Psych final exam

self-serving bias

people tend to take credit for their successes but downplay responsibility for their failures

narcissism

you view yourself as greater than others and combine this with a tendency to seek admiration and exploit others

implicit egotism

the unconscious tendency to prefer things that they associate with themselves

social behavior

how people interact with each other

social influence

how people change each other

social cognition

how people think about each other

aggression

an action intended to harm another person

frustration-aggression hypothesis

(a) frustration always produces an aggressive urge and (b) aggression is always the result of prior frustrations

prejudice

positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their group membership

discrimination

positive of negative behavior toward another their person in their group based on membership

deindividuation

 immersion in a group causes people to become less concerned with their personal values, thus causing them to do things they wouldn’t normally do alone

altruism

behavior that benefits another without benefitting oneself

kin selection

the process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate with their relatives

reciprocal altruism

behavior that benefits another that is expected to be returned in the future

passionate love

comes is the form of euphoria, intimacy, and intense sexual attraction

companionate love

comes in the form of affection, trust, and concern for a partner’s well-being

social exchange

the hypothesis that people remain in relationships only as long they perceive a favorable ration of costs to benefits

hedonic motive of social influence

we seek out pleasure and avoid pain in social situations

stanford prison experiment

hypothesis: people assigned into their specific roles would act the way the role intended; method: 12 “guards”, 12 “prisoners”, guards were encouraged to create uncomfortable emotional and mental situations for them, mock prison was formed in the basement of a building; results: many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and the lead researcher himself was immensely engrossed in his role as well as were the guards; implications: situational attribution is incredibly influential on behavior, as is deindividuation, which is why the guards as a while were able to be ok with committing these acts on the prisoners

approval model of social influence

humans are powerfully motivated to have people like and approve of us

normative influence

someone’s behavior provides information about what is appropriate, which can influence how we react to other people

norm of reciprocity

people should benefit those who have benefitted them

door-in-the-face technique

people by making a big demand of them, and the making a smaller one, insinuating that because the asker compromised on something, the person being asked must also make a compromise and agree to the smaller demand

conformity

the tendency to do what others are doing simply because others are doing it

obedience

the tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do

foot-in-the-door technique

making a small request and then following it up with a larger request

cognitive dissonance

an unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes inconsistency of their actions, attitudes or beliefs

stereotyping

the process by which people draw inferences about others based on their knowledge of the categories to which others belong

Asch experiment

participants who were places in a room with trained actors, and asked to identify which line was correct on a sheet of paper that matched another set of lines; results: over 12 trials, 75% of participants conformed and said the obviously wrong answer

bystander effect

individuals are less likely to help someone when there are other bystanders present

attribution process

the process of inferring the causes of events or behaviors

situational attribution

a change in someone’s behavior based on a temporary aspect of the situation they were in

dispositional attribution

behavior caused by internal characteristics or personality

correspondance bias

the tendency to make a dispositional attribution when we should be making a situational attribution

actor-observance bias

the tendency to make situational attributions for ourselves while making dispositional attributions for the identical behavior of other people

trait approach

personality traits are stable over time and across situations, and that people have different degrees of particular personality traits

language classification for traits

traits that are associated with similar words, or along a similar scale “introverted → extroverted; stable → emotional”

Eysneck’s simplified model of personality

three traits that everyone has are psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism. According to Eysenck, each person has a different level of each trait. The levels of these three traits are what makes up our personalities

Big five personality dimensions

extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism

arousal

a state of excitement linked to emotion

extraversion

a personality state of being talkative, energetic, assertive, and outgoing

aggreableness

cooperative, polite, kind, and friendly

conscientiousness

responsible, organized, hard-working

openness to experience

receptivity to new ideas and new experiences

neuroticism

experience negative affects

behavioral activation

focuses on using behaviors to “activate” pleasant emotions.

behavioral inhibition

restraint in engaging with the world

psychodynamic structure of the mind

personality is formed by unconscious processes, and that needs, strivings, and desires largely operate outside of awareness

id

most basic system and contains the drives present at birth, so all our human needs, wants, and desires, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives

ego

what allows us to deal with life’s practical demands, and is developed through contact with the outside world

superego

mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly learned as parents express their authority

self-actualization

the development of one’s self in order to max out their full potential

states of flow

the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity

humanistic approach to personality

emphasizes the personal worth of the individual, the centrality of human values, and the creative, active nature of human beings

existential approach to personality

regards personality as governed by an individuals ongoing choices and decisions in the context of the realities of life and death

stressors

any environmental event or stimulus that threatens an organism or threatens to disrupt daily functioning and a psychological stressor is any event that forces a person to change or adapt

chronic stressors

ongoing issues that continually effect or influence a person’s mind or behavior, such as living in a violent neighborhood, an illness, or inability to maintain a job with a high income

HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis)

consists of a cascade of pathways involving the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland, and adrenal gland and causes the release of glucose in the bloodstream through the regulation of cortisol, also controls the sympathetic nervous system through the regulation of norepinephrine and epinephrine

general adaptation syndrome

describes the process your body goes through when you are exposed to any kind of stress, positive or negative

Type A behavior pattern

competitive, achievement oriented, aggressive, hostile, impatient, and time pressed and are linked with higher levels of stress

primary appraisal

when we decide whether stimuli are stressful, benign, or irrelevant

secondary appraisal

we perceive an event as stressful, we evaluate our response options and choose coping strategies

PTSD

psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event

burnout

a state of mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion created by long-term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lowered performance and motivation

repressive coping

involves avoiding stressors and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint

rational coping

involves facing the stressor and working to overcome it, and it involves acceptance, exposure, and understanding of the stressor

reframing

involves finding a new or creative way to think about the threat

diathesis-stress model

states that mental disorders arise when a predisposition for a disorder combines with a sufficient amount of stress to trigger symptoms

medical model

abnormal psychological experiences are conceptualized as illnesses that like physical illnesses, have biological and environmental causes, defined symptoms, and possible cures

generalized anxiety disorder

characterized by chronic excessive worry and is usually accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms including restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance

phobic disorders

characterized by intense, irrational fears of objects or situations that are not likely to be dangerous

panic disorder

characterized by the sudden occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of stark terror

obsessive-compulsive disorder

characterized by excessive orderliness, __perfectionism__, attention to details, and a need for control in relating to others

major depressive disorder

a severely depressed mood and/or inability to experience pleasure and is accompanied by feelings of worthlessness, lethargy, sleep, and appetite disturbances and lasts more than 2 weeks

seasonal affective disorder

recurrent depressive episodes in a seasonal pattern.

postpartum depression

depression following childbirth due to changing hormonal balance

bipolar disorder

characterized by cycles of depression and high mood mania, which can look like talkativeness, decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, and reckless behavior.

Dissociative identity disorder

conditions characterized by disruptions or discontinuity in consciousness, memory, or identity

dissociative amnesia

involves the inability to recall important personal information that would not typically be lost with ordinary forgetting.

dissociative fugue

a temporary state where a person has memory loss (amnesia) and ends up in an unexpected place

schizophrenia

a psychotic disorder characterized by profound disruption of basic psychological processes; a distorted perception of reality, altered or blunted emotion; and disturbances in thought, motivation, and behavior

personality disorders

endure patterns of thinking, feeling, or relating to others or controlling impulses that deviate from cultural expectations and cause distress or impaired functioning

DSM-IV-TR

a compendium of mental disorders, a listing of the criteria used to diagnose them, and a detailed system for their definition, organization, and classification

antisocial personality disorder

as a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood

positive psychology movement

study of human strength and virtues and studies what constitutes pleasant and engaged life

4 types of psychotherapists

psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, therapist

eclectic psychotherapy

involves drawing on techniques from different forms of therapy, depending on the client and their problems

psychoanalysis

involves a psychoanalyst encouraging clients to bring repressed conflicts into consciousness in order to understand them and reduce their unwanted influences

development of insight

the ability to understand who you are personally, emotionally, and in relationships

resistance

a reluctance to cooperate with treatment for fear of confronting unpleasant unconscious material

transference

the analyst begins to assume a major significance in the client’s life and the client reacts to the analyst based on unconscious childhood fantasies

cognitive therapies

involve identifying and correcting a client’s distorted thinking about self, others, or the world

behavior therapies

involves using trying to change a clients behavior based on learned techniques and analyzing behavior

cognitive reconstructing

involves teaching clients to question the automatic beliefs, assumptions, and predictions that often lead to negative emotions and to replace negative thinking with more realistic and positive beliefs

mindfulness meditation

teaches an individual to be fully present in each moment, to be aware of his or her thoughts, and to detect symptoms before they become a problem

cognitive behavioral therapy

uses a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapeutic strategies

humanistic person-centered therapy

assumes that all individuals have a tendency toward growth and that this growth can be facilitated by acceptance and genuine reactions from the therapist

existentialistic gestalt therapy

has the goal of helping the client become aware of his or her thoughts, behaviors, experiences, and feelings and to “own” or take responsibility for them

couples therapy

involves a married, cohabitating, or dating couple to seek therapy together to work on problems arising in the relationship

family therapy

psychotherapy involving members of a family and involves a therapist working with the whole group at once