WACE

Question 1

Cerebral Cortex

Answer 1

• Part of the forebrain (outer layer)
• Largest part of the brain, separates us from animals
• Divided into four anatomical areas (lobes)
o Frontal
o Parietal
o Occipital
o Temporal

Question 2

Frontal lobe

Answer 2

• Personality
• Higher order processes (attention, impulse, organization etc)
• Contains the following functional areas: primary motor cortex and brocas.

Question 3

Primary motor cortex

Answer 3

o Located at the back of the frontal lobe
o Different areas responsible for different body parts
• Laid out in the order of body parts
• Body parts involved in fine motor movement have more area dedicated to them

Question 4

Broca’s

Answer 4

o	Located on the left side of the frontal lobe 
o	It controls;
•	Muscles responsible for fluent speech 
•	Structures that understand grammatically rules 
o	If damaged;
•	Speech isn’t fluent
•	Grammatically incorrect 
•	However speech usually makes sense

Question 5

Temporal lobe

Answer 5

o Contains the primary auditory cortex and Wernicke’s areas

o Responsible for creation of new memories

Question 6

Primary auditory cortex

Answer 6

• Left hemisphere is responsible for verbal sounds

* Right hemisphere is responsible for non verbal sounds

Question 7

Wernicke area

Answer 7

o	Left side of temporal lobe 
o	Language comprehension center- retrieves meaning of words from memory
o	If damaged:
•	Unable to understand speech of others 
•	Unable to produce meaningful speech 
•	Fluent gibberish

Question 8

Occipital

Answer 8

• Contains primary visual cortex

* Responsible for vision

Question 9

Primary vision cortex

Answer 9

• Receives visual information and transforms it
• Right to left side, left to right
• If damaged:
• Tumors
• Schizophrenia

Question 10

Parietal lobe

Answer 10

o Contains primary sensory cortex

o Therefore responsible for sensations

Question 11

Primary somatosensory cortex

Answer 11

• Similar layout to the primary motor cortex
• Areas which are more sensitive (mouth, fingers etc) have more area dedicated to them
• Creates meaning from raw sensory information (ie touching something that gets translated to pain)
• Damage results in:
• Problems with co-ordination, as well as sensation
• Hemi spatial neglect
• Other issues with spatial awareness

Question 12

Central nervous system

Answer 12

• Also known as CNS
• Includes the brain and spinal cord
• Integrate and co-ordinate all in coming neural information and to initiate messages sent to different parts of the body.
• It does not have contact with the outside of the body and therefore relies on the PNS.

Question 13

Spinal cord

Answer 13

• Passes sensory information from the PNS to the brain

* Passes motor information from brain to PNS

Question 14

Peripheral nervous system

Answer 14

• Complete set of neurons outside the brain
• Links the central nervous system to the rest of the body
• Divided into two sections; somatic and autonomic
• Responsible for; carrying information to the CNS from the body’s muscles, organs and glands (about internal body) and from sensory organs; carry information from the CNS to the body’s muscles, organs and glands.

Question 15

Somatic

Answer 15

• Transfer sensory information from the environment to the central nervous system
• Afferent (sensory) neurons receive information from the environment and send them inwards towards the CNS
• Efferent (motor) neurons transfer information outwards from the CNS to co-ordinate movement
• Controls voluntary muscle only

Question 16

Autonomic nervous system

Answer 16

• Non voluntary body functions, glands, non skeletal muscles
• Unconsciousness
• Consists of the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic

Question 17

Sympathetic nervous system

Answer 17

1. Involved in fight or flight response
2. When activated; heart rate increases, breathing rate increases, sweat glands increases, digestion decreases and pupils dilate.

Question 18

Parasympathetic nervous system

Answer 18

• Responsible for bringing the body back to homeostasis after the sympathetic nervous system has been activated
• When activated; heart rate decreases, breathing rate decreases, sweat glands decrease and digestion increase.

Question 19

Neural transmission

Answer 19

• Chemicals in the brain, which aid in the transmission of activity between neurons.
• Serotin and dopamine
• Neurotransmitters are created in cell body and are stored in synaptic vesicles.
• An action potential occurs and transports the vesicles down the axon.
• The neurotransmitters are released into the synapse.
• Neurotransmitter cross the synaptic cleft and attach to receptor sites on the dendrite of the post synaptic neuron
• Neurotransmitters have an inhibitory or excitatory effect, and if the action potential is strong enough, the process then continues in the next neurons.
• Excess neurotransmitters are then re-up taken to the presynaptic neuron and recycle.

Question 20

o Inhibitory effect

Answer 20

calm neural activity balancing mood

Question 21

o Excitatory effect

Answer 21

stimulates brain activity

Question 22

Serotonin

Answer 22

• Regulation of mood, sleep, appetite
• Neurotransmitter
• Too little= depression,, increased appetite, sleep problems, OCD
• Too much= anorexia
• Factors influencing production:
o Antidepressants prevent the reuptake, increase the availability.
o Ecstacy increases short term decreases long term

Question 23

Dopamine

Answer 23

• Involved in the rewards pathway and motor control
• Neurotransmitter
• Create feelings of pleasure and linked to formative of addictions
• Problems associated with balance
• Too little= Parkinson’s, Anxiety, depression
• Too much= schizophrenia
• Factors influencing production
• Alcohol and drug use

Question 24

Alcohol and drug use - Physiological effect

Answer 24

• An effect on the body
• A change in neurotransmitters levels
• Cause psychological effects

Question 25

Alcohol and drug use - Psychological effect

Answer 25

o An effect on the mind
o A change in behavior
o Caused by physiological effects

Question 26

Hormones

Answer 26

• Chemical messengers created by the endocrine system
• Adrenaline and Noradrenaline
• Both produced by adrenal gland in the kidney
• Both involved in fight or flight response

Question 27

Adrenaline

Answer 27

o	Physiological
o	Increased heart rate 
o	Raises blood pressure 
o	Psychological 
•	Anxiety 
•	Increases alertness 
•	Fear

Question 28

Noradrenaline

Answer 28

o	Physiological 
•	Increased heart rate 
•	Increases rate in muscles contracting 
o	Psychological 
o	Anxiety 
o	Increase alterness 
o	Fear

Question 29

Empirical research - noradrenaline

Answer 29

o Mezzacappa
o Sample of male university students
o Control group injected with saline
o Experimental group injected with adrenaline
o Showed them a series of clips
o Overall, experimental group showed a more intense emotional response (measure by facial expressions)
o The experimental group also showed significally more fear during the ‘fear’ clips, no difference during ‘amusement’ and ‘anger’ clips

Question 30

Psychoactive drug

Answer 30

• Drugs that alter the activity of the central nervous system and cause a change in behavior, thoughts and emotion

Question 31

Depressant

Answer 31

• Psychoactive drugs which decrease activity of the CNS
• Example is alcohol
• Physiological effects include:
o Increased endorphins
o Long term decreases regulation of dopamine
o Decreases activity in the cerebral cortex
o Use in adolescence impairs the development of frontal lobe
• Psychological effects include:
o Relaxation
o Addiction
o Decrease inhabitation
o Impairment of working memory

• Empirical research:
o Tapert et al
o Sample of young women
o Experimental group were alchoholics
o Control groups were no drinkers
o Conducted FMRIs while participants completed memory tests
o Less activity was found in the frontal lobe and more performance in experimental group

Question 32

Stimulant

Answer 32

• Psychoactive drugs which increase activity of the CNS
• Example is Ecstasy
• Physiological effects include:
o Increased heart rate and blood pressure
o Increased production of serotonin in short term
o Long term destroys neurons which create serotonin
• Psychological
o Euphoria in short term
o Depression in long term
o Decreased attention and memory
o Hallucinations
• Empirical research
o Mc Cardle
o Experimental group was long term ecstasy users
o Control group was non ecstasy users
o Conduction of memory tests and attention tests and surveys on depression level
o It was found that ecstasy users reported higher levels of depression, poor performance on attention and memory tasks

Question 33

Hallucinogens

Answer 33

• Psychoactive drugs which cause an altered state of consciousness
• Example is ecstasy

Question 34

Hereditary

Answer 34

• The fact that genes are passed fro parents to children
• Genotype (the genes/alleles)
• Phenotype (physical expression of genes)
• Research has indicated that our genes influence the way we blame, think and feel in several ways, including:
o Intelligence (Bouchard twin study)
o Personality
o Psychological disorders

Question 35

Epigenetics

Answer 35

• How your environment effects how your genes are expressed, without changing your DNA.
• Research: Yehuda et al
o Did a series of studies on pregnant women who had been involved in 911 and had developed PTSD
o They had lower Cortisol levels and therefore children were born with lower cortisol levels
o 16 of the childrens genes were expressed differently compared to those with PTSD

Question 36

Memory

Answer 36

• The storage, organization and retrieval of information.

Question 37

Multi model of memory

Answer 37

• Created by Atkinson and Schiffiren

• Includes capacity, duration and encoding.
• Capacity is how much information can be stored in your memory.
• Duration is how log information can be stored in your memory.
• Encoding is the process of transforming sensory information into a form where it can be stored in your memory. There are four types which include:

Question 38

Types of encoding - Acoustic

Answer 38

encoding information verbally, for example, repeating the information you are trying to process.

Question 39

Types of encoding - visual

Answer 39

usually used for processing visual information, involves creating a mental image of the information youre trying to process.

Question 40

Types of encoding - sematic

Answer 40

adding context or meaning to the information youre trying to process, for example, chunking information into categories.

Question 41

Types of encoding - Elaborative

Answer 41

relating new information to old information or past experiences.

Question 42

Sensory memory

Answer 42

• Information enters through your sensory organs.
• If you pay attention to this then it goes to your short term memory.
• Two types are Iconic and echoic.

Question 43

Iconic memory

Answer 43

• The visual component of sesnort memory, allows you to hold on ‘icon’ which is an unprocessed image in your mind for a brief period of time.
• Structural features include
o Capacity: theoretically unlimited
o Duration: 0.2 seconds-0.4 seconds
• Research includes Sperling
o Showed participants a set of 12 letters for 0.2 seconds, he then asked them to verbally recall.
o Participants only recalled 3-4 letters.

Question 44

Echoic memory

Answer 44

• The verbal component of sensor memory
• Structural features include
o Capacity: Theoretically unlimited
o Duration: 3-4 seconds, longer duration allows us to hear spoken language as complete words, and not individual symbols.
• Research by Cowan:
o Got participants to read a story while numbers were read aloud.
o Participants were able to recall more of the later numbers, than the earlier numbers.
o Also better recall if participants were asked to recall straight away.

Question 45

Short-term memory

Answer 45

• The most active part of the memory, which can store a limited amount of information for a limited amount of time.
• Encoding is predominantly acoustic and some visual
• Information is transferred to long-term memory via rehearsal.
• Duration is 18-30 seconds
• Capacity: 7 pieces of information

Question 46

Rehearsal

Answer 46

used to keep information in STM, and transfer it to LTM.

Question 47

Maintenance

Answer 47

Passive process, which is effective at keeping simple information in the STM, for example, continuously, repeating a phone number.

Question 48

Elaborative

Answer 48

active process which is more effective at transferring complex information to STM, involves linking new info to info already in the LTM, for example, creating memories, stories, mind maps etc.

Question 49

Short term memory - Brown Peterson technique

Answer 49

o Experiment showed that showed without rehearsal, memory has a limited duration.
o Participants were shown a series of trigram and were then asked to count back from a specified number for a period of time before recalling trigrams.
o The counting back was meant to prevent rehearsal
o The longer the participants had to count back, the less trigrams they could recall- less than 10% after 18 seconds.
o After that time, the information ‘decayed’ out of short term memory as it wasn’t being rehearsed

Question 50

Short term memory -• Research: Glazner and Cunitz

Answer 50

o Presented participants with a series of numbers, and then asked them to recall them.
o Found that participants recalled more of the earlier numbers (receny effect) compared to the middle.
o If participants had to wait more then 30 seconds before recalling, the serial position effect disappeared.

Question 51

• Chunking

Answer 51

o Capacity of STM increased if info in ‘chunked’ together
o For example remembering the phone number as
0420 706 344 instead of 0420706344.

Question 52

Baddeley and Hitch Working memory model (1970s)

Answer 52

• Advantages of model:
o Identifies that short memory is an active process, hence the term working memory.
o Identifies that STM is complex and consists of several processes.
• Disadvantages of model:
o Doesn’t explain how the central executive functions
o Only focuses of STM

Question 53

o Central executive

Answer 53

 The control Centre of working memory
 Decides what information is paid attention to
 Co-ordinates the visospatial sketch pad and phonological loop

Question 54

o Visvospatial sketch pad

Answer 54

 Visual part of working memory
 Allows us to process and manipulate visual information from sensory information and long term memory.
 Involved in remembering where objects are in space- navigation.

Question 55

o Phonological loop

Answer 55

 Verbal part of working memory
 Is what allows us to store phone numbers for a short period of time
 Two parts:
1. Phonological store: involved in speech perception and stores verbal info for 1-2 seconds
2. Articulatory control process: involved in speech production and reherses info from the phonological store.

Question 56

Long-term memory

Answer 56

• The store memory, which can hold a large amount of information for a long period of time.
• Capacity; theoretically unlimited
• Encoding; semantic
• General meaning is remembered but nit specific details

Question 57

Long Term memory - • Research; Sach -

Answer 57

o Method; participants listened to recordings of sentences and were then showed written sentences and asked to identify which they heard exactly.
o Results; decreased dramatically after 30 seconds

Question 58

• Procedural memory

Answer 58

o Remembering how to do something, i.e. tie shoe laces
o Implicit
o Relatively resistant to forgetting

Question 59

• Declarative memory

Answer 59

o Remembering factual information
o Explicit
o Two types; episodic and semantic
o Episodic: remembering events such as birthdays
o Semantic: general knowledge of the world such as the things you learn at school

Question 60

Forgetting

Answer 60

• Retrieval failure- information is still stored in long-term memory, but cannot be retrieved due to lack of retrieval cues.
• Therefore retrieval cues are hints of prompts that help us recall information from long-term memory. There are two types, context (external) and dependent (internal).
• Context (external) cues: dependent on environment or situation in which you encode information.
• Research: Baddeley:
o Method: got a group of divers to learn a list of words, half of them on land, half under water. The participants on land were asked to go underwater and participants underwater were asked to come onto land.
o It was found that with the recall list the participants that recalled in their original environment had a higher recall.
• Dependent (internal) cues: information is retrieved easier if you’re in the same internal state (i.e. mood) that you were when it was encoded the it.
• Research: Goodwin et al:
o Looked how people were able to find objects they had originally hidden when they had been drunk, when they were sober again or drunk.
o It was found that participants were more successful at finding the objects when they were drunk again compared to when they were sober.
• Interference: is when other memories or information interfere with recall. The two types are retroactive and proactive.
• Retroactive interference: when new information prevents the recall of old information.
• Research: Postman
o Participants had to learn a list of word pairs. The control group only had to learn the original list, whereas the experimental had to learn a second list.
o It was found that the experimental group recalled fewer terms from the first list die to retroactive interference.
• Proactive interference: when old information prevents the recall of new information, such as having problems talking French overseas when you’ve learnt Japanese as a second language.
• Decay
o When something is learned it becomes a new chemical trace
o Therefore decay is the forgetting of memory trace due to passing time
o Decay can be avoided by reactivating the chemical trace regularly
o Research: Anderson
 Gradual deactivation of neural pathways in the hippocampus
 Effects both STM and sensory memory
 Passage of time is not common cause of forgetting in LTM
o Ability to access information is assisted by retrieval cues
o Retrieval cues allow the memory trace to make memory available
o Therefore, forgetting does not seem to happen in long term memory simply because of the fading of memory traces over time, but because other factors such as interference or an inappropriate retrieval cue make memories difficult to retrieve
• Motivation
o Forgetting arises from a strong motive or desire to forget, usually because the experience is too disturbing or upsetting to remember. Two types of motivated forgetting have been identified: repression and suppression
o Repression: unconsciously blocking a memory of an event or experience from entering conscious awareness
o Suppression: involves being motivated to forget an event or experience by making a deliberate conscious effort to keep it out of awareness
o These are part of Freud’s defence mechanisms

Question 61

Retention

Answer 61

• Recall, recognition and relearning
• Recall: reproducing information with fewest ques possible . There are three types; cued, free call and serial.
o Cued: when information about topic/ information is hinted to have the ability to retrieve information.
o Free call: when participants are told to recall information as they remember it.
o Serial recall: recalling information in a specific order.
• Recognition: identifying information from among alternative information
• Relearning: learning information again that has been previously learned and stored in long term memory

Question 62

Classical conditioning

Answer 62

• Learning through association
• Unconditioned stimulus (US): a stimulus which would produce an automatic natural response
• Unconditioned response (UCR): a natural response when presented with the US
• Conditioned stimulus (CS): a neutral stimuli which produces no response natural and is presented with the US in order to produce a conditioned response
• Conditioned response (CR): a response that is the same as the UCR but us produced by the CS alone as a result of leaving.
• This was studied by Pavlov and Watson
• Important parts of classical conditioning include, acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization and discrimination.

Question 63

Factors affecting classical conditioning

Answer 63

• Acquisition: the period of time in which a behaviour is learnt. CS and UCS must be paired repeatedly for an association to form. CS and UCS also need to be paired simultaneously, or close together for an association to form.
• Extinction: the process in which the CR begins to disappear ince the CS is not longer paired with the US. For example Pavlov dogs eventually begin to stop salivating, when they heard the bell without food.
• Spontaneous recovery: after a rest period the presentation of a CS causes a response again, although weaker. For example, Pavlov run the bell a few days after extinction happened, and dogs began salivating again.
• Generalisation: when response is produced by other stimuli that are similar to the CS. For example, little Albert was taught to have a phobia, which ended with a generalization of other white fluffy things.
• Stimulus discrimination: when a person or animal responds to he CS only, but not to any other stimulus similar to the CS. For example, the response to the experiment bell but not a door bell, or a fear of a specific dog and not dogs in general.

Question 64

Operant conditioning

Answer 64

• Learning through consequence
• There are three phases; stimulus, behaviour and consequence.
o Stimulus: something that causes a behaviour. For example, you have a psychology test tomorrow.
o Behaviour: Your response to the psychology test. For example, you begin to study for the psychology test.
o Consequence: what happens as a result of the behaviour. For example, you do well on the test.
• Reinforcement: increases the likelihood of the behaviour to occur again. The two types are positive and negative.
• Positive reinforcement: adding a consequence (something they like). For example, giving Michael lollies for going to study.
• Negative reinforcement: taking away a consequence (something they don’t like). For example, stopping nagging Michael when he goes to study.
• Punishment: decreases the likelihood of the behaviour to occur again. The two types are positive and negative.
• Positive punishment: adding something they don’t like. For example, spraying water at Chloe when she giggles during a test.
• Negative punishment: taking away something they like. For example, keeping Chloe in at lunch time when she giggles.
• Research: Skinner
o Put a rat in “the skinner box”, where he wanted to train the rats to pull a leaver.
o Positive reinforcement; when the rat pulled the leaver it received food.
o The process used shaping, when the rat showed a similar behaviour to the desired behaviour it was positively reinforced but not as strong.

Question 65

• Factors influencing effectiveness of operant conditioning:

Answer 65

o Appropriateness reinforcement or punishment needs to match behaviour.
o Timing, it needs to be after the behaviour
o Schedule of reinforcement are the different patterns of reinforcement, which influence, response rate and extinction rate. There are five schedule of reinforcement.
1. Continuous: every time behaviour occurs it is reinforced. For example, the rat gets food every time it pushes the leaver. Response is therefore slow. Extinction is fast.
2. Fixed ratio: behaviour is reinforced after it has been displayed a certain number of times. For example, the rat received food every 5th time it pushed the leaver. Therefore response is fast and extinction is medium.
3. Fixed interval: behaviour is reinforced after a certain amount of time. For example, the rat received food every 5 minutes it pushed the leaver during that period. Therefore response is medium and extinction is medium.
4. Variable ratio: behaviour is reinforced after an unpredictable amount of times it is displayed. For example, the rat received food after 5 times it pushed the leaver, and then every 2 times, then 17 etc. Therefore response fast and extinction is slow.
5. Variable interval: behaviour is reinforced after an unpredictable period of time. Therefore response is fast and extinction is slow.

Question 66

Observational learning

Answer 66

• Main theorists- Bandura
• Individuals learn behaviors through observation models (other individuals)
• Process is attention, retention, reproduction, motivation reinforcement and matched performance.
• Research: Bobo doll
o Sample: 36 girls and 36 boys between ages of 3 and 6 into 3 groups
o Method: 24 children were shown a model aggressively towards the bobo doll
o Therefore the results show that the children who were exposed to the aggressive models had more tendency to be aggressive towards the bobo doll compared to non aggressive models

Question 67

Techniques for modifying behaviour

Answer 67

• Systematic desensitisation
o Developed by Wolpe
o Designed to treat phobias
o Based on classical conditioning by pairing phobia producing a stimuli with relaxation techniques
o Three stages:
1. The patient is taught relaxation techniques, for example meditation
2. The patient then creates a ‘fear hierarchy’
3. Patients then begin to go through fear hierarchy, while practicing the relaxation techniques
o Patients stay at a particular stage of the fear hierarchy until they feel no anxiety, typically 4-6 sessions, although severe phobias can be more than 10. Exposure to stimuli can be in vitro (imagined) or in vivo (exposed). Vivo more effective.
o Lang et al. used systematic desensitisation to treat snake phobias in college students. It took 11 sessions and was effective even 6 months later.

Question 68

• Token economies

Answer 68

o Based off of operant conditioning
o Desired behaviors are reinforced by tokens (secondary reinforces) which can then later be traded in for another reward (primary reinforces)
o Effectively used in schools, prisons and psychiatric institutions
o Disadvantage is if the token is removed then the desired behaviour might become extinct

Question 69

• Cognitive behaviors (CBT)

Answer 69

o Think, feel, act
o Believes that people are a result of social learning
o Focuses on current behaviour feelings and thoughts, providing the patient with strategies to replace negative behaviour thoughts and feelings with positive ones
o Short term
o Homework crucial to success

Question 70

Personality

Answer 70

• A distinct set of characteristics and behaviours which make a person unique

Question 71

Trait theory

Answer 71

• An approach to personality that looks a measuring an individuals disposition/characteristics
• Looks at comparing individual differences in personality
• Traits re theorized to have a genetic basics
• Traits are generally stable over time
• Studied by Mc Crae and Costa

Question 72

‘Big 5’ research

Answer 72

• Mc Crae and Costa
• The idea that personality consists of five dimensions, and everyone is somewhere on a spectrum for each of them
1. O peness to experience: high score indicates willing to try new things, low score indicated close-minded.
2. Conscientiousness: high score indicates organized and realiable, low score indicates messy and lazy
3. Extraversion: high score indicates energized by social situation, low score indicates find being in large situation tiring.
4. Agreeableness: high score indicates friendly, work well in groups, low score indicates grumpy and argumentative
5. Neuroticism: high score indicates mood swings, low score indicates stable.
• Strengths
o Allows observable behaviours to be categorized into specific personality characteristics
o Allows differences between individuals to be measured.
o Practical applications
o Uses objective and quantitative data
• Weaknesses
o Doesn’t explain how and why personality form and develop
o Doesn’t account for situational influences

Question 73

Humanism

Answer 73

• An approach to personality which states that were born with the potential for good, and will try to reach their full potential given the right conditions.

Question 74

Maslow

Answer 74

• Known as the hierarchy of needs, each level must be filled before the next.
• The levels include: physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem needs and self-actualisation.
• Physiological needs include water, food and health.
• Safety includes shelter and financial security.
• Love and belonging includes relationships (family and friends).
• Esteem needs include how you feel about yourself.
• Self-actualisation is when you are a fully functioning person.

Question 75

Rogers

Answer 75

• Incongruent vs. congruent personality
• Incongruent:
o Real and ideal self
o Ideal self is who you think you should be based on your own expectations ad expectations of others.
o Real self: who you actually are
• Congruent:
o When the real and ideal self are closely aligned.
o Requires unconditional positive regard from others, particularly close family.
o You become a fully functioning person
• Contributions
o Tells us how personality forms
o Based on mental health
• Limitations
o Tells us how it forms but doesn’t specifically describe personality traits
o Too optimistic

Question 76

Social cognitive

Answer 76

• A theory that takes into account situational factors (social) and cognitive processes such as thinking and judging (cognitive) in the formation of personality.

Question 77

Mischel

Answer 77

• Argued that our personality wasn’t a consistent set of traits, and that our behaviour is a result of our situation, and strategies we use to ensure we achieve the best outcomes for ourselves in that situation
• Trait vs situation
o Studied consciousness in students
o Found that students who came to class on time didn’t hand in assignments on time
o Concluded that personality traits aren’t constant across different situations
• Mischel theoried that behaviour was determined by two things:
o Attribution of situation
o How the individual perceives the situation
• He also proposed the cognitive affective personality system, consisting of 5 variables that change how an individual would perceive the situation and behave.
1. Competencies = intellectual capabilities and social skills
2. Cognitive strategies= how situation is perceived
3. Expectancies = expected result of behaviour
4. Subjective values = value of results of the expected behaviour
5. Self-regulatory = rules people use to regulate behaviour.

Question 78

Bandura

Answer 78

• Reciprocal determination: cognitive factors, situation factors and behaviour all affect each other
• Cognitive factors: our experience, beliefs, expectations and personality characteristics
• Situational factors: the situation, including rewarding or punishing stimuli
• Behaviour: anything we do that may be punished or rewarded.
• Contributions
o Takes into account the influence of situation on personality
o Evidence based
• Limitations
o Hard to measure objectively
o Downplays the influence of traits and other conscious processes

Question 79

Kohlberg

Answer 79

• Most well known theorist
• Measured moral development using moral dilemmas (eg. Heinz, stealing medication to give to your wife)
• Your stage of moral development was judged on your reasoning behind answer
• Research included 72 boyts aged 10 to 16, at 3 year interviews for 20 years. 2 hours consisting of moral development. He therefore proposed 3 stages of moral development
Preconventional Younger than 8 Don’t have moral code, reasoning based on whether we’re punished by immediate authority figures. Obedience and punishment: make decisions in order to avoid punishment.

Individualism and exchange: decisions are made in self-interest to get rewarded.
Conventional Adolescents and adults Based on moral and social norms of society Interpersonal relations: good boy and good girl, seeking approval from others.

Social order: reasoning based on following fixed societal rules such as laws.

Post conventional 15% of adults Reasoning based on own morals principals Social contract: sometimes the law is not right, and sometimes your own moral principals are made important.

Universal principle: judgments are based on own moral principles, which have no self-interest.

Question 80

Cognitive development

Answer 80

• Focuses on processes that allow people to know, understand and think about the world.

Question 81

Piaget

Answer 81

• Was interested in what children got wrong rather than what they got right
o Different answers must mean they think in different ways
o How children think its an indicator of their cognitive development
o Age related errors must coincide with age related differences in thought processes rather than knowledge
o Initial studies were naturalistic observations of his own children
o Moved onto longer samples using the clinical method
• Theorised 4 universal and sequential stages
o Sensorimotor
o Pre operational
o Concrete operational
o Formal operational
• Schema: a set of rules or procedures we use to interpret our experiences.
• Knowledge is increased by two nature functions:
1. Organization: combining and integrating available schemas into more coherent systems of knowledge.
2. Adaption: adapting demands of environment
• Two processes of adaption
1. Assimilation: experiences are understood within their current stage of thinking.
2. Accommodation: existing ways of thinking are changed as a result of a new experiences

Question 82

Piaget’s stages

Answer 82

Sensorimotor Birth- 2 years • Infants are active explorers
• Experience the world through senses
• No conception or reflective thought
• Eg) the object under the blanket
Object permanence:
Understanding an object will still exist when out of sight.

Symbolic capacity: use symbols or object to represent something
Preoperational 2-6 years
(preschool) • Thinking is egocentric (cannot see perspective from others)
• Eg) The mountains and seeing from their side and not others point of view Symbolic thought: imagination, language.
Eg) thinking a nightmare is real but it actually isn’t.
Concrete operational 6-11 years • Can apply logical thought
• Thinking is limited to what they see, touch and experience.
• Struggle with abstract or hypothetical thought.
• Eg) the feather brick and the glass Logical thought: learns the concept of conversation
Formal operational 12 years and up • Able to abstractly and hypothetically think
• Eg) pendulum, all different lengths. Abstract thought
Hypothetical reasoning Propositional thought
Decontextualise

Question 83

Psychosocial development

Answer 83

• The approach that encompasses changes in our understanding of individuals, their interactions with others, and their standing as members of society.
• Emphasis placed upon social influences as drivers of development, rather than biological urges.
• Development involves systematic stages that are one stage must be experienced before moving onto the next.
• Eight stages have been proposed
Stage Age range Description
Trust vs. mistrust Infancy to 12 months
Infants must learn to trust caregivers and those they will attend to their basic needs such as nourishments, warmth, cleanliness and physical contact. Failure to do so can teach infants to mistrust others.
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt 1-3 years
(toddler) Children become self-sufficient or autonomous in many activities such as toileting, walking, talking and so on, or learn doubt.
Initiative and guilt 3-6 years
(Early childhood) Children develop initiative, wanting to undertake adult like activities, however they must also learnt to not impinge on the rights of others. They can also internalize the limits and prohibits set their parents. The experience is either adventurous or guilt.
Industry and inferior 6-12 years
(middle childhood) Children learn to master their skills and knowledge, otherwise they feel inferior to peers and unable to do anything well.
Identity and role diffusion 12-18 years
(Adolescence) Adolescent are trying to figure out who they are, sexual and political and religious values
Intimacy isolation 18-40 years
(Early adulthood) Companionship from others or become isolated, fearing intimacy.
Generativity vs stagnation 40-65 years
(Middle adult hood) Middle age adults seek to contribute to next generation
Ego integrity and despair 65- death
(late adulthood) Make sense of lives, either as meaningful ot worry and despair when death (resentment)
• Each stage includes a crisis or conflict that each individual must address at a particular age otherwise it remains unresolved.
Strength
• Emphasis on interaction of biological and social influences
• Life span
Weaknesses
• Not easy to test
• Explains development but not how it occurs

Question 84

Cross sectional design

Answer 84

• Compare the performances of people of different cohorts
• Advantage of cross sectional: quick and easy to conduct
• Limitations: age and cohort effects are confounded; do not reveal how people change with age.

Question 85

Longitudinal design

Answer 85

• Data is gathered from the same individuals over a specified period of time
• Advantages of longitudinal design: trace changes in individuals as they age, see how individuals change over time.
• Limitations of longitudinal design: age and time of measurement; participants are lost; costly and time consuming; effects of repeated testing; measurement methods may become obsolete.

Question 86

Sequential design

Answer 86

• Combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal
• Can reveal age effects
• Can reveal cohort effects
• Can reveal time of measurement effects

Question 87

Challenges of developmental studies

Answer 87

• Adhere to ethical standards

* Conducting culturally sensitive research

Question 88

Communication

Answer 88

• Language is an important tool we use to interact with and learn about the world we live in. They show cultural values and thinking processes.
• Basic components to master and develop language include; context and form.
• To acquire language successfully we need four different things:
1. Phonemes: produced and perceive the sounds that make-up our language and convey meaning to others.
2. Semantics: what the words mean
3. Syntax: putting words together and grammar so others will still understand
4. Pragmatics: hoe to effectively use language to communicate to others (context and politeness).
• Lennenburg: proposed the critical period of language acquisition (birth and puberty). The critical periods were the ideal time to learn language. They require exposure to a good environment to be achieved.
• Nativist/ Nature approach (Chomsky), language is innate/ hardwired. LAD and LASS.
o Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
 A black box that receives input (language) and generates output (language that matches cultural context). Therefore allows children to understand the rules of whatever they are listening to and acquire relevant language.
o Language Acquisition Support (LASS)
 A collection of strategies that parents can employ to facilitate their children’s acquisition of language.
o Strategies include:
1. Motherese: infant directed speech: parents speak in a higher pitch, stress important words, talk more slowly: also child directed speech.
2. Scaffolding: caregivers increase expectations of the child over time.
3. Reference: gestures together with words
4. Expansion: when adults expand on child’s utterances to increase their complexity
5. Recast: correcting their child’s grammar when expanding on speech.
6. Joint attention: mutual attention: requires previous processes to be successful: shared perceptual experiences: first established through eye contact.
• Limitations
o Parents rarely offer grammatical feedback more likely to correct meaning
o Some cultures do not use the above strategies but still develop language at a similar rate.

Question 89

Communication styleRestricted code:

Answer 89

• Short and simple sentences
• Much information conveyed non-verbal
• Context specific
• Few descriptive
• Commands used for compliance
• ‘Here and now’ is stressed
• Minimal abstract ideas expressed

Question 90

Communication style Elaborated code:

Answer 90

• Complex, precise sentence
• Meaning is clear from words spoken
• Many descriptive words
• Compliance gained via explanations
• Past and future referred to
• Abstract ideas and future possibilities expressed

Question 91

Communication Style Research

Answer 91

Research:
• Bemstein
• Suggested a relationship between language style and social class
• Working class vs middle class
• Restricted code and elaborated code
Research:
• Labour
• Worked with African American children in New York
• Suggested the black English vernacular was a complex as English
• Highlights the existence of different language stles but are not inferior or superior in nature
Research:
• Malcom
• Aboriginal English
• No eye contact
• Education system needs to adapt to this language and style of communication ie. Questioning and expectations of response

Question 92

Gender differences

Answer 92

• Analysed communication between men and women
• Sociolinguistic perspective= analysis of everyday conversation and their effects on social relationships
• Naturalistic observations using convenient samples
• Argues that men and women grow up in different social world
• Therefore cross gender communication is likened to cross cultural communication
• Causes frustrations
• Argues men and women see the world in two different views
o Women view (rapport talk): making connections and establishing relationships
o Male view (report talk): status hierarchies, problem solving. Gaining and holding attention. Stories are used to give information, negotiate or maintain status
MALES FEMALES
Status vs support Establishing status, compete with others, affirm ideas Women try to get support for ideas from others
Independence vs intimacy Independence wont ask permission Intimacy- will tell friends
Advice vs understanding Men will offer advice for problems Women will other sympathy/ empathy
Information vs feelings Lecture style talk, to show what they know, show status Gossip
Use details that have meaning
Order vs proposals Provide direct orders Provide indirect suggestions
Conflict vs compromise Initiate conflict Avoid or resolve conflict
Speaking in public vs private Speak none in public Speak none in private
Interuption vs listening More likely to interrupt Allow conversations to run and ask probing questions
Stories vs jokes Stories involve them as a central role more jokes Down play involvement portray self as a victim

Question 93

Persuasive communication

Answer 93

• Trying to change the beliefs, feelings, behaviour of another
• Two routes of persuasion
o Central route
 Receiver is an active participant in the process of persuasion
 Give thoughtful consideration of message content
 Receiver needs motivation and ability to think about the message
o Peripheral route
 Listener decides whether to agree based on cues other than the message
• Research: Petty and cacippo
o Which route promotes greater persistence in attitudes change, predicts behaviour and shows more resistance to counter persuasion
o Central route
o Arguments are issue irrelevant
• Elements to persuasive communication
o Source of message
o Content of message
o Characteristics od audience

Question 94

Nature of communication

Answer 94

• Persuasion is most successful when we carefully consider the argument/ message being presented
o A more favorable occurs when the message is understood
o A favorable response to a message
• We are more likely to understand a message when it is printed that is presented on TV
• To be persuaded
o Interact with message
o Have an emotional response to the message
 Positive mood can increase persuasion however it can also reduce the ability to process the message. Eg) Lotto.
 Negative mood can provoke fear or anxie

Question 95

Characteristics of audience

Answer 95

• This means the audience will influence how a message/ argument is presented.
o Context= what is said
o Style= how it is said
o Will vary based on age, gender , cultural background, religion and education.
• Research: Cacioppo and Peri
o 1997
o Suggested people differ in their evaluation of an argument
o High need for cognition – people who weigh up the pros and cons
 More likely to be persuaded by a strong rather than a weak argument.
o Low need for cognition
 Less likely to be persuaded by the strength of an argument
 More likely to focus on the source of the message, eg) expertise and trustworthiness
• Reserch: Shu and Yunxia
o 2000-2001
o Examined invitations to at trade fair
o Sent to Australia, New Zealand, China and USA
 Western countries invitations appealed to logic
 Chinese invitations appealed to both logic and emotion
• Research: Min, sum, kim et all
o 1998
o Examined individualistic and collectivist cultures (Korea, Hawaii and USA)
o Collectivist is more likely to use hint strategies to persuade others
o Individualistic is more likely to use direct strategies to persuade others
o Non-compliant, bot cultures direct strategies

Question 96

Relational influences

Answer 96

o How relationships impact well being
o Positive relations are necessary for wellbeing
o Conflict can negatively impact wellbeing
o Two parties have incompatible goals, ideas or behaviours
o Or needs of one are not being met
o Incompatibility is ercieved
• Mirror-image perceptions occur during conflict
o Perceptions of each party are alike
o See ‘other’ as incompetent, immoral, negative
o See ‘self’ as competent, moral, positive
o Leads to attributional bias

Question 97

Solution to resolve conflict

Answer 97

• Imposed solutions (dictated solutions)
o The stronger party will impose a solution on the other
o A third party will impose a solution
• Distributive solutions
o Compromise/ concessions are made
• Integrative solutions
o Win-win solutions, both sides benefit from the solution
o Very difficult to reach
o Need to ensure both parties goals, motives and values are considered.

Question 98

Techniques for resolving conflict

Answer 98

• Ways to help parties solve their own conflict
• Involve getting both parties to communicate with each other
1. Counseling
o Used to develop skills to deal with or resolve conflict
o Eg) couples counseling
o Improve communication skills to sustain and improve relationships
o Focus on skills, listening, assertiveness, expression of emotions
o Improves ability to express point of view respectfully
2. Negotiation
o Used when parties have been opposed and shared interests
o Involves finding an integrate solution
o Technique is unsuccessful when the other parties view, goals and motive are not understood
o Research: Thompson and Hastie
 Negotiation between buyer and seller of a car
 Negotiators expect opposition
 The earlier joint gain is identified the better the outcome for both parties
 Failure to identify common interests= less ideal solutions
3. Mediation/ arbitration
o Mediation: involves bringing a third party into aid with the settlement of conflict
o Third party focuses on the goals, issues and motives in order to reach a distributive or integrative solution
o Arbitration: third party holds the right to impose a solution after hearing both arguments
o Research: emery
 Longitundinal study
 Mediation vs court settlement
 Meditation resulted in increased settlement and compliance
 Quicker settlements increased satification, better relationships

Question 99

Attachment theory (john bowlby):

Answer 99

 Emotional bonds such as parent-child.

 Relationships are biological based, and contribute to the survival of the species.

Question 100

Attachment

Answer 100

A strong affection tie that binds a persona to an intimate companion characterized by affection and desires to maintain proximity

Question 101

Montropy:

Answer 101

bond formed when one attachment figure, the primary bond formed with the mother

Question 102

Nature

Answer 102

 Infants are biologically predisposed to form attachments (imprinting, oxytocin)
 A consistent responsive social environment is critical

Question 103

Harlow and Zimmerman

Answer 103

 Studies whether attachment to mother was due to food or contact comfort
 8 monkeys (4 wire with food, 4 soft with food)
 Both groups spent more time with the cloth mother than the wire mother
 Contact comfort more powerful contributor to attachment

Question 104

Ainsworth

Answer 104

 8 episodes
 Gradually escalate the stress infants feel with their care giver leaves or a stranger approaches
 Four types of attachment (secure, resistant, avoidant, disorganized (disorientated))

Question 105

Van Ijzendoorn and Krooenberg

Answer 105

 32 samples from 8 countries
 Attachment styles found across all cultures
 Avoidant attachments more common in western countries
 Resistant more common in Japan and Israel

Question 106

Sagi et al

Answer 106

 Child-rearing impacts attachment styles

 Kibbutism: Infant houses with multiple carers, not just mother = avoidant/resistant attachment styles

Question 107

Durkin

Answer 107

 Suggested that different children-rearing may impact response to change in situation
 Children who attended daycare may show varied separation and stranger anxiety.
 Japanese children rarely away from parents (strange situation would cause attachment)

Question 108

Pre attachment

Answer 108

 Birth – 6 weeks
 Built in signals such as crying and cooing bring a newborn baby into contact with their caregiver
 Babies recognizes a caretakers smell and voice and are conformed by these things
 When caretakers pick up the baby or smiles at her, the beginnings of attachment are forming. However, complete attachment has not yet occurred so the baby is still comfortable being left with a unfamiliar person.

Question 109

Attachment in the making

Answer 109

 6 weeks - 8 months
 Attachment getting stronger
 Infants respond differently to family people than they do to strangers
 Separation anxiety has not set in
 Parents continue to build attachment by meting the baby’s basic needs for food, shelter, and comfort.

Question 110

Clear cut attachment

Answer 110

 8 months - 18 months
 Attachment to trusted caregivers continues to strengthen
 Separation anxiety is likely in caregivers absence
 Toddlers generally want to be with their preferred caregiver at all times. Parents/other caregivers must strengthen the attachment (receptive to child’s needs for attention, meeting basic needs, and playing with the child)

Question 111

Reciprocal attachment

Answer 111

 18 months - 2 years
 Rapid language growth facilitates the understanding of new concepts and children being to understand a parents coming and going (understand that a parent returns home form work at a certain time each day)
 Separation anxiety lessens although the child tries to prevent parents from leaving

Question 112

Bowlby

Answer 112

 Maternal deprivation is the separation from, or loss of, the mother and failure to develop an attachment
 Can lead to delinquency, reduced intelligence, increased aggression, and depression.
 Affects the internal working model
 Three main features – model for being trustworthy, for self as valuable, and for self as effective when interacting with others (guided feature social and emotional development)

Question 113

Baumring parenting styles

Answer 113

 Characterized by: acceptance (responsiveness) and demandingness/control
 4 major styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, neglectful

HIGH	LOW HIGH 	AUTHORITATIVE: reasonable demands, consistency enforced, with sensitivity and acceptance of child	AUTHORITARIAN: many rules and demand, few explanations and little sensitivity to child’s needs/perspectives  LOW	PERMISSIVE: few rules and demands, children are allowed freedom by indulgent parents	NEGLECTFUL: few rules and demands, parents are involved and insensitive to their children’s needs

Question 114

Conformity

Answer 114

• How individual’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours are affected by the presence of others.
• Conformity is changing behaviour to match the norms of the group
1. Compliance – a change of behaviour in public, but privately disagreeing. Temporary behaviour change, stops when a group isn’t present.
2. Internalisation – a change in behaviour in public and also agreeing in private. Deepest level of conformity, occurs when the behaviour with a dominant social value.
3. Identification – changing your behaviour to fit into a social role why people conform (t types):
1. Normative conformity – conforming to fit into a group. Individual conforms because they are scared they will be rejected by the group. Usually compliance.
2. Informational conformity- conforming because you respect the group and believe they have more knowledge about it. Usually internalisation

Question 115

• Factors that influence conformity:

Answer 115

1. Group size- more likely to conform if there are more than 3 people in the group.
2. Unamity- more likely to conform if the entire group is in agreement
3. Group status- more likely to conform to a group of a higher status.
4. Culture- collectivist culture more likely to conform.

Question 116

• Research: Asch

Answer 116

o Showed the group perception lines, where they had to choose the closest one.
o One member of the group was a participant, the rest actors.
o Actors deliberately chose the wrong line.
o If the actors chose the wrong answer the participants would conform to that answer.
o If there were two participants and one chose the right answer then conformity also lowered.
o Conformity also lowered if participants were to write down the answer rather than announce publically.

Question 117

Obedience

Answer 117

o Changing your behaviour as a result of social pressure/ influence from an authority figure.
o This differs to conformity where its authority figure and not equal status.
o Research: Milgram
• His aim was to see whether people would obey authority figures, even if it meant causing paid to another person
• Sample was 40 males, ad in newspaper
• Participants= teachers, actors= learners
• Participants were told to administer an electric shock when the learner recalled the word pair wrong
• Shocks started at 15 volts and went to 450volts
• 2/3rd participants went to 450 volts and all participants went to 300 volts
• Milgram concluded there were two states of which people can be in, autonomous and agentic.
• Autonomous is when we control our own actions and accept responsibility for them
• Agentic is when we follow the orders of others, allowing them to control our actions and pass the responsibility of our action onto them.
o Variations/ factors influencing obedience
• Uniform- when the experimenter did not wear a lab coat
• Proximity to authority- where the authority figure gave instructions outside the room, decreased by 20%
• Two teachers- when participants could get someone to shock for them, increased 90% (diffused responsibility)
• Proximity- if participants were in the same room as the other person they were shocking, fell to 30%, increased sense of responsibility.

Question 118

Social facilitation

Answer 118

• The tendency to perform better in the presence of others
• Research shows that a moderate level of arousal required for optimal performance
• Research: Zajonc
o Drive theory
o Stated that being watched made you feel like you are being evaluated, which increases your level of physiological arousal
o This increases your performance on simple, well practiced tasks- social facilitation
o This increases your performance on new, complex task
• Research: Triplett
1. Found that cyclist rode their bikes faster when in groups compared to when alone.

Question 119

Attribution theory

Answer 119

• How we explain the behaviour of others, based on either dispositional or situational factors and ourselves.
• Research: Hieder
o Internal factors- dispositional (someone’s personality)
o External factors- situational
o Self serving bias- we tend to attribute our successes to internal factors and failures to external factors
o Fundamental attribution theory- we tend to attribute the successes of others external factors, and their failures on internal factors.
• Research: Kelley
o Stated that people looked at a combination of 3 factors when producing an explanation for someone’s behaviour
o Consensus: Do other people behave similar in the same situation (high= they do, low= they don’t) For example, if lots of people complain about Tiger airlines delaying flights, the consensus is high, if they don’t the consensus is low.
o Distinctiveness: the behaviour unique to this particular situation (high= it is, low=it isn’t)For example if Ms Fittall only complains about flights being delayed then distinctiveness is high, is she complains every time someone or something is delayed then distinctiveness is low.
o Consistency: Does this behaviour occur every time the person is in the situation (high= it does, low=it doesn’t). For example, if Ms Fitall complains every time her flight is delayed, then consistency is high, if rarely complains it is low.

Question 120

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 120

• The sense of discomfort you feel when you have two conflicting behaviours, attitudes or beliefs.
• We try to use strategies to reduce dissonance;
o Change the behaviour; for example, someone who values healthy eating that smokes could reduce their cognitive dissonance by stopping smoking.
o Add new information or belief; for example, finding research saying smoking doesn’t damage your health.
o Reducing the importance of one of the beliefs; for example, deciding that everyone dies eventually and its better to enjoy than have a super healthy lifestyle.
• Research: Festinger
o Observed a cult who believed the world was going to end, he focused on how the members reacted when the world didn’t end. Less committed members admitted they’d be stupid/ fooled by the cult. More committed members, to reduce their cognitive dissonance they described their actions within the cult as being responsible for saving the world.
o Had participants turn pages, he paid half of them $1 and the other half $20. They then had to convince the next group of participants after them of what to do. When asked to rate their enjoyment after, the $1 participants said they had more fun.
• Issues with cognitive dissonance:
o Strategies don’t always work
o Hard to observe
o Vague

Question 121

Group polarization

Answer 121

• The tendency for peoples views and behaviours to become more extreme when in a group
• Persuasion: individuals are persuaded by arguments and information presented by other group members; linked informational influence.
o This was studied by Stoner where he told participants they had to choose between two different decisions, one risky with a pay off, and one less risky with a smaller pay off. He found that participants were more confident in the riskier decision after discussion.
• Comparison: People’s original views and behaviours become more extreme in order to fit into a group further; similar to normative conformity.
o This was studied by Myer et all where he found when a group of prejudice students discussed their racial views in a group these beliefs became even more negative. When non-prejudice students were put into the same situation they became more accepting.

Question 122

Sense of community

Answer 122

• The feelings that members belong to the community; that they matter to each other and the community as a whole; and the shared faith that their needs will be met by their commitment to be together.
• Chavis and McMillian proposed a model that explains how sense of community forms (four parts).
1. Membership
o Consists of five attributes
 Boundaries: you can identify who is in the community
 Emotional safety: feel like you will be supported.
 Sense of belonging: identifying yourself as part of the group.
 Personal investment: putting time and effort into the group.
 Common symbol system: ie) uniforms.
2. Influence
o Influence is bidirectional.
 The members have influence on the group (ie. Decision-making), motivates members to be a part of a community.
 The community must also influence its members.
3. Integration and fulfillment of needs
o Integration and fulfillment of needs
 Members need to feel like they will benefit from being a part of the group, and their contributions to the groups will be rewarded.
 Needs are not just survival need
 Ie) Your psychology class helping you catch up when you have been sick.
4. Shared emotional connection
o The most important element of sense of community.
o Consists of:
 Contact hypothesis
 Quality of interaction
 Shared valent event hypothesis
 Investment
 Spiritual board

Question 123

Responses to stress

Answer 123

Psychological
• There are two types of psychological responses; positive and negative.
• A negative response is PTSD.
o Post traumatic stress disorder.
o A persistent negative response after being involved in a traumatic event.
o It has 6 different categories it must complete in order to be known as PTSD.
A. Stressor:
o Exposed to life threatening events such as death either;
 Directly
 Indirectly
 Indirectly through family and friends
 As a witness
 Continuous in direct exposure to the aftermath of the traumatic event.
B. Intrusive sympotoms:
o The person needs to experience one of the following;
 Intrusive memories
 Night mares
 Flashbacks
 Prolonged distress after being reminded of the event.
C. Avoidance:
o Avoiding stimuli relating to the event.
D. Negative alteration in mood and cognition:
o Two of the following;
 Blaming self or others for traumatic event
 Loss of interest in significant pre-traumatic event
 Persistent negative feelings and beliefs
 Unable to recall details of negative event
E. Alteration in arousal and reactivity:
o Two of the following;
 Aggressive behaviour
 Reckless or self destructive behaviour
 Hyper vigilance
 Disturbed sleep
 Problems concentrating
F. Other:
 Symptoms are not a result of medication or other disorders
 Symptoms must occur for longer than a month
 Symptoms must aversely affect the day to functionality of the person.

Question 124

• A positive response is resilience and PTG.

Answer 124

o Resilience: the process of overcoming a traumatic event. This results in posttraumatic growth.
o There are three types of resilience; recovery; resistance and reconfiguration.
 Recovery: returning to your normal, as per pre trauma.
 Resistance: the person maintains normal functioning during trauma.
 Reconfiguration: the person emerges from the trauma feeling stronger than before.
o PTG, also know as post traumatic growth is the positive changes experienced as a result of the psychological and cognitive effort made in order to deal with challenging circumstances.
o Tedeski five domains.
1. Greater appreciation of life and changed sense of priorties:
o Realistation that you cant control events
o Realisation that life is volatile
2. Warmer, more intimate relationships
o Result of seeking support from others. Increased emotional connection.
3. A greater sense of personal strength
o Perceives themselves as now being more capable of dealing with future negative events.
4. Spiritual growth
o Depends on the nature of the event and previously beliefs of the person.
o Ie) Religious beliefs might intensify.
5. New possibilities
o People start to explore new options
o Ie) Career

Question 125

Communities response to stress

Answer 125

• Pooley
o Found that increased community competence resulted in increased resilience.
o Competent communities are ones who are able to identify the needs of their community and work together to meet those needs- high sense of community.
• Cryder et al
o Looked at children who lived through hurricane Floyd.
o Found hat children who experienced PTG felt they had high levels of community support.
• Elliott and Pais
o Found certain groups in communities are more vulnerable
o In hurricane Katrina, he found that people of low SES, ethinic minories and the elderly had a more negative response to the stress.

Question 126

Individual response to stress

Answer 126

• Kobasa
o 600 people (managers)
o Two surveys; stressful events and illness theyd suffered in the past two years; personality.
o High vs low stress groups
o Lower: change was a challenged to be embraced, more in control of their lives
o Longitudinal study for two years
o Hardy personalities= less likely to get sick
o Hardy= wide comfort zones.