Ap Psychology Cumulative Review Myers Textbook Vocab

Front 1

Hindsight Bias

Back 1

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.)

Front 2

Critical Thinking

Back 2

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Front 3

Theory

Back 3

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviours or events.

Front 4

Hypothesis

Back 4

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

Front 5

Operational Definition

Back 5

A statement of the procedures used to define research variables. For example, human intelligence may be what an intelligence test measures.

Front 6

Replication

Back 6

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances.

Front 7

Case Study

Back 7

An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Front 8

Survey

Back 8

A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them.

Front 9

False Consensus Effect

Back 9

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors.

Front 10

Population

Back 10

All the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study.

Front 11

Random Sample

Back 11

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Front 12

Naturalistic Observation

Back 12

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Front 13

Correlation

Back 13

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. The... coefficient is the mathematical expression of the relationship, ranging from -1 to +1.

Front 14

Scatterplot

Back 14

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation).

Front 15

Illusory Correlation

Back 15

The perception of a relationship where none exists.

Front 16

Experiment

Back 16

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factor (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the researcher aims to control other relevant factors.

Front 17

Single-Blind Experiment

Back 17

An experimental procedure in which the research participants are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo, but the experimenters know which is which.

Front 18

Double-Blind Experiment

Back 18

An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.

Front 19

Experimental Condition

Back 19

The part of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version, of the independent variable.

Front 20

Placebo Effect

Back 20

Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behaviour caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent.

Front 21

Control Condition

Back 21

The part of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

Front 22

Random Assignment

Back 22

Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing pre-existing differences between those assigned to the different groups.

Front 23

Independent Variable

Back 23

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

Front 24

Dependent Variable

Back 24

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

Front 25

Mode

Back 25

The most frequent occurring score(s) in a distribution.

Front 26

Mean

Back 26

The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores.

Front 27

Median

Back 27

The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it.

Front 28

Range

Back 28

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.

Front 29

Standard Deviation

Back 29

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score.

Front 30

Statistical Significance

Back 30

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance.

Front 31

Culture

Back 31

The enduring behaviours, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Front 32

Biological Psychology

Back 32

A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. (Some call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, biopsychologists.)

Front 33

Neuron

Back 33

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.

Front 34

Dendrite

Back 34

The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.

Front 35

Axon

Back 35

The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscle or glands.

Front 36

Myelin Sheath

Back 36

A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next.

Front 37

Action Potential

Back 37

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. It is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane.

Front 38

Threshold

Back 38

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

Front 39

Synapse

Back 39

The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or cleft.

Front 40

Neurotransmitters

Back 40

Chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.

Front 41

Acetylcholine

Back 41

A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction.

Front 42

Endorphins

Back 42

"morphine within"- natural, opiate like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

Front 43

Nervous System

Back 43

The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Front 44

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Back 44

The brain and spinal cord.

Front 45

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Back 45

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body.

Front 46

Nerves

Back 46

Neural "cables" containing many axons. These bundled axons, which are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs.

Front 47

Sensory Neurons

Back 47

Neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system.

Front 48

Motor Neurons

Back 48

Neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands.

Front 49

Interneurons

Back 49

Central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs.

Front 50

Somatic Nervous System (SNS)

Back 50

The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system.

Front 51

Autonomic Nervous System

Back 51

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.

Front 52

Sympathetic Nervous System

Back 52

The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.

Front 53

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Back 53

The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.

Front 54

Reflex

Back 54

A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response.

Front 55

Neural Networks

Back 55

Interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results. Computer simulations of neural networks show analogous learning.

Front 56

Endocrine System

Back 56

The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Front 57

Hormones

Back 57

Chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another.

Front 58

Adrenal Glands

Back 58

A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. Adrenal glands secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress.

Front 59

Pituitary Gland

Back 59

The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, [it] regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.

Front 60

Lesion

Back 60

Tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue.

Front 61

Electrocephalogram (EEC)

Back 61

An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.

Front 62

Positron Emmision Topography Scan (PET Scan)

Back 62

A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task.

Front 63

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Back 63

A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer=generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain.

Front 64

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI)

Back 64

A technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. MRI scans show brain anatomy; these scans show brain function.

Front 65

Brainstem

Back 65

The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; it is responsible for automatic survival functions.

Front 66

Medulla

Back 66

The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing.

Front 67

Reticular Formation

Back 67

A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal.

Front 68

Thalamus

Back 68

The brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.

Front 69

Cerebellum

Back 69

The "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance.

Front 70

Limbic System

Back 70

A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

Front 71

Amygdala

Back 71

Two lima bean-sized neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion.

Front 72

Hypothalamus

Back 72

A neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion.

Front 73

Cerebral Cortex

Back 73

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.

Front 74

Glial Cells

Back 74

Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons.

Front 75

Frontal Lobes

Back 75

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.

Front 76

Parietal Lobes

Back 76

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position.

Front 77

Occipital Lobes

Back 77

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field.

Front 78

Temporal Lobes

Back 78

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from the opposite ear.

Front 79

Motor Cortex

Back 79

An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.

Front 80

Sensory Cortex

Back 80

The areas at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.

Front 81

Association Areas

Back 81

Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions' rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.

Front 82

Aphasia

Back 82

Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

Front 83

Broca's Area

Back 83

Controls language expression- an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Front 84

Wernicke's Area

Back 84

Controls language reception- a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

Front 85

Plasticity

Back 85

The brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganisation following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development.

Front 86

Corpus Callosum

Back 86

The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them.

Front 87

Split Brain

Back 87

A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them.

Front 88

Environment

Back 88

Every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us.

Front 89

Behavior Genetics

Back 89

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behaviour.

Front 90

Chromosomes

Back 90

Threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes.

Front 91

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

Back 91

A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes.

Front 92

Genes

Back 92

The biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein.

Front 93

Genome

Back 93

genome: The complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes.

Front 94

Identical Twins

Back 94

Twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms.

Front 95

Fraternal Twins

Back 95

Twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment.

Front 96

Temperament

Back 96

A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Front 97

Heritability

Back 97

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied.

Front 98

Interaction

Back 98

The effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity).

Front 99

Molecular Genetics

Back 99

The subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes.

Front 100

Evolutionary Psychology

Back 100

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principle of natural selection.

Front 101

Natural Selection

Back 101

The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Front 102

Mutation

Back 102

A random error in gene replication that leads to a change.

Front 103

Gender

Back 103

In psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female.

Front 104

Culture

Back 104

The enduring behaviours, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Front 105

Norm

Back 105

An understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. They prescribe "proper" behavior.

Front 106

Personal Space

Back 106

The buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies

Front 107

Individualism

Back 107

Giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications.

Front 108

Collectivism

Back 108

Giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly.

Front 109

Aggression

Back 109

Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone.

Front 110

X Chromosome

Back 110

The sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two X chromosomes; males have one. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child.

Front 111

Y Chromosome

Back 111

The sex chromosome found only in males. When paired with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.

Front 112

Testosterone

Back 112

The most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.

Front 113

Role

Back 113

A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Front 114

Gender Role

Back 114

A set of expected behaviors for males and for females.

Front 115

Gender Identity

Back 115

One's sense of being male or female.

Front 116

Gender-Typing

Back 116

The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Front 117

Social Learning Theory

Back 117

The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

Front 118

Gender Schema Theory

Back 118

The theory that children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male and female and that they adjust their behavior accordingly.

Front 119

Developmental Psychology

Back 119

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

Front 120

Zygote

Back 120

The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

Front 121

Embryo

Back 121

The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.

Front 122

Fetus

Back 122

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Front 123

Teratogens

Back 123

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Front 124

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Back 124

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial disproportions.

Front 125

Rooting Reflex

Back 125

: A baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple.

Front 126

Habituation

Back 126

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Front 127

Maturation

Back 127

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behaviour, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Front 128

Schema

Back 128

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Front 129

Assimilation

Back 129

Interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas.

Front 130

Accomodation

Back 130

Adapting one's current understands (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Front 131

Cognition

Back 131

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Front 132

Sensorimotor Stage

Back 132

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Front 133

Object Permanence

Back 133

The awareness that things continue to exists even when not perceived.

Front 134

Preoperational Stage

Back 134

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Front 135

Conservation

Back 135

The principle (which Piaget believed to be part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

Front 136

Egocentrism

Back 136

In Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view.

Front 137

Theory of Mind

Back 137

People's ideas about their own and others' mental states- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict.

Front 138

Autism

Back 138

A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind.

Front 139

Concrete Operational Stage

Back 139

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Front 140

Formal Operation Stage

Back 140

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Front 141

Stranger Anxiety

Back 141

The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.

Front 142

Attachment

Back 142

An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.

Front 143

Critical Period

Back 143

An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.

Front 144

Imprinting

Back 144

The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.

Front 145

Basic Trust

Back 145

According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Front 146

Self-Concept

Back 146

A sense of one's identity and personal worth.

Front 147

Adolescence

Back 147

The transitional period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Front 148

Puberty

Back 148

The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

Front 149

Primary Sex Characteristics

Back 149

The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

Front 150

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Back 150

Nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Front 151

Menarche

Back 151

The first menstrual period.

Front 152

Spermarche

Back 152

The first ejaculation.

Front 153

Identity

Back 153

One's sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

Front 154

Intimacy

Back 154

In Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.

Front 155

Menopause

Back 155

The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

Front 156

Alzheimer's Disease

Back 156

A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning.

Front 157

Cross-Sectional Study

Back 157

A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.

Front 158

Longitudinal Study

Back 158

Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.

Front 159

Crystallized Intelligence

Back 159

One's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.

Front 160

Fluid Intelligence

Back 160

One's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.

Front 161

Social Clock

Back 161

The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Front 162

Sensation

Back 162

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Front 163

Perception

Back 163

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Front 164

Bottom-Up Processing

Back 164

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.

Front 165

Top-Down Processing

Back 165

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

Front 166

Psychophysics

Back 166

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.

Front 167

Absolute Threshold

Back 167

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Front 168

Signal Detection Theory

Back 168

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus ("signal") amid background stimulation ("noise"). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue.

Front 169

Subliminal

Back 169

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Front 170

Priming

Back 170

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response.

Front 171

Difference Threshold

Back 171

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference. (Also called "just noticeable difference" or jnd.)

Front 172

Weber's Law

Back 172

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount).

Front 173

Sensory Adaptation

Back 173

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

Front 174

Transduction

Back 174

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sound, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

Front 175

Wavelength

Back 175

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission.

Front 176

Hue

Back 176

The dimension of colour that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the colour names blue, green, and so forth.

Front 177

Intensity

Back 177

The amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude.

Front 178

Pupil

Back 178

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters.

Front 179

Iris

Back 179

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the coloured portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening.

Front 180

Lens

Back 180

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

Front 181

Accomodation

Back 181

The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.

Front 182

Retina

Back 182

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information.

Front 183

Acuity

Back 183

The sharpness of vision.

Front 184

Nearsightedness

Back 184

A condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina.

Front 185

Farsightedness

Back 185

A condition in which far-away objects are seen more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects is focused behind the retina.

Front 186

Rods

Back 186

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond.

Front 187

Cones

Back 187

Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to colour sensations.

Front 188

Optic Nerve

Back 188

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.

Front 189

Blind Spot

Back 189

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there.

Front 190

Fovea

Back 190

The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster.

Front 191

Feature Detectors

Back 191

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement.

Front 192

Parallel Processing

Back 192

The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

Front 193

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

Back 193

The theory that the retina contains three different colour receptors- one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue- which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any colour.

Front 194

Opponent-Process Theory

Back 194

Theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable colour vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

Front 195

Color Constancy

Back 195

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent colour, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object.

Front 196

Audition

Back 196

The sense or act of hearing.

Front 197

Frequency

Back 197

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second).

Front 198

Pitch

Back 198

A tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency.

Front 199

Middle Ear

Back 199

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window.

Front 200

Cochlea

Back 200

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses.

Front 201

Inner Ear

Back 201

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

Front 202

Place Theory

Back 202

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated.

Front 203

Frequency Theory

Back 203

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.

Front 204

Conduction Hearing Loss

Back 204

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

Front 205

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Back 205

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness.

Front 206

Cochlear Implant

Back 206

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.

Front 207

Gate-Control Theory

Back 207

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain.

Front 208

Sensory Interaction

Back 208

The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.

Front 209

Kinesthesis

Back 209

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.

Front 210

Vestibular Sense

Back 210

The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance.

Front 211

Selective Attention

Back 211

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail party effect.

Front 212

Inattentional Blindness

Back 212

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Front 213

Visual Capture

Back 213

The tendency for vision to dominate the other senses.

Front 214

Gestalt

Back 214

An organized whole. These psychologists emphasize our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Front 215

Figure-Ground

Back 215

The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).

Front 216

Grouping

Back 216

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.

Front 217

Depth Perception

Back 217

The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance.

Front 218

Visual Cliff

Back 218

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

Front 219

Binocular Cues

Back 219

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes.

Front 220

Retinal Disparity

Back 220

A binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the clearer the object.

Front 221

Convergence

Back 221

A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object. The greater the inward strain, the closer the object.

Front 222

Monocular Cues

Back 222

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Front 223

Phi Phenomenon

Back 223

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.

Front 224

Perceptual Constancy

Back 224

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change.

Front 225

Perceptual Adaptation

Back 225

In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.

Front 226

Perceptual Set

Back 226

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

Front 227

Human Factors Psychology

Back 227

A branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use.

Front 228

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

Back 228

The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input. Said to include telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.

Front 229

Parapsychology

Back 229

The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis.

Front 230

Consciousness

Back 230

Our awareness of ourselves and our environment.

Front 231

Biological Rhythms

Back 231

Periodic physiological fluctuations.

Front 232

Circadian Rhythm

Back 232

The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle.

Front 233

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

Back 233

A recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active.

Front 234

Alpha Waves

Back 234

The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.

Front 235

Sleep

Back 235

Periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anaesthesia, or hibernation.

Front 236

Hallucinations

Back 236

False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.

Front 237

Delta Waves

Back 237

The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep.

Front 238

Insomnia

Back 238

Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.

Front 239

Narcolepsy

Back 239

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.

Front 240

Sleep Apnea

Back 240

A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary reawakenings.

Front 241

Night Terrors

Back 241

A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, these occur during Stage 4 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered.

Front 242

Dream

Back 242

A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind. They are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and for the dreamer's delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it.

Front 243

Manifest Content

Back 243

According to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its hidden content).

Front 244

Latent Content

Back 244

According to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its other content). Freud believed that a dream's ______content functions as a safety valve.

Front 245

REM Rebound

Back 245

The tendency for REM sleep to increase REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakenings during REM sleep).

Front 246

Hypnosis

Back 246

A social interaction in which one person suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.

Front 247

Posthypnotic Suggestion

Back 247

A suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors.

Front 248

Dissociation

Back 248

A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others.

Front 249

Psychoactive Drug

Back 249

A chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood.

Front 250

Tolerance

Back 250

The diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug's effect.

Front 251

Withdrawal

Back 251

The discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug.

Front 252

Physical Dependence

Back 252

A physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued

Front 253

Psychological Dependence

Back 253

A psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions.

Front 254

Addiction

Back 254

Compulsive drug craving and use.

Front 255

Depressants

Back 255

Drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions.

Front 256

Barbiturates

Back 256

Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement.

Front 257

Opiates

Back 257

Opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety.

Front 258

Stimulants

Back 258

Drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, and Ecstasy) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions.

Front 259

Amphetamines

Back 259

Drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes.

Front 260

Methamphetamine

Back 260

A powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels.

Front 261

Ecstasy

Back 261

A synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition.

Front 262

Hallucinogens

Back 262

Psychedelic ("mind manifesting") drugs, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.

Front 263

LSD

Back 263

A powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid (lysergic acid diethylamide).

Front 264

THC

Back 264

The major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations.

Front 265

Near-Death Experience

Back 265

An altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death (such as through cardiac arrest); often similar to drug-induced hallucinations.

Front 266

Dualism

Back 266

The presumption that mind and body are two distinct entities that interact.

Front 267

Monism

Back 267

The presumption that mind and body are different aspects of the same thing.

Front 268

Learning

Back 268

A relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience.

Front 269

Associative Learning

Back 269

Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

Front 270

Classical Conditioning

Back 270

A type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (US) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.

Front 271

Behaviorism

Back 271

The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Front 272

Unconditioned Response

Back 272

In classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.

Front 273

Unconditioned Stimulus

Back 273

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally- naturally and automatically- triggers a response.

Front 274

Conditioned Response

Back 274

In classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).

Front 275

Conditioned Stimulus

Back 275

In classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Front 276

Acquisition

Back 276

The initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

Front 277

Extinction

Back 277

The diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

Front 278

Spontaneous Recovery

Back 278

The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.

Front 279

Generalization

Back 279

The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

Front 280

Discrimination

Back 280

In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.

Front 281

Operant Conditioning

Back 281

A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

Front 282

Respondent Behavior

Back 282

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus; Skinner's term for behavior learned through classical conditioning.

Front 283

Operant Behavior

Back 283

Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

Front 284

Law of Effect

Back 284

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Front 285

Operant Chamber

Back 285

: A chamber also known as a Skinner box, containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking. Used in operant conditioning research.

Front 286

Shaping

Back 286

An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

Front 287

Reinforcer

Back 287

In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

Front 288

Positive Reinforcement

Back 288

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

Front 289

Negative Reinforcement

Back 289

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: this is different from punishment.)

Front 290

Primary Reinforcer

Back 290

An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need.

Front 291

Conditioned Reinforcer

Back 291

A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as secondary reinforcer.

Front 292

Continuous Reinforcement

Back 292

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Front 293

Partial Reinforcement

Back 293

Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement.

Front 294

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

Back 294

In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

Front 295

Variable-Ratio Schedule

Back 295

In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.

Front 296

Fixed-Interval Schedule

Back 296

In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after specified time has elapsed.

Front 297

Variable-Interval Schedule

Back 297

In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

Front 298

Punishment

Back 298

An event that decreases the behavior that it follows.

Front 299

Cognitive Map

Back 299

A mental representation of the layout of one's environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.

Front 300

Latent Learning

Back 300

Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

Front 301

Intrinsic Motivation

Back 301

A desire to perform a behavior for its own sake.

Front 302

Extrinsic Motivation

Back 302

A desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishment.

Front 303

Observational Learning

Back 303

Learning by observing others.

Front 304

Modeling

Back 304

The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.

Front 305

Mirror Neurons

Back 305

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy.

Front 306

Prosocial Behavior

Back 306

Positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior.

Front 307

Memory

Back 307

The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

Front 308

Flashbulb Memory

Back 308

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Front 309

Encoding

Back 309

The processing of information into the memory system- for example, by extracting meaning.

Front 310

Storage

Back 310

The retention of encoded information over time.

Front 311

Retrieval

Back 311

The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Front 312

Sensory Memory

Back 312

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Front 313

Short-Term Memory

Back 313

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialling, before the information is stored or forgotten

Front 314

Long-Term Memory

Back 314

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Front 315

Working Memory

Back 315

A newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Front 316

Automatic Processing

Back 316

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

Front 317

Effortful Processing

Back 317

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Front 318

Rehearsal

Back 318

The conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.

Front 319

Spacing Effect

Back 319

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

Front 320

Serial Position Effect

Back 320

Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Front 321

Visual Encoding

Back 321

The encoding of picture images.

Front 322

Acoustic Encoding

Back 322

The encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.

Front 323

Semantic Encoding

Back 323

The encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.

Front 324

Imagery

Back 324

Mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.

Front 325

Mnemonics

Back 325

Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Front 326

Chunking

Back 326

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Front 327

Iconic Memory

Back 327

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

Front 328

Echoic Memory

Back 328

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

Front 329

Long-Term Potentiation

Back 329

An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Front 330

Amnesia

Back 330

The loss of memory.

Front 331

Implicit Memory

Back 331

Retention independent of conscious recollection. (Also called procedural memory.)

Front 332

Explicit Memory

Back 332

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare." (Also called declarative memory.)

Front 333

Hippocampus

Back 333

A neural center that is located in the limbic system and helps process explicit memories for storage.

Front 334

Recall

Back 334

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Front 335

Recognition

Back 335

A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test.

Front 336

Relearning

Back 336

A memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.

Front 337

Priming

Back 337

The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory. Ask a friend two rapid-fire questions: (a) How do you pronounce the word spelled by the letters s-h-o-p? (b) What do you do when you come to a green light? If your friend answers "stop" to the second question, you have demonstrated priming.

Front 338

Déjà Vu

Back 338

That eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Front 339

Mood-Congruent Memory

Back 339

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.

Front 340

Proactive Interference

Back 340

The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.

Front 341

Retroactive Interference

Back 341

The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

Front 342

Repression

Back 342

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defence mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Front 343

Misinformation Effect

Back 343

Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.

Front 344

Source Amnesia

Back 344

Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. (Also called source misattribution.) It, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.

Front 345

Cognition

Back 345

The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Front 346

Concept

Back 346

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

Front 347

Prototype

Back 347

A mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to the it provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).

Front 348

Algorithm

Back 348

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier- but also more error-prone- use of heuristics.

Front 349

Heuristic

Back 349

A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solves problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms.

Front 350

Insight

Back 350

A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions.

Front 351

Confirmation Bias

Back 351

A tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions.

Front 352

Fixation

Back 352

The inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving.

Front 353

Mental Set

Back 353

A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.

Front 354

Functional Fixedness

Back 354

The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving.

Front 355

Representativeness Heuristic

Back 355

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes, may lead one to ignore other relevant information.

Front 356

Availability Heuristic

Back 356

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory, if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common.

Front 357

Overconfidence

Back 357

The tendency to be more confident than correct, to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments.

Front 358

Framing

Back 358

The way an issue is posed, how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Front 359

Belief Bias

Back 359

The tendency for one's pre-existing beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid.

Front 360

Belief Perseverance

Back 360

Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

Front 361

Language

Back 361

Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.

Front 362

Phoneme

Back 362

In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

Front 363

Morpheme

Back 363

In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning, may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix).

Front 364

Grammar

Back 364

In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.

Front 365

Semantics

Back 365

The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning.

Front 366

Syntax

Back 366

The rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language.

Front 367

Babbling Stage

Back 367

Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the house-hold language.

Front 368

One-Word Stage

Back 368

The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

Front 369

Two-Word Stage

Back 369

Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements.

Front 370

Telegraphic Speech

Back 370

Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram- "go car"- using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words.

Front 371

Linguistic Determinism

Back 371

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think.

Front 372

Intelligence

Back 372

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

Front 373

Factor Analysis

Back 373

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one's total score.

Front 374

General Intelligence

Back 374

A general intelligence factor that according to Spearman and others underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Front 375

Savant Syndrome

Back 375

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

Front 376

Emotional Intelligence

Back 376

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

Front 377

Creativity

Back 377

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

Front 378

Intelligence Test

Back 378

A method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores.

Front 379

Mental Age

Back 379

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

Front 380

Stanford-Binet

Back 380

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

Front 381

Intelligence Quotient

Back 381

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100. On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100.

Front 382

Aptitude Test

Back 382

A test designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.

Front 383

Achievement Test

Back 383

A test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Front 384

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Back 384

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

Front 385

Standardization

Back 385

Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested standardization group.

Front 386

Normal Curve

Back 386

The symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes.

Front 387

Reliability

Back 387

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

Front 388

Criterion

Back 388

The behavior (such as future college grades) that a test (such as SAT) is designed to predict; thus, the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity.

Front 389

Predictive Validity

Back 389

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. (Also called criterion-related validity.)

Front 390

Mental Retardation

Back 390

A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound.

Front 391

Down Syndrome

Back 391

A condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one's genetic makeup.

Front 392

Stereotype Threat

Back 392

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

Front 393

Validity

Back 393

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

Front 394

Content Validity

Back 394

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as a driving test that samples driving tasks).

Front 395

Motivation

Back 395

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

Front 396

Instinct

Back 396

A complex behaviour that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned.

Front 397

Drive-Reduction Theory

Back 397

The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

Front 398

Homeostasis

Back 398

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.

Front 399

Incentive

Back 399

A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Front 400

Hierarchy of Needs

Back 400

Maslow's pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active.

Front 401

Glucose

Back 401

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.

Front 402

Set Point

Back 402

The point at which an individual's "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.

Front 403

Basal Metabolic Rate

Back 403

The body's resting rate of energy expenditure.

Front 404

Anorexia Nervosa

Back 404

An eating disorder in which a normal-weight person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15 percent or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve.

Front 405

Bulimia Nervosa

Back 405

An eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise.

Front 406

Sexual Response Cycle

Back 406

The four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson- excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution (EPOR, rope backwards).

Front 407

Refractory Period

Back 407

A resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm.

Front 408

Sexual Disorder

Back 408

A problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning.

Front 409

Estrogen

Back 409

A sex hormone, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males. In nonhuman female mammals, estrogen levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity.

Front 410

Testosterone

Back 410

The most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.

Front 411

Sexual Orientation

Back 411

An enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one's own sex (homosexual orientation) or the other sex (heterosexual orientation).

Front 412

Flow

Back 412

A completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one's skills.

Front 413

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Back 413

The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces.

Front 414

Personnel Psychology

Back 414

A subfield of industrial-organizational psychology (I/O psychology) that focuses on employee recruitment, selection, placement, training, appraisal, and development.

Front 415

Organizational Psychology

Back 415

A subfield of industrial-organizational psychology (I/O psychology) that examines organizational influences on worker satisfaction and productivity and facilitates organizational change.

Front 416

Structured Interviews

Back 416

Interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of all applicants, each of whom is rated on established scales.

Front 417

Achievement Motivation

Back 417

A desire for significant accomplishment: for mastery of thing, people, or ideas (semicolon -insert-) for attaining a high standard.

Front 418

Task Leadership

Back 418

Goal-oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work, and focuses attention on goals.

Front 419

Social Leadership

Back 419

Group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support.

Front 420

Emotion

Back 420

A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviours, and (3) conscious experience.

Front 421

James-Lange Theory

Back 421

The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

Front 422

Cannon-Bard Theory

Back 422

The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion.

Front 423

Two-Factor Theory

Back 423

Schachter-Singer's theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal.

Front 424

Polygraph

Back 424

A machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (such as perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes).

Front 425

Catharsis

Back 425

Emotional release. In psychology, the catharsis hypothesis maintains that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges.

Front 426

Feel-good, Do-good Phenomenon

Back 426

People's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood.

Front 427

Subjective Well-Being

Back 427

Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life.

Front 428

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

Back 428

Our tendency to form judgements (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience.

Front 429

Relative Deprivation

Back 429

The perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself.

Front 430

Behavioral Medicine

Back 430

An interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease.

Front 431

Health Psychology

Back 431

A subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine.

Front 432

Stress

Back 432

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Front 433

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Back 433

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three stages- alarm, resistance, exhaustion (ARE).

Front 434

Coronary Heart Disease

Back 434

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle (semicolon -insert-) the leading cause of death in many developed countries.

Front 435

Type A

Back 435

Friedman and Rosenman's term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.

Front 436

Type B

Back 436

Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people.

Front 437

Psychophysiological Illness

Back 437

Literally, "mind-body" illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches. (Note: This is distinct from hypochondriasis- misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease.)

Front 438

Lymphocytes

Back 438

The two types of white blood cells that are part of the body's immune system: B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections (semicolon -insert-) T lymphocytes form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.

Front 439

Coping

Back 439

Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods.

Front 440

Problem-Focused Coping

Back 440

Attempting to alleviate stress directly- by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

Front 441

Emotion-Focused Coping

Back 441

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction.

Front 442

Aerobic Exercise

Back 442

Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness (semicolon -insert-) may also alleviate depression and anxiety.

Front 443

Biofeedback

Back 443

A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension.

Front 444

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Back 444

Unproven health care treatments not taught widely in medical schools, not used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by insurance companies.

Front 445

Personality

Back 445

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Front 446

Free Association

Back 446

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.

Front 447

Psychoanalysis

Back 447

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts (semicolon -insert-) the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

Front 448

Unconscious

Back 448

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Front 449

Id

Back 449

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

Front 450

Ego

Back 450

The largely conscious, "executive" part of the personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. It operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Front 451

Superego

Back 451

The part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

Front 452

Psychosexual Stages

Back 452

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

Front 453

Oedipus Complex

Back 453

According to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

Front 454

Identification

Back 454

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

Front 455

Fixation

Back 455

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

Front 456

Defense Mechanisms

Back 456

In psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Front 457

Repression

Back 457

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defence mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Front 458

Regression

Back 458

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

Front 459

Reaction Formation

Back 459

Psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

Front 460

Projection

Back 460

Psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Front 461

Rationalization

Back 461

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

Front 462

Displacement

Back 462

Psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet.

Front 463

Collective Unconscious

Back 463

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

Front 464

Projective Test

Back 464

A personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics.

Front 465

Thematic Apperception Test

Back 465

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Front 466

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Back 466

The most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach (semicolon -insert-) seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Front 467

Terror-Management Theory

Back 467

Proposes that faith in one's worldview and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death.

Front 468

Self-Actualization

Back 468

According to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved (semicolon -insert-) the motivation to fulfill one's potential.

Front 469

Unconditional Positive Regard

Back 469

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

Front 470

Self-Concept

Back 470

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

Front 471

Trait

Back 471

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

Front 472

Personality Inventory

Back 472

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 (semicolon -insert-) used to assess selected personality traits.

Front 473

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Back 473

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality test. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

Front 474

Empirically Derived Test

Back 474

A test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups.

Front 475

Social-Cognitive Perspective

Back 475

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context.

Front 476

Reciprocal Determinism

Back 476

The interacting influences between personality and environment factors.

Front 477

Personal Control

Back 477

Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless.

Front 478

External Locus of Control

Back 478

The perception that chance or outside forces beyond one's personal control determine one's fate.

Front 479

Internal Locus of Control

Back 479

The perception that one controls one's own fate.

Front 480

Learned Helplessness

Back 480

The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

Front 481

Positive Psychology

Back 481

The scientific study of optimal human functioning aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.

Front 482

Spotlight Effect

Back 482

Overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders.

Front 483

Self-Esteem

Back 483

One's feelings of high or low self-worth.

Front 484

Self-Serving Bias

Back 484

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably.

Front 485

Psychological Disorder

Back 485

Deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional behavior patterns.

Front 486

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Back 486

A psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Front 487

Medical Model

Back 487

The concept that diseases have physical caused that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured. When applied to psychological disorders, the medical model assumes that these mental illnesses can be diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms and cured through therapy, which may include treatment in a psychiatric hospital.

Front 488

DSM-IV (The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition))

Back 488

a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders. Presently distributed in an updated "text-revision" (DSM-IV-TR).

Front 489

Anxiety Disorders

Back 489

Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.

Front 490

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Back 490

An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.

Front 491

Panic Disorder

Back 491

An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations.

Front 492

Phobia

Back 492

An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation.

Front 493

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Back 493

An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and / or actions (compulsions).

Front 494

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Back 494

An anxiety disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and / or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience.

Front 495

Dissociative Disorders

Back 495

Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.

Front 496

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Back 496

A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. (Also called multiple personality disorder.)

Front 497

Mood Disorders

Back 497

Psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes.

Front 498

Major Depressive Disorder

Back 498

A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or a medical condition, two or more weeks of significantly depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities.

Front 499

Mania

Back 499

A mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state.

Front 500

Bipolar Disorder

Back 500

A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. (Formerly called manic-depressive disorder.)

Front 501

Schizophrenia

Back 501

A group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions.

Front 502

Delusions

Back 502

False beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.

Front 503

Personality Disorders

Back 503

Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behaviour patterns that impair social functioning.

Front 504

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Back 504

A personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.

Front 505

Psychotherapy

Back 505

An emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers from psychological difficulties.

Front 506

Biomedical Therapy

Back 506

Prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient's nervous system.

Front 507

Eclectic Approach

Back 507

An approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy.

Front 508

Psychoanalysis

Back 508

Sigmund Freud's therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences- and the therapist's interpretations of them- released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight.

Front 509

Resistance

Back 509

In psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material.

Front 510

Interpretation

Back 510

In psychoanalysis, the analyst's noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight.

Front 511

Transference

Back 511

In psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a patient).

Front 512

Client-Centered Therapy

Back 512

A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic, environment to facilitate clients' growth. (Also called person-centered therapy.)

Front 513

Active Listening

Back 513

Empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy.

Front 514

Behavior Therapy

Back 514

Therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors.

Front 515

Counterconditioning

Back 515

A behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors

Front 516

Exposure Therapies

Back 516

Behavioural techniques, such as systematic desensitization, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imagination or actuality) to the things they fear and avoid.

Front 517

Systematic Desensitization

Back 517

A type of counterconditioning that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias.

Front 518

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Back 518

An anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking.

Front 519

Aversive Conditioning

Back 519

A type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state( such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol).

Front 520

Token Economy

Back 520

An operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behaviour and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats.

Front 521

Cognitive Therapy

Back 521

Therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions.

Front 522

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

Back 522

A popular integrated therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior).

Front 523

Family Therapy

Back 523

Therapy that treats the family as system. Views an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by or direct at other family members; attempts to guide family members toward positive relationships and improved communication.

Front 524

Regression Toward the Mean

Back 524

The tendency for extremes of unusual scores to fall back toward their average.

Front 525

Meta-Analysis

Back 525

A procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies.

Front 526

Psychopharmacology

Back 526

The study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior.

Front 527

Tardive Dyskinesia

Back 527

Involuntary movements of the facial muscles, tongue, and limbs a possible neurotoxic side effect of long-term use of antipsychotic drugs that target D2 dopamine receptors.

Front 528

Electroconvulsive Therapy

Back 528

A biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetised patient.

Front 529

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Back 529

The application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain (semicolon -insert-) used to stimulate or suppress brain activity.

Front 530

Psychosurgery

Back 530

Surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behaviour.

Front 531

Lobotomy

Back 531

A now-rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain.

Front 532

Social Psychology

Back 532

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Front 533

Attribution Theory

Back 533

Suggests how we explain someone's behavior- by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition.

Front 534

Fundamental Attribution Error

Back 534

The tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.

Front 535

Attitude

Back 535

Feelings, often based on our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

Front 536

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

Back 536

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

Front 537

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Back 537

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.

Front 538

Conformity

Back 538

Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Front 539

Normative Social Influence

Back 539

Influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

Front 540

Informational Social Influence

Back 540

Influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality.

Front 541

Social Facilitation

Back 541

Stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others.

Front 542

Social Loafing

Back 542

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable.

Front 543

Deindividuation

Back 543

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

Front 544

Group Polarization

Back 544

The enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.

Front 545

Groupthink

Back 545

The mod of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

Front 546

Prejudice

Back 546

An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. It generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

Front 547

Stereotype

Back 547

A generalized (sometimes accurate but often over generalized) belief about a group of people.

Front 548

Discrimination

Back 548

Unjustifiable negative behaviour toward a group or its members.

Front 549

Ingroup

Back 549

"Us"- people with whom one shares a common identity.

Front 550

Outgroup

Back 550

"Them"- those perceived as different or apart from one's ingroup.

Front 551

Ingroup bias

Back 551

The tendency to favor one's own group.

Front 552

Scapegoat Theory

Back 552

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

Front 553

Just-World Phenomenon

Back 553

The tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Front 554

Aggression

Back 554

Any physical or verbal behaviour intended to hurt or destroy.

Front 555

Frustration-Aggression Principle

Back 555

The principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal- creates anger, which can generate aggression.

Front 556

Conflict

Back 556

A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.

Front 557

Social Trap

Back 557

A situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in a mutually destructive behaviour.

Front 558

Mere Exposure Effect

Back 558

The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them.

Front 559

Passionate Love

Back 559

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship.

Front 560

Companionate Love

Back 560

The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

Front 561

Equity

Back 561

A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it.

Front 562

Self-Disclosure

Back 562

Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

Front 563

Altruism

Back 563

Unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

Front 564

Bystander Effect

Back 564

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.

Front 565

Social Exchange Theory

Back 565

The theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.

Front 566

Reciprocity Norm

Back 566

An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

Front 567

Social-Responsibility Norm

Back 567

An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them.

Front 568

Superordinate Goals

Back 568

Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.

Front 569

GRIT: Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction

Back 569

a strategy designed to decrease international tensions.