ap psych

Absolute threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Accommodation

(1) in sensation and perception, the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. (2) in developmental psychology, adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment; for mastery of skills or ideas; for control; and for attaining a high standard.

Achievement test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Acquisition

in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

Action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.

Active listening

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

Adaptation-level phenomenon

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

Addiction

compulsive craving of drugs or certain behaviors (such as gambling) despite known adverse consequences.

Adolescence

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

Adrenal glands

a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress.

Aerobic exercise

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

Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.

Agonist

a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, stimulates a response.

Agoraphobia

fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide-open places, where one has felt loss of control and panic.

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)

a life-threatening, sexual transmitted infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS depletes the immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to infections.

Alcohol use disorder

popularly known as alcoholism. Alcohol use marked by tolerance, withdrawal, and a drive to continue problematic use.

Algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speeder - but also more error-prone - use of heuristics.

All-or-none response

a neuron's reaction of either firing (with a full-strength response) or not firing.

Alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.

Altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

Amphetamines

drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes.

Amygdala

two lima-bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion.

Anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly (15 percent or more) underweight.

Antagonist

a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, inhibits or blocks a response.

Anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories.

Antianxiety drugs

drugs used to control anxiety and agitation.

Antidepressant drugs

drugs used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. (Several widely used antidepressant drugsare selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - SSRIs.)

Antipsychotic drugs

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

Antisocial personality disorder

a personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.

Anxiety disorders

psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.

Aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

Applied research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

Aptitude test

a test designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.

Assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.

Association areas

areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.

Associative learning

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

Attachment

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Attitude

feelings, often influenced by our belief, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

Attribution theory

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

Audition

the sense or act of hearing.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.

Automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles or the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.

Availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common.

Aversive conditioning

a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking and alcohol).

Axon

the neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

Babbling stage

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.

Barbiturates

drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment.

Basal metabolic rate

the body's resting rate of energy expenditure.

Basic research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

Basic trust

according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Behavior therapy

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors.

Behavioral approach

in personality theory, this perspective focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development

Behavioral psychology

the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanations by principles of learning.

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Belief perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

Binge-eating disorder

significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging or fasting that marks bulimia nervosa.

Binocular cues

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.

Biofeedback

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

Biological psychology

the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes. (Some biological psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists.)

Biomedical therapy

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person's physiology.

Biopsychosocial research

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

Bipolar disorder

a mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.

Blind spot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there.

Bottom-up processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.

Brainstem

the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions.

Broca's area

controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Bulimia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating (usually of high-calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use) or fasting.

Bystander effect

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

Cannon-Bard theory

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

Case study

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Catharsis

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

Central nervous system (CNS)

the brain and spinal cord.

Central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.

Cerebellum

the "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input, coordinating movement output and balance, and enabling nonverbal learning and memory.

Cerebral cortex

the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.

Change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment.

Chromosomes

threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes.

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle.

Classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events.

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. (Also called person-centered therapy).

Clinical psychology

a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.

Cocaine

a powerful and addictive stimulant, derived from the coca plant, producing temporarily increased alertness and euphoria.

Cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses.

Cochlear implant

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.

Cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

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 we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitude.

Cognitive learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language.

Cognitive map

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.

Cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

Cognitive psychology

the scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Cognitive therapy

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

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

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

Cohort

a group of people from a given time period.

Collective unconscious

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

Collectivism

giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly.