Quiz 3 Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
Study of psychology/behavior across lifetime
Post Hoc Fallacy
An argument that draws the conclusion that one event is directly caused by another event without evidence to prove this
ex: self-esteem in childhood and adult career success
Bidirectional influences
those that flow two ways or both ways. ex: child’s behavior affects parent’s parenting style
Time itself
Appropriate time frame to study
Cross- sectional design
Samples different age groups at a single point in time
Cohort effects
life experiences may differ based on when you grew up
Longitudinal designs
Track development of the same group of participants over a period of time
Attrition bias
When participants do not complete the study
Sequential
Examines changes within individuals over time
Nature via nature
Children with certain genes seek out certain
environments
Ex: anxious children
Gene-environment interaction
The effects of genes depend on the environment in
which they are expressed.
Environment increases or decreases the effect of genes
Prenatal development order
Zygote, Germinal, Embryonic, Fetal
Zygote
Formed after sperm cell fertilizes egg
Germinal
First two weeks of pregnancy ;Blastocyst
Embryonic
2nd through 8th week of pregnancy ;Embryo
Fetal
Fetus
Early Brain Development
Begins- 18 day after fertilization
Until- 6 months neurons created rapidly
Around 4th month- neurons organize
Environmental factors
Teratogens, smoking, drugs
Genetic disorder
Inherited disorder or random error in cell division
Premature birth
born prior to 36 weeks, causes delay in cognitive and physical development
Domain-general
Cognitive skills develop together in tandem
Domain-specific
Cognitive skills develop independently at different rates
ex: language
Piaget’s Theory
Children are NOT miniature adults nor passive observers
Stage theory
Domain-general
Equilibration
Assimilation
Fitting knowledge into existing schemas
ex: zebra= horse with stripes
Accommodation
Modify knowledge
ex: zebra does not = horse
Sensorimotor
birth to 2 yrs; physical interaction; major milestone= mental representation
Preoperational stage
2-7 yrs, symbolic behavior, ex: banana phone
Concrete operational
7-11; can perform mental operation
Formal operations
11-adult; hypothetical reasoning
Vygotsky’s Theory
“what a child can do today with help, they can do tm by themselves.
Social and cultural influences
General cognitive accounts
Focus on general cognitive abilities and acquired (rather
than innate) knowledge
Sociocultural accounts
Emphasize social context and interaction
Modular accounts
Emphasize social context and interaction
Temperament
a child’s emotional and behavioral style of responding to the world Appears early, largely genetic
Stranger anxiety
tarts and increases beginning ~8-9 months; peaks
and then decreases ~12-15 months
Same across cultures
Contact Comfort
Nourishment=bond
Emotion
Mental stages with evaluating our experiences
Discrete Emotions Theory
Each basic emotion serves adaptive function- prepare us for action
Cultural difference in expression
culture affects only display, not experience of emotion
James- Lange theory
Interpret bodily reaction->emotion
I am afraid because I am shaking.
Cannon-Bard Theory
Emotion-provoking event leads simultaneously to both emotional and bodily reaction
Two-factor theory
All emotions trigger undifferentiated arousal
Mere exposure effect
Liking through repeated exposure
Facial feedback hypothesis
“turn that frown upside down”
Polygraph
“Pinocchio response”; blood pressure, respiration, highly inaccurate
Guilty Knowledge test
relies on recognition, high false-negative
Affective forecasting
predicting our future emotional states
Durability bias
our moods will last longer than they actually do.;
If X happens I will be sad forever
Hedonic treadmill
an individual’s level of happiness, after rising or falling in response to positive or negative life events
Positive illusions
Tendency to see ourselves more positively than others do
Drive Reduction Theory
Homeostasis (hunger, thirst, cue to action)
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Primary (biological)
versus secondary
(psychological needs)
Yerkes-Dodson Law
Mood and performance are worst at both high and low levels of arousal
Emblem
a bodily movement that substitutes for a spoken word or phrase and that can be readily comprehended by most individuals in a culture
Defensive pessimism
anticipating
failure and then compensating for the expectation by
overpreparing for negative outcomes
Stressors as stimuli
Identifying situations that cause stress, weddings
Stress as a response
Psychological and physical reactions to stress; heart rate
Primary appraisals
concerned with the evaluation of how (potentially) harmful a particular situation is
Ex. Breast cancer gene testing
Secondary appraisals
concerned with the evaluation of whether the individual possesses the resources to successfully face the demands of the situation
Ex. Consider health insurance, social support, mental
health status
Problem focused coping
What is the cause of the problem and what can I do to
solve it?
Emotion focused coping
How can I change my thinking to feel better about the
situation?
Social Readjustment Rating Scale
(SRRS)
Checklist of stressful events (pre-tested)
◦ But, fails to consider other crucial factors
Hassles scale
more hassles= more negative outcome
Alarm
1st stage, fight or flight. release of adrenaline
Resistance
2nd stage; thinking rationally
Exhaustion
3rd stage; can result in psy and physical consequences
Biopsychosocial perspective
illnesses are a blend of the physical and psychological.
Consequences of Stress:
Stress-Related Illnesses
Personal inertia
Reluctance to change current behaviors
Unrealistic optimism
Misestimating risk
Feeling powerless to change
May feel we lack resources
Alternative medicine
used in place of
conventional medicine
Complementary medicine
used together
with conventional medicine
Epigenetics
the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work
Secondary sex characteristics
physical feature related to the sex of an organism
Primary sex characteristics
testes in males, ovaries in females) are directly involved in reproduction of the species
Embryo stage
testes in males, ovaries in females) are directly involved in reproduction of the species
Root reflex
n innate response of the head due to the stimulation of the face, mouth, or cheek by touching/stroking
sucking reflex
happens when the roof of a baby’s mouth is touched.
orienting reflex
a behavioral response to an altered, novel, or sudden stimulus, such as turning one’s head toward an unexpected noise.
Scaffolding
how an adult, or more knowledgeable peer, might assist a child to learn something within their zone of proximal development
Theory of mind
the ability to attribute mental states — beliefs, intents, desires, emotions, and knowledge — to ourselves and others.
object permanence
you know an object or person still exists even when they are hidden and you can’t see or hear them.
mental operations
the ability to accurately imagine the consequences of something happening without it actually needing to happen.
egocentric reasoning
the inability to differentiate between self and other
Proxemics
the study of how people unconsciously structure the space around them
ex: women like more space then men
Social comparison theory Festinger
We evaluate our abilities and beliefs by
comparing them with those of others
* E.g., siblings
Upward social comparison
Superior others ex: athletes
Downward social comparison
Inferior others ex: exam grade
Attribution
cause for behavior
Internal
Dispositional attributions
External
Situational attributions
Fundamental Attribution Error
(FAE)
attribute our own behavior to contextual factors (self-serving bias) ex: everyone is dumb but ME
Conformity social influence
Peer/group influence, no pressure to change behavior
Obedience social influence
leader/authority influence, change behavior due to pressure
Milgram study
63% of participants gave xxx shock
Higher Psychological distance b/w teacher &
experimenter
Less obedience
Psychological distance between teacher and
learner
More obedience
Higher moral stage
less obedience
Greater authoritarianism
greater obedience
Pluralistic ignorance
If nobody else is reacting, it must not be an issue
Bystander effect
See someone in need of help but think others will do it
Diffusion of responsibility
Recognize emergency, but feel someone else will take care
of it
Enlightenment effect
Exposure to research can change real-world behavior
Social loafing
People’s tendency to slack off in groups
Prosocial
Helping others
Altruism
Helping if for an unselfish reason
Belief
Conclusion regarding factual evidence
* E.g., death penalty effectively deters people from committing
murder versus does not
Attitude
Belief with an emotional component
* E.g., death penalty is morally wrong and thus should not be legal
(versus should be)
Cognitive dissonance
An unpleasant state of tension
resulting from holding two
conflicting thoughts or beliefs.
Ex) Helping someone in need
Threat to self-concept
Only certain conflicts between attitudes cause cognitive
dissonance.
* Inconsistency challenges self-concept
Self-perception theory
We acquire our attitudes by observing our behavior
Impression management theory
We don’t really change our attitudes in cognitive dissonance
studies. We only tell experimenters that we have.
* We do so because we don’t want to appear inconsistent
Central route
Focuses on informational content of the message ex; what a person says
Peripheral route
focuses on its surface aspects of the message or source ex: what the person looks like
Foot in the door
Start with a small request and move on to a larger one
Door in face
Start big then backs off
Low ball technique
Start with a low price, then “add-on” all desirable options
Stereotypes
Assumptions about a person
Prejudice
Holding negative views toward some group, negative attitudes
In-group bias
Favor people inside our group over people outside
Out-group homogeneity
Tendency to view all people outside our group as highly similar ex: all other football fans are dumb cus the gators are the best
Discrimination
Negative behaviors
Explicit prejudice
Unfounded neg beliefs that we’re aware of
Implicit prejudice
Unfounded neg beliefs that we’re less aware of
Personality
Predispositions to think/behave certain ways
Traits
◦ Dimensions of personality
◦ Ex: agreeableness, extraversion
Nomothetic
Broad study of personality across all
people
Idiographic
Studying a specific individual’s personality
Causes of personality
Genetic factors, shared environmental, nonshared environmental factors
Psychic determinism
Cause & effect: nothing is spontaneous/random
Symbolic meaning
Derive deeper meaning from “surface level” actions
Unconscious motivation
Inaccessible, unconscious drives and motivations
Id
basic instincts
Ego
Principal decision maker
Superego
Sense of morality
Repression
motivated forgetting of threatening memories
Denial
refusal to acknowledge some threatening current state
Projection
attribution of own negative qualities to others
Rationalization -
explaining away unreasonable thoughts or feelings
Regression –
returning to a younger and safer time
Reaction-formation –
reversing an experience (attraction into hate)
Displacement
directing a desire from one target to another
sublimation –
turning something unacceptable into a goal
Neo-Freudians
Less emphasis on sexuality, more on social drives
Conditions of worth
We accept ourselves only if we act in certain ways
* Come from others first; then we internalize them
Factor analysis
Identify primary traits
Five traits Ocean
O- Openness to Experience
◦
Five traits C
Conscientiousness
◦
Five traits E
Extraversion
◦
Five traits A
Agreeableness
◦
Five traits N
Neuroticism
Empirical approach
Interest is whether the items distinguished between
groups, not why or how
◦ Low face validity
Rational/theoretical approach
Begin with clear-cut conceptualization of a trait, then
write items to assess
Projective hypothesis
When interpreting ambiguous stimuli, people will project
aspects of their personality onto them
Rorschach Inkblot Test
People say what each inkblot means to them
Mental Illness
Malfunctioning in brain, Genetic predisposition, Experience/learning
Malfunctioning in brain
Schizophrenia and low frontal-lobe activity
Genetic Predisposition
Neuroticism
Experience/ learning
Phobias and classical/operant conditioning
Middles ages illness
Demonic model and excorcism as treatment
Renaissance (14th 17th)
Medical model appears such as bloodletting and scaring patients, Asylums
Moral treatment
Philippe Pinel and Dorothea Dix would push for treatment with kindness but it was still not effective
In 1950’s chlorpromazine became available
Modestly effective for schizophrenia, hugely influential
Deinstitutionalization
of hospitalized psychiatric patients plummets
DSM-5
> 300 diagnoses
* “Think organic” – rule out medical
* Biopsychosocial model
* Cultural differences
* Ex: tribal scars
Criticisms of DSM-5
Some diagnoses questionable
* E.g., Mathematics Disorder?
High comorbidity between diagnoses
* E.g., depression & anxiety
Uses a categorical model
* As opposed to dimensional
Medicalizes what is and is not normal
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety can be adaptive
Problematic when it spirals out of control
Panic Disorders
Repeated, unexpected panic attacks
Persistent concerns about future attacks, or changes
in behavior to avoid them.
Phobias
Intense fear out of proportion to actual threat
Most common anxiety disorder (11%)
Comes in different forms
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Emotional disturbance after experiencing
severely stressful event
* Ex) Combat veterans
Obessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessions - persistent urges, thoughts, or impulses
Compulsions - repetitive behaviors performed to
reduce stress
Roots of Anxiety disorder
Learning models, anxious people think of the world differently, genetically influenced through level of neuroticism
Mood Disorders
Difficulties center around a bleak mood/outlook or the polar
opposite
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
Average episode lasts 6 months to 1 year; often recurring
Can cause extreme functional impairment
Causes?
* Biopsychosocial
Interpersonal model
Depressed people seek excessive reassurance, other people
dislike that
Behavioral model
Depression caused by lack of positive reinforcers in
environment
* Eventually give up and stop seeking opportunities for
positive reinforcement
Beck’s cognitive model
Cognitive triad: Negative views of the self, the world, and
the future
Learned helplessness
Perception we can’t do anything to change our circumstances
Bipolar disorder
Depressive and manic episodes
Manic: Elevated mood, lowered need for sleep, high energy,
talkativeness, inflated self-esteem
Heavily genetically influenced (60-85%), but can also be
caused by stressful life events
Suicide
Risk factors - previous suicide attempts and feelings
of hopelessness
Borderline Personality Disorder
Instability in mood, identity, and impulse control;
self-destructive tendencies, relationship extremes
Psychopathic personality
Superficial charm, dishonesty, manipulativeness, self-
centeredness, & risk taking, not a formal psychological disorder
Dissociative Disorder
Disruptions in consciousness,
memory, identity, or perception
Schizophrenia
Loss of contact with reality
Disturbances in attention, thinking, language, emotion, and
relationships
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Severe deficits in language, social bonding, and
imagination; often accompanied by low IQ
ADHD
Symptoms: inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity
Psychotherapy
Psychological intervention
* Many varieties of
psychotherapy
Effective Therapists
Warm, direct
* Establish positive working
relationship
* Tend not to contradict clients
* Focus sessions on important
topics
* Match treatment to client’s
needs
Insight Therapies
Aim to expand client’s awareness
or insight
Psychoanalysis
Developed by Freud, goal to make the unconscious conscious
Psychodynamic Therapies
Emphasize childhood experience
* Cause of psychological distress
Analyze:
* Avoided thoughts and feelings
* Wishes and fantasies
* Past events
* Therapeutic relationship
* Insight = cure
* Often insight into unconscious
Free association
Say whatever comes to mind and it will reveal something about you
Psychoanalysis steps
- Free association
- Interpretation
- Dream analysis
- Resistance
- Transference
- Working through
Psychodynamic
Therapies
Evaluated
Difficult to prove that it is wrong
Humanistic Therapies
Emphasize:
* Achieving potential
* Innately positive human nature
* Taking responsibility
Person- Centered therapy
Developed by Carl Rogers
* Nondirective
* Therapist must:
* Be authentic and genuine
* Express unconditional positive
regard
* Show empathic understanding
Gestalt Therapy
Integrate facets of clients’
identity and personality into a
more unified self
* Emphasizes awareness,
acceptance, and expression of
emotion
* Ex: two-chair technique (have a convo with yourself to better understand yourself)
Humanistic Therapies evaluated
Pro: Focus on the therapeutic relationship
COn: Core concepts difficult to measure
Group Therapies
Major benefits:
* Efficient
* Social support
* Still as effective as individual
treatments
size 3-20
Self-help groups
group of peers with similar problems
* Often no professional involved
* Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a popular example
Not more or less effective
Family Therapies
Emphasize family interactions,
roles, and dynamics
Strategic family interventions
Designed to improve communication
Structural family therapy
Therapist immerses in the family to
observe/suggest changes
Behavioral therapists
Use basic behavioral techniques
* Classical/operant conditioning,
* observational learning
usually used for phobias
Classical conditioning therapies
Exposure therapies (systematic
desensitization, flooding
Operant conditioning therapies
In order to shape your behavior in a positive way you get a reward for doing something well or what they wanted
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies
to help change irrational or
distorted thinking
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Emphasizes changing both
thoughts and actions
Beck’s cognitive therapy
Developed to treat depression (which is influenced by distorted thinking)
* Examples of distorted thinking:
* Self-blame
* Selective thinking; focus on negative events
* Overgeneralization
* Arbitrary inference; jumping to conclusions
* Personalization; takes blame for things they didn’t cause
CBT Evaluated scientifically
More effective than no or placebo treatment and insurance companies like this the most
Psychopharmacotherapy
Often don’t know EXACTLY how they work
Psychosurgery
Brain surgery to treat psychological
disorders used as a last resort
