psych terms
Terms
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- intelligence quotient
- a global measure of intelligence derived by comparing an individual's score of others in the same age group
- interferenc theory
- the theory that one memory competing with another like memory can cause people to forget
- intimacy vs. isolation
- in Erickson's theory, the key psychosocial conflict facing young adults in which they must establish lasting and meaningful relationships and develop a sense of connectedness and intimacy with others
- introversion
- refers to the way a person directs their energies. an introverted person directs energies towards their self; a person high in introversion tends to be quiet and solitary
- James0Lang theory of emotions
- the theory that emotions arise from the perception and interpretation of body changes
- language
- a system for combining arbitrary symbols to produce an infinite number of meaningful statements
- late adulthood
- sixty-five and beyond; completion of life cycle, hopefully with a sense of dignity and fulfillment
- latent learning
- describes learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement but is not behaviorally demonstrated until a reinforcer becomes available
- lateralization of function
- the notion that specific cognitive functions are processed primarily on one side of the brain
- learning
- the relatively enduring change in behavior or knowledge as a result of past experience
- levels of moral development
- a theory proposed by Kohlberg that moral reasoning can be categorized into 3 distinct levels of moral reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional
- long-term memory
- the stage of memory that represents the storage of information over time
- maintenance rehearsal
- the process of repeating information so that it remains active in your short-term working memory
- major depression
- a mood disorder characterized by extreme and persistent feelings of despondency, worhtlessness, hopelessness, causing impaired emotional, cognitive, behavioral and physical functioning
- manic episode
- a sudden rapidly escalating emotional state characterized by extreme euphoria, excitement, physical energy, and rapids thoughts and speech
- memory
- the active mental processes that enable us to retain and use information over time
- mental age
- a measurement of intelligence in which an individual's mental level is expressed in terms of the average abilities of a given group
- midbrain
- the middle and smallest region of the brain, involved in processing auditory and visual sensory information
- middle adulthood
- Mid thirties to approxiamtely age 65; concern for family and society
- MMPI Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
- a self-report inventory taht assesses personlaity charactersitics and psychological disorders
- mixed emotions
- the experience of different emotional stated simultaneously or in rapid succession
- mood congruence
- an encoding specificity principle in which a given mood tends to evoke memories that are consistent with that mood
- mood disorders
- a category of mental disorders in which significant and chronic disruptions in mood is the predominant symptom, causing imapaired cognitive, behavioral, and physical functioning
- moral reasoning
- the aspect of cognitive development that has to do with how an individual reasons about moral decisions
- motivation
- the biplogical, emotional,cognitive, or social forces that activate and direct behavior
- multiple intelligences
- the theory that intelligence must be defined within the context of a particular culture and that there are several distinct, independent intelligences
- naturalistic observation
- a descriptive method of research used when the experiment is conducted in a natural setting
- nature vs. nurture
- a common way to refer to the controversy as to whether some trait or ability is the result of heredity or environmental factors
- neg. reinforcement
- a situation in which a response results in the removal, avoidance, or escape from a punishing stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated in similar situations
- neg, stereotyping of aging
- the tendency to associate "old age" with images of poor health, inactivity, social isolation, and mental and physical incompetence
- nervous system
- the primary communication system of the body comprised of the cnetral and peripheral nervous systems.
- neurons
- highly specialized cells that communicate information in electrical and chemical form
- neurotransmitters
- chemical messengers manufactured by a neuron
- nonconcious racism
- prejudicial reactions against a particular group of people that occur without the conscious awareness of the offender
- NREM sleep
- quiet sleep that is absent of rapid eye movement and is typically dreamless
- obedience
- the performance of an action in response to the direct orders of an authority or person of higher status
- object permanence
- the understanding that an object continures to exist even when it can no longer be seen
- observational llearning
- learning that occurs through observing the action of others
- obsession
- repeated, intrusive, uncontrollable thoughts or mental images
- OCD
- an anxiety disorder in which the symptoms of anxiety are triggered by intrusive, repetitive thoughts and urges to perform certain acts
- operant conditioning
- the basic learning process in which behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences; learning involving positive and neg reinforcement
- optimistic explanatory style
- accounting for neg events or situtations with external,unstable, and specific explanations
- out-group
- a social group to which on does not belong
- out-group homogenity effect
- the tendency to see others of out-groups as very similar to one another
- panic attack
- a sudden episode of intense anxiety the rapidly escalates in intesity and is accompanied by feelings of fear
- panic disorder
- an anxiety disorder in which a person experiences frequent and unexpected panic attacks and is quick to use avoidance to lower anxiety
- Pavlov
- a russian scientist who discovered classical conditioning by showing how a dog can be conditioned to respond to a bell
- perception
- the process of intergrating, organizing, and interpreting sensory information in a way that is meaningful
- perceptual grouping
- the tendency to group different elements together in order to produce stable, well-defined perceptions
- perceptual illusions
- the misperception of the true characteristics of an object or image
- perceptual set
- the influence of prior assumptions and expectations on perceptual interpretations
- Peripheral Nervous system
- division of the nervous systme that includes all nerves lying outside the CNS
- permissive parenting style
- parenting style in which parents are extremely tolerant and undemanding; parents may be indulgent-permissive or indifferent-permissive
- person perception's four principles
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1 your reactions to others are determined by your perceptions of them not by what they really are
2 your goals determine the amount and kind of information you colect about them
3 you evaluate people partly in terms of how you expect them to act
4 your self perception influences how you percieve others - person perception
- the mental processes we use to form judgements and draw conclusions about the characteristics and motives of others
- personality
- an individual's unique and relatively consistent patterns of thinking,feeling,and behaving
- personlaity theory
- a theory that attempts to describe and explain individual similarities and differences
- pessimistic explanatory style
- accounting for negative events or situations with internal stable, and global explantions
- phobia
- an irrational and illogical fear triggered by a specific object or situation
- physical attractiveness stereotype
- commonly associated with a varitey of desirable traits while actually not correlated with intelligence, mental health, or self-esteem