psych unit 7 vocab

motivation, emotions, & personality

motivation

a need or desire that energizes behavior and directs it towards a goal

instinct

complex behaviors that have fixed patterns throughout different species and are not learned

drive-reduction theory

theory that physiological need creates an aroused tension state that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

homeostasis

the maintenance of a steady internal state

incentive

positive or negative stimuli

hierarchy of needs

created by Abraham Maslow, theory that certain needs have priority over others

glucose

the natural sugar that send signals regarding hunger to the hypothalamus in the brain

set point

the preferred level of functioning of an organism or system

basal metabolic rate

kilojoules (or calories) expended to maintain the vital functions of the body while awake per kilogram of body weight per hour

anorexia nervosa

eating disorder in which a normal­-weight person continuously loses weight but still feels overweight

bulimia nervosa

eating disorder characterized by binging, followed by extreme purging (vomiting, laxatives, fasting, or excessive exercise)

sexual response cycle

cycle of reaction to sexual stimulation; excitement → plateau → orgasm → resolution

refractory period

period of inactivity after a neuron or muscle cell has undergone excitation

sexual disorder

any impairment of sexual function or behavior

estrogen

hormones that are produced mainly by the ovaries and act as the main female sex hormones

testosterone

male sex hormone and typically produced by the testes

sexual orientation

a person’s preference regarding emotional and sexual relationships with individuals

flow

the experience between no work and lot of work; typically with creative jobs

industrial-organizational psychology

psychology that applies psychological principles to the workplace

personnel psychology

studies the principles of selecting and evaluating workers

organizational psychology

studies how work environments and management styles influence worker motivation, satisfaction, and productivity

structured interviews

a formal and disciplined way of gathering information from the interviewee; pinpoints strengths

achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment

task leadership

setting standards, organizing work, and focusing on goals

social leadership

mediating conflicts and building high achieving team

emotion

complex reaction pattern that are a mix of physiological activation, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience

james-lange theory

theory that physiological activity precedes the emotional experience

cannon-bard theory

theory that an emotion­-triggering stimulus and the body's arousal take place simultaneously

two-factor theory

theory that physiology and cognition create

emotions — and that emotions have two factors (physical arousal and

cognitive label)

polygraph

device that measures and records several physiological indicators of stress; frequently used with interrogating criminal suspects and screening employees

catharsis

the release of strong, pent-up emotions

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

when we feel happy we are more willing to help others

subjective well-being

the self­-perceived feeling of happiness or satisfaction with life

adaptation-level phenomenom

people adapt to income levels

relative deprivation

the perception that we are relatively worse off than those we compare ourselves with

personality

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

free association

form of psychoanalysis in which the patient hears a prompt and says whatever comes to their minds

psychoanalysis

FREUD; approach to the mind that focuses on the influence of unconscious forces on an individual’s mental life and adjustment

unconscious

region of the mind containing everything not directly accessible to awareness but has effects on thought and behavior

id

part of the unconscious; basic sexual and aggressive drives; pleasure principle; immediate gratification

ego

part of the conscious; mediates the demands of the id and superego

superego

part of the preconscious; standards for judgment (the conscience) and future aspirations

psychosexual stages

freud’s theory of the stages of personality development

oedipus complex

boy’s sexual desire for his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

identification

freud’s theory that kids/people cope with threatening feelings by repressing them and by identifying with the rival parent

fixation

the persistence of an early stage or attachment of psychosexual development or object

defense mechanism

an unconscious reaction pattern employed by the ego to protect itself from the anxiety

repression

defense mechanism that banishes anxiety­arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

regression

defense mechanism that leads an individual faced with anxiety to retreat to a more infantile psychosexual stage

reaction formation

defense mechanism that causes the ego to unconsciously switch unacceptable impulses into their opposites

projection

defense mechanism that leads people to disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

rationalization

defense mechanism that offers self­-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions

displacement

defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

collective unconscious

a common reservoir of images derived from our species’ past

projective test

tests that evaluate personality from an unconscious mind’s perspective

thematic apperception test (TAT)

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

rorschach inkblot test

projective test uses a set of 10 inkblots to identify people’s inner feelings

terror-management theory

theory proposing that control of death anxiety is the primary function of society and the main motivation in human behavior

self-actualization

state of fulfilling our potential

unconditional positive regard

an attitude of acceptance of others despite their failings

self-concept

all of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves

trait

an enduring personality characteristic that describes or determines an individual’s behavior across a range of situations

personality inventory

questionnaires designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors assessing several traits at once

minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests; developed to identify emotional disorders; tests a pool of items and selects those that discriminate between diagnostic groups

empirically derived test

the test of a hypothesis by means of experiments or other systematic observations

social-cognitive perspective

bandura’s theory that personality is the because of the interaction between a person and the social context

reciprocal determinism

behavior, cognition, and environment are interlocking determinants of each other

personal control

whether we control the environment or the environment controls us

external locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

internal locus of control

the perception that we can control our own fate

learned helplessness

phenomenon when repeated exposure to uncontrollable stressors results in individuals learning that they lack behavioral control over environmental events and therefore don’t try anymore

positive psychology

psychology that aims to discover and promote conditions that enable individuals and communities to thrive

spotlight effect

overestimating the concern that others evaluate our appearance,

performance, and blunders

self-esteem

a person’s physical self-image and perceived success, as well as the ways in which others view and respond to that person

self-serving bias

the tendency to interpret events so that assigns credit for success to oneself but denies one’s responsibility for failure, which is blamed on external factors