Psych Unit 3

Historical Perspectives on Personality

• Psychodynamic theories

  • Freud’s unconscious

    • Attributes our emotions to unconscious conflict/processes

  • Id

    • Impulsive

    • Satisfy basic, short-term needs

  • Superego

    • Both conscious and unconscious

    • Logical reasoning

    • Moral consciousness

  • Ego

    • Mediator between id and superego

    • Finds a median between id and superego

• Psychosexual stages

  • Oral stage (0-18 months)

    • Dealing with the conflict of delayed gratification

    • Pleasures of the mouth (sucking)

  • Anal stage (18-36 months)

    • Bowel control

  • Phallic (3-6 years)

    • Coping with sensual feelings

    • Loving someone vs being in love with someone

  • Latency (6-puberty)

    • Dormant sexual feelings

  • Genital (puberty-on)

• Defense mechanisms

  • Repression

    • Actively forgetting about past pain/experience

    • Making negative experiences impossible to remember

  • Regression

    • Slipping to an earlier stage of development when stressed

  • Reaction formation

    • Masking an emotion

    • Switching the id to the opposite emotion

  • Projection   

    • Disguising a threatening impulse that we have upon someone else

  • Rationalization

    • Rationalizing/explaining to mask true emotions

  • Displacement

    • Shift impulse from a someone we want to act it on to a bystander or easier target

  • Denial

    • Refusal to believe or accept a situation

• Other psychodynamic theorists

  • Carl Jung

    • Collective unconscious

    • Idea that we all have similarities in our unconscious energy

    • Archetypes

    • Representation of symbolic figures

    • Spiritual approach to the idea of the unconscious

  • Alfred Adler

    • Inferiority complex

    • Behavior is built upon conquering our childhood feelings of inferiority

  • Karen Horney

    • Childhood anxiety triggers desire for love and security

    • Coping styles

      • The idea of moving towards dealing the problem or avoiding/moving away from the problem.

• Projective tests

  • Rorschach inkblots

  • Thematic Apperception Task (TAT)

Humanistic Theories

• Abraham Maslow

  • Introduced the idea of humanism

  • Hierarchy of needs

  • We have needs that need to be met in order to be the best version of ourselves

    • Bottom of the pyramid - Physiological

      • Breathing

      • Food

      • Water

      • Sleep

    • Top of the pyramid - Self-actualization

      • Morality

      • Creativity

      • Problem solving

• Carl Rogers

  • Idea that people are inherently good

  • Growth-promoting climate

    • Genuineness

    • Acceptance

    • Empathy

  • Growth-promoting climate

Contemporary Perspectives on Personality

• Trait Theories

  • Gordon Allport focused more on the conscious

  • Trait

    • Characteristic behavior or a disposition to feel and act

  • Personalities made up of multiple traits

• The “Big Five” Trait Theory

  • Conscientiousness

    • Detail-oriented

    • Organized

  • Agreeableness

    • Soft-hearted

    • Trusting

  • Neuroticism

    • Insecure

    • Anxious

  • Openness

    • Imaginative

    • Prefers variety

    • Independent

  • Extraversion

    • Sociable

    • Fun-loving

  • REMEMBER CANOE

• Social-Cognitive Theories

  • Incorporates both traits and social context when explaining personality

  • Reciprocal determinism

    • Behavior, internal cognition, and environment interact to influence personality

    • Says that we choose our environment

    • Our personalities shape how we interpret and react to events

    • Our personalities help create events themselves

  • The best way to predict behavior

    • Looking at behavior in similar situations in the past

• Exploring the self

  • Spotlight effect    

    • The idea that everyone is watching you

  • Self-serving bias   

    • We tend to perceive ourselves favorably

    • We take credit for good deeds

    • We tend to blame others for the bad

    • We tend to see ourselves above average

  • Narcissism

    • Excessive self-love

• The role of culture

  • Individualism

    • Improving oneself

  • Collectivism

    • Promotion for social responsibilities

    • Family duty

Social Thinking

• Attribution theory   

  • Explaining someone’s behavior by crediting the situation or that person’s disposition

    • We blame the surroundings/situation for the event

    • We blame the person for the event

• Fundamental attribution error

  • Underestimating the situation 

  • Overestimating disposition in others

• Peripheral route persuasion

  • Uses cues that don’t give any actual info about the product

  • Doesn’t engage systematic thinking

  • Produces fast results

  • Examples

    • Attractiveness

    • Emotions

• Central route persuasion

  • Offers direct evidence/info about product

  • Best when people are involved in an issue

  • Produces durable results

  • Examples

    • Facts

    • Data

• Foot-in-the-door technique

  • Get someone to agree to a small request to comply later with a large request

• Door-in-the-face technique

  • Get someone to comply with a request that seems much smaller than the first request

• Cognitive dissonance

  • We bring our attitudes in line with our attitudes

  • Idea of rationalizing our actions

Social influence

• Cultural norms

  • Rules for accepted/expected behaviors

• Conformity

  • Asch’s study   

  • More likely to conform under certain circumstances

• Normative social influence

  • Trying to blend in

  • Wanting to be like the crowd

• Informational

  • Wanting to be right

  • Trying to have the correct answer

• Obedience

  • Milgram’s experiment

  • Participants “shocked” a fake participant and were told to keep going

  • Over 60% of participants went all the way

• Bystander effect

  • Diffusion of responsibility

    • The idea that someone else could do something

  • Pluralistic ignorance

    • We think that someone else has a better idea of the situation

    • We assume we don’t know what’s going on

• Social loafing

  • Not working as hard when being in a group

• Group polarization

  • When people who agree on a subject only become more radical when talking about the subject

• Groupthink

  • We lose our ability to think critically when someone is telling us what to think

Antisocial and Prosocial Relations

• Prejudice

  • Negative, unjustifiable beliefs, emotions, and predispositions to act

  • Explicit prejudice

    • Intentionally doing something to judge another group

    • Example

      • Clearly stating that interracial marriage is bad

  • Implicit prejudice

    • Unintentionally treating/judging people differently 

    • Examples

      • Children unintentionally think their father is more intelligent than their mother

  • Social roots of prejudice    

    • Just-World Phenomenon

      • Tendency to believe that the world is just

      • The idea that people get what they deserve

      • We tend to like those who are similar to us

  • Emotional roots of prejudice

    • Scapegoat theory

      • Prejudice offers an outlet for anger 

      • Provides someone to blame

  • Cognitive roots of prejudice

    • We tend to categorize people

    • Other-race effect    

    • Availability heuristic

      • Someone is better at recognizing faces of the same race

• Aggression

  • Biological approach

    • Genetic influences

      • Having a Y chromosome

      • MAOA gene

        • If you lack this gene, you’re more likely to act aggressive

    • Biochemical influences

      • Testosterone

      • Alcohol

    • Neural influences

      • Amygdala

      • Less activity in the frontal lobe

  • Psychological/social influences

    • Frustration-aggression principle

      • Frustration leads to anger which leads to aggression

      • Pitchers are more likely to hit a batter if they’re frustrated w/ a previous event

    • Reinforcement

      • The idea of giving someone what they want when they’re being aggressive

    • Modeling

      • Seeing others do aggressive actions

    • Self-control

      • High self-control makes us less likely to act aggressive

    • Culture

  • Media-based influences

    • Aggressive TV, music, porn

• Attraction

  • What sparks attraction?

    • Proximity

      • Someone that we spend a lot of time with

      • Mere exposure effect

        • Being more exposed to something might make you start to like it

    • We’re more likely to be attracted to people who like us

  • Physical attractiveness

    • Skin deep?

    • Not related to self-esteem and happiness

    • Culturally dependent

  • Passionate love

    • Two-factor theory

    • Bridge study

      • Participants crossing the rickety bridge were more likely to call the research assistant

      • Mistook their heart racing for attraction for the assistant

    • Compassionate love

      • Self-disclosure and equity are important for relationships

      • Being honest with the other person

      • Sharing of tasks or getting out what you’re putting in

• Altruism

  • Unselfish concern for the welfare of others

  • Bystander intervention

    • Research sparked by Genovese incident

    • Darley and Latane decision model

      • Notice the incident 

      • Interpret as emergency 

      • Assume responsibility

      • Attempt to help

  • More likely to help someone when

    • The person seems to need/deserve help

    • Person is similar to us

    • Person is a woman

    • We saw someone else being helpful

    • We are not in a hurry

    • We are in a good mood

    • We are in a small town/rural area

    • We are feeling guilty

    • We are focused on others and not preoccupied

  • Helping norms

    • Social exchange theory

      • Weighing the cost and benefit

    • Reciprocity norm 

      • Helping people who have helped us

    • Social-responsibility norm

      • People will help those who depend on them

Industrial Psych

• Hawthorne Effect

  • The attention of researchers on participants can lead them to alter their behavior

  • Bosses being present leads employees to be more productive

• X theory

  • s

• Y theory

Basics of stress

• Small amount of stress can be positive

  • Eustress

  • Stress is bad when it’s extreme or prolonged

• Stressor

  • Object/event that causes stress

• Stress reaction

  • How we respond physically and emotionally respond to stressors

  • Same response as fight or flight response

• Types of stressors

  • Traumatic events

    • Exposure to actual danger where you could’ve actually died

    • Physical and emotional health damaged

    • Relocating countries

  • Life changes

    • Negative and positive life changes can both be stressful

    • Young adulthood

  • Daily hassles/everyday annoyances

• Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome

  • Alarm reaction   

    • Heart rate increases

    • Body’s getting ready for action

  • Resistance phase

    • Fully engaged w/ stressor

    • Using as many body resources as you can to deal with stressor

  • Exhaustion phase

    • When the body runs out of energy from fighting stress

Susceptibility to Disease

• Stress harms the immune system

  • Responding too strongly

    • Harms the own body

  • Underreacts

    • Allows disease to take over

• Stress is linked to

  • Cancer

  • Coronary heart disease

  • Speeding up transition from HIV to AIDS   

Coping with Stress

• Problem-focused coping

  • Directly confronting/interacting with the stressor

• Emotion-focused coping

  • Changing the way you feel about stressor

  • Finding a way to feel better about the situation

• Our perception of control affects our health

  • Learning to stop trying to solve a problem where you have no control

  • More self-control leads to more health

• Internal locus of control

  • More control over a situation

• External locus of control

  • Idea that you have less control of a situation

  • More of a belief that external factors affect life events more\

• Optimism vs pessimism

  • Optimists live longer/have better health

• Social support

  • Reduces blood pressure and stress hormones

  • Fosters stronger immune functioning

  • Helps talk through emotions

  • Opportunity for “open heart therapy

Reducing Stress 

• Aerobic exercise

  • Adds to lifespan

  • Increases energy and mood

  • Reduces fatigue

  • Fights heart disease

  • Predicts cognitive functioning later in life

• Relaxation/meditation

• Faith

Biopsychosocial model of health

• Biological influences on health

  • Genetics

  • Infections

  • Physical trauma

  • Nutrition

• Psychological influences on health

  • Personality

    • Optimism

    • Conscientiousness

  • Self-control

  • Self-esteem

  • Affect/attitude

• Social influences on health

  • Socioeconomic status (SES)

  • Relationships

  • Culture

  • Religion

Happiness

• Positive psychology

  • Scientific study of optimal human functioning

    • Studies subjective well-being

  • Three pillars of positive psychology

    • Positive well-being

    • Positive character

    • Positive groups/community

• How to increase happiness

  • Exercise

  • Sleep

  • Acting happy

  • Take control

  • Be social

  • Be grateful

Understanding Psychological Disorders

• Nellie Bly

  • Went to an asylum undercover 

  • Helped discover the abusive techniques of asylums

  • Wrote about them in the 1887 asylum expose

• What is a psychological disorder?

  • Interferes with our everyday life

• Middle Ages

  • Strange behaviors thought to be a result of evil spirits

  • Therapies included beatings, mutilation, or transfusions of animal blood

    • These were inhumane and didn’t work

  • Began to remove the mentally ill from view of society

• Medical model

  • Diseases have biological causes

  • Treatment takes place in a hospital

  • Support comes from discoveries in genetics

• Biopsychosocial model

  • Biological influences of psychological disorders

    • Genetic makeup of the individual

    • Brain structure

    • Neurotransmitters

  • Psychological influences of psychological disorders

    • Responses to stress

    • Patterns of negative thinking

  • Social influences of psychological disorders

    • Cultural expectations

    • Definitions of normality

    • Stigma/prejudice

    • Homelessness

    • Abuse

Classifying Disorders

• Why classify disorders?

  • Helps predict future course of a disorder

  • Helps suggest treatment

• Rates of disorders

  • 23% of US adults have a psychological disorder

  • 1 in 7 people in the world have a disorder

  • 49.5% of US adolescents have a psychological disorder

  • Correlation between poverty and psychological disorders

• Anxiety and depression are most common

Anxiety Disorder

• How anxiety disorders are characterized

  • Distressing, persistent anxiety

  • Maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

  • Continually tense/apprehensive

  • Constant worry

  • Jittery

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Person constantly feels anxious without a specific reason

    • Anxiety is “free-floating”

  • Symptoms must last for 6 months in order to be diagnosed with GAD

• Panic Disorder

  • Panic attacks

  • Irregular heartbeat

  • Chest pains

  • Dizziness

  • Smokers at a doubled risk

• Phobias

  • Persistent, irrational fear

  • Avoidance of a specific object/activity/situation

• Social anxiety disorder (SAD)

  • Also called social phobia

• Agoraphobia

  • People who are scared to go into public spaces

  • Stay in the comfort of their own home

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

  • Pattern of repetitive thoughts and behaviors that are senseless and distressing

  • Extremely difficult to overcome

  • Occurs in a spectrum from mild to severe

    • Many people keep their behaviors secret

  • Obsessive thoughts     

    • Unwanted, repetitive thoughts

  • Compulsive behaviors

    • Responses to obsessive thoughts

  • OCD is a “faulty alarm system in the brain”

    • Can be helped with serotonin-directed medications

• PTSD

  • Must exhibit symptoms for at least 4 weeks

  • Occurs after a traumatic experience

    • 5-10% of people

  • Survivor resiliency

  • Posttraumatic growth

    • Person grows and learns from the experience leading to a different life perspective

• Biological perspective to anxiety disorders

  • Genes

  • The brain

    • Specific parts of the brain function differently than normal

  • Natural selection

• Psychosocial perspective to anxiety disorders

  • Conditioning

    • Generalization

    • Reinforcement

      • Someone with OCD learns that their compulsions make them feel better

  • Cognition

    • Learning how to see something as a threat or not

Mood Disorders

• Major depressive disorder

  • Symptoms

    • Depressed mood most of the day

    • Diminished interest or pleasure in activities

    • Significant weight loss/gain

    • Insomnia/sleeping too much

    • Physical agitation

    • Daily fatigue/loss of energy

    • Feeling worthless

    • Excessive/inappropriate guilt

    • Problems in thinking/concentrating/making decisions

    • Recurrent thoughts of death/suicide

  • At least 5 of these symptoms must last for 2 weeks

• Bipolar Disorder

  • Alternating between depression and mania   

  • Mania is being overtalkative, overactive, elated

    • Little need for sleep

    • Loud, fast, flighty speech

    • Extreme optimism 

    • Finding advice irritating

    • Fuels creativity

• More details about mood disorders

  • Mood congruency

    • When one only remembers sad memories

  • Most major depressive episodes end at some point

  • Stress commonly leads to depression

• Biological perspective of mood disorders

  • Genes and depression

    • Depression runs in families

  • The depressed brain

  • Nutritional effects

    • Better diet leads to better mental health

    • Correlation between alcohol use and depression

• Social cognitive perspective of mood disorders

  • Negative thoughts and negative moods interact

• Suicide

  • Risk of suicide increases when someone starts to feel better

  • Social suggestion may trigger suicide

    • Suicide being popularized and normalized is dangerous

  • Suicide is often done on impulse

  • Suicide urges arise when…

    • People feel disconnected from others

    • They feel like they are a burden

    • They feel trapped by an inescapable situation

  • How to help someone struggling

    • Listen

    • Connect

    • Protect

• Nonsuicidal Self-Injury (NSSI)

  • Cutting, burning, hitting

  • Not fatal

  • People who do this tend to be less able to tolerate emotional stress

  • Why people engage is NSSI

    • Find relief from intense negative thoughts

    • Attract attention/get help

    • Relieve guilt

    • Get others to change their negative behavior

    • Fit in with others

  • Does not lead to suicide

    • Suicide gestures, not suicide attempts

    • Still considered a risk factor for suicide

Schizophrenia and Other Disorders

• Symptoms of schizophrenia

  • Hallucinations

    • When we perceive something without sensory detection

    • Most common in sounds

  • Illusions

    • Experiencing a real thing but perceiving it in another form

  • Flat affect

    • No emotional response to something that should make them emotional

  • Delusions

    • False beliefs

    • Someone thinking they’re being watched

  • Saying words in an order that doesn’t really fit

  • Positive symptoms    

    • Presence of inappropriate behaviors

    • Things that shouldn’t be there

    • Hallucinations

  • Negative symptoms

    • Absence of appropriate behaviors

    • Flat affect

  
  

• Onset and development of Schizophrenia

  • Chronic schizophrenia

    • Develops slowly 

    • Hard/rare to overcome

  • Acute schizophrenia

    • Can happen at any age without a specific timeframe

  • Strong genetic component

  • More common in urban environment

  • More common when born in the winter

  • Complications during pregnancy

• Schizophrenia: the brain

  • Certain parts of the brain are smaller

    • Cerebral cortex

    • Corpus callosum

    • Thalamus

  • Basal ganglia

    • Associated w/ regulation of information coming into/leaving the brain

    • hallucinations may be due to basal ganglia not inhibiting certain sensory info

  • Temporal lobe

    • Gets activated during an auditory hallucination

  • Occipital lobe

    • Gets activated during a visual hallucination

  • Dopamine receptors

    • Schizophrenics have a lot of dopamine receptors

Personality Disorders

• Characteristics of Ddissociative Disorder

  • Also called multiple personalities

  • Controversy over if its a “real” disorder

• Clusters of Personality Disorders

  • Anxiety

    • Avoidant personality disorder leads to people being withdrawn

  • Eccentric/odd behavior

  • Dramatic/impulsive behavior

• 5 characteristics of antisocial personality disorder

  • Lack of conscience for wrongdoing

  • A person might be aggressive or a clever con artist

  • More common in men

  • Lack of frontal lobe activity

  • Impulsivity

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia nervosa   

  • Starvation

• Bulimia nervosa

  • Binging and purging/fasting

• Binge-eating disorder

  • Binging, followed by guilt/distress/disgust

• 6 risk factors of eating disorders

  • Family members focus on weihgt/appearance

  • Childhood obesity

  • Negative self-evaluation

  • Intense concern with how others perceive them

  • Genetics

  • Culture

Early Approaches to therapy

• Biological approach

  • Ancient Egypt and Greece

  • Hippocrates

• Supernatural approach

  • Witch hunting in medieval Europe

  • Lunatic asylums during the Renaissance

• Philippe Pinel

  • Proceeded slowly to improve the treatment of the mentally ill in the late 18th century

• Benjamin Rush

  • Helped American psychiatry move in the right direction

• Dorothea Dix

  • Institutional reforms across the United States and Europe

Psychological Therapies

• Characteristics of psychotherapy

  • Therapist helps someone overcome difficulty

  • Therapist helps someone achieve personal growth

• Characteristics of psychoanalysis

  • Conflicts between id/ego/superego

  • Free association    

    • Telling the client to say whatever comes to their mind in the moment

• Characteristics of psychodynamic therapy

  • Focuses on the unconscious without talking about id/ego/superego

  • Considers childhood experiences

  • Seeks to enhance self-insight

• Characteristics of humanistic therapy

  • Focus is promoting growth

  • Therapy is centered around the client

  • Active listening, unconditional positive regard

• Characteristics of behavior therapy

  • Counter conditioning helps the patient face their fears

    • Systematic desensitization is a gradual approach to exposure therapy

    • Flooding immediately exposes the patient to their fears

    • Virtual reality

  • Operant conditioning

    • Token economy rewards the patient with a token or sticker

• Characteristics of cognitive therapy

  • Aaron Beck

    • Uncover irrational thinking

    • “Thinking in words”

    • Characteristics of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 

      • Seeks to alter how people think and act

• Characteristics of family and group therapy

  • Group therapy

    • Group of people struggling with similar problems

  • Family therapy

    • Brings together families and helps them work through problems together

Evaluating Psychological Therapies

• Clients say that psychotherapy works

  • Testimonials may be insufficient

  • Clients who had a bad experience may not want to participate

• Characteristics of people entering psychotherapy

  • People often enter therapy in crisis

  • Clients believe the treatment will be effective

    • Placebo effect

  • Clients speak kindly of their therapists

  • Clients want to believe therapy was worth the effort

• Sunk-cost fallacy

  • If you spend a lot of time or effort on something, you want to make yourself believe it was effective

• 80% of untreated people have worse outcomes than treated people

Which Psychotherapies work best?

• Cognitive and Cognitive-behavioral therapies work best for the following

  • Anxiety

  • PTSD

  • Insomnia

  • Depression

• Behavioral conditioning therapies work best for the following

  • Bed-wetting

  • Phobias

  • Compulsions

  • Marital problems

  • Sexual dysfunctions

• Psychodynamic therapy works best for the following

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

• Nondirective/client-centered counseling works best for the following

  • Mild to moderate depression

• Evidence-based practice

  • Combines research with clinical expertise, characteristics, and preferences

• Harmful forms of treatment

  • Scared Straight program

  • Conversion therapy

• Some alternative forms of therapy

  • Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

  • Light exposure therapy

How do psychotherapies help people?

• What are the benefits of psychotherapy?

  • Hope for demoralized people 

  • A new perspective

  • What is therapeutic alliance?

    • The bond of trust and mutual understanding between the therapist and their client

• How do you find a therapist that works for you?

  • Individualism vs. collectivism

  • Cultural differences may help explain certain people’s reluctance to use mental health services

  • Clients should pick a therapist that they work well with

Different Kinds of Therapists

• Clinical psychologist

  • Has a PhD

  • Completed internship

  • Post-doctoral training

• Psychiatrist

  • Physicians specializing in psychological disorders

  • Prescribe medication

• Clinical/psychiatric social workers

  • Two-year Master of Social Work

• Counselors

  • Specialize in specific problems

  • Two-year master’s degree

Biomedical Therapies

• Psychopharmacology

  • Study of drug effects on mind and behavior

• How do we judge the effectiveness of a new treatment?

  • We would need to know the normal rates of recovery

  • We would need to know the recovery due to placebo effect

• What is a double-blind procedure?

  • Neither the participants or the administrators know which drug is

Types of drugs

• Antipsychotic drugs

  • Helpful for schizophrenia

  • Calms irrelevant stimuli

  • What are some long-term effects of antipsychotics?

    • Involuntary movements of the facial muscles

    • Also called tardive dyskinesia

• Antianxiety drugs

  • Can be fatal if mixed with other depressants

  • Can be addicting long-term

• Antidepressant drugs

  • Increase the availability of neurotransmitters

  • SSRI is the most common antidepressant

    • Enhance the release of serotonin

• Mood-stabilizing medications

  • Lithium helps to even out mood

  • Often used for bipolar disorder

Brain stimulation

• Electroconvulsive therapy

  • Only used in severely depressed patients

  • Effective for patients not responding to drug therapy

• Deep-brain stimulation

• Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

  • Can heighten or dull activity in different places in the brain

Psychosurgery

• Lobotomy

  • Cut nerves connecting frontal lobes to emotion centers in the brain

  • Very drastic and rarely used

Therapeutic Lifestyle Change

• Therapeutic Lifestyle Change Program (12 weeks)

  • Aerobic exercise

  • Adequate sleep

  • Light exposure

  • Social connection

  • Anti-rumination

  • Nutrition

• Studies showed a 77% effectiveness

Prevention

• Characteristics of preventive mental health

  • Attempting to alleviate conditions that lead to poor mental health

    • Includes poverty, unemployment, racism, sexism

  • Empowering those who have learned helplessness

  • Boosting parents’ and teachers’ skills at nurturing children’s competence

• Why is building resilience important?

  • Ability to overcome adversity

  • Positive outcomes after trauma due to learning something new about life