Psych/ Soc
Cluster A
"weird"; odd/ eccentric; paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal personality disorders; a milder version of schizophrenia
cluster B
"wild"; dramatic/ erratic; antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders; think of these as over the top or unstable
cluster C
"worried"; anxious/ fearful; avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders; think of these as anxiety or OCD related
nonmaterial culture
(or symbolic culture) consists of the intangible aspects of a culture, such as values and beliefs; these concepts and ideas shape who we are and make us different from members of other societies; sets humans a part from other animals
latency
6-12 erogenous zone: N/A )sexual feelings dormant during this stage) successful resolution: social interaction fixation: arrested development
long-term potentiation
connections between neurons straighten (what fires together, wires together); persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent activities; LTP is thought to underlie learning and memory
explicit memory
conscious recall; declarative memory; episodic and semantic memory
Emile Durkheim
considered a founder of modern sociology; established sociology as separate from psychology and political philosophy; a dynamic equilibrium results in social structures working synergistically toward societal solidarity, resulting in a common consciousness that exerts a strong coercive influence on individual actors; societies that have thrived for generations have evolved healthy self-regulating and self-correcting mechanisms; dysfunctions in societies are caused by ANOMIE, which Durkheim defined as a mismatch between the wider social standards and the standards of individuals or smaller groups within that wider society
proactive interference
PRo= prior interferences prior learning interferes with new learning; you already knew Orgo so that's interfering with learning psychology
pre conventional stage
age 7-10 punishment and obedience--> rules are obeyed to avoid punishment self interest--> rules are obeyed for personal gain kids are driven by their sense of punishment; if I Steal the medicine, I will get in trouble, we need to avoid punishment and gain rewards
concrete operational
ages 7-11; child thinks logically/ performs simple mental manipulations with concrete concepts - conservation
kinesthesis
aka proprioception; allows us to sense the position of our limbs in space as well as detect bodily movements
flattened effect
almost no emotional response of any kind; negative symptom of schizophrenia
observational learning
also called social learning; this is learning that occurs through modeling, when we observe behavior of another and learn to imitate it; observational learning is a fundamental tenet of the social learning theory that Albert bandura later renamed social cognitive theory
impression management
also known as self-presentation, is the process whereby we attempt to manage our own image by influencing the perceptions of others
primary reinforcers and punishers
change the rate of response without previous learning; you know you like it already, something that is innately desirable or undesirable primary reinforcement= affection, food primary punishment= spanking, spraying with hose
neural plasticity
changes in the brain due to learning, thinking, behaviors, emotions, etc. change can occur from the cellular level to the anatomical level; this shows that brain is NOT a static organ, it is constantly re-configuring itself as a result of learning or injury
panic disorders
characterized by panic attacks and the constant worry of another panic attack occurring
vicarious reinforcement
children were more likely to imitate behaviors that others were rewarded for
Korsakoff's syndrome
chronic memory disorder caused by severe deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1), most commonly caused by alcohol misuse
central node
Some people are more influential online because they are central to groups sharing information
formal operational
age 12-adult; person can reason abstractly, solve hypothetical problems, deduce consequences, etc.; now you can imagine how the world would change if alien invaded, etc. - abstract logic - moral reasoning
short term memory failures
decay intrusion errors displacement
long term memory failures
decay interference retrieval failure
meditation
defined as a practice in which an individual induces a mode of consciousness for some purpose; studies show that it is an effective means of stress reduction; increases activity in left frontal lobe; also linked to improved concentration, lowered blood pressure, and immune function; lower frequency alpha and theta waves; for people who have practiced for a long time, many different brain regions appear to be altered in the left hemisphere
preoperational
age 2-6/7; child can represent things with words and images, but uses intuitive (not logical reasoning) - pretend play - egocentrism
mirror neurons
in humans and other primates, many brain neurons fire in the same pattern when we observe another perform a known action; fires in animal that's acting, but also in animal observing the acting neuron; differences in mirror neuron functioning could explain social deficits characteristic of autism and schizophrenic spectrum disorders
perceptual organization
in order to transform sensory information into useful perceptions, we must organize it; we must perceive objects as being separate from their environment and having constant form; we must also be able to detect motion and perceive distance
psychoanalytic cause of psychopathology
negative, early childhood experiences or a conflict between the superego and id; we're trying to protect our ego, therefore, we repress things into our unconscious; if we don't resolve unconscious conflicts--> abnormal behavior (Freud)
biological cause of psychopathology
neurons or neurotransmitters
implicit memory
no conscious recall; nondeclartive memory; procedural memory, priming, classical conditioning
stage 2 sleep
no eye movement; moderator activity; increased relaxation, decreased temperature, heart rate, and respiration; associated with bursts (K complex) of brain wave activity that indicate a full transition into sleep
obsessive-compulsive disorder
obsessions (thoughts or urges) and/ or compulsions (repetitive behaviors) that are intrusive (unwanted, can't control) specific diagnoses: OCD body dysmorphic disorder hoarding disorder tricotillomania (hair pulling disorder)
delta wave
occurs during slow wave sleep, stage 4 sleep; less than 4 Hz
displacement
occurs in short term memory when one item in the list to be remembered bumps out another; most people can only store 7 +/- 2 items in STM; last things on list are remembered more because they aren't being displaced
parallel processing
occurs os that many aspects of a visual stimulus (shape, color, motion, depth) are processed simultaneously rather than in a step-wise fashion; occurs at the level of detail to abstraction; thus we can abstract an image and interpret it while we are still working out the details
dishabituation
occurs when an organism that had become habituated to a stimulus recovers its responsiveness because of the removal of the stimulus and/ or the experience of a different stimulus; you come back to the room later and notice the buzzing
aversive control
occurs when behavior is motivated by the reality or threat of something unpleasant happening; UNPLEASANT stimulus; leads to escape or avoidant behavior can use something unpleasant to get someone to do something
priming
occurs when exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus; can be positive (speeds up) or negative (slows down)
similarities and differences between social comparison theory and social learning theory
social learning = learning from environment social comparison = comparing ourselves to a social environment
the direct effect hypothesis
social support provides better health and wellness benefits; healthier people are better able to manage stress
the buffering hypothesis
social support serves a protective layer creating psychological distance between a person and stressful events
role taking
the ability to understand the cognitive and affective aspects of another person's point of view; also known as social perspective taking
figure/ ground
the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground); can see black and white image as a cup or two people kissing
instincts
unlearned behaviors in fixed patterns throughout a species such as - desire to deal with crying baby - curiosity about novel stimuli - affection for caretakers
catastrophes
unpredictable, large-scale events like natural disasters, wartime, COVID
drives
urges originating from physiological discomfort, such as hunger pangs and dry throat
social constructionism
"reality" is not inherent, but socially constructed; the study of how individuals and groups participate in the construction of a social reality; social constructionists believe there is no "natural" reason that constructs necessarily have to be the way they currently are in any specific culture; can be EITHER a macro or micro level theory
education as a social institution
"the great equalizer"; education is a formal process whereby knowledge, skills, and values are systematically transmitted from one individual or group to another
the process of medicalization can be driven by
- new information or discoveries regarding conditions - changing social attitudes or economic considerations - the development of new medications or treatments
the Kinsey scale
0 to 6 scale of sexuality 0 being solely heterosexual 6 being exclusively homosexual most results show a peak at 0 that trails off
predatory stage
0-2; children learn to use language and symbols, but only mimic those around them
play stage
2-6; children learn to play the roles of others in pretend games such as "playing doctor"
game stage
7+; children begin to understand the "generalized other", the generalized attitude of a large social group
founders of sociology
Durkheim, Marx, Weber
McDonaldization
McDonals anywhere are the same; leads to a lack of creativity and originality; refers to principles of fast-food industry dominating other sectors of society taking 5 facets of a bureaucracy and applying it to whole government
group
a number of people (as few as two) who identify and interact
ethnicity
a population group whose members identify with each other on the basis of common nationality or shared cultural traditions; ethnicity is defined by belief in a shared genealogy, whether actual or presumed; they are principally distinguished by cultural factors, such as language, food, customs, religion, etc.; ex= German
sexual orientation
a social construct that exists along a continuum, with the extremes being exclusive attraction to the opposite gender or sex (heterosexual) and exclusive attraction to the same gender or sex (homosexual)
status
a socially-defined position in society
major demographic factors in society
age immigration status gender sexual orientation race and ethnicity
food desert
an area, typically in high populated lower-income urban environments, where healthy, fresh food is difficult to find
social construct
anything that appears natural or obvious to the people that accept it but is largely the invention of a given society one example= childhood; while there are certain biological differences between children and adults, different societies and different times have conceptualized childhood in very different ways-- in WWI, there were children soldiers (they were not in childhood under societies views); other constructs= gender, marriage, religion, race, basically everything
first wave feminism
around 1900, focuses on women's suffrage: the right to vote, to own property, to have equal rights within marriage, and to work for wages
intergenerational mobility
between one or more generations are you doing or better or worse than people in your same generation?
micro sociology
bottom-up view; focuses on the smallest building blocks of society and builds up to larger structures; human behavior is the result of individual interpretations
social stratification
caste system class system meritocracy
Karl Marx
considered a founder of modern sociology; his theories of economy and society form the foundation for conflict theory asserts that capitalism is an economic system that encourages private ownership in order to produce profit and thereby wealth; under capitalism, those who are able to use private ownership to produce profit are incentivized to minimize the wages of their workers, creating a cycle of greater and greater inequality; workers would inevitably realize that they are being exploited, resulting in a series of workers' revolutions; capitalism would then be replaced with socialism, an economic system in which most means of production are publicly (government) owned in order to benefit all members of society equally (in theory)
George Herbert Mead
considered a founder of social psychology; his ideas form the foundation for symbolic interactionists; asserted that the self develops in three stages; individuals develop a social self, which he called the "me", and a response to that social self which he called the "I"; the "me" develops through interactions with others and consists of our interpretations of how "the generalized other" views us; the "I" arises in response to the "me"; the "I" is one's personal identity and individuality; to Mead, the actual self consists of the balance of "I" and "me"; thinking is simply an ongoing discussion between "I" and "me"
race
dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics (which can result from genetic ancestry); racial categories result from a shared genealogy due to geographical isolation; races are assumed to be distinguished by skin color, facial type, etc.; race is a social construct- no basis in genetic differences, but in social interaction; ex= white
external validity
experiment measures what it is supposed to, can be applied to other contexts in the world (generalized)
government as a social institution
government makes and enforces the rules of a society and regulates relations with other socieites
DTT pre-industrial stage
high birth rates and high death rates
DTT industrial revolution
high birth rates but death rates fall, leading to population growth
meritocracy
higher social mobility more dependent on effort social status based on individual merit - no where is it an actual meritocracy (no where in the world is solely merit based)
favorable conditional factors
improve the overall quality of life
second wave feminism
in 1960s and 1970s, second-wave feminism focused on women's social liberties: gender equality, equal pay, sexual de-stigmatization, and reproductive rights
how is age a social construct?
in the U.S. life expectancy is 78, you're not considered old until 60 vs. in Chad where life expectancy is 49; Korea counts age at conception; how the U.S. treats age vs. Japan
transsexual
individuals identify as another gender AND wish to transition into that gender
rational choice theory
individuals make decisions by comparing the costs and benefits; the goal is to maximize benefits and reduce costs; borrowed from economic theory; usually micro but not always
social exchange theory
individuals respond to rewards and punishments; the goal is to maximize rewards and reduce punishments; borrowed from behavioral psychology; usually micro but not always
manifest function
intended or obvious function the manifest function of school= diploma, more advanced knowledge
horizontal mobility
involves a change in occupation or role without a change in the social hierarchy becoming a lawyer when you were a doctor
DTT post-industrial stage
low birth rates and low death rates; population stabilizes
environmental injustice
low socioeconomic status and minority groups tend to live in areas where environmental hazards are disproportionally high; ex: rich white people moved away from factories and to the coast-- why this trend exists today
caste system
lower social mobility less dependent on effort social status defined by birth
institutional discrimination
must be systematic and integrated into the social structure, not occurring as a result of individual choice! can't be anything singular; no single hospital, person, judge, etc; can't be micro has to be macro
social reproduction
occurs when social inequality is transmitted from one generation to the next; if you're born poor you stay poor, if you're born rich, you stay rich; largely a myth that you can work hard and pull yourself up by the boot straps;
role strain
occurs when there is a tension in the expectations of a single social position; you're a student, should be studying for MCAT, but also want to have fun in college, leads to role strain
ascribed status
one assigned to you by society, regardless of your effort; sex, race, SES
achieved status
one that is earned; athlete, doctor, PhD, etc.
residential segregation
physical separation of groups into different areas, typically along the lines of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status
difference between prejudice and discrimination
prejudice = pre-judgmenton discrimination = action (think discriminACTION) prejudice leads to discrimination, but not always hand in hand (can do one and not the other) although prejudice may lead to discrimination, discrimination is biased treatment of an individual based on group membership
SES
prestige, power, property
medicalization
process through which human conditions are defined and treated as medical conditions medicalization goes BOTH ways: before 20th century brain imaging we though people just got older but now we know its Alzheimer's; argue that childhood is now being medicalized for profit; on the other hand, used to have to teach that being gay was a psychological sickness
structural mobility
refers to mobility which is brought about by changes in stratification hierarchy itself kind of vertical mobility, brought about by changes in hierarchy itself, like if a kind of technology eliminated a job, overall change in hierarchy
family as a social institution
relates individuals by a socially-defined set of relationships like birth, marriage, or adoption
education stratification
separate students on the basis of achievement, once you're in that category, you tend to stay there
third wave feminism
since the 1980s, third-wave feminism has focused on intersectionality, the study of how different social identifies such as gender, race, class, etc. interact; this came from the observation that the first two waves of feminism tended to focus on women who were white, middle-class, heterosexual and American or European
social problems
social conditions with a negative impact
social condition
social determinants of health such as availability of food supplies, drug use, access to quality education, unemployment, crime rates, and access to healthcare
class system
some degree of social mobility social status determined by birth and individual merit - the U.S. (in the U.S., it's what you know and who you know)
education segregation
students in disadvantaged groups receive lower quality education than more privileged students
social epidemiology
study of the social determinants of health and then use social concepts to explain patterns of health in the population; any condition in society that could affect health outcomes
symbolic interactionism vs. social constructionism
symbolic interactionism: how does wearing a white coat change the doctor/ patient relationship? social constructionism: how do cultural beliefs about the healthcare industry impact the expectations of patients and doctors?
social segregation
tendency of people from the same social groups to interact with each other and have minimal contact with individuals from other social groups; happens across every demographic- age, gender, education, etc. because of social segregation, college students don't hang out with college drop outs, 80 year olds don't hang out with 20 year olds, etc.
accessibility
the ability to obtain existing resources ex: you can have a textbook, but if you are vision impaired, you will need to be given brail to make it accessible
social isolation
the complete or near-complete lack of contact with others in society
socialization
the dynamic, ongoing process by which an individual internalizes the values, beliefs, and norms of their society and learns to function as a member of that society; society taught us colors (pink vs. blue) toys (trucks vs. dolls) clothes (dresses vs. overalls)
malthusian theory
thomas Malthus hypothesized that unchecked population growth would quickly exceed carrying capacity, leading to overpopulation and catastrophes such as famine or war (known as a Malthusian catastrophe); starvation was inevitable because population grows exponentially and food only grows linearly, can never keep up didn't take into account the progress we had in agriculture, changes in fertility rates but a lot of people still argue there will be future pressures on food production by global warming etc.
flaws in conflict theory
too extreme, capitalism might not inevitably lead to socialism, there can be more than one source of conflict, capitalism could adapt to create less conflict in society
what are some flows in Durkeheim's theory?
too rosy in its outlook and not acknowledging the inherent conflict between groups and the systematic exclusion of certain groups over other
macro sociology
top-down view; begins with society as a whole; focuses on large-scale social structures and drills down to how these structures affect groups/ individuals; individual positions within social structures determines behavior
looking glass self
type of symbolic interaction; the self is shaped by others and interaction with others and perception of others; individuals shape themselves on the perception, tending to confirm expectations
latent function
unintended or less recognizable (side effects) the latent function of school= student loan debt, socialization, to meet spouse
ideal bureaucracy
weber's model that is characterized by a hierarchy of authority and a system of rules and procedures designed to create an optimally effective system for large organizations 1. hierarchical structure 2. division of labor 3. written rules and expectations 4. officials hired and promoted on technical competence 5. neutrality / impersonality
retrieval
extracting information that has been stored
social anxiety disorder
fear/ anxiety around social situations
phasic receptors
fire only when the stimulus begins; communicating changes in environment, they change;
levels of processing model
focuses on depth of processing involved in memory; predicts the deeper information is processed, the longer a memory trace will last; the deeper the easier to remember
attention
focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events; like a bottleneck that allows us to focus on some information and tune out others since we're constantly being bombarded with sensory input
aversion therapy
form of behavioral therapy in which an undesirable behavior is paired with an aversive stimulus to reduce the frequency of the behavior; anxiety reaction is created where there previously were none; making thing you want to do adverse; used to treat fetishes and addictions
cultural transmission
from one generation to the next; the methods a group of people within a society or culture use to learn and pass on new information; the key aspect of culture is that it is not passed on biologically from parents to the offspring, but rather learned through experience and participation
cultural diffusion
from one population to another; the spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another
structural vs. functional techniques
functional= measures what brain regions are doing; to see relationship between brain and behavior - PET, fMRI, EEG structural= measures what the brain looks like, a snapshot - CT, MRI, both are static pictures, essentially an x-ray
tonic receptors
generate action potentials as long as the stimulus is present; always on and can adapt, stop noticing stimulus; when you put your clothes on in the morning, you step noticing them on your skin because tonic receptors adapt
chunking
grouping related information together in chunks; phone numbers, credit card numbers
temporal lobe
hearing face recognition language comprehension long term memory
beta wave
higher frequency than alpha, more alert consciousness; 15 Hz to 30 Hz
what area of the brain is central to memory and learning?
hippocampus
linguistic determinism
holds that language determines thought and emotion/ feelings, and linguistic categories limit and determine cognitive categories
self-efficacy
how good you think you are AT doing something; high self-efficacy means that you believe you are good at doing something; low self-efficacy means that you believe you are bad at doing something; self-efficacy can vary from task to task effectiveness AT doing something (must be related to a task) RJ believes that he is no good at finding veins (low)
Mary Ainsworth
human babies become strongly attached to their caregiver around 12 months; Ainsworth conducted a series of experiments called the "strange situation experiments" where mother would temporarily leave their toddlers in a playroom with an unfamiliar person; Ainsworth studied the toddler's behavior during the mother's absence and upon her return; these studies suggested that attachment styles vary among children
client-centered therapy
humanistic approach; holistic study of personality that emphasizes personality and attitudes and how these affect behavior; not called patients-- they're in charge, not the therapist; we all have an actualizing potential, and this is best accomplished in an atmosphere that helps growth; incongruence is when self-concept is inconsistent with our real self; unlike Freud, therapist is involved and empathetic, allowing client self-exploration; appreciating rather than just observing clients world (Freud's therapy the therapist just sits there- in this therapy, the therapist aren't being reserved, theyre speaking and acting genuinely with patient); therapist is standing in shoes of client and trying to take their perspective; "we treat you like a friend not like a patient"-- to listen non-judgementally
humanist perspective
humanistic psychology asserts that humans are driven by an actualizing tendency to realize their highest potential, and personality conflict arises when this is somehow thwarted
adoption studies
if shared environment is influential, then siblings reared in the same family should be more similar than adopted-away siblings (siblings reared apart)
halo effect
if someone is good in one way, we assume they're good in all ways; for example, physically attractive people rated smarter, more trustworthy, paid more
memory and cognition in normal aging
it does NOT all get worse!!! improves - semantic memory improves until around 60 then stabilizes - emotional intelligence stable - implicit memory - crystalized intelligence (ability to retrieve general intelligence) declines - episodic memory - source memory - divided attention - operational span in working memory - processing speed
biological predispositions
it is much easier to condition an organism to perform a response that is similar to behaviors that it is biologically inclined to perform; for example, it is far easier to condition a pigeon to peck at a lever with its beak than to lift a lever with its beak
anhedonia
lack of pleasure
behaviorist perspective of language
language develops through the associative learning principles of classical and operant conditioning; kids receive reinforcements for learning language in the correct way; kid says drink, she gets drinks, she learns
B.F. Skinner
largely rejected unconscious perspective of personality; all of personality is observed in behavior; personality is a result of interaction between the individual and the environment; only observable/ measurable behaviors are of interest; personality is deterministic; people begin as blank slates, then reinforcement and punishment completely determine subsequent behavior and personalities malleable: can change any of our learnings through new learnings fixed: determined by learning
id
largely unconscious and responsible for our desire to avoid pain and seek pleasure = inner child; our devil "let's go party"
integrity vs. despair
later life integrity: adults develop wisdom despair: adults feel unaccomplished
procedural memory
learning motor skills, physical actions; the memory of skills and habits; frequently not subject to damage because they're deep in the brain
acquisition phase
learning phase; neutral stimulus + unconditioned stimulus (bell + food); describes the process in which the rate of the reinforced response increases
humanistic cause of psychopathology
low self-esteem or negative self-reward; abnormal behavior is a result of people being too sensitive and too critical to the judgements of others, people don't accept their own nature and lack of self-esteem (Rogers)
self reference
making the information to be remembered personally relevant
Cognitive cause of psychopathology
maladaptive thought processes
neurodevelopmental disorders
manifest early in development (early-onset), usually before grade school; appears as deficits, generally difficult to treat; characterized by intellectual disability, communication disorders specific disorders: autism spectrum disorder ADD/ ADHD intellectual disability Tourette's syndrome
schizotypal PD
manifests milder hallucinations/ delusions (cluster A); positive symptoms of schizophrenia
paranoid PD
manifests the paranoid tendencies (cluster A)
schizoid PD
manifests the social withdrawal and flattened effect (cluster A); just the negative symptoms of schizophrenia
melatonin vs. cortisol in sleep wake
melatonin is at its peak (night) when cortisol is at its minimum; cortisol is at its peak (day) when melatonin is at its minimum
generatively vs. stagnation
middle age generatively: adults contribute to others/ society stagnation: adults feel that life is meaningless
biological processes that affect observational learning (social cognitive perspective)
mirror neurons vicarious emotions
source monitoring errors
misidentifying the origins of our knowledge; also called source amnesia; source information is stored in our source memory; deciding whether you saw an even or were simply told about it; something seems familiar but not sure why
Deindividuation
mob mentality! in situations where there is a high degree of arousal and low degree of personal identity, we may lose our sense of restraint and our individual identity, thereby aligning our behavior with the group; de-emphasize individual personality; has to be a high emotion event where you might adopt the larger group identity-- a rally or protest or anywhere in a big crowed
twin studies
monozygotic (MZ, identical) twins share 100% of their genes, while dizygotic (DZ, fraternal) twins share only 50% of their genes; therefore, to the extent that genes are identical, identical twins should be more alike than fraternal twins
BP 1
mood swings tend toward mania (symptoms of extreme energy) followed by swings in depression
bystander effect
most people are less likely to help a victim when other people are present; people in a crowd fail to offer assistance to someone because they assume someone else will help vs. when you're alone you're the only person there to help; always in reference to helping someone in distress (case of Kitty Genovese)
bipolar disorder
movement between two poles (bipolar): depressive and manic states; "bridge" between psychotic and depressive disorders depressed phase: low energy, low self esteem, lack of concentration, loss of interest, helplessness, suicidal thoughts manic phase: high energy, high self esteem, racing thoughts, quick talking, impulsive, irritable specific diagnoses: BP I, BP II, cyclothymic disorder
divided attention
multi-tasking; most difficult when attention to two stimuli that activate the same sense; our ability to multitask declines with age; if tasks are difficult, similar, or we haven't practiced, we suck at multitasking; if they aren't the same, not hard, and we've done them a lot, we might be more successful
anxiety symptoms
muscle tension, hyperalertness for danger signs, avoidance behaviors, sleep disturbances, irritability, inability to concentrate
unconditioned response
naturally occurring response i.e. salivation
histrionic PD
overdramatic attention seeking and emotional overreaction (cluster B)
nocireceptors
pain receptors
ambient stressors
part of our environment; might operate outside awareness, but put stress on our system global as opposed to obvious-- pollution, traffic, etc.
Albert bandura
patterns of behavior are learned not just through classical and operant conditioning, but also through observational learning; cognitive processes are involved in both observational learning and the development of beliefs about self-efficacy; he is the first to demonstrate observational learning experimentally in his famous Bobo doll experiment
flashbulb memory
people can remember great detail about their episodic memories of particularly emotionally arousing events, such as 9/11
spreading activation model
people organize their memories based on how related things are in their own personal experience; information is stored semantically; bubbles exist called nodes; strength and association network is dependent on experience; retrieving information in this model starts at one node and travels connections until you arrive at the idea you're looking for; stronger LTP creates stronger connections spreading activation= we start at one node and we don't choose where to go next; node is spreading activation to nodes around it relating to strength of the association; hints can be helpful because they activate nodes close to the node being sought after, therefore contributing to the node activation
top down processing
perception; our prior experience influences what we percieve
long term memory
permanent storage; unknown upper limit to capacity; encoding into long term memory is primarily semantic (encoded in the form of word meanings)
significant life changes
personal events with major impacts on our lives; can be either pleasant (marriage, birth) or unpleasant (divorce, death)
behaviorist perspective
personality is a result of learned behavior patterns based on our environment
social cognitive perspective
personality is a result of reciprocal interactions among behavior, cognitive, and environmental factors; cognitive constructs are the basis for personality
trait perspective
personality is a result of traits, which are habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion that are relatively stable over time; stop trying to answer 'why' (nobody really knows) and let's properly describe 'what' --> gets down to 5 traits (OCEAN) *criticism--> traits are often poor predictors of behavior
biological perspective
personality is the result of individual differences in brain biology; the size of the amygdala determines personality--> amygdala size correlates with characteristics related to neuroticism; anterior cingulate cortex density and connections correlate with delay of gratification and long-term planning; pre-frontal cortex damage can cause a seeming "lack of morality"
specific anxiety disorders
phobias panic disorder generalized anxiety disorder social anxiety disorder
eidetic memory
photographic memory; the ability to vividly recall images from memory after only a few instances of exposure with high precision for a brief time after exposure without using a mnemonic device; doesn't really exist
components of emotion
physiological (or bodily): arousal, or an excitation of our body's internal state= heart racing, palms sweating, etc. cognitive (or mental): mind has to interpret as fearful, sad, happy, etc. behavioral (or action: expressive behavior, crying, screaming, laughing
Wernicke's area
posterior superior temporal gyrus, associated with understanding written and spoken language; damage to Wernicke's area can result in fluent aphasia with impaired comprehension --> ease of producing speech isn't affected, but can't grasp meaning of spoken words
persuasion
powerful way to influence what others think and do; there are three key elements to persuasion 1. message characteristics: the features of the message itself, such as the logic and key points in the argument, the length of the argument, and its grammatical complexitiy 2. source characteristics: the characteristics of the person or venue delivering the message, such as expertise, knowledge, and trustworthiness 3. target characteristics: the characteristics of the person receiving the message, such as self-esteem, intelligence, mood, and other personal factors
law of connectedness
predicts that things that are joined or linked or grouped are perceived as connected
BP 2
predominant swings are into depression, followed by upward swings into mania; both BP 1 + BP2 involve oscillations between high and low moods, but the direction and sequence is what differentiates the two
initiative vs. guilt
preschool age initiative: children achieve purpose guilt: children are thwarted in efforts
obsessive-compulsive PD
presents as a milder form of OCD (cluster C); right perfectionism and control at the expense of being flexible; different from OCD because in OCD PD, obsessive is not seen as intrusive-- they think the problem lies within everyone else who doesn't see the need for things to be ordered like they do
dependent PD
presents as over-dependence on others to meet needs (cluster C); excessive need to be cared for, can't even make everyday decisions without consulting other people
Parkinson's disorder
primarily caused by abnormally low dopamine levels; dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the basal ganglia die off, making it harder to control movements; dopamine is involved in sending messages to the brain that control coordination and movement; dopamine levels progressively drop, so symptoms gradually become more severe; abnormal aggregates of protein called Lewy bodies develop inside neurons; occurs in a very specific portion of the brain
Noam Chomsky's Nativist Theory
proposes that infants are born with the innate ability to use language; noticed that regardless of language, kids of same ages across the world all make the same grammar mistakes; we have an innate ability to learn language-- human brains have evolved a language acquisition device that is innately capable of understanding a universal grammar common to all human languages; all normally-developing humans will automatically learn language when exposed to it during a critical period that ends before puberty; after 12, its super hard to learn a new language
schizoid vs. schizotypal
schizoid= negative symptoms - lack of emotional expression - lack of pleasure (anhedonia) - lack of interest in activity - disinterested in nearly ALL activities schizotypal= positive symptoms - presence of sensory hallucination - presence of unusual beliefs - presence of unusual speech patterns
positive symptoms
schizophrenic symptoms which are psychotic behaviors not seen in health people (we are "adding" the symptom); hallucinations (perceptions not based on reality), delusions (beliefs not based in reality), disorganized speech or behavior (may switch from one topic to another, respond to questions with irrelevant answers)
negative symptoms
schizophrenic symptoms which the typical person does have but the schizophrenic does not have (we are "subtracting"); disruptions to normal motions and behaviors, absence of normal patterns; avolition (loss of motivation to do things), flattened affect, reduced speech and/ or interactions
industry vs. inferiority
school age industry: children gain competence inferiority: children feel incompetent
variable interval
second most effective strategy; length of time varies; no one ever knows when reward is coming, don't give up; waiting for the bus- we don't know when it might come so we stick around
theta wave
seen in young children, meditative states, and stage 1 sleep; normal sleep, but not deep sleep; 4 to 7 Hz
bottom up processing
sensation
decay
sensory memory failure; if you didn't do anything to encode a memory, you lose it; meet someone for the first time and 3 seconds later you forget their name
sensory memory
sensory memory is gateway between sensory and memory; iconic (visual) and acoustic/ echoic (auditory); decays quickly in seconds; items in sensory memory are constantly being replaced with new input, therefore only some parts enter into our memory; explains primacy and recency effect
borderline PD
severe abandonment anxiety and emotional turbulence (cluster B); "I love you, I hate you"
category
shares certain characteristics, but does not regularly interact
phonological loop
short-term phonological store with auditory rehearsal; saying something aloud so you keep it there
somnabulism
sleep walking; tends to occur during slow wave sleep (stage 3); usually happens during the first third of the nights; many children experience sleep-walking and eventually grow out of it
emotional intelligence
the ability to monitor and discriminate emotions in order to guide thinking and action
prospective memory
remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time, such as remembering to do your next assignment before next class
rehearsal
repetition of information leading to increased retention; ABCs
proprioceptors
respond to physical disturbances in the body - the muscle spindle detects muscle stretch - Golgi tendon organs detect tension in the tendons - joint capsule receptors detect pressure, tension, and movement in the joints
central executive
responsible for coordination of sub-systems, shifting between tasks, and selective attention and inhibition
ego
responsible for our logical thinking and planning as we deal with reality = adult with conflict desire ego is trying to satisfy id but can only do so partially because we also strive to satisfy the superego attempt to compromise --> study for few hours and then go have fun
superego
responsible for our moral judgements of right and wrong and strives for perfection = idealized, internalized parent; our angle "study for the MCAT"
arousal
restlessness, boredom, or curiosity may motivate behavior even when other needs are met
storage
retaining information in short-term and long-term memory
social cognitive therapeutic approach
root of personality = behaviorism + cognition and observation how to treat = reinforce better thoughts; provide better models therapy = cognitive behavioral therapy
humanistic therapeutic approach
root of personality = conditional positive regard how to treat = let client "guide" process by providing unconditional positive regard therapy = "client"-centered therapy - client decides everything; therapist only provides a trusting environment where client can do self-directed growth to achieve self-actualization - trying to align who we are with who we want to be
behavioral therapeutic approach
root of personality = reinforcement and punishment - abnormal behavior is simply a result of learning how to treat = reinforce better behaviors therapy = behavioral therapy - think reinforcements are more effective than punishments
psychoanalytic therapeutic approach
root of personality= unconscious how to treat= make unconscious conscious therapy= psychodynamic psychotherapy - trying to lessen unconscious pressures by making as much of it conscious; allows ego to be a better mediator
depressive disorders
sad, empty, and/or irritable mood, not related to normal grief; combined with changes in thinking and bodily function that impacts people's ability to function
oral stage
0-1 erogenous zone (tasks); mouth (sucking, chewing, eating, biting, vocalizing) successful resolution: weaning fixation: oral aggression (verbally abusive) or oral passivity (smoking, overeating)
anal stage
1-3; erogenous zone: anus (bowel and bladder control) successful resolution: toilet training fixation: anal retention (overly neatly / tidy or anal expulsion- disorganized)
biological processes that might affect associative learning
1. biological predispositions 2. indistinctive drift
two mindsets regarding intelligence
1. fixed: belief that intelligence and abilities are static 2. growth: belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort
four stimulus properties that need to be communicated to the central nervous system
1. modality (based on what type of receptor is firing) 2. intensity (based on rate of firing of action potentials) 3. location (depends on receptive field of stimulus) 4. duration (how long stimulus is present)
how do we process a visual scene
1. retinal processing 2. feature detection 3. abstraction 4. recognition
3 stages of perception
1. stimulus - environmental stimulus--> if paying attention--> stimulus on receptors 2. electrochemical processes - transduction of stimulus to electrical energy which is transmitted to neurons which interact--> processing 3. experience and action - perception--> recognition and placing into a meaningful category--> goal directed motor activities
when do infants learn to speak
10-12 months first words develop
genital
12+ erogenous zone: other people's genitals (reproduction and pleasure) successful resolution: intimate relationships fixation: fixation in prior stage could result in sexual and intimacy issues
phallic
3-6 erogenous zone: genitals (presence/ absence of penis) - Oedipus complex (males) - Electra complex (females) successful resolution: gender identification fixation: difficulty with intimate relationships
taste aversion
A classically conditioned dislike for and avoidance of a particular food that develops when an organism becomes ill after eating the food; prevents an organism from eating something that's spoiled; this is why you tell chemo patients not to eat their favorite food before chemo-- they will associate the food with the nausea
episodic buffer
A component of working memory where information in working memory interacts with information in long term memory (eg. relating information you are processing to a previous memory)
amygdala
A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression; conducts our emotional experience by interacting with hypothalamus but also communicating with prefrontal cortex which controls the behavioral aspects
method of loci
A mnemonic technique that involves associating items on a list with a sequence of familiar physical locations; imagine moving through your house and associating an item with something in your house
dissociative identity disorder
A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Also called multiple personality disorder; when you lose time and manifest a different personality, associated with abuse or trauma in childhood
cyclothymia
A relatively mild form of bipolar disorder; involves same oscillations but not extreme enough to diagnose with BP1 or BP2
fMRI
A technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans; rapid sequencing of MRI images that shows brain working
feature detection theory
A theory of visual perception that proposes that certain neurons fire for individual and specific features of a visual stimulus such as shape, color, line, movements, etc.; certain parts of the brain are activated for specific visual stimuli; the visual cortex passes sensory information to the part of the brain responsible for the perception of that object; visual perception results from the interaction of numerous specialized neural systems, each of which perform a specific, simple task
Maslow's pyramid
Abraham Maslow sought to explain human behavior as motivated by a hierarchy of needs; his pyramid suggests that not all needs are created equal, some needs take priority over others; at the base of this pyramid are physiological needs, or the basic elements necessary to sustain human life; if these Neds are met, we will seek safety; if the need for safety is met, we will seek love, and so on; needs provide an additional explanation for motivation *western perspective on individuality, individuals don't need to go in this order
EEG
An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.
multi-store model
An explanation of memory based on three separate memory stores, and how information is transferred between these stores. sensory memory--> short term memory--> long-term memory at sensory memory--> unattended information is either lost or you give it attention--> short term memory at short term memory--> maintenance rehearsal leads to consolidation --> long term memory or unrehearsed information is lost at long term memory--> go to short-term memory for retrieval or some information may be lost over time
g intelligence
General Intelligence that influences all intellectual abilities
gestalt laws
Ground Figure, Continuity, Proximity, Similarity, Closure, Common fate, Connectedness
General Adaptation Syndrome
Hans Selye's theory of how we adapt to stress; 3 phases 1. alarm: arousal of sympathetic nervous system, only adaptive for transient, not chronic stress 2. resistance: if stressor persists, our body is now adapting to long term stressor, result of parasympathetic--> parasympathetic starts to reduce arousal state 3. exhaustion: if stressor continues to persist, our bodies resources are exhausted, and our tissue cannot be repaired; when immune system is compromised
intrusion errors
Memory mistakes in which elements that were not part of the original information get mixed into ("intrude" into) someone's recall; because memory is reconstructive (not reproductive) i.e. each time a memory is retrieved, the memory is rebuilt, the memory trace is strengthened, but also potentially altered
if a tree falls and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound?
NO- sounds are a thing that occur inside a brain with a functioning auditory system; sounds do not exist in the surrounding world; sounds and sights solely exist in our heads-- it wouldn't be a sound if no one was there to process it
5 main human personality traits (5 factor model)
OCEAN Openness to experience Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
corpus callosum
Pathways that allow for communication between cerebral hemispheres; an individual with a severed corpus callosum is called split brain
reticular activating system
RAS= regulate awake sleep; alertness and arousal is controlled by RAS In the brain up; wake your RAss up
retroactive interference
REtroactive= recent interference recent learning interferes with old learning; psychology is interfering with Orgo
self schema
SPECIFIC beliefs and ideas you have about yourself; they guide and organize the processing of information that is relevant to you; mental framework that helps you organize information about yourself; you have a ton of these, and all various self-schemas interact and combine to form self concept; pretty complex, we're constantly adding to self concept and re-configuring; self schema= ingredient in a pot of soup that is self-concept I'm funny, I'm tall, I'm nervous, I cam from Alabama, I'm in class now, I will be a good physician, ETC. RJ feels that he is intelligent
Erikson's psychosocial stages of development
Stage theory that personality continues to develop over the entire lifespan; did not stress unconscious motives or desires. However, like Freud, did feel that events that occur early in development can leave a permanent mark on later development; he was trying to capture the complexities of social development; not rejecting one versus the other- have to learn how to hold both extremes of a stage https://thepsychfiles.com/2008/08/episode-67-mnemonic-device-for-eriksons-eight-stages-of-development/
law of continuity
The Gestalt principle that we prefer perceptions of connected and continuous figures to disconnected and disjointed ones.
law of similarity
The Gestalt principle that we tend to group similar objects together in our perceptions.
law of common fate
The Gestalt principle that we tend to group similar objects together that share a common motion or destination
vicarious emotions
When an observer feels the same emotion that someone being observed would feel (e.g. feeling embarrassment when someone else commits a social faux pas); mirror neurons also appear to be activated when we "feel" the emotional responses of others
Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve
a ROC curve is a graphical plot that tracks hit rate vs. false alarm rate in order to graphically represent a receiver's (a person's) accuracy at a given task; typically hit rate on y and false alarm on x; most accurate= high hit rate, low false alarm rate; area under curve= accuracy
behavioral genetics
a field in which variation among individuals is separated into genetic versus environmental components; nature vs. nurture is the central question of behavioral genetics (now we know it's both_; shared (non unique) vs. non shared (unique) environment shows what doesn't vary by person (genetics) heritability is a metric used to determine how much of a variation is caused by genetic differences
rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
a form of cognitive behavioral therapy; recite statements to yourself that express maladaptive thoughts that result in maladaptive responses; change your thoughts to change your responses; patient is told why they're incorrect and why that leads to irrational emotional responses, trying to break the cycle
retrograde amnesia
a loss of access to retrograde memories (events that occurred or information that was learned) before the onset of a disease
anterograde amnesia
a loss of the ability to create new (anterograde) memories after the event that caused amnesia, leading to inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact
functional fixedness
a mental bias that limits our view of how an object can be used, based on how that object is traditionally used; pen tracheotomy
heuristic
a mental rule of thumb, shortcut, or guideline; applying prior knowledge to strategies in problem; wouldn't put WV next to each other because there's no such word in English language
signal detection theory
a method for quantifying a person's ability to detect a given stimulus (the "signal") amidst other, non-important stimulus ("noise"); absolute threshold experiments, figuring out minimal amount of stimulation to detect a stimulus; 4 possible outcomes: hit, miss, false alarm, correct rejection detecting the stimulus requires 1. acquiring information 2. applying criteria accuracy depends on two types of noise 1. external noise 2. internal noise
suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
a pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm; in response to light, the SCN causes the pineal gland to adjust melatonin production, thus modifying our feelings of sleepiness; the daily pattern of cortisol production by the adrenal cortex is influenced by several interacting systems, only one of which is the master clock in the SCN SCN= clock that sets off regulated patterns of activities that affect our entire body; initiates signals to other parts of the brain pineal is inactive during day; when darkness turns on--> pineal turns on
drive reduction theory
a physiological need creates an arousal state that drives an organism to address that need by engaging in some behavior that will reduce the arousal; needs put stress on our body, were motivated to prevent it; homeostatic regulation; when balance (homeostasis) shifts, we're motivated to right the balance--> negative feedback loop
latent learning
a process in which learning occurs without any immediate expression or obvious reinforcement; later, when helpful, this learning demonstrates itself; rats wondered the maze for 10 days and then as soon as food appeared to solved the maze as quickly as the rats who had food at end of maze the whole time; learning that takes place even without reinforcement
insight learning
a process in which the solution to a problem suddenly comes to use in what might be described as "flash of insight"; Kohler proved this with chimpanzees; they would run around frustrated and then in a sudden flash of insight, one would pile the boxes on top of each other, climb up and grab the banana
classical conditioning
a process in which two stimuli are paired in such a way that the response to one of the stimuli changes; classical conditioning= associative learning; teaching organism to response to neutral stimulus by pairing neutral stimulus to a non-neutral stimulus; conditioned response and unconditioned response is the same thing, just changes what its responding to (neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus); conditioned= learned
autism spectrum disorder
a range of complex neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restrictive, repetitive, stereotyped patterns of behavior common signs: impaired social interaction: avoiding eye contact with other people, difficulty interpreting what others are thinking, feeling, may lack empathy repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or self-abusive behaviors such as biting or head-banging inability to play interactively with other children
aggression
a result of environmental, biological and cultural traits; testosterone is correlated with aggression, American men are more likely to resort to physical aggression than other men, Japanese men prefer verbal confront; homicide rates among southern white males is much higher than northern white males-- cultural factors lead to differences in aggression; aggression is a reliable gender characteristic across all ages; women are more indict with how they express their aggression
mental disorder (psychological disorder)
a set of behavioral or psychological symptoms that are not in keeping with social norms, and are severe enough to cause significant personal distress or impairment to social, occupational, or personal functioning 4 characteristics - unusual - maladaptive (interfere with ability to function) - perceive as lack of cognitive function - has to be labeled as abnormal (most important, not the same in every culture)
node in social network
a single animal that is connected with other animals
stage 3 sleep
a sleep characterized by slow brain waves, with greater peaks and valleys in the wave pattern than in stage 2 sleep; delta waves
hypnosis
a state of consciousness in which attention is more focused and peripheral awareness is reduced; some studies demonstrate more low-frequency waves and fewer high-frequency waves during hypnosis; other studies demonstrate a decrease in left-hemisphere activity and an increase in right-hemisphere activity
algorithm
a step by step procedure that exhausts all options; putting one letter in first place and then another in next place, continuing to figure something out
discriminative stimulus
a stimulus that increases responses when present because the subject has learned that the stimulus signals more likely reinforcement; Christmas makes it more likely that children will wake up early
token economy
a system in which behaviors are reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers) and can later be exchanged for desirable stimulus, such as playing time, screen time, or toys; token economy has been found to be very effective in managing some psychiatric disorders and is also regularly used with children at school and at home; money is a special type of token
PET scans
a technique for assessing ongoing brain functioning, in which a chemical that emits positrons is injected into the body, and detectors measure their activity levels in various parts of the brain; more radioactive glucose being used, more that area is in active use
dual coding theory
a theory that holds that the combination of words with visuals provides us with two different channels for later recall, which assists in memory retrieval; thus, learning works better when words are presented with relevant images or such images are imagined by the learner
flooding
a treatment for phobias in which clients are exposed repeatedly and intensively to a feared object and made to see that it is actually harmless; you have a fear of snakes they dump you in a bath of snakes; flood by anxiety producing stimulus, overexposure leads to lessened anxiety
insight therapies
a variety of therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person's awareness of underlying motives and defenses psychoanalytic approach and humanistic approach
phobias
a very specific fear; types of phobias include situational, natural environment, blood/ injection/ injury, and animal
social network
a web of social relationships, including those in which a person is directly linked to others as well as those in which people are indirectly connected through others; friends of friends; goes back to social segregation
conventional stage
age 10-16+ conformity and interpersonal accord--> rules are obeyed for approval authority and social order--> rules are obeyed to maintain social order "stealing is against the law"; want approval because you're a rule follower, following law and authority to maintain social order
cocktail party effect
ability to attend to only one voice among many; occurs when your filter out other conversations until your name (or something salient) is mentioned, at which point, your attention shifts to this other channel; instead of a selective filter (Broadbent) have an attenuating filter (you are attending, just to some things more than others)
parasomnias
abnormal behaviors that occur during sleep somnambulism night terrors
dyssomnias
abnormalities in the amount, quality, or timing of sleep insomnia: inability to fall asleep narcolepsy: periodic overwhelming sleepiness during wake periods sleep apnea: intermittent cessation of breathing during sleep, which results in repeated awakenings
as we interact with the world we also ______
accomodate our schemas to incorporate new information and experiences; kid has a cat at home but then goes to zoo and encounters things that don't fit schema for animals-- may have to accommodate schema
crystalized intelligence
accumulate knowledge and verbal skills
reproductive memory
accurate retrieval of information from memory without significant alteration
positive reinforcement
adds something desirable to increase likelihood of behavior; food, praise, affection, good grades
positive punishment
adds something undesirable to decrease the likelihood of behavior; spanking, loud noise
identity vs. role confusion
adolescence identity: adolescents learn sense of self role confusion: adolescents lack own identity
sensorimotor
age 0-1.5/2; child experiences the world directly through senes and motor movement - stranger anxiety - object permanence
Sapir whorf hypothesis
also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis, this principle holds that hte different structures and vocabulary of different languages strongly affect the thinking of those who use these languages; thoughts can influence language, language can influence thought; people in Burma have a bunch of words for rice vs. English speaks who only have a couple--> rice is very critical to their way of life that it requires more complexity of thought than someone who speaks English; because they have more words in language, they can have more complex thoughts; if you don't know a word, you can't think it, you know less, your cognitive structures are more limited than someone with a more expansive vocabulary
self concept
also known as your self-identity, self-construction, or self-perspective, your self-concept includes all your beliefs about who you are as an individual; your own view of your own personality; most personal aspect of identity; consists of personal identity + social identity personal identity= portion of self concept not derived from membership in a social group (tall, athletic, caring, etc.) social identity= part of self concept derived from social group - cultural characteristics = ADDRESSING (age, disabilities developmental, disabilities acquired, religion, ethnicity/ race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, indigenous background, national origin, gender) personal identity + social identity = self concept or self identity
self-fulfilling prophecy
an expectation that causes you to act in ways that make that expectation come true; occurs when an individual unknowingly and unintentionally causes something to happen, due to the simple fact that he or she expects it to happen, or when an individual unwittingly confirms a stereotype about themselves prophecy (i.e. stereotype or belief) can sufficiently influence people's actions which ultimately fulfill the prophecy/ stereotype
extinction burst
an increase in the frequency of responding when an extinction procedure is initially implemented; the kid knows you'll give them a candy bar if they cry, so now they cry harder and longer
false memories
an invented or distorted recollection of an episodic event that did not actually happen; leading cause of false conviction is false memory
left brain
analytical thought math verbal right field vision right side motor skills
evaluation and human culture
anthropologists initially believed that culture evolves in the same way biological organisms evolve and that culture is a product of biological evolution however, unlike biological evolution, culture can be INTENTIONALLY TAUGHT and thus spread from one group of people to another greater behavioral flexibility and acceptability reflects the decrease influence of genetically encoded behaviors and the increased importance of LEARNING AND SOCIAL INTERACTION in transmitting and maintaining behavioral adaptations
antisocial PD is diagnosed more in______ and borderline PD is diagnosed more in _____
antisocial PD in men and borderline PD in more females; it can be thought of as conduct vs. emotional regulation
in group
any group a person belongs to and identifies with (MCAT takers)
out group
any group a person does not belong to or identify with (lawyers)
reference group
any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior; group you aspire to be--> this is why they're important; ex: my reference group is doctors; however, if you live in a high crime neighborhood, your role model could be a bad person and you're more likely to compare yourself to them
a reference group
any group that one identifies with and compares themselves to; they may or may not actually be a member of this group (doctors)
mnemonics
any technique for improving retention of information; ROY G BIV; PEMDAS
central traits
are general characteristics that form the basic foundations of personality and describe people across different situations
cardinal traits
are rare and develop later in life; they dominate an individual's whole life, often tot he point that hte person becomes specifically known for these traits ex: MLK, gandhi
secondary traits
are sometimes related to attitudes and preferences; these characteristics are dependent on the situation
psychoanalytic perspective
asserts that personality is shaped largely by the unconscious; mental illness, or neurosis, is the result of unconscious conflicts which often stem from childhood
to use our schemas effectively, we must constantly _______
assimilate new experiences-- new information is interpreted based on our current schemas
alpha wave
associated with relaxed normal consciousness; 7 Hz to 14 Hz
Hans Eysenck
associated with trait theory and also proposed that genetics primarily determine personality; personality traits are hierarchical, a few foundational traits giving rise to a large array of superficial traits; genetic differences determine personality traits; variations in extraversion and neuroticism give rise to personality types --> proponent of the biological perspective * temperament and heritability studies provide empirical evidence for a genetic contribution to traits and personality
operant conditioning
associative learning; a process in which reinforcement (pleasurable consequences) and punishment (unpleasant consequences) are employed to mold behavioral responses; Skinner invented an operant conditioning chamber to test how animal behavior can be conditioned with reinforcement and punishment; believed that psychology should focus only on observable behavior
trial and error
attempting several potential solutions and ruling out those that do not work
situational attribution
attributing behavior to the environment (external causes)
dispositional attribution
attributing behavior to the person's disposition and traits (internal causes)
avoidance behavior
avoidance of a predictable, unpleasant stimulus before it is initiated; the behavior has to be proactive in response to an ANTICIPATED punisher pretending to be sick the morning of a big test
PTSD
brand new category in DSM-5, used to be under anxiety disorders; disorders have to follow a specific event; extreme trauma, more likely to experience extreme symptoms
desensitization
behavioral therapy to relieve anxiety; exposed to anxiety stimulus until relieved; system of becoming desensitized; learning that you're doing this thing and nothing bad is happening, you're becoming desensitized
self-esteem
beliefs about one's self worth; global/ overall; I like myself or I hate myself; kids have super high self-esteem because life hasn't beaten them down RJ feels good about himself because he is going to be a doctor
Larence Kohlberg
believed that moral identity developed in stages
hypothalamus
below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.
Lev Vygotsky's Interactionist Theory
between the last two theories; admits some innate ability and biological predispositions, but emphasizes social interactions and cognitive development as the most important factors (as expected from a symbolic 'interactionist theory'); a lot of development occurs by internalization-- absorption of knowledge into self from environment and social context (especially language)
needs
biological needs and "higher level" needs, such as the need for love and belonging
biomedical vs. biopsychosocial approach
biomedical= fully explained by biological causes, with an emphasis on genetics biopsychosocial= biology alone cannot account for the intricacies of a disease, even if biology is the underlying factor (the spheres of biological, psychological, and sociocultural overlap)
neurocognitive disorders
cognitive decline from a previous level of performance in complex attention, executive function, learning, memory, language, perceptual-motor, or social cognition; symptoms may interfere significantly with a person's everyday independence in a major neurocognitive disorder, but not in a mild neurocognitive disorder specific diagnoses: Alzheimer's disease Parkinson's disease could also be a result of traumatic brain injury or Huntington's disease
frontal lobe
concentration, planning, problem solving voluntary movement personality language production emotional reactions speech smell
second extinction
conditioned stimulus (bell) without response again, behavior goes extinct more quickly
first extinction
conditioned stimulus (bell) without response, behavior goes extinct; refers to stimulus reverting back to neutral
Harlow experiment
conducted a series of experiments on monkeys to study attachment; it was previously thought that we formed attachment bonds to mother because of food; contrary to their hypothesis, they found that the baby monkeys strongly preferred the soft cloth monkey and only went to the nutrient mother briefly for food; primary drive is an attachment figure-- attach to mother through comfort not through feeding; they then put them back into society and their social development was really hampered as a result of a lack of a real attachment figure
Martin Seligman
conducted experiments on dogs exposed to an aversive stimulus; control 1: dog harnessed, no shock presented; control 2: dog harnessed and could press a level to escape/ avoid shock; experimental group: dog harnessed but had to endure shock for an arbitrary length of time; when the dog was no longer harnessed, the dog didn't jump to the other side; they learned there was nothing they could do to avoid the shock; new dogs jumped- meaning that dogs in both parts of experiments had learned to be helpless--> your past has taught you that you are helpless
material culture
consists of the concentrate, visible parts of a culture, such as food, clothing, cars, weapons, and buildings; stuff an archaeologist might uncover
context-dependent memory
context effect; we are better at retrieving information in the same environmental context in which the information was learned
circadian rhythms
control the increases and decreases in our alertness in predictable ways over a 24 hour cycle; circadian just refers to biological waxing throughout the day; three physiological indicators of a mammal's circadian rhythm= melatonin released by the pineal gland, body temperature, serum cortisol levels
cerebellum
coordination of movements balance procedural memory *not a cortex/ not a part of cerebral cortex
right brain
creative artistic emotional left field vision left side motor skills
sociocultural cause of psychopathology
cultural and environmental influences because societies and cultures help define what is acceptable
schizophrenia spectrum and psychotic disorders
delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and thoughts, may involve "negative" symptoms, involve a general detachment from objective reality specific diagnoses: delusional disorder brief psychotic disorder schizophrneiform disorder schizophrenia schizoaffective disorder
major depressive disorder
depressed or irritable mood fatigue/ loss of energy feelings of worthlessness or guilt impaired concentration, indecisiveness insomnia or hypersomnia loss of interest or pleasure in almost all activities (anhedonia) restlessness or feeling slowed down recurring thoughts of death or suicide significant weight gain or loss
thermoreceptors
detect changes in temperature
mechanoreceptors
detect mechanical disturbances like pressure or distortion
Robert Selman
devised a five- stage sequence of perspective- taking skill, based on children's and adolescents' responses to social dilemmas; as cognitive development occurs during childhood, children are better able to understand the feelings and perspectives of others infants are self-centered, mature adults are able to walk a. mile in someone else's shoes; egocentrism--> more mature relativism
anxiety disorders
disorders in which the main symptom is excessive or unrealistic anxiety and fearfulness; sympathetic activation in the absence of a threat-- our nervous system wants to get into flight or fight mode but there is nothing to fight
sleep-wake disorders
disturbance in quality, timing, and/ or amount. of sleep specific diagnoses: insomnia narcolepsy sleep apnea somnambulism night terrors
Baddeley's model of working memory
dominant theory in the field of working memory; consists of the central executive which acts as supervisory system and controls the flow of information from and to its slave systems: the phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer
substance-related addictive disorders
drugs separated into 10 classes; involves brain reward system; tolerance and withdrawal; from viewpoint of medical community addiction is absolutely a disease specific diagnoses: substance use disorder alcohol-related disorders caffeine-, cannabis-, hallucinogen-, etc. related disorders gambling disorder
autonomy vs. shame
early childhood autonomy: children learn self-control shame: children remain dependent
insecurely attached
either exhibited ambivalent attachment, avoidant attachment, or disorganized attachment; insecurely attached toddlers have insensitive and inconsistently responsive caregivers
law of proximity
elements close to one another tend to be perceived as a unit
6 universal emotions
emotions expressed by all (normally developing) humans ACROSS all cultures happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, disgust, anger kids who are blind from birth still express emotion in the same way--> we don't learn our emotional expressions, its instinct
personality disorders
enduring (often lifetime) patterns of inflexible behaviors across a range of settings and relationships; diagnosis begins in adolescence or early adulthood (not in children, theyre still forming their personalities); high comorbidity; 10 different ones organized into 3 clusters (3 W's)
postconventional
estimated only 15% of the adult population makes it here; few people can make it past the idea that laws are just a social construct social contract--> impartial rules are obeyed; rules that infringe on the rights of others are challenged universal principles--> individual establishes own set of rules in accordance with personal ethical principles "It's unjust that money is an obstacle to life, steal money to save wife's life"; morality shaped around abstract ethical principles that could conflict with laws; MLK made it to post conventional- laws shouldn't be followed just because they're passed
stressors
events that pose a threat to our physical and mental well-being 4 kinds of stressors 1. daily hassles 2. significant life changes 3. catastrophes 4. ambient stressors
episodic memory
events you have personally experienced; telling you about civil war is not episodic, you were not alive
continuous reinforcement schedule
every correct response is met with some form of reinforcement; facilitates the quickest learning, but also the most fragile; as soon as reward stops, animal stops performing; because it unambiguously informs the organism of what to do to get reward--> learn very quickly that that's what they should do; this is the only reinforcement schedule that is NOT partial (not every correct response is met with reinforcement, all take a little longer to learn, but more resistant to extinction)
daily hassles
everyday irritations in life
culture
everything that is made, learned, and/ or shared by the members of a society including: beliefs, behaviors, values, and material objects
Somatic symptom disorder
excessive and/or medically unexplainable symptoms; commonly encountered in primary care; bodily symptoms combined with disordered thoughts connected to those symptoms; level of worry is out of proportion specific diagnoses somatic symptom disorder illness anxiety disorder conversion disorder factitious disorder
generalized anxiety disorder
excessive anxiety without a specific cause
cultural lag
explains the fact that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations; social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag; cultural lag is ALWAYS about technology once we can clone humans, there will still be ethical issues with it; abortion has been legal for some time now, still controversial
trauma and stressor related disorders
exposure to traumatic or stressful event; exhibit any of a wide range of symptoms specific diagnoses: PTSD acute stress disorder adjustment disorders
Erik Erikson
extended Freud's ideas to include social and interpersonal factors; added additional stages through adulthood--> unique theory because it inserts that development is a life long process
back stage
in the dramaturgical perspective, this is where we can "let down our guard" and be ourselves, as opposed to the "front stage," where we are playing a role for others; no audience, can let go of certain conventions that are necessary for front stage
front stage
in the dramaturgical perspective, this is where we play a role and use impression management to craft the way we come across to other people; we perform in front of society, subject to judgment
agnosia
inability to process sensory information; overall sense is not affected, it's the ability to process prosopagnosia: the inability to recognize faces
aggregate
includes people who edits in the same space, but do not identify with or interact
do groups or individuals tend to make better decisions?
individual!
family studies
individuals are 50% of their genes with each parent and sibling; therefore, if the trait is known to run in families, ,there is likely a genetic component to that trait; however, this trait could be environmentally transmitted rather than inherited; family studies are not enough to fully determine heritability
trust vs. mistrust
infancy outcomes: trust: infant's needs are met (optimism) mistrust: infant's needs are not met *ex: learning to hold both extremes--> full trust is not good neither is full mistrust, have to understand trust and mistrust in order for viable trust to develop
Broca's area
inferior frontal gyrus of dominant hemisphere, associated with language production; language production NOT speech; damage to Broca's area can result in non-fluent aphasia with intact comprehension
narcissistic PD
inflated sense of self and lack of empathy (cluster B); over inflating self-importance, lack of empathy
how do we perceive/ make impressions of other people?
influenced by physical cues and salience physical cues: women dressed in suit, she must work for a law firm or something salience: the more obvious, the more we focus on it to make impressions
Treisman attenuation model of selective attention
information not attended to can still be detected under the right conditions; Tresiman altered Broadbent's model to account for this; information not attended is "turned down" to a lower volume; information from that channel is still processed, just not as consciously
Carl Rogers
instead of stages, human development progresses from undifferentiated to differentiated; behavior is more objective; view people as unitary, not separable into learning reactions or divisible into eg, id, superego; the main goal of development is the establishment of a differentiated self-concept (your mental representation of who you truly are) conditional positive regard is when you had to meet certain conditions in order for your parents to be positive--> believed that this distorts kids; self-concepts, because it means they are only worth y of love or positivity when they meet certain conditions believed people should be treated with unconditional positive regard--> people should be loved despite their failures and this will create a healthier self concept which helps you reach self-actualization (becoming the person you are meant to be)
electroencephalograph
instrument used to record the electrical impulses of the brain
elaboration
intertwining information to be remembered with well-entrenched pre-existing long term spatial, visual, acoustic, or semantic memories; peg words, just encoding in a deeper way
fixed interval
interval refers to time; reinforcement given after a set amount of time; long pause in responding followed by accelerating rate
hippocampus
involved in processing and integrating memories; damage to hippocampus doesn't eliminate existing memories but prevents formation of new memories
sensitization
occurs when instead of exhibiting habituation, the organism demonstrates increasing responsiveness to a repeated stimulus; sensitization is usually associated with increased arousal; the buzzing becomes more upsetting the longer you hear it; you can't tune it out, the stimulus produces a more exaggerated response
stereotype boost
occurs when people perform better than they otherwise would have, because of exposure to positive stereotypes about their social group
habituation
occurs when response diminishes as the organism becomes accustomed to a repeated stimulus; eventually you don't notice the buzzing light in the room
diffusion of responsibility
occurs when responsibility to intervene in a crisis is inversely related to the number of people present; the larger the group, the less likely individuals will act; everyone waits for someone else to do it--> result of deindividuation, your identity is masked because there are a bunch of people around
generalization
occurs when stimuli other than the original conditioned stimulus elicit the conditioned response; dog salivates at anything that sounds like a bell
serial processing
occurs when the brain computes information step-by-step in a methodical and linear matter; brain is competing with information
discrimination
occurs when the conditioned stimulus is distinguished from other similar stimuli and is the only thing that elicits the conditioned response; opposite of generalization, organism can tell the difference between different bells
representativeness heuristic
occurs when we estimate the likelihood of an event by comparing it to an existing prototype that already exists in our minds; our prototype is what we think is the most relevant or typical example of a particular event or object; high school athletes are less intelligent, doctors are mid-aged white males, etc.
fixation
occurs when we have structured a problem in our mind a certain way, even if that way is ineffective, we are unable to restructure it; we are then unable to see the problem from a fresh perspective person who discovered hand washing, everyone thought he was crazy -- younger people can solve problems because they hadn't yet developed a fixed way of thinking
insight
occurs when we puzzle over a problem, and then the complete solution appears to come to us all at once; feels like it hits all at once but in reality your brain has been working it out
availability heuristic
occurs when we rely on examples that immediately come to mind when we are trying to make a decision or judgement; by relying on what is just 'available' in our minds, rather than doing actual research, we can overestimate the probability and likelihood of something happening; people are more afraid of 9/11 than they are of driving a car but car is much more likely to kill them
reminiscence bump
older adults generally remember events they experienced from 10-30 years old better than any other time period, including more recent time periods; two reasons: formative years but also LTP- you've had more time to think about your teens than you do the more recent things
spacing
opposite of craving; memory works better when reviewed material is spaced out over time
Freud's psychosexual stages of development
oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage, genital stage successful resolution if your parents treated you well; fixation if your parents didn't treat you well, gets suppressed in the unconscious and drives behavior *orangutans always play with little gorillas
mental set
our tendency to approach situations in a certain way because that method worked for us in the past; young scientists (Watson and Crick) come up with solutions that their older colleagues do not think of
elaboration likelihood model
proposes two cognitive routes of persuasion--> only choose the central route when we're interested; while central is more likely to have a lasting outcome, if the audience is unwilling or uninterested, better reception = peripheral 1. int eh central route, people are persuaded by the context of the argument itself 2. in the peripheral route, people focus on superficial or secondary characteristics of the speech or the orator; like the attractiveness of the orator, the length of the speech, whether the orator is considered an expert in the field, etc.
REM sleep
rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur; also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active; similar to beta waves but more jagged; bursts of quick eye movements; REM is highest when stage 4 is lowest
fluid intelligence
reason abstractly, increased processing speed
retinal processing
receptor rods and cones -> bipolar cells -> ganglion cells
peer pressure
refers to situations in which individuals feels directly or indirectly pressured to change their behavior to match that of their peers; tied to our desire of conformity and social acceptance but also beneficial examples- motivate you to study, workout, etc.
shaping
refers to the rewarding of successive, closer approximations of the desired behavior; have to teach the rat to pull the lever in the first place; reinforce for getting nearer, for just touching it, eventually the rat will pull the bar and then you only reinforce that
short term memory
rehearsal buffer; primarily acoustically encoded; capacity of 7 (+/- 2); decays in 15-30 seconds
reinforcement vs. punishment
reinforcement increases likelihood of behavior happening again punishment decreases likelihood of behavior happening again
fixed ratio
reinforcement is delivered after fixed or consistent number of responses; 6:1--> after every 6 correct, there is 1 reward; but because fixed, animal will give up if schedule isn't coming
behavioral cause of psychopathology
reinforcement or rewarding of abnormal behavior; all behavior (including abnormal) is learned--> abnormal had to have been reinforced in some way (Skinner)
antisocial PD
sociopathy, with no regard for right or wrong or others rights (cluster B); can be thought of as conduct vs. emotional regulation; cheating, having no remorse, etc.
broad bent filter model
some information makes it through the selective filter into our working memory; other information is filtered out and decays; this theory is intended to explain why we are not constantly overwhelmed by all of the stimuli in our environment sensory store--> selective filter--> either decays or passed onto higher level processing--> working memory
external noise
sounds or factors outside the brain that interfere with the communication process; something that's not clear on image you're shown
state-dependent memory
state dependency effect; we are better at remembering when we are in the same internal state (drug, comfort, pain, mood, etc.) that we were in when the information was encoded; this is why depressed people can't remember happy things in their lives
dramaturgical perspective
stems from symbolic interactionism, posits that we imagine ourselves as playing certain roles when interacting with others; we base our self-presentations on cultural values, norms, and expectations; the goal is to present an acceptable self to others; uses metaphor of the theater; impression management takes place in all aspects, our behavior is the ongoing performance of self; self is not fixed and can be formed and re-formed through social interactions
secondary reinforcement and punishment
stimuli learned to be rewarding or punishing; something that has been conditioned to be desirable or undesirable secondary reinforcement= money, good grades secondary punishment= bad grades, verbal punishment
Cannon-Bard
stimulus leads to both physiological response and emotion; emotion and physiological arousal happen simultaneously
Schater-Singer
stimulus--> physiological response--> cognitive interpretation--> emotion emotion is determined by arousal and CONTEXT; schacter two factor; emotion we experience is a result of how we label it; if you're at a zoo, you're excited to see an alligator; if you're in the wild you're scared of the alligator; if you're crying at a wedding, you're probably happy, if you're crying at a funeral you're not *only theory that accounts for situation (context)
James-lange (somatic theory)
stimulus--> physiological response--> emotion physiological arousal causes emotion; stimulus causes physiological response and emotion is a result of physiological change *criticism: this theory says different emotions can't go with different feelings but you cry when you cut an onion, crying doesn't make you sad but you're crying
Gestalt psychology
studies the predictable ways in which we organize sensory information ('parts') into meaningful pattern ('whole') that we perceive; our brain wants to see things in the simplest form possible
cognitive appraisal of stress
subjective evaluation of a situation that induces stress 2 stages: 1. Primary Appraisal: initial evaluation, focuses directly on present threat - irrelevant? - benign or positive? - dangerous or threatening? 2. Secondary Appraisal: evaluation of our ability to cope with this stress-- damage caused and how to deal with
Solomon Asch's experiment
subjects were first asked to determine which line was most similar to a comparison line; when subjects completed this task alone, they were correct over 99% of the time; subjects were then placed in a room with several confederates; on the first few tests, all the confederates responded correctly, but then they began choosing one of the incorrect lines; more than 33% of subjects conformed to the group by answering incorrectly
cognitive symptoms
symptoms of schizophrenia associated with problems with attention and memory and with difficulty in developing a plan of action; thought patterns that make it hard to lead a normal life and cause emotional distress; poor executive functioning, trouble focusing or paying attention, problems with working memory; causes are at least partially physiological, might be resulting from abnormal brain activity; some postulate excessive dopamine in the brain paired with external factor which is stress
negative punishment
take away something desirable to decrease likelihood of behavior; no recess, can't use car
negative reinforcement
take away something undesirable to increase likelihood of behavior; not having to do chore, not getting yelled at
variable ratio
takes the longest to learn, but learning is least likely to become extinguished; the reinforcements are delivered after different number of responses, can't predict ratio; this is how slow machines work-- reward is coming, but you don't know when
visuospatial sketchpad
temporary store and manipulation of spatial and visual information; walking through a room and you can remember there is a chair to the left
social facilitation effect
tendency of performance to improve for simple, well-ingrained tasks; social facilitation tends to not occur for novel, complex tasks if a surgical resident is very good at a task, her performance will improve when people are watching; perform better IF we're already highly skilled at task or it's simple if a young surgeon is leading a team of 12 for his first surgery ever, his performance will be worse when people are watching; doing something new or uncomfortable in front of others, likely to perform worse --> predicts improved OR worsened performance depending on experience ---> performance changes in the presence of others --> facilitating a task
primacy effect
tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well
recency effect
tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well
escape behavior
termination of an unpredicted, unpleasant stimulus that has already occurred; the behavior has to be in response to an Unanticipated punisher pretending to feel suddenly sick when a pop quiz is administered
DSM-5
the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition with 20 different psych disorders; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders for mental health professionals
perception
the DECODING of sensations (selection, organization, interpretation); how the brain decodes what hte senses are perceiving
sensation
the ENCODING of physical energy from the environment; looking at physical stimulation and its side effects
intelligence
the ability to learn from experience and adapt to the envrionment
social intelligence
the ability to manage and understand people
social categorization
the assignment of a person one has just met to a category based on characteristics the new person has in common with other people with whom one has had experience in the past; mostly automatic and unconscious; allows us to make judgments quickly and establish expectations of how people will behave; leads to errors in stereotyping
consciousness
the awareness that we have of ourselves, our internal states, and the environment; consciousness is important for reflection and directs our attention; consciousness is always needed to complete novel and complex tasks, however we may complete practiced and simple tasks with little conscious awareness states of consciousness include: alertness (being awake) sleep
ethnocentrism
the belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture; "well I wouldn't do that this way so you're wrong" X > Y
social learning theory
the belief that learning takes place in social contexts and can occur purely through OBSERVATION, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement; this is known as social learning, vicarious learning, or observational learning ex: you learn deviant behavior from watching your older brother smoke and you begin smoking
thalamus
the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla
stage 4 sleep
the deepest stage of sleep, during which we are least responsive to outside stimulation; heart rate and digestion slow, growth hormones secreted, no eye movement, moderate activity; delta waves
moral identity
the degree to which being a moral person is important to a person's identity
motivation
the driving force that causes us to act or behave in certain ways; includes instincts, drives, needs, arousal
groupthink is more likely to occur when
the group is overly optimistic and strongly believes in its stance the group justifies own decisions and demonizes those of its opponents dissenting opinions, information, and facts are prevented from permeating the group (a process called mind guarding) individuals feel pressured to censor their own opinions in favor of the perceived 'consensus', which creates an illusion of group unanimity
learned helplessness
the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events; idea that you don't change your actions because of your past; learned helplessness is LEARNING- have to have events that beat you down and teach you that you are worthless/ repeated failures, etc. learned helplessness tends to occur when an individual posses low self-efficacy and an external locus of control
monoamine hypothesis
the hypothesis that depression is caused by reduced activity of one or more monoamine transmitters, such as serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine in CNS; medicines regulate NT but the role here is not clear-- some people have high levels of these NT and they don't work for everyone
teacher expectancy
the idea that teachers tend to get what they expect from students
Bobo doll experiment
the kids who saw the experimenter beat up the doll would also beat up the doll; but the kids who saw the adult quietly waiting would also quietly wait; power of modeling in affecting behavior; called into question behaviorist that learning has to occur through direct experience; proved observational learning-- we can learn other ways, not just direct reinforcements and puhishments
Sigmund Freud suggested that human behavior is motivated by
the libido: life drive, which drives behaviors focused on pleasure, survival, and avoidance of pain the death drive: which drives dangerous or destructive behaviors, and underlies the desire to hurt oneself or others - what we would call PTSD today (he saw WWII veterans returning and knew libido couldn't be driving them)
social support
the perception or reality that one is a member of a supportive social network; support can be emotional, tangible, informational, or companionable; social support plays a major role in successful stress management by reducing psychological distress and increasing physical health
culture shock
the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration, a visit to a new country, or a move between social environments; peace sign in Australia is the middle finger common culture shock problems include: information overload language barriers technology or skill gaps
multiculturalism
the preservation of various cultures or cultural identifies within a single unified society X + Y = X + Y
cultural relativism
the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture; you're trying to understand a culture by their own standards; one's in group might be different, not necessarily better or worse, just different; opposite of ethnocentrism, being sensitive to other cultures; neither X or Y is greater or less
assimilation
the process by which a person or a group's culture comes to resemble those of another group; X + Y = X *X = the dominant culture * Y = migrant
modeling
the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior; employing more social learning principles, exposing client to more adaptive behaviors that they should model
dopamine reward pathway
the reward pathway begins in the ventral segmental area (VAT) and connects to the nucleus accumbens; rewards activate this pathway and lead to dopamine release in the nucleus acumbens; shouldn't punish, rewards are more successful because of dopamine
Weber's law
the size of the just noticeable difference (JND) is a constant proportion of the original stimulus value; the greater the magnitude of the stimulus, the greater the JND; not a constant number, but a constant proportion
stage 1 sleep
the state of transition between wakefulness and sleep, characterized by relatively rapid, low-amplitude brain waves; theta waves; slow rolling eye movements, moderate activity, fleeting thoughts, non-REM sleep
psychophysics
the study of how physical stimuli are translated into a psychological experience
sociology
the study of society and the individual in relationship to society
Stanley Milgram's experiment
the subject believes that the roles of "learner" and "teacher" are determined randomly, but the outcome is actually rigged; the experimented orders the teacher (the subject) to give electric shocks to a learner who is actually a confederate; the teacher believes that the learner is receiving a shock for each wrong answer, though in reality the confederate is playing pre-recorded sounds for each shock level; in Milligram's first set of experiments, 65% of subjects kept administering shocks up to the highest level (being obedient because they were told to do this)
instinctive drift
the tendency for certain conditioned behaviors to trigger similar instinctive behaviors; the closer the similarity between the conditioned behavior and an innate behavior, the more likely the underlying innate behavior will be substituted for the desired conditioned response; instinctive behavior gets in way of them getting the reinforcement (we used to think that primary reinforcers were always sought after-- this is not true)
fundamental attribution error
the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition; always in reference to someone else someone has been waiting 20 mins to see the doctor and gets angry with the receptionist; "wow that person is a huge jerk" attributing another person's behavior to their personality
ingratiation technique
this technique involves gaining compliance by gaining personal approval from an individual first; sucking up to someone; get someone to do what you want by flattering them
ultimate attribution error
the tendency to ascribe the cause of a behavior to dispositional characteristics of the group rather than to an individual member; can occur to anyone, but is especially likely for individuals who hold discriminatory views; leads to prejudice-- prejudice not based on negative feelings towards a group, but rather because your positive views are reserved for your in group in group member, good behavior--> result of person's character or personality (internal attribution) in group member, bad behavior--> believed to be rare, an exception to the rule (external attribution) out group member, good behavior--> uncommon circumstance or an exception to the rule (external attribution) out group member, bad behavior--> flaw in that person's character or personality (internal attribution)
actor/ observer bias
the tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities you have been waiting 20 mins to see the doctor and get angry with the reception; "I have a legitimate reason to be angry" attributing our own actions to the situation; behave badly--> it's because of my situation
horn effect
the tendency to negatively interpret the communication and behavior of people for whom we have negative gestalts
attribution theory
the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition why did that person just cut you off in traffic? they're a jerk why did you just cut someone off in traffic? I'm late (you blame the situation, It's not my fault) attribution= the way you assign category given the outcome
psychoanalysis
therapist acts as a parent, helping patient try to fix parent-child relationship; unconscious mind is always a result of childhood development; freudians slips= little slips into our unconscious mind (Jessica calls her boyfriend her ex-boyfriends name, etc.); free association (expressing all thoughts and ideas); transference (countertransference i.e. shifting certain thoughts or feelings onto therapist); all fo these methods are trying to get at unconscious; saw dreams as another window into the unconscious (manifest function isn't what it's about, it's about the latent function); dreams represent other things; goal of therapy is to lessen unconscious pressure to make ego's job easier--> therapist analyze unconscious to help ego be a better mediator
alzheimer's disease
there are two abnormal structures in the brain associated with Alzheimers: amyloid plaques (clumps of protein fragments that accumulate outside of cells) and neurofibrillary tangle (clumps of altered proteins inside cells); it's the destruction and death of nerve cells that causes memory failure, personality changes, problems carrying out daily activities and other symptoms of Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's is much more widespread compared to Parkinson's
Yerkes-Dodson Law
there is an optimal level of emotional arousal for performance; U shaped curve; moderate level of arousal optimal for most things, although varies by task and person; a little anxiety can motivate you in test day, too little means you don't care, and too much would be bad
confirmation bias
this occurs when we seek evidence to support our conclusions or ideas more than we seek evidence that will refute them; this also occurs when we interpret neutral or ambiguous evidence as supporting our beliefs; biased to look for confirming material aka the opposite of scientific thinking
door in the face technique
this technique involves asking for a large request first, then a much smaller request; an individual who has first shot down a large request is more likely to comply with a much smaller second request; more successful because you only have to say yes once and don't need escalating requests can I borrow $100? I don't have that much can I borrow $10? yeah sure
foot in the door technique
this technique involves asking for a small request first (getting foot int he door), then a much larger request next; after an individual complies with a small request, they are more likely to then comply with a larger second request
low ball technique
this technique involves getting someone to agree to something at. low cost (cost can be monetary, time commitment, or anything), then increasing the cost persuasive technique in which the seller of a product starts by quoting a low sales price and then mentions all of the add-on costs once the customer has agreed to purchase the product
cognitive dissonance
this theory suggests that we feel tension ("dissonance") whenever we hold two thoughts or beliefs ("conditions") that are incompatible, or when our attitudes and behaviors don't match; in order to reduce this unpleasant feeling of tension, we make our views of the world match how we feel or what we've done people are more likely to alter their ATTITUDE to fit their behavior! cognitive conflict: you think of yourself as a law-abiding citizen, but you have behaviors that don't align with that, like speeding--> not going to change your speeding, you're going to change your attitude
internal noise
thoughts and feelings that compete for attention and interfere with the communication process; having internal distractions, like in a hurry, etc.
cognitive behavioral therapy
to understand behavior, we have to understand how people construe their environment (i.e. how they think); looking at subcomponents of thoughts, but also looking at purpose of thought; largely replaced behavioral approach s predominant approach in the U.S.; carefully constructed exercises to help clients evaluate and help change their thoughts and behaviors; thoughts create feelings--> feelings create behavior--> behavior reinforces thoughts--> continuing cycle; the way a person interprets experience rather than experience itself is important; our maladaptive cognition leads to abnormal behavior; therapy restructures maladaptive thoughts and reasoning structures; therapist focuses on tangible evidence from clients; criticism: only addressing how a person thinks, rather than why thought process was originally formed (only removing symptoms)
disorganized attachment
toddler cannot predict the mother's behavior, which can include fighting gestures, abuse, and neglect
avoidant attachment
toddler demonstrates seeming indifference to mothers departure and return; while behavioral signs indicate indifference, physiological data (blood pressure, cortisol levels, etc.) show that the toddler is in fact experiencing stress
securely attached
toddlers happily explore their surroundings while mother is present, cry when she leaves; but are quickly consoled upon her return; securely attached toddlers have sensitive and responsive caregivers
parietal lobe
touch and pressure taste body awareness
encoding
transfer of sensations into our memory system; the process of transforming information into a form that is more easily stored in our brains; the four basic kinds of encoding are semantic (meaning), acoustic (sound), visual (images) and elaborative (association with previous long-term memories)
false alarm
type I error: false positive; stimulus absent, response present
miss
type II error: false negative; stimulus present, response absent
ADHD
unknown causes; affects 2-4% of school-aged children; motor restlessness, difficulty paying attention, distractibility, impulsivity; interestingly, ADHD only persists in countries where school attendance is required; it's not school that causes it, but being in school is an unnatural state for human beings; the symptoms manifest only in artificial settings i.e. school
dissociative disorders
used to be called multiple personality disorder (not anymore); a split of confused identity, disruptions in consciousness; abnormal integration of consciousness, identity, emotion, etc; following a trauma, mind protects itself by splitting itself into parts; significant gaps in memory related to dissociative amnesia; your memory is intact, but dissociating memories of that part of your life specific diagnoses: dissociative identity disorder dissociative amnesia depersonalization/ derealization disorder
behavioral therapy
used to be the U.S. approach but not really anymore; mind and mental events are unimportant because they cannot be observed; strictly observational; application of either classical or operant conditioning to human's abnormal behavior; short therapy- thoughts and feelings are not addressed at all, therapist just fosters learning of new responses; goal of therapy is to change behavior and then the adaptive direction; big criticism: treating symptom rather than underlying problem -counterconditioning (aversion therapy and systemic desensitization) - extinction procedures (flooding) - operant conditioning (behavioral contraction) - modeling
secondary group
usually larger; impersonal and goal-oriented relationships; people interact on a less personal level; typically shorter-term; to accomplish a specific purpose or perform a specific function; classmates in a college course, athletic teams, co-workers
primary group
usually smaller closer, personal, enduring relationships marked by concern, shared activities/ culture, long periods spent together; typically longer-term; the relationship themselves are the goal; families and close friends
avoidant PD
very extreme shyness and fear or rejection (cluster C)
occipital lobe
visual processing
social comparison theory
we all have a drive to gain accurate self-evaluations by comparing ourselves to others; our identity will be shaped by these comparisons and the types of reference groups we have; evaluate self by contrasting against others, help us come up with a social identity; depends on who you choose as your point of reference
norm of reciprocity
we are more likely to comply with a request from someone who has done us a favor in the past; you scratch my back ill scratch yours
iceberg model
we have three levels of consciousness; unconscious is what happens to us and affects our behavior but we have no access to it; Freud thought that unconscious has the biggest impact on our behavior; our largest component of our psyche is tucked deep within us; as the iceberg narrows there is the preconscious and smallest conscious level
law of closure
when a space is enclosed by a group of lines, it is perceived as a complete or closed line
non associative learning
when an organism changes the magnitude of its response due to the repeated exposure of a particular stimulus; habituation, dishabituation, and sensitization
interference
when competing material makes it more difficult to encode or retrieve information
groupthink
when desire to achieve harmony and reach a 'consensus' decision causes groups to not critically evaluate alternative viewpoints and leads to irrational or dysfunctional decision making; groups think they are perfect, when members of a group are so driven to reach a consensus, they do not critically evaluate alternative viewpoints; think they're right, shut down discussion; don't think they can make a mistake, therefore they often do; this is why presidents sometimes appoint advisors of a different party to their cabinet
misinformation effect
when episodic memories become less accurate because post-event information works backwards in time to distort the memory of the original event through retroactive interference; just question wording effects how we recall things-- it is enough for us to rebuild our memories differently
group polarization
when group agreement causes preexisting views of group members to ITENSIFY; that is, the average view of a member of the group is accentuated, or moves toward ONE pole; have to agree to begin with, not just political polarization; defendants owes plaintiff money, jurors think somewhere between $500 and $1,000 and after they meet to discuss, they now think the defendant owes the plaintiff $1 mil-- talking in group intensified their beliefs; group polarization is NOT when a group becomes more divided on an issue
conformity
when individuals adjust their behavior or thinking based on the behavior or thinking of others; peer pressure= pressure, peer pressure leads to conformity but conformity can happen without any pressure; you just want to be like someone so you do something; you see someone wearing something so you wear it; they didn't force you to wear it, you just wanted to be like them
obedience
when individuals yield to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure; no authority figure, not obedience
stereotype threat
when people are in situations where they are at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their own social group; when there are negative stereotypes about a social group ("women are bad at math"), group members are likely to become anxious about their performance, which may hinder their ability to perform at their maximum level
social loafing
when people work in a group, each person is likely to exert less individual effort than if they were working independently; EVERYBODY lowers their efforts in a group setting (not just one person does all the work); the moment you add a second person in tug of war, you pull less
ambivalent attachment
when the mother leaves, toddler cries loudly, but remain upset even after her return; toddler may be inconsolable; toddler may cling to the mother and simultaneously hit or push away from her
role conflict
when two or more roles causes tension; role you play in social interaction, defined by expected behavior; role conflict occurs when there is conflict among the expectations for multiple social positions; you're a doctor on call but it's your sons soccer game -- conflict between role as doctor and role as father
self-serving bias
when we attribute our successes to ourselves, but our failures to others don't take responsibility for our failures but take responsibility for our successes
optimism bias
when we believe that bad things happen to other people, but not to ourselves don't sign up for health insurance because you think you have little risk of catastrophic illness or injury
just world belief
when we believe that bad things happen to others because of their own actions someone is in a car accident and they don't have health insurance and medical bills bankrupt them, you think "it was his fault, he should have had insurance" uncomfortable to accept that bad things happen to good people, so we justify it by pointing out the bad things/ blame the victim
locus of control
whether you think you have control over what happens to you internal locus of control: you believe you have control over events external locus of control: you do not believe you have control over events
intimacy vs. isolation
young adulthood intimacy: young adults develop mature relationships isolation: young adults are unable to create social ties
semantic memory
your general knowledge of facts, information; this is where you know about the civil war
what determines your social mobility?
1. physical capital: money, property, land, other physical assets 2. social capital: whom you know, social networks 3. cultural capital: non-financial attributes evaluated by society (do you know the rules of the society: do you know to handshake firmly or to use the little fork, etc.)
operational definition
a statement of the procedures used to define research variables; how exactly you're measuring variables in a study
feminist theory
a variety of perspectives on the treatment of women vs. men in society; feminist theory emerged from movements int he 19th and 20th centuries advocating for equal political, economic, and social rights of women in society; can be divided into three waves/ eras; can be either a macro or micro level theory
Pearson R correlation coefficient
a way of numerically calculating the expressing correlation; ranges from -1 to 1; -1= perfect negative correlation; 0= no correlation; +1- perfect positive correlation; correlational studies are just saying things are related; does NOT infer causation
what is the difference between absolute poverty and relative poverty?
absolute poverty is defined by an inability to secure the basis necessities of life while relative property is the inability to meet the average standard of living defined by a given society; absolute= lack of essential resources; relative= social inequality, compared to other members of society, relatively poor o Also has profound effects on lifestyle o If you live in an area where average income is 1 million and you make 100,000, you're not impoverished, but you're relatively poor in relation
intersex
an individual who is born with ambiguous sexual traits, often including chromosomal phenotypes that clearly present as neither XX nor XY
internal validity
certainty with which the results of the experiment can be attributed to the characteristics of the experiment, and not some cofounding variable
class consciousness and false consciousness
class consciousness= a social condition in which members of a subordinate social class are actively aware of themselves as a group that is exploited by the wealthy (Marx) false consciousness= lack of such awareness; this occurs when members of a subordinate class see themselves as individuals instead of as an exploited group (Marx) --> Durkheim's conception is common consciousness and Marx's conception is class consciousness and false consciousness
Max Weber
considered a founder of modern sociology; modern societies are becoming increasingly rational and bureaucratic; Weber asserted that there could be more than one source of conflict, not just income; several factors can moderate people's reaction to inequality, such as agreement with authority figures, high rates of social mobility, and low rates of class difference; the defining transformation of Western cultures was increasing rationalization, societies; trend toward increasing efficiency and away from traditional religious standards of spirituality and morality; rationalization also promotes the proliferation of highly impersonal bureaucracies, agencies of non-elected officials that administer the laws of society; also believed that ideas and beliefs can exert a very powerful effect on society; people base their actions on their personal interpretation off the meaning of the world around them--> led to the basis of symbolic interactionism
religion as a social institution
involves beliefs and practices related to the sacred Durkheim= how religion might contribute to social stability Marx= how religion might contribute to societal conflict
vertical mobility
involves moving up or down in social stratification
symbolic interactionism
people act towards things based on meaning; meanings are derived from social interactions and adapted through individual interpretation; the central theme is that human life is lived in the symbolic domain; symbols are culturally derived social objects that have shared meanings, which are crated and maintained through social interaction; through language and communication, symbols provide the means by which reality is constructed; why does a rock on your left hand mean you're married? why does a hand shake mean yellow?; MICRO-level
demographic transition theory
societies transform from high birth and high death rates to low birth and low death rates; links population growth to technology; it's technology that keeps the population in check; population pyramid; family has to have at least 3 kids for population to grow (have to replace the parents); with population pyramid, CAN'T predict birth or death rate; can only say if population will increase or decrease
conflict theory
society is a COMPETITION for limited resources; individuals and groups compete for social, political, and material power; MACRO-level theory conflict theorists are primarily concerned with the imbalances in wealth, power, and prestige among major groups in society and how such imbalances competitively advantage the haves over the have-nots; these imbalances create a class struggle between those who control production (such as factory owners) and those who provide labor power (such as factory workers)
functionalism
society is a complex system; individual parts work together to MAINTAIN SOLIDARITY; order, balance, and social stability; compares society to a living organism; parts of an organism (cells, tissues, organs, systems, etc.) work together to maintain homeostasis; parts of a society--> parts of a society (individuals, families, communities, groups, organizations, etc.) work together to maintain DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM; functionalism is a MACRO-level theory
social institutions
standardized sets of social norms organized to preserve societal value; social institutions systematically preserve the collective ethic of a society; stability of these institutions help guard against anomie (class 1), which occurs when societal values do not adequately guide individual or group behavior social institutions include: education, family, religion, government, economy, and politics, health and medicine
the iron law of oligarchy
states that all forms of organization develop oligarchic tendencies, especially in large groups and complex organizations; some power will be concentrated, thereby establishing a new ruling class; criticizing the oligarchical nature of ANY government organization
Charles Cooley
the concept of oneself is developed in three stages (looking glass self) 1. we imagine how we must appear to others 2. we imagine what others must think about us based on their observations of us 3. we develop our feelings about ourselves based on our (truly or falsely) imagined judgements of others; this can cause use to behave in ways that confirm these imagined judgements
gender identity
the extent to which one identifies with a particular gender; gender identity is often shaped early in life through social interaction; cis gender= biological female that identifies as woman; transgender= biological female that identifies as man and vice versa; sex is biology, gender is a social construct--> therefore sex and gender do not always overlap and vary between societies
hidden curriculum
the nonacademic and less overt socialization functions of schooling
life expectancy
the number of years from birth an individual is expected to live, on average
availability
the presence of resources; does it exist for a person to use? ex: are there grocery stores in a reasonable proximity?
master status
the role or position that dominates; this tends to determine your general "place in society" - in a matriarchal vs. patriarchal society: sex determines your status (one example)
socioeconomic status (SES)
the social standing or class of an individual or group; it is often measured as a combination of education, income, and occupation; can be defined by the 3 P's: power (the ability to enforce one's will on other people), property (professions, income and other wealth), prestige (one's reputation and standing in society)
role exit
the transition from one role to another; stop identifying with a particular group; when we graduate I'm no longer a pre-med student = role exit
sick role
theory that individuals who are ill have certain rights and responsibilities in society; if an individual cannot fulfill the same duties that a person in good health can, society allows for a reasonable amount of deviant behavior right: the person is exempt from normal social roles right: the person is not responsible for his or her condition obligation: the person should try to get well obligation: the sick person should seek treatment and cooperate with the medical professional
socioeconomic gradient in health
theory that there exists a proportional increase in health and health outcomes as socioeconomic status increases; the gradient extends from the top to the bottom ranks of society; it is not simply a poverty threshold that separates those with awful versus good health; context and level matter: poor people living in poor neighborhoods are likely to have poorer health than equally poor people living in more affluent neighborhoods