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Behavioral Sciences Flashcards

1
Q

Correspondent Inference Theory

A

A theory that states that people pay closer attention to intentional behavior than accidental behavior when making attributions, especially if the behavior is unexpected.

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2
Q

Alter- Casting

A

In impression management strategy in which one imposes an identity onto another person.

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3
Q

Intuition

A

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.

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4
Q

Social Construction Model of Emotion

A

A theory of emotional expression that assumes there are no biologically wired emotions; rather, they are based on experiences and situational context alone.

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5
Q

Dissociative Disorders

A

Disorders that involve a perceived separation from identity or the environment.

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6
Q

Stimulus

A

Any energy pattern that is sensed in some way by the body; includes visual, auditory, and physical sensations, among others.

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7
Q

Extinction

A

In classical conditioning, the decrease in response resulting from repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the presence of the unconditioned stimulus.

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8
Q

Subliminal Perception

A

Perception of a stimulus below a threshold (usually the threshold of conscious perception).

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9
Q

Selective Attention

A

The ability to focus on a single stimulus even while other stimuli are occurring simultaneously.

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10
Q

Symbolic Interactionism

A

The theoretical framework that studies the ways individuals interact through a shared understanding of words, gestures, and other symbols.

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11
Q

Encoding

A

The process of receiving information and preparing it for storage; can be automatic or effortful.

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12
Q

Demographic Transition

A

The transition from high birth and mortality rates to lower birth and mortality rates, seen as a country develops from a preindustrial to an industrialized economic system.

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13
Q

Stigma

A

The extreme disapproval or dislike of a person or group based on perceived differences in social characteristics from the rest of society.

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14
Q

Broca’s area

A

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. Damage causes Broca’s aphasia, loss of the motor function of speech, resulting in intact understanding with an inability to correctly produce spoken language.

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15
Q

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep

A

Sleep stage in which the eyes move rapidly back and forth and physiological arousal levels are more similar to wakefulness and sleep; dreaming occurs during this stage.

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16
Q

Fixation

A

In a Freudian psychoanalysis, the result of overindulgence or frustration during the psychosexual stage; causes a neurotic pattern of personality based on that stage.

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17
Q

Conflict theory

A

A theoretical framework that emphasizes the role of power differentials in producing social order.

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18
Q

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

A

Theory that distinguishes between two groups: communities (Gemeinschaften), which share beliefs, ancestry or geography; and society (Gesellschaften), which work together toward a common goal.

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19
Q

Compliance

A

A change of behavior of an individual at the request of another.

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20
Q

Network

A

A term used to describe the observable patterns of social relationships among individual units of analysis.

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21
Q

Somatosensation

A

The sense of “touch,” which contains multiple modalities: pressure, vibration, pain, and temperature.

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22
Q

Associative learning

A

The process by which a connection is made between two stimuli or a stimulus and a response; examples include classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

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23
Q

Maintenance rehearsal

A

Repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory or store it.

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24
Q

Disconfirmation principle

A

Idea that states that if evidence obtained during testing does not confirm a hypothesis, then the hypothesis is discarded or revised.

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25
Q

Explicit memory

A

Memory that requires conscious recall, divided into facts (semantic memory) and experiences (episodic memory); also known as declarative memory.

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26
Q

Primacy effect

A

The phenomenon of first impressions of the person being more important than subsequent impressions.

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27
Q

Symbolic culture

A

The nonmaterial culture that represents a group of people; expressed through ideas and concepts.

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28
Q

Self-serving bias

A

The idea that individuals will view their own success as being based on internal factors, while viewing failures as being based on external factors.

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29
Q

Master status

A

A status with which a person is most identified.

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30
Q

Cerebral cortex

A

The outermost layer of the cerebrum, responsible for complex perceptual, behavioral, in cognitive processes.

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31
Q

Social perception

A

Understanding the thoughts and motives of other people present in the social world; also referred to as social cognition.

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32
Q

Incidence

A

The number of new cases of a disease per population at risk in a given period of time; usually, new cases per 1000 a-risk people per year.

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33
Q

Schizophrenia

A

A psychotic disorder characterized by gross distortions of reality disturbances in the content and form of thought, perception, and behavior.

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34
Q

Long-term potentiation

A

The strengthening of neural connections due to rehearsal or relearning; thought to be the neurophysiological basis of long-term memory.

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35
Q

Zone of proximal development

A

Those skills which a child has not yet mastered but can accomplish with the help of a more knowledgeable other.

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36
Q

Hypnosis

A

An altered state of consciousness in which a person appears to be awake but is, in fact, in a highly suggestible state in which another person or event may trigger actions by the person.

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37
Q

Defense mechanism

A

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.

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38
Q

Retrieval

A

The process of demonstrating that information has been retained in memory; includes recall, recognition, and relearning.

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39
Q

Arousal theory

A

A theory of motivation that states that there is particular level of arousal required in order to perform actions optimally; summarized by the Yerkes-Dodson law.

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40
Q

Instinctive drift

A

The tendency of animals to resist learning when a conditioned behavior conflicts with the animal’s instinctive behaviors.

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41
Q

Crystallized intelligence

A

Cognitive capacity to understand relationships or solve problems using information acquired during schooling and other experiences.

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42
Q

Back stage

A

In the dramaturgical approach, the setting where players are free from the role requirements and not in front of the audience; back stage behaviors may not be deemed appropriate or acceptable and thus kept invisible from the audience.

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43
Q

Conformity

A

The changing the beliefs or behaviors in order to fit into a group or society.

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44
Q

Mental set

A

A tendency to repeat solutions that have yielded positive results at some time in the past.

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45
Q

Gestalt principles

A

Ways for the brain to infer missing parts of an image when an image is incomplete.

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46
Q

Thalamus

A

A portion of the forebrain that serves as a relay and sorting station for sensory information, and then transmits the information to the cerebral cortex.

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47
Q

Repression

A

A defense mechanism by which the ego forces undesired thoughts and urges into the unconscious mind.

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48
Q

Pineal Gland

A

Brain structure located near the thalamus that secretes melatonin.

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49
Q

Cerebellum

A

A portion of the hindbrain that maintains posture and balance and coordinates body movements.

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50
Q

Narcolepsy

A

A sleep disorder characterized by a lack of voluntary control over the onset of sleep; also involves cataplexy and hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations.

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51
Q

Implicit memory

A

Memory that does not require conscious recall; consists of skills and conditioned behaviors.

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52
Q

Inductive reasoning

A

A form of cognition that utilizes generalizations to develop theory.

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53
Q

Schema

A

An organized pattern of thought and behavior; one of the central concepts of Paiget’s stages of cognitive development.

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54
Q

Transduction

A

Conversion of physical, electromagnetic, auditory, and other stimuli to electrical signals in the nervous system.

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55
Q

Fundamental attribution error

A

The general bias toward making dispositional attributions rather than situational attributions when analyzing another person’s behavior.

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56
Q

Tolerance

A

Decreased response to a drug after physiological adaptation.

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57
Q

Intelligence quotient

A

Numerical measurement of intelligence, usually accomplished by some form of standardized testing.

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58
Q

Discrimination

A

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 from others based on their group.

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59
Q

Ego

A

In Freudian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious mind that mediates the urges of that id and superego; operates under the reality principle.

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60
Q

Sublimation

A

A defense mechanism by which unacceptable urges are transformed into socially acceptable behaviors.

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61
Q

Conservation

A

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.

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62
Q

Norms

A

Societal rules that define the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

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63
Q

Foraging

A

The act of searching for and exploiting food resources.

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64
Q

Identity

A

A part of an individual’s self-concept based on the groups to which that person belongs and his or her relationships to others.

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65
Q

Meritocracy

A

A society in which advancement up the social ladder is based on intellectual talent and achievement.

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66
Q

Self-handicapping

A

In impression management strategy where one creates obstacles to avoid self-blame when he or she does not meet expectations.

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67
Q

Temporal lobe

A

A portion of the cerebral cortex that controls auditory processing, memory processing, emotional control, and language.

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68
Q

Classical conditioning

A

A form of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus such that the neutral stimulus alone produces the same response as the unconditioned stimulus; the neutral stimulus thus becomes a conditioned stimulus.

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69
Q

Managing appearances

A

In impression management strategy in which one uses props, appearance, emotional expression, or associations with others to create a positive image.

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70
Q

Beneficence

A

The ethical tenant that the physician has a responsibility to act in the patient’s best interest.

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71
Q

Avoidance

A

The form of negative reinforcement in which one eschews the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen.

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72
Q

Depressive episode

A

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.

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73
Q

Appraisal model

A

A similar theory to the basic model, excepting that there are biological predetermined expressions once an emotion is experienced; accepts that there is a cognitive antecedent to emotional expression.

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74
Q

Stereotypes

A

Attitudes and impressions that are made based on limited and superficial information about a person or group of individuals.

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75
Q

Weber’s law

A

A theory of perception that states that there is a constant ratio between the change in stimulus intensity needed to produce a just-noticeable difference and the intensity of the original stimulus.

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76
Q

Errors of Growth

A

Misuse of grammar characterized by universal application of a rule, regardless of exceptions; seen in children during language development.

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77
Q

Spacing effect

A

The phenomenon of retaining larger amounts of information when the amount of time between sessions of re-learning is increased.

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78
Q

Recency effect

A

The phenomenon in which the most recent information we have about an individual is most important in forming our impressions.

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79
Q

Cannon-Bard theory

A

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.

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80
Q

Sleep apnea

A

Sleep disorder in which a person may cease to breathe while sleeping; may be due to obstruction or a central (neurological) cause.

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81
Q

Elaborative rehearsal

A

The association of information in short-term memory to information already stored in long-term memory; aids in long-term storage.

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82
Q

Reinforcement

A

In operant conditioning, the use of a stimulus designed to increase the frequency of a desired behavior.

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83
Q

Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep

A

Stages one through four of sleep; contains ever slowing brain waves as one gets deeper into sleep.

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84
Q

Limbic System

A

A portion of the cerebrum that is associated with emotion and memory; includes the amygdala and hippocampus.

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85
Q

Operant conditioning

A

A form of associative learning in which the frequency of the behavior is modified using reinforcement or punishment.

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86
Q

Nonmaleficence

A

The ethical tenet that the physician has a responsibility to avoid interventions in which the potential for harm outweighs the potential for benefit.

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87
Q

Autonomy

A

The ethical tenet that the physician has a responsibility to respect patients’ choices about their own healthcare.

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88
Q

Representativeness heuristic

A

A short cut in decision-making that relies on categorizing items on the basis of whether they fit the prototypical, stereotypical, a representative image of the category.

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89
Q

Confirmation bias

A

A cognitive bias in which one focuses on information that supports a given solution, belief, or hypothesis, and ignores the evidence against it.

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90
Q

Parallel processing

A

The ability to simultaneously analyze and combine information regarding multiple aspects of stimulus, such as color, shape, and motion.

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91
Q

Superego

A

In Freudian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious mind focused on idealism, perfectionism, and societal norms.

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92
Q

Deviance

A

The violation of norms, rules, or expectations within society.

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93
Q

Symbolic ethnicity

A

And ethnic identity that is only relevant on special occasions or in specific circumstances and that does not impact everyday life.

94
Q

James Lange theory

A

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.

95
Q

Inclusive fitness

A

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.

96
Q

Catatonia

A

Disorganized motor behavior characterized by various unusual physical movements or stillness.

97
Q

Archetype

A

In Jungian psychoanalysis, a thought or image that has an emotional element and is a part of the collective unconscious.

98
Q

Personality disorders

A

Disorders that involve patterns of behavior that are inflexible and maladaptive, causing distress or impaired function in at least two of the following: cognition, emotion, interpersonal functioning, or impulse control.

99
Q

Rationalization

A

A defense mechanism by which individuals explain undesirable behaviors in a way that is self justifying and socially acceptable.

100
Q

Delusions

A

Fixed, false beliefs that are discordant with reality and not shared by one’s culture, but are maintained in spite of strong evidence to the contrary.

101
Q

Demographics

A

The statistical arm of sociology, which attempts to characterize and explain populations by quantitative analysis.

102
Q

Altruism

A

A form of helping behavior in which the intent is to benefit someone else at a cost to oneself.

103
Q

Just- World hypothesis

A

The cognitive bias that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.

104
Q

Observational learning

A

A form of learning in which behavior is modified as a result of watching others.

105
Q

Neuroplasticity

A

Change in neural connections caused by learning or a response to injury.

106
Q

Slow wave sleep

A

Consist of NREM sleep stages three and four; also called delta wave sleep.

107
Q

Wernicke’s area

A

A brain region located in the superior temporal gyrus of the temporal lobe (usually in the left hemisphere); largely responsible for language comprehension. Damage causes Wernicke’s aphasia, a loss of language comprehension, resulting in fluid production of language without meaning.

108
Q

Semantic network

A

Organization of information in the brain by linking concepts with similar characteristics and meaning.

109
Q

Theory of Mind

A

The ability to sense how another’s mind works.

110
Q

Divided attention

A

The ability to attend to multiple stimuli simultaneously and to perform multiple tasks at the same time.

111
Q

Interference

A

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).

112
Q

Intuition

A

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.

113
Q

Ritual

A

A formalized ceremony that usually involves specific material objects, symbolism, and additional mandates on acceptable behavior.

114
Q

Circular reaction

A

Repetition action that achieves a desired response; seen during Piaget’s sensorimotor stage.

115
Q

Halo effect

A

A cognitive bias in which judgments of an individual’s character can be affected by the overall impression of the individual.

116
Q

Obedience

A

The changing the behavior of an individual based on a command from someone seen as an authority figure.

117
Q

Front stage

A

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.

118
Q

Melatonin

A

A serotonin derivative secreted by the pineal gland that is associated with sleepiness.

119
Q

Sensation

A

Transduction of physical stimuli into neurological signals.

120
Q

Opponent process theory

A

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.

121
Q

Object permanence

A

Knowledge that an object does not is cease to exist even when the object cannot be seen; a milestone in cognitive development.

122
Q

Acquisition

A

In classical conditioning, the process of taking advantage of reflexive responses to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus.

123
Q

Storage

A

The retention of encoded information; divided into sensory, short-term, and long term memory.

124
Q

Frontal lobe

A

A portion of the cerebral cortex that controls motor processing, executive function, and the integration of cognitive and behavioral processes.

125
Q

Shaping

A

In operant conditioning, the process of conditioning a complex behavior by rewarding successive approximations of that behavior.

126
Q

Self-fulfilling prophecy

A

The phenomenon of the stereotype creating an expectation of a particular group, which creates conditions that lead to confirmation of this stereotype.

127
Q

Aggression

A

A behavior with the intention to cause harm or increase relative social dominance; can be physical or verbal.

128
Q

Anxiety disorders

A

Disorders that involve worry, unease, fear, and apprehension about future uncertainties based on real or imagined events that can impair physical and psychological health.

129
Q

Universal emotions

A

The Emotions that are recognized by all cultures; includes happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, contempt, and surprise.

130
Q

Subcultures

A

Groups of people within a culture that distinguish themselves from the primary culture to which they belong.

131
Q

Social facilitation

A

The tendency to perform at different levels based on the fact that others are around.

132
Q

Occipital lobe

A

A portion of the cerebral cortex controls visual processing.

133
Q

Justice

A

In medical ethics, the tenet that the physician has a responsibility to treat similar patients with similar care, and to distribute healthcare resources fairly.

134
Q

Social movements

A

Philosophies that drive large numbers of people to organize to promote or resist social change.

135
Q

Amygdala

A

Of course another limbic system that is important for memory and emotion, especially fear.

136
Q

Ingratiation

A

In impression management strategy that uses flattery to increase social acceptance.

137
Q

Generalization

A

In classical conditioning, the process by which two distinct but similar stimuli come to produce the same response.

138
Q

Attribution theory

A

A theory that focuses on the tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people’s behavior.

139
Q

Source amnesia

A

A memory error by which a person remembers the details of an event but confuses the context by which the details were gained; often causes a person to remember events that happened to someone else as having happened to him or herself.

140
Q

Arousal

A

A psychological and physiological state of being awake and reactive to stimuli; nearly synonymous with alertness.

141
Q

Misinformation effect

A

A phenomenon in which memories are altered by misleading information provided at the point of encoding or recall.

142
Q

Recognition-Primed Decision Model

A

A decision-making model in which experience and recognition of similar situations one has already experienced play a large role in decision-making and actions; also one of the explanations for the experience of intuition.

143
Q

Aligning actions

A

An impression management strategy in which one makes questionable behavior acceptable through excuses.

144
Q

Two-point threshold

A

The minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as two distinct stimuli.

145
Q

Forebrain

A

The portion of the brain that is associated with complex perceptual, cognitive, and behavior processes such as emotion and memory.

146
Q

Collective unconscious

A

In Jungian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious mind that is shared among all humans and is a result of our common ancestry.

147
Q

Dishabituation

A

A sudden increase in response to stimulus, usually due to a change in the stimulus or the addition of another stimulus; sometimes called we resensitization.

148
Q

Assimilation

A

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.

149
Q

Circadian rhythm

A

The alignment of physiological processes with the 24 hour day, including sleep wake cycles and some elements of the endocrine system.

150
Q

Absolute threshold

A

The minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate a sensory system.

151
Q

Projection area

A

The portion of the cerebral cortex that analyzes sensory input.

152
Q

Diencephalon

A

A portion of the embryonic forebrain that the thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior pituitary gland, and pineal gland.

153
Q

Hippocampus

A

A portion of the limbic system that is important for memory and learning.

154
Q

Elaboration likelihood model

A

The theory in which attitudes are formed and changed through different routes of informational processing based on the degree of deep thought given to persuasive information.

155
Q

Displacement

A

A defense mechanism by which undesired urges are transferred from one target to another, more acceptable one.

156
Q

Id

A

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.

157
Q

Critical period

A

A time during development during which exposure to language is essential for eventual development of effective use of language; between two years of age in puberty.

158
Q

Medulla Oblongata

A

A portion of the brainstem that regulates vital functions, including breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

159
Q

Hindbrain

A

A portion of the brain that controls balance, motor coordination, breathing, digestion, and general arousal processes.

160
Q

Adaptation

A

In perception, a decrease in stimulus perception after a long generation of exposure; in learning, the process by which new information is processed; consist of assimilation and accommodation.

161
Q

Poverty

A

A socioeconomic condition of low resource availability; in the United States, the poverty line is determined by the government’s calculation of the minimum income requirements for families to acquire the minimum necessities of life.

162
Q

Reciprocal determinism

A

In the social cognitive perspective, the notion that thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and environment interact to determine behavior in a given situation.

163
Q

Schachter-Singer Theory

A

The theory of emotion that states that both physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal must occur before any emotion is consciously experienced.

164
Q

Group polarization

A

The tendency toward decisions that are more extreme than the individual thoughts of the group members.

165
Q

Sensory memory

A

Visual (iconic) an auditory (echoic) stimuli briefly stored in memory; fades very quickly unless attention is paid to the information.

166
Q

Habituation

A

A decrease in response caused by repeated exposure to a stimulus.

167
Q

Social action

A

Actions and behaviors that individuals are conscious of and performing because others are around.

168
Q

Consciousness

A

Awareness of oneself; can be used to describe varying levels of awareness that occur with wakefulness, sleep, dreaming, and drug induced states.

169
Q

Priming

A

A retrieval cue by which recall is aided by a word or phrase that is semantically related to the desired memory.

170
Q

Midbrain

A

A portion of the brainstem that manages sensorimotor reflexes to visual and auditory stimuli and gives rise to some cranial nerves.

171
Q

Locus of control

A

The characterization of the source of influences on the events in one’s life; can be internal or external.

172
Q

Regression

A

A defense mechanism by which an individual deals with stress by reverting to an earlier developmental state.

173
Q

Cerebrum

A

A portion of the brain that contains the cerebral cortex, limbic system, and basal ganglia.

174
Q

Arcuate Fasciculus

A

A bundle of that axons that connects Wernicke’s area (language comprehension) with Broca’s area (motor function of speech). Damage causes conduction aphasia, characterized by the inability to repeat words with intact spontaneous speech production and comprehension.

175
Q

Bystander effect

A

The observation that, when in a group, individuals are less likely to respond to a person in need.

176
Q

Fluid intelligence

A

Ability to quickly identify relationships and connections, and then use those relationships and connections to make correct deductions.

177
Q

Cognitive dissonance

A

The simultaneous presence of two opposing thoughts or opinions.

178
Q

Response bias

A

The tendency of subjects to systematically respond to a stimulus in a particular way due to non-sensory factors.

179
Q

Social mobility

A

The movement of individuals in the social hierarchy through changes in income, education, or occupation.

180
Q

Functionalism

A

A theoretical framework that explains how parts of a society fit together to create a cohesive whole.

181
Q

Brainstem

A

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.

182
Q

Attitude

A

A tendency toward a expression of positive or negative feelings or evaluations of a person, place, thing, or situation.

183
Q

Adaptive value

A

The extent to which a trait benefits a species by influencing the evolutionary fitness of the species.

184
Q

Alertness

A

State of consciousness in which one is aware, able to think, and able to respond to the environment; nearly synonymous with arousal.

185
Q

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM)

A

The guide by which most psychological disorders are characterized, described, and diagnosed; currently in its fifth edition (DSM-5, published May 2013).

186
Q

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

A

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.

187
Q

Just noticeable difference (jnd)

A

The minimum difference in magnitude between two stimuli before one can perceive this difference; also call a difference threshold.

188
Q

Prejudice

A

An irrationally based positive or negative attitude toward a person, group, or thing, formed prior to actual experience.

189
Q

Drive reduction theory

A

A theory that explains motivation as being based on the goal of eliminating uncomfortable internal states.

190
Q

Role

A

A set of beliefs, values, attitudes, and norms that define expectations of behaviors associated with a given status.

191
Q

Deductive reasoning

A

A form of cognition that starts with general information and narrows down that information to create a conclusion.

192
Q

Proprioception

A

The ability to tell where one’s body is in space.

193
Q

Availability heuristic

A

A short cut in decision-making that relies on the information that is most readily available, rather than the total body of information on the subject.

194
Q

Somnambulism

A

Sleep disorder in which one carries out actions and his or her sleep; also called sleepwalking.

195
Q

Implicit personality theory

A

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.

196
Q

Game theory

A

A model that explains social interaction and decision-making as a game, including strategies, incentives, and punishments.

197
Q

Reaction formation

A

A defense mechanism by which individuals suppress urges by unconsciously converting them into their exact opposites.

198
Q

Groupthink

A

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.

199
Q

Prevalence

A

The number of cases over disease per population in a given period of time; usually, cases per 1000 people per year.

200
Q

Parietal lobe

A

A portion of the cerebral cortex that controls somatosensory and spatial processing.

201
Q

Sensitive period

A

A time during which environmental input has a maximal impact on the development of a particular ability.

202
Q

Anomie

A

A state of normlessness; anomic conditions erode social solidarity by means of excessive individualism, social inequality, and isolation.

203
Q

Neuropsychology

A

The study of functions and behaviors associated with specific regions of the brain.

204
Q

Escape

A

A form of negative reinforcement in which one reduces the unpleasantness of something that already exists.

205
Q

Learning (behaviorist) theory

A

A theory that attitudes are developed through forms of learning (direct contact, direct interaction, direct instruction, and conditioning).

206
Q

Syntax

A

The way in which words are organized to create meaning.

207
Q

Cultural relativism

A

The recognition the social groups and cultures must be studied on their own terms to be understood.

208
Q

Context effect

A

A retrieval que by which memory is aided when a person is in the location where encoding took place.

209
Q

Signal detection theory

A

A theory of perception in which internal (psychological) and external (environmental) context both play a role in our perception of stimuli.

210
Q

Projection

A

A defense mechanism by which individuals attribute their undesired feelings to others.

211
Q

Serial position effect

A

The tendency to better remember items presented at the beginning or end of the list; related to the primacy and recency effects.

212
Q

Manic episode

A

A period of at least one week with prominent and persistent elevated or expansive mood and at least two other manic symptoms.

213
Q

Self disclosure

A

An aspect of interpersonal attraction or impression management in which one shares his or her fears, thoughts, and goals with another person in the hopes of being met with empathy and non-judgment.

214
Q

Material culture

A

The physical items one associates with the given cultural group.

215
Q

Basal ganglia

A

A portion of the forebrain the coordinates muscle movement and routes information from the cortex to the brain and spinal cord.

216
Q

Hallucinations

A

Perceptions that are not due to external stimuli but have a compelling sense of reality; drugs that cause hallucinations, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or psilocybin containing mushrooms, are termed hallucinogens.

217
Q

Deindividuation

A

The idea that people will lose a sense of self awareness and can act dramatically differently based on the influence of a group.

218
Q

Functional fixedness

A

The inability to identify uses for an object beyond its usual purpose.

219
Q

Hypothalamus

A

A portion of the forebrain that controls homeostatic and endocrine functions by controlling the release of pituitary hormones.

220
Q

Pons

A

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.

221
Q

Ethnocentrism

A

The practice of making judgments about other cultures based on values and beliefs of one’s own culture.

222
Q

Dramaturgical approach

A

Impression management theory that represents the world as a stage and individuals as actors performing to an audience.

223
Q

Egocentrism

A

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.

224
Q

Accommodation

A

Process by which existing schemata are modified to encompass new information.

225
Q

Social capital

A

The investment people make in their society in return for economic or collective rewards.

226
Q

Punishment

A

In operant conditioning, the use of an aversive stimulus designed to decrease the frequency of an undesired behavior.

227
Q

Attachment

A

A very deep emotional bond to another person, particularly a parent or caregiver.

228
Q

Attribute substitution

A

The phenomenon observed when individuals must make judgments that are complex but instead substitute a simpler solution or perception.

229
Q

Heuristic

A

A rule of thumb or shortcut that is used to make decisions.

230
Q

Social constructionism

A

A theoretical approach that uncovers the ways in which individuals and groups participate in the formation of their perceived social reality.

Kaplan Flashcards (1 decks)

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