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

Week 1: Introduction to Political Science

Characteristics of Politics

• Public Decision-Making: Politics involves making common decisions for a group of people.
• Exercise of Power: It involves individuals exercising power over group members to facilitate these decisions.

The Academic Discipline

Political science is a field of study committed to the systematic production of knowledge. It is characterized by being public, subject to challenge, reasonably coherent, logically consistent, and adequately justified, spanning the arts, sciences, and social sciences.

Approaches to the Study of Politics

1. Institutional Approaches: Focus on the rules, procedures, and organizational structures of political systems and their impact on practice.
2. State-Based Approaches:

Expectancy Theory:

Expectancy Theory: is the idea that people's actions are driven by expected consequences. Behavior based on Vroom’s theory results from conscious choices to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. 1 Effort = Performance Relationship = Expectancy (Resources, Training or Supervision) 2 Performance = Outcome Relationship = Instrumentality (Promise must be fulfilled) 3 Outcome = Personal Goals Relationship = Valence (Money, Promotion, Benefits)

Equity Theory:

Equity Theory: is the idea that individuals are motivated by fairness. Negative and Positive Inequity feelings revolve around a person’s perception of rewards and inputs. People compare themselves with others on a similar level. Negative inequity is perceived if a comparison... Continue reading "Understanding Motivation Theories and Team Development Stages" »

Chapter 1-7

Baseline: the period of an experiment without the treatment.

Behavior: anything that a person does.

• This implies that the activity is physical.
• This includes obvious, subtle, internal and private events.

Behavior analysis: the study of environmental events that change behavior.

• The founder of behavior analysis is Skinner.
• Behavior analysis exploded in popularity in 1970.
• Behavior analysis studies thoughts and feelings as behavior.
• Behavior analysis sees most behavior as voluntary behavior.

Behavioral definition: a statement that specifies exactly what behavior to observe.

• Creating a behavioral definition is the first step in studying behavior.
• It makes communication clearer; it maintains consistency of observations.

Behavioral strategy: the... Continue reading "Behavior Analysis and Strategies: A Comprehensive Guide" »

Understanding Social Influence in Groups

Social influence in groups occurs when the majority of the members influence smaller subgroups within the group to change (majority influence) and when the minority members succeed in converting the majority of group members to their position (minority influence). Asch studied conformity by measuring people's decisions when the majority of their group's members made errors judging line lengths.

Types of Conformity

When group members change their position, their conformity may result from temporary compliance to the group's pressure rather than true conversion (private acceptance). Those who do not comply may be displaying independence or deliberate defiance of the group (anticonformity). When congruence... Continue reading "Understanding Social Influence: Majority and Minority Dynamics" »

Ecocriticism: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Ecocriticism is an interdisciplinary field that examines the relationship between literature and the environment. Scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and explore how literature treats nature.

Core Concepts

• Ecology: The biological study of interactions between organisms and their physical environment.
• Domestic vs. Wild Nature: Domestic nature is customized for human benefit, while wild nature remains untouched by human intervention.
• Biocentrism: An ethical stance that values all life forms equally, regardless of their species.
• Darwism: The theory of biological evolution through natural selection.
• Pioneer Species: Organisms that colonize new environments, shaping their ecosystems and

Chapter 7: Experiencing Positive Emotions

When it comes to flourishing as human beings, what often takes center stage is our ability to feel positive emotions.

One of the core elements of flourishing is the study of positive emotions (PERMA).

Positive Emotions: a wide range of pleasant emotions in the past, present, and future; being able to know what it is to be happy and to experience an enduring sense of well-being.

Two ways of smiling:

- Duchenne smile: a full-face smile where not only your mouth turns up, but the corners of your eyes crinkle, as well. That is, you smile with your eyes as well as your mouth.

- “the other smile”: with the mouth only and does not involve the eyes.

The extent to which the women displayed the Duchenne smile in... Continue reading "Experiencing Positive Emotions and Happiness" »

CONVENTIONS:

practices, behaviours, ideas and styles regarded as normal or taken for granted.

DISCRIMINATION:

treating someone or some group as different or less-than based upon their identity.

DOUBLE STANDARD:

a set of guidelines or principles in which one group of people is treated differently than performing the same or similar behaviour.

EXCLUSIONIST:

the position of excluding someone or some group from a fundamental right or prerogative.

FEMININITY:

socially constructed characteristics or ideas typically associated with the female sex.

FEMINISM:

a philosophy and social movement centered on improving the status and lives of women.

GENDER:

socially constructed characteristics associated with biological sex; ie., feminine, masculine.

HIERARCHICAL:

a system... Continue reading "Understanding Media Representation and Social Issues" »

Proposition:

Minimal unit of cognitive semantics; it is the equivalent of a statement, a statement being a sentence either affirmative or negative.

Utterance:

Is more a pragmatic form. It is an item of language produced by a real speaker in a real situation. Sometimes proposition and non-propositions are utterance.

Lexical meaning:

The meaning assigned to every word of the sentence.

Natural language:

A language that has developed naturally in use (as contrasted with an artificial language or computer code). The language of every human society.

Conceptualization:

Cognitive process automatically performed to make sense of the world/outer reality.

Categorization:

Basic cognitive function. Performed automatically and unconsciously as we interact with reality/... Continue reading "Cognitive Semantics and Language: Understanding the Basics" »

Instructions:

Choose the best answer for each multiple-choice question.

Questions:

1. Carl Jung believed that all humans have a common hereditary...
   1. Collective unconscious
   2. Displacement
   3. Rationalization
   4. Projection
   5. Regression
2. Three-year-old Joey is very angry with his parents but instead yells at his teddy bear. This is an example of...
   1. Collective unconscious
   2. Displacement
   3. Rationalization
   4. Projection
   5. Regression
3. A person with anorexia nervosa tells her therapist that she doesn't eat because she is worried about gaining weight, not because she wants to punish her parents. This is an example of...
   1. Collective unconscious
   2. Displacement
   3. Rationalization
   4. Projection
   5. Regression
4. Sam says that he does not trust Dorothy, but in reality, Dorothy feels that Sam is the one who cannot be

What is Psychology?

Psychology, derived from the Greek words "psyche" (soul) and "logos" (study of), is a complex field to define. It is the scientific study of mental processes, experiences, and behavior in various contexts.

Mental Processes

Mental processes involve activities like problem-solving, remembering, knowing, and learning. These are the internal mechanisms of the mind at work.

Experiences

Experiences are subjective and personal. Only the individual experiencing them can be fully aware of their nature. These experiences are embedded in our consciousness and are influenced by both internal and external factors.

Behavior

Behavior encompasses the responses, reactions, and activities we engage in. Some behaviors are overt and observable, while... Continue reading "Understanding Psychology: Mind, Behavior, and Perspectives" »