psych-soc Flashcards
What is availability heuristic?
Describes an individual using information that is more readily available than other information to form their opinions
What does the instinct theory of motivation posit?
All humans have the same motivations due to our similar biological programming
The motivations stated by the instinct theory of motivation are _________, _________, _________, ________, _________, _________, and _________.
generally unlearned; uniform in expression; universal in the species; unmodifiable; irresistible; automatic; and do not require training.
Valence refers to what?
The value that a person sets on the reinforcements or rewards
The value that a person sets on the reinforcements or rewards are usually based on _______, _______, _______, and _______.
an individual’s values; needs; goals; intrinsic or extrinsic sources of motivation
Instrumentality refers to what?
The notion that a person will get a reward upon the successful completion of the expected performance.
Motivational force refers to what?
The product of the other three Expectancy theory variables; expectancy, valence and instrumentality.
Self efficacy refers to what?
An individual’s belief regarding his own ability to perform a specific behavior.
What does the opponent-process theory of motivation state?
At least some processes (actions) promote opposite physiological responses
Provide an example of the opponent-process theory of motivation being applied
A drug user may consume a stimulant, which speeds up his heart rate and keeps him awake. In response, his body will attempt to slow down his heart rate and promote sedative processes. Over time, this opponent process becomes stronger, causing the individual to need to consume more of the drug to counter its effects.
What are the three primary components of an attitude?
the affective component, the behavioral component, and the cognitive component (think ABC)
According to Erikson’s stages of development, the conflict of initiative vs. guilt is associated with which age range?
3-6 years
The Freudian defense mechanism of displacement involves what?
taking stress out on someone else
The Freudian defense mechanism of regression involves what?
returning to an earlier developmental stage
The Freudian defense mechanism of reaction formation involves what?
turning an unacceptable desire into its opposite.
The Freudian defense mechanism of projection involves what?
placing one’s own uncomfortable feelings onto other people
What is a hidden curriculum (any lessons learned but not openly intended to be taught)?
a side effect of education
What are 3 examples of a hidden curriculum?
cultural norms, values, and beliefs that teachers may convey in the classroom and the surrounding social environment
Social exchange theory posits what?
human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives
What is the rational choice theory?
principle which states that individuals always make logical decisions that provide people with the greatest benefit or satisfaction
Conflict theory posits what?
tensions and conflicts arise when resources, status, or power are unequally distributed between groups in society and that these conflicts become the engine for social change
What is social constructionism?
society is viewed as both a subjective and an objective reality with assumptions people share about the world
What is conflict theory?
based on the premise that all members of society must compete for limited resources
What does the conflict theory suggest?
institutions, including mass media, are put in place to perpetuate inequality between those who control the means of production and those who serve as laborers
What is the sick role?
Individuals who are sick make a genuine effort to recover in order to ultimately resume their previous role in society
Role strain occurs when
an individual feels conflict between different requirements of one role
What is role conflict?
refers to a clash between two separate roles
What are the 6 characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy?
a hierarchy of authority, promotion based on achievement, specialized division of labor, impersonality, written rules of conduct, and efficiency
What is a utilitarian organization?
one that pays its members, typically a business or corporation
What is a normative organization?
composed of volunteers who share a moral purpose or goal
What is a coercive organization?
formed of members who are forced to join
What are ascribed statuses?
conferred by society, often irrespective of the efforts or actions of the individual
What are achieved statuses?
earned by individuals based on merit and actions
What is a confounding variable?
in an experiment, a variable, other than the independent variable, that could influence the dependent variable
What is stigma?
the societal disapproval and judgment of a person or group of people because they do not fit their community’s social norms
What is deindividuation?
a situation where individuals experience a loss of restraint and individual identity that is replaced with mob mentality
What does social constructionism propose?
everything people know as reality is partially, if not entirely, socially situated
What happens during the second stage of the demographic transition?
medical advancements are made and sanitation improves causing death (or mortality) rates to decrease and birth (or fertility) rates to remain high
What is cultural diffusion?
the transfer of cultural elements from one group to another
What is a population pyramid?
a pyramid in which younger age groups are shown on the bottom of the pyramid, while older segments of the population are shown nearer the top
What does a bottom-heavy population pyramid describe?
describes a society in which younger individuals predominate in the population implying that the fertility (birth) rate is greater than the mortality (death) rate
What is the total fertility rate?
the number of births that the average woman in the population will have over her lifetime
What is the crude birth rate?
the number of births per 1,000 individuals in the population over a given time period, typically a year
Serotonin can regulate _____, ____ disorders, and ________ disorders
sleep; mood; appetite
What is an informal norm?
a rule that is not written down
What is a formal norm?
a rule that a government puts in place for people to adhere
What is a more?
a subset of informal norms that refer to relatively important norms
What are 3 definitional features of antisocial personality disorder?
a lack of empathy, remorse, and regard for others
The side effects of agitation, irritability, hallucinations, and aggressive behavior are normally found in what class of drugs?
stimulants
What is one important example of stimulants?
methamphetamine
What are negative symptoms?
symptoms that reflect a lack or absence of one’s baseline experience
What are positive symptoms?
Symptoms that reflect the addition of something extra onto one’s baseline experiences
Schizophrenia is thought to involve [abnormal or inadequate] activation of dopaminergic pathways
abnormal
Parkinson’s disease is caused by [abnormal or inadequate] dopaminergic activity
inadequate
What molecules inhibit the transport of synaptic serotonin back into the presynaptic neuron allowing it to remain in the synaptic cleft for an extended period of time?
SSRIs
What are somatic disorders?
psychological disorders characterized by physical symptoms that cause significant stress to the patient
Conversion disorder is an example of what kind of disorder?
Somatic disorder
Antisocial personality disorder refers to what?
a pervasive pattern of disregarding the rights of others, often manifesting in violence and a sense of remorse
What are delusions?
immutable convictions held by people despite clear evidence that disproves these convictions
What is an exception to the definition of delusions?
religious or cultural beliefs
The brain areas that process linguistic information (both production and comprehension) are lateralized in what hemisphere?
left hemisphere
What is the shadowing task?
the inputs to which subjects must attend
Based on the standardization system used to score IQ, the Wechsler Scales of Intelligence (WISC) scores are “normalized” to a mean of ___ and a standard deviation of __
100; 15
What is the primary function of the hypothalamus?
to maintain homeostatic equilibrium
What are the two major symptoms for one to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder?
depressed mood (sadness) or lack of pleasure (anhedonia)
What does Brofenbenner’s model state?
systems are related and an issue at a community level can impact individuals
What does the Cannon-Bard theory posit?
the physiological arousal associated with emotion and subjective feeling of emotion itself arise from separate and independent areas of brain
What does the Schacter-Singer theory posit?
the emotion is the result of the brain assessing the context of the physiological arousal experienced in the body
What does the James-Lange theory posit?
the emotion follows from and is directly caused by the physiological arousal experienced
What is confirmation bias?
refers to the tendency to look for information that supports rather than rejects one’s hypothesis
What age range corresponds to the preoperational stage of Piaget’s stages?
2-7 year olds
What age range corresponds to the concrete operational stage of Piaget’s stages?
7-12 year olds
What age range corresponds to the formal operational stage of Piaget’s stages?
12-adulthood
At what stage of Piaget’s stages are children able to understand the perspectives of others?
formal operational stage
Social science protocols require what?
self-reporting
What is projection?
a defense mechanism in which a threatening urge or quality is ascribed to others rather than to oneself
What is the drive-reduction theory?
humans are motivated to satisfy physiological needs in order to maintain homeostasis
Cognitive theories focus on what?
the thoughts that are associated with given phenomena
Cognitive theories of motivation focus on what?
how a person’s thoughts affect their motivation to carry out certain tasks
What is REM rebound?
the increase in frequency and depth of REM stage sleep after sleep deprivation
What is anticipatory socialization?
the process by which individuals prepare themselves for their future roles by learning the values and standards of their new group
What is secondary socialization?
the process by which further socialization occurs from groups outside the family, such as the community or school
What is resocialization?
a deliberate process by which an individual learns new social behaviors and norms
What is primary socialization?
the process by which children learn behavioral patterns from the family that are appropriate in the larger society
In Stage 1 sleep, an EEG shows what?
alpha waves and the start of theta wave activity
In Stage 2 sleep, what appears on an EEG?
theta waves continue to appear on an EEG, but are now interspersed with K-complexes, single high-amplitude, low-frequency theta waves, and sleep spindles
In Stage 3 sleep, an EEG shows what?
delta waves
During REM sleep, the EEG pattern shows what?
beta waves, similar to the pattern seen during wakefulness
Slow-wave sleep, also known as deep sleep, contains what?
non-REM sleep
How can the correct response be unambiguously made to a test subject?
shaping procedure
What is instinctual drift?
the phenomenon whereby established habits, learned using operant techniques, eventually are replaced by innate food-related behaviors
The capacity for ___________ ________ __________ is unaffected by aging
retrieving general information
The capacity for ___________ ________ __________ is unaffected by aging
retrieving general information
Episodic information consists of what?
the declarative information people have of specific experiences
Music is an important part of _______ ________
popular culture
Agents of socialization refer to what?
parts of society that are important for socialization
What is socialization?
the process of learning the norms and values in a society
What is cultural transmission?
culture is passed along from generation to generation through various childrearing practices
What is proximal stimulus?
the stimulus registered by the sensory receptors
What is Gestalt psychology?
the theoretical approach that emphasized the idea that the ways in which people’s perceptual experience is organized result from how human brains are organized
Psychophysical testing methods directly assess what?
our perception of stimuli in relation to their true physical properties
According to Kohlberg’s theory, promoting social welfare indicates what?
moral reasoning at the postconventional level
Depriving the subject of some undesirable stimulus item for a period of time is usually used, in operant conditioning studies, for what purpose?
to operationally define the subject’s motivational state
Monozygotic twins are [identical or fraternal] twins & that dizygotic twins are [identical or fraternal] twins
identical; fraternal
Sensitive period identifies what?
a point in early development that can have a significant influence on physiological or behavioral functioning in later life
The incentive theory of motivation calls attention to what?
how factors outside of individuals, including community values and other aspects of culture, can motivate behavior
Social epidemiology focuses on what?
the contribution of social and cultural factors to disease patterns in populations
Cultural capital refers to what?
knowledge, skills, education, and similar characteristics used to make social distinctions and associated with differences in social status
Social cognitive theory suggests that…
behaviors are learned through observing others and modeling their actions
Intersectionality calls attention to what?
how identity categories intersect in systems of social stratification
An individual’s position within a social hierarchy being determined not only by his or her social class, but also by his or her race/ethnicity is an example of _______________
intersectionality
Intersectionality can also refer to what?
intersections involving other identity categories such as age, gender, or sexual orientation
What is an fMRI?
an imaging technique that measures brain activity by detecting associated changes in blood flow
Stage 2 of sleep is characterized by what?
sleep spindles
Children in Piaget’s preoperational stage are typically between the ages of what?
2-6 or 7
True or False: The cerebellum is a primary structure of the reward system
False, the cerebellum is not a primary structure of the reward system
From an evolutionary standpoint, why have humans developed a preference for high caloric foods?
they are a good source of fuel in the form of fat
Name the part of the retina that contains a high density of cones for daytime vision
fovea
Name of the retina that contains a high density of rods
periphery
What is counterbalancing?
a method to control for any effect that the order of presenting stimuli might have on the dependent variable
What is emotional flattening with regards to schizophrenia?
a negative symptom of schizophrenia
What are negative symptoms defined as?
the absence of appropriate behaviors and emotion
Negative priming requires the use of what type of memory?
implicit memory
What are neuroleptics?
the first antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia and are effective in treating positive symptoms
The side effects of neuroleptics include __________ ________, which can exacerbate [positive or negative] symptoms
cognitive dulling; negative
What is fluid intelligence?
the ability to think on one’s feet, be adaptable, and solve problems using deductive and inductive reasoning
Both schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease are characterized by what?
cognitive dysfunction
Personality traits like neuroticism [do or do not] predict interpersonal attraction
do not
___ _______ occurs after being REM-deprived the night before
REM rebound
What is the name of the brain structure that controls the pituitary gland, initiating the stress response?
the hypothalamus
What is dichotic listening?
the presentation of two different auditory messages, one to each ear
Social construction of race refers to what?
the idea that there is little biological basis for race (or ethnicity)
NMDA receptors are a subtype of _________ receptor
glutamate
The pheromone is detected by what type of neurons?
chemosensory neurons
Self-verification refers to what?
the tendency to seek out (and agree with) information that is consistent with one’s self-concept
The Five Factor model features what five traits?
extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience
Serotonin is involved in the regulation of both ____ (specifically, aggression) and ________ (it is also used to regulate intestinal movements)
mood; appetite
Role strain refers to what?
stress from different expectations associated with a single role
Symbolic interactionism is most directly related to what?
studying social practices and rituals
Fundamental attribution error refers to what?
an observer’s bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining another person’s behavior
What are latent functions?
aspects of a social institution that may serve an unacknowledged purpose
What is sensory interaction?
the idea that one sensory modality (e.g., vision) may influence another (e.g., balance)
When does closure, one of the Gestalt principle of perceptual grouping, occur?
when people perceive objects that are incomplete as complete
The need for reassurance is an individual characteristic that leads to what?
isolation
What is signal detection theory?
the detection of a stimulus is not only dependent on its strength, but also on the psychological state of the individual
What happens when an individual has a severed corpus callosum?
images projected to a visual field are represented in the opposite hemisphere of the brain
How do people behave when they experience cognitive dissonance?
they tend to change their attitudes to match their behaviors, rather than change their behavior
What are the characteristics of a child during Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
a child is incapable of abstract thought
What are the characteristics of a child during Piaget’s preoperational stage?
children are imaginative and unable to reconcile errors in their thinking such as errors in a conservation task
What is altruism?
doing something for others without the expectation of receiving anything in return
When is group affiliation likely to be greatest?
when the members or participants in the group share similar outlooks, knowledge, preferences, skills, and other aspects of cultural capital
The distress criterion takes into account of what?
whether the behavior demonstrates unusual or prolonged levels of stress
The maladaptiveness criterion takes into account of what?
whether the behavior negatively impacts the person’s life or poses a threat to others
The statistical deviancy criterion takes into account of what?
whether the behavior is statistically rare
The violation of social norms criterion takes into account of what?
whether the behavior violates social norms
Adolescents struggle with ________ _____ ____ _________ according to Erikson’s theory
identity versus role confusion
Young adults struggle with ________ _____ _________ according to Erikson’s theory
intimacy versus isolation
A middle-aged person struggles with ____________ _____ __________ according to Erikson’s theory
generativity versus stagnation
An elderly person struggles with _________ _____ _______ according to Erikson’s theory
integrity versus despair
Gender socialization refers to what?
the learning of norms and values associated with masculinity or femininity
Gender norms related to masculinity include what?
the encouragement of high-risk behaviors
An attitude is comprised of what three components?
cognitive, affective, and behavioral
The behavioral component of an attitude consists of what?
the typical responses made when the individual is in the presence of the attitude object
The cognitive component of an attitude consists of what?
an individual’s beliefs about the attitude object
The affective component of an attitude consists of what?
the emotional experience evoked by the attitude object
What is a longitudinal study?
one that permits comparison of identical measures (including with the same group of participants) at two or more points in time
How is implicit memory tested?
by observing a participant’s performance on a task that does not involve any type of recall or recognition (i.e., on an indirect memory task)
Retrieving autobiographical information is an important type of what memory?
episodic memory
Semantic memory refers to what?
the processing of general world knowledge
Procedural memory is a form of what type of memory?
implicit memory
Alcohol dependence is most strongly indicated by what?
withdrawal symptoms
True or False: Impulsivity is one of the factors identified in Cattell’s Five Factor (the BIG Five) theory
False
True or False: Agreeableness is one of the personality traits identified in Cattell’s Five Factor (BIG Five) theory
True
What is overextension?
applying a term for one class of objects to other objects that bear only a superficial resemblance
What is bootstrapping?
refers to the initial stage(s) of grammatical (i.e., syntactic) development
Shaping involves what?
successive approximations of a behavior and is utilized to establish a novel behavior
Using the distance from the object of focus as a depth cue is associated with what?
retinal disparity
Retinal disparity is a [monocular or binocular] depth cue
binocular
Healthcare utilization and health-seeking behaviors are likely to be affected whenever a disease or disorder is ___________
stigmatized
Dementia is an ________ condition, and [is or is not] an inevitable result of normal aging
abnormal; is not
What is medicalization?
the process in which a social problem comes to be defined as a disease or disorder
What is tolerance?
a need to increase dosage to obtain the desired previous effect
Disinhibition is associated with what and often leads to what?
binge drinking; risk taking
Availability heuristic has to do with what?
schemas and memory
The bystander effect has to do with what?
intervening in social situations
Collective efficacy assessed what?
respondents’ perceptions that members of their community would help one another out
Self-efficacy refers to what?
a person’s belief in his or her ability to accomplish tasks
The concept of assimilation proposes what?
that an immigrant group will eventually adopt the customs (norms, values, etc.) of the majority group in a society
Auditory hair cells are classified under what type of receptors?
mechanoreceptors
What is spreading activation?
the representation of presented words to semantically related words
Depth of processing is generally used to explain what?
superior episodic memory with increasing depth of the encoding task
Social reproduction refers to what?
the perpetuation of inequalities through social institutions (like educational systems or the economy)
Institutional discrimination refers to what?
differential treatment of sociodemographic groups that is due to institutional culture or policies (rather than individual actions)
Social stratification refers to what?
the objective social hierarchy in a society (according to social group characteristics)
What is confirmation bias?
the tendency to favor information that confirms existing beliefs, both in the search for evidence and in the interpretation of evidence
Is parental concealment a social interaction factor or a cognitive processing factor?
a social interaction factor
According to sociology, what is an organization?
a (relatively) formal group with an identifiable membership that engages in concerted action to achieve a common purpose
Bodily postures, movements, and gestures are ________ _______ and ___________ ________
socially learned; culturally variable
The physical response to the original traumatic event was the _____________ ________
unconditioned response
What is the Gestalt grouping principle of proximity?
when characters are seen as interlinked due to their spatial contiguity with one another
What is the Gestalt grouping principle of continuity?
some portion of a visual stimulus is occluded and the unseen portion is inferred as continuous with the visible portion
The Gestalt grouping principle of common fate refers to what?
the observation that elements that are moving together tend to be perceived as a unified group
In which cerebral hemisphere are linguistic abilities lateralized?
left hemisphere
Institutional discrimination is a relevant factor under what circumstances?
when procedure utilization differs by race
What is psychological repression?
the process of suppressing a thought or desire in oneself so that it remains mostly unconscious
What is sublimation?
a type of defense mechanism where socially unacceptable behaviors are unconsciously transformed into acceptable ones
The inferiority complex is associated with the theory of whom?
Alfred Adler
What is the putamen?
a large structure located within the corpus striatum
The putamen is involved in what?
a complex feedback loop that prepares and aids in limb movements
What does the James-Lange theory state?
we experience emotions as a result of our physiological response to events
What dos the Cannon-Bard theory posit?
we feel emotions and experience physiological symptoms simultaneously
What does the Schacter-Singer theory state?
models emotion first as a physiological response followed by an interpretation of that response to context
There are how many amygdalae per person normally?
two, with one amygdala on each side of the brain
The amygdala are located within what specific lobes?
the temporal lobes
What does the James-Lange theory state?
specific emotions are elicited by stimuli that produce specific physiological reactions, which are transmitted as sensory information to the brain via the spinal cord
An antiemetic that prevents a recurrence of N/V is [inhibiting an undesirable stimulus or adding a desirable stimulus]
inhibiting an undesirable stimulus
What is a conditioned taste aversion?
a specific and powerful type of classical conditioning that occurs when an organism becomes ill after consuming something
When does extinction occur?
when a conditioned response gradually stops occurring in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus
Acquisition refers to what?
the learning that takes place as an association is formed between the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus
When does stimulus generalization occur?
when the conditioned response is elicited by stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus
When does spontaneous recovery occur?
when an extinct response reappears after a period of time
What is secularization?
reduced power of religion as religion involvement declines
Religiosity refers to what?
the extent to which a religious doctrine is internalized and incorporated into an individual’s life
What are manifest functions?
intended, obvious purposes of a social structure
What are latent functions?
unintended results of a social structure
What dos the signal detection theory quantify?
how judgements or decisions are made under uncertain conditions amid noise
What is an instinct?
an innate, fixed pattern of behavior that is complex
What does an instinctive drift describe?
an animal’s innate behaviors overshadowing a learned behavior
Comorbidity refers to what?
the simultaneous presentation of two or more psychological disorders
What is the alternative hypothesis?
based on prior evidence and assumes that a significant relationship or difference exists between variables
What does the null hypothesis state?
there is no significant difference or relationship between the variables measured
What is the age range corresponding to Erikson’s generativity vs. stagnation?
middle adulthood, or 40-65.
Erikson’s generativity vs. stagnation is marked by what?
feelings of productivity for individuals who have made successful contributions to society and feelings of stagnation for those who have not
When does role conflict occur?
when expectations for two or more roles simultaneously held by an individual are in competition, producing tension
When does role strain occur?
when a single role involves multiple competing expectations that produce tension
Humanistic psychology emphasizes what?
the higher aspects of human nature, including the drive toward self-actualization and personal growth
What does the appraisal theory state?
one’s appraisal of a stimulus determines one’s emotional response
In a primary appraisal, an individual classifies a stimulus as what?
an individual classifies a stimulus as threatening, positive, or irrelevant
Under what circumstances does a secondary appraisal take place?
in which the individual evaluates whether their resources/abilities are sufficient to cope with the stressor
What is social capital?
the value embedded in social networks, the ability to call in favors, and the ability to rely on others for support in difficult circumstances
What is negative reinforcement?
removes an unpleasant factor that was previously present to encourage a behavior to be repeated
What is positive punishment?
adds an unpleasant consequence that was not previously present to discourage a behavior from being repeated
What is sexual dysfunction?
difficulty experienced by an individual or a couple during any stage of sexual activity
What is gender dysphoria?
the feeling of stress or discomfort in which one’s sense of one’s gender does not align with the gender assigned at birth
What is a racial barrier item?
assesses racial adversity in society
What is racial centrality?
the extent to which one’s race is an important part of the person’s overall self-concept
What is an independent samples t-test used for?
to compare mean values of two unrelated groups
