Psych 314 Final Exam Keyterms

anxiety

a general expectation that something bad might happen, without identifying any particular danger 

core disgust

emotional response to an object that threatens your physical purity, such as feces, rotting food, or unclean animals 

embarrassment

the emotion felt when one violates a social convention, thereby drawing unexpected social attention and motivating submissive, friendly behavior that should appease other people 

fear appeal

a public service message emphasizing the negative outcomes that are likely if behavior does not change. 

hostile aggression

harmful behavior motivated by anger and the events that preceded it 

ideal affect

 the affective states that a person ideally wants to feel and will try to attain 

moral disgust

disgust response to violations of moral, rather than physical, purity 

instrumental aggression

harmful or threatening behavior used purely as a way to obtain something or to achieve some end 

prepared learning

proposal that people and other animals are evolutionarily predisposed to learn some things (including fears) more easily than others 

self-conscious emotions

emotions such as embarrassment, shame, and guilt that require appraisal of yourself and how you appear to others 

self-efficacy

belief that one is capable of doing something that one wants to do, such as changing a problematic behavior or developing a new skill 

social fear learning

learning to fear a new stimulus based upon seeing another person’s negative experience with it, or their fear response to it. 

startle potentiation

enhancement of the startle response in a frightening situation compared to a safe one 

startle response

reaction to a sudden loud noise or other strong stimulus in which the muscles tense rapidly, especially the neck muscles, the eyes close tightly, the shoulders quickly pull close to the neck, and the arms pull up toward the head 

virtue signaling

exhibiting behaviors (including emotional reactions) that advertise ourselves as valuable, norm-following, trustworthy social partners

anxious-ambivalent attachment

a profile in which babies are hesitant to explore even when the attachment figure is present, become intensely distressed when the attachment figure leaves, and are difficult to soothe when the attachment figure returns

assortative mating

people’s tendency to marry partners who are more like themselves than would be expected due to chance 

attachment

a long-lasting emotional bond to a regular caregiver, producing a desire to be near that person (and distress when separated), a tendency to turn to that person when threatened, and a sense of being supported in exploring new things 

avoidant attachment

a behavioral profile in which babies seem unconcerned with the caregiver’s presence or absence, playing quietly and independently either way 

companionate love

strong attachment with an emphasis on security, mutual care, affection, and shared fun 

compassion

a caring and concerned response to another person’s distress 

demand-withdraw

a marital interaction pattern in which one partner escalates their insistence on discussing some topic (typically an area of conflict) while the other retreats further and further to avoid the conversation 

disorganized attachment

the infant displays intense anxiety even when the caregiver is present; frightened, yet unable to turn to the caregiver for comfort 

empathic accuracy

ability to figure out what another person is thinking and feeling 

emotional empathy

feeling what another person is feeling 

gratitude

 emotion experienced when someone does something unexpectedly kind for us and does not seem to expect us to reciprocate 

nurturant love

an emotion elicited by cues of youth and vulnerability that motivates caregiving behavior 

object permanence

the understanding that objects continue to exist even when we do not see or hear them 

oxytocin

a pituitary hormone released by female mammals while giving birth and while nursing, and by both males and females during sex 

passionate love

experience frequent thoughts about the other person, intense desire to be together, and excitement from the partner’s attention

personal distress

self-focused anxiety in the face of another’s suffering 

prisoner’s dilemma

a dyadic task often used in research, in which each player has the opportunity to cooperate or defect; the best outcome is if both people cooperate, but if your partner defects, you’re better off if you also defect than if you cooperate 

secure attachment

a behavioral profile including exploration when the attachment figure is present, crying and protest when the attachment figure leaves, and easy soothing when the figure returns 

separation distress

emotional distress experienced and/or displayed when one is separated from an attachment figure 

strange situation

a research procedure for studying attachment in which a child is repeatedly separated from and reunited with the attachment figure 

sympathy

concern, attention, and empathic sadness for another person who is suffering

corrective actions

in discrepancy theories of goal setting, the actions one takes to bring one’s present self closer to one’s ideal self 

cybernetic model of self-regulation

theory that human motivation works in feedback loops, kicking into action when discrepancies between present and ideal states are detected and quieting when ideal states are reached 

delay discounting

the tendency to perceive far-off rewards as less valuable than the same reward if you had it right now, reduced by an amount proportional to the distance in time 

delay gratification

putting off to the future pleasures you could, if you wished, enjoy in the present 

discrepancy creation

a process critical to goal setting whereby the person intentionally manufactures an ideal state in order to motivate themselves to reach it 

discrepancy reduction

a process critical to goal setting whereby the motivating discrepancy between a present state and an ideal state is clearly defined, time-limited, and often externally determined 

discrepancy theory

a theory that argues we are intrinsically motivated to close gaps between the present and ideal state, and this motivation triggers relevant plans to do so 

distal goals

 long-term goals 

ego depletion

theory that self-control draws upon a limited pool of mental resources and so exercising self-control uses up these resources and is less effective over time 

empathy-gap effect

argument that people in an affectively “cold” state (not hungry, thirsty, sexually aroused) underestimate the influence of a “hot” state (hungry, thirsty, aroused) on their future behavior 

expectancy-value theory

theory that pursuing goals result from expectations of likely success (expectancy) and perceived worth of the desired outcome (value) 

fantasy realization theory

a theory posits that the best way to inspire behavior change is to combine positive fantasies about the future with identification of the potential obstacles and contextual constraints that might arise, a process called mental contrasting 

goal

a mental conception of a possible future state that provides energy and direction to current behavior

goal disengagement

 intentionally releasing a previously held goal 

goal reengagement

following goal disengagement, shifting one’s efforts to a different goal or set of goals 

goal system

a theory of how goals relate to each other and to the means by which we achieve our goals that argues that goals and means interconnect in hierarchies 

implementation intentions

 technique involving visualizing the journey toward a goal and the obstacles that might arise, and then explicitly stating a response to these obstacles in the form of an IF/THEN statement 

intention-behavior gap

the fact that people often fail to enact desired changes in behavior, despite having very good intentions 

mental contrasting

 combining positive fantasies about the future with identification of the potential obstacles and contextual constraints that might arise 

mental simulation

imagining possible scenarios in one’s own mind; in goal setting research, usually imagining oneself into future settings 

monitoring

the process of measuring progress and giving yourself feedback during goal pursuit 

prevention regulatory focus

self-control and goal setting that is focused on avoiding an undesired outcome 

promotion regulatory focus

self-control and goal setting that is focused on approaching a desired outcome 

proximal goals

short-term goals 

restraint bias

the tendency to overestimate one’s ability to resist temptation when it occurs, often as a result of the empathy-gap effect 

the TOTE model

an early model of goal setting, in which people tested to see if their present state was close to the ideal state, then introduced operations (actions) to reduce the discrepancy, then tested again, and then exited the loop when the ideal state was achieved