Psychology: Understanding Behavior & Mental Processes via Humanistic & Evolutionary Approa, Exams of Marketing

Download Psychology: Understanding Behavior & Mental Processes via Humanistic & Evolutionary Approa and more Exams Marketing in PDF only on Docsity! 1. Psychology- The scientific study of behavior and mental processes. 3key terms: -Science (the use of systematic methods to observe, describe, predict, and explain behavior). -Behavior (everything we can do that can be directly observed) -Mental Processes (the thoughts, feelings, and motives, that each of us experiences privately but that cannot be observed directly). 2-3.Wilhelm Wundt – Known as the founding father of modern psychology, founded the 1st psychology lab in 1879. Wundt and his collaborators focused on trying to discover “structures” of mental processes. They described 3 different dimensions of feeling: pleasure/displeasure, tension/relaxation, and excitement/depression. -a student of Wundt’s gave his approach the label of STRUCTURALISM! This approach focused on identifying the structures of the human mind. FUNCTIONALISM! – William James who later completed his masterpiece “The Principles of Psychology” had a different approach labeled PRAGMATISM. This essentially states that to find out the meaning of an idea, you must determine its consequences. The question is not so much the structures but the purpose or functions. 4. Contemporary approaches to Psychology: 7 BIOLOGICAL APPROACH- focus on the body, esp. the brain and nervous system THE BEHAVIORAL APPROACH- emphasizes the scientific study of observable behavior responses and their environmental determinants. THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH- emphasizes unconscious thought, the conflict between biological instincts and society’s demand’s, and early family experiences. THE HUMANISTIC APPROACH- emphasizes a person’s positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth, and the freedom to choose any destiny. THE COGNITIVE APPROACH- emphasizes the mental processes involved in knowing. THE EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH- uses evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors. THE SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH- examines the ways in which the social and cultural environments influence behavior. 5. Positive Psychology movement- the push for a stronger emphasis on research involving the experiences that people value, the traits associated with optimal capacities for love and work, and positive group and civic values. 6. Scientific Method 5steps: 1- Observing some phenomenon 2- Formulating hypothesis and predictions 3- Testing through empirical research 4- Drawing conclusions 5- Evaluating conclusions 7. Critical Thinking - The process of thinking reflectively and productively and evaluating the evidence. 8. Correlation Study: a research strategy that identifies the relationships between two or more variables in order to describe how these variables change together. Experiments: an experiment is a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more variables believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while other variables are held constant. 9. Independent Variables: The manipulated experimental factor in an experiment. Dependent Variables: A factor that can change in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable. 10. Parts of the neuron and how they communicate with each other: Parts of a neuron and functions: 1. Cell Body: contains the nucleus, which directs the manufacture of substances that the neuron needs for growth and maintenance. 2. Dendrites: receive and orient information toward the cell body. 3. Axon: the part of the neuron that carries information away from the cell body toward other cells 4. Myelin Sheath: a layer of fat cells encases and insulates most axons. 5. Synapse: tiny junctions between neurons. The gap between neurons is referred to as a synaptic gap. Most synapses lie between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite or cell body of another neuron. -Accommodation occurs when individuals adjust their schemas to new information. 5. Erikson’s stages: 4-Erikson worked as a psychoanalyst under Sigmund Freud’s direction and then came to the U.S. and taught at Harvard. Erikson emphasized lifelong development. These stages proceed from infancy through old age: - Adolescence (identity versus identity confusion) - Early Adulthood (Intimacy versus isolation) - Middle Adulthood (Generativity versus Stagnation) - Late Adulthood (Integrity versus despair). Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, recognized that cognitive development does not occur in a sociocultural vacuum. In his view, the goal of cognitive development is to learn the skills that will allow you to be competent in your culture. 6. Attachment: the close emotional bond between an infant and its caregiver. 7. Parenting Dimensions: (2)/styles(4) -Authoritarian (little control, much warmth) children fail to initiate activity and have poor communication skills, comparing themselves with others. -Authoritative (much control, much warmth)-authoritative parenting is associated with the highest level of well-being in that the children of these parent tend to be socially competent. -Neglectful (little control, little warmth)- children are less competent socially, and handle independence poorly, and show poor self-control -Indulgent (much control, little warmth)-permissive- children fail to learn respect for others, expect to get their own way, and have difficulty controlling their behavior. 8. Kohlberg: theorist who studied Piaget’s ways. He had a theory of moral development, which consisted of three major levels: 1- Pre-conventional (most children and adolescence. Authority, avoid punishment). 2- Conventional (adolescence, some adults stay here forever). 3- Post conventional (abstract way; follows basic ethical principles). 9. Gender roles: expectations for how females and males should think, act, and feel.as children grow up they adopt these. 10. Puberty: the signature physical change in adolescence; a period of rapid skeletal and sexual maturation that occurs mainly in adolescence. 11. Emerging Adulthood: The transition from adolescence to adulthood 12. Biological theories of aging: 2 that merit attention- * The cellular-clock theory - Hayflick’s view that cells can divide a maximum of about 100 times and that, as we age, our cells become less capable of dividing.  The free-radical theory - A theory which states that people age because inside their cells unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals are produced. 13. Cognition in late adulthood: * When speed of processing information is involved, older adults do more poorly than their younger counterparts. However some aspects of cognition might improve with age. One candidate is Wisdom, expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life. Classical conditioning- learning by which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response: UCS-meat-----------UCR-salivation NS-door slam_____________ CS-door __________CR-salivation +UCS-meat Extinction (classical)- The weakening of the conditioned response in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus. Stimulus generalization (classical)- after stimulus becomes a CS other stimuli can produce the same reaction Discrimination (classical)- different stimuli will produce different reactions Acquisition (Classical)- the initial learning of the stimulus response link. Operant conditioning- Also called instrumental conditioning; a form of associative learning in which the consequences of a behavior change the probability of the behavior’s occurrence Developed by the American psychologist- B.F. Skinner Edward Thorndike established the power of consequences in determining voluntary behavior. Thorndike developed the law of effect which states: behaviors followed by positive outcomes are strengthened, whereas behaviors followed by negative outcomes are weakened. Shaping refers to rewarding approximations of a desired behavior: i.e. shaping can be used to train a rat to press a bar to obtain food. Reinforcement (positive and negative)-Reinforcement is the process by which a stimulus or an event strengthens or increases the probability of a behavior or an event that it follows: In positive reinforcement, the frequency of a behavior increases because it is followed by a rewarding stimulus. In negative reinforcement, the frequency of a behavior increases because it is followed by the removal of an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus. Primary reinforcements-the use of reinforcers that are innately satisfying (food, water, and sexual satisfactions) Secondary Reinforcements-the use of reinforecers that are learned or conditioned (getting a pat on the back, praise, and eye contact). Schedules of reinforcements- timetables that determine when a behavior will be reinforced. (4) 1- On the fixed ratio schedule the drop off in responding after each response. 2- On the variable ratio schedule the high, steady rate of responding. 3- On the Fixed interval schedule the immediate drop off in responding after reinforcement and the increase in responding just before reinforcement. 4- On the Variable interval schedule the slow, steady rate of responding. Punishment (positive and negative)- In positive punishment, a behavior decreases when it is followed by an unpleasant stimulus. In negative punishment, a behavior decreases when a positive stimulus is removed from it. Bandura-observational learning- also called imitation or modeling, is learning that occurs when a person observes and imitates behavior. What are long-term memory and short-term memory? - Short-term memory(time frames up to thirty seconds) - Long-term memory(time frames up to a lifetime) Short-term memory- is a limited capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for as long as 30 seconds. Long-term memory- is a relatively permanent type of memory that holds huge amounts of information for a long period of time. Chunking- involves grouping or packing information that exceeds the 7+2 memory span into higher-order units that can be remembered as single units. Projective test- presents individuals with an ambiguous stimulus and then asks them to describe it or tell a story about it-in other words, to project their own meaning onto it. Example-the Rorschach inkblot test is a widely used projective test-uses an individual’s perception of inkblots to determine his/her personality. Self-report test –also called objective test /inventory, directly asks people whether specific items (true/false) describe their personality traits. i.e.-I like to watch cartoons on TV. Example- The empirically keyed test which presents a host of questionnaire items to groups of people who are already known to differ in some central way. Attribution is the process by which we come to understand the causes of others’ behavior and form an impression of them as individuals. 3 dimensions of casualty: 1-internal/external causes- Internal attributions include all causes internal to the person, such as his traits or abilities, external attributions include all causes external to the person, such as social pressure, aspects of the social situation, money, the weather, or luck. 2- stable/unstable causes- Is the cause relatively enduring and permanent or is it temporary? Did Jason blow up at his girlfriend because he is a hostile guy or because he was in a bad mood that day? 3- controllable/uncontrollable causes- We perceive that we can control some causes (for instance, by preparing delicious food for a picnic) BUT NOT TO OTHERS(if it rains that day). Fundamental attribution error- the tendency for observers to overestimate the importance of internal traits and underestimate the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of an actor’s behavior. Stereotyping- a generalization about a group’s characteristic’s that does not consider any variations from one individual to another. Labeling and individual as a member of a particular group or category. Prejudice- an unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on their membership in a group. Discrimination- an unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because the person belongs to that group. Self-serving bias- tendency to take credit for one’s successes…..someone who is healthy. Cognitive dissonance? And how do we resolve it? -a concept developed by Festinger, it is an individual’s psychological discomfort(dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts. We can resolve/reduce this one of two general ways: CHANGE OUR ATTITUDES TO FIT OUR BEHAVIOR OR CHANGE OUR BEHAVIORS TO FIT OUR ATTITUDES. What is altruism? Empathy? Altruism -an unselfish interest in helping someone else. Empathy -a feeling of oneness with/ the emotional state of another person. Know the famous studies of Asch and Milgram? Asch-conformity experiment on group influence(conforming to what others say) -a confederate is a person who is given a role to play in a study so that social context can be manipulated. Factors that contribute to conformity: Informational social influence- the influence other people have on us because we want to be right Normative social influence- the influence others have on us because we want them to like and approve of us. Milgram- obedience- behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority. Groupthink- group member’s impaired decision making and avoidance of realistic appraisal to maintain group harmony. What are the relationships between social support and health? Social support refers to the aid provided by others to a person in need. Support can take the form of tangible assistance, information, or emotional support. Social support has been found to correlate strongly with functioning under and coping with stress. 3 criteria of abnormal behavior from text: Abnormal behavior is behavior that is deviant, maladaptive, or personally distressful over a long period of time. What is the biopsychosocial model for studying abnormal behavior? Behavior is influenced by biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. A model in which a variety of intersecting factors from each of the domains of experience are considered in order to understand the development of psychological disorders. DSM-IV- abbreviation for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; the current version of the APA’s major classification of psychological disorders. Know symptoms of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenias, personality disorders Be able to identify them in a vignette and to discuss treatments (biological and psychological).