PSYC 111 EXAM II (unit 2) w/ Dr. Elizabeth Kim

what is stress?

a) A process by which an individual perceives and responds to events that are seen as overwhelming or threatening
i) Those events --> stressors

what is the general adaptation syndrome?

when we experience stress, we go through 3 stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

what does the alarm stage of the general adaptation syndrome consist of?

Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

Ex: firefighter alarmed by fire, runs to it

what does the H represent in HPA axis (alarm stage 01 in GAS process)?

Hypothalamus (H) receives signals of fear

what does the A represent in HPA axis (alarm stage 02 in GAS process)?

(b) Sympathetic nervous system activates the adrenal gland (A)
--Secretes the epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline)
(c) Body readies for fight-or-flight response
--During F/F, saliva flow decreases, pupils dilate, heart beats faster and harder, etc.

what does the P represent in HPA axis (alarm stage 03 in GAS process)?

Hypothalamus and pituitary gland(P) orchestrates the adrenal gland’s release of cortisol, which floods body with energy

what does the resistance stage of the general adaptation syndrome consist of?

adapt to stressor or find ways to cope
(1) If the stress continues, then we move into stage 3: exhaustion
(2) Ex: firefighter helps resist the fire

what does the exhaustion stage of the general adaptation syndrome consist of?

increased risk for disease
(1) Resistance breaks down after normal level of resistance to stress, start to see physical toll on body
(2) Ex: firefighter exhausted after trying to put fire down

what is a limitation to studying stress?

we may differ in how we react to stressor and how we view them

how can we study stress?

b) But we can look at stress as a process or transaction
i) Examines stressors and how ppl interpret and cope with them

what is primary appraisal?

address the question of “is this event harmful?”

what is secondary appraisal?

how well can I cope?
i) Usually where ppl diverge in their reaction
(1) Ex: dad is nonchalant, mom is freaking out abt getting lost

what does does process of stress appraisal generally look like?

Environment (stimuli, stressor) --> perception filter(selection) --> person does primary appraisal (interpretation of stressors; view it as positive, dangerous, irrelevant) --> secondary appraisal (analysis of the available resources; insufficient or sufficient resources?)-->stress --> coping (overcoming of stress)

what is social support (as coping mechanism)?

soothing impact of friends, family, and acquaintances
i) can take many forms

what did the research by Berkman & Syme(1979) state in terms of the impact of social support on health?

longitudinal study w/ 5,000 participants (b/t 30~69 yrs old) over course of 9 yrs
(2) looked at # of their social connections-contacts w/ friend, relatives, memberships in groups
(3) probability of dying- mortality rates over the course

(4) result:
(a) more men died than women
(b) mortality rates were higher for people w/ least connections compared to ppl w/ most connections for both men and women
(c) 2 groups reported similar levels of stress

(5) interpretation:
(a) poor initial health (physical and mental) can lead to damage

what are the 3 ways(coping styles) to gain control over stress?

1. problem-focused coping
2. emotion-focused coping
3. informational control

what is problem-focused coping?

attempting to manage or alter the stressor - appropriate for things you have some control over
(1) opposite would be avoiding problem
(2) ex: stressed about not being able to run for basketball game, directly talk to coach and see what you can do

what did the study by Windle & Windle(1996) find about problem-focused coping and alcohol consumption?

(a) high school juniors and seniors reported on how they deal with stressful situations, and consumption rate of alcohol
(b) result: teens w/ problem-focused coping had lower amounts of alcohol consumption

what is emotion-focused coping?

change or reduce the negative emotions associated w/ the stressor

ex: instead of going on tinder to meet new ppl, you journal what your emotional processes are like when you're feeling lonely

what is informational control (coping mechanism)?

acquire info abt the stressor
(1) example of PROACTIVE COPING- doing something even before the stressor occurs

ex: unfamiliar with how a dissertation defense is like, ask advisor for information about the defense before actually going into the defense session

our body physiologically responds to _______ in characteristic ways. in the ______ ______, these may help us fight off stressors, but ________ stress can lead to physical depletion

1. stress
2. short-term
3. chronic

______ support and gaining ________ in various ways can be useful strategies for coping with stress

1. social
2. control

what 2 characteristics influence individual differences in responses to stress?

1. optimism
2. hardiness

what is optimism and what is it associated with?

focusing on the positive side

-associated w/:
(1) PRODUCTIVITY: focus, persistence, handling frustration
(2) HEALTH OUTCOMES: vigorous immune response, fewer physical complaints

what is hardiness and what is it associated with?

set of attitudes marked by a sense of control, commitment, courage and motivation
- associated w/ health

what did the study on company downsizing find out about hardiness in employees?

study on downsizing in company
- 2/3 of employees in study had significant declines in performance and leadership during the time and experienced poor performance reviews
-but 1/3 employees thrived (same amnt of disruption, but maintaining health) --> hardiness affected them

what is positive arousal appraisal?

a form of meaning-based coping, is the adaptive process by which stressful events are re-construed as benign, valuable, or beneficial.
-challenge: potential for gain or growth

what is eustress?

what is stress associated w/ positive feelings and optimal performance
-ex: when playing basketball, a little bit stress makes performance better

what is negative aoursal appraisal?

negative appraisals involve dreading or avoiding the experience
- can experience a host of responses that negatively affect us
- negative affect, maladaptive physiological responses, vigilance for threat cues, performance impairments

what is arousal reappraisal?

reframing stress as something that can help w/ performance
- you can still stress, but outcomes shift when you apply a positive arousal reappraisal
- not about eliminating stress, but changing more so the type of response we have to that arousal

what are the physiological benefits of arousal reappraisal?

(a) more adaptive physiological responses
(b) greater cardiac output
(c) faster return to baseline stress level

what are the attentional benefits of arousal reappraisal?

(a) Vigilance to threat
(b) Reduce attentional bias

what are the performance benefits of arousal reappraisal?

(a) increased performance in testing

what did the study asking "does encouraging test-takers to view arousal as beneficial enhance performance" test?

Participants: students planning to take the GRE in the next 3 months
-Task: practice GRE
-Before starting the practice test, students assigned to one of 2 conditions: Arousal reappraisal condition or Control condition

iv) 1-3 months later, after taking the GRE
--Students reported their score
--Completed questionnaire

v) Results:
(1) Ppl with reappraisal saw benefits for section they took right after being told
(2) saw benefit only in math, not verbal
--may be bc of different type of thinking the tests draw on- reappraisal had more effects in one aspect
--arousal interferes w/ ability to make precise calculations, if reappraisal is done, less precise mistakes made

(3) questionnaire:
(a) more reappraisal participants than control reported arousal helping performance, less reappraisal participants for “were you worried about feeling anxious?” and “were you unsure of your participants?”

what was the study testing arousal reappraisal in the classroom like?

double-blind field experiment (actual classroom and students); community college developmental math students – courses focused on basic skills, underachieving students – very important classes

(a) exam 1:
--prior to exam, completed questionnaires measuring coping resources (math level anxiety, familiarity with materials etc)
(b) exam 2:
--again prior to exam, completed Qs
--however, prior to exam, randomly assigned to conditions
----reappraisal: told to think of arousal in diff way (educating participants how stress might be adaptive)
----placebo control condition: best strategy is to ignore stress

(3) key note: in prior studies, emotion suppression was shown not to impact test performance – when compared to control with no information, they do equally well

(4) then observed:
(a) course retention – did they remain in the course?
(b) final grades

(5) results:
(a) participants in reappraisal condition compared to placebo control:
--reported increased coping resources prior to exam 2
--reported a decrease in math evaluation anxiety prior to exam 2
--performed better on exam 2
--had marginally higher end-of-semester goals

(b) study found no effects of manipulation on course retention

is it possible to use arousal reappraisal on oher types of academic tasks?

(1) Possible but not as effective
(2) Person’s preexisting knowledge about the curriculum might not be much--> affects actual test question knowledge

both studies on reappraisal focused on college students. Would it be effective for younger ppl?

(1) College students accept that the work they’re doing is more directly applicable to what they might pursue but that’s less likely for high school students
(2) Yes, when younger, it’s easier to learn habits; but in need to apply the skill might be less

what is the conclusion about both studies regarding test-taking and reappraisal?

Arousal reappraisal has been associated with improvements in test performance both on standardized tests and in the classroom

what are the core differences in theories of cognitive development?

1. nature of change: stage-like vs. continuous
2. domain specificity: domain-general vs. domain-specific
3. sources of learning: nature vs. nurture

what are the 2 developmental research designs?

i) Longitudinal (prone to attrition- Same group over long time
ii) Cross-sectional (cohort efforts)- Diff age groups @ same time

what are the 2 challenges of studying development?

1. post hoc fallacy
2. bidirectional influences

what is the post hoc fallacy?

(1) Just bc 2 events occurred temporarily close to each other, doesn’t mean the one is causing the other
(a) Ex: wear lucky shirt, basketball wins shirt is indeed lucky

what are bidirectional influences?

(1) Children’s development and experiences interact, one doesn’t cause the other in a single direction

what are the 5 theories of cognitive development?

1. Freud's psychosexual stages
2. Erik Erikson and psychosocial development
3. Piaget's stages of cognitive development
4. Kohlberg and moral development
5. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory

what were the main components of Freud's theory of psychosexual stages?

- id, ego, and superego
- pleasure principle
-development of self and personality happens by directing pleasure-seeking behavior to diff "erogenous zones" (parts of the body that produces pleasurable feelings; become sources of conflict)
-moving through stages seamlessly leads to healthy adult lifel unsatisfaction during a stage leads to FIXATION and personality disorders

what is the id according to Freud?

the primitive and institual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives and hidden memories

ex: devil

what is the superego according to Freud?

operates as a moral conscience

ex: angel

what is the ego according to Freud?

the realistic part that mediates between the sides of the id and superego

ex: human

what is the pleasure principle according to Freud?

a tendency for individual behavior to be directed toward immediate satisfaction of instinctual drives and immediate relief from pain or discomfort.

- pleasure principle strives to fulfill our most basic and primitive urges, including hunger,thirst, anger, and sex.

what are the 5 stages of Freud's psychosexual theory?

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

what is the oral stage of Freud's psychosexual theory and when does it occur?

(birth to 1 yr): pleasure principle, pure Id; libidinal energy centered around the mouth

what is the anal stage of Freud's psychosexual theory and when does it occur?

(1-3 yrs) internal wishes start being met with external resistance. Conflict between id and ego; anus is the erogenous zone and toilet training is source of conflict

what is the phallic stage of Freud's psychosexual theory and when does it occur?

(3-6 yrs): pleasure in relationships; discovers sexual feelings

-Oedipus complex: love for mother and envy of father. Superego develops

what is the latency stage of Freud's psychosexual theory and when does it occur?

(6 yrs to puberty):Children become acculturated into social institutions like school; sexuality is repressed in the unconscious and children focus on identifying their same sex parent and interacting with same sex peers

what is the genital stage of Freud's psychosexual theory and when does it occur?

(puberty onward): sexual interest in opposite sex develops. Adults learn how to manage their drives and balance urges, relationship, and responsibilities; genitals becomes the primary focus of pleasurable sensations, person seeks to satisfy in heterosexual relationships

Freud's psychosexual theory states that development is _________ and focuses on ________ development

1. stage-like
2. psychosocial

what are the pros of Freud's psychosexual theory?

(i) arguably the 1st theory of its kind
(ii) hugely influential
(iii) considers the importance of early development in childhood

what are the cons of Freud's psychosexual theory?

(i) doesn’t leave room for variation
(ii) not based on current best practices of scientific research
(iii) probably doesn’t generalize across cultures
(iv) reflects prejudices and normative views of its era

what are characteristics of Erikson's psychosocial theory?

(1) Inspired by freud
(2) Development occurs thru the interplay b/t the individual and social institutions
(3) Stages characterized by the adversities we face
(4) Results from previous stages accrue

personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development.

what are 4 key aspects of Piaget's stages of cognitive development?

1. schema
2. assimilatio
3. accomodation
4. equlibration

what is a schema?

a mental model that structures information
(a) Ex: a furry 4-legged animal that barks is a dog

what is assimilation?

: absorbing new experiences into our current knowledge structures
(a) the way absorbing occurs is thru compare & contrast

what is accomodation?

altering a belief to make it more compatible with experience

ex: Marko believed that all red go-carts were fast until he drove a very slow one at the fair. Marko’s revised views on red go-carts illustrates accomodation

what is equilibration?

maintaining a balance b/t experience of the world and understanding of it
- individual uses assimilation and accommodation to restore or maintain a psychological equilibrium,

what are piaget's 4 cognitive developmental stages?

1. sensorimotor
2. pre-operational
3. concrete operational
4. formal operational

what are characteristics of the sensorimotor stage?

(birth to 2 yrs): ability to figure things out by using motor abilities and senses

(i) Characteristics:
1. Actions based on REFLEXES
2. Little ability to represent, create schemas
3. STRANGER ANXIETY

what are milestones to conquer in the sensorimotor stage?

1. Development of goals, plans
2. OBJECT PERMANENCE--> starts to understand that even if objects are out of sight, they continue to exist in the real world

what are characteristics of the pre-operational stage?

(~2-7 yrs)

(i) Characteristics:
1. Child now capable of SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION
2. EGOCENTRISM, parallel play
3. Cannot operate on symbols (Ex: Can’t operate on additions and subtractions)
4. Shallow understanding of quantity

what is a milestone to conquer in the pre-operational stage?

CONSERVATION: knowledge that quantities are maintained even when the matter is transformed

what are characteristics of the concrete operational stage?

1. More logical, flexible, organized cognition
2. Mastery of spatial operations
3. Conservation
4. Difficulties w/ abstract reasoning (Ex: Counting on fingers instead of doing mental math)

what is a milestone to conquer during the concrete operational stage?

1. Abstract thought (Ex: what is justice?)

what are characteristics of the formal operational stage?

(~11 yrs and up):
(i) Characteristics:
1. abstract and scientific reasoning
a. deductive reasoning
2. internal reflection
3. ability to speculate, hypothesize, etc

Piaget's cognitive development theory is domain-________

domain-general

what are pros of piaget's cognitive development theory?

(i) many concepts still in circulation
(ii) piaget’s theories are still broadly compatible with current science

what are cons of piaget's cognitive development theory?

(i) cognitive development unlikely to progress thru rigid stages
(ii) probably doesn’t generalize across cultures
(iii) piaget’s tasks are too demanding

what are characteristics of Kohlberg's moral development theory?

(1) Inspired by piaget’s cognitive stages
(2) Our understanding of morals, guided by cognition, also develops thru stages related to the ability to reason
(3) Investigation thru hypothetical stories
(4) Ex: was it okay for the husband to steal the druggist’s drugs bc he didn’t have enough money to buy the drugs for his dying wife?

suggests that moral development occurs in a series of six stages. The theory also suggests that moral logic is primarily focused on seeking and maintaining justice

what are characteristics of vygotsky's sociocultural theory?

(1) Pioneered sociocultural approach in psyc
(2) Genetic law of development: every aspect of our development appears twice; 1st in the social sphere, then in psychology
(3) Zone of proximal development: space where individual can perform task under supervision, but not without

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory is ______ and states that the dominant driver of development is ________.

1.continuous
2. nurture

what is a pro of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory?

(i) Seen a lot of practical use in education

what are the cons of vygotsky's sociocultural theory?

(i) Leaves out biological contributions to development
(ii) Especially regarding language, some of vygotsky’s views are outdated

what did the Stager & werker(1997) reading display?

spoken language processing --> how do infants (8-months and 14-months) develop the ability to hear speech?
--14 mo olds but not younger infants are able to acquire words’ meaning

Conclusion: b/t 8 mo and 14 mo is the period when infants start to grow capacity for semantics (i.e.: word learning) from simply attending to acoustic-phonetic details

what are the 3 stages of prenatal development?

1. germinal
2. embryonic
3. fetal

when does germinal stage start and end?

(0-2nd week)
(1) Start: conception (Egg fertilized by sperm in fallopian tube)
(2) End: attachment to uterine wall

what are major achievements of the germinal stage?

(a) Cell division- becomes more rapid as time passes, cells arrange themselves into hollowed out sphere shape, will eventually attach to uterine wall (supports systems start to develop; amniotic fluid)
(b) Placenta forms at 2nd week

when does the embryonic stage start and end?

(2nd to 8th week)
(1) Start: attachment to uterine wall
(2) End: formation of bone cells

what are major achievements of the embryonic stage?

(a) A lot of growth, almost quadruples in length (1/4 inch to in)
(b) Organs forming, beginning to operate
(c) Movement detected by ultrasound
(d) Dependence on mother established
(e) Embryo has doubled in size by now
(f) Blood vessels start to form in 6th week
(g) Many organs are at diff stages of development

what is a critical period?

a time when a developing organism is most sensitive to outside agents (teratogens: environmental agent that causes harm during the prenatal period)

when do many critical periods happen?

embryonic stage

when does the fetal stage start and end?

(8th to 38 weeks/birth)
(1) Start: formation of bone cells
(2) End: birth

what are major achievements of the fetal stage?

(a) Spontaneous Movement felt by mother
(b) Perceptual systems start to develop (sensitivity to light, hearing, etc)
(c) Fetuses suck their thumbs
(d) May have reached POINT OF VIABILITY, when it can survive outside the womb without much concern

are are early reflexes?

inborn, automatic responses to a particular stimuli
i) Fixed patterns
ii) Theorized that reflexes formed as adaptation
iii) can be used as screening tools for doctors

what are swallowing, sucking, and rooting reflexes and what do they infer in terms of adaptation?

- Swallowing (put liquid on lips, swallow)
- sucking (put object near mouth, will suck)
-rooting (if cheek is touched, baby will turn their head and open their mouth)

*Adaptive to feeding process

what are grasping and stepping reflexes and what do they infer in terms of adaptation?

-Grasping (put an object in palm, will grasp onto it)
-stepping (if you hold infant vertical just so their feet are touching the ground, they’ll rhythmically step)

*Precursors to later more voluntary actions like walking

what are babinski and moro reflexes and what do they infer in terms of adaptation?

-Babinski (take baby’s foot and stroke it vertically, their toes will curl in and pan out)
-moro (If holding infant horizontally in arms and quickly lower them, they’ll throw their arms out and bring it back as if they’re hugging)

there is v__________ in motor milestones for children, there's just ranges on average of when a child might achieve the milestone

variability

when did piaget think children obtained object permanence?

Piaget thought children acquired object permanence(object continues to exist even after out of sight) at 8 months
(1) Studied it by hiding object underneath cloth
(2) However, there’s some confounding variables like lack of short-term memory, disinterest in object, lack of motor skills

what is the criticism and alternative to Piaget's idea of object permanence?

Criticism: the tasks he used were too demanding and may underestimate children’s abilities

Alternative: infant has object permanence but doesn’t know how to search
(c) Need non-search test of object permanence: violation-of-expectation method (VOE)

how does the violation-of-expectation(VOE) method work?

1. Possible event: consistent with object permanence
2. Impossible event: violates object permanence, couldn’t have happened in reality
3. if infants have object permanence, they’ll look longer at impossible than possible event

what was the Aguilar and Baillargeon minnie mouse study?

(a) habituation: showed 3 & 3.5 mo yr olds a Minnie mouse moving across stage over and over again
(b) possible test event: high-window, window above the level of Minnie, Minnie moves across the wall and we see her come out the other side
(c) impossible event: low-window, could see Minnie passing thorough, however Minnie disappears when passing through window and comes out the other side even though she wasn’t visibly passing through

(d) results:
(i) 3 mo olds looked longer at the impossible event--> they have some form of object permanence
(ii) However, 3.5 mo olds looked equally at two events -->their worldview more sophisticated; proposed that 3.5 mo olds found out the trick, after lifting the screen and proving that there wasn’t a trick (although there was), looking time increased for 3.5 mo olds as well

(e) Conclusion:
(i) Even young babies have lots of knowledge
(ii) Diff methods lead to diff conclusions
(iii) Object permanence may form much earlier than piaget’s theorized time

what is attachment as an aspect of social development?

i) attachment: an enduring b/t ppl; infants tend to form attachment to caregiver

(1) freud was positive than feeding was the basis as the reason why infants form attachment to caregiver- caregivers satisfied the oral needs
(2) behaviorists focused on feeding as well, associated caregiver with relief for hunger for infants