Final Flashcards
Developmental psychology
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout a life span
What is the age range of interest for developmental psychology?
Approved children 12 months through 12 years
Teratogens
agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Alcohol as a teratogen effects
Small stature, facial abnormalities, hyperactivity, intellectual disability
Phenytoin (dilantin) as a teratogen effects
heart defects, intellectual disability, cleft palate, slow growth
Varicella (chicken pox) as a teratogen effects
scars, small head size, blindness, seizures, malformed and paralyzed limbs
Aspirin as a teratogen effects
heart defects, intellectual disability, slow growth
Jean Piaget
studied the development of cognition
sensorimotor stage
Birth to age 2
“here and now” rather than past and future
exploration through moving and sensing
object permanence
preoperational stage
2-6 years
language accession
egocentrism
illogical reasoning
concrete operational stage
6-12 years
logical reasoning
master of conservation problems
“learn by doing”
formal operational stage
12 years and above
abstract reasoning
idealism
improved problem solving
Attachment theory
the tendency in human beings to make strong affectional bonds with others coming from the need for security and safety
Harry Harlow
Using monkeys, challenged Freud (he said when you see attachment behavior it is due to survival) but Harlow believed there is an emotional attachment - hypothesis was supported
Mary Ainsworth
studied secure vs insecure attachment. had mothers leave the room and the child’s response determined the type of attachment he/she had
Insecure attachment
these children did not react ti their mother’s leaving with distress and allowed themselves to be comforted by the strange. When the mother returned, the child did not immediately approach her
Secure attachment
Children played happily with the stranger so long as the mother was present but when the mother left, the child responded by crying and searching for her. Once the mother returned, she was greeted warmly and the child returned to his/her play
John Bowlby
he is most associated with attachment and bonding theory. He thought that attachment had a survival value, called adaptive significance. He suggested that a child must bond with an adult before the age of 3 in order to live a healthy social life.
Social psychology
How our thoughts, feelings and actions are influenced by others
Attribution theory
the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition
Fundamental attribution error
The tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
Conformity
following the social norm
Solomon Asch
Developed the study on conformity; asked participants to match a reference line to one of three comparison lines. One real participant was placed among a group of fake participants of which provided wrong answers- about 3 quarters of participants conformed on at least one trial
Normative social influence
the desire to be liked
Informational social influence
believing others are better informed
Stanley Milgram
Demonstrated that when personal ethics come into conflict with demands from an authority, the authority usually wins
Milgram’s experiments
Had two participants, one the “teacher” (the real participant) the other the “learner” (the confederate). Punishment to learn the pairs of words was an electric shock, administered by the teacher to the learner using intimidating equipment.
Milgram’s results
Proximity between teacher and learner - people are more likely to harm someone when they cannot see their pain
Obedience varies but none is immune - 65% of the American population would fully comply in his basic experiment
Demonstrated the power of authority to gain compliance
prejudice
a prejudgment, usually negative of another person on the basis of his or her membership in a group
stereotype
a simplified set of traits associated with membership in a group or category
bystander effect
The study of situational variables related to helping a stranger, most notably the decreased likelihood of helping as the number of bystanders increase
What caused study in the bystander effect?
In 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese was murdered on a NYC street near her home late at night. Sensational news reports at the time stated that 38 of her neighbors watched for half an hour while Kitty struggled with her attacker without intervening or calling the police.
Group identity
Encouraging a group to adopt a unique identity and engage in competition with others can increase cohesiveness
personality
characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving
psychoanalytic perspective
the perspective that stresses the influences of unconscious forces on human behavior
psychodynamic theory
theory put forward by Sigmund Freud in which psychic energy moves among the compartments of the personality: id, ego, superego
the iceberg analogy
Used by Freud; We are only aware of a small percentage of the mind’s activities (the top of an iceberg that we physically see) and the rest of the activities going on are unconscious (the large part of the iceberg that is under water)
id
The component of Freud’s personality theory containing primitive drives present at birth (ex: hunger, thirst, sex)
ego
the component of Freud’s personality theory that is the self that others see. Its tasks are to coordinate the needs of the id with reality
superego
the component of Freud’s personality theory that internalizes society’s rules for right and wrong, or the conscience
psychosexual stage
a stage in Freud’s theory of the developing personality
oral stage
birth to 1 year
pleasure obtained by sucking
anal stage
1-3 years
conflict between child’s ability to eliminate wastes at will vs societal expectations of toilet training
phallic stage
3-6 years
Oedipus and Electra complexes lead to identification with same-sex parent
latency stage
6-12 years
focus on internalization of society’s rules
genital stage
12 years and above
focus on adult sexual interests and behaviors
Oedipus/Electra complex
The idea that the child’s first love object is the parent of the opposite sex. The child competes with the same sex parent for attention from the opposite sex parent.
Penis envy
refers to the theorized reaction of a girl during her psychosexual development to the realization that she does not have a penis. Freud considered this realization a defining moment in the development of gender and sexual identity for women.
castration anxiety
In psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers.
fixation
According to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.
Big Five Theory
Openness Conscientiousness Extroversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
openness
characterized by an appreciation for fantasy, feelings, actions, ideas, values and aesthetics
agreeableness
characterized by trust, compliance, modesty and tender-mindedness
conscientiousness
characterized by competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline and deliberation
extroversion
characterized by warmth gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement-seeking, and positive emotion
introversion
characterized by coolness, reserve, passivity, inactivity, caution an negative emotion
neuroticism
characterized by anxiety, angry hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsivity, and vulnerability
Julian Rotter
Locus of control
external locus
You expect that most of the things that happen to you occur due to chance or luck or factors beyond your control.
internal locus
You believe that most of your outcomes are due to your own efforts
trait theory
A theory of personality that focuses on identifying, describing, and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions
abnormal psychology
the study of psychological disorders
behavior that is not typical, usual or regular
Comorbidity
the presence of two or more disorders in the same individual
Diagnosing a psychological disorder
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
Schizophrenia
a disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought and speech, disorders of movement, restricted affect and avolition/asociality
anxiety disorders
represent an exaggeration of what is normally a useful response
generalized anxiety disorder
when a person has experienced excessive anxiety and worry for 6 months that is not correlated with particular objects or situations
panic disorder
characterized by repeated intense fear and autonomic arousal (several panic attacks)
phobias
diagnosed when a person experiences unrealistic fear
agrophobia
fear of open spaces
social phobia
fear of being scrutinized and criticized by others, particularly during public speaking and when meeting new people
OCD
a disorder associated with intrusive obsessions and compulsions
PTSD
a disorder caused by the experience of trauma, which leads to flashbacks, dreams, hyper vigilance and avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic event
mood disorders
contain two main categories: major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder
major depressive orders
characterized by lengthy periods of depressed mood, loss of pleasure in normal activities, disturbances in sleep and appetite, difficulty concentrating, feelings of hopelessness, and possible thoughts of suicide
bipolar disorder
mood disorder characterized by alternating periods of mania and depression
insight therapy
therapy that improves symptoms of psychological disorder by building the patients or clients understanding of his or her situation
person-centered therapy
aims to achieve congruence
behavior therapy
applications of classical and operant conditioning principles to the treatment of symptoms of psychological disorder and adjustment problems
cognitive-behavioral therapy
combination of cognitive restructuring with behavioral treatments that has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of many psychological disorders
free association
the psychoanalytic technique of encouraging a patient to say whatever comes to mind without attempting to censor the content
Who used free association in psychoanalysis?
Freud
psychotherapy
treatment designed to improve symptoms of psychological disorder through conversation between the therapist and patient or client
psychosurgery
the attempt to improve symptoms of psychological disorders through the use of brain surgery
psychology
The science of behavior and mental processes
sensation
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
perception
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
Where was the first psychology lab established? By who?
Wilhelm Wundt
University of Leipzig, Germany 1879
Consciousness
our awareness of ourselves and our environment
cognitive psychology
perspective that focuses on the mental processes involved in perception, learning, memory, and thinking
reinforcement
A consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior.
punishment
An event that decreases the behavior that it follows.
William James
considered the first psychologist
studied all aspects of human behavior
structuralism
An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind.
functionalism
A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.
gestalt
an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes
Why are the words “it depends” so important for psychology questions?
Because it depends on the individual and the situation given
Why can psychology be considered a science?
Because it uses systematic observations and experiments
Watson
Behaviorism; “Little Albert Study”; aversion therapy
Pavlov
Behaviorist-Classically conditioned dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell
Bandura
Observational learning; Bobo dolls; social-cognitive theory
Skinner
Behaviorist-Proposed theory of operant conditioning with skinner box experiment, reinforcing rats behavior with rewards or punishments
Maslow
(level 1) Physiological Needs, (level 2) Safety and Security, (level 3) Relationships, Love and Affection, (level 4) Self Esteem, (level 5) Self Actualization