Have to Know These Flashcards
Absolute Poverty
Poverty wherein people do not have enough resources to acquire basic life necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, and water.
Absolute Threshold
The minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate a sensory system.
Accommodation
Process by which existing schemata are modified to encompass new information.
Acetylcholine
Neurotransmitter associated with voluntary muscle control.
Achieved Status
Status gained as a result of direct, individual action.
Acquisition
In classical conditioning - the process of taking advantage of reflexive responses to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus.
Adaptation
In perception - a decrease in stimulus perception after a long duration of exposure.
In learning - the process by which new information is processed; consists of assimilation and accommodation.
Adaptive Value
The extent to which a trait benefits a species by influencing the evolutionary fitness of the species.
Ageism
Prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person’s age.
Aggression
A behavior with the intention to cause harm or increase relative social dominance; can be physical or verbal.
Alcohol Myopia
The inability to think about consequences and possible outcomes of one’s actions due to alcohol intoxication.
Alertness
State of consciousness in which one is aware, able to think, and able to respond to the environment; nearly synonymous with arousal.
Aligning Actions
An impression management strategy in which one makes questionable behavior acceptable through excuses.
Alter-Casting
An impression management strategy in which one imposes an identity onto another person.
Altruism
A form of helping behavior in which the person’s intent is to benefit someone else at a cost to him- or herself.
Amphetamine
A central nervous system stimulant that increases activity of both dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain.
Amygdala
A portion of the limbic system that is important for memory ad emotion, especially fear.
Anomie
A state of normlessness; anomic conditions erode social solidarity by means of excessive individualism, social inequality, and isolation.
Anxiety Disorders
Disorders that involve worry, unease, fear, and apprehension about future uncertainties based on real or imagined events that can impair physical and psychological health.
Appraisal Model
A similar theory to the basic model, accepting that there are biologically predetermined expressions once an emotion is experienced; accepts that there is a cognitive antecedent to emotional expression.
Archetype
In Jungian psychoanalysis, a thought or image that has an emotional element and is a part of the collective unconsciousness.
Arcuate Fasciculus
A bundle of axons that connects Wernicke’s area (language comprehension) with Broca’s area (motor function of speech).
Arousal
A psychological and physiological state of being awake or reactive to stimuli; nearly synonymous with alertness.
