PSYCHOLOGYEXAMBETTER

Abraham Maslow

Humanistic psychologist who proposed the hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization as the ultimate psychological need

Applied Research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

B.F.Skinner

American behavioral psychologist who developed the fundamental principles and techniques of operant conditioning and devised ways to apply them in the real world

Basic Research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Behavior Genetics

The school of thought that focuses on how much our genes and our environment influence our individual differences.

Biological Perspective

school of thought that focuses on the physical structures and substances underlying a particular behavior, thought, or emotion

Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychologist who developed client-centered therapy and stressed the importance of acceptance, genuineness, and empathy in fostering human growth

Cognitive Perspective

school of thought that focuses on how people think- how we take in, process, store, and retrieve information

Edward B. Titchener

founder of structuralism

Evolutionary Psychology

school of thought that focuses on the principles of natural selection to study the roots of behavior and mental processes

Functionalism

Theory that emphasized the functions of consciousness or the ways consciousness helps people adapt to their environment

Gestalt Psychology

Psychological perspective that emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Humanistic Psychology

A perspective that focuses on the study of conscious experience, the individual's freedom to choose, and the individual's capacity for personal growth

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist and learning theorist famous for the discovery of classical conditioning, in which learning occurs through association

Jean Piaget

Pioneer in the study of developmental psychology who introduced a stage theory of cognitive development that led to a better understanding of children's thought processes.

John B. Watson

Founder of behaviorism, the theory that psychology should restrict its efforts to studying observable behaviors, not mental processes.

Kenneth Clark and Mamie Clark

Researchers whose work was used in the Brown v. Board of Education case that overturned segregation in schools

Positive Psychology

a movement in psychology that focuses on the study of optimal human functioning and the factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality; also, a therapeutic technique that attempts to provide insight into thoughts and actions by exposing and interpreting the underlying unconscious motives and conflicts

Psychology

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Sigmund freud

founder of psychoanalysis, a controversial theory about the workings of the unconscious mind

social-cultural perspective

school of thought that focuses on how thinking or behavior changes in different situations or as a result of cultural influences

Structuralism

theory that the structure of conscious experience could be understood by analyzing the basic elements of thoughts and sensations

Wilhelm Wundt

founder of modern psychology; he opened the first psychology laboratory

William James

First American psychologist and author of the first psychology textbook

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

Altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

bystander effect

the tendency for a person to be less likely to give aid if other people are present

companionate love

the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

Discrimination

In social relations, taking action against a group of people because of stereotyped beliefs and feelings of prejudice

Equity

The condition in which people contribute to and receive from a relationship at a similar rate

ingroup

"Us"—people with whom we share a common identity.

ingroup bias

The tendency to favor our own group

John Darley

researched the circumstances that determine when a bystander will intervene on behalf of another person; studied diffusion of responibility and bystander effect

just-world phenomenon

the tendency to believe that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get

mere exposure effect

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases ones' liking of them

other-race effect

the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races

outgroup

"them" - those perceived as different or apart from our

passionate love

an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship

prejudice

an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members.

scapegoat theory

the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

self-disclosure

revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

superodinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

Attitude

The belief and feeling that predisposes someone to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

Attribution Theory

The theory that we tend to explain the behavior of others as an aspect of either an internal disposition (an inner trait) or the situation.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts(cognitions) are inconsistent

Conformity

adjusting behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal anonymity

Foot-in-Door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal disposition rather than to situations

Group Polarization

Enhancement of a group's already-existing attitudes through discussion within the group

Groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

Obedience

The tendency to comply with orders, implied or real, from someone perceived as an authority

Philip Zimbardo

An american psychologist whose research focuses on heroism, cult behavior, and shyness. He is most famous for the Stanford Prison Study

Role

A set of expectation in a social setting that define how one thought to behave

self-fulfilling prophecy

when we believe something to be true about others (or ourselves) and we act in ways that cause this belief to come true

Self-serving Bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Social Facilitation

Improved performance on tasks in the presence of others

Social Loafing

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Social Psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Solomon Asch

Social psychologist who researched the circumstances under which people conform

Stanley Milgram

A social psychologist who researched obedience to authority

Accommodation

adapting current schemas to incorporate new information

Assimilation

interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schema

Attachment

emotional tie with another person shown by seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

Authoritarian parenting

style of parenting marked by imposing rules and expecting obedience

authoritative parenting

a style of parenting marked by making demands on the child, being responsive, setting and enforcing rules, and discussing the reasons behind the rules

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Concrete operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental skills that let them think logically about concrete events

Conservation

The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

Critical period

optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain experiences produces proper development

Development psychology

A subfield of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Egocentrism

in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's to take another person's point of view or to understand the symbols can represent other objects

Embryo

The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the end of the eighth month

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

physical and cognitive abnormalities that appear in children whose mothers consumed large amounts of alcohol while pregnant

Fetus

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

formal operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts and form strategies about things they many not have experienced

Genes

The biochemical units of heredity that make up chromosomes.

Imprinting

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

Jean Piaget

Pioneer in the study of developmental psychology who introduced a stage theory of cognitive development that led to a better understanding of children's thought processes.

Konrad Lorenz

researcher who focused on critical attachment periods in baby birds, a concept he called imprinting

Maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior

Object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when you cannot see or hear them

Permissive parenting

style of parenting marked by submitting to children's desires, making few demands, and using little punishment

Preoperational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but cannot yet think logically

Rooting reflex

a baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, open the mouth, and search for the nipple

Schemas

Concepts or mental frameworks that organize and interpret information.

Sensorimotor stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants learn about the world through their sensory impressions and motor activities

Stranger anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age

Temperament

a person's characteristic emotional excitability

Teratogens

Substances that cross the placental barrier and prevent the fetus from developing normally

Zygote

fertilized egg

Adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

Erik Erikson

Created an eight-stage theory of social development

Identity

One's sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

Intimacy

In Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving, open relationships; a primary task in early adulthood

Jean Piaget

A pioneer in the study of developmental psychology who introduced a stage theory of cognitive development that led to a better understanding of children's thought processes

Lawrence Kohlberg

Created a three-stage theory of moral development. Demonstrates how our way of thinking about moral situations changes with our level of development.

primary sex characteristics

The reproductive organs- ovaries, testes, and external genitalia