Psych/Soc Class 4 Flashcards
OCEAN model
Openness to experience Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeablness Neuroticism
Theories of Personality
- Life course perspective
- Psychoanalytic perspective
- Humanist perspective
- Behaviorist perspective
- Social cognitive perspective
- Trait perspective
- Biological perspective
- Behavioural genetics
Personality
Our thoughts, feelings, ways of thinking about things, beliefs and behaviours
- core component of who we consider ourselves to be
Life course perspective
A multidisciplinary approach developed to understand individual lives from a cultural, social & structural perspective
- age & health
- demographics
- disability prevalence
- SES
- Family structure
- major life events
Psychoanalytic perspective
Personality is shaped by the unconscious
Libido (life drive) - behaviour is focused on survival, pleasure, avoidance of pain
Death drive - behaviour is destructive/dangerous, want to hurt oneself or others
ID, Ego, Superego
ID - largely unconscious, focused on pleasure & avoiding pain
Ego - responsible for logical thinking & planning as we deal with reality
Superego - responsible for moral judgements of right and wrong, strives for perfection
Freud’s psychosexual stages
Oral (0-1 yrs) Anal (1-3 yrs) Phallic (3-6 yrs) Latency (6-12 yrs) Genital (12+ yrs)
Erikson’s psychosocial stages
Trust vs Mistrust (Infancy) Autonomy vs Shame (Early childhood) Initiative vs Guilt (Pre-school age) Industry vs Inferiority (School age) Identity vs Role confusion (Adolescence) Intimacy vs Isolation (Early adulthood) Generativity vs Stagnation (Middle adulthood) Integrity vs Despair (Late adulthood)
Humanist perspective
Driven by an actualizing tendency to realize their highest potential & personality conflicts arise when it’s thwarted
Carl Rogers - main goal of development is establishment of differentiated self-concept
When is self-actualization accomplished?
When parents exhibit unconditional positive regard
* Those raised with conditional positive regard will only feel worth when they’ve met certain conditions
Behaviourist perspective
Personality is a result of learned behaviour patterns based on our environment
B.F. Skinner - personality is interaction bw individual & environment, only observable/measurable behaviors are of interest; personality is deterministic (people begin as a blank slate then reinforcement & punishment completely determine subsequent behaviors & personalities)
Social cognitive perspective
Personality is a result of reciprocal interactions among behavioural, cognitive & environmental factors
Albert Bandura - patterns of behaviour are learned not just through classical & operant conditioning but also through observational learning; cognitive processes are involved in both observational learning & development of beliefs about self-efficacy
–> Bobo doll experiment
Vicarious reinforcement
Imitating behaviour others are rewarded for
Trait perspective
Personality is result of traits which are habitual patterns of behaviour, thought & emotion that are relatively stable over time
Cardinal traits
Rare & develop later in life; dominate individual’s whole life to the point that the person becomes known specifically for that trait (dispositional)
Central traits
General characteristics that form the basic foundations of personality & describe people across different situations (dispositional)
Secondary traits
Sometimes related to attitudes or preferences; dependent on situation (situational)
Hans Eysenck
Associated with trait theory & proposed that genetics primarily determine personality
Biological perspective
Personality is the result of individual differences in brain biology
Shared vs Nonshared environment
Shared - the environment shared by siblings reared in the same family
Nonshared - the environment unique to the individual
Hertiability
A metric used to determine how much of a variation is caused by genetic differences
Monozygotic vs Dizygotic twins
Monozygotic share 100% of their genes while dizygotic share 50% therefore identical twins are more alike based on genes
Therapeutic approaches Perspective: Psychoanalytic - Root of personality - How to treat - Therapy
- unconscious
- deal with repressed childhood memory “couch therapy”
- psychodynamic, psychotherapy
Therapeutic approaches Perspective: Humanistic - Root of personality - How to treat - Therapy
- Self-concept
- develop unconditional +ve regard, idealized & real self aligning
- “client”-centered therapy
Therapeutic approaches Perspective: Behavioural - Root of personality - How to treat - Therapy
- Shaped by the environment
- reinforcement & punishment
- behavioural therapy
Therapeutic approaches Perspective: Social Cognitive - Root of personality - How to treat - Therapy
- behaviour, environment & cognitions
- learned helplessness (reinforce better thoughts, provide better models)
- cognitive behavioural therapy
Motivation
Driving force that causes us to act or behave in certain ways including: instincts, drives, needs & arousal
Instincts
Unlearned behaviours in fixed patterns throughout species
Drives
Urges arising from physiological discomfort such as dry throat
Arousal
Restlessness, boredom or curiosity may motivate behaviour even when other needs are met
Needs
Biological needs & “higher level” needs such as love and belonging
Drive Reduction Theory
Physiological need creates an aroused state that drives an organism to address that need by engaging in some behaviour that will reduce the arousal
Maslow’s Pyramid
Bottom - Top:
Physiological needs (food, water, sex)
Safety Needs (shelter, stability,, order)
Love & belonging (need to be loved and give love)
Esteem needs (need to be recognizied)
Self-actualization (reach full potential
Abraham Maslow
Explains human behaviour as motivated by a hierarchy of needs
Components of emotion
Physiological (bodily)
- arousal or an excitation of body’s internal state (eg. heart pounding)
Cognitive (mental)
- appraisal & interpretation of situation (assessing situation)
Behavioural (action)
- expressive behaviours that accompany emotion (eg. crying)
Theories of emotion
James-Lange theory:
Stimulus —> physiological response —> emotions
- physiological arousal causes emotion
- discredited unless for specific phobia
Cannon-Bard:
Stimulus —> 1) physiological response 2) Emotion
- emotion & physiological arousal happen simultaneously
Schachter-Singer:
Stimulus —> Physiological response —> cognitive interpretation —> Emotions
- emotion is determined by arousal & context
- known as ‘two factor theory’ because emotion begins as physiological arousal which brain then attempts to interpret and label
Universal Emotions
Happiness Sadness Surprise Disgust Anger Fear *Joy
Yerkes-Dodson Law
There is an optimal level of emotional arousal for performance
- you want emotional arousal to a certain level but not too much because it will inhibit performance
How is emotion adaptive?
- Enhances survival by prompting quick decisions
- Promotes group cohesion & solidarity
- Helps in decision-making on a daily basis
Stressors
Events that pose a threat to our physical or mental well-being
Types of Stressors
Daily hassles
- everyday irritations in life (eg. traffic)
Significant life changes
- personal events with major impact on our lives; can be pleasant (eg. marriage) or unpleasant (eg. divorce)
Catastrophes
- unpredictable large-scale events (eg. natural disasters and wartime events)
Ambient Stressors
- Part of our environment (eg. pollution)
Limbic System
Responsible for emotion processing & formation of memories
Hippocampus
Part of limbic system
- very important in converting things in your mind (STM) into things you’ll remember forever (LTM)
- if damaged, cannot code for new memories; known as ‘anterograde amnesia’
Reaction Formation
Characterized by behaving in a manner that’s actually the opposite of one’s true feelings
Displacement
Involves shifting a forbidden desire or impulse onto another object of desire or interest that is more acceptable
Projection
Involves placing feelings that are forbidden or unacceptable in some way onto another person
HPA Axis
Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal Axis
- major endocrine system that controls reactions to stress & regulates diff body processes
- complex set of direct influences & feedback interaction among HPA organs
Cognitive Appraisal of stress
- very imp in eliminating stress
Primary response: initial evaluation, focuses directly on present threat: 1) irrelevant? 2) benign or positive? 3) dangerous or threatening?
Secondary response: evaluation of our ability to cope with stressor (damage caused and how to deal with situation)
Social support
Perception or reality that one is member of a supportive social network
- support can be tangible, informational, emotional or companionable
- imp in reducing psychological distress & increasing physical health
Models of Social Support
- Buffering hypothesis
- social support serves as a protective layer creating psychological distance between a person & stressful events - Direct effects hypothesis
- social support provides better health & wellness benefits; healthier people are better able to manage stress
General Adaptation Syndrom
3 stages
- Alarm - similar to fight or flight rx
- Resistance - body becomes resistant to stressor
- Exhaustion - if we have chronic stress, our body gives up
Cognitive Dissonance
Suggests we feel tension (dissonance) whenever we hold two thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that are incompatible or when our attitudes & behaviours don’t match
- in order to reduce it, we make our view of the world match how we feel or what we’ve done
- Must change our beliefs to match our behaviour or change our behaviour to match our belief
Attitude
Our evaluation (+ to -) of other people, events, etc
- formed from past and present experience
- are measurable and mutable
- imp impact on emotions & behaviours
3 components of attitude
Affect - our feelings about the person, event or object
Behaviour - our internal & external responses to the person, event or object
Cognitive - our thoughts & beliefs about the person, event or object
Instances where attitude influences behaviour
- When social influences are reduced
- When general patterns of behaviour, not specific behaviours, are observed
- When specific attitudes rather than general attitudes are considered
- When self-reflection occurs
Instances where behaviour influences attitude
- When role playing
- When we make public declaration
- When you put a lot of effort into something (justification of effort)
Principle of aggregation
Attitude affects a person’s aggregate/avg behaviour, but not necessarily each isolated act
What’s included in the limbic system?
Collection of brain structures responsible for emotional experience:
- main structure: amygdala
- -> deep within the brain & serves as conductor of our emotional experiences
- -> The amygdala communicates with the hypothalamus
- Hypothalamus
- -> controls physiological aspects of emotion, such as sweating and a racing heart
- hippocampus
- -> brain structure that plays a key role in forming memories
