Social sciences

Question 1

Self-determination theory

Answer 1

Theory of motivation which describes three general needs that must be met for a person to have ideal relationships with other people, their environment, and themselves. These are autonomy, or the need to be in control of one’s actions and destiny, competence, or the need to be able to optimally complete tasks and actions, and relatedness, or the need to feel accepted by people and in society.

Question 2

Informal sanction

Answer 2

Actions in response to someone’s behavior that may serve to discourage nonconformity or encourage conformity to a norm, rule, or law.

Question 3

Malthusian theory

Answer 3

The theory that the world population will stabilitize as resources become limited

Question 4

Informal deviance

Answer 4

The violation of informal norms, which have not been written down. The punishment for informal deviance is not well defined.

Question 5

Normative organizations

Answer 5

Organizations that members join based on some shared, moral goal. i.e. the American Red Cross Volunteer Division.

Question 6

Back-stage self

Answer 6

Part of the
dramaturgical perspective
in which the actor is not “performing” and can be themselves, not having to worry about anything other than comfort and personal taste.

Question 7

Cognitive changes in late adulthood

Answer 7

General decline in memory, due to slower encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Question 8

Neural plasticity

Answer 8

Ability of the brain to rewire itself in response to learning new information or to compensate for disease or injury.

Question 9

Stage 3 NREM

Answer 9

Deep sleep; thought to play role in memory/processing and recovery from daily activities. The brain produces delta waves (low-frequency, high-amplitude).

Question 10

Psychotic disorder

Answer 10

Characterized by delusion, hallucination, disorganized thought and behavior, catatonia, or negative symptoms.

Question 11

Reinforcement

Answer 11

Can be either positive or negative. An action or object that results in an increase in behavior, e.g. when treats are given to pets after good behavior.

Question 12

free recall

Answer 12

The process of retrieving information without any cues.

Question 13

depressant

Answer 13

Drugs that work by reducing activity in the central nervous system and, as a result, also reduces physiological processes (lower heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure, for example).

Question 14

Utilitarian organizations

Answer 14

Organizations where members are paid for their efforts. i.e. any business or corporation.

Question 15

Chomsky’s nativist theory

Answer 15

Organizations where members are paid for their efforts. i.e. any business or corporation.

Question 16

gender socialization

Answer 16

The process that is used to teach individuals about norms and behavior appropriate in a social environment based on their assigned gender.

Question 17

Amyloid plaques

Answer 17

Misfolded beta-sheet deposits of the amyloid protein, commonly found in those with Alzheimer’s disease.

Question 18

Secure attachment

Answer 18

Attachment that results when a child has a constant caregiver and is therefore able to explore and learn about the world, knowing he or she has a secure, constant base to return to. This type of attachment is considered crucial to healthy social development.

Question 19

Social identity

Answer 19

A person’s self-concept that is based on membership in a specific social group.

Question 20

Libidio

Answer 20

The life instinct we all have for such things as survival, growth, procreation, and pleasure.
Freud’s psychosexual theory of development
focuses on the desire to reduce libidinal tension in a particular part of the body.

Question 21

associative learning

Answer 21

Learning through connecting two events or objects to each other

Question 22

strain theory

Answer 22

The theory that when an individual cannot achieve a socially accepted goal, they will utilize deviant behavior to reach that goal.

Question 23

Circadian rhythm

Answer 23

The body’s 24-hour sleep-wake cycle.

Question 24

Formal operational stage

Answer 24

Fourth stage of Piaget’s theory. From ages 12 to adulthood. Children have the ability to think in an abstract manner by manipulating ideas.

Question 25

Assimilation

Answer 25

Cognitive process of making new information fit in with the person’s existing understanding of the world.

Question 26

Iconic memory

Answer 26

The visual component of sensory memory.

Question 27

Myopia

Answer 27

Refers to nearsightedness (sometimes called shortsightedness), where distant objects appear blurry. Corrected with a concave lens

Question 28

Stigma

Answer 28

An extreme disapproval of a certain person or group based upon perceived deviations from social norms.

Question 29

Opponent-process theory

Answer 29

Theory of motivation which states that if a certain experience initially provokes an intense reaction, as the experience continues over time, the opposite reaction tends to predominate. This can be exemplified by addiction: the initial pleasurable experiences give way to negative experiences of withdrawal, which induce an addict to keep using.

Question 30

cultural transmission

Answer 30

How a society socializes its members.

Question 31

Long term memory

Answer 31

Ability to retain information for long periods of time (hours to years); no particular limit on number of items.

Question 32

Primary appraisal

Answer 32

Evaluating a stressor as irrelevant, benign-positive, or stressful.

Question 33

Dementia

Answer 33

General term for memory loss and loss of other cognitive abilities.

Question 34

Sensory reception

Answer 34

Process by which a stimulus activates a sensory receptor.

Question 35

Utricle

Answer 35

One of two otolith organs in the inner ear. Role in orientation and static balance, particularly in horizontal tilt.

Question 36

Saccule

Answer 36

One of two otolith organs in the inner ear. Role in orientation and static balance, particularly in vertical tilt.

Question 37

Socialization

Answer 37

The process by which the people and institutions from the society that we are immersed in provide us with input that shape our acquisition of social norms and expectations.

Question 38

Role conflict

Answer 38

Difficulty in fulfilling the expectations of two or more roles at once. For example, imagine a father who is also a youth league baseball coach. As a father, he wants his son to be pitching, but as a coach, he knows another kid deserved the position more than his son

Question 39

Modeling

Answer 39

A form of observational learning where children learn what behaviors are acceptable through observing the actions of others, such as parents or peers

Question 40

Arousal

Answer 40

The level to which one is alert and reactive to stimuli.