Psychology Review: Human Development, Stress, Personality, and Social Psychology

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering developmental psychology, stress and health, personality theories and tests, and social psychology concepts from Chapters 9 through 12.

Egocentric

A characteristic where a young child is unable to take someone else's point of view.

Personal fable

A cognitive phenomenon where adolescents believe they are special, invincible and not subject to the usual risks of the real world.

Post-conventional morality

The highest level of moral development, where decisions are made based on your own ethical principals instead of laws, grounded in universal human rights.

Zone of proximal development

Refers to tasks that can be completed with guidance from someone who knows more than the learner.

Conventional morality

A level of moral development where a person follows rules and laws in society to keep things running smoothly.

Rooting reflex

An automatic reflex in infants where they turn their head towards any touch on their cheeks to find a nipple to feed.

Industry vs Inferiority (Erikson)

The developmental stage when school aged children learn how to become competent by developing skills in academics and socially.

Authoritative parenting

A parenting style where parents are caring and responsive but have clear boundaries.

Identity vs role confusion (Erikson)

The main developmental challenge during adolescence.

Fluid intelligence

The ability to think quickly, abstractly and solve new problems without prior knowledge.

Generativity vs Stagnation

The stage when middle aged adults want to give back to future generations by becoming involved in their work, family or community.

Stress

A psychological and physiological reaction that occurs when demands from the environment exceed our ability to cope.

General adaptation syndrome

A predictable sequence of three stages (Alarm stage, Resistance, Exhaustion) that occur in the body when exposed to prolonged stressors.

Corticosteroids

Stress hormones secreted from the adrenal glands that help reduce inflammation, control metabolism and provide energy.

Approach-avoidance conflict

A conflict that occurs when there are both positive and negative aspects to one goal or decision.

Chronic stressors

Long term demands from the environment.

Internal locus of control

The belief that what happens in your life is mainly because of your choices.

Endocrine system

A body system that helps to regulate stress by secreting hormones (e.g. Cortisol and adrenaline) via the HPA axis.

Fight or flight response

A physiological reaction during which the sympathetic nervous system is activated, causing an increased heart rate, widened airways and secretion of stress hormones.

Self-efficacy

A person's belief in their ability to perform certain actions to achieve certain results.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A mental health problem that can occur after witnessing or experiencing a frightening event, causing flashbacks, hyperarousal and avoidance.

Hardiness

A personality trait that makes people more resistant to stress, characterized by commitment, control and seeing challenges as opportunities.

Frustration

An emotion caused by obstacles preventing you from achieving your goal.

Type A personality

A personality type where a person can be very competitive, urgent, impatient and hostile.

Inferiority complex (Adler)

An overwhelming feeling of being inadequate due to an inability to overcome feelings of inferiority during childhood.

Defence mechanisms

Unconscious strategies used by the ego to protect a person from anxiety.

Cardinal trait

An extreme personality trait that will influence nearly all of a person's choices and behaviours.

Subjective value

The value a person places on a reward.

Introversion

A personality trait where a person focuses on their inner thoughts and feelings, often enjoying quiet environments.

Expectancy

The expectation of an outcome from a behaviour.

Locus of control

A set of beliefs a person has about whether events in their life are influenced by internal or external factors.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

A popular objective test used to measure psychological traits and help diagnose mental disorders.

Genital stage (Freud)

The final psychosexual stage occurring from puberty onwards, where sexual urges return with a focus on mature and consensual relationships.

Personal unconscious (Jung)

The region where forgotten, suppressed or subconscious memories of an individual are stored.

Reciprocal determinism (Bandura)

The idea that personality is influenced by the interaction between cognitive factors, behaviours and the environment.

Objective personality test

A standardised test that uses set formats such as multiple choice questions.

Personality trait

A stable long term characteristic that influences how someone thinks, feels and behaves.

Anal-retentive personality (Freud)

A personality type that develops from being fixated during potty training, resulting in an adult who is overly tidy, organised, strict and miserly.

Unconditional positive regard

Completely accepting someone without judging them.

Projective tests

Tests, such as Rorschach ink blots, that are most associated with the psychodynamic perspective.

Openness to experience (Big Five)

A personality trait characterized by being imaginative, curious, enjoying art and being willing to try new ideas.

Self-serving bias

The tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors but blame our failures on external factors.

Personal identity

The unique characteristics, abilities, memories and traits that make us different.

Obedience

When a person changes their behaviour due to obeying a direct instruction from an authority figure.

Matching hypothesis

The theory suggesting that people are more likely to form romantic relationships with someone similar in physical attractiveness.

Sternberg's triangular theory of love

A theoretical model of love consisting of three components: Intimacy, Passion, and Commitment.

Stereotype

A generalised belief about a group of people.

Milgram's study of obedience

An experiment where teachers were told to give learners increasingly strong electric shocks every time they got a memory question wrong.

Foot-in-the-door technique

A persuasion method where you ask someone a small request, followed by a bigger request.

Door-in-the-face technique

A persuasion method where you ask an unreasonable large request, have them say no, and then ask for something smaller that now seems reasonable.

Social schemas

Organised knowledge that helps us understand information about social situations.

Elaboration likelihood model

A model that explains how people can be persuaded through the central route (strong arguments) or the peripheral route (superficial cues).

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to over attribute internal characteristics and under attribute situational factors to others.

Prosocial behaviour

Behaviour that is done voluntarily to help others.

Testosterone

A hormone often associated with aggression.

Social facilitation

When performance improves on simple or well practiced tasks when in the presence of an audience.

Discrimination

Unfair negative behaviour towards someone because they belong to a certain group.

Prejudice

An unfair negative emotion towards someone because they belong to a certain group.