Psych ch. 11&15

Question 1

intelligence test

Answer 1

a method for assess- ing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores.

Question 2

intelligence

Answer 2

mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

Question 3

general intelligence (g)

Answer 3

a general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore mea- sured by every task on an intelligence test.

Question 4

factor analysis

Answer 4

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identi- fy different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score.

Question 5

savant syndrome

Answer 5

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.

Question 6

creativity

Answer 6

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

Question 7

emotional intelligence

Answer 7

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

Question 8

mental age

Answer 8

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of perfor- mance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.

Question 9

Stanford-Binet

Answer 9

the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test.

Question 10

intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 10

defined originally as the ratio of mental age
(ma) to chronological age (ca) multi- plied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca × 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100.

Question 11

achievement tests

Answer 11

a test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Question 12

aptitude tests

Answer 12

a test designed to pre- dict a person’s future performance; apti- tude is the capacity to learn.

Question 13

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Answer 13

the WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.

Question 14

standardization

Answer 14

defining meaningful scores by comparison with the perfor- mance of a pretested group.

Question 15

normal curve

Answer 15

the symmetrical bell- shaped curve that describes the distrib- ution of many physical and psychologi- cal attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes.

Question 16

reliability

Answer 16

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, or on retesting.

Question 17

validity

Answer 17

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is sup- posed to

Question 18

content validity

Answer 18

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest.

Question 19

predictive validity

Answer 19

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior.

Question 20

mental retardation

Answer 20

a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelli- gence score of 70 or below and difficul- ty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound.

Question 21

Down syndrome

Answer 21

a condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.

Question 22

stereotype threat

Answer 22

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

Question 23

personality

Answer 23

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Question 24

free association

Answer 24

a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says what- ever comes to mind, no matter how triv- ial or embarrassing.

Question 25

psychoanalysis

Answer 25

Freud’s theory of per- sonality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and con- flicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

Question 26

unconscious

Answer 26

a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memo- ries. According to contemporary psy- chologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Question 27

id

Answer 27

ontains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

Question 28

ego

Answer 28

the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfy- ing the id’s desires in ways that will real- istically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Question 29

superego

Answer 29

he part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internal- ized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspiration

Question 30

psychosexual stages

Answer 30

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phal- lic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure- seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Question 31

Oedipus complex

Answer 31

a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

Question 32

identification

Answer 32

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

Question 33

fixation

Answer 33

a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.

Question 34

defense mechanisms

Answer 34

the ego’s protective meth- ods of reducing anxiety by unconscious- ly distorting reality.

Question 35

repression

Answer 35

the basic defense mechanism that ban- ishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feel- ings, and memories from consciousness.

Question 36

regression

Answer 36

an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.

Question 37

reaction formation

Answer 37

peo- ple may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

Question 38

projection

Answer 38

people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Question 39

rationalization

Answer 39

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions.

Question 40

displacement

Answer 40

shifts sexual or aggres- sive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet.

Question 41

denial

Answer 41

defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to per- ceive painful realities.

Question 42

collective unconscious

Answer 42

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

Question 43

projective test

Answer 43

looking at stimulus and telling about it

Question 44

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Answer 44

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambigu- ous scenes.

Question 45

Rorschach inkblot test

Answer 45

a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their inter- pretations of the blots.

Question 46

terror–management theory

Answer 46

a theo- ry of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death.

Question 47

self-actualization

Answer 47

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychologi- cal needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential

Question 48

unconditional positive regard

Answer 48

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

Question 49

self-concept

Answer 49

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Question 50

trait

Answer 50

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

Question 51

personality inventory

Answer 51

a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Question 52

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Answer 52

Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still con- sidered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screen- ing purposes.

Question 53

empirically derived test

Answer 53

a test developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups.

Question 54

social-cognitive perspective

Answer 54

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context.

Question 55

reciprocal determinism

Answer 55

the interact- ing influences of behavior, internal cog- nition, and environment.

Question 56

personal control

Answer 56

he extent to which people perceive control over their envi- ronment rather than feeling helpless.

Question 57

external locus of control

Answer 57

the percep- tion that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

Question 58

internal locus of control

Answer 58

the percep- tion that you control your own fate.

Question 59

learned helplessness

Answer 59

the hopeless- ness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

Question 60

positive psychology

Answer 60

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.
“O God, give us grace to ac

Question 61

self

Answer 61

assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Question 62

spotlight effect

Answer 62

overestimating oth- ers’ noticing and evaluating our appear- ance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

Question 63

self-esteem

Answer 63

one’s feelings of high or low self-worth.

Question 64

self-serving bias

Answer 64

a readiness to per- ceive oneself favorably.