Psychology Concepts: Social, I/O, and Clinical Review

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Chapter 13 — Social Psychology

Social Influence

• Conformity: Adjusting behavior or beliefs to group norms.
• Asch line study.
• Conformity increases with: group size (3–5), unanimity, public response, ambiguity, and low confidence.
• Types: Normative (to fit in) and Informational (to be correct).

• Compliance: Response to a request.
• Foot-in-the-door: Small request followed by a large one (leverages consistency).
• Door-in-the-face: Large request followed by a small one (leverages reciprocity).
• Lowballing: Gaining commitment before revealing the full cost.

• Obedience: Authority-driven behavior.
• Milgram study.
• Obedience increases when the authority is legitimate/close, the victim is distant, or the context is institutional.

Social Cognition

• Attribution Theory: Explaining behavior as either Internal (traits) or External (situation).
• Fundamental Attribution Error: Overemphasizing traits when explaining others' behavior.
• Actor–Observer Bias: Attributing our own behavior to the situation, but others' behavior to their traits.
• Just-World Hypothesis: Belief that the world is fair, often leading to victim blaming.
• Self-Serving Bias: Attributing success to internal factors and failure to external factors.

Social Behavior (Prosocial)

• Prosocial behavior: Helping, sharing, and cooperation.
• Altruism: Empathy-based helping with no expectation of return.

• Bystander Effect: The presence of others decreases helping behavior.
• Steps to Helping: Notice → Interpret the situation → Assume responsibility → Know how to help → Act.
• Key factors: Diffusion of responsibility and Pluralistic ignorance.

Attitudes & Persuasion

• Attitude components: Cognitive, affective, and behavioral.
• Cognitive Dissonance: Inconsistency between attitudes/behavior leads to attitude change.
• Effort justification.

• Elaboration Likelihood Model:
• Central route: Uses logic and evidence, leading to lasting change.
• Peripheral route: Uses emotion and credibility, leading to temporary change.

Intergroup Relations

• Stereotypes (beliefs)
• Prejudice (attitudes)
• Discrimination (actions)
• Ingroup bias, outgroup homogeneity.
• Scapegoat theory.
• Contact hypothesis: Equal status and cooperation reduce prejudice.

Chapter 14 — Industrial & Organizational Psychology

Industrial Psychology

• Job analysis: Identifying tasks, skills, and KSAOs (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Other characteristics).

Employee Selection

• Reliability: Consistency over time (test–retest) or across raters (interrater).
• Validity: Measures what it intends to measure (predictive, content, construct).
• Structured interviews are superior to unstructured interviews.

Organizational Psychology

Leadership Styles

• Transformational: Focuses on vision and inspiration.
• Transactional: Uses rewards and punishments.
• Laissez-faire: Provides minimal guidance.
• Job satisfaction increases with autonomy, fairness, and feedback.

Chapter 15 — Psychological Disorders

Foundations

• A disorder is a maladaptive pattern causing impairment.
• Diagnosed using the DSM-5-TR.
• The 4 Ds: Deviance, Distress, Dysfunction, Danger.

Anxiety Disorders

• GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder): Chronic, uncontrollable worry.
• Panic Disorder: Recurrent panic attacks plus fear of recurrence.
• Phobias: Specific or social; avoidance is maintained by negative reinforcement.
• OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder): Characterized by obsessions and compulsions.

Trauma & Stressor-Related

• PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder): Trauma exposure followed by intrusion, avoidance, negative mood/cognition changes, and hyperarousal (lasting over 1 month).

Mood Disorders

• Major Depressive Disorder: At least two weeks of depressed mood or anhedonia (loss of pleasure).
• Bipolar I/II: Involves manic (Bipolar I) or hypomanic (Bipolar II) episodes, alongside depression.

Schizophrenia Spectrum

• Positive symptoms: Hallucinations, delusions.
• Negative symptoms: Flat affect, avolition (lack of motivation), alogia (poverty of speech).
• Cognitive symptoms: Deficits in attention, memory, and executive functions.

Personality Disorders

• Enduring, inflexible, and ego-syntonic (consistent with one's self-view).
• Early onset and stable over time.
• Clusters: A (odd/eccentric), B (dramatic/erratic), C (anxious/fearful).

Chapter 16 — Therapies

Treatment Types

• Psychotherapy: Talk therapy.
• Biomedical therapy: Medication.

Psychotherapy Approaches

• Psychodynamic: Focuses on unconscious conflict and childhood experiences.
• Humanistic (Rogers): Client-centered growth, emphasizing unconditional positive regard.
• Behavior Therapy: Learning-based techniques, such as systematic desensitization.
• Cognitive Therapy: Addresses distorted thinking causing distress (e.g., Beck’s cognitive triad).

Biological Therapies

• Antidepressants (e.g., SSRIs).
• Antipsychotics.
• Anti-anxiety medications.

Sociocultural Approaches

• Emphasis on cultural competence in treatment.
• Efforts to reduce stigma and improve access to care.