psych

Social Thinking & Influences 

• Fundamental attribution error: What is it? Why is it important?

What is it?

• Tendency to overestimate increases dispositional (internal, features, part of your personality) impact (D) and underestimate decrease situational impact (S) when analyzing others’ behaviors

• Tendency to do the opposite when analyzing our own behavior 

• Negative outcomes/consequences of behavior tend to exacerbate (increase) this tendency; positive outcomes decrease it 

Why is it important?

• When making assumptions about others, we could be wrong, but we will assume we are right 

• Attitudes: definition and relationship to behavior 

• Def. belief (containing both a cognitive and emotional component) which increases likelihood of particular responses to situations. 

• Examples of behavior affecting attitudes

1. Attitudes about body image affect eating disorders 

1. Cooperation leads to liking 

2. Foot-in-the-door phenomenon = agree to small requests → more likely to agree to larger request later 

3. Role playing → attitudes 

• Cognitive dissonance theory 

• Tension that is created when our attitudes and actions are opposed, we experience tension. 

• Social facilitation: What is it? When is this more/less likely?

• Improved performance in the presence of others 

• More likely to occur when performing simple, well-rehearsed tasks in the presence of others, while it's less likely to occur when performing complex or unfamiliar tasks with an audience

• Social Loafing and related terms and examples 

• People in groups exert less effort toward common goals then when individually accountable 

- lacking accountability 

- free riding 

• Reasons for & conditions that increase/decrease conformity 

Conformity = adjusting behaviors to coincide with a group standard. 

Increase conformity 

• Feeling incomplete/insecure 

• Less than three people in group 

• Group unanimity 

• Desire for group’s status/appeal

• No prior commitment 

• Symptoms of & conditions that decrease groupthink  

• A mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for group harmony overrides the realistic individual perspective 

Combating groupthink: 

• Take time to carefully generate alternatives and evaluate all possible course of action 

• Remove highly influential members until later stage 

• Actively encourage disagreement 

• Group polarization - enhancement of prevailing attitudes through discussion 

• Conditions that increase/decrease obedience

• Blind obedience = following orders even when you might disagree or feel uncomfortable doing so 

Conditions that decrease obedience - 

• Proximity of authority

• Credibility of authority 

• No role models for defiance 

• Depersonalization of person being harmed 

• Applications at the group level (e.g., prejudice, stereotypes & how to combat those) 

Prejudice = prejudgment, an unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude toward an out-group and its members. 

Combating prejudice: 

1. Familiarity 

2. Cooperate 

a. GRIT 

b. Subordinate goals 

c. language 

3. Education 

Psychological Disorders 

• Guidelines for abnormality (3 P’s and 3 D’s) 

Pathological = making a distinction between what is uncommon in comparison to the culture/subculture you are looking at. 

Persistent = (time) a lot of disorders of a persistence rate, you must show those symptoms for a specific amount of time for it to be taken into consideration. Instead, it is just life. 

Pervasive= if you have a disorder and symptoms of that disorder, they should take over every aspect of your life. Push you to seek treatment. 

Deviant (social norms) = the behavior must be looked at regularly for the norm of that individual when they are expecting that behavior. 

Distressing (to self/others) = people with these certain disorders don’t like the symptoms; seek help to get rid of these symptoms. Sometimes they are not problematic for the person experiencing them, however, they interfere with others. 

Dysfunctional = stop you from achieving your goals. 

• Purpose, pros and cons of using the DSM for diagnosing psychological disorders 

Purpose - 

• Describes (400) disorders 

• Increase reliability of diagnosis by different professionals

• Determine the prevalence of disorders

Pros (+) & Cons (*) of diagnosis - 

• Treatment decisions 

• Conducive to research 

• Obtaining insurance coverage 

*  not everyone fits into category 

*  lots of comorbidity (showing not one but multiple disorders) 

*  stigmatism (looking at their behaviors in terms of their diagnosis) 

*  moral dilemmas 

*  heavily relied upon by insurance companies 

• Steps taken to diagnose a disorder

1. Interview & observe client 

2. Interview someone close the client if possible 

3. Determine presence & severity of symptoms 

4. Match to existing classifications in the DSM 

5. Consider other causes for symptoms 

6. Examine biological evidence if possible 

• For the following psychological disorders, you should know the symptoms (types where that applies) & probable causes: 

• Anxiety disorders 

 generalized anxiety disorder 

-   Persistent and uncontrollable tenseness and apprehension. 

-   Inability to identify or avoid the cause of certain feelings. 

-   Compared to panic disorder as low level of intensity but constant. 

-   Pervasive = Occurs during any or all situations in one’s life (family, friends, workers) 

-   Pathological/Deviant = Fears may be unrealistic, unreasonable, even irrational 

-   Dysfunctional = Significantly impairs your ability to focus and get things done 

-   Persistent = Occurs almost every day for at least six months without diminishing 

panic disorder 

• panic attacks are brief in duration 

• about 2/3 that suffer from this are women 

• smokers have an onset for panic disorder 

• spiral effect because they are nervous, they familiarize the symptoms and notice they are anxious before one is happening and cause one to start 

•  recurrent & unexpected 

• the things that may trigger a panic attack may trigger one again in the future 

• not effects of substances (drugs/medications)

• not another disorder 

• start to avoid people, places and things that is a trigger 

Phobias

• persistent fear of object or situation (exposure almost always = fear) 

• recognize that the fear is irrational 

• distressed about fears 

• interferes with life 

• women 2 times as likely as men to report having phobias  

- OCD 

Obsessions (O) = unwanted distressing thoughts, urges, mental images. May include “what if…” and doubts. Ex. Tapping a certain number of times, cleaning, washing hands (taking up time) 

Compulsions (C) = any behavior performed to help make the anxiety go away, including checking. Ex. 

-Looks more common in boys than girls as youth however it evens out as they age 

- PTSD

a.  Re- experiencing symptoms, including:

- nightmares 

- flashbacks 

- intrusive thoughts 

b.  Avoidance symptoms, including: - social withdrawal 

- emotionally numb 

c.  Physical arousal symptoms, including: 

- sleep problems 

- exaggerated startle response 

- hypervigilance 

- children/people being bullied are more likely to get PTSD 

- when someone experiences something happening to them again and again 

• Mood disorders

major depressive disorders

• Depressed mood 

• Irritability

• Appetite and or sleep disorders

• Fatigue, slow or agitated movements 

bi-polar disorders 

• Manic: elation, hyperactive, multiple ideas 

• Depressive: withdrawn, indecisive, slowness of thoughts 

• Narcissistic & Antisocial personality disorder

Narcissistic - 

• Exaggerated sense of accomplishments and place in this world 

• Selfishness, lack of empathy and sense of entitlement 

• Overly sensitive to criticism or challenges to their false self-image 

Antisocial 

      - lack of conscience for doing wrong/harming others 

      - lack of recognition of family of friendship ties 

      - formerly called sociopath or psychopath 

• Dissociative identity disorder

- conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings 

- presence of 2+ distinct personalities or identities “alternate” with distinct traits 

- alternates usually have armenia for each other, gaps in memory for important information 

• Schizophrenia 

- paranoid = grandiose delusions, hallucinations

- disorganized = flat affect, word salad 

- catatonic = immobility/posing; wild movements, parrot-like repetitions 

- undifferentiated = others not classified above  

Know prevalence rates (including gender differences) for disorders marked with an *

Sleep Disorders 

• Circadian rhythm - a natural 24-hour cycle of physical, mental, and behavioral changes that occur in the body. It's also known as the "body's clock".

• Stages of sleep - characteristics of each stage, when & in what order they occur

N1: The lightest stage of sleep, which lasts only a few minutes 

N2: A light sleep stage where your body temperature drops and your breathing and heart rate slow down 

N3: A deep sleep stage where your body, mind, and breathing are the most still 

REM: The dream stage, where your eyes move rapidly behind closed lids and your brain waves are similar to those when you're awake

• Consequences of sleep deprivation 

Brain – diminished attention focus and memory consolidation, and increased risk of depression 

Immune system – suppression of immune cell production and increased risk of viral infections, such as colds 

Fat cells – increased production and greater risk of obesity 

Heart – increased risk of high blood pressure

Stomach – increased hunger-arousing ghrelin and decreased hunger-suppressing leptin 

• Sleep disorders (symptoms, possible causes, when & for whom they are most likely, and treatments): 

• Insomnia: a common sleep disorder that makes it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or get quality sleep

• Narcolepsy: a chronic neurological disorder that impacts the brain's ability to regulate sleep-wake cycles

• Sleep apnea: a sleep disorder that causes people to stop breathing or breathe shallowly while they sleep.

• Night terrors: a sleep disorder that cause intense fear, panic, or dread during sleep

• Sleep walking: a sleep disorder that occurs when someone walks or performs other activities while still asleep

• Sleep talking: a common behavior that involves vocalizing during sleep

• Typical content and purpose of dreaming (i.e., what evidence supports different explanations/theories?) 

• Negative Emotional Content = negative emotional content, such as …..

• Failure dreams 

• Being attacked/ pursued 

• Being rejected

• Sexual Dreams (approximately 1 in 10 for men and 1 in 30 for women)

• Early evening = mostly dreams about recent experiences and daily life concerns 

• Middle evening = mostly dreams about everyday concerns, anxieties, and recent experiences

• Late evening = mostly dreams about personal anxieties, emotional experiences, and recent memories