Psych 101 Final Terms & Definitions for Exam Success

Classes of disorders

Anxiety, Mood, Schizophrenia, Personality

Generalized anxiety

constantly tense and anxious for no specific or apparent reason

Panic

Sudden Intense dread

OCD

unwanted repetitive thoughts - having obsessions and compulsions

Phobias

irrational avoidance of a specific object or situation

Depression

feeling worthless, decreased pleasure and interest, depressed mood

How does anxiety disorders develop

learning perspective

mania

hyperactive, impulsive, wildly optimistic state

Bipolar

experiencing episodes of depression and mania

Schizophrenia

disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions

positive symptoms of schizophrenia

delusions and hallucinations

negative symptoms of schizophrenia

blunted affect, toneless voice, apathy, social withdrawal

antisocial personality disorder

lack of conscience for wrongdoing, may be ruthless, aggressive, con-artist, charming, impulsive, unconcerned with social reward

borderline personality disorder

lack of stability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion; impulsivity; angry outbursts; intense fear of abandonment; recurring suicidal gestures

learning perspective of anxiety disorders

fear conditioning, observational learning, stimulus generalization, reinforcement

Biological Perspective of anxiety

Evolution, Genes, Physiology

How does schizophrenia develop?

brain abnormalities, genetics, stress, maternal virus

Causes of Mood Disorders: Biological

genetics, low levels of serotonin

Causes of Mood Disorders: Social Cognitive

Outlook on life can influence mood, negative thoughts create negative mood and negative mood creates negative thoughts (vicious cycle)

DSM-V

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

3 criteria to diagnose a mental disorder

Clinically significant dysfunction, internal source, involuntary manifestation

Clinical Diagnostic Tools

1. interview

2. history

3. direct observation

4. IQ tests

5. personality tests

6. projective tests

7. brain imaging

8. DSM-IV

antipsychotic drugs

block dopamine receptors

Typical antipsychotic drugs

Block dopamine, only treats positive effects

Hallucinations, paranoia, delusions

Negatively impact movement and motivation

Dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, sexual impotence

Motor effects (parkinson's symptoms) tardive dyskinesia

atypical antipsychotics

Treat positive and negative effects

No motor side effects

Antagonism of dopamine (not as great/more specific)

Clozapine → specific to D-4 receptor (can cause a decrease in white blood cells → agranulocytosis)

Olanzapine (Zyprexa)

Aripiprazole (Abilify)

Sedation, weight gain, constipation, type II diabetes

anti-anxiety drugs

reduce anxiety, general anxiety disorder.

Benzodiazepines → valium, xanax, ativan

NEVER MIX WITH ALCOHOL

Sleepy, can't think well

Lightheadedness, slurred speech, drowsiness, ADDICTION

antidepressant drugs

drugs used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD

SSRIs

Enhance serotonin by inhibiting reuptake

Used for depression and anxiety

EX: Prozac, paxil, zoloft

Prozac (fluoxetine)

Anxiety

Sexual dysfunction

No sleep/concentration effects

If two are mixed, Serotonin Syndrome (5-HT) → cannot mix with other antidepressants, too high of levels =, muscle spasms, fever, nausea

Withdraw = Anxiety, Flu-like symptoms, sleep problems, sensory disturbances, Irritability

Lithium

Mood stabilizer for bi-poalr disorder

Stabilizes mania and depression (Make more manageable)

Weight gain

TOXIC IN HIGH DOSES

ECT

Produce a seizure through shocks, invasive, uncomfortable

Long Lasting

Temporary Memory loss

vagus nerve stimulation

Epilepsy and Depression

Not Specific → spreads to surrounding muscles

Throat changes, sleep apnea, invasive

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Not that helpful clinically, used more in research, specific

Very temporary

deep brain stimulation

Parkinsons, Depression, OCD, Chronic Pain

Pacemaker battery pack and an electrode in the brain

Life-long

Super invasive but super specific

systematic desensitization

Classical conditioning: used for phobias, replace associated response with a relaxed response, expose person to thing slowly, increasing the level of exposure each time

aversive conditioning

Classical conditioning: Changing initial "good" response to a bad response, Antabuse and alcohol (doesn't really work)

token economy

Operant conditioning: reward system for desired behaviors, ADA Therapy for Autism (getting a star for being good in class)

Albert Ellis and rational emotive therapy

negative thinking patterns, "musterbating", awfulizing things, Catastrophizing things (thinking the worst)

Motivational interviewing

Change self-defeating thinking

Aaron Beck

pioneer in Cognitive Therapy. Suggested negative beliefs cause depression.

"HOMEWORK" using therapy in a realistic environment, use those therapy tools in the real world

Client-centered therapy

focuses on individual nature and self-fulfilment, positive attributes rather than what you are doing wrong, ideal self, the client talking, active listening, unconditional positive regard

Carl Rogers

Non directive

Conscious

psychodynamic therapy

therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and that seeks to enhance self-insight

prejudice

"pre-judgement" → unjustifiable and usually negative attitudes towards a group

social roots of prejudice

Social Inequality

Ingroup (us) and outgroup (them) → ingroup bias = favoring one's own group

Scapegoating → blaming an outlook for anger

cognitive roots of prejudice

Categorization → we overestimate the similarity of people within groups different than our own

Vivid Cases → easily remembered and cvan bias judgments

Rodney King, Muslims and Terrorism

Just-World Phenomenon → people get what they deserve

Evolution/Biology → amygdala response and fear

fundamental attribution error

The tendency when analyzing others behavior to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimates the impact of personal disposition

attitudes guide behavior

outside influences are minimal

The attitude is specifically relevant to the behavior

We are more keenly aware of our attitudes

Deiner mirror studies

behaviors guiding attitudes

Foot-in-door

Role playing

Cognitive dissonance

Foot-in-the-door

the tendency for people who agree to do a small action are likely to comply to a bigger action later

Role Playing

Zimbardo's Stanford prison study (1972)

cognitive dissonance

we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent

Conformity

Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Asch 1955 → lines of measure experiment

Obedience

Milgram Shock Experiment

- 63% delivered the highest voltage shock

- 65% delivered the highest shock when aware of heart problems

- 93% delivered the highest shock when someone else pushed the button

Social facilitation

improved performance of tasks in the presence of others

Groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives (Challenger Explosion)

Deindividuation

loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

social loafing

people in a group tend to exert less effort

group polarization

enhancement of a groups attitudes through discussion with the group

scientific theory

a well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations

Theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Hypothesis

a specific, testable prediction

operational definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study

Replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

- used in order to generalize

experimental studies

Research based

an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on a particular behavior or mental process (dependent variable)

experimental condition

exposes participants to experimental treatment

independent variable

the experimental factor that is being manipulated, whose effect is being studied

dependent variable

the experimental factor that is being measured, changes in response to manipulation

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, with each having an equal likelihood of being chosen

Controls

descriptive studies

a research method that involves observing and noting the behavior of people or other animals to provide a systematic and objective analysis of the behavior

case study

one or a few individuals are studied in depth in hope of revealing universal principles

Limit = Any given individual can a=be atypical, therefore it becomes easy to make false conclusions

survey

must be a representative random sample (Ex: dating practices, political polls)

Limit = sampling errors, response rate

naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without direct intervention with subjects

limit = does not explain behavior/cause and effect

Correlation

a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors predict each other

limit = Does correlation mean causation.. Not necessarily

How do neurons communicate with each other?

Signal received by the dendrites of one neuron, passed through the cell body and the axon where the action potential changes the charge of the neuron through the influx of sodium ions and the signal then reaches the terminal branches of that neuron and "Jumps" to the dendrites of the next cell through the help of neurotransmitters

What is the role of the nucleus accumbens?

dopamine reward system

What controls much of your behavior?

cerebrum, processes in your brain

Depth

Binocular cues

Monocular cues

Retinal disparity

the greater the difference between two images the retina receives, the closer the object is the the viewer

Binocular cues

Right and Left eyes see slightly different views

Convergence

the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object

monocular cues

Interposition: object in front blocks

Relative Size: if object is the same size, the one that coasts a smaller retinal images is further away

Relative Height: objects higher in field of vision are further away

Relative motion: As we move, stable objects move with us

Linear Perspective: parallel lines converge with distance

Light and Shadow: Nearby objects`

Form

Proximity

Similarity

Continuity

Connectedness

Promimity

nearby objects go together

Similarity

similar objects will be group together

Continuity

we perceive the world as smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuities

connectedness

When uniformed or linked we perceive items as a unit

Sensation

simple stimulation of a sense organ, the physical feeling

Perception

The emotion/actions/processing associated with that feeling

How is flavor processed by the brain?

the combination of retronasal olfaction (75%) and taste and how you attribute feel, looks, sound it gives of, cognition and emotion attached to it

Packaging, thoughts prior, expectancies, what you are told

tastes

1. Salty: we need salt so we like it

2. Sweet: we need sugars, so we like, from ripe fruit in nature

3. Bitter: detection of poison in nature, we don't like, 25 different ways to detect bitterness, pregnant women are more sensitive to bitterness

4. Sour: spoiled food (MEAT especially) is sour, too acidic, can be dangerous, we don't like. High acid causes tissue damage

5. Umami/Earthy: Protein detection, glutamate important, we like it

Sometimes 6. Fat: fat molecules are too large for taste receptors to taste, but we crave fat and need it so we like it. Tactile sensations, trigeminal nerve

implicit memory

Nondeclarative, no conscious recollection; how to ride a bike, classical conditioning, implicit attitude formation

explict memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

episodic memory

when and where of your life happenings; autobiographical

semantic memory

person's knowledge about the world; facts

sensory memory

lasts up to several seconds

echoic memory

auditory sensory memory

iconic memory

visual sensory memory

Von Restorff Effect

Serial position effect → You will remember the things at the beginning and the end of a list but the stuff in the middle fades unless it is unique

What is the big picture regarding memory?

Most memory requires effort, you have to practice or rehearse to "stamp" most things into long term memory.

Once in long term storage, memory can last a lifetime, but due to interference and other factors, details will get mixed up.

Eyewitness testimony (needing detailed memory) is often wrong, the criminal justice system has not caught up with science in this regard.