Cram Packet a la Thompson Updated - 2024/2025 Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering introductory psychology topics including research methods, statistics, biological bases, development, personality, and psychological disorders based on the lecture transcript.

Hypothesis

A tentative explanation that must be FALSIFIABLE, meaning it is able to be supported or rejected.

Operational Definition

A clear, precise, quantifiable definition of variables that allows for replication and the collection of reliable data.

Quantitative data

Numerical data that is considered ideal and necessary for statistical analysis.

Correlation

A research design used to identify the relationship between two variables, though it does not equal causation.

Negative Correlation

A relationship where as one variable increases, the other decreases.

Independent Variable

The variable purposefully altered by a researcher to look for an effect.

Experimental Group

The group that receives the treatment as part of the independent variable; a study can have multiple experimental groups.

Control Group

The group that receives a placebo or baseline for comparison; a study can only have $1$ control group.

Placebo Effect

Any observed effect on behavior caused by a placebo, which helps show the effectiveness of an experimental treatment.

Double-Blind

An experimental procedure where neither the participant nor the experimenter is aware of which condition people are assigned to.

Random Assignment

A method that assigns participants to either control or experimental groups at random to increase the chance of equal representation and allow for cause/effect claims.

Case Study

A study of typically one person in great detail to collect a lot of information, though it establishes no cause and effect.

Mean

The average score in a data set, typically used in a normal distribution.

Standard deviation

A measure of variation showing the average amount scores are spread from the mean, where a bigger number indicates more spread.

Statistical Significance

Indicates that results are not due to chance and that experimental manipulation caused the difference in means, typically denoted as $p05$ or smaller.

Effect Size

A measure of the practical significance of data, where a bigger number is considered better.

Informed Consent

An ethical guideline requiring that participants must agree to be part of a study.

Debriefing

The process of telling participants the true purpose of a study after it is completed, especially if deception was used.

Social desirability

A self-report bias where people lie on surveys to make themselves look good.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to find information that supports our preexisting beliefs.

Hindsight bias

The "I knew it all along" phenomenon where one believes they predicted an event after it occurred.

Hawthorne effect

The phenomenon where people change their behavior when they know they are being watched.

Aversive conditioning

A behavioral therapy technique that associates an unpleasant experience, such as nausea, with an unwanted behavior like drinking alcohol.

Dialectical behavior therapy

A talk therapy adapted for intense emotions that helps people understand how thoughts affect emotions and behaviors; originally for personality disorders.

Agoraphobia

An intensive fear of being judged or criticized in specific social situations like public transport, open places, enclosed spaces, or being outside the home alone.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

A condition where a person is generally anxious all the time.

Dissociative Identity Disorder

A condition formerly known as multiple personalities where a person fractures into several distinct personalities who have no awareness of each other.

Obsessions

Persistent, unwanted, and intrusive thoughts.

Compulsions

Intrusive, repetitive behaviors such as hand washing or checking.

PTSD

A trauma-related disorder marked by flashbacks, hypervigilance, severe anxiety, insomnia, emotional detachment, and hostility.

Antipsychotics

Medications used to treat schizophrenia by decreasing dopamine levels; can cause side effects like tardive dyskinesia.

Active listening

A humanistic therapy technique involving thoughtfully engaging with a client’s emotions and messages by asking questions and restating.

Unconditional positive regard

A humanistic attitude of total acceptance of a person's faults regardless of circumstances.

Cognitive triad

A set of negative views about the self, the world, and the future associated with depression.

Systematic desensitization

A behavioral therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with a gradually increasing hierarchy of anxiety-triggering stimuli.

Diathesis-Stress

An interaction model explaining that a person has a genetic predisposition for a disorder that must be "turned-on" by environmental stimuli like stress.

Anorexia nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by a weight loss of at least $15\%$ of ideal weight, distorted body image, and major calorie restriction.

Positive Symptoms (Schizophrenia)

Symptoms added to normal functioning, including hallucinations, delusions, word salads, and excited catatonia.

Negative Symptoms (Schizophrenia)

Symptoms representing something taken away, such as flat affect or catatonic stupor.

Reciprocal determinism

The interaction of behavior, cognitions, and environment that makes up an individual's personality.

Self-efficacy

The belief that one can succeed, which influences actions and self-concept.

Drive Reduction Theory

A theory suggesting that physiological needs create aroused tension (drives) that motivate an individual to satisfy the need to maintain homeostasis.

Yerkes Dodson Law

A law stating that humans seek optimum levels of arousal, where easier tasks require more arousal and harder tasks need less.

Leptin

A hormone signal to the brain to stop eating.

Ghrelin

A hormone signal to the brain to start eating.

General Adaptation Syndrome

A three-phase stress response including Alarm (shock), Resistance (coping), and Exhaustion (body gives up).

Central route to persuasion

Changing attitudes through logical arguments and explanations, leading to long-term behavior change.

Peripheral route to persuasion

Changing attitudes through incidental cues like attractiveness or emotional appeals, leading to temporary behavior changes.

Foot in the door phenomenon

Complying with a small request, which leads to becoming more likely to go along with a larger request.

Group polarization

The strengthening of a group's thoughts or opinions over time when members already share the same opinion.

Bystander effect

The tendency for individuals to be less likely to help someone in need when more people are present due to a diffusion of responsibility.

Social loafing

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts together.

Id

The psychodynamic part of the personality representing hidden true wants and desires, acting as the "devil on your shoulder."

Ego

The part of the mind that deals with everyday reality and mediates between the id and the superego.

Repression

A defense mechanism that pushes traumatic memories back into the unconscious mind.

Big Five personality

A trait theory acronymized as OCEAN, including Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that causes a response without needing to be learned, such as food.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, through pairing, now brings about a conditioned response, such as a bell.

Positive Reinforcement

Adding something pleasant to increase a specific behavior.

Negative Reinforcement

Taking away something bad or annoying to increase a behavior.

Fixed Ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule where a reward is given after a specific number of responses.

Variable Interval schedule

A reinforcement schedule where a reward is given after a random amount of time has passed.

Social Learning Theory

A theory focusing on learning through observation and the imitation of behaviors.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to blame a person's disposition (personality) for their behavior while failing to consider the situational context.

Cognitive dissonance

The discomfort caused by two opposing thoughts conflicting, leading to justifications to reduce the dissonance.

Object Permanence

The realization learned during the sensorimotor stage that objects continue to exist even when removed from view.

Concentration

The recognition that substances remain the same despite changes in shape, length, or position; lacking in Piaget's pre-operational stage.

Zone of Proximal Development

The gap between what a child can do on their own versus what they can do with support or scaffolding.

Phonemes

The smallest units of sound in a language, such as the "ch" sound in chat.

Morpheme

The smallest unit of language that carries meaning, such as the suffix "-ed" for past tense.

Trust vs Mistrust

Erikson's first stage of development (birth to $18$ months) where infants develop basic trust if their needs are met.

Aptitude test

A type of test designed to predict an individual's ability to learn a new skill.

Flynn effect

The observation that IQ scores have steadily risen over the past $80$ years.

Maturation

The natural course of physical development that occurs regardless of environment, such as walking.

Algorithms

Step-by-step strategies that guarantee a solution to a problem.

Heuristics

Shortcut strategies used for making judgements, such as the availability or representative heuristics.

Functional Fixedness

The inability to see more than the common use for an item, hindering creative problem solving.

Semantic encoding

Deep processing that emphasizes the meaning of words, leading to better memory retention.

Chunking

Breaking information into smaller units, like a phone number, to aid memory.

Short Term Memory

A storage stage where information lasts roughly $30$ seconds and can hold $7 \pm 2$ items.

Proactive interference

A memory flaw where old information blocks the recall of new information.

Action potential

A neural impulse where ions move across the membrane, sending an electrical charge down the axon.

GABA

The major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system.

Glutamate

The major excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system.

Amygdala

A part of the limbic system involved in processing emotions and fear.

Hippocampus

A brain structure vital for creating episodic and semantic memories.

Thalamus

The brain's relay center for all sensory information except for smell.

Broca's Area

An area in the left frontal lobe responsible for language production; damage leads to broken speech.

Wernicke's Area

An area in the left temporal lobe responsible for language comprehension; damage leads to jumbled speech.

Absolute Threshold

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a signal $50\%$ of the time.

Weber's Law

A principle stating that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum proportion for the difference to be perceivable.

Rods

Photoreceptors in the retina responsible for black and white vision and dark adaptation.

Cones

Photoreceptors in the fovea responsible for color vision and performance in bright light.

Vestibular sense

The sense of balance originating from the semicircular canals in the inner ear.

Kinesthetic sense

The sense of body position and movement without needing to look.

Top-Down Processing

Perception driven by prior expectations and the "whole idea" rather than individual parts.