101 Study Guide Final

Lecture 8

Stereotypes
 Cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of information about people, events, or
groups, based on their membership in certain groups
 Exist because of our schema systems, but they do not accurately represent the world
Formal and Informal Reasoning
 Reasoning – using information to determine if a conclusion is valid or reasonable
o Informal Reasoning – revolves around subjective opinion
o Formal Reasoning – revolves around standardized procedures (i.e. the scientific
method)
Algorithms and Heuristics
 Algorithm – set of procedures to follow, which when followed correctly, will always yield the
correct result
 Heuristic – A shortcut (rule of thumb, informal guideline) used to reduce the amount of thinking
that is needed to make decisions
Problem Solving Techniques
 Subgoals – identify the goal state & several subgoals to be achieved
 Working backward – begin from the goal state and work backward to current state
 Analogy – identify a previously solved problem that is similar to the current problem
 Insight – take a break from actively thinking about the problem
 Restructuring – thinking about a problem in a new way in order to solve it
 Overcoming mental sets – mental sets are established ways of thinking
 Overcoming functional fixedness – consider things based on their usual or assumed functions
Theories of Intelligence
 General Intelligence – the idea that one general factor underlies all other intelligence
o Assessed using the IQ test, invented originally for placing children into class levels
o Measures correlate with many life outcomes
 Fluid and crystallized intelligence
o Theory states that intelligence comes from 2 main factors
 Fluid intelligence – intelligence that reflects the ability to process information,
particularly in novel or complex circumstances
 Crystallized intelligence – intelligence that reflects both knowledge of a person
acquires through experience and ability to use that knowledge
 Multiple Intelligences – theory states that there are many different types of intelligence that
independent of one another
o Spatial, mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, musical, interpersonal and
intrapersonal
o No standardized ways to assess these intelligences making experimentation
problematic
 Triarchic Theory – the idea that people have 3 types of intelligence: 1. Analytical 2. Creative 3.
Practical
Psychometric Tests, Reliability, Validity
 Psychometric tests are standardized tests that are given in consistent ways and scored
uniformly must have:
o Reliability – how consistently a psychometric test produces similar results each time
used
o Validity – how well psychometric test measures what it is intended to measure
Stereotype Threat
  Apprehension about confirming negative stereotypes related to a persons own group
o When made aware of standing as a minority, stereotypes about their group or the
diagnostic criteria of a test, a minority member will often experience a reduced capacity
of working memory
Lecture 9
Motivation Definition and Examples
 Motivation – factors of differing strength that energize, direct, and sustain behavior.
o Satisfaction of needs
o Drive reduction
o Optimal level of arousal
o Pleasure principle
o Incentives
Motivation to Eat (Mostly hormones)
 Insulin – secreted by the pancreas, that controls blood glucose (sugar)
 Ghrelin – secreted by empty stomach, associated w/ increasing eating behavior
 Leptin – secreted by fat cells associated w/ decreasing eating behavior
 Remainder of food motivation is through brain, primarily the hypothalamus

Motivation to Achieve
 The need or desire to attain a certain standard of excellence
o Goals affect achievement – challenging but not overly difficult goals motivate humans to
achieve
o Self-efficacy – believe efforts will lead to success, you will work harder
o Delaying gratification – ability to ignore short-term gratification for long term goal and
rewards
Primary and Secondary Emotions
 Primary Emotions – Evolutionary adaptive emotions, shared across cultures & associated with
physical states. – anger, fear, sadness, disgust, happiness. – may include surprise & contempt
 Secondary Emotions – Blends of primary emotions, differ by culture. – remorse, guilt,
submission, shame, anticipation, honor.
Emotional Regulation
 Emotional states must be regulated to function normally as they are often disruptive
o Reappraisal – Alter emotional reactions to events by thinking about those events in
more neutral terms
o Humor – increases positive emotions, help process difficult situations
o Suppression and Rumination – pushing down negative emotions (leads to rebound
often) or stewing in it
o Distraction – trying to focus on something else. Temp. relief but can cause maladaptive
actions
Emotional Display
 Facial expressions for primary emotions are consistent across cultures
 Extent to which emotions are expressed and expression for secondary emotions is culturally
different. Genders, cultures

Lecture 10
Biological Sex
 The physical aspects of a person’s sex. Includes genetic & hormonal differences; can be
viewed either genotypically & phenotypically
o Genotype – genetic constitution of an organism
 Determined at conception. Mixture of parental chromosomes that create the
zygote decide the combination of our 23rd pair – decides biological sex
  2 X chromosomes – female
 One X and one Y - male
o Phenotype – observable characteristics of an organism
Hormones, Intersex
 Certain people experience a conflict between their sex chromosomes & presence of certain
hormones
 Biological sex is not binary, but a continuum (bimodal distribution)
 Those that are in between the opposing points are called intersex.
o Approx. 1% of the population falls into this category.
Gender Identity
 The thoughts and feelings that make up ones own sense of being male, female, or somewhere
outside or in between
 Gender schemas – specific schemas dedicated to our understanding of masculinity and
femininity
 Cognitive development theory states that each person develops a gender identity by
processing thoughts and feelings about gender
 Genderqueer gender identity (psychological literature)– nonbinary
Transgender
 When a person’s gender identity and/or gender expression contradicts a persons biological sex
 5-12 years can be measurably aware of the difference in their gender identity and their
biological sex
 American Psychological Association says being transgender is not a psychological disorder.
Normal variation in gender identity
 Feelings of discontent with ones assigned gender can become dysfunctional if they cause
distress. Aka gender dysphoria
Sexual Orientation
 The nature of a persons enduring sexual, emotional, and or romantic attraction to other people
o Heterosexual – a person is sexually, emotionally, and/or romantically attracted to
people of another sex
o Homosexual – a person is attracted to people of the same sex
o Bisexual – person is attracted to people of the same and another sex
o Asexual – person does not experience sexual attraction (emotional or romantic
attraction)
Sexual Motivation
 Vast majority of individuals experience sexual attraction
 Desire – general term used to describe the psychological experience of wanting to engage in
sexual activity
 What motivates us to have sex varies considerably among individuals and across
circumstances
 Influenced by many factors mostly biological, environmental, and cultural
 Paraphilias
 Paraphilia – unchanging sexual interest, arousal, and/or behavior associated with an object,
body part, type of person, and/or situation not usually associated with sex
o Paraphilias that revolve around objects or body parts are called fetishes
o May also express as specific acts, such as exhibitionism (exposing ones body to
others), voyeurism (watching others engage in sex) or sadomasochism (arousal from
giving or receiving pain or humiliation).

Lecture 11
Diathesis Stress Model – a theory on the etiology of psychopathology which proposes that a disorder
may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event
  Genetic predisposition or childhood trauma leads to diathesis (vulnerability to mental disorder)
leads to lower probability of mental disorder (minimal stressful circumstances) OR Higher
probability of mental disorder (excessive stressful circumstances)
Assessment, Diagnosis, Treatment
 Psychologists use interviews, self-reports, observations, and psychological testing to assess a
patient
o Assessments allow therapist to categorize thoughts and behaviors of patient into
diagnosis
o Diagnosis will help understand methods of treatment and prognosis for the patient
Anxiety Disorders
 Specific Phobias – fear of something disproportionate to the threat
 Social Anxiety Disorder – fear of being negatively evaluated by others in a social setting
 General Anxiety Disorder – near constant anxiety not associated with a specific trigger
 Panic Disorder – sudden overwhelming attacks of pure terror
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – OCD A disorder characterized by frequent intrusive thoughts that
create anxiety and compulsive actions that temporarily reduce the anxiety
 Actions are often ritualistic and can become quite abstract from their initial source
 Twin studies have shown that OCD runs in families and has high rate of heritability
 Linked to neurotransmitter glutamate
 Neuroimaging studies have also shown smaller sizes and structural abnormalities of the
caudate in the brains of individuals with OCD
o Caudate is an anatomical structure in the brain that controls the suppression of
impulses
Post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD a mental disorder that involves frequent nightmares,
intrusive
thoughts and flashbacks related to an earlier trauma
 Occurs when people experience severe stress or extreme emotional trauma
 People with genetic markers linked to serotonin functioning appear to be more at risk for
developing PTSD than those without
Bipolar I and Bipolar II
 Bipolar I – extremely elevated moods (manic episodes) lasting at least one week
 Bipolar II – alternating between mildly elevated mood for at least 4 days and extremely
depressed mood for 2 weeks
Schizophrenia – a psychopathology characterized by a split between thought an amotion, where a
person has difficulty distinguishing whether altered thoughts, perceptions, and conscious
experiences are real vs what are imagined
 5 main symptoms of schizophrenia: 1. Delusions 2. Hallucinations 3. Disorganized speech 4.
Disorganized behavior 5. Negative symptoms
o All symptoms outside 5th are considered positive symptoms (marked by excesses of
functioning)
o Delusions – false beliefs based on incorrect inferences about reality. Many different
kinds of delusions that one with schizophrenia can hold
 Persecution – belief that others are spying on or conspiring against
 Referential – belief that objects, events, or other people has a special
significance to the person
 Grandiose – belief that person has great power, knowledge or talent
 Identity – belief that person is someone else, usually famous
 Guilt – belief that person has committed a terrible sin
 Control – belief that persons thoughts and behaviors are being controlled by
external forces
o Hallucinations – False sensory perceptions that are experienced without an external
source
  Most commonly have auditory hallucination – voices are often accusatory
 Neuroimaging shows that brain areas are activated that implicate inner speech.
Problem may be differentiating this from external speech
o Disorganized Speech – speaking in an incoherent way that involves frequently
changing topics and saying strange or inappropriate things (change of topics is related
to loosening of associations)
o Disorganized Behavior – Acting in strange or unusual ways including strange
movement of limbs and inappropriate self-care
o Negative Symptoms – symptoms marked by deficits in functioning
 Lack of eye contact, emotional affect, interest in social participation, slowed
speech, slowed movement etc
Borderline Personality Disorder – BPD a personality disorder characterized by disturbances in
identity, moods, and impulse control
 Lack a strong sense of self – hate being alone, fear of abandonment, need an exclusive and
dependent relationship
 Affective disturbances – emotional instability
 Impulsivity – sexual promiscuity, fighting, cutting, spending
Antisocial Personality Disorder – APD a personality disorder marked by disregard for and violation
of the rights of others and by a lack of remorse
 Willing to take advantage of others and hurt them as well as break the law and act in deceitful
and irresponsible ways
 Seek personal pleasure without thought for others
 Appear intelligent, rational, and charming
Dissociative Disorders – disorders in which someone’s consciousness has a split from the external
world
 Dissociative amnesia – mental disorder that involved disruptions of memory for personal facts
or loss of conscious awareness for a period of time
o Dissociative Fugue – extreme form of DA in which someone loses their identity entirely
and wanders to another location sometimes forming a new identity there
o Dissociative Identity Disorder DID – occurrence of 2 or more distinct identities in the
same individual
 Once known as Multiple Personality Disorder
 Most common in people who were severely abused as children
 Often have amnesia of events that occurred when other identities were
surfaced, may or may not be aware of others, differ substantially in gender,
sexual orientation, age, language spoken, etc
Autism Spectrum Disorder – a developmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction,
impaired communication, and restricted, repetitive behaviors and interests
 Varies in severity
 Symptoms
o Unawareness or indifference to others
o Lack of eye contact
o Deficits in communication
o Repetitive behaviors
o Focus on trivial details rather than social actors
ADHD – Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
 Disorder characterized by excessive activity or fidgeting, inattentiveness, and impulsivity
 Children tend to require directions or rules repeated many times
 Friendly and talkative but can have trouble keeping friends because they miss subtle social
cues
 An impairment of connection between the frontal lobes and the limbic system as well as low
internal levels of arousal