Podcast
Questions and Answers
Which branch of psychology emphasizes the study of unconscious thoughts and the use of talk therapy?
Which branch of psychology emphasizes the study of unconscious thoughts and the use of talk therapy?
What is a primary focus of the branch known as Behaviourism?
What is a primary focus of the branch known as Behaviourism?
Which of the following branches of psychology aligns itself with Charles Darwin's theories?
Which of the following branches of psychology aligns itself with Charles Darwin's theories?
What is the key criticism of Structuralism as a branch of psychology?
What is the key criticism of Structuralism as a branch of psychology?
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Which branch of psychology argues that people's backgrounds and experiences are not significant?
Which branch of psychology argues that people's backgrounds and experiences are not significant?
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What are the two parts that compose latent dreams?
What are the two parts that compose latent dreams?
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Which historical belief regarding dreams characterized the views of the Middle Ages?
Which historical belief regarding dreams characterized the views of the Middle Ages?
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What did Alfred Adler emphasize as key to understanding personality?
What did Alfred Adler emphasize as key to understanding personality?
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According to Carl Jung, what are the two parts of the unconscious mind?
According to Carl Jung, what are the two parts of the unconscious mind?
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What primarily characterizes introverts, according to personality types?
What primarily characterizes introverts, according to personality types?
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What concept did B.F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov's work contribute to?
What concept did B.F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov's work contribute to?
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Which psychological aspect did Karen Horney challenge?
Which psychological aspect did Karen Horney challenge?
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What type of learning is classical conditioning based on?
What type of learning is classical conditioning based on?
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Freud viewed dreams as representing which hidden desires?
Freud viewed dreams as representing which hidden desires?
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What does the term inferiority complex refer to?
What does the term inferiority complex refer to?
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What is the key characteristic that differentiates a sociopath from a psychopath?
What is the key characteristic that differentiates a sociopath from a psychopath?
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Which type of memory is specifically characterized by the inability to recall all stored information at will?
Which type of memory is specifically characterized by the inability to recall all stored information at will?
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Which defense mechanism involves reverting to earlier stages of development in response to unacceptable impulses?
Which defense mechanism involves reverting to earlier stages of development in response to unacceptable impulses?
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What aspect of mental health does not necessarily indicate a presence of a mental disorder?
What aspect of mental health does not necessarily indicate a presence of a mental disorder?
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Which of the following statements about the DSM is true?
Which of the following statements about the DSM is true?
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What type of memory is typically unaffected in cases of amnesia?
What type of memory is typically unaffected in cases of amnesia?
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Which of the following is NOT an example of neurosis?
Which of the following is NOT an example of neurosis?
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Which of these definitions corresponds with psychosis?
Which of these definitions corresponds with psychosis?
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What is a common feature of individuals suffering from neurosis?
What is a common feature of individuals suffering from neurosis?
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What is the main function of the id in Freud's theory of personality?
What is the main function of the id in Freud's theory of personality?
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During which psychosexual stage does the Oedipus complex occur?
During which psychosexual stage does the Oedipus complex occur?
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What does the superego represent in Freud's model of personality?
What does the superego represent in Freud's model of personality?
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Freud believed that dreams serve as what type of fulfillment?
Freud believed that dreams serve as what type of fulfillment?
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What is a potential outcome of unresolved conflicts in the oral stage?
What is a potential outcome of unresolved conflicts in the oral stage?
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How does the ego function in Freud's personality theory?
How does the ego function in Freud's personality theory?
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Which part of the brain is associated with logical and rational decision making?
Which part of the brain is associated with logical and rational decision making?
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What did Freud argue dreams represent?
What did Freud argue dreams represent?
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What can result from a conflict between the id, ego, and superego?
What can result from a conflict between the id, ego, and superego?
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What is the primary focus of the latency stage in Freud's psychosexual development?
What is the primary focus of the latency stage in Freud's psychosexual development?
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What largely influences an individual’s ability to form healthy adult relationships, according to Freud?
What largely influences an individual’s ability to form healthy adult relationships, according to Freud?
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How does the right hemisphere of the brain operate compared to the left?
How does the right hemisphere of the brain operate compared to the left?
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What was the primary belief of Hippocrates regarding the brain?
What was the primary belief of Hippocrates regarding the brain?
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What role do early experiences play in Freud's psychosexual stages of development?
What role do early experiences play in Freud's psychosexual stages of development?
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Which lobe of the brain is primarily responsible for auditory perception?
Which lobe of the brain is primarily responsible for auditory perception?
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Why did Freud believe that talk therapy and dream analysis are important?
Why did Freud believe that talk therapy and dream analysis are important?
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Franz Joseph Gall is known for which of the following theories?
Franz Joseph Gall is known for which of the following theories?
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What is the role of the amygdala in the brain?
What is the role of the amygdala in the brain?
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Which part of the brain acts as the 'grand central station' for sensory information?
Which part of the brain acts as the 'grand central station' for sensory information?
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Which lobe of the brain is primarily responsible for visual perception?
Which lobe of the brain is primarily responsible for visual perception?
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What does the pituitary gland regulate?
What does the pituitary gland regulate?
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What was John Locke's contribution to psychology in the 17th Century?
What was John Locke's contribution to psychology in the 17th Century?
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The hypothalamus plays a critical role in connecting which two systems?
The hypothalamus plays a critical role in connecting which two systems?
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What is the main function of the cerebellum?
What is the main function of the cerebellum?
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Which fluid concept did the Ancient Greeks believe contributed to personality?
Which fluid concept did the Ancient Greeks believe contributed to personality?
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What distinguishes the left hemisphere of the brain?
What distinguishes the left hemisphere of the brain?
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What characterizes the frontal lobe's responsibilities?
What characterizes the frontal lobe's responsibilities?
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How does the hippocampus affect emotional behavior in females?
How does the hippocampus affect emotional behavior in females?
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What is the main difference between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement?
What is the main difference between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement?
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What did John Watson demonstrate through the Baby Albert experiment?
What did John Watson demonstrate through the Baby Albert experiment?
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What is Erik Erikson's view on human development?
What is Erik Erikson's view on human development?
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What does Maslow's hierarchy of needs emphasize?
What does Maslow's hierarchy of needs emphasize?
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What are B values, according to Maslow?
What are B values, according to Maslow?
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Which of the following is NOT one of Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development?
Which of the following is NOT one of Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development?
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What was Stanley Milgram's main finding in his obedience experiments?
What was Stanley Milgram's main finding in his obedience experiments?
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What did Harlow's experiments with rhesus monkeys highlight?
What did Harlow's experiments with rhesus monkeys highlight?
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Which brain region is primarily responsible for memory?
Which brain region is primarily responsible for memory?
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Which statement accurately describes sensory memory?
Which statement accurately describes sensory memory?
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What impact does prolonged social isolation have on young monkeys, according to Harlow's findings?
What impact does prolonged social isolation have on young monkeys, according to Harlow's findings?
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What role does perception play in learning and memory?
What role does perception play in learning and memory?
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What concept did Erikson introduce that is essential during adolescence?
What concept did Erikson introduce that is essential during adolescence?
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Which of the following statements accurately relates to operant conditioning?
Which of the following statements accurately relates to operant conditioning?
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Study Notes
Branches of Psychology
- Structuralism: Founded by Wundt, focused on sensation, perception, and attention through experiments (e.g., optical illusions). A limitation was that people may not be truthful in their responses.
- Functionalism: Founded by James, connected to Darwin's theory. Examined how mental characteristics adapted for survival, analogous to physical adaptations.
- Psychoanalysis: Developed by Freud, aimed to uncover unconscious thoughts through talk therapy.
- Behaviorism: Founded by Watson, focused solely on observable behaviors, rejecting internal mental processes as unmeasurable. The only branch concentrating solely on external factors. Added to psychology in 1920.
- Humanism: Founded by Maslow, emerged in the 1950s. Stressed individual control over lives and downplayed the role of backgrounds/experiences. Contrasted with behaviorism and abnormal psychology.
- Cognitive Psychology: Studied mental processes like memory, learning, and thinking, tracing its roots to the late 19th century. Expanded significantly in the 1950s, focusing on brain processes and information processing.
Definition of Psychology
- Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behaviors, considered the science of the mind. It explores the relationship between the brain, mind, and behavior.
History of Psychology & Personality
- Ancient Greeks: Noticed individual differences in personality, proposing that four bodily fluids influenced personality types (a limited theory). They were the first to consider individuality as stemming from the body, not divine intervention.
- Hippocrates: Recognized the brain's role in influencing personality and behavior, challenging the belief that personality originated in the heart.
- John Locke: Introduced the concept of the mind and its development through sensory information, processing complex ideas, and drawing conclusions.
- Phrenology (Gall): An early attempt to understand behavior through skull bumps, highlighting important ideas like brain regions controlling different functions, widespread brain usage, and the seat of character, emotion, intellect.
Parts and Lobes of the Brain
- Frontal Lobe: Largest lobe, located under the forehead, responsible for personality, emotions, language, memory, social behavior, decision-making, and short-term memory.
- Parietal Lobe: Located at the back and top of the head, involved in sensory perception, touch, object manipulation, voluntary movement, and spatial reasoning.
- Temporal Lobe: Positioned above the ears, responsible for auditory perception (hearing), long-term memory, object categorization, and visual memory/object recognition.
- Occipital Lobe: Situated at the back of the head, processing visual perception (location, form, what we see), distance/depth perception, color, and object/face recognition.
- Cerebellum: Not a lobe, controls balance, coordination, and voluntary motor skills.
- Brainstem: Connects the brain to the spinal cord, managing automatic functions like breathing and heartbeat, coordinating movement, and timing of muscle actions.
Structures within the Brain
- Amygdala: Works with the hippocampus to create emotional memories, linking fear, aggression, and anxiety to specific people/places. Hardwires memories for future threat recognition.
- Hippocampus: Converts short-term memories to long-term memories. Organises, stores, and retrieves information. The size differences between male and female brains might correlate to perceived emotional differences.
- Medulla: Controls breathing through the pre-Botzinger complex, regulating breath rhythms.
- Pons: Houses the locus ceruleus, which is crucial for attention.
- Hypothalamus: Connects the central nervous system to the endocrine system (hormone-producing glands), regulating body temperature, thirst, hunger, and circadian rhythms. Controls the pituitary gland.
- Pituitary Gland: Releases hormones regulating various bodily functions and behaviors, a key component of the endocrine system. Involved in stress, growth, and reproduction.
- Thalamus: The "grand central station," relays sensory information to the cortex (vision, hearing, touch).
Right and Left Brain Functioning (Sperry)
- Left Hemisphere: Logical, analytical, controls the right side of the body, associated with verbal tasks, detail-oriented thinking, logical decision-making, caution, objectivity, and language skills.
- Right Hemisphere: Creative, intuitive, controls the left side of the body, associated with non-verbal visual tasks, holistic thinking, intuitive decision-making, adventurousness, subjectivity, emotion understanding, and reading facial expressions.
Specific Brain Facts
- Brain Weight: 3 pounds
- Brain Composition: 60% fat
- Brain Power: Produces ~23 watts of power when awake
- Blood Supply: Receives 20% of the body's blood and oxygen.
- Consciousness Loss: Loses consciousness almost 8-10 seconds after blood supply stops.
- Oxygen Deprivation: Can survive 5-6 minutes without oxygen, but permanent damage occurs after.
- Blood Vessels: ~100,000 miles in length.
- Neurons: 100 billion.
- Neuron Development: 250,000 per minute in early pregnancy.
- Memory Loss: Aging brains may struggle with filtering old memories, impacting new learning.
Sigmund Freud
- Biography: Freud was a neurotic individual, experienced various children, and was a cigar smoker.
- Psychoanalysis and Dreams: Focused on the unconscious mind to understand behavior. The "Interpretation of Dreams" was a famous work that explored dreams as wish fulfillment, arising from repressed desires. Anxiety manifest as nightmares.
- Theory of Personality (id, ego, superego): Divided the mind into conscious and unconscious realms. Personality arises from the interaction of the id, ego, and superego.
- Id: Pleasure principle (basic needs).
- Ego: Reality principle, balances id and reality.
- Superego: Morality principle (right vs. wrong).
- Psychosexual Stages: Explained neurotic disorders in terms of unresolved issues in these developmental stages.
- Stage 1: Oral (0-2): Trust vs. Mistrust. Fixation can cause mistrust, over-trust, habits like smoking, nail biting, over-talking.
- Stage 2: Anal (2-3): Independence vs. Dependence. Fixation leads to anal-retentive (control) or anal-expulsive (disorganized) personalities.
- Stage 3: Phallic (3-6): Sexual associations and Oedipus/Electra complexes (same-sex parent jealousy).
- Stage 4: Latency (6-puberty): Forming relationships, social/intellectual development.
- Stage 5: Genital (puberty-death): Mature relationships and self-understanding.
Dreams & History
- Ancient Egypt: Dreams viewed as messages from gods.
- Bible/Biblical Times: Similar concept of divine messages.
- Middle Ages: Some interpretations linked nightmares to the devil.
- Biology of Dreams: Associated with REM sleep (rapid eye movement), marked by intense brain activity. Adults spend a quarter of their sleep in REM and dreaming. REM happens in the final sleep stage.
Neo-Freudians (Adler, Jung, Horney)
- Alfred Adler: Focused on power as a key motivator, contrasting Freud's sexuality focus. Developed concepts such as inferiority/superiority complexes.
- Carl Jung: Disagreed on unconscious motivation being solely sexual. Proposed the personal and collective unconscious, psychological functions (sensation, intuition, thinking, feeling), and personality types (introvert/extrovert).
- Karen Horney: Challenged Freud's focus on sexuality, applying feminist perspectives.
Classical and Operant Conditioning
- Ivan Pavlov: Discovered classical conditioning through dog experiments. Learned associations between stimuli produce specific responses, e.g., a bell (neutral stimulus) paired with food (unconditioned stimulus) eventually elicits saliva (conditioned response).
- B.F. Skinner: Developed operant conditioning, explaining behavior through consequences (rewards/punishments).
John Watson
- Behaviorism: Pioneered behaviorism in 1920. Conducted the Baby Albert experiment, demonstrating fear as a learned response to a stimulus. Believed in "tabula rasa" (blank slate).
Erik Erikson
- Stages of Psychosocial Development: Extended Freud's psychosexual stages, emphasizing social and environmental influences on development throughout life, instead of childhood alone. Introduced the concept of identity crisis (common in adolescents).
Abraham Maslow
- Hierarchy of Needs: Proposed a hierarchy of needs, starting with basic needs (physiological, safety) to reach self-actualization (achieving one's full potential).
Jean Piaget
- Learning Stages: Identified four stages in children's cognitive development, highlighting progressive reasoning abilities.
Perception & Testing
- Rorschach Inkblot: A projective assessment examining personality through perceptions of inkblots.
- Perception: The multi-stage mental process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory input, influenced by personal experiences.
Stanley Milgram
- Theory of Obedience: Explored obedience to authority figures, demonstrating how people can be pressured to perform actions conflicting with their values. Famous for the teacher-learner shock experiment. Majority of participants continued to highest shock levels given instructions.
Harry Harlow
- Social Isolation Experiments: Demonstrated the crucial role of caregiving, affection, and social relationships in rhesus monkeys raised in isolation. Emphasized the importance of emotional comfort in development.
Memory
- Three Levels of Memory:
- Sensory: Brief storage of sensory information.
- Short-term: Temporarily holds attentive information (~15-20 seconds).
- Long-term: Stores meaningful information permanently, with no capacity limits.
- Amnesia: Partial or total loss of memory, impacting different memory types (episodic, semantic, procedural).
Psychopaths and Sociopaths
- Psychopath and Sociopath: Distinct but overlapping personality disorders, with overlaps in symptoms but different etiologies. Psychopaths are more overtly affected in their judgments, while sociopaths maintain some degree of social conformity.
Abnormal Psychology
- Mental Health: Emotional/cognitive well-being. Mental illness is a non-normative psychological pattern causing distress or disability.
- Neurosis: Mental distress that perpetuates anxiety and self-doubt.
- Psychosis: Loss of reality contact, impairing social functioning (requires medical intervention).
- Defense Mechanisms: Strategies for protecting self-esteem in the face of stress.
- DSM-5: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, used for diagnosing mental illnesses.
Studying That Suits You
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Description
Test your knowledge on the various branches of psychology, including their key concepts, criticisms, and prominent figures. This quiz will challenge your understanding of topics such as Behaviourism, Structuralism, and the application of unconscious thoughts in therapy.
