adolescence Conflicts

adolescents tend to have conflicts with their parents; frequency greatest in early adolescence, intensity greatest mid-adolescence

Adolescence - Risk Taking

adolescents may be prone to risk taking; relatively likely to commit crimes, drive recklessly, high-risk sex

Social Psychology

the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others

Social Psychology is used:

law, policy, management and leadership, organizational psychology, consumer industries

Attitudes

a person’s evaluations of various aspects of the social world

Attitudes - ABC Model

Affect, Behavior, Cognition

Explicit Measures

direct self-report of attitudes

Implicit Measures

indirect assessments of automatic associations

Persuasion

the process by which a message changes a person’s attitudes or behaviors

Elaboration Likelihood Model - Central Route

lasting change in attitude

Elaboration Likelihood Model - Peripheral Route

temporary change in attitude

Cognitive Dissonance

unpleasant psychological state that occurs when people notice that their attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent with each other

When is cognitive dissonance strongest?

when given: free choice, personal responsibility, or negative or unwanted consequences

When does cognitive dissonance change attitudes and behaviors?

effort justification, post-decisional dissonance, or hypocrisy/high commitment statements

Cognitive Biases

unconscious and systematic errors in the way that individuals reason about the world, influencing their decisions and judgements

Confirmation Bias

the tendency to search for information confirms your pre-existing beliefs or expectations

Overconfidence Bias

overestimate out abilities in a specific subject or situation

Illusion of Control

people overestimate their ability to influence outcomes that are a matter of chance or external forces (ex. kiss a dice for a random roll)

Heursitics

mental shortcuts

Error Management Theory

human cognitive biases are adaptive design features—rather than mental flaws—shaped by the unequal historical costs of making mistakes

Attribution Theory

the study of how people make sense of their social world; how ordinary people understand the causes and implications of events and interactions

Actor-Observer Bias

the tendency to explain your own behavior differently from others’ behavior

Fundamental Attribution Error

the tendency to over-attribute internal causes to explain someone else’s behavior, and under-attribute external or situational factors

False Consensus Effect

the tendency for people to assume that their own thoughts, opinions, and behaviors are more prevalent than they really are

Self Serving Biases

biases that protect or enhance individual’s beliefs about themselves

Self Enhancing Bias

tendency to attribute internally and take credit for success

Self Protecting Bias

tendency to attribute externally and deny responsibility for failures

Self Handicapping

creating and claiming obstacles in advance that can protect self-esteem if we fail

Norms

a shared belief that is enforced through a group’s use of penalties; typically unspoken

Descriptive Norms

what people do

Injunctive Norms

what people approve of/think you ought to do

Social Roles

behaviors expected of someone occupying a particular position within a group or society

Forensic Psychology

provides services in criminal, civil, and family legal contexts relevant to the prevention and treatment of criminal behavior

Fitness to Stand Trial

determining if someone is in their right mind

Criminogenic Effect

any factor, condition, or institution that promotes, causes, or increases the likelihood of criminal behavior or recidivism

Risk - Rehabilitation

match level of services to level of measured risk

Need - Rehabilitation

target dynamic risk factors/criminogenic needs

Responsivity - Rehabilitation

how rehabilitative programs and interventions should be delivered to maximize an individual's ability to learn and change

Static Risk Factors

factors related to offending that are historical, unchangeable through intervention

Dynamic Risk Factors

factors related to offending that are changeable through intervention

General Responsivity

how treatment should be delivered universally, emphasizing action-oriented, structured learning over non-directive or purely punitive approaches

Specific Responsivity

unique needs of individual clients, level of motivation, cultural considerations, intellectual ability, trauma

Pygmalion Effect

internalizes labels

Labels - Alternative Dialogue

separated the person from the behavior, phenomena, or what has happened to them; Person-First Language

Pedophilia

an enduring sexual attraction towards pre-pubescent children; not synonymous with child sexual abuse

Primary Level of Prevention

empowering individuals and communities to prevent sexual abuse

Secondary Level of Prevention

enabling people at risk of committing a sexual offense to seek help, empowering them to do so when needed

Tertiary Level of Prevention

interventions with people convicted of a sexual offense to help prevent reoffending

Personality

a set of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive tendencies that people display over time and across situations that distinguish individuals from each other

Trait Theory

enduring, stable qualities; personality traits which are relatively consistent and exhibited across a range of situations

Extraversion

a core personality trait characterized by sociability, high energy, enthusiasm, and a tendency to draw energy from external social interactions

Neuroticism

fundamental personality trait defined by a long-term tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, fear, moodiness, and sadness

Psychoticism

continuous trait characterized by toughness, impulsivity, aggression, and noncomformity

OCEAN

Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism

Trait View

we think and behave relatively consistently across situations

Situationist View

our thoughts and behaviors change with the situation

Power of the Situation

people are not necessarily consistent across situations

Interactionist View

traits and situations affect our thoughts and behaviors

Interactionism

in situations that are psychologically similar, people will behave in similar ways

How would you measure personality?

Forms, social media, questionnaire, observations

Idiographic Procedures

specific to the individual concerned; focuses on traits which are specific to the individual

Nomothetic Procedures

the same procedure is given to large numbers of people against whom the individual is compared; focuses on traits which a greater or lesser extent we all share

Measuring Personality - Interviews

structured set of questions; focuses on specific thoughts and behaviors

Measuring Personality - Observation

focuses on behaviors, not thoughts; works best of judge knows participant

Measuring Personality - Inventories

questionnaires; produces a personality profile; easy to score and statistically analyze

Projective Tests

based on the assumption that it taps into unconscious dimensions

Collectivism

focus on the needs of the group

Individualism

focus on the needs of the individual

Intelligence

the ability to solve problems well and to understand and learn complex material

Binet’s Concept of Intelligence

intelligence is not a fixed quantity; there is no single score; scales provide a sample of intelligence behaviors which are limited to samples of people sharing a cultural background

Verbal Skills

the ability to understand and use language, vocabulary, and comprehension

Performance Skills

arranging pictures in the correct order, spotting a missing element, putting puzzles together

IQ

intelligence quotient; score on an intelligence test

Calculating IQ for Children

(mental age/chronological age) x 100

IQ in Adults

mental age doesn’t change much with age from young adulthood, different forms of deterioration occur late

Spearman’s General Factor “g”

notion that there is a single underlying factor which accounts for intercorrelation of people’s abilities on various types of tests

Fluid Intelligence

the ability to learn new things, solve novel problems, deal with novel situations without relying on previous knowledge, education, or experience

Crystallized Intelligence

the ability to use previously learned knowledge, experience, information, and skills to solve problems and deal with future, similar situations