Final Exam Flashcards
Guiding principle of cognitive perspectives
Developing understanding the psychological filters that people use to see and understand their world
Field-dependence
“See the forest, not the trees”. Field-dependents are people oriented and look for context when information is ambiguous.
Field-independence
“See the trees, not the forest”. Field-independents can ignore distractions, are autonomous (non-social preferences). They look for details when information is ambiguous.
Personal construct theory
Assumes that people think about the world like amateur (imperfect) scientists. People have hypotheses about the world, and test them against real-life data to see how they hold up.
George Kelly’s “personal constructs”
Function (help organize, interpret, predict people’s behaviour), bipolar dimensions (good-bad, just-unjust, predicatble-random), implicit (we are not aware of them)
Locus of control
General tendency to explain things in life (acceptance or denial of personal responsibility). Internal (I am in control), external (something else is in control).
Learned helplessness
If nothing ever goes your way, you come to believe that you are helpless; perceiving non-contingency between action and outcome.
Optimism/Pessimism
Concerns people’s expectancies for future
Defensive pessimism
High-success pessimists. Anxious prior to test situations, this anxiety motivates high performance.
Norem & Cantor (1986)
Defensive pessimists did better than optimists in terms of GPA, both were effective but utilized different strategies.
Realistic orientation
Imagining mix of desired and
undesired possible outcomes
Effects of orientations to post-natal adjustment to motherhood
Realists had lowest rate of post-natal depression, pessimists had highest, optimists in middle
Mastery orientation
Refers to implicit theories of intelligence (according to PCT) (fixed, immutable intelligence - entity theorists vs fluid, increasable intelligence - incremental theorists)
Implicit theories of personality
Refers to implicit theories of whether traits are fixed (entity theorists) or can be changed (incremental theorists)
Implicit theories of prejudice
Are prejudicial attitudes fixed (entity) or able to be changed (incremental)?
Carr et al.’s theory on implicit theories of prejudice
Test on amount of distance between chairs during white & black student’s discussion (malleable students engage in smaller distance), interaction was shorter in students with fixed mindset
Implicit theories of groups
Are political and social groups’ actions fixed or can their attitudes be changed?
Halperin et al. on Israelis and Palestinians
Entity theorists tended to agree that all members of other group are evil, should never be trusted, and had less support for compromise. Study participants who read that other groups can change were more likely to believe that other groups can change.
Self-concept
Knowledge structure which contains things (experiences, attitudes, hopes) about you. Works as a memory aid (we remember things attached to us!), decision-making guide (avoiding cognitive dissonance), provides dimensions on which to evaluate ourselves, motivates certain behaviour
Possible selves
Represent goals & incentives for future behaviour, providing evaluative & interpretive context for a current view of self, as well as focus and organization for the pursuit of goals.
Desired self
Desired possible selves motivate behaviour. They ought to be supported with strategies. Disadvantaged teens with interventions to support plausible possible selves showed higher grades, fewer absences, less depression, and less disruptive behaviour one year later.
Ideal self
Desired self. Presence promotes promotion: oriented toward gains. If ideal self is not consistent with current self: sadnesss, guilt.
Ought self
Self one ought to be. Presence promotes prevention: oriented toward safety and responsibility. If ought self is not consistent with current self: shame, anxiety.
Development of self at 18 months
Human babies recognize self in mirror
Development of self at 18-24 months
Child knows what they look like. They use pronouns, pretend play, and learn rules of behaviour.
Development of self at 2-3 years
Learns about own sex and age
Development of self at 3-12 years
What am I (not) good at? (Social comparisons - I’m better than you at… and private comparisons - I know things others don’t)
Development of self in teen years
Perspective taking - what do others think of me?
Clear self-concept is linked with… (Campbell et al., 1986)
Higher self-esteem, less anxiety and depression, higher conscientiousness
Self-concept clarity during adolescence
(Van Dijk et al., 2014)
Less anxiety and depression in next year, higher SCC correlated with open communication with parents
SCC and cultural context
In Western culture, which is more focused on “knowing thyself”. Lower SCC scores are more correlated with confusion. However, in Eastern culture, which is more focused on fitting in, harmony, lower SCC scores are more correlated with being attuned to social context.
Social identity
The self that others see in you (visible traits, style, roles, physical aspects of self- gender)
Self as an object
Culture has an influence on how we see ourselves
Self-objectification theory
Culture influences how we see ourselves, and media provides standards against which we compare ourselves. North American culture objectifies women to internalize an objectifier’s perspective on their own bodies. Self-worth becomes determined by appearance.
Identity narrative
Story of one’s life (agency, coherence, purpose)
Results of self-objectification
Self-esteem becomes contingent of living up to cultural ideals- appearance monitoring, restrained eating, shame, etc
Personalizing cognition
Stimuli causes person to remember event from own life
Objectifying cognition
Stimuli causes person to remember facts previously learned
Cognitive goals
Standards people use to evaluate themselves and others
First test used to determine field (in)dependence
Rod and frame test (Witkin)
Second test used to determine field (in)dependence
Embedded figures test measures whether or not one can disengage from background to find all hidden pictures
Field (in)dependence and career choices
Field independents favoured natural sciences, math, engineering, which field dependents favoured education and social sciences
Field (in)dependence and interpersonal correlates
Field dependents rely on other people (social cues) and frequently ask for others’ opinions. Field independents function with more autonomy and display a more impersonal orientation toward others.
Reducer/augmenter theory
Theory which explains how people deal with sensory stimulation- some reduce SS, while others augment it. Reducers seek to compensate for dampened SS- drinking coffee more, smoking more, lower threshold for boredom.
Personal project
Set of relevant actions meant to achieve a goal
Personal project analysis
Personal projects make natural units for understanding the workings of personality because they reflect how people face up to the challenges of daily life. Participants completed personal project scale of 15 personal projects, ranked, and then described progress & impact of each.
Self-esteem
Extent to which you like yourself, including an evaluative component. Can be domain-specific (work-me, student-me, etc)
Attributes of people with high self-esteem
Greater persistence after failure, cope more effectively with stress, are happier, see themselves as more attractive and better-liked, report better relationships and academic performance
Implicit self-esteem
Refers to the self as an organizing structure in memory- things connected to us are remembered better. Often, a feeling is attached to these memories. Not always consistent.
Explicit self-esteem
Self-reported self-esteem- mixture of how one rates oneself vs how one may want to rate oneself (social desirability bias)
High explicit/low implicit self-esteem means…
1) Narcissism
2) Fragile self-esteem
3) Social desirability issues
Carl Rogers on self-esteem
S-E is the feeling we get when we feel loved and accepted by others. This feeling is received when others validate our self-expression. Think unconditional vs conditional positive regard.
Mark Leary on self-esteem (sociometer)
Posits that self-esteem is a fundamental need. Exclusion from a group lowers S-E, but inclusion won’t necessarily rate it. When S-E is threatened, people often seek evidence that they are still valued by others.
Self-esteem as a sociometer
Sociometer monitors the degree to which individual is included or rejected from a group.
Terror management theory of self esteem
Existenial-evolutionary theory featuring survival as the prime motivation. Posits that humans are acutely aware of their mortality, causing paralyzing anxiety (angst). They must cope with this by living a life of meaning and value, constructed through social consensus. By identifying with a social group, we achieve symbolic immortality and protect ourselves from the threat of death.
Self-compassion
Treating oneself with kindness, recognizing one’s shared humanity, being mindful when considering aspects of oneself.
What does it mean to be “well-adjusted”?
Low anxiety/stress, happiness, satisfaction with life.
Allostasis
Process of adapting and returning to homeostasis
Allostatic load
Wear and tear on body as it adjusts to chronic, ongoing stress
Stress
Biopsychosocial response to a stressor (situation interpreted by individual in a way that activates stress processes). Psychological appraisal of stressor is critical to stress response.
Episodic stress
Repeated episodes of acute stress
Traumatic stress
Response to severe threat, with long-term threat
Physiological stress process
Alarm (fight or flight- release of adrenaline/cortisol & increased blood pressure, resistance- depletion of resources, body’s defenses reduced/repair muscle tissue, exhaustion- susceptible to illness) - GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME
Cognitive appraisals of stressors
Primary (What is at stake? Threat, harm, or benign?) and Secondary (What does this mean to me? Do I have sufficient resources to deal with it?)
Trier social stress test (TSST)
Mock job interview wherein participants made to count backward- for some, not stressful, for others, very stressful. Higher cortisol = longer time taken.
How does personality influence Lazarus/Folkman transitional model of stress?
Influences appraisals, exposure, coping, and emotional responses
Hardiness
High control, commitment, and challenge (tendency to appraise as challenge vs threats)
Cohen et al. (2003) on sociability and susceptibility to common cold
Stress, poverty, and frequent moves in childhood increase chances of infection, while sociability, perceived social support, and positive affectivity protect and act as a buffer
Type A personality & Cardiovascular Disease
Competitive/driven, time urgency, aggressive when frustrated. Have exaggerated cardiovascular activity after stress- increased risk for CVD.
Interactional model of relationship between personality and stress
Objective events happen to people, personality determines impact by influencing ability to cope.
Health behaviour model of relationship between personality and stress
Personality affects health indirectly by promoting health-promoting or health-degrading behaviour
Conscientiousness and health relatedness
Conscientious persons routinely practice good health behaviours through mediation model of health
Mediation model of personality and health
Effect of one variable on another “goes through” a third variable
Predisposition model of relationship between personality and health
Personality and health are both expressions of an underlying predisposition
Stable vs unstable attribution
Long-lasting or at a specific point in time
Global vs specific attribution
General vs limited
Gross & Levenson study on emotion suppression
Suppressed participants showed increased physiological response, more inward expression.
Health effects of emotion suppression
Higher mortality, higher rate of cancer recurrence after treatment, suppressed immune system
Strategies for controlling emotions
Suppression (does not work well) and re-interpretation/re-appraisal (associated with better outcomes for friendships, elicits support)
Personality disorders
Enduring pattern of experience and behaviour that differs greatly from expectations of a person’s culture
Erratic/Impulsive Cluster (“wild” - Cluster B)
Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Eccentric Cluster (“weird” - Cluster A)
Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Paranoid Personality Disorder
Anxious Cluster (“worried” - Cluster C)
Avoidant Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
Dimensional System
Only 6 PDs remain (BPD, ASPD, APD, NPD, OCPD, SchPD), drop clusters, add Personality Disorder - Trait Specified
Dimensional view of personality disorders
Personality disorders are extremely maladaptive versions of common personality traits. PDs are not an issue of present/absent, rather extreme/impaired, no longer fitting a prototype (so less chance of false diagnosis), focus on adaptation given one’s traits
Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP)
Recognizes overlap in symptoms and dimensionality of diagnoses, variable-centred (like-to-like)
Advantages of HiTOP
Reduces artificial comorbidity due to symptom overlap, helps identify common causes and roots, data driven (not expert driven), dimensional
ASPD
Low empathy, high charisma, risk-seeking behaviour, repeated lying, high confidence
BPD
Marked by instability. Intense, emotional, potentially violent relationships. Self-mutilating behaviour and suicide attempts. Unstable self-image, strong emotions. Fear of abandonment.
HPD
Excessive attention-seeking and emotionality. Expresses opinions frequently and dramatically, may be seductive. Highly suggestible, strong need for attention.
NPD
Strong need for admiration, high self-importance, little regard for feelings of others. Sense of superiority. Feelings of entitlement. Vulnerable self-esteem.
SPD
Split off from normal relations. No satisfaction from being part of a group. Little pleasure from bodily/sensory activities (eating, sex).
SchPD
Acutely uncomfortable in social situations, aloof from others, do not warm up to groups, harbours many superstitions, at odds with social conventions,
PPD
Extremely uncomfortable in social situations, seeing others as a threat. Misinterprets social comments, reluctant to trust others. Pathologically jealous. Argumentative and hostile nature.
AvPD
Pervasive feeling of inadequacy and sensitivity to criticism. May restrict activities to avoid potential embarrassments. Low self-esteem.
DPD
Excessive need to be taken care of, difficulty making decisions, seeks out reassurance, avoid disagreements. Rarely taking initiative. May tolerate extreme circumstances to obtain reassurance and support from others.
OCPD
Extreme desire for perfection. Fondness for rules. Preoccupied with order. Devotion to work at expense of relationships. Play looks like work. Inflexible with regard to ethics or morals. Stubborn. Most common in US.
