Introduction to Psychology and Role of Biology

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Topic 1 – Introduction to Psychology and Role of Biology

Mini Brain Project

Directions: Conduct research on a selected brain area or structure. Areas and structures available for research include frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, medulla, pons, cerebellum, reticular formation, thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, cerebrum, hippocampus, amygdala, corpus callosum, Broca’s area, OR Wernicke’s area.

Conduct research using scholarly Internet sources, library sources, and the textbook.

Here’s the link for the textbook : https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/ww-norton/2019/psychology-in-your-life_3e.php

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. Each question should be a minimum of 50 words. 

Part 1: Using your research thoroughly answer the questions below:

Where is the area or structure located?

What are its major functions?

What techniques are used to view or measure it?

What happens when it is damaged?

What other structures is it near?

What other structures help or perform similar functions?

References:

Add yourself to a Student SetRequest SupportHelp Change Your EmailChange passwordSign out Add bookmarkRead aloud (text-to-speech)Print this section Skip to page text Close Book Menu Open Table of Contents Panel Open Search Panel Open Bookmarks Panel Open Notes Panel Copyright 2016 W.W. Norton and Co. Table of contents Check off the sections of the book to read offline on your current device, then click “Apply.” To learn more about offline reading, visit the Help Notes.

  1. Front Matter
    1. Cover
    2. Half Titlei
    3. Titleii
    4. Copyrightiv
    5. Dedicationv
    6. Meet the Authorsvi
    7. Contents in Briefvii
    8. Mission of Psychology in Your Lifeviii
    9. Introducing the Third Editionxvi
    10. Appreciation for Contributors and Reviewersxvii
    11. Contentsxxi
  2. Chapter 1: Introducing the World of Psychology
    1. Why Is Psychology Important to You?5
      1. 1.1 Psychology Explains Your Mental Activity and Behavior6
      2. 1.2 Psychology Teaches You to Think Critically7
      3. 1.3 Psychology Improves Your Life11
    2. What Do Psychologists Investigate?12
      1. 1.4 Psychology Originated in Philosophical Questions13
      2. 1.5 Psychologists Investigate the Conscious Mind and the Unconscious Mind15
      3. 1.6 Psychologists Explore Behavior and Mental Activity18
      4. 1.7 Psychologists Today Investigate Many Different Topics20
    3. How Do Psychologists Conduct Research?22
      1. 1.8 Psychologists Use the Scientific Method23
      2. 1.9 Descriptive Methods Describe What Is Happening28
      3. 1.10 Correlational Methods Study Relationships31
      4. 1.11 Experimental Methods Test Causation33
      5. 1.12 Psychologists Today Follow Strict Ethical Guidelines38
    4. Big Picture39
    5. Putting Psychology to Work: What Can You Do with a Degree in Psychology?42
  3. Chapter 2: The Role of Biology in Psychology44
    1. How Does Your Nervous System Affect You?46
      1. 2.1 Your Nervous System Is the Basis of Your Mental Activity and Behavior47
      2. 2.2 Neurons Communicate with Each Other in Your Nervous System50
      3. 2.3 Neurotransmitters Influence Your Mental Activity and Behavior55
    2. How Do the Parts of Your Brain Function?58
      1. 2.4 Understanding of the Brain Has Developed over Time59
      2. 2.5 The Hindbrain and Midbrain House Basic Programs for Your Survival62
      3. 2.6 Forebrain Subcortical Structures Control Your Motivations and Emotions64
      4. 2.7 The Cerebral Cortex of the Forebrain Processes Your Complex Mental Activity66
    3. How Does Your Brain Communicate with Your Body?71
      1. 2.8 Your Somatic Nervous System Detects Sensory Input and Responds72
      2. 2.9 Your Autonomic Nervous System Regulates the Body Automatically73
      3. 2.10 The Endocrine System Affects Your Behavior Through Hormones74
    4. How Do Nature and Nurture Affect Your Brain?76
      1. 2.11 Your Genes Affect Your Mental Activity and Behavior77
      2. 2.12 Your Genes Interact with Your Environment to Influence You78
      3. 2.13 Your Environment Changes Your Brain80
    5. Big Picture82
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: How Can Understanding Biological Psychology Help You in Your Job?85
  4. Chapter 3: Consciousness86
    1. What Does It Mean to Be Conscious?88
      1. 3.1 Consciousness Is Your Subjective Experience89
      2. 3.2 Consciousness Results from Brain Activity91
      3. 3.3 Consciousness Involves Attention94
      4. 3.4 Unconscious Processing Sometimes Affects Behavior95
    2. How Does Sleep Affect Consciousness?100
      1. 3.5 Consciousness Changes During Sleep101
      2. 3.6 People Dream While Sleeping103
      3. 3.7 Sleep Is an Adaptive Behavior106
      4. 3.8 Sleep Disorders Are Relatively Common Throughout Life108
    3. How Do Hypnosis, Meditation, and Flow Alter Consciousness?110
      1. 3.9 Attention to Suggestions May Alter Consciousness in Hypnosis111
      2. 3.10 Meditation Alters Consciousness and Brain Functioning113
      3. 3.11 People Can Lose Themselves in Enjoyable Activities114
    4. How Do Drugs Alter Consciousness?116
      1. 3.12 Psychoactive Drugs Affect the Brain117
      2. 3.13 Addiction Has Physical and Psychological Aspects123
    5. Big Picture124
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: How Can Understanding Consciousness Help You in Your Job?127
  5. Chapter 4: Development Across the Life Span128
    1. How Does Development Happen in the Womb?130
      1. 4.1 Humans Develop Across Three Domains131
      2. 4.2 Prenatal Development Includes Three Periods of Physical Growth133
      3. 4.3 Substances Affect Prenatal Development in All Three Domains135
    2. How Do Infants and Children Develop?137
      1. 4.4 Infants and Children Change Physically138
      2. 4.5 Infants and Children Change Socially and Emotionally141
      3. 4.6 Infants and Children Change Cognitively144
      4. 4.7 Language Develops in an Orderly Way150
    3. How Do Adolescents Develop?151
      1. 4.8 Adolescents Develop Physically152
      2. 4.9 Adolescents Develop Socially and Emotionally153
      3. 4.10 Adolescents Develop Cognitively156
    4. How Do Adults Develop?158
      1. 4.11 Bodies Change in Adulthood159
      2. 4.12 Adults Develop Lifelong Social and Emotional Bonds160
      3. 4.13 The Mental Abilities of Adults Begin to Decline164
    5. Big Picture166
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: How Does Knowledge of Human Development Help in Educational Settings?169
  6. Chapter 5: Sensation and Perception170
    1. How Do Sensation and Perception Affect You?172
      1. 5.1 Your Senses Detect Physical Stimuli, and Your Brain Processes Perception173
      2. 5.2 There Must Be a Certain Amount of a Stimulus for You to Detect It176
    2. How Do You See?177
      1. 5.3 Sensory Receptors in Your Eyes Detect Light178
      2. 5.4 You Perceive Color Based on Physical Aspects of Light181
      3. 5.5 You Perceive Objects by Organizing Visual Information184
      4. 5.6 When You Perceive Depth, You Can Locate Objects in Space186
      5. 5.7 Cues in Your Brain and in the World Let You Perceive Motion188
      6. 5.8 You Understand That Objects Remain Constant Even When Cues Change189
    3. How Do You Hear?190
      1. 5.9 Receptors in Your Ears Detect Sound Waves191
      2. 5.10 You Perceive Sound Based on Physical Aspects of Sound Waves193
    4. How Are You Able to Taste and Smell?197
      1. 5.11 Receptors in Your Taste Buds Detect Chemical Molecules198
      2. 5.12 Your Olfactory Receptors Detect Odorants201
    5. How Do You Feel Touch and Pain?203
      1. 5.13 Receptors in Your Skin Detect Temperature and Pressure204
      2. 5.14 You Detect Pain in Your Skin and Throughout Your Body205
    6. Big Picture208
    7. Putting Psychology to Work: How Can Understanding Sensation and Perception Help You in Your Career?211
  7. Chapter 6: Learning212
    1. How Do You Learn?214
      1. 6.1 You Learn from Experience215
      2. 6.2 You Learn in Three Ways216
      3. 6.3 Your Brain Changes During Learning217
    2. How Do You Learn Through Classical Conditioning?218
      1. 6.4 Through Classical Conditioning, You Learn That Stimuli Are Related219
      2. 6.5 Learning Varies in Classical Conditioning222
      3. 6.6 You Can Learn Fear Responses Through Classical Conditioning225
      4. 6.7 Adaptation and Cognition Influence Classical Conditioning226
    3. How Do You Learn Through Operant Conditioning?228
      1. 6.8 Through Operant Conditioning, You Learn the Consequences of Your Actions229
      2. 6.9 Learning Varies in Operant Conditioning230
      3. 6.10 Both Reinforcement and Punishment Influence Operant Conditioning232
      4. 6.11 Operant Conditioning Affects Your Life236
      5. 6.12 Biology and Cognition Influence Operant Conditioning238
    4. How Do You Learn by Watching Others?241
      1. 6.13 There Are Three Ways You Learn by Watching Others242
      2. 6.14 Biology Influences Observational Learning245
    5. Big Picture246
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: How Can Understanding the Principles of Learning Help You Work with Animals?249
  8. Chapter 7: Memory250
    1. How Do You Create Memories?252
      1. 7.1 You Create Memories by Processing Information253
      2. 7.2 Your Memories Are Unique255
    2. How Do You Maintain Memories over Time?257
      1. 7.3 You Maintain Information in Three Memory Stores258
      2. 7.4 Sensory Storage Lets You Maintain Information Very Briefly260
      3. 7.5 Working Memory Lets You Actively Maintain Information in Short-Term Storage262
      4. 7.6 Long-Term Storage Lets You Maintain Memories Relatively Permanently264
      5. 7.7 Your Long-Term Storage Is Organized Based on Meaning266
    3. What Are Your Different Long-Term Storage Systems?268
      1. 7.8 Amnesia Reveals Different Long-Term Stores269
      2. 7.9 Your Explicit Memories Involve Conscious Effort270
      3. 7.10 Your Implicit Memories Function Without Conscious Effort272
      4. 7.11 Prospective Memory Lets You Remember to Do Something274
      5. 7.12 Memory Is Processed by Several Regions of Your Brain275
    4. How Do You Retrieve Memories?278
      1. 7.13 Retrieval Cues Help You Access Your Memories279
      2. 7.14 You Forget Some of Your Memories281
      3. 7.15 Your Unwanted Memories May Persist283
      4. 7.16 Your Memories Can Be Distorted284
    5. Big Picture288
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: How Can Understanding Memory Help You Succeed at Your Job?291
  9. Chapter 8: Thinking and Intelligence292
    1. What Is Thinking?294
      1. 8.1 Thinking Is the Mental Manipulation of Representations295
      2. 8.2 Schemas Are the Basis of Thinking297
      3. 8.3 Schemas Are the Basis of Stereotypes300
    2. How Do You Use Thinking?301
      1. 8.4 You Use Thinking in Three Ways302
      2. 8.5 How You Think Biases Decision Making304
      3. 8.6 You Solve Problems to Achieve Goals308
      4. 8.7 You Overcome Obstacles to Solve Problems311
    3. What Is Intelligence?312
      1. 8.8 One General Factor May Underlie Intelligence313
      2. 8.9 There May Be Multiple Aspects of Intelligence315
      3. 8.10 Intelligence Is a Result of Genes and Environment318
    4. How Is Intelligence Measured?319
      1. 8.11 Intelligence Is Assessed with Psychometric Tests320
      2. 8.12 Intelligence Is Associated with Cognitive Performance326
      3. 8.13 Many Factors Determine Group Differences in Intelligence327
    5. Big Picture330
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: How Can Understanding Thinking Help You Succeed in Your Career?333
  10. Chapter 9: Motivation and Emotion334
    1. What Motivates Your Behavior?336
      1. 9.1 Many Factors Influence Motivation337
      2. 9.2 Some Behaviors Are Motivated for Their Own Sake343
    2. What Are Your Most Important Motivated Behaviors?344
      1. 9.3 Motivation to Eat Is Affected by Biology345
      2. 9.4 Motivation to Eat Is Also Influenced by Learning348
      3. 9.5 People Have a Need to Belong349
      4. 9.6 People Have a Need to Achieve Long-Term Goals351
    3. How Do You Experience Emotions?353
      1. 9.7 Emotions Are Personal but Labeled and Described Consistently354
      2. 9.8 Three Major Theories Explain Your Emotions356
      3. 9.9 Your Body and Brain Influence Your Emotions360
      4. 9.10 Most People Try to Regulate Their Emotional States364
    4. How Do Emotions Affect You?366
      1. 9.11 You Use Facial Expressions to Interpret Emotions367
      2. 9.12 Your Display of Emotion Varies369
      3. 9.13 Emotions Influence Your Thoughts370
      4. 9.14 Emotions Strengthen Your Interpersonal Relations371
    5. Big Picture372
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: How Can Understanding Motivation and Emotion Help You Work with Customers?375
  11. Chapter 10: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality376
    1. How Does Biology Make People More Male or Female?378
      1. 10.1 Genetics and Hormones Influence Biological Sex379
      2. 10.2 Biological Sex Is Not Always Clear384
    2. Why Do People Act Masculine or Feminine?386
      1. 10.3 People Have Mental Categories of What Is Masculine and What Is Feminine387
      2. 10.4 Gender Roles Affect How People Act389
      3. 10.5 Gender Identity Also Affects How People Act391
      4. 10.6 People Vary in Gender Identity393
    3. How Do People Vary in Sexual Orientation?396
      1. 10.7 Variations in Sexual Orientation Are Normal397
      2. 10.8 Biology Influences the Development of Sexual Orientation400
    4. What Motivates People to Have Sexual Relations (or Not To)?404
      1. 10.9 Biology Influences the Motivation for Sexual Activity405
      2. 10.10 Environmental Context Influences the Motivation for Sexual Activity410
      3. 10.11 Individual Differences Influence the Motivation for Sexual Activity412
    5. Big Picture415
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: How Can Psychology Lead to a Career Supporting People with Variations in Sex, Gender, and Sexuality?419
  12. Chapter 11: Health and Well-Being420
    1. What Affects Your Health?422
      1. 11.1 Biology, Psychology, and Social Factors Influence Your Health423
      2. 11.2 Obesity and Disordered Eating Have Many Health Consequences425
      3. 11.3 Exercise Benefits You Physically, Cognitively, and Emotionally432
      4. 11.4 Sexually Transmitted Infections Can Be Prevented by Practicing Safer Sex433
      5. 11.5 Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health437
    2. How Does Stress Affect Your Health?439
      1. 11.6 Stress Has a Negative Impact on Your Health440
      2. 11.7 You Can Have Several Responses to Stress443
    3. How Do Mediating Factors Affect Your Stress?446
      1. 11.8 Personality Influences the Impact of Stress on Heart Disease447
      2. 11.9 Coping Mediates the Impact of Stress448
    4. Can a Positive Attitude Keep You Healthy?451
      1. 11.10 Positive Psychology Emphasizes Well-Being452
      2. 11.11 Social Support Is Associated with Good Health455
      3. 11.12 Several Strategies Can Help You Stay Healthy456
    5. Big Picture458
    6. Putting Psychology to Work: Can Psychology Help You Be Successful in a Career in Fitness?461

What are the similarities and differences between the different elements?

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The assignment for this module will ask you to demonstrate higher-order thinking as it applies to adult learning theory. Please do the following presented in a complete narrative posted to the Discussion. Draw appropriately from the class sources and use appropriate APA citations. Use headings to organize your main points. The overall purpose here is to think critically about the elements of adult learning. You will notice from the following that you integrate elements of application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creation.

Instructions

  1. After reviewing the chapters on theories of adult learning (Merriam and Baumgartner chapters 5 and 16), and this module’s readings on self-directed learning, experience, adult development, and brain/memory/cognitive, judge what you conclude to be the most important concepts from each of those topics—make sure to address each of the concepts listed. Why do you come to that conclusion—that is provide valid rationale?
  2. You were introduced to some enduring theories of adult learning. If you were constructing a theory of adult learning, what would you change, add or delete? Determining how adults learn, how would you design the perfect theory of how adults learn?
  3. Of the elements of adult learning theory presented in the readings, do you identify any underlying themes? What are the similarities and differences between the different elements? Of the elements of adult learning under our control (we can’t change much about brain changes, for instance) what advice would you give to make adult learning the richest experience?
  4. Project to your own teaching demonstration and explain how you will apply elements of adult learning to that teaching demonstration.-My Teaching Demonstration is Sexual Abuse.

Define the problem emotionally and intellectually

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Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please review the following websites, and read the following required articles:

  • Ethical Decision Making
  • The Difference Between Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
  • ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors
  • To Tell or Not to Tell: The Fine Line Between Minors’ Privacy and Others’ Right to Know

Play the expert in the following scenario and apply ethical decision-making to your rationale and actions. Be mindful of section F in the “ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors” (p. 8):

When faced with an ethical dilemma, school counselors and school counseling program directors/supervisors use an ethical decision-making model such as Solutions to Ethical Problems in Schools (STEPS) (Stone, 2001):

  • Define the problem emotionally and intellectually
  • Apply the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors and the law
  • Consider the students’ chronological and developmental levels
  • Consider the setting, parental rights and minors’ rights
  • Apply the ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, nonmaleficence, loyalty and justice
  • Determine potential courses of action and their consequences
  • Evaluate the selected action
  • Consult
  • Implement the course of action

You are a school counselor at a rural high school. You have been counseling a student, and he confided in you that one of his friends has recently engaged in sexual relations with one of the teacher’s daughters. (She is a friend of yours.) He does not divulge the name of the other student and refuses to talk any further about the issue.

Address the following:

  1. What ethical considerations must be considered in this situation?
  2. How does confidentiality affect your considerations and actions?
  3. What options might you have to address the situation?
  4. Ethically, since this is hearsay, are you legally obligated to address?
  5. Using appropriate citations and references, explain how the empirical research, theoretical models, and ethical standards presented in the assigned resources suggest the importance of applying ethical decision-making strategies to scenarios such as these.

REFERENCES

https://serc.carleton.edu/geoethics/Decision-Making

Meiseller, D. (2020). Difference between deductive and inductive reasoning. https://danielmiessler.com/blog/the-difference-between-deductive-and-inductive-reasoning/

ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors. (2016). https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/f041cbd0-7004-47a5-ba01-3a5d657c6743/Ethical-Standards.pdf

Carlson, N. (2017). To tell or not to tell: The fine line between minors’ privacy and others’ right to know (Links to an external site.). https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=2ahUKEwiwuLC7-73pAhVVj54KHSMQAWcQFjABegQIDBAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.counseling.org%2Fdocs%2Fdefault-source%2Fethics%2Fethics-columns%2Fethics_october-2017_minor-privacy.pdf%3Fsfvrsn%3Da25522c_6&usg=AOvVaw0kYOxrz1puzlnuMbSY9THu

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Ethical Decision-Making In this module, we provide some guiding principles, and pathways to help guide ethical decision-making. These are a series of basic questions that should be asked when confronted with ethical dilemmas. These are often complex situations with no clear-cut resolution, and without a right or wrong answer. But these decision-making processes will go a long way towards helping all of us make informed decisions that can justify consequent actions.

Ethical Reasoning Can Be Taught: Ethical reasoning is a way of thinking about issues of right and wrong. Processes of reasoning can be taught, and school is an appropriate place to teach them. the reason that, although parents and religious schools may teach ethics, they don ot always teach ethical reasoning. See the article by: Sternberg, Robert J. Teaching for Ethical Reasoning in Liberal Education. Liberal Education 96.3 (2010): 32-37.

And, like learning to play baseball or play the violin, it’s important to practice early and often. So, let’s get started:

Beneficence

Beneficence is the concept that scientific research should have as a goal the welfare of society. It is rooted in medical research, the central tenet is “do no harm” (and corollaries remove harm, prevent harm, optimize benefits, “do good”). For a more expansive introduction to beneficence, see the essay on The Principles of Beneficence in Applied Ethics from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Some simple guiding questions in applying the concept of beneficence to ethical dilemmas include:

Who benefits? Who are the stakeholders? Who are the decision-makers? Who is impacted? What are the risks?

Take a look at the video on Causing Harm–“Causing harm explores the different types of harm that may be caused to people or groups and the potential reasons we may have for justifying these harms.” From “Ethics Unwrapped”, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas-Austin.

A 7-STep Guide to Ethical Decision-Making

The following is a summary of: Seven-step guide to ethical decision-making (Davis, M. (1999) Ethics and the university, New York: Routledge, p. 166-167.

1. State the problem. For example, “there’s something about this decision that makes me uncomfortable” or “do I have a conflict of interest?”.

2. Check the facts. Many problems disappear upon closer examination of the situation, while others change radically. For example, persons involved, laws, professional codes, other practical constraints

3. Identify relevant factors (internal and external). 4. Develop a list of options.

Be imaginative, try to avoid “dilemma”; not “yes” or” no” but whom to go to, what to say. 5. Test the options. Use some of the following tests:

harm test: Does this option do less harm than the alternatives? publicity test: Would I want my choice of this option published in the newspaper? defensibility test: Could I defend my choice of this option before a congressional committee or committee of peers? reversibility test: Would I still think this option was a good choice if I were adversely affected by it? colleague test: What do my colleagues say when I describe my problem and suggest this option as my solution? professional test: What might my profession’s governing body for ethics say about this option? organization test: What does my company’s ethics officer or legal counsel say about this?

6. Make a choice based on steps 1-5. 7. Review steps 1-6. How can you reduce the likelihood that you will need to make a similar decision again?

Are there any cautions you can take as an individual (and announce your policy on question, job change, etc.)? Is there any way to have more support next time? Is there any way to change the organization (for example, suggest policy change at next departmental meeting)?

[Having made a decision based on the process above, are you now prepared to ACT?]

 

 

Ethical Decision-Making Model based on work by Shaun Taylor.

A Seven Step Process for Making Ethical Decisions–An example from the “Orientation to Energy and Sustainability Policy” course at Penn State.

Additional Approaches to Ethical Decision Making

Shaun Taylor’s presentation: Geoethics Forums (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 380kB Jun11 14), given at the 2014 Teaching GeoEthics workshop, provided a simple model to help students engage Ethical Decision-Making that includes a) the context/facts of the situation, b) the stakeholders, c) the decision-makers, d) these inform a number of alternate choices, e) that are mediated through the evaluation of impacts and negotiations among the parties, that lead to f) selection of an optimal choice. Taylor provides guidance for what makes a good ethical dilemma discussion, including:

Trust, respect, disagreement without personal attacks Being judgmental vs. making a judgment Emphasize process vs. conclusion Uncertainty is OK Description then prescription

Teaching Activity: GeoEthics Forums–The Grey Side of Green (a guide for ethics decision making)

Daniel Vallero also addressed ethical decision making in his presentation at the 2014 Teaching GeoEthics workshop, and defines this 6-step approach to ethical decision making:

1. State or define the problem/issue 2. Gather information (“facts”) from all sides 3. Delineate all possible resolutions. 4. Apply different values, rules, principles, regulations to the different options. 5. Resolve conflicts among values, rules, etc. 6. Make a decision and act.

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University provides additional context and advice for ethical decision- making. They have identified five sources of ethical standards (the utilitarian approach, the rights approach, the fairness or justice approach, the common good approach, and the virtue approach.Their framework for Ethical Decision making includes: Recognize the Ethical Issue, Get the Facts, Evaluate Alternative Actions, Make a Decision and Test it, Act and Reflect on the Outcome.

Reviews of the literature on ethical decision-making can be found at:

O’Fallon, M.J., and Butterfield, K.D., 2005, A Review of the Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature: 1996-2003, Journal of Business Ethics vol 59 #4, p. 375-413; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-2929-7 Robert C. Ford and Woodrow D. Richardson (2013) Ethical Decision Making: A Review of the Empirical Literature, In: Michalos A., Poff D. (eds) Citation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics. Advances in Business Ethics Research (A Journal of Business Ethics Book Series), vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht Cottone, R. R. and Claus, R. E. (2000), Ethical Decisionâ€Making Models: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78: 275-283. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb01908.x

The American Counseling Association has published their A Practitioner’s Guide to Ethical Decision Making (Acrobat (PDF) 20kB Jun18 18) (1995) authored by Holly Forester-Miller, Ph.D. and Thomas Davis, Ph.D.

Assessment of Ethical Reasoning, Values, Moral Thinking

Assessment–Measuring Students’ Moral Development — from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (suggestions on types of graded assignments, advice on grading assignments, assessment of program effectiveness, and a bibliography) Assessment and Evaluation — from the National Academy of Engineering, Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science; — recommended criteria and rubrics for assessing student learning and an annotated bibliography! Ethical Reasoning Value Rubric — from the Association of American Colleges and Universities Ethics Assessment Rubric — from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, School of Business Ethical Reasoning in Action: Validity Evidence for the Ethical Reasoning Identification Test (ERIT)–Smith, K., Fulcher, K. & Sanchez, E.H. J Bus Ethics (2015). doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2841-8

 

 

Carpenter, D. D., Harding, T. S., Finelli, C. J., & Passow, H. J. (2004). Does academic dishonesty relate to unethical behavior in professional practice? An exploratory study. Science and Engineering Ethics, 10(2), 311—324.

Ethics and Environmental Justice resources from across Teach the Earth »

Ethics and Environmental Justice resources from across Teach the Earth »

Social Cognitive Theory

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Chapter 13

SOCIAL-COGNITIVE THEORY: APPLICATIONS, RELATED THEORETICAL CONCEPTIONS, AND CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH

1

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This presentation may be used and adapted for use in classes using the fourteenth edition of Personality. It may not be re-distributed except to students enrolled in such classes and in such case must be password protected to limit access to students enrolled in such classes. Students may not re-distribute portions of the original presentation.

 

QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED IN THIS CHAPTER

How do knowledge structures – especially cognitive “schemas” – contribute to personality functioning and help to explain individual differences?

How do personal goals and standards of self-evaluation differ from one person to another, and how do these differences relate to motivation and emotional life?

What is the role of self-efficacy beliefs and other self-referent thinking processes in psychological disorders and therapeutic change?

What are some scientific challenges that were not addressed in the original formulations of social-cognitive theory and how have they been addressed by contemporary developments in personality theory?

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Schemas: knowledge structures that guide and organize the processing of info

Example: new song on the radio sounds structured because one has acquired schemas for song structures

Schemas guide one’s interpretation of the sounds that comprise the song

Music from a different culture might sound chaotic!

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Markus (1977) : many of our most important schemas concern ourselves

People form cognitive generalizations about the self just as they do about other things

Different people develop different self-schemas

Self-schemas may account for the relatively unique ways in which idiosyncratic individuals think about the world around them

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Self-Schemas and Reaction-Time Methods

Reaction-time measures: experimental methods in which an experimenter records not only the content of a person’s response, but also how long it takes the person to respond

People who possess a self-schema with regard to a given domain of social life should be faster in responding to questions regarding that life domain

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Self-Schemas and Reaction-Time Methods

Markus (1977) identified people who possessed a self-schema regarding independence

Participants rated themselves as high or low on independence

Participants indicated the degree to which the personality characteristic was important to them

Those who had an extreme high or low self-rating and thought independence/dependence was important were judged as schematic

Participants then asked to rate whether a series of adjectives (some of which were semantically related to independence/dependence) were descriptive of themselves

Schematics made these judgments faster

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Self-Schemas and Reaction-Time Methods

Andersen and Cyranowski (1994): women with differing sexual self-schemas would process interpersonal information differently and function differently in their sexual and romantic relationships

Women asked to rate themselves on a list of 50 adjectives, 26 of which were used to form a Sexual Self-Schema Scale (e.g., uninhibited, loving)

Asked to respond to measures that asked about sexual experiences and romantic involvement

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Self-Schemas and Reaction-Time Methods

Andersen and Cyranowski found that women with high scores on the Sexual Self-Schema Scale (particularly those with positive sexual self-schemas)

Were more sexually active

Experienced greater sexual arousal and sexual pleasure

Were more able to be involved in romantic love relationships

“Co-schematics (women who had both positive and negative schemas)” found to experience

High levels of involvement with sexual partners

High levels of sexual anxiety

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Self-Schemas and Reaction-Time Methods

People tend to live complex lives in which they develop a number of different self-schemas

Different situations may cause different self-schemas to be part of the working self-concept: the subset of self-concept that is in working memory at any given time

Info about the self that is in consciousness, and guides behavior, at any given time changes dynamically as people interact with the ever-changing events of the social world

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Self-Based Motives and Motivated Information Processing

Self-schemas motivate people to process information in particular ways

People often are biased toward positive views of the self, which can be explained by positing a self-enhancement motive

People also may be motivated to experience themselves as being consistent and predictable, reflecting a self-verification motive

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND SELF-SCHEMAS

Self-Based Motives and Motivated Information Processing

What happens when the two motives conflict?

Evidence suggests we generally prefer positive feedback but prefer negative feedback in relation to negative self-views

Positive life events can be bad for one’s health if they conflict with a negative self-concept and disrupt one’s negative identity

There are individual differences in this regard

We may be more oriented toward self-enhancement in some relationships and self-verification in other relationships

CURRENT APPLICATIONS

SELF-SCHEMAS AND HISTORY OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Meston, Rellini, and Heiman (2006) hypothesized that abuse experiences may alter self-schemas and do so in a long-lasting manner

Conducted a study whose participants were 48 women with a history of child sexual abuse

Also studied a group of 71 women who had not suffered from abuse experiences and who thus served as control participants.

To measure sexual self-schemas, Meston et al. administered the sexual self-schema scale in which people report on their perceptions of their own sexuality

Women with a history of abuse believed themselves to be less romantic and passionate; that is, they had lower scores on the romantic/passionate items of the sexual self-schema measure

Women who had experienced abuse years earlier had more negative emotional experiences in the present day

Women with lower romantic/passionate self-schemas reported more negative emotional experiences

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

LEARNING VERSUS PERFORMANCE GOALS

Different goals may lead to different patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior

Goals may be the cause of what one would interpret as different personality styles

Two ways of thinking about goals:

Learning goal: think about the task and all you can learn from it

Peformance goal: have the aim of

showing people how smart you are

avoiding embarrassment when you don’t know something

making a good impression

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

LEARNING VERSUS PERFORMANCE GOALS

Elliott and Dweck (1988) induced learning versus performance goals among grade school students performing a cognitive task

Some told that they were performing a task that would sharpen mental skills

Others told they were performing a task that would be evaluated by experts

Students’ beliefs in their ability on the task (i.e., their efficacy beliefs) were also manipulated

People who had a combination of performance goals and low beliefs in their ability were less likely than others to develop useful strategies on the task

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

LEARNING VERSUS PERFORMANCE GOALS

Elliott and Dweck (1988) recorded the degree to which people spontaneously expressed negative emotions while working on the task

Performance goal participants expressed much tension and anxiety when performing the task

“My stomach hurts” (Elliott & Dweck, 1988, p. 10)

Performance goals provides insight into what we commonly call “test anxiety”

Dweck’s social-cognitive analysis suggests that one might intervene by trying to change people’s patterns of thinking

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

LEARNING VERSUS PERFORMANCE GOALS

Causes of Learning versus Performance Goals: Implicit Theories

Implicit theories: those we possess, that guide our thinking, but that we may not usually state in words

Implicit theories of interest to Dweck and colleagues: whether or not psychological attributes are changeable

Entity theory: a particular characteristic or trait is viewed as fixed

Incremental theory: a particular characteristic or trait is believed to be malleable or open to change

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

LEARNING VERSUS PERFORMANCE GOALS

Causes of Learning versus Performance Goals: Implicit Theories

Children with an entity view of intelligence tend to set performance goals

If intelligence is fixed, then one interprets activities as a “performance” in which intelligence is evaluated

Children with an incremental view of intelligence tend to set learning goals

If intelligence can be increased, then natural to set the learning goal of acquiring experiences that increase it

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

LEARNING VERSUS PERFORMANCE GOALS

Causes of Learning versus Performance Goals: Implicit Theories

Tamir, John, Srivastava, and Gross, 2007 study

Students about to enter college were tested about whether they believed emotions to be malleable and controllable vs. fixed and uncontrollable

As hypothesized, students with incremental (malleable) beliefs concerning emotion showed better emotion regulation than did those with entity (fixed) beliefs

Throughout the first term, relative to those with entity beliefs concerning emotion, those with incremental beliefs received increasing social support from new friends

By the end of the freshman year, those with incremental beliefs were found to have more positive moods and generally better levels of adjustment than those with entity beliefs

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

LEARNING VERSUS PERFORMANCE GOALS

Causes of Learning versus Performance Goals: Implicit Theories

Blackwell, Trzesniewski, and Dweck (2007): If one could turn entity theorists into incremental theorists, one should be able to reduce test anxiety and boost performance

Enrolled 7th-graders in an educational intervention designed to induce an incremental theory of intelligence

Students learned that the human brain changes when people study, growing new connections among neurons that increase a person’s mental abilities (a separate group did not receive this instruction)

By the end of the year, students who had been exposed to the intervention began to outperform the other students

Personality and the Brain: Goals

Are goals and evaluative standards distinct biologically from other kinds of thoughts?

D’Argembeau et al. (2009) asked participants to imagine future outcomes that either were or were not personal goals for them

(e.g., Future doctors imagined becoming a doctor and going deep-sea fishing)

Participants were in a brain scanner while imagining these two types of outcomes.

Personality and the Brain: Goals

D’Argembeau et al. (2009), cont’d.

Two brain regions were more active when people thought about personal goals than about future activities that were not goals for them

Medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC)

Posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)

Why significant?

Personality and the Brain: Goals

D’Argembeau et al. (2009), cont’d.

The MPFC is needed to determine the self-relevance of events

The PCC has been shown to be active during autobiographical memory

Goals are psychologically rich mental contents that combine the detection of personally relevant occurrences in the environment with information stored in your “library” of autobiographical memories

 

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

STANDARDS OF EVALUATION

Goals and standards are psychologically distinct mechanisms

Goals are aims one hopes to achieve in the future

Standards are criteria used to evaluate events in the present

Just as it is valuable to distinguish among qualitatively different types of goals, it is valuable to distinguish among qualitatively different types of evaluative standards

Tory Higgins (1987, 1990, 2006) has expanded the scope of social-cognitive analyses of personality by showing how different types of evaluative standards relate to different types of emotional experiences and motivation

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

STANDARDS OF EVALUATION

Self-Standards, Self-Discrepancies, Emotion and Motivation

Some evaluative standards represent achievement that people ideally would like to reach: ideal standards; aspects of the “ideal self”

Some self-guides represent standards of achievement that people feel they should or ought to achieve: ought standards; elements of the “ought self”

Different individuals may evaluate the same type of behavior using different standards

Some wish to quit smoking because they ideally would like to be more healthy

Others primarily feel a sense of responsibility to others to quit smoking

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

STANDARDS OF EVALUATION

Self-Standards, Self-Discrepancies, Emotion and Motivation

People experience negative emotions when they detect a discrepancy between how things really are going for them—or their “actual self”—and a personal standard

Discrepancies with different standards trigger different emotions

Between actual and ideal self: sadness or dejection

Between actual and ought self: agitation and anxiety

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

STANDARDS OF EVALUATION

Self-Standards, Self-Discrepancies, Emotion and Motivation

Higgins, Bond, Klein, & Strauman (1986) identified two groups:

Those who predominantly have actual/ideal discrepancies

Those who predominantly have actual/ought discrepancies

In a subsequent session, emotional reactions were assessed as they envisioned themselves experiencing a negative life event

Although all participants envisioned the same event:

Those who had mostly actual/ideal discrepancies tended to become sad but not anxious

Those who had mostly actual/ought discrepancies became anxious but not sad

COGNITIVE COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY: BELIEFS, GOALS, AND EVALUATIVE STANDARDS

STANDARDS OF EVALUATION

Self-Standards, Self-Discrepancies, Emotion and Motivation

Higgins (2006): people’s evaluative standards have implications for motivation

People who evaluate their actions primarily through ideal standards

Tend to have a “promotion” approach

Are motivated toward promoting well-being, by focusing on positive outcomes

People who evaluate their actions primarily through ideal standards

Tends to be “prevention-focused”

Are focused on preventing the occurrence of (or gaining an absence of) negative outcomes

CURRENT QUESTIONS

PERFECTIONISTIC STANDARDS: GOOD OR BAD?

High standards may cause people to excel. But are extremely high, perfectionistic standards necessarily a good thing?