chapter 10 psych terms - social learning and biological factors

Abstract Learning

This refers to the understanding of concepts that are not tied to specific instances. It involves grasping general principles and applying them in various situations rather than memorizing specific examples.

Emotion-Focused Coping

This coping strategy involves managing emotions in response to stress. Instead of addressing the root cause of stress directly, individuals using this coping strategy may focus on regulating their emotional response to the situation.

Expectancies

In psychology, these refer to the anticipation or belief about what will happen in the future. This can influence behavior, cognition, and emotional experiences.

Gestalt Psychology

is a school of psychology that focuses on the way people perceive and interpret the world. It emphasizes the importance of the whole experience, suggesting that people tend to perceive objects as organized wholes rather than a collection of independent parts.

Insight Learning

This is a type of learning where the solution to a problem suddenly becomes clear, often without prior explicit knowledge or reinforcement. It involves a mental restructuring or reorganization of information to achieve a sudden understanding.

Instinctive Drift

This refers to the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns. In other words, instinctive behaviors may interfere with or "drift" into learned behaviors.

Learned Helplessness

This is a phenomenon where an individual learns to believe that they have no control over a situation, even when there is a possibility for them to change their circumstances. It is often associated with feelings of passivity and a lack of motivation to escape or avoid negative situations.

Locus of Control

refers to an individual's belief about the extent to which they can control or influence events in their life. It can be internal (believing one has control) or external (believing that external factors control one's life).

Premack Principle

Also known as the "Grandma's rule," this principle states that a high-probability behavior can be used to reinforce a low-probability behavior. In other words, a preferred activity can be used as a reward for engaging in a less preferred activity.

Problem-Focused Coping

This coping strategy involves taking direct actions to solve problems and manage stressors. It aims to address the source of stress directly rather than focusing on emotional reactions.

Self Control

involves the ability to regulate one's own behavior, emotions, and impulses. It often requires delaying immediate gratification for the sake of long-term goals.

Albert Bandura

known for his contributions to social learning theory. his research focused on observational learning, where individuals learn by observing the behaviors of others and the consequences of those behaviors. He introduced the concept of self-efficacy, which refers to an individual's belief in their own ability to succeed in specific situations.

John Garcia

An American psychologist known for his work on taste aversion learning. He conducted experiments with rats, demonstrating that animals were more likely to associate nausea with certain tastes (such as flavored water) than with other stimuli. This challenged traditional views on classical conditioning.

Mary Cover Jones

Often considered the "mother of behavior therapy," she was an American psychologist who conducted influential research in the early 20th century. She is best known for her work in behaviorism and is credited with developing systematic desensitization as a method for treating phobias.

David Premack

An American psychologist known for the Premack Principle, which states that a high-probability behavior can be used to reinforce a low-probability behavior. His work has implications for understanding and modifying behavior through reinforcement.

Robert Rescorla

An American psychologist known for his research on classical conditioning and the contingency model of classical conditioning. His work emphasized the importance of the predictive relationship between stimuli in learning.

Edward Tolman

An American psychologist known for his research on cognitive maps and latent learning. Tolman's work challenged behaviorist theories by suggesting that learning can occur without immediate reinforcement and that cognitive processes play a crucial role in behavior.

Joseph Wolpe

A South African psychiatrist and one of the founders of behavior therapy. Wolpe developed systematic desensitization, a therapeutic technique for reducing or eliminating phobias and anxiety through gradual exposure to feared stimuli.