Psychology and Society SS434 MCQ Revision

Vocabulary revision flashcards covering social construction, mind-brain philosophy, schizophrenia, memory, and the role of psychology in war and peace.

Psychology

The scientific study of mind and behaviour.

Social Construction

The way people create and share meanings through social life.

Social Norm

A shared expectation about how people should behave.

Anti-essentialism

The view that people and behaviours do not have one fixed, timeless meaning or nature.

Positivism

The view that knowledge should be based on what can be observed and measured.

Performative Language

Language that can do things, such as making a promise or declaring a marriage.

Discourse

A shared way of talking and thinking about a subject.

Micro Approach

An approach in psychology that looks at everyday talk and interaction.

Macro Approach

An approach in psychology that looks at institutions, social structures and power.

Constructivism

An approach that often focuses on how an individual builds understanding, as opposed to shared social processes.

Dualism

The view that mind and body are separate.

Materialism

The view that the mind comes from the physical activity of the brain.

Functionalism

The view that a mental state is defined by what it does, not by the material it is made from.

Identity Problem

The difficulty of explaining how the same thought can be experienced when brain activity differs.

Access Consciousness

Information a person can report, use to reason, or act on deliberately.

Phenomenological Consciousness

The personal, felt quality of an experience.

Self-monitoring

The ability to assess your own thinking or notice possible errors.

Blindsight

A condition when someone cannot consciously see part of their visual field but can still respond to some things shown there.

Global Workspace Model

The model proposing that consciousness makes some information available to different brain processes.

Qualia

The felt qualities of conscious experiences.

Embodied Cognition

The idea that thinking is shaped partly by the body's interaction with its environment.

Introspection

Asking people to report their own thoughts or experiences.

Reductionism

Explaining a complex behaviour only through a simpler level, such as brain activity.

Positive Symptoms

Experiences added to usual experience, such as delusions or hallucinations.

Negative Symptoms

A reduction in usual experiences or behaviour.

Cognitive Symptoms

Difficulties with thinking and other cognitive skills.

Delusion

A strong belief that is unlikely to be true and is difficult to change.

Four Humours Theory

The historical idea that health depended on a balance of blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile.

Melancholia

A condition linked in humour theory to an excess of black bile.

Dementia Praecox

An older diagnosis for a condition believed to begin early and worsen over time.

Feighner Criteria

A diagnostic framework intended to give clearer, more consistent definitions for psychiatric diagnoses.

Dopamine Hypothesis

The theory that dopamine activity is involved in schizophrenia symptoms.

Hearing Voices Network

A community approach where people can discuss voice-hearing and share support.

Episodic Memory

Memory for events from your life.

Semantic Memory

Memory for facts and general knowledge.

Procedural Memory

Memory for how to do things.

False Memory

A memory for an event that did not happen as remembered, or never happened.

Reconstructive Memory

The concept that remembering can be affected by later information and interpretation.

Source Confusion

Mistaking where a memory or detail came from.

Imagination Inflation

The phenomenon where imagining an event can make it feel more familiar or likely to have happened.

Recovered Memory

A memory that someone reports returning after a period when they could not recall it.

Intrusive Memories

Memories that come to mind without a deliberate attempt to remember.

Betrayal Trauma Theory

A theory that someone who depends on a person who harms them may respond in ways that protect that important relationship.

Psychological Warfare (PsyOps)

Using communication and psychological methods to influence people during conflict.

Social Identity Theory

A theory that helps explain how group membership can lead to favouring one's own group.

Realistic Conflict Theory

A theory suggesting that competition over limited resources can increase hostility between groups.

Superordinate Goals

Shared goals that groups can achieve by cooperating.

Human Ecology Fund

A fund used to channel CIA money into psychological and related research.

Biderman's Chart of Coercion

A framework examining how interrogators could pressure prisoners into compliance through methods like isolation, exhaustion, control of attention and trivial demands.

Complicity (Harper)

The concept that psychologists and institutions may contribute to harmful practices through their research or professional involvement.

Negative Peace

The absence of direct violence or war.

Positive Peace

Building relationships and social conditions that support people living together peacefully.

Structural Violence

Harm caused by social, economic or political systems.

Cultural Violence

Beliefs or practices that justify or normalise violence.