Exam 3 Psychology Study Notes PDF

Exam 3 Psychology Study Notes Traffic Light Study Method Success vs Failure Self-serving bias: attributes change based on success vs. failure. ○ Attributions: the act of regarding something as being caused by someone or somet...

Exam 3 Psychology Study Notes Traffic Light Study Method Success vs Failure Self-serving bias: attributes change based on success vs. failure. ○ Attributions: the act of regarding something as being caused by someone or something ○ People tend to take credit for successes and blame external factors for failures Examples: Good grade on exam = I studied great. Bad grade on exam = The professor stinks at teaching. Self-handicapping: Introducing obstacles to success so you don’t have to feel a decrease in self-esteem if you don’t succeed. ○ Example: Getting drunk before an exam so that when you fail, you can say it wasn’t because you weren’t smart enough but because you got drunk. Prejudice/Stereotyping Prejudice/Stereotyping: Holding a general belief or assumption about ALL members in a group. ○ It has seemed to decrease over time, but people can lie about it, so it’s not known how much it’s actually decreased. It’s not normalized anymore. Why does prejudice persist?: ○ 1) Implicit prejudice: Unintentional discrimination. ○ 2) Stereotypes as heuristics: allows us to make a quick judgement without analyzing every situation. ○ 3) “Blaming the victim” and scapegoating: people feel better blaming others. ○ 4) Us vs Them mentality: they see their own group as superior negative stereotypes against the different group. What 2 ways causes stereotyping to become true?: ○ Self-fufling prophecy: When someone’s expectations about a group makes them behave a way that confirms those stereotypes  Example: If a hiring manager sees someone dressed formally and someone dressed casual, they assume that the person dressed casual is lazy and has no work ethic, so they pay less attention to them during the interview and engage less in it, causing the casual-dressed person to feel more nervous and perform worse. While the hiring manager acts more engaged and nicer during the interview with the formally dressed person, which makes this formal-dressed person more confident, causing them to perform better. ○ Stereotype threat: people worry/fear about confirming a negative stereotype about their group. This anxiety affects their perfomance which confirms their existing fear of the stereotype. Reducing prejudice: ○ Robber’s cave example: Basically, competition fuels prejudice; working together reduces it. Phase 1: Keep separate. Phase 2: Competition. Phase 3: Superordinate goals ○ Jigsaw example: You put students into different groups, and each person in the group covers a different section of the same article. Then, they’re put into expert groups, which means the students leave their group to group up with other students in different groups who read the same section they did. Then, they go back to their original groups to explain each other's section to each other. Prosocial behavior (act of kindness): Any act that benefits someone else (even if you get something in return) ○ Example: Helping a stranger who dropped their groceries. Bystander effect: Expecting someone else to help a person or a situation when you’re in a large group of people not thinking it’s your job ○ Reason 1: People around not helping means help isn't needed. ○ Reason 2: Less responsibility because the responsibility is divided between everyone around Motivation Motivations: A desire that energizes and directs us and keeps us moving towards goals. (Why we do what we do).  2 Categories of motivation: ○ Biological needs: basic things we need to survive (hunger, thirst, sex). ○ Social needs: wanting to connect with others, take care of people, and achieve goals. Drive theories: The body creates a drive to fix when we’re out of balance. Incentive theories: focusing on external rewards. Things that are enjoyable. Drive: Internal tension that motivates. a feeling that pushes you to do something because you need something (body out of balance) Homeostasis: keeping your body balanced and stable. Maintaining things like temperature and hunger. (Energy levels dropping) Drive theories can’t explain: ○ Complex behaviors that are influenced by social, cultural, and emotional factors. ○ Non-need based actions: people can engage in activities that don’t fufill basic needs (hobbies) Causes of hunger: Originally thought stomach rumbling, and this is correct. ○ Stomach contracts when people feel hungry ○ Hormonal signals such as ghrelin (stimulates appetite) and leptin (stimulates fullness) Insulin (more increases hunger) ○ Hypothalamus (Part of Brain) Stimulatrion leads rats to eat a lot and lesioning leads them to not eat at all. ○ Glucose, when monitored, helps regulate hunger. Lack of it leads to hunger. External factors of hunger: smelling food, advertising, being in social gatherings where people are eating, time of day, food portions, and food availability. ○ Palatability (how good it tastes) Learned factors ○ Quantity Availble Evolutionary explanations  ○ Variety ○ Learning and evolution: Dietary preferences are survival mechanisms ○ Adaptive behaviors: ensures survival through dietary preferences. Sexual desire Internal factors to sexual desire: hormones, brain chemicals like dopamine, mental health; good mental health can boost this. Physical health, arousal sensitivity. ○ Testosterone Linked to sexual fantasies ○ Injections of testosterone increase fantasies Stopping injections reduces again ○ Males who prefer short-term mates have higher testosterone External factors to sexual desire: movies that show sexual stuff or music that displays sexual messages. Enviorment like a romantic setting (a candlelit bedroom) and media. ○ Physical attractiveness: What makes someone more attractive? (Example: Straight teeth, face symmetry, etc) ○ Women Waist-to-hip ratio (.7-.85) Shiny hair ○ Men Masculine features Broad shoulders Large, square jaw ○ But more variability in preferences for men (and for some, more feminine is more attractive) Why are these qualities attractive? ○ Signal “good genes.” Health Dominance Attractiveness ○ Scent of symmetry Can predict symmetry from shirts  ○ Cultural/Temporal differences Larger women preferred if food was scarce Wealthy Female models larger when economic times rougher External factors that stay the same: Environmental cues, relationship quality; emotional connection or trust. Physical attraction External factors that change: media, cultural norms, access to info. What increases men’s standard for a mate: physical attraction, confidence and personal growth, social status, and masculinity. What about for women? Focusing on traits and emotional support. Increases standards based on own accomplishments. Strive for more emotional connection and intelligence. They want long-term investments. Intelligence ○ Women desire slightly above average for a single date and want more with increasing commitment. Women have lower criteria for sexual partners than men. ○ Men have similar criteria for dates and for long-term mates. Men’s criteria are considerably lower for sexual partners Gender differences: Men usually go for physical attraction, while women go for emotional connection and financial stability Sociocultural factors ○ Women typically have lower economic potential: women have lower opportunities to make as much money as men. ○ Cultural suppression of female sexuality: women must be shy or modest about their sexuality. Parental Investment Theory: Amount of investment a parent gives to a child. The sex that has a higher investment in offspring tends to have higher standards. Women are choosier, and men are competitive in attracting young women. ○ Women want men who are willing to invest in their child and who have the resources to provide. (standards as chance of pregnancy) ○ Men seek young, attractive women, as this suggests fertility. (standards as commitment to relationship)  ○ Men have a smaller minimum investment in children. Same-Sex Relationships ○ Gay men are similar to straight men in: Age preferences (Prefer youth) Emphasis on physical attractiveness De-emphasis of status and resources ○ Trends for lesbian women not as simple Preferences for: Youth (like straight men); less emphasis on attractiveness (like straight women) Social culture reasons for mate preferences in gender: gender roles, upbringing boys and girls are socialized differently, media, evolving, family dynamics. Emotions 3 components of emotion: ○ 1) Cognitive label: hundreds of emotions. Primary emotions: joy, anger, fear, surprise, sadness, interest/awe, and disgust. ○ 2) Emotional expression: facial expressions ○ 3) Arousal: Body reactions James-Lange Theory: Specific arousal, and we label that feeling. ○ Example: seeing a bear causes a heart race. (Arousal) Cannon-Bard Theory: When we experience an emotion, we feel the emotion at the same time as our body reaction. One doesn’t cause the other. ○ Example: seeing a scary dog makes you feel scared and your heart races at the same time. Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory: How our body feels and how we think about that feeling. Looking around environment to understand why we’re feeling what we’re feeling ○ Example: If your heart races when you see a bear, you feel scared because you recognize that your body is reacting to a scary situation. (Cognitive Label) Emotional Expression: Present from a young age How do primary emotions relate to other emotions? Primary emotions can cause complex emotions called secondary emotions. Secondary emotions are reactions to the primary emotions and are a mix of some of them. Secondary emotions: love, guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride, envy, and jealousy. Are primary emotions innate? Yes, facial expressions are hard-wired. Early development (infancy) and changes in heart rate. So, emotions are innate and fundamentally rooted in our biology Are secondary emotions innate? No. These can be caused by environmental facts and surroundings. More complex emotions can vary between cultures as they are shaped by personal experiences. Primary emotions can develop in early stages, while secondary emotions can develop later. Which gender detects emotion better? Women can express and detect their emotions better than men. They have more emotional intelligence and contextual sensitivity. Which gender shows more emotion: While women can express their emotions more than men and they’re generally more expressive, there’s no difference on who shows more emotions. Who expresses anger more? Men usually express anger more loudly and aggressively than women, while women express sadness more openly than men. Fake vs. Real smile: A real smile, often called “Duchenne smile,” engages not only the mouth but also the eyes, which leads to the appearance of a crow's feet. A fake smile involves only the mouth and lacks the eyes. Do cultures differ with respect to expressing emotions? Each culture has its own set of social rules. Expressing emotions more openly might be accepted in some cultures but not others. ○ Japanese vs. American participants in theaters Lights on vs. off Japanese express less emotion with light on; Americans express more  ○ Asian Cultures: Involve less openly expressive emotions, more reserved. ○ Western Cultures: More open expressive emotions. Functionality (What’s the point of having emotions?) ○ Emotions motivate specific patterns of behavior Fear: Avoid danger. Disgust: Avoid contagion Fear: Huddle together. Disgust: Avoid others. Nervous system & Emotions Pt2 Nervous system role in emotions. ○ Autonomic Nervous System: Sympathetic Nervous System: activiates “flight or fight” response during stress or danger. Increasing heart rate, breathing, and energy. Parasympathetic Nervous System: calms the body after a threat has passed, slowing heart rate and promoting relaxation. Brain: amygdala processes emotions. ○ Prefrontal Cortex: helps regulate and interpret emotions. Hormonal Response: Nervous system releases hormones like adrenaline. Men calling attractive researcher from dangerous bridge:The men misattributed their physiological arousal from the fear of the bridge as attraction to the woman. Basically, they mistook the excitement and fear from bridge as attraction toward the woman. Schachter’s Studies: When people are injected with adrenaline, their feelings depend on their environment. If they were in a happy environment, they felt happy. If they were in a frustrating environment, they felt angry. This means that our emotions can be shaped by what’s happening around us.