Introduction to Psychology PSYC 1101

Introduction to Psychology PSYC 1101 Instructor: Dr. Wendy Wolfe

Psychology • Psychology: the study of behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and environment.

Have you ever wondered….? • Why people (yourself included) tend to act differently in groups • How habits develop and how to break them • Why we forget some things and remember others • Why drugs make us feel the way they do • How to build a better so that it’s more user-friendly • What dreams really mean • The ways that human behavior differs from animal behavior, and how it is similar • Why your partner/child/roommate/parents act the way they do (and how to get them to quit it)

What’s the difference? • Psychology vs. Pop-psychology • Psychology vs. Pseudoscience • Psychology vs. Common Sense

Is This Psychology?

Is This Psychology?

What’s the difference? • Psychology vs. Pop-psychology • Psychology vs. Pseudoscience • Psychology vs. Common Sense

Is This Psychology?

What’s the difference? • Psychology vs. Pop-psychology • Psychology vs. Pseudoscience • Psychology vs. Common Sense

The Science of Psychology • Empiricism • The history of psychology before and after use of the scientific method – – – – –

Trephination Hippocrates Descartes (dualism) Joseph Gall (phrenology) Wilhelm Wundt (structuralism) – William James (functionalism)

Psychology’s Present • Biological Perspective – emphasizes the role of biology (physiology, genetics) on behavior and mental processes – How damage to different parts of the brain affects personality, behavior, learning ability, language – How genetics predispose us to develop certain personality traits, mental illness

• Learning Perspective – emphasizes the role of the environment and our experiences on behavior and mental processes – How children adopt certain behaviors by imitating their parents (social-learning) or by parents directly rewarding those behaviors (behavioral)

• Cognitive Perspective – emphasizes the role of cognitive processes on behavior and mental processes – If we believe we will fail, we may not even try – It is easier for us to remember/recall information that is consistent with our beliefs than information that is inconsistent with our beliefs

Psychology’s Present (cont.) • Sociocultural Perspective – emphasizes the role of society/culture on behavior and mental processes – Technological advances in our culture (internet, gaming, cell phones) have affected our attention processes – Societal pressure for thinness has contributed to increased incidence rates of eating disorders

• Psychodynamic Perspective: emphasizes the role of unconscious conflicts on behavior and mental processes • Humanistic: emphasizes free will, personal growth, and resilience

Psychological Perspectives: Depression Example • Biological: abnormalities in neurotransmitters in the brain • Learning: depressive symptoms have been reinforced (rewarded) by the environment (e.g., getting to stay home from school because of feeling depressed) • Cognitive: negative, pessimistic thinking style • Socio-cultural: societal stress and role demands; modern culture has made us increasingly isolated • Psychodynamic: depression is due to unconsciously displacing anger towards your parent onto yourself • Humanistic: depression is due to being inauthentic or by being otherwise blocked in fulfilling your potential

The profession of psychology: Two areas • Basic Psychology

• Applied Psychology

Differences Among Applied Psychologists in Field of Mental Health

• Psychologists – Clinical – Counseling – School

• Psychotherapists • Psychoanalysts • Psychiatrists

Critical Thinking

How to be a critical thinker: 1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

Ask Questions – be curious Define Your Terms – frame your question in concrete, measurable terms (operationalize) Examine the Evidence – ask what evidence supports and refutes your hypothesis, conduct research or read about others who have tested your hypothesis, take into account the quality of the research Analyze Assumptions and Biases – what assumptions might you be making or what biases do you have that narrows your view: acknowledge these and force yourself to expand your view Avoid Emotional Reasoning – try to take your emotions out of your thinking (i.e., if you feel passionately that your view is correct it may cloud your judgment) Don’t Oversimplify – don’t generalize from a single (or a few) cases or events Consider Other Interpretations – force yourself to consider and test other explanations/hypotheses that are contrary to your own, but would also explain your observations Tolerate Uncertainty – avoid drawing firm conclusions unless others have replicated your findings

Name that Violation • Amelia has moved to a new city and, after a few weeks of settling in, has started to date. Her first three dates, with Mort, Mike, and Merv, are all disappointing. “This place has no interesting men,” she tells herself glumly. “I’ll never meet anyone I like.” • Bonnie believes creatures from outer space have been visiting Earth for thousands of years. “Look at those ancient structures and designs that scientists can’t explain,” she says. A friend calls her belief nonsense. “You can’t prove that extraterrestrials don’t exist,” replies Bonnie indignantly. • Susan is opposed to a proposed law that would forbid discrimination against homosexuals in housing and employment. “Every gay person I’ve met is unhappy and disturbed,” she says, “and I wouldn’t want to have to live near one.”

Research

Scientific Method • Careful Observation – Define variables in operational terms – Variable: anything that varies (weight, temperature, ratings on a stress survey)

• Measurement – Variables have to be measured so that statistical tests can be used

• Hypothesis Formation – Hypotheses are stated in such a way that they can be disproven (principal of falsifiability)

• Experimentation • Evaluation

Non-Experimental Versus Experimental Research

What’s the Difference? • Experimental and non-experimental research are distinguished by the degree of control that the researcher has over the subjects and conditions in the study. • In non-experimental research, there is often careful observation and measurement, but in experimental research there is also random assignment and manipulation of a variable. • The increased control in experimental research allows you to infer causal relationships between variables.

Non-Experimental Research: Methods for Gathering Information • Case Studies • Observational Studies* – Naturalistic – Laboratory

• Psychological tests* • Surveys* * Can also be used in experiments

Non-Experimental Research: Methods for Examining Information • Descriptive Statistics • Correlation = strength of a relationship between two variables – Positive vs. Negative Correlations = nature of relationship – Coefficient of Correlation = strength of relationship

CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION

Correlation Scatterplots

Experimental Research • In experimental research, you manipulate one or more (independent) variables and observe the effect of this manipulation on one or more other (dependent) variables, while controlling for the influence of other (extraneous) variables. In this way, you can conclude that it was the effect of your independent variable that CAUSED the observed change in your dependent variable.

Experimental Research • Independent and dependent variables • Experimental and control conditions – Random assignment – Placebo conditions (single-blind) – Control for experimenter effects (double-blind)

• “Quasi-Experimental” Research

Evaluating the findings: Statistics • Descriptive Statistics – Measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) – Measures of variability (standard deviation, variance)

• Inferential Statistics • Meta-analysis

Personality

How do we become who we are? Genetics

Unconscious Conflicts & Defenses

Drive for SelfActualization PERSONALITY

Culture

Learning Experiences

Personality • Personality: the distinctive pattern of behavior, mannerisms, thoughts, and emotions that characterizes an individual over time • Someone’s personality is comprised of various traits • Traits: habitual ways of behaving, thinking, and feeling (e.g., confident, pessimistic)

Psychodynamic Theories • Emphasis on unconscious intrapsychic dynamics • Belief in the importance of early childhood • Belief that development occurs in fixed stages • Focus on fantasies and symbolic meanings of events • Reliance on subjective rather than objective methods of assessment

Psychoanalytic Theory (Sigmund Freud)

The Structure of Personality • Id: Operates according to the pleasure principle – Primitive and unconscious part of personality

• Ego: Operates according to the reality principle – Mediates between id and superego

• Superego: Moral ideals and conscience

Defense Mechanisms • Repression: Threatening idea is blocked from consciousness • Projection: Unacceptable feelings are attributed to someone else • Displacement: Directing emotions toward objects or people that aren’t the real target • Reaction Formation: A feeling that produces anxiety is transformed into its opposite. • Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable feelings or impulses in a socially acceptable way. • Regression: A person reverts to a previous phase of psychological development. • Denial: A person refuses to admit that something is unpleasant.

Which defense mechanism? • • •

1. George feels that his younger son, Gary, is unattractive and not very smart. He accuses his wife of picking on Gary and favoring their other son. ________________ 2. Many people who were interred in concentration camps were unable to recall events that happened in the camp during their internment. ______________________ 3. Mark behaves like a stereotypical “he-man,” but he is actually anxious and insecure about his gender identity. __________________

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4. Trixie was homesick and anxious when she moved into the dormitory and started her first year in college. She began to sleep with her old teddy bear again because it made her feel better. __________________ 5. Patricia has a lot of anger at the way her verbally and physically abusive father treated her during her childhood. She has never confronted him about this. However, she has written a best-selling novel in which parent-child conflict is a major theme. ___________________ 6. Most people who know Jonathan know that he is gay. However, his mother stopped speaking to her best friend because the friend told her that “parents should recognize and accept homosexuality in their children.” _______________ 7. Michael is probably the biggest gossip in the office, but he frequently accuses others of talking too much and spreading rumors. _______________

Psychosexual Stages of Development • • • • •

Oral: birth – 1 yr Anal: 2-3 Phallic (oedipal): 3-5/6 Latency: 5/6-puberty Genital: puberty-adulthood

Other Psychodynamic Theories • Jungian: collective unconscious • Object Relations: attachment • Other Neo-Freudians: – Emphasis on ego development – Development throughout the lifespan – Role of other relationships

Humanistic View • Abraham Maslow: personality gradually develops towards self-actualization • Carl Rogers: our inner experience of ourselves may differ from what we show others • Rollo May (existentialist): in confronting issues such as death and searching for the meaning of life, we may discover inner resources of strength or be overcome by fear/anxiety, which is reflected in our personality as it evolves over our lifetime

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Trait Theory • • • •

Extroversion vs. Introversion (53%) Neuroticism vs. Emotional Stability (41%) Agreeableness vs. Antagonism (41%) Conscientiousness vs. Impulsiveness (44%) • Openness to experience vs. resistance to new experience (61%)

Nature vs. Nurture The role of genetics versus learning experiences and cultural influences on personality development

Nature vs. Nurture: Nature • Infant Temperament • Heritability Research – Adoption studies – Twin studies – Personality = 50% heritability

Nature vs. Nurture: Nurture • Learning Perspective (Behaviorism) – Personality consists of habits that have been shaped by the environment through classical and operant conditioning

• Social Learning – Unlike behaviorism, social learning allows for observational learning – Social learning also involves the notion of reciprocal determinism

• Parent and Peer Influences • Cultural Influences – Individualist cultures – Collectivist cultures

John B. Watson - Behaviorist Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years.(1930)

Culturally Informed Personality Traits Individualistic Cultures: • “I” identity • Uniqueness valued • Dependency is negative • Promotion of individual needs/goals • Valued traits: assertiveness, strength, competitiveness

Collectivistic Cultures: • “We” identity • Conformity valued • Co-dependency positive • Promotion of group needs valued (promotion of individual needs is shameful) • Valued traits: honesty, generosity, sensitivity

How do we become who we are? Genetics

Unconscious Conflicts & Defenses

Drive for SelfActualization PERSONALITY

Culture

Learning Experiences

Developmental Psychology

Human Development Developmental psychology focuses on: • physiological and cognitive changes across the life span • socialization (the process by which children learn the attitudes and behaviors expected of them by society)

Infant Development • Reflexes – Rooting – Sucking – Swallowing – Moro “startle” – Babinski – Grasp – Stepping

Infant Development • Attachment (Harlow research) – Contact comfort

• Attachment (Ainsworth research) – Securely attached – Insecurely attached/avoidant – Insecurely attached/anxious or ambivalent

Childhood: Cognitive Development

Language • Language Development – – – –

“Baby Talk”: 6-12 mos. Object Naming: 1 yr. Telegraphic Speech: 18-24 mos. Rapid Acquisition of Words: 1-6 yrs.

• Language Acquisition Device: an innate mental module that allows young children to develop language if they are exposed to an adequate sampling of conversation during a critical period in their development.

Cognitive Development: Piaget’s Theory • Cognitive development consists of mental adaptations to new observations & experiences. • Adaptation takes two forms: – Assimilation: Absorbing new information into existing cognitive structures. “Bird”

– Accommodation: Modifying existing cognitive structures in response to experience and new information. “Bat”

Piaget’s Stages of Development • Sensorimotor (birth-2 years) – Object permanence

• Preoperational (ages 2-7) – Symbolic thought – Egocentric

• Concrete Operational (ages 7-12) – Conservation – Reversible operations

• Formal Operational (age 12-adulthood) – Abstract reasoning

Adolescence

Developmental Influences • Physiological changes – Puberty & Timing of Puberty – Brain Development

• Identity formation and individuation – – – – – – –

Acquiring temporal perspective Acquiring self-certainty Role experimentation Apprenticeship Sexual polarization Questions of authority Ideological commitment

Adulthood

Erikson’s 8 Stages of Lifespan Development • Trust vs. Mistrust – Infancy (0-1 year)

• Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt – Toddler (1-2 years)

• Initiative vs. Guilt – Preschool (3-5 years)

• Industry vs. Inferiority – Elementary School (6-12 years)

• Identity vs. Role confusion – Adolescence (13-19 years)

• Intimacy vs. Isolation – Young adulthood (20-40 years)

• Generativity vs. Stagnation – Middle adulthood (40-65 years)

• Integrity vs. Despair – Late adulthood (65 and older)

Cognitive Functioning Throughout Adulthood

Physiological Psychology

Nervous System Organization

Autonomic NS: Sympathetic & Parasympathetic Divisions

What part of the nervous system is responsible when….? 1. You see someone with a mask come up to you from behind, you feel a sharp object against your side, and you hear “give me your money”. 2. You think about your options. 3. You try some of your karate moves and strike with an elbow to the neck and a kick to the groin. 4. You notice that your heart is racing and you’re sweating profusely. 5. Later, once you’re safe at home, you notice that you are salivating quite a bit and you are starting to get hungry.

Communication in the NS • Neurons

• Glia

The Structure of the Neuron • Dendrite: Branches that receive signals and transmit to cell body • Cell Body: Controls cell metabolism and determines firing • Axon: Carries impulses away from cell body • Myelin Sheath: Fatty insulation

How Neurons Communicate • Synapse: Site where a nerve impulse is transmitted from one neuron to another; includes the axon terminal, synaptic cleft, and receptor sites on receiving cell. • Neurotransmitter: Chemical substance that is released by transmitting neuron at the synapse and alters the activity of the receiving neuron.

Electro-Chemical Communication • If action potential in the cell body is reached, electrical impulse is sent down axon • When signal reaches axon terminal, vesicles release neurotransmitters into synaptic cleft • NT’s bind to receptor site on receiving neuron • Electrical state of receiving neuron changes, becoming more (or less) likely to fire, depending on whether the NT is excitatory or inhibitory

The Discovery of Neurotransmitters

Major Neurotransmitters • • • • • •

Acetylcholine (ACh) Dopamine Norepinephrine Serotonin Gamma amino butryic acid (GABA) Glutamate

Other Chemical Messengers • Hormones: Chemical substances, primarily produced in the endocrine glands, which are released in the bloodstream and carried to various organs and cells.

Important Hormones • Endorphins: Chemical substances in the nervous system that are similar in structure and action to opiates; they are involved in pain reduction, pleasure, and memory, and are known technically as endogenous opioid peptides.

Important Hormones • Melatonin > Sleep • Adrenal Hormones – Cortisol > Boosts energy, reduces inflammation – Adrenaline (Epinephrine) & Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine) > Increase arousal and improve memory

• Sex Hormones – Androgens (e.g., testosterone) > Masculinizing – Estrogens > Feminizing

Thalamus and Hypothalamus • Thalamus: Relays sensory messages to the cerebral cortex. • Hypothalamus: Involved in emotions and drives vital to survival (e.g., fear, hunger, thirst, and reproduction); it regulates the autonomic nervous system. • Pituitary Gland: Small endocrine gland at the base of the brain, which releases many hormones and regulates other endocrine glands.

The Limbic System • Limbic System: A group of brain areas involved in emotional reactions and motivated behavior. – Amygdala: Involved in the arousal and regulation of emotion and the initial emotional response to sensory information. – Hippocampus: Involved in the storage of new information in memory.

The Case of H.M. • Suffered from epilepsy, had most of his hippocampus and amygdala surgically removed. • Subsequently suffered severe anterograde amnesia. • Died in 2008 at age 82.

The Frontal Lobe • Involved in motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgment, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior • The Case of Phineas Gage • Pre-motor cortex & Prefrontal cortex

Consciousness

Consciousness • Consciousness – awareness of oneself and one’s environment • Changes in consciousness – sleeping & dreaming – daydreaming & mindlessness – hypnosis & relaxation – drug-induced

Biological Rhythms • Regular physiological fluctuations • Circadian rhythms: biological rhythms occurring approximately every 24 hours – Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) – Melatonin – Internal desynchronization

Typical circadian rhythms

The Importance of Sleep • Most people need 7-8 hours of sleep per 24 hour period to function optimally • Effects of short-term sleep deprivation: difficulty maintaining attention, loss of creativity/mental sharpness, irritability • Effects of longer-term sleep deprivation: serious impairment in cognitive and physical functioning, hallucinations and delusions

Improving Your Sleep • • • • • • • • • •

Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and other stimulants before bed Don’t go to bed when you are full or hungry Develop a nightly ritual, particularly one that is relaxing Engage in regular aerobic exercise, but not late at night Take a warm bath 90 minutes before bed Avoid emotional stressors (e.g., balancing check book) right before bed Limit activities in your sleeping area Avoid alcohol Designate a regular bedtime and waking time Minimize light and noises

Sleep Stages: nREM sleep • Stage 1: drifting off to sleep – Hypnic myoclonia – Hypnagogic hallucinations

• Stage 2: heart rate slows, body temp drops, muscles tighten and relax • Stage 3 & 4: slow (delta) wave sleep – Person is deeply asleep and will be groggy if awoken – Associated with restoring energy, muscle/bone growth and repair, and strengthening of the immune system

Sleep Stages: REM sleep • After moving through stages 1-4 (45 min), you move back up from stages 4-2 (45 min) and enter REM sleep • REM = Rapid Eye Movement – “paradoxical” sleep – Brain waves similar to waking state (vivid dreaming) – Body is “paralyzed”

• Function is unknown – REM rebound

• Over the course of a period of sleep, REM sleep time increases and slow wave sleep decreases

Sleep Disorders • Dyssomnias: associated with sleep deprivation or problematic sleep onset – Insomnia – Sleep apnea – Narcolepsy

Sleep Disorders • Parasomnias: behavioral or physiological abnormalities during sleep – Sleepwalking Disorder (Stage 4) – Night terror Disorder (Stage 4) – Nightmare Disorder (REM) – REM Behavior Disorder (REM)

Why Do We Dream? • • • • •

Psychoanalytic View Problem-Focused Approach Reverse Learning (“Mental Housekeeping”) Activation-Synthesis Theory Cognitive View

Freud on Dream Symbolism “Rooms in dreams are usually women; if the various ways in and out of them are represented, this interpretation is scarcely open to doubt….We find an interesting link with the sexual researches of childhood when a dreamer dreams of two rooms which were originally one, or when he sees a familiar room divided into two in the dream, or vice versa. In childhood the female genitals and the anus are regarded as a single area – the ‘bottom’….Steps, ladders, or staircases, or, as the case may be, walking up or down them, are representations of the sexual act.” From The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud

Hypnosis

Hypnosis: What We Know • Responsiveness to hypnosis depends more on the person being hypnotized than the skill of the hypnotist • Hypnotized people cannot be forced to do things against their will • Tasks performed under hypnosis can also be performed by properly motivated people not under hypnosis • Hypnosis does not improve accuracy of memory or produce re-experiences of past events • Hypnosis can be used to improve pain tolerance, induce relaxation, and help people change habitual behaviors

Theories of Hypnosis • Dissociation Theories – A split in consciousness in which one part of the mind operates independently from the rest of the consciousness. – One part of the mind responds to the suggestions while the other functions as a hidden observer, watching but not participating

• Socio-Cognitive Theories – Effect results from an interaction between the social influence of the hypnotist and the abilities, beliefs, and expectations of the subject. – The person is basically playing a role in response of the social demands of the hypnotist.

Psychoactive Drugs • Substances that alter perception, mood, thinking, memory, or behavior by changing the body’s biochemistry (typically by acting on neurotransmitters) • Use of psychoactive substances has occurred throughout time and across species • Drugs are classified according to their effects on the CNS and how they impact behavior and mood

Drug Classifications • Stimulants (e.g., cocaine, amphetamine, nicotine, caffeine): speed up CNS activity • Depressants (e.g., alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepines): slow down CNS activity • Opiates (e.g., opium, heroin, morphine): mimic endogenous opioids • Psychedelics (e.g., LSD, mescaline, psilocybin): disrupt normal thought processes • Other drugs (e.g., marijuana, Ecstasy): affect the CNS in a variety of ways

Psychology of Drug Effects • Physical factors: body weight, metabolism, physical tolerance • “Mental set” or expectations about the drug’s effects • Past experience with the drug • Mood and Environmental setting • Culture

Sensation and Perception

Sensation and Perception • Sensation: The detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects; it occurs when energy in the external environment or the body stimulates receptors in the sense organs. • Perception: The process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory information.

The Riddle of Separate Sensations • Sense Receptors: Specialized neurons that convert physical energy from the environment or the body into electrical energy that can be transmitted as nerve impulses to the brain. • Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies: Different sensory modalities exist because signals received by the sense organs stimulate different nerve pathways leading to different areas of the brain.

• "Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul."-W. Kandinsky

Measuring the Senses • Absolute Threshold – The smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected by an observer

• Difference Threshold – The smallest difference in stimulation that can be reliably detected by an observer when two stimuli are compared; also called Just Noticeable Difference (JND).

• Signal-Detection Theory – Holds that responses in a detection task depend on a sensory process and a decision process. Responses may vary with a person’s motivation, alertness, and expectations

Absolute Thresholds Vision A single candle flame from 30 miles on a clear night

Hearing The tick of a watch from 20 feet in total quiet

Smell One drop of perfume in a 6-room apartment

Touch The wing of a bee on the cheek, dropped from 1 cm

Taste One teaspoon of sugar in 2 gallons of water

Sensory Adaptation • The reduction or disappearance of sensory responsiveness that occurs when stimulation is unchanging or repetitious.

Vision

What We See • Hue: The dimension of visual experience specified by color names and related to the wavelength of light.

• Brightness: Lightness and luminance; the dimension of visual experience related to the amount of light emitted from or reflected by an object. • Saturation: Vividness or purity of color; the dimension of visual experience related to the complexity of light waves.

Structures of the Human Eye

Structures of the Retina

Did You Know? • Diurnal animals (those active during the day), like birds and fish, have mostly cones on their retinas. This lets them see colors very well during daylight, but gives them very poor vision at night. • Nocturnal animals, like rats and bats, have mostly rods on their retinas. They cannot see color, but can see well at night. • Herbivores and prey animals have their eyes set on the side of their head for a fuller range of vision. Carnivores have eyes closer together for better depth perception. • Cats have a reflective surface on the back of their eye, which gives them “eye shine” at night and also allows them to see very well at night since light has two chances to be picked up by their visual receptors (once going into they eye, and once as it is reflected back out)

Trichromatic Theory • T. Young (1802) & H. von Helmholtz (1852) both proposed that the eye detects 3 primary colors (red, blue, & green) • All other colors can be derived by combining the activity of these three types of cones

Opponent-Process Theory • At the level of the ganglion cells in the retina and in visual centers of the brain, opponent process cells selectively fire to either short or long wavelengths (and are inhibited by the opposing wavelength). • This inhibition is temporarily reversed with a brief firing when the color is removed (explaining negative afterimages)

Visual Perception

How we Perceive Form • Gestalt principles describe the brain’s organization of sensory building blocks into meaningful units and patterns.

Which is more memorable?

Proximity

Closure

Similarity

Continuity

Figure-Ground

Depth and Distance Perception • Binocular Cues: Visual cues to depth or distance that require the use of both eyes. – Convergence: Turning inward of the eyes, which occurs when they focus on a nearby object – Retinal Disparity: The slight difference in lateral separation between two objects as seen by the left eye and the right eye.

• Monocular Cues: Visual cues to depth or distance that can be used by one eye alone.

Hearing

What We Hear • Loudness: The dimension of auditory experience related to the intensity of a pressure wave. • Pitch: The dimension of auditory experience related to the frequency of a pressure wave. • Timbre: The distinguishing quality of sound; the dimension of auditory experience related to the complexity of the pressure wave.

How we Hear

Auditory Perception • Gestalt Principles Apply • Distance Perception • Location Perception

Other Senses

Taste • Papillae: Knoblike elevations on the tongue, containing the taste buds (Singular: papilla). • Taste buds: Nests of taste-receptor cells.

Smell & Taste Perception • Red bars = subjects could smell • Blue bars = subjects could not smell

Smell: The Sense of Scents • Airborne chemical molecules enter the nose and circulate through the nasal cavity. • Receptors on the roof of the nasal cavity detect these molecules.

Senses of the Skin • The skin senses include: – Touch – Warmth – Cold – Pain – Various others (itch and tickle)

Gate-Control Theory of Pain • Experience of pain depends (in part) on whether the pain impulse gets past neurological “gate” in the spinal cord and thus reaches the brain.

Neuromatrix Theory of Pain • Theory that the matrix of neurons in the brain is capable of generating pain (and other sensations) in the absence of signals from sensory nerves.

Internal Senses • Kinesthesis: The sense of body position and movement of body parts; also called kinesthesia. • Equilibrium: The sense of balance.

Thought Processes & Biases

The Elements of Cognition • Concept: Mental category that groups objects, relations, activities, abstractions, or qualities having common properties. – Formal concepts – Natural concepts – Prototypes • Proposition: A unit of meaning that is made up of concepts and expresses a single idea. • Mental Image: Representation that mirrors or resembles the thing it represents.

• Cognitive Schema: An integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations concerning a particular topic or aspect of the world.

Prototype

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Prototype: Furniture 1 chair 1 sofa 3 couch 3 table 5 easy chair 6 dresser 6 rocking chair 8 coffee table 9 rocker 10 love seat 11 chest of drawers 12 desk 13 bed ... 22 bookcase 27 cabinet 29 bench 31 lamp 32 stool 35 piano 41 mirror 42 tv 44 shelf 45 rug 46 pillow 47 wastebasket 49 sewing machine 50 stove 54 refrigerator 60 telephone

Example SCHEMA “BREAKFAST”

PROPOSITIONS I usually eat cereal for breakfast. On Sundays, I like to make pancakes, waffles, or eggs and biscuits. Other people eat donuts, bagels, or leftovers for breakfast.

CONCEPT Cereal Fruit Pancakes Eggs Bacon Grits Donuts

OTHER PROPOSITIONS Is derived from the notion of “breaking fast”. Means first meal of the day. Is the most important meal of the day.

MENTAL IMAGE

OTHER PROPOSITIONS I usually make breakfast for myself and my kids. Breakfast is not my favorite meal.

Cognitive Schemas • Framework that helps us organize and interpret information • Help us take shortcuts • Also cause us to overlook relevant information

How Conscious is Thought? • Subconscious Processes: Mental processes occurring outside of conscious awareness but accessible to consciousness when necessary. • Nonconscious Processes: Mental processes occurring outside of and not available to conscious awareness.

Can you make a sentence from each? • • • • • • • • • •

01 him was worried she always 02 from are Florida oranges temperature 03 ball the throw toss silently 04 shoes give replace old the 05 he observes occasionally people watches 06 be will sweat lonely they 07 sky the seamless gray is 08 should now withdraw forgetful we 09 us bingo sing play let 10 sunlight makes temperature wrinkle raisins

From Malcolm Gladwell's Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, pp 52 - 55

Now, Answer This Question: How quickly would you walk down the hall, if I excused you from class right now?

Reasoning Rationally • Formal Reasoning: Algorithms and Logic • Informal Reasoning: Heuristics and Dialectical Thinking (Reflective Judgment)

Formal Logic • Algorithm • Deductive Reasoning: A tool of formal logic in which a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of observations or propositions (premises).

Deductive Reasoning Exercise • If a person gets athlete’s foot, then the person’s toes will fall off. • What if the next statement is: a. b. c. d.

Bill has athlete’s foot. Bill does not have athlete’s foot. Bill’s toes fell off. Bill’s toes did not fall off.

Formal Logic • Inductive Reasoning: A tool of formal logic in which a conclusion probably follows from a set of observations or propositions or premises, but could be false.

Inductive Reasoning Example • Can you supply the missing number and the rule for the examples below? – 5 9 13 ? 21 – 1 3 4 7 11 ?

Deductive Reasoning: A top-down approach

Inductive Reasoning: A bottom-up approach

Inductive or Deductive Reasoning? • Jack: I've noticed previously that every time I kick a ball up, it comes back down, so I guess this next time when I kick it up, it will come back down, too. • Jill: That's Newton's Law. Everything that goes up must come down. And so, if you kick the ball up, it must come down.

Informal Reasoning • Heuristic: – A rule of thumb that suggests a course of action or guides problem solving but does not guarantee an optimal solution.

• Dialectical Reasoning: – A process in which opposing facts or ideas are weighed and compared, with a view to determining the best solution or resolving differences.

3 Stages of Dialectical Reasoning • Thesis: statement of an idea, view, or position • Antithesis: statement of an alternative (often contradictory) view • Synthesis: integration of the best aspects of previous ideas/views

Question: Why are human beings violent? • Thesis Statement and Arguments: Violent behavior develops in people as they experience and learn from the world around them. • Antithesis Statement and Arguments: Aggression and violence are not learned, they are basic human instincts. • Synthesis: People are born with the capacity for violence (this tendency towards violence may vary across individuals), but learning experiences serve to either elicit or suppress this innate drive

Reflective Judgment • Pre-reflective Judgment – “I was brought up to believe….” – “I know what I’ve seen….”

• Quasi-reflective Judgment – “Knowledge is purely subjective.” – “You have your opinion and I have mine.”

• Reflective Judgment – “Based on the evidence, I believe…” – “Here are the reasons for my conclusions…”

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally

The Nine-Dot Problem: The Difficulty in Using a Mental Set • Connect all 9 dots • Use only 4 lines • Do not lift your pencil from the page after you begin drawing

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally • Biases due to Mental Sets • Exaggerating the Improbable (The Availability Heuristic) • Representativeness Heuristic • Anchoring Effect • Avoiding Loss (Risk Aversion) • The Confirmation Bias • The Hindsight Bias

chapter 7

The confirmation bias The tendency to pay attention only to information that confirms one’s own beliefs Test this rule: If a card has a vowel on one side, it has an even number on the other side.

Which 2 cards to turn over? 1. Cards 6 and 7 2. Cards J and 6 3. Cards E and 7 4. Cards E and 6

Cognitive Dissonance

When are we most motivated to reduce dissonance? • When justifying a choice or decision we made freely • When justifying the effort put into a choice or decision • When justifying a behavior that conflicts with our self-view

Intelligence

Psychometric Approach • g factor • Binet-Simon Intelligence Test – Mental age/chronological age x 100 = IQ

• Stanford-Binet – Standardized scores

• Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WAIS, WISC) • Problems/limitations

IQ: Standardized Scores

WAIS Verbal Subtests •

• • • •

•

Information: Similar to "Trivial Pursuit," this subtest measures fund of factual information. It is strongly influenced by culture. An American education and intact long-term memory will contribute to a higher score. Sample question (not really on the tests): "What is the capital of France?" Comprehension: This subtest measures understanding of social conventions and common sense. It is also culturally loaded. Sample question: "What is the thing to do if you find an injured person laying on the sidewalk?" Digit Span: Requires the repetition of number strings forward and backwards. Measures concentration, attention, and immediate memory. Lower scores are obtained by persons with an attention deficit or anxiety. Similarities: This subtest measures verbal abstract reasoning and conceptualization abilities. The individual is asked how two things are alike. Sample question: "How are a snake and an alligator alike?" Vocabulary: This test measures receptive and expressive vocabulary. It is the best overall measure of general intelligence (assuming the test-taker's native language is English). Sample question: "What is the meaning of the word 'articulate'?" Arithmetic: Consists of mathematical word problems which are performed mentally. Measures attention, concentration, and numeric reasoning. Sample question: "John bought three books for five dollars each, and paid ten percent sales tax. How much did he pay all together?"

Block Design Task For legal/ethical reasons the actual WAIS Block Design Task cannot be shown, so this is a similar Block Design task

All sides are unique of all the cubes

Story Completion Example

Story Completion Example Solved

Predictors of Intelligence • Genes • Environment – Prenatal care – Nutrition – Exposure to toxins – Stress – Environmental enrichment

Memory

The War of the Ghosts. • One night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals, and while they were it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war cries and they thought; 'Maybe this is a war-party.' They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles and saw one canoe coming up to them. There were five men in the canoe and they said; 'What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people.‘ One of the young men said; 'I have no arrows.‘ 'Arrows are in the canoe,' they said. 'I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you,' he said, turning to the other, 'May go with them.‘ So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water and began to fight, and many were killed. But presently, one of the young men heard one of the warriors say; 'Quick let us go home. That Indian has been hit.‘ Now he thought; 'Oh, they are ghosts.' He did not feel sick, but he had been shot. So the canoes went back to Egulac, and the young man went back to his house and made a fire. And he told everybody and said; 'Behold, I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our fellows were killed and many of those that attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, but I did not feel sick.‘ He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose, he fell down. Something black came out of his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried. He was dead.

Two Indians were out fishing for seals in the Bay of Manapan, when along came five other Indians in a war canoe. They were going fighting. “Come with us” said the five to the two. “I cannot come” was the answer of the one, “for I have an old mother at home who is dependent on me.” The other said he could not come because he had no arms. “That is no difficulty” the others replied, “for we have plenty in the canoe with us”; so he got into the canoe and went with them. In a fight soon afterwards this Indian received a mortal wound. Finding that his hour was coming, he cried out that he was about to die. “Nonsense” said one of the others “you will not die.” But he did.

The Conditions of Confabulation • Source amnesia: We recall information, but not the source of the information. This can lead to source misattribution and confabulation. • Confabulation: Confusion of an event that happened to someone else with one that happened to you, or a belief that you remember something when it never actually happened. • Confabulation is most likely when: – – – –

you have thought about the event many times; the image of the event contains many details; the event is easy to imagine; you focus on emotional reactions to the event rather than what actually happened.

Flashbulb Memories • Even flashbulb memories, emotionally powerful memories that seem particularly vivid, are often embellished or distorted and tend to become less accurate over time.

Memory and the Power of Suggestion

Eyewitness Recall • The reconstructive nature of memory makes memory vulnerable to suggestion. • Eyewitness testimony is especially vulnerable to error when: – the suspects ethnicity differs from that of the witness; – when leading questions are put to witnesses; – when the witnesses are given misleading information.

Children’s Testimony

Measuring Memory • Explicit Memory: Conscious, intentional recollection of an event or of an item of information. • Implicit Memory: Unconscious retention in memory, as evidenced by the effect of a previous experience or previously encountered information on current thoughts or actions.

Three-Box Model of Memory

Limits of Short-term Memory • 7 + or – 2

• Chunking

Serial-Position Effect • The tendency for recall of first and last items on a list to surpass recall of items in the middle of the list.

Long-term Memory • Procedural memories: – Memories for performance of actions or skills. – “Knowing how”

• Declarative memories: – Memories of facts, rules, concepts, and events; includes semantic and episodic memory. – “Knowing that”

• Semantic memories: – General knowledge, including facts, rules, concepts, and propositions.

• Episodic memories: – Personally experienced events and the contexts in which they occurred.

Connectionist Model

How We Remember • Effective Encoding • Rehearsal • Mnemonics

Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

Encoding • In order to remember material well, we must encode it accurately in the first place. • Some kinds of information, such as material in a college course, require effortful, as opposed to automatic, encoding.

Rehearsal • Maintenance Rehearsal: Rote repetition of material in order to maintain its availability in memory. • Elaborative Rehearsal: Association of new information with already stored knowledge and analysis of the new information to make it memorable.

Mnemonics • Mnemonics: memory aids or tricks (are usually verbal, but can take other forms too) • Enhance retention by promoting elaborative encoding and making material meaningful. • However, for ordinary memory tasks, complex memory tricks are often ineffective or even counterproductive.

Why We Forget • • • •

Decay Interference Cue-dependent Forgetting Psychogenic Amnesia

Decay • Decay Theory: The theory that information in memory eventually disappears if it is not accessed; it applies more to short-term than to long-term memory.

Interference • Retroactive Interference: Forgetting that occurs when recently learned material interferes with the ability to remember similar material stored previously. • Proactive Interference: Forgetting that occurs when previously stored material interferes with the ability to remember similar, more recently learned material.

Cue-dependent Forgetting • Cue-Dependent Forgetting: The inability to retrieve information stored in memory because of insufficient cues for recall. • State-Dependent Memory: The tendency to remember something when the rememberer is in the same physical or mental state as during the original learning or experience.

Learning

Learning • Learning: A relatively durable change in behavior due to experience. • Behaviorism: An approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior.

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning involves Reflexes • A reflex is an observed high correlation between a stimulus and a response that exists without benefit of experience. • A reflex is neither the stimulus nor the response alone. It is the relation between the two. US = Unconditioned stimulus UR = Unconditioned response US (air puff)  UR (eye blink) US (tap on knee)  UR (knee jerk) US (meat)  UR (salivation)

Pavlov’s Apparatus

New Reflexes From Old

• Classical Conditioning: The process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar or related response.

Conditioning Terms • Unconditioned Stimulus: – A stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in the absence of learning.

• Conditioned Stimulus: – An initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioning Terms • Unconditioned Response: – A reflexive response elicited by a stimulus in the absence of learning.

• Conditioned Response: – A response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus; it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Examples • John has always disciplined his cat Smokey by hitting a newspaper near her to make a loud noise. Now, Smokey has begun to run and hide when John opens the morning paper. • At age 12, Ben began masturbating while wearing his mother’s silk slip. Eventually, he found himself becoming aroused whenever he saw women’s undergarments or clothes made of similar material.

Acquisition • A neutral stimulus that is consistently followed by an unconditioned stimulus will become a conditioned stimulus.

Extinction • The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Higher Order Conditioning

• A procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with an already established conditioned stimulus.

Generalization and Discrimination • Stimulus Generalization: – After conditioning, the tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning.

• Stimulus Discrimination: – The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli.

Learning to Fear • An 11-month old boy – named “Albert” – was conditioned to fear a white laboratory rat – Each time he reached for the rat, Watson made a loud clanging noise right behind Albert

• Albert’s fear generalized to anything white and furry – Including rabbits and Santa Claus

Counterconditioning • In classical conditioning, the process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response.

Operant Conditioning

Definitions • Operant behavior is behavior that is modifiable by its consequences • Operant conditioning is the process by which operant behavior is acquired or eliminated • Operant behavior concerns complex, nonreflexive behavior

Thorndike’s Law of Effect • Responses that are closely followed by satisfaction will become firmly attached to the situation and therefore more likely to reoccur when the situation is repeated. • Conversely, if the situation is followed by discomfort, the connections to the situation will become weaker and the response will be less likely to occur when the situation is repeated.

So……. • A = Talking to someone you are attracted to at a party • B = You use a clever pick-up line • C = You get a date

• …….You are more likely to use that line again in the same (or similar) situations

However……. • A = Talking to someone you are attracted to at a party • B = You use a clever pick-up line • C = You get slapped

• …….You are less likely to use that line again in the same (or similar) situations

Skinner’s “Radical Behaviorism”

Reinforcement & Punishment • Reinforcement: a type of consequence of behavior that increases the probability of behavior that produces it • Punishment: a type of consequence of behavior that decreases the probability of behavior that produces it

Positive vs. Negative • Positive (+): an operation (consequence) where a stimulus, condition or event is presented (added) • Negative (-): an operation (consequence) where a stimulus, condition or event is removed (subtracted)

Reinforcement

Positive

Negative

Punishment

Increase in Behavior

Decrease in Behavior

Stimulus Presented

Stimulus Presented

Increase in Behavior

Decrease in Behavior

Stimulus Removed

Stimulus Removed

To “de-code” operant conditioning, ask yourself: 1. What is the operant behavior? 2. Is it increasing (reinforcement) or decreasing (punishment)? 3. Was something added to the environment/organism after the behavior (positive) or was something taken away (negative)?

Operant Conditioning: Other Examples • You start seeing a tutor regularly for help with a class and ace the next exam, so you decide to utilize tutoring for all your classes. • Every time Billy whines at the store, his parents buy him a toy, so Billy keeps making a fuss at the store. • Every time Billy’s parents give in to his toy request, Billy stops complaining, so they continue giving in to his demands. • Whenever you “borrow” your roommate’s clothes, she yells at you (which you hate), so you stop borrowing her clothes. • You get caught speeding and have to pay $250 you were saving to go on Spring Break. Now you really try to watch your speed (especially on Abercorn). • When Susan is caught talking in class, she is sent to the principal’s office. Her teacher can’t understand why Susan keeps getting more and more chatty despite the “punishment” • When Andrew is caught talking in class, he is sent to the principal’s office. His teacher is pleased that Andrew has been an angel ever since.

Shaping • Reinforcing successive approximations to a target behavior – Complex behaviors – Behaviors not already in the person’s behavioral repertoire

Extinction • The discontinuation of reinforcement results in a decrease and eventual elimination of the response • Side effects of extinction: – Extinction burst – Increased variability of behavior – Aggression – Spontaneous recovery

Schedules of Reinforcement • Rules that determine which responses will be reinforced and which won’t be reinforced • Ratio Schedules: Reinforcement determined by the number of responses emitted – Fixed Ratio (FR): The number of responses per reinforcement is fixed. For example, every 10th response produces a reinforcer (FR 10) – Variable Ratio (VR): The number of responses per reinforcement varies. For example, on average every 10th response (range: 5-15) produces a reinforcer (VR 10).

Schedules of Reinforcement • Interval Schedules: Reinforcement is determined by the amount of time since the last reinforcer. – Fixed Interval (FI): The time between reinforcers is fixed. For example, the first response after a one minute time period has elapsed is reinforced (FI 1’) – Variable Interval (VI): The time between reinforcers varies. For example, the first response after an average interval of one minute (range: 30s-90s) is reinforced (VI 1’).

Why are Schedules Important? • When a response is reinforced intermittently (variably), it is much more resistant to extinction. – If you want a behavior to persist, use a variable schedule of reinforcement – But, be careful of accidentally reinforcing an undesired behavior on a variable schedule (because it will also persist)!

• Common examples of intermittent (variable) reinforcement – Temper Tantrums – Superstitious Behaviors – Gambling

Applied Behavior Analysis • Applied practice of operant conditioning • Most frequently used with autism and other developmental disabilities • However, operant principles can be used with any behavior change efforts – Performance management – Programmed System of Instruction (PSI)

Social-Cognitive Theory

Latent Learning • • • •

Rats: one maze trial/day One group found food every time (green line) Second group never found food (blue line) Third group found food on Day 11 (red line) – Sudden change, day 12

• Learning isn’t the same as performance

Social-Cognitive Concepts • Social-learning theory – Observational learning

• • • •

Attitudes Attributions Expectancies Self-Efficacy

Bandura’s Aggression Research

Social & Cultural Influences on Behavior

What social forces shape our behavior? • Roles and Rules • Social Influences on Beliefs • Group Dynamics – Behavior in groups – Group identity – Group conflicts and prejudice

Social Rules & Roles

The Obedience Study • Stanley Milgram and coworkers investigated whether people would follow orders, even when the order violated their ethical standards. • Experiment consisted of participants being asked by an authority figure (an experimenter) to shock another “participant” for learning errors • Most people were far more obedient than anyone expected. – Every single participant complied with at least some orders to shock another person

• Results are controversial and have generated much research on violence and obedience.

Obedience Study Conclusions • Behavior (obedience) was more strongly controlled by situational factors, than individual factors • Situational factors associated with less obedience – When the experimenter left the room – When the experimenter was not perceived to be an authority figure – When 2 experimenters gave conflicting orders – When the victim was in the same room – When another participant was in the same room and refused to shock

Stanford Prison Study • Zimbardo conducted research with college students to determine the effect of role assignment on participants’ behavior. • Students were assigned to be prisoners or guards. • Participants readily adopted their assigned roles • Study was ended after 6 days due to severe stress reactions experienced by some of the participants

Factors related to obedience • • • •

Allocating responsibility to the authority Routinizing the task Wanting to be polite Becoming entrapped – Entrapment: A gradual process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course of action to justify their investment of time, money, or effort.

Social Influences on Beliefs

Attributions • Attribution Theory: – The theory that people are motivated to explain their own and other peoples’ behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation or a disposition.

• Fundamental Attribution Error: – The tendency, in explaining other people’s behavior, to overestimate dispositional (e.g., personality) factors and underestimate the influence of the situation. – Just-world Hypothesis + FAE = Blaming the Victim

• Self-serving Bias: – The tendency to use dispositional attributions to explain our successes and situational attributions to explain our failures

Attitudes • Attitude: – A relatively stable opinion containing beliefs and emotional feelings about a topic.

• Familiarity Effect: – The tendency of people to feel more positive toward something because they’ve seen it often

• Validity Effect: – The tendency of people to believe that a statement is true or valid simply because it has been repeated many times.

Influencing Attitudes

Does advertising attempt to influence attitudes?

Product Placement

Individuals in Groups

Conformity • Research study by Ashe: Subjects in a group were asked to match line lengths. • Confederates in the group picked the wrong line. • Subjects went along with the wrong answer on 37% of trials.

No, it’s not hard! Sample

A B C

Groupthink • In close-knit groups, the tendency for all members to think alike and suppress disagreement for the sake of harmony. • Historical examples – Bay of Pigs – Challenger & Columbia space shuttle tragedies – War in Iraq?

Diffusion & Deindividuation • Diffusion of Responsibility: – In organized or anonymous groups, the tendency of members to avoid taking responsibility for actions or decisions because they assume that others will do so. – Bystander apathy • Kitty Genovese case

– Social loafing

• Deindividuation: – In groups or crowds, the loss of awareness of one’s own individuality.

Us Versus Them: Group Identity

Group Identity • Social Identity: – The part of a person’s self-concept that is based on identification with a nation, culture, or group or with gender or other roles in society.

• Ethnic Identity: – A person’s identification with a racial, religious, or ethnic group.

• Ethnocentrism: – The belief that one’s own ethnic group, nation, or religion is superior to all others.

Stereotypes • Stereotype: – A cognitive schema or a summary impression of a group, in which a person believes that all members of the group share a common trait or traits (positive, negative, or neutral).

• Prejudice: – A negative stereotype about a group, combined with a strong dislike or hatred for members of that group.

Group Conflicts and Prejudice

Robbers’ Cave Experiment • Boys were randomly separated into two groups – “Rattlers” and “Eagles”

• Competitions fostered hostility between the groups. • Experimenters contrived situations requiring cooperation for success. • Cross-group friendships increased.

Reducing Prejudice and Conflict • Groups must have equal legal status, economic opportunities, and power. • Authorities and community institutions must endorse egalitarian norms and provide moral support and legitimacy for both sides. • Both sides must have opportunities to work and socialize together, formally and informally. • Both sides must cooperate, working together for a common goal.

Psychological Disorders

What is Abnormal Behavior? • • • •

Statistical infrequency Violation of social norms Subjective distress Disability or dysfunction

What is Mental Illness/Psychological Disorder? Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Revised (DSM-IV-TR): – A syndrome or pattern – Associated with distress or disability for the individual – That is not an expectable (culturally sanctioned) response to a particular event – And that is not merely a conflict between the individual and society

Evolution of the DSM • Original DSM published in 1952, was relatively brief, focused on psychoses and neuroses, and was psychodynamicallydriven • Over time, the DSM (now in 4th revision) has become lengthier, more descriptive and atheoretical, and empirically-driven

Assessment • Reliability • Validity

Assessment: Sources of Information • Diagnostic/Clinical Interview – Structured – Unstructured

• Behavioral Observations • Information from Other Sources – Records – Reports from others

• Test Results – Objective tests – Projective tests

Objective vs. Projective Sample Test Items • MMPI-2: – It would be better if almost all laws were thrown away (T-F) – I frequently find myself worrying about something (T-F)

• Rorschach Inkblot:

Clinical Interview

Observations

Testing Assessment Of Person

Professional Knowledge

Information From Others

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety Disorders • Generalized Anxiety Disorder: – A continuous state of anxiety marked by feelings of worry and dread, apprehension, difficulties in concentration, and signs of motor tension.

• Panic Disorder: – An anxiety disorder in which a person experiences recurring panic attacks (feelings of impending doom or death, accompanied by physiological symptoms such as rapid breathing and dizziness). – Agoraphobia: “fear of the marketplace”, can result from (and exacerbate) panic disorder.

Anxiety Disorders • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): – An anxiety disorder in which a person who has experienced a traumatic or life-threatening event has symptoms such as re-experiencing the trauma, increased physiological arousal, and emotional numbing.

• Specific Phobia – An irrational fear of a particular object, activity, or situation that provokes an immediate anxiety response, results in avoidance behavior, and causes significant disruption in functioning.

Some Common (and not so common) Phobias • • • • • • •

Heights- Acrophobia Flying- Aviophobia or Aviatophobia Spaces, confined- Claustrophobia Spiders- Arachnophobia Needles- Aichmophobia or Belonephobia Politicians- Politicophobia Tests, taking- Testophobia

Anxiety Disorders • Social Phobia: – Characterized by an irrational and intense fear that one’s behavior in a public situation will be mocked or criticized by others, along with avoidance of feared social situations – Common triggers: public speaking, eating in public, performing in public, informal social situations

Anxiety Disorders • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): – Obsessions: persistent and intrusive ideas, thoughts, impulses, or images. – Compulsions: repetitive and seemingly purposeful behavior performed in response to uncontrollable urges or according to a ritualistic or stereotyped set of rules.

Examples • Obsession: Student has urge to shout obscenities in a quiet classroom. • Compulsion: She feels compelled to screw and unscrew the cap of a ballpoint pen five times each time she thinks of an obscene word. • Obsession: A man believes he might inadvertently contaminate food as he cooks dinner for his family. • Compulsion: On a daily basis, he sterilizes all cooking utensils, scours every pot and pan, and wears rubber gloves when handling any food.

Etiology of Anxiety Disorders • Biological perspective – – – –

Genetic predisposition Hyperactive amygdala Highly sensitive respiratory alarm system (panic disorder) Abnormality in the orbital cortex of the basal ganglia and the “worry circuit” in the brain (OCD)

• Learning perspective – Classical conditioning – Operant conditioning – Social learning

• Cognitive perspective – Catastrophic thinking – Mind reading (social phobia) – Perfectionistic thinking (OCD)

Mood Disorders

Symptoms of Major Depression • • • • • • • • •

DSM IV Requires 5 of these within the past 2 weeks

Depressed mood Reduced interest in almost all activities Significant weight gain or loss, without dieting Sleep disturbance (insomnia or too much sleep) Change in motor activity (increase or decrease) Fatigue or loss of energy Feelings of worthlessness or guilt Reduced ability to think or concentrate Recurrent thoughts of death

Theories of Depression • Biological explanations emphasize genetics and brain chemistry. • Social explanations emphasize the stressful circumstances of people’s lives. • Attachment/interpersonal explanations emphasize problems with close relationships. • Cognitive explanations emphasize particular habits of thinking and ways of interpreting events. • “Vulnerability-Stress” explanations draw on all four explanations described above.

Mania • Persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood – Inflated self-esteem (grandiosity) – Decreased need for sleep – Talkativeness – Racing thoughts – Distractibility – Increased activity or psychomotor agitation – Behavioral impulsivity

Bipolar Disorder • Bipolar Disorder: – A mood disorder in which episodes of depression and mania (excessive euphoria) occur. – Bipolar subtypes (I and II)

Mood

Schizophrenia

Positive and Negative Symptoms • Positive Symptoms: Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral excesses – – – –

Hallucinations Bizarre Delusions Incoherent Speech Inappropriate/Disorganized Behaviors

• Negative Symptoms: Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral deficits – – – –

Loss of Motivation Emotional Flatness Social Withdrawal Slowed speech or no speech

Theories of Schizophrenia • Genetic predispositions • Neurotransmitter abnormalities • Structural brain abnormalities

Genetic Vulnerability to Schizophrenia • The risk of developing schizophrenia (i.e., prevalence) in one’s lifetime increases as the genetic relatedness with a diagnosed schizophrenic increases.

Structural Abnormalities in Sz

MRI scans show that a person with Schizophrenia (left) is more likely than a healthy person (right) to have enlarged ventricles.

•

•

Case Examples 1. Barry has been feeling overwhelmed with feelings of sadness and hopelessness for the past couple of months. He cannot think of any reason for feeling this way, which also leaves him feeling frustrated and more despondent. He has little appetite and has been having problems sleeping and concentrating. He has stopped hanging out with his friends and spends much of his time alone in his apartment. Although he is against suicide for religious reasons, Barry is even beginning to understand why someone might make that choice, as he is finding it increasingly hard to get through each day. 2. Six months ago, Candace was sitting at her desk at work when, all of a sudden, she started feeling really strange. Her ears seemed to be stuffed with cotton and her vision was very dim. She was cold, had broken out in a sweat, and felt extremely afraid for no good reason. Her heart was racing and she immediately became convinced that she was dying. Candace went for almost a month before she experienced another similar episode. Then, they began occurring more frequently, particularly when she traveled or found herself in an unfamiliar place. In the past few months, she has started to avoid places in which she fears she may have an episode and won’t be able to escape or get help. She rarely leaves her house except to go to work and may end up losing her job due to her unwillingness to travel on business. She has consulted her family physician and a cardiologist, but neither has found a medical cause for her episodes.

Case Examples •

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•

3. Matthew’s family has been getting concerned about his odd behavior. He has stopped going to his classes, often is found mumbling to himself or avoiding others altogether, and has expressed fear that his landlord and his neighbor are out to get him. He has started wearing many layers of clothes, despite the warm weather. When asked about this, he vaguely explained that “they told me I need to be prepared.” 4. Mary was always coming up with grand plans for making money, pouring her time and vast amounts of energy into each idea (often spending 18-20 hour days on the project of the moment, with little time for sleep), none of which lasted very long before she abandoned them. The latest scheme is to buy a huge tract of land and build an expensive “dude” ranch where people can come to learn how to train their horses, eat at a four-star restaurant, and stay in luxury accommodations – all this in spite of the fact that Mary doesn’t have the money to buy the land, knowledge of how to run a hotel, or have a four-star chef handy. Indeed, she has already filed for bankruptcy and has alienated her family due to outstanding debts, in relation to previous, similar grand ideas. 5. Joe’s relatives are concerned that he worries too much. He worries about little things going wrong, he worries about big things going wrong, and sometimes it seems he worries because there’s nothing to worry about. He worries until his neck is stiff and has a hard time winding down to go to sleep at night.

Treatment and Psychotherapy

Pharmacotherapy: Mechanism of Action • Anti-depressants: increase serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine • Anti-anxiety medications: either act on the above neurotransmitters or increase GABA • Anti-psychotics: decrease dopamine

Psychotherapy

Psychodynamic Therapy • Origins in Freud’s psychodynamic theory of personality • Assumptions – Our behavior is influenced by unconscious motives, drives, and conflicts – Our ego employs defense mechanisms to help us cope with these unconscious conflicts – Early childhood experiences are central to our personality development and later adult functioning

• Treatment – Techniques used to examine unconscious material (free association, dream analysis, examination of slips of the tongue) – Psychoanalysis vs. time-limited psychodynamic therapy

• Treatment goal – Increased insight into unconscious dynamics

Behavioral Therapy • Origins in principles of learning • Assumptions – Problematic behaviors and symptoms have developed as a result of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or social learning

• Treatment – Classical conditioning interventions: systematic desensitization (counter-conditioning and graduated exposure), aversion therapy – Operant conditioning interventions: self-management, token economy – Social learning interventions: skills training

Fear Hierarchy

Cognitive Therapy • Grew out of socio-cognitive theory • Assumptions – Our cognitions (thoughts, beliefs, appraisals) play an important role in determining how the environment impacts us – Maladaptive schemas can lead to cognitive distortions, which affect emotions and behaviors

• Treatment – Thought monitoring – Cognitive restructuring – Often combined with Behavior Therapy interventions (CBT)

How cognitions might be changed: • Patient: “I’ve had an awful day! My car wouldn’t start this morning, and everything has gone wrong since. I don’t think my luck will ever change.” • Clinician: “Is it the case that everything has gone wrong, or more like a few pretty bad things? Is it making things better or worse, this belief that things are awful and won’t change?” (RET – change via logical examination) • Clinician: “What’s the evidence that your luck won’t change? Is there any evidence your luck will change? For example, have you had bad days in the past, and then things have gotten a bit better later? How could we put this belief to the test?” (CT – change via empirical examination)

Humanistic Therapy • Originated as alternative view to psychodynamic and CBT models (positive psychology) • Assumptions – People (clients) are experts on their own experiences – People are intrinsically motivated towards growth – Increased self-awareness and self-acceptance can promote growth – Self-discovery and self-acceptance can be facilitated via the client-therapist relationship

• Therapy – Person-Centered (Carl Rogers): Emphasis on therapeutic relationship – Gestalt/Experiential (Fritz Perls): Emphasis on increasing awareness in the here-and-now – Existential (Victor Frankl): Emphasis on helping the client explore the “ultimate concerns” of life (e.g., death, isolation, meaninglessness)

Family Systems Therapy • Key Assumption – Problems and solutions reside within the family system as a whole, not with individual members of the family

• Therapy – Therapy sessions usually involve multiple family members – Many different types of family systems therapy exist, but focus is generally on improving communications among family members and realigning relationships (e.g., getting parents to work together as a team)

Psychotherapy Overview • Review of 475 psychotherapy outcome studies showed 70-80% improvement for those receiving therapy (M. Smith et al., 1980) • Cognitive-behavioral treatment has the most empirical support • However, treatment comparison research has not found overwhelming support for the efficacy of one therapy approach over others (except for specific disorders) • Common factors seem to account for much of the treatment gains in therapy (being listened to by a supportive helping professional, being provided with feedback, being seen in a professional setting, paying for services) • Most therapists in the US identify themselves as integrative/eclectic or cognitive-behavioral