Midterm 2 Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
The study of how behaviour changes throughout life
Challenges when examining human development:
– Post Hoc Fallacy
– Bidirectional Influences
– Cohort Effects
Post Hoc Fallacy:
Logical error where you assume that A causes B, just because B came after A
Bidirectional Influences:
- Human development almost always includes two - way interaction
- Children’s development affect their experiences, but their experiences also affect their development
Cohort effects:
Groups of people who lived in one period may be systematically different from groups that lived in another period.
Research Strategies:
- Cross-sectional designs
- Longitudinal designs
- Sequential designs
Cross-sectional design:
- Every age group attended the same classes.
- Several groups collaborate in one task.
Disadvantages of Cross-sectional design:
– Cohort effects?
– Provides no data on the
development of individuals
because only measured at one
time point
Longitudinal design
- Throughout time, the same people were observed at least twice more.
- Time span may be short (a few days) or extremely long (several years, or even decades)
– Allow us to examine true developmental change
Disadvantages of Longitudinal design:
– Costly, time-consuming
– Not true experimental design
Sequential design
Combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal
Sequential design of Disadvantages:
– Even more costly and time consuming
– Different attrition rates across groups
The Nature-Nurture Debate
Nature via nurture - Kids with specific genetic predispositions frequently seek out and build their own environments, giving the impression that nature is the only factor at play.
Gene expression is the process through which genes are activated or deactivated as a result of environmental events during development.
Prenatal Development:
A zygote is formed when sperm cell fertilizes an egg. Zygote goes through germinal stage. In middle of the second week, blastocyst becomes an embryo. The embryonic stage lasts until 8 weeks. By the 9th week and the start of the fetal stage,
the major organs are established and heart beats.
Brain Development:
The human brain begins to develop 18 days after fertilization. Neurons are brain cells, specialized in
communication with each other. Adult brain has approximately 100 billion neurons, with 160 billion
connections between them. Unique shape compared to other cells. Most organs are completely formed at birth and continue to grow in size only. Human brain continues to develop into
adolescence and early adulthood. Between day 18 and the 6th prenatal month, neurons grow at an incredible rate (proliferation) – Up to 250,000 neurons per minute at times. Around month 4 (prenatal), brain begins to
organize
Obstacles to healthy prenatal development
Teratogens: factors that may have a negative impact on prenatal development (smoking, drugs, chicken pox)
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FAS)
Prematurity
motor development progress during the first 2 years of life
Infants are born with a large set of
automatic motor behaviours (reflexes) – Sucking and rooting reflexes
Motor behaviours are body movements
that comes from an inner force that moves the bones and muscles
Physical development
size of our body parts changes dramatically
Adolescence is the transitional period between childhood and adulthood. This is when our bodies reach full maturity, in part due to hormonal
release – Estrogens and androgens
Puberty is largely due to that hormonal release
3 major ways in which theories of cognitive development differ:
- Stagelike vs gradual changes in understanding
- Domain-general vs domain-specific
- Principal source of learning
Describe how children use the processes of assimilation and accommodation to acquire knowledge
Schema: organized mentalpatterns that evolve and change as the mind does
- There are two ways that intelligence develops:
Assimilation is the process through which people understand an event in perspective of their cognitive development and way of thinking at the time.
Accommodation: changes in existing thought patterns carried on by exposure to new information or events - Kid learn schema of something (cat). Goes to zoo, saw tiger and called it cat (assimilation). But then learn that it’s a tiger (accomodation). Now he/she has a new schema of tiger.
Four stages of cognitive development according to
Piaget
- Sensorimotor (birth – 2 years)
- Main source of knowledge is via physical interactions
- cognitive abilities: Object permanence: understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view. Deferred imitation: the ability to perform an action that was observed earlier - Preoperational stage (2 - 7 years)
- Egocentrism: the young child’s belief that everyone sees and experiences the world the way she does
- Able to construct mental representations of experience - Concrete Operations (7 - 11 years)
- Can perform mental operations, but only for actual physical events - Formal operations (11+ years)
- Can understand hypothetical reasoning beyond the here and now
- Understands logical concepts and abstract
questions
– E.g., “if, than” statements: “If all people are equal,
then you and I must be equal”
– E.g., “what if?” questions
- Utilizes systematic problem solving
– the ability to methodically search for the answer
to a problem.
Pros and Cons of Piaget
Cons:
* Development is more continuous than stage-like
* Underestimated children’s competence due to task demands
* Culturally biased methods
* Limited sample (used his own children a lot)
Pros:
* Still highly influential, helped change how we think about cognitive development
* Children are not just small adults!
* Learning is an active rather than passive process
* Exploring general cognitive processes that explain multiple domains of knowledge
Lev Vygotsky
Theory focused on social and cultural influences on cognitive development
Scaffolding:
Structuring environments for learning and then gradually remove it
Zone of proximal development:
Range of tasks a person is capable
of, given appropriate assistance
Temperament:
refers to one’s basic emotional style that
appears early in development
3 Major Temperamental Styles (Thomas & Chess)
– Easy (40%)
– Difficult (10%)
– Slow-to-warm up (15%)
Imprinting:
phenomenon in which baby birds begin to follow around and attach themselves to any large moving
object they see in the hours immediately after hatching – Only happens within first 36 hours
Attachment:
Emotional connection we share with those to whom we feel closest
Measuring Attachment
Strange Situation task measures how infants react when separated from primary caregiver
Attachment Styles
- Secure (60%) - infant becomes upset at
mom’s departure, is happy when she returns - Insecure-avoidant (15%-20%) - infant reacts
to departure and return with indifference - Insecure-anxious (15%-20%) - infant reacts
to departure with panic, then shows mixed
emotional reaction upon mom’s return - Disorganized (5%-10%) - pattern of reaction
is inconsistent, confused, and even contradictory
Parenting Styles
- Permissive – tend to be lenient, little
discipline, very affectionate
– Permissive-neglectful
– Permissive-indulgent - Authoritarian – very strict, punishing, little
affection - Authoritative – supportive but set clear and
firm limits - Uninvolved – neglectful, ignoring of children
Development of Gender Identity
- Sex: biological status - typically refers to sexual anatomy (chromosomes, physical characteristics, hormones, etc.)
- Gender: psychological characteristics and a person’s social and cultural identity
- Social influences play a huge role in gender development
- Gender roles: Behaviours, values, or motives a society considers more appropriate for members of a specific sex
- Transgender: an umbrella term for people whose
gender identity differs from the sex they were
assigned at birth - Transsexual: an older term that is still preferred by some people who have permanently changed
- Nonbinary and gender fluid
– May report feeling that their gender identity or = gender expression fall outside the traditional male-female binary
– May identify as both male and female, neither male nor female, or somewhere in between
Moral Development
The idea of right and wrong begins to
develop when children are toddlers and
preschoolers
Social Psychology
Study of how people influence others’ behaviour, beliefs, and attitudes
Key Themes in Social Psychology
Social Influence: The ways behaviour can be affected by other people
Social Cognition: How people think about other people and how those cognitions influence behaviours towards others
Social Interaction: The positive and negative aspects of people relating to others
Social Systems: How larger social systems (e.g., institutions, media, social groups) are created and maintained to influence behaviour
Social Comparison Theory
We seek to evaluate our abilities and beliefs by comparing them with those of others
Social Contagion
- When a situation is ambiguous and we’re not sure what to do, we often look to others for cues
- Social behavior is often contagious and can spread irrational behaviours and thinking, such as: – Collective delusions : many people simultaneously becoming convinced of a persistent false belief despite indisputable evidence to the contrary
– Mass hysteria : is a contagious outbreak of
irrational behaviour that spreads
– Urban legends
how the fundamental attribution error can cause us to misjudge others’ behaviours
- Attributions refers to the process of assigning cause to behavior
- The Fundamental Attribution Error: when we look at others’ behaviour, we tend to:
– Overestimate the influence of individual factors
– Underestimate impact of situational influences - When it comes to evaluating our own behavior, we do the opposite
Asch’s study of conformity
Conformity: the tendency to alter our behaviour as a result of group influence
Asch Study Findings
Unanimity (group agreement) increased conformity
– Conformity decreases if at least one confederate voices a different answer (even if incorrect) then the group
Group size impacts conformity
– Larger groups lead to greater conformity, but only up until 5-6 group members
Deindividuation
The tendency to engage in atypical behaviour when stripped of your usual identity
Stanford Prison Study
Recruited normal young men for a two
week “psychological study of prison life ”. Randomly assigned them to be either a prisoner or a guard.
- Deindividuation of guards and prisoners – Both groups wore a uniform – Prisoners were referred to by a number and not their name – Mimicked shaved head
- By second day, guards became dehumanized and drunk with power – Began to treat prisoners cruelly and dole out punishment
- Prisoners showed signs of emotional disturbance and depression
- Prisoners started a rebellion, guards became increasingly sadistic
- Had to stop study after only 6 days over concerns for prisoner welfare
Stanley Milgram
- Student of Asch’s who wanted to know how the Holocaust could have occurred
- Designed experiment to test the influence of obedience and authority on normal people
- Subjects were taken to a lab and introduced to a fellow “volunteer” and the researcher
- “Teachers” (subjects) were supposed to
shock the “learners” (confederates) when
they did not successfully repeat words - With each failure, the intensity of the shock
increased The “learner” Mr. Wallace, being
strapped to the shock plate by Mr. Williams and an assistant. - Learner tells teacher he has “a slight heart condition” before any shocks
- Learner soon misses some answers, researcher tells teacher to continue administering shocks
- By 330 volts, learner is yelling “Let me out of here!” (pleading to be released)
- All participants administered at least some shocks
- 62% displayed complete compliance
- Two key themes emerged from follow - ups: – The greater psychological distance between
teacher and experimenter, the less obedience
– Greater the psychological distance between
teacher and learner, the more the obedience - Compliance was not related to sadism (love of punishing/hurting others)
- Predictor of disobedience: More morally advanced individuals less likely to comply
- Predictor of obedience: Greater authoritarianism (see the world as a big hierarchy of power, authority figures should not be questioned)
- No reliable sex or cultural differences have been found
dangers of group decision making
- Doesn’t always lead to bad decisions, but does routinely lead to overconfidence
Helping and Harming Others
- Prosocial behaviour is behaviour intended to help others
- Antisocial behaviour: is behavior that sharply deviates from social norms and violates other people’s rights
Bystander Nonintervention
- When people see someone in need but fail to help them
- Bystander effect: bystanders typically want to intervene but often find themselves frozen, seemingly powerless to help
- Two factors help explain bystander nonintervention:
– Pluralistic ignorance: error of assuming that no one in a group perceives things as we do
– Diffusion of responsibility: reduction in
feelings of personal responsibility in the
presence of others
Social Loafing
Social loafing: phenomenon whereby
individuals become less productive in
groups.
Prosocial Behaviour and Altruism
- Altruism—helping others for unselfish reasons
human aggression
Aggression – behaviour intended to harm others, either verbally or physically
Differences in Aggression
- Certain personality traits influence aggression
– Negative emotions (irritability, mistrust), impulsivity - Lack of closeness to others
- Males engage in more physical aggression, females in more relational aggression (form of indirect aggression)
- Cultural influences
attitudes relate to behaviour
- Belief – conclusion regarding factual evidence
- Attitude – a belief that includes an emotional component
- Attitudes are more likely to predict behaviour when:
– The attitudes are highly accessible (they come to mind easily)
– Person is a low self-monitor
Origins of Attitudes
- Recognition heuristic: we are more likely to believe something we’ve heard many times
- Personality traits
– Politics: research has found (across many studies) that political conservatives are more fearful, more sensitive to threat, and less tolerant to uncertainty than political liberals
– Religiosity – the depth of religious convictions – is linked to certain personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness)
role of cognitive dissonance in influencing how and
when we alter/change our attitude
- Cognitive dissonance is an unpleasant state of tension between two opposing thoughts
- We are motivated to reduce or eliminate it
- Festinger and Carlsmith’s “Measures of Performance ” study
Self-perception theory
Theory that proposes that we acquire our attitudes by observing our behaviours
Impression management theory
Theory proposes that that we don’t change
our attitudes, but report that we have anyways
Persuasion
- Dual processes model: there are two pathways to persuading others
– The central route focuses on informational content
– The peripheral route focuses on more surface aspects of the argument
Persuasion Techniques
- Foot-in-the-door starts with small request and moves to a larger one
- Door-in-the-face starts big then backs off (works equally well as footin-the-door)
- Low-ball technique starts with a low price, then “adds-on” all the
desirable options
Prejudice and Discrimination
- Prejudice: Drawing negative conclusions prior to evaluating the evidence
- Stereotypes: belief about a group that is applied generally to most members of the groups
- Discrimination: the act of treating members of out-groups differently from members of in-groups
Nature of Prejudice (bias)
- In-group bias: we favour those within our group compared to those outside of our group
- Out-group homogeneity: the tendency to view people outside of our group as similar
two hypotheses for why prejudice occurs
- Scapegoat hypothesis – arises from a need to blame other groups for our misfortunes
- Just-world hypothesis – implies that we have a need to see the world as fair, even if it’s not
explicit prejudice from implicit prejudice
While explicit prejudice are attitudes that we are aware of, implicit prejudice refers to attitudes that we are unaware of
Ideal Conditions for Reducing Prejudice
- The groups should cooperate toward shared goals
- The contact between groups should be enjoyable
- The groups should be of roughly equal status
- Group members should disconfirm the other group’s negative stereotypes
- Group members should have the potential to become friends
What Is Stress?
- Stress is the tension, discomfort, or physical symptoms that arise when a stressor strains our ability to cope effectively
Three Approaches to Stress
Stressors as Stimuli
* Focuses on identifying types of stressful events
* Helps identify situations that cause more stress and persons that react more strongly
* Disasters that impact an entire community can increase social awareness and cement interpersonal bonds
Stress as a Transaction
* Examines how people interpret and cope with stressful events
* Richard Lazarus: Critical factor in determining whether we experience an event as stressful is our appraisal
– Primary appraisal—deciding whether an event is harmful
– Secondary appraisal—determining how well we can cope with it.
* Problem-focused coping: tackle life’s challenges head-on
* Emotion-focused coping: features a positive outlook on feelings or situations
Stress as a Response
* Assesses psychological and physical reactions to stress
* Can be lab-induced or real-world stressors
* Measure large number of outcome variables (e.g., depression, hopelessness, heart rate, blood pressure, corticosteroids)
– Corticosteroids—stress hormones that activate the body and prepare us to respond to stressful circumstances.
Measuring Stress
- David Holmes’ Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
– Based on 43 life events ranked by how stressful participants rate them
– Assigns a score to each event and then derives a total score indicating overall stress level
– Neglects appraisal, coping resources, chronic issues - Hassles – minor annoyances that strain our ability to cope – can impact us as well
- The frequency and severity of hassles are better predictors of physical health, depression, and anxiety
- Research shows this is true even when major life events are controlled for
How do we adapt to stress?
Selye’s general adaptation syndrome
The pattern of response to stress is called the general adaptation syndrome (GAS)
– Alarm reaction : autonomic nervous system is activated, stress hormones released, physical
symptoms of anxiety
– Resistance : you adapt and find ways to cope with the stressor. The cerebral cortex helps us appraise the situation, consider alternate solutions, and directs our efforts towards coping
– Exhaustion: in prolonged stressors, our resistance can break down. Can cause physical or psychological damage
Coping with Stress
- Social support encompasses interpersonal relations with people, groups, and the larger community
- Gaining control of situations can also relieve stress
Five Core Methods of Gaining Control of Stress:
- Behavioral control: the ability to do something to lessen the impact of a stressful circumstance.
- Informational control: the capacity to learn details about a tense situation.
- Decisional control: the capacity to select between many options
- Emotional control: the capacity to restrain and communicate emotions (see discussion on catharsis)
- Thinking (cognitive) control: the capacity to cognitively restructure or think differently about negative emotions that come from stress-inducing experiences.
The Immune System
- Immune system: Our body’s defense against invading bacteria, viruses, and other illness-producing organisms
– Antigens – organisms that invade the body
– Pathogens – disease-producing organisms
Psychoneuroimmunology
Study of the relationship between the immune system and central nervous system
Stress-Related Illnesses
Psychophysiological illness: Actual illnesses that emotions and stress cause, maintain, or worsen.
Biopsychosocial illness perspective: the belief that an illness or medical condition is the result of a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors.
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD): a whole or partial blockage of the arteries that supply the heart with oxygen
* Cardiovascular disease is the 2nd leading cause of death in Canada
* CHD is associated with number of factors, especially stress
– Data is correlational
Good Health
Health psychology (aka behavioral medicine) integrates behavioural
sciences with the practice of medicine
