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Question 1

an 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 1

panic disorder

Question 2

the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

Answer 2

parallel processing

Question 3

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis.

Answer 3

parapsychology

Question 4

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body conserving its energy

Answer 4

parasympathetic nervous system

Question 5

-the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; includes the sensory cortex.

Answer 5

parietal lobes

Question 6

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 6

partial reinforcement

Question 7

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

Answer 7

passionate love

Question 8

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Answer 8

percepton

Question 9

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

Answer 9

perceptual adaptation

Question 10

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

Answer 10

perceptual constancy

Question 11

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Answer 11

perceptual set

Question 12

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CN S) to the rest of the body.

Answer 12

peripheral nervous system

Question 13

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

Answer 13

personal control

Question 14

psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning

Answer 14

personality disorders

Question 15

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 15

personality inventory

Question 16

scan a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task

Answer 16

PET

Question 17

an Illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in succession.

Answer 17

phi phenomenon

Question 18

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

Answer 18

phobia

Question 19

in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

Answer 19

phoneme

Question 20

a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued.

Answer 20

physical dependence

Question 21

a tone’s highness or lowness; depends on frequency

Answer 21

pitch

Question 22

the endocrine system’s most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.

Answer 22

pituitary gland

Question 23

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

Answer 23

place theory

Question 24

an inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed active agent, such as a drug, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent.

Answer 24

placebo

Question 25

the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development

Answer 25

plasticity

Question 26

a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (such as perspiration, heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing changes).

Answer 26

polygraph

Question 27

all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study

Answer 27

population

Question 28

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote conditions that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Answer 28

positive psychology

Question 29

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

Answer 29

posthypnotic

Question 30

a 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 30

posthypnotic suggestion

Question 31

information that is not conscious but is retrievable into conscious awareness.

Answer 31

preconcious

Question 32

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

Answer 32

predictive validity

Question 33

an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action

Answer 33

prejudice

Question 34

in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 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

Answer 34

preoperational stage

Question 35

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

Answer 35

primary reinforcer

Question 36

the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

Answer 36

primary sex characteristics

Question 37

the activation, often unconsciously of particular associations in memory

Answer 37

priming

Question 38

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Answer 38

proactive interference

Question 39

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

Answer 39

projection

Question 40

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

Answer 40

projective test

Question 41

positive, constructive, helpfu1 behavior The opposite of antisocial behavior

Answer 41

prosocial behavior

Question 42

a 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 (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).

Answer 42

prototype

Question 43

a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy

Answer 43

psychiatry

Question 44

a chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood

Answer 44

psychoactive drug

Question 45

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 45

psychoanalysis

Question 46

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

Answer 46

psychoanalysis

Question 47

a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions

Answer 47

psychological dependence

Question 48

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

Answer 48

psychological disorder

Question 49

the science of behavior and mental processes

Answer 49

psychology

Question 50

the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior

Answer 50

psychopharmocology

Question 51

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

Answer 51

psychophysics

Question 52

literally, "mind-body" illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches. Note: This is distinct from hypochondriasis-misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease.

Answer 52

psychophysiological illness

Question 53

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

Answer 53

psychosexual stages

Question 54

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

Answer 54

psychosurgery

Question 55

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

Answer 55

psychotherapy

Question 56

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

Answer 56

psychotic disorder

Question 57

an event that decreases the behavior that it follows

Answer 57

punishment

Question 58

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

Answer 58

pupil