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Psy101 Notes - Summary Psychology
Introduction to Psychology (Ateneo de Manila University)
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CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
1.1
What
•
The
scientific
study
• Four goals of psychology:
1. Description
2. Explanation
3. Prediction
4. Control
of
is
behavior
and
Psychology?
mental
processes.
Psychology Then: The History of Psychology
1.2
Early
Psychology
• Psychology as a new science
- 1879, Germany: Wilhelm Wundt’s psychology laboratory
- Technique of objective introspection.
• Structuralism
- Edward Titchener brought to America but it died out in the early 20th century.
- A theory of consciousness by Wundt and Titchener
• Functionalism
- William James proposed a counter point of view
- Stressed the way the mind allows us to adapt
- Functionalism influenced the modern fields: educational psychology, evolutionary
psychology, and industrial/organizational psychology.
• A number of women and members of minorities also contributed to psychology despite the
prevailing cultural hindrances during their times
1.3
Other
Early
Approaches
• Gestalt Psychology
Wertheimer
studied
sensation
and
perception
• Psychoanalysis
- Freud proposed that the unconscious mind controls much of our conscious behavior
• Behaviorism
- Watson focused only on the study of observable stimuli and responses
- Watson and Rayner demonstrated that a phobia could be learned
- Mary Cover Jones demonstrated that this phobia could be counter-conditioned
Psychology Now: Modern Perspectives
1.4 Modern Perspectives
- Modern Freudians changed the emphasis to a kind of neo-Freudianism
- Skinner’s operant conditioning of voluntary behavior became a major force in the
20th century; he introduced the concept of Reinforcement to behaviorism.
• Humanism
- Focuses on free will and the human potential for growth
- Maslow and Rogers
- A reaction to the deterministic nature of behaviorism and psychoanalysis
• Cognitive Psychology
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- The study of learning, memory, language, and problem solving
- Includes the field of cognitive neuroscience
• Biopsychology
- emerged as the study of the biological bases of behavior such as:
- hormones, heredity, chemicals in the nervous system, structural defects in the
brain, and the effects of physical diseases.
• Evolutionary Perspective
- To look at the way the mind works and why it works as it does
- Behavior is seen as having an adaptive or survival value
Psychological Professionals and Areas of Specialization
1.5
The
Field
of
Psychology
and
Professions
• Psychologists
- Have academic degrees
- Can do counseling and teaching
- Can research and may specialize in areas of psychology
• Different areas of specialization in psychology:
- Clinical, counseling, developmental, social, and personality as areas of work or study
• Psychiatrists
- Are medical doctors who provide diagnosis and therapy for persons with mental
disorders.
- Psychiatric social workers have special training in the influences of the environment
1.6
Psychology
as
a
Science
• The Scientific Method
- A way to determine facts and control the possibilities of error and bias when
observing behavior.
- The five steps are:
1. Perceiving the Question
2. Forming a Hypothesis
3. Testing the Hypothesis
4. Drawing Conclusions
5. Reporting the Results
1.7
Naturalistic
and
Laboratory
• Naturalistic observations
- Watching animals or people in their natural environments
- Disadvantage: lack of control
• Laboratory observations
- Watching animals or people in a controlled situation such as a laboratory
- Disadvantage: artificial situation
Settings
1.8
Studies
and
• Case studies
- Detailed investigations of one subject
- Information gained from case studies cannot be applied to other cases
• Surveys
Surveys
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-
Asking standardized questions of large groups of people that represent a sample of
the population of interest.
People in surveys may lie or remember incorrectly.
1.9
Correlational
Technique
and
Relationships
• Correlation
- A statistical technique that allows researchers to discover and predict relationships
between variables of interest.
- Positive correlations exist when increases in one variable are matched by increases
in the other variable
- Negative correlations exist when increases in one variable are matched by
decreases in the other variable
- Correlations cannot prove cause-and-effect relationships.
1.10
Steps
in
Designing
Experiments
• Experiments
- Tightly controlled manipulations of variables
- Helps determine cause-and-effect relationships
• Independent Variable
- Is deliberately manipulated by the experimenter
- To see if related changes occur in the behavior or responses of the participants and
is given to the experimental group.
• Dependent Variable
- Is the measured responses or behavior of the participants.
• Control Group
- Receives either a placebo treatment or nothing
• Random assignment of participants to experimental groups
- helps to control for individual differences both within and between the groups that
might otherwise interfere with the experiment’s outcome.
• *Quasi-experiment*
- Similar to experiments but don’t include the random assignment of participants
1.11
Problem:
Placebo
and
Experimenter
Effects
• Single-blind Studies
- Subjects don’t know if they are in the experimental or control groups
• Double-blind Studies
- Neither the experimenters nor the subjects know this information
- Researchers instruct experimenters without telling them what is being tested
1.12
Elements
of
a
Real-world
Experiment
• An experiment studying the effect of negative stereotypes on test performance of athletes
( Jameson et al., 2007) found that exposure to negative stereotypes prior to taking a test
resulted in poorer performance by athletes than the performance of athletes whose exposure
came after the test.
Ethics of Psychological Research
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1.13 Ethical Concerns Regarding Research with People and Animals
• Ethical Guidelines for Doing Research with Human Beings
- Protection of rights and well-being of participants
- Informed consent of participants
- Justification when deception is used
- The right of participants to withdraw at any time
- Protection of participants from physical or psychological harm
- Confidentiality of personal information
- Debriefing of participants at the end of the study
- Researchers are also responsible for correcting any undesirable consequences that
may result from the study.
• Animals in psychological research are useful models because…
- They are easier to control than humans
- Have simpler behavior
- Can be used in ways that are not permissible with humans
Applying Psychology to Everyday Life: Critical Thinking
1.14
Principles
of
Critical
Thinking
and
Use
in
Everyday
Life
• Critical thinking
- The ability to make reasoned judgments.
- Four basic criteria of critical thinking are…
- That there are few concepts that do not need to be tested
- Evidence can vary in quality
- Claims by experts and authorities do not automatically make something true
- Keeping an open mind is important
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CHAPTER 2 – BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
2.1 Neurons and Nerves
• Neurons
- Parts:
- Dendrites
- Branch-like
- Receives messages from other cells
- Soma
- Cell body that contains organelles like the nucleus
- Axon
- Carry messages along to the terminals
- Myelin Sheath
- Protects and insulates axon
- Helps speed up action potential
- Axon Terminals / Synaptic Knobs
- Communicates to other cells through neurotransmitters
• Glial Cells:
- Metabolic and physical support to nerve cells
- Produces Myelin
- Oligodendrocytes
- Found in the Central Nervous System
- Schwann Cells
- Found in the Peripheral Nervous System
- Can self-repair damage
• Neural Impulse:
- Builds electrostatic pressure at rest phase
- Neurons have semi-permeable membranes
- Negative potassium ions inside
- Positive sodium ions outside
- Action Potential: firing impulse
- Electric charge reversal
- All-or-none fashion
2.2 Synapses and Neurotransmitters
• Synapse
- Goes along axon through the synaptic vesicles then out to terminals
- Neurotransmitters cross the synapse and carry messages to the receptor sites of the
receiving neuron
- 2 types: Inhibitory and Excitatory synapses
• Neurotransmitters
- Affected by 2 types of chemicals:
- Antagonist
- Reduces or blocks certain neurotransmitters
- Agonist
- Enhances certain neurotransmitters
- Examples:
- Acetylcholine (ACh)
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-
-
-
-
-
-
- Excitatory or inhibitory;
- Arousal, attention, memory, and controls muscle contractions
Norepinephrine (NE)
- Mainly excitatory;
- Arousal and mood
Dopamine (DA)
- Excitatory or inhibitory;
- Control of movement and sensations of pleasure
Serotonin (5-HT)
- Excitatory or inhibitory;
- Sleep, mood, anxiety, and appetite
Gaba-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
- Major inhibitory neurotransmitter;
- Sleep and inhibits movement
Glutamate
- Major excitatory neurotransmitter;
- Learning, memory formation, nervous system development, and
synaptic plasticity
Endorphins
- Inhibitory neural regulators;
- Pain relief
2.3-2.4 Overview of the Nervous System
• Nervous System
- Central Nervous System (CNS)
- Brain
- Interprets information received
- Issues orders to organs
- Spinal Cord
- Pathway from brain to PNS
- Contains the reflex arc
- Contains afferent, efferent and interneurons
- Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
- Autonomic Nervous System
- Involuntary and automatic functions
- Regulates glands, organs, heart rate, blood pressure,
digestion, dilation of blood vessels and pupils, etc.
- Parasympathetic Division
- Maintains normal function; energy efficient
- Sympathetic Division
- Fight-or-flight reaction to stress
- Somatic Nervous System
- Voluntary functions
- Skeletal muscle movement
- Sensory System (afferent)
- Messages from senses to CNS
- Motor System (efferent)
- Messages from CNS to muscles and glands
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2.5 Endocrine Glands
- Secretes hormones in the bloodstream that affect other organs
• Pituitary Gland
- Master gland
- Located underneath the hypothalamus
- Secretes oxytocin for milk production, etc.
- Secretes vasopressin as an antidiuretic
- Produces growth hormones in puberty
• Pineal Gland
- Produces melatonin
- Sleep-wake cycle and other biological rhythms
• Thyroid
- Hormones for growth and metabolism
- Secretes thyroxine for growth
• Pancreas
- Regulates blood sugar level
- Secretes insulin to reduce^
- Secretes glucagon to increase^
- Diabetes and hypoglycemia disorders involve the pancreas
• Gonads
- Regulates hormones for sexual growth, activity and reproduction
- Testes
- Testosterone
- Ovaries
- Estrogen
- Progesterone
• Adrenal Glands
- On top of each kidney
- Produces 30 different corticoids (steroid-type hormones)
- Includes cortisol which is produced in stressful situations and releases
glucose to the blood and energy from fat
- Regulates salt intake, stress and sexual development
2.6 Examining the Brain*
• Lesioning Studies
- Destruction of some parts of the brain to study its effect
- not allowed on humans
• Brain Stimulation
- Less destructive than above
- Invasive:
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
- Non-invasive:
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
- Repetitive… (rTMS)
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
• Mapping Structure
- Computed Tomography (CT)
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- Computerized X-ray scans
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Uses magnetic fields, radio pulses, computer
- More detailed look
• Mapping Function
- Electroencephalogram (EEG)
- Records electrical activity in the brain
- Uses scalp electrodes and computer
- Magnetoencephalogram (MEG)
- Similar to the above
- Allows for direct identification of areas of brain activity
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
- Uses radioactive glucose as tracers that show up in scans
- The glucose in blood flow is concentrated at active regions
- Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)
- Uses more obtainable tracers
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
- Records oxygen levels of blood circulating in the brain
- More accurate than PET
- Real-time version… (rt-fMRI)
*not discussed in class
The Structures of the Brain
2.7 Hindbrain
• Medulla
- Very bottom of the brain and at the top of the spinal cord
- Controls life-sustaining functions like breathing and swallowing
- Left-right nerves begin crossover here
• Pons
- Above the medulla, bridges upper and lower parts of the brain
- Influences sleep, dreaming, arousal and left-right coordination
• Reticular Formation
- Runs through the medulla and the pons
- Controls level of attention and arousal
• Cerebellum
- At the base and back of the brain
- Coordinates fine, rapid motor movement, learned reflexes, posture and muscle tone;
- May also have some cognitive and emotional functions
2.8 Limbic System
• Thalamus
- Relay station for sensory information* to the appropriate regions of the cortex
- *Except smell, which has its own pathway from the olfactory bulb to the brain
• Hypothalamus
- Controls hunger, thirst, sexual behavior, sleeping and waking, and emotions
- Also controls the pituitary gland
• Hippocampus
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- Curved structure within each temporal lobe
- Forms long-term declarative memories and stores memory of the locations of objects
• Amygdala
- Controls fear responses and memory of fearful stimuli
• Dopamine Centers
- Ventral tegmental area
- Ventral pallidum
- Nucleus accumbens
2.9 Cortex
- The outer covering of the cerebrum
- Corticalization increases cortical area and brain complexity
- Has two cerebral hemispheres connected by the Corpus Callosum
• Occipital lobes
- Back and base of each hemisphere
- Primary visual cortex: processes visual information from the eyes
- Visual association cortex: identifies and makes sense of visual information
• Parietal lobes
- Top and back of the cortex
- The Somatosensory Cortex runs down its front and is for:
- Sense of touch
- Temperature
- Body position
• Temporal lobes
- Primary auditory area: processes auditory information from the ears
- Auditory association area: interprets
- Also involved in understanding language
• Frontal lobes
- Contain the motor cortex which controls voluntary muscles
- Where higher mental functions occur like:
- Planning
- Language
- Complex decision making
- Orbitofrontal Cortex: obsessive compulsive behaviors, anger
2.10 Association Areas of the Cortex
- Found in all lobes but particularly in the frontal lobes
- Help make sense of sensory information and that of the lower brain areas
• Broca’s Area
- In the left frontal lobe
- Responsible for fluent, understandable speech
- Broca’s Aphasia: Damage to the area leading to inability to speak fluently
• Wernicke’s Area
- In the left temporal lobe
- Responsible for understanding language and meaningful speech
- Wernicke’s Aphasia: Damage to the area leading to inability to understand and
produce meaningful language
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2.11 Left and Right Hemispheres
- Split-brain patients were studied
- Corpus callosum is severed to correct epilepsy
- Information to the left can be verbalized, but right only info cannot
• Left Side
- Processes information sequentially
- Controls the following:
- Language
- Writing
- Logical thought
- Analysis
- Mathematical abilities
- Can speak
• Right Side
- Processes information globally
- Controls the following:
- Emotional expression
- Spatial perception
- Recognition (faces, patterns, melodies, emotions)
- Cannot speak
2.12 Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)*
- Diagnosed in children
- May persist to adulthood
- Multiple possible causes:
- Genetics
- Environmental
- Several differences in brain structure and function
*not discussed in class
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CHAPTER 5 – LEARNING
5.1 Definition of Learning
● Relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice
● Different from maturation, which is genetically controlled.
Classical Conditioning
5.2 Elements and Characteristics of Classical Conditioning
● Ivan Pavlov discovered one stimulus can, through pairing with another, come to
produce a similar response.
● The Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
○ Stimulus that is naturally occurring and produces the innate, or involuntary
unconditioned response (UCR)
○ Unconditioned: meaning not learned
● The Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
○ Begins as a neutral stimulus (NS) then paired with the UCS.
○ Eventually elicits an involuntary and automatic behavior on its own.
○ The response is called the “conditioned response” (CR)
○ Both stimulus and response are learned.
● The NS and UCS must be paired several times.
● CS must precede the UCS by only a few seconds.
● Other important aspects:
○ Stimulus Generalization
■ Tendency to respond to a stimulus that’s similar to the CS
○ Stimulus Discrimination
■ Tendency to stop making generalized response to similar stimulus
because the similar stimulus is never paired with the UCS
○ Extinction
■ Disappearance/weakening of a CS following the absence of the UCS
○ Spontaneous Recovery
■ Reappearance of a CS even after extinction has occurred
○ Higher-order Conditioning
■ Occurs when a strong CS is paired with a NS, turning the NS into a
secondary CS
5.3 Conditioned Emotional Response
● Learned Phobia
○ Watson demonstrated a phobia could be learned by exposing a baby to a
white rat and a loud noise, producing a conditioned fear of the rat.
● Conditioned Taste Aversion
○ Occurs when an organism becomes nauseated after eating a certain food.
● Some CR are more easily learned because of biological preparedness.
● Stimulus Substitution
○ Pavlov: The NS substituted for the UCS through association over time.
● The Cognitive Perspective
○ Asserts that the CS provides some information or expectancy about the
coming of the UCS for conditioning to occur
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Operant Conditioning
5.4 How Operant Conditioning Occurs
• The Law of Effect:
● Developed by Edward Thorndike
● A response followed by a pleasurable consequence will likely be repeated but…
● ...a response followed by an unpleasant consequence will unlikely be repeated.
• Learning of Voluntary Responses: “Operant Conditioning”
● Named by Burrhus Frederic Skinner
● Voluntary responses are what we use to operate in the world around us.
5.5 Reinforcement
● Developed by B. F. Skinner
● Process of strengthening a response by following it with a reward,
● Primary Reinforcer
○ Satisfies a basic, natural drive
○ (e.g. food or water)
● Secondary Reinforcer
○ Something that becomes reinforcing only after being paired with a primary
reinforcer.
● Positive Reinforcement
○ Response is followed by the presentation of a pleasurable stimulus.
● Negative Reinforcement
○ Response is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus.
● Shaping
○ Reinforcement of successive approximations to some final goal
○ Allows behavior to be molded from a simple behavior that’s already present
5.6 Schedules of Reinforcement
• Continuous Reinforcement
● Occurs when each and every correct response is followed by a reinforcer
• Partial Reinforcement
● Only some correct responses are followed by reinforcement
● Much more resistant to extinction (called the partial reinforcement effect)
• Fixed Interval
● At least one correct response must be made within a set interval of time to obtain
reinforcement.
• Variable Interval
● Reinforcement follows the first correct response made after an interval of time that
changes for each reinforcement opportunity.
• Fixed Ratio
● A certain number of responses is required before reinforcement is given.
• Variable Ratio
● A varying number of responses is required to obtain reinforcement.
5.7 Punishment
● Is any following stimulus that makes the response less likely to happen again.
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●
●
Positive Punishment (punishment by application)
○ Response is followed by the application of an unpleasant stimulus
○ (e.g. spanking)
Negative Punishment (punishment by removal)
○ Response is followed by the removal of some pleasurable stimulus
○ (e.g. taking away a child’s toy)
5.8 Some Problems with Using Punishment
• Disadvantages
● A person who uses aggressive punishment acts as a model for aggressive behavior.
● Normally has only a temporary effect on behavior.
● Encourages avoidance of punishment and not the undesired behavior itself.
• Ways to Make Punishment More Effective
● Meted out immediately after the undesired behavior and done consistently.
● Pairing the punishment of undesirable behavior with the reinforcement of the
desirable one.
5.9 How Operant Stimuli Control Behavior*
● Discriminative stimuli
○ Cues which provide information about what response to make in order to
obtain reinforcement.
● Instinctive Drift
○ Tendency for an animal that is being trained by operant conditioning to revert
to instinctive patterns of behavior rather than maintaining the trained behavior.
● Shaping, extinction, generalization and discrimination, and spontaneous recovery are
other concepts that also apply in operant conditioning.
*not discussed in class
5.10 Behavior Modification and Involuntary Biological Responses*
● Operant conditioning can be used in many settings to change, or modify, behavior.
● This use is termed behavior modification and includes the use of reinforcement and
shaping to alter behavior.
● Token economies are a type of behavior modification in which secondary reinforcers,
or tokens, are used.
● Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the modern version of behavior modification and
makes use of functional analysis and behavioral techniques to change human
behavior.
● Neurofeedback is a modified version of biofeedback in which a person learns to
modify the activity of his or her brain.
*not discussed in class
Cognitive Learning Theory
5.11 Cognitive Learning and Some Examples
● Learning requires cognition, or the influence of an organism’s thought processes.
● Latent Learning
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○
●
●
Edward C. Tolman found that rats that were allowed to wander in a maze but
were not reinforced still showed evidence of having learned the maze once
reinforcement became possible.
○ Learning remains hidden until its application becomes useful
Learned Helplessness
○ Martin Seligman found that dogs that had been placed in an inescapable
situation failed to try to escape when it became possible to do so, remaining
in the painful situation as if helpless to leave.
○ Tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of a history of
repeated failures in the past
○ Found parallels between learned helplessness and depression.
○ Affects the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the dorsal raphe nucleus
■ One determines what things lie within our control
■ The other freezes us and leaves us anxious
Insight
○ Wolfgang Köhler found evidence of the sudden perception of the relationships
among elements of a problem in chimpanzees.
○ Cannot be learned by trial-and-error alone
5.12 Observational Learning
● Observational learning is acquired by watching others model certain actions.
● Distinct from performative learning as this doesn’t require actual performance of the
behavior in order to learn
● Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that young children will imitate the
aggressive actions of a model even when there is no reinforcement for doing so.
● The Four Elements of Modeling
○ By Albert Bandura
○ Needed to be present for observational learning to occur:
■ Attention
■ Memory
■ Imitation
■ Motivation
5.13 Real-world Application of Conditioning*
● Writer Karawynn Long used shaping, reinforcement, and classical conditioning to
train her cat to use the toilet in her bathroom instead of a litter box.
*not discussed in class
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CHAPTER 6 – MEMORY
6.1
What
Memory
Is...
• Definition
● An active system that receives information from the senses, organizes and alters it
as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information from storage.
• The Three Processes
● Encoding
● Storage
● Retrieval
• Levels-of-Processing Model*
● information that gets more deeply processed is more likely to be remembered.
• Parallel Distributed Processing Model*
● Information is simultaneously stored across an interconnected neural network that
stretches across the brain.
*not discussed in class
The
Information-Processing
Model:
Three
Memory
Systems
6.2
First
Stage:
Sensory
Memory
• Iconic Memory
● Visual sensory memory
● Afterimage/icon is held in neural form
● Lasts about ¼ to ½ second before being masked by new information
● Eidetic Imagery: a rare condition of retaining visual memory for 30 secs. or more
• Echoic Memory
● Auditory form of sensory memory
● Smaller capacity than iconic memory, but longer duration
● Takes the form of an echo that lasts for 2 to 4 seconds.
6.3
Second
Stage:
Short-term
Memory
• Short-term Memory
● Where information is held while it is conscious and being used.
● Info is drawn from selective attention (ability to focus on one stimulus among many)
● Capacity of STM
○ It holds about 3 to 5 pieces of information.
○ Digit-span test shows 7 +2 bits can be held.
○ Chunking
■ Related information can be grouped to increase STM capacity
● Duration: lasts about 15-30 seconds without rehearsal.
● Types of STM
○ Visual Memory
○ Auditory Memory
○ Working Memory
■ Coordinates, interprets and manipulates STM information
● Maintenance Rehearsal
○ Technique of repeating information in the head to maintain it in STM
○ Tends to be encoded in auditory form
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●
STM can be lost through
○ Decay over time and failure to rehearse
○ Interference by similar information
○ New
information
pushing
older
information
out
6.4 Third Stage: Long-term Memory
● System where memories that are stored more or less permanently
● Unlimited in capacity
● Relatively permanent in duration
● Transferring Information From STM to LTM
○ Maintenance Rehearsal
■ Remembering through constant repetition
○ Elaborative Rehearsal
■ Information that is more meaningfully processed will be retained &
retrieved
more
efficiently
6.5 Organization and Types of Long-term Memory
• Types of Long-term Memory
● Non-declarative Memories (implicit memory)
● Memories for skills, procedures, habits, and conditioned responses.
● Difficult to bring into conscious awareness.
● Declarative Memories (explicit memory)
● Semantic Memories
○ General knowledge and facts
● Episodic Memories
○ Personal information not readily available to others
○ Includes daily activities and personal experiences
● A person is aware of possessing these kinds of memories
• Semantic Networks
● Nodes of related information spreading out from a central piece of knowledge.
● Basis
for
the
organization
of
Retrieval
of
Long-Term
LTM
Memories
6.6
Cues
for
Remembering
• Retrieval cues
● Stimuli that are encoded at the same time as a new memory.
● They can be words, meanings, sounds, etc.
• Encoding Specificity
● Occurs when context-dependent information are encoded as retrieval cues for
specific memories.
• State-dependent Learning
● Occurs when physiological/psychological states are encoded as retrieval cues for
memories formed while in those states.
6.7
Memory
Retrieval
Processes
• Recall
● Information to be retrieved must be “pulled” out of memory with few or no cues
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● Retrieval failure is the failure to recall (at least temporarily)
• Recognition
● Involves matching information with stored images or facts.
● False positive
○ Error in recognition that matches the wrong information with a false memory
• Serial Position Effect
● Also known as the primacy or recency effect
● Occurs when the first items and the last items in a list of information are recalled
more efficiently than items in the middle of the list.
• Memory Revision
● Loftus found that people constantly update and revise their memories of events.
● May include adding information acquired later to a previous memory.
● This may also be in error which distorts the earlier memory.
• Automatic Encoding of Some Kinds of Information
● Requires very little effort to place into LTM.
• Memory for Particularly Emotional or Traumatic Events
● Can lead to the formation of flashbulb memories*
● *Vivid, detailed memories as if it were a snapshot of the event but are no more
accurate than any other memories.
The
Reconstructive
Nature
of
Long-Term
6.8 Reliability of Long-term Memories
• Constructive Processing
● Memories are reconstructed from the various bits and pieces of information that have
been stored away in different places at the time of encoding
• Hindsight Bias
● Occurs when people falsely believe that they knew the outcome of some event
because they have included knowledge of the event’s true outcome into their
memories of the event itself.
• Misinformation Effect
● Tendency of people who are asked or given misleading information to incorporate
that
into
their
memories
for
a
particular
event.
6.9
False-memory
Syndrome
• Rather than improving memory retrieval, hypnosis makes the creation of false memories
more
likely.
• False-memory syndrome is the creation of false or inaccurate memories through
suggestion,
especially
while
hypnotized.
• Pezdek and colleagues assert that false memories are more likely to be formed for
plausible
false
events
than
for
implausible
ones.
Forgetting
6.10
Why
We
Forget*
• Curve of Forgetting
● Ebbinghaus found that information is mostly lost within 1 hour after learning and then
gradually fades away.
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•
Some
“forgetting”
is
actually
a
failure
to
encode
information.
• Memory Trace Decay Theory
● Assumes the presence of a physical memory trace that decays with disuse over time.
• Forgetting in LTM is most likely due to proactive or retroactive interference.
*not discussed in class
Neuroscience
of
Memory
6.11
How
Memories
are
Formed
in
the
Brain
• Memory Storage Locations
● Procedural Memories
○ Evidence suggests that they are stored in the cerebellum
● Short-term Memories
○ Stored in the prefrontal and temporal lobes of the cortex.
● Semantic and Episodic Memories
○ May be stored in different parts of the frontal and temporal lobes as well.
● Memory for Fear of Objects
● Most likely stored in the amygdala.
• Long-term Declarative Memories
● The hippocampus is responsible for the formation of these memories
● If removed, the ability to store anything new is completely lost.
• Consolidation
● The physical changes in neurons that take place during the formation of a memory.
6.12
Occurrence
of
Amnesia*
• Retrograde Amnesia
● Memory for the past (prior to the injury) is lost
● Can be a loss of only minutes or a loss of several years.
● Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can cause this by disrupting consolidation.
• Anterograde Amnesia
● Memory for anything new becomes impossible
● Although old memories may still be retrievable.
• Alzheimer’s Disease
● The primary memory difficulty here is anterograde amnesia
● Although retrograde amnesia can also occur as the disease progresses.
● It has multiple causes, many of which are not yet identified.
● Various drugs are in use or in development, with hopes of slowing/stopping the
progression of Alzheimer’s disease
• Infantile Amnesia
● Most people cannot remember events that occurred before age 2 or 3.
● It is most likely due to the implicit nature of infant memory.
*not
discussed
in
class
Applying
Psychology
to
Everyday
Life:
Health
and
Memory*
6.13
Effects
on
Memory
of
Sleep,
Exercise,
and
Diet*
• Good nutrition, physical exercise, and adequate sleep contribute to memory functions.
• Diets rich in omega-3s (especially DHA) may help hippocampal cells communicate better
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• Norepinephrine release during physical exercise appears to strengthen memories.
• Sleep is a critical component, both in the consolidation of memories and normal functioning
of the hippocampus.
*not discussed in class
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CHAPTER 7 – THINKING
Definition of Thinking (Cognition)
● Refers to the mental activity that occurs in the brain when information is being
organized, stored, communicated, or processed.
7.1 Mental images and Concepts in Thinking
• Mental images
● Represent objects or events and have a picture-like quality.
● Involves different parts of the brain aside from the occipital lobe.
• Concepts
● Ideas that represent a class or category of events, objects, or activities.
● Superordinate Concepts
○ The most general form of a concept.
○ Formal Concepts
■ Clearly defined by a specific set of rules and features
○ Natural Concepts
■ Formed as a result of personal experiences
○ Prototypes
■ A concept that more closely match the defining characteristics of that
concept.
● Basic Level Type Concepts
○ A type of concept around which other similar concepts are organized
7.2 Problem Solving
● Problem solving consists of thinking and behaving in certain ways to reach a goal.
• Mechanical Solutions
● Trial-and-Error
○ Method in which possible solutions are exhausted one-by-one until one
solution succeeds
● Algorithms
○ A type of rote solution in which one follows step-by-step procedures for
solving certain types of problems.
• Heuristic
● Also known as a “rule of thumb”
● A strategy that narrows down the possible solutions for a problem using educated
guesses
● Representative Heuristic
○ Assumption that any object sharing characteristics of a certain category is a
member of that category
● Availability Heuristic
○ Estimating the likelihood of an event based on ease of recalling relevant
information or related examples
• Insight
● The sudden perception of a solution to a problem.
7.3 Failure in Problem Solving and Creative Thinking
• Functional Fixedness
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● Tendency to see objects as having only the use for which they were intended...
● Thus failing to see them as possible tools for solving other problems.
• Confirmation Bias
● Tendency to search for evidence that confirms one’s beliefs...
● While ignoring any evidence to the contrary.
• Divergent thinking
● Involves coming up with as many different answers as possible.
● This is a kind of creativity (combining ideas or behavior in new ways).
• Some Common Characteristics of Creative People
● Good at mental imagery.
● Knowledgeable on a wide range of topics.
● Unafraid to be different.
● Value their independence.
● Often unconventional in their work but not in other areas.
Intelligence*
7.4 Theories on Intelligence*
• Definition
● The ability to understand the world, think rationally or logically, and use resources
effectively when faced with challenges or problems.
• Two Factor-Theory of Intelligence
● By Charles Spearman
● General Intelligence (G factor)
● This as the ability to reason and solve problems whereas...
● Specific Intelligence (S factor)
● Task-specific abilities in certain areas such as music, business, or art.
• Theory of Multiple Intelligence
● By Dr. Howard Gardner
● Expands intelligence into the following subcategories:
● Visual-spatial
● Verbal-linguistic
● Logical-mathematical
● Bodily-kinesthetic
● Interpersonal
● Intrapersonal
● Naturalistic
● Existential
• Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
● By Robert Sternberg
● Distinguished into the following aspects:
● Analytical (componential) Facet
● Creative (experiential) Facet
● Practical (contextual) Facet
*not discussed in class
7.5 Measurement of Intelligence and Neuropsychology*
• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
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●
Yields an IQ score that was once determined by dividing the mental age of the
person by the chronological age and multiplying that quotient by 100
● However, it now involves comparing a person’s score to a standardized norm.
• Wechsler Intelligence Tests
● Yield four index scores derived from both verbal and nonverbal subtests and an
overall score of intelligence.
• Important Factors in Constructing an Intelligence Test
● Standardization
● Validity
● Reliability
• Deviation IQs
● Based on the normal curve, defining different levels of intelligence based on the
deviation of scores from a common mean.
• Criticism for IQ tests as being culturally biased.
• Role of Neuropsychologists
● Care of individuals with traumatic brain injury and other conditions where brain
functioning has been negatively impacted.
● Concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, affects the lives of many athletes and
military personnel.
*not discussed in class
7.6 Intellectual Disability*
• Definition
● A neurodevelopmental condition in which IQ falls below 70
● Adaptive behavior across conceptual, social, and practical domains of life is severely
deficient for a person of a particular age.
● Symptoms must also first be present during the developmental period.
• Four Levels of Intellectual Disability
● Mild, Moderate, Severe, and Profound.
● Determined by the level of adaptive functioning and level of supports the individual
needs in their daily life.
• Common Causes
● Deprived environments
● Chromosome and genetic disorders
● Dietary deficiencies
*not discussed in class
7.7 Giftedness, Emotional Intelligence and Success*
• Gifted Persons
● Defined as those having IQ scores at the upper end of the normal curve (130+)
• Emotional Intelligence
● The ability to reach goals and engage in productive thinking...
● Through accurate awareness and effective management of our own emotions.
● It also involves our ability to understand what others feel.
• Terman’s Longitudinal Studies
● Showed that gifted children grow up to be successful adults for the most part.
● Criticized for lacking objectivity due to being too involved in the participants’ lives.
*not discussed in class
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7.8 Influences on the Development of Intelligence*
• Heredity
● Stronger correlations are found between IQ scores as genetic relatedness increases.
● Heritability of IQ is estimated at 0.50.
• Herrnstein and Murray’s The Bell Curve (1994)
● They made widely criticized claims about the heritability of intelligence.
*not discussed in class
Language*
7.9 Elements and Structures of Language*
• Definition
● System for combining symbols so that an infinite number of meaningful statements
can be created and communicated to others.
• Grammar
● System of rules by which language is governed and includes the rules for using
phonemes, morphemes, and syntax.
• Pragmatics
● Refers to practical aspects of language.
*not discussed in class
7.10 Influence of Language on Thinking*
• Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis
● Sapir and Whorf originally proposed that language controls and helps the
development of thought processes and concepts.
• Cognitive Universalism Viewpoint
● Other researchers have found evidence that concepts are universal and directly
influence the development of language.
• Studies on Animals
● Studies with chimpanzees, parrots, and dolphins have been somewhat successful.
● Demonstrated a development a basic kind of language (with some abstract ideas)
● Controversy exists over the lack of evidence that animals can learn syntax, which
some feel means that animals are not truly learning and using language.
*not discussed in class
Applications for Cognitive Health*
7.11 Ways of Improving Thinking*
● Both specific mental exercises (such as those involving working memory) and
physical exercise promoting aerobic fitness are important for optimal cognitive
functioning.
*not discussed in class
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CHAPTER 8 - DEVELOPMENT
Studying Human Development
8.1 Research Designs on Human Development
• Definition of Human Development Research
● Scientific study of the changes that occur in humans as they age
● This includes the time from conception up until death
• Longitudinal Design
● One participant/group is studied over a long period of time
• Cross-sectional Design
● A number of age groups are studied at one particular point in time
• Cross-sequential Design
● Participants are first studied as in cross-sectional design but also followed and
assessed over time
8.2 Heredity and Environmental Factors
• Nature versus Nurture
● Nature is the influence of heredity on personality, physical and intellectual growth,
and social interactions
● Nurture is the influence of the environment on personality, physical and intellectual
growth, and social interactions
• Behavioral Genetics
● Investigates the relative contributions to development of heredity and environment.
● Development is a product of an interaction between nature and nurture.
The Basic Building Blocks of Development
8.3 Influence of Genetics on Development
• Polygenetic Inheritance
● Nearly all traits are a result of genes working together.
● Inherited traits are passed on from parents to offspring through this.
● Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
○ Special molecule that contains the genetic information of an organism
● Genes
○ Sections of DNA that have the same arrangement of chemicals
○ Dominant Genes
■ Control the expression of a trait
○ Recessive Genes
■ Only expressed when paired with the same gene
● Chromosomes
○ Tightly wound strand of genetic material containing many genes
• Examples of Disorders
● Chromosomal Disorders
○ Down syndrome, Klinefelter’s syndrome, and Turner’s syndrome
● Genetic Disorders
○ PKU, cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anemia, and Tay-Sachs disease.
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Prenatal Development
8.4 Prenatal Development
• Fertilization and Conception
● The union of ovum and sperm results in a zygote which divides continuously
● Creation of Twins
○ Monozygotic Twins
■ If the zygote splits into separate masses, each will develop into
identical twins
■ Failure to fully separate will result in conjoined twins
○ Dizygotic Twins
■ Formed when more than one egg is released and fertilized
■ Also when another ovulation occurs despite already being pregnant
• Germinal Period
● The first two weeks of pregnancy
● The zygote moves into the uterus and implants itself on the uterine lining
• Embryonic Period
● Lasts from 2 weeks until 8 weeks after conception
● Vital organs and structures of the baby forms
● Teratogens
○ Factors that affect embryonic development
• Fetal Period
● From the 9th week until birth
● Tremendous growth in length and weight.
● Organs continue to become fully functional
Infancy and Childhood Development
8.5 Physical Changes in Infancy and Childhood
• Four Critical Areas of Adjustment for Newborns
● Respiration
● Digestion
● Circulation
● Temperature Regulation
• Infant Reflexes for Survival
● Sucking
● Rooting
● Moro (startle reflex)
● Grasping
● Stepping
● Babinski (plantar reflex)
• Infant’s Senses
● Fairly well developed at birth except vision
● Vision is blurry and lacking in full color perception until about 6 months
● Gross and fine motor skills develop quickly in infancy and early childhood
● Voluntary muscle control starts from top down
8.6 Cognitive Development and Language
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●
●
Development of thinking, problem solving, and memory scheme
Schema
○ Mental concepts formed from experiences with events and objects
• Piaget’s Stages
● Sensorimotor Stage
○ Senses and physical interaction with the world by the infant
○ Development of the concept of object permanence
● Pre-operational Stage
○ Language as a tool for exploration for young children
○ Egocentrism
■ Inability to see the world through another’s perspective
○ Centration
■ Tendency to focus only on one characteristic of an object
○ Conservation (X)
■ Understanding that changing the appearance of an object doesn’t
necessarily change its nature
■ Inability to recognize the conservation of mass or volume of an object
in different configurations
○ Irreversibility
■ Inability to mentally reverse an action
● Concrete Operational Stage
○ Logical thought becomes possible
○ Difficulty in grasping abstract concepts
● Formal Operational Stage
○ Abstract concepts are understood
○ Hypothetical thinking develops
• Learning according to Vygotsky
● Scaffolding
○ Children learn best with the help of a more skilled peer or adult
● Zone of Proximal Development
○ Difference in mental age of tasks the child performs alone and those with help
• Language Development
● Stages
○ Cooing
○ Babbling
○ One-word speech (holophrases)
○ Telegraphic speech
○ Whole sentences
● It is worth noting that children are more attentive when talked to in a high-pitched,
sing-song manner
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)*
● neurodevelopmental disorder, which involves impairments in thinking, feeling,
language, and social skills in relating to others.
*not discussed in class
8.7 Development of Personality
• Three Basic Infant Temperaments
● Easy
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○ Regular, adaptable, and happy
● Difficult
○ Irregular, non-adaptable, and irritable
● Slow to warm up
○ Need to adjust gradually to change
• Types of Attachment from Infant to Primary Caregiver
● Secure
○ Willing to explore, upset when mother leaves but soothed upon return
● Avoidant
○ Unattached, explores without touching base
● Ambivalent
○ Insecurely attached, upset when mother leaves and angry upon return
● Disorganized–disoriented
○ Insecurely attached and sometimes abused or neglected
○ Seems fearful, dazed and depressed
● Special Note…
○ Harlow’s research on infant rhesus monkeys demonstrated contact comfort in
the attachment process.
○ This contradicts the mere association of just food delivery with the mother
• Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages
● Trust versus Mistrust (0-1 yr.)
○ Infant must gain a sense of predictability and trust in caregivers
○ Else, risk of developing a mistrustful nature
● Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt (2-3 yrs.)
○ Toddler must become physically independent
● Initiative versus Guilt (3-5 yrs.)
○ Preschool child is developing emotional and psychological independence
○ Attempts to satisfy curiosity about the world
● Industry versus Inferiority (6-13 yrs.)
○ School-age children must gain competence and develop self-esteem
○ Child can start and finish “projects”
● (to be continued… )
Adolescence
8.8 Development in Adolescence and Morality
• Adolescence
● Ranges from age 13 to early 20s
● Physical development reaches completion
• Puberty
● Period of 4 years where sexual organs and systems mature and secondary sex
characteristics develop
• Egocentric Thinking
● Imaginary Audience
○ Tendency to believe other people are just as concerned with their thoughts
and characteristics as they are
● Personal Fable
○ Tendency to believe that they are unique and protected from harm
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• Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Development
● Preconventional Morality
○ Child’s behavior are governed by its consequences
● Conventional Morality
○ Adolescent’s behavior is governed by conforming to social norms
● Postconventional Morality
○ Individual’s behavior is governed by personal beliefs and values more than
social conventions
○ Not all people reach this stage of moral development
● Note that Gilligan suggested this applies more to males
• Gender Role Development
● Begins in early childhood and continues on especially in adolescence
● Gender is the behavior associated with natural sex
● Gender identity is the perception of one’s own gender and its associated behaviors
• Erikson’s Stages (continuation)
● Identity versus Role Confusion (13-20 yrs.)
○ Adolescent must achieve consistent sense of self
○ A time of trying out identities for size
● (to be continued… )
Adulthood
8.9 Development in Adulthood
• Stages of Adulthood
● Young adulthood
○ 20s are the peak of physical health.
○ 30s signs of aging become more visible.
● Middle adulthood
○ 40s is the beginning of visual problems, weight increase, strength decrease,
height decrease
○ Men experience andropause starting at the 40s
■ Less dramatic change in testosterone and male hormones.
○ Women experience the climacteric (decline in reproductive system)
■ Ends with menopause at about age 50 wherein fertility ends.
○ Health problems begin to manifest
■ They can include high blood pressure, skin cancers, arthritis
■ Death in this stage is usually due to heart disease, cancer, stroke
○ Reaction time slows down but intelligence and memory remain relatively
stable.
● Late adulthood
○ Aging and death…
• Baumrind’s Parenting Styles
● Authoritarian
○ Rigid and uncompromising
● Authoritative
○ Consistent and strict but warm and flexible
● Permissive
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○ Either unconcerned with daily activities of children or unwilling to set limits.
• Erikson’s Stages of Development
● Intimacy versus Isolation
○ Young adult must establish an intimate relationship (usually mate).
● Generativity versus Stagnation
○ Adult should help the next generation (parenting/mentoring/legacy).
● Integrity versus Despair
○ Elderly must come to terms with mortality.
8.10 Aging and Death
• Activity Theory
● Remaining active and involved results in positive adjustment to aging.
• Cellular-clock Theory
● Cells can only replicate so many times.
● Once limit is reached, damaged cells begin to accumulate.
• Wear-and-Tear Theory
● Repeated use of body tissues cause it to be unable to repair all the damage.
• Free-Radical Theory
● Oxygen molecules with an unstable electron are called free-radicals.
● It oxidizes cell structures, causing damage as they go.
• Stages of Death and Dying
● Denial
● Anger
● Bargaining
● Depression
● Acceptance
8.11 Cross-cultural Practices on Death*
● Rich hindus surround their dying loved ones through a funeral process of 2 weeks.
● Northern Cheyenne culture sees death as a part of a 3 stage life cycle.
● Navajos limit contact with the body due to its supposed connection to the underworld.
*not discussed in class
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CHAPTER 12 - SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY*
Definitions*
• Social psychology
● The scientific study of how a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced
by the real, imagined, or implied presence of others.
• Social influence
● The process through which the real or implied presence of others can directly or
indirectly influence the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of an individual.
Social Influence*
• Conformity
● Changing one’s own behavior to match that of other people.
• Compliance
● Changing one’s behavior as a result of other people directing or asking for the
change.
• Consumer psychology
● Branch of psychology that studies the habits of consumers in the marketplace,
including compliance.
Ways to Gain Compliance*
• Foot-in-the-door Technique
● Asking for a small commitment and, after gaining compliance, asking for a bigger
commitment.
• Door-in-the-face Technique
● Asking for a large commitment and being refused, and then asking for a smaller
commitment.
• Norm of Reciprocity
● Assumption that if someone does something for a person, that person should do
something for the other in return.
• Lowball Technique
● Getting a commitment from a person and then raising the cost of that commitment.
• That’s-not-all Technique
● A sales technique in which the persuader makes an offer and then adds something
extra to make the offer look better before the target person can make a decision.
What is Obedience?*
• Obedience
● Changing one’s behavior at the command of an authority figure.
• Milgram study
● "Teacher" administered what they thought were real shocks to a "learner."
Groupthink*
● Kind of thinking that occurs when people place more importance on maintaining
group cohesiveness than on assessing the facts of the problem with which the group
is concerned.
● Characteristics of Groupthink
○ Invulnerability Rationalization
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○
○
○
○
○
○
Lack of Introspection
Shared Stereotypes
Conformity Pressure
Lack of Disagreement
Self-deception
Insularity
Group Polarization*
● The tendency for members involved in a group discussion to take somewhat more
extreme positions and suggest riskier actions when compared to individuals who
have not participated in a group discussion.
Social Facilitation and Loafing*
• Social Facilitation
● The tendency for the presence of other people to have a positive impact on the
performance of an easy task.
• Social Loafing
● The tendency for people to put less effort into a simple task when working with others
on that task.
Attitudes*
● A tendency to respond positively or negatively toward a certain person, object, idea,
or situation.
● The Three Components of an Attitude
○ Affective (emotional) component
○ Behavioral component
○ Cognitive component
● Often poor predictors of behavior unless the attitude is very specific or very strong.
● Forming Attitudes
○ Direct contact with the person, situation, object, or idea.
○ Direct instruction from parents or others.
○ Interacting with other people who hold a certain attitude.
○ Vicarious Conditioning
■ Watching the actions and reactions of others to ideas, people, objects,
and situations.
Persuasion*
● The process by which one person tries to change the belief, opinion, position, or
course of action of another person through argument, pleading, or explanation.
• Key Elements
● Source of the message
● Message itself
● Target audience
• Elaboration likelihood model
● Model of persuasion stating that people will either elaborate on the persuasive
message or fail to elaborate on it…
● And that the future actions of those who do elaborate are more predictable than
those who do not.
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• Central-route Processing
● Type of information processing that involves attending to the content of the message
itself.
• Peripheral-route Processing
● Type of information processing that involves attending to factors not involved in the
message.
● The factors may include as the appearance of the source of the message, the length
of the message, and other non-content factors.
Cognitive Dissonance*
● Sense of discomfort or distress that occurs when a person’s behavior does not
correspond to the attitude.
● Lessened by changing the conflicting behavior, changing the conflicting attitude, or
forming a new attitude.
Social Cognition*
• Definition
● The mental processes that people use to make sense of the social world around
them.
• Impression Formation
● Forming of the first knowledge a person has about another person.
• Primacy Effect
● The very first impression one has about a person tends to persist even in the face of
evidence to the contrary.
• Social Categorization
● The assignment of a person one has just met to a category based on characteristics
the new person has in common with other people with whom one has had experience
in the past.
• Stereotype
● A set of characteristics that people believe is shared by all members of a particular
social category.
• Implicit Personality Theory
● Sets of assumptions about how different types of people, personality traits, and
actions are related to each other.
• Schemas
● Mental patterns that represent what a person believes about certain types of people.
● Schemas can become stereotypes.
Attribution*
• Definition
● The process of explaining one’s own behavior and the behavior of others.
• Attribution theory
● The theory of how people make attributions.
● Situational cause
○ Cause of behavior attributed to external factors, such as delays, the action of
others, or some other aspect of the situation.
● Dispositional cause
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○
Cause of behavior attributed to internal factors such as personality or
character.
Social interaction*
Prejudice and Discrimination*
• Prejudice
● Negative attitude held by a person about the members of a particular social group.
● Forms include ageism, sexism, racism, and prejudice toward those who are too fat or
too thin.
• Discrimination
● Treating people differently because of prejudice toward the social group to which they
belong.
• In-groups
● Social groups with whom a person identifies; "us."
• Out-groups
● Social groups with whom a person does not identify; "they."
• Stopping Prejudice
● Social Cognitive Theory
○ Views prejudice as an attitude acquired through direct instruction, modeling,
and other social influences.
● 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.
○ Social Identity
■ The part of the self-concept including one’s view of self as a member
of a particular social category.
○ Social Comparison
■ The comparison of oneself to others in ways that raise one’s selfesteem.
○ Stereotype Vulnerability
■ The effect that people’s awareness of the stereotypes associated with
their social group has on their behavior.
○ Self-fulfilling Prophecy
■ The tendency of one’s expectations to affect one’s behavior in such a
way as to make the expectation more likely to occur.
○ Equal Status Contact
■ Contact between groups in which the groups have equal status, with
neither group having power over the other.
Aggression*
• Definition
● Behavior intended to hurt or destroy another person.
• Biological Influences
● May include genetics, the amygdala and limbic system, and testosterone and
serotonin levels.
• Social Role
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●
●
The pattern of behavior that is expected of a person who is in a particular social
position.
Violent TV, movies, and videos are related to aggression.
Prosocial Behavior and Altruism*
• Prosocial behavior
● Socially desirable behavior that benefits others.
• Altruism
● Prosocial behavior that is done with no expectation of reward and may involve the
risk of harm to oneself.
The Bystander Effect*
● Referring to the effect that the presence of other people has on the decision to help
or not help, with help becoming less likely as the number of bystanders increases.
● Diffusion of responsibility
○ Occurring when a person fails to take responsibility for actions or for inaction
because of the presence of other people who are seen to share the
responsibility.
Attraction and Love*
● Interpersonal attraction
○ Liking or having the desire for a relationship with another person.
● Love
○ A strong affection for another person due to kinship, personal ties, sexual
attraction, admiration, or common interests.
• Factors that govern attraction
● Physical Attractiveness
● Proximity
○ Physical or geographical nearness.
● Similarity
○ People like people who are similar to themselves.
● Complementarity
○ People like people who are different from themselves (not exactly supported
by research)
● Reciprocity of Liking
○ Tendency of people to like other people who like them in return.
• Sternberg’s Theory of Love
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CHAPTER 13 - THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
What is Personality?
• Personality
● The unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel, and behave.
• Character
● Value judgments of a person’s moral and ethical behavior.
• Temperament
● The enduring characteristics with which each person is born.
Psychoanalytic Perspective
What is Psychoanalysis?
• Sigmund Freud - early 1900’s
● Founder of the psychoanalytic movement in psychology.
● What were the prevailing thoughts and beliefs at the time?
○ About men?
○ About women?
○ About sex?
Divisions of Consciousness
• Preconscious Mind
● Level of the mind in which information is available but not currently conscious.
• Conscious Mind
● Level of the mind that is aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions.
• Unconscious Mind
● Level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are
kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness.
● Dreams, slips of the tongue
Parts of Personality
• Id
● Part of the personality present at birth and completely unconscious.
● Libido
○ The instinctual energy that may come into conflict with the demands of a
society’s standards for behavior.
● Pleasure Principle
○ Principle by which the id functions; the immediate satisfaction of needs
without regard for the consequences.
• Ego
● Part of the personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality, mostly
conscious, rational, and logical.
● Reality Principle
○ Principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id
only when negative consequences will not result.
• Superego
● Part of the personality that acts as a moral center.
● Ego ideal
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○ Part of the superego that contains the standards for moral behavior.
Conscience
○ Part of the superego that produces pride or guilt, depending on how well
behavior matches or does not match the ego ideal.
Psychological Defense Mechanisms
• Definition
● Unconscious distortions of a person’s perception of reality that reduce stress and
anxiety.
• Denial
● Defense mechanism in which the person refuses to acknowledge or recognize a
threatening situation.
• Repression
● Mechanism in which the person refuses to consciously remember a threatening or
unacceptable event, instead pushing those events into the unconscious mind.
• Rationalization
● Mechanism in which a person invents acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior.
• Projection
● Defense mechanism in which unacceptable or threatening impulses or feelings are
seen as originating with someone else, usually the target of the impulses or feelings.
• Reaction Formation
● Mechanism in which a person forms an opposite emotional or behavioral reaction to
the way he or she really feels to keep those true feelings hidden from self and others.
• Displacement
● Redirecting feelings from a threatening target to a less threatening one.
• Identification
● Mechanism in which a person tries to become like someone else to deal with anxiety.
• Compensation (substitution)
● Defense mechanism in which a person makes up for inferiorities in one area by
becoming superior in another area.
• Sublimation
● Channeling socially unacceptable impulses and urges into socially acceptable
behavior.
Psychosexual Stages of Development
● Five stages of personality development proposed by Freud and tied to the sexual
development of the child.
● Fixation
○ Disorder in which the person does not fully resolve the conflict in a particular
psychosexual stage.
○ Results in personality traits and behavior associated with that earlier stage.
• The Oral Stage
● First stage occurring in the first year of life
● The mouth is the erogenous zone
● Weaning is the primary conflict.
● Id dominated.
● What is an oral fixation?
• The Anal Stage
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● Second stage occurring from about 1 to 3 years of age.
● The anus is the erogenous zone.
● Toilet training is the source of conflict.
● Ego develops.
● What is an anal retentive personality?
● What is an anal expulsive personality?
• The Phallic Stage
● Third stage occurring from about 3 to 6 years of age.
● The child discovers sexual feelings.
● Superego develops.
● What is the oedipus complex? The elektra complex?
● The resolution of the oedipus complex is related to the defence mechanism of
identification.
• Latency
● Fourth stage occurring during the school years.
● The sexual feelings of the child are repressed.
● The child develops in other ways.
• Genital
● Sexual feelings reawaken with appropriate targets.
Psychoanalysis
● Freud’s term for both the theory of personality and the therapy based on it.
Neo-Freudians
• Carl Jung
● Recognised the unconscious as important in a different way
● Personal Unconscious
○ The unconscious mind as described by Freud.
● Collective Unconscious
○ The memories shared by all members of the human species.
● Archetypes
○ Collective, universal human memories.
• Alfred Adler
● Stressed the importance of overcoming feelings of inferiority
● Developed the birth order theory
○ Our experiences of inferiority change depending on our position in the family.
○ Our position affects our personality
• Karen Horney
● We are born into a world of bigger and more powerful older children and adults, so
we experience basic anxiety.
● We react to this basic anxiety, and this creates patterns of how we act in relation to
others. We withdraw, we attach, or we dominate.
● She also stood up to Freud’s negative view about women.
• Erik Erikson
● Social relationships, not sexual relationships.
● We already know Erikson’s Theory.
Behaviorist Perspectives
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Behaviorism and Personality
● Behaviorists define personality as a set of learned responses or habits.
• Habits
● Sets of well-learned responses that have become automatic.
• Social Cognitive Learning Theorists
● Theorists who emphasize the importance of both the influences of other people’s
behavior and of a person’s own expectancies on learning.
• Social Cognitive View
● Learning theory that includes cognitive processes such as anticipating, judging,
memory, and imitation of models.
• Reciprocal Determinism
● Bandura’s explanation of how the factors of environment, personal characteristics,
and behavior can interact to determine future behavior.
• Self-efficacy
● Individual’s perception of how effective a behavior will be in any particular
circumstance.
● NOT the same as self-esteem.
Rotter’s Expectancies
• Locus of Control
● The tendency for people to assume that they either have control or do not have
control over events and consequences in their lives.
○ Internal Locus of Control
○ External Locus of Control
Humanistic Perspectives
Reaction to Earlier Perspectives
• Humanistic perspective
● The "third force" in psychology that focuses on those aspects of personality that
make people uniquely human, such as subjective feelings and freedom of choice.
Carl Rogers’ Theory of Personality
• Self-actualizing Tendency
● The striving to fulfill one’s innate capacities and capabilities.
• Self-concept
● The image of oneself that develops from interactions with important, significant
people in one’s life.
● Real Self
○ One’s perception of actual characteristics, traits, and abilities.
● Ideal Self
○ One’s perception of whom one should be or would like to be.
• Positive Regard
● Warmth, affection, love, and respect that come from significant others in one’s life.
● Unconditional Positive Regard
○ Positive regard that is given without conditions or strings attached.
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Conditional Positive Regard
○ Positive regard that is given only when the person is doing what the providers
of positive regard wish.
• Fully Functioning Person
● A person who is in touch with and trusting of the deepest, innermost urges and
feelings.
Trait Perspectives
What is a Trait?
• Trait theories
● Theories that endeavor to describe the characteristics that make up human
personality in an effort to predict future behavior.
• Trait
● A consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or behaving.
• Background
● Allport first developed a list of about 200 traits and believed that these traits were part
of the nervous system.
● Cattell reduced the number of traits to between 16 and 23 with a computer method
called factor analysis.
• Surface Traits
● Aspects of personality that can easily be seen by other people in the outward actions
of a person.
• Source traits
● The more basic traits that underlie the surface traits, forming the core of personality.
● Example: Introversion
○ Dimension of personality in which people tend to withdraw from excessive
stimulation.
The Five-factor Model (Big Five)
● Model of personality traits that describes five basic trait dimensions.
• Openness
● Willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences.
• Conscientiousness
● The care a person gives to organization and thoughtfulness of others; dependability.
• Extraversion
● Dimension of personality referring to one’s need to be with other people
• Agreeableness
● The emotional style of a person that may range from easy-going, friendly, and
likeable to grumpy, crabby, and unpleasant.
• Neuroticism
● Degree of emotional instability or stability.
Other Research
● Cross-cultural research has found support for the five-factor model of personality
traits in a number of different cultures.
● Trait-situation Interaction
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The assumption that the particular circumstances of any given situation will
influence the way in which a trait is expressed.
Other Measures of Personality
Projective Tests
• Recall the Definition of Projection
● Defense mechanism involving placing, or "projecting," one’s own unacceptable
thoughts onto others, as if the thoughts actually belonged to those others and not to
oneself.
• Projective Tests
● Personality assessments that present ambiguous visual stimuli to the client and ask
the client to respond with whatever comes to mind.
• Rorschach Inkblot Test
● Projective test that uses 10 inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli.
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
● Test that uses 20 pictures of people in ambiguous situations as the visual stimuli.
Personality Inventories
• Personality Inventory
● Paper and pencil or computerized test that consists of statements that require a
specific, standardized response from the person taking the test.
• NEO-PI
● Based on the five-factor model
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
● Based on Jung’s theory of personality types.
• MMPI-2
● Designed to detect abnormal personality.
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