HPS121 Psychology Notes

TOPIC #1 Human Development: Infancy and Childhood (chapter 11) Developmental psychology Study of changes in physiology, cognition and social behavior over the life span What Shapes a Child? Human development follows a predictable progression Environment influences development

Development Starts in the Womb Development process begins at the moment of conception till birth (prenatal period) Sperm from male unites with eggs from female to create the zygote Zygote A single celled organism, carries genetic blueprint for From 0 2 weeks = Germinal stage, rapid cell division leads to creation of embryo Migrates to uterus, placenta begins to form From two weeks to two months the developing human is known as an embryo During embryo stage, internal organs begin to form (heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, sex organs, and nervous system) Arms, hands, legs, feet, fingers, toes eyes, ears also emerge Embryo is highly vulnerable and it is a critical period of development After two months, it is known as a fetus Foetal stage involves lots of physical growth (8-38 weeks) o o o o 6-9 months mark rapid cerebral development Respiratory and digestive systems mature Bones and muscles form Capable of movement

Basic brain areas begin to form by week 4 Cortex develops by week 7 Thalamus and hypothalamus week 10 Left and right hemispheres week 12 By month 7, the fetus has a working nervous system Brain development does not stop at birth; it continues to develop throughout childhood and adulthood and into old age.

Teratogens Teratogens Environmental agents that harm the embryo or fetus Can impair physical and cognitive development Drugs, bacteria, viruses, chemicals, alcohol Extent of damage depends on the time of exposure as well as the length and amount of exposure. Exposure to a teratogen at 4 weeks can interfere with brain development Thalidomide = deformed limbs If exposure occurs during germinal period = death If exposure occurs during embryotic period = structural damage If exposure occurs during foetal period = functional damage Excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) Causes low birth weight, face and head abnormalities, mental retardation and behavioral and cognitive problems. Recreational drugs: babies can be small, premature, defect of limbs, kidneys, urinary system, CNS and cardiovascular system Tobacco: increases childs risk of SIDS, cerebral palsy, clef palate, congenital health defects, ADD Brain Development Neurons begin to form in Embryonic Stage Week 4 At birth, infants o o o o Can discriminate flavours and odours (taste & smell) Can hear well orienting towards sounds (hear) Can visually discriminate objects <30cm (sight) Capable of basic reflexes (touch) Grasping, rooting, startle

Newborns are equipped with basic reflexes that aid survival (grasping) These reflexes pave the way for learning more complicated behavior patterns such as feeding oneself or walking

Myelination and Neuronal Connections Early brain growth has two important aspects o o Specific areas become more mature and functional Regions of the brain learn to communicate with each other through synaptic connections

Myelination is the brains way of insulating its wires Nerve fibers are wrapped in fatty sheath to increase the speed of signal transmits Myelination begins on the spinal cord during first trimester of pregnancy and on the brains neurons during the second trimester. Myelinated axons form synapses with other neurons Then synaptic pruning occurs Synaptic pruning A process whereby the synaptic connections in the brain that are frequently used are preserved, and those that are not are lost. Synaptic density is highest in the auditory cortex around age three Visual cortex at ages one and two And in the prefrontal cortex at around age six Some psychologists believe infants do not develop specific cognitive skills until certain brain connections are made Idea that the progression of learning is tied closely to brain development The brain grows according to genetic instruction, but is also highly plastic Most neurons are already formed at birth, but the brains physical development continues through growth of neurons and new connections made Age four: brain grows from 350grams to 1,250 grams Size increase is due to myelination and new synaptic connections

Sensitive Learning Periods Critical periods biologically determined time periods for the development of specific skills (Eric Lenneberg) Lenneberg believed that if skills and knowledge were not acquired during these critical periods, then they could not be acquired But in the case of Genie, it is shown that the critical period for language (generally before age 12) is not so rigid These periods are now called sensitive periods where certain skills and knowledge are learned most easily Sensitive periods biologically determined time periods when specific skill develop most easily Attachment Promotes Survival Children are also shaped by their early interactions with other people In particular, with their caregivers Humans are born profoundly immature and rely on caregivers greatly

Within 10 weeks after birth, infants are profoundly affected by their caregivers facial expressions Between four to six weeks, infants show signs of a first social smile This enhances powerful feelings of love between caregiver and child Psychological scientists refer to this bond as an attachment Attachment a strong emotional connection that persists over time and across circumstances John Bowlby popularized its importance Bowlby argued that infants have an innate repertoire of attachment behaviours that motivate adult attention Infants prefer to remain close to caregivers Act distressed when caregiver leaves Infants who exhibit attachment behaviours are more likely to survive through adult protection Adults seem predisposed to responding to infants They also respond in a way that infants can understand (eg: exaggerated facial expressions, higher pitch) Bowlby argues that these behaviours motivate infants and caregivers to stay in proximity BIOLOGICAL: infants are programmed to emit behaviours that trigger protective response in caregivers EVOLUTIONARY: attachment is adaptive, attachment behaviours are passed on through genes and now has evolved to ensure survival of infants PSYCHOANALYTICAL: assumes special relationship with mother forms template for future intimate relationships

Attachment in Other Species Important for survival in other species other than humans Birds communicate hunger through crying, prompting caregivers to find food for them It was observed that birds have a critical period where infants become strongly attached to a nearby adult Applies to birds as when they are born, they can walk and within 18 hours they will attach themselves to an adult (usually their mothers) and follow their object of attachment Konrad Lorenz called the behaviour as imprinting Goslings that imprinted on him did not go back to their biological mothers when later given access to them In 1950, Harry Harlow discovered one of the most striking examples of nonhuman attachment Experiments showed that infants did not need mothers primarily as food sources

At the time many theories of why infants needed mothers were present: o o o Freudians believed that mothers were the source of libidinal (life or emotional or sexual) pleasures Behaviourists believed that mothers were valued as the result of secondary reinforcement given her role as the provider of food Harlow showed that infants needed comfort and security in addition to food

Harlow placed infant rhesus monkeys in a cage with two different mothers One mother was made of bare wire and could give milk through an attached bottle The other mother was made of soft terrycloth and had a monkeylike head but could not provide food The infant monkeys clung to the soft mother most of the day and went to it for comfort and in ties of threat, they only approached the other mother for the bottle. When placed in a strange situation (new surroundings) the infant would use the cloth mother as a base and explore the room going back to the cloth mother for comfort and security.

Attachment Style Attachment behaviours begin during the first months of an infants life Normal attachment can vary depending on cultural practices At 6-8 months, infants begin to show separation anxiety Separation anxiety where an infant displays negative behavioural signs when separated from caregiver (eg: distress, crying) Mary Ainsworth created a test where a child and their caregiver are observed through a one way mirror meeting an unfamiliar adult in a series of eight structured episodes in a laboratory playroom Known as the strange situation tests Procedure involves a sequence of separations and reunions between child and each adult Over the course of 8 episodes, child experiences increasing distress and greater need for caregiver proximity The extent to which the child copes with distress and strategies they use indicate the quality of the childs attachment Activity levels such as crying, playing and paying attention to the mother and stranger are recorded Ainsworth originally recognized three types of child attachment SECURE ATTACHMENT: o o Applies to most children (65%) Child is happy to play alone and is friendly to stranger while attachment figure is present

o o o o o o o

When attachment figure leaves, child is distressed whines or cries and shows signs of looking for caregiver When they return, child is happy and quickly comforted Often wants to be held or hugged then returns to playing Approximately 20-25% Does not appear distressed or upset when caregiver leaves May be comforted by stranger When attachment figure returns, child does not want a reunion, rather ignores or snubs the attachment figure

AVOIDANT ATTACHMENT:

ANXIOUS-AMBIVALENT ATTACHMENT: o o o o 10-15% of sample Anxious throughout the whole test, clings to attachment figure when present When the attachment figure leaves, the child becomes inconsolably upset When they return, child will seek and reject caring contact (eg: will want to be held but then fights to be released)

DISORGANIZED ATTACHMENT (not originally identified) o o Infants display mixed responses May smile at the caregiver but display behaviours of avoidance

Children with behavioural problems such as rarely smile, disruptive, fussy are more likely to be anxious/ambivalent or avoidant Caregivers personality also contributes to the attachment style Emotionally or behaviourally inconsistent caregivers tend to have children with anxious/ambivalent Rejecting caregivers have children with avoidant attachment

How Do Children Learn about Their Worlds? At birth infants can discriminate taste and smell Hear, localize and orient to sounds At 6 months, their hearing is almost equivalent to adult auditory

Perception Introduces the World Information from the world help children to learn At birth, although infants have all their senses, theyre poorly developed Infants use information gathered from their senses to make sense of the world

Infant-Research Techniques

Tests that record how long an infant looks at a stimulus that interests them Preferential-looking technique researches present two things to an infant, if the infant looks longer at one of the two things, then the researchers know the infant can distinguish between the two and finds one more interesting

Orienting reflex the human tendency to pay more attention to new stimuli rather than stimuli that are accustomed to are have become habituated Researchers use this to determine when an infant notices a change in a stimuli by introducing it to them many times until they adapt or become bored (when the time the infant looks at it declines)

Vision

Then the change it and measure whether the infants react to the change, if they look longer at it, then the infant is noticing the difference between the two stimuli These tests are used to measure an infants perceptual abilities How and when they perceive colour, depth, and movement

From infancy, humans can distinguish differences among patterns, shapes and colours Psychologists use preferential looking techniques to determine how well an infant can see (visual acuity) In the 1960s, Robert Fantz conducted experiments where infants were shown a series of black and white stripes as well as patches of gray and observed infants reactions It was seen that infants preferred to look at the stripes rather than the grey patches But the smaller the stripes got, the more difficult it became for infants to distinguish between the two When infants looked at both images for equal amounts of time, researches assumed that the infants could not tell the difference between the two Research has shown that infants visual acuity for distant objects are initially poor (~30cm) but within 6 months, it improves rapidly Due to the development of the infants visual cortex as well as the cones in the retina To assess depth perception in infancy, psychologists showed infants stereograms where one view of an image is shown to one eye and another view to the other. If infants cannot use disparity information to perceive depth they will only see a random collection of dots To determine whether or not infants can see stereograms Robert Fox devised an experiment where babies would sit on their parents lap and wear special viewing glasses to look at a screen

Babies with binocular disparity should be able to see a 3D rectangle moving back and forth Babies without binocular disparity should only see a field of dots with no movement. Results indicated that the ability to perceive depth develops between 3.5 6 months

Auditory Perception When a rattle is shook near an infants left or right ear, they turn towards the direction of the sound indicating that they have heard the sound and know where its coming from Analysis have shown that at 6 months, infants have nearly an adults level of auditory function Infants also have a memory for sounds Infants can recognize sounds that they have heard before Eg: newborns altered their sucking patterns in order to hear their mothers voice more often From the first three months to adulthood, there is a continuity in how the brain processes speech Memory Improves over Childhood Development of memory also helps children learn about the world as new information builds on what they already know Carolyn Rovee-Collier showed that infants possess some types of memory, even though it is quite rudimentary In experiments, an infant was placed in a crib with a mobile above him/her and a ribbon attached to the babys ankle The infant learned that he could move the mobile by kicking Later when the infant was tested, the ribbon was no longer attached to the mobile but was still attached to the infants ankle The baby would recognize the mobile and would kick faster than the previous test to try make the mobile move Infants ranging from 2-18 months were trained and tested at different lengths of time Findings showed that older infants remembered longer some up to several weeks.

Infantile Amnesia The inability to remember events from early childhood Coined by Sigmund Freud Many explanations have be suggested such as children begin to retain memories after developing the ability to create autobiographical memory Eg: the cat scratched me rather than cats scratch Other psychologists believe the ability to use words and concepts aids in memory retention (language acquisition)

Inaccurate Memory Young children often cannot remember where they learned something (source amnesia) Evidence has shown that many of peoples earliest memories come from looking at pictures in family albums, watching home movies, or hearing stories. Not actual memories of the events Children are also known to confabulate (make things up) Happens when asked about personal experiences Eg: children were asked if they had ever gotten their fingers cought in a mousetrap 10 weeks later, a new interviewer asked the same question and 60% of children presented a false story with great detail Many disputed memories between siblings and twins, happen during preschool years when source memory is still developing Piaget Emphasized Stages of Development Is development continuous or stagelike? Jean Piaget founded a theory about the development of thinking Paid specific attention to how children made errors rather than how they succeeded on tasks. Piaget proposed that children go through four stages of development o o o o Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete operational Formal operational

Each phases reflects different ways of thinking about the world Infants doe not know less than adults, rather they view the world based on an entirely different set of assumption At each stage children form new schemas Sensorimotor (0 2 years) o o o Differentiates self from objects Recognizes self as and agent of action (eg: shakes a rattle to make noise, pushes ball to make it move) Achieves object permanence (realizes that things continue to exists even when it is no longer present to the senses)

Preoperational (2 7 years) o o o Learns to use language and represent objects by images and words Egocentric (has difficulty taking others view point) Symbolic functioning (make believe)

o o o o o o o o o

Classifies objects by a single feature (eg: all red blocks are shaped together regardless of shape) Unable to mentally reverse events Makes the mistake about the short glass tall glass Can think logically about objects and events Achieves conservation of number, mass and weight (7-9 years) Classifies objects by several features and can order them in a series along a single dimension such as size Decentering Can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systematically Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems

Concrete Operational (7 12 years)

Formal Operational (12 years < )

Many psychologists have challenged Piagets theory, some dispute that children move back and forth between stages They believe that different areas in the brain are responsible for different skills and the development of different skills does not have to follow strict stages

Infants have Early Knowledge about the World Recent research has shown that children understand a lot more at earlier ages than previously believed Preferential looking tests have showed that infants as young as three months can remember an object even when it is no longer in plain sight Infants reactions to novel stimuli also indicate that they have cognitive skills

Understanding the Laws of Nature: Physics Elizabeth Spelke and her colleagues have conducted many experiments that show that infants have a primitive understanding of some of the basic laws of physics We are born with the ability to perceive movement As infants get older, they use movement information to determine if an object is continuous In one experiment infants were shown a rod moving back and forth behind a block Once habituated, the block was removed and the infants were shown two scenes One scene showed one rod, where as the other scene showed two smaller rods Infants spent a much longer time looking at the second scene indicating that they expected it to be one continuous object rather than two

Understanding the laws of Nature: Mathematics Piaget believed that young children do not understand numbers and therefore must learn counting and other number related skills through memorization His experiment involved showing 4-5 year old children two rows of marbles Both rows had the same amount, but one was more spread out Children usually said the longest row had more marbles He concluded that childrens understanding of quantity was to do with length, not numbers However Jacques Mahler and Tom Bever (1967) argues that children younger than 3 years can understand quantity They repeated Piagets experiment with M&Ms and asked children if the rows were the same When the children said yes, the researches changed the rows by adding two candies to the second row but compressing it so it was shorter Then they asked the children which row they wanted to eat More than 80% chose the row with more This research indicated that when children are properly motivated, they can understand and demonstrate their knowledge of more than and less than Further research has showed that infants have a basic idea of addition and subtraction Eg: an experiment was conducted where 5 blocks were covered by a panel and 5 more moved behind the panel so that when the panel was removed you would expect to see 10 Infants also showed this expectancy when they looked at the screen longer when the panel was lifted and only 5 blocks were there Humans Learn from Interacting with Others Currently, psychologists believe that early social interactions between infants and caregivers build essential foundations for the infant to learn about other people and communication In society we need to be aware of other peoples intentions, to behave in ways that generally conform to others expectations and to develop moral codes that guide actions Theory of Mind The term used to describe the ability to explain and predict other peoples behaviour as a result of recognizing their mental state David Premack proposed that young children are not good at understanding how others think

However over the past few decades, evidence has shown that young children are less egocentric than previously believed From a young age children understand that people perform actions for a reason False belief test measures childrens ability to predict actions To complete this test successfully, children must understand that people can act on the basis of false information Eg: Sally puts the marble in the basket and leaves the room, Ann then comes into the room and puts the marble in the box. The child is then asked to guess where sally will look for the marble when she comes back into the room?

Most children are able to solve this problem by age four or five as they have sufficient language skills and the ability to coordinate deliberate actions with beliefs Childrens success at this test seems to coincide with the maturation of the brains frontal lobes This finding is culturally universal meaning that it is more influenced by biological maturation rather than cultural practices Frontal lobe importance is also supported by research with adults When asked to think about others mental states, brain scans show that the frontal lobe activates

Moral Reasoning and Moral Emotions Concerns the way people learn to decide between behaviours with competing social outcomes Psychologists have theorized that moral reasoning depends on cognitive processes and moral emotions If people lack adequate cognitive abilities, their moral emotions may not translate into moral behaviours Lawrence Kohlberg developed a stage theory, he tested morality by asking people to respond to hypothetical situations where the main character was faced with a moral dilemma (eg: having to steal drugs to save his wife) Kohlberg also devised three levels of moral reasoning: Preconventional level o o o o o o Earliest level of moral development Self interest determines what is moral Eg he should steal the drug if he really likes his wife Middle stage of moral development Rules and the approval of other determines what is moral Conforms to the rules of law and order

Conventional level

Eg he shouldnt take the drug because it is wrong to steal and everyone will think hes a bad person

Post conventional level o o o o Highest stage of moral development Decisions depend on abstract principals Complex reasoning Eg sometimes people have to break the law if the law is unjust

Some critisise the heavy reliance on cognitive processes noting that emotions have a heavy influence too Research on moral behaviours emotional components have largely focused on empathy and sympathy Empathy arises from understanding anothers emotional state and feeling what the other person is feeling or would be expected to feel Sympathy involves feeling for the person Pity, sorrow, concern (sympathy) Moral emotions form early in life but emerge after primary emotions eg: happiness and anger They are therefore known as secondary emotions Research has shown that parents behaviours can influence childrens level of both moral emotions and prosocial behaviour Parents of sympathetic children tend to have certain characteristics such as high in sympathy and they allow their children to express negative emotions in ways that do not harm others

Promote an understanding and focus on others On the other side, parents are more lax in discipline, display more frequent anger If parents show inductive reasoning you made Chris cry, its not nice to hit it promotes childrens sympathetic attitudes

Psychological Basis of Morality People have a visceral response to real or imagined outcomes and that this response aids decision making Antonio Damasio found that patients with damage to the prefrontal cortex fail to become emotionally involved in decision making He studied to individuals that had had prefrontal damage during infancy Both individuals showed deficiencies in moral and social reasoning They lacked somatic markers

Language Develops in an Orderly Fashion Communication allows humans to learn a lot about each other Enables us to live in complex societies As the brain develops, so does the ability to speak and form sentences Although there is some variation, the stages of language development are remarkably uniform across individuals Michael Tomasello states that early social interactions between infant and caregiver are essential to understanding other people Ability to speak can be disrupted by social isolation and lack of exposure to language (eg: Genies Case) From Zero to 60,000 Language is a system of using sounds and symbols according to grammatical rules Sentences can be broken down into smaller units or phrases Which can be then broken down further into words Each which consists of morphemes And then phonemes (basic sounds) System of rules that govern how words are combined is a languages syntax Up to six months of age a baby can discriminate all the speech sounds that occur in all natural languages Experimenters use a habituation techniques to study how infants learn speech sounds They distract the baby with a toy on one side and speech sounds were emitted from a box on the other side eg : ba ba ba Then a new speech sound was introduced la la la and if the baby turned towards the new sounds, the researchers determined that the baby could tell the difference between ba and la During the first months of life, newborns actions generate all their sounds (cries, gurgles or grunts) Cooing and laughing appear three to five months 5-7 months see babbling And 7-8 months they babble in syllables By the first year, the syllables are mixed and then they begin to take on the sounds and rhythms of the infants native language Babbling may be an infants way of testing out the system, checking out the basic parts and how theyre put together. At around age 1 babies utter their first words, these are often two types of words

Performatives wordlike sounds that are learned in a context and that a baby may not be using to represent a meaning eg: the baby says hello while holding a phone True words are clearly meant to represent concepts (cat for the family pet, book for a bedtime story) Most first words identify objects and the rest tend to be simple action words (go, up sit), quantifiers (all gone! More!), qualities or adjectives (hot), socially interactive words (bye, hello, yes, no) and even internal states (boo boo after being hurt)

By 18 months children begin to put words together and their vocabulary begins to grow rapidly Sentences of two words begin to emerge, they may be missing words, but have a logic or syntax eg: throw ball. All gone Roger Brown often referred to these as telegraphic speech as the child speaks as though they are sending a telegram Just basic necessary words At ages 3-5 children may begin to make errors by over applying grammatical rules I runned or holded or mouses and mans These are rare, however reflect an important aspect of language acquisition

Acquiring Language with the Hands Deaf babies have also been found to acquire sign language as quickly as spoken languages Laura Ann Petitto observed deaf babies of deaf parents in households using two different signed languages They found that the babies exposed to signed languages from birth acquired these languages on an identical maturational timetable as hearing babies Universal Grammar Noam Chomsky argued that language must be governed by universal grammar or innate knowledge of a set of universal and specifically linguistic elements and relations that form the heart of all human languages Before this , linguistics focused on analyzing language and identifying basic components of grammar All languages have similar elements such as nouns and verbs but how they are arranged varies Deep structure the implicit meaning of sentences Surface structure the way the sentence is arranged Research shows that we remember a sentences deep structure, not its surface structure Environment heavily influences a childs aquisiion of language

Creole Language a language that has evolved from mixing of languages Develops out of rudimentary communication where a population that speaks several languages attempt to understand each other

Learning To Read Two major schools of thought in teaching children to read Phonics teach an association between letters and their phonemes or sounds Children learn to spell out words by how they sound But due to the complexity of English language, some educators use the whole language approach Emphasizes the words meaning and how words are connected in sentences In the phonic method, children learn a small number of simple words that teach the sounds of letters for most of the other words However they then learn the exceptions to these general rules Research has shown that this method is superior to the whole language approach But the whole language approach motivates children by making reading fun and encourages students to be thoughtful Animal Communication Animals have ways of communicating with each other, yet none of them use languages like humans do Scientists have tried to teach chimps how to speak however they lack the vocal ability to speak aloud So studies have used sign language or visual cues to determine whether they understand words or concepts Although they tried to teach a chimp (Neam Chimpsky aka Nim) American Sign Language, Nim could never truly grasp the language, he was able to use basic signs such as eat play and more, however was never able to construct sentences.

TOPIC #2 Human Development: Childhood and Adulthood (chapter 11) How Do Children and Adolescents Develop Their Identities? After a child starts to learn more about the world, they begin to create their own sense of identity Identity formation is an important part of social development Social development maturation of skills or abilities that enable people to live in a world with other people When establishing a personal identity, children need to break away from childhood beliefs by questioning and challenging parental and social ideas Three major changes cause adolescents to question who they are o o o Changing physical appearance (leads to changes in self image) More sophisticated cognitive abilities (prompts increased introspection) Heightened pressure to prepare for the future (career choices)

Social Systems influence Development Urie Bronfenbrenner proposed the biocultural systems theory which emphasizes the way biology and cultural systems interact to affect development We best understand development by considering the context in which it occurs Bronfenbrenner theories that there were 4 levels of systems that affect development Microsystem the central system that has the most immediate effects on a child o Includes family and cultural factors

Exosystem an external system with less direct influences o o Parents workplace or church where the family attends Creates expectations about both behaviours and belief systems and indirectly regulate how much time and energy parents spend with their children

Macrosystem the larger sociocultural context in which a child is reared o reared Bronfenbrenners theory emphasizes cultural effects on peoples formation of identities Has influenced public policies and cofounded Head Start, a federal program in the US that helps children in low income families to develop skills and abilities fostered by middle class families Eg: Asian culture or south African culture Chronosystem the norms and the rules in effect at the historical time when the child is

Friends Influence Identity and Behaviour

The importance of peers importance in shaping identity has been increasingly recognized between psychologists Regardless of culture, all children spend a lot of time interacting with other children, usually playing in various ways Children of all years learn how to behave from their peers If they behave appropriately, they receive social rewards and for behaving inappropriately they receive social punishments Eg: childrens math grades are often correlated with the average math and verbal skills of the children in their peer group Early friends are both playmates and teachers Adolescents compare their strengths and weaknesses with those of their peers Teens form friendships with others whose values and worldview are similar to their own

Parent Versus Peers Judith Rich Harris believes that parents do not have much influence on childrens social development other than choosing where to live and what schools to send their children to. Also proposed that parents have no long term effects on the development of childrens personality Harris argued that a childs peers are the most important influence when it comes to socialization Her work is based mainly on group socialization theory Group socialization theory proposes that children learn two sets of behaviours, one for inside the home and one for outside Behaviours learned inside the home in early life are not useful in outside social contexts According to Harris, only behaviours learned outside the home have long-term effects on personality In contrast, research has also shown that parents have a substantial influence on an individuals life Researchers have concluded that neither play a dominant role, rather they complement each other Branford Brown argued hat it is the parents influence that affects social development by influencing decisions made about what kind of social group to join Parents play a major role in realigning social groups that are consistent with family norms

Parental Style Can Affect Childrens Well-Being Longitudinal study conducted by Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas Study ran for 6 years and included 141 children from upper middle class families

Chess and Thomas focused on what they thought was the crucial factor in child/parent interaction: each childs biologically based temperament (typical mood, activity level and emotional reactivity)

The study found that the fit between the childs temperament and the parents behaviours is most important in determining social development Eg: parents often have a hard time raising a difficult child who tends to have negative moods and do not adapt well to new situations Parents who openly demonstrated their frustration may unwittingly encourage more negative behaviours o o If the child is uneasy about a new setting, pushing the child can lead to behavioural problems If the child is distracted easy, forcing them to concentrate for long periods may lead to emotional upset

It was found that parents who responded to the child calmly, firmly, patiently and consistently tended to have the most positive outcomes These parents did not engage in self blame and managed to cope with their own frustration and disappointment It was also noted that overprotectiveness can encourage a childs anxiety and escalate the childs distress Overall it was found that the best style of parenting was dynamic and flexible Other research has shown that parents can influence a childs attitudes, values and religious beliefs. Children learn about the world through their parents (eg: prejudices towards certain groups) Parents who avoid or limit television time and instead encourage going out for a hike or a jog, may have children who are more physically fit and athletic However there are biological factors that may also influence this

Divorce is Difficult for Children Every year, nearly 1 million children experience their parents divorce Research has suggested that divorce contributes to many problems children have Children who have experienced divorce tend to do worse in school, have more conduct disorders and psychological problems, have poor social relations and low self-esteem. They are also more likely to get divorced as adults Divorce may damage a childs relationship with one or both parents and they potentially loose a important source of both emotional support and guidance However, children who live in houses filled with conflict may have psychological problems even if their parents stay together

Although children with two parents fare the best, children who lose a parent through death have few problems than children of divorce Children raised by single mothers also have similar problems as children of divorce have Overall evidence suggests that the absence of a biological father is associated with many negative outcomes Girls raised without fathers were more likely to initiate early sexual activity and were much more likely to become pregnant at a young age However having a stepfather does not necessarily resolve these problems Often with divorce, mothers are forced to work considerably more as financial resources leave with the father. In divorces where the father continues to stay involved in the family economically and emotionally, divorce effects are reduced significantly But staying in a marriage results in a high conflict situation and can result in even more negative outcomes

Biology and Cultural Norms determine Gender Identity Gender identity Personal beliefs about whether one is male or female Gender roles Characteristics associated with males or females because of cultural influence or learning Gender Schemes Cognitive structures that influence how people perceive the behaviours of males and females Some scientists use the term sex to refer to the biological differences and the term gender to refer the to the social differences There are differences between a females brain and a males brain, however it is undetermined whether this is from genes or the result of how girls and boys are treated during development Children as young as one or two can tell you whether they are a girl or a boy Once children discover their sex, they seek out activities that are culturally appropriate for their sex Eg: in North American culture, parents and teachers discourage girls from playing too roughly and boys from crying Separation of boys and girls into different play groups also have a powerful socializing force Gender roles differ because of cultural influences, social expectancies and learning Children develop these expectations by observing their parents, peers and teachers as well as media Most politicians and firefighters are male where as nurses, secretaries are mostly female When children are asked to draw a picture of a scientist, most draw a man

On toy packaging, you will rarely find a boy depicted with a doll and a girl depicted with contact sports gear. These messages provide information for children about how they should and shouldnt behave Situational factors can also contribute to gender specific behaviour A study where women were observed talking to their boyfriends and talking to their male friends showed that when talking to their boyfriends, their voices changed to a higher pitch and became softer and more relaxed

It also took on a more babyish, feminine and absentminded tone

Biological Bases of Sexual Identity In 1966 Janet and Ron Reimer took their 7 month old twins Bruce and Brian to a hospital for routine circumcision Bruce was operated on first however his penis was severally damaged and as a result had to be removed The Reimer family under the recommendation of John Money decided to raise Bruce as a girl and renamed him Brenda Money reported that that the sexual reassignment was successful and Brenda was well adjusted This case also led him to conclude that gender was the result of socialization rather than biology However John Colapinto published a book in 2000 that indicated that Brendas sexual reassignment was a failure from the start Brenda grew her hair long and wore dresses however was not comfortable or happy being a girl She was constantly teased and bullied at school and was extremely uncomfortable when she received hormones at age 11 to initiate the development of her breasts She developed depression by age 15 and became almost suicidal She was told the truth and immediately decided to revert back to being a boy She changed her name to David, married and was stepfather to three children However after a while, his marriage broke down, he lost his job and with the death of his twin brother (OD) he committed suicide in May 2004 at the age of 38 This case shows us that gender identity is not only shaped by social influences Biology has a strong effect on whether people identify as a female or male

People Define Themselves in Terms of Race and Ethnicity Studies have shown that at three months of age, infants can discern racial differences in the faces of strangers Infants generally look longer at faces from their own race However infants who did not do this were children of African descent but were living in a predominantly Caucasian culture Researches attribute this to the fact that the children have high levels of contact with both races during their early years When children enter middle childhood, they have an awareness of their ethnic identities Many researches believe that children in ethnic minority groups often engage in additional processes aimed at ethnic identity formation These days, more and more people refuse to be pigeonholed into one category of ethnic identity What Brings Meaning to Adulthood? Recently researchers have discovered that the most important aspects of development do not stop after the age of twenty, but can continue throughout adulthood into old age Many contemporary psychologists have considered development from a life-span perspective looking a how mental activity and social relations change over the entire course of life Although aging is associated with significant cognitive and physical decline, its an important part of life and can be meaningful Erik Erikson proposed a theory of development emphasizing age-related psychological processes He proposed that identity development consists of 8 stages ranging from infants first years to old age Each stage has a developmental crisis or developmental challenge to be confronted Infancy (0-2 years) o o o o Trust and mistrust Children learn that the world is safe and that people are loving and reliable Autonomy versus shame and doubt Encouraged to explore the environment, children gain feelings of independence and positive self esteem Preschool (4-6 years) o Initiative versus guilt

Toddler (2-3 years)

Children develop a sense of purpose by taking on responsibilities, but also develop the capacity to feel guilty for misdeeds

Childhood (7-12 years) o o Industry versus inferiority By working successfully with others, children learn to feel competent Ego identity versus role confusion By exploring different social roles, adolescents develop a sense of identity Intimacy versus isolation Young adults gain the ability to commit to long-term relationships Generativity versus stagnation Adults gain a sense that they are contributing to the future and caring for future generations

Adolescence (13-19 years) o o

Young Adulthood (20s) o o

Middle Adulthood (30s 50s) o o

Old Age (60s and beyond) o o Integrity versus despair Older adults feel as sense of satisfaction that they have lived a good life and developed wisdom

The sixth stage young adulthood where individuals tackle intimacy versus isolation involves the challenge of maintaining committed friendships and romantic relationships Seventh stage generativity versus stagnation takes place during middle life and involves producing or giving back to society Includes parenthood or engaging in activities such as volunteering Finally the last stage refers to a sense of honesty about oneself Older adults reflect on their lives and either respond positively or negatively

Adults are affected by Life Transitions Career Most find it difficult to find a career they hope will be satisfying Most people work approximately 100,000 hours in their lives Careers play an important role in overall happiness A good job not only provides material rewards, but also brings a sense of accomplishment and purpose According to Erikson, the desire for generativity inspires us to want to give back to the society

Marriage People devote a lot of time and effort into achieving and maintaining satisfying relationships Searching for the right partner is an important feature in contemporary western culture Marriage has health advantages (eg: longevity) Married couples support each other, encourage healthy habits and assist each other in meeting lifes demands Having Children One way people can satisfy the challenge of generativity is through having children Parents often become immersed in their childrens lives and can be a central characteristic of their self definition However children can strain marriages and research shows that couples with children report less marital satisfaction than those who are childless Although satisfaction is lower, marriages appear to be more stable

Aging can be Successful In western societies people are living longer and it is now common for people to live beyond 100 Populations are aging and by 2030 1 in 5 Americans will be over age 65 Much more attention has been focused on the lives of people over age 60 40% of federal judges are over 65 in the US Many older adults work productively well past their 70s However the mind and body do inevitably start to deteriorate at age 50 Graying, whitening of the hair and wrinkling skin More serious changes affect the brain, frontal lobes shrink proportionally more than other brain regions Researchers once believed that memory loss and confusion was inevitable Now many older adults remain alert but just slower Dementia can occur where thinking, memory and behaviour deteriorate progressively Dementia can be caused by excessive alcohol intake and HIV but the main cause for adults are Alzheimers disease and small strokes that affect the brains oxygen supply After age 70, the risk increases every year 3-5% or people will develop Alzheimers disease by age 70-75 Cause of Alzheimers is not known however evidence has suggested that cholesterol genes may be a factor Initial symptoms are minor memory impairments but the disease eventually progresses to more serious difficulties such as forgetting daily routines

Eventually the person loses all mental capacities including memory and language However some individuals thrive in old age, especially those with good financials and good health Older adults also report to be more satisfied with life, more so than younger adults Except for dementia, older adults have fewer mental health problems, including depression According to Laura Cartensens socioemotional selectivity theory, as people grow older they perceive time to be limited and thus adjust their priorities They experience more positive emotions

Cognition Changes during Aging Although it is a known fact that cognitive abilities decline with age, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what causes the decline Could be the slowing of mental processing speed Some sensory perceptual changes occur with age

Memory Older people find it difficult to juggle multiple pieces of information at the same time Tasks in which attention is divided also prove difficult (eg: driving and listening to radio) Researchers believe that these deficits reflect a decreased ability to store multiple pieces of information in working memory simultaneously Frontal lobes shrink which play an important role in working memory Long term memory is less affected by aging however certain aspects appear to suffer in advanced age Older people may need more time to learn new information, but once learnt can recall it as effectively as younger people Elderly are better at recognition than at retrieval tasks

Intelligence Fluid intelligence the ability to process new general information that requires no prior knowledge Fluid intelligence seems to peak early in adulthood and slowly decline as we age Crystallized intelligence refers to more specific knowledge, must be learned or memorized (eg: vocabulary, knowledge of specialized information) This type of intelligence usually increase throughout life and breaks down only when other cognitive abilities prevent new information from being processed The Seattle Longitudinal Study tracked adults from 25-81 over 7 years and found that intellectual decline does not occur until people are in their 60s or 70s

Also that people who were healthy and remained mentally active demonstrated less decline Although memory and the speed of processing may decline, older people can still learn new information New research has also shown that active social engagement may help older adults maintain their cognitive abilities

TOPIC #3 Basic Statistics (chapter 2) How are data analyzed and evaluated? Good Research Requires Valid, Reliable and Accurate Data Validity The extent to which the data collected address the research hypothesis in the way intended Eg: to investigate whether physically abused children are more likely to use drugs, one could do a longitudinal study or they could use court and medical records. Both are valid ways to identify abused children A datas validity depends on the question being studied Data that is invalid for one study may be valid for another question Reliability The extent to which a measure is stable and consistent over time in similar conditions If the measurement is reliable, then the data collected will not vary because of changes over time in the way they are measured Eg: to time how long each person stays on a certain channel. Having someone with a stopwatch is less reliable than using a computer to collect data from the viewers tv remote Accuracy the extent to which an experimental measure is free from error Although a measure may be reliable and valid, it may not be accurate Two forms of errors, random and systematic If the error is introduced into each measurement and its value differs each time, then it is known as RANDOM ERROR If the error introduced into the measurements is constant, then it is a SYSTEMATIC ERROR Systematic errors are worse than random ones as they tend to average out over time

Descriptive Statistics provide a summary of the Data First step is to inspect the raw values and look for errors in data recording Look for responses that are especially unlikely Then they summarize the basic patterns using descriptive statistics Descriptive statistics Overall summary of the studys results Central tendency (measures of central tendency) a single value that describes a typical response or the behaviour of the group as a whole Mean measure of central tendency that is the arithmetic average of a set of numbers Median A measure of central tendency that is the value in a set of numbers that falls exactly halfway between the lowest and highest values Mode most frequently occurring number in a data set

Variability how widely dispersed the values are about the mean Standard deviation how far each value is, on average from the mean If the average mean for an exam is 75% and the SD is 5, then most people scored between 70-80%. If the SD is 15, then most people scored between 60-90% Range the distance between the largest value and the smallest one Not often used as it is only based on two scores

Correlations Describe the Relationships between Variables Descriptive stats above are used to summarize central tendency and variability in a set of numbers First step in examining relationship between two variables is to create a graph called a scatterplot Scatterplots Graphs that illustrate the relationship between two variables (dots) Analyzing the relationship can allow researchers to compute a correlation coefficient a descriptive statistic that provides a numerical values (-1.0 to +1.0) indicating the strength of the relationship between the variables Positive Correlations variables increase and decrease together (value of +1.0) o o Graph rises to the right Graph slopes down to the right Negative Correlation as one variable decreases, the other does too (value of -1.0) If two variables have no correlation, the value is closer to 0 In a normal distribution, scores of most participants fall in the middle of the distribution and progressively fewer participants have scores at either extreme Inferential Statistics Permit Generalizations Inferential statistics A set of procedures used to make judgments about whether differences actually exist between sets of numbers Researchers use inferential statistics to decide if the difference in the sample can be reflected in differences in the population Statistical techniques are used to determine if the differences are chance variations or real differences in the population Less than 5 percent Statistically significant = p < 0.05 Effect size indicates the magnitude of the experimental effect or the strength of a relationship

TOPIC #4 Personality (chapter 13) How Have Psychologists Studied Personality? What must we know to know a person well? Some personality psychologists emphasize biological and genetic factors Others emphasize culture, patterns of reinforcement, or mental and unconscious processes Personality The dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his characteristic behaviour and thought (Gordon Allport) Organization indicates that personality is not just a list of traits, but a coherent whole

Psychodynamic Theories Emphasize Unconscious and Dynamic Processes Sigmund Freuds psychodynamic theory of personality is that unconscious forces influence behaviour He referred to these psychic forces as instincts o o Mental representations arising out of biological or physical need Directs people to seek pleasure and to avoid pain He proposed that people satisfy the life instinct by following the pleasure principle Energy that drives the pleasure principle is the libido

Topographical Model of Mind Freud theorized that mental activity occurred in three zones o o o Unconsciousness Preconscious Conscious

A lot of human behaviour is influenced by unconscious processes At conscious level, people are aware of their thoughts Preconscious level consists of content that is not currently in awareness but that could be brought to awareness (like long term memory) Unconscious level contains material that the mind cannot easily retrieve o o o Wishes, desires, motives Sometimes this info leaks into consciousness (Freudian slip) Person accidently reveals a hidden motive

Development of Sexual Instincts Early childhood experiences have a major impact on the development of personality

Children go through developmental stages corresponding to their pursuit of satisfaction of libidinal urges In each of the psychosexual stages libido is focused on one of the erogenous zones o Mouth, anus or the genitals Oral state (birth to 18 months), pleasure is sought through the mouth, pleasure with sucking Anal phase (2-3 years old), toilet training gets them to focus on the anus Phallic stage (3-5 years) children discover the pleasure of rubbing their genitals even though they have no sexual intent According to Freud, children desire an exclusive relationship with the opposite-sex parent Because the same-sex parent is thus considered a rival, children develop hostility toward that parent Oedipus complex After the phallic stage, children enter a brief latency stage in which libidinal urges are suppressed or channeled into doing schoolwork or building friendships Finals stage is the genital stage where adolescents and adults attain mature attitudes about sexuality and adulthood Progression through psychosexual stages profoundly affects personality Some people become fixated at certain stages Oral stage fixation = pleasures through the mouth, smoking, excessively needy Anal stage fixation = anal retentive personalities, stubborn and highly regulating o Result of strict toilet training or excessively rule based child rearing

Structural Model of Personality Feud proposed an integrated model of how the mind is organized Id completely submerged in the unconsciousness o o o o o o o o o Developed during the phallic phase Super ego is a rigid structure of morality or conscience Tries to satisfy the wishes of the id while being responsive to the dictates of the superego Acts according to the reality principle Conflicts between id and superego results in anxiety Operates according to the pleasure principle Acts on impulses and desires Sex and aggression drive the id Internalization of societal and parental standards of conduct

Superego acts a brake on the id

Ego mediates between superego and id

Ego copes with this through various defense mechanisms which are unconscious mental strategies that the mind uses to protect itself from conflict and distress Eg: rationalize, excuses. Reaction formation occurs when a person wards off an uncomfortable thought abou the self by embracing the opposite thought Freuds daughter Anna Feud contribute much to the study of defence mechanisms

Psychodynamic Theory Since Freud Neo-Freudians: Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney All modified Freuds ideas in heir own psychodynamic theories Adler and Horney strongly criticized Freuds view of women, finding his theories misogynist Many neo-Freudians reject Freuds emphasis on sexual forces and instead focus on social interactions Objects Relations Theory object of attachment is another person such as a parent or spouse Psychologists have mainly abandoned psychodynamic theories because Freuds central premises cannot be examined through accepted scientific methods Humanistic Approaches Emphasize Integrated Personal Experience Behaviourists such as B.F Skinner argued that patterns of reinforcement determine response tendencies which are the basis of personality Humanistic approaches emphasize personal experience and belief systems; they propose that people seek personal growth to fulfill their human potential Self actualization greater self understanding Humanism focuses on subjective human experiences (phenomenology) Views each person as inherently good Abraham Maslow believes that the desire to become self actualized is the ultimate and most important human motive Person-centered approach- developed by Carl Rogers, emphasizes peoples personal understandings of phenomenology Parental treatment affects personality development Rogers encouraged unconditional positive regard children are accepted, loved and prized no matter how they behave Thus they will develop a healthy sense of self esteem and will become a fully functioning person Positive psychology movement launched by clinical psychologist Martin Seligman encourage the scientific study of qualities such as faith, values, creativity, courage and hope

Type and Trait Approaches Describe Behavioural Dispositions Personality types discrete categories of people based n global personality characteristics Implicit personality theory our tendency to assume that certain personality characteristics go together and therefore to make predictions about people baed on minimal evidence Eg: we think that introverts dislike parties, like books and are sensitive Trait approach an approach to studying personality that focuses on the extent to which individuals differ in personality dispositions Gordon Allport found almost 18,000 different personality traits Cattell reduced the traits into groups according to their similarities Eg: all the terms that related to friendliness (nice, pleasant, cooperative) Cattell identified 16 basic dimensions of personality These terms are no longer used

Eysencks Hierarchical Model Further reduced the number of basic traits Produced a hierarchical model of personality Basic structure begins at the specific response level (observed behaviours) Habitual response level If the person is observed to behave that way on many occasions, then they are characterized as possessing a trait Traits can be then viewed as components of superordinate traits o o o Introversion/extroversion Emotional stability Psychoticism

Introversion/Extroversion coined by Car Jung, refers to the extent to which people are shy, reserved and quiet versus sociable, outgoing and bold Emotional stability extent to which peoples moods and emotions change; those low in emotional stability, neurotic people Psychoticism mix of aggression, impulse control and empathy; those high in psychoticism are more aggressive, impulsive and self centered o Constraint - people range from restricted to disinhibited

The Big Five Openness to experience imaginative and independent/down-to-earth and conformist Conscientiousness how careful and organized one is

Extraversion social vs. retiring, fun-loving vs. sober Agreeableness extent to which one is trusting and helpful Neuroticism worried vs. calm, insecure vs. secure, self pitying vs. self satisfied Each factor is a higher-order trait comprising interrelated lower order traits Conscientiousness how careful and organized one is The big five emerges across cultures, among adults and children Some researches have questioned whether the five-factor theory really clarifies personality, since the factor terms are descriptive rather than explanatory Reduces all personality to five dimensions and ignores individual subtleties More valuable as an organizational structure Provides a common descriptive framework

Personality Reflects Learning and Cognition Behaviourists such as B.F Skinner viewed personality as mainly learned responses to patterns of reinforcement Psychologists have also turned towards cognition (George Kelly) Emphasizes the importance of peoples understandings or personal constructs o Personal theories of how the world works Kelly theorized that people viewed the world as if they were scientists, constantly testing out their theories by observing ongoing events and then revisiting theories based on what they observe Julian Rotter built further on the cognitive approach Introduced the idea that behaviour is a function of peoples expectancies for reinforcement Albert Bandura argued that humans possess mental capacities such as beliefs, thoughts and expectation that interact with environment to influence behaviours Walter Mischel proposed that personality traits often fail to predict behaviour across different circumstances According to his cognitive affective personality system (CAPS) peoples responses are influenced by how they perceive a given situation, their affective (emotional) response to the situation, their skills in dealing with challenges and their anticipation of the outcomes of their behaviour How Is Personality Assessed and What Does it Predict? Personality Refers to Both Unique and Common Characteristics Allport divided the study of personality into two approaches o Idiographic approaches person centered in that they focus on individual lives and how various characteristics are integrated into unique persons

Nomothetic approaches focuses on characteristics common among all people but on which individuals vary

Idiographic Approaches Idiographic approaches assume all individuals are unique Central traits especially important for how individuals define themselves Secondary traits less personally descriptive or not applicable Central traits are more predictive of behaviour Idiographic researches use case studies Another idiographic approach considers a human life as a narrative To study personality, narrative psychologists pay attention the stories people tell about their lives Nomothetic Approaches Focuses on common traits such as agreeable/disagreeable Compare people using common trait measures Eg: questionnaires or other similar methods Individuals are unique because of their unique combinations of common traits

Researchers Use Objective and projective Methods to Assess personality Projective Measures According to psychodynamic theory, personality is influenced by unconscious conflicts Projective measures explore the unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli Roschach inkblot test people look at a meaningless inkblot and describe what it looks like to them Does a poor job of diagnosing specific psychological disorders and finds many normal adults and children psychologically disturbed Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) studies achievement motivation A person is shown an ambiguous picture and is asked to tell a story about it Projective measures have been critisised for being too subjective and poorly validated

Objective Measures These measures make no pretense of uncovering hidden conflicts or secret information Measure only what the raters believe or observe

Self report questionnaires or observer ratings However self reports can be affected by desires to avoid looking bad and by biases in self perception Subjective standards

Observers Show Accuracy in Trait Judgments How well do observers personality judgments predict others behaviour? David Funder found a surprising degree of accuracy for trait judgments under circumstances A persons close acquaintances may predict a persons personality better than others

People are sometimes Inconsistent Walter Mischel proposed that behaviours are determined by situations more than personality traits (situationism) Shocked psychology community Referred to studies where people were dishonest in one situation but completely honest in another Others argued that the extent to which a trait predicts behaviour depends on the centrality of the trait The aggregation of behaviours over time And the type of trait People tend to be more consistent in central traits

Behaviour Is Influenced by the Interaction of Personality and Situations Evidence has shown that personality traits are predictive of behaviour People high in neuroticsm tend to be more depressed and have more illnesses Highly neurotic is the best personality predictor of marital dissatisfaction and divorce Yet people are also highly sensitive to social context and most conform to situational norms Few people break the law infront of a police officer Situational influences can be subtle Situations differ in the extent to which they constrain expressions of personality Eg: shy and boistress, at a funeral you wouldnt be able to tell, but maybe at a party you could Strong situations elevators, religious services, job interviews, funerals Weak situations - parks, bars, ones house, parties Interactionists believe that behaviour is determined jointly by underlying dispositions and situations

Evaluation of Personality Measures Reliability is defined as the degree to which an obtained measure represent the true level of the trait being measured o o Repeated measurements (if similar, then test has high test-retest reliability) Examine the relationships among the items themselves at a single point in time, if items all correlate well with each other then test has high internal consistency reliability o o o o o o Obtain measurements from multiple observers, high inter-rater reliability Face validity surface appearance to measure? Predictive validity whether the test predicts criteria external to the test Convergent validity whether a test correlates with other measures it should correlate with Discriminant validity often evaluated simultaneously with convergent. Refers to what a measure SHOULDNT correlate with Construct validity a test that measures what it claims to measure Generalizability is the degree to which the measure retains its validity across various contexts (eg; groups of persons, different conditions) Validity refers to the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure

TOPIC #5 Personality pt.2 (chapter 13) Biological Bases of Personality Animals Have Personalities Sam Gosling and Oliver John summarized the findings of 19 studies that assessed multiple personality traits in modestly large samples of nonhuman animals o Household pets, monkeys, pigs, donkey sand aquatic animals Found evidence that traits similar to extraversion, neuroticism and agreeableness could be seen in most species Extraversion reflected different levels of energy, approachability and sociability Neuroticism indicated differences in emotional reactivity, fearfulness and excitability Agreeableness reflected differences in aggression, hostility and affinity for mates Conscientiousness was only found among chimpanzees Orangutans have four of the Big Five traits except conscientiousness

Personality is Rooted in Genetics Nearly all personality traits have a genetic component (Plomin & Caspi) Correlation in twins Identical twins proved more similar than fraternal twins Because identical twins share nearly the same genes To ensure it wasnt environmental factors, studies were done on twins raised apart Identical twins still became more alike as they grew older

Adoption studies Siblings who are adopted (not biologically related) and raise din the same household are no more alike in personality than two strangers randomly picked. Findings have suggested that parenting style has little impact on personality However small correlations in personality among siblings might imply that parenting style has little effect Specific Genes for Personality? Genes predispose certain personality traits associated with behavioural tendencies In most cases, researchers note the influence of multiple genes that interact independently with the individuals environment. A gene that regulates one particular dopamine receptor has been associated with novelty seeking Some pairs of genes seem to work in opposite ways, such as making people more or less neurotic thus cancel each other out David Lykken provides the analogy of a poker hand

Temperaments are Evident in Infancy Temperaments Biologically based tendencies to feel or act in certain ways Broader than traits Most research on temperaments focus on infants because personality differences very early in life likely indicate the actions of biological mechanisms Arnold Buss and Robert Plomin have argued that three personality characteristics can be considered temperaments o o o Activity level overall amount of energy and of behaviour a person exhibits Emotionality intensity of emotional reactions Sociability - tendency to affiliate with others

Long-term implications of temperaments Early childhood temperaments significantly influence behaviour and personality structure throughout a persons development Classifications at the age of three predicted personality structure and a variety of behaviours in early adulthood Gender and Temperaments Differences in gender temperaments are noticed in early childhood Girls demonstrated a stronger ability to control their attention and resist their impulses Boys were more physically active and experienced more high intensity pleasure

Shyness and Inhibition Research has shown that children as young as 6 weeks of age can be identified as likely to be shy Approximately 15-20% of newborns react to new situations or strange objects by becoming startled and distressed, crying and vigorously moving their arms and legs o Kagan refers to these children as inhibited These children showed traits of shyness at four years and well into their teenage years Amygdala is involved in shyness

Personality is Linked to Specific Neurophysiological Mechanisms Arousal and Extraversion/Introversion Hans Eysenck believed that differences in cortical arousal produce the behavioural difference between extraverts and introverts Cortical arousal or alertness is regulated by the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) Extraverts seemed to constantly seek additional arousal Where as introverts seemed to avoid arousal by seeking solitary quiet activities such as reading Each person prefers to operate at their optimal level of arousal , but for extroverts, this level is a lot higher than for introverts Level of arousability or reactivity to stimuli differentiates introverts from extroverts

Neurophysiology of Extraversion/Introversion Jeffrey Gray proposed that personality is rooted in motivational functions that have evolved to help organisms respond efficiently to reinforcement and punishment

Behavioural approach system (BAS) the brain system involved in the pursuit of incentives or rewards (go system) Behavioural inhibition system (BIS) the brain system that is sensitive to punishment and therefore inhibits behaviour that might lead to danger or pain (stop system) Extraverts have a stronger BAS than BIS so they are more influenced by rewards than by punishments Introverts have a more active BIS BIS is associated with activity in the frontal lobes Those with damage to the frontal lobes, exhibit social incompetence, disinhibition, impaired social judgment and lack of sensitivity to social cues Amygdala is also another brain region involved in both social sensitivity and the processing of cues related to possible punishment People who are anxious show a heightened amygdala response when observing pictures of neutral facial expressions

Personality is Adaptive Personality traits useful for survival and reproduction may be favoured in the natural selection process David Buss argued that the Big Five personality traits emerged as foundational because each one provides important information regarding mate selection Why are people so different if natural selection is occurring? o o o Because the individual differences possibly result from random processes that were of trivial importance over the course of evolution Evolution has allowed for multiple strategies that are differently adaptive depending on environmental demands Human groups whose members possess diverse skills have a selective advantage over other human groups Eg: some cautious people, yet some risk takers to explore

Personality Traits are Stable over time Give me a child until he is seven, and I will show you the man (7 Up series) These films showed the apparent stability of personality over time Child interested in stars and science becomes a professor of physics Boy who finds his childhood troubling and consuming develops a apparent schizo-affective personality

Consistency of personality is lowest in childhood and highest after the age of 50 Foundation of clinical psychology is that people can and do change important aspects of their lives Most research find personality traits to be remarkably stable over the adult life span Findings have suggested that personality changes somewhat in childhood but becomes more stable by middle age

Age Related Change In general, as people age they become less neurotic, less extraverted and less open to new experiences They tend to become more agreeable and more conscientious Seems to occur across cultures too

Characteristic Adaptions McCrae and Costa emphasize an important distinction between basic tendencies of personality and characteristic adaptions Basic tendencies are dispositional traits that are biologically based Characteristic adaptions are adjustments to situational demands Changes in characteristic adaptions do no indicate changes in basic tendencies

How Do We Know Our Own Personalities? Our Self-Concepts Consists of Self Knowledge Answers commonly given to the question who am I include gender, age, student status, interpersonal style, interpersonal characteristics and body image Self concept guides your attention to information relevant to you and that helps you adjust to your environment Self-Awareness William James and George Herbert Mead were among the first to consider that nature of the self Both differentiated between the self as the knower (I) and the self as the object that is known (me the objectified self) Objectified self is the knowledge the subject holds about itself Such as its best and worst qualities Sense of self as the object of attention is the psychological state known as self awareness

When the I thinks about the me

Duval and Wicklund introduced the theory of objective self awareness which leads people to act in accordance with the values and beliefs they hold One study showed that college students are less likely to cheat if they are sitting in front of mirrors Self Discrepancy Theory awareness of differences between personal standards and goals leads to strong emotions o Eg: seeing yourself as lazy but preferring to see yourself as hardworking can lead you to feel disappointed, frustrated and depressed

Self awareness is highly dependent on normal development of the frontal lobes o Damaged frontal lobe patients tend to self reflect less and seldom report daydreaming

Cannot sometimes recognize that they have a problem, cannot process information about the self

Self-Schema According to Hazel Markus the self-schema can be viewed as a network of interconnected knowledge about the self Helps us perceiver, organize, interpret and use information about the self Helps filter information so that each of us will likely notice things that are self-relevant such as our own names Self schema summarizes the relevant past information Middle of the frontal lobes activate when we answer questions about ourselves

Working Self Concept Sense of self varies from situation to situation Eg: at a party you may think of yourself as fun loving rather than as intelligent Thus your self descriptions vary depending on which situation you are in, which people you are with and your role in that situation When considering themselves or their personalities, people are especially likely to mention characteristics that distinguish them from other people Perceived Social Regard Self-Esteem Self-esteem is related to self-concept People can objectively believe positive things about themselves without liking themselves very much

While people can like themselves very much and therefore have high self esteem even when objective indicators do not support such positive self views Reflected appraisal peoples self esteem is based on how they believe others perceive them Carl Rogers promotes parents unconditional acceptance of their children but still show strict parenting

Sociometer Theory Mark Leary proposed that self esteem monitors the likelihood of social exclusion Humans have a fundamental adaptive need to belong Those who belonged to social groups have been more likely to survive and reproduce than those who were excluded Self esteem is a sociometer an internal monitor of social acceptance or rejection

Self Esteem and Death Anxiety One theory proposes that self esteem provides meaning for individuals by staving off anxiety over their mortality Terror management theory self-esteem protects people from the horror associated with knowing they will eventually die Self Esteem and Life Outcomes Roy Baumeister and his colleagues found that although people with high self esteem report being much happier, self esteem is weakly related to objective life outcomes High self esteem people consider themselves smarter, more attractive and better liked do not necessarily have higher IQs and are thought highly by others People may have high self esteem because they are successful or because they completed high school with good grades o Correlation does not prove causation Violent criminals often have high self esteem School bullies also have high self esteem Although high self esteem does make people happier, does not necessarily lead to successful social relationships or life success Narcissim- often associated with inflated self esteem

We Use Mental Strategies to Maintain Our Views of Self Most people show favoritism to anything associated with themselves

People consistently prefer their belongings to things they do not own They even prefer letters of their own names especially their initials Positive views of self are sometimes inflated o o 90% of adults claim they are better than average drivers Even if they have been hospitalized for injuries caused by car accidents 25% rated themselves in the top 1 percent Described as the better than average effect

Of 800,00 college bound seniors, none rated themselves below average o o Most people describe themselves as above average in nearly every way High esteem people are more likely to do this We use a number of unconscious strategies to help maintains a positive sense of self

Self-Evaluative Maintenance People can feel threatened when someone close to them outperforms them on a task that is personally relevant To maintain your sense of self esteem, you would either distance yourself from the relationship or select a different aspiration Self evaluative maintenance causes people to exaggerate or publicize their connections to winners and to minimize or hide their relations to losers Social Comparisons Occurs when people evaluate their own actions, abilities and beliefs by contrasting them with other peoples People with high esteem make downward comparisons contrasting themselves with people deficient to make on relevant dimensions Low esteem people tend to make upward comparisons People also use a form of downward comparisons when they recall their own pasts (they view their current selves as better than their former selves) Self-Serving Biases People with high self esteem tend to take credit for success but blame failure on outside factors, a tendency called self serving bias Students who do extremely well on exams explain it by referring to their skills or hard work Students who dont do so well might describe the test as an arbitrary examination of trivial details People with high esteem also assume that criticism is motivated by envy or prejudice

Members of minority groups maintain positive self esteem by taking credit for success and blaming negative feedback on prejudice In thinking about our failures, we compare ourselves with others who did worse, we diminish the importance of the challenge we think about the things we are really good at Some researchers argue that self serving biases reflect health psychological functioning But too much could lead to narcissism

Cultural Differences in the Self Collectivist cultures emphasize connections to the family, social groups and to ethnic groups o Conformity to social norms, and group cohesiveness Individualist cultures emphasize rights and freedoms, self expression and diversity Hazel Markus and Shinobu Kitayama have noted that people in collectivist cultures have interdependent self construals in which their self concepts are determined to a large extent by their social roles Independent self construals occur when parents and teachers encourage children to be self reliant and to pursue personal success Culture and Self Serving Bias Some researchers have questioned whether self serving bias is truly universal across cultures Steven Heine argues that it is more common in Western cultures than Eastern cultures In a study, American students showed a bias for listing successes where as Japanese students listed failures and successes equally Americans used outside forces to explain failure but the Japanese students used them to explain success Self criticism has been argued to be the ore common social norm in Asian cultures

TOPIC #6 Disorders of the Mind & Bodypt.1 (chapter 14) How are Mental Disorders Conceptualized and Classified? Behaviour must always be reviewed according to the situation Behaviours considered normal in one setting may be considered deviant in other settings The diagnostic criteria for all major disorder categories stipulate that the symptoms of the disorder must interfere with at least one aspect of the persons life such as work, social relations or self-care Mental Disorders are classified into Categories Etiology Factors that contribute to the development of a disorder In order to investigate the etiology and possible treatments, psychologists need to group these disorders into meaningful categories Emil Kraepelin recognized that not all patients with mental disorders suffer from the same disorder He identified mental disorders on the basis of groups of symptoms that occur together Categorizing was not officially adopted until the first edition of the Dignostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Early versions focused on the presumed causes of mental disorders, but beginning with the DSM-III there was a return to classifying psychopathology based on observable symptoms In the current edition (4ed) disorders are described in terms of symptoms and a patient must meet specific criteria to receive a particular diagnosis Multiaxial system The system used in the DSM that provides assessment along five axes describing important mental health factors o o o o o o Clinical disorders Mental retardation Personality disorders Medical conditions Psychosocial and environmental problems Global or overall assessment

Mental Disorders must be assessed Process of examining a persons mental functions and psychological health is known as assessment First goal of assessment is to make a diagnosis Course and probable outcome = prognosis Mental status exam provides a snapshot of his/her psychological functioning

Exam involves behavioural observations that evaluate the person for characteristics such as personal grooming, ability to make eye contact, tremors or twitches, mood, speech, thought content and memory

Psychologists first step is to ask person about current symptoms and recent experiences that might have been causing distress Clinical interview

Structured versus Unstructured Interview Most interviews have been unstructured such that discussion topics are determined when interviewer probes different aspects of the persons problems Interview is also guided by the clinicians past experiences as well as their observations Unstructured interviews are highly flexible but can be overly dependent on the interviewers skills In structured interviews, standardized questions are asked in the same order each time Diagnosis is based on the specific patterns of responding Most commonly used structured interview is the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID) through which diagnoses are made according to DSM criteria Begins with general questions such as What kind of work do you do? Proceeds to questions about the clients symptoms such as about their frequency and severity SCID is also valuable for research and treatment as results from one group of patients will likely apply to other patients diagnosed with the same disorder Types of Testing Behaviour can give valuable information to a psychological assessor Behavioural assessments are particularly good for children Psychological testing is also useful Some tests are specific for mental disorders o o Beck Depression Inventory 567 true/false items that assess emotions, thoughts and behaviours Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) However a common problem with all self report assessments is that respondents sometimes distort the truth or lie in order to make a favorable impression To avoid detection of a mental disorder a test taker might be evasive or defensive To look particularly troubled, another test taker might untruthfully lean toward negative items

MMPI also includes validity scales, which measure the probability that they are telling the truth Eg: I always make my bed I never tell lies Problem for minorities Neuropsychological testing o o Client performs actions such as copying a picture, drawing a design from memory.. Each task requires an ability such as planning, coordinating, or remembering

Evidence Based Assessment An approach to clinical evaluation in which research guides the evaluation of mental disorders Eg: scientific research indicates that many mental disorder occur together, a state known as comorbidity Depressed patients often have substance abuse disorders

Dissociative Identity Disorder Is a Controversial Diagnosis Billy Milligan, convicted of robbery and three rapes o Successfully argued that he had multiple personalities Had 24 separate personalities Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) The occurrence of two or more distinct identities in the same individual Symptoms: disruptions of identity, of memory and of conscious awareness Most people diagnosed with DID are women who report being severely abused as children The most common theory is that children cope with the abuse by pretending it is happening to someone else and entering a trancelike state in which they dissociate their mental states from their physical bodies Over time these dissociated states take on their own identities Sometimes only one identity is aware of the other Separate identities usually differ substantially such as in gender, sexual orientation, age, language spoken, interests, physiological profiles and patterns of brain activation Even handwritings can differ Some have ulterior motives for claiming DID Diagnosis often occurs after a crime has been committed Before the 1980s these cases were rare In the 1990s numbers of cases went into tens of thousands Therapists tended to use hypnosis Sometimes the patient comes to believe what a therapist has said and develops DID

However it is still hard to verify if they do have it or not

Mental Disorders Have Many Causes Diathesis-stress model proposes that a disorder may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a participating event Individual has an underlying vulnerability or predisposition to a mental disorder (diathesis), can be biological or environmental (eg: abusive childhood) and then a stressful circumstance may trigger a mental disorder Biological Factors Focuses on how physiological factors such as genetics, contribute to mental disorders Fetus is particularly vulnerable, prenatal problems such as malnutrition, exposure to toxins and maternal illness All of the above affect the central nervous system Brain region differences PET and fMRI scans have revealed brain regions function differently in individuals with mental disorders BUT biological factors only reflect vulnerabilities and situational factors play prominent roles

Psychological Factors First edition of DSM heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalytic theory Freud believed that mental disorders were mostly due to unconscious conflicts Family systems model proposes that an individuals behaviour must be considered within a social context, particularly within the family Sociocultural model views psychopathology as the result of interaction between individuals and their cultures Schizophrenia is more common in lower socioeconomic classes where as anorexia nervosa appear more common among the middle and upper classes Cognitive Behavioural Factors Cognitive behavioural approach is that abnormal behaviour is learned Through classical conditioning Fears are learned rather than innate

Sex Differences in Mental Disorders Some mental disorders are more common for males and others for females

Differences can be explained through environmental and biological factors Dependence on alcohol, drugs, antisocial personality disorders and childhood attentiondeficit/hyperactivity are more likely in males BUT anorexia is 10 times more likely to occur in females Panic disorders are more likely in females Schizophrenia and bipolar are equal Internalizing disorders those characterized by negative emotions such as distress and fear Externalizing disorders those characterized by disinhibition such as alcoholism and conduct disorders

Culture and Mental Disorders Disorders with a strong biological component are more similar across cultures Those heavily influenced by learning and context will more likely differ Since 1994 DSM has included a section on culture-bound syndromes o Disorders mainly found in specific cultures or regions

Anxiety as the Root of Seemingly Different Disorders For some, anxiety can be debilitating and can interfere with every aspect of life Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive anxiety in the absence of true danger

Different Types of Anxiety Disorders More than 1 in 4 will have some type of anxiety disorder Those suffering from anxiety fell tense, anxious and apprehensive Often depressed and irritable because they cannot see any solution to their anxiety Sleep problems And the constant arousal of the autonomic nervous system, it can also cause long term problems o o Increased blood pressure Increased muscular tension

Exaggerated startle response Excessive fidgeting

Phobic Disorder Phobia is a fear of a specific object or situation Fear is often exaggerated and out of proportion to the actual danger Phobias are classified based on the object of the fear

Specific phobias involve particular objects and situations (1/8 people) Social phobia a specific phobia often called social anxiety disorder is fear of being negatively evaluated by others o o Develops around the age of 13 Involves fear of speaking in class, meeting new people, eating in front of others

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) a diffuse state of constant anxiety not associated with any specific object or event They worry about being worried Results in distractibility, fatigue, irritability and sleep problems Just under 6 percent of the population is affected by this disorder Women more so than men

Panic Disorder Affects an estimated 3 percent of the population in a given year, and women are twice as likely to be diagnosed as men Panic disorder involves sudden and overwhelming attacks of terror that seemingly come out of nowhere Last for several minutes Sweat, treble, feels his/her heart racing, feels short of breath, chest pain, dizzy light headed and numbness and tingly Adolescences that experiences panic attacks are especially likely to develop other anxiety disorders such as PTSD and generalized anxiety disorder Agoraphobia fear of being in situations in which escape is difficult or impossible (crowded shopping mall) can experience panic attacks Sometimes they confine themselves to their houses in the fear that they will have a panic attack of they go outside Obsessive Compulsive Disorder 1-2% of the population OCD involves frequent intrusive thoughts and compulsive actions More common in women and begins in early adulthood Obsessions are recurrent, intrusive and unwanted thoughts or ideas or mental images o o Often include fear of contamination, of accidents, or of ones own aggression Cleaning, checking, counting Compulsions are particular acts that OCD patients feel driven to perfom over and over again

Eg: a person may constantly check if the door is lock because of an obsession that his home might be invaded

Anxiety Disorders Have Cognitive, Situational and Biological Components Cognitive factors when presented with an ambiguous or neutral situation, anxious individuals tend to perceive them as threatening Anxious individuals also focus excessive attention on perceived threats Situational factors also play a role in the development of anxiety disorders o Monkeys develop a fear of snakes if they observe other monkeys responding to snakes fearfully Biological factors children who have inhibited temperamental style are usually shy and tend to avoid unfamiliar people and novel objects o More likely to have anxiety disorders One theory is that OCD result from conditioning Anxiety is paired with a specific event and the person engages in behaviour that reduces anxiety and therefore is reinforced through operant conditioning The reduction of anxiety is reinforcing and increases the likelihood of the behaviour reoccurring Eg: you are forced to shake hands with someone who has a bad cold and you have just seen him wiping his nose with that hand, shaking it may make you feel anxious or uncomfortable so as soon as it is over you run to the bathroom and wash your hands However there is also evidence that it is biological, twin studies show that OCD runs in families The caudate, an area involved in suppressing impulses is smaller and has structural abnormalities in people with OCD Because this region is involved in impulse suppression, dysfunction may result in the leak of impulses into consciousness, the prefrontal cortex become over active in an effort to compensate OCD can also be triggered by environmental factors Streptococcal infection can cause severe forms of OCD in children

Are Mood Disorders Extreme Manifestations of Normal Moods? Different Types of Mood Disorders Mood disorders reflect extreme emotions Depressive disorders feature persistent and pervasive feelings of sadness Bipolar disorders involve radical fluctuations in mood

Although some of their characteristics overlap, they are two fundamentally different disorders

Depressive Disorders Major depression a disorder characterized by severe negative moods or a lack of interest in normally pleasurable activities o o o o o o o Depressed (often irritable) Loss of interest in pleasurable activities Sleep disturbances Loss of energy Difficulty concentrating Feelings of self-reproach or guild Frequent thoughts of death and suicide

Other symptoms: appetite and weight changes

Major depression affects about 6-7 percent of people in a given 12 month period Approximately 16 percent will experience major depression at some point in their lives Often persists and lasts many years Women are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed Dysthymia a form of depression that is not severe enough to be diagnosed as major depression 2-3 percent of the population diagnosed Depressed mood most of the day More days than not For at least two years Periods of dysthymia last from 2 20 or more years Typically lasts 5 10 years Because the moods are so long lasting, sometimes they are classified as personality disorders They may all be points along a continuum Dysthymia often precedes major depression Depression is leading risk factor for suicide with it claiming a million lives annualy Top three causes of death for people between 15-35 years of age Highest rates of depression are found in women in developing countries Research suggests that womens multiple roles in most societies as wage earners and family caregivers cause stress Not always just multiple roles, but the overworking aspect of it Low income, lack of education, difficult family relationships Women internalize, depression and anxiety

Where as men externalize = drugs, violence, alcohol

Bipolar Disorders Bipolar disorder a mood disorder characterized by alternating periods of depression and mania Manic episodes are characterized by elevated mood, increased activity, diminished need for sleep, grandiose ideas, racing thoughts, extreme distractibility o Can lead to rash decisions and regret Hypomanic episodes less extreme, heightened creativity and productivity, not too disruptive in peoples lives Less common than depression, 4% Bipolar is equal in men and women and commonly emerges during late adolescence or early adulthood It was mentioned by Kay Redfield Jamison that many great artists and writers had mood disorders and raised the question that if this disorder was eradicated, would there be such great art? Mood Disorders have Cognitive, Situational and Biological Components Mood disorders are very serious and can result in the loss of jobs, friends, family relationships and life Errors in judgment during manic episodes can have devastating effects Studies of twins, of families and of adoptions support the notion that depression has a genetic component Concordance rates (percentage of twins that share same disorder) between identical twins are 4 times higher than fraternal twins Concordance for bipolar disorder in identical twins is more than 70% compared to 20% in fraternal twins Experiment on Amish adults showed that bipolar disorder ran in a limited number of families and that all affected had a similar genetic defect However it is not only linked to one gene Studies of brain function have suggested that certain neural structures may be involved in mood disorders Damage to left prefrontal cortex can lead to depression Damage to right does not Depressed patients enter REM sleep more quickly and have more of it Cyclical pattern of depression depending on the season seasonal affective disorder Situational factors

o o

Interpersonal loss Negative life events

How an individual reacts to stress, however can be influenced by interpersonal relationships Cognitive processes also play a role o o o o Depressed people think negatively about themselves Their situation, the future Depressed people blame misfortune on personal defects while seeing positive occurrences as the result of luck Magnify the seriousness of bad events

Learned helplessness!

TOPIC #7 Disorders of the Mind & Body pt.2 (chapter 14) What is Schizophrenia? Literally means splitting of the mind, refers to a split between emotion and thought Often consumed with dissociative identity disorder or split personality but they are not the same Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by alterations in thoughts, in perceptions or in consciousness 0.5-1% of the population has schizophrenia Schizophrenia is slightly lower in developing countries

Schizophrenia has Positive and Negative Symptoms Characterized by a combination of abnormalities motor, cognitive, behavioural and perceptual Results in impaired social, personal and/or vocational functioning Positive symptoms excesses in behaviour such as delusions and hallucinations Negative symptoms deficits in functioning such as apathy, lack of emotion and slowed speech and movement Subtypes of Schizophrenia Paranoid type preoccupied with delusions or auditory hallucinations, little or no disorganized speech Disorganized type disorganized speech, behaviour Catatonic type extreme motor immobility, purposeless excessive motor activity, mutism, extreme negativism Undifferentiated type doesnt meet subtypes above but meets the symptom criteria for schizophrenia Residual type Has experienced at least one episode of schizophrenia but currently does not have prominent positive symptoms but shows negative ones. Delusions and Associated Beliefs Persecution belief that others are persecuting, spying on or trying to harm them Reference belief that objects, events or other people have particular significance to them Grandeur Belief they have great power or knowledge or talent Identity Belief that they are someone else eg: Jesus Christ or the President Guilt Belief that they have committed a terrible sin

Control Belief that their thoughts and behaviours are being controlled by external forces

Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia Delusions False personal beliefs based on incorrect inferences about reality Persist in their beliefs despite evidence that contradicts those beliefs Types of delusions can be influenced by cultural factors German and Japanese both had delusions of grandeur o o However German patients had delusions involving guilt and sin particularly as these concepts related to religion Japanese had delusions of harassment, belief that they were being slandered by others Schizophrenic people can also be affected by current events Hallucinations False sensory perceptions that are experienced without an external source Frequently auditory, can also be visual, olfactory or somatosensory Auditory hallucinations are often voices that are accusatory or command the person to do dangerous things Neuroimaging has suggested that hallucinations are associated with activation in cortical areas that process external sensory stimuli May result from a difficulty in distinguishing normal inner speech from external sounds Loosening of associations a speech pattern among schizophrenic patients in which their thoughts are disorganized or meaningless Clang associations more extreme case involving the stringing together of words that rhyme but have no other apparent link Disorganized behaviour acting in strange or unusual ways, including strange movement of limbs, bizarre speech and inappropriate self car, such as failing to dress properly or bathes Catatonic Schizophrenia may mindlessly repeat words they hear a behaviour called echolalia

Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia Avoid eye contact and seem apathetic Slowed speech, reduced speech output and a monotonous tone of voice Speech may be characterized by long pauses before answering or failure to respond to a question Movements may be slow and their overall amount of movement reduced These symptoms are less dramatic than delusions and hallucinations but can be equally serious More common in men than women

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia can be dramatically reduced or eliminated with antipsychotic medication Negative symptoms however are often persistent The fact that negative symptoms are more resistant has led to a suggestion that they have different organic causes Positive symptoms respond to antipsychotics that act on the neurotransmitter systems thus these symptoms are thought to originate from neurotransmitter dysfunction Negative symptoms may be associated with abnormal brain anatomy Structural brain deficits are not affected by changes in neurochemistry Some believe there are two completely different disorders

Schizophrenia is Primarily a Brain Disorder Schizophrenia runs in families Early theories attributed the disorder to patients mothers who were described as simultaneously accepting and rejecting their children If one twin develops schizophrenia, the likelihood of the other also succumbing is almost 50% if the twins are identical Only 14% if twins are fraternal If one parent has schizophrenia, the risk of a childs developing the disease is 13% If both parents have it, then the risk is 50% Genetics represent a predisposition Research has shown that those with schizophrenia have rare mutations of their DNA about 3 to 4 times more than normal individuals, especially in genes related to brain development No single gene causes schizophrenia, but rather multiple genes contribute in a subtle way Primarily a brain disorder, imaging has shown consistent abnormalities with both the structure and function of schizophrenia patients brains Ventricles are enlarged, meaning actual brain tissue is reduced Greater reductions in brain tissue are associated with more negative outcomes Reductions in brain tissue occur over time, especially in frontal lobes and medial temporal lobes Some have proposed that it is likely a problem of connection between brain regions One possibility is that it results from abnormality in neurotransmitters Since the 1950s scientists believed that dopamine may play an important role, it decreases dopamine activity which decreases symptoms However it has been found that there are other neurotransmitter systems at play Abnormalities in the myelin sheath, impairs neurotransmission throughout the brain Most diagnosis happens in a persons twenties

New evidence shows that the brain impairments can be observed long before the disorder is diagnosed Compared to siblings, those who develop schizophrenia displayed unusual social behaviours, more severe negative emotions and motor disturbances in their childhood Five factors predicted the onset of psychotic disorders: o o o o o Family history of schizophrenia Greater social impairment Higher levels of suspicion/paranoia A history of substance abuse Higher level of unusual thoughts

If children had two or three of the first three factors, nearly 80% of them had developed psychosis

Environmental Factors Influence Schizophrenia Study of adopted children whose biological mothers were diagnosed with schizophrenia found that if the adoptive families were severely disturbed, 11% of the children became psychotic And 41% developed severe psychological disorders It has been theorized that increased stress of urban environments can trigger the disorder Some believe it is a virus Those diagnosed with schizophrenia are more likely to have been born during late winter and early spring Mothers in second trimester during flu season were more likely to have contracted influenza o This is the trimester where a great deal of fetal brain development occurs

Are Personality Disorders Truly Mental Disorders? Although personality can change over time, the ways in which they interact with the world and cope with events are fairly fixed by the end of adolescence When people interact with the world in a maladaptive and inflexible way for a long time, it becomes a personality disorder Personality Disorders are Maladaptive Ways of Relating to the World Personality disorders are classified along with mental retardation as they usually last throughout the lifespan Personality disorders generally divided into three groups Paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal o Eccentric and odd behaviour

o o o

Reclusive and suspicious Dramatic emotional and erratic behaviours Anxious or fearful behaviours

Histrionic, narcissistic, borderline and antisocial Avoidant, dependent and obsessive compulsive Indecisiveness is a characteristic of obsessive compulsive personality disorder, however the DSM does not define the degree to which someone must be indecisive to be diagnosed as obsessive compulsive

There is an overlap among the traits listed as characteristic of different personality disorders Majority of people diagnosed with one disorder may also meet the criteria for another Personality disorders do not affect daily life as much as some of Axis I disorders (clinical diagnoses)

Personality Disorders and Associated Characteristics Odd or Eccentric Behaviour Paranoid Schizoid Schizotypal Tense, guarded, suspicious, holds grudges Socially isolated with restricted emotional expression Peculiarities of thought, appearance and behaviour that is disconcerting to others, emotionally detached and isolated

Dramatic Emotional or Erratic Behaviour Histrionic Narcissistic Borderline Antisocial Anxious or Fearful Behaviour Avoidant Dependent Obsessive-Compulsive Easily hurt and embarrassed, few close friends, sticks to routines to avoid new and possibly stressful experiences Wants others to make decisions, needs constant advice and reassurance, fears being abandoned Perfectionistic, over conscientious, indecisive, preoccupied with details, stiff, unable to express affection Seductive behaviour, needs immediate gratification and constant reassurance, rapidly changing moods, shallow emotions Self absorbed, expects special treatment, envious of attention to others Cannot stand to be alone, intense, unstable moods and personal relationships, chronic anger, drug and alcohol abuse Manipulative, exploitive, dishonest, disloyal, lacking in guilt, childhood history of such behaviour, often in trouble with the law

Borderline Personality Disorder is Associated with Poor Self Control Borderline personality disorder a personality disorder characterized by identity, affective and impulse disturbances Patients considered to be on the border between normal and psychotic 1-2% of adults meet the criteria More common in women as in men Patients seem to lack a strong sense of self, cannot tolerate being alone and have an intense fear of abandonment They can be manipulative in their attempts to control relationships They also have affective disturbances Emotional instability, sudden episodes of depression, anxiety, anger and irritability o Can last for a few hours to a few days Impulsivity including sexual promiscuity, physical fighting and binge eating Self mutilation is also commonly associated Frontal lobes are diminished, which normally help control behaviour Mood disorders in families of borderline patients tend to be high Serotonin low levels of this can be linked to impulsive behaviour Environmental factors trauma or abuse o 70-80% of patients suffered some kind of abuse Early relationship with caretakers who were unreliable or unavailable A person having at least five of these characteristics may have borderline o o o o o o o o o Employment of frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment Unstable and intense interpersonal relationships Persistent and markedly disturbed, distorted or unstable sense of self Impulsiveness in such areas as sex, substance use, crime and reckless driving Recurrent suicidal thoughts, gestures or behaviours Emotional instability with periods of extreme depression, irritability or anxiety Chronic feelings of emptiness Inappropriate intense anger or lack of control of anger (eg: loss of temper) Transient, stress related paranoid thoughts or severe dissociative symptoms

Antisocial Personality Disorder Is Associated with a Lack of Empathy Antisocial personality disorder a personality disorder marked by a lack of empathy and remorse Overlaps with the term psychopath APD is a broad term for individuals who behave in socially undesirable ways

Often patients tend to be hedonistic (self indulgent), seeking immediate gratification of wants and needs without the thought of others Psychopaths display the extreme version of APD One study of murderers found that those with psychopathic tendencies nearly always killed intentionally to gain something they wanted Others without psychopathic tendencies were much more likely to commit murder impulsively when provoked or angry Psychopaths fit the stereotype of cold blooded killers

Assessment and Consequences Antisocial personality disorder is more common in men than women Most apparent in late adolescence and early adulthood Generally improves around age 40 APD cannot be diagnosed before age 18 but person must have displayed antisocial conduct before age 15 APD involves a lifetime history of antisocial behaviours Repeatedly performing illegal acts, repeatedly lying or using aliases, showing reckless disregard for their own safety or others safety Punishment seems to have very little effect on them Almost 50% of the prison population meets criteria for antisocial personality disorder Psychopathic traits charming and intelligent, lacking remorse, willing to lie or cheat and lacking empathy The Causes of Antisocial Personality Disorder David Lykken reported that psychopaths do not become anxious when subjected to aversive stimuli These individuals do not feel fear or anxiety EEG scans have demonstrated that they have slower alphawave activity Lower overall level of arousal Amygdala abnormalities, smaller and less responsive Deficits in the frontal lobe functioning have also been used to account for the lack of forethought and inability to consider the implications of actions The greater the criminal record of the biological fathers, the higher the childrens risk of crime Malnutrition at age 3 can predict antisocial behaviour at age 17

Should Childhood Disorders Be Considered a Unique Category? Category in Axis I called disorders usually fist diagnosed in infancy, childhood or adolescence Reading disorders, stuttering, autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder A pattern of hyperactive, inattentive and impulsive behaviour that causes social or academic impairment Characterized by unresponsiveness, impaired language, social and cognitive development and restricted and repetitive behaviour Elimination disorder Repeated passing of feces or urination in inappropriate places by children from whom continence should be expected Learning disorder Substantially low performance in reading, mathematics or written expression with regard to what is expected for age, amount of education and intelligence Mental retardation Characterized by below average intellectual functioning (IQ < 70) and limited adaptive functioning that begins before the age 18 Rumination disorder Repeated regurgitation and rechewing of partially digested food, not related to nausea or gastrointestinal disorder Selective mutism Failure to speak in certain social situations, despite the ability to speak in other situations, interferes with social or academic achievement

AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Autism

Tourettes disorder

Recurrent motor and vocal tics that cause marked distress or impairment and are not related to a general medical conditions

Autism Is a Lack of Awareness of Others Autism a developmental disorder involving deficits in social interaction, impaired communication and restricted interests 3-6 children out of 1,000 show signs of autism and it is more prominent in males than females (3:1) Varies in severity, from mild social impairments to severe social and intellectual impairments Aspergers syndrome is a high functioning autism in which children of normal intelligence have deficits in social interaction Temple Grandin, accomplished scientist who although extremely intelligent, has great difficulty understanding the subtle social motives and behaviours of other humans

Core Symptoms of Autism Seemingly unaware of others As babies they do not smile at their caregivers, do not respond to vocalizations and may actively reject physical contact No eye contact Early signs of autism may be overlooked probably because they are within the broad bounds of what is normal at a younger age Deficits in communication is next big cluster of characteristics Evident by 14 months of age Impairments in verbal and nonverbal communications Echolalia and pronoun reversal (replacing I with you) Third category includes restricted activities and interests, although they seem oblivious to people around them they are acutely aware of their surroundings May focus on seemingly inconsequential details Sometimes the changes of daily routines such as placement of furniture can result in extreme agitation Behaviours are sometimes repetitive, self injury can be common

Autism is Primarily a Biological Disorder Kanner originally believed autism was related to cold and unresponsive mothers (ice box mothers or refrigerator mothers) Now it is well established that autism is the result of undetermined biological factors Has a strong heritability component If two siblings are autistic, the third has a chance of 35% Concordance rates in twins can be 70-90% for identical twins and 10% for fraternal Prenatal and/or neonatal events may result in brain dysfunction Brains of children with autism grow unusually large and then growth slows until age five They do not develop normally during adolescence Autistic children also have a higher rate of neonatal complications such as apnea, seizures and delay in breathing Digestive problems and unusually shaped aers Deficit in oxytocin neuropeptide involved in social behaviour Autistic adults who received injections of oxytocin showed a dramatic improvement in their symptoms Particularly useful in reducing repetitive behaviours High levels of four proteins involved in brain development May be involved in the pattern of overgrowth and undergrowth of the brain

Abnormal antibodies in the blood of mothers of 11 percent of children with autism David Amaral injected four pregnant rhesus monkeys with the antibody and the offspring of three of these monkeys demonstrated unusual behaviours of autism

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is a Disruptive Impulse Control Disorder ADHD a disorder characterized by restless, inattentive and impulsive behaviours Need to have directions repeated and rules explained over and over Often have trouble making and keeping friends as they miss subtle social cues and make unintentional social mistakes Symptoms are exaggerations of typical toddler behaviour

Etiology of ADHD 11% of boys and 4% of girls have ADHD Causes are unknown and it is most likely a heterogeneous disorder Meaning behavioural profiles of children with ADHD vary, thus their causes most likely vary as well More likely to have come from disturbed families Poor parenting, social disadvantage ADHD clearly has a genetic component o Concordance is 55% in identical twins and 32% in fraternal twins Zametkin found that adults with ADHD had reduced metabolism in brain regions involved in self regulation of motor function and of attentional systems Connection between the frontal lobes and the limbic system is impaired in ADHD Symptoms of ADHD are similar to those with frontal lobe damage o o o o Problems with planning Sustaining concentration Using feedback Thinking flexibly

ADHD Across the Life Span Usually children are diagnosed after entering school between ages of 5-7 Infants who are later diagnosed with ADHD have difficulty establishing regular patterns for eating and sleeping Curious and engage in vigorous play and consequently are quite accident prone Previously it was thought that children outgrow ADHD But between 30-80% of those with ADHD in childhood continue to show symptoms of the disorder in adulthood

Adults with ADHD may struggle academically and vocationally Some learn to adapt and are successful in their personal and vocational lives

TOPIC #8 Treating Disorders (chapter 15) How Are Mental Disorders Treated? Can be more than one way Psychologists use two basic categories of techniques to treat mental disorders o o Psychological (psychotherapy) Biological (biological therapies)

Range from drugs to electrical stimulation of brain regions to surgical interventions Psychopharmacology use of medications that affect brain or body functions Problem with biological therapies is that long-term success may require the person to continue treatment, possibly indefinitely

Psychotherapy is based on Psychological Principles With over 400 psychological therapies available, the precise techniques used by individual therapists may vary widely One factor known to affect the outcome of therapy is: o Relationship between the therapist and the client

Psychodynamic Therapy Focuses on Insight Along with Josef Breuer, Sigmund Freud pioneered the method of psychoanalysis In the early days, the client would lie on a couch while the therapists at out of view to reduce the clients inhibitions Treatment involved uncovering unconscious feelings and drives Freud believed these gave rise to maladaptive thoughts and behaviours Techniques included free association and dream analysis o o Free association client would say whatever came to mind Dream analysis therapists would interpret the hidden meaning of the clients dreams General goal of psychoanalysis is to increase patients awareness (insight) of these unconscious processes and how they affect daily functioning Evidence of its effectiveness in treating most mental disorders is week or absent Can be useful in the short term for treating eating disorders, depression and substance abuse Has been criticized due to its expense, time and lack of evidence of effectiveness

Humanistic Therapies Focus on the Whole Person Emphasizes person experience, belief systems and the phenomenology of individuals Goal of humanistic therapy is to treat the person as a whole Client centered therapy an empathic approach to therapy, it encourages personal growth through greater self understanding Developed by Carl Rogers who believed that by providing an accepting environment, client can direct therapy and solve own problems Safe and comfortable setting, empathy, reflective listening and unconditional positive regard Empathy understand and communicate clients experience Genuineness therapist authentic and honest Unconditional positive regard non judgmental acceptance Reflective listening therapist repeats the clients concerns or helps them clarify his or her feelings Motivational interviewing uses a client entered approach over a very short period Although not many use this approach, many techniques used to establish a good therapeutic relationship are similar Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Targets Thoughts and Behaviours Many of the most successful therapies involve trying to change peoples behaviour and cognition directly Premises for behavioural therapy is that behaviours are learned and therefore can be unlearned Social skills training when a client has particular interpersonal difficulties, he/she learns the appropriate ways to act in specific social situations (using modeling) Beck pioneered cognitive restructuring Ellis promoted rational emotive therapy Cognitive therapy based on the idea that psychological disorders result from negative thinking and maladaptive beliefs Cognitive restructuring a therapy that strives to help patients recognize maladaptive thought patterns and replace them with ways of viewing the world that are more in tune with reality Originally derived as treatment for depression clients had negative view of themselves, the world and their future Rational emotive therapy therapists act as teachers who explain and demonstrate more adaptive ways of thinking and behaving Cognitive Behavioural Therapy o Aims to alter client thinking and beliefs

o o o o

Teaches to identify faulty thinking and evaluate it realistically Use modeling monitoring or behaviour and thoughts Behavioural rehearsal and task assignment Set homework assignments to both changing behaviour and test beliefs

Exposure is a behavioural therapy technique that involves repeated exposure to an anxiety producing stimulus or situation

Group Therapy Builds Social Support Become more widespread Less expensive than individual therapy Offers opportunity for practice of social skills and peer learning Act as therapists for each other share ideas & acceptance Therapist assists group process cohesiveness, turn taking etc Can be highly structured or loosely organized

Family Therapy focuses on the Family Context Reflects an understanding of systems approaches o An individual is part of larger groups that can maintain or exacerbate behaviour Negative expressed emotion within families for example, has been linked to higher relapse rate among those diagnosed with schizophrenia Some therapists insist families be involved in therapy Expressed emotion a pattern of interactions that includes emotional over involvement, critical comments and hostility directed towards a patient by family members Confession is Good for the Spirit Opportunity to talk about ones problems to someone who will listen plays a role in all therapeutic relationships When people reveal intimate and highly emotional material they go into an almost trancelike state Talking or writing about emotionally charged events reduces blood pressure, muscle tension and skin conduction Confessional therapies can lead to better performance in work and school and can improve memory and cognition Culture Can Affect the Therapeutic Process Cultural stigmas about certain disorders can prevent individuals from seeking help

Culture also determines the availability, us and effectiveness of different types of psychotherapy

Medication is Effective for Certain Disorders Psychotropic medications drugs that affect mental processes Anti anxiety drugs used for the treatment of anxiety Antidepressants psychotropic medications used to treat depression Antipsychotics class of drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other disorders that involve psychosis Anti-Anxiety drugs Commonly called tranquilizers Used for short term treatment Reduces tension, apprehension and nervousness Benzodiazepines Xanax, Valium, Serepax increase the activity of GABA (inhibitory neurotransmitter) Also induce drowsiness and are highly addictive Side-effects dry mouth, drowsiness, constipation, nausea

Antidepressants Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors o o o o o o o Antipsychotics Primarily used for treating schizophrenia and mood disorders Reduces hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking Not effective for negative symptoms Converts serotonin into another chemical form Raise levels of norepinephrine and dopamine Named after their core molecular structure of three rings Inhibit and reuptake of certain neurotransmitters Prozac Inhibit the reuptake of serotonin but also act on other neurotransmitters to a significantly lesser extent Side affect: sexual dysfunction

Tricyclic Antidepressants

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

Work on dopamine system Works gradually (days to weeks) Side effects: drowsiness, constipation, dry mouth, tremors, muscle rigidity, tardive dyskinesia (involuntary twitching of muscles, irreversible) Lithium is the most effective treatment for bipolar Anticonvulsants prevent seizures

Alternative Biological Treatments Are Used in Extreme Cases Not all disorders can be treated with psychotherapy or medication Last resorts because of the serious side affects Trepanning a procedure involving making holes in the skull to let out evil spirits Psychosurgery areas of the frontal cortex were selectively damaged, used to treat severe mental disorders Lobotomies are no longer used

Electroconvulsive therapy Electric shock used to produce seizure and convulsions Patient given general anesthetic and muscle relaxant 1 sec current to head 5-20 second seizure Given 6 to 12 treatments (1 every 2 days) Widely used in 60s and 70s for depression, schizophrenia and other conditions Now used limited to drug resistant depression and psychotic depression Mechanism unclear Relapse high unless given anti depressants after Side effects headache, memory and learning difficulties Can be very effective

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Powerful electrical current produces a magnetic field that when rapidly switched on and off induces and electrical current in the brain region directly below the coil Thereby interrupting neural function in that region Dependent on which brain region it is placed above Eg: if it is given to the speech region, patient may stop speaking momentarily May be particularly useful in depression and possibly OCD

Deep Brain Stimulation One of the most dramatic new techniques Involves surgically implanting electrodes deep within the brain and then using mild electricity to stimulate the brain at an optimal frequency Pseudotherapies Can be Dangerous Some treatments are widely believed to be effective are actually counterproductive o o o o Eg: encouraging people to describe their experiences following major trauma Scaring adolescents into going straight by exposing them to prisoners or tough treatments Having police officers run drug education programs (DARE) Using hypnosis to recover painful memories

It is important to recognize the difference between evidence based psychotherapies and alternative or fringe Pseudotherapies

What are the Most Effective Treatments? Treatments that focus on behaviour and cognition are superior for anxiety disorders Many effective treatments are available for depression Lithium is most effective for bipolar disorder Pharmacological treatments are superior for schizophrenia According to Barlow three features characterize psychological treatments: o o o Vary according to the client and the disorder Techniques used in these treatments have been developed in the laboratory by psychological scientists No overall grand theory guides treatment Treatment is based on evidence of its effectiveness

Anxiety Disorder Treatments CBT works the best to treat most adult anxiety disorders Anxiety reducing drugs are also beneficial in some cases But there are risks of side effects and risk of relapse Tranquilizers work only short term but are prone to addiction

Specific Phobias Fear of heights, spiders, blood

Systematic desensitization is most effective Patients list out a fear hierarchy which includes a list of situations in which fear is aroused in ascending order Relaxation training where client learns to alternate muscular tension with muscular relaxation Exposure therapy is the next step Asked to imagine or enact the scenarios Virtual realities through computers can help Brain imaging data indicate that successful treatment with CBT alters the way the brain processes the fear stimulus Rewires the brain

Panic Attacks Imipramine (tricyclic antidepressant) prevents panic attacks but does not reduce the anticipatory anxiety that occurs when people fear they may have an attack CBT helps break down the learned association between the physical symptoms and the feeling of impending doom Cognitive restructuring addresses ways of reacting to the symptoms of a panic attack Will try to point out the irrationality of fears, however it may not be enough Goal of therapy is to break the connection between the trigger symptom and the resulting panic Exposure treatment to induce habituation CBT appears to be as effective or as more effective than medication in the treatment of panic attacks Obsessive Compulsive Disorder SSRIs and CBT are effective treatments Researchers imaged the brains of patients with OCD who were being treated either with Prozac or with CBT Patients in both treatment groups showed the same changes in neural activity CBT may be a more effective way of treating OCD than medication especially over the long term Traditional antianxiety drugs are completely ineffective for OCD SSRIs reduce the obsessive component of the depressions CBT helps to reduce the exposure and response preventions Client is directly exposed to the stimuli that trigger compulsive behaviour but is prevented from engaging in the behaviour

Goal is to break the conditioned link between a particular stimulus and a compulsive behaviour Deep brain stimulation may be an effective treatment for those with OCD who have not found relief from CBT or medications Leads to clinically significant reduction of symptoms and increased daily function in about two-thirds of those receiving treatment

Many Effective Treatments are Available for Depression Approximately 60 to 70 percent of patients who take antidepressants experience relief from their symptoms Pharmacological Treatments MAO inhibitors lift mood however can be toxic because of their effects on various physiological systems These drugs are generally reserved for patients who do not respond to other antidepressants Tricyclics are also extremely effective however because of their broad based action, there are a number of side effects o Drowsiness, weight gain, sweating, constipation, heart palpitations and dry mouth SSRIs on the other hand had none of these side effects however sometimes cause insomnia, headache, weight loss and sexual dysfunction 30% respond to placebos Research shows that those who continue to take medication for at least a year only have a 20% relapse rate Cognitive Behavioural Treatment of Depression Just as effective as biological therapies in treating depression Goal of CBT is to help the client think more adaptively Can be effective on its own, but combining it with antidepressant medication is significantly more effective than either one on its own According to Beck, depression is a result of negative thoughts about oneself, the situation and the future Clients may be asked to recognize and record negative thoughts Treatment of depression with psychotherapy leads to changes in brain activations similar to those observed for drug treatment However they are also observed in slightly different areas, suggesting that the two treatments operate through different mechanisms

Alternative treatments Patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), episodes of depression will most likely occur during winter o o o Many of these patients respond to phototherapy, involves exposure to a high intensity light source for part of each day Regular aerobic exercise can also reduce depression and prevent recurrence Releases endorphins which cause an overall feeling of well being

The problem may be finding the motivation to do this ECT has also been effective for some with extreme depression Affects neurotransmitters to increase levels of acetylcholine Quick acting treatment Antidepressants can take several weeks ECT does not harm pregnant women where as may psychotropic medications can cause birth defects However ECT has a high relapse rate and memory impairments Transcranial magnetic stimulation has also been studied Effective for those who have not responded to antidepressants

Deep Brain Stimulation Like with OCD, recent case studies indicate that DBS might be valuable for treating severe depression when all other treatments have failed For some patients, as soon as the switch was turned on they felt a difference

Gender Issues in Treating Depression Women are the primary consumers of psychotherapy Men are usually more reluctant to admit depression and even more reluctant to seek help and treatment Lithium is most effective for Bipolar Disease Only 20% of patients maintained on lithium will experience relapses Lithium seems to modulate neurotransmitter levels Although lithium is effective in stabilizing mood, it has unpleasant side effects Thirst, hand tremors, excessive urination and memory problems Patients are often treated with both lithium and an antidepressant SSRIs are preferable to other antidepressants because they are less likely to trigger episodes of mania

CBT can help increase compliance with medication regimes

Pharmacological Treatments are Superior for Schizophrenia Previously it has bee believed that brain surgery benefited patients most

Pharmacological treatments Chlorpromazine acts as a major tranquilizer o o Reduces sadness, sedates without inducing sleep and decreases the severity and frequency of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia Haloperidol, has a less sedating effect These drugs created side effects and had no impact on the negative symptoms Chlorpromazine constipation, weight gain and cardiovascular damage Haloperidol motor side affects that resemble Parkinson disease Tardive dyskinesia also is an irreversible side affect In the 1980s clozapine was introduced Acted not only on dopamine receptors but also on those for serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine and histamine Also treated the negative symptoms No signs of Parkinsons symptoms or tardive dyskinesisa Although side effects are rare, they are serious: o Seizures, heart arrhythmias, substantial weight gain, fatal reduction in white blood cells Because of this, patients must take regular blood tests, it all adds up and now Second generation antipsychotics have been introduced that dont have the side effects and are more economically viable Psychosocial treatments Medication does not substantially affect patients social functioning Social skill training is an effective way to address some deficits in schizophrenics Initial studies using CBT indicates that it is more effective than other psychological treatments in reducing symptoms Self care skills

Prognosis in Schizophrenia In some patients, the disorder seems to progress with each episode laying the groundwork for increasingly severe symptoms in the future

Best to treat early However most schizophrenic patients improve over time Half and two thirds were recovered in a study that followed participants for 32 years Prognosis for schizophrenics depends on factors including age of onset, gender and culture

Important Considerations in Selecting a Psychotherapist Specialty Clinical Psychologist Psychiatrists Counseling Psychologist Psychiatric Social Workers Psychiatric Nurses Paraprofessionals Degree PhD or PsyD Medical Degree (MD) PhD Masters in social work (MSW) Bachelors in nursing (BSN) Limited advanced training Placement Academic or hospital setting Hospitals or private practice Schools/Colleges Psychiatric hospitals, house calls Hospitals or in-treatment centers Outreach programs, residential treatment centers

Can Personality Disorders Be Treated? Notoriously difficult to treat Often patients are already being treated for other Axis I disorders such as OCD or depression People rarely seek treatment for personality disorders

Dialectic Behaviour Therapy is Most Successful for Borderline Personality Disorder DBT a form of therapy used to treat borderline personality disorder Developed by Marsha Linehan Combines elements of behavioural, cognitive and psychodynamic approaches All patients are seen in group and individual sessions Three stages o Therapist targets patients most extreme and dysfunctional behaviours Eg: self harm, suicidal threats/attempts Focuses on replacing the behaviours with more appropriate ones

 o o

Patient learns problem solving techniques and more effective ways of coping with their emotions

Therapist helps the patient explore past traumatic experiences that my be the root of emotional problems Therapist helps the patient develop self respect and independent problem solving

Final stage is very important because borderline patients rely heavily on others Studies show that those undergoing DBD are more likely to remain in treatment and less likely to be suicidal

Antisocial Personality Disorder is Difficult to Treat Patients lie, care little for other feelings and live for the present without consideration of the future Antisocial individuals are often more interested in manipulating their therapists than in changing their own behaviour Therapeutic Approaches for Antisocial Personality Disorder Because of their low arousal levels, stimulants are prescribed to normalize arousal levels Evidence indicates that these drugs are beneficial in the short term but not the long term Overall, psychotropic medications have not been effective in treating this disorder Psychotherapeutic approaches also seem of little use Behavioural and cognitive approaches are slightly more successful Learning theories, using punishment and reinforcement Easier when therapists controls reinforcement Cannot be implemented on an outpatient basis Most effective in residential treatment center or a correctional facility

Prognosis for Antisocial Personality Disorder Prognosis that they will change their behaviours as a result of therapy Is poor Especially true for those with psychopathic traits Some CBT techniques show promise but there is no evidence that shows it produces long lasting changes Antisocial individuals seem to improve after age 40 Or individuals sometimes gain insight into their self defeating behaviours

How Should Childhood and Adolescent Disorders Be Treated? Less than 12% of children in the US suffer from mental disorders

The Use of Medication to Treat Adolescent Depression is Controversial Studies have found that SSRIs such as Prozac is effective in treating adolescent depression Tricyclic antidepressants are ineffective and had potentially dangerous side effects Concern was raised about SSRIs causing suicidal tendencies as some adults who were treated with SSRIs reported feeling restless, impulsive and suicidal Reports showed that there were large numbers reporting suicidal thoughts, however none had actually committed suicide However manufacturers were required to put a warning on their packaging about the possible increase in suicidal thinking The Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS,2004) reported that SSRI Prozac is effective 61% of participants taking Prozac showed improvement compared to 43% taking CBT However, the group that had used CBT and Prozac did the best (86%) Proportionality?

Children with ADHD can benefit from Various Approaches Some children grow out of ADHD however many more suffer from the disorder throughout their adolescence and into adulthood Pharmacological treatment of ADHD Most common treatment is a central nervous system stimulant called Ritalin Effects of the drug is similar to those of caffeine and amphetamines It decreases over activity and distractibility Increases attention and the ability to concentrate Side effects: sleep problems, reduced appetite, body twitches temporary growth suspension

Behavioural Treatment of ADHD Aims to reinforce positive behaviour and ignore or punish problem behaviours Treatment is very intensive and time consuming Does not necessarily generalize to the classroom Therapists suggest combined treatment with medication

Autistic Children Benefit from a Structured Treatment Approach Behavioural treatment Applied behavioural analysis (ABA)

Developed by Ivar Lovaas and his colleagues One of the best known and perhaps most effective treatments for autistic children Based on the principles of operant conditioning Very intensive approach and requires a minimum of 40 hours of treatment per week Drawbacks: time commitment, financial and emotional drains on family Other children may feel neglected or jealous because of the amount of time and energy expended on the disabled child 10 hours showed no difference

Biological treatment SSRIs have been tried as a treatment for autism because SSRIs reduce compulsions in patients diagnosed with OCD Autism involves compulsive and repetitive behaviour Some evidence indicates abnormal serotonin metabolism in autistic children Recent research has focused on oxytocin Important fin bonding between mothers sand infants Not yet as developed as other treatments

Prognosis for Children with Autism Despite few reports of remarkable recovery from autism, long term prognosis is poor A follow up study of men in their early twenties showed that nearly had severe social difficulties and were unable to live and work independently Early language ability is associated with better outcome As is higher IQ The earlier the treatment the better

TOPIC #9 Social Psychology (chapter 12) How Do Attitudes Guide Behaviour? Attitudes Our evaluation of objects, of events, or of ideas Shaped by social context We are not always aware of our attitudes

We Form Attitudes through Experience and Socialization Direct experience or exposure to things provides information that shapes attitudes Generally people develop negative attitudes about new things more quickly than positive attitudes Robert Zajonc exposed people to unfamiliar items a few or many times o o mirror Attitudes can be conditioned, advertisers often use classical conditioning Operant conditioning also shapes attitudes, if you are rewarded with good grades each time you study, you will develop a more positive attitude towards studying Also shaped through socialization, caregivers, media, teachers, religious leaders, politicians Society socializes many of our basic attitudes, eg: what to eat The greater the exposure, the more familiarity and more people had positive attitudes towards it Mere exposure effect People tend to prefer the reversed images, which corresponds to what they see in the

Behaviours are Consistent with Strong Attitudes The stronger and more personally relevant the attitude, the more likely it will predict behaviour o Also it will be more consistent and more resistant to change The more specific the attitude, the more predictive it is Attitudes formed through direct experience also tend to predict behaviour better Attitude accessibility the ease which memories related to an attitude are retrieved Easily activated attitudes are more stable, predictive of behaviour and resistant to change Explicit attitudes those you know and can report to other people Implicit attitudes those that influence our feelings and behaviours at an unconscious level We access implicit attitudes from memory quickly Implicit Association Test (IAT) a reaction time test that can identify implicit attitudes Measures how quickly we associate concepts or objects with positive or negative words

Responding more quickly to the association of female = bad than female = good indicates you implicit attitude about females IAT is a better predictor of behaviour than self reports

Discrepancies Lead to Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance occurs when there is a contradiction between an attitude and a behaviour Eg: people smoke when they know it might kill them Basic assumption is that dissonance causes anxiety and tension and therefore motivates people to reduce the dissonance and relieve displeasure o o Generally people do this by changing their attitudes or behaviours Or they rationalize or trivialize the discrepancies

Post decisional Dissonance Holding positive attitudes about two options but having to choose one causes dissonance Eg: which college to attend Postdecisional dissonance motivates the person to focus on one schools (the chosen school) positive aspects and the other schools negative aspects Similarly someone leaning towards buying a truck rather than a car might suddenly think of many reasons for owning a truck rather than a car Attitudinal Change Festinger & Carlsmith got participants to perform an extremely boring task for an hour The experimenter then paid the participant $1 or $20 to lie to the next participant and tell them the task was really interesting, educational and worthwhile Most participants followed these instructions Later, some participants were asked how worthwhile and enjoyable the task had actually been Participants who received the $1 rated the task much more favourable than those who had been paid $20 Those paid $1 had insufficient monetary justification for lying, therefore to justify why they went along with the lie, they changed their attitudes One way to change attitudes is to change behaviours first using as few incentives as possible

Justifying Effort Hazing occurs because by requiring people to undergo embarrassing or difficult rites of passage makes membership in the group more valuable and makes the group more cohesive Eliot Aronson required women to undergo a test to see if they qualified to take part in a research study One group had to read a list of obscene words and sexually explicit passages in front of a male experimenter Where as the control group read a list of milder words They both then watched a boring documentary, the first group reported that the presentation was much more interesting than the second group When people put themselves through pain, embarrassment or discomfort, they experience great dissonance They resolve this by inflating the importance of the group and their commitment to it

Attitudes Can Be Changed through Persuasion Persuasion the active and conscious effort to change attitudes through the transmission of a message Persuasion is more likely to occur when people pay attention to a message, understand it and find it convincing Elaboration likelihood model a theory of how persuasive messages lead to attitude changes Works via two routes Central route which people pay attention to arguments, consider all the information and use rational cognitive processes o o o o Leads to strong attitudes Leads to more impulsive action So is the content And the receiver Peripheral route people minimally process the message The source is what influences a messages persuasiveness

Sources who are both attractive and credible are the most persuasive Strong arguments that appeal on emotion are the most persuasive Advertisers also use the mere exposure effect

How Do We Form Our Impressions of Others? Nonverbal Actions and Expressions Affect Our Impressions

Over time, social psychology has confirmed the importance of first impressions on long-term evaluations of people How you initially make an impression is determined by nonverbal behaviour Facial expressions, gestures, walking style and fidgeting (nonverbal behaviour)

Facial Expressions When babies are less than an our old they prefer to look at and will track a picture of a human face rather than a blank outline of a head Face communicates emotional state, interest and distrust People use their eyes to indicate anger Eye contact is important o o o In western cultures, people seek eye contact when they speak to someone If people dont look them in the eye it is assumed that they are embarrassed, ashamed or lying However in certain cultures making direct eye contact can be considered disrespectful Body Language Thin slices of behaviour few second observations Participants viewed 30 second soundless clips of college teachers lecturing Based solely on nonverbal behaviours, participants ratings corresponded with ratings given by the instructors students How we walk gait o Provides information about affective step

We Make Attributions about Others Attributions peoples casual explanation for why events or actions occur People are motivated to draw inferences in part by a basic need for both order and predictability Just world hypothesis victims must have done something to justify what happened to them

Attributional Dimensions There are dozens of plausible explanations for specific outcome Fritz Heider, originator of attribution theory Personal attributions explanations that refer to internal characteristics such as abilities, traits, moods and effort

Situational attribution explanations that refer to external events such as the weather, luck, accidents or the actions of other people

Attributional Bias When explaining other peoples behaviour we tend to overemphasize the importance of personality traits and underestimate the importance of the situation o Fundamental attribution error People tend to be systematically biased in their social information processing Generally fail to take into account that other people are influenced by social circumstances Correspondence bias people dont expect others behaviours to correspond with their own beliefs and personalities Actor/observer discrepancy the tendency to focus on situations than on their own personal dispositions Stereotypes are based on Automatic Categorization Stereotypes cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of information based on their membership in certain groups Mental shortcuts, allow for fast easy processing of social information People are more likely to falsely remember a male name than a female name as that of a famous person apparently because of the stereotype than men are more likely to be famous Once people form stereotypes, they maintain them by a number of processes Stereotypes guide attention toward information that confirms the stereotypes and away from disconfirming evidence Peoples memories too are biased by stereotypes When people encounter someone that does not fit the stereotype, rather than changing their attitude, they put that person in a special category o Subtyping

Self-Fulfilling Effects Untrue stereotypes can become true through self fulfilling prophecy Self fulfilling prophecy peoples tendency to behave in ways that confirm their own or others expectations Elementary school students took a test that supposedly identified some of them called bloomers as being especially likely to show large increases in IQ Teachers were given a list of the bloomers and at the end of the year, bloomers showed large increases in IQ Teachers expectations turned into reality

Stereotype threat applies to any group for which there is a negative stereotype One of the most studied topics, caused by o o o Psychological stress affecting prefrontal functioning Tendency for people to think about their performances Attempts to suppress negative thoughts and emotions which requires a great deal of effort

Stereotypes Can Lead to Prejudice Prejudice the usually negative affective or attitudinal response associated with stereotypes Discrimination the inappropriate and unjustified treatment of people based solely on their group membership People discriminate against others to protect their self esteem? We tend to favor our own groups over other groups? We treat others as scapegoats to relieve the tensions of daily living?

In-group/Out-group Bias We are powerfully connected to the groups to which we belong In groups groups to which we belong Out groups groups to which we dont belong People are predisposed to be wary of others who do not belong to their own groups Separation of people into ingroup and outgroup appears to occur early in development Research has found that three month old Caucasian infants in the UK recognize faces from their own group as well as they recognize faces from other groups o However, by 9 months they only recognize Caucasian faces Outgroup homogeneity effect people tend to view outgroup members as less varied than ingroup members Ingroup favoritism tendency for people to evaluate favorably and privilege members of the ingroup more than members of the outgroup Stereotypes and Perception Implicit social attitudes can influence basic perceptual processes Payne showed pictures of various objects to white participants and asked them to classify the objects as guns or tools as quickly as possible Immediately before seeing a picture the participants were briefly shown a picture of a white or black face Black face pictures led participants to identify guns more quickly and mistake tools for guns

Inhibiting Stereotypes Categorization and stereotyping occur automatically without peoples awareness or intent People can override the stereotypes they hold and act in nondiscriminatory ways People low on prejudice override this automatic activation Simply categorizing people does not lead to mistreating them Telling people their tests scores indicate they hold negative stereotypes can motivte people to correct their attitudes Frontal lobes are important for controlling both thoughts and behaviour

Cooperation Can Reduce Prejudice Extremely difficult to change cultural and religious beliefs and attitudes towards ethnic groups People can work together and overcome intergroup hostilities if they have a reater purpose Among strangers competition and isolation created enemies Among enemies cooperation created friends

Jigsaw Classroom Programs that best bring groups together involve person to person interaction Eliot Aronsons jigsaw classroom o o o o Students work together in a mixed race or mixed sex groups in which each member of the group is an expert on one aspect of the assignment The various experts of each aspect get together and master the material They then return to their own groups and teach the material to their team members Each group member cooperates not only with members of other groups but also within the group More than 800 studies have found that this leads to more positive attitudes toward other ethnicities TOPIC #10 Social Psychology pt.2 (chapter 12) How Do Others Influence Us? Groups Influence Individual Behaviour Norman Triplett cyclists pedal faster when riding with other people than when riding alone Social facilitation mere presence of other people leads to increased arousal which in turn favours the dominant response

Also occurs in other animals such as horses, dogs, rats, birds fish and even cockroaches All animals are genetically predisposed to become aroused by the presence of others of their own species This leads animals to emit a dominant response (the response most likely to be performed) However if the dominant response is incorrect in current situation, then performance is impaired Eg: employees performing simple tasks such as database entry might work best in a fairly open environment However if they are performing more complicated tasks such as editing manuscripts, they might better work in a private office since concentration is paramount

Social Loafing Social loafing the tendency for people to work less hard in a group than when working alone Peoples efforts are pooled so that no one individual feels personally responsible for the groups output Six blindfolded people wearing headphones were told to shout as loudly as they could Some were told that they were shouting alone Others were told they were shouting with other people Participants did not shout as loudly when they believed others were shouting as well

Deindividuation People sometimes lose their individuality when they become part of a group Deindividuation occurs when people are not self-aware and therefore are not paying attention to their personal standards Deindividuated people often do things that they would not do if they were alone or self aware Group Decision Making Being in a group influences decision making in curious ways Psychologist James Stoner found that groups often made riskier decisions than individuals did Risky shift effect accounts for why children in a group may try something dangerous that none of them would have tried alone Group polarization groups tend to enhance the initial attitudes of members who already agree

We Conform to Social Norms Social norms- expected standards of conduct which influence behaviour Conformity altering of ones opinions or behaviours to match those of others or to match social norms Auto kinetic effect - in which a stationary point of light appears to move when viewed in a totally dark environment Effect occurs because people have no frame of reference Often people compare their reactions with others to judge what is appropriate Size of the group influences chances of conformity

We are Compliant Compliance the tendency to agree to do things requested by others People in good moods are especially likely to comply Other explanations state that it is because we fail to pay attention and respond without fully considering their options o Mental shortcut to avoid conflict Foot in the door effect people will more likely comply with a large and undesirable request if earlier they have agreed to a small request Once people commit to a course of action they behave in ways consistent with that course Door in the face people will more likely agree with a small request after they have refused a large request Low balling strategy begins when a salesperson offers a product for a very low price, once the customer agrees the salesperson may then claim that the manager did not approve of the price but there will be additional charges However often, the person will agree to still purchase the car

We Are Obedient to Authority Stanley Milgram experiment was interested in the determinants of obedience Shock generator experiment Milgram found that almost all participants tried to quit, but nearly two thirds completely obeyed all the experimenters directives despite believing they were administering 450 volts to an old man with a heart condition Milgram found that some situations produced less compliance o o Eg: if the teacher could see or had to touch the learner If the experimenter gave instructions oer the phone

A recent replica of the experiment found that 70% of participants were obedient up to maximum voltage (Burger 2009)

When Do We Harm or Help Others? Belonging to a group can also lead us to acts of altruism and of generosity Support for the victims of the 2004 tsunami show this

Aggression can be Adaptive Aggression any behaviour or action that involves the intention to harm someone else Physical aggression is common among young children but relatively rare in adults Adults aggressive acts often involve words or other symbols, meant to threaten, intimidate or emotionally harm others Biological Factors Stimulating certain brain regions or altering neurochemicals can lead to substantial changes in behaviour Stimulating or damaging the septum, amygdala or hypothalamus leads to corresponding changes in the levels of aggression displayed Stimulating a cats amygdala causes it to attack where as damaging it leads to passive behaviour Removing the amygdalas of aggressive rhesus monkeys result in tame, friendly and easy to handle monkeys Kluver-Bucy Syndrome behaviour associated with damage to the amygdala Serotonin is also especially important in the control of aggressive behaviour Enhancing the levels of serotonin lowered aggression In New Zealand low serotonin levels were associated with violence

Individual Factors Frustration-aggression hypothesis frustration generally leads to aggression Slow traffic Frustration leads to aggression by eliciting negative emotions Any other situations that induces negative emotions such as being insulted, afraid, overly hot or in pain Aggression has Social and Cultural Aspects Data shows that violence varies dramatically across cultures and even within cultures at times

Culture of honor a belief system in which men are primed to protect their reputations through physical aggression Men in Southern US are raised to be ready to fight for their honor and to respond aggressively to personal threats Supports Banduras theory that aggressive behaviour is learned through vicarious social observation of both reward and punishment

Many Factors May Influence Helping Behaviour Prosocial tending to benefit others Doing favours, offering assistance, paying compliments Prosocial behaviours promote positive interpersonal relationships Daniel Batson argue that prosocial behaviours are motivated by empathy Robert Cialdini argue that prosocial behaviours have selfish motives such as wanting to manage ones public image Other propose that people have an inborn disposition to help others Altruism Providing of help when it is needed, without any apparent reward for doing so People are altruistic towards those whom they share genes, phenomenon known as kin selection Maximize the number of common genes that will survive into future generations Natural selection theory

Some Situations Lead to Bystander Apathy Kitty Genovese 38 witnesses did not call the police or assist her Bystander intervention effect failure to offer help by htose who observe someone in need A person will less likely help if other bystanders around Reasons o o o o Diffusion of responsibility, people expect other bystanders to help People fear making social blunders in ambiguous situations People will less likely help when they are anonymous and can remain so People weigh how much harm to themselves they risk by helping against what benefits they may have to forgo if they help What Determines the Quality of Relationships? Situational and Personal Factors Influence Friendships The more students come into contact, the more likely they would become friends

Proximity has its effects because of familiarity, people like familiar things more than unfamiliar ones Generally humans fear anything novel (neophobia)

Birds Of A Feather Another factor that increases liking is similarity People with similar attitudes, values, interests, backgrounds and personalities tend to like each other In high school people tend to be friends with those of the same sex, race, age and year in school Most successful romantic couples also tend to be the most physically similar Phenomenon called the matching principle

Personal Characteristics Least likeable characteristics are dishonesty, insincerity, lack of persona warmth Likable characteristics include kind, dependable and trustworthy Generally people also like those who have a personal characteristic valuable to the group Eg: competent people are more likeable However, people who seem too competent or too perfect make others feel inadequate and uncomfortable Small mistakes can make a person seem more human and therefore more likeable

Physical Attractiveness How people rate attractiveness is generally consistent across all cultures Averaged faces seem more attractive Possibly because of the mere exposure Most people find symmetrical faces more attractive than asymmetrical Physically attractive people are less likely to be perceived as criminals

Love is and Important Component of Romantic Relationships Passionate love state of intense longing and sexual desire Compassionate love strong commitment to car for and support a partner that develops slowly over time o those Based on friendship, trust, respect and intimacy One theory of love is based on attachment theory

Those who believe their parents were warm, supportive and responsive report having secure attachments in their relationship Those who believe their parents were cold and distant report having avoidant attachments

Making Love Last Is Difficult Half of marriages end in divorce or separation (often within the firs few years) Passion typically fades over time

Jealousy and Possessiveness