443 terms

Psychology Part 2

What is a motive?
A stimulus that moves a person to benave in ways designed to accomplish a specific goal.
The psychology of motivation deals with the ______________ of behavior.
What are some biological needs people have that motivate them?
Oxygen and food
What are some psychological needs people have that motivate them?
Achievement, self esteem, & social approval
The psychology of emotion deals with the "why's" of behavior:
What are instincts?
Behavior patterns that are genetically transmitted from generation to generation
Do today's psychologists believe that motivation is driven by instincts?
People and animals experience a ____________ arising from a ___________ as an unpleasant ____________.
drive; need; tension
So according to this theory, people mainly try to reduce that _________.
What is homeostasis?
The tendency to maintain the state of equilibrium, or balance
According to this theory people are driven by what kind of growth and fulfillment?
Personal growth and artistic fulfillment
What was Maslow's theory of needs?
that people strive to fulfill their capacity for self actualization.
What is self actualization?
the need to become what one believe she or she is capable of being
When can people achieve self actualization?
He believed that people begin to fulfill higher psychological needs, such as achievement, only after their basic survival needs, such as hunger, or thirst, have been met.
How do cultural experiences affect us?
even if basic drives such as hunger or thirst are inborn, cultural experiences and factors influence the behavior that people use to satisfy those drives.
The idea that people are motivated to reduce unwelcome tension or feelings is part of which theory on motivation?
c. Drive Reduction
What are stimulus motives?
Desires for stimulation
Describe the sensory deprivation experiment:
Students were placed in a dull room with out sensory stimulation and the students either fell asleep, got bored, or had hallucinations. Some of the students quit after the first day and others that completed the experiment reported ill feelings afterward
What was learned from the sensory deprivation experiment?
The experiment demonstrated the importance of sensory stimulation to human beings
Human beings and other organisms are motivated to reduce the tension or stimulation caused by biological drives such as hunger or thirst. The hungry person who has a bite to eat wants to reduce the feeling of being hungry.
However, we experience psychological needs as well as biological.
How do psychologists determine who is or is not a sensation seeker?
psychologists call those who are happiest when they are out engaging in physical activities sensation seekers
People who are driven to get ahead, to ___________ challenges, and to meet high personal ______________ of success are said to have high __________motivation.
tackle; standards; achievement
What are performance goals?
specific goals such as gaining admission to college, earning the approval of parents or teachers, or even avoiding criticism
What are learning goals?
learning for learning's sake is the most powerful motivator
How are these two types of goals slightly different?
Performace goals are reached in order to obtain a reward.
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards?
Extrinsic rewards include good grades, a good income, and respect from others. On the other hand, learning goals are usually satisfied by internal or intrinsic rewards, such as self satisfaction.
How do parents affect achievement motivation?
Their attitude affects motivation
In what ways to parents affect achievement motiation?
c. Parents who simply reward their children for good grades with toys or money do not push them towards achievement motivation. Parents who help set goals and are encouraging their children to do good work help with achievement motivation.
What is the definition of an emotion?
States of feelings
How do emotions trigger activity in the nervous system?
anxiety triggers activity of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. When people are anxious, their hearts race. They breathe rapidly, sweat heavily, and tense their muscles.
What are the three instinctive emotions John B Watson believed that all humans are born with?
Fear, rage, and love
According to this theory, emotions come in _____________, with one emotion being followed by its _________________.
pairs; opposite
People then try to maintain ___________________.
Explain how in this theory there is a sensation followed by a behavior?
According to this view, when something happens to a person in a certain situation, the person quickly interprets the situation. The interpretation triggers body sensations that signal a feeling, or emotion. The emotion, in turn, triggers a behavior. For example, a person who is walking down the street and encounters a stray dog may sense that he or she is in danger. That person feels anxious (Body sensation) and quickly turns down the nearest side street to avoid the dog (behavior).
People's emotions ____________ rather than ___________ their behavioral reactions.
follow; cause
What are bodily response patterns?
Reactions such as fighting or fleeing
The Cannon Bard Theory: Emotions accompany the __________ responses that are _________ by an external stimulus.
bodily; aroused
A situation _______________ an external ___________________ that is processed in the brain.
triggers; stimulus
The brain then __________________ bodily changes and cognitive activity (The experience of the ___________________) simultaneously.
stimulates; emotion
What is the central question in this theory?
whether bodily responses and emotions do in fact occur at the same time
The theory that believes our thoughts and feelings come before behavior is the
a. Common sense approach
How do negative emotions negatively affect the body?
Heart disease, stroke, and diabetes
What kinds of things qualify as "toxic stress"?
What kinds of emotions and attitudes are qualified as emotional vitality and how do they impact the body?
A sense of enthusiasm, of hopefulness, of engagement in life, and the ability to face life's stresses with emotional balance- appears to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
____________ cuts the risk of heart disease in half.
How do social ties affect lifelong health and habits?
Participants with fewer social ties were more than twice as likely to die over the nine-year follow up period
Emotional states such as optimism and happiness or anxiety and depression are in what ways impacted by nature and nurture?
What percentage of each plays a role? Kubzansky concedes that psy- chological states such as anxiety or depression—or happiness and opti- mism—are forged by both nature and nurture. "They are 40-50 percent heritable, which means you may be born with the genetic predisposition
How can we instill positive thinking and happiness in children, as suggested by Kubzansky?
with the help of parents, teachers, pediatri- cians, sports coaches, school counsel- ors, mental health professionals, and policy makers
How can "living in the moment" help people become happy?
Do you find this difficult to achieve? allows them to put down their burdens; As a highschool student their our many things to worry about: grades, college, occupation, friends, family, cool crowd, etc. so no this is not an easy task
Achievement refers to the _______________ and skills gained from experience.
In your own words, how is achievement different from intelligence?
Achievement is experience and intelligence is the ability to learn
Intelligence can be defined as the ___________________to learn from experience, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with others.
Which best describes the relationship between achievement and intelligence?
b. Achievement provides a basis for intelligence, which is the ability to think rationally and the ability to learn. Achievement focuses on things you know you can do, such as content areas like history or math.
Gardner's Theory of
Multiple Intelligences
Interpersonal (in touch with one's own __________feelings)
Intrapersonal (sensitivity to ______________people's feelings)
Gardner refers to each of these as "an intelligence" because they are very different from one another. He also believes that each kind of intelligence is based in _________________areas of the brain.
What kinds of occupations accompany each intelligence?
Visual/spatial: navigator, sculptor, architect; existentialist: philosopher, theorist; interpersonal: counselor, politician, salesperson; intrapersonal: researcher, novelist, entrepreneur; bodily/kinesthetic: athlete, firefighter, actor; musical/rhythmic: musician, composer, disk jockey; verbal/linguistic: journalist, teacher, lawyer; logical/mathematical: engineer, programmer, accountants; naturalist: environmentalist, farmer, botanist
Sternberg's _____ Theory
According to this theory, intelligence _________:
includes 3 abilities
What is analytic intelligence?
Enables us to solve problems
What is creative intelligence?
Deal with new situations
What is practical intelligence?
Makes it possible for us to perform everyday tasks
Provide examples of how you would use each and when: analytical:
math class on a math problem; creative intelligence when you must come up with an add design that will get you the most buyers; practical intelligence brushing your teeth
Determining the cause and effects of the American Revolution would be using which type of intelligence in Sternberg's model? b
. Analytic
Psychologist Daniel Goleman is interested in why smart people are not always as ________________as might be expected. He proposes yet another kind of intelligence: emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence, says Goleman, consists of five factors that are involved in success in school or on the job:
Self _______________________ - the ability to recognize our own feelings.
Mood __________________________ - the ability to distract oneself from an uncomfortable feeling.
Self __________________________ - the ability to move ahead with confidence and enthusiasm.
Impulse ________________________ - the ability to delay pleasure until the task at hand has been accomplished.
People _______________________- the ability to empathize, understand, communicate, and cooperate with others.
The Stanford - _____ Scale
What is a mental age?
Shows the intellectual level at which a child is functioning
What is a chronological age?
How does the test determine both?
For example, a child with an MA of six is functioning intellectually like a six year old, even if the child is not six years old. An MA of nine is above average for a seven year old. The MA of nine is below average for an 11 year old.
What does IQ stand for?
Intelligence Quotient
What is a normal IQ?
IQ is determined by dividing a person's mental age by their chronological age:
What is in the Wechsler test?
An intelligence test
What kinds of skills are tested?
Verbal skills, performance skills
List the ways in which the Wechsler scale is different from the Stanford Binet Test?
Does not use mental age, measures verbal and nonverbal abilities
How are they scored?
Wechsler: comparison of a person's answers with the answers of others in the same age group
Both the Stanford Binet and Weschler tests use the concept of Mental Age:
What does it mean for a test to be reliable?
Why is it ok for test results to not be "identical"?
Scores for the same person from different testing occasions may vary somewhat for a variety of reasons.
Before psychologists accept any kind of test it must meet two criteria:
they must be reliable and valid.
What is test re-test reliability?
is determined by comparing scores earned by the same person on the same test taken at different times.
What does validity mean?
it measures what it is supposed to measure
Why are intelligence tests considered valid?
They closely predict grades and job success
What do achievement tests measure?
Skills and knowledge
When do you take achievement tests?
Throughout elementary and middle school
When might a college student take an achievement test?
When they wish to graduate
Achievement tests measure
people's skills and the knowledge they have in specific
What is an aptitude test?
Measure more specific abilities or skills than intelligence tests but broader ones than achievement tests
What does the SAT stand for?
Scholastic Aptitude Test
When might you take an aptitude test?
Before getting into college
When might a college student take an aptitude test?
Before getting into medical school
Which describes the difference between achievement and aptitude tests?
c. Aptitude tests measure a narrow range of skills, typically specific to abilities in a given field. Achievement tests measure people's skills and knowledge they have acquired in a content area.
Define frequency distribution:
A way of arranging data to determine how often a certain piece of data occurs
What percentage of students would be expected to score between 90 and 110?
Between 70 and 130?
Central tendency was discussed in Unit 1. What is a definition of central tendency?
Central tendency is measures that describe and locate the centers values of the data.
the mathematical difference between the highest and lowest scores in a frequency distribution
Standard Deviation-
how much any particular score is likely to vary from the mean
When the standard deviation is closest to __________ the data is most reliable.
What is correlation?
Is a measure of the relationship between two variables
What does it mean when variables are positively correlated?
When an increase or decrease occurs and the same happens to the other
What does it mean when variables are negatively correlated?
When one variable decreases and the other increases or vice-versa
How do psychologists define personality?
As the patterns of feelings, motives, and behavior that set people apart from one another
The Trait Approach:
What is a trait?
An aspect of personality that is considered to be reasonably stable
Gordon Allport catalogued how many descriptive words for a person's personality?
Allport assumed that traits can be ______________- and they are fixed in the nervous system.
He believed a person's behavior is a product of his or her combination of ____________________.
Trait theorists have generally assumed that traits are somehow
fixed or unchanging.
The Five Factor Model :
What are the "big five"?
refers to recent research suggesting that there may be five basic personality factors: active, self expressive people who gain energy from others, emotional stability-reliable, composed, and rational, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience
Research has found that these five factors define personality structure in which cultures/countries?
American, German, Portuguese, Jewish, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese
How does society affect our personalities, according to this theory and its research?
Mature rather than be shaped by environmental conditions
Which best describes a trait?
c. An aspect of personality that is reasonably stable.
The Learning Approach : Behaviorism - John _________________ claimed that external forces not internal, such as _____________, shape a person's behavior.
Watson; traits
Watson discarded what kinds of ideas?
Personal freedom, choice, and self direction
What is socialization?
The process by which people learn the socially desirable behaviors of their particular culture and adopt them as part of their personalities
Social Learning Theory - these theorists focus on the importance of learning by _______________________ and the role of ________________ processes that produce individual differences.
observation; cognitive
In what ways to people learn by observation?
Reading, watching TV, and movies
The Learning Approach is different from the trait approach because
b. Learning theory suggests that we learn how to act from our environment and this shapes our personality.
What is self actualization?
Their full potential
How does this affect personality?
Conscious architects of our own personalities
Who was Carl Rogers?
Advocate of the humanistic approach
What is the self theory?
Sense of self
Self Concept and Congruence-
consistency between one's self concept and one's experience
Self Esteem and Positive Regard-
belief in oneself, or self respect
Congruence refers to:
c. The consistency between our self concept and the experiences we go through.
This approach focuses on the roles of ___________________, gender, and ________________ in the formation of personality.
ethnicity; culture
Explain how Individualism vs. Collectivism affects personality:
Individualists tend to define themselves in terms of their personal identities. Collectivists tend to define themselves in terms of the groups to which they belong and often give priority to the goals of their group.
What does the western capitalist system and way of life foster in personalities?
Americans are more likely to identify themselves with the group than their individual status, occupations, or roles:
Sociocultural Factors and the Self How does the self-esteem of white and African American girls demonstrate some complexities in culture and self-esteem?
It appears that African American girls are taught that there is nothing wrong with them if they do not match the ideals of the majority culture. They come to believe that if the world treats them negatively, it is because of prejudice, not because of who they really are or what they do. White girls, on the other hand, may be more likely to look inward and blame themselves for not attaining the unreachable ideal.
What is acculturation?
the process of adapting to a new or different culture
What is assimilation?
What does research suggest about bicultural individuals and self esteem?
Have the highest self esteem
It has been found by researchers that bicultural individuals have very high self esteem:
This theory is focused on ______________ struggles.
People are born with what kind of drives?
Biological drives: aggression, sex, and the need for superiority
Who was Sigmund Freud?
Trained as a physician
What is psychoanalysis?
Where people are encouraged to talk about anything that pops into their minds; "talking cure"
Sigmund Freud believed that the majority of people's thoughts, feelings, and emotions are housed in the unconscious mind.
What are personality tests used for?
To describe and measure various aspects of people's personalities
What are objective tests?
Standardized group of test items in the form of a questionaire
What does the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory look like?
(What type of questions, how is it scored, etc.) diagnose psychological problems; contains 567 items in a true false format; can be scored by hand, but generally scored with a computer. The computer generates reports by comparing the individuals scores to group norms stored in the memory.
How can this test detect disorders like schizophrenia or depression?
Organized into 10 clinical scales, up to 8 validity scales each diagnosing a psychological problem; the scales were created by interviewing people who had already been diagnosed with various psychological disorders
What is the California Psychological Inventory? (How is it different from the MMPI-2?)
it is designed to measure 15 "normal" personality traits, such as dominance, sociability, responsibility, and tolerance
An individuals personality consists of his or her characteristics, habits, preferences, and moods. Psychologists use personality tests to describe and measure various aspects of people's personalities.
Sometimes, they also use personality tests to help diagnose psychological problems and disorders.
What are projective tests?
Have no clearly specific answers, use an open ended format
What is the Rorschach Inkblot Tests?
Most widely used; presented card with inkblot and asked what it looks like
How can psychologists interpret information from these responses about the inkblot shapes?
Therefore, a pattern of responses such as these is more likely than other patterns to suggest the presence of a personality disorder in the test taker.
projective tests vs. objective tests
c. Projective tests are open ended and objective tests have questions with predictable responses.
Explain the different ways psychologists define stress:
regular person: pressure, tension, unpleasant external forces or an emotional response; psychologists: external environment as a potential stressor response stress or distress and the concept of stress as something that involves biochemical, physiological, behavioral and psychological changes
What is eustress?
Stress that is positive and beneficial
What is distress?
Stress that is harmful and damaging
What are the two components of a stressful response to a situation a situation that is appraised as _______________________ and the individual's self-perceived ability to ________________________ and therefore reduce the stress.
stressful; cope
What is the "simple definition of stress"?
the arousal of one's mind and body in response to demands made upon them
'fight or flight' Model
What does fight or flight mean?
To flee or to stay and fight
What do these physiological changes enable an individual to do?
Either escape from the source of stress or fight
Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome - Developed in 1956, Selye's general adaptation syndrome describes three stages in the stress process: ________, which describes an increase in __________ and occurs immediately the individual is exposed to a stressful situation; ___________, which involves coping and attempts to ________ the effects of the alarm stage _________, which is reached when the individual has been repeatedly exposed to the stressful situation and is incapable of showing further resistance.
alarm; activity; resistance; reverse; exhaustion
What is the schedule of recent experiences?
An extensive list of possible life changers or life events
Provide some examples on that list of recent experiences:
death of a close family member, jail term, son or daughter leaving home, pregnancy, vacation, change in eating habits
Each event has a point score to reflect its ________. This score is combined with another score reflecting the stress rating of the __________.
impact; individual
Cannon defined 'stress' as a response to external stressors that is predominantly seen as biologicail -
such as increased heart rate, sweating, hormones secreted, etc. True
The model of appraisal and transaction -
the theory focuses on psychological states.
He argued that stress involves a transaction between an individual and his or her _____________________world, and that a stress response is elicited if the individual appraises (determines that) an event as stressful.
The two types of appraisal are: Primary - the individual _____________________appraises the event in three ways - as (a) irrelevant, (b) neutral and positive or (c) harmful and negative.
Secondary - the individual evaluates the pros and cons of his or her different _____________________ strategies.
So primary appraisal is essentially an appraisal of the ________________world and secondary appraisal is an appraisal by the individual of ______________________.
outside; himself
A major difference between Cannon's theory and the Model of Appraisal and Transaction is:
b. In the Appraisal and Transaction Model people actively respond and process stressors and in Cannon's model the body responds beyond our control.
What are some of the behaviors that can affect stress?
Exercise, coping styles, life events, personality type, social support and actual or perceived control
Research has shown that individuals who experience high levels of stress have the tendency to perform what types of behaviors?
How does this impact their health? Sleep, food intake and alcohol consumption; catecholamines and corticosteroids, and changes in activity, such as heart rate
Research shows that people in high stress lifestyles or careers do more things to increase their chances of becoming ill, injured, and further stressed.
There are two main types of physical responses to stress: Sympathetic activation - this is when the sympathetic ___________ system is triggered into action. This activates and causes changes in what? Production of catecholamines (adrenalin and nonadrenalin) which causes changes in blood pressure, heart rate, sweating and pupil dilation
What diseases may result from this?
heart disease and kidney disease, and leave the body open to infection.
adrenocortical (HPA) activation - what can the prolonged production of cortisol (a stress hormone) result in? increased use of carbohydrate stores and a greater chance of inflammation. increase the chances of infection, psychiatric problems and losses in memory and concentration.
Sapolsky is leading researcher in the field of stress. What was the title of his book?
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
He argues that we __________________ for a very different stress environment than that which faces us today.
How is stress different today than in our "evolutionary past"?
in our evolutionary past we regularly faced serious, life-threatening situations (such as a predator attack or hostility with a neighboring tribe over an important resource). Today our lives are much safer and our stressors much milder, but there are many of them - continual, recurring and irritating.
According to Sapolsky, why do people develop heart disase and other illnesses associated with stress?
people develop such diseases partly because our bodies are not designed for the constant stresses of a modern-day life
What is containment?
Simply set aside about 10-20 minutes each day for worrying!
How can living life in the present help?
According to this principle, we should strive constantly to enjoy each moment to its fullest. If you cannot live 'in the moment', there will always be other concerns on your mind.
People today are not equipped for the small, minute, irritating, and relentless stressors we face!
Evolutionary studies tell us our bodies were built to handle big stressors that occur infrequently, rather than long lines, airport delays, computer glitches, flat tires, paperwork, and other daily headaches! True
Defining and Identifying Psychological Disorders -
Major Approaches
What is abnormality?
Deviation from the majority
Why is this approach flawed?
People with psychological disorders typically do not differ much from "normal" people. In fact, the primary difference is the simple exaggeration of certain behaviors or mental processes.
In the DSM, diagnostic criteria refers to what?
A person can have a disorder in both Axis I and Axis II.
Anxiety is different from fear because:
Anxiety is a state and feeling of dread in regards to a vague or undefined threat, while fear is a response to a real existing threat.
The type of anxiety disorder in which a person experiences a sudden and very intense terror accompanied often times by shortness of breath, dizziness, and rapid heart rate is:
Panic disorder
Another way to distinguish normal from abnormal people is to say that normal people are able to ___________________ in the world - physically, ___________________, and socially.
get along; emotionally
By this definition, abnormal people are the ones who fail to do what/
What do the terms mental illness and mental health imply?
Psychological disturbance or abnormality is like physical sickness
Personality theorists try to describe the striving for the ideal as ________.
Why is this approach problematic?
It is difficult to determine whether or not a person is doing a good job of actualizing himself
All of the major classification schemes have accepted which model?
Medical Model
What does this mean?
They assume that abnormal behavior can be described in the same manner as any physical illness
What does the DSM stand for?
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
What version of it exists today? (How many times has it been revised?)
DSM-IV; 4 times
Essential Features-
characteristics that define the disorder
Associated Features-
additional features that are usually present
Information on differential diagnosis-
how to distinguish this disorder from other disorders with which it might be confused
Diagnostic criteria-
list of symptoms, taken from the lists of essential and associated features, that must be present for the patient to be given a particular diagnostic label
What are the axes?
Axis I classifies current symptoms into explicitly defined _____________.
What are some examples?
Mood disorders, anxiety disorders
Axis II is used to describe ____________________ disorders and long standing _____________________ disorders or maladaptive traits such as _____________________, over dependency, or aggressiveness.
developmental; personality; compulsiveness
True or false: a person can have an axis 1 and axis 2 disorder.
Axis III is used to describe _________________ disorders or general medical conditions that are potentially relevant to understanding in caring for the person.
Provide an example:
brain damage
Axis IV is a measurement of the current ___________ level at which the person is functioning.
Axis V is used to describe the __________ level of adaptive functioning present within the past year.
What is a simple definition of an anxiety disorder?
Abnormal anxiety; Feel anxiety out of proportion to the situation provoking it
What is anxiety?
General state of dread
Describe Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
a vague feeling that one is in danger
What is a phobia?
When severe anxiety is focused on a particular object
fear of open spaces
Social Phobia:
victims feel they will embarrass themselves in public space
What characterizes panic disorder?
An extreme anxiety that manifests in the form of panic attacks; smothering, choking, or difficulty breathing
Define Obsessive Compulsive Disorder:
when both compulsions and obsessions are experienced together
repeatedly performed coping behaviors
uncontrollable pattern of thoughts
Why do people develop these obsessions and compulsions?
They develop them from hobbies, or things that they love to do
What is post traumatic stress disorder?
A condition in which a person who has experienced a traumatic event feels severe and long lasting aftereffects
When is PTSD most likely to occur?
Veterans of military combat and survivors of acts of terrorism, natural disasters , catsastrophes, and human aggression
What is a somatoform disorder?
Physical symptoms brought about by psychological distress; hysteria
Explain conversion disorder:
changing emotional difficulties into a loss of specific voluntary body function
What is hypochondriasis?
A person who is in good health becomes preoccupied with imaginary ailments
What is a dissociative disorder?
A disorder in which a person experiences alterations in memory, identity, or consciousness
Dissociative Amnesia:
the inability to recall important personal events or information; is usually associated with stressful events
Dissociative Fugue:
a dissociative disorder in which a person suddenly and unexpectantly travels away from home or work and is unable to recall the past
Dissociative Identity Disorder:
a person exhibits two or more personality states, each with its own patterns of thinking and behaving
Who were Eve White and Sybil?
Eve white was shy but during a therapy session she became Eve Black who was child-like she considered Eve White a separate person, there was a third personality named Jane; (22 personalities)
a woman who had 16 personalities
Somatoform refers to:
Experiencing physical symptoms for which there is no apparent physical cause.
The type of dissociative identity disorder in which a person completely changes their identity and moves to a new location is:
Dissociative Fugue
What is a definition of schizophrenia?
Disordered thoughts; mood disorders involve disturbances iun the experience and expressions of depression
Explain hallucinations:
perceptions that have no direct external cause
Explain delusions:
false beliefs that a person maintains in the face of contrary evidence
How are these two symptoms different?
Delusions are beliefs while hallucinations are something you believe to be happening when it is not
Paranoid (include delusions of grandeur, persecution):
involves delusions and hallucinations
Catatonic: remain motionless for long periods of time;
exhibits a waxy flexibility
incoherent language, inappropriate emotions, giggling for no reason, generally disorganized motor behavior, and hallucinations and delusions
encompasses the basic symptoms of schizophrenia, such as deterioration of daily functioning, hallucinations, delusions, inappropriate emotions, and thout disorders
symptoms disappear and person seems quite normal
What is the dopamine hypothesis?
Suggests that an excess of dopamine at selected synapses is related to a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Describe major depression:
individuals spend at least two weeks feeling depressed, sad, anxious, fatigued, and agitated, experiencing a reduced ability to function and interact with others
What has to happen to be diagnosed with depression:
can not be attributed to the loss of a loved one
What is bipolar disorder?
Mood disorder; individuals are excessively and inappropriately happy or unhappy
Describe the manic phase:
a person experiences elation, extreme confusion, distractibility, and racing thoughts.
What is seasonal affective disorder?
Experience depression in winter and spirits lift with the coming of spring, may also suffer annual depression during the summer; tend to eat and sleep excessively during their depressed periods
Distrusts others; perceives others as having evil motives
Solitary life
Displays patterns of disregarding and violating the rights of others without feeling remorse
Displays excessive emotions; excessively seeks attention
Use of a drug to such an extent that a person feels nervous and anxious without it
Displays pattern of submissiveness and excessive need to be taken care of
Feels intense discomfort in close relationships; has distorted thinking and eccentric behavior
False beliefs that a person holds to be true and accurate,
such as "I am the President of the United States" are known as
Incoherence, a symptom of schizophrenia, is which phenomenon?
a. Seeing and hearing things that are not there.
Because nearly all people experience a depressed mood, when does it become a disorder?
c. When people are depressed for at least several weeks and it impairs their ability to function in life.
Bipolar disorder is characterized by:
c. Major depression accompanied by manic phases where the person is excited, euphoric, and impulsive.
Personality Disorders are different from other disorders because
The person mainly experiences an inability to to adjust to the environment or form relationships with others because they have extremely inflexible personality traits.
What were some of Emma's symptoms?
Distorted images, paranoid, geometric shapes appeared
Her belief that she thought she was God is an example of which kind of delusion?
Paranoid; granduer
What happened to David?
List his symptoms. Heard voices they are humiliating and depressing
How long did he live with his symptoms before he sought help?
7 years
How does Emma's story end?
Why was she rushed to the hospital? Wanted to kill herself and tried to overdose; called a doctor because of a liver failure but she pulled through
Eating disorders are less about weight and appearance and more about attempts by the individual to _____________ their lives.
How many American males suffer from these?
1 million
How does advertising and our culture affect us? How many ads do we see daily?
1200 ads a day tell us how we are supposed to look among other things; they make us believe that we have to be like the models in the ads
Which of the following BEST describes depression?
Depending on the person, a pschiatric disorder, an infrequent sad mood, or frequent sad mood
Which of the following is a symptom of clinical depression?
Loss of interest in hobbies for more than two weeks
Which of the following is something you can do to avoid becoming clinically depressed?
Stay active and eat right
Which of the following is believed to be the biochemical basis for some forms of clinical depression?
Diminished amounts of neurotransmitter serotonin
How do SSRIs, such as Prozac, treat clinical depression?
They restore the serotonin balance in the brain
What symptoms are sometimes seen in clinically depressed teenagers?
Suicidal thoughts
Psychotherapy involves the treatment of depression through _____.
How is manic depression different from other forms of depression?
Manic depression — or bipolar disorder — includes clinical depression as a part of its diagnosis. You can't have bipolar disorder without also having had an episode of clinical depression. That's why the two disorders shared similar names for many years, because they both include the component of clinical depression.
How can an MRI help scientists to learn about depression?
MRI actually help treat depression as experimented on lab rats, through magnetic and electrical fields
When talking to someone who is suicidal, what should you do?
Get help
What is psychotherapy?
Psychology based therapy
TO help people realize that they are __________ for their own problems.
They are the only ones who can ________________ their problems.
What is the major task of the therapist in this type of therapy?
Help people examine their way of living, to understand how their present way of living causes problems and to start living in new more beneficial ways
What is the eclectic approach to therapy?
Choosing methods from many different kinds of therapy and using the one that works the best
The main goal of psychotherapy is to strengthen the patient's _____________ over his or her life.
Free association, dream analysis, transference Reduce anxiety and guilt from unconscious urges Verbal processes
Humanistic Therapy
Active listening, acceptance, support Fulfill one's potential and improve self-concept Verbal process
Cognitive Therapy
Talking, listening, role-playing, and completion of assignments Unite behaviors and thought Revising thoughts
Behavior Therapy
Counterconditioning, operant conditioning, systematic desensitization Change one's unwanted or abnormal behaviors and acquire desirable behaviors Behavioral training
What is the placebo affect?
The influence that a patient's hopes and expectations have on his or her improvement during therapy
Who are therapists and what makes a good therapist?
There are many people who practice psychotherapy; skillful in encouraging the person to examine uncomfortable feelings and problems; 3 characteristics of a good therapist: psychologically healthy, empathy, experienced in dealing with people and understanding their complexities
Which best describes psychotherapy?
b. Interactions between a well trained professional therapist and a client seeking help.
What is psychoanalysis?
Therapy aimed at making patients aware of their unconscious motives so that they can gain control over their behavior
What is free association? d
A method used to examine the unconscious; the patient is instructed to say whatever comes into his or her min
What is resistance?
The reluctance of a patient either to reveal painful feelings or to examine long-standing behavior patterns
How do psychoanalysts interpret dreams as a means of therapy?
Interprets client's dream to find the unconscious thoughts and feelings in it
What does it mean to be client centered?
Reflects the belief that the client and therapist are partners in therapy
Explain active listening and unconditional positive regard-
Active listening: empathetic listening; a listener acknowledges, restates, and clarifies the speaker's thoughts and concerns
Unconditional positive regard:
a therapist's consistent expression of acceptance of the patient, no matter what the patient says and does
What is the goal of cognitive therapists?
Using thoughts to control emotions
What is rational emotive therapy?
A form of psychological help aimed at changing unrealistic assumptions about oneself and other people
to defy or refute
develop a new concept
understanding the cause`
How is behavior therapy different from cognitive therapy?
Behavior therapy changes behavior while cognitive controls it
What is systematic desensitization?
A technique to help a patient overcome irrational fears and anxieties
Explain flooding and modeling: flooding-
expose to feared object or situation; modeling- teach by watching someone else
What is aversive conditioning? When is this used the most?
Links an unpleasant state with unwanted behavior in an attempt to eliminate the behavior; alcoholism
Explain flooding and modeling:
flooding- expose to feared object or situation; modeling- teach by watching someone else
What is aversive conditioning? When is this used the most?
What is drug therapy?
Biological therapy that uses medications
What are antispsychotic drugs and what dot hey treat?
Medications to reduce agitation, delusions, and hallucinations by blocking the activity of dopamine in the brain; schizophrenia
What are some drugs used to treat depression?
Nadril, Elail, Prozac
What was the prefrontal lobotomy? How and when was this used?
Brain surgery/ destruction of the front portion of the brain; 1930's-1950's; used to treat people who were extremely violent
What exactly is social perception?
The whys in which people perceive one another
How do our clothing choices and the way we scan a room of its individuals demonstrate social perception?
People form a first impression of someone based on their cloths; just like in a court room
Social perception can best be defined as:
b. The way people perceive one another
What are the primary and recency effects?
Primary effect: the tendency for people to form opinions of others on the basis of first impressions; Recency effect: when people change their opinions of others on the basis of recent interactions
Attribution theory can be described as:
people tend to explain behavior in terms of either dispositional, or personality, factors or in terms of situation, or external factors.
Social Perception -
Understanding Psychology PDF File Read pages 527 - 532
Forming a first impression is not a _______________ process. What does this statement mean?
passive; Different people form different opinions of the same person.
What are some initial judgments people make?
Well paid corporate executive
What is the primary effect?
The tendency to form opinions based on first impressions
What is the self fulfilling prophecy?
The way you act toward someone changes depending on your impression of him or her, and this in turn affects how that person interacts with you
What is a schema?
The knowledge or set assumptions that we develop about any person or event is known as a schema
List examples of schemas you currently hold -
for teachers, classmates, co-workers, etc. teachers are wise and usually friendly but strict in classroom situations; classmates are usually are carefree and reckless only wanting to have a good time
What are some of the effects of holding a schema?
Schemas influences our opinions about people and their actions
What is the purpose of a schema?
Able to explain a person's past behavior and to predict his future behavior
What are stereotypes?
A set of assumptions about people ina given category summarizing our experience and beliefs about groups of people
How are they different from schemas?
Schemas are about individuals while stereotypes are groups
Are stereotypes good or bad?
They contain both positive and negative information Bad- guilty of harboring prejudice
What is attribution theory?
An analysis of how we interpret and understand other people's behavior
What are external attributions?
Aka situational; behavior attributed to needs
What are dispositional attributions?
Aka internal attributions; behavior attributed to personal characteristics
What is fundamental attribution error? What is the example listed in the chapter?
An inclination to over attribute others' behavior to internal causes (dispositional factors) and discount the situational factors contributing to their behavior; In the traffic light example you probably attributed the man's honking to pushiness, an internal cause, without considering possible external causes
Explain actor-
observer bias: tendency to attribute one's own behavior to outside causes but attribute the behavior of others of internal causes
Explain self serving bias:x
Which is the self serving bias?
c. When we attribute our failures to circumstances outside of our control but we attribute our successes to our own efforts and skills.
Explain the 3 types of information when we seek to make an internal or external attribution for a behavior:Consensus-
do other people behave this way
how do the person's responses vary from situation to situation?
Has this behavior occurred before?
Consistency means:
a. Whether or not a behavior has occurred before
Why is consistency so important?
Behaviors that are low in consistency are attributed to passing circumstances, rather than to either personal or situational attributes
Explain the parking lot example.
If you are driving circles at the shopping mall, searching for a parking spot and when you finally spot one another driver cuts in front of you and takes the spot. Are you more likely to think that the person is rude or that he or she is late for work or an appointment?
What kind of error do you make if you assume the person is rude? Why?
If you decide that the diver is rude then you are making the fundamental attributional error. It is the tendency, in explaining other peoples behavior, to overestimate personality factors and underestimate the influence of the situation.
What is an attitude?
is a predisposition to think, feel, or act in particular ways to a particular group of people, objects, or even an idea.
What is the definition of an attitude?
Predisposition to act, think, and feel in particular ways toward a class of people, object, or an idea
What are its three main elements?
1. A belief or opinion about something, 2. Feelings about that thing, 3. A tendency to act toward that thing in certain ways
Conditioning- classical conditioning:
can help you learn attitudes in different situations; operant conditioning: we receive praise, approval, or acceptance for expressing certain attitudes or we may be punished for expressing other attitudes
Cognitive evaluation-
systematically think about an issue and use pros and cons to forma decision
parental influence wanes as children get older
friends, spouses, and careers; people tend to adopt the likes and dislikes of groups whose approval and acceptance they seek
Culture influences everything from
food, attitude toward relationships, and political opinion
What is a self concept?
How we see or describe ourselves; our total perception of ourselves
How do social groups hold attitudes?
People living in the same conditions and who frequently communicate with one another have attitudes in common because they are exposed to the same information and may have formed as a group partly because of their similar attitudes
Attitudes serve as guidelines for _________ and categorizing people, objects, and events.
How can this help protect us and our safety? (dirty alleyway example)
for instance we may link negative feelings with walking in a dirty alleyway; these attitudes tell us to avoid the alley
What are the 3 factors;
My attitude toward behavior, my belief about what others who are important would think about the behavior, my perceived ability or inability to carry out the behavior
What does this theory explain?
The three factors that determine a person's behavior; the strength an weaknesses of each of these 3 factors explains why certain people behave differently despite shared attitudes
What is cognitive consistency?
Tied to fit this new situation into your existing assumptions; made a prejudgment about the situation that prevented you from considering all the possibilities
a change of behavior to avoid discomfort or rejection and to gain approval
seeing oneself as similar to another person or group and accepting the attitudes of another person or group as one's own
incorporating the values, ideas, and standards of others as part of oneself
A man finally accepting his wife's going to work
Your favorite uncle the one you aspire to be like votes and asks you why you don't after talking to him you decide to vote
A student becomes a liberal because of the prestige value and remains a liberal because of the problems which his liberalism centers are important
What is cognitive dissonance?
The uncomfortable feeling when a person experiences contradictory or conflicting thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, or feelings
Explain counterattitudinal behavior:
the process of taking a public position that contradicts one's private attitude
What is self justification?
A need to justify one's behavior
What are some of its "Serious consequences"?
they have to seriously convince themselves
What is a prejudice?
Preconceived attitudes toward a person or group that have been formed without sufficient evidence and are not easily changed
What are stereotypes?
Oversimplified, hard-to-change way of seeing people who belong to some group or category
Explain what Patricia Divine proposed about prejudice and stereotypes:
a model; she theorizes that if a specific stimulus is encountered, it automatically activated your stereotype mechanism. You see an old woman and man, it activates your stereotype of old people.
What is discrimination?
The unequal treatment of individuals on the basis of their race, ethnic group, age, gender, or membership in another category rather than on the basis of individual characteristics
How is this different from mere prejudice?
Prejudice is merely a belief while discrimination is an action
What is the difference between symbolic behavior and actual behavior?
Symbolic behavior refers to a person's statements regarding their actions while actual behavior is what really happened
What was LaPiere's hypothesis?
Wondered if his companions would encounter racism in the form of compromised or denied service
Attraction can be defined as:
an attitude of liking
What are the facial qualities and expressions that have been found to be universally attractive?
a smiling person is generally perceived to be more attractive than a person who is frowning; large eyes, high cheekbones, and narrow jaws as the most attractive types of facial features
True or false: Opposites attract more than similar people attract.
Why do people of similar degrees of attractiveness choose each other?
Because they are afraid of rejection from more attractive people
When studying other characteristics that are similar what are some of the major, more influential ones?
Religion and children
What does reciprocity mean?
the mutual exchange of feelings or attitudes.
Friends are people for whom one has _______________, respect, and _____________.
affection; trust
Who are people we are most likely o choose as friends?
People with whom we have frequent contact; The people we find attractive and the people who approve of us are the people we are likely to choose as friends.
What does love refer to?
Love refers to the feelings of attachment that exist between children and their parents. Love also refers to feelings of patriotism for one's country or to feelings of passion about strongly held values such as freedom. Most commonly, however, love refers to the feelings of mutual attraction, affection, and attachment shared by people who are "in love".
Intimacy refers to:
closeness and caring. It is reflected by mutual concern and by the sharing of feelings and resources.
Passion refers to:
feelings of romantic and sexual attraction. In addition to verbal expressions of love, passion is reflected by many types of nonverbal communication such as hugging, kissing, and gazing at one another.
Commitment refers to
: a couple's recognition that they are "in love" and want to be together "for better or for worse."
intimacy + passion (lower physically and emotionally attracted to each other but without commitment, as in a summer romance)
intimacy alone (true friendships without passion or long-term commitment)
Intimacy + Commitment (long-term committed friendship such as a marriage in which the passion has faded)
Empty love-
Commitment Alone (decision to love each other without intimacy or passion)
Fatuous Love-
Passion + Commitment (commitment based on passion but without time for intimacy to develop; shallow relationship such as a whirlwind courtship)
Passion Alone (passionate, obsessive love at first sight without intimacy or commitment)
Consummate Love-
Intimacy + Passion + Commitment (a complete love consisting of all three components- an ideal difficult to attai)
Read the "Why are they running?" paragraph. Why did they run?
One man began to run and gradually more people ran until someone shouted the dam broke
What is conformity?
The least direct social influence on behavior
What did Psychologist Solomon Asch discover in his research?
That people may conform to other peoples ideas of the truth, even when they disagree
In his experiment, who were the "yielders"?
the conformers
Who were the "independents?"
those who did not conform
What percentage of people were yielders and what percentage of people were independents?
Yielders: 75% independents: 25%
In Asch's experinemt, participants ____________, they responded to match the other group members responses, yet they might not have actually _____________ their beliefs.
conformed; believed
What is compliance?
Respond without changing our beliefs
What is the foot in the door technique?
Get them to agree to minor request which is a set up for major request
List the factors that increase conforming behavior in people:
-belonging to a group that emphasizes the role of groups rather than individuals -the desire to be liked by other members of the group -low self-esteem -social shyness -lack of familiarty with a task -group size (Conformity increases as the size of the group grows to five or six people. After that, conformity levels off.) -cultural influences
What is the definition of obedience?
A change in attitude or behavior brought about by social pressure to comply with people perceived to be authorities
What are psychologists interested in studying in terms of obedience?
Negative aspects: such as in history: obeying against morals
Milgram set up the experiment as follows: Two participants appeared for each session. They were told that they would be participating in an experiment to test the effects of ________ on memory. One of the participants was to be the _________ and the other the __________. In reality, the learner was not a ______ participant; he was Milgram's ___________.
punishment; "teacher"; "learner"; volunteer; accomplice
Explainw hat the teacher was told to do: read into a microphone a list of words to be memorized by the learner;
if the learner didn't recite the list back correctly the teacher was to administer an electric shock
What was the highest shock level?
450 volts
What percentage of the participants delivered the full range of shocks? How did they react or feel even though they were obedient?
65%; showed signs of extreme tension and discomfort and often told the experimenter that they wanted to stop
Zimbardo and The Stanford Prison Experiment -
we already studied this in Unit ! You may re-read to see how it also connects to experiments on obedience and authority.
Psychologists have proposed that people learn to obey _________________ figures.
When are people most likely to follow rules?
When the authority figure is present
What was the hypothesis?
When faced with pressure to conform, an individual would conform to the group or an authority
What were the results?
Rockwood was court martialed
Why did Rockwood refuse to conform to group pressure?
His morals stood out more than the average man
Does this case study support the findings of Milgram and Asch?
Why or why not? Demonstrates the power of an individual to resist conformity, so no this case study does not support the findings of Milgram and Asch where the majority of the people conformed to authority
Milgram's Obedience Experiment: What was the hypothesis in this experiment?
If law abiding people would give a stranger a lethal shock in the name of science
Who were the actors?
Another person that is believed to be a volunteer the person receiving the shock
What was the purpose of having the learners go silent?
So potentially that the shocks have redered the learner unconscious or killed him/her
When did the teachers begin to voice concern?
When the learner began to scream or shout
Why did the people running experiment believe that the teachers went along with it?
(power of science, the greater good) they believed that the teachers went along with it because of science and the greater good and authority
Did the participants deliver the fatal shock?
9 out of the 12 did
How did the participants react to the smoke when no one was in the room?
They became shocked and then went to investigate it then left with their stuff
How about when people were around?
Just looked around and didn't get up; after 10 minutes she was still sitting there
What is the definition of altruism?
It is an unselfish concern for the welfare of other people.
What do psychologists try to learn by studying "artificial crises"?
try to figure out why the people did not act
From these studies, what percentage of people did anything to help?
What is the diffusion of responsibility?
The presence of others lessens an individual's feelings of responsibility for his or her actions or failure to act
What is the Bystander Effect?
An individual does not take action because of the presence of ohters
Explain Social Loafing:
the tendency to work less hard when sharing to workload with ohters
Has this ever happened to you?
Yes all the time! I get stuck with all the work. Sometimes the only time the other group members see the project is when it is time to present.
What is deindividuation?
Individuals behave irrationally when there is less chance of being personally identified
How can social pressure positively affect us?
Most people care deaply about what others think of them; like refraining to do or say something mean because you are afraid of what others may think of you