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.
