PSYCH 111 Exam 3 Review Sheet: F11 Chapter 13: Social Psychology What is Social Psychology?

study of how people influence others behavior, beliefs, and attitudes Major lessons of social psychology: o power of the situation: especially the actions, or even mere presence, of other people o power of subjective interpretation (construal) (how a person perceives, comprehends, and interprets the world around him/behavior of others toward him) o interaction between the person and the situation Social Cognition: area of psychology concerned with social influences on thought, memory, perception, and other cognitive processes Attribution: how individuals explain causes of behavior and events o internal: personal (cause= individual's characteristics such as ability, personality, mood, efforts, attitudes, or disposition) o external: situational (cause= surrounding environment/social situation) Biases and errors: o Attribution theory: people are motivated to explain own and others behavior by attributing causes of behavior to situation or disposition o The Fundamental Attribution Error: tendency to overestimate personality factors and underestimate situational influence o self-serving bias: attribute their successes to internal or personal factors but attribute their failures to situational factors beyond their control o just-world hypothesis: bias to believe that the world is fair (rationalize an inexplicable injustice by naming things the victim might have done to deserve it) Social Influence Norms: rules that regulate human life, including social conventions, explicit laws, and implicit cultural standards Role: given social position that is governed by a set of norms for proper behavior Culture: Dynamic groups of individuals that share a similar context and are exposed to many similar cultural messages/ideas Conformity: tendency of people to alter their behavior as a result of group pressure o Factors influencing conformity unanimity: all the confederates need to give the wrong answer difference in the wrong answer: knowing that someone else in the group differed from the majority even if that person held a different view makes him less likely to conform size: size of majority makes a difference (max=5-6) Aschs Paradigm: confederates/1 participant, determine which lines same length The Autokinetic Effect (Sherif): human visual perception in which a stationary, small point of light in an otherwise dark or featureless environment appears to move (no reference point) o Individuals estimated distance it moved (group norms formed quickly!) group norms: accepted behavior in group o Private compliance: personal attitude change/accept information from others as evidence about reality due to being in an ambiguous or crisis situation or in the presence of an expert o Public compliance: superficial, public and often transitory change in behaviour and expressed attitudes in response to requests, coercion or group pressure

Stanford Prison Study: 24 people randomly assigned guard or prisoner (they took their roles very seriously) Groupthink: emphasis on group unanimity at the expense of critical thinking o Symptoms: illusion of groups invulnerability illusion of the groups unanimity unquestioned belief in the groups moral correctness conformity pressure-pressure on group members to go along with everyone else stereotyping of the out-group self-censorship-tendency of group members to keep their mouths shut even when they have doubts mindguards-self-appointed individuals whose job it is to stifle disagreement Obedience and Milgram Paradigm: (64% did it at severe shock!) o factors/variations leading to obedience/disobedience: experimenter left room (surveillance-disob) learner was in the same room (proximity to victim) experiments disagree on whether experiment should go on (disobedient model) person ordering them to continue was not the experimenter (legitimacy of authority) subject worked with peers who refused to go on (disobedient model) o why did people obey? gradual escalation and emerging situation o Milgrams categorization of different responses of participants

Helping and Harming Others Prosocial Behavior: behavior intended to help others Bystander Effect: when people see someone in need but fail to help them o Pluralistic Ignorance: error of assuming that no one in a group perceives things as we do o social conformity: nobody else is helping so I wont o diffusion of responsibility: reduction in feelings of personal responsibility in the presence of others o Other situational effects on helping (e.g., characteristics of the victim, helpers mood, time pressure, enlightenment effect) Aggression: behavior intended to harm others o situational influences o interpersonal provocation o frustration o media influences o aggressive cues o arousal o alcohol and other drugs o temperature Attitudes and Persuasion Attitudes (belief that includes an emotional component) and whether predict behaviors (not always) Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959): we alter our attitudes because we experience an unpleasant state of tension between two or more conflicting thoughts Dual Process Model (Central and Peripheral Route): Persuasion Techniques:

Foot-in-the-door: making a small request before big one o door-in-the-face: making an unreasonably large request before making the small request you hope to be granted o low-ball technique: seller of product starts by quoting a low sales price then mentions add-on costs once customer has agreed to purchase the product o Pseudoscience Marketing Techniques: Consensus heuristic (if most people believe it works, it works), vivid testimonials (learning about someone elses personal experience), manufacturing source credibility (more likely to believe sources we judge are trustworthy), scarcity heuristic (rare=valuable), natural commonplace (things that are natural=good) Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice: attitudes that draw negative conclusions prior to evaluating evidence group polarization: tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members in-group bias: tendency to favor individuals within our group over those from outside our group out-group homogeneity: tendency to view all individuals outside our group as highly similar minimal group paradigm: minimal conditions to create discrimination between groups ultimate attribution error: assumption that behaviors among individual members of a group are due to their internal dispositions adaptive conservatism: evolutionary principle that creates a predisposition toward distrusting anything or anyone unfamiliar or different Discrimination: negative behavior toward members of out-groups Stereotypes: belief,+/-, about the characteristics of members of a group that is applied to the rest Implicit prejudice: negative belief of which were unaware Explicit prejudice: aware of this negative belief How prejudice is upheld Scapegoat Hypothesis : a need to blame other groups for our misfortunes Just-World Hypothesis: belief that all things happen for a reason (world is fair) Jigsaw classroom: educational approach designed to minimize prejudice by requiring all children to make independent contributions to a shared project

Chapter 14 Personality: peoples typical ways of thinking, feeling, behaving Personality theories address Motivation: why people do the things they do structure: how personality is organized-the core elements (trait, ideal self, ego) growth: how we develop from infancy to maturity therapy: how and why problems in personality functioning develop and how to remedy those problems Causes of Personality Empirical evidence: Reared Together Twins, Reared Apart Twins, Adoption Studies (genes and environment both important) Birth Order: Psychoanalytic theory: Freud Id: reservoir of most of primitive impulses (sex/aggression) o Libido: sexual drive o pleasure principle: tendency of the id to strive for immediate gratification o primary process: works to resolve tension created by the pleasure principle (Ignores consequences and logistics) ego o reality principle: tendency of the ego to postpone gratification until it can find an appropriate outlet o secondary process: thinking discriminates between reality and fantasy superego: sense of morality Psychic determinism: assumption that all psychological events have a cause How does the ego work? o Symbolic symptoms: wishes disguised as medical conditions (Laid-off worker gets skin rash, headaches) o Parapraxes (Freudian slips): unconscious wishes slip out (pleased to meet you-aggression-pleased to beat you) o Dreams: wishes fulfilled in fantasy o Defense Mechanisms(be able to recognize examples of any of these): unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize anxiety o Repression: motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses (witness of traumatic combat scene unable to remember it) o Denial: motivated forgetting of distressing experiences (mother who loses child in car accident insists child is alive) o Regression: returning psychologically to a younger and safer time (difficult exam=kid sucking thumb) o Projection: unconscious attribution of our negative qualities onto others (married man with powerful unconscious sexual impulses toward females complains that other women are always after him) o Sublimation: transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admired and socially valued goal (boy who enjoys beating up on other children becomes successful boxer) o Displacement: directing an impulse from a socially unacceptable target onto a more acceptable one (golfer angrily throws his club into woods after he misses an easy putt) o Rationalization: providing reasonable-sounding explanation for unreasonable behaviors or failures (political candidate loses, says I didnt want the position anyways) Oedipus Complex: conflict during phallic stage in which boys supposedly love their mothers romantically and want to eliminate fathers as rivals Electra Complex: conflict during phallic stage in which girls supposedly love their fathers romantically and want to eliminate mothers as rivals

Penis Envy: reaction of girl to the realization that she does not have a penis What are 5 major criticisms of psychoanalytic theory discussed in the text? o Failed predictions (harsh toilet training=rigid perfectionistic o Unfalisifiability o Questionable conception of the unconscious o Reliance on unrepresentative samples (lacks external validity) o Flawed assumption of shared environmental influence

Humanistic Approach: free will Self-actualization: drive to develop our innate potential to the fullest possible extent Rogers Model of Personality: o Organism: innate (genetics) blueprint o Self: our self-concept (the set of beliefs about who we are) o Conditions of worth: expectations we place on ourselves for appropriate/inappropriate behavior Maslow: Characteristics of Self Actualized People o Creative, spontaneous, accepting of themselves/others, self-confident (but not self-centered), focus on real-world/intellectual problems, have few deep friendships rather than many superficial ones Behavioral Theory of Personality: genetics + contingenciese in environment (reinforcers/punishers) Locus of control: extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them Internal (believes that they control their life) External (believe that their environment, some higher power, or other people control their decisions and their life) Locus of Control Trait Models of Personality: structure of personality The Big Five traits: o Extraversion: people tend to be social/lively o Neuroticism: tend to be tense/moody o Conscientiousness: tend to be careful/responsible o Agreeableness: tend to be sociable/easy to get along with o Openness to experience: tend to be intellectually curious/unconventional Cultural influences on personality o Individualistic (focus on self, personal goals)/collectivistic (focus on relations with others) Evaluations of traits models o Mischel found low correlations among different behaviors presumed to reflect the same trait o Personality is often highly predictive of aggregated behaviors (extraverted=party) Structured Personality Tests MMPI and MMPI-2: personality test to assess symptoms of mental disorders (hysteria, paranoia, depression, etc) CPI: designed for assessing traits in normal range (dominance, flexibility, sociability) Projective Tests Rorschach Inkblot Test: look at inkblot and say what it resembles/correlate answers with personality traits Thematic Apperception Test: projective test requiring examinees to tell a story in response to ambiguous pictures P.T. Barnum Effect: tendency of people to accept high base rate descriptions as accurate (supposed to be tailored for you but really is very general-why it is accurate)

Ch. 12 Stress, Coping & Health What is stress? An aversive state of arousal triggered by the perception that an event threatens the ability to cope effectively 3 approaches to definition o Stressors as stimuli: identify different types of stressful events o Stress as transaction: how people interpret and cope with stressful events o Stress as response: assess peoples psychological/physical reactions to stressful circumstances How is it measured? o Social Readjustment Rating Scale: questionnaire based on life events ranked in terms of stressfulness as rated by participants o Hassles Scale: how stressful events (small annoyances to major daily pressures, impact our judgment) What causes it? Stressor (type of stimulus that strains our ability to cope effectively) What kinds are most associated with negative physical health outcomes? o Death of spouse, divorce, jail term, death of family, marriage, fired at work How we respond to stress: Selyes General Adaptation Syndrome: o Stress-response pattern: o Alarm: excitation of autonomic nervous system (adrenaline/anxiety) o Resistance: adapts to stressor and finds way to cope with it o Exhaustion: lack of coping/personal resources makes resistance break down (tired) o Factors influencing it: o Personality o Experience o Developmental course o Predictability o Control

Tend-and-Befriend : reaction that mobilizes people to nurture or seek social support under stress Fight-or-Flight response: physical/psych reaction that mobilizes people to either defend themselves or escape threatening situation Depressive explanatory style: When bad event occurs o Internal: Its my fault o Stable: Its going to last o Global: It affects all parts of my life Optimistic: o External: Its something in my situation. o Unstable: Its going to be over soon. o Specific: It only affects a small part of my life. PTSD: After traumatic event=reliving" the event, avoidance, arousal

Stress & Immune System Effects of stress on physical health, infectious and other diseases: common cold, ulcers, coronary heart disease, AIDS Personality and coronary heart disease: anger and hostility most predictive (both type A/D) o Type A personality: competitive, driven, hostile, ambitious o Type D personality: negative affectivity, distressed, worried

Socioeconomic factors and health: drop in income, discrimination, job stress/dissatisfaction What are the pathways from stress to illness? Negative emotional state to (stress hormones/unhealthy behaviors) to weakened immune system to illness

Coping with stress: Lazarus & Folkmans stress and coping process: pressure exceeds one's perceived ability to cope/need to first identify factors central to person controlling the stress-identify intervention methods to target these factors Types of coping: o Proactive: positively-focused striving for goals o Problem-focused: tackle lifes strategies head on o Emotion-focused: positive outlook on feelings or situations accompanied by behaviors that reduce negative emotions Role of social support: what does it do? Provides emotional comfort, financial assistance, info to make decisions, solve problems, contend with stressful situations What kinds of control can relieve stress? o Behavioral: ability to step up and do something to reduce impact of stressor or its recurrence o Cognitive: ability to think differently about negative emotions that arise in response to stressor o Decisional: ability to choose among alternative courses of action o Informational: ability to acquire info about stressful event o Emotional: ability to suppress/express emotions

Ch. 15 Psychological Disorders History of mental health disorders and their treatment: Early conceptions and treatments of mental health disorders o Middle Ages: demons/witches (odd behavior=evil spirits in body) o 15 century: asylums (view of mental illness as due to physical disorder) o 1800s Phillippe Pinel/Dorothea Dix: give moral treatment (give dignity, respect and kindness) o 1960/70: medications discovered to treat severe mental health disorders Discovery of psychiatric medication and deinstitutionalization o Discovered chlorpromazine to help schizophrenia o Deinstitutionalization: release hospitalized psychiatric patients into community and closing mental hospitals Language we use to describe mental health disorders: not real conditions DSM-IV: How is it organized? Into classes of disorders (eat, sleep, sexual, anxiety, etc) What are its limitations? It is categorical (either you have major depression or no-there is no in-between) What is the difference between Axis 1 and Axis 2? 1-clinical syndromes 2developmental/personality disorders Prevalence rates: Lifetime prevalence of any mental health disorder in the general population: 1 in 3 Incidence of Schizophrenia (1%) and Bipolar I (0.4-1.6%) disorder in the general population Know the symptoms and causes/risk factors (biological, psychological, and/or environmental) for these disorders: Generalized Anxiety Disorder: continual feelings of worry, anxiety, physical tension, and irritability across many areas of life functioning (from major stressor) Panic Attacks/Panic Disorder: nervous feelings gather momentum and escalate into intense bouts of fear (dizziness, sweating, light-headedness, racing heart) (associated with fear of separation from parent as child) Phobias: o Agoraphobia: fear of being in a place/situation in which escape is difficult (outgrowth of panic disorder) o Specific Phobias: phobias of objects, places, situations o Social Phobia: fear of public appearances in which embarrassment/humiliation seems likely Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: either have obsessions (persistent intrusions of unwelcome thoughts, images or impulses that elicit anxiety) or compulsions (irresistible urges to carry out certain acts or rituals that elicit anxiety) also feeling of loss of control Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: traumatic event needed, reliving event, avoidance of reminders, heightened arousal (10% of veterans) Major Depressive Disorder: sadness, passivity, negative views of self, fatigue, feeling of worthless, thoughts of death/suicide, insomnia o Caused by loss of reinforcement, life events, negative thinking

Bipolar I Disorder: condition marked by at least one manic episode o Manic episode: Elevated/expansive mood, Inflated self esteem/grandiosity (Women tend to have depression first, then mania Men tend to have mania first, then depression) o Caused by genetics/life events Schizophrenia: disturbance in thinking, language, emotion, and relationship with others

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Hallucinations, delusions (false beliefs about others/person), disorganized speech, limited emotional expression Main subtypes: paranoid (delusions/hallucinations), disorganized type (disorganized speech/behavior), catatonic (not moving, unusual posturing), undifferentiated Genetic, biological

Biopsychosocial model: medical conditions not ALL physical or ALL psychological Suicide: Prevalence of suicide: 3rd leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds in the United States o 90% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental health condition at the time of their death Risk factors for suicide: Serious mental health disorders (e.g. schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) o Depression o Substance abuse o Conduct disorder/legal issues o Unemployment & severe financial stress o Victimization (e.g. bullying, sexual abuse) o Being GLBT due to social stigma o Lack of social support

Gender differences in suicide: 3men as women commit suicide but nearly as many as 3x as many women try it

Ch. 16 Psychological And Biological Treatments Different Types of Psychotherapies: Know what they are, what types of techniques they use, their strengths and weaknesses Psychoanalysis/dynamic: To decrease guilt and frustration and make the unconscious conscious by bringing to awareness previously repressed impulses, conflicts, memories o Free association: clients express themselves without censorship o Interpretation: formulate explanations of the unconscious bases of clients dreams, emotions, etc o Dream Analysis: interpret relation of dream to the clients waking life o Resistance: attempts to avoid confrontation and anxiety associated with uncovering previously repressed thoughts, emotions, and impulses o Transference: projecting intense, unrealistic feelings and expectations from the past onto the therapist o Working Through: help clients process their problems

Psychodynamic therapy: less intense form of psychoanalytic therapy o emphasizes role of: making the unconscious conscious early childhood experiences interpersonal relationships Humanistic/Person-Centered Therapy: centering on clients goals and ways of solving problems o dont tell patient how to solve their problems o people are inherently good and doing the best they can o unconditional positive regard the key feature Behavioral Therapy: Focuses on specific problem behaviors o Identify and quantify the problem o Design and implement a strategy for behavior change o Uses operant procedures: positive & negative reinforcement o Example: working with disruptive behavior in children o Exposure therapy: confronts patients with their fears, with the goal of reducing that fear systematic desensitization: patients are taught to relax as they are gradually exposed to what they fear, in a stepwise manner flooding: patients immediately experience their greatest fear, with no aversive consequences Cognitive Therapy: some people have distorted thought patterns and long-held negative core belief o goal is to replace irrational and negative beliefs with more rational/adaptive ones Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: effective for depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, PTSD o ABCs of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy o activating event to beliefs to consequences o different beliefs=different reactions

some people have highly irrational beliefs

Family Therapy: focus of treatment is family unit o strategic family interventions: approach designed to remove barriers to effective communication o structural family therapy: treatment in which therapists deeply involve themselves in family activities to change how family members arrange/organize interactions Interpersonal therapy: Group therapy:

Medication/Biological Management: What broad classes of medications are used to treat what disorders? o Antianxiety medications o Antidepressants o Mood Stabilizers o Antipsychotics o Stimulants

Electroconvulsive therapy: Brief electrical pulses to the brain which produce a seizure essentially rebooting the brain o Used for severe treatment-resistant depression o 80-90% improvement rates o Adverse side effects: memory and attention problems can persist 6 months after treatment

Criticisms of effectiveness of psychotherapy: different groups respond to it Empirically supported treatments require: At least two large scale, well designed studies From different investigators Showing that the treatment works better than placebo, or as well as another well established treatment Why do ineffective treatments sometimes seem to work? Spontaneous remission: problems improve without intervention The placebo effect: improvement due to expectation Self-serving biases: persuade themselves that they psychologists are helpful due to money/time lost Regression to the mean: extreme scores tend to become less extreme on retesting Retrospective rewriting of the past: misremember initial level of adjustment as worse than it was