MT2 Flashcards
Direct measurement of SNS activity
Electrodermal Activity (skin conductance)
SNS activation => sweat production
higher sweat production = higher electrical activity
Chronic activation of SNS as a result of
high anxiety and neuroticism
How does stress affect cardiovascular activity?
Stress => SNS activation => inc BP and HR
Linked to Type A personality
Measurements of brain activity
PET and (f)MRI
Noninvasive techniques for mapping
Biochemical analyses of blood to look for:
Monoamine Oxidase - removes neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine) from the brain
Biochemical analysis of saliva for:
Immune system fxn
Hormone levels
Physiological theories of extraversion-introversion
Eysenck + Hebb
Difference in AROUSABILITY
Introverts show larger/faster NS response to moderate stimulation
Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS)
- Structure in brainstem controls cortical arousal
- Introverts have higher baseline cortical arousal and .t. are more sensitive to stimulus
- Eysenck’s Theory
Optimal Level of Arousal
- Ind differences in optimal level for any given task
- Introverts attempt to regulate arousal downward
- Extraverts attempt to regulate arousal upward
- Arousal curve: Rainbow shape; work best at peak
- Hebb
Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory
Physiological theory of sensitivity to reward + punishment
Ppl differ in sensitivity of BIS/BAS
BIS: responsive to punishment, frustration, uncertainty; vulnerable to negative affect, high anxiety, and neuroticism
BAS: vulnerable to positive affect, high impulsivity, and extraversion
Gray
Physiological theories of sensation seeking
Hebb, Zuckerman, MAO
Sensory deprivation => motivation to acquire any sensory input
Optimal Level of Arousal Theory (Hebb):
- ppl are motivated to reach their optimal level of arousal through tension reduction or tension seeking
- sensation seekers look to inc arousal
Sensation-Seeking Scale (Zuckerman):
- measure need for novel/exciting experiences + thrill enjoyment
- predicts sensory deprivation tolerance (high sensation seeking = lower tolerance)
- moderate positive correlation between extraversion and sensation seeking
Monoamine oxidase
- MAO fxn: decomposes NTs ∴ inhibits neurotransmission to control muscles, thots, emotions
- high sensation seeking = low MAO = high neurotransmission = low inhibition
Tridimensional Personality Theory for Neurotransmission
Cloninger
Dopamine: ↓ dopamine = ↑ novelty seeking (seeking pleasure/reward)
Serotonin: Abnormalities in uptake/metabolism = harm avoidance
Norepinephrine: ↓ NE = reward dependence
Which hemisphere is most activated during negative affect
right frontal
Which hemisphere is most activated during positive affect
Left frontal
Right hemisphere dominance correlated with
Lower optimal level of arousal: ↑ cortisol response ∴ ↓ threshold for negative emotional response (↑ irritability)
Meditation can train a shift toward left-sided assymmetry
Dimensions of Zuckerman’s Sensation-Seeking Scale
Thrill + adventure seeking
Experience seeking
Disinhibition
Boredom susceptibility/Impulsivity
Trends of Zuckerman’s Sensation-Seeking Scale
Men > Women (stable across time but gap narrows)
Inc age = dec scores
Peak in late adolescence
Habituation: repetitiveness decreases arousal ∴ have to find new, more exciting activity
Novelty seeking linked to creativity
Fear/anxiety not correlated, BUT high sensation seekers will enjoy the thrill of fear
Adaptations
Darwin
Inherited solutions to survival/reproduction problems caused by events that impede survival
Sexual Selection
Define and 2 forms
Evolution of characteristics because of mating benefits (vs survival)
2 forms:
- Intrasexual competition: members of same sex compete for greater access to members of opposite sex (victory = inc mating opportunites)
- Intersexual Selection: choose mate based on preferences of characteristics (inc prefered characteristics = inc offspring)
Inclusive Fitness Theory
“Inclusive” fitness = personal reproductive success PLUS ind effect on the reproductive success of genetic relatives
- weighted by degree of genetic relatedness
- cost of helping relative must be less that benefit of reproduction of common genes
Differential gene reproduction
Reproductive success relative to others
Result of survival and/or successful mate competition
3 products of the evolutionary process
1) Adaptations: primary product
- reliably developing structure in the organism
- affected by environment
- meshes with recurrent structures of the world (selective envmt)
- must facilitate the solution to an adaptive problem (“special design”)
2) Byproducts of adaptations
- incidental effects of evolution
- e.g. nose for smelling (adaptation) and for holding up glasses (byproduct)
3) Noise
- random variants
- neutral with respect to selection (no hinderance to adaptation fxn)
Evolutionary Psychology (3 premises and limitations)
Evolutionary processes create many specialized mechanisms to solve particular adaptive problems. These adaptive mechanisms are:
1) Domain Specific
2) Numerous
3) Functional
Limitations:
- archival
- conditions change
- mult theories for phenomena (not all falsifiable)
Evolutionary Analysis Hierarchy
1) Evolution by selection (survival + reproduction)
2) Middle-level evolutionary theories (e.g. parental investment)
3) Hypotheses
4) Specific predictions (if true, then what?)
Value and tenability of a theory
determined by specific predictions in an if… then format
Empirical research of the evolution hypothesis
Evolutionary psychology proceeds through deductive (top-down, theory-driven) and inductive (bottom-up, data-driven) research
Human Nature - Need to Belong
Hogan: most basic human motivators are status and acceptance (increases resources such as protection, food, mates)
Establish cooperative relations with group and negotiate hierarchies in order to survive and reproduce
Evidence for need to belong as survival mech
inc threat to survival = inc group cohesion
resources linked with group membership = inc bonding
inc time with others = inc self-esteem
Social anxiety adaptation
Social anxiety is a species-typical adaptation to prevent exclusion
Exclusion activates physical pain system (ACC)
Self-esteem monitors social inclusion
Key adaptive functions of group (Baumeister & Leary)
Sharing: food, info, resources
Protecting: against external threats
Access: inc concentration of mates for reproduction
Kin: opportunity for altruism + inclusive fitness
Evolutionary Altruism (Burnstein)
Helping others is a direct function of recipient’s ability to enhance the inclusive fitness of the helper
⬆︎ helping by:
↑ genetic relatedness
↓ age
↑ reproductive value
3 perspectives on universal emotion
1) Interpretation across cultures
- if all humans share an emotional expression, then likely to be a core part of human nature
2) Emotions are adaptive psych mechs that signal various “fitness accordances” in the social envmt
- emotions guide toward goals that would have conferred fitness in ancestral envmt
3) Manipulation hypothesis: emotion designed to exploit psych mechs of other people
- e.g. express rage to back-up threat
Ekman: emotions are an evolved part of human nature bc universally expressed/recognized
Evolutionary-Predicted Sex Differences
Sexes will differ in domains that have different adaptive problems
e.g. women need stable resources to support pregnancy + lactation ∴ find mate that can reliably support them
Evolutionary predictor of aggression
Patterns of aggression predicted by intrasexual competition (women are valuable, limited resource for reproduction)
Long history of effective polygyny in men ∴ more often perpetrators/victims of violence
Effective polygyny
Some males gain many offspring, meanwhile other men are shut out from contributing to the ancestry of future gens
↑ effective polygyny = ↑ intrasexual competition = ↑ sexual dimorphism in size and form = ↑ variance in offspring
2 main theories of evolutionary jealousy
1) Infidelity risks
- Men more sensitive to sexual infidelity bc of risk of investing in children who are not their own
- Women more sensitive to emotional infidelity bc of need for stable resources
- Low empirical support
2) Attachment-fertility (Miller + Fishkin)
- ↑ offspring survival with parental investment from both ∴ selective pressure favouring men who could develop bond with kids and mother
- jealousy evolved to preserve bonds
4 main evolutionary mechs to explain ind differences in adaptive traits
1) Envmtl triggers
- degree of exposure to evoking conditions
2) Contingency on other traits
- use adaptive self-assessments to determine social strategies (personal strengths + weaknesses)
3) Frequency-dependent strategies
- heritable variation decreases as successful variants replace the less successful
- frequency-dependent selection: 2 or more heritable variants maintained
- success of variant depends on commonality
- life history strategy (differences in effort allocated to reproductively relevant problems)
4) Optimum value of trait changes with time and place
- value of trait = forces of selection
- ind diffs due to dif evolutionary selection processes in local ecologies
- i.e. risk taking: selection for cautious vs risk-taking traits depend on food security vs scarcity
Reactively heritable
Secondary consequence of heritable trait
(e.g. body build –> aggression)
Adaptive Rumination Hypothesis
Depression is an adaptation that evolved as a response to social stress relating to survival/fitness
Function: sustain rumination/analysis of complex problems
K-strategy of life history
Survival + parenting > obtaining many mates
∴ ↑ attachment, ↓ risky bhvr
How are stable individual differences maintained
Motivational reactions (solutions) to particular classes of adaptive problems
Personality differences maintained by balancing selection => dif levels of trait adaptive in different environments
Correlations between Big 5 and adaptive solutions
Agreeableness: cooperation
Emotional stability: sensitivity to exclusion
High neuroticism: ↑ vigilance, ↑ stress + depression
Extraversion: risk-taking and short-term mating
Conscientiousness: goal pursuit + delayed gratification
Difference-detecting mechanisms (define and Big 5)
Notice and remember individual diffs in solving relevant adaptive problems
Extraversion: hierarchy/status, dominance
Agreeableness: cooperative, reciprocative, loyal
Conscientiousness: reliable, dependable, industrious
Emotional stability: coping, draining, time
Openness + intellect: advisor
Ellis: suggests physical attractiveness (health/fertility) & physical prowess (protection)
Psychic Energy
Motivates all human activity
Source: instincts
Fixed amount of energy
Personality change = redirection of energy
Freud’s theory of Instinct
Life and death instinct interact
Life instinct (sexual + self-preservation instincts):
- libido
- pleasure oriented
Death instinct:
- thanatos
urge to destroy, harm, or aggress against others or oneself
Levels of awareness in motivation
Conscious: thots, feels, perceptions in present awareness
Preconscious: thots, feels, perceptions not currently aware of but could easily be brought to mind
Unconscious: thots + memories that person is unaware of
Psychic Determinism + Talking-Cure
Nothing happens by chance - discover unconscious cause of symptoms to cure psych symptoms
Recall repressed memories –> express associated feelings –> emotional catharsis –> removes cause of symptoms –> symptom disappears
- Dream analysis
- Talking-cure (Freud + Breuer)
Therapist takes passive, unseen position so that patient isn’t influenced by microexpression
Process of Psychoanalysis (3)
Insight: intense emotional experience that accompanies repressed material being reintegrated into conscious awareness
Resistance: forces of repressed impulses/traumas are resistant to psychoanalytic process (signifies that important material is being uncovered)
Transference: displace feelings of someone else onto analyst
Id (fxn, age, principle, process)
Fxn: sources of drives + urges
Age: birth
Principle: pleasure (immediate gratification)
Process of thinking: primary - w/o logic, reality, rules
Ego (fxn, age, principle, process)
Fxn: constrains id to reality
Age: 2-3yrs
Principle: reality (find outlet for urges)
Process: secondary - strategies for problem solving and obtaining satisfaction
Superego (fxn, age, principle, process, sources)
Fxn: upholds social values + ideals
Age: 5
Principle: idealistic
Process: Guilt to enforce right + wrong; Not bound by reality
Source: internalized morals (parents), conscious (past learning through reinforcement), ego-ideal (past learning through reward)
Which personality components are conscious? (freud)
Ego!
And sometimes superego (past learning through reinforcement)
Internal conflict
Id vs Superego
Leads to anxiety
Ego depletion
Psychic energy depleted by efforts toward self-control (ego), leaving low energy for subsequent self-control situations
3 Types of Anxiety + defence
1) Objective
- response to a real, external threat to the person
- ego control threatened by EXTERNAL factor
2) Neurotic
- id vs ego
- worry that ego may lose control to an unacceptable desire
- ego control threatened by an INTERNAL factor
3) Moral
- id vs superego
- based on a feeling that one’s internalized values (superego) are about to be compromised (id)
Defence Mechanisms: protect ego and minimize anxiety/distress
Techniques of Pyschoanalytic Therapy
Deliberately restructure personality by finding unconscious causes
Techniques:
- Free association: look for themes
- Dream analysis: focus on latent content (symbols of wishes + desires) over manifest content
Projective techniques: coded symbols
Repression
Unconscious denial of threat existence
most basic defence mech
Fixation
Remaining (long-term) at particular stage of development (psychosexual or psychosocial)
Denial
Conscious denial of existence of an external threat or traumatic event
Reaction Formation
Express an id impulse that is opposite to the one driving the person (taking the other extreme)
Projection
Attribute a disturbing impulse to someone else
(extreme case is paranoia)
Regression
Temporary retreat to an earlier, less frustrating period of like => display bhvr characteristic of that period
Emotion > cognition
Rationalization
Reinterpret bhvr to increase acceptance, decrease threat
Displacement
Shift id impulse (anger) from threatening/unavailable object (boss) to an available one (boyfriend)
Sublimation
Alter id impulses by diverting instinctual energy into socially acceptable bhvr (e.g. exercising when distressed)
Introjection
Incorporate the positive qualities of other into view of self
Levels of psychosexual development
(not stages)
Fixation: remain at stage long-term
Poor resolution: less psychic energy available for subsequent maturation tasks
Successful personality development: able to be productive and maintain loving relationships
Stages of psychosexual development (list and describe)
1) Oral - “taking in”
- birth –> 18 months
- conflict: biological (nourishment + pleasure) and psychological (fear of abandonment) components
- fixation: oral stimulation, overly dependent
2) Anal - self-control
- 18 months –> 3yrs
- conflicts:
-↓ self-control => dirty, sloppy bhvr
-↑↑ self-control => pleasure in little acts of self-control
- fixation: compulsive, overly neat, rigid, never messy, stingy
3) Phallic - discovery of own genitals/pleasure
- 3-5yrs
- conflicts:
- Oedipal: attraction to mom, jealous (identification) + threatened by dad (castration anxiety)
- Electra: blame mom for penis envy, attraction to dad (without fear of mom ∴ no strong motivation to give it up)
4) Latency
- 6yrs -> puberty
- lack of sexual conflict
5) Genital - sexual awakening
- puberty onwards
Weston associated with
the neo-analytic movement (contemporary psychoanalysis
Weston defines contemporary psychoanalysis based on (5)
1) unconscious plays a large role in life, but not so far Freud thot
2) Bhvr often reflects conflicts among mental processes
3) childhood plays important role in personality development
4) mental representations of the self and relationships guide interactions
5) Personality development involves regulating impulses and moving from immature, social dependent relationships to mature, independent style
Loftus associated with…
repression and false memories
Variables contributing to construction of false memories (4)
1) Popular press: provide strong suggestions that abuse could have happened without memory of it
2) Leading questioning
3) Spreading activation: priming constructive memory by providing associated mental elements
4) Therapist behaviour: imagination inflation effect, therapist with confirmatory bias
Two differing views on the unconscious
Motivated unconscious view (freud)
Cognitive unconscious view (contemporary)
Cognitive unconscious view
Info can get into memory without ever being aware of it (e.g. subliminal processing/priming), ∴ unconscious thots aren’t always repressed id
Unconscious info doesn’t influence motivations - influence on bhvr, thots, feels are rule governed, specific, and bound to reality
Erikson view on psychoanalysis/ego
Psychosocial development (vs psychosexual)
Personality development through life (vs formed by 5)
Psychosocial conflicts lead to adaptive or maladaptive resolutions
Shift from id to ego focus
- Body ego (satisfaction compared to beauty ideals)
- Ego ideal (satisfaction dependent on gap b/w self vs “perfect self”)
- Ego identity (social role varies with context)
Karen Horney
Reconceptualized psychoanalysis from biological to social influences
Disputed Freud’s notion of penis envy => instead, girls have desire for the social power + privilege that comes with
Cultural + historical determinants of personality (gender differences in traits/roles)
Narcissistic paradox
appear to have high self-esteem, but internal self-representations are fragile + vulnerable to criticism
Kernburg + Kohut
Ego psychology
Primary fxn of ego: establishing a secure identity/sense of self
Difficulty establishing identity => identity crisis (time of adjustment)
Psychosocial stages of development
Premises of psychosocial stage of development
Every stage has interaction of opposites -> conflict between dystonic (disruptive) and syntonic (harmonoious) elements
- Must hold both perspectives to gain identity strength (virtue)
Too little ego strength at one stage will lead to core pathology @ later stage
Stages are biological in nature
Motives (define, influence, core ideas)
Internal states that arouse + direct behaviour toward specific objects/goals
Caused by a deficit or need (state of tension)
Propel ppl to perceive, think, and act in a way that helps reduce tension
Core ideas:
- ind diffs in type and intensity
- diffs are measurable
- diffs based on ind life goals
- relative amounts are stable/t
- connects dispositional and intrapsychic domains
Needs (define, types, associations)
Readiness/potentiality to respond in a certain way under given circumstances
Ind diffs in hierarchy/strength of needs
Organize perception and action to reduce state of tension
Viscerogenic (primary): satisfied by physical means
Psychogenic (secondary): satisfied by emotional/mental
State level of need: specific need fluctuating with situation
Trait level of need: average tendency toward a specific need
Each needs associated with:
- a specific desire/intention
- particular set of emotions
- specific action tendencies
- described with trait names
Motive dynamic
Interaction of various motives within a person
Press
Need-relevant aspects of the envmt
Alpha press: objective reality
Beta press: subjective reality
Apperception (define, influences, assessments)
Act of interpreting the envmt & perception of the meaning of an event
Influenced by needs and motives
Greatest with ambiguous stimuli
Thematic Apperception Test: participant describes and interprets an ambiguous image to assess psychoanalytic concepts, motives, needs
Multi-Motive Grid: pictures selected to prime either achievement, power, or intimacy motive, then answer questions about motivational states
Need for Achievement (nAch)
Desire to improve, succeed, and feel competent
Characteristics:
- Prefer moderate levels of challenge
- prefer outcomes that htey are personally responsible for
- prefer tasks with available personal feedback
Need for Power (nPow)
Readiness/preference for having an impact on others
Social experiences determine profligate impulsive behaviours
- i.e. responsibility training decreases alcohol abuse
Winter
Need for Intimacy
Recurrent preference/readiness for warm/close/communicative interactions
Implicit vs Explicit motives
Implicit motivation:
- based on needs - reflect real, unconscious/automatic motivations
- measured in fantasy-based measures
- better predictor of long-term, spontaneous bhvrl trends/t
Explicit motivation:
- self-attributed - reflect conscious awareness about self-understanding
- better prediction of responses to immediate, specific situations and of choice behvaiours and attitudes
Humanistic Tradition and approach to motivation
Motive to self-actualize
Meaning of life found in personal choices and responsibility taken for them
Characteristics of humanistic approach to motivation:
- emphasis on conscious awareness of needs, choices, personal responsibility
- emphasis on human need for growth and realization of one’s full potential (human nature is positive and life-affirming)
- growth based (self-actualization) vs deficit-based (big 3)
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Most important/motivated to least important:
1) physiological
2) safety
3) belongingness
4) esteem
5) self-actualization
Satisfaction of attaining higher goals > lower goals
Additional, final level: self-transcendance
Collectivistic cultures place belonging as the most important, and remove esteem
Self-actualization associations with Big 5
↑ conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability
Self-actualization and Fully Functional Person
Carl Rogers: everyone is capable of self-actualization when free from barriers
Fully functioning person: on their way to self-actualization without barrier
- open to new/novel experiences
- centred in the present
- trust in oneself
- unconditional positive self-regard
- responds to anxiety (discrepancy b/w self-concept and experience) by altering self-concept (vs using defence mechs)
5 components of ability emotional intelligence
5 abilities:
1) know one’s own emotions
2) regulate own emotions
3) motivate oneself and
4) know how others are feeling
5) influence how others are feeling
4 dimension of Trait emotional intelligence (with Big 5)
1) Well-being
-ve correlation with neuroticism
+ve correlation with extraversion
2) Self-control
-ve correlation with neuroticism
+ve correlation with openness
3) Emotionality
+ve correlations with extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness
4) Sociability
-ve correlation with neuroticism
+ve correlations with extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness
Dimensions of trait emotional intelligence that are associated with social and artistic interests
Wellbeing
Emotionality
Sociability (social, not artistic)
Dimensions of trait emotional intelligence that are associated with business interests
Self-control
Sociability
Client Centred Therapy (Rogers)
For progress to occur, there must be:
- atmosphere of genuine acceptance
- unconditional positive regard from therapist
- empathic understanding
Therapist reflects back client’s thots and feels; no interpretations or directions
Perception (styles)
Witkin
Perceptual style: the way ppl perceive envmt and navigate info
Field-dependence: rely on external/visual cues
- strong social skills
- more attentive to social context
Field-independence: rely on internal cues
- skillful at analyzing complex situations and focusing attention
- more creative
- low social skills
Pain tolerance theory (perception)
Petrie
Reducer/Augmenter Theory:
- individual differences based on NS reactivity
- low pain tolerance (augmenters) = NS amplifies sensory stimulation
-Reducers seek more stimulation to reach optimal level of arousal
Interpretation (3 theories/models)
Kelly:
- Primary human motivation = find meaning in life and use this to understand, predict, and control life
- Personal Construct Theory: individual differences in personal constructs (meaning/interpretation of the world) that are habitually employed
Rotter:
Locus of Control: perception of responsibility for life events
- Social Learning Theory: value and expectations of reinforcement
- Expectancy Model: expectations for reinforcement held across variety of situations (generalized expectancies) influence appraisal of control in new situation
- external vs internal locus of control
Learned Helplessness
- Caused by being stuck in an unpleasant situation that is considered to be outside of one’s control
- Explanatory style: dif ways of interpreting and explaining the causes of events. 3 broad dimensions:
1) Internal/external
2) Stable/unstable
3) Global/specific
- Pessimistic style: internal, stable, global
- Optimistic style: external, unstable, specific
Goals (cognition) 5 theories/models
Focus: what ppl want to happen (intention) and they want to achieve
Personal Projects Analysis (Little):
- relevant actions intended to achieve goal
- correlation with big 5:
↑ neuroticism = experience difficulty + dissatisfaction in accomplishing one’s goal
↓stress, ↑optimism, ↑control predicts happiness + satisfaction with life
Cognitive Social Learning Theory (Bandura):
- emphasizes cognitive and social factors in value and motivation toward goals
- Self-system exists for self-regulation of bhvr in pursuit of goals
- Self-efficacy = belief that goal pursuit is realistic
↑ self-efficacy ↔︎ ↑performance
Theory of Mastery Orientation (Dweck)
- Entity view of intelligence: unchangeable internal characteristics (avoid challenge)
- Incremental view of intelligence: malleable, changed with effort (↑ motivation, stable self-esteem, accept challenges)
Theory of Regulatory Focus (Higgins)
- regulate goal directed behaviour in 2 ways:
1) Promotion focus: concerned with advancement and accomplishment (eager, determined, extraversion, BAS)
2) Prevention focus: concerned with protection and prevention of -ve outcomes (vigilant, cautious, neuroticism, harm avoidance, -ve impulsivity)
Cognitive-Affective Personality System
- ind diffs in organization of cog + affective processes relative to specific situational characteristics
- if.. then
Intelligence
Application of cog. skills and knowledge to solve problems, learn, and achieve goals that are valued by the individual and culture
Achievement view: educational attainment in comparison to age cohort
Aptitude view: ability to become educated (i.e. IQ test)
Intelligence correlated with mental speed
- Inspection Time Test: discriminate between 2 objects
Erikson’s Psychosocial stages of development
1:
- trust vs mistrust
- virtue: hope
2:
- autonomy vs shame/doubt
- virtue: will
3-5:
- initiative vs guilt
- virtue: purpose
6-12:
- industry vs inferiority
- virtue: competence
13-18:
- identity vs role confusion
- virtue: fidelity
19-39:
- intimacy vs isolation
- virtue: love
40-64:
- generativity vs stagnation
- virtue: care for others
65+:
- integrity vs despair
- virtue: wisdom
