Big Psychology Review

cognitive perspective

A psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior - memory models, thinking/decision making

Sociocultural perspective

A psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behavior, how forces surrounding person affect behavior - in group/ out group - Stereotypes - Acculturation

Neurotransmitters

Agonist= enhance, Antagonist= reduce (AKA endogenous agonists) Acetylcholine (ACH), involves formation of new memories and memory consolidation - Discussion points: research into ACH is useful for dementia and Alzheimers, could be used in the treatment of psychological disorders as it helps us understand how neurotransmitters affect our behavior, and reductionist at times because it does not factor in environmental factors Animal Study: Rogers and Kessner 2003, rats and spatial memory encoding/retrieval, rats acclimated to Hebb maze, scopolamine(antagonist) or placebo, assesed by average # of error during maze, Scopalomine group took longer and made more mistakes

Neurotransmission studies

- Atri et al (2004). The aim of the experiment was to assess the role of Ach in memory formation and preventing proactive interference. The sample was a group of 28 participants (9 men, 19 women) from a local university who were all native english speakers. They were asked to study a list of word pairs, split into 3 conditions, and then study another list of pairs, some overlapping and some not. These three conditions included a control group with no injections, a group who received a glycopyrrolate injection (excites ach receptor sites), and a group who received a scopolamine injection (inhibits ach receptor sites). Findings showed that those in the scopolamine injection group performed significantly worse when recalling the second list of words, not that they couldn't remember any words instead they were unable to remember the new word in the overlapping pairs. - Strength/ Limitations: internal validity is high because there were 6 pairs at the beginning and end that were not tested, solely there to prevent primacy and recency effect. small sample size (28) can't generalize to population, - Antonova 2011, 20 male adults, double blind and repeated measures, injected with scopolamine or placebo 70 min before task, put into fMRI while playing arena task (previously trained in game, measured brain activity for 6 trials then came back 3-4 weeks later to repeat in opposite condition), Arena task: complex virtual reality game with the goal of navigating around an arena to reach a pole, after learning where the pole is the screen goes blank for .30 seconds, during the time it was blank participants asked to rehearse how to get to the pole in the arena, when arena re-appeared the participant was at a new starting point and therefore had to rely on spatial memory to get to the pole. Results showed that when participants had scopolamine they demonstrated a significant reduction in the activation of the hippocampus compared to when they had placebo which suggests that scopolamine impairs memorization of new info, meaning ACH can play a key role in encoding spatial memories in humans. - strength/limitation: double blind(reduces demand characteristics and experimenter bias) and repeated(kept variability low, and fatigue caused by repeated measures non-existent bc it was done weeks later)=high internal validity, small sample and all males=low population validity,

SCT theory

- Bandura 1961 control group of 24 kid would not be exposed to any model remaining 48 divided into two: aggressive model , and non- aggressive model also further divided for same and opposite sex models 8 total experimental groups, 1 control group children were rated by teacher and experimenter for previous aggressiveness to be factored into results Child brought into a room with a model, each sat in separate corners with different toys. aggressive model began to play, then attacked bobo, child was then taken to a different playroom non- aggressive condition they simply played separately, Bobo kept safe, child taken to other room once in the other room kids could play with the toys, until researchers told them the toys were for other children, they measured the children's responses lastly they were brought to room with aggressive and non- aggressive toys where researchers observed how and with which toys they played with. results showed children exposed to aggression tended to initiate the exact responses they observed physical aggression: 38.2 boys, 12.7 girls who were exposed to aggression. Verbal: 17 boys, 15.7 girls in aggressive condition for the kids within the non- aggressive condition these responses were not observed control group findings were mixed differences in gender, boys significantly more influenced by males rather than female models (104 to 48) girls averaged 57.7 for aggressive female models, compared to 36.3 for men boys more aggressive than girls in all conditions (270 to 128 violent acts) - Strength/limi: high ecological validity, kids had no clue thy were in an experiment and what happened could likely happen in real life - Bushmen and Dillon 2017 104 children (62 boys and 42 girls) aged 8-12, were randomly assigned to watch a PG clip containing or not containing guns in a Uni lab. Children then played with various toys in a room that had a real gun hidden in it and were recorded. Almost none of the kids watching the movie with no guns ever pulled the trigger. The kids who watched the movie containing guns, on average pulled it about 2-3 times and spent about 4 times longer holding it than those who watched the film without guns. - Strength/limi: covert and young meaning low demand characteristics,

Studies for cognitive approach to etiology of depression

- Boury 2001 AIM: To investigate Beck's theoryMETHOD: Students were monitored for their negative thoughts using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between the amount of negative automatic thoughts and the severity of depression developed. The frequency of negative cognition was also found to influence the duration of depression. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the link between cognitive style and development of depression - strength/limi: Participant desirability leads to the possibility of participants either exaggerating the BDI in hopes of getting help, recognition or sympathy. Conversely, if a participant wishes to hide their struggles they may pretend that they are fine.- The BDI is a universal, standardised test used by psychologists anywhere, creating more consistency in diagnosis.- The BDI gives details about the extent of depression.- It's difficult to tell whether depression causes negative thoughts or the other way around -Alloy et al 1999 AIM: To investigate whether cognitive patterns may affect one's thinking.METHOD: Researchers followed a sample of young Americans in their twenties for 6 years, who were placed in a "positive thinking group" or "negative thinking group" based upon their responses to a thinking style test. RESULTS: 1% of the people in the positive thinking group developed depression, and 17% of the people in the negative thinking group developed depression.CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated the link between cognitive style and development of depression, and that identification of negative thinking patterns may eventually help prevent depression - strength/limi: Longitudinal with high temporal validity as researchers can test the relationship over time- High attrition rate gives low reliability- Shows the cognitive triad (a cognitive etiology) in terms of how depressive thinking and beliefs developed during childhood and adolescence create a negative cognitive style which can contribute to the development of MDD.

Socio cultural factors and etiology to depression studies

- Brown and Harris 1978 investigate the link between depression and both current and past events in the lives of sufferers. The researchers used a complex structured interview called the Life Events and Difficulties Scale (LEDS) on a sample of 593 women. The interviews recorded stressful life events that had occurred within the past year and a written account was made in which each event of stress was rated based on how stressful it would be to a typical person. It was found that depression was more likely for the women who had suffered high levels of stressful events both recently and during childhood. - strength/limi: only females were interviewed, the study was based on self reporting, the research is correlational, as we know correlation does not mean causation. External raters were used who did not know that the patients suffered from depression, reduced bias - Wu and Anthony 2000 AIM: To investigate suspected determinants for depressed mood in adulthood.METHOD: The data was collected from a continuing survey of a nationally representative sample of adult household residents in the united States, consisting of over 26,000 respondents.RESULTS: A lower prevalence of depression was found in Hispanic communities, supposedly because levels of social support are higher and act as a preventative against depression.CONCLUSION: The results showed how development of depression can be affected by sociocultural factors. - strength/limi: Has high predictive validity since you can use it to predict whether someone is more susceptible to developing depression (such as if they are in an all-individualist community or if they have low levels of social support)- High theoretical generalizability since you can expand upon the research into depression prevalence in individualist vs collectivist cultures- There is also a stigma associated with disorders which may affect those in collectivist communities since they may not want to seek help. Therefore the results may not be an accurate representation and the difference between these communities may be even larger or more exaggerated in reality.

Social responsibility

- Darley and Batson took place 3 days, participants meant with researchers and filled out surveys, the surveys aimed to see if they were intrinsic or extrinsic in terms of their religion they then had to prepare a talk about the good samaritan they were randomly selected into 3 conditions, early, on time or late participants then came across a sick person on the way to the church dispositional factors had no influence, (intrinsic no more or less helpful) 63% who were early stopped to help , 45% on time, 10% late dispositional or situational factors more important in pro social behaviors, field experiment is useful because it is the most accurate to how the situation would be in real life, however this does not allow for complete control - Levin et al soccer jersey study previously described

localization of function studies

- HM had hippocampus removed due to his excessive epileptic episodes (seizures), study HM and the unique effects of his surgery on the hippocampi researchers used method triangulation, psychometric testing (IQ testing), direct behavioral observation, interviews with HM and his family, Cognitive memory tests (recall tests and learning tasks), and conducted an MRI. There was no sampling method because it was a case study. Over the years researchers observed HM could not obtain new episodic knowledge, or semantic knowledge (autobiographical tests . This information led to the belief that the brain structures removed (Hippocampus) are critical in the transfer of new information to the short and long term memory. Also due to the fact that he could draw maps of his new house, it is now believed that cognitive and procedural memories are coded differently than semantic or episodic memories. - Maguire, refer back to neuroplasticity card

Multi store studies

- I would use the study of HM to examine the idea that short term memory and long term memory are two separate and distinct stores. HM had a working short term store, but without constant rehearsing he was unable to remember something for the long term. For example if he were asked to remember numbers, the second he stopped repeating the numbers and focused on something else he would have forgotten them, demonstrating his lack of a working long term store. -strenght/limi: used method triangulation, after studies the results showed that the systems of the brain are a very complex system, not just for HM but for all. The hippocampus plays a critical role in converting experiences to short/ long term memories. Short term information is not stored in the hippocampus (HM could retain rehearsed info). The medial temporal region is not the permanent storage of the brain's memories Lastly implicit memory consists of procedural and emotional memory as well as skills and habits. Limitations may be the lack of data of HM's cognitive memory before his accident, and we do not know the effect of his epilepsy medication and how it may have made his brain different from that of others. -I would use Glanzer and Cunitz to examine the idea that separate memory stores do exist and are supported by research. Specifically the existence of long term and short term. Additionally the study focuses on the importance of rehearsal to move memories from STM to LTM, as the primacy effect was supported in the study due to the fact that while counting participants were able to focus and remember the first words and able to encode and recall them. participants were shown a list of 15 monosyllabic nouns one at a time three conditions (repeated measures study): 1. participants began recall immediately after the end of the list 2. other two conditions participants counted backwards in threes from a given number, and then began recall after either a 10 or 30 second delay the delay between presentation and recall had a significant impact on the recency effect in the .3 second delay condition, the recency effect all but disappeared 46 males this supports the multi stores model's contention that memory consists of 2 distinct storage mechanisms- STM and LTM demonstrates the importance of rehearsal -strength/limi: Lacks ecological validity as this memorization of the items does not present everyday ways of utilizing memory unless they were memorizing phone numbers, shopping lists etc ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY, GENDER: all male participants meaning not generalizable to greater population

working model studies

- Landry and Bartling 2011 34 undergrad psych students I would use the studies of Landry and Bartling because they demonstrated how performing an articulatory suppression task could interfere with the recall of information during a written recall test. This demonstrates the complexity of the model and how there are differences between auditory and visual sensory memory, which are each part of the working memory. Control group: performed no concurrent task of articulatory suppression while trying to memorize the list experimental group: performed an articulatory suppression task while trying to memorize the list within experimental group, participants had to out loud count 1,2 while trying to memorize the list 10 lists, 7 letters, no letters sounded similar each participant received one practice go around with letters and the blank sheet to ensure understanding the control group was shown the letters for 5 sec, then sat for 5, then asked to recall. repeated 10 times same with experimental group with the addition of 1,2 count experimental group scores were much lower than the control groups SD nearly identical (0.13, and 0.14) average recall rate was 76% compared to 45% data supports prediction of the working memory model, that disruption of the phonological loops through articulatory suppression results in a less accurate working memory, this is due to an overload Strength/limi: participants were randomly assigned participants were tested individually experiment does not resemble everyday tasks

memory reconstruction studies

- Loftus and palmer 1924 Can the wording of a question distort the memory of an event? 150 students All watched videos of a car accident Condition 1: about how fast were cars going when they smashed into each other? Condition 2: About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other? 1 week later they were given a 2nd questioning and they were asked if they saw any broken glass(there was no broken glass) Within the smashed condition 32% of participants said yes And within the hit condition only 14% said yes This supports the idea of key words within the recollection and recalling of information within the memory. This demonstrates how some participants most likely reconstructed the events differently in their mind due to the words they were prompted with rather than simply recalling the memories. - Strengths/limi: Highly experimental environment, therefore low ecological validity Highly replicable and generalizable due to larger sample size Had control and demonstrated control variables. possible confounding variable of participants discussing what they saw before being called back independent measures design prevents order effects - Loftus, Pickrell 1995 24 subjects all subjects interviewed by research assistant assistant told 3 true events to subject (from age 4-6) and one false event (lost in the mall event) each included corroboration from a family member they then wrote detailed accounts about each experience and rate confidence of the memories participants asked to identify which memory was false 19 correctly identified the mall as the false memory, 6 partially or fully believed it as true confidence of mall memory was rated at 3.6 compared to other memories at 6.3 About 25% of participants claimed to remember the false event even after the third interview Concluded that false memories can be implanted in someone's mind - strength/limi: Unclear what counts for "full" or "partial" memory low construct validity Unclear if participants would remember the false memory over time, had to be revealed truth for ethics Those who remembered the false memories had a clarity of 3.6 compared to 6.3 for true memories

Acculturation

-Acculturation: The adoption of cultural traits, by one group under the influence of another through contact. - Assimilation: openness to change and no concern about losing ones original culture - separation: rejection of the host culture and retaining the home culture -integration: adoption of the host culture and retaining home culture - marginalization: rejection of both host culture and home culture.

Neural networks and neural pruning

-interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results. Computer simulations of neural networks show analogous learning. - pruning is removing information to allow for space of new stuff, done by cutting dendrites if not needed (synaptic pruning)

Techniques used to investigate the brain, MRI and fMRI

- MRI: magnetic resonance imaging, shows structure, useful for plasticity, Draganski, Maguire - fMRI- functional magnetic resonance imaging, shows brain activity by detected change in blood flow, -Scheele et al (2013): 40 young males, all that had been in at least a 6 month relationship, were taken and given fMRI's after they had been split into two groups, placebo or OT (Oxytocin nasal spray), and shown 3 pictures: One of their significant other, woman they knew, a stranger. Results were that the OT group had increased activity in their brain for their significant other (in amygdala, pleasure center of brain) demonstrating that the amygdala is involved in personal relationships (romantic) Weaknesses: Costly =less replicable, Strengths: fMRI allows them to view where in the brain activity was present, establishing a relationship between amygdala and personal relationships which would not be possible w/ MRI -Fisher specializes in investigating romantic love and in 2005 she used fMRI to study the brains of 17 (10 F, 7M) individuals who were in love (in beginning stages, avg. 7 months). Interviewed abt their relationship, passion, and emotional, While in an FMRI Fiser had her participants look at images of their significant other(positive stimulus) and then after a distractor task an "emotional neutral acquaintance." Results of the study demonstrated that a brain region known as the reward system and specifically the VTA(Ventrile tegmental area: Dopamine site) were highly active when the participants looked at the person they were in love with. This suggests that this part of the brain is connected to feelings of passionate love and feelings of excitement. Strengths: has been repeated by Fisher, do not allow for demand characteristics, as people are not able to control their involuntary brain activity Limitations: costly, small sample, hard to replicate, hard to generalize, brain areas do activate for various reasons and we cannot be certain that a person is experiencing romantic love when certain parts of the brain light up. Recent analysis has in fact found that much of the computer software used to analyze fMRI data may in fact be showing activity where there is none and thus raising doubts -They both are non-invasive and produce high-resolution images or film, however, it is important not to over-interpret the information they provide.

Cognitive approach to the etiology of an abnormal disorder

- Main focus: negative though process increases vulnerability to depression -Becks cognitive distortions: negative though processes found in depressed patients ( arbitrary inference: drawing wrong conclusion by making invalid connections, ex: it's raining because I planed on going to the pool today.) (overgeneralization: applying a single incident to all other incidents) (exaggeration: overestimating the significance of a negative event, ex: I'm out of breathe so I must be seriously ill) (personalization: others behavior is related to you, ex: she did not say hello because she hates me) (dichotomous thinking: all or nothing, complete failure or complete success) - Discussion points: instilling positive thinking styles in people may reduce the development of depression, dismantling negative thinking styles can be used to treat depression

Gender schema and enculturation evidence

- Martin and Halverson children were shown pictures of males and females that were either: in line with gender role schemas for example a girl playing with a doll, or inconsistent with gender role schemas for example a girl playing with a toy gun 1 week later the children were asked to remember what they had seen on the pictures, children remembered more details and demonstrated less distortion of memory when the stories were consistent with gender schema which supports the idea that children actively seek out info to confirm and develop their gender schema - Martin 4 yr/olds presented with new toys they had never seen before as they were gender neutral, then asked what they thought of the toy and what they thought other kids would think of the toy, found that children predicted same-sex kids would like the toy as much as they did and opposite sex kids would not

FBM studies

- Neisser and Harsch 1992 Experiment followed the events from the challenger tragedy test validity of flashbulb memories over time 106 emory students to recall challenger event the day after 2.5 years Later used 44 of the original participants for surveys of accuracy of memories (30 W, 14M) They were given the same questionnaire and asked to rate their confidence (1-5) Only 25% could remember filling out the questionnaire prior A few months later interviews were carried out Mean core of 2.95/7 11 scored 0, 22 scored 2 or less, 3 scored 7 Average confidence of 4.17 out of 5 - strength/limi: The interviews were taped and transcribed to ensure accuracy over time Low population due to the fact that only 44 college students were used. - Brown and Kulik 1977 (80 ppl) Interviewed people about what they recalled of either major or minor events Found that most people clearly remembered hearing JFK or MLK was assassinated More POC remembered MLK's assassination and more white people better recalled JFK's assassination There was no baseline to find out if the memories people described were correct because they didn't interview them when the event actually happened -strength/limi: strengths: relatively cheap, quick, and efficient way of gathering information from a large sample of people, high ecological validity, limitations: social desirability, false responses, low reliability (internal validity), no cause and effect relationship

influence of culture on behavior studies

- Otani 2007 138 Japanese (collectivist) participants completed the FBM survey on a nuclear power plant accident site only 14% reported details indicative of a FBM whereas western responders to relevant events tend to be over 80%, this is because collectivist cultures discourage emotional reactions and thus FBM may not form - Wang 2007 118 Asian-American students randomly allocated into conditions that would make salient one part of their bi-cultural identity, either being bring out the asian or bring out the American then asked to recall two detailed autobiographical memories (memory of our own personal events aka episodic memories) results supported prediction in which American condition responded with more self focused memories than those in the asian condition who responded with more socially oriented memories

Stereotype threat studies

- Pansu et al 2016 80 students (3rd grade) assigned to either threat(reading diagnostic test) or reduced threat condition (just a game) boys underperformed girls in threat condition, whereas they outperformed girls in the reduced threat condition, coinciding with stereotype threat (stereotype boys are dumber and worse at reading than girls) - strength/limi: some students could have been smarter than others, using students from the same grade to reduce the chance of older kids being smarter and thus skewing results - Steele and Aronson 1995 114 male and female black and white Stanford undergrads, given 30 minute standardized test, split into 2 conditions, either genuine test of verbal ability, or told it had nothing to do with intellectual ability but related to psychological factors that influence verbal understanding. In the threat condition African Americans did worse than whites, however in regular condition their performance was equal - strengths/limi: high internal validity because the test was standardized so you can't manipulate results, some people just could be smarter, independent measures design

Studies of CBT in treating depression

- Riggs 2007 126 participants suffereing from depression and substance abuse (13-19), randomized double blind experiment with condition 1 being CBT+ placebo and condition 2 being CBT + SSRI, 67% of placebo showed improvement, and 76% of SSRI group showed improvement -strenght/limi: much improvement is subjective and no definition is given, double blind= prevents demand characteristics and researcher bias - Hyun et al 2005 examined group CBT on self esteem, depression and efficacy of runaway adolescents residing in a shelter in Seoul, experimental group and control consisted of 14 and 13 (27 total) experimental group participated in CBT that consisted ion 8 sessions over 8 weeks, and control did not participate in CBT program, scores on depression decreased and those on self efficacy increased after the intervention in experimental group, in control scores on depression, self esteem and self efficacy did not change after intervention period. The CBT developed in this study consisted of structured and specific content that could be usefully applied to runaway adolescents. -strength/limi: super small sample size, specific group and specific therapy, clear cause and effect relationship

Social cognitive theory

- Social cognitive theory is a strong theory that explain how we learn through observation - 4 main components: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation (heightened by identifying and liking the model) - Discussion points: studies expose kids to violence, applications restricting what children watch as they can learn from it,

SIT studies

- Tajfel 1970 Schoolboys from Bristol were randomly allocated into groups (though they were told it was off a basis for a preference of artwork for Kandinsky or Klee). Told they were participating in a decision making experiment They individually assigned points based off a matrix to their group or another group. They were allowed no face to face contact or communication. Boys tended to favour ingroup members over outgroup members (ingroup favouritism) Boys maximised differences between groups (category accentuation effect), even if it was potentially disadvantageous to their own group - strength/limi: Unusual task in an artificial environment --> Lacks ecological validity Might have been influenced by demand characteristics of the situation and acted in the way that they thought was expected of them. Tajfel"s study has reduced this complex psychological phenomenon down to a very simple level, focusing just on minimal groups and performance of a simple experimental task. Participants can"t be generalized to the wider population, All boys Same age range & Country - Levine et al 2005 45 male students from Lancaster University aged between 18 and 21 (all participants were self-identified Manchester United Football Club supporters) participants were informed that the study was about research on football teams and their fans and they were asked to fill in two questionnaires.the first questionnaire asked them to identify the team they supported and to answer questions about why. The second questionnaire was about identification with other group supporters of their team. The tasks were designed to raise the salience if their identity as Manchester United fans.After the participants had completed the two questionnaires, they were told that as part of the study they would be asked to watch a short videoabout football teams, their supporters, and crowd behavior at football matches. The participants were asked to walk to another building where he was to be met with another researcher.As the participants approached the other building, a confederate appeared, jogging across the grass and preparing to run down a grass hill The confederate was wearing either a Manchester United team shirt (in-group member), a Liverpool FC team shirt (out-group member), or an ordinary unbranded sports shirt. As the confederate ran down the gras bank, he slipped and fell over, holding onto his ankle and shouting out in pain. The confederate did not make eye contact with the participant or ask for help. As the accident unfolded, the participant was observed and rated by 3 independent observers, all hidden at different vantage points around the site. The participants were significantly more likely to help the stranger (92%) when he was wearing the Manchester United shirt than either the Liverpool shirt or the ordinary sports shirt. This provides behavioral confirmation of the tendency to help in-group members over others. However, there was no evidence that victims who clearly identified as an out-group member were less likely to receive help than those for whom no social category information was available. - strengths/ limi: Behavior in a field experiment is more likely to reflect real life because of its natural setting, i.e. higher ecological validity than a lab experiment- There is less likelihood of demand characteristics affecting the results, as participants may not know they are being studied. This occurs when the study is covert. There is less control over extraneous variables that might bias the results. This makes it difficult for another researcher to replicate the study in exactly the same way. (altruism explanation), all males

cognitive treatment to abnormal disorders such as depression (psychological treatment)

- main focus point: cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective treatment for depression - cognitive behavioral therapy: a treatment method to dismantle negative thinking styles involving identifying/ correcting unhealthy behavior and promoting problem solving - discussion points: appears to be more effective in conjunction with medication, meaning that thinking styles (which CBT targets) are unlikely to be the sole cause of depression

Socio cultural factors and etiology to depression

- main focus: certain environmental factors can increase vulnerability to depression - discussion points: encourages and highlights the importance of positive environment in both adolescents and adulthood

memory reconstruction

- main focus: memory is often unreliable because of its reconstructive nature - Discussion points: applications include eyewitness testimony and eye witness questioning and identification of criminal out of a lineup, possible that memories get distorted when they get new information about an event prior to reconstruction

Stereotypes influence on behavior (stereotype threat)

- main focus: negative stereotypes can influence ones performance on a task if they belong to the group with the stereotype (stereotype threat) - critical thinking: if stereotype has never applied to you, even if you are the threatened group there is no way to activate said threat because you have never experienced it, studies are WEIRD and therefore stereotype threats applied to individualistic societies and therefore findings are not generalizable - Discussion points: real world application: SAT makes you bubble in race potentially causing a stereotype threat, not applicable to everyone as some people disprove stereotypes,

abnormal psychology

- overlaps genes affect on behavior with the biological approach to the etiology of an abnormal disorder

Neuroplasticity

- the ability within the brain to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in response to experience or trauma, this is done through neural networks, allows for the brain to compensate for injury or adjust to new activities - Neurogenesis: growth of new neurons - neuroplasticity happens because we learn new skills - Discussion points: neuroplasticty associated with growth and fixed mindset theories ( growth intelligence can change, and fixed is born w certain level of intelligence and therefore don't work as hard bc they have no hope) this provides evidence to support growth mindset, can be used to help kids be more confident in their intelligence, neuroplasticity is hard to investigate since it is timely (must give time for neural growth and pruning)

social identity theory

- theory in which the formation of a person's identity within a particular social group is explained by social categorization, social identity, and social comparison - SIT is a strong theory because we treat people differently based upon in group vs. outgroup, behaviors focused on prosocial behavior and conformity - prosocial behavior is voluntary behavior intended to benefit another (it is more likely to be shown to a member of our in-group) T- yes E- yes A- can promote prosocial behavior C- reductionist as it ignores the role of personality U- theory is unbiased but research is WEIRD P- promote prosocial behavior and thus induce more harmony and unison in society; yes

Genes and behavior Studies and all

-5HTT: role it plays on depression, gene - Caspi et al 2003: investigated the 5-HTT gene in relation to depression, he hypothesized that those who inherited 2 short genes would be more likely to have depression (especially when faced with a traumatic. life event). The study was longitudinal and investigated 847 young adults, separated by their groups of alleles. They were then asked to fill out a questionnaire, results showed that those with the double short alleles answered the most depressively - strengths/ limitations: Genes do not account for life experiences and difficulties, correlation does not equal causation (lots of people have the allele but aren't depressed), symptoms differentiate by culture, high sample size= high population validity - Border et al 2019: meta-analysis, obtained data leading to sample of 100,000+, results showed no statistical evidence for a relationship between 5HTT and depression, or that traumatic life experience or adverse socio-economic condition might show a gene by environment reaction - Strengths and limitations: massive sample and compilation of stats, no causation or cause and effect can be established, solely correlational - discussion points: mental illness is high complex and presents itself in a variety of ways, even though some research shows no correlational between 5HTT and depression this does not mean serotonin does not play a role as SSRI's can be very effective in treating depression

Schema theory studies

-Anderson Pichert 1978 39 psychology undergrad students participants given one perspective prior to reading the story (burglar or buyer) of the house of the tour being given asked to reproduce the story with as much detail as possible with 2 minutes variables were the details remembered (buyers remember flaws, burglaries remember valuables) 5 minute filler task, then asked to rewrite the passage again ½ participants are then given a new perspective and other ½ remained the same on the first recall, buyer schema participants recalled more items relating to buying and vice versa when given a new perspective (schema), participants recalled an additional 7% of information that was connected to the new schema This experiment tested and demonstrated that schemas influence both the initial encoding stage of memory and the retrieval stage. - strength/limi: no control condition, low internal validity due to people having better memory than others, psychology majors so they might have known what they were testing for - Bransford and Johnson 1972 52 participants Asked to read a passage about laundry Conditions: context (schema activation) Vs. no context Asked to rate their understanding on the passage from 1-7 (1 none, 7 lots), those who had context had a much higher rating of understanding than those w/no context Both given context after as well The experiment tested the ability to process new information and generate an expectation in relation to pre- existing schemas the participants may have had. Those who lacked context were misled by the schemas they had already developed. strength/limi: relatively high construct validity due to scale being a good way to operationalize an abstract concept such as understanding. However, scales are subjective. small sample size.

Neurotransmission

-Chemical signals between neurons, take chemical from one neuron, transmit it to another through synapse neurons bind to receptors on dendrites, depolarization initiates action potential, can either excite or inhibit - reductionist approach simplifying us down to chemicals

Hormones (Cortisol)

-Cortisol: hormone that regulates a wide range of processes such as fight or flight, metabolism, controls blood pressure etc., including the bodies response to stress and its influence on memory - hormone: a regulatory substance produced in an organism and transported in tissue fluids, hormones is held to influence behavior or mood. - Critical thinking: While the hormone cortisol regulates stress in the human body, it also induces memory loss. The more stress one endures, the more cortisol produced, and the worse their memory becomes. Therefore cortisol related experiments may induce memory loss and may be seen as unethical, or have longer lasting effects than that of other experiments. - Discussion points: Informed consent and right to withdraw since studies induce stress which can lead to prolong memory loss, unethical,

Studies for neuroplasticity 1+2

-Draganski 2004: 21 females, 3 males. Average age of 22, MRI scans of all participants taken, members in juggling group practiced for 3 months, they then did a second brain scan, the jugglers then stopped juggling for another 3 months, third and final brain scan was done - after comparing non jugglers and jugglers: Juggler group showed significant bilateral transient expansion in the grey matter of the mid- temporal area as well as the left intraparietal sulcus between first and second scans, third scan showed a decrease, strong correlation in regions between transient structural grey- matter changes and juggling performance, learning induced cortical plasticity is reflected at a structural level - limitations: small sample size(low population validity) (due to costly MRI so expensive and therefore hard to replicate), small samples and unequal ratio of women to men= unrepresentative to general population, - strengths: experiment shows cause and effect relationship, high internal validity since control group demonstrated that IV caused change in DV in juggle condition, high construct validity (operationalizations reflects construct) -Maguire 2000: Quasi experiment, 16 London taxi drivers (had at least 1.5 yrs experience) and 50 non taxi drivers, all right handed, correlational research, single-blind procedure therefore researcher had no clue which ones she was looking at, the area of the hippocampi was calculated using pixel counting. Maguire found that the posterior hippocampus of taxi drivers was significantly larger than the hippocampi of the controls taken from the MRI database. From the VBM, a correlation was found between the volume of the right posterior hippocampus and amount of time spent as a taxi driver. Maguire argued that this demonstrates that the structure of the hippocampus may undergo neuroplasticity as a result of environmental demands. -no causation established but allowed for a correlation between hippocampus and environment, small sample of taxi drivers, expensive= not replicable, strength is the wide age range which prevents confounding variables,

Enculturation

-Enculturation: The learning of one's own culture (gender roles) -Main focus: The enculturation process transmits and fosters the creation of gender schemas - Discussion points: ignores biological differences, hard to explain individuals who are gender non-conforming

Illusory correlation studies

-Hamilton and Gifford 1976 Group A (26) and Group B (13) participants listened to statements about both groups ( B minority group) each group had same proportion of positive and negative comments results showed overestimation of negative comments for minority group, because there were less people negative statements were made more distinct -Strength/limi: Artificial, Stereotypes far more ingrained than being shown slides, doesn't replicate real-life scenario Applicable (ish), Can explain why negative stereotypes may be more common for minority groups than for majority, Such research led to many countries not reporting race/ethnicity of offender - Risen et al (2007) 184 US students Participants read sentences mixing unusual groups/ actions and common groups/ actions Ex: Tom a jehovah witness owns a sloth VS. steve a catholic owns a cat Participants were shown to take longer to read unusual pairings, think more about whether the action and the group was connected if they were unusual, and lastly remember more unusual pairs compared to common. I would use this study because the results demonstrate how our brains are influenced by what we are told. We are more likely to remember things out of the ordinary which could apply to minority groups and the stereotypes associated with them. It only took one time for participants to remember the odd sentence Vs. normal, like when the news is on we are more likely to remember details of a crime if it is committed by a minority. Hence why we never hear " a white man committed murder" they just say the name, but if the criminal is any other race it is always mentioned and remembered which can build a stereotype. - strength/limi: Small sample size, Sample consisted of only americans, low population validity, Easily replicable and testable, Low ecological validity due to the fact that the sentences participants were presented with are highly unlikely, possible some remembered more due to extra rehearsal time

Stereotype formation

-Illusory correlation theory: perception of a relationship where none exists, or perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists -stereotype: widely held evaluative generalization about a group of people that is then applied to group members ( based on limited info: gender, skin etc.) - discussion points: media influence on stereotype formation, stereotypes formation is difficult to investigate most people won't admit prejudice they have due to social unacceptable, Such research led to many countries not reporting race/ethnicity of offender,

anchoring bias

-Main discussion point: the preliminary information were given about a topic we know little about influences our decisions -Definition: a tendency to fixate on initial information, from which one then fails to adequately adjust for subsequent information - real world applications: can be used when purchasing items

models of memory

-Multi store: 3 stores: sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory If paying attention something moves from sensory to short term, if not it goes from sensory to decay Short term moves to long term with rehearsal, if not rehearsed it moves to displacement decay Memories say in long term until either retrieved or interference decay -Discussion point: too simplistic, does not explain how we remember things without rehearsal, does not explain procedural memories and overall does not account for different types of memories - applications can change and be used in how we study for exams -Working memory: Input -> sensory memory -> attention -> working memory -> long term Working memory: consists of visuospatial sketchpad, central executive, and phonological loop. The info is drawn back and forth through the episodic buffer, Visuospatial sketchpad: spatial awareness (supports multitasking and is more accurate) - Discussion points: Could help people learn to not multi- task, so people can retain information better Could be useful when learning because some kids are visual learners and others are audio learners, central executive is not well defined, complicated because they also state that working memory does not have to be used at all times

Pheromones definitions

-Pheromones: small sets of compounds that transmit signals between organisms of the same species, they are oftentimes excreted through sweat or oils and have a detectable smell, although sometimes the scent is faint. - discussion points: There is not a lot of evidence showing that human pheromones exist at all, it is also controversial what sensory cues represent pheromones (smell or bloodstream). -VNO: Vomeronasal organ, tube structure located in the nasal cavity and can be involved in processing pheromones. VNO's that may have been found in past studies have now been found to lack the functioning receptor cells needed to detect pheromones. Additionally the VNO is not connected to the brain - focus point: the human pheromone androstenedione affects attraction - MHC- single-pass transmembrane proteins that bind peptide antigens and present them at the cell surface to cytotoxic T lymphocytes as part of the immune response. -Androstadienone- an endogenous steroid that has been described as having potent pheromone-like activities in humans excreted by men and said to increase attraction in women

anchoring bias studies

-Strack and Mussweiler ( 1997) 69 german undergrad students, lunchtime test the influence of anchor bias on decision making each participant asked if they would take part in a questionnaire answered on computer screen, each question had 2 components: first component, participants asked to make a comparative judgement about something. This question acted as the anchor. Anchors were either high or low: [low anchor] Gandhi's age of death but very low [high anchor] Gandhi's age of death but very old In the second part participants had to estimate what they believe to be the actual answer Results were calculated as the mean value offered for the second task. (high - 66.7, low- 50.1) - Strengths/limi: Low population validity due to the fact that the study only consisted of german participants and there was only 69 of them Low ecological validity as this information wouldn't come up in real life situations, high internal validity bc independent measures prevents order effects High construct validity due to the fact that the anchors were so spread there was room for varying results - Tversky and Kahnemann (1974) High school students Two conditions: ascending and descending Participants in the "ascending condition" were asked to quickly estimate the value of 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6 X 7 X in the "descending condition" were asked to quickly estimate the value of 8 X 7 X 6 X 5 X 4 X 3 X 2 X 1 Researchers presumed that those in the ascending group would anchor with one and therefore predict a smaller number (vice versa for other group) researchers found that the median for the ascending group was 512; the median for the descending group was 2250. The actual value is 40320 - strengths/limi: Lower construct validity due to the fact their the anchors do not differ much in size Low population validity due to the fact that the study as only conducted with highschool students, more educated people might have had more accurate answers and not have been swayed as much Low ecological validity, this probably is unlikely to be an issue or an occurrence in the real world

Hormone studies 1+2

-Study 1: Newcomer et al, 1999: Three conditions: Condition 1 high level of cortisol: The participants in the high level cortisol group were given a tablet containing 160 mg of cortisol on each day of the four day experiment. This dose of cortisol produces blood levels similar to those seen in people experiencing a major stress event. Condition 2 - low level of cortisol: The participants in the low level of cortisol group were given a tablet containing 40 mg of cortisol per day. This dose is similar to the amount of cortisol circulating in the blood stream of people undergoing minor surgical procedures such as having stitches removed. Condition 3- placebo group: The participants in this condition were given placebo tablets . All participants in each control group were then asked to recall parts of a paragraph after having listened to it. IV: level of cortisol intake, DV: effects on memory (verbal declarative memory) results showed that high levels of cortisol impaired performance in the memory task since the participants who received the highest level of cortisol also showed the worst performance in verbal declarative memory. According to the researchers, these results demonstrate a clear link between levels of cortisol and remembering. This relates to the prompt because it demonstrates how the hormone cortisol negatively impacts one's memory, which affects people's daily lives. - Strength/ limits: there was a direct connection between IV and DV therefore there is a high construct validity. Participants were not in a lab the entire time, therefore the ecological validity is raised. This also means that the researchers did not have complete control over all the confounding variables with amount of stress already present in daily lives, which lowers the internal validity. This experiment was double blind which prevents demand characteristics from experimenters and participants, used independent measures which prevents order effects, fatigue etc. that would affect results. - Study 2: Seshadri, 2018: Blood serum cortisol was measured before breakfast. Then brain MRIs were done and the series of memory and cognitive tests repeated. (this was a reevaluation from an experiment 8 years prior). The study found people with the highest levels of cortisol had the most memory loss. High levels of cortisol were associated with more damage to the parts of the brain that move information throughout the brain (corona radiata) and between the two hemispheres of the brain (corpus callosum). Also, the brains of people with higher cortisol levels had smaller cerebrums, the two hemispheres of the brain responsible for thought, emotions, speech and muscle functions, the study found. the effects of high cortisol on cerebral brain volume appeared to only affect women, not men. This relates to the prompt because it demonstrates how the hormone cortisol negatively impacts one's memory, which affects people's daily lives. -Strength/ limits: 2,000 people, average age of 48, no signs of dementia and multiple psychological tests done. tterm-20he data was adjusted to consider, age , sex, body mass, and smoking habits. But, the study results only show an association, not a cause. The population validity would be low, although they used a high amount of participants, all were around the same age. The experiment was ethical because all results were measured through MRI (harmless) and participants were asked to complete memory tasks.

thinking and decision making studies:

-Tversky and Kahneman (1981) Two groups of 307 undergrad student volunteers total Group one had two options: - if program A is adopted 200 people will be saved (72% of group 1 chose this) If program B is adopted there is a ⅓ probability that 600 people will be saved but a ⅔ probability that none will be saved ( 28% chose this) Group two had two options:- If program A is adopted 400 people die (22%) If program B is adopted theres is a ⅓ chance no one dies and ⅔ chance 600 die ( 78%) The results showed that when information is phrased positively people were most likely to choose the certain outcome, whereas when information is phrased negatively they are most likely to choose the less certain option. - strengths/limi: The experiment is highly controlled so it has high internal validity. It is easily replicable because of the standardized procedure, which means the findings are reliable. The study has low mundane realism. The situation is completely hypothetical and in reality, it would affect people more significantly. The sample is not representative because it consists of Western university students. -Atler Et Al 2007 Does presenting CRT (cognitive reflection test) questions in disfluent font help engage system 2 thinking? Participants were tested between system 1 and 2 with questions such as those of the price of the bat and ball (a bat and ball cost $1.10 the bat costs $1 more than the ball, how much is the ball?) 40 students were given the three questions CRT in either fluent or disfluent font Mean for disfluent font was 2.45 Fluent font was 1.9 - strengths/limi: high external ecological validity bc they could face this issue in real life like w/bogos at a grocery store, small sample size-not generalizable, relatively high internal validity because no demand characteristics, however it is possible that some were smarter than others

Pheromone studies

-Wedekind 1995:

influence of culture on behavior

-cultural dimensions: an aspect of a culture that can be measured relative to other cultures (collectivism vs. individualism, the degree to which people are integrated into groups, sometimes referred to as I vs We orinetation, collectivism: social harmony is valued, rule breaking leads to shame, and modesty is important, Individualism: uniqueness is valued, freedom and autonomy are valued, right to privacy and self reliance are good things) -Main focus: where one falls in the cultural dimension of collectivism and individualism, affects conformity and their memory. - discussion points: euro-americas cultural emphasis on individuality may drive cognitive resources into processing and remembering self focused event information, however the asian cultural emphasis on inter-dependence may motivate individuals to attend information about significant others and social events

FBM flashbulb memory

-flashbulb memory is a weak theory as memory is reconstructive -Flashbulb memories- "memories of the circumstances in which one first learned of a very surprising and consequential event" They form in situations involving the discovery of surprising and emotional information, Very vivid, Resistant to change, More accurate/ long lasting, Require a specialized neural mechanism *Memories in which news was heard and include where you were, what you were doing, how you were informed, how others reacted - T- yes, E-none to support, A-applicable in that we all have flashbulbs but the theory is weak and therefore not applicable, C- clearly defined but generally unsupported, U- theory unbiased but research is WEIRD, P- theory is challenged but is supposed to predict vividness of FBM

schema theory

-main point: cognitive schemas aid in memory recall and general understanding - cognitive schema: a mental representation of knowledge, acquired through experience - schema theory: used to organize information in memory, to increase processing efficiency of new information, Enables expectations, Can lead to mistakes if wrong schema is activated, Fills in the gaps of previous and new knowledge - Discussion points: Testable: research supports how schemas affect retrieval of memory and understanding Empirical evidence, yes Applications, schemas influence the formation of stereotypes Concepts, concept of schema theory is supported by research Unbiased, concepts of schema theory are unbiased and should be applicable cross culturally however research focuses on the west Predicts behavior, yes continued discussion points: how can we know during research that schemas are being activated when they are an abstract concept and can't be seen

Prevalence rates

-rumination: Rumination: overanalyzing the darker side of life, which in turn is said to fuel depression. -Hoeksema and Parker longitudinal, in first study questionnaire was done to identify ruminators, found that rumination predicted MDD among 455 18-84 yr/olds who had lost family members to terminal illness, and those who ruminated more often became depressed and stayed depressed in the 18 months following. So rumination typically comes with sadness, women ruminate more because men focus on anger rather than sadness due to cultural differences and social acceptability. -Kessler meta-analysis for lifetime prevalence rates of depression, US 16.6% experience depression 13.2 for men and 20.2 for women, worldwide 225 of women will suffer at least one depressive episode whereas men only 15% - this can be due to rumination and environmental factors as well, counter-points could be biological in that women have more going on during puberty however this is not supported statistically

Localization of function

-the idea that various brain regions have particular functions - example: hippocampus, in moving short term memories to long term store -declarative memory: things you've said or heard - semantic memory: general world knowledge -episodic memories: memory of events -procedural memory: memory of motor skills - discussion points: research is often limited because it typically uses case studies of injured people and the deceased, few behaviors seem to be strictly localized, reductionist approach to attribute stuff to one part of the brain, challenged by equiptionality ( the brains ability to transfer functional information to another part, similar to neuroplasticity)

thinking and decision making

Definitions: -Dual processing theory: explains that thoughts arise from two systems -System 1 Intuitive: automatic, quick and little to no voluntary control Ex: detecting an object is further than the other, simple math, driving, emotions, etc. Very useful but can lead to mistakes in susceptibility to cognitive bias -System 2 Rational: allocates attention to effortful mental activities that require concentration Ex: complex math, focus on one voice in a crowd, count occurrences of letters in a book -Heuristics: mental shortcuts - framing effect: a cognitive bias in which the positive or negative connotations of two options presented effects the choice made - T: yes, research supports it E: yes, studies show A: can be used in teaching/math as a different or harder fonts can engage system 2 thinking C: ya? U: can be applied globally, yet research has a western focus P: yes, and research supports that the decisions we make are influenced by the way information is presented as it engages different systems

Biological perspective

Neurobiological: Behaviors are shaped by activity in nervous/endocrine system Hormones, Neurotransmitters Malfunctions explain abnormal psychology - theorists do not blame behavior solely on bio, they also attribute socio-cultural factors

Evolutionary perspective

behaviors and mental processes are shaped by the forces of evolution

Genetic perspective

mood disorders run in families, turn to genetics