Psychology A02: Lecture 2

Musical Choice: American Idiot (Greenday)

Most psychological research aims to understand the average human this

is sometimes called nomothetic research.
But some areas of research tries to understand why and how some humans
differ from others this research is said to focus on individual differences
work

Most societies believe it is in the interest of the populace to financial support the
education of its citizens an educated (intelligent?) populace leads to a better
country more innovation, stronger economy power
An ability to measure intelligence might be beneficial in a couple of ways
1.It allows you to assess whether certain educational approaches lead to higher
levels of success
2.It may allow one to tailor a childs education to their current abilities

But how does one measure intelligence?

What is intelligence?
Name some intelligent people what is it about them that you are relating to
intelligence

Galton, a cousin of Darwin, was into measuring

humans in every way possible including measuring
their ability to make sensory discriminations which he
assumed was linked to intellectual prowess
- link to normal distributions.
However, the measure of intelligence really took off with
the work of Binet who thought that intelligence was not reflected
in abilities to make sensory discriminations but, instead, was
reflected by performance on a variety of paper-and-pencil tests
targeting such things as imagery, attention, comprehension,
imagination, judgements of visual space, memory, etc).
The Binet-Simon test (1905) was the first such test.

The Binet-Simon Scale was revised in 1916 and was then called
the Stanford-Binet Scale. With that version of the scale, the IQ
of a person represented their mental age (as suggested by the test)
divided by their chronological age then multiplied by 100.
The test was revised again in 1985, and the way that IQ is
measured was also changed. The test was set up in a way such
that the average score is 100, and the standard deviation is 16.
So now, a persons IQ is simply their score on the test.

In order to make any sense of an individuals score, it is necessary

to first give the test to many many people in order to find the
mean and standard deviation of the test for humans in general
this is called, establishing the norms for the test.
Often it is necessary to acquire such norms separately for
different age groups so that a persons score can be compared
to a set of peers of the same age.
One issue that has arisen when such comparisons are made is
that it is important that the individual is from the same cultural
group as the norms were gathered from.

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Psychology A02: Lecture 3

Musical Choice: Another Brick in the Wall pt 2 (Pink Floyd)

Runner-up: My Back Pages (Dylan / The Byrds)

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Philip Rushton and the refutation thereof

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We often use the term intelligence as if we were talking about

a single characteristic a person possesses we typically talk
of someone being intelligent or not period.
But lets consider another characteristic
for a moment athletic capability. We
could ask someone to perform a number
of tasks and, based on their performance,
come up with a measure of athletic ability.
What would you expect if you did this?
Would the person with the best athletic
ability be the fastest runner?

15

Some studies using the factor analytic approach ended up finding

many different factors related to intelligence for example,
Thurstone (1938) found 7 factors; verbal comprehension, verbal
fluency, number, spatial visualization, memory, reasoning, and
perceptual speed.
However, when a factor analysis was performed on Thurstones
factors, Cattell found that two factors underlie the 7 factors.
He labelled these two factors fluid intelligence (gf) and crystal
intelligence (gc), concepts which are still discussed quite
frequently in current intelligence research.

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Psychology A02: Lecture 4

Musical Choice: Sweet Child O Mine (Guns & Roses)

21

The uniqueness of the human infant

No other animal is born so helpless,
so utterly dependent on its parents.
A lot of physical development occurs
prior to birth, and it continues until
long thereafter.
But perhaps as important, and even more interesting, is that the
physical dependence sets the stage for social development
development that continues throughout the lifespan.

Interesting video is this the new reality?

22

Methods: Cross-Sectional vs. Longitudinal Approaches

Stages
> Prenatal; 38 weeks of pregnancy
> Zygote (first two weeks)
> Embryonic (two to eight weeks)
> Fetal Stage (last seven months)
> Infant/Toddler (birth to two years)
> Adolescence (harder to define)
> Adulthood and Old Age

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Zygot Stage initial single begins cell dividing and differentiating,

eventually forming 200 different kind of cells (blood cells, nerve cells,
muscle cells, bone cells, etc.) all with the same DNA another one of
those things I dont pretend to understand.

Embyonic Stage when the heart begins to beat critical stage with
respect to the avoidance of so-called teratogens cocaine, tobacco,
alcohol, and environmental toxins. Also where sexual differentiation
occurs importance of androgens and testosterone.
The Fetal Stage when bones start to form, and the baby really starts
to grow. video

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Psychology A02: Lecture 5

Musical Choice: Man I Used to Be (K-OS)

30

For you and I, our thoughts about the

world and people within it are our
constant companion, and we think
about these things in a relatively
automatic way.
But how do processes of thought
develop, and why do we think as
much as we do?
The importance of a responsive world and linking all this back to the
issue of consciousness.

The notions of maturation, and the

stage like (think prerequisites) nature
of cognitive maturation.
The importance of operations, schematas,
and the processes of assimilation versus
accomodation.

The Senorimotor Period Cognition at this stage is closely tied to

external stimulation, and understanding characteristics of objects
classic example is object permanence.
The Preoperational Period Here the child begins learning how to think
logically and how to use symbols especially language. Child stills
has an egocentric bias classic example is learning the notion of
conservation.
The Period of Concrete Operations Increased ability to perform
logical operations (when concrete) and emergence of empathy.
The Period of Formal Operations In this period children begin to learn
how to perform abstract logical operations.

More recent evidence suggests that Piaget may have

sometimes underestimated the abilities of children, but
his contributions are still heavily respected
Lev Vygotsky also a major figure, with a slightly different
perspective on some issues inner speech and link
between language and thought, notion of actual
developmental level and the role of a good mentor to
raise ones potential

So kid, you can have one Marshmallow

now, or you can have two in ten minutes
whats it going to be?
This test involves what psychologists
call an ability to delay gratification
or what we generally call willpower
And those kids who could wait the
longest tended to be more successful in
life

36

Psychology A02: Lecture 6

Musical Choice: Poker Face (Lady Gaga)

37

Humans have gotten as far as we have because

we are intensely social animals, we want
relationships, we need to feel like we are loved,
we gain power through connections

This desire for social relations is present at birth, and is bi-directional, as

represented both by maternal instincts and via specific behaviours emitted by
the infant.
Sucking both for food or for comfort
Cuddling comfort seems to signal security (Harlows work)
Looking eye to eye contact to initiate interactions
Smiling the best reward of parenting? (5 weeks)
Crying Teaching parents through negative reinforcement

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Humans acquire a great deal of social

information from the nonverbal cues provided
by others
The human face is a major source of nonverbal cues and babies attend preferentially
to faces almost from birth
Still face experiments dramatically show how
important these cues are

40

Stranger anxiety anxious and/or fearful responses (crying, clinging) in the

presence of strangers.
Separation anxiety anxious and/or fearful responses that occur when the
caregiver leaves the infant

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Psychology A01: Lecture 7

Musical Choice: Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith)

44

Emotions clearly influence us in powerful Psychological ways and to a large

extent this influence is, in my opinion, underrepresented in the text and the
course.
To some extent, emotion is another enemy of rational thought and rational
thoughts ability to guide behaviour.
Why the link to motivation? What motivates us, also tends to move us
emotionally there is some sort of association between the two though
again in my opinion the exact nature of that association is not completely
understood
Three aspects of emotion behaviour, autonomic, hormonal

45

John B. Watson

Little Albert

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 The role of serotonin with respect

to moderating aggression, and perhaps
emotional control in general (Prozac, X)
Role of the ventral prefrontal cortex with respect to emotional regulation
Phineas Gage

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Psychology A01: Lecture 9

Musical Choice: Longview (Green Day)

53

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 System Variable (temperature, or

hunger)
Set Point (20or what?)
Detector Variable (current
temperature, or level of hunger)
Correctional Mechanism
(regulatory behaviours)

Negative Feedback

55

Problems as a Scientific Theory

How does one objectively define and
measure a drive? How hungry are
you how frustrated are you?
What drive brings you to class?
Some things we enjoy doing, increase
arousal, but dont seem to reduce any
drive foreplay anyone?

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Over-justification
Hypothesis

Intermittent
Reinforcement
Learned Helplessness

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Psychology A01: Lecture 9

Musical Choice: Sex and Candy (Marcy Playground)

60

Eating

Sex

Aggression

 Androgens, and testosterone in specific, have

both organizational effects and activational
effects for males.
For men, testosterone decreases with age
(boo!) resulting in decreased interest in sex,
irritability & depression
Giving men testosterone increases sexual
interest and ability (and aggression) though
placebos do so to, somewhat
Affects sexual motivation, but not orientation
homesexual men given testosterone will
want more homosexual sex.

 For non-human primates, females only initiate

sexual activity around ovation, when estradiol
and progesterone are high
For humans (and dolphins actually) this is not
the case but there still seems to be a link
between hormonal levels and sexual desire
Studies of married couples
Weird exotic dancer study
Date Rape drugs

 Sexual orientation appears

determined prior to adolescence
and sexual activity

Most homosexuals have engaged

in heterosexual experiences, but
found them unrewarding
There is a strong relation
between sexual non-conformity in
childhood and the development of
homosexuality

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Psychology A02: Lecture 10

Musical Choice: Cult of Personality (Living Colour)

67

How is Johnny Depp different from hmmm

Barack Obama? In terms of personality I
mean?
If you had to live with one of them, which
would you rather live with and why?
If one was going to, say, run a very powerful
country, does their personality matter? If you
could measure their personality in some way,
would you do that before you hired them?
What are the components of a persons
personality?

68

Although you still occasionally hear people

speak in terms of personality types
most psychologists now think it
makes more sense to talk about
personality traits.

69

+ another 17, 932

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Psychology A02: Lecture 11

Musical Choice: The End (The Doors)

76

1856 1939
Trained as a physiologist and an expert in
observation which marked his work thereafter.
Fascinated by ailments that seemed to have no
physiological cause
Worked with Charcot on hypnotism

Came to believe that all human behavior is motivated by instinctual desires that
provide psychic energy
These drives could be unconscious as well as conscious

Instinct
(ID)

Reason
(EGO)

Conscience
(SUPEREGO)

The manner in which our internal energies are released determines our
personalities

 the dark, inaccessible part of our personality a

cauldron full of seething excitations filled with energy
reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization,
produces no conscious will, but only a striving to bring
about that satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to
the pleasure principle.

The Pleasure Principle: The desire to obtain immediate gratification in whatever

form it may take.
The ID is also linked to libido, the primary source of instinctual motivation for
all psychic forces.

Charged with the task of making you the sort

of person that will fit in well with society or
just the person you would like to be.

Ego-Ideal: The internalized notion of what society values in a person what

it means to be good, liked or appreciated.
Conscience: The internalization of the rules and restrictions of society in
punishes wrongdoings with feelings of guilt

The Ego attempts to find ways to

satisfy the desires of the Id without
invoking guilt from the Super-ego.

It defers to the reality principle, the

tendency to satisfy the Ids desires in
realistic ways.

Sexual and aggressive drives are obviously the least easy to satisfy given
societal desires to keep these controlled this explains why psychodynamic
theory emphasizes them so much

The manifest content of a

dream refers to its actual
storyline, which Freud
assumed was often a
super-ego cleansed
version of

the latent content which

reflected the actual nocleansed (i.e., Id driven)
motivation for the dream

Thus, to the extent that psychic energies were exerting themselves in

problematic ways, the analysis of dreams provides a potential royal road to
the unconscious.

Freuds theory assumes that we all pass through

psychosexual stages as we develop, stages
associated with sexual (sensual) parts of our
bodies so-called erogenous zones.

Personality issues arise when we do not pass through a stage completely

when this happens we are said to be fixated.

Fixations do not necessarily prevent us from going on to subsequent phases,

but they may show through in our behaviours, thereby altering our adult
personalities

The Oedipus Complex boys form close bonds with their

mothers and become both jealous and fearful of their fathers
causing all sorts of underlying emotions

The Electra Complex girls also become especially close with

fathers and envy mothers. Penis envy can make these
tendencies especially strong.

These emotions can be resolved in a subsequent period of so-called

indentification, were bonds are strengthened with the same-sex parent, and
the super-ego becomes developed further

Psychology A02: Lecture 12

Musical Choice: The Man I Used to Be (K-OS)

87

How do you know when a child

becomes aware of its own existence?
Boring from work in the animal
literature, the Rouge Test suggests that
most human infants recognize their
reflection as themselves at about a
year and a half

The moral self also develops

Sometimes as reflected in the
reactions of others
Sometimes more directly reflected!

Perhaps THE most interesting and

controversial experiment documenting the
potential relevance of context with
respect to bringing out certain personality
traits is the Stanford Prison Experiment

This video gives a general overview, but I

encourage you to watch more of the
videos including some of those on the
YouTube channel devoted to it.

The notion that we can measure your personality as

some combination of the big five is interesting, but it is
clearly an oversimplification
The formula that defines us changes with the situation
the context and we travel through many contexts
sometimes in a single day
We may have some average personality that most of
those who know us would agree on, but we vary around
this average and so there are, in a real sense, multiple
personalities within us all

Psychology A02: Lecture 13

Musical Choice: Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)

93

In its most direct form, abnormal just means anything that

deviates from the norm like me! And probably you!
However, in psychological contexts at least we often imply
maladaptive when we use the term meaning a person is
abnormal in a way that causes social problems for them or
others problems that make it hard for them to adapt to society

Thus, abnormal psychology is associated with:

An inability to hold a job
Marital or family dysfunction
Problematic interactions with others

When psychic conflict is too strong for

defence mechanisms to deal with in
healthy ways, they may actual distort
ones perception of reality, or the person
will function in ways reflective of an early
developmental stage
This can lead to psychological disorders that include:
extreme anxiety, obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour,
depression, disturbed perceptions and thought disturbances,
paralysis or blindness without physical cause

During the 18th and 19th centuries, people

began to think about psychological
disorders as reflecting biological causes
This perspective of mental illness
remains dominant, as represented in our
own mental health program
Three aspects of this perspective are very powerful in our world
The notion that many disorders reflect chemical imbalances
The notion that drugs can effectively be used to counter these
The quest to find genetic links to mental diseases

This perspective assumes that many

maladaptive behaviours are learned, and
can thus be best understood by focusing
on potential relevant environmental
factors and a persons perception thereof
Things that are learned can be unlearned, and doing so often
requires a therapist to consider
Current reinforcement contingencies
The manner in which the patient thinks about things

This perspective assumes that maladaptive

behaviours arise when people place too
much emphasis on gaining positive selfregard from others
Therapies associated with humanism attempt to show people
that they have intrinsic value, and that they can achieve their
unique potential as human beings

This perspective highlights

the role that culture can play
in terms of both the
prevalence and the reaction
to mental disorders
What is considered normal in one culture, might be seen as
abnormal in another
Also, certain mental disorders might actually be more or less
likely (or reported? or both?) in various cultures

This perspective emphasizes the

interaction of biological, psychological
and sociological factors in causing
psychological disorders.
The clearest example of this might be the so-called stress
diathesis model of various mental disorders
Genetic predispositions towards certain disorders
Environmental (via cognitive) triggers that translate the
genotype into a phenotype stress!

The medical model typically begins by classification (remember

Broca?) classification of symptoms into categories may help
one find other commonalities related to the etiology of the
disease.
It also may allow better application of treatments that work well
on some, but not other, disorders
However, labelling people can have strong negative effects
Relives people of responsibility for their problems
Can falsely suggest clusters of symptoms
Can result in negative stereotypes for the mentally ill
Can suggest understanding that is not really there

Axis 1 Major Clinical Syndromes

Axis 2 Personality Disorders
Axis 3 Physical Disorders
Axis 4 Severity of Recent Stress
Axis 5 Global Assessment of Functioning

Comorbidity

Psychology A02: Lecture 13

Musical Choice: Same Love (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)

107

Humans are social creatures

even those of us who strive to be
unique still want to be part of a
group
In fact, several experiments show
that humans have a strong
tendency to conform when they find
themselves in groups
Ashs Experiments
Candid Camera!

Milgrams (1963) study is perhaps one of the most shocking of all

psychological experiments

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Many studies have now shown that simple experience with

an out-group reduces prejudicial behaviours and,
apparently, thoughts.
The media could provide this experience, if it represented
outgroups fairly, but it is often accused of NOT doing so
and instead presenting incorrect stereotypes that feed fear
and distrust or at least ignorance.
Again, experience working together, against some common
enemy, is the best way to reduce prejudice

Psychology A02: Lecture 14

Musical Choice: Jack White (Im Shakin)

115

A person is classified as having a somatoform disorder when

they consistently complain of bodily (health) problems which
appear to have no physiological basis.
Somatization Disorder (<1%W, 0%M)
Chronic
Wide-ranging complaints of health issues (without basis)
Complaints must include at least 13 (of 35) symptoms
Must have lead to meds, doctor visits, or changes in life
Typical consults with multiple physicians, regularly!
Similar to, but different from, hypochondriasis
Runs in families, related to alcoholism in males?

A person is classified as having a somatoform disorder when

they consistently complain of bodily (health) problems which
appear to have no physiological basis.
Conversion Disorder
Blindness, deafness, loss of feeling, paralysis (neurological)
Must be associated with a psychological trigger
Effects men and women equally
Classically understood via psychoanalytic theory
Difference from malingering

Panic Attacks (1.6%, Women twice as likely)

Periods of acute terror lasting from minutes to
hours
Shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness,
faintness, feelings of non-reality death soon!
Often leads to anticipatory anxiety, the fear of having a panic
attack
These are sometimes context bound,
via classical conditioning or
sometimes it leads to other disorders

Phobic Disorders
Persistent irrational
fears of specific
objects or situations
The fear must
interfere with
ones life to be
consider a true
phobia
Causes?

Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (~2%, Women more likely)

Patients experience obsessive thoughts that will not leave them,
and compulsive behaviours they cannot keep from performing.
They recognize this is a problem and wish it would stop
Often leads to rituals around such things as being clean, or
ordered.
Obsessive doubt or uncertainty (checkers)
Obsessive fear of doing something prohibited
Compulsions fall into checking, counting, cleaning, and
avoidance

Anxiety is reduced via a sudden disruption in consciousness

which, in turn, may cause changes in a persons memory or
identity.
Dissociative Amnesia. Memory loss related to some traumatic
event (victim of violence, sudden loss, or extreme guilt)
Dissociative Fugue. Similar context, but a much more extreme
change in identity (and often location!)
Dissociative Identity Disorder. Patient creates additional
personalities to help deal with stress example

Psychology A02: Lecture 14

Musical Choice: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett)

123

How do you feel about the legalization of Marijuana?

Should prostitution be legal?
Should people be allowed to do
whatever they want if they dont
bring harm to others in the process?
Should factory farming be a legal and excepted way of producing meat,
and should we be allowed to conduct research on animals that we would
not conduct on humans?
The study of attitude formation is the study of how people form evaluations
or persons, places or things

Meet Zahad, hes witty smart and warm. His friend

Janice is witty, smart and cold.

Central Traits Some traits may be more important that others in terms of
organizing our impressions of others (e.g., warm/cold vs. polite blunt).
The Primacy Effect The order with which we encounter traits matters, with
earlier traits having the largest effect
Intelligent, Industrious, Impulsive, Critical, Stubborn, Envious
Importance of attributions in real life

Attributions are clearly important to the impressions we form of ourselves and

others one clear distinction in how we form our attributions is the disposition
(internal) vs. situation (external) attributions we make when we witness
behaviour.

Situation

Disposition

Depends

Neither!

Situation

Disposition

Direct classical conditioning

Vicarious classical
conditioning
Mere exposure

Not always consistent with

stated cognitive stance

The fantastic Leon Festinger example

from outer space (circa 1954)!
When we experience a discrepancy
between our attitudes and our behaviour, between our behaviour and our
self-image, or between two attitudes, a state of tension called
dissonance results and the person experiencing that dissonance feels
driven to resolve that dissonance in some manner
A person can reduce dissonance by:
1) reducing the imporantance of one of the dissonant bits,
2) adding consonant elements, or
3) changing one of the dissonant elements

If you behave in a way that causes dissonance BUT you have a good
justification for doing so, the dissonance may be resolved (TV producer vs.
vacuum salesperson example)

If something costs more,

then it must be more valuable,
right?

Psychology A02: Lecture 15

Musical Choice: Simply Irresistible (Robert Palmer)

132

Humans (and most primates) are more K than r in

terms of procreation strategies maybe too K
For enough children to be born mothers need
help raising them fatherly commitment
Typical mating strategies are not conducive to the
formation of long-term pair bonds too one
hour stand like
Unless not all males were attracted to all females
(and vice versa) unless we came to be
attracted to very specific sexual-social cues
Unless we learned to love

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C = 0.70

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1. Passionate about something

2. Self Confident
3. Respectful
4. Intellectual Curiosity
5. A sense of Humour
6. Looks but inconsistently

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Psychology A02: Lecture 15

Musical Choice: Manic Depression (Hendrix)

141

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 A sad and apathetic mood

Feelings of worthlessness and

helpless
A desire to withdraw from other
people
Sleepless; lost of appetite and
sexual desire

Either lethargy or agitation

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Bipolar I Disorder: Episodes of mania

(nonstop orgasm) either by themselves
or, more commonly, mixed with periods of
major depression
Bipolor II Disorder: Periods of major
depression mixed with occasion less
intense periods of mania (hypomanic
episodes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zTwTCBAL4

Cognitive causes:
Generally negative about themselves, which can result in a
string of self-fulfilling prophecies (remember Ekman?)
Overblow small negatives into very large ones
Blame their situation on stable personal inadequacies
(attribution style) and thus feel helpless and hopeless with
respect to things changing
Exacerbated by negative life events

Genetic causes:
All mood disorders are more prevalent when a family member has
the disorder, and more common in mono than in dizygotic twins
so partly genetically determined.
Psychiological causes:
Biochemical Factors lower levels of norepinephrine and serotonin
are associated with depression, and drugs that increase these
neurotransmitters have beneficial effects

Sleep Cycles Almost all people with mood disorders show

disordered sleep patterns zeitgebers life changing stressors
seasonal affective disorders

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Psychology A02: Lecture 16

Musical Choice: Just (Radiohead)

149

The 1964 case of Kitty Genovese, 38 people silent for 35 minutes in myth
and reality

This case launched a number of research studies aimed at better

understanding when (and why) people sometimes do not step up when
needed here is one example.

Assistance Requires
> Noticing and correctly interpreting the situation
> Assuming responsibility for helping (diffusion of responsibility)
> Considering costs of intervention and concluding they are not
too high
> Then implementing the chosen course of action

Social Facilitation the enhancement of a persons performance due to the

presence of other people common for simple behaviour but less so for
complex
Social Loafing when the others present are co-workers, rather than
observers, social loafing is common

Although often social animals

self-organize into hierarchies
that allow some to benefit
more from society that others,
it does seem we have a deep
rooted desire for equity as well
social justice.
This desire for justice is not
even strictly human check
this out! Around 3:30 and
around 13:50

Psychology A02: Lecture 16

Musical Choice: 21st Century Schizoid Man (King Crimson)

154

A group of psychological disorders

involving distortions of thought,
perception and emotion; bizarre
behaviour; and social withdrawal

Means split mind but

does not involve multiple
personalities
Effects about 1% in Canada

Hallucinations (typically auditory)

Delusions of Persecution
Delusions of Control

Delusions of Grandeur

Residual: Type the follows one of the others and is marked by only negative symptoms
Reactive: Type marked by rapid onset and brief duration, caused by stresses
Process: Type marked by gradual onset and poor prognosis

Double Bind A situation in which a parent encourages the

child to engage in some behaviour, but then gives mixed
signals by not supporting them when they actually do
Expressed Emotion Expressions of
criticism, hostility and emotional
overinvolvement by family members
Leads to relapse

Psychology A02: Lecture 17

Musical Choice: Bad Habits (The Monks)

164

A cultures adaptive change to recurrent (ever changing)

environmental pressures becoming civilized?
Cultural evolution shapes lifestyle, the aggregate behaviour of a
person the way the person chooses to life their life.

Lifestyle has changed significantly civilization enhances

standards of living, but also introduces new challenges and dangers.

Evolutionary pressures are most relevant

in the time frame up to ages of sexual
reproduction much less relevant when
people are old like me <sigh>
Unhealthy lifestyles typically have their
effects later in life when people are old,
like me <sigh>
Hence unhealthy lifestyles are not selected against
Implications for animal research, and issues of indoctrination

Our ancestors lived mostly

on fruits, vegetables, nuts
and some lean meat
low fat, high fibre
Over the last 150 years, the food we eat is higher fat, lower
fibre (more meat, sweets, deep fried food, additives) and the
two major causes of death are directly linked to this change in
diet

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The distinction between short and long term rewards, and its
relevance to self control eating, drinking, smoking, safe
sex, etc

http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/06/the-secrets-of-self-control-themarshmallow-test-40-years-later/

Psychology A02: Lecture 17

Musical Choice: Rehab (Amy Winehouse)

172

A person is classified as having a personality disorder if their

abnormalities of behaviour impair their social or occupational
functioning
Anti-social Personality Disorder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6aCir5bu-c

174

Biological Causes

Shock-Wrong-Cash
Experiment

Environmental Causes

Cognitive Causes

 efforts to resist perceived abandonment (minor changes)

intense but short-lived relationships
sudden shifts in self-image (goals, values, aspirations)
impulsivity (irresponsible spending, binging, substance)
suicidal or self-mutilating behaviour

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001935/

Overall Prevalence: 26.6% (3.8% per year) 15% alcohol

Substance-Use Disorders: Addiction
Substance-induced Disorders: Less extreme, but still related to
health, occupational or social problems.

Genetic and Physiological Causes

Cognitive Causes

Psychology A02: Lecture 18

Musical Choice: Everything is Alright (Motion City Soundtrack)

180

Mesmer

Charcot

Freud

Insight Therapies

Drug Therapies
GroupTherapy

CognitiveBehavioral
Therapy

Assumes the people have learned maladaptive thought patterns

and emotions, which are revealed in maladaptive behaviours.
Behaviours reflective of some deeper psychological issue and
when patient understands the true cause (i.e., gainst insight) the
maladaptive behaviours will subside.
Psychoanalysis
Free association, dreams,
other projective tests
Resistance / Transference/
Counter-Transference

Client-Centred Therapy Generally nondirective in a manner meant to help the

client essentially help themselves
therapists provides support,
encouragement, and acts to help the client
achieve the smallest level of
incongruence (the distance between who
they are and who they would like to be).

Carl Rogers

Gestalt Therapy Emphasizes the unity

of the body and mind, helping the client
to get in touch with their feelings
E.G., the empty chair technique

Fritz Perls

Limitations to benefit from insight therapies

a client must be intelligent, articulate,
motivated (and rich) enough to spend multiple
days a week for maybe years or more
(especially psychoanalysis).
Not many scientific studies assessing
effectives, but there are some, they show that
undergoing therapy is more effective than not
going.
Not as effective as cognitive-behavioural
therapies

Psychology A02: Lecture 18

Musical Choice: Breathe (Pink Floyd)

187

Sympathetic Nervous System

Heart rate increases, blood

pressure rises, blood sugar rises,
blood flow directed to internal
organs
Breathing deeper and faster
Digestion stops, perspiration
increases
Adrenal glands secrete adrenalin
Short video

Whether something is a stressor or

not is psychological how you view
it or think about it
So the psychological clearly can affect
the physical which is pretty
important and kinda cool!
That also means that psychology can
have positive effects, both in terms of
dealing with stress, and with respect to
health in general

One persons stressor can be anothers

best friend in some cases people are
making more of stressors than need be.

The sympathetic and parasympathetic system cannot be

simultaneously active thus the best way to fight stress is
often to learn how to flip the switch and relax

194

Conceptualization
1. Learning about stress & coping
2. Becoming better at appraising
situations
Skills Acquisition & Rehearsal
3. Stressor-specific problem solving
4. Emotion regulation and self control
5. Maladaptive responses as cues
Application and Follow Through
6. Imagery rehearsal over progressively
more difficult situations
7. Apply coping skills to unexpected

Psychology A02: Lecture 19

Musical Choice: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monte Python)

196

Many anxiety disorders (e.g., phobias) are

thought to have developed via classical
conditioning
Thus, it should also be possible to use
classical conditioning to counter these
disorders
Systematic Desensitization a technique
designed to eliminate the unpleasant
emotional response by the feared object
or situation and replace it with an
incompatible one relaxation

1. Relaxation
1. Learn to relax
2. Associate the feeling with a trigger
3. Practice using the trigger
2. Hierarchy of Fears
1. Create Hierarchy
2. Go through it slowly, using trigger
3. One cannot progress until they can
remain relaxed on the previous step

Watching someone else public speak

Have others sing happy birthday to me

Be asked to give a toast at a small gathering

of friends
Find oneself in a position of telling a long
story to a group of friends who are listening
Be asked to give a toast at a formal wedding
Talk about something you know a lot about

Talk about something you know little about

In Vivo Exposure. Forcing clients to

directly face their fears until their fears
extinguish very stressful, though not
dangerous usually
Imaginal Exposure. Same idea, except it
relies on graphic imagery rather in vivo
experiences (virtual reality)
Aversion Therapy. Pairing a noxious
(aversive) stimulus with some undesired
behaviour

Reinforcement of Adaptive Behaviours. If

an incompatible behaviour exists, it can be
positively reinforced which causes the
elimination of the unwanted behaviour
Token Economies. Using tokens to
reinforce desired outcomes (remember overjustification effect?)
Modeling. Having a therapist model
adaptive behaviour leads to vicarious
extinction

Assertiveness Therapy. A process for

developing coping skills especially for
people who feel they are being walked on
by others opposes anxiety
Extinction. Removing positive reinforces
that were present (e.g., tantrums) notion
of extinction burst
Punishment. Following some undesired
behaviour by an aversive stimulus notion
of covert sensitization

Some therapists (insight therapists) argue that treating the

symptoms is dangerous symptom substitution bed
wetting example
More aversive therapies should not be used when consent is at
all ambiguous, and therapies usually require the clients active
participation (limits applicability to those of competent mind
who belief they have a problem)
Ultimate criterion is behavioural change, but much can be
learned by attending to the cognition-behaviour association.

Effectiveness strongly supported by research

Psychology A02: Lecture 20

Musical Choice: Insane in the Membrane (Cypress Hill)

208

These therapies assume that some (all?) disorders are ultimately

caused by abnormal neural or other physiological functions

210

Antipsychotic Drugs:
Chlorpromazine (Largactil/Thorazine)
dramatically reduces the positive
symptoms of Schizophrenia
Apparently works by blocking
dopamine receptors
Long term use leads to tardive
dyskinesia (lip smacking, drooling)

Tricyclics: Slow the re-uptake of norepinephrine and serotonin.

Many side effects (e.g., weight gain, poor concentration)
Monamine Oxidase Inhihibitors (MOI): Prevent enzymes from
destroying norepinephrine and serotonin. Also many side effects
(e.g., high BP, blurred vision, insomnia)
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI): Name says it all.
Fewer side effects, which allows for larger doses
Lithium Carbonate: Most effective for bipolar disorder or mania.
Ends manic episodes as soon as blood level is high enough, and
when mania is contained depressive periods also end.

ECT: Seizures improve mood, and

often ECT removes depression when
nothing else works. Causes short-term
memory issues and maybe longer term
memory as well.
Psychosurgery: Remember frontal
lobotomies and severed corpus collusa?
Now only cingulotomies (cingulum
bundle connecting frontal to limbic) are
performed to treat severe OCD. Last
course of therapy given it is
irreversable

Therapy can be extremely intimate,

and yes it should only be so intimate!
Therapists are required not to have
any form of sexual relations with
clients and can lose their licenses if
they do.

Confidentiality is deemed as critical

to the therapeutic process, but
therapists are generally expected to
try to prevent any harm to self or
others