EBQ

Id / Ego / Superego

Freud’s model of personality: the Id is instinctual urges, the Ego manages reality, and the Superego is the moral conscience.

Defense mechanisms

Mental strategies used unconsciously to reduce anxiety, like repression, denial, or projection.

Unconscious

Mental processes that occur outside our awareness but influence behavior.

Psychodynamic therapies

Talk therapies focused on uncovering unconscious conflicts, often rooted in childhood.

Classical conditioning

Learning through association, like Pavlov’s dogs linking a bell to food.

Operant conditioning / Shaping

Learning through rewards or punishments; shaping reinforces small steps toward a desired behavior.

Incentive theory of motivation

The idea that people are motivated by external rewards.

Behavioral therapies

Treatments based on conditioning principles to change problematic behaviors.

Self-actualization

Reaching one's full potential, the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Unconditional positive regard

Accepting and valuing a person without judgment, used in therapy.

Positive psychology

The scientific study of human strengths, well-being, and happiness.

Self-determination theory of motivation

Theory stating motivation is driven by autonomy, competence, and connection with others.

Client-centered therapies

A humanistic therapy focused on empathy, acceptance, and the client’s perspective.

Encoding / Storage / Retrieval

The process of getting info into memory, keeping it there, and getting it back out.

Chunking

Grouping information into meaningful units to improve memory.

Schema

A mental framework or concept used to organize and interpret information.

Top-down

uses prior knowledge to interpret data (your’re already familiar w it or smthn simallar to it)

• mainly thoughts that help in understanding new information or making decisions. (eg: I eat something delicious, but someone tells me i’m eating Murad El Gazayerli, so then I say I cant eat that)

Heuristics

Simple mental shortcuts used to solve problems or make decisions quickly.

Confirmation bias

Tendency to search for or interpret info in a way that confirms existing beliefs.

Hindsight bias

Believing, after something happens, that it was obvious or predictable.

Perceptual set

A mental predisposition to perceive things in a certain way.

Framing

How information is presented affects how we make decisions.

Stages of cognitive development

Piaget’s theory of how thinking changes from infancy to adulthood.

Cognitive appraisal

How we interpret a situation determines how we feel emotionally.

Stress / Distress / Eustress

Stress is a reaction to pressure; distress is negative stress, while eustress is positive, motivating stress.

Cognitive therapies

Treatment aimed at changing unhelpful thoughts to improve emotions and behavior.

Social learning theory / Observational learning

Learning by watching others (e.g., Bandura’s Bobo doll study).

Reciprocal determinism

The idea that behavior, personal factors, and environment all influence each other.

Locus of control

Belief about what controls your life: internal (you do) or external (outside forces).

Intrinsic / Extrinsic motivation

Motivation from inside (interest/enjoyment) vs. outside (rewards/punishments).

Normative / Informational social influence

Conforming to fit in (normative) or believing others have the right answer (informational).

Obedience

Following orders from an authority figure (e.g., Milgram’s shock experiment).

Arousal / Sensation-seeking theory of motivation

People are motivated to reach an optimal level of excitement or stimulation.

Yerkes-Dodson law of arousal

Performance is best with moderate arousal; too much or too little hurts performance.

Self-efficacy / Self-esteem

Self-efficacy is belief in your ability to succeed; self-esteem is how much you value yourself.

Deindividuation

Losing self-awareness and sense of responsibility in a group.

Groupthink

When group pressure leads to poor decision-making to maintain harmony.

Group polarization

When a group discussion makes opinions stronger or more extreme.

Social loafing / Facilitation

Social loafing is doing less in a group; social facilitation is doing better when being watched.

Situational / Dispositional attributions

Explaining behavior by context (situation) or personality (disposition).

Resilience

The ability to recover and adapt well after stress or adversity.

Relative deprivation

Feeling less satisfied by comparing yourself to others who have more.

Adaptation-level phenomenon

Getting used to a situation so it no longer brings satisfaction.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy

A therapy combining changing thoughts and behaviors to treat problems.

Cerebellum

Brain part that helps with coordination and balance.

Long-term potentiation

Strengthening of connections between neurons, important for learning and memory.

Limbic system (amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus)

Brain structures involved in emotions, memory, and bodily regulation.

Frontal / Parietal / Occipital / Temporal lobes

Main brain areas controlling decision-making, sensation, vision, and hearing.

Somatosensory / Motor cortex

Brain areas that control touch sensation and movement.

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals that carry messages between brain cells.

Hormones

Chemicals released in the blood that affect body and mind functions.

Central / Peripheral nervous systems

Central = brain/spinal cord; Peripheral = all other nerves.

Plasticity

The brain’s ability to change and adapt, especially after damage or experience.

Sleep

Natural state needed for physical and mental health.

Circadian rhythm

The body’s 24-hour biological clock.

Transduction

Converting sensory input (like light or sound) into brain signals.

Retina

Eye part that detects light and sends visual signals to the brain.

Cochlea

Ear part that turns sound vibrations into nerve signals.

Brain scans (e.g., MRI, fMRI)

Tools used to see brain structure or activity.

Twin studies

Research comparing twins to study the effects of genes and environment.

Kinesthesis / Vestibular sense

Kinesthesis is the sense of body position; vestibular is the sense of balance.

Drive-reduction theory of motivation

Motivation to reduce internal drives like hunger or thirst.

Fight-flight-freeze

The body’s emergency response to stress or danger.

General adaptation syndrome

The body’s pattern of responding to stress: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Sensory adaptation

Reduced sensitivity to constant or unchanging stimulation.

Nature vs. nurture

The debate over whether behavior is shaped more by genetics or environment.

Adaptation

A trait that improves survival and reproduction chances.

Natural selection

Evolutionary process where useful traits become more common over generations.

Attachment

An emotional bond, usually between a child and caregiver.

Emotion

Complex reactions involving thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Cultural norms

Shared rules or expectations for behavior within a group.

Individualistic vs. collectivistic culture

Individualistic cultures value independence; collectivistic cultures value group harmony.

bottom up processing

starts with sensory input; “from the ground up”