Psych Exam Review

• Differential Approach: Devoted to tests and measures of individual difference in various

psychological properties, including people’s abilities to solve problems

• Factor Analysis: Statistical analysis that examines all of the correlations between all of the
items and determines if any of them are highly correlated with each other
- Invented by Charles Spearman (1863—1945)

• Indifference of the Indicator: The nding that the context of the test items and the nature of
the task used to test general intelligence didn’t seem to affect test scores

• Binet-Simon Scale: Designed to identify mentally challenged children by assessing

scholastic skills

• IQ: A number used to express the intelligence of a person that’s calculated using the ratio of
the mental age as reported on a standardized tests to the chronological age, multiplied by
100
• Deviation IQ: A procedure for computing the IQ; compares an individuals score with those
received by others of the same chronological age
- Average is equal to 15 points

Designing an Intelligence Tes

• Norming: Gathering data concerning comparison groups that permit an individual’s score to
be assessed relative to their peers
• Standardizing: Determining typical performance on a task
• Reliability: A characteristic of a measure that provides consistent and stable answers across
multiple observations and points in time
• Validity: The degree to which the instrument or procedure actually measures what it claims to
measure

• Polygenic: A trait that is in uenced by more than one pair of genes

• Epigenetic: Study of heritable changes that occur without a change in the DNA sequence
Intelligence and the Brain
• 3 cortical network-level attributes appear to underlie these differences
- Ef cient use of neural resources
- High synchronization between cortical centres
- Adaptation of cortical networks in the face of changing demands

Elements of Intelligence
• Individuals with higher cognitive abilities show more ef cient neural processing and thus
lower levels of activation in areas of the brain used to perform a particular task
• Higher skill levels show a greater degree of synchronization within an individual between
cortical regions than lower skill levels
- Also, synchronization within an individual increases with learning
• Higher cognitive abilities show greater neural adaptation when faced with changing demands
compared to individuals with lower intellectual abilities

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• Gene-Environment Covariation: When exposure to environmental conditions is correlated
with a person’s genes
- An extroverted person seeks a job that involves interaction

• Cognitive Heuristics: Mental shortcuts based on experience

• Algorithms: Step-by-Step procedure
• Availability Heuristic: The tendency to estimate how frequently something occurs based on
the was with which examples come to mind
• Base-Rate Fallacy: Tendency to ignore general information about frequency of events in
favour of speci c salient information such that rare events are overestimated
- People overestimate the frequency of shocking events and underestimate day-to-day
events
• False-Consensus Effect: Tendency of a person to overestimate the number of people that
share their beliefs and behaviours
• Conjunction Fallacy: Belief that multiple speci c conditions are more likely than a single
general one

• Representativeness Heuristic: The tendency to ignore base rates and judge frequency or
likelihood of an event by the extent to which it resembles the typical case

• Anchoring: A bias produced when a reference or starting point is provided for a judgement
- Different starting points produce different estimates

• Framing Effect: Effect of wording on judgement and devision making

• Sunk-Cost Fallacy: The framing effect that occurs when individuals’ decisions and/or
judgements are based on their past investments

• Con rmation Bias: The process by which people interpret, seek, and create info that
con rms already held beliefs

Affective In uences on Judgements

• Priming Account: The process by which different moods activate different information
• Positive Moods effect on decision making
1. Cognitively distracting, limiting available resources for processing information in a
more thorough way
- Diane Macki
2. People aren't weary or cautious when in a positive mood, so don’t process
information thoroughly
- Norbert Schwar
3. Positive moods create high motivation to stay positive, and thorough processing can
disrupt that mood
- Duane Wegner & Richard Pett

• Germinal Period: First two weeks after the sperm and egg unite
• Gamete: A mature male or female cell used for reproduction
• Haploid: Having one set of chromosomes instead of the visual complement of two
- Only half the genetic complement required for life
- Gametes are the only haploid cells in the body

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• Zygote: A single new cell formed at conception
- Merging of male and female gamete
• Diploid: A cell containing both sets of chromosomes
• Cleavage: Division of cells in the early embryo to form blastomeres
- Roughly 24 hours after conception
• Morula: Solid mass of blastomeres resulting from a number of cleavages of a zygote

• Epigenetic Modi cation: Some genes are turned on or off leading to differential
manufacture, or expression of proteins and eventual different cellular properties and
functions

• Stem Cells: Undifferentiated cells that can divide and produce any one of a variety of
differentiated cells
- All cells in the morula are stem cells

Blastocys
• Inner Cell Mass: The mass of cells inside the morula that eventually will form the embryo
• Trophoblast: Cells that form the outer layer of a blastocyst
• Embryo: Cell development stage preceding the foetus
• Blastocyst: The stage a fertilized egg reaches 5—6 days after fertilization
Layers of Cell
• Endoderm: Innermost layers of tissue, eventually develops into the digestive system, urinary
tract, and lungs
• Mesoderm: The middle layer, transforms into muscles, bone, and the circulatory system
• Ectoderm: Outer layer, develops into skin, hair, teeth, and central nervous system
• Embryonic Periods occurs after the blastocyst implants in the uterine wall lasts about 6
weeks
• Final stage is when the above mentioned layers are separated
• Neural Tube: Embryo’s precursor to the central neural system
• Neurulation: Process by which neutrons are generated
- During the peak period of growth, 250,000 new cells generate every minute

Migration and Growt

• Neural Migration: Process through which neurons move, grow, and connect as the basic
neural tube develops into a more mature brain
• Cephalocaudal: Pattern of embryonic development in which development occurs most
intensely at the head and proceeds downward towards the body
• Proximodistal: Pattern of embryonic development proceeding from the centre of the
organism outward

• Apoptosis: Genetically programmed process of cell death as part of normal development to

the normal functioning of cells and organs
- Eg. The webbing originally between ngers disappearing due to the cells dying

• Teratogens: External compounds that can cause extreme deviations from typical
development if introduced to the developing organism

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Re exe
• Rooting Re exes: Newborn’s head moves towards touch (for feeding)
• Sucking Re exes: Used for feeding, soon replaced by voluntary behaviours
• Babinski Re ex: Stroking the underside of foot and toes will curl
• Tonic Neck Re ex: Infant turns head and arm extends in that direction, while the other arm
and leg ex
• Stepping Re ex: Over a at surface, infants move feet in a walking motion
• Moro Re ex: Infants throw out arms and grasp if they feel themselves dropping quickly
• Eye Blink Re ex: Protects eyes from foreign objects and bright lights
• In North America, infants can sit unsupported around after 5—7.5 months
- Stand supported at 9 months
- 10 months — Use furniture to move
- 10—12 months — Walk unsupported
- 16 months — Walk with toys

• Synapses: Junction between the terminal button of one neuron and the membrane of a
muscle bre, a gland, or another neuron
• Synaptogenesis: Process through which new synapses are formed between neurons
• Synaptic Pruning: Facilitates a change in neural structure by reducing the overall synapses,
leaving more ef cient synaptic con gurations

Brain Plasticit
• Experience-Dependent Plasticity: Ability of the nervous system to wire and rewire itself in
response to losing changes in experience
• Experience-Expectant Plasticity: Development that won’t happen unless a particular
experience occurs during its critical period
- Useful for visual system and the type of plasticity that’s a part of language development

• Strabismus: Lack of coordination between the eyes

• Amblyopia: Loss or lack of development of central vision in one eye that’s unrelated to any
eye health problem and is not correctable with lenses

Ecological System Mode

1. Microsystem: Consists of you and your relationships with immediate surroundings (family,
teachers, peers).
2. Mesosystem: Made up of connections between different relationships within the
microsystem.
3. Exosystem: Refers to those settings one may not directly experience, but remain
in uenced by.
4. Macrosystem: Refers to larger social constructs that shape the environment in less direct
ways.
5. Chronosystem: Individual’s perception of their ability to master a situation and produce
favourable outcomes

Myelination: Development of the myelin sheath around the axons or neurons. This sheath
insulates neurones from each other and increases the speed at which neurons transmit
information

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Frontal Lobe
• At 20, the frontal lobe is still undergoing myelination
• Executive Functioning: Functions involved in goal-directed behaviour, planning, and
problem sovling
- Ability to initiate and stop behaviours and to monitor and change behaviour as needed;
capacity to inhibit impulses; ability to understand risk; ability to plan future behaviour;
and ability to control attention

Puberty Basics
• Puberty: The time at which the human body begins to enter sexual maturity, marking the
beginning of adolescents
• Begins when the hypothalamus begins secreting hormones that stimulate the gonads to
mature further and sex hormones to be produced

• Menarche: The rst menstrual cycle

- 12.5—13.5 in North America
• Spermarche: Sign of sexual maturity in boys marked by the production of viable sperm and
rst ejaculation
- Usually age 13

• Menopause: Permanent end of menstruation and a woman’s fertility

• Fluid Intelligence: Ability to reason abstractly
• Crystallized Intelligence: Accumulated information and verbal skills
Erikson’s Stages of the Lifecycl
1. Trust vs. Mistrust: Birth—12 months.
2. Autonomy vs. Shame: 1—3 years.
3. Initiative vs. Guilt: 3/4—5/6 years.
4. Industry vs. Inferiority: 5/6—Onset of Adolescence.
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion: Adolescence—Early Adulthood.
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation: Early Adulthood.
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation: Middle Adulthood
8. Integrity vs. Despair: Late Adulthood—Death

• Many adolescents don’t achieve identity due to environmental issues

• Achievement: Identity achievement after consideration of alternatives
• Moratorium: Exploring options; crisis unresolved
• Foreclosure: Identity achievement without consideration and without exploration of
alternatives
• Identity Diffusion: No identity commitment, no exploration
• Comparative Perspective: A comparative perspective focuses on non-human animals to
better understand the evolution of behaviour and mental process

Objectives — Self and Identit

• Rouge Test: Used to determine development of a sense of self by using a dot of red colour
(rouge) on the nose of the child or animal. The subject is placed in front of a mirror and
observed to see if recognition occurs

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- Humans are rst able to pass the test between 15 and 24 months
• Children at 2 years can identify themselves personally
• Children around 3—4 can identify with characteristics of their personality, describe their
physical traits, abilities, preferences, social relationships, and psychological states
- Self descriptions tend to be positive

• Self-Concept: An individual’s perception of self, including knowledge, feelings, and ideas

about oneself. It’s used as a basis for how we describe ourselves (becomes more advanced
around 8 years)

• Autobiographical Memory: Memory for the speci c experiences that make up a person’s life
story; in uences development of self concept

• Social Comparisons: Evaluation one’s abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with
others. We compare ourselves to others and consider how we differ
• In adolescence, children often become concerned with how they’re perceived by others.
- Drops off later as they gain a stronger/more coherent concept of who they are as
individuals

• Imaginary Audience: Adolescent through process in which they believe they’re constantly on
a stage and everyone is watching them, attending to their every move and mistake

In uences on Self-Concept
• Individualist vs. Collectivist cultures
• Theory of Mind: Expectations concerning how experience affronts mental states, especially
those of another. It’s a reasoning process that attempts to predict how other might think or
behave based on their motives, needs, and goals
- The most basic form of Theory of Mind arrives in children around age 4

• False-Belief Problems: Set of tests used to determine children’s theory of mind and false-
belief understanding
- Eg. Smarties box lled with pencils

• Displacement Test: False belief task like the Sally Anne task that explores how children
reason through a change in location from two different perspectives
- Eg. Puppets looking for shit

• Intersubjectivity: An understanding between individuals of the topic they’re discussing

• Infant Habituation: Simplest form of learning in which a given stimulus is presented
repeatedly. The child learns not to respond to an unimportant event that occurs repeatedly

• Understanding goals is a key part of Theory of Mind

• Children begin to lie around age 3; considered part of normal cognitive development
• Executive Functioning (capacity to control impulses, plan complex actions, force
consequences, and use working memory) affects the development of Theory of Mind

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• Perseveration: Inability to disengage from an activity/switch strategies as new information is
presented. Often occurs in young children and individuals with frontal lobe damage
- Initial strategy might work, but when a change is called for, strategy remains the same

• Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind develop independently, but EF always precedes
• Theory of Mind takes practice to learn
• Theory that Theory of Mind develops our of the same cluster of genetic and epigenetic
processes as Autism Spectrum Disorder (group of developmental disorders that affect the
brain’s normal development and communication skills)
- Some theorists propose that autism occurs when a child lacks Theory of Mind
• Some theorists believe that Theory of Mind exists within the brain in a pre-speci ed way.
They suggest that a genetic factor or environmental factors during prenatal or easy
development may trigger (or fail to trigger) the development of Theory of Mind
• There is no straightforward 1:1 relationship between a brain area and Theory of Mind or a
single brain area or gene implicated in the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Evolutionary Advantages of Theory of Min

• Help in cooperative ventures
• Help maintain reciprocity, sharing, and a collective conscience
• Theory of Mind may be crucial to the development of a moral conscience
• Jean Piaget proposed kids of similar ages make similar errors in problem-solving tasks, and
that all typically developing children go through the same sequence of developmental tasks
- Eg. Same erros reasoning

• Schema: Mental framework or body of knowledge that organized synthesizes information

about a person, place or thing.
• Assimilation: Process by which new information about the world is incorporated into existing
schemata
- No need to revise the scope of the schema
• Accommodation: Process by which existing schemata are modi ed or changed by new
experiences
- Either slightly adjust the parameters of the schemata or believe new information is an
exception to the rule
• Equilibrium: Process within Piaget’s theory that reorganizes schemata
- Original schemata no longer holds true and must forma a new one
- More sophisticated and stable, less vulnerable to contradiction

• Sensorimotor Stage: First period of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, lasting

from birth to 2 years and marked by an orderly progression of increasingly complex cognitive
development
- 8 months—infants development fragile mental representation
• Object Permanence: Feature of Piaget’s sensorimotor period marker blundering that objects
don’t disappear when they’re out of sight
• A-Not-B: Piaget task that indicates preservative error as, for example, an infant continues to
look for an object where they last found it, despite seeing the object placed elsewhere

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• Pre-operational Stage: Second period of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development,
characterized by language development, using symbols, pretend play and mastering the
concept of conservation
- Age 2—6/7
- Child’s inability to perform operations, or reversible mental processes
• Egocentric: Self-centredness; pre-operational children can see the world only from their own
perspective
• Conservation: Understanding that speci c properties of objects remain the same despite
apparent changes in the shape or arrangement of those objects
- The quantity of something remains the same although its shape or the size of the
container

• Concrete Operational Stage: Third period of Theory of Cognitive Development, during

which children come to understand conservation, perspective taking, and other concepts,
such as categorization
- Age 7—11/12
- Growth in their ability to understand feelings and thoughts of others
- Understand more complicated cause-and-effect relations and begin to understand
logical problem solving

• Formal Operational Stage: Fourth period of Theory of Cognitive Development, during

which individuals rst become capable of more formal kinds of abstract thinking and
hypothetical reasoning
- 12—Adulthood
- Not universal (some don’t reach it)

• Modern research shows aws in Theory of Cognitive Development, with some children of 3.5
months showing object permanence
- Also vagueness of mechanisms for change

• Socio-Cultural Theory: Theory of Cognitive Development that places emphasis on

environmental factors, including cultural in uences
- Coined by Lev Vygotsky
• Intersubjectivity: An understanding between two individuals of the topic they’re discussing
• Joint Attention: The ability to share attention with another towards the same object or event
• Social Referencing: Tendency of a person to look to another in an ambiguous situation to
obtain clarifying information
- The way people take social cues in unfamiliar circumstances

• Vygotsky viewed language as one of the driving forces behind development

Core Knowledge Theor
• Infants and young kids have a much more sophisticated set of cognitive tools than the other
theories
- Susan Carey, Elizabeth Speike, and Noam Chomsky
• From birth, the brain has mechanisms that predispose humans to learn speci c skills very
quickly or to understand venation phenomena in speci c ways

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• Theory Theory: Proposes children learn and develop knowledge about the world the same
way scientists do: by framing coherent and abstract models (systems of rules) about the ways
in which the world functions and then actively experiment to test and revise their models

• Altruism: Motive to increase another’s welfare without conscious regard for one’s self-
interest
• Prosocial Behaviour: Positive, constructive, helpful behaviour that’s bene cial to others
that’s usually a cost to oneself
• Empathy: Vicarious experience of another’s feelings
• Children aged 12 months begin to form expectations about the relationship between action
and friendship in social environments
- 14 months— some will provide aid to others

• Reciprocity: A mutual exchange of some sort; repaying, in kind, what someone else has
given to, or done for you

• Longitudinal Studies: Study of development that compares observations of the same

individuals at different times in their lives

Kohlberg’s Stage
• Pre-conventional Morality
1. Heteronymous Morality: (Preschool) Self-interest and avoidance of punishment
2. Instrumental Morality: (7—8) Interested in fairness of exchanges in evaluations of
moral action
• Conventional Morality
3. “Good Child”: (10—11) Begin to see view of others as important and display concern
about being seen as good.
4. “Law and Order: (Late Adolescence) Concern with the good of society. Laws are
obeyed to prevent the breakdown of society
• Post-conventional Morality:
- Very few people enter this stage
5. Social Contract: Aware that people hold opinions/values, recognize certain ideals
and obligation to the law.
6. Universal Ethical Principles: Abide by a personally chosen set of ethical principles
believed to re ect universal tenets of justice.
7. Cosmic Orientation: Grapple with questions of why moral behaviour is important,
construct a “natural theology” based on experience, and have
mystical or spiritual experiences

• Kohlberg’s early research only focused on males

• Social Brain Hypothesis: An idea that was put forth to explain the evolution of intelligence
- The smarter individuals will survive and mate more than competitors
- Evolutionary growth of the brain is to provide an advantage to social creature over others
of their species

• Inductive Discipline: Guiding behaviours, introducing appropriate limits, and setting up

reasonable consequences while also explaining why

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- How parent interact with children has powerful developmental consequences
• Parental Demandingness: The extent of caregiver’s behavioural expectations for the child
• Parental Responsiveness: The amount of support the caregiver gives the child and the
extent to which they meet the needs

Baumrin
• There are 4 types of parents:
1. Authoritative: Unlikely to use physical discipline and will explain reasoning for rules.
Reason with child and listen to their argument. Form rules and uphold them. Children have
freedom with boundaries
2. Authoritarian: Uses threats and punishment/physical discipline. Praise obedience and
expect rules to be followed without explanation
3. Permissive: Believe children learn best on their own, without structure imposed by adults.
Lots of freedom, few demands to achieve or behave appropriately
4. Rejecting-Neglectful: Don’t set limits, monitor activities, and may discourage their children.
Engaged in meeting their own needs

Teaching and Learning

• To qualify teaching, the model must engage in behaviour that bene ts the learner, must
engage only in the presence of naïve individuals, and learner must gain misery of the skill at
a rate quicker than they would’ve alone

• Imprinting: A rapid form of learning, typically occurring in a restricted time window after birth,
that allows an animal to recognize another animal, person, or thing as an object to b
emulated and followed (rapid bond to mother)
- Biologist Konrad Lorenz — “ xed action patterns.

• Attachment: Social and emotional bond between infant and caregiver that spans both time
and space
- John Bowlby noticed that after separation from parents, children one through similar
stages
1. Became frantic and upset
2. Despaired
3. If no new bond took place to replace parents, they’d become despondent and
uninterested in people

Pre-Attachmen
• Stage 1 of Bowlby’s proposal of attachment bond
• Birth—6 weeks
- Don’t show distress if left with a non-caregiver

Attachment-In-The-Making
• Stage 2: 6 weeks — 6/8 months
• Children show preference to familiar people, nervous and wary around unfamiliar people
• Expectations are made for their parent-child relationship
Clear-Cut Attachmen
• Stage 3: 6/8 months — 18 months
• Seek comfort from caregiver

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• May display separative anxiety, showing signs of extreme distress when separated
Reciprocal Relationshi
• Stage 4: 18—24 months
• Increasing amount of time separated from caregiver
• All parties must take an active role in maintaining it
• Drive Reduction Theory: Theorized that infants cry for their caregivers because they need
caretakers to satisfy their physiological needs ( i.e. hunger)
• Contact Comfort: Comfort that primate babies derive from close physical contact with
something soft and warm

Type of Attachmen
• Secure Attachment: React positively to strangers while caregiver is present, unhappy when
caregiver leaves
• Insecure-Resistant Attachment: Uncomfortable in a strange situation. Nervous throughout
tests. Upset when caregiver leaves but not comforted by their return. Seeks contact
• Disorganized/Disoriented: Behaviour is contradictory; throws t when caregiver leaves, but
avoids them upon return. Fearing caregiver’s reactions
• Insecure-Avoidant: No solid/positive relationship with caregiver. Pays no attention or avoids
caregiver during strange situations. May not be upset by caregiver absences, or may easily
be comforted by strangers. Unlikely to respond to caregiver’s return and may avoid entirely

Well-Tempered Chil
• Thomas and Ches
• Temperament: Each infant’s individual pattern of behaviours and emotion reactions
• Activity Level: Amount movement made by the infant
• Rhythmicity: Predictability of the infant’s biological rhythms, such as sleep patterns or
eating
• Approach/Withdrawal: How the infant respond to unfamiliar stimuli
• Threshold of Responsiveness: Intensity required from a stimulus to elicit a response from
the infant
• Intensity of Reaction: Level at which the infant will respond to these stimuli
• Attention Span: Relative amount of time spent on an activity once it has begun
• Distractibility: How much a new stimulus interrupts or alters the infant’s behaviour
• Adaptability: How easily the infant adapts to changes in situations
• Quality of Mood: Relative amounts of happy or unhappy behaviours the infant exhibits
Temperament Type
• Easy Baby: Playful, regular biological rhythms, calm and adequate
• Dif cult: Irregular biological rhythms, slow to adjust, potential intense negativity
• Slow-to-Warm-Up: Low activity level, dif cult at rst, but eventually warms up after initially
acting to them mildly
• All laid out by Thomas and Chess
• Secure attachments had better qualities of relationships, higher capacity for emotional
vulnerability and longer romantic relationships. Also experience more positive daily emotional
experiences and fewer negative during collaboration and con ict resolution as adults

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Gender Roles
• Gender Identity: One’s sense of being male or female; consists primarily of the acceptance
of membership in a particular group of people: male or female
- Age 2—3 can identify
• Gender Role: Culturally speci c expectations as to the types of activities each gender should
engage in, and they way people of that gender should think
• Gender Stereotypes: Belief about differences in personality traits, skills, cognitions, and
behaviours of males and females

• Cognitive Differences in Tests: Females tend to out perform males on verbal ability tests
and continue to through development. Males tend to perform bearer on visuospatial tasks
(males performed better on tests used to mentally rotate a 3D object)

• Behaviour: Genders produce different hormones that affect behaviour and cognition. Female
to male transsexuals, injections of androgens were associated with increases in aggression,
sexual arousal, and spatial ability and a corresponding decrease in verbal ability.
- Relative amounts of androgens, estrogens and progesterone present in the uterus
during pregnancy have been associated with gender speci c play behaviour

Emotion and Social Developmen

• Emotions: Relatively brief display of feelings made in response to environmental events
having motivational signi cance or in response to memories of such events. Emotions include
physiological, cognitive, and behavioural responses
- Also affected by emotional cues of others
- Physical—Changes in heart rate, perspiration, breathing
- Cognitive—How we interpret and appraise situations or stimuli
- Responses vary between individuals
- Drives—Fight or Flight
- Behaviour—Facial expression and body languages

• Discrete Emotions Theory: Proposes that only a few distinct emotions are biologically
based. Since we all biologically have the same sets of emotions, we tend to react in similar
ways
• Between 4—10 emotions may be present and distinct at birth
• Criteria that constitute an emotion are
- Basic emotions should be universal within our species
- Must facilitate a functional response to a speci c, prototypical life event
- They should be evident early in life
- Should be an innate way of expressing the basic emption (through face or voice,
observed across culture)
- Should have its own basis

Functional Emotion
• Functionalists argue emotions are to motivate interaction with the environment in order to
accomplish goals
- Emotions are not fully innate; they’re exible, in uenced by social factions, and
assembled in the moment
• Evoked with a person’s goals and concerns. Therefore, these emotions undergo changes
during development

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• Whatever emption works in a situation is that develops because it was needed in that
moment
• Embarrassment and shame occur in response to violations of social norms that we internalize
through our interactions with others
- Partly depend on presence and idiotic of others—an even in front of strangers than in
front of people you know

• Emotional Self-Regulation: Process that involves the initiation, suppression, or modulation

of the four components of emption: Feelings, physiological states, goals, and thoughts
- Ability to regulate emotion comes with time as children learn to recognize emotion and
reactions, and begin to understand the social rules that govern the expression of
emotion

• Effortful Control: Ability to regulate one’s responses to external stimuli; it’s the ability to
inhibit an automatic response and substitute a planned or intentional response instead
- Aspect of executive functioning

Emotional Regulatio
• Public Displays of Emotions: Adolescents became aware of social consequences of public
emotional displays. They’ll modulate expressions of emotions depending on context and
people surrounding them
• Strategies for Emotional Regulation: Adolescents are more likely to use effective strategies
for emotion regulation than younger children do
- May re-evaluate their situation in a more positive light rather than suppressing emotions
- May re-evaluate the situation after seeing the other side of the situation
- May decide to think about the situation longer before reacting
- May recognize social norms for a particular situation and regulate emotions to comply in
that situation
- May turn to someone else and talk the situation out

• Organism with complex behaviours experience an extended period of immaturity, such as

human play
- Used to practice and master skills that promote survival and reproductive success

• Friendships: A relationship between two people that’s af rmed by each person, based on
mutual affection, and is voluntary rather than based on necessity
- 12—18 months, infants enter into reciprocal interactions with each other; also show
preference for certain peers
- 14 months, children imitate each other and show better memory for actions rather than
adult actions

• Homophile: Tendency to choose to associate with those similar to us in some way

- In uenced by physical factors (age, sex, contact/proximity, and ethnicity), but in uence
decreases with age
- In adulthood, extends to political or cultural circles

Shared Activity
• 5 qualities are important for friendship
1. Common Ground Activity: Children quickly nd activities they can do together

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2. Clear Communication: Children enjoy other children who listen to them and speak in
a meaningful way about whatever activities they’re engaged in
3. Exchange of Information: Children exchanging information about themselves with
others is also predictive of friendship more so as children age
4. Ability to Become a Friend: Children who become friends are able to resolve
con icts they have with each other quickly
5. Reciprocity in Interactions: If one child does something positive, the other responds
appropriately

Friendship’s Role in Well-Bein

• Studies nd children without friends are more prone to feel lonely and depressed
• Friends protect the child from victimization
• Strong supportive friendships can help children avoid negative self-perception
• Trust in friends is a predictor of adolescent self-esteem
Evaluating In uence
• Early Stages: Parents and peers
• Adolescence: Peers in uence preferences and activities while parents in uence moral
values and goals

• Personality: A particular pattern of behaviour and thinking that prevails across time and
situations and differentiate one person from another

Personality Assessment
• Objective Test
- Minnesota Multiphase Inventory (MMPI-2): Asks people to answer true or false
questions about themselves
- NEO Personality Inventory: N=Neuroticisim, E=Extroversion, O=Openness to
experience. Series of agree or disagree statements out of 5
- NEO-PI-3: Measures 5 factors and is based on the 5 factor model
• Projective Test
- Rorschach Test: A person sees a series of inkblots and describes the, while also
describing themselves
- Most popular
- Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): A person makes up stories about a series of
ambiguous pictures on a card. It’s more a starting point for understanding personality
rather than objective measure

Traditional Approac
• Factor Analysis: Statistical analysis that examines all of the items and determines if any of
them are highly correlated with each other
• Factors: A general type of category that contributes to an outcome
• In the 1930s, Gordon Allport identi ed 18,000 adjectives to describe an individual’s
personality
- Was narrowed down to 16 by Raymond Cattell
- Researcher collects data from a large sample, then compiles it. Using stats analysis,
researcher examines all correlations and groups them together
• 16 PF Questionnaire: Multiple-choice personality questionnaire developed by Cattell to
measure 16 normal adult personality dimensions

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- 200 statements

• The Big 5: Five personality dimensions derived from analyses of the natural language terms
people use to describe themselves and others
1. Openness to Experience: Personality factor describes an individual’s willingness to
participate in new experiences, having a wide set of interests, and being creative
imaginative.
2. Conscientiousness: How organized, methodical, disciplined, and motivated (to
achieve goals) one is.
3. Extraversion: This personality factor describes how talkative, outgoing, and assertive
one is.
4. Agreeableness: How kind, sympathetic, and affectionate one is.
5. Neuroticism: The extent to which one is anxious and tense. Someone who’s
described as as being high on the factor tends to exhibit anxiety
• NEO Personality Inventory: Instrument used to measure the elements describe in the 5
factor models

• Genetics X Environment = Personality

FREU
• Sigmund Freud: Viennese physician who proposed that all human behaviour is motivated by
instinctual drives triggered by events in a person’s life
• Psychodynamic: General term for psychological theories that emphasize the relationship
between the conscious and unconscious and the interaction among the various drives and
forces within a person
• Spoke through problems, used hypnosis, had patients uncover unconscious memories. He
thought bizarre behaviour lie in the unconscious
• Psychoanalytic Theory: Freud’s theory of personality based on the con ict between the
conscious and unconscious mind and on developmental stages tied to various bodily
functions. His theory was one of the rst to suggest a structural framework for the
unconscious and this was important at the time of its publication

• Id: Completely unconscious reservoir of psychic energy. Strives to satisfy basic sexual and
aggressive drives, operating on a pleasure principle and demanding immediate grati cation
• Ego: Largely conscious, mediating the con icting demands of the id, superego and reality.
Strives to satisfy the id’s desires in a appropriate ways that bring pleasure rather than pain.
Operates on a reality principle
• Superego: Partly conscious, partly unconscious structure that strives to live up to our
internalized ideals and desires to follow there uses and restrictions society places on us.
Superego punishes the ego (eg. creating guilt and shame)

Psychosexual Developmen
• Fixation: Energies remain focused on a particular stage or activity without progress
• Defence Mechanisms: Mental systems that become active whenever unconscious
instinctual drives of the id come into con ict with the internalized prohibitions of the superego

Defence Mechanism
• Anna Freud stated we employ defensive prenatal mechanism, most famously repression, to
keep anxiety-producing motives and desires from our conscious awareness

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Categorizing Defence
• Immature Defences: Distort reality the most and lead to the most ineffective behaviour.
- Projection, regression, displacement
• Intermediate Defences: Less distortion of reality and lead to somewhat more effective
behaviour
- Repression, reaction formation, sublimation
• Mature Defences: Least reality distortion and associated with adaptive coping (eg. human
and suppression)
- Mature defences have more successful and happier lives

• Psychoanalysis: Form of therapy aimed at providing the client with insight into their
unconscious motivations and impulses
• Free Association: Method of Freudian analysis in which an individual is asked to relax, clear
their mind of current thoughts, and then report all thoughts, images, percetotions, and
feelings that come to mind
• Dream Analysis: Evaluation of the underlying meaning of dream content
• Phenomenological Reality: How each individual views their own world
- Humanistic Theory

Carl Roger
• Unconditional Positive Regard: Therapeutic approach that a person’s worth as a human
doesn’t depend on anything they do, say, feel, or think
• People need total acceptance from others
- Had the client lead the conversation while accepted them while being honest and
genuine

• Maslow’s Hierarch of Needs: Motivation for different activities passes through several levels
of need, with entrance to subsequent levels dependent on rst satisfying the previous level’s
needs.

- Discovering and enjoying all of lif

- Competence, self-respec
- Close relationships with others
- Protection from dangers in environment (Shelter)
- Minimum essentials for life (Food)

• Reciprocal Determinism: A person’s behaviour is both in uenced by and in uences their

attitudes and behaviours and the environment
• Cognitive Constructs: A general belief system that affects how a person understands events
and selects appropriate behaviours

• Locus of Control: Beliefs about whether the outcome of actions depends on what is done or
events out of personal control
- Juliane Rotte

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• External Locus of Control: Belief that circumstances are beyond the control of the
individual
• Internal Locus of Control: Belief that an individual can control their own actions and results
- More likely to take preventative health-care measures
- More likely to succeed in weight-loss programs
- Resist group pressure in lab tests of conformity
- Achieve strong academic goals
- Fond of games of skill rather than games of chance
- Less anxious and more content with life

• Learned Helplessness: General belief system in which an animal or human learns

helplessness and passive resignation when unable to avoid repeated adverse events

• Self-Ef cacy: An individual’s belief about their ability to perform a speci c task
- Albert Bondur
- Highlight success rather than pointing out mistakes

• Individualistic: Culture in which people give priority to their own goals over group goals and
de ne personal attributes rather than group attributes
- North America, Europe
• Collectivist: Culture in which people give priority to group goals over personal goals and
de ne identities based on relational roles within the group
- Most of Asia, Africa, Latin America

• Social Psychology: Scienti c study of how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
are in uenced by the social context

• Self-Schema: Beliefs people hold about themselves that guid how they process self-relevant
information—how they categorize and store information about themselves
• Self-Concept: Individual’s perception of self, including knowledge, feelings, and ideas about
oneself. It’s used as a basis for how we describe ourselves

• Schematicy: Importance of particular self-schemas to a person’s self-concept

- Also in uences memories of events
• Aschematic: Not having a schema for a particular categorization or situation
• Self-Awareness: Ability to recognize oneself as a distinct entity
• Introspection: Looking inward to one’s own thoughts and feelings
• Affective Forecasting: Predicting how one would feel about a future emotional event
• Self-Perception Theory: When internal cues are dif cult to interpret, people sometimes
determine their attitudes and feelings by observing their own behaviour
- Daryl Be

• “Looking-Glass Self”: Other people serve as mirror in which we see ourselves

- Charles Coole

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• Social Comparison Theory: Theory that people evaluate their own abilities and opinions by
comparing themselves to others
- Especially to those similar in relevant ways
- Leon Festinge

• Self-Esteem: Overall feelings of approval and acceptance of the self

Explaining Self-Estee
• Sociometer Theory: States that self-esteem evolved as a way to measure interpersonal
relationships
• Terror Management Theory: States that all human behaviour is motivated by the fear of
mortality

Sociometer Theor
1. Strong correlation between self-esteem and experiencing acceptance/rejection from others
2. Things that increase self-esteem would also improve other’s opinions of you
3. Public feedback affects a person’s level of self-esteem but private does not

Self Enhancemen
• Self-Handicapping: Engaging in behaviours designed to sabotage one’s own performance in
order to provide a subsequent excuse for behaviour
• Basking In Re ected Glory: Associating with others who are successful to increase one’s
self-esteem
• Downward Social Comparisons: Defensive tendencies to compare oneself with others who
are worse off than ones elf

• Self-Serving Cognitions: General beliefs about the self that serve to enhance self esteem
- Better-Than-Average Effec
- Unrealistic Optimis
- Self-Serving Attribution

• Self-Discrepancy Theory: Our self esteem and emotional states are determined by the
match or mismatch between how we see ourselves and how we want to see ourselves
- Actual Self: Self-concept
- Ought Self: Eg. Nice, generous
- Ideal Self: Eg. Athletic, talented

• Attributions: Explanations for causes of one’s own and others’ behaviours

- Personal Attributions (Internal
- Situational Attributions (External

• Covariation Principle: Attribution theory in which people make casual inferences to explain
why they and other people behave in certain ways
- Consistenc
- Consensu
- Distinctivenes

• Heuristics: Information processing rule-of-thumb

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• Fundamental Attribution Error: Tendency to overestimate the impact of personal factors
and underestimate the impact of situational factors when attributing the causes of another’s
behaviour

• Knowledge-Across-Situations Hypothesis: People usually judge the behaviour of those

whom they know well to be more exible and more dependent on the situation than the
behaviour of those they know less

• Visual Orientation Hypothesis: We attribute behaviour to personality differently for others

than we do ourselves because we see the environment only through our own eyes, but we
focus on other people and ignore the environment

• Person Positivity Bias: Tendency to evaluate individuals more favourably than groups
• Trait Negativity Bias: Tendency to be more in uenced by negative information rather than
positive
• Primacy Effect: Tendency for information that’s presented earlier to be more in uential than
later information

Impression Formation Orde

1. Initial Categorization: Occurs immediately upon perceiving.
2. Personal Relevance: Are they important to you?
3. Attention and Interpretation: Paying attention to behaviour to make trait judgements.
4. Con rmatory Categorization: Does the initial categorization prove accurate?
5. Recategorization: Seek information to allow you to properly intact and form expectations.
6. Piecemeal Integration: Combine speci c information into overall assessment.
7. Public Expression and Further Assessment: Engage in behaviour based on what you’ve
learned

• Stereotypes: Organized sets of knowledge or beliefs about any group of people

• Prejudice: Negative feeling towards people based on their membership in certain groups
• Discrimination: Negative behaviour directed against people based on the group
membership

• Minimal Groups Phenomenon: Experimental method in which people are assigned to

arbitrate groups and perform tasks or make judgements based on group membership
• Out-Group Homogeneity Effect: Tendency to perceive out-group members as all alike,
while perceiving in-group members as distinct and diverse

• Realistic Con ict Theory: Groups tend to have more friction with each other when they
compete for resources and will be more cooperative with each other if they feel solidarity or
have uni ed goals

Social Identity Theory Evidence

• More strongly identify with a group, more in-group bias they display
• Group identi cation increases when a group is successful in some way
• If self-esteem suffers, other groups are derogated (put down) more
• Derogating out-groups increases peoples’ self-esteem

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• Pygmalion Effect (Self-Ful lling Prophecy): Stereotype-based expectancy that causes a
person to act in a manner consistent of a stereotype

• Stereotype Threat: A fear among members of a group that they may con rm or be judged in
terms of a negative stereotype when in situations relevant to that stereotype

• Attitude: A positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of an attitude object (i.e. noun, idea, event)
expressed at some level of intensity

5 Main Function
1. Utilitarian: Having attitudes helps us function ef ciently.
2. Social-Adjustive: Attitudes can foster social cohesion with others.
3. Value-Expressive: Attitudes show who we are and what we stand for.
4. Ego-Defensive: Attitudes help us feel good about ourselves and enhance self-esteem.
5. Knowledge: Attitudes simplify our understanding of the world and allow us to use heuristics

• Bradley Effect: Phenomenon in the USA’s elections characterized by the tendency of non-
white candidates to perform better in opinion polls rather than the actual election when
running against white candidates

• Implicit Association Test (IAT): Flexible task designed to tap automatic associations
between concepts and attributes

• Attitude-Behaviour-Speci city Matching Model: Very speci c attitudes predict a

corresponding speci c behaviour very well, but don’t predict general patters of responding
across many behaviours

• Persuasion: The use of active techniques to change or in uence a person’s attitudes

• Message Learning Theory: Theory that proposes that an individual must attend to,
comprehend, yield to, and retain a message in order to be persuaded
- Exposure—Attention paid to arguments—Comprehension— Yielding—Retention—
Persuasio
- If one stage doesn’t happen, persuasion doesn’t occur

• Elaboration Likelihood Model: States there are two routes through which persuasive
messages are processed: Central Route and Peripheral Route

• Cognitive Dissonance Theory: Holding inconsistent cognitions arouses psychological

tension that people become motivated to reduce
• Self-Persuasion: Behaving in ways that con ict with one’s beliefs or values leads to changes
in behaviour or beliefs

• Conformity: Adjusting one’s attitudes and behaviours to coincide with a group nor
• Informational In uence: Form of social in uence that leads a person to conform because
they believe others are credible and have more information

• Normative In uence: A form of social in uence that leads a person to conform because they
fear the consequences of deviating from group norms

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• Private Conformity: Conformity that occurs when an individual changes behaviours and
beliefs to conform to a group
• Public Conformity: Occurs when an individual changes behaviours but not beliefs to
conform to a group

• Obedience: Complaint behaviour produced by the commands of authority

• Placement of Authority: The closer the authority gure is, the greater the obedience
• Proximity of Victim: The further the distance from the victim, the more likely to obey
• Legitimacy of Authority: Obedience is effected by states of the authority
• Compliance: Change in behaviour elicited by a direct request from another individual who is
not an authority gure

Principles of In uence
• Consistency and Commitment: Once a person makes a commitment, they feel inclined to
follow through
• Reciprocity: We feel obligated to repay favours, even when they’re unsolicited
• Social Proof: Inclined to follow the lead of others. If we witness something, we’re more likely
to do it as well
• Liking: The more we like someone, the more inclined we feel to comply with their request
• Authority: The power of authority can be extremely in uential
• Scarcity: If something seems rare or less available, we tend to value it more
• Foot-In-The-Door Technique: 2-step compliance technique in which the in uencer prefaces
the real request by rst getting the person to comply to a much smaller task

• Low-Balling Technique: 2-step compliance technique in which the in uencer secures

agreement with a request, but then increases the size of that request by revealing hidden
costs
• Door-In-The-Face Technique: 2-step compliance technique in which the in uencer prefaces
the real request with a request so large that it’s likely to be rejected and make the real request
seem more reasonable

• That’s-Not-All Technique: 2-step compliance technique where the in uencer makes an

initial request and, before a response, increases the attractiveness of the request by offering
an additional bene t or decreasing its apparent side
• Perceptual Contrast: If we see two things in sequence that are different from one another,
we’ll tend to see the second one as more different from the rst than it actually is

• Bystander Apathy: Effect whereby the presences of others inhibits helping

• Pluralistic Ignorance: False impression of what most other people are thinking or feeling, or
how they’re responding. It occurs when people mistakenly think that their own individual
thoughts, feelings, or behaviours are different from those around them
• Diffusion of Responsibility: The belief that other people will or should take responsibility for
helping someone in need

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First Attractio
• Proximit
• Familiarit
• Physical Attractiveness
- Generally possess a better set of social skills

Gender Difference
• Short Term: Both male and fence prioritized physical attractiveness
• Long Term: Males focused more on physical attractiveness, while females focused more on
social status

Who is Attractive
• Averageness: Signals genetic diversity, thus health
• Facial Symmetry: Signals health
• Facial Features: The younger a woman looks, the more attractive they seem. Men are
preferred by either looking broader, or more more boyish depending on when in the menstrual
cycle the woman is
• Body Shape: Women with hourglass gures are more attractive and men with high shoulder-
to-hip ratios and are tall are more attractive

Explaining Relationship
• Attachment Theory: Early attachments in uence tendencies to develop and maintain
interpersonal relationships throughout life
• Social Exchange Theory: People are motivated to maximize the bene ts and minimize the
costs associated with their relationships
- John Thibau and Harlod Kelle
• Investment Model: Commitment is the sing best predictor of relationship longevity
- Based on the social exchange theory
- Caryl Rusbul

• Attachment Anxiety: Re ects the extent to which an individual feels unworthy of love and
fearful rejection
• Attachment Avoidance: The degree in which an individual avoids or feels uncomfortable
with closeness and emotional intimacy in relationships

• Comparison Level: Average outcome (interns of rewards and costs) people expect from a
relationship

Investment Mode
• Satisfaction: Greater satisfaction is associated with stronger commitment
• Quality of Alternatives: Higher quality alternatives are associated with weaker commitment
• Investment: The more you put in, the more likely you are to commit
• Commitment: Tendency to maintain a relationship and feel psychologically attached to it
• Positive Illusions: Unrealistically favourable attitudes that people have towards themselves
or towards people who are close to them
• (Satisfaction - Quality of Alternatives) + Investment = Commitment

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• Social Facilitation: An increase in a person’s performance of a task because of the presence
of others
• Social Interference: A decline in a person’s performance of a task because of the presence
of others

• Mere Presence Theory: Presence of others is suf cient to induce arousal. Research shows
that a compute interface designed to look like another person can induce social facilitation.
It’s suggested that this connection between arousal and others is a hard-wired response in
almost, if not all, species
• Evaluation Apprehension Theory: Presences of others causes arousal because they’re in a
position to evaluate our performance and we are concerned with this evaluation

• Group Polarization: The enhancement of a group’s initial attitude through discussion within
the group

• Groupthink: Mode of thinking that people engage in when the need for agreement becomes
so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative
courses of action

Makers of Groupthin
• Groupthink Most Likely to Occur
- During stressful situations
- Within highly cohesive groups
- Group members share similar attitudes and values
- Isolated from outside in uence
- Under directive leadership
- Lacking systematic procedure for effective decision making
- Directive Leadership: Leadership with clear authority and decision-making power

Groupthink Symptom
• Overestimates its ability to make a good decision
• Group is closed-minded
- Closed-Minded: Unreceptive to new ideas.
• “Mindguards” reprimand people who are counter-argue, increasing pressure towards
uniformity
- Mindguards: Members who protect their group from information that would call into
question the effectiveness of a decision.
• Members engage in self-censorship by keeping doubts to themselves
- Self-Censorship: Members withhold or discount misgivings in order to avoid
disagreements to consensus.
• Illusion of unanimity exists when people don’t offer any opposing opinions
- Illusion of Unanimity: Illusion created by self-censorship and pressure not to counter
the consensus

• Motivation: General term for phenomena that affect the nature, strength, and persistence of
an individual’s behaviour
• Drives: Reversible internal conditions that affect the nature, strength, and persistence of an
individual’s behaviour

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• Homeostasis: The tendency of an animal to regulate its internal conditions (eg. temperature,
glucose levels, osmotic pressure of cells) by a system of feedback controls (like hunger and
eating; thirst and drinking; shivering and putting on a sweater) so as to optimize health and
functioning

Non-Regulatory Drives
• Safet
• Reproductiv
• Socia
• Educative
• Electrical Stimulation of the Brain (ESB): Applying small electrical shocks to different parts
of the brain

• Central State Theory: Theory that states that various drives correspond with different neural
activity in different parts of the brain
- Certain hubs or nuclei in the brain involve detection of imbalances, decision making, and
motor output

• Drive-Reduction Theory: Proposes that a drive produces an unpleasant state that causes
an organism to engage in motivated behaviours. Reduction of drive is reinforcing

• Over-Justi cation Theory: This hypothesis predicts that people who shift from intrinsic to
extrinsic rewards for engaging in an activity if the extrinsic reward is removed. This cessation
of previous enjoyable behaviour is the over-justi cation effect

Basic Emotion
• Paul Ekman’s 7 Basic Emotions
1. Happines
2. Sadnes
3. Surpris
4. Fea
5. Ange
6. Contemp
7. Disgus

• James-Lange Theory: ANS activation comes before the emption is experienced

• Cannon-Bard Theory: Proposes that the brain controls emotions; ANS response is merely
coincidental to the emotional state
• Schachter’s 2-Factor Theory: The brain interprets ANS arousal and, depending on context,
labels emotions
• Facial-Feed-Back Hypothesis: Expressing a facial emotion leads to physiologically feeling
that emotion

• Confederate: An individual who takes part in a study knowing the true focus of the study and
playing a part, acting in a predetermined role

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• Clinically Signi cant: Symptoms are considered clinically signi cant if a clinic judges them
to be suf ciently signi cant, marked, or substantial in intensity or duration and that the patient
would bene t from professional treatment

• Internal Factors: Driven from within

• External Factors: More tangible — material reward, good grades, etc
• Primarily Genetic: Most mental disorders have a genetic basis, but environment can affect
how this genetic disposition is manifested

• DSM-5: The Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) outlines the various
mental disorders and the the speci c criteria required for each disorder diagnosis
• 3-Prong Test: According to DSM-5, a patient’s symptoms only qualify as a mental disorder if
they cause a clinically signi cant impairment in an individual’s ability to function, are NOT a
predicable reaction to an external event, and are not the result of an individual’s voluntary
choice

• Other classi cation schemes are: the International Classi cation of Diseases and Related
Health Problems (World Health Organization), and the Chinese Classi cation of Mental
Disorders (Chinese Society of Psychiatry)

• Diathesis-Stress Model: Attributes the emergence of a mental disorder to an existing

vulnerability [genetic predisposition and/or early life experience precipitated by stress (acute
or chronic)] refers to the vulnerability. Diathesis refer to vulnerability

• Anxiety Disorder: An irrational fear of situations or stimuli that are not actually dangerous
• DSM-5 mental disorders are evaluated by whether the symptoms or actions
- Cause a clinically signi cant impairment in an individual’s ability to function
- Are NOT a predictable response to an external event
- Are NOT the result of an individual’s voluntary choice

• Panic Disorders: Diagnosed when the panic reaction occurs without being precipitated by a
particular fear-arousing situation
• Panic Attacks: Involve the sudden onset of intense and various physiological symptoms
related to anxiety, such as a pounding, trembling, chest pain, a feeling of choking, nausea,
and shortness of breath

• Phobic Disorder: Panic-like reaction that clearly occurs in response to a speci c stimulus or
situtaions
- Three types: Agoraphobia, Social Phobia, Speci c Phobia

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Marked by excessive and uncontrollable worrying

about everyday events

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Characterized by obsessions and compulsions,

although occasionally people with OCD only show symptoms of compulsion or obsession, not
both

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• Obsessions: Obsessions are recurrent, unwanted thoughts or images that the individual
recognizes as being irruption, yet they’re uncontrollable
• Compulsions: Speci c rituals or acts that are completely with the goal of reducing anxiety
• PTSD is no longer an anxiety disorder, but is now a trauma disorder
- One main feature is feeling intense fear in response to the traumatic event
- Re-experience the event through ashbacks, dreams, or distressing thoughts
- Avoid people, places, and things that remind them of the event
- Also have physiological symptoms such as dif culty sleeping and concentrating

• Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders: A category of mental disorder that involve
physical symptoms similar to a medical illness but for which no medical cause can be found

• Dissociative Disorders: Group of mental disorders that are characterized by “a disruption in

the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception.

• Personality Disorders: Exhibit patterns of though, feelings, interpersonal interactions, and

impulse control that are considered inappropriate or discordant with their culture
- Symptoms must be stable over time and across a wide variety of situations

• Psychoactive Substance: Chemical substance that acts on the central nervous system,
where it affects brain function, resulting in changes to a person’s emotions, perceptions, and
thoughts
- Eg. Street drugs, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, fuel, paint, and antifreeze

• 10 Separate Classes of Drugs in Substance Related Disorders

1. Alcohol
2. Caffeine
3. Cannabis
4. Hallucinogens
5. Inhalants
6. Opioids
7. Sedatives, hypnotics, and anxiolytics.
8. Stimulants such as amphetamine and cocaine.
9. Tobacco
10. Other (or unknown

Substance Use Disorders Criterio

• Impaired Control: Taking the substance in increasingly large doses or for longer than
intended
- Dif culty cutting down
- A lot of time focused on obtaining, using, and recovering from the drug
- Cravings
• Social Impairment: Repeated failure to ful l important obligations as a result of the
substance
- Continued use of the substance despite it causing problems in the individual’s social or
interpersonal relationships
- Important social, occupational, or recreational activities given up or reduced due to the
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• Risky Use: Repeated use of the substance in a dangerous situation
- Continued use despite knowing that you have a signi cant psychological or physical
problem due to the substance use
• Pharmacological Issue
- Tolerance: An increased dose is needed to achieve the desired effect
- Withdrawal: Symptoms such as tremors, vomiting, agitation, seizures, etc. occur
whenever the substance starts to leave the tissues and blood streams

• Substance Intoxication: Substance intoxication occurs when a person suffers clinically

signi cant negative or harmful behavioural changes or psychological effects because of the
in uence of a psychoactive substance
• Substance Withdrawal: Occurs when a person suffers clinically signi cant negative or
harmful behavioural changes or psychological effects because they recently stopped
prolonged use of a psychoactive substance

• Substate-Induced Mental Disorder: Share characteristic of mental disorders such as

psychosis, amnesia, sleep problems, anxiety, and depression, caused by substance use

• Diathesis: A medical term for a predisposition, vulnerability, or tendency

• Positive Symptoms: Delusions or Hallucinations, usually re ect an excess or distortion of a
normal brain functions
• Negative Symptoms: Slowed speech or movements, normally re ect a diminution or loss of
normal brain function

• Schizophrenia: Psychological disorder that lasts at least 6 months an includes at lest one
month of active phase symptoms that could include delusions, hallucinations,
disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behaviour, or negative
symptoms.
• Schizophreniform Disorder: Psychological disorder where the individual experiences the
symptoms of schizophrenia for a period of only one to six months
• Schizoaffective Disorder: Psychological disorder where a person experiences a mood
episode, such as depression or mania, at the exact same time they’re exhibiting symptoms of
schizophrenia, such as hallucinations

• Schizophrenia development occurs earlier in males (early 20s), then females (late 20s)
• Delusional Disorders: Marked by delusions considered non-bizarre
• Brief Psychotic Disorders: An episode of psychotic symptoms that lasts between one day
and one month
• Shared Psychotic Disorder (Folie à Deux): Development of a delusion that’s similar to a
delusion held by someone close to the individual
• Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorder: Psychotic symptoms are judged to be a direct
physiological consequence of taking a psychoactive drug or a medication, or exposure to a
toxin

Mood Disorder
• Major Depressive Disorder: Period of intense depressed mood and/or loss of interest in
activities that persists for at least two weeks and is accompanied by at least four additional

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symptoms (eg. sleep disturbance, appetite disturbance, loss of energy, worthlessness, loss of
concentration, suicidality)
• Persistent Depressive Disorder: Chronic depressed mood that persists for at least two
years and is accompanied by at least two symptoms: poor appetite, sleep disturbance
• Bipolar I Disorder: Experience of at least one manic episode de ned as a period of
abnormally elevated mod that persists for at least one week and is accompanied by at least 3
of 7 additional symptoms: (eg. decreased need for sleep graniosity, pressured speech,
reaching thoughts, etc) and typically alternates with at least one major depressive episode.
People can have mixed episodes de ned as periods in which mood rapidly alternates
between sadness and euphoria
• Bipolar II Disorder: At least one major depressive episode and at least one hypnotic episode
de ned as a period of abnormally elevated mood that persists at least four days and is
accompanied by at least 3 of 7 additional manic symptoms
• Cyclothymic Disorder: Long-term (at least two years) cycling of moods that alternate
between depressed (but not severe enough to be a major depressive episode) and mild
hypomanic (not severe enough to be a hypomanic episode) states

• Major Depression: Characterized by signi cant, persistent feelings of sadness and

hopelessness and accompanied by symptoms such as loss of appetites, signi cant change in
sleep patterns, and other behaviours markedly different from normal behaviours for that
person
- 15% die from suicide

• Persistent Depressive Disorder: Characterized by depressive symptoms that have been

present for at least two years
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): A form of depression that occurs during winter months
or periods in which daylight is strongly limited. Symptoms include lethargy and sleep
disturbance, along with a craving for carbohydrates and potential weigh gain
• Mood Dysregulation Disorder: Found in children 7—18. Irritability and severe recurrent
outbursts of temper that are not consistent with the child’s age or situation
• Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: Begins the week prior to menses, improves in the days
just after menses begins, and is absent in the week after menses
• Hypomanic: A period of abnormally elevated mood that persists for at least four days

Contributions to Depressio
• Some people appraise situations positively, others more negatively, and these appraisals
affect their mood
• Depression often runs in families
• As with many other mental disorders, some people only manifest depression after some
external shock or stress

• Philippe Pinel and Dorothea Dix made efforts to more humane treatments for mental disorder
patients

• Deinstitutionalization began in the 1950s when the push for people suffering from mental
disorders to be normal members of society
- However, several people suffering form mental disorder are homeless or in jail

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Purpose of Psychological Treatmen
• Reducing or removing clinically signi cant symptoms
Organizing What You Need to Kno
• “Best” means most suited to its purpose
• Effective Psychological treatment acts to reduce or remove clinically signi cant symptoms
• Symptoms must be measured in a relate and veri able way before and after treatment
• Assessment: Individuals who may have psychological disorder may begin with an
assessment designed to elicit their personal history and presenting symptoms so the mental
health professional can arrive at a diagnosis and construct a treatment plan. Once the
diagnosis and treatment plan are complete, treatment begins
- Determine the client’s background and nature and severity of the symptoms
- Can be gathered through observation, interviews, questionnaires, paper and pencil
tests, medical imaging, blood studies, and more

• Clinical Interviews: Thorough interviews conducted by trained professionals designed to

elicit information on the client’s history and presenting symptoms
- Structured Interviews: Speci c series of predetermined questions that map onto
accepted diagnostic criteria
- Unstructured Interviews: Asks whatever questions they consider relevant to the
speci c client
- Semi-Structured Interviews: Include a predetermined set of questions that the clinic
expands on, depending on the client’s response
• Self-Report Questionnaires: A series of questions asking directly about symptoms, or
behaviours. Often use a rating scale on which clients’ endorse the degree (Mild to Severe) or
frequency (Never to Always) to which they are experiencing symptoms or have engaged in
certain behaviours in a sea period of time
- If over-exaggerated, the misrepresentation is called malingering
• Psychological Tests: An instrument designed to measure unobserved or underlying
constructs, such as intelligence or personality traits. Can be made up of pen and paper or
verbal questions asking an individual to respond to statements or pictures or to solve a series
of tasks or problems (arranging books or recalling numbers). Psychological Tests are less
transparent and therefore less susceptible to faking
- After tests, the pro le as a whole is interpreted using norms to determine a diagnosis
- Tests often include items designed to identify bias, such as faking good (social
desirability) or bad (malingering), as well as validity

• For suspected brain injury, techniques such as EEG (Electroencephalogram), CAT scan
(Computerized Axial Tomography(, MRI or fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging),
or PET scan (Positron Emission Tomography)

• Behavioural Monitory: Involves recording speci c behaviours and the circumstances around
these behaviours
- Typically is performed by the client (via a diary), or sometimes by staff if the cline’s in an
in-client setting (or by a teacher or parent)
- Purpose is to learn about the frequency of large behaviours, precursor to antecedent
circumstance that trigger the behaviours, and the reinforcers that help maintain the
behaviours

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Who Can Provide Services
• Psychiatrists: Have a medical degree with an additional specialization is psychiatry and are
the only mental health professionals who can prescribe medication
• Clinical Psychologists: Have a doctoral degree in clinical psychology with training in the
assessment and treatment of mental disorders, as well as training in statistics and research
methods
• Certi ed Canadian Counsellors: Registered counsellors have a maser’s in clinical
psychology and 4 years of supervised practice. They may practice independently and carry
out the same activities as a clinical psychologist
• Psychiatric Social Workers: Typically have maser’s in social work with a specialization in
psychiatric issues
• Counsellors/Psychotherapists: Use of this term is unregulated: individuals with any
educational background technically can call themselves “counsellor” or “therapist.

• Non-clinically signi cant issues can be covered in group therapy

Assessment and Services
• Assessment: Evaluate patient’s symptoms
• Treatment Plan: What to do
• Treatment: Choose provider and location. Patient undergoes treatment
• Evaluation: Re-evaluate patient’s symptoms
• Drug Therapy (Pharmacotherapy): Use of medication to treat psychological disorder; most
drug therapies for psychological disorders focus on medications that affect the
neurotransmitters that convey information between nerve cells in the brain and body

Neurotransmitter
• Dopamine: Involved in motor control; in memory, attention, and problem solving; and in the
reward system of the brain, which attaches emotional value to external events and motivates
individuals to performa certain activities
- Excess dopamine is associated with schizophrenia; too lattes is associated with some
forms of depression and Parkinson’s disease
• Norepinephrine: Associated with alertness; arousal, and “ ght-or- ight” response
- Too little has been associated with depression and too much with schizophrenia
• Serotonin: Plays a role in mood, sleep, appetite, and impulse and aggressive behaviour
- Too little is associated with depression and anxiety disorders, especially OCD. Some
antidepressants increase availability of serotonin at the brain’s receptor sites
• GABA: Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid inhibits excitation and anxiety, and induces relaxation
- Too little is associated with anxiety and mood disorders
• Antipsychotic Drug: Medication used primarily to treat psychotic disorders
• Tardive Dyskinesia: Involuntary and random movement of the facial, arm, or leg muscles
seen in clients who have taken rst-generation antipsychotics for a long time
- Most treat positive symptoms of schizophrenia (hallucinations, delusions, etc)

• Antidepressant Drugs: Class of drugs used to treat symptoms of depression

- Tricyclics: Which black the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin
- Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs): Inhibit the enzyme oxidase that breaks down
dopamine and norepinephrine in cells

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- Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Prevent the reuptake of serotonin in
the brain

• Anti-Manic Drugs: Any medication used to treat bipolar disorder and manic symptoms
- Most common is lithium carbonate
- Treatments for epilepsy work well on patients that don’t respond to lithium

• Anti-Anxiety Drugs: Class of drugs used to treat anxiety symptoms

- Most common being a form of benzodiazepines

• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): Therapeutic method to treat resistant mental health

disorders by passing an electric current through electrons placed on a client’s head in an
attempt to prompt a seizure and release addition GABA
• Psychosurgery: An invasive form of treatment in which brain surgery is used to treat the
symptoms of a disorder; this last-resort procedure removes or permanently alters some part
of the brain

Types of Therap
• Behavioural Therap
• Cognitive Behavioural Therap
• Rational-Emotive Therap
• Psychoanalytic: Basic premise of Freudian psychodynamic theory that’s our behaviour
ultimately can be explained in terms of unconscious forces or desires. Psychological
problems are the result of these internal con icts, and we must be are of them to be cured
• Humanist: Psychological problems result from individuals being thwarted in their ability to
realize their full potential, to develop as far as their capacities permit
• Gestalt: If people are more aware of their feelings and thoughts at every moment, it might be
easier to gain control of them

• Systematic Desensitization: A very effective type of exposure therapy especially for

phobias. It involves gradually exposing clients to the stimulus to habituate and eventually
extinguish the fear reaction. Clients are rst taught relaxation techniques and then exposed to
a very mild version of their phobia. As long as they are able to return to a relaxed state they’re
gradually exposed to more and more frightening examples of their phobia

• Flooding: Form of exposure therapy where the client is exposed to the fear directly and fully,
but without actual harm, and kept there until the reactions go away

• Aversion Therapy: Involves pairing an undesirable behaviour and an aversive behaviour so

the individual will develop less favourable emotion associations with the undesirable
behaviour so the reward decreases in value
• Imaginal Exposure: Form of exposure therapy where the client imagines the feared stimulus
rather than actually experiencing exposure

• Behaviour Modi cation: Therapy designed to alter behaviour using operant conditioning
techniques
• Token Economies: Form of operant conditioning in which desired behaviours are reinforced
with tokens that can be exchanged for some form of reward

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• Cognitive Therapy: Beck’s Cognitive Therapy uses a variety of therapeutic techniques to
help clients identify their thoughts and to examine the logic behind these thoughts. Once
clients begin to realize that their thoughts aren’t accurate, they can begin to form more
accurate, rational thoughts

• Rational-Emotive Therapy: Form of cognitive behavioural therapy that proposes the driving
force behind psychological problems in the though process behind them. Our thoughts
determine our mood
- Developed by Albert Ellis

• Group Therapy: Therapy in which the therapist sees two or more people at the same time
• Health Psychology: Health psychology or behavioural medicine is the study of how
individual, biological, and environmental factors affect physical health

Science of Behaviou
• Formulate Hypothesi
• Design a Stud
• Collect the Dat
• Analyze Data and Obtain Result
• Draw Conclusions from the Results/Use Them to Develop New Hypothesis/Share Your
Findings with Other

Stress Scale
• Common measures of life stressors is a scale called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale
(SRRS) or the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale
- Lists 43 stressful life events, each is assigned a value depending on how traumatic the
event was felt

Unhealthy Behaviours
Stress Weakened Immune System—Illnes
Stress Hormones

• General Adaption Syndrome: A universal response made of 3 stages: Alarm, Resistance,

and Exhaustion
- Alarm: Organism’s resistance to the stressor temporarily drops below normal, and the
organism may experience shock-impairment or normal physiological functioning
- Resistance: Autonomic nervous system return to normal functioning, and resistance to
the stressor increases to above-normal levels
- Exhaustion: Resistance falls dramatically, leaving the organism susceptible to illness
and even death
- Long term can cause high blood pressure and low immune functioning

• Primary Appraisal: Allows us to perceive a new or changing environment as bene cial,

neutral, or negative in its possible consequences
• Secondary Appraisal: The assessment of our coping abilities and resources and our
judgement as to whether they’ll be enough to meet the harm, threat, or challenge of a new or
chasing event

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• Self-Ef cacy: Individual’s belief about their ability to perform a speci c task
• Attitude: Positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of an attitude object (i.e. noun, event, idea)
expressed at some level of intensity
• Placebo Effect: When people who falsely believe they’re receiving a treatment respond as if
they had actually been treated
• Emotion-Focused Coping: Aims to reduce our emotional reaction to a stressful situation.
Strategies include regulate aerobic exercise, progressive muscle relaxation, and cognitive
appraisal—the process of adjusting perceptions of existing stressors as being less
threatening
• Problem-Focused Coping: Changes an existing stressful situation by reducing or
eliminating it
• Proactive Coping: Used up front to reduce the occurrence of stressful events or prevent
them from occurring
- Eg. Studying for a test
• Stress Inoculation Training: Prepares people for the negative effects of stressful events and
give them skills to reduces their susceptibility to those effects

• Subjective Norms: Represent our beliefs about what other people think we should do
• Perceived Behavioural Control: Refers to our con dence that we can achieve the desired
behaviour
- Same as Bandura’s concept of self-ef cacy.

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