AP Psych Unit 7

Motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Instinct

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

Drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension 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

Glucose

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.

Set point

the point at which an individual's "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.

Basal metabolic rate

the body's resting rate of energy expenditure

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

Sexual dysfunction

a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning

Estrogens

sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males and contributing to female sex characteristics. In nonhuman female mammals, estrogen levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity

Testosterone

the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

Optimal arousal theory

A theory of motivation stating that people are motivated to behave in ways that maintain what is, for them, an optimal level of arousal

Ghrelin

A hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach

Insulin

A protein hormone synthesized in the pancreas that regulates blood sugar levels by facilitating the uptake of glucose into tissues

Orexin

hunger-triggering hormone secreted by hypothalamus

Leptin

A hormone produced by adipose (fat) cells that acts as a satiety factor in regulating appetite.

PYY

digestive tract hormone; sends "I'm not hungry" signals to the brain

Settling point/set range

indicates the level at which a person's weight settles in response to caloric intake and energy use

Affiliation need

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

Self Esteem

one's feelings of high or low self-worth

Flow

a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one's skills

Industrial-organizational (I/O) Psychology

the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces

Personnel psychology

a subfield of I/O psychology that focuses on employee recruitment, selection, placement, training, appraisal, and development

Organizational psychology

a subfield of I/O psychology that examines organizational influences on worker satisfaction and productivity and facilitates organizational change

Human factors psychology

a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

Structured Interviews

interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of all applicants, each of whom is rated on established scales

Achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment: for mastery of things, people, or ideas; for attaining a high standard

Grit

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

Task leadership

goal-oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work, and focuses attention on goals

Social leadership

group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support

Interview illusion

We believe we can predict how people will act in different kinds of situations after only a brief meeting.

Unstructured interview

An interview in which the question-answer sequence is spontaneous, open-ended, and flexible.

360-degree feedback

a performance appraisal process in which feedback is obtained from the boss, subordinates, peers and coworkers, and the employees themselves

Halo errors

judgments based on personal qualities rather than on the job behavior

Lateral hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces hunger signals

Ventromedial hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces feelings of fullness as opposed to hunger, and causes one to stop eating.

Emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience

James-Lange theory

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

Cannon-Bard theory

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion

Two-factor theory (Schachter-Singer)

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

Polygraph

a machine used in attempts to detect lies that measures several of the physiological responses (such as perspiration, heart rate, and breathing changes) accompanying emotion

Facial feedback effect

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

Spillover effect

arousal response to one event spills over into our response to the next event

Zajonc; LeDoux Emotion Theory

some embodied responses happen instantly, without conscious appraisal

Lazarus Emotion Theory

Cognitive appraisal sometimes without our awareness defines emotion

Behavior feedback phenomenon

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

Catharsis

a release of emotional tension

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon

people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

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, of lights, of 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

Valence

the attractiveness or desirability of a reward or outcome

Stress

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

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three 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)

Psychophysiological illness

literally, "mind-body" illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches

Psychoneuroimmunology

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

Lymphocytes

A type of white blood cell that make antibodies to fight off infections

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

Stressor

an event or situation that causes stress

Stress reaction

the body's response to a stressor

Glucocorticoid stress hormones

secreted by the outer part of the adrenal glands on orders from the cerebral cortex (via the hypothalamus and pituitary gland)

Cortisol

stress hormone released by the adrenal cortex

Telomeres

Repeated DNA sequences at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes.

Oxytocin

A hormone released by the posterior pituitary that stimulates uterine contractions during childbirth and milk ejection during breastfeeding.

B lymphocytes

form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections

T lymphocytes

form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances

Carcinogens

Cancer causing agents

Health psychology

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

Aerobic exercise

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

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

a diverse set of approaches and therapies for treating illness and promoting well-being that generally falls outside standard medical practices

Biofeedback

a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

Relaxation response

a state of calm that can be reached if one or more relaxation techniques are practiced regularly

Psychological conflict

a struggle in the mind of a character

Approach-approach

Conflict that results from having to choose between two attractive alternatives

Avoidance-avoidance

Conflict that results from having to choose between two distasteful alternatives

Approach - avoidance

Conflict that results from having to choose an alternative that has both attractive and unappealing aspects

Double approach-avoidance

conflict in which the person must decide between two goals, with each goal possessing both positive and negative aspects

Free association

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

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.

Id (Pleasure Principle )

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 (Reality principle )

principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when negative consequences will not result

Superego

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

Psychosexual stages (Erogenous zones)

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

Oedipus complex

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

Identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos

Fixation

according to Freud, 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

Defense mechanism by which anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings are forced to the unconscious.

Psychodynamic theories

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

Collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history

Projective test

a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

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