Chapter 4 Test Flashcards
What is self-concept?
Our sense of who we are, based on our idea about strengths, weaknesses, values, beliefs, hopes, dreams, achievements and disappointments
What is a culturally constructed concept?
An idea about the world and/or the people in it that is formed as a result of a person’s cultural upbringing
What is enculturation?
The learning process whereby we begin to learn the ideas, values and beliefs of our culture
What are defense mechanisms?
The techniques that the human mind uses to deal with feelings of anxiety, frustration, tension or worry. These protect our ego and maintain our self-esteem.
What is rationalization?
Defense mechanism by which we invent an excuse to explain a failure, loss, error or bad behavior
What is displacement?
Defense mechanism where we lash out at someone because we have suppressed anger or frustration from an earlier situation
What is repression?
Defense mechanism where we push unpleasant urges or thoughts out of our conscious minds and into our subconscious
What is projection?
Defense mechanism where we see negative traits and feelings in other people that we sense in ourselves but to which we cannot openly admit
What is cognitive dissonance and why does it matter?
cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. Example: someone is driving and skids on black ice into a pedestrian. They feel bad and like it’s their fault but they also feel it’s not their fault because of the ice. These are two contradicting beliefs and if he cannot deal with them, defense mechanisms might be employed.
It matters because if it isn’t resolved, meaning they cope with it, it can lead to the person changing entirely and losing their conscience
What is an identity crisis?
A period in a person’s life during which the person’s self-concept and beliefs are challenged
What are the 6 ways to be persuaded and how do they work? Give an example of each.
- Reciprocity: obligation to give when you receive (key is be the 1st to give, make it personalized and unexpected)
- Scarcity: people want more of things there are was of (advertised benefits and uniqueness and what they’ll lose aka FOMO)
- Authority: people will follow credible, knowledgeable experts (advertise credentials and people will listen and follow)
- Consistency: looking for, and asking for, commitments that can be made (voluntary, active and public commitments persuades people)
- Liking: 3 important factors - like those who are similar, who pay us compliments and who cooperate with us (find similarities and pay compliments to get people to like you)
- Consensus: people look to actions of others to determine their own (showing a person someone similar to them doing the action you want them to do works best)
What is nature?
Inherited, biological characteristics
Proof it has an impact on development: it is studied and proven that genes passed on from parents possess a piece of information that guide our development from embryo to maturity
What is nurture?
Learned, environmental forces
Proof it impacts development: from the quality and quantity of time a parent spends with their child to the types of toys a child plays with plays a role in personality development
What is the nature vs nurture debate about? Why is it important?
The debate over whether nature or nurture has more of an impact on personality development
It’s important because the answer decides where resources go to. If nature, funding would go into researching how to stop disorders like schizophrenia. If nurture, funding would go to focusing on diagnosing the primary factors most important to development then doing what we can to improve them. The answer decides how we fix the problem.
What are genes? Why do they matter?
Biological building blocks; they determine hair color, eye color and other physical characteristics
They’re important because by researching them, we can find out what characteristics they are actually responsible for
What is the human genome project? Why does it matter?
An international project, launched in 1989, aimed at identifying the location and function of all human genes
It is important because the project allowed us to understand the human genome and to tinker with DNA. It also opened the door for gene editing. Basically, allowed us to further research the nature part of the debate.
What are twins? What can we learn from them?
Identical- twins who inherit identical genes
Fraternal- twins who have 1/2 their genes in common
We can learn many things from twins. If twins are raised separately, the resulting personalities can explain whether environment in which they were raised resulted in differences or identical genes result in identical personalities, resolving nature vs nurture
What are feral children? What can we learn from them?
Human children raised by wild animals such as wolves
We can better understand the nurture side of the debate. Shows what happens when humans grow up without socialization.
What are epigenetics? What can we learn from them?
Studying changes and expression in organisms caused by modification of gene expression, not changing the gene itself.
We can learn we have control over things we thought we didn’t in the past. We can control gene expression and perhaps even learn how to prevent certain diseases.
What is a psychological disorder?
A disease of the mind that makes it difficult to cope with the ordinary stresses of daily life
What is stereotyping?
Assuming that all members of a particular group share certain characteristics without considering the actual characteristics of each individual
What is abnormal psychology?
branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and thought, which may or may not be understood as precipitating a mental disorder
What is neurosis?
Type of neurological disorder; high levels of anxiety or tension but able to manage daily affairs
Name and explain at least three neurotic disorders.
Panic attacks: fear and intense physical and emotional anxiety; some can even pass out; can strike almost anyone
Phobias: irrational and often debilitating fears (ex: claustrophobia); treatment can include exposure therapy and relaxation techniques
Obsessive-compulsive disorder: person has an obsession (recurring uncontrollable thought or impulse) to be compulsive (engage in meaningless repetitive behavior); obsessed with exactness and symmetry; believe something awful will happen if they don’t stick to their repetitive routine, which often includes ordering and arranging as well as counting
