Psych Final Flashcards
Attachment Styles
- Secure: child uses parent as a secure base from which to explore. Caregivers are sensitive and responsive and child was distressed when mother left, happy to see them when they returned.
- Avoidant: unresponsive to parent, doesn’t use the parent as a secure base and doesn’t care if parent leaves. Child was slow to show positive reaction when mother returned which is common when caregivers are insensitive and inattentive to needs.
- Resistant: show clingy behavior, but then reject mother’s attempts to interact with them. Child didn’t explore toys, became extremely disturbed and angry when mother left, difficult to comfort when mother returned which is common when caregiver is inconsistent with level of response.
- Disorganized: shows odd behavior around caregivers like freezing and running around erratically when mother left and tried to run away when mother returned. Common when child is being abused.
Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages
- Trust vs. Mistrust (0-1): trust (or mistrust) that basic needs, such as
nourishment and affection, will be met - Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt
(1 – 3): Develop a sense of independence in many tasks - Initiative vs. Guilt (3 – 6): Take initiative on some activities - may develop guilt when unsuccessful or boundaries overstepped
- Industry vs. Inferiority (7 – 11 years): Develop self-confidence in abilities when competent or sense of inferiority when not.
- Identity vs. Confusion (12 – 18 years): Experiment with and develop identity and roles
- Intimacy vs. Isolation (19 – 29): Establish intimacy and relationships with others
- Generatively vs. Stagnation (30 – 64): Contribute to society and be part of a family
- Integrity vs. Despair (65+): Assess and make sense of life and meaning of contributions
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
- (0 – 2) Sensorimotor: World experienced
through senses and
actions. Object permanence, stranger anxiety - (2 – 6) Pre-operational: Use words and images
to represent things, but
lack logical reasoning.
Pretend play, egocentrism, language
development - (7 – 11) Concrete Operational: Understand concrete
events and analogies
logically, perform
arithmetical operations.
Conversation,
mathematical
transformations - (12 +) Formal
Operational:
Formal operations,
utilize abstract reasoning.
Abstract logic, moral
reasoning
Assimilation and Accommodation
Part of the Cognitive Theory (piaget). Believed that children develop schemata (concepts used to categorize and interpret information) to help them understand the world. When they learn new information, children adjust their schemata through assimilation and accommodation
Assimilation: incorporates information into existing schemata
Accommodation: change schemata based on new
information
Parenting Styles
Authoritative style: parents give children reasonable demands and consistent limits, express warmth and
affection, and listen to the child’s point of view
Authoritarian style: parents place a high value on conformity and obedience, are often rigid, and express
little warmth to the child
Permissive style: parents make few demands and rarely use punishment
Uninvolved style: parents are indifferent, uninvolved, and sometimes referred to as neglectful; they don’t respond to the child’s needs and make relatively few demands
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
Motivation: the wants or needs that direct behavior towards a goal
Intrinsic motivation: arises from internal factors. Behaviors are performed because they bring a sense of personal satisfaction
Extrinsic motivation: arises from external factors. Behaviors are performed in order to receive something from others.
Social Motives
Need for achievement:
drives accomplishment
and performance
Need for affiliation:
encourages positive
interactions with others
Need for intimacy: causes us to seek deep,
meaningful relationships
Masters and Johnson
Conducted a study of physiological responses during sexual behavior.
- Observed people engaging in sexual behavior
- Measured physiological variables (EX: blood
pressure, respiration)
- Measured sexual arousal (EX: vaginal lubrication and penile tumescence)
Sexual response cycle:
1. Excitement – arousal phase (erection, lubrication)
2. Plateau – increased swelling and blood to labia minora, pre-ejaculatory fluid
3. Orgasm – rhythmic contractions, ejaculation
4. Resolution – return to unaroused state
Theories of Emotion
- James-Lange Theory: emotions arise from physiological arousal
- See snake = heart/ respiration rate increase
(physiological arousal)= feeling of fear - Cannon-Bard Theory – physiological arousal and
emotional experience occur simultaneously, yet independently
- See snake= physiological arousal and feel fear - Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory: emotions are comprised of two factors: physiological and cognitive.
- Physiological arousal is interpreted in the context leading to the emotional experience
- See snake= physiological arousal/ cognitive assessment of the situation that labels the arousal as fear= experience fear - Lazarus’ Cognitive-Mediational Theory: emotions are determined by our appraisal of the stimulus
- Unlike the Schachter-Singer model, the appraisal occurs before the label
- Appraisal is immediate and unconscious
Cultural Display Rule
Culturally specific standards that
govern the types and frequencies of displays of emotions that are acceptable.
- Despite varying cultural display rules, recognition and production of facial expressions of certain emotions are
universal.
Personality
the long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to think, feel, and behave in specific ways
Psychodynamic Perspectives
Sigmund Freud: first comprehensive theory of personality that explained both normal and abnormal behaviors
- Proposed that unconscious drives
influenced by sex, aggression, and
childhood sexuality affected
personality
-Neo-Freudians agreed that childhood
experiences matter
-But less emphasis on sex
- More focus on the social environment
and the effects of culture on
personality
Defense Mechanisms
Projection: Attributing unacceptable desires to others
Regression: Returning to coping
strategies for less mature stages of development
Repression: suppressing painful memories and thoughts
Sublimation: Redirecting unacceptable desires through socially acceptable channels
Displacement: Transferring inappropriate urges or behaviors onto a more acceptable or less threatening target
Behavioral Perspective
- Learning approaches to personality focus on
observable, measurable phenomena - Skinner – we learn to behave in particular ways
- Personality is shaped by reinforcements and
consequences in the environment - Personality develops over our entire life
- Personality can vary as we experience new situations
Individualist vs. Collectivist Cultures
Individualist cultures: value independence, competition, and personal achievement
- Mainly Western nations (U.S., England, Australia)
- People display more personally oriented personality traits
Collectivist cultures – value social harmony, respectfulness, and group needs over individual needs
- Asia, Africa, and South America
- People display more socially oriented personality traits
Situationism
the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings
Dispositionism
The view that our behavior is determined by internal factors (attribute of a person such as personality traits and temperament
Fundamental attribution error
tendency to overemphasize internal factors as explanations/attributions for the behavior of other people and underestimate the power of the situation
Zimbardo
- Conducted by Philip Zimbardo and demonstrated the power of
social roles, norms, and scripts - A mock prison was constructed and participants (male college
students), were randomly assigned to play the role of prisoners or
guards - In a very short amount of time, the guards started to harass the
prisoner in an increasingly sadistic manner - Prisoners began to show signs of severe anxiety and hopelessness
- The two-week study had to be ended after six days
- Social norms required guards to be authoritarian and prisoners to
be submissive - Scripts influenced the way guards degraded the prisoners by
making them do push-ups and removing privacy
Cognitive Dissonance
Psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more inconsistent attitudes, behaviors, or cognitions
Central and Peripheral Route
Central Route: logic driven, uses data and facts
- Direct route to persuasion focusing on the quality of information
- Works best when audience is analytical and willing to engage in processing the information
Peripheral Route: indirect route, uses peripheral cues to associate positivity with the message
- Uses characteristics such as positive emotion or celebrity
endorsement
- Results in less permanent attitude change
Asch
Conformity – the change in a
person’s behavior to go along
with the group, even if he does
not agree with the group
Asch’s Experiment:
- These line segments
illustrate the judgment
task in Asch’s conformity
study
Asch effect: the influence of the
group majority on an individual’s
judgement
- In Asch’s study there was one naive
subject, the rest were confederates
who purposely gave the wrong
answer
- 76% of participants conformed to
group pressure at least once by also
indicating the incorrect line
The size of the majority: the greater the majority, the more likely an individual will conform
The presence of another dissenter: causes conformity rates to drop to near zero
The public or private nature of the responses: public responses cause more conformity than private
Milgram
Obedience – the change of an individual’s behavior to comply with a demand by an authority figure
- The Milgram experiment showed the surprising degree to which people obey authority
- Participants were told to shock “learners” (confederate) for giving a wrong answer to test items
- Participants believed they were giving the learners shocks, which increased all the way up to 450 volts
- Two out of three (65%) participants continued to administer shocks to an unresponsive learner
Kitty Genovese
Kitty Genovese (1964) – Attacked and killed with a knife outside her apartment building
- Residents in the apartment building heard her scream
for help numerous times but did nothing
- Bystander Effect: phenomenon in which a witness/bystander does not volunteer to help a victim or person in distress
- Based on the social situation, not personality variables
- Diffusion of responsibility: tendency for no one in a group to help because the responsibility to help is spread throughout the group
