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Reminder- these are old notes from 2016- professor uses them discussion topics and updates
them accordingly in a verbal manner

Different fields of psychology have emerged to deal with specific subtopics within the study of
the mind, brain and behavior. Each field of psychology represents a specific area of study
focused on a particular topic. Oftentimes, psychologists specialize in one of these areas as a
career.

Review of some fields: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychology101/a/majorareas.htm

1. Abnormal Psychology: Abnormal psychology is a field of psychology that deals with

psychopathology (the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring in
mental disorder or in social disorganization) and abnormal behavior. The term covers
a broad range of disorders, from depression to obsession-compulsion to sexual
deviation and many more. Counselors, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists
often work directly in this field.
Psychological disorders are defined as patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms that
impact multiple areas of life. These mental disorders create distress for the person experiencing
these symptoms. How are these disorders categorized and defined? The Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association
and is used by mental health professionals for a variety of purposes. The manual contains a
listing of psychiatric disorders, diagnostic codes, information on the prevalence of each disorder
and diagnostic criteria. DSM 5
• Axis I - Clinical Disorders
• Axis II - Personality Disorders & Mental Retardation
• Axis III - General Medical Conditions
• Axis IV - Psychosocial & Environmental Problems (stressors)
• Axis V - Global Assessment of Functioning

No more like this, like a list

Culture is discussed more
Considers individual function
Age descriptors
DSM-IV’s organizational structure failed to reflect shared features or symptoms of related
disorders and diagnostic groups
More symptom severity measures

AXIS:
http://www.dhs.state.or.us/caf/safety_model/procedure_manual/appendices/ch4-app/4-5.pdf 

New AXIS:
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/

Notes on DSM-V changes: https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm/educational-

resources/dsm-5-fact-sheets
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Some ways to Treat Abnormal Behavior:

Therapy!
Behavioral: The behavioral approach to abnormal psychology focuses on observable behaviors.
In behavioral therapy, the focus is on reinforcing positive behaviors and not reinforcing
maladaptive behaviors. This approach targets only the behavior itself, not the underlying causes.
Medical: The medical approach to abnormal psychology focuses on the biological causes on
mental illness. This perspective emphasizes understanding the underlying cause of disorders,
which might include genetic inheritance, related physical disorders, infections and chemical
imbalances. Medical treatments are often pharmacological in nature, although medication is
often used in conjunction with some other type of psychotherapy.
Cognitive: The cognitive approach to abnormal psychology focuses on how internal thoughts,
perceptions and reasoning contribute to psychological disorders. Cognitive treatments typically
focus on helping the individual change his or her thoughts or reactions. Cognitive therapy might
also be used in conjunction with behavioral methods in a technique known as cognitive
behavioral therapy.

If you want to treat abnormal behavior, you need to go in the field of Clinical psychology.

2. Biopsychology: Biopsychology is a field of psychology that analyzes how the brain and
neurotransmitters influence our behaviors, thoughts and feelings. This field can be
thought of as a combination of basic psychology and neuroscience. Its a field in which
the mind-body connection is explored through scientific research and clinical practice.
Researchers in this field study the biological basis of thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
Methods of Investigation:
Electrical Stimulation and recording
Chemical Approaches
Psychical Destruction of Brain tissue
Scans
3. Behavioral Psychology: Behaviorism A scientific approach that limits the study of
psychology to measurable or observable behavior. Behaviorist perspective The
psychological perspective primarily concerned with observable behavior that can be
objectively recorded and with the relationships of observable behavior to environmental
stimuli.
There are two major types of conditioning:
Classical Conditioning
• First described by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist
• Involves placing a neutral signal before a reflex
• Focuses on involuntary, automatic behaviors

Classical conditioning is a technique used in behavioral training in which a naturally occurring

stimulus is paired with a response. Next, a previously neutral stimulus is paired with the
naturally occurring stimulus. Eventually, the previously neutral stimulus comes to evoke
the response without the presence of the naturally occurring stimulus. The two elements
are then known as the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response.
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Operant Conditioning
• First described by B. F. Skinner, an American psychologist
• Involves applying reinforcement or punishment after a behavior
• Focuses on strengthening or weakening voluntary behaviors

Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of

learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant
conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that
behavior.

Until the 1950s, behaviorism was the dominant school of thought in psychology. Between 1950
and 1970, the tide began to shift against behavioral psychology to focus on topics such as
attention, memory and problem-solving.
Classical conditioning involves making an association between an involuntary response and a
stimulus, while operant conditioning is about making an association between a voluntary
behavior and a consequence.
In operant conditioning, the learner is also rewarded with incentives, while classical conditioning
involves no such enticements. Also remember that classical conditioning is passive on the part of
the learner, while operant conditioning requires the learner to actively participate and perform
some type of action in order to be rewarded or punished.
1. In order to be able to punish my cat even when I'm not near enough to reach him, I have paired
the sound of a clicker with getting squirted with water. Now the sound of the clicker causes him
to startle.
• The click is developing the same aversive properties as the water through Classical
Conditioning. The Unconditioned stimulus is the water; the Unconditioned response is
the "jump" as in startle. The click starts our as a neutral stimulus, but becomes the
Conditioned stimulus capable of producing the Conditioned "jump" response.
2. My cat never gets on the furniture when I am around.
• The behavior being described here is probably the result of Operant conditioning. When I
am around, the cat is probably punished for getting on the furniture. He has formed a
discrimination between when I'm around and when I'm not and might be getting on the
furniture when I'm not around.
3. When I first start teaching about a concept, I'll praise any answer that is close to the right
answer.
• This describes the process of shaping the operant behavior of answering questions. In
shaping you start by reinforcing anything that is close to the final response. Then you
gradually require closer and closer approximations before giving a reinforcer. So this is
an example of Operant conditioning.
4. The smell of fresh bread baking makes my mouth water.
• This is probably the result of Classical conditioning. In the past the smell of the fresh
bread immediately preceded putting a piece in my mouth, which causes salivation.
Through the mechanism of Classical conditioning the smell itself comes to elicit
salivation.

The transfer from Behavioral Therapy to CBT

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4. Cognitive Psychology: Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies

mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of
the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other
disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.
Unlike behaviorism, which focuses only on observable behaviors, cognitive psychology
is concerned with internal mental states.
1. Attention
The key function of attention is to discriminate between irrelevant data and filter it out, enabling
the desired data to be distributed to the other mental processes.[4] The human brain may, at
times, simultaneously receive inputs in the form of auditory, visual, olfactory, taste, and tactile
information. Without the ability to filter out some or most of that simultaneous information and
focus on one or typically two at most, the brain would become overloaded as a person attempted
to process that information.
2. Memory
Modern conceptions of memory typically break it down into three main sub-classes. These three
classes are somewhat hierarchical in nature, in terms of the level of conscious thought related to
their use.[9]
• Procedural memory is memory for the performance of particular types of action. It is
often activated on a subconscious level, or at most requires a minimal amount of
conscious effort. Procedural memory includes stimulus-response type information which
is activated through association with particular tasks, routines, etc. A person is using
procedural knowledge when they seemingly "automatically" respond in a particular
manner, to a particular situation or process.[9]
• Semantic memory is the encyclopedic knowledge that a person possesses. Things like
what the Eiffel Tower looks like, or the name of a friend from sixth grade would be
semantic memory. Access of semantic memory ranges from slightly to extremely
effortful, which depends on a number of variables including but not limited to: recency of
encoding of the information, number of associations it has to other information,
frequency of access, and levels of meaning (how deeply it was processed when it was
encoded).[9]
• Episodic memory is the memory of autobiographical events that can be explicitly stated.
It contains all memories that are temporal in nature, such as when you last brushed your
teeth, where you were when you heard about a major news event, etc. Episodic memory
typically requires the deepest level of conscious thought, as it often pulls together
semantic memory and temporal information to formulate the entire memory.[9]

3. Perception
Perception involves both the physical senses (sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch, and
proprioception) as well as the cognitive processes involved in interpreting those senses.
Essentially, it is how people come to understand the world around them through interpretation of
stimuli. Current perspectives on perception within cognitive psychology tend to focus on
particular ways in which the human mind interprets stimuli from the senses and how these
interpretations affect behavior.
4. Language
Psychologists have had an interest in the cognitive processes involved with language that dates
back to the 1870s, when Carl Wernicke proposed a model for the mental processing of language.
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Significant work has been done recently with regard to understanding the timing of language
acquisition and how it can be used to determine if a child has, or is at risk of, developing a
learning disability. A study from 2012, showed that while this can be an effective strategy, it is
important that those making evaluations include all relevant information when making their
assessments. Factors such as individual variability, socioeconomic status, short term and long
term memory capacity, and others must be included in order to make valid assessments.[14]
5. Metacognition[edit]
Metacognition, in a broad sense, is the thoughts that a person has about their own thoughts. More
specifically, metacognition includes things like:
• How effective a person is at monitoring their own performance on a given task (self-
regulation).
• A person's understanding of their capabilities on particular mental tasks.
• The ability to apply cognitive strategies.[17]
Much of the current study regarding metacognition within the field of cognitive psychology
deals with its application within the area of education. Being able to increase a student's
metacognitive abilities has been shown to have a significant impact on their learning and study
habits.

5. Personality Psychology: What is personality?

Personality – emphasis on internal causes of behavior that form distinctive patterns which
characterize each individual. Even though we all have distinctive traits we should all be
psychologically stable, i.e. remain consistent throughout time and situations. Some theories
below:

1. Trait/Biological - sets of traits that apply to most of the population and why these traits are
consistent throughout evolution.

A. Sheldon – associated body types with human temperament – new field of psychology called
Constitutional Psychology:
Ectomorphic – long and thin. These people's temperaments are cerebrotonic(restrained, fearful,
introverted, and artistic)
Mesomorphic – muscular. Temperament is somatotonic(energetic,assertive, and courageous)
Endomorphic – increased fat, large waist and bones. Viscertonic(relaxed, social, eat a lot)

B. Cattell – developed 16 Universal traits that everybody has:

warmth, reasoning, emotional stability, dominance, rural conscientiousness, liveliness,
sensitivity, social boldness, vigilance, apprehension, openness to change, tension, prevailness,
self-reliance, perfectionism. These are called primary traits.
5 of these traits are called Global Traits, these are called the Big Five – OCEAN

Openness – willingness to try new things

Conscientiousness – planned rather than spontaneous activity
Extraversion (vs Introversion)
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
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Cattell also talked about surface traits – overt traits you can see in people, and source traits –
underlying traits. Ex – surface is a person is dishonest, source is the person is neurotic

C. Allport – thought that humans have the tendency to satisfy biological needs – called
Opportunistic Functioning.
Proprium Functioning – how we act to satisfy this opportunistic functioning
7 Functions of the Propprium (Self):
1. Sense of Body
2. Self Esteem
3. Self Extension – realize you need things to survive
4. Self Identity – you have a past, present and future
5. Self Image
6. Rational Coping – learn how to deal with problems in your life
7. Propriut Striving – need to plan and set goals
Alport also thought there were 3 Traits closely associated to the Proprium
1. Central Traits – everybody has them; they dominate our behavior
2. Secondary Traits – traits only seen in certain circumstances (Ex - tickle then he'll get
angry)
3. Cardinal Traits – traits the people have that define their lives

6. Phenomenological – focuses on self awareness and therefore focuses on the self as one
organism and the conditions of self worth
Introspection (important)

is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings.[1] In psychology the process of

introspection relies exclusively on observation of one's mental state, while in a spiritual context it
may refer to the examination of one's soul. Introspection is closely related to human self-
reflection and is contrasted with external observation.

3 major concepts:

1. Self Esteem – evaluation of our own worth

2. Self Concept – evaluation of our multi-dimensional construct
3. Self Actualization – functioning as one whole and realizing our self potential

Snygg and Combs – Through our basic needs everyone's goal is to preserve and enhance the self
even through our different characteristics, cultural upbringing and personal experiences

7. Social Cognitive (Different than in Social Psychology) – focuses on the observation

Used in psychology, education, and communication, holds that portions of an individual's

knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social
interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. In other words, people do not learn new
behaviors solely by trying them and either succeeding or failing, but rather, the survival of
humanity is dependent upon the replication of the actions of others. Depending on whether
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people are rewarded or punished for their behavior and the outcome of the behavior, that
behavior may be modeled. Further, media provides models for a vast array of people in many
different environmental settings.

A. Bandura – Bobo Doll Studies – observed little kids who copied woman beating the dolls
people don't need to be rewarded to change their behaviors; Bandura doesn't like conditioning
Observational Learning/Modeling:
1. Attention
2. Retention – remember what you observed
3. Reproduction – translate what you saw into actual behaviors
4. Motivation – need to have a reason to behave

3 Steps for self regualtion for bad behavior:

1. Self-observation – look at your own behavior and keep mental notes on it
2. Judgment – compare what we see in ourselves to the social standard
3. A - Rewarding self-responses – usually external, you treat yourself
B - Punishing self-responses – usually internal, unless suicidal

8. Social Psychology
The emphasis on social causes of thoughts and behaviors
The study of individuals in social context – These social contexts can be actual, imagined or
implied

Two fundamental points in Social Psychology

Social psychology studies the effects of construction of reality and cognitive processes on the
way individuals perceive, influence, and relate to others in order to understand the social
behavior of individuals.
1. Construct of reality – everyone has their own version of reality
2. Cognitive Processes- The ways in which people's memories, perceptions, thoughts,
emotions, and motives influence their understanding of the world and guide their actions
*Pervasiveness of social influence – The idea that other people influence virtually all of
an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behavior, whether those others are physically present or
not

Three motivational principles in social psychology

1. People strive for mastery
2. People strive for belonging
3. People value themselves and what is there’s

Social Psychology started with Plato

Plato (427-347 BC) was a Greek philosopher who strongly rejected the concept of the mind
being a separate entity to the body. He felt that ideas were innate and also put forth the idea that
mental processes arose in the brain of a person. He established a form of thought that is now
referred to as “Moral Psychology”. He stated that rationality requires that a person put their own
interests first, except in circumstances when society or groups are all expected to put their own
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interests aside. Hence it is rational to accept moral behavior as an expectation of oneself when
others are expected to act morally as well.

When people hear the phrase "survival of the fittest" they are likely to think of the great biologist
Charles Darwin. The phrase in fact appears to have been coined by a contemporary of Darwin's,
the philosopher Herbert Spencer.
Much as cells combine to make up organisms, organisms themselves combine, in some species,
to make up "superorganisms," or societies. The comparison of societies to organisms has roots in
ancient Greece, but Spencer elaborated this idea in greater detail than anybody else before or
since. He emphasized three developmental tendencies shared by societies and organisms: (1)
growth in size, (2) increasing complexity of structure, and (3) differentiation of function.
Generally speaking, larger life forms, unlike smaller ones, have several types of tissues and
organs, each suited to perform its special function; similarly, larger societies, unlike smaller
ones, have specialized arrangements for performing different functions. Examples include
factories, stores, schools, and churches; less concrete arrangements such as economic and
political systems; the occupational division of labor; and the division of society into rich and
poor, powerful and powerless
First published social psychology experiment
Norman Triplett (1861-1931)
Dynamogenic (Social Facilitation) Factors in Pace Making and Competition
His experiment was on the social facilitation effect
Social Facilitation in the experiment meant that the bodily presence of another competitor is the
stimulus to the racer in arousing competitive instincts
Eyeball analysis technique – look at what’s happening and

Experiment:

Step 1 – The unpaced race against time by a single individual to lower the established record
Step 2 – The paced race against time is also a single effort to make a record
Step 3 – Participants were timed in 6 alternating trials, alone and racing
People fell into 2 classes
Class 1 – Those who were not affected by the race
Class 2 – Those that were affected by the race
A. faster time in competitive trials
B. faster movement
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Individuals have faster time during a competition as compared to their training sessions,
especially those on pacing machines

Reasons Why?

The bodily presence of another person and the site of movement of another object in higher
speed both serve to liberate energy not normally available in some way making them both a
social facilitator.

Shelter Theory – during a competition the racer will pace themselves and have the leader shield
them from the wind as to not over exert themselves

Encouragement Theory – the encouragement from a friend during a competition is great help

Theory of Hypnotic Suggestions- suggests the possibility that the strained attention given to the
revolving wheel of the pacing machine in front produces sort of hypnotism and that the
accompanying muscular exaltation is the secret of the endurance shown by some long distance
riders in paced races.
He then demonstrated this effect in a controlled, laboratory experiment and concluded that
children perform a simple lab task faster in pairs than when performing by themselves.

Nine research areas in social psychology

1. Social Cognition- focuses on cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology – processing, storage and application of social information in our minds
Schemas and Schemas versus Stereotypes 

One of our most basic mental processes is categorization.  We tend to perceive stimuli as
members or groups rather than isolated, unique entities.  To categorize things, we compare the
object to a prototype, or  an abstraction that represents the "typical" or quintessential instance of
that group (Michener, DeLamater and Myers 2004:107).  
A schema is a well-organized structure of cognitions about some social entity such as a person,
group, role, or event (Michener, DeLamater and Myers 2004:107).  These schemas help to
develop expectations about what to expect from others' behavior. Ideas of the world.
Person Schema -
cognitive structures that describe personalities of others.  It can apply to specific
individuals (Barack Obama, my sister) or types of individuals (extrovert, sociopath). 
Self-Schema -
structures that organize our conception of our own qualities and characteristics.
Role Schema -
indicate which attributes and behaviors are typical of persons occupying a particular role
in a group.  These can exist for occupational roles (priest, teacher, nurse) or roles in
groups (group leader, recorder).
Event Schema  (also called "scripts") -
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are schemas about important, recurring social events (weddings, funerals, graduations,
job interviews).
Group Schemas (also called stereotypes) -
a fixed set of characteristics that are attributed to the members of a particular social group
or social category. Whether correct or not, the impressions we form of people influence
our behavior.  They can lead us to incorrect conclusions.
Confirmation biases- if an observer uses a stereotype as a central theme around which to
organize information, he or she may neglect information that is inconsistent with that stereotype.
For example, if a person thinks that all young people are lazy, they may neglect the news stories
about young people who are volunteering and working hard, only focusing on the young people
who loiter outside of a local fast-food restaurant.
Self-fulfilling prophecy- when people behave toward another person according to a label
(normally based on an impression) and cause the person to respond in a way that confirms the
label.  A person who is labeled as a "screw-up" will be treated with disdain by those around
them, and will be given few opportunities to overcome that label, and will respond by confirming
the label.

2. Violence and Aggression– focuses on what causes violence and what causes aggression

There are 3 theories in social psychology:

1. Social Learning Theory- people obtain aggressive reactions by immediate experience or
by examining others. This is a common way to attain many social behaviors.

2. Script Theory- This theory proposes that when children watch violence in the mass
media, they gain knowledge of aggressive scripts

3. Cognitive Neoassociation Theory- some sort of aggressive aversive stimuli or frustration

which instigates aggressive reactions by creating a negative effect. These physiological
reactions linked with both fight and flight trends. These relations augment basic feelings
of anger in the fight response or feelings of fear in the flight response.

3. Group Behavior- focuses on how people behave in groups

There are 10 main facts about groups:

1. Groups can arise from almost nothing

Tajfel (1971) did an experiment called The Minimal Groups Paradigm to investigate the minimal
conditions required for discrimination to occur between groups. In his study boys who were
strangers to each other were given only the slightest hint that they were being split into two
groups. Even without knowing or seeing who else was in their group they favored members of
their own group over the others. Group behavior, then, can arise from almost nothing.

2. Initiation rites improve group evaluations

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Aronson & Mills (1959) tested the effect of initiation rites by making one group of women read
passages from sexually explicit novels. Afterwards they rated the group they had joined much
more positively than those who hadn't had to undergo the humiliating initiation to join a group.

3. Groups breed conformity

After joining a group and being initiated, we get a feel for the group norms (the rules of behavior
in the group.) Group norms can be extremely powerful, bending our behaviors in ways we would
never expect.

Ash conformity experiments.

4. Members learn the ropes or become ostracized

Group norms are extremely pervasive: this becomes all the more obvious when we start breaking
them.

Garfinkel (1967) had adolescents return to their families and behave totally out of character, i.e.
speaking only when spoken to, being polite, acting formally—but only for 15 minutes at a time.
Rather than being delighted their parents were shocked and angry, accusing their children of
being selfish and rude.

5. Members become their job

Although groups have norms—rules that apply to everyone in the group—people have roles
within groups and corresponding rules that apply to just their position.

Stanford Prison Experiment

6. Groups can improve performance

The mere presence of others can make us perform better.

Norman Triplett

7. People will loaf

Social Loafing – the tendency for individuals to perform worse on simple tasks within a group
yet better and complex tasks when done alone

Ringelmann (1890s) that participants in a tug 'o war only put in half as much effort when they
were in a team of 8 than when they were on their own.

8. The grapevine is 80% accurate

Intelligence, rumors, gossip and tittle-tattle is the lifeblood of many groups.

Simmons (1985) analyzed workplace communication and found that about 80% of the time
people are talking about work and a surprising 80% of the information was accurate. Other
studies have come up with a similar figure, suggesting that while details are inevitably lost along
the way, the grapevine is mostly accurate.
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9. Groups breed competition

While co-operation within group members is generally not so much of a problem, co-operation
between groups can be hellish. People may be individually co-operative, but once put in a 'them-
and-us' situation, rapidly become remarkably adversarial.

Insko (2001) had participants playing a classic game called 'the prisoner's dilemma' which they
used to measure competitiveness.
Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a
conviction, and, having separated the prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal.
If one testifies for the prosecution against the other (defects) and the other remains silent
(cooperates), the defector goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year
sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for
a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each
prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the
other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. How should
the prisoners act?
When on their own people were competitive 37% of the times but when they were in a group of
three this increased to 54%. People easily become suspicious of other groups, reasoning that
while their individual members may be 'alright', the group as a whole cannot be trusted.

10. Leaders gain trust by conforming

A high profile, high-status role in any group is that of its leader, but where do leaders come
from?
Leaders emerge slowly and subtly from the ranks.

Merei (1949) observed children at a Hungarian nursery school. He noticed that successful leaders
were those who initially fitted in with the group then slowly began to suggest new activities
adapted from the old. Children didn't follow potential leaders who jumped straight in with new
ideas. Leaders first conform, and then when trust has been gained, can they be confident that
others will follow. This has been confirmed in later studies with adults.

4. Leadership Theories

Adair (1970’s) – Functional Leadership Model

In general, this model looks at how needs are met for the:
1. Task
2. Team
3. Individual
The three overlapping circles illustrate that each of the functions are interdependent.

Leadership is not characterized as a person but as a set of behaviors, these set of behaviors help
the group perform a task. If all the behaviors listed below are used to perform said task, then
everyone’s needs will be meet.
1. Maintenance– Discussion– behaviors that improve the relationships among the members
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2. Procedural– Agreement– behaviors that help direct the groups discussion

3. Substantive– Research– behaviors directly relevant to performing the groups task

Lewin (1939) - 3 Types of Leadership Styles

1. Authoritarian– Autocratic – one person possesses ultimate power
Clear expectations of what should be done and how it should be done
Should be used in a group when you have little time to complete a task
One leader makes all decisions, which cause decisions to be less creative
2. Participative Leadership– Democratic – people are being represented by a leader,
everyone contributes in some way
A lot more creativity within the group, contributions are of much higher quality
People are less productive than Authoritarian Leadership
3. Delegative Leader– Laissez-Faire – Leader should have very little power which leaves
decision making up to the group
Least productive
This is only good when members are very qualified

LEADERSHIP EXCERCISE

5. Prejudice and Discrimination- focuses on the origins, causes and effects of discrimination,
prejudice and stereotypes

Goffman (1976)–found subtle stereotypes in ads. Six out of the many stereotypes:
1. Functional Ranking- the tendency to depict men in executive roles/more functional roles
when collaborating with women.
2. Relative Size- the tendency to depict men as taller and larger than women, except when
women are clearly superior in social status
3. Ritualization of Subordination- the tendency to have an overabundance of images of
women lying on floors/beds or as objects of men's mock assaults. The environment is
very important here.
4. Feminine Touch- the tendency to show women cradling and caressing the surface of
objects with their fingers. Self-touching can also be involved which can be read as
women conveying a sense of their body being a delicate and precious thing.
5. Family- fathers depicted as physically distant from their families or as relating primarily
to their sons, and mothers depicted as relating primarily to daughters. Bonds are showed
but it is implied that there are different types of bonds in the family.

6. Licensed Withdrawal- Women, more than men, are pictured engaged in something that
removes them psychologically from the social situation at large. In ads, women are
shown mentally drifting from the physical scene around them while in close physical
touch with a male, as though his aliveness to the surroundings and his readiness to cope
with anything might present itself enough for both of them.

6. Social influence- the change in behavior that one person causes to another either intentionally
or unintentionally.
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Makosky (1985) argued that most introductory textbooks tend to focus on persuasion issues such
as communicator attributes, whether the message is one- or two-sided, and aspects of the
audience like attention and prior opinions concerning the message. She noted, however, that
advertising makes use of additional persuasion techniques that may not be included in the
textbook. Persuasion is an intentional technique used in ads.
1. An appeal to the creation of needs- When Maslow's hierarchies of needs are implied
(biological, safety and security, belonging and love, self-esteem and status, cognitive, aesthetic,
and self-actualization).
2. Social and prestige suggestion- These are techniques based on the premise that you should
buy or do something because many others do so (social suggestion) or some well-known person
makes a recommendation for a product or has something desirable (prestige suggestion).
3. Loaded words and images- These tend to be more subtle techniques, including the use of
attractive people in the advertisement, images of positive social situations associated with a
product, or incorporating "buzzwords" such as "natural" for food and beauty products.

ADS EXCERCISE

7. Self and Social Identity– focuses on self-perception and how this perception affects our
social interaction.
How do our inner lives affect our outer lives?

4 Theories that will be discussed:

1. Le Bon (1900’s) Theories on crowd psychology.
When individuals are placed in a crowd the unconscious mind of each individual emerges
to create the collective mind, the collective mind is primitive. Ordinary people can
typically gain direct power by acting collectively. Deindividualization occurs– the loss of
self awareness and individual accountability in a group

2. Festinger (1952)
He was the first to propose that anonymity was a key element in the effects of
deindividuation. The presence of a large number of people diffuses the responsibility
amongst the members of the group, thus reducing the accountability of individuals for
their actions.

1. Diener (1980) – When deindividuation occurs, many internal processes occur within the
individual. He suggested that reduced self-awareness was the distinctive characteristic of
deindividuation. Attention is focused outward, away from the individual, thus decreasing
the salience of personal identit

In a group of people how can you see reduced self awareness?

8. Attitude and Attitude Change– focuses on the development of attitude and how they change

How are attitudes formed?

There are several ways in which we acquire attitudes
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One of our earliest agents of attitude formation are our parents, later followed by our peers and
the media

Four major sources of attitude formation are:

1.Classical conditioning- when people associate behaviors and attitudes as "good" or "bad"
(i.e. it's good to tell the truth, it's bad to steal)
2.Operant conditioning- when people are rewarded or punished for behaviors and attitudes
(i.e. being praised for telling the truth or being punished for stealing something)
3.Cognitive appraisals- when people weigh logical arguments in determining their attitudes

4.Observational learning- when people learn attitudes through peer behavior and the media

There are two types of attitudes:

1. Explicit attitudes are conscious beliefs that can guide decisions and behavior.
1. Implicit attitudes are unconscious beliefs that can still influence decisions and behavior.

There are three components to attitudes:

1. Affective component– how we feel
1. Behavioral component– how we behave
2. Cognitive component– how we understand

The study of Attitudes and Persuasion is actually a vital feature of contemporary social
psychology. How attitudes and behaviors change when person exposed to messages or
information about attitude object.

Below are three basic theories of how persuasion affects attitude formation:

1. Mere Exposure Effect- the more someone is exposed to an attitude, the more that person
will like it
(e.g. buying the name brand item because you’ve seen lots of commercials for it)
2.Central Route Persuasion- deeply processing a message’s content
(e.g. after hearing a political debate you may decide to vote for a candidate because you
found the
Candidates views and arguments very convincing)
3.Peripheral Route Persuasion- involves being persuaded in a manner that is not based on the
arguments or the message content. This can involve using superficial cues such as the
attractiveness of the speaker.
(e.g. after reading a political debate you may decide to vote for a candidate because you
like the sound of the person's voice, or the person went to the same university as you did)
   
9. Interpersonal Relationships– focuses on how relationships affect our behaviors

The nature of love has been explored by a number of theorists because it is an interpersonal
attitude.
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According to Social Psychologist, Zick Rubin (1970), romantic love is made up of three
elements:
1. Attachment: Being cared for and being with another person
2. Caring: Valuing the other person’s happiness and needs as much as your own
3. Intimacy: Sharing private thoughts, feelings, and desires with the another person

Based upon this view of romantic love, Rubin developed two questionnaires to measure the
variables of liking and loving. Initially, Rubin identified approximately 80 questions designed to
assess the attitudes a person holds about others. There were actually 13 questions in each section
for measurement.

Liking- Friends
Loving- Partners

RUBIN EXERCISE

John Lee (1973)- Colors of Love

He compared styles of love to the color wheel. Just as there are three primary colors, Lee
suggested that there are three primary styles of love. These three primary styles of love are:

Eros
Ludos
Storge

Continuing the color wheel analogy, Lee proposed that just as the primary colors can be
combined to create complementary colors, these three primary styles of love could be combined
to create 3 different secondary love styles

Three secondary styles:

Mania (Eros + Ludos) – Obsessive love
Pragma (Ludos + Storge) – Realistic and practical love
Agape (Eros + Storge) – Selfless love

1. Eros Lovers: Beauty & Sexuality

The erotic lover focuses more on beauty and physical attraction, sometimes to point where they
exclude other qualities people may find more important and lasting. You could say that they live
in a fantasy world, very romantic: They often see marriage as a lasting honeymoon, and see sex
as the ultimate aesthetic experience. The disadvantage is the inevitableness of the decay in
attraction, and the danger of living in a fantasy world. In its extreme, eros can resemble naïve.

2. Ludus: Entertainment & Excitement

Ludic lovers are players; more interested in quantity of relationships than quality of
relationships. The ludic lover will also only maintain a partner for as long as he/she is interesting
or amusing. Research has shown that people who score high on ludic love are more likely to
engage in "outside-the-couple" dating and sex than those who score low on ludus.
 17

3. Storge Love: Peace & Slowness

Storgic lovers set out not to find a love, but to find a compatible relationship with someone they
already know and share common interests. At times the storge love can move so slowly it is hard
to define where relationship stands. Sex in storge love comes late, and when it does it usually
assumes no great importance.

4. Pragma Lover: Practilality & Tradition

These lovers are practical and seek a relationship that will work. Pragma lovers want
compatibility, and a relationship that will satisfy all their needs, desires and wants. They are
more concerned with social qualities rather than personal ones. Their relationships hardly ever
decay, because they choose their partners very carefully and emphasize similarities; they also
have realistic romantic expectations.

5. Mania Lovers: Elation & Depression

Mania lovers are characterized as having extreme highs and extreme lows. The manic lover loves
intensely, and at the time worries intensely about the loss of the love. For this, the manic lover
may experience fear that prevents them from enjoying relationships. With little reason, they may
also experience extreme jealously. Manic love is obsessive; the manic lover has to possess the
beloved completely. In return, the manic lover wishes to be possessed, to be loved intensely.
They tend to feel that their poor self esteem with only improve with intense love. Their sense of
self-worth comes from being loved, rather than from inner satisfaction. Because love is so
important, danger signs in a relationship are often ignored; the manic lover believes that if there
is love, then nothing else matters.

6. Agape Lovers: Compassion & Selflessness

Agape are compassionate, egoless, self-giving love. The agapic lover loves even people with
whom he or she has no close ties. Jesus, Buddha, and Gandhi practiced and preached this
unqualified love. In one sense, agape is more a philosophical kind of love than a love that most
people have the strength to achieve.

LEE EXERCISE

9. Developmental Psychology: The scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over
the course of their life.
Psychoanalytic Child Development Theories
• Sigmund Freud

The theories proposed by Sigmund Freud stressed the importance of childhood events and
experiences, but almost exclusively focused on mental disorders rather that normal functioning. 

According to Freud, child development is described as a series of 'psychosexual stages.'

http://psychology.about.com/library/bl/bl-freud-erikson-compared.htm
HANDOUT For Me- Have Students Look Up 
• Erik Erikson
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Theorist Erik Erikson also proposed a stage theory of development, but his theory encompassed
human growth throughout the entire lifespan. Erikson believed that each stage of development
was focused on overcoming a conflict.
http://psychology.about.com/library/bl/bl-freud-erikson-compared.htm
HANDOUT For Me- Have Students Look Up 

Cognitive Child Development Theories

Theorist Jean Piaget suggested that children think differently than adults and proposed a stage
theory of cognitive development. He was the first to note that children play an active role in
gaining knowledge of the world. According to his theory, children can be thought of as "little
scientists" who actively construct their knowledge and understanding of the world. Learn more
in this article on 
HANDOUT For Me- Have Students Look Up
Behavioral Child Development Theories
Behavioral theories of child development focus on how environmental interaction influences
behavior and are based upon the theories of theorists such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov and B.
F. Skinner. These theories deal only with observable behaviors. Development is considered a
reaction to rewards, punishments, stimuli and reinforcement. This theory differs considerably
from other child development theories because it gives no consideration to internal thoughts or
feelings. Instead, it focuses purely on how experience shapes who we are.classical
conditioning and operant conditioning.
Social Child Development Theories
Bandura- Social Learning Theory 
• John Bowlby

There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John Bowbly proposed
one of the earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early relationships with
caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships
throughout life.
HANDOUT For Me- Bowbly- Attachement Theory
• Lev Vygotsky

Another psychologist named Lev Vygotsky proposed a seminal learning theory that has gone on
to become very influential, especially in the field of education. Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed
that children learn actively and through hands-on experiences. His sociocultural theory also
suggested that parents, caregivers, peers and the culture at large were responsible for the
development of higher order functions.

Some other areas of psychology (still so much more):

• Forensic Psychology: Forensic psychology is defined as the intersection of psychology

and the law, but forensic psychologists can perform many roles so this definition can
vary. In many cases, people working within forensic psychology are not necessarily
"forensic psychologists." These individuals might be clinical psychologists, school
psychologists, neurologists or counselors who lend their psychological expertise to
provide testimony, analysis or recommendations in legal or criminal cases.
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• Health Psychology: The field of health psychology is focused on promoting health as

well as the prevention and treatment of disease and illness. Health psychologists also
focus on understanding how people react, cope and recover from illness. Some health
psychologists work to improve the health care system and the government's approach to
health care policy.
• Industrial-Organizational Psychology: Industrial organizational psychology is a field
of psychology that applies psychological theories and principles to organizations. Often
referred to as I/O psychology, this field focuses on increasing workplace productivity and
related issues such as the physical and mental well being of employees. Industrial
organizational psychologists perform a wide variety of tasks, including studying worker
attitudes and behavior, evaluating companies and conducting leadership training.
• Sports Psychology: Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports,
athletic performance, exercise and physical activity. Some sports psychologists work with
professional athletes and coaches to improve performance and increase motivation. Other
professionals utilize exercise and sports to enhance people’s lives and well-being
throughout the entire lifespan.