Psychology Review Notes (copy)
Chapter 9: Nature vs. Nurture & Development
Nature vs. Nurture: Explores the ongoing debate about the relative contributions of genetic inheritance (nature) and environmental factors (nurture) to the development of traits and behaviors. This includes how both genetic predispositions and environmental influences shape psychological and physical traits. Twin studies and adoption studies are often used to disentangle these influences.
Phenotype vs. Genotype:
Genotype: The genetic makeup of an individual, the specific set of genes inherited from their parents. This includes all the genes present, whether expressed or not.
Phenotype: The observable characteristics of an individual, resulting from the interaction of the genotype with the environment. Phenotype includes physical traits, behavior, and psychological characteristics.
Stages of Prenatal Development:
Zygote Stage: From conception to implantation in the uterine wall (approximately the first two weeks). During this stage, the zygote undergoes rapid cell division.
Embryonic Stage: Major organs and systems develop (from about 2 weeks to 8 weeks); most vulnerable to teratogens. This is a critical period for development.
Fetal Stage: Growth and refinement of organs (from 9 weeks until birth). The fetus continues to grow in size and complexity.
Teratogens: Environmental agents (drugs, viruses, etc.) that can cause harm to the developing embryo or fetus, especially during the embryonic stage when major organs are forming. Examples include alcohol (leading to fetal alcohol syndrome), tobacco, and certain medications.
Infant Reflexes: Automatic, unlearned responses to stimuli (e.g., rooting, sucking, grasping). These reflexes are crucial for survival and indicate normal neurological development.
Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory:
Summary: A stage theory describing how children's thinking processes develop from infancy to adolescence, involving qualitative changes in cognitive abilities.
Stages:
Sensorimotor (0-2 years): Object permanence develops (understanding that objects continue to exist even when not seen). Infants learn through sensory experiences and motor actions.
Preoperational (2-7 years): Symbolic thinking (ability to use symbols to represent objects and ideas), egocentrism (difficulty understanding others' perspectives). Children engage in pretend play but struggle with logical reasoning.
Concrete Operational (7-11 years): Logical thinking about concrete events (understanding conservation, reversibility). Children can perform logical operations but struggle with abstract concepts.
Formal Operational (12+ years): Abstract and hypothetical thinking (ability to think about possibilities and test hypotheses). Adolescents can engage in scientific reasoning and abstract thought.
Criticisms: Underestimates children's abilities, cultural biases (theory may not apply universally across cultures).
Thomas and Chess’s Temperaments:
Identified three basic temperament styles in infants:
Easy: Adaptable and positive, with regular routines.
Difficult: Irritable and irregular, with intense emotional reactions.
Slow-to-warm-up: Initially withdrawn but eventually adapts to new situations.
Jerome Kagan’s High-Reactive and Low-Reactive:
High-Reactive: Infants who are highly sensitive and easily distressed by new stimuli; may be more prone to anxiety later in life.
Low-Reactive: Infants who are less sensitive and less easily distressed; may be more outgoing and less inhibited.
Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD):
The difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner (scaffolding).
Emphasizes the importance of social interaction in cognitive development. Learning occurs through collaboration and mentorship.
Lawrence Kohlberg’s Moral Development:
Preconventional: Morality is based on self-interest (punishment and reward). Decisions are made to avoid punishment or gain rewards.
Conventional: Morality is based on social rules and laws. Emphasis is on maintaining social order and gaining approval.
Postconventional: Morality is based on abstract principles and values. Individuals develop their own moral code based on universal ethical principles.
Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development:
A stage theory of psychosocial development spanning the entire lifespan, with each stage characterized by a specific crisis or conflict to resolve (e.g., trust vs. mistrust in infancy).
Kubler-Ross’s Stages of Dying:
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. These stages represent a common framework for understanding the emotional process of facing death.
Activity Theory of Aging:
Successful aging involves maintaining social connections and engaging in activities. Staying active and involved helps maintain life satisfaction.
Differences Between Early and Late Maturing Girls and Boys:
Early-maturing boys: Tend to have more positive self-image and social advantages. Often seen as more mature and popular.
Late-maturing boys: May experience social anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. May be teased or feel less physically capable.
Early-maturing girls: May experience social and emotional difficulties, increased risk of depression and anxiety. Can face challenges related to body image and social expectations.
Late-maturing girls: May experience social advantages and better body image in the long run. Often have more time to develop their identity and self-esteem before facing societal pressures.
Parenting Styles:
Authoritative: High warmth, high control (best outcomes). Parents set clear expectations but are also supportive and responsive.
Authoritarian: Low warmth, high control. Parents are strict and demanding, with little room for negotiation.
Permissive: High warmth, low control. Parents are lenient and avoid setting limits.
Uninvolved: Low warmth, low control (worst outcomes). Parents are neglectful and do not provide guidance or support.
Chapter 11: Personality
Personality Theories vs. Trait Theories:
Personality Theories: Attempt to explain the whole person and how various factors interact to shape personality (e.g., psychodynamic, humanistic theories).
Trait Theories: Focus on identifying and measuring stable personality characteristics or traits (e.g., Five-Factor Model).
Conscious/Preconscious/Unconscious:
Conscious: Thoughts and feelings we are currently aware of. The level of mental activity we are directly aware of.
Preconscious: Thoughts and feelings that can be easily brought into awareness. Memories or stored knowledge.
Unconscious: Thoughts and feelings that are hidden from awareness but influence behavior. Repressed desires or conflicts.
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages:
Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages; each stage is associated with a particular erogenous zone and conflict. Unresolved conflicts can lead to fixations.
Neo-Freudians:
Karen Horney: Emphasized the role of cultural and social factors in personality development, and challenged Freud's concept of penis envy. Focused on the impact of social relationships on personality.
Alfred Adler: Focused on the importance of feelings of inferiority and the drive for superiority. People are motivated to overcome feelings of inadequacy.
Carl Rogers:
Conditional Positive Regard: Acceptance and love that are dependent on meeting certain conditions. Can lead to incongruence between self-concept and experience.
Unconditional Positive Regard: Acceptance and love that are given freely and without conditions. Promotes self-acceptance and personal growth.
Reciprocal Determinism:
The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment. Proposed by Albert Bandura, suggesting a dynamic interplay between these factors.
Self-Efficacy:
Belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task. Influences motivation, persistence, and resilience.
Hans Eysenck:
Proposed two main personality dimensions: introversion-extroversion and neuroticism-stability. Later added a third dimension: psychoticism.
Raymond Cattell:
Surface Traits: Observable traits (e.g., shyness).
Source Traits: Underlying traits that influence surface traits; identified through factor analysis (e.g., introversion).
Factor Analysis: A statistical technique used to identify clusters of related traits. Used to reduce the number of traits to a smaller set of underlying factors.
Five Factor Model (Big Five):
Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism. A widely accepted model of personality traits.
HEXACO Model:
Honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience. An alternative to the Five Factor Model with the addition of honesty-humility.
Possible Selves:
Representations of our future selves; what we hope to become (ideal self) and what we fear becoming (feared self). Influence goal-setting and motivation.
Self-Report Inventories vs. Projective Tests:
Self-Report Inventories: Objective questionnaires where individuals answer questions about their behaviors and feelings (e.g., MMPI). Standardized and easy to administer.
Projective Tests: Present ambiguous stimuli to elicit responses that reflect unconscious aspects of personality (e.g., Rorschach inkblot test, TAT). Subjective and require skilled interpretation.
Chapter 12: Social Psychology
Sense of Self:
An individual's awareness of their own identity, qualities, and characteristics. Includes self-concept, self-esteem, and social identity.
Person Perception:
The process of forming impressions of others. Influenced by physical appearance, nonverbal cues, and social behavior.
Explicit Cognition and Implicit Cognition:
Explicit Cognition: Conscious and deliberate mental processes. Involves controlled thinking and reasoning.
Implicit Cognition: Unconscious and automatic mental processes. Operates outside of awareness.
Implicit Personality Theory:
Assumptions about the relationships among personality traits. Influences how we interpret and predict others' behavior.
In-Group, In-Group Homogeneity, Out-Group:
In-Group: A group to which one belongs. Individuals tend to favor and feel more positively towards members of their in-group.
In-Group Homogeneity: The tendency to see members of one's in-group as more similar to each other than members of out-groups. Overestimating the similarity of in-group members.
Out-Group: A group to which one does not belong. Often viewed as more homogeneous than the in-group.
Self-Serving Bias vs. Self-Effacing Bias:
Self-Serving Bias: The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors. Enhances self-esteem.
Self-Effacing Bias: The tendency to attribute successes to external factors and failures to internal factors (more common in collectivist cultures). Promotes group harmony.
Blaming the Victim:
The tendency to blame individuals for their misfortune. Attributing responsibility to the victim rather than situational factors.
Hindsight Bias:
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. "I knew it all along" phenomenon.
Cognitive Dissonance:
Psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors. Motivates individuals to reduce the dissonance.
Attitude:
A positive or negative evaluation of a person, object, or idea. Can influence behavior.
Stereotype:
A generalized belief about a group of people. Can be positive or negative.
Discrimination:
Unjustified negative behavior toward a group and its members. Based on prejudice and stereotypes.
Helping Behavior:
Prosocial behavior: Any behavior that helps another person.
Altruism: Helping behavior that is motivated by a selfless concern for others. No expectation of personal gain.
Factors That Increase and Decrease Helping:
Increase: Empathy, feeling of responsibility, belief that one can make a difference. Presence of others who are also helping.
Decrease: Bystander effect, diffusion of responsibility, ambiguity of the situation. Lack of competence to help.
Bandura’s Findings on Aggression:
Modeling and observational learning play a significant role in the acquisition of aggressive behaviors. Children learn aggression by observing aggressive role models.
Chapter 13: Stress and Health Psychology
Stress: A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. Can have both psychological and physiological effects.
Health Psychology: A field that integrates psychological factors in health and illness. Focuses on promoting health and preventing illness.
Psychoimmunology: The study of the interaction between psychological processes and the immune system. Explores how stress and emotions can affect immune function.
Daily Hassles vs. Major Life Events:
Daily Hassles: Minor everyday stressors that can accumulate and impact health (e.g., traffic, arguments). Can lead to chronic stress.
Major Life Events: Significant changes or disruptions that can cause stress (e.g., marriage, divorce). Require significant adjustment.
Racism and Stress:
Microaggressions: Subtle, often unintentional, expressions of prejudice that can contribute to chronic stress. Can have cumulative negative effects on mental and physical health.
Acculturative Stress:
Stress experienced by individuals when adapting to a new culture. Results from the challenges of navigating a new environment and cultural norms.
Gender Differences and the Response to Stress/Daily Stressors:
Women tend to report more daily stressors than men. May be due to differences in social roles and responsibilities.
Walter Cannon/Hans Selye’s Pathways to Stress Response:
Walter Cannon: Fight-or-flight response (sympathetic nervous system activation). Rapid physiological response to acute stress.
Hans Selye: General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): alarm, resistance, exhaustion. Describes the body's long-term response to stress.
Sheldon Cohen’s Findings on Relationship b/w Chronic Stress and Common Cold:
Chronic stress weakens the immune system, increasing susceptibility to illness. Stress impairs the body's ability to fight off infections.
Martin Seligman:
Optimistic Explanatory Style: Explaining negative events as temporary, specific, and external. Promotes resilience and coping.
Pessimistic Explanatory Style: Explaining negative events as stable, global, and internal. Associated with depression and helplessness.
Friedman and Rosenman:
Type A Behavior Pattern: Competitive, impatient, hostile. Associated with increased risk of heart disease.
Type B Behavior Pattern: Relaxed, easygoing. Less prone to stress-related health problems.
The Link b/w Sense of Control and Stress:
A greater sense of control is associated with lower levels of stress. Feeling in control allows individuals to manage stressors more effectively.
Difference b/w Tangible, Informational, and Emotional Support:
Tangible Support: Providing material resources or assistance (e.g., lending money).
Informational Support: Providing advice or guidance (e.g., offering tips).
Emotional Support: Providing empathy, care, and encouragement (e.g., listening).
Emotion-Focused Coping and Problem-Focused Coping Strategies:
Emotion-Focused Coping: Managing the emotional distress associated with a stressor (e.g., meditation). Useful when the stressor is uncontrollable.
Problem-Focused Coping: Addressing the stressor directly (e.g., problem-solving). Effective when the stressor is controllable.
Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders
Normal Behavior vs. Abnormal Behavior:
Normal Behavior: Behavior that is typical, acceptable, and adaptive. Varies across cultures and situations.
Abnormal Behavior: Behavior that is atypical, disturbing, maladaptive, and unjustifiable. Deviates from social norms and causes distress or impairment.
Normal Anxiety vs. Abnormal Anxiety:
Normal Anxiety: A common emotion experienced in response to stress. Adaptive and helps individuals prepare for challenges.
Abnormal Anxiety: Excessive, persistent, and impairing anxiety. Interferes with daily functioning.
DSM-5:
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition; used to classify and diagnose mental disorders. Provides standardized criteria for diagnosis.
Disorders:
Panic Disorder: Recurrent, unexpected panic attacks. Characterized by intense fear and physical symptoms.
Agoraphobia: Fear of situations where escape might be difficult or help might not be available. Often associated with panic disorder.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Persistent and excessive worry. Individuals experience chronic anxiety about various aspects of life.
Social Anxiety Disorder: Fear of social situations where one might be scrutinized by others. Leads to avoidance of social interactions.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Development of symptoms following exposure to a traumatic event. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, and hypervigilance.
Specific Phobia: Excessive fear of a specific object or situation. Leads to avoidance of the feared stimulus.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Presence of two or more distinct personality states. Formerly known as multiple personality disorder.
Dissociative Fugue: Sudden, unexpected travel away from home with amnesia for one's past. Often occurs in response to severe stress.
Bipolar Disorder: Mood disorder characterized by alternating episodes of mania and depression. Involves extreme shifts in mood and energy.
Major Depressive Disorder: Persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and loss of interest. Significantly impairs daily functioning.
Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia): A chronic form of depression with milder symptoms. Lasts for at least two years.
Anorexia Nervosa: Restriction of food intake leading to significantly low body weight. Characterized by a distorted body image and fear of gaining weight.
Bulimia Nervosa: Binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors. Compensatory behaviors include vomiting, laxative use, or excessive exercise.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Presence of obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessions are intrusive thoughts, and compulsions are repetitive behaviors.
Schizophrenia: A chronic brain disorder that affects a person's thinking, feeling, and behavior. Characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking.
Borderline Personality Disorder: Instability in relationships, self-image, and affect. Individuals experience intense emotional swings and impulsivity.
Antisocial Personality Disorder: Disregard for and violation of the rights of others. Characterized by a lack of empathy and remorse.
Chapter 15: Treatment
Broad Categories of Treatment:
Psychotherapy: Involves talking to a therapist to address psychological problems.
Biomedical therapy: Involves using medication or other medical interventions to treat psychological disorders.
Education Level and Ability to Treat:
Training and education influence the scope of treatment a professional can provide. Different levels of training are required for different types of therapy.
Psychoanalytic Therapy Techniques:
Free association: Patients say whatever comes to mind without censoring themselves.
Dream analysis: Interpreting the symbolic meaning of dreams.
Interpretation: Therapists interpret patients' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to uncover unconscious conflicts.
Humanistic Therapy:
Client-Centered Therapy: Empathy, unconditional positive regard, genuineness. Therapists create a supportive environment for clients to explore their feelings.
Behavioral Therapy:
Systematic Desensitization: Gradual exposure to feared stimuli while practicing relaxation techniques. Used to treat phobias and anxiety disorders.
Anxiety Hierarchy: A list of feared stimuli ranked from least to most anxiety-provoking. Used in systematic desensitization.
Progressive Relaxation: A technique for reducing anxiety by tensing and relaxing muscle groups. Used to promote relaxation during exposure.
Virtual Reality Therapy: Using virtual reality to simulate feared situations. Provides a safe and controlled environment for exposure.
Aversive Conditioning: Pairing an unwanted behavior with an aversive stimulus. Used to reduce unwanted behaviors such as smoking or drinking.
Operant Conditioning Techniques: Using reinforcement and punishment to modify behavior. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is an example of operant conditioning used to treat autism.
REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy) and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy):
Focus on identifying and changing maladaptive thoughts and behaviors. Help individuals challenge irrational beliefs and develop more adaptive coping strategies.
Advantages of Group Therapy:
Social support, reduced isolation, cost-effectiveness. Allows individuals to share their experiences and learn from others.
ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) and Lithium:
ECT: Used primarily to treat severe depression. Involves inducing a brief seizure to alleviate symptoms.
Lithium: Used to treat bipolar disorder. Helps stabilize mood and prevent manic and depressive episodes.
Typical vs. Atypical Antipsychotic Medications:
Typical Antipsychotics: Primarily block dopamine receptors. Effective in reducing positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
Atypical Antipsychotics: Affect dopamine and serotonin receptors. Effective in reducing both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
Impact of 1st Generation Antidepressant Medications:
Increased levels of neurotransmitters in the brain; associated with side effects. Include TCAs and MAOIs.