Term
| What is Natural Selection? |
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Definition
| The process by which certain adaptive characteristics emerge over generations |
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Term
| What is Evolutionary Personality Theory? |
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Definition
| An area of study applying biological evolutionary theory to human personality & a modern application of Darwin’s ideas to individual differences |
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Term
| What is Behavioral Genomics? |
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Definition
| The study of how genes affect behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| Stable individual differences in emotional reactivity (example: some babies are quiet & cuddly and others are active & easily respond to stimuli) |
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Term
| What are the 4 Basic Aspects of Temperament? |
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Definition
1.Activity Dimension (Vigorous motion vs. passivity).
2.Emotionality Dimension (Easily aroused vs. calm and stable).
3.Sociability Dimension (Approaches and enjoy others vs. aloof).
4.Aggressive/Impulsive Dimension (Aggressive and cold vs. conscientious and friendly). |
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Term
| What is Eysenck's Model (of Nervous System Temperament?) |
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Definition
Links introversion & extroversion to the nervous system
1. Extroverts: have a lower level of brain/internal arousal so they seek out external stimulation
2. Introverts: have a higher level of brain/internal arousal and shy away from external stimulation |
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Term
| What is Zuckerman’s Theory? |
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Definition
| That people who are high on “sensation seeking” have a low level of internal arousal, so they’re drawn to exciting experiences. |
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Term
| What is ‘Sensation Seeking’? |
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Definition
| The tendency to seek out highly stimulating activities & novelty |
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Term
| What 2 Systems make up Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory? |
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Definition
1. Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
2. Behavioral Activation/Approach System (BAS) |
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Term
| What are symptoms of a sensitive Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)? |
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Definition
| Person is prone to anxiety, alertness & worrying (Overactive → anxiety) |
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Term
| What does the Behavioral Activation/Approach System (BAS) do? |
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Definition
| Regulates our response to rewards. |
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Term
| What are symptoms of an active Behavioral Activation/Approach System (BAS)? |
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Definition
| If overly active, then person is impulsive & constantly seeking rewards. Also prone to drug addiction and overeating (Overactive → impulsivity) |
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Term
| What are Neurotransmitters? |
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Definition
| The chemicals used by nerves to communicate |
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Term
| What is Hemispheric Activity? |
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Definition
| The level of activity within one cerebral hemisphere (left or right) |
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Term
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Definition
| The movement that encouraged preserving or purifying the gene pool of the elite in order to improve human blood lines (begun by Francis Galton) |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that increasing the likelihood for the family members of an individual to survive increases the likelihood that the individual’s genes will be carried on to the next generation even if the individual did not reproduce him- or herself. |
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Term
| What is Nonshared Environmental Variance? |
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Definition
| How children raised in the same home experience features of that environment differently |
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Term
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Definition
| A condition whose symptoms include distorted reality, odd emotional reactions & sometimes paranoia and/or delusions |
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Term
| What is Bipolar Disorder/Manic-Depression? |
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Definition
| A disorder which an individual swings regularly between bouts of wildly enthusiastic energy and bouts of hopeless depression |
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Term
| What is Angelman Syndrome? |
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Definition
| A syndrome that causes children to be especially attractive and friendly but also suffer mental retardation, sleep very little and walk with a jerky movement. Caused by a defect on a chromosome. |
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Term
| What is Williams Syndrome? |
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Definition
| A syndrome in which people have an excessively social personality, as well as limited spatial skills and intellectual ability |
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Term
| What is Biological Determinism? |
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Definition
| The belief that an individual’s personality is completely determined by biological (and especially by genetic) factors |
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Term
| What is Psychopharmacology? |
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Definition
| The study of the role of drugs and other toxic substances in causing and treating psychiatric disturbance |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to seek out specific types of environments. Some individuals grow towards more fulfilling and health-promoting spaces while others remain subject to darker, health-threatening environments |
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Term
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Definition
| Theory relating body type to personality characteristics (W.H. Sheldon) |
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Term
| What are Sheldon’s 3 Body Types? |
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Definition
1. Mesomorph – Large-boned, muscular, athletic type
2. Ectomorph – Slender, bookworm type
3. Endomorph – Roly-poly, supposedly good natured type |
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Term
| What is Survival of the Fittest? |
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Definition
| The concept that species evolve because those individuals who cannot compete well in the environments in which they live tend to be less successful in growing up and producing offspring |
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Term
| What is Social Darwinism? |
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Definition
| The idea that societies and cultures naturally compete for survival of the fittest |
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Term
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Definition
| The scientific study of the influence of evolutionary biology on an organism’s responses regarding social matters |
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Term
| What is Biological determinism? |
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Definition
| The belief that an individual's personality is completely determined by biological factors (and especially by genetic factors) |
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Term
| What is Classical Conditioning? |
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Definition
| After a repeated pairing of an unconditioned stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response and a neutral stimulus, the previously neutral stimulus can come to elicit the same response as the unconditioned stimulus. |
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Term
| What is Partial Reinforcement? |
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Definition
| A reward that occurs after some, but not all, occurrences of a behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency for similar stimuli to evoke the same response |
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Term
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Definition
| The concept that a conditioned response will not occur for all possible stimuli, indicating that an animal can learn to tell the difference between stimuli |
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Term
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Definition
| When the pairing of the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus stops |
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Term
| What is the difference between a conditioned response and an unconditioned response? |
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Definition
| Conditioned means a ‘learned’ response and Unconditioned means the natural or ‘un-learned’ response |
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Term
| What is the difference between a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus? |
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Definition
| The conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response. The unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response. |
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Term
| What is a Neutral Stimulus? |
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Definition
| A stimulus that initially or normally does not elicit an overt behavioral response (apart from focusing attention) |
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Term
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Definition
| The study of observable behavior (WATSON) |
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Term
| What is Systematic Desensitization? |
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Definition
| Gradually extinguishing a phobia by causing the feared stimulus to become dissociated from the fear response |
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Term
| What is Radical Determinism? |
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Definition
| The belief that all human behavior is caused and that humans have no free will |
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Term
| What is Operant Conditioning? |
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Definition
| The changing of a behavior by manipulating its consequences |
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Term
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Definition
| An event that strengthens a behavior & increases the likelihood of repeating the behavior in the future (SKINNER) |
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Term
| What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect? |
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Definition
| Concept that the consequence of a behavior will either strengthen or weaken behavior, i.e. when a response follows a stimulus and results in satisfaction, this strengthens the connection between stimulus and response; however, if the response results in discomfort or pain, the connection is weakened |
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Term
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Definition
| The process in which undifferentiated operant behaviors are gradually changed or shaped into a desired behavior pattern by the reinforcement of successive approximations, so that the behavior more and more resembles the target behavior |
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Term
| What is Negative Reinforcement? |
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Definition
| An aversive event that ends if a behavior is performed, making it more likely for that behavior to be performed in the future |
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Term
| What is Positive Reinforcement? |
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Definition
| A positive event that occurs if a behavior is performed, making it more likely for that behavior to be performed in the future |
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Term
| What is Positive Punishment? |
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Definition
| An aversive stimulus is presented if a behavior is performed, making it less likely for that behavior to be performed in the future |
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Term
| What is Negative Punishment? |
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Definition
| An positive stimulus is taken away if a behavior is performed, making it less likely for that behavior to be performed in the future |
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Term
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Definition
| Associations between a stimulus and a response (HULL) |
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Term
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Definition
| A fundamental innate motivator of behavior, specifically hunger, thirst, sex or pain |
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Term
| What is Social Learning Theory? |
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Definition
| A theory that proposes that habits are built up in terms of a hierarchy of secondary drives |
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Term
| What are Secondary Drives? |
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Definition
| Drives that are learned by association with the satisfaction of primary drives |
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Term
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Definition
| A learned hierarchy of likelihoods that a person will produce particular responses in particular situations |
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Term
| What are the 3 Drive Conflicts? |
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Definition
1. Approach-Avoidance Conflict: Conflict between primary and secondary drives that occurs when a punishment results in the conditioning of a fear response to a drive.
2. Approach-Approach Conflict: Conflict in which a person is drawn to two equally attractive choices.
3. Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict: Conflict in which a person is faced with two equally undesirable choices. |
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Term
| What is the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis? |
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Definition
| Aggression is the result of blocking, or frustrating, a person's efforts to attain a goal. |
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Term
| What is the Act-Frequency Approach? |
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Definition
| Assessing personality by examining the frequency with which a person performs certain observable actions |
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Term
| What is Gestalt Psychology? |
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Definition
| An approach to psychology that emphasizes the integrative and active nature of perception and thought suggesting that the whole may be greater than the sum of its parts |
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Term
| What is Lewin’s Field Theory? |
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Definition
| Behavior is determined by complex interactions among a person’s internal psychological structure, the forces of the external environment, and the structural relationships between the person and the environment |
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Term
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Definition
| All the internal and external forces that act on an individual |
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Term
| What is Contemporaneous Causation? |
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Definition
| Behavior is caused at the moment of its occurrence by all the influences that are present in the individual at that moment |
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Term
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Definition
| An individual’s distinctive, enduring way of dealing with everyday tasks of perception and problem solving |
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Term
| What is Field Dependence? |
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Definition
| A cognitive style variable that is the extent to which an individual’s problem solving is influenced by salient but irrelevant aspects of the context in which the problem occurs |
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Term
| What is Field Independence? |
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Definition
| A cognitive style variable that is the extent to which an individual’s problem solving is NOT influenced by salient but irrelevant aspects of the context in which the problem occurs |
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Term
| What is Cognitive Complexity? |
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Definition
| The extent to which a person comprehends, utilizes, and is comfortable with a greater number of distinctions or separate elements into which an entity or event is analyzed, and the extent to which the person can integrate those elements by drawing connections or relationships among them |
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Term
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Definition
| The characteristic way in which an individual approached a task or skill to be learned |
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Term
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Definition
| A cognitive structure that organizes knowledge and expectations about one’s environment- determines how we think and act |
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Term
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Definition
| A schema that guides behavior in social situations (e.g. eating at a restaurant) |
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Term
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Definition
| A schema or belief about the personality traits that tend to be characteristic of members of some group |
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Term
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Definition
| The perceptual process by which highly complex ensembles of information are filtered into a small number of identifiable and familiar objects and entities |
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Term
| What are some Positive effects of categorization? |
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Definition
• Quickly understand complex information
• Make likely inferences about new things |
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Term
| What are some Negative effects of categorization? |
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Definition
• Stereotypes
• Overlook individuating characteristics |
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Term
| What is Control of Attention? |
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Definition
| Noticing salient environmental features and combine these with our current goals to decide where to direct our attention |
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Term
| What is Situated Social Cognition? |
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Definition
| Social cognitive processes with changes in the situation |
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Term
| What is Rejection Sensitivity? |
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Definition
| A personality variable capturing the extent to which an individual is overly sensitive to cues that he or she is being rejected by another |
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Term
| What is Personal Construct Theory? |
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Definition
| Emphasizes the idea that people actively endeavor to construe or understand the world and construct their own theories about human behavior (KELLY) |
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Term
| What is the Role Construct Repertory Test? |
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Definition
| An assessment designed by George Kelly to evoke a person’s own personal construct system by making comparisons among triads of important people in the life of the person being assessed |
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Term
| What is Social Intelligence? |
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Definition
| The idea that individuals differ in their level of mastery of the particular cluster of knowledge and skills that are relevant to interpersonal situations |
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Term
| What is Emotional Intelligence? |
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Definition
| The set of emotional abilities specific to dealing with other people |
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Term
| What is Emotional Knowledge? |
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Definition
| The ability to recognize and interpret emotions in the self and others |
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Term
| Define Multiple Intelligences: |
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Definition
| Theory that claims that all human beings have at least seven different ways of knowing about the world and that people differ from one another in the relative strengths of each of the seven ways. |
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Term
| What are the Seven Multiple Intelligences? |
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Definition
1. Language
2. Logical-Mathematical Analysis
3. Spatial Representation
4. Musical Thinking
5. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
6. Understanding the Self
7. Understanding Others |
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Term
| What is Explanatory Style? |
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Definition
| A set of cognitive personality variables that captures a person’s habitual means of interpreting events in his/her life |
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Term
| What are the differences between Optimism & Pessimism? |
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Definition
| Optimistic style is generally associated with positive aspects & better outcomes of a situation. Pessimism is associated with negative aspects & worse outcomes of a situation. |
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Term
| What is Defensive Pessimism? |
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Definition
| The approach of anticipating a poorer outcome, thus reducing anxiety and actually improving performance in a risky situation |
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Term
| What is Learned Helplessness? |
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Definition
| Repeated exposure to unavoidable punishments leads an organism to accept later punishment even when it is avoidable, e.g. dogs getting shocked no matter which room they were in (SELIGMAN) |
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Term
| What is Learned Optimism? |
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Definition
| An optimistic style that people can be trained to achieve |
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Term
| What is Cognitive Intervention? |
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Definition
| Teaching people to change their thought process |
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Term
| What is Outcome Expectancy? |
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Definition
| The extent to which an individual expects his or her performance to have a positive result |
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Term
| What is Reinforcement Value? |
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Definition
| The extent to which an individual values the expected reinforcement of an action |
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Term
| ACCORDING TO ROTTER… Our final choice of behavior depends on both the ________ ___________ & the ___________ ___________ |
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Definition
| The outcome expectancy & the reinforcement value |
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Term
| What is Behavior Potential? |
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Definition
| The likelihood that a particular behavior will occur in a specific situation |
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Term
| What is Specific Expectancy? |
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Definition
| The expectancy that a reward will follow a behavior in a particular situation |
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Term
| What is Generalized Expectancy? |
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Definition
| The expectancy that is related to a group of situations |
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Term
| What is a Secondary Reinforcement? |
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Definition
| A conditioned reinforcement- a previously neutral stimulus that becomes a reinforcer following its pairing with a primary reinforcer. |
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Term
| What is the Locus of Control? |
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Definition
| The variable that measures the extent to which an individual habitually attributes outcomes to factors internal to the self, versus external to the self |
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Term
| What is the Internal Locus of Control? |
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Definition
| The generalized expectancy that an individual’s own actions lead to desired outcomes |
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Term
| What is the External Locus of Control? |
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Definition
| The belief that things outside of the individual determine whether desired outcomes occur |
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Term
| What are Rotter’s 6 Psychological Needs? |
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Definition
1. Recognition-status
2. Dominance
3. Independence
4. Protection-dependency
5. Love & Affection
6. Physical Comfort |
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Term
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Definition
| The set of cognitive processes by which a person perceives, evaluates, and regulates his/her own behavior so that it is appropriate to the environment and effective in achieving goals |
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Term
| What is Observational or Vicarious Learning? |
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Definition
| Learning by an individual that occurs by watching others perform the behavior, with the individual neither performing the behavior nor being directly rewarded or punished for the behavior (AKA Modeling) |
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Term
| What are some processes underlying Observational Learning? |
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Definition
• Attention
• Retention
• Motor Reproduction
• Motivation |
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Term
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Definition
| Monitoring one’s own behavior as a result of one’s internal processes of goals, planning and self-reinforcement |
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Term
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Definition
| An expectancy or belief about how competently one will be able to enact a behavior in a particular situation |
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Term
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Definition
| A standard test by which to judge whether a computer can adequately simulate a human; in this test, first proposed by Alan Turing, a human judge interacts with two hidden others and tries to decide which is the human and which is the computer |
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Term
| What is Self-Efficacy based on? |
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Definition
• past successes/failures at similar tasks
• Vicarious experiences (seeing others)
• Verbal Persuasion (by others) |
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