Psychology Test Two

Affect heuristic

A rule of thumb in which we choose between alternatives based on emotional or “gut” reactions to stimuli.

Assessment Reports

Used to communicate the assessment process, including approach, tests, and interpretations.

Availability heuristic

A rule of thumb in which the frequency of an event’s occurrence is predicted by the ease with which the event is brought to mind.

Cognition

Internal mental processes including information processing, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.

Concept

An organizing principle derived from experience.

Crystallized intelligence

The ability to think logically using specific learned knowledge.

Designing the Assessment

What information is necessary to answer our question (methods, sources, settings, tests).

Exemplar

A specific member of a category used to represent the category.

Fluid intelligence

The ability to think logically without the need to use learned knowledge.

General intelligence (g)

A measure of an individual’s overall intelligence as opposed to specific abilities.

Heuristic

A shortcut to problem solving; also known as a rule of thumb.

Intelligence

The ability to understand complex ideas, adapt effectively to the environment, learn from experience, engage in reasoning, and overcome obstacles.

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

A measure of individual intelligence relative to a statistically normal curve.

Knowledge

The entire body of information acquired through study, investigation, observation, experience.

Lexical Knowledge

The comprehensive understanding and mental storage of words in a language.

Making sense of the Data

Interpretation of the test results to answer the questions.

Problem

A situation in which a current state is separated from an ideal state by obstacles.

Problem solving

The use of information to meet a specific goal.

Prototype

A representation of a category formed by averaging all members of the category.

Recognition heuristic

A rule of thumb in which a higher value is placed on the more easily recognized alternative.

Referral Question

Looks at what we are evaluating an individual for (who, what, why).

Representativeness heuristic

A rule of thumb in which stimuli similar to a prototype are believed to be more likely than stimuli that are dissimilar to a prototype.

Schema

A mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts.

Specific Learning Disability

Disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language (spoken or written) that may manifest in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations.

Utility Theory

Suggests we compute expected outcomes of choices and select the best one.

Accommodation

The incorporation of new learning into an existing schema that requires revision of the schema.

Adolescence

A period of development beginning at puberty and ending at young adulthood.

Assimilation

The incorporation of new learning into an existing schema without the need to revise the schema.

Attachment

Emotional bond linking an infant to a parent or caregiver.

Autonomy

An individual’s freedom to make choices.

Behavioral Regulation

Supervision of the child’s behavior accompanied by consistent discipline and clear expectations.

Chronosystem

Time dimension including life transitions, historical events, and societal changes that reshape development across the lifespan.

Cognitive Development

Brain changes.

Complex/Multifactorial Conditions

Combination of multiple genetic factors.

Concrete operational stage

Jean Piaget’s stage of development beginning at the age of 6 years and ending at the age of 12 years and characterized by logical but not abstract reasoning.

Conservation

The ability to understand that changing the form or appearance of an object does not change its quantity.

Conventional morality

Lawrence Kohlberg’s stage of moral development in which moral choices are made according to law or public opinion.

Disorganized Attachment

Mix of behaviors that indicate fear or confusion towards caregiver.

Down Syndrome

Child receives a full or partial third copy of the 21st chromosome because of faulty cell division.

Ecological view

Psychologists ask questions about the impact of culture and environment on development.

Ecological Systems Theory

Individual’s environment is a nested arrangement of structures, each contained within the next.

Egocentrism

Limitations on the ability to understand the point of view of other people.

Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development

According to Erik Erikson (1902–1994), psychosocial development includes 8 stages of personality development; social relationships shape our sense of self.

Stage 1: Trust vs. mistrust

The first stage of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Stage 2: Autonomy vs. shame and doubt

The second stage of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Stage 3: Initiative vs. guilt

The third stage of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Stage 4: Industry vs. inferiority

The fourth stage of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Stage 5: Identity vs. role confusion

The fifth stage of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Stage 6: Intimacy vs. isolation

The sixth stage of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Stage 7: Generativity vs. stagnation

The seventh stage of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Stage 8: Ego integrity vs. despair

The eighth stage of Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Exosystem

Indirect influences the individual doesn’t directly experience.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

A condition resulting from alcohol consumption by the mother during pregnancy that produces physical abnormalities and cognitive and behavioral problems in her child.

Formal operational stage

Jean Piaget’s stage of development beginning at age 12 and extending through adulthood and characterized by mature reasoning capabilities.

Identity

A consistent, unified sense of self.

Identity Development

Establishing sense of self.

Insecure-avoidant attachment

A pattern characterized by emotional distance, independence, and minimal visible reliance on caregivers.

Insecure-Ambivalent/Resistant

Mixed feelings of dependency and anger towards caregivers characterized by anxiety.

Macrosystem

Broader cultural context shaping all systems.

Mesosystem

Connections between microsystem.

Microsystem

Immediate environment and direct relationships.

Mismatch Model

Accounts for greater levels of risk-taking and sensation-seeking that characterizes adolescence compared to childhood and adulthood.

Object permanence

The ability to form mental representations of objects that are no longer present.

Parental Support

Empathy and recognition of the child’s perspective.

Personal Fable

Adolescent belief that they are invulnerable to danger.

Physical Development

Growth and bodily change.

Postconventional morality

Lawrence Kohlberg’s stage at which moral choices are made according to personal standards and reason.

Postformal thought

Critical thinking.

Preconventional morality

Lawrence Kohlberg’s stage at which moral choices are made according to expectations of reward or punishment.

Preoperational stage

Jean Piaget’s stage of development beginning at the age of 2 years and ending at the age of 6 years and characterized by use of symbols, egocentrism, and limits on the ability to reason logically.

Puberty

A period of physical changes leading to sexual maturity.

Secure attachment

A pattern of infant–caregiver bonding in which children explore confidently and return to the parent or caregiver for reassurance.

Sensorimotor stage

Jean Piaget’s stage of development beginning at birth and ending at the age of 2 years and characterized by active exploration of the environment.

Single-gene disorders

Inherited diseases caused by a mutation in one specific gene, resulting in abnormal protein function or structure.

Social/emotional Development

Learning how to express, understand, control feelings, develop relationships and social skills.

Teratogen

A chemical agent that can harm the zygote, embryo, or fetus.

Theory of mind (TOM)

The understanding that others have thoughts that are different from one’s own.

Universal view

Psychologists look for age-related behaviors that are found across the entire human species.

Agreeableness

A Big Five personality trait characterized by trustworthiness, altruism, trust, compliance, modesty, and tender mindedness.

Big Five theory

A trait theory that identifies five main characteristics that account for most individual differences in personality.

Central Trait

Characteristics that clearly define and differentiate a person (how you describe someone).

Conscientiousness

A Big Five personality trait characterized by competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline, and deliberation.

Extroversion

One of the Big Five traits characterized by warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking, and positive emotion; opposite of introversion.

Interpersonal self

The self we are in the presence of other people.

Introversion

One of the Big Five traits characterized by coolness, reserve, passivity, inactivity, caution, and negative emotion; opposite of extroversion.

Locus of control

A cognitive expectancy featured in social–cognitive learning theories of personality about the source of individual outcomes.

External locus of control

Sees outcomes as resulting from luck or chance.

Internal locus of control

Sees outcomes as the result of individual effort.

Neuroticism

A Big Five personality trait characterized by anxiety, angry hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsivity, and vulnerability.

Openness

A Big Five personality trait characterized by an appreciation for fantasy, feelings, actions, ideas, values, and aesthetics.

Personality

Our characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Personality inventory

An objective test, often using numbered scales or multiple choice, used to assess personality.

Projective test

A test of personality based on Freudian theory that provides an ambiguous stimulus onto which test takers “project” their personality.

Reciprocal determinism

A social–cognitive learning theory of personality that features the mutual influence of the person and that of the situation on each other.

Reactivity

Describes differences in responses to novel or challenging stimuli.

Self

Patterns of thought, feelings, and actions we perceive in our own minds.

Self-awareness

Knowledge of your own traits, feelings, roles, and memories.

Self-concept

People’s description of their own characteristics.

Self-consciousness

Awareness of our own characteristics and the way the self is perceived by others.

Self-esteem

A judgment of the value of the self.