Introduction to Psychology

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the introductory lecture on psychology.

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Cognition

The way in which information is processes an manipulated

cognitive psychology

label for approaches that sought to explain observable behavior by investigating mental processes and structures that cannot be observed directly

Artificial Intelligencd

A scientific field that focuses on creating machines capable of performing activities that require intelligence when they are done by people

Thinking

The process of manipulating information mentally by forming concepts, solving problems, making decisions, and reflecting critically or creatively

Concepts

Mental categories that are used to group objects, events, and characteristics

Prototype model

A model emphasizing that when people evaluate whether a given item reflects a certain concept, they compare the item with the most typical items in that category and look for a “family resemblance” with thag item’s properties

Personality

A pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world

Psychodynamic perspectives

Theoretical views emphasizing that personality is primarily unconscious (beyond awareness)

Id

The Freudian structure of personality consisting of unconscious drives; the individual’s reservoir of sexual energy

Ego

The Freudian structure of personality that deals with the demands of reality

Superego

The freudian structure of personality that serves as the harsh internal judge of our behavior; what we often call conscience

Defense mechanisms

The Freudian term for tactics the ego uses to reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Repression

The ego pushes unacceptable impulses out of awareness, back into the unconscious mind

Rationalization

The ego distorts the facts to make an experience less threatening

Displacement

The ego shifts feelings toward an unacceptable object to another, more acceptable object

Sublimation

The ego replaces an unacceptable impulse with a socially acceptable one

Projection

The ego attributes personal shortcomings, problems, and faults to others

Reaction Formation

The ego transforms an unacceptable motive into its opposite

Denial

The ego refuses to acknowledge anxiety producing realities

Regression

The ego seeks the security of an earlier developmental period in the face of stress

Oral Stage (first 18 months)

The infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth. Sucking, chewing, and biting are the activities that reduce tension in the infant

Anal Stage (18 to 36 months)

During a time when most children are experiencing toilet training, the child’s greatest pleasure involves the anus and urethra and their functions

Phallic stage (3 to 6 years)

Pleasure focuses on the genitals as the child discovers that self-stimulation is enjoyable

Oedipus complex

A boy’s intense desire to replace his father and enjoy the affections of his mother

Castration anxiety

Boy’s intense fear of being mutilated by his father

Penis envy

Intense desire to obtain a penis by eventually marrying and bearing a son

Latency Period (6 years to puberty)

This phase is not a developmental stage but rather a kind of psychic time-out. After the drama of the phallic stage, the child sets aside all interest in sexuality

Genital stage (adolescence and adulthood)

Time of sexual reawakening, a point when the source of sexual pleasure shifts to someone outside the family

Fixation

occurs when a particular psychosexual stage colors a person’s adult personality

Collective unconscious

Jung’s term for the impersonal, deepest layer of the unconscious mind, shared bt all human beings because of their common ancestral past

Archetypes

Jung’s term for emotionally laden ideas and images in the collective unconscious that have rich and symbolic meaning for all people

Individual Psychology

Adler’s view that people are motivated by purposes and goals and that perfection, not pleasure, is thus the key motivator in human life

Humanistic perspectives

Theoretical views of personality that stress a person’s capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities

Unconditional positive regard

Roger’s construct referring to the individual’s need to be accepted, valued, and treated positively regardless of the person’s behavior

Conditions of worth

The standards that the individual must live up to in order to receive positive regard from others.

trait theories

Theoretical views stressing that personality consists of broad, enduring dispositions (traits) that tend to lead to characteristic responses.

big five factors of personality

The five broad traits that are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality: neuroticism (emotional instability), extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

personological and life story perspectives

Theoretical views of personality stressing that the way to understand the person is to focus on the person’s life history and life story.

need for achievement

an enduring concern for attaining excellence and overcome obstacles

Need for affiliation

an enduring concern for establishing and maintaining interpersonal connections

Need for power

an enduring concern for having an impact on the social world

social cognitive perspectives

Theoretical views of personality emphasizing the influence of conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations, and goals.

Reciprocal determinism

relationships among the person, the person’s behavior, and the environment are all two-way streets

Internal locus of control

sense of behavioral control as coming from inside the person

External locus of control

Feeling that we ourselves are controlling our choices and behaviors

self-efficacy

The belief that one can accomplish a given goal or task and produce positive change.

cognitive affective processing systems (CAPS)

Mischel’s theoretical model for describing how individuals’ thoughts and emotions about themselves and the world affect their behavior and become linked in ways that matter to that behavior.

Reinforcement sensitivity theory

The behavioral activation system and the behavioral inhibition system could be viewed as underlying personality

behavioral genetics

The study of the inherited underpinnings of behavioral characteristics.

self-report test

A method of measuring personality characteristics that directly asks people whether specific items describe their personality traits; also called an objective test or an inventory.

empirically keyed test

A type of self-report test that presents many questionnaire items to two groups that are known to be different in some central way.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

The most widely used and researched empirically keyed self-report personality test.

face validity

The extent to which a test item appears to fit the particular trait it is measuring.

projective test

A personality assessment test that presents individuals with an ambiguous stimulus and asks them to describe it or tell a story about it—to project their own meaning onto the stimulus.

Rorschach inkblot test

A famous projective test that uses individuals’ perception of inkblots to determine their own personality.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test that is designed to elicit stories that reveal something about an individual’s personality.

Type A behavior pattern

A cluster of characteristics—including being excessively competitive, hard-driven, impatient, and hostile—related to a higher incidence of heart disease.

Type B behavior pattern

A cluster of characteristics—including being relaxed and easygoing—related to a lower incidence of heart disease.

subjective well-being

A person’s assessment of their own level of positive affect relative to negative affect and an evaluation of their life in general.

social psychology

The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people.

bystander effect

The tendency of an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when the observer is alone.

social cognition

The area of social psychology that explores how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information.

social neuroscience

The study of social thoughts, feelings, and behavior that incorporates a range of measures of brain and body functioning.

Person perception

process by which we use social stimuli to form impressions of others

stereotype

A generalization about a group’s characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another.

self-fulfilling prophecy

Social expectations that cause an individual to act in such a way that expectations are realized.

attribution theory

The view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior.

fundamental attribution error

Observers’ overestimation of the importance of internal traits and underestimation of the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of an actor’s behavior.

representativeness heuristic

The tendency to make judgments about group membership based on physical appearance or the match between a person and one’s stereotype of a group rather than on available base rate information.

false consensus effect

A person’s overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way the person does.

positive illusions

Favorable views of the self that are not necessarily rooted in reality.

self-serving bias

The tendency to take credit for one’s successes and to deny responsibility for one’s failures.

self-objectification

The tendency to see oneself primarily as an object in the eyes of others.

stereotype threat

An individual’s fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about their group.

social comparison

The process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to those of others.

attitudes

An individual’s opinions and beliefs about people, objects, and ideas—how the person feels about the world.

cognitive dissonance

An individual’s psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by having two inconsistent thoughts.

self-perception theory

Bem’s theory on how behaviors influence attitudes, stating that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior.

elaboration likelihood model

Theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route and a peripheral route.

altruism

Unselfish interest in helping another person.

egoism

Giving to another person to ensure reciprocity; to gain self-esteem; to present oneself as powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid censure from oneself and others for failing to live up to society’s expectations.

costly signaling theory

sometimes engage in behavior with high personal cost to communicate honest information about ourselves to others

aggression

Behavior that is intended to harm another person.

conformity

A change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard.

informational social influence

The influence other people have on us because we want to be right.

normative social influence

The influence others have on us because we want them to like us.

obedience

Behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority.

deindividuation

The reduction in personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal responsibility when one is part of a group.

social contagion

Imitative behavior involving the spread of actions, emotions, and ideas.

social facilitation

Improvement in an individual’s performance because of the presence of others.

social loafing

Each person’s tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort.

risky shift

The tendency for a group decision to be riskier than the average decision made by the individual group members.

group polarization effect

The solidification and further strengthening of an individual’s position as a consequence of a group discussion or interaction.

groupthink

The impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony.

social identity

The way individuals define themselves in terms of their group membership.

social identity theory

Tajfel’s theory that social identity, based on group membership, is a crucial part of self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about oneself.

ethnocentrism

The tendency to favor one’s own ethnic group over other groups.

prejudice

An unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on the individual’s membership in a group.