Psychology Definitions

Conflict Theory

a theory that looks at society as a competition for limited resources

Functionalism

Society is a complex system of many parts working together for stability; society is like living organism

Manifest Function

Intended and recognized functions of an institution

Latent Function

Unintended, unforeseen consequences of institution

Symbolic Interactionism

a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people's actions

Social Constructionism

a sociological theory that argues that people actively shape their reality through social interaction; study of how individuals/groups shape society

Rational Choice

Approach that assumes that individuals weigh the costs and benefits and make choices to maximize THEIR benefits

Social Exchange Theory

our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize rewards and minimize punishments

Feminist Theory

a sociological perspective that emphasizes the centrality of gender in analyzing the social world and particularly the uniqueness of the experience of women

Intersectionality

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group

Internal Validity

the degree to which the outcome depends on our interventions

External Validity

Extent to which findings can be generalized

Social Structures

enduring and regular social arrangements, such as the family and the state

Medicalization

the process by which problems or issues not traditionally seen as medical come to be framed as such

Sick Role

a socially recognized set of rights and obligations linked with illness

Absolute Poverty

Inability to secure basic necessities

Relative poverty

Inability to meet average standard of living

Availability of healthcare

Presence of resources across the US

Accessibility of Healthcare

Ability for someone to obtain existing resources

Social mobility

Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society's stratification system to another

Culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.

Cultural assimilation

Absorption of a culturally distinct group into a dominant or prevailing culture

Multiculturalism

the preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society

Dominant culture

the values, norms, and practices of the group within society that is most powerful (in terms of wealth, prestige, status, influence, etc.)

Subculture

the values and related behaviors of a group that distinguish its members from the larger culture; a world within a world

Counterculture

A culture with lifestyles and values opposed to those of the established culture.

Popular culture

Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.

Cultural transmission

the process by which one generation passes culture to the next

Cultural Diffusion

The spread of ideas, customs, and technologies from one people to another

utilitarian organization

An organization in which members get rewards for their efforts.

Normative Organization

An organization that motivates membership based on morally relevant goals.

Coercive Organization

An organization by which its members do not have a choice

Self-Identity

How you describe yourself

Personal Identity

a distinct sense of self including personally defined attributes

Social Identity

the part of the self-concept including one's view of self as a member of a particular social category

ADDRESSING Framework

Age

disability status

religion

ethnicity/race

sexual orientation

socioeconomic status

indigenous background

national origin

gender

Deviance

Behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society

Social Stigma

the extreme disapproval or dislike of a person or group based on perceived differences from the rest of society

Impression Management

the attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen

Dramaturgical perspective

views people as actors who play different roles

(Front stage vs back stage)

Self-efficacy

one's sense of competence and effectiveness

High: We have control over the outcome

Low: We have low impact on the outcome

internal locus of control

the perception that you control your own fate

External locus of control

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

Learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation a human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Social Learning Theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

Social Comparison Theory

The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people

Role-Taking

assuming the viewpoint of another person and using that viewpoint to shape the self-concept

Social Facilitation Effect

the phenomenon that describes how people tend to perform simple well-learned tasks better when other people are present

Deindividuation

when an individual seems to lose himself or herself in the group's identity

Bystander Effect

The finding that the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help

Social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Groupthink

the tendency of group members to conform, resulting in a narrow view of some issue

Group Polarization

tendency of group members to move to an extreme position after discussing an issue as a group

Attribution Theory

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

dispositional attribution

assuming that another's behavior is due to personality factors, not situational ones

Situational Attribution

attributing behavior to the environment

Fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Actor/observer bias

the tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities

Self-serving bias

the tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors

Optimism bias

The belief that bad things happen to other people but not to us

Just world belief

good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people

Elaboration-Likelihood Model

a theory of how persuasive messages lead to attitude changes

Central: Persuaded by content of argument

Peripheral: Persuaded by superficial or secondary characteristics of argument

Personality Traits

openness to experiences

conscientiousness

extraversion

agreeableness

neuroticism

Life Course Perspective

the study of changes in individuals' lives over time, and how those changes are related to historical events

psychoanalytic perspective

the perspective that stresses the influences of unconscious forces on human behavior

Freud's Psychosexual Stages

1. Oral Stage (0-1)

2. Anal Stage (1-3)

3. Phallic Stage (3-6)

4. Latency Stage (6-12)

5. Genital Stage (12+)

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages

1. Trust vs. Mistrust (birth-1 year)

2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (2-3 years)

3. Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 years)

4. Industry vs. Inferiority (6-11 years)

5. Identity vs. Identity Diffusion (12-18 years)

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (early adulthood: 19-mid 20s)

7. Generativity vs. Stagnation/Self-Absorbtion (middle age: late 20s-50s)

8. Integrity vs. Dispair (old age: 60s and beyond)

Behaviorist Perspective

personality is a result of learned behavior patterns based on a person's environment

B.F. Skinner

Humanist Perspective

Driven by actualizing tendency to realize own highest potential; conflicts occur when this is thwarted

Social Cognitive Perspective

according to this perspective, personality is formed by a reciprocal interaction among behavioral, cognitive, and environmental factors

Albert Bandura

Drive-Reduction Theory

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

James-Lange Theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

Cannon-Bard Theory

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

Schachter-Singer Theory

A theory of emotion that states that both physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal must occur before an emotion is consciously experienced.

Components of Attitude

affective - Feelings about person/obj/event

behavioral - internal and external responses

cognitive - thoughts and beliefs

Cognitive Dissonance

unpleasant mental experience of tension resulting from two conflicting thoughts or beliefs

Anxiety Disorders

psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

Depressive Disorders

Mood disorders in which the individual suffers from depression—an unrelenting lack of pleasure in life.

Bipolar Disorder

A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.

Bipolar I: Manic-depressive

Bipolar II: Hypomanic episodes

Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders

Delusions, hallucinations, and/or disorganized speech

Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders

a group of mental disorders distinguished by their origin in stressful events

Personality Disorders

psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning

Somatic Symptom Disorders

Psychological difficulties that take on a physical (somatic) form, but for which there is no medical cause

Dissociative Disorders

conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

this category, which also includes related disorders, describes the set of disorders where people feel the need to check things repeatedly or have certain thoughts repeatedly, without the ability to control these thoughts or activities

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

a group of conditions manifested early in development that are characterized by developmental deficits that produce impairments of personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning

Neurocognitive Disorders

acquired disorders marked by cognitive deficits

Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders

a group of disorders marked by regular overuse of or dependence on psychoactive substances that affect the central nervous system

Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders

inability to control inappropriate behaviours

Feeding and Eating Disorders

Characterized by persistent disturbance of eating behavior, leading to altered consumption or absorption of food that significantly impairs physical health and/or psychosocial functioning

Dyssomnias

Abnormalities in the amount, quality, or timing of sleep.

Insomnia

Difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.

Sleep apneas

During sleep, breathing stops for 20 seconds or more until the person wakes a little, gulps in air, and settles back to sleep; this cycle may be repeated hundreds of times per night.

Parasomnias

Abnormal behaviors such as nightmares or sleepwalking that occur during sleep.

Night terrors

a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during Stage 4 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered

Stages of Sleep

Stage 1

Theta: Dozing off; slower frequencies and higher voltages

Stage 2

shows theta waves along with sleep spindles and K complexes

Stage 3 and 4

Delta: low frequency, high voltage sleep wave; becomes difficult to rouse someone from sleep

REM

Similar to beta waves, where dreams occur

Depressant Drugs

inhibit the activity of the central nervous system

Stimulant Drugs

drugs that stimulate or excite the central nervous system

Hallucinogenic Drugs

Produce a temporary loss of contact with reality and changes in emotion, perception, and thought