| Term | Definition |
|---|
| accommodation | The process pf adjusting existing ways of thinking to encompass new information, ideas, or objects |
| assimilation | The process by which new information is placed into preexisting categories |
| attachment | An active and intense emotional relationship between two people that endures over time |
| authoritarian | A parenting style that stresses unquestioning obedience |
| authoritative | A parenting style based on recognized authority or knowledge and characterized by mutual respect |
| childhood | The stage of life that follows infancy and spans the period from the second birthday to the beginning of adolescence |
| concrete-operational stage | According to Piaget, the stage of cognitive development during which children acquire the ability to think logically |
| conditional positive regard | An expression of esteem given only when an individual has exhibited suitable behavior |
| conservation | According to Piaget, the principle that the properties of substances remain the dame despite changes in their shape or arrangement |
| contact comfort | The satisfaction obtained from pleasant, soft stimulation |
| conventional moral reasoning | The level of moral development at which a person makes judgments based on conventional standards of right and wrong |
| critical period | a stage or point in development during which a person or animal is best suited to learn a new skill or behavior |
| developmental psychology | the branch of psychology that studies the physical, cognitive, and social changes that occur throughout the life cycle |
| egocentrism | In Piaget's theory, the inability of the preoperational child to understand another's point of view |
| formal-operational stage | According to Piaget, the stage of cognitive development during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts |
| imprinting | The process by which animals form strong attachments during a critical period very early in life |
| infancy | In humans, the stage of life from birth to age two |
| maturation | developmental changes that occur as a result of automatic, genetically determined signals |
| object permanence | The awareness that people and objects continue tom exist even when they cannot be perceived |
| postconventional moral reasoning | According to Kohlberg, a level of moral development during which moral judgments are derived from a person's own moral standards |
| preconventional moral reasoning | According to Kohlberg, a level of moral development in which moral judgments are based on fear of punishment or desire for pleasure |
| preoperational stage | In Piaget's theory, the stage during which a child learns to use language but does not yet think logically |
| reflex | an automatic, unlearned response to a sensory signal |
| self-esteem | The value or worth that people attach to themselves |
| sensorimotor stage | According to Piaget, the stage during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities |
| separation anxiety | Distress that is sometimes experienced by infants when they are separated from their primary caregivers |
| stranger anxiety | The fear of strangers that infants commonly display |
| unconditional positive regard | A consistent expression of esteem for the basic value of a person |
| social psychology | scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by social environment |
| cognitive psychology | scientific study of basic mental abilities: perception, learning, memory, etc. |
| social cognition | scientific study of how people perceive, interpret, and remember information about selves and others |
| attitude | a belief and feeling about something that leads a person to behave in certain ways |
| conditioning | being "rewarded" by others for having a certain attitude |
| observational learning | learning by watching those we see around us |
| cognitive evaluation | forming an attitude about something based on evidence |
| persuasion | the attempt to influence people's attitudes and choices through argument or explanation |
| cognitive dissonance theory | theory that suggests that people make changes in their attitudes to reduce tension that occurs when their thoughts and attitudes are inconsistent with their actions |
| cognitive dissonance | unpleasant feeling when attitude and behavior are not consistent |
| Leon Festinger | psychologist who did important research on cognitive dissonance |
| propaganda | the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person |
| prejudice | a negative attitude or emotional response toward a certain group and its individual members |
| stereotype | a belief about the personal qualities of a group of people |
| discrimination | actively mistreating or neglecting people because of their group membership |
| ingroup | group an individual belongs to and feels loyalty for |
| outgroup | group an individual has negative feelings toward |
| illusory correlation | biased perception and memory for connection between negative acts and minority groups |
| outgroup homogeneity effect | tendency to assume that within-group similarity is much stronger for outgroups than for ingroups |
| attraction | in social psychology, an attitude of liking (positive attraction) or disliking (negative attraction) |
| matching hypothesis | the view that people tend to choose other people similar to themselves in attractiveness and attitudes in the formation of interpersonal relationships |
| reciprocity | in interpersonal relationships, the tendency to return feelings and attitudes that are expressed about us |
| triangular theory of love | according to Sternberg, the components of love, which include passion, intimacy, and commitment |
| intimacy | feelings of closeness and concern for another person |
| passion | an aroused state of intense desire for another person |
| commitment | a pledge or promise |
| romantic love | intimacy + passion |
| liking | intimacy alone |
| companionate love | intimacy + commitment |
| infatuation | passion alone |
| fatuous | passion + commitment |
| consummate love | intimacy + passion + commitment |
| psychological disorder | behavior patterns or mental processes that cause serious personal suffering or interfere with one's ability to cope with daily life |
| maladaptive | interfering with the ability to cope in daily life |
| culture-bound syndrome | a pattern of abnormal behavior recognized in specific cultures that may or may not be linked to an official category of psychological disorder |
| anxiety | a general state of dread or uneasiness that occurs in response to a vague or imagined danger |
| phobia | fear (from the Greek word for fear "phobos") |
| specific phobia (simple phobia) | an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation |
| social phobia | fear and anxiety of being judged and evaluated by other people |
| panic attack | an episode of intense fear or discomfort accompanied by physical and psychological symptoms such as dizziness, breathing difficulties, chest pain, fear of impending doom, etc. |
| agoraphobia | fear of being in places in which escape may be difficult or impossible |
| obsession | Unwanted thought that a person can't stop thinking about |
| compulsion | Ritualistic behavior that person feels they must do |
| post-traumatic stress disorder | extreme anxiety after event that almost anyone would find stressful |
| mood | long-lasting emotion that affects how one perceives the world |
| depression | feelings of sadness, helplessness, guilt, worthlessness, and hopelessness; the "common cold" of serious mental illness |
| mania | state characterized by excessive elation, irritability, talkativeness, inflated self-esteem, and expansiveness |
| atypical | statistically uncommon |
| socially unacceptable | society's "rules" discourage it |
| DSM-IV-TR | Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; used to diagnose mental disorders |
| obsessive-compulsive disorder | disorder that features either obsessions, compulsions, or both |
| major depressive disorder | a mood disorder in which a person, for no apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks of depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminishes interest or pleasure in most activities |
| delusions | false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders |
| schizophrenia | a group of disorders marked by lack of reality testing, and disturbances in thought, perception, language, behavior, and emotions |
| psychotic | inability to reliably determine reality from imaginary |
| paranoid schizophrenia | type of schizophrenia characterized by hallucinations and delusions of persecution or grandeur (or both), and sometimes irrational jealousy. |
| disorganized schizophrenia | type of schizophrenia characterized by disturbed thought and language processes, disorgananized behavior, and inappropriate emotions |
| undifferentiated schizophrenia | mixture of symptoms and does not meet the diagnostic criteria for any one type of schizophrenia |
| bipolar disorder | a mood disorder characterized by episodes of mania and depression |
| personality disorders | Ongoing pattern of inner experience and behavior that differs from cultural expectations |
| seasonal affective disorder | symptoms of major depression during fall and winter |
| hallucinations | false sensory perceptions |
| loose associations | thoughts are unrelated |
| poverty of content | using many words, but conveying little meaning |
| clanging | using words together only because they rhyme or sound similar |
| word salad | language is so jumbled that it makes no sense |
| negative symptoms | an absence of certain normal behaviors |
| catatonic rigidity | abnormal stiffness of the arms and/or legs |
| catatonic posturing | holding an odd position for long periods of time |
| catatonic stupor | symptom of schizophrenia marked by inability to move or react to the environment. |
Combine with other sets
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