Psychology Final Exam Study Guide PDF

Preview

Summary

Psychology Final Exam Study Guide...

Description

Psychology Final Exam Study Guide 1. Freud theorized that personality is formed around three structures: the Id, the ego, and the superego.  The Id is the only structure present at birth and is completely unconscious. It operates according to the pleasure principle. It is the collection of unconscious urges and desires that continually seep expression.  The ego is that part that mediates between environmental demands (reality), conscious (superego), and instinctual needs (Id). It is the self and reality principle.  The superego is the social and parental standards the individual has internalized; the conscious and the ego ideal. It is the moral guardian. 2. Defense Mechanisms Rationalization- justify our unacceptable behavior with excuses  Denial- refusal to acknowledge a painful or threatening reality  Repression- excluding uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and desires from consciousness  Projection- attributing one’s repressed motives, feelings, or wishes to others  Identification- taking on the characteristics of someone else to avoid feeling incompetent  Regression- reverting to childlike behavior and defenses  Intellectualization- thinking abstractly about stressful problems as a way of detaching oneself from them  Reaction formation- expression of exaggerated ideas and emotions that are the opposite of one’s repressed beliefs or feelings  Displacement- shifting repressed motives and emotions from an original object to a substitute object  Sublimation- redirecting repressed motives and feelings into more socially acceptable channels 3. Psychology- the scientific study of behavior and mental processes  Developmental- the study of how people grow and change physically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially, from the prenatal period through death. Subfields include: child, adolescent, and life span psychology.  Physiological- investigates the biological basis of behavior. Subfields include neuroscience, biological psychology, and behavior genetics.  Experimental- investigates basic psychological processes such as sensation and perception, memory intelligence, learning and motivation.  Personality- studies the difference between individuals on such traits as sociability, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and self-esteem.  Clinical and counseling- applies the principles of psychology to mental health and adjustment. Clinical psychology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders while counseling psychology is more concerned with “normal” adjustment issues such as making difficult choices or coping with a troubled relationship.

Social- explores how society influences the individual including such topics as interpersonal attraction, persuasion, attitude formation, obedience, conformity, and group behavior.  Industrial and Organizational- applies the principles of psychology to the workplace focusing on the practical issues of personnel selection and training, working conditions, workplace moral, and leadership. Scientific method- an approach to knowledge that relies on collecting data, generating a theory to explain the data, generating a theory to explain the data, producing testable hypotheses based on the theory, and testing those hypotheses empirically. Most psychologists agree that psychology was born in 1879, the year that Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Research methods Naturalistic observation- behavior is observed in the environment in which it occurs naturally  Case studies- behavior of one person or a few people is studied in depth  Surveys- a large number of participants are asked a standard set of questions  Correlational research- this approach employs statistical methods to examine the relationship between two or more variables.  Experimental research- one or more variables are systematically manipulated, and the effect of that manipulation on other variables is studied Mood Disorders  Depression- overwhelming feelings of sadness, lack of interest in activities, and perhaps excessive guilt or feelings of worthlessness  Mania- euphoric states, extreme physical activity, excessive talkativeness, distractedness, and sometimes grandiosity  Bipolar disorder- periods of mania and depression alternate, sometimes with periods of normal mood intervening Anxiety Disorders  Specific phobias- an intense, paralyzing fear of something  Social phobias- excessive, inappropriate fears connected with social situations or performances in front of other people  Agoraphobia- multiple, intense fears of crowds, public places, and other situations that require separation from a source of security such as the home  Panic disorder- recurrent panic attacks in which the person suddenly experiences intense fear or terror without any reasonable cause  Generalized anxiety disorder- prolonged vague but intense fears that are not attached to any particular object or circumstance  Obsessive compulsive disorder- a person feels driven to think disturbing thoughts or to perform senseless rituals  Acute stress disorder- arising in response to a terrifying or traumatic event 

4.

5. 6.

7.

8.

Posttraumatic stress disorder- occur after you have been through a traumatic event 9. Psychosomatic disorder- there is real physical illness that is largely caused by psychological factors such as stress and anxiety 10. Somatoform disorder- there is an apparent physical illness for which there is not organic basis  Somatization disorder- recurrent vague somatic complaints without a physical cause  Conversion disorder- a dramatic specific disability has no physical cause but instead seems related to psychological problems  Hypochondriasis- a person interprets insignificant symptoms as signs of serious illness in the absence of any organic evidence of such illness  Body dysmorphic disorder- a person becomes so preoccupied with his or her imagined ugliness that normal life is impossible 11. Dissociative Disorders- some aspect of the personality seems separated from the rest  Dissociative amnesia- loss of memory for past events without prganic cause  Dissociative fugue- involves flight from home and the assumption of a new identity with amnesia for past identity and events  Dissociative identity disorder- the separation of the personality into two or more distinct personalities  Depersonalization disorder- the person suddenly feels changed or different in a strange way 12. Sexual Dysfunction- loss or impairment of the ordinary physical responses or sexual functions  Erectile disorder- the inability of a man to achieve or maintain an erection  Female sexual arousal disorder- the inability of a woman to become sexually aroused or to reach orgasm  Sexual desire disorder- the person lacks sexual interest or has an active distaste for sex  Orgasmic disorder- inability to reach orgasm in a person able to experience sexual desire and maintain arousal  Premature ejaculation- inability of man to inhibit orgasm as long as desired  Vaginismus- involuntary muscle spasms in the outer part of the vagina that make intercourse impossible 13. Paraphilias- sexual disorders in which unconventional objects or situations cause sexual arousal  Fetishism- a nonhuman object is the preferred or exclusive method of achieving sexual excitement  Voyeurism- desire to watch others having sexual relations or to spy on nude people  Exhibitionism- compulsion to expose one’s genitals in public to achieve sexual arousal 

Frotteurism- compulsion to achieve sexual arousal by touching or rubbing against a nonconsenting person in a public situations  Transvestic fetishism- wearing the clothes of the opposite sex to achieve sexual gratification  Sexual sadism- obtaining sexual gratification from humiliating or physically harming a sex partner  Sexual masochism- inability to enjoy sex without accompanying emotional or physical pain  Pedophilia- desire to have sexual relations with children as the preferred or exclusive method of achieving sexual excitement 14. Gender-Identity Disorder- the desire to become, or the insistence that one really is, a member of the other biological sex 15. Personality Disorders- inflexible and maladaptive ways of thinking and behaving learned early in life cause distress to the person or conflicts with others  Schizoid personality disorder- a person is withdrawn and lacks feelings for others  Paranoid personality disorder- the person in inappropriately suspicious and mistrustful of others  Dependent personality disorder- the person is unable to make choices and decisions independently and cannot tolerate being alone  Avoidant personality disorder- the person’s fears of rejection by others lead to social isolation  Narcissistic personality disorder- the person has an exaggerated sense of self-importance and needs constant admiration  Borderline personality disorder- marked instability in self-image, mood, and interpersonal relationships  Antisocial personality disorder- involves a pattern of violent, criminal, or unethical and exploitative behavior and an inability to feel affection for others 16. Schizophrenic Disorders- there are disturbances of thoughts, communications, and emotions, including delusions and hallucinations  Disorganized schizophrenia- bizarre and childlike behaviors are common  Catatonic schizophrenia- disturbed motor behavior is prominent  Paranoid schizophrenia- marked by extreme suspiciousness and complex, bizarre delusions  Undifferentiated schizophrenia- there are clear schizophrenic symptoms that do not meet the criteria for another subtype of the disorder 17. Childhood Disorders Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)- inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity  Autistic disorder- lack of social instincts and strange motor behavior 18. Neurons 100 billion  dendrites, axons, myelin, and terminal buttons 

 smallest unit of the nervous system 19. lobes and their functions frontal- coordinates messages from the other cerebral lobes; involves in the complex problem-solving tasks  parietal- receives sensory info from sense receptors all over the body; involved in spatial abilities  temporal- involved in complex visual talks; balance; regulates emotions; strong role in understanding language  occipital- receives and processes visual info 20. two major systems that coordinate and integrate behavior21. Endorphins22. Sensation- the actual sensory stimulation 23. Perception- how the brain interprets the actual sensory stimuli 24. Vision- 80% of sensory info 25. 4 basic tastes- sweet, sour, salty, and bitter 26. waking consciousness- mental state that encompasses the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that occur when we are awake and reasonably alert 27. altered consciousness- mental states that differ noticeably from normal waking consciousness 28. Stages of Sleep Twilight state- relaxed wakefulness  Stage 1- slower pulse; relaxed muscles; side to side rolling of eyes; easily aroused  Stage 2&3- still lower pulse, blood pressure, body temp; hard to awaken; unresponsive to stimuli  Stage 4- very low pulse rate, blood pressure, body temp; slow breathing  REM(paradoxical)- increased heart rate, blood pressure; muscles very relaxed; rapid eye movements(REM); very difficult to awaken 29. The average person has four to five dreams per night. 30. The most widely abused drug in the US is alcohol. 31. How drugs effect consciousness32. Four types of learning Cognitive learning- depends on mental processes that are not directly observable  Latent Learning- not immediately reflected in a behavior change  Observational learning- observing other people’s behavior  Insight learning- occurs rapidly as a result of understanding all the elements of a problem 33. unconditioned stimulus- a stimulus that invariably causes an organism to respond in a specific way 34. unconditioned response- a response that takes place in an organism whenever an unconditioned stimulus occurs 35. conditioned stimulus- an originally neutral stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus and eventually produces the desired response in an organism when presented alone

36. conditioned response- after conditioning, the response an organism produces when a conditioned stimulus is presented 37. Three types of learning STM- working memory; briefly stores and processes selected info from the sensory registers  LTM- the portion of memory that is more or less permanent corresponding to everything we know  Sensory registers- entry points for raw info from the senses 38. Chunking- the grouping of info into meaningful units for easier handling by STM 39. Procedural - the portion of LTM that stores info relating to skills, habits, and other perceptual motor tasks 40. Episodic- the portions of LTM that stores personally experienced events 41. Semantic- the portion of LTM that stores general facts and info 42. Emotional- learned emotional responses to various stimuli 43. Mnemonics- techniques that make material easier to remember...