Key psychology definitions

Attitude

an evaluation made up of the feelings, beliefs and behaviours towards a person, social group, event or object

Attitude Object

the target of judgement related to an attitude, such as an object, person, event or social group

Explicit Attitude

conscious judgements held towards an attitude object

Implicit Attitude

unconscious judgements held towards an attitude object

Cognitive Dissonance

a feeling of mental discomfort when contradictory information is perceived by a person

Brain Plasticity

the brains malleability or ability to change. it is the ability of the brain to rewire itself or modify it's connections

Adaptive Plasticity

the ability of neural connections in the brain to reorganise in response to learning new information or to compensate for lost functions and take advantage of remaining functions

Developmental Plasticity

begins in utero. the ability of neural connections in the brain to reorganise in response to sensory input from the environment

Replacement (animal ethics)

refers to replacing the experimental animals with non-animal solutions
- e.g. use of cell cultures, saliva, hair

Reduction (animal ethics)

refers to strategies that reduce the number of animals used in an experiment
- e.g. performing multiple experiments simultaneously, well planned experiment

Refinement (animal ethics)

refers to employing methods that reduce pain or distress in experimental animals
- e.g. minimal restraints, reducing stress in animals

Hemispheric Speicalisation

the dominance of one hemisphere over another in specific functions

Hemispheric Dominance/lateralisation

the tendency for one hemisphere to control one function, by sending inhibitory messages to the other hemisphere

Population

the entire group of people belonging to a particular category. it is the larger group of research interest from which a sample is to be drawn

Sample

the group of participants in a research study. they are selected from and are representative of the population

Development

the relatively permanent changes that occur in a person, starting at conception and continuing across the lifespan

Schema

a cognitive framework or concept that helps organise and interpret information

Social Interaction

comprises assessing and evaluating others using the available information

Social Cognition

the noticing, remembering and recalling of information about the social environment

Attachment

the close emotional bond or relationship between an infant and the mother/primary caregiver

Critical Period

a lifespan stage during which individuals are more sensitive to environmental influences and normal development relies on these particular life experiences occurring

Monotropy

attachment with only one attachment figure

Maternal Deprivation

the consequences an individual experiences when they are separated from their mother as a child and attachment is prevented from occurring

Stereotype

an oversimplified belief about an outgroup pertaining to either positive or negative thoughts about it's members

Social Identity

the sense of self in terms of group membership

Social Categorisation

The process of identifying a person as a member of a certain group because of features they share

Ingroup

the group an individual associates with

Outgroup

any group an individual does not belong to

Social Comparison

comparing the joined group with other groups

Prejudice

pre- judgement it is an unjustifiable, and usually negative attitude towards a group and its members

Discrimination

the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of age, sex, race or ability

Racism

prejudice and discrimination against people based on their race

Just-World Phenomenon

people make dispositional attributions by blaming victims for the misfortune they are having

Social Influence

when an individuals thoughts, feelings or actions are influenced by other people

Attribution Theory

the process of attaching meaning to our behaviour, or the behaviour of others by looking for causes to explain the behaviour

Dispositional Attribution

assigning the cause of behaviour to internal factors within a person

Situational Attribution

assigning the cause of behaviour to environmental factors external to the person

Self-Serving Bias

tendency for an individual to maintain self esteem by attributing positive events to their own character but negative events to external factors

Fundamental Attribution Error

peoples tendency to place undue emphasis on dispositional factors to explain someone elses negative behaviour in a given situation rather than external factors

Conformity

changing behaviour to align with those of a group due to real or implied pressure

Normative Influence

when a person conforms to group standards in order to be accepted by the group and to not stand out

Informational Influence

occurs when people conform because they would like to be correct and currently lack the information needed to be sure of their opinion or belief

Unanimity

when people all agree about the same thing

Deindividuation

the process whereby people have reduced self awareness and feel less inhibited in a group situation

Social Loafing

the tendency for an individual to reduce their effort when working in a social group

Sucker Effect

an individual reducing their effort when working in a group after realising other group members are not putting in effort. individuals avoid being a sucker and doing more work than other members of the group

Free Rider Effect

an individual reducing their effort when working in a group after realising they believe other group members can successfully complete the task without their input

Bystander

person present at an event but not taking part

Bystander Effect

proposes that the more people present, the less likely help will be offered to any of the individuals

Antisocial Behaviour

voluntary and intentional behaviour designed to hurt or cause distress to another person physically or psychologically

Obedience

changing behaviour in response to a direct order by an authority figure

Pro-Social Behaviour

voluntary and intentional behaviour that promotes social acceptance or acts of kindness intended to benefit society and its members

Reciprocity Principle

the social norm where a person feels obligated to return the favour to a person that does something for them. there is no expectation of a return favour though, due to the assumption that the person being helped would do the same thing that happens

Social Responsibility

the theory that individuals are accountable for acting in a way that benefits society

Social Responsibility Norm

refers to the belief that everyone ought to help others who are less fortunate or unable to help themselves

Empathy

the ability to sense and share the thoughts or feelings of another person

Altruism

helping others without expecting any personal reward