ap psych unit 7 vocab

motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

instinct

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned through a species and is unlearned

physiological need

a basic bodily requirement

drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

homeostasis

a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

yerkes-dodson law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

hierarchy of needs

maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

self-actualization

need to live up to our fullest and unique potential

self-transcendence

need to find meaning and identity beyond the self

glucose

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues; when levels are low, we feel hunger

set point

the point at which your ‘weight thermostat’ may be set; when your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight

basal metabolic rate

aka metabolism, the body’s resting rate of energy output

obesity

defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher

asexual

having no sexual attraction to others

testosterone

the most important male sex hormone; both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

estrogens

sex hormones that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than males; peak during ovulation; promotes sexual receptivity in nonhuman mammals

sexual response cycle

the four stages of sexual responding described by masters and johnson - excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution

refractory period

in human sexuality, a resting period that occurs after orgasm, during which a person cannot achieve another orgasm

affiliation need

the need to build relationships and to feel part of a group

ostracism

deliberate social exclusion of individuals and groups

narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption

achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standared

grit

in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

general adaptation syndrome

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in 3 phases - alarm, resistance, exhaustion

tend-and-befriend response

under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)

health psychology

a subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine

psychoneuroimmunology

the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health

coronary heart disease

the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries

type a

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

type b

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people

catharsis

in psychology, the idea that ‘releasing’ aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

aerobic exercise

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; also helps alleviate depression and anxiety

mindfulness meditation

a reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

people’s tendency to be helpful when in a good mood

positive psychology

the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

subjective well-being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life; used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people’s quality of life

adaptation-level phenomenon

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, lights, income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

relative deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

personality

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

psychodynamic theories

theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories; according to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; the id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

ego

the largely conscious, ‘executive’ part of personality that, according to Freud, meditates between the demands of the id, superego, and reality; the ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

superego

the part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

oedipus complex

a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings and jealousy and hatred for the rival father

identification

the process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

fixation

a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

defense mechanisms

the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

repression

the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

regression

retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

rationalization

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s reasons

reaction formation

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

projection

disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

displacement

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

sublimation

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives

collective unconsciousness

carl jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

projective test

a personality test, such as the rorschafch, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

thematic apperception test

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

rorschach inkblot test

the most widely used projective test; a set of 10 inkblots, designed by hermann rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

terror management theory

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavior responses to reminders of their impending death

humanistic theories

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental, attitude which carl rogers believed would help people develop self awareness and self acceptance

self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves “who am i?”

trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

neuroticism

the state of being neurotic or a proneness to neurosis; one of the dimensions of the five-factor personality model and the Big Five personality model, characterized by a chronic level of emotional instability and proneness to psychological distress

personality inventory

a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests; originally developed to identify emotional disorders

Empirically derived test

a test created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

self

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

spotlight effect

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders

self-esteem

one’s feelings of high or low self-worth

self-efficacy

one’s sense of competence and effectiveness

self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

individualism

giving priority to one’s goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

collectivism

giving priority to the goals of one’s groups and defining one’s identity accordingly

emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experiences

james-lange theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus

cannon-bard theory

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion

two-factory theory

the schachter-singer theory that to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal

display rules

a socially learned standard that regulates the expression of emotion

polygraph

a machine used in attempts to detect lies that measures several of the physiological response accompanying emotion

facial feedback effect

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings

behavioral feedback effect

the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions

william james

helping to found psychology as a formal discipline, for establishing the school of functionalism in psychology, and for greatly advancing the movement of pragmatism in philosophy

alfred kinsey

American biologist, professor of entomology and zoology, and sexologist

abraham maslow

theory suggested that people have a number of basic needs that must be met before people move up the hierarchy to pursue more social, emotional, and self-actualizing needs

stanley schachter

Schacter–Singer theory, emotion results from the interaction between two factors: physiological arousal and cognition

hans selye

theorized that overexposing the body to stress would cause what he called “general adaptation syndrome,” which could lead to shock, alarm and eventually exhaustion

alfred alder

physician, psychotherapist, and the founder of Adlerian psychology, sometimes called Individual Psychology

albert bandura

most influential social psychologists for his groundbreaking research on the importance of learning by observing others

paul costa

worked alongside mccare; more than 250 publications on personality traits and the Five Factor model have had a profound effect on personality assessment, theory, and research

robert mccrae

worked alongside costa

sigmund freud

best known for work in unconscious field; id, superego, ego