PSYC290 Random

vagus nerve

carries information about the stretching of the stomach walls indicating fullness

ghrelin

secreted by the stomach after long periods with no food which promotes hunger and stomach contractions

CCK

released by upper intestine after food is consumed and delivers satiety signals to the brain reduing hunger

leptin

produced by fat cells and released into the bloodstream. (high levels = hunger diminishes)

insulin

sensitive to fluctuations in the body’s fat stores, and influences hunger by playing a role in the fluctuation of hunger

vasocongestion

engorgement of blood vessels (“turned on”). occurs during excitement phase.

parental investment theory

a species mating patterns depend on what each partner has to invest (time, energy) to produce and nuture offspring.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

used to measure subjects need for achievement and affiliation. it involves telling/writing stores about people in pictures

affective forecasting

efforts to predict one’s emotional reactions to future events

emotion includes three components

cognitive, physiological, and behavioural

galvanic skin response (GSR)

increase in the electrical conductivity of the skin that occurs when sweat glands increase their activity

display rules

norms that regulate the appropriate expression of emotions. prescribe when, how, and to whom people can show various emotions

The Ifaluk of Micronesia

restricts expressions of happiness because they believe it leads people to neglect duties

hedonic adaption

occurs when the mental scale that people use to judge the pleasantness-unpleasant of their experiences shifts so that their neutral point (or baseline for comparison) changes

germinal stage

placenta begins to form

embryonic stage

vital organs, bodily systems, and limbs develop

fetal stage

muscles, bones, sex organs form. skeletal structure hardens = more movement.

teratogens

any external agents (drugs/viruses) that can harm an embryo or fetus

heroin (maternal drug use)

babies are born addicted, increased premature death, birth defects, respiroty difficulties

cocaine (maternal drug use)

increased risk for birth complications, cognitive deficits in childhood

fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

heart deficits, irritability, hyperactivity

smoking (maternal drug use)

increase miscarriage risk, stillbirth, prematurity

tabacco (maternal drug use)

slower cognitive development, attention deficits, hyperactivity, conduct problems

conservation (piaget)

term for the awareness that physical quantities remain constant in spite of changes to shape/appearance

centration (piaget)

the tendency to focus on just one feature of a problem, neglecting other important aspects

irreversibility (piaget)

inability to envision reversing an action

reversibility (piaget)

permits a child to mentally undo an action

decentration (piaget)

allows child to focus on more than one feature of a problem simultaneously

assimilation (piaget)

involves interpreting new experiences in terms of existing mental structures without changing them

accommodation (piaget)

involves changing existing mental structures to explain new experiences

zone of proximal development (ZPD_

the gap between what a learner can accomplish alone vs with guidance

scaffolding

occurs when the assistance provided to a child is adjusted as learning progresses (facilitates learning)

habitutation

gradual reduction in the strength of a response when a stimulus even tis presented repeatedly

dishabituation

occurs if a new stimulus elicits an increase in the strength of a habituated repsonse

nativists

assert humans are prewired to understand concepts. interested in what IS prewired and what isn’t (not why)

critical period

if the ability/knowledge is not acquired at that point, it will be impossible to acquire it later

sensitive (optimal) period

suggests an optimal period for acquisition

in adolescence brain

white matter increases, grey matter declines

adolescents elevated sensitivity to reward is due to

early maturing subcortial dopamine circuts and late prefrontal cortex

conjugal status

term when reporting nature of cohabiting couples relationship

“use it or lose it” hypothesis

whether high level of mental activity in late adulthood can delay cognitive losses

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ five stages of confronting death

denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance

absent grief or resilient pattern

low depression before and after spouse death

chronic grief

low pre-loss depression, sustained depression after spouses death

common grief

spike in depression after spouse death, decline depression overtime

depressed-improved pattern

high pre-loss pression, relative quick and sustained decline in depression after spouse death

study of personality

one of the oldest topics in psychology, focuses on describing and understanding individual differences

the Big Five personality traits

extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness

the Dark Triad traits

psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism (+ sadism)

preconscious (Freud)

contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can be easily retrieved

rationalization (defense mechanism)

creating false, but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behaviour

projection (defense mechanism)

attributing one’s own thoughts/feelings/motives to another

displacement

diverting emotional feelings from their original source to a substitute target

fixation (Freud psychosexual stages)

failure to move forward from one stage to another as expected (cause by excessive gratification or frustration)

archetypes

emotionally charged images and thought forms with universal meaning from ancestral past

compensation (Adler)

involves efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one’s abilities (normal to Adler)

inferiority complex (Adler)

exaggerated feelings of weakness and inadequacy/inferiority (caused by parental pampering or neglect)

overcompensation (Adler)

people who acquire status, power, success to over up underlying personality development

reciprocal determinism

idea that internal mental events, external environmental events, and overt behaviors all influence one another

phenomenological approach

assumes that one has to appreciate individuals person, subjective experiences to truly understand their behaviour

ought self

beliefs about the person we have a duty/obligation to be

MMPI (self report inventory)

measures 10 personality traits, used by clinicians, interpretating results can be difficult

NEO Personality Inventory (self report inventory)

measures the big five traits, widely used in research and clinical work

The Rorschach Test (projective test)

people describe what they see in 10 ink blots

TAT Thematic Apperception Test (projective test)

tell a story about a simple scene and how the characters are feeling.

person perception

the process of forming impressions of others

Illusory correlation

occurs when people estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they actually have

actor observer bias

actors favor external attributions for their behavior, whereas observers are more likely to explain same behavior with internal

self observing bias

tendency to attribute one’s success to personal factors and one’s failure to situational factors

defensive attribution

tendency to blame victims for their misfortunes, so that one feels less likely to be vicitimized in a similar way

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

computer administered test measuring how quickly people associate pairs of concepts

source

person who sends communication

reciever

person to whom the message is sent

counterattitudinal behavior

doing something that is inconsistent with one’s true feelings

cognitive dissonance

when related cognitions are inconsistent (contradict each other)

effort justification

people turn attitudinal somersaults to justify efforts that haven’t panned out

central route (route to persuasion)

taken when people carefully ponder the content and logic of persuasive messages

peripheral route (route to persuasion)

taken when persuasion depends on nonmessage factors

normative influence

when people conform to social norms for fear of negative social consequences (being liked)

informational influence

when people look to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations (want to be right)

group polarization

occurs when group discussion strengthens a groups dominant POV and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction

explicit judgements

conscious and controlled thought, takes more time to unfold

implicit evaluation

occurs automatically, without intention, unaware of process

the reciprocity norm

the rule that we should pay back in kind what we receive from others

feigned scarcity

telling people they can’t have something to enhance their desirability

primary appraisal

initial evaluation of whether an event is irrelevant to your, relevant but not threatening, stressful

secondary appraisal

(occurs when an event is viewed as stressful) evaluation of your coping resources and options for dealing with the stress

vacillation

going back and forth, beset by indecision

SRRS (social readjustment rating scale)

43 life events that a person ranks. higher scores are not good.

optimal level of arousal (for a task)

level of arousal at which performance peaks (more complex task, optimal decreases)

catharsis (according to Freud)

release of emotional tension, said to be adaptive

the medical model

proposes that it is useful to think of abnormal behavior as a disease

diagnosis

involves distinguishing one illness from another

etiology

refers to the apparent causation and development history of an illness

prognosis

a forecast about the probable cause of an illness

three criteria for abnormal behavior

deviance, maladaptive behavior, personal distress

epidemiology

the study of the distribution of mental or physical disorders in population

cyclothymic disorder

exhibit chronic but relatively mild symptoms of bipolar disturbance

catatonic subtype of schizophrenia

striking motor disturbances, muscular rigidity to random motor activity

disorganized subtype of schizophrenia

severe frequent incoherence, deterioration in adaptive behavior, complete social withdrawal