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HlthPsych 122 > Semester 1 > Flashcards

Semester 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Define the scientific method

A

A set of procedures which guide the gathering and interpreting of information to minimize bias and error

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2
Q

What are the 6 steps of the scientific method?

A
  1. Observation/Question/Background research
  2. Hypothesis
  3. Experiment to test hypothesis
  4. Analyze results and draw conclusion
  5. Report/Publish results
  6. New question to answer/replication of results
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3
Q

What are the three methods used in the study of behaviour/health/development?

A
  1. Descriptive
  2. Correlational
  3. Experimental
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4
Q

What is the descriptive method?

A

Observe and describe things as they naturally occur

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5
Q

What is the correlational method?

A

Examines the degree to which 2 or more variables are related

This allows one variable to predict the other

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6
Q

How is correlation measured/Proven?

A

It can be positive or negative, ranging from -1 to 0 (no correlation) to +1.
It is proven when change of one variable is accompanied by change in another

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7
Q

What is the experimental method?

A

Investigation of causal relationships

Has an independent variable, and the dependant variable

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8
Q

What are the strengths of correlational research?

A

Suggests a potential causal relationship (to be investigated)
Allows researchers to examine potentially unethical relationships
Reveals real world relationships as no artificial environment

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9
Q

What are the weaknesses of correlational research?

A

Only reveals a correlation- there is no inference of causation able to be made

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10
Q

What are the strengths of experimental research?

A

Causal claims can be proven

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11
Q

What are the weaknesses of experimental research?

A

Random assignment may be impossible or unethical

Lab behaviour may not reflect reality

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12
Q

What is important to have in experimental studies?

A
  • A representative sample
  • Random assignment to minimize confounding
  • Standardised procedures to minimize confirmation bias, expectancy and confounders
  • Definitions of variables to minimize confirmation bias
  • Double blinding to minimize placebo and expectancy effects
  • Good statistical significance
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13
Q

What are 5 important considerations in experiments?

A
  • Risk/Gain assessment
  • Informed consent and confidentiality
  • Vulnerable subjects
  • Intentional deception
  • Debriefing
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14
Q

What is risk/gain assessment?

A

Need to have greater gain than potential risk to the participants

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15
Q

What is informed consent and confidentiality?

A

Participants know their requirements, benefits and risks, where to get support and that they can withdraw
Their contact details are kept secure and their data does not make them easily identifiable

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16
Q

What are vulnerable subjects?

A

Children are vulnerable- consent from caregivers must be obtained

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17
Q

What is intentional deception?

A

Withholding the true purpose of a study when going through informed consent, in order to double blind.

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18
Q

What is debriefing?

A

Providing support and information
Explaining the true purpose of study and why deception was necessary
Allow participants to choose to keep their information in the study.

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19
Q

What are the 5 different psychological study types?

A
  1. Longitudinal
  2. Cross sectional
  3. Self report
  4. Naturalistic observation
  5. Laboratory observation
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20
Q

What is a longitudinal study?

A
  • Follows the same group over time to determine time-related changes in thoughts and behaviours
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21
Q

What is a cross sectional study

A

Compares people at one point in time

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22
Q

What is a self report study?

A

Collects data using questionnaires or interviews
Collects a wide range cheaply
However, subjects may lie, misremember, not understand etc.

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23
Q

What is a naturalistic observation study?

A

Observe behaviour in its natural setting, without influencing it
Collects a realistic picture of behaviour, allowing new idea generation
Takes time, usually a small scale. Can’t infer causality

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24
Q

What is a laboratory observation study?

A

Observe behaviour in a lab
Confounding factors more able to be controlled
Specialized equipment can be used
Surrounding may impact behaviour

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25
Q

What is important with measures in studies?

A

They must be:
Reliable (consistent results when repeated)
Valid (measures to a good standard)

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26
Q

What causes depression?

A

The ANS
It involves the hippocampus, Amygdala, Hypothalamus and pituitary gland.
The hypothalamus releases CRH, ant. pituitary releases ACTH, releasing cortisol from the adrenal gland

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27
Q

What are the symptoms of depression?

A 
Weight change
Problems thinking and concentrating
Helplessness
Thoughts of death
Isolation
Sleep issues
Agitation
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28
Q

What are the neurotransmitter changes associated with depression?

A

Decreased serotonin
Decreased dopamine
No Norepinephrine

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29
Q

What are the endocrine changes associated with depression?

A

Disturbed circadian rhythm
High cortisol
Low oestrogen
Low testosterone (after 50)

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30
Q

Why is stimulation important in children?

A

It wires brain grouwth through experience. Understimulation impairs development, and toxic environments may overwhelm children

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31
Q

How does neglect affect the developing brain?

A

It disrupts development: emotional, cognitive and behavioural disorders
It alters the development of the stress response: greater risk of anxiety, depression and chronic disease

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32
Q

What is the difference between positive, tolerable, and toxic stress?

A
  • Positive stress can help us cope and stay safe
  • Tolerable stress occurs if there is a supportive environment surrounding a traumatic event
  • Toxic stress is when activation of the stress response is strong, frequent or prolonged, without support.
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33
Q

What are the hormones related to stress and their effects?

A
  • Adrenaline: Mobilizing energy, vasomotor

- Cortisol: Immune depression, mobilizing energy, damage to hippocampus (memory)

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34
Q

How does the stress response occur?

A 
Stressor
Hypothalamus --> CRH
Ad. Pit --> ACTH
Kidneys release cortisol
Cortisol impacts organs
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35
Q

What are the 4 types of unresponsive care?

A
  • Occasional inattention
  • Chronic understimulation
  • Severe neglect in a family context
  • Severe neglect in an institutional context
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36
Q

What is occasional inattention?

A

Intermittent diminished attention in a responsive environment
This can promote growth in a supportive environment

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37
Q

What is chronic understimulation?

A

Ongoing diminished level of child focussed responsiveness and enrichment
Leads to developmental delays

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38
Q

What is severe neglect in a family context?

A

Significant and ongoing abuse of one on one interaction
Failure to provide basic needs
Causes anything from developmental delays to a threat to health and survival

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39
Q

What is severe neglect in an institutional setting?

A

Warehouse conditions, with many children and few caregivers
No individual adult-child responsiveness
Impaired cognitive, physical and psychological development, although survival needs are met.

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40
Q

What do drugs target?

A

The reward pathway, increasing the amount of dopamine acting on the brain and feeling of reward

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41
Q

How does ecstacy enter the brain?

A
  1. Dissolves in stomach
  2. Absorbed from stomach and SI
  3. Liver to heart
  4. Heart to lungs to heart
  5. Heart to systemic circuit including brain
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42
Q

What does ecstasy do in the brain?

A
  • Affects neocortex, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, amygdala and hippocampus
  • Not physically addictive (no withdrawl) but can be psychologically addictive
  • Causes heightened perception, reduced appetite, stimulation and elevated mood
  • Builds resistance
  • Clouds thinking, disturbs behaviour, jaw clenching and hyperthermia, and memory impairment
  • Manmade, so could contain anything.
  • Lots taken at once: hyperthermia, arrhythmias and renal failure
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43
Q

How does ecstasy have its effects in the brain?

A

Takes the MDMA pathway, through the raphe nucleus to the neocortex
- Blocks transporter that removes serotonin from synaptic clefts
- Serotonin is in the cleft for a longer time- more reward
- After it’s gone, transporters overcompensate, leading to a drop in serotonin and depression/irratibility
- Overall- reduces serotonin and metabolites, transporter and terminals, even many years after use
It degrades serotonin axon terminals to degenerate
Gray matter less active

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44
Q

What are teratogens?

A

Environmental agents that cause damage during the prenatal period, as they can cross the placenta

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45
Q

What can have a protective effect from teratogens?

A

The mother and child’s genes may moderate their effects

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46
Q

What determines the effects of teratogens?

A

The time of exposure- more severe the earlier in regnancy

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47
Q

What do teratogens do?

A

Affect accumulation of adipose tissue, necessary for insulation.

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48
Q

Are examples of teratogens?

A

Stimulants
Opiates
Tobacco
Alcohol

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49
Q

What do stimulants do to foetuses?

A

Cocaine: LBW, deformed urogenital system & heart, brain seizures, behaviour and mental issues
Meth: LBW, delayed motor and behavioural development, poor alertness
(Also related to maternal mental illness–> neglect)

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50
Q

What do opiates do to foetuses?

A

LBW, preterm birth, foetal withdrawl, delayed development and SIDS
MBS can be taken as a substitute as it isn’t so harmful

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51
Q

What does tobacco do to foetuses?

A

LBW, preterm birth, SIDS, diabetes, high BP, reduced gray matter, ADHD and behavioural/aggression disorders

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52
Q

What does alcohol do to foetuses?

A

LBW, small heads, developmental delay, organ dysfunction, facial abnormalities, poor coordination, social, learning and behavioural disorders, FAS

  • Irreversible
  • Brain cell death
  • Reduced cell growth & proliferation (migrational errors)
  • Inhibited nerve growth
  • Disruption of neurotransmitters
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53
Q

What is FAS?

A
  • Neurons migrate in a disorganized manner, failing to make connections
  • CNS dysfunction, growth deficiency and facial deformity
  • Hyperactivity and ADHD
  • Learning disorders
  • Memory, language, judgement issues
  • Delayed development, mental retardation and brain damage
  • Microcephaly, motor issues, seizures
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54
Q

Why do FAS babies have smaller heads?

A

They have reduced gray matter

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55
Q

What compounds the effect of FAS?

A

Babies with mothers who drink during pregnancy are often raised in stressful home environments, potentially leading to further neglect.

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56
Q

What is consciousness?

A

Personal awareness of both internal and external stimuli

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57
Q

What are the three levels of consciousness? (Freud)

A

Preconscious
Conscious
Unconscious

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58
Q

What is ‘conscious’?

A

The things you are actually thinking about

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59
Q

What is ‘preconscious’?

A

Things in you mind, but you’re not immediately thinking about

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60
Q

What is unconscious?

A

Things we are unable to access easily or that are actively kept out of our awareness

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61
Q

What parts of the brain are important for consciousness?

A

Hindbrain and midbrain- arousal and sleep
Reticular formation: alertness
Prefrontal cortex: Control of information processing

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62
Q

What are daydreams?

A

Shifts in attention towards internal thoughts and imagined scenarios

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63
Q

How can we measure the flow of consciousness?

A

Experience- Sampling: asking participants to record their thoughts at periodic alarms

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64
Q

What is hypnosis?

A

A systematic procedure increasing suggestibility.

Theoretically, it forms a second, simultaneous stream of awareness called dissociating consciousness

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65
Q

How can hypnosis be used?

A

Analgesia- during labour, minor medical procedures, burns

Help people stop smoking or eat better

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66
Q

What is meditation?

A

Practices training attention to heighten awareness and bring mental processes under greater voluntary control

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67
Q

How can meditation be used?

A

Reduces stress
Can physiological benefit (BP)
Enhanced immune system
Better self esteem, mood etc.

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68
Q

What is subliminal perception?

A

Perception of stimuli below the threshold of consciousness

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69
Q

How does hypnosis affect behaviour, health and development?

A

Can cause anaesthesia, hallucination, disinhibition or posthypnotic suggestion and amnesia
- Highway hypnonis- can have larger impacts such as leaving a baby in the car

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70
Q

How can meditation affect behaviour, health and development?

A

Alpha and beta waves more prominent, decreased arousal, HR, skin conductance, resp. rate, O2 consumption and CO2 elimination

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71
Q

How can subliminal perception affect behaviour, health and development?

A

Influences emotion and behaviors, but only with a focussed audience.

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72
Q

What is a circadian rhythm?

A

A cyclical, biological process evolved around the daily light/dark cycle
It begins from 6mos in utero
25hr, but entrained to 24hr.
Regulated by melatonin

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73
Q

What can happen if circadian rhythms are disrupted?

A

Jet lag, difficulty working
change in energy, mood and efficiency
Impacts on physical and mental health- mood and bipolar disorder

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74
Q

What are the features of the human circadian rhythm?

A

Related to temperature, which is directly correlated with alertness:
Lowest just before waking, then builds. A slump in midafternoon, before a second peak and a decline during sleep.

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75
Q

What is sensation?

A

The process by which sensory receptors detect stimuli and convert the input energy to neural impulses that travel to the brain

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76
Q

What is perception?

A

The process by which the brain selects, organizes and interprets sensory inputs

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77
Q

How does sight work?

A

Receives light waves via eyes

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78
Q

How does hearing work?

A

Receives sound waves via ears

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79
Q

How does taste work?

A

Chemicals in food and drink are received via tongue: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami

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80
Q

How does smell work?

A

Receives chemicals in the air via our nose. However, this also interacts with the limbic system, to apply memories and allow personal reactions to smell

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81
Q

How does pressure work?

A

Skin is mechanically displaced or moved

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82
Q

How does temperature work?

A

Cold and warmth felt in the skin

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83
Q

How does pain work?

A

Various pain producing stimuli

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84
Q

How does kinaesthetic work?

A

Body position and their movement relative to one another is detected by tension receptors in muscles, tendons and joints

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85
Q

How does vestibular work?

A

receptors in the inner ear detect gravity, acceleration and rotation to determine where your body is in space.

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86
Q

What is psychophysics?

A

Study of the relationship between physical stimulation and the experiences they evoke

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87
Q

What is absolute threshold?

A

The minimum physical energy necessary to produce a sensory response half to the time (eg. lightest possible touch)

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88
Q

What is signal detection theory?

A

Detection is based on sensory processes and judgement. The theory separates the impact of people’s motivations, expectations etc. from what they physically sense.

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89
Q

What is sensory adaptation?

A

The diminishing responsiveness of sensory systems to prolonged stimulus input- eg. you don’t always feel a hot bath as really hot

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90
Q

What is difference threshold?

A

The smallest physical difference between two stimuli that can be detected as different half the time.

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91
Q

What is weber’s law?

A

The size of the just-noticeable difference is proportional to the intensity of the stimulus- eg. it’s easier to detect a 1kg change in a 1kg weight than a 50kg weight

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92
Q

What are the sensory capacities at birth?

A

Sensitivity to taste, smell and touch
Attraction to breast milk
Touch is crucial for development
Attraction to taste and smell impacted by in utero environment
Sensitivity to pain, able to be eased with breast milk, sugar solution and touch
Hear variety of sounds (prefer mother’s voice and human speech)
Limited vision- poor acuity (8-12 inches)

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93
Q

What are sensory capacities at infancy?

A
  • Organize sounds into complex patterns
  • Recognize familiar words
  • Focus shifts to large segments of speech
  • Distinguish music by 6mos
  • Distinguish color by 4mos
  • recognize objects & people across a room by 8mos: near adult acuity
  • Depth perception
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94
Q

What kind of patterns do babies prefer as they age?

A

Babies prefer patterned to plain stimuli

As they age, they prefer more complex patterns over simple patterns

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95
Q

How does vision change as we become elderly?

A
  • Harder to focus on nearby objects, see in dim light and discriminate color
  • Decreased acuity, contrast & depth
  • Sensitivity to glare
  • Increased cataracts and macular degeneration risk
  • Lens less flexible and ciliary muscles less agile
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96
Q

How does hearing change as we become elderly?

A
  • Hearing loss
  • Loss of high frequency sounds
  • Soft sound detection worse
  • Speech comprehension more difficult
  • Less impact on daily life than sight, but impacts safety and satisfaction
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97
Q

How does taste/smell change as we become elderly?

A
  • reduced sensitivity

- has health and safety impacts- can’t smell.taste bad food or smoke

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98
Q

How does touch change as we become elderly?

A

Perception in hands, especially the fingertips, declines

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99
Q

How can age- related sensation loss be prevented?

A
  • Unhealthy behaviours speed up the decline- but healthy ones slow it
  • Surgery, glasses, hearing aids, smoke detectors and removing background noise
  • Health screening
  • Speaking in low, loud tones.
100
Q

What is perceptional organization?

A

The integration of sensory information into meaningful units, locating them in space

101
Q

What is form perception?

A

The organization of sensory information into meaningful shapes and patterns

102
Q

How do we organize visual stimuli?

A

Divide them into groups or wholes

Organize them by figure and ground (background)

103
Q

What are the 5 principles of grouping?

A

Law of Proximity: objects closest to each other grouped together
Law of similarity: similar objects grouped together
Law of Good Continuation: experience lines as continuous even when interrupted
Law of closure: Tend to perceive incomplete objects as complete by perceptually closing the element
Law of common fate: Group objects moving in the same direction together

104
Q

What is depth perception?

A
  • Ability to perceive 3D and judge distance of objects
105
Q

What are the 2 cues of depth perception?

A

Monocular cues

Binocular cues

106
Q

What are monocular cues?

A

Cues about distance based on the image in either eye alone

107
Q

What are the 5 monocular cues?

A

Interposition: partly blocked object is farther away
Linear perspective: parallel lines appear to converge as they recede
Texture gradient: textured surfaces are coarser close up, and smoother farther away
Familiar size: familiar object appearing smaller than it usually is, is perceived as farther away
Relative size: When two objects are known to be the same size, the closer object is smaller

108
Q

What are binocular cues?

A

Cues about distance based on differing views from the two eyes

109
Q

What are the 2 binocular cues?

A

Retinal disparity

Convergence

110
Q

What is retinal disparity?

A

As objects are further away, each eye has a slightly different view. The amount of difference between the eyes depends on the relative distance from you. As you get closer, the furthest eye from the closest object gives a larger gap between the two as its angle widens

111
Q

What is convergence?

A

Eyes converge to focus on closer objects, so info from eye muscles can be used as a depth cue.

112
Q

What is motion perception in terms of motion parallax cues?

A

As you move, distant objects appear more stationary than objects closer to you
- The brain detects motion across the retina when not tracking. The image stay in the same place, but the eyeball swivels when tracking
As objects get bigger, it indicates they are coming closer.

113
Q

What is perceptual constancy?

A

Perception of objects as stable despite variations in the retinal image

114
Q

What are the 3 ways we keep perceptual constancy?

A
  • Shape constancy: perceive the true shape of an object, despite variations in the retinal size- eg. as you change angle
  • Light constancy: parts of object in shade are actually the same colour as the parts in the sun
  • Size constancy: Perceive the true size of an object, despite it being closer or further from you
115
Q

How does our mind govern what we perceive?

A

The less we attend to a stimulus, the less likely you are to perceive it.
Driven by:
- Goal directed selection: consciously choosing to attend a stimulus, based on your goals
- Stimulus driven capture: features of the stimulus capture your attention, regardless of goals

116
Q

What is inattentional blindness?

A

Failure to perceive a stimulus because your attention is on another task

117
Q

What is change blindness?

A

Failure to perceive changes in a scene when there is a momentary interruption to its view

118
Q

What is identification?

A

Attaching meaning to what you perceive

- Stimuli are compared to memory, to be categorized meaningfully

119
Q

What role does context play in perception?

A

It helps clarify ambiguous information- eg. a likely word missing in a sentence

120
Q

How can attention influence perception of symptoms?

A

Internal and external stimuli compete for attention, so when the environment is exciting, we attend the body less
- distractions such as these are commonly used to direct attention away from pain

121
Q

What is the role of perception in healthcare?

A
  • Context influences symptoms, as the context under which they arose influences perception of them
  • Knowledge of symptoms influences our interpretation of them
  • Motivations influence noticing and interpreting symptoms
122
Q

What is medical students disease?

A

Medical students’ disease is when students learn about a disease, and begin to think they have it, as they now attend symptoms consistent with it.

123
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

When an unconditioned stimulus, which naturally elicits a reflexive response, is associated with a previously neutral stimulus that did not elicit the response
After repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus is able to elicit the response on its own

124
Q

What is UCS?

A

Unconditioned stimulus: any stimulus naturally eliciting a reflexive response

125
Q

What is a UCR?

A

Unconditioned response: the response naturally elicited by the UCS

126
Q

What is a CS?

A

Conditioned stimulus: a previously neutral stimulus now able to elicit a response after pairing with the UCS

127
Q

What is a CR?

A

Conditioned response: the response elicited by the CS

128
Q

What is acquisition?

A

The process by which the CR is first elicited: generally needs to be paired several times, and timing is critical: pairing must be close enough to be perceived as related

129
Q

What is stimulus generalization?

A

When CR also occurs when exposed to stimuli similar to the CS, but has never been paired with the UCS

130
Q

What is stimulus discrimination?

A

Only the CS itself produces the CR, regardless of similarity

131
Q

What is extinction?

A

Process by which the SR is eliminated, when repeated presentations of the CS occur without presence of the UCS (however, it’s easier to recondition a second time)

132
Q

How can classical conditioning be used with advertisement?

A

Association of positive images or jingles with a product can elicit the same good feeling just about the product

133
Q

How can classical conditioning be used with fear?

A

Associating scary stimuli with CS can get a fear response with the CS alone
This can be undone in the opposite way

134
Q

How can classical conditioning be used with food/taste aversion?

A

When you become nauseous (UCR) after eating bad food (UCS), the sight of the food (CS) may produce the same response (CR)
Important for survival, so only takes one pairing for it to become associated

135
Q

How can classical conditioning be used with the immune system?

A

Immune system can be tricked into thinking it’s been suppressed after pairings of sugar solution and suppressing drugs
- This exhibits dose-response: those with twice the drug in their solution had twice the suppression with sugar solution alone

136
Q

How can classical conditioning be used with drugs?

A

Tolerance and withdrawl is heightened in environment where the drug is usually taken
Increased overdose risk where drug is normally taken, as the body associates the environment with the need to act against the drug

137
Q

How can classical conditioning be used with chemotherapy?

A

Neutral stimuli become associated with chemotherapy, resulting in anticipatory side effects

138
Q

What is Overshadowing?

A

When multiple stimuli are involved in classical conditioning, the stronger one becomes the CS, and the weaker one remains neutral

139
Q

What is counterconditioning?

A

Intentionally forming a pairing between an unwanted behaviour and an unpleasant stimulus
- Can use flooding or systematic desensitization, where you change the CS to reduce the tolerance to the stimulus

140
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

The process by which a behaviour becomes associated with a consequence

141
Q

What is reinforcement?

A

A stimulus occurring after a behaviour, which increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

142
Q

What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement?

A

Positive: Introduces a pleasant stimulus
Negative: Removes an unpleasant stimulus

143
Q

What is punishment?

A

A stimulus occurring after the behaviour that decreases the likelihood of the behaviour

144
Q

What is the difference between positive and negative punishment?

A
  • Positive: introduces an unpleasant stimulus

- Negative: removes a pleasant stimulus

145
Q

What is extinction (operant)?

A

When a behaviour fades out (after an initial burst in behaviour after reinforcement removal- why won’t it work?!)

146
Q

What are primary vs secondary reinforcers?

A

P: natural reinforcement: food, water, pain relief
S: learned reinforcers- eg. money, attention

147
Q

What is continuous reinforcement schedule?

A

Reinforcement given after every single behaviour

148
Q

What is intermittent reinforcement?

A

Gives the reinforcer intermittently, in ratio or interval schedules. It is harder to remove than continuous schedules

149
Q

What is fixed ratio?

A

Reinforcer delivered after a set number of behaviours

150
Q

What is variable ratio?

A

Reinforcer delivered after an ‘on average’ number of behaviours

151
Q

What is fixed interval?

A

Reinforcer delivered after a fixed time period

152
Q

What is variable interval?

A

Reinforcer delivered at an ‘on average’ time period

153
Q

What are the ABCs of behaviour modifications?

A

Antecedent
Behaviour
Consequences

154
Q

What are antecedents?

A

Circumstances evoking the behaviour

155
Q

What are consequences?

A

Reinforcers that maintain the undesirable behaviour or unfavourable outcomes, suppressing the desirable behaviour

156
Q

What is cognition?

A

The mental processes involved in acquiring, representing and processing knowledge in terms of thinking, remembering, perceiving and communicating

157
Q

What is cognition characterized by?

A
  • Individual difference in perception

- Subjective interpretation of one’s environment and relationships

158
Q

How does cognition connect to learning?

A
  • We think about things before making decisions, so learning is not automatic or mindless
159
Q

What is observational learning?

A

When an organism’s response is influenced by observation of others (models)
This shows that learning doesn’t only occur through conditioning- we learn by mimicking others after seeing their reinforcement of punishment

160
Q

What are the 4 processes in observational learning?

A
  • Attention to behaviour
  • Retention of behaviour
  • Reproduction of behaviour
  • Motivation to perform the behaviour
161
Q

What influences our selection of models?

A
  • Prestige of model
  • Likeability of model
  • Whether the model was rewarded or punished (vicarious conditioning)
162
Q

How can observational learning be useful?

A
  • Survival
  • Treatment of phobias
  • Behaviour intervention programmes
  • Motor skill learning
  • Health promotion
163
Q

What is social cognition?

A

The process by which people select, interpret and remember social information- this means they view the same situation individually

164
Q

What are the two loci of control?

A

Internal (I can alter my own fate)

External (My fate is governed by forces outside of my control)

165
Q

Why is loci of control important for health?

A

Those who feel under their own control will practice better health habits

166
Q

What is self- efficacy?

A

The belief that we can do well in a particular situation- like locus of control, but applied to a specific situation
- Important for reducing stress of treatment

167
Q

What influences self-efficacy?

A
  • mastery of experience- previous accomplishment in the thing
  • Vicarious experience- observation of others doing the thing (so can I)
  • Persuasion, either self or external
  • Monitoring emotions and arousal- knowing if you’re anxious or excited
168
Q

What is learned helplessness?

A

An expectancy that one cannot escape aversive events

169
Q

What creates learned helplessness?

A

Uncontrollable bad events leading to a perceived lack of control and generalized helpless behaviour
The perception of it is crucial, as you may feel you can’t escape adversity, even if you can

170
Q

What are the 3 defecits associated with learned helplessness?

A

Motivational (slowness to initiate action to avoid distress)
Emotional (lifelessness, rigidity, fright and distress)
Cognitive (poor learning in new situations

171
Q

Why is learned helplessness important for health?

A

Situations where people have little control mean they may give up trying to influence their environment at all, leading to poor mental/physical health and clinical depression

172
Q

What are the two explanatory styles (and what is an explanatory style)?

A

Determines whether they develop depression after events:

  • Optimistic is healthy. People know that experiences are not their fault and there are still things they can do to improve: successes are internal and failures external
  • Pessimistic is unhealthy, feeling you cannot alter your situation. Success is luck and failure is lack of ability
173
Q

What is attribution theory?

A

How people explain causal relationships in the social world: humans want to know why people do things or things happen, and whether it was due to the person or environment

174
Q

What are the two errors of attribution?

A
  • Fundamental attribution error

- Self- serving bias

175
Q

What is fundamental attribution error?

A
  • Attribute a person’s behaviour to their personality, ignoring situational causes- done as we have insufficient or uninteresting info about situational factors
  • Pay more attention to people than their surroundings
  • Imagine we would do differently in their situation (as an actor, we focus on the world, but as an observer we focus on the actor)
  • Cultural influence- west holds people accountable for their own action
176
Q

What is self-serving bias?

A

Tend to attribute personal success to internal factors (ourselves) and failures to external factors

  • Done to save face in society
  • Preserves short-term self- esteem
177
Q

What are the three processes of memory?

A

Encoding
Storage
Retrieval

178
Q

What is encoding?

A

Converting information into a useable form in memory: the process of transforming external events and internal thoughts into both temporary and long-lasting memories

179
Q

How do we achieve short term memory?

A

Repetition of things in the environment we selectively pay attention to

180
Q

How do we achieve long term memory?

A

When short term memories are rehearsed

181
Q

What is an engram?

A

A change in neurotransmitters’ anatomy and function due to the encoding of a long term memory

182
Q

What is long-term potentiation?

A

A pattern of synaptic activity leading to a long-lasting increase in signalling between certain neurons- this eventually ends in storage

183
Q

What are the different depths of encoding?

A

Orthographic
Phonetic
Semantic

184
Q

What is orthographic encoding?

A

Knowing what the letters of something mean together

185
Q

What is phonetic encoding?

A

Knowing what a thing sounds like

186
Q

What is semantic encoding?

A

Knowing what a thing means

187
Q

Which depth of encoding is best for remembering?

188
Q

What is storage?

A

Retaining information in memory

189
Q

What is required to store memory in short term?

A

Maintenance rehearsal: repeating something over and over

190
Q

What is required to store memory in long term?

A

Elaborative rehearsal- knowing what it means etc.

191
Q

What is sensory memory, and how long do memories from the different senses last?

A

Sensory memory is what you take in through the senses- brief, but vast.
Iconic: .5s
Echoic: 3-4s
Haptic: less than a second

192
Q

What is working memory?

A

Using strategy to remember something.

It has a longer life than sensory, but only about 18s

193
Q

What is the capacity of working memory, and how can this be changed?

A

Capacity is about 7 +/- 2.
Chunking can help to remember more things
Duration of time after exposure decreases amount remembered
It also decreases when a distracting task is present, as to convert it to long term memory requires repetition

194
Q

What does the central executive do?

A

It works to determine what should be focussed on and remembered

195
Q

What are the different types of long term memory?

A

Explicit (semantic and episodic)

Implicit (Priming and Procedural)

196
Q

What is explicit memory?

A

Declarative, knowing facts and beliefs about the world

197
Q

What is semantic memory?

A

Explicit memories which are context free: simply data and facts

198
Q

What is episodic memory?

A

Explicit memories which remember what happened to you: usually needs cues to retrieve

199
Q

What is implicit memory?

A

Experimental or functional type of memory, unable to be consciously recalled

200
Q

What is priming?

A

Implicit memory which occurs when a prior exposure influences later thoughts and feelings

201
Q

What is procedural memory?

A

A type of implicit memory which occurs when motor responses are repeated

202
Q

What is prospective memory, and the issue with it?

A

The ability to remember to do something in the future.

However, it’s responsible for about 50% of memory failures

203
Q

What parts of the brain are important for memory and how?

A

The striatum and cerebellum: procedural memory, habits
Limbic system and hippocampus: explicit and spatial memory
Amygdala: emotional memory

204
Q

What are the 3 ways in which retrieval can occur?

A

Recall
Recognition
Reconstruction

205
Q

What is recall?

A

Generating a mental representation of a stimulus now absent

206
Q

What is recognition?

A

Noticing that information is like that experienced before

207
Q

What is reconstruction?

A

Piecing together a memory based on information that has been recalled: but this can create false memories

208
Q

What are flashbulb memories?

A

Unique, emotional, vivid and decay resistant memories. Most often occur learning about events after they happen (eg. 9/11)
Said to occur when 3 of the following are recalled: Where, who, how, what were you doing and what emotion was generated

209
Q

What impact does stress have on memory?

A

To little: poor memory due to low motivation
Moderate stress: optimal memory due to alertness and engagement
Too much: poor memory due to anxiety

210
Q

What effect does serial position have on memory?

A

It’s easier to remember the first and last things in a sequence than the middle

211
Q

What effect does context have on memory?

A

It can act as a cue, as the more overlap between the conditions at encoding and retrieval, the better the retrieval (encoding specificity)
It also affects the type of information remembered

212
Q

What are the rates for forgetting?

A

steepest rate for the most recently learned material

213
Q

What are the 4 causes of forgetting?

A

Encoding failure
Interference
Decay
Individual Motivation

214
Q

What is encoding failure?

A

Not enough attention, rehearsal or elaboration, or issues with stress

215
Q

What is interference?

A

Can be retroactive or proactive- mistaking something you just learned for something you learned a while ago, or vice versa

216
Q

What is decay?

A

Memory degrades over time

217
Q

What is individual motivation?

A

repression of memory due to trauma

218
Q

What are 6 ways of boosting memory?

A 
Paying attention
Spacing effect
Self referencing
State dependent learning
Address serial position effect
Mnemonics
219
Q

What is the spacing effect?

A

Rehearsing memory as soon as possible, and at frequent time intervals

220
Q

What is self referencing?

A

Relating information to ourselves

221
Q

What is state dependent learning?

A

Same state at learning and recall

222
Q

What are 3 mnemonic techniques?

A

Rhymes and acronyms
Method of loci
Hierarchies

223
Q

What is method of loci?

A

Dropping things to remember around a familiar place (in your mind

224
Q

What are hierarchies?

A

Concepts are tied to other, higher order concepts.

225
Q

How does memory develop?

A

The brain begins making connections from birth, causing perception and neurological and cognitive processes to develop
This is supported by neurological change due to experience and repetition, social awareness, supporting self awareness, language and memory, and context (supporting memory through routine)

226
Q

What are the characteristics of infant memory?

A

Implicit memory
Recognition better than recall
Object permanence doesn’t exist until 8mos
Can do associative learning: if they pull a sting on their leg, something will move

227
Q

What are the characteristics of toddler memory?

A 
Implicit memory better than infant
Semantic and episodic memory forming- important for language
- recall of names, objects and places
- Language
- Repetition is better than recall
228
Q

What are the characteristics of 3yo-6yo memory?

A
  • Increased attention and information processing
  • Recognition better than recall, but both good
  • Doing is better for memory than seeing things
  • Begin to understand that other people think differently after 4yo
  • Begin to realize that their expectations can change
229
Q

What are the characteristics of 6-10yo memory?

A
  • Recognition better than recall
  • Better meta memory (stringing pieces of a story together to make a whole)
  • Better encoding strategies- rehearsal and elaboration more organized
  • Improved episodic memory
230
Q

What is infantile amnesia?

A

The forgetting of memories before 3-3.5 years of age

231
Q

Why does infantile amnesia occur?

A 
Autobiographical memory is eventually obscured by amnesia, possibly the result of a huge reshuffling of neurons during childhood
Also:
Cerebrovascular events
Epilepsy
Trauma
ADHD
FAS
232
Q

How can infantile amnesia be prevented?

A

Rehearsal of early memories

233
Q

What is the misinformation effect?

A

Misleading information is incorporated into memory after an event

234
Q

What is false memory, and what are its implications?

A

Recollections that feel real but are not, meaning that suggestive interviewing can lead to construction of false memories

235
Q

What are the changes in memory purely due to age?

A
  • Decrease in fluid memory, so decrease in working memory, episodic memory and flashbulb memory
  • Increase in word knowledge
    Few changes in procedural and semantic knowledge
    Crystallized intelligence increases as it’s based on experience.
236
Q

Why do we see memory degradation in older people?

A 
- Decrease in rehearsal strategies, interference from past memories, issues with slow retrieval
Anatomical changes:
- Brain shrinkage
- Neural atrophy
- Dendritic loss
- Degrading myelin sheath
- Neurofibrillary tangles
- Neuritic plaques
- Decreased neurotransmitters
237
Q

What are the reversible/preventable causes of age-related memory loss?

A
  • Medication
  • Alcoholism
  • Trauma
  • Tumors
  • Depression
  • B12 deficiency
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Pain
  • Vision/hearing issues
  • Sleep deprivation
238
Q

What is mild cognitive impairment?

A
  • The transition between cognitive changes of normal ageing and dementia
  • Some memory loss
  • Daily functioning retained
  • High risk of dementia
  • Can differentiate using mini-mental state exam
239
Q

What is amnesia?

A
  • Loss of memory, can be partial or complete, temporary or permanent.
  • Due to brain trauma or neurodegenerative disease,
    Can be retrograde anterograde or global
240
Q

What is dementia?

A
  • Set of progressive disorders marked by disturbance of cognitive function
    Prevalence increasing
  • Umbrella term for other illnesses, and a syndrome in itself
241
Q

What are the signs of dementia?

A
  • Forgetting common words
  • Misplacing items inappropriately
  • Asking the same questions
  • Mixing words up
  • Taking longer to complete familiar tasks
  • Getting lost
  • Sudden mood and behaviour changes
  • Inability to follow direction
  • Faulty judgement
  • Issues telling stories (confabulation)
  • Wandering
242
Q

What are the features of alzheimer’s disease?

A
  • Makes up 50% of dementia cases
  • 8-10 years life expectancy once detected
  • Severe memory issue the first sign
  • Purposeful and skilled action deteriorates
  • Sleep disruption
243
Q

What are the types and causes of alzheimers?

A
  • Sporadic (no family history- due to mutation)
  • Familial (early onset, linked to chromosomes 1, 14 and 21).
  • Neurons die and dendrites tangle
  • Plaques form
  • ACh and serotonin drop
244
Q

What is cerebrovascular dementia?

A
  • Strokes leave dead brain cells
  • Risk is increased by BP, CVD, diabetes, substance use, stress and obesity
  • Men at higher risk
  • Reduced by early treatment
245
Q

What are ways of supporting those with alzheimers?

A
  • Memory and music causes reduced depression and anxiety, and increased activity
  • Bus stop program addresses wandering, and decreases associated challenges
246
Q

How can memory loss be prevented?

A
  • Healthy lifestyle- exercise, alcohol and stress
  • Improved self efficacy
  • Address ‘elderly’ stereotypes
  • Mental activity- education, language learning, instruments and mental workouts
247
Q

Why is memory loss important?

A

NZ’s elderly population is increasing
Need to recognize normal vs. reversible vs. dementia
Interventions more necessary to help the elderly remember

HlthPsych 122 (3 decks)

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