Psychology Unit 2 Flashcards
How can we assess the motor development of an infant?
refers to changes in physical movement and body control
How are senses developed at birth?
hearing is almost fully developed at birth, vision in newborns is about 20-600 vision and by 12 months the vision is almost 20-20, color vision takes 3 to 6 months to develop
Chronologically, how do motor skills develop in babies?
1st they look at their mother with an unfocused gaze then they turn their head, 2 month - babies lying on stomach can lift their head, 3 months - make a grab for something, 4 months - hold objects, 6 months - sit on their own, 7 months - pull themselves up and hold on to furniture, 8-9 months walk by holding on to furniture, 1st year - first steps
What is the process of pruning? What disorders may result from problems with neural pruning?
degradation of synapses and dying off of neurons that are not strengthened by experience, problems with pruning may result in autism and schizophrenia
What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
Sensorimotor (0-2 years) - knowledge is through sense, object permanence develops between 4 and 9 months
Preoperational (2-5 years) - verbal and egocentric thinking develop, can do mentally what once could do only physically, conservation of shape, number, liquid not yet possible (ANIMISTIC THINKING, EGOCENTRISM), theory of mind develops around age 4
Concrete operational (6-11 years) - conservation of shape, number, liquid are now possible, logic and reasoning develop, but are limited to appearance what is concretely observed
Formal operations (12 and up) - abstract reasoning - principles and ideas develop, systematic problem-solving is now possible, ability to think about and reflect upon one’s thinking (metacognition), scientific reasoning
What is object permanence, animistic thinking and Egocentrism?
Object permanence - the ability to realize that objects still exist when they are not being sensed, Egocentrism - tendency to view the world from one’s own perspective, Animistic thinking - perceiving objects or abstract ideas a possessing living characteristics
What is the entrance into Piaget’s preoperational stage of development is marked by?
Emergence of symbolic thought
What is the “Heinz Dilemma” developed by Kohlberg? What does it assess?
gives participants a moral dilemma and assessing the moral reasoning behind their actions, he believed moral reasoning moves from being focused on the self to being increasingly focused on others with a basis in clear personal principles of morality and ethics
Describe the preconventional, conventional, and postconventional stages of Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning? How do they differ from each other?
Pre-conventional - to avoid punishment, judgements are based on personal needs (first and least developed), focused on self
Conventional - rules are rules and they are not to be broken, judgements are based on needs of society; individual needs serve group needs, focused on others
Post-conventional - willing to break law - and suffer the consequences - if it is perceived as unjust or immoral, judgements balance needs of society with personal convictions, focused on society as a whole
What is the strange situation procedure (experiment)? What are the different attachment styles that this procedure can differentiate?
20 minute laboratory session that creates a mildly stressful situation for the baby to assess the extent to which the caregiver is a safe haven when the infant is distresses and a “secure base” from which to explore, differentiates from different attachment styles:
Securely attached: infant will gradually explore new situations when the caregiver leaves and initiate contact when the caregiver returns after separation (50-60%)
Insecure avoidant - little to no distress in separation episodes, even though the infant is under stress, when caregiver returns the infant tends to ignore and avoid her (15%)
Insecure resistant - cannot be comforted by caregiver on reunion and shows difficult in returning to play, reflects infant’s lack of confidence in being comforted (10%)
Insecure disorganized/disoriented - approach caregiver on reunion but with heads averted, might freeze in place in caregiver’s presence, infants are frightened, more likely to be a result of maltreatment, most insecure (5%)
According to the book what is the primary problem of adolescence?
boys and girls’ bodies are ready for parenthood earlier than the mind is
In the context of brain development in humans, what is taking place in the brain during adolescence?
begin to think abstractly and may show the ability to engage in scientific reasoning and hypothesis test, increasing neural complexity and size of frontal lobes
Describe the four emerging identity issues of an emerging adult (career, sexual, gender, and ethnic)
sexual orientation (who you’re attracted to), gender identity (who you identify as), career (how they will spend their time, what are their life goals, and what will they offer the world), and ethnic (ie being biracial)
How does Erickson describe generativity and stagnation?
generativity (creation of new ideas, products, or people) vs stagnation (more self-focused than oriented toward others and does not contribute in a productive way to society or family)
What do we know about fluid and crystallized intelligence in late adulthood?
fluid intelligence (raw mental ability, pattern recognition, and abstract reasoning that can be applied to a problem one has never confronted before), crystallized intelligence (knowledge that one gains from experience and learning, education, and practice)
How can we reduce cognitive decline with aging?
exercising
What are the cognitive benefits of aging?
wisdom (ability to know what matters, to live well, and to show good judgment)
What is dementia? What’s the role of Alzheimer’s disease in dementia?
Dementia - unusual degree of loss in cognitive functions and includes memory problems and difficulty in reasoning, solving problems, making decisions, and using language, Alzheimer’s is a degenerative disease marked by progressive cognitive decline and accounts for 60-70% of dementia among the elderly
In the context of Erik Erikson’s theory of personality development, how is integrity defined?
feeling of being whole or integrated
According to Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, what are the stages people may move through after learning they are going to die?
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance
Define extinction and spontaneous recovery. When do they occur?
Extinction - weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response in the absence of reinforcement, Spontaneous recovery - sudden reappearance of an extinguished response, occurs during classical conditioning
What is the difference between positive and negative punishment?
Positive punishment - addition of a stimulus that decreases behavior (ie spanking a child (adding stimulus) because it decreases undesirable behavior
Negative punishment - removal of a stimulus to decrease behavior (ie revoking a child’s TV watching privileges for repeatedly hitting a sibling)
What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement? When do they occur?
Positive reinforcement - the presentation or addition of a stimulus after a behavior occurs that increases how often that behavior will occur (ie getting extra credit point for turning in homework on time)
Negative reinforcement - removal of a stimulus after a behavior to increase the frequency of that behavior (ie the removal of the annoying beeping is negative reinforcement to fasten the seat belt)
What is the difference between forward and backward conditioning?
Forward condition - neutral stimulus being presented just before the unconditioned stimulus
Backward conditioning - neutral stimulus follows the unconditioned stimulus
What is stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination?
Stimulus generalization - extension of the association between unconditioned response and the conditioned stimulus to a broad array of similar stimuli
Stimulus discrimination - conditioned response occurs only to exactly the stimulus to which it was conditioned
What are the applications of operant conditioning discussed in the book?
phobias, nicotine addiction, and learning disabilities, reduce self-harming behaviors in adults with intellectual deficiencies and in suicidal teens with borderline personality disorder, treatment of autism!!
What is shaping?
the reinforcement of successive approximations of a desired behavior
Define the following schedules of reinforcement: fixed ratio (FR), variable-ratio (VR), fixed-interval (FI), variable-interval (VI).
Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule - pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which reinforcement follows a set number of responses (ie worker paid according to number of units they produce whether its pajama sets or pizzas delivered, workers whose wages depend on number of units they produce will work faster to make more money)
Variable-ratio (VR) Schedule - pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which the number of responses needed for reinforcement changes (ie a slot machine, player will not know how many pulls of slot machine are needed to win and will change from occasion to occasion)
Fixed-interval (FI) schedule - pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which the responses are always reinforced after a set period of time has passed, produces scalloped pattern (ie studying behavior before and after tests, we would expect to see a drop in rate of studying time immediately following a test because students know they won’t be tested for a while)
Variable-interval (VI) schedule - pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which responses are reinforced after time periods of different durations have passed, produce steady, moderate rates of response (ie trying to get a hold of someone already on the phone, keep calling every few minutes to see if they are off, eventually they will pick up the phone but wait time is unpredictable)
How does taste aversion work?
the learned avoidance of a particular taste or food:
The doughnut (the CS) acquired the ability to induce nausea (CR) after a brief parting with the motion of the boat (UCS).
The CS and UCS can be separated by 75 minutes and still leaded to conditioned taste aversion
What is modeling?
imitation of behaviors performed by others, a kind of observational learning
What is latent learning?
learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement and is not demonstrated until later, when reinforcement occurs
What is the “law of effect” formulated by Thorndike?
the reward of success is “stamped in” stimulus-response associations, while punishments or other negative consequences stamped them out
What are the three basic variables of operant conditioning?
Behavior - (ie level pressing), Consequence - (ie food pellet), Discriminative stimulus - signals that the behavior and reinforcement contingency is in effect (the sight of the bar, the context of the box, etc.)
What are the four factors that influence the process of reinforcement?
Schedule of reinforcement - continuous reinforcers - consequences that are always paired with the occurrence of the behavior
Availability of reinforcers - presence or absence of alternative reinforcers in the environment influences the likelihood of any stimulus becoming established as a reinforcer
Extinction process - reinforcer/reward no longer occurs after the occurrence of a behavioral response (neither a positive or negative condition exists)
Individual differences - individuals differ in their sensitivity to various reinforcers/rewards, some individuals have initially positive responses to drugs or alcohol while others find these substances aversive
How is dopamine involved in positive reinforcement?
electrical stimulation of certain brain sites is positively rewarding, the electrical current stimulates a descending pathway from the prefrontal cortex to the VTA
How do eating disorders parallel substance abuse?
intake of large quantities of food and drugs appear to be reciprocally related because binge eating may increase during abstinence of alcohol, strong linkage between deprivation of one reinforcer (food) and intake of other reinforcers - decreased use of a potent reinforcer appears to make control over other reinforcers more difficult
What is development psychology?
studies the systematic changes that occur during the lifespan
What are the basic tasks of infancy?
getting the sustenance they need
- sucking reflex - rhythmic sucking in response to stimulation of the tongue or mouth
- rooting reflex- reflexive turning of the newborn’s head in the direction of a touch on its cheek
Defend against harmful stimulation
Make social contact
WHat is the primary drive theory?
attachment results from associating the satisfaction of primary drives with the being who satisfies them
What is the primary function of nursing?
ensure frequent and intimate body contact of the infant with the mother
What is the attachment behavioral system?
set of behaviors and reaction that helps ensure the developing child’s survival by keeping the child in close physical contact with caregivers: We pay attention to our own internal states,
We keep track of our caregiver’s availability and responsiveness,
We look out for potential threats in the environment
WHat is felt security?
sense of safety and protection that allows the developing child to explore the world and take risks
What are working models?
internal psychological structures representing the conscious and unconscious beliefs, expectations, and feelings, people have about themselves, about others, and about relationships
What do working models do?
influences how experiences in relationships are selected, in interpreted and integrated into our sense of who we are, adults relationships differ along 2 main relationships dimensions:
Anxiety - views about self correspond to levels of anxiety about relationships
Avoidance - views about attachments figures correspond to tendency to avoid relationships all together (ie not sure if you should go all in or be careful)
What are the different main relationships of adults?
Secure - low avoidance and low anxiety - comfortable with intimacy and autonomy
Preoccupied - low avoidance and high anxiety - preoccupied with relationships
Dismissing - low anxiety and high avoidance - dismissing of intimacy counter-dependent
Fearful - high anxiety and high avoidant - fearful of intimacy
What are psychological mechanisms?
preferences and tendencies, capacities, responses, and strategies that characterize humans
What is parental sensitivity?
caregiving behavior that involves the expression of warmth and contingent responsiveness to children, such as when they require assistance or are in distress
What is learning?
a change in behavior, or the potential for future behavior, as a result of experience
Allows us to: 1)anticipate future from past experiences 2)control our environment
Any stimulus an organism can perceive is capable of eliciting any reaction the organisms is capable of making (ie cat makes you happy and jump scare love video)
What is a reflex?
a simple and automatic response to a single stimulus (ie knee jerk response, eye dilation)
Fear
Blinking of the eyes
Shivering
Salivate
Sucking
What are fixed action patterns?
an inherited set of actions in response to a particular stimulus
Salmons annual upstream journey to spawning grounds
Not common in humans if there are any, mainly in animals
What is classical conditioning?
the process by which an organism learns a new association between 2 paired stimuli - a neutral stimulus and one that already evokes a reflexive response, certain stimuli can automatically trigger a reflexive response (ie running from a mad bear or being scared of nurses as a kid)
What are the components of classical conditioning?
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - s stimulus that automatically elicits an unconditioned response (food in mouth of a dog, or scary bear)
Unconditioned response (UCR) - an automatic response to a unconditioned stimulus (salivation of the dog, fear of the bear)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)- stimulus that comes to evoke a particular response after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus (tone rang)
Conditioned response (CR) - whatever response the conditioned stimulus begins to elicit as a result of the conditioning procedure
What is Piaget’s view of how children think?
childhood brain is not a miniature brain of an adult, children reason differently and have to develop their brains and build up knowledge
According to Piaget, what are schemas? How do assimilation and accommodation relate to schemas?
Schemas - concepts or mental molds into which we pour our experiences
Assimilation - child interprets new experiences into things they already knows
Accommodation - child makes distinctions between schemas
What are the different developmental stages proposed by Piaget? How do they differ from each other?
Sensorimotor - birth to age 2, babies take in the world through senses and actions, object permanence - awareness that things continue to exist even when out of sight
Preoperational -
2-7 years old, too young to perform mental operations,
they lack conservation - properties of a substance remain the same even if it changes shape, they are also egocentric - difficult perceiving something from another’s point of view, Begins to slowly develop Theory of mind - ability to infer other’s mental states
Concrete operational - 7-11 years old, begins to be capable of true logical thought
Formal operational - 11+ years old, begin to be capable of abstract thinking and deducing consequences
Describe the following concepts? In which stages should we find them? (object permanence, conservation, egocentrism, theory of mind).
object permanence - awareness that things continue to exist even when out of sight (sensorimotor)
conservation - properties of a substance remain the same even if it changes shape (concrete operational)
egocentric - difficult perceiving something from another’s point of view (preoperational)
Theory of mind - ability to infer other’s mental states (preoperational)
What is a zygote?
a fertilized egg with chromosomes form sperm and egg
What are the different prenatal developmental stages? In which stage do gender differences begin? Most of the structures and organs in the human body are formed by which week?
Germinal stage - 2 weeks after conception, zygote begins to divide
Embryo Stage - implantation phase, after 2 weeks to 8 weeks, begins to show differences in gender development, by the 8th week most of the structures and organs of the human body are formed
Fetal stage - 9th week to full term, brain undergoes rapid expansion
In which stage does the brain undergo a rapid expansion?
Fetal stage
How does the environment affect the fetus? What is the role of the placenta in the development of the fetus?
Environment affects fetus via epigenetics where genes and environment affect each other
Placenta handles everything between mother and fetus, everything goes from mom’s blood stream then diffusion across placenta then to fetus
What are important teratogens?
any agent that damages the process of development (smoking and alcohol)
How is operant conditioning defined?
the strengthening of behavior by consequences that occur
Describe Thorndike’s puzzle box experiments? What do we mean by the “learning process was orderly”?
there was wooden crate with a door that would open when the concealed latch was moved by a cat that was eager to receive their food reward, the cats learned to trigger the door each time they were placed in the box so that they could get to their food
The “learning process was orderly” means that the first time the cat tried to escape it took him like 7 minutes but the second time it took less time
From Skinner’s perspective, how are reinforcers and punishers defined?
reinforcers - anything that is likely to increase behavior
punishment - anything that is likely to decrease behavior
What is the different between primary and secondary reinforcers? How are secondary reinforcers acquired?
Primary reinforcers - direct biological ties
Secondary reinforcers - not directly biologically relevant, derive importance from learned associations with primary reinforcers (ie money)
What is the difference between positive and negative punishment?
Positive punishment - we are presented with something that deters us from that behavior in the future
Negative punishment - when a rewarding stimulus is removed to help us avoid the behavior that got us there
What is the difference between extinction in classical conditioning and operant conditioning?
Extinction in classical conditioning - response rate drops off rapidly, organisms learns to associate 2 stimuli and it responds automatically
Extinction in operant conditioning - response rate drops off rapidly and if rest period is given then spontaneous recovery is typically seen, associates behaviors it controls with its consequences
What are the different types of reinforcement schedules?
Interval schedule - reinforces behavior after a certain amount of time
Ratio schedule - reinforces behavior after a certain number of responses
- Fixed-ratio- reinforces behavior after a fixed number of responses
- Variable ratio schedule - reinforces behavior after a changing number of responses (sustains your lotto playing habits)
Which reinforcement schedule sustains your lotto playing habits?
Variable ratio schedule
What is in the brain structure more likely to be involved in operant conditioning?
Nucleus Accumbens - likely to be involved in operant conditioning, involved in positively and negatively reinforced behaviors
What are the three different cognitive perspectives on consciousness? How does the global workspace theory differ from the synchronization perspective?
1) consciousness is a global workspace - global workspace theory (consciousness is a place where we temporarily attend to information that is at hand or deemed important)
2) conscious awareness occurs when neurons from many distinct brain regions work together - synchronization
Synchrony of cell assemblies are what binds together separate experiences (round and red) into the experience of an apple
3)Consciousness is a learned process - radical plasticity theory explains consciousness as a skill the brain acquires
What is wakefulness and awareness?
Wakefulness - degree of alertness reflecting whether a person is awake or asleep
Awareness - monitoring of information from the environment and from one’s own thoughts
When fully conscious, when does an individual attain a flow state? How is flow state described in the book?
Fully conscious - Flow states occur when people are so engaged with an activity that time does not matter at all, most likely to occur in activities where our skill level meets the challenge of a task or activity
What is selective attention?
ability to focus awareness on specific features in the environment while ignoring others
What is the cocktail party effect?
you are at a party and ignoring other conversations but the minute you hear your name you become aware of the other conversation
What is inattentional blindness?
we fail to notice unexpected objects in our surroundings