Thought And Emotion

Question 1

Cognition

Answer 1

Refers to a wide range of internal mental activities, such as analyzing information, generating ideas, and problem solving
Higher level processes like language and logical reasoning
An ability present in humans and only a few other mammals
Think of cognition as an internal process that influences external behavior
Adult cognitino develops over the course of a lifetime

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

Organization and identification of sensory inputs

Question 3

How does the cognitive psychological perspective view the mind?

Answer 3

As a computer with input and processing that can be viewed as two steps that determine output
Brain receives stimulus input, processes stimulus, and selects an output function
Along the way, people draw on prior knowledge, including stored memories, to make decisions and solve problems
Called an information-processing model
- focuses on input-output functions and distinguishes between serial and parallel processing of information

Question 4

Cerebral Cortex

Answer 4

Area in which information processing takes place in the brain
Divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal
Frontal lobe: associated with motor control, decision making, long-term memory storage
Parietal lobe: tactile sensory processing, somatosensory cortex
Occipital lobe: visual information processing
Temporal lobe: auditory and olfactory information processing, emotion & language, memory formation
Front half of cortex sends motor instructions and other types of output to the body, while back half receives sensory input from the body and sends it to the frontal lobe for further processing

Question 5

Developmental psychology

Answer 5

Examines psychological and behavioral change across the human lifespan
Early developmental psychology was based on nature vs. nurture
- Some psychologists argued that children’s personality and cognitive abilities were innate and predetermined (nature)
- Other believed children’s experiences with environmental factors such as parenting and community shaped children’s development
- Jean Piaget integrated these opposing ideals into an integrated theory of child development

Question 6

Jean Piaget’s integrated theory of child development

Answer 6

Children develop cognitively by experimenting with their environment
- Assimilation: ‘results’ of experimentation can be fitted by child into preexisting schemas (mental representations or frameworks of the world)
- Accommodation: if new info doesn’t fit into schemas, schemas are changed in response to new information
Theory may not be valid or generalizable because he experimented on his own children

Question 7

Jean Piaget’s theory of four universal stages of cognitive development

Answer 7

All children pass through same set of discrete cognitive developmental stages, including particular milestone achievements at the same ages on their way to maturity
- stage theory is in contrast to continuous theories that view development as constant and gradual (Vygotsky’s theory)
- Stages are not uniform across different cultures
Four stages: sensorimotor (birth - 2yrs), preoperational (2-7 yrs), concrete operational (7-11 yrs), formal operational (11+ yrs)

Question 8

What are Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development?

Answer 8

Sensorimotor (birth - 2yrs): children learn to separate themselves from objects, recognize ability to act on and affect outside world, learn object permanence
Preoperational (2-7yrs): children learn to use language to think literally, maintain egocentric (self-centered) world-view and find it hard to take perspective of others
Concrete Operational (7-11 yrs): perform logical concrete thinking, develop inductive reasoning, understand conservation (quantity stays the same despite changes in shape)
Formal Operational (11+ yrs): Children develop ability to think logically in abstract, develop deductive reasoning, and think theoretically & philosophically, capable of achieving post-conventional moral reasoning

Question 9

How does culture play a role in cognitive development?

Answer 9

Critics of Piaget’s theory asserted that expectations and cultural context affected children’s performance on experiments
Vygotsky proposed a sociocultural theory that emphasized the role of social learning through caregivers and stated that development is more complex than the singular, internally driven process originally presented by Piaget
Western vs. Eastern focus on object-focused vs. relationally focused

Question 10

Learning theory of language development

Answer 10

(AKA behaviorist theory)
Language is a form of behavior and is learned through operant conditioning (BF Skinner)
- Children receive reinforcement, such as excitement and kisses when they make correct vocalization and punishment (less maternal attention) when they do not
- Behaviors that are reinforced or punished become increasingly specific over development
- Language develops through continuing interaction with environment reinforcement rather than innate ability

Question 11

nativist theory of language development

Answer 11

Emphasizes innate biological mechanisms and was developed in context of criticism of behaviorist explanation (Noam Chomsky)

• Children developed language without systematic feedback from parents (orphans)
• Language development is innately human, all people have neural cognitive system (language acquisition device), which allows for learning of syntax and grammar

Question 12

Interactionist theory of language development

Answer 12

Emphasizes the role of social interactions in language acquisition

• human brain develops so it can be receptive to new language input and development
• Children motivated to practice and expand language base to communicate and socialize

Question 13

How does language influence thought?

Answer 13

Language provides tool for organizing and manipulating thought, affecting aspects of cognition like specificity vs. generality about certain concepts, how and whether abstract ideas are understood, how social connections and structures are understood

• both determines and limits how we experience and view the world
• allow for more or less specificity in various domains, affects the framing of thought
• allows for understanding, expression, and discussion of abstract concepts
• influences social interactions by framing thought about ourselves and others

Question 14

How does the brain process language?

Answer 14

Most of the brain’s language processing occurs in the left hemisphere of cerebral cortex
Broca’s area: in frontal lobe, involved in speech production, where damage causes difficulty enunciating and speaking fluently, but ability to understand language is unaffected (Broca’s aphasia / expressive aphasia)
Wernicke’s area: in temporal lobe, contributes to understanding of language, damage causes inability to understand meaning of words even thought they can repeat them back (Wernicke’s aphasia / receptive aphasia), can follow commands and produce words that sound like nonsense with no comprehensible meaning

Question 15

Intelligence

Answer 15

Ability to understand and reason with complex ideas, adapt effectively to environment, and learn from experience

Question 16

IQ (intelligence quotient)

Answer 16

Scores from two scales (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Stanford-Binet scale) contain verbal scale and performance scale which are synthesized to yield one IQ score

• Predicts school performance, so correlates strongly with school-related skills like math and verbal skills, but has lower correlations with art and design
• average IQ of 100, every 15 pts above or below represents 1 std dev above or below mean
• below-average IQ represents a general learning disability

Question 17

What are advantages and disadvantages to the IQ test?

Answer 17

Advantages: simple to administer, provides scores that are easy to compare, has proven to correlate with academic performance
Disadvantages: less useful in predicting later career success or advancement, shows heavy cultural bias, and single number can be misleading when the test is used to diagnose learning disability (unnecessarily labeling someone as “not intelligent” and harming confidence and intellectual drive or not accurately depicting needs of child to qualify for special education or government aid)

Question 18

General Intelligence Factor, g

Answer 18

Associated with Charles Spearman
Divided into two types of intelligence:
- Fluid intelligence: ability to think logically without need for previously learned knowledge (peaks in young adulthood and then declines)
- Crystalized intelligence: ability to think logically using specific, previously learned knowledge (facts, vocabulary) which remains stable throughout adulthood

Question 19

Theory of multiple intelligences

Answer 19

Associated with Howard Gardner
Proposed that everyone has a variety of intelligences that are used in combination to solve problems and perform tasks
- Linguistic intelligence, musical intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence

Question 20

Triarchic theory

Answer 20

Sternberg
States that thought processes, experience, and cultural environment interact to yield a person’s intelligence
- intelligence emerges from a person’s adaptive abilities
- analytic intelligence: problem solving
- creative intelligence: ability to handle new situations using existing skills and experiences
- practical intelligence: ability to respond to environmental changes

Question 21

Emotional Intelligence

Answer 21

Important correlate of psychological and physical health
1. Perceiving emotions: recognizing others’ emotions via body language or situational cues and identifying one’s own emotions, such as recognizing chronic physiological arousal as a sign of anxiety
2. Using and reasoning with emotions: ability to employ emotions for cognitive ends
3. Understanding emotions: ability to correctly attribute emotions, both one’s own and those of others to a particular source
4. Managing emotions: regulating emotion by knowing when and to what degree to react in an emotionally-charged situation
Essential to effective doctoring, must be able to perceive others emotions and recognize your own and how they impact behavior, manage own emotions in emotionally-charged environment of hospital

Question 22

What is the influence of heredity and environment on cognition and intelligence?

Answer 22

Identical twins in same home have highly correlated IQs, identical twins in different environments have less correlated, and fraternal twins in same home even less correlated IQ
Hereditary influences: general learning disabilities can be traced to genetic disorder (e.g. phenylketonuria, unable to metabolize phenylalanine), IQ is highly heritable
Environmental Influences: prenatal (in utero) environment has lasting impact on cognitive abilities (acute and chronic conditions can lead to general learning disability, rubella, herpes, syphilis, or alcohol consumption). postnatal factors like childhood SES influences cognitive development, often lag cognitively and academically throughout education (increased lead exposure, poorly funded schools, racial tensions, less parental involvement)

Question 23

What are problem solving strategies?

Answer 23

Algorithm: step-by-step procedure that leads to definite solution, but is not always efficient
Analogies: allow new problem to be reduced to previously known problem where prior knowledge of how to determine solution can be applied
Trial and error: repeated, unsystematic attempts to solve problem until desired outcome is achieved, eventually successful, very inefficient
Heuristics: mental shortcuts (rule of thumb) which can be timesaving, but can also lead problems astray
Intuition: based on personal perception, rather than logic, no stepwise logical process, but rather gut feeling that leads to quick, but potentially flawed logic (unconscious neural algorithm)

Question 24

How can availability heuristic lead to wrong medical diagnoses?

Answer 24

Availability heuristic: doctor assigns high likelihood of event or characteristic simply bc it is highly ‘available’ to conscious thought
Physician more likely to make a diagnosis that they have seen many times recently, even if another (unavailable diagnosis) is more likely to correct

Question 25

Cognitive biases

Answer 25

Various tendencies to think in particular ways
Can be helpful, but also inhibit problem solving abilities
Functional fixedness: tendency to view objects as having one single function, can stifle creativity
Confirmation bias: people tend to value new information that supports a belief they already hold and disregard information that goes against preconceived notions (belief perseverance: people hold onto initial beliefs, even when rational argument would suggest they are incorrect)
Overconfidence: e.g. of belief perseverance, information that should logically undermine confidence to some extent is overlooked, which can lead to negative outcomes, including faulty problem solving, but may be evolutionary advantageous
Response expectancy: confidence can serve as self-fulfilling prophecy
Causation bias: tendency to assume cause and effect relationship
Emotions can affect decision at time of decision, or by anticipation of certain emotions that may come about as result of outcome of that decision

Question 26

Emotion

Answer 26

Multifaceted experience that is connected to thought, physiology, and behavior
Thought is never fully disconnected from feelings and emotional states
Three components:
Cognitive: includes a personal assessment of significance of particular situation (subjective experience, feelings that result from cognitive appraisal)
Physiological: emotions often associated with activation of autonomic NS, racing heartbeat
Behavioral: emotion can lead to urges to act in a certain way and thereby lead to actions

Question 27

What are the two most significant factors in the physiology of emotion in the nervous system?

Answer 27

Limbic system and autonomic nervous system
Limbic system: connects hypothalamus with structures in temporal lobe
- amygdala is responsible for emotional reactions of fear and anger, can respond without conscious awareness of stimulus
- circuitry of amygdala / hippocampus allows recollection of emotional memories when similar emotional circumstances occur
Prefrontal cortex: involved in conscious regulation of emotional states, temperament & decision making
- make decisions by anticipating emotional state that would result, involved in emotion-base planning and predicting abstract consequences of choices
Autonomic NS: hypothalamus regulates Autonomic SNS & PNS functions, effects of stressors on heart rate, sweating , and arousal

Question 28

What are the characteristic effects of the SNS?

Answer 28

“Fight or flight”

Pupillary dilation, decreased salivation, increased respiration, increased heart rate, slowed digestion, increased concentration of glucose in the blood

Question 29

Theories of Emotion

Answer 29

James-Lange: physiologically-based, where external stimulus elicits physiological response and emotional experience depends on recognition and interpretation of physical reaction
Cannon-Bard theory: emotional ‘feelings’ and physiological reactions to stimuli are experienced simultaneously, argues that emotions can’t be determined solely by one’s appraisal of physiology, many physiological experiences have multiple emotional correlates
Schachter-Singer theory of emotion: cognitive theory, two-factor, physiological arousal is first component of emotional response, cognitive appraisal identifies reason for initial arousal using physiological response and situational cues, recognizes higher level thinking

Question 30

What is the purpose of emotion?

Answer 30

Enables physical response to internal mental states, allows people to communicate internal experiences and understand the feelings and experiences of others
Most basic emotions: fear, anger, happiness, surprise, joy, disgust, sadness
Adaptive: promotes organism’s ability to thrive bc allows interpersonal communication (cross-cultural as well)

Question 31

Motivation

Answer 31

Psychological factor that provides a directional force or reason for behavior
- Complex psychological and behavioral event that can be influenced by a variety of lower-level factors, such as needs, instincts, arousal, and drives
- Often originate from unsatisfied needs, physiological or psychological
Instinct: biological, innate tendency to perform a certain behavior that leads to fulfillment of a need, not necessarily associated with arousal
Arousal: physiological and psychological tension, triggering attempts to return to an ideal and more comfortable level of arousal
Drivers: urges to perform certain behaviors in order to resolve physiological arousal when arousal is caused by biological needs of organism (physiological homeostasis)

Question 32

Drive reduction theory

Answer 32

Focuses on internal factors in motivation, positing that people are motivated to take action in order to lessen state of arousal caused by a physiological need

• theory best applied to innate biological drives that are critical for immediate survival
• relevant for sex drive as well

Question 33

Incentive theory

Answer 33

People are motivated by external rewards

• distinct in how it highlights physiological feeling of pleasure that comes with receiving an incentive
• person motivated to go to work every day because they enjoy receiving a paycheck (external incentive)

Question 34

Cognitive theories of motivation

Answer 34

People behave based on their expectations

• people behave in a way they predict will yield the most favorable outcome
• motivation can be categorized into intrinsic (reward of feeling satisfied after completing a task) and extrinsic motivation (driven by external reward, like incentive theory)
• studies show that people who consistently receive extrinsic rewards for something they intrinsically enjoy may eventually lose intrinsic motivation

Question 35

Need-based theories

Answer 35

People are motivated by desired to fulfill unmet needs
Abraham Maslow: all people strive to meet a hierarchy of needs in ascending order
- most basic, physiological needs must be met before one has the motivation to achieve the next level of need
Levels: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, self-actualization

Question 36

Attitudes

Answer 36

Favorable or unfavorable organizations of beliefs and feelings about people, objects, or situations
Three major attitudes (ABC model):
1. Affective: person’s feelings or emotions about an object, person, or event
2. Behavioral: influence that attitudes have on behavior
3. Cognitive: Beliefs or knowledge about specific object of interest
Behavioral patterns and attitudes influence one another

Question 37

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Answer 37

Premise that people are much more likely to agree to a large request if they first agree to a smaller one
Persuasive technique that uses behavior change to affect attitude
- act of accepting an initially modest request fosters an accepting and willing attitude
- one is then motivated to comply with a larger request, consistent with newly established attitude

Question 38

Role-playing

Answer 38

Role: set of norms that dictate expected behavior in a specific situation
Allows for development of an internal self-concept and identity as well as set of external attitudes about the work

Question 39

How do attitudes influence behavior change?

Answer 39

People are more likely to behave in accordance with an attitude when attitude is repeatedly stated or personally meaningful, or when significant outcome is expected
- positive attitudes also have higher impact (positive reinforcement learning)

Question 40

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 40

Conflict or inconsistency between internal attitudes and external behaviors

• people have inherent desire to avoid internal discomfort associated with mismatch between attitudes and behaviors
• people either change their attitudes towards situation, change their perception of the behavior, or modify the behavior

Question 41

Theories of attitude and behavior change

Answer 41

Two major theories: elaboration likelihood model and social cognitive theory

Question 42

Elaboration likelihood model

Answer 42

Takes information processing approach to persuasion, where there are two routes to attitude formation and change, defined by likelihood that person who receives an argument will elaborate on it (generating their own thoughts and opinions in response)

• peripheral route processing: individual does not think deeply to evaluate argument, happens when person is unable or unwilling to evaluate situation fully or uses heuristic method of problem solving (less interested and minimal knowledge of issue, strong or weak argument)
• central route processing: individual does think deeply and elaborates on argument presented, appeals to logic and reason and is influenced mostly by argument itself (follow when deeply invested in situation or have personal knowledge about it, only strong argument effective)

Question 43

Social cognitive theory

Answer 43

(Social learning perspective) Behavior and attitudes change through a system of reciprocal causation, in which personal factors (cognition, affect, biology), behavior, and environmental factors all influence each other

• behavior not based solely on internal drives or external, environmental reward and punishment
• people learn behaviors by observing others’ actions and consequences
• people have strong ability to self-regulate in which they control behavior in absence of rewards or punishments

Question 44

What are the five stages of change to help people overcome addictions in a clinical setting?

Answer 44

Pre-contemplation (no desire to change), contemplation (initial awareness that there is a problem), preparation (get ready for change by shifting attitudes), action (actual modification of behavior and environment), and maintenance (prevention of relapse)

Question 45

What are factors affecting attitude change?

Answer 45

1. Behavior change: foot-in-the-door, role-playing, relieving cognitive dissonanc
2. Characteristics of message: credible speaker, strong persuasive argument more influential (although in peripheral does not matter(
3. Characteristics of target: if deeply knowledgable and willing to engage with argument more likely persuaded if argument strong (central processing), if less invested will pay attention to situational cues (# arguments, surroundings, perceived credibility), young children susceptible to attitude change and manipulation
4. Social factors: social and environmental factors impact attitude, medium of communication with face-to-face most successful, in-group/out-group identification and groupthink significantly sways attitudes

Question 46

Stress

Answer 46

Strain that is experienced when an organism’s equilibrium is disrupted and must adapt
Stressor: source of stress
- cognitive appraisals: personal interpretations of situations that triggered stress account for way in which people experience and manage stress
- appraisal view of stress: primary appraisal evaluates situation for presence of any potential threat, secondary appraisal assesses personal ability to cope with threat where individual that perceives ability has less stress than individual that does not

Question 47

Stress response

Answer 47

Initial response includes SNS releasing epinephrine and norepinephrine and release of same chemicals from adrenal medulla for longer-lasting stress response (increased heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate)
Adrenal cortex releases cortisol (primary stress hormone) which increases blood glucose, directed towards body’s muscles (amount of cortisol in saliva used to measure stress)
- if not long-term perceived threat, body quickly returns to baseline heart rate, etc.
-Chronic stress: host of physical ailments, bc high cortisol maintained which causes digestive problems , weight gain, sleep issues, and increased risk of infection, can lead to anxiety of depression

Question 48

Relationship between arousal and performance

Answer 48

Low arousal and stress leads to worse attention, medium levels lead to optimal arousal and performance, and high levels lead to impaired performance because of strong anxiety

Question 49

Stress management

Answer 49

Stress can be managed by exercise, because utilizes same physiological resources that are provided by acute stress response
Spirituality: facilitate relief of stress by allowing people to achieve sense of purpose, focus, and optimism, can provide social support, broader concept than religion
- meditation: effective mind-body technique, now promoted within mainstream medicine as mindfulness, focus on breath, guided imagery, mantra repetition, yoga, allowing for deep relaxation and focus on present
- mindfulness can reduce body’s level of cotisol