Psych exam 2

good luck.....

Mulcastuer(1582): Nature?

Mulcastuer(1582): Nature?

Biological endowment(genetic inheritance) (impacts child devlopment)

Mulcastuer(1582): Nurture

environmental conditions in which individual develops(impacts child devlopment)

Galton’s(1800s)

• Tended to look for the importance of one force over the other

• Claimed that nature predominated over nurture in explaining differences in intellectual abilities

• Beginning of nature-nurture debate

Alcoholism: risk factors

peer group use, age, gender, education, beliefs regarding alcohol, family use,  genetic predisposition

Alcoholism genetics:

• About 50-60% of alcoholics have some type of genetic predisposition which is associated with the NT GABA

Depression:

Extreme and persistent sadness, despair, and loss of interest in activities(bad sleep, appetite, self-esteem)

2 types of depression:

major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder(dysthymia)

Depression: major depressive disorder

Having depressive episodes of intense sadness, loss interest of activities, negative thoughts and behavior

Depression: persistent depressive disorder(dysthymia)

Depressed mood for most of the day, for more days than not, lasts for 2 years or more. Can appear in children for a year and this can lead from childhood to adulthood “I’ve always been like this”

Depression genetics:

• 50% of people with depression have some family history

• Genes affect production of serotonin and dopamine)

Depression cognitive theory: Aaron Beck’s approach:

• negative views of self, environment and the future. Magnifies errors and misfortunes( we make it seem worse than it actually is)

Depression Biopsychosocial Explanation:

Genetics, brain chemistry, and cognitions make some more vulnerable to depression than others

More vulnerability, the less stress it takes to produce depression...

Depression Diathesis–stress model:

Both a predisposition and a precipitating event needed for the disorder to develop

--- death in family, divorce, moving away to college

Schizophrenia

1% of the population

Several types

• Often includes delusions---thoughts inconsistent w/ reality, and perhaps hallucinations

-Often includes disordered thinking

•Often includes inappropriate emotions, and small range of emotions

Schizophrenia genetics:

Risk is about 50% if identical twins 17% if fraternal twins 9% if siblings 6% if parent (from gottsman, 1991)

Schizophrenia biology of brain:

• Dopamine, and probably glutamate

• Ventricles, hollow fluid-filled areas of the brain, larger in people with schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Environmental risks:

• Pregnancy and birth complications

• Childhood head injury

• Stress, perhaps especially during adolescence

issue of developmental research: nature/nurture

development is the product of combined biological and environmental factors

issue of developmental research: Stability and change:

some characteristics of people stay the same throughout their lives; but no obviously we also change with age

issue of developmental research: aspects of development

Some aspects of development might be gradual, continuous process; but many theorist also talk about how we go through distinct developmental stages

Cultural differences in raising babies  what do American parents want from their children?:

to have great, happy, and smart children

American parents do not have many support norms like:

no sponsored daycares, parental leave, and not much family involvement beyond mom and dad

American parents frequent perception:

more crime this year than last but the reality statistics from the FBI that crime has gone down since 1990s

Other stressors of American parents:

• Perception of neighbors not being good for children

• Fear kidnapping

• Fear of child getting attacked or shot

• Fear of child getting in trouble with the law

• Difficulty finding after school programs

• Lack of involvement of extracurricular activities

Cognitive development: the importance of early stimulation

• touch tends to lead to faster weight gain, and stimulates brain development(tested on rat pups and humans)

Rosenzweig (1962):

experimented with rat pups as one group was placed in an “impoverished area”  meaning no toys or companions and the other group was placed in “enriched area” with toys and companions and the enriched group developed heavier and thicker cerebral cortices

Jean Piaget:

PHd in zoology in 21, swiss and wrote in French as he noticed that younger children answered questions differently because they think differently not because they know less.

How we learn change(Piaget): Schema

mental structure or framework that organizes and interprets function

Piaget: Assimilation(incorporation)

• Interpreting new information in terms of existing knowledge

Piaget accommodation(adjustment):

modifying existing knowledge in response to new input

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: 0-2yrs

ensorimotor: experiencing world  through sense and actions…looking, nothing, touching; learning object permanence(something still exists even if you can’t see it)

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: 2-7yrs

Preoperational: represent things with words and images, but literally and without logical reason; also not much ability to see other’s perspective

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: 7-11 years

concrete operational: logical thinning about observable straightforward events, making analogies; understanding abstract qualities such as CONSERVATION of mass and volume

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: 12-adult

adult: formal operational: abstract and moral reasoning; understanding ‘what if’ hypotheticals

Lev Vygitsky

• Russian, born to jewish parents

• Had interest in education and psychopathology

• Theories developed in 1920s

• becoming more popular in recent years

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory; key themes

• Culture and adult interactions are vital. Children learn through talking with adults informally, and through formal teaching

• Cultural affects child’s cognitive development in 2 ways:

• Through culture, children acquire content of their knowledge(what to learn)

• Culture offers children the processes or ways of thinking(cognitive tools)(how to learn)

Vygotsky’s theory on 2 years olds

language becomes an essential, integrated part of thinking

• Talking to self out loud at first then turns into inner speech-talking to oneself inside own mind

• Examples: motivation and focus; Staying calm, it’s okay, count to 10

• Physical skills: wait fo the pinch, eye on the ball, stay back

• learning/schoolwork; like math carrying the two

Ainsworth(1970)

measuring a child’s reaction response to mother after brief separation(“strange situation”)

4 categories of attachment: Secure attachment(60%):

explore while she’s gone, but approach her upon return

4 categories of attachment: Insecure avoidant(20%):

not distressed while gone; resist proximity upon return

__4 categories of attachment:__Insecure-ambivalent or resistant(15%):

upset while gone; both clingy and angry upon return

__4 categories of attachment:__Disoriented/disorganized(5%):

no clear patterns- confused –often occurs in maltreated children—

Van Ijzendoorn and kroonenberg(1988):

examined that there are two differences between cultures

Individualistic:

a lot of focus on individual happiness and needs(america which causes avoidant than resistant/ambivalent)

Collectiveness:

a lot of focus on what is good for the group(Japan, Israel China causes more resistant/ ambivalent than avoidant)

In people’s teen years they tend to:

engage in more risk taking behaviors because of frontal lobe not being fully formed and teens weigh rewards more heavily than possible risks

Adolescent Egocentrism(ELKIND):

• Imaginary audience:

“everyone is looking at me”

Adolescent Egocentrism(ELKIND): Personal fable:

• “Nobody understands my plight”

Adolescent Egocentrism(ELKIND):Hypocrisy

• inconsistent ethics across situations, see others as inconsiderate but not yourself

Adolescent Egocentrism(ELKIND): Pseudostupidity:

• oversimplified logic “If alcoholics know they will die from liver problems, why don’t they just stop?”

Erik Erikson: 8 stages of the psychosocial development(only need to learn 2) Adolescent:

Identity vs role confusion(who am I?)

Erik Erikson: Young adulthood:

Intimacy vs isolation: trying to form close relationships(where do I belong?)

Consciousness:

Awareness of our environments and our own mental processes

Sigmund Freud~Background:

Austrian Physician, psychiatrist, 1856-1939

Developed theory by treating people

• From the middle and upper class

• With emotional problems

• Who were mostly married, ‘proper’ women, with relatively few freedoms or outlets

Freud: ID:

• Instinctual sexual or aggressive energy

• Works according to the pleasure principle

• Irrational, selfish

Freud Ego:

• Acts as a manger, trying to satisfy needs of id in accordance with what’s realistic and moral(superego)

• Works according to the reality principle

-control Id, keep in check

- denies, delays, grati

Freud Superego:

• Ideals, morals, conscience; concern with what is right

• Often in conflict with Id

Sublimation:

a socially unacceptable want or activity is replaced by an acceptable one

Conscious:

Processes for which a person is subjectively aware

Preconscious:

processes not presently conscious, but could be quickly

…like if you’re asked a question, or playing a quiz game like Jeopardy

Unconscious:

processes inaccessible to consciousness because they have been repressed

(kept from consciousness thought because it brings too much anxiety)

examples of unconscious thoughts/emotions can come into our consciousness:

• Dreams

• Responses to Rorschach tests

• ‘Freudian slips’

Ex: President Bush reportedly said in a speech to educators “I’d like to spank all teachers.” (Thank)

Why sleep?(functional, evolutionary perspective):

• We’re tired, it restores us- our muscles, and brain tissues

• It keeps us away from trouble/harm

• It can aid immune system

• It helps us consolidate memories, helps neuron repair

• Partly because cerebral cortex isn’t busy processing outside info

Sleep–Circadian Rhythms:

The sleep cycle is based on circadian rhythms (internal patterns of bodily functions over a ~24-hour period)

sleep: a key brain area is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus which…

• it influences the hypothalamus and reticular formation to keep our temperature, hunger, sleep, etc. on a synchronized schedule

Sleep: when SCN receive input from the retina….

its getting information about light/dark cycle

Disruptions to the circadian rhythm (e.g. from shifting work schedule, jet lag, pulling an ‘all nighter’ can lead to unclear thinking, inattentiveness, and feeling sleepy.

Many experts recommend waking up at a very consistent time, even if that means sleeping less on occasion

What is EEGs?

Graphically record brain-wave activity through electrodes on the scalp and forehead EEG waves vary in frequency and amplitude

In the stages of sleep, particularly the ‘deep sleep’ stages, the body relaxes, and the EEG activity, heart rate, and breathing slow.

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

• Physiologically, very similar to being awake

• Many muscles are paralyzed. Sleepwalking cannot occur during REM sleep

• Dreams occur in other stages, too, but they’re more vivid, long lasting, and detailed in REM sleep

Sleep deprivation can cause cognitive, motor impairment, what is an effect of lack of sleep compared to?

• Effects of sleep deprivation are comparable to those of alcohol on driving. Staying awake just 3 hours longer than usual reduces driving performance

Other Effects of sleep deprivation

• Difficulty concentrating (paying attention, multitasking, avoiding mistakes)

• Irritability, moodiness

• Increased risk of depression

• Rats totally deprived of sleep for 2-3 weeks die

Watch your alcohol consumption.

WHY?

• Alcohol is sedative, helps initially get you into light sleep

• As it's metabolized, stages get disrupted and you get less sleep and REM. So the 2nd half of the night may not be restful, mostly stages 1 and 2 interrupted by wakefulness

Hypnosis:

trancelike state if consciousness characterized by deep relaxation and suggestibility

True or False: People we see in hypnotic trances are faking it

**False-**Brain scans show they are feeling/seeing what they claim

True or False: People who are hypnotized show better memory for past events (so may be useful for police investigations or courtrooms).-

False-They may be WILLING to recall past events, but hypnotism DOES NOT improve accuracy of recall.

True or False: Hypnotism can be used as a part of psychotherapy, to help someone change their behaviors or emotional responses.-

True Somewhat controversial, and  not helpful for all clinical diagnoses

True or False: Hypnotism is an effective analgesic (reducing pain).-

True This has been known/used for decades.

what are Psychoactive drugs-

Operate on the nervous system to alter mental activity, conscious experience

opioids: Why is this such an American (and German) thing? Some possibilities…

• Physician ignorance and aggressive marketing by manufacturers

• Regulations, costs

• Taboos about drugs in some cultures

example of stimulants

amphetamines, caffeine, ecstacy

ex. of Depressants

alcohol, tranquilizers, the opiates

ex. of Hallucinogens

LSD, ‘mushrooms’, marijuana

3 Ways Drugs Commonly Affect People: alter mood

Almost all addictive drugs stimulate a reward pathway in the brain --- the mesolimbic pathway (dopamine involved)

3 Ways Drugs Commonly Affect People: alter energy levels

e.g.  amphetamines stimulate the release of epinephrine, a NT that increases sympathetic activity

3 Ways Drugs Commonly Affect People:  produce hallucinations (some drugs)

adderall, Hallucinogenic mushrooms, DMT (Dimethyltryptamine; a hallucinogen)

Can taking a hallucinogen enhance creativity?

(Baggott, 2015)

• It's unclear.

• Certainly self reports indicate it can – – e.g. famous people crediting LSD for helping them design a building or write a book.

• There is little scientific research on it, and defining creativity in a lab situation is difficult.

  • There's more evidence for short-term (while tripping) enhancement in creativity than long-term.

  • Effects seem to be stronger for inexperienced users than for repeated users.

Drug tolerance-

smaller effects is same amount taken repeatedly

Withdrawal-

when drug use is stopped, cravings and unwanted symptoms occur that are generally opposite in direction to the initial drug effects (e.g. tired w/ out caffeine, pain w/out hydrocodone)

How Does Tolerance/Withdrawal Occur?

Many ways—changes the regulation of pathways for dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, etc.

Some characteristics of substance use disorder …

1. tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms

2. ‘craving’ it

3. using a lot, can’t stop

4. continued use despite dangers, long-term problems

5. negatively impacts responsibilities, work

6. negatively impacts social activities