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Study Guide
Essentials of
Psychology
By
Robert G. Turner Jr., Ph.D.
About the Author
Robert G. Turner Jr., Ph.D. has more than 20 years of teaching and
education-related experience. He has taught seventh-grade science,
worked as a curriculum developer for the Upward Bound Program,
and taught sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and honors
seminars at the university level. As a professional writer, he has
written nonfiction books, journal and magazine articles, novels,
and stage plays.
Copyright © 2012 by Penn Foster, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be
mailed to Copyright Permissions, Penn Foster, 925 Oak Street, Scranton,
Pennsylvania 18515.
Printed in the United States of America
03/01/13
All terms mentioned in this text that are known to be trademarks or service
marks have been appropriately capitalized. Use of a term in this text should not be
regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
1
LESSON ASSIGNMENTS
7
LESSON 1: PSYCHOLOGY: THE SCIENCE
OF THE MIND
9
LESSON 2: THE MIND AT WORK
43
LESSON 3: MOTIVATION, EMOTION, DEVELOPMENT,
AND PERSONALITY
75
RESEARCH PROJECT
117
LESSON 4: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
127
LESSON 5: PSYCHOLOGY FOR TWO OR MORE
147
CASE STUDIES
167
SELF-CHECK ANSWERS 169
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YOUR COURSE
Welcome to your course, Essentials of Psychology. You’re
entering a course of study designed to help you better under-
stand yourself and others. For that reason, you can think of
this course as practical. It should be of use to you in living
your life and reaching the goals you set for yourself.
You’ll use two main resources for your course work: this
study guide and your textbook, Psychology and Your Life, by
Robert S. Feldman.
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this course, you’ll be able to
n Describe the science and methodologies of psychology
in the context of its historical origins and major
perspectives
n Outline the fundamental structure of the human nervous
system and explain how it relates to the organization of
human sensory perception
n Relate altered states of consciousness to sleep, hypnosis,
meditation, sensory deprivation, and physiological
responses to psychoactive drugs
n Discuss the basic concepts of behavioral psychology,
including classical conditioning, operant conditioning,
and cognitive learning theory
n Describe the nature of human memory in relationship to
thinking processes, intelligence, creativity, and intuition
n Explain the basic concepts of human motivation in
relationship to emotions
n Discuss concepts and models of personality, including
psychodynamic, trait, learning, evolutionary, and
humanistic approaches
n Explain concepts of intelligence and describe approaches
to assessing and measuring intelligence
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n Differentiate a healthy personality from a disordered
personality in the context of mental health and stress
management
n Discuss basic influences of social life and how people
respond to them
COURSE MATERIALS
Your Essentials of Psychology course provides you with the
materials listed below:
1. This study guide, which includes
n A lesson assignments page that lists the schedule of
assigned readings in your textbook
n Self-checks and answers that allow you to measure
your understanding of the course material
2. Your course textbook, Psychology and Your Life, by
Robert S. Feldman, which contains your assigned
readings
YOUR TEXTBOOK
Success in your course depends on your knowledge of the
text. For that reason, you should take some time to look
through it from front to back. Give yourself a sense of how
the material is arranged. Here are some of the key features of
your text:
n “About the Author” is found on page vi.
n A brief table of contents is found on pages vii–viii.
n An extended table of contents is found on pages ix–xx.
n A preface, on pages xxi–xxvii, gives you an overview of
chapter features.
n A modular format divides each chapter into related
topic groups.
Instructions to Students2
n “Learning Outcomes” for each module are listed at the
beginning of each chapter and are reiterated at the
beginning of each module.
n “Study Alerts” are highlighted in text margins. They’ll
help you stay focused on key ideas and concepts.
n “From the Perspective of . . .” shows you how psychology
impacts different professions.
n “Becoming an Informed Consumer of Psychology” helps
you think about practical applications of psychology in
your everyday life.
n “Exploring Diversity” offers you opportunities for critical
analysis of psychological issues across cultures and eth-
nic groups.
n “Full Circle” end-of-chapter features give you a concept
map for modules included in a chapter.
n A “Key Terms” summary helps you remember what you
need to remember.
n “Looking Ahead/Looking Back” introduces key concepts
of the next chapter and summarize the chapter you’ve
just completed to reinforce your learning.
n “Recap/Evaluate/Rethink” end-of-module activities are
directly related to the module’s learning outcomes.
n “Case Studies” at the end of each chapter offer excellent
opportunities to apply and analyze chapter content.
n “To the Students,” on pages xxviii–xl, is a vital feature of
your text. We strongly recommend that you become
familiar with the author’s SQ3R method and take full
advantage of tips for effective study and test-taking
strategies.
n Your text’s excellent illustrations are captioned as
figures. The information contained in these graphics
should be seen as parts of your assigned text material.
Assume their content will reappear in self-checks and
lesson exams.
Instructions to Students 3
n Your text includes a very useful glossary on pages
512–525. References are found on pages 526–559.
Credits appear on pages 560–563, and a name index
follows that on pages 564–575. Finally, a subject index
is found on pages 576–584.
A STUDY PLAN
This study guide is intended to help you achieve the maximum
benefit from the time you spend on this course. It isn’t meant
to replace your textbook. Instead, it serves as an introduction
to material you’ll read in the text and as an aid to assist you
in understanding this material.
This study guide provides your assignments in five lessons.
Each lesson contains two to three chapter assignments, with
a self-check for each assignment. A multiple-choice examination
follows each lesson. Be sure to complete all work related to a
lesson before moving on to the next lesson.
For each lesson, do the following:
1. Read the instructions to each assignment in this study
guide. The instructions will provide you with the pages
in the textbook that must be read.
2. Now read the assigned pages in this study guide.
3. Then read the assigned pages in the textbook.
4. When you’ve finished the assignment, complete the
self-check. The self-checks are based on both textbook
and study guide material. The self-checks aren’t graded
and are for your use only. Don’t send your answers to
the school.
5. Once you’ve completed a self-check, turn to the answers
provided at the back of this study guide. The self-checks
are designed to indicate how well you understand the
material, so test yourself honestly. Make every effort to
complete the questions before turning to the answers at
the back of the study guide. If you find any weak areas,
return to the text and review the relevant material until
you understand it.
Instructions to Students4
6. Follow this procedure for all assignments until you’ve
completed the lesson.
7. Once you’re confident that you understand all the material
for the lesson, complete the lesson examination provided
in this study guide. The examination is open-book and is
based on both textbook and study guide material. Submit
your answers to each examination to the school, using
one of the examination options described in your first
shipment.
8. Repeat steps 1–8 for the remaining lessons in this
study guide.
If you have any questions, e-mail your instructor.
Now review the lesson assignments on the following pages of
this study guide. Then begin your study of psychology with
Lesson 1, Assignment 1. Good luck and enjoy your studies!
Instructions to Students 5
NOTES
Instructions to Students6
Lesson 1: Psychology: The Science of the Mind
For: Read in the Read in
study guide: the textbook:
Assignment 1 Pages 9–20 Pages 2–45
Assignment 2 Pages 22–30 Pages 46–81
Assignment 3 Pages 32–40 Pages 82–121
Examination 050200 Material in Lesson 1
Lesson 2:
The Mind at Work
For: Read in the Read in
study guide: the textbook:
Assignment 4 Pages 43–51 Pages 122–159
Assignment 5 Pages 52–60 Pages 160–197
Assignment 6 Pages 61–73 Pages 198–241
Examination 050201 Material in Lesson 2
Lesson 3: Motivation, Emotion, Development,
and Personality
For: Read in the Read in
study guide: the textbook:
Assignment 7 Pages 75–84 Pages 242–279
Assignment 8 Pages 85–97 Pages 280–333
Assignment 9 Pages 99–114 Pages 334–385
Examination 050202 Material in Lesson 3
Research Project 05020500
Lesson 4: Psychological Disorders
For: Read in the Read in
study guide: the textbook:
Assignment 10 Pages 127–137 Pages 386–427
Assignment 11 Pages 138–146 Pages 428–463
Examination 050203 Material in Lesson 4
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Lesson 5:
Psychology for Two or More
For: Read in the Read in
study guide: the textbook:
Assignment 12 Pages 147–153 Pages 464–481
Assignment 13 Pages 154–166 Pages 482–511
Examination 050204 Material in Lesson 5
Case Studies 05020600
Lesson Assignments8
Note: To access and complete any of the examinations for this study
guide, click on the appropriate Take Exam icon on your “My Courses”
page. You shouldn’t have to enter the examination numbers. These
numbers are for reference only if you have reason to contact Student
Services.
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Psychology: The Science
of the Mind
INTRODUCTION
You’ll begin this lesson with an overview of psychology as a
science. You’ll learn its goals and major perspectives. Next,
you’ll get a critical discussion of the nature of science. This
part of your assignment is essential for two reasons. First,
getting the most out of this course requires you to take the
scientific point of view. Second, you should get into the habit
of critical thinking, always remembering that science isn’t
about believing; it’s about finding out. The second assign-
ment will introduce you to the relationship between the
nervous system, the brain, and behavior. You’ll discover how
hormones produced by the body’s endocrine system regulate
body processes, including aspects of behavior. The final
assignment introduces you to the fascinating perplexities of
sensation and perception. You’ll discover how our senses, like
vision, hearing, and touch, enter into psychological experi-
ence. In this context, you’ll also get some insight into how
sensory stimuli are organized precisely through the ways we
perceive the world around us.
ASSIGNMENT 1—INTRODUCTION
TO PSYCHOLOGY
Read this assignment. Then read pages 2–45 in your textbook.
Psychologists at Work
What Is Psychology?
Psychologists try to describe, explain, and predict human
behavior and mental processes. In this way, psychologists
aim to help people live healthier, happier lives.
Essentials of Psychology10
What Are the Subfields of Psychology?
Because behavior and mental processes can be viewed
in different ways, there are subfields of psychology.
Neuroscientists attempt to understand the biological roots
of behavior. Developmental psychology studies the ways in
which psychological processes change throughout the human
life cycle. Clinical psychologists attempt to diagnose and treat
psychological problems, like depression.
By far, clinical psychologists make up the largest number
of psychological specialists. Further, most are engaged in
private practice, and more than half of all psychologists work
in mental health services—typically helping people with their
mental and emotional problems.
A Science Evolves
What Are the Roots of Psychology?
The first part of this section tells you about the main traditional
schools of psychology. The term school here refers to a per-
spective or point of view. The traditional schools of psychology
developed as the science of psychology developed. You’ll be
challenged to think about how the schools of psychology
developed over time.
Structuralism developed in the late nineteenth century as one
of the earliest views of human behavior. In 1879, a German
researcher named Wilhelm Wundt became interested in how
people respond to a stimulus. A stimulus is anything that
causes a response or a reaction of some kind. (Stimuli is the
plural of stimulus.) Heat, light, a pinprick, or loud noises are
examples of stimuli. Wundt conducted his studies by intro-
spection. Introspection involves paying attention to your own
consciousness, thoughts, and feelings. Wundt thought that
observing the effects of stimuli and then using self-observation
through introspection would help us understand human behav-
ior. Basically, structuralists wanted to sort out the different
parts that make up the human mind. However, because they
depended so much on introspection, structuralists couldn’t
agree on many things.
Lesson 1 11
Functionalism was developed mainly by William James.
James broadened the concerns of psychology to include the
nature of consciousness and the purposes of religion in
human life, as well as the ways people respond to stimuli.
Because his work was so broad and full of insight, it remains
of interest today. The term functionalism refers to the attempt
to understand how the human mind helps people adapt to
their environments.
Gestalt psychology developed mainly in Europe (while behav-
iorism was being developed in the United States). Its main
contribution to psychology was to help us understand that
we respond to the context of things we experience. Gestalt
theorists liked to say, “The whole is greater than the sum of
its parts.” For example, when you listen to a song that you
like, you don’t enjoy each individual note independently of
the others. Instead, you enjoy the overall melody that’s cre-
ated when all of the notes are combined in a particular way.
There were founding mothers in the science of psychology.
A few of them, like Karen Horney (pronounced “HORN-eye”),
extended the perspectives of the school with which they were
associated. In the case of Dr. Horney, that meant extending
the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud to pay more
attention to social and cultural factors.
Today’s Perspectives
The neuroscience perspective focuses on the ways in which
biological processes, in humans and animals, underlie behaviors
and behavioral responses of all kinds. The perspective includes
studies of evolutionary biology—how behaviors have evolved as
species have evolved—and the role of genetics in behavioral
processes.
The psychodynamic perspective holds that our behavior is
largely shaped by the nature of our personality and by
unconscious forces in the psyche. In the psychoanalytic
view, the mind is a layered thing, and the depths of it remain
largely mysterious and unknown to us. The term psyche
usually refers to the entire mystery of mind, consciousness,
experience, and memory. The word itself comes from the
Greek word for soul. The psychodynamic view comes
Essentials of Psychology12
primarily from the psychoanalytic theory developed by
Sigmund Freud. Today, while many aspects of Freudian
theory have lost favor, the psychodynamic perspective
continues to help us understand things like prejudice and
aggression. We’ll cover this perspective in some detail in
Chapter 11.
The behavioral perspective became a dominant point of view
in psychology as issues like the nature of consciousness lost
popularity. Many decided to concentrate on observable and
measurable (overt) behaviors and ignore the study of con-
sciousness itself. Behaviorism is the study of how organisms,
including human beings, learn behaviors by responding to
stimuli. The behaviorist view emphasizes the idea that our
behavior is shaped by our environment. That is, human
behavior—and that of all organisms—is shaped by adaptive
responses that best manage environmental stimuli.
The cognitive perspective views behavior and human nature as
related mainly to our cognitive processes. Cognitive processes
include both our thoughts and our emotions, but researchers
tend to focus mainly on thoughts. In this context, thought
processes are compared to the ways in which computers
work. Overall, this view seeks to understand how we perceive
and interpret stimuli, solve problems, and make judgments.
The humanistic perspective objects to the determinism of
other views of human behavior, particularly as represented
by behaviorism. Determinism is the idea that human behavior
is determined mainly by mechanical or biological forces over
which people have little personal control. By way of contrast,
a central tenet of the humanistic perspective is that humans
have free will and can be enabled to be “the best that they
can be.” In other words, we adapt to the world through inner
motivations and through selected responses to sensory stimuli
in our environment.
Lesson 1 13
Key Controversies in Psychology
There are five major controversies in psychology. You may
recognize that the opposed views represent deep philosophi-
cal questions about human nature and our species’ place in
the cosmic scheme—whatever that may be.
1. Is human development mainly a result of environmental
factors or of genetic inheritance? This is the so-called
nature-nurture debate. As it turns out, most researchers
tend to suspect that both play a hand.
2. To what extent is behavior motivated by conscious as
opposed to unconscious mental processes? The issue
here can be thought of as one of free will. If we do
things for unconscious reasons, we do what we do
without knowing why we do it; hence, our behavior is
determined.
3. What should be the focus of research in psychology?
Should we focus on observable behaviors or on internal
mental processes? In fact, clinical researchers in particu-
lar tend to feel that both frames of reference need to be
taken into account.
4. How much of our behavior results from free will as
opposed to conditioned behavior? Once again, some
would argue that behavior is a mixture of free choice and
“automated,” or reflexive, responses.
5. To what extent is our behavior a result of individual dif-
ferences as opposed to social and cultural influences?
And, in that context, are there universal psychological
principles that apply across cultures?
Research in Psychology
The Scientific Method
Although your textbook focuses on psychology, as you would
expect, the methods of scientific research are identical from
physics to biology to sociology. This section introduces you
to the ways psychologists use the methods and principles of
scientific research.
Essentials of Psychology14
There are four basic steps in scientific research:
1. Identify questions of interest. You pay attention to the
world around you and ask questions about it. Scientific
observation depends on empirical evidence—evidence
that can be observed and measured. So, the first step in
the scientific method is observation that’s both active
and selective. In other words, we don’t try to observe and
study everything, everywhere. We try to observe things
that can provide empirical evidence. However, we do that
selectively because we focus on phenomena that catch
our attention and spark our interest.
2. Formulate an explanation. To define a problem, we must
recognize that relationships can exist among different
variables (things that can be measured) that produce
measurable outcomes. For example, you may observe
that children who are read to by their parents are better
students than those who aren’t read to by their parents.
Although you might assume that the parents are making
a positive impact on their children’s academic abilities by
reading to them, you’ll need to conduct research to verify
your observations. That is, you can pose a hypothesis. A
hypothesis is a scientific question that states a problem
in a way that can be measured and tested. Put another
way, every hypothesis is a statement that shows how we
mean to study a problem in order to answer a question.
Theory building results from testing many hypotheses to
come to overall conclusions that best explain our find-
ings. After conducting a lot of research, we might develop
a theory. Or we might test a theory through research to
see if it makes sense.
3. Carry out research. For example, a hypothesis relating
school performance to being read to by parents might
look like this:
Children who are read to by their parents are
more likely to score above average on standard
first-grade achievement tests than children who
aren’t read to by their parents.
Lesson 1 15
What we must do now is use a research technique to
support or disprove our hypothesis. We might use a
correlational study. Or, better yet, if feasible, we can
perform an experiment.
4. Communicate findings. Having gathered our evidence, for-
mulated a hypothesis, and tested it through research, we
can write a research report. If we can get it published in
a scientific journal, other researchers can check our
work and advance their own. Often, other researchers
may do this through replication, doing the same research
to see if it yields similar results.
Descriptive Research
All of the following are forms of descriptive research.
Archival research looks at existing data. It might be found in
census data, court records, or the findings’ previous studies.
That is, you examine what are normally called secondary
sources. Archival research nearly always precedes any kind
of primary (original) research, since one is well advised to
discover what’s already known.
Naturalistic observation (observing behavior in natural
environments) is a good way to gather descriptive informa-
tion. If you want to see how children actually behave on a
playground, you could spend some time eating your lunch
each day at a playground. On the other hand, it’s possible
that children being watched by an adult will behave differ-
ently than they would with no adult around. This change in
behavior is called the observer effect. To avoid it, you might
set up hidden remote cameras around the playground.
However, since many feel that the cameras would violate the
children’s right to privacy, you may not get funding for that
kind of research. Another option would be to show up every
day, sit in the same place, and never interfere with what the
children are doing. This approach might overcome the
observer effect since people tend to go back to their normal
behaviors when they don’t perceive a threat from a silent
observer. There’s no way to be sure of this. In any case,
naturalistic observation is an important way to study the
behavior of animals in the wild, as well as human beings at
work and play.
Essentials of Psychology16
In survey research, we gather information from people using
questionnaires or interview schedules. Surveys are often used
to get a sense of people’s attitudes on different subjects.
They’re often used to gauge a candidate’s support among
voters. Among psychologists, surveys can be used to estimate
the frequency in which people perform certain behaviors or
experience intense emotion. As a rule, since it isn’t normally
feasible to interview everyone in, say, the town of Mayberry,
it’s necessary to draw a representative random sample. A
random sample requires that everyone in a population to be
studied has an equal chance of being selected. When a sam-
ple is representative, we can generalize our finding to the
larger study population.
A case study is a special kind of naturalistic study. It’s an
intense, in-depth study of some individual or small group. A
famous example involved a woman named Eve who seemed,
in the opinion of her therapist, to have a large number of
separate personalities. Even today, what’s called multiple
personality disorder is a controversial subject. It’s controver-
sial because the condition is very rare and because most of
the evidence is derived from individual cases. That doesn’t
mean that single case studies can’t provide valuable informa-
tion. However, scientists do prefer other methods of study to
support their hypotheses.
Correlational research examines the relationship between two or
more variables. As noted, a variable is anything we can measure.
Gender, age, education, IQ score, income, or even approval-
disapproval of a social policy are examples of variables. For
example, let’s say we want to understand the relationship
of age to height among humans. We could gather height
information from specific age groups to compare age and
height. More than likely, we would discover that as age
increases, so does height. In other words, as people get
older (up to about age 20), they generally get taller.
If, in a correlational study, one variable increases as the
other increases, we can say that age and height have a
positive correlation. In some situations, however, the value
of one variable increases as the value of a related variable
decreases. For example, in an average population of people
Lesson 1 17
over 30, as individuals get older they tend to run a 400-meter
race more slowly. In this case, age and running time repre-
sent a negative correlation.
Correlational studies can be very useful. However, all they
can do is show us that one variable is related to another
to a greater or lesser extent. In studying different groups of
people, for example, we may find that the correlation between
age and creativity is either positive or negative. However, in
neither case does our finding prove that people get more (or
less) creative simply because they get older. In fact, we may
find that the correlation is positive among artists and nega-
tive among musicians. That wouldn’t tell us that there aren’t
highly creative 50-year-old musicians. Nor would it confirm
that there are few creative artists under the age of 50. A cor-
relation shows only that a relationship exists among different
variables. To prove that one variable causes another, we
must turn to another method—the experiment.
Experimental Research
In science, the experiment is the king of research methods.
Only through a carefully conducted experiment can we
actually prove that one variable causes another. To under-
stand the idea behind an experiment, let’s say we want to
know if an experimental approach to studying sophomore-
level history is better than the approach normally used at
Jefferson High School (JHS). Here are the likely steps we’ll
take to do our experiment:
1. Draw a representative sample of JHS sophomores. To
make sure the sample is representative, we could get a
list of all the sophomores. Let’s say there are 400 sopho-
mores and we want a sample size of 40. We would use a
randomizing technique that assures us that every student
on the list has an equal chance of being selected, like
drawing names out of a hat. (Each name we selected
would then have to go back into the hat, so we could
choose another name under the exact same conditions.)
2. Divide the sample of 40 into two groups of 20, using a
randomizing technique like the one in step 1.
Essentials of Psychology18
3. Assign one group of 20 to a control group and the second
group to an experimental group. The control group isn’t
exposed to the independent variable, but the experimental
group is.
4. Pick two classrooms that are identical. In one of these, stu-
dents in the control group will receive a lesson on the Civil
War. The standard lecture approach will be used. In the
other classroom, the experimental group will get the same
facts and ideas presented using a series of pictures and
sound effects, along with the teacher’s instructions. That’s
the experimental teaching approach. Again, we control for
extraneous variables by making the conditions and environ-
ment for the control and the experimental groups as similar
as possible. In this case, for example, we would also want
to run our experiment at the same time of day because
performance typically varies, say, before lunch or after
lunch.
5. After both groups of students have had their lesson on
the Civil War, give them a test to see how well they’ve
learned the material. The test for both groups will be
identical. It will also be given to both groups under the
same conditions and at the same time of day.
6. Compare the test scores to see if the students in the
experimental group scored better or worse than those in
the control group. If the scores in the experimental group
are sufficiently higher than those in the control group,
we’ll say we’ve shown that the experimental teaching
method is superior to the standard method.
“Sufficiently higher” refers to statistical significance. That
means that, under the laws of probability, the difference
between scores in the control and experimental groups is
great enough that it can’t be attributed to random fluctuation.
In this experiment, the independent variables are the teaching
methods. The dependent variable is the score each student
gets on the evaluation test. If we conducted the experiment
correctly, we can say that the independent variable caused
the difference in the dependent variable.
Lesson 1 19
Research Challenges
Ethics of Research
Human behavior is derived from all kinds of motives. Ethical
motivations, perhaps based on religious or philosophical
perspectives, persuade us that subjects of research shouldn’t
be harmed, physically or psychologically, by the research pro-
cedure. A common principle of ethical research is called
informed consent. People should be told what the research is
for and what discomforts, if any, may be involved. A basic
principle of informed consent is that prospective research
subjects can “just say no.”
Should Animals Be Used in Research?
In fact, quite a lot of psychological research has been
based on findings derived from observing animal behavior.
Behaviorist B. F. Skinner based a lot of his theoretical
concepts on the behavior of lab rats and pigeons. Two main
questions are raised by reliance on animals in research: To
what extent can we generalize animal behavior to human
behavior? What constitutes cruelty to animals? There are
no simple and easy answers to either question.
Experimental Validity
Research findings may or may not be valid. As an informed
information “consumer,” you should understand this. Science
can’t be based on opinion; it must be based on empirical
(observable and measurable) data. The purpose of the research
must be clear. If it’s meant to support or refute a theory,
for example, that must be made explicit. The study must be
properly conducted—as in the proper procedures for conducting
an experiment. The results or findings must represent the
actual data, not the researcher’s opinion or bias.
Experimental bias may weaken the validity of research findings.
Basically, bias means seeing what we expect to see. In the
case of experimenter expectations, findings may be biased
when a researcher “telegraphs” what he or she expects to see
from research subjects. Since research subjects are typically
Essentials of Psychology20
in a “peasant-to-lord” relationship, this sort of thing may lead
to participant expectations bias. That is, the subjects will tend
to produce behaviors and responses that the researcher
seems to favor. And this sort of thing, which results from
human impulses to conform to social expectations, may
happen below the level of conscious awareness.
Sometimes circumstances that we don’t expect influence the
outcome of experiments. The placebo effect is one these
unexpected circumstances. The placebo effect occurs mostly
in medical experiments, although it has also occurred in
psychotherapy. In the placebo effect, people who take a
placebo (a fake medicine) experience the same benefits from
the drug as the people who are taking the real medicine. In
other words, people who think they’re getting a remedy
(though they’re not) may still show signs of improvement.
To overcome the confusion caused by the placebo effect,
subjects may not be informed as to whether they’re taking
the placebo or the actual drug. This is called a single-blind
experiment. In a double-blind experiment, neither the patient
nor the experimenter administering the pills knows who’s
getting a drug or who’s getting a placebo.
Self-Check 1
At the end of each section of Essentials of Psychology, you’ll be asked to pause and check
your understanding of what you’ve just read by completing a “Self-Check” exercise.
Answering these questions will help you review what you’ve studied so far. Please
complete Self-Check 1 now.
1. I want to study the differences in fear responses to live, harmless snakes in a population
made of roughly equal numbers of girls and boys. My research hypothesis is that boys will be
less fearful of snakes than will girls. In my research, my _______ definition of “fear” will be
heart rate.
2. While _______ psychology studies how our behavior is influenced by genetic inheritance from
our ancestors, behavioral _______ focuses on how our genes and the environment, working
together, influence specific behaviors.
(Continued)
Lesson 1 21
Self-Check 1
3. While I might very well use psychological _______ while conducting a case study, I’ll certainly
have to have a properly drawn _______ of my study population while conducting a survey
study.
4. In an experiment, a/an _______ variable can be manipulated by the experimenter such that
the experimental group and the _______ group receive different kinds of training on how to
solve a puzzle.
5. Among today’s main psychological perspectives, only the _______ perspective proposes the
dynamic role of the unconscious in human behavior.
6. In the process of conducting scientific _______, I’ll gather data and then analyze the data.
7. In the research process called _______ observation, I might decide to observe the way
patients are treated in an actual nursing home.
8. The _______ perspective holds that each of us has the potential to seek and reach our
highest goals of fulfillment.
9. In conducting survey research, I find that the ability to solve a certain kind of problem
increases as the subjects of my study vary in age from 8 years old to 12 years old.
Taking a mathematical measure of this relationship will be the extent to which age
_______ to problem-solving ability.
10. Among major controversies in psychology, the idea that people have free will is opposed by
the assumption that behavior is caused by environmental factors. So, we could say that free
will is the opposite of _______.
Check your answers with those on page 169.
Essentials of Psychology22
ASSIGNMENT 2—NEUROSCIENCE
AND BEHAVIOR
Read this assignment. Then read pages 46–81 in your textbook.
Neurons: The Basic Elements
of Behavior
The Structure of the Neuron
At this moment, there are billions of cells in your body.
Nearly all of them are specialized as tissues. Tissues are
groups of cells that are similar in appearance and perform
special tasks. Specialized cells make up your voluntary mus-
cles, your heart, and other organs of the body. Neurons are
the specialized cells of the nervous system. They’re designed
to transmit signals—called nerve impulses—along the “wiring
system” of the body that connects the nervous system to all
the other body tissues. Such “wires” are called nerves.
You should understand that a string of neurons is connected
so that the axon fibers of one neuron are linked to the
dendrites of another. This kind of linkage continues along the
fiber until we find a network of axon terminals directly con-
nected from the brain to some tissue, such as a muscle that
moves your arm. Be sure to pay attention to terminal buttons
at the ends of axons. They send message to other neurons.
Note the myelin sheath around the length of an axon. It
serves as an insulator needed for the electrical properties of
nerve impulses.
How Neurons Fire
Your textbook will help you understand the complexities of
nerve impulses. Here, let’s simply say that the poet Walt
Whitman was correct to write of the “body electric.” Neurons
are like tiny batteries. They have a resting state, a negative
resting potential of about 70 millivolts, which is their normal
charge. When they’re stimulated electrically—by a flow of ions
from other neurons—they reach a brief, positively charged
Lesson 1 23
action potential. That means they’re ready to allow a tiny jolt
of electricity to flow through them. When a neuron does this,
we say it’s firing. In every nerve, a string of neurons passes
impulses along at about 200 miles per hour. As your textbook
points out, a neuron either fires or doesn’t fire; it follows
the all-or-none rule. There’s no such thing as a partial nerve
impulse. When a neuron does fire, it becomes part of a string of
neuron firings from one end of a nerve to its final destination.
Different kinds of neurons are specialized. For example, some
specialize in outgoing messages, while others are adept at
receiving messages from our environment. A fascinating type
of neuron is the mirror neuron. Mirror neurons fire when a
person enacts a particular behavior. However, they’ll also fire
simply from observing that behavior in another person. Mirror
neurons may help us understand the human capacity for
understanding other peoples’ intentions or feelings.
Where Neurons Connect to One Another:
Bridging the Gap
Keep in mind that nerve impulses function electrically and
chemically. The electrical part is neuron firing. The chemical
part occurs between neurons. It works like this: A neuron
passes its signal to another neuron through a connection
from one of its axon terminals to a dendrite (receiver) of the
next neuron. The axon terminal and the end of a dendrite are
close together, but they don’t actually merge. There’s a space
between them called a synaptic gap. So, again, the impulse
from neuron A to neuron B isn’t transmitted by an electrical
charge, but rather by different kinds of chemical neurotrans-
mitters. A neurotransmitter is a complex organic molecule
that goes from axon to dendrite, carrying instructions to
receptor sites. Receptor sites on a dendrite are like tiny docks
for neurotransmitter molecules. When they dock, the dendrite
will either fire or it won’t, depending on what kind of neuro-
transmitters have docked there. The space between two neurons
where the chemical transmission of information occurs is
called a synapse.
Essentials of Psychology24
Neurotransmitters:
Multitalented Chemical Couriers
There are many kinds of neurotransmitters. They include
molecules with peculiar names like acetylcholine, dopamine,
and serotonin. Some kinds of neurotransmitters excite neurons
to fire; they deliver excitatory messages. Other kinds of neuro-
transmitters inhibit firing; they deliver inhibitory messages.
You can begin to see why certain drugs that can act like
neurotransmitters may block pain impulses, make us
excited, or calm us down.
The Nervous System and the
Endocrine System
The Nervous System
The nervous system is divided into several parts. The central
nervous system, or CNS, includes the brain and spinal cord.
The spinal cord controls some of our more basic behaviors.
These are referred to as reflexes. A reflex is a simple involun-
tary response to a stimulus. Automatically pulling your hand
back from a hot stove is an example. Three kinds of neurons
are involved in reflexes. Sensory (afferent) neurons transmit
messages from the perimeter of the body to the CNS. Motor
(efferent) neurons send messages from the CNS to muscles
and glands. Interneurons send messages between sensory
and motor neurons.
The peripheral nervous system includes nerve “wiring”
throughout the body. It’s made up of a somatic division and
an autonomic division. The somatic system links the brain
and spinal cord to all of the parts of our bodies and to our
sensory organs, such as our eyes and ears. When we use the
somatic nervous system, we’re generally doing so voluntarily.
We move from the hot sun into the shade, we listen to music
we like, and we look at the beauty of a sunset.
The autonomic nervous system, or ANS, has two parts that
are easy to remember because they both regulate our invol-
untary or automatic body processes, such as digesting food,
Lesson 1 25
running away from a threat, and relaxing to take a nap. The
sympathetic division of the ANS activates us for action. The
parasympathetic division of the ANS reduces our level of
excitement or arousal.
All parts of the nervous system work together. We may weep
over the loss of a friend as we write a letter of sympathy to
his or her spouse. Weeping involves the ANS because it’s a
reflex that arises from our feelings or emotions, while writing
a letter involves the somatic nervous system as well as the
information-processing areas of the brain.
Behavioral Genetics
In this section, you’ll get an introduction to the progress of
research linking genetic inheritance to predispositions to all
kinds of personality traits, including learning ability and
sexual orientation, as well as different kinds of diseases.
The Endocrine System: Of Chemicals and Glands
The endocrine system consists of a number of glands that,
when working together, act as a chemical-regulating system
for all of the body’s processes. These chemical regulators
are complex proteins called hormones. Hormones regulate
digestion, sexual and reproductive functioning, sleep, hunger,
sugar levels, and all kinds of other things that keep us going.
You can think of it in this way: The body needs to carry on a
number of life functions, and the brain and the rest of the
nervous system help us with these functions. However, many
life processes need to be regulated chemically. The cells and
tissues that make up your body need “instructions” provided
by hormones. For example, when you’re trying to escape a
grizzly bear, your nervous system will activate the adrenal
glands that lie above your kidneys. The inner part of these
glands—called the adrenal medulla—releases hormones
called epinephrine and norepinephrine into the bloodstream.
These hormones alert the cells, muscles, and organs for
action. They make your heart beat faster and allow more
blood and nutrients to flow to your muscles. The thyroid
gland, located in the throat, regulates the rate at which your
body uses energy by releasing a hormone called thyroxin in
Essentials of Psychology26
specific amounts at specific times. The pineal gland (on the
underside of the brain) releases a hormone called melatonin.
Melatonin responds to rhythms of light and darkness. In this
way, it helps regulate our sleep cycle by preparing the body
for the morning rush hour or that drowsy period right before
we turn out the lights at night. In this age of rapid trans-
portation, travel across time zones can disturb melatonin
production, resulting in what’s known as jet lag.
The master gland that controls much of the activity of the
other endocrine glands is called the pituitary gland. About
the size of a pea, it’s located deep inside the forebrain. The
pituitary has a partner, the hypothalamus, which is located
near the pituitary gland. These two tiny glands work together
in complicated ways to regulate hormone production
throughout the body.
The Brain
Studying the Brain’s Functions:
Spying on the Brain
This section introduces you to modern technologies used to
explore the brain. They include the electroencephalogram
(EEG), positron emission tomography (PET) scans, and
functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
The Central Core: Our “Old” Brain
The central core of the human brain is made up of pretty
much the same elements found in the brains of vertebrates
(animals with backbones). We call it “old” since related struc-
tures are found way down the evolutionary scale in extinct
species that lived millions of years before the arrival of the
dinosaurs, much less our more immediate mammalian
ancestors.
You can think of the central core as being divided into three
sections: the hindbrain, the midbrain, and the forebrain. The
spinal cord, protected by the vertebrae that run through our
torso, leads to the hindbrain. Key features of the hindbrain
include the brainstem, which includes the lowest portions of
Lesson 1 27
the brain and consists of the medulla and the cerebellum.
The medulla is the thicker upper portion of the spinal cord.
It contains centers for controlling important reflexes in
your body, such as your heart and breathing rates. The
cerebellum is like a mini brain that blossoms out just under
the occipital lobes. It helps us with coordination, balance,
and the complex movements mastered by athletes. (It’s better
developed in cats than in humans.)
The pons—which comes from a Latin word meaning “bridge”—is
actually a nerve bridge between the medulla and other areas
of the brain. It looks like a little lump on the end of the
brainstem.
The midbrain, at the end of the hindbrain, connects the
spinal cord to the cerebrum. Think of the midbrain as a
“switchboard” area for sorting nerve-impulse messages.
The reticular formation is an extension of the brain stem.
It serves the important function of deciding which nerve
impulses should go where and which should have priority.
It’s a bit like a command and control center for incoming
nerve messages. It extends through the midbrain into what’s
called the forebrain. It includes groups of nerve cells that can
prompt other parts of the brain into arousal. For example, a
quick response to a loud noise is served by the reticular
formation.
Within the forebrain, the thalamus is a “switchboard” for
sensory messages on their way to the cerebral cortex. What
you see, hear, taste, and smell is processed through the
thalamus. The hypothalamus acts as a master control station
for your emotions. When you laugh, cry, become sexually
aroused, or just get thirsty, your hypothalamus is doing
its job.
The Limbic System: Beyond the Central Core
The forebrain includes a group of structures referred to as
the limbic system. The limbic system includes a group of
structures related to self-preservation (as in fight or flight),
learning, memory, the experience of pleasure, and fear.
Essentials of Psychology28
Within the forebrain and the limbic system, the amygdala is
an almond-shaped body that produces our experience of fear.
Fear should be a protective mechanism. However, many stim-
uli that don’t pose real threats can send the amygdala into
overtime, causing anxiety or phobias (discussed in detail later
in this course). Damage to the amygdala can cause emotional
blindness, and it may even lead to inappropriate emotional
outbursts, such as laughing at a funeral.
Another major player in the limbic system is the hippocampus.
It controls higher intellectual functions and helps us estab-
lish long-term memories. A hippocampus structure is found
in each of our temporal lobes. That may be why some of us
scratch or rub that part of our head when we’re trying to
remember something.
The Cerebral Cortex: Our “New Brain”
The outer layer of the cerebrum contains most (about 70%)
of the neurons in the CNS and is called the cerebral cortex.
You’ll notice in a picture of the cerebrum that it’s folded or
wrinkled in various ways. These folds greatly increase the
area of the cerebral cortex. The intelligence of humans com-
pared with other animals is a result of both the size of the
human cerebrum and all of those folds.
The cerebral cortex is divided into four different lobes. The
occipital lobes—at the back of the skull—are vital to vision. The
frontal lobes are associated with higher mental functioning, per-
sonality, and complex motor behavior, like building a computer.
(Damage to the frontal lobes can be quite devastating if you’re
a theoretical physicist, a comedian, or a software programmer.)
The parietal lobes—under the midportion of the skull—are
mainly associated with sensation and sensory processing.
Finally, the temporal lobes are associated with processing
things we hear, called auditory stimuli. Because the left brain
is associated with language, a person’s understanding of spo-
ken words is usually impaired by left-temporal-lobe damage.
Lesson 1 29
Looked at in general terms, there are three general areas of
the cerebral cortex:
1. The motor area is associated with voluntary movement.
It has been very well mapped by brain researchers.
2. The sensory area includes three regions related to body
sensations (like touch or pressure), sight, and sound.
3. The association areas are associated with higher mental
functioning, memory, thinking, language, and speech.
The association areas (also called the association cortex) can
be thought of as processing zones. They combine and sepa-
rate sensory information and actions of the brain so that the
specialized lobes can work together. In fact, the association
cortex occupies all of the cerebral cortex that isn’t directly
involved in processing sensory information or managing
motor activities, like walking. For example, among associa-
tion areas, Broca’s area is a speech-processing center of the
left frontal lobe. Wernicke’s area is a speech-processing area
of the left temporal lobe.
Neuroplasticity and the Brain
Not all that many years ago, it was assumed that people,
having reached puberty, had a fixed number of neurons. As
time passed, one would gradually run out of neurons and be
reduced to inevitable senility. It now seems that was an
overly dreary assessment.
In accounting for remarkable clinical cases requiring radical
brain surgery, or recovery from severe head injuries, it now
appears that the brain is engaged in continual reorganization.
Not only are functions restored in interesting ways, but inter-
connections among neurons become more complex over a
lifetime. All of this is called neuroplasticity. Further, beyond
the amazing facts of neuroplasticity, it’s now known that
certain areas of the brain are capable of producing shiny new
neurons in a process called neurogenesis. For the prospects
of treating nervous system injuries and disorders—not to
mention abating traditional stereotypes of older people—this
is good news.
Essentials of Psychology30
The Specialization of the Hemispheres:
Two Brains or One?
For better or worse, humans have very large brains. The
largest part of the brain is called the cerebrum. An X-ray
vision of the cerebrum reveals that it’s divided into two simi-
lar “loaves” called the cerebral hemispheres. (The two halves
of the cerebrum are connected by a “bridge” of tough, fibrous
tissue called the corpus callosum.) When you hear people talk
about your right brain and your left brain, this is what
they’re talking about. The interesting thing about the two
sides of the cerebrum is that they’re specialized. The right
brain is normally involved in applying overall patterns to
objects and ideas. The left brain is more adept at linear
thinking involving language. Interestingly, the main nerve
pathways in the brain cross over. In other words, in most
people, the left hand responds to right-brain signals, and the
right hand responds to left-brain signals.
The capacity for certain cerebral activities to be “assigned”
to either the left or right brain is called lateralization. The
capacity for lateralization is thought to have evolved in
humankind very recently in terms of the evolutionary time
scale—a mere one million years ago. (The origins of Earth’s
species through mutations and adaptive radiation, from
simple to increasingly complex, date back about 500 million
years.)
Your text properly gives you an overview of research indicat-
ing typical differences in lateralization among males and
females. The statistical evidence is sound. Women tend to
distribute functions across hemisphere, and the female
corpus callosum (connecting the two hemispheres) does
contain more crossover connecting paths. However, recent
research suggests that it isn’t safe to assume that females
are inevitably more right-brained while males are inevitably
more inclined to be left-brained. It turns out that variation
in lateralization among individuals—male or female—is
considerable.
Before proceeding to the next assignment, take a moment
to complete Self-Check 2. Remember, you can check your
answers by turning to the back of this study guide.
Lesson 1 31
Self-Check 2
1. Looking at a string of neurons, we’ll see that axons are linked to dendrites across a junction
called a/an _______. This gap is bridged by biochemical nerve impulse transmitters called
_______.
2. The brain continually reorganizes itself in a process called _______.
3. The amygdala and the hippocampus are found in the _______ system of the brain.
4. The peripheral nervous system extends throughout the body. Its two major divisions include
the _______ division, which specializes in voluntary movement, and the autonomic division,
which handles involuntary functioning of organic processes like breathing.
5. An electroencephalograph (EEG) measures _______ activity in the brain, seen as wave
patterns, while positron emission tomography (PET) scans show us _______ activity within
the brain a particular moment.
6. The _______ is referred to as the “new” part of our brain because it’s a relatively recent
development in the evolution of species.
7. In the neuron, looking a bit like linked sausages, the _______ sheath insulates and protects
the axon.
8. Sensations like touch and pressure, vision, and hearing are associated with the _______ area
of the cerebral cortex.
9. A large portion of the cerebral cortex is occupied by tissues that aren’t directly related to
motor functions (movement) or sensory processing. These parts of the brain are said to serve
an “executive function.” We call these parts of the cortex _______ areas.
10. A part of the brain that’s vital to allowing us to keep our balance is the _______.
Check your answers with those on page 169.
Essentials of Psychology32
ASSIGNMENT 3—SENSATION
AND PERCEPTION
Read this assignment. Then read pages 82–121 in your
textbook.
Sensing the World around Us
We experience the world because of our senses, but sometimes
the senses can be deceiving. There’s an adage taught to
young newspaper reporters: “Believe nothing you hear and
only half of what you see.” The point is that perception is,
above all, interpretation. We don’t just see color—we see
bright red or sky blue. We don’t just hear sounds that we
call music—we hear music we like and music we don’t like.
Because perception combines sense information with inter-
pretation, what we see, hear, smell, or taste can fool us. Keep
in mind that we tend to see and understand what we expect
to see based on our perceptual habits. We learn to screen out
the things that aren’t important to us, like certain commer-
cials, and pay attention to sensory stimuli that are important
to us, like the sound of a coin hitting the pavement.
We experience a sensation when our sense organs (eyes, ears,
etc.) respond to a stimulus. A stimulus is conveyed to us by
some form of energy, such as light, sound waves, heat, and
so on. Perception is the way we “read” or interpret a stimulus.
Stimuli vary by energy type, frequency, and intensity. The
science of psychophysics studies the ways in which stimuli
are converted to psychological experience.
Absolute Thresholds
In the study of sensory perception, an absolute threshold is
the smallest intensity necessary for a stimulus to be regis-
tered by the senses. With respect to sound, for example, the
absolute threshold for detecting a high-pitched sound is
much lower in dogs than it is in people. In the context of
psychophysics, noise is defined as background stimuli that
can interfere with or block out a typical absolute threshold
for a given stimulus.
Lesson 1 33
Difference Thresholds
Psychologists are interested in how we compare stimuli. For
example, at what point can we distinguish between two
shades of red or notice a size difference between oranges in a
produce display? In this context, a difference threshold is the
minimal difference detectable in two or more related stimuli.
A difference threshold is also called a just-noticeable
difference.
Imagine that you want to estimate the weight difference
between metal spheres—A, B, C, D, and E—each of which
weighs somewhere around 100 grams. According to Weber’s
law, the difference threshold ratio for weight is 1:50. That
means that after you heft sphere A to get a sense of its
weight, you won’t notice an increase or decrease in the next
spheres you pick up unless the actual weight difference is
2
grams. (1:50 is proportional to 2:100.) Now imagine that
you want to compare weights for a set of metal spheres—A,
B, C, D, and E—each weighing around 800 grams. You heft
sphere A first, then sphere B, and so on. How much heavier
or lighter must B, C, D, or E be for you to register a weight
difference? Answer: 16 grams. (1/50 = x/800; 50x = 800;
800/50 = 16.) Given that 1:50 is the same proportion as
16:800, we see that the just-noticeable difference is propor-
tional to the intensity of the original stimulus.
Sensory Adaptation
Sensory responses adapt to changes in environmental stim-
uli. When you walk out of bright sunlight into the relatively
dim light of a restaurant, your vision gradually adapts to the
lower light level. In other instances, the senses adapt to
persistent background noise. For example, moving from the
relative quiet of the countryside to a city, we gradually learn
to “screen out” the steady roar of traffic. We become less
sensitive to it.
Vision
The visible spectrum refers to all of the light energy that we
can see. The electromagnetic spectrum consists of all light
frequencies—those we can see and those we can’t. And, in
Essentials of Psychology34
fact, the visible spectrum is a small part of the electromag-
netic spectrum. The waves in the electromagnetic spectrum
include radio and TV waves at the low-energy end of the
spectrum and lethal gamma rays and X-rays at the high-
energy end. Visible light—from red to ultraviolet—is roughly
in the middle.
Your textbook explains the basic structure of the eye by
comparing the eye to a camera. The iris (the colored part of
your eye) acts like a shutter that widens or closes depending
on light intensity. The cornea protects your eye and gathers
light that goes through the opening in the iris (the pupillary
opening). Light is then focused toward the back of the eye by
the lens that’s just behind the iris. Layers of specialized cells
on the inside of the eyeball act like film.
This “film” is actually a specialized layer of cells called the
retina. There are two basic kinds of cells in the retina. Nearly
one hundred million rods read light intensity. Rods can’t read
color—only black and white. They’re primarily responsible for
helping us see in the dark. Millions of cells called cones are
responsible for interpreting color.
Color Vision and Color Blindness
According to the trichromatic theory of color vision, there are
three kinds of color-reading cones in the retina. Call them A,
B, and C. “A” reads blue-violet colors. “B” reads green. “C”
reads yellow-red. By way of the interactive combinations
possible from A + B + C, humans with normal vision can
distinguish as many as 7 million different colors.
Color blindness—more common in men than in women—is a
genetically related incapacity of one or more cones types. In
the most common kind of color blindness, all red and green
objects appear as yellow.
There are aspects of color vision not explained by the trichro-
matic model. In particular, the theory fails to explain afterimage
phenomena. For example, stare at a rectangle of green for a
moment, then stare at a blank piece of paper. You’ll see a
rather faint red rectangle. That’s an example of a retinal
afterimage.
Lesson 1 35
The opponent-process theory of color vision can explain after-
image phenomena. The basic idea is that cone receptors are
linked in pairs, as in white-black or green-red. Thus, the
afterimage for black will be white, while the afterimage for
white will be black. The same goes for green-red.
Hearing and the Other Senses
Sensing Sound
Sound is made up of waves that are transmitted from an
energy source to your ear through the air. Sound waves act
like ripples in a pond. Without the water, there are no rip-
ples. When you watch science-fiction movies that take place
in outer space, the sounds the spaceships make wouldn’t
really exist in our universe. Sound waves can’t travel through
a vacuum. Outer space has no atmosphere, so an observer
would actually hear nothing at all.
We hear because we have a way to detect, code, and interpret
sounds that come to us through any medium made of mole-
cules, such as air, water, steel, and so on. The speed of
sound depends on the medium that carries the sound waves.
(It’s about 500 miles per hour at sea level through air, and
some aircraft travel faster than sound does.) Warm, humid
air carries sound better than dry, cold air. Water carries
sound faster than air because water molecules are closer
together than air molecules. Sound-wave energy is trans-
duced into nerve-impulse energy before we actually hear
anything. The mechanism for this clever feat is the human ear.
The ear, like the eye, is part of a system that includes the
brain, the structure of the ear, and the connecting auditory
nerves. The exterior part of the ear is called the pinna. The
external ear ends where the external auditory canal meets
the tympanic membrane—also known as the eardrum. The
inner ear has two major divisions, and both are encased in
protective bone tissue. The ossicles consist of three tiny
bones called the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and stapes
(stirrup). When sound vibrates the eardrum, these little
bones vibrate and transfer sound to the deepest part of the
inner ear, called the cochlea. The cochlea is a complicated,
Essentials of Psychology36
fluid-filled device that looks like a snail shell. It transfers
sound vibrations into nerve impulses that can be “read” by
our busy brains.
The semicircular canals of the inner ear help us sort out up
from down and keep our balance. The fluid in these canals
sloshes about when we turn our heads, basically allowing us
to “read” centripetal and centrifugal gravitational forces.
Smell and Taste
How do we detect odors? In terms of the physiology of smelling,
note that there are some 1,000 kinds of olfactory (smell)
receptors located in the olfactory cells of the nasal cavity.
As molecules related to a particular odor pass over these
receptors, nerve signals go to the brain. The brain then tells
us that we smell perfume, mildew, lasagna, or a mistake
made by the family dog. You’ll note that women tend to
have a better sense of smell than males and that one can
distinguish another person’s sex by way of smell.
Four basic tastes have been long recognized: sweet, sour,
salty, and bitter. Many researchers believe a fifth basic taste
also exists. The Japanese word umami describes a brothy
taste like that of chicken soup. As in the case of smell, we
detect tastes by some 10,000 taste buds, most of which are
found in the tongue. Taste receptors of different kinds work a
little differently, but they all work together to differentiate
foods like chocolate and fried potatoes.
Both smell and taste are called chemical senses. They both
depend on nerve receptors that can detect the presence of
particular molecules. Those molecules may be in the air, or
they may be released in fluids or gases as we taste or eat
something. Both smell and taste are remarkably sensitive.
Human olfactory receptors work together to allow us to detect
up to 10,000 different odors! Further, just a few molecules
from something like Swiss cheese can be easily detected. The
fact that there are only five basic tastes doesn’t limit your
palate. Foods we eat enable the different taste buds to work
together and allow us to detect an enormous variety of tastes.
Lesson 1 37
The Skin Senses
Touch, pressure, temperature, and pain are detected by
specialized nerve receptors in the largest organ in the human
body—the integument, or skin.
Pain plays a special role in keeping us safe. Pain carried by large
nerve fibers demands our attention. It’s sharp, hard, and dis-
tinct. Warning pain is the body’s signal that there may be an
acute organ malfunction or serious injury. Another kind of pain
is carried by small nerve fibers and is called the reminding
system. For example, a faint aching sensation around your
sinuses may remind you that the prescribed antibiotic hasn’t
taken full effect yet. Dull pain following an injury reminds
you to take it easy and avoid reinjury.
According to the sensory gate theory of pain, some kinds of pain
signals can block other pain signals from going to the brain.
That’s because both signals will have to go through the same
neural location in the spinal cord or brain stem. The process of
sensory gating is well known to dentists. For example, before a
dentist injects Novocain into your gums, he or she may gently
pinch your cheek to reduce the pain of the needle. The pain
caused by your pinching will block the pain from the needle
because both pain signals must travel through the same
neural gate. The pain signal that occurs first is the one that
will be received.
Perceptual Organization
The Gestalt Laws of Organization
Basic principles by which we organize bits and pieces of
information (stimuli) are known as the Gestalt laws of
organization. (In German, Gestalt means, roughly, “a pattern
perceived as a whole.” It’s often capitalized because that’s the
rule for proper nouns in German.) They include closure,
simplicity, proximity, and similarity. The closure principle
applies when we assume we’re looking at an octagonal stop
sign even if part of it is concealed by tree branches. The
proximity principle kicks in when we see a group of people
close together and assume they’re a group, even if they
Essentials of Psychology38
aren’t. When things we see are similar in appearance, like
geese in flight, we tend to perceive them as grouped together.
The simplicity principle is the most basic Gestalt principle.
It holds, for example, that in a observing a complex design,
we’ll tend to perceive the simplest form it could represent.
If it could be a design for a circuit board or a “Y” shape, we’ll
tend to see the “Y” shape.
Top-down and Bottom-up Processing
Top-down processing is guided by experience, expectations,
and motivations that are part of higher-level processing. It’s
typically guided by understanding or being aware of a con-
text. For example, if we’re familiar with what goes on at a
Jewish Passover Seder or a Polish wedding, we’ll pick up the
clues as to what’s going on when we come across such a
social scene because we’re familiar with the contexts. Bottom-
up processing complements top-down processing. Even if
we’ve been to a Passover Seder or a Polish wedding, we may
not be sure what’s going on until we pick up clues and “con-
nect the dots.” In the first instance, the first clues might be
men wearing skull caps and people speaking what sounds
like Hebrew. In the second instance, we may recognize that
we’re observing a wedding before we pick up other clues and
figure out that we’re at an Eastern Orthodox Church, people
are speaking in a strange tongue, and polka music starts up.
The main thing to remember here is that we use both top-
down and bottom-up processing to determine the context of a
situation and how we should behave.
Perceptual Constancy
Sensory stimuli are subject to the brain’s organization. Your
brain tends to group visual information together into familiar
shapes or objects. For example, when you see a car pass down
the street, you don’t imagine the car itself is shrinking as it
moves away from you. The ability to discern size at different
distances is possible because your brain maintains size
constancy. Your brain can also maintain shape constancy.
For example, your brain knows that a globe is spherical
although it looks like a circle, even when you’re only looking
Lesson 1 39
at one part of it. The same phenomenon applies to bright-
ness. At the beach, you’ll notice that a yellow bathing suit is
just as eye-catching in the sunlight as it is on a cloudy day.
This experience is known as brightness constancy.
Size constancy, shape constancy, and brightness constancy are
all examples of perceptual constancy. Perceptual constancy
means that we tend to see what we expect to see. However,
perceptual constancy requires that we be familiar with our
environments. Here’s an interesting illustration of that fact:
An anthropologist recorded a strange event when he led some
African forest people out of their normal environment onto a
broad, grassy plain. The people began to point and laugh at
grazing African buffalo in the distance. To them, the crea-
tures seemed tiny and strange. The forest people lived in an
environment where it was unusual to see ahead more than a
few feet. Since their brains couldn’t interpret large animals
from a distance, the people couldn’t maintain a sense of
size constancy.
Depth Perception: Translating 2-D to 3-D
There’s an “angle shift” between what we see with the right eye
and what we see with the left eye. You’ve probably noticed this.
If you haven’t, just hold a pencil in front of your face and
look at with first one eye than the other eye. We call this
perspective shift binocular disparity. Monocular cues also
help us see depth, even with just one eye. In paintings,
for example, we can get a sense of depth perception by the
relative size of objects or by receding and converging vertical
lines like those of a railroad track. We can also detect texture
gradients as “closer” objects are more detailed, while more
apparently remote objects are less detailed. An interesting
monocular cue is called motion parallax. For example, observing
the countryside from a moving car, we see objects closest to
us passing by quickly while more remote objects pass by
more slowly.
Essentials of Psychology40
Motion Perception
Motion perception depends on a cooperative alliance between
information we’ve internalized about the world to adapt to
life as we know it, plus external motion cues. For example,
when someone tosses you a basketball, the retina detects
the sphere getting larger. In the context of motion perception,
we won’t see the basketball in terms of size constancy, but
in terms of an approaching object in motion. Even more
fascinating, we actually catch the ball.
Perceptual Illusions
This final section is a fascinating discussion of visual (percep-
tual) illusions. The best way to make sense of the discussion is
by thinking creatively about the illustrations of these kinds of
“perceptual tricks.”
Now, review the material you’ve learned in this study guide and
the assigned pages in your textbook for Assignments 1–3. Once
you feel you understand the material, complete Self-Check 3.
Then check your answers with those provided at the end of
this study guide. If you’ve missed any answers, or you feel
unsure of the material, review the assigned pages in your
textbook and this study guide. When you’re sure that
you completely understand the information presented in
Assignments 1–3, complete your examination for Lesson 1.
Lesson 1 41
Self-Check 3
1. The inner ear responsible for sending sound messages to the brain consists of a basilar
membrane and hair cells found within the _______.
2. Touch, pressure, temperature, and pain are all functions of our _______ senses.
3. The minimum intensity of a sensory stimulus that can be detected is what we call the
_______ threshold.
4. A bell rings. We hear it. Because the sound amounts to physical energy transmitted through
air, we can call it a/an _______. However, classifying, analyzing, and interpreting the sound of
the bell requires us to have a/an _______ of it.
5. In top-down _______, what we perceive is guided by higher-level knowledge, experience, and
motivations. We’re able to “fill in the gaps” of a puzzle or partial image by grasping their
_______.
6. The main reason we’re capable of _______ perception is because we have two eyes.
7. _______ are to light intensity as cones are to our perception of _______.
8. We see a car moving away from us on a street, but we don’t perceive the vehicle itself as
getting smaller as it gets farther away. The fact illustrates what’s called _______ constancy.
9. Moving from a house in the country to a big city, we’re exposed to constant background noise
of traffic. However, after a few days or weeks, we get used to those sounds and give them
less attention through a process called _______ adaptation.
10. Sour, sweet, salty, and _______ are to taste buds as _______ is to olfactory cells.
Check your answers with those on page 169.
Essentials of Psychology42
NOTES
The Mind at Work
INTRODUCTION
Lesson 2 begins with an exploration of the most mysterious
aspect of human experience, consciousness. It then proceeds
to a consideration of three major approaches to the psychol-
ogy of learning. Two of these are schools of behaviorism—
classical conditioning and operant (behavior) conditioning.
The third approach, cognitive learning, takes account of men-
tal processes in learning, such as observation and imitation.
The final chapter in this lesson explores the nature of mem-
ory, cognition (thinking and feeling), and the vital importance
of language in human experience.
ASSIGNMENT 4—STATES OF
CONSCIOUSNESS
Read this assignment. Then read pages 122–159 in your
textbook.
In this assignment, you’ll be challenged to think about the
nature of consciousness. Consciousness can be defined as the
sensations, thoughts, and feelings you’re aware of at any given
moment. Alertness, attention, and clarity are characteristics of
waking consciousness. We also experience dream states and
other altered states of consciousness. Our conscious experience
when we’re in a hypnotic trance, for example, isn’t quite
the same as what we experience in ordinary waking con-
sciousness. It’s an altered state. Our conscious experience
during meditation is also different from that of ordinary
waking consciousness. Therefore, meditation also qualifies
as an altered state. Altered states are also produced by
both legal and illegal drugs.
43
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Essentials of Psychology44
Sleep and Dreams
The Stages of Sleep
n Stage 1—The first stage of sleep is characterized by light
sleep. It’s the stage when we may experience a hypnic
jerk, like the sudden movement of one’s leg. This hap-
pens as your muscles relax for rest and sleep. In stage 1
sleep, your heart rate slows, and your breathing becomes
irregular.
n Stage 2—In the second stage of sleep, body temperature
lowers. At this point, sleep spindles appear on an
electroencephalograph (EEG), a device for measuring your
brain waves. Sleep spindles are thought to mark the
actual boundary of sleep.
n Stage 3—Longer, slower brain waves appear on the EEG
in stage 3 sleep. These large, slow waves signal a deeper
loss of ordinary consciousness and deeper sleep.
n Stage 4—The deepest stage of sleep is also the final
stage. Nearly all of the brain waves are slow waves
(called delta waves). After a period in stage 4, typical
sleep ascends upward into stages 3, 2, and, finally—
before being fully awake—stage 1 again.
REM Sleep: The Paradox of Sleep
The two main states of deep sleep have to do with whether a
person is dreaming. Dreaming and rapid eye movements
(REMs) characterize REM sleep. When a sleep researcher
wakes a sleeping subject because the subject’s eyes are
moving rapidly under his or her eyelids, the researcher can
expect the subject to report a dream of some kind. If the
researcher woke the subject from non-REM (NREM) sleep,
the subject wouldn’t report having any dreams.
Lesson 2 45
Why Do We Sleep, and How Much
Sleep Is Necessary?
Sleep is a common and necessary altered state. Body
and mind both benefit from regular patterns of sleep and
wakefulness. However, sleep patterns vary. Some of us are
short sleepers, and some of us are long sleepers. The
famous inventor Thomas Alva Edison was famous for
taking 20-minute naps throughout the daytime and
nighttime hours. (Perhaps that’s what it takes to invent
light bulbs and phonographs!)
The Function and Meaning of Dreaming
REM sleep and dreaming are fascinating phenomena. Arguments
over the purposes of dreaming and the effects of REM sleep
deprivation continue. Dreaming remains a mystery to many
researchers—much like consciousness itself. Your text intro-
duces you to three theories that may explain the purposes
of dreaming.
1. Unconscious wish-fulfillment theory—Sigmund Freud
proposed that dreams reflect our deep forbidden desires.
We dream what we’d really like to experience in waking
life. However, the latent content of our dreams (forbidden
desires) are disguised in some symbolic way behind the
manifest content of dreams. A dream of a pig in clover
might conceal our desire to live wild and fulfill our
selfish desires.
2. Dreams-for-survival theory—Information necessary for
day-to-day survival-related problem solving is processed
and evaluated while we dream.
3. Activation-synthesis theory—According to Allan Hobson’s
model, during sleep, the brain organizes random memories
and impressions into a more or less coherent “story line.”
Beyond this sort of housekeeping and filing function
of dreaming, Hobson doesn’t entirely reject the wish-
fulfillment notion.
Essentials of Psychology46
Sleep Disturbances
n Insomnia is a common problem. Most people experience
this inability to sleep from time to time—usually during
times of stress or inner conflict. Insomnia can be tempo-
rary or chronic. President Dwight Eisenhower reportedly
suffered from chronic insomnia. Apparently it wasn’t
unusual to find him walking in the Rose Garden in a
robe and slippers in the early morning hours.
n Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder related to impaired
breathing. The medical causes of sleep apnea vary. The
disorder may be related to an interruption of brain
signals to the lungs or simply a blockage in the lungs.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) appears to be
related to some form of sleep apnea.
n Nightmares and night terrors are two different sleep
disorders. A nightmare is simply a bad dream that takes
place during REM sleep. A night terror occurs during NREM
sleep. The sufferer—usually a young child—will often wake
in a panicked state, hallucinating. Interestingly, children
can usually recall having a nightmare, but they often
have no memory of a night terror.
n Narcolepsy occurs as what can be thought of as micro-
sleeps during waking. One goes directly from waking to
REM sleep, skipping the other sleep stages. Narcoleptic
events may occur in the midst of a heated conversation,
during a long drive, or during other monotonous activities.
n Somnambulism, also known as sleepwalking, occurs
during stage 4 NREM sleep. Sleepwalkers often have
their eyes open and appear to be awake. They sometimes
talk, too. While it may appear that sleepwalkers are
acting out their dreams, sleepwalking and most sleep
talking don’t occur during REM sleep and dreaming.
Lesson 2 47
Circadian Rhythms: Life Cycles
Patterns of sleep and wakefulness typically follow 24-hour
biological rhythms called circadian rhythms, which can be
disrupted when we travel across time zones. This phenomenon
is known as jet lag.
Hypnosis and
Meditation
Hypnosis
The altered state of consciousness known as hypnosis reminds
us that the mind holds many mysteries. The main issues
surrounding hypnosis concern its (1) induction, (2) effects,
and (3) relation to ordinary waking consciousness. With
respect to the first issue, you can keep in mind that there’s a
lot of variation in susceptibility. A fair percentage of people—
as many as one in five—can’t be hypnotized at all. Some
people are highly susceptible to hypnosis, while the rest
of us are somewhere in between. Respecting the second
issue, perhaps the most important point is that people in
a hypnotic trance will not engage in antisocial behavior.
The final issue is controversial. Some researchers feel the
hypnotic trance and ordinary waking consciousness are
physiologically indistinguishable. Others are convinced the
hypnosis induces an altered state of consciousness. The radi-
cal implication of the first position is that people conditioned
by media or political propaganda will buy into messages that
are, in substance, no more than “hypnotic suggestions.”
Meditation
Meditation is an exercise in which a person becomes extremely
relaxed and lets go of the worries of everyday life. The
body’s physical response during meditation is known as
the relaxation response, and this response is considered
essential to the meditating process. There are two types
of meditation—concentrative meditation and receptive medita-
tion. Concentrative meditation focuses on a single object or a
repeated word, called a mantra. Receptive meditation involves
Essentials of Psychology48
an awareness of self and environment that’s often difficult
to achieve. Both types of meditation are often used to help
people reduce anxiety or lower blood pressure.
Drug Use: The Highs and Lows of Consequences
You should begin this section concerning psychoactive drugs by
understanding basic terms. What we refer to as dependence may
involve psychological dependence, physical dependence, or a
combination of the two. Clinically, psychological dependence is
characterized by an emotional or psychological need for a drug.
Physical dependence is often characterized by a reduction in
drug tolerance. It also tends to be accompanied by severe
withdrawal symptoms when the drug is no longer being
taken. Physical illness and other forms of discomfort are
examples of withdrawal symptoms.
Stimulants: Drug Highs
In street language, a drug that activates or arouses physical
response is called an upper. Uppers tend to make people
more alert, hyper, and jittery. They also cause a heightened
sense of euphoria (well-being). They can temporarily make
people feel more calm and confident, even when they’re
excited. The most commonly abused uppers are amphetamines,
cocaine, caffeine, and nicotine.
Amphetamines, like Dexedrine and Benzedrine, have caused
a lot of trouble because they’re often associated with dieting.
When abused they can be very dangerous, even leading to
amphetamine psychosis, which is characterized by a loss of
touch with reality. These days, methamphetamine (“meth”)
is considered the most dangerous street drug.
Cocaine is mainly dangerous because it’s very easy to get too
large a dose. As a powerful central nervous system stimulant,
it can cause collapse and death. Several famous athletes
have died in this manner. Also, while people vary in their
responses to drugs, cocaine can be overwhelmingly addictive
for some abusers. Ironically, as the tolerance for cocaine
increases, the desired effects it once produced actually tend
to decrease—even as the addiction intensifies.
Lesson 2 49
Caffeine and nicotine have long been favored stimulants.
Today, nicotine is less popular since tobacco is better under-
stood to pose a severe health risk. Caffeine remains popular,
as evidenced by the success of Starbucks. Although caffeine
and nicotine are both frequently used psychoactive drugs,
they can also become addicting and pose potential health
risks.
Depressants: Drug Lows
Depressants—called “downers” in street language—are drugs
that depress the nervous system. Widely abused downers
include alcohol, barbiturates, and Rohypnol. Alcohol is the most
popular and commonly used depressant. Among addictions that
involve both physical and psychological dependency, alcoholism
is a widespread and socially devastating problem. In the
United States, one in 13 adults has an alcohol problem.
Barbiturates are often used safely as sleeping aids for people
who are under stress or who suffer from insomnia. However,
barbiturate effects are seductive, and addiction to these kinds of
drugs often occurs. Overdoses, particularly in combination with
alcohol, can cause permanent damage to the nervous system
or even death. Nembutal, Seconal, and phenobarbital are
examples of often-prescribed barbiturates.
Rohypnol (sometimes called the “rape drug”), when mixed
with alcohol, can prevent victims from resisting unwanted
sexual advances. Indeed, victims may not even remember the
assault. Use of this drug can definitely lead to felony rape
charges and a long stretch in an orange jumpsuit.
Narcotics: Relieving Pain and Anxiety
This section is a brief introduction to heroin, morphine, and
methadone. The first two are natural derivatives of the
so-called opium poppy, a major cash crop of Afghanistan.
Heroin use is illegal in the United States, while morphine
is a highly controlled substance. Methadone is an addictive
synthetic compound that mimics heroin effects to quell psy-
chological addiction to heroin while sustaining a physiological
addiction to methadone.
Essentials of Psychology50
Hallucinogens: Psychedelic Drugs
Marijuana is a mild hallucinogen. In general, hallucinogens
are substances that alter sensory perception—sometimes
radically. Colors, sounds, sensations, and thoughts can be
radically altered under the influence of marijuana. Although
the effects of marijuana aren’t as noticeable as the effects of
other hallucinogens (like LSD or mescaline), they can still be
dangerous. Driving or operating heavy machinery under the
influence of marijuana can cause serious accidents.
In the past few decades, the unregulated demand for pot has led
to the development of new strains of the cannabis (marijuana)
plant that contain much higher concentrations of its psychoac-
tive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The newer strains
of marijuana pose greater health risks than previous strains.
Recently, the controversy concerning marijuana use has
resurfaced, as the medical community began using the drug
to treat people with glaucoma and to relieve the devastating
effects of chemotherapy for cancer patients. Despite its
medicinal benefits, marijuana remains a major target for
law enforcement in the ongoing war on drugs.
MDMA (ecstasy) and LSD are presently classified as psychedelic
drugs. MDMA causes reactions similar to those caused by
amphetamines, but users also claim that it heightens sensation.
It’s easily manufactured in small labs and has become widely
available. Like amphetamines, MDMA can pose serious health
risks, causing irregular heartbeats, liver damage, and some-
times even death. Unfortunately, the use of MDMA has
increased dramatically due to the popular notion that it’s
a safe drug.
LSD is structurally similar to the neurotransmitter serotonin.
Its effects tend to involve radical “reorganization” of perception.
Time is distorted. Ordinary objects and vistas, including
fellow humans, are transformed in unearthly ways. Colors
become vibrant and “alive.” Hallucinations can happen.
Interestingly, LSD (“acid”), which helped produce the
counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, was introduced to
the public by way of classified experiments managed by U.S.
government agencies, including the CIA. You might say the
experiments led to “unanticipated consequences.”
Lesson 2 51
Before proceeding to the next assignment, take a moment
to complete Self-Check 4. Remember, you can check your
answers by turning to the back of this study guide.
Self-Check 4
1. If you rapidly become absorbed in a book or in listening to music, more or less screening out
what’s going on around you, it’s likely that you would be very susceptible to _______ trance
induction.
2. _______ include amphetamines and cocaine.
3. People are least likely to be susceptible to outside noises or other stimuli during stage
_______ sleep.
4. Morphine and heroin are to narcotics as LSD and MDMA are to _______ drugs.
5. SIDS may be associated with a disorder called sleep _______.
6. The most commonly abused depressant is _______.
7. When a child wakes suddenly during NREM sleep, experiencing fear and panic that he or
she won’t remember in the morning, we’re observing night _______. By contrast, sudden
uncontrollable, brief periods of sleep at any time of day are the symptoms of _______.
8. The major muscles of the body appear to be paralyzed during _______ sleep.
9. _______ to some substance, like nicotine, may be based on biological or _______
dependency or some mixture of both of these.
10. At noon, the level of hemoglobin in your blood is at its peak. If you have asthma, attacks
are most likely to occur around 4:00 A.M. Your pain threshold is likely to be lowest around
9:00 P.M. All of these facts describe typical, 24-hour _______ rhythms.
Check your answers with those on page 170.
Essentials of Psychology52
ASSIGNMENT 5—LEARNING
Read this assignment. Then read pages 160–197 in your
textbook.
This chapter is devoted to three fundamental approaches
to learning. These include two major kinds of behavioral
psychology: classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
Both of these perspectives focus on behavior—not conscious-
ness, thoughts, or feelings. Both perspectives aim at ways to
change or modify a subject’s behavior. Finally, both perspectives
attempt to predict future behaviors based on information from
past and present behavior. By contrast, cognitive approaches to
learning pay attention to states of mind and to experienced
motivations. Thus, ideas can be offered about how people
learn through observation and imitation as well as through
internalizing what we can call cognitive maps.
Classical Conditioning
The Basics of Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is based largely on what happens before
a response. Reflex responses are automatic responses to every-
day stimuli. Salivation is an example of a reflex response.
When we’re hungry and we see a pizza, we salivate. In
classical conditioning, such reflex responses are referred to
as unconditioned responses (URs). In classical conditioning,
learning occurs when a new stimulus produces a certain
response.
In famous experiments performed by Ivan Pavlov, dogs were
taught to salivate when they heard a bell. The dogs learned
to associate the sound of a bell with food because every time
a bell rang, they would be given meat powder. In these experi-
ments, the meat powder started out as an unconditioned
stimulus (US). An unconditioned stimulus is innately capable
of producing a response. Dogs salivate when they get food
without being conditioned to do so (just as pizza often causes
people to salivate). Therefore, when dogs salivate because of
the presence of food, they’re displaying an unconditioned
response. Because Pavlov rang a bell just before the dogs
Lesson 2 53
were given the meat powder, the dogs eventually began to
salivate when they only heard the bell. The bell, which began
as a neutral stimulus (NS), became a conditioned stimulus
(CS). A conditioned stimulus is one that will produce a certain
response through learning. After the bell became a conditioned
stimulus, it produced a conditioned response (CR) in the dogs.
Applying Conditioning Principles to
Human Behavior
Let’s say we want to use classical conditioning to help a child
overcome a fear of snakes. We might pair a harmless snake
(NS) with some kind of reward, like candy (a US that produces a
UR). The child will associate the sight of the harmless snake
with candy and become happier when in the presence of
snakes. However, if the fear of snakes was a CR that was
established originally through a strong US (like a poisonous
snakebite), the appearance of the CS might bring about a
spontaneous recovery of the old pattern—in this case the
fear of snakes.
Extinction
Conditioned responses are learned responses. They must be
reinforced during the training or acquisition period. A behavior
is reinforced if a CS is paired often enough with a US to create
expectancy in the subject—just as Pavlov’s dogs began to expect
the meat powder. Initially, the dogs expect nothing, but they
eventually expect meat powder when they hear the bell. If we
sound the bell repeatedly without providing meat powder, the
conditioned response ends. No more salivation occurs when
the bell sounds. This is called extinction of the CR.
Generalization and Discrimination
Stimulus generalization is observed when a conditioned response
follows a stimulus that’s similar to the original conditioned
stimulus. Among people who fear rats, mice—or even ham-
sters—may evoke a similar response. By contrast, stimulus
discrimination happens when, say, stimulus “A” produces a
conditioned response while stimulus “B” doesn’t. The behavior
Essentials of Psychology54
of a snarling dog (“A”) will evoke a different response than
what we would observe if a dog that’s wagging its tail (“B”)
approaches. In general:
n The greater the similarity between stimuli, the greater
the likelihood of a conditioned response to the similar
stimulus.
n Inversely, the greater the dissimilarity between stimuli,
the greater the likelihood that the dissimilar stimulus
will not evoke a conditioned response.
Operant Conditioning
The Basics of Operant Conditioning
B. F. Skinner began his development of operant conditioning
theory based on a concept called the law of effect. Developed
by Edward L. Thorndike, the law of effect states that we tend
to repeat or cease behaviors depending on their effect. We
repeat behaviors that produce favorable conditions; we cease
behaviors that produce unfavorable conditions.
Skinner developed the law of effect into a basic model of
behavior, called operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is
different from classical conditioning because it involves active
behaviors that produce desired responses, while in classical
conditioning the subject is passive or acted on by an outside
influence.
To give you an overall view of the operant conditioning model,
let’s imagine an experiment.
You want to condition the behavior of a mouse. You want the
mouse to learn to press a lever to get a food pellet. To make
your experiment easier to observe and control, you put your
mouse inside a box with at least one glass wall. The box is lit
with a small bulb, and water is supplied through an outside
opening. Other than the light bulb and the water dispenser,
there’s nothing else in the box except a metal lever and a
little receiving tray beneath the lever. Overall, the box, called
a Skinner box, is boring. Mr. Mouse will explore, sniff, stand
on its hind legs, and do other mousy things. Eventually, it
Lesson 2 55
will press the lever. When it does, a food pellet will fall into
the tray. The mouse will soon learn to spend much of its day
pressing the lever to get food pellets. Food pellets are an
example of a positive reinforcement. They encourage the
mouse to press the lever. Do you see how this follows from
the law of effect?
Reinforcement works best when its response is contingent,
meaning it occurs only after a specific response occurs. While
the mouse is in the Skinner box, the food pellet reinforcement is
contingent only on pressing the lever, not on any other behavior.
If more than one behavior produced a positive reinforcement,
it would be difficult to make a clear association between an
operant and its effect.
The timing of reinforcement also matters. For example, if you
want to encourage children to study, it’s best to provide a
little reward—like a snack—immediately after a study period
rather than hours later or even the next day. To condition an
operant (like happy bathroom behavior), it’s best to provide a
reinforcement soon enough so that the behavior and the
reward are clearly associated.
Positive Reinforcers, Negative Reinforcers,
and Punishment
A conditioned operant behavior can be extinguished by removing
the reinforcement. This process is called operant extinction.
However, a nonexistent reinforcement isn’t the same thing as
a negative reinforcement. A negative reinforcement, like a
positive reinforcement, increases the frequency of an operant.
However, a negative reinforcement is aimed at an emitted
behavior that removes an unpleasant or undesired effect.
Eating Tums to get rid of acid indigestion will increase your
likelihood of taking Tums the next time you have acid indi-
gestion—if it has the desired effect. That is, not having acid
indigestion is the negative reinforcement.
Additionally, a negative reinforcement isn’t the same as a
punishment. A punishment is an unpleasant and undesired
outcome to a behavior. And an aversive (unpleasant) outcome
can be used to get someone to extinguish an operant. For
example, taking a drug that gives alcohol a bitter, nauseating
Essentials of Psychology56
taste might be an aversive outcome aimed at ending problem
drinking. In this case, an undesired effect replaces the pleasant
effect previously expected by the problem drinker. This
effect may extinguish the operant—at least while the drug
is being used.
Your text recognizes positive and negative punishments. A
positive punishment weakens a response through application
of an unpleasant outcome. Going to jail is (believe it or not) a
positive punishment, just as is having to write “I will not pull
Janie’s hair” 100 times on the blackboard. A negative punish-
ment takes away something that the subject desires—such
as freedom to play video games, perhaps when a child is
getting failing grades.
The Pros and Cons of Punishment
The important thing to learn about punishment in operant
conditioning—aside from the fact that it isn’t the same thing
as a negative reinforcement—is that it should be used lightly
and sparingly. Punishment simply suppresses an undesired
behavior with an aversive stimulus, one that’s unpleasant
or painful. Mild punishment usually suppresses behavior
for only a short period of time. Severe punishment is more
effective at permanently stopping behavior. Your textbook
highlights methods for using punishment effectively. It also
illustrates the side effects of punishment, which can range
from escape learning to aggression.
Schedules of Reinforcement
A major application of operant conditioning is behavior
modification. As you already know, modifying behavior is
accomplished by associating an operant with a reward or
reinforcement. However, it isn’t often feasible to provide
continuous reinforcement. For example, it wouldn’t make
sense to reward people every time they achieved a good
grade or hit a home run. The novelty of the reward might
wear off, and the people might discontinue that behavior.
That’s why most rewards in everyday life are awarded on a
partial reinforcement schedule. In partial reinforcement, only
some behaviors are rewarded. Imagine that we want to
Lesson 2 57
encourage workers in a furniture factory to produce a desired
quota of 30 rocking chairs per day, where all or nearly all of
the chairs meet company standards. We want to reinforce
both quality and quantity. To reinforce these standards, let’s
say that each worker receives a raffle ticket when he or she
exceeds company rocking-chair standards. The raffle tickets
would then be picked out of a hat to determine which worker
or workers win a prize. (The prize might be an extra vacation
day, a cash prize, or even a CD player.) The workers might
then improve the quality of their work in the hope of winning
a prize, despite the fact that they wouldn’t be rewarded every
time they exceeded company standards. The chance that they
could win is the motivation.
There are four different types of partial reinforcement
schedules:
1. Fixed-ratio schedules—Reinforcement is contingent on a
fixed number of desired responses in a fixed-ratio (FR)
schedule. For example, the workers in the furniture
factory might get a raffle ticket only every other time they
exceed company standards.
2. Variable-ratio schedules—When reinforcements occur
only after a varied number of correct responses or
behaviors, we call it a variable-ratio (VR) schedule. The
factory workers might get a raffle ticket only after they
exceed company standards every three to five times.
Sometimes they would receive a ticket after every fifth
time; sometimes after every third time.
3. Fixed-interval schedules—Reinforcement occurs only after
a fixed period of time passes in a fixed-interval (FI)
schedule. On this schedule, our factory workers might
receive a raffle ticket only once every month.
4. Variable-interval schedules—Reinforcements for correct
responses or behaviors in a variable-interval (VI) schedule
occur after a varied amount of time passes. The factory
workers might receive a raffle ticket after three months of
meeting quality standards. The next raffle might occur
two weeks later. The next one might be six months later.
The time intervals are always different.
Essentials of Psychology58
Shaping: Reinforcing What Doesn’t
Come Naturally
Let’s say you’re teaching someone how to play a guitar. Since
you can’t expect your novice student to slave away indefinitely
for failing to perform like Segovia while you cover him or her
with invective, you’ll plan to reinforce a series of learning steps
that may, at least, prepare a student to accompany people
singing “Home on the Range.” Step one might be holding a
guitar. (Good, now you’ve got it.) Step 2 might be learning to
tune a guitar. Step 3 might be learning how to sound simple
chords . . . and so on. This sort of behavioral modification
scheme is called shaping.
Cognitive Approaches to Learning
Cognitive learning theory recognizes the value of classical or
operant approaches to learning. However, cognitive researchers
focus on unseen mental processes that take place during
learning.
Latent Learning
Evidence for the importance of cognitive processes in learning
comes from experiments with animals, usually lab rats. What
was discovered was the existence of latent learning. You can
think of the term “latent” as referring to hidden learning.
Behavior is learned, but it doesn’t get expressed until there’s
an incentive—a reward—for expressing it. Your text explains
what this means in terms of lab experiments.
However, latent learning can be explained in terms of how you
or I might store up latent (unexpressed) understanding. Let’s say
you live in a city, in an apartment, and you walk 10 blocks to
work and 10 blocks home from work every day. Day by day,
you’ll pick up information about where shops are located,
what streets to follow, and so on. Think of this information
as your personal cognitive map, a mental map of your route
to and from the office.
One day your department head, Ms. Frost, invites you to an
after-work gathering at her spacious flat, which is just a
block from where you live. You’re thrilled. This could be your
Lesson 2 59
chance to mingle with some of the firm’s bigwigs and power
players. However, Ms. Frost also asks a favor of you. “Could
you stop by on your way home and pick up four bottles of
Leaning Tree Merlot from that shop on 10th and Claremont?
Would you mind? I’ll lend you the department debit card.”
You cheerfully agree, despite the fact that you don’t much
care for wine. “No problem,” you say after a moment—a
moment spent consulting your cognitive map, a moment in
which you remember the storefront and “The Wine Cellar”
sign. “I know just where that shop is,” you say happily.
“I pass by it every day.”
Observational Learning: Learning
through Imitation
According to social psychologist Albert Bandura and his col-
leagues, a big part of human learning comes from observing
the behavior of other people. We engage in observational
learning.
Bandura’s famous “Bobo” experiment is explained on pages
185–186 of your text. Children were shown a film in which
an adult was punching an inflatable clown doll, Bobo. Later
the children were given a chance to play with actual Bobos.
And, lo and behold, the typical form of play was whacking
and punching Bobo—often in the exact same manner as did
the adult in the film.
“Bobo” behavior may not be desirable among schoolchildren.
However, observational learning can also encourage positive
behavior, like sharing or adopting polite behavior. In any
case, observational learning is most likely to occur when it’s
rewarded in some way.
Violence on Television and in Video Games:
Does the Media’s Message Matter?
Do people tend to imitate the behavior modeled for them by
actors (or animated characters) in films, video games, or on
television? A great host of studies have been devoted to this
question. And, as it turns out, there’s a rather disturbing
consensus among researchers that children and adults are
inclined to emulate the often psychopathic behavior of virtual
Essentials of Psychology60
or live screen models. This may especially be the case when
modeled aggression, smoking, or careless use of alcohol is
also reflected to some extent in one’s peer group or in one’s
native culture.
Before proceeding to the next assignment, take a moment
to complete Self-Check 5. Remember, you can check your
answers by turning to the back of this study guide.
Self-Check 5
1. Considering the two types of punishment used in operant conditioning, a/an _______ punishment
would involve the removal of something pleasant or desirable, such as pay or privileges.
2. Having learned to be afraid of rats, you also become fearful of hamsters, guinea pigs, and
field mice. In the language of classical conditioning, this is called stimulus _______.
3. In a study exploring the relationship between violence portrayed in the mass media and
_______, it was found that one in _______ young males incarcerated for their offenses had
attempted to commit a copy-crime depicted in the media.
4. In the view of _______ learning theorists, the observed link between a stimulus and a
response isn’t adequately understood until we also account for mental processes such as
learned expectations.
5. Reinforcement schedules, shaping, discrimination training, and extinction are all techniques
used in _______ modification.
6. In the social _______ approach to learning of Albert Bandura, _______ learning occurs when
we watch and model the behavior of others.
7. A dog salivates when it encounters meat powder. In classical conditioning, salivation under
these conditions is called a/an _______ response.
8. _______ learning is taking place when you learn how to do something but don’t necessarily or
immediately express what you’ve learned through your behavior.
(Continued)
Lesson 2 61
ASSIGNMENT 6—THINKING:
MEMORY, COGNITION, AND
LANGUAGE
Read this assignment. Then read pages 198–241 in your
textbook.
The Foundations of Memory
Our senses gather information as sensory data. Sensory data
is organized by the brain into sensory memory. Much of this
sensory information is held in conscious awareness as short-
term memory (STM). Information we’ll remember later—including
thoughts, ideas, impressions (and the feelings associated
with them)—go from short-term to long-term memory (LTM).
Once you get the basics on these three systems, you can
understand how we store and recall information, as well as
how we forget information. To that end, this module begins
with an introduction to the foundations of human memory.
Self-Check 5
9. In classical conditioning, when the sound of a buzzer evokes no response of interest to an
experimenter, it’s called a/an _______ stimulus.
10. In a learning experiment, reinforcements in the form of gold stars are given to students after
they provide five correct responses to questions. In the language of operant conditioning, this
kind of _______ reinforcement pattern would be called a/an _______-ratio schedule.
Check your answers with those on page 170.
Essentials of Psychology62
By way of a helpful analogy, Figure 1 on page 201 compares
the human memory to a computer. Your textbook discusses
how information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. In any
case, the main phases of memory are sensory memory, STM,
and LTM.
Sensory Memory
Since we receive information through our senses, sensory
memory is visual, audible, olfactory, and so on. We hold this
information only very briefly. If it isn’t transferred to STM,
it’s lost.
Short-Term Memory
We can store STM as images provided by visual stimuli.
However, more often, we store information phonetically by
reviewing words in our minds. There are definite limits to the
processing abilities of STM. Research indicates that we can
process only about seven information bits from a visual field,
for example. Your textbook offers you some simple, practical
tests that show how we store information in STM.
We sometimes manage more information by chunking it. For
example, look at the series of letters below. One at a time, try
to get each of the two series into your mind. After studying
each series, close your eyes for a moment. Open them to
check your immediate recall. Do this for each series.
G E M E R T T R I C A N A L A
GEM ERT TRI CAN ALA
You should find that the second series was easier to recall.
That’s because it’s broken into chunks. Chunking involves
clumping information bits into small groups. In the case of
random letters, the chunks might remind us of actual words.
Recoding the information makes it easier to hold in STM.
We can use rehearsal to hold images or information longer in
STM—or to transfer it into LTM. You’ve probably used this
technique to remember a phone number by repeating it in
your mind several times.
Lesson 2 63
Elaborative rehearsal consists of linking information to other
kinds of information stored in LTM. For example, look at this
series:
GEM ERT TRI CAN ALA
It could be linked to other information in this way: GEM can
stand for jewel; ERT sounds like hurt; TRI could mean three;
CAN might stand for Canada; ALA can stand for Alabama.
Your rehearsal might be something like this: Jewels hurt
three times in Canada and Alabama. What you come up with
doesn’t have to make sense. The idea is to make the series
easier to remember.
Long-Term Memory
No one is entirely sure how LTM works. Since we don’t actually
know what the mind is, what we can say about LTM is limited
to our observations. We do know that long-term memories fade
with time. So, we don’t appear to have a perfect record of all
our memories. We also know that we can update memories by
checking facts, looking at old photos, and so on. This updating
process is called constructive processing. There’s also evidence
that we can invent memories—perhaps from stories we’re told
about events we don’t actually experience in our childhood.
These are called pseudo-memories. We also know that an
enormous amount of information is stored and rapidly
processed in LTM. For example, to recall the word absolute
while you’re in a conversation, you’re able to retrieve the
word while also omitting or mentally rejecting a large number
of words that aren’t created.
There are different kinds of memory: Procedural memory is
our memory of how to do things physically. An example of
procedural memory is the ability to remember how to ride a
bicycle. It’s often noted that you can remember how to ride a
bicycle even if you haven’t been on one for quite some time.
Declarative memory stores facts. It can be broken down into
two separate categories. Semantic memory stores words, skills,
and other general facts. Episodic memory links feelings and
thoughts to particular times and places. You’ve probably had
the experience of hearing a song and suddenly remembering
some scene from your past.
Essentials of Psychology64
Recall and Forgetting
Retrieval Cues
Partial memory often happens when we remember only some
information about a particular subject or experience. The tip-
of-the-tongue phenomenon illustrates partial memory. In this
state, a person knows that a memory exists, but he or she
can’t retrieve it.
Recall is the ability to retrieve information. Our ability to
recall information is often affected by the order in which the
information was initially processed. For example, it’s easier to
recall the first and last names on a list than it is to remem-
ber names in the middle of the list. This phenomenon is
called the serial-position effect.
Recognition occurs when you correctly recall previously
learned information from some kind of cue or clue. Multiple-
choice tests depend largely on recognition, and recognition is
more accurate and complete than simple recall. Distractors—
like answer options on multiple-choice tests—can throw off
recognition. We can also make the mistake of accepting a
false positive, or a false sense of recognition. For example,
we might think that we see a cousin in an old photograph,
when in fact the image only looks like that cousin.
Levels of Processing
The levels-of-processing theory focuses on the degree to
which new information inputs are perceived, processed, and
understood. In a nutshell, it’s thought that the extent of
information processing and analysis when new information is
initially encountered determines how well it’s remembered.
For example, if you’re really paying attention and asking
questions when you’re introduced to Newton’s laws of motion,
you’re more likely to remember them.
Explicit and Implicit Memory
There are two different types of memories—implicit memories
and explicit memories. Explicit memories are those we know
we possess. Recalling the actor who starred in your favorite
Lesson 2 65
movie is an example of an explicit memory. Implicit memories
are those that we aren’t necessarily aware we possess. For
example, let’s say you’re out in the ocean on a fishing boat
and accidentally fall overboard. You may not be consciously
aware that, when dumped into water over your head, the first
thing to do is get your shoes off. But when the event occurs,
you may remember this from a lifesaving course taken years
before. Let’s hope so.
Flashbulb Memories
Flashbulb memories are those that are burned into our
memories during situations of high emotion. In fact, the
main component of a flashbulb memory is a strong emotional
response to an unexpected event. We usually don’t repress
flashbulb memories, and they’re often very difficult to sup-
press. For example, the images of the World Trade Center
on September 11, 2001, are flashbulb memories for many
people. They can remember vividly where they were, what
they were doing, and what they felt on that day.
Constructive Processes in Memory:
Rebuilding the Past
Let’s say Abby and Hank, a married couple, vividly remember
the day they met at the public library. Yet when they’re asked
to relate just what happened that day, each will tell a some-
what different story. Why would that be the case? According
to the British psychologist Fred Bartlett, people organize
memories of past events through mental schemas. You can
think of a schema as a particular way of storing, retrieving,
and interpreting information. Abby and Hank probably have dif-
ferent tendencies to remember specifics of that day, depending
on how they viewed the context, what their expectations
were, and how they recall what motivated their behavior. As
noted in your text, the fact that eyewitness accounts of the
same event may vary wildly illustrates the notion that we
tend to see what we expect to see.
Another constructive process occurs with autobiographical
memories. Autobiographical memories recall and interpret the
events and experiences of our lives. The fact is, when “telling
Essentials of Psychology66
our stories,” we tend to forget, or gloss over, things that we
feel reflect badly on us. By the same token, we may make a
bit more of events and episodes that we feel reflect well on
how we see ourselves. As novelist Anaïs Nin once wrote, “We
do not see the world as it is. We see it as we are.”
Forgetting
If you worry about forgetting things, take heart. Memory fail-
ure is essential to remembering important information. Think
about it. If you walked out of a museum remembering every
single detail of every one of your sensory impressions, you
would, in effect, know everything about nothing. Perception is
selective. Getting by in the world is easier if we can simply
remember the things that are important to our lives. In any
case, memories of all kinds fade over time. There’s always a
strong initial decline in memory—over about nine hours,
followed by a steady decline thereafter.
Why We Forget
There are many different reasons why we forget. Sometimes
information is lost when it’s transferred from STM to LTM.
Other times, information is lost because too much time has
lapsed from when the information was first learned. Keep in
mind once again that forgetting, like remembering, is selective.
We remember things that are important to us and forget
things that aren’t important to us.
Here’s a summary of the primary reasons we forget:
Encoding failure simply means that we don’t remember enough
information to form a complete memory. It’s probably the
main reason for forgetting. If we glance at the people in a
checkout line at the supermarket, we’re unlikely to remember
everyone we see. If we’re later asked to recall how many
people were in the line or what they were wearing, chances
are good that we won’t remember much. Why? Quite simply,
we never formed memories of these things in the first place.
Decay refers to the idea that stored memories lose their
sharpness and clarity over time. Memory traces in the brain
will fade away if enough time passes. In the case of STM,
decay is natural and expected. Information that isn’t stored
in LTM disappears from consciousness.
Lesson 2 67
Cue-dependent forgetting is related to memory cues. If no
memory cues are present, we tend to forget information. For
example, if you’re asked where you were on June 8, 1982,
you might not remember. However, if you recalled a memory
cue concerning that day (such as a bad storm or a parade),
you would remember immediately.
State-dependent learning is a form of cue-dependent forgetting.
It refers to the fact that we’re more likely to remember some-
thing if we’re in a bodily state similar to when the memory
was formed. For example, when you’re hungry, you might
recall an experience you had during another time when you
were hungry. Hearing a song you liked 10 years earlier will
make it easier to remember what kind of car you were driving
back in those days.
Proactive and Retroactive Interference: The
Before and After of Forgetting
Interference is a major factor in forgetting. When new informa-
tion obstructs information that’s already in memory, it’s called
retroactive interference. In other words, new learning interferes
with old learning. You might not recall how to navigate a com-
puter program you learned earlier in the day if you learn a new
one several hours later. In proactive interference, old learning
interferes with new learning. Let’s say you read about the
history of the Roman Empire. Later that day, you read about
the history of England. Your understanding of English history
will be less accurate because you’re still processing what you
read about the Roman Empire.
The “Becoming an Informed Consumer of Psychology” feature
on page 217 of your text gives you five excellent tips for
improving your memory as you apply yourself to study. Give
them your undivided attention. Meanwhile, we’ll add that
simple things like staying alert by taking breaks or getting
some brief physical exercise are common sense. “Sleeping on
it” actually works, too. Study what you wish to master. Sleep.
Then study again. For some reason, we tend to consolidate
and organize knowledge during sleep. Therefore, always get a
good night’s sleep after studying for an exam.
Essentials of Psychology68
Thinking, Reasoning, and
Problem Solving
Mental Images
Mental images can be thought of as mind constructions.
When we visualize the house we lived in years ago, we can
travel through the house mentally, seeing things in three
dimensions. If we imagine a flower, we can rotate it mentally
to imagine how it looks from different angles. This process is
called mental rotation. An artist can imagine a created image
before drawing it on paper or sculpting it in clay. Of course,
in the process of transferring a mentally created image to any
form, a lot of editing takes place. The process is interactive.
For example, in building a model, creating the actual form
will modify the mental image and vice versa.
Concepts: Categorizing the World
If mental images are visual mind constructions, concepts can be
thought of as thought constructions. Let’s say I imagine winged
creatures that have feathers and that enjoy eating worms. I
might create a concept and name it birds. Bird is now a concept
that joins a category of phenomena in a mental file. Other con-
cepts may be far more abstract. For example, the mathematical
concept of infinity can be expressed, but it can’t be visualized.
Prototypes are typical or highly representative examples of a
mental image of concept. For example, for Sally, who’s from
New England, the “epitome” (prototype) of the category “trees”
is a maple tree. For Sandra, who’s from the Pacific Northwest,
an ideal tree prototype is a fir tree.
Reasoning: Making Up Your Mind
When we’re presented with options, decisions are in order.
Leila wants to go to the beach; Bob wants to camp out in a
national park. The decision in this case may be resolved in
an emotional tussle over whose preference is more “sensible”—
although, in fact, there isn’t a lot of reasoning going on. To
reason is to observe facts, understand their relationship,
Lesson 2 69
evaluate alternatives, and choose the one that seems best
to fit one’s objectives. Two shortcuts in a decision-making
cognitive process are algorithms and heuristics.
An algorithm is a rule that, when followed correctly, will provide
a solution to a problem. You can think of an algorithm as a
kind of recipe. Follow steps 1, 2, 3, and so on precisely, and
you’ll solve a problem, such as how many widgets to produce
if the supply of raw materials is “S” and the demand for widgets
is “D.” Computer programs are algorithms made up of logical
steps based on the logical principles of base-two mathematics
applied to electric logic circuits. A chemical formula, like
NaOH + HCl à NaCl + H2O, is a “recipe” for mixing precise
quantities of sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid to get
precise amounts of table salt and water.
A heuristic can be thought of as a “rule of thumb.” For example,
if the sales of widgets in the first quarter was “$,” order raw
materials in the amount “R” for the next quarter. The problem
with heuristics is that we can’t be sure that our rule of
thumb actually applies to a situation. Heuristics tend to be
“the way we usually do it,” and as situations change (like an
unexpected drop in demand), a heuristic decision may be
dead wrong.
Problem Solving
Your text outlines three steps in problem solving:
1. Preparation means understanding and diagnosing a
problem. Problems related to things like calculating how
much a metal bearing will expand when it’s heated to a
given temperature are well-defined. We can apply a
mathematical equation or a tried-and-true logical rule.
On the other hand, problems involving human nature
and predicting peoples’ behavior tend to be ill-defined.
For example, improving company morale may involve
more variables than management can measure or
account for.
Essentials of Psychology70
2. Production occurs when we generate alternate solutions.
How well we’ll do that depends heavily on how well we
understand the problem and its most likely diagnosis
(projected outcome). The most common heuristic for gen-
erating solution is a means-end analysis. We apply tests
to figure out the gap between the way things are and the
way we want them to be. Or, put another way, we try to
assess the best means for achieving our preferred ends.
3. Judgment is called for as we evaluate alternative solu-
tions. However, judgment tends to be subjective. Let’s
say the problem is increasing a company’s productivity.
The art department may favor hiring more CGI consult-
ants to increase ad-production efficiency. The accounting
department may favor combining more tasks under one
job description to cut labor costs. The union (if there is
one) may call for spurring production through more
equitable wages.
Impediments to effective problem solving include functional
fixedness and mental set.
Functional fixedness is tending to see the functions of objects
or processes in narrow terms. Some see a spoon as simply a
requirement for eating cereal. A person less inclined to func-
tional fixedness may see a spoon as a potential screwdriver
or as a rough-and-ready measuring device for adding garlic
powder to the spaghetti sauce. Functional fixedness is a
failure to think creatively and entertain innovations. For
example, aircraft mechanics in World War II stationed with
the famous Flying Tigers learned to use oriental coins with
holes in them as washers. They overcame functional fixed-
ness because they didn’t assume that the coins could be
used only as money.
Our mental set can get in the way when old approaches to prob-
lem solving persist, even though they’re no longer appropriate to
new situations and problems. Red tape in bureaucracies offers
examples. A requirement for filling out a paper requisition
form may persist, even after all requisitions are automatically
recorded in an easily accessible computer database.
Lesson 2 71
Language
Language is essential in human cognition. Language consists
of vocal or written symbols that have specific rules for their
use and organization. Without language, we couldn’t convey
different concepts to other people.
Language Development
Language acquisition in humans occurs in phases:
n Babbling—From around three months to one year of age,
children make meaningless sounds. Interestingly, infant
babbles range over all the possible sounds (called
phonemes) that can show up in an actual language.
Arabic, for example, uses many more phonemes than
English. In any case, over several months, infants
increasingly imitate the sounds of the language they’re
exposed to. Theorists maintain that this babbling stage
is crucial to learning language. Children who aren’t
exposed to language as infants will have far greater
difficulties acquiring language when, at last, they’re
exposed to it.
n Production of language—By the end of their first year,
infants generally only use the sounds (phonemes) of the
language they’re exposed to. Think of this as a process of
sound-imitation reduction until what’s left is the set of
sound for one’s native language. From then on, forming
meaningful sounds (called morphemes) gets under way.
By age two, the child has a vocabulary of about 50 words.
A few months later the child will command hundreds
of words.
At this point, children can produce short sentences called
telegraphic speech. For example, instead of saying “See Spot
run,” they’re more likely to say, “Spot runs.” Instead of “Dad
is walking the dog,” we’ll get something like, “Daddy walking
dog.” By age three, kids are learning to form plurals and
tenses in their sentences. But they tend to make mistakes
called overgeneralization. So, for example, a child might say,
“Daddy walked home,” which is grammatically correct. But
they’ll overgeneralize the “-ed” rule when they say, “Rover
runned to me.”
Essentials of Psychology72
Children have a complete command of their native language
by about age five. However, that may mean having command
of an ethnic English language dialect, like Louisiana Bayou
patois or Appalachian highland speech. And, in any case,
children will learn grammatical concepts only as their formal
or informal education proceeds.
Three dominant models of language acquisition are covered
in your text:
1. The learning theory approach to language development
maintains that language is learned through schedules of
reinforcement, like those associated with operant condi-
tioning. Support for this model is provided by research
showing that children develop language skills more
quickly when parents speak (or read) to them often. On
the other hand, the learning approach doesn’t do well in
explaining how children learn the rules of syntax (word-
order) or grammar.
2. The nativist model, mainly developed by linguist Noam
Chomsky, maintains that all human languages share a
common universal grammar. Chomsky accounts for this
by hypothesizing a language-acquisition device (LAD) built
into the human nervous system. Chomsky’s position has
received support from the discovery of a gene related to
the development of language abilities, which seems to
have emerged as recently as 100,000 years ago. There’s
also evidence that parts of the brain are vital to particu-
lar kinds of languages. Thus, the “click” (glottal stop)
language of the Kung San of Africa and the tonal-
language qualities of Mandarin Chinese are served by
specialized language areas of the brain.
3. The interactionist approach attempts to reconcile different
models. Basically, an interactionist will assume that lan-
guage acquisition is related both to genetic predisposition
and to environmental (learning) variables. The research
issues then become sorting out the ways learning
and genetic predisposition interact under different
circumstances.
Lesson 2 73
The Influence of Language on Thinking
Will you see the world differently if you encode your perceptions
in different languages? This is the controversial question
posed by the linguistic-relativity hypothesis. According to this
hypothesis, the language we use shapes our perception of
the world. How we think the world is is how we see the
world. On the other hand, opponents of this view maintain that
language isn’t the cause of our ways of thinking. Instead, think-
ing itself, based on responses to particular environments,
shapes language. This could explain why the Eskimo (Inuit)
people have many more words for ice and snow than we’ll
ever find in American English.
In fact, there’s considerable research, mainly from anthro-
pology, that supports the linguistic-relativity hypothesis.
However, your text maintains that research opposing that
hypothesis is more convincing to most researchers, which, in
fact, does seem to be the case. However, your challenge,
should you ever become a psycho-linguistic researcher,
would be to revisit both sides of the controversy.
Now, review the material you’ve learned in this study
guide as well as the assigned pages in your textbook for
Assignments 4–6. Once you feel you understand the material,
complete Self-Check 6. Then check your answers with those
provided at the end of this study guide. If you’ve missed
any answers, or you feel unsure of the material, review the
assigned pages in your textbook and this study guide. When
you’re sure that you completely understand the information
presented in Assignments 4–6, complete your examination
for Lesson 2.
Essentials of Psychology74
Self-Check 6
1. Sometimes called a “rule of thumb,” a cognitive shortcut for solving a problem is known to
psychologists as a/an _______.
2. Jake recognizes that a spoon can be used as a lever or even as a screwdriver. Bob can think
of a spoon only as something to use when eating soup or cereal. Psychologists would say that
Bob’s view of spoons results from _______ fixedness.
3. With respect to two kinds of recall interference, _______ interference results when earlier
recall disrupts the recall of more recently acquired information.
4. Memories stored in your mind that you aren’t aware of are to _______ memory as intentional
and conscious recollection is to _______ memory.
5. According to the _______-relativity hypothesis, language shapes the way people who speak
that language view the world.
6. For Sally, who owns one, a German shepherd is a prototype of her _______ of dogs in general
because a German shepherd best represents her _______ image of what a dog is.
7. According to three-system memory theory, the momentary storage of information lasting only
an instant is called _______ memory.
8. In the context of language development, when Leslie’s vocabulary grows to several hundred
words, she’s capable of forming short sentences, such as, “I draw cat.” Leslie’s way of speaking at
this stage is called _______ speech.
9. Chandler once spoke fluent German, but after years of living in England his fluency in
German declines. For psychologists, the loss of information as a result of not using it is
called _______.
10. Within long-term memory, procedural memory is related to motor skills while semantic and
episodic memories are related to _______ memory.
Check your answers with those on page 171.
75
Motivation, Emotion,
Development, and
Personality
INTRODUCTION
Lesson 3 opens “with feeling” as Chapter 7 explores the
nature of human motivation and emotion. In Chapter 8,
you’ll trace the paths of human development across the life
cycle, learning how we humans develop physiologically,
cognitively, and socially. Finally, in Chapter 9, you’ll look at
human personality from different angles and perspectives.
ASSIGNMENT 7—MOTIVATION
AND EMOTION
Read this assignment. Then read pages 242–279 in your
textbook.
Explaining Motivation
Motivation refers to the process that encourages thoughts
and activities. Motivation can take many different forms.
Sometimes we go to the refrigerator at midnight because
we’re motivated by hunger. Sometimes we study even if we
don’t want to because we’re motivated by the need to pass
algebra. Sometimes we sleep in the sun for a long time
because it feels good. In this case, pleasure would be our
motivation. If we get sunburned, rubbing aloe lotion on the
burn is a good way to relieve the pain. The simple motive
here is to reduce pain.
Internally perceived needs create drives. When we’re hungry,
we seek restaurants or the nearest refrigerator. Such behav-
ior is a response to an inner biological drive. In this case, the
goal is eating. Incentive value refers to the additional value
that meeting a goal provides. External needs, such as social
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Essentials of Psychology76
approval, offer the incentive of increased self-esteem. Satisfying
internal needs provides direct incentives, such as satisfying
hunger.
Psychologists identify three types of motives:
1. Primary motives are based on biological needs and must
be met to survive.
2. Stimulus motives represent our need for basic human
expression as represented by curiosity, playfulness, the
quest for exciting or pleasurable sensations (such as
eating because it’s pleasant as opposed to eating because
we’re actually hungry), and sociability.
3. Secondary motives are based on learned needs, drives,
and goals. Nearly all of these motives offer social identity
and approval. For example, you might have an incentive
to use language that’s acceptable to those around you.
You’ll learn to be a hard worker if you learned that hard
work is rewarded.
Instinct approaches to motivation focus on genetically “pre-
wired” behaviors. In effect, many behaviors in all kinds of
animals are dependent on adaptation to habitat environments,
which, in turn, are dependent on genetic coding that
produces the thousands of proteins (including hormones)
needed for biological survival in a particular species.
Drive-Reduction Approaches: Satisfying Our Needs
Primary drive-reduction motives are related to biological
homeostasis. A system is in homeostasis if it’s in a steady or
balanced state. Your body attempts to maintain homeostatic
balance in many ways. For example, thirst is generated by
strong body signals that motivate you to hydrate yourself.
Thirst is your body’s way of maintaining an internal water
balance. In other words, internal “thermostats” such as
hormone-producing glands meet the body’s homeostasis needs.
For example, if you’re too hot, your body’s temperature-
regulating system will produce sweat. Evaporating water
on the skin helps cool the body.
Lesson 3 77
Arousal Approaches: Beyond Drive Reduction
People often seek thrills and excitement. When they do,
they’re getting pleasure or fulfillment from bodily stimulation.
These people are often called sensation seekers. Sensation
seekers experience intense physical arousal that’s often
interpreted as excitement or even as stark terror. That’s why
people like to go to horror movies. That’s also why some
people think skydiving, rock climbing, bungee jumping, and
other kinds of risky adventures are fun.
Incentive approaches to motivation focus on theories suggesting
that we’re motivated by desires evoked by external stimuli.
So, for example, in responding to a hunger drive we may also
be attracted to a specific dessert or savory stew. Here, drive
reduction through eating is complemented by an incentive
represented by a food we desire. There’s both a “push” and
a “pull.”
Cognitive approaches to motivation maintain that we’re motivated
by our thoughts and feelings. In the context of the cognitive
approach, we may be drawn to a behavior that is its own
reward, like shooting hoops or ice skating. These are intrinsic
motivations. (Vincent van Gogh worked all his life to be a
great artist, although he sold very few paintings and had no
recognition during his lifetime. For him, painting was its own
reward.) In other cases, we’re drawn into activities that promise
a reward, like money, a new car, a job promotion, or social
approval. These are extrinsic motivations.
Maslow’s Hierarchy: Ordering Motivational Needs
Abraham Maslow proposed a comprehensive model of human
needs. Imagine a pyramid divided into five layers. The lowest
layer of the pyramid represents our physiological needs for
food, water, sleep, and sex. The next layer represents our
needs for safety and security. The third layer represents our
needs for love and belonging. The fourth layer represents our
needs for esteem and self-esteem. These four layers of the
pyramid represent our basic needs.
Essentials of Psychology78
The fifth layer, the highest part of the pyramid, represents
our growth needs. Growth needs are needs for personal
growth and life enhancement. The overall objective of
our growth needs is to achieve what Maslow called self-
actualization.
The key idea in Maslow’s model is that our needs are hierar-
chical. In other words, we generally have to fulfill our basic
needs—in order—before we can fulfill our highest (fifth-level)
needs. Critics of Maslow have pointed out that some people,
while fulfilling their so-called meta-needs, may actively forgo
basic needs by fasting, taking vows of poverty, and denying
themselves sexual pleasure.
Applying the Different Approaches to Motivation
If we really want to understand human motivation, it’s
unlikely that any one of the approaches we’ve mentioned
will give us the whole story. By analogy, to get the best
visual appreciation of an elephant, we’ll benefit from
looking at the creature from many different angles.
Human Needs and Motivation
Public health studies reveal that more than 60 percent of
Americans are overweight. Obesity has become one of the
leading enemies of public health (next to smoking). The sen-
sation of hunger is related to glucose (sugar) levels in the
blood. Both the liver and the stomach send signals to the
brain that stimulate feelings of hunger when glucose levels
are low. The brain’s master control center for hunger is the
hypothalamus. A specialized part of the hypothalamus then
assesses your blood sugar levels. The feeding system of the
hypothalamus (called the lateral hypothalamus) is activated
when sugar levels are too low for metabolic homeostasis.
Metabolism is the energy-burning rate in your body. Homeo-
stasis involves system balance and maintenance under
constantly changing environmental conditions. Homeostatic
balance is required to make sure that cells have the fuel they
need. Excess fuel (glucose) is stored as fat. Energy stored as
fat is converted to sugar fuel when the hypothalamus detects
a low level of blood sugar.
Lesson 3 79
The set point is the proportion of fat that’s maintained in the
body. (Fat is a necessary part of nutrition, by the way. Cell
walls are constructed from fatty lipids.) Research suggests
that changing one’s set point might be a key to staying at a
healthy weight. However, the proportion of fat cells in the
body is related to genetic factors, thus making the issue
rather complicated.
Social factors contribute significantly to eating patterns.
Indeed, while a psychologist can identify personality disor-
ders related to eating disorders (discussed below), research
indicates that the main cause of eating disorders is cultural.
The best evidence of that hypothesis comes from cross-
cultural studies. For example, in Polynesia (including Hawaii,
Tahiti, and Samoa), before the influences of Western culture
began to alter their attitudes, people felt that the ideal female
body type was one that we might call generous. Female
beauty was considered greatly enhanced by rounded limbs
and a formidable torso. In our society, we’re bombarded by
media images of ideal bodies. The ideal female body type is
at the same time both unrealistic and socially mandated.
Body types vary, but very few females look like muscular
athletes or models. The same female body types that would
have delighted Renaissance artists like Titian and modern
impressionists like Renoir are now seen as literally disgust-
ing. As a result, millions of women judge their own bodies
the same way.
In addition to obesity, startling proportions of Americans are
afflicted with eating disorders. A disproportionate number of
those who suffer from such disorders are female. The two
main eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia ner-
vosa. Both disorders pose serious health risks, but anorexia
is often more deadly. Anorexia nervosa is self-starvation.
Although anorexics may experience severe discomfort from
hunger, they become emotionally and behaviorally committed
to not eating. Anorexics also develop an astonishingly dis-
torted body image. They think their bodies are overweight
when they’re actually painfully thin.
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by bingeing and purging.
Bulimics eat because they get hungry. Then, to maintain an
(unrealistic) ideal weight, they make themselves vomit what
Essentials of Psychology80
they’ve eaten. An extraordinary number of American girls and
women become addicted to this behavior. It’s thought that eat-
ing disorders, especially bulimia, are related to professional
models and entertainers in much the same way as dangerous
steroid use is associated with professional athletes. In both
cases, people feel extreme pressure to fit the description of
a physically ideal person.
Sexual Motivation
Various studies have shown that both males and females
spend a lot of time thinking about sex. As scientists in differ-
ent fields have pointed out, the first thing we notice upon
seeing another person is his or her gender. Our sex drive is
our motivation to seek out and engage in sexual behavior. It’s
closely associated with biology. However, for humans, the sex
drive is distinct. For example, females of other species mate
only when they’re in a stage called heat, or estrus. Male sex-
ual behavior is most often triggered by odors or signals from
females of the same species that indicate they’re in estrus
(biologically prepared to conceive). This scenario doesn’t
occur in humans. Human females are somewhat more
inclined to engage in sexual behavior around the time of
ovulation, but they’re also likely to be sexually active at any
time during their menstrual cycle. Human males are also
generally interested in sexual activity at any time or place.
The sex drive varies from person to person. It tends to decline
only gradually among healthy people, even well into old age.
In humans and in similar animals on the evolutionary scale,
estrus is associated with the female hormone called estrogen.
In males, hormones called androgens—which include
testosterone—regulate the sex drive.
The sex drive is related to pleasure fulfillment on a physical
level, but it also plays a crucial role in the survival of our
species. Since the sex drive is important to both the individual
and to the entire species, we might assume that many of our
other motivations are, too. For example, social approval
includes individual incentives. At the same time, socially
approved behavior often benefits everyone in a social group
or society.
Lesson 3 81
Your text offers helpful information about typical sexual
practices, homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexualism
on pages 260–263. While it’s likely that many of you will have
some understanding of many of the concepts and terms,
studying this material can help you gather interesting
statistical facts and, perhaps, dispel a few myths.
The Needs for Achievement,
Affiliation, and Power
Social psychologist David McClelland has been a major contribu-
tor to ideas about achievement needs. His studies are important
because they’re based on careful and exhaustive research that
spans a number of years. McClelland proposed that we could
measure what he called the need for achievement (nAch). The
need for achievement is the desire to meet or exceed personal
standards. By analyzing the answers to questionnaires he
developed, McClelland found that he could predict the likeli-
hood of later achievement. In general, people who are willing
to take risks, have a high sense of their own ability, and have
a drive to succeed are likely to be achievers. McClelland stud-
ied both individual achievement needs as well as the general
tendency of entire societies to be achievement-oriented.
McClelland also studied the learned needs for affiliation
and power. The affiliation need is high in people “who need
people,” people who take satisfaction in personal relation-
ships. By contrast, power is the ability to influence or control
the behavior of other people. Many have noted that the need
for power can be dangerous. It sometimes leads to moral
decline and a sense of entitlement. As British statesman
Lord Acton once noted, power corrupts, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely. Meanwhile, you should note that while
achievement may yield social power, the drive for achieve-
ment and the need for power are independent of one another.
Essentials of Psychology82
Understanding Emotional Experiences
Emotions are associated with adaptive behaviors. Adaptive
behaviors help us survive and adapt to changing environ-
ments. Emotions are also linked to physiological changes in
the body. For example, the hormone adrenaline is pumped
into your system from your adrenal glands when you’re
motivated to flee or to fight. Physiological changes that are
caused by adrenaline include an increase in heart rate,
blood pressure, and perspiration.
Determining the Range of Emotions:
Labeling Our Feelings
Scientists love to classify phenomena. Therefore, it’s no sur-
prise that psychologists have come up with various ways to
classify different emotions. The scheme emphasized in your
text is a hierarchical approach that divides emotions into
positive (love and joy) and negative (anger, sadness, and fear).
These five primaries are then broken down into 15 subcate-
gories. So, for example, anger can be packaged as annoyance,
hostility, contempt, or jealousy.
The Roots of Emotions
You’ll want to become familiar with three important theories
of emotion:
1. The James-Lange theory proposes that bodily arousal
occurs before we experience emotional arousal. The expe-
rience of sadness follows the physiological reaction of
crying. We don’t cry because we’re sad; we’re sad
because we cry. We see a poisonous snake, our sympa-
thetic nervous system kicks in, and then we feel fear. We
brake hard, swerving to miss an oncoming truck, and
then experience a rush of fear.
2. The Cannon-Bard theory rejects the James-Lange theory.
Walter Cannon and Phillip Bard argued that a physically
aroused state and its accompanying emotional state arise
simultaneously. In effect, the brain centers responsible for
arousal and fear (the thalamus and hypothalamus) operate
together.
Lesson 3 83
3. Schachter’s cognitive theory of emotion states that we
become fearful when we cognitively (mentally) define
some threat. Many people would panic if they saw a
snake approaching through the grass. An Amazonian
tribal person may see the snake in the grass and experi-
ence physiological arousal, but he or she might consider
it dinner. In any case, research does support the idea
that we can experience a physically aroused state as
either fear or excitement. A roller-coaster ride may be
fun for one person and a nightmare for another.
A contemporary model of emotion concludes the module. If it
occurred to you that there’s a degree of truth in each of the
major theories of emotion, then you already understand the
main idea of the contemporary model of emotion. For exam-
ple, the three emotional theories do suggest that the context
of an arousal state, along with our definition of it, is related
to emotional experience. Emotional appraisal, in turn, refers
to how we value or interpret stimuli.
As it turns out, the six basic emotions expressed in the six
facial expressions—happiness, anger, sadness, surprise,
disgust, and fear—do seem to be universal across cultures.
(Research details in your text will help you get the point.)
But why should this be so? Two explanatory approaches are
mentioned in your text. According to the facial-affect program
theory, all of us are genetically “wired” to express these six
emotions at birth. In effect, each of the six emotions evokes
characteristic responses in facial muscles.
The facial-feedback hypothesis adds an interesting twist to
the facial-affect model. (It’s also another version of the “which
came first” problem.) According to research by Carol Izard
and others, basic facial expressions are programmed by
the nervous system, affirming the facial-affect assumption.
However, in this model, when an emotion is triggered, we
become aware of our facial expression and then realize the
emotion, whatever it may be. In short, emotional states and
facial expressions are correlated and interactive. It should
therefore be possible to alter or produce an emotional state
by consciously producing a facial expression. Furthermore,
research suggests that this may sometimes be the case. There’s
an old song with the lyric “Let a smile be your umbrella.” Maybe
that’s good psychological advice!
Essentials of Psychology84
Before proceeding to the next assignment, take a moment
to complete Self-Check 7. Remember, you can check your
answers by turning to the back of this study guide.
Self-Check 7
1. While the expression _______ involves the feeling that one has been born into a body that
conflicts with one’s sexual identity—whether male or female—_______ refers to sexual
attraction only to persons of the opposite sex.
2. The rate at which food is converted to energy is to _______ as the regulation of food intake is
to the hypothalamus.
3. In drive-reduction approaches to motivation, _______ drives are related to biological needs,
like thirst or hunger, while _______ drives are related to learned needs related to such things
as social status and achievement.
4. According to the _______-_______ hypothesis, facial expressions not only express emotions,
they can also help determine how people feel. Thus, putting on a smile may actually make us
feel a bit happier.
5. In the cognitive perspective on motivation, a distinction is made between being motivated to
do something to get a reward, like money or praise, and motivation based on _______
rewards like self-satisfaction or the joy of the game.
6. The view that premarital sex may be approved for males but disapproved for females is
called the _______ standard.
7. In the context of McClelland’s theory, people who are low in _______ motivation tend to seek
out tasks that offer the lowest risk of failure.
8. The body’s built-in processes aimed at maintaining steady internal states are called _______.
9. A typical behavioral pattern among people suffering from _______ is binge eating followed by
vomiting or the use of laxatives.
10. In Abraham Maslow’s needs hierarchy, _______ has to do with the need to develop a sense of
self-worth.
Check your answers with those on page 171.
Lesson 3 85
ASSIGNMENT 8—DEVELOPMENT
Read this assignment. Then read pages 280–333 in your
textbook.
Nature, Nurture, and Prenatal
Development
Developmental psychology attempts to understand the
phases of the human life cycle. There are two frameworks
for tracing life’s path from infancy to the great crossing over.
One is biology, and the other is human experience viewed
through various theories about mind and behavior. The two
frameworks are interactive. In particular, there’s an ongoing
struggle to understand the extent to which developmental
phases of the life cycle are determined by genetic inheritance
on the one hand and environmental influences on the other
hand. In other words, what is the balance of nature and
nurture?
Determining the Relative Influence of
Nature and Nurture
To seek the nature of that balance, researchers study the
nature of genetic inheritance in two ways. First, drawing on
the explosion of knowledge allowing us to create gene maps,
genes can be linked to physical and behavioral traits. Mostly,
so far, this has been done using animals, such as the hum-
ble fruit fly (Drosophila). Second, because it isn’t ethically
feasible to do this sort of research on humans, we can study
relative impacts of inheritance and environment by comparing
behavioral traits of people who are genetically related, yet
raised in different environments. The most convincing way to
do that has been through studies of twins, and in particular
identical twins that, for some reason, have been raised in dif-
ferent environments.
Essentials of Psychology86
Developmental Research Techniques
To study phenomena of any kind we need to understand how
they’re either distinct or similar. In the study of humans, for
example, we may want to understand the extent to which intelli-
gence measures change as a function of age. And, at the same
time, we may want to learn how levels of measurable intelli-
gence vary—or are similar—for people of the same age. Thus,
a cross-sectional study could sample IQ scores for people of dif-
ferent ages at a given point in time. (A cross-sectional study is
like snapshot.) Or we might use a longitudinal study to see how
IQ scores change over time as people develop through childhood,
adolescence, and so on. (An ongoing longitudinal study is like a
series of frames in a film. We can see the pattern over time.) To
combine both kinds of studies, we can use sequential research.
For example, we could study IQ in three groups—12-year-olds,
14-year-olds, and 17-year-olds. Then we take a cross-sectional
snapshot every three months for three years, as each group
gets older. Since comparisons can be both within groups and
between groups, we have the “best of both worlds,” assuming
we can come up with the funding for this sort of study.
Prenatal Development: Conception to Birth
This section traces prenatal development with an emphasis
on the transfer of genetic inheritance from the parents. Here,
we’ll simply highlight a few key terms.
As you’re likely to have learned in a biology course, conception
occurs when sperm and egg get together to form a zygote.
For the first two weeks after conception, the zygote is in a
germinal phase—basically as a tiny ball of cells. An embryonic
period (phase) proceeds from week 2 to week 8, during which
we call the developing child an embryo. From around week 8
onward until birth, the developing child is known as a fetus.
A fetus reaches the age of viability at about 22 weeks. A fetus
is viable if it can survive premature birth.
You’ll be introduced to a variety of ways in which genetic
inheritance influences the fetus, including the unfortunate
development of Down syndrome or sickle-cell trait. Prenatal
environmental influences that can negatively impact the fetus
are called teratogens. Teratogens, which lead to birth defects,
may include side-effects of drugs, alcohol, and smoking.
Lesson 3 87
Infancy and Childhood
The Extraordinary Newborn
Newly born people are called neonates. Neonates are born
with a range of reflexes. For example, in the rooting reflex, a
baby turns its head toward things that touch his or her
cheek, like a mother’s breast. In the Babinski reflex, baby’s
toes fan out when the outer edge of the sole of the foot is
stroked. Babies are also born with a startle reflex, a sucking
reflex, and a gag reflex. These early reflexes fade out pretty
quickly as the child learns more complex ways of responding
to stimuli. An infant’s senses develop rapidly. Even very
young infants can follow the motion of a moving object, and a
child can recognize a mother’s voice within three days.
The Growing Child: Infancy through
Middle Childhood
From infancy to childhood, physical, social, and cognitive
development move onward with remarkable speed. The
development of social bonds and attachments are crucial to
being human. You’ll be introduced to the famous monkey
experiments of Harry Harlow—to learn that our closer evolu-
tionary cousins also need bonds of attachment, especially to
a mother or mother surrogate. More importantly, you’ll be
introduced to the research of Mary Ainsworth. Her work,
through the Ainsworth strange situation studies, established
four kinds of infant-mother attachment: secure, avoidant,
ambivalent, and disorganized-disoriented. You can probably
get the gist of what those terms imply, but your text will help
you sort out the differences.
Other factors considered here include
n The father’s role—Daddy may interact with his child
differently than mom, but both kinds of attachments
are important to healthy child development.
n Social relationships with peers—Children learn an awful
lot about relationships, other people, and approved social
behavior from other kids.
n Consequences of child-care outside the home—In a world
where both parents often work full-time, day-care has
become an enormous industry. Is that a good thing?
Study this topic to decide for yourself.
Parenting styles have a crucial bearing on how a child is
socialized. (To be socialized is to learn how to get along in the
world through interaction with others.) You’ll want to be
quite familiar with the four primary parenting styles and
their likely impact on a child.
1. Authoritarian parenting—The “Do as I say, not as I
do . . . or else” parenting style encourages children to be
unsociable, unfriendly, and withdrawn.
2. Permissive parenting—The permissive style involves on-
again off-again approval or disapproval. The child has to
cope with the parents’ emotional immaturity. Permissibly
raised kids tend to be moody, dependent, and lacking in
self-control.
3. Authoritative parenting—“Because we love you, we set
boundaries. We expect you to follow them, and here’s
why.” Authoritative parenting encourages independence,
good social skills, and self-reliance.
4. Uninvolved parenting—“I don’t care what you do, just
don’t bother me.” Neglectful, uninvolved parenting leads
to adults who may be indifferent to others and con-
demned to a life of mental and emotional problems.
On the other hand, children arrive with differences in tem-
perament. So, while the authoritative style may be ideal, it
may not be ideal for all children. In other words, there can be
limits to effective parenting that aren’t actually the fault of
the parents.
Essentials of Psychology88
Lesson 3 89
Erikson’s Theory of
Psychosocial Development
Personality theorist Erik Erikson divided human life into
categories called life stages. During each life stage, a conflict
arises between personal motivations and the world’s expecta-
tions. This conflict is called the psychosocial dilemma. For
example, during the second stage of life, the psychosocial
dilemma is autonomy versus shame and doubt. Children may
develop a sense of autonomy and self-control if they aren’t
caused to feel shameful and to doubt their abilities. The other
seven life stages have similar dilemmas. Each dilemma must
be mastered to promote healthy development and avoid
personal crisis.
The four dilemmas faced in childhood are
1. Trust versus mistrust—The first stage of the life cycle
occurs during the first year of life. Caregivers during this
stage are crucial in helping an infant feel safe and pro-
tected. When such care is absent, trust may not develop,
and all the life challenges that follow will be made more
difficult. Mistrust may develop due to insufficient
parenting.
2. Autonomy versus shame and doubt—The second stage
occurs between ages one and three. A sense of autonomy
may be developed during this stage. Autonomy is a sense
of self-control and independence. Children who feel
shameful for acting independently will doubt their power
to act on their own.
3. Initiative versus guilt—Stage three occurs during the
third and fifth year of life. During this stage, initiative
may be developed and reinforced. Guilt instilled by care-
givers strangles initiative. A child’s guilt is linked to the
feeling that he or she should conform and obey instead
of acting on his or her own judgment.
4. Industry versus inferiority—The fourth stage of the life
cycle occurs during the elementary school years (ages
6–12). Industry is developed when children are rewarded
for adapting and achieving in the classroom and on the
playground. If their actions are discouraged, children
may develop a sense of inferiority.
Essentials of Psychology90
Piaget’s Theory of
Cognitive Development
How does a child’s understanding of the world change as he
or she matures? That’s a question famously addressed by the
work of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. What you’ll need to
master here are Piaget’s four cognitive developmental stages.
In preview:
1. Sensorimotor stage: Birth to 2 years—The world is mainly
experienced in terms of direct sensory contact related to
motor development. Touch, smell, sucking, chewing,
and object focus are related to motor skills development.
At this stage, a child lacks the concept of object
permanence. Let’s say I show baby a doll, hide the doll
behind my back, and then show baby the doll again. For
baby, the doll exists when it’s visible and simply van-
ishes when it isn’t visible. (Doll there. Doll all gone. Doll
back again! Yea!)
2. Preoperational stage: 2 to 7 years—The child now uses
mental symbols (images) to identify objects, which are
also identified by language. The preoperational child sees
the world entirely from his or her personal perspective.
Piaget called this egocentric thought. And while object
permanence is now understood, the child doesn’t grasp
the principle of conservation. If I put four ounces of
orange juice in a tall glass cylinder and the same amount
of juice in a squat glass, the child can’t grasp that there’s
the same amount of juice in each container. As the
shape changes, the child assumes that the volume
of liquid also changes.
3. Concrete operational stage: 7 to 12 years—The child
now grasps the principle of conservation, within limits.
Also, egocentric thought is shifting toward imaging the
perspective of other people. However, the capacity for
abstract thought isn’t developed. For example, I ask a
child a question: “If a pig could fly, would it still be a
pig?” Typical responses might be, “That’s silly; a pig can’t
fly,” or maybe, “It would be an airplane pig.” The abstract
idea that a pig with wings would no longer be a pig but
Essentials of Psychology90
Lesson 3 91
some other species, or the idea that a flying pig is a
metaphor for something that can’t happen wouldn’t
come up.
4. Formal operational stage: 12 years to adulthood—Now
the child is capable of abstract thought and formal logic.
A + B = X can be understood as a general equation. A
conclusion must follow from a correct premise. Maybe.
In fact, some people seem never to arrive at this stage.
Indeed, some researchers have argued that formal opera-
tional thinking simply doesn’t exist in some cultures.
For those who reject or doubt Piaget’s stage model of cognitive
development, there’s the information-processing perspective.
To some extent, this approach draws on digital processing
technology, at least by way of analogy. People develop cognitive
facilities as functions of things like increased processing time,
based on experience, and the fact that memory increases
dramatically with age. In the context of the information-
processing perspective, metacognition arises as people
become capable of understanding and monitoring their
own thought processes. In effect, we become capable of
reconfiguring our cognitive “programs.”
Vygotsky’s View of Cognitive
Development: Considering Culture
The Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky argued
(convincingly) that cognitive development is related to social
interaction. In particular, he maintains that children’s cogni-
tive skills increase when new information falls within their
zone of proximal development (ZPD). For example, a child who
has some grasp of musical notation, chording, and so on
learns more when exposed to teachers who provide new
information that amplifies and enlarges upon the content
already present in the child’s ZPD. Such assistance, rendered
by teachers, coaches, and even parents, is called scaffolding.
The mentor provides a scaffold of information that elaborates
and adds to what the child already knows.
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Adolescence
Physical Development: The Changing Adolescent
This section summarizes information about physiological
changes that occur at puberty. You should recall that the
onset of puberty in girls is marked by the onset of
menstruation, while the comparable event in boys is the
first ejaculation, called spermarche.
Moral and Cognitive Development:
Distinguishing Right from Wrong
Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is the con-
tent of this section. Kohlberg distinguishes three levels of
moral development. Each level is related to age and social
development. The levels were determined by sorting responses
to moral dilemmas presented to people of different ages. For
example, “A poor man steals a drug for his sick wife. Is his
decision right or wrong?”
The preconventional level of moral thinking is marked by a
focus on self-interest. Children are especially likely to see
moral issues in terms of pleasure or punishment. “It’s bad to
steal cookies because you get spanked,” a child might say.
Another might say, “If I clean up my room, Mom lets me go
shopping.”
The conventional level of moral thinking is typical of the
adolescent years. It’s motivated by receiving approval from
others or for being a good person. For example, “I would
never smoke because people would think I’m a bad person.”
Conventional morality upholds the law and obeys authority
at all costs.
The postconventional level of moral thinking is marked by
rationality and universal moral principles. Laws are evaluated
on a rational basis but are upheld for the good of the people.
In terms of the civil-rights movement, for example, nonviolent
demonstrators would suffer legal consequences for breaking
established laws. In terms of a universal moral principle,
emphasis is placed on justice and equality. In this ideal
view, laws should serve all people, not specific groups or
organizations.
Lesson 3 93
Arguments against Kohlberg’s stages of moral development
have been developed by his colleague, Carol Gilligan. In her
research, she found that females generally promoted caring
in moral development, while males promoted justice in moral
development. In addition, students of Kohlberg have noted
that his stages of moral development don’t work well for the
governance of, by, and for the people. Only a small percent-
age of adults seem to reach the postconventional level. A high
percentage of people are inclined to obey an authority that’s
considered legal, even if it isn’t particularly moral. Perhaps
our society should seriously consider moral instruction in the
early years. Maybe we should pay more attention to Gilligan’s
findings, especially when choosing political and business
leaders.
Social Development:
Finding Oneself in a Social World
This section returns you to the psychosocial development
theories of Eric Erikson.
n Identity versus role confusion—The fifth stage occurs
during adolescence. Teens experience the need to dis-
cover who they are and to develop a sense of identity.
Conflicting identities often lead to role confusion.
n Intimacy versus isolation—The sixth stage occurs during
young adulthood. Individuals in this stage achieve inti-
macy if they’re able to open themselves up to others and
share feelings and experiences. Isolation occurs when
intimacy isn’t established.
n Generativity versus stagnation—The seventh stage occurs
during middle adulthood. The term generativity for
Erikson means working to help yourself and others find
a fulfilling balance among work, play, and intimacy. In
short, generativity is largely about balancing self-concern
with concern for others. If your early achievements have
been thin or limited, moving toward generativity may be
difficult. The alternative to generativity, stagnation, is a
sterile, empty focus on self. Erikson identifies the chal-
lenge of middle adulthood as living for yourself alone or
living for the benefit of others and society.
Essentials of Psychology94
n Integrity versus despair—The eighth and final stage
occurs in late adulthood. To paraphrase Shakespeare, if
you stay true to yourself, it follows that you can’t be
false to any other. That line expresses the idea of
integrity. You live your life as well as you can, owning up
to your mistakes, taking responsibility when others
haven’t, and allowing your gains in life to be of value to
both yourself and to others. In a world that encourages
competition at any cost, integrity often goes unnoticed. A
person in this stage will experience despair if he or she
hasn’t developed a sense of integrity.
The remainder of this section addresses the apparent myth
of adolescence as a time of stormy rebellion and alienation.
Actual research suggests that, for most, adolescence is
neither a catastrophe nor a gambol through fields of daisies.
Adolescence has its ups and downs, pretty much like life in
general. On the other hand, the discussion of teen suicide
does raise questions about just how healthy “life in general”
is in our society.
Adulthood
Physical Development: The Peak of Health
The peak of physical health is about 25 years of age. From
then on, the mechanical-coordinative capacities of the body
tend to gradually decline. So, indeed, there are biological, cogni-
tive, and social effects of aging. Probably the most distinct
one occurs in late middle adulthood as women undergo
menopause (the cessation of ovulation and menstruation).
And while there’s no male equivalent of menopause, sperm
count and levels of sexual activity gradually decline.
Otherwise, physical aging tends to vary from one individual
to another. The biological effects include diminished muscu-
lar strength, poor coordination, reduced lung capacity, and a
slower reaction time. However, the idea that getting old
means getting sick is mainly untrue. Most older people stay
relatively healthy.
Lesson 3 95
Social Development: Working at Life
This section briefly reviews phases of the typical American life
cycle. Adulthood gets underway in our society as we leave the
parental nest and strike out on our own. Lives tend to focus
on choosing careers and pursuing them. However, as people
get into their 40s, they may undergo a midlife transition, or
even some kind of a midlife crisis. Mortality looms. Signs of
aging have appeared. One looks back and wonders if he or
she has chosen the right path in life.
Beyond whatever midlife transition that may occur, most of
us glide onward, focusing on the present and making the
best of things. Finally, during the later stages of adulthood,
people become more accepting of others, less troubled by
things that used to worry them, and more inclined to enjoy
the simple things in life.
Marriage, Children, and Divorce: Family Ties
Patterns of family life have changed considerably over the past
half-century. For one thing, the ideal of a society mainly made
up of married couples raising families seems like ancient
history. Today, young people are marrying later, a significant
number of couples live together without being married,
and, increasingly, families are headed by single parents.
Meanwhile, the divorce rate for first marriages remains
near 50 percent.
Part of the reason for these trends, aside from the impact of
frenetic lifestyles in industrialized societies, is changing gen-
der roles. Nearly 75 percent of women raising children work
outside the home. Yet, even as it typically takes two incomes
these days to sustain a more or less middle-class lifestyle,
women remain saddled with both work roles and traditional
household roles. Women are now juggling full-time jobs, even
as they remain primarily responsible for the housework and
childcare. This pattern is referred to as the second shift.
Work all day, be mom all night, sleep when you can.
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Physical Changes in Late Adulthood
Aging brings about physiological changes. Or put another
way, people get old. There are two dominant theories of
aging:
1. The genetic preprogramming theory of aging holds that
human cells have built-in “self-destruct” mechanisms. In
fact, however, programmed cell death (called apoptosis)
happens throughout the life cycle. The cells of the body
are replaced on a regular basis; old cells die as new cells
are born. Presumably, however, if this theory is correct,
the body is also preprogrammed to shut down the cell
replacement process after some period of time. (In princi-
ple, under ideal conditions, human physiology should be
self-sustaining up to the age of 120.)
2. The wear-and-tear theory simply maintains that the
mechanical functions of the body work less efficiently as
years go by. Joints creak and give out. Muscles wear out.
Digestive processes work less well. In short, our body,
like that of the used Chevy, is good for only a limited
number of miles.
Cognitive Changes in Later Adulthood
The cognitive effects of aging vary, but they aren’t very pro-
nounced. The brain doesn’t shrink, for example, and while
memory may not work quite as well as it did, the capacity for
abstract and creative thought may actually increase. Many
successful novelists are over the age of 50. The idea that the
mind remains active throughout the life cycle recently has
received scientific support. You’ll recall the concept of
neurogenesis, the finding that cerebral neurons continue to
develop even as we age. Of course, there’s also evidence that
people either use it or lose it. Being mentally active goes
along with successful thinking and high levels of creativity,
like those found among many artists and active intellectuals.
Lesson 3 97
The Social World of Later Adulthood
According to the disengagement theory of aging, people
gradually withdraw from the world—physically, socially, and
psychologically. Withdrawal permits more time for reflection,
and decreased emotional investment in relationships, after
all, must end in death.
By contrast, the activity theory of aging maintains that people
who age successfully keep up the active life and social rela-
tionships of middle adulthood. Instead of withdrawing, one
keeps on keeping on. However, it seems that either keeping it
going or withdrawing will accompany a process of life review.
We examine and evaluate our lives, maybe a bit like a film
critic.
Before proceeding to the next assignment, take a moment
to complete Self-Check 8. Remember, you can check your
answers by turning to the back of this study guide.
Essentials of Psychology98
Self-Check 8
1. A researcher fills a short, squat glass with precisely one pint of an amber liquid. She puts this
beside a tall glass cylinder that also contains precisely one pint of the amber liquid. She then
asks a child which container contains the most liquid. The child selects the tall cylinder, in
which the fluid level is higher. Piaget would say this child hasn’t mastered the principle of
_______.
2. In the view of Eric Erikson, the developmental challenge of _______ is identity versus
role-confusion.
3. The _______ parenting style is to lax discipline and inconsistent direction as the _______
style is to firm but gently established limits.
4. For Lev Vygotsky, the zone of _______ development is the level at which a child is ready to
increase his or her skill or knowledge if given scaffolding assistance from a mentor or teacher.
5. The intimate emotional bond that occurs between an infant and its immediate caregiver is a
crucial phase in a child’s _______ development. According to Mary Ainsworth, the ideal form
of this bond is called a/an _______ attachment.
6. The _______ theory of aging is to withdrawal from social obligations as the _______ theory
of aging is a happier old age through remaining busy and socially engaged.
7. The first stage of psychosocial development, according to Erikson, is _______ versus
_______.
8. According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, many people never get beyond the level
of ______ morality.
9. If we take a/an _______-processing approach to cognitive development, what we need to
know is how people take in, use, and store information.
10. For Piaget, the formal _______ stage of cognitive development isn’t reached until a child is
about 12 years old.
Check your answers with those on page 171.
Lesson 3 99
ASSIGNMENT 9—PERSONALITY
AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Read this assignment. Then read pages 334–385 in your
textbook.
Psychodynamic Approaches to
Personality
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: Mapping
the Unconscious Mind
You already know that Sigmund Freud invented an approach
to the study of psychology called psychoanalytic theory. Here,
you’ll explore Freud’s model of personality structure. A
structure, as the term is used here, refers to the parts of the
human psyche. Since these parts can’t actually be observed,
the structure we refer to is actually a structure of ideas or
concepts. Remember that the term psyche (derived from
the Greek word for soul) is the root of the word psychology,
which is the study of the psyche. Freud didn’t believe in
a religious idea of the soul. His psychoanalytic (psyche-
analyzing) theory simply refers to all the invisible things that
cause us to think, feel, and behave as we do. Freud created
an interesting and innovative way to think about the human
psyche. Here’s an introduction to Freud’s main ideas about
the structure of personality:
n The id is the primal part of the psyche. It’s the uncon-
scious source of instincts and drives, and it’s also the
source of the psyche’s life-energy. Freud called this
energy libido. The id, above all, wants. It’s driven by the
pleasure principle. The id wants pleasure, and it doesn’t
want pain. “No pain, no gain” wouldn’t be an id quote.
n The ego is sometimes called the “executive branch” of the
psyche. It’s the part of the psyche we identify with most
because it’s primarily conscious. The ego decides when the
id should get what it wants by using the reality principle.
Essentials of Psychology100
The ego instructs us to wait when the id says “Now!”
The ego makes plans to get pleasure, avoid pain, and
reduce guilt.
n The superego supervises the thoughts and actions of the
ego. It’s where we store guilt. The superego speaks to us
through tugs of remorse and moral regret, helping us
differentiate between good and bad. Therefore, one part
of the superego is our conscience.
Among the first important insights Freud developed was the
idea of the unconscious. Freud’s ideas of the psyche are often
depicted as an iceberg. Only the tip (the ego and a small part
of the superego) is fully conscious. The greater mass of the
iceberg is unconscious. The superego rises to consciousness
when we experience feelings of guilt. These feelings occur
when the buried—and not necessarily reasonable—standards
of the superego haven’t been met. When the ego can’t control
the id, we experience neurotic anxiety. When the superego
fills us with guilt, we experience moral anxiety. The
preconscious contains information that can be pulled into
consciousness. The point to remember is that unconscious
drives from the id or the superego motivate most behaviors.
Developing Personality:
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Freud’s ideas of personality development are based on levels of
sensory focus. Freud began his scientific career as a student of
human physiology. (His first important scientific achievement
was the discovery of the testes of the eel.) For Freud, personality
development depends on developing practical ways to satisfy
the id’s demands. Freud divided personality development into
psychosexual stages.
n The oral stage can be associated with an infant’s sucking
reflexes. Nursing is the first pleasure, experienced orally.
You may have heard people say that another person has
an “oral personality.” In Freudian terms, they’re saying
one of two things. They might mean that the person is
oral-dependent, which means he or she is naïve, gullible,
and dependent. They also might be saying that the per-
son is oral-aggressive. This means that the person is
cynical, prone to sarcasm, and inclined to exploit others.
Lesson 3 101
n The anal stage occurs between ages one and three.
Someone fixated at this stage is said to be anal-retentive if
they’re stubborn, stingy, compulsively neat, and terrified of
bacteria and germs. By contrast, the anal-expulsive person
would be messy, cruel, disorderly, and destructive.
n The phallic stage occurs between ages three and six.
In this stage, the focus of bodily pleasure shifts to the
genitals. The fixated phallic personality is said to be a
vain, sensitive, narcissistic exhibitionist. (Narcissism is
generally associated with self-fascination or self-love.)
Rock and film stars might score high on a phallic
personality scale.
This stage is also the inner battleground for sexual identity.
Males undergo the inner turmoil of the Oedipus complex,
while females experience an equivalent Electra complex. In
Greek legend, the tragic Oedipus tries to avoid a prophecy
that he’ll kill his father and marry his mother (although the
prophecy proves true eventually). The Electra myth recounts
a similar tragedy for a female. The inner child secretly wishes
to possess the parent of the opposite sex and dispose of the
parent of the same sex. Since achieving these outcomes is
unspeakable, they’re repressed into the unconscious and
remain there unresolved. Freud’s phallic stage has raised
many female eyebrows because in it he claims that females
suffer from “penis envy.” Also controversial is the idea that
children have active sexuality, though it has been proven
true through behavioral research. (However, the idea that
females suffer from penis envy remains absurd.)
n The latency period is thought to be a period during which
a child’s sexuality is on hold. It isn’t a psychosexual
stage. Actual research regarding this matter is mixed. It
isn’t clear that sexual impulses in children aged six to
puberty (12 to 14) are entirely buried. However, secondary
sexual characteristics, triggered by hormones, haven’t
begun to appear.
n The genital stage is the culmination of one’s Freudian
journey. Puberty occurs. Hormones sing, and romantic
love competes with acne for a teenager’s attention. If all
has gone well according to Freud, Oedipus and Electra
complexes are put to rest. Males identify with being
male, and females identify with being female.
Essentials of Psychology102
Freud was the first to identify many of the common defense
mechanisms. In general, defense mechanisms are psychologi-
cal stratagems, usually unconscious, that help us protect our
self-esteem and our sense of self-worth. They also help us
protect ourselves from psychological trauma.
n Denial allows us to protect ourselves from the psycholog-
ical impact of an event or stimulus. When confronted
with a potential threat, such as a serious disease, we
may enter a state of denial. “This can’t be happening to
me.” If a loved one dies, we may say, “No, it can’t be true.”
Denial can also take the form of avoidance. By passing
homeless people on the street, we protect ourselves by
denying the severity of their condition.
n Repression is a psychological mechanism by which
unacceptable sights, thoughts, or impulses are buried in
the unconscious. We may repress murderous feelings
about someone whom we dislike. Repression also
defends us against fully taking in the sights, sounds,
and feelings surrounding a traumatic event, such as an
auto accident that we witness or are involved in.
n In reaction formation, we not only repress certain
impulses, but also try to cover them up by acting in
opposition to those impulses. If we feel lust in our
hearts, we may be outspoken in our condemnation of
those who engage in promiscuous sexual behavior. If we
hold secret prejudices, we might speak out boldly and
aggressively against prejudice.
n Regression is common among siblings. A firstborn child
may regress to infantile behavior after a baby brother is
brought home. The regression is an effort to regain the
attention that the child once had, which is now being
lavished on his or her new sibling.
n Projection protects us from revealing our faults. Ever
have a sense of disgust or revulsion toward the attitudes
of another? Chances are good that you’re projecting your
own hidden attitudes onto that person. What we dislike
in another is often what we secretly dislike in ourselves.
Lesson 3 103
n Rationalization is creating a plausible—but false—reason
to justify why you did or didn’t do something. Using the
classic excuse “My dog ate my homework” is a way of
rationalizing why an assignment wasn’t completed or
turned in on time. As with many other defenses, we
rationalize our behavior to guard our sense of self-worth.
n Compensation occurs when we achieve more because we
feel that we have less. Your textbook cites the amazing
example of Helen Keller, who overcame blindness and
deafness to become a major contributor to literature and
modern thought. Compensation can include any form
of vocation or avocation that diminishes feelings of
inferiority.
n In sublimation, we work off frustrated desires by shifting
our energy to other pursuits. Freud believed that sexual
desire (libido) could be sublimated by achievements in
areas that expressed passion without sex. Art, dance,
literature, scientific pursuits, or even a devotion to
surfing could redirect sexual energy.
Freud’s influence on popular culture has been enormous
for two reasons: First, some of his insights are very useful.
Second, Freud’s ideas about sexuality, dreams, the
unconscious, and even science and religion have fascinated
people. In a modern world where so little is explained about
the human experience, Freud offered ideas that educated
people could relate to. Since educated people are those
who tend to influence social policies, Freud popped up in
schoolrooms, boardrooms, and bedrooms across Europe,
America, and elsewhere. However, one must discriminate
among Freud’s ideas. His structural model can’t be empirically
verified. Some of his ideas appear simply to be wrong. On
the other hand, some of his ideas remain influential and
important.
Essentials of Psychology104
The Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts:
Building on Freud
Sigmund Freud felt that Carl Gustav Jung, a pioneering
psychologist, would be his intellectual heir. It didn’t turn
out that way. Jung broke away from Freud to create an
enormous body of work that has yet to be fully absorbed
into psychological theory. (“Jung” is pronounced “Yung” in
German. Carl was raised in a Swiss canton that used the
German language.) Among Jung’s best-known contributions
is his understanding that we’re connected by universal
collective unconscious. Swimming about in this primal sea are
fundamental human symbols or forms he called archetypes.
For example, the hag, often represented by our ideas about
witches, seems to be a universal motif, under different
names. The cat may appear in our dreams as an archetypal
symbol of the godlike feminine. The Egyptian goddess Isis
was represented as a cat, just as the cow was the archetypal
symbol humanized by the Greeks into the form of the god-
dess Hera, wife of Zeus.
Karen Horney (pronounced HORN-eye) developed a neo-Freudian
approach to psychoanalysis. Often called the first feminist
psychologist, she maintained that personality develops in
the context of social relationships. She also emphasized the
importance of culture with respect to things like gender role.
Alfred Adler, another important neo-Freudian, felt that the drive
for superiority was foremost in human motivation. People want
to be “the best they can be.” Given that attaining this sort of per-
sonality ideal is anything but easy, Adler paid a lot of attention
to the need many have for overcoming inferiority complexes.
Adler’s approach, not unlike classic psychoanalysis, gave a lot
of attention to childhood experiences and conflicted parental
relationships.
Lesson 3 105
Trait, Learning, Biological and
Evolutionary, and Humanistic
Approaches to Personality
Trait Approaches: Placing Labels on Personality
The basic idea behind trait theory is that different personality
traits can be classified. Individual traits define specific personal
qualities. Such traits include cheerfulness, sociability,
intelligence, and honesty. In trait theory, a central trait,
like friendliness or assertiveness, may be differentiated from
secondary traits, which are less stable and often change.
Political attitudes, diet preferences, or attitudes toward
wildlife preservation are examples of secondary traits that
may change over time. Secondary traits are considered more
superficial than central traits; they’re less important to a
person’s self-concept.
Your text focuses on two well-known trait models. Hans Eysenck
drew on Jung’s ideas and a mathematical technique called fac-
tor analysis to come up with three basic trait clusters. He called
them extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. Relatively
positive traits, like “sociable,” “lively,” “active,” “assertive,”
and “sensation-seeking,” cluster under extraversion. Negative
traits cluster under the other two major trait groups.
The five-factor model is a popular trait theory. Indeed, it’s
often employed by corporate human resources departments.
The model, like Eysenk’s, is derived from factor analysis that
correlates a large number of traits derived from interviews
and questionnaires. It has become popular because a wide
range of studies in different populations and different cultures
have come up with the same “big five” trait clusters. They are
1. Openness to experience
2. Neuroticism (degree of emotional stability)
3. Conscientiousness
4. Agreeableness
5. Extraversion
The research issue that plagues trait theories is deciding
what traits are actually primary factors in personality.
Essentials of Psychology106
Learning Approaches: We Are What We’ve Learned
Personality for the behaviorist is a pattern of conditioned or
learned behaviors. Mysteries of the unconscious are given little
or no attention. And inner mental states are referred to only
when they’re directly related to observable behaviors. Thus,
behaviorist learning theories—based on classical or operant
conditioning models—reject the concept of personality traits.
Behaviors are determined by responses to stimuli alone. In this
view, personality is made up of habits (learned behaviors). A
habit is formed by repeated responses to a drive. A drive is a
stimulus that evokes a behavioral response. Cues are environmen-
tal signals. Cues may seem to offer rewards (or punishments)
for actual behaviors.
Social reinforcements also shape behavior. Praise, attention, and
approval from other people influence the actions that people take.
This is especially true for children, who learn many behaviors
based on the social reinforcements they receive from their parents.
Social-cognitive approaches to personality emphasize thoughts,
feelings, expectations, and values, as well as one’s observations
of the behavior of others. Since this model is mainly the work
of Albert Bandura (to whom you were introduced earlier on),
you won’t be surprised to learn that observational learning
stands out as highly significant in how we tend to favor some
personality traits over others. In that context, Bandura stresses
the importance of self-efficacy. People are high in a measure
of self-efficacy when they feel they can address and handle
situations and challenges. High self-efficacy is positively
related to goal attainment and achievement.
You should note that both kinds of learning models stress
the importance of the interaction between people and their
environments.
Biological and Evolutionary Approaches: Are We
Born with Personality?
Behavioral geneticists search out evidence that personality
traits are, to some extent, linked to genetic inheritance.
Indeed, researchers in this field suggest that infants are
born with predispositions to particular kinds of temperament. In
the context of behavioral genetics, the concept of temperament
Lesson 3 107
refers to an innate disposition. Some infants are born easygoing.
Others are born cranky and demanding. These patterns
appear to persist into adolescence and beyond.
Humanistic Approaches: The Uniqueness of You
Anne Frank, who died in the Nazi holocaust, is famous for
her diary. In those pages she wrote, “I feel at last that people
are good at heart.” Humanistic theories begin with that
premise: people are basically good. However, in taking a
positive view of human nature, humanistic psychologists
aren’t being naïve. What they offer is hope for making things
better through self-knowledge and personal growth. They
believe that people have the power of free choice. Your
textbook focuses on two major contributors to humanistic
psychology—Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. You’re
already familiar with Abraham Maslow’s view of human
motivation. Recall the pyramid of needs, ranging from four
kinds of basic needs to growth needs. In humanistic
approaches, the focus is on the top of the needs pyramid
and the goal of self-actualization.
Carl Rogers could be thought of as a psychologist’s version of
the famous Mr. Rogers of children’s television. On a personal
level, he had a gift for making people feel welcome and
accepted. His humanistic psychology is, in a way, an exten-
sion of his compassionate personality. Above all, Rogers felt
we could be fully functioning people only to the extent that
we lived authentic lives. But, to do that we must strive for
congruence among our self-image, our ideal self, and our
true self.
To reach congruence and authenticity, Rogers felt that we
should encourage our children by offering them unconditional
positive regard. If that sounds a bit like unconditional love,
you’re right. Rogers wanted people to be very specific about
how they express nurturing love. He wanted child-raising to
be free from conditions of worth. We should correct misbe-
havior as one would correct a mistake, without threatening
the self-worth of the person.
A major criticism of humanistic psychology is its assumption
that “people are good at heart.” Anne Frank, after all, died of
cholera in a Nazi concentration camp. Thus, we’re reminded
Essentials of Psychology108
both of the better angels of human nature and humanity’s
dark side in one image, so to speak. On the other hand,
assuming people are innocent until proven guilty may be a
healthier approach to humane societies than assuming that
the CIA, weapons of mass destruction, and a flourishing
prisons industry must ever be with us.
Assessing Personality
Psychological tests are standard measures intended to measure
behavioral data in an objective way. In fact, what we mean
by “objective” in this context turns out to mean quantifiable.
To the extent that we can code a response to a survey, ques-
tionnaire, or test into numbers, we can use statistics to sort
and comprehend the data.
“Quantifiable” psychological tests can’t be considered useful
unless they’re both reliable and valid. A test is valid if it
measures what it’s intended to measure. A test is reliable if it
yields consistent response patterns each time it’s given to an
individual or group.
Self-Report Measures of Personality
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is
a widely used personality inventory. It consists of 567 items.
One reason this test has so many items is redundancy. The
same kind of activity or attitude is looked at in many differ-
ent ways to screen out the tendency of people to “tell us what
we want to hear.” Responses produce a profile of personality
traits that can assess clinical problems as well as suggest
optimal vocations.
In assessing an MMPI-2, responses to all of the items are
sorted to identify psychological or personality factors, ranging
from attitudes about authority to occupational-task “fit.”
When the MMPI-2 is used for clinical purposes, it focuses on
clinical scales derived from item-response patterns. Clinical
scales include “depression,” “hysteria,” and “hypomania”
(a tendency to impulsiveness and overactivity).
Lesson 3 109
In general terms, a test like the MMPI-2 is standardized to make
sure it’s both valid and reliable. The process of standardization
consists, in effect, of administration, replication, and adjust-
ment. In the case of the MMPI-2, the test was administered to
all kinds of specified populations, such as artists, police offi-
cers, engineers, diagnosed schizophrenics, identified sufferers
from anxiety disorders, and so on. Items that turned out to
be irrelevant or ambiguous were scratched. New items were
added as seemed advisable. So, as you can now imagine,
standardizing any kind of psychological test is a tedious,
meticulous process—not unlike other kinds of scientific
research.
Projective Methods
Projective tests are used primarily to assess possible person-
ality disorders. They include the famous Rorschach test and
the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). The Rorschach—also
known as the inkblot test—consists of patterned blots of ink
on paper that people interpret as different forms, objects, and
shapes. The TAT requires a person to interpret pictures with
ambiguous content. The stories or interpretations that people
offer for each picture may speak volumes about a person’s
personality.
You should understand that the use of projective tests requires
quite a bit of training. Further, standards for interpreting
projective tests remain unclear. They’re generally seen as a
guide or set of clues, rather than as hard data.
Behavioral Assessment
Basically, behavioral assessment amounts to observing behavior
from a learning-theory perspective. It is, in effect, a particular
kind of naturalistic observation technique. For example,
researchers posing as visitors, or maybe as substitute teachers,
sit in the school lunchroom to observe preadolescent behavior,
take notes, and get ideas for posing testable hypotheses
about aggressive behavior patterns in elementary schools.
(Rating scales may be prepared to help the evaluator organize
his or her observations.) Or, perhaps, to assess and treat
cases of shyness in children, a therapist observes the way
particular children behave in an intimate play setting involv-
ing a small group of playmates.
Essentials of Psychology110
Intelligence
Intelligence is the capacity to think rationally, act purpose-
fully, and adapt well to one’s environment. You’re acting
rationally when you can think through a problem and come
to a conclusion that makes sense. To do that, you need
accurate information. This would suggest that learning is
related to intelligence. The more you know, the more access
you have to accurate information. Acting purposefully means
that your actions achieve your goals in practical ways. This
involves efficient use of resources. Acting adaptively means
that what you rationally conceive in pursuing your purposes
is realistic and practical for you and for others.
Theories of Intelligence: Are There Different
Kinds of Intelligence?
Early on, psychologists thought of intelligence as a general-
ized factor, a g-factor. Your “g” factor would include all the
aspects of intelligence mentioned in the definition we gave
above. The earliest intelligence tests were based on this point
of view. Today, however, psychologists are more inclined to
see intelligence as multidimensional.
In this context, some psychologists differentiate fluid
intelligence and crystallized intelligence. The former has to do
with information-processing abilities, reasoning, and memory.
The latter has to do with accumulated information, learned
skills, and strategies for solving problems.
Another approach, developed by psychologist Howard
Gardner, maintains that there are multiple intelligences.
These include the following:
n Musical intelligence differentiates a Mozart from one who
can read music but can’t carry a tune or keep the beat.
n Body-kinesthetic intelligence differentiates Tiger Woods
from the weekend duffer. The professional dancer, the
NFL quarterback, and the Olympic gold medalist rate
high in this kind of intelligence.
Lesson 3 111
n Logical-mathematical intelligence permits a few to grasp
the solution to an equation while someone else is still
copying it from the blackboard.
n Linguistic intelligence shines bright among the most
skilled word-crafters. A great poet gets to the roots of
things and spins deep insight from the play of language.
A great novelist breathes life into imagined characters
and allows us to explore the sights and sounds of times
long past.
n Spatial intelligence rose to amazing heights in the mind
of whoever imagined and then guided the creation of the
Great Pyramid at Giza.
n Interpersonal intelligence is the gift of compassionate
empathy that sees into the heart and mind of friend
and foe alike.
n Intrapersonal intelligence reveals the depths of a heart
and mind that has marched far down the path of
self-knowledge.
n Naturalist intelligence is the ability to identify and
classify patterns in nature. Most people on a nature
hike through a forest see lots of leaves. A few, who are
high on naturalist intelligence, see distinct differences
between many kinds of leaves.
Gardner’s multiple intelligences work together. The great
athlete may inspire teammates by way of interpersonal
intelligence. The spatial intelligence of the accomplished
architect interacts with his or her naturalistic and logical-
mathematical intelligences.
Practical Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence
Robert Sternberg’s work sharpens the concept of intelligence
in an interesting way. Noting that most measures of intelli-
gence don’t correlate very well with career success, he would
have us consider the concept of practical intelligence. By
contrast with academic intelligence, practical intelligence is
based on the ability to observe and understand other peoples’
behavior. Consider any organizational ladder to success and
Essentials of Psychology112
notice this: The rungs of the ladder are neither facts nor
skills—however much these may be helpful. The “rungs” are
people. If you don’t know what your boss expects, nothing
else you know will get you another step up the corporate
ladder. If you don’t understand the norms and the culture of
the company you work for, you’re likely to remain a stranger
in a strange land.
Related to practical intelligence is emotional intelligence. The
elemental skill of emotional intelligence is impulse control.
High school–level emotional intelligence allows you to tune in
to the thoughts and feelings of others. Graduate-level emo-
tional intelligence allows you to get along with all kinds of
people under all kinds of circumstances.
Assessing Intelligence
For example, intelligence is a concept that can be opera-
tionally defined. We define intelligence in terms of a high
intelligence quotient (IQ) score (or by an impressive ability to
correctly answer Jeopardy questions). Psychologists attempt
to create useful and reasonable operational definitions for
intelligence.
In science, an operational definition states the specific actions or
procedures used to measure a concept. Operational definitions
of intelligence have been widely expressed by two popular IQ
tests. The two tests are the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales
and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (there’s a separate
Wechsler Scale for adults and for children). The Stanford-
Binet was first used to test schoolchildren. It assessed
intellectual performance by comparing actual age to mental
age. Mental age is the level of intellectual performance expected
at any given age. The Stanford-Binet IQ score is derived in
this way:
Mental age divided by chronological age times 100 = IQ score
We multiply the ratio MA/CA by 100 to derive a standardized
score. For example, if Jody has a chronological age of 8 and
a mental age of 10, his IQ equals 10 divided by 8, or 1.25.
We would then multiply Jody’s score by 100, making his IQ
score 125. That score is considered well above average.
Why? The average of all score values of MA/CA for the general
Lesson 3 113
population is determined by an equal ratio of MA/CA, which
would equal to 1/1. When that ratio is multiplied by 100, the
answer equals 100. Therefore, 100 is the average expected IQ
score for the general population.
Most IQ tests set the average IQ score at 100. That figure is
based on the assumption that, in a general population, IQ
measures will follow what’s called the normal curve or bell
curve.
Today, forms of the Stanford-Binet are used for adults.
However, the most widely used IQ test for adults is one of the
Wechsler Scales. (As noted in your text, there are actually
several variations of the Wechsler IQ tests.)
Variations in Intellectual Ability
Mental retardation indicates a disability in learning, develop-
ment, or behavior. Cases of mental retardation can range
from mild to severe. While low IQ scores generally indicate
this disability, other factors—such as performing everyday
tasks like getting dressed—also play a role in determining
mental retardation too. You should keep in mind that the
mentally retarded aren’t normally disabled where feelings are
concerned. They might not have the same mental capacity as
other people, but they do experience the same feelings and
emotions.
Your textbook points out several factors that may cause men-
tal retardation, suggesting that mental retardation might be
preventable in certain cases. For instance, since retardation
often occurs as a result of fetal damage, as in fetal alcohol
syndrome. So, it would make sense to ensure that pregnant
mothers have adequate diets and that they abstain from
drugs and alcohol. Evidence also confirms that exposure to
toxins in early childhood may be a cause of mental retarda-
tion, so avoiding exposure to toxic substances would be an
obvious preventative measure for mental disabilities. It’s also
important to note that some causes of this disability—like
genetic abnormalities, as in familial retardation—aren’t
preventable.
Essentials of Psychology114
The best studies suggest that people with higher IQs are
more likely to be successful and satisfied with their lives.
Studies like those conducted by Lewis Terman (see page 378
in your textbook) reject the notion that very bright people are
hampered by their intellect and are incapable of common
sense. Additionally, people with high IQs use their intelli-
gence in different ways. Though she has the highest IQ ever
recorded, Marilyn vos Savant hasn’t contributed substantially
to the arts or sciences. By contrast, theoretical physicist
Murray Gel-Mann had only a modestly high IQ, yet his
scientific contributions revolutionized the field of quantum
physics.
Debates continue about the accuracy and fairness of intelli-
gence tests. A popular question centers on how appropriate
IQ tests may be for people raised in different cultures. Given
that the United States is a land of immigrants, much atten-
tion has been given to developing culture-fair tests. These
tests attempt to measure intelligence without being affected
by the person’s cultural experience or background.
When you read about how heredity and the environment
affect intelligence, you should note two things. First, studies
of identical and fraternal twins support the importance of
genetic makeup in determining eventual adult IQ scores
within certain limits. Second, other research suggests that a
child’s environment may have a marked influence on a child’s
IQ score. As the debate over heredity and environment contin-
ues, most psychologists now admit that intelligence is a
product of the interaction of environment and one’s genetic
inheritance.
Now, review the material you’ve learned in this study guide as
well as the assigned pages in your textbook for Assignments
7–9. Once you feel you understand the material, complete
Self-Check 9. Then check your answers with those provided
at the end of this study guide. If you’ve missed any answers,
or you feel unsure of the material, review the assigned pages
in your textbook and this study guide. When you’re sure
that you completely understand the information presented in
Assignments 7–9, complete your examination for Lesson 3.
Lesson 3 115
Self-Check 9
1. The concept of _______ positive regard characterizes Carl Rogers’ approach to helping people
overcome the discrepancy between their experience and their self-concept.
2. If you agree with Albert Bandura, you would say that a person with a high level of _______-
_______ is likely to welcome challenges and strive for achievement.
3. For Sternberg, _______ intelligence amounts to a set of skills beyond the intellectual domain
that assist people’s overall success in career advancement.
4. Both the Rorschach and the TAT are considered to be _______ personality tests.
5. Among Freud’s _______ mechanisms, the primary one, called _______, allows us to push
unacceptable impulses and other sources of anxiety deep into the unconscious mind.
6. Fluid intelligence is to information processing and reasoning abilities as _______ intelligence is
to accumulated knowledge and skills gained through experience.
7. The “Big Five” personality traits include openness to experience, neuroticism, _______,
agreeableness, and extraversion.
8. Having evaluated a person’s responses to the many items on the MMPI-2, a/an _______ of
factors, such as depression and hypomania, can be created to help a therapist identify actual
or potential psychological disorders.
9. According to B. F. Skinner, people are infinitely changeable, and an individual’s personality can
be defined simply as a pattern of _______ behavioral responses that have been encouraged
by the presence or absence of positive reinforcements.
10. Among the neo-Freudian psychoanalysts, Carl Jung offers the concept of the collective
_______ and the presence in that entity of universal symbolic representations he calls
_______.
11. According to Freud, the first stage in one’s psychosexual development is the _______ stage,
while the famous Oedipal complex is associated with the _______ stage.
12. Because IQ scores follow a bell-shape distribution with an average or mean score set at 100,
about 68% of scores from a typical population will range between 85 and _______.
Check your answers with those on page 172.
Essentials of Psychology116
NOTES
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Research Project
OBJECTIVE
To successfully complete this course, you’ll write a research
paper. Your paper should be between three and five double-
spaced pages.
The purpose of your paper will be to persuade your reader,
using factual information from your research, that your posi-
tion on the chosen subject is the most suitable, logical way to
view the topic. You’re asked to choose only one from among
the three specified topics.
PREPARATION
Choose a Topic
In your paper, answer one of the following topics:
1. To what extent is media violence related to aggressive
and violent behavior?
2. Is ordinary waking consciousness a form of hypnotic
trance?
3. Are there multiple intelligences?
Begin Your Research
Regardless of the topic you choose, you’ll want to start with
your text and then explore the outlined sources. Keep in
mind that the Web and print sources you access can always
be used to “snowball” your search for additional sources.
As you carry out your research, be sure to take notes. Note-
taking can often help you figure out how to approach your
chosen topic.
Research Project118
n For Topic 1, begin with your textbook’s brief discussion
of this topic on pages 187–188. To get an introduction
to the social learning theory of Albert Bandura and,
in particular, his famous Bobo doll study, visit
http://tinyurl.com/mx7ay. Since Bandura’s work
as been so influential in respect to linking media exposure
to violent aggressive behavior, you can think of this as
your “anchor site.” The Web site will also give you exten-
sive list of references—should you wish to pursue any of
them. To get a broader angle on this topic, visit
http://tinyurl.com/6t2jnul. The most likely approach
to this topic is taking a stand for or against Bandura’s
work to support (or reject) the hypothesis that media
violence is a causal factor in actual aggressive or violent
behavior.
n For Topic 2, begin with your text’s brief discussion of this
topic on pages 137–138. Your text simply notes extreme
positions regarding whether hypnosis is an identifiable
altered state or basically indistinguishable from ordinary
waking consciousness. However, if you choose this topic,
you can expect to enter territory that’s ordinarily excluded
from undergraduate studies in psychology. Visit
http://tinyurl.com/boswpsm to study an article by
pioneering psychological research Charles R. Tart. The
obvious thesis for this topic is taking a stand pro or
con Tart’s controversial thesis: Ordinary waking con-
sciousness is, in effect, a consensus trance. For a
review of ideas about the nature of hypothesis, visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnosis. Then, for
another angle on Tart’s thinking, use your favorite
search engine to search “subtle Sybil effect.”
n For Topic 3, read your textbook’s brief discussion of this
topic on pages 367–369. Your challenge here is logically
and coherently supporting or rejecting Gardner’s concept
of multiple intelligences. You’ll note in your initial
research that Gardner’s ideas have been quite influential
on education—mainly in the context of addressing differ-
ent learning styles. That fact doesn’t require you to
Research Project 119
support Gardner’s theory. You can either support or
reject Gardner’s theory, even as you point out its limita-
tions. Any of these sites should help you extend your
research. Visit http://tinyurl.com/87ttndt and
http://tinyurl.com/bj58mj. Compare what you find
on the two sites—and especially the proposed ninth
intelligence—called existential intelligence in one case
and existentialist in the other. (Your textbook sticks
with the standard eight intelligences.) You’ll want to
consider this ninth kind of intelligence when you take
a stand for or against Gardner’s model. Then, visit
http://tinyurl.com/neq6z. This will give you a
broader view of ideas about Gardner’s theory.
Note: As a rule, scholars look down on Wikipedia sites
because anyone can edit and change them. However, in
this case, the author has carefully appraised the recom-
mended Wikipedia sites and found them helpful.
PROCESS
The components of your research paper will include the
following:
n A cover sheet
n The body of your paper
n A works cited page where you cite the works and sources
you’ve used to write your paper
Cover Sheet
The first page of your paper will be the cover sheet. Don’t
number it. Provide the following information:
n The title in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
n Your name and student number
Research Project120
n The following information:
Submitted for course SSC 130
Essentials of Psychology
Current date (for example, November 1, 20XX)
n Research project number 05020500
For the sake of appearance, center your paper’s title about
one third of the way down from the top of the page. Skip a
space to center your name and student number. Skip two
lines to insert the submitted for . . . Essentials of Psychology
. . . current date. Skip one more to center the Project
Research Number.
Developing the Body of Your Paper
Use this pattern to develop a first draft of your
research/opinion paper:
1. State your claim.
2. Present your evidence for that claim.
3. Consider objections to your claim and refute those
objections.
4. Conclude your paper.
Research Project 121
Once you’ve chosen your topic, you need to organize your
thoughts into manageable sections:
I. Introduction
A. Topic
1. Clearly state your topic for the reader.
2. Depending on the topic you chose, you may find
it helpful to provide a brief definition of the main
concept behind it.
3. Now is the time you should voice your opinion on
this topic—this is your thesis. Do you agree with
the major tenets of the theories behind its concepts?
If not, what do you disagree with?
Organize the body of your paper in the following way:
II. First claim related to your main thesis
A. Statement explaining or adding to the claim
B. Researched support for the statement (For this, you need
to provide at least one direct quotation from one of the
articles you have read for this project.)
III. Objections
A. You must acknowledge that not everyone will agree with
what you’re saying.
B. Refute the claim. (For this, you must supply additional
research in the form of a quotation that supports your
original claim and indicates to those who don’t agree
with you why they’re incorrect in their thinking.)
You’ll follow this pattern for the next several paragraphs.
Make a minimum of three to four claims related to your main
topic, provide research that will support that point, acknowl-
edge that not everyone will agree with your claim, and then
provide additional research that will indicate why those who
believe that way are incorrect.
IV. Conclusion
A. Restate the topic.
B. Restate your main ideas.
Research Project122
References: Citing Your Sources
Since you’re writing a research/opinion paper you may
include your own ideas and experience. However, since you
must refute the objections to claims you make in your paper,
you must also use at least three of the following sources:
your textbook, Psychology and Your Life (required) and two
or more Internet or print sources.
Keep in mind that your Internet sources must be both appro-
priate and credible. Make sure your source actually speaks to
your paper’s premise. And always establish a site’s academic
credibility based on the author(s) and the stated provenance
(Web site publisher)—such as a recognized academic or
research institution.
To avoid plagiarism, you should use sources properly—by
summarizing, paraphrasing, and using direct quotes for the
material you use in your paper.
n To summarize material rewrite it in your own words with-
out looking at the original quote. Assuming you’re
intimately familiar with the material, simply rely on
your memory of what you’ve read.
n To paraphrase, write the original in such a way that it
uses some words from the source, carefully reorganized
to retain the spirit of the quote. You must refer to the
original while writing your paraphrase.
n For direct quotes, use the author’s words exactly,
enclosing them in quotation marks.
No matter which of these three approaches you use you must
give credit to the original source.
FORMATTING
Format your paper using a standard font, such as 12-point
Times New Roman. Set margins at the standard on inch on
all sides.
American Psychological Society (APA) style is the standard for
research papers. A useful guide to APA style is can be found
at http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/mp/APA/apa4b.htm.
Research Project 123
Within the body of your paper it would be helpful for your
reader if you supply centered headings for the three main
parts of your paper:
n Introduction
n Argument Title (for example, “How Would You Treat
Your Bobo Doll?” or “Is Ordinary Consciousness a
Hypnotic Trance?”)
n Conclusion
Within the body of the text, cite references in this manner:
The first time a reference is cited it might read:
Miller, Rosellini, and Seligman (1975) suggested that the
evidence for the hypothesis is weak.
When you cite the same source again, you can write the
following:
Miller, et al. (1975)
In-text citations like this one give credit to the original
sources.
As Sykes (2001) stated, “Power is . . .” (p. 536)
According to Bandura (1983) “aggression is a learned
behavior” (p. 168)
On the References page, you’ll list your sources in the alpha-
betical order of the lead author of a source and indent the
supplemental information. Here’s an example:
Harper, Carl G. (2002). Life on the downside: The nature
of depression. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Research Project124
PAGE HEADER
Each page of your paper must include a header. Your word
processing software will help you figure out how to do that.
Here’s what should be included in your header:
EDITING AND PROOFREADING
The final stage in preparing an essay or term paper is editing
and proofreading. Keep in mind that professional writers may
prepare three or four drafts of a piece before finally submit-
ting it for publication—and further editorial input. Recall the
advice of Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, “Writing is
rewriting.”
While editing, keep a sharp out for grammatical, punctua-
tion, and spelling errors. Your word processing software can
help. Be sure to run spell and grammar checks. On the other
hand, keep in mind that programmed machines are limited
by their programming. Green squiggles under a passage
may well indicate a grammatical or stylistic error—but not
always. Because creative writing often bends rules, Microsoft
Windows would have a virtual stroke editing Mark Twain
or Ernest Hemingway. However, for safety’s sake, bend to
the tide of green squiggles until they go away, even if you
adore your sentence. As for red squiggles, some indicate a
grievous error; others may simply indicate a word that’s not
in your program’s dictionary. Especially in technical and
academic writing, you’re bound to have some proper names,
obscure place names, or technical terms “redlined.” In such
instances, just use your head. Check out the spelling in a
trustworthy academic source. If you’ve spelled the name,
place, or concept correctly, just add it to your word
processor dictionary.
Complete name Student ID number Page number
Street address Project number
City, state, and ZIP code
E-mail address
Research Project 125
SUBMITTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Follow this procedure to submit your assignment:
1. Save a revised and corrected version of your project on
your computer.
2. Go to http://www.pennfoster.edu and log on as a
student.
3. Go to My Courses.
4. Click Take Exam next to the lesson you’re working on.
5. Enter you e-mail address in the box provided. (Note: This
information is required for online submission.)
6. Attach your file or files as follows:
a. Click on the Browse box.
b. Locate the file you wish to attach.
c. Double-click on this file.
d. Click on Upload File.
7. Click on Submit Files.
Research Project126
GRADING CRITERIA
Your instructor will use the following chart to evaluate
your paper.
Name __________________________
Student ID Number ________________
Skill
Realized
Skill
Developing
Skill
Emerging
Skill Not
Evident
CONTENT
Did you choose one of the assigned topics? Did
you state an opinion about that topic as required?
Did you support your position with facts? When
citing your research, did you use your own words?
Have you kept to your chosen topic in a logical
manner? Does each paragraph have one main
idea, and is that idea supported with facts? Did
you provide an objection and refutation to each
claim? Does your conclusion restate your opening
ideas and end your paper in an interesting and
appropriate manner?
80 60 50 30 20 10 0
GRAMMAR, SENTENCES, and MECHANICS
Have you proofread your paper? Did you use
correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sen-
tence structure? Did you make sure that there
were no typographical errors and that you chose
the correct words?
10 9 8 7 6 4 0
FORMAT and LENGTH
Did you develop your essay with five paragraphs?
Does the header contain all of the required infor-
mation (name, complete mailing address, student
number, e-mail address, project number, and page
number)? Did you use standard font and margins?
10 9 8 7 6 4 0
127
Psychological Disorders
INTRODUCTION
The objective of Lesson 4 is to give you an overview of psy-
chological disorders and approaches to their treatment. It
isn’t meant to make you a clinical psychologist. Two points
should be stressed from the very beginning. First, the labels
that have been applied to mental disorders have changed
over the years. For example, at one time, excessive mastur-
bation was considered pathological in males, and it was
sufficient to have a woman confined to an asylum. Homo-
sexuality was finally eliminated from the official manual of
mental disorders in only the past couple of decades.
Second, mental disorders and approaches to their treatment are,
to some extent, social products. As societies change over time,
so do ideas about mental disorders. For that matter, as society
changes, different kinds of mental disorders are likely to become
more common. For example, eating disorders, which certainly
have psychological components, were all but unknown in the
sixteenth century. Getting enough to eat was a sufficient prob-
lem for most people. Conclusion: One should apply labels to
people with extreme caution. Just as personalities vary, every
disorder has commonalities and differences.
ASSIGNMENT 10—
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
Read this assignment. Then read pages 386–427 in your
textbook.
Normal versus Abnormal
Let’s say that you’re among an isolated tribe of people in
the Venezuelan rain forest. In your society, it’s normal for
males to prize shrunken heads as trophies with great power.
Headhunting is normal for these people. Let’s say you’re a
sociologist studying American divorce statistics. You find that
L
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for every two marriages, one will end in divorce. Does that
make divorce normal or abnormal? For a psychologist,
statistical normality simply refers to the distribution of some
variable in a population. For example, 100 is the mean score
on an IQ test, and normal or average ranges from about 80
to 120. On the other hand, when someone says that Justin’s
compulsion to wash his hands 40 or 50 times a day isn’t
normal, we may agree with that observation. Yet, you should
keep in mind that in social worlds, when we refer to normal
behavior we’re often simply making a judgment about behavior
that we prefer.
Psychologists must use some approach other than “normal
versus abnormal” to identify abnormal behavior. For psychol-
ogists, behavior is considered abnormal if people experience
distress and if that distress prevents them from functioning
in their daily life. Given that general definition, it’s also best
to think of normal-abnormal as two ends of a continuum.
Thus, social nonconformity, such as wearing nose rings
and having tattoos, might not have anything to do with a
psychological disorder at all. Further, we must consider the
situational context. Behavior expected and allowed during
New Orleans Mardi Gras, for example, would be unacceptable
at a wedding reception.
Perspectives on Abnormality:
From Superstition to Science
You text discusses six perspectives on abnormality:
1. Medical—Biological causes underlie abnormal behavior
and are best treated as medical disorders or diseases.
2. Psychoanalytic—Abnormal behavior stems from childhood
conflicts such as those identified in Freud’s psychoanalytic
theory.
3. Behavioral—Abnormal behaviors are symptoms of under-
lying learning dysfunctions. Both the shortcomings and
the strengths of this perspective result from an exclusive
focus on observable behaviors.
4. Cognitive—How we think affects how we act. If we’re
persuaded that our life is hopeless, we may adopt the
behaviors of a powerless victim.
Lesson 4 129
5. Humanistic—People can take responsibility for not only
how they think, but how they choose to act. Healing is,
in the end, an “inside job.” We can be the “best we can
be,” but it’s up to us to do the work, walk the walk, and
acquire self-knowledge.
6. Sociocultural—Behavior is shaped by such things as fam-
ily relationships, social class, and accepted norms within
particular ethnic groups. In this perspective, family or
group therapy may accompany other kinds of therapy.
Classifying Abnormal Behavior: The ABCs of DSM
Disorders are classified to facilitate diagnosis and keep
therapists, as it were, on the same page. The basic diagnostic
manual used by psychologists is the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision
(DSM-IV-TR). If that title suggests to you that the DSM is
being continually updated and revised, you’re correct.
Understandings change as science changes. Science is
an ongoing process.
The Major Psychological Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders are the most common of the anxiety-based
disorders, afflicting millions of Americans each year. For
some reason, women tend to suffer from anxiety disorders
more than men do—though there are still plenty of anxiety
sufferers who are men. This disorder is so common that
social critics have written often about our “age of anxiety.”
Here, you’re introduced to the four major categories of these
sorts of problems.
1. Phobic disorder—Specific phobias get a lot of attention
in the media. The film Arachnophobia was one example.
(Arachnophobia is fear of spiders.) Phobias can best be
Essentials of Psychology130
thought of as conditioned response patterns to specific
things. Phobic responses can include anxiety or panic
(or both), but the perceived source of the phobia is always
specific. Name anything at all, and there’s probably a
psychological phobia label for it. Acrophobia is fear of
heights, claustrophobia is fear of being in enclosed spaces,
hematophobia is fear of blood, xenophobia is fear of
strangers, and so on.
2. Panic disorder—Panic disorders come in two varieties:
with or without agoraphobia. Panic disorders without
agoraphobia involve panic attacks. People abruptly feel
unreasoned panic. Panic may include all the general
anxiety sensations described below (under “generalized
anxiety disorder”), along with a sense of impending
doom, a sense of suffocation, difficulty swallowing or
breathing, trembling, and feelings of unreality. People
who have panic attacks often end up in emergency
rooms, certain they’re having a heart attack or that
they’re about to die.
Panic disorders with agoraphobia include all of the above,
along with the symptoms of agoraphobia. Agoraphobia can
exist with or without panic attacks. However, it usually
begins with a siege of panic attacks. Agoraphobia is a
learned pattern of avoidance behaviors that forestall pan-
icked states or panicky feelings. Some agoraphobics are
literally housebound. Others feel they can travel only
very short distances from their home. Agoraphobics often
feel uncomfortable in crowds—or anywhere they can’t detect
an escape route to a place where they feel relatively safe
and secure.
3. Generalized anxiety disorder—Since anxiety is so
widespread in modern societies, a generalized anxiety
disorder is said to exist if symptoms last six months or
more. The range of anxiety symptoms is astonishing.
They include a racing heart, clammy skin, sweating,
dizziness, all kinds of digestive problems, shallow
breathing, inability to concentrate, and even itching.
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4. Obsessive-compulsive disorders—The television series
Monk—about a detective with a variety of compulsive
behaviors—has familiarized people with this type of dis-
order. In this sort of disorder, people may feel compelled
to perform certain behaviors because they’re obsessed
with repetitive thoughts. Obsessions are thoughts or
images that haunt a person’s waking hours. For example, a
woman may have constant thoughts about harming her
child, although she doesn’t want to harm her child and
never does. Compulsions may include avoiding cracks
in the sidewalk or washing one’s hands repeatedly
throughout the day.
Somatoform Disorders
Somatoform disorders take several forms. (The root of this
term, soma, is the Greek word for “flesh.”) Hypochondriasis
is a heightened sensitivity to bodily sensations that are seen as
ominous and threatening. Hypochondriacs will convince them-
selves that their accelerated heart rate means an impending
heart attack or that a minor pain is a growing cancer. In short,
anxieties are displaced or projected onto bodily sensations. Pain
disorder is marked by ongoing and sometimes disabling pain
that has no known physical origin. The strangest and least
common somatoform disorder is conversion disorder. One of
Freud’s earliest cases was a young woman who was functionally
paralyzed from the waist down. Under hypnosis, however,
Freud was able to cure this disability, which he later called
conversion hysteria. In any case, conversion disorders, such
as partial anesthesia of the hand or temporary blindness,
have psychological, not physical, origins.
Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative disorders are actually quite rare. They appear in
at least three forms, but they’re all related to stress or trauma.
Dissociative amnesia affects people who can’t remember their
names or where they came from. This condition is usually
brief. Dissociative fugue occurs when people simply walk
away from the intolerable anxieties of their lives, even if it
means they must cross the country to do so. Confusion and
uncertainty about one’s identity are typical of the condition.
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The most dramatic form of dissociative disorder is dissociative
identity disorder (DID). This condition was formerly called
multiple personality disorder. Individuals respond to severe
trauma or stress by escaping into alternate personalities.
The condition is controversial and very strange. For example,
if person A has alternate personalities B and C, she’ll live
her life as A while B and C live parallel lives that are unknown
to A. Personality shifts can be abrupt and startling to a
therapist who might have to figure out which personality
he or she is addressing at any given moment. Perhaps the
strangest thing about this disorder is the fact that different
personalities may have distinctive physiological profiles. For
example, personality A may suffer from allergies that aren’t
present in personality B.
Mood Disorders
Are you generally happy and cheerful, or resigned and
gloomy? Either scenario illustrates a mood. Mood disorders
refer to pronounced and prolonged periods of depressed feel-
ings or manic periods of animated, unrealistic cheerfulness.
There are two types of mood disorders. Depressive disorders,
including major depression, are marked by sadness, poor
self-image, disturbed sleep, and suicidal thoughts. They’re
the most common form of mood disorder. Bipolar disorders
are marked by mood swings ranging from sad and depressed
to happy and excited. Major mood disorders cause consider-
able suffering and are marked by extreme emotion. In
major depressive disorders, hopelessness and despair cloud
every moment, causing feelings of worthlessness and suicidal
tendencies.
There are a variety of ideas as to the causes of mood
disorders. Research suggests that some mood disorders have
a genetic basis. Behavioral models propose that decline in
positive reinforcements leads to withdrawal, while, at the
same time, getting attention for one’s depression can attract
a different kind of “positive” reinforcement. According to
psychologist Martin Seligman, depression is largely associ-
ated with what he called learned helplessness. Feeling we
can’t control our situation, we give up and submit to what
we perceive as a cruel word. For Aaron Beck, depression
Lesson 4 133
results from what is, in effect, negative thinking. Brain
research suggests that depression is associated with a
dimming or blunting of emotional reaction. Depression in
women has been associated with hormonal fluctuations
related to the menstrual cycle.
Schizophrenia
In general, what we call psychosis is characterized as a break
with ordinarily shared perceptions of the world and the self.
We often say that a person with psychosis “loses touch with
reality.” Given that no one is entirely sure what reality is, we
should approach psychosis with an open mind. Psychosis
deserves our attention because those who must cope with it
experience intense suffering. The film A Beautiful Mind, or the
more recent film The Soloist, can help many to understand
that psychosis is a human condition and that people suffering
from psychosis can make important contributions in spite
of their affliction.
This section focuses on the most severe of the psychotic
disorders, schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is famously difficult
to diagnose accurately. Nevertheless, certain characteristics
reliably distinguish schizophrenia from other disorders. These
include
n A decline in functioning—The sufferer can no longer carry
on his or her previous life patterns.
n Disturbance of thought and language—Logic slips away.
Language is used inappropriately. Disturbed verbal
communication is common, along with personality
disintegration.
n Delusions—A delusion is a belief with no reasonable
basis in reality. (I’m getting alien transmissions through
the fillings in my molars.)
n Hallucinations and perceptual disorders—One sees,
hears, and feels that which can’t be seen, heard, or
experienced by way of ordinary sensory stimuli. (To
hallucinate is to see things that aren’t visible to others,
but which, to the sufferer, may seem entirely real.)
Essentials of Psychology134
n Emotional disturbances—Typical in schizophrenia is an
absence of affect (expressions of feeling). On the other
hand, emotional responses, like laughter at a funeral,
may seem to spring out of nowhere.
n Withdrawal—Interest in others fades away. Social
interaction is either one way or entirely absent.
What Causes Schizophrenia?
There’s no agreement on what causes schizophrenia. Some
research suggests that anyone can be driven into a psychotic
episode under highly stressful conditions, such as a dysfunc-
tional family environment or the experiences of combat.
However, evidence also suggests that some individuals are
predisposed to schizophrenia due to heredity or specific pat-
terns of brain chemistry. For example, the presence of
biochemical abnormalities, such as an excess of the neuro-
transmitter dopamine, have been linked to schizophrenia.
These days, the dominant model for understanding the
causes of schizophrenia is the predispositional model. The
basic idea here is that people are variably predisposed to
developing this kind of psychosis depending on the interaction
of genetic and environmental factors.
Personality Disorders
Personality disorders impair a person’s ability to get along
with others. There are a variety of these disorders, ranging in
severity from excessive dependency on others (dependency
disorder) to borderline and schizotypal disorders that approach
full-blown psychosis. As you might expect, the less severe
disorders are more common and are easier to treat. In gen-
eral, a personality disorder is characterized by inflexible,
maladaptive behavior that cripples one’s capacity for normal
social relationships. Your textbook focuses on three kinds of
personality disorders:
1. Antisocial personality disorder—People with antisocial
personalities are often called sociopaths or psychopaths.
A common way of thinking of people with antisocial
Lesson 4 135
personalities is that they lack a developed conscience. A
psychopath is likely to be selfish, impulsive, emotionally
shallow, and manipulative. The basic motto of a psy-
chopath might be “My way or the highway, and I get to
decide which highway.” While psychopathic tendencies
are often associated with criminal or amoral behavior,
psychopaths (also called sociopaths) sometimes ascend to
positions of power and responsibility. Even some people
in high levels of government and corporate life are said to
have psychopathic tendencies. The most striking feature
of the antisocial personality is emotional coldness. The fate
of others means little or nothing to them. They may be
very clever at expressing sympathy, but they’re all but
incapable of empathy. They fail to identify with the
wants, needs, and suffering of others.
2. Borderline personality disorder—People may have diffi-
culty developing a secure sense of personal identity.
They cope with this issue by relying on relationships
with others to define their identity. Emotional instability
and impulsive, episodic behavior are common, since
these folks simply can’t handle rejection of any kind.
3. Narcissistic personality disorder—One observes an
inflated sense of self-importance. Characteristic of this
disorder is a sense of entitlement demanding special
treatment from others. A major pattern in this disorder
is an inability to experience empathy or compassion for
others.
Childhood Disorders
“Almost 20% of children and 40% of adolescents experience
significant emotional or behavioral disorders.” (You should
memorize this line from your text.) Read on for rather star-
tling statistics related to depression and other problems. Two
common childhood problems get special attention.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) includes inatten-
tion, lots of inappropriate activity, impulsiveness, and a
low tolerance for frustration. Actually, all of these kinds
of behavior show up in most children from time to time. A
diagnosis of ADHD, therefore, is one of degree. Given that
fact, ADHD is a controversial disorder. Some feel that it’s
Essentials of Psychology136
overdiagnosed, possibly with the complicity of pharmaceutical
interests that market the standard treatment—a drug
called Ritalin, which, oddly enough, is chemically related
to amphetamines.
Autism is getting increasing attention these days. That’s
because research indicates that the incidence of this devas-
tating disorder in young children is increasing. To learn
more about autism, Google “autism symptoms” or “autism
prevalence” and see what you find.
Other Disorders
Your text discussion isn’t meant to be exhaustive. It hits
important highlights. Other kinds of disorders with signifi-
cant public health impacts include alcohol and drug abuse,
eating disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and
organic mental disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. In
this, the age of the Internet, you can learn more if you’re
interested in learning more.
Psychological Disorders in Perspective
Prevalence of Psychological Disorders
The essence of this section is an overall view of the incidence
and prevalence of mental and emotional disorders in the
United States. It’s based on an interview sample of 8,000
men and women between the ages of 15 and 54, drawn so
as to represent the U.S. population at large. The findings are
sobering. Of those interviewed, 48% had experienced a disorder
at some point in their lives. Additionally, 30% had or were
experiencing a disorder in the year of the interview, and the
number of persons suffering from more than one disorder
simultaneously (called comorbidity) was significant. By far,
the most common reported disorder was depression. Of
course, the United States isn’t alone in having a high
prevalence of psychological disorders.
Lesson 4 137
The Social and Cultural Context of
Psychological Disorders
This final topic for the chapter introduces you to some of the
perplexities of classifying psychological disorders in different
cultures. Are patterns of psychological disorders particular to
different cultures? For example, Japan is a collectivist cul-
ture. That is, a person’s sense of self-worth and identity is
strongly intertwined with loyalties to family, peers, and
coworkers. By contrast, the dominant culture of the United
States is individualistic. American identities are based on
competition, personal achievement, and self-reliance. Would
the causes of depression be different in Japan and the United
States?
Before proceeding to the next assignment, take a moment to
complete Self-Check 10. Remember, you can check your
answers by turning to the back of this study guide.
Self-Check 10
1. In disorders once called multiple personality disorders and now labeled as _______ disorders,
a person manifests more than one personality.
2. In schizophrenia, the symptom called _______ refers to holding strong beliefs in things that
have no basis in reality.
3. For psychologists, _______ behavior is seen as behavior that produces experiences of distress
and prevents people from functioning as they might wish in their daily lives.
4. The manual that classifies psychological disorders for psychologists is called the DSM-IV-TR.
In this acronym, “S” stands for _______.
5. According to research into the prevalence of psychological disorders, the most common
disorder is depression, while the second most common problem is _______ dependence.
6. Narcissistic personality disorder is to an exaggerated sense of self-importance as _______
personality disorder is to emotional volatility, impulsive behavior, and relying on relationships
to define one’s identity.
(Continued)
Essentials of Psychology138
ASSIGNMENT 11—TREATMENT OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
Read this assignment. Then read pages 428–463 in your
textbook.
Psychotherapy: Psychodynamic,
Behavioral, and Cognitive Approaches
to Treatment
Psychodynamic Approaches to Therapy
The classic psychodynamic approach is the psychoanalytic
theory of Sigmund Freud. The following is a summary of
ideas embraced in Freud’s approach to therapy.
To resolve unacceptable impulses and unresolved conflicts
of the unconscious, it’s necessary to get through a person’s
defense mechanisms. The most common of these is
Self-Check 10
7. Claustrophobia is to fear of enclosed spaces as _______ is to fear of strangers.
8. Hypochondriasis is classified as a/an _______ disorder in which people are obsessively
concerned with their health.
9. In OCD disorders, obsession is to persistent unwanted thoughts as _______ is to irresistible
urges to behave in repetitive, irrational ways.
10. Alternating depression and _______ characterize bipolar disorder.
Check your answers with those on page 172.
Lesson 4 139
repression. We try to keep issues buried when they threaten
our ego ideal—our ideas about how we should think and
behave. The techniques for uncovering unconscious content
in the patient include dream interpretation (What do you
think the snake might stand for in that dream?) and free
association (Just say whatever comes to mind as I give
you a word.).
The very lengthy process of psychoanalysis (it can easily extend
over a period of years) is a tedious uphill battle against the
patient’s resistance. Meanwhile, the long association between
doctor and patient leads to transference. Transference
happens when the negative or hidden feelings in the patient
(usually associated with a parent or other significant other)
are transferred to (projected on to) the therapist. If all goes
well and transference issues are resolved, the patient will
gradually accept previously unacceptable unconscious
content—which now becomes more or less conscious—and
move on with their lives.
Time is money, and life is short. In that context, contemporary
psychodynamic approaches focus on immediate issues, take
more control over the direction of therapy, and try to get the
whole process over within about 20 sessions over, say, three
months.
Psychodynamic approaches to therapy get mixed reviews.
Overall, they’re time-consuming and expensive, thus elimi-
nating their feasibility for most people. On the other hand,
they do seem to be useful for some people.
Behavioral Approaches to Therapy
The starting assumption in behavioral therapies is that all
behavior—normal or abnormal—is learned. What has been
learned can be unlearned. What hasn’t been learned can
be learned.
Classical conditioning treatments include three standard
techniques:
1. Aversive conditioning—A subject’s behavior is modified by
coupling an undesired behavior, like alcohol abuse, with
a decidedly unpleasant stimulus. For example, the
patient is administered a drug that makes him or her
Essentials of Psychology140
violently nauseous when alcohol is consumed. Problems
with aversive conditioning include its harshness on the
one hand and uncertainty as to how long the rejection or
reduction in the undesired behavior will last.
2. Systematic desensitization—Let’s say Clarissa is deathly
afraid of snakes. The approach here is coupling gradual
exposure to the anxiety-producing stimulus with learned
techniques for relaxation. In systematic desensitization,
a hierarchy of fears is created. For Clarissa, that might
mean exposure to a picture of a snake, exposure to a
snake in a cage, and, finally, immediate up-close-and-
personal exposure to a live (harmless) snake for a few
seconds, then a little longer, and so on.
3. Exposure treatment—Here the relaxation technique is put
aside, and the patient is simply exposed to the feared stim-
ulus. The exposure may be gradual, or it may involve
what’s called “flooding.” The latter technique can work,
but it isn’t a whole lot of fun for the subject of the treat-
ment. Imagine having someone with a fear of spiders
suddenly exposed to a live terrarium where tarantulas
are here, there, and everywhere.
Operant conditioning techniques follow the regimes you
learned about earlier in this course. Reinforce desirable
behaviors; don’t reinforce undesirable behaviors. In some
settings involving actual human beings, say in a classroom
or a “social-skills class” in a prison, desired behaviors can be
reinforced by symbols or tokens, such as chips or tickets. For
example, earn a token each time you turn in your homework
on time. Earn X number of tokens in such a token economy,
and you get a reward.
Operant conditioning techniques are pretty much limited to
involuntary audiences in institutional settings. Therefore, a
therapist who wants results may also employ the principles
of observational learning. For example, rowdy children may be
exposed to scenarios on film that model fair play and good
manners. The same kinds of techniques can also be used to
model ways to master one’s fears or learn assertiveness in
social situations.
Lesson 4 141
Overall, behavioral approaches work pretty well in treating
some kinds of specific phobias or compulsions. Compulsions
are observed as habitual behaviors that may be counterpro-
ductive, such as the drive to count steps or avoid stepping on
cracks in the sidewalk. On the other hand, while learning a
new behavior may change CNS responses to some extent,
behavioral approaches aren’t designed to give patients deep
insights into their hidden desires or semiconscious motives.
Cognitive Approaches to Therapy
There are a variety of approaches to cognitive therapy. However,
all of them are about encouraging people to change their
thinking, which, in turn, is all about changing the way people
frame situations and circumstances. In general, all forms of
cognitive therapy are based on the assumption that anxiety,
depression, and negative emotions are directly related to
habitual ways of seeing (perceiving) one’s self and the world.
In rational-emotive behavior therapy, singled out for inspection in
your text, the therapy amounts to helping people reorganize
their belief system to make it more realistic, logical, and
rational. Thus, for example, the assumption that everyone
is judging you is irrational. In fact, even the people who are
closest to you will tend to give you not more that about 2%
of their undivided attention—unless you’re in the kitchen
smashing the good china. In a similar vein, most of our
worries tend to be about matters that no one can control
(like the weather) or which are very unlikely to occur under
any circumstances. Great Britain’s famous World War II
leader, Winston Churchill, once commented, “The things I
worried about most in my life never happened.”
Psychotherapy: Humanistic and
Group Approaches
Humanistic Therapy
The underlying assumptions of humanistic therapy are, in
fact, philosophical and metaphysical. People have free will.
Everyone has a place in the cosmic scheme. The concept of
soul should be taken seriously. Above all, everyone is born with
Essentials of Psychology142
the potential (however slight) for acquiring self-knowledge and
achieving self-actualization. In this perspective, psychological
disorders often arise as people fail to grasp purpose or meaning
for their lives.
The most common technique in humanistic therapy is called
person-centered therapy. A warm, supportive, and nonjudg-
mental therapeutic environment is established. Patients are
encouraged to follow the implied advice of poet Robert Burns
and to “see themselves as others see them”—but without
judgment. Carl Rogers was an outstanding exponent of this
perspective, and, hopefully, you’ll recall his concept of
unconditional self-regard. To find yourself and your purpose
in life, accept yourself as you are and be empowered to
change what can be changed while accepting what can’t be
changed. (Interestingly, this last sentiment echoes a famous
prayer said to have been authored by St. Francis of Assisi.)
Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal therapy (IT) focuses on social relationships.
And, therefore, it aims at improving or healing conflicted or
dysfunctional personal relationships. Marriage counseling is
an example. But IT can also be helpful in dealing with some
cases of anxiety or depression. That’s because the context of
both of these may be an unhealthy relationship, say,
between parents and children. IT is directive, structured,
and designed for therapeutic programs that cover about 12
to 16 weeks. (“Directive” means the therapist actively directs
sessions. “Structured” means the therapeutic program
proceeds in preplanned steps.)
Group Therapy, Family Therapy, and
Self-Help Groups
Under a therapist who acts as a guide and a moderator,
group therapy involves meetings of unrelated people who
share their stories, seek out personal insights into their
issues, and, often, benefit from the emotional support
people get from being with people who have similar problems.
Combat veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) may benefit from group therapy. First responders
involved with the Virginia Tech massacre were expected to
Lesson 4 143
engage in group therapy sessions. However, “group therapy”
is also used quite a lot in workplace settings in the interest of
improving employee morale and developing team spirit. In
such cases, the therapist role may be served by a specialist
in industrial psychology.
Family therapy is a specialized form of group therapy. Family
therapists are extensively trained to understand how a family
operates as a system, such that what’s going on with one
family member will affect other family members. The typical
objective of family therapy is resolving interpersonal conflicts
and encouraging family members to seek common ground for
productive solutions.
Self-help therapy is pretty much like group therapy without
a trained counselor to guide and moderate what goes on.
Twelve-step programs for alcoholics (such as AA) and other
kinds of addicts are a patterned form of self-help therapy
wherein the “counselor” may be literature shared by the
group or a “buddy” partner assigned to help a new group
member. Other self-help groups take the form of rather informal
support groups. For example, people may gather together to
help the members deal with the loss of a loved one or encourage
their teenagers to take their studies more seriously.
Evaluating Psychotherapy: Does Therapy Work?
Psychologists tend to agree that therapy is better than no
therapy, if only because rates of spontaneous remission
(spontaneous healing) are low. On the other hand, there isn’t
much agreement about which therapies work best. Based on
research that scans many studies (meta-analysis), some
conclusions can be drawn:
n Psychotherapy is effective for most people.
n However, psychotherapy doesn’t work for everyone. It
isn’t a “silver bullet.”
n No single form of therapy works best for every problem,
although specific kinds of treatment appear more effective
for certain kinds of problems most of the time, but not
always. Thus, cognitive therapy is often best for panic
disorders, but not always.
Essentials of Psychology144
n Most therapies share a set of similar elements. These
include the opportunity for the patient to form a positive
relationship with a therapist, receive an explanation for
his or her symptoms, and confront negative emotions.
Because of what you’ve just read about the relative merits
of different approaches to therapies, it isn’t surprising that
many therapists take an eclectic approach. That is, they pick
and choose among different approaches based on an individual’s
apparent needs in a specific case.
Biomedical Therapy
Drug Therapy
Biomedical therapy is aimed at identifying biological factors
underlying psychological disorders. In general, this approach
has focused on drugs that can alter the operations of neuro-
transmitters and cerebral neurons in such a way as to relieve
or control symptoms.
n Antipsychotic drugs work primarily by blocking dopamine
receptors in the brain’s synapses, although there are
other kinds of antipsychotics that work to alter neuro-
logical chemistry in specific parts of the brain. The
problem with antipsychotics is that they can alleviate
symptoms only if the drug regimen is continued. Take
away the drugs, and the symptoms reappear.
n Antidepressant drugs are used to reduce or soften the
effect of depressions. They’re also used to treat bulimia
and certain kinds of anxiety disorders. (Depression is
often accompanied by anxiety.) Details about different
kinds of antidepressants are summarized in Figure 1
on page 450 of your text. A natural antidepressant, a
plant called St. John’s wort, is widely prescribed in
Europe but is given less attention in the United States.
Its effectiveness is considered uncertain.
n Mood stabilizers include lithium, used successfully in cases
of bipolar disorder. What makes mood stabilizers unique
is their potential capacity to prevent the recurrence of
manic-depressive episodes.
n Anti-anxiety drugs are very frequently prescribed by
American physicians. As your text points out, more than
half of American families have members who have been
on one of these kinds of drugs at some point.
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is still used to treat severe
depression, but its use remains highly controversial. Side-
effects are often alarming, including loss of recent memory.
Over the years, researchers, physicians, and “veterans” of
ECT have argued that the procedure is akin to torture and
should long since have been abandoned. Perhaps it will be as
a new alternative to ECT is introduced. Transcranial magnetic
stimulation (TMS) is intended to create a magnetic pulse that
can be aimed precisely at certain parts of the brain. While
TMS results have been promising in some respects, there
remains the problem of side effects, such as convulsions
and seizures.
Biomedical Therapies in Perspective
While biomedical approaches to psychological disorders have
radicalized treatment regimes and no doubt reduced suffering
for many people, problems remain. Drug side effects can be
serious. Furthermore, drug therapies can mask symptoms
such that it’s quite difficult to get at underlying problems
that caused a person to seek therapy in the first place.
Perhaps, as we learn more about the nature of human con-
sciousness, we’ll find some optimal balance among different
kinds of therapies.
Community Therapy: Focus on Prevention
Community psychology is aimed at preventing or minimizing
the incidence of psychological disorders. An initial approach
to this sort of thing began in the 1960s with an effort to create
a network of community mental health clinics. However, due
to funding cuts at state hospitals, there has been a trend
toward deinstitutionalization, which hasn’t gone too well. As
mental hospitals have been emptied, more and more of the
indigent and homeless—including an alarming number of
Lesson 4 145
Essentials of Psychology146
military veterans—are either wandering the streets with
shopping carts or being jailed for want of adequate public
health facilities.
Now, review the material you’ve learned in this study
guide as well as the assigned pages in your textbook for
Assignments 10–11. Once you feel you understand the
material, complete Self-Check 11. Then check your answers
with those provided at the end of this study guide. If you’ve
missed any answers, or you feel unsure of the material,
review the assigned pages in your textbook and this study
guide. When you’re sure that you completely understand the
information presented in Assignments 10–11, complete your
examination for Lesson 4.
Self-Check 11
1. In biomedical approaches to therapy, the mineral salt lithium may be used to treat _______
disorders.
2. Among psychotherapeutic approaches to therapy, _______ approaches are considered to be
the least scientifically and theoretically developed.
3. After one or more applications of _______ therapy, a controversial technique, patients
experience disorientation, confusion, and memory loss that may last for months.
4. People who have lost a loved one gather together in a support group to share stories and
offer each other emotional support. Psychologists would call this a form of _______-_______
therapy.
5. In deinstitutionalization, as an approach to _______ psychology, mental patients are
released into the community, presumably to take advantage of mental health clinics in their
neighborhood.
6. _______-based psychotherapeutic practice uses research literature to determine the best
therapy for a particular person with a particular disorder.
Check your answers with those on page 173.
147
Psychology for Two or More
INTRODUCTION
“No man is an island, entire of himself . . . [Thus] Ask
not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.”
These lines from the English poet John Donne remind us
that our thoughts, attitudes, values and beliefs are inter-
twined with those of other people. Consider: Did you select
the language you speak? Did you choose the norms and
beliefs of your culture? Where did you get your name? How
do you know how you should behave if you’re a boy or a girl?
When you sit down to collect your thoughts, whose thoughts
are you thinking? Did you invent the religion at the church
you attend? If you agree that the Earth orbits the Sun, which
is, in fact, our local star, did you invent that belief from your
own observation? If you had been born in twelfth-century
Europe, expressing such a belief could get you roasted alive
for heresy. Humans are individuals. That’s true enough. But
there’s no such thing as individuality outside of a social
world that recognizes the very idea of individuality. In short,
to be human is to be a social creature.
ASSIGNMENT 12—SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY: PART 1
Read this assignment. Then read pages 464–481 in your
textbook.
Attitudes and Social Cognition
Persuasion: Changing Attitudes
Attitudes can be thought of as mental orientations toward
people, groups, ideas, foods, weather, fashion, and so on.
We’re likely to have attitudes about every aspect of our social
world, assuming we’re aware of it. Attitudes may be stable or
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unstable and changeable. The extent to which we’re likely to
be persuaded to change our attitudes depends on the source
of the information, the nature of the information, and our
openness to the information. (Your text speaks of “messages”
instead of information, but the point is the same.)
Social psychologists recognize two primary information-
processing routes. Central route processing happens when
the recipient carefully weighs and thinks about the new infor-
mation. If one’s attitude about the value of welfare reform is
changed, it will be as a result of logic, the merit of the infor-
mation, and the power or coherence of the arguments. By
contrast, peripheral route processing involves such things
as not liking the messenger, the emotional appeal of the
message as well as the recipient’s biases, and prepackaged
opinions about the issue.
The links between peoples’ attitudes and their behavior vary
from weak to strong. Be that as it may, people try to main-
tain an internal consistency between their attitudes. If Jake
disapproves of eating pork, he isn’t likely to order a BLT at
the deli or support legislation protecting the environmental
depredations of hog farmers.
This inner strain to consistency turns out to have a signifi-
cant influence on potential changes in our attitudes. When
we detect inconsistency among our beliefs or attitudes, we
experience cognitive dissonance (discomfort over ideas that
don’t mesh). And, in fact, cognitive dissonance theory,
developed by Leon Festinger, is a popular model that’s often
used to explain why people change their attitudes.
To understand the idea of cognitive dissonance, you should
first recognize that we’re able to hold contradictory ideas in
our minds. We do it all the time. For example, you may
believe in recycling and taking care of the environment. At
the same time, you own every conceivable electrical appliance
and drive a gas-guzzling SUV. However, if you become aware
of the contradictions, you may be inclined to alter your atti-
tudes and your behavior. Here’s one odd example: Research
discovered that people were likely to pay more attention to
ads for a car they just bought after they purchased it. What’s
going on here? We know that cars are a big drain on a family
budget, but we also want to show people our social status by
Lesson 5 149
driving a nice car. The “budget/thrifty” attitude is in contra-
diction (dissonance) to the “showy” attitude. So after we’ve
bought the car, we look for ads to justify our purchase and
reduce cognitive dissonance.
Social Cognition: Understanding Others
As mentioned earlier on, people develop fairly detailed mental
schemas (“maps”) for organizing information about the world
and how to behave in it. In this context, social cognition is all
about schemas that help us make sense of other peoples’
motivations and behaviors, as well as our own.
We’re guided by schemas that apply to different social roles
and to social groups. For example, we have schemas for iden-
tifying male and female behavior. We have schemas for how
mothers should behave with children. We have schemas that
“define” the characteristics of dock workers, detectives, truck
drivers, liberals, and conservatives.
Obviously, schemas may have no necessary relationship to
objective facts. Our ideas about how detectives behave may
be mainly derived from watching television. Our ideas about
“liberals” may simply reflect the attitudes we were taught in
our families or by paying attention to mass media. In any
case, especially in dealing with other people, our schemas
tend to be generalized around what we perceive as central
traits. For example, if we meet a Marine, we may expect to
see ramrod discipline and macho toughness. Having previ-
ously ingested these central trait ideas, we may see our new
Marine friend’s language and behavior in terms of these
assumed central traits—even if we’re missing out on other
traits the man has, such as romantic ideals about marriage
or a consuming interest in fly fishing.
Attribution theory is a helpful guide for understanding how we
perceive and interpret other people’s behavior. An attribution
is an assumption about why people behaved or performed as
they did—or as we perceive they did. If we think that Alice’s
failure to pass math is internal, we may say that she’s lazy
or simply no good at math. If we think her failure is due to
external causes, we might say that the test was too hard or
that Alice had just broken up with her boyfriend. To adopt
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the internal view is to assume a dispositional cause for Alice’s
math performance. To adopt the external assumption is to
attribute Alice’s math problems to situational causes.
Our attributions as to the nature and causes of others’
behavior tend not to be guided by pure rationality. In a
nutshell, we see what we’re predisposed to see.
n Influenced by the halo effect, we assume that the charac-
teristic we most notice in another person suggests other
characteristics that may or may not be present. When
interviewing Suzy Q., who’s a real knockout and dressed
to prove it, we may assume Suzy is also trustworthy,
friendly, generous, cheerful, and obviously a team
player—none of which may be the case. (In studies
using photographs, subjects were significantly inclined
to assume that attractive people were more intelligent
than less attractive people.)
n Influenced by the assumed similarity bias, we tend to
take it for granted that the people we know, and even
people we just met, are similar to us. They think like
we do, like what we do, and so on. But a moment’s
reflection should suggest that this assumption can
be dead wrong.
n Under the self-serving bias, other people are responsible
for our failures while we’re responsible for our successes.
This bias is a requirement for athletic coaches and
politicians.
n Exhibiting the fundamental attribution error, if I fail to
pass a history test, it’s due to external circumstances
(situational causes). If my friend Sally fails the same test,
it’s due to internal (dispositional) causes. We tend to
make external attributions to account for our mistakes
and internal attributions to account for the mistakes of
others. The fundamental attribution error is called
fundamental because it’s so common.
Social Influence and Groups
Influence is what social psychologists refer to when they’re
interested in how a group alters the behavior and attitudes of
its members. In any human interaction, there’s a tendency
Lesson 5 151
for individuals to be influenced. Social influence surrounds
us, constantly shaping and reshaping our attitudes, opinions,
beliefs, values, and behavior. So, in brief, social influence is
observed when the actions of an individual or group affect
the way others behave.
Conformity: Following What Others Do
Conformity is the main glue that holds society together. To
live in a social world, we must get along with others. There’s
a lot of pressure to conform to accepted norms of behavior.
In fact, those who consistently refuse to conform to social
norms are said to be deviant. That is, they deviate, or
differ, from accepted behavioral standards. Solomon Asch
conducted classic experiments designed to study the power
of conformity. They’re described on pages 475–476 of your
textbook. Asch’s findings showed us that most people tend
to conform at least some of the time, even accepting group
judgments they privately see as wrong. Interestingly, some
people will agree with an obviously incorrect appraisal and
convince themselves that it’s right!
Rather shocking findings emerged from a famous “prisoner”
and “guard” role-play experiment conducted at Stanford
University. Zimbardo’s research offers an extreme example of
pressure on people to conform to social role expectations.
Among other things, his studies can help us understand how
and why presumably normal and decent people were swept
along in the social currents surrounding Adolph Hitler’s rise
to power in the 1930s.
Compliance: Submitting to Direct Social Pressure
Compliance is doing what someone wants you to do even if he
or she doesn’t have authority over you. Enter the encyclope-
dia salesperson, the used-car dealer, and the phone solicitor.
All of these people try to influence your behavior (especially
where your wallet is concerned). Your textbook explains sev-
eral techniques used to gain compliance through influence.
n The foot-in-the-door principle is based on a simple idea. If
I can get you to agree to a minor request, I might be able
to get you to sign a sales contract.
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n The door-in-the-face technique works like this: I get you
to turn down a major request that may make you feel
guilty. For example, I may ask you to contribute $100
to feed hungry children. You decline because you can’t
afford that much, but you feel guilty. A short time later,
the same solicitor requests that you contribute $10.
This time, you’ll probably agree. (Incidentally, neither
technique must involve doors. Both are behavioral
phenomena that just happened to take their name from
behaviors practiced by door-to-door salespeople.)
n In the “that’s not all” technique, the salesperson offers
you a “great deal” at an inflated price. While you’re
pondering, the salesperson immediately offers you a
discount, bonuses, etc., that make the price seem more
attractive. Oddly enough, this technique actually works.
n In the “not-so-free sample” technique, you’ll get a free
sample of a “great product” with a psychological string
attached. Namely, the sample evokes a deeply held idea
in most people called the norm of reciprocity. Namely,
I gave you this, what should you give me in return?
In case you were wondering, all of these techniques are
taught in standard salesmanship classes that are part of a
business curriculum. Keep in mind that to guard your
resources, you have the right to be assertive—that is, just
say no.
Obedience: Following Direct Orders
Compliance techniques amount to psychological manipula-
tion. You can exercise free will if you can find your free will.
Obedience is another thing entirely. When the big boss says
jump, most of us are inclined to ask, “How high?” When the
captain advises the private to stand at ease, this isn’t a
suggestion. You will stand at ease. In terms of psychological
research, the issue is this: To what extent will people respond
obediently to directions, commands, or suggestions from
authority figures?
The most famous obedience research was conducted by
Stanley Milgram of Yale University. The subjects for a series
of similar experiments were selected at random from local
Lesson 5 153
populations representing many different occupations and
social class backgrounds. In a nutshell, it was found that
people are strongly inclined to obey an authority figure even
when they would prefer not to. The findings rocked the world
of the human sciences. But no, we won’t tell you more just
here. Study the discussion of the Milgram experiments on
pages 478–480 of your textbook. Having done so, ask your-
self, would you have obeyed the white-coated authority
figures all the way to administering a “lethal” electric shock
to a reluctant “learner”?
Before proceeding to the next assignment, take a moment
to complete Self-Check 12. Remember, you can check your
answers by turning to the back of this study guide.
Self-Check 12
1. A near cousin of social psychology, _______-organizational psychology looks at issues like
worker motivation, job satisfaction, and productivity.
2. When you first meet Andy Kline, you already know that his friends consider him to be honest
and trustworthy. Therefore, you’re likely to evaluate your meeting with Andy in terms of these
_______ traits.
3. Jason speaks of an experiment, in which participants were asked to compare a standard line
to three grouped lines, a, b, and c. Jason is almost certainly referring to an experiment
designed to measure _______.
4. According to the theory of cognitive _______, people can hold two conflicting ideas in their
mind, thus producing a strain to reconcile the opposed beliefs.
5. _______ route processing is to thoughtfully and deliberately evaluating a persuasive argument
as _______ route processing is to being influenced by matters that have no necessary bearing
on the substance of an argument, such as the speakers’ hairstyle.
6. Nathan’s family has encouraged him to vote for V. O. Yates for City Council. Nancy insists that
her mother give her money to purchase “S&P” jeans because all the “cool” kids at school are
wearing them. Both of these instances are examples of social _______.
(Continued)
Essentials of Psychology154
ASSIGNMENT 13—SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY: PART 2
Read this assignment. Then read pages 482–511 in your
textbook.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Prejudice is an unreasoned and usually unexamined attitude
about some person, group, thing, or idea. Prejudice is universal
because none of us can completely avoid having stereotypes of
some kind. A stereotype is a shorthand way of making sense of a
very complicated world. Some stereotypes are relatively harm-
less; some are toxic and dangerous. A prejudice is a harmful
stereotype. A prejudice formed against some racial group
that characterizes its members as lazy, reckless, and socially
inferior is an example of a harmful stereotype.
Self-Check 12
7. Brad appears confident, attractive, and charming. As a result, with no actual evidential
support, Sally is likely to think Brad is also intelligent and honest. This is an example of the
_______ effect.
8. The likelihood of _______ change in a person subjected to a message will depend on the mes-
sage source, the message content, and the characteristics of the person hearing the message.
9. In an instance of _______, Sgt. Stanley responds to Capt. James’s order to cancel all leaves.
In an instance of _______, Lulu Smith, having been persuaded by a foot-in-the-door
technique, agrees to buy a set of encyclopedias.
10. By way of what psychologists call the _______-_______ error, in judging the behavior of
others, we’re very likely to maximize the importance of personality factors over environmental
circumstances relevant to a situation.
Check your answers with those on page 173.
Lesson 5 155
Prejudice must be distinguished from discrimination.
Discrimination is taking an action based on prejudice—
such as denying housing to someone based on his or her
race. So, a person could be prejudiced but not discriminatory.
People may also discriminate without prejudice to keep a
job or gain the approval of a peer group.
The Foundations of Prejudice
According to observational learning theorists, prejudice is
learned as we internalize negative stereotypes and model
prejudicial and discriminatory behaviors of those around us.
To be sure, the “people around us” may include the actors,
commentators, and pundits of mass media.
According to social identity theory, people maintain prejudices
against outgroups to support pride and self-esteem they identify
with their ingroup. In the Reconstruction era of the South, for
example, poor white farmers looked down on equally poor
black farmers, seeing themselves as superior by way of skin
color. Similarly, in urban neighborhoods, Irish ethnics may
look down on Italian ethnics—and vice versa.
Ethnocentrism always lurks where prejudice thrives. Ethno-
centrism is the universal human tendency to see the norms,
beliefs, attitudes, and values of one’s in-group (ethnic group,
nationality, religion) as superior to those of outgroups.
Measuring Prejudice and Discrimination:
The Implicit Personality Test
What you’re offered here is a simple test that reveals peoples
tacit (hidden) biases. It’s called the Implicit Association Test
(IAT). In effect, what the IAT does is sidestep the politically
correct responses most of us will give when we know “good
people” are supposed to be free of prejudice. What the test
reveals is the presence of implicit prejudice. Whites tend to
have pro-white bias. Non-Muslims tend to have an anti-
Muslim bias. Be sure to study the way the test is conducted.
You’ll find it on page 484 of your text.
Essentials of Psychology156
Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination
Three tips are offered:
1. Increase contact between people who embrace negative
stereotypes and the people who are the target of those
stereotypes.
2. Make values and norms supportive of negative stereotypes
more visible. To disperse shadows of misconception, let
the sun shine in.
3. Provide accurate information about the targets of stereo-
types. For example, if the target is Muslims, highlight the
immense contribution of Islamic civilization to the rise of
Western civilization. The word algebra is derived from the
Arabic, Al-jabr. Many of our names for visible stars are
Arabic because Islamic civilization pioneered astronomy.
The works of Plato seeped into Western Europe from
Moorish (Islamic) Spain at the outset of the European
Renaissance.
Positive and Negative Social Behavior
Scanning the panorama of human history, one may well
wonder if humanity is a dysfunctional species. Freud, taking
note of endless wars, persecutions, and savage oppression,
commented that “man is wolf to man.” (“Homo homini lupus”
was the actual Latin sentence he quoted.) On the other hand,
it’s also clear that humans are capable of kindness, civility,
sacrifice in the name of social justice, and even unconditional
loving actions—what we call altruism. So, given that humans
are dark and light, what is the nature of the darkness, and
from whence comes the light?
Liking and Loving: Interpersonal Attraction and
the Development of Relationships
Initial attractions between people tend to be governed by the
following:
n Proximity—It turns out that simply hanging around with
another person, at work or play, can lead to mutual
attraction. Humans are social creatures, after all, and
Lesson 5 157
most of us seek out human company simply because
it’s inherently rewarding. Further, and not surprisingly,
people tend to be attracted to people who live near them.
Your friends are likely to be neighbors or members of
your school peer group.
n Mere exposure—Interestingly, merely being exposed to
another person can lead to attraction. If you’ve ever been
fascinated to the point of fantasy by images of rock stars
or actors in films or on TV, you’ll understand this. There
must have been several thousand people with hopeless
crushes on Marilyn Monroe, just as, today, even more
people may have hopeless crushes on . . . Jennifer
Aniston? Renee Zellweger? Nicole Kidman? Brad Pitt?
George Clooney? Johnny Depp?
n Similarity—Birds of a feather flock together. That’s the
old adage. Is it true of human attractions? Yes. People
are strongly inclined to hang out with people who have
similar interests, similar personality traits, or similar
backgrounds. If, as may certainly be the case, attractions
are mutual, a phenomenon called the reciprocity-of-
liking effect kicks in. That means we’re attracted to
people who indicate that they like us. Being liked is a
strong attractor.
n Physical attractiveness—As the philosopher Aristotle
noted, beauty is a singular virtue. It is, so to speak, a
force of nature. So, as your Mom may have told you,
pretty may be as pretty does, but beautiful people
certainly have an “attraction edge,” almost regardless
of what they do. (Think Paris Hilton.) From childhood
onward, the pretty people are likely to be the most popu-
lar, the most sought after, and the most often emulated.
Love is the grandest and most confusing of attractors. Romeo
and Juliet are icons of Western culture. Great love stories
are the stuff of countless novels and films. And nothing is
happier in our deepest fantasies than the Hollywood happy
ending. Boy gets girl, girl gets boy, and (we can wish) they
live happily ever after. However, psychologists are in the
business of finding out, not wishing.
Essentials of Psychology158
In that regard, some researchers have distinguished between
passionate or romantic love and companionate love. Robert
Sternberg thought that twofold distinction was inadequate to
the complexities of human behavior. Thus, he developed a
model based on three key factors:
1. Decision-commitment
2. Intimacy
3. Passion
He then proposed identifying six kinds of love based on the
way these ingredients may, or may not, interact, such that:
n Intimacy all alone equals liking. We just like keeping
company with someone.
n Intimacy + Passion = Romantic Love. (This kind of love
may explain why some people marry over and over again.
The typical romantic affair has a life span of about 18
months.)
n Passion Standing Alone = Infatuation. (If you remember
the “Peanuts” cartoon characters, think Charlie Brown
and the little red-headed girl. Or just think “puppy love.”)
n Passion + Commitment = Fatuous Love. (The term
“fatuous” seems to suggest something more like passion-
ate commitment, given that intimacy may sleep in the
spare bedroom.)
n Empty Love = Commitment. (No passion, no intimacy?
What fun is that?)
n Companionate Love = Intimacy + Commitment. (Soldiers
form strong bonds of companionate love, as in the idea of
a “band of brothers.”)
n Consummate Love = Intimacy + Passion + Commitment.
(At last, the real deal. Romeo and Juliet with a mortgage
paid off and kids grown up celebrate their thirtieth
wedding anniversary.)
Lesson 5 159
Aggression and Prosocial Behavior:
Hurting and Helping Others
Perspectives on aggression include the following:
n Instinct approaches—Some researchers have sought
explanations for aggression in human biology. Animal
ethnologist Konrad Lorenz maintained that aggression
is an instinctive drive. And, in fact, he was echoing a
sentiment voiced by Sigmund Freud. Both Freud and
Lorenz seem to have agreed that rough contact sports
and games might serve as a catharsis. That is, one can
vent aggressive energy in ways that aren’t harmful to
society. By contrast, the findings of other researchers
reject the catharsis idea as flat out wrong. We must
look elsewhere to explain human aggression.
n Frustration-aggression approaches—Frustration-
aggression theory offers the idea that human aggressive
behavior is triggered by frustration. We get nasty when
we don’t get what we need or want. Advocates of this
model speak of aversive stimuli that can make one prone
to aggression by way of aggression cues that bring about
actual aggressive behavior. For example, research shows
us that the typical homicide in America begins with an
argument among relatively young men who are having
a hard time making a living and feeling good about
themselves. Criminologists call these character contests.
Especially in a society where so many people own guns,
murder can result over something as absurd as an
imagined insult against a relative. Guns serve as strong
aggression cues; this is referred to as the weapons effect.
n Observational learning approaches—Observational
learning approaches reject instinct models. This school
wouldn’t deny that humans are capable of aggression.
However, being capable of mastering chess doesn’t mean
you’ll master chess. Similarly, it can be argued that
being capable of aggression doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily
be aggressive. Aggressive behavior is a potential that
can be actualized. But when it is, we learn to express it
through observational learning. The basic idea is simple.
Essentials of Psychology160
We’ll engage in aggressive behavior to the extent that
it’s modeled by people from whom we take our social
cues and rewarded in some way. As it turns out, actual
research has produced strong support for observational
learning as the root of aggressive behavior.
Prosocial behavior is selfless behavior directed toward the
good of the whole rather than to the advantage of the individual.
Prosocial behavior is often explained in much the same way
as aggression. We’re capable of prosocial behavior because
we possess cooperative instincts that are built into our
biology.
However, psychologists may wonder: Why do some people
take responsibility for their behaviors and beliefs? Why do
some people feel empathy for the concerns of others? Why
don’t more people do so? Many have suggested that the
answers may be related to the nature of our society. We’re
strongly socialized to ignore each other, to not get involved,
and to assume that someone else will take care of the problem.
However, just as we can help people control aggressive
impulses, perhaps we can also learn how to encourage
selfless, prosocial impulses.
In any case, motivations for prosocial behavior, also known as
helping behavior, aren’t fully understood. But researchers
have learned a few things from observing how people react in
emergency situations. Who will help out on the scene of an
auto accident or a house fire or a child stuck up a tree, and
why?
One factor turns out to be the number of people present. If
there are already a lot of people around, particular individu-
als are less likely to lend a hand. A sort of “let George do it”
attitude seems to prevail. This phenomenon is known as
diffusion of responsibility.
On the other hand, according to studies originally conducted
by Latané and Darley, there are four steps in deciding whether
to help:
1. Noticing—You won’t see a problem if you don’t notice
it. People often drive pass a road emergency without
noticing a problem, such as a lifted hood or someone
waving a handkerchief.
Lesson 5 161
2. Interpreting the event as needing intervention—We have to
see that there’s a problem. The child has been knocked
off his bicycle by a passing car. Flames are leaping from
a dormer window.
3. Assuming responsibility for helping—We decide we should
lend a hand. If there are several people around, we cut
through the diffusion-of-responsibility barrier.
4. Deciding on and implementing some way of helping—
Once we’ve decided we should help, we decide how. If
we’ve had a CPR class, we rush to the aid of the man
who has collapsed in the supermarket checkout line. If
we realize that someone is being assaulted, we dial 911
on our cell phone and clear our minds to give specific
information. In effect, we consult our experience to
figure out what we can do.
Most of the time, we decide to help out, or not, based on a
quick costs-rewards analysis. (I would love to save that
unhappy cat from the burning house, but I have a thing
about death through roasting.)
In other remarkable cases, people will go for the cat, jump on
the grenade, or walk that narrow window ledge on the thirty-
first floor to talk down a jumper. It happens. When it does,
we speak of altruism. Research by way of interviews with
such selfless heroes reveals an interesting pattern. In effect,
the savior just acts, more or less on “instinct,” without much
reflection at all on the potential risks. You might say that
altruism is the behavioral side of unconditional love.
Stress and Coping
Stress: Reacting to Threat and Challenge
All stressors are perceived as major or minor threats to a
sense of well-being. In other words, situations are appraised
as they’re perceived. Our primary appraisal of some potential
stressor (any kind of situation or stimulus) determines whether
it’s a threat. If the potential stressor isn’t perceived as
a threat, we go on with business as usual. If a threat is
Essentials of Psychology162
perceived, we engage in secondary appraisal aimed at
dealing with the threat. We may decide to fight, flee,
negotiate, or simply smile and get on with our day.
The Nature of Stressors: My Stress Is
Your Pleasure
If you recall your introduction to arousal theory, you’ll remember
that an arousal state may be interpreted differently by different
people at different times. One person’s exciting roller-coaster
ride is another person’s traumatic experience. Stress is a
mental or physical condition that we must adapt to. The first
day of school, a first date, taking the bar exam, or entertaining
an annoying relative are all potential stressors. A stressor
is any environmental or mental situation or experience
perceived as stressful. Emotions and stress responses
develop in the same way. They’re automatic responses
of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). When emotions
associated with a stimulus are intense, stress levels are
greater. When pressure is increased by the need to meet
a deadline or by unpredictable events (such as computer
failures), stress tends to be magnified.
Your text identifies three general types of stressors:
1. Cataclysmic events—A natural disaster, the death of a
loved one, or almost any given minute in a combat situa-
tion qualify as cataclysmic events. If a cataclysmic event
is shared and can be dealt with and left behind, it tends
not to leave lasting psychological scars. Examples might
include coping with a hurricane or tornado, assuming
the damage doesn’t linger as it has in New Orleans.
Ongoing events, like the aftermath of Katrina or a nasty
divorce and struggles over child custody, are more
devastating in the long run.
2. Personal stressors—Major life events, like marriage, the
death of a parent, or childbirth are considered personal
stressors. You’ll notice that both positive and negative
events are personal stressors. In the event that cata-
clysmic events are combined with personal stressors,
the result may be PTSD. Combat veterans often suffer
from PTSD.
Lesson 5 163
3. Background stressors—Background stressors, also
known as daily hassles, may be what Shakespeare was
referring to when he wrote of “the thousand shocks to
which mortal flesh is heir.” A French existentialist
philosopher framed the matter in a single sentence.
“Things are against us.” The “things” in question make
for a very long list. The car won’t start, Judy is coming
down with a cold, Spot left a spot on the carpet, Harry
is late again, I forgot my umbrella, and so on.
The flip sides of hassles are called uplifts. The check arrived
in the mail, Mary called to tell me she arrived safely in
Denver, Jody got an “A” on his math quiz, the boss smiled,
the Mets won, and so on.
You should become familiar with the general adaptation
syndrome (GAS). Developed by physiologist Hans Selye, the
GAS outlines what happens to us when we encounter and
deal with stress. The three stages of the GAS are applicable
to just about any kind of stress—from serious physical
trauma to psychological shock resulting from divorce, getting
fired, or even failing an algebra test. The GAS has three
stages:
1. In the alarm reaction, your body mobilizes for fight or
flight. Though it doesn’t know which you’ll choose, your
body will consistently take the same action. Your blood
pressure rises, adrenaline pumps into your blood, your
digestion slows, and blood flows to the skeletal muscles
as you tense for action.
2. In the stage of resistance, the physical adjustments to
stress stabilize. Tension and vigilance become the norm. A
soldier in combat will remain at this stage until exhaustion
sets in. A person going through a divorce may be able to
get stress under control before exhaustion sets in.
3. In the stage of exhaustion, the body’s resources—such as
adrenaline—are depleted. If stress isn’t relieved at this
stage, the result will be some kind of psychosomatic
disorder, physical disease, or even complete collapse. The
body’s immune system is compromised by prolonged
stress.
Essentials of Psychology164
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), the study of relationships
between psychological factors and the brain, takes a broader
approach to stress. Looking at the outcomes of stress, PNI
identifies three basic stress consequences:
1. Stress causes immediate physiological reactions, includ-
ing elevated blood pressure, increased hormonal activity,
and a decline in the functioning of the immune system.
2. Stress leads people to engage in risky, unhealthy behav-
iors, such as substance abuse, smoking, and not getting
enough sleep.
3. Stress is associated with indirect consequences, such as
a reduced likelihood of getting health-care insurance
(under the dysfunctional U.S. health-care system) and an
increased likelihood that medical advice will be ignored.
Coping with Stress
To live on planet Earth is to experience stress. That’s both
good news and bad news. Without stress, adaptive behavior
wouldn’t be encouraged as situations change—and situations
always change. Indeed, Hans Selye spoke of what he called
eustress, stress that motivates us to get busy with absorbing
and stimulating work that can be useful to one and all. On
the other hand, stress without adaptive responses simply
wears us out and can even kill us.
When we deal with stressors, there are two basic reaction
modes. Problem-focused coping centers on acting to neutralize or
manage the threat. Emotion-focused coping involves managing
our emotional response to the perceived threat. In reality,
we do a little of both of these things.
Things go better when we feel we can cope with stressors,
whatever they may be. By contrast, deciding that we have
no control over a stressful situation can lead us down paths
of hopelessness and fatalistic apathy. That’s a path people
may take to the extent that they adopt what psychologists
call learned helplessness. For example, people may make
nonproductive internal attributions to account for setbacks.
A self-applied internal attribution signifies that frustrations
are a direct result of one’s inherent (built-in) deficiencies.
Lesson 5 165
People may teach themselves that since they failed once,
they’ll fail again because they’re stupid, incompetent, or
just “no good.”
Another important factor in coping with stress is social support.
Hard times are easier to cope with when there are shoulders to
cry on. A hug from a friend can make a difference. My problems
can fall into a healthier perspective as I enter into social
networks with people who are trying to bail out the same
leaky boat.
People benefit from understanding what stress is and how to
cope with it. They benefit from knowing how to live in ways
that promote good health. Our work lives, family lives, and
recreational lives are under control when we understand
how to manage stress. The last part of this section offers you
some excellent tips on effective coping strategies. Here’s a
“teaser” preview. Think about what each tip tells you in terms
of your life experience.
n Turn a threat into a challenge. U.S. Army combat
engineers have an adage: “The possible we get done
immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.”
n Look for the silver lining. Even dire situations can be
viewed from different perspectives. Members of the
anti-Nazi resistance in World War II had a saying: “What
doesn’t kill you outright only makes you stronger.”
n Change your goals. When you’ve proved to yourself that
you aren’t likely to write the great American novel any
time soon, plan a career in journalism.
n Take physical action. It always helps to do something.
Run Fido around the block, pump some iron, clean up
the kitchen.
n Prepare for stress before it happens. If you know the
corporate bigwigs will be descending to inspect your
department, make a plan, help get department personnel
on the same page, and convince Steve that casual Friday
attire won’t cut it.
Now, review the material you’ve learned in this study
guide as well as the assigned pages in your textbook for
Assignments 12–13. Once you feel you understand the
Essentials of Psychology166
material, complete Self-Check 13. Then check your answers
with those provided at the end of this study guide. If you’ve
missed any answers, or you feel unsure of the material,
review the assigned pages in your textbook and this study
guide. When you’re sure that you completely understand the
information presented in Assignments 12–13, complete your
examination for Lesson 5.
Self-Check 13
1. Borrowing ideas from Freud, Konrad Lorenz, an animal behaviorist, maintained that humans
have a built-in fighting _______, the pressure from which builds up until it’s released through
some kind of catharsis.
2. Regarding ways of coping with stress, _______-focused coping centers on controlling one’s
feelings and attitudes about a situation, while _______-focused coping tries to effect changes
that will alter the situation in a favorable direction.
3. “Birds of a feather” is to _______ as “the girl next door” is to proximity.
4. When a police officer renders assistance with apparent disregard for the threat to his own life
and safety, it goes beyond the idea of simple prosocial behavior to the concept of _______.
5. Carl has decided that nothing he does can make his world better than it is. He can’t get a
break in life. His idea of the “golden rule” is “Those with the gold rule.” It seems likely that
Carl has adopted the attitudes and behavior psychologists call _______ helplessness.
6. The flip side of a hassle is a/an _______.
7. The more people there at the scene of an accident, the less likely it is that anyone will offer
aid and assistance. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as _______ of responsibility.
8. Levels of frustration are high in a tense crowd situation following a period of civil unrest.
However, the likelihood that overt aggression will occur may depend on the appearance of
aggressive _______, such as someone coming onto the street waving a baseball bat.
9. Alarm and mobilization make up the first stage of the general _______ syndrome.
10. For Robert Sternberg, intimacy + _______ + commitment equals consummate love.
Check your answers with those on page 174.
Case Studies
You’ll find your case study assignments in the textbook,
Psychology and Your Life.
Read the following case studies in your textbook and answer
the questions. You’ll submit a cover sheet with your answers
to the case studies questions.
1. The Case of Confusion, page 43
2. The Case of the Cautious Pilot, page 119
3. The Case of the Manager Who Doubled Productivity,
page 195
4. The Case of Rob Steere, the Man Who Knew Too Much,
page 239
5. The Case of Mike and Marty Scanlon, the Unlikely Twins,
page 383
COVER SHEET
The first page of your case studies will be the cover sheet.
Don’t number it. Provide the following information:
n CASE STUDIES
n Your name and student number
n The following information:
Submitted for course SSC 130
Essentials of Psychology
Current date (for example, November 1, 20XX)
n Assignment number 05020601
For the sake of appearance, center CASE STUDIES about
one third of the way down from the top of the page. Skip
a space to center your name and student number. Skip
two lines to insert the submitted for . . . Essentials of
Psychology . . . current date. Skip one more to center
the assignment number.
167
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For the body of your paper, follow this procedure:
Case Study Number One: You’ll find responses in your text-
book in the chapter preceding this case study. For example,
for the Case of Confusion, all responses will be found
between pages 4–42.
Question 1. Write your answer in sentence format.
Question 2. Write your answer in sentence format.
Question 3. Write your answer in sentence format.
Question 4. Write your answer in sentence format.
Question 5. Write your answer in sentence format.
Then move on to the next case study and continue in the
same format.
SUBMITTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Follow this procedure to submit your assignment:
1. Save a revised and corrected version of your project on
your computer.
2. Go to http://www.pennfoster.edu and log on as a
student.
3. Go to My Courses.
4. Click Take Exam next to the lesson you’re working on.
5. Enter you e-mail address in the box provided. (Note: This
information is required for online submission.)
6. Attach your file or files as follows:
a. Click on the Browse box.
b. Locate the file you wish to attach.
c. Double-click on this file.
d. Click on Upload File.
7. Click on Submit Files.
Graded Project168
Self-Check 1
1. operational
2. evolutionary; neuroscience
3. testing; sample
4. independent; control
5. psychodynamic
6. research
7. naturalistic
8. humanistic
9. correlates
10. determinism
Self-Check 2
1. synapse; neurotransmitters
2. neuroplasticity
3. limbic
4. somatic
5. electrical; biochemical
6. cerebral cortex
7. myelin
8. sensory
9. association
10. cerebellum
Self-Check 3
1. cochlea
2. skin
3. absolute
4. stimulus; perception
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Self-Check Answers170
5. processing; context
6. depth
7. Rods; color
8. perceptual
9. sensory
10. bitter; smell
Self-Check 4
1. hypnotic
2. Stimulants
3. 4
4. psychedelic (or hallucinogenic)
5. apnea
6. alcohol
7. terrors; narcolepsy
8. REM
9. Addiction; psychological
10. circadian
Self-Check 5
1. negative
2. generalization
3. aggressiveness; four
4. cognitive
5. behavior
6. cognitive; observational
7. unconditioned
8. Latent
9. neutral
10. partial; fixed
Self-Check Answers 171
Self-Check 6
1. heuristic
2. functional
3. proactive
4. implicit; explicit
5. linguistic
6. concept; mental
7. sensory
8. telegraphic
9. decay
10. declarative
Self-Check 7
1. transsexual; heterosexuality
2. metabolism
3. primary; secondary
4. facial-feedback
5. intrinsic
6. double
7. achievement
8. homoeostasis
9. bulimia
10. esteem
Self-Check 8
1. conservation
2. adolescence
3. permissive; authoritative
4. proximal
Self-Check Answers172
5. social; secure
6. withdrawal; activity
7. trust; mistrust
8. conventional
9. information
10. operational
Self-Check 9
1. unconditional
2. self-efficacy
3. practical
4. projective
5. defense; repression
6. crystallized
7. conscientiousness
8. profile
9. learned
10. unconscious; archetypes
11. oral; phallic
12. 115
Self-Check 10
1. dissociative
2. delusion
3. abnormal
4. statistical
5. alcohol
6. borderline
Examination, Lesson 5 173
7. xenophobia
8. somatoform
9. compulsion
10. mania
Self-Check 11
1. mood
2. humanistic
3. electroconvulsive
4. self-help
5. community
6. Evidence
Self-Check 12
1. industrial
2. central
3. conformity
4. dissonance
5. Central; peripheral
6. influence
7. halo
8. attitude
9. obedience; compliance
10. fundamental-attribution
Self-Check Answers 173
Self-Check Answers174
Self-Check 13
1. instinct
2. emotion; problem
3. similarity
4. altruism
5. learned
6. uplift
7. diffusion
8. cues
9. adaptation
10. passion
