Psychology Exam Notes

Memory

Recall: Remembering information without cues (e.g., essays).
Recognition: Remembering information with cues (e.g., multiple-choice questions).
Repressed Memories: Unconsciously buried memories as a defense mechanism (psychodynamic approach).
Encoding Failure: Forgetting information because it was never encoded (attended to) in the first place.
Proactive Interference: Old information blocking the encoding of new information.
Retroactive Interference: New information blocking the recall of old information.
Constructive Memory: Memory is updated with new information, associations, and feelings, making it unreliable.
Source Amnesia: Forgetting the source of information (who told you or where you heard it).
Misinformation Effect: Distortion of memory by suggestion or misinformation.
Framing: The way a question is framed impacts how information is recalled or perceived.
Imagination Inflation: Increased confidence that an event happened after imagining it, even if it did not.
Anterograde Amnesia: Amnesia moving forward, where new information cannot be remembered.
Retrograde Amnesia: Amnesia moving backward, where old information is forgotten.

Intelligence & Achievement

Intelligence Theories:
- Single Form of Intelligence (g factor): General intelligence underlies all mental abilities.
- Multiple Intelligences: Intelligence has many types, not just math and language.
First IQ Test:
- Formula: $IQ = \frac{mental \ age}{chronological \ age} \times 100$
- Chronological Age: Actual age.
- Mental Age: Tested age compared to others of that age.
- Average: 100, Standard Deviation (SD) = 15.
Use of IQ Scores/Tests Today:
- Educational services.
- Diagnostic testing for learning disabilities.
- Gifted and Talented (GT) identification.
Psychometrics: Field of psychology and education for creating tests.
Standardization: Tests are given using consistent procedures and environments, and graded the same way.
Test Reliability:
- Split-Half Reliability: Comparing two halves of the test.
- Test-Retest Reliability: Using the same test on two different occasions.
Test Validity:
- Construct Validity: Test measures what it is intended to measure (e.g., an IQ test measures IQ).
- Predictive Validity: Test accurately predicts a trait (e.g., high math scores predict a good engineer).
Standardized tests establish a normal distribution.
Standard deviations are used to compare scores.
- Percentages below NEVER change:
  - $68\%$ of people score within 15 points above or below 100. $(\mu \pm 1\sigma)$
  - $95\%$ of people fall within 30 points of 100. $(\mu \pm 2\sigma)$
  - $0.1\%$ at extreme ends.
Types of Tests:
- Aptitude: Predicts abilities to learn a new skill.
- Achievement: Tests what is already known.

Historical Issues with Intelligence Testing

Nature vs. Nurture Influence on IQ:
- Genetics: MZ twins have similar IQ, adopted kids more similar to biological parents.
- Environment: Early neglect leads to lower IQ, good schooling to higher IQ.
Personal and sociocultural biases impact interpretation of results.
Poverty and education inequalities negatively impact scores.
Eugenics: Study of how to "improve" the gene pool by discouraging individuals from reproducing.
Culture fair tests: IQ tests have been used to refuse/limit access to jobs, military, education, and immigration.
Focus on non-language skills and minimize cultural-specific questions.
Stereotype Threat: Risk of conforming to negative stereotypes influences behaviors and cognitions.
Stereotype Lift: Doing better on a test when comparing oneself to other groups with negative stereotypes.
FLYNN Effect: IQ has steadily risen over the past 80 years, likely due to education standards and healthcare.
Fixed Mindset: Belief that intelligence is fixed from birth leads to less effort.
Growth Mindset: Belief that abilities can develop through work and determination leads to more effort.

Development and Learning Pillar

DEVELOPMENT

"3 thematic issues" in Developmental Psychology:
- Nature/Nurture: Genes or environment.
- Continuous/Discontinuous: Gradual development over time or development in stages.
- Stability/Change: Traits persist unchanged, or traits change as we age.
Cross-Sectional Study:
- Ppl of different ages at the same point in time.
  - Adv: Inexpensive & quick
  - Disadv: Can be differences due to a generational gap
Longitudinal Study:
- Studies same ppl over time
  - Adv: Eliminates groups (cohort) differences, lots of detail
  - Disadv: Expensive, time-consuming, high drop-out rates

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Prenatal Development:
- Teratogens: External agents that can cause abnormal prenatal development.
- Illness, mutations, hormones, and environment can impact prenatal development.
Physical Development:
- Maturation: Natural course of development, occurs no matter what.
- Gross Movement: Large muscles, strength, and coordination develop first.
- Fine Movement: Small muscles, precision, and controlled.
- Reflexes: Innate responses we're born with that go away with time.
  - Rooting: Turning of face towards a finger when touched on the cheek (food response)
  - Other reflexes include sucking, swallowing, grasping, Moro (startle), stepping, Babinski (toes spread when foot touched).
Eyes have the most limited development, takes a year for full development.
- Visual cliff: Babies have to learn depth perception, so they will cross a "cliff".
Critical Period (Sensitive Period): Limited time where something HAS to be developed, or it won't happen.
Imprinting: Birds believe the first thing they see after hatching is mom.
Puberty: Sexual maturation because of hormones. includes:
- Primary Sex Characteristics: Necessary structures for reproduction (ovaries, testicles, vagina, penis).
- Menarche: First period.
- Spermarche: First release of sperm.
- Secondary Sex Characteristics: Nonreproductive characteristics that develop during puberty (breasts, hips, a deepening of voice, body hair).
- Adolescent Growth Spurt: Rapid skeletal and muscular development.
- Frontal Lobe continuous development (not fully developed till 25)
Adulthood: The following level off and then decline:
- Mobility, flexibility, reaction time, visual/auditory acuity, fertility.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

JEAN PIAGET'S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
- Schemas: Frameworks that organize information
  - Assimilation: Incorporate new info into existing schema (Cat is a dog b/c 4 legs).
  - Accommodation: Adjust existing schemas to incorporate new information (Cat and dogs different).
- Sensorimotor Stage: Birth to 2 years: Focused on exploring their world
  - Lack (and gain) Object Permanence: Objects when removed from field of view are thought to disappear (peek-a-boo)
- Pre-operational Stage: 2-7 years: Use pretend play and mental symbols
  - Lack Conservation: Recognize that substances remain the same despite changes in shape, length, or position.
  - Lack Reversibility: Cannot do reverse operations (count out both 4+2 and 2+4).
  - Are egocentric: Inability to distinguish one's own perspective from another's think everyone sees what they see.
  - Lack (and start developing) theory of mind: People's beliefs, intentions, and emotions are their own.
  - Use animism: Believe artificial objects have thoughts/feelings
- Concrete Operational Stage: 7-11 yrs: Use operational thinking, classification, and can think logical in concrete context.
- Formal Operational Stage: 11-15 yrs: Use abstract and idealist thoughts, and hypothetical-deductive reasoning.
- Problems with Piaget's Theory: Stages too discrete, development differs between kids
VYGOTSKY'S THEORY: Cognitive development is a social process, need to interact w/ others
- Zone of Proximal Development: gap between what a child can do on their own and with support. Need scaffolding (teachers)
Crystallized Intelligence: fact and prior learning/experiences increases with age.
Fluid Intelligence: ability to learn new things, reaction times, abstract thinking & quick problem-solving decrease with age.
Dementia: loss of cognitive function results in emotional and behavioral changes ex. Alzheimer's

LANGUAGE

Language: shared system of symbols that operate by rules and is infinite
- Phonemes: smallest unit of sound (ch sound in chat)
- Morpheme: smallest unit that caries meaning (-ed means past tense)
- Grammar: rules in a language that enable us to communicate
- Semantics: set of rules by which we derive meaning (adding-ed makes something past tense)
- Syntax: rules for combining words into sentences (white house vs casa blanca)
- Cooing stage: produces vowels sounds
- Babbling stage: start to create phonemes w/ constants
- One-word stage: used to try and communicate wants.
- Telegraphic speech (two-word stage): further communication
  - Overregularization: grammar mistake children over-use certain morphemes (I go-ed to the park).

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Temperament: patterns of emotional reactions in babies impact attachment:
- Easy, difficult, slow to warm up
"Monkey experiments": Discovered that contact comfort is more important than feeding (monkeys fed on wire or cloth mothers). Monkeys raised in isolation couldn't socialize
Attachment: strange situation paradigm (children left alone in a room w/ a stranger, then reunited w/ mom determines your attachment style
- Utilizes idea of separation anxiety: during late sensorimotor stage kids are fearful of ppl they don't know or being left alone
- Secure attachment (60% of infants): upset when mom leaves, easily calmed on return. Tend to be more stable adults
- Avoidant insecure (20% infants): actively avoids mom, doesn't care when she leaves-adults have distant relationships and fail to communicate
- Anxious insecure (10% infants): actively avoids mom, freaks out when she leaves-jealous relationships and clingy
- Disorganized insecure (5%): confused, fearful, dazed result of abuse
Parenting Styles- influenced by culture
- Authoritarian: rules & obedience, "my way or the highway" kids lack initiative in college, low self-esteem
- Permissive: kids do whatever no rules kids lack initiative in college high self-esteem
- Authoritative: give and take w/ kids kids become socially competent and reliable best type high self-esteem and initiative
Peer relationships with time
- Children engage in play
  - Parallel play-play side by side w/o interacting turns into pretend play
- Adolescents rely on peers
  - Imaginary audience: believe others are constantly watching them (related to egocentrism)
  - Turns into Personal fable-belief you are special/unique/invincible
- Adulthood-culture impacts when major life events should occur some allow a transition bw adolescence and adulthood
  - Social clock-shared (cultural) expectation of age-appropriate behavior (when to get married, have kids, etc.)
Gender roles: expected behaviors (norms) for men/women due to cultural influence

Foot in the door phenomenon:

Complying with a small request then leads to going along with a larger request (can I have $5? Yes. Now can I have$ 25?)

Door in the face phenomenon:

Large request is turned down, when then leads you to be more likely to comply with a small request (can I have $100? Heck no! How about$ 20? Okay)

Conformity:

Change in a person's behavior to more closely match the group.

classic experiment:

Showed lines of different lengths, confederates gave wrong answers to see if others would go along with it factors influence conformity:
1. Person is insecure
2. Group has 3 or more ppl
3. Group is unanimous
4. Person admires group
5. Person has no prior commitment to a response
6. Others observe their behavior
7. Cultural expectations (collectivistic)

Obedience:

Complying with an order or command classic experiment:
- Participants were to "teach" another individual using shocks. ~ $65\%$ of participants would administer lethal shocks to another person simply because they were told factors that influence obedience:
  1. Proximity of authority figure
  2. Legitimacy or prestige of the figure
  3. Distance from the victim
  4. Role models for defiance

Culture influences conformity and obedience:

Collectivistic: Encourages social and group ties (more conformity/obedience)
Individualistic: Encourages individuality (less conform/ obedience)

Group polarization:

The more time spent with a group the stronger their thoughts/opinions will become (must have the same opinion already)

Groupthink:

Desire for harmony within a group leads to everyone going along with the same thinking, ignoring other possibilities or bad ideas.

Bystander effect (diffusion of responsibility):

The more ppl around the less likely we are to help someone in need (Kitty Genovese)

Deindividuation:

Loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that encourage anonymity (mob mentality).

Social loafing:

Tendency for ppl in a group to exert less effort when pooling their effort together (tug of war)

Social facilitation:

Perform better on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others.

False-consensus effect:

We overestimate the degree to which everyone else thinks/ acts the way we do

Superordinate goals:

Two or more groups work together to achieve a common goal, creates cohesiveness

Social trap:

Ppl put their own needs before the group needs, results in bad outcome (choose 5 or 15 demo)

Industrial/Organizational Psych:

Psych of work best practices, relationships in the workplace or w/ company, how you feel about job (burnout)

Altruism (prosocial behavior):

Unselfish interest in helping other ppl happens because of:
- Social Reciprocity Norm: We give so we can get (help me and I'll help you)
- Social Responsibility Norm: Act in ways that benefit the community (moral sense of good)
- Gain social approval

STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT (ZIMBARDO):

Classic experiment where individuals were assigned to be guards/prisoners. Within days they took on their roles and went too far. Highly unethical

PERSONALITY

Psychodynamic explanation:

Personality is largely unconscious and shaped from early childhood experiences
- id: our hidden true wants and desires (devil on your shoulder)
- superego: our moral conscious (angel on your shoulder)
- Ego: Part of the mind/personality that deals w/ every day reality what ppl see mediates bw the id and superego (its you!)

Defense mechanisms:

Egos attempt to protect you from threats
- Repression: Push memories back into the unconscious mind (sexual abuse is too traumatic to deal w/ so you repress it)
- Regression: go into an earlier development period in the face of stress (during exam week you start to suck your thumb)
- Denial: refuse to acknowledge reality (refuse to believe you have cancer)
- Rationalization: justifying something happening (don't get into your college justify it was a crap college anyway)
- Displacement: take feelings out on something else (can't tell teacher, go home, and yell at the dog)
- Projection: attribute personal shortcomings & faults onto others (man who wants to have an affair accuses his wife of one)
- Reaction formation: transform unacceptable motive into his opposite (insecure about masculinity becomes extra aggressive)
- Sublimation: replace unacceptable impulse w/ a socially acceptable one (person who likes fighting becomes professional kickboxer)

How do we "test" this personality approach?

Projective Tests:
- Ambiguous stimuli shown to "reveal your unconscious" inkblots and thematic apperception tests. Highly subjective, not considered reliable or valid

Trait explanation:

Traits:
- Enduring personality characteristics, people can be described by these have strong or weak tendencies. They are stable, genetic, and predict other attributes.

BIG FIVE personality (acronym OCEAN):

You vary on each of these
- Openness: high levels = imaginative, independent, like variety; low = not open to change
- Conscientiousness: high levels = organized, careful, disciplined, low = disorganized and messy
- Extraversion: high levels = sociable, likes being the center of attention, meeting new ppl opposite is introversion: shy, timid, reserved
- Agreeableness: high levels = soft-hearted, trusting, helpful; low levels = suspicious, not a team player
- Neuroticism (emotional stability): high levels mood swings, easy to stress; low = emotional stable, handles stress

How do we "test" this personality approach?

Personality inventories:
- Special name for a test that uses factor analysis: statistical procedure used to identify similar components

Humanistic explanation:

Emphasized personal growth and free will.
- Self-actualization: fulfilling your full potential as person self-actualized ppl are self-aware, caring, spontaneous, open, secure
- Emphasis on unconditional positive regard attitude of acceptance regardless of circumstances

LEARNING

Behaviorist perspective is focused on learning (change in behavior through experience). Measures observable behavior and usually ignores the mind.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING:

Explains involuntary behaviors and emotions
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Causes response w/o needing to be learned (food)
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): Response that naturally occurs w/o training (salivate)
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Thing that now brings about a response (bell)
- Conditioned Response (CR): Response after conditioning follows a CS (salivate)
- Contiguity: Timing of the pairing, NS/CS must be presented .5-1 sec BEFORE the US
- Acquisition: Process of learning the response pairing
- Extinction: Previously conditioned response dies out over time
- Spontaneous Recovery: After a period of time the CR comes back out of nowhere
  - Generalization: CR to like stimuli (sim sounding bell)
  - Discrimination: CR to ONLY the CS (drool to that one bell, no others)
  - Higher-order conditioning: when the original CS is paired with the 2nd thing and becomes a new CS (drool to squeaky cabinet/can opener)
- Conditioned Taste Aversion (one-trial learning): Innate predispositions can allow classical conditioning to occur in one trial (food poisoning) due to biological preparedness-predisposed to react to dangerous biological threats
- Habituation: Get used to a regular stimulus and stop responding (startle less to a loud noise w/ time)
- Emotional conditioning: Emotions can be conditioned in humans (little Albert experiment) lead to behavioral treatments for fear (counterconditioning)

OPERANT CONDITIONING:

Explains voluntary behavior resulting from consequences
- LAW OF EFFECT:
  - Behaviors followed by pos. outcomes are strengthened, neg. outcomes weaken a behavior (cat in the puzzle box)
- PRINCIPLES OF OPERANT COND
  - Positive Reinforcement: Add something nice to increase a behavior (gold star for turning in HW)
  - Negative Reinforcement: Take away something bad/annoying to increase a behavior (put on seatbelt to take away annoying car signal)
  - Primary Reinforcers: Innately satisfying (food and water)
  - Secondary Reinforcers: Everything else (stickers, high-fives)
  - Token Reinforcer: Type of secondary- can be exchanged for other stuff (game tokens or money)
  - Positive Punishment: Add something bad to decrease a behavior (spanking)
  - Negative Punishment: Take away something good to decrease a behavior (take away car keys)
  - Punishment temporarily changes behavior, doesn't tell you what to do ineffective
  - Operant conditioning extinguishes like classical conditioning
  - Shaping: Use successive approximations to train behavior (reward closer and closer desired behaviors to teach a response-rat basketball)
  - Continuous Reinforcement Schedule: Receive a reward for every response
  - Partial Reinforcement Schedule: Vary how often the response is given strengthens responses and takes longer to extinguish
  - Fixed Ratio Schedule: Reward every X number of responses (every 10 envelopes stuffed get $)
  - Fixed Interval Schedule: Reward every X amount of time passed (every 2 weeks get a paycheck)
  - Variable Ratio Schedule: Rewarded after a random number of responses (slot machine)
  - Variable Interval Schedule: Rewarded after a random amount of time has passed (BeReal app)
  - Variable schedules are most resistant to extinction (how long will keep playing a slot machine before you think it's broken?)
  - Ratio schedules lead to the highest response rates (because you are in control of your reward)
- Learned Helplessness:
  - No matter what you do, you never get a positive outcome so you just give up (word scrambles, depression models)
- Instinctive Drift:
  - Can only teach animals behaviors they already do, also will return to original behaviors w/ time
- Superstitious Behaviors:
  - Operantly conditioned through partial reinforcement & coincidence pigeons hopping on one foot to get food

MISC LEARNING TYPES

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY- learning through observation
- Modeling Behaviors:
  - Children model (imitate) behaviors. The study used BoBo dolls to demonstrate. The more similar the model is the better you learn
- Vicarious conditioning:
  - Form of observational learning, watch another get a consequence and learn don't do that!
- Latent learning:
  - Learning is hidden until useful (rats in maze get reinforced halfway through, performance improved
  - Create Cognitive maps mental representation of an area, allows navigation if blocked (firefighters taught this)
  - Insight learning some learning is through simple intuition (chimps with crates to get bananas)-aha! moment

SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY

SOCIAL PSYCH:

How we think about, influence, and relate to others

Attributions and Perceptions:

Attributions:
- How ppl explain behavior & mental processes of themselves & others
  - Dispositional attribution: person's internal qualities personality
  - Situational attribution: external circumstances
Attribution theory:
- We explain behaviors by crediting the situation or the person's internal disposition (personality)
Fundamental Attribution Error:
- Tendency to blame a person's disposition (personality) and not consider the situation (that guy cut me off b/c he's a jerk not that his wife could be in labor)
Actor-observer Bias:
- When its others blame the person, when its you, blame the situation
Self-serving Bias:
- Self only our successes are bc we're awesome, our failures are someone else's fault
Self-fulfilling Prophecy:
- A belief that leads to its own fulfillment (I expect you all to pass, you know this, you study fulfilling my prophecy)
Social Comparison:
- We evaluate ourselves based on comparisons to society and social circles
  - Upward Comparison compare to ppl you think are better than you (I want to be like them)
  - Downward Comparison compare to someone you think is worse off than you (at least I don't have it as bad as them)
  - Relative Deprivation judges what we are lacking relative to others
Explanatory Style:
- How ppl explain good and bad events in their lives and others either optimistic (pos) or pessimistic (neg)
- External Locus of Control: chance/outside forces control your fate
- Internal Locus: control your own fate
Mere Exposure Effect:
- Repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them (the more time you spend around something the more you like it)

Attitude formation and change:

Stereotype:
- Generalized concept about a group (a label)
  - Reduces cognitive load (mental effort) when making decisions
  - Usually the basis of prejudice and discrimination
Prejudice:
- Neg. reaction towards a person/group w/o any advance experience w/ that group (a belief/emotion)
Discrimination:
- Different treatment of a person/group than how you would treat others (a behavior)
- Implicit Attitudes: unconscious bias leads to
  - Ingroup Bias: tendency to favor our own group
  - Ethnocentrism: tendency to see your own group as more important than others
  - Outgroup Homogeneity Bias:
    - Perception that out-group members are similar, while the in-group members are diverse
- Just-world phenomenon:
  - Tendency for ppl to believe that the world is just and therefore ppl get what they deserve (homeless ppl)
- Belief Perseverance:
  - Stick to your original belief even when given evidence to disprove it
- Cognitive Dissonance:
  - Two opposing thoughts conflict w/ each other, causing discomfort (dissonance), which makes us find ways to justify the situation (cult that was going to be abducted by aliens, smokers)

Social Situations:

Social Norms:
- Define expectations & roles for individuals and social situations
Social Influence Theory:
- Ppl's thoughts and actions are influenced by others
  - Normative Social Influence:
    - We conform to gain approval or to not stand out from the group (be part of the norm)
  - Informational Social Influence:
    - We conform to others since we think their opinions must be right (change answers to math HW)
Elaboration Likelihood Model -2 ways to persuade:
- Central Route to Persuasion:
  - Change people's attitudes through logical arguments and explanations. Leads to long-term behavior change
- Peripheral Route to Persuasion:
  - Change people's attitudes through incidental cues (like a speaker's attractiveness). Can also use emotional appeals. Leads to temporary behavior changes.
  - Use the: Halo Effect Overall impression of a person/thing is influenced by a single pos. trait or characteristic

Erikson's Socioemotional Development:

Each stage represents a crisis that must be resolved, results in competence or weakness
- Trust vs. Mistrust (birth-18 months): if needs are met infants develop basic trust
- Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (1-3 yrs): learn to exercise their will (I WANT TO DO IT pours milk)
- Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 yrs): learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans, also be creative (WHY kid)
- Industry vs. Inferiority (6 yrs to puberty): learn what you're good or accomplished at (school/sports success)
- Identity vs. Role Confusion (adolescence thru 20s): refine a sense of self by testing roles and forming an identity
- Intimacy vs. Isolation (20s-40s): form close relationships and gain capacity for love
- Generativity vs. Stagnation (40s-60s): discover sense of contributing to the world, thru family & work
- Integrity vs. Despair (60s and up): reflect on your life, feel satisfaction or failure

Marcia's Identity Theory:

Individual has committed to identity.
Individual has explored identity options.
- Diffusion: No commitment, no exploration, no idea who they are (no idea of a major not even thinking on it.)
- Foreclosure: Premature commitment w/no exploration (I'll be a lawyer bc my parents say so.)
- Moratorium: Actively seeking an identity, no commitment though (trying lots of clubs to see what sticks)
- Identity Achievement: Committed sense of self-desire to accomplish and contribute (picked a major after careful consideration)

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES):

Stressful/traumatic events during childhood impact relationships and health
- Abuse, divorce, mental illness

Ecological Systems Theory:

Microsystem-immediate environment w/ daily interaction (family, friends, teachers)
Mesosystem-relationships bw microsystem (interaction bw parents and teachers/school)
Exosystem-environment you're not directly a part of that still impacts you (government policies, parent's job)
Macrosystem-societal and cultural influences (customs, norms, traditions)
Chronosystem-life stage and historical events (economic recession, environmental changes)