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103 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
determinism |
assumption that every event had physical, potentially measurable causes |
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skepticism |
the attitude that doubts all claims not supported by research |
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operational definition |
definition of behaviors or qualities in terms of the procedures used to measure or produce them |
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debriefing participants |
psychologists alleviate possible harm caused by deception by ___________ |
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replicated |
to evaluate the external validity of a research finding, the study should be ________ |
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associated |
when there is a strong positive correlation between two variable, the variables are _________ |
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descriptive statistics |
measures of variance and central tendency |
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behavioral neuroscience |
field of studies that physiological bases of human and animal behavior and mental processes |
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evolutionary psychology |
study of the evolution of behavior through natural selection |
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genetic inheritance |
the proportion of variability in a trait across a population attributable to genetic differences among members of the population |
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nervous system |
chief means of communication in the body |
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central nervous system |
brain and spinal chord |
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autonomic nervous system |
division of the peripheral nervous system that controls automatic, involuntary, physiological processes |
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sympathetic nervous system |
division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body |
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adrenal gland |
the _______ ________ is an endocrine gland that secretes hormones that regulate the excretion of minerals and the body's response to stress |
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dendrites |
branchlike structures of the neuron the receive neural impulses |
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maturation |
the sequential unfolding of inherited predispositions in physical and motor development |
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longitudinal research |
research design in which the same group of participants is tested or observed repeatedly over a period of time |
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fetal alcohol syndrome |
a disorder marked by physical defects and intellectual disability that can afflict the offspring of women who drink alcohol during pregnancy |
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schema |
the cognitive structure that guides people's perception and information processing that incorporates the characteristics of particular persons, objects, events, procedures, or situations |
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assimilation |
the cognitive process that interprets new information in light of existing schemas |
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object performance |
the realization that objects exist even when they are not visible |
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caring and relief of distress |
According to Carol Gillian, women's moral reasoning is oriented toward . . . |
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Eriksonian theory |
8 stages of psychosocial development, infancy to late adulthood including developing identity |
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accommodation |
the cognitive process that revises existing schemas to incorporate new information |
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sensation |
the process that detects stimuli for the body or surrounding |
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sensory receptors |
specialized cells detect stimuli and convert their energy int neural impulses |
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absolute threshold |
the minimum amount of stimulation that an individual can detect through a given sense |
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blind spot |
the place where the optic nerve exits the back of the eye is called the _______ |
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why do we have after images? |
stimulus inhibits their opponent color. on removal the compliments is seen (green or yellow) |
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top-down processing |
the idea that our expectations influence our sensations and thus lead to our perception |
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perception |
the process that organizes sensations into meaningful patterns |
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touch |
the sense that bonds parents and babies, and lovers |
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ESP |
possible to have knowledge of external stimuli without stimulation of the sensory receptor |
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consciousness |
awareness of one's own cognitive activity, including thoughts, feelings, and sensations |
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attention |
the process by which the individual focuses awareness on certain contents if consciousness while ignoring others |
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automatic processing |
information processing that requires less conscious awareness and cognitive effort and that does not interfere with the performance if other ongoing activities |
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preconscious mind |
the level of consciousness that contains feelings and memories that we are unaware of at the moment but can become aware of at will |
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REM sleep |
the stage of sleep associated with rapid eye movements an active brainwave pattern and vivid dreams |
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dissociation |
state in which the mind is split into two or more independent streams of consciousness |
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psychoactive drugs |
chemicals that induce changes in mood thinking perception and behavior by affecting neural behavior in the brain |
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synesthesia |
experiencing sensations in one sense that is characteristic of another |
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selective consciousness |
you pay attention to one thing but not the other |
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psychic determinism |
the superiority of automatic processing over controlled processing (Freud) |
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learning |
relatively permanent change in knowledge or behavior resulting from experience |
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classical conditioning |
a form of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response after being associated with a stimulus that already elicits that response |
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Albert Bandura |
humans learn social behavior by observing other models and reproducing them |
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mirror neurons |
neurons involved in neural circuits responsible for observational learning |
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behavioral preparedness |
the degree to which members of a species are innately prepared to learn particular behaviors |
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learned helplessness |
the feeling of futility caused by the belief that one has little or no control over events in one's life which can make one stop trying and become depressed |
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punishment |
in operant conditioning, ____________ refers to the process by which aversive stimuous decreases the probability of a response that precedes it |
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negative reinforcement |
in operant conditioning, ____________ refers to an increase in the probability of a behavior that is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus |
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flashbulb memories |
a vivid, longing lasting memory if a surprising important emotionally arousing event |
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sensory memory |
stage of memory that hat briefly stores (a few seconds) exact replicas if sensations |
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short-term memory |
stage of memory that can store a few items of unrehearsed information for up to 20 seconds |
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encoding |
the conversion information into a form that can be stored in memory |
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retrieval |
recovery of information from memory |
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information processing model |
the view that processing of memories involves encoding storage and retrieval |
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iconic memory |
visual sensory memory which lasts up to about a second |
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elaborative rehearsal |
actively organizing new information to make it more meaningful and integrating with information already stored in long-term memory |
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implicit memory |
recollection of previous experiences demonstrated through behavior rather than through conscious, internal remembering |
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procedural memory |
long-term memory of how to perform particular actions |
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cognitive psychology |
field of psychology that studies processes such as thought and language |
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cognitive neuroscience |
study of the neurological bases of cognitive processes |
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thought |
the cognitive manipulation of words and images as in concept formation, problem-solving, and decision-making |
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logical concept |
the concept formed by identifying the specific features possessed by all things that the concept applies to |
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problem solving |
the thought process by which an individual overcomes obstacles to reach a goal |
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insight |
an approach to problem-solving that depends on cognitive manipulation of information rather than overt trail and error and produces sudden solutions to problems |
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heuristic |
the general principle that guides problem-solving, through it does not guarantee a correct solution |
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mental set |
a tendency to use a particular problem-solving strategy that has succeeded in the past but that may interface with solving a problem requiring a new strategy |
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creativity |
a form of problem-solving that generates novel, socially valued solutions to problems |
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ASD |
a group os psychological conditions characterized by poor social relationships, impaired communications, and repetitive behaviors |
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intelligence |
global capacity ti act purposefully to think rationally and to deal effectively with the environment |
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aptitude test |
a test designed to predict a person's potential to benefit from instruction in a particular academic or vocational |
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intellectual disabilities |
IQ of 70 or below and difficulties performing in everyday life |
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Down Syndrome |
an intellectual disability associated with certain physical deformities that are caused by an extra chromosome on the 21st pair |
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crystallized intelligence |
knowledge acquired through learning and everyday life |
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fluid intelligence |
reasoning abilities, moral capacity, the speed of information processing |
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achievement test |
comprehensive exam of what you have learned |
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Francis Galton |
this person created the first scientific approach to evaluating mental abilities |
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emotion |
a motivated state marked by physiological arousal, expressive behavior, and cognitive experience |
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social-comparison theory |
the theory that happiness is the result of comparing your life to others lives |
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disparagement theory (of humor) |
humor is amusing when it makes you feel superior |
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opponent-process theory |
the theory that the brain counteracts a strong positive or negative emotion be evoking an opposite emotional response |
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two-factor theory |
a theory that emotional experience is the outcome of physiological arousal and the attribution of a cause for that arousal |
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sympathetic and parasympathetic systems |
two divisions of the nervous system are powerfully involved in emotion experience |
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epinephrine and norepinephrine |
flight/fight hormones that are released when the body is under extreme stress |
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unpleasant stimuli |
the amygdala is most sensitive to __________ stimuli |
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personality |
a person's unique, relatively consistent pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving |
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pleasure principal |
id seeks immediate gratification for impulses |
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superego |
(Freud) part of the personality that acts as a moral guide |
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projective test |
Freudian personality assessment based on the assumption that individuals project their unconscious feelings when responding to ambiguous stimuli |
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trait |
relatively enduring, cross-situationally consistent personality characteristic inferred from someone's behavior |
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self-efficacy |
In Bandura's theory, the name given to a perosn's belief that she or he can perform behaviors that are necessary to bring about the desired outcome |
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temperament |
a person's characteristic emotional state, first apparent in early infancy a |
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psychopathology |
study of psychological disorders |
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biopsychosocial model |
psychological disorders result from biological, psychological and social factors |
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panic disorder |
an anxiety disorder marked by sudden attacks of overwhelming anxiety often associated with the fear of dying or losing one's mind |
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OCD |
disorder with ritualistic, recurent, intrusive thoughts and actions |
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dissociative disorder |
thoughts, feelings, and memories become separated from consciousness |
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schizophrenia |
disorder with grossly impaired social, emotional, cognitive, and perceptual functioning |
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personality disorder |
lasting, inflexible, maladaptive behavioral trains |
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developmental disorders |
psychological disorders originating in childhood characterized by physical, learning, language, and behavioral impairment |