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Psychology Gre > Terms > Flashcards

Terms Flashcards

1
Q

Authoritarian parenting style

A

A parenting style tending to use punitive control methods and lacking emotional warmth

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2
Q

Authoritative parenting style

A

A parenting style tending to have reasonably high demands for child compliance coupled with emotional warmth

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3
Q

Autism

A

A disorder whose essential features are lack of responsiveness to other people, gross impairment in communication skills, and behaviors and interests that are repetitive, inflexibly routine, and stereotyped

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4
Q

Autokinetic effect

A

An illusion that occurs when a spot of light appears to move erratically in a dark room simply because there’s no frame of reference

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5
Q

Availability heuristic

A

A decision-making shortcut that people tend to use when trying to decide how likely something is based upon how easily similar instances can be imagined

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6
Q

Aversion therapy

A

A behavioral therapy of pairing unpleasant stimuli with undesirable behavior

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7
Q

Balance theory

A

Fritz Heider’s consistency theory that is concerned with balance and imbalance in the ways in which three elements are related

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8
Q

Behavioral contracts

A

A therapeutic technique that is a negotiated agreement between two parties that explicitly stipulates the behavioral change that is desired and indicates consequences of certain acts

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9
Q

Behavioral stimulants

A

A class of drugs that increase behavioral activity by increasing motor activity or by counteracting fatigue, and which are thought to stimulate receptors for dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin

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10
Q

Békésy’s traveling wave theory

A

Proposed by Von Békésy, the theory holds that high-frequency sounds maximally vibrate the basilar membrane near the beginning of the cochlea close to the oval window and low frequencies maximally vibrate near the apex, or tip, of the cochlea

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11
Q

Between-subjects design

A

An experimental design whereby each subject is exposed only one level of each independent variable

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12
Q

Binocular disparity (stereopsis)

A

A cue for depth perception that depends on the fact that the distance between the eyes provides two slightly disparate views of the world that, when combined, give us a perception of depth

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13
Q

Bipolar disorder

A

A mood disorder characterized by both depression and mania

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14
Q

Boomerang effect

A

In theories of attitude persuasion, it is an attitude change in the opposite direction of the persuader’s message

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15
Q

Borderline personality disorder

A

A personality disorder characterized by an instability in interpersonal behavior, mood, and self-image that borders on psychosis

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16
Q

Bottom-up processing (data-driven processing)

A

Information processing that occurs when objects are recognized by the summation of the components of incoming stimulus to arrive at the whole pattern

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17
Q

Brightness

A

The subjective impression of the intensity of a light stimulus

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18
Q

Brightness contrast

A

In brightness perception, it refers to when a particular luminance appears brighter when surrounded by a darker stimulus than when surrounded by a lighter stimulus

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19
Q

Broca’s aphasia

A

Impairments in producing spoken language associated with lesions to Broca’s area

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20
Q

Bulimia nervosa

A

An eating disorder that involves binge eating and excessive attempts to compensate for it by purging, fasting, or excessive exercising.

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21
Q

Bystander effect

A

The reluctance of people to intervene to help others in emergency situations when other people also witness the situation

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22
Q

Cannon-Bard theory

A

A theory of emotions stating that awareness of emotions reflects our physiological arousal and our cognitive experience of emotion

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23
Q

Case study

A

An experimental method used in developmental psychology to take a very detailed look at development by studying a small number of individuals. This is also called the clinical method

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24
Q

Centration

A

A term from Piaget’s theory, it is the tendency for preoperational children to be able to focus on only one aspect of a phenomenon

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25
Q

Chi-squared test

A

A statistical method of testing for an association between two categorical variables. Specifically, it tests for the equality of two frequencies or proportions

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26
Q

Chlorpromazine

A

An antipsychotic drugs thought to block receptor sites for dopamine, making it effective in treating the delusional thinking, hallucinations, and agitation commonly associated with schizophrenia

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27
Q

Circadian rhythms

A

Internally generated rhythms that regulate our daily cycle of waking and sleeping, approximating a 24 hour cycle

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28
Q

Classical conditioning

A

Also known as respondent conditioning, it is a result of learning connections between different events

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29
Q

Claustrophobia

A

An irrational fear of closed places

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30
Q

Client-centered therapy, Person-centered therapy, nondirective therapy

A

Carl Rogers’ therapeutic technique that is based on the idea that clients have the freedom to control their own behavior, and that the client is able to reflect upon his or her problems, make choices, and take positive action

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31
Q

Clustering

A

A technique to enhance memory by organizing items into conceptually related categories

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32
Q

Cognitive dissonance theory

A

Leon Festinger’s consistency theory that people are motivated to reduce dissonant elements or add consonant elements to reduce tension

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33
Q

Cognitive map

A

A mental representation of a physical space

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34
Q

Collective unconscious

A

From Carl Jung’s Personality theory, it is the idea that all humans share an unconscious, a residual of the experiences of our early ancestors

35
Q

Color constancy

A

Refers to the fact that the perceived color of an object does not change when we change the wavelength of the light we see

36
Q

Compensation

A

A defense mechanism whereby something is done to make up for something that is lacking

37
Q

Conception

A

Takes place in the Fallopian tubes where the ovum or egg cell is fertilized by the male sperm cell

38
Q

Conditioned response

A

In classical conditioning, it is the learned response to a conditioned stimulus

39
Q

Conditioned stimulus

A

In classical conditioning, it is a neutral stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response

40
Q

Confounding variables

A

Unintended independent variables

41
Q

Connectionism

A

Also called parallel distribution processing, it is a theory of information processing that is analogous to a complex neural network

42
Q

Consistency theories

A

Theoretical perspectives from social psychology that hold that people prefer consistency between attitudes and behaviors, and that people will change or resist changing attitudes based upon this preference

43
Q

Construct validity

A

A type of validity that refers to how well a test measures the intended theoretical construct

44
Q

Content validity

A

A type of validity that refers to how well the content items of a test measure the particular skill or knowledge area that it is supposed to measure

45
Q

Control group design

A

A technique of treating experimental and control groups equally in all respects, except that one group is exposed to the treatment in the experiment, and the other group is not exposed to the treatment

46
Q

Conversion disorders

A

Disorders characterized by unexplained symptoms affecting voluntary motor or sensory functions. Conversion disorder used to be referred to as “hysteria”

47
Q

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

A

It records a gross average of the electrical activity in different parts of the brain

48
Q

Emmert’s law

A

A lot describing the relationship between size constancy and apparent distance–The farther away the object appears to be, the more the scaling device in the brain will compensate for its retinal size by enlarging our perception of the object

49
Q

Empathy

A

The ability to vicariously experience the emotions of another, and thought by some social psychologists to be a strong influence on helping behavior

50
Q

Encoding

A

The process of putting new information into memory

51
Q

Encoding specificity theory

A

A theory that recall is best if the context at recall approximates the content during the original encoding

52
Q

Endorphins

A

Peptides that are natural painkillers produced in the brain

53
Q

Episodic memory

A

A type of declarative memory, episodic memory refers to memories for particular events, Or episodes, from personal experience

54
Q

Equity theory

A

A theory stating that individuals strive for fairness and feel uncomfortable when there is a perception of a lack of fairness

55
Q

Eros

A

In Freud’s structural dynamic model of personality, it refers to the life instincts that serve the purpose of individual survival (hunger, thirst, and sex)

56
Q

Ethology

A

The study of animals in their natural environment

57
Q

Exchange theory

A

The tendency to evaluate interactions and relationships in terms of relative costs and benefits

58
Q

External validity

A

In research methodology, it refers to how generalizable the results of an experiment are

59
Q

Extinction

A

In operant conditioning, it is when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly not reinforced and as a result, the conditioned response is no longer produced as consistently

60
Q

Extirpation

A

A process of removing various parts of the brain and then observing the behavioral consequences

61
Q

Extrinsic motivation

A

Behavior that is motivated by some external reward

62
Q

Face validity

A

A type of validity that refers to whether test items appear to measure what they’re supposed to measure

63
Q

Factor analysis

A

A statistical technique using correlation coefficients to reduce a large number of variables to a few factors

64
Q

Fechner’s law

A

A lot of that expresses the relationship between the intensity of the sensation and the intensity of the stimulus, and states that sensation increases more slowly as intensity increases

65
Q

Fictional finalism

A

A concept in Alfred Adler’s theory of personality, it is the notion that an individual is motivated more by his or her expectations of the future based on a subjective or fictional estimate of life’s values, than by past experiences

66
Q

Field independence-field dependence

A

A personality style characterized by ability/inability to distinguish experience from its context

67
Q

“Fight or flight” responses

A

The emotional experience associated with the sympathetic nervous system and managed by the hypothalamus during high arousal

68
Q

Figur

A

A concept in visual perception referring to the integrated visual experience that stands out at the center of attention

69
Q

Fixation

A

From psychoanalytic theory, it is an inability to successfully proceed through a stage in development because of an overindulgence or frustration

70
Q

Fixed action pattern

A

A behavior that is relatively stereotyped and appears to be species-typical

71
Q

Fixed-interval (FI)

A

In operant conditioning, it is when behavior is reinforced on the first response after a fixed period of time has elapsed since the last reinforcement

72
Q

Fixed-ratio (FR)

A

In operant conditioning, it is when behavior is reinforced after a fixed number of responses

73
Q

Flooding

A

A behavioral modification technique used to treat anxiety disorders by exposing the client to the anxiety-producing stimulus

74
Q

Fluid intelligence

A

Proposed by Raymond Cattell, it is a type of intelligence that has the ability to quickly grasp relationships in novel situations and make correct deductions from them (e.g., solving analogies)

75
Q

Follicle-stimulating hormone

A

A hormone that is secreted by the pituitary gland to stimulate the growth of an ovarian follicle, which is a small protective sphere surrounding the egg or ovum

76
Q

Free association

A

A psychoanalytic technique in which the client says whatever comes to his or her mind regardless of how personal, painful, or seemingly irrelevant it may appear to be so that the analyst and patient together can reconstruct the nature of the client’s original conflict

77
Q

Frequency

A

In sound perception, it is the number of sound wave cycles per second

78
Q

Frequency theory

A

A theory suggesting that the basilar membrane of the ear vibrates as a whole, that the rate of vibration equals the frequency of the stimulus, and that the vibration rate is directly translated into the appropriate number of neural impulses per second

79
Q

Functional autonomy

A

A given activity or form of behavior may become an end or a goal in itself, regardless of its original reason for existence

80
Q

Functional fixedness

A

An impediment to effective problem solving because of an inability to use a familiar object in an unfamiliar way

81
Q

Functionalism

A

A system of thought in psychology that was concerned with studying how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environments

82
Q

Fundamental attribution error

A

The tendency to attribute individual characteristics as causes of others’ behaviors and situational characteristics to one’s own behavior

83
Q

g

A

Propose by Charles Spearman, this is an individual difference in intelligence that refers to a general, unitary factor of intelligence

84
Q

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

A

A neurotransmitter that produces inhibitory postsynaptic potentials and is thought to play an important role in stabilizing neural activity in the brain

Psychology Gre (1 decks)

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