Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Psychology and Sociology

Declarative Memory (Knowing What)

Declarative (knowing what). This memory stores information and knowledge of events. These facts and memories form the body of knowledge of a person and allow us to express our thoughts.

Types of Declarative Memory

There are two types of declarative memory:

• Episodic Memory

  It is the personal memory that allows us to remember dates, facts, or experienced episodes at a specific time and place. It stores life events and also the circumstances where the knowledge was acquired. The source is episodic memory and sensory perception; the information contained is organized in time.

• Semantic Memory

  Stores the knowledge of language and the world, entirely independent of the circumstances of its learning. Cultural understanding

... Continue reading "Understanding Declarative, Procedural, and Long-Term Memory" »

Human Needs Hierarchy

The hierarchy of human needs dictates that once needs at one level are satisfied, new needs and desires at a higher level emerge. These levels are:

1. Physiological Needs: Essential for survival and health.
2. Safety and Security: Reinsurance, protection, love, and stability.
3. Emotional Relationships: Membership and belonging.
4. Esteem: Self-help and the pursuit of exceeding performance.

Psychology's Purpose and Ethics

Psychology has human purposes and objectives, such as social welfare and quality of life. The profession is governed by a code of ethics designed to serve as a pattern of professional conduct. Psychologists respect and promote integrity in science.

Criminology and Forensic Psychology

Gross Hans's criminology suggests that... Continue reading "Human Needs Hierarchy, Psychology, and Disaster Levels" »

Long-Term Memory Classification

Long-term memory is divided into the following types:

• Episodic Memory: Storing facts and personal experiences.
• Semantic Memory: Storing information related to our knowledge of the world, often associated with language.
• Procedural Memory: Storing information related to skills that, once learned, are performed almost unconsciously.

Information Retrieval

Information retrieval is the process of accessing and recalling stored information.

Space-Temporal Orientation

This corresponds to the ability of a person to orient themselves with respect to objects, places, and time at a given moment.

It is divided into:

• Temporal Orientation: The ability to place ourselves in time and understand the timeline of events (e.g., parts of the

... Continue reading "Defining Core Cognitive Functions and Psychological Concepts" »

Understanding Innate Behaviors

Innate behaviors are fixed patterns to complex vital actions, which appeared during the formation or genesis of a species. The distinctive characteristics of these behaviors are:

1. Specific to the species.
2. Highly stereotyped.
3. Once initiated, they proceed to completion.
4. Not significantly learned.
5. Resistant to change.
6. Triggered by a specific stimulus.

Habituation and Sensitization: Non-Associative Learning

Although innate reflexes are unconditioned, they can serve as a basis for learning new reflexes. Learned patterns, however, cannot be fixed or conditioned. Habituation and sensitization are mechanisms that allow organisms to change their structures and functions through interaction with the environment. Habituation (H) and... Continue reading "Understanding Innate Behaviors, Learning, and Memory" »

Consciousness is a central fact of human existence, because without it, all other aspects of our life (perception, thought, emotion, etc.) are meaningless.

Characteristics of Consciousness

• Involves short-term memory.
• Is independent of sensory inputs (e.g., fantasizing).
• Requires focused attention.
• Has the ability to process alternative interpretations of complex or ambiguous data.
• Disappears and reappears during sleep (deep sleep to dreaming), at least in a changed or disjointed way.

Methods to Investigate Consciousness

• Observing and measuring the actions of an experimental subject, collecting reports of internal experience (e.g., heart rate, breathing, overall brain electrical activity).
• Investigating patients with brain injuries.

Waking vs. Dreaming

... Continue reading "Understanding Consciousness, Dreams, and States" »

Social Network Structures

Matrices of Social Organization

Community Structures

Community: Provides property security, stability, permanence, identity, and history, delivering more solid structures of meaning to people. It is composed of homogenous, traditional elements that resist change.

Institutional Structures

Institutional: A workspace with more structured, hierarchical, and instrumental relations aimed at collecting specific purposes. A more important role is assigned to the personality of this structure, governed by the logic of efficiency, effectiveness optimization, and rationalization.

Reticular Structures

Reticular: An open, mobile, flexible, and heterogeneous system with less stability; it is instrumentally functional.

Network Components

... Continue reading "Understanding Social Network Structures and Dynamics" »

Understanding Child Emotional & Social Development

Separation Anxiety: Meaning, Age, and Explanatory Factors

Separation anxiety is a form of phobic reaction, classified as a separation anxiety disorder, characterized by emotions such as fear, insecurity, or apprehension. This anxiety arises from separation from parental figures or primary caregivers.

Typically, separation anxiety from a caregiver appears between 8 and 14 months of age. During this period, the child's emotional responses, including anger, increase in speed, intensity, and persistence.

The Meaning of "Self": Manifestation in Children and Consequences

Self-awareness involves recognizing one's own moods, resources, and intuitions. It means understanding our emotions, how they affect... Continue reading "Child Development: Emotions, Self-Awareness, and Attachment" »

Participatory Research Instruments

The workshop at the IA, focused on practical application, aims to foster debate and reflection on specific project aspects. The most important instruments in Action Research (AI) are those that induce participation throughout the research process. These include: Brainstorming, the SWOT Method, Maps, and Participant Surveys.

Brainstorming Technique

Brainstorming allows for the formation of a common group and the collection of all views, knowledge, or experiences related to a previously proposed theme. The development is very simple:

1. The researcher presents an issue clearly and poses a question to be answered by each group component.
2. Participants propose and discuss their ideas.
3. The researcher notes these ideas in

... Continue reading "Action Research Tools: Brainstorming, SWOT Analysis, and Participatory Mapping" »

Understanding Awareness and Consciousness

Awareness Defined

Awareness is the subjective experience of self-knowledge and reality. It is formed by experiences of the external world and internal mental and emotional experiences.

Altered States of Consciousness

Altered states of consciousness are natural and artificial events that modify our subjective experience. Consequences include:

• Abnormal thinking
• Loss of sense of time
• Loss of control
• Changes in the expression of emotions
• Perceptual disturbances and changes in body image
• Changes in meaning or significance
• Increased suggestibility

The Realm of Sleep and Dreams

The Nature of Dreams

A dream is a state of consciousness occurring during sleep. It is characterized by the individual typically adopting a particular... Continue reading "Consciousness, Sleep, and Learning Mechanisms Explained" »

Understanding Socialization: Process and Definition

Socialization defines the process by which a person becomes socially responsible, learning and endorsing the standards and values of the society in which they live. Socialization presents two distinct aspects:

• The Visible Face: Describes how the individual acts within their culture, playing a decisive role.
• The Internal Face: A more psychological aspect, describing how the person internalizes and develops their own way of living.

This process is essentially the way we integrate into the culture we are in contact with, finding its way into our cognitive framework.

The Stages of Socialization

Primary Socialization

This is the most important and basic stage, occurring during childhood. It is primarily... Continue reading "Social Development Stages and Neurotransmitter Action" »