English in Psychology

1. Stages of development
Changes in sleep across the lifespan
a. Before birth
- In utero, most of our time is spent asleep;
- By week 23, most neural dials and switches require to produce NREM and REM sleep have been
sculpted and wired up;
- So we spend about 6h in NREM, 6h in REM and 12h in intermediary (NREM/REM) sleep
- In the final trimester, glimmers of wakefulness emerge (2-3h/day)
- REM sleep increases to almost 9h/day (12h/day in the last week before birth)
- REM sleep promotes maturation and synaptogenesis (stimulates growth of neural pathways all over
the brain & furnishes them with synaptic terminals)
o This is true for all mammals
o REM sleeps sets up the mainframe of the brain
o Alcohol suppresses REM sleep (babies born with problems)
b. Infancy
- Poliphasic sleep (several snippets of sleep and awakenings/day & night)
- By 3-4 months old, baby starts being governed by the circadian rhythm
- By 1 year of age, the baby is awake most of the day and sleeps most of the night
- 14h of shut eye – 50% NREM and 50% REM
c. Childhood
- Biphasic sleep (nap during the day & sleep during the night)
- By 3-4 years old, baby gets around 11h of sleep
- By 5 years of age, kids get 70% NERM and 30% REM
- In late childhood, we’re already getting used to monophasic sleep
d. In adolescence
- Teens are done adding connections, the brains starts pruning them
- 80% NREM and 20% REM
- Deep sleep (slow wave) may be a driving force of brain maturation
- During this stage in life, cognitive skills, reasoning, critical thinking improve
- Interestingly, maturation begins at the back of the brain; the frontal lobe is the last stop – rationality
flourishes last in teens, increased desire for risk taking;
- Sleep efficiency is 95%
- At 16, the circadian rhythm is forward: we are programmed to fall asleep later in the night
e. Adulthood
- 8h of sleep/night
- NREM sleep declines (in the late 30s)
- REM sleep remains stable
- Sleep efficiency is around 80%
f. Old age
- Reduced quantity & quality, reduced efficiency, disrupted sleep
- NREM sleep declines (deep sleep is critical for cementing memories and retaining new facts)
- Sleep efficiency is around 70% (out of 8h in bed, 1h30 is awake)
- Poor, fragmented sleep contributes to decline in health (cognitive and physical) – diabetes,
depression, strokes, etc.
Roles in the family
American psychologist Virginia Satir – the differences between a functioning family and a dysfunctional one;
People adopt certain roles in order to compensate when healthy dynamics are lacking among family members;
Satir emphasized the power that nurturing, affectionate relationships have in developing well-adjusted psyches;
”Satir model” is still used in personal and organizational psychology.
The Satir model:
- We learn to react in certain ways to the members of our family
- These reactions shape a role that we adopt, especially when under stress
- The role may overwhelm our authentic self and be taken with us into adulthood
- The family is the ”factory” where people are made
The five family roles:
a. Distractor – attempts to shift the attention from emotional issues
b. Computer – non-affectionate intellectual
c. Leveler – honest and direct communicator
d. Blamer – constantly finds fault and criticizes
e. Placator – apologetic people-pleaser
2. Education and creativity
- Kids are talented in many ways, but creativity is not encouraged in school
- The focus is on acquiring knowledge for passing academic tests and landing future jobs
- About 40% of jobs will be automated by 2030;
- Human creativity and critical thinking will be required for those jobs that won’t be done by
machines;
- 65% of children now entering primary school will work in jobs that don’t exist yet;
Homeschooling = an alternative to public/private schools
The responsibility & implementation of education falls directly in the hands of the child’s parents; takes
place at home or kids can be taken to different tutors, museums, science parks, etc.
Homeschooling is not the same as unschooling
Parents might find mass schooling:
o Too demanding or not rigorous enough
o An inefficient use of child’s time (moving too quickly or too slowly for their child)
o Unsafe or too confining
Pros +
 Educational freedom
 Close family relationships
 More rested & less stressed kids
 No bullying
Cons –
 Lack of structure, limited coverage of subjects
 Parents + teacher at the same time
 Less interaction with peers
 Living outside the norms
3. Solutions to school problems
Problems in school?
- Exhaustion (overload, rote memorization)
- Conflicts among peers or with teachers
- Insufficient motivation
- Bullying
a. Bullying
Effects of bullying = depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, social isolation, suicide (cyberbullicide), suicidal
ideation
Bystanders – report similar psychological impact and guilt for being unable to intervene
Emotional management – would allow students who are bullied to deal with the phenomenon
b. Cyberbullying
- Another form of bullying (abuse of power in relationship)
- Involves the use of ICT to support deliberate, repeated and hostile behavior by an individual or
group, intending to cause harm to those less able to defend themselves,
- Intention to harass, embarrass, demean, intimidate, threaten, harm through humiliation
- Digital natives have not known a world without technology; a great proportion of their social and
emotional development occurs while online;
- Those who are high-risk offline are also high-risk online;
- Internet ‘stranger danger’ over-exaggerated (young people are more at risk from somebody they
know, than from a random internet user)
- Grooming (building a relationship with a child in order to later abuse them), e-seduction, sexting
- Restricting use, banning technology is not the answer – makes children less willing to report
cyberbullying
- Cyber safety education (learn safe and responsible use of ICT: Stop correspondence, Block user, Tell
an adult – model)
Types of cyberbullying:
 Flaming – intense online arguments using vulgar language, images or symbols
 Cyberstalking – harassing people by repeatedly sending messages which include threats
 Outing – public display or forwarding of personal communication
 Name calling – offensive messages often posted publicly
 Impersonation – breaking into somebody’s accounts and using their identity to post
vicious/embarrassing material
In Australia, there are more phones than people.
ICT promotes effective learning, but in online environments content is easier to share and harder to erase
Cyberbullying is often anonymous – disinhibition
Distancing effect – the bully doesn’t see the reaction/impact of the victim – leads them to say or do things that
are more harmful than they would in face-to-face interaction
Under-reported – shame
Solutions
Building social and emotional resilience is crucial to deal with stressors and bounce back from adversity.
To overcome it, children draw from 3 sources of resilience:
 I have (trusting relationships, role models, structure and rules, autonomy, health,
education, safety)
 I am (loveable & loving, empathic, proud of my achievements, autonomous,
responsible, hopeful)
 I can (communicate, problem-solve, manage feelings & impulses, gauge the
temperament of myself and others, seek trusting relationships)
Daniel Goleman – Social and Emotional Learning – SEL – in schools
- Training students to manage their emotions and respect those of others is the key towards a more
empathic society, with healthier and happier individuals
- SEL = a systematic way to develop/enhance socio-emotional skills
- Everyone has to gain:
o Bullies – become less violent and more prosocial
o Bullied victims – become more confident, find solutions to deal with aggressors
o Bystanders – learn how to intervene
 - Programs implemented in primary schools are the most successful
Social and emotional skills to be taught in schools:
- Self-awareness – involves knowing your own feelings; this includes having an accurate assessment
of what you’re capable of, when you need help, and what your emotional triggers are;
- Self-management – being able to keep your emotions in check when they become disruptive –
involves being able to control outbursts, calmly discussing disagreements, and avoiding activities
that undermine you like extended self-pity and panic
- Motivation – for the sake of personal joy, curiosity or the satisfaction of being productive (not just
money or status)
- Empathy – while the previous 3 categories refer to a person’s internal emotions, this one deals with
the emotions of others – reading the emotions of others and responding appropriately
- Social skills – applying empathy as well as negotiating the needs of others with your own – finding
common ground with others
Universal school-based SEL programs were effective in reducing and preventing violent behavior
among children and youth, improving academic performance, success in life
Implementation – the most successful interventions included a variety of elements:
 Whole-school anti-bullying policy
 Individual counseling
 Curriculum materials, ethic classes, conflict resolution training
 Peer mediation, peer mentoring (`buddy systems`), peer group pressure as bystanders
 Non-punitive methods
 School tribunals, bully courts
 Teacher and parent training
4. Leaders to heroes – outstanding personality traits
Case studies
- Enable psychologists to find out about personality in detail, formulate a more general theory, or
acquire knowledge about exceptional individuals
- Focus on rare phenomena, useful to clinical psychology
Leaders… born or made
“Leaders aren’t born – at least not full blown. Neither are they made like instant coffee. Instead, they are slow-
brewed.” – Harris and Nelson
- High levels of openness to experience, extraversion & conscientiousness
- Leadership skills can be cultivated
Heroes… born or made
“My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when
they found it, whether in small ways or great. (…) Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.” –
George R.R. Martin
- Emotionally secure (low neuroticism), cooperative (high agreeableness), conscientious
- Heroes often reveal themselves in specific, uncommon situations
Leadership
 Leaders motivate members of a group (country, organization, school year, sports team, etc) to work for
common goals.
 Not necessarily heroic, leaders get people closer to their objectives.
 Fair, righteous – lead by example
 Visionary – move things forward
 Charismatic
- The dark side of charisma:
o Its attractiveness makes it easy to overlook critical weaknesses of leaders
 o Con artists, narcissists, charlatans can make it their instrument
o Charming, with great social skills, they can float up in an organization without any
agenda/performance
- The bright side of charisma
o When leaders do what is proper and ethical
o When leaders inspire their employees/followers to achieve more than what was once thought
possible
o Leaders help employees to reframe problems and approach matters in innovative ways
Leadership styles:
a. The ethical leader:
- Committed to the well-being of customers, suppliers, employees
- Responsible
- Compassionate (manage a business, but `through love instead of fear or greed`)
b. The directive leader:
- Intelligent, organized, always firm
c. The participative leader:
- Communicative, delegates authority, encourages participation
d. Collaborative leadership:
- Business-oriented, promotes teamwork, active listening
e. Transformational leader
- Innovative, communicative, motivating
`Hero` can have one of the following meanings:
1. A person who is admired for their courage or noble qualities
2. A person who has outstanding achievements in a particular field
3. The chief male character in a book/play/film, who is typically identified with good qualities, and with
whom the reader is expected to sympathize
4. (In mythology and folklore) a person of superhuman qualities and often semi-divine origin, in particular
one whose exploits were the subject of ancient Greek myths.
Literary, cinematic heroes
- Epic hero – superhuman strength, takes on challenges that no one else will & succeeds – legends,
fairytales
- Tragic hero – good but majorly flawed, and this will lead to a tragic death – Romeo, Oedipus
- Romantic hero – emotional, human but also magical, triumphs over evil – King Arthur, Zorro
- Anti-hero – main character who lacks conventional heroic qualities and attributes such as idealism,
courage and morality – Hamlet
Phil Cousineau – 7 steps which can be found in heroic narratives around the world
1. The call of adventure
2. The road of trials
3. Supernatural id
4. Crossing the threshold
5. The boon
6. The return
7. Master of two worlds
5. Education for sustainability
“Things are getting worse in the world”
- Negativity instinct – we notice the bad more than the good
- Fear instinct – hardwired in our brains for survival
 - Gap instinct – dividing everything in 2 groups, with a chasm in between
 Today’s mass-media exploits these instincts for higher ratings and promotes alarming scenarios.
“Things are getting better in the world”
- Medicine is making great progress
- Child mortality has decreased
- The world is mostly peaceful
- Most preventable risks have been eliminated
- Even population growth is slowing down
Challenges and opportunities:
a. Challenges
 Planet Earth (carbon footprint, climate change, endangered species, overfishing)
 Corruption (poverty, medical costs, flawed education, exploitation)
 Demography (overpopulation, immigrants, refugees, resources – water/food crisis, famine)
 Psy problems (stress, anger, hopelessness, depression)
 Technology (dehumanizes, replaces people, algorithms, AI)
b. Opportunities
 Planet Earth (sustainable living)
 Corruption (more education)
 Demography (by 2100, population to flat line)
 Psy problems (therapy, lifestyle)
 Technology (it’s up to us)
From Homo Sapiens to Homo Deus
Harari sees 3 possible developments:
i. Humans become obsolete as computers become more intelligent
ii. Humans become increasingly reliant on technology to make our decisions, until one day they know us
better than we know ourselves
iii. A small group of elite, upgraded superhumans emerge to dominate other humans using technology and
computer algorithms
Rosling focuses on the good and stresses that:
- Most of us live the safest lives in history – there’s no reason for that to change
- Education, eradication of poverty are likely to continue – thus leading us to make better decisions
- If humans are familiar with the facts and aware of the dangers, we’ll find ways of avoiding them
The future…
o In 1948, there was an average of 5 babies per woman
o In 2017, the average went below 2.5 babies per woman
o By 2100, an estimate of 2 billion children will be alive – same number like today
What can we do?
Education for sustainable development
- Meeting the current generation’s needs, without compromising the possibility of future generations
to fulfil their needs
- Economic growth, but with respect for the environment and with the aim of finding alternative
resources
- Educating people – climate change, aware consumption, buy less & recycle more
What can YOU do?
- Take the stairs
- Don’t buy useless stuff – plastic straws, toothpaste in carton box
- Car pool/train/bike
 - Be eco friendly in the digital world
- Plant trees, flowers (bees)
6. The Power of Will
We rely on willpower to save money, quit a bad habit, go to the gym, overcome procrastination and accomplish
our goals. However, some have stranger self-control and seem to achieve everything they set their minds to,
others struggle to accomplish even basic daily tasks.
Two traits predict `positive outcomes in life`: intelligence and self control. We need willpower + self-control to
resist temptations of all sorts.
BUT self-control lessens as willpower is depleted – triggers life’s major problems: compulsive spending,
substance abuse, underachievement, procrastination, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise.
On the contrary, people with good self-control are exceptional at maintaining secure attachments, more stable
emotionally, less prone to anxiety, eating disorders.
Willpower: how does it work?
!Limited resources – we use the same supply for performing daily tasks, exercising, comping with stress,
dealing with colleagues…
4 main uses:
1. Control of thoughts – focus
2. Control of emotions – affect regulation
3. Impulse control - #resist
4. Performance control – manage time, persevere, focus on task
Willpower: how much do we have?
- Ego depletion (diminished capacity to regulate one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions)
- When willpower is low, cravings are stronger than ever (The glucose effect – needing sweets as the
ego gets depleted)
Goal setting:
 Avoiding temptation
 Implementation intention
 High motivation
 Regularly exerting self-control
 Taking goals one by one
o Feed the beast
o Get enough sleep
o Avoid decision fatigue – taking decisions depletes willpower, and once it is depleted, you’re less
able to make decisions
o Set a clear goal
Strengthening slef-control
- Precommitment – resolutions more likely to be kept if they are made in the presence of others
- Increase self-discipline – willpower workout
- Beware of the `hot-cold empathy gap` - the inability, during a cold, rational moment, to appreciate
how we’ll behave during the heat of passion and temptation
- Monitor behavior
- Monetary punishments

WORDS:
Badly-behaved = headstrong, wicked
Obedient = compliant, docile, submissive
Miserable = depressed, gloomy
Embarrassed = agitated, upset
Quarrelsome = disagreeable, belligerent

Trail = path, track

Wicked = evil, bad, immoral
Sexism = discrimination based on gender, especially against woman
Nursery rhymes = songs for children
Villain = bad guy, antihero
To repel = to drive away, to fight back
To arise = to happen, to take place
To wander = to walk around without a purpose
To groom someone = to prepare, to train someone
Unsavoury = unpleasant, dubous
To poll = to ask someone
Urban myth = widely circulated story
To lure = to attract, to tempt, to entice
On the upside = on the other hand

Somebody who commits a minor crime = offenders

To judge = trying
Person belonging to the same generation = peers
Estranged, excluded = alienated
Reoffending = recidivism
To assemble, to meet = to sit
Lawyers who accuse = prosecution
Small crimes = misdeeds
Being drunk = intoxication
Punishing decree = sentence
Punishment, blame = reprimands
To abandon = drop out

Felony = any violation of the law

Misdemeanor = A relatively minor offense, usually punishable by fines, probation or short jail sentence
Bail = Some form of property deposited to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, provided that the
suspect returns for trial
Capital punishment = the death penalty (still exists in some states)
Parole = the release of a prisoner before the completion of his/her sentence, under supervision. If they don’t
respect these conditions, they go back to jail.
Probation = suspension of a jail sentence (the criminal has been convicted, but instead of going to jail is allowed
to go back to the community under supervision)
Curfew = an order establishing a specific time in the evening after which certain regulation apply
Community service = an alternative to imprisonment for those with short sentences who do not represent a
major risk
Crime = a serious criminal offense, usually punishable by a prison sentence – e g: murder, rape, armed burglary
Verdict = a court’s decision if a suspect is guilty or innocent

Facets = aspects
Marshmallow = rather fluffy cake
To indulge = to pamper, treat oneself to smth
To foil = to prevent
Depleted = consumed, exhausted
Fatigued = extremely tired
Regimen = medical treatment or diet
On an even keel = balanced