Ap psych exam

social psychology

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

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

attitude

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a patricular way to objects, people, and events

central route persuasion

attitude change path in which interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

peripheral route persuasion

attitude change path in which people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

foot in the door phenomenon

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

role

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

conformity

adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

social facilitation

stronger responses on simple or well-learned 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

deindividuation

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

group polarization

the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

group thinking

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

culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

norm

an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior

personal space

the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies

prejudice

an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action

stereotype

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

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members

ingroup

"Us" - people with whom one shares a common identity

outgroup

"them"—those perceived as different or apart from one's ingroup.

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor our own group

scapegoat theory

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

other race effect

the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races. Also called the cross-race effect and the own-race bias

just world phenomenon

the tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

agression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

frustration-agression principle

the principle that frustration--the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal--creates anger, which can generate aggression

mere exposure effect

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

passionate love

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

companionate love

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

equity

a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it

self-disclosure

revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others

altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

social exchange theory

the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs

reciprocity norm

an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them

social-responsibilty norm

An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them

conflict

a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

social trap

a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

mirror-image perceptions

mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive

self-fulfilling prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

superordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

GRIT

Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction, strategy designed to decrease international tensions.

informational social influence

influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality

ecletic approach

An approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the clients problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy.

psychotherapy

treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth

resistance

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material

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

interpretation

in psychoanalysis, the analyst's noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors in order to promote insight

transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships

psychodynamic therapy

therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and that seeks to enhance self-insight

insight therapies

a variety of therapies which aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing the client's awareness of underlying motives and defenses

client-centered therapy

A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth.

active listening

empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy.

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed to be conducive to developing self-awareness and self-acceptance.

behavior therapy

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

counterconditioning

a behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors; based on classical conditioning. Includes exposure therapies and aversive conditioning.

exposure therapies

behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imagination or actuality) to the things they fear and avoid

systematic desensitization

a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli; commonly used to treat phobias

virtual reality exposure therapy

an anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking

token economy

An operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats.

cognitive therapy

therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

cognitive-behavior therapy

a popular integrated therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)

family therapy

therapy that treats the family as a system. views an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by or directed at other family members; attempts to guide family members toward positive relationships and improved communication

regression toward the mean

the tendency for extremes of unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward their average.

meta-analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

evidence-based practice

clinical decision-making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences

biomedical therapy

prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient's nervous system

psychopharmacology

the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior

antipsychotic drugs

drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder.

tardive dyskinesia

involuntary movements of the facial muscles, tongue, and limbs; a possible neurotoxic side effect of long-term use of antipsychotic drugs that target D2 dopamine receptors

anti-depressant drugs

drugs used to treat depression; also increasingly prescribed for anxiety; different types work by altering the availability of various neurotransmitters

electroconvulsive therapy

a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient

repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity.

psychosurgery

surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior

lobotomy

a now-rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. the procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain

resilience

The personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma

alfred adler

neo-Freudian, psychodynamic; Contributions: inferiority complex, organ inferiority; Studies: birth order influences personality

gordon w allport

(personality) described personality in terms of fundamental triats - people's characteristic behaviors and consious motives. He came to define personality in terms of identificable behavior patterns. He was concered less with explaining individual traits than with describing them.

Solomon Asch

conformity; showed that social pressure can make a person say something that is obviously incorrect ; in a famous study in which participants were shown cards with lines of different lengths and were asked to say which line matched the line on the first card in length

Atkinson and Shiffrin

In 1968 proposed a 3 STAGE information processing model of memory. 1) Sensory Memory records information 2) then processed into SHORT TERM MEMORY BIN, where it is encoded through REHEARSAL, 3) Information moves into LONG TERM MEMORY for retrieval.

albert bandura

pioneer in observational learning (AKA social learning), stated that people profit from the mistakes/successes of others; Studies: Bobo Dolls-adults demonstrated 'appropriate' play with dolls, children mimicked play

aaron beck

pioneer in Cognitive Therapy. Suggested negative beliefs cause depression.

Alfred Binet

pioneer in intelligence (IQ) tests, designed a test to identify slow learners in need of help-not applicable in the U.S. because it was too culture-bound (French)

Paul Broca

responsible for discovering the area on the left frontal lobe responsible for coordinating muscle movements involved in spoken language (Brocas area)

Jerome Bruner

"Discovery Learning and Constructivism"

He suggests that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based on knowledge or past experiences.

{Constructivism Theory} - emphasizes a student's ability to solve real-life problems and make new meaning through reflection.

{Discovery Learning} - features teaching methods that enable students to discover information by themselves or in groups.

raymond cattell

used factor analysis in data reduction of Allport's 5000 traits; identified 16 bipolar source traits (e.g. relaxed-tense) that seemed to underlie all; 16 personality factors tested in personality questionnaire

noam chromsky

He believed that children learn a set of rules to combine linguistic elements in order to produce an infinite number of utterances. He thinks linguists should focus on the mind and the linguistic competence of the ideal speaker-listener. Children reinvent language. Also Chromsy believes that we are born with some innate linguistic knowledge.

H. Ebbinghaus

(memory) studied recall and learning and found that the amount of information remembered depends of the time spent learning. Developed the scientific concept of rehearsal, spacing effect, and serial position effect.

albert ellis

pioneer in Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET), focuses on altering client's patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive behavior and emotions

erik erikson

neo-Freudian, humanistic; 8 psychosocial stages of development: theory shows how people evolve through the life span. Each stage is marked by a psychological crisis that involves confronting "Who am I?"

hans eysenck

Psychology theorists who suggested that personality could be reduced to two polar dimensions introversion-extraversion and emotional instability-stability (neuroticism). introversion/extroversion

anna freud

1895-1982; Field: psychoanalysis; Contributions: focused on child psychoanalysis, fully developed defense mechanisms, emphasized importance of the ego and its constant struggle

sigmund freud

Austrian neurologist who founded psychoanalysis (1856-1939); Said that human behavior is irrational; behavior is the outcome of conflict between the id (irrational unconscious driven by sexual, aggressive, and pleasure-seeking desires) and ego (rationalizing conscious, what one can do) and superego (ingrained moral values, what one should do) focused on the unconscious causes of behavior and personality formation