Behavioral Sciences Flashcards
Absolute poverty
Poverty wherein people do not have enough resources to acquire basic life necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, and water.
Ageism
Prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person’s age.
Amygdala
A portion of the limbic system that is important for memory and emotion, especially fear.
Absolute threshold
The minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate a sensory system.
Aggression
A behavior with the intention to cause harm or increase relative social dominance; can be physical or verbal.
Anomie
A state of normlessness; anomic conditions erode social solidarity by means of excessive individualism, social inequality, and isolation.
Accommodation
Process by which existing schemata are modified to encompass new information.
Alcohol myopia
The inability to think about consequences and possible outcomes of one’s actions due to alcohol intoxication.
Anxiety disorders
Disorders that involve worry, unease, fear, and apprehension about future uncertainties based on real or imagined events that can impair physical and psychological health.
Acetylcholine
A neurotransmitter associated with voluntary muscle control.
Alertness
State of consciousness in which one is aware, able to think, and able to respond to the environment; nearly synonymous with arousal.
Appraisal model
A similar theory to the basic model, accepting that there are biologically predetermined expressions once an emotion is experienced; accepts that there is a cognitive antecedent to emotional expression.
Achieved status
A status gained as a result of direct, individual action.
Aligning actions
An impression management strategy in which one makes questionable behavior acceptable through excuses.
Acquisition
In classical conditioning, the process of taking advantage of reflexive responses to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus.
Alter-casting
An impression management strategy in which one imposes an identity onto another person.
Archetype
In Jungian psychoanalysis, a thought or image that has an emotional element and is a part of the collective unconsciousness.
Adaptation
In perception, a decrease in stimulus perception after a long duration of exposure; in learning, the process by which new information is processed; consists of assimilation and accommodation.
Altruism
A form of helping behavior in which the person’s intent is to benefit someone else at a cost to him or herself.
Arcuate fasciculus
A bundle of axons that connects Wernicke’s area (language comprehension) with Broca’s area (motor function of speech).
Adaptive value
The extent to which a trait benefits a species by influencing the evolutionary fitness of the species.
Amphetamine
A central nervous system stimulant that increases activity of both dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain.
Arousal
A psychological and physiological state of being awake or reactive to stimuli; nearly synonymous with alertness.
Arousal theory
A theory of motivation that states there is a particular level of arousal required in order to perform actions optimally; summarized by the Yerkes-Dodson law.
Authentic self
Who someone actually is, including both positive and negative attributes.
Basal ganglia
A portion of the forebrain that coordinates muscle movement and routes information from the cortex to the brain and spinal cord.
Ascribed status
A status that one is given at birth, such as race, ethnicity, or sex.
Automatic processing
The brain process most closely resembling autopilot, enabling performance of multiple activities at the same time.
Assimilation
In psychology, the process by which new information is interpreted in terms of existing schemata; in sociology, the process by which the behavior and culture of a group or an individual begins to merge with that of another group.
Autonomic nervous system
The involuntary branch of the peripheral nervous system that controls involuntary functions such as heart rate, bronchial dilation, temperature, and digestion.
Basic model
First established by Charles Darwin, a theory that states that emotional expression involves a number of systems: facial expression as well as behavioral and physical responses; claims that emotions are universal and should be similar across cultures.
Associative learning
The process by which a connection is made between two stimuli or stimulus and a response; examples include classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
Autonomy
The ethical tenet that the physician has the responsibility to respect patients’ choices about their own healthcare.
Belief
An acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.
Availability heuristic
A shortcut in decision-making that relies on the information that is most readily available, rather than the total body of information on a subject.
Beneficence
The ethical tenet that the physician has a responsibility to act in the patient’s best interest.
Benzodiazepine
A central nervous system depressant that is often used to reduce anxiety or promote sleep.
Attitude
A tendency toward expression of positive or negative feelings or evaluations of a person, place, thing, or situation.
Avoidance learning
A form of negative reinforcement in which one avoids the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen.
Biomedical approach
An approach to psychological disorders that considers only pathophysiological causes and offers pharmaceutical and medical solutions for symptom alleviation.
Attribute substitution
A phenomenon observed when individuals must make judgments that are complex but instead substitute a simpler solution or perception.
Back stage
In the dramaturgical approach, the setting where players are free from their role requirements and not in front of the audience; back stage behaviors may not be deemed appropriate or acceptable and are thus kept invisible from the audience.
Biopsychosocial approach
An approach to psychological disorders that considers conditions and treatments to be dependent on biological, psychological, and social causes.
Attribute theory
A theory that focuses on the tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people’s behavior.
Barbiturate
A drug that acts as a central nervous system depressant; often used for anxiety, insomnia, and as an antiseizure medication.
Birth rate
The number of births per population in a period of time; usually the number of births per 1000 people per year.
bisexual
A sexual orientation wherein individuals are attracted to members of both sexes.
Catatonia
Disorganized motor behavior characterized by various unusual physical movements or stillness.
Brainstem
The most primitive portion of the brain, which includes the midbrain and hindbrain; controls the autonomic nervous system and communication between the spinal cord, cranial nerves, and brain.
Central nervous system (CNS)
The portion of the nervous system composed of the brain and spinal cord.
Cognitive dissonance
The simultaneous presence of two opposing thoughts or opinions.
Broca’s aphasia
Loss of the motor function of speech, resulting in intact understanding with an inability to correctly produce spoken language.
Cerebral Cortex
The outermost layer of the cerebrum, responsible for complex perceptual, behavioral, and cognitive processes.
Collective unconscious
In Jungian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious mind that is shared among all humans and is a result of our common ancestry.
Broca’s area
A brain region located in the inferior frontal gyrus of the frontal lobe (usually in the left hemisphere); largely responsible for the motor function of speech.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
An aqueous solution in which the brain and spinal cord rest; produced by cells lining the ventricles of the brain.
Colliculi
Two structures in the midbrain involved in sensorimotor reflexes; the superior colliculus receives visual sensory input, and the inferior colliculus receives auditory sensory input.
Bureaucracy
A formal organization with the goal of performing complex tasks as efficiently as possible by dividing work among a number of bureaus.
Cerebrum
A portion of the brain that contains the cerebral cortex, limbic system, and basal ganglia.
Compliance
A change of behavior of an individual at the request of another.
Bystander effect
The observation that, when in a group, individuals are less likely to respond to a person in need.
Characteristic institution
The social structure or institution about which societies are organized.
Conduction aphasia
A speech disorder characterized by the inability to repeat words with intact spontaneous speech production and comprehension; usually due to injury to the arcuate fasciculus.
Cannon-Bard theory
A theory of emotion that states that a stimulus is first received and is then simultaneously processed physiologically and cognitively, allowing for the conscious emotion to be experienced.
Circadian rhythm
The alignment of physiological processes with the 24-hour day, including sleep-wake cycles and some elements of the endocrine system.
Confirmation bias
A cognitive bias in which one focuses on information that supports a given solution, belief, or hypothesis, and ignores evidence against it.
Circular reaction
A repetitive action that achieves a desired response; seen during Piaget’s sensorimotor stage.
Cataplexy
Loss of muscle control with intrusion of REM sleep during waking hours, usually cause by an emotional trigger.
Classical conditioning
A form of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditional stimulus such that the neutral stimulus alone produces the same response as the unconditioned stimulus; the neutral stimulus thus becomes a conditioned stimulus.
Conflict theory
A theoretical framework that emphasizes the role of power differentials in producing social order.
Conformity
The changing of beliefs or behaviors in order to fit into a group or society.
Crystallized intelligence
Cognitive capacity to understand relationships or solve problems using information acquired during schooling and other experiences.
Demographic transition
The transition from high birth and mortality rates to lower birth and mortality rates, seen as a country develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economic system.
Consciousness
Awareness of oneself; can be used to describe varying levels of awareness that occur with wakefulness, sleep, dreaming, and drug-induced states.
Cultural relativism
The theory that social groups and cultures must be studied on their own terms to be understood.
Demographics
The statistical arm of sociology, which attempts to characterize and explain populations by quantitative analysis.
Conservation
Concept seen in quantitative analysis performed by a child; develops when a child is able to identify the difference between quantity by number and actual amount, especially when faced with identical quantities separated into varying pieces.
Cultural sensitivity
Recognizing and respecting the differences between cultures.
Depressant
Any substance that reduces nervous system function.
Context effect
A retrieval cue by which memory is aided when a person is in the location where encoding took place.
Cultural syndrome
A shared set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, values, and behaviors organized around a central theme and found among people who speak the same language and share a geographic region.
Depressive episode
A period of at least two weeks in which there is a prominent and persistent depressed mood or lack of interest and at least four other depressive symptoms.
Deviance
The violation of norms, rules, or expectations within a society.
Contralateral
On the opposite side of the body, relative to something else (usually a side of the brain).
Deductive reasoning
A form of cognition that starts with general information and narrows down that information to create a conclusion.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM)
The guide by which most psychological disorders are characterized, described, and diagnosed; currently in its fifth edition (DSM-5, published May 2013).
Controlled (conscious) processing
Processing method used when a task requires complete attention.
Defense mechanism
In Freudian psychoanalysis, a technique used by the ego that denies, falsifies, or distorts reality in order to resolve anxiety caused by undesirable urges of the id and superego.
Diencephalon
A portion of the prosencephalon that becomes the thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior pituitary gland, and pineal gland.
Correspondent inference theory
A theory that states that people pay closer attention to international behavior than accidental behavior when making attributions, especially if the behavior is unexpected.
Deindividuation
The idea that people will lose a sense of self-awareness and can act dramatically differently based on the influence of a group.
Disconfirmation principle
The idea that states that if evidence obtained during testing does not confirm a hypothesis, then the hypothesis is discarded or revised.
Critical period
A time during development during which exposure to language is essential for eventual development of the effective use of language; occurs between two years of age and puberty.
Delusions
Fixed, false beliefs that are discordant with reality and shared by one’s culture, and are maintained in spite of strong evidence to the contrary.
Discrimination
In classical conditioning, the process by which two similar but distinct conditioned stimuli produce different responses; in sociology, when individuals of a particular group are treated differently than others based on their group.
Dopamine
A neurotransmitter associated with smooth movements, steady posture, the reward pathway, and psychosis.
Distabituation
A sudden increase in response to a stimulus, usually due to a change in the stimulus or addition of another stimulus; sometimes called resensitization.
Dramaturgical approach
An impression management theory that represents the world as a stage and individuals as actors performing to an audience.
Elaborative rehearsal
The association of information in short-term memory to information already stored in long-term memory; aids in long-term storage.
Displacement
A defense mechanism by which undesired urges are transferred from one target to another, more acceptable one.
Drive reduction theory
A theory that explains motivation as being based on the goal of eliminating uncomfortable internal states.
Electroencephalography (EEG)
A test used to study the electrical patterns of the brain under varying conditions; consists of multiple electrodes placed on the scalp.
Display rules
Cultural expectations of how emotions can be expressed.
Drives
Deficiencies that activate particular behaviors focused on a goal.
Emotion
A feeling and state of mind derived from circumstances, mood, or relationships.
Dyssomnia
A sleep disorder in which one has difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or avoiding sleep.
Emotional support
Listening to, affirming, and empathizing with someone’s feelings as part of social support.
Dispositional (internal) attributions
Attributions that relate to the decisions or personality of the person whose behavior is being considered.
Ecstasy
Common name for MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine); a central nervous system stimulant with effects similar to both amphetamines and hallucinogens.
Empathy
The ability to vicariously experience the emotions of another.
Distant networks
Networks that are looser and composed of weaker ties.
Ego
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious mind that mediates the urges of the id and superego; operates under the reality principle.
Encoding
The process of receiving information and preparing it for storage; can be automatic or effortful.
Endorphins
Natural painkillers produced by the brain.
Divided attention
The ability to attend to multiple stimuli simultaneously and to perform multiple tasks at the same time.
Egocentrism
Self-centered view of the world in which one is not necessarily able to understand the experience of another person; seen in Piaget’s preoperational stage.
Epinephrine
A neurotransmitter associated with the fight-or-flight response.
Error of growth
Misuse of grammar characterized by universal application of a rule, regardless of exceptions; seen in children during language development.
Dominant hemisphere
The side of the brain that provides analytic, language, logic, and math skills; in most individuals, the left hemisphere.
Elaboration likelihood model
A theory in which attitudes are formed and changed through different routes of information processing based on the degree of deep thought given to persuasive information.
Escape learning
A form of negative reinforcement in which one reduces the unpleasantness of something that already exists.
Fertility rate
The average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime in a population.
Functional fixedness
The inability to identify uses for an object beyond its usual purpose.
Esteem support
Affirming qualities and skills of the person as part of social support.
Fixation
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the result of overindulgence or frustration during a psychosexual stage causing a neurotic pattern of personality based on that stage.
Functionalism
A theoretical framework that explains how parts of society fit together to create a cohesive whole.
Ethnicity
A social construct that sorts people by cultural factors, including language, nationality, religion, and other factors.
Flat affect
Behavior characterized by showing virtually no signs of emotion or affective expression.
Fundamental attribution error
The general bias toward making dispositional attributions rather than situational attributions when analyzing another person’s behavior.
Ethnocentrism
The practice of making judgments about other cultures based on the values and beliefs of one’s own culture.
Fluid intelligence
Ability to quickly identify relationships and connections, and then use those relationships and connections to make correct deductions.
Game theory
A model that explains social interaction and decision-making as a game, including strategies, incentives, and punishments.
Explicit memory
Memory that requires conscious recall, divided into facts (semantic memory) and experiences (episodic memory);also known as declarative memory.
Foraging
The act of searching for and exploiting food resources.
y-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
A neurotransmitter associated with stabilizing and quelling brain activity.
Forebrain
A portion of the brain that is associated with complex perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral processes such as emotion and memory.
Ganglia
Collections of neuron cell bodies found outside the central nervous system.
Extinction
In classical conditioning, the decrease in response resulting from repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the presence of the unconditioned stimulus.
Fornix
A long projection from the hippocampus that connects to other nuclei in the limbic system.
Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft
Theory that distinguishes between two major types of groups: communities (Gemeinschaften), which share beliefs, ancestry, or geography; and societies (Gesellschaften), which work together toward a common goal.
Extraversion
In trait theory, the degree to which an individual is able to tolerate social interaction and stimulation.
Front stage
In the dramaturgical approach, the setting where players are in front of an audience and perform roles that are in keeping with the image they hope to project about themselves.
Extrinsic motivation
Motivation that is external, or outside the self, including rewards and punishments.
Frontal lobe
A portion of the cerebral cortex that controls motor processing, executive function, and the integration of cognitive and behavioral processes.
Generalization
In classical conditioning, the process by which two distinct but similar stimuli come to produce the same response.
Genotype
The genetic makeup of an individual.
Hallucinogens
A group of drugs that cause distortions of reality in users, including lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin-containing mushrooms.
Hypothalamus
A portion of the forebrain that controls homeostatic and endocrine functions by controlling the release of pituitary hormones.
Gestalt principles
Ways for the brain to infer missing parts of a picture when a picture is incomplete.
Halo effect
A cognitive bias in which judgments of an individual’s character can be affected by the overall impression of the individual.
Id
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious resulting from basic, instinctual urges for sexuality and survival; operates under the pleasure principle and seeks instant gratification.
Globalization
The process of integrating the global economy with free trade and tapping of foreign labor markets.
Heterosexual
A sexual orientation wherein individuals are attracted to members of the opposite sex.
Group
A social entity that involves at least two people, usually those sharing common characteristics.
Heuristic
A rule of thumb or shortcut that is used to make decisions.
Ideal self
The person one would optimally like to be.
Group conformity
Compliance with a group’s goals, even when the group’s goals may be in direct contrast to an individual’s goals.
Hindbrain
A portion of the brain that controls balance, motor coordination, breathing, digestion, and general arousal processes.
Identity
A piece of an individual’s self-concept based on the groups to which that person belongs and his or her relationships to other.
Group polarization
The tendency toward decisions that are more extreme than the individual inclinations of the group members.
Hippocampus
A portion of the limbic system that is important for memory and learning.
Immediate networks
Networks that are dense with strong ties; generally overlap with distant networks.
Groupthink
The tendency for groups to make decisions based on ideas and solutions that arise within the group without considering outside ideas and ethics; based on pressure to conform and remain loyal to the group.
Homosexual
A sexual orientation wherein individuals are attracted to members of the same sex.
Hypnagogic hallucinations
Hallucinations that occur when going to sleep; seen in narcolepsy.
Hypnopompic hallucinations
Hallucinations that occur when awakening from sleep; seen in narcolepsy.
Gyrus
A ridge of the cerebral cortex.
Implicit memory
Memory that does not require conscious recall; consists of skills and conditioned behaviors.
Implicit personality theory
A theory that states that people tend to associate traits and behavior in others, and that people have the tendency to attribute their own beliefs, opinions, and ideas onto others.
Habituation
A decrease in response caused by repeated exposure to a stimulus.
Hallucinations
Perceptions that are not due to external stimuli but have a compelling sense of reality.
Hypnosis
An altered state of consciousness in which a person appears to be awake is, in fact, in a highly suggestible state in which another person or event may trigger action by the person.
Impression management
Behaviors that are intended to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object, or event.
Incentive
A reward intended to motivate particular behaviors.
Incidence
The number of new cases of a disease per population at risk in a given period of time; usually, new cases per 1000 at-risk people per year.
Institutional discrimination
Discrimination against a particular person or group by an entire institution.
Inclusive fitness
A measure of reproductive success; depends on the number of offspring an individual has, how well they support their offspring, and how well their offspring can support others.
Intelligence quotient
Numerical measurement of intelligence, usually accomplished by some form of standardized testing.
Just-noticeable difference (jnd)
The minimum difference in magnitude between two stimuli before one can perceive this difference; also called a different threshold.
Interaction process analysis
A technique of observing and immediately classifying the activities of small groups.
Just-world hypothesis
The cognitive bias that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.
Individual discrimination
One person discriminating against a particular person or group.
Interference
A retrieval error caused by the learning of information; can be proactive (old information causes difficulty learning new information) or retroactive (new information interferes with older learning).
Inductive reasoning
A form of cognition that utilizes generalizations to develop a theory.
Justice
In medical ethics, the tenet that the physician has a responsibility to treat similar patients with similar care, and to distribute healthcare resources fairly.
Ingratiation
An impression management strategy that uses flattery to increase social acceptance.
Interneuron
A neuron found between sensory and motor neurons; involved in the reflex arc.
Language
Spoken or written symbols (verbal and nonverbal symbols), which are regulated according to certain rules or conduct or social norms and used for communication.
In-group
A social group to which a person experiences a sense of belonging or one in which he or she identifies as a member.
Interpersonal attraction
The force that makes people like each other.
Innate behavior
A behavior that is genetically programmed or instinctive.
Intrinsic motivation
Motivation that is internal or that comes from within.
Insomnia
Sleep disorder characterized by either an inability to fall asleep or difficulty staying asleep.
Intuition
Perceptions about a situation that may or may not be supported by available evidence, but are nonetheless perceived as information that may be used to make a decision.
Language acquisition device (LAD)
An innate capacity for language acquisition that is triggered by exposure to language; part of the nativist (biological) perspective of language acquisition.
Instinct
An innate behavioral response to stimuli.
Instinctive drift
The tendency of animals to resist learning when a conditioned behavior conflicts with the animal’s instinctive behaviors.
Ipsilateral
On the same side of the body, relative to something else (usually a side of the brain).
Learned helplessness
A state of hopelessness and resignation resulting from being unable to avoid repeated negative stimuli; often used as a model of depression.
Learning (behaviorist) theory
A theory that attitudes are developed through forms of learning (direct contact, direct interaction, direct instruction, and conditioning).
James-Lange theory
A theory of emotion that states that a stimulus results in physiological arousal, which then leads to a secondary response in which emotion is consciously experienced.
Master status
A status with which a person is most identified.
Mesencephalon
The embryonic portion of the brain that becomes the midbrain.
Libido
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the sex or life drive.
Mate choice
The intersexual selection of a mate based on attraction and traits.
Limbic system
A portion of the cerebrum that is associated with emotion and memory and includes the amygdala and hippocampus.
Material culture
The physical items one associates with a given cultural group.
Midbrain
A portion of the brainstem that manages sensorimotor reflexes to visual and auditory stimuli and gives rise to some cranial nerves.
Material support
Providing economic or other physical resources to aid a person as part of social support.
Linguistic relativity hypothesis
A hypothesis suggesting that one’s perception of reality is largely determined by the content, form, and structure of language; also known as the Whorfian hypothesis.
Mating system
The way in which a group organizes its sexual behavior and sexual relationships.
Misinformation effect
A phenomenon in which memories are altered by misleading information provided at the point of encoding or recall.
Mnemonic
A technique that airs in memory recall
Monogamy
An exclusive mating relationship
Morbidity
The burden or degree of illness associated with a given disease
Morphology
The structure of words, including their building blocks (prefixes, suffixes, and so on)
Mortality rate
The number of deaths in a population per unit time
Motivation
The process of psychological and physical requirements, goals, or desires causing behaviors
Motor neuron
A neuron that transmits motor information from the spinal cord and brain to the periphery
Multiculturalism
The encouragement of multiple cultures in a society to enhance diversity
Multiple intelligences
The idea that intelligence may exist in multiple areas, not just in the areas typically assessed by traditional intelligence quotient tests
Myelencephalon
The embryonic portion of the brain that becomes the medulla oblongata
Narcolepsy
A sleep disorder characterized by a lack of voluntary control over the onset of sleep; also involves cataplexy and hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations
Needs:
Physiological and psychological requirements that motivate and influence behavior
