Psychology Final Exam Flashcards
Motivation
Biological, social, cognitive or emotional forces that activate and direct behavior
Emotion
a psychological state involving subjective experience, psychological response or behavioral/expressive response
What are the three basic characteristics associated with emotion?
- Activation (start of a behavior)
- Persistence (pull that makes a behavior reoccur)
- Intensity (vigor in which a behavior is presented
What are the theories of motivation?
Incentive, instinct, drive, humanistic and arousal
Instinct Theories
People are motivated to engage in certain behaviors because of evolutionary programming
Drive Theories
Behavior is motivated by a desire to reduce an internal tension caused by an unmet biological need
Incentive Theories
behavior is motivated by a “pull” of external goals such as rewards, money or recognition
Arousal Theories
When arousal is too high, we seek to reduce it. When arousal is too low (boredom) we seek to increase it.
Humanistic Theory
Emphasized the importance of psychological and cognitive factors in motivation. People are motivated to realize their personal potential
- Rodgers and Maslow
Hierarchy Of Needs
Maslow’s division of motivation into levels that progress from basic physical needs to psychological needs to self fulfillment needs
Critiques of Self Actualization
- Vague and almost impossible to present in a way that can be scientifically tested
- Most people never achieve self actualization
Hunger
A biological motive
Eating Behavior
Complex interaction of biological, social and psychological factors
Set Point Theory
Our bodies have a set weight that it defends through regulating hunger, energy expenditure, metabolism, etc.
Obesity
BMI equal to or greater than 30.0
Overweight
BMI between 25 and 29.9
Factors involved in becoming overweight
Positive incentive value, BMR, too little sleep, environment, etc.
Factors involved in becoming obese
BMR, environment, genetics, metabolism, eating habits
6 basic emotions
Fear, anger, disgust, surprise, happiness, sadness
Mood
Milder emotional state that is more general
Neuroscience of emotion
Emotions are associated with distinct patterns of responses by the sympathetic nervous system
Two Factor theory of Emotion
emotion is the interaction between physiological arousal and the cognitive label we apply to explain arousal
Developmental Psychology
the study of how people change over a lifetime
Developmental Psychologists
investigate the influence of biological, social, environmental, cultural and behavioral factors on development at every stage of life
Longitudinal Design
studying one person at multiple stages of life
Cross Sectional Design
Research design in which several different age people are compared
Zygote
single cell formed at conception (egg + sperm)
Prenatal Development
conception, zygote, germinal period, embryonic period, fetal period
Teratogens
harmful agents or substances that can cause malfunctions or defects in an embryo or fetus
Prenatal Brain Development
begins as a fluid filled neural tube; divides into three bulges which become the mid, fore and hindbrains; stem cells divide and some become glial cells
Newborn Reflexes
inborn automatic response to a particular form of stimulation that all healthy babies are born with
- rooting, sucking, babinski, and grasping
Importance of attachment
Secure attachment in infancy forms the basis for emotional bonds later in childhood
Securely Attached
infants explore the room when the mother is present; explore less when the mother is not present. Show happiness when mother returns
Insecurely Attached
infant does not explore the room even when the mother is present
Language Development
Noam Chomsky
- Infant Direct speech is a beneficial way for children to learn language because of the short sentences, distinct pronunciation and simple vocabulary
Cognitive Development
Jean Piget
- Believes children actively try to make sense of their environment rather than passively soaking up info
- 4 distinct Cognitive Stages: Sensorimotor, pre operational, concrete operational, formal operational
Sensorimotor
Birth to 2 years
- Mainly use senses and motor actions to make sense of environment
- Child manipulates but does not reason
Object Permanence
understanding that objects exist independently of one’s actions or perceptions of them
Preoperational
2-7 years
- Child’s increasing capacity for thought is delightfully reflected in symbolic play and deferred imitation
Concrete Operational
7 to adolescence
- Understanding mental operations leading to increasingly logical thought , using classification and categorization
Formal Operational
12-Adulthood
- logical thinking develops and child becomes capable of applying logical thinking to hypothetical situations and abstract concepts
Adolescence
Transition between late childhood and early adulthood when sexual maturity is reached
Social Development in Adolescence
parent child relationships are mostly good; friends become more of an influence; romantic relationships may be positive or negative on social development
Kohlberg
Adulthood Development
Physical Strength peaks in early adulthood; by middle adulthood, physical and mental strengths decline; by late adulthood, physical and mental strengths decline faster
Activity Theory Of Aging
life satisfaction is highest when people maintain the level of activity they had in previous years
Kubler-Ross’ Stages of Dying
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance
Personality
individual’s unique and relatively consistent way of thinking, feeling and behaving
Personality Theory
Describes and explains why people are similar, different and why every individual is unique (tries to explain the whole person)
What are the four major theoretical perspectives on personality?
Psychoanalytic, humanistic, trait, and social cognitive
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Emphasized unconscious motivation - the main cause of behavior lies buried in the unconscious. FREUD
Structure Of Personality (according to Freud)
The unconscious (ID), preconscious (superego) and conscious (ego)
ID
instinctual drives present at birth that are immune to logic and operates according to a pleasure principle
Superego
internal of parental and societies standards
- responsible for guilt; this is your conscious
Ego
partly conscious rational component of personality that develops out of the id (but understands reality + logic)
- in touch with the demands of the world
Reality Principle
Ability to postpone gratification in accordance to the demands of the external world
- ability to repress desires that can not be met in an acceptable manner
Freud’s 5 Psychosexual Stages
foundations of adult personality are determined by first 5 years of life
Psychosexual Stages Numbered
- Oral - mouth is focus of pleasure
- Anal - toilet training
- Phallic- Genitals are focus of pleasure
- Latency - sexual impulses repressed
- Genital - physical sexual maturity
The Oedipus Complex
Child’s unconscious sexual desire for the opposite sex parent, usually accompanied by hostile feelings toward the same sex parent
Neo-Freudians
Agreed with Freud on the fact that early life experiences are important and unconscious, but developed their own theories
3 points Neo-Freudians agreed with
- behavior was primarily motivated by sexual urges
- personality is fundamentally determined by early childhood experiences
- Freuds pessimistic view of human nature and society
Carl Jung
Created concept of collective unconscious
- people are motivated by more general psychic energy to achieve growth
Karen Horney
Created concept of “womb envy”
- proposed women do not envy a mans penis but men envy a women’s child bearing capacity
Alfred Adler
Created concept of inferiority
- most fundamental human motive is striving for superiority that arises from universal feelings of inferiority experienced during childhood
Strengths of Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory
Unconscious nature of mental life
- critical influence on early experiences on intrapersonal relationships and psychological development
Limitations of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
- inadequacy of evidence
- sexism
- problems with testability
Humanistic Perspective
Emphasizes free will, self awareness, and psychological growth. People are inherently good and able to reach potential and healthy personal development
Carl Rodgers
Most basic human motive is actualizing tendency
- people are motivated in accordance with self concept
- reward can be conditional or unconditional
Strengths of Humanistic Perspective
Made contributions to psychotherapy, counseling, education, parenting, etc.
- subjective experience and self concept has become widely accepted
Limitations of Humanistic Perspective
- difficult to test and validate
- based on physiological assumptions rather than empirical research
- too optimistic, minimizing some destructive aspects of human nature
Social Cognitive Perspective
Emphasizes conscious, self regulated behavior rather than unconscious mental influences and instinctual drives
- sense of self can vary, depending on thoughts, feelings and behaviors in a given situation
Albert Bandura
Believed human behavior and personality are caused by the interaction of behavioral, cognitive and environmental factors.
- social cognitive theory
Strengths of Social Cognitive Perspective
- well grounded in empirical lab research
- major impact in study of personality
- emphasizes self regulation of behavior
- places responsibility of behavior on the person
Limitations of Social Cognitive Perspective
Lab experiences simple and may not reflect the complexity of human interactions in the real world
Trait
Formally defined as relatively stable, enduring predisposition to behave in a certain way
Trait Theorists
Focus on identifying, describing and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions
Raymond Cattell
proposed 16 personality factors
Hans Eyesneck
Proposed 3 categories of traits
1. introversion-extroversion
2. neuroticism-stability
- Psychoticism
McCrae and Costa
five factor model
Behavior Genetics
studies the effects of genes and heredity on behavior
- studied by comparing subjects and their degree of genetic relatedness (twin studies)
Strengths of Trait Perspective
Psychologists generally agree that people can be described and compared in terms of basic personality traits
Limitations of Trait Perspective
human personality not really explained; explanation of how or why individual differences develop not explained; failure to address other important personality issues
Psychological Tests
Assesses a person’s abilities, aptitudes, interests or personality on the basis of a systematically obtained sample of behavior
Any psychological test is useful if:
- it accurately and consistently reflects a person’s characteristics on some dimension
- it predicts the person’s future psychological behavior
Projective Tests
type of personality test that involves a person’s interpreting an ambiguous image: used to assess unconscious motives, conflicts psychological defenses and personality traits
Rorsach Inkblot Tests
projective test that uses 10 inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli
Strengths of Perspective Tests
Provision of qualitative information about individual’s psychological functioning
Information can facilitate psychotherapy
Limitations of Perspective Tests
Influence of testing situation or examiner’s behavior
Highly subjective scoring
Failure to produce consistent results
Poor at predicting future behavior
Strengths of Self Report Inventories
-standardization
-use of established norms
Limitations of Self Report Inventories
Deliberate deception
- set way responding
- inaccuracy in self behavior judgement
Social Psychology
Investigation of how thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced by the presence of other people and by the social and physical environment
Sense of Self
Unique sense of identity influenced by social, cultural and psychological experiences
What are the two key research areas of social psychology?
Social cognition and social influence
Social Cognition
refers to how we form impressions of other people, how we interpret the meaning of other people’s behavior and how our behavior is influenced by our attitudes
Social Influence
focuses on how our behavior is affected by other people and by situational factors
Person Perception
Mental process we use to form judgements about other people
4 Key Components of Person Perception
- characteristics of the person you are trying to evaluate
- your own self perception
- your goals in the situation
- Specific situation in which the process occurs
Social Categorization
Mental Process of categorizing people into groups (or social categories) on the basis of their shared characteristics
Implicit Personality Theory
network of assumptions/beliefs about relationships among people, traits and behaviors
Attractiveness Schema
Attractive people are percieved as more intelligent, happier and better adjusted. They tend to be higher in self esteem, intelligence, and other desirable personality traits than people of more average appearance
- likely due to attention
Attribution
Process of inferring the causes of people’s behavior, including one’s own
- it is an explanation given for a particular behavior
Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency to spontaneously attribute the behavior of others to internal, personal characteristics, while ignoring or underestimating the role of external, situational factors
-ex. calling someone an idiot while driving
Actor Observer Bias
Tendency to attribute our own behavior to external, situational characteristics, while ignoring/underestimating the effects of internal, personal factors
- when you pull in front of someone and try to justify your behavior
Blaming The Victim
Tendency to blame an innocent victim of misfortune for having somehow caused the problem or for not having taken steps to avoid or prevent it
Hindsight Bias
Tendency to overestimate our ability to predict the outcome of an event
Components of Attitude
affective, behavioral, cognitive
Affective (attitude)
feelings or emotions about topic
Behavior (attitude)
your actions regarding the topic or situation
Cognitive (attitude)
thoughts and conclusions about given topic or situations
Prejudice
Negative attitude toward people who belong to a specific group
Stereotypes
typically include qualities that are unrelated to the objective criteria that define a given category
- based on the assumption that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group
In group
The social group to which one belongs
In Group Bias
tendency to make favorable attributions to members of your in group
Out Group
the social group to which one does not belong
Out Group Homogeneity Effect
Tendency to see members of the out group as more similar to one another
Stereotype Problems
- Negatively impacts performance
- hard to shake
- can become expectations applied to all members of a group
- misleading and damaging
- etc.
Implicit Attitudes
Evaluations that are automatic, unintentional and difficult to control
Robbers Cave Experiment
Teaches a cooperative goal can bring two hostile groups together, thus reducing the competition and enhancing cooperation
Conformity
Adjusting opinions, judgment, or behavior so that it matches that of other people, or the norms of a social group or situation
Solomon Asch’s Experiment
-Individuals tend to conform to majority when they rely less on their experience and insight
-Dominance of conformity can cause people to make decisions that go against their values
- used a standard line task
Normative Social Influence
Subjects desired to be linked and accepted by the group
Informative Social Influence
Subjects reported having doubted their own perceptual abilities, which led to their conformance
You are more likely to conform to social group norms when:
- facing a unanimous grip of at least 4-5 people
- giving your response in front of a group
- finding the task to be ambiguous or difficult
- doubting your abilities or knowledge in the situation
- Strongly attached to a group and want to be a member of it
Stanley Milgram
Obedience is the performance of a behavior in response to a direct command
Factors that Influence Obedience
- a previously well established framework to obey
- the situation, or context, in which the obedience occurred
- the gradual, repetitive escalation of the task
- experimenters behavior and reassurance
Factors that Undermine Obedience
people are more likely to muster up the courage to defy an authority when they saw others do it
Prosocial Behavior
any behavior that helps another, whether the underlying motive is self serving or selfless
Altruism
Helping another person with no expectation of personal reward or benefit
Bystander Effect
a phenomenon in which the greater number of people present, the less likely the person will help someone in distress
Two Reasons for bystander effect:
- diffusion of responsibility
- motivation to some extent by desire to behave in socially acceptable way and appear correct
Normative Social Influence
Conforming because they ant to be a part of the group
Informative Social Influence
conforming because they are not confident with their answers
James-Lange Theory
