Psychology Chapter on Personality and Disorders

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Questions and Answers

What is the function of the ego in Freud's model of the psyche?

To mediate between desires and reality (correct)

To reflect unconscious drives

To seek immediate pleasure

To impose societal morals

Which of the following best describes sublimation as a defense mechanism?

Repressing distressing thoughts into the unconscious

Avoiding confrontation to reduce anxiety

Blaming others for one's own failures

Channeling unacceptable urges into acceptable behaviors (correct)

How does the behaviorist approach view personality?

As a result of genetic coding

As influenced solely by the unconscious

As characteristic responses developed over time (correct)

As fixed and unchanging traits

According to humanistic psychologists, what drives individuals towards self-actualization?

Inner motivation and uniqueness Signup and view all the answers

Which statement accurately reflects trait theory's approach to personality?

It began with an exhaustive list of traits totaling 4,500. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary method used to diagnose psychological disorders?

Observable behavior and self-reported experience Signup and view all the answers

In the context of 'abnormal' psychology, what is a characteristic of abnormal behavior?

Unusual, distressing, and potentially harmful Signup and view all the answers

Why is consistency in diagnosing psychological disorders important?

It ensures uniformity in diagnostic criteria across different practitioners Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements about psychological disorders is true?

All psychological disorders are associated with a cluster of symptoms Signup and view all the answers

What does the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) provide?

A consistent approach to diagnosing psychological disorders Signup and view all the answers

Which disorder is categorized under neurodevelopmental disorders?

Autism Spectrum Disorder Signup and view all the answers

What aspect does cultural normality relate to when diagnosing psychological disorders?

The understanding that normality varies by culture Signup and view all the answers

What is one of the main criticisms of the DSM in diagnosing psychological disorders?

It does not consider the variability of symptoms among individuals Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes an internal locus of control?

Feeling in charge of one's decisions and actions Signup and view all the answers

What effect does high self-efficacy have on a person's behavior?

Greater confidence in capabilities Signup and view all the answers

In the context of reciprocal determinism, which statement is true?

Behavior and environment influence each other mutually Signup and view all the answers

What is one common behavior associated with an external locus of control?

Believing success is due to luck or fate Signup and view all the answers

How does the phenomenon known as 'Medical Students’ Syndrome' manifest?

By students perceiving themselves as having various illnesses Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is true regarding the prevalence of psychological disorders in Hong Kong?

Young adults show higher prevalence rates Signup and view all the answers

If a person frequently feels down and experiences anxiety, what important question should they consider?

Are my symptoms chronic or occasional in nature? Signup and view all the answers

In social-cognitive theories, how is behavior primarily formed?

From interpreting and responding to specific situations Signup and view all the answers

What does comorbidity refer to in psychology?

The simultaneous presence of two or more disorders Signup and view all the answers

Which concept aligns with the statement: IF a certain situation is experienced, THEN a stable behavior emerges?

If-then relationships Signup and view all the answers

What is a common treatment approach for individuals diagnosed with Schizophrenia?

Antipsychotic medications Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT a typical treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?

Electroconvulsive therapy Signup and view all the answers

What type of therapy is commonly employed to help individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder improve their social skills?

Applied behavior analysis Signup and view all the answers

Which factor is important in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder?

Regular physical activity Signup and view all the answers

What is a fundamental feature of the Diathesis-Stress Model in understanding the treatment of psychological disorders?

The interaction of genetic and environmental factors Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following therapies is least likely to aid in treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

Psychoanalysis Signup and view all the answers

In treating Bipolar Disorder, what is the primary medication class used?

Mood stabilizers Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is often a significant aspect of treatment for anxiety disorders?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy Signup and view all the answers

What type of intervention can help improve social skills in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Occupational therapy Signup and view all the answers

In the context of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, what is often a characteristic of effective treatment?

Interdisciplinary approaches including various therapies Signup and view all the answers

What level of intellectual disability is characterized by an IQ between 40-55?

Moderate Signup and view all the answers

Which condition typically leads to a profound level of intellectual disability?

None of the above Signup and view all the answers

Which type of intervention is crucial for individuals with mild intellectual disability to achieve independence?

Proper intervention Signup and view all the answers

How does giftedness differ from genius?

Giftedness includes creativity and achievement Signup and view all the answers

What is a common challenge faced by gifted children in the traditional school system?

Need for tailored programs Signup and view all the answers

What approach to psychology did Sigmund Freud develop?

Psychodynamic Signup and view all the answers

According to Freud, which components make up the structure of personality?

Id, ego, and superego Signup and view all the answers

Which type of personality measure involves direct questioning of individuals about their traits?

Personality inventories Signup and view all the answers

What psychological theory focuses on observable behaviors rather than thoughts or feelings?

Behaviorist theory Signup and view all the answers

The term 'hysteria' in Freud's work is now commonly referred to as what?

Somatic symptom disorder Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Stress Management Agenda

What is Stress?
Effects of Stress on Health
Stress Management

Introduction to Social Psychology
First Impressions and Attributions
Attitudes and Persuasion
Prejudice and Stereotypes
Groups

Humans need other humans
Earliest human ancestors lived in small social groups
Social interaction is a basic human need (e.g., attachment)
Social isolation is detrimental
Poor sleep
Negative mood
Earlier mortality

The scientific study of how people influence other people's behavior, thoughts, and feelings

First Impressions

Formed rapidly (sometimes within seconds)
Long-lasting
Even in the face of contradictory information

Attribution

A judgment about the cause of a person's behavior
Why did that just happen?

Attribution: Why did that just happen?

Dispositional (Internal) Attribution: Personal qualities → Behavior
Situational (External) Attribution: Environment → Behavior

Correspondence Bias

Disposition → Behavior → Situational factors → Behavior

Defensive Attributions

Actor-observer bias: Tendency to make situational attributions about our own behavior and dispositional attributions about others' behavior
Self-serving bias: Viewing our successes differently than our failures (success = dispositional attribution, failure = situational attribution)
Just-world belief: Good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people

Cultural Influences on Attribution

Collectivistic Cultures: More emphasis on situational factors, more likely to show group-serving bias
Individualistic Cultures: More emphasis on dispositional factors, more likely to use self-serving bias and the just-world belief

Attitudes

Favorable or unfavorable evaluations that predispose behavior
Affect (emotion)
Behavior
Cognition

How are Attitudes Formed?

Observation
Other people
Personal experience
Genetics (twin studies)

Cognitive Dissonance

The uncomfortable state when behaviors don't match attitudes
Powerful tool for changing attitudes

Cognitive Dissonance: Reducing Dissonance

Change one of the two cognitions/behaviors
Introduce a new cognition
Reduce importance domain

Cognitive Dissonance Example

Get paid for $1 or $20 to tell another person that the task was fun

Persuasion: The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A model predicting response to persuasion through two routes
Central route
Peripheral route

The ELM and Persuasion

Central route: When a person considers persuasive arguments carefully and thoughtfully
Peripheral route: When a person responds to peripheral cues without considering the quality of the argument

What Influences Persuasion?

Motivation
Education
Time
Emotions
Characteristics of the person
How the message is communicated
Age of audience

How do people of different generations view the credibility of persuasive messages from professional vs. user-generated sources?

Key Terminology (Prejudice and Stereotypes)

Stereotype: Simplified sets of traits associated with group membership (cognition)
Prejudice: A pre-judgment or attitude (usually negative) towards a person based on group membership
Discrimination: Unfair behavior based on stereotyping and prejudice

Prejudice and Stereotypes (Example)

Stereotype: "All blondes are dumb"
Prejudice: “I don't like this person because she is blonde.”
Discrimination: “I would never accept a blonde into my law school.”

Sources of Prejudice and Stereotyping

Humans categorize information
Humans misjudge correlations between groups and their stereotypical behaviors
Direct experience
Learned from others
Emotional responses (amygdala)

Outcomes of Prejudice

Stereotype threat: Fear of confirming a negative group stereotype; anxiety of confirming stereotype prevents you from doing your best work (Steele & Aronson, 1995)

Measuring Prejudice

Implicit Association Test (IAT): Uses reaction time to assess people's unconscious attitudes. (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/)

Reducing Prejudice

Increased contact
Increased cooperation
Expand definition of in-group

Why Do We Go Along with the Group?

Social norms: Rules for behavior in social settings (e.g., stand at the back of the Starbucks line, stand forward facing in an elevator).
Conformity: Matching your behavior and appearance to the perceived social norms of a group (Asch's conformity study)

The Stanford Prison Study

Images from the Stanford experiment

Why Do We Conform?

Useful in ambiguous situations
Reduce risk of rejection

Compliance

Agreement with a request from someone with no perceived authority
Reciprocation: Feeling obligated to give something back to people who have given something to us
Powerful tool for social influence

How Can We Get People to Comply?

Door-in-the-face: Large, unreasonable demand followed by a smaller one
Foot-in-the-door: Small request followed by a larger one
Low balling: Making further requests from someone who has already committed

Obedience

Compliance with the request of an authority figure
Stanley Milgram's Obedience Study

Milgram's Obedience Study

Participant: "teacher"
Confederate: "learner"
Experimenter: "authority figure"
"Shocks" for wrong answers

Effect of Proximity (teacher-learner/experimenter)

Ordinary people, simply doing jobs, can carry out actions they find morally questionable

The presence of other people affects individual performance
Yerkes-Dodson Law: Effect of arousal on performance depends on the complexity of the task; simple tasks = improve, complex tasks = initial improvement then impairment.

Reduced motivation and effort shown by individuals working in a group compared to working alone.

Deindividuation

Immersion in a group, making the individual relatively anonymous

Group Polarization

Intensifying of an original attitude following discussion
Why does this happen?
- Conformity
- Tendency to associate with people who share similar views
- New reasons for holding attitude

Groupthink

Group members suppress dissenting opinions in the interests of group cohesion; confirming with decisions to avoid feeling ostracized

Individual Differences - Intelligence

What is intelligence?
Types of intelligence
Measuring intelligence
Extremes of intelligence
Nature and Nurture (biological and genetic influences vs. environmental influences)
Genes might establish a certain range, but environment may refine specific score
Environmental influences include Socioeconomic status (SES), poverty, nutrition, quantity/quality of education, medical care, breastfeeding, stress,

Distribution of Intelligence

95% of population falls between 70 and 130 IQ
Remaining 5%: IQ <70 (intellectual disability) or >130 (gifted)

Intellectual Disability (ID)

Diagnosed in individuals with IQ scores < 70 and poor adaptive behaviors/life skills.

Types of Intellectual Disability (ID)

Mild (IQ: 55-70)
Moderate (IQ: 40-55)
Severe (IQ: 25-40)
Profound (IQ: below 25)

Giftedness

Having an IQ score of 130+
Genius: giftedness + creativity and achievement

Psychological Disorders

How prevalent are psychological disorders?
Estimated 1 in 7 people in Hong Kong will experience a disorder
Higher prevalence in young adults (Lifetime prevalence more than 70%)
Comorbidity: Co-occurrence of two or more disorders in one person
Have you ever felt depressed? Been anxious? Dissatisfied with your appearance? Had trouble concentrating?
Medical students' syndrome
Resources (Counseling and Wellness Center, School Wellness Manager Vanessa at [email protected] or 2358-6955)

Respect (Person First Language)

A person with a disorder (not "a schizophrenic person")
A child who has a disorder (not "an autistic child")

Normal vs. Abnormal

The continuum
Healthy behaviors and reactions
Ailing and Illness behaviors

Statistical Normality

Ab = "away from"
Norma = "the rule"

Cultural Normality

Normality is culture dependent

What is Abnormal Behavior?

Unusual
Distressing
Harmful to self or others

What are Psychological Disorders?

Disturbances in behavior, thoughts, or emotions.
Significant personal distress or impairment
Internal dysfunction (biological, psychological, or both)

Diagnosing Psychological Disorders

Observable behavior and self-reported experience
Use manuals (DSM-5 and ICD-10) to create consistency
Problems in diagnostic approach: Differentiating normal/abnormal, individual differences in manifestation.

Why do Psychological Disorders Develop?

Biological Factors (genetics, biochemistry, structural brain abnormalities)
Environmental Factors (poor socialisation, stressful life circumstances, cultural/social inequalities)
Gene x Environment Interaction

The Diathesis-Stress Model

Genetic predisposition + environmental stress → psychological disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Characterized by deficits in social relatedness and communication skills
Often accompanied by repetitive, ritualistic behavior
Symptoms include: Lack of social-emotional reciprocity, unawareness of others' perspectives, trouble developing and maintaining relationships, insistence on routine, repetitive behaviors/rituals, unusual increased/decreased sensitivity to stimuli, restricted interests
Prevalence: 1 out of every 68 children. Boys are diagnosed more often than girls.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, or both
Symptoms include: Inability to focus, high level of motor activity, impulsivity

Causes of ADHD

Biological Factors (genetics, structural/functional differences in the brain)
Environmental Factors (lead contamination, low birth weight, prenatal exposure to tobacco, alcohol, other drugs)

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Psychotic disorder (positive and negative symptoms)
Key Positive Symptoms: Delusions, Hallucinations, Disorganized speech/behavior.
Negative Symptoms: Emotional/social withdrawal, apathy, and avolition.

Causes of Schizophrenia

Biological (50% concordance rate in identical twins, neural degeneration, reduced frontal lobe activity, dopamine hypothesis)
Environmental (extreme stress, low SES, prenatal exposure to viruses, marijuana use)

Individual Differences - Personality

What is personality?
Historical approaches (psychodynamic, behaviorist, humanistic)
Trait Theories (Big Five Theory)
Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
Social-Cognitive Theories (locus of control, reciprocal determinism, if-then relationships)

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Description

This quiz explores key concepts in psychology related to personality, defense mechanisms, and psychological disorders. It covers aspects of Freud's model, trait theory, humanistic psychology, and the DSM-5. Test your understanding of these critical topics in psychology.