Behavioral Sciences Flashcards
Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) Sleep
Stages 1 through 4 of sleep; contains ever-slowing brain waves as one gets deeper into sleep.
Norms
Societal rules that define the boundaries of acceptable behavior
Obedience
The changing of behavior of an individual based on a command from someone seen as an authority figure
Object Permanence
Knowledge that an object does not cease to exist even when the object cannot be seen; a milestone in cognitive development
Observational Learning
A form of learning in which behavior is modified as a result of watching others
Occipital Lobe
A portion of the cerebral cortex that controls visual processing
Operant Conditioning
A form of associative learning in which the frequency of a behavior is modified using reinforcement or punishment
Opponent-Process Theory
A theory that states that the body will adapt to counteract repeated exposure to stimuli, such as seeing afterimages or ramping up the sympathetic nervous system in response to a depressant
Parallel Processing
The ability to simultaneously analyze and combine information regarding multiple aspects of a stimulus, such as color, shape, and motion
Parietal lobe
A portion of the cerebral cortex that controls somatosensory and spatial processing
Personality disorders
Disorders that involve patterns of behavior that are inflexible and maladaptive, causing distress or impaired functions in at least two of the following: cognition, emotion, interpersonal functioning, or impulse control
Pineal gland
A brain structure located near the thalamus that secretes melatonin
Pons
A portion of the brainstem that relays information between the cortex and medulla, regulates sleep, and carries some motor and sensory information from the head and neck
Poverty
A socioeconomic condition of low resource availability; in the US, the poverty line is determined by the government’s calculation of the minimum income requirements for families to acquire the minimum necessities of life
Prejudice
An irrationally based positive or negative attitude toward a person, group, or thing, formed prior to actual experience.
Prevalence
The number of cases of a disease per population in a given period of time; usually, cases per 1000 people per year
Primacy Effect
The phenomenon of first impressions of a person being more important than subsequent impressions
Priming
A retrieval cue by which recall is aided by a word or phrase that is semantically related to the desired memory
Projection
A defense mechanism by which individuals attribute their undesired feelings to others
Projection Area
The portion of the cerebral cortex that analyzes sensory input
Proprioception
The ability to tell where one’s body is in space
Punishment
In operant conditioning, the use of an aversive stimulus designed to decrease the frequency of an undesired behavior
Operant conditioning
(also called “instrumental conditioning”) is a type of learning in which (a) the strength of a behavior is modified by the behavior’s consequences, such as reward or punishment, and (b) the behavior is controlled by antecedents called “discriminative stimuli” which come to signal those consequences.
*look up diagram
Aversive Stimulus
An aversive stimulus is an unpleasant event that is intended to decrease the probability of a behavior when it is presented as a consequence (i.e., punishment).
