Untitled Flashcards Set

CHAPTER 13: PERSONALITY 

1. Who is Sigmund Freud? What is psychoanalytic theory? 

Psychic determinalism, symbnolic meaning, unconcious motivation 

2. What are the three main features of psychoanalytic theory? 

Innate needs, conciousness to satisfy those needs, memory for storing experiences 

3. What is the id, ego, and superego?  What is each responsible for? 

ID (demon): basic insticts impulses, sex/aggression 

Ego(person): rality, concious 

Superego(angel): morality, right vs wrong, guilt 

4. What are defense mechanisms? 

Unconcious manuevers minimized to prevent anxiety 

5. Know definitions for these 7 defense mechanisms: denial, regression, reaction formation, projection, displacement, rationalization, and sublimation.  Be able to recognize examples of each. 

Denial: Motivated forgetting of distressing experiences  

-a mother who loses her child isnists that they are alive 

Regression: returning psychologically to a younger and safer time 

-sucking thumb during stressful college exam 

Reaction Formation: transforming an anxiety producing experience into its opposite 

-developing hatred for someone you are sexually attracted to but shouldnt be 

Projection: unconscious attribution of our negative qualities onto others 

-guy who has sexual impulses complains that women are always “after him” 

Displacement: directing an impulse from a socially unacceptable target onto a more acceptable one 

-Golfer throws putter into woods instead of green  

Rationalization: providing reasonable sounding explanations for unreasonable failures 

-saying that you didn't actually want the job after bombing an interview 

Sublimation: transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into a desirable and admired goal 

-school bully becomes a boxer 

6. Know the stages of psychosexual development, especially the phallic stage.   What happens if you get fixated at a certain stage? 

Oral (birth-18 mo.): focuses on mouth, sexual pleasure from sucking and drinking, prone to unhealthy eating, drinking, smoking 

Anal (18 mo.-3 years): first time child comes face to face with conflict, wnats to alleviate tension by moving bowels, but must wait for toilet. If toilet training is too harsh or lenient, adult becomes anally fixated.  

Phallic (3y to 6): freud believed paramount improtancre in explaining personality. For boys, oedipus complex. For girls, electra complex (competition with her mother for her father's affection) and penis envy (anxiety upon realization that they do not have a penis). If complexes are left unresolved, psychological problems arise later in life.  

Latency (6-12): calm after the storm, sexual impulses are moved to the subconscious. This where those of the other sex are yucky and unappealing.  

Genital (12+): sexual impulses reawaken, romantic relationships emerge. Difficulty establishing intimacy if earlier problems weren’t resolved.  

7. What were three major problems with Freud’s theory?   

Un falsifiability 

Many claims were difficult or impossible to prove wrong. If we were to find evidence that most five-year-old boys report being sexually repulsed by their mothers, would this observation refute the existence of the Oedipus complex? Freud would simply claim reaction formation defense 

failed predictions 

No connection between toilet training and adult perosnality 

the unconscious 

Freud viewed it as a “place where sexual aggression and impulses are stored, no evidence of this.  

8. How is unfalsifiability related to science?  How is falsifiability related to science? Examples of unfalsifiable claims in Freud’s theory? 

 Has to be testbale and disporvable through experimentation & observation. Oedipus complex, repression, dream analysis. 

9. According to a behavioral perspective of personality, how is personality defined?  Causes of personalities? 

Bundles of habits acquired by classical and operant conditioning. Personalities dont cause behaviors, they ARE the behaviors. Differences in perosnalities stem from differences in each individuals learning history/exeperiences. Extraverted people tend to have many friends and attend many parties, but not BECAUSE they are extraverted.  

10. What is the circular reasoning fallacy?  How does the circular reasoning fallacy demonstrate that personality traits are the cause of certain behaviors? 

logical fallacy where the conclusion is restated as a premise, making the argument invalid. In the context of personality and behavior, it often suggests that certain behaviors are caused by personality traits without offering independent evidence, such as saying "John is aggressive because he loses his temper, and he loses his temper because he is aggressive." This creates a loop that doesn't actually explain the cause of the behavior. 

11. What are the Big Five traits? Hint: use the mnemonic device “OCEAN” to help you remember all of them. What are some characteristics of each? 

Five traits to describe everyone, measured in low to high scale.  

Openness: intellectually curious & unconventional 

Conciousestness: careful & responsible 

Extraversion: social & lively 

Agreeableness: sociable and easy to get along with 

Neuroticism: tense and moody 

12. How do the Big Five relate to real-world behaviors?  

High conciestnessnous, high agreeableness, low neuroticism-> better job preformance 

Conscientiousness->physical health & lifespan 

13. What is the MMPI?  How useful is it? 

MInnesota multiphasic personality inventory, used to detect symptoms of mental disorders. Very useful and reliable.  

14. What is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator?  What are the two main problems with it? 

74 multiple choice questions for 16 personality types. Scores don't stay stable every time you take it, results don't relate to big 5 or job preferences.  

15. What is the Rorschach Inkblot Test? How useful is it? Any problems? 

Look at ten inkblots and say what each resembles. Widespread use but scientifcally controversial. Easy to fake answers.  

16. What is the PT Barnum effect?  How do specific tailoring and positive statement play a role in the effect?  What are examples (in general)?  What is a specific example (like the specific wording of a statement)? 

People tend to accept broad statements that apply to everyone as accurate. Believed tailored specifically for them, especially when positive.  

CHAPTERS 14&15: DISORDERS & THERAPY 

18. What was the demonic model of mental disorders?  What were the treatments used? 

That there were demonic spirits in the body plauging the mind. Excorcisms & trepanning were used 

19. What was the medical model of mental disorders?  What were the treatments used? 

Physical disorders that required medical treatment, but the rtreatments were hardly scientific 

20. What is moral treatment of mental disorders? 

21. When was the first psychiatric medication available?  What was it called?  Who was it given to/what disorder(s) was it used to treat?  What happened to the patients that took this medication?   

Chlorpromazine(thorazine) relieved patients who were suffeirng from a loss of reality 

22. What is deinstitutionalization? 

Mental hospitals styarted closing down & patients were released into the real world 

23. What is the DSM?  What does it do and what does it not do? 

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Calrifies disorders and their symptoms, does NOT address causes or cures 

24. What is the most prevalent type of disorder? 

Anxiety disorder (29%) 

25. Be able to recognize a description of generalized anxiety disorder. 

Continual feelings of worry, anxiety, phsycial tension, 60% of day spent worrying 

26. How much does the general population worry each day?  How much does someone with generalized anxiety disorder worry each day? 

18% compared to 60% 

27. Be able to recognize the difference between a panic attack and a panic disorder. 

Panic attacks are brief and intense onsets of fear, sweating, racing heartbeat, and chest pain. Panic disorder stems from teh continual fear of having a panic attack 

28. What is a phobia?  What defines the fear as “intense”? 

A phobia is an intense fear of an object or situation that is out of porportion to the actual situation. It must restrict our life or cause considerable distress 

29. What is another term for social phobia?  How does a social phobia differ from a specific phobia? 

A social phobia is the fear of public humiliation. Also known as social anxiety disorder. 

30. What is posttraumatic stress disorder?  Be able to recognize a description. 

Emotional disturbance after experiencing or witnessing a severely stressful event. Triggered flashbacks lead to panic attacks. Sleep difficulties and recurrent dreams of the experience.  

31. What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?  Are people with OCD “neat freaks”?  What are some examples? 

Persistent ideas or thoughts that are unwanted (obsessions) that can only be relieved by repitive behaviors or acts (compulsions).  

32. Be able to distinguish between obsessions and compulsions.  How are the compulsions related to the obsessions? 

The obsessions come before the compulsions, the compulsions are done in repsonse to the compulsion 

33. How many hours per day do people with OCD engage in ritual behaviors?  How many hours a day for someone not diagnosed with OCD?’ 

15-18, compared to about 1 a day 

34. In what three ways can anxieties be learned? 

Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or hearing/observing misinformation, i.e. lab reared v wild reared monkey and snake 

35. What brain regions are highly activated in someone with OCD? 

High metabolic activation in the frontal lobe 

36. Describe (not just define) the treatment systematic desensitization.  What does it treat? 

reduces fear by gradually exposing people to the object under controlled conditions. Showing pictures of a spider->looking at a real spider->holding spider. Treats phobias 

37. How is flooding different from systematic desensitization?  Do they both work? 

Flooding is a large scale and sudden exposure to an object until the anxiety dissipates. They are both effective, while flooding is more distressing.  

38. What are benzodiazepines?  What is GABA?  What is an agonist?  What do benzodiazepines treat? 

Benzos are a GABA antagonist, often prescribed to deal with anxiety. They suppress symptoms only temporarily and can be highly addictive. GABA is the chief neurotransmitter.  

39. What is exposure therapy?  What is the key feature in exposure therapy?  What does it treat? 

Very similar to flooding, used to treat OCD. Exposed to a situation that would bring about compulsive behavior, but they are prevented from engaging in it.  

40. What do SSRI drugs do to neurotransmitters in the brain?  What disorders do SSRI drugs treat? 

increase serotonin levels in the brain by blocking the reabsorption of the neurotransmitter. Treat anxiety and depression.  

41. Be able to recognize the criteria for major depressive disorder. 

Depressed mood most of the day or markedly diminished interests in previously passionate topics, inability to take care of oneself. 

42. What is the difference between recurrent and chronic depression?  How often and for how long do recurrent depressive episodes occur?  How common is chronic major depressive disorder?  How long does it last? 

Recurrent is 5-6 episodes, each lasting 6-12 months. Chronic depression lasts for decades with no signs of getting better, accounting for 20% of cases.  

43. What is dysthymic disorder? 

Low level depression lasting at least 2 years. Low energy, poor appetite, decreased pleasure.  

44. Explain the behavioral model of depression.  Based on this model, what is a therapeutic solution? 

Few reinforcers-> try different behaviors but still get very few reinforcers-> eventually stop engaging/give up  

Stop participating-> even less of a chance to contact reinforcement. The soloution is to add reinforcers.  

45. What is learned helplessness?  How was this demonstrated with dogs?  How does it apply to people? 

Prior exposure to inescapable shock interefered with the ability to learn in a situation where avoidance or escape was possible. This was demonstrated with the dogs getting shocked.  

46. What is the cognitive model of depression?  What is the cognitive triad? 

Negative beliefs and expectations about the world, the self, and the future.  

47. What are some brain differences for someone with depression vs. someone without depression? 

Increased activity in the amygdala, decreased activity in the frontal lobe.  

48. Which two therapies are used to treat depression?  In what ways do they differ?  What treatment produces the best outcomes? 

Behavorial therapy monitors daily activities, improves positive behaviors, improves communication skills, decreases lifes stresses. Cognitive-Behavorial teaches patients to identify, reevaluate, and change negative thoughts. These can both be effective with the addition of medication.   

49. What is postpartum depression?  What is postpartum psychosis?  

Showing symptoms of depression in the first month after giving birth. Postpartum psychosis is much more severe and requires hospitalization. Occurs in less than 0.2% of women.  

50. How are hormones, stress, and responsibility related to postpartum depression/psychosis? 

Due to chnages in natural neurotransmitters combined with a time of major increase in stress & responsibility.  

51. What four things are the focus in cognitive-behavioral therapy for treating postpartum depression? 

Identifying struggles, communication skills, highlighting strengths, regulating emotions 

52. What is a manic episode?  How long does it last?   Does the intensity increase over that course of time?  Is the person always euphoria during a manic episode or can they also be irritable?  How long does it last?    

Elevated mood, no sleep, high energy, increased talkativeness, irresposnible behavior. Increases over the course of multiple days.  

53. What is bipolar disorder?  What types of symptoms? What can trigger bipolar disorder (specifically, what types of environmental triggers and what types of biological triggers)? 

At least one manic episode, onsets in early 20s. 90% of people who have had one manic episode will have another. A major depressive episode typically precedes or follows a manic episode.  

54. What is borderline personality disorder?  Be able to recognize a description. 

Impulsive, unpredictable emotions, unstable relationships. (fatal attraction) 

55. Why does borderline personality disorder occur? 

Overreaction to stress & lifelong problems with regulating emotions 

56. What is psychopathic personality disorder?  What characteristics would someone with psychopathic personality disorder have?  What two brain regions are underactive?  Are people with psychopathic personality disorder all violent murderers?   

Guiltless, dishonest, manipulative, callous, self-centered, but are also charming, personable, charismatic, engaging, and rational. The amygdala and prefrontal cortex are typically underactive. (ted bundy) 

57. How is psychopathic personality disorder different from antisocial personality disorder?  How are the similar? 

the key difference lies in the emphasis on emotional and interpersonal traits, with psychopathy considered a more severe form characterized by a profound lack of empathy, manipulation, and a charming facade, while ASPD focuses primarily on observable antisocial behaviors like criminal activity and impulsivity 

58. What is dissociative identity disorder? 

Two or more distinct states/alters, Severe abuse leads to about 90% of cases. (class video with jenny) 

59. What is the posttraumatic model of dissociative identity disorder?  What is the evidence used to support this model?  Why is that evidence weak? 

Severe abuse leads to about 90% of cases. Sociocognitive model states that hypnosisand repeated prompting of alters suggest to patients that their puzzling symptoms are the products of identities 

60. What is the sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder?  Be able to recognize the four major pieces of evidence that support this model. 

not a result of genuine trauma-based dissociation but instead are largely influenced by social and cultural factors, particularly therapist suggestions and media portrayals, leading highly suggestible individuals to develop and enact different alter personalities. The number of alters greatly increases when bhyponisis is used, patients show few clear cut signs prior to therapy.  

61. What is schizophrenia?  Why is schizophrenia said to be the most severe disorder? 

A disorder of thought & emotion associated with losing contact with reality. Strongly held, fixed beliefs that have no basis in reality.  

62. What is a brain ventricle?  What is it filled with?  What do the ventricles look like in someone with schizophrenia?  How is dopamine involved in schizophrenia? 

A fluid-filled cavity within the brain that is filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and in people with schizophrenia, these ventricles tend to be enlarged. A dopamine imbalance can lead to schizophrenia.  

63. What are delusions? What are the common themes for delusions?  Be able to recognize examples of each. 

Strongly held fixed beliefs(delusions) that have no basis in reality. Prosecution (coworkers tapped phone), grandeur (thinking that they are the best or an expert at something that they are not), bodily (infested with parasites), romance (John Hinkley assassinating Reagan) 

64. How do hallucinations differ from delusions? 

Hallucinations are sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of a stimulus. Can be Auditory, tactile, visual, or olifactory,  

65. What is the most common hallucination for people with schizophrenia?  Why might this occur?  What evidence exists?  

Auditory is the most common. May mistakenly believe that inner speech comes from a source other than the self.  

66. What is disorganized speech? 

Language skips from topic to topic in an incredibly disorganized way, can be a word salad.  

67. What is disorganized behavior? 

Poor self-care & personal hygiene, can laugh, cry, swear at incredibly inappropriate times.  

68. What is catatonia?  What are some examples of catatonia? 

Problems with movement, Might hold body in specific rigid position for long periods of time, Pace aimlessly, Repeat same word over and over - “echolalia” 

69. What is the diathesis stress model of schizophrenia? 

Combination of genetic predisposition & environmental stressors.  

70. What is electroconvulsive therapy?  What happens during a treatment?  What does this treatment do?  What disorders is this treatment used on? Is it successful? 

Brief electrical pulses to the brain to induce convulsion, increases seratonin levels and number of brain cells. Used for severe depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Over 50% relapse rate in the first 6 months, possible attention/memory problems.  

71. What is psychosurgery?   

Lobotomies, used only in the most severe of circumstances.  

72. What was the first psychosurgery?  Who was it given to?  Did it treat their disorders?  Was it successful? 

73. What is psychosurgery today like?  What disorders are treated with it today? 

CUMULATIVE TOPICS 

74. What is a neuron? What is a dendrite and what does it do? What is an axon and what does it do?  What is the synapse and what happens in the synapse? 

Neuron is a nerve cell specialized for communication. A dendrite in the input receiving portion of the neuron. Conducts the electrical impulses (action potential) in the neurons. A synapse is the place where neurons connect & communicate.  

75. What sense is primarily associated with each of the following brain lobes? Occipital, parietal, temporal 

Occipital is specialized for vision, parietal is specialized for touch and perception, and the temporal is specialized for hearing & understanding language 

76. What does Piaget’s conservation task test? 

77. Be able to recognize the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable if given an example of an experiment. 

78. Pavlov and classic conditioning: unconditioned stimulus=food; conditioned stimulus=tone; unconditioned response=salivating (to the food); conditioned response=salivating (to the tone) 

79. What is “chunking” and how does it relate to memory? Example of chunking? 

Organizing information into meaningful groups, rearranging letters numbers into familiar segments 

80. Harry Harlow’s experiment on baby monkeys with the wire mother vs. cloth mother.  Results and conclusions? 

The monkeys went to the wire other for food when neccessary, but spent most of time with cloth mother for comfort & security 

81. What is a heuristic? 

82. Fundamental attribution error. What is overestimated and what is underestimated for other people’s behaviors? What about for our own behaviors? 

83. What was the primarily conclusion about Milgram’s experiments on shock?  How does perceived authority influence obedience?  

84. Differences between positive versus negative reinforcement? Be able to provide and/or recognize examples. 

Positive adds, negative takes away.  

85. What is a flashbulb memory? What type of memory would a flashbulb memory be – episodic or semantic? 

a vivid, long-lasting memory of a surprising or shocking event that's often experienced in great detail