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Psych & Soc
MCAT Study Cards
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Ethnocentrism | Tendency to judge others by standards in own culture |
Social Facilitation Effect | performing simple tasks better when other people are present |
Bystander Effect | Person less likely to provide help when other bystanders are present |
Social Loafing | Exert less effort if being evaluated as a group |
Groupthink | desire for harmony results in a perspective without alternative viewpoints |
Dramaturgical Perspective | Imagine ourselves playing certain roles when interacting with others |
Functionalism | Society is a living organism with different parts and organs, social institutions larger scale |
Manifest Functions | intended and obvious consequences of a structure |
Latent Functions | unintended consequences |
Social Dysfunction | undesirable consequences and reduction social structure |
Symbolic Interactionism | Society is built from micro interactions |
Social constructionism | human actors create a reality instead of discovering one that has internal validity, social institutions are a larger scale |
Fundamental Attribution Error | underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate a person's character |
Self-serving bias | success to ourselves, and failure to others |
Optimism Bias | Bad things happen to others but not to ourselves |
False Consequences | everyone agrees with what we do |
Prejudice | thoughts, acts, and feelings not based on experience |
Stereotype | Oversimplified ideas based on characteristics of people |
Scapegoat | who aggression may be displaced to |
Self-fulfilling prophecy | behaviors that affirm a stereotype |
Sanctions | rewards and punishments for behaviors in accord with, or against norms |
Agents of Socialization | family, school, peer groups, workplace, religion, gov, media, and tech |
Assimilation | forsake aspects of a culture to adopt those of a different culture |
Amalgation | majority and minority groups form a new group |
Multiculturalism | Equal standing for all cultures |
Self-Esteem | evaluating one's self-worth |
looking glass self | sense of self develops from perception of others: Charles Horton Cooley |
Self-Efficacy | A belief in one's own competence |
Locus of Control | Ability to influence outcomes by self and surroundings: Julian Rotter |
self-identity | knowledge and understanding of self |
personal identity | age, disability, religion (demographics) |
justification of effort | modify attitude to what someone says (salesman tactic) |
public declaration | to please others and adapt to what they say |
role-playing | stanford prison experiment type of research |
social cognitive therapy | reactions about thoughts, not the event itself |
behavioral therapy | conditioning to reshape behaviors |
humanistic therapy | healthy personality development, carl rogers |
sublimation | channeling negative behavior into something positive |
regression | reverting to less sophisticated behavior |
displacement | redirecting aggressive or sexual impulses |
rationalization | intellectually justifying one's behavior |
projection | attributing unacceptable thoughts and feelings to another person |
reaction formation | expressing opposite of what one feels |
repression | lack of recall of something emotionally painful |
denial | refuse to acknowledge a memory |
overconfidence | overestimating accuracy of knowledge |
belief perseverance | tendency to cling to beliefs despite the presence of evidence (anti-vaxxers) |
belief bias | tendency to judge arguments based on what we believe about conclusions than the logic (fundamentalist republicans) |
confirmation bias | tend to only seek information that confirms what one believes ignoring refuting beliefs |
mental set | fixate on solution that worked in the past though it may not apply to the current problem |
long term memory | indefinite capacity (hippocampus) |
short term memory | 7 +/- 2 items, 20s (hippocampus) |
echoic memory | sound, 3-4s |
iconic memory | visual info (prefrontal cortex) |
sensory memory | decays very quickly (prefrontal cortex) |
avoidance | person performs behavior to ensure aversive stimulus not presented |
escape | get away from aversive stimulus by engaging in a behavior |
selective attention | the process by which one input is attended to and the rest are tuned out |
divided attention | ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously |
cocktail party effect | occurs when words of importance are immediately detected |
Broca's area | speech and language production |
Wernicke's area | language comprehension |
limbic system | controls basic emotions |
hippocampus | short term and long term memory |
prefrontal cortex | sound and sensory memory |
Alertness and Arousal | the ability to remain attentive to what is going on (run by reticular formation) |
Heuristics | performing mental shortcuts to solve a problem |
algorithm | step by step procedure to solve a problem |
trial and error | repeated, varied attempts to solve a problem |
nonassociative learning | repeatedly exposed to one stimulus |
habituation | learning to tune out other processes |
sensitization | increase responsiveness due to repeated application |
dishabituation | no longer accustomed to a stimulus |
associative learning | one object or event is closely related to another |
classical conditioning | 2 stimuli paired in a certain way to change response |
acquisition | learning a conditioned response |
generalization | stimuli other than conditioned stimuli elicit response |
spontaneous recovery | extinct conditioned response occurs when conditioned stimulus is presented after some time |
extinction | conditioned and unconditioned stimulus no longer paired together and do not produce conditioned response |
discrimination (classical conditioning) | ability to separate conditioned stimulus from other stimuli |
operant conditioning | reinforcement and punishment to mold behavior and cause associative learning |
reinforcement | increase likelihood of behavior |
positive (operant conditioning) | adding stimulus |
negative (operant conditioning) | removing stimulus |
punishment | decreasing the likelihood of a behavior |
Anxiety | excessive worry, uneasiness, apprehension and fear with psych and phys symptoms |
mood disorder | disturbance in mood or affect |
personality disorder | behavior that departs from social norms |
parkinson's disease | cell death in basal ganglia and substantia nigra, tremor, slow movement |
residual schizophrenia | previously met symptoms of schizo but now lighter |
paranoid schizophrenia | delusions and hallucinations |
catatonic schizophrenia | stupor and immobility with peculiar behavior |
undifferentiated schizophrenia | meets basic criteria for schizo but not any subtype |
psychotic disorder | loss of contact with reality |
dissociative disorder | disruption in memory and identity |
eating disorder | disruption in eating patterns |
neurocognitive disorder | decline in memory and problem solving |
Alzheimer's disease | dementia and anterograde amnesia, plaques |
sleep disorder | interruption of sleep pattern |
somatoform disorder | symptoms cannot be explained by a medical condition |
social behaviorism | mind and self emerge through process of communicating with others |
attribution theory | consistency, distinctiveness, consensus either internally or externally |
conflict theory | competition for limited resources, social disruption not stability |
cognitive dissonance theory | conflict or inconsistency between internal attitudes and external behaviors |
psycholanalytical theory | personality shaped by unconscious |
superego | moralistic goals |
id | source energy and instincts, pleasure principle |
ego | logical planning, controls consciousness |
altruism | practice of selfless concern for the well-being of others |
absolute threshold of sensation | the min intensity of stimulus needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time |
Weber's Law | quantification of the perception of change in a a given stimulus |
vestibular fsystem | balance and spacial orientation (inner ear) |
signal detection theory | how we make decision under conditions of uncertainty. what is important and what is noise |
bottom-up processing | stimulus influences our perception |
top-down processing | background knowledge influences perception |
Dopamine | neurotransmitter released when pleasure is experienced. Sent to amygdala and hippocampus |
Stressors | significant life changes, catastrophic events, daily hassles, ambient |
Hormones released during stress | via endocrine system: norepinephrine, epinephrine and cortisol |
cerebellum | coordinate movement |
conformity | peer pressure, the tendency for people to bring behavior to line with group norms |
central processing | lasting attitude change, interested in topic |
peripheral processing | don't care about the topic, temporary attitude change |
reciprocal determinism | interaction between a person's behavior, personal factors, and environment: Bandura |
stigma | extreme disapproval or discrediting of individual by society either social or self |
evolutionary game theory | those who best fit to environment will survive |
vehicular control | what exp group does without directly desired impact |
positive control | treatment with known response |
negative control | group with no response expected |
internal validity | extent to which a causal conclusion based on the stid is warranted |
external validity | whether results of study can be generalized to other situations and people |
confounding variable | change in dependent variable |
temporal confounds | time related confounding variable |
material cutlure | objects involved in a certain way of life |
non-material culture | elements of a culture that are not physical |
social norm | expectations that govern what behavior is acceptable in a group |
social group | subset of a population that maintains social interactions |
symbolic culture | non-material culture that consists of elements of culture that have meaning only in the mind |
urbanization | increase of proportion of people living in specified urban areas |
globalization | increase of interaction and integration of goods, services, and people on a global scale |
spatial inequality | unequal access to resources and variable quality of life based on geographical area |
global inequality | disparity between regions and nations evidenced by GDP, natural resources, and access to healthcare |
residential segregation | social inequality on a local scale, the separation of demographic groups into different geographical areas |
food deserts | places where it is hard to find affordable healthy food |
social class | a system of stratification of groups based on similarities in social standing |
upward mobility | moving up in the class system through education, marriage, etc.. |
downward mobility | going down in the class system through unemployment, divorce, etc... |
intragenerational mobility | moving upward in the class system within one individual's life |
intergenerational mobility | moving upward in the class system within a few generations |
meritocracy | advancement is based solely on the achievements of an individual |
cultural capitol | set of non-monetary social factors that lead to social mobility like dress, accent, manners, etc... |
social capitol | individual's social networks and connections that may confer economic and personal benefits |
social reproduction | the transmission of social inequality from one generation to the nexts |
social exclusion | impoverished people are often excluded from opportunities |
primary reinforcer/punisher | harness physiological needs and drive for survival to increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior |
secondary reinforcer/punisher | money, grades, fines etc |
fixed ratio | rewards are provided after a specified number of responses |
variable ratio | rewards are provided after an unpredictable number of responses |
fixed interval | rewards are provided after a specified time interval |
variable interval | rewards are provided after an unpredictable amount of time |
mirror neurons | fired when someone completes an action and when they observe someone completing an action |
attraction | factors that draw members of society together |
aggression | conflict and competition between individuals |
attachment | relationships between individuals |
social support | finding help through social connections |
inclusive fitness | an individual's overall level of success at passing on genes |
front stage self | encompasses a behavior that a player performs in front of an audience |
back stage self | players are together but no audience is present |
group polarization | interactions and discussions of a group are stronger than the attitudes of its original memebers |
peer pressure | social influence exerted by one's peer to act in a way that is acceptable or similar to the peer's behavior |
deindividualization | people lose awareness of their individuality and instead immerse themselves in the mood or activities of a crowd |
obedience | behavioral changes made in response or demand by an authority figure |
the big 5 factor model | obedience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism |
behaviorist theory | personality is constructed by a series of learning experiences |
humanistic theory | people continually seek experiences that make them feel better |
reference group | provides individual with model for appropriate actions, values and worldviews |
oral stage | Age: 1, nursing and oral stimulation |
anal stage | Age: 2, toilet training |
phallic stage | Age: 3-6, gender and sexual identification |
latent stage | Age: 7-12, social development pleasures put aside for school |
genital stage | Age: adolescence and beyond, mature sexuality |
Trust vs. mistrust | Age: infancy to 1.5, lasting ideas of trust according to actions of parents |
autonomy vs. shame and doubt | Age: 1.5-3, competency to carry out self-care |
initiative vs. guilt | Age: 3-5, ability to execute a plan or activity |
industry vs inferiority | Age: 5-12, immersed in more complex social environment |
identity vs role confusion | Age: 12-18, different possibilities of roles in society |
intimacy vs. isolation | Age: 18-40, forming emotionally significant relationships with others |
generativity vs. stagnation | Age: 40-65, determine extent to which an individual wants to give back |
integrity vs. despair | Age: 65+, develop sense of how life was lived - evaluation |
current developmental level | Vygotsky: tasks that children can perform without help from others |
potential developmental level | Vygotsky: the most advanced tasks that a child can perform with guidance from others |
zone of proximal development | Vygotsky: all skills that can be achieved with help |
Preconventional morality | Kohlberg; Stage 1: punishment; Stage 2: reward |
conventional morality | Kohlberg; Stage 3: social disapproval; Stage 4: rule following |
postconventional morality | Kohlberg; Stage 5: social contract; Stage 6: universal ethics |
dispositional attribution | assigning cause to an inherent quality or desire |
situational attribution | deciding that environmental forces are in control |
cognition | a wide range of internal mental activites |
perception | the organization and identification of sensory inputs |
cerebral cortex | informational processing |
Sensorimotor stage | Piaget; Age: birth-2; object permanence and separating oneself from objects |
Preoperational stage | Piaget; Age: 2-7; learn to use language, egocentric, think literally |
Concrete operational stage | Piaget; Age: 7-11; children become more logical in thinking, inductive reasoning and conservation |
Formal operational stage | Piaget; Age: 11-older; deductive reasoning, think abstractly |
learning theory | language is a form of behavior and is learned through operant conditioning |
nativist theory | language development is innately human and all people have a neural cognitive system |
interactionist theory | human brain develops so that it can be receptive to new language input, environmental and innate biology |
bias | tendency to think a particular way |
amygdala | responsible for fear and anger, and learning the basis of reward or punishment |
James-Lange theory | emotion is physiologically-based |
Cannon-Bard theory | emotional and physiological reactions are experienced simultaneously |
Schacter-Singer theory | for cognitive appraisal one takes into account both the physiological response and the situational cues |
drive reduction theory | people are motivated to take action to lessen a state of arousal |
incentive theory | people are motivated by external rewards |
cognitive theories | people behave based on their expectations |
affective component | a person's feelings or emotions about an object, person, or event |
behavioral component | influence that attitudes have on behavior |
cognitive component | beliefs or knowledge about a specific object or interest |
Factors of attitude change | behavior change, characteristics of the message, characteristics of the target, social factor |
Hormones released during stress | epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol |
Epinephrine and norepinephrine | increase heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate |
Cortisol | increases blood glucose |
Signal detection theory | how an organism differentiates important or meaningful stimuli from those that are not of interest to the environment |
principle of nearness | Gestalt; cluster of objects will be perceived as a distinct group |
principle of similarity | Gestalt; objects with a shared feature will be perceived as a single group |
principle of common region | Gestalt; objects sharing a common background even without nearness or similarity will be perceived as a group |
principle of continuity | Gestalt; ambiguous stimulus perceived according to the simplest of its common forms |
principle of closure | Gestalt; perceive whole shapes even when they are not actually present in the stimulus |
parallel processing | the use of multiple pathways to convey information about a single stimulus |
feature detection | cells that respond to particular areas of visual stimuli which are integrated to produce an object as a whole |
propioception | position by assessing through spindle (balance) |
kinesthia | movement (behavioral) |
Depressants | decrease CNS, HR, BP, and processing speed |
stimulants | increase CNS, HR, BP, and processing speed |
Hallucinogens | distorted perception, increase sensations |
Opiates | decrease CNS, HR, BP pain relief |
routes of drug entry | oral, inhalation, and injection |
theory of primary mental abilities | (7) LL Thunstein |
theory of multiple intelligence | (7-9) Howard Gardner, each person posses at least eight intelligences excelling in some and faltering in others |
triarchic theory of intelligence | (3) Robert Sternber, analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence |
Solomon Asch | conformity experiment, if people change behavior based on what other people say (bar size experiment) |
Milgram experiments | obedience shock experiments (derive from Nazi theory) |
spreading activation | searching for associative networks to retrieve specific information |
serial position effect | individuals are more likely to recall first and last items presented |
visuospatial sketchpad | repetition of images to aid in encoding memory |
social stratification | people are categorized by their demographics by society |
anomie | an individual that feels disconnected from the larger community |
Mead's Theory; I | present and future |
Mead's Theory; me | in the past, the knowledge about society |
reaction formation | emotions and impulses that are anxiety inducing are perceived to be unacceptable or hyperbolic |
social constructionism | examines the development of jointly constructing understandings of the world |
psychophysics | relationship between stimuli and sensations and perceptions |
cones | color, bright light |
rods | low light |
fluid intelligence | reasoning and problem solving |
crystallized intelligence | acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it |
Spearman | theory of general intelligence, there is a common fxn among intellectual activities called the "g" |
Stage 1 Sleep | low frequency alpha waves and twitching |
Stage 2 Sleep | spindles and K-complexes |
Stage 3 and 4 Sleep | low frequency delta waves and slow wave sleep |
REM Sleep | partial paralysis, vivid dreaming, alpha and beta waves |
suprachiasmatic nucleus | body's master clock in the hypothalamus |
melatonin | hormone released by the brain's pineal gland |
latent content | hidden meaning of a dream |
manifest content | storyline of a dream |
Cartwright's theory on dreaming | dreams reflect life events that are important to us |
declarative memory | the type of long-term memory that stores facts and events like a lock combo |
procedural memory | memory of how to do things like riding a bike |
Dyssomnia | sleep disorders that affect the amount, quality and timing of sleep |
parasomnia | sleep disorders that are marked by irregular behavior |
insomnia | the failure to get enough sleep at night |
benzodiazepenes and barbiturates | increasing GABA activity and help with anxiety |
semantic encoding | using the sensory input that has certain meaning or context to encode and create memories |
serial recall | people tend to recall items or events in the order which they occurred |
proactive interference | forgetting of info due to interference from previous knowledge |
retroactive interference | newly learned info interferes with the encoding or recall of previously learned info |
Sapir-Whorf Theory | the structure of a person's language influences the way she perceives the world |
left hemisphere | dominate the functions of speech, language processing, comprehension and logical reasoning |
right hemisphere | interprets emotional tones of speech but cannot process words and meaning independently |
universal emotions | fear, anger, happiness, surprise, joy, disgust, and sadness |
Actetylcholine | muscle action and memory |
beta-endorphin | pain and pleaasure |
dopamine | mood, sleep and learning |
GABA | brain function and sleep |
glutamate | memory and learning |
norepinephrine | heart, intestines (suppress appetite) and alertness |
serotonin | mood and sleep |
CT scan | taking a number of xrays of a part of someone's body usually used for tumor detection or brain bleed |
PET scan | injected or drinks with mildly radioactive substance and a live picture of the rain is taken, can monitor bloodflow |
MRI | strong magnetic field, different density tissues give off different signals |
fMRI | tracks blood flow and oxygen levels |
Mischel | similarities in behavior in similar situations: marshmallow study |
unconditioned stimulus | biologically significant stimulus such as food or pain that elicits an unconditioned response |
conditioned stimulus | previously neutral stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a response |
unconditioned response | naturally occurring biological response |
conditioned response | new response to the previously neutral conditioned stimulus |
Bandura | observational learning; Bobo doll experiment |
in group bias | preference and affinity to one's in group in order to improve self-esteem or feel superior |
Dispositional attribution | blaming the victim for something that may not be their fault |
stereotype threat | the experience of anxiety or concern where a person has the potential to confirm a negative stereotype about their social group |
social network | social structure that exists between individuals or organizations, composed of nodes and ties |
Scales of Intelligence percentage break-up | 0.1, 2, 14, 38% |
impression management | a goal-directed conscious or unconscious process where people attempt to influence perceptions about other things or people. |
culture lag | notion that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations |
culture shock | personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life |
intersectionality | race, gender, and age |
culture transmission | the way a group of people tend to pass on or learn information |
culture diffusion | spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another |
social cognitive theory | portions of an individual's knowledge acquisition can be related to observing others within the context of social interactions |