APPsychCattleDrive1

Absolute threshold

The minimum level of stimulation needed for a person to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter involved in learning, memory, and muscle movement.

Achievement (adolescent development)

A stage where adolescents explore and commit to personal values and goals.

Achievement tests

Tests designed to measure a person's knowledge and skills in a specific area.

Acquisition

The initial stage in classical conditioning where a neutral stimulus begins to evoke a conditioned response.

Action potential

A brief electrical charge that travels down a neuron's axon, enabling nerve signal transmission.

Active listening

A communication technique involving full attention, understanding, and feedback during conversation.

Actor/observer bias

The tendency to attribute our own behavior to external causes and others' behavior to internal causes.

Addiction

A chronic disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences.

Adrenaline

A hormone released by the adrenal glands during stress, increasing heart rate and energy.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

Traumatic events in childhood that are linked to long-term health and behavior issues.

Affect

The observable expression of emotion.

Agonists

Chemicals that mimic neurotransmitters and activate receptors.

Agreeableness

A Big Five personality trait describing someone as cooperative, compassionate, and friendly.

Alarm reaction phase (GAS)

The first phase in Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome; the body's immediate reaction to stress.

Algorithms

Step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution to a problem.

All-or-nothing principle

A neuron either fires completely or not at all.

Altruism

Unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

Amplitude

The height of a wave, often related to the intensity of sound or light.

Amygdala

A brain structure involved in emotion processing, particularly fear and aggression.

Animism

A belief in early childhood that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities.

Antagonists

Drugs that block neurotransmitter functioning.

Anterograde amnesia

The inability to form new long-term memories after a brain injury.

Anxious attachment

An insecure attachment style characterized by fear of abandonment and clinginess.

Applied behavior analysis

A therapy using reinforcement principles to improve socially significant behaviors.

Aptitude tests

Tests that predict a person's future performance or capacity to learn.

Arousal theory

A theory suggesting people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal.

Association

A mental connection between concepts, events, or mental states.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Authoritarian parenting

A strict, controlling parenting style that emphasizes obedience.

Authoritative parenting

A balanced parenting style characterized by warmth and structure.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

A developmental disorder involving challenges in social interaction, communication, and restricted behaviors.

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of information, such as time or word meanings.

Autonomic nervous system

The part of the nervous system controlling involuntary bodily functions like heartbeat and digestion.

Aversion therapies

Behavioral therapies pairing an unwanted behavior with discomfort to reduce that behavior.

Avoidant attachment

A style where individuals avoid closeness and emotional connection in relationships.

Big Five theory

A personality model outlining five broad traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Bimodal distribution

A frequency distribution with two distinct peaks or modes.

Biofeedback

A technique where individuals learn to control bodily processes through real-time monitoring.

Bipolar I Disorder

A mood disorder with full manic episodes and possible depressive episodes.

Bipolar II Disorder

Involves hypomanic episodes and major depressive episodes, without full manic episodes.

Bottom-up processing

Information processing that starts with sensory input and builds toward perception.

Broca's area

A region in the frontal lobe involved in speech production.

Bystander effect

Tendency to be less likely to help in an emergency when others are present.

Case study

An in-depth investigation of a single individual or group.

Catatonia

A state of immobility and unresponsiveness, often seen in schizophrenia.

Central nervous system

Comprises the brain and spinal cord; controls most functions of the body and mind.

Central route of persuasion

Persuasion based on logic, reasoning, and the content of the argument.

Cerebellum

A brain structure involved in coordination and balance.

Cerebral cortex

The brain's outer layer responsible for higher-level functions like perception, thought, and language.

Chronosystem

In Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, it refers to the impact of time and life transitions on development.

Circadian rhythm

The biological clock regulating daily body rhythms like sleep and wakefulness.

Classical conditioning

A learning process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a reflexive response.

Cognitive dissonance

The mental discomfort from holding conflicting beliefs or behaviors.

Cognitive maps

Mental representations of physical spaces.

Collectivism

A cultural value that emphasizes group goals over individual ones.

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviors performed to reduce anxiety caused by obsessions.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget's stage (ages 7-11) when children gain logical thinking about concrete events.

Conditioned response (CR)

A learned reaction to a previously neutral stimulus.

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, triggers a conditioned response.

Confidentiality

Ethical principle requiring therapists and researchers to keep participant information private.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions.

Conformity

Adjusting behavior or beliefs to match those of a group.

Confounding variable

An outside influence that affects the results of an experiment, making it hard to determine cause and effect.

Conscientiousness

A personality trait involving being organized, responsible, and hardworking.

Consciousness

Our awareness of ourselves and our environment.

Conservation

The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

Continuous development

The view that development is a gradual, cumulative process.

Control group

In experiments, the group that does not receive the independent variable; used for comparison.

Convergent thinking

Narrowing down multiple possibilities to determine the single best solution.

Corpus callosum

The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres.

Correlation

A measure of the relationship between two variables.

Correlation coefficient

A statistical index (from -1.0 to +1.0) indicating the strength and direction of a relationship.

Counterconditioning

A therapy that replaces unwanted responses with new, more desirable ones.

Critical periods

Times during which certain skills or abilities are most easily learned.

Crystallized intelligence

Knowledge and skills acquired through experience and education.

Cultural norms

Shared expectations and rules that guide behavior within a group.

Debriefing

Informing participants about the true purpose of a study after it has concluded.

Deception

Misleading participants about the true purpose of a study to maintain integrity of the results.

Defense mechanisms

Unconscious strategies the ego uses to manage anxiety and conflict.

Deindividuation

Loss of self-awareness and restraint in group settings that foster anonymity.

Delusions

Strongly held false beliefs not based in reality, often seen in psychotic disorders.

Denial

Refusing to accept reality or facts as a way to cope with distress.

Dependent variable

The outcome factor measured in an experiment; it is affected by the independent variable.

Depolarization

A change in a neuron's membrane potential, making it more likely to fire an action potential.

Depression

A mood disorder characterized by persistent sadness, lack of interest, and other emotional and physical symptoms.

Depth perception

The ability to judge the distance and three-dimensionality of objects.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

A manual used by clinicians to diagnose mental disorders.

Dialectical behavior therapy

A cognitive-behavioral therapy focused on emotional regulation and mindfulness, often used for borderline personality disorder.

Diathesis-stress model

A theory that psychological disorders result from a genetic predisposition and environmental stressors.

Diffusion (adolescent development)

A stage of identity where individuals lack direction or commitment to values and goals.

Diffusion of responsibility

Reduction in sense of personal responsibility in the presence of others.

Discontinuous development

The idea that development occurs in distinct stages.

Dispositional attributions

Attributing someone's behavior to their personality or character.

Dissociative amnesia

Memory loss of personal information, usually after trauma or stress.

Dissociative identity disorder

A disorder where a person has two or more distinct identities or personalities.

Divergent thinking

Creative thinking that generates many possible solutions to a problem.

Door-in-the-face technique

Persuasion strategy involving a large request followed by a smaller, more reasonable one.

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, movement, and attention.

Dopamine hypothesis

The theory that schizophrenia is related to overactivity of dopamine neurotransmission.