ap pysch exam definition Flashcards
B.F. Skinner
Operant Conditioning, Schedules of Reinforcement
Jean Piaget
4 stages of child cognitive development
Sigmund Freud
Father of Psychoanalysis, Pscyhosexual Stages, Dream Analysis
Albert Bandura
Observational Learning, Social Learning Theory
Abraham Maslow
Human Motivation, Hierarchy of Needs, Self Actualization
Ivan Pavlov
Classical Conditioning
Carl Rogers
Humanistic Perspective, Client Centered Therapy
Erik Erikson
Psychosocial Development Stages
William James
Father of American Psychology Functionalism, James-Lange Theory of Emotion
Wilhelm Wundt
Structuralism, Father of Modern Psychology, First Psychology Experiment
Types of Psychology: Evolutionary
Mental processes exist because they serve an evoluntionary purpose, they aid in survival and reproduction
Types of Psychology: Psychodynamic
Empasizes behavior is determined by your past experiences that are left in the unconscious mind and childhood experiences
Types of Psychology: Cognitive
Focuses on internal processes of the mind influencing behavior
Types of Psychology: Biological
The influence of genetics and brain chemistry (physical and biological processes)
Types of Psychology: Sociocultural
Focuses on society and culture in terms of our behavior and shaping cognition
Types of Psychology: Behavioral
Focus on observable behaviors, people/animals are controlled by their enviornment, positive/negative consequences
Types of Psychology: Humanistic
Human capacity for choice and growth, motivation for people to fulfill their potential
Types of Psychology: Biopsychosocial
Eclectic (Combining Approach), Links between genetics and environment
Definitions: Psychology
the science of behavior and mental processes
Pyschology is a science
due to the use of empirical evidence and the scientific method
Psychology’s foundations are
philosophy and physiology
Definitions: Structuralism
an early approach focused on the structure of the mind (Introspection (looking inward) Edward Titchener)
Definitions: Functionalism
focused on the purpose of the mind, developed by William james
Definitions: Nature
based on genetics
Definitions: Nuture
based on environment
Definitions: basic research
builds psychology’s knowledge
Definitions: applied research
application of existing knowledge in the real world
Definitions: operational definition
a way of measuring or quantifying a variable
ex) variable: happiness
Operational definition: the number of smiles a person emits during an observation period of certain time
Definitions: Replication
repeating an experiment with different particiants. This will determine if the results can be generalized to other participants and other situations
Definitions: Case Study
examine one person or group in depth
Definitions: Naturalistic Observation
describes behavior in its most natural state without interference or intervention
Definitions: Survey
self report data, questions influenced by wording
Definitions: Random Sampling
gives every member of a population an equal chance of being selected for the sample (random number)
Definitions: Random Assignment
Randomly (by chance) assigning participants to the control group or the experimental group to help establish cause and effect. It would eliminate or reduce the impact of specific individual differences/confounding variables in a study
Correlation is causation (T/F)
FALSE, correlations predict
No correlation
equals 0, weaker
if closer to 1 then it’ll be stronger
Definitions: Independent Variable
the variable being manipulated
Definitions: Dependent Variable
the outcome/measurement
Definitions: Confounding Variable
a factor other than the factor being studied that might influenced a study’s results
Definitions: Experimental Group
the treatment group
Definitions: Control Group
the comparison group
Definitions: Placebo Effect
seems to be a “real” medical treatmnt, but itsn’t
Definitions: Single Blind Procedure
when participants don’t know if they get the treatment or the placebo
Definitions: Double Blind Procedure
when neither the researcher or partipants know who received the treatment or placebo
Definitions: Descriptive Statistics
describes sets of data
Definitions: Inferential Statistics
draw conclusions about the sets of data
Definitions: Mean
average value (add all together and divide by amount of data)
Definitions: Median
middle value of all the data
Definitions: Mode
the most repeating data
Definitions: Standard Deviation
how scores vary around the mean score
Definitions: Statistical Significance
how likely that a result occurred by chance (p value less than 0.05)
Definitions: American Psychological Association
APA, establishes ethic codes
Definitions: Institutional Review Board
reviews proposals for research, approval is needed for experiment
Definitions: Informed Consent
all subjects given necessary information to decide to participate in study, or not
Definitions: Confidentiality
any data collected in the experiment should remain confidential
Definitions: Debriefing
experimenter tells the subject more information about the study’s purpose and procedures after the study is complete
Lobs of the Brain: Frontal Lobe
executive function, higher level cognition
Lobs of the Brain: Parietal Lobe
sensory information
Lobs of the Brain: Occipital Lobe
Vision
Lobs of the Brain: Temporal Lobe
Sense of hearing/meaningful speech
Structure of Brain: Corpus Callosum
connects two hemispheres
Structure of Brain: Medulla
controls life sustaining functions, breathing, heart rate, blood pressure
Structure of Brain: Cerebellium
controls coordination and voluntary movements
Structure of Brain: Hypothalamus
responsible for releasing hormones (regulates homeostasis of the body)
Structure of Brain: Hippocampus
formation of memories
Structure of Brain: Amygdala
“Fear Center” processing emotions and survival responses
Definition: Neuroplasticity
the brain’s ability to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in brain
Definition: Split Brain
the two hemispheres of the Brain can’t communicate with each side
Definition: Broca’s Area
speech production
Definition: Wernicke’s Area
comprehension of speech
Definition: Motor Cortex
voluntary movement
Definition: Somatosensory Cortex
received and processed sensory information
Definition: Central Nervous System
Brain and the spine
Definition: Peripheral Nervous System
sensory nerves outside Brain/spinal cord
Definition: Somatic Nervous System
voluntary movement from your brain to your muscles
Definition: Autonomic Nervous System
involuntary and unconscious actions (breathing, blood pumping)
Definition: Sympathetic Nervous System
emergency response system “fight or flight or freeze”
Definition: Parasympathetic Nervous System
calm a person “rest and digest”
Neuron: dendrites
received message
Neuron: Soma
keep the neuron functional
Neuron: Myelin Sheath
protect nerve/speed up message
Neuron: Axon
carry messages
Neuron: Axon Terminals
send signals
Definition: Neural Transmission
information travels through a neuron electrochemically
Definition: Action Potential
Firing, neuron sends information
Definition: Resting Potential
neuron is charged and ready to fire
Definition: All or None Principle
neuron fires at full strength or not at all
Definition: Neurotransmitters
chemical messengers
Definition: Excitatory Neurotransmitters
cause neurons to fire
Definition: Inhibitory Neurotransmitters
prevent neurons from firing
Definition: Acetylcholine
movement and memory, excitatory
Definition: Serotonin
mood, inhibitory
Definition: Dopamine
pleasure chemical of the Brain, both excitatory and inhibitory
Definition: Norepinephrine
response to danger “flight or fight” excitatory
Definition: GABA
calms the central Nervous system, inhibitory
Definition: Glutamate
thinking, memory, learning, excitatory
Definition: Endorphins
relieve pain and stress, feelings of pleasure and euphoria, inhibitory
Definition: Afferent Neuron
sensory neuron, sensory input to spinal cord into the brain
Definition: Efferent Neuron
motor neurons, carry signals away from central Nervous system to initiate an action
Definition: Interneuron
middleman between the Afferent and efferent neurons
Definition: Endocrine System
glands that secrete chemical messengers called hormones
Definition: Pituitary Gland
Master Gland, controlled by the hypothalamus
Definition: Identical twins
have the same DNA and fraternal twins have different DNA
Definition: Heritability
extent to which differences in the appearance of a trait across several people can be accounted for by differences in their genes
Sleep Cycle: Circadian Rhythm
24 hour cycle, body’s internal biological clock
Sleep Cycle: Electroencephalography (EEG)
test record electrical activity in the brain
Sleep Cycle: REM Sleep
your dream sleep, it’s called paradoxical sleep because brain waves are very active but muscles are paralyzed
Psychoactive Drugs: Agonist
mimic neurotransmitters
Psychoactive Drugs: Antagonist
block neurotransmitters
Psychoactive Drugs: Depressants
slow the activity of the central Nervous system
Psychoactive Drugs: Alcohol
depresses the area of the brain that controls judgement and inhibition
Definition: Transduction
the process of converting physical energy into electrical signals
Definition: Bottom Up Processing
small details into big picture
Definition: Top Down Processing
big picture into small details
Definition: Absolute Threshold
the point where you notice that a stimulus is present
Definition: Difference Threshold
the point where you can detect the difference between stimuli
Definition: Sensory Adaptation
reduced sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it
Definition: Cocktail Party Effect
ability to focus on a particular sound while partial filtering out other sounds
Definition: Inattentional Blindness
focus on one stimulus will lead to between blind to other stimuli (change Blindness means miss changes)
Definition: Perceptual Set
predisposition to perceive things in a certain way (notice details while ignoring others)
Definition: Rods
responsible for vision at low light levels
Definition: Cones
vision at higher light levels and capable of color vision
Definition: Blind Spot
area in the eye with no receptor cells
Definition: Opponent Process Theory
repeated exposure to stimulus will cause less of an initial reaction and a strongr opposing reaction (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white)
Definition: Binocular Cues
depth perception using two eyes
Definition: Monocular Cues
depth perception using one eye
Definition: Perceptual Organization
ways that humans organize information
Definition: Figure Ground
ability to differentiate an object from its background
Definition: Grouping
tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
Definition: Visual Cliff
laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants
Definition: Shape and Size Constancies
we perceive the form of familiar objects as constant even while our retinas recieve changing images of them
Definition: Sensorineural hearing loss
damage in your inner ear (tiny hair cells)
Definition: Conduction hearing loss
anatomical structure in the ear block the passage of sound
Definition: Cochlea
sound waves traveling through the cochlea fluid trigger nerve impulses
Definition: Gate Control Theory
the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on the brain
Definition: Kinesthesia
our movement sense
Definition: Vestibular Sense
our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance
Definition: Classical Conditioning
association between two stimuli resulting in a learned response
Definition: Acquisition
the process of pairing the uncondition stimulus with the condition stimulus
Definition: Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
something that triggers a naturally occurring response
Definition: Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
neutral stimulus that after being repeatedly presented prior to the Unconditioned stimulus, evokes a similar response as the UCS`
Definition: Unconditioned Response (UR)
naturally occurring response that follows the UCS
Definition: Conditioned Response (CR)
the aquired response to the formerly neural stimulus
Definition: Extinction
Conditioned response decreases or disappears (no longer paired with UCS)
Definition: Spontaneous Recovery
return of previously extinct Conditioned response after rest period
Definition: Stimulus Generalization
Conditioned stimulus may evokes similar responses after the response as been conditioned
Definition: Stimulus Discrimination
the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli
Defintion: Operant Conditioning
learning through rewards and punishment for behavior
Defintion: Reinforcing Stimulus
strengthens or increases the behavior it follows
Defintion: Positive Reinforcement
add something good, behavior increases as a result
Defintion: Negative Reinforcement
remove something bad, behavior increases as result
Defintion: Punishment Stimulus
presentation of an negative consequence that causes a decrease in the behavior
Defintion: Positive Punishment
add something bad, behavior decreaes
Defintion: Negative Punishment
remove something good, behavior decreases
Defintion: Schedules of Reinforcement
timing of how often a desired response will be reinforced
Defintion: Fixed Ratio
response is reinforced only after a specific number of responses
Defintion: Variable Ratio
response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses
Defintion: Fixed Interval
response is rewarded only after a specific amount of time has elapsed
Defintion: Variable Interval
response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed
Defintion: Observational Learning
process of watching other then later imitating the behaviors observed
Defintion: Latent Learning
one can learn something but not show the behavior right away
Defintion: Insight Learning
sudden realization of the problem’s solution that “just came to you” (Kohler)
Defintion: Learned Helplessness
organism becomes helpless after learning they have no ability to change the outcome (Seligman)
Defintion: Prototype
mental image or the best example of a specific concept
Defintion: Convergent Thinking
logic, focused on coming up with the single, well established answer to problem
Defintion: Divergent Thinking
imagination, exploring many possible solutions, creativity
Defintion: Trial and Error
trying a number of different solutions and ruling out those that do not work
Defintion: Algorithms
set of step by step procedures that provides the correct answer to a particular problem
Defintion: Heuristics
educated guess based on prior experiences (mental shortcut)
Defintion: Representative Heuristics
comparing present situation to most representative mental prototype
Defintion: Availability Heuristic
decisions on examples and information that immediately spring to mind
Defintion: Mental Set
people use solutions that have worked in the past
Defintion: Functional Fixedness
view problems only in their usual manner
Defintion: Overconfidence
tendency to overestimate our own knowledge, skill, or judgement
Defintion: Hindsight Bias
I knew it all along view, events as more predictable than they really are
Defintion: Framing
the acquired response to the formerly neutral stimulus
Defintion: Alfred Binet
French psychologist invented first practical IQ test
Defintion: g factor
general intelligence factor that underlies all intelligent activity (Charles spearman)
Defintion: IQ equation
mental Age divided by chronological age times 100
Defintion: Fluid Intelligence
ability to reason think flexibly (dimishes with adult aging)
Defintion: Crystallized Intelligence
accumulation of knowledge, facts/skills that increases with age
Defintion: Howard Gardner
theory of multiple intelligences (8 distinct types)
Defintion: Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WAIS)
intelligence was made up a number of different mental abilities rather than a single general intelligence factor
Defintion: Flynn Effect
IQ scores have been rising worldwide
Defintion: Achievement Tests
designed to measure person’s level of skill/knowledge in a specific area
Defintion: Aptitude Tests
assess what a person is capable of doing or to predict
Defintion: Reliability
consistency, tendency of a test to produce the same scores again and again each time it is given to the same people
Defintion: Test Retest Reliability
best for Intelligence, administering a test twice at two different points in time
Defintion: Split Half Reliability
comparing the results of one half of a test with the results of the other half
Defintion: Validity
the degree in which a test actually measures what it’s supposed to measure
Defintion: Content Validity
test measures all aspects of what it is designed to measure
Defintion: Predictive
test accurately forecasts performance on a future measure
Defintion: Normal Distribution
bell shaped curve in which the majority of scores lie near or around the average score
Defintion: Recall
being able to access the information without being cued (fill in blank test)
Defintion: Recognition
identifying information after experincing it again (mulitple choice test)
Defintion: Relearning
the process by which we learn something for the second time, usually faster than the first
Defintion: Encoding
the process of putting information into the memory system
Defintion: Storage
the creation of a permanent record of the encoded information
Defintion: Retrieval
the calling back of stored information on demand when it is needed
Defintion: Iconic Memory
visual
Defintion: Echoic Memory
auditory
Defintion: Haptic Memory
touch
Defintion: Maintenance Rehearsal
straight repeating of information in order to memorize it
Defintion: Chunking
process of taking individual pieces of information (chunks) and Grouping them into larger units
Defintion: Working Memory
system in your brain that allows you to temporarily retain and manipulate the stored information involved in a complex process
Defintion: Implict “Unconscious” Memory
information that you remember unconsciously and effortlessly
Defintion: Procedural Memories
how to perform a specific task
Defintion: Explicit Concious Memory
information that you have to consciously work to remember
Defintion: Semantic Memory
Facts, memories of concepts, names, and other knowledge
Defintion: Episodic Memory
Events, long term memory that involves the recollection of a specific event, situation, and experiences
Defintion: Prospective Memory
remembering to complete a task in the future
Defintion: Long Term Potentiation (LTP)
strengthening of a synaptic connection that happens when the synapse of one neuron repeatedly fires and excites another neuron (Kandel and Schwartz)
Definition: Forgetting Curve
the exponential loss of information shortly after learning it (Hermann Ebbinghaus)
Definition: Types of Amnesia
full or partial loss of memory
Types of Amnesia: Retrograde Amnesia
cannot remember things that happened before the event that caused their amnesia
Types of Amnesia: Anterograde Amnesia
condition in which a person is unable to create new memories after an amnesia inducing event
Types of Amnesia: Serial Position Effect
when we try to retrieve a long list of words we usually recall the last words and first words best, Forgetting the middle
Types of Amnesia: Encoding Failure
occurs when a memory was never formed in the first place (without effort, many memories never form)
Definition: Proactive (past) Interference
old memories interfere with the Retrieval of newer memories
Definition: Retroactive (recent) interference
newer memories interfere with the Retrieval of older memories
Definition: Flashbulb Memory
vivid and detailed memories that people create during times of personal tragedy, accident, or emotionally significant world events
Definition: Elizabeth Loftus
1944, extensive research on memory construction and false memories and how memory is changeable, it is not always accurate
Definition: Misinformation effect
exposed to misleading information we tend to misremember
Definition: Method of Loci
association of words on a list with visualization of places on a familiar path
Definition: Context Dependent Memory
easier recall of information while in the same context of environment in which it was acquired
Definition: State Dependent Memory
memories that are triggered enhanced by a person’s current mood because of the relationship to memories formed when you were in a similar state
Definition: Longitudinal
study follows the same group of people over time from months to years in order to evaluate changes in individuals
Definition: Cross Sectional
type of study in which people of different ages are examined at the same time
Definition: Cross Sequential
individuals in a cross sectional sample are tested more than once over a specified period of time
Definition: Generativity
contribute to the next generation
Definition: Stagnation
little connection to others
Definition: Ego Integrity
sense of satisfaction while reflecting on life
Definition: Despair
sense of failure
Definition: Teratogen
any non genetic agent that produces birth defects at expsoures that commonly occur
Definition: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
FAS, includes physical, cognitive, and psychological abnormalities that result from consuming alcohol during pregnancy
Definition: Maturation
genetic growth tendencies are Inborn, determined by genetic makeup
Definition: Harry Harlow
psychologist, conducted studies of attachment and the importance of contact comfort
Definition: Secure Attachment
infants explore, display higher stranger anxiety, easy to calm/enthusiastic on return to caregiver
Definition: Avoidant (insecure) Attachment
infants explore, low stranger anxiety, unconcerned by separation and avoid contact at return of caregiver
Definition: Anxious Ambivalent Attachment
unwilling to explore, high stranger anxiety, upset by separation and seek and reject contact on return of the caregiver
Definition: Authoritarian
restrictive parenting style, allows for little discussion or explanation for the firm controls placed on the child
Definition: Permissive Parenting
style that is characterized by having few and inconsistent rules and a relaxed attitude to parenting (more like friend than parent)
Definition: Authoritative Parenting
style that is child centered, in that parents closely interact with their child, while maintaining high expectations for behavior and performance, as well as firm adherence to schedules and discipline
Definition: Assimilation
interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Definition: Accommodation
adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
Definition: Sensorimotor Stage
birth to 2, infants use senses and motor abilities to learn about the world
Definition: Object Permanence
a child’s ability to understand that objects still exist after they are no longer in sight
Definition: Preoperational Stage
the stage during which a child learns to use a language (2 to 7)
Definition: Babbling Stage
beginning at 4 months, vocalizes various sounds
Definition: One Word Stage
Ages one and two, child speaks mostly in single words
Definition: Egocentrism
inability on the part of a child in the Preoperational stage of development to see any point of view other than their own
Definition: Conservation
the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remains the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Definition: Concrete Opeerational Stage
(6 to 11) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
Definition: Formal Operational Stage
(12 years) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
Definition: Lev Vygotsky
developed a theory of how the child’s mind grows through interaction with the social environment
Definition: Zone of Proximal Development
ZPD, range between the level at which a child can solve a problem working along with difficulty, and the level at which a child can solve a problem with the assistance of adults or more skilled children
Definition: Scaffolding
process in which a more skilled learned, gives help to a less skilled learner, reducing the amount of help as the less skilled learner becomes more capable
Definition: Gender Identity
the individual’s sense psychological of being male or female, both, or neither from cultural and social expectations
Definition: Gender Roles
set of expectations held by society about the ways in which men and women are supposed to behave based on their gender
Definition: Synaptic Pruning
selective removal of unnecessary neurons and connections to improve brain efficiency (during puberty)
Definition: Adolescent Egocentrism
heightened self consciousness belief that others are as interested in them as they are themselves, their sense of personal uniqueness and invulnerability
Definition: Instinct Theory
the evolutionary perspective, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because they are evolutionarily/genetically programmed to do so with survival instincts
Definition: Incentive Theory
we are pulled into action by (positive or negative) outside incentives
Definition: Yerkes Dodson Law
increased arousal can help improve performance, but only up to a certain point. At the point when arousal becomes excessive, performance diminishes
Definition: Maslow’s Heriarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow suggested that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs
Definition: Self efficacy
a person’s belief in their ability to succeed in a particular situation
Definition: Hypothalamus
most of the biological feeling of hunger comes from this brain structure
Definition: Lateral hypothalamus
hungry, the on button for eating. If stimulated causes you to feel hunger
Definition: Ventromedial hypothalamus
full, the off button for eating. When stimulated, makes you feel full
Definition: Intrinsic Motivation
behavior that is drived by internal rewards (autonomy, mastery, purpose)
Definition: Extrinsic Motivation
behavior that is driven by external rewards such as money, fame, grades, and praise
Definition: Over justification Effect
phenomenon in which being rewarded for doing something actually diminishes intrinsic motivation to perform that action
Definition: Approach Approach Conflict
conflict within a person where he or she needs to decide between two appealing goals
Definition: Avoidance Avoidance Conflict
making a decision between two equally undesirable choices
Definition: Approach Avoidance Conflict
conflict involves making decisions about situations that have both positive and negative consequences
Definition: Sexual Response Cycle
William masters and virginia Johnson, 1966, stages humans go through during interaction
Definition: Display Rule
a social group or culture’s informal norms about how to appropriately express emotions
Definition: Common Sense Theory
theory in which a stimulus leads to an emotion, which then leads to bodily arousal through the Autonomic Nervous system
Definition: James Lange Theory
emotions occur as a result of physiological reactions to events
Definition: Facial Feedback Hypothesis
facial expressions are connected to experiencing emotions
Definition: Cannon Bard Theory of Emotions
suggests that the physical and psychological experience of emotion happen at the same time and that one does not cause the other
Definition: Schachter Singer Two Factor Theory
the physiological arousal occurs first, and then the individual must identify the reason for this arousal to experience and label it as an emotion
Definition: Distress
occurs when people experiences unpleasant and undesirable stressors
Definition: General Adaptation Syndrome
researched by Hans selye, the three stages of the bodies psychological reaction to stress
Definition: Locus of Control
refers to the extent to which people feel that they have control over the events that influence their lives
Definition: Internal Locus of Control
you believe that you have control over what happens
Definition: External Locus of Control
blame outside forces for their circumstances
Definition: Psychoanalytic Theories
sigmund freud developed theory of personality development
Definition: Id
part of the human personality that is made up of all our inborn biological urges that seeks out immediate gratification (pleasure principle)
Definition: Ego
the largely conscious, executive, part of personality that, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality (reality principle)
Definition: Superego
the part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations (morality principle)
Definition: Defense Mechanisms
freud proposed that the ego protects itself with tactics that reduce or redirect anxiety by disorting reality
Defense Mechanisms: Repression
Acts to keep information out of conscious awareness
Defense Mechanisms: Displacement
involved taking out our frustrations, feelings, and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening
Defense Mechanisms: Projection
involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people
Defense Mechanisms: Regression
when confronted by stressful events, people sometimes abandon coping strategies and revert to patterns of behavior used earlier in development
Defense Mechanisms: Denial
functions to protect the ego from things with which the individual cannot cope
Defense Mechanisms: Rationalization
involves explaining an unacceptable behavior or feeling in a rational or logical manner, avoiding the true reasons for the behavior
Defense Mechanisms: Reaction-Formation
reduces anxiety by taking up the opposite feeling, impulse, or behavior
Definition: Carl Jung
thought all people shared a collective unconscious. Common collection of images that we have gained together as human beings from our ancestral and evolutionary past
Definition: Alfred Adler
people compensate for inferiority complexes based on inadequacies
Definition: Karen Horney
feminist perspective to psychoanalytic theory
Definition: Thematic Apperception Test
projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambigous scenes
Definition: Rorschach Inkblot Test
hermann rorschach, the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, during the test participants are shown the inkblots and asked what each one looks like
Definition: Reciprocal Determinism
albert bandura proposed that the person, enviornment, and behavior interact to determine patterns of behavior and thus personality
Definition: Raymond Cattel’s 16 Traits
16 traits are the source of all human personality
Definition: Factor analysis
he identified closely related terms and eventually reduced his list to just 16 key personality traits
Definition: the Big Five Personality Factors
model of personality traits, many researchers believe that they are five core personality traits
Big Five Personality Factors: Openness
to experience, tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values, feelings, and behaviors
Big Five Personality Factors: conscientiousness
tendency to be careful, on time for appointments, to follow rules, and to be hardworking
Big Five Personality Factors: Extraversion
tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy others
Big Five Personality Factors: Agreeableness
tendency to agree and go along with others rather than to assert one’s own opinions and choices
Big Five Personality Factors: Neuroticism
tendency to frequently experience negative emotions
Definition: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2
(MMPI-2) the most widely used and researched clinical assessment tool used by mental health professionals to help diagnose mental health disorders
Definition: Myers Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) self report inventory designed to identify a person’s personality type, strengths, and preferences (not always reliable and valid)
Definition: Conformity
the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms
Definition: Normative Influence “Social Norm”
influence that produces Conformity when a person fears the negative social consequences of appearing deviant
Definition: Stanley Milgram
1963, measured the willingness to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscious
Definition: Social Facilitation
a process whereby the presence of others enhances performance on easy tasks but impairs performance on difficult tasks
Definition: Social Inhibition
performance is poorer when watched by others
Definition: Social Loading
tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group
Definition: Deindividuation
the loss of a person’s sense of individuality and the reduction of normal constraints against deviant behavior
Definition: Group Polarization
the exaggeration of initial tendencies in the thinking of group members through group dicussions
Definition: Groupthink
a group decision making style characterized by an excessive tendency among group members to seek concurrence
Definition: Prejudice
prejudgements, unjustified negative attitude about a group of people based on their membership in the group
Definition: Discrimination
unjustified negative behavior towards members of a target group (individual level) based on their race, ethnicity, or other shared characteristics
Definition: Stereotype Threat
a situation in which people feel at risk of performing as their group is expected to perform
Definition: In Groups
groups that we Identity with us or see ourselves as belonging into
Definition: Out Groups
social groups with whom a person does not identify, them
Definition: The Frustration Aggression Principle
the idea that people become aggressive when they’re frustrated by being blocked from reaching a goal
Definition: Bystander Effect
phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress (diffusion of responsibility)
Definition: Altruism
the unselfish concern for other people, doing things simply out of a desire to help, not because you feel obligated to
Definition: Social Exchange Theory
argues that Altruism only exists when the benefits out weight the costs (when your behavior helps you even more than it helps the other person)
Definition: Reciprocity
social expectations in which we feel pressured to help others if they have already done something for us
Definition: Social Responsibilty Norms
societal rule that tells people they should help others who need help even if they may not repay us
Definition: Social Dilemma
a situation in which a self interested choice by everyone will create the worst outcome for everyone
Definition: Familiarity “mere exposure effect”
liking someone occurs because of repeatedly seeing that person or thing
Definition: Proximity
the closer together people are physically, the more likely they are to form a relationship/friendship
Definition: Fundamental Attribution Error
our tendency to underestimate the impact of situational factors and overestimate the impact of dispotional (personal) factors when assessing why other people acted the way they did
Definition: Self Serving Bias
tendency to blame external forces when bad things happen and to give ourselves credit when good things happen
Definition: Actor Observer Bias
tendency to attribute one’s own actions to external causes while attributing other people’s behaviors to internal causes
Definition: False Consensus Effect
tendency to overestimate how much other people agree with us
Definition: Just World Phenomenon
tendency to believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve
Definition: Self Fulfilling Prophecy
prediction that causes itself to come true due to the simple fact that the predicition was made
Definition: Central Route of Persuasion
the process by which a person thinks carefully about a communication and is influenced by the strength of its agruments
Definition: Peripheral Route of Persuasion
the process by which a person does not think carefully about a communication and is influenced instead by superficial cues
Definition: Foot in the Door Phenomenon
tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
Definition: Door in the Face Technique
asking for a large commitment and being refused and then asking for a smaller commitment and getting agreement
Definition: Cognitive Dissonance
Leon festinger 1957, sense of discomfort or distress that occurs when a person’s behavior does not correspond to that person’s attitudes
Definition: Psychologist
can’t prescribe meds, supports people through psychotherapy
Definition: Psychiatrist
can prescribe meds, identify disorders/diagnose, generally works inside hospitals
Definition: Abnormal Behavior Defined as
Deviant, Distressing, Dysfunctional, Dangerous
Definition: Deinstitutionalization
when better psychotropic drugs were created this movement began to remove patients who were not considered a threat to themselves or the community from mental hospitals
Anxiety Disorders: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
GAD, experience excessive anxiety under most circumstances and worry about practically anything
Anxiety Disorders: Panic Disorder
anxiety disorder marked by recurrent and unpredictable panic attacks
Anxiety Disorders: Specific Phobia
intense irrational fear responses to specific stimuli
Anxiety Disorders: Agoraphobia
afraid to be in public situations from which escape might be difficult or help unavailable if panic like or emabarrassing symptoms were to occur
Anxiety Disorders: Obesessive Compulsive Disorder
OCD, compound disorder of thought and behavior
Anxiety Disorders: Obsessions
are persistent, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts that an individual cannot get out of his mind
Anxiety Disorders: Compulsions
are ritualistic behaviors performed repeatedly
Anxiety Disorders: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD, results of some trauma experienced by the victim. Victims re experience the traumatic event in nightmares about the event, or flashbacks in which they relieve the event
Mood Disorders: Bipolar Disorder
mood swings alternating between periods of major depression and mania
Mood Disorders: Major Depressive Disorder
involves intense depressed mood, reduced interest or pleasure in activities, loss of energy, and problems in making decisions for minimum of 2 weeks
Personality Disorders: Paranoid Personality Disorder “Accusatory”
pattern of distrust and suspiciousness about other people’s motives, individual thinks that others are out to threaten, betray, exploit, or harm
Personality Disorders: Schizoid Personality Disorder “Aloof”
characterized by persistent Avoidance of social relationships and little expression of emotion
Personality Disorders: Schizotypal Personality Disorder “Awkward”
characterized by extreme discomfort in close relationships, very odd patterns of thinking and perceiving and behavioral eccentricities
Personality Disorders: Antisocial Personality Disorder
APD, characterized by a general pattern of disregard for and violation of other people’s rights (closely linked to criminal behavior)
Personality Disorders: Borderline Personality Disorder
characterized by repeated instability in interpersonal relationships, self image, and mood and by impulsive behavior
Personality Disorders: Histrionic Personality Disorder
characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality (dramatic) and attention seeking
Personality Disorders: Narcissistic Personality Disorder
characterized by a broad pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy
Personality Disorders: Avoidant Personality Disorder
characterized by consistent discomfort and restraint in social situations, overwhelming feelings of inadequacy, and extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation/potential rejection, humanilitation
Personality Disorders: Dependent Personality Disorder
characterized by a pattern of clinging and obedience, fear of separation, and an ongoing need to be taken care of
Personality Disorders: Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder
characterized by an intense focus on orderliness, perfectionism, and control that the person loses flexibility, Openness, and efficiency
Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ADHD, disorder marked by the inability to focus attention, or overactive and impulsive behavior or both
Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorder
ASD, disorder marked by extreme unresponsiveness to others, severe communication deficits, and highly repetitive and rigid behaviors, interests, and activities
Neurocognitive Disorders: Alzheimer’s Disease
fatal degenerative disease in which brain neurons progressively die, characterized by loss of memory, reasoning, emotion, and control of bodily functions
Eating and Feeding Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa
life threatening eating disorder that involves intense fear of weight gain or becoming overweight, distorted perception of one’s weight/body shape, persistent restriction of caloric intake
Eating and Feeding Disorders: Body dysmorphia
increasing cognitive misperception of being overweight despite evidence to the contrary
Eating and Feeding Disorders: Bulimia Nervosa
recurrent binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors for the intake of food, such as purging
Eating and Feeding Disorders: Binge Eating Disorder
uncontrollably eating a large amount of food in a short period of time, after a bingeing episode a person will not purge and will feel an extreme sense of guilt
Somatic Disorders: Somatic Symptom Disorder
SDD, characterized by physical symptoms including pain, and high anxiety in these individuals about having a disease
Somatic Disorders: less Anxiety Disorder
IAD, characterized by a preoccupation with a serious medical or health condition with either no or mild physical (Somatic) symptoms such as nausea or dizziness that has persisted for 6 months
Somatic Disorders: Conversion Disorder
characterized by loss of some bodily function without physcial damage to the affected organs or their neural connection
Dissociative Disorders: Dissociative Amnesia
loss of memory for a traumatic event or period of time that is too painful for an individual to remember
Dissociative Disorders: Dissociative Identity Disorder
DID, rare mental disorder characterized by at least two distinct and relatively enduring identities or dissociated personality states that recurrently control a person’s behavior
Dissociative Disorders: Schizophrenia
psychotic disorder in which personal, social, and occupational functioning deteriorate as a result of unusual perceptions, odd thoughts, disturbed emotions, and motor abnormalities
Dissociative Disorders: Dopamine Hypothesis
high fluctuation of levels of dopamine can be responsible for schizophrenic symptoms
Exposure Treatment: Flooding
exposing people to fear invoking objects or situations intensely and rapidly
Exposure Treatment: Systematic Desensitization
developed by Joseph Wolpe, a client makes a list of fears and then learns to relax while concentrating on these fears
Exposure Treatment: Aversion Therapy
pairing an undesirable behavior with an aversive stimulus in the hope that the unwanted behavior will eventually be reduced
Exposure Treatment: Token Economy
behavioral strategy relies on reinforcement to modify behavior. Clients are allowed to earn tokens that can be exchanged for special privileges or desired items
Definition: Biofeedback
mind body technique that involves using visual or auditory feedback to gain control over involuntary bodily functions
Definition: Cognitive Behavioral Therapists
human emotions and behavior are predominantly generated by ideas, beliefs, attitudes, and thinking
Definition: Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
REBT, developed in 1950s by Albert Ellis, psychological problems arise when thoughts are irrational and lead to behavioral consequences that are distressful
Definition: Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy
researched by Aaron Beck, based on the idea that how we think (cognition), how we feel (emotion), and how we act (behavior) all interact together
Definition: Psychoanalysis
the primary focus of psychodynamic therapy is to uncover the unconscious content of a client’s psyche in order to alleviate psychic tension
Definition: Free Association
the client spontaneously reports thoughts, feelings, and mental images that come to mind (no censorships)
Definition: Resistance “Mental Blocks”
the patient’s conscious or unconscious attempt to block disturbing memories, motives, and experiences (sensitive material)
Definition: Transference
the process by which a patient projects or transfers unresolved conflicts and feelings onto the therapist
Definition: Unconditional Positive
regard, allow client to steer the direction of the therapy, clients have value
Definition: Active listening
therapist listens to client, paraphrasing what the client says, prevents advice or judgements
Biomedical Therapy: Anti depressant Drugs
elevate mood by affecting neurotransmitters such as serotonin that are linked to depression
Biomedical Therapy: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor
SSRI, blocks the Reuptake of serotonin
Biomedical Therapy: Electroconvulsive Therapy
ECT, a biological treatment in which a brain seizure is triggered as an electric current passes through electrodes attached to the patient’s forehead
Definition: Operational Definition
how we (the researcher) decides to measure the variables in our study, helps to replicate the study
Definition: Milgram Experiment
conducted by Stanley Milgram. found a big majority of participants were willing to obey an authority figure even if they were instructed to do something they believed was morally wrong
Definition: Little Albert Experiment
conducted by John B Watson, demonstrated the generalization of learning experiences in children. first study to show fear responses could be learned and generalized to similar objects
Definition: Stanford Prison Experiment
conducted by Phlip Zimbardo, controversial, investigated the psychological effects of being a prisoner of prison guard
Definition: Bobo Doll Experiment
conducted by Albert Bandura, developed social learning theory where behaviors are learned socially by observing and imitating others, children would replicate aggressive behavior seen by adults
Definition: Asch Conformity Study
conducted by Solomon Asch, investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform
Definition: Pavlov’s Dog Experiment
conducted by Ivan Pavlov, conditioned dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a bell, then showing food with the bell. Giving the dog to salivate every time it hears a bell
Definition: Surrogate Mother Experiment
conducted by Harry Harlow, showed importance of contact comfort, baby monkeys were separated from their mothers and given a wired and clothed surrogate, they would cling to the cloth even if food was with the wired one
Definition: Skinner Box
conducted by BF Skinner, showed how behavior can be reinforced to be repeated or weakened to be extinguished. Used schedules of reinforcement to see how fast animals would respond to learning when placed in a box
Definition: The Misinformation Effect
conducted by Elizabeth Loftus, participants were shown video footage of a traffic accident, then asked questions. changed the wording in question, lead to how they recall different information when given a suggestion to do so
