Unit 4 Flashcards
Personality Psychology
Book:The scientific study of personality and its development, structure, traits, processes, variations, and disordered forms (personality disorders).
IMOW: The study of individual differences in thinking, feeling, and behavior.
Social Psychology
Book: The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.
IMOW: The study of how people influence and interact with one another.
Person Perception
Book: How we form impressions of ourselves and others, including attributions of behavior.
IMOW: How we form impressions and make judgments about others.
Attribution Theory
Book: The theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation (a situational attribution) or the person’s stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution).
IMOW: Explains how people determine the causes of behavior, either situational or personal.
Fundamental Attribution Error
Book: The tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.
IMOW: The tendency to blame others’ actions on their personality rather than the situation.
Actor-Observer Bias
Book: The tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external causes, but for observers to attribute others’ behavior to internal causes. This contributes to the fundamental attribution error (which focuses on our explanations for others’ behavior).
IMOW: We blame our own actions on the situation but others’ actions on their personality.
Prejudice
Book: An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.
IMOW: A negative attitude toward a group based on stereotypes.
Stereotype
Book: A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people.
IMOW: A generalized belief about a group of people.
Discrimination
Book: Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members.
IMOW: Acting unfairly toward people based on group membership.
Just-World Phenomenon
Book: The tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
IMOW: The belief that people get what they deserve.
Social Identity
Book: The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships.
IMOW: The part of our self-concept based on group memberships.
Ingroup
Book: “Us” — people with whom we share a common identity.
IMOW: A group we identify with and feel connected to.
Outgroup
Book: “Them” — those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.
IMOW: A group we see as different from our own.
Ingroup Bias
Book: The tendency to favor our own group.
IMOW: Favoring our own group over others.
Scapegoat Theory
Book: The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.
IMOW: Blaming an outgroup for problems to relieve frustration.
Other-Race Effect
Book: The tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races. Also called the cross-race effect and the own-race bias.
IMOW: The tendency to better recognize faces of our own race.
Attitudes
Book: Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.
IMOW: Feelings and beliefs that influence our reactions to things.
Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon
Book: The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
IMOW: The tendency to agree to a larger request after agreeing to a small one.
Role
Book: A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.
IMOW: A set of expectations about how a person should behave in a situation.
Leon Festinger
A social psychologist best known for developing cognitive dissonance theory, which explains how people experience psychological discomfort when their beliefs and behaviors conflict, leading them to change one to reduce the inconsistency. He also studied social comparison theory, which suggests people evaluate themselves by comparing to others. His work greatly influenced social psychology by explaining attitude change and decision-making.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Book: The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.
IMOW: The discomfort we feel when our actions and beliefs don’t match, leading us to change one.
Persuasion
Book: Changing people’s attitudes, potentially influencing their actions.
IMOW: The act of convincing someone to think or act differently.
Peripheral Route Persuasion
Book: Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness.
IMOW: Influencing people using superficial cues (like attractiveness or celebrity endorsements).
Central Route Persuasion
Book: Occurs when interested people’s thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments.
IMOW: Persuasion using facts, logic, and reason.
Norms
Book: A society’s understood rules for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior in individual and social situations.
IMOW: Social rules that guide behavior.
Solomon Asch
A social psychologist known for his conformity experiments, which demonstrated how individuals often go along with a group’s incorrect answer despite knowing it’s wrong. His research highlighted the power of normative social influence, showing that people conform to fit in or avoid social rejection. His work shaped the study of group dynamics and social pressure.
Conformity
Book: Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.
IMOW: Adjusting behavior or thinking to fit a group.
Normative Social Influence
Book: Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.
IMOW: Conforming to be liked or accepted.
Informational Social Influence
Book: Influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality.
IMOW: Conforming because we believe others know better.
Obedience
Book: Complying with an order or a command.
IMOW: Following direct orders from an authority figure.
Stanley Milgram
A social psychologist best known for his obedience experiments, which showed that people are likely to follow authority figures even when instructed to harm others. His study, where participants believed they were delivering electric shocks to a learner, revealed the power of authority and situational factors in influencing behavior. His work remains influential in understanding compliance, ethics, and human behavior under authority.
Social Facilitation
Book: In the presence of others, improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks, and worsened performance on difficult tasks.
IMOW: Performing better on easy tasks when others are watching.
Social Loafing
Book: The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable.
IMOW: Putting in less effort when working in a group.
Diendividuation
Book: The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.
IMOW: Losing self-awareness in a group, leading to impulsive behavior.
Group Polarization
Book: The enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.
IMOW: Group discussions strengthen the group’s existing opinions.
Groupthink
Book: The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.
IMOW: When a group values harmony over critical thinking.
Culture
Book: The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
IMOW: Shared beliefs, behaviors, and traditions of a group.
Tight Culture
Book: A place with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms.
IMOW: A culture with strict rules and little tolerance for deviance.
Loose Culture
Book: A place with flexible and informal norms.
IMOW: A culture with more relaxed rules and tolerance for differences.
Aggression
Book: Any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally.
IMOW: Behavior intended to harm someone.
Frustration-Aggression Principle
Book: The principle that frustration the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goals creates anger, which can generate aggression.
IMOW: Frustration increases the likelihood of aggression.
Social Script
Book: A culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.
IMOW: Learned cultural behaviors for specific situations.
Mere Exposure Effect
Book: The tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them.
IMOW: The more we see something, the more we like it.
Passionate Love
Book: An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a romantic relationship.
IMOW: Intense emotional and physical attraction.
Companionate Love
Book: The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.
IMOW: Deep, committed love that grows over time.
Equity
Book: A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it.
IMOW: Fairness in relationships where both give and receive equally.
Self-Disclosure
Book: The act of revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to others.
IMOW: Sharing personal information to build trust in relationships.
Altruism
Book: Unselfish regard for the welfare of others.
IMOW: Helping others without expecting anything in return.
John Darley
A social psychologist best known for his research on the bystander effect, which explains why individuals are less likely to help in emergencies when others are present. Along with Bibb Latané, he conducted studies showing that diffusion of responsibility and social influence reduce the likelihood of intervention. His work significantly advanced understanding of prosocial behavior and emergency response.
Bibb Latané
A social psychologist best known for his work with John Darley on the bystander effect, which showed that people are less likely to help in emergencies when others are present due to diffusion of responsibility. He also developed social impact theory, which explains how group size, strength, and immediacy influence individual behavior. His research shaped the study of social influence and group dynamics.
Bystander Effect
Book: The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.
IMOW: The more people around, the less likely someone is to help.
Social Exchange Theory
Book: The theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.
IMOW: We help others when the benefits outweigh the costs.
Reciprocity Norm
Book: An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.
IMOW: The expectation that we should return favors.
Social-Responsibility Norm
Book: An expectation that people will help those needing their help.
IMOW: The expectation that we help those in need.
Conflict
Book: A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.
IMOW: A disagreement or struggle between opposing forces.
Social Trap
Book: A situation in which two parties, by each pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.
IMOW: When individuals harm the group by acting in their own interest.
Mirror-Image Perceptions
Book: Mutual views often held by conflicting parties, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive.
IMOW: Each side in a conflict sees the other as bad.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Book: A belief that leads to its own fulfillment.
IMOW: A belief that causes itself to come true.
Superordinate Goals
Book: Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.
IMOW: Shared goals that unite opposing groups.
GRIT
Book: Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction; a strategy designed to decrease international tensions.
IMOW: A strategy for reducing conflict through gradual trust-building.
Personality
Book: An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.
IMOW: A person’s unique way of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Psychodynamic Theories
Book: Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious mind and the importance of childhood experiences.
IMOW: Theories that emphasize the unconscious mind and childhood experiences.
Psychoanalysis
Book: Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.
IMOW: Freud’s theory and method of exploring the unconscious.
Sigmund Freud
The founder of psychoanalysis and developed theories about the unconscious mind, psychosexual development, and personality structure (id, ego, superego). He believed that unconscious conflicts and childhood experiences shape behavior. Freud also introduced defense mechanisms and methods like free association and dream analysis to explore the unconscious. His work heavily influenced psychology, though many of his ideas remain controversial.
Unconscious
Book: According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.
IMOW: Hidden thoughts and desires that influence behavior.
Free Association
Book: In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.
IMOW: A method to explore the unconscious by saying whatever comes to mind.
Id
Book: 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.
IMOW: The part of the personality that seeks pleasure.
Ego
Book: The partly conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.
IMOW: The rational part that balances the id and superego.
Superego
Book: The partly conscious part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.
IMOW: The moral part of personality.
Defense Mechanisms
Book: In psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.
IMOW: Strategies to reduce anxiety by distorting reality.
Repression
Book: In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
IMOW: Pushing painful memories into the unconscious.
Alfred Adler
A psychologist who founded individual psychology and emphasized the importance of social relationships, inferiority complexes, and striving for superiority in shaping personality. He believed that people are motivated by a desire to overcome feelings of inferiority and achieve personal growth. Adler also introduced the concept of birth order’s influence on personality and stressed the role of social interest in well-being.
Karen Horney
A psychoanalyst who challenged Freud’s theories, especially his views on women and personality development. She proposed that personality is shaped more by social and cultural factors than by biological drives. Horney introduced the concepts of basic anxiety, stemming from childhood insecurity, and neurotic needs, patterns of coping with stress. She also rejected Freud’s penis envy theory, arguing that womb envy (men’s envy of women’s ability to give birth) could be just as influential.
Carl Jung
A psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology and introduced the concept of the collective unconscious, a shared reservoir of memories and archetypes inherited from humanity’s past. He believed in archetypes (universal symbols like the Hero and the Shadow) and developed the concepts of introversion and extraversion, which influenced personality psychology. Jung’s work extended beyond Freud’s focus on personal unconscious conflicts, emphasizing spiritual and symbolic aspects of the mind.
Collective Unconscious
Book: Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.
IMOW: Jung’s idea of shared, inherited memories.
Terror-Management Theory
Book: A theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death.
IMOW: How awareness of death affects behavior.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Book: A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.
IMOW: A projective test using pictures.
Projective Test
Book: A personality test, such as the TAT or Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics and explore the preconscious and unconscious mind.
IMOW: A personality test that reveals unconscious thoughts.
Rorschach Inkblot Test
Book: A projective test designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots.
IMOW: A test where people interpret inkblots.
Abraham Maslow
A humanistic psychologist best known for developing the hierarchy of needs, which describes human motivation as a progression from basic survival needs to higher psychological and self-fulfillment goals. He emphasized self-actualization, the drive to reach one’s full potential, and later added self-transcendence as the highest level of growth. Maslow’s work shifted psychology’s focus toward positive human potential and well-being.
Humanistic Theories
Book: Theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth.
IMOW: Theories that focus on personal growth and self-actualization.
Hierarchy of Needs
Book: Maslow’s levels of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs. Often visualized as a pyramid, with needs nearer the base taking priority until they are satisfied.
IMOW: Maslow’s model of human motivation.
Self-Actualization
Book: According to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.
IMOW: Reaching one’s full potential.
Self-Transcendence
Book: According to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self.
IMOW: Going beyond the self for a higher purpose.
Carl Rogers
A humanistic psychologist who developed person-centered therapy and emphasized the importance of unconditional positive regard, self-concept, and personal growth. He believed people have an innate drive toward self-actualization and that a supportive, accepting environment fosters psychological well-being. His client-centered approach revolutionized therapy by focusing on empathy, genuineness, and active listening.
Unconditional Positive Regard
Book: A caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance. (Also known as unconditional regard.)
IMOW: Accepting someone without judgment.
Self-Concept
Book: All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”
IMOW: How we see ourselves.
Trait
Book: A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.
IMOW: A stable characteristic that influences behavior.
Personality Inventory
Book: How A questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.
IMOW: A questionnaire that measures personality traits.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
Book: The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.
IMOW: A widely used personality test.
Empirically Derived Test
Book: A test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups.
IMOW: A test created by selecting questions that differentiate between groups based on data.
Robert McCrae
A psychologist best known for co-developing the Big Five personality traits model with Paul Costa. Their research identified five key dimensions of personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN). McCrae’s work emphasized that personality traits are relatively stable across the lifespan and have a biological basis.
Paul Costa
A psychologist best known for co-developing the Big Five personality traits model with Robert McCrae. Their research identified five core dimensions of personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN). Costa’s work focused on personality stability over time and the role of genetics in shaping individual differences.
Big Five Factors
Book: Five traits openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism that describe personality. (Also called the five-factor model.)
IMOW: Five main personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN).
Social-Cognitive Perspective
Book: A view of behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context.
IMOW: The idea that personality is shaped by a combination of thoughts, behavior, and the environment.
Albert Bandura
A psychologist known for his work on social-cognitive theory and observational learning. He conducted the Bobo doll experiment, demonstrating that children learn behaviors by watching others. Bandura also introduced the concept of reciprocal determinism, which explains how behavior, personal factors, and environment interact. He emphasized self-efficacy, the belief in one’s ability to succeed, as a key factor in motivation and behavior.
Behavioral Approach
Book: Focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development.
IMOW: The idea that personality is shaped by learned behaviors and environmental experiences.
Reciprocal Determinism
Book: The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.
IMOW: Bandura’s idea that behavior, personal traits, and the environment all influence each other.
William James
A psychologist and philosopher known as the father of American psychology. He helped develop functionalism, which focused on how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environment. James also wrote The Principles of Psychology and introduced key concepts like the James-Lange theory of emotion, which suggests emotions arise from physiological responses. His work influenced psychology, philosophy, and the study of consciousness.
Self
Book: In modern psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
IMOW: A person’s sense of identity and personal awareness.
Spotlight Effect
Book: Overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).
IMOW: The tendency to overestimate how much others notice us.
Self-Esteem
Book: Our feelings of high or low self-worth.
IMOW: A person’s overall sense of self-worth.
Self-Efficacy
Book: Our sense of competence and effectiveness
IMOW: Confidence in one’s ability to succeed at a task.
Self-Serving Bias
Book: A readiness to perceive ourselves favorably.
IMOW: The tendency to credit successes to ourselves and blame failures on external factors.
Narcissism
Book: Excessive self-love and self-absorption.
IMOW: Excessive self-focus, self-importance, and lack of empathy for others.
Individualism
Book: A cultural pattern that emphasizes people’s own goals over group goals and defines identity mainly in terms of unique personal attributes.
IMOW: A cultural focus on personal independence and self-achievement.
Collectivism
Book: A cultural pattern that prioritizes the goals of important groups (often one’s extended family or work group).
IMOW: A cultural focus on group harmony, loyalty, and social connections.
Motivation
Book: A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.
IMOW: The drive to start, direct, and maintain behavior to reach a goal.
Instinct
Book: A complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned.
IMOW: A natural, unlearned behavior that helps with survival.
Physiological Need
Book: A basic bodily requirement.
IMOW: A basic survival requirement like food, water, or sleep.
Drive-Reduction Theory
Book: The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.
IMOW: The idea that we act to reduce internal discomfort caused by unmet needs.
Homeostasis
Book: A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.
IMOW: The body’s way of maintaining balance and stability (like regulating body temperature).
Incentive
Book: A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.
IMOW: A reward or punishment that influences behavior.
Yerkes-Dodson Law
Book: The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.
IMOW: The idea that a moderate level of arousal leads to the best performance, while too much or too little hurts performance.
Affiliation Need
Book: The need to build and maintain relationships and to feel part of a group.
IMOW: The human need to form and maintain relationships.
Self-Determination Theory
Book: The theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
IMOW: The theory that people thrive when they feel autonomous, competent, and connected to others.
Intrinsic Motivation
Book: The desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.
IMOW: Doing something because you enjoy it rather than for a reward.
Extrinsic Motivation
Book: The desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment.
IMOW: Doing something for an external reward or to avoid punishment.
Ostracism
Book: Deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups.
IMOW: Being socially excluded or ignored by a group.
Achievement Motivation
Book: A desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard.
IMOW: The desire for success, mastery, or personal improvement.
Grit
Book: In psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.
IMOW: Passion and perseverance in achieving long-term goals.
Walter Cannon
A physiologist best known for developing the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, which suggests that physiological responses and emotions occur simultaneously, rather than one causing the other. He also introduced the concept of homeostasis, the body’s ability to maintain internal stability, and coined the term fight-or-flight response to describe how the body reacts to stress. His work greatly influenced the study of emotion and physiological regulation.
Glucose
Book: The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.
IMOW: A type of sugar that fuels the body and brain.
Set Point
Book: The point at which the “weight thermostat” may be set. When the body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight.
IMOW: The body’s ideal weight range, which it tries to maintain through metabolism and hunger signals.
Basal Metabolic Rate
Book: The body’s resting rate of energy output.
IMOW: The rate at which the body burns energy while at rest.
Obesity
Book: Defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher, which is calculated from our weight-to-height ratio. (Individuals who are overweight have a BMI of 25 or higher.)
IMOW: A condition of excess body fat that increases health risks.
Emotion
Book: A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and, most importantly, (3) conscious experience resulting from one’s interpretations.
IMOW: A combination of physiological arousal, thoughts, and feelings that influence behavior.
Stanley Schachter
A psychologist best known for developing the two-factor theory of emotion with Jerome Singer. This theory suggests that emotion is based on both physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation of that arousal. His research demonstrated that people use environmental cues to label their emotions. Schachter also studied social influence, obesity, and smoking behavior, shaping the understanding of motivation and emotion.
Robert Zajonc
A psychologist known for his work on emotion, social facilitation, and the mere exposure effect. He argued that emotions can occur without conscious thought, challenging cognitive theories of emotion. His mere exposure effect research showed that people tend to develop a preference for things simply by being exposed to them repeatedly. Zajonc also studied how the presence of others influences performance, contributing to social facilitation theory.
Joseph LeDoux
A neuroscientist known for his research on the neural basis of emotion, particularly fear processing. He identified the amygdala as a key structure in detecting threats and triggering fear responses. LeDoux distinguished between two pathways of fear processing: the low road (a fast, unconscious reaction) and the high road (a slower, more thoughtful response). His work has advanced the understanding of emotional memory, anxiety, and the brain’s role in survival responses.
Richard Lazarus
A psychologist known for his cognitive appraisal theory of emotion, which suggests that emotions depend on how we interpret or appraise a situation. He emphasized that thoughts come before emotions, meaning that people evaluate events as harmful, threatening, or challenging before experiencing an emotional response. Lazarus also studied stress and coping, identifying problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies to manage stress.
Polygraph
Book: A machine used in attempts to detect lies; measures emotion-linked changes in perspiration, heart rate, and breathing.
IMOW: A lie detector test that measures physiological responses like heart rate and sweating.
Paul Ekman
A psychologist known for his research on facial expressions and emotions. He identified six universal emotions—happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust—showing that they are recognized across cultures. His work on microexpressions demonstrated how brief, involuntary facial expressions reveal true emotions. Ekman’s research has been widely applied in lie detection, law enforcement, and psychology.
Facial Feedback Effect
Book: The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness.
IMOW: The idea that our facial expressions can influence our emotions (smiling makes us feel happier).
Behavior Feedback Effect
Book: The tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions.
IMOW: The idea that our posture and movements can influence our emotions (walking confidently can boost mood).
