Psychology

Chapter 1: History, Contemporary Perspectives, and Research Methods

Definition of Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

The five main goals of psychology are to describe, predict, explain, control, change, and influence behavior and mental processes.

Psychologist v. Psychiatrist

Psychiatrists are medical doctors and have medical degrees, followed by several years of specialized training in the treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists can hospitalize people, order biomedical therapies, and prescribe medications. Psychologists are not medical doctors and cannot order medical treatments.

Historical Psychologists

Aristotle believed sensory experience to be the basis of all knowledge. He was one of the first to write about sleep, memory, the senses, dreams, and learning.

Rene Descartes was a French philosopher who argued for a dualism between mind and body. He promoted the belief that the mind and body are two separate entities - interactive dualism.

Wilhelm Wundt is considered the Founder of Psychology. He created the first laboratory to study psychology in Germany in 1879.

Kenneth and Mamie Clark are African American psychologists who are known for their research and expert testimony on the negative effects of racial discrimination. Their work was instrumental in the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education (1954) on segregation in education.

Sigmund Freud was a physician. His idea of psychoanalysis (which he posited as a personality theory and form of psychotherapy) was the basic idea of the school of psychological thought he founded. He suggested behavior and personality were influenced by the unconscious.

G. Stanley Hall established the first psychological lab in the United States at Johns Hopkins University, and he founded the American Psychological Association (APA).

William James is considered the first American psychologist and theories formed functionalism - mental processes helping individuals adapt to the environment.

Margaret Floy Washburn was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology (1894). She is known for her experimental work involving animal behavior and sensation/perception processes.

Mary Calkins was the first woman president of the APA (American Psychological Association)

Francis Sumner was the first African American to be awarded a Ph.D. in psychology by Clark University in 1920.

Abraham Maslow was a humanistic psychologist known for his "Hierarchy of Needs" and the concept of "self-actualization.” He emphasized the importance of psychological growth in his theory of motivation.

Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist and learning theorist famous for the discovery of classical conditioning, in which learning occurs through association.

Carl Rogers was an American psychologist who helped to found humanistic psychology. and developed client-centered psychotherapy.

B.F. Skinner was a behaviorist who developed the theory of operant conditioning by training pigeons and rats- reinforcement and punishment.

Edward Titchener studied under Wundt; he focused on identifying the basic elements of the mind. Titchener also founded structuralism.

John Watson declared that psychology must limit itself to observable phenomena, not unobservable concepts like the unconscious mind if it is to be considered a science. He established American Behaviorism.

Pauline Elizabeth Scarborough championed the inclusion of women in the story of psychology. She also explored ways women's changing social status affected the field of psychology.

Contemporary Psychological Perspectives

Humanistic perspective focuses on the motivation of people to grow, self-concept, free will and choice, self-direction, and reaching one's full potential.

Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic perspective emphasizes the importance of unconscious influences, and early childhood life experiences in explaining human behavior.

Behavioral perspective emphasizes how behavior is acquired or modified by environmental causes.

Biological perspective emphasizes the physical bases of human and animal behavior, including the nervous system, endocrine system, immune system, and genetics.

Evolutionary perspective emphasizes the application of principles of evolution to explain behavior, and natural selection.

Cognitive perspective focuses on the important role of mental processes in how we process information: memory, intelligence, language development, perception, problem solving, and learning

Cross-cultural perspective emphasizes how cultural factors influence patterns of behavior.

Major Specialties or Subfield of Psychology

Clinical Psychology focuses on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of psychological disorders.

School Psychology applies psychological principles and findings in primary and secondary schools.

Health Psychology researches psychological factors in the development, prevention, and treatment of illness; stress, and coping; promoting health-enhancing behaviors.

Biological Psychology explores relationships between psychological processes and the body’s physical system

• Neuroscience refers specifically to the study of the brain and the rest of the nervous system

Positive Psychology focuses on the study of optimal human functioning and aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.

Culture

Culture is the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Cultural norms are the unwritten rules of behavior in a culture.

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture or ethnic group is superior to all others and the related tendency to use one’s own culture as a standard by which to judge other cultures.

Individualist cultures emphasize the needs and goals of the individual over the needs and goals of the group.

Collectivist cultures emphasize the needs and goals of the group over those of the individual.

Research Methods

Theory – Tentative explanation that tries to integrate and account for the relationships of various findings and observations.

Hypothesis – A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables; a testable prediction or question.

Random selection is a process in which subjects are selected randomly from a larger group and it is important in the research participant selection process because it allows every group member to have an equal chance of being included in the study.

Meta-analysis is pooling the effect sizes of several studies into a single analysis.

Case study is an intensive, in-depth investigation of an individual, a family, or some other social unit.

Population is the selected group of participants for the study.

Sample is a segment of the population used to represent the group that is being studied.

Correlational studies examine how strongly two variables are related to, or associated with, each other. A correlational study can be used to analyze the data gathered by any type of descriptive method and is also used to analyze the results of experiments. Correlation does not indicate causality.

Experimental Method

Steps in the scientific method.

1. Formulate a Testable Hypothesis

2. Design the Study and Collect the Data

3. Analyze the Data and Draw Conclusions

4. Report the Findings

Independent variable – Factor that is purposely manipulated to produce a change in an experiment (predictor/treatment variable).

Dependent variable – Factor that is observed and measured for change in an experiment; thought to be influenced by the independent variable (outcome variable).

Confounding variable – External variables that are not the focus of the experiment, but could affect the outcome of an experiment (extraneous variable).

Double-blind technique/study – Both the participants and researchers interacting with them are blinded or unaware of the treatment or condition to which the participants have been assigned.

Placebo: a fake substance, treatment, or procedure that has no known direct effects.

Placebo effect: any change attributed to the person’s beliefs and expectations rather than to an actual drug, treatment, or procedure (also called the expectancy effect).

The American Psychological Association (APA) provides ethical principles regarding research with human participants. These five key provisions include:

1. Informed consent and voluntary participation

   Psychologists must inform participants of the purpose of the research and potential risks, discomfort, or unpleasant emotional experiments. Psychologists must also explain that participants are free to decline or to withdraw from the research at any time.

2. Students as research participants

   When a research participant is given as a course requirement or opportunity for extra credit, the student must be given a choice of an alternative activity to fulfill the course requirement or earn extra credit.

3. The use of deception

   Psychologists may use deceptive techniques if and when (1) it is not feasible to use alternatives that do not involve deception and (2) potential findings justify the use of deception because of their scientific, educational, or applied value.

4. Confidentiality of information

   In their writing, lectures, or other public forums, psychologists may not disclose personally identifiable information about research participants.

5. Information about the study and debriefing

   All participants must be provided with the opportunity to obtain information about the nature, results, and conclusions of the research. Psychologists are also obligated to debrief the participants to correct any misconceptions that participants may have had about the research.

Chapter 2: Neuroscience and Behavior

The Neuron

Biological psychology is the scientific study of the biological bases of behavior and mental processes.

Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system, especially the brain.

Basic anatomy of the neuron:

• Cell Body - contains structures that process nutrients, providing the energy the neuron needs to function; also called the soma

• Dendrites - receives messages from other neurons

• Axon - carries information from the neuron to other cells in the body, including other neurons, glands, and muscles

• Myelin Sheath – white fatty tissue covering that wraps around the axons of some neurons (insulation); speeds up the transmission

Axon terminals - located at the end of an axon

Reuptake - some of the leftover neurotransmitters are reabsorbed into the axon terminal

Glial cells provide the structural and functional support for neurons throughout the nervous system.

• Oligodendrocytes: form myelin sheath; nodes of Ranvier

• Microglia: do the brain’s “clean-up” work; part of the immune response

• Astrocytes: are the most common glial cells; structural support; nutrient provision

Neurons are cells that are highly specialized to receive and transmit information from one part of the body to another. Your brain contains an estimated 90 billion neurons.

• Sensory neurons convey information about the environment to the brain

• Motor neurons communicate information to the muscles and glands of the body

  • Mirror neurons are a distinct type of motor neuron that becomes activated both when individuals perform a motor act and when they observe the same motor act done by another individual

• Interneurons communicate information between neurons

How fast do neurons communicate? upward of 270 mph

What is CTE? Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Caused by repetitive head impacts. CTE is associated with a buildup of tau, a protein that normally builds up the cytoskeletons of neurons.

The Phineas Gage accident - a metal rod went through his frontal lobe, affecting his social behavior and planning. The accident helped show psychologists how brain functions are localized.

Neurogenesis - the ability of our brains to develop new neurons

Neurotransmitters:

Dopamine - Involved in movement, attention, learning, and pleasurable sensations

Serotonin - Involved in sleep, appetite, moods, and emotional states

Acetylcholine - Stimulates muscle contraction; involved in memory, learning, and general intellectual functioning

GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid) - Helps us relieve anxiety naturally, offset excitatory messages and regulate daily sleep-wake cycles

Endorphins - pain perception and positive emotions

Glutamate - excitatory messages

The Divisions of the Nervous System

Central Nervous System (CNS) is the division of the nervous system that is central to all behavior and mental processes; it consists of the brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) is the division of the nervous system that includes all the nerves lying outside the central nervous system

The Endocrine System

Endocrine System is made up of glands that are located throughout the body. It uses chemical messengers to transmit information from one part of the body to another by secreting hormones into the bloodstream. Regulates vital processes in the body including growth, metabolism, and sexual development. Endocrine glands secrete hormones in the blood, then they travel through the cardiovascular system.

Gonades include ovaries and testes.

Hormones are chemical messengers secreted into the bloodstream. They regulate physical processes and influence behavior and influence emotional and stress response. Hormones are closely linked to CNS workings and are (in some cases) chemically identical to neurotransmitters.

Pineal gland - produces melatonin, which helps regulate sleep-wake cycles

Pituitary gland - the master gland, regulates the activities of several other glands. Secrets growth hormone

Adrenal glands - produce epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine; involved in stress and fight-or-flight response

Thyroid gland - controls body metabolism rate

Pancreas - regulates blood sugar and insulin levels; involved in hunger

Oxytocin - “the love hormone” produced in the hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland. It functions to facilitate childbirth by increasing uterine contractions and the production of milk. It also fosters the bond between the mom and baby

The Brain

Lobe functions

• Frontal lobe - controls voluntary movement: planning, and emotional control

• Temporal lobe - processes auditory information

• Occipital lobe - processes visual information

• Parietal lobe - receives information about body sensations

German neurologist, Karl Wernicke discovered another area in the left hemisphere that, when damaged, produced a different type of language disturbance

Neuroplasticity - the ability within the brain to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in response to experience or trauma.

Limbic System

Hippocampus - involved in forming new memories

Thalamus - processes and integrates sensory information; relays sensory information to the cerebral cortex

Amygdala - involved in memory and emotion, especially fear and anger

Hypothalamus -links brain and endocrine system; regulates hunger, thirst, sleep, and sexual behavior

Chapter 4: Consciousness and Its Variations

William James - “stream of consciousness” Provides us with continuity from one day to the next. Helps us maintain a sense of self.

Consciousness - personal awareness of mental activities, internal sensations, and the external environment. This is waking awareness.

• Levels of consciousness

  • Conscious - immediate awareness

  • Preconscious - not immediate awareness

  • Unconscious - unaware

Attention - the capacity to selectively focus senses and awareness on particular stimuli or aspects of the environment.

Multitasking divides your attention and creates less attention for each task. It is less likely to cause interference when significant task variation is present.

Sleep Basics

The hormone melatonin is produced by the pineal gland and it helps with falling asleep.

Two types of sleep:

• REM sleep (rapid-eye-movement sleep) - type of sleep during which rapid eye movements and reaming usually occur and voluntary muscle activity is suppressed (dream/awake sleep)

• NREM sleep (non-rapid-eye-movement sleep) - quiet, typically dreamless sleep in which rapid eye movements are absent

Myoclonic jerk - involuntary but harmless full-body spasm that jolts the person awake

Beta brain waves - a brain-wave pattern associated with alert wakefulness

Alpha brain waves - a brain-wave pattern associated with relaxed wakefulness and drowsiness

Circadian rhythm - a roughly 24-hour-long cycle of fluctuations in biological and psychological processes

Sleep hygiene

• pattern of sleep

• enough sleep to do the things you need to do

• routine to fall asleep

Three stages of sleep.

Stage three is the deep stage of sleep.

About 5 cycles of sleep.

After being deprived of sleep, you can have episodes of sleep while you are normally awake. This is called microsleep.

Sleep Stages

• Awake and Alert: Beta brain waves

• Awake and Drowsy: Alpha brain waves

• Stage 1 NREM Sleep: Mixture of alpha and theta brain waves, drifting/floating sensation

• Stage 2 NREM Sleep: Sleep spindles, K complexes, theta brain waves, and beginnings of delta waves, very sensitive to noise

• Stage 3/4 NREM Sleep: Delta brain waves, deep stages: night terrors, sleepwalking, talking, eating, sex, etc…

• REM Sleep: Fast, active brain waves accompanied by rapid eye movements (REM), paradoxical sleep, active sleep, lengthen throughout the night

Hans Berger invented the electroencephalograph (EEG). This advanced the scientific study of sleep.

Sleep disorders:

• insomnia - a condition in which a person regularly experiences an inability to fall asleep, to stay asleep, or to feel adequately rested by sleep

• narcolepsy - a sleep disorder categorized by excessive daytime sleepiness and brief lapses into episodes of sleep throughout the day

• sleep apnea - a sleep disorder in which the person repeatedly stops breathing during sleep

• sleep terrors - a sleep disturbance involving an episode of increased psychological arousal, panic, frightening hallucinations, and no recall of the episode

Paranoias - undesired arousal or actions during sleep: sleep terrors, sleep sex, sleepwalking, sleep eating disorder

Sleepwalking - a sleep disturbance characterized by an episode of walking or performing other actions during stage 3 NREM sleep

Hypnagogic Hallucinations - vivid sensory phenomena that occur during the onset of sleep

Sleep Paralysis - a temporary condition in which a person is unable to move upon awakening in the morning or during the night

Sleep is important for clearing brain metabolic waste products, maintaining immune function, learning and memory, and regulating mood.

Meditation - using a mental or physical technique to induce a state of focused attention and heightened awareness

Hypnosis - cooperative social interaction in which the hypnotized person responds to the hypnotist’s suggestions with changes in perception, memory, thoughts, and behavior

Psychoactive Drugs

Psychoactive Drugs - substances that alter consciousness by changing arousal, mood, thinking, sensations, and perceptions

Effects of Psychoactive drugs:

• physical dependence - when the body and brain chemistry have physically adapted to a drug; can’t function without the chemical in your body

• drug tolerance - a condition in which increasing amounts of a physically addictive drug are needed to produce the original, desired effect

• withdrawal symptoms - unpleasant physical reactions to the lack of the drug and intense craving for it

• drug rebound effect - the reemergence of symptoms that were repressed while taking medication

• drug abuse - misuse of drugs

• change in reward circuitry - production of dopamine activated by addictive drugs

• addiction - a broad term that refers to a condition in which a person feels psychologically and physically compelled to take a specific drug

• increasing or decreasing neurotransmitter amounts

• altering synaptic transmission among neurons

Psychoactive substances classifications:

• depressants - drugs that depress, or inhibit, brain activity

  • alcohol, barbiturates, tranquilizers

• opioids - drugs that are chemically similar to morphine and that relieve pain and produce euphoria

  • fentanyl, oxycontin, heroin, morphine, codeine, methadone

• stimulants - drugs that stimulate, or excite, brain activity, arouse behavior, and increase mental awareness

  • caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, meth, dexedrine, benzedrine

• psychedelics - drugs that distort sensory perceptions

  • mescaline, LSD, marijuana, psilocybin, MDMA, ecstasy

• dissociative anesthetic

  • PCP, ketamine (special K)

Effects of consuming alcoholic beverages - Lowered alertness, release of inhibitions, impaired judgment, slowed reaction times, impaired motor function, less caution, possible death

Strategies to get a good night sleep.

Chapter 5: Cultural Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov - Discovered and studied classical conditioning. Reflexive response; Formation of associations.

John Watson - Founded a new approach called behaviorism. Advocated scientific study of objectively observed behavior. Believed all human behavior is the result of conditioning
and learning.

Behaviorism - School of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that emphasizes the study of observable behaviors, especially as they pertain to the process of learning.

Learning - The processes through which people and animals acquire enduring changes in their behaviors as a result of experience. Learning is a change in behavior as a result of experience or knowledge.

Conditioning - Process of learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses.

Classical conditioning - a basic learning process that involves repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with a response-producing stimulus until the neutral stimulus elicits the same response. Stimulus causes an existing behavior to occur.

• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): The natural stimulus that reflexively elicits a response without the need for prior learning

• Unconditioned response (UCR): The unlearned, reflexive, response that is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus

• Conditioned stimulus (CS): A formerly neutral stimulus that acquires the capacity to elicit a reflexive response

• Conditioned response (CR): The learned, reflexive, response to a previously neutral stimulus

Little Albert Experiment - Exposed baby to furry objects and a loud bang, causing the baby to react negatively to any furry object.

Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner - Was a behaviorist who searched for the “lawful processes” that would explain “order in behavior.”

Operant conditioning - The basic learning process that involves changing the probability that a response will be repeated by manipulating the consequences of that response.

Reinforcement - The occurrence of a stimulus or an event following a response that increases the likelihood of that response being repeated.

• Positive reinforcement - A situation in which a response is followed by the addition of a reinforcing stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated in similar situations

• Negative reinforcement - A situation in which a response results in the removal of, avoidance of, or escape from an aversive, or undesired, stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated in similar situations

Schedules of Reinforcement - The delivery of a reinforcer according to a present pattern based on the number of responses or the time interval between responses

• fixed-ratio (FR) schedule: reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered after a fixed number of responses has occurred

• variable-ratio (VR) schedule: reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered after an average number of responses, which varies unpredictably from trial to trial

• fixed-interval (FI) schedule: reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after a preset time interval has elapsed

• variable-interval (VI) schedule: reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after an average time interval, which varies unpredictably from trial to trial

Fixed Ratio – rewards given after a fixed number of responses. Example, piece work when an individual is paid after a certain/fixed number of boxes are packed.

Variable Ratio – rewards given after varying number of responses. Example, gambling, clot machines, lottery, bingo. This is the most difficult to extinguish.

Fixed Interval – rewards given after a fixed period of time. Example, weekly or monthly salary.

Variable Interval – rewards given after varying periods of time. Example, a pop quiz. This will likely increase studying behavior.

Continuous Reinforcement: pattern of reinforcement in which every occurrence of a particular response is reinforced

Partial Reinforcement: occurrence of a particular response is only sometimes followed by a reinforcer

Extinction: gradual weakening and disappearance of conditioned behavior

• occurs when an emitted behavior is no longer followed by a reinforcer

Partial reinforcement effect: behaviors that are conditioned using partial reinforcement are more resistant to extinction than behaviors that are conditioned using continuous reinforcement

Punishment - The presentation of a stimulus or event following a behavior that acts to decrease the likelihood of the behavior’s being repeated

Latent and Observational Learning

Latent Learning (Edward Tolman) - Learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement but is not behaviorally demonstrated until a reinforcer becomes available

Observational Learning - Learning that occurs through observing the actions of others

Bobo doll experiment (Albert Bandura) - Children watched a film showing an adult playing aggressively with an inflated Bobo doll. If they saw the adult rewarded with candy for the aggressive behavior or experienced no consequences, the children were much more likely to imitate the behavior than if they saw the adult being punished for the aggressive behavior.

Chapter 9: Lifespan Development

Genetics

Zygote - the single cell formed at conception from the union of the egg cell and sperm cell

Chromosomes (X and Y) - a long, threadlike structure composed of twisted parallel strands of DNA

• Biological sex is determined by the 23rd pair of chromosomes, the sex chromosomes. While every egg cell has one X chromosome, every sperm cell has either one X or one Y chromosome. Whether a zygote develops into a male or a female depends on whether the egg is fertilized by a sperm cell with a Y chromosome (XY, resulting in a male) or by a sperm cell with an X chromosome (XX, resulting in a female).

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) - stores the inherited information that guides the development of all living organisms

Gene - a unit of DNA on a chromosome that encodes instructions for making a particular protein molecule

Genotype - the genetic makeup of an individual organism

Phenotype - the observable traits or characteristics of an organism as determined by the interaction of genetics and environmental factors

Epigenetics - the observable traits or characteristics of an organism as determined by the interaction of genetics and environmental factors

Stem cells - cells that can divide indefinitely, renew themselves, and give rise to a variety of other types of cells

Conception - chromosomes from the biological mother and father combine to form a single cell, the fertilized egg or zygote.

• Monozygotic/Identical twins: one fertilized egg (ovum) splits and develops into two babies with identical genetic information

• Dizygotic/Fraternal twins: two eggs (ova) are fertilized by two sperm and produce two genetically unique children

Different genotypes react differently to environmental factors.

Development

Developmental Psychology - The study of how people change physically, cognitively, and socially throughout the lifespan

Basic stages of development

• Prenatal: Conception to birth

• Infancy and toddlerhood: Birth to 2 years

• Early childhood: 2 to 6 years

• Middle childhood: 6 to 12 years

• Adolescence: 12 to 18 years

• Emerging adulthood: 18 to 25 years

• Young adulthood: 25 to 40 years

• Middle adulthood: 40 to 65 years

• Late adulthood: 65 years to death

Prenatal stage - the stage of development before birth that is divided into the germinal, embryonic, and fetal period

Brain Development

Amniotic sac - a fluid-filled house that protects the embryo

Umbilical cord - delivers nourishment, oxygen, and water and carries away carbon dioxide and other wastes

Placenta - a disk-shaped vascular organ that acts as a filter, preventing the mother’s blood from directly mingling with that of the developing embryo

Teratogens - agents or substances that can potentially ham the developing fetus

• Exposure to radiation, toxic chemicals and metals, viruses and bacteria, prescription painkillers and other prescription/nonprescription drugs, addicting drugs, smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke, alcohol (fetal alcohol syndrome)

  • FAS - Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Periods of Prenatal Development

• Sperm + Ova/Ovum

• Fertilization/Conception

• Germinal - also called the zygotic period, represents the first two weeks of prenatal development.

  • From fertilization to implantation

  • Rapid cell division

  • Lasts about 2 weeks

• Embryonic - the second period of prenatal development, extending from the third week through the eighth week. This period is a time of rapid growth and intensive cell differentiation.

  • All organs and major body systems are formed

  • The embryo is protected by the amniotic sac

  • Umbilical cord extends to placenta

• Fetal - the third and longest period of prenatal development, extending from the ninth week until birth. Main task during this period is for body systems to grow and reach maturity in preparation for life outside the mother’s body.

Temperament - inborn predispositions to consistently behave and react in a certain way

• Easy, difficult, slow-to-warm-up (Thomas & Chess, 1977)

• High-reactive, low-reaction (Kagan, 2010)

Attachment - the emotional bond that forms between an infant and caregiver(s), especially their parents

Cognitive Stages

• Sensorimotor stage - the first stage of cognitive development, from birth to about age 2, the period during which infants acquire knowledge about the world through actions that allow them to directly experience and manipulate objects, such as what objects look like and how they taste, feel, smell, and sound

  • Object permanence - the understanding that an object continues to exist even if it can’t be seen

• Preoperational stage - the second stage of cognitive development, which lasts from about age 2 to age 7 and is characterized by increasing use of symbols and prelogical thought processes

  • Symbolic thought - the ability to use words, images, and symbols to represent the world

  • Egocentrism (or irreversibility in Piagnet’s theory) - the inability to take another person’s perspective or point of view

  • Centration - the tendency to focus, or center, on only one aspect of a situation, and ignore other important aspects of the situation

  • Conservation - the understanding that two equal quantities remain equal even if the form or appearance is rearranged, as long as nothing is added or subtracted

• Concrete operational stage - the third stage of cognitive development, which lasts from, about age 7 to adolescence and characterized by the ability to think logically about concrete objects and situations

• Formal operational stage - the fourth stage of cognitive development, which lasts from adolescence through adulthood and is characterized by thinking logically about abstract principles and hypothetical situations

Newborn reflexes:

• Rooting - turning head and opening mouth in direction of a touch on cheek

• Sucking - sucking rhythmically in response to oral stimulation

• Babinski - fanning and curling toes when foot is stroked

• Grasping - baby grips your finger so tightly that it can be lifted upright

• Stepping - moving legs as if trying to walk

Birth Cohort - A group of people born at a similar point in history and share similar experiences as a result. Such as living through the Vietnam war or growing up in the same city around the same time.

Developmental Theorists

Longitudinal study - Follow the same sample of people over time

Cross-section study - Interview a fresh sample of people each time they are carried out

• Jean Piaget (4 stages)

  • Birth to 2 years (Sensimotor): Child uses existing reflexes

  • Preoperational Stage (2-7 years): Child uses words and symbols

  • Concrete-operational Stage (7-12 years): Child shows the beginnings of the capacity for adult logic

  • Formal-operational Stage (12 years and older): Children show logical thought and the ability to hypothesize

• Erik Erikson (8 stages)

  • Birth - 1 year: Trust vs. Mistrust

  • 1-3 years: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

  • 4-5 years: Initiative vs. Guilt

  • 6-12 years: Industry vs. Inferiority

  • Adolescence: Identity vs. Role Diffusion (or Confusion)

  • Young Adulthood: Intimacy vs. Isolation

  • Middle Adulthood: Generativity vs. Stagnation

  • Late Adulthood: Integrity vs. Despair

• Lev Vygotsky

  • Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) – refers to the gap between what a given child can achieve alone, their potential development as determined by independent problem solving, and what they can achieve through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.

  • Scaffolding – temporary support that help the child learn to function independently

Parenting Styles

• Authoritative - Parenting style in which parents set clear standards for their children’s behavior but are also responsive to their children’s needs and wishes

  • Children tend to be cheerful, self-reliant, and self-disciplined

• Authoritarian - Parenting style in which parents are demanding and unresponsive toward their children’s needs or wishes

  • Children tend to be unhappy, resentful, and rebellious

• Permissive - Parenting style in which parents are extremely tolerant and not demanding; permissive-indulgent parents are responsive, warm, and accepting to their children, while permissive-indifferent parents are unresponsive and uncontrolling

  • Children tend to be immature, impulsive, and aggressive

Grief – Kubler-Ross (Stages of Death & Dying)

1. Denial

2. Anger

3. Bargaining

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

Chapter 11: Personality

Personality is an individual’s unique and relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Personality theory is a theory that attempts to describe and explain similarities and differences in people’s patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

• psychoanalytic - emphasizes the importance of unconscious processes and the influence of early childhood experience

• humanistic - represents an optimistic look at human nature, emphasizing the self and fulfillment of a person’s unique potential

• social cognitive - emphasizes learning and conscious cognitive processes, including the importance of beliefs about the self, goal setting, and self-regulation

• trait perspective - emphasize the description and measurement of specific personality differences among individuals

Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory of Personality

Psychoanalysis - Freud’s theory of personality that stresses the influence of unconscious and mental processes, the importance of sexual and aggressive instincts, and the enduring effects of early childhood experience on later personality development

Unconscious - Freud’s term to describe thoughts, feelings, wishes, and drives that are operating below the level of conscious awareness

Psychosexual stages - Freud’s theory, age-related developmental periods in which the child’s sexual impulses are focused on different body areas and are expressed through the activities associated with those areas

• Oral (Birth/Infancy to one year): weaning

• Anal (1 to 3 years): potty training

• Phallic (3-6 years): sexual identity

• Latency (7-11 years or to puberty onset): learning (repressed sexual impulses)

• Genital (adolescence through adulthood): genital intercourse

Defense Mechanisms - largely unconscious distortions of thoughts or perceptions that act to reduce anxiety

• Repression - complete exclusion from consciousness of anxiety-producing thoughts, feelings, or impulses; the most basic defense mechanism

• Displacement - redirection of emotional impulses toward a substitute person or object, usually one less threatening or dangerous than the original source of conflict

• Sublimation - form of displacement in which sexual urges are rechanneled into productive, nonsexual activities

• Rationalization - justifying one’s actions or feelings with socially acceptable explanations rather than consciously acknowledging one’s true motives or desires

• Projection - the attribution of one’s own unacceptable urges or qualities to others

• Reaction formation - thinking or behaving in a way that is the extreme opposite of unacceptable urges or impulses

• Denial - the failure to recognize or acknowledge the existence of anxiety-provoking information

• Regression - retreating to a behavior pattern characteristic of an earlier stage of development

tEgo, Superego, Id

• Id: the completely unconscious irrational component of personality that seeks immediate satisfaction of instinctual urges and drives (pleasure)

  • Pleasure principle - the fundamental human motive to obtain pleasure and avoid tension or discomfort

• Ego: the partly conscious rational component of personality that regulates thoughts and behavior, and is most in touch with the demands of the external world (reality)

  • Reality principle - the capacity to postpone gratification until the appropriate time or circumstances exist in the eternal world

• Supergo: the partly conscious, self-evaluative, moralistic component of personality that is formed through the internalization of parental and societal rules (morality)

Freudian Slip - unconscious slips of tongue, such as saying the name of an ex when in a romantic situation with a new person

Fixation - result of an unresolved developmental conflict

Oedipus complex - a child’s unconscious sexual desire for the opposite-sex parent, usually accompanied by hostile feelings toward the same-sex parent

Neo-Freudians

Karen Horney

• trained in psychoanalysis.

• regarded as the founder of feminine psychiatry focusing on the psychiatric of women and feminist psychology

• advocated that the differences between men and women were in culture and socialization rather than biology

• highly critical of Freud's theories of psychosexual development

Carl Jung

• rejected the belief that human behavior was fueled by instinctual drives

• believed that personality continues to develop throughout the lifespan

• studied different cultures to develop his theory, "analytical psychology."

• believed the deepest part of the individual psyche is the collective unconscious

  • collective unconscious is the hypothesized part of the unconscious mind that is inherited from previous generations and that contains universally shared ancestral experiences and ideas

Alfred Adler

• founder of "individual psychology"

• emphasized the importance of conscious thought processes

• inferiority complex

• striving for superiority

Social Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive Theory - Bandura’s theory of personality, which emphasizes the importance of conscious cognitive processes, social experiences, self-efficacy beliefs, and reciprocal determinism

Albert Bandura

• research demonstrated that we learn many behaviors by observing others, imitating

• our environment influences our thoughts and behaviors and our thoughts and behaviors influence the environment

• self-efficacy: beliefs that people have about their ability to meet the demands of a specific situation; feelings of self-confidence

• reciprocal determinism: Bandura’s model that explains human functioning and personality as caused by the interaction of behavioral, cognitive, and environmental factors

  

Humanistic Perspective on Personality

Self-growth, self-actualization, reaching full potential

Carl Rogers - focused on growth and potential

• unconditional positive regard: the child’s sense that they will be valued and loved even if they don’t conform to the standards and expectations of others

• conditional positive regard: the sense that the child is valued and loved only when they behave in a way that is acceptable to others

• actualizing tendency: the basic human motive; the innate drive to maintain and enhance the human organism

• self-concept: the set of perceptions and beliefs that you hold about yourself

  • congruence: sense of self is consistent with their emotions and experiences

Abraham Maslow

• we all strive to fulfill our full potential

• believed everyone is motivated to meet self-actualization

• peak experiences

• hierarchy of human needs

Limitations

• Too optimistic

• Difficult to test

Trait Perspective

Trait - relatively stable, enduring predisposition to consistently behave in a certain way

Trait theory - a theory of personality that focuses on identifying, describing, and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions

Surface traits - personality characteristics or attributes that can be easily inferred from observable behaviors

Source traits - the broad, basic traits that are hypothesized to be universal and relatively few in number

The "Five-Factor" Model of Personality Traits

Robert McCrae and Paul Costa, Jr. (1996, 2003, 2004)

1. Openness to experience - the extent to which people are original, imaginative, questioning, artistic, and capable of divergent (creative) thinking

2. Conscientiousness - the degree to which people are responsible, persevering, steadfast, tidy, and scrupulous

3. Introversion versus Extroversion - the extent to which people are outgoing or shy

4. Agreeableness - the extent to which people are good-natured, gentle, cooperative, and secure

5. Neuroticism - the extent to which people are emotionally unstable, anxious, impulsive, unrealistic, and negative

Behavioral genetics - an interdisciplinary field that studies the effects of genes and heredity on behavior

Personality testing

Psychological test - a test that assesses a person’s abilities, aptitudes, interests, or personality based on a systematically obtained sample of behavior

• Objective tests – type of psychological test in which a person’s responses to standardized questions are compared to established norms

  • reliability - consistency of the results

  • validity - that the tests measure what they purport to measure

  • standardization - the process of making something conform to a standard

• Projective tests – a type of personality test that involves a person’s interpreting an ambiguous image

  • measures aspects of personality

  • goal is to reflect a person’s characteristics and to predict future behavior

  • project motives, conflicts, and other personality characteristics into the story that is created

  • subjective

  • based on psychodynamic theory

  • provide qualitative information, fails to produce consistent results, poor at predicting future behavior, information can facilitate psychotherapy

Chapter 12: Social Psychology

Social psychology is a branch of psychology that investigates how a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced by the presence of other people and by the social and physical environment.

Sense of self - sense of who you are in relation to other people, a unique sense of identity influenced by social, cultural, and psychological experiences.

Social cognition: mental processes people use to make sense of their social environments.

• person perception - mental processes we use to form judgments about other people

• social categorization - mental processes of categorizing people into groups (or social categories) on the basis of their shared characteristics

• implicit personality theory - associates physical attractiveness with a wide range of desirable characteristics, particularly with respect to faces

• attribution - mental process of inferring the cause of someone’s behavior, including one’s own

• stereotype - a cluster of characteristics that are associated with all members of a specific social group, often including quantities that are unrelated to the objective criteria that define the group

• explicit cognition - conscious mental processes involved in perceptions, judgments, decisions, and reasoning

• implicit cognition - unconscious or automatic mental processes that influence perceptions, judgments, decisions, and reasoning

Interpersonal context - situations that involve interactions between two or more people

Social influence - the effect of situational factors and other people on an individual’s behavior

Social norms: unwritten “rules,” or expectations, for appropriate behavior in a particular social situation.

We tend to believe that physical attractiveness equates to intelligence, happiness, and better adjustment.

Attitudes are learned and have three components:

• cognitive component - beliefs, thoughts, ideas about the attitude object

• behavioral component - predisposition to act in a particular way

• emotional component - feelings and emotions and the attitude object

Fundamental attribution error – the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal, personal characteristics, while ignoring or underestimating the role of external, situational factors

• Blaming the victim - the tendency to blame an innocent victim of misfortune for having somehow caused the problem or for not having taken steps to avoid it

• Hindsight bias - the tendency, after an event has occurred, to overestimate the extent to which one could have foreseen or predicted the outcome

• Self-serving bias - the tendency to attribute successful outcomes of one’s own behavior to internal causes and unsuccessful outcomes to external, situational causes

Intersectionality - the ways in which a person’s different group identities combine to influence their experience in the world

What is stereotype threat? Fear that you will be evaluated in terms of a negative stereotype about a group to which you belong creates anxiety and self-doubt, lowering performance

What is cognitive dissonance? The discomfort experienced when holding two or more conflicting cognitions (ideas, beliefs, values, or emotional reactions)

Conformity - Adjusting opinions, judgements, or behaviors so that they match those of other people, or the norms of a social group or situation

• Normative social influence - behavior motivated by the desire to gain social acceptance and approval

• Informative social influence - behavior motivated by the desire to be correct

Solomon Asch Experiment on Conformity - Consisted of a group “vision test”, where study participants were found to be more likely to conform to obviously wrong answers if first given by other “participants”, who were actually working for the experimenter

Obedience - The performance of a behavior in response to a direct command

Destructive obedience

• Milgram Obedience Study

  • Controversial series of experiments examining the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to shock a fake test subject who pretended to feel pain.

• Stanford Prison Study

  • Carried out August 15-21, 1971 in the basement of Jordan Hall, the Stanford Prison Experiment set out to examine the psychological effects of authority and powerlessness in a prison environment. The study, led by psychology professor Philip G. Zimbardo, recruited Stanford students using a local newspaper ad.

Prejudice: Robbers Cave Experiment

• two groups of boys participated in a series of competitive games

• group rivalry was ended when groups had to work together to achieve common goal

• experiment demonstrated how group hostility could be created and overcome

• group differences were artificial differences; groups were very homogeneous.

Prejudice - a negative attitude toward people who belong to a specific group

Ingroup/Outgroup Bias

• in-group: social group to which one belongs

• out-group: social group to which one does not belong “them”

The Bystander Effect

• Phenomenon in which the greater number of people present, the less likely each individual is to help someone in distress

Diffusion of responsibility - obligation to intervene is shared among all the onlookers

Altruism - helping another person with no expectation of personal reward or benefit

Prosocial behavior - any behavior that helps another person, whether the underlying motive is self-serving or selfless

Aggression -verbal or physical behavior intended to cause harm to other people

Deindividuation - reduction of self-awareness and inhibitions that can occur when a person is part of a group whose members feel anonymous

• vandalism

• cyber bullying

• mob/friot

Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders

Psychopathology – The scientific study of the origins, symptoms, and development of psychological disorders

The DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) - Set of guidelines for diagnosing psychological disorders

In 2021, one fifth of Americans had a mental illness within the past year.

Psychological disorder - A pattern of behavioral or psychological symptoms that causes significant personal distress, impairs the ability to function in one or more important areas of life

Anxiety - An unpleasant emotional state characterized by physical arousal and feelings of tension, apprehension, and worry

• Anxiety disorders - a category of psychological disorders in which extreme anxiety is the main diagnostic feature and causes significant disruptions in the person’s cognitive, behavioral, or interpersonal functioning (PTSD, OCD)

• Generalized anxiety disorders (GAD) - an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, global, and persistent symptoms of anxiety

Panic Attack - a sudden episode of extreme anxiety that rapidly escalates in intensity

Panic Disorder - an anxiety disorder in which the person experiences frequent and unexpected panic attacks

Agoraphobia - an anxiety disorder involving extreme fear of suffering a panic attack or other embarrassing or incapacitating symptoms in a public situation where escape is impossible and help is unavailable

Phobia - a persistent and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity

• Specific phobia - an excessive, intense, and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity that is actively avoided or endured with marked anxiety

Social anxiety disorder - an anxiety disorder involving the extreme and irrational fear of being embarrassed, judged, or scrutinized by others in social situations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - a disorder triggered by extreme trauma that results in intrusive memories; avoidance of stimuli; negative changes in thoughts and emotions; and a persistent state of heightened physical arousal

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - a disorder characterized by intrusive, repetitive, and unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels driven to perform (compulsions)

• Obsessions - repeated, intrusive, uncontrollable irrational thoughts or mental images that cause extreme anxiety and distress

• Compulsions - repetitive behaviors or mental acts that a person feels driven to perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety and distress or to prevent a dreaded event or situations

Major depressive disorder - a mood disorder characterized by extreme and persistent feelings of despondency, worthlessness, and hopelessness, causing impaired emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical functioning

Bipolar Disorder - a mood disorder involving periods of incapacitating depression alternating with periods of extreme euphoria and excitement; formerly called manic depression

• Bipolar treatment

Manic episode - a sudden, rapidly escalating emotional state characterized by extreme euphoria, excitement, physical energy, and rapid thoughts and speech

Eating disorders - category of psychological disorders characterized by severe disturbances in eating behavior

• Anorexia nervosa - an eating disorder characterized by excessive weight loss, an irrational fear of gaining weight, and distorted body self-perception

• Bulimia nervosa - an eating disorder characterized by binges of extreme overeating followed by self-induced voting, misuse of laxatives, or other methods to purge excess food and prevent weight gain

• Binge-eating disorder - bingeing behaviors

• Serotonin decreases in eating disorders.

Personality disorder - inflexible, maladaptive, and stable patterns of thoughts, emotions, behavior, and interpersonal functioning that deviate from the expectations of the individual’s cultures

• Antisocial personality disorder - a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregarding and violating the rights of others (psychopath, sociopath)

• Borderline personality disorder (BPD) - a personality disorder characterized by instability of interpersonal relationships, self-images, and emotions, and marked impulsivity

Dissociative experience - a break or disruption in consciousness during which awareness, memory, and personal identity become separated or divided

Dissociative disorders - a category of psychological disorders in which extreme and frequent disruption of awareness, memory, and personal identity impair the ability to function

• Dissociative amnesia - a dissociative disorder involving the partial or total inability to recall important information

• Dissociative fugue - a type of dissociative amnesia involving sudden and unexpected travel away from home, extensive amnesia, and identity confusion

• Dissociative identity disorder (DID) - a dissociative disorder involving extensive memory disruption for personal information along with the presence of two or more distinct identities, or “personalities,” within a single person

Schizophrenia - a psychological disorder in which the ability to function is impaired by severely distorted beliefs, perceptions, and thought processes

• Positive symptoms - excess or distortion of normal functioning including delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thoughts and behavior

• Negative symptoms - defects or deficits in normal functioning, including flat affect

• Risk of developing Schizophrenia

  • genetic factors

  • exposure to an influenza virus or other viral infection during prenatal development or shortly after birth

  • abnormal brain structures

  • imbalances in neurotransmitters

  • unhealthy families

Delusion – a false belief that persists despite compelling contradictory evidence

Hallucination – a false or distorted perception that seems vividly real to the person experiencing it