Glossary Flashcards
Ablation
a surgically induced brain lesion
Absolute refractory period
the period that follows the onset of an action potential. During this period, a nerve impulse cannot be initiated
absolute threshold
the minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate a sensory system
accommodation
a principle of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. it occurs when cognitive structures are modified because new information or new experience do not fit into existing cognitive structures
acetylcholine
a neurotransmitter found in both central and peripheral nervous systems linked to Alzheimer’s disease and used to transmit nerve impulses to muscles.
acrophobia
an irrational fear of heights
ACT model (adaptive control of thought)
a model that describes memory in terms of procedural and declarative memory
actor-observer effect
the tendency of actors to see observer behavior as due to external factors (situation factors) and the tendency of observers to attribute actors behaviors to internal characteristics (dispositional characteristics)
adrenaline
a hormone that increases energy available for “fight or flight” reactions (also known as epinephrine)
afterimage
a visual sensation that appears after prolonged or intense exposure to a stimulus
agnosia
impairment in perceptual recognition
agoraphobia
an irrational fear of being in open places or situations where escape might be difficult
all-or-nothing law
a law about nerve impulses stating that when depolarization reaches the critical threshold (-50 millivolts) the neuron is going to fire, each time, every time
alternate-form method
in psychometrics, it is the method of using two or more different forms of a test to determine the reliability of a particular test
altruism
a form of helping behavior where the animals intent is to benefit other animals at some cost to itself
amnesia
a dissociative disorder where individuals are unable to recall past experience, but this inability is not due to a neurological disorder
analogy of inoculation
McGuires analogy that people can be psychologically inoculated against the “attack” of persuasive communications by first exposing them to weakened attack
analysis of variance (ANOVA)
a statistical method to compare the means of more than two groups by comparing the between-group variance to the within-group variance
anima (animus)
an archetype from Jung’s theory referring to the female behaviors in males, and the masculine behavior in females
anorexia nervosa
an eating disorder characterized by a refusal to maintain a minimal normal body weight
anterograde amnesia
memory loss for new information following a brain injury
antisocial personality disorder
a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others
aphagia
an impairment in the ability to eat
aphasias
language disorders, which are associated with Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas in the brain
apparent motion
an illusion that occurs when two dots flash in different locations on a screen seconds apart and a perceived as one moving dot
apraxia
an impairment in the organization of voluntary action
archetypes
the building blocks for the collective unconscious referred to in Jung’s theory of personality
Assimilation
a principle of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. It is the process of understanding new information in relation to prior knowledge, or existing schemata
association area
areas in the brain that integrate information from different cortical regions
Atkinson-Shiffrin model
a model of memory that involves three memory structures (sensory, short-term, and long term), and the processes that operate these memory structures
attachment bond
evidence of a preference for the primary caregiver and a wariness of strangers
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD)
a disorder characterized by developmental atypical inattention and/or impulsivity-hyperactivity
attribution theory
Fritz Heider’s theory that people tend to infer the causes of other people’s behavior as either dispositional (related to the individual) or situation (related to the environment)
Authoritarian parenting style
a parenting style tending to use punitive control methods and lacking emotional warmth
Authoritative parent style
a parenting style tending to have reasonably high demands for child compliance coupled with emotional warmth
autism
a disorder whose essential features are lack of responsiveness to other people, gross impairment in communication skills, and behaviors and interests that are repetitive, inflexibly routined, and stereotyped
autokinetic effect
an illusion that occurs when a spot of light appears to move erratically in a dark room, simple because there is no frame of reference
availability heuristic
a decision-making shortcut that people tend to use when trying to decide how likely something is based upon how easily similar instances can be imagined
aversion therapy
a behavioral therapy of pairing unpleasant stimuli with undesirable behavior
balance theory
Fritz Heider’s consistency theory that is concerned with balance and imbalance in the ways which three elements are related
behavioral contracts
a therapeutic technique that is a negotiated agreement between two parties that explicitly stipulated the behavioral change that is desired and indicates consequences of certain acts
behavioral stimulants
a class of drugs that increase behavioral activity by increasing motor activity or by counteracting fatigue, and which are thought to stimulate receptors for dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin
Bekesy’s traveling wave theory
proposed by Von Bekesy, the theory holds that high-frequent sounds maximally vibrate the basilar membrane near the beginning of the cochlea close to the oval window and low frequencies maximal vibrate near the apex, or tip, of the cochlea
between-subjects design
an experimental design whereby each subject is exposed to only one level of each independent variable
binocular disparity (stereopsis)
a cue for depth perception that depends on the fact that the distance between the eyes provides two slightly dispart views of the worth that, when combined, give us a perception of depth
bipolar disorder
a mood disorder characterized by both depression and mania
boomerang effect
in theories of attitude persuasion, it is an attitude change in the opposite direction of the persuaders message
borderline personality disorder
a personality disorder characterized by an instability in interpersonal behavior, mood, and self-image that borders on psychosis
bottom-up processing (data-driven processing)
information processing that occurs when objects are recognized by the summations of the components of incoming stimulus to arrive at the whole pattern
brightness
the subjective impression of the intensity of a light stimulus
brightness contrast
in brightness perception, it refers to when a particular luminance appears bridges when surrounded by a darker stimulus than when surrounded by a lighter stimulus
Broca’s aphasia
impairments in producing spoken language associated with lesions to Broca’s area
bulimia nervosa
an eating disorder that involves binge eating and excessive attempts to compensate for it by purging, fasting, or excessive exercising
bystander effect
the reluctance of people to intervene to help others in emergency situations when other people also witness the situation
Cannon-Bard theory
a theory of emotions stating that awareness of emotions reflects our physiological arousal and our cognitive experience of emotion
case study
an experimental method used in developmental psychology to take a ver detailed look at development by studying a small number of individuals. Also called the clinical method
centration
a term from Piaget’s theory, it is the tendency for pre operational children to be able to focus on only one aspect of a phenomenon
Chi-square test
a statistical method of testing for an association between two categorical variables. specifically, it tests for the equality of two frequencies or proportions
chlorpromazine
an antipsychotic drug thought to block receptor sites for dopamine, making it effective in treating the delusional thinking, hallucinations, and agitation commonly associated with schizophrenia
circadian rhythms
internally generated rhythms that regulate our daily cycle of waking and sleeping, approximating a 24hr cycle
classical conditioning
also known as respondent conditioning, it is a result of learning connections between different items
claustrophobia
an irrational fear of closed spaces
client-centered therapy, person-centered therapy, non-directive therapy
Carl Rogers’ therapeutic technique that is based on the idea that clients have the freedom to control their own behavior, and that the client is abel to reflect upon his or her problems, make choices, and take positive action
clustering
a technique to enhance memory by organizing items into conceptually-related categories
cognitive dissonance theory
Leon Festinger’s consistency theory that people are motivated to reduce dissonant elements or add consonant elements to reduce tension
cognitive map
a mental representation of a physical space
collective unconscious
from Carl Jung’s personality theory, it is the idea that all humans share an unconscious, a residual of the experiences of our early ancestors
color constancy
refers to the fact that the perceived color of an object does not change when we change the wavelength of the light we see
compensation
a defense mechanism whereby something is done to make up for something that is lacking
conception
takes place in the fallopian tubes where the ovum or egg cell is fertilized by the male sperm cell
conditioned response
in classical conditioning, it is the learned response to a conditioned stimulus
conditioned stimulus
in classical conditioning, it is a neutral stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response
confounding variable
unintended independent variables
connectionism
also called parallel distribution processing, it is a theory of information processing that is analogous to a complex neural network
consistency theories
theoretical perspective from social psychology that hold that people prefer consistency between attitudes and behaviors, and that people will change or resist changing attitude based upon this preference
construct validity
a type of validity that refers to how well a test measures the intended theoretical construct
content validity
a type of validity that refers to how well the content items of a test measure the particular skill or knowledge area that its supposed to measure
control group design
a technique of treating experimental and control groups equally in all respects, except that one group is exposed to the treatment in the experiment, and the other group is not exposed to the treatment
conversion disorders
disorders characterized by unexplained symptoms affecting voluntary motor or sensory functions. Conversion disorder used to be feared to as hysteria
correlation coefficient
a type of descriptive statistic that measures to what extent, if any, two variable are related.
counterbalancing
a method of controlling for potential unintended order effects by administering variables (eg treatments, measures) in all possible sequences
countertransference
in psychoanalysis, it occurs when the therapist experiences emotions in response to the patients transference
criterion validity
how well the test can predict an individual’s performance on an established test of the same skill or knowledge area
cross-sectional studies
an experimental method used in developmental psychology to compare different groups of individuals
crystallized intelligence
proposed by Raymond Cattle, it is a type of intelligence that uses knowledge acquired as a result of schooling or other life experiences
cynophobia
an irrational fear of dogs
decay theory
a theory that holds that if the information in long-term memory is not used or rehearsed, it will eventually be forgotten
declarative memory
sometimes called fact memory, it is memory of explicit information
defense mechanisms
In Freud’s structural dynamic model of personality, they are unconscious mechanisms that deny, falsify, or distort reality
delusions
false beliefs, discordant with reality, that are maintained in spite of strong evidence to the contrary
demand characteristics
cues that suggest to subjects what the researcher expects from research participants
dementia praecox
literally means “split mind” and was used to refer to what is now know as schizophrenia
dependent variable
a measurement of the response that is expected to vary with differences in the independent variable
depolarization
the second stage in the firing cycle; occurs when the membranes electrical charge decrease - anytime the membranes voltage moves toward a neutral charge of 0 millivolts
descriptive statistics
statistics concerned with organizing, describing, quantifying, and summarizing a collection of actual observations
deviation quotients
a deviations IQ score that tells us how far away a persons score is from the average score for that persons particular age group
diathesis-stress model
a framework explaining the causes of mental disorders as an interactions between biological causes (a predisposition) and psychological causal factors (excessive stress)
difference threshold
the amount of difference that there must be between two stimuli before they are perceived to be different
diploid cells
cells that contain 23 pairs of chromosomes
discriminative stimulus
in operant conditioning, it is a stimulus condition that indicates that the organisms behavior will have consequences
displacement
a defense mechanism that refers to the pent-up feelings (often hostility) discharged on objects and people less dangerous than those or people causing the feelings
dissociative disorders
disorders characterized by an avoidance of stress by escaping from personality identity
dissociative fugue
a dissociative disorder that involves amnesia plus a sudden, unexpected move away from one’s home or location of usual daily activities
dissociative identity disorder
a dissociative disorder characterized by two or more personalities that recurrently take control of a person’s behavior (formerly multiple personality disorder)
depersonalization disorder
a dissociative disorder that involves a sense of detachment from the self despite an intact sense of reality
dissonance theory
the tendency to chance thoughts or behavior in response to perceived inconsistencies
distal stimulus
in perception, it is the actual object or event out there in the world, as opposed to its perceived image
domain-referenced testing
sometimes called criterion referenced testing, it is concerned with the question of what the test taker knows about a specified content domain
dopamine hypothesis
a biochemical explanation for schizophrenia suggesting that the delusions, hallucinations, and agitations associated with schizophrenia arise from an excess of dopamine activity at certain sites in the brain
double-bind hypothesis
a psychosocial theory of schizophrenia holding that people with schizophrenia received contradictory messages from primary caregivers during childhood and these contradictory messages led them to see their perceptions of reality as unreliable
double blinding
a research design that controls for influence of the researcher and research participants since neither group knows which participants are in the control group and which are in the experimental group
downs syndrome
a set of physiological conditions, indulging severe intellectual disability resulting from an extra 21st chromosome
duplexity or duplicity theory of vision
the theory holding that the retina contains two kinds of photo receptors
echoic memory
auditory memory
ego psychology
a branch of psychoanalytic theory that emphasizes the role of the ego as autonomous
eidetic memory
memory for images
elaborative rehearsal
the process of organizing information and associating it with what you already know to get information into long-term memory
electroencephalograph (EEG)
records gross average of electrical activity in different parts of the brain
embryonic stage
third stage during prenatal development, it refers to the period during which the embryo increases in size dramatically, develop human like appearances with limb motions, produces androgen in testes, and levels nerve cells in spine
Emmert’s Law
describes the relationship between size constancy and apparent distance - farther away an object appears to be, the more the scaling device in the brain will compensate for it retinal size by enlarging our perception of the object
empathy
the ability to vicariously experience the emotions of another. thought to be a strong influence in helping behavior
ending
the processing of putting new information into memory
encoding specificity theory
recall is best if the context at recall approximates the context during the original encoding
endorphins
peptides that are natural painkillers produced in the brain
episodic memory
a type of declarative memory, refers to memories for particular events, or episodes, from personal experience
equity theory
individuals strive for fairness and feel uncomfortable whether is a perception of a lack of fairness
eros
in Freud’s structural dynamic model of personality, it refers to the life instincts that serve the purpose of individual survival (hunger, thirst, sex)
ethology
ethology
the study of animals in their natural environment
exchange theory
the tendency to evaluate interactions and relationships in therms of relative costs and benefits
external validity
refers to how generalizable the results of an experiment are
extinction
in operant conditioning, it is when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly no reinforced and as a result, the conditioned response is no longer produced consistently
extirpation
removing various parts of the brain and then observing the behavioral consequences
extrinsic motivation
behavior that motivated by some external reward
face validity
refers to whether test items APPEAR to measure what they are supposed to measure
factor analysis
stats technique using correlation coefficients to reduce a large number of variables to few factors
Fechner’s Law
expresses the relationship between the intensity of the sensation and the intensity of the stimulus, and states that sensation increase more slowly as intensity increases
Fetal period
the last stage of prenatal development, its onset is marked by the beginning of measurable brain electrical activity
fictional finalism
Alfred Adler’s theory of personality, the notion that an individual is motivated more by their expectations of the future based on a subjective or fictional estimate of life’s values, than by past experiences
field independence-field dependence
a cognitive style characterized by an ability/inability to distinguish experience from its context
fight or flight responses
emotional experience associated with the sympathetic nervous system and managed by the hypothalamus during high arousal
figure
visual perception referring to the integrated visual experience that stands out at the center if attention
fixation
psychoanalytic theory, in ability to successfully proceed though a stage in development because of an overindulgence or frustrations
fixed action pattern
a behavior that is relatively stereotyped and appears to be species typical
fixed interval (FI)
operant conditioning, when behavior is reinforced after a fixed period of time has elapsed since the last reinforcement
fixed ration (FR)
operant conditioning, when behavior is reinforced after a fixed number of responses
flooding
behavioral modification technique used to treat anxiety disorders by exposed the client to the anxiety producing stimulus
fluid intelligence
Raymond Cattell, type of intelligence that has the ability to quickly grasp relationships in novel situations and make deductions from them (solving analogies)
follicle stimulating hormone
secreted by the pituitary gland to stimulate the growth of an ovarian follicle, which is a small protective sphere surrounding the egg or ovum
free association
psychoanalytic technique, client says whatever comes to mind regardless of how personal, painful, etc. Analyst and patient can reconstruct the nature of the clients original conflict
frequency
sound perception, the number of times a sound wave cycles per second
frequency theory
the basilar membrane of the ear vibrates as a whole, the rate of the vibration equal the frequency of the stimulus, vibration rate is direction translated into the appropriate number of neural impulses per second
functional autonomy
a given activity or form of behavior may become an end or a goal in itself, regardless of it original reason for existence
functional fixedness
an impediment to effective problem solving because of an inability to use familiar object in an unfamiliar way
functionalism
system of thought that was concerned with studying how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environments
fundamental attribution error
tendency to attribute individual characteristics as causes of others behaviors and situational characteristics to ones own behavior
g
Charles Spearman, an individual difference in intelligence that refers to general, unitary fact or intelligence
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)
a neurotransmitter that produces inhibitory postsynaptic potentials and is thought to play an important role in stabilizing neural activity in the brain
Garcia effect
John Garcia, food aversion that occurs when people attribute illness to a particular food
gate theory of pain
there are special “gating” mechanisms located in the spice that can turn pain signals on or off, thus affecting whether we perceive pain
Generation-recognition model
recall tasks tap the same basic process of accessing information in memory as recognition tasks, but also require an additional processing step
genes
located on chromosomes, basic units of hereditary transmission
germinal period
rapid cell division during prenatal development that last about 2 weeks and ends with the implantation of the cellular mass into the uterine wall
gonadotropic hormones
produced by the pituitary gland during puberty that activate a dramatic increase in the production of hormones by the testes or ovaries
ground
visual perception, the background against which the figure appears
group polarization
tendency for group discussion to enhance the groups initial tendencies towards riskiness or caution
groupthink
tendency of decision making groups to strive for consensus at the expense of not considering discordant information
Hallucinations
perceptions that are not due to external stimuli but have a compelling sense or reality
halo effect
in social psychology is is the tendency to generalize from one attribute or characteristic to a person’s entire personality
Haloperidol (Haldol)
an antipsychotic drug thought to block receptor sites for dopamine, making it effective in treating the delusional thinking, hallucinations, and agitations commonly associated with schizophrenia
haploid cells
cells that contain 23 single chromosomes. the gametes (sperm and egg) are haploid
Hawthorne effect
the tendency of people to behave differently if they know they are being observed
Homeostasis
a term referring to those self-regulatory processes that maintain a stable equilibrium