PSYCH FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE Flashcards
approaches to development: piaget v vygotsky
piaget: cognition develops through schematic stages
vygotsky: cognition develops while interacting with the environment
prenatal period: environmental influences
0 - 9 months
⋅ placenta environment, environmental toxins
- by 6 months: sound + stress
infant period: preference for caregiver
⋅ must find caregiver to survive
- familiarity w/ mothers voice + memory for faces
infant period: eye tracking
⋅ develops rapidly between 2 - 6 months of age
- researchers use it as a measurement of attention
infant period: sensorimotor stage
⋅ concept of self around 18 months
- self is related to but separate from the environment
infant period: rogue test
⋅ determines babies’ self-recognition level
- (w/ spot of makeup on face, babies will attempt to recognize themselves in the mirror)
early childhood: pre-operational stage
⋅ age 2 to 6: represent with words but no logic
- pretend play inherited around 3 years
early childhood: theory of mind
⋅ age 4 to 6: inferring others’ mental states
- necessary for conversation + social relationships
late childhood: concrete operational stage
age 7-11
⋅ concrete = about present or observed events
⋅ operational = imagining consequences of something happening
- logical thinking, math
- includes conversation + classification
adolescence: formal operational stage
⋅ age 12+ (logical thought)
⋅ applied to abstract (not present) concepts
- operations
- hypotheticals
- testable hypothesis
language development: communication & language
communication: a way of interchanging messages or info between two or more people, focusing on message
language: a system of communication that relies on verbal & non-verbal codes to transfer info
chomsky and universal grammar
- all human languages possess similar grammatical properties
- language is innate or inborn
- environment triggers child mind to begin learning
biology: broca’s area
⋅ speaking words (left frontal lob)
⋅ damage: broca’s aphasia
biology: wernicke’s area
⋅ understanding words of others (left temporal lobe)
⋅ damage: unable to process what others are communicating
biology: stroke
⋅ disruption of blood flow to brain
- results in brain death/impairment
biology: atypical development
⋅ deafness
comprehension: wernicke’s still activated
communication: broca’s still affected
reading & writing: wernicke’s and broca’s area
wernicke’s:
- reading composition affected
- writing affected
broca’s:
- reading comprehension intact
- writing similar to speech (slow, misspellings, but content words make sense)
tomasello/picker and the “language instinct”
⋅ innate capacity for human language
⋅ development = combination of cognitive ability + experience in social situations
⋅ language depends on biology + learning
joint attention
the ability to focus on what another person is focused on
stress
process by which we perceive + respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging
types of stress: acute
short-term
types of stress: episodic
repeated short-term
types of stress: chronic
long-term
why is stress good?
- keeps us alive
- maximize offspring survival
- activate immune response
- energy to pursue goals
- social connection
biology of stress: endocrine system
stress hormones - epinephrine, norepinephrine
biology of stress: nervous system
sympathetic nervous system alerts to threat to activate fight or flight response - dulls pain
biology of stress: immune system
may be activated to fight, if releasing lymphocytes to to fight: it suppresses the immune system
biology of stress: cardiac system
heart rate + blood pressure increase, blood directed to essential organs
biology of stress: digestive system
shuts down to allow resources to go to skeletal muscles, release sugar and fat (energy) from storage
coping: problem-focused
try to minimize actions to keep it from happening again, to tackle the problem by finding the underlying cause
coping: emotion-focused
rationalize what happened, minimize the negative emotional effect the stress has on you - ex: distraction, mediation, alcohol
coping: locus of control
individual’s perception about the underlying causes of events in his/her life
coping: effective coping methods
- lower your expectations
- ask others for help
- take responsibility
what is sleep?
a periodic, natural loss of consciousness
sleep: why do we do it?
1) physical protection - choose a safe place out of harms way
2) physical changes
- physical growth - hormone released
- recovery - body cannot restore + repair itself
3) mental changes - process memories, spark creativity
biology of sleep: circadian rhythm
circadian rhythm = internal clock
- biological cues that tell an organism to work, eat, rest, and sleep
biology of sleep: cortisol & melatonin levels
⋅ when melatonin increases, cortisol levels drop
⋅ when cortisol levels rise, melatonin levels start to go down
biology of sleep: differences in mania & depression
mania = less sleep
depression = more sleep
stages of sleep: REM
⋅ rapid eye movements
⋅ awake-like brain activity
⋅ dreams occuring
⋅ if awoken, remember dreams
stages of sleep: NREM 1
- lightest sleep
- may experience hallucinations
stages of sleep: NREM 2
- medium sleep
- sleep spindles
stages of sleep: NREM 3
- deepest stage of sleep
- brain emits delta waves
- hard to awaken
sleep disruption: what happens with insufficient sleep?
- worsened mood + increased risk for depression
- cognitive decline
- decreased focus
- weakened immune system
healthy sleep practices
- use bed only for sleeping
- sleep + wake same time every day
- quiet, cool, dark environment
what is a psychological disorder?
a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior
psychopathology frameworks: medical model
- mental illness
- diagnosed based on clear symptoms
- biological cause
- biological treatment
psychopathology frameworks: biopsychosocial model
- psychological disorder
- diagnosis from understanding all three factors
- caused from factors including + beyond psychology
- treatment = medication + therapy
psychopathology frameworks: pros + cons of labeling
pros:
- order + describe complex behaviors
- predict course of disorder
- determine/access appropriate treatment
- allow for research
cons:
- stigmatizing
- subjective
- fatigue
commonalities of diagnoses
clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior
anxiety disorders: GAD
- excessive anxiety + worry
- difficult to control worry
- restlessness, easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating
- clinically significant distress or impairment
anxiety disorders: PTSD
- exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence
- beginning after traumatic events
- avoidance of stimuli associated
- negative alterations in cognitions + mood
- alterations in arousal + activity
mood disorders: bipolar disorder
- severe mood swings between major depressive episodes and manic episodes
- inflated self esteem, decreased need for sleep, more talkative and distractive
- clinically significant distress
mood disorders: depression
- sadness, lethargy, inactivity and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness
- genetic link
- behavioral changes: slower motor reactions
- cognitive changes: cognitive distortions
- physical changes: alters immune functioning
therapy approaches: biomedical therapy
- change brain chemistry with prescribed drugs
- change circuitry with electricity, magnetic impulses, or surgery
- shock therapy: ECT (old, sunsafe) -> TMS (newer)
psychotherapy: psychoanalysis
goal: bring repressed feelings into awareness to identify disorder origin
techniques:
- emphasis on childhood experiences
- freud: resolve id-ego-superego conflict
- today: focus on relationships
psychotherapy: humanistic
goal: reduce inner conflict that interferes with self-fulfillment and growth
techniques:
- provide acceptance + unconditional positivity
- therapist actively listens without offering insight
- echo, restate, or seek clarification
psychotherapy: behavioral
goal: unlearn problem behaviors via operant + classic conditioning
techniques:
⋅ ABA
⋅ aversive conditioning:
- pair a negative stimulus with negative repsonse
⋅ exposure therapy:
- pair trigger stimulus with an adaptive response
psychotherapy: cognitive
goal: change emotional reactions via changing problematic thought processes
techniques:
- reveal, test, and change beliefs/thoughts
- CBT: alter thoughts + actions together
- DBT: new processes to accept thoughts, tolerate distress + regulate emotions
psychotherapy: groups
goal: work on common hurdles with peers
techniques:
- practice social behaviors
- see that others share the same struggles
- offer support + connection
what is evidence based practice?
clinical decisions guided by research evidence + clinical expertise
