PSYC*1000 Exam

Altruism

helping others in need without receiving or expecting reward for doing so

Bystander effect

the observation that an individual is less likely to help when they perceive that others are not helping

Altruism

helping others in need without receiving or expecting reward for doing so

Bystander effect

the observation that an individual is less likely to help when they perceive that others are not helping

Diffusion of responsibility

the reduced personal responsibility that a person feels when more people are present in a situation

Groupthink

a decision-making problem in which group members avoid arguments and strive for agreement

Informational influence

occurs when people feel the group is giving them useful information

Mimicry

taking on for ourselves the behaviours, emotional displays, and facial expressions of others

Normative influence

the result of social pressure to adopt a group's perspective in order to be accepted, rather than rejected, by a group

Social facilitation

occurs when one's performance is affected by the presence of others

Social loafing

occurs when an individual puts less effort into working on a task with others

Social norms

the (usually written) guidelines for how to behave in social contexts

Social roles

guidelines that apply to specific positions within the group

Ostracism

being ignored or excluded from social contact

Contact hypothesis

predicts that social contact between members of different groups is extremely important to overcoming prejudice

Dual-process models

models of behaviour that account for both implicit and explicit processes

External attribution (situational)

the observer explains the actor's behaviour as the result of the situation

False consensus effect

tendency to project the self-concept onto the social world

Fundamental attribution error (FAE)

the tendency to over-emphasize internal (dispositional) attributions and under-emphasize external (situational) factors when explaining other people's behaviour

Implicit processes

correspond to "unconscious" thought: intuitive, automatic, effortless, very fast, and operate largely outside of our intentional control

Ingroup bias

positive biases toward the self get extended to include one's ingroups and people become motivated to see their ingroups as superior to their outgroups

Ingroups

groups we feel positively toward and identify with

Internal attribution (dispositional)

the observer explains the behaviour of the actor in terms of some innate quality of that person

Naïve realism

the assumption that our perceptions of reality are accurate, that we see things the way that they are

Outgroups

those "other" groups that we don't identify with

Person perception

the processes by which individuals categorize and form judgments about other people

Prejudice

affective, emotionally laden responses to members of outgroups, including holding negative attitudes and making critical judgments of other groups

Self-fulfilling prophecies

a first impression (or an expectation) affects one's behaviour, and then that affects other people's behaviour, leading one to "confirm" the initial impression or expectation

Self-serving biases

biased ways of processing self-relevant information to enhance our positive self-evaluation

Stereotype

a cognitive structure, a set of beliefs about the characteristics that are held by members of a specific social group; these beliefs function as schemas, serving to guide how we process information about our social world

Thin slices of behaviour

very small samples of a person's behaviour

Discrimination

behaviour that disfavours or disadvantages members of a certain social group

Attitude inoculation

a strategy for strengthening attitudes and making them more resistant to change by first exposing people to a weak counter-argument and then refuting that argument

Central route to persuasion

focuses on facts, logic, and the content of a message in order to persuade

Cognitive dissonance theory

when we hold inconsistent beliefs, it creates a kind of aversive inner tension, or "dissonance"; we are then motivated to reduce this tension in whatever way we can

Construal-level theory

describes how information affects us differently depending on our psychological distance from the information

Door-in-the-face technique

involves asking for something relatively big, then following with a request for something relatively small

Elaboration likelihood model (ELM)

a dual-process model of persuasion that predicts whether factual information or other types of information will be most influential

Foot-in-the-door technique

involves making a simple request followed by a more substantial request

Identifiable victim effect

people are more powerfully moved to action by the story of a single suffering person than by information about a whole group of people

Peripheral route to persuasion

focuses on features of the issue or presentation that are not factual

Body mass index (BMI)

a statistic commonly used for estimating a healthy body weight given an individual's height

Set point

a hypothesized mechanism that serves to maintain body weight around a physiologically programmed level

Social contagion

the often subtle, unintentional spreading of a behaviour as a result of a social interactions

Social resilience

the ability to keep positive relationships and to endure and recover from social isolation and life stressors

Appraisal

the cognitive act of assessing and evaluating the potential threat and demands of an event

Coronary heart disease

a condition in which plaques form in the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood and oxygen, resulting in restricted blood flow

Cortisol

a hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex (the outer part of the adrenal gland) that prepares the body to respond to stressful circumstances

Fight-or-flight response

a set of physiological changes that occur in response to psychological or physical threats

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

a theory of stress responses involving stages of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

a neural and economic circuit that provides communication between the nervous system (the hypothalamus) and the endocrine system (pituitary and adrenal glands)

Individual zone of optimal functioning (IZOF)

a range of emotional intensity in which an individual is most likely to perform at their best

Oxytocin

a hormone involved in reproduction, childbirth, and social bonding

Psychoneuroimmunology

the study of the relationship between immune system and nervous system functioning

Stress

a psychological and physiological reaction that occurs when perceived demands exceed existing resources to meet those demands

Type A personality

people who tend to be impatient and worry about time, and are easily angered, competitive, and highly motivated

Type B personality

people who are more laid-back and characterized by a patient, easygoing, and relaxed disposition

Stages of Selye's general adaptation syndrome

alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)

a protein in the nervous system that promotes survival, growth, and formation of new synapses

Compensatory control

psychological strategies people use to preserve a sense of non-random order when personal control is compromised

Coping

the processes used to manage demands, stress, and conflict

Learned helplessness

an acquired suppression of avoidance or escape behaviour in response to unpleasant, uncontrollable circumstances

Meditation

any procedure that involves a shift in consciousness to a state in which an individual is highly focused, aware, and in control of mental processes

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)

a structured relaxation program based on elements of mindfulness meditation

Negative affectivity

the tendency to respond to problems with a pattern of anxiety, hostility, anger, guilt or nervousness

Optimism

the tendency to have a favourable, constructive view on situations and to expect positive outcomes

Pessimism

the tendency to have a negative perception of life and expect negative outcomes

Pessimistic explanatory style

the tendency to interpret and explain negative events as internally based (i.e., as being due to that person rather than to an external situation) and as a constant, stable quality

Positive psychology

uses scientific methods to study human strengths and potential

Post-traumatic growth

the capacity to grow and experience long-term positive effects in response to negative events

Resilience

the ability to effectively recover from illness or adversity

Abnormal psychology

the psychological study of mental illness

Asylums

residential facilities for the mentally ill

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

a developmental disorder in which children show inappropriate levels of hyperactivity and impulsivity while also having problems maintaining their attention to people or activities

Culture-bound syndromes

expressions of distress that re recognized across a given culture but that tend not to appear outside of that culture

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

a standardized manual to aid in the diagnosis of disorders

Maladaptive

a behaviour that causes distress to oneself or others, impairs day-to-day functioning, or increases the risk of injury or harm to oneself or others

Medical model

sees psychological conditions through the same lens as Western medicine tends to see physical conditions, as sets of symptoms, causes, and outcomes, with treatments aimed at changing physiological processes in order to alleviate symptoms

Mental disorder defence

claims that the defendant was in such an extreme, abnormal state of mind when committing the crime that they could not discern that the actions were legally or morally wrong

Autism spectrum disorder

a developmental disorder associated with poor social skills and that may be accompanies by intellectual impairments

Emil Kraepelin

created the first detailed system for classifying different psychological disorders

M'Naghten rule

the standard used to judge whether a defendant was capable of knowing that what they did was wrong

In the legal system, the term "insanity" means

that an individual could not distinguish between right and wrong when they broke the law

Antisocial personality disorder (APD)

a profound lack of empathy of emotional connection with others, a disregard for others' rights or preferences, and a tendency toward imposing one's own desires, often violently, onto others regardless of the consequences for other people or, often when younger, other animals

Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD)

individuals avoid social interactions, including those at school or work, because they feel inadequate and are deeply afraid of being rejected

Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

a disorder characterized by intense extremes between positive and negative emotions, an unstable sense of self, impulsivity, and difficult social relationships

Dependent personality disorder (DPD)

an excessive need to be taken care of, often requiring frequent assurance from others and help with everyday decision making

Dissociative disorder

a category of mental disorders characterized by a split between conscious awareness and their feelings, cognitions, memory, and identity

Dissociative identity disorder (DID; sometimes referred to as multiple personality disorder)

a person experiences a split in identity such that they feel different aspects of themselves as though they were separated from each other; this can be severe enough that the person constructs entirely separate personalities, only one of which will generally be in control at a time

Histrionic personality disorder (HPD)

characterized by excessive attention seeking and dramatic behaviour

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD)

characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance and an excessive need for attention and admiration, as well as an intense self-doubt and fear of abandonment

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD)

a disorder in which individuals are perfectionists who are unusually focused on details, organization, and productivity; these individuals also tend to avoid spending money or throwing out old, worthless objects

Paranoid personality disorder (PDP)

individuals are consistently preoccupied by the belief that other people are attempting to harm or deceive them; they often react with anger to these imagined social or physical threats

Personality disorders

particularly unusual patterns of behaviour (relative to one's cultural context), that are maladaptive, distressing to oneself or others, and resistant to change

Schizoid personality disorder

an individual is socially detached; they do not desire close relationships, including being part of a family, and take little pleasure in most activities

Schizotypal personality disorder

a discomfort with close relationships as well as unusual or eccentric thoughts and behaviours

Agoraphobia

an intense fear of having a panic attack in public; as a result or this fear, the individual may begin to avoid public settings and increasingly isolate themself

Anxiety disorders

a category of disorders involving fear of nervousness that is excessive, irrational, and maladaptive

Bipolar disorder

characterized by extreme highs and lows in mood, motivation, and energy

Diathesis-stress model

the interaction between a genetic predisposition for a disorder and life stress

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

involves frequently elevated levels of anxiety, generally from the normal challenges and stresses of everyday life

Major depression

a disorder marked by prolonged periods of sadness, feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness, social withdrawal, and cognitive and physical sluggishness