Psych 104 Holmes Reading Period 3 Topics Intelligence Motivation Emotions and Health Personality Development Social Interaction and Influence Emotions Cognitive Explanations 1 Thoughts lead to arousal and or behaviors which then lead to emotions the James Lange Theory Thoughts arousal and or behaviors emotion 2 Thoughts lead to emotions and arousal separately the Cannon Bard Theory Thoughts emotion physiological arousal 3 Arousal is labeled as an emotion the Schachter Singer Theory Nonspecific physiological arousal interpreted as emotion emotion Physiological Explanation 1 Changes in activity in a specific area of the brain emotion Sympathetic nervous system stimulates more activity a person with more will be more emotional sympathetic branch lie detector test very unreliable when you tell a lie you get a surge of electrical activity more sympathetic activity causes heart rate to go up and hands to perspire Guilty Knowledge Technique person who committed the criminal act knows something about the crime that only the criminal would know works very well emotions are pretty much the same across all cultures women show more emotions than men warmth happiness nurturing positive responses men show anger content pride ex young females when given a gift they don t like will be gracious if other people are present but when they aren t with other people they will show their real emotions towards the gift dislike people who are more depressed down will interpret things in a less positive way empathy is more pronounced white hemisphere Topic III Stress Stress and Stressors The steps that leads to stress and defense Figure 7 5 Awareness and Appraisal of a Stressor Attempts to Cope with the Stressor If coping is effective the process is stopped Stress Response Cognitive Component Physiological Component Possible use of defense mechanisms if the defense is effective stress is reduced but the stressor remains and may cause problems later Defense mechanisms denial redefinition displacement suppression distraction repression Other factors in the control of stress social support counseling and psychotherapy writing about stress aerobic exercise meditation and biofeedback Influence of Genetics on Stressors Stress Your Brain and Your Behavior biofeedback stress results in increased physical arousal heart attacks and strokes high levels of cholesterol Heart attacks due to progressive increase in cholesterol of artery over time cholesterol accumulates on the wall of the artery causes very small passageway for blood to flow blood cant get to muscle we need cholesterol cholesterol is used to nourish and protect cells when you become stressed you produce more cholesterol link between psychological function and cardiovascular problem applies to heart and brain stroke brain Type A personality individual characterized by competitiveness time urgent this type of person will hit the elevator button multiple times instead of pushing it once and stepping back and waiting hostility causes stress which results in greater production of cholesterol which will result in a heart attack time urgency impatient type A people are more likely to have heart attacks later in life stress is related to production of cholesterol the body is expecting that there is going to be damage done produces cholesterol to protect that damage cholesterol is a building block to fix problems that are going to happen cholesterol accumulates on the inside of arteries prevents proper blood flow stretches skin and creates stretch marks heart rate slows down treatment bypass surgery create another path to heart angioplasty personality change from type A to B is extremely rare blood pressure systolic high diastolic low 120 80 is normal blood pressure if pressure is too high the capillaries will burst which will kill neurons and make parts of the brain die if blood pressure is high it causes stroke develops stretch marks when you lift too much weight systolic blood pressure can get too high and neurons are lost light weights with less repetitions better for you blows less circuits in the brain hypertension 140 90 too high change lifestyle to lower blood pressure type A behavior is due to high blood pressure suppression of emotions due to blood pressure constant level of tension minorities hold in emotions of discrimination cortisol leads to more energy strength can damage hippocampus excessive levels can cause problems with short term memory cholesterol interferes with functioning of hippocampus stressed produce more cortisol interferes with function of hippocampus cant remember stress causes problems with memory genes and personality individuals are more like their identical twins than their fraternal twins similarities between children and their parents biological parents and adoptive children are very different than each other if you are raised by biological parents you will be like them if you are raised by adoptive parents you will be different because you share different genes genes are related to traits such as aggression empathy interests drug abuse age of first sexual intercourse thrill seeking stability of personality generally thought that genes have a high percentage of genetic component environmental factors errors in measurement genes account for 50 of personality and environmental factors are the other 50 not true because you have to take errors of measurement out of environmental factors genes 50 environmental factors 50 of personality is due to genetic factors mediating variable neurotransmitters if you inherit a low level of serotonin you and your parents will be more likely to be unhappy and depressed biochemical factors can change level of serotonin you can change the personality of someone who is depressed with drugs Prozac anxiety is a characteristic of depression anxiety becomes part of personality if you treat anxiety with drugs you can change personality hormones are substances secreted by glands of the body testosterone aggression macho parental hormones influence physical development during pregnancy transgender due to cross sex hormone exposure during a specific time during fetal development of the brain personality tests MMPI test 550 questions scored for schizophrenia depression anxiety etc Thematic Test TAT look at pictures and tell a story Shows how you perceive other people in the world tells stories of a lot of cards and psychologist draws conclusions as to how they view the world USELESS TEST this test can be
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