Psychology Midterm Vocab

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Social Psychology

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

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Fundamental Attribution Error

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

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Foot in the Door Phenomenon

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

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Conformity

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

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Social Loafing

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

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Social Facilitation

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

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prejudice

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an unjustifiable attitude toward a group and its members

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Discrimination

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unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members

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bystander effect

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

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Altruism

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unselfish regard for the welfare of others

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Humanistic psychology

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historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth

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nature-nuture issue

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the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experince make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

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biopsychosocial approach

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an integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

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counseling psychology

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a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being

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Clinical psychology

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a branch of psychology that studies, assesses and treats people with psychological disorders

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Psychiatry

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a branch of medicine dealing withpsychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy

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Hindsight bias

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the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

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case study

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

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Survey

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

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correlation

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a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

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double-blind procedure

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an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatments or a placebo

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Placebo effect

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

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experimental condition

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the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable

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Control condition

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

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Neuron

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a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

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Neurotransmitter

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chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons.

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Central nervous system (CNS)

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the brain and the spinal cord

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Autonomic nervous system

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the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs.

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amygdala

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

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Broca's area

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

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Wernicke's area

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controls language receptions- a braion area involved in language comprehension and expression; left temporal lobe

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plasticity

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the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in the brain reorganization following damage and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development

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fMRI or Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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a technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing sucessive MRI scans.

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hypothalmus

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a neural structure lying below the thalmus; it directs several maintenance activities,helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion

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hormones

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chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissuw and affect another

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temperament

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a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

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interaction

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the effect of one factor depends on another factor

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evolutionary psychology

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the study of the evolution of nehavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

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mutation

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a random error in gene replication that leads to a change

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norm

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an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior

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aggression

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any physcial or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

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gender identity

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one's sense of being male or female

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developmental psychology

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

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Teratogens

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harmful agents such as certain viruses and drugs.

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fetal alcohol syndrome

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(FAS) marked by a small, misproportioned head and lifelong brain abnormalities.

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habituation

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a simple form of learning- a decrease in responding with repeated stimulation.

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cognition

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refers to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

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sensorimotor stage

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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.

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object permanence

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the awareness that things continue to exist when not perceived.

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preoperational stage

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in Piaget's theory, the stage ( from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

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conservation

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

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concrete operational stage

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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.

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formal operational stage

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

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stranger anxiety

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

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attachment

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

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identity

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

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cross-sectional study

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

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longitudinal study

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

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crystallized intelligence

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ones accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.

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fluid intelligence

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ones ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.

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sensation

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

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perception

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

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absolute threshold

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

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difference threshold

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the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. WE experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference.

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Weber's Law

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

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sensory adaption

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diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

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transduction

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conversion of one form of energy into another. in sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret.

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sensory interaction

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

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vestibular sense

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

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selective attention

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

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perceptual constancy

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perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal image change.

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perceptual set

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a mental predisposition to perceive on thing and not another

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human factors psychology

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

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extrasensory perception (ESP)

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

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parapsychology

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the study or paranormal phenomena , including ESP and psychokinesis.

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reinforcer

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any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

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positive reinforcement

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increasing behaviors by positive stimuli, such as food

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neg. reinforcement

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increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock.

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primary reinforcer

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

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conditional reinforcer

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a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer

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continuos reinforcement

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reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.