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a_CLEP Psychology Study Guide
clep
161
Psychology
Not Applicable
06/12/2012

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Term
Nurture
Definition
The effects of the environment on development
Term
Nature
Definition
How our biological or genetic heritage influences individual differences in a variety of factors, including intelligence.
Term
Jean Piaget
Definition
Psychologist was responsible for developing the first intelligence test and creating the concept of mental age
Term
Cerebellum
Definition
Area of the brain would most likely be damaged if an individual was having difficulties with balance and the execution of fine motor movements
Term
Dissociative fugue
Definition
Someone in a _____ ______ travels away from home or work unexpectedly, cannot recall his or her past, and becomes confused about his or her identity, sometimes assuming a new identity.
Term
Independent Variable
Definition
The “cause” in the hypothesis is represented by the
Term
Sample
Definition
A representative subset of people that are chosen to participate in a study
Term
Antagonist
Definition
Antipsychotic medications treat symptoms of schizophrenia by blocking the transmission of the neurotransmitter dopamine and are, therefore, characterized as ______ drugs.
Term
Habituation
Definition
A type of non-associative learning that occurs when repeated presentations of a stimulus eventually reduce responses to that stimulus.
Term
Latent Content
Definition
According to Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams, the plot of the dream, such as being chased by zombies, constitutes the
Term
Panic disorder
Definition
A psychological disorder involving sudden periods of extreme fear and anxiety marked by a dramatically increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, and intense fear that has no discernible cause.
Term
Variable interval
Definition
when the amount of time between getting a reinforcer and the next one becoming available keeps changing
Term
0-1 years
Definition
Trust vs. Mistrust (Erikson's Eight Psycho-Social Stages)
Dependence on others; are others reliable?
Term
1-3 years
Definition
Autonomy vs. Doubt and Shame (Erikson's Eight Psycho-Social Stages)
capable of self-control; allowed to exercise it?
Term
3-5 years
Definition
Initiative vs. Guilt (Erikson's Eight Psycho-Social Stages)
can set goals; is that encouraged?
Term
6-11 years
Definition
Industry vs. Inferiority (Erikson's Eight Psycho-Social Stages)
can reason, likes success; praised and taught?
Term
12-18 years
Definition
Identity vs. Role Confusion (Erikson's Eight Psycho-Social Stages)
can reflect on identity and consider multiple roles; willing to make an effort to integrate all those roles?
Term
18-35 years
Definition
Intimacy. vs. Isolation (Erikson's Eight Psycho-Social Stages)
ready to break away from family and form new intimate relationships; willing to share yourself?
Term
36-55 years
Definition
Generativity vs. Stagnation (Erikson's Eight Psycho-Social Stages)
kids are gone- you're free; show interest in others?
Term
55+ years
Definition
Integrity vs. Despair (Erikson's Eight Psycho-Social Stages)
reflecting on your life; accept it all?
Term
Id
Definition
The biological part of our personality and the built-in sexual and aggressive needs that drive our behavior, acting on the pleasure principle- do what feels good and do it now.
Term
Ego
Definition
The rational, realistic part of our personality, involving learning, problem solving, and reasoning, acting on the reality principle- do what will get your needs met effectively, efficiently, and without getting yourself hurt
Term
Superego
Definition
The social part of our personality that allows us to get along with other people. operating according to the morality principle- do what's right and don't do what's wrong.
Term
Face validity (or content validity)
Definition
refers to what the test looks as though it's measuring what it's supposed to.
Term
Predictive validity
Definition
refers to how well scores on the test predict actual behavior of the type the test is supposed to measure.
Term
Construct validity
Definition
refers to whether scores on the questionnaire are related in expected ways to scores on other questionnaires
Term
Cross-sectional studies
Definition
involve comparing people of different ages at the same point in time, use separate cohorts, and a chance result can occur because individuals may be different, due to the era they grew up in rather than the aging process
Term
Stage 1 of Sleep
Definition
characterized by slower breather and irregular, relatively erratic brain waves, lasts five minutes, hypnogogic sensations like falling or floating may be experienced, alpha waves cease and are replaced by slower theta waves
Term
Stage 2 of Sleep
Definition
lasts about 20 minutes and involved deeper relaxation and occasional bursts of rhythmic brainwaves called sleep spindles and K-complexes.
Term
Stage 3 of Sleep
Definition
as this begins, the brain starts to produce delta waves which appear on an EEG monitor as slow, large waves.
Term
Stage 4 of Sleep
Definition
involves stronger, more consistent delta waves. With stage 3, referred to as slow-wave sleep, lasting about 30 minutes. The most difficult stages to wake from.
Term
Slow-wave sleep
Definition
Stages 3 and 4. Lasts about 30 minutes. The most difficult stages to wake from.
Term
REM Sleep
Definition
(rapid eye movement)
brain waves are similar to Stage 1, but breathing is more rapid and irregular, heart rate increases, and the eyes dart back and forth. Most people dream in this stage. Also called paradoxical sleep.
Term
Delusions
Definition
false thoughts; for example, believing that you are someone famous (Jesus, Teddy Roosevelt, and so forth)
Term
Somatoform
Definition
the presence of physical symptoms usually associated with some sort of disease or physical disorder, but which cannot be explained in terms of a medical condition.
Term
signal detection
Definition
the psychological principle that explains that whether or not an individual notices a faint stimulus is dependent upon a number of variables, including expectations and experiences.
Term
reciprocity norm
Definition
refers to the idea that we feel obligated to help those who have helped us
Term
Hypothalamus
Definition
The part of the brain that seems to be most important for monitoring hunger-related signals
Term
Lateral hypothalamus (LH)
Definition
Responsible for increasing hunger. Stimulation of this region causes eating, even among animals that are well-fed, and damage will decrease or eliminate hunger.
Term
Psychodynamic approach
Definition
According to those who favor a ________ approach, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors stem from the interaction of innate drives and society’s restrictions on the expression of these drives.
Term
Structuralists
Definition
believed that consciousness was made up of basic elements that were combined in different ways to produce different precepts. Wanted to discover the form, or basic elements, of mental experience. Favored introspection.
Term
Functionalists
Definition
interested in how mental experiences or processes were adaptive, or functional, for people. Believed that consciousness and behavior in general helped people and animals adjust to their environments.
Term
Biological approach
Definition
focuses on understanding how physiological and biochemical processes might produce psychological phenomena. Explanations of behavior are ultimately reducible to the workings of genes, the nervous system, hormones, neurotransmitters, and so forth.
Term
Psychodynamic approach
Definition
believed that thoughts, feelings, and behaviors stem from the interaction of innate drives and society's restrictions on the expression of those drives (ie Freud) and look at how we resolve those conflicts to determine our personality.
Term
Behaviorist approach
Definition
explains behavior primarily in terms of learned responses to predictable patterns of environmental stimuli (ie Pavlov). Study animals in order to glean general principles of learning that might be applied to humans.
Term
Cognitive approach
Definition
focuses on explaining behavior in terms of expectations, feelings, thoughts, and so on. Study problem solving, attention, memory, and other thought processes.
Term
Humanistic approach
Definition
believe people are motivated by a desire for optimal growth and development (self-actualization), everyone comes with unique set of desires, abilities, skills, and needs, and must express those to be happy. People are basically good- focus on positive aspects of development (how to feel good about self). Emphasizes the need for empathy, acceptance, and genuineness in the development of a healthy personality
Term
Observational learning
Definition
one can learn operant behaviors indirectly. That is, an individual personally does not need to be reinforced or punished for something in order to do it more or less often; he or she can learn what the consequences are by watching them happen to other people and then apply what they have learned to their own lives.
Term
Classical conditioning
Definition
involves repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a learned response.
Term
Counterconditioning
Definition
A type of behavior modification used to weaken or eliminate an unwanted learned response
Term
Operant conditioning
Definition
involves an increase or decrease in the probability of a response occurring as a result of reinforcement or punishment. also known as instrumental conditioning by Edward Thorndike, but known as _________ _________ by B.F. Skinner.
Term
Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft
Definition
Examples of antidepressant drugs, which prevent the re-uptake of serotonin, which eventually results in an elevated mood.
Term
Librium and Valium
Definition
Examples of anti-anxiety drugs, which reduce arousal by depressing activity in the central nervous system.
Term
Clozapine and Thorazine
Definition
Examples of anti-psychotics, which treat the symptoms of schizophrenia by blocking the operation of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is overabundant in people with psychotic symptoms.
Term
Depression
Definition
frequently accompanied by low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin at synapses in the brain.
Term
Electrical impulse
Definition
The message traveling along the axon of a neuron is in the form of an ________ _______
Term
Chemical messenger
Definition
Communication between neurons takes the form of a ________ _________ known as a neurotransmitter
Term
Afferent and efferent neurons
Definition
Sensory and motor neurons that send messages to and from the central nervous system.
Term
Factor analysis
Definition
A statistical procedure that reduces the number of variables by identifying those which correlate highly with each other (also how the Big Five personality traits were discovered).
Term
the Big Five personality traits
Definition
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism
Term
Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
Definition
Perceiving a stimulus that has relevance to one's well-being will generate arousal and a subjective emotional experience simultaneously.
Crazed dog -> Arousal and Fear (at the same time)
Term
James-Lange theory of emotion
Definition
The perception of a stimulus causes arousal first, which then causes us to feel emotion. (Without the arousal, we wouldn't be afraid).
Crazed dog -> arousal -> fear
Term
Two-factor theory of emotion
Definition
Stanley Schacter's theory. The quality of an emotional experience depends on how arousal is labeled. Arousal is the same physiologically, regardless of which emotion we might experience. The emotions are only different based on the decision to give them different names.
Crazed dog -> Arousal and label > fear
Term
Facial feedback hypothesis
Definition
The activity of facial muscles tells us whether we're happy or not.
Term
Difference threshold (or Just Noticeable Difference)
Definition
The smallest difference between two similar stimuli a human being can detect
Term
Feature detectors
Definition
Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus
Term
Dissociation
Definition
a split in consciousness that allows the person to become aware of his or her activities while under hypnosis
Term
Psychoactive drugs
Definition
work by producing a state of consciousness that is different from normal consciousness by stimulating, imitating, or hindering that activity of neurotransmitters.
Term
Stimulants
Definition
psychoactive drugs that increase the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and create a feeling of euphoria.
Term
Hallucinogens
Definition
Psychoactive drugs that alter perceptions and create sensations with no physical basis (ie LSD, PCP, and marijuana)
Term
Biofeedback
Definition
a process related to meditation in which an individual uses body processes such a breathing or heart rate to convey information to him or herself in real-time in order to increase awareness and conscious control of related physiological activities.
Term
Tolerance
Definition
Occurs when larger and larger doses of a drug are required in order to produce that same state of relaxation and euphoria.
Term
Consciousness
Definition
the awareness of events and internal and external stimuli
Term
NREM
Definition
Sleep stages in which neither rapid eye movement nor dreams occur in any of the other stages of sleep
Term
Manifest content
Definition
Images in dreams that appear to the dreamer and can be consciously remembered.
Term
activation-synthesis
Definition
states that brain neurons randomly fire during sleep and as a person awakens, he or she constructs a dream in order to make sense of the randomly generated images created by the brain during sleep.
Term
Information-processing
Definition
states that dreams are a way of consolidating information and so as we sleep, our brains create dreams to sort out the day’s activity and lock them into our memories.
Term
Motivation
Definition
the psychological process that directs and gives energy to behavior.
Term
Glucose
Definition
blood sugar used by the body to provide energy.
Term
Set point
Definition
a weight our body attempts to maintain.
Term
Internal physiological cues
Definition
come from within the body and indicate a need.
Term
Angiotensin
Definition
a chemical produced by the kidneys involved in regulating thirst.
Term
Antidiuretic hormone
Definition
is produced by the pituitary gland and is involved in regulating thirst.
Term
Thalamus
Definition
Pain is transmitted to the brain by way of the ________
Term
Fast
Definition
The ____ pathway of pain notes localized pain and directly relays that information to the brain.
Term
Slow
Definition
The ____ pathway of pain carries longer-acting pain information such as with chronic pain.
Term
Gate control
Definition
Ronald Melzack propsed the ___ ______ theory of pain that states that a “neurological gate” located in the spinal cord controls conduction of pain impulses to the brain.
Term
Substance P
Definition
a neurotransmitter used by many of the brain's neural circuits to deliver pain signals to the central nervous system.
Term
Instincts
Definition
innate, unlearned behavior patterns that help the organism to survive.
Term
Drive
Definition
The ____ theory proposes that organisms have basic needs that must be met for survivial (eating, drinking, sleeping) and must maintain a state of homeostasis.
Term
Cognitive Dissonance
Definition
opposing cognitions (beliefs, emotions, behaviors) serve to compel the mind to modify existing thoughts or beliefs or obtain new beliefs in order to decrease the conflict between cognitions.
Term
Incentive
Definition
The theories of _______ motivation state that stimuli in one’s external environment can motivate behavior due to the desire to approach or avoid the stimuli.
Term
Carl Rogers
Definition
a humanist, proposed that individuals work to become self-actualized, a process that leads to a person’s mature personality.
Term
emotion
Definition
A neural impulse that drives a person to action.
Term
adrenaline
Definition
a hormone that is also called epinephrine. It is released by the adrenal glands and causes readiness reactions such as increased heart rate and increased blood flow to muscles.
Term
Limbic
Definition
The brain’s _____ system is associated with drives such as those for food and sex and emotions such as anger and fear.
Term
Reticular Activating System (RAS)
Definition
involved in arousal and wakefulness and thus assists the brain’s cortex in more effectively analyzing sensory data.
Term
Darwin
Definition
believed that emotional expressions are, at first, learned behavior and then eventually become inborn in a species and assist in survival.
Term
Moderate
Definition
As a general rule, performance at a task is best when arousal is ____.
Term
Longitudinal
Definition
Psychologists are tracking the behavior of a specific group of individuals over a long period of time in a __________ study.
Term
cohort
Definition
a group of people born at the same time.
Term
Assimilation
Definition
the process of gathering new information about the environment and applying it to what is already known.
Term
sensorimotor
Definition
In the _________ stage (0-2 yrs), children lack object permanence and think only in terms of what they can sense and what they can do with those things they sense.
Term
Pre-operational
Definition
Children in the _________ stage (2-6 yrs) have developed object permanence, do not use logical reasoning, lack conservation, and are highly egocentric.
Term
Conservation
Definition
the ability to understand that some aspects of objects such as mass, volume, or weight do not change even though the object’s appearance has been changed somehow.
Term
Concrete
Definition
Children in the ________ (6-12) operational stage develop conservation and can think logically in the context of concrete problems and begin to develop concepts and can organize the concepts into categories.
Term
Formal
Definition
Children in the ____ (12+) operational stage of development can think abstractly, hypothetically, and scientifically.
Term
zygote
Definition
a one-celled organism that is formed when a sperm penetrates an egg.
Term
embryo
Definition
formed when the zygote is implanted in the uterus and vital organs and body systems begin to form.
Term
fetus
Definition
body structures become functional and movement occurs.
Term
teratogens
Definition
substances that can lead to birth defects or developmental malformations.
Term
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Definition
can occur if a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy and can cause birth defects such as retardation, low birth weight, and distinct facial characteristics.
Term
Reflexes
Definition
unlearned responses to stimuli that infants are born with.
Term
Touch
Definition
the most highly developed sense at birth
Term
Preconventional
Definition
In Lawrence Kohlberg’s (1927-1987) __________ level of moral development, children behave because they are ordered to and will be punished if they do not obey.
Term
Conventional
Definition
In the _________ level of moral development, children’s behavior is based on trust, understanding, and knowledge of social order.
Term
Postconventional
Definition
Individuals exhibiting _________ morality realize that laws are situational and can be changed and behavior is based on chosen ethics and morals.
Term
Attachment
Definition
the emotional connection between an infant and a caretaker.
Term
Imprinting
Definition
a quick and relatively permanent type of learning that occurs for a narrow time frame early in life.
Term
Activity theory of aging
Definition
states that activity is vital for maintaining quality of life.
Term
Psychodynamic theories
Definition
emphasize the importance of the unconscious part of the mind.
Term
Sigmund Freud
Definition
developed psychoanalysis, a treatment process based upon his theory of psychosexual stages of development.
Term
Genital
Definition
The _____ stage of psychosexual development is characterized by maturation of sexual orientation.
Term
Free association
Definition
Freud used a technique known as ____ ___________, which requires a patient to relax and report everything that comes to mind.
Term
Oral
Definition
1st psycho-sexual stage
Term
Anal
Definition
2nd psycho-sexual stage
Term
Phallic
Definition
3rd psycho-sexual stage
Term
Latency
Definition
4th psycho-sexual stage
Term
Genital
Definition
5th psycho-sexual stage
Term
Repression
Definition
active exclusion of unconscious impulses or thoughts from the consciousness.
Term
Projection
Definition
Attributing one’s feelings, shortcomings, or unacceptable impulses to other people
Term
Reaction formation
Definition
Behavior patterns that are opposite to our anxiety producing urges
Term
Displacement
Definition
a defense mechanism in which one redirects anxiety producing behaviors to a more acceptable target.
Term
Regression
Definition
resorting to earlier stages of development in order to avoid anxiety or responsibility.
Term
Sublimation
Definition
redirecting sexual or aggressive impulses into more socially acceptable direction.
Term
Compensation
Definition
an attempt to hide perceived deficiencies in one area by excelling in another.
Term
Carl Jung (1875-1961)
Definition
a contemporary of Freud, developed a theory called analytical psychology. Said the collective unconscious contains hidden memory traces from a person’s ancestors.
Term
Archetypes
Definition
emotionally charged images and thoughts that have universal meanings and may show up in a culture’s art and religion.
Term
Anxiety
Definition
a feeling of being isolated in a potentially unfriendly world.
Term
Karen Horney (1885-1952)
Definition
A psychologist who theorized that many adult characteristics are formed in order to deal with basic anxiety, and believed that outside of the family, females encounter harmful effects due to the higher value in society placed on being male, resulting in women’s lack of self-esteem
Term
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
Definition
believed that individuals strive for self-actualization, fulfillment of one’s potential, but cannot achieve this until certain more basic needs are met.
Term
Albert Bandura
Definition
believed that a good deal of our learning, behavior, and personality is formed through observing the behavior of others.
Term
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
Definition
A type of self-report used to diagnose psychological disorders including personality problems by measuring a number of personality dimensions.
Term
Projective techniques
Definition
techniques by which a therapist can assess a subject’s personality by presenting ambiguous material and therefore requiring the subject to respond.
Term
Inkblot test
Definition
developed by Hermann Rorschach to examine subjects' problems.
Term
Idiographic research
Definition
involves the study of the individual, who is recognized as an entity, with characteristics that set him apart from others.
Term
Nomothetic research
Definition
involves studying a cohort of individuals
Term
Testosterone (hormone)
Definition
a hormone that is associated with aggression.
Term
Social Learning
Definition
occurs by watching the behavior of others and can influence the learning of aggressive behaviors.
Term
Likert scale
Definition
a type of attitude scale in which people are asked how much they like or dislike a statement or topic.
Term
Situational Attribution
Definition
explains the causes for a person’s behavior in terms of outside factors such as weather or influence from others.
Term
Dispositional attribution
Definition
explains the causes for a person’s behavior or actions in terms of factors within the person such as intelligence or personality.
Term
Self-serving bias
Definition
When people attribute good things that happen to people they don’t like to situational factors (such as luck) and bad things that happen to the person to dispositional factors (such as the person’s immaturity)
Term
Normative social influence
Definition
Pressure to comply with a norm based on concern about being rejected by a group
Term
Stanley Milgram
Definition
performed a famous experiment on obedience to authority in which he, the authority figure, convinced subjects to deliver progressively stronger “shocks” to another person when that person gave wrong answers to questions asked by the subject (no shocks were actually delivered).
Term
Altruism
Definition
behavior that is focused on helping others through unselfish actions.
Term
Bystander effect
Definition
a phenomenon in which an increasing number of witnesses to an emergency decreases the likelihood that a person will intervene and help in the situation.
Term
Social Interference
Definition
a phenomenon in which a person’s performance is decreased when he or she is working in a group.
Term
Groupthink
Definition
a phenomenon among group members in which people conform to what they perceive as the consensus of the group and therefore allow the group to make bad or irrational decisions.
Term
Social-exchange theory
Definition
states that as an individual goes through life, he or she works to maximize rewards and minimize costs or efforts.
Term
Robert Sternberg
Definition
Proposed that love has three components: passion, intimacy, and commitment.
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