Phil 1 midterm Flashcards
Evolution & Genetics:
🔬 Charles Darwin (1859)
🌿 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
🧬 Gregor Mendel (Mid-1800s)
🧪 Modern Synthesis
🔬 Charles Darwin (1859)
Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection: Species adapt over generations
Galápagos Study: Variations in species due to survival advantages (e.g., bird beak variations)
🌿 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1809)
Lamarckism: Acquired traits could be passed to offspring (discredited)
Environment influences gene expression
🧬 Gregor Mendel (Mid-1800s)
Laws of Inheritance: Dominant & recessive genes determine traits
Laid foundation for modern genetics
🧪 Modern Synthesis (Early 20th Century)
Combined Mendelian genetics with Darwin’s evolution theory
Genetics:
Genes:
DNA vs. RNA:
Mutations:
Crossing Over: DNA mixing during reproduction increases diversity
-Study of inherited traits
- Segments of DNA coding for proteins (influencing traits & biological functions)
-DNA: Blueprint of life (46 chromosomes; 23 from each parent)
RNA: Reads DNA & instructs cells
-Random DNA changes causing new traits or diseases
-DNA mixing during reproduction increases diversity
Dominant vs. Recessive Traits
🔹 Dominant Trait: Requires one dominant allele to be expressed
🔹 Recessive Trait: Requires two recessive alleles to be expressed
🧬 Genotype vs. Phenotype
Genotype: Genetic makeup
Phenotype: Observable traits
Epigenetics
-Study of gene expression changes without altering DNA sequence
-Ifluencing Factors: Diet, stress, environmental toxins
-Long-term Impact
-Childhood stress affects stress response later in life
-Epigenetic changes can be inherited
-Acts as a gene switch, turning genes “on” or “off”
-depending on extrnal factors being out genge exprssion eg we all have stress genes but depnding on envirmnt it may be worse or better then others
🧠 Neuroplasticity:
Brain’s ability to reorganize itself through learning & adaptation
Encouraging positive habits (exercise, mindfulness, sleep)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Reframing thoughts, skill-building
Creating safe learning environments to encourage resilience
Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud)
Attachment Theory (Bowlby)
Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud)
Core Ideas:
Attachment arises from the fulfillment of biological needs (e.g., food, comfort).
Unconscious conflicts and psychosexual stages shape behavior.
Early experiences shape adult behavior.
Four Core Concepts:
Psychosexual Stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital.
Three Parts of the Mind:
Defense Mechanisms: Ways the ego protects itself from anxiety.
Impact of Fixations:
Oral: Smoking, overeating, nail-biting.
Anal-Retentive: Overly organized, perfectionist.
Anal-Expulsive: Disorganized, rebellious.
Phallic: Issues with authority, competitiveness.
Defense Mechanisms:
Weak ego development leads to reliance on defense mechanisms.
Example: Regression (acting childish under stress).
Attachment Theory (Bowlby & Ainsworth)
Core Ideas:
Attachment is innate and crucial for survival
Babies seek proximity to caregivers for safety and emotional regulation
Early relationships shape emotional and social development
Attachment Behaviors:
Crying, clinging, following
Caregivers provide a secure base for exploration
Co-regulation: Caregiver and infant regulate each other’s emotions
The Strange Situation Test
-Secure Attachment:
-Insecure Avoidant Attachment
-Insecure Ambivalent/Resistant Attachment
-Disorganized Attachment
● Attachment Styles in Adulthood:
● Insecure-Avoidant:
○ Adult struggles with intimacy; tends to suppress emotions and avoid closeness
○ Results from parents being emotionally distant or rejecting
● Insecure-Ambivalent (Resistant):
○ Adult has high anxiety in relationships; seeks reassurance but remains unsatisfied and distrusting
○ Caused by inconsistent caregiving, with parents sometimes responsive, sometimes unavailable
● Disorganized:
○ Adult is confused, inconsistent behaviors; struggles with trust due to past trauma
○ Develops when parents are frightening or abusive, causing confusion in the child’s attachment needs
4 Bowlby’s stages of attachment
Stages of Attachment:
Pre-attachment (0-6 weeks): Instinctive attachment behaviors (crying, smiling) without preference for a caregiver
Attachment in the Making (6 weeks-8 months): Preference for primary caregiver
Clear-cut Attachment (8 months-2 years): Strong attachment behaviors, separation anxiety
Attachment Styles (Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Test):
Secure: Distress when caregiver leaves, comforted upon return
Insecure-Avoidant: Little distress, avoids caregiver upon return
Insecure-Ambivalent: Distressed, but not easily comforted
Disorganized: Confused, contradictory behaviors (linked to trauma)
Impact of Attachment in Adulthood:
Secure: Healthy relationships, trust
Avoidant: Struggles with intimacy, suppresses emotions
Ambivalent: High anxiety, seeks reassurance but remains dissatisfied
Disorganized: Struggles with trust due to past trauma
Environmental Theories of Development
Bronfy’s Ecological Mode
Key Idea: Human development is shaped by interacting environmental systems.
5 Systems & Social Work Implications:
- Microsystem – Direct relationships (family, peers, school, clients’ immediate supports).
- Mesosystem – Interactions between microsystems (e.g., how school policies affect family dynamics, family, communication)
- Exosystem – Indirect influences (e.g., parental workplace stress affecting children).
- Macrosystem – Cultural, political, and socioeconomic factors (e.g., systemic oppression, access to services, laws, economy).
- Chronosystem – Life transitions and historical events (e.g., trauma, policy shifts, economic downturns).
Behavioral Models
behavior-shaped by environment
Key Theories & Social Work Relevance:
Pavlov ,skinner, Bandura
● Classical Conditioning (Pavlov) – Learning through associations.
● Operant Conditioning (Skinner) – Learning through consequences.
● Social Learning Theory (Bandura) – Learning through observation and imitation
- Classical Conditioning
● Operant Conditioning
● Social Learning Theory
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov) – How early experiences shape automatic responses (e.g., trauma triggers, emotional associations). dog neutral stimulis with positive
● Operant Conditioning (Skinner) – How reinforcement and punishment shape behavior (e.g., token economies, behavior modification in addiction treatment).
rat box negative reinforcement
● Social Learning Theory (Bandura) – Learning through observation and modeling (e.g., intergenerational trauma, peer influence on risky behaviors). bobo doll expriment
*Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory**
Children actively construct their understanding of the world by interacting with their environment.
-Schemas
- Assimilation & Accommodation:
- Equilibration:
-Mental frameworks for organizing knowledge.
-Adjusting schemas based on new experiences.
-Achieving cognitive balance by integrating new knowledge.
Four Stages of Development:
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1.Sensorimotor (0-2 years): Learning through senses and actions.
Object permanence – understanding that objects still exist when out of sight.
- Preoperational (2-7 years):
Development of language, imagination, and symbolic thought.
challenges: Egocentrism, centration, lack of conservation. - Concrete Operational (7-11 years):
Logical thinking about concrete objects and events.
skills:
Reversibility,classification*, and seriation. - Formal Operational (12+ years):Abstract and hypothetical thinking.
skills:
Abstract reasoning, hypothetical-deductive reasoning, and metacognition
Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory*
Development occurs in eight psychosocial stages, each involving a crisis that must be resolved.
