Psyc 100 - Winter Term Exam @ Queen's

linguistics

study of language

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in a language.

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

social brain hypothesis

The hypothesis that the human brain has evolved, so that humans can maintain larger ingroups.

linguistic intergroup bias

A tendency for people to characterize positive things about their ingroup using more abstract expressions, but negative things about their outgroups using more abstract expressions.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Language that people use determines their thoughts

levels of language (LSSR)

Lexicon, syntax, speech, rate

theory of mind

ability to reason about what other people know or believe

family resemblance theory

members of a category have features that appear to be characteristic of category members but may not be possessed by every member

prototype theory

When learning a category, you learn general description that applies to the category as a whole. Typical category members have more highly weighted features.

fuzzy categories

borderline defined items that shift over time (ex. is an olive a fruit?)

category prototype

most typical (obvious) category member

psychological essentialism

The belief that members of a category have an unseen property that causes them to be in the category and to have the properties associated with it.

Piaget's stages of cognitive development (4)

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

socioculture theory

focuses on how culture - the values, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group - is transmitted to the next generation

information processing theory

describe cognitive process that underlies thinking at any age and growth over time

object permanence

the knowledge that an object exists even when it is not in sight

phonetic awareness

awareness of sound. crucial for reading

social perception

the process of interpreting information about another person

social brain

The set of neuroanatomical structures that allows us to understand the actions and intentions of other people.

Social brain includes (4)

amygdala, orbital frontal cortex (OFC), fusiform gyrus (FG), posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS)

endophenotypes

not immediately available to observation but reflect underlying genetic liability for disease.

parenting styles (4)

authoritative, authoritarian, uninvolved, permissive

authoritative parenting style

high (but reasonable) expectations, high warmth, good communication, reasoning > coercion

authoritarian parenting style

high expectations, low warmth

uninvolved parenting style

low expectations, low warmth

permissive parenting style

low expectations, high warmth

family stress model

Negative effects of family financial difficulty on child adjustment through the effects of economic stress on parents' depressed mood. Increased marital problems & poor parenting.

social referencing

child look to mothers face to respond to events that are ambiguous or uncertain

Explicit mental state inference

Requires separating what we want, feel and know from what the other person is likely to want, feel and know

False Belief Test (FBT)

Evaluate children's ability to understand that someone else believes something they know to be wrong

Temperament (personality)

Early emerging differences in reactivity and self-regulation, which constitutes a foundation for personality development

goodness of fit

The match between a child's temperament and characteristics of parental care that contributes to positive or negative personality development.

Conscience

The cognitive, emotional, and social influences that cause young children to create and act consistently with internal standards of conduct

Gender schemas

Organized beliefs and expectations about maleness and femaleness that guide children's thinking about gender

effortful control

biologically easier to be self-regulated & in control of temperament

5-HTTLPR gene (children)

Children with gene are low on measures off conscience development had previously unresponsive maternal care.

moral self (children)

Develops at the end of preschool. Child wants to do the right thing.

Interpersonal

between group of 2+ people

Intrapersonal

Within the self (me)

Emotions (4)

Rapid info processing that helps us act with minimal thinking. Can be adaptive. Connect to thoughts and memories. Motivation for future behaviour.

social referencing

reading emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a particular situation

cultural display rules

Dictate when and how particular emotions are to be expressed. Learned early in life. Ex big boys don't cry

attachment theory

theory based on John Bowlby's work that posits that children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments to caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival

Harlow's Monkeys

Showed that tactile and comfort was favored over nourishment

attachment figure

Someone who functions as the safe haven and secure base for an individual. In childhood, is often a parent. In adulthood, is often a romantic partner.

teen cognitive changes (2)

Early: changes in brain's dopaminergic system: increase in sensation-seeking and reward motivation. Later: brain's development of prefrontal cortex: increasing self-regulation and future orientation

Homophily

the overall similarity among members in the social system. birds of a feather

Deviant peer contagion

The spread of problem behaviors within groups of adolescents. Ex laughter = approval.

identity statuses (Marcia - 4)

Foreclosure: commits to identity w/o exploring options.

Identity Diffusion: neither explore nor commit.

Moratorium: Actively explore but not yet commit.

Identity Achievement: explored & committed.

differential susceptibility

Genetic factors that make individuals more or less responsive to environmental experiences.

emerging adulthood (5 characteristics)

Identity Exploration

Instability

Self Focused Age

Feeling in-between

Possibilities

heterogeneity

diversity in character/content. Ex. retiring at different ages

life course theories

seeks to understand the multiple factors that shape people's lives from birth to death, placing individual and family development in cultural and historical contexts

Life span theories

Compliment life-course perspective with greater focus on processes within the individual (ex aging brain). Emphasizes lifelong intra and inter individual differences in shape, level, rate of change.

fluid intelligence

information processing abilities - logical reasoning, remembering lists, spatial ability, reaction time

Crystallized intelligence

experience and knowledge (ex. vocabulary tests, solving number problems, understanding texts)

hedonic treadmill

humans return to stable level of happiness despite changes positive or negative.

Global subjective well-being

Individuals' perceptions of and satisfaction with their lives as a whole.

convoy model of social relations

Social exchanges change with age. Impacts health and wellbeing.

socioemotional selectivity theory

Reduction of social partners in older adulthood. Focus on emotional needs over info-gathering goals.

cross-sectional study

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

general factor of intelligence

Synonymous with intelligence. People who perform well in one intellectual area perform well in another (Spearman)

Stanford-Binet Test

First standardized test. Designed to measure five factors of cognitive ability. Children IQ tested.

Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

the WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests

Flynn effect

The rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations

trilogy of mind (CAC)

cognition, affection, conation

vocational interests (RIASEC)

Realistic (gadgets and things)

Investigative (math and theory)

Artistic (creative)

Social (helping profession)

Enterprising (leadership & economic)

Conventional (office. clear chain of commands)

bounded rationality

humans try to be rational but are bounded by cognitive abilities

6 steps to rational decision making

1. define the problem

2. identify criteria

3. weight the criteria

4. generate alternative courses of action

5. rate each alternative

6. compute optimal decision

Heuristics

mental shortcuts / rule of thumb that reduces complex problems to simple rule based decisions

Anchor

bias affected by initial anchor, even if anchor is arbitrary, and to insufficiently adjust our judgments away from anchor

Framing

The way information is presented. Can cause bias.

willpower is bounded

The tendency to place greater weight on present concerns rather than future concerns.

self-interest is bounded

systematic & predictable ways in which we care about the outcomes of others

Bounded ethicality

The systematic ways in which our ethics are limited in ways we are not even aware of ourselves.

Bounded Awareness

The systematic ways in which we fail to notice obvious and important info that is available to us.

Drive States

Generate behaviours that result in specific benefits for the body (hunger, thirst, sexual arousal). Make us sacrifice other things to get them. Make us selfish & impatient

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state. Set point. Mechanisms needed to get back to set point (often punishments and rewards to cause deliberate action)

Part of brain responsible for hunger (drive state)

Lateral Hypothalamus

Part of brain responsible for satiety (drive state)

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

Part of brain responsible for sexual (drive state) Male

preoptic area (front of hypothalamus). (this area in females relates to food - not sex)

Part of brain responsible for sexual (drive state) Female

ventromedial hypothalamus

Part of brain overlap (2 drive states in males)

sexual & aggressive

Part of brain overlap (2 drive states in females)

sexual & nurturing

emotional coherence

degree to which emotional responses converge with one another (mixed emotions can be good for wellbeing).

Another word for "attitude change"

Persuasion

Strong attitudes display 4 characteristics:

- Resistant to persuasion (hard to change)

- They are persistent over time (they tend not to change with time)

- They guide info processing

- They're better predictors of behaviour

2 things required to arrive at lasting attitude change:

ability & motivation

3 parts of desire system in brain (ANF)

Amygdala, nucleus accumbens, frontal cortex

Chemical of brain that activates desire system

Dopamine (ex. cocaine & amphetamine)

Part of the brain required for appetite emotions (desire & interest)

Left frontal cortex

Damage to the left frontal cortex (illness)

depression

Damage to the right frontal cortex (illness)

mania

Which part is the "liking" part of the brain

nucleus accumbens

Which part is the "pleasure" part of the brain (money, smell, nice faces)

Orbitofrontal cortex

2 drugs that inhibit fear

benzos & tranquillizers

Which 2 drugs inhibit rage

opioids, antipsychotics

Anger circuits in brain are also linked to which drive state

appetite

What is the "anger neurotransmitter"

Substance P (& testosterone, & arginine vasopressin)