Chapters 13-15 Study Guide

CHAPTER 13 — PERSONALITY

What Personality Is

  • Definition: “Unique and relatively enduring set of behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and motives” (from your notes: “unique and relatively enduring set of behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and motives that characterize an individual”).

  • Shows individual differences and consistency across situations.

  • Includes traits, motives, thoughts, self‑concept, feelings.

Major Perspectives on Personality

1. Psychoanalytic (Unconscious drives)

  • Freud: Id, Ego, Superego; unconscious processes.

  • Adler: Striving for superiority, compensation, inferiority complex, birth order.

  • Jung: Personal & collective unconscious; archetypes (shadow, anima/animus).

  • Horney: Basic hostility, basic anxiety, defenses against anxiety.

2. Humanistic‑Positive (Growth‑oriented)

  • Maslow: Self‑actualization; hierarchy of needs.

  • Rogers: Real vs. ideal self; unconditional positive regard.

3. Social‑Cognitive (Situation × Person)

  • Mischel: Behavior changes across situations.

  • Reciprocal determinism: Behavior ↔ cognition ↔ environment.

  • Locus of control:

    • Internal = “I control outcomes.”

    • External = “Outcomes control me.”

4. Trait Theories

  • Big Five (CANOE):

    • Conscientiousness

    • Agreeableness

    • Neuroticism

    • Openness

    • Extraversion

  • Basic tendencies = biological; characteristic adaptations = cultural.

5. Biological/Evolutionary

  • QTL studies: traits on a continuum (anxiety, impulsivity, thrill‑seeking).

  • Twin studies: ~40–60% heritable depending on trait.

  • Prenatal influences: high fetal HR → slower adaptation; maternal stress → higher stress reactivity.

CHAPTER 14 — SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Group Influence

  • Social facilitation: Better performance on well‑learned tasks; worse on new tasks.

  • Social loafing: Less effort in groups.

Conformity

  • Informational influence: Others = source of knowledge.

  • Normative influence: Wanting acceptance.

  • Asch study: People conform even when group is wrong.

Conformity increases when:

  • Group ≥ 3

  • Everyone agrees

  • No prior commitment

  • Group is admired

  • Behavior is observed

  • Culture is collectivist

Groupthink

  • Group harmony > critical thinking.

  • Symptoms: illusion of invulnerability, self‑censorship, pressure to conform, illusion of unanimity.

  • Prevented when leaders encourage dissent and alternative ideas.

Obedience (Milgram)

  • Highest when:

    • Authority is close

    • Authority linked to prestigious institution

    • Victim is distant

    • No models for defiance

    • Foot‑in‑the‑door effect

Attribution

  • Dispositional: Internal traits.

  • Situational: External circumstances.

  • Fundamental attribution error: Overemphasize dispositional causes for others.

  • Self‑serving bias: Success = internal; failure = external.

Schemas & Stereotypes

  • Schemas guide interpretation.

  • Stereotypes = group‑based expectations.

  • Dehumanization strips groups of human qualities.

Prejudice & Discrimination

  • Prejudice: Attitude.

  • Discrimination: Behavior.

  • Roots:

    • Social: just‑world belief

    • Emotional: scapegoat theory

    • Cognitive: vivid cases, categorization

Aggression

  • Hostile vs. instrumental.

  • Increased by genetics + abusive environment.

Prosocial Behavior

  • Bystander effect: More bystanders → less help.

  • Diffusion of responsibility: Shared responsibility reduces action.

CHAPTER 15 — PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Defining Disorders

  • Syndrome: Cluster of symptoms.

  • 4 D’s:

    1. Disturbance

    2. Dysfunction

    3. Distress/disability

    4. Deviance (must also be dysfunctional)

  • DSM‑5: Standardized diagnosis; criticized for overdiagnosis and symptom‑based focus.

  • RDOC: NIMH framework focusing on biology (genes → circuits → behavior).

  • Prevalence:

    • 26% yearly

    • 46% lifetime

    • High comorbidity

Schizophrenia

Symptoms

  • Positive: Hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech/behavior.

  • Negative: Flat affect, reduced movement, lack of motivation.

  • Cognitive: Working memory, attention, reasoning deficits.

Origins

  • Diathesis‑stress model: Genes + environment.

  • Up to 100 genes implicated.

  • Prenatal infections: Influenza, rubella, toxoplasmosis, herpes.

  • Childhood neglect → abnormal brain development (your notes show “extreme neglect” brain image).

  • Brain abnormalities:

    • Frontal lobe dysfunction

    • Overactive auditory cortex

    • Limbic system abnormalities

    • Excessive pruning in adolescence

Depressive Disorders

Major Depressive Disorder (≥ 2 weeks)

Symptoms include (quoted from your notes):
“Depressed mood… reduced interest… weight change… sleep disturbances… fatigue… worthlessness… difficulty concentrating… suicidal ideation.”

  • Prevalence: 7% US; 3× higher in ages 18–29; women 2–3× more likely.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

  • Same symptoms but less severe; lasts ≥ 2 years.

Origins

  • Stress + biochemical factors.

  • Learned helplessness (Seligman).

  • Childhood adversity → higher adult depression.

  • Heritability: 40–50%.

  • Serotonin imbalance → treated with SSRIs.

  • Personality traits: high neuroticism.

  • Social rejection → activates HPA axis.

Bipolar Disorders

Types

  • Bipolar I: Full mania ≥ 7 days + depression.

  • Bipolar II: Hypomania ≥ 4 days + depression.

  • Cyclothymia: Mild hypomanic + mild depressive symptoms for ≥ 2 years.

Causes

  • Prenatal alcohol exposure.

  • Genetics: 40–70% concordance in identical twins.

  • Brain abnormalities: prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, basal ganglia.

  • Neurochemistry:

    • Mania: low serotonin, low norepinephrine

    • Depression: low serotonin, high norepinephrine

Anxiety Disorders

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

  • Excessive worry ≥ 6 months.

  • Symptoms: sleep issues, restlessness, concentration problems, muscle tension.

  • 3–9% US; women 2× more likely.

Panic Disorder

  • Panic attacks + persistent worry about future attacks.

  • Symptoms include (from your notes): “heart palpitations, trembling, sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, intense dread…”

  • 2–3% US.

Phobias

  • Social phobia: Fear of humiliation; intense self‑consciousness.

  • Agoraphobia: Fear of being unable to escape.

  • Specific phobias: e.g., acrophobia, claustrophobia, hemophobia.

Origins of Anxiety

  • Biological:

    • GABA deficiency

    • 30–40% heritable

    • Personality: high neuroticism, introversion

  • Environmental:

    • ACE study: ≥4 adverse events → 2.5× higher risk

PTSD

  • Triggered by trauma (direct, witnessed, learned, or repeated exposure).

  • Symptoms: intrusive memories, flashbacks, avoidance, self‑blame, hyperarousal.

  • Biological: HPA axis fails to return to baseline.

  • Kids show reduced hippocampal activation.