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What is the connection between the brain’s internal processes and people’s external behaviors? 1.1: What is Psychology? ∙ Introduction o Story of the goddess Psyche and Eros o Psyche represents the human soul’s triumph over the misfortunes of life in the pursuit of true happiness o Since the mind is not directly observable, psychology is the study of mind and behavior o Our scientific understanding of the mind is limited because thoughts are neither matter nor energy o Empirical Method: a method for acquiring knowledge based on observation, including experimentation, rather than a method based only on forms of logical argument or previous authorities o Psych not accepted as its own discipline until late 1800s ∙ Merits of an Education in Psychology o v good should do v popular 1.2: History of Psychology ∙ Introduction o Relatively new science o Stemmed from philosophy ∙ Wundt and Structuralism o Wilhelm Wundt: first person to be referred to as a psychologist o Believed the goal of psychology was to identify the components of consciousness and how those components combined to result in our conscious experience o Introspection: a process by which someone examines their own conscious experience as objectively as possible, making the human mind like any other aspect of nature that a scientist observed o Had stringent conditions and requirements: Use of “trained” or practiced observers Use of repeatable stimuli that always produced the same experience in the subject These conditions were put in place to prevent “interpretation” in the reporting of internal experiences o Counters the argument that there is no way to know that an individual is observing their mind or consciousness accurately o Structuralism: attempt to understand the structure or characteristics of the mind through introspection o Despite Wundt’s efforts, introspection remined highly subjective and there was very little agreement between individuals o Structuralism fell out of favor ∙ James and Functionalism o William James: first psychologist to have a different perspective on psych o Accepted Darwin’s theory of evolution as an explanation of organism’s characteristics o Functionalism: studying psychology as a result of evolution and adaptation, and the function of behavior in the world Focuses on how mental activities helped and organism fit into its environment o Functionalists were more interesting in the operation of the whole mind rather than of its individual parts o James believed introspection could serve as one means by way of which to study meal activities Also relied on more objective measures like recording devices and examinations of anatomy and physiology ∙ Freud and Psychoanalytic Theory o Sigmund Freud: perhaps most wellknown psychologist, was a neurologist o Though the unconscious mind was a repository of feelings and urges of which we have no awareness Believed this is what caused “hysteria” especially among women o Thought the unconscious mind could be accessed through: dream analysis examinations of the first words that came to people’s minds slips of the tongue o Psychoanalytic Theory: focuses on the role of a person’s unconscious as well as early childhood experiences o Many of his theories are controversial but still made significant contributions ∙ Wertheimer, Koffka, Kohler, and Gestalt Psychology o Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler: German psychologists who immigrated to America to escape Nazis Credited with introducing psychologists in US to Gestalt theory o Gestalt Psychology: although a sensory experience can be broken down into individual parts, how those parts related to each other as a whole is often what the individual responds to in perception E.g.: a dong made me made up of individual notes played by different instruments, but the real nature of the song is perceived in the combinations of these notes as they form the melody, harmony, and rhythm o Gestalt theory not popularized in America due to ruse of behaviorism However became part of humanistic theory, so it was influential ∙ Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, and Behaviorism o Many scientists concerned about immeasurability of inner experience, so chose to study solely outer behavior o Ivan Pavlov: Russian psychologist who studied conditional reflex, aka “classical conditioning” An animal or human produced a reflex, or unconscious response to a stimulus and, over time, was conditioned to produce the same response to a different stimulus that the experimenter associated with the original stimulus o John B Watson: influential American psychologist at Johns Hopkins Focused directly on observable behavior to bring that behavior under control o Behaviorism: observing and controlling behavior Major study was learned behavior and its interaction with inborn qualities Commonly used animals & applied results to humans Largely responsible for establishing psychology as a scientific discipline Used in behavioral and cognitivebehavioral therapy o B.F. Skinner: American psychologist like Watson Concentrated on how behavior was affected by its consequences Reinforcement and punishment Skinner box (operant conditioning chamber) isolates the subject from the external environment and has a behavior indicator such as a lever or button ∙ Maslow, Rogers, and Humanism o Many disliked the simplifying nature of behaviorism o Humanism: emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans o Abraham Maslow: American psychologist known for proposing a hierarchy of needs in motivating behavior So long as basic needs necessary for survival were met, higherlevel needs would begin to motivate behavior o Carl Rogers: emphasized potential of good in everyone Used clientcentered therapy (client takes lead role in therapy session) Therapist must display these 3 features: ∙ Unconditional positive regard ∙ Genuineness ∙ Empathy∙ The Cognitive Revolution o Behaviorism pulled attention away from the mind, humanism returned that attention—created the cognitive revolution o Noam Chomsky: leader in cognitive revolution, American linguist Believed focus on behavior was shortsighted o Reestablished connection between European and American psychologist o Established a greater interdisciplinary approach ∙ Multicultural Psychology o A weakness in crosscultural psychology is that in looking for differences in psychological attributes across cultures, there remains a need to go beyond simple descriptive statistics Has remained a descriptive science, rather than one seeking to determine a cause and effect o Results from studying any one of the cultural groups cannot always be extended to the other groups o AfricanAmerican psychology focuses on testing and intelligence testing in particular Also learning style, sense of community and belonging, and spiritualism
1.3: Contemporary Psychology ∙ Introduction o A diverse field that is influenced by all of the historical perspectives just described o American Psychological Association (APA): an organization representing psychologists in the US Mission: to advance and disseminate psychological knowledge for the betterment of people. o Association for Psychological Science (APS): seeks to advance the scientific orientation of psychology Founding was a result of disagreements between members of the APA ∙ Biopsychology and Evolutionary Psychology o Biopsychology: how our biology influences our behavior How the structure & function of the nervous system is related to behavior Research interests: ∙ Sensory and motor systems ∙ Sleep ∙ Drug use and abuse∙ Ingestive behavior ∙ Reproductive behavior ∙ Neurodevelopment ∙ Plasticity of the nervous system ∙ Biological correlates of psychological disorders o Evolutionary Psychology: studies the ultimate biological causes of behavior Behaviors demonstrate adaptation to its surroundings To be subject to evolution by natural selection, a behavior must have a significant genetic cause Demonstrating that a trait is naturally selected is very hard The traits that we possess nowadays evolved under environmental conditions very far back in human history—we don’t have much information on what these conditions were Evolution can make predictions in the following behaviors: ∙ Memory ∙ Mate choice ∙ Relationships between kin ∙ Friendship and cooperation ∙ Parenting ∙ Social organization ∙ Status ∙ Sensation and Perception o Interests lie in physiological aspects of sensory system and the psychological experience of sensory information o Our experience of the world is not as simple as the sum total of all the sensory information together Our perception is complex and influenced by where we focus our attention ∙ Cognitive Psychology o Cognitive Psychology: focuses on studying conditions, or thoughts, and their relationship to our experiences and our actions Topics range from attention, problem solving, language, and memory ∙ Developmental Psychology o Developmental Psychology: the scientific study of development across a lifespan Interested in the processes related to physical maturation o Discovery that children don’t have object permanence o Changes from infancy to child, child to adult, adult to elderly ∙ Personality Psychology o Personality Psychology: focuses on patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make each individual unique How someone’s personality develops from his or her given perspective o Freud: personality arose as conflicts between the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind were carried out over the lifespan Adult personality would result from the resolution of various conflicts that centered on the migration of sexual pleasureproducing zones o Focus turned toward personality traits measuring the traits determining how these traits interact in a particular context determines how a person will behave in any given situation ∙ Think: S4E2 of Sherlock predicting John’s movements o Personality traits are relatively consistent patterns of thought and behavior “Big Five”: five trait dimensions that are sufficient to capture the variations in personality ∙ 1) Dimensions of conscientiousness ∙ 2) Agreeableness ∙ 3) Neuroticism ∙ 4) Openness ∙ 5) Extraversion ∙ Social Psychology o Social Psychology: how we interact with and relate to others How we explain our own behavior vs. how we explain the behaviors of others Prejudice Attraction How we resolve interpersonal conflicts o How being among other people changes our own behavior and patterns of thinking o Stanley Milgram: American social psychologist who conducted research on obedience Came about when Nazis were put on trial for their war crimes—they said they were just following orders Experiment with giving electrical shocks to someone when a figure of authority told them to do so This created ethical guidelines for conducting psychological research ∙ IndustrialOrganizational Psychology o IO Psychology: applies psychological theories, principles, and research finding in industrial and organizational settings o Involved in issues related to personnel management, organizational structure, and workplace environment∙ Health Psychology
o Health Psychology: how health is affected by the interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors o Aka the biopsychosocial method o Helping individual achieve better health through public policy, education, intervention, research ∙ Sport and Exercise Psychology o Sport and Exercise Psychology: study psychological aspects of sport performance, including motivation and performance anxiety, and the effects of sport on mental and emotional wellbeing Also studies fire fighters, military, artists, and surgeons ∙ Clinical Psychology o Clinical Psychology: focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behavior o Counseling Psychology: focuses on emotional, social, vocational, and health related outcomes in individuals who are considered psychologically healthy o Clientcentered therapy has been especially influential o Behaviorism and the cognitive revolution have shaped clinical practices o This area of psychology receives the most media attention ∙ Forensic Psychology o Forensic Psychology: deals with questions of psychology as they arise in the context of the justice system Asses a person’s competency to stand trial Assess state of mind of a defendant Act as a consultant on child custody cases Consult on sentencing and treatment recommendations Advise on issues such as eyewitness and children’s testimony o Must have a good understanding of the law and provide information in the context of the legal system o Used in the jury selection process and witness preparation 1.4: Careers in Psychology ∙ Introduction o Almost always need a PhD (doctor of philosophy) o Dissertation: a long research paper or bundled published articles describing research that was conducted as a part of the candidate’s doctoral training Generally has to be defended in front of a committee ∙ Careers in Academic Settings o College professors and researchers o Adjunct faculty members o Postdoctoral training programs∙ Career Options Outside Academic Settings o Increasing popularity of a PsyD (doctor of psychology) o Less emphasis on researchoriented skills and focus more on clinical application o Must pass a licensure exam o Private clinical practices, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, counselors, school psychologists and consultants Key Terms 1. American Psychological Association 2. Behaviorism 3. Biopsychology 4. Biopsychosocial model 5. Clinical psychology 6. Cognitive psychology 7. Counseling psychology 8. Developmental psychology 9. Dissertation 10. Empirical method 11. Forensic psychology 12. Functionalism 13. Humanism 14. Introspection 15. ology 16. Personality psychology 17. Personality trait 18. PhD 19. Postdoctoral training program 20. Psyche 21. Psychoanalytic theory 22. Psychology 23. PsyD 24. Sport and exercise psychology 25. Structuralism26. Critical Thinking Questions 1. Why do you think psychology courses like this one are often requirements of so many different programs of study? 2. Why do you think many people might be skeptical about psychology being a science? 3. How did the object of study in psychology change over the history of the field since the 19th century? 4. In part, what aspect of psychology was the behaviorist approach to psychology a reaction to? 5. Given the incredible diversity among the various areas of psychology that were described in this section, how do they all fit together? 6. What are the potential ethical concerns associated with Milgram’s research on obedience? 7. Why is an undergraduate education in psychology so helpful in a number of different lines of work? 8. Other than a potentially greater salary, what would be the reasons an individual would continue on to get a graduate degree in psychology?PSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad Ch. 1 Lecture Overview ∙ Textbook: openstax.org—click ‘subjects’—scroll to ‘psychology’ ∙ Check BB later ∙ Two inclass exams: 50 MC o Feb 8 & April 18 ∙ Final: May 8th 25pm: 100 MC ∙ 6 hours’ research participation ∙ Optional: can contribute up to 3 MC questions to an exam, if selected can add 1pt to exam Tips for Effective Study ∙ Read the chapters that are assigned—read them concurrently when they’re assigned (like linguistics) ∙ At the end of each chapter, there are subsections—review these!! o Key terms o Summary o Review o Critical Thinking Questions ∙ Find what works for me Critical Thinking ∙ “…the kind of thinking that is purposeful, reasoned, and goal directed; involving problem solving, inferences, and making decisions.” (Halpern 2003) ∙ Skills: o Verbal reasoning o Argument analysis o Assessment of likelihood and uncertainty ∙ Dispositions: o Flexibility in thought o Persistence o Willingness to evaluate and change one’s beliefs o Awareness of social obstacles to clear thinking ∙ Sources of interference: o Fear of rejection o Doubt of one’s ability to challenge status quo o Sense of loss over cherished assumptions found false ∙ Does critical thinking differ from intelligence? o Intelligence is a foundation for good reasoning, but can be used to bolster one side of an argument, rather than seek alternatives, or analyze both sides. e.g. Adversarial system in a trial vs. open minded discussion with trusted friends o Basically, it is the best thinking of which we are capable, in approaching complex subjects It is more open minded than plain intelligence o In the course, we will cover numerous topics that can foster or hinder critical thinkingPSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad Themes of Psych ∙ Psych is empirical o drawing on evidence, using scientific method, testing hypotheses ∙ Psych is theoretically diverse o there’s no single perspective, there are competing perspectives ∙ Psych evolves in a sociohistorical context o what is endorsed is a function of the evidence created, but it also grows out of the social context in which we are functioning ∙ Behavior is determined by multiple causes o seldom a simple answer to what causes behavior ∙ Behavior is shaped by cultural heritage ∙ Heredity (genetics) and environment (experience) interact in affecting behavior ∙ People’s experience of the world is highly subjective Psychology: the scientific study of behavior and the mind ∙ A few decades back, American psychology was very focused on the scientific aspect ∙ This focus on environmental influence was overlooking the human mind & how it functions ∙ We all have to know some psychology (to deal with people) ∙ Does psychology simple confirm common sense ideas everyone pretty much knows anyway? o Q: If an alcoholic takes a drink, must they “drink till drunk”, as AA claims? o Recruited alcoholics, but without labeling them “alcoholics” o Also recruited social drinkers o Via trial and error, found a drink which was ambiguous regarding alcohol content: 1 part vodka, 5 parts tonic Pitted against pure tonic o Under rationale of a taste experiment, people were assigned to one of four conditions: 1. Told getting alcohol and received alcohol 2. Told getting alcohol and received tonic 3. Told getting tonic and received tonic 4. Told getting tonic and received alcohol o Free to consume as much as they wanted from a container of 24oz o There wasn’t a physiological disability—the exposure to alcohol didn’t result in the need to keep drinking People who thought they got tonic but actually got alcohol didn’t drink more just because it was alcohol o It was when they were told that it was alcohol that they drank more ∙ We typically remember emotional events very well o Example: Prof’s flying lessons when he almost crashed o Neural basis: a central brain structure (the amygdala) monitors for emotional arousal o Detection of significant arousal triggers a second structure (the hippocampus) o The hippocampus activation yields intense longer lasting memories o Raises the question: Why? Evolutionary psychologists argue that it is adaptive to recall emotional events wellPSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad Also cognitive, social, cultural influences Evolutionary Psych ∙ Based on Darwin’s theory of evolution ∙ Evolution shapes not only psychical phenomena (e.g. height or skin tone), but behavior as well ∙ They reason from present behavior patterns to possible survival value of the behavior ∙ Critical concern: does a pattern of behavior increase the probability of survival of one’s genes? ∙ E.g. appeasement signals o Human mating behavior ∙ In contrast with creationist theory (religious views) o Therefore, there is a lower endorsement of evolutionary theory in US The Strange Case of the “Dog Psychotherapist” ∙ On TV, an Asian family with a surly German Shepard ∙ This psychotherapist treats hyperaggressive dogs ∙ In the wild, during dog and wolf fights, the losing animal will assume a submissive posture o They put their neck out, exposing the jugular vein, and the strong animal places their mouth over it o The winner is established as dominant and his gene pool is allowed to continue ∙ Psychotherapist bases his treatment on this phenomenon ∙ In many cases, the dogs aren’t distinguishing between humans and dogs o The dog assumes he is the alpha ∙ Psychotherapist simulate a fight in the wild to establish human’s dominance—used an observed behavioral phenomenon to establish a pattern and put in a practical application o Hold the dog down, approach dog, place chin on dog’s neck o Each member of the family repeats this process o The dog is now submissive to the family Donald Symons: Evolution of Human Sexuality (1979) ∙ Male and female humans differ in sexual motivation and behavioral tendencies because we have different evolutional histories ∙ Initially may seem questionable since we are the same species ∙ But Symons emphasizes that the two species have important biological differences, and these differences could have resulted in differing sexual motivation tendencies for males and females ∙ What is the minimal cost of conception, carried to term, for the two sexes, respectively? o Females: pregnancy, childbirth, pain, physical vulnerability, care and feeding of child for years o Males: sexual intercourse ∙ What is the optimal implied behavioral strategy for survival of one’s own gene pool? o Females: select the best genetic example of a male who will stay and help care for children, seeking a stable relationship with some degree of commitment o Males: impregnate lots of females ∙ Symons then looked at the modal sexual behavior pattern of same sex couples o Because same sex couples don’t have conflicting motivation tendencies like opposite sex couplesPSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad o Females: exclusive relationship or a short sequence of exclusive relationships o Males: multiple partners How does Evolutionary Psychology account for Music? ∙ Geoffrey Miller: music ability attracts mates (like songbirds or rockstars) ∙ Sandra Trehub: arose from maternal lullabies, which occur universally ∙ Steven Mithen: serves function of anthem, that is, unites and coordinates social groups ∙ Steven Pinker: Maybe just “auditory cheesecake” ∙ Simply highlights potential difficulties of trying to explain all behavior via evolution Subfields of Psychology ∙ Biopsychology: How brain process, genes, and hormones affect our actions, thoughts, and feelings ∙ Cognitive Psych: study of mental processes ∙ Experimental Psych: studies basic processes, learning, motivation, perception, etc. ∙ Industrial Organizational Psych: behavior in the workplace ∙ Personality Psych: human personality ∙ Social Psych: how people influence one another; both interpersonally and conceptualization of others ∙ Clinical Psych: study and treatment of mental disorders ∙ Developmental Psych: studies physical, psychological, and social development across the lifespan Competing Schools of Psychology Early Historically Influential Approaches ∙ Wilhelm Wundt: first real psychologist, began first psychological laboratory o Focused on consciousness o Sought essential elements, or “atoms” of consciousness ∙ Structuralism: studies the structure of consciousness—structural elements that make up conscious awareness o Never quite solved this—it is too complex of a phenomenon o Method: introspection ∙ Functionalism: studies the function of consciousness ∙ William James: first American psychologist associated with this o “stream of consciousness”—it cannot be broken down into specific “atoms” or ingredients o Principles of Psychology, Varieties of Religious Experience Psychoanalysis ∙ Sigmund Freud o He had people referred to them who had physical complaints with no obvious psychical cause PSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad e.g. temporarily functionally blind but no obvious trauma to eyes, had anesthesia in certain body parts but again no obvious trauma o Unconscious Put him at odds with a lot of others because it was contrary to popular belief at the time o Childhood influence Argues the kinds of influences we are exposed to in childhood influence our adulthood o Conflict o Emphasis on sex and aggression “Tip of the tongue” phenomenon ∙ William James argues this is the most concrete example of an unconscious mind “Freudian slips” o Person variables control behavior o Source? Clinical experience with clients o Implications? Maybe we just think we’re rational o Greatly at odds with psychology at the time
Early Women Psychologists ∙ Early bias against admission into the field ∙ Mary Calkins: William James’ student o First woman president of APA o Refused degree by Harvard o Refused to accept from RadcliffePSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad ∙ Margaret Washburn: First woman psychology PhD o Awarded degree from Cornell but studied at Columbia o 2nd woman APA president ∙ Leta Hollingworth: debunked inferiority of women o Also, studied gifted children Behaviorism ∙ Watson, Skinner, Pavlov ∙ Focus on behavior, excluding mental events; environment controls behavior ∙ Trying to make psychology a science ∙ Operant conditioning: learning in which responses are controlled by their consequences o Associated with Skinner o Reinforcement or punishment (can’t define them in the abstract) ∙ Classical conditioning: a conditioned stimulus (CS) acquires the capacity to evoke a conditioned response (CR), that was originally and naturally evoked by another stimulus, i.e., an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) o Associated with Pavlov o Food makes dogs salivate o Ring a bell right before giving dogs food o Dogs unconsciously associated bell sound with food o Dogs salivate when they hear bell whether or not there’s food
John B Watson: Little Albert Experiment ∙ Classical conditioning with a baby ∙ Concluded that phobias were most likely conditioned responses Little Hans’ Horse Phobia ∙ Little boy who developed a fear of horsesPSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad ∙ Freudian: o Internal mental constructs cause the fear o These are just projected onto horses E.g., Oedipal concerns ∙ Behavioral: o Environment causes the fear o Fear corresponds to fearful experience CognitiveBehavioral and Cognitive Psychology ∙ Difficulty of a purely behavioral view: o E.g.: Albert Bandura, psychologist first known for modeling research Later, Reciprocal Triadic Behaviorism Tries to integrate the previous ideas of behavior Behavior, Environment, Person o Bandura marks a transition to cognitive psychology
“Thinking Fast and Slow” ∙ Daniel Kahneman (2011) ∙ Read this in Breaking Intuition!!! ∙ Won the Nobel Prize in economics ∙ “Thinking fast” refers to System 1, Intuitive Thought, which is fast, minimally effortful, and often relies on heuristicsPSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad o Kahneman defines heuristics as “a simple procedure that helps find adequate, though often imperfect, answers to difficult questions” o Heuristics = thinking shortcuts o The Law of Least Effort insures that we often resort to System 1 ∙ “In effect, all animals are under distinct selection pressure to be as stupid as they can get away with.” ∙ “Thinking slow” refers to System 2, Reflective Thought, which is deliberate, thorough, rational thinking, and more costly in cognitive effort ∙ We all engage in both types of thinking, though we may differ in the degree of emphasis on each ∙ Tests can determine the degree to which we emphasize one or the other Humanistic Psychology ∙ React against both Freudian view and Behaviorism ∙ Rogers, Maslow ∙ People are inherently good and can encounter bad with reason ∙ Choice is considered genuine, not illusion ∙ Humans are motivated to actualize potential ∙ Fact of death is psychologically important ∙ Choice implies responsibility ∙ Selfconcept is important ∙ Selfactualization is a central motivation Competing Approaches and Subfields of Psychology ∙ Cognitive
∙ Humanistic ∙ Cross Cultural and “Weird” ∙ Neuroscience ∙ Positive Psychology ∙ Developmental and Clinical ∙ Social ∙ Healthy Psychology ∙ Personality Cross Cultural Issues ∙ Henrich, Heine, & Naranzayan (2011) ∙ Social Science research participants are “WEIRD” o W: Western o E: Education o I: Industrial o R: Rich o D: Developed ∙ Such participants comprise 80% of the research o They only comprise 12% of the world ∙ Identified a need for some correctionPSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad Neuroscience ∙ Studying brain localization of psychological functions depended on brain damaged individuals ∙ Have been technological advances that enable us to assess localized brain functioning in real time o Particularly fMRI ∙ Discovered that enhanced activation in subcortical areas (mesolimbic reward network) involved in pleasurable rewarding activities fMRI Study of Humor Response in Children ∙ Had 15 normal children (age 612) view Humorous, Positive, and Neutral videos while positioned in fMRI ∙ Goal was to identify regions activated in experience of humor ∙ Could also contrast with positive material to see if the two differ in brain activation ∙ Findings were very similar to past findings for adults o 1) Temporal/Occipital/Parietal Junction processes perceived incongruities o 2) Mesolimbic regions process rewards o When viewing positive videos, mesolimbic region activated but not T/O/P Junction Positive Psychology ∙ Martin Seligman was concerned that psych had a negative focus ∙ Relatively greater focus on pathology, problems, and addressing them than on positive aspects of human functioning which might well be promoted ∙ His concerns translated into an extended and continuing emphasis on positive aspects of human behavior o E.g., creativity, humor, courage, altruism, love, etc. ∙ Pos. Psych began with identifying enduring positive human traits: 24 strengths of character in 6 basic virtues: o 1) Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity, curiosity, openmindedness, perspective, and love of learning o 2) Courage: bravery, persistence, integrity, and vitality o 3) Humanity: love, kindness, socialemotional intelligence o 4) Justice: citizenship, fairness, and leadership o 5) Temperance: forgiveness/mercy, humility/modesty, prudence, and self regulation o 6) Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope/optimism, humor/playfulness, and spirituality ∙ The movement has emphasized positive affect ∙ Positive affect in one’s life is associated with: reported happiness, life satisfaction, coping with adversity, trust in others, more successful relationships, work success, and longer life ∙ “Broaden and Build” theory by Fredrickson o Seen as critical influence in resilience ∙ Higher ratio of positive to negative affective states predicts overall subjective well being o Depressed: (1 to 1) o Recovered: (>4 to 1) o Happy stable couples: (5 to 1) o Predivorce (<1 to 1) o Threshold for “flourishing” seems to be about (3 to 1)PSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad ∙ Negative emotions spontaneously tend to last for long periods ∙ Positive emotions have a shorter adaptation level ∙ This is one example of hoe emphasis changes in a field as a result of accumulating experience Developmental and Clinical Psychology ∙ Developmental Psychology examines psychological development across the lifespan ∙ It focuses on o ideal outcomes of development o how best to promote ideal outcomes o problems o how to prevent or treat problems ∙ Clinical Psychology is focused on diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders o Compatibility with Developmental Psych ∙ Knowledge of how problems develop can often inform how best to address them in treatment Gelotophobia ∙ Identified and conceptually developed from clinical case studies by Dr. Michael Titze ∙ Clients were extremely fearful of being laughed at by others o Overlaps, with social phobia ∙ In fearing laughter and ridicule, the person loses any spontaneity in social situations, and becomes rather stiff and expressionless o Their behavior may then inadvertently elicit the laughter they fear ∙ Assess hypothesized “Childhood and Youth” causes, “repeated traumatic experiences of being ridiculed and laughed at” ∙ Assess Gelotophobia symptoms via a 15 item subset of the Geloph46. ∙ Compare four groups: o 1) Gelotophobes (N = 99) o 2) Shame based clinical group (N = 103) o 3) NonShame based clinical group (N = 166) o 4) Normal controls (N = 495) o 5) Total N = 863 ∙ Results showed instances of being laughed at in youth were higher for gelotophobesPSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad
Social Psychology ∙ Social Psychology includes how people interact with each other, and the effects we have on each other, whether in real or imagined interaction ∙ Since our lives are greatly lived out in social contexts, social psychologists study many topics o E.g., obedience, prejudice, attitude change, moral behavior, etc. ∙ The following example demonstrates a possibly unconscious influence on social interaction Environment May Unconsciously Affect Social Behavior ∙ Study by Bargh & Chen ∙ Given a supposed language ability test ∙ “Test” has words that are primes for rudeness or politeness ∙ Then asked to report to an experimenter outside the room ∙ Experimenter talking with a confederate; they talk for 10 minutes ∙ Rude primed: 67% interrupted ∙ Polite Primed: 16% interrupted ∙ Subjects reported they were unaware of any influence of the language test Health Psychology ∙ Purely medical model implied a physical basis for physical disorder ∙ But behavioral and social influences have extensive effects on health ∙ Biopsychosocial Model has emerged, highlighting the relationships between healthrelated behavior, social variables, and physical health ∙ The illness of a prominent magazine publisher and his efforts to cope triggered interest in how humor might impact health variables o Norman Cousins: Anatomy of an Illness (1979) o Suffered from ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammation of the connective tissuePSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad o His physician gave him a 1 in 500 chance of survival o He arranged for regular exposure to humor o Claimed that 10 minutes of belly laughter resulted in up to 2 hours painfree o Book was a best seller o Focused attention on humor relations to health o Kicked off research examining his claims Cheerfulness, Exhilaration, Humor, and Pain? ∙ Prior research showed seeing a funny film moderates pain ∙ Tried to tease apart influence of mood, behavior (laughter), and cognition (humor production) ∙ 56 female subjects; assigned to 1 of 3 groups while watching Mr. Bean at the Dentist o 1) Cheerfulness: enjoying cheerful mood without similing or laughing o 2) Exhilaration: smile and laugh extensively o 3) Humor Production: do humorous commentary to film ∙ Pain Stimulus: Cold Pressor Test (CPT) had 3 variables o 1) Threshold: say “Now” at first sensation of pain o 2) Tolerance: say “Stop” and withdraw hand o 3) Sensitivity: tolerance minus threshold ∙ State Trait Cheerfulness Inventory: cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood as states/traits ∙ Rated the film Mr. Bean at the Dentist for: o 1) pleasant o 2) successful at task o 3) how interesting task was o 4) degree to which they concentrated on task o 5) degree to which task served as a distraction o 6) how funny the film was o 7) how funny the commentary was o 8) also, had they seen before, and whether they liked Mr. Bean ∙ Facial Action Coding System used to differentiate Duchenne from forced smiles and laughs ∙ No main effect of Group treatment ∙ All 3 groups produced significant pain reduction ∙ No impact of rated enjoyment ∙ Significant interaction with “facial enjoyment” o divided at median split into high enjoyment vs low enjoyment ∙ Difference also present before treatment (sense of humor) ∙ Some interesting interactions with personality measures also Personality Psychology ∙ Personality Psychology studies salient stable attributes that describe or characterize a person ∙ Freud’s stable structures in the personality consisted of the ego, superego, and id ∙ Currently, stable personality variables are often referred to as personality traits aka The Big Five o 1) Openness to Experience o 2) Conscientiousness o 3) Extroversion o 4) Agreeableness o 5) NeuroticismPSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad ∙ Consider some example religious variables Allport’s Intrinsic and Extrinsic Scales ∙ An immature orientation to religion involved participating in religion for personal gain: Extrinsic religion ∙ Mature religion involved holding religious views as central organizing principles in one’s life, and striving to live consistently with these principles: Intrinsic religion ∙ He regarded the scales at types: a person was one or the other ∙ Eventually data didn’t support the idea of types/scales ∙ Baston thought that Allport’s writing about Intrinsic religion differed from his assessment of Intrinsic ∙ Namely, the assessment didn’t include a measure of doubt or tentativeness ∙ Baston offered another orientation measure, Quest, to include thesePSYCH 202 Kelly Konrad
Baston’s Religious Orientations ∙ Baston added items to supplement Allport’s Original scales, and wound up with 3 orientations: o 1) Means = Extrinsic o 2) End = Intrinsic o 3) Quest = a new measure ∙ Baston regarded these measures as dimensions, not types ∙ A person has a score on all three ∙ They are all independent of one another