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Unit 4- Chapters 4 & 5, Unit 5- Chapters 9 & 10, Unit 6- Chapters 11 & 12

Terms in this set (182)

accommodation
The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina
Adolescence
The transition period from childhood to adulthood extending from puberty to independence
Assimilation
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Attachment
An emotional tie with another person;shown in young children by seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
Autism
A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behavior
Basic Trust
According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy;said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsible caregivers
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating
Concrete operational stage
In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development(from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age)during which children gain the mental operationsthat enable them to think logically about concrete events
Conservation
The principle(which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning)that properties such as mass, volume and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Critical period
An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
Cross-sectional study
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Developmental psychology
A branch of psychology that studied physical, cognitive and social change throughout the life span
Egocentrism
In Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view
Embryo
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
Emerging adulthood
For some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid twenties bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood
Erikson's psychosocial stages
A comprehensive psychoanalytic theory that identifies a series of eight stages, in which a healthy developing individual should pass through from infancy to late adulthood
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking
Fetus
The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
Habituation
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation
Haidt
Believes the much of our morality is rooted in moral intuitions
Harlow
Made experiment with cloth monkeys and attachment
Identity
Our sense of self
Imprinting
The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life
Intimacy
In Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships
Kohlberg
Made pre, post and conventional morality
Longitudinal study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Menarche
The first menstrual period
Menopause
The time of natural cessation of menstruation
Mutation
A random error in gene replication that leads to a change
Natural selection
The principle that among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
Object permanence
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Piaget's developmental stages
A 4 stage model including sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete and formal
Preoperational stage
In Piaget's theory, the stage from about 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
Primary sex characteristics
The body structures that make sexual reproduction possible
Puberty
The period of sexual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Secondary sex characteristics
Nonreproductive sexual characteristics such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
Self-concept
All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question "Who am I?"
Sensorimotor stage
In Piaget's theory, the stage from birth to about 2 years of age during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
Social clock
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
Social identity
The "we" aspect of our self-concept
Stranger anxiety
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display beginning by about 8 months of age
Teratogens
Agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Theory of mind
People's ideas about their own and others' mental states
Zygote
The fertilized egg
Aggression
Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
Behavior genetics
The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior
Chromosomes
Threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes
Collectivism
Giving priority to goals of one's group and defining ones identity accordingly
Culture
The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
DNA
A complex molecules containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes
Environment
Every nongenetic influence from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us
Epigenetics
The study of influences in gene expression that occur without a DNA change
Evolutionary psychology
The study of the evolution and behavior and the kind using principles of natural selection
Fraternal twins
Twins who develop from separate(dizygotic)fertilized eggs
Gender
In psychology, the biologically and socially influences characteristics by which people define male and female.
Gender identity
Our sense of being male or female
Gender roles
A set of expected behaviors for males or for females
Gender typing
The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role
Genes
The biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes;a segment a DNA capable of synthesizing a protein
Genome
The complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes
Heritability
The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes
Identical twins
Twins who develop from a single(monozygotic)fertilized egg that splits in two
Individualism
Giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications
Interaction
The interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor(such as the environment)depends on another factor(such as heredity)
Molecular genetics
The subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes
Norm
An understood rule for accepted and expected behavior
Role
A set of expectations(norms)about a social position defining how those in the position ought to behave
Social learning theory
The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Temperament
A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Testosterone
The most important of male sex hormones
Transgender
An umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex
X chromosome
The sex chromosome found in both men and women
Y chromosome
the sex chromosome found only in males
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
Prototype
A mental image or best example of a category
Algorithm
A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem
Heuristic
A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently;speedier but more error prone than algorithms
Insight
A sudden realization of a problem's solution
Confirmation bias
A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
Mental set
A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
Intuition
And effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
Availability heuristic
Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory
Overconfidence
The tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements
Belief perseverance
Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
Framing
The way an issue is posed
Language
Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
Phoneme
In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
Morpheme
In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning
Grammar
In a language, a system of rules that enables us to complicate with and understand others
Babbling stage
Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
One-word stage
The stage in speech development from about age 1 to 2 in which a child speaks mostly in single words
Two-word stage
Beginning at about age 3, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements
Telegraphic speech
Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram
Aphasia
Impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemisphere damage either to Broca's area(impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area(impairing understanding)
Broca's area
Controls language expression—an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech
Wernicke's area
Controls language reception—a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
Linguistic determinism
Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think
Intelligence
Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
Intelligence test
A method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
General intelligence
A general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
Factor analysis
A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score
Savant syndrome
A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing
Creativity
The ability to produce novel and creative ideas
Emotional intelligence
The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions
Mental age
A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance
Stanford-Binet
The widely used American revision of Binet's original intelligence test
Intelligence quotient
Defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100
Achievement test
A test designed to assess what a person has learned
Aptitude test
A test designed to predict a person's future performance
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
Most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (non-verbal) subtests
Standardization
Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group
Normal curve
A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean, or average and fewer and fewer near the extremes
Reliability
The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, or on retesting
Validity
The extent to which a test measured or predicts what it is supposed to
Content validity
The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest
Predictive validity
The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior
Cohort
A group of people from a given time period
Fluid intelligence
Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood
Crystallized intelligence
Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
Intellectual disability
A condition of limited mental ability, indicted by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound
Down syndrome
A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21
Heritability
The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes; may vary depending on the range of populations and environments studied
Stereotype threat
A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
Howard Gardner
Made theory of having multiple unrelated intelligences
Robert Sternberg
Made triarchic theory of intelligence
Charles Spearman
Worked on factor analysis and found general intelligence (g)
L.L. Thurstone
Made law of comparative judgment
Alfred Binet
Made first IQ test to help place children in school
Achievement motivation
a desire for significant accomplishment
Basal metabolic rate
the body's resting rate of energy expenditure
Drive-reduction theory
the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state that motivates an organism to satisfy the need
Estrogen
sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males and contributing to female sex characteristics
Flow
a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one's skills
Glucose
the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues
Hierarchy of needs
Maslow's pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active
Homeostasis
a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state
Human factors psychology
a subfield of I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use
Incentive
positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior
Industrial-organization psychology
the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces
Instinct
a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned
Motivation
a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
Organizational psychology
a subfield of I/O psychology that examines organizational influences on worker satisfaction and productivity and facilitates organizational change
Personnel psychology
a subfield of I/O psychology that focuses on employee recruitment, selection, placement, training, appraisal, and development
Refractory period
a resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm
Set point
the point at which an individual's "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight
Sexual disorder(dysfunction)
a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning
Sexual orientation
an enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one's own sex (homosexual orientation) or the other sex (heterosexual orientation)
Sexual response cycle
the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson—excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution
Social leadership
group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support
Structured interviews
interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of all applicants, each of whom is rated on established scales
Task leadership
goal-oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work, and focuses attention on goals
Testosterone
the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty
Adaptation-level phenomenon
our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience
Aerobic exercise
sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety
Cannon-Bard theory
the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion
Catharsis
emotional release
Complementary and alternative medicine
unproven health care treatments intended to supplement or serve as alternatives to conventional medicine, and which typically are not widely taught in medical schools, used in hospitals, or reimbursed by insurance companies
Coping
alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods
Coronary heart disease
the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle
Emotion
a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience
Emotion focused coping
attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction
Facial feedback effect
the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness
Feel good, do good phenomenon
people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood
General adaptation syndrome
Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm, resistance, exhaustion
Health psychology
a subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine
James-Lange theory
the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli
Lymphocytes
the two types of white blood cells that are part of the body's immune system
Maslow
Made hierarchy of needs
Polygraph
a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses (such as perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes) accompanying emotion
Problem-focused coping
attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor
Psychoneuroimmunology
the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health
Psychophysiological illness
literally, "mind-body" illness; any stress- related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches
Relative deprivation
the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself
Stress
the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging
Subjective well-being
self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life
Tend and befriend
under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others and bond with and seek support from others
Two-factor theory
the Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal
Type A
Friedman and Rosenman's term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people
Type B
Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people
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