Term
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Definition
| An individual's characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling |
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Term
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Definition
| A series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives accurately describe their own behavior or mental state |
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Term
| Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) |
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Definition
| A well-researched, clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems |
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Term
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Definition
| A standard series of ambiguous stimuli designed to elicit unique responses that reveal inner aspects of an individual's personality |
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Term
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Definition
| A projective personality test in which individual interpretations of the meaning of a set of unstructured inkblots are analyzed to identify a respondent's inner feelings and interpret his or her personality structure |
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Term
| Thematic Apperception test |
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Definition
| A projective personality test in which respondents reveal underlying motives, concerns, and the way they see the world through the stories they make up about ambiguous pictures of people |
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Term
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Definition
| A relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way |
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Term
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Definition
| The traits of the five-factor model: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion |
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Term
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Definition
| An approach that regards personality as formed by the needs, strivings, and desires, largely operating outside of awareness - motives that can also produce emotional disorders |
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Term
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Definition
| An active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the person's deepest instincts and desires, and the person's inner struggle to control these forces |
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Term
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Definition
| The part of the mind containing the drives present at birth; it is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives |
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Term
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Definition
| The psychic force that motivates the tendency to seek immediate gratification of any impulse |
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Term
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Definition
| The component of personality, developed through contact with the external world, that enables us to deal with life's practical demands |
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Term
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Definition
| The regulating mechanism that enables the individual to delay gratifying immediate needs and function effectively in the real world |
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Term
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Definition
| The mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly learned as parents exercise their authority |
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Term
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Definition
| Unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threats from unacceptable impulses |
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Term
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Definition
| A defense mechanism that involves supplying a reasonable-sounding explanation for unacceptable feelings and behavior to conceal (mostly from oneself) one's underlying motives or feelings |
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Term
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Definition
| A defense mechanism that involves unconsciously replacing threatening inner wishes and fantasies with an exaggerated version of the opposite |
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Term
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Definition
| A defense mechanism that involves attributing one's own threatening feelings, motives, or impulses to another person or group |
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Term
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Definition
| A defense mechanism in which the ego deals with internal conflict and perceived threat by reversing to an immature behavior or earlier stage of development |
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Term
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Definition
| A defense mechanism that involves shifting unacceptable wishes or drives to a neutral or less-threatening alternative |
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Term
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Definition
| A defense mechanism that helps deal with feelings of threat and anxiety by enabling us unconsciously to take on the characteristics of another person who seems more powerful or better able to cope |
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Term
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Definition
| A defense mechanism that involves channeling unacceptable sexual or aggressive drives into socially acceptable and culturally enhancing activities |
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Term
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Definition
| Distinct early life stages through which personality is formed as children experience sexual pleasures from specific body areas and caregivers redirect or interfere with those pleasures |
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Term
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Definition
| A phenomenon in which a person's pleasure-seeking drives become psychologically 'stuck' or arrested at a a particular stage |
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Term
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Definition
| The first psychosexual stage, in which experience centers on pleasures and frustrations associated with the mouth, sucking, and being fed |
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Term
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Definition
| The second psychosexual stage, which is dominated by teh pleasures and frustrations associated with the anus, retention and expulsion of feces and urine, and toilet training |
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Term
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Definition
| The third psychosexual stage, during which experience is dominated by the pleasure, conflict, and frustration associated with the phallic-genital region as well as powerful incestuous feelings of love, jealousy, hate, and conflict |
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Term
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Definition
| A developmental experience in which a child's conflicting feelings toward the opposite-sex parent is (usually) resolved by identifying with the same-sex parent |
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Term
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Definition
| The fourth psychosexual stage, in which the primary focus is on the further development of intellectual, creative, interpersonal, and athletic skills |
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Term
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Definition
| The final psychosexual stage, a time for the coming together of the mature adult personality with a capacity to love, work, and relate to others in a mutually satisfying and reciprocal manner |
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Term
| Self-actualizing tendency |
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Definition
| The human motive toward realizing our inner potential |
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Term
| Unconditional Positive Regard |
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Definition
| An attitude of nonjudgmental acceptance toward another person |
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Term
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Definition
| A school of thought that regards personality as governed by an individual's ongoing choices and decisions in the context of the realities of life and death |
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Term
| Social Cognitive Approach |
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Definition
| An approach that views personality in terms of how the person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them |
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Term
| Person-situation Controversy |
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Definition
| The question of whether behavior is caused more by personality or by situational factors |
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Term
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Definition
| Dimensions people use in making sense of their experiences |
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Term
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Definition
| A person's assumptions about the likely consequences of a future behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| A person's tendency to perceive the control of rewards as internal to the self or external in the environment |
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Term
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Definition
| A person's explicit knowledge of his or her own behaviors, traits, and other personal characteristics |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to seek evidence to confirm the self-concept |
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Term
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Definition
| The extent to which an individual likes, values, and accepts the self |
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Term
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Definition
| People's tendency to take credit for their successes but downplay responsibility for their failures |
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Term
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Definition
| A trait that reflects a grandiose view of the self combined with a tendency to seek admiration from and exploit others |
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Term
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Definition
| The conceptualization of psychological abnormalities as diseases that, like biological diseases, have symptoms and causes and possible cures |
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Term
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Definition
| Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fourth edition, text revision). A classification system that describes the features used to diagnose each recognizable mental disorder and indicates how the disorder can be distinguished from other, similar problems |
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Term
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Definition
| The co-occurance of two or more disorders in a single individual |
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Term
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Definition
| Suggests that a person may be predisposed for a mental disorder that remains unexpressed until triggered by stress |
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Term
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Definition
| The class of mental disorder in which anxiety is the predominant feature |
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Term
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) |
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Definition
| A disorder characterized by chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance |
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Term
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Definition
| Disorders characterized y marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, or situations |
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Term
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Definition
| A disorder that involves and irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual's ability to function |
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Term
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Definition
| A disorder that involves an irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that people are instinctively predisposed toward certain fears |
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Term
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Definition
| A disorder characterized by the sudden occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of stark terror |
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Term
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Definition
| An extreme fear of venturing into public places |
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Term
| Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) |
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Definition
| A disorder in which repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and ritualistic behaviors (compulsions) designed to fend off those thoughts interfere significantly with an individual's functioning |
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Term
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Definition
| A condition in which normal cognitive processes are severely disjointed and fragmented, creating significant disruptions in memory awareness, or personality that can vary in lengths from a matter of minutes to many years |
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Term
| Dissociative Identity Disorder |
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Definition
| The presence within an individual of two or more distinct identities that at different times take control of the individual's behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| The sudden loss of memory for significant personal information |
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Term
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Definition
| The sudden loss of memory for one's personal history, accompanied by an abrupt departure from home and the assumption of a new identity |
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Term
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Definition
| Mental disorders that have mood disturbance as their predominant feature |
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Term
| Major Depressive Disorder |
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Definition
| A disorder characterized by a severely depressed mood that lasts 2 weeks or more and is accompanied by feelings of worthlessness and lack of pleasure, lethargy, and sleep and appetite disturbances |
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Term
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Definition
| A disorder that involves the same symptoms as in depression only less severe, but the symptoms last longer, persisting for at least 2 years |
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Term
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Definition
| A moderately depressed mood that persists for at least 2 years and is punctuated by periods of major depression |
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Term
| Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) |
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Definition
| Depression that involves recurrent depressive episodes in a seasonal pattern |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that individuals who are prone to depression automatically attribute negative experiences to causes that are internal (ie: their own fault), stable (ie: unlikely to change), and global (ie: widespread) |
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Term
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Definition
| An unstable emotional condition characterized by cycles of abnormal, persistent high mood (mania) and low mood (depression). |
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Term
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Definition
| A disorder characterized by the profound disruption of basic psychological processes; a distorted perception of reality; altered or blunted emotion; and disturbances in thought, motivation, and behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| A patently false belief system, often bizarre and grandiose, that is maintained in spite of its irrationality |
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Term
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Definition
| A false perceptual experience that has a compelling sense of being real despite the absence of external stimulation |
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Term
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Definition
| A severe disruption of verbal communication in which ideas shift rapidly and incoherently from one to another unrelated topic |
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Term
| Grossly Disorganized Behavior |
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Definition
| Behavior that is inappropriate for the situation or ineffective in attaining goals often with specific motor disturbances |
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Term
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Definition
| A marked decrease in all movement or an increase in muscular rigidity and overactivity |
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Term
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Definition
| Emotional and social withdrawal; apathy; poverty of speech; and other indications of the absence or insufficiency of normal behavior, motivation, and emotion |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that schizophrenia involves an excess of dopamine activity |
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Term
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Definition
| Emotional overinvolvement (intrusiveness) and excessive criticism directed toward the former patient by his or her family |
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Term
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Definition
| Disorder characterized by deeply ingrained, inflexible patterns of thinking, feeling, or relating to others or controlling impulses that cause distress or impaired functioning |
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Term
| Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) |
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Definition
| A pervasive pattern of disregard for a violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood |
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Term
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Definition
| An interaction between a therapist and someone suffering from a psychological problem, with the goal of providing support or relief from the problem |
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Term
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Definition
| Treatment that draws on techniques from different forms of therapy, depending on the client and the problem |
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Term
| Psychodynamic Psychotherapies |
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Definition
| A general approach to treatment that explores childhood events and encourages individuals to develop insights into their psychological problems |
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Term
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Definition
| A reluctance to cooperate with treatment for fear of confronting unpleasant unconscious material |
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Term
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Definition
| An event that occurs in psychoanalysis when the analyst begins to assume a major significance in the client's life and the client reacts to the analyst based on unconscious childhood fantasies |
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Term
| Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) |
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Definition
| A form of psychotherapy that focuses on helping clients improve current relationships |
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Term
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Definition
| A type of therapy that assumes that disordered behavior is learned and that symptom relief is achieved through changing overt maladaptive behaviors into more constructive behaviors |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of behavior therapy that uses positive punishment to reduce the frequency of an undesirable behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of behavior therapy in which clients are given 'tokens' for desired behaviors, which they can later trade for rewards |
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Term
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Definition
| An approach to treatment that involves confronting an emotion-arousing stimulus directly and repeatedly, ultimately leading to a decrease in the emotional response |
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Term
| Systematic Desensitization |
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Definition
| A procedure in which a client relaxes all the muscles of his or her body while imagining being in increasingly frightening situations |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of psychotherapy that involves helping a client identify and correct any distorted thinking about self, others or the world |
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Term
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Definition
| A therapeutic approach that teaches clients to question the automatic beliefs, assumptions, and predictions that often lead to negative emotions and to replace negative thinking with more realistic and positive beliefs |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of cognitive therapy that teaches an individual to be fully present in each moment; to be aware of his or her thoughts feelings, and sensations; and to detect symptoms before they become a problem |
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Term
| Cognitive Behavioral Therapy |
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Definition
| A blend of cognitive and behavioral therapeutic strategies |
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Term
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Definition
| An approach to therapy that assumes all individuals have a tendency toward growth and that this growth can be facilitated by acceptance and genuine reactions from the therapist |
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Term
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Definition
| An existentialist approach to treatment with the goal of helping the client become aware of his or her thoughts, behaviors, experiences, and feelings and to "own" or take responsibility for them |
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Term
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Definition
| Therapy in which multiple participants (who often do not know one another at the outset) work on their individual problems in a group atmosphere |
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Term
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Definition
| Medications that are used to treat schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders |
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Term
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Definition
| The study of drug effects on psychological states and symptoms |
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Term
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Definition
| Drugs that help reduce a person's experience of fear or anxiety |
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Term
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Definition
| A class of drugs that help lift people's mood |
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Term
| Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) |
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Definition
| A treatment that involves placing a powerful pulsed magnet over a person's scalp, which alters activity in the brain |
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Term
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Definition
| A treatment for seasonal depression that involves repeated exposure to bright light |
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Term
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Definition
| Surgical destruction of specific brain areas |
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Term
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Definition
| An inert substance or procedure that has been applied with the expectation that a healing response will be produced |
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Term
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Definition
| A disorder or symptom that occurs as a result of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment |
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Term
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Definition
| Specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person's well-being |
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Term
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Definition
| The physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors |
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Term
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Definition
| The subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health |
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Term
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Definition
| A source of stress that occurs continuously or repeatedly |
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Term
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Definition
| An emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action |
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Term
| General Adaptation Syndrome |
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Definition
| A three-stage physiological response that appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered |
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Term
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Definition
| A complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances |
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Term
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Definition
| White blood cells that produce antibodies that fight infection |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency toward easily aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings |
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Term
| Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) |
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Definition
| A psychological disorder characterized by chronic physiological arousal, recurrent unwanted thoughts or images of the trauma, and avoidance of things that call the trauma to mind |
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Term
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Definition
| A state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion created by long-term involvement in a n emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lowered performance and motivation |
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Term
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Definition
| Avoiding situations or thoughts that are reminders of a stressor and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint |
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Term
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Definition
| Facing a stressor and working to overcome it |
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Term
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Definition
| Finding a neww or creative way to think about a stressor that reduces its threat |
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Term
| Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) |
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Definition
| A therapy that helps people to cope with stressful situations by developing positive ways to think about the situation |
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Term
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Definition
| A technique for reducing tension by consciously relaxing muscles of the body |
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Term
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Definition
| A condition of reduced muscle tension, cortical activity, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure |
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Term
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Definition
| The use of an external monitoring device to obtain information about a bodily function and possibly gain control over that function |
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Term
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Definition
| The aid gained through interacting with others |
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Term
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Definition
| A clinically significant psychological or physiological response to a therapeutically inert substance or procedure |
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Term
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Definition
| An interaction between mind and body that can produce illness |
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Term
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Definition
| The set of psychological disorders in which the person displays physical symptoms not fully explained by a general medical condition |
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Term
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Definition
| A psychological disorder in which a person is preoccupied with minor symptoms and develops an exaggerated belief that the symptoms signify a life-threatening illness |
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Term
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Definition
| A psychological disorder involving combinations of multiple physical complaints with no medical explanation |
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Term
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Definition
| A disorder characterized by apparently debilitating physical symptoms that appear to be voluntary - but that the person experiences as involuntary |
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Term
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Definition
| A socially recognized set of rights and obligations linked with illness |
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Term
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Definition
| The exercise of voluntary control over the self to bring the self into line with preferred standards |
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Term
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Definition
| Behavior whose purpose is to harm another |
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Term
| Frustration-Aggression Principle |
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Definition
| A principle stating that people aggress when their goals are thwarted |
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Term
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Definition
| Behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit |
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Term
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Definition
| Behavior that benefits another without benefiting oneself |
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Term
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Definition
| The process by which evolution selects for genes that cause individuals to provide benefits to their relatives |
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Term
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Definition
| Behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future |
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Term
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Definition
| A collection of two or more people who believe they have something in common |
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Term
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Definition
| A positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their group membership |
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Term
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Definition
| Positive or negative behavior toward another person based on their group membership |
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Term
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Definition
| A human category of which a person is a member |
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Term
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Definition
| A human category of which a person is not a member |
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Term
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Definition
| A phenomenon that occurs when immersion in a group causes people to become less aware of their individual values |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency for people to expend less effort when in a group than alone |
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Term
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Definition
| The act of helping strangers in an emergency situation |
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Term
| Diffusion of Responsibility |
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Definition
| The tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency for a group's initial leaning to get stronger over time |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency for linking to increase with the frequency of exposure |
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Term
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Definition
| An experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense sexual attraction |
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Term
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Definition
| An experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a partner's well-being |
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Term
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Definition
| The hypothesis that people remain in relationships only as long as they perceive a favorable ratio of costs to benefits |
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Term
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Definition
| The cost-benefit ratio that people believe they deserve or could attain in another relationship |
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Term
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Definition
| A state of affairs in which the cost-benefit ratios of two partners are roughly equal |
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Term
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Definition
| The control of one person's behavior by another |
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Term
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Definition
| Learning that occurs when one person observes another person being rewarded or punished |
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Term
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Definition
| A customary standard for behavior that is widely shared by members of a culture |
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Term
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Definition
| A phenomenon whereby one person's behavior is influenced by another person's behavior because the latter provides information about what is appropriate |
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Term
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Definition
| The norm that people should benefit those who have benefited them |
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Term
| Door-in-the-Face Technique |
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Definition
| A strategy that uses reciprocating concessions to influence behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to do what others do simply because others are doing it |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to do what authorities tell us to do simply because they tell us to do it |
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Term
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Definition
| An enduring positive or negative evaluation of an object or event |
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Term
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Definition
| An enduring piece of knowledge about an object or event |
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Term
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Definition
| A phenomenon whereby a person's behavior is influenced by another person's behavior because the latter provides information about what is good or true |
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Term
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Definition
| A phenomenon that occurs when a person's attitudes or beliefs are influenced by a communication from another person |
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Term
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Definition
| A change in attitudes or beliefs that is brought about by appeals to reason |
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Term
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Definition
| A change in attitudes or beliefs that is brought about by appeals to habit or emotion |
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Term
| Foot-in-the-Door Technique |
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Definition
| A strategy that uses a person's desire for consistency to influence that person's behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| An unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs |
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Term
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Definition
| The processes by which people come to understand others |
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Term
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Definition
| The process by which people identify a stimulus as a member of a class of related stimuli |
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Term
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Definition
| The process by which people draw inferences about others based on their knowledge of the categories to which others belong |
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Term
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Definition
| A phenomenon that occurs when observers perceive what they expect to perceive |
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Term
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Definition
| A phenomenon whereby observers bring about what they expect to perceive |
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Term
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Definition
| An inference about the cause of a person's behavior |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to make a disproportional attribution even when a person's behavior was caused by the situation |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to make situational attributions for our own behavior while making dispositional attributions for the identical behavior of others |
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