Chapter 9, 10 AND 11.

Adrenaline

Once your brain has decided there is danger, it sends immediate nerve signals down your spinal cord to your adrenal glands telling them to release adrenaline

(a way to cope with anxiety) Regression

Retreating to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.

General Adaptation Syndrom

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases- alarm, resistance, exhaustion. We sense the stressor (alarm) We are inclined to avoid or resist the stress Once we have dealt with the stress, we feel spent

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience. Humans have a tendency to judge various stimuli and situations relative to those we have previously experienced. People adapt quickly to a new situation, after a while, that situation is the new normal, then, another new experience is needed. It constantly raises the level for what is new or exciting as each new constant become the new baseline norm.

Anal (18-36m)

pleasure focus on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Oral (0-18 m)

pleasure focus on mouth- sucking, biting, chewing

Phallic (3-6 y)

pleasure zone is genitals; coping with incestuous feelings

Relative Deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself. Person A does not have X Person A knows of other persons that have X Person A wants to have X Person A believes obtaining X is realistic Related to why people joining social movements Related to why riots occur

Internal Locus of Control

the perception that you control your own fate. We are solely responsible for our decisions and our course in life.

Set Point

the point at which your "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore the lost weight

Stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging. Stressor -> Appraisal (threat or challenge?) -> Response Test -> "I'm ready" or "I'm worried" -> Stressed to distraction or aroused, focused

Positive Psychology

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to flourish.

Psychoneuroimmunology

the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health. The immune system and the brain talk to each other through signaling pathways. The activation of the SNS during an immune response might be aimed to localize the inflammatory response. Age, genetics, body temperature, and stress all influence immune system activity. Stressed people are more likely to catch colds, and tend to heal more slowly.

Psychodynamic Theories

the view that explains personality in terms of conscious and unconscious forces, often, with a focus on the importance of childhood experiences.

Tend and Befriend

under stress, people often provide support to others (tend), and bond with and seek support from others (befriend).

Type A

used to label competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people. Other descriptions are rigidly organized, status-conscious, sensitive, impatient, anxious, proactive, and concerned with time-management.

Type B

used to label easygoing, relaxed people. The people tend to be living at lower stress levels, may focus less on winning or achievement. Tend to be attracted to careers of creativity, and are often reflective.

Humanistic Theories

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth. Related to health psychology.

Safety and Security

with physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. (personal security, financial security, health and well-being, safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts)

Problem -Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly- by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor. *going directly to the source to work things out Talking directly with your instructor about your anxiety from your failing test grade

Self-Transcendence

- In his later years, Maslow explored a further dimension of needs, while criticizing his own vision on self-actualization. The self only finds its actualization in giving itself to some higher goal outside oneself, in altruism and spirituality

Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

our tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood. When someone finds out they have made all As in a semester, they may be more inclined to do go out of their way to do something for someone else. Linked to positive psychology

Social-Cognitive Perspective

-views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social context. We learn many of our behaviors either through conditioning or by observing and imitating others. Instead of focusing solely on how our environment controls us, social-cognitive theorists focus on how we and our environment interact.

Stress Reduction

1.) Maintaining a positive outlook on life 2.) Having social support is very important. -Laughing and enjoying time with friends & family, and having pets contribute to overall reduced stress! -Distraction, support, and new perspectives help to relieve stress. 3.) Aerobic Exercise -Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; helps in alleviating depression and anxiety. Endorphin release combats stress and anxiety on a chemical level! 4.) Relaxation & Meditation 5.) Faith and/or Spirituality

Motivation

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

Incentive

A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. The study of personality focuses on two broad areas: one is understanding individual differences in particular personality characteristics, such as sociability or irritability. The other is understanding how the various parts of a person come together as a whole.

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist and founding father of psychoanalysis.

Collective Unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populated by instincts, and by symbols and archetypes

Stressors

Catastrophes, Significant life changes, and daily hassles.

(A way to cope with anxiety) Projection

Disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Arousal Theory

Focuses on finding the right level of stimulation. ex: if our levels drop too low we might seek stimulation by going out to a night club with friends or going to a haunted house. If these levels become too elevated and we become overstimulated, we might be motivated to select a relaxing activity such as going for a walk, reading a book, or taking a nap.

Instinct theory

Focuses on genetically predisposed behavior. ex: infants have an inborn rooting reflex that helps them seek out a nipple and obtain nourishment.

Drive-Reduction Theory

Focuses on how we respond to our inner pushes. Need=water, Drive=Thirst, Drive-Reducing behavior=Drinking

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Focuses on the priority of needs over others. Level of needs: 1.) Physiological 2.) Safety and Security 3.) Love and belonging 4.) Esteem 5.) Self- Actualization 6.) Self- Transcendence

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Type A and Type B Personality Theory

Friedman & Rosenman developed terms to describe two contrasting personality types.

Happy People Tend to

Have high self-esteem Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable Have close friendships or a satisfying marriage Have work and leisure that engage their skills Have an active religious faith Sleep well and exercise

Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System

In a crisis, the sympathetic division of your ANS mobilizes the body for action, causing changes in eyes, salivation, skin, respiration, heart, digestion, adrenal glands, and immune system functioning. After the crisis, the parasympathetic division of your ANS calms the body as stress hormones leave the bloodstream.

Basic Emotions

Joy, Anger, Interest, Disgust, Surprise, Sadness, Fear

The 4 perspectives of motivated behavior

Instinct Theory, Drive-Reduction theory, Arousal Theory and Maslow's Hierarchy of needs.

(A way to cope with anxiety) Rationalization

Offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one's actions.

James-Lange Theory

Our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli. The basic premise of the theory is that physiological arousal instigates the experience of emotion. Our physiological response to a stimulus occurs, and then our experience of emotion occurs.

(A way to cope with anxiety) Denial

Refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities.

(A way to cope with anxiety) Displacement

Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person.

(A way to cope with anxiety) Reaction Formation

Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites.

Emotion-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction. *when we feel we have no personal control over the situation, we cope by trying to feel better in other ways, or by ignoring the stressor Seeking out distraction by going on a hike or out with friends to avoid thinking about a failing grade.

Physiological Needs

The physical requirements for human survival. (Most important) Without this, the human body will fail.

Fixation

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved. The individual may become obsessed with an attachment to another human, an animal, or an inanimate object. *Obsessions and/or fetishes

Unconditional Positive Regard

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person. *unconditional love

Self-Actualization

This level of need refers to what a person's full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.

Love and Belonging

after physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third level of human needs is interpersonal, and involves feelings of belongingness. This need is especially strong in childhood and can override the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. (family, friendships, intimacy)

Carl Jung

agreed with Freud about unconscious, but thought that it was deeper than just a personal unconscious; Jung proposed we share a reservoir of images or archetypes from the universal experience of our species

What causes hunger?

When the glucose is low.

Alfred Adler and Karen Horney

agreed with Freud that childhood was important, but that social, not sexual, tensions were crucial for personality.

Esteem

all humans have a need to feel respected; this includes the need to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others. Esteem needs should be met both externally (value from others) or internally (self-esteem/self-respect)

Self-Concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question "Who am I?"

Coping

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods.

Trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

Instinct

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned.

Achievement Motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for rapidly attaining a high standard.

Insulin

a hormone secreted by the pancreas, controls blood glucose.

Polygraph

a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses. Why might these not be 100% effective? Emotional overlaps; fear and excitement can be flipped between rather easily Some physiological responses can be shared by completely different emotions.

Projective Test

a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics. Not empirical and hard to standardize since they are open to interpretation.

Personality Inventory

a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

Emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience. Emotions are complex.

Health Psychology

a subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine. Studies psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare. It is concerned with understanding how psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors contribute to physical health and illness. Works with treating soldiers and veterans with PTSD, and with suicide prevention. Issues ranging from chronic pain to terminal illness. With specific goals of helping people improve quality of life, and addressing particular health issues.

Homeostasis

a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry around a particular level.

Empirically Derived Test

a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups.

Oedipus Complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father. *In girls, this desire towards the father is called the Electra complex (Jung).

The Spillover Effect

arousal from one thing (like a sports game or stressful event) can fuel anger, which can descend into rioting or other violent confrontations. Arousal fuels emotion; cognition channels it

Self

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Defense Mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. *NOT coping strategies because we are not always aware of them. Defense mechanisms are rigid, they distort logistics, and unstoppable. The goal of defense mechanisms is to reduce anxiety, not to solve the source of the anxiety.

Catharsis

in psychology, the idea that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges. Talking it out (getting our thoughts and feelings out) Doing something exciting or intense (skydiving, breaking glass, etc.) Doing something symbolic (burning significant items)

Primary Drives

innate drives. ex: thirst, hunger and sex

Cortisol

is a stress hormone that is important in keeping blood sugar levels and blood pressure up, which help to escape danger. Has been shown to damage and kill brain cells and prolonged exposure to cortisol can accelerate brain aging.

Secondary Drives

learned by conditioning. ex:money and other incentives

Genital (puberty on)

maturation of sexual interests

Arousal

motivation aims not to eliminate arousal, but to seek optimum levels of arousal. When our biological needs are satisfied, we are driven to experience stimulation and hunger for information. We have an innate curiosity about the world around us and we are driven to explore and discover.

Self-Esteem

one's feelings of high or low self-worth.

Self-Efficacy

one's sense of competence and effectiveness.

Spotlight Effect

our overestimating of how much others are noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us). * Being distracted by the idea that we are being 'singled-out' and analyzed or judged in some way.

Subjective Well-Being

self perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life. Dependent upon our evaluations of our lives, and, sometimes, how our lives compare to the lives of others.

Hypothalamus

sends signals to the pituitary gland telling it to release factors that travel through the bloodstream and stimulate the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol.

Latency (6-puberty)

sexual feelings are dormant

Facial Feedback Effect

tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings, such as fear, anger or happiness. You can "trick" your mind into feeling emotions. For example, an individual who is forced to smile during a social event may actually come to find the event more of an enjoyable experience.

Two-Factor Theory

the Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion, one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal.

Self-Control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards. Waiting to watch your favorite television show until after you have finished with your schoolwork. Resisting the urge to eat a piece of cake. Taking the initiative to go for a walk or run.

Basal Metabolic Rate

the body's resting rate of energy expenditure. (Maintaining basic body functioning when our body is at rest).

Psychosexual Stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Glucose

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues

Learned Helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events. When we repeatedly try to change our circumstances, yet cannot, we begin to realize that we are helpless, unable to create change, and eventually give up

Ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. Operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

Unconscious

the part of the mind that is inaccessible to the conscious mind, but that affects behavior and emotions. According to Freud, the unconscious is a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, the unconscious is the location for information processing of which we are unaware.

External Locus of Control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate. Destiny, fate, predetermination.