Psychology Chapters 14 & 15 Review

Exam Review

• Final exams are looming, despite Christmas being near
• Trying to cram the entire course in the day before the exam is not recommended
• Aim to pass the finals!

Exam Reminders

• Exam date: December 17th (Tuesday)
• Time: 8:30 am
• Required materials: Pencil
• Exam format: 40 multiple-choice questions, 2 short-answer questions (3 total to choose from)
• Content covered: Chapters 14 & 15, cumulative
• Study guide: consult for terms

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

• People with limited skill struggle to evaluate their own performance.
• Confidence is initially high but then drops with increased knowledge and experience.

The Biopsychosocial Model

• A model for understanding psychological processes.
• Integrates biological, psychological, and social factors as intertwined elements that shape mental and behavioral processes.

Replicability

• A quality of a scientific study
• Allows for the experiment to be repeated and receive similar results.

Cognitive Psychology

• Focuses on the fundamental processes and abilities that lead to human behavior and thought.

Stream of Consciousness

• Describes the continuous flow of ever-changing thoughts.

Zygote

• The beginning of life
• The moment of conception when a sperm unites with an egg.

Teratogens

• Agents that negatively affect the developing embryo or fetus.

Infantile Amnesia

• Inability to recall early childhood events.

Attachment Style

• Secure
• Insecure/Avoidant
• Insecure/Ambivalent (anxious)
• Disoriented-Disorganized

Theory of Mind

• Individuals have the mental ability to understand that others have unique perspectives and mental states.
• To think about what someone else is thinking or feeling.

Self-actualization

• Achieving one's full potential and happiness
• The desire to develop one's full potential as a human being and to live as the best version of oneself.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

• Performance on challenging tasks improves with arousal to a certain extent
• After a certain point, further increases in arousal negatively affect performance

Intrinsic Motivation

• Motivation rooted in inherent values or satisfaction derived from the activity itself.

Extrinsic Motivation

• Motivation prompted by external incentives, like rewards.

Cognitive Dissonance

• Feeling of discomfort caused by conflicting ideas or behaviors.

Health Psychology

• Applying psychological research to understand the connections between thoughts, actions, and mental/physical well-being.

Immigrant Paradox

• Health disparities become greater between foreign-born and native-born individuals across generations.
• Contributing factors include poor diet, loss of culture, social networks, and stress.

General Adaptation Syndrome

• Three stages: -Alarm: Initial physical response to a stressor -Resistance: Body prepares for a prolonged stressor -Exhaustion: Body's resources deplete from ongoing stress response

Fight or Flight

• Physiological animal preparedness to deal with threatening situations.

Four Types of Stressors

• Major life stressors
• Chronic stressors
• Daily hassles
• Discrimination-related stressors

Types of Coping

• Emotion-focused coping: understanding and managing emotions
• Problem-focused coping: taking steps to resolve a problem

Buffering Hypothesis

• Social support reduces the negative effects of stress.

Social Support

• Feeling cared for and supported by others that improves both mental and physical well-being

Outgroup Homogeneity Effect

• Individuals perceive out-group members as less varied than in-group members.

Group Polarization

• The idea that groups amplify the initial tendencies of their members.

The Mere Exposure Effect

• The more often people are exposed to something, the more positive their attitude toward it becomes.

The ABCs

• Discrimination – negative treatment based on group membership
• Prejudice - negative feelings and opinions about a group
• Stereotype - a generalized belief about a group

Modern Racism

• Prejudice that simultaneously tolerates anti-racist stances

Factors predicting relationships (friends, partners, or enemies)

• Proximity and familiarity
• Personal characteristics
• Physical attractiveness

Five-Factor Theory

• Identifies five fundamental personality traits:
  • Openness to experience
  • Conscientiousness
  • Extraversion
  • Agreeableness
  • Neuroticism

Internal Locus of Control

• Belief that one controls their own destiny

External Locus of Control

• Belief that rewards and life outcomes are influenced by forces beyond one's control

Better-Than-Average Effect

• The tendency for people to rate their own attributes and abilities above average.

Downward Comparison

• Comparing oneself to someone perceived as less successful or less fortunate to raise self-esteem.

Upward Comparison

• Comparing oneself to someone perceived as more successful or more fortunate to gauge improvement.

Temperament

• The usual attitude, mood, or behavior of a person.

Situationism

• Human personality is shaped mostly by situation.

Interactionism

• The daily interactions between people that drive societal evolution and growth

Psychopathology

• Illness or mental disorder.

DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)

• A reference guide used to diagnose mental disorders.

Diathesis-Stress Model

• Explains the development of mental disorders as a result of both disposition and external stress levels.

Anxiety Disorders

• Specific phobia
• Social anxiety disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Panic disorder
• Agoraphobia
• Characterized by excessive fear and anxiety in the absence of actual danger.

Depressive Disorders

• Major depressive disorder
• Persistent depressive disorder
• Occurring frequently through periods of sadness, a loss of interest in once enjoyable activities, and other symptoms that extend over several weeks or months.

Bipolar Disorders

• Bipolar I disorder
• Bipolar II disorder
• Characterized by mood swings with episodes of mania and depression.

Schizophrenia

• alterations in thoughts, perceptions, and consciousness
• Characterized by hallucinations and delusions.

OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)

• Obsessions: recurrent unwanted thoughts
• Compulsions: specific acts someone feels forced to repeat (e.g., cleaning, counting)

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa: characterized by fear of weight gain, and restricted food intake and often purging
• Bulimia Nervosa: marked by binge eating, and compensation behaviors such as purging
• Binge eating disorder: characterized by binge eating episodes with no compensatory behaviors

Addiction

• Dependence on a substance or activity
• Tolerance: needing more to experience the same effect.
• Withdrawal: symptoms experienced upon stopping substance use.

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)

• Disorder arises after a stressful event
• Characterized by recurring memories, tension, anxiety, and difficulties with memory and attention.

Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociative amnesia: memory loss surrounding a specific event.
• Dissociative fugue: taking on a new identity, often in a new place
• Dissociative identity disorder: more than one personality coexisting in the same person.

Borderline Personality Disorder

• Characterized by emotional instability, relationship problems, and self-image issues and impulsive behavior.

Personality Disorders

• Paranoid
• Schizoid
• Schizotypal
• Histrionic
• Narcissistic
• Borderline
• Antisocial
• Avoidant
• Dependent
• Obsessive-compulsive
• Characterized by maladaptive patterns of behavior, thoughts, and emotions.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

• Diagnosis marked by a disregard for rules and the well-being of others and engaging in deceitful and irresponsible behaviors.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

• Intellectual disabilities
• Communication disorders
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• Specific learning disorders
• Motor disorders
• These are disorders that appear in childhood

Treatment of psychological disorders

• Therapy types (various approaches)
• Methods they use
• Medications (general types, not specific drugs)
• Biological treatments