Psych/Soc: Personality, motivation, emotion, stress Flashcards

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1
Q

*Name 5 personality traits

A

OCEAN
Openness to experience -> High = embrace new ideas, experiences, values, differences in ppl.
Conscientiousness -> High = values competence and order; organized ; manages time well, strives to achieve; thoughtfulness and consideration of others’ states
Extraversion -> High = outgoing, energized
Agreeableness -> High = Thinks of others; goes with the flow; does not demand attention
Neuroticism -> High = high levels of negative emotions (anxiety, anger); can be impulsive

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2
Q

What is life course perspective?

A

*There are different perspectives on personality:
Holistic approach, our life structured by societal factors like fam structure, SES, demographics
A multidisciplinary approach developed to understand individual lives from a cultural, social, and structural perspective

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3
Q

*Psychoanalytic perspective
Who is associated with this? And what did he suggest human behavior is motivated by?

What is the therapy?

A

Psychoanalytic theory asserts that personality is shaped largely by the unconscious. Mental illness, or neurosis, is the result of unconscious conflicts which often stem from childhood

Sigmund Freud suggested human behavior is motivated by: the *libido, or life drive, which drives behaviors focused on pleasure, survival , and avoidance of pain and the *death drive, which drives dangerous or destructive behaviors, and underlies the desire to hurt oneself or others (this death instinct drives aggressive behaviors fueled by an unconscious wish to die or to hurt oneself or others)

Root of conflicts: unconscious
General method -> bring more psychic facts into conscious awareness

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4
Q

*Freud divided the human psyche into three components

A

Id -> unconscious and responsible for desire to avoid pain and seek pleasure (inner child “let’s party!”) pleasure principle
Ego -> responsible for logical thinking and planning as we deal with reality (adult with desire and responsibility attempts to compromise) reality principle, logical thinking and planning to control conscious and Id
Superego -> responsible for our moral judgments of right and wrong and strives for perfection ( inner parent “study for the MCAT”)

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5
Q

*Freud’s psychosexual stages and years
What can happen at each stage (what does success and failure look like)?

**Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud two most important psychoanalytic thinkers for MCAT

A

1) oral 0-1
Mouth (sucking, chewing, eating, biting, vocalizing)
success: weaning (eating)
failure: oral aggression (verbally abusive) or oral passivity (smoking, kissing a lot, overeating)
2) anal 1-3
bowel and bladder control
success: toilet training
failure: Anal retention (overly neat/tidy) or anal expulsion (disorganized)
3) phallic 3-6
Genitals, child seeks sensual pleasure through genitals (presence/absence of penis) Oedipus complex (males) Electra complex (females), Identify with what it means to be their sex, for women desire to have penis replaces with desire to have a child

success: gender identification
failure: difficulty with intimate relationships
4) Latency 6-12
sexual interests subside and are replaced by interests in other areas such as school, friends, and sports (sexual feelings dormant/inactive during this stage), Understanding of sexuality
success: social interaction
Failure: arrested development (fixation -> asexual, not social)

5) genital 12+
When sexual themes resurface and a person’s life/sexual energy fuels activities such as friendships, art, sports, and careers.
Other people’s genitals (reproduction and pleasure)
Success: intimate relationship, focus on genitals for reproduction and pleasure
failure: fixation in prior stage could result in sexual and intimacy issues (voyerism, exhibitionism, bad relationships)

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6
Q

*Erik Erikson
Psychosocial stages of development, ages, and outcomes

What did Erik and Freud agree upon?

What stages b/w freud and Erikson represent the same period of life?

A

Erik Erikson extended Freud’s ideas:
Included social and interpersonal factors, added additional stages through adulthood
See diagram to test if you know stages

Erik’s and Freud agreed that one doesn’t need to successfully resolve a conflict in one stage in order to move to next, early experiences shape personality, development in stages

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7
Q

*Behaviorist perspective

What therapy is used with it

A

Personality is a result of learned behavior patterns based on our environment
Environment provides an opportunity for punishment and reward and bc of this our behavior is shaped and this dictates personality
Behaviorism is deterministic, proposing that people begin as blank slates and that environmental reinforcement and punishment completely determine an individual’s subsequent behavior and personalities

According to behaviorism, learning (and thus development of personality) occurs through two forms of conditioning, classical conditioning (acquires response to a stimulus after that stimulus is repeatedly paired with a second, diff stim that already produces desires response) or operant conditioning (pos or neg reinforcement/punishment)

Behavioral Therapy
Root conflicts -> reinforcement and punishment
General method -> uses conditioning to reinforce better behaviors/shape a client’s behaviors in the desired direction
ex. relaxation training and systematic desensitization to help clients manage fear and anxiety

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8
Q

*B.F. Skinner -> what is he one of the founders of?

A

One of the founders of behaviorist perspective

  • > born a blank slate
  • > personality is a result of interaction b/w the individual and the environment
  • > Only observable/measurable behaviors are of interest
  • > Personality is deterministic; people begin as blank slates, then reinforcement and punishment COMPLETELY DETERMINE subsequent behavior and personalities.
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9
Q

*Humanist Perspective
Who is associated with this?
What is therapy like/what does it tackle?

A

Humanistic psychology asserts that humans are driven by an actualizing tendency to realize their highest potential, and personality conflicts arise when this is somehow thwarted
Carl Rogers
assumed problem: barriers to self-understanding and self-acceptance
Therapy goals: personal growth through self-insight
General method -> let client guide process while providing unconditional positive regard, active listening

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10
Q

*Carl Rogers -> what perspective is he associated with?

What is the main goal of development according to this perspective?

A

Associated with Humanist perspective
Instead of stages, human development progresses from undifferentiated to differentiated:
- The main goal of development is the establishment of a differentiated self-concept (Class 3)
- **Self-actualization (fulfill goals) is accomplished when parents exhibit unconditional positive regard. Those raised with conditional positive regard will only feel worthy when they’ve met certain conditions (ex. aced a test, won an award)

Goal of healthy self concept want client to believe that they realized their highest potential and psychologist accomplish this bc client is given a lot of positive regard, that they have value for existing, THEY MATTER and don’t need to do something to prove it  
Bad with conditional value regard -> only value when valedictorian, win something, etc 
Self actualization (say they have reached their potential) when parents give them unconditional pos regard so basically praise them for being them/they matter no matter what, don’t need to win everything to have value

If these ppl encounter experiences in life that contradict their self-concept, they feel uncomfortable incongruence

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11
Q

*Social Cognitive Perspective
Who is associated with this?
What is the therapy like?

A

Personality is a result of reciprocal interactions among behavioral, cognitive, and environmental factors.
The behavioral component includes patterns of behavior learned through classical and operant conditioning, as well as observational learning. observational/vicarious learning
Albert Bandura
Cognitive behavioral therapy
-> root conflict = behaviorism + cognition and observation, maladaptive behavior
-> reinforce better thoughts, provide better models, reconditioning, desensitization, reversal of self-blame
goal is to help the client become aware of subconscious beliefs and substitute rational or accurate beliefs and thoughts, which will lead to more functional feelings and behaviors

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12
Q

*Albert Bandura

A
Patterns of behavior are learned not just through classical and operant conditioning, but also through *observational learning
Cognitive processes are involved in both observational learning and the development of beliefs about *self-efficacy (class 3)
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13
Q

*Observational learning

Another name? What theory is a fundamental tenet of this? Who is related to this? What was his experiment?

A

Social learning; learning that occurs through modeling, when we observe behavior of another and learn to imitate it. Observational learning is a fundamental tenet of the Social Learning Theory that Albert Bandura later renamed Social Cognitive Theory

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14
Q

*Observational learning experiment? Who did it? What theory?

A

Albert Bandura credited as the first to demonstrate observational learning experimentally in his famous Bobo doll experiments
- Objective: behaviorist paradigms did not account for observational learning; social cognitive theorists needed to prove its existence
-Groups: children either saw an adult being aggressive against Bobo or an adult calmly playing with other toys
children in both groups were then frustrated and angry children copied angry dude’s behavior

Later experiments also demonstrated vicarious reinforcement, in which children were more likely to imitate behaviors that others were rewarded for

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15
Q

*Trait perspective

A

Personality made up of certain traits (only 5 main traits OCEAN)
Personality is a result of traits, which are habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion that are relatively stable over time

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16
Q

*Cardinal traits

A

Cardinal traits are rare and develop an individual’s whole life, often to the point that the person becomes known for specifically for that trait (ex. can describe someone as Ghandi-like)

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17
Q

*Secondary trait

A

Personality change across different situations ex. ppl super nice but angry in traffic
Secondary traits are sometimes related to attitudes or preferences. These characteristics are dependent on the situation

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18
Q

*Central traits

A

More core personality and consistent in variety of situations
Central traits are general characteristics that form the basic foundations of personality and describe ppl across different situations

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19
Q

*Hans Eysenck:

What theory and personality perspective?

A

Associated with trait theory and also proposed that genetics primary determine personality so proponent of biological perspective

-personality traits are hierarchal, a few foundational traits giving rise to a large array of superficial traits
genetic differences determine personality traits
variations in extraversion and neuroticism give rise to personality types

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20
Q

*Biological perspective

A

Personality is the result of individual differences in brain biology
ex. amygdala size correlates with characteristics related to neuroticism
Anterior cingulate cortex density and connections correlate with delay of gratification and long term planning
Pre-frontal cortex damage can cause a seeming lack of morality

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21
Q

*Behavioral genetics

A

A field in which variation among individuals is separated into genetic versus environmental components
nature vs nature -> how much variation due to biology (nature) vs differences in environment (nurture)
- Shared environment = environment shared by siblings reared in the same family
-Nonshared (or unique) environment is the environment unique to the individual

22
Q
*Family studies
Twin studies 
-Monozygote 
-Dizygote
Adoption studies
A

Family studies - individual share 50 percent of their genes with each parent and sibling, therefore, if the trait is known to run in families, there is likely a genetic component to that trait BUT this trait could be environmentally transmitted

Twin studies:
Monozygote: share 100 percent of their genes
Dizygotic twins: share 50% of their genes. Therefore to the extent that genes are influential, identical twins should be more alike than fraternal twins

Adoption studies: If shared environment is influential, then siblings reared in the same family should be more similar than adopted-away siblings (siblings reared apart)

23
Q

*Go over that diagram with psychoanalytic, humanistic, behavioral, social cognitive
and root conflict, how to treat, and therapy for each

A

you got it dude

24
Q

*Instincts
Drives
Needs
Arousal

A

Instincts -> unlearned behaviors in fixed patterns throughout a species such as: desire to deal with crying baby, curiosity about novel stimuli, affection for caretakers
Drives -> urges originating from physiological discomfort, such as hunger pangs or dry throat, sleepiness
Needs -> biological needs as well as “higher-level” needs, like the need for love and belonging
Arousal -> restlessness, boredom, or curiosity may motivate behavior even when other needs are met

25
Q

*Drive-reduction theory

A

A physiological need creates an aroused state that drives an organism to address that need by engaging in some behavior that will reduce the arousal
ex. biological need (food) -> arousal (hunger pangs) -> motivation to act -> goal directed behavior (eat food) -> Need satisfied/arousal reduced (hunger pangs go away)

26
Q

*Abraham Maslow

A

Sought to explain human behavior as motivated by a hierarchy of needs
at the base of pyramid is physiological needs, or the basic elements necessary to sustain human life, not all needs are created equal

physiological needs -> safety needs -> love and belonging -> esteem needs -> self-actualization (accomplish goals)

27
Q

*Components of emotion

A

Physiological (or bodily) = arousal, or an excitation of our body’s internal state ex. increase heart rate
cognitive (or metal) = appraisal and interpretation of the situation
behavioral (or action) = expressive behavior that accompany the emotion
ex. clapping smiling

28
Q

*James-Lange

A

Physiological response that causes the emotion

stimulus -> physiological response -> emotion

ex. dog barking -> inc. heart rate -> fear

29
Q

*Canon-Bard

A

Physiological response and emotion happen at same time

Stimulus -> physiological response AND emotion SIMULTANEOUSLY (so physiological response doesn’t cause the emotion)

30
Q

*Schachter-Singer

A

Stimulus -> physiological response -> cognitive interpretation -> emotion

barking -> inc. heart rate
-> safe or danger -> excitement or fear

31
Q

*Optimal Arousal Theory (Yerkes-Dodson Law)

A

The relationship b/w performance and emotional arousal is a U-shaped correlation: people perform best when they are moderately aroused.
There is optimal level of emotional arousal for performance
ex. if had no stress we would be eaten
if too much stress, we would be paralyzed by fear and eaten
but if have *optimal level of emotional arousal (graph looks like mole hill and optimal emotional arousal is on x-axis right under peak of hill bc y axis is performance

*EMOTION IS ADAPTIVE, it has a survival value bc fear can keep you away from predators/danger

32
Q

*What are the emotions expressed by all normally developing humans?

A

happy, sad, surprise, fear, disgust, anger

33
Q

*Ambient stressors
Daily hassles
Significant life changes
catastrophes

A

Ambient stressors -> part of our environment; might operate outside awareness, but put stress on our system
Daily hassles -> everyday irritations in life
Significant life changes -> personal events with major impact on our lives; can be either pleasant (e.g. marriage, birth) or unpleasant (e.g. divorce, death)
catastrophes -> unpredictable large-scale events like natural disasters and wartime events

34
Q

*cognitive appraisal of stress

A

primary response: initial evaluation, focuses directly on present threat - is it irrelevant, benign or positive, dangerous or threatening?

THEN
secondary response evaluation of our ability to cope with this stressor - damage caused and how to deal with situation

35
Q

*When an environmental stressor comes into brain, what happens?

A

Peep the printed out diagram -> Goes to hypothalamus which releases CRH (Corticotropin-releasing hormone) which goes nextdoor to stimulate release of ACTH from anterior pituitary gland, this then goes to adrenal glands which release cortisol
can have neg feedback from cortisol to the hypothalamus

36
Q

*General Adaption Syndrome

stages?

A

It’s shown on a graph x-axis has the 3 stages:
Alarm, resistance/adaptive stage, exhaustion
stress resistance is on the y-axis

the graph starts moderate at alarm (may have some bad health consequences), then increases at resistance/adaptive stage (you resist stress), and then decreases during exhaustion (get bad health, bad mental health, immune function down)

37
Q

*Buffering hypothesis

A

One of the models of social support: the buffering hypothesis: social support serves as a protective layer creating psychological distance between a person and stressful events

38
Q

*The direct effects hypothesis

A

Social support provides better health and wellness benefits. Healthier people are better able to manage stress

39
Q
extra
Reaction formation 
Displacement 
Regression 
Sublimation
A

Reaction formation -> expressing opposite of what one really feels, when it would feel to dangerous to express the feeling (many homophobic ppl are gay)
Displacement -> redirecting aggressive or sexual impulses from a forbidden action or object onto less dangerous one (hits dog instead of boss)
Regression -> reverting to earlier, less sophisticated behavior (as when a child reverts to bedwetting after a trauma)
Sublimation -> channeling aggressive or sexual energy into positive, constructive activities, such as producing art

40
Q

Surface trait

Source trait

A

Surface trait -> are evident from a person’s behavior, and change with the situation/dependent on context
ex. person described a talkative
Source traits -> are the factors underlying human personality and behavior = OCEAN, source traits tend to be largely stable across situations

41
Q

extra
Jeffrey Alan Gray
C. Robert Cloninger

A

Jeffrey Alan Gray
C. Robert Cloninger

linked personality to brain systems

42
Q

Principle of Aggregation

A

Aggregation -> an attitude affects a person’s aggregate or average behavior, but not necessarily each isolated act
ex. if value healthy lifestyle you will eat healthier but may eat a cheesecake no and then

43
Q

extra

Cognitive dissonance theory

A

explains that we feel tension (“dissonance”) whenever we hold two thoughts or beliefs that are incompatible, or when attitudes and behaviors don’t match bc we feel like hypocrites

44
Q

Name the 6 universal emotions

A

Happy, sad, surprise, fear, disgust, and anger

45
Q

Depth of processing model

A

experiences which receive a greater depth of neutral and cognitive processing are more likely to be remembered

46
Q

Dual coding hypothesis

A

It is easier to remember words when they are connected with images

47
Q

Method of loci

A

recall strategy in which an individual imagines that she is moving through a space and connects images with the objects or ideas that she is trying to remember

she on x-games mode

48
Q

Self-reference effect

A

It is easier to recall events that have personal relevance

49
Q

Emotional salience

A

defined by the valence (negative to positive) and arousal (calming to arousing) of an experience, is a biologically adaptive cue that can influence how an event is remembered and possibly how it is integrated in memory.

50
Q
Procedural memory 
Prospective memory 
Implicit memory 
Explicit memory 
Mood-dependent memory
A

Procedural memory -> related to actions
Prospective memory -> remembering to perform planned/intended actions in the future
Implicit memory -> unconscious memory without conscious recall
Explicit memory -> memory-involving conscious recall
Mood-dependent memory -> memories that are more easily accessed during the experience of similar moods and emotions

51
Q

Priming

A

phenomenon whereby exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention. For example, the word NURSE is recognized more quickly following the word DOCTOR than following the word BREAD.