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1000 Psych Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Narcissistic Personality Disorder | Personality disorder characterized by self-preoccupation, inflated estimates of one's abilities and attractiveness, and the need for others to focus on oneself. |
| Conversion Disorder | A somatic symptom disorder in which a psychological problem manifests itself as a deficit in physiological functioning (e.g. blindess, paralysis). Freud called these "Hysterias". |
| Dissociative Disorders | Group of disorders that involve dysfunction of memory or an altered state of identity (e.g. dissociative identity disorder, dissociative amnesia) |
| Histrionic Personality Disorder | Personality disorder characterized by excessive emotional reactions and excitability, as well as by the need for attention and overly dramatic behavior |
| Somatic Symptom-Related Disorders | This category of disorders includes psychological disorders characterized by physical symptoms without any (known) physical causes. Illness Anxiety Disorder and Conversion Disorder are examples. |
| electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) | a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient |
| Illness Anxiety Disorder | A somatic symptom disorder characterized by excessive preoccupation with health concerns and incessant worry about developing physical illnesses. |
| Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) | also called multiple personality disorder; person displays more than one distinct personality & these personalities are expressed a different times. |
| Narcolepsy | a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks |
| Bipolar Disorder | a mental disorder characterized by episodes of mania and depression |
| dopamine | a neurotransmitter that is associated with Parkinson's disease (too little of it) and schizophrenia (too much of it) |
| hallucination | sensory experience without an accompanying sensory stimulus; auditory most common |
| Major Depressive Disorder | depressive disorder characterized by two weeks or more of low energy and mood |
| Factitious Disorder | disorder in which the sufferer purposefully ingests harmful substances or engages in acts of self-harm or mutilation in order to obtain medical attention |
| tardive dyskinesia | side effect of antipsychotic medications; repetitive, uncontrollable muscle movements |
| SSRI's | most commonly used drug treatment for depression; examples include Prozac and Zoloft |
| benzodiazepenes | central nervous system depressants used to treat anxiety disorders; examples include Xanax, Valium, and Librium |
| neuroleptics | drugs used to treat psychotic disorders; includes Risperdal, Clozaril, Thorazine |
| Lithium Carbonate | most common drug treatment for bipolar disorder |
| eating disorders | anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are examples |
| bulimia nervosa | eating disorder marked by episodes of binge eating followed by purging (through use of laxatives or induced vomiting) |
| Anorexia Nervosa | eating disorder wherein the sufferer is irrationally concerned about weight gain and avoids eating, despite being significantly underweight for his/her age and height |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | caused by exposure to trauma, such as war or violence, which leads to recurring thoughts and anxiety related to the trauma |
| sleep disorders | narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and night terrors are examples |
| Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) | cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis; therapist often directly challenges the patient's irrational beliefs |
| Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) | cognitive therapy developed by Aaron Beck; therapist works with the patient to correct maladaptive thoughts and harmful beliefs through hypothesis testing |
| systematic desensitization | behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders that requires creation of a fear hierarchy; the patient approaches tasks on the list while practicing relaxation |
| flooding | behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders that requires the patient confront the fearful situation at full force |
| counterconditioning | behavioral treatment (using classical conditioning principles) that seeks to remove the association between a particular stimulus and the fearful response |
| psychoanalysis | Freud's "talking cure" that includes techniques like free association, dream interpretation, hypnosis, etc. |
| free association | Psychoanalytic technique that requires the patient to speak of anything that comes to mind, without censorship |
| transference | in Freudian theory, when a patient redirects feelings for a (for example) parent or loved one toward the therapist |
| resistance | pauses in speech or gaps in memory that occur during free association; believed by psychoanalysts to indicate attempts at repression |
| Gestalt Therapy | methods pioneered by Fritz Perls; includes the "empty chair" technique, use of "I-statements" and metaphor |
| client-centered therapy | therapy developed by Carl Rogers; non-directive |
| unconditional positive regard | according to Rogers, humans develop to their fullest when others display this: a total acceptance of others' value (without judgment) |
| active listening | conversational method used by client-centered therapists: includes summarizing and clarifying questions, as well as non-verbal signals of understanding |
| token economy | system used to encourage positive behaviors by providing small rewards that can be exchanged for desired items; relies on principles of operant conditioning |
| rTMS | treatment for depression that involves passing an electromagnet back & forth close to the person's left eyebrow (left frontal lobe). |
| psychopharmacology | the study of the effects of drugs on the mind and behavior |
| Dorothea Dix | known for her efforts to reform psychiatric institutions and improve living conditions for the mentally ill during the 19th century |
| Aaron Beck | known for developing a model of cognitive therapy |
| Albert Ellis | founder of Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy |
| Sigmund Freud | father of psychoanalysis |
| Carl Rogers | founder of person-centered (client-centered) therapy |
| Joseph Wolpe | credited with establishing procedure for systematic desensitization |
| anxiolytics | general term for drugs that reduce feelings of anxiety |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) | A disorder characterized by pervasive, "free-floating" anxiety not connected to any one, specific stimulus |
| Specific Phobia | Anxiety disorder characterized by irrational and persistent fear of a particular object or situation, along with a compelling desire to avoid it. |
| Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) | a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions). |
| Panic Disorder | anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks |
| Anxiety Disorders | psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety (includes phobias, GAD, panic disorder, etc.) |
| Manic episode | a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state; occurs in persons with bipolar disorder |
| Persistent Depressive Disorder | a low-grade chronic depression with symptoms that are milder than those of severe depression but are present on a majority of days for 2 or more years; also known as dysthymia |
| Somatic Symptom Disorder | A disorder marked by a history of diverse physical symptoms that appear to be psychological in origin. |
| Personality Disorders | psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning |
| Antisocial Personality Disorder | a personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist |
| Borderline Personality Disorder | a personality disorder characterized by lack of stability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion; impulsivity; angry outbursts; intense fear of abandonment; recurring suicidal gestures |
| Behavioral Therapies | Treatments designed to change behavior through the use of established learning techniques (for example, systematic desensitization, token economies); more concerned with change in behavior than any underlying thoughts |
| aversion conditioning | A method that uses classical conditioning to create a negative response to a particular stimulus (e.g. a client with a paraphilia might be trained to respond negatively to a previously arousing stimulus). Also known as avoidance conditioning. |
| behavior modification | psychotherapy that seeks to extinguish or inhibit abnormal or maladaptive behavior by reinforcing desired behavior and extinguishing undesired behavior (i.e. use of operant conditioning techniques to adjust behavior) |
| modeling | use of observational learning processes to help a client change behavior; the process of observing and imitating a behavior (therapist demonstrates how to introduce self to a stranger at a party and have the client repeat/mimic the behavior). |
| Cognitive Therapies | Treatments designed to remove irrational beliefs and negative thoughts that are presumed to be responsible for psychological disorders; includes CBT, REBT |
| stress inoculation | stress management technique in which a person consciously tries to prepare ahead of time for potential stressors |
| Psychodynamic therapies | looks at unconscious conflicts, defense mechanisms and symptom resolution in a broader manner than Freud; often more brief and present-focused than traditional psychoanalysis |
| Humanistic therapies | therapies that emphasize the development of human potential and the belief that human nature is basically positive |
| empty-chair technique | A role-playing intervention often used in Gestalt psychotherapy in which clients play conflicting parts. This typically consists of clients engaging in an imaginary dialogue between different sides of themselves. |
| I-statements | promoted by Gestalt therapists and others, this type of statement illustrates willingness to take responsibility for own feeling and actions by describing our feelings, rather than evaluating others |
| Family & Group Therapies | therapy that treats the family as a system. Views an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family members. Group therapies, in general, emphasize shared experience and mutual support. |
| Biomedical therapies | the use of medications, electroconvulsive therapy, or other medical treatments to treat the symptoms associated with psychological disorders |
| Risperdal | (Risperidone) antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia; Dopamine antagonist |
| Haldol | (Haloperidol) tranquilizer used to treat some psychotic disorders and Tourette's syndrome; one of the "old" antipsychotics |
| Thorazine | An "old" antipsychotic drug thought to block receptor sites for dopamine, making it effective in treating the delusional thinking, hallucinations and agitation commonly associated with schizophrenia. |
| Clozaril | Antipsychotic drug; Blocks serotonin activity as well as dopamine. Requires regular blood tests to determine any abnormal changes on white blood cells (thus, less commonly used treatment) |
| antidepressants | drugs that combat depression by affecting the levels or activity of neurotransmitters in the brain (e.g. SSRI's and MAOI's) |
| psychosurgery | brain surgery on human patients intended to relieve severe and otherwise intractable mental or behavioral problems |
| lobotomy | a now-rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain |
| medical model | the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital |
| Bio-Psycho-Social Model | contemporary perspective that assumes biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors combine and interact to produce psychological disorders |
| DSM-5 | version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published in 2013; includes changes to many diagnostic categories and more emphasis on severity of symptoms in diagnosis |
| McNaughten Rule | a rule determing insanity, which asks whether the defendant knew what he or she was doing or whether the defendant knew what he or she was doing was wrong |
| sanity/insanity | LEGAL (not psychiatric) determination of whether someone was aware enough of their own actions to be held responsible for their behavior. |
| Mary Cover Jones | "mother of behavior therapy"; used classical conditioning to help "Little Peter" overcome fear of rabbits |
| Fritz Perls | Creator of Gestalt Therapy |
| Paraphilias | Sexual disorders and deviations in which sexual arousal occurs almost exclusively in the context of inappropriate objects or individuals. (e.g. pedophilia) |
| serotonin | neurotransmitter believed to be in short supply for depression-sufferers |
| positive symptoms | Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral excesses or peculiarities, such as hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behavior, and wild flights of ideas. |
| negative symptoms | Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral deficits, such as flattened emotions, social withdrawal, apathy, impaired attention, and poverty of speech. |
| flat affect | a lack of emotional responsiveness |
| delusions | false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders |
| flight of ideas | symptom of schizophrenia; a confused state in which thoughts and speech go in all directions with no unifying concept |
| clinical psychologist | psychologist who treats people serious psychological problems or conducts research into the causes of behavior; holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology |
| psychiatrist | a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders; can prescribe medication; holds an M.D. and likely has extensive training therapy & treatment |
| dodo bird verdict | refers to the finding of similar efficacy (effectiveness) for widely differing therapies; in Alice in Wonderland, the dodo bird declares "all have won and all must have prizes!" |
| placebo effect | the healing effect that faith in medicine, even inert medicine, often has; may be one of the reasons people overestimate the effectiveness of any particular psychotherapy |
| light exposure therapy | Treats seasonal affective disorder (SAD); scientifically proven to be effective, exposure to daily doses of intense light. Increases activity in the adrenal gland and the superchiasmatic nucleus. |
| regression toward the mean | the tendency for unusual events (or emotions) to return toward their average state; may be one reason many suffering from mental disorders seem to improve with time & that benefits of psychotherapy get overestimated |
| meta-analysis | a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies; used to evaluated effectiveness of psychotherapies |
| agoraphobia | a morbid fear of open spaces or places from which quick escape would be difficult (like a large crowd); often occurs with Panic Disorder (though not always) |
| depressive disorders | general category of mood disorders in which people show extreme and persistent sadness, despair, and loss of interest in life's usual activities. |
| rumination | compulsive fretting; overthinknig about our problems and their causes |
| Social Anxiety Disorder | An anxiety disorder involving the extreme and irrational fear of being embarrassed, judged, or scrutinized by others in social situations |
| linkage analysis | genetic research strategy: locate families that have had the disorder across several generations, draw blood from both affected and unaffected and examine DNA looking for differences |
| non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) | self-harm (e.g., "cutting," self-tattoo, burning oneself) done in order to relieve emotional distress, signal need for help, or to fit in. |
| binge eating disorder | Significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa. |
| insight therapies | any therapy aimed at improving psychological functioning by increasing a person's awareness of underlying motives and defenses (e.g., psychoanalytic, humanistic, some cognitive approaches) |
| diathesis-stress model | A model of mental disorders that attributes them to a combination of genetic predispositions and environmental stress factors. |
| acute schizophrenia | Type of schizophrenia that develops rapidly (due to stressor) and recovery is better; more likely to display positive symptoms. Also called "reactive" |
| chronic schizophrenia | When schizophrenia is slow to develop, recovery is doubtful. These patients usually display more negative symptoms. Also called "process" |
| virtual reality exposure therapy | an anxiety treatment that uses technology to progressively expose people to simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking |
| therapeutic lifestyle change | an approach to preventing mental health problems by adopting a healthy lifestyle (which includes aerobic exercise, adequate sleep, light exposure, and social connection) |
| therapeutic alliance | the bond of trust and mutual understanding between therapist and client, who work together to overcome the client's problem; research has suggested that the strength of this relationship predicts the effectiveness of therapy |
| cognitive restructuring | a strategy used in cognitive psychotherapies (CBT & REBT); aims to help clients recognize maladaptive thought patterns and replace them with ways of viewing the world that are more helpful |
| central nervous system (CNS) | Division of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord |
| peripheral nervous system (PNS) | the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body |
| somatic nervous system | division of the peripheral nervous system that control's the body's skeletal muscles. |
| neuron | a nerve cell; basic cell of the nervous system |
| sensory (afferent) neurons | neurons that carry information from the receptors to the spinal cord and brain |
| motor (efferent) neurons | neurons that carry information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles |
| autonomic nervous system (ANS) | division of the peripheral nervous system involved in the control of (generally unconscious/automatic) bodily functioning through organs and glands; its sympathetic division arouses while the parasympathetic division calms |
| sympathetic nervous system | subdivision of the autonomic nervous system responsible for mobilizing the body in times of stress, and preparing for flight or fight |
| parasympathetic nervous system | subdivision of the autonomic nervous system responsible for calming the body |
| reflex | automatic behavior in response to a specific stimulus; does not involve communication with the brain |
| brainstem | the oldest part and central core of the brain; responsible for automatic survival functions and composed of medulla, pons, and reticular formation. |
| pons | structure of the brainstem that allows for communication between the cerebellum, cerebral cortex, & brain stem; has nuclei that are important for sleep and arousal |
| medulla | base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat & breathing |
| reticular formation | band of nerve fibers that run through the center of the brain stem; important in controlling arousal levels |
| cerebellum | structure of the hindbrain that coordinates voluntary muscular movements |
| corpus callosum | wide band of neural fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain |
| limbic system | a group of structures located beneath the cerebral cortex that are involved in regulating emotions and motivated behaviors |
| thalamus | subcortical structure that relays incoming sensory information to the cerebral cortex and other parts of the brain; a.k.a "sensory switchboard" |
| electroenchephalogram (EEG) | device that monitors and records waves of electric activity within the brain; measured by electrodes placed on the scalp |
| positron emission tomography (PET scan) | visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task |
| computed tomography (CT scan) | imaging technique that involves the production of a large number of X-rays interpreted by a computer |
| MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) | imaging technique that involves the use of radio waves and a strong magnetic field to produce a signal that can be interpreted by computer |
| dendrites | short, branchlike structures of a neuron that receive information from receptors and other neurons |
| fMRI | technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans; capable of showing BOTH structure and function of the brain |
| soma | cell body of a neuron |
| axon | part of a neuron tha transmits information to other neurons and to muscles and glands |
| myelin sheath | fatty protein substance that covers some axons, increasing speed of transmission |
| neurotransmitters | chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gap between neurons |
| synapse | site where two or more neurons interact but do not touch |
| reuptake | method of clearing a neurotransmitter from the synaptic cleft, in which the neurotransmitter is reabsorbed into the terminal buttons |
| synaptic vesicles | small pockets or sacs located in terminal buttons that contain a neurotransmitter |
| agonist | a molecule (e.g., drug) that enhances the operation of a neurotransmitter |
| antagonist | a molecule (e.g., drug) that blocks or inhibits the operation of a neurotransmitter |
| endorphins | "morphine within"; natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure |
| resting potential | electrical charge (negative) of a neuron when it is not firing |
| action potential | brief electrial charge that travels down the axon; a process also called "depolarization" |
| threshold | the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse |
| refractory period | period, after firing, during which the neuron is unable to fire because it is repolarizing |
| aphasia | loss of ability to speak or understand written or spoken language |
| endocrine system | the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream |
| hormones | chemicals produced by the glands of the endocrine system that are carried by the bloodstream to other body tissues |
| pituitary gland | gland located below the thalamus and hypothalamus; called the "master gland" of the endocrine system because it controls many other glands |
| biological psychology | branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior |
| acetylcholine (ACh) | a neurotransmitter that enables muscle action, learning and memory; an undersupply is linked with Alzheimer's disease |
| dopamine | a neurotransmitter that influences movement, learning and attention; overactivity of receptors linked to schizophrenia while an undersupply linked to Parkinson's disease |
| serotonin | a neurotransmitter that affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal. An undersupply of this neurotransmitter is linked with depression. |
| norepinephrine | a neurotransmitter that controls alertness and arousal; undersupply can depress mood |
| GABA | a major inhibitory neurotransmitter; undersupply linked to seizures, tremors, and insomnia |
| glutamate | a major excitatory neurotransmitter; oversupply can overstimulate brain, producing migraines or seizures |
| nerves | bundled axons that form neural "cables" connecting the CNS to the rest of the body |
| interneurons | central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between sensory inputs and motor outputs |
| lesion | brain destruction; can be naturally caused or created for experimentation |
| hippocampus | structure in the limbic system important in processing memories |
| hypothalamus | structure in the limbic system responsible for directing several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temp); helps govern endocrine system via the pituitary gland |
| Paul Broca | responsible for discovering the area on the left frontal lobe responsible for coordinating muscle movements involved in spoken language |
| Carl Wernicke | discovered a brain area responsible for interpreting meaning of language |
| depolarization | process of neural firing; when action potential is generated and the neuron briefly takes on a positive charge |
| all-or-none response | neuron will only fire (if threshold is reached) OR not fire (if stimulation is insufficient) |
| amygdala | the two almond-shaped nerve clusters in the limbic system believed to be responsible for fear and aggressive responses |
| cerebral cortex | wrinkled, gray covering of the brain that accounts for 80% of brain weight is responsible for complex processing of information, planning, learning, memory storage, etc. |
| Phineas Gage | famous case study in neuroscience; sustained catastrophic damage to his frontal lobes |
| motor cortex | located on the rear of the frontal lobes; responsible for directing voluntary movement on the opposite side of the body |
| somatosensory cortex | located on the front of the parietal lobes; registers and processes body touch and movement sensations |
| occipital lobes | portion of the cerebral cortex at the "back" of the head; contains the visual cortex |
| temporal lobes | portion of the cerebral cortex located on the "sides" of the brain lying roughly above the ears; includes auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear |
| Roger Sperry & Michael Gazzaniga | studied split brain patients |
| phrenology | early, misguided attempt at studying the functions of parts of the brain; held that bumps on the skull revealed the person's personality traits |
| Franz Gall | early comparative brain anatomist; developed phrenology |
| Broca's area | area (usually in the left frontal lobe) that directs the muscle movements involved in speech |
| Wernicke's area | brain area involved in language comprehension; usually in left temporal lobe |
| association areas | Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking |
| angular gyrus | transforms visual representations into an auditory code; damage to this leaves the person unable to speak and understand, but able to read |
| neuroplasticity | Brain's ability to reorganize and change its structure and function throughout the life span, in reponse to injury or new learning |
| Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) | blow to head or a penetrating head injury that damages brain |
| hemispheric specialization | This is also called lateralization; refers to the fact that the left and right hemispheres of the brain have some specific functions that exist only in those hemispheres. |
| contralateral control | The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and the right hemisphere controls the left side. |
| nervous system | the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the central and peripheral nervous systems. |
| adrenal glands | A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress. |
| parietal lobes | Portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position. |
| glial cells (glia) | Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. |
| frontal lobes | the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments |
| neurogenesis | formation of new neurons |
| split brain | A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them |
| consciousness | Awareness of ourselves and our environment |
| cognitive neuroscience | The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language). |
| dual processing | The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks; also known as "parallel processing" |
| multiple sclerosis | a progressive disease of the nervous system that involves a degeneration of the myelin that surrounds nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cor |
| adoption studies | Assess hereditary influence by examining the resemblance between adopted children and both their biological and their adoptive parents. |
| behavior genetics | the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior |
| Charles Darwin | English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection |
| chromosomes | Threadlike, gene-carrying structures found in a cell's nucleus (46 in body cells; 23 in sex cells). Each chromosome consists of one very long DNA molecule and associated proteins. |
| concordance rates | The percentage of cases where both twins share the same trait or disorder |
| Dmitry Belyaev | Russian geneticist who, through artificial selection, bred tame foxes |
| DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) | a complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up chromosomes |
| epigenetics | study of how the environment can alter gene expression or function (e.g. light, nutrition, temperature, presence of other species); example of interaction of nature & nurture |
| evolutionary psychology | The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection. |
| fraternal twins | Twins who develop from separate eggs; dizygotic (DZ) twins. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment. |
| genes | biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein |
| genome | All the genetic information in an organism; all of an organism's chromosomes. |
| heritability | the proportion of variation among individuals that is related to genetic variation; estimates may vary depending on the range of populations and environments studied |
| identical twins | Also known as monozygotic (MZ) twins; twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, resulting in two individuals that share the exact same DNA. |
| molecular genetics | the subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes |
| mutation | A random error in gene replication that leads to a change in nucleotide sequence. |
| natural selection | A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits. |
| nucleotides | the "letters" of the DNA alphabet; they appear in pairs on the DNA molecule |
| Thomas Bouchard | U of M researcher who studied identical twins separated at birth |
| epinephrine | A hormone produced by the adrenal glands that has a vital role in the function of the sympathetic nervous system (and its "fight or flight" response). Also sometimes referred to as a neurotransmitter. |
| prefrontal cortex | the front-most portion of the frontal lobes; involved in planning and reasoning; one of the last areas of the brain to mature (and sometimes used to explain adolescents' relative lack of impulse control). |
| hindsight bias | the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon) |
| critical thinking | thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumption, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidences, and assesses conclusions |
| theory | an explanations using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations. |
| hypothesis | a testable prediction, often implied by a theory. |
| operational definition | a statement of procedures (operations) used to define research variables. (ex: memory may be defined as "number of words correctly recalled from a list"). |
| replication | repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances. |
| case study | an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. |
| survey | a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them. |
| false consensus effect | the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors. |
| population | all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study. |
| random sample | sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion. |
| naturalistic observation | observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. |
| correlation coefficient | a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other |
| scatterplot | a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation. |
| illusory correlation | the perception of a relationship where none exists; the basis for many superstitions |
| experiment | a research method in which an investigator manipulates one of more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (dependent variable). Random assignment controls other relevant factors. |
| double-blind procedure | an experimental procedure in which both the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or placebo. |
| placebo effect | experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance of condition, which is assumed to be an active agent. |
| hawthorne effect | tendency of some people to work harder and perform better when they are participants in an experiment. Individuals change behavior due to the attention they are receiving from researchers. |
| experimental group | A subject or group of subjects in an experiment that is exposed to the factor or condition being tested. |
| control group | In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment. |
| random assignment | assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups. |
| independent variable | the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. |
| dependent variable | the experimental factor - in psychology, the behavior or mental process - that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. |
| descriptive statistics | Statistics used to describe only the observed group or sample from which they were derived; summary statistics such as percent, averages, and measures of variability that are computed on a particular group of individuals. |
| inferential statistics | numerical methods used to determine whether research data support a hypothesis or whether results were due to chance (e.g. p-value) |
| mode | the most frequently occurring score in a distribution. |
| mean | the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores. |
| median | the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it. |
| range | the difference between the highest and the lowest scores in a distribution. |
| standard deviation | a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score. |
| statistical significance | a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. |
| APA Ethical Guidelines | rules for research with humans - Informed Consent, Freedom to Withdraw, Debriefing, No Harm, and Confidentiality |
| overconfidence | the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments. |
| confirmation bias | a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence |
| wording effects | when a specific word used in a question affects how respondents answer the question or the order of the questions |
| descriptive | the method used to observe and record behavior without manipulation (survey, case study, naturalistic observation) |
| p-value | The probability level which forms basis for deciding if results are statistically significant (not due to chance). |
| sample | items (often people) selected at random from a population and used to test hypotheses about the population |
| confounding variable | in an experiment, a variable, other than the independent variable, that could influence the dependent variable |
| debriefing | giving participants in a research study a complete explanation of the study after the study is completed; required by APA ethics guidelines |
| informed consent | agreement to participate in psychology research, after being informed of the dangers and benefits of the research |
| generalizability | the extent to which a study's findings can be reasonably assumed to apply to the study population (not just the sample); enhanced by having larger, random samples and large differences between (experimental and control) groups |
| social desirability bias | A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself; a potential challenge in surveys involving self-report |
| sampling bias | A problem that occurs when a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn. |
| correlation | A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. |
| validity | the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to |
| skewed distribution | a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value |
| histogram | A graph of vertical bars representing the frequency distribution of a set of data. |
| normal curve | the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes. |
| institutional review board (IRB) | A committee organized by a university or other research institution that approves, monitors, and reviews all research that involves human subjects. Its main purpose is to ensure compliance with ethics standards. |
| deception | Researchers sometimes need to keep details of a research design hidden from participants (or intentionally mislead them about the study's true purpose). Note: must be corrected during debriefing |
| sensation | the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. |
| perception | the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information; enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. |
| bottom-up processing | analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information. |
| top-down processing | information processing guided by higher-level mental process, as when we construct perceptions drawing out our experience and expectation. |
| psychophysics | the study of relationship between the physical characteristic of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. |
| absolute threshold | the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. |
| signal detection theory | a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimuli ("signal") amid background stimulation ("noise"). Assumes that there is no single absolute threshold. (e.g. what determines a "hit", "miss," "false alarm" or "correct rejection") |
| difference threshold | the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time; also referred to as just noticeable difference (JND) |
| subliminal sensation | detection of stimuli below absolute threshold |
| Weber's law | the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount). |
| sensory adaptation | diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. |
| transduction | conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies into neural impulses. |
| wavelength | the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. |
| amplitude | height of a wave; influences brightness in visual perception and volume in audition |
| hue | the dimension of color that is determine by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth. |
| pupil | the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters. |
| iris | a ring of muscle tissue that forms the color portions of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening. |
| lens | the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. |
| accommodation | the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. |
| retina | the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information. |
| rods | Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond. |
| cones | Receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. They detect fine details and give rise to color sensation. |
| optic nerve | the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. |
| blind spot | the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye; no receptors cells are located there. Creates a gap in our vision that is "filled" by the brain. |
| fovea | the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster. |
| feature detectors | nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimuli, such as shape, angle, or movement. |
| parallel processing | the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrast with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving. |
| Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic theory | the theory that the retina contains three different colors receptors-one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue-which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color. |
| Opponent-Process theory | the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision; useful for explaining the phenomenon of "after-images" |
| color constancy | perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the objects. |
| audition | the sense of hearing |
| frequency | the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time; determines perception of hue in light and of pitch in sound |
| pitch | sound information that depends on frequency (or wavelength) of sound waves |
| middle ear | the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window. |
| inner ear | the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs. |
| Place Theory | in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated. |
| frequency theory | in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch. |
| conduction hearing loss | hearing loss caused by damage to the (mechanical) middle ear structures that conduct sound waves to the cochlea. |
| sensorineural hearing loss | hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptors cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness. |
| gate-control theory | the theory that the spinal cord contains neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. Only a certain amount of signals can pass through the gate at once. |
| kinesthesia | the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts; enabled by feedback from proprioceptors (which provide info about the movement of muscles, tendons, joints); also called "proprioception" |
| vestibular sense | the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance; enabled by feedback from semicircular canals in inner ear |
| hair cells | finger-like projections on the basilar membrane that stimulate activity of the auditory nerve |
| cochlea | snail-shaped tube in the inner ear that contains fluid that moves in response to vibrations, stimulating activity on the basilar membrane |
| basilar membrane | area within the cochlea where hair cells are located |
| semicircular canals | fluid filled tubes in inner ear that provide information about movement of the head |
| Ernst Weber | early psychologist who established that the proportion of difference (rather than absolute difference) between two stimuli that is required for distinguishing between them is constant for particular types of sensation (e.g. weight, brightness, etc). |
| Gustav Fechner | often credited with founding "psychophysics" as a subfield of psychology; studied afterimages |
| David Hubel & Torsten Wiesel | Nobel-prize-winning researchers who discovered "feature detectors" within the brain |
| cochlear implant | a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea |
| sensory interaction | the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences taste |
| synaesthesia | when one sort of sensation (such as hearing a sound) produces another (such as seeing color) |
| olfaction | sense of smell |
| prosopagnosia | inability to recognize or perceive faces |
| gestalt | a perceptual whole; derived from German word meaning "form" or "whole" |
| subliminal | literally, "below threshold"; stimuli too weak to be consistently detected |
| selective attention | ability to attend to only a limited amount of sensory information at one time |
| cocktail party effect | ability to selectively attend to one voice among many |
| figure-ground | A gestalt perceptual phenomenon; the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings |
| grouping | the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups |
| proximity | Gestalt grouping principle; we group nearby figures together |
| similarity | Gestalt grouping principle; we group similar figures together |
| continuity | Gestalt grouping principle; our tendency to perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones |
| connectedness | Gestalt grouping principle; when objects uniform (in color or texture) are linked (no space exists between them) we perceive them as a single unit |
| closure | Gestalt grouping principle; we fill in "gaps" to create a full, complete object |
| depth perception | the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance |
| visual cliff | laboratory device for testing depth perception among infants and young animals; its use demonstrated that, among most species, animals have the ability to perceive depth by the time they are mobile |
| binocular cues | depth cues that require the combined input of both eyes |
| monocular cues | depth cues that only require input from one eye; often used in 2D art to create illusion of depth |
| retinal disparity | a binocular cue for perceiving depth; by comparing the images of the retinas of the two eyes, the brain computes distance. The greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object |
| convergence | a binocular cue for perceiving depth; the more the eyes strain to turn inwards to view an object, the closer the object is (note: only a factor at close ranges) |
| Wolfgang Kohler | credited with founding Gestalt Psychology; also conducted studies of insight learning in chimps |
| relative height | monocular cue for depth perception; we perceive objects higher in our visual field to be farther away. Explanation for why the "bottom" of a figure-ground illusion usually is interpreted as the "figure" |
| relative size | monocular cue for depth perception; if we assume two objects are similar in size, most people perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image to be farther away |
| interposition | monocular cue for depth perception; if one object partially blocks our view of another object, we perceive it as closer |
| linear perspective | monocular cue for depth perception; parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance. The more they converge, the greater the perceived distance |
| light and shadow | monocular cue for depth perception; nearby objects reflect more light to our eyes...thus, given two identical objects, the dimmer one seems farther away. Also, shading produces a sense of depth consistent with our assumption that light comes from above. |
| relative motion | monocular cue for depth perception; as we move, stationary objects seem to "move" as well. Objects above a fixation point move "with" us, objects below the fixation point move "past" us. |
| relative clarity | monocular cue for depth perception; objects that seem "fuzzier" or less clear are perceived to be farther away. |
| texture gradient | monocular cue for depth perception; a gradual change from course, distinct texture to fine, indistinct texture signals increasing distance |
| phi phenomenon | an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in rapid succession |
| stroboscopic movement | the brain's perception of continuous movement in a rapid series of slightly varying images; this is how we perceive motion in film and animation |
| perceptual constancy | perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, lightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change |
| perceptual adaptation | the ability to adjust to an altered perceptual reality; in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual field (as when wearing visual displacement goggles). |
| perceptual set | mental predisposition to perceive a specific stimulus as one thing and not another (for example, due to suggestion or expectations based on prior learning) |
| extrasensory perception (ESP) | the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition |
| parapsychology | the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis |
| visual capture | the phenomenon that occurs when vision overtakes some other, conflicting sensory input |
| change blindness | when paying attention to a specific aspect of a visual scene, we may fail to notice other fairly obvious changes or presentations of stimuli; demonstrated by the door study and the gorilla illusion |
| McGurk effect | the same sound (e.g. "ba") can be perceived differently (e.g. "pa" or "fa") when the visual image of the mouth pronouncing it is changed; a classic example of "visual capture" |
| bipolar cells | second layer of neurons in the retina that transmit impulses from rods and cones to ganglion cells; rods share these, but cones do not |
| retinal ganglion cells | the third layer of retinal neurons whose axons leave the eyeball and form the optic nerve. |
| gustation | sense of taste |
| embodied cognition | in psychological science, the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments |
| priming | Activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response |
| nociceptors | Nerve endings that signal the sensation of pain. |
| zygote | stage in prenatal development from conception to 2 weeks |
| embryo | stage in prenatal development from 2 to 9 weeks, wherein organs and primary sex characteristics begin to develop |
| fetus | stage in prenatal development from 9 weeks to birth |
| teratogens | harmful environmental agents that disrupt proper development (e.g. alcohol) |
| habituation | decreasing responsiveness to an unchanging stimulus; used to assess infant cognition |
| rooting reflex | infant reflex wherein the baby will, when touched on the cheek, turn its head toward the direction of the touch and search for a nipple |
| sucking reflex | when an object is placed in the baby's mouth, he will begin to suck on it |
| grasping reflex | when touched on the palm of the hand, a baby will wrap his fingers tightly around the stimulus |
| Moro reflex | infant startle response; when alarmed, the baby will fling his limbs outward, then retract them and hold them close to his body |
| Babinski reflex | when stroked on the bottom of the foot, a baby will spread its toes |
| Jean Piaget | most famous for his 4-stage model of cognitive development |
| schema | concept or framework that organizes and aids in interpretation of information |
| maturation | physical (or biological) process of growth; believed to occur in mostly universal sequence, though timing varies from individual to individual |
| assimilation | interpreting new information with the context of existing schemas |
| accommodation | adjusting or changing one's schema's to account for new information |
| conservation | principle that certain properties of matter (e.g. mass, volume, number) remain the same despite changes in appearance; exhibited during the concrete operational phase |
| object permanence | awareness that things continue to exist even though they are not perceived; develops at 6-8 months of age |
| sensorimotor | in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to 2) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their impressions and motor activities |
| preoperational | in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6/7) during which a child learns to communicate using symbols (language) but does not demonstrate mental operations of concrete logic. |
| egocentrism | the inability of preoperational children to take the perspective of another |
| animism | belief, often demonstrated by preoperational children, that inanimate objects have thoughts and feelings |
| magical thinking | cognitive feature of preoperational children; unconstrained by adult understandings of reality, they may believe, for example, that it is possible to turn into a racecar |
| theory of mind | people's ideas about their own and others' mental states (about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict) |
| categorization inability | the inability of preoperational children to group items according to rules or criteria |
| concrete operational | in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from 6/7 to 11/12) during which children gain the mental operations that allow them to think logically about real or "concrete" events |
| formal operational | in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development which begins about age 12 and is characterized by the ability to think logically about abstact concepts |
| social development theory | Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development which emphasized the importance of other people (more knowledge others) in our mental growth |
| Lev Vygotsky | most famous for social development theory (of child cognitive development) |
| More Knowledge Other (MKO) | In Vygotsky's theory, another person who possesses expertise and can help you learn something |
| zone of proximal development | In Vygotsky's theory, the context in which learning takes place; the gap between when a child can accomplish with assistance and when he can do something independently |
| stranger anxiety | fear of people other than those with whom the infant is familiar; appears around 8 months and peaks at 13 months |
| attachment | an emotional tie with another person; shown in infants by their seeking closeness with caregivers and displaying distress upon separation |
| critical period | time frame during which exposure to a particular stimulus must take place in order for proper development to occur |
| imprinting | rigid, inflexible attachments demonstrated by some animal species (e.g. ducks, sheep) |
| Konrad Lorenz | Nobel Prize-winning researcher famous for his imprinting studies, and for advocating the study of animals in their natural environments |
| Harry Harlow | presented infant monkeys with a choice between two artificial mothers; the monkeys preferred the warm, cloth mothers to cold ones with food |
| Mary Ainsworth | researcher who described attachment styles in infants as measured by the "strange situation" test |
| secure attachment | demonstrated when infants seem to view their caregiver as a "secure base" for exploration, seeking closeness to him/her and being upset at separation. |
| strange situation | test developed by Mary Ainsworth to assess attachment style in infants; involves separation and reunion with a parent |
| anxious attachment | demonstrated by babies who seem constantly afraid of potential separation from the caregiver; they cling to caregivers in strange settings and display intense distress upon separation |
| avoidant attachment | demonstrated by babies who seem to avoid contact and closeness with caregivers |
| basic trust | in Erikson's model, this attitude develops as a result of secure attachment; babies come to view the world as safe & predictable and believe that others will reliably meet their needs |
| Diana Baumrind | researcher who developed a model of parenting styles that included authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive |
| authoritarian | parenting style (in Baumrind's model)characterized by high levels of demandingness and low warmth; they impose rules and expect obedience |
| authoritative | parenting style (in Baumrind's model) characterized by high demandingness and high warmth; these parents explain reasons for rules and are open to negotiation (with older children) |
| permissive | parenting style (in Baumrind's model) characterized by low demandingness and high warmth; they submit to their children's desires, make few rules, and use little punishment |
| menarche | onset of menstruation; key marker of onset of puberty for females |
| Lawrence Kohlberg | used moral dilemmas to assess moral thinking in children; most well-known for his description of levels of morality (preconventional, conventional, postconventional) |
| preconventional | stage of moral development in which children seek to avoid punishment or gain reward when determining right from wrong |
| conventional | stage of moral development wherein individuals seek to gain social approval or maintain the social order (follow rules and laws) |
| postconventional | stage of moral development wherein individuals use abstract reasoning to determine right from wrong, often by citing agreed-upon rights (e.g. "the right to live") or personal ethical principles |
| Jonathon Haidt | countered Kohlberg's theory with "Social Intuitionist" theory; believed we make moral choices based on emotional reactions ("moral feeling") not cold logic |
| trust v. mistrust | 1st stage in Erikson's model; infants must learn to view the world as a predictable, safe place or face a future of guarded skepicism |
| autonomy v. shame & doubt | 2nd stage in Erikson's model; toddlers must be able to exercise some independence or will be ashamed and uncertain of their abilities |
| initiative v. guilt | 3rd stage in Erikson's model; preschoolers must learn to start and direct creative tasks, or they may feel guilty about asserting themselves |
| industry v. inferiority | 4th stage in Erikson's model; children must master the skills valued by their society or feel inferior |
| identity v. role confusion | 5th stage in Erikson's model; adolescents must develop a sense of identity or suffer lack of direction |
| intimacy v. isolation | 6th stage in Erikson's model; young adults must form close, satisfying relationships or suffer loneliness |
| generativity v. stagnation | 7th stage in Erikson's model; in middle age, adults must discover a sense of contributing to the world or they may feel a lack of purpose |
| integrity v. despair | 8th stage in Erikson's model; when reflecting at the end of life, an older adult must feel a sense of satisfaction or experience despair (feelings of having wasted one's life) |
| Erik Erikson | famous for his 8-stage model of psychosocial development; neo-Freudian |
| G. Stanley Hall | founder of the APA; known for his work in developmental psych, particularly for defining adolescence as a period of "storm and stress" |
| emerging adulthood | developmental stage proposed by Jeffrey Arnett; period between adolescence and assumption of typical adult roles (18-29, perhaps?) |
| Alzheimer's disease | progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and physical functioning; linked to deterioration of neurons that produce acetylcholine |
| cross-sectional study | study in which people of different ages are compared with one another |
| crystallized intelligence | one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age |
| fluid intelligence | one's ability to reason speedily and abstactly; tends to decrease during late adulthood |
| social clock | culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement |
| prospective memory | The ability to remember to perform actions in the future; declines with age |
| retrospective memory | involves remembering events from the past or previously learned information; not as vulnerable to age-related declines |
| autism spectrum disorder | A disorder characterized by deficits in social relatedness and communication skills that are often accompanied by repetitive, ritualistic behavior. |
| neurocognitive disorder | An age-related disorder caused by brain dysfunction that affects thinking processes, memory, consciousness, and perception. Formerly called "dementia". |
| longitudinal study | A research approach that follows a group of people over time to determine change or stability in behavior. |
| temperament | A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity. |
| Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) | A medical condition in which body deformation or facial development or mental ability of a fetus is impaired because the mother drank alcohol while pregnant |
| social identity | The "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships. |
| menopause | Cessation of menstruation; marks end of reproductive capactiy for women, typically occurring around age 50 |
| Carol Gilligan | follow up to Kohlberg's morality studies. She found that girls and women focused more on relationships rather than laws and principles in highest stage. Their reasoning was merely different, not better or worse. |
| androgyny | Combination of culturally determined female and male characteristics in one person. |
| culture | the enduring behavior, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted (via learning) from one generation to the next |
| fraternal birth order effect | Men with older brothers are more likely to demonstrate a homosexual orientation, increasing with the number of older brothers. This is presumed to be the result of changes to the prenatal environment that accompany successive male pregnancies. |
| gender | A socially and culturally constructed set of distinctions between masculine and feminine sets of behaviors that is promoted and expected by society |
| gender identity | one's sense of being male or female |
| gender role | set of expected behaviors for males and females |
| gender schema theory | The theory that children learn from their cultures a (mental) concept of what it means to be male and female and they adjust their behavior accordingly. |
| gender-typing | the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role |
| interaction | the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity). |
| intersex | refers to persons born with intermediate or atypical combinations of male and female physical characteristics (e.g., both male and female reproductive organs) |
| Mark Rosenzweig | demonstrated the neurological consequences of being raised in an "impoverished" versus and "enriched" environment (in rats). |
| norms | an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior |
| primary sex characteristics | sex characteristics present at birth; the body structures that make sexual reproduction possible |
| pruning | When applied to brain development, the process by which unused connections in the brain atrophy and die. |
| role | set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to be behave |
| secondary sex characteristics | nonreproductive sexual characteristics that appear as one reaches puberty, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair |
| sexual orientation | an enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one's own sex (homosexual orientation) or the other sex (heterosexual orientation) |
| social learning theory | The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished. For example, this may contribute to the acquisition of gender roles. |
| testosterone | male sex hormone; both males and females have it, but additional amounts of it in males stimulates growth of male reproductive organs in a fetus and development of male characteristics during puberty |
| transgender | an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex |
| X chromosome | The sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two; males have one. |
| Y chromosome | the sex chromosome found only in males. |
| scaffolding | support of learning allows students to complete tasks they are not able to complete independently |
| behaviorism | perspective in psychology that emphasizes how subjects learn OBSERVABLE behaviors |
| learning | relatively permanent change in organism's behavior due to experience |
| classical conditioning | type of associative learning in which the subject learns to respond to a previously neutral stimulus after it is repeatedly paired with an important one; described by Pavlov |
| operant conditioning | type of associative learning in which the subject learns a relationship between its behavior and a subsequent reward or punishment; described by B.F. Skinner |
| observational learning | type of learning in which the subject imitates behavior demonstrated by a model; Albert Bandura showed its role in creating aggressive behaviors in children |
| associative learning | learning that two events occur together; the events may be two stimuli (classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (operant conditioning) |
| John Watson | founder of behaviorist perspective; conducted "Little Albert" experiments involving fear conditioning |
| Ivan Pavlov | Russian physiologist who described classical conditioning after landmark study with dogs |
| unconditioned stimulus (UCS) | in classical conditioning, an event that elicits a certain predictable response without previous training |
| unconditioned response (UCR) | in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), such as salivation when food is in the mouth. |
| conditioned stimulus (CS) | in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response |
| conditioned response (CR) | in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS) |
| acquisition | initial learning of associative relationship; in classical conditioning, when the CS is paired with UCS to produce the CR; in operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response |
| extinction | the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when the UCS does not follow a CS and in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced |
| spontaneous recovery | reappearance, after rest period, of a previously extinguished conditioned response |
| generalization | tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS; for example, Pavlov's dogs would drooling in response to a variety of tones |
| higher order learning | when CS regularly creates CR, it can be paired with another stimulus for additional conditioning |
| John Garcia | he found that rats learn to avoid the taste of sweetened water when it preceded sickness, even though the sickness was caused by exposure to radiation |
| Robert Rescorla | his work emphasized the importance of cognition in classical conditioning; subjects learn the predictive value of the CS |
| avoidance conditioning | use of classical conditioning procedures to get subjects to avoid a particular stimulus (e.g. use of nauseating chemicals to get coyotes to avoid sheep); in people = "aversion therapy" |
| Edward Thorndike | studied cats in "puzzle boxes" and known for his "Law of Effect" |
| Skinner box | also known as an operant chamber; used to systematically administer rewards and punishments to small animal subjects |
| Law of Effect | Thorndike's assertion that "rewarded behavior is likely to recur" |
| shaping | operant conditioning technique in which subjects are gradually reinforced for closer and closer approximations of a desired behavior |
| reinforcer | any stimulus, administered after a behavior, that increases the preceding behavior |
| positive reinforcement | strengthens a response by presenting a pleasurable stimulus after a desired behavior (e.g. getting paid for doing the dishes) |
| negative reinforcement | strengthens a response by removing an aversive stimulus afer a desired behavior (e.g. not having to do the dishes if you eat your vegetables) |
| primary reinforcer | reward that is naturally satisfying (unlearned); for example, tasty food |
| secondary reinforcer | conditioned reinforcer; its pleasantness is learned through association with primary reinforcers (e.g. money) |
| continuous reinforcement | reinforcement schedule in which a subject's correct behavior is reinforced every time it occurs |
| partial reinforcement schedule | reinforcement schedule in which correct behaviors are reinforced sometimes (but not always) |
| fixed ratio schedule | reinforcement schedule in which a subject is rewarded after a set number of correct responses |
| variable ratio schedule | reinforcement schedule in which a subject is rewarded after an unpredictable/random number of correct responses |
| fixed interval schedule | reinforcement schedule in which a subject is rewarded for the first correct response after a predetermined time period (e.g. 10 minutes) |
| variable interval schedule | reinforcement schedule in which a subject is rewarded for the first correct response after varying time periods have elapsed (e.g. 3 minutes, then 25 minutes, then 15 minutes...) |
| punishment | an event that decreases the behavior that it follows; opposite of reinforcement |
| B.F. Skinner | psychologist known for describing and researching operant conditioning |
| latent learning | learning that only becomes apparent when the subject is later given an opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge |
| cognitive map | mental representation of a location; Edward Tolman demonstrated rats' use of these in running mazes |
| Edward Tolman | His research on cognitive maps in rats is an example of latent learning |
| overjustification | a paradoxical situation in which rewarding a person's efforts on a task done for primarily intrinsic reasons tends to lead to lower, not higher, performance |
| Albert Bandura | psychologist who's "Bobo doll experiment" demonstrated that aggressive behavior can be learned through observation |
| mirror neurons | neurons which fire both during completion of a behavior and during observation of another subject completing the behavior; believed to enable observational learning |
| prosocial behavior | positive, constructive, helpful behavior (opposite of antisocial behavior); can be learned through modeling |
| intrinsic motivation | a desire to perform a behavior for its own sake |
| extrinsic motivation | a desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or punishments |
| respondant behavior | behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus; Skinner's term for behavior learned through classical conditioning (as opposed to "operant behavior") |
| operant behavior | behavior that "operates" on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing behavior |
| counterconditioning | a therapy procedure based on classical conditioning that replaces a negative response to a stimulus with a positive response |
| habituation | An organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it |
| discriminative stimulus | A stimulus in the presence of which responses of some type have been reinforced and in the absence of which the same type of responses have occurred and not been reinforced. |
| insight | A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem (a.k.a. an "aha" moment) |
| learned helplessness | the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events. |
| Martin Seligman | Conducted experiments with dogs that led to the concept of "learned helplessness" |
| coping | Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods |
| problem-focused coping | Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor. |
| emotion-focused coping | Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction |
| external locus of control | A deep seated sense that forces other than the individual are responsible for what happens in his or her life (e.g., fate, God, chance, luck, etc.) |
| internal locus of control | The perception that one controls one's own fate |
| cognition | all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating |
| concept | a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people |
| prototype | a mental image or best example of a category |
| algorithm | A systematic, step-by-step series of rules or procedures that guarantees solving a particular problem. Examples: formulas, equations, flowcharts |
| heuristic | a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms |
| insight | sudden realization of a problem's solution; the "aha moment" |
| confirmation bias | a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence |
| fixation | the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving |
| mental set | A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem |
| functional fixedness | the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving |
| representativeness heuristic | judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information |
| availability heuristic | estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common |
| anchoring heuristic | a mental tendency to base estimates on previously presented numbers, even if that information has nothing to do with the case at hand |
| overconfidence | the tendency to be more confident than correct--to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments |
| framing | the way an issue is posed; how an issue is presented can significantly affect decisions and judgments |
| belief perseverance | clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited |
| language | A system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning. |
| phoneme | in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit |
| morpheme | in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix) |
| grammar | in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others |
| semantics | the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language |
| syntax | the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language |
| babbling stage | beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language |
| one-word stage | the stage in speech development from about age 1 to 2 during which a child speaks mostly in single words. |
| two-word stage | beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements |
| telegraphic speech | early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegraph message--'go car'--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting 'auxiliary' words |
| Noam Chomsky | theorist who believed that humans have an inborn or "native" propensity to develop language. (Native = Nature). |
| linguistic determinism | Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think. (a.k.a. linguistic relativity or the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) |
| Benjamin Lee Whorf | psychologist famous for describing linguistic determinism |
| convergent thinking | thinking that brings together information focussed on solving a problem (especially solving problems that have a single correct solution) |
| divergent thinking | a type of thinking that is associated with creativity - seeing lots of solutions to a problem |
| trial and error | approach to problem solving that involves randomly trying possible solutions and discarding those that fail to solve the problem |
| Dunning-Kruger Effect | a cognitive bias in which unskilled people's incompetence denies them the metacognitive ability to appreciate their mistakes. (low-skilled individuals are prone to greater overconfidence than are higher-skilled persons). |
| Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky | investigated the use of heuristics in decision-making; studied the availability, anchoring, and representativeness heuristics. |
| memory | persistence of learning over time; involves encoding, storage, and retrieval of information |
| encoding | the processing of information into the memory system (for example, by extracting meaning) |
| storage | Maintaining encoded information in memory over time. |
| retrieval | Process of getting information out of memory storage |
| parallel processing | The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving. |
| sensory memory | A type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less. |
| short term memory | activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten |
| working memory | A newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory. |
| explicit memory | Information or knowledge that can be consciously recollected; also called declarative memory. |
| implicit memory | Retention independent of conscious recollection; also called nondeclarative memory. Includes procedural memories. |
| effortful processing | Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort |
| automatic processing | unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings |
| iconic memory | A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second |
| echoic memory | A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds |
| chunking | Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory. |
| mnemonics | Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices |
| spacing effect | the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice |
| testing effect | enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply reading, information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning. |
| shallow processing | encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words |
| deep processing | encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention |
| elaborative rehearsal | A memory technique that involves thinking about the meaning of the term to be remembered, as opposed to simply repeating the word to yourself over and over. This facilitates deep processing. |
| hippocampus | A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage. |
| flashbulb memory | A clear and vivid long-term memory of an especially meaningful and emotional event. |
| long-term potentiation (LTP) | An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory |
| recall | A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test with no "word bank". |
| recognition | A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test |
| relearning | A memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time |
| priming | Activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response |
| mood-congruent memory | the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood |
| state-dependent memory | Long-term memory retrieval is best when a person's physiological state at the time of encoding and retrieval of the information is the same (e.g., drug state, level of physiological arousal, etc.) |
| serial position effect | Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list |
| anterograde amnesia | An inability to form new (explicit) memories. |
| retrograde amnesia | An inability to retrieve information from one's past. |
| proactive interference | Forgetting that occurs when previously stored material interferes with the ability to remember similar, more recently learned material. |
| retroactive interference | The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information |
| repression | In psychoanalytic theory, a defense mechanism by which anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings are forced into the unconscious, preventing their conscious recollection. |
| misinformation effect | Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event |
| source amnesia | Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined |
| deja vu | That eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience (i.e., may be triggered by priming). |
| prospective memory | Remembering to do things in the future |
| Elizabeth Loftus | Her research on memory construction and the misinformation effect created doubts about the accuracy of eye-witness testimony |
| forgetting curve | the pattern of storage decay described by Ebbinghaus; retention of information drops off quickly, then stabilizes, as time passes after learning |
| George Miller | Found that short term memory has the capacity of about 7 (+/- 2) items. |
| Hermann Ebbinghaus | the first person to study memory scientifically and systematically; used nonsense syllables and recorded how many times he had to study a list to remember it well |
| imagery | mental pictures; can be used to aid effortful processing and often incorporated into mnemonics |
| loci | type of mnemonic that exploits the ease with which we recall layouts of familiar locations; remembering items on a list by visualizing them placed in familiar locations |
| long term memory (LTM) | Relatively permanent and limitless storage of memory. |
| metacognition | "Thinking about thinking," or one's awareness of one's own thought processes or memory. |
| next-in-line effect | tendency to forget what was said by the person immediately before you during introductions or saying words |
| peg-word system | associating an idea with a visual peg word that rhymes with its position on the list; (ex. one is a bun, two is a shoe, three is a tree...I want to remember to buy carrots at the store, so I image a carrot-flavored bun.) |
| procedural memory | A type of implicit memory that involves motor skills and behavioral habits |
| visual encoding | The encoding of picture images |
| acoustic encoding | The encoding of sound, especially the sound of words |
| semantic encoding | The encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words |
| creativity | Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas; fostered by expertise, imaginative thinking skills, venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and creative environments |
| intuition | An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning |
| aphasia | Disturbance in language comprehension or production, often as a result of a stroke. |
| Broca's area | Controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech. |
| Wernicke's area | A specialised area in the left temporal lobe which is involved with comprehending the sounds of human speech |
| intrinsic motivation | A desire to perform a behavior for its own sake |
| semantic distinctiveness | An item on a list that's memorable because its not like the other items on the list |
| Atkinson-Shiffrin Model | A model for describing memory in which there are three distinguishable kinds of memory storage (sensory, short term, long term) through which info passes in a sequential way as it is processed. |
| overlearning | Continued rehearsal of material after one first appears to have mastered it. Improves memory. |
| episodic memory | A category of long-term memory that involves the recollection of specific events, situations and experiences. |
| Alfred Binet | psychologist commissioned by Parisian school system to design intelligence test for educational placement |
| mental age | the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance; used by Binet to characterize early IQ scores |
| William Stern | German psychologist who developed the formula for intelligence quotient (IQ); [mental age/chronological age] X 100 = IQ |
| Lewis Terman | revised and adapted Binet's test for use in the US; assisted with development of intelligence tests for the army during WWI |
| Stanford-Binet | the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet's original intelligence test |
| Francis Galton | advocated use of intelligence tests as a measure of mental "fitness"; proponent of the eugenics movement & cousin of Charles Darwin |
| Charles Spearman | researcher who promoted theory of general intelligence (g) after factor analysis of major intelligence |
| intelligence | the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations |
| factor analysis | a statistical procedure that indentifies clusters of related test items on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one's total score |
| general intelligence (g) | general ability that Spearman and others believed underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test |
| savant syndrome | a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an expectional specific skills, such as in computation or drawing |
| Howard Gardner | researcher known for his theory of multiple intelligences |
| multiple intelligences | the idea that there may be several specific "intelligences" that can exist in a individual independently of one another (e.g. visual-spatial, kinesthetic, verbal, etc.) |
| emotional intelligence | the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions; "EQ" |
| Robert Sternberg | devised a theory of "successful intelligence" (academic problem-solving, practical, and creative); theory also known as "Triarchic Theory of Intelligence" |
| Successful Intelligence | Sternberg's notion that successfully functioning individuals must be 1.) analytical, 2.) creative, 3.) practical; a.k.a. triarchic theory of intelligence |
| creativity | human ability believed to be enhanced by expertise, imaginative thinking abilities, venturesome personality type, intrinsic motivation, and a conducive environment |
| aptitude test | a test designed to predict a person's future performance or capacity to learn |
| achievement test | a test designed to assess what a person has learned (e.g. final exam in a literature course) |
| Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) | the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance subtests |
| Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) | an individual test developed especially for school-aged children; it yields verbal, performance, and full scale IQ scores |
| Standardization | defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested, representative, sample group. |
| Flynn effect | finding that average IQ scores have been rising at a rate of approximately 3 points per decade |
| test-retest reliability | the degree to which test scores are similar or stable over time versus the degree to which scores change or fluctuate upon repeated testings |
| reliability | the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting |
| alternate form reliability | A type of reliability, where different versions of same instrument are used and scores are compared |
| split-half reliability | A test is divided into 2 halves and the scores on the halves are compared to see if the test is cosistant within itself. Odds - Evens is the best way to do this. |
| validity | the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to |
| content validity | the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as a driving test that samples driving tasks). |
| predictive validity | The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior. |
| criterion | the behavior (such as future college grades) that a test (such as the SAT) is designed to predict; thus, the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity (i.e. it's the "thing" or ability that the test is supposed to measure) |
| crystallized intelligence | one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age |
| fluid intelligence | one's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood |
| intellectual disability | a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound (previously "mental retardation") |
| Down Syndrome | A condition of intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one's genetic makeup. |
| stereotype threat | a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype |
| standard deviation | a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score; square root of the variance |
| z-score | a measure of how many standard deviations you are away from the norm (average or mean); calculated for a particular test score by subtracting the mean from the score and dividing the result by the standard deviation. |
| variance | average of the squared difference scores for a data set; standard deviation squared |
| normal curve | the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes. |
| positively skewed distribution | asymmetric distribution in which the majority of the data is concentrated below (to the left of) the mean |
| negatively skewed distribution | asymmetric distribution in which the majority of the data is concentrated to the right of the mean |
| mean | arithmatic average |
| median | the middle score in a data set; best measure of central tendency in a skewed distribution |
| mode | the most frequently occurring score |
| measures of central tendency | mean, median, & mode |
| measures of variation | range, variance, & standard deviation |
| descriptive statistics | numbers that describe and summarize a set of research data |
| inferential statistics | procedures used to draw conclusions about statistical significance and probability that generalization is warranted |
| Carol Dweck | researched the impact of "fixed" mindset (versus "growth" mindset) on student achievement; suggested our views about intelligence matter |
| grit | showing passion and perseverance in pursuit of long-term goals; may be an important component of academic and professional success |
| cohort | A group of people from a given time period. (For example, longitudinal studies track a particular cohort over time.) |
| Personality | an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting |
| free association | in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing. |
| psychoanalysis | Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions |
| unconscious | according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware |
| id | contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. It operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification |
| ego | according to Freud, this mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. It operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain |
| superego | the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations |
| thanatos | Freud's name for the "death instinct"; our unconsciuos agressive, destructive drive |
| eros | the instinct toward life, posited by Freud; a loving, constructive drive |
| psychosexual stages | the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones |
| oral phase | (psychoanalysis) the first sexual and social stage of an infant's development |
| anal phase | (psychoanalysis) the second sexual and social stage of a child's development during which bowel control is learned |
| phallic phase | third phase in Freud's model; child experiences pleasurable feelings associated with genital organs, sexual attraction to parent of opposite sex as well as guilt; fixations results in difficulty with sexual identity and authority figures |
| latency | Freud's term for middle childhood, during which children's emotional drives and psychosocial needs are quiet (latent). Freud thought that sexual conflicts from earlier stages are only temporarily submerged, to burst forth again at puberty. |
| genital phase | (psychoanalysis) the fifth sexual and social stage in a person's development occurring during adolescence |
| Oedipus complex | according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father |
| identification | the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos |
| fixation | according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved |
| anal explusive | Freud's characterization of the overly messy and disorganized personality |
| anal retentive | Freud's characterization of the overly controlled and compulsively neat personality |
| defense mechanism | in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality |
| repression | in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness |
| regression | a defense mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state where some psychic energy remains fixated |
| reaction formation | psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings. |
| projection | psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others |
| rationalization | defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions |
| displacement | psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet |
| projective test | a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics |
| Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) | a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes |
| Rorschach inkblot test | the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots |
| sublimation | modifying the natural expression of an impulse or instinct (especially a sexual or aggressive one) to one that is socially acceptable |
| intellectualization | defense mechanism wherein one approaches a potentially threatening topic without anxiety by studying it in a removed, academic manner |
| Sigmund Freud | the "father of psychoanalysis" |
| Alfred Adler | neo-Freudian who emphasized feelings of inferiority (e.g. the "inferiority" complex) and birth order effects |
| Karen Horney | neo-Freudian who emphasized "basic anxiety" as a force in personality development; countered Freud's characterization of the female psyche and proposed concept of "womb envy" |
| Carl Jung | neo-Freudian known for his theory of the "collective unconscious," composed of recurring archetypes, and for describing introversion/extroversion as personality traits |
| Humanistic perspective | approach to personality theory formed by Rogers and Maslow; emphasizes innate goodness and the need for growth |
| self-actualization | according to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential |
| Abraham Maslow | humanistic psychologist known for the concept of self-actualization and his "hierarchy of needs" model |
| Carl Rogers | humanistic psychologist known for developing client-centered (or "person-centered") therapy; emphasized genuineness, acceptance, and empathy |
| unconditional positive regard | according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person |
| self-concept | all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?" |
| trait | a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports |
| Gordon Allport | psychologist credited with founding the trait perspective in personality theory |
| trait perspective | a perspective on human personality that emphasizes the description of human patterns in thinking and behaving, often through the development of personality tests |
| factor analysis | a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one's total score |
| personality inventory | a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits. |
| Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) | the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes. |
| empirically derived test | a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups |
| The Big Five | five major personality factors indentifed by Costa & McCRae: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion/introversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability (neuroticism) |
| Walter Mischel | researcher who challenged the predictive power of personality testing; argued that identified traits often do not predict behavior in a given situation (Person-Situation Controversy) |
| social-cognitive perspective | approach to personality theory that views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context |
| reciprocal determinism | the interacting influences between internal personal (cognitive) factors, behavior, and the environment |
| personal control | our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless |
| external locus of control | the perception that chance or outside forces beyond one's personal control determine one's fate |
| internal locus of control | the perception that one controls one's own fate |
| learned helplessness | the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events |
| positive psychology | the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive |
| possible selves | images of what we dream of or dread becoming in the future |
| spotlight effect | overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders |
| self-esteem | one's feelings of high or low self-worth |
| self-serving bias | a readiness to perceive oneself favorably; often attributing successes to one's own efforts but failures to external forces |
| individualism | giving priority to one's own goals over group goals, and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications |
| collectivism | giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly |
| terror-management theory | proposes that faith in one's worldview and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death |
| self-efficacy | a person's beliefs about his or her own competence or skill (in a particular area) |
| oral fixation | In Freud's personality theory, an excessive need for oral pleasures (such as eating, gum-chewing, or talking) that results from extreme denial or excessive indulgence of them during the first stage; may also be expressed through excessive dependence |
| penis envy | In Psychoanalytic thought, the desire of girls to posses a penis and therefore have the power that being male represents. |
| womb envy | Horney's counter to Freud's notion of penis envy |
| castration anxiety | According to Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development, the fear a boy in the phallic stage experiences due to a fear that his father will render him powerless if his father finds out about his attraction toward his mother. |
| collective unconscious | Jung's theory that we all share an inherited memory that contains our culture's most basic elements |
| archetypes | universal, symbolic images that appear in myths, art, stories, and dreams; to Jungians, they reflect the collective unconscious (examples: mother figure, hero/villian, shadow, etc.) |
| attributional style | The way a person typically explains the things that happen in his or her life; in the social-cognitive perspective, this is an important determinant of behavior. Includes dimensions such as external/internal, stable/unstable, global/local |
| Martin Seligman | known for his research on learned helplessness and for promoting research in positive psychology |
| Raymond Cattell | theorist who created a 16 Factor model of personality |
| manifest content | According to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream |
| latent content | According to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream |
| preconscious | According to Freud, the level of awareness that contains material just beneath the surface of conscious awareness that can easily be retrieved. |
| false consensus effect | The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors |
| narcissism | Excessive self-love and self-absorption |
| Subjective tests | Tests in which individuals asked to form an answer from a limited or ambiguous stimulus; they are more difficult to take and to score/grade. Examples include projective tests (like the Rorschach or TAT) and essay-based classroom tests. |
| Objective tests | Tests in which subjects select a single answer out of already provided answers (e.g., multiple choice, true-false); they are easier to score without bias |
| Conscientiousness | A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized |
| Agreeableness | A personality dimension that describes someone who is good natured, cooperative, and trusting. |
| Neuroticism | a personality dimension that reflects the tendencies to be anxious, hostile, self-conscious, depressed, impulsive, and vulnerable |
| Openness | a personality trait describing someone as curious, imaginative, creative, adventurous, and inventive |
| Extraversion | A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive |
| Barnum effect | The tendency to consider a personal description accurate if it is stated in very general, slightly positive terms. |
| Paul Costa & Robert McCrae | creators of the "Big Five" model of personality traits |
| consciousness | an awareness of ourselves and our environments |
| circadian rhythm | the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle |
| suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) | a pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm. In response to light, it causes the pineal gland to adjust melatonin production, modifying feelings of sleepiness. |
| REM sleep | rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur; also known as paradoxical sleep because muscles are relaxed but body is active |
| alpha waves | the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state |
| sleep | Periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation |
| hallucinations | false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus |
| NREM-1 | the transition into sleep, marked by slowed breathing and irregular brain waves; hypnagogic sensations/hallucinations, and myclonic jerks may occur |
| NREM-2 | Sleep stage characterized by its periodic sleep spindles, or bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity. About half the night is spent in this phase. |
| NREM-3 | sleep stage that lasts about 30 minutes and your brain emits large, slow delta waves, and you are hard to awaken. |
| delta waves | the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep |
| sleep spindles | bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity characteristic of stage 2 sleep |
| paradoxical sleep | another term for REM sleep; refers to the constrast between high amounts of brain activity and low amounts of bodily (muscle) activity |
| insomnia | sleep disorder characterized by recurring problems in falling or staying asleep |
| narcolepsy | a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times |
| sleep apnea | a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings |
| night terrors | a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during NREM-3 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered |
| somnambulism | the condition of walking or performing some other activity without awakening; also known as sleepwalking - occurs during NREM-3 |
| REM Sleep Disorder | a neurological disorder in which the person does not become paralyzed during REM sleep and thus acts out dreams |
| dreams | occur most often during REM sleep; may be caused by activation-synthesis, or may be a way of cementing memories |
| manifest content | according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream |
| latent content | according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest content). Freud believed that a dream's latent content functions as a safety valve. |
| information processing model (of dreams) | belief by some researchers that the function of dreams is to help us sift, sort, and fix the day's experiences in our memory |
| activation-synthesis theory | the idea that dreams are the brain's attempt to make sense of random neural activity |
| REM rebound | the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakenings during REM sleep) |
| hypnosis | a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur |
| dissociation | a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others; some believe hyponsis is a state of dissociation (divided consciousness) |
| psychoactive drugs | a chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood |
| tolerance | the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug's effect |
| withdrawal | the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug |
| depressants | drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. |
| stimulants | drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, and Ecstasy) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions. |
| hallucinogens | psychedelic ("mind-manifesting") drugs, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input |
| barbiturates | drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment |
| opiates | opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. |
| ecstasy (MDMA) | a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen; produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition |
| LSD | a powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid |
| THC | The major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations. |
| addiction | Compulsive drug craving and use, despite adverse consequences. May also occur for certain behaviors (e.g., gambling) |
| substance use disorder | continued substance craving and use despite significant life disruption and/or physical risk |
| alcohol use disorder | Alcohol use marked by tolerance, withdrawal, and a drive to continue problematic use; popularly known as alcoholism |
| nicotine | A stimulating and highly addictive psychoactive drug in tobacco |
| cocaine | a powerfully and addictive stimulant, derived from the coca plant, producing temporarily increased alertness and euphoria |
| methamphetamine | A powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels |
| Socrates & Plato | two philosophers from ancient Greece (teacher & student); believed knowledge to be innate and that the mind & body are distinct |
| Artistotle | Greek philosopher who emphasized observation as a source of knowledge; believed mind & body to be inseparable. |
| Rene Decartes | French philosopher who agreed with Socrates and Plato concerning the origins of knowledge and the separation between mind & body; speculated about how mind & body communicate |
| Francis Bacon | one of the founders of modern science; promoted use of scientific method & wrote about problems with (what was later known as) confirmation bias |
| John Locke | British political philosopher & author of "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding"; coined the phrase "blank slate" to describe the state of human knowledge at birth |
| empiricism | the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b) science flourishes through observation and experiment. |
| Wilhelm Wundt | German physiologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879 |
| E.B. Titchener | Psychologist who developed structuralism and introspection; student of Wilhelm Wundt. |
| structuralism | an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind |
| William James | founder of functionalism; studied how humans use their abilities to function in their environments; known for being an early teacher of psychology |
| Mary Whiton Calkins | first female president of the APA (1905); a student of William James; denied the PhD she earned from Harvard because of her sex (later, posthumously, it was granted to her) |
| Margaret Floy Washburn | First female to be awarded a PhD in psychology; 2nd president of the APA (1921) |
| functionalism | William James's school of thought that stressed the adaptive and survival value of behaviors |
| G. Stanley Hall | Founded the American Psychological Association (now largest organization of psychologists in the USA) and became first president |
| American Psychological Association (APA) | World's largest association of psychologists with around 152,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students |
| psychology | the scientific study of behavior and mental processes |
| cognitive neuroscience | the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language) |
| nature-nurture issue | the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors |
| biological perspective | the approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain, the nervous system, genetics, and other biological functions |
| evolutionary perspective | the application of principles of evolution, including natural selection, to explain psychological processes and phenomena. |
| psychodynamic perspective | A branch of psychology that studies how internal conflicts and unconscious drives influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders. (Influenced by Sigmund Freud's model of psychoanalysis) |
| behavioral perspective | perspective of psychology that sees psychology as an objective science without reference to mental states; sees behavior as the result of conditioning & reinforcement; dominant perspective from 1920s-1960s (a.k.a. the "learning" perspective) |
| cognitive perspective | A psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior |
| humanistic perspective | The approach that suggests that all individuals naturally strive to grow, develop, and be in control of their lives and behavior; influenced heavily by ideas of Rogers and Maslow |
| social-cultural perspective | approach that emphasizes how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures |
| basic research | pure research that aims to confirm an existing theory or to learn more about a concept or phenomenon |
| applied research | scientific study that aims to solve practical problems |
| psychiatrist | a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders; can prescribe medication |
| clinical psychologist | holds an advanced degree in psychology but is not a medical doctor; specializes in identifying and treating persons with mental illness, but does not prescribe medication |
| natural selection | A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits. |
| John Watson | American psychologist who founded behaviorism, emphasizing the study of observable behavior and rejecting the study of mental processes |
| Charles Darwin | Wrote "The Origin of Species" proposed idea of natural selection as primary means of species diversity. His influence appears in psychology's evolutionary perspective. |
| experimental psychology | the study of behavior and thinking using the experimental method |
| biopsychosocial approach | An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis |
| levels of analysis | the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon |
| psychometrics | the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits; also sometimes called "quantitative psychology" |
| developmental psychology | A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span |
| educational psychology | the study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning |
| personality psychology | the study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and acting |
| social psychology | The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another |
| industrial-organizational psychology | application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces. |
| human factors psychology | A branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use |
| counseling psychology | A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being |
| positive psychology | the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive |
| community psychology | A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups |
| testing effect | enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply reading, information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning. |
| motivation | a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior |
| instinct | a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned |
| drive-reduction theory | the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need |
| homeostasis | tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level |
| incentive | a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior |
| optimum arousal | motivation theory that states that the individual will seek a level of arousal that is comfortable; explains curiosity and play behaviors |
| hierarchy of needs | Maslow's pyramid of human needs; at the base are physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs (belongingness, esteem, self-actualization). |
| Ancel Keys | director of WWII-era semi-starvation study at U of M; the physical and psychological effects of starvation were systematically studied. |
| ghrelin | the "hunger hormone" secreted by the stomach around anticipated mealtimes; accounts for the "empty" feeling when hungry |
| leptin | appetite-suppressing hormone produced by distended fat cells |
| cholecystokinin (CCK) | peptide released by upper intestine that signals satiety; provides the initial signal to stop eating |
| PYY & GLP-1 | two hormones produced by the lower intestine that slow digestion and signal satiety. They are longer acting than CCK. GLP-1 also stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. |
| ventromedial hypothalamus | lower middle area of the hypothalamus that, when stimulated, reduces hunger. Destruction of this area causes overeating & weight gain. |
| lateral hypothalamus | Region of the hypothalamus (the sides of it) that, when activated, produces hunger. Emits the hunger-triggering hormone orexin. Destruction of this area causes animals to lose interest in eating. |
| orexin | hunger-triggering hormone produced by the lateral hypothalamus |
| glucose | form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues; when low, we feel hungry |
| insulin | a hormone produced by the pancreas and released in response to high blood glucose following a meal. Insulin promotes the use and storage of glucose by the body's tissues |
| set point | the point at which an individual's "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight. |
| basal metabolic rate | the body's resting rate of energy expenditure |
| human sexual response cycle | a sequence of four stages that characterizes the sexual response in both men and women: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution; described by Masters & Johnson |
| Alfred Kinsey | regarded by some as the father of the scientific study of human sexuality. Published a series of reports which described common sexual behaviors in the US. |
| William Masters & Virginia Johnson | researchers who described the human sexual response cycle and sought to define and treat sexual disorders based on that model |
| sexual dysfunction | a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning |
| industrial-organizational psychology | application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces; includes subfields of human factors psych, personnel psych, and organizational psych |
| flow | a completely involved, focused state of consciousness with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting in optimal engagement of one's skills |
| personnel psychology | subfield of I/O Psych that focuses on employee recruitment, selection, placement, training, evaluation, etc. |
| organizational psychology | subfield of I/O Psych that examines organizational influences on worker satisfaction and productivity and facilitates organizational change |
| interviewer illusion | phenomenon wherein persons conducting employment interviews overestimate their ability to discern good candidates from poor ones. |
| structured interviews | interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of all applicants, each of whom is rated on established scales |
| achievement motivation | a desire for significant accomplishment; for mastery of things, people or ideas; for attaining a high standard |
| halo errors | obstacle to objective performance evaluation wherein one trait (e.g. friendliness) biases ratings of others (e.g. consistency). |
| recency errors | in personnel evaluations, when supervisors focus only on easily remembered recent behavior |
| leniency or severity errors | when a supervisor tends to be overly easy (leniency) or too harsh (severity) on everyone |
| task leadership | goal-oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work, and focuses attention on goals |
| social leadership | group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support |
| Abraham Maslow | Humanistic psychologist who proposed the hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization as the ultimate psychological need. |
| self-actualization | according to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential |
| strengths-based selection system | identify the most effective people at any role, and compare their strengths with those of a group of the least effective people in that role, then use those findings to shape hiring practices |
| 360-degree feedback | a performance appraisal process in which feedback is obtained from the boss, subordinates, peers and coworkers, and the employees themselves |
| emotion | reactions involving 1.) physiological arousal, 2.) expressive behaviors, and 3.) conscious experience |
| James-Lange Theory | the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli |
| Cannon-Bard Theory | the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion |
| Schachter's Two Factor Theory | the idea that people use two things to identify emotion; physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation; people search the environment for an explanation for reactions & look for external cues to help label emotions |
| valence | a dimension often used to describe and classify emotions that concerns the extent to which an emotion is pleasant or unpleasant (positive or negative) |
| facial feedback | the effect of facial expressions on experienced emotions, as when a facial expression of anger or happiness intensifies feelings of anger or happiness. |
| spillover effect | when arousal from one emotion is transfered into the experience of a different emotion; more happy about getting job after running as opposed to just waking up |
| autonomic nervous system | The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. |
| sympathetic nervous system (SNS) | The component of the autonomic nervous system that responds to stressful situations by initiating the fight-or-flight response. |
| parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) | Division of the autonomic nervous system that slows down body functions, activated when you relax or when SNS stimulated too long. |
| Yerkes-Dodson Law | states that there is an optimal level of arousal for the best performance of any task; the more complex the task, the lower the level of arousal that can be tolerated before performance deteriorates |
| biofeedback | a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension |
| Hans Selye | psychologist who researched a recurring response to stress that he called General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) |
| Type A | Friedman and Rosenman's term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people who were more susceptible to heart attacks |
| Type B | Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people who had lower heart attack risk |
| polygraph | a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion |
| guilty knowledge test | a modified version of the polygraph test, produces more accurate results by asking questions that should be threatening only to someone who knows the facts of a crime that have not been publicized |
| microexpressions | brief (1/25 - 1/15 of a second), involuntary facial expression in response to stimulus; Psychologist Paul Ekman studied these extensively as a potential means of detecting lies |
| Paul Ekman | Psychologist known for his research on microexpressions |
| catharsis | emotional release; the catharsis hypothesis maintains that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges (NOTE: research has NOT uniformly supported this hypothesis) |
| feel-good, do-good phenomenon | people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood |
| subjective well-being | Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life. |
| adaptation-level phenomenon | Our tendency to form judgments relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience. EX - a $500 bonus would be exciting if you never got one before, but unappealing if you usually get a $1000 bonus for the same task. |
| relative deprivation | the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself; also works in reverse (happiness increases if you realize you are better off than some comparison group) |
| Neal Miller | psychologist who studied biofeedback |
| Stanley Schachter | described Two-Factor Theory and conducted supporting research involving participants who received injections of epinephrine and later experienced emotions dependent on provided context cues |
| stress | the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging |
| General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) | Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases: alarm, resistance, exhaustion |
| tend-and-befriend | under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend) |
| psychophysiological illnesses | Literally, "mind-body" illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches. |
| psychoneuroimmunology | the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health |
| T-lymphocytes | white blood cells that form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances |
| B-lymphocytes | white blood cells that form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections |
| refractory period | A resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm |
| grit | Angela Duckworth's concept of "passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals" |
| resistance | 2nd phase of GAS; body remains activated to cope with the stressor/threat |
| alarm reaction | 1st phase of GAS; body called to action when presented with stressor |
| exhaustion | 3rd phase of GAS; if stress continues, body's reserves are depleted and illness or death results |
| positive psychology | the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive |
| Friedman & Rosenman | conducted 9-year study of heart attack risk among males; found personality to predict vulnerability |
| social psychology | the branch of psychology that studies persons and their relationships with others and with groups and with society as a whole |
| attribution theory | the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition; studied by Fritz Heider |
| fundamental attribution error | the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition |
| attitude | a relatively enduring evaluation of a person or thing; doesn't always match one's behavior |
| cognitive dissonance | the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent (self-justification is often the way we reduce dissonance) |
| foot-in-the-door phenomenon | the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request |
| door-in-the-face phenomenon | tendency for people who won't agree to a large task, but then agree when a smaller request is made |
| central route to persuasion | strategy for shifting an audience's opinion/attitude by presenting logical argument and factual information; effective if listeners agree with the strength of the argument |
| peripheral route to persuasion | occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues (other than the argument), such as a speaker's attractiveness, emotional appeals, or colorful images and evocative music |
| conformity | Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard. |
| normative social influence | influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval |
| informational social influence | influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality |
| Solomon Asch | conducted an experiment where participants' estimates of line length were influenced by the presence of others giving incorrect answers |
| Philip Zimbardo | conducted the famous Stanford Prison Experiment; illustrated the powerful impact of role-playing |
| social facilitation | improved performance of tasks in the presence of others; occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered |
| social loafing | the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable |
| deindividuation | the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity |
| group polarization | the enhancement of a group's prevailing attitudes through discussion within the group |
| groupthink | the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives |
| prejudice | an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members |
| stereotype | a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people |
| discrimination | unfair treatment of a person or group on the basis of prejudice |
| ingroup | "Us"—people with whom we share a common identity. |
| ingroup bias | the tendency to favor our own group |
| outgroup | generally, any group that one does not belong to |
| scapegoat theory | the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame |
| just-world phenomenon | the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get |
| blaming the victim | the tendency to blame an innocent victim of the misfortune for having somehow caused the problem or for not having taken steps to avoid or prevent it |
| aggression | any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy |
| frustration-aggression principle | the principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal- creates anger which can generate aggression |
| conflict | a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas |
| social trap | a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior |
| mere exposure effect | the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them |
| passionate love | an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship |
| companionate love | the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined |
| equity | a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it |
| self-disclosure | revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others |
| altruism | unselfish regard for the welfare of others; selflessness |
| bystander effect | the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present |
| social exchange theory | the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs |
| superordinate goals | shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation |
| GRIT | Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction - a strategy designed to decrease international tensions |
| Stanley Milgram | conducted experiments where "teachers" were made to shock "learners" under direction from an authority figure |
| obedience | A form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority |
| feel-good, do-good phenomenon | people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood |
| approach-approach conflict | Conflict that results from having to choose between two attractive alternatives |
| approach-avoidance conflict | conflict occurring when a person must choose or not choose a single option that has both positive and negative aspects |
| avoidance-avoidance conflict | Conflict that results from having to choose between two distasteful alternatives |
| actor-observer effect | the tendency to make situational attributions for our own behaviors while making dispositional attributions for the identical behavior of others |
| self-serving bias | the tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors |
| diffusion of responsibility | reduction in sense of responsibility often felt by individuals in a group; may be responsible for the bystander effect, social loafing, and related phenomena |
| reciprocity norm | an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them |
| social responsibility norm | an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them (especially those who cannot help themselves) |
| self-fulfilling prophecy | an expectation that causes you to act in ways that make that expectation come true. |
| ethnocentrism | the tendency to view one's own group as superior to others and as the standard for judging the worth of foreign ways |
| hostile aggression | aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain or injury |
| instrumental aggression | aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain |
| other race effect | the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races |
| social scripts | culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations |
| implicit bias | unconscious, automatic biases measured by IAT; impacts decision-making and impressions (e.g., of other racial groups) without the person's conscious awareness |
| mirror image perceptions | mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive |
| chameleon effect | Natural (unconscious) tendency to imitate other peoples speech, inflections & physical movements |
| Muzafer Sherif | Conducted an experiment at a camp to study conflict resolution and superordinate goals. |
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lcurty100