AP Psych Unit 8 | AP Exam Review

Motivation

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Instinct

A complex, unlearned behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species

Drive-Reduction Theory

The idea that a psychological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the meal

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; The regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a molecular level

Incentive

A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyonf which performance decreases

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

Glucose

The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues when the level is low, we feel hunger

Set Point

The point at which an individual “weight thermostat” is supposedly set

• When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight

Basal Metabolic Rate

The body’s resting rate of energy expenditure

Emotion

A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience

James-Lange Theory

The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

Cannon-Baird Theory

The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) cognitively label the arousal

Two-Factor Theory

The Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal

Polygraph

A machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses (ie. perspiration, and cardiovascular and breathing changes) accompanying emotion

Facial Feedback Effect

The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

Health Psychology

A subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine

Stress

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases-alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Tend-and-Befriend Response

Under stress, people (esp. women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)

Psychophysiological Illness

Literally, “mind-body” illness; Any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches

Psychoneuroimmunology

The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health

Lymphocytes

The two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system: B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections; T lymphocytes form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cell, viruses, and foreign substances

Coronary Heart Disease

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; The leading cause of death in many developed countries

Type A

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

Type B

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people

Personality

An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Free Association

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

Psychoanalysis

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

Unconscious

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

According to temporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

Id

A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives.

• Operates on the pressure principle, demanding immediate gratification

Ego

The largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality

• Operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

Superego

The part of the personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscious) and for future aspirations.

Psychosexual Stages

The childhood stages of development during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Oedipus Complex

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

Identification

The process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

Fixation

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

Defense Mechanisms

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

Repression

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

Psychodynamic Theories

Modern-day approaches that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Collective Unconscious

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

Projective Test

A personality test, such as the Rorschah, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

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

Rorschach Inkblot Test

The 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

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to which others share our beliefs in our behaviors

Terror-Management Theory

A theory of death-related anxiety; Explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Unconditional Positive Regard

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

Self-Concept

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Trait

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

Personality Inventory

A questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which peopler respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; Used to assesses selected personality traits

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use).

• Test is not used for many other screening purposes

Empirically Derived Test

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

Social-Cognitive Perspective

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context

Behavioral Approach

In personality theory, this perspective focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development

Reciprocal Determinism

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of optimal human functioning, aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Self

In contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Spotlight Effect

Overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us)

Self-Esteem

One’s feelings of high or low self-worth

Self-Efficacy

One’s sense of competence and effectiveness

Self-Serving Bias

A readiness to perceive oneself favorable

Narcissism

Excessive self-love and self-absorption

Individualism

Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group indentification

Collectivism

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