Psychology and Sociology Flashcards
(446 cards)
1
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Biopsychosocial approach
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illuminates the importance of psychological and sociological study for success in the practice of medicine
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Biomedical approach
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focuses narrowly on the physical aspects of illness
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Social constructionism
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human actors construct or create reality, rather than discovering a reality that has inherent validity; the beliefs and shared understandings of individuals create social realities
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Symbolic interactionism
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focuses on a smaller scale of interaction between individuals and in small groups such as between a patient and a physician; through social interactions, individuals develop shared meanings and labels for various symbols
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Symbols
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terms, concepts, or items that represent specific meanings by accepted convention; ex. drug addict has symbolic meanings ranging from criminal tendencies to clinical mental illness
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Functionalism
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factions of society work together to maintain stability
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Conflict theory
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views society in terms of competing groups that act according to their own self-interests, rather than according to the need for societal equilibrium
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Feminist theory
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a particular type of conflict theory that examines social inequities between men and women
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Macrosociology
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focuses on broad social structures that affect society
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Microsociology
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focuses on smaller scale social interactions between individuals
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Rational choice theory
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assumes that people’s actions are dictated by a rational consideration of alternatives; individuals choose the action that is mot likely to bring some type of profit
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Exchange theory
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argues that behaviors within relationships are determined by individual’s expectations of reward or punishment
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Culture
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all of the beliefs, assumptions, objects, behaviors, and processes that make up a shared way of life
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Material culture
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refers to the objects involved in a certain way of life such as products manufactured, tools used, art made etc.
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Non-material culture
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encompasses the elements of culture that are not physical ie. shared ideas, knowledge, assumptions, values etc.
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Social norms
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expectations that govern what behavior is acceptable within a group
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Sanctions
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social expressions of approval for conforming to norms or disapproval for failing to conform
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Folkways
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norms governing casual interactions, violations have less serious consequences
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Mores
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norms enforcing the moral standards of a society, violations have more serious consequences
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Social group
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a subset of the population that maintains social interactions or a group identity among a set of individuals created by a collection of shared experiences
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Symbolic culture
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type of non-material culture that consists of the elements of culture that only have meaning within the mind ie. thumbs up or a handshake; based on a shared system of collective beliefs in the form of symbols
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Rituals
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formal, ceremonial behaviors with specific purpose and significance
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Language
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the use of symbols to represent ideas
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Society
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defined as two or more individuals living together in a community and/or sharing elements of culture
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Social institutions
hierarchical systems that bring order to interpersonal interactions, structuring society ie. government, economy, education, religion, family, healthcare etc.
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Government
provides order to society through the services it provides and the making and enforcement of law
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Economy
an institution that distributes goods and services to meet the needs of a society
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Power
allows individuals or groups to exert their will even when they are opposed by others
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Authority
a type of power that is viewed as legitimate by the population
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Capitalism
resources and the means to produce goods and services are privately controlled by individuals and organizations; the desire for profit drives commercial activity; more productive and more degree of economic freedom
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Socialism
a system in which resources and the means of producing goods and services are managed collectively; relies on government regulation to match productive output to the demands of consumers; generate less per capita income but decreased wealth disparity
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Education
provides a formal structure during childhood and the transition to adulthood and an opportunity to instruct youth on the social norms, expectations for behavior, knowledge, and skills that they will need to operate within a society; transfer of cultural knowledge
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Hidden curriculum
transmits cultural ideals beyond the stated goals of the institution (in schools)
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Teacher expectancy
teachers treat students differently according to preconceived ideas about their capabilities; this treatment influences students' achievements
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Educational segregation
students in disadvantaged groups receive a lower quality education than more privileged students
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Educational stratification
refers to the separation of students into groups on the basis of academic achievement
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Religion
a system of beliefs that affects how people make sense of their experiences and provides a framework for questions about life, death and the purpose of existence
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Religiosity
the extent to which religion is important to an individual or community
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Types of religious organizations
church, sect, and cult
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Church
a religious organization that is well established in the larger society
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Sect
a more radical group that forms by breaking away from the established norms or beliefs of a mainstream church
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Cult
has views or practices that situate it outside the traditions of mainstream society and tends to form outside of any pre-existing religion
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Secularization
decreasing devotion to religious doctrines and practices
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Fundamentalism
entails a strictly literal interpretation of sacred writings; typically accompanied by a limited tolerance for other religions
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Family
consists of bonds of kin and marriage
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Kinship
describes the social bonds that unite individuals into families
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Forms of kinship
bloodline, marriage, and adoption
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Monogamy
having just one romantic or sexual partner at a time
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Polyamory
having more than one romantic or sexual partner at a time
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Polygyny
more than one woman married to a man
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Polandry
more than one man married to a woman
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Polygamy
polygny and polyandry
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Violence in the family
comes in many forms: emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; victims are usually non-dominant members such as elders, females, or children
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Medicalization
the effort to describe a type of behavior as a symptom of an underlying illness that should be treated by a doctor
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Sick role
exhibiting the expected behaviors for an ill person
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Illness experience
describes how an individual adjusts to interruptions to their health
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Illness
the definition of health problems in popular consciousness
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Disease
refers to an expert or medical definition of wellness
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Demographics
statistics used to examine the nature of a specific population by quantifying subsets of that population ie. age, gender, race, ethnicity, SES
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Sex
assigned at birth based on the infant's genitalia
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Gender identity
an individual's internal sense of self as male, female, both, or neither
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Social construction of gender
the development of gender is subject to cultural influences and depends on social interactions
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Social construction of race
process by which racial categories are created through social forces
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Racialization
the imposition of a racial identity on a particular group
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Racial formation theory
states that race is a social construct, with no basis in actual genetic differences and emphasizes how a variety of social factors interact to construct definitions, expectations, and experiences of race
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Immigration status
may cause barriers to integration, including a lack of knowledge of the new society as well as prevailing negative attitudes of the existing citizenry
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Gerentology
the study of aging and the life course
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Age cohorts
groups of people categorized by age range
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Social significance of aging
emphasizes the idea that aging is more complicated than simply the measured time since birth and despite being affected by the same biological processes, characteristics of the life course can vary from culture to culture
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Fertility
the production of offspring within a population
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Total birth/fertility rate
describes the average number of children that one woman is expected to have over her lifetime
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Crude birth rate
the number of live births in a year for every thousand people
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Age-specific birth rate
refers to the fertility of women who are a specific age or fall within a range of ages
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Mortality
the death rate within a population
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Crude death rate
the number of deaths per year for every 1000 people in a population
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Infant mortality rate
measures how many people less than one year old die per every thousand live births in a given year
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Patterns in fertility and mortality
birth rates fall as economy develops; healthcare advances leads to a decline in mortality rates
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Population projections
predict changes in populations by examining the current data
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Population pyramid
graphs a population's sex and age cohorts
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Demographic transition
change in demographics over time ie. decrease in birth and death rates as a society becomes more industrialized over time
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Migration
the relocation of people from one place to another
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Push factors of migration
reasons to leave the location where an individual currently resides ie. natural disaster
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Pull factors of migration
reasons to move to a specific location ie. job opportunities
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Theories of demographic change
malthusian theory and demographic transition theory
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Malthusian theory
starvation is the inevitable result of population growth because the population increases at a geometric rate while food supply can only increase arithmetically
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Demographic transition theory
preindustrial: high birth, high death; onset of industrialization: high birth, low death; Industrial economy: declining birth, low death; postindustrial economy: low birth, steady death
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Social movement
a group of people who share an ideology and work together toward a specified set of goals
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Relative deprivation
the feeling of disadvantage that arises when individuals compare themselves to others of similar status and fell that they possess relatively fewer resources and privileges
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Organization of social movements
1. emergence, period of discontent 2. coalescence: leaders come forward and specific strategies are developed 3. bureaucratizaction: meets organization's needs for coordinating procedures 4. after success or unsuccess, stage of decline
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Stragegy
general plan describing the goals of the movement
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Tactics
how the movement implements a strategy
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Urbanization
the increase in the proportion of people living in specified urban areas
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Industrialization and urban growth
as the development of industry generates rapid growth, trade with and travel to centralized locations increases and cities grow; demands of large scale manufacturing also encourage urban growth
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Suburbanization
the process of large-scale movement from cities to suburbs
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Suburbanization and urban decline
increase in suburbinization leads to a decline in the standard of living in urban areas because as families leave and property values fall in urban areas, less property tax can be collected and the subsequent decline in commerce leads to higher unemployment and crime
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Urban renewal
attempts to improve urban conditions through the restoration of buildings and public infrastructure
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Gentrification
a specific urban renewal pattern in which middle and upper class people move to areas of a city with cheap buildings that are in need of restoration; however this causes property values to increase and strains the neighborhood's poor inhabitants
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Globalization
the increased contact between individuals on an international scale; enacted through the exchange of ideas, products, services, and information
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Factors contributing to globalization
communication technologies, and economic interdependence
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Perspectives on globalization
hyper-globalist perspective, skeptical perspective, transformationalist perspective
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Hyper-globalist perspective
argues that globalization entails a movement away from individual nations toward a single global society; some think beneficial others problematic
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Skeptical perspective of globalization
emphasizes that national borders are still important because individual nations are not being equally integrated into the global economy
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Transformationalist perspective
argues that globalization causes new patterns of interdependent interactions but the outcomes of such interactions cannot be predicted with any certainty
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Social changes in globalization
terrorism, concentrates wealth into a few hands, civil unrest
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Terrorism
the use of violence to coerce countries and governments in order to achieve political or ideological ends
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Civil unrest
disorder caused by a group of people in public, due to a perceived injustice over how resources are distributed
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Social inequality
the unequal distribution of opportunities or treatment of individuals within a society based on various demographic changes; can exist structurally or through discrimination
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Spatial inequality
the unequal access to resources and variable quality of life due to the geographical distribution of a population and its resources
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Global inequalities
disparities between regions and nations such as GDP, natural resources, access to healthcare, and types or amount of work available
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Environmental justice
the equal treatment of all people with regard to prevention and relief from environmental and health hazards
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Residential segregation
an instance of social inequality on the local scale where demographic groups are separated into different neighborhoods
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Food deserts
areas where it is difficult to find affordable, healthy food options
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Social class
a system of stratification that groups members of society according to similarities in social standing; tied to status, power, and SES
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Socioeconomic status (SES)
defines the economic and social position of a person in terms of income (assets earned), wealth (assets already owned), education and occupation
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Privilige
position with advantages of power and opportunity
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Prestige
the relative value assigned to something within a particular society
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Upward mobility
moving up the class system through education, marriage, career, or financial success
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Downward mobility
moving lower within the class system from unemployment, divorce, lack of education, or health issues
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Intragenerational mobility
class mobility of an individual
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Intergenerational mobility
class mobility over generations
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Meritocracy
a society in which advancement is based solely on the abilities and achievements of the individual
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Cultural capital
the set of non-monetary social factors that contribute to social mobility such as dress, accent, education etc.
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Social capital
an individual's social networks and connections that may confer economic and/or personal benefits
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Social reproduction
transmission of social inequality from one generation to the next
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Poverty
an insufficiency of material goods, monetary wealth, and access to resources causing those people to face isolation or social exclusion
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Absolute poverty
a lack of essential resources such as food, shelter, clothing, and hygeine
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Relative poverty
describes social inequality in which people are relatively poor compared to other members of the society in which they live
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Class consciousness
a group with shared needs and interests that have a collective awareness; coined by Marx
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False consciousness
to failure to recognize poverty as the product of an oppressive class system; coined by Marx
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Health disparity/inequity
differences in health and healthcare that occur between groups of people
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Socioeconomic gradient in health
the notion that SES can influence health
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Social epidemiology
considers how social factors affect the health of a population
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Behavioral learning
an individual determines what behaviors are culturally appropriate and how behavior results in specific outcomes
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Associative learning/conditioning
learning that involves associations between certain stimuli and specific responses; ie. classical conditioning and operant conditioning
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Classical conditioning
a test subject develops a response to a previously neutral stimulus by associating the stimulus with another stimulus that already elicited that response
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Unconditioned response
innate response, taking place without learning
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Unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that creates an innate response
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Neutral stimulus
a stimulus eliciting no response
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Conditioned stimulus
has been associated with a an unconditioned stimulus
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Acquisition
the stage of learning over which a conditioned response to a new stimulus is established
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Extinction
disappearance of the conditioned response
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Spontaneous recovery
the reappearance of the conditioned response after a period of extinction
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Stimulus generalization
the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus
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Stimulus discrimination
the learned lack of response to a stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus that cues no reward
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Operant conditioning
an individual becomes more or less likely to carry out a certain behavior based on its consequences ie. skinner box
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Reinforcement
a consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior
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Punishment
a stimulus that decreases the likelihood of a behavior
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Positive reinforcement
adding something to increase a behavior
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Negative reinforcement
Removing something to increase a behavior
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Positive punishment
adding something to decrease a behavior
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Negative punishment
removing something to decrease a behavior
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Primary reinforcer or punisher
those that relate to a physiological need ie. food
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Secondary/ conditioned reinforcers
require learning and social context to affect behavioral conditions ie. money, praise
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Escape conditioning
learned behavior allows the subject to escape an unpleasant stimulus
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Avoidance conditioning
learned behavior allows the subject to avoid the unpleasant stimulus altogether by employing a specific response
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Reinforcement schedule
describes how often and under what conditions a behavior is reinforced
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Partial/intermittent reinforcement
fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed-interval, variable interval
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Shaping
shaping behavior toward a certain response by reinforcing successive approximations toward the desired behavior ie. teaching a monkey to turn a door knob
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Innate behaviors
behaviors that are developmentally fixed
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Observational learned
based on modeling which consists of witnessing another person's actions, retaining information on that person's behavior, and later re-enacting what was learned through that observation in one's own behavior
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Behavior
the sum coordinated responses of organisms to the internal and external stimuli that they experience
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Nonverbal communication
consists of all communication between people that does not involve words such as body language, touch, appearance, and facial expressions
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Animal signals
nonverbal communication such as vocalizations, visual stimuli, touch and smell
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Social behavior
all the interactions taking place between members of the same species
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Attraction
factors that draw members of a species together
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Aggression
conflict and competition between individuals
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Attachment
forming relationships between individuals
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Social support
finding help through social connections
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Foraging behavior
set of behaviors through which animals obtain food
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Mating behavior
the behavior surrounding propagation of species through reproduction
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Mate choice
determined by a number of factors, including attempts to judge the genetic qualities, overall health, and potential parenting skills of prospective mates
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Altruism
consists of behaviors that are disadvantageous to the individual acting but confer benefits to other members of its social group
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Inclusive fitness
overall fitness by considering not only the individual's own progeny but also the offspring of its close relatives
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Game theory
the use of mathematical models to represent complex decision making in which the actions of other group members must be taken into account
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Group
a set of individuals who interact with each other and share some elements of identity
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Dyad
two people
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Triad
three people
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Primary group
characterized by relatively permanent intimate relationships among a small number of people ie. families and close friends
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Secondary group
characterized by impersonal relationships among larger groups of people; tend to be more goal-oriented and less permanent ie. sports teams, school project teams
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Organization
a collection of individuals joining together to coordinate their interaction toward a specific purpose
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Formal organizations
organizations with specific rules and guidelines
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Bureacuracy
one type of formal organization that has a particular focus on efficiency and effectiveness to accomplish the goals of the organization
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Characteristics of ideal bureaucracy
aimed at increasing efficiency 1. organized in a clear hierarchy 2. written rules and regulation 3. thorough record keeping 3. impersonal and impartial
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Perspectives on bureaucracy
iron law of oligarchy and McDonaldization
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Iron law of oligarchy
criticizes the hierarchical nature of bureaucracy, stating that people at the top of the hierarchy will inevitable come to value their power over the purpose of the organization
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McDonaldization
homogenization of chains leads to a loss originality and creativity since they are predictable, uniform, efficient, and automated
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Fad
novel social pattern that has a quick rise and fall in popularity
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Fashion
a particular social pattern that large groups follow for a long period of time
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Mass hysteria
moral panic; a collective behavior in which groups of people feel a real or imagined threat to social order and respond in a hysteric manner
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Role
the role that a person plays in a social interaction is defined by his or her expected behavior in a particular situation
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Role conflict
occurs when 2 or more roles that an individual plays have conflicting requirements
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Roles strain
the demands of a single role become overwhelming
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Role exit
an individual stops identifying with a particular role
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Status
social position
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Types of status
ascribed status and achieved status
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Ascribed status
one that is assigned to a person, either at birth or later in life ie. gender, race, SES
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Achieved status
one that person intentionally earns ie. pro athlete, doctor
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Self-presentation
how they are perceived
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Impression management
the process of consciously making behavioral choices in order to create a specific impression in the minds of others
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Dramaturgical approach of impression management
impression management takes place in all aspects of human interaction; a person's behavior is an ongoing performance of self that changes according to the situation
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Front stage self
encompasses behavior that a person performs in front of society or subset of society when he is being watched and judged
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Back stage self
when players are together, but no audience is present where they perform a different self that may include behavior unacceptable for their front stage self
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Groupthink
the phenomenon where a group's members tend to think alike and agree for the sake of group harmony
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Group polarization
occurs when the attitude of the group as a whole toward a particular issue becomes stronger than the attitudes of its individual members
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Peer pressure
social influence exerted by one's peers to act in a way that is acceptable or similar to their own behaviors
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Social facilitation
the tendency to perform better when a person knows he is being watched; usually most pronounced for tasks at which the performer is highly skilled or practiced
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Diffusion of responsibility
people in a large, anonymous crowd are less likely to feel accountable for the outcome of a situation or to feel responsibility to take action
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Bystander effect
onlookers in a crowd fail to offer assistance to a person who is in trouble because they assume someone else will help
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Social loafing
occurs when members of a group decrease the pace o intensity of their own work with the intention of letting other group members work harder
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Deindividuation
occurs when people lose awareness of their individuality and instead immerse themselves in the mood or activities of a crowd which can cause individuals to no longer feel responsible for their own behavior
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Socialization
the process by which people learn customs and values of their culture
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Social norms
the rules that community members are expected to follow
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Agents of socialization
comprised of the groups and people who influence personal attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors such as family, friends, religion, school, media
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Social control
more direct form of socialization in which one group or individual imposes a set of rules to control the behavior of others; can be formal or informal
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Conformity
the tendency of individuals to change their attitudes, opinions, and behaviors to align with group norms
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Obedience
describes behavioral changes made in response to a command by an authority figure ie. Milgram experiment
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Perspectives on deviance
strain theory, differential association theory, and labeling theory
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Strain theory
deviance arises when there is a conflict between societal expectations and the socially condoned methods of achieving those expectations
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Differential association theory
deviance arises from social learning
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Labeling theory
particular behaviors are societally defined as deviant based on the group that carries out those behaviors
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Transmission
the passage of culture from one generation to another
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Diffusion
the spread of culture from one population to another
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Assimilation
the process by which an individual or group becomes part of a new culture
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Culture shock
the feeling of disorientation that occurs due to an encounter with an unfamiliar culture; 4 stages: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and mastery
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Subculture
a culture that is shared by a smaller group of people who are also part of a larger culture but have specific cultural attributes that set them apart from the larger group
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Multiculturalism
the practice of valuing and respecting differences in culture
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Popular culture
designates the most widespread cultural patterns of a society
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Mass media
means of delivering standardized messages to a large audience ie. television
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Counterculture
groups whose members adapt cultural patterns in opposition to the larger culture and tend to acquire cultural messages from sources that are less mainstream
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Cultural lag
the time culture takes to adjust to technological innovations
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Ethnocentrism
the belief that one's group is of central importance and includes the tendency to judge the practices of other groups by one's own cultural standards
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Cultural relativism
the practice of trying to understand a culture on its own terms and to judge a culture by its own standards
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In-group
a group with which an individual shares identity and toward which she feels loyalty
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Out-group
a group with which she does not identify and toward which she may feel competition or hostility
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Bias
individuals favor in-group and devalues out groups
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Prejudice
strict generalizations about other groups or categories of people
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Processes that contribute to prejudice
power, prestige, and class
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Stereotype
a concept about a group or category of people that includes the belief that all members of that group share certain characteristics; can be positive, negative, or neutral
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Stereotype threat
the anxiety and resulting impaired performance that a person may experience when confronted with a negative stereotype about a group to which he belongs or when he feels his performance may confirm a negative stereotype about his group
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Self-fulfilling prophecies
the stress and lowered expectations accompanying negative stereotypes contribute to making stereotypical beliefs into reality; definition: when one's belief-driven actions cause the belief to become true
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Discrimination
unfair treatment of others based on their membership in a specific social group
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Individual discrimination
when one person behaves negatively toward another because of that person's membership in a specific social group or category
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Institutional discrimination
when social institutions employ policies that differentiate between people based on social groupings
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Anomie
individuals lose their moral guidance due to the pressures of pursuing societal expectations
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Personality
the collection of lasting characteristics that makes a person unique
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Trait theory of personality
personality consists of a set of traits
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Traits
characteristics that vary between people and are stable over the course of the lifetime, regardless of environmental factors; allow for variation in degree (continuous variable)
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Biological theory of personality
a person's genome contributes to the formation of personality and that personality traits differ in the extent to which they are influenced by heredity versus environmental factors
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Monozygotic twins
have virtually identical genomes
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Dizygotic twins
no more related to each other than any other biological sibling
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Evolutionary psychology
the genes associated with personality traits that improve and individual's chances for successful reproduction tend to be conserved
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Psychoanalytic theory
id, super ego, and ego; early experiences have lasting effects on individuals throughout life
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Id
most primitive part of personality which seeks instant gratification with no consideration for morality or social norms
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Superego
develops later in life through internalization of society's rules for moral behavior, learned primarily through interactions with caregivers
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Ego
part of the personality that is forced to direct behavior in a way that balances the demands of the id and the superego
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Behaviorist theory
the personality is constructed by a series of learning experiences that occur through interactions between the individual and their environment; environment shapes personality; learned reactions to situations
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Social cognitive theory
like the behaviorist theory, it focuses on learning experiences and observable behaviors but also considers the contributions of an individual's mental life and personal choices; includes observational learning; reciprocal causation
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Reciprocal causation
behavior, personal factors and the environment continually interact with each other
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Humanistic theory
people continually seek experiences that make them better, more fulfilled individuals; self-actualization; conscious decisions make people who they are
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Self-actualization
the development and realization of one's full potential in life;
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Situational approach to explaining behavior
the concept of enduring personality traits is fatally flawed because of the variations in behavior that occur across different situations
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Identity
a person's view of who they are in terms of both internal factors, including personality traits, and social or external factors like group membership
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Self-concept
the knowledge of oneself as a person both separate from other people and constant throughout changing situations; the view of one person's own personality
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Social identity
the perception of oneself as a member of certain social groups
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Socialization
the process by which developing individuals learn the values, norms, and appropriate behaviors of their society, continuing throughout the lifespan
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Role-taking
adopting the role of another person, either by imitating behaviors associated with specific social roles or by taking the other person's point of view in a social interaction; allow children to develop a sense of their own identity (looking-glass self)
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Reference group
a group that provides an individual with a model for appropriate actions, values and worldviews ; person must aspire to be part of that group
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In-group
social group with which one identifies with
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Out-group
one with which the individual does not identify with
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Self-esteem
a person's overall value judgement of him or herself
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Self-efficacy
the feeling of being able to carry out an action successfully
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Locus of control
a person's belief about the extent to which internal or external factors play a role in shaping his or her life; internal locus = he/she has complete control over behavior and events
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Freud's theory of developmental stages
each stage presents a challenge to be navigated; if a child gets too much or too little satisfaction of the urge associated with a particular stage, they may fail to move on to the next stage
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Freud developmental stages
Oral - nursing; Anal - toilet training; Phallic - gender and sexual identification; Latent - social development; Genital - sexual maturation
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Erik Erikson Developmental Stages
reinvisioned Freud's psychosexual stages as pyschosocials ones where each stage has a crisis that must be resolved; more stages after adolescence unlike Freud's theory
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Vygotsky's Theory
learning takes place through interactions with others that promote the acquisition of culturally valued behaviors and beliefs; no series of sequential steps; current development level, potential development level, and zone of proximal development; development is fostered when the demands of the activity fall within the child's zone of proximal development
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Current development level
consists of those tasks that a child can perform without help from others
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Potential development level
the most advanced task that a child can do with guidance from more knowledgeable people
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Zone of proximal development
all of the skills that can be accomplished with help
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Kohlberg's theory of moral development
developing children progress through a predictable sequence of stages of moral reasonin: preconventioanl lvl, conventional lvl, and postcoventional lvl
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Preconventional level
describes moral judgements that are based solely on consideration of the anticipated consequences of behavior; childhood
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Conventional level
takes into account social judgments' adolescence and continuing through adulthood
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Postconventional level
rises to the level of universal principles and fully-developed ideas about right and wrong
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Attribution theory
a line of research into the causes that people use to explain the observed behavior of others
285
Dispositional attribution
assigning the cause to an inherent quality or desire
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Situational attribution
deciding environmental forces were in control
287
Fundamental attribution error
the tendency to automatically favor dispositional attributions when judging other people
288
Self-serving bias
tendency to attribute one's success to internal factors while attributing one's failures to external factors
289
Psychological disorders
sets of psychological abormailities that are maladaptive to the individual
290
Somatoform disorders
characterized by bodily symptoms such as pain or fatigue along with associated psychological symptoms that cause significant problems for the individual;
291
Anxiety disorders
defined by the experience of unwarranted fear and anxiety, physiological tension and behaviors associated with the emotional and physical experience of anxiety; commonly connected to worries about future and hypothetical circumstances rather than actual events in the present; manifest physically as excessive SNS activation
292
Generalized anxiety disorder
excessive, persistent anxiety is triggered by a wide variety of stimuli
293
Panic disorder
involves the experience of frequent panic attacks, short-lived instances of overwhelming SNS activation and fear
294
Phobias
excessive fear of a specific object or situation, as well as active attempts to avoid that stimulus
295
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
characterized by obsessions (recurrent, intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (ritualistic or repetitive behaviors that serve the purpose of reducing anxiety associated with these obsessions)
296
Body dysmorphic disorder
preoccupation with a perceived physical flaw even though they look relatively normal
297
Hoarding disorder
persistent difficulty disposing of belongings regardless of their value
298
Trichotillomania
preoccupations with hair pulling
299
Excoriation disorder
preoccupation with skin picking
300
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
caused by exposure to any life-threatening or traumatic event; associated with re-experiencing of the event through dreams, flashbacks and hallucinations; difficulty sleeping, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response and irritability (symptoms of hyper arousal)
301
Acute stress disorder
similar to PTSD but symptoms occur within a month of exposure to a trauma, include extreme anxiety and dissociative symptoms
302
Adjustment disorder
the experience of extreme distress associated with a major life event or change such as loss of a loved one
303
Mood disorders
category of psychological disorders that deal with disruptions in emotion that influence personal functioning
304
Depressive disorders
extreme sadness and despair
305
Depression
defined by pervasive feelings of sadness and hopelessness and/or the loss of interest in activities that an individual usually enjoys which lead to lowered functioning in various spheres of everyday life
306
Major depressive disorder
associated with more severe symptoms for a shorter period of time and is considered an episodic disorder
307
Persistent depressive disorder
associated with less severe symptoms but persist for longer periods of time, minimally two years
308
Monoamine hypothesis (depression)
a deficiency in the availability or potency of monoamines (serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine) in the synapses contributes to depression
309
Bipolar disorders
characterized by episodes of mania and usually involves episodes of depression as well; may include uncontrollable impulses and reckless decisions; often involves a distortion of self-concept where the self is viewed in an exaggeratedly positive light (self esteem very high)
310
Psychotic disorders
characterized by a loss of connection with reality such as delusions or hallucinations
311
Bipolar I disorder
associated with mania that occurs in episodes lasting at least one week; when mania not present the person may have a normal mood or may experience depression
312
Bipolar II disorder
associated with hypomania (does not cause impairment in functioning); may be mixed with periods of depression
313
Schizophrenia
can have a wide variety of clinical presentations but is fundamentally characterized by psychosis, an impaired connection with reality; patient experiences at least one of the following: hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech ; also may have negative symptoms such as lack of emotion, motivation and enjoyment of activities
314
Dissociative disorders
defined by the experience of dissociation: a split between different aspects of physiological functioning; experienced as a disruption in identity, memory or consciousness
315
Dissociative amnesia
occurs when a person forgets about past events; often associated with a traumatic experience
316
Depersonalization/derealization disorder
characterized by feelings that either the self or the surroundings are unreal and disconnected from the individual; also often have had some sort of traumatic experience
317
Dissociative identity disorder
individual experiences or displays evidence of multiple distinct personalities that can differ significantly in terms of traits and behaviors. Each different personality may also lack awareness of the other personalities
318
Personality disorders
involve the development of personality traits that cause psychological and social dysfunction
319
Prevalence of different psychological disorders
Anxiety: 20%; mood: 10%; personality: 10%, schizophrenia: 1%
320
Cognition
refers to a wide range of internal mental activities, such as analyzing information, generating ideas, and problem solving; higher-level processes like language and logical reasoning
321
Perception
refers to the organization and identification of sensory inputs
322
Information-processing models
focus on input-output functions and distinguish between serial and parallel processing of information
323
Frontal lobe
motor control, decision making, long term memory storage
324
Parietal lobe
somatosensory cortex
325
Occipital lobe
visual information
326
Temporal lobe
auditory and olfactory information; also emotion, language and memory formation
327
Jean Piaget
4 stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
328
Piaget sensorimotor
birth to 2 years; children learn to separate themselves from objects, object permanence
329
Piaget preoperational
2 to 7 years; children learn to use language while they continue to think very literally; maintain an egocentric world-view and have difficulty taking the perspective of others
330
Piaget operational
7 to 11 years: develop inductive reasoning and come to understand conservation (quantity remains the same despite changes in its shape and container)
331
Formal operational
11+ think logically in the abstract, deducting reasoning `
332
Learning theory of language
a behaviorist theory; language is a form of behavior that is learned through operant conditioning/ environmental reinforcement rather than focusing on innate ability
333
Nativist theory of language
language development is innately human and that all people have a neural cognitive system, the language acquisition device which allows the learning of syntax and grammar
334
Interactionist theory
the human brain develops so that it can be receptive to new langauge input and development and children are motivated to practice and expand their language base in order to communicate and socialize
335
Broca's area
located in the frontal lobe and primarily involved in speech production
336
Broca's aphasia or expressive aphasia
difficulty enunciating and speaking but ability to understand language is unaffected
337
Wernicke's area
found in temporal lobe and contributes primarily to the understanding of language
338
Wernicke's aphasia or receptive aphasia
not able to follow commands, still able to produce words but have no comprehensible meaning
339
Intelligence
the ability to undretand and reason with complex ideas, adapt effectively to the environment, and learn from experience
340
IQ
correlates strongly with school-related skills but lower correlations with other skills such as art and design
341
General learning disability
below average IQ
342
General intelligence factor
a set level of intelligence that applies to all of their intellectual pursuits and determines performance on various types of intelligence tests
343
Fluid intelligence
the ability to think logically without the need for previously learned knowledge; peaks in young adulthood and then declines with age
344
Crystalized intelligence
able to think logically using specific, previously learned knowledge
345
Emotional intelligence
perceiving emotions ,using and reasoning with emotions, understanding emotions, and managing emotions
346
Algorithm
step by step procedure that leads to a definite solution
347
Trial and error
repeated, unsystematic attempts to solve a problem until the desired outcome is achieved
348
Heuristics
mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that often lead to a solution
349
Biases
various tendencies to think in particular ways
350
Functional fixedness
a tendency to view objects as only having a single function
351
Confirmation bias
people tend to value new information that supports a belief they already hold while they often disregard information that goes against their preconceived notions
352
Belief perserverance
people hold onto their initial beliefs even when rational argument would suggest they are incorrect
353
Causation bias
the tendency to assume a cause and effect relationship
354
Aspects of Emotion
cognitive, physiological and behavioral; limbic system and autonomic system
355
Amygdala
chiefly responsible for the emotional memories when similar emotional circumstances occur
356
Hypothalamus
regulates sympathetic and parasympathetic functions
357
James-Lange theory
an external stimulus elicits a physiological response and that emotional experience depends on the recognition and interpretation of this physical reaction
358
Cannon-Bard theory
emotional feelings and physiological reactions to stimuli are experience simultaneously
359
Schachter-Singer
physiological arousal is first component of emotional response but it includes higher level thinking
360
Universal emotions
fear, anger, happiness, surprise, joy, disgust, and sadness
361
Motivation
a psychological factor that provides a directional force or reason for behavior
362
Instinct
a biological, innate tendency to perform a certain behavior that leads to the fulfillment of a need
363
Drives
urges to perform certain behaviors in order to resolve physiological arousal when the arousal is casued by the biological needs of the organism
364
Drive reduction theory
people are motivated to take action in order to lessen the state of arousal caused by a physiological need
365
Incentive theory
people are motivated by external rewards
366
Cognitive theories of emotion
people behave in a way that they predict will yield the most favorable outcome
367
Need-based theories
people are motivated bt the desire to fulfill unmet needs ie. Maslow's hierarchy of needs
368
Components of attitude
affective, behavioral, cognitive
369
Affective component of attitude
a person's feelings or emotions about an object ,person or event
370
Behavioral component of attitude
the influence that attitudes have on behavior
371
Cognitive component of attitude
beliefs or knowledge about a specific object of interest
372
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
people are much more likely to agree to a large request if they first agree to a smaller one
373
Role
set of norms that dictate expected behavior in a specific situation
374
Cognitive dissonance
the conflict or inconsistency between internal attitudes and external behaviors; people have an inherent desire to avoid the internal discomfort associated with a mismatch between attitudes and behaviors
375
Peripheral route processing
occurs when an individual does not think deeply to evaluate the argument due to being unable or unwilling; strong and weak arguments can affect attitude
376
Central route processing
an individual thinks deeply and elaborates on the argument presented; appeals to logical and reason and is influenced mostly by the argument itself; only strong argument affect attitude
377
Stress
the strain that is experienced when an organism's equilibrium is disrupted and it must adapt
378
Cognitive appraisals
personal interpretations of the situations that triggered stress
379
Primary appraisal
evaluating a situation for the presence of any potential threat; if a threat is present, a secondary appraisal is generated
380
Secondary appraisal
assessing personal ability to cope with the threat
381
Sensation
the conversion of physical stimuli into electrical signals that are transferred through the nervous system by neurons
382
Perceptions
use of sensory information and pre-existing knowledge to create a functional representation of the world
383
Absolute threshold
the lowest intensity of a stimulus that can be sensed
384
Difference threshold/just noticeable threshold
the smallest difference that is sufficient for a change in a stimulus to be noticed
385
Weber's Law
the change required to meet the difference threshold is a certain fraction (weber fraction) of the oroginally presented stimulus ; meaning that the actual amount of change required to reach the difference threshold differs according to the original stimulus
386
Signal detection theory
how an organism differentiates important stimuli (signals) from those that are not of interest (noise) in an environment where the distinction is ambiguous ; includes decision making component
387
Attention
selects sensory information for pereceptual processing
388
Selective attention
the focus of attention on one particular stimulus or task at the exclusion of other stimuli
389
Divided attention
splits perceptual resources between multiple stimuli or behaviors; causes each stimuli to receive less attention
390
Bottom-up processing
involves the construction of perceptions from individual pieces of information provided by sensory processing
391
Top-down processing
brings the influence of prior knowledge into play to make perception more efficient
392
Gestalt principles
describe the top-down processing that organizes sensory information into distinct forms (objects) according to distinct regions of the sensed surroundings; when one object is recognized as a form or figure, the rest of the stimulus is perceived as background or ground
393
Principle of nearness
clusters of objects will each be perceived as a distinct group
394
Principle of similarity
objects with a shared feature will be perceived as a single group
395
Principle of common region
objects sharing a common background are perceived as a group even if they would be separated by the principles of nearness and/or similarity
396
Principle of continuity
the brain will perceive an ambiguous stimulus according to the simplest possible continuous form
397
Principle of closure
we perceive whole shapes even when they are not actually present in the stimulus
398
Size constancty
allows a single object to be perceived as remaining constant in size even when it moves closer to or further from the eyes
399
Shape constancy
when the brain perceives an object as maintaining its shape even when it moves relative to the eyes which changes the shape of the light reflected onto the retina
400
Parallel processing
use of multiple pathways to convey information about the same stimulus
401
Feature detection
type of serial processing where increasingly complex aspects of the stimulus are processed in sequence
402
Consciousness
awareness of oneself, one's surroundings, one's thoughts and one's goals
403
Alertness
default state of consciousness; the brain is able to attend to tasks and carry out goal-directed processes
404
EEG
a recording at the scalp of general patterns in electrical signals (called brainwaves)
405
Circadian rhythm
regulates the body's functions on a predictable schedule, lasts roughly 24 hours
406
Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
part of hypothalamus; maintains the drive for wakefulness by inhibiting the release of the hormone melatonin by the pineal gland
407
Stage 1 of sleep
light sleep, alpha waves, state of wakefulness but one that is more relaxed than the fully alert state associated with beta waves
408
Stage 2 of sleep
bursts of brain wave activity that indicated a full transition into sleep
409
Stage 3 of sleep
delta waves which are much longer than alpha waves which reflects the transition into deep sleep
410
Stage 4 of sleep
deepest sleep, almost entirely delta waves
411
REM sleep
separate sleep stage of high brain activity; makes up a significant portion of sleep in later sleep cycles; period where the brain relives the massive amount of stimuli experienced during the day consolidating important information into memory and discarding less important information; accompanied by dreaming
412
NREM sleep
brain activity is much lower than REM sleep
413
Insomnia
difficulty in falling asleep and quality of sleep is low
414
Sleep terror disorder
characterized by severe nighmare-like imagery
415
Narcolepsy
overwhelming daytime drowsiness by REM sleep that occurs without warning
416
Hypnosis
state of relaxation, focused attention and increased willingness to relinquish control over one's own actions; induced through cooperation with a hypnotist or later as self-hypnosis; treatment for anxiety and pain associated with medical conditions
417
Meditation
intentional, self-produced state of consciousness induced by relaxing and systematically shifting attention away from day-to-day concerns; coping mechanism for stress
418
Stimulants
raise the level of activity in the central nervous system ; act by increasing the amount of monamine neurotransmitters such as epinephrine and dopamine
419
Depressants
cause a decrease of activity in the central nervous system; associated with feelings of relaxation and decreased alertness
420
Hallucinogens
defining feature is an alteration in sensory and perceptual experience
421
Sensory memory
first phase in memory formation; temporary storage for incoming sensory stimuli; unlimited storage
422
Short-term memory
holds items in conscious awareness; working memory is a component; limited storage 7+/- 2
423
Long term memory
maintained outside of conscious awareness and can be called back into working memory when needed; unlimited storage
424
Neural plasticity
the ability of the brain's network of neurons and their synapses to change
425
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
describes the increase in likelihood that presynaptic input will trigger an action potential in the postsynaypic neuron; occurs when presynaptic and postsynatpic neurons fire simultaneously which strengthens the synapse between them
426
Retrieval
information stored in long-term memory can return to working memory for the purpose of problem-solving and guidance of behavior
427
Semantic networks
organize information in networks of meaningfully related memories
428
Spreading activation
where one item triggers an activation of related memories
429
Recall
retrieval of a memory from scratch
430
Recognition
the correct identification of information that is presented
431
Retrieval cues
environmental stimuli or pieces of information that are associated in some way with the memory being sought
432
Context dependent retrieval cues
environmental stimuli present at time that the memory sought was originally formed
433
State dependent retrieval cues
internal stimuli such as feelings present at time that the memory sought was originally formed
434
Priming
occurs outside of conscious awareness and causes activation of semantic networks; it makes an individual more likely to recall a memory that is similar to the retrieval cue
435
Relearning
allows for the detection of long-term memories that have become inaccessible to conscious recognition or recall and as a result are experienced as lost
436
Memory decay
the weakening of connections that make up neural networks that holds a memory
437
Primacy effect
recall is reliably strongest for items at the beginning of a list
438
Recency effect
recall is reliably strongest for items ad the end of a list
439
Interference
similar information prevents the retrieval of a memory
440
Retroactive interference
newly learned material that prevents successful retrieval of related old memories
441
Proactive interference
previously held knowledge prevents successful retrieval of more newly learned information
442
Memory construction
memories can be updated with new information and experiences; occurs during retrieval
443
Source monitoring
occurs when a person attributes a memory to a particular source, correctly or not; may lead to the construction of memories of events that never actually occurred
444
Alzheimer's disease
associated with aging but not considered part of normal aging; neurodegeneration; begin with the loss of the ability to form memories of recent events; caused by amyloid plaques and neurofibrilalry tangles
445
Korsakoff's syndrome
similar presentation as Alzheimer's but caused by a nutritional deficiency typically of Vitamin B1 which is often due to severe alcoholism
446
Parkinson's disease
neurdegenerative disease within the substantia nigra located within the midbrain that leads to the impairment of motor abilities
