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Final 26
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Naturalistic Observation | Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. |
| Replication | Repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances. |
| Population | All those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn. |
| Representative Sample | A sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole. |
| Correlational Research | Research that measures the relationship between two or more variables. |
| Experimentation | A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process. |
| Independent Variable | The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. |
| Dependent Variable | The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. |
| Double-Blind | An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the participants have received the treatment or a placebo. |
| Standardization Sample | A representative group of people who take a test to establish the norms for that test. |
| Informed Consent | Giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate. |
| Operational Definition | A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study. |
| Confederate | A person who is given a role to play in a study so that the social context can be manipulated. |
| Case Study | A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth. |
| Survey | A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group. |
| Hindsight Bias | The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. |
| Mean | The arithmetic average of a distribution. |
| Standard Deviation | A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score. |
| Endocrine System | The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. |
| Hypothalamus | A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature) and helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. |
| Pituitary Gland | The endocrine system's most influential gland; under the influence of the hypothalamus, it regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. |
| 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. |
| Hippocampus | A neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage. |
| Medulla | The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing. |
| Corpus Callosum | The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them. |
| Circadian Rhythms | The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle. |
| Neuroplasticity | The brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience. |
| Amygdala | Two lima-bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion, specifically fear and aggression. |
| Frontal Lobes | The portion of the cerebral cortex involved in speaking, muscle movements, and making plans/judgments. |
| Myelin Sheath | A fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed. |
| Action Potential | A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. |
| Reuptake | A neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron. |
| Absolute Threshold | The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. |
| Difference Threshold (JND) | The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. |
| Sensory Adaptation | Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. |
| Selective Attention | The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. |
| Retina | The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones. |
| Classical Conditioning | A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events. |
| Discrimination | In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. |
| Extinction | The diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus. |
| Spontaneous Recovery | The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response. |
| Observational Learning | Learning by observing others. |
| Latent Learning | Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it. |
| Positive Reinforcement | Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. |
| Shaping | An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior. |
| Negative Reinforcement | Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli. |
| Positive Punishment | Decreasing behavior by presenting an aversive stimulus after a response. |
| Fixed-Ratio Schedule | In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses. |
| Variable-Interval Schedule | A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals. |
| Algorithm | A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. |
| Heuristic | A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently. |
| Syntax | The rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language. |
| Morphemes | In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning. |
| State-Dependent Memory | The phenomenon through which memory retrieval is most efficient when an individual is in the same state of consciousness as they were when the memory was formed. |
| Episodic Memory | Memory of everyday events such as times, location geography, and associated emotions. |
| Forgetting Curve | (Ebbinghaus) The course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time. |
| Functional Fixedness | The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions. |
| Confirmation Bias | A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence. |
| Savant Syndrome | A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill. |
| Normal Curve | A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data. |
| Encoding Failure | Failure to process information into memory. |
| Retroactive Interference | The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information. |
| Misinformation Effect | Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event. |
| Priming | The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response. |
| Incubation | A stage in the creative process when a person stops consciously thinking about a problem and allows the subconscious to work. |
| Proactive Interference | The forward-acting disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. |
| Implicit Memory | Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection. |
| Explicit Memory | Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare." |
| Availability Heuristic | Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory. |
| Phoneme | In language, the smallest distinctive sound unit. |
| Fluid Intelligence | Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood. |
| Crystallized Intelligence | Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age. |
| Longitudinal Study | Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period. |
| Cross-Sectional Study | A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another. |
| Intimacy versus Isolation | (Erikson) Psychosocial stage where young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain the capacity for intimate love. |
| Fine Motor Skills | Coordination of small muscles, in movements—usually involving the synchronization of hands and fingers. |
| Gross Motor Skills | Physical abilities involving large body movements, such as walking and jumping. |
| Social Clock | The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. |
| Secondary Sex Characteristics | Nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair. |
| Generativity versus Stagnation | Erikson’s stage for middle adulthood where people discover a sense of contributing to the world. |
| Identity versus Role Confusion | Erikson's stage for adolescence where teenagers work at refining a sense of self. |
| Authoritative Parenting | A parenting style that is both demanding and responsive. |
| Object Permanence | The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived. |
| Egocentrism | In Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view. |
| External Locus of Control | The perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate. |
| Internal Locus of Control | The perception that you control your own fate. |
| Approach-Approach Conflict | Conflict occurring when a person must choose between two desirable goals. |
| Approach-Avoidance Conflict | Conflict occurring when a person must choose or not choose a goal that has both positive and negative aspects. |
| Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict | Conflict occurring when a person must choose between two undesirable goals. |
| Sensation Seeking | The tendency to pursue sensory pleasure and excitement. |
| 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 physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion. |
| Two-Factor Theory (Schachter-Singer) | To experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal. |
| Self-Actualization | According to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met. |
| Big Five Traits | The five broad domains of personality (Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness, Extraversion). |
| Panic Attack | A sudden episode of intense fear that triggers severe physical reactions when there is no real danger. |
| Phobia | An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation. |
| Systematic Desensitization | A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. |
| PTSD | A disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, and social withdrawal lingering for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience. |
| Bipolar Disorder | A disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness of depression and the overexcited state of mania. |
| Major Depressive Disorder | A mood disorder in which a person experiences significantly depressed moods and feelings of worthlessness for two or more weeks. |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder | An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal. |
| Cognitive Therapist | A therapist who focuses on changing "illogical" or maladaptive ways of thinking. |
| Schizophrenia | A psychological disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech. |
| Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) | A disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts and/or actions. |
| Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) | A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. |
| Transference | In psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships. |
| Foot-in-the-Door | The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request. |
| Door-in-the-Face | A strategy for gaining a concession by first making a request so large that it is likely to be turned down, then following it with a smaller request. |
| In-group Bias | The tendency to favor our own group. |
| Social-Responsibility Norm | An expectation that people will help those needing their help. |
| Bystander Effect | The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present. |
| Central Route Persuasion | Persuasion that occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts. |
| Peripheral Route Persuasion | Persuasion that occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness. |
| Cognitive Dissonance | The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent. |
| Social Facilitation | Improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others. |
| Groupthink | The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. |
| Mere Exposure Effect | The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them. |
| Deindividuation | The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity. |
| Fundamental Attribution Error | The tendency for observers, when analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition. |
| Altruism | Unselfish regard for the welfare of others. |
| Self-Serving Bias | A readiness to perceive oneself favorably. |
Created by:
lcurty100