Intro to Psych
The study of psychology focuses on these two major areas: what we do and what we think and feel.
What are behaviour and mental processes?
This lobe of the brain is responsible for personality, planning, and decision-making.
What is the frontal lobe?
One fact: Known for their concept of the human consciousness as comprising three distinct parts:
Id: The instinctual part of the mind that operates on the pleasure principle.
Ego: The rational part of the mind that operates on the principle of reality.
Superego: The moral centre of the mind.
Experiment: "Little Hans" experiment, where they tried to find why an equinophobia (phobia of horses) could have happened in a boy.
Who is Sigmund Freud?
What is Mental Illness?
Claiming/Believing that what is true is false
What is Denial?
This early school of psychology aimed to break the mind into basic elements like thoughts and feelings.
What is structuralism?
This brain structure connects the two hemispheres and allows them to communicate.
What is the corpus callosum?
One fact: Considered to develop true behaviourism. Also developed operant conditioning - how rewards and punishment can influence behaviours.
Experiment: "The Skinner Box" experiment, where the rat inside is rewarded with food each time it presses the bar.
Who is B.F. Skinner?
When someone is judged or mistreated because of something about them.
Which psychoanalysts are credited for developing "psychosocial stages"?
Who is Erik Erikson?
This psychologist introduced functionalism and believed we should study the mind by understanding its purpose.
Who is William James?
The first case that demonstrated the relationship between the brain and behaviour.
Why was the case of Phineas Gage important?
One fact: Came up with a social-cognitive theory. Studied a perspective of individuals' personalities influencing motivation, environment, and behaviours.
Experiment: "Bobo Doll" experiment where they discovered how people learn behaviours by watching others. Made children watch an adult/parents being aggressive towards the rubber Bobo Doll.
Who is Albert Bandura?
What is Stereotype?
- "A person or thing that conforms to an unjustifiably fixed impression or attitude"
What is Prejudice?
- "A preconceived opinion"
What is Discrimination?
- "Unfavourable treatment based on prejudice"
Define "defence mechanism" and identify the two common properties.
- Your brain's way of protecting itself from feeling pain or experiencing negative emotions.
- Two common properties:
1) appear unconsciously.
2) distort, transform, or falsify reality.
List the goals of psychology and explain briefly.
What is Describe? – To observe and clearly identify behaviours and mental processes. (Example: Noticing that a student seems anxious before tests.)
What is Explain? – To understand why the behaviour or mental process is occurring. (Example: The student’s anxiety may be due to fear of failure.)
What is Predict? – To forecast future behaviours based on patterns or knowledge.
(Example: If the student has a test tomorrow, they are likely to feel anxious again.)
What is Change (or Modify)? – To apply psychological knowledge to modify or improve behaviour and mental health. (Example: Using therapy or coping strategies to reduce test anxiety.)
The lobe responsible for integrating sensory information from primary sensory areas, such as perception, arithmetic, spelling, and object manipulation.
What is a Parietal Lobe?
One fact: Considered one of the founders of humanist psychology. Was interested in studying well-people vs. sick people. They studied "Self-actualizing people" because they wanted to understand how they achieved the status of having reached their full potential.
Theory: "Hierarchy of Needs" explains that basic needs must be fulfilled before higher-order needs become important.
Who is Abraham Maslow?
List four Functional Types as suggested by Carl Jung and briefly explain each.
What is Sensing (S)?
- Focuses on the present and concrete facts.
What is Thinking (T)?
- Makes decisions using logic, analysis, and objectivity.
What is Intuition (I)?
- Focuses on patterns, possibilities, and the big picture.
What is Feeling (F)?
- Makes decisions based on empathy, values, and emotions.
The main question "Identity vs. Role Confusion" asks.
- Stage 5. adolescence
- Assigned Virtue; Fidelity
- Main Question: "Who am I and where am I going?"
The three theories related to the Stroop Effect (Explain Each)
What is Selective Attention Theory?
👉 This theory states that naming the colour of the ink requires more attention than reading the word, because reading is an automatic process.
The brain must selectively focus on the ink colour while ignoring the more dominant, automatic task of reading the word.
This conflict slows down our response time.
What is Speed of Processing Theory?
👉 This theory suggests that people read words faster than they can name colours, so when both tasks compete, reading takes over.
Since reading is faster and more practiced, it interferes with the slower task of colour identification.
The mismatch causes delays and errors.
What is Automaticity?
👉 Automaticity refers to the brain’s ability to perform well-learned tasks (like reading) without conscious effort.
Reading happens so automatically that it’s difficult to suppress, even when it’s irrelevant to the task.
This automatic process interferes with the controlled task of identifying ink colours.
The location of the Occipital Lobe, and its function.
What is the Occipital Lobe & Location?
- The extreme back of the brain.
- Sense of sight.
- Controls everything individuals visually perceives.
One fact: An American psychologist is known for their concept of the "misinformation effect." Believe that repressed memories rarely exist and that they can be created through the power of suggestion.
Experiment: "Lost-in-the-mall" experiment, where participants read several stories of real events that had occurred during their childhood, as well as one fiction story where they were lost in the mall at the age of five.
Who is Elizabeth Loftus?
List the “Big Five” factors that influence personality according to psychologists and identify the statistical method that could be used to help analyze the results.
What is the Big Five?
- Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.
- Factor analysis can be used to understand which traits or behaviours group together.
Define Behaviour Modification (the process and how they are used) and identify which therapy it belongs to.
- Associated with behaviour therapy.
- Based on operant conditioning, the client is rewarded for positive desired behaviours while negative behaviours are ignored.
- Tokens such as stars and play money that can be cashed out are used as "rewards."
- Time outs are used as "punishments."