Exam 4 Review Notes

Test #4: Review

Chapter 11: Personality

Definition:
- Consistency in behavior across situations.
- Distinctiveness: unique patterns of behavior.
Trait:
- Factor analysis: Statistical procedure to identify clusters of related traits.
The Big Five:
- Traits:
  - Openness to experience: appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience.
  - Conscientiousness: tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned rather than spontaneous behavior.
  - Extraversion: energy, positive emotions, assertiveness, sociability, talkativeness, and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others.
  - Agreeableness: tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others.
  - Neuroticism: tendency to experience unpleasant emotions such as anger, anxiety, depression, and vulnerability.
- Support/Criticism: Examines the validity and limitations of the Big Five model.
Psychodynamic Perspective
- Structure of personality
  - Id: Pleasure principle.
  - Ego: Reality principle.
  - Superego: Morality.
- Defense mechanisms
  - Repression: Blocking unacceptable thoughts from consciousness.
  - Projection: Attributing one's own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another.
  - Displacement: Diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original source to a substitute target.
  - Reaction Formation: Behaving in a way that's exactly the opposite of one's true feelings.
  - Regression: Reversion to immature patterns of behavior.
  - Rationalization: Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior.
  - Identification: Bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group.
- Development
  - Psychosexual stages: Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages.
- The good & bad: Considerations regarding the psychodynamic perspective, including its contributions and limitations.
Humanistic perspective
- Grew out of
- Carl Rogers Person-centered theory
  - Self-concept: A collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior.
  - Congruence: The degree of disparity between one’s self-concept and one’s actual experience.
  - Incongruence:
- Maslow’s theory of self-actualization
  - Hierarchy of needs: Physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.
  - Self-actualization: the realization or fulfillment of one's talents and potentialities, especially considered as a drive or need present in everyone.
- The good and Bad

Chapter 12: Social Psychology

What is it? Study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.
Person perception
- Definition: The process of forming impressions of others.
- Bias:
  - Attractiveness stereotype: The tendency to attribute positive qualities and desirable characteristics to attractive people.
    - Big Five: Attractive people are often rated higher on the Big Five personality traits, especially extraversion and conscientiousness.
    - Competency: Perceived as more competent.
    - Income: Attractive individuals tend to earn higher incomes.
    - Elections: Attractive candidates are more likely to win elections.
    - Baby health outcomes: Even infant health is perceived more positively for attractive babies.
    - What do we find attractive: Facial symmetry, youthfulness, and features that are typical of the population.
    - Halo effect: A cognitive bias in which our overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about their character.
  - Stereotypes: Widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group.
    - Most common Examples include stereotypes based on gender, race, age, and occupation.
    - Memory of stereotype consistent vs inconsistent Information that confirms a stereotype is more easily remembered than information that contradicts it.
Attribution processes
- What are they? The process of explaining one's own behavior and the behavior of others.
- Internal vs External
  - Internal attributions: Ascribe the causes of behavior to personal traits, abilities, and feelings.
  - External attributions: Ascribe the causes of behavior to situational demands and environmental constraints.
- Bias:
  - Actor-Observer bias: The tendency to attribute one's own actions to external causes while attributing other people's behaviors to internal causes.
    - Why? People have more information about their own situations and are more aware of external factors influencing their behavior.
  - Self-serving bias: The tendency to attribute one's successes to personal factors and one's failures to situational factors.
    - Why? To maintain self-esteem.
Conformity
- Solomon Asch experiment: A series of studies directed by Solomon Asch studying if and how individuals yielded to or defied a majority group and the effect of such influences on beliefs and opinions.
  - Percentage of critical trials in which people conformed: Participants conformed on approximately 37% of the critical trials.
  - Line experiment: Participants were asked to judge which of three lines matched a standard line in length.
  - Determinants of conforming: Group size, unanimity, and culture.
Obedience
- Milgram electric shock study: An experiment that study focused on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience
  - Percentage of people that gave severe shocks: Approximately 65% of participants administered the highest level of shock (450 volts).
- Stanford Prison experiment
  - What happened? A study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University
Bystander effect
- What is it? A social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer help to a victim when other people are present.
- What case inspired this research by what researchers? The murder of Kitty Genovese inspired research by Bibb Latané and John Darley.

Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders

Medical Model
- Diagnosis: Distinguishing one illness from another.
- Etiology: The apparent causation and developmental history of an illness.
- Prognosis: A forecast about the probable course of an illness.
Criteria of Abnormal Behavior
- Deviance: behavior that violates social norms
- Maladaptive behavior: behavior that impairs daily functioning
- Personal distress: Subjective feelings of suffering and unease.
Psychodiagnosis
- DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - used for the classification of psychological disorders.
- Categorical approach: Individuals are either classified as having a disorder or not having a disorder.
Anxiety Disorders
- Disorders
  - GAD: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  - Phobias: Persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger.
  - Panic: recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that occur suddenly and unexpectedly
  - OCD: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
  - PTSD: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Etiology
  - Bio Factors: Genetic predisposition, neurotransmitter imbalances.
  - Conditioning & learning: Classical and operant conditioning can lead to the development of anxiety disorders.
  - Cognitive Factors: Negative thought patterns and cognitive distortions.
Mood Disorders
- Disorders
  - Major Depressive Disorder: Persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest, and inability to experience pleasure.
  - Bipolar: Experience of both depressed and manic periods
- Etiology
  - Genetic: Mood disorders have a genetic component.
  - Neuro: Neurotransmitter imbalances, particularly serotonin and norepinephrine.
  - Cognitive: Negative cognitive styles and dysfunctional beliefs.