FINAL EXAM Flashcards
Convoy model of social relations
Theory that proposes that the frequency, types, and reciprocity of social exchanges change with age (aging)
Socioemotional Selectivity Theory
Focuses on changes in motivation for actively seeking social contact with others (reduction of social partners in older adults)
Global Subjective well being
Individuals perceptions of and satisfaction with their lives as a whole. contributions: age, health, personality, social support and life experiences
Hedonic well-being
component of well being that refers to emotional experiences, often including measures of positive (happiness, contentment) and negative affect (stress, sadness)
The Age 5-to-7 Shift
Cognitive and social changes that occur in the early elementary school years that result in the child developing a more purposeful and goal-directed approach to life, setting the stage for the emergence of the self as a MOTIVATED AGENT
Autobiographical Reasoning
not until adolescence can humans express advanced storytelling skills. ability to derive substantive conclusions about the self from analyzing one’s own personal experiences
Redemptive Narratives
Life stories that affirm the transformation from suffering to an enhanced status or state (issue: naive belief that suffered will always be redeemed)
Operationalization
The process of defining a concept so that it can be measured. “how do i best measure relationships, well-being?” Is there anything that could be more specified?
Objective Social Variables
Targets of research interest that are factual and not subject to personal opinions or feelings. Ex: marital status, number of work friends
Subjective Social Variables
Targets of research interest that are not necessarily factual but are related to personal opinions or feelings Ex: Marriage quality
Social Integration
Active engagement and participation in a broad range of social relationships & social networks (objective social variable)
Social Support
A social networks provision of psychological and material resources that benefit an individual. Ex: perceived leaves of support & satisfaction with the support they receive (Subjective social variable)
Personality
Individual differences that are specific to our characteristic, routine ways of thinking, feeling and relating to others
Narcissism
A person with a strong need for admiration and a lack of empathy (part of the dark triad, along with machiavellianism and Psychopathy aka Antisocial personality disorder)
Ethnographic Studies
Culture. Research that emphasizes field data collection and that examines questions that attempt to understand culture from its own context and point of view. Anthropologists use this
Ethnocentric Bias
Being unduly guided by the beliefs of the culture you’ve grown up in. this is a Problem with cultural cross-sectional studies
Cultural Psychology
An approach to researching culture that emphasizes the use of interviews and observation as a means of understanding culture from its own POV
Culture
Social patterns of shared meaning. collective understanding of the way the world works, shared by members of a group and passed down from one generation to the next
Cultural intelligence
ability and willingness to apply cultural awareness to practical uses. understand why others act the way they do
3 Culture Concepts
Progressive Cultivation, Way of life, Shared learning and Enculturation
Cultural Script
Learned guides for how to behave appropriately in a given social situation. These reflect cultural norms and widely accepted values
Self Construal
Extent to which the self is defined as independent or interdependent self (individualist or collectivist)
Value Judgements
An assessment based on one’s own preferences and priorities about the basic “goodness” or “badness” of a concept or practice. Try to avoid this
Cultural relativism
The principled objection to passing overtly culture-bound (ethnocentric) judgement on aspects of other cultures. Cultures is relative
cultural relativist view of abnormal behaviour: whether the behaviour poses a threat to oneself or others or causes so much pain and suffering that it interferes with one’s work responsibilities or with one’s relationship with family or friends
Gender constancy
The awareness that gender is constant and does not change by changing external factors. Age 3-6
Developmental Intergroup theory
A theory that postulates that adults focus on gender which leads children to pay attention to gender as a key source of information about themselves and others
Gender schema Theory
theory of how children form their own gender roles argues that children actively organize others behaviour, activities, and attributes into gender categories/schemas (forgetting female firefighters but remembering male ones)
interaction between social, biological and representational influences. outcomes continue to develop through childhood, adolescence and even the adult years
Social Learning Theory
Bandura. Learn through watching adults. Theory might help explain how children form their own gender roles argues that gender roles are learned through reinforcement, punishment, and modelling (gender schema theory has more support)
Ambivalent Sexism (2 subcategories)
A concept of gender attitudes that encompasses both positive and negative qualities (Hostile sexism- bad. Benevolent sexism- “good”)
Social Pyschology
The study of the dynamic relationship between individuals and the people around them
Social Cognition
The study of how people think about the social world through experience and the influence these knowledge structures have on memory, information processing, attitudes and judgement
Social Identity Theory
Theoretical Analysis of group processes and intergroup relations that assumes groups influence their members self concepts and self esteem, particularly when individuals categorize themselves as group members and identify with the group. (we categorize ourselves, “us” vs “them”)
Social Neuroscience
The study of how our social behaviour both influences and is influenced by the activities in our brain
Social Situation
The people with whom we interact every day (friends, family, people we see on tv, even people we think about). Behaviour is profoundly influenced by this.
Person- Situation Interaction
how characteristics of the social situation interact to determine behaviour. Lewins equation: behaviour = f (person, social situation) . Debate: personality traits versus the situation. Suggested that people overestimate the extent to which personality traits are consistent across situations
Persuasion
simply and attitude change
Attitude
A psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity/thing with some degree of favour or disfavour, like or dislike.
ABC Model of Attitudes
Affect (feelings), Behaviour, Cognitive (beliefs)
Theory of Planned Behaviour
Decision to engage in that behaviour can be predicted by their INTENTION to engage in that behaviour (ask very specific questions)
The sleeper effect
Attitude change that occurs over time. Message presented by someone untrustworthy is discounted initially, but over time there’s a tendency to remember the message but forget it came from an unreliable source so we forget to discount the message
Spontaneous message processing
When we accept a persuasion attempt because we focus on whatever is most obvious without much attention to the message itself. Direct, quick, cute communicator
Thoughtful Message processing
When we think about how the message related to our own beliefs and goals and involves our careful consideration of whether persuasion attempt is valid or invalid or enjoyable. more controlled and involved careful cognitive elaboration of the meaning of the message
Forewarning
giving people a chance to develop a resistance to persuasion by reminding them they may someday receive a persuasive message and allowing them to practice how they will respond to influence attempts
Inoculation
Building up defences against persuasion by mildly attacking the attitude position (but all your friends are smoking). weak argument so they develop ways to resist the real attempts when they come in the future
Psychological reactance
A reaction to people, rules, requirements or offerings that are perceived to limit freedoms (might smoke more if you see dying people on the cover; this is when forewarning and inoculation don’t work)
Downward social comparison
To maintain self worth, people may seek out and compare themselves to the less fortunate
Collective Self esteem
feeling of self worth based of off relationships with others and membership of social groups
Sociometer model
Conceptual analysis of self evaluation processes that theorizes self esteem functions to psychologically monitor of one’s degree of inclusion and exclusion in social groups.
Social Facilitation
Improvement in task performance that occurs when people work in the presence of other people (cycling faster when competing against others versus a clock)
Dominant responses to social facilitation
social facilitation only happens when the task requires dominant responses- the ones that are well- learned or based on instinctive behaviours
Evaluation apprehension
when we feel our individual performance will be known to others, and those others might judge it negatively
Shared mental model
Knowledge, expectations, conceptualizations, and other cognitive representations that members of a group have in common pertaining to the group and it’s members, tasks, resources, procedures
Levine Model of Group Socialization
beginning with initial entry into a group and ending when the member exits it (sorority or sports team). You investigate the group and the group investigates you. Once accepted by both parties, socialization begins.
Group polarization
Tendency for members of a deliberating group to move to a more extreme position, with the direction of the shift determined by the majority or average of the members pre-deliberation preferences (liked apples 6/10 before, leave liking apples 8/10)
Common knowledge effect
Tendency for groups to spend more time talking about info everyone knows & less time examining what only a few members know. Not good use of time, things go unlearned. Researched have studied this using HIDDEN PROFILE TASK
Groupthink
A set of negative group level processes, including illusions of invulnerability, self censorship and pressures to conform, that occur when highly cohesive groups seek concurrence when making a decision. May not realistically consider alternative courses of action when striving for a cohesive outcome
Stereotype content model
Shows that social groups are viewed according to their perceived WARMTH and COMPETENCE
Prejudice
Emotional. Evaluation or emotion towards people merely based on their group membership
Stereotype
MENTAL. Belief that characterizes people based merely on their group membership
Discrimination
BEHAVIOURAL. Behaviour that advantages or disadvantages people merely based on their group membership
Social Dominance Orientation
belief that group hierarchies are inevitable in all societies and even good, to maintain order and stability. likely to get into law enforcement. Groups compete for ECONOMIC RESOURCES. ingroup must me tough, competitive
Right-Wing Authoritarianism
VALUE conflicts but endorses respect for obedience and authority in the service of group conformity. groups must follow authority (not always politically right-wing). ingroup must unite, protect
Personality Traits
Enduring dispositions in behaviour that show differences across individuals, and which tend to characterize the person across varying types of situations. but they are CONTINUOUS DISTRIBUTIONS (like medium in extroversion, can go from low to high depending on social situation)
Lexical Hypothesis
the idea that the most important differences between people will be encoded in the language that we use to describe people. therefore, if we want to know which personality traits are most important, we can look at the language that people use to describe themselves and others
Factor Analysis
A statistical technique for grouping similar things together according to how highly they are associated. (ex: openness to experience and seeking out new things)
Machiavellianism
Individuals who manipulate the behaviour of others, often through duplicity. Often interested in money and power, and pragmatically use others in this quest
Facets
Broad personality traits can be broken down into narrower facets or aspects of the trait. ex extroversion can be broken down to sociability, dominance, risk taking etc
HEXACO Model
alternative to the Five Factor model. 6 traits: Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness AND Honesty-Humility
Other personality traits not in the 5 factor model
Machiavellianism, Need for Achievement, Need for Cognition, Authoritarianism, Narcissism, Self-Esteem, Optimism, Alexithymia (cant label emotions)
Personality Psychology
How individuals differ from each other in their characteristic ways of thinking, feeing and behaving
Heterotypic Stability
Consistency in the underlying psychological attribute across development regardless of any changes in how the attribute is expressed at different ages. Coherences of an individuals thoughts, feelings and behaviours across development. Ex: shyness: as a child might burst into tears and as an adult might avoid eye contact
Homotypic Stability
Consistency of the exact same observable personality characteristics (thoughts, feelings & behaviours) across development
Absolute Stability
Consistency in the level or amount of a personality attribute over time. Ex: scoring 45 on a measure at 20 and at 55. Can be considered at the group or individual leve (considering whether the average score of a group of 50 year olds is higher than the average score of a group of 21 year olds when considering a trait like conscientiousness ). can investigate using longitudinal study or cross-sectional study
Differential Stability
Consistency in the individuals rank-ordering of personality across 2 or more measurement occasions. Ex: whether a 20 year old who is low in stress reaction relative to her same aged peers develops into a 40 year old who is also low in stress reaction compared to her peers.
Age Effects and Cohort effects
Age effects: differences in personality related to maturation and development
Cohort effects: differences in personality that are related to historical and social factors unique to individuals born in a particular year
Maturity principle of adult personality development
Extraversion (especially attributes linked to self confidence and independence), agreeableness, and conscientiousness appear to increase with age, and Neuroticism and Openness decline with age, especially after mid life. Linked with seemingly desirable outcomes like work, better health, reduced risk of criminality and mental illness and even decreased mortality
Cumulative Continuity Principle
The generalization that personality attributes show increasing stability with age and experience. Used when studying differential stability. Note: Personality changes can occur any time in the lifespan, it just seems that greater inconsistency is observed in childhood and adolescence than in adulthood.
Corresponsive Principle
The idea that personality traits often become matched with environmental conditions such that an individuals social context acts to accentuate and reinforce their personality attributes (ASTMA)
Person-environment transactions (3 types)
The interplay between individuals and their contextual circumstances that ends up shaping both personality and environment. (1) Active: when individuals seek out, select or otherwise manipulate aspects of the environment (2) Reactive: Attributes of the individual shape how a person perceived and responds to their environment (3) Evocative: Attributes on the individual draw out particular responses from others in their environment
ASTMA (4 processes that promote personality stability)
Attraction, selection, transformation, manipulation, Attrition
Hostile Attribution Bis
Tendency for aggressive individuals to interpret ambiguous social cues and interactions as examples of aggressiveness, disrespect or antagonism
Self Report & limitations
An objective test type where people are asked to describe themselves
Limitations: High stakes testing, self enhancement bias, reference group effect
Informant Ratings & Limitations
An objective test type, where someone who knows the person well is asked to rate that person on their personality characteristics (spouse, friend etc)
Limitations: Sibling contrast effect, letter of recommendation effect, honeymoon effect
Projective Tests & limitations
Ambiguous stimuli is shown and the person is asked to describe or interpret this ambiguous stimuli
Limitation: difficult to test reliability and validity since it’s ambiguous
Implicit Tests
A measure of speed when sorting 2 concepts. if someone can sort 2 concepts quickly relative to another set of 2 concepts, it is assumed that they have strong associations between those concepts that are sorted more quickly
Behavioural and Performance Measures
Inferring personality from direct samples of behaviours Ex: couples observed having a conversation
Projective Hypothesis
projective tests originally were based off this. The theory that when people are confronted with ambiguous stimuli, their responses will be influenced by their unconscious thoughts, needs, wishes and impulses (also builds off Freudian projection about unconscious thoughts and behaviours)
Implicit Motives
Goals that are important to a person but they cannot consciously express
Criterion Vaidity
the ability of a given test to predict real world outcomes. Ex: openness should be related to one’s desire to engage in unconventional activities
System 1 thinking
Our intuitive decision making system, which is typically fast, automatic, effortless, implicit and emotional
System 2 thinking
More deliberative decision making system, which is slower, conscious, effortful, explicit and logical
Personality Disorders
When personality traits result in significant distress, social impairment and/or occupational impairment
Antisocial Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of disregard and violation of the rights of others. These behaviours can be aggressive or destructive and may involve breaking laws or rules, deceit or theft. Traits: Antagonism, Low conscientiousness
Avoidant Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation. Traits: Introversion, Neuroticism
Borderline Personality disorder
A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self image, and affects, and marked impulsivity. Trait: Neuroticism
Dependant personality disorder
A pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of that leads to submissive and clinging behaviour and fears of separation. Traits: Neuroticism, Maladaptive Agreeableness
Histrionic personality disorder
A pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking. Trait: Maladaptive extroversion
Narcissistic Personality disorder
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behaviour), need for admiration, and lack of empathy. Traits: Neuroticism, Extroversion, Antagonism, Conscientiousness
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness and efficiency. Trait: Maladaptive conscientiousness (may have a hard time relaxing, always feel under pressure, and believe that there isn’t enough time to accomplish important tasks)
Paranoid Personality Disorder
a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent
Schizoid Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings. Trait: Introversion
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of social and interpersonal deficits marked by acute discomfort with, and reduced capacity for, close relationships as well as perceptual distortions and eccentricities of behaviour. Traits: Neuroticism, Introversion, Unconventional, Antagonism
“wastebasket” diagnosis
Other specified personality disorder (OSPD) and Unspecified personality disorder (UPD)
Triarchic Model
Model formulated to reconcile alternative historic conceptions of psychopathy and differing methods for assessing it. 3 components: Boldness, Meanness, Disinhibition
Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud. Unconscious conflicts. Tension between Id, Ego, Superego. Replaced with Psychodynamic theory. Free association, use of dreams. Expensive and long term. not good for severe cases. lack of empirical support.
Humanistic and Person-Centered Therapy
Carl Rogers. focused on creating a supportive environment for self-discovery. believe mental health results from an inconsistency between patients behaviour and true personal identity. create conditions where person can discover self worth. Therapists take a passive role, non directive therapy. Unconditional positive regard. Non specific, one size fits all approach
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
changing the thoughts and behaviours that influence psychopathology. homework sessions. 12-16 weeks. most empirical evidence for almost all psychiatric illness. Thoughts, feelings, behaviours. Present focused on the here and now. fixing Automatic thoughts. Reappraisal or cognitive restructuring. Exposure therapy. Involves significant effort on the patients part.
Mindfulness- based therapy
nonjudgmental. buddhist. meditation, yoga, body scan, zen. Used to address many illnesses like depression, anxiety, chronic pain, coronary artery disease etc. Used as a tool in DBT.
Dialectal Behavioural Therapy
Used for borderline personality disorder. like CBT but it addresses symptoms of the problem (cutting) rather than the problem itself (motivation to cut oneself).
Dialectical Worldview: world isn’t black or white, good or bad. has a bit of both. Less judgemental of thoughts and uses mindfulness exercises and CB techniques
Acceptance: their experiences and behaviours are valid. Change: have to make positive changes to manage emotions going forward
Acceptance and commitment therapy
uses mindfulness techniques. foster nonjudgmental observation of one’s own mental processes. Observe in themselves which thoughts are beneficial and which are harmful.
cognitive Bias Modification
uses exercises (computer games) to change problematic thinking habits. Trains automatic, subconscious thoughts (making an alcoholic play a game where they have to choose water every time) not enough research yet.
Comorbidity
State of having more than one psychological or physical disorder at a given time
Integrative or Eclectic Therapy
combining more than one therapy
What important questions should a psychological scientist be asking?
Is the data reliable? valid? generalizable? Ethical? (remember: always operationalize your variables!)
Diathesis Stress Model
Combination of genetics and environment can lead to the experience of psychopathology.
Diathesis: genetic/biological vulnerability to a mental illness (high vulnerability doesn’t mean it will occur and vice versa, it is only one aspect to consider)
Stress: Factors in our environment that may make psychopathology more likely (exposure to distressing situations, illness, nutrition, safety)
Protective Factors: Buffers between an individual and psychopathology. Warm, responsible, supportive family/community. Nutritious and safe environment.
Mood disorder
Aka Depressive disorders or Bipolar and related disorders according to the DSM. Defined by extended periods of depressed, euphoric, or irritable moods than in combination with other symptoms can cause the person significant distress and interfere with his or her daily life, often resulting in social and occupational difficulties
Major Depressive Episode
symptoms that co occur for at least 2 weeks and cause significant distress or impairment in functioning, such as interfering with work, school or relationships. Anhedonia.
Anhedonia
Loss of interest or pleasure in activities one previously found enjoyable or rewarding
Hypersomnia
Excessive daytime sleepiness, including difficulty staying awake or napping, prolonged sleep episode. can be a symptom in MDE
Psychomotor agitation
Increased motor activity associated with restlessness, including physical actions (fidgeting, pacing etc). can be a symptom in MDE or Manic/hypomanic episode
Psychomotor retardation
A slowing of physical activities in which routine activities (eating, brushing teeth) are performed in an unusually slow manner. can be a symptom in MDE
Manic or hypomanic episode
Distinct period of abnormally and persistently euphoric, expansive or irritable mold and persistently increased goal-directed activity or energy. Mood disturbance must be present for one week or longer in mania (unless hospitalization is required), 4 days or longer in hypomania.
Grandiosity
Inflated self-esteem or an exaggerated sense of self-importance and self-worth (ex believing i have special powers). can be a symptom in a manic or hypomanic episode.
Unipolar Mood Disorders
Major depressive disorder (defined by more than 1 MDE, no history of
manic/hypomanic episode) & persistent depressive disorder (PDD) defined by feeling depressed most of the day for more days than not for at least 2 years.
Bipolar Mood Disorders (3)
BD I: manic depression
BD II: Hypomanic depression
Cyclothymic Disorder: numerous and alternating periods of hypomania and depression, lasting at least 2 years.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
inducing a seizure after a patient takes muscle relaxants and is under general anaesthesia. Viable treatment for patients with severe depression or who show resistance to antidepressants although the mechanisms through which is works remain unknown (also acute
mania and schizophrenic symptoms)
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
noninvasive technique while awake. Brief pulsating magnetic fields delivered to the cortex, inducing electrical activity. fewer side effects than ECT. Promising for patients who have shown resistance to other treatments
Deep brain stimulation
implanting electrode in the brain connected to an implanted neurotransmitter, which electrically stimulates that particular brain region
Interpersonal therapy
improving interpersonal relationships by targeting problem areas, specifically unresolved grief, interpersonal role disputes, role transitions, and interpersonal deficits.
Interpersonal and Social Rhythm therapy
a psychosocial intervention focused on addressing the mechanism of action posited on social zeitgeber theory to predispose patients who have BD to relapse, namely sleep disruption. Aims to increase rhythmicity of patients lives and encourage vigilance in maintaining a stable rhythm. Goal: patient does not become too active or inactive. studies show patients have less episode recurrence and more likely remain well. Bipolar.
Attributional Style
the way in which a person infers the cause or meaning of behaviours or events around them
Delusions (4 types)
False beliefs that are often fixed, hard to change even in the presence of conflicting information, and often culturally influenced in their content.
(1) persecutory delusions (abstract groups like police, government, alien is after you)
(2) Grandiose delusions (special power or abilities)
(3) Referential delusions (events or objects have special meaning just for them)
(4) other (controlling thoughts or actions)
Hallucinations
Perceptual experiences that occur even when there is no stimulus in the outside world generating the experiences. any 5 senses. Auditory most common
Schizophrenic Disorder Symptoms (7)
Hallucinations, Delusions, Disorganized speech, disorganized behaviour (dressing weird, unusual rituals), Abnormal motor behaviour (like catatonia), Negative symptoms (Anhedonia/amotivation, reduction in drive or ability to engage in action), Blunted/flat affect/ reduced speech
Catatonia
Behaviours that seem to reflect a reduction in responsiveness to the external environment (unusual postures, failing to respond to verbal or
motor prompts from another person, or seemingly purposeless motor activity)
Psychopathology
Covering content related to assessment, diagnosis and treatment of Illnesses or disorders that involve psychological or psychiatric symptoms
Functional capacity
ability to engage in self-care (cook, clean, bathe), work, attend school, and/or engage in social relationships
Episodic & Working memory
Episodic: the ability to learn and retrieve now information or episodes in one’s life
Working memory: ability to maintain information over a short period of time, such as 30 secs or less & other tasks that require one to “control” or regulate one’s behaviour
Schizophrenia as a Heterogenous disorder
two different people with “schizophrenia” may each have very different symptoms (one might have hallucinations and delusion, the other
might have disorganized speech and negative symptoms) so it’s more difficult to identify genes
Cognitive remediation aka Cognitive Enhancement Therapy
shown to improve cognition, functional outcome, social cognition, and to protect against gray matter loss in young individuals with schizophrenia
which parts of the brain normally activate when important aka “salient” events happen? (may under perform with schizophrenia)
The ventral striatum and anterior prefrontal cortex
3 aspects before a diagnosis
- disturbance or dysfunction in behaviour, sensation, perception, thoughts or emotions (behaviour is different from what is typical for that individual (s)
- The behaviour causes significant distress or harm to self/others
- The behaviour causes significant impairment to daily functioning (interferes with work/relationships/ extracurricular activities
Trephination
Drilling a hole in the skull, presumably as a way of treating psychological disorders. earliest supernatural explanation for mental illness. also to treat epilepsy and head injuries (ironic) as well as evil spirits trapped within the skill to be released
Somatogenesis
Developing from physical/bodily origins. Identify disturbances in physical functioning resulting from either illness, genetic inheritance, or brain damage or imbalance
Psychogenesis
Developing from psychological origins. Traumatic or stressful experiences, maladaptive learned associations and cognitions, or distorted perceptions
Maladaptive
referring to behaviours that cause the people who have them physical or emotional harm, prevent them from functioning in daily life, and/or indicate that they have lost touch with reality and/or cannot control their thoughts and behaviour (also called dysfunctional)
Hysteria
ancient greeks and Egyptians used to describe a disorder believed to be cause by a woman’s uterus wandering throughout the body and interfering with other organs (today called conversion disorder, in which psychological problems are expressed in physical form)
Humorism
Hippocrates. believe excess or deficiency in any of the 4 bodily fluids or humours (blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm) directly affect health and temperament. Somatogenic theory up until the 19th century
Animism
belief that everyone and everything had a “soul” and mental illness was due to animistic causes. Ex: evil spirits
Mesmerism
Early version of hypnotism. claimed that hysterical symptoms could be treated through animal magnetism emanating from Mesmers body and permeating the universe. Later explained in terms of high suggestibility in individuals. power of suggestion
Cathartic Method
Patient gains insight and emotional relief from recalling and reliving traumatic events (Freud)
Biopsychosocial Model
interaction of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors is seen as influencing the development of the individual. ex: born with genetic predisposition but licked and groomed so you don’t develop the disorder
Criticisms about the DSM
-based on clinical and research findings from Western culture, primarily US
-Assumes disordered behaviour does not differ in degree but in kind, as opposed to a dimensional classification system that would plot disordered behaviour along a continuum
-number of disorders have tripled since it first got published, so almost half of americans will have a diagnosable disorder in their lifetime. contributing to continued concern for labelling and stigmatizing mentally i’ll people
Anxiety Disorder
Experience anxiety constantly and so intensely that it has significantly negative impact on quality of life
Anxiety triple vulnerabilities
- Biological vulnerability: specific genetic or neurobiological factor that might predispose someone to develop anxiety disorders
- Psychological vulnerability: influences that our early experiences have on how we view the world (ex: unsafe household
- Specific Vulnerabilities: How our experiences lead us to focus and channel our anxiety (my dad was afraid of spiders so i’m afried of spiders)
Generalized anxiety disorder
Excessive worry about everyday things that is at a level that is out of proportion to the specific causes of worry
Panic Disorder
A condition marked by regular strong panic attacks, and which may include significant levels of worry about future attacks. for diagnosis, must also experience continues intense anxiety and avoidance related to the attack for at least 1 month, causing significant distress or interference in their lives
Agoraphobia
A sort of anxiety disorder distinguished by feelings that a place is uncomfortable or may be unsafe because it is significantly open or crowded
Phobia (5 types)
But be an irrational fear of a specific object or situation that substantially interferes with the persons ability to function
1. Blood-Injury-Injection Type (BII)
2. Situational type (planes, elevators) - most common in US
3. Natural Environment Type (heights, storms)
4. Animal Type
5. other (vomiting, choking, contracting)
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD, Social Phobia)
Acute fear of social situations which lead to worry and diminished dat to day functioning. must have a fear of social situations so strong you avoid them entirely or endures them with great distress & must get in the way of daily life
PTSD
A sense of intense fear, triggered by memories of a past traumatic event, that another traumatic event might occur. May include feelings of isolation and emotional numbing. most common: combat or sexual assault
OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
desire to engage in certain behaviours excessively or compulsively on hopes of reducing anxiety. Behaviours include things such as cleaning, repeatedly opening and closing doors, hoarding, and obsessing over certain thoughts
Thought-Action Fusion
The tendency to overestimate the relationship between a thought and an action, such that one mistakenly believes a “bad” though is the equivalent of a “bad” action. Often with OCD patients
Anxiety
Negative mood state marked by bodily symptoms, such as accelerated pulse, muscle tension, feeling uneasy, and worries about the future
Interpretive Avoidance
avoidance of situations or activities that produce sensations of physical arousal similar to those occurring during a panic attack or intense fear response (panic attacked wearing a tight shirt so you avoid tight shirts)
What is the best therapy for a variety of anxiety disorders?
Exposure based cognitive behavioural therapy
Mental hygiene
practices we engage in that are important for maintaining our mental health and preventing psychological conditions such as burnout and mental illness
Mind- body connection
the idea that our emotions and thoughts can affect how our body functions
Health Psychology
Relatively new, interdisciplinary field of study that focuses specifically on the role of psychology in maintaining health & preventing and treating illness
Biomedical Model of Health
a reductionist mode that posits that i’ll health is a result of a deviation from normal function, which is explained by the presence of pathogens, injury or genetic abnormality
Biopsychosocial Model of Health
an approach to studying health and human function that posits the importance of biological, psychological, and social (or environmental) processes which are just as important in the development of disease as biological causes, which is consistent with the WHO definition of health. health psychology relies on this
Psychosomatic medicine
an interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on how biological, psychological and social processes contribute to physiological changes in the body and health over time.
Psychoneuroimmunology
a field of study examining the relationship among psychology, brain function, and immune function
Stress
pattern of physical and psychological responses in an organism after it perceived a threatening event that disturbs its homeostasis and taxes it’s abilities to cope with the event. can increase changes of heart attack. It’s not just major stressors that increase likelihood of getting sick, it’s the little ones too.
Stressor
an event or stimulus that induces feelings of stress
General Adaptation Syndrome
when Hans Selye noticed sickness in rats after being injected with hormones, but realized it wasn’t the hormones but the stress of being handled and pricked which lead to ulcers, developed this model.
3 phase mode of stress, which inches a mobilization of physiological resources phase, coping phase, and an exhaustion phase (when organism fails to cope with the stress adequately and depletes its resources)
Resilience
Ability to bounce back from negative situations (illness, sickness) to normal functioning or to simply not show poor outcomes in the face of adversity
5 factors often studied in terms of their ability to protect or harm health
- Coping
- Control and Self-efficacy
- Social Relationships
- Dispositions and Emotions
- Stress management
2 coping strategies
- Problem focused coping: improving or changing stressful situations. ex- studying for an exam
- Emotion- focused coping: reducing negative emotions associated with a stressful event ex- watching a funny video to cope with exam stress
Control
feeling like you have the power to change your environment or behaviour if you need to want to. Even caring for a houseplant is shown to improve health, longevity, immune system functioning, stress hormone levels
Self-efficacy
the belief that one can perform adequately in a specific situation
Type A behaviour
impatience, competitiveness, neuroticism, hostility, anger. Associated with double risk for health disease. Hostility & competitiveness harmful to heart health. quick to get upset. angry arousal can damage arteries. can also lack support social network.
Hostility
Experience or trait with cognitive, behavioural and emotional components. often includes cynical thoughts, feelings of emotion and aggressive behaviour
Type B behaviour
the absence of Type A characteristics and is represented by less competitive, aggressive and hostile behaviour patterns. better health outcomes and longevity
Optimism
shown to improve coping, reduce stress & produce better disease outcomes like recovery from heart attack
Biofeedback
Process by which physiological signals, not normally available to human perception, are transformed into easy-to-understand graphs or numbers. can use this information to try to change bodily functioning. Shown promise in reducing heart and hypertension risk & other conditions (doesn’t need to be complicated, even a walk)
Health
complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
Health behaviour
ant behaviour to health- either good or bad (wearing a seatbelt, not drinking aka engaging in protective habits)
Adherence in Health
the ability of a patient to maintain a health behaviour prescribed, exercising more, or eating less high-fat food
behavioural medicine
similar to health psychology. integrated psychological factors (emotion, behaviour, cognition, and social factors) in the treatment of disease. Includes clinical areas of study such as occupational therapy, hypnosis, rehabilitation of medicine, and preventative medicine
Subjective well-being
the name that scientists give to happiness- thinking and feeling that our lives are going very well (relys heavily on self report surveys)
Factors: persons inborn temperament, quality of their social relationships, societies they live in, ability to meet their basic needs
3 types of Happiness
- high life satisfaction
- frequent positive feelings
- infrequent negative feelings
“Top-Down” or internal causes of happiness
the persons outlook and habitual response tendencies that influence their happiness
Examples: inborn temperament, personality and temperament, outlook, resilience
“Bottom-up” or external causes of happiness
Situational factors outside the person that influence his or her subjective well-being, such as good and bad events and circumstances such as health and wealth
Factors: Sufficient material resources, Sufficient social resources, Desirable society
Drive States
An affective experience (something you feel, like the sensation of being tired or hungry) that motivates organisms to fulfil goals that are generally beneficial to their survival and reproduction. Unique in that they generate behaviours that result in specific benefits for the body
Examples: Thirst, hunger, sexual arousal, exhaustion, fear, exploratory and maternal drives, drug cravings
Homeostasis
The tendency of an organism to maintain this stability across all the different physiological system in the body. Ex: body temp, dehydration
Set point
in homeostasis, the state of the system being regulated must be monitored and compared to an ideal level or set point
Hypothalamus
A portion of the brain involved in secretion of hormones and the regulation of hunger and sexual arousal (drive states). located in the lower, central part of the brain. Important in eating behaviour
LATERAL hypothalamus: concerned largely with hunger. legions/damage of the LH can eliminate the desire for food entirely
IMPORTANT: HYPOTHALAMUS REGULATES BIOLOGICAL DRIVES WITH PITUITARY GLAND
Ventromedial Hypothalamus
important role in satiety (satiation: gets you to stop eating). lesion can cause animal to overeat to obesity or be quite finicky about food. (drive states)
In women, excretion of estradiol (sexual receptivity, so willingness to accept sexual partner)
Preoptic Areas
affects arousal in males and eating behaviours in women
Well-Being
the experience of mental and physical health and the absence of disorder
Emotion
An experiential, physiological and behavioural response to a personally meaningful stimulus.
Negative emotions aren’t always bad
3 central aspect that research neglects about emotions:
- intensity of the emotion
- how emotions fluctuate over time
- the context in which the emotion is experienced
Psychological flexibility
the ability to adapt to changing situational demands and experience emotions accordingly. beneficial links with well-being
Emotion coherence
The degree to which responses travel together, like smiling and heart racing when making a friend (subjective experience, behaviour, physiology)
Affective Neuroscience
examines how the brain creates emotional responses. also aims to understand how matter (brain structures and chemicals) creates emotions
Invasive neuroscience techniques used to study animals (3)
- electrode implantation
- Hormone administration
- Lesioning
Non invasive neuroscience techniques (3)
- EEG
- fMRI
- Studies of individuals who have experienced lesion by accident or disease
Parts of the brain associated with the DESIRE (also appetite and rewards) System
- lateral Hypothalamus
- Amygdala
- Nucleus accumbens (associated with liking)
- frontal cortex (damage to left side depression, right side mania)
- neurotransmitter dopamine
- Orbitofrontal cortex
Parts of the brain associated with FEAR
- Amygdala
- Periaqueductal gray in the midbrain
- Thalamus
- Visual Cortex
Parts of the brain associated with RAGE
- Medial amygdala
- hypothalamus
- periaqueductal gray of the midbrain
- left frontal cortical activation
Parts of the brain associated with LOVE
- periodic areas
- stria terminalis
- Neurotransmitters oxytocin, arginine-vasopressin, endogenous opioids
- also involved in sexual desire
Parts of the brain associated with GRIEF
- also parts involved in infant attachment
- midbrain periaqueductal gray
- dorsomedial thalamus
- ventral septum
- dorsal preoptic region
- bed nucleus of stria terminalis
- sensitive to endogenous opiates, oxytocin, and prolactin (all these neurotransmitters prevent separation distress
Intellectual Ability
broadly encompasses the ability to learn, remember and use new information, to solve problems and to adapt to novel situations
General factor “g”
often used to be synonymous with intelligence itself. charles spearman proposed the idea that intelligence was one thing, since people who did well in one area (verbal ability) also tend to perform well in others (logic and reasoning)
Psychological measurement
pioneered by Darwins cousin Francis Galton. Ability to judge distance or discriminate between colours. believed intelligence was hereditary (studied identical and fraternal twins)
IQ Test
original test by Alfred Binet observed children in classroom settings. IQ short for “intelligence quotient”. (curve bell graph) some people are bigger or smaller, most cluster around an average. New IQ test is standardized (better)
Standardize
assessments that are given in the exact same manner to all people. with regards to intelligence tests standardized scores are individual scores that are computed to be referenced against normative scores for a population
The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
another modern intelligence test. tests a wider range of abilities than an IQ test. (IQ relying heavily on verbal ability). assesses people’s ability to remember, compute, understand language, reason well, and process information quickly
Flynn Effect
intelligence going up, because it is not stagnant. hypothesizes: better nutrition greater familiarity with testing, more exposure to visual stimuli
3 levels of intelligence
Stratum III: or general factor “g”
Stratum II: more specific, such as fluid or crystallized intelligence, visual perception, processing speed
Stratum I: Each of these in turn can be subdivided into very specific components such as spatial scanning, reaction time, and word fluency
Howard Gardners Theory “multiple intelligences” (8)
- Logic-Math
- Visual- Spatial
- Music-Rhythm
- Verbal-Linguistic
- Bodily- Kinesthetic
- Interpersonal
- Intrapersonal
- Naturalistic
Fluid Intelligence
ability to think on your feet, solve problems (natural ability). information processing abilities, such as logical reasoning, remembering lists, special ability and reaction time. Shows different rates of change across the lifespan
Crystallized Intelligence
Ability to use language, skills & experience to address problems. Abilities that draw upon experience and knowledge. vocabulary tests, solving number problems, and understanding texts. Shows different rates of change across the lifespan
Emotional Intelligence
set of skills in which an individual can accurately understand the emotions of others, can identify and label own emotions and can use emotions
Growth Mindset
people who believe that intelligence can grow are better in terms of some outcomes as compared to people who believe that intelligence is “fixed” (not enough research)
Stereotype Threat
the phenomenon in which people are concerned that they will conform to a stereotype or that their performance does conform to that stereotype, especially in instances the stereotype is brought to their conscious awareness (intelligence: women who were told women perform badly on math exams did worse)
Satisfaction (“fulfilment”)
Correspondence between an individuals needs or preferences and the rewards offered by the environment
Satisfactoriness (“competence”)
Correspondence between an individuals abilities and the ability requirements of the environment
Model of talent development
places equal emphasis on the person (abilities and interests) and the environment (response requirements and reward structures). there are various cognitive domains, each with complexity, and the construct of g at the centre represents the commonality shared by these specific abilities. these abilities would likely be tested using batteries of cognitive tests. there are a lot of different ways of measuring g, and statistically these would indeed be associated with a number, but there’s a lot of different options in the field.
Self Select (intelligence)
if you have a kid who is succeeding in school at age 13, they may self select into the types of careers where publishing work and developing invention is more likely
Interests (6, RIASEC)
- Realistic (gadgets, outdoors, need for structure
- Investigative (scientific pursuits, math, physical science, interest in theory)
- Artistic (art & writing, little need for structure)
- Social (helping professions, teaching, nursing)
- Enterprising (leadership roles, economic objectives)
- Conventional (well structuring environments, clear changes of commence like office)
Connotation
Zeal, industriousness, will, grit, strivers
Typical Intellectual Engagement (TIE)
more to do with individual difference in energy or psychological temperament rather than the content of what proppenschieter do or how rapidly they learn. Huge individual differences associated with how much time people are willing to invest in their career development and work
Bounded Awareness
the systematic ways in which we fail to notice obvious and important information to at is available to us. broad array of focusing failures that affect our judgment.
Bounded ethicality
The systematic ways in which our ethics are limited in ways we are not even aware of ourselves
Bounded rationality
Model of human behaviour that suggests that humans try to make
rational decisions but are bounded due to cognitive limitations
Bounded self interest
The systematic and predictable ways in which we care about the outcomes of others. We care about the outcomes of others, giving them more of a commodity than is necessary out of a desire to be fair.
Bounded willpower
The tendency to place greater weight on present concerns rather than future concerns (immediate motivation often inconsistent with long term interests. Ex: saving for retirement vs buying takeout)
Biases
the systematic and predictable mistakes that influence the judgement of even very talented human beings
6 steps to make a rational decision
- Identify the problem
- Identity the criteria necessary to judge the multiple options
- Weigh the criteria
- Generate alternatives
- Rate each alternative on each criterion
- Compute optimal decision
Heuristics
cognitive (or thinking) strategies that simplify decision making by using mental short-cuts. Help us to cope with the complex environment surrounding our decisions (problem: they also lead to systematic and predictable biases)
Overconfident
bias to have greater confidence in your judgement than is warranted based on a rational assessment. Overconfidence is a natural part of most peoples decision making process and this can get us into trouble. might be possible to overcome faulty thinking
Anchoring
the bias to be affected by an initial anchor, even if the anchor is arbitrary, and to insufficiëntly adjust our judgements away from that anchor (TV advertised at $500, but buying one at $450. you think it’s cheap because the $500 price was the anchor)
Framing
the bias to be systematically affected by the way in which information is presented, while holding the objective information constant. the way you word things can significantly change someone’s response/ decisions. (brand A carrie’s an 80% chance of develop lung cancer and brand B carrie’s a 20% chance of not developing lung cancer. even tho the outcomes are the same, the FRAMING can affect the decisions people make)
Person-thing orientation
tendency to prefer “person” versus “thing” stimuli (resources in our environment, internet vs person)
Identity formation (4)
Erikson. Primary indicator of successful development during adolescence
1. Foreclosure: commits to an identity without exploring options
2. Identity Diffusion: neither explore nor commit to any identities
3. Moratorium: exploring options but haven’t yet made a commitment
4. Identity Achievement: explored different options and then made identity commitment
Academic Achievment
Predicted by interpersonal (parental engagement), intrapersonal (intrinsic motivation) and institutional (school quality) factors. Marker of positive adjustment and sets the stage for future educational and occupational opportunities
Adolescence
Characterized as a period of transformation, primarily, in terms of physical, cognitive and social-relational change .
Homophily
Adolescents who are similar to one another choose to spend time together in a “birds of a feather flock together” way.
Influence: adolescents who spend time together shape each others behaviour and attitudes
Deviant Peer Contagion
The process by which peers reinforce problem behaviour by laughing for showing other signs of approval that then increase the likelihood of future problem behaviour
Differential Suseptibility Model
Genetic factors that make individuals more or less responsive to environmental experiences (adolescence). Individual differences play an important role in adolescent development
Emerging adulthood
A new life stage extending from approx 18-25, during which the foundation of an adult life is gradually constructed in love and work
Emerging adulthood 5 features
- Age of Identity explorations
- Age of instability
- The self-focused age
- The age of feeling in between
- The age of possibilities
Life course theories
theory of development tha highlights the effects of social expectations of age-related life events and social roles (becoming a parent, retirement)
Also considers the lifelong cumulative effects of membership in specific cohorts (generations) and sociocultural group (race, gender, socioeconomic) and exposure to historical events (war, revolution, natural disasters)
Life span theories
Complement the life course perspective with greater focus on processes within the individual (the aging brain). emphasis of lifelong inter and intra individual differences (between individuals and within oneself)
Heterogeneity
Inter-individual and subgroup differences in level and rate of change over time. in each decade of adulthood, we observe substantial heterogeneity in cognitive functioning, personality, social relationships, lifestyle, beliefs and satisfaction with life.
Autobiographical Narratives
a qualitative research method used to understand characteristics and life themes that an individual considers to uniquely distinguish him or herself from others. questions like “who are you?”
Subjective age/age identity
how old one feels compared to chronological age
Psychological Well-being
aims to evaluate the positive aspects of psychological development, as opposed to factors of ill-being, such as depression or anxiety.
Ryff’s Model of psychological well being (6 core dimensions)
- Environmental mastery (old higher)
- Autonomy (old higher)
- Personal growth (old lower)
- Purpose in life (old lower)
- positive relations (similar levels)
- Self acceptance/ liking oneself
Successful aging 3 components
- Avoiding disease, disability & risk factors like high blood pressure, smoking or obesity
- Maintaining high levels of cognitive and physical functioning (physical activity)
- Active engagement in social and productive activities
Authoritative Parenting
parenting style characterized by high (but reasonable) expectations for children’s behaviour, good communication, warmth & nurturance, and the use of reasoning (rather than coercion) as preferred responses to children’s misbehaviour
Children develop greater competence and self-confidence
Family Stress Model
Description of the negative effects of family financial difficulty on child adjustment through the effects of economic stress on parents depressed mood, increased marital problems, and poor parenting
Security of attachment
an infants confidence in the sensitivity and responsiveness of a caregiver, especially when he or she is needed. infants can be securely attached or insecurely attached
Theory of mind
The human capacity to understand minds, a capacity that is make up of a collection of concepts (agent, intentionality) and processes (goal detection, imitation, empathy, perspective taking). very important when it comes to understanding one another. Children’s growing understanding of the mental states that affect peoples behaviour.
Secure attachment
when parents respond sensitively to infants, reinforcing the infants confidence that their parents will provide support when needed
Insecure attachment
care is inconsistent or neglectful; these infants tend to respond avoidant, resistantly, or in a disorganized manner
Uninvolved parenting style
low warmth/ responsiveness and low expectations/control
Authoritarian Parenting style
low warmth/ responsiveness and high expectations/control
Permissive Parenting Style
High warmth/ responsiveness and low expectations/control
Social referencing
process by which one individual consults another’s emotional expressions to determine how to evaluate and respond to circumstances that are ambiguous or uncertain (visual cliff experiment)
Egocentric
focuses on own perceptions and experiences. Used to believe this in infants but it’s actually the opposite
Temperament
Early emerging differences in reactivity and self-regulation, which constitutes a foundation for personality development
Goodness of fit
The match or synchrony between a child’s temperament and characteristics of parental care that contributes to positive or negative personality development
Conscience
the cognitive, emotional and social influences that cause young children to create and act consistently with internal standards of conduct
Effortful control
temperament quality that enables children to be more successful in motivated self-regulation
Moral Self
children think of themselves as people who want to do the right thing, who feel badly after misbehaving, and who feel uncomfortable when others misbehave
Emotional flexibility
moving in and out of emotional states. important in developing emotional regulation (Distraction, relaxation, rumination, reappraisal, expressive suppression, expressive enhancement)
Interpersonal functions of emotion
effects of one’s emotion on others, or the relationship between oneself and others
Cultural display rules
Rules that are learned early in life that specify the management and modification of emotional expressions according to social circumstances
Attachment behavioural system
a motivational system selected over the course of evolution to maintain proximity between young child and his or her primary attachment figure. natural selection. those who could maintain proximity were more likely to make it to a reproductive age
Attachment Behaviours
behaviours and signals that attract the attention of a primary attachment figure and function to prevent separation from that individual or to reestablish proximity to that individual (crying, clinging) continues until proximity again or exhausts themself
Anxious-resistant Attachment
difficult to soothe when reunited with parents because they want to be soothed but also want to punish the parents for leaving.
Adulthood: “others are reluctant to get as close as i would like. i often worry my partner doesn’t love me”
Avoidant attachment
upon reunion, actively avoid seeking contact with parent, sometimes turning to toys.
Adult: “i’m uncomfortable being close to others, i find it difficult to trust them”
Disorganized Attachment
inconsistent and likely abusive experiences
parents- source of fear AND comfort
child wavers between wanting to be close and far away
Category
A set of entities that are equivalent in some way. Usually the items are similar to one another
Concept
The mental representation of a category. there is a category of trucks in the world and i have a concept of trucks in my head
Exemplar
An example of a memory that is labelled as being in a particular category
Psychological Essentialism
The belief that members of a category have an unseen property that causes them to be in the category and to have the properties associated with it
Typicality
The difference in “goodness” of category members, ranging from the most typical (the prototype) to the borderline members
Borderline Items
not clearly in or out of a category. Experiments also showed that the psychological assumptions of well-defined categories were not correct
Fuzzy categories
unclear boundaries that shift over time, this happens with borderline items
Family resemblance theory
proposed that items are likely to be typical if they (a) have the features that are frequent in the category and (b) do not have features frequent on other categories. ex: penguins swim and have wings that look like fins, properties found more often in fish than birds
Basic level of categorization
category used for something that is not too small (northern brown bear) not too big (animal) but just right (bear)
Prototype theory
suggests that people have a summary representation of the category, a mental description that is meant to apply to the category as a whole. check for common features in categories and consult your
memory
Exemplar Theory
denies there is a summary representation of a category. Instead, theory claims your concept of vegetables is remembered examples of vegetables you have seen (hundreds or thousands). you see an object and automatically subconsciously compare it to other items stored in a category and you calculate how similar it is to others. eventually memorize exemplars
Knowledge approach to concepts
emphasizes that concepts are meant to tell us about real things in the world, and so our knowledge of the world is used in learning and thinking about concepts
Continuous development
ways in which development occurs in a gradual incremental manner, rather than through sudden jumps
Discontinuous development
development that does not occur on a gradual incremental manner (piaget)
Information processing theories
theories that focus on describing the cognitive processes that underlie thinking at any one age and cognitive growth over time
Phonemic Awareness
awareness of the component sounds within words. crucial skill when learning to read. kindergarteners performance on these tasks is the strongest predictor or reading achievement in third and fourth grade, even stronger than IQ or social class background
Piaget Theory & 4 steps
Theory that development occurs through a sequence of discontinuous stages. qualitative changes (large, fundamental changes)
1. sensorimotor stage (birth-2, children come to represent the enduring reality of objects)
2. Preoperational reasoning stage: (2-7, drawing and language but cannot solve logical reasoning problems like conservation)
3. Concrete operations stage: (7-12, can think logically about concrete operations but not engage in systematic scientific reasoning
4. Formal operations stage: (12+, gain the reasoning powers of educated adults)
Object Permanence task
infants below 9 months fail to search for an object when it’s removed from their sight, and, if not allowed to search immediately for the object, act as if they do not know that it continues to exist
Sociocultural theory
Lev Vygotsky. Emphasizes how other people and the attitudes, values, and beliefs of the surrounding culture influence children’s development. Quantitative change (gradual, incremental change). Focus more on social interaction than Piaget theory.
Vygotsky well know for “the zone of proximal development” which is when children are ready for learning a new skill but have not yet achieved it.
Thinking
involves higher mental processes like problem solving, reasoning, creating, conceptualizing, categorizing, remembering, planning etc. Also basic mental processes even toddlers can do: perceiving objects and events in the environment, acting skillfully on objects to obtain goals, and understanding and producing language
Social brain
the set of neuroanatomical structures that allows us to understand the actions and intentions of other people. Allows us to process information, enabling the recognition of other individuals and the evaluation of their mental states (intentions, dispositions, desires, and beliefs) . this is an issue in Autism
ASD Brain differences
- Amygdala
- Orbito frontal cortex (OFC): supports the reward feelings we have when we’re around other people
- Fusiform Gyrus (FG): located at bottom surface of temporal lobes. detects faces and supports face recognition
- Posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) region: recognizes the biological motion, including eye, hand and other body movements, and helps to interpret and predict the actions and intentions of others. Underlies the perception and interpretation of biological motion
How to study brain activity in ASD
fMRI and ERP (event related potentials)
Endophenotypes
A characteristic that reflects a genetic liability for disease and a more basic component of a complex clinical presentation. Endophenotypes are less developmentally malleable than overt behaviour.
These explain the most basic components of a complex psychiatric disorder and are more stable across the lifespan than observable behaviour
Linguistics
the study of language
Psycholinguistics
The study of the psychological and neurological factors that enable humans to acquire, use and understand language
Phonemes
Sounds of our language (ch= chair, beach, nature)
Morphemes
small units of speech that are meaningful (Un, Anti)
Syntax
grammatical rules
Semanticity (1 of 3 features of human language)
The extent to which words can meaningfully represent ideas, events and objects symbolically (“Ecstatic” conveys meaning)
-2. Generativity 3. Displacement
Generativity (2 of 3 features of human language)
The ability to produce an infinite number of sentences using a limited set of rules and words
1. Semanticity 3. Displacement
Displacement (3 of 3 of features of human language)
Language refers to things that are not present (the past or future or some other location)
1. Semanticity 2. Generativity
Situation Models
representations about the topic of conversation. as we talk about something, we will likely start to use similar words and grammar. as we trend towards using similar words and grammar, similar situation modes begin to form in our mind by way of priming
Audience design
constructing utterances to suit the audiences knowledge
Gary vs a friend of mine (more descriptive to help them understand if they don’t know gary)
Common ground
information that is shared by people who engage in a conversation. Set of knowledge that the speaker and listener share and they think, assume, or otherwise take for granted that they share
“gary bought a ring”
pair of utterances between 2 people is called an ADJACENCY PAIR
Linguistic Intergroup bias
A tendency for people to characterize positive things about their ingroup using more abstract expressions, but negative things about their outgroups using abstract expressions
Ingroup members are typically good, and if they do anything bad, there’s an exception in special circumstances; in contracts, outgroup members are typically bad
uses adjectives (he is generous/ cruel) over verbs (he gave someone change/ he kicked a dog) for both groups
Priming
A stimulus presented to a person reminds him of her about other areas associated with the stimulus. when you think about one thing, it reminds you of something else
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
The hypothesis that the language people use determines their thoughts
Social Brain hypothesis
The hypothesis that the human brain has evolved, so that humans can maintain larger ingroups
primates that have larger brains tend to live in larger groups
Social Networks
networks of social relationships among individuals through which information can travel
Automatic empathy
a social perceiver unwittingly takes on the internal state of another person, usually because of mimicking the persons expressive behaviour and thereby feeling the expressed emotion
False-Belief test
Used to test if a child has developed explicit mental state inference. An experimental procedure that assesses whether a perceiver recognizes that another person has a false belief- a belief that contradicts reality
(candles in a crayon box- 3yo will think his sister will think there’s candles too)
Folk explanations of behaviour
peoples natural explanations for why somebody did something, felt something etc. by explaining behaviour, people make sense of the social world, adapt to it, and shape it.
Projection (theory of mind)
absence of perspective taking. we assume tha others perspective equals our own. Some things are only obvious to you because of your perspective (pimple). People use their own current state to grasp other peoples mental state.
Explicit mental state inference
the ability to truly take another persons perspective requires that we separate what we want, feel and know from what the other person is likely to want, feel and know
