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Psychology Final
Scientific Psychology, Skepticism, and Pseudoscience
Why is psychology considered a science?
It is systematic and empirical, and because it uses scientific theory, including hypothesis, theories predictions, and safeguards against bias
understand the relationship between skepticism and science.
Skepticism is approaching a scientific topic with an open mind and an evidence based approach, always being willing to change ones mind.
How does science differ from pseudoscience?
A set of claims that seems scientific but it isn't because it lacks safeguards against biases.
Can be spotted when there are exaggerated claims, anecdotal reliance, and lack of review/correction
Connect these concepts to the framework for scientific thinking and research
methods (i.e., how do research methods differ from casual observation and
pseudoscience?).
Scientific Research methods use the scientific method in order to research properly, ethically, and without bias. Pseudoscience uses language to persuade the public that they have done the same, when they have not.
Framework for Scientific Thinking
Thinking Principals
Ruling our rival Hypothesis: Always being willing to consider alternative explanations
Correlation does not equal causation:
Falsifiability: Can the claim be disproven or proven: If I say there is an invisible energy field surrounding people that influence their mood, there is no way to properly disprove me. This isn't great
Replicability: All results must be proved by being replicated!
Claim strength must = Evidence strength
Occam's razor: When there a ton of explanations for something, the simplest if often the best!
Goals of science: scientists want to describe, explain, predict, and control events
Describe: provides an account of the interesting phenomena and the characteristics that make it interesting.
Explain: Why is the phenomena happening? Takes the forms of Hypothesis and Theories
Predict: Use knowledge about events or variables to predict an outcome of interest
Control: To exert influence over research settings procedures, and over the application of scientific knowledge
Theoretical Frameworks
Structuralism
Aimed to identify the basic elements of psychological experience
Elements: sensations, images, and feelings
Founded by Edward Titchener
Using introspection as their primary method (trained observers carefully reflect and report on their mental experience)
Problems with structuralism
Disagreement among introspections
Imageless thought
Good things about structuralism
Used systematic observations
Functionalism
Focused on the functions and adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics, such as thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
Often asked why instead of what
Founded by William James
Influenced by Darwin/Evolutionary by natural selection
Psychological and behavioural characteristics are adaptive
Stream of thought
The contents of the mind are better liked to a steam rather than a fixed element
Behaviourism
The scientific study on observable behaviour
Focused on the general laws of learning
Obsessed with objective data
Founded by John Watson: claimed that psych could be as scientific and mathematic as physics, chemistry, etc.
Key Behaviourists: B.F. Skinner
Anti-mentalistic
You don't need to know what it thinks, you need to know the environment in which it makes decisions and the natural factors that makes it exist in that environment.
Thinking is a behaviour in and of itself that is caused by environment. Thinking does not cause the behaviour
Negatives
Went too far by suggesting that everything is learned
Positives
Clarified learning principles: systems of reward matter greatly
Brought a focus onto observable and verifiable subject matter (Psych has come back from this somewhat as it is more understood that the brain and perception do still matter.
Cognitivism/Cognitive Psychology
Understanding thinking is central to understanding behaviour
Response to behaviourist ideas.
Interpretation Matters
Focus is on the black box- thinking/cognition
Cognition
Perception
Attention
Memory
Language
Reasoning
Cognitive psychology forged ties with neuroscience
Examines relation between brain functioning and thinking
Psychoanalysis
Focuses on internal psychological processes of which we are unaware
Unconscious memories and drives cause behaviours
Sigmund Freud: Sexual and aggression drive what we do, and our mind has depth of unconsciousness that we cannot control.
He proposed our mind creates symbols that when understood, we can understand why we do what we do and think what we think.
Positives: focus on unconscious drives and behavior
Negatives: unconscious processes are not the same as scientifically demonstrated non-conscious determinants of behaviour. Additionally, the claims that they made were non scientific and non testable.
The question that was asked of this is "how does he know this" which is a question you should always ask
Research designs: be able to identify the different designs discussed in Topic 2 by their characteristics.
What is the purpose of good research design?
Avoid biases when evaluating information
Attempt to see the world as it really is (including the psychological world)
Observational research
Different types of non-experimental studies on which behaviour is systematically watched or recorded
Naturalistic observation: Watching behaviour in a real world settings without trying to manipulate the situation
Behaviour is often recorded with video, audio, and notes
Ex. Observing animal behaviour
Ethics: usually goes through an ethics board of some kind. When tabulating only it is pretty simple.
Advantages
Ecological validity: the extent to which the research findings apply in the real world
The research setting is the real world
External validity: the extent to which findings apply to other contexts besides the research setting
Disadvantages
Lack internal validity: the ability to draw cause and effect inferences (we could hypothesises the causes but cannot draw definitive conclusions
Reactivity: When the process of observing behaviour causes that behaviour to change (A teacher watching a bully so he stops bullying)
Participant observation: the observer becomes part of the group or social setting being studied (E.g. ethnography (going into a remote village and observing))
Structured observation: researchers configure the setting in which behaviour will be observed
Case studies
An in depth analysis of an individual, social unit, event, or some other phenomenon, often over an extended period of time
A comprehensive examination of a single case.
Many techniques are used to collect data
The goal is to explore the richness and depth of a particular case
Case studies are narratives.
Examples:
HM Amnesia
Night nurses (we can go into complex case studies on night nurses all around the world and see the difference between one hospital to another
Bizarre Phenomena: Zoophilic Exhibitionism (getting aroused by animals)
Advantages
There are existence proofs: we can prove that something exists.
There are in depth explorations into everything that is done. All angles
Flexibility in data collection techniques
Provide supporting or disconfirming evidence to different hypothesis
Provide leads for researchers to further investigate things with other methods.
Disadvantages
Cannot systematically test hypotheses (observer Bias)
We cannot draw causal inferences
Problems with generalizability
Surveys and Survey Research
Uses questionnaires to gather information about people
Self report measures
Examine traits, beliefs, opinions, and feelings
They can be descriptive, and they could be used to test hypotheses, however sometimes it is hard to fully rely on these
Population and samples
Population: Refers to all cases or observations of interest to us
Sample: a subset of cases or observations from the population
Representative sample: Reflects the important characteristics of the population.
Random Selection: procedure that ensures that every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate
Evaluating our Measures and reliability
The consistency of measurement tool should be reliable
Consistency when consistency is expected is needed
Measures should be reliable, even if they are inaccurate or invalid
Types of reliably
Test-retest: administer the same measure to the same participants on two or more occasions, under the equivalent conditions
Interrater Reliability: The extent to which independent rater or observers agree in their assessments.
Validity's There is no internal validity (cannot draw cause and effect), but there is external validity
The extent to which a measure assesses what it claims to measure
E.g. does our measure of shyness actually measure shyness or does it measure a different psychological construct?
Reliability and validity are different concepts
Reliability is necessary for validity
Survey Research: wording the question
The wording of questions is critical when conducting or interpreting survey research
Common issues
Leading Questions: Items are presented in an unbalanced way that can overtly or subtly suggest that one viewpoint or response is preferable to another. (using specific language such as smashed into vs bumped into)
Loaded Questions: items that contain emotionally charged words that suggest one viewpoint or response as better than another. (do you support or oppose this political candidate who did this bad thing)
Double Barreled Questions: items that ask about two different things but force those two options into one answer or judgement. (rate your coworkers and your pay on a scale from 1-10)
Double negatives: items whose phrasing contains two negative words (not bad vs good) when a lot of negative words are present it is confusing
Advantages of self-report measures
Convenient
Works well
Appropriate: many questions need to be asked directly.
Disadvantages
Lack of personal insight (people don’t know themselves)
Self report measures assume honest, but there is social desirability bias (a tendency to perform in a socially appropriate way rather than how someone truly feels.
Correlational Designs
A research design that examines the extent to which two variables are associated
Statistical association between examples
Score are associated in a non random fashion.
Ex.
Positive psychological wellbeing is associated with better cardiovascular health.
Per Capita cheese consumption is associated with deaths by becoming tangled in the bed sheets (correlation, not causation)
Terms: associated, linked, related, all mean correlation.
We measure variables, but never manipulate them
Positive and negative
Positive correlation: X increases and Y increases, X decreases and Y decreases.
Negative (inverse) Correlation: X increase, Y decrease. Y increase to X decrease.
Designs
Pearson's R
Stat that measures the direction and strength of the linear relationship between two variables
Values range from -1 to +1.
+ = positive
-= negative
-.51 is a stronger relationship than +.29
Scatterplot: a graph that portrays the intersection of data on two variables for a single individual.
Counter examples don’t refute the existence of correlation.
We often struggle to accurately estimate relationships without statistics. We perceive patterns that don't exist, and miss patters that do exist.
Illusory Correlation: The perception of statistical association between two variable when none exist. (full moon and strange occurrences)
Superstition may stem from this
We perceive these because we notice their elements, and we fail to remember non-elements.
Confirmation bias.
Correlation vs Causation
Correlation does not equal causation
We know A and B are related
A could cause B
Or B could cause A
OR OR third Variable C could tap in and cause both A and B, or just one of them!
Correlation allow us to make predictions
Prediction isn't perfect but possible.
Sometimes we don’t need to know the cause we just need to know associations.
E.g. Predict Univeristy success based on High school grades
Experiments
Allows us to make causal inferences (when done correctly
This is because experiments manipulate variables, whereas designs only measure variables
Low external validity overall.
What Makes a study an experiment?
The researcher manipulates one or more variable,
attempts to control extraneous factors,
measure how the manipulated variable affect participates responses
Participants are randomly assigned to groups
Cause and effect inferences require that groups be equal
Of they are not, we could draw alternative explanations.
We need random assignment to create equal groups
Aspects of designs
Independent Variable: the variable manipulated by the researcher.
The presumed cause in the cause and effect relationship
Dependent Variable: the response that is measured, to determine whether the independent variable has produced an effect
The presumed effect in the cause and effect relationship
Random Assignment: the participants in the experiment are randomly sorted into groups
Different than random selection
Experimental group: participants that receives the manipulation
Control Group: The group of participants that does not receive the manipulation
Confounding variable: any variable that differs between the different groups (conditions) of the experiment besides the manipulated Ind. Variable.
Design Examples
Between participant designs
Between subjects
Researchers assign people to different groups (or condition)
Each participant takes part in one condition of the experiment,
Within-participant design:
Each participant acts as their own control
Participate engages in every condition experiment
Randomly assigned order of conditions
Issues with Experimentation
Placebo effect: Improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement
Blinded experiments: participants are unaware if they are in the experimental group or the control group.
Nocebo effect: harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm
Experimenter Expectancy Effects
Researchers hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study.
Double Blind Experiments: When Neither the researchers nor the participants are aware of who is in the experimental or control group. Sometimes researchers could bias the data based on their collection techniques when the double blind is not in effect.
Demand Characteristics
Cues that participants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researchers hypotheses or predictions.
Can greatly affect responses.
Counteract with cover stories or distractor tasks
Ethics in Research
Why are research ethics important?
psychology because humans (and animals) are sentient beings.
Progress in psychology depends on willing participants
Ethics can impact methodology.
How do ethical considerations affect the methods psychologists use?
Core principals
Respect for persons: respect for autonomy and protect those with developing, impaired, or diminished autonomy.
Concern for welfare: Quality of life, physical and mental health. Social and psychological health. Even spiritual health. Harming in general cannot really happen.
Justice: fair and equitable treatment for everyone regardless of any kind of bias, benefit, or conceptions.
Informed consent
Informing research participants of what is involved in a study before asking them to participate
People have the right to make a voluntary and informed decision about whether to participate in a study.
People always have the right to leave a survey and attempting to get them not to leave could be considered cohesion.
Deception:
Researchers intentionally withhold information (passive D) or mislead (active D) participants about the nature of the study
Only permitted if:
Study can exist without deception
Does not harm
Does not involve medical or therapeutic intervention
Study is likely to yield significant positive benefits
Debriefing
A conversation or communication with the participant that conveys additional info about the study and its purpose.
Chance to ask questions
Minimize negative effects or feelings
What is Intelligence?
Discuss the various descriptions of the concept of intelligence.
Intelligence is an abstract/hypothetical contstruct
How the heck would we actually define and measure it? We see behavioural demonstration, but not definition
Edward Boring: "intelligence is what the tests tests"(1923)
Intelligence as "sensory capacity"
Proposed by Sir Francis Galton
Intelligence was considered the byproduct of how good your sensory capabilities are
Galton Measured visual acuity, hearing, response time, smell, grip strength, and other basic sensory abilities and motor functions
Tried to link sensory abilities with eminence
James McKeen Cattel used Galtonian measures in the US on university students
Research showed there was no connection between sensory discrimination and academic grades
Different sensory capacities are only modestly correlated.
Intelligence is abstract thinking
Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon developed one of the first proper intelligence tests. (1905)
Intelligence test: diagnostic tool to measure overall thinking.
They used test items from different domains to assess children.
30 brief cognitive tests
Language, memory, perception, attention, reasoning, judgements, digit memory
Tests were all correlated with each other, which helps understand what intelligence looks like.
Abstract thinking: capacity to understand hypothetical thoughts or concepts. Contributes greatly to intelligence.
In 1908, theses tests were groups accoding to age level.
Abstract thinking is deeply tied to intelligence.
Intelligence as General vs Specific abilities
Tests of different IQ domains are modestly correlated with each other.
All different tests did not inversely correlate with one another
Charles spearman hypothesized the existence of a single underlying trait.
G (general intelligence): a hypothetical factor that accounts for overall difference in intellect among people.
Used a new statistical technique called factor analysis to examine IQ Data.
G may reflect mental energy or mental power: efficiency and accuracy.
Spearman proposed the existence of S (specific abilities): a particular ability in a narrow domain
Intelligence is more than just a general ability
Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence
Fluid Intelligence: the capacity to learn new ways of solving problems
E.g. getting out of an escape room based on clues on the first attempt. Can be associated with physiological function and brain function. Proposed to be born with this.
Crystalized Intelligence: Accumulated knowledge of the world over time.
E.g. Memorizing definitions for a university exam.
Distinct, but interrelated forms of intelligence
New experiences "flow" into memory and "crystalize"
Those with higher fluid can often crystalize more information than those with low fluid.
Multiple Intelligences
Linguistic: speak and write well
Logico-mathematical: uses logic and math to solve problems
Spatial: think and reason with objects in three dimensional space
Musical: understands and enjoys music
Bodily-kinesthetic: sports or dance
Interpersonal: understands others
Intrapersonal: understands self
Naturalistic: understands plants, animals, and other natural life.
Existential: understands big questions such as meaning of life and conciousness.
Gardner's criteria to be a separate form of intelligence
Dissociation evidence (brain damage)
We can dissociate different forms at different times. We can use some forms while not using others, some can be damaged while others remain intact
Exceptionalities (prodigies)
There should be those that have great example of one or two forms of intelligence, but a lack of other forms of intelligence. (Autistic)
Definable end state performance/profession
There should be something you can do with your intelligence
Support from psychometric findings.
Cant be too correlated to another intelligence.
Mixed evidence
Some of the intelligences seem to be correlated (suggest a general factor of intelligence)
Why not other intelligences?
Too little evidence for the theory
Gardner's theory has been widely applied in education: a questionable approach to teaching.
Be able to compare different ideas about the nature of intelligence and think critically about the strengths and limitations of each.
Other topics to know
Basics of psychology and the complexity of psychological inquiry
The scientific study of the mind, brain, and behaviour
Scientific investigations are systematic and empirical
Systematic
Empirical: able to come through the senses as facts of reality
There are several levels of analysis
Biological level: genes, neuro factors, etc.
Psychological: Thoughts, feelings, emotions. Mental ideas.
Socio-cultural: The social context in which open is placed in. Relating to others, long term relationships, support levels, etc.
Behavior is difficult to predict, as it is multiply determined. (There are many factors that add up to cause this)
We always want to avoid single variable explanations (This is the cause of this)
Psychological variables are often interrelated (variables are often linked together through different processes)
Individual differences
Everyone has different thinking, emotions, personalities, beliefs, behaviours, etc.
Everyone will respond differently to different stimuli
Mutual Influence
Reciprocal determinism: people mutually influence each other's behaviour. (I take a shot, so does bobby. So when bobby takes a shot, so do I)
Cultural differences
Evaluating our Measures and reliability
The consistency of measurement tool should be reliable
Consistency when consistency is expected is needed
Measures should be reliable, even if they are inaccurate or invalid
Types of reliably
Test-retest: administer the same measure to the same participants on two or more occasions, under the equivalent conditions
Interrater Reliability: The extent to which independent rater or observers agree in their assessments.
Validity: The extent to which a measure assesses what it claims to measure
Internal validity: cannot draw cause and effect,
External validity: extent to which we can generalize findings to real world settings
E.g. does our measure of shyness actually measure shyness or does it measure a different psychological construct?
Reliability and validity are different concepts
Reliability is necessary for validity
Theoretical Frameworks/History of Psychology
1879: Wilhelm Wundt develops first psych lab in Leipzig Germany
Psychology moves away from spiritualism (moving away from the brain and the spirit being the same. Psychology moved away from being philosophy)
Scientific Theories
Theories
A theory explains one specific event
A theory is an educated guess (very educated)
Theories account for findings: provide an explanatory framework
Theories cannot be proven correct- however they can be very highly supported by evidence
Naïve Realism
The belief that we see the world precisely as it is
Confirmation bias
Confirmation Bias: the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them
Belief perseverance: the tendency to stick to our initial beliefs, even when evidence contradicts them. (reluctance to give up our safety beliefs)
System 1 and System 2 Thinking
Intuitive thinking (system 1)
Quick and reflexive mental shortcuts (hunches) (Two lines at the grocery store, one with old people one with young. Most of the time, I would choose the young.
Little mental effort required (We are cognitive Misers: we don’t wanna use our mental energy when we don't have to)
Bread and ___, 2+2=_____
Analytical thinking (system 2)
Slow and reflective; deliberate
Requires mental effort that can be drained.
Listening to lectures, weighing the pros and cons of buying a new car, etc.
Intuitive thinking is adaptive and important but over reliance on it leads to errors. This is why we rely on our natural tendencies.
Research methods can help avoid the pitfalls of intuitive thinking.
Independent and Dependent Variables
Independent Variable: the variable manipulated by the researcher.
The presumed cause in the cause and effect relationship
Dependent Variable: the response that is measured, to determine whether the independent variable has produced an effect
The presumed effect in the cause and effect relationship
Operational Definitions
Conceptual Definitions
How do we specify our phenomenon or construct of interest. (E.g. happiness is an abstract idea, therefore defining everything as happiness that you could define happiness' as is a fallacy)
Operational Definition
A working definition of what a researcher is measuring
Defining a variable in terms of the procedures used to measure or manipulate it.
Making sure that something is measured by the evidence (being exposed to nature increases happiness (well what is happiness))
Key concepts in correlation
A research design that examines the extent to which two variables are associated
Statistical association between examples
Positive and negative
Positive correlation: X increases and Y increases, X decreases and Y decreases.
Negative (inverse) Correlation: X increase, Y decrease. Y increase to X decrease.
Correlation vs Causation
Correlation does not equal causation
We know A and B are related
A could cause B
Or B could cause A
OR OR third Variable C could tap in and cause both A and B, or just one of them!
Issues in experimentation
Placebo effect: Improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement
Blinded experiments: participants are unaware if they are in the experimental group or the control group.
Nocebo effect: harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm
Experimenter Expectancy Effects
Researchers hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study.
Double Blind Experiments: When Neither the researchers nor the participants are aware of who is in the experimental or control group. Sometimes researchers could bias the data based on their collection techniques when the double blind is not in effect.
Demand Characteristics
Cues that participants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researchers hypotheses or predictions.
Can greatly affect responses.
Counteract with cover stories or distractor tasks
Basic statistics
Numerical characterizations that describe data.
Central Tendency
Measure of typical or central scores
Mean: The average of the dataset
Advantage: includes all numerical information in dataset
Disadvantage: heavily influenced by outliers (add a 63 year old to a normal university class of 20 year olds.
Median: Middle score of a data set
Disadvantages: doesn’t include all numerical data
Advantage: less heavily influenced by outliers
Mode: The more frequently occurring score in a dataset
Variability
Measures of how scores vary
How loose or tightly bunched scores are
Range: Difference between the highest and lowest scores
E.g., 18, 20, 22, 22, 23; Mean: 21, Range: 5 years
E.g., 5, 9, 18, 23, 50; Mean: 21, Range: 45 years
E.g., 2, 3, 4, 6, 81, 84; Mean: 30, Range: 82 years
E.g., 2, 19, 22, 25, 28, 84: Mean: 30, Range: 82 years
Standard deviation
Measure of variability that takes into account how far each data point is from the mean.
Sternberg’s Triarchic Model of Intelligence
• Overview:
• Intelligence is composed of three types:
1. Analytical Intelligence: Problem-solving, logical reasoning, critical thinking.
• Example: Solving a math problem.
2. Creative Intelligence: Dealing with novel situations, thinking “outside the box.”
• Example: Writing a unique story or inventing a new product.
3. Practical Intelligence: Adapting to everyday challenges, “street smarts.”
• Example: Successfully managing a team at work.
• Limitations: Critics argue it lacks empirical evidence, and components overlap with broader definitions of intelligence.
Biological Bases of Intelligence
• Key Factors:
• Brain Size and Structure: Larger brain volumes, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, correlate with higher intelligence.
• Measured through MRI scans.
• Cortical Density and Localization: High neuron density and specific brain areas (e.g., frontal lobes) linked to cognitive tasks.
• Example: EEG patterns during problem-solving.
• Processing Efficiency: Faster neural processing speeds are linked to higher IQ.
• Measured with response time tasks.
• Working Memory Capacity: Strong correlation with IQ and problem-solving ability.
• Assessed using digit span tasks or memory recall tests.
Reliability and Validity of IQ Scores
• Reliability:
• Definition: Consistency of a test over time.
• Types:
• Test-Retest: Same results on repeated attempts.
• Inter-Rater: Agreement between different evaluators.
• Example: A student scoring similarly on the same IQ test six months apart.
• Validity:
• Definition: Extent to which a test measures what it claims.
• Types:
• Content Validity: Covers all aspects of intelligence.
• Predictive Validity: Correlates with future outcomes (e.g., academic success).
• Example: High IQ scores predicting strong academic performance.
Cognitive Development
• Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory:
• Stages:
1. Sensorimotor (0-2): Object permanence.
2. Preoperational (2-7): Egocentrism, symbolic thought.
3. Concrete Operational (7-11): Logical thinking, conservation tasks.
4. Formal Operational (12+): Abstract reasoning.
• Limitations: Underestimated children’s abilities; ignored sociocultural factors.
• General Cognitive Landmarks:
• Infancy: Object tracking and recognition.
• Childhood: Increased attention span and memory.
• Adolescence: Abstract and moral reasoning.
• Adulthood: Peak in 20s, gradual decline in late adulthood.
Strange Situation and Attachment
• Purpose: Assess attachment quality between infants and caregivers.
• Attachment Types:
1. Secure: Comfortable with exploration and caregiver presence.
2. Avoidant: Avoids caregiver, indifferent to their return.
3. Resistant: Clingy, but resistant to comfort upon return.
4. Disorganized: Inconsistent, erratic behaviors.
• Outcomes: Secure attachment predicts better social and emotional development.
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
• Overview: Lifespan development involves resolving psychosocial crises.
• Eight Stages:
1. Trust vs. Mistrust (Infancy)
2. Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt (Early Childhood)
3. Initiative vs. Guilt (Preschool)
4. Industry vs. Inferiority (School Age)
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence)
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adulthood)
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle Adulthood)
8. Integrity vs. Despair (Late Adulthood)
Stress and Coping
• Stress: Physical and emotional strain from challenges.
• Three Perspectives:
1. Stressors as Stimuli.
2. Stress as a Response.
3. Stress as a Transaction (primary and secondary appraisals).
• Coping Factors: Social support, coping strategies (e.g., problem-focused), sense of control, personality traits.
Biology of Stress
• General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS):
1. Alarm: Fight-or-flight response.
2. Resistance: Sustained coping.
3. Exhaustion: Resource depletion.
• Physiological Mechanisms:
• Sympathetic Nervous System: Immediate stress response.
• HPA Axis: Releases cortisol for prolonged stress management.
Promoting Good Health
• Health Psychology Goals: Improve physical and mental health outcomes.
• Four Focal Points:
• Smoking cessation.
• Alcohol reduction.
• Healthy diet and weight.
• Regular exercise.
• Behavior Change: Gradual goals and addressing barriers (e.g., habit strength).
Why Do We Need to Test Intelligence?
• Purpose: To assess cognitive abilities, predict academic/work success, and diagnose intellectual disabilities or giftedness.
• Applications: Educational placement, career guidance, and research.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Deviation IQ
• IQ Formula: Originally mental age ÷ chronological age × 100.
• Deviation IQ: Modern IQ scores are standardized, with a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15.
Misuses of IQ Testing (Eugenics)
• Eugenics Movement: Misused IQ tests to promote discriminatory policies (e.g., forced sterilization, immigration restrictions).
• Ethical Issues: Highlighted need for fair and unbiased testing practices.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
• Overview: Most widely used IQ test for adults.
• Structure: Measures verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed.
Intelligence on the Bell Curve
• Normal Distribution: Most scores cluster around the mean (100), with fewer scores at the extremes.
• Implications: Highlights average intelligence and variations, but overemphasis can lead to stereotypes.
Intellectual Disability and High Intelligence
• Intellectual Disability: IQ < 70; challenges in adaptive functioning.
• High Intelligence: IQ > 130; associated with creativity and problem-solving skills.
Genetic Influences and Twin Studies
• Findings: Identical twins show higher IQ correlation than fraternal twins, even when raised apart.
• Conclusion: Strong genetic component, but environment also matters.
Environmental Influences on IQ
• Examples: Socioeconomic status, education, nutrition, and access to enrichment activities.
• Critical Periods: Early childhood experiences have lasting effects on IQ development.
The Flynn Effect
• Definition: Gradual increase in IQ scores over generations.
• Causes: Improved education, nutrition, and technology access.
Group Differences in IQ and Stereotype Threat
• Group Differences: Often attributed to environmental and cultural factors, not genetics.
• Stereotype Threat: Anxiety about confirming stereotypes can impair performance.
Key Definitions in Developmental Psychology
• Human Development: Study of changes across the lifespan.
• Developmental Psychology: Examines physical, cognitive, and social growth.
• Lifespan Perspective: Emphasizes lifelong development, not just childhood.
• Post-Hoc Fallacy: Assuming earlier events directly cause later outcomes.
• Bidirectional Influences: Interaction between genetics and environment.
Critical Periods
• Definition: Timeframes when specific skills (e.g., language) must develop for normal function.
• Example: Early sensory stimulation critical for vision.
Myths About Early Experience
• Myth: Early deprivation always leads to long-term deficits.
• Reality: Resilience and later experiences often mitigate effects.
Nature-Nurture Debate
• Nature: Genetic predispositions.
• Nurture: Environmental influences.
• Modern View: Interaction between both shapes development.
Cohorts and Age-Related Changes
• Cohorts: Groups born at the same time, sharing similar life experiences.
• Study Methods: Longitudinal (same group over time) vs. Cross-Sectional (different ages at one time).
The Developing Body
• Infancy: Reflexes, rapid growth.
• Childhood: Fine/gross motor skills develop.
• Adolescence: Puberty, growth spurts.
• Adulthood: Gradual physical decline.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
• Core Idea: Social interactions and culture influence cognitive development.
• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): Skills a child can achieve with guidance.
Cognitive Landmarks of Early Development
• Milestones: Object permanence, symbolic thought, logical reasoning, abstract thinking.
• Example: Conservation tasks in Piaget’s concrete operational stage.
Attachment and Parenting Styles
• Attachment Types:
1. Secure: Parent is safety, but child still explores
2. Avoidant: The child avoids the parent and shows no attachment to them
3. Resistant/Ambivalent: Child doesn’t like when separated, but isn't comforted . by the parent
4. Disorganized: Confused in parents presence and absence.
Parenting Styles:
Authoritarian: high demands and control, but little warmth or communication
Permissive: high warmth, low control, demands, and communication
Uninvolved: low demands, warmth, control, and communication
Authoritative: high demands, control, warmth, and communication
Relationships Across the Lifespan
• Infancy: Parental attachment crucial.
• Adulthood: Romantic relationships and friendships provide social support.
• Later Life: Focus on family and legacy.
Good and Bad Stress
• Good Stress (Eustress): Motivates and enhances performance.
• Bad Stress (Distress): Chronic or overwhelming, leading to health problems.
Measuring Stress
• Methods: Self-report surveys, physiological measures (e.g., cortisol levels, heart rate).
Variation in Stress Responses
• Factors: Personality, coping strategies, social support, and sense of control.
Health Psychology and Biopsychosocial Model
• Biopsychosocial Model: Health influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors.
• Focus: Behavior change to promote health (e.g., exercise, smoking cessation).
Immune System and Stress
• Basics: Chronic stress weakens the immune system.
• Example: Higher susceptibility to colds and cardiovascular diseases.
Social Psychology
• Definition: The study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of others.
• Key Points:
• Social Influence: Shapes thoughts, feelings, and actions.
• Bias: We see others as influenced by social factors but often think we are immune.
• Humans: Inherently social beings.
Social Influence
• Why We Conform:
• Adaptive behavior.
• Social cues guide actions in uncertainty.
• Can be positive or negative (e.g., group allegiance, persuasive leaders).
• Key Mechanisms:
• Social Comparison: Evaluating oneself relative to others.
• Social Contagion: Adopting others’ behaviors, especially in ambiguous situations.
Attributions
• Definition: Assigning causes to behavior.
• Types:
• Internal: Behavior due to personality or disposition.
• External: Behavior due to situational factors.
• Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE):
• Overestimating dispositional causes, underestimating situational factors.
• Reversed for our own failures (e.g., “I failed because I was busy; they failed because they’re lazy”).
• Influenced by salience and culture
Conformity
• Definition: Changing behavior due to real or imagined group pressure.
• Examples: Cults, dictatorships, everyday habits.
• Asch Studies (1955):
• Procedure: Participants identified line lengths while confederates gave incorrect answers.
• Results:
• ~75% conformed on at least one trial.
• Factors: group size, unanimity, differing opinions.
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Deindividuation
• Definition: Atypical behavior due to reduced personal identity in groups.
• Examples: Sports riots, military abuse.
• Factors:
1. Anonymity: Harder to attribute actions to individuals.
2. Reduced Self-Awareness: Focus on group norms.
3. Normative Social Influence: Adhering to group expectations.
Social Roles
• Definition: Shared expectations about behavior in specific positions (e.g., teacher, boss, parent).
• Stanford Prison Study: Participants quickly adopted roles (guards vs. prisoners); methodological issues raised.
Groupthink
• Definition: Emphasis on unanimity over critical thinking.
• Consequences: Poor decision-making due to ignoring unique information or dissenting views.
• Examples: Bay of Pigs, Vietnam War, jury deliberations.
• Antecedents: Cohesiveness, isolation, directive leadership.
Cults
• Definition: Groups with intense, unquestioning devotion to a cause.
• Mechanisms of Influence:
• Charismatic leaders.
• Isolation from the outside world.
• Indoctrination and discouraging dissent.
• Misconceptions:
• Members are not necessarily mentally ill.
• “Brainwashing” is not the sole explanation.
• Inoculation Effect: Debunking beliefs by exposing weak arguments first.
Obedience
• Definition: Following instructions from authority figures.
• Importance: Necessary for societal function but can lead to harm when authority is not critically evaluated.
• Examples: Nazi Holocaust (group conformity and obedience).
• Key Concept: The Banality of Evil (Arendt).
Prosocial Behavior
• Definition: Any act performed to benefit another person or group.
• Examples:
• Pro-environmental behavior: recycling, using public transport.
• Sharing: food, money, or resources.
• Cooperating: working together on a project.
• Helping: volunteerism, emergency intervention.
• Kitty Genovese Case:
• Misreported by the NY Times as “urban apathy.”
• Latané & Darley studied situational influences on helping behavior.
Bystander Effect
• Definition: The more bystanders present during an emergency, the less likely any one will help.
• Key Reasons:
• Pluralistic Ignorance: Assuming others don’t see the situation as an emergency.
• Diffusion of Responsibility: Feeling less personal responsibility when others are present.
• Methodology in Research:
• Staged emergencies (e.g., seizure, smoke in a lab).
• Measured helping behavior based on group size and cues.
• Philpot et al. (2020):
• Reviewed CCTV footage.
• Found that intervention was common and increased with group size.
Helping and Altruism
• Definition:
• Altruism: Helping others selflessly, even at a personal cost.
• Factors Influencing Helping Behavior:
• Egotistic Reasons: Personal benefits, like feeling good.
• Empathy: Feeling others’ distress.
• Situational Factors: Proximity, victim characteristics, norms, time pressure.
• Individual Differences: Personality, training, attractiveness of the victim.
Aggression
• Definition: Behavior aimed at harming others physically or psychologically.
• Situational Influences:
• Provocation, frustration, social exclusion.
• Media violence, aggressive cues (e.g., weapons).
• Alcohol, drugs, discomfort (e.g., heat, pain), arousal.
• Individual and Cultural Differences:
• Personality: High neuroticism, low agreeableness, anger, rumination.
• Cultural: Collectivist cultures show less violent crime.
• Sex: Men are more physically aggressive, women more relationally aggressive.
• Relational Aggression:
• Indirect harm through gossip, social exclusion, or putdowns.
Attitudes
• Definition: Evaluations of people, objects, or ideas.
• Three Components of Attitudes:
• Affective: Emotional reactions.
• Cognitive: Beliefs and thoughts.
• Behavioral: Actions or observable behavior.
• Predicting Behavior:
• Attitudes are poor predictors for complex or multi-choice behaviors.
• Strong or salient attitudes predict behavior better.
• Why Do Attitudes Change?
• Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger):
• Conflict between attitudes or between attitudes and behavior causes tension.
• Resolution options:
1. Change Attitude A.
2. Change Behavior/Attitude B.
3. Introduce a new Attitude C to reconcile the conflict.
• Example: Believing smoking is harmful but continuing to smoke.
• Self-Perception Theory:
• People infer attitudes by observing their own behavior.
• Impression Management Theory:
• Report attitude changes to appear consistent, even if the attitude hasn’t truly changed.
Personality
• Definition: An individual’s typical pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
• Components: Comprised of enduring traits, which influence behavior across situations (e.g., extroversion, introversion).
Major Perspectives in Personality Psychology
1. Psychoanalytic Theory
2. Humanistic Theory
3. Behaviorism
4. Social-Cognitive Theory
5. Trait Theories (e.g., Big Five Model).
Psychoanalytic Theory
• Freud’s Psychosexual Theory:
• Stages of Development: Libido is expressed through different body parts at each stage:
1. Oral Stage (Birth–1 year): Focus on oral pleasure; unmet needs à behaviors like smoking or overeating.
2. Anal Stage (1–3 years): Focus on control (e.g., toilet training); unmet needs à issues with orderliness or messiness.
3. Phallic Stage (3–6 years): Genital focus; Oedipus/Electra complex.
4. Latency Stage (6–12 years): Sexual instincts subside; superego develops.
5. Genital Stage (12+ years): Sexual maturity; unresolved earlier issues affect adulthood.
• Freud’s Structure of Personality:
• Id: Basic impulses (pleasure principle).
• Ego: Balances id with reality (reality principle).
• Superego: Moral judge based on societal rules.
• Defense Mechanisms: Repression, denial, projection, etc., reduce anxiety.
• Criticisms of Freud:
• Unfalsifiable, failed predictions, unrepresentative samples, flawed environmental assumptions.
Behaviorism
• Focus on observable behavior; personality is shaped by learning experiences.
• Key Ideas:
• Radical Behaviorism: Behavior is determined by environmental influences, not free will.
• Classical and Operant Conditioning: Behavior shaped by reinforcement, punishment, and associations.
• Personality is the result of environmental histories, with unconscious processing playing a role.
Social-Cognitive Theory
• Key Concepts:
• Observational Learning: Watching models and their reinforcement or punishment shapes behavior.
• Reciprocal Determinism: Personality results from the interaction of personal, behavioral, and environmental factors.
• Example: Extraversion leads to social interaction, which reinforces extraverted tendencies.
• Shared Environment Critique: Evidence (e.g., twin studies) suggests shared environments have little impact on personality.
Humanistic Theories
• Emphasize free will, self-actualization, and innate goodness.
• Carl Rogers:
• Personality comprises the organism, self-concept, and conditions of worth.
• Unconditional Positive Regard: Encourages growth and flourishing.
• Abraham Maslow:
• Focused on self-actualized individuals.
• Traits of self-actualized people: creativity, empathy, morality, and “peak experiences” (transcendent moments).
• Critique: Lacks systematic approach; prone to confirmation bias.
Trait Theories
• Use factor analysis to describe personality structure.
• Big Five Model (OCEAN):
• Openness to Experience: Curious, imaginative.
• Conscientiousness: Responsible, organized.
• Extraversion: Social, outgoing.
• Agreeableness: Trusting, generous.
• Neuroticism: Anxious, emotionally unstable.
• Big Five and Behavior:
• High openness, agreeableness, and low neuroticism predict job performance and marital satisfaction.
• High conscientiousness and low neuroticism predict health and longevity.
• Supported cross-culturally but not universal; models like HEXACO add traits like honesty-humility.
The Dark Side of Personality
• The Dark Tetrad:
1. Narcissism: Grandiosity, entitlement, callousness.
2. Machiavellianism: Manipulative, deceitful.
3. Psychopathy (subclinical): Impulsive, lacking empathy.
4. Sadism: Enjoys cruelty and suffering.
• Shared Features: Callousness and lack of empathy.
• Associated with low agreeableness, conscientiousness, and honesty-humility.
Mental Illness Overview
• Mental Disorder: Dysfunctional patterns of cognition, emotion, and/or behavior, considered deviant in a societal/cultural context.
• Criteria for Mental Disorders:
• Statistical Rarity: Disorders are uncommon in the population.
• Subjective Distress: Significant emotional discomfort.
• Impairment: Difficulty functioning in daily life.
• Biological Dysfunction: Abnormal brain/physiological processes.
• Deviance: Behaviors outside societal norms.
• Family Resemblance View: Mental disorders share overlapping features but lack a single defining characteristic.
Historical Perspectives on Mental Illness
1. Supernatural Theories:
• Causes: Evil spirits, celestial events, curses.
2. Somatogenic Theories:
• Causes: Genetics, brain abnormalities, neurochemical imbalances.
3. Psychogenic Theories:
• Causes: Trauma, learning, distorted perception.
Timeline of Perspectives:
• Ancient Practices:
• Trepanation (6500 BC).
• Chinese Medicine: “Yin” and “Yang” imbalance.
• Greek/Egyptian: Humors theory (e.g., Hippocrates).
• Middle Ages:
• Demonic Model: Odd behaviors attributed to evil spirits or witchcraft.
• Medical Model:
• Asylums for treatment, often inhumane.
• Advocates like Phillippe Pinel and Dorothea Dix promoted humane care.
• Modern Era:
• Introduction of effective medications and deinstitutionalization.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
• Purpose: Provides criteria for clinically recognized disorders.
• Features:
• Encourages ruling out medical causes.
• Includes disorder prevalence and biopsychosocial context.
• Recognizes diversity in culture, identity, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Criticisms:
• Validity of all diagnoses?
• Comorbidity: Overlap between disorders.
• Categorical vs. Dimensional Models: Disorders as distinct categories vs. part of a continuum.
• Medicalization of normal behaviors.
Anxiety Disorders
• Definition: Emotions of tension and worry, sometimes adaptive but maladaptive in excess.
• Prevalence: 31% lifetime risk of meeting diagnostic criteria.
1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
• Persistent worry and tension across various life domains.
• Risk Factors: Female, low SES, genetic predisposition.
2. Panic Disorder
• Repeated panic attacks with fear of future attacks.
• Risk Factors: Female, genetic predisposition.
3. Phobias
• Specific Phobias: Fear of specific objects/situations (e.g., animals, flying).
• Agoraphobia: Fear of places where escape/help is difficult.
4. Social Anxiety Disorder
• Intense fear of negative evaluation in social settings.
5. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Emotional disturbance following trauma.
• Symptoms: Flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance behaviors.
6. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Obsessions: Persistent, distressing thoughts.
• Compulsions: Repetitive behaviors to reduce distress.
Explanations:
• Biological: Genetic predisposition, brain differences.
• Learning: Conditioning and reinforcement.
• Adverse childhood experiences.
Mood Disorders
• Definition: Persistent emotional states affecting behavior and cognition.
• Prevalence: 20% lifetime risk.
1. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
• Symptoms: Low mood, loss of interest, guilt, worthlessness, suicidal ideation.
• Risk Factors: Female, stress, substance use, younger age.
2. Bipolar Disorder
• Cycles of depression and mania (e.g., elevated mood, risk-taking).
• Risk Factors: Genetic predisposition, stress, substance use.
Personality Disorders
1. Borderline Personality Disorder
• Instability in mood, identity, and impulse control.
• Risk Factors: Genetics, childhood trauma.
2. Psychopathic Personality
• Traits: Manipulative, superficial charm, lack of empathy.
• Overlaps with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD).
Dissociative Disorders
• Definition: Disruptions in consciousness, memory, or identity.
1. Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder:
• Feeling detached from oneself or reality.
2. Dissociative Amnesia:
• Inability to recall traumatic/stressful events.
3. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID):
• Presence of multiple distinct identities.
Schizophrenia
• Definition: Severe disorder characterized by loss of reality.
• Symptoms: Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonia.
• Risk Factors: Genetic predisposition, brain abnormalities, environmental triggers.
Childhood Disorders
1. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
• Range of symptoms affecting social interaction, communication, and behavior.
• Risk Factors: Genetic predisposition, maternal age, prenatal factors.
2. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Symptoms: Inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity.
• Risk Factors: Genetic predisposition, brain differences.
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