Term
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Definition
| absolute threshold - the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time |
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Term
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Definition
| accommodation - adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information |
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Term
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Definition
| accommodation - the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina |
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Term
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Definition
| achievement motivation - a desire for significant accomplishment; for mastery of things, people, or ideas; for rapidly attaining a high standard |
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Term
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Definition
| acuisition - in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response |
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Term
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Definition
| action potential - a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon |
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Term
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Definition
| active listening - empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy |
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Term
| adaptation-level phenomenon |
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Definition
| adaptation-level phenomenon - our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience |
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Term
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Definition
| addiction - compulsive drug craving and use, despite adverse consequences |
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Term
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Definition
| adolescense - the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence |
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Term
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Definition
| adrenal glands - a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the boy in times of stress |
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Term
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Definition
| aerobic exercise - sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety. |
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Term
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Definition
| aggression - any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy someone |
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Term
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Definition
| algorithm - a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier--but also more error-prone--use of heuristics |
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Term
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Definition
| alpha waves - the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state |
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Term
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Definition
| altruism - unselfish regard for the welfare of others |
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Term
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Definition
| amesia - the loss of memory |
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Term
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Definition
| amphetamines - drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes |
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Term
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Definition
| amygdala - two lima-bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotions |
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Term
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Definition
| anorexia nervosa - an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15% or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve |
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Term
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Definition
| antianxiety drugs - drugs used to control anxiety and agitation |
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Term
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Definition
| antidepressant drugs - drugs used to treat depression; also increasingly prescribed for anxiety. Different types work by altering the availability of various neurotransmitters |
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Term
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Definition
| antipsychotic drugs- drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder |
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Term
| antisocial personality disorder |
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Definition
| antisocial personality disorder- a personality disorder in which the person (usually a man)exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist. |
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Term
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Definition
| anxiety disorders- psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety |
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Term
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Definition
| aphasia- impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding) |
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Term
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Definition
| applied research- scientific study that aims to solve practical problems |
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Term
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Definition
| applied research- scientific study that aims to solve practical problems |
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Term
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Definition
| assimilation - interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas |
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Term
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Definition
| association areas - areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, speaking, and intergrating; information |
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Term
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Definition
| associative learning- learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in clasical conditioning) or a response and its consequeences (as in operant conditioning) |
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Term
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Definition
| attachment- an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closenes to the caregiver and showing distress on separation |
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Term
| attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder |
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Definition
| ADHD- a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivityl, and impulsivity |
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Term
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Definition
| attitude- feelings, often influenced by our belies, that predisposed us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events |
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Term
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Definition
| attribution theory- the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition |
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Term
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Definition
| the sense or act of hearing |
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Term
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Definition
| a disorder tha appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind |
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Term
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Definition
| unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings |
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Term
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Definition
| the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic ivision calms |
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Term
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Definition
| 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 |
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Term
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Definition
| a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol) |
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Term
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Definition
| the neuron's extension that passes messages through its branching terminal fibers that form junctions with other neorons, muscles, or glands |
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Term
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Definition
| beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language |
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Term
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Definition
| drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment |
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Term
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Definition
| the body's resting rate of energy expnditure |
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Term
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Definition
| pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base |
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Term
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Definition
| according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with respnsive caregivers |
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Term
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Definition
| the study of the relative power ad limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors |
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Term
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Definition
| the view that psychology (1) should be a nobjective science that (2)studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2) |
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Term
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Definition
| clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited |
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Term
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Definition
| significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guild, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa |
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Term
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Definition
| depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes |
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Term
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Definition
| the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neoral, hormonal) and psychological processes. |
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Term
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Definition
| prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient's nervous system |
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Term
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Definition
| an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis |
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Term
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Definition
| a mood disorder in which the person alternates betwen the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania |
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Term
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Definition
| the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there |
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Term
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Definition
| analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information |
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Term
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Definition
| the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions |
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Term
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Definition
| controls language expression; an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech |
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Term
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Definition
| an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise |
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Term
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Definition
| the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present |
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Term
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Definition
| the theory that an emotion-arounsing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion |
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Term
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Definition
| an observation technique i which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles |
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Term
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Definition
| emotional release. In psychology, the catharsis hypothesis maintains that "releasing" aggressive energy (through actions or fantasy) relieves agressive urges |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| central route to persuasion |
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Definition
| occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts |
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Term
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Definition
| the "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include |
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Term
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Definition
| the intricate fabric o interconnected neural cells covering hte cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center |
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Term
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Definition
| failing to notice changes in the environment |
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Term
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Definition
| threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain genes |
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Term
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Definition
| organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically |
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Term
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Definition
| the biological clock; regular bodily thythms (for exmple, of temperature and wakefuless) that occur on a 25-hour cycle. |
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Term
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Definition
| a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events |
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Term
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Definition
| a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth |
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Term
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Definition
| a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders |
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Term
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Definition
| a coild, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses |
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Term
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Definition
| the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating |
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Term
| cognitive dissonance theory |
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Definition
| the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistant. For example, whe our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting disonance by changing our attitudes |
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Term
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Definition
| a mental representation of the layout of one's environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map |
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Term
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Definition
| the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language) |
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Term
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Definition
| therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; absed on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions |
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Term
| cognitive-behavioral therapy |
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Definition
| a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking)with behavior therapy (changing behavior) |
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Term
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Definition
| Carl Jung's concept of a share, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history |
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Term
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Definition
| giving priority to group goals (often those of the extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly |
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Term
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Definition
| perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected b the object |
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Term
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Definition
| the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined |
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Term
| complementary and alternative medicine |
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Definition
| as yet unproven health care treatments intended to supplement (complement) or serve as alternatives to conventional medicine, and which typically are not widely taught in medical schools, used in hospitals or reimbursed by insurance companies. When research shows a therapy to be safe and efective, it usually then becomes part of accepted medical practice |
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Term
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Definition
| a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people |
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Term
| concrete operational stage |
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Definition
| in Piagets theory, the stage of cofnitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events |
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Term
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Definition
| a stimulus that gains its reinforcig power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer |
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Term
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Definition
| in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus |
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Term
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Definition
| in classical conditioning, a perviously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response. |
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Term
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Definition
| retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect final dtail and give rise to color sensations |
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Term
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Definition
| a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence |
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Term
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Definition
| a percieved incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas |
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Term
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Definition
| adjusting one's behavior or thinking to conincide with a group standard |
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Term
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Definition
| our awareness of ourselves and our envirnment |
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Term
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Definition
| the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects |
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Term
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Definition
| the extent to which a test samples the bhevior that is of interest |
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Term
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Definition
| reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs |
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Term
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Definition
| in an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment |
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Term
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Definition
| a rare somatoform disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found |
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Term
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Definition
| alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods |
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Term
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Definition
| the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries |
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Term
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Definition
| the large band of neoral fibers connecting the two brain hemospheres and carrying messages between them |
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Term
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Definition
| a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary togeter, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. Scores with a positive correlation coefficient go up and down together (as with high school and college GPAs) A negative correlation coefficient indicates that one score falls as the other rises (as in the relationship between self-esteem and depression |
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Term
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Definition
| the extent to whic two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. The correlation coefficient is the mathematical expression of the relationship, ranging from -1 to +1. |
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Term
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Definition
| a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving grater well-being. |
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Term
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Definition
| a behavior therapy procedure that uses classical conditiong to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; includes exposure therapies and aversive conditioning |
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Term
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Definition
| the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas |
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Term
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Definition
| an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development |
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Term
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Definition
| thinking that does not blindly accpet arguments and conclusions. Rather, ti examines assumptios, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions |
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Term
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Definition
| a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another |
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Term
| crystallized intelligence |
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Definition
| our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age |
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Term
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Definition
| the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next |
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Term
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Definition
| in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality |
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Term
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Definition
| the los of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity |
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Term
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Definition
| the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep |
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Term
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Definition
| the neoron's bush, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body |
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Term
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Definition
| the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable |
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Term
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Definition
| the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference |
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Term
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Definition
| in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimulu that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus |
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Term
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Definition
| a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaeiously with others |
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Term
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Definition
| disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings |
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Term
| dissociative identity disorder |
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Definition
| a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder |
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Term
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Definition
| the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tention state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need |
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Term
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Definition
| the principle that information is ofte simultaeously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks |
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Term
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Definition
| a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attnetion is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds |
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Term
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Definition
| an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy |
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Term
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Definition
| a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces eyphoria and social intimacy, but whith short-term health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin producing neorons and to mood and cognition |
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Term
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Definition
| encoding that requires attnetion and conscious effort |
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Term
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Definition
| the largely conscious, "executive" aprt of personality that, according to Freud, mediiates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain. |
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Term
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Definition
| in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view |
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Term
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Definition
| in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's diffuclty taking another's point of view |
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Term
| electroencephalogram (EEG) |
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Definition
| an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by elctrodes placed on the scalp |
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Term
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Definition
| attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction |
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Term
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Definition
| a test (such as MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and the selecting those that discriminate between groups |
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Term
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Definition
| the process of information into the memory sysstem--for example, by extracting meaning |
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Term
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Definition
| the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the blood-stream |
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Term
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Definition
| a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it |
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Term
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Definition
| clinical decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences. |
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Term
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Definition
| memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare |
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Term
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Definition
| behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imagination or actuality) to the things they fear and avoid |
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Term
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Definition
| the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory imput, includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition |
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Term
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Definition
| a statistical procedure that identifies cluters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score |
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Term
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Definition
| nerve cells in the brain that respond to speciic features ofa stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement |
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Term
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Definition
| the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures that stand out from their surroundings (the ground) |
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Term
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Definition
| in operant conditioning, reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed |
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Term
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Definition
| in operant conditioning, a reinforcemtnt schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses |
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Term
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Definition
| a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, wtih diminished awareness ofself and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one's skills |
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Term
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Definition
| our ability to reason speedily and abstracty; tends to decrease during late adulthood |
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Term
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Definition
| a technique for reealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function |
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Term
| foot-in-the-door phenomenon |
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Definition
| the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request |
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Term
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Definition
| in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) uring which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts |
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Term
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Definition
| the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster |
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Term
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Definition
| the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments |
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Term
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Definition
| portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments |
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Term
| fustration-aggression principle |
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Definition
| the principle that frustration--the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal-creates anger, which can generate aggression |
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Term
| fundamental attribution error |
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Definition
| the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition |
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Term
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Definition
| the theory that the spinal cord contans a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain |
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Term
| general adaption syndrome |
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Definition
| Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three states--alarm, resistance, exhaustion |
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Term
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Definition
| an organized whole. Gestalt psychologysts emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes. |
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Term
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Definition
| Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension--Reduction--a strategy designed to decrease international tension |
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Term
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Definition
| the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group |
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Term
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Definition
| the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives |
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Term
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Definition
| a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficently; usually speedier but als omore error-rone than algorithms |
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Term
| higher-order conditioning |
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Definition
| a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin repsonding to the light alone |
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Term
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Definition
| the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we would have foreseen it |
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Term
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Definition
| a neural center that i located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage |
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Term
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Definition
| a branch of psychology that explores how people and mahcines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use |
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Term
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Definition
| historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's potential for personal growth |
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Term
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Definition
| a somatoform disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease |
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Term
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Definition
| a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward |
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Term
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Definition
| a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic of picture-image memory lasting o more than a few tenths of a second |
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Term
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Definition
| contains a reservoir of unconsious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure princile, demanding immediate gratification |
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Term
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Definition
| the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos |
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Term
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Definition
| our sense of self; according to Erikson |
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Term
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Definition
| the perception of a relationship where none exists |
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Term
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Definition
| the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life |
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Term
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Definition
| the experiment factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied |
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Term
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Definition
| giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identiy in terms of personal attributes rather than group identification |
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