Chapter 2 Flashcards
Model
A set of assumptions and concepts that help scientists explain and interpret observations. Also called a paradigm.
Neuron
A nerve cell.
Synapse
The tiny space between the nerve ending of one neuron and the dendrite of another.
Neurotransmitter
A chemical that, released by one neuron, crosses the synaptic space to be received at receptors on the dendrites of neighboring neurons.
Receptor
A site on a neuron that receives a neurotransmitter.
Hormones
The chemicals released by endocrine glands into the bloodstream.
Genes
Chromosome segments that control the characteristics and traits we inherit.
Psychotropic Medications
Drugs that primarily affect the brain and reduce many symptoms of mental dysfunctioning.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
A form of biological treatment, used primarily on depressed patients, in which a brain seizure is triggered as an electric current passes through electrodes attached to the patient’s forehead.
Psycho-surgery
Brain surgery for mental disorders. Also called neurosurgery.
Id
According to Freud, the psychological force that produces instinctual needs, drives,and impulses.
Ego
According to Freud, the psychological force that employs reason and operates in accordance with the reality principle.
Ego Defense Mechanisms
According to psychoanalytic theory, strategies developed by the ego to control unacceptable id impulses and to avoid or reduce the anxiety they arouse.
Repression
Person avoids anxiety by simply not allowing painful or dangerous thoughts to become conscious.
ex: an executive’s desire to run amok and attack his boss and colleagues at a board meeting is denied access to his awareness.
Denial
Person simply refuses to acknowledge the existence of an external source of anxiety.
ex: You are not prepared for tomorrow’s final exam, but you tell yourself that it’s not actually an important exam and that there’s no good reason not to go to a movie tonight.
Projection
Person attributes own unacceptable impulses, motives, or desires to other individuals.
ex: The executive who repressed his destructive desires may project his anger onto his boss and claim that it is actually the boss who is hostile.
Rationalization
Person creates a socially acceptable reason for an action that actually reflects unacceptable motives.
ex: A student explains away poor grades by citing the importance of the “total experience” of going to college and claiming that too much emphasis on grades would actually interfere with a well-rounded education.
Displacement
Person displaces hostility away from a dangerous object and onto a safer substitute.
ex: After a perfect parking spot is taken by a person who cuts in front of your car, you release your pent up anger by starting an argument with your roommate.
Intellectualization
Person represses emotional reactions in favor of overly logical response to a problem.
ex: A woman who has been beaten and raped gives a detached, methodical description of the effects that such attacks may have on victims.
Regression
Person retreats from an upsetting conflict to an early developmental stage at which no one is expected to behave maturely or responsibly. ex: A boy who cannot cope with the anger he feels toward his rejecting mother regresses to infantile behavior, soiling his clothes and no longer taking care of his basic needs.
Superego
According to Freud, the psychological force that represents a person’s values and ideals.
Fixation
According to Freud, a condition in which the id, ego, and superego do not mature properly and are frozen at an early stage of development.
Free Association
A psychodynamic technique in which the patient describes any thought, feeling, or image that comes to mind, even if it seems unimportant.
Resistance
An unconscious refusal to participate fully in therapy.