Psychology Vocab

John Watson

founder of behaviorism; most famous for Little Albert experiment

Alfred Adler

believed that childhood social, not sexual, tensions are crucial for personality formation

behavioral neuroscience

also known as Biological psychology; focused on the biological bases of psychology processes, behavior, and learning

action potential

release of neural impulse, consisting of reversal of the electric charge within the axon

neurotransmitters

chemical found in the synaptic vessels that, when released, has an affect on the next cell

neuroplasticity

the ability within the brain to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in response to experience or trauma

medulla

responsible for life-sustaining functions like breathing, swallowing, and heart rate

cerebellum

controls and coordinates involuntary, rapid, fine motor movement

Broca's aphasia

condition resulting from damage to Broca's area, causing the affected person to be unable to speak fluently, to mispronounce words, and speak haltingly

Wernicke's aphasia

condition relating to damage to Wernicke's area, causing the affected person to be unable to understand or produce meaningful language

Charles Darwin

thought of theory of evolution by observing natural selection (survival of the fittest)

Wilhelm Wundt

known as the father of psychology
developed structuralism as an approach, introspection as the methodology

structuralism

the focus of the study based on structure/basic elements of the brain

functionalism

the focus of the study based on how the mind allows people to adapt, live, work, and play

psychoanalysis

a form of therapy developed by Freud emphasizing the revealing of unconscious conflicts

behaviorism

the science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only

correlation coefficient

a number that represents the strength of a relationship existing between 2 variables

measure of central tendency

a number that represents the most typical score of a frequency distribution i.e. median or mean

Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychologist who believed in unconditional positive regard
Believed people will naturally strive for self-actualization and high self esteem unless society taints them

B.F. Skinner

Operant conditioning
Believed everyone was born with a blank slate

Consciousness

A person's awareness of everything that is going around them at any given time

Adaptive theory

theory of sleep proposing that animals and humans evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators by sleeping when predators are most active

Restorative theory

theory of sleep proposing that sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage

Hypnosis

state of consciousness in which the person is especially susceptible to suggestion

drug tolerance

the decrease of the response to a drug over repeated uses, leading to the need for higher doses of drug to achieve the same effect

physical dependence

condition occurring when a person's body becomes unable to function normally without a particular drug

withdrawal

physical symptoms that can include nausea, pain, tremors, crankiness, and high blood pressure, resulting from a lack of an addictive drug in the body systems

psychological dependence

the feeling that a drug is needed to continue a feeling of emotional or psychological well-being

Carl Jung

believed in collective unconsciousness; coined the terms introversion and extroversion

Abraham Maslow

developed Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs where the lower needs must be met before you reach self-actualization

sensation

the process that occurs when special receptors in the sense organs are activated, allowing various forms of outside stimuli to become neural signal to the brain

rods

visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina, responsible for noncolor sensitivity to low levels of light

cones

visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina, responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision

Trichromatic theory

theory of color vision that proposes 3 types of color: red, blue, and green

Opponent-Process theory

theory of color that proposes visual neurons are stimulated by light of one color and inhibited by light of another color

Place theory

theory of pitch that states different pitches are experienced the stimulation of hair cells in different locations on the organ of Corti

Frequency theory

theory of pitch that states that pitch is related to the speed of vibrations in the basilar membrane

perception

method by which the sensations are experienced at any given moment are interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion

learning

permanent change in behavior brought about any experience or practice

cognitive perspective

perspective that focuses on memory, intelligence, problem solving, and learning

operant conditioning

learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to a response

reinforcers

any events or objects that, when following a response, increase the likelihood of that response occurring again

punishment

any events or objects that, when following a response, makes the response less likely to happen again

shaping

the process of reinforcing more complex behaviors by rewarding the small steps taken toward the final desired behavior

observational learning

learning a new behavior by watching a model perform that behavior

reflex

an involuntary response

Law of Effect

if an action is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated, and if followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will tend not to be repeated

learned helplessness

the tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of a history of repeated failures in the past

memory

An active system that receives information from the senses, puts the information into a usable form, and organizes it as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information

sensory memory

the first stage of memory, where raw information from the senses is held for a very brief period of time

short-term memory

the memory system in which information is held for brief periods of time while being used

long-term memory

the system of memory into which all information is placed to be kept more or less permanently

retrieval cue

a stimulus for remembering

recall

type of memory retrieval in which the information to be retrieved must be "pulled" from memory with very few external cues

recognition

the ability to match a piece of information or stimulus to a stored image or fact

retrograde amnesia

Loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss of memory for the past

anterograde amnesia

loss of memory from the point of injury of trauma forward, or the inability to form new long-term memories

infantile amnesia

the inability to retrieve memories from before the age of 3

Ivan Pavlov

father of classical conditioning

Noam Chomsky

believed there are an infinite number of sentences in a language and all humans have an inborn ability to develop language

words and concepts are learned but the brain is hardwired for grammar and language

nature

Refers to heredity, the influence of inherited characteristics \n on personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and \n social interactions

nurture

Refers to the influence of the \n environment on all of those same \n things and includes parenting \n styles, physical surroundings, \n economics factors, and anything \n that can have an influence of \n development that does not \n comes from within the person

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive \n Development

Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operations, Formal \n Operations

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of \n Development

Infant, Toddler, \n Preschool Age, \n Elementary School \n Age, Adolescence, \n Early Adulthood, \n Middle Adulthood, \n Late Adulthood

Kohlberg’s Level of Morality

Preconventional morality, Conventional morality, \n Postconventional morality

Authoritarian Parenting

Overly concerned with rules, stern, rigid, controlling, \n uncompromising

Permissive Parenting

Very few demands on their \n children’s behavior \n • Permissive neglectful \n • Permissive indulgent

Authoritative Parenting

Combines firm limits \n on behavior with \n love, warmth, \n affection, respect, \n and a willingness to \n listen to the child's \n point of view.

motivation

\n The process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow proposed that there are several levels of needs that a person must strive to meet before achieving the highest level of personality fulfillment

Anorexia nervosa

a condition in which a person reduces eating to the \n point that their body weight is significantly low or less \n than minimally expected

Bulimia nervosa

A condition in which a person develops a cycle of binging, overeating, and then using unhealthy methods to avoid weight gain

emotion

The “feeling” aspect of , characterized by a certain physical arousal, a certain behavior that reveals the emotion to the outside world, and an inner awareness of feelings.

James-Lange theory of emotion

Theory in which a physiological reaction leads to the \n labeling of an emotion

Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

Theory in which the physiological reaction and the emotion \n are assumed to occur at the same time

Cognitive Arousal theory

\n Theory of emotion in which both the physical arousal and \n the labeling of that arousal based on cues from the \n environment must occur before the emotion is experienced

facial feedback hypothesis

Theory of emotion that assumes that facial expressions \n provide feedback to the brain concerning the emotion being \n expressed, which in turn causes and intensifies the emotion

cognitive-mediational theory

Theory of emotion in which a stimulus must be interpreted \n by a person in order to result in a physical response and an \n emotional reaction