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What is cognitive development?
- The development of the mind and its capacities.
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What is Piaget�s Cognitive Theory? Why is it important?
- -suggested that cognitive development is not continuous, but that children of different ages think in different ways.
- -Important because it was the first scientific theory of cognitive development.
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Sensorimotor Period
(0-18 months)�no mental representations at first; development of object permanence, live in present moment, only know things that they can actively interact with in the present
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Preoperational period
(18 months to 6 or 7)�children develop mental representations, able to pretend, but thought is egocentric, inflexible, kids don't understand logic.
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Concrete Operational period
(7-12)�can understand rules and logic, but as applied to real tangible events; can�t think abstractly, in terms of multiple possibilities etc.
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Formal Operations
12 +�think abstractly, along many dimensions at once; in terms of probabilities/possibilities(
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What is each stage of development characterized by?
- -categorized by two things:
- an increased ability to think about things other than the immediate present
- an increased ability to handle abstract as opposed to concrete thought and use symbols
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What are the two processes through which cognitive growth occurs?
- -assimilation
- -accommodation
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-assimilation
interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas
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-accommodation:
- adapting our current understanding (schemas) to incorporate new information
- Piaget�s theory is a stage theory, which suggests that abilities at different stages are qualitatively different. Shifts in abilities occur through processes of assimilation and accomodation
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What is personality?
-an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
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Major theories of personality
- 1) Biological/genetic�focussed on inherited aspects of behavior
- Temperament�a basic, innate disposition that emerges early in life
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Learning theory--
Unique aspects of personality are the result of the specific patterns of reinforcement individuals receive throughout their lives. Personality is changeable throughout the lifespan because you can always change patterns of reinforcement. Some learning theorists say that there really are no consistent personality traits�behavior is almost completely determined by the situations we find ourselves in (situationism)
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Social cognitive theory�(Bandura)
�reinforcements are important, but eventually, our beliefs, expectations and attitudes also play an important role in our personality�focuses on concept of Self-efficacy
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Humanistic theory�
reaction to determinism and negative view of people in other theorie�Theories of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow best known�
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Eysenck�s two factor theory (what are his three factors?
Personality, behavior and temperament
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Big Five theory�What are five personality factors, what is psychological test that measures these factors?
Openness,conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism
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Personality assessment:
- Reliability and validity of tests�why are these important?
- Reliability- The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, or on retesting.
- Validity- The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is suppose to.
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What are the major characteristics of objective/structured personality tests?
- Ask direct questions or provide statement about a range of thought, attitudes, and behavoirs
- Administration, possible responses, and scoring are all highly standardized.
- Individual scores are compared to norms.
- Why are objective/structured personality tests commonly preferred over projective tests?
- Critics argue that projective test lack both reliability and validity.
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What are some of the commonly used objective tests?
MMPI II (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) NEO-PI, Beck Depression, Inventory
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What are validity scales?
Test predicts what it should
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Why are validity scales important?
All psychologist to assess the degree to which test-taker is distorting their responses
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What are projective personality tests? What are the most commonly used projective tests?
Test where person is given an ambiguous stimulus and asked to complete it, describe it or tell a story about it. Rorschach Inkblot Test, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
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Why are there problems with reliability and validity of these tests/Results inconsistent, and unpredictable. Psychological Disorders Review
Different ways of defining abnormality: deviation from average, deviation from ideal, sense of personal distress/discomfort, inability to function effectively (dysfunction)
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Traditional perspectives on psychological disorders and how they account for disorders:
Psychoanalytic: abnormal behavior derives from sexual and aggressive conflicts developed in early childhood, use of immature defense mechanisms, regression to earlier stages of development
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Medical perspective:
fundamental causes of psychological disorders are physical in nature (genetic, biochemical (changes in neurotransmitter functioning) or anatomical(changes in brain structure))
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Behavioral:
abnormal behavior is learned through associations and patterns of reinforcement and punishment just like �normal� behaviors.
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Cognitive perspective:
Irrational thoughts about the world and our place in it lead to dysfunctional behavior.
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Humanistic perspective:
Emphasizes the uniqueness of individuals and personal responsibility in behavior. Sees problem behaviors resulting from distortions of personality made due to �conditions of worth� placed on people.
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DSM IV-TR What is it�what does it do?
- Rosenhan�s study of pseudopatients in mental hospitals and the problems with labeling
- Classes of Disorders in the DSM IV TR and the major features of each class of disorders:
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Anxiety Disorders, including phobias, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and PTSD
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Dissociative disorders-
separating yourself from your memory
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including Dissociative Identity Disorders-
person exhibits 2 or more distinct and alternating personalities, called multipersonality disorder
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Dissociative fugue-
People with dissociative fugue temporarily lose their sense of personal identity and impulsively wander or travel away from their homes or places of work. People with dissociative fugue often become confused about who they are and might even create new identities.
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Dissociative amnesia-
Dissociative disorders are mental illnesses that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, consciousness or awareness, identity and/or perception�mental functions that normally operate smoothly.
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Mood disorders, including Major depression and Bipolar Disorders (manic depression)
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What is mania? What are common theories of what causes depression?
�An extended state of elevated mood, euphoria (sometimes irritability).
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Biological-
Genetic predispositions, changes in brain chemistry, brain damage due to stress and other factors
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Psychological-
Negative explanatory style, learned helplessness, gender differences
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Social-cultural-
Traumatic/negative events, cultural expectations, depression-evoked responses
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Schizophrenia: Subtypes of schizophrenia-
- o Disorganized (hebephrenic)- raving on a street corner, wearing a jacket in the summer saying words that are jumbled, laugh during sad times, very impairing, most loss of normal thought and function
- o Paranoid (most responsive to treatment and most common, best outlook)
- o Catatonic- behavior disturbances
- o Undifferentiated Schizophrenia- doesn�t fit into just one category, fits into all of them
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�Residual Schizophrenia
- major symptoms, differences between:
- hallucinations- false sensory experiences
- delusions- false beliefs
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Sociocultural theory:
Cultural influences on the expression of mental disorders
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Historical Perspective:
- Mental Illness as caused by evil spirits�
- Treatments=chains and shackles, burning at stake, trephining (trepanning)
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Biological treatments
- �include use of different classes of medications (antidepressants, mood stabilizers �for mania, antipsychotics�for schizophrenia, antianxiety drugs) that effect several different neurotransmitter systems.
- biological treatments also include ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) for severe major depression, as seen in movie; psychosurgery (cingulotomy) for obsessive compulsive disorder (also seen in movie)
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Antidepressants-
work on norepinephrine, serotonin (Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro)
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Antianxiety�
work on GABA, serotonin (Valium, Xanax, Paxil, Zoloft)
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Antipsychotic�
work on dopamine, serotonin (Thorazine, Clozaril, Respirdol)
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Psychodynamic therapy�
- goal is insight into unconscious conflicts
- Major techniques include free association, dream interpretation, interpretation of resistence, interpretation of transference
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Humanistic Psychotherapy�
- (Carl Rogers) goal is to help client achieve self-actualization
- Major techniques: active listening, empathy and reflection, unconditional positive regard
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Cognitive/Behavioral therapies:
- goal�fix the problem/symptom
- Techniques�systematic desensitization (know steps in this process), exposure and response prevention, Albert Ellis� Rational Emotive Therapy (know ABC model for restructuring unrealistic, dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes)
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Definition of Social Psychology:
the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
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Social Cognition-
-How other people influence our attitudes, beliefs, thought patterns. How we interpret information about other people.
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Social Influence-
-Influences on what we actually do when faced with specific social situations
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Concepts related to social influence:
- Social facilitation/social inhibition
- Conformity, Asch�s Line length experiment; what factors increase the likelihood that a person will conform?
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Compliance: what is it?
- Tendency to submit and change behavior in response to direct social pressure to do so
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-Conformity
- -is the change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow the beliefs and standards of other people
- Reciprocity norm, foot-in-the-door technique; door-in-the-face technique; �and that�s not all technique�, the �not-so-free-sample�
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Obedience:
-Going along with a directive from a legitimate authority figure
- What was the Milgram experiment and what were some of the factors that are associated with the increased likelihood that someone will obey a direct order?
- -an experiment held by a yale professor, Milgram, who wanted to see how many fake electrical shocks a subject would subdue to after being told not to stop administering shocks
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Diffusion of Responsibility: What is it? How is it related to the study of the Kitty Genovese Incident by Darley and Latane? What increases or decreases the likelihood that a person will engage in helping behavior?
The power of the situation and Zimbardo�s Stanford Prison Experiment; what were the findings of the experiment in relation to the power of social roles? What recent event strongly parallels the findings of the
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Concepts related to social cognition:
- Stereotypes; prejudice; discrimination what is the difference between prejudice and discrimination
- Self-serving bias
- Fundamental attribution error
- Halo effect
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