AP Psych Unit 7 Vocab

Basal metabloic rate

 the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure

Cannon Brad Theory

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

Collective Unconscious

 the concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history 

Collectivism

 giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly

Defense Mechanism

 the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Drive-reduction theory

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

Ego

the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that meditates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality

Emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience

Empirically derived test

 a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

Estrogens

sex hormones secreted in greater amounts by females than by males and contributing to female sex characteristics

Facial Feedback effect

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

False Consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Fixation

A lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

Free Association

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

General Adaptation Syndrome

 (GAS) concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases-  alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with psychological needs that must first be satisfied before before reaching a higher level of needs

Homeostasis

 a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry

Id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to be satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

Identification

the process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

Incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Individualism

giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes

Instinct

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

James-Lange Theory

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

MMPI

 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests

Motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Narcissism

excessive self love and self-absorption

Oedipus Complex

a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father 

Personality

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

Personality Inventory

a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors

Projective Test

a personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

Psychoanalysis

theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts 

Psychophysiological illness

literally, “mind-body” illness; stress related physical illness

Psychosexual stages

 the childhood stages of development during which id’s pleasure seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Reciprical determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

Repression

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

Rorscharch inkblot test

a set of 10 inkblots that seek to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Self

the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Self-actualization

the motivation to fulfill someone’s potential; One of Maslow’s needs after self-esteem

Self-efficacy

 one’s sense of competence and effectiveness

Self-esteem

one’s feelings of high or low self worth

Self-Serving Bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Set Point

the point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set

Sexual Dysfunction

 a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning

Sexual response cycle

the four stages of sexual responding: excitement

Spotlight Effect

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders 

Stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Superego

the part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment and for future aspirations

Tend and Befriend response

 under stress, people often provide support to others and bond with and seek support from others

Terror Management Theory

 a theory of death related anxiety people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Thematic Apperception Test

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

Trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act

Two Factor Theory

the theory that to to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal

Type A

competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger prone people

Type B

easygoing relaxed people

Unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, non-judgemental attitude 

Yerkes Dodson Law

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