Psychology Test 4

What was the main conclusion of Milgram's studies?

"Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process"

Who is associated with the idea of a collective unconscious? P. 519

Carl Jung

What happened in the Asch conformity experiments?

Classic experiements done by Solomon Asch (Asch Conformity Experiemnts) in 1960s. People give obvious wrong answer, when others give that answer. Which line is the same length?

Obedience?

Obedience: giving in to explicit demand from authority

What is the mere-exposure effect?

Keys to attraction: physical proximity—geographic nearness (we tend to like/love/marry people we live near/work near/run into regularly) Part of this is because of mere-exposure effect—we prefer things that are familiar to us. Other things being equal—familiarity tends to breed liking. "bird of a feather flock together" more often than opposites attract. We more often like people who share our attitudes, beliefs, interests, opinions, habits, background, religion, race, education, intelligence, SES?

According to Alfred Adler, why do we struggle for superiority and power? P. 519

Adler (who had proposed the still-popular idea of the inferiority complex) himself struggled to overcome childhood illnesses and accidents, and he believed that much of our behavior is driven by efforts to conquer childhood inferiority feelings that trigger our strivings for superiority and power.

What is bipolar disorder? What are the symptoms of mania?

Also known as manic depression They show extremes of mood that are unrelated to circumstances or events in their lives. One extreme resembles major depression. The other extreme is called mania. Mania: a very agitated emotional state (almost the opposite of depression) • Emotionally: euphoric, irritable b/c they are inpatient with other people. • Cognition: Individual displays total optimism and thinks nothing can go wrong. Grandiose (over the top—make grand gestures, believe they are capable of great things). Impaired judgment b/c of ideas that are unrealistic, very easily distracted. • Behavior: hyperactivity—unlimited energy, decreased need for sleep (insomnia), talkative (pressured speech where there seems to be a lot of force behind their words), may exhibit silliness, engage in reckless behaviors b/c they feel invincible May alternate between periods of mania and depression, but often have periods of normalcy. Typically shows up in the 20s; strong genetic predisposition for it. Runs in families. Also associated with creativity. Abnormalities in prefrontal cortex; too much norepinephrine.

What are neuroleptics/antipsychotics (Haldol, thorazine, Risperdal) used to treat? How do they affect dopamine? What is tardive dyskinesia?

Antipsychotics/Neuroleptics: Drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other psychotic states. Dopamine antagonists. More affective for positive sysmptoms rather than negative Older ("typical") drugs: Throazine, Haldol, Newer (atypical) drugs: Colzapine, Risperdal, Zyprexa Side effects: Tardive dyskinesia—irreversible syndrome of uncontrollable, repetitive movements.

What are anxiety disorders? What are the anxiety disorders we covered? Know major symptoms, definitions of terms associated with the disorders, how the disorders differ from each other.

Anxiety Disorders: Psychological and physical symptoms: fear, nervousness, dread psychological Physically they will often show signs of sympathetic nervous system arousal (sweatiness, fast heart beat, trembling) Everyone experiences anxiety but when it is excessive, long-lasting, or disruptive then it would be considered a disorder

What are anxiolytics used to treat? What are benzodiazepines (valium, Xanax)? How do they work (neurotransmitter)?

Anxiolytics: drugs to treat anxiety Tranquilizers; drowsiness, relaxation Benzodiazepines (valium, Xanax, Librium, etc), GABA agonists, Addictive. Antidepressants (particularly SSRIs) can be good at treating anxiety too.

What are attitudes? How do attitudes relate to actions?

Attitudes and Actions Attitudes: feelings that predispose our reactions. Attitudes have an impact on behavior, influence our daily actions. Attitudes affect actions, but actions also affect attitudes. We seek consistency between what we say think and do. When our attitudes/actions don't match we get cognitive dissonance

What is the general focus and goal of behavior therapy? What is exposure with response prevention (flooding)? What is systematic desensitization?

Behavior therapy: psychological problems are seen as learned behaviors. Goal: to use the principles of learning to extinguish undesirable behavior and teach more adaptive behavior. Some techinques: • Exposure with response prevention (flooding): helps people with fears. Goal is to expose client to whatever it is they fear and prevent them from escaping. Put in feared but harmless situation. Hardest thing about this is getting people to do this b/c it's difficult to get them to be fully exposed to things they fear. • Systematic desensitization: replace fear with relaxation (more gradual than flooding) client is gradually exposed to increasingly intense versions of feared stimulus while relaxing. Client is first taught relaxation techniques—practice on their own until they are good at inducing relaxation. Therapist and client create a fear/desensitization hierarchy (a list of increasingly intense versions of the feared stimulus). Shown first item on the list and if they experience anxiety then they induce relaxation and keep doing this until it doesn't bother them. • Helps with phobia/OCD and fears

What are Freud's psychosexual stages of development and what happens during each? What are erogenous zones? What is fixation? What are the supposed characteristics of oral and anal fixation? What are the Oedipus and Electra complexes?

Believed personality developed in childhood as one goes through psycho-sexual stage. In each stage, the id focuses on a certain erogenous zone (pleasure-sensitive area of body) Conflict between satisfying urges and rules of society in each stage. If conflict is not resolved successfully, that can lead to fixation Fixation is an enduring focus on a particular erogenous zone that reveals itself as maladaptive behavior in adult personality. Oral stage: birth-18 months—erogenous zone is the mouth, infants obtain pleasure and satisfaction from sucking, biting and chewing. However, conflict comes when society wants weaning, but id doesn't want that. Oral fixation could be nail biting, chewing on things (this came from what Freud thinks is being weaned too early—constantly trying to satisfy oral urges—using biting sarcasm, eating a lot, etc. Anal stage: 1.5-3 years—erogenous zone is the anus, Freud believed that toddlers obtained pleasure and satisfaction from expelling and attaining feces. The big conflict is when society demands toilet training. The id was no part of this, this id goes whenever it wants. When we describe someone as anal we consider them (fastidious, hyper-retentive, focused)—they would show these as adults if toilet trained too early and have an anal-retentive personality Phallic stage: 3-6 years—erogenous zone is the genitals (penis and clitoris) Boys go through an Oedipus complex—child has unconscious sexual desire for their mom, would like to have mom all to themselves, but dad is in the way. However, boy notices that girls don't have penises and thinks penis was cut off, so if he tries to compete with father, his penis will be cut off, so boy tries to be like dad and identify with him. Mom likes dad so if boy acts like dad, then mom will like him. Electra complex: at first little girl sexually desires mom, but realizes she does not have a penis, so she develops penis envy and wishes she had a penis and wonders what happens to hers. She comes to the conclusions that her mom cut her penis off so since her mom is evil and mean she wants her father but is afraid of losing her mother's love so she represses her resentment of mom and identifies with mom trying to be like her and substitutes desire for a penis for a baby. Latency period: 6-adolescent—nothing happens no erogenous zone Genital stage: puberty-throughout life—erogenous zone is penis for males and vagina; if everything went well earlier you transfer previous desire for mom and dad to a more socially acceptable figure.

What are some biological and psychological factors involved in anxiety disorders?

Biological Factors: People who have anxiety disorders have more reactive and sensitive brains and autonomic nervous systems. Genetic predisposition Psychological: Neuroticism, attentional bias (more likely to remember and notice possibly threatening stimuli) More likely to interpret ambiguous situations as threatening Low self-efficacy: don't feel they will be able to cope Various learning processes affected, various phobias can result from classical conditioning or observational learning Negative/stressful events are social factors that can worsen or bring on anxiety disorders

How common are psychological disorders? When do they typically appear?

Lifetime prevalence for psychological disorders in the US is about 50%. About 40% of adults will experience psychological disorder. Most people that get a disorder will show some symptoms by age 24.

What are the psychological, behavioral, and biological features of this disorder? What are some biological and social factors that may contribute to this disorder?

Biological Factors: Kids who have biological parents with the disorder and are adopted are at a greater risked, and also kids who are raised by an unrelated parent with the disorder are at a greater risk showing that it is somewhat learned. Minimal physiological arousal under stress (which is genetically influenced and possibly predisposes people to it)—why people can sometimes pass lie detectors Lower levels of stress hormones released. Brains don't react as much to stressful circumstances. Diminished physical response to distress. Psychosocial factors: Poverty Instability Abuse All increase risk for ASPD Difficult to treat b/c it's usually not a problem for themselves it's a problem to everyone else and if they do end up in therapy they will end up manipulating the theorists.

What are some of the biological, psychological, and social factors involved in depression?

Biological factors: Genetic predisposition—can run in family Neurotransmitters affected include serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine Drugs that treat it are usually agonists of one or more of these neurotransmitters Smoking can increase activity with these neurotransmitters Can have an increased stress response—body reacts more to stress/releases more stress hormones compares to others. Psychological and social factors: Learned helplessness and external locus of control (lack sense of control over their lives) More intense reaction to negative events and less intense reaction to positive events Greater tendency to be a perfectionist. You'll never be perfect so you will constantly be disappointed/never satisfied. Negative explanatory style: meaning they jump to overly generalized, pessimistic, self-blaming conclusions. Explain events in a negative way. (ex: depression sufferers will think after a break-up that they will never have another relationship) Stressful circumstances contribute.

What are some biological factors associated with schizophrenia as covered in class?

Biological factors: genetic predisposition—if relative has it, then you are more likely; if identical twin has it, 50% chance other will have it. Genes influence how vulnerable you are to getting it. Kids who are adopted and raised by someone with schizophrenia does not influence if kid will get it. So thus it is not something learned. Schizo linked to over activity of dopamine in certain parts of the brain. Most of the drugs that treat it block certain dopamine receptors. Typically only help with positive symptoms. Negative symptoms due more to a deficit in glutamate. Also associated with various abnormalities in structure/function of brain One of the most consistent abnormalities is an enlargement in the cerebro-ventricles. More fluid so less space for brain tissue. Neurodevelopmental events: Low birth weight for gestational age or at greater risk for schizophrenia. Oxygen deprivation during birth show greater likelihood for getting schizo later Older biological father linked. Prenatal viral infection (flu-like experienced by mother during mid-pregnancy-2nd trimester) may be linked to schizo. Psychological and sociocultural factors don't seem to play an enormous role in schizo. Stress however can precipitate the disorder or make it worse. Various cultural factors also have impact on course of schizo. How much social support you have is a factor in severity.

How does the biopsychosocial model explain psychological disorder?

Biopsychosocial approach shows that psychological disorders result from a mixture of biological, psychological, and social factors. • Biological factors: genes, physical abuse, drug abuse, disease • Psychological factors: anxiety, how you interpret what happens to you, how you think about yourself (self-esteem) • Sociocultural/environmental context: stress, poverty (people in poverty are more likely to suffer from a disorder—more stresses or there's evidence that psychological disorders cause poverty); disorders can take somewhat different forms in different

What is cognitive dissonance? What is cognitive dissonance theory? What happened in the Festinger & Carlsmith study?

Cognitive dissonance: tension when attitudes and actions don't match We want to change attitudes to match behavior to justify actions. If we can't justify, then according to this theory we will change our attitude to match the behavior. Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) Boring task, subject is asked to lie to another subject and tell them the study is really fun. Half is offered $1 to lie, the other half is offered $20. The subjects given $1 liked the study more than those paid $20. Those who are paid $20 could justify why they lied and thus experienced less cognitive dissonance. Those paid $1 did not have as much justification for the lie they told—thus they convinced themselves that the task was fun and interesting b/c of cognitive dissonance. Working hard to obtain a goal makes us value the goal even more. You convince yourself that a harder-to-get A is more valuable. Also explains hazing (if you are hazed then you value being in the group more). Doing can result in believing.

Compliance?

Compliance (step up from conformity): going along with a request from someone who is not an authority figure.

What is conformity?

Conformity: changing belief or behavior to match other people due to unspoken group pressure.

How is psychological disorder defined?

Current definition: Ongoing patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior that impair functioning, deviate from the norm, cause distress, disrupt lives. If someone is super depressed about something that is reasonable to be depressed about (such as divorce or ill child), should they be labeled as mentally ill?

What is the DSM-V?

Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Consistency in criteria of disorders Based on rigorous research

How does the diathesis-stress model explain psychological disorders?

Diathesis-stress model: whether you get a psychological disorder or not depends upon your degree of predisposition (genetic factors, prenatal events, early-life experiences) and the amount of stress you experience If you have a high predisposition it will take little stress to trigger a disorder. If you have a low predisposition it will take high stress to trigger a disorder

What characterizes personality disorders?

Disruptive, long-standing, inflexible, dysfunctional behavioral patterns and thoughts that impair social functioning

In what ways can applying a diagnostic label to someone be stigmatizing?

Problem—applying a diagnostic label to someone can be stigmatizing. If someone is labeled as mentally ill, it changes the way people perceive and interpret their behaviors, so even normal behaviors may be seen as evidence of their disorders.

What is electroconvulsive shock therapy? For what is it used today? Is it effective? What is the main side effect?

Electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT): electric current applied to scalp to cause convulsions. Used to be used for all kinds of things and used such high voltage that people could break bones or have cardiac arrest. Still used today but not nearly as brutal/used as much. First given sedative/muscle relaxer and not awake when shock is applied. Not as strong of a current. Used to treat severe depression/bipolar disorder when nothing else works. Very effective for depression that hasn't been treated by medicine. Not known why it work. Major side affect is memory loss. Have trouble remembering events that occurred in hours prior to shock. Sometimes further back memories.

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder? What are obsessions and compulsions?

Experiences persistent, upsetting thoughts that produce the urge to engage in repetitive ritualistic behaviors. Obsessions lead to uncontrollable thoughts, doubts, images, and impulses that just pop into your mind. These typically create anxiety that fuels compulsions. Compulsion is the repetitive behaviors, urge to engage in these. The compulsions temporarily relieve the person from the anxiety that arises (includes washing, counting, checking, arranging, and repeating) Compulsions are very time-consuming and can take away from the person's life. OCD tends to run in families. Genetic component. Link to serotonin and glutamate. Neurotransmitter abnormalities. Abnormalities in certain parts of the brain.

What is posttraumatic stress disorder? Who tends to get it?

Flashbacks, nightmares, haunting memories, jumpy, cranky, withdrawn, insomnia Common among veterans/sexual assault victims; happens with horrific/uncontrollable events Vulnerability to stress—more reactive nervous systems

How does culture influence psychological disorders? What are culture-general and cultural (culture-specific/culture-bound) disorders?

For example in China, depression manifests more as physical symptoms than in US. Most likely because mental problems have been highly stigmatized. Symtpoms influenced by culture. Some disorders are culture-general (show up in every culture) ex: depression, schizophrenia (symptoms may vary but it's clear it's the same disorder) Cultural disorders: culture-specific or culture-bound disorders (anorexia, bulimia) Ex: Co-Ro (mostly in Asian cultures—fear that penis will shoot up into abdomen and kill them) Differences in how cultures experience distress

What are the structures of personality according to the psychoanalytic view? What are their characteristics? How do these relate to the iceberg analogy used by Freud?

Freud believed there were 3 components of personality 1. Id: born with this, contains basic instincts, unconscious • Pleasure principle (urges one to do whatever feels good) • Immediate gratification—no regard for rules—says I want it and I want it now (like devil) 2. Ego: develops later in life to satisfy id in more socially acceptable ways • Reality principle: takes into account the restraints of reality • Delays gratification of id • Mediator between id and superego (listening to both) 3. Superego: develops between 4 and 5 yo as a kid internalizes values of its parents in society • Services one conscience • Operates according to morality principle—urges you to do what is right, ideal, and moral • Demands perfection (must do it perfectly—responsible for feelings of guilt or pride Iceberg analogy: most of iceberg is beneath surface—believed mind was similar, majority of the mind was unconscious or beneath the surface

What does the GRIT strategy entail? P. 601

GRIT: graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction--a strategy designed to decrease international tensions. One side first announces its recognition of mutual interests and its intent to reduce tensions. It then initiates one or more conciliatory acts. Without weakening one's retaliatory capability, this modest beginning opens the door for reciprocity by the other party. Should the enemy respond with hostility, one reciprocates in kind. But so, too, with any conciliatory response.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disordder Excessive, long lasting, free-floating (occurring for no particular reason), anxiety They show dread, distractibility, irritability, tense, worry, hypervigilant (constantly monitoring surroundings for threat), insomnia, exaggerated startle (overreacting when startled), nausea, dizziness

What are the goals of Humanistic psychotherapy? What are the characteristics and methods of Rogers's Client-Centered Therapy?

Goals: to enhance self-awareness and self-acceptance. Moving the barriers that are preventing a person from reaching their full potential. This type of therapy is for self-improvement and facilitating growth. Roger's Client-centered Therapy: Role of therapist is to sit back, listen, and provide support and companionship. Refrain from offering advice, judging, or interpreting b/c it's believed that client can solve own problems and if they help that will undermine their confidence. Provide their clients with genuineness, empathy, and acceptance. • Acceptance is demonstrated by providing the client with unconditional positive regard (therapist truly needs to feel this unconditional positive regard). • Empathy shown by active listening technique called reflection. Involves paraphrasing what the client just said. Supposed to make client feel heard and encourage the client to expand on what they are talking about

What is Gray's Biopsychological Theory? What is the behavioral approach system and behavioral inhibition system?

Gray's Biopsychological Trait Theory • Personality comes from two related systems: o Behavioral approach system (BAS) • Affects our sensitivity to reward and our desire to seek out reward—more sensitive to rewards if you have a more active nervous system. People with very active nervous systems have more positive outlook but are more vulnerable to impulsivity. So attracted to award so they don't think about consequences as much. o Behaviroal Inhibition system (BIS) • Sensitivty to punishment—people with more active BIS seek hard to avoid punishment. Have more negative emotions and more vulnerable to anxiety. • ** people with active BAS behave with what they want to happen, with active BIS behave in ways thinking of what they don't want to happen. o These are supposed to be two independent dimensions so you can be high on both or low on both too.

How does depression relate to the self-serving bias and realism?

Humans function best with self-serving bias. Lack of self-serving bias is linked to depression. Many studies suggest that people with depression actually judge themselves and the world more realistically than everyone else. Non-depressed subjects rate themselves more favorably than the observers. Depressed subjects were more close to observers.

What happened in Milgram's obedience studies?

Milgram's obedience studies: • Subject: teacher • Confederate: learner (confederate means they are in on the study) • Teacher is instructed to read lists of words to learner and then tests the learner. Whenever the learner gives the wrong answer, they are shocked. Learner is strapped into chair that gives electric shock and then teacher is taken into separate room. When learner makes a mistake over intercom, teacher shocks them and shock increases each time by 15. Things are good at first but at around 75 volts, the learner starts to react. By 150 volts, the person is yelling and says they wants to quit the study. In actuality, no one was actually shocked. Researcher urges you to continue. Around 330 volts, the learner stops responding and the researcher tells you to treat no answer as a wrong answer.

What is the modern version of the psychoanalytic approach?

Modern offshoot of Psychoanalytic theory is psychodynamic, which focuses more on inner conflicts, social relationships, and interplay between conscious and unconscious mind.

What are mood stabilizers (lithium) and what do they treat?

Mood stabiliziers treat bipolar disorder. Lithium is the most common thing used to treat bipolar disorder. Treats both mania and depression, but better at treating mania. If lithium doesn't work. A combination of anticonvulsants plus antidepressants is used.

What are some factors involved in helping?

More likely to help someone if they clearly need help—sure they are having an emergency. If we know them If we believe they deserve our help If the person seems similar to us If we are not in a big hurry If we are in a good mood (feel-good, do-good: happy people are more helpful) Population density (more dense an area is populated—the less likely it is for ppl to help; this is cross-cultural) Cost and benefits

What are the general classes of antidepressants and which are most commonly prescribed today? What are SSRI's (Prozac, Zoloft)?

Newer Antidepressenants are SSRI's, they are things like (neuron releases neurotransmitter and then reuptakes them) SSRI then stops the reuptake and keeps them in the synapse which allows them to continually bind to the receptors. Increase serotonin activity. Ex: Zoloft, Prozac, paxil. SSRI is most effective in treating severe depression or someone with a family history. Aren't as effective for mild depression. Anti depressants are n't just affective for depression but also for OCD and anxiety. They are agonists of serotonin (5-HT) and/or norepinephrine and/or dopamine (DA). MAO-I's aren't as prescribed any more because they have a lot of side effects that react with things

Panic disorder

Panic Disorder Recurrent unpredictable panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden episodes of intense anxiety. Very brief but absolutely terrifying. Panic attacks can be confused with heart attacks, feel like they might die. People who experience these panic attacks can lead to fear of experiencing them which can lead to agoraphobia (fear or avoidance of situations in which escape may be difficult or in which help might not be available) ex: on a bus or subway, or in severe cases people may stay in home.

How does love tend to change over the course of time (in terms of passionate and companionate love)?

Passionate love: intense, sexual, emotional, but often temporary. Often compared to a lit match. If it lasts it can result in... Companionate love: deep, intimate, and steady love.

What is the relationship between control over one's environment, stress, health, and morale? P. 539

People given little control over their world in prisons, factories, colleges, and nursing homes experience lower morale and increased stress. Measures that increase control-- allowing prisoners to move chairs and control room and lights and the TV, having workers participate in decision making, offering nursing home patients choices about their environment.

What were the results of Milgram's study?

People surveyed thought that the teacher would stop when the person first experienced pain. However, 65% (2/3) of people went all the way to 450 volts. • Study is not ethical by today's standards. • He told subjects immediately afterwards that you didn't actually shock someone. Those were emotionally distressed were sent to a psychiatrists and no one seemed to really be permanently screwed up. No one said they regretted doing the study. Subjects today go to 150 volts at a similar percent as they did in Milgram's. Rates of obedience today are pretty similar to what it was in 1960s. • Foot-in-the-door effect is at work—when the change is gradual we don't realize the extent. • Historical examples: you don't have to look far for examples. Nazi Germany (regular people built camps). Americans slaughtered innocent people in Vietnam War.

What is personality?

Personality refers to one characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. Study of personality is the study of individual differences. Includes finding out the basic dimensions of personality and what the biological roots of personality are and how it interacts with environment.

What are the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia and why is this distinction important?

Positive (presence—not good) symptoms of schizophrenia: presence of inappropriate behaviors. Additions of abnormality. (extra cards that shouldn't be in the deck). Hallucinations, delusions, inappropriate emotion, repetitive compulsive behaviors. Negative symptoms: absence of normal behavior. Behavioral deficits. Not showing the normal amount of behavior. (missing cards that should be there). Flat affect (showing less than the normal amount of emotion), social withdraw, lack of goal-directed behavior, lack of purposeful movement These are important b/c someone who has primarily positive symptoms is more likely to respond to medicine and get better. Someone with negative symptoms is less likely to get better.

What are overt attitudes? implicit attitudes? What do measures of implicit attitudes reveal?

Prejudice can be: • Overt: what we consciously express/are consciously aware of having • Implicit: unconscious attitudes. • Overt/implicit attitudes do not always match. • When asked, most Americans say they are not prejudice, however, assessment of implicit attitudes shows that they are more prejudice than they realize or are willing to admit. • Implicit Association Test (IAT): reveals how closely connected particular concepts are in our minds by how quickly we can assosicate words and/or pictures. (positive/negative words with black/white faces—white americans are better at pairing negative words with black faces and positive with white showing that we are somewhat implicitly biased). • Our imiplicit attitudes reveal our unconscious, automatic influence (this can greatly affect our knee-jerk reactions)—to shoot or not to shoot, subjects are more likely to shoot a black person with a tool or gun versus a white man with a tool or gun.

What are projective personality tests? What are the problems with them?

Projective personality tests involved having a person interpret or respond to ambiguous stimuli. It is believed that the person will project their unconscious mind in response to these ambiguous stimuli. Ex: Thematic Apperception Test—individual is shown several pictures of people in ambiguous situations. The respondent is asked to tell a story about what's happening in the set of pictures. Rorschach Inkblot test—throw paint on a paper and fold it in half and have a person interpret it. Present problems b/c there is no universally agreed upon system for interpreting a person's answers. One therapists interpretation can be different from another. Subjective interpretation. Not very reliable or valid.

What was the first psychotherapy and who developed it?

Psychoanalytic therapy Classical psychoanalysis: make person aware of repressed, unconscious conflicts and impulses. Developed by Freud.

What are the four main approaches to the study of personality?

Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Trait, Social Cognitive

What is major depressive disorder? What are the symptoms and features?

Psychological Symptoms Sadness, guilt, low self-esteem, pessimism, crying, anhedonia (can't experience pleasure form usually enjoyable activities), anxiety, poor concentration, isolation Physical symptoms Change in eating and sleeping, pain, low energy, weakened immune system For at least 2 weeks Recurrent episodes a mental disorder characterized by a pervasive and persistent low mood that is accompanied by low self-esteem and by a loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities.

What is psychopathology? What is abnormal psychology?

Psychopathology: deals a lot with psychological disorder (abnormal psychology) Distinguishing between mental health emotion, and mental illness is difficult. Not a clear line.

What is antisocial personality disorder?

Psychopaths, sociopaths Does not refer to someone who would like to be alone Rather antisocial in this case refers to someone who shows a pervasive pattern in disregard for the violation of rights of others. Going against the rules/standards of society. To be diagnosed you must exhibit a lack of conscience by the age of 15. As an adult, people with ASPD they tend to be irresponsible, impulsive, callous (don't care about others' feelings) manipulative, arrogant, deceitful, problems holding jobs or keeping relationships, lie if it benefits them, relative lack of fear, anxiety, remorse, and guilt. Less sensitive to punishment than other people are. Threat of punishment does not really deter them. May be charming, intelligent and when they have those characteristics they can be excellent con artists.

What is psychosurgery? What is prefrontal and transorbital lobotomy? What were the general effects of lobotomy?

Psychosurgery: Removal/destruction of brain tissue—extremely rare today. More likely to involve implantation of electrodes into brain today. Prefrontal lobotomy: cut connections between frontal lobes (prefrontal cortex) and limbic areas Dr. Egas Moniz, Nobel prize winner, noticed that chimpanzees became calmer when part of brain was removed. Lobotomy caught on greatly for serious mental illness or just for being moody/difficult/problematic/defiant/headaches/backaches Very imprecise procedure. Variable results: lethargy, immaturity, impulsivity, loss of personality/creativity. Walter Freeman (a neurologist) came up with a stream-line version of lobotomy—transorbital lobotomy—shock patient into unconsciousness, pull eye-lid up, push eye aside, stick icepick in, twirl it around, and be done in 10 min. Personally did many, many surgeries. Today it is very sterile, head is held in place and they avoid as much damage as possible. Rosemary Kennedy was given a lobotomy at age 23. It was a disaster.

What are the two main types of treatment for psychological disorders?

Psychotherapy: process in which a trained therapist uses psychological techniques in order to improve the function or increase happiness of patient. Biomedical therapy: medication or medical procedures to treat, more serious biologically-based disorders.

What happened in the Zimbardo prison study (aka Stanford prison experiment)? What is the main lesson of this study?

Role Absorption Zimbardo Prison Study (Stanford Prison Experiment) 1971—college males were extensively tested and chosen to take part in the study Prison set up, and randomly, half of them were guards and half were prisoners. Things got so bad that the study was canceled after 2 weeks. The subjects forgot that they weren't actually guards or prisoners. Illustrates how easily we can lose ourselves ina role. Situations exert powerful influences on behavior. Some situations are so strong that they can affect the personalities of the people. Situational pressures/social pressures can keep people in bad situations. We think we would react differently but you must remember that whenw e are the observer we aren't aware of the full situation.

What are some of the roots of prejudice as discussed in class? (illusory correlations, confirmation bias, ingroup favoritism, learning, scapegoating, social inequalities, just-world phenomenon, hindsight bias, blaming the victim, lack of awareness)

Roots of Prejudice • Tendency to categorize things and people in order to simplify the world. We put people in social categories based on ethnicity, gender, age etc. • Once we categorize we overestimate the similarities in that category unless it's a category we belong to. We tend to think bad behaviors are characteristic of the entire group (illusory correlation) behavior of one person associated with whole group. • Confirmation bias: tendency to seek out and pay more attention to info that confirms our beliefs. If we believe in stereotypes, we are more likely to notice events that support those stereotypes. • Ingroup favoritism: people evaluate members of their own group more favorably than those outside of their group. • Learning is also a factor; prejudice/stereotypes are learned. Even little kids can be familiar with societal attitudes. • White kids show a stronger positive bias toward white than black kids do for blacks. • Scapegoating refers to when frustrated people blame others as an outlet/when things go wrong. (ex: "They took our jobs!") • Existence of systematic social inequalities: some people on average start off with more and have an easier path to success than others. Those that have wealth tend to justify their own position in society as well as those who have little to none. • Example of this is the Just-world phenomenon: the world is a fair place—people typically get what they deserve. Thus, if something good happens to someone, they must of done something to deserve it, if something bad happens, they must have done something to deserve it. People often see position of the poor as justly deserved. (Wealthy people work hard, poor don't.) This can lead people to unfairly blame victims for their misfortunes—if they are sufferings it must be bc they are being punished. Another example, woman is watched receiving shocks and the subjects were asked to rate the woman on a variety of things and they tended to berate the woman instead of feel sympathy. This was more strongly pronounced in people who believed in a just-world. Thought the woman deserved this. • Hindsight bias: the tendency for outcomes to seem obvious once they have occurred. Tend to think that we would have foreseen the outcome of some events ahead of time. This can also lead to unfair blaming of victims (we will think they should have seen this coming or known this happened or we would have known better had we been in their situation). Ex: subjects asked to read detailed description of date, at end half subjects' story said the woman was raped, other half ended normally. The one's with rape ending identified things in the woman's behavior that led to the assault, but those without the ending saw nothing.

When does schizophrenia develop? What factors predict outcome?

Schizophrenia typically develops in the 20s or late teens. It may develop suddenly or may come on more gradually. If it comes on suddenly and seems to be a response to stress, the person is more likely to recover. However, if it comes on more gradually, the person is less likely to get better. May be episodic or chronic. May have one episode and never have it again or repeated episodes with periods of relative normalcy. Or chronic in which it's always there. Most common course is repeated episodes. Very difficult to treat and most do not realize they are ill, so it's hard to get them to get treatment and they will often stop taking medicine.

Can will-power/self-control be depleted? P. 538

Self-control temporarily weakens after an exertion, replenishes with rest, and becomes stronger with exercise. Exceeding willpower temporarily deplete the mental energy needed for self-control on other tasks, and even deplete the blood sugar and neural activity associated with mental focus.

What are defense mechanisms (in general)? What is repression?

With all this turmoil in the unconscious creates anxiety and Freud believe we used defense mechanisms that are unconscious psychological and behavioral tactics that hide/distort reality and protect a person from unpleasant emotions. Freud believed the mother of all defense mechanisms was repression: pushing unpleasant thoughts out of conscious awareness

What is the eclectic approach? P. 652

an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy.

What is the self-serving bias? What is the better-than-average or above-average effect?

Self-serving bias: we have a a tendency think highly of ourselves. This is how we explain our successes and failures. When something good happens, we have a tendency to take credit, but when something bad happens we have a tendency to blame circumstances. Ex: we think of ourselves as being more attractive than we actually are. Researchers took a picture of each of their subjects and made a more attractive version and less attractive version. They were asked to pick themselves out of a line up and they were more quickly to pick up the more attractive version ourselves. Better-than-average effect: we have a tendency to think we are above average. Think we are superior to our peers. This extends to things linked with us (like thinking your dog is smarter than others' dogs) We see ourselves as better than our friends, but we see our friends as better than others. Picking on your sibling is alright, but other people can't because we are better than our siblings and our siblings are better than other.

What is schizophrenia? What are the symptoms? Know definitions and characteristics of the symptoms we covered. For instance, what are hallucinations and delusions? What are the most common types of hallucinations in schizophrenia? What are the different types of delusions we covered? What are loose associations? What is flat affect?

Severely disordered and irrational thoughts and ideas Distorted perceptions Inappropriate emotions and behaviors Psychosis: loss of contact with reality Do not have multiple personalities Schizophrenia (split mind—split with reality) Found in all cultures—one of the most disabling of psychological disorders. Quite common for people with schizophrenia to not realize they are ill and thus it is hard to get them treatment. Major symptoms of Schizophrenia: (person with schizophrenia will not typically have all of these) • Hallucinations: perception without sensory input (see things, smell, taste things, but auditory hallucinations are the most common—come in the form of voices, may give them orders, provide commentary on actions, insult or laugh at them) • Delusions: a belief that is firmly held despite a lack of objective supporting evidence; persecution (believes that others are plotting against them), grandeur (believes they are much greater than they actually are—may believe they are divine or have super powers, world leaders are trying to contact them for advice), reference (unrelated events are personally relevant). Can lead to bizarre behaviors. • Attentional problems: easily distracted; filtering (difficulty filtering out extraneous/unimportant stimuli) so attention isn't as selective as others. • Disorganized thinking and speech: thoughts and speech jump around; exhibit loose associations—jumping from topic to topic. Thoughts are only loosely connected. • Emotional disturbances: inappropriate emotions (laughing at something sad); flat affect (absence of emotion—speaking in monotone voice, no change in facial expression); • Social withdraw—delusions of persecution/paranoia—believe others are out to get them; trouble relating to most people—living in a different reality • Motor disturbance/Catatonia: Catatonic stupor: rigid immobility for hours on end; waxy flexibility: put them in a position and stay until muscle gets tired and it drops. Repetitive compulsive behaviors that seem to have no purpose (rock back and forth or clap)

Who was Sigmund Freud? What major contribution did he make to personality psychology? What were the main focuses of Freud's theory? What was his theory called?

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Austrian physician who lived and worked during Victorian era (marked by strict social conservatism and sexual repression);First major theory of personality Though he got just about everything wrong, his theory was hugely influential. This approach emphasizes childhood experiences, sexual/aggressive urges, and the unconscious mind. ; Psychoanalytic Approach

Social Anxiety Disorder :(

Social anxiety disorder: fear of other people's judgments, fear they will act in a way that will embarrass themselves, so they often avoid social situations.

What are social norms?

Social norms: learned rules of a culture about what to do in particular situations. We conform because we want to be accepted, not be the weird one.

What is social psychology?

Social psychology: how we think about, influence, and relate to one another. Focuses on situational influences.

What are social scripts and how might the scripts provided by the media influence sexual and/or aggressive behavior? P. 582

Social scripts: culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations; After so many action films, youngsters may acquire a script that plays in their head when they face real-life conflicts. Challenged, they may "act like a man" by intimidating or eliminating the threat. Likewise, after viewing the multiple sexual innuendoes and acts found in most prime-time TV hours-- often involving impulsive or short-term relationships--youths may acquire sexual scripts they later enact in real-life relationships. Music lyrics also write social scripts. In one set of experiments, German university men administered hotter chili sauce to a woman and recalled more negative feelings and beliefs about women after listening to woman-hating song lyrics. Man-hating song lyrics had a similar effect on the aggressive behavior of women listeners.

What are attributions? Dispositional/internal attributions? Situational/external attributions?

Social thinking: Involves explaining behavior whether it is our own or others'. Explaining behavior often involves making attributions (process of making inferences about the reason or causes of behavior/event) Two types of attributions we make when explaining behavior: • Disposition/internal attribution: we infer that their behavior is caused by their personality. Stable internal characteristic is causing them to behave the way they do. • Situational/external attribution: behavior is caused by the circumstances they are experiencing.

Is having lots of choices generally better than having fewer choices? P. 539

Some freedom and control is better than none, but ever-increasing choice does not breed happier lives. Excess of freedom in today's western cultures contributes to decreasing life satisfaction, increased depression, and sometimes decisional paralysis. Tyranny of choice brings information overload and a greater likelihood that we will feel regret over some of the unchosen options.

Specific phobia

Specific phobia: excessive, strong, irrational fear of particular situations or things. The fear is disproportionate to the threat actually posed by the object. They typically know their fear is irrational but can't help it.

What are stereotypes? What is prejudice? What is discrimination?

Stereotypes: beliefs about entire groups of people, typically involve false assumptions that all members of a group share the same characteristics. Prejudice: involves attitude/judgement based only on group membership. Discrimination is the differential treatment of people due to group membership.

What are the major problems with Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory?

• Unscientific: not testable • After-the-fact explanations: Freud just made anything fit into the theory • Not supported by research: people who are weaned early do not have particular personalities, and people who were potty trained earlier were not anal-retentive in adulthood Showed that we are influenced by unconscious mind, but not like Freud believed.

What is the bystander effect? How does the case of Kitty Genovese relate to the bystander effect? What is diffusion of responsibility?

The Bystander Effect: the presence of other people inhibits helping. The more bystanders there are, the less likely it is that any one of those bystanders will help. Research on bystander effect was jump started by murder of Kitty Genovese (1964)—bar manager returning to apartment and was attacked by random man and was screaming for help, she was just about in apartment and the guy returned and attacked her again. Some details are in dispute, but initial report is that about 30 neighbors heard or saw. Lights were flickering on in the apartments around. Police weren't called until 30 min later. More people who are around, the less responsible they feel. One way to deal is to point to a specific person and tell them to get help. Diffusion of responsibility: Diffusion of responsibility is a sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present.

What is the social-cognitive approach?

The Social cognitive Approach: Recognizes the interaction between personality, thinking, behavior, and the situation.

What is the fundamental attribution error? What is the actor-observer bias?

The fundamental attribution error: the tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors when judging the behavior of others. Judging the behavior of someone we don't know well... we tend to attribute their behavior more to their personality than their situation. (ex: bad waiter) (study in which people told woman is acting but attributed it to her personality regardless) Very common, and happens everywhere, but more prevalent in individualistic cultures. The actor-observer bias: we tend to make dispositional attributions for others' behaviors and situational attributions for our own (bad) behaviors. Combination of fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias. We are more aware of situational influences on our behavior (actor), but as the observer we're less aware of the situation.

What is the unconscious? How does it relate to psychological disorder in Freud's theory? How did Freud try to cure his patients?

The unconscious refers to thoughts, feelings, wishes, memories, desires that are beneath surface of conscious awareness and thus we are not aware of having them As a Dr. he was presented with symptoms that could not be explained medically. So he came up with the idea that symptoms that their problems were psychological and must stem from unconscious minds b/c they are unaware that they are psychological. Freud believed that the unconscious mind held denied wishes and repressed memories that were influencing his patients' behaviors in a disguised way. The patient needed to delve in and become aware of their unconscious problems and this would solve the problem. Solve through awareness.

What is the main goal of the cognitive therapies? What are some techniques used in cognitive therapies?

Therapists focus on the role that thinking plays in psychological disorders such as depression and various anxiety disorders. Goal: to replace maladaptive thinking with thoughts that are more constructive rather than destructive. Therapists points out how irrational some of the client's thinking is. (client says: "everybody hates me" therapist responds to combat this Self-statement modification: replacing negative mental statements with positive mental statements. Asked to write down positive events that happened each day and how that contributed to them. Gets them focusing more on positive things.

What is the NEO-PI-R? The MMPI?

Trait theory has led to objective personality tests. There are objective scoring methods that allow you to score tests Typically these tests are Personality Inventory Tests that measure several traits at once: Ex: (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Revised—NEO-PI-R measures big 5, predicts career success, criminal behavior etc. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventoryassesses big 5 plus all personality traits and diagnoses psychological disorders.

What is the aim of psychoanalysis? What is the main focus of psychodynamic therapy?

Trying to get into patient's unconscious minds. Delving into unconscious to see what is causing problems. By making them aware of the unconscious conflicts that would make the problems go away. Free association (just talking), dreams Not very common today b/c it involved several visits a week for years. Psychodymanic therapy is the more contemporary variation: focus on social relationships (examining how past influences the present—helping a person understand why they think, act, and feel the way they do)

How did Freud attempt to access the unconscious mind?

Two methods he used to get in unconscious mind were free association (having person say whatever pops into person's mind no matter how trivial or stupid it seems—once they became comfortable with this, the unconscious mind would slip out and show through in the association) and dream analysis (believed dreams were the royal road to the unconscious. Supposedly highly symbolic representations of the unconscious mind.

How long does it generally take for antidepressants to become effective? Are antidepressants happy pills? Do they prevent sadness?

Typically takes about 4-6 weeks to reach the full effectiveness. Antidepressants aren't happy pills. They don't make someone constantly happy. The person can still get sad, but they prevent deep long-lasting sadness.

How does prejudice maintain inequality?

Unjusitifed negative (sometimes positive) evaluation of someone based only on group membership. Tends to bias how we interpret the behavior of others. Can affect us automatically and unconsciously. Sexism and racism are examples. Serves as a legitimizing ideologies (the purpose is to justify and maintain inequalities by suggesting that some people are less worthy or capable as others)

What do laboratory experiments indicate regarding the effects of exposure to pornography? P. 582-583

Watching porn can cause people to accept the rape myth-- the idea that some women invite or enjoy rape and get "swept away" while being "taken." Surveys indicate that more men watch porn. Most consumers of porn commit no known sexual crimes, but they are more likely to accept the rape myth as reality. People heavily exposed to porn see the world as more sexual. One's own partner seems less attractive. Extramarital sex seems less troubling. A woman's friendliness seems more sexual. Sexual aggression seems less serious. These effects feed the ingredients of coercion against women.

What is the chameleon effect? p. 560

We take on emotional tones of those around us. Just hearing someone reading a neutral text in either a happy or sad sounding voice creates mood contagion in listeners. We are natural mimics unconsciously imitating others' expressions, postures, and voice tones

What is groupthink? Under what conditions is groupthink most likely to occur? How can it be prevented? P. 570-571

groupthink: the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. Fed by overconfidence, conformity, self-justification, and group polarization. prevented when a leader welcomes various opinions, invites experts' critiques of developing plans, and assigns people to identify possible problems.

What are mirror-image perceptions? P. 598

mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil aggressive.

What is the spotlight effect? p. 545

overestimating other's' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us)

How are psychological disorders related to poverty?

poverty (people in poverty are more likely to suffer from a disorder—more stresses or there's evidence that psychological disorders cause poverty

What is group polarization? P. 569-570

the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group (if you are business savvy at a college b/c that college is business savvy in general your freshman year, you will probably become more business savvy by the time you graduate)

What is deindividuation? P. 568

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

What is the false consensus effect? p. 522

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

What traits make up the Big Five Model of personality?

• 1. Conscientiousness • 2. Agreeableness • 3. Neuroticism (emotional stability vs. instability) • 4. Openness • 5. Extraversion Widely researched/most widely accepted theory (CANOE)

What is the foot-in-the-door technique? The door-in-the-face technique?

• Indirect mehtods: o Foot-in-the-door technique: asking someone a small request that they will agree too and then asking a larger request after b/c the person will be more likely to agree. (If you say you want to help disabled kid and then not actually buy a toy, that will create cognitive dissonance b/c we don't like inconsistencies in our actions/thoughts/words). o Door-in-the-face technique: (opposite) start with a large unreasonable request that is unlikely to be denied, then follow up with a smaller request. People will be more likely to follow up with smaller request b/c it doesn't seem like so much in comparison to the first major request.

What are the dimensions of personality in Eysenck's trait theory? How did the Eysencks believe that these trait dimensions were biologically influenced? How do introverts and extraverts tend to differ?

• Introversion/extraversion are one dimension of this theory o Highly introverted=solitary and reserved o Extraversion=sociable and outgoing • Emotional Stability/instability o Stable=calm and relaxed o Unstable=stable and anxious • Believed these were genetically influenced and based on how reactive one's nervous system is as well as one's baseline level of arousal in the nervous system (how activated the brain is when nothing much is happening) • Extraverts inherit low baseline levels of arousal which is why they seek out more stimulation and excitement to bring that arousal level up; more sensitive to reward and less sensitive to punishment. Less sensitive to pain than introverts. Experience more positive emotions. Wear more decorative clothing • Introverts inherit high baseline levels of arousal so don't need to really seek out stimulation/excitement. Introverts are more reactive to stimuli than extraverts; less sensitive to reward, more sensitive to punishment. Have more neutral emotions whereas extraverts have more positive emotions. More likely to wear comfortable clothes over style. • Introverts are more reactive to stimuli and thus salivate more to lemon juice on the tongue.

Do those who enjoy privilege in a society tend to be aware of their privilege?

• People who enjoy privilege in a society often fail to recognize the ways in which they benefit from their privilege status. It is taken for granted. People with privilege may deny that it exists and perceive others as whiny and demanding when they just want equal rights. People of color tend to be stopped by police a lot.

What is the trait approach? What is the purpose of factor analysis?

• Personality is seen as a combination of traits with people varying on how much of particular traits they possess o Traits—specific, stable, internal characteristics. • Trait theories differ in what fundamental dimensions/traits make up a personality o Researchers come up with personality questionnaires and give these to large numbers of people o Then perform a factor analysis on the results—mathematical procedure that ID's statistically correlated clusters of test items • Finds patterns in the data that represent some basic trait

What is Bandura's concept of reciprocal determinism?

• Reciprocal influence between personality and environment • Our environments have an impact on how we think and how our personalities develop. • However, it's also true that our personalities impact the environment. What environments you put yourself in. What activities you choose to engage in and who you choose to hang out with. • Personalities have an impact on how we react to events which influences the situation and that reaction is influenced by personality. • We are both products and producers of our environments

What is the relationship between self-esteem and aggressive behavior? What is defensive self-esteem?

• Refers to our feelings of self-worth • Bad to have too much or too little. People with high self-esteem tend to be happier, less shy, less lonely • Self-esteem is also related to talkativeness (higher self-esteem=more talkativeness—think they are more interesting) • No relationship between self-esteem and GPA, but there is a relationship between self-esteem and violence/aggression (higher self-esteem=more likely aggressive/violent). People with unrealistic high self-esteem tend to become aggressive when their self-esteem is threatened or challenged by someone they see as inferior. • Distinction between defensive and secure self-esteem. Defensive is fragile, insecure, and threatened in nature. Particularly likely to become aggressive when challenged. However, with secure, it doesn't matter what other people think. Their self-esteem is secure and not easily rattled. Less likely to become aggressive. •

What is the main premise of the humanistic approach? What does Rogers' Person-Centered Perspective indicate? What factors promote or inhibit growth according to this perspective?

• Very positive and optimistic when it comes to humanity • Sees people as basically good rather than evil • We are guided by an innate drive to fulfill our potential (reaching one's full potential is known as self-actualization • Roger's Person Centered Theory: o quality of personal relationships. Whether we can grow and reach our full potential rely on quality of personal relationships o Requirements for these relationships are genuineness (being open with one's own true feelings), empathy (feeling what others feel), and acceptance (positively regarded by others)— this supports our personal growth o Unconditional positive regard—pure genuine love with no strings attached, feeling accepted by love ones even though they know our faults o Conditional positive regard— feeling that people in our lives will reject us if we don't conform to our standards or meet our expectiations. o According to Roger's our progress toward fulfilling our potential will be thwarted if we can't behave in a self-consistent way (ex: if you are gay and pretend you are straight to please others) • Criticized for too much focus on the self or being too positive when it comes to humanity. It's very vague and thus is difficult to research.

What is Rotter's expectancy theory (of personal control)? What is meant by internal and external locus of control? What is learned helplessness and how does it relate to the concept of personal control?

• We behave according to what we expect to happen as a result of our behavior • What we expect to happen as a result of our own behavior depends on a lot on our feelings of personal control. • When it comes to personal control there are two types: o Internal locus (place) of control: feels that their own behaviors have a huge impact on what happens to them. They have an expectation that their own efforts control events. Have a sense of control of their own lives, which is a good thing. Associated with achievement, health, independence, and well-being. o External locus of control: lack a sense of control over their own lives. Feel that their behaviors have very little impact on what happens. Tend to believe that what happens to them is more a matter of luck or fate. Expect external forces to control them. Associated with depression and learned helplessness (tendency to give up on one's own effort to control the environment after previous efforts had no impact—stop trying when we learn our actions have no affect on our events—thus we fail when we could maybe succeed. It's a learned hopelessness). Common for individuals who have had repeated traumatic experiences over which they have no control. Experiencing helplessness leads us to be helplessness in the future. Classic experience done where dogs were placed into a chamber and subjected to electric shock. For half of the dogs, there was a lever in the box. If they hit the lever, the shock would stop. For other half of dogs, the lever did not stop the shock. Second part of experiment, dog placed into shuttle box. One side of box was wired to shock, other wasn't. For the dogs that previously had a lever would jump around and tried different things to get it to stop. The dogs that had no control just did nothing and didn't try to escape the shock. Learned helplessness has been found in a variety of animals such as slugs and cockroaches.