Unit 4a Vocab List

suicidal

motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

instinct

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned.

physiological need

a basic bodily requirement.

drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

homeostasis

a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.

incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Yerkes-Dodson law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.

hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active.

glucose

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.

set point

the point at which your “weight thermostat” may be set. When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight.

basal metabolic rate

the body’s resting rate of energy output.

obesity

defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher. (Overweight individuals have a BMI of 25 or higher.)

asexual

having no sexual attraction to others.

sexual response cycle

the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson—excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution.

refractory period

in human sexuality, a resting period that occurs after orgasm, during which a person cannot achieve another orgasm.

sexual dysfunction

a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning at any point in the sexual response cycle.

paraphilias

sexual arousal from fantasies, behaviors, or urges involving nonhuman objects, the suffering of self or others, and/or nonconsenting persons.

AIDS

a life-threatening, sexually transmitted infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

sexual orientation

an enduring sexual attraction toward members of one’s own sex (homosexual orientation), the other sex (heterosexual orientation), or both sexes (bisexual orientation).

affiliation need

the need to build relationships and to feel part of a group.

ostracism

deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups.

narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption.

achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment; for mastery of skills or ideas; for control; and for attaining a high standard.

grit

in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.

emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience.

James-Lange theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus.

Cannon-Bard theory

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion.

two-factor theory

the Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal.

polygraph

a machine used in attempts to detect lies that measures several of the physiological responses (such as perspiration, heart rate, and breathing changes) accompanying emotion.

facial feedback effect

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness.

behavior feedback effect

the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions.

catharsis

in psychology, the idea that “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges.

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

people’s tendency to be helpful when in a good mood.

adaptation-level phenomenon

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience.

relative deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself.

Type A

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.

Type B

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people.

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 control our own fate.

self-control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards.

personality

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

psychodynamic theories

theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives.

ego

the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality.

superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

fixation

in personality theory, according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

collective unconscious

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

projective test

a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.

Thematic Apperception Test

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

Rorschach inkblot test

the most widely used projective test; a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

humanistic theories

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth.

hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active.

self-actualization

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

self-transcendence

according to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self.

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.

self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

personality inventory

a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

empirically derived test

a test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups.

social-cognitive perspective

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context.

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

spotlight effect

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

self-esteem

one’s feelings of high or low self-worth.

self-efficacy

one’s sense of competence and effectiveness.

self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably.

narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption.