Chapter 1 Applied psychology The branch of psychology ...
Applied Psychology
• The branch of psychology concerned with everyday, practical problems.
Behavior
• Any observable activity or response by an organism.
Behaviorism
• A theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior.
Clinical psychology
• The branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders.
Cognition
• Mental processes or thinking.
Empiricism
• The premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation.
Evolutionary psychology
• Examines behavioral processes in terms of their adaptive or survival value for a species over the course of many generations.
Functionalism
• School of psychology asserting that psychology's major purpose was to investigate the function or purpose of consciousness, rather than its structure.
Humanism
• A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth.
Introspection
• Careful, systematic observation of one's own conscious experience.
Psychoanalytic theory
• A theory developed by Freud that attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior.
Psychology
• The science that studies behavior and the physiological and cognitive processes that underlie it, and it is the profession that applies this knowledge to solving various practical problems.
SQ3R
• A study system designed to promote effective reading by means of five steps: survey, question, read, recite, and review.
Structuralism
• School of psychology based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements and to investigate how these elements are related.
Testwiseness
• Ability to use the characteristics and formats of a test to maximize one's score.
Theory
• A system of interrelated ideas that is used to explain a set of observations.
Unconscious
• According to Freud, thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behavior.
Anecdotal evidence
• Support for a particular point of view through the use of personal and vivid (but frequently misleading) stories.
Case study
• An in-depth investigation of an individual subject.
Confounding of variables
• One or more extraneous variables that make it difficult to sort out the effects of the independent variable.
Control group
• The group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment.
Correlation
• A link or association between variables.
Correlation coefficient
• The statistic that indicates the degree of relationship between variables.
Data collection techniques
• Procedures for making empirical observations, including questionnaires, interviews, psychological tests, and physiological recordings.
Dependent variable
• The variable that is thought to be affected by the manipulation of the independent variable in an experiment.
Double-blind procedure
• A research strategy in which neither the subjects nor experimenters know which condition the subjects are in or which treatment they are receiving.
Experiment
• A research method in which independent variables are manipulated.
Experimental group
• In an experiment, the group that receives a treatment involving the manipulation of the independent variable(s).
Experimenter bias
• When a researcher's expectations influence the results of a study.
Extraneous variables
• In an experiment, variables other than the independent variable(s) that seem likely to influence the measure of dependent variables.
Hypothesis
• A tentative statement about the expected relationship between two or more variables.
Independent variable
• In an experiment, a condition or event that an experimenter varies in order to observe its impact.
Naturalistic observation
• A research method in which subjects are observed in their natural environment without direct intervention of the researcher.
Operational definition
• Describes the actions or operations that will be used to measure or control a variable.
Participants
• Term generally used to refer to the people whose behavior is being systematically observed in a study.
Placebo effects
• Change resulting from treatments that are empty, fake, or ineffectual.
Population
• A larger group from which a sample is drawn to which the researcher wishes to generalize.
Random assignment
• In an experiment, distributing subjects so that each has an equal chance of being assigned to a group or condition.
Replication
• A repetition of a study to determine whether the previous results can be duplicated.
Research methods
• Differing ways of conducting research, which include experiments, case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation.
Sample
• A group of subjects taken from a larger population.
Sampling bias
• A sample that is not representative of the population from which it was drawn.
Social desirability bias
• The tendency to provide socially acceptable (rather than truthful) responses on surveys and in interviews.
Subjects
• Term used to refer to participants, whether human or animals, whose behavior is being systematically observed in a study.
Survey
• A questionnaire or interview used to gather information.
Variables
• Any of the factors in an experiment that are controlled or observed by an experimenter or that in some other way affect the outcome.
Absolute refractory period
• The minimum length of time after an action potential, during which another action potential cannot begin.
Action potential
• A brief change in a neuron's electrical charge.
Adaptation
• An inherited characteristic that increased in a population, because it helped solve a problem of survival or reproduction during the time it emerged.
Adoption studies
• Assessing hereditary influence by examining the resemblance between adopted children and both their adoptive and biological parents.
Afferent nerve fibers
• Axons that carry information outward to the central nervous system from the periphery of the body.
Agonist
• A chemical that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter.
Antagonist
• A chemical that opposes the action of a neurotransmitter.
Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
• The system of nerves that connect to the heart, blood vessels, smooth muscles, and glands.
Axon
• A long, thin fiber that transmits signals away from the soma to other neurons, or to muscles or glands.
Central nervous system (CNS)
• The system that consists of the brain and spinal cord.
Cerebral cortex
• The convoluted outer layer of the cerebrum.
Cerebral hemispheres
• The right and left halves of the cerebrum.
Chromosomes
• Threadlike strands of DNA molecules that carry genetic information.
Corpus callosum
• The structure that connects the two cerebral hemispheres.
Critical period
• A limited time span in the development of an organism when it is optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the organism is especially responsive to certain experiences.
Dendrites
• Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.
Efferent nerve fibers
• Axons that carry information outward from the central nervous system to the periphery of the body.
Endocrine system
• System of glands that secrete chemicals into the bloodstream that help control bodily functioning.
Endorphins
• A family of chemicals produced by the body that resemble opiates in structure and effects.
Family studies
• Assessing hereditary influence by examining blood relatives to see how they resemble each other on a specific trait.
Forebrain
• The largest region of the brain, encompassing a variety of structures, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, and cerebrum.
Genes
• DNA segments that serve as the key functional units in hereditary transmission.
Hindbrain
• Part of the brain that includes the cerebellum and two structures found in the lower part of the brainstem the medulla and the pons.
Hormones
• The chemical substances released by the endocrine glands.
Hypothalamus
• A structure found near the base of the forebrain that is involved in the regulation of basic biological needs.
Limbic system
• A densely connected network of structures involved in the control of emotion, motivation, and memory.
Midbrain
• The segment of the brainstem that lies between the hindbrain and the forebrain.
Neurons
• Individual cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate, and transmit information.
Neurotransmitters
• Chemicals that transmit information from one neuron to another.
Peripheral nervous system
• System that includes all those nerves that lie outside the brain and spinal cord.
Pituitary gland
• The "master gland" of the endocrine system; it releases a great variety of hormones that fan out through the body, stimulating actions in the other endocrine glands.
Polygenic traits
• Characteristics that are influenced by more than one pair of genes.
Postsynaptic potential (PSP)
• A voltage change at a receptor site on a postsynaptic cell membrane.
Resting potential
• The stable, negative charge of an inactive neuron.
Reuptake
• A process in which neurotransmitters are sponged up from the synaptic cleft by the presynaptic membrane.
Soma
• The cell body of a neuron; it contains the nucleus and much of the chemical machinery common to most cells.
Somatic nervous system
• System of nerves that connect to voluntary skeletal muscles and to sensory receptors.
Split-brain surgery
• A procedure in which the corpus callosum is cut to reduce the severity of epileptic seizures.
Synapse
• A junction where information is transmitted between neurons.
Synaptic cleft
• A microscopic gap between the terminal buttons of the sending neuron and the cell membrane of another neuron.
Terminal buttons
• Small knobs at the end of the axon that secrete chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Thalamus
• A structure in the forebrain through which all sensory information (except smell) must pass to get to the cerebral cortex.
Twin studies
• Assessing hereditary influence by comparing the resemblance of identical twins and/or fraternal twins with respect to a trait.
Afterimage
• A visual image that persists after a stimulus is removed.
Basilar membrane
• Membrane running the length of the cochlea that holds the actual auditory receptors, called hair cells.
Binocular depth cues
• Clues about distance based on the differing views of the two eyes.
Bottom-up processing
• A progression from individual elements to the whole.
Cochlea
• A fluid-filled, coiled tunnel that makes up the largest part of the inner ear and contains the receptors for hearing.
Color blindness
• Deficient ability to distinguish among colors.
Complementary colors
• Pairs of colors that produce gray tones when mixed together.
Cones
• Specialized receptors that play a key role in daylight vision and color vision.
Dark adaptation
• The process in which the eyes become more sensitive to light in low illumination.
Depth perception
• Interpretation of visual cues to determine how near or far away objects are.
Farsightedness
• A condition in which distant objects are seen clearly but close objects appear blurry.
Feature analysis
• Detecting specific elements in visual input and assembling them into a more complex form.
Feature detectors
• Neurons that respond selectively to very specific features of more complex stimuli.
Fovea
• A tiny spot in the center of the retina where visual acuity is greatest.
Gustatory system
• The sense of taste.
Impossible figures
• Objects that can be represented in two-dimensional figures but cannot exist in three- dimensional space.
Lens
• The transparent eye structure that focuses the light rays falling on the retina.
Monocular depth cues
• Clues about distance that are obtained from the image in one eye.
Nearsightedness
• A condition in which close objects are seen clearly but distant objects appear blurry.
Olfactory system
• The sensory system for smell.
Perception
• The selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input.
Perceptual constancy
• A tendency to maintain a perception in the face of constantly changing sensory input.
Perceptual set
• A readiness to perceive a stimulus in a particular way.
Phi phenomenon
• The illusion of movement created by presenting stationary visual stimuli in rapid succession.
Pictorial depth cues
• Cues about distance in a picture.
Pupil
• The opening in the center of the iris that helps regulate the amount of light passing into the rear chamber of the eye.
Retina
• The neural tissue lining the inside back surface of the eye that absorbs light, processes images, and sends visual information to the brain.
Retinal disparity
• The differing views of the right and left eyes due to images within 25 feet being projected to slightly different locations on the right and left retinas.
Reversible figure
• A drawing compatible with two different interpretations that can shift back and forth.
Rods
• Specialized receptors that play a key role in night vision and peripheral vision.
Sensation
• The stimulation of sense organs.
Sensory adaptation
• A gradual decline in sensitivity after prolonged stimulation.
Top-down processing
• A progression from the whole to the elements.
Visual illusions
• An apparently inexplicable discrepancy between the appearance of a visual stimulus and its physical reality.
Acquisition
• The initial stage of learning something.
Avoidance learning
• Responding in order to avoid aversive stimulation.
Behavior modification
• A systematic approach to changing behavior through the application of conditioning principles.
Classical conditioning
• The most common name of a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.
Conditioned reinforcer
• A reinforcer to which an organism has learned to respond via repeated pairing with an unconditioned reinforcer.
Conditioned response (CR)
• A learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning.
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
• A previously neutral stimulus that has acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response.
Continuous reinforcement
• Reinforcing every instance of a designated response.
Discriminative stimuli
• Cues that influence operant behavior by indicating the probable consequences of a particular response.
Elicit
• To draw out or bring forth, as in drawing out a response in classical conditioning.
Emit
• To produce voluntary responses.
Escape learning
• Engaging in a response that brings aversive stimulation to an end.
Extinction
• The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency.
Fixed-interval (FI) schedule
• Reinforcement is given for the first response that occurs after a fixed time interval has elapsed.
Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule
• Reinforcement is given after a fixed number of nonreinforced responses.
Higher-order conditioning
• Learning that occurs when a conditioned stimulus functions as if it were an unconditioned stimulus.
Instinctive drift
• Innate response tendencies that interfere with conditioning.
Intermittent reinforcement
• The name for all schedules of reinforcement in which a designated response is reinforced only some of the time.
Learning
• A relatively durable change in behavior or knowledge that is due to experience.
Negative reinforcement
• Removing an aversive stimulus after a response.
Observational learning
• Responding is influenced by observing others.
Operant conditioning
• Learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled by their consequences.
Pavlovian conditioning
• Another name for classical conditioning (derived from the name Ivan Pavlov, who originally discovered the conditioning phenomenon).
Positive reinforcement
• A rewarding stimulus is provided following a response.
Primary reinforcers
• Stimuli that are inherently rewarding because they satisfy biological needs.
Punishment
• An aversive consequence that weakens or suppresses the tendency to make a particular response.
Reinforcement
• An event following a response that strengthens the tendency to make that response.
Reinforcement contingencies
• The circumstances or rules that determine whether responses lead to presentation of a reinforcer; or, the relationship between a response and positive consequences.
Resistance to extinction
• Continuing to respond after reinforcements have been terminated.
Schedule of reinforcement
• A specific pattern of reinforcement.
Secondary reinforcers
• Stimuli that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers.
Shaping
• Reinforcing successively closer approximations to the desired response.
Skinner box
• A standard operant chamber in which an animal's responses are recorded and shaped through reinforcement.
Spontaneous recovery
• The reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure to the conditioned stimulus.
Stimulus contiguity
• Presenting stimuli close together in time.
Stimulus discrimination
• An organism learns not to respond in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
Stimulus generalization
• Responding to new stimuli that are similar to the stimulus used in conditioning.
Trial
• Presentation of a stimulus or pair of stimuli in classical conditioning.
Unconditioned response (UCR)
• The response to an unconditioned stimulus.
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
• A stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response.
Variable-interval (VI) schedule
• Reinforcement is given for the first response that occurs after a variable time interval has elapsed.
Variable-ratio (VR) schedule
• Reinforcement is given after a variable number of nonreinforced responses.
Availability heuristic
• Estimating the probably of an event based on the ease with which relevant instances come to mind.
Conjunction fallacy
• An error in thinking that involves estimating that the odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone.
Convergent thinking
• Thinking that narrows multiple alternatives to a single best solution.
Creativity
• Generating ideas that are original, novel, and useful.
Decision making
• Making choices by evaluating alternatives
Divergent thinking
• Expanding alternatives by generating many possible solutions.
Functional fixedness
• The tendency to perceive an item only in terms of its most common use.
Gambler's fallacy
• The erroneous belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently.
Heritability ratio
• The proportion of trait variability in a population attributable to genetic inheritance.
Heuristic
• A strategy, guiding principle, or rule of thumb used in solving problems or making decisions.
Insight
• In problem solving, the sudden discovery of a solution following multiple failed attempts.
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
• Mental age divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100.
Mental age
• The mental ability typical of a chronological age group.
Mental set
• Persisting in using problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past.
Normal distribution
• A symmetric, bell-shaped curve that represents the pattern of many population characteristics.
Problem solving
• Active efforts to discover how to solve a problem.
Reaction range
• Genetically determined limits on intelligence.
Reliability
• The measurement consistency of a test.
Representativeness heuristic
• Basing the estimated probability that an event will occur on how similar it is to the typical prototype of that event.
Trial and error
• Trying various random solutions until one is found that works.
Validity
• The ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure.
Achievement motive
• The need to master difficult challenges, to outperform others, and to meet high standards of excellence.
Display rules
• Cultural norms that regulate the expression of emotions.
Drive
• An internal state of tension that motivates an organism to engage in activities designed to reduce the tension.
Emotion
• A subjective conscious experience (the cognitive component) accompanied by bodily arousal (the physiological component) and by characteristic overt expression (the behavioral component).
Galvanic skin response (GSR)
• An increase in the electrical conductivity of the skin that occurs when sweat glands increase their activity.
Homeostasis
• A state of physiological equilibrium or stability.
Incentive
• An external goal that motivates behavior.
Motivation
• Goal-directed behavior that may be affected by needs, wants, interests, desires, and incentives.
Aggression
• Any behavior that is intended to hurt someone, either physically or verbally.
Approach-approach conflict
• A conflict situation in which a choice must be made between two attractive goals.
Approach-avoidance conflict
• A conflict situation in which a choice must be made about whether to pursue a single goal that has both attractive and unattractive aspects.
Avoidance-avoidance conflict
• A conflict situation in which a choice must be made between two unattractive goals.
Biopsychosocial model
• A model of illness that holds that physical illness is caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.
Catastrophic thinking
• Unrealistic and pessimistic appraisal of stress that exaggerates the magnitude of a problem.
Conflict
• The state resulting from two or more incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses competing for expression.
Coping
• An active effort to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands created by stress.
Defense mechanisms
• Largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt.
Frustration
• The feeling that people experience in any situation in which their pursuit of some goal is thwarted.
General adaptation syndrome
• Selye's model of the body's stress response consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
Health psychology
• The subfield of psychology concerned with how psychosocial forces relate to the promotion and maintenance of health and the causation, prevention, and treatment of illness.
Immune response
• The body's defensive reaction to invasion by bacteria, viral agents, or other foreign substances.
Internet addiction
• Spending an inordinate amount of time on the Internet and being unable to control online use.
Learned helplessness
• A passive behavior produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events.
Life changes
• Any noticeable alterations in one's living circumstances that require readjustment.
Optimism
• A general tendency to expect good outcomes.
Pressure
• Expectations or demands that one behave in a certain way.
Social support
• Various types of aid and succor provided by members of one's social network.
Stress
• Any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten our well-being and thereby tax our coping abilities.
Type A personality
• A behavior pattern marked by competitive, aggressive, impatient, hostile behavior.
Type B personality
• A behavior pattern marked by relaxed, patient, easygoing, amicable behavior.
Antianxiety drugs
• Medications that relieve tension, apprehension, and nervousness.
Antidepressant drugs
• Medications that gradually elevate mood and help bring people out of a depression.
Antipsychotic drugs
• Medications used to gradually reduce psychotic symptoms, including hyperactivity, mental confusion, hallucinations, and delusions.
Aversion therapy
• A behavior therapy in which an unpleasant stimulus is paired with a stimulus to extinguish a maladaptive behavior.
Behavior therapies
• Therapies that involve the application of learning principles to change maladaptive behaviors.
Biomedical therapies
• Therapies that use physiological interventions intended to reduce symptoms associated with psychological disorders.
Client-centered therapy
• An insight therapy that emphasizes providing a supportive emotional climate for clients who play a major role in determining the pace and direction of their therapy.
Clinical psychologists
• Psychologists who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and everyday behavioral problems.
Cognitive therapy
• An insight therapy that emphasizes recognizing and changing negative thoughts and maladaptive beliefs.
Counseling psychologists
• Psychologists who specialize in the treatment of everyday adjustment problems.
Deinstitutionalization
• Transferring the treatment of mental illness from inpatient institutions to community-based facilities that emphasize outpatient care.
Dream analysis
• A psychoanalytic technique that involves interpreting the symbolic meaning of dreams.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
• A biomedical treatment in which electric shock is used to produce cortical seizure accompanied by convulsions.
Free association
• A psychoanalytic technique in which clients are urged to spontaneously express their thoughts and feelings with as little personal censorship as possible.
Group therapy
• The simultaneous treatment of several clients in a group.
Insight therapies
• Therapies that involve verbal interactions intended to enhance clients' self-knowledge and thus produce healthful changes in personality and behavior.
Lithium
• A chemical used to control mood swings in patients with bipolar mood disorder.
Placebo effects
• Change resulting from treatments that are empty, fake, or ineffectual.
Psychiatrists
• Physicians who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders.
Psychoanalysis
• An insight therapy that emphasizes resolving unconscious conflicts, motives, and defenses through techniques such as free association and dream analysis.
Resistance
• A client's largely unconscious defensive maneuvers that hinder the progress of therapy.
Social skills training
• A behavior therapy designed to improve interpersonal skills, especially through shaping, modeling, and behavioral rehearsal.
Systematic desensitization
• A behavior therapy used to reduce clients' anxiety responses through counterconditioning.
Tardive dyskinesia
• A neurological disorder marked by chronic tremors and involuntary spastic movements.
Transference
• In therapy, the phenomenon that occurs when clients start relating to their therapist in ways that mimic critical relationships in their lives.
Biological rhythms
• Periodic fluctuations in physiological functioning.
Circadian rhythms
• The 24-hour biological cycles found in humans and many other species.
Consciousness
• Our awareness of internal and external stimuli.
Dissociation
• Splitting of mental processes into two separate, simultaneous streams of awareness.
Hallucinogens
• A diverse group of drugs that distort sensory and perceptual experience.
Hypnosis
• A systematic procedure that typically produces a heightened state of suggestibility.
Insomnia
• Chronic problems in getting adequate sleep.
Latent content
• Freud's term for the disguised or hidden meaning of events in a dream.
Manifest content
• Freud's term for the plot of a dream at the surface level.
MDMA
• A compound drug related to both amphetamines and hallucinogens, especially mescaline; commonly called "ecstasy."
Narcolepsy
• A disease marked by sudden and irresistible onsets of sleep during normal waking periods.
Narcotics
• Drugs derived from opium that are capable of relieving pain.
Non-REM sleep
• Sleep stages 1 through 4, which are marked by an absence of rapid eye movements, relatively little dreaming and varied EEG activity.
Opiates
• Drugs derived from opium that are capable of relieving pain.
Physical dependence
• Taking a drug to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Psychoactive drugs
• Chemical substances that modify mental, emotional, or behavioral functioning.
Psychological dependence
• Taking a drug to satisfy mental and emotional craving for the drug.
REM sleep
• A deep stage of sleep marked by rapid eye movements, high-frequency brain waves, and dreaming.
Sedatives
• Sleep-inducing drugs that tend to decrease central nervous system activation and behavioral activity.
Sleep apnea
• A sleep disorder characterized by frequent reflexive gasping for air.
Slow-wave sleep
• Sleep stages 3 and 4 in which low-frequency delta waves become prominent in EEG recordings.
Somnambulism
• Arising and walking about while remaining asleep; sleepwalking.
Stimulants
• Drugs that tend to increase central nervous system activation and behavioral activity.
Tolerance
• A progressive decrease in a person's responsiveness to a drug as a result of continued use.
Anterograde amnesia
• The loss of memory for events that occurs after a head injury.
Attention
• Focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events.
Chunk
• Several bits of information stored in memory as a single unit.
Decay theory
• Posits that forgetting occurs because memory traces fade with time.
Declarative memory system
• Memory for factual information.
Elaboration
• Linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding.
Encoding
• Forming a memory code.
Encoding specificity
• Posits that the value of a retrieval cue depends on how well it corresponds to the memory code.
Episodic memory system
• Chronological or temporally dated recollections of personal experiences.
Explicit memory
• The intentional recollection of previous experiences.
Flashbulb memories
• Unusually vivid and detailed recollections of momentous events.
Forgetting curve
• A graph showing retention and forgetting over time.
Hindsight bias
• The tendency to mold interpretations of the past to fit how events actually turned out.
Implicit memory
• Retention exhibited on a task that does not require intentional remembering.
Interference theory
• Posits that people forget information because of competition from other material.
Levels of processing theory
• Posits that deeper levels of processing result in longer lasting memory codes.
Long-term memory (LTM)
• An unlimited capacity memory store that can hold information for long periods.
Method of loci
• A mnemonic device that involves taking an imaginary walk along a familiar path where images of items to be remembered are associated with certain locations.
Mnemonic devices
• Verbal strategies for enhancing memory.
Overlearning
• Continuing to rehearse material after it has apparently been mastered.
Proactive interference principle
• Holds that previously learned information interferes with the retention of new information.
Procedural memory system
• Memory for actions, skills, and operations.
Recall measure
• A memory test that requires subjects to reproduce information without any cues.
Recognition measure
• A memory test that requires subjects to select previously learned information from an array of options (e.g., multiple-choice tests).
Rehearsal
• Repetitively verbalizing or thinking about new information.
Relearning measure
• A memory test that requires subjects to memorize information a second time to determine how much time or effort is saved by having learned it before.
Repression
• Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious.
Retrieval
• Recovering information from memory stores.
Retroactive interference
• New information impairs the retention of previously learned information.
Retrograde amnesia
• The loss of memory for events that occurred prior to a brain injury.
Schema
• An organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object or sequence of events.
Semantic memory system
• Memory for general knowledge that is not tied to when the information was learned.
Semantic networks
• Concepts joined by links that show how the concepts are related.
Sensory memory
• The preservation of information in its original sensory form, usually only a fraction of a second.
Serial-position effect
• Having better recall for items at the beginning and end of a list than for items in the middle.
Short-term memory (STM)
• A limited capacity memory store that can maintain unrehearsed information for 20 to 30 seconds.
Source monitoring
• Making inferences about where a particular memory originated.
Source monitoring error
• A memory derived from one source is misattributed to another source.
Storage
• Maintaining coded information in memory.
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
• A temporary inability to remember something accompanied by the feeling that it's just out of reach.
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Age of viability
• The age at which the baby can first survive in the event of a premature birth.
Animism
• The belief that all things are living.
Attachment
• A close, emotional bond of affection between an infant and its caregiver.
Centration
• The Piagetian term for the tendency to focus on just one feature of a problem and neglect other important features.
Cephalocaudal trend
• The head-to-foot direction of motor development.
Cognitive development
• Development of thinking, reasoning, remembering, and problem solving.
Conservation
• Piaget's term for the awareness that physical quantities remain constant in spite of changes in their shape or appearance.
Dementia
• An abnormal condition marked by multiple cognitive defects that include memory impairment.
Development
• The sequence of age-related changes that occurs as a person progresses from conception to death.
Developmental norms
• The average ages at which people display certain behaviors and abilities.
Egocentrism
• Thinking characterized by a limited ability to share another person's viewpoint.
Embryonic stage
• The second stage of prenatal development, lasting from two weeks after conception until the end of the second month.
Fast mapping
• The process by which children map a word onto an underlying concept after only one exposure to the word.
Fetal alcohol syndrome
• A collection of congenital problems associated with a mother's excessive use of alcohol during pregnancy.
Fetal stage
• The third stage of prenatal development, lasting from two months after conception through birth.
Gender
• Culturally constructed distinctions between femininity and masculinity.
Gender differences
• Behavioral differences between females and males.
Gender roles
• Expectations concerning the appropriate behavior for each sex.
Gender stereotypes
• Widely held beliefs about females' and males' abilities, personality traits, and social behavior.
Germinal stage
• The first phase of prenatal development, encompassing the first two weeks after conception.
Irreversibility
• The inability to cognitively visualize reversing an action.
Maturation
• Development that reflects the gradual unfolding of one's genetic blueprint.
Midlife crisis
• A difficult, turbulent period of doubt and reappraisal of one's life.
Motor development
• Developmental changes in muscular coordination required for physical movement.
Object permanence
• A mental capacity that involves recognizing that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible.
Overextension
• Using a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than it is meant to.
Overregularization
• In children, incorrect generalization of grammatical rules to irregular cases where they do not apply.
Placenta
• A structure that allows oxygen and nutrients to pass into the fetus from the mother's bloodstream and bodily wastes to pass out to the mother.
Prenatal period
• The period of pregnancy, extending from conception to birth.
Primary sex characteristics
• The physical structures necessary for reproduction.
Proximodistal trend
• The center-outward direction of motor development.
Puberty
• The period of early adolescence marked by rapid physical growth and the development of sexual (reproductive) maturity.
Secondary sex characteristics
• Physical features associated with gender that are not directly needed for reproduction.
Separation anxiety
• Emotional distress displayed by an infant when separated from a person with whom it has formed an attachment.
Sex
• The biologically based categories of male and female.
Stage
• A developmental period during which certain behaviors and capacities occur.
Telegraphic speech
• Speech that consists mainly of content words; articles, prepositions, and other less critical words are omitted.
Underextensions
• Children's speech errors in which a word is used that represents a narrower set of objects or actions than the word actually means.
Zygote
• A one-celled organism created by the process of fertilization, the union of sperm and egg.
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Archetypes
• Emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.
Behaviorism
• A theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior.
Collective unconscious
• A storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from our ancestral past.
Compensation
• Efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one's abilities.
Conscious
• Whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time.
Defense mechanisms
• Largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt.
Displacement
• Diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original source to a substitute target.
Ego
• The decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle.
Fixation
• According to Freud, failure to move forward from one psychosexual stage to another as expected.
Hierarchy of needs
• Maslow's systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic, physiological needs must be met before social or growth needs are aroused.
Hindsight bias
• The tendency to mold interpretations of the past to fit how events actually turned out.
Humanism
• A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and potential for personal growth.
Id
• The primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle.
Identification
• Bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group.
Incongruence
• The degree of disparity between one's self-concept and one's actual experience.
Model
• A person whose behavior is observed by another.
Need for self-actualization
• The need to fulfill one's potential.
Observational learning
• Responding is influenced by observing others.
Oedipal complex
• According to Freud, children's manifestation of erotically tinged desires for their opposite-sex parent, accompanied by feelings of hostility toward their same-sex parent.
Personality
• An individual's unique constellation of consistent behavioral traits.
Personality trait
• A durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations.
Pleasure principle
• According to Freud, the principle upon which the id operates, demanding immediate gratification of its urges.
Preconscious
• According to Freud, the level of awareness that contains material just beneath the surface of conscious awareness that can be easily retrieved.
Projection
• Attributing your own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another.
Projective tests
• Psychological tests that ask subjects to respond to vague, ambiguous stimuli in ways that may reveal the subjects' needs, feelings, and personality traits.
Psychodynamic theories
• All the diverse theories descended from the work of Sigmund Freud that focus on unconscious mental forces.
Psychosexual stages
• According to Freud, developmental periods with a characteristic sexual focus that leave their mark on adult personality.
Rationalization
• Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior.
Reaction formation
• Behaving in a way that is exactly the opposite of one's true feelings.
Reality principle
• According to Freud, the principle on which the ego operates, which seeks to delay gratification of the id's urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found.
Regression
• Reverting to immature patterns of behavior.
Repression
• The defense mechanism that pushes distressing thoughts and feelings into the unconscious or keeps them from emerging into consciousness.
Self-actualizing persons
• People with exceptionally healthy personalities, marked by continued personal growth.
Self-concept
• A collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior.
Self-efficacy
• A collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior.
Self-report inventories
• Personality tests that ask people a series of questions about their characteristic behavior.
Striving for superiority
• A universal drive to adapt, to improve oneself, and to master life's challenges.
Superego
• The moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong.
Unconscious
• According to Freud, thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behavior.
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Agoraphobia
• A fear of going out in public places.
Anorexia nervosa
• An eating disorder characterized by fear of gaining weight, disturbed body image, refusal to maintain normal weight, and dangerous measures to lose weight.
Anxiety disorders
• A class of psychological disorders marked by feelings of excessive apprehension and anxiety.
Availability heuristic
• Estimating the probably of an event based on the ease with which relevant instances come to mind.
Bipolar disorder
• Mood disorder marked by the experience of both depressive and manic periods.
Bulimia nervosa
• An eating disorder that involves binge eating followed by unhealthy compensatory efforts such as vomiting, fasting, abuse of laxatives and diuretics, and excessive exercise.
Catatonic schizophrenia
• Type of schizophrenia marked by striking motor disturbances, ranging from muscular rigidity to random motor activity.
Comorbidity
• The coexistence of two or more disorders in the same individual.
Concordance rate
• Statistic indicating the percentage of twin pairs or other pairs of relatives who exhibit the same disorder.
Conjunction fallacy
• An error in thinking that involves estimating that the odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone.
Conversion disorder
• A somatoform disorder characterized by a significant loss of physical function (with no apparent organic basis), usually in a single organ system.
Culture-bound disorders
• Abnormal syndromes found only in a few cultural groups.
Delusions
• False beliefs that are maintained even though they clearly are out of touch with reality.
Diagnosis
• Distinguishing one illness from another.
Disorganized schizophrenia
• Type of schizophrenia marked by a particularly severe deterioration of adaptive behavior.
Dissociative amnesia
• A sudden loss of memory for important personal information that is too extensive to be due to normal forgetting.
Dissociative disorders
• A class of disorders in which people lose contact with portions of their consciousness or memory, resulting in disruptions in their sense of identity.
Dissociative fugue
• A disorder in which people lose their memory for their entire lives along with their sense of personal identity.
Dissociative identity disorder
• A type of dissociative disorder characterized by the coexistence in one person of two or more largely complete, and usually very different, personalities. Also called multiple-personality disorder.
Eating disorders
• Severe disturbances in eating behavior characterized by preoccupation with weight concerns and unhealthy efforts to control weight; includes anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Etiology
• The apparent causation and developmental history of an illness.
Generalized anxiety disorder
• A psychological disorder marked by a chronic, high level of anxiety that is not tied to any specific threat.
Hallucinations
• Sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of a real, external stimulus or gross distortions of perceptual input.
Hypochondriasis
• A somatoform disorder characterized by excessive preoccupation with health concerns and incessant worrying about developing physical illnesses.
Major depressive disorder
• Mood disorder marked by persistent feelings of sadness and despair and a loss of interest in previous sources of pleasure.
Medical model
• The view that it is useful to think of abnormal behavior as a disease.
Mood disorders
• A class of disorders marked by depressed or elevated mood disturbances that may spill over to disrupt physical, perceptual, social, and thought processes.
Multiple-personality disorder
• Older term for dissociative disorder, still widely used, that describes the coexistence in one person of two or more
Negative symptoms
• Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral deficits, such as flattened emotions, social withdrawal, apathy, impaired attention, and poverty of speech.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• A type of anxiety disorder marked by persistent, uncontrollable intrusions of unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and urges to engage in senseless rituals (compulsions).
Panic disorder
• A type of anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly.
Paranoid schizophrenia
• Type of schizophrenia dominated by delusions of persecution, along with delusions of grandeur.
Phobic disorder
• A type of anxiety disorder marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger.
Positive symptoms
• Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral excesses or peculiarities, such as hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behavior, and wild flights of ideas.
Posttraumatic stress disorder
• An enduring anxiety disorder that results from experiencing a major traumatic event.
Prognosis
• A forecast about the probable course of an illness.
Psychosomatic diseases
• Physical ailments with a genuine organic basis that are caused in part by psychological factors, especially emotional distress.
Representativeness heuristic
• Basing the estimated probability that an event will occur on how similar it is to the typical prototype of that event.
Schizophrenic disorders
• A class of psychological disorders marked by disturbances in thought that spill over to affect perceptual, social, and emotional processes.
Somatization disorder
• A type of somatoform disorder marked by a history of diverse physical complaints that appear to be psychological in origin.
Somatoform disorders
• A class of psychological disorders involving physical ailments that have no authentic organic basis and are due to psychological factors.
Undifferentiated schizophrenia
• Type of schizophrenia marked by idiosyncratic mixtures of schizophrenic symptoms.
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Attitudes
• Positive or negative evaluations; may include cognitive, behavioral, and emotional components.
Attributions
• Inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others' behavior, and their own behavior.
Bystander effect
• A paradoxical social phenomenon in which people are less likely to provide needed help when they are in groups than when they are alone.
Cognitive dissonance
• A psychological state that exists when related cognitions are inconsistent.
Collectivism
• Putting group goals ahead of personal goals and defining one's identity in terms of the group one belongs to.
Conformity
• The tendency for people to yield to real or imagined social pressure.
Discrimination
• Behaving differently, usually unfairly, toward the members of a group.
External attribution
• Attributing the causes of behavior to situational demands and environmental constraints.
Fundamental attribution error
• The tendency of an observer to favor internal attributions in explaining the behavior of others.
Group
• Two or more individuals who interact.
Group polarization
• A phenomenon that occurs when group discussion strengthens a group's dominant point of view and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction.
Groupthink
• A process in which members of a cohesive group emphasize concurrence at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision.
Individualism
• Putting personal goals ahead of group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group memberships.
In-group
• The group one belongs to and identifies with.
Internal attributions
• Attributing the causes of behavior to personal dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings.
Obedience
• Complying with direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority.
Out-group
• People who are not a part of the in-group.
Person perception
• The process of forming impressions of others.
Prejudice
• A negative attitude held toward members of a group.
Self-serving bias
• The tendency to attribute our positive outcomes to personal factors and our negative outcomes to situational factors.
Social loafing
• A reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups.
Social psychology
• The branch of psychology concerned with the way individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by others.
Social schemas
• Clusters of ideas about categories of social events and people that we use to organize the world around us.
Stereotypes
• Beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group.
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