Glossary Vocab Chapter 1 Flashcards
Psychology
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Structuralism
Wundt’s approach, which focuses on uncovering the fundamental mental components of consciousness, thinking, and other kinds of mental states and activities.
Introspection
A procedure used to study the structure of the mind in which subjects are asked to describe in detail what they are experiencing when they are exposed to a stimulus.
Functionalism
An early approach to psychology that concentrated on what the mind does—the functions of mental activity—and the role of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environments.
Gestalt (geh-SHTALLT) psychology
An approach to psychology that focuses on the organization of perception and thinking in a “whole” sense rather than on the individual elements of perception.
Neuroscience Perspective
The approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain, the nervous system, and other biological functions.
Psychodynamic Perspective
The approach based on the view that behavior is motivated by unconscious inner forces over which the individual has little control.
Behavioral Perspective
The approach that suggests that observable, measurable behavior should be the focus of study.
Cognitive Perspective
The approach that focuses on how people think, understand, and know about the world.
Humanistic Perspective
The approach that suggests that all individuals naturally strive to grow, develop, and be in control of their lives and behavior.
Free Will
The idea that behavior is caused primarily by choices that are made freely by the individual.
Determinism
The idea that people’s behavior is produced primarily by factors outside of their willful control.
Learning
A relative permanent change in behavior brought about you by experience
Classical Conditioning
A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response.
Neutral Stimulus
A stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the response of interest.
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
A response that is natural and needs no training (e.g. salivation at the smell of food).
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response without having been learned.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
A once neutral stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response formerly caused only by the unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned Response (CR)
A response that, after conditioning, follows a previously neutral stimulus (e.g., salivation at thew ringing of a bell).
Extinction
A basic phenomenon of learning that occurs when a previously conditioned response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears.
Spontaneous Recovery
The reemergence of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of rest and with no further conditioning.
Stimulus Generalization
A process in which after a stimulus has been conditioned to produce a particular response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus produce the same response.
Stimulus Discrimination
The process that occurs if two stimuli are sufficiently distinct from one another such that one evokes a conditioned response but the other does not; the ability to differentiate between stimuli.
Operant Conditioning
Learning in which a voluntary response is strengthed or weakened, depending on the response’s favorable or unfavorable consequences.
Reinforcement
The process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a preceding behavior will be repeated.
Reinforcer
Any stimulus that inceases the probability that a preceding behavior will occur again.
Positive Reinforcer
A stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a preceding response.
Negative Reinforcer
An unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase i the probability that a preceding response will be repeated in the future.
Punishment
A stimulus that decreases the probability that a previous behavior will occur again.
Schedules of Reinforcement
The pattern of frequency and timing of reinforcement following desired behavior.
Continuous Reinforcement Schedule
A schedule in which behavior is reinforced every time the behavior occurs.
Partial (or intermittent) reinforcement schedule
Reinforcing of a behavior some but not all of the time.
Fixed-Ratio Schedule
A schedule in which reinforcement is given only after a specific number of responses are made.
Variable-Ratio Schedule
A schedule in which reinforcement occurs after an average number of responses, but the reinforcement schedule is unpredictable.
Fixed-Interval Schedule
A schedule in which reinforcement is provided for a response only after a fixed time period has elapsed.
Variable-Interval Schedule
A schedule by which the time between reinforcements varies around some average rather then being fixed.
Shaping
The process of teaching a complex behavior byy rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
Behavior Modification
A technique whose goal is to increase the fequency of desirable behaviors and decrease the incidence of unwanted ones.
Cognitive Learning Theory
An approach to the study of learning that focuses on the thought processes that underlie learning.
Latent Learning
Learning in which a new behavior is acquired but is not demonstrated until some incentive is provided for displaying it.
Observational Learning
Learning by observing the behavior of another person, or model.
Personality
The pattern of enduring characterized that produce consistency and individuality in a given person.
Psychodynamic Approaches to Personality
Approaches that assume that personalityy is primarily unconscious and motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which people have little awareness.
Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud’s theory that unconscious forces act as determinants of personality.
Unconscious
A part of the personality that contains the memories, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, urges, drives, and instincts of which the individual is not aware.
Id
The instinctual and unorganized part of personality whose sole purpose is to reduce tension created by primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression, and irrational impluses.
Ego
The rational, logical part of personality that attempts to balance the desires of the id and the realities of the objective, outside world.
Superego
The part of personality that harshly judges the morality of our behavior.
Psychosexual stages
Developmental periods that children pass through during which they encounter conflicts between the demands of society and their own sexual urges.
Fixations
Conflicts or concerns that persist beyond the developmental period in which they first occur.
Oral Stage
According to Freud, a stage from birth to age 12 to 18 months, in which an infant’s center of pleasure is the mouth.
Anal Stage
According to Freud, a stage from age 12 to 18 months to 3 years of age, in which a child’s pleasure is centered on the anus.
Phallic Stage
According to Freud, a period beginning around age 3 during which a child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals.
Oedipal Conflict
A child’s sexual interest in his or her opposite-sex parent, typically resolved through identification with the same-sex parent.
identification
The process of wanting to be like another person as much as possible, imitating that person’s behavior and adopting similar beliefs and values.
Latency Period
According to Freud, the period between the phallic stage and puberty during which children’s sexual concerns are temporarily put aside.
Genital Stage
According to Freud, the period from puberty until death, marked by mature sexual behavior (that is, sexual intercourse).
Defense Mechanisms
In Freudian theory, unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source of it from themselves and others.
Repression
The primary defense mechanism in which unacceptable or unpleasant id impulses are pushed back into the unconscious.
Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts
Psychoanalysts who were trained in traditional Freudian theory but who later rejected some of its major points.
Collective Unconscious
According to Jung, a common set of ideas, feelings, images, and symbols that we inherit from our ancestors, the whole human race, and even animal ancestors from the distant past.
Archetypes
According to Jung, universal symbolic representations of a particular person, object, or experience (such as good and evil).
inferiority complex
According to Adler, a problem affecting adults who have not been able to overcome the feelings of inferiority that they developed as children, when they were small and limited in their knowledge about the world.
Trait Theory
A model of personality that seeks to identify the basic traits necessary to describe personality.
Traits
Consistent personality characteristics and behaviors displayed in different situations.
Social Cognitive Approaches to Personality
Theories that emphasize the influence of a person’s cognitions-thoughts, feelings, expectations, and values-as well as observation of others’ behavior, in determining personality.
Self-Efficacy
Belief in one’s personal capabilities. Self-efficacy underlies people’s faith in their ability to carry out a particular behavior or produce a desired outcome.
Self-Esteem
The component of personality that encompasses our positive and negative self-evaluations.
Biological and Evolutionary Approaches to Personality
Theories that suggest that important components of personality are inherited.
Temperament
The innate disposition that emerges early in life.
Humanistic Approaches to Personality
Theories that emphasize people’s innate goodness and desire to achieve higher levels of functioning.
Self-Actualization
A state of self-fulfillment in which people realize their highest potential in their own unique way.
Unconditional Positive Regard
An attitude of acceptance and respect on the part of an observer, no matter what a person says or does.
Psychological Tests
Standard measures devised to assess behavior objectively; used by psychologists to help people make decisions about their lives and understand more about themselves.
Self-Report Measures
A method of gathering data about people by asking them questions about a sample of their behavior.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)
A widely used self-report test that identifies people with psychological difficulties and is employed to predict some everyday behaviors.
Test Standardization
A technique used to validate questions in personality tests by studying the responses of people with known diagnoses.
Projective Personality Test
A test in which a person is shown an ambiguous stimulus and asked to describe it or tell a story about it.
Rorschach Test
A test that involves showing a series of symmetrical visual stimuli to people who then are asked what the figures represent to them.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
A test consisting of a series of pictures about which a person is asked to write a story.
Behavioral Assessment
Direct measures of an individual’s behavior used to describe personality characteristics.
Abnormal Behavior
Behavior that causes people to experience distress and prevents them from functioning in their daily lives.
Medical Perspective
The perspective that suggests that when an individual displays symptoms of abnormal behavior, the root cause will be found in a physical examination of the individual, which may reveal a hormonal imbalance, a chemical deficiency, or a brain injury.
Psychoanalytic Perspective
The perspective that suggests that abnormal behavior stems from childhood conflicts over opposing wishes regarding sex and aggression.
Behavioral Perspective
The approach that suggests that observable, measurable behavior should be the focus of study.
Cognitive Perspective
The approach that focuses on how people think, understand, and know about the world.
Humanistic Perspective
The approach that suggests that all individuals naturally strive to grow, develop, and be in control of their lives and behavior.
Sociocultural Perspective
The perspective that assumes that people’s behavior-both normal and abnormal-is shaped by the kind of family group, society, and culture in which they live.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)
A system, devised by the American Psychiatric Association, used by most professionals to diagnose and classify abnormal behavior.
Anxiety Disorder
The occurrence of anxiety without an obvious external cause that affects daily functioning.
Phobias
Intense, irrational fears of specific objects or situations.
Panic Disorder
Anxiety disorder that takes the form of panic attacks lasting from a few seconds to several hours.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
The experience of long-term, persistent anxiety and worry.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A disorder characterized by obsessions or compulsions.
Obsession
A persistent, unwanted thought or idea that keeps recurring.
Compulsion
An irresistible urge to repeatedly carry out some act that seems strange and unreasonable.
Somatoform Disorders
Psychological difficulties that take on a physical (somatic) form, but for which there is no medical cause.
Hypochondriasis
A disorder in which people have a constant fear of illness and a preoccupation with their health.
Conversion Disorder
A major somatoform disorder that involves an actual physical disturbance, such as the inability to use a sensory organ or the complete or partial inability to move an arm or leg.
Dissociative Disorders
Psychological dysfunctions characterized by the separation of different facets of a person’s personality that are normally integrated.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
A disorder in which a person displays characteristics of two or more distinct personalities.
Dissociative Amnesia
A disorder in which a significant, selective memory loss occurs.
Dissociative Fugue
A form of amnesia in which the individual leaves home and sometimes assumes a new identity.
Mood Disorder
A disturbance in emotional experience that is strong enough to intrude on everyday living.
Major Depression
A severe form of depression that interferes with concentration, decision making, and sociability.
Mania
An extended state of intense, wild elation.
Bipolar Disorder
A disorder in which a person alternates between periods of euphoric feelings of mania and periods of depression.
Schizophrenia
A class of disorders in which severe distortion of reality occurs.
Personality Disorder
A disorder characterized by a set of inflexible, maladaptive behavior patterns that keep a person from functioning appropriately in society.
Antisocial Personality Disorder
A disorder in which individuals show no regard for the moral and ethical rules of society or the rights of others
Borderline Personality Disorder
A disorder in which individuals have difficulty developing a secure sense of who they are.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
A personality disturbance characterized by an exaggerated sense of self-importance.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
A disorder marked by inattention, impulsiveness, a low tolerance for frustration, and a great deal of inappropriate activity.
Autism
A severe developmental disability that impairs children’s ability to communicate and relate to others.
Psychotherapy
Treatment in which a trained professional-a therapist-uses psychological techniques to help a person overcome psychological difficulties and disorders, resolve problems in living, or bring about personal growth.
Biomedical Therapy
Therapy that relies on drugs and other medical procedures to improve psychological functioning.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Therapy that seeks to bring unresolved past conflicts and unacceptable impulses from the unconscious into the conscious, where patients may deal with the problems more effectively.
Psychoanalysis
Freudian psychotherapy in which the goal is to release hidden unconscious thoughts and feelings in order to reduce their power in controlling behavior.
Transference
The transfer of feelings to a psychoanalyst of love or anger that had been originally directed to a patient’s parents or other authority figures.
Behavioral Treatment Approaches
Treatment approaches that build on the basic processes of learning, such as reinforcement and extinction, and assume that normal and abnormal behavior are both learned.
Aversive Conditioning
A form of therapy that reduces the frequency of undesired behavior by pairing an aversive, unpleasant stimulus with undesired behavior.
Systematic Desensitization
A behavioral technique in which gradual exposure to an anxiety-producing stimulus is paired with relaxation to extinguish the response of anxiety.
Exposure
A behavioral treatment for anxiety in which people are confronted either suddenly or gradually with a stimulus that they fear.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
A form of treatment in which the focus is on getting people to accept who they are regardless of whether it matches their ideal.
Cognitive Treatment Approaches
Treatment approaches that teach people to think in more adaptive ways by changing their dysfunctional cognitions about the world and themselves.
Cognitive-Behavioral Approach
A treatment approach that incorporates basic principles of learning to change the way people think.
Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy
A form of therapy that attempts to restructure a person’s belief system into a more realistic, rational, and logical set of views by challenging dysfunctional beliefs that maintain irrational behavior.
Humanistic Therapy
Therapy in which the underlying rationale is that people have control of their behavior, can make choices about their lives, and are essentially responsible for solving their own problems.
Person-Centered Therapy
Therapy in which the goal is to reach one’s potential for self-actualization.
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
Short-term therapy that focuses on the context of current social relationships.
Group Therapy
Therapy in which people meet in a group with a therapist to discuss problems.
Family Therapy
An approach that focuses on the family and its dynamics.
Spontaneous Remission
Recovery without treatment.
Drug Therapy
Control of psychological disorders through the use of drugs.
Antipsychotic Drugs
Drugs that temporarily reduce psychotic symptoms such as agitation, hallucinations, and delusions.
Antidepressant Drugs
Medications that improve a severely depressed patient’s mood and feeling of well-being.
Mood Stabilizers
Drugs used to treat mood disorders that prevent manic episodes of bipolar disorder.
Antianxiety Drugs
Medications that improve a severely depressed patient’s mood and feeling of well-being.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
A procedure used in the treatment of severe depression in which an electric current of 70-150 volts is briefly administered to a patient’s head.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
A depression treatment in which a precise magnetic pulse is directed to a specific area of the brain.
Psychosurgery
Brain surgery once used to reduce the symptoms of mental disorder but rarely used today.
Community Psychology
A branch of psychology that focuses on the prevention and minimization of psychological disorders in the community.
Deinstitutionalization
The transfer of former mental patients from institutions to the community.
Developmental Psychology
The branch of psychology that studies the patterns of growth and change that occur throughout life.
Nature–Nurture issue
The issue of the degree to which environment and heredity influence behavior.
Identical Twins
Twins who are genetically identical.
Cross-Sectional Research
A research method that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.
Longitudinal Research
A research method that investigates behavior as participants age.
sequential research
A research method that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal research by considering a number of different age groups and examining them at several points in time.
Chromosomes
Rod-shaped structures that contain all basic hereditary information.
Genes
The parts of the chromosomes through which genetic information is transmitted.
Zygote
The new cell formed by the union of an egg and sperm.
Embryo
A developed zygote that has a heart, a brain, and other organs.
Fetus
A developing individual from eight weeks after conception until birth.
Age of Viability
The point at which a fetus can survive if born prematurely.
Teratogens
Environmental agents such as a drug, chemical, virus, or other factor that produce a birth defect.
Neonate
A newborn child.
Reflexes
Unlearned, involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli.
Habituation
The decrease in the response to a stimulus that occurs after repeated presentations of the same stimulus.
Attachment
The positive emotional bond that develops between a child and a particular individual.
Authoritarian Parents
Parents who are rigid and punitive and value unquestioning obedience from their children.
Permissive Parents
Parents who give their children relaxed or inconsistent direction and, although they are warm, require little of them.
Authoritative Parents
Parents who are firm, set clear limits, reason with their children, and explain things to them.
Uninvolved Parents
Parents who show little interest in their children and are emotionally detached.
Temperament
The innate disposition that emerges early in life.
Psychosocial Development
Development of individuals’ interactions and understanding of each other and of their knowledge and understanding of themselves as members of society.
Trust-Versus-Mistrust Stage
According to Erikson, the first stage of psychosocial development, occurring from birth to age 1½ years, during which time infants develop feelings of trust or lack of trust.
Autonomy-Versus-Shame and-Doubt Stage
The period during which, according to Erikson, toddlers (ages 1½ to 3 years) develop independence and autonomy if exploration and freedom are encouraged or shame and self-doubt if they are restricted and overprotected.
Initiative-Versus-Guilt Stage
According to Erikson, the period during which children ages 3 to 6 years experience conflict between independence of action and the sometimes negative results of that action.
Industry-Versus-Inferiority Stage
According to Erikson, the last stage of childhood, during which children age 6 to 12 years may develop positive social interactions with others or may feel inadequate and become less sociable.
Cognitive Development
The process by which a child’s understanding of the world changes as a function of age and experience.
Sensorimotor Stage
According to Piaget, the stage from birth to 2 years, during which a child has little competence in representing the environment by using images, language, or other symbols.
Object Permanence
The awareness that objects-and people-continue to exist even if they are out of sight.
Preoperational Stage
According to Piaget, the period from 2 to 7 years of age that is characterized by language development.
Egocentric Thought
A way of thinking in which a child views the world entirely from his or her own perspective.
Principle of Conservation
The knowledge that quantity is unrelated to the arrangement and physical appearance of objects.
Concrete Operational Stage
According to Piaget, the period from 7 to 12 years of age that is characterized by logical thought and a loss of egocentrism.
Formal Operational Stage
According to Piaget, the period from age 12 to adulthood that is characterized by abstract thought.
Information Processing
The way in which people take in, use, and store information.
Metacognition
An awareness and understanding of one’s own cognitive processes.
zone of proximal development (ZPD)
According to Vygotsky, the level at which a child can almost, but not fully, comprehend or perform a task on his or her own
Adolescence
The developmental stage between childhood and adulthood.
Puberty
The period at which maturation of the sexual organs occurs, beginning at about age 11 or 12 for girls and 13 or 14 for boys.
Identity-Versus-Role Confusion Stage
According to Erikson, a time in adolescence of major testing to determine one’s unique qualities.
identity
The distinguishing character of the individual: who each of us is, what our roles are, and what we are capable of.
Intimacy-Versus-Isolation Stage
According to Erikson, a period during early adulthood that focuses on developing close relationships.
Generativity-Versus-Stagnation Stage
According to Erikson, a period in middle adulthood during which we take stock of our contributions to family and society.
Ego-Integrity-Versus-Despair Stage
According to Erikson, a period from late adulthood until death during which we review life’s accomplishments and failures.
Emerging Adulthood
The period beginning in the late teenage years and extending into the mid-20.
Menopause
The period during which women stop menstruating and are no longer fertile.
Genetic Preprogramming Theories of Aging
Theories that suggest that human cells have a built-in time limit to their reproduction and that they are no longer able to divide after a certain time.
Wear-and-Tear Theories of Aging
Theories that suggest that the mechanical functions of the body simply stop working efficiently.
Alzheimer’s Disease
A progressive brain disorder that leads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities.
Disengagement Theory of Aging
A theory that suggests that aging produces a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels.
Activity Theory of Aging
A theory that suggests that the elderly who are most successful while aging are those who maintain the interests and activities they had during middle age.
Life Review
The process by which people examine and evaluate their lives.
Consciousness
The awareness of the sensations, thoughts, and feelings being experienced at a given moment.
Stage 1 Sleep
The state of transition between wakefulness and sleep, characterized by relatively rapid, low-amplitude brain waves.
Stage 2 Sleep
A sleep deeper than that of stage 1, characterized by a slower, more regular wave pattern, along with momentary interruptions of “sleep spindles”.
Stage 3 Sleep
A sleep characterized by slow brain waves, with greater peaks and valleys in the wave pattern than in stage 2 sleep.
Stage 4 Sleep
The deepest stage of sleep, during which we are least responsive to outside stimulation.
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep
Sleep occupying 20% of an adult’s sleeping time, characterized by increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate; erections; eye movements; and the experience of dreaming.
Unconscious wish fulfillment theory
Sigmund Freud’s theory that dreams represent unconscious wishes that dreamers desire to see fulfilled.
Latent Content of Dreams
According to Freud, the “disguised” meanings of dreams, hidden by more obvious subjects.
Manifest Content of Dreams
According to Freud, the apparent story line of dreams.
Dreams-for-Survival Theory
The theory suggesting that dreams permit information that is critical for our daily survival to be reconsidered and reprocessed during sleep.
Activation-Synthesis Theory
Hobson’s theory that the brain produces random electrical energy during REM sleep that stimulates memories stored in the brain.
Circadian Rhythms
Biological processes that occur regularly on approximately a 24-hour cycle.
Daydreams
Fantasies that people construct while awake.
Hypnosis
A trancelike state of heightened susceptibility to the suggestions of others.
Meditation
A learned technique for refocusing attention that brings about an altered state of consciousness.
Psychoactive Drugs
Drugs that influence a person’s emotions, perceptions, and behavior.
Addictive Drugs
Drugs that produce a biological or psychological dependence in the user so that withdrawal from them leads to a craving for the drug that, in some cases, may be nearly irresistible.
Stimulants
Drugs that have an arousal effect on the central nervous system, causing a rise in heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension.
Depressants
Drugs that slow down the nervous system.
Narcotics
Drugs that increase relaxation and relieve pain and anxiety.
Hallucinogen
A drug that is capable of producing hallucinations, or changes in the perceptual process.
