Download Vocabulary Review

AP Psychology Review Vocabulary
Study online at quizlet.com/_do7rn
1.
Abraham Maslow (1908 to 1970): studied self-actualization
25.
processes of productive and healthy people (e.g., Lincoln)
2.
Absolute Threshold: minimum stimulation needed to detect a
burned, castrated, mutilated, blood replaced with animal's blood
26.
particular stimulus 50% of the time
3.
4.
27.
Acetylcholine: a neurotransmitter that, among its functions,
triggers muscle contraction
6.
7.
28.
29.
Acoustic Encoding: encoding of sound; especially sound of
30.
Acquisition: 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
10.
31.
11.
Active Listening: empathic listening in which the listener
12.
Acuity: the sharpness of vision
13.
Adaptation: Level Phenomenon- tendency to form judgments
32.
Assimilation: interpreting one's new experience in terms of
33.
Associative Learning: learning that two events occur together;
34.
Attachment: an emotional tie with another person; shown in
one's existing schemas
two stimuli; a response and its consequences
young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and
displaying distress on separation
echoes, restates, and clarifies
relative to a "neutral" level
14.
Adolescence: the transition period from childhood to
15.
Aggression: any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or
35.
Attitude: belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a
36.
Attribution Theory: tendency to give a causal explanation for
particular way to objects, people and events
someone's behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the
person's disposition
adulthood; extending from puberty to independence
37.
Alcohol: affects motor skills, judgment, and memory; reduces
self awareness
17.
Alfred Adler: importance of childhood social tension
18.
Alfred Bandura's Experiments: Bobo doll; we look and we
19.
Alfred Binet (1857 to 1911): French intelligence researcher;
20.
Algorithm: methodical, logical rule or procedure that
learn
38.
21.
Alpha Waves: slow waves of a relaxed, awake brain
22.
Altruism: unselfish regard for the welfare of others
23.
Amnesia: -the loss of memory
24.
Amphetamines: drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing
speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood
changes
Automatic Processing: unconscious encoding of incidental
information; space; time; frequency; well-learned information;
word meanings; we can learn automatic processing; reading
backwards
39.
Availability Heuristic: 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; Example: airplane crash
developed first intelligence test
guarantees solving a particular problem; contrasts with the
usually speedier-but also more error-prone--use of heuristics
Autism: a disorder that appears in childhood; Marked by
deficient communication, social interaction and understanding
of others' states of mind
destroy
16.
Artificial Intelligence: designing and programming computer
systems; to do intelligent things; to simulate human thought
processes; intuitive reasoning; learning; understanding
language
Action Potential: a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge
that travels down an axon; generated by the movement of
positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's
membrane
Aptitude Test: a test designed to predict a person's future
performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn
words
9.
Aphasia: impairment of language, usually caused by left
hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking)
or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding)
Achievement Test: a test designed to assess what a person has
learned
8.
Anxiety Disorders: distressing, persistent anxiety or
maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety
Achievement Motivation: a desire for significant
accomplishment
Antisocial Personality Disorder: disorder in which the
person (usually man) exhibits a lack of conscience for
wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be
aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist
Accommodation: adapting one's current understandings
(schemas) to incorporate new information
5.
Anorexia Nervosa: when a normal-weight person diets and
becomes significantly (>15%) underweight, yet, still feeling fat,
continues to starve; usually an adolescent female
Accommodation: the process by which the eye's lens changes
shape to help focus near or far objects on the retina
Ancient Treatments: exorcism, caged like animals, beaten,
40.
Aversive Conditioning: type of counterconditioning that
associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior;
nausea ---> alcohol
41.
Axon: the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal
fibers, through which messages are sent to other neurons or to
muscles or glands
42.
Babbling Stage: beginning at 3 to 4 months; the stage of speech
development in which the infant spontaneously utters various
sounds at first unrelated to the household language
43.
Barbiturates: drugs that depress the activity of the central
62.
nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and
judgement
44.
Basal Metabolic Rate: body's base rate of energy expenditure
45.
Basic Trust (Erik Erikson): a sense that the world is
predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by
appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers
46.
47.
shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species'
history
63.
Carl Rogers (1902 to 1987): focused on growth and fulfillment
64.
Catharsis: emotional release; catharsis hypothesis-"releasing"
of individuals; genuineness;acceptance; empathy
aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive
urges
Behavior Therapy: therapy that applies learning principles to
the elimination of unwanted behaviors
65.
Central Nervous System (CNS): the brain and spinal cord
Belief Bias: the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort
66.
Chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units;
logical reasoning; sometimes by making invalid conclusions
seem valid or valid conclusions seem invalid
48.
Belief Perseverance: clinging to one's initial conceptions after
49.
B.F. Skinner (1904 to 1990): elaborated Thorndike's Law of
like horizontal organization—1776149218121941; often occurs
automatically; use of acronyms
67.
the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
Effect; developed behavioral technology
50.
68.
69.
Biological Perspective: Study the physiological mechanisms
in the brain and nervous system that organize and control
behavior; Focus may be at various levels; individual neurons;
areas of the brain; specific functions like eating, emotion or
learning; Interest in behavior distinguishes biological
psychology from many other biological sciences
53.
70.
the links between biology and behavior
Biological Rhythms: periodic physiological fluctuations
55.
Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective: assumes that biological,
sociocultural, and psychological factors combine and interact to
produce psychological disorders
56.
57.
Blind Spot: point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye,
creating a "blind spot" because there are no receptor cells located
there
58.
59.
71.
Clinical Perspective: View of behavior based on experience
72.
Clinical psychologists: Most are psychologists with a Ph.D.
treating patients
and expertise in research, assessment, and therapy,
supplemented by a supervised internship; About half work in
agencies and institutions, half in private practice
Bipolar Disorder: a mood disorder in which the person
alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression
and the overexcited state of mania; formerly called manicdepressive disorder
73.
Closure: fill in gaps
74.
Cocaine: effects depend on dosage, form, expectations,
personality and situation; coca leaves; powder; crack
75.
receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory
information
76.
Broca's Area: an area of the left frontal lobe that directs the
77.
Bulimia Nervosa: disorder characterized by episodes of
Bystander Effect: tendency for any given bystander to be less
likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
Cognition: mental activities associated with thinking, knowing,
remembering, and communicating
Cognition: all the mental activities associated with thinking,
knowing, remembering, and communicating
78.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: a popular integrated therapy
that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating
thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)
overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting,
laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise
61.
Cochlea: coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through
which
Bottom-Up Processing: analysis that begins with the sense
muscle movements involved in speech
60.
Clinical or Psychiatric Social Worker: A two-year Master of
Social Work graduate program plus postgraduate supervision
prepares some social workers to offer psychotherapy, mostly to
people with everyday personal and family problems; About half
have earned the National Association of Social Workers'
designation of clinical social worker; Therapists and their
Training
Biological Psychology: branch of psychology concerned with
54.
Client-Centered Therapy: humanistic therapy developed by
Carl Rogers; therapist uses techniques such as active listening
within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate
clients' growth
differ, closer the object, the larger the disparity
52.
Classical Conditioning: organism comes to associate two
stimuli; a neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned
stimulus begins to produce a response that anticipates and
prepares for the unconditioned stimulus
B.F. Skinner (1904 to 1990): American psychologist at
Binocular cues: retinal disparity, images from the two eyes
Circadian Rhythm: the biological clock; regular bodily
rhythms, such as of wakefulness and body temperature, that
occur on a 24-hour cycle
Harvard; studied learning and effect of reinforcement;
behaviorism
51.
Carl Jung: emphasized the collective unconscious; concept of a
79.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: we act to reduce the
discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts
(cognitions) are inconsistent; example- when we become aware
that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the
resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes
80.
Cognitive Map: mental representation of the layout of one's
environment; Example: after exploring a maze, rats act as if they
have learned a cognitive map of it
81.
102.
103.
Cognitive Perspective: How knowledge is acquired,
Cognitive Therapy: teaches people new, more adaptive ways of
thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts
intervene between events and our emotional reactions
83.
104.
85.
Color Constancy: Perceiving familiar objects as having
105.
consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the
wavelengths reflected by the object
106.
86.
87.
107.
Computer Neural Networks: computer circuits that mimic
the brain's interconnected neural cells; performing tasks;
learning to recognize visual patterns; learning to recognize
smells
108.
Concept: mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or
109.
Conditioned Reinforcer: stimulus that gains its reinforcing
power through its association with primary reinforce; secondary
reinforcer
89.
91.
110.
111.
112.
that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to
trigger a conditioned response
113.
Confirmation Bias: tendency to search for information that
114.
Conflict: perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
95.
Conformity: adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide
115.
Connectedness: spots, lines, and areas are seen as unit when
97.
Consciousness: our awareness of ourselves and our
116.
98.
117.
99.
118.
100.
Continuity: perceive continuous patterns
101.
Continuous Reinforcement: reinforcing the desired
response each time it occurs
Depth Perception: ability to see objects in three dimensions;
Developmental Psychology: a branch of psychology that
Difference Threshold: minimum difference between two
stimuli required for detection 50% of the time; just noticeable
difference (JND)
119.
Displacement: 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
120.
Dissociation: a split in consciousness; allows some thoughts
and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others
Content Validity: the extent to which a test samples the
behavior that is of interest, driving test that samples driving
tasks
Depressants: drugs that reduce neural activity; alcohol,
studies physical, cognitive and social change throughout the life
span
Conservation: the principle that properties such as mass,
volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the
forms of objects
Dendrite: the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that
allows us to judge distance
connected
environments
Delusions: false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that
barbiturates, opiates; slow body functions
with a group standard
96.
Delta Waves: large, slow waves of deep sleep
receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body
confirms one's preconceptions
94.
Deja Vu (French): already seen; cues from the current
may accompany psychotic disorders
vision; for daylight or well-lit conditions
93.
Deindividuation: loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in
situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier
similar experience; "I've experienced this before."
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): originally irrelevant stimulus
Cones: receptors near center of retina; fine detail and color
Defense Mechanisms: the ego's protective methods of
group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
92.
Crystallized Intelligence: one's accumulated knowledge and
reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality
Conditioned Response (CR): learned response to a previously
Conduction Hearing Loss: hearing loss caused by damage to
Critical Period: an optimal period shortly after birth when an
verbal skills; tends to increase with age
neutral conditioned stimulus
90.
Criterion: behavior (such as college grades) that a test (such
organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces
proper development
people
88.
Creativity: the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
as the SAT) is designed to predict; the measure used in defining
whether the test has predictive validity
Companionate Love: deep affectionate attachment we feel for
those with whom our lives are intertwined
Counterconditioning: procedure that conditions new
responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors; based on
classical conditioning; includes systematic desensitization and
aversive conditioning
Collectivism: giving priority to the goals of one's group (often
one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity
accordingly
84.
Counselors: Marriage and family counselors specialize in
problems arising from family relations; Pastoral counselors
provide counseling to countless people; Abuse counselors work
with substance abusers and with spouse and child abusers and
their victims
organized, remembered, and used to guide behavior
82.
Convergence: neuromuscular cue, two eyes move inward for
near objects
121.
Dissociative Disorders: conscious awareness becomes
separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and
feelings
122.
Dissociative Identity Disorder: rare dissociative disorder in
which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating
personalities; formerly called multiple personality disorder
123.
Dreams: sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing
through a sleeping person's mind; hallucinatory imagery,
discontinuities, incongruities, delusional acceptance of the
content, difficulties remembering
125.
Drive-Reduction Theory: the idea that a physiological need
creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an
organism to satisfy the need
126.
127.
143.
128.
Dualism: body and soul are separate but interrelated
129.
Echoic Memory: momentary sensory memory of auditory
Eclectic Approach: an approach to psychotherapy that,
146.
132.
148.
149.
134.
150.
135.
Egocentrism: the inability of the preoperational child to take
151.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): therapy for severely
152.
Emotion: a response of the whole organism
138.
Emotion: arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger:
physiological responses, subjective experience of emotion
139.
153.
140.
154.
141.
Empiricism: knowledge comes from experience via the senses;
science flourishes through observation and experiment
Feature Detectors: nerve cells in the brain that respond to
specific features: shape, angle, movement
155.
Feel: good, do-good phenomenon; people's tendency to be
helpful when already in a good mood
156.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS): physical and cognitive
abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy
drinking; symptoms include misproportioned head
157.
Figure and Ground: organization of the visual field into
objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground)
158.
Fixation: a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an
earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved
159.
Fixation: inability to see a problem from a new perspective;
impediment to problem solving
Empirically Derived Test: a test developed by testing a pool
of items and then selecting those that discriminate between
groups; such as the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI) test profile)
Farsightedness: condition in which faraway objects are seen
more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects
is focused behind retina
Emotional Intelligence: ability to perceive, express,
understand, and regulate emotions
Family Therapy: treats the family as a system; views an
individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by or directed at
other family members; attempts to guide family members toward
positive relationships and improved communication
depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent
through the brain of an anesthetized patient
137.
False Memory Syndrome: condition in which a person's
identity and relationships center around a false but strongly
believed memory of traumatic experience; sometimes induced by
well-meaning therapists
another's point of view
136.
Factor Analysis: 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
Ego: the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality;
mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality;
operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in
ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain
Extrinsic Motivation: desire to perform a behavior due to
promised rewards or threats of punishments
Edward Titchener: Wundt's student, professor at Cornell
Effortful Processing: requires attention and conscious effort
External Locus of Control: the perception that chance or
outside forces beyond one's personal control determine one's fate
University
133.
Explicit Memory: memory of facts and experiences that one
can consciously know and declare; also called declarative
memory; hippocampus--neural center in limbic system that helps
process explicit memories for storage
Ecstasy: MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine);
stimulant and mild hallucinogen; dangerous short and long term
effects
Evolutionary Psychology: the study of the evolution of
behavior and the mind, using the principles of natural selection
147.
depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various
forms of therapy
131.
Estrogen: a sex hormone, secreted in greater amounts by
females than by males; in nonhuman females, levels peak during
ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity
stimuli
130.
Equity: a condition in which people receive from a relationship
in proportion to what they give to it
145.
Dualism: the presumption that mind and body are two distinct
entities that interact
Endorphins: "morphine within" ; natural, opiate-like
neurotransmitters; linked to pain control and to pleasure
144.
DSM-IV: American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition); a
widely used system for classifying psychological disorders;
presently distributed as DSM-IV-TR (text revision)
Encoding: the processing of information into the memory
system; i.e., extracting meaning
Down Syndrome: retardation and associated physical
disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one's genetic
makeup
124.
142.
160.
Fixed Interval (FI): reinforces a response only after a
specified time has elapsed; response occurs more frequently as
the anticipated time for reward draws near
161.
Fixed Ratio (FR): reinforces a response only after a specified
180.
number of responses; faster you respond the more rewards you
get; different ratios; very high rate of responding; like piecework
pay
162.
Flashbulb Memory: a clear memory of an emotionally
significant moment or event
163.
164.
181.
Fluid Intelligence: ones ability to reason speedily and
182.
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon: tendency for people who
Fovea: central point in the retina, around which the eye's cones
Framing: the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed
can significantly affect decisions and judgments
168.
185.
169.
186.
187.
188.
Frequency: the number of complete wavelengths that pass a
Frequency Theory: the theory that the rate of nerve impulses
Frustration-Aggression Principle: principle that
189.
Functional Fixedness: tendency to think of things only in
190.
191.
174.
175.
177.
179.
Gestalt: an organized whole; tendency to integrate pieces of
information into meaningful wholes
Homeostasis: tendency to maintain a balanced or constant
194.
Hue: dimension of color determined by wavelength of light
195.
Humanistic Approach: developed by Abraham Maslow and
Carl Rogers; behavior reflects innate 'actualization' ; focus on
conscious forces and self perception ; More positive view of basic
forces than Freud's
196.
Hypnosis: a social interaction in which one person (the
hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain
perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously
occur
197.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: person is tense,
apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system
arousal
Hierarchies: complex information broken down into broad
internal state; regulation of any aspect of body chemistry around
a particular level
General Intelligence (g): factor that Spearman and others
believed underlies specific mental abilities; measured by every
task on an intelligence test; Are There Multiple Intelligences?
178.
193.
Gender Schema Theory: 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
Hidden Observer: Hilgard's term describing a hypnotized
concepts and further subdivided into categories and
subcategories
Gate-Control Theory: theory that the spinal cord contains a
neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to
pass on to the brain; "gate" opened by the activity of pain signals
traveling up small nerve fibers; "gate" closed by activity in larger
fibers or by information coming from the brain
176.
192.
Fundamental Attribution Error: tendency for observers,
when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact
of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal
disposition
Heuristic: simple thinking strategy that often allows us to
subject's awareness of experiences, such as pain, that go
unreported during hypnosis
Functionalism: focused on how behavioral processes function
—how they enable organism to adapt, survive, and flourish
Heritability: the proportion of variation among individuals
make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier
than algorithms; more error-prone than algorithms
terms of their usual functions; impediment to problem solving
173.
Heritability: the proportion of variation among individuals
that we can attribute to genes; variability depends on range of
populations and environments studied
frustration - the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal creates anger, which can generate aggression
172.
Hallucinogens: psychedelic (mind-manifesting) drugs that
that we can attribute to genes; may vary, depending on the range
of populations and environments studied
traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone,
thus enabling us to sense its pitch
171.
Hallucinations: false sensory experiences
distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of
sensory input; LSD; MDMA (Ecstasy)
point in a given time
170.
Hallucinations: sensory experiences without sensory
stimulation
Free Association: in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring
the unconscious; person relaxes and says whatever comes to
mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing
Groupthink: mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for
harmony in a decision-making group overrides realistic
appraisal of alternatives
cluster
167.
Group Polarization: enhancement of a group's prevailing
attitudes through discussion within the group
184.
have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger
request
166.
Grouping: the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into
coherent groups
183.
abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood
165.
Grammar: a system of rules in a language that enables us to
communicate with and understand others
Flow: a completely, involved, focused state of consciousness,
with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from
optimal engagement of one's skills
Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tensionreduction (GRIT): a strategy designed to decrease
international tensions; one side announces recognition of
mutual interests and initiates a small conciliatory act; opens
door for reciprocation by other party
Iconic Memory: a momentary sensory memory of visual
stimuli; a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more
that a few tenths of a second
198.
Id: contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy; strives
to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates on the
pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification
199.
Identification: the process by which children incorporate
222.
their parents' values into their developing superegos
200.
Imagery: mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful
223.
processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding
201.
Implicit Memory: retention independent of conscious
Incentive: a positive or negative environmental stimulus that
225.
Individualism: giving priority to one's own goals over group
goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes
rather than group identifications
205.
206.
Informational Social Influence: influence resulting from
one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality
207.
Karen Horney: sought to balance Freud's masculine biases
227.
Kinesthesis: the system for sensing the position and
movement of individual body parts
228.
208.
Ingroup Bias: tendency to favor one's own group
209.
Inner Ear: innermost part of the ear, contining the cochlea,
semicurcular canals, and vestibular sacs
we combine them to communicate meaning
Latent Content: underlying meaning
230.
Latent Learning: learning that occurs, but is not apparent
until there is an incentive to demonstrate it
231.
232.
233.
Intelligence: ability to learn from experience, solve problems,
234.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ): defined originally the ratio of
mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100; IQ
= ma/ca x 100); on contemporary tests, the average performance
for a given age is assigned a score of 100
214.
215.
235.
236.
Intensity: amount of energy in a wave determined by
237.
Interaction: the dependence of the effect of one factor (such as
238.
239.
240.
241.
intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs
219.
220.
Interposition: closer object blocks distant object
242.
Interpretation: the analyst's noting supposed dream
243.
Manic Episode: a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive,
Manifest Content: remembered story line
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: begins at the base with
physiological needs that must first be satisfied then higher-level
safety needs become active then psychological needs become
active
Intrinsic Motivation: desire to perform a behavior for its own
sake and to be effective
Major Depressive Disorder: a mood disorder in which a
wildly optimistic state
meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors in order
to promote insight
221.
LSD: lysergic acid diethylamide; a powerful hallucinogenic
person, for no apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks
of depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished
interest or pleasure in most activities
Internal Locus of Control: the perception that one controls
Interneurons: CNS neurons that internally communicate and
Long-Term Memory: the relatively permanent and limitless
drug; also known as acid
one's own fate
218.
Lithium: chemical that provides an effective drug therapy for
storehouse of the memory system
environment) on another factor (such as heredity)
217.
Linguistic Determinism: Whorf"s hypothesis that language
the mood swings of bipolar (manic-depressive) disorders
amplitude: brightness, loudness
216.
linear perspective: parallel lines converge with distance
determines the way we think
Intelligence Test: a method of assessing an individual's
mental aptitudes and comparing them to those of others, using
numerical scores
Lens: transparent structure behind pupil that changes shape to
focus images on the retina
and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
213.
Learning: relatively permanent change in an organism's
behavior due to experience
a species and is unlearned
212.
Learned Helplessness: the hopelessness and passive
resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid
repeated aversive events
Insight: sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a
Instinct: complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout
Law of Effect: Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by
favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors
followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
problem; contrasts with strategy-based solutions
211.
Language: our spoken, written, or gestured works and the way
229.
Ingroup: "Us"- people with whom one shares a common
identity
210.
226.
Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology: the
application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing
human behavior in workplaces
Just: World Phenomenon-tendency of people to believe the
world is just; people get what they deserve and deserve what they
get
motivates behavior
204.
John B. Watson: viewed psychology as objective science;
generally agreed-upon consensus today; recommended study of
behavior without reference to unobservable mental processes; not
universally accepted by all schools of thought today
Imprinting: the process by which certain animals form
attachments during a critical period very early in life
203.
Ivan Pavlov (1849to 1936): Russian physiologist; discovered
conditioned reflexes
224.
recollection; also called procedural memory
202.
Iris: a ring of muscle that forms the colored portion of the eye
around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening
244.
Materialism: mind is a product of the brain; soul is not
involved in human behavior
245.
Medical Model: concept that diseases have physical causes;
can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases, cured; 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
246.
Memory: persistence of learning over time through the storage
266.
267.
Menarche (meh-NAR-key): first menstrual period
248.
Mental Age: a measure of intelligence test performance devised
by Binet; chronological age that most typically corresponds to a
given level of performance; child who does as well as the average
8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8
249.
250.
251.
253.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI):
271.
Mirror Neurons: frontal lobe neurons that fire when
272.
Misinformation Effect: incorporating misleading
273.
274.
275.
276.
Molecular Genetics: the subfield of biology that studies the
molecular structure and function of genes
260.
277.
261.
262.
278.
279.
264.
Mood Disorders: characterized by emotional extremes
Morpheme: in a language, the smallest unit that carries
meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)
265.
Motivated Forgetting: people unknowingly revise memories
Normative Social Influence: influence resulting from a
person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
280.
Observational Learning: learning by observing others
281.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: unwanted repetitive
thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions)
282.
Oedipus Complex: a boy's sexual desires toward his mother
and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father
283.
that are consistent with one's current mood
263.
Normal Curve: 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
Monocular Cues: relative size, smaller image is more distant
Mood-congruent Memory: tendency to recall experiences
Night Terrors: occur within 2 or 3 hours of falling asleep,
usually during Stage 4; high arousal-- appearance of being
terrified; seldom remembered
Monism: the presumption that mind and body are different
aspects of the same thing
Neurotransmitters: 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 it will generate a neural impulse
behavior
259.
Neurotic Disorder (term seldom used now): usually
distressing but that allows one to think rationally and function
socially
Mnemonics: memory aids; especially those techniques that use
Modeling: process of observing and imitating a specific
Neuron: a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous
system
vivid imagery and organizational devices
258.
Nervous System: the body's speedy, electrochemical
communication system; consists of all the nerve cells of the
peripheral and central nervous systems
information into one's memory of an event
257.
Nerves: neural "cables" containing many axons; part of the
peripheral nervous system; connect the central nervous system
with muscles, glands, and sense organs
performing certain actions or when observing another doing so;
may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy
256.
Nearsightedness: condition in which nearby objects are seen
more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in
front of retina
the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality
tests; originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still
considered its most appropriate use); now used for many other
screening purposes
255.
Nature vs. Nurture Controversy: the relative contribution
that genes and experience make to development of psychological
traits and behaviors
Middle Ear: chamber between eardrum and cochlea
containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) that
concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval
window
254.
270.
Meta-analysis-: procedure for statistically combining the
results of many different research studies
Natural Selection: principle that those inherited trait
variations contributing to survival will most likely be passed on
to succeeding generations
Mere Exposure Effect: repeated exposure to novel stimuli
increases liking of them; Conceptions of attractiveness vary by
culture
252.
269.
Mental Set: tendency to approach a problem in a particular
way; especially a way that has been successful in the past but
may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem
Myelin Sheath: a layer of fatty cells segmentally encasing the
fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission
speed of neutral impulses
Mental Retardation: a condition of limited mental ability;
indicated by an intelligence score below 70; produces difficulty in
adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound
Motor Neurons: carry outgoing information from the CNS to
muscles and glands
268.
and retrieval of information
247.
Motivation: a need or desire that energizes and directs
behavior
One-Word Stage: from about age 1 to 2; the stage in speech
development during which a child speaks mostly in single words
284.
Operant Behavior: operates (acts) on environment; produces
consequences
285.
Operant Conditioning: type of learning in which behavior is
strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if
followed by punishment
286.
306.
307.
Opponent-Process Theory: opposing retinal processes
289.
290.
292.
Overconfidence: tendency to be more confident than correct;
tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and
judgments
293.
Overjustification Effect: the effect of promising a reward for
doing what one already likes to do; the person may now see the
reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for
performing the task
294.
296.
310.
311.
Passionate Love: an aroused state of intense positive
312.
313.
314.
315.
300.
316.
317.
302.
318.
319.
neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest
of the body
304.
Personal Control: our sense of controlling our environments
rather than feeling helpless
Predictive Validity: success with which a test predicts the
Preferences: human voices and; facelike images; smell and
sound of mother preferred
320.
Prejudice: an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude
toward a group and its members; involves stereotyped beliefs,
negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
321.
Primary Reinforcer: innately reinforcing stimulus; i.e.,
satisfies a biological need
322.
Perceptual Set: a mental predisposition to perceive one thing
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): the sensory and motor
Posthypnotic Suggestion: suggestion to be carried out after
behavior it is designed to predict; assessed by computing the
correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior; also
called criterion-related validity
Primary Sex Characteristics: body structures that make
sexual reproduction possible; ovaries—female; testes—male;
external genitalia
and not another
303.
Posthypnotic Amnesia: supposed inability to recall what one
the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to
help control undesired symptoms and behaviors
Perceptual Constancy: perceiving objects as unchanging
even as illumination and retinal image change
Positive Psychology: the scientific study of optimal human
experienced during hypnosis; induced by the hypnotist's
suggestion
Perceptual Adaptation: (vision) ability to adjust to an
artificially displaced visual field, prism glasses
301.
Polygraph: machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies;
functioning; aims to discover and promote conditions that enable
individuals and communities to thrive
Perception: the process of organizing and interpreting sensory
information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and
events
Place Theory: the theory that links the pitch we hear with the
measures several of the physiological responses accompanying
emotion: perspiration, cardiovascular, breathing changes
Perceived Causes: movements of sun or moon; lunacy--full
moon; evil spirits
299.
Pitch: a tone's highness or lowness; depends on frequency
place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated
absorption in another; usually present at the beginning of a love
relationship
298.
Physical Dependence: physiological need for a drug; marked
by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms
response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition;
greater resistance to extinction
297.
Phoneme: in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound
unit
Parapsychology: the study of paranormal phenomena
Partial (Intermitent) Reinforcement: reinforcing a
Phobia: persistent, irrational fear of a specific object or
situation
Panic Disorder: marked by a minutes-long episode of intense
dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying
chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensation
295.
309.
Outgroup: "Them"- those perceived as different or apart from
one's ingroup
Personnel Psychology: sub-field of I-O psychology that
focuses on employee recruitment, selection, placement, training,
appraisal, and development
Orne & Evans (1965): hypnotized group told to dip hand in
fake acid, then throw the "acid" in assistant's face; control group
instructed to "pretend"; unhypnotized subjects performed the
same acts as the hypnotized ones
291.
308.
Organizational Psychology: sub-field of I-O psychology that
examines organizational influences on worker satisfaction and
productivity and facilitates organizational change
Personality Inventory: a questionnaire (often with true-false
or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items
designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to
assess selected personality traits
Optic nerve: nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to
the brain
Personality Disorders: disorders characterized by inflexible
and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning;
usually without anxiety, depression, or delusions
enable color vision
288.
Personality: an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking,
feeling, and acting
Opiates: opium and its derivatives (morphine and heroin);
opiates depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and
anxiety; highly addictive
287.
305.
323.
Priming: activation, often unconsciously, of particular
associations in memory
324.
Proactive (forward acting) Interference: disruptive effect
of prior learning on recall of new information
325.
Projection: defense mechanism by which people disguise their
341.
own threatening impulses by attributing them to others
326.
Projective Test: a personality test, such as the Rorschach or
TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger
projection of one's inner dynamics
327.
342.
Prototype: mental image or best example of a category;
matching new items to the prototype 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)
329.
Proximity: group nearby figures together
330.
Psychiatrists: Physicians who specialize in the treatment of
psychological disorders; Not all psychiatrists have had extensive
training in psychotherapy, but as M.D.s they can prescribe
medications. Thus, they tend to see those with the most serious
problems; Many have a private practice
331.
Psychoactive Drug: a chemical substance that alters
343.
333.
Psychoanalysis: Freud's theory of personality that attributes
our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts;
techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to
expose and interpret unconscious tensions
334.
Psychoanalytic Approach: both a method of treatment and a
theory of the mind; behavior reflects combinations of conscious
and unconscious influences; drives and urges within the
unconscious component of mind influence thought and behavior;
early childhood experiences shape unconscious motivations
335.
Psychoanalytic Perspective: Freud's theory proposed that
childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence
personality
336.
337.
Psychological Disorder: a "harmful dysfunction" in which
behavior is judged to be: atypical--not enough in itself,
disturbing--varies with time and culture, maladaptive—harmful,
unjustifiable--sometimes there's a good reason
338.
follows; powerful controller of unwanted behavior
Pupil: adjustable opening in the center of the eye
347.
Rationalization: defense mechanism that offers self-justifying
explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious
reasons for one's actions
348.
339.
Psychopharmacology: study of the effects of drugs on mind
349.
Psychosexual Stages: the childhood stages of development
during which the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct
erogenous zones
Recall: measure of memory in which the person must retrieve
information learned earlier; as on a fill-in-the blank test
350.
Reciprocal Determinism: the interacting influences between
personality and environmental factors
351.
Recognition: Measure of memory in which the person has only
to identify items previously learned ; as on a multiple-choice test
352.
Refractory Period: resting period after orgasm, during which
a man cannot achieve another orgasm
353.
Regression: defense mechanism in which an individual faced
with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage,
where some psychic energy remains fixated
354.
Regression toward the mean: tendency for extremes of
unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward their average
355.
Rehearsal: conscious repetition of information; to maintain it
in consciousness; to encode it for storage
356.
Reinforcer: any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
357.
relative brightness: closer objects appear brighter
358.
Relative clarity: hazy object seen as more distant
359.
Relative Deprivation: perception that one is worse off relative
to those with whom one compares oneself
360.
relative height: higher objects seen as more distant
361.
relative motion: closer objects seem to move faster
362.
Relearning: memory measure that assesses the amount of time
saved when learning material a second time
and behavior
340.
Reaction Formation: defense mechanism by which the ego
unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their
opposites; people may express feelings that are the opposite of
their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings
Psychology: The science of behavior (what we do) and mental
processes (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs,
and feelings)
Punishment: aversive event that decreases the behavior that it
346.
Psychological Dependence: a psychological need to use a
drug; for example, to relieve negative emotions
Puberty: the period of sexual maturation; when a person
becomes capable of reproduction
345.
Psychoanalysis: 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; use has rapidly
decreased in recent years
Psychotic Disorder: person loses contact with reality;
experiences irrational ideas and distorted perceptions
344.
perceptions and mood
332.
Psychotherapy: an emotionally charged, confiding
interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers
from psychological difficulties
Prosocial Behavior: positive, constructive, helpful behavior;
opposite of antisocial behavior
328.
Psychosurgery: surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue
in an effort to change behavior; lobotomy; now-rare
psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably
emotional or violent patients
363.
Reliability: the extent to which a test yields consistent results;
assessed by consistency of scores on:
364.
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep: recurring sleep stage;
vivid dreams; "paradoxical sleep"; muscles are generally relaxed,
but other body systems are active
365.
Rene Descartes (1596 to 1650): modified dualism; since
animals have no soul, much behavior does not require soul; the
body can therefore control much behavior; led him to study
reflexes ; the soul's main function is thought, a uniquely human
attribute
366.
Representativeness Heuristic: 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
367.
Repression: the basic defense mechanism that banishes
anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from
consciousness
368.
Repression: defense mechanism that banishes from
consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and
memories
369.
384.
385.
386.
an answer to the question, "Who am I?"
Self-Concept: a sense of one's identity and personal worth
388.
Self-Disclosure: revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others
389.
Self Esteem: one's feelings of high or low self-worth
390.
Self-Serving Bias: readiness to perceive oneself favorably
391.
Retina: the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing
392.
373.
Retrieval: process of getting information out of memory
393.
374.
375.
376.
378.
379.
Scapegoat Theory: theory that prejudice provides an outlet for
381.
400.
401.
402.
characteristics; female--breast and hips; male--voice quality and
body hair
Sexual Orientation: an enduring sexual attraction toward
members of either one's own sex (homosexual orientation) or the
other sex (heterosexual orientation)
403.
Sexual Response Cycle: the four stages of sexual responding
described by Masters and Johnson-excitement, plateau, orgasm,
resolution
404.
Shachter's Two Factor Theory: emotions follow biological
changes. Example: My heart rate increases as I walk in a room,
this is probably because I am nervous. However, if I tell myself it
is because I am excited - then I will be more likely to be excited
about being in this place
Schizophrenia: literal translation "split mind"; a group of
Secondary Sex Characteristics: nonreproductive sexual
Sexual Disorder: a problem that consistently impairs sexual
arousal or functioning
severe disorders characterized by: disorganized and delusional
thinking, disturbed perceptions, inappropriate emotions and
actions
383.
Sex: a physiologically based motive, like hunger, but it is more
affected by learning and values
Schema: a concept or framework that organizes and interprets
information
382.
Set Point: 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
Schachter's Two-Factor Theory of Emotion: To
experience emotion one must: be physically aroused, cognitively
label the arousal
Sensory Neurons: neurons that carry incoming information
from the sense receptors to the central nervous system
399.
anger by providing someone to blame
380.
Sensory Memory: the immediate, initial recording of sensory
information in the memory system
398.
Savant Syndrome: condition in which a person otherwise
limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill;
computation; Drawing
Sensory Interaction: the principle that one sense may
influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste
397.
Rorschach Inkblot Test: the most widely used projective test;
a set of 10 inkblots designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to
identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations
of the blots
Sensory Adaptation: diminished sensitivity as a consequence
of constant stimulation
396.
Rooting Reflex: tendency to open mouth, and search for nipple
when touched on the cheek
377.
395.
Role: set of expectations about a social position; defines how
those in the position ought to behave
Sensorineural Hearing Loss: hearing loss caused by
damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerve;
also called nerve deafness
Rods: peripheral retina receptors; detect black, white and gray;
for peripheral or twilight conditions
Sensation: the process by which our sensory receptors and
nervous system receive and represent stimulus energy
394.
Retroactive (backwards acting) Interference: disruptive
effect of new learning on recall of old information
Semantics: the set of rules by which we derive meaning from
morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the
study of meaning
receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the
processing of visual information
372.
Semantic Encoding: encoding of meaning; including
meaning of words
stimulus; behavior learned through classical conditioning
371.
Self-Concept: all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in
387.
Resistance: blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden
Respondent Behavior: occurs as an automatic response to
Self-Actualization: the ultimate psychological need that
arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and
self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential
material
370.
Selective Attention: focusing of conscious awareness on a
particular stimulus; as in the cocktail party effect
405.
Shaping: operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers
guide behavior toward closer approximations of a desired goal
406.
Short-Term Memory: limited in duration and capacity;
428.
"magical" number 7+/-2
407.
Short-Term Memory: activated memory that holds a few
items briefly; look up a phone number, then quickly dial before
the information is forgotten
408.
Sigmund Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams (1900); wish
429.
amphetamines, cocaine ; speed up body functions
431.
Storage: the retention of encoded information over time
focused on illness; psychoanalytic theory of mental disorders
432.
Stranger Anxiety: fear of strangers that infants commonly
Similarity: group figures that are similar
411.
Skin Sensations: pressure; only skin sensation with
display; beginning by about 8 months of age
433.
identifiable receptors; warmth; cold; pain
412.
Sleep: periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness
413.
Social-Cognitive Perspective: views behavior as influenced
Social Exchange Theory: the theory that our social behavior
416.
435.
417.
436.
437.
438.
419.
439.
Social Loafing: tendency for people in a group to exert less
Social Psychology: scientific study of how we think about,
440.
Social Trap: a situation in which the conflicting parties, by
441.
Somatic Nervous System: the division of the peripheral
442.
Source Amnesia: attributing to the wrong source an event that
we experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined
(misattribution)
424.
425.
Taste Sensations: sweet, sour, salty, bitter
444.
Telegraphic Speech: early speech stage in which the child
speaks like a telegram--"go car"--using mostly nouns and verbs
and omitting "auxiliary" words
445.
446.
Stanford-Binet: the widely used American revision of Binet's
original intelligence test; revised by Terman at Stanford
University
Teratogens: agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can
reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause
harm
Standardization: defining meaningful scores by comparison
with the performance of a pretested "standardization group"
427.
Temperament: a person's characteristic emotional reactivity
and intensity
Spotlight Effect: overestimating others noticing and
evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders
426.
443.
Spacing Effect: distributed practice yields better long- term
retention than massed practice
Task Leadership: goal-oriented leadership that sets
standards, organizes work, and focuses attention on goals
nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles
423.
Systematic Desensitization: type of counterconditioning;
associates a pleasant, relaxed state with gradually increasing
anxiety-triggering stimuli; commonly used to treat phobias
each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in
mutually destructive behavior
422.
Syntax: the rules for combining words into grammatically
sensible sentences in a given language
influence, and relate to one another
421.
Synaptic changes: Long-term Potentiation; increase in
synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; Strong
emotions make for stronger memories; some stress hormones
boost learning and retention
effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal
than when individually accountable
420.
Synapse: junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron
and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron; tiny gap at
this junction is called the synaptic gap or cleft
Social Learning Theory: theory that we learn social behavior
by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Superordinate Goals: shared goals that override differences
among people and require their cooperation
teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support
418.
Superego: the part of personality that presents internalized
ideals; provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for
future aspirations
Social Intelligence: the know-how involved in
Social Leadership: group-oriented leadership that builds
Subjective Well-Being: self-perceived happiness or
satisfaction with life; used along with measures of objective wellbeing; physical and economic indicators to evaluate people's
quality of life
Social Facilitation: improved performance of tasks in the
comprehending social situations and managing oneself
successfully
Structured Interview: process that asks the same jobrelevant questions of all applicants; applicants rated on
established scales
is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits
and minimize costs
presence of others; occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but
not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered
Structuralism: used introspection (looking in) to explore the
elemental structure of the human mind
434.
by the interaction between persons and their social context
415.
Stimulants: drugs that excite neural activity; caffeine, nicotine,
Sigmund Freud (1856 to 1939): Austrian physician that
410.
414.
Stereotype: a generalized (sometimes accurate, but often
overgeneralized) belief about a group of people
430.
fulfillment; discharge otherwise unacceptable feelings
409.
State-dependent Memory: what is learned in one state
(while one is high, drunk, or depressed) can more easily be
remembered when in same state
447.
Terror-Management Theory: Faith in one's worldview and
the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply
rooted fear of death
448.
Testosterone: most important of the male sex hormones; both
468.
males and females have it, but the extra testosterone in males
stimulates growth of sex organs in the fetus and development of
the male sex characteristics during puberty
449.
THC: the major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a
469.
variety of effects, including mild hallucinations
450.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): a projective test in
which people express their inner feelings and interests through
the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes
451.
453.
Theory X: assumes that workers are basically lazy, error-
454.
Theory Y: assumes that, given challenge and freedom, workers
are motivated to achieve self-esteem and to demonstrate their
competence and creativity
455.
456.
Thomas Hobbes: see materialism
457.
Top-Down Processing: information processing guided by
higher-level mental processes; as when we construct perceptions
drawing on our experience and expectations
459.
460.
Trait Perspective: Hans and Sybil Eysenck use two primary
personality factors as axes for describing personality variation
461.
Transduction: conversion of one form of energy to another; in
sensation, transforming of stimulus energies into neural
impulses
462.
Transference: the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions
linked with other relationships; e.g. love or hatred for a parent
463.
Trichromatic (three color) Theory: Young and Helmholtz;
three different retinal color receptors; red, green, blue
464.
Two-Word Stage: beginning about age 2; the stage in speech
development during which a child speaks in mostly two-word
statements
465.
Unconditional Positive Regard: an attitude of total
acceptance toward another person
466.
Unconditioned Response (UCR): unlearned, naturally
occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus; salivation
when food is in the mouth
467.
473.
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): stimulus that
unconditionally--automatically and naturally--triggers a
response
Visual Capture: tendency for vision to dominate the other
senses
474.
475.
Visual Encoding: encoding of picture images
Wavelength: the distance from the peak of one wave to the
peak of the next
476.
Weber's Law: to be perceived as different, two stimuli must
differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant
amount)
477.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): most widely
used intelligence test; subtests- verbal ; performance (nonverbal)
478.
Wernicke's Area: an area of the left temporal lobe involved in
language comprehension and expression
479.
Wilhelm Wundt: opened the first psychology laboratory at the
University of Leipzig
480.
William James (1842 to 1910): started psychology at
Harvard in 1870s; opposed Wundt and Titchener's approach
Trait: a characteristic pattern of behavior;a disposition to feel
and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports
Vestibular Sense: the sense of body movement and position,
including the sense of balance
Token Economy: an operant conditioning procedure that
rewards desired behavior; patient exchanges a token of some
sort, earned for exhibiting the desired behavior, for various
privileges or treats
458.
472.
Threshold: the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural
impulse
Variable Ratio (VR): reinforces a response after an
unpredictable number of responses; average ratios; like
gambling, fishing; very hard to extinguish because of
unpredictability
Theory of Mind: people's ideas about their own and others'
prone, and extrinsically motivated by money ; workers should be
directed from above
Variable Interval (VI): reinforces a response at unpredictable
time intervals; produces slow steady responding; like pop quiz
471.
Theory of Emotion: Experience of emotion is awareness of
mental states- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts
and the behavior these might predict
Validity: the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it
is supposed to
470.
physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli
452.
Unconscious: according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly
unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories;
contemporary viewpoint- information processing of which we
are unaware
481.
Working Memory: focuses more on the processing of briefly
stored information