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PSY 301- Exam #4 Review

Terms in this set (76)

Social Cognition
ability to understand human psychology
Theory of mind
understanding that people have mental states that guide their behavior
Theory of mind -- False Belief task
assesses the understanding that people can hold inaccurate beliefs that influence behavior.

Achieve by 4 years

Foundation for later social cognitive development
Precursors to theory of mind
Joint attention
Imitation
Pretend Play
Intention Understanding
Emotional Understanding
Deception
Desire psychology
Explain own and others' behaviors in terms of what they want (18M)
Belief-Desire Psychology
people behave because they desire things and believe their actions will help them fulfill their desires
- Related to passing false belief task at 4YRS
Nature
innate skills adaptive to functioning in a social group
-nonhuman primates have basic theory of mind skills
-requires biological maturation
-Mirror Neurons- activated both when we perform action and when we observe someone else perform same action
-Makes sense of others by drawing on self-knowledge
Nurture
requires interaction and environmental input
-siblings
-sensitive parents who talk about mental states
-requires language

combination of nature and nurture
Describing and Evaluating Others
*Preschool
-physical traits, possessions, activities or global traits
-don't see traits as enduring
*School age
-Enduring psychological traits (7-8)
*Later school age and adolescence
-Traits explain behaviors (11-12)
-Integrated distinct personality profiles (adolescence)
Social perspective taking
*Social perspective taking skills: the ability to adopt another's perspective
-essential in thinking about moral issues
-improves if parents provides perspective taking examples
-leads to positive peer relationships
-roots of empathy
Social perspective taking in adulthood
More gains than losses

Social cognitive skills hold up well to aging despite declines in fluid intelligence

declines may be due to mental capacity overload
Morality
ability to distinguish right from wrong, act on this discrimination, and experience pride when we do right things or guilt/shame when we do not.
Morality -- Cognitive
distinguish right from wrong
Morality -- Behavioral
act accordingly
Morality -- Affective
experience pride and guilt or shame
Empathy
vicarious experiencing of another person's feelings
Prosocial behavior
positive acts that reflect concern for others' welfare
Moral Affect: Psychoanalytic Theory
Moral affect: emotion related to right and wrong
-motivated to avoid negative moral emotions
-empathy motivates prosocial behavior

Superego (conscience) formed during the phallic stage (3-6)
-Oedipus/electra complex
-Internalization of parental morals

Responsive parenting important
Cognitive Development Theory -- Moral reasoning
thinking process involved in deciding whether an act is right or wrong
Cognitive Development Theory -- Reciprocity
equal give and take in relationship, ask whether things are fair from multiple points of view
Piaget's view
focus on thinking processing
Premoral period (preschool)
not moral beings
Heteronomous morality (6-10)
-Rules as sacred/unalterable
-Consequences/amount of damage
Autonomous morality (10+)
-Rules as agreements between people
-Intention more important than consequences
Kohlberg's View
Stages of moral reasoning

i.e. red light example
Preconventional
Egocentric
(1) Punishment and obedience
(2) Instrumental hedonism
Conventional
Consideration of others
(3) Good boy/girl morality
(4) Authority/social order maintaining morality
Postconventional
Consideration of all individuals
5) Morality of contract, individual rights, law
(6) Individual principles of conscience
Social Learning Theory
Moral behavior is learned
-observational learning, reinforcement, & punishment

Situational context important

Cognitive self-regulation
-anticipation of consequences to self
-apply consequences to self

Moral disengagement
-no self condemnation for immoral acts
-justification for bad behavior
Evolutionary Theory
Moral behavior has been adaptive

Altruistic traits aid survival
-reciprocity and cooperation
-humans repay good deeds, revenge bad deeds

Chimpanzee research: shows empathy, cooperation, altruism?
The infant: Early moral training
Internalize moral standards with experience
-Associate negative emotions with violating rules
-Mutually responsive orientation
related to moral socialization

close, emotionally positive relationship with caregiver

Talking about emotions, consequences, punishment
accompanied by explanation
The infant: Empathy and Prosocial Behavior
Empathy in infancy
-Improves with age

Prosocial behavior before age 2

Becomes more sophisticated and less egocentric with developing cognition and perspective taking
The child: Thinking through Kohlberg's Dilemmas
Piaget (10-11): heteronomous --> autonomous

Kohlberg: didn't study until ~10yrs
-Suggested children were mostly preconventional/egocentric

Were children underestimated?
The child: Weighting Intentions
Do children only focus on consequence?

-3-year-olds judge acts based on intention as well as consequence
The child: Understanding Rules
Are rules "sacred"?

Distinguish between moral (welfare/rights) and social-conventional (social consensus) rules at age 2 and into preschool

Moral transgressions viewed as worse

Adult rules often questioned
More socialization -- Social learning theory
Reward moral behavior, punish immoral behavior, model moral behavior
More socialization -- 3 approaches to discipline (Hoffman)
Love withdrawal (negative effects)

Power assertion (moral immaturity)

Induction (related to moral maturity/empathy)
More socialization -- proactive parenting
Techniques like distracting from temptation and teaching values
-designed to prevent misbehavior
Goodness of fit
what works for one child may not work for another
The adolescent: Antisocial behavior
Two kinds of antisocial youth
-Temporary in adolescence
-Chronic/seriously aggressive (conduct disorder)
*less empathy for others' distress
*little remorse for criminal behavior
Why are some youth more aggressive?
Dodge Social information processing model
-deficient or biased information processing
Patterson's coercive family environments
Ineffective parenting in childhood
-Try to control each other (e.g., threats, hitting, abuse)

Unpleasant aggressive child
-performs poorly in school
-disliked by other children

Chooses aggressive peer group
-reinforced for antisocial behavior
The adult
Kohlberg's Postconventional moral reasoning is thought to emerge in adult years (if at all)
Criticisms of Kohlberg's Theory
Biased?

Cultural differences?

Little attention to emotion
Attachment theory
a strong affectionate tie that binds a person to an intimate companion
-Helps regulate distress by proximity seeking
-Develops at 6-7 months
Internal working models
Cognitive representations of self and other that children construct from interactions with caregivers
Nature and nurture
Cognitive representations of self and other that children construct from interactions with caregivers
Childhood Peers: Piaget
Piaget: equal power among peers
-Requires cooperation, negotiation skills
-Contributions to development beyond parents
Childhood Peers: Harris
Harris: parental influence is overrated
-Parents contribute only genes
-Peers most important for
development
Childhood Peers: Chumships
Chumships (close friendships)
-Teach perspective taking
-Provides support and protection
-Practice with intimate relationships
The infant: Early emotional development -- Primary emotions
Very young infants express distinct emotions
-primary emotions (e.g., fear, joy) emerge in the first 6 months
The infant: Early emotional development -- Secondary/ complex emotions
Very young infants express distinct emotions
-primary emotions (e.g., fear, joy) emerge in the first 6 months
The infant: Early emotional development -- Nature, nurture, and emotions
Nature: Primary emotions seem biological

Nurture: caregivers shape infant emotions
The infant: Early emotional development -- Social referencing
(9 months): monitoring companion's emotions to determine response
The infant: Early emotional development -- Emotion regulation
Emotion Regulation: Process involved in initiating, maintaining, and altering emotional responses

Reduce negative arousal by turning from unpleasant stimuli, rocking, or moving (~12 months)

Control people/objects that offend them, distract themselves while waiting, use symbols (18-24 months)
Caregiver's attachment to infant
Early contact helps, but not necessary or sufficient

Neonatal reflexes endear the infant to them
Synchronized routines
Synchronized routines: partners take turns responding to each other's leads
-Caregiver sensitivity
-More synchronized routines, better
attachment"
Stranger anxiety
Stranger Anxiety- wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers display when approached by unfamiliar person
-Peak 8-10 months, gradually decline over 2nd yr
Separation anxiety
Separation Anxiety- Wary or fretful reaction displayed when separated from person to whom infants and toddlers are attached
-Emerges 6-8 mos, peaks 14-18 mos, declines into preschool
Strange situation
Measuring attachment (Mary Ainsworth):

Strange situation- series of eight separations and reunion episodes infants are exposed to determine quality of attachment
Caregiver contributions
Caregiver Contribution (Harry Harlow)
-Wire vs. cloth mothers for infant monkeys
-Contact comfort more important than feeding
Infant contributions
Person permanence

Temperament
-Fearful, irritable, unresponsive infants have more insecure attachment style

Reaction to parenting style Goodness-of-fit between parenting style and infant temperament
Contextual contributors
Stresses
-poverty, marital difficulties

Culture
-Differences in independence
Implications of early attachment: deprivation
Extreme social deprivation can appear normal for first 3-6 months

After 6 months
-Appear depressed an uninterested in social contact
-Later issues with social adjustment

Disinhibited attachment- indiscriminate friendliness, lack of appropriate wariness with stranger, difficulty participating in real, reciprocal interactions

Normal development requires sustained interactions with responsive caregiver
Implications of early attachment: separations
Form attachment but are separated
-Grieving process (sad/anxious)
-Normally recover when reunited
-Can recover from permanent separation if form another attachment
Later outcomes
Securely attached child
-Cognitively and socially competent
-More positive peer relations

Insecurely attached child
-Withdrawn, dependent, fearful
-Less socially competent

Patterns last through adolescence
First Peer relations
Interest in other babies (6 months)

18 months
-First peers
-Turn taking, reciprocal play
The Child: Parent-child attachment
Goal directed partnership- parent and child accommodate to each other's needs
-Child becomes more sensitive, independent

Want predictable separations

View parents as safe haven when scared/hurt

Start to become dependent on peers for support
The Child: Peer network
Goal directed partnership- parent and child accommodate to each other's needs
-Child becomes more sensitive, independent

Want predictable separations

View parents as safe haven when scared/hurt

Start to become dependent on peers for support
The Child: Play
Becomes more social

Play becomes more imaginative
-Pretend play: an actor/object/action symbolizes another
-Social pretend play: children cooperate to enact dramas

Becomes more rule governed (school age)

Play is beneficial
-Cognitive, motor, social, and emotional development
The Child: Peer acceptance and popularity
Becomes more social

Play becomes more imaginative
-Pretend play: an actor/object/action symbolizes another
-Social pretend play: children cooperate to enact dramas

Becomes more rule-governed (school age)

Play is beneficial
-Cognitive, motor, social, and emotional development
The Child: Friendship
Many children have at least one reciprocated friendship

Friends linked to social competence and less loneliness and depression
-Provide social support during stressful events
The Adolescent: Attachment to parents
Parents still important
-Secure attachment to parents predicts positive outcomes
The Adolescent: Friendships
Friendships
-Increasing closeness with cross-sex peers
-Friends similar psychologically
-Increasing closeness with cross-sex peers
The Adolescent: Changing social networks
Cliques and crowds (Dunphy)
-Same sex cliques
-Cliques interact
-Heterosexual cliques (popular peers)
-Crowds
-Dating
The Adult: Romantic relationships
Erikson intimacy vs. isolation

Filter Theories- mate selection through a series of filters

Homogamy- greatest influence on mate selection is similarity

Triangular theory of love
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