PSYC 500 Flashcards
Accomodation
Accommodation is a Piagetian concept (theory of cognitive development) of modifying schemas in order to take new information and experience into account (can be creating new schemas).
Important in how we process new information and how we see the world, develop language.
Schema = organized pattern of knowledge to understand the world
Involves changing a schema to incorporate new information.
Happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.
Example: A child grows up in a house in which men were stereotyped for being aggressive. This information helps the child form a schema about men until he reaches high school and has a kind male teacher. He accommodates his schema for all males to include this new information about aggressive vs nonaggressive men.
Sees cat and calls it a dog bc it has four legs, but then someone corrects and says it’s actually a cat - now has schema for cat and dog.
Assimilation
Developmental psychology; a Piagetian term describing when children use their existing schemas to deal with new information or experiences; when an event fits their schema.
Helps make assumptions about how the world works
Example: A child entering therapy has had previous experience with males being aggressive. The child is afraid of the therapist, who is a male, as he is using assimilation to group the therapist into “aggressive males” instead of creating a new schema for “non-aggressive males”
Androgyny
Developmental psychology; having both feminine and masculine attributes such as appearance, traits, attitudes, or behavior.
Person does not fit into gender stereotypes
Sandra Bem created the Bem Sex Role Inventory that can determine how masculine, feminine, or androgynous an individual is. (She argues that it is psychologically healthier to have blended traits rather than be only stereotypically male/female.)
model proposed in the 1970s as an alternative to traditional masculine and feminine roles. It considers the presence of positive feminine and masculine characteristics (appearance, attitudes, traits) in the person. The androgynous male can be nurturing (feminine) and assertive (masculine). The androgynous female may be powerful (masculine) and sensitive to other’s feelings (feminine). Sandra Bem developed the Bem Sex Inventory for individuals to score their responses and categorize as feminine (high on traits associated with femininity), masculine (high in traits associated with masculinity), undifferentiated (low on both), and androgynous (high on both traits). She argued it’s psychologically healthy to have blended traits rather than being stereotypically male or female.
EXAMPLE: You are counseling a child that does not fit into typical gender stereotypes or roles. After performing your intial clinical interview and testing the child using the Bem Sex Role Inventory, you bring the parent in and explain to her that her daughter is simply psychologically androgynous. She scores highly in masculinity and femininity psychologically.
Attachment
Developmental psychology; a close emotional bond between two people.
Many theories of attachment in found psychology:
Freud: infants become attached to the person that provides oral satisfaction;
Harlow: contact comfort preferred over food;
Erikson: trust arises from physical comfort and sensitive care;
Bowlby: newborns are biologically equipped to elicit attachment behavior from caregivers
Attachment is formed in phases and specific attachments developed by 7-24 mos
Early attachment can foreshadow later social bx (- internalized symptoms, anxiety, depression, + emotional regulation, relationships)
Things that affect attachment include genetics, temperament, cultural differences
Strange situation is an observational measure of infant attachment. (Ainsworth - secure, insecure avoidant, insecure anxious, insecure disorganized)
Example: A one-year-old child is playing with their mother at a par when one of the mother’s friends approaches. The child has never met this friend. The mom asks that her friend watch the child while she visits the restroom. The child shows distress when the mother leaves and when the mother returns. But, after receiving and some encouraging words the child calms down quickly and resumes happily playing near the mother. According to Attachment Theory, this child is securely attached.
Example: Child is acting out socially and having problems with their peers. Upon further discussion, it is determined that the child did not have a secure attachment with their abusive parent.
Child abuse
Developmental psychology and ethics; an act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caregiver which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation
Includes neglect which is the most common, about 46% of cases
Can cause a myriad of developmental consequences such as attachment issues, poor emotion regulation, depression and delinquency, etc.
Children who experience abuse and neglect are also at a higher risk for problems in adulthood including substance abuse, employment-related difficulting, relational difficulties and anxiety and depression.
Young children, special needs children, and ill children are most at risk.
Abusers tend to be previous victims of abuse– cycle of abuse
Therapists are mandated reporters and it is important to pay attention to any signs.
Counselors - mandated reporters
EXAMPLE: The therapist noticed bruises on his client that remained over the course of several weeks. She also noticed the child appearing more withdrawn. The child eventually admitted that his parents would hit him if he made a mistake and would threaten to put him up for adoption. The therapist decided to report this as child abuse
Cohort
Part of developmental psychology; a group of people who are born at a similar point in history and share similar experiences as a result.
Can produce cohort effects or differences due to a person’s time of birth, era, or generation, but not to actual age
Cross-sectional studies can show how different cohorts respond, but they may confuse age effects and cohort effects
Longitudinal research can study age changes, but only within one cohort
The context of one’s life can influence their development.
This can also account for intergenerational conflicts.
EXAMPLE: A client comes to therapy for a fear of flying. She expresses that she was never scared to fly when she was young, and that her children are not afraid. She determines that this fear is from being from a generation that experienced 9/11.
Continuity vs non-continuity
Regarding development psychology; the debate about whether development is continuous (a process of gradual, cumulative change) or discontinuous (a set of distinct stages).
Freud, Erikson, and Piaget’s stages purport that individuals move through distinct, qualitatively unique stages of development, (discontinuity). This is more of a nature (genetics, biology).
Behavioral theorists, on the other hand, stress that development is happening constantly and continuously. More nurture, environmental influences
When evaluating developmental issues, most developmentalists acknowledge that development is not all-or-nothing
Example: Sally is a mother of three children who is seeing you for anxiety. She explains that her children have all developed through different stages and it’s been hard for her to track their development, where she is becoming obsessed with it. You explain to Sally that most psychologists now understand that devlopement is continuous and more influenced by nature, and you help her work through her anxious thoughts around her children’s development.
Control group
In an experimental study a control group is composed of participants who DO NOT receive the experimental treatment or drug (independent variable)- everything else remains the same.
People are randomly selected to be in this group. All conditions are the same as the experimental group, except the independent variable.
Experimenters compare the experimental group to the control group to determine if the treatment had an effect. This allows researchers to isolate the independent variable.
Control groups are critical components of determining if a relationship is CAUSAL.
EXAMPLE: In an experiment investigating the effects of CBT for depression were studied by using a control group who did not receive the CBT tx and an experimental group who did receive tx. The scores of their depression were compared after to see if the tx was effective.
Correlational research
Correlational research is used to explore and describe the relationships between two or more variables. Correlations look at whether or not variables vary together. Correlations are expressed using a correlational coefficient (f) which is a number between -1 and 1. The closer to 1 the correlational coefficient (whether positive or negative), the stronger the relationship between the variables.
Correlation does not equal causation
Helpful for counselors when looking at everyday life events and how they relate to one another.
Example: A researcher is interested in exploring the relationship between socio-economic status and marital satisfaction. They collect survey data to see if the two variables very together and find a moderate positive correlation of r=.41. They don’t know if lower SES causes lower levels of marital satisfaction or if low levels of marital satisfaction somehow lead to lower levels of SES or if some other variable moderates or mediates the relationship.
Critical period
Part of lifespan development; a fixed time period during which certain experiences or events can have a long-lasting effect on development
a maturational stage during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to environmental stimuli.
If, during this period, the person does not receive the appropriate stimuli required to develop a given function, it may be difficult or even impossible to develop that function later in life
Most commonly associated with language development
There is a critical period of development for fetuses in which the fetus is vulnerable to teratogens and other environmental factors that can interfere with normal development
EXAMPLE: A parent brings their adopted child to therapy because the parent is worried about the child’s development. The child is struggling in kindergarten to engage and learn things the other children are learning. After speaking to the parent, the therapist finds out that the child was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The therapist explains to the parent that the child may be struggling to engage and learn things because the child’s birth mother drank alcohol during a critical period of fetal development.
Cross-sectional design
A cross-sectional research design is a strategy that compares individuals of different ages in order to determine if any group differences in a dependent variable are the result of age. This type of design is advantageous in the study of human growth and development because it is cost effective and efficient (can be online survey). However, this design can obscure trends in development as it does not trace variables over time, but takes a snapshot. CAN NOT determine causation.
Example: A researcher is interested in how stress levels of individuals change over the course of a lifetime. They have a short timeframe and a small budget to conduct their research and opt for a cross-sectional design which will allow them to capture and compare stress levels of individuals of many ages in a relatively short period of time.
Defense mechanism
Defense mechansims are a part of psychoanalytic theory and were originally developed by Freud and his daughter Anna. They are unconscious strategies that reduce unpleasant feelings that arise when the parts of our psyche - the id, ego and superego - are in conflict. They can allow people to navigate painful experiences or channel energy. They can become problematic when applied too frequently or throughout an individual’s development.
Projection, denial, repression, regression, displacement, sublimation, rationalization, compensation.
Example: The client comes into therapy with anger issues and domestic violence. His ego unconsciously protects him from this experience by rationalizing his behavior, where he believes that his wife and children deserve and benefit from his anger outbursts.
Developmental Level
Part of developmental psychology; a stage in human development; span of time when changes occur
gives clinicians a guideline of what should be happening & when; can indicate lack in cognitive development or potential neurological problems.
Many developmental stage theories - Erikson, Freud, Piaget.
Children undergo various changes in terms of physical, speech, intellectual and cognitive development gradually until adolescence. Specific changes occur at specific ages of life.
EXAMPLE: Charlie is concerned that his 6 month old is not making eye contact or engaging with him by smiling. The therapist suggests that maybe there is a cognitive delay because this is not typical for the developmental level of a 6 month old.
Egocentrism
**Piaget’s theory of development. It is the inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s (unable to see other’s point of view). This quality is present in children who are in the preoperational stage of development which lasts from about age 2-7.
Egocentrism disappears in the next stage of development - concrete operational stage
Piaget developed “three mountain task” to test for egocentrism.
Important in therapy if a parent is concerned about their child’s “selfish” behavior.
EXAMPLE: Sam comes to therapy because he has a difficult time with his new baby brother where he doesn’t want mom and dad to hold him. The therapist explains that it is difficult for Sam to understand sharing because, in his viewpoint, he is happy with his mom and dad pay him attention, and therefore his baby brother should feel that way as well.
Extinction
Discovered by Skinner & Pavlov; part of Behaviorism; the process of withdrawing or withholding reinforcers that maintain a behavior (operant conditioning) in order to decrease the behavior.
Can be effective as the sole treatment for decreasing a behavior but generally more effective when combined with other therapies
It has four potential problems:
Can work relatively slowly
In ¼ cases, extinction results in an extinction burst. Bursts reduced when combined with other procedures
Its effects do not always transfer to other environments or circumstances
Chance of spontaneous recovery
Also considered a stage of classical conditioning - when the CS does not elicit the CR as a result of repeated presentations without the US
EXAMPLE: You’re seeing a child for behavioral problems. One of the parent’s complaints is that the child is always throwing tantrums at the store. He always asks the parent to buy candy. At first the parent refuses and when the child starts crying the parent gives him and buys him candy. You explain to the parent that she is unknowingly reinforcing the tantrums. You ask her to engage in extinction by saying no and sticking to it (removing reinforcement for tantrum). You warn her that extinction bursts may result in an initial increase of tantrums before a decrease.
Classical conditioning
A type of learning coined by Ivan Pavlov after his seminal experiments with dogs, classical conditioning is a type of learning via association. A previously neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus resulting in a conditioned response. Understanding this process has led to a deeper understanding of how environmental conditions can elicit specific responses and have advanced how we treat certain psychological disorders such as substance-use disorders.
NS+US = CR
Example: Tom is trying to cut back on his drinking. He always has a drink when he gets home from work, and the therapist explains that he has conditioned his body to want a drink at that time and place. Therapist suggests that he try other activities when he gets home to break the association he has developed through classical conditioning.
Genotype
Genotypes are part of the biological determinants of human growth and development. They include information (DNA) encoded in our genes which we inherit from our parents. Different genotypes can be expressed in different ways depending on epigenetic and environmental influences.
a range of phenotypes (observable characteristics/traits) can be expressed for each genotype
Three types of genotypes: AA (homozygous dominant), Aa (heterozygous), and aa (homozygous recessive) - based on alleles
Genotypes can only be discovered through biological testing
Impt to know what you can pass off to your offspring
EXAMPLE: An individual inherits an allele for blue eyes from one parent and an allele for brown eyes from the other parent. Those two alleles form a gene and are part of an individual’s genotype.
