Social, Personal & Abnormal 1/2 Flashcards
What defines who you are?
Your social behaviour
What did Medd (1934) say about how we try to determine who we are?
We try to interpret others’ perceptions of who we are
What is Bem’s (1967) self-attribution bias?
Thinking you are ____ because of what someone said about you
What is Festinger’s (1954) self evaluation maintenance model?
when people make esteem-damaging upwards comparisons
What is self affirmation?
Behaviour in a particular way by an individual to gain self respect
What are the 3 types of self-presentation?
Authentic - image consistent with the way we view ourselves
Ideal - image consistent with the way we wish ourselves to be
Tactical self-presentation - image consistent with how others want/expect us to be
What is the self-consistency theory of social feedback?
People are motivated to acquire information about themselves in order to affirm their self-conceptions as it feels accurate and trustworthy
What is the self-enhancement theory of social feedback?
When people try to compensate for their lack of self esteem by enhancing their self views by what other people say about them
Cognitively and affectively which theories of social feedback do we prefer?
Cognitively we prefer self-consistency but affectively we prefer self-enhancement
What does the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding measure?
Who people are trying to deceive about who they are - themselves or others
Culture can affect self concept. What does Cousins (1989) say about America and Japan in particular?
America fosters an individualistic self concept whereas Japan more a concept of collectivism
What is deindividuation?
A feeling that you are no longer an single individual rather part of a group often causing anonimity
What is disinhibition?
When individuals do not feel accountable due to the security of a larger group and not being caught (as a result of deindividuation)
What type of face is most attractive and why?
Average faces are attractive as they do not have ‘odd’ feature that some may dislike
What does masculinity suggest to women? (2 things)
That they are healthy and fit
That they may be less parentally invested
Which 3 factors most likely determine if people will get together?
- Proximity
- Familiarity
- Similarity
Why is similarity so important in a relationship?
similar attitudes positively reinforce our own which makes us feel good - Michelangelo effect
What is matching behaviour?
When you meet someone you deem to be a similar level of attractiveness to yourself you will have more approachable behaviour
Biologically, what do women want in a man?
women want a stable relationship as they are limited in the number of children they can have
as women gain status/financial stability male physical attractiveness becomes more important
financial stability and ambition
Biologically, what do men want in women?
fertility and fidelity
What does equity theory say about the types of relationships we choose?
we choose relationships where the amount we give is equal to the amount we get back from it
What are the 3 components to love?
Commitment, passion and intimacy
What is Empty love?
Where only commitment is being fulfilled out of the 3 components of love
What is the self-expansion model?
People tend to adopt their partners’ interests into their sense of self
What sort of relationships do securely attached individuals tend to experience?
easy to get close and feel comfortable to others, do not fear being abandoned or someone being too close to them
What sort of relationships do avoidant individuals experience?
somewhat uncomfortable being close to others and find it difficult to trust them fully. Get nervous when anyone gets too close
What sort of relationships do anxious individuals experience?
Worry others do not want to get as close as they would like. Worry the other person does not love them or want to stay with them. Desire to merge entirely with another person often scaring others away
What are the big 5 personality traits?
Conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extraversion
What does a criminal personality usually stem from?
Low empathy, impulsivity, low self esteem, agression
What is the arousal theory of aggression?
frustration leads to arousal when the goal is blocked which turns into aggression
What is Zillmann’s (1983) excitation theory?
arousal from one event can be transferred into aggression in another event
What is the learning theory of aggression?
aggression is acquired in the same way as any other social behaviour by mimicking what we see
What is the cognitive theory of aggression?
Normally an action will be perceived, interpreted and a general response search which will be evaluated to decide what behaviour is appropriate. In aggressive people the ‘evaluation’ stage is often missing
What is the Covariation model?
An attribution theory where we try to explain others’ behaviour through multiple observations
What is attribution theory?
The explanation of one’s behaviour come to by analysing the situtation
What is prosocial behaviour?
cooperative social behaviour and social responsibility driven by internal obligation to help and empathy
What is bystander apathy?
diffusion of responsibility to someone else in society
how many adults are experiencing mental health issues at any one time?
1 in 6
What is the most common disorder in Britain?
mixed anxiety and depression
What proportion of prisoners have a mental health disorder?
9/10
How would you define a personality disorder?
An enduring pattern of behaviour that deviates from the expectations of the individuals culture and is stable over time leading to distress or impairment
What are the 3 Ps in order to diagnose a personality disorder?
pervasive, problematic, persistent
Explain antisocial personality disorder
antisocial behaviour such as selfishness, impulsivity, callousness, violence - encompasses sociopathy and psychopathy
What are Hare’s PCL-R factors of psychopathy?
interpersonal deficits
affective deficits
parasitic lifestyle
antisocial lifestyle
What areas do many psychopaths have impairments in?
passive avoidance
response inhibition
recognition of fear/distress facial expression
skin conductance response to fear
Biologically what is different about a psychopath’s brain?
Orbitofrontal cortex creates abnormal emotional responses
smaller amygdala so lacking in empathy
What is Borderline personality disorder?
impairments in personality, functioning and presence of pathological personality traits
What criteria might someone with BPD fulfil?
shifts in mood, impulsivity, bizarre cognitive experiences, poor interpersonal relationships
What is the fundemental attribution error?
When someone underestimates the influence of the situation and overestimates the influence of the individual’s personality (i.e. people want to believe people are who they seem to and reflect who they are)
How does intelligence affect likelihood of criminal behaviour?
low intelligence is good predictor of juvenile delinquency and adult criminality
What is recidivism?
The tendency of a criminal to reoffend
What is a stigma?
destructive beliefs held by society about groups considered different in some way
What 5 things characterise a mental disorder?
Abnormal behaviour violation of social norms personal distress disability harmful dysfunction
Originally what did people believe mental illness to be? How was this treated?
An evil spirit that dwells within a person and controls their mind or body
Treated with exorcism
What did Hippocrates suggest about how we treat people with mental illnesses?
They should be treated more like those with physical illnesses
What were the 3 early categories of brain disorders?
Mania
Melancholia
Phrenitis
What was normal brain function attributed to in the early years?
An equal balance of the 4 humors
What was the name of the first mental asylum?
Bethlem
How did Pinel reform the treatment of patients with mental health problems?
Began treating people as sick rather than possessed
Introduced rules and moral management policy of treating patients
What is one criticism of mental hospitals today?
little treatment behind medication - very little human contact and sedentary lifestyle
What did Galton discover in the late 1800s about genetics and mental illness?
genetics play a part in mental illness
What did Jung hypothesise?
That there is a ‘collective unconcsious’ consisting of archetypes (introversion, extroversion etc.)
What was the impact of Freud on understanding mental illness?
Suggested that it may be caused by experiences in childhood
What good treatments did the rise of behaviourism bring to mental illness?
behaviour therapy: systematic desensitisation
Cognitive therapy
What was done in the Stone Age to alleviate mental disorder?
Trepanation - cutting holes in the skull to release evil spirits
Some thought it could increase mental capacity
What did Galen suggest in his writings?
Talking therapy
What are the 3 criteria of Dissociative Identity Disorder?
2 or more distinct personality states
recurrent gaps in recall of everyday events
What is Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)?
The disruption or discontinuity of the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, behaviour etc.
How does DID often come about?
As a coping mechanism for dealing with extreme trauma
What did the Merkelback study find?
There is a correlation between dissociative tendencies and fantasy proneness
There is a correlation between childhood trauma and dissociative tendencies
What is the sociocognitive ‘fantasy’ model of DID?
dissociation
mediators
memories of trauma
What is the trauma model of DID
trauma
mediators
dissociation
What did Dalenberg & Calson (2012) say DID is a subset of?
PTSD
What are 4 typical psychological avoidance techniques?
derealisation
emotional numbing
intentional avoidance behaviours
analgesia
What changes are there in the brain in DID patients?
hyperactivity in the medial frontal gyrus
more activity in parietal and prefrontal cortex
What is the treatment for DID?
Establish a safe environment
Some CBT
More trauma based work and CBT
Work on functioning in daily life
Which system is highly involved in addictive behaviours?
Mesolimbic dopamine system
What are the components of the Mesolimbic dopamine system?
Ventral tegmental area - consisting of nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex
Which part of the brain is associated with facebook use and how?
Decreased left accumbens volume with use
increased activity in accumbens when receiving a like
What part of the brain was stimulated by World or Warcraft gaming?
Medial prefrontal cortex
What can be seen in people who game 10+h a day?
reduced grey matter volume = less reward sensitivity
craving before and after gaming sessions
What parts of the brain were stimulated during gaming gains? and losses?
gains = enhanced frontal activity losses = reduced anterior cingulate
What does the drug Bupropion do?
reduce craving and cue-induced brain activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
What happens in all addicts when shown the cue or asked to perform a task they are addicted to?
Nucleus accumbens releases dopamine
Define alcohol use disorder
a problematic pattern of alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress
What did Emperor Marcus Aurelius drink daily to prevent getting poisoned?
theriac - a poppy juice concoction that he became addicted to and when taken away could not sleep
What is the name of the pathway from the Ventral Tegmental Area to the Nucleus Accumbens?
mesoaccumbens dopamine projection
What is the name of the pathway from the Ventral Tegmental Area to the Medial Prefrontal Cortex?
mesocortical dopamine projection
What did Franklin et al. (2002) find the effects of cocaine to be on the brain?
reduction in frontal grey matter volume
What did Thompson et al. (2004) find the effects of methamphetamines to be on the brain?
reduction in grey matter across large areas
What is the name of the major neural pathway best known for supporting rewarding behaviours?
medial forebrain bundle
What did Olds&Milner (1954) discover?
Electrical brain stimulation of mesoaccumbens dopamine projection in rats meant they ‘came back for more’
What part of the brain were Olds&Milner aiming for in their experiment?
reticular formation
What did Volkow et al. (2006) discover?
Cocaine addicts had higher dopaminergic responses than controls when shown videos of people taking cocaine
What did Robson&Berridge (1993, 2000) discover?
drugs are addictive as they stimulate the mesoaccumbens dopamine projection causing drug-associated stimuli to acquire conditioned properties
What is the pharmacological treatment for alcohol?
Antabuse
If alcohol is ingested nausea and dizziness occur
What is the pharmacological treatment for opiates?
methadone
prevents onset of withdrawal symptoms
What is the pharmacological treatment for cocaine?
Vaccine to break down cocaine quickly
What is the pharmacological treatment for nicotine?
patches/gum to ameliorate craving
What is extinction therapy?
repeated presentation of a Pavlovian conditioned stimulus eliminating its conditioned response
What did Xue et al (2012) discover about extinction therapy and heroine addicts?
It reduced craving responses to drug cues
What are some of the psychoactive substances as classified by DSM 5
alcohol, caffeine, cannabis, hallucinogens, opiods, sedatives, stimulants, tabacco, inhalants etc.
Why did Jeanne Fery become ‘possessed’?
She experienced early childhood trauma
What did Annelise Michel suffer from? How was she treated?
Epileptic seizures
1-2 exorcisms a week
What is hysteria?
dissociation of a single movement system e.g. limb
Why did people question whether DID really exists after the book ‘Sybil’?
It came out that she had made it all up and did not have a ‘double’
What is dissociative amnesia?
A person unable to recall important and often traumatic personal information
