Odds and Ends

Question 1

Ventral Stream

vs.

Dorsal Stream

Answer 1

The ventral stream goes through the temporal cortex and is called the “what” pathway because it is specialized for identifying and recognizing objects. The dorsal stream goes through the parietal cortex, was once called the “where” pathway, but is now called the “how” pathway because of its importance for visually guided movements.

Question 2

Corticospinal Tracts

Answer 2

Paths from the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord are called the corticospinal tracts. We have two such tracts, the lateral and medial corticospinal tracts. Both tracts contribute in some way to nearly all movements, but a movement may rely on one tract more than the other. Carries efferent (motor) information.

Question 3

Solitary Tract

Answer 3

The solitary tract is a compact fiber bundle that extends longitudinally through the posterolateral (posterior and lateral) region of the medulla. The solitary tract is surrounded by the solitary nucleus and descends to the upper cervical (relating to the neck) segments of the spinal cord. The solitary tract conveys afferent (sensory) information.

Question 4

Spinothalamic Tract

Answer 4

The spinothalamic tract carries afferent (sensory) information to the thalamus.

Question 5

Sex-Linked Trait

Answer 5

A sex-linked trait is a trait that is controlled by a gene or an allele located on one of the two sex chromosomes (X or Y). (Most sex-linked traits are “on” the X chromosome.) For example, color blindness is a sex-linked trait whose allele is recessive and located on the X chromosome.

Question 6

Homozygous

vs.

Heterozygous

Answer 6

To be homozygous means to have two identical alleles of a particular gene or genes. To be heterozygous means to have two different alleles of a particular gene or genes.

Question 7

Damage to which area of the brain leads to a decrease in physically aggressive behavior and social rank?

Answer 7

Amygdala

Question 8

The Stroop Effect

Answer 8

An example of cognitive interference. First described in the 1930s by psychologist John Ridley Stroop, the Stroop effect is our tendency to experience difficulty naming a physical color when it is used to spell the name of a different color.

Question 9

Pop-Out Effect

Answer 9

The pop-out effect (also known as the pop-out phenomenon) occurs when a visual stimulus that is comprised of differing components has mostly similar looking objects but one differing object that ‘pops-out’ or stands out very noticeably from the other objects in the visual field.

Question 10

Task-General Resources

vs.

Task-Specific Resources

Answer 10

?

Question 11

Attributional Reformulation of the Theory of

Learned Helplessness

Answer 11

According to the attributional reformulation of the theory of learned helplessness, individuals come to feel helpless through learning to attribute internal, stable, and global causes to a variety of events. This theory provides important implications for treatment especially of mental health problems such as depression.

According to the current model, learned helplessness in humans is determined by causal explanations of prior uncontrollable events. These causal explanations are referred to as attributions.

Question 12

Aggregation

Answer 12

aggregation

n.

1. a collection of organisms in one location with no obvious social structure or social organization, possessing only a minimum of shared purpose or interdependence. Examples include people in a shopping mall, commuters on a subway platform, or a group of butterflies around a puddle of water. Compare group.
2. in statistics, a process of combining and summarizing a set of scores into a smaller set of scores that capture an aspect of the original set. Compare disaggregation.

Question 13

Disaggregation

Answer 13

disaggregation

n. the process of breaking down data into smaller units or sets of observations. For example, faculty salary data initially may show a significant difference between male and female earnings. After disaggregating the data into separate levels (e.g., assistant, associate, full professor), however, one may find that there are no significant differences in salary among men and women at the assistant professor level but there are differences at the full professor level. Thus, disaggregating the data reveals a finer pattern. Compare aggregation.

Question 14

Circular Reasoning

Answer 14

circular reasoning

a type of informal fallacy in which a conclusion is reached that is not materially different from something that was assumed as a premise of the argument. In other words, the argument assumes what it is supposed to prove. Circular reasoning is sometimes difficult to detect because the premise and conclusion are not articulated in precisely the same terms, obscuring the fact that they are really the same proposition.

Question 15

Preattentive Processing

Answer 15

Preattentive processing refers to the body’s processing of sensory information (ambient temperature, light levels, etc.) that occurs before the conscious mind starts to pay attention to any specific objects in its vicinity.

Question 16

Serial Processing

Answer 16

Serial processing involves mental tasks that must be carried out in sequence, one after another, rather than simultaneously.

Question 17

Habituation

vs.

Sensitization

Answer 17

Habituation is the decrease in response strength with repeated exposure to a particular eliciting stimulus. Sensitization is the increase in response strength with repeated exposure to a particular stimulus.

Question 18

Von Frey Hairs

Answer 18

A von Frey hair is a type of aesthesiometer designed in 1896 by Maximilian von Frey. Von Frey filaments rely on the principle that an elastic column, in compression, will buckle elastically at a specific force, dependent on the length, diameter and modulus of the material. Once buckled, the force imparted by the column is fairly constant, irrespective of the degree of buckling. The filaments may therefore be used to provide a range of forces to the skin of a test subject, in order to find the force at which the subject reacts because the sensation is painful. This type of test is called a mechanical nociceptive (relating to the perception or sensation of pain) threshold test.

Question 19

Esthesiometer

or

Aesthesiometer

Answer 19

An esthesiometer or aesthesiometer is a device used to measure sensation.

Question 20

Method of Limits

Answer 20

The method of limits is a psychophysical procedure for determining the sensory threshold by gradually increasing or decreasing the magnitude of the stimulus presented in discrete steps. That is, a stimulus of a given intensity is presented to a participant; if it is perceived, a stimulus of lower intensity is presented on the next trial, until the stimulus can no longer be detected. If it is not perceived, a stimulus of higher intensity is presented, until the stimulus is detected. The threshold is the average of the stimulus values at which there is a detection-response transition (from yes to no, or vice versa).

An alternative procedure, the method of constant adjustment, allows the participant to adjust a stimulus continuously until it can no longer be perceived.

Yet another procedure, the method of constant stimuli, aims to determine the sensory threshold by randomly presenting several stimuli known to be close to the threshold. The threshold is the stimulus value that was detected 50% of the time. The method of constant stimuli is also called the constant stimulus method; or the method of right and wrong cases.

Question 21

Method of Adjustment

Answer 21

The method of adjustment is a psychophysical technique in which the participant adjusts a variable stimulus to match a constant or standard. For example, the observer is shown a standard visual stimulus of a specific intensity and is asked to adjust a comparison stimulus to match the brightness of the standard. Also called adjustment method; error method; method of average error; method of equivalents.

Question 22

Magnitude Estimation

Answer 22

Magnitude estimation is a psychophysical procedure in which participants make subjective judgments of the magnitude of stimuli by assigning them numerical values along a 7- or 10-point scale. The resulting scales often follow a power law (for example, Stevens Power Law).

Question 23

Long-Term Potentiation

vs.

Long-Term Depression

Answer 23

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is the enhancement of synaptic transmission, which can last for weeks, caused by repeated brief stimulations of one nerve cell that trigger stimulation of a succeeding cell. The capacity for potentiation has been best shown in hippocampal tissue. LTP is studied as a model of the neural changes that underlie memory formation, and it may be a mechanism involved in some kinds of learning.

Long-term depression is a long-lasting decrease in the amplitude of neuronal response due to persistent weak synaptic stimulation (in the case of the hippocampus) or strong synaptic stimulation (in the case of the cerebellum).

Question 24

Which of the following are the two individuals credited with the founding of psychology, as indicated by the formation of psychology laboratories in the 1870s?

Answer 24

Wilhelm Wundt

and

William James

Question 25

Naloxone

Answer 25

Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It is an opioid antagonist. This means that it attaches to opioid receptors and reverses and blocks the effects of other opioids. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.

In addition, Naloxone has been shown to block the action of pain-lowering endorphins the body produces naturally. These endorphins likely operate on the same opioid receptors that naloxone blocks.

Question 26

Piaget on the Development of Object Concept

(plus some contradictory evidence)

Answer 26

Jean Piaget proposed the earliest comprehensive account of object concept development in the 1930s. Piaget believed that children gradually construct the concept over the first two years of life in a predictable and universal series of six stages. From birth to three or four months (Stages 1 and 2), infants do not truly perceive objects; they merely recognize stimulation associated with their own subjective experience, such as the reaction of pleasure connected with the sight of a caregiver or an attractive toy. By two months, infants turn to look at an object that makes a sound, demonstrating an integration of vision and hearing that gives objects greater solidity. Between four and eight months (Stage 3), infants noticeably progress toward acquiring the object concept. For example, infants visually or manually follow the path of an object that they drop and return to an object after dropping it out of sight. They also retrieve partially hidden objects and uncover their own faces in order to see, as in games of peek-aboo. From eight to twelve months (Stage 4), infants search for a completely hidden object and generalize their search to different objects and different covers or barriers. They do not, however, generalize to different locations. Infants who find a hidden toy in one location continue to search for it there even after seeing the toy hidden in a new location. Between twelve and eighteen months (Stage 5), infants incorporate location information into their object knowledge. They track the hidden object to its most recent hiding location, provided they see the toy hidden there (visible displacement). However, from eighteen to twenty-four months (Stage 6), infants find the hidden object in a new location even without seeing it hidden there (invisible displacement). According to Piaget, this behavior demonstrates that infants fully acquire the object concept between eighteen and twenty-four months.

Although the behaviors in Piaget’s manual search tasks are highly replicable, many researchers disagree with his interpretations. When tasks are simplified, infants appear sensitive to hidden objects much earlier than Piaget proposed.

Question 27

Overshadowing

Answer 27

In classical conditioning, overshadowing refers to a decrease in conditioning with one conditioned stimulus because of the presence of another conditioned stimulus. Usually a stronger stimulus will overshadow a weaker stimulus.

Question 28

Conditioned Suppression

Answer 28

Conditioned suppression is a phenomenon that occurs during an operant performance test when a conditioned response to a positive stimulus is reduced by another stimulus that is associated with an aversive stimulus. For example, a rat may be trained to press a lever to receive food. During this procedure, the rat is occasionally exposed to a series of brief electric shocks that are preceded by a tone (the conditioned stimulus). As a result, when the rat subsequently hears the tone alone, its rate of lever pressing is reduced. Conditioned suppression is also used to study classical conditioning.

Question 29

Reinstatement Following Extinction

Answer 29

Reinstatement following extinction is the return of a response to an extinguished conditioned stimulus due to exposure to an unconditioned stimulus. For example, a person who gets a headache from using earbuds may develop an aversion to using them. This aversion may become extinguished after the person tries using earbuds again a few times without getting a headache. However, if the person then gets a headache (for any reason), the aversive response to using earbuds may return (or be reinstated).

Question 30

Spatial Summation

and

Temporal Summation

Answer 30

Spatial summation is a neural mechanism in which an impulse is propagated by two or more postsynaptic potentials occurring simultaneously at different synapses on the same neuron, when the discharge of a single synapse would not be sufficient to activate the neuron.

Temporal summation is a neural mechanism in which an impulse is propagated by two successive postsynaptic potentials (PSPs), neither of which alone is of sufficient intensity to cause a response. The partial depolarization caused by the first PSP continues for a few milliseconds and is able, with the additive effect of the second PSP, to produce an above-threshold depolarization sufficient to elicit an action potential.

Question 31

Neuromodulation

Answer 31

Neuromodulation is technology that acts directly upon nerves. It is the alteration—or modulation—of nerve activity by delivering electrical or pharmaceutical agents directly to a target area.

Question 32

Spreading Depression

Answer 32

Spreading depression is a propagating wave of silence in neuronal activity accompanied by a relatively large negative electric potential. Spreading depression occurs in regions of gray matter, including the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. It may occur spontaneously or be evoked by intense local electrical, chemical, or mechanical stimuli. Cortical spreading depression is related to migraine headaches.

Question 33

Relational Aggression

Answer 33

Relational aggression is behavior that manipulates or damages relationships between individuals or groups, such as bullying, gossiping, and humiliation. Research on children’s social behavior shows that relative to young adolescent boys, young adolescent girls exhibit more relational aggression.

Question 34

Instrumental Aggression

vs.

Affective Aggression

Answer 34

Instrumental aggression is proactive and involves an action carried out principally to achieve another goal, such as acquiring a desired resource. Affective aggression is reactive and involves an emotional response that tends to be targeted toward the perceived source of the distress but may be displaced onto other people or objects if the disturbing agent cannot be attacked.

Question 35

Direct Aggression

vs.

Displaced Aggression

Answer 35

Direct aggression is aggressive behavior directed toward the source of frustration or anger.

Displaced aggression is the direction of hostility away from the source of frustration or anger and toward either the self or a different entity. Displaced aggression may occur, for example, when circumstances preclude direct confrontation with the responsible entity because it is perceived as too powerful to attack without fear of reprisal. Compare direct aggression.

Question 36

Aggression

Answer 36

Aggression is behavior aimed at harming others physically or psychologically. It can be distinguished from anger in that anger is oriented at overcoming the target but not necessarily through harm or destruction. When such behavior is purposively performed with the primary goal of intentional injury or destruction, it is termed hostile aggression. Other types of aggression are less deliberately damaging and may be instrumentally motivated (proactive) or affectively motivated (reactive).

Question 37

Mental Representation

Answer 37

A mental representation is a hypothetical entity that is presumed to stand for a perception, thought, memory, or the like during cognitive operations. For example, when doing mental arithmetic, one presumably operates on mental representations that correspond to digits and numerical operators; when one imagines looking at the reverse side of an object, one presumably operates on a mental representation of that object; when one repeats a phone number aloud while dialing it, one presumably operates on mental representations of the names of the digits. However, there is no consensus yet as to what mental representations might be.

Suppose a child has just developed the ability to lie with the intention of deceiving another person. This new ability is probably based most directly on a change in the child’s knowledge about mental representations.

Question 38

Transitive Inference Task

Answer 38

A transitive inference task is a type of task used to assess children’s ability to make transitive inferences, that is, to infer the relationship between two concepts or objects based on earlier acquired information. In one example, a series of sticks is arranged in order of increasing length (e.g., A, B, C, D, E); if children know that D > C and C > B, they will make a correct transitive inference if they state that D > B, even though they have never seen these two sticks together.

Question 39

Hypersomnolence

Answer 39

Hypersomnolence is a condition where a person experiences significant episodes of sleepiness, even after having 7 hours or more of quality sleep.

Question 40

Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders

Answer 40

Circadian rhythm sleep disorders involve either difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the sleep cycle, or waking up too early and being unable to fall back to sleep. Treatment options include bright light therapy, medications, and behavioral therapy.

Question 41

Nightmare Disorder

Answer 41

Nightmare disorder is when nightmares happen often, cause distress, disrupt sleep, cause problems with daytime functioning or create fear of going to sleep. Nightmare disorder is referred to by doctors as a parasomnia — a type of sleep disorder that involves undesirable experiences that occur while you’re falling asleep, during sleep or when you’re waking up. Nightmares usually occur during the stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The exact cause of nightmares is not known.

Question 42

Arousal Disorders

Answer 42

Arousal disorders are common in children. Arousal does not mean that the child wakes-up. The “arousal” is a partial arousal usually from “deep” sleep also called “slow wave sleep”. Most commonly the child transitions from deep sleep to a mixture of very light sleep and/or partial wakefulness. This stage shift will commonly lead to a confusional state or a “confusional arousal”. During such an episode, the child presents features suggestive of being simultaneously awake and asleep. On one hand, the child may appear to be alert by crying very loudly, moving, or even running. However, the child simultaneously appears to be disoriented, and confused. They can be relatively unresponsive to solicitations from parents as well as from other environmental challenges. There is usually little or no recall of the arousal or any event that may have occurred during the episode the next morning or even 10 to 30 minutes later if the child is to awaken completely.

Question 43

Baddeley and Hitch

Theory of Working Memory

Answer 43

• Central executive
• 3 slave systems
  
  • Visuo-spatial sketchpad: responsible for dealing with visual and spatial information
    
    • Visual cache stores visual data such as shape and color
    • Inner scribe records the arrangements of objects and transfers information to the central executive
  • Phonological loop: temporary storage system for auditory information
    
    • Phonological store (inner ear) stores what you hear
    • Articulatory process (inner voice) rehearses words to keep them in working memory as needed
  • Episodic buffer: mediator between working memory and longterm memory

Question 44

Baddeley and Hitch

Dual-Task Research

Answer 44

People are able to complete two tasks simultaneously if they are using different processing systems. However, it becomes difficult to complete two tasks at the same time if they use the same system.

Question 45

KF Case Study

Answer 45

Provides evidence that the slave systems of Haddeley and Hitch’s Working Memory Theory are not only operationally distinct, but anatomically separate, too. KF experienced brain damage as a result of a motorcycle accident, but whilst his verbal memory was impaired, his ability to recall and learn visual information was largely unaffected.

Question 46

Excitation-Transfer Theory

Answer 46

Excitation-transfer theory is the theory that emotional responses can be intensified by arousal from other stimuli not directly related to the stimulus that originally provoked the response. According to this theory, when a person becomes aroused physiologically, there is a subsequent period of time when the person will experience a state of residual arousal yet be unaware of it. If additional stimuli are encountered during this time, the individual may mistakenly ascribe his or her residual response from the previous stimuli to those successive stimuli.

Question 47

Correspondent Inference Theory

Answer 47

Correspondent inference theory is a model describing how people form inferences about other people’s stable personality characteristics from observing their behaviors. Correspondence between behaviors and traits is more likely to be inferred if the actor is judged to have acted (a) freely, (b) intentionally, (c) in a way that is unusual for someone in the situation, and (d) in a way that does not usually bring rewards or social approval.

Question 48

Focus Theory of Normative Conduct

Answer 48

The focus theory of normative conduct emphasizes the importance of social normative influence in affecting behavior. A major component of the theory is the distinction between Injunctive and Descriptive social norms. Injunctive norms specify what is typically approved of, and therefore what ‘ought’ to be done. Descriptive norms refer to what people actually do, and consequently provide information as to what is typical or normal behavior. Both types of norms influence behavior, but do not do so in all situations. A primary tenet of the focus theory of normative conduct is the importance of norm salience in affecting behavior. Norms are in play primarily when they are salient, and people will act in ways that are consistent with socially acceptable behavior only when their attention is focused on the behavior that is occurring or that is commonly accepted.

Question 49

Distraction-Conflict

Answer 49

Distraction-conflict is a term used in social psychology. Distraction-conflict is an alternative to the first tenet in Zajonc’s theory of social facilitation. This first tenet currently seems to be more widely supported than the distraction-conflict model. Zajonc formulates that the presence of an individual generates arousal, and this arousal facilitates well-learned tasks and inhibits complex tasks. The distraction-conflict model states that “in the presence of others there is a conflict between attending to the person and attending to the task”. The distraction-conflict model calls this attentional conflict, and says that it is responsible for the arousal of the subject.

Question 50

Social Identity Theory

Answer 50

Social identity theory is a conceptual perspective on group processes and intergroup relations that assumes that groups influence their members’ self-concepts and self-esteem, particularly when individuals categorize themselves as group members and identify strongly with the group. According to this theory, people tend to favor their ingroup over an outgroup because the former is part of their self-identity. With its emphasis on the importance of group membership for the self, social identity theory contrasts with individualistic analyses of behavior that discount the importance of group identifications.

Question 51

Self-Affirmation Theory

Answer 51

Self-affirmation theory involves the concept that people are motivated to maintain views of themselves as well adapted, moral, competent, stable, and able to control important outcomes. When some aspect of this self-view is challenged, people experience psychological discomfort. They may attempt to reduce this discomfort by directly resolving the inconsistency between the new information and the self, by affirming some other aspect of the self, or both. Self-affirmation theory has been used as an alternative to cognitive dissonance theory for explaining some phenomena.

Question 52

Self-Verification Motive

Answer 52

The self-verification motive involves the desire to seek information about oneself that confirms one’s chronic self-views, regardless of whether this information is good or bad. This desire is often stronger than the self-enhancement motive, wherein people seek favorable information about themselves, or the self-assessment motive, wherein people seek accurate information about themselves. People seek self-verification (a) by gravitating toward situations and relationship partners in which they will receive self-confirmation, (b) by striving to elicit self-verifying feedback through their behavior, and (c) by selectively attending to, recalling, and interpreting evaluations in ways that tend to maintain their own views of themselves.

Question 53

Self-Enhancement Motive

Answer 53

The self-enhancement motive is the desire to think well of oneself and to be well regarded by others. This motive causes people to prefer favorable, flattering feedback rather than accurate but possibly unfavorable information about themselves.

Question 54

Self-Assessment Motive

Answer 54

The self-assessment motive is the desire to gain accurate information about the self. It leads people to seek highly diagnostic feedback (see diagnosticity) and to reject flattery or other bias. Also called accuracy motive or appraisal motive.

Question 55

Diagnosticity

Answer 55

Diagnosticity is the informational value of an interaction, event, or feedback for someone seeking self-knowledge. Information with high diagnosticity has clear implications for the self-concept, whereas information with low diagnosticity may be unclear, ambiguous, or inaccurate. The desire for highly diagnostic information about the self is called the self-assessment motive.

Question 56

Self-Monitoring

Answer 56

self-monitoring

n.

1. a method used in behavioral management in which individuals keep a record of their behavior (e.g., time spent, form and place of occurrence, feelings during performance), especially in connection with efforts to change or control the self. For example, a therapist may assign a client self-monitoring as homework to encourage better self-regulation by that person.
2. a personality trait reflecting an ability to modify one’s behavior in response to situational pressures, opportunities, and norms. High self-monitors are typically more apt to conform their behavior to the demands of the situation, whereas low self-monitors tend to behave in accord with their internal feelings.

Question 57

Self-Awareness

Answer 57

self-awareness

n. self-focused attention or knowledge. There has been a continuing controversy over whether nonhuman animals have self-awareness. Evidence of this in animals most often is determined by whether an individual can use a mirror to groom an otherwise unseen spot on its own forehead. A few chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans have passed this test.

Question 58

Self-Awareness Theory

Answer 58

Self-awareness theory implies any theory of the consequences of focusing attention on the self. Distinctions are sometimes made between subjective self-awareness, arising directly from the observation and experience of oneself as the source of perception and behavior, and objective self-awareness, arising from comparison between the self and (a) the behaviors, attitudes, and traits of others or (b) some perceived standard for social correctness in any one of these areas.

Question 59

False-Consensus Effect

and

False-Uniqueness Effect

Answer 59

The false-consensus effect is the tendency to assume that one’s own opinions, beliefs, attributes, or behaviors are more widely shared than is actually the case. A robustly demonstrated phenomenon, the false-consensus effect is often attributed to a desire to view one’s thoughts and actions as appropriate, normal, and correct.

The false-uniqueness effect is the tendency to underestimate the extent to which others possess the same beliefs and attributes as oneself or engage in the same behaviors, particularly when these characteristics or behaviors are positive or socially desirable. It is often attributed to a desire to view one’s thoughts and actions as unusual, arising from personal, internal causes.

Question 60

Self-Serving Bias

and

Group-Serving Bias

Answer 60

Self-serving bias is the tendency to interpret events in a way that assigns credit for success to oneself but denies one’s responsibility for failure, which is blamed on external factors. The self-serving bias is regarded as a form of self-deception designed to maintain high self-esteem.

Group-serving bias is any one of a number of cognitive tendencies that contribute to an overvaluing of one’s group, particularly the tendency to credit the group for its successes but to blame external factors for its failures. Also called sociocentric bias.

Question 61

Self-Handicapping

Answer 61

Self-handicapping is a strategy of creating obstacles to one’s performance, so that future anticipated failure can be blamed on the obstacle rather than on one’s lack of ability. If one succeeds despite the handicap, it brings extra credit or glory to the self. The concept originally was proposed to explain alcohol and drug abuse among seemingly successful individuals.

Question 62

Actor-Observer Effect / Bias

Answer 62

The actor-observer effect / bias refers to a tendency to attribute one’s own actions to external causes while attributing other people’s behaviors to internal causes.

Question 63

Universal Grammar

(UG)

Answer 63

Universal grammar (UG) is a theoretical linguistic construct positing the existence of a set of rules or grammatical principles that are innate in human beings and underlie most natural languages. The concept is of considerable interest to psycholinguists who study language acquisition and the formation of valid sentences. Research shows that Broca’s area in the brain is selectively activated by languages that meet the criteria for universal grammar.

Question 64

Morphology

Answer 64

morphology

n.

1. the branch of biology concerned with the forms and structures of organisms.
2. the branch of linguistics that investigates the form and structure of words. It is particularly concerned with the regular patterns of inflection and word formation in a language. With syntax, morphology is one of the two traditional subdivisions of grammar.

Question 65

Boundary Extension

Answer 65

Boundary extension (BE) is a cognitive psychology phenomenon and an error of commission in which people remember more of a scene or boundary than was originally present in the original picture.

Question 66

Geon

Answer 66

geon

n. a simple three-dimensional element (e.g., sphere, cube) regarded as a fundamental component in the perception of a more complex object.

Question 67

Subjective / Illusory Contour

Answer 67

subjective / illusory contour

an edge or border perceived in an image as a result of the inference of the observer. A common form of a Kanizsa figure contains a triangle with sides that consist of subjective contours.

Question 68

Mach Bands

Answer 68

Mach bands

an example of a contrast illusion produced by two or more adjacent rectangular gray stimuli or bands that differ in lightness. The part of the light band that borders the dark band appears to be lighter than the rest of the light band, whereas the part of the dark band along the border between the two bands appears to be darker than the rest of the dark band.

Question 69

Texture Gradient

Answer 69

texture gradient

the progressive decline in the resolution of textures as the viewer moves away from them.

Question 70

3 Theories of Selective Attention

Answer 70

• Broadbent’s Early Selection Theory: All the information in your environment goes into your sensory register, which briefly registers, or stores, all the sensory information you get. Then this input gets transfered to the selective filter right away, which identifies what it’s supposed to be attending to via basic physical characteristics. Everything else gets filtered out, and the selected information gets moved along so that perceptual processes can occur. These processes assign meaning to the information. From that point, other cognitive processes can unfold, such as deciding how to respond, etc. Broadbent’s theory fails to account for the cocktail party effect, the phenomenon of noticing your own name spoken across a room during a loud party.
• Deutsch and Deutsch Late Selection Theory: Here, the selective filter does its work only after perceptual processes have assigned meaning to sensory information. In this version, the selective filter decides what to pass on to conscious awareness.
• Treisman’s Attenuation Theory: Starts with Broadbent’s Early Detection Theory, but replaces selective filter with attenuator, whose job it is to weaken, but not eliminate, unprioritized sensory input. However, if the unprioritized information turns out to be important, you can reprioritize your attention by attenuating what previously had been your primary focus.

Debate continues as to which theory best represents reality.

Question 71

Johnston and Heinz

Multimode Theory of Attention

Answer 71

In 1978, Johnston and Heinz proposed a broader model in the form of ‘multimode theory,’ which viewed attention as a flexible system that allows selection of a message over others at several different points. Later selection requires more processing, capacity, and effort.

According to Johnston and Heinz’s multimode theory of attention, it is dangerous to drive an automobile while talking on a cell phone because both talking and driving require attentional resources, and adequate attentional resources may not be allocated to driving.

Question 72

Organizational-Activational Hypothesis

Answer 72

The Organizational-Activational Hypothesis states that steroid hormones (secreted by the adrenal cortex, testes, and ovaries) permanently organize the nervous system during early development, which is reflected in adult male or female typical behaviors. In adulthood, the same steroid hormones activate, modulate, and inhibit these behaviors.

Question 73

Prosopagnosia

Answer 73

prosopagnosia

n. a form of visual agnosia in which the ability to perceive and recognize faces is impaired, whereas the ability to recognize other objects may be relatively unaffected. The term was originally limited to impairment following acute brain damage, but a congenital form of the disorder has since been recognized. Prosopagnosia can be distinguished from prosopamnesia, which is an abnormal difficulty in remembering faces, even though they are perceived normally: The condition may be congenital or acquired.

Question 74

Transcortical Aphasia

Answer 74

transcortical aphasia

a general term for an aphasia caused by a lesion outside of Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. As a result, the individual will be able to repeat spoken words but will have difficulty producing independent speech or understanding speech. There are three classic forms: transcortical motor aphasia, transcortical sensory aphasia, and mixed transcortical aphasia (i.e., the motor and sensory forms combined).

Question 75

Sensory Neglect

Answer 75

sensory neglect

an inability to attend to sensory information, usually from the left side of the body, as a result of brain injury, most often to the right hemisphere. Also called perceptual neglect.

Question 76

Motor Neglect

Answer 76

motor neglect

underutilization of or failure to use motor functions on one side of the body despite the presence of normal strength, reflexes, and sensibility. It results from damage to various cerebral structures, including the thalamus and frontal and parietal lobes.

Question 77

Blindsight

Answer 77

blindsight

n. the capacity of some individuals with damage to the striate cortex (primary visual cortex or area V1) to detect and even localize visual stimuli presented to the blind portion of the visual field. Discrimination of movement, flicker, wavelength, and orientation may also be present. However, these visual capacities are not accompanied by conscious awareness. The causes of blindsight are the subject of some debate: Because the neural pathway from the lateral geniculate nucleus to the striate cortex is nonfunctional in blindsighted people, it is thought that these capacities are either based on the visual collicular pathway (?) or represent residual vision using surviving striate cortex.

Question 78

Decentration / Decentering

Answer 78

decentration / decentering

n. in Piagetian theory, the gradual progression of a child away from egocentrism toward a reality shared with others. Occurring during the concrete operational stage, decentration includes understanding how others perceive the world, knowing in what ways one’s own perceptions differ, and recognizing that people have motivations and feelings different from one’s own. It can also be extended to the ability to consider many aspects of a situation, problem, or object, as reflected, for example, in the child’s grasp of the concept of conservation.

Question 79

Class Inclusion

Answer 79

class inclusion

the concept that a subordinate class (e.g., dogs) must always be smaller than the superordinate class in which it is contained (e.g., animals). Jean Piaget believed that understanding the concept of class inclusion represented an important developmental step. Children progress from classifications based on personal factors, perceptual features, and common function to classifications based on hierarchical relationships; for example, a monkey is a primate, a mammal, and a vertebrate animal.

Children typically learn class inclusion in the concrete operational stage (~ 7 – 11).

Question 80

Seriation

Answer 80

seriation

n. the process of arranging a collection of items in a specific order (series) on the basis of a particular dimension (e.g., size). According to Piagetian theory, this ability is necessary for understanding the concepts of numbers, time, and measurement and is acquired by children during the concrete operational stage.

Question 81

Gustatory Hallucination

Answer 81

Gustatory hallucinations are similar to olfactory hallucinations, but they involve your sense of taste instead of smell. These tastes are often strange or unpleasant. Gustatory hallucinations (often with a metallic taste) are a relatively common symptom for people with epilepsy.

Question 82

Command Hallucination

Answer 82

A command hallucination is an auditory hallucination that instructs a patient to act in a specific way; these commands can range in seriousness from innocuous to life-threatening.

Question 83

Somatic Delusion

Answer 83

somatic delusion

a false belief related to one or more bodily organs, such as that organs are functioning improperly or are diseased, injured, or otherwise altered. Although standard tests do not confirm the belief, the individual nonetheless continues to maintain this conviction. Also called somatopsychic delusion.

Question 84

Magical Thinking

Answer 84

magical thinking

the belief that events or the behavior of others can be influenced by one’s thoughts, wishes, or rituals. Magical thinking is typical of children up to 4 or 5 years of age, after which reality thinking begins to predominate.

Question 85

Mental Status

Answer 85

mental status

the global assessment of an individual’s cognitive, affective, and behavioral state as revealed by a mental examination that covers such factors as general health, appearance, mood, speech, sociability, cooperativeness, facial expression, motor activity, mental activity, emotional state, trend of thought, sensory awareness, orientation, memory, information level, general intelligence level, abstraction and interpretation ability, and judgment.

Question 86

Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale

Answer 86

The Global Assessment of Functioning, or GAF, scale is used to rate how serious a mental illness may be. It measures how much a person’s symptoms affect their day-to-day life on a scale of 0 to 100.

It’s designed to help mental health providers understand how well the person can do everyday activities. The score can help figure out what level of care someone may need and how well certain treatments might work.

Question 87

Main Effect

Answer 87

main effect

the consistent total effect of a single independent variable on a dependent variable over all other independent variables in an experimental design. It is distinct from, but may be obscured by, an interaction effect between variables.

Question 88

Post Hoc Comparison

Answer 88

post hoc comparison

any examination in which two or more quantities are compared after data have been collected and without prior plans to carry out the particular comparison. For example, after obtaining a significant F ratio for a data set, a researcher may perform post hoc comparisons to follow up on and help explain the initial findings. Different statistical tests are required for post hoc comparisons than for a priori comparisons. Also called a posteriori comparison (or contrast); post hoc contrast; unplanned comparison (or contrast).

Question 89

Divided Attention

Answer 89

divided attention

attention to two or more channels of information at the same time, so that two or more tasks may be performed concurrently. It may involve the use of just one sense (e.g., hearing) or two or more senses (e.g., hearing and vision).

Question 90

Implicit Memory Test

Answer 90

implicit memory test

a memory test that elicits nonconscious memories by instructing participants to respond with whatever first comes to mind. Despite the participants’ lack of conscious recollection of prior events, the tests show the effects of these events in terms of the speed of participant response or the content of the memories they retrieve. The tests are often organized into three categories: perceptual, conceptual, and procedural. They can also be verbal or nonverbal. Also called indirect memory test. As opposed to explicit memory test.

Question 91

In which of the following cognitive tasks do the performances of older adults show the greatest difference compared to the scores of young adults?

(A) Divided attention task

(B) Recognition memory of narrative

(C) Recognition memory of word list

(D) Semantic memory test

(E) Implicit memory test

Answer 91

(A) Divided attention task

Question 92

Defensive Pessimism

Answer 92

Defensive pessimism is a cognitive strategy identified by Nancy Cantor and her students in the mid-1980s. Individuals use defensive pessimism as a strategy to prepare for anxiety-provoking events or performances. When implementing defensive pessimism, individuals set low expectations for their performance, regardless of how well they have done in the past. Defensive pessimists then think through specific negative events and setbacks that could adversely influence their goal pursuits. By envisioning possible negative outcomes, defensive pessimists can take action to avoid or prepare for them. Using this strategy, defensive pessimists can advantageously harness anxiety that might otherwise harm their performance.

Question 93

Self-Regulation

Answer 93

self-regulation

n. the control of one’s behavior through the use of self-monitoring (keeping a record of behavior), self-evaluation (assessing the information obtained during self-monitoring), and self-reinforcement (rewarding oneself for appropriate behavior or for attaining a goal). Self-regulatory processes are stressed in behavior therapy.

Question 94

How does extended exposure to loud noise lead to loss of hearing?

Answer 94

By killing the cochlear hair cells of the inner ear.

Question 95

Cephalocaudal

Answer 95

cephalocaudal

adj. from head to tail, as in the long axis of the body. The term typically refers to the maturation of an embryo or infant, wherein the greatest development takes place at the top of the body (i.e., the head) before the lower parts (i.e., the arms, trunk, legs).

Question 96

Centering

Answer 96

In Piaget’s conservation tasks, the preoperational child’s tendency to fix on the most visually striking feature of a substance and not take other dimensions into account.

Question 97

Proximodistal

Answer 97

proximodistal

adj. from the central to the peripheral. The term typically is used in the context of maturation to refer to the tendency to acquire motor skills from the center outward, as when children learn to move their heads, trunks, arms, and legs before learning to move their hands and feet.

Question 98

Mass-to-Specific Development

Answer 98

mass-to-specific development

in fetal and infantile development, progression from gross, random movements involving the whole body to more refined movements of body parts.

Question 99

Blastocyst

Answer 99

The hollow sphere of cells formed during the germinal stage in preparation for implantation.

Question 100

Adult Attachment Styles

Answer 100

Four distinct categories of adult attachment style are typically identified:

• dismissive attachment
• fearful attachment
• preoccupied attachment
• secure attachment

Attachment styles with respect to infant–mother relationships were first described by Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues, who identified two main styles: secure attachment and insecure attachment, the latter characterized by various patterns (e.g., ambivalent attachment; anxious–avoidant attachment). Different attachment styles in infancy are associated with different psychological outcomes in childhood and later life.

Question 101

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Stages of Coping with Death

Answer 101

• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance

Question 102

Molar

Answer 102

molar

adj. characterized by or pertaining to units, masses, and systems in their entirety. Molar analysis (also called global analysis) in psychology is a way of examining behavioral processes as holistic units, extended through time. This approach stresses comprehensive concepts or overall frameworks or structures.

Question 103

Molecular

Answer 103

molecular

adj. characterized by or pertaining to the component parts of a phenomenon, process, or system. Molecular analysis in psychology is a way of examining behavioral processes in terms of elemental units, sometimes analyzing them in a moment-by-moment or phase-by-phase manner.

Question 104

According to Edward Tolman, behavior is best understood as…

Answer 104

…molar and purposive.

Question 105

General Adaptation Syndrome

(GAS)

Answer 105

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

the physiological consequences of severe stress. The syndrome has three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. The first stage, the alarm reaction (or alarm stage), comprises two substages: the shock phase, marked by a decrease in body temperature, blood pressure, and muscle tone and loss of fluid from body tissues; and the countershock phase, during which the sympathetic nervous system is aroused and there is an increase in adrenocortical hormones, triggering a defensive reaction, such as the fight-or-flight response. The resistance stage (or adaptation stage) consists of stabilization at the increased physiological levels. High blood pressure can develop into hypertension, with risk of cardiovascular disturbance. Resources may be depleted and permanent organ changes produced. The exhaustion stage is characterized by breakdown of acquired adaptations to a prolonged stressful situation; it is evidenced by sleep disturbances, irritability, severe loss of concentration, restlessness, trembling that disturbs motor coordination, fatigue, jumpiness, low startle threshold, vulnerability to anxiety attacks, depressed mood, and crying spells. [first described by Hungarian-born Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye (1907–1982)]

Question 106

Hans Selye

Answer 106

(1907 – 1982) Hungarian-born Canadian endocrinologist who first described the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).

Question 107

Perseveration-Consolidation Hypothesis

Answer 107

perseveration–consolidation hypothesis

the hypothesis that information passes through two stages in memory formation. During the first stage, the memory is held by perseveration (repetition) of neural activity and is easily disrupted. During the second stage, the memory becomes fixed, or consolidated, and is no longer easily disrupted. The perseveration–consolidation hypothesis guides much contemporary research on the biological basis of long-term learning and memory. Also called consolidation hypothesis; consolidation–perseveration hypothesis.

Question 108

Dual-Trace Hypothesis

Answer 108

dual trace hypothesis

a restatement of the perseveration–consolidation hypothesis of memory formation specifying that short-term memory is represented neurally by activity in reverberating circuits (a neural circuit in which nerve impulses that were initially activated in response to stimuli are more or less continuously reactivated so that retrieval of information on demand is possible) and that stabilization of these circuits leads to permanent synaptic change, reflecting the formation of long-term memory.

Question 109

Reverberating Circuit

Answer 109

reverberating circuit

a neural circuit in which nerve impulses that were initially activated in response to stimuli are more or less continuously reactivated so that retrieval of information on demand is possible. A theory of reverberating circuits has been proposed to explain learning and memory processes. Although reverberating circuits have been demonstrated only in the autonomic nervous system, they are also believed to exist in the central nervous system. Also called reverberatory circuit.

Question 110

Confabulation

Answer 110

confabulation

n. the falsification of memory in which gaps in recall are filled by fabrications that the individual accepts as fact. It is not typically considered to be a conscious attempt to deceive others. Confabulation occurs most frequently in Korsakoff’s syndrome and to a lesser extent in other conditions associated with neurologically based amnesia (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease). In forensic contexts, eyewitnesses may resort to confabulation if they feel pressured to recall more information than they can remember.

Question 111

Semantic Priming

Answer 111

semantic priming

an effect in which the processing of a stimulus is more efficient after the earlier processing of a meaningfully related stimulus, as opposed to an unrelated or perceptually related stimulus. For example, responses to the word nurse would be faster following presentation of the word doctor than of the word purse.

Question 112

Sequence Effect

vs.

Order Effect

Answer 112

A sequence effect would be the perceived weight of a given object being influenced by whether a light or heavy object was handled just before. In contrast, an order effect would be the perceived weight of objects increasing as the experimental session progresses and subjects grow fatigued.

Question 113

Carryover Effect

Answer 113

carryover effect

the effect on the current performance of a research participant of the experimental conditions that preceded the current conditions; where such an effect is significant, it may be difficult to determine the specific influence of the variable under study. For example, in a crossover design in which a particular drug is administered to nonhuman animals in the first experimental condition, a carryover effect would be evident if the drug continued to exert an influence on the animals’ performance during a subsequent experimental condition. Also called holdover effect.

Question 114

Wash-Out Period

Answer 114

wash-out period

the time frame allotted for an administered drug to be eliminated from the body or for a previously administered intervention to become ineffective. Wash-out periods are particularly important in medical and other clinical research because the carryover effect between treatments might otherwise confound the estimates of treatment effects.

Question 115

Response Bias

Answer 115

response bias

1. the tendency for a study participant to give one answer or type of answer more than others, regardless of the stimulus condition. There are several different types of response bias, including the halo effect, nay-saying, and yea-saying.
2. in signal detection theory more specifically, the overall willingness to say yes (signal present) or no (signal not present), regardless of the actual presence or absence of the signal.

Question 116

Response Set

Answer 116

response set

1. a tendency to answer questions in a systematic manner that is unrelated to their content. An example is the social desirability response set.
2. in sport, the tendency for an athlete to exhibit the same pattern of play in specific situations (e.g., always faking to the right before driving for the basket).

Question 117

Response Style

Answer 117

response style

a response set arising from dispositional factors that appear across contexts and over time rather than from situational factors.

Question 118

Who is reported to be the first researcher to utilize a twin studies methodology in attempting to resolve the nature-nurture controversy?

Answer 118

Francis Galton

Question 119

Supplication

Answer 119

supplication

n. a strategy for self-presentation that involves depicting oneself as weak, needy, or dependent so as to motivate others to provide assistance or care.

Question 120

Self-Presentation

Answer 120

self-presentation

n. any behaviors intended to convey a particular image of, or particular information about, the self to other people. Self-presentational motives explain why an individual’s behavior often changes as soon as anyone else is thought to be present or watching. Canadian-born U.S. sociologist Erving Goffman (1922–1982) likened self-presentation to a theatrical (dramaturgical) performance in which individuals strive to create an image of themselves through their verbal and nonverbal displays in order to influence the impressions formed by those around them. Some common strategies of self-presentation include exemplification, self-promotion, and supplication.

Question 121

Exemplification

Answer 121

exemplification

n. a strategy for self-presentation that involves inducing other people to regard one as a highly moral, virtuous person whose actions are consistent with positive, shared values.

Question 122

Self-Promotion

Answer 122

self-promotion

n. in self-presentation theory, a strategy of making oneself look good to others by highlighting or exaggerating one’s competence and abilities.

Question 123

Impression Management

Answer 123

impression management

behaviors intended to control how others perceive oneself, especially by guiding them to attribute desirable traits to oneself. Typically, it is assumed that people attempt to present favorable images of themselves as a means of obtaining social rewards and enhancing self-esteem. Impression management has been offered as an alternative explanation for some phenomena that traditionally have been interpreted in terms of cognitive dissonance theory. Some psychologists distinguish impression management from self-presentation by proposing that impression management involves only deliberate, conscious strategies.

Question 124

Alfred Adler developed his theory of individual psychology as a result of his disagreement with…

Answer 124

…Sigmund Freud’s emphasis on universal biological forces in personality.

Question 125

Masking

Answer 125

masking

n.

1. in perception, the partial or complete obscuring of one stimulus (the target) by another (the masker). The stimuli may be sounds (see auditory masking), visual images (see visual masking), tastes, odorants, or tactile stimuli. Forward masking occurs when the masker is presented a short time before the target stimulus, backward masking occurs when it is presented shortly afterward, and simultaneous masking occurs when the two stimuli are presented at the same instant. Also called perceptual masking.

Question 126

Attribution Theory

Answer 126

attribution theory

a theoretical proposition about the processes by which people ascribe motives to their own and others’ behavior, and particularly whether these motives are either internal and personal (a dispositional attribution) or external and circumstantial (a situational attribution). Harold H. Kelley identified three general principles of attribution: the covariation principle, stating that for a factor to be considered as a cause of behavior it must be present when the behavior occurs and not present when the behavior does not occur; the discounting principle, stating that the role of a particular cause in producing a particular effect should be given less weight if other plausible causes are also present; and the augmentation principle, stating that if someone performs an action when there are known constraints, costs, or risks (e.g., runs a marathon on a cold and rainy day), then his or her motive for doing so must be stronger than any of the inhibitory motives. Kelley’s work and other prominent attribution theories (e.g., correspondent inference theory) emerged from the naive analysis of action developed in 1958 by Fritz Heider.

Question 127

Naive Analysis of Action

Answer 127

naive analysis of action

in attribution theory, a process of reasoning or intuiting by which laypersons determine whether another person (an “actor”) caused a certain action. Also called lay psychology; naive psychology. [postulated in 1958 by Fritz Heider]

Question 128

The belief that differences among spoken languages cause differences in the thinking and problem-solving styles of speakers is called…

Answer 128

…the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Question 129

Typicality Effect

Answer 129

typicality effect

the finding that people are quicker to make category judgments about typical members of a category than they are to make such judgments about atypical members. For example, they are more quickly able to judge that a dog is a mammal than they are able to judge that a whale is a mammal.

Question 130

Whole-Object Assumption

Answer 130

whole object assumption

in language development, the tendency of children to suppose that a novel label refers to a whole object rather than to its parts, properties, or attributes. For example, if an adult points in the general direction of an object and uses a novel label for it, a child will assume that the whole object is the referent of the label.

Question 131

Taxonomic Assumption

Answer 131

taxonomic assumption

in language development, the tendency of children to suppose that a novel word that refers to one thing also refers to similar things (rather than thematically related things). For example, a child will infer that if the word dog refers to a collie it can also refer to a poodle, but not to a thematic related thing, such as a dog bone.

Question 132

Participants in a social psychological experiment observe through a one-way glass as two students take an oral quiz. The situation is arranged such that both Arthur and Sheri get 15 of the 25 questions correct, but Arthur gets each of the first 5 questions correct, while Sheri gets none of the first 5 correct. Most participant observers would likely conclude that…

Answer 132

…Arthur is a better student than Sheri.

Question 133

Authoritarian Personality

Answer 133

authoritarian personality

a personality pattern characterized by strict adherence to highly simplified conventional values, an attitude of great deference to authority figures while demanding subservience from those regarded as lower in status, and hostility toward people who deviate from conventional moral prescriptions.

Question 134

Premack’s Principle

Answer 134

Premack’s principle

the view that the opportunity to engage in behavior with a relatively high baseline probability will reinforce behavior of lower baseline probability. For example, a hungry rat may have a high probability of eating but a lower probability of pressing a lever. Making the opportunity to eat depend on pressing the lever will result in reinforcement of lever pressing. Also called Premack’s rule. [David Premack (1925–  ), U.S. psychologist]

Question 135

Elizabeth Loftus and her colleagues ask students to talk about various events that have occured in their lives, including one that never occurred. If the students have trouble remembering, the researchers provide clues. They record whether the students remember the events that never occurred and how confident the students are in these false memories. Which of the following best describes the findings?

Answer 135

About 25% of the students remember the false event, and many are quite confident in it.

Question 136

Self-Reference Effect

Answer 136

self-reference effect

the widespread tendency for individuals to have a superior or enhanced memory for stimuli that relate to the self or self-concept.

Question 137

Self-Concept

Answer 137

self-concept

n. one’s description and evaluation of oneself, including psychological and physical characteristics, qualities, skills, roles and so forth. Self-concepts contribute to the individual’s sense of identity over time. The conscious representation of self-concept is dependent in part on nonconscious schematization of the self (see schema). Although self-concepts are usually available to some degree to the consciousness, they may be inhibited from representation yet still influence judgment, mood, and behavioral patterns. Also called self-appraisal; self-assessment; self-evaluation; self-rating.

Question 138

Slime Effect

Answer 138

The slime effect is the tendency to form negative impressions of others who “kiss up” to superiors while treating subordinates with disdain.

Question 139

Mood-Congruent Memory

Answer 139

mood-congruent memory

consistency between one’s mood state and the emotional context of memories recalled. During positive mood states, individuals will tend to retrieve pleasant memories, whereas during negative mood states, negative thoughts and associations will more likely come to mind. However, there is evidence that the effects of these different mood states on memory are asymmetrical, with positive moods having stronger effects on memory retrieval than negative moods. When faced with an unpleasant emotional state, individuals may regulate it by retrieving pleasant thoughts and memories, thus reducing or reversing a negative mood-congruency effect.

Question 140

Perseverance Effect

Answer 140

perseverance effect

the phenomenon in which people’s beliefs about themselves and others persist despite a lack of supporting evidence or even a contradiction of supporting evidence.

Question 141

Propinquity Effect

Answer 141

propinquity effect

the tendency of individuals to form close relationships with people they repeatedly encounter. That is, the more often one comes into contact with another person, the more likely it is that one will form a friendship or romantic relationship with that person. For example, next-door neighbors often are friends with one another, as are classmates and coworkers, respectively. The propinquity effect possibly is related to the mere-exposure effect. [first theorized in 1950 by U.S. psychologists Leon Festinger and Stanley Schachter and Austrian-born U.S. sociologist Kurt Wolfgang Back (1920–1999), following a study of students living in the Westgate Apartments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology]

Question 142

Skewness

Answer 142

skewness

n. the degree to which a set of scores, measurements, or other numbers are asymmetrically distributed around a central point. A normal frequency distribution of data is shaped like a bell, with equal values for each of its three indices of central tendency—the mean, the median, and the mode. Approximately 68% of the scores lie within 1 standard deviation of the mean and approximately 95% of the scores lie within 2 standard deviations of the mean. When a distribution has a few extreme scores toward the high end relative to the low end (e.g., when a test is difficult and few test takers do well), it has a positive skew (or is positively skewed), such that the mean is greater than the mode. When a distribution has a few extreme scores toward the low end relative to the high end (e.g., when a test is easy and most test takers do well), it has a negative skew (or is negatively skewed).

Question 143

Ceiling Effect

Answer 143

ceiling effect

a situation in which the majority of values obtained for a variable approach the upper limit of the scale used in its measurement. For example, a test whose items are too easy for those taking it would show a ceiling effect because most people would achieve or be close to the highest possible score. In other words, the test scores would exhibit skewness and have little variance, thus prohibiting meaningful analysis of the results.

Question 144

Floor Effect

Answer 144

floor effect

the situation in which a large proportion of participants perform very poorly on a task or other evaluative measure, thus skewing the distribution of scores and making it impossible to differentiate among the many individuals at that low level. For example, a test whose items are too difficult for those taking it would show a floor effect because most people would obtain or be close to the lowest possible score of 0.

Question 145

Period Effect

Answer 145

period effect

any outcome associated with living during a particular time period or era, regardless of how old one was at the time. Certain historical events, such as war, the introduction of social media, or the events occurring on September 11, 2001, may affect responses of participants in research studies. Period effects may be difficult to distinguish from age effects and cohort effects in research.

Question 146

Cohort Effect

Answer 146

cohort effect

any outcome associated with being a member of a group whose members all undergo similar experiences. Cohort effects may be difficult to separate from age effects and period effects in research.

Question 147

Age Effect

Answer 147

age effect

1. in research, any outcome associated with being a certain age. Such effects may be difficult to separate from cohort effects and period effects.
2. in the psychology of groups, any of various cognitive and interpersonal consequences that result when group members respond to others on the basis of their age.

Question 148

Ageism

Answer 148

ageism

n. the tendency to be prejudiced against older adults, to negatively stereotype them (e.g., as unhealthy, helpless, or incompetent), and to discriminate against them, especially in employment and health care.

Question 149

Mediating Variable

Answer 149

A mediating variable is a variable that links the independent and the dependent variables, and whose existence explains the relationship between the other two variables.

Question 150

Depression is more common among people with insomnia than among those with satisfactory sleep. To determine the reasons for this relationship, investigators identified 40 people suffering from both depression and insomnia. For each of these 40, they paired two other people of the same gender and age who were neither depressed nor suffering from any sleep disorder. One of these was designated the “normal-sleep control,” and the other was designated the “yoked control.” All participants slept in a laboratory for one week. The normal-sleep control person slept without restrictions. During that same time, the yoked control was permitted to sleep when the depressed-insomniac person slept, but was required to awaken whenever the depressed-insomnic person awakened.

A valid questionnaire for measuring depression was administered at the end of the one-week study. Assume that higher scores on the questionnaire reflect greater depressive symptomatology.

What pattern of results on the depression questionnaire would justify the conclusion that sleeplessness leads to depression?

Answer 150

normal-sleep control < yoked control = depressed

Question 151

Depression is more common among people with insomnia than among those with satisfactory sleep. To determine the reasons for this relationship, investigators identified 40 people suffering from both depression and insomnia. For each of these 40, they paired two other people of the same gender and age who were neither depressed nor suffering from any sleep disorder. One of these was designated the “normal-sleep control,” and the other was designated the “yoked control.” All participants slept in a laboratory for one week. The normal-sleep control person slept without restrictions. During that same time, the yoked control was permitted to sleep when the depressed-insomniac person slept, but was required to awaken whenever the depressed-insomnic person awakened.

A valid questionnaire for measuring depression was administered at the end of the one-week study. Assume that higher scores on the questionnaire reflect greater depressive symptomatology.

What pattern of results on the depression quesionnaire would one expect if depression were to arise for reasons other than sleeplessness?

Answer 151

normal-sleep control = yoked control < depressed

Question 152

What term is best used to describe the smallest meaningful unit of a language?

Answer 152

Morpheme

Question 153

“Of several responses made to the same situation, those which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction to the animal will, other things being equal, be more firmly connected with the situation…; those which are accompanied or closely followed by discomfort to the animal will, other things being equal, have their connections with that situation weakened.”

The statement above was written by…

Answer 153

…Edward Thorndike

Question 154

According to the DSM-5, children with separation anxiety disorder often experience which of the following symptoms in addition to excessive fear or anxiety over separation from attachment figures?

Answer 154

Excessive concern about the safety and well-being of attachment figures

Question 155

Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess described three categories of infants: easy, difficult, and slow to warm up. These are categories of…

Answer 155

…temperament.

Question 156

Five randomly selected groups of participants are shown a list of words, one word at a time. Each group of participants is assigned a different task to perform on each word on the list. After completing the list, the particpants are given a surprise test for recall of the words. Which of the following assigned tasks is most likely to result in the best recall?

Answer 156

Producing a synonym for each of the words

Question 157

Oligodendrocytes

and

Schwann Cells

Answer 157

Oligodendrocytes in the brain and spinal cord and Schwann cells in the periphery of the body build the myelin sheaths that surround and insulate certain vertebrate axons. They also supply an axon with nutrients necessary for its functioning.

Question 158

Astrocytes

Answer 158

Astrocytes are star-shaped glia that wrap around the presynaptic terminals of a group of functionally related axons. By surrounding a synapse between neurons, an astrocyte shields it from chemicals circulating in the surround. Also, by taking up ions released by axons and then releasing them back, an astrocyte helps synchronize the activity of the axons, enabling them to send messages in waves. Astrocytes also guide the formation and elimination of synapses. They remove waste material created when neurons die and control the amount of blood flow to each brain area. An additional function is that during periods of heightened activity in some brain area, astrocytes dilate the blood vessels to bring more nutrients into that area.

Question 159

Microglia

Answer 159

Tiny glial cells called microglia act as part of the immune system, removing waste material, viruses, and fungi from the brain. They proliferate after brain damage and in most brain diseases. Microglia are necessary for the survival of certain neurons early in life. They also contribute to learning by removing the weakest synapses.

Question 160

Radial Glia

Answer 160

Radial glia guide the migration of neurons and their axons and dendrites during embryonic development. When embryological development finishes, most radial glia differentiate into neurons, and a smaller number differentiate into astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

Question 161

Monocytes

Answer 161

Monocytes are a type of leukocyte, or white blood cell.

Question 162

Endothelial Cells

Answer 162

Endothelial cells form a single cell layer that lines all blood vessels and regulates exchanges between the bloodstream and the surrounding tissues.

Question 163

Hostile Attribution Bias

Answer 163

hostile attribution bias

a general tendency to ascribe harmful or otherwise adverse intent to the ambiguous behavior of others. For example, a child who insists that another child bumped into her on the school playground on purpose when the action in fact was accidental is demonstrating a hostile attribution bias, as is an employee who claims his name was deliberately left off the distribution list for a recent memo despite coworker assurances that the error was inadvertent. This cognitive distortion is associated with such phenomena as aggression, conduct disorders, narcissism, and externalization.

Question 164

Externalization

Answer 164

externalization

n.

1. a defense mechanism in which one’s thoughts, feelings, or perceptions are attributed to the external world and perceived as independent of oneself or one’s own experiences. A common expression of this is projection.
2. the process of learning to distinguish between the self and the environment during childhood.
3. the process by which a drive, such as hunger, is aroused by external stimuli, such as food, rather than by internal stimuli.

Question 165

The action potential is triggered at which part of a neuron?

Answer 165

axon hillock

Question 166

Dendritic Spine

Answer 166

dendritic spine

a mushroom-shaped outgrowth along the dendrite of a neuron, which forms a synapse with the axon terminals of neighboring neurons. Research suggests that neurons develop dendritic spines as part of an organism’s learning process. Also called dendritic thorn.

Question 167

Individuation

Answer 167

individuation

n.

1. generally, the physiological, psychological, and sociocultural processes by which a person attains status as an individual human being and exerts himself or herself as such in the world.
2. in the psychoanalytic theory of Carl Jung, the gradual development of a unified, integrated personality that incorporates greater and greater amounts of the unconscious, both personal and collective, and resolves any conflicts that exist, such as those between introverted and extraverted tendencies.
3. a phase of development, occurring between the 18th and 36th months, in which infants become less dependent on their mothers and begin to satisfy their own wishes and fend for themselves. [postulated by Hungarian-born U.S. child psychoanalyst Margaret Schönberger Mahler (1897–1985)]

Question 168

Impression Formation

Answer 168

impression formation

the process in which an individual develops a schema of some object, person, or group. Early research on impression formation demonstrated that impressions were often influenced by the primacy effect; more recent studies have focused on the roles played in the process by such factors as the perceiver’s cognitive processes (e.g., how readily some types of ideas come to mind) and feelings (e.g., anger can predispose the perceiver to stereotype an individual).

Question 169

Prestige Suggestion

Answer 169

prestige suggestion

1. a message whose persuasiveness derives from its delivery by or attribution to a person of recognized status.
2. a method of supportive, symptomatic treatment that relies on the prestige of the therapist in the eyes of the patient to reduce or eliminate symptoms. The so-called omnipotent therapist may be able to abolish undesirable symptoms, at least temporarily, by suggestion.

Question 170

Symptomatic Treatment

Answer 170

symptomatic treatment

treatment directed toward the relief of distressing symptoms, as opposed to treatment focused on underlying causes and conditions. Symptomatic treatment of chronic migraines, for example, would involve the use of analgesics to relieve pain without attempting to discover why the migraines are occurring.

Question 171

Deindividuation

Answer 171

deindividuation

n. an experiential state characterized by loss of self-awareness, altered perceptions, and a reduction of inner restraints that results in the performance of unusual and sometimes antisocial behavior. It can be caused by a number of factors, such as a sense of anonymity or submersion in a group.

Question 172

Social Categorization

Answer 172

Social categorization is the process through which we group individuals based upon social information. The “Big Three” are sex, race, and age, but numerous other dimensions are categorized as well, such as social status, occupation, and even perceptually ambiguous categories such as sexual orientation.

Question 173

A neuron that receives excitation from other neurons and conducts impulses from its soma in the spinal cord to muscle or gland cells is called a…

Answer 173

…motor neuron.

Question 174

Which of the following approaches to assessment of intelligence is most consistent with the theories of both Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg?

Answer 174

Increasing the emphasis on measuring specific abilities rather than g

Question 175

Flynn Effect

Answer 175

The Flynn effect is the phenomenon of the gradual increase in IQ sores over the last century.

Question 176

Between eight and ten months of age, babies will watch a parent’s face in a new situation before responding to the situation themselves. This monitoring of adults’ emotional reactions is called…

Answer 176

…social referencing.

Question 177

Behavioral Inhibition

Answer 177

behavioral inhibition

a temperamental predisposition characterized by restraint in engaging with the world combined with a tendency to scrutinize the environment for potential threats and to avoid or withdraw from unfamiliar situations or people. It is often related to social anxiety and a predisposition for greater physiological reactivity to novel situations.

Question 178

Synchrony

Answer 178

synchrony

n.

1. the simultaneous occurrence of things or events.
2. the rhythmic coordination of speech and movement that occurs nonconsciously both in and between individuals during communication: In self-synchrony, the individual’s bodily movements (e.g., hand gestures, head movements) tend to be synchronized with his or her own speech; in interactional synchrony, the movements of the listener correspond with the speech and movements of the speaker. The latter term also denotes an interaction between a parent and infant that is characterized by attunement even to small shifts in the responses or signals between them. Parent–infant synchrony in the first months of life has been shown to predict secure attachment in the infant and to promote the child’s later emotional and social development. [originally studied in the 1970s by U.S. psychologist William S. Condon and U.S. psychiatrist Louis W. Sander (1918–2012)]
3. in dance therapy, the act of moving together in harmony, which tends to bring people into greater emotional closeness.

Question 179

Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are most often characteristic of…

Answer 179

…Alzheimer’s disease.

Question 180

Substance-Induced Persisting Amnestic Disorder

Answer 180

substance-induced persisting amnestic disorder

a disturbance in memory due to the persisting effects of a substance (see amnestic disorder). The ability to learn new information or to recall previously learned information is impaired severely enough to interfere markedly with social or occupational functioning and to represent a significant decline from a previous level of functioning.

Question 181

Orienting Reponse

Answer 181

orienting response

1. a behavioral response to an altered, novel, or sudden stimulus, such as turning one’s head toward an unexpected noise. Physiological components of the orienting response have been identified as well, including dilation of pupils and blood vessels and changes in heart rate and electrical resistance of the skin. [described in 1927 by Ivan Pavlov]
2. any response of an organism in relation to the direction of a specific stimulus. Also called orienting reflex.

Question 182

Stages in Bibb Latané and John Darley’s model of helping

Answer 182

1. Noticing
2. Interpretation
3. Perception of responsibility
4. Knowing how to help
5. Deciding to help

Question 183

Which of the following statements about subliminal messages is most accurate?

Answer 183

There is evidence they can influence short-term attitude change.

Question 184

Brain imaging techniques have shown that compared to unaffected individuals, individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia have…

Answer 184

…enlarged ventricles and a reduction of the prefrontal cortex.

Question 185

Research by Solomon Asch supports which of the following?

Answer 185

Conformity increases as group size increases from two people to four or five people.

Question 186

A persistent, unreasonable, and unwanted thought is known as…

Answer 186

…an obsession.

Question 187

Which of the following distinguishes experts from novices in many fields of endeavor?

Answer 187

Speed in recognizing relevant complex patterns

Question 188

Personal Fable

Answer 188

personal fable

a belief in one’s uniqueness and invulnerability, which is an expression of adolescent egocentrism and may extend further into the lifespan. Also called invincibility fable.

Question 189

Adolescent Egocentrism

Answer 189

adolescent egocentrism

the feeling of personal uniqueness often experienced in adolescence; that is, the conviction that one is special and is or should be the constant focus of others’ attention.

Question 190

Imaginary Audience

Answer 190

imaginary audience

the belief of an adolescent that others are constantly focusing attention on him or her, scrutinizing behaviors, appearance, and the like. The adolescent feels as though he or she is continually the central topic of interest to a group of spectators (i.e., an audience) when in fact this is not the case (i.e., an imaginary audience). It is an early adolescent construct reflective of acute self-consciousness and is considered an expression of adolescent egocentrism.

Question 191

Immanent Justice

Answer 191

immanent justice

the belief that rules are fixed and immutable and that punishment automatically follows misdeeds regardless of extenuating circumstances. Children up to the age of 8 equate the morality of an act only with its consequences; not until later do they develop the capacity to judge motive and subjective considerations.

Question 192

The neural hub of the central executive portion of working memory is thought to be located in the…

Answer 192

…prefrontal cortex.

Question 193

A security screener in an airport checks by hand everything that seems suspicious. It is critical that she never let any potentially dangerous item through her security checkpoint. In terms of signal detection theory, this screener is likely to make…

Answer 193

…a large number of hits and a large number of false alarms.

Question 194

A psychologist wishes to compare the performances of an experimental group and a control group on a continuous measure. Which of the following would be the most typical way to make this comparison?

Answer 194

Conducting a t test on the two means

Question 195

Some researchers believe that people acquire a second language better if they learn it prior to adolescence, whereas other researchers believe that people can easily learn most aspects of a second language, even if they are beyond adolescence. However, based on the most frequently observed limitation in second language use, both groups would expect to observe less than native-like competence after adolescence in which of the following?

Answer 195

Pronunciation

Question 196

In a study of a new psychopharmacological treatment for clinical depression, 40 participants diagnosed with depression each received four different amounts of a new medication called Deplow. The first week, they were given a placebo. During the second week of the study, they took 1 mg of Deplow each day. During the third week, they took 3 mg of Deplow each day, and during the fourth week, they took 5 mg of Deplow each day. Although the participants took different amounts of the medication each week, they were not informed about the amount they were taking. The participants also completed a depression symptom checklist at the end of each week. Results are presented below. The score on the checklist could range from 0 to 30, with 0 indicating no depression and 30 indicating severe depression. Assume statistical significance for differences greater than 3.0.

What type of design was used in this study?

Answer 196

Single factor within subjects

Question 197

Conducting a study by analyzing United States census data from previous years is an example of using which of the following research approaches?

Answer 197

Archival analysis

Question 198

An action that a person does for no external reward that intentionally benefits another person is an example of which of the following concepts?

Answer 198

Pure altruism

Question 199

Social Facilitation

Answer 199

social facilitation

the improvement in an individual’s performance of a task that often occurs when others are present. This effect tends to occur with tasks that are uncomplicated or have been previously mastered through practice. There is some disagreement as to whether the improvement is due to a heightened state of arousal, a greater self-awareness, or a reduced attention to unimportant and distracting peripheral stimuli. By contrast, social interference is likely to be seen when the task is complicated, particularly if it is not well learned.

Question 200

Social Interference

Answer 200

social interference

1. any actions that conflict with, obstruct, hamper, or undermine the activities and experiences of others.
2. the reduction of productivity that occurs when individuals work in the presence of others. Compare social facilitation.

Question 201

Interference Theory

Answer 201

interference theory

the hypothesis that forgetting is due to competition from other learning or other memories.

Question 202

Which of the following increases the power of a statistical test?

Answer 202

Changing from a two-tailed to a one-tailed test

Question 203

Statistical Power of a Binary Hypothesis Test

Answer 203

The statistical power of a binary hypothesis test is the probability that the test correctly rejects the null hypothesis when a specific alternative hypothesis is true.