AP Psych Vocab Flashcards

Question

False consensus effect

Answer 1

Tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Answer 2

Whole group you wanted to study

Answer 3

Fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Answer 4

Statistical measure a relationship revealing how closely two things very together and how well either one predicts the other

Answer 5

People try to make connections that aren't there

Answer 6

Thinking you will be affected by something then you will

Answer 7

Randomly picking who goes in which group

Answer 8

Subjects don't know if they are in the experimental or control group

Answer 9

Both subject and experimenters don't know who is in experimental or control group

Answer 10

Measure of how much scores vary from the mean

Answer 11

Statement of how likely it is that an obtained results occurred by chance

Answer 12

Nerve cell; basic building block of nervous system

Answer 13

Bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct a impulses toward the cell body

Answer 14

Extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers through which messages pass to other neurons or two muscles or glands

Answer 15

Layer of fatty tissue segmental he encasing the fibers of many neurons, allowing greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next

Answer 16

Neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down the axon and is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of the channels and in the axon's membrane

Answer 17

Contain nucleus, control center

Answer 18

End of axon which has vesicles that contain neurotransmitters

Answer 19

Contain neurotransmitters

Answer 20

Junction between axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of receiving neuron

Answer 21

So that the cycle can't start over right away, during period where sodium and potassium ions switch back

Answer 22

Adaptability of brain

Answer 23

Level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse, happens if excitatory signals outvote the inhibitory signals

Answer 24

Chemical messengers

Answer 25

The neurotransmitter that plays a vital role in learning and memory, it triggers muscle contractions

Answer 26

The neurotransmitter that influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion

Answer 27

The neurotransmitter that affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal

Answer 28

The neurotransmitter that controls alertness and arousal

Answer 29

Inhibitory neurotransmitter

Answer 30

Excitatory neurotransmitter

Answer 31

Natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure

Answer 32

Drug molecule similar to neurotransmitter that mimics it's effect or blocks a neurotransmitter's reuptake

Answer 33

Inhibits a neurotransmitter's release

Answer 34

Ill-fated theory that claimed bumps on the skull could reveal our mental abilities and our character traits

Answer 35

Study of psychology with biological roots in (chemicals)

Answer 36

Body's speedy, electrochemical communication system

Answer 37

Brain and spinal cord

Answer 38

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

Answer 39

Neural cables containing many axons. The bundled axons connect the CNS with muscles, glands, and sense organs

Answer 40

Send info from the body's tissues and sensory organs in word to the brain and spinal cord which process info

Answer 41

Carrie outgoing info from CNS to muscles and glands

Answer 42

Controls movement of our skeletal muscles (voluntary)

Answer 43

Controls glands and muscles of our internal organs (involuntary)

Answer 44

Arouses body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations

Answer 45

Calms body, conserving it's energy

Answer 46

Simple, autonomic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus

Answer 47

Interconnected neural cells

Answer 48

Part of brain for automatic survival functions

Answer 49

Part of brainstem that controls heartbeat and respiration

Answer 50

Part of brain stem that controls respiration

Answer 51

Part of brainstem that involved with our arousal

Answer 52

Part of hind midbrain that is the emotional center. Doughnut shaped system at border of brainstem and cerebral hemispheres

Answer 53

Part of limbus system in brain, center for fear and aggression. Two almond- shaped neural clusters

Answer 54

Part of the limbic system in brain, center for processing emotion and long-term memory

Answer 55

Part of hind midbrain below thalamus, reward center, motivational center, controls hunger, thirst, sex. Governs endocrine system via pituitary gland

Answer 56

Brain's sensory switchboard, part of hind mid brain that sends sensory messages to the specific lobes to process the info

Answer 57

Part of hind midbrain involved with balance, coordination, movement

Answer 58

Tissue destruction of tiny clusters of normal or defective brain cells, leaving the surroundings unharmed

Answer 59

Head is put in a strong magnetic field, which aligns spinning atoms, a brief pulse of radio waves disorients the atoms momentarily, when atoms return to their normal spin they released detectable signals which become computer – generated images of their concentrations

Answer 60

Traces electrical activity in the brain's billions of neurons sweeps and regular waves across its surface

Answer 61

Examines brain by taking x-ray photographs that can reveal brain damage

Answer 62

Depicts brain activity by showing each brain areas consumption of its chemical fuel (sugar glucose)

Answer 63

Part of frontal lobe in brain that controls fine motor skills

Answer 64

Part of left frontal lobe in brain that controls speech

Answer 65

Part of frontal lobe in brain that controls decision making

Answer 66

Part of temporal lobe in brain that controls hearing

Answer 67

Part of left temporal lobe in brain that is the center for understanding spoken language

Answer 68

Part of parietal lobe in brain that is in charge of sense of touch

Answer 69

Part of the occipital lobe in brain that controls eyesight

Answer 70

Part of occipital lobe and brain that changes visual info into auditory info

Answer 71

Areas in brain where we don't have lobes, makes connections of memory, emotion and rationality

Answer 72

Intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres, body's ultimate control and information processing center

Answer 73

Glue cells in nervous system that support, nourish and protect neurons

Answer 74

Part of cerebral cortex in brain behind your forehead, involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments

Answer 75

Part of cerebral cortex in brain at top and to the rear, include sensory cortex

Answer 76

Part of cerebral cortex in brain at the back of head, visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field

Answer 77

Part of cerebral cortex in brain just above ears, includes auditory areas which receive auditory info primarily from opposite ear

Answer 78

Large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and caring messages between them

Answer 79

Two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting connecting fibers (mainly of corpus callosum)

Answer 80

Bodies slow chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the blood stream

Answer 81

Chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another

Answer 82

Pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys they secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress

Answer 83

Most influential gland, under influence of hypothalamus, regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

Answer 84

Threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes

Answer 85

Complex molecule containing the genetic info that makes up the chromosomes, double helix strand held together by bonds between nucleotides

Answer 86

Biochemical units of heredity you that make up the chromosomes; a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein

Answer 87

Complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in its chromosomes

Answer 88

Random error and gene replication that leads to the change in the sequence of nucleotides, source of all genetic diversity

Answer 89

People who study the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

Answer 90

Assess our differences from one another -> how much is related to jeans and how much environment

Answer 91

Develop from a single fertilized egg that splits into; they are genetically identical

Answer 92

Develop from separate eggs and are genetically no more similar than ordinary brothers and sisters

Answer 93

Persons characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Answer 94

The extent to which variation among individuals can be attributed to their differing genes

Answer 95

Subfield of Biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes

Answer 96

Behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and is passed down to generations

Answer 97

Rules for accepted and expected behavior

Answer 98

Self replicating cultural mutations (ideas, fashions, innovations) passed from person to person

Answer 99

Sex chromosome given by Mom and possibly Dad

Answer 100

Sex chromosome only given by Dad

Answer 101

Starts the development of male sex organs at the 7th week

Answer 102

Set of expectations about a social position, defining how we should behave

Answer 103

Set of expected behaviors for males and females

Answer 104

Biological and social category of male or female

Answer 105

Sense of being male or female

Answer 106

The developing/learning of a traditional masculine or feminine role

Answer 107

We learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished for behavior

Answer 108

Gender becomes a lens through which you view your experiences

Answer 109

Study physical, mental, and social changes throughout the human life cycle

Answer 110

Fertilized eggs; two week period of rapid cell division

Answer 111

Developing human from two weeks to eight weeks

Answer 112

Developing human organism from nine weeks after conception to birth

Answer 113

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development causing harm

Answer 114

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. Symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions

Answer 115

Babies tendency to when touched on the cheek, they open their mouth and search for the nipple

Answer 116

Anything put in a baby's mouth, they will suck on it

Answer 117

If baby feels like they're falling their arms reach out to grab something

Answer 118

Decrease in responding with repeated stimulation; newborns become bored looking at repeatedly presented visual stimulus

Answer 119

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively on uninfluenced by experience

Answer 120

Hippocampus doesn't fully develop until four, and they can't recollect episodic memories

Answer 121

We are innately afraid of things that are different from us because of the way we organize our world (schemas)

Answer 122

Concept or framework that organizes and interprets info, mental molds that we pour our experience into

Answer 123

Interpreting ones new experience in terms of one's existing schemas

Answer 124

Adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new info

Answer 125

All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating

Answer 126

0-2, where infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

Answer 127

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived (until 8 months)

Answer 128

2-6 or 7, during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

Answer 129

Principle that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape/forms of objects

Answer 130

And ability to perceive things from another's point of view

Answer 131

Realize Asian that people have their own minds including feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these could predict

Answer 132

Disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind

Answer 133

6 or 7-11, during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

Answer 134

12+, during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Answer 135

Fear of strangers that infants display beginning by about 8 months

Answer 136

Emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to caregiver and showing distress on separation

Answer 137

Optimal period shortly after birth when organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

Answer 138

Process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

Answer 139

Sense that world is predictable and trustworthy

Answer 140

Sense of their own identity and personal worth

Answer 141

Parenting style that imposes rules and expects a obedience

Answer 142

Parenting style that submits to children's desires and makes few demands and little punishments

Answer 143

Parenting style that's demanding and responsive, sets rules, enforces them, explains the reasons and encourages open discussion

Answer 144

Transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

Answer 145

Period of sexual maturation, where a person becomes capable of reproducing

Answer 146

The body (tested, ovaries, external genitalia) that makes sexual reproduction possible

Answer 147

Non-reproductive sexual characteristics (female breasts/male voice quality)

Answer 148

First menstrual period

Answer 149

Before 9, have a morality of self interest. They obey to avoid punishment or gain rewards

Answer 150

Early adolescence, level that cares for others and uphold the laws/social rules because they are simply laws. May approve actions that will give them social approval

Answer 151

Some who develop abstract reasoning of formal operational thought reach this level. This level affirms people's agreed-upon rights or follows their personal basic ethical principles

Answer 152

Loss of brain cells that initially displays a loss of newest memories

Answer 153

When we need to come up with something without any help at all

Answer 154

You are given clues, hints, and options

Answer 155

One's sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

Answer 156

In Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; the primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood

Answer 157

Type of natural ending of menstruation and ability to reproduce declines

Answer 158

Progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and finally physical functioning

Answer 159

Study in which people of different ages are compared with another

Answer 160

Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

Answer 161

One's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills as reflected in vocab in an analogy tests

Answer 162

One's ability to reason speedily and abstractly as in solving logic problems

Answer 163

Culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood and retirement

Answer 164

Process by which are sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Answer 165

Process of organizing and interpreting sensory info enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Answer 166

Analysis that begins with the sensor scepters and works up to the brains integration of sensory info

Answer 167

Info processing guided by higher level mental processes as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

Answer 168

Study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

Answer 169

Minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Answer 170

Theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Assumes there is no single absolute threshold him and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue

Answer 171

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Answer 172

Minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time we experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference

Answer 173

Principle that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage, rather than buy a constant amount

Answer 174

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Answer 175

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies into neural impulses

Answer 176

Distance from peak of one light or soundwave to the peak of the next

Answer 177

Color we experience

Answer 178

I'm out of energy and a light or soundwave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, determined by the wave's amplitude

Answer 179

Adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

Answer 180

Ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around pupil and controls size of pupil opening

Answer 181

Transparent structure that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Answer 182

Eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

Answer 183

Light-sensitive inner surface of an eye, containing receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual info

Answer 184

Sharpness of vision

Answer 185

Condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina

Answer 186

Condition in which faraway objects are seeing more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects is focused behind retina

Answer 187

Retinal receptors that detect black/white/gray; necessary for preferable and twilight vision when cones don't respond

Answer 188

Receptor cells that are concentrated near center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions they detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

Answer 189

Nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Answer 190

Point at which optic nerve leaves eye creating a blind area because no receptor cells are located there

Answer 191

Central focal point in retina around which the eye's cones cluster

Answer 192

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, movement

Answer 193

Processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brains natural mode of info processing for many functions, including vision

Answer 194

Theory that the retina contains three different color receptors – one most sensitive to read, Wintergreen, want to blue – which one stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color

Answer 195

Theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green/yellow-blue/white-black) enable color vision

Answer 196

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Answer 197

Sense of hearing

Answer 198

Number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Answer 199

Tone's highness or lowness; depends on frequency

Answer 200

Chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrups) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window to a snail shaped tube

Answer 201

Innermost part of the ear, containing cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

Answer 202

A coil, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear through which soundwaves trigger nerve impulses

Answer 203

In hearing, theory that links pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

Answer 204

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, enabling us to sense its pitch

Answer 205

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts soundwaves to the cochlea (eardrum or tiny bones in middle ear damage)

Answer 206

Hearing loss caused by damage to cochlea's receptor cells or two auditory nerves

Answer 207

Theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The gate is open by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity and large fibers or by info coming from brain

Answer 208

Principle that one sense may influence another as when the smell of food and influences its taste

Answer 209

System for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Answer 210

Sense of body movement and position, including sense of balance

Answer 211

At any moment we focus our awareness and only a limited aspect of all the experience

Answer 212

Tendency for vision to dominate the other senses

Answer 213

And organized whole, Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of info into meaningful wholes

Answer 214

Organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground)

Answer 215

Perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Answer 216

Group nearby figures together

Answer 217

Figures similar to each other we grouped together

Answer 218

We perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones

Answer 219

When they are uniform and linked, we perceive spots, lines, or areas as a single unit

Answer 220

We fill in gaps to create a complete whole object

Answer 221

Ability to see objects in 3D although images that strike retina are in 2D; allow us to judge distance

Answer 222

Lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Answer 223

Depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes

Answer 224

By comparing images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance. The greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object

Answer 225

Extent to which eyes converge inward when looking at an object

Answer 226

If we assume that two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as further away

Answer 227

If one object partially blocks our view of another we perceive it as closer

Answer 228

Because light from distant objects passes through more atmosphere, we perceive hazy objects as farther away than sharp, clear objects

Answer 229

A gradual change from a coarse, distinct texture to a fine, indistinct texture signals increasing distance

Answer 230

We perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away, Since we perceive the lower part of a figure – ground illustration as closer, we perceive it as a figure

Answer 231

As we move objects that are actually stable appear to move, objects closer than fixation point appear to move backward, while objects beyond point appear to move with you, the farther away the object, the slower its apparent speed

Answer 232

Parallel lines appear to converge with distance

Answer 233

Nearby objects reflect more light to our eyes

Answer 234

And illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in succession, you perceive a single light moving back and forth between them

Answer 235

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Answer 236

In vision, ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Answer 237

Mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Answer 238

Branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be adapted to human behaviors

Answer 239

Controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory and input (telepathy, precognition)

Answer 240

Study of paranormal phenomena including ESP and psychokinesis

Answer 241

Our awareness of ourselves and our environment

Answer 242

Periodic physiological fluctuations

Answer 243

Geese migrate, grizzly bears hibernate, and humans may experience seasonal variations in appetite, sleep length, moods, and during winter's dark months SAD

Answer 244

Average female menstrual cycle

Answer 245

Humans experience day cycles of varying and falling alertness, body temperature and growth hormone secretion

Answer 246

We cycle through various stages of sleep

Answer 247

Biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle

Answer 248

Rapid eye movement sleep

Answer 249

Relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

Answer 250

Periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness, slow breathing/irregular brain waves

Answer 251

False sensory experiences, sensory experiences that occur without a sensory stimulus

Answer 252

Large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

Answer 253

Recurring problems and falling or staying asleep

Answer 254

Sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. Sufferer may lapse right into REM sleep, often at inopportune times

Answer 255

Sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent momentary reawakenings

Answer 256

Sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; occur in stage 4 sleep within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered

Answer 257

Sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind. Notable for hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, incongruities, and for dreamer's delusional acceptance of content and later difficulties remembering it

Answer 258

According to Freud, the remembered storyline of the dream

Answer 259

The underlying meaning of a dream, Freud believed that a dreams latent content functions as a safety valve for unacceptable behavior

Answer 260

Tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation

Answer 261

A social interaction in which one person (hypnotist) suggest to another (subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur

Answer 262

Supposed inability to recall what one experienced during hypnosis; induced by the hypnotist's suggestion

Answer 263

Suggestion made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors

Answer 264

Split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others

Answer 265

Hilgard's term describing a hypnotized subject's awareness of experiences, such as pain, that go unreported during hypnosis

Answer 266

Chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood

Answer 267

Diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring user to take larger doses before experiencing the drug's effect

Answer 268

Discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing use of an addictive drug

Answer 269

Physiological need for drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when drug is discontinued

Answer 270

Psychological need to use drugs, such as to relieve negative emotions

Answer 271

"Downers" calm neural activity and slow body functions

Answer 272

"Uppers" temporarily excite neural activity and arouse body functions

Answer 273

Distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input

Answer 274

Drugs that depress the activity of the CNS, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment

Answer 275

Opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depressed neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety

Answer 276

Drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded up body functions and associated energy and mood changes

Answer 277

Synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen produces of euphoria and social intimacy, but with short term health risks and long-term harm to serotonin producing neurons and to mood and cognition

Answer 278

Powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid (lysergic acid diethylamide)

Answer 279

Major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations

Answer 280

An altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with that with; often similar to drug induced hallucinations

Answer 281

Presume that mind and body are two distinct entities the interact

Answer 282

Presume that mind and body are different aspects of the same thing

Answer 283

A relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience

Answer 284

Learning that certain events occur together. Events maybe two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or response and its consequences (as an operant conditioning)

Answer 285

Type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an UCS begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus

Answer 286

The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes

Answer 287

In classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the UCS

Answer 288

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally – naturally and automatically – triggers a response

Answer 289

Classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral CS

Answer 290

In classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an UCS, comes to trigger a CR

Answer 291

Initial stage in classical conditioning; phase associating a neutral stimulus with an UCS so that neutral stimulus comes to elicit a CR. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response

Answer 292

Diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an UCS doesn't follow a CS; occurs in operant conditioning one response is no longer reinforced

Answer 293

Reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished CR

Answer 294

Tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

Answer 295

In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that don't signal an UCS

Answer 296

Type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

Answer 297

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus; Skinner's term for behavior learned through classical conditioning

Answer 298

Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

Answer 299

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and the behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Answer 300

(Skinner box) a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to record the animals rate of bar pressing or key pecking. Used in operant conditioning research

Answer 301

In operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of a desired goal

Answer 302

In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Answer 303

An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

Answer 304

A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; "secondary reinforcer"

Answer 305

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Answer 306

Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Answer 307

In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Answer 308

In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Answer 309

In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Answer 310

In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Answer 311

Event that decreases the behavior that it follows

Answer 312

Mental representation of the layout of one's environment

Answer 313

Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Answer 314

Effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do. Person may now see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task

Answer 315

Desire to perform a behavior due to one's own interest or motivation

Answer 316

A desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishment

Answer 317

Learning by observing others

Answer 318

Process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Answer 319

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's actions may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy

Answer 320

Positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior

Answer 321

Persistence of learning overtime through the storage and retrieval of information

Answer 322

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Answer 323

Processing of information into the memory system

Answer 324

Retention of encoded information over time

Answer 325

Process of getting info out of memory storage

Answer 326

Immediate, initial recording of sensory info in the memory system

Answer 327

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the info is stored or forgotten

Answer 328

Relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

Answer 329

Unconscious encoding of incidental info, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned info, such as word meanings

Answer 330

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Answer 331

Conscious repetition of info, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage

Answer 332

Tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through mass study or practice

Answer 333

Our tendency to recall best the last and first items of a list

Answer 334

Encoding of picture images

Answer 335

Encoding of sound, especially the sound of words

Answer 336

Encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

Answer 337

Mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding

Answer 338

Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Answer 339

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Answer 340

Momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

Answer 341

Momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere sounds and words can still be recalled within three or four seconds

Answer 342

An increase in the synapses firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believe to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Answer 343

Loss of memory

Answer 344

Retention independent of conscious recollection

Answer 345

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare her

Answer 346

Neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage

Answer 347

Measure of memory in which the person must retrieve info learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test

Answer 348

Measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test

Answer 349

Memory measure that assesses the amount of time save and learning material for a second time

Answer 350

Activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Answer 351

Eerie sense that I've experienced this before. Cues from current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

Answer 352

Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood

Answer 353

Disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new info

Answer 354

Disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old info

Answer 355

In psychoanalytic theory, basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Answer 356

Incorporating misleading info into one's memory of an event

Answer 357

Attributing to the wrong source an event that we have experienced, heard, read, or imagined

Answer 358

The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Answer 359

Mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Answer 360

Mental image or best example of a category, matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category

Answer 361

Methodical, logical rule, or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Answer 362

Simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Answer 363

Sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Answer 364

Tendency to search for info that confirms one's perceptions

Answer 365

Inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem-solving

Answer 366

Tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

Answer 367

Tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual function; impediment to problem-solving

Answer 368

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant info

Answer 369

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we pursue such events are common

Answer 370

Tendency to be more confident than correct – to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments

Answer 371

The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Answer 372

Tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid or vice versa

Answer 373

Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Answer 374

Science of designing and programming computer systems to do intelligent things and to stimulate human thought processes, such as intuitive reasoning, learning, and understanding language

Answer 375

Computer circuits that mimic the brain's interconnected neural cells, performing tasks such as learning to recognize visual patterns and smells

Answer 376

Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combined them to communicate meaning

Answer 377

In a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit (syllables)

Answer 378

In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or part of the word (suffix, prefix)

Answer 379

In a language, system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Answer 380

Set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also the study of meaning

Answer 381

Rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

Answer 382

Beginning at 3-4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

Answer 383

The stage in speech development, from about age 1-2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Answer 384

Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two word statements

Answer 385

Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram, using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words

Answer 386

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Answer 387

A method for assessing and individuals mental aptitude and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Answer 388

Measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance

Answer 389

Widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet's original intelligence test

Answer 390

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100. On contemporary intelligent test, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

Answer 391

Mental quality consisting of ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Answer 392

Statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one's total score

Answer 393

(g) A general intelligence factor that Spearman and others believe underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Answer 394

Condition in which a person otherwise limited mental ability has an exceptional specific skill

Answer 395

Ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions

Answer 396

Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Answer 397

Test designed to predict the person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

Answer 398

Test designed to assess what a person has learned

Answer 399

The most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests

Answer 400

Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested "standardization group"

Answer 401

Symmetrical bell shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near average and fewer and fewer scores lie near extremes

Answer 402

Extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on 2 halves of the test, on alternate forms the test, or on retesting

Answer 403

Extent to which a test measures or predicts what it's supposed to

Answer 404

Extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

Answer 405

Behavior that a test is designed to predict; thus, the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity

Answer 406

Success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it's assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior

Answer 407

Condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an IQ below 70 and difficulty adapting to the demand of life; varies from mild to profound

Answer 408

Condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one's genetic makeup

Answer 409

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

Answer 410

And individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Answer 411

In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

Answer 412

Freud's theory of personality that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Answer 413

According to Freud, the reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

Answer 414

Contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. It operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

Answer 415

The largely conscious executive part of personality that according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

Answer 416

The part of personality that according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment and for future aspirations, begins to develop around age 4 or 5

Answer 417

The childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure seeking energies focused on distinct a erogenous zones

Answer 418

According to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Answer 419

Process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into developing superegos

Answer 420

According to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved

Answer 421

In psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Answer 422

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

Answer 423

Defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

Answer 424

Psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites

Answer 425

Psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

Answer 426

Defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

Answer 427

Psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

Answer 428

Personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics

Answer 429

Projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories that they make up about ambiguous scenes

Answer 430

Most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Answer 431

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history

Answer 432

According to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

Answer 433

According to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

Answer 434

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "who am I?"

Answer 435

Characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Answer 436

A questionnaire (often with true – false or agree – disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

Answer 437

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality test. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is now used for many other screening purposes

Answer 438

Test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

Answer 439

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and they're thinking) and their social context

Answer 440

Interacting influences between personality and environmental factors

Answer 441

Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

Answer 442

Perception that chance or outside forces beyond one's personal control determine one's fate

Answer 443

Perception that one controls one's own fate

Answer 444

Hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Answer 445

Scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Answer 446

Overestimating others noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders

Answer 447

One's feelings of high or low self-worth

Answer 448

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Answer 449

Giving priority to one's own goals over group goals, and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Answer 450

Giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly

Answer 451

Propose that faith in one's worldview and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death

Answer 452

A "harmful dysfunction" in which behavior is judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive, and unjustifiable

Answer 453

Concept that diseases have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases, cured. When applied to psychological disorders, the medical model assumes that these "mental "illnesses can be diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms and cured through therapy, may include treatment in a psychiatric hospital

Answer 454

Contemporary perspective which assumes that biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors combined and interact to produce psychological disorders

Answer 455

The American psychiatric Association's diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th edition), a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders

Answer 456

Psychological disorder that is usually distressing but that allows one to think rationally and function socially

Answer 457

Psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions

Answer 458

Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

Answer 459

Anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in the state of autonomic nervous system arousal

Answer 460

Anxiety disorder marked by a minutes-long episode of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations

Answer 461

An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation

Answer 462

Anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and or actions (compulsions)

Answer 463

Psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes

Answer 464

Mood disorder where, for no apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks of depressed moods, feeling of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities

Answer 465

Mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state

Answer 466

Mood disorder where the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the over excited state of mania

Answer 467

Disorders where conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings

Answer 468

Rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities

Answer 469

Psychological disorder characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning

Answer 470

Personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist

Answer 471

Group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions

Answer 472

False beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders

Answer 473

Emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers from psychological difficulties

Answer 474

Approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy

Answer 475

Sigmund Freud's therapeutic technique. Freud believed that patients' free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences – and therapist's interpretations of them – released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self insight

Answer 476

In psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material

Answer 477

In psychoanalysis, the analyst's noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors in order to promote insight

Answer 478

In psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships

Answer 479

Humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth

Answer 480

Empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy

Answer 481

Therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

Answer 482

Behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors; based on classical conditioning

Answer 483

Behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization, that treat anxieties by exposing people to things they fear and avoid

Answer 484

Type of counterconditioning that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety – triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias

Answer 485

Type of counterconditioning that associates and unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol)

Answer 486

Operant conditioning procedure that rewards desired behavior. A patient exchanges the token of some sort, for exhibiting the desired behavior, for various privileges or treats

Answer 487

Therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

Answer 488

Popular integrated therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)

Answer 489

Therapy that treats the family as a system. Views and individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by or directed at other family members; times to guide family members toward positive relationships and improved communication

Answer 490

Procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

Answer 491

Tendency for extremes of unusual scores to fall back toward their average

Answer 492

Study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior

Answer 493

Chemical that provides an effective drug therapy for the mood swings of bipolar disorders

Answer 494

Biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient

Answer 495

Surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior

Answer 496

Now – rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobe to the emotion – controlling centers of the inner brain

Answer 497

Study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Answer 498

Theory that we tend to give a causal exclamation for someone's behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

Answer 499

Tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Answer 500

A belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

Answer 501

Tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Answer 502

Theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent

Answer 503

Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Answer 504

Influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

Answer 505

Influence resulting from one's willingness to except others' opinions about reality

Answer 506

Improve performance of tasks in the presence of others; occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered

Answer 507

Tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Answer 508

Loss of self-awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Answer 509

Enhancement of a group's prevailing attitude through discussion within the group

Answer 510

Mode of thinking that occurs when desire for harmony and decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

Answer 511

An unjustifiable attitude toward a group and its members. It generally involves stereotype beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action

Answer 512

A generalized belief about a group of people

Answer 513

"Us "– people with whom one shares a common identity

Answer 514

"Them"– those perceived as different or apart from one's ingroup

Answer 515

Tendency to favor one's own group

Answer 516

Theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

Answer 517

Tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get

Answer 518

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

Answer 519

Principle that frustration – the blocking of an attempt to achieve sone goal- creates anger, which can generate aggression

Answer 520

Perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

Answer 521

Situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

Answer 522

Phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking them

Answer 523

Aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship

Answer 524

Deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

Answer 525

Condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it

Answer 526

Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others

Answer 527

Unselfish regard for the welfare of others

Answer 528

A tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

Answer 529

Theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs

Answer 530

Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

Answer 531

Graduated and reciprocated initiatives and tension – reduction – a strategy designed to decrease international tensions

AP Psych Vocab Flashcards

(555 cards)