Psychology Terminology Review

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and definitions that are essential for understanding psychological concepts and theories.

GABA

A brain chemical that slows down nervous system activity; helps calm the brain.

Galton

Early researcher of intelligence and heredity; helped start the idea of measuring traits.

Gambler’s fallacy

Believing past random events affect future ones (like thinking a coin is 'due' for heads).

Sunk-cost fallacy

Sticking with something because you already invested time/money.

Gate-control theory

Pain signals can be 'turned up or down' by the spinal cord and brain.

Gender identity

Your personal sense of being male, female, both, or neither.

General (g) intelligence

Overall mental ability underlying all cognitive tasks.

General Adaptation Syndrome

Body’s stress response: alarm → resistance → exhaustion.

Generalization

Responding the same to similar stimuli.

Discrimination

Responding differently to similar stimuli.

Genes (dominant/recessive)

Dominant genes show; recessive only show if both are present.

Gestalt psychology

We see whole patterns, not just parts.

Glial cells

Support and protect neurons.

Gross motor skills

Large body movements (walking, running).

Growth mindset

Belief abilities can improve with effort.

Fixed mindset

Belief abilities are fixed and cannot change.

Hindsight bias

'I knew it all along' effect.

Hippocampus

Brain area for forming new memories.

Hurdle

A measure of the threshold or requirement needed to achieve something.

Hallucination

Seeing/hearing things that aren’t real.

Homeostasis

Body’s balance system (temperature, hunger, etc.).

Implicit memory

Unconscious memory.

Explicit memory

Conscious memory.

Informed consent

Participants agree to research knowingly.

Ingroup bias

Favoring your own group.

Insight learning

Sudden realization of solution.

Insomnia

Difficulty sleeping.

Just-world bias

Belief that people get what they deserve.

Kanazawa’s theory

Intelligence evolved to solve new problems.

Kohlberg

Moral development theory.

Latency learning

Learning that appears later.

Longitudinal study

Research over long period.

Maslow’s hierarchy

Needs pyramid (basic → self-actualization).

Negative reinforcement

Removing something unpleasant to increase behavior.

Placebo effect

Improvement from belief in treatment.

Priming

Subconscious influence on behavior.

Psychotherapy

Talk therapy for mental health.

Reinforcement

Increasing behavior with reward or removal of negative stimulus.

Repression

Pushing thoughts into unconscious mind.