Psych/Soc Terms

Question 1

A collection of individuals who share a common location but do not identify as a group

e.g, people who all happen to be at Publix at 11:00AM

Answer 1

aggregates

Question 2

A group that compensates members for their involvement

a university giving you a diploma for attendance

Answer 2

utilitarian organizations

Question 3

A microsociological perspective concerned with the interpersonal interactions through which the subjective meanings that shape social reality are developed

Answer 3

symbolic interactionism

when you see something about creating meaning, it’s likely symb. i

Question 4

Describes the passing of cultural elements from one generation to the next

Answer 4

cultural transmission

Question 5

Describes the process by which extreme efficiency and rationalization produce negative consequences in society i.e reduced quality of products

Answer 5

McDonaldization

Question 6

Reduced power of religion as religious involvement declines

Answer 6

secularization

Question 7

The transmission of society’s values, norms, and practices, including social inequality, from one generation to the next

Answer 7

social reproduction

Question 8

The extent to which religious doctrine is internalized and incorporated into an individual’s life (e.g behaviors & beliefs)

Answer 8

religiosity

Question 9

The unintended result of a social structure

Answer 9

latent functions

e.g contribruiting to social inequality is a latent function of the education system

Question 10

Intended, obvious purpose of a social structure

Answer 10

manifest functions

e.g teaching facts and skills is a manifest function of the education system

Question 11

Refers to whether or not others believe that your power is legitimate

Answer 11

authority

Question 12

A hollistic, multidisciplinary framework for understanding how psychological, biological, and sociocultural factors across a lifetime have a cumulative effect on health outcomes. Considers how personal life events, individual choices/behaviors, & sociocultural and historical context impact health and illness

Answer 12

life course approach to illness

Question 13

Occurs when a conditioned response gradually stops occuring in the abscence of the unconditioned stimulus

i.e a dog that has been conditioned to salivate (conditioned response) in response to the sound of a bell (conditioned stimulus) will gradually stop the salivating to the sound of the bell if that sound is repeatedly presented without food

Answer 13

extinction

Question 14

Name the theory of emotion

Proposed that bodily changes come first and form the basis of an emotional experience. Thus, emotions are caused by bodily sensations (you become happier when you smile, you are afraid because you run)

Answer 14

James-Lange Theory

Question 15

Name the theory of emotion

Emotion results from the interaction between two factors: physiological arousal and cognition. More specifically, this theory claims that physiological arousal is cognitively interpreted within the context of each situation, which ultimately produces the emotional experience.

Answer 15

Schachter-Singer theory

aka the two-factor theory of emotion

Question 16

Name the theory of emotion

states that stimulating events trigger feelings and physical reactions that occur at the same time. For example, seeing a snake might prompt both the feeling of fear (an emotional response) and a racing heartbeat (a physical reaction).

Answer 16

Cannon-Bard theory

Question 17

Name the brain region

Helps coordinate smooth muscle movements

Answer 17

basal ganglia

Question 18

Name the disorder

Characteristics of ____ include attention seeking, risky sexual behavior, & self-injury

Answer 18

borderline personality disorder

Question 19

Name the brain region

Involved in processing visual stimuli. It is the relay station for visual information from the eye to the visual cortex

in the thalamus

Answer 19

Lateral genticulate nucleus

Question 20

Sensory stimuli to the higher thinking.

type of processing

Answer 20

bottum-up processing

Question 21

Perceiving the world around us by drawing from what we already know in order to interpret sensory information

type of processing

Answer 21

top-down processing

Question 22

Members of a social group feeling apprehensive about the possibility of reinforcing negative sterotypes about their group. This makes them behave in ways that inadvertenly conform to these sterotypes.

Answer 22

stereotype threat

Question 23

Women who are told that men do better on a math test are more likely to perform worse on a math test based on what principle/concept?

Answer 23

sterotype threat

Question 24

Includes individuals or groups that influence our opinions, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. They often serve as our role models and inspiration.

Answer 24

Reference group

Question 25

A memory disorder that results from vitamin B1 deficiency and is associated with alcoholism. ____ damages nerve cells and supporting cells in the brain and spinal cord, as well as the part of the brain involved with memory.

Answer 25

Korsakoff’s syndrome

Question 26

The occurrence of the behavior terminates the aversive stimulus. In other words the dog escapes the stimulus by doing another behavior and that behavior is then strengthened.

Answer 26

Escape reinforcement

this is a type of negative reinforcement

Question 27

The goal of ____ is to increase behavior

Answer 27

reinforcement

Question 28

The goal of ____ is to decrease behaviors

Answer 28

punishment

Question 29

True or False

Positive reinforcement AND positve punishment means that you are adding a stimulus

Answer 29

True

And negative reinforcement and negative punishment means you are REMOVING a stimulus

Question 30

Refers to how someone presents themselves in order to control how people perceive them

Answer 30

impression management

Question 31

The neurotransmitter responsible for CNS excitation.

Answer 31

Glutamate

most abundant excitatory NT released by nerve cells in brain

Question 32

Name the neurotransmitter

Responsible for attention, arousal, and excitation (but not in the CNS)

Answer 32

acetylcholine

Question 33

Name the sleep waves

Associated with a relaxed, wakeful state on an EEG

Answer 33

alpha waves

Question 34

Heuristic or retrieval cue?

A 3rd grade student is taking a challenging, timed math quiz. What type of cognitive tool could help them to finish the test on time, regardless of accuracy?

Answer 34

Heuristic. A student may rely on mental shortcuts (heuristics) to increase their chances of finishing the test on time. Retrieval cues have to do with memory recall, which would not help as much on a hard math test

Question 35

Name the developmental stage and its theorist

Occurs between birth and age 2. It is marked by the child discovering the difference between themselves and their environment.

Answer 35

sensorimotor stage

Piaget

Question 36

The ratio of dependents– people younger than 15 or older than 64– to the working-age population – those ages 15-64.

higher ratio = higher burden on economically active population

Answer 36

age dependency ratio

Question 37

An increase in levels of this neurotransmitter would be associated with diharrea due to the increased parasympathetic activity

Answer 37

acetylcholine

parasympathetic system = rest & DIGEST

Question 38

Describes how individuals are likely to experience discomfort when they are holding conflicting or incompatible beliefs about themselves; the actual self, ought self, and ideal self should be in alignment for harmony

Answer 38

self-discrepancy theory

Question 39

True or False

Higher self-efficacy correlates with lower self-esteem

Answer 39

False. Higher self-efficacy (one’s sense of capability) correlates with higher self-esteem (one’s general attitude about one’s worth)

Question 40

Name the brain region

Responsible for all voluntary movement and actions, as well as conscious thought

Answer 40

the cerebrum

Question 41

Otherwise known as kinesthesia, is your body’s ability to sense movement, action, and location

Answer 41

proprioception

Question 42

Name the brain region

Responsible for proprioception and balance

Answer 42

cerebellum