Psychology Exam 2

nature/ nurture debate

one is straight and one is gay but genes have nothing to do with it

how do we study genetic influences on behavior

evolutionary psych, animal studies, human twin studies, longitudinal temperament studies

evolutionary psychology

it has been used to explain gender differences in human mating behavior

attraction

what do people find important in their ideal mate, what is the person like

what do women prefer in men

financial resources

what do men prefer in women

physical appearance

top 3 attractions for women

economic resources, age, height

why economic resources

to help w pregnancy and raising a child

why age

a higher status means more wealth means more reliable

why height

for better protection and status

what is the animal studies w toys

the female monkeys are more interested in the girl toys and the male monkeys are more interested in the boy toys

what is a frequency distribution

to analyze the graph by finding the average or by finding the standard deviation

introversion has a lot of what

heritability

heritability

the proportion of variation across the population that we can attribute to genes

what are identical twins

they have monozygotic genes

* single zygotes that split and form two embryos

fraternal genes

two sperms fertilizing two eggs

when do twin scatterplots correlate

when they are genetically the same

* identical twins not fraternal twins

what ted talk was related to the H statistic

talking about the beauty of introversion

* wanting to read books during camp but felt guilty when the other girls and the camp counselor said that’s not what camp is for

examples of heritability in the real world

social attitudes, positive emotion, negative emotion

heritability of psychological disorders

bipolar/ disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, major depression, bulimia

what is conduct disorder

behavioral disorder of childhood that occurs at the average age of 10 years

* associated w aggressive and antisocial behavior,
* animal cruelty
* stealing
* gangs

conduct disorder environmental influence

history of maltreatment

conduct disorder genetic influence

monoamine oxidase A (MAO A) activity

* metabolizes norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine
* when the activity is low = excess neurotransmitter and makes the pathways less strong

A (MAO A) serotonin example

no metabolism which means that there is excess serotonin neurotransmitters = lower activity ( mood regulation) = feel things worse = more aggressive

what is A (MAO A)

speed of creation of neurotransmitters

numerous psychological traits are ______

inherited

why is there no real nature-nurture argument

because they are both working together

what are the three biggest environmental variables

parents, peers, culture

values, self-discipline, faith, politics, manners, charity, and authority are qualities of what

that parents have an influence on

risk behavior and cooperation are qualities of what

peers have an influence on

what are the 4 theories of sibling differences

competition for resources, social comparison, parental comparison, non-shared environment

what is the theory “competition for resources”

siblings competing for the parents’ attention

what is the theory “social comparison”

comparing yourself to someone in something you are better at to make yourself feel better

* boosting self-esteem

what is the theory “parental comparison”

the parent chooses the traits of the child and compares them to each other

* “she’s my quiet one” or “he’s my outgoing one”

what is the theory of “non-shared environment”

growing up in the same family but not experiencing the same events

* one child might be 5 when parents got divorced while the other one is 12

what was the study his/ her toys about

the babies prefer the appropriate gender toy while the stranger offers them the opposite gender toy

what are the two theories of gender role acquisition

social learning theory, gender schema theory

what is social learning theory

we learn social behavior by observing and imitating, being rewarded or punished

* human have an imitating behavior that you are either rewarded for or punished for

example of social learning theory

little kid imitating his parents and since they are recording it means he probably got rewarded for it

what is gender schema theory

children form concepts of gender and they behave based on these concepts

developmental psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social change throughout the life span

what are the three aspects of development

cognitive, social, moral development

what are the 3 issues in developmental psychology

prepared vs unprepared, stability vs change, continuity vs stages

what does stability vs change mean

what causes the change

what does continuity vs stages mean

is it a huge change at once or little changes along the way

how are humans born

into overwhelming stimuli

* buzzing, booming, confusion

how are infants prepared

with reflexes and facial preferences

what was the study that was done to see how prepared infants were

they showed an image and then showed the old image and another image and the infant then stared at the new image bc they were familiar with the old image

* they get familiar with faces = how they recognize people

what is the 7 up series

seeing how a person changes every 7 years

the 7 up series: Paul

* stochastic model of developmental continuity v change
* due to his insecurities and fear he told his wife to leave but she saw something in him and brought that out
* little kids have a sparkle in their eyes but he lacked that- said he didn’t want to get married
* he lacks the sense to negotiate his needs

7 up series: Nick

* person-environment transaction model
* the synergy between the person and the environment
* we find our greatest potential through our environment. but we have to be willing to seek it out
* goal of society to eliminate the barriers present
* when the seeking isn’t possible is when negative outcomes can be seen

what are the three basic characteristics of development

decrease in egocentricity, move from concrete to abstract, increased capacity for symbolism

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

why are schemas important

we filter out things that are not important and the things that are we assign schemas to

* need them to manage our helplessness

assimilation

interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas

accommodation

adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

* important to know differences so know where you stand in society
* knowing differences in cars

how do parents play a role in accommodation

zone of proximal development

* teach us
* kids asking questions = forming schemas

piaget

* children developing in stages
* each stage builds on the previous stage
* development is not continuous

4 steps of cognitive development

1. sensorimotor
2. preoperational
3. concrete operational
4. formal operational

sensorimotor

* ages 0-2 years
* children experience the world through senses and actions

what is an example of sensorimotor

the little girl playing with the ipad and doing the same motions on the newspaper and magazine

* knowledge structure

what is a developmental phenomena of sensorimotor

object permanence, stranger anxiety

what is an example of object permanence, stranger anxiety

when a little baby smiles at a stranger but after a while (around the age that they start walking) when they see a stranger they start crying

what is an example of assimilation

when the little girl was doing the same action on the newspaper as she on the ipad

what is an example of accomodation

when the little girl figures out that the actions she did on the ipad doesn’t work on the newspaper she gets mad so then she changes the way she interacts with the newspaper

preoperational

* ages 2-6
* children are able to use words and representational images but lack logical reasoning

what is an example of preoperational

* to represent things
* when kids first start drawing they draw the faces because they are familiar with it

what is the developmental phenomena of preoperational

to pretend play, egocentrism, language development

what is an example of developmental phenomena

asking the little kids what they see on their side of the volcanos

* one kid only sees what is on his side while the other kid sees everything one on his side and one on the other person’s side

concrete operational

* ages 7-11
* children can think logically about concrete events

what is an example of concrete operational

asking the two girls which glass has more water and which slice of cheese would you eat when you are hungry

* understanding that two equal amounts will stay equal even though they are in different structures

what is a developmental phenomena of concrete operational

conservation, mathematical formulas

what is an example of a developmental phenomena of concrete operational

children knowing that every game has rules and that you have to follow the rules in order to have fun and win the game

what is the fourth stage of cognitive development

formal operational

formal operational

* ages 12 and up
* youth can think abstractly

what is an example of formal operational

asking what democracy is

* this is an abstraction

what is the developmental phenomena of formal operational

abstract logic, potential for mature moral reasoning

what is the third stage of cognitive development

concrete operational

what is the second stage of cognitive development

preoperational

what is the first stage of cognitive development

sensorimotor

social development

encompasses the changes in feeling, interpersonal thought, and behavior across the lifespan

what are examples of social development

* the way you change over time
* your relationship with other people
* 18 months: children begin to recognize themselves in the mirror - have a sense of themselves as an object
* 18 years: young adults go to college seeking to find their calling

who developed a psychoanalysis

Sigmund freud

sigmund freud

* had a theory to explain psychological phenomenon
* had major insights that are still w us today
* used cocaine on his patients and himself

what are the 5 things of Sigmund freud’s social development

1. oral
2. anal
3. phallic
4. latency
5. genital

what is sexual about the oral stage

seeking pleasure through oral gratification

* sucking thumb, breastfeeding, looking for objects to put in mouth

what is psychological/ social about the oral stage

the child does not understand that it is a self separate from others and completely dependent

* create experience of omnipotent thought

what is omnipotent thought

my wish is the world’s command

what is the developmental arrest of the oral stage

disappointments in getting needs met immediately leads to over-reliance on omnipotent thinking

* not rushing to a child the moment they cry

what is the image between the mother and child

the face becomes idealized

* the thing they become familiar with
* this helps manage the helplessness

what is sexual about the anal stage

pleasure achieved through control of the body, the muscles, aggression is pleasure

what is the psychological/ social aspect of the anal stage

* the other is separate from me
* i am omnipotent, all-powerful (helpless, dependent)

developmental arrest of the anal stage

disappointment in this stage leads to extreme states of narcissism

what is the “i” am the image

children dressing up as characters that are powerful and hold power

* becoming people that are idealized
* superman, batman

what is sexual about the phallic stage

the pleasure of genitals

what is the psychological/ social aspect about the phallic stage

* i will use my power to create, such as a child
* i will have a child w my mother, who makes babies in her tummy
* i will use my phallus which gives me pleasure

boys and girls have different _____ in the phallic stage

experiences

a boys experience in the phallic stage

i will use my phallus to have a baby, father is in the way, i will give up my desire to have a baby

a girls experience in the phallic stage

i am not equipped to make baby w mother, i will have baby w father, mom is in the way, i will give up my desire for my father