Term
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Definition
| An interdisciplinary field that focuses on developing and integrating behavioral and biomedical knowledge to promote health and reduce illness; overlaps with and is sometimes indistinguishable from health psychology. |
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Definition
| An individual's interpretation of an event as either harmful, threatening, or challenging, and the person's determination of whether he or she has the resources to cope effectively with the event. |
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Definition
| A coping strategy that involves responding to the stress that one is feeling - trying to manage one's emotional reaction - rather than focusing on the root problem. |
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Term
| General adaptation syndrome (GAS) |
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Definition
| Selye's term for the common effects of demands on the body, consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. |
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Definition
| A trait characterized by a sense of commitment rather than alienation and of control rather than powerlessness, and a perception of problems as challenges rather than threats. |
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Definition
| A subfield of psychology that emphasizes psychology's role in establishing and maintaining health and preventing and treating illness. |
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| Implementation Intentions |
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Definition
| Specific strategies for dealing with the challenges of making a life change. |
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Definition
| A new field of scientific inquiry that explores connections among psychological factors (such as attitudes and emotions), the nervous system, and the immune system. |
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Definition
| A return to former unhealthy patterns. |
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Definition
| Information and feedback from others indicating that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and included in a network of communication and mutual obligation. |
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Definition
| Theoretical model describing a 5-step process by which individuals give up bad habits and adopt healthier lifestyles. |
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Term
| Stress management program |
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Definition
| A regimen that teaches individuals how to appraise stressful events, how to develop skills for coping with stress, and how to put these skills into use in everyday life. |
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Term
| Theory of planned behavior |
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Definition
| Theoretical model that includes the basic ideas of the theory of reasoned action, but adds the person's perceptions of control over the outcome. |
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Definition
| A cluster of characteristics - including being excessively competitive, hard-driven, impatient, and hostile - that are related to a higher incidence of heart disease. |
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Definition
| A cluster of characteristics - including being relaxed and easygoing - that are related to a lower incidence of heart disease. |
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Definition
| Treatments, based on the behavioral and social cognitive theories, that use principles of learning to reduce or eliminate maladaptive behavior. |
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Definition
| Also called Rogerian therapy or nondirective therapy, a form of humanistic therapy, developed by Rogers, in which the therapist provides a warm, supportive atmosphere to improve the client's self-concept and to encourage the client to gain insight into problems. |
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| Cognitive-behavior Therapy |
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Definition
| A therapy that combines cognitive therapy and behavior therapy with the goal of developing self-efficacy. |
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| Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) |
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Definition
| Also called shock therapy, a treatment, commonly used for depression, that sets off a seizure in the brain. |
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Term
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Definition
| A psychoanalytic technique that involves encouraging individuals to say aloud whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarassing. |
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Definition
| Treatments, unique in their emphasis on people's self-healing capacities, that encourage clients to understand themselves and to grow personally. |
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Definition
| A combination of techniques from different therapies based on the therapist's judgment of which particular methods will provide the greatest benefit for the client. |
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Definition
| The lightest of the solid elements in the periodic table of elements, widely used to treat bipolar disorder. |
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Definition
| Freud's therapeutic technique for analyzing an individual's unconscious thoughts. |
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Definition
| Treatments that stress the importance of the unconscious mind, extensive interpretation by the therapist, and the role of early childhood experiences in the development of an individual's problems. |
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Definition
| A technique in which the therapist mirrors the client's own feelings back to the client. |
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Definition
| Unconscious defense strategies on the part of the client that prevent the psychoanalyst from understanding the individual's problems. |
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Definition
| The relationship between the therapist and client - an important element of successful psychotherapy. |
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Definition
| A client's relating to the psychoanalyst in ways that reproduce or relive important relationships in the individual's life. |
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Term
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Definition
| A short-term problem-focused, directive therapy that encourages clients to accentuate the positive. |
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Term
| Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) |
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Definition
| Psychological disorder characterized by guiltlessness, law-breaking, exploitation of others, irresponsibility, and deceit. |
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Term
| Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) |
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Definition
| One of the most common psychological disorders of childhood, in which individuals show one or more of the following: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. |
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Term
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Definition
| Disabiling (uncontrollable and disruptive) psychological disorders that feature motor tension, hyperactivity, and apprehensive expectations and thoughts. |
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Definition
| Mood disorder characterized by extremem mood swings that include one or more episodes of mania, an overexcited, unrealistically optimistic state. |
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Definition
| False, unusual, and sometimes magical beliefs that are not part of an individual's culture. |
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Definition
| The display of little or no emotion - a common negative symptom of schizophrenia. |
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Term
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder |
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Definition
| Psychological disorder marked by persistent anxiety for at least 6 months, and in which the individual is unable to specify the reasons for the anxiety. |
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Term
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Definition
| Sensory experiences that occur in the absence of real stimuli. |
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Definition
| An individual's acquisition of feelings of powerlessness when he or she is exposed to aversive cirumstances, such as prolonged stress, over which that individual has no control. |
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Definition
| Psychological disorders - the main types of which are depressive disorders and bipolar disorder - in which there is a primary distrubance of mood: prolonged emotion that colours the individual's entire emotional state. |
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Term
| Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) |
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Definition
| Anxiety disorder in which the individual has anxiety provoking thoughts that will not go away and/or urges to perform repetitive, ritualistic behaviors to prevent or produce some future situation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Anxiety disorder in which the individual experiences recurrent, sudden onsets of intense terror, often without warning and with no specific cause. |
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Term
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Definition
| Chronic, maladaptive cogntiive-behavioral patterns that are throughly integrated into an individual's personality. |
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Definition
| Anxiety disorder characterized by an irrational, overwhelming, persistent fear of a particular object or situation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Ascribing personal meaning to completely random events. |
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Definition
| Severe psychological disorder characterized by highly disordered thought processes, referred to as psychotic because they are so far removed from reality. |
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Definition
| Unselfish interest in helping another person. |
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Definition
| The view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior. |
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Definition
| The tendency for an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when the observer is alone. |
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Definition
| An individual's psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts. |
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Term
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Definition
| A change in a person''s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard. |
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Term
| Fundamental Attribution Error |
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Definition
| Observer's overestimation of the importance of internal traits and underestimation of the importance of external situations when they seek explanations for an actor's behavior. |
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Term
| Group Polarization Effect |
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Definition
| The solidification and further strengthening of an individual's position as a consequence of a group discussion. |
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Term
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Definition
| The impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony. |
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Term
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Definition
| The phenomenon that the more we encoutner someone or something, the more likely we are to start liking the person or thing even if we do not realize we have seen it before. |
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Term
| Normative Social Influence |
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Definition
| The influence others have on us because we want them to like us. |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to take credit for our successes and to deny responsibility for our failures. |
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Term
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Definition
| Imitative behavior involving the spread of behavior, emotions, and ideas. |
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Definition
| Improvment in an individual's performance because of the presence of others. |
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Definition
| The view that our social identities are a crucial part of our self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about ourselves. |
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Definition
| An individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group. |
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Definition
| Emotionally laden ideas and images that have rich and symbolic meaning for all people. |
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Term
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Definition
| Jung's name for the impersonal, deepest layer of the unconscious mind, shared by all human beings because of their common ancestral past. |
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Definition
| Tactics the ego uses to reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Freudian structure of personality that deals with the demands of reality. |
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Term
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Definition
| A type of self-report test that presents many questionnarie items to two groups that are known to be different in some central way. |
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Term
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Definition
| The quality of seeming, on the surface, to fit a particular trait in question. |
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Term
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Definition
| Theoretical views stressing a person's capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities. |
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Definition
| A pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world. |
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Term
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Definition
| A personality assessment test that presents individuals with an ambiguous stimulus and asks them to describe it or tell a story about it - to project their own meaning onto the stimulus. |
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Term
| Psychodynamic Perspectives |
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Definition
| Theoretical views emphasizing that personality isprimarily unconscious (beyond awareness). |
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Term
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Definition
| A famous projective test that uses an individual's perception of inkblots to determine his or her personality. |
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Term
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Definition
| The belief that one can master a situation and produce positive change. |
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Term
| Social Cognitive Perspectives |
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Definition
| Theoretical views emphasizing conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations, and goals. |
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Term
| Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) |
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Definition
| A projective test that is designed to elicit stories that reveal something about an individual's personality. |
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Term
| Unconditional Postive Regard |
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Definition
| Roger's construct referring to the individual's need to be accepted, valued, and treated positively regardless of his or her behavior. |
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Term
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Definition
| The class of sex hormones that predominate in males, produced by the testes in males and by the adrenal glands in both males and females. |
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Term
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Definition
| An aroused state that occurs because of physiological need. |
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Term
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Definition
| Feeling, or affect, that can involve physiological arousal (such as a fast heartbeat), conscious experience (thinking about being in love with someone), and behavioral expression (a smile or grimace). |
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Term
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Definition
| Motivation that involves external incentives such as rewards and punishments. |
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Term
| Facial Feedback Hypothesis |
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Definition
| The idea that facial expressions can influence emotions as well as reflect them. |
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Term
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Definition
| Maslow's theory that human needs must be satisfied in the following sequence: physiological needs, safety, love and belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. |
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Term
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Definition
| The body's tendency to maintain an equilibrium, or steady state. |
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Term
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Definition
| Motivation based on internal factors such as organismic needs (competence, relatedness, and autonomy), as well as curiosity, challenge, and fun. |
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Term
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Definition
| An innate (unlearned) biological pattern of behavior that is assumed to be universal throughout a species. |
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Term
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Definition
| A machine, commonly called a lie detector, that monitors changes in the body, used to try to determine whether someone is lying. |
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Term
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Definition
| The motivation to develop one's full potential as a human being - the highest and most elusive of Maslow's proposed needs. |
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Term
| Self-determination Theory |
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Definition
| Deci and Ryan's theory asserting that all humans have 3 basic, innate organismic needs: comeptence, relatedness, and autonomy. |
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Term
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Definition
| The process by which an organism effortfully controls behavior in order to pursue important objectives. |
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Term
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Definition
| The weight maintained when the individual makes no effort to gain or lost weight. |
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Term
| Two-factor Theory of Emotion |
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Definition
| Schachter and Singer's theory that emotion is determined by two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive labeling. |
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Term
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Definition
| A restrictive, punitive style in which the parent exhorts the child to follow the paren'ts directions and to value hard work and effort. |
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Term
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Definition
| A parenting style that encourages the child to be independent, but that still places limites and controls on behavior. |
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Term
| Concrete Operational Stage |
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Definition
| Piaget's third stage of cognitive development, lasting from about 7 to 11 years of age, during which the individual uses operations and replaces intuitive reasoning with logical reasoning in concrete situations. |
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Term
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Definition
| The transitional period from adolescence to adulthood, spanning approximately 18 to 25 years of age. |
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Term
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Definition
| Piaget's fourth stage of cognitive development, which begins at age 11 to 15 and continues through the adulthood; it features thinking about things that are not concrete, making predictions, and using logic to come up with hypotheses about the future. |
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Term
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Definition
| Roles that reflect the individual's expectations for how females and males should think, act, and feel. |
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Term
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Definition
| Decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations. |
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Term
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Definition
| An individual's biological inheritance, especially his or her genes. |
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Term
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Definition
| A parenting style characterized by a lack of parental involvement in the child's life. |
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Term
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Definition
| An individual's environmental and social experiences. |
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Term
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Definition
| A parenting style characterized by the placement of few limits on the child's behavior. |
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Definition
| Behavior that is intended to benefit other people. |
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Term
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Definition
| A period of rapid skeletal and sexual maturation that occurs mainly in early adolescence. |
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Definition
| A person's ability to recover from or adapt to difficult times. |
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Term
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Definition
| An individual's behavioral style and characteristic way of responding. |
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Term
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Definition
| Strategies - including formulas, instructions, and the testing of all possible solutions - that gurantee a solution to a problem. |
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Term
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) |
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Definition
| A scientific field that focuses on creating machines capable of performing activities that require intelligence when they are done by people. |
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Term
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Definition
| A prediction about the probability of an event based on the ease of recalling or imagining similar events. |
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Definition
| The way in which information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing. |
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Term
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Definition
| Reasoning from a general case that is known to be true to a specific instance. |
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Term
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Definition
| Using a prior strategy and failing to look at the problem from a fresh, new perspective. |
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Term
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Definition
| Shortcut streatgies or guidelines that suggest a solution to a problem, but do not gurantee an answer. |
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Term
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Definition
| Reasoning from specific observations to make generalizations. |
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Term
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Definition
| All-purpose ability to do well on cognitive tasks, to solve problems, and to learn from experiences. |
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Term
| Mental retardation (intellectual disability) |
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Definition
| A condition of limited mental ability in which an individual has a low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional intelligence test, and has difficulty adapting to everyday life. |
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Term
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Definition
| A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve, with a majority of the scores falling in the middle of the possible range and few scores appearing toward the extremes of the range. |
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Term
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Definition
| A model emphasizing that when people evaluate whether a given item reflects a certain concept, they compare the item with the most typical item(s) in that category and look for a "family resemblance" with that item's properties. |
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Term
| Representativeness Heuristic |
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Definition
| The tendency to make judgements about group membership based on physical appearances or the match between a person and one's stereotype of a group rather than on available base rate information. |
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Term
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Definition
| The meaning of words and sentences in a particular language. |
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Term
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Definition
| A language's rules for combining words to form acceptable phrases and sentences. |
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Term
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Definition
| The number of different connections that are made around a astimulus at a given level of memory. |
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Term
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Definition
| The first step in memory; the process by which information gets into memory storage. |
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Term
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Definition
| The retention of information about the where, when, and what of life's happenings - that is, how individuals remember life's episodes. |
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Term
| Explicit Memory (Declarative Memory) |
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Definition
| The conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts or events and, at least in humans, information that can be verbally communicated. |
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Term
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Definition
| The memory of emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events. |
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Term
| Implicit Memory (Nondeclarative Memory) |
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Definition
| Memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience. |
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Term
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Definition
| The theory that people forget not because memories are lost from storage, but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember. |
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Term
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Definition
| A relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information for a long time. |
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Term
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Definition
| Forgetting that occurs when something is so painful or anxiety laden that remembering it is intolerable. |
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Term
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Definition
| Remembering information about doing something in the furture; includes memory for intentions. |
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Term
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Definition
| Remembering information from the past. |
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Term
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Definition
| A preexisting mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information. Schemas from prior encounters with the environment influence the way we encode, make inferences about, and retrieve information. |
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Term
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Definition
| Memory system that involves holding information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses. |
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Term
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Definition
| Limited-capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless we use strategies to retain it longer. |
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Term
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Definition
| A 3-part system that allows us to hold information temporarily as we perform cogntiive tasks; a kind of mental workbench on which the brain manipulates and assembles information to help us understand, make decisions, and solve problems. |
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Definition
| A theory of learning that focuses soley on observable behaviors, discounting the importance of such mental activity as thinking, wishing, and hoping. |
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Term
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Definition
| Learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response. |
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Term
| Conditioned Response (CR) |
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Definition
| The learned response to the conditioned stimulus that occurs after conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus pairing. |
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Term
| Conditioned Stimulus (CS) |
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Definition
| A previously neutral stimulus that eventually elicits a conditioned response after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus. |
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Term
| Discrimination (classical conditioning) |
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Definition
| The process of learning to respond to certain stimuli and not others. |
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Term
| Discrimination (Operant Conditioning) |
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Definition
| Responding appropriately to stimuli that signal that a behavior will or will not be reinforced. |
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Term
| Generalization (Classical Conditioning) |
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Definition
| The tendency of a new stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus to elicit a response that is similar to the conditioned response. |
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Term
| Generalization (Operant Conditioning) |
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Definition
| Performing a reinforced behavior in a different situation. |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of problem solving in which the organism develops a sudden insight into or understanding of a problem's solution. |
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Term
| Latent Learning (Implicit Learning) |
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Definition
| Unreinforced learning that is not immediately reflected in behavior. |
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Term
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Definition
| The remvoal of an unpleasant stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior. |
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Term
| Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning) |
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Definition
| A form of associative learning in which the consequences of a behavior change the probabiliy of the behavior's occurrence. |
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Term
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Definition
| The presentation of a rewarding stimulus or event (a reinforcer) following a particular behavior increases the probability that the behavior will happen again. |
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Term
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Definition
| A consequence that decreases the likelihood that a behavior will occur. |
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Term
| Schedules of Reinforcement |
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Definition
| Specific patterns that determine when a behavior will be reinforced. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rewarding approximations of a desired behavior. |
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Term
| Unconditioned Response (UCR) |
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Definition
| An unlearned reaction that is automatically elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. |
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Term
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Definition
| Either a physical or psychological dependence, or both, on a drug. |
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Term
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Definition
| States of consciousness that require little attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities. Automatic processes require less conscious effort than controlled processes. |
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Term
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Definition
| Depressant drugs, such as Nebutal and Seconal, that decrease central nervous system activity. |
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Term
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Definition
| Periodic physiological fluctuations in the body, such as the rise and fall of hormones and accelerated/decelerated cycles of brain acitivity, that can influence behavior. |
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Term
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Definition
| Daily behavioral or physiological cycles that involve the sleep/wake cycle, body temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar level. |
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Term
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Definition
| Psychoactive drugs that slow down mental and physical activity. |
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Term
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Definition
| Psychoactive drugs that modify a person's perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real. |
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Term
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Definition
| Opium and its derivatives; narcotic drugs that depress the central nervous system's activity and eliminate pain. |
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Term
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Definition
| Drugs that act on the nervous system to alter consciousness, modify perceptions, and change moods. |
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Term
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Definition
| The strong desire to repeat the use of a drug for emotional reasons, such as a feeling of well-being and reduction of stress. |
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Term
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Definition
| The physiological need for a drug that causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms such as physical pain and a craving for the drug when it is discontinued. |
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Term
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Definition
| Psychoactive drugs, including caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine, that increase the central nervous system's activity. |
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Term
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Definition
| Term used by William James to describe the mind as a continuous flow of changing sensations, images, thoughts, and feelings. |
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Term
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Definition
| The need to take increasing amounts of a drug to get the same effect. |
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Term
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Definition
| Depressant drugs that reduce anxiety and induce relaxation. |
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Term
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Definition
| The minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect. |
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Term
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Definition
| Depth cues that depend on the combination of the images in the left and right eyes and on the way the two eyes work together. |
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Term
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Definition
| The operation in sensation and perception in which sensory receptors register information about the external environment and send it up to the brain for interpretation. |
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Term
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Definition
| The ability to perceiv objects three-dimensionally. |
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Term
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Definition
| The degree of difference that must exist between two stimuli before the difference is detected. |
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Term
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Definition
| Neurons in the brain's visual system that respond to particular features of a stimulus. |
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Term
| Figure-ground Relationship |
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Definition
| The principle by which we organize the perceptual field into stimuli that stand out (figure) and those that are left over (ground). |
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Term
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Definition
| A school of thought interested in how people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns. |
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Term
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Definition
| Senses that provide information about movement, posture, and orientation. |
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Term
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Definition
| The simultaneous distribution of information across different neural pathways. |
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Term
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Definition
| The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense. |
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Term
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Definition
| The process of receiving stimulus energies from the external environment and transforming those energies into neural energy. |
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Term
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Definition
| A change in the responsiveness of the sensory system based on the average level of surrounding stimulation. |
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Term
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Definition
| The detection of information below the level of conscious awareness. |
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Term
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Definition
| Senses that provides information about balance and movement. |
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Term
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Definition
| Glands at the top of each kidney that are rsponsible for regulating moods, energy level, and the ability to cope with stress. |
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Term
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Definition
| An almond'shaped structure within the base of the temporal lobe that is involved in the discrimination of obejcts that are necessary for the roganism's survival, such as appropriate food, mates, and social rivals. |
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Term
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Definition
| The part of the neuron that carries information away from the cell body toward other cells. |
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Term
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Definition
| Part of the forebrain, the outer layer of the brain, responsible for the most complex mental functions, such as thinking and planning. |
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Term
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Definition
| Reelike fibers projecting from a neuron, which receive information and orient it toward the neuron's cell body. |
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Term
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Definition
| The portion of the cerebral cortex behind the forehead, involved in personality, intelligence, and the control of voluntary muscles. |
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Term
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Definition
| The structure in the limbic system that has a special role in the storage of memories. |
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Term
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Definition
| A loosely connected network of structures under the cerebral cortex, important in both memory and emotion. Its two principal structures are the amygdala and the hippocampus. |
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| A layer of fat cells that encase and insulates most axons. |
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| A region in the cerebral cortex that processes information about voluntary movement, located just behind the frontal lobes. |
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| Chemical substances that are stored in very tiny sacs within the terminal buttons and invovled in transmitting information across a synaptic gap to the next neuron. |
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| Parasympathetic Nervous System |
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| The part of the automatic nervous system that calms the body. |
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| A pea-sized gland just beneath the hypothalamus that controls growth and regulates other glands. |
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| Sympathetic Nervous System |
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| The part of the automatic nervous system that arouses the body. |
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| Tiny spaces between neurons; the gaps between neurons are referred to as synaptic gaps. |
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| An approach to psychology focusing on the body, especially the brain and nervous system. |
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| An approach to psychology emphasizing the mental processes involved in knowing: how we direct our attention, perceive, remember, think, and solve problems. |
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| Research that examines the relationships between variables, whose purpose is to examine wehther an how two variables change together. |
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| Te outcome - the factor that can change in an experiement in response to changes in the independent variable. |
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| An experiemental design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group until the results are calculated. |
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| An approach to psychology centered on evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors. |
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| James's approach to mental processes, emphasizing the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual's adaptation to the environment. |
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| An educated guess that derives logically from a theory; a prediction that can be tested. |
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| A manipulated experimental factor, the variable that the experiemnter changes to see what its effects are. |
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| The degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable. |
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| Darwin's principle of an evolutionary process in which organisms that are best adapated to their environment will survive and produce offspring. |
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| The situation where participants' expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce an experimental outcome. |
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| A sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of beign selected. |
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| Research Participant Bias |
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| In an experiment, the influence of participants' expectations, and of their thoughts about how they should behave, on their behavior. |
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| Wundt's approach to discovering the basic elements, or structures, of mental processes. |
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