Intro Psych Unit 3 Test

General adaptation syndrome

According to Hans Selye, a series of physiological reactions to stressors occurring in three phases: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

HPA

A system activated to energize the body to respond to stressors. The hypothalamus sends chemical messengers to the pituitary gland, which in turn prompts the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol and other hormones.

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

The study of the relationships among psychological processes, the nervous and endocrine systems, and the immune system.

Stress

An unpleasant state of arousal when we perceive  that an event (stressor) threatens our ability to cope 

Optimism

The general expectation that things will go well in spite of occasional setbacks

Locus of control

General expectation about whether you can control the things that happen to you

Internal locus of control

Believe that they are responsible for what happens to them

External locus of control

Believe that their lives are controlled by luck, fate, or other people

What part of Type A personality harms your health?

Hostility

Emotion-focused coping

Concentrates on the emotions the problem has caused

Problem-focused coping

After the problem is identified, the coper can learn as much as possible about it from professionals and others in the same predicament. Becoming informed increases feelings of control, which in turn can speed recovery

What are the three effective cognitive coping methods

Reappraising the situation, learning from the experience, and making social comparisons

Gray matter

• Cortex and the amydala

White matter

• Bundled axons and myelinated neurons

Assimilation

When a new experience fits into the schema

Accomodation

When a new experience causes us to revise our schema

Motor reflex

An automatic, innate physical behavior that facilitates survival, such as infants sucking on anything placed near their mouth.

Habituation

Getting used to something 

Preferential looking

A researcher presents two (or more) stimuli at once to determine whether the infant looks at one more than the other.

Eleanor Gibson experiment

visual cliff to study perception

Attachment

A long-lasting, intimate, and emotional bond that persists across different types of interactions and social situations.

Separation anxiety

The distress that most children develop, at about 6 months of age, when their primary caregivers temporarily leave them with strangers.

Object permanence

The understanding, which develops throughout the first year, that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see or touch it.

Conservation

The understanding that the physical properties of an object, such as the number of items in a cluster or the amount of liquid in a glass, can remain the same even when its form or appearance changes.

Telegraphic speech

A child's first word combinations, which omit unnecessary words

Preconventional level of morality

People tend to obey rules not because of some sort of personal moral code, but rather because they fear being punished if they disobey

Conventional level of morality

Moral judgments shift to ones based on conformity and the approval of others, as well as a respect for the rule of law

Postconventional level of morality

Level of morality based on abstract principles, standards, and concern for universal human rights

Power assertion

A method of childrearing in which the parent or other caregiver uses punishment and authority to correct misbehavior.

Induction

A method of childrearing in which the parent appeals to the child's own abilities, sense of responsibility, and feelings for others in correcting misbehavior.

Gender identity

A person’s sense of being a woman, man, neither, gender-fluid, or other classifications outside of this binary

Gender typing

The process of socializing children into their gender roles and thus reflects society’s ideas about which abilities, interests, traits, and behaviors are “appropriately” feminine or masculine

Social identity

The part of a person's self-concept that is based on their identification with a national, religious, ethnic, gender, or other social affiliation 

Gender schema

A set of beliefs, knowledge, and expectations about what it means to be a girl or a boy (or a woman or a man).

Adolescence

The period of development between the age at which a person becomes capable of sexual reproduction and adulthood

Arenarche

A time in middle childhood when the adrenal glands begin producing the adrenal hormone DHEA and other hormones that affect cognitive and social development.

Puberty

The age at which a person becomes capable of sexual reproduction

Actor observer effect

More likely to recognize situational causes for our own behaviors 

Downward social comparisons

Comparing oneself to those less fortunate or less competent 

Better-than-average effect

• Particularly likely for abilities with low threshold for competence 

• The less skilled you are, the greater the effect 

• Largely unconscious 

Menarche

The onset of menstruation during puberty

Trust vs. mistrust

In the first year, a baby depends on others to provide food, comfort, cuddling, and warmth. If these needs are not met, the child may never develop the essential trust of others necessary to get along in the world.

Autonomy vs. shame and doubt

Toddlers wrestle with questions of independence. Young children are learning to be autonomous but must do so without feeling too uncertain about their actions and capabilities.

Initiative vs. guilt

As a preschooler develops, the child acquires new physical and mental skills, sets goals, and enjoys newfound talents. But children must also learn to control impulses. The danger lies in developing too strong a sense of guilt over their wishes and fantasies.

Competence vs. inferiority

School-age children are learning to make things, use tools, and acquire the skills for adult life. Children who fail these lessons of mastery and competence may come out of this stage feeling inadequate.

Intimacy vs. isolation

In adolescence, teenagers must decide who they are, what they are going to do, and what they hope to make of their lives. Erikson used the term identity crisis to describe what he considered to be the primary conflict of this stage. Those who resolve it will emerge with strong identities, ready to plan for the future. Those who do not will sink into confusion, unable to make decisions.

Generativity vs. stagnation

In middle adulthood, now that you know who you are and maybe have an intimate relationship, will you sink into complacency and selfishness, or will you experience creativity and renewal? Parenthood is a common route to such generativity, but people can be productive, creative, and nurturing in other ways, in their work or their relationships with the younger generation.

Ego integrity vs despair

This is the final challenge of late adulthood and old age. As they age, people strive to reach the ultimate goals of wisdom, spiritual tranquility, and acceptance of their lives. Just as the healthy child will not fear life, said Erikson, the healthy adult will not fear death.

Fluid intelligence

The capacity to reason deductively and to use new information to solve problems.

Crystallized intelligence

Knowledge and skills built up over a lifetime, the kind of intelligence that gives us the ability to do arithmetic, define words, or take political positions

Attribution theory

The idea that people seek to explain their own and other people's behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to an external situation or an internal disposition

Situational (external) attribution

We identify the cause of an action as something in the situation or environment

Dispositional (internal) attribution

We identify the cause of an action as something in the person

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency, in explaining other people's behavior, to overestimate personality factors and underestimate the influence of the situation.

Familiarity effect

The tendency of people to feel more positive toward a person, product, or item the more familiar they are with it.

Elaboration likelihood method

A model proposing two routes (central and peripheral) by which persuasive communications can produce attitude change, as determined by an individual's cognitive ability and motivation.

Cognitive dissonance

A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two beliefs that are psychologically inconsistent or when a person's belief is incongruent with their behavior

Norms

Rules and expectations about how we are supposed to act, enforced by threats of negative consequence if we violate them

Culture

Can be defined as a set of values, beliefs, and customs shared by most members of a community and passed from one generation to another

What are the 2 reasons for conformity?

The need for social acceptance and the need for information

Groupthink

The tendency for a group to think alike and suppress dissent

Symptoms of groupthink

Illusion of invulnerability, self-censorship, pressure on dissenters to conform, and illusion of unaniminity

Bystander effect

The finding that when more people are around, it becomes less likely that any particular individual comes to offer assistance to someone in need.

Diffusion of responsibility

In groups, the tendency of members to avoid taking action because they assume that others will.

Deindividuation

A loss of awareness of one's own individuality whereby people in crowds, feeling anonymous, may do destructive things they would never do on their own.

Social identity

The part of a person's self-concept that is based on their identification with a national, religious, ethnic, gender, or other social affiliation.

In-group favoritism

The tendency to be more generous—in both thought and deed—with fellow members of their own group