Social Science Nmat Reviewer
Social Science Nmat Reviewer
Social Science Nmat Reviewer
Freud believed that when we explain our own behaviour to ourselves or others
(conscious mental activity) we rarely give a true account of our motivation. This is
not because we are deliberately lying. Whilst human beings are great deceivers of
others they are even more adept at self-deception. Our rationalisations of our
conduct are therefore disguising the real reasons. Freuds life work was dominated
by his attempts to find ways of penetrating this often subtle and elaborate
camouflage that obscures the hidden structure and processes of personality.
In Studies in Hysteria (1895) Freud proposed that physical symptoms are often the
surface manifestations of deeply repressed conflicts. However Freud was not just
advancing an explanation of a particular illness. Implicitly he was proposing a
revolutionary new theory of the human psyche itself.
This theory emerged bit by bit as a result of Freuds clinical investigations and it
led him to propose that there were at least three levels to the mind.
The Unconscious Mind
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud explored the human mind more thoroughly than any other who
became before him.
His contributions to psychology are vast. Freud was one of the most influential
people of the twentieth century and his enduring legacy has influenced not only
psychology, but art, literature and even the way people
bring up their children.
On the surface is consciousness, which consists of those thoughts that are the focus
of our attention now, and this is seen as the tip of the iceberg. The preconscious
consists of all which can be retrieved from memory. The third and most significant
region is the unconscious. Here lie the processes that are the real cause of most
behaviour. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you
cannot see.
Freuds lexicon has become embedded within the vocabulary of western society.
Words he introduced through his theories are now used by everyday people, such
as anal (personality), libido, denial, repression, cathartic, Freudian slip, and
neurotic.
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of the school of analytical
psychology. He proposed and developed the concepts of the extroverted and
introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. The issues that
he dealt with arose from his personal experiences. For many years Jung felt as if he
had two separate personalities. One introverted and other extroverted. This
interplay resulted in his study of integration and wholeness. His work has been
influential not only in psychology, but in religion and literature as well.
Jung believed that symbol creation was a key in understanding human nature.
Symbol, as defined by Jung, is the best possible expression for something essentially
unknown. He wanted to investigate the similarity of symbols that are located in
different religious, mythological, and magical systems which occur in many cultures
and time periods. To account for these similar symbols occurring across different
cultures and time periods he suggested the existence of two layers of the
unconscious psyche. The first of the two layers was the personal unconscious. It
contains what the individual has acquired in his or her life, but has been forgotten
or repressed. The second layer is the collective unconscious which contains the
memory traces common to all humankind. These experiences form archetypes.
These are innate predispositions to experience and symbolize certain situations in a
distinct way. There are many archetypes such as having parents, finding a mate,
having children, and confronting death. Very complex archetypes are found in all
mythological and religious systems. Near the end of his life Jung added that the
deepest layers of the unconscious function independently of the laws of space, time
and causality. This is what gives rise to paranormal phenomena. The introvert and
the extrovert are the main components of personality according to Jung. The
introvert is quiet, withdrawn and interested in ideas rather than people. While the
extrovert is outgoing and socially oriented. For Jung a person that had a healthy
personality can realize these opposite tendencies within himself/herself and can
express each. Dreams serve to compensate for any neglected parts of the
personality.
Sigmund Freud emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind, and a primary
assumption of Freudian theory is that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a
greater degree than people suspect. Indeed, the goal of psychoanalysis is to make
the unconscious conscious.
The Psyche
Freud (1923) later developed a more structural model of the mind comprising the
entities id, ego and superego (what Freud called the psychic apparatus). These are
not physical areas within the brain, but rather hypothetical conceptualizations of
important mental functions.
Freud assumed the id operated at an unconscious level according to the pleasure
principle (grafification from satisfying basic instincts). The id comprises two kinds of
biological instincts (or drives) which Freud called Eros and Thanatos.
Eros, or life instinct, helps the individual to survive; it directs life-sustaining activities
such as respiration, eating and sex (Freud, 1925). The energy created by the life
instincts is known as libido.
In contrast, Thanatos or death instinct is viewed as a set of destructive forces
present in all human beings (Freud, 1920). When this energy is directed outward
onto others, it is expressed as aggression and violence. Freud believed that Eros is
stronger than Thanatos, thus enabling people to survive rather than self-destruct.
The ego develops from the id during infancy. The egos goal is to satisfy the
demands of the id in a safe a socially acceptable way. In contrast to the id the ego
follows the reality principle as it operates in both the conscious and unconscious
mind.
The superego develops during early childhood (when the child identifies with the
same sex parent) and is responsible for ensuring moral standards are followed. The
superego operates on the morality principle and motivates us to behave in a socially
responsible and acceptable manner.
the sound of the metronome. After repeating this procedure several times, Pavlov
was able to remove the US (food) and by only ringing the bell the dogs would
salivate (CR). Since the bell alone now produced the unconditioned response
(salivation), the association had been established (Conditioned). Pavlov continued
to present the CS with any pairing with the US until the CR no longer occurred. This
elimination of the CR is known as extinction. However, waiting a few days and then
reintroducing ticking metronome resulted in the dogs once again salivating to the
CS. Pavlov termed this, spontaneous recovery.
Sensation seeking is a personality trait defined by the search for experiences and
feelings, that are "varied, novel, complex and intense", and by the readiness to
"take physical, social, legal, and financial risks for the sake of such experiences."
Wilhelm Wundt is best known for establishing the first psychology lab in Liepzig,
Germany, generally considered the official beginning of psychology as a field of
science separate from philosophy and physiology. In addition to this
accomplishment, Wundt also established the psychology journal Philosophical
Studies.
Acquisition
Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when a response is first established and
gradually strengthened. For example, imagine that you are conditioning a dog to
salivate in response to the sound of a bell. You repeatedly pair the presentation of
food with the sound of the bell. You can say the response has been acquired as
soon as the dog begins to salivate in response to the bell tone. Once the response
has been acquired, you can gradually reinforce the salivation response to make sure
the behavior is well learned.
Extinction
Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or
disappear. In classical conditioning, this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no
longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if the smell of food (the
unconditioned stimulus) had been paired with the sound of a whistle (the
conditioned stimulus), it would eventually come to evoke the conditioned response
of hunger. However, if the unconditioned stimulus (the smell of food) were no
longer paired with the conditioned stimulus (the whistle), eventually the
conditioned response (hunger) would disappear.
Spontaneous Recovery
Spontaneous Recovery is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest
period or period of lessened response. If the conditioned stimulus and
unconditioned stimulus are no longer associated, extinction will occur very rapidly
after a spontaneous recovery.
Defense Mechanisms
Stimulus Generalization
Stimulus Generalization is the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke
similar responses after the response has been conditioned. For example, if a child
has been conditioned to fear a stuffed white rabbit, the child will exhibit fear of
objects similar to the conditioned stimulus.
Discrimination
Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and
other stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For
example, if a bell tone were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would involve
being able to tell the difference between the bell tone and other similar sounds.
1. Denial
Denial is the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought or
feeling did not exist. It is considered one of the most primitive of the defense
mechanisms because it is characteristic of early childhood development. Many
people use denial in their everyday lives to avoid dealing with painful feelings or
areas of their life they dont wish to admit. For instance, a person who is a
functioning alcoholic will often simply deny they have a drinking problem, pointing
to how well they function in their job and relationships.
2. Regression
Regression is the reversion to an earlier stage of development in the face of
unacceptable thoughts or impulses. For an example an adolescent who is
overwhelmed with fear, anger and growing sexual impulses might become clingy
and start exhibiting earlier childhood behaviors he has long since overcome, such as
bedwetting. An adult may regress when under a great deal of stress, refusing to
leave their bed and engage in normal, everyday activities.
7. Reaction Formation
Reaction Formation is the converting of unwanted or dangerous thoughts, feelings
or impulses into their opposites. For instance, a woman who is very angry with her
boss and would like to quit her job may instead be overly kind and generous toward
her boss and express a desire to keep working there forever. She is incapable of
expressing the negative emotions of anger and unhappiness with her job, and
instead becomes overly kind to publicly demonstrate her lack of anger and
unhappiness.
3. Acting Out
Acting Out is performing an extreme behavior in order to express thoughts or
feelings the person feels incapable of otherwise expressing. Instead of saying, Im
angry with you, a person who acts out may instead throw a book at the person, or
punch a hole through a wall. When a person acts out, it can act as a pressure
release, and often helps the individual feel calmer and peaceful once again. For
instance, a childs temper tantrum is a form of acting out when he or she doesnt
get his or her way with a parent. Self-injury may also be a form of acting-out,
expressing in physical pain what one cannot stand to feel emotionally.
4. Dissociation
Dissociation is when a person loses track of time and/or person, and instead finds
another representation of their self in order to continue in the moment. A person
who dissociates often loses track of time or themselves and their usual thought
processes and memories. People who have a history of any kind of childhood abuse
often suffer from some form of dissociation. In extreme cases, dissociation can lead
to a person believing they have multiple selves (multiple personality disorder).
People who use dissociation often have a disconnected view of themselves in their
world. Time and their own self-image may not flow continuously, as it does for most
people. In this manner, a person who dissociates can disconnect from the real
world for a time, and live in a different world that is not cluttered with thoughts,
feelings or memories that are unbearable.
8. Repression
Repression is the unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts, feelings and
impulses. The key to repression is that people do it unconsciously, so they often
have very little control over it. Repressed memories are memories that have been
unconsciously blocked from access or view. But because memory is very malleable
and ever-changing, it is not like playing back a DVD of your life. The DVD has been
filtered and even altered by your life experiences, even by what youve read or
viewed.
9. Displacement
Displacement is the redirecting of thoughts feelings and impulses directed at one
person or object, but taken out upon another person or object. People often use
displacement when they cannot express their feelings in a safe manner to the
person they are directed at. The classic example is the man who gets angry at his
boss, but cant express his anger to his boss for fear of being fired. He instead
comes home and kicks the dog or starts an argument with his wife. The man is
redirecting his anger from his boss to his dog or wife. Naturally, this is a pretty
ineffective defense mechanism, because while the anger finds a route for
expression, its misapplication to other harmless people or objects will cause
additional problems for most people.
5. Compartmentalization
Compartmentalization is a lesser form of dissociation, wherein parts of oneself are
separated from awareness of other parts and behaving as if one had separate sets
of values. An example might be an honest person who cheats on their income tax
return and keeps their two value systems distinct and un-integrated while
remaining unconscious of the cognitive dissonance.
6. Projection
Projection is the misattribution of a persons undesired thoughts, feelings or
impulses onto another person who does not have those thoughts, feelings or
impulses. Projection is used especially when the thoughts are considered
unacceptable for the person to express, or they feel completely ill at ease with
having them. For example, a spouse may be angry at their significant other for not
listening, when in fact it is the angry spouse who does not listen. Projection is often
the result of a lack of insight and acknowledgement of ones own motivations and
feelings.
10. Intellectualization
Intellectualization is the overemphasis on thinking when confronted with an
unacceptable impulse, situation or behavior without employing any emotions
whatsoever to help mediate and place the thoughts into an emotional, human
context. Rather than deal with the painful associated emotions, a person might
employ intellectualization to distance themselves from the impulse, event or
behavior. For instance, a person who has just been given a terminal medical
diagnosis, instead of expressing their sadness and grief, focuses instead on the
details of all possible fruitless medical procedures.
11. Rationalization
Rationalization is putting something into a different light or offering a different
explanation for ones perceptions or behaviors in the face of a changing reality. For
instance, a woman who starts dating a man she really, really likes and thinks the
world of is suddenly dumped by the man for no reason. She reframes the situation
in her mind with, I suspected he was a loser all along.
12. Undoing
Undoing is the attempt to take back an unconscious behavior or thought that is
unacceptable or hurtful. For instance, after realizing you just insulted your
significant other unintentionally, you might spend then next hour praising their
beauty, charm and intellect. By undoing the previous action, the person is
attempting to counteract the damage done by the original comment, hoping the
two will balance one another out.
15. Assertiveness
Assertiveness is the emphasis of a persons needs or thoughts in a manner that is
respectful, direct and firm. Communication styles exist on a continuum, ranging
from passive to aggressive, with assertiveness falling neatly inbetween. People who
are passive and communicate in a passive manner tend to be good listeners, but
rarely speak up for themselves or their own needs in a relationship. People who are
aggressive and communicate in an aggressive manner tend to be good leaders, but
often at the expense of being able to listen empathetically to others and their ideas
and needs. People who are assertive strike a balance where they speak up for
themselves, express their opinions or needs in a respectful yet firm manner, and
listen when they are being spoken to. Becoming more assertive is one of the most
desired communication skills and helpful defense mechanisms most people want to
learn, and would benefit in doing so.
Sublimation can also be done with humor or fantasy. Humor, when used as a
defense mechanism, is the channeling of unacceptable impulses or thoughts into a
light-hearted story or joke. Humor reduces the intensity of a situation, and places a
cushion of laughter between the person and the impulses. Fantasy, when used as a
defense mechanism, is the channeling of unacceptable or unattainable desires into
imagination. For example, imagining ones ultimate career goals can be helpful
when one experiences temporary setbacks in academic achievement. Both can help
Just to provide one example, let's look at the Gambler's Fallacy. This is a person's
belief that the probability of an item changes based on previous attempts when in
reality, the probability remains the same. If a coin was flipped 10 times, and each
time it landed with the "heads" side facing up, someone relying on gambler's fallacy
would believe the odds of it being heads the 11th time would be very low. In reality,
however, the probability has not changed. The chances of a coin being heads or
tails is 50% no matter how many times the coin is flipped.
Depth perception arises from a variety of depth cues. These are typically classified
into binocular cues that are based on the receipt of sensory information in three
dimensions from both eyes and monocular cues that can be represented in just two
dimensions and observed with just one eye. Humans are able to see things that are
both far and near, and can actually identify where those objects are in space
(meaning, they can determine if those objects are close or far away). This sort of
depth perception requires both of our eyes, which is referred to as binocular cues
(depth cues that requires both of our eyes).
A base rate fallacy is committed when a person judges that an outcome will occur
without considering prior knowledge of the probability that it will occur. They focus
on other information that isn't relevant instead. Imagine that I show you a bag of
250 M&Ms with equal numbers of 5 different colors. Then, I ask you what the
probability is I will pick a green one while my eyes are closed? I also tell you that
green M&Ms are my favorite and yesterday I picked out twice as many green
M&Ms than red ones. If you ignored the fact that there are 50 of each color, and
instead focused on the fact that I picked out twice as many green M&Ms than red
yesterday, you have committed a base rate fallacy because what I did yesterday is
irrelevant information.
LEARNING SET - a form of learning discriminatory ideals where the learner is taught
for example that one object contains a food reward where a different object does
not.
Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only
in the way it is traditionally used. The concept of functional fixedness originated in
Gestalt Psychology, a movement in psychology that emphasizes holistic processing.
The conjunction fallacy occurs when it is assumed that multiple specific conditions
are more probable than a single general one.
Regression toward the mean is the tendency for scores to average out. In this case
extreme scores tend to happen rarely and seem to fall back toward the average
(the mean). For example, a golfer with a handicap of 2 averages a score of 73 (for
example). This score represents the golfer's average score. On some days he goes
wild and shoots a 63 which is awesome, but extreme. Over time the golfer will have
many more scores around his average than far away from it as the scores tend to
regress toward the mean of 73.
A cognitive bias is a type of error in thinking that occurs when people are
processing and interpreting information in the world around them. Cognitive biases
are often a result of our attempt to simplify information processing. They are rules
of thumb that help us make sense of the world and reach decisions with relative
speed. Unfortunately, these biases sometimes trip us up, leading to poor decisions
and bad judgments.
object for sexual gratification or asks their partner to wear the object during sexual
encounters. Fetishism is a more common occurrence in males, and the causes are
not clearly known. Fetishism falls under the general category of paraphilias,
abnormal or unnatural sexual attractions.
Phobias- People with phobias have extreme, disabling and irrational fear of
something that really poses little or no actual danger; the fear leads to avoidance of
objects or situations and can cause people to limit their lives.
Panic Disorder People with panic disorder have experienced a panic attack. The
disorder occurs when the person fears having another panic attack. Panic disorder
is, therefore, characterized by panic attacks, which are sudden feelings of terror
that strike repeatedly and without warning. Physical symptoms include: chest pain,
The Blues:
A normal reaction to life circumstances
Only moods are affected
Symptoms are temporary
Usually no suicidal thoughts
Requires a good listener and/or time to heal or grieve
Clinical Depression: Depression causes people to lose pleasure from daily life, can
complicate other medical conditions, and can even be serious enough to lead to
suicide. Depression can occur to anyone, at any age, and to people of any race or
ethnic group. Depression is never a normal part of life, no matter what your age,
gender or health situation. Unfortunately, though treatment for depression is
almost always successful, fewer than half of those suffering from this illness seek
treatment. Too many people resist treatment because they believe depression isnt
serious, that they can treat it themselves or that it is a personal weakness rather
than a serious medical illness.
Bipolar Disorder: An illness involving one or more episodes of serious mania and
depression. The illness causes a persons mood to swing from excessively high
and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, with periods of a normal mood in
between. Other symptoms of bipolar disorder include: sleep and eating
disturbances and changes in activity and energy levels. A person with bipolar
disorder is also at risk of dying by suicide.
Symptoms of Depression:
Persistent sad, anxious or empty mood
Irritability
Increased talking, speaking
Racing thoughts, accelerated thinking
Increased activity, including sexual energy
Markedly increased energy
Poor judgment that leads to risk-taking behavior
Inappropriate social behavior
individual will often focus on persecution (believes he or she is God, very wealthy, a
famous person, a member of the Royal Family or possesses a special talent or
beauty).
Dysthymic Disorder: a chronic, low grade depression that seems part of the
persons personality. A person with dysthymia has depressed mood and symptoms
most of the time for more than two years and has at least two of the following
symptoms.
Hallucinations: It is not unusual for some people with mental illnesses such as
schizophrenia to hear voices, or to see, smell, taste, or feels imaginary things. The
person experiences events that have no objective source, but they are nonetheless
real to him or her.
Feels hopeless
Low self-esteem
Fatigue or low energy
Sleep disturbance
Appetite disturbance
Poor concentration
Indecisive
3)
SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS: Schizophrenia is a serious brain
disorder and is characterized by a profound disruption in cognition and emotion,
affecting the most fundamental human attributes such as: language, thought,
perception, affect and sense of self. The array of symptoms include psychotic
manifestations, such as hearing internal voices or experiencing other
NOTE:
Schizophrenia
is
NOT
split
personality
or
multiple
personality. Furthermore, persons with schizophrenia are not perpetually
incoherent or psychotic.
Schizoaffective Disorder:
A variant of schizophrenia
Persons with schizoaffective disorder show more mood symptoms
A person with schizoaffective disorder usually has less long term impairment IF they
receive treatment.
PERSONALITY DISORDERS
Delusions: Delusions are false beliefs that are not based in reality. Delusions can
cause a person to view the world from a unique or peculiar perspective. The
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3. Schizotypal disorder
Schizotypal disorder is characterized by oddities of appearance, behaviour, and
speech, and anomalies of thinking similar to those seen in schizophrenia. Anomalies
of thinking may include odd beliefs, magical thinking (for example, thinking that
words affect the worldspeak of the devil and hell appear), suspiciousness,
obsessional ruminations, and unusual perceptual experiences. A person with
schizotypal disorder often fears social interaction and sees other people as illintentioned and potentially harmful. This may lead him or her to develop so-called
ideas of reference, which are fleeting impressions that objects, people, or
situations have a special significance for him or her. For example, he or she may
have the impression that strangers on the bus are talking about him or her, or that
the traffic wardens signaling is an elaborate means of revealing his or her destiny.
Compared to the average person, people who suffer from schizotypal disorder have
a relatively high probability of converting to schizophrenia at some time in the
future; for this reason, schizotypal disorder has historically been referred to as
latent schizophrenia.
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exploited. Their dealings with other people often seem insincere or superficial,
which can impact on their social and romantic relationships. This is especially
distressing for them, because they are especially sensitive to criticism and rejection
and react badly to loss or failure.
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ideologies (i.e., legitimizing myths) provide the moral and intellectual justification
for these intergroup behaviors. There are two functional types of legitimizing
myths: (1) hierarchy-enhancing and (2) hierarchy-attenuating legitimizing myths.
Hierarchy-enhancing ideologies (e.g., racism) contribute to greater levels of groupbased inequality. Hierarchy-attenuating ideologies (e.g., anarchism and feminism)
contribute to greater levels of group-based equality. People endorse these different
forms of ideologies based in part on their psychological orientation toward
dominance and their desire for unequal group relations (i.e., their social dominance
orientation; SDO). People who are higher on SDO tend to endorse hierarchyenhancing ideologies, and people who are lower on SDO tend to endorse hierarchyattenuating ideologies. SDT finally proposes that the relative counterbalancing of
hierarchy-enhancing and -attenuating social forces stabilizes group-based
inequality.
ties, and there is generally less individual loyalty to the larger community. Social
cohesion in Gesellschaften typically derives from a more elaborate division of labor.
Such societies are, therefore, potentially more susceptible to class conflict, as well
as racial and ethnic conflicts.
SOCIAL INTEGRATION
1. The process where separate groups are combined to form a unified society.
Integration implies coming together as a whole. 2. The process of a person being
assimilated into a group.
Social stigma is the extreme disapproval of (or discontent with) a person or group
on socially characteristic grounds that are perceived, and serve to distinguish them,
from other members of a society. Stigma may then be affixed to such a person, by
the greater society, who differs from their cultural norms.
3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection and love, - from
work group, family, friends, romantic relationships.
4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status,
dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.
5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc.
6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.
7. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking
personal growth and peak experiences.
8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self-actualization.
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