Princeton MCAT Psych/Soc Glossary Terms A-F

Absolute poverty

the inability to meet a bare minimum of basic necessities

Acetylcholine (Ach)

the neurotransmitter used at the neuromuscular junction throughout the parasympathetic nervous system

Acetylcholinesterase

the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine in the synaptic cleft

Achieved status

a status due largely to an individual’s efforts

Acquisition

the process of learning the association between a conditioned stimulus and response

Action potential

a localized change in a neuron’s membrane potential that propagates away from its point of origin

Activation synthesis theory

the theory that dreams are simply byproducts of brain activation during REM sleep

Actor observer bias

the tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities

Addiction

a compulsion to perform an act repeatedly, often with detrimental effects on the individual

Adrenal cortex

the outer region of the adrenal gland that produces cortisol in response to long term (chronic) stress and aldosterone in response to low blood pressure or low blood osmolarity

Adrenal medulla

the inner region of the adrenal gland that releases epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine into the bloodstream

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

a tropic hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland that targets the adrenal cortex, stimulating it to release cortisol and aldosterone; part of the stress response

Affect– a person’s visible emotion in the moment

Affirmative action

policies that seek to benefit underrepresented groups in admissions or job hiring decisions

Aggregate

people who exist in the same space but do not interact or share a common sense of identity

Aggression

behavior that is forceful, hostile, or attacking

Agnosia

the inability to recognize objects through sensory mechanisms despite intact function of the underlying sense itself

Mary Ainsworth

conducted famous studies on attachment style in infants

Algorithm

a step by step detailing aid to problem solving

Alpha waves

low amplitude, high frequency brain waves present in a relaxed state

Altruistic behavior

a behavior that benefits others at the expense of the individual

Alzheimer's disease

the most prevalent form of dementia, characterized by severe memory impairment

Amalgamation

occurs when majority and minority groups combine to form a new group

Amygdala

almond shaped structure deep within the brain that orchestrates emotional experiences

Anal stage

the second of Freud’s five psychosexual stages, in this stage the child seeks sensual pleasure through control of elimination

Anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories

Antisocial personality disorder

a psychological disorder characterized by serious behavior problems beginning in adolescence; including significant aggression against people or animals, property destruction, lying, or theft

Anxiety disorder

a psychological disorder characterized by intense, frequent, and uncontrollable anxiety

Archival studies

studies that explore historical records and search for patterns or insight.

Solomon Asch

conducted important research on conformity and group pressure

Ascribed status

a status that is assigned to a person by society regardless of the person’s own efforts

Assimilation

the process in which an individual forsakes aspects of his or her own cultural tradition to adopt those of a different culture

Associative learning

process of learning in which one event, object or action is directly connected with another; two general categories include classical and operant conditioning

Attenuation model of selective attention

model of selective attention in which the mind has an attenuator, like a volume knob, that tunes up attended inputs and tunes down unattended inputs, rather than eliminating them

Attitude

a person’s feelings and beliefs about other people or events and behavioral tendencies

Attribution theory

a theory that tries to explain behavior by attributing it to either internal or external causes

Attrition

occurs when participants in a study drop out before completion

Auditory cortex

the area of the temporal lobe responsible for processing sound information

Auditory tube

functions to equalize middle ear pressure with atmospheric pressure so that pressure on both sides of the tympanic membrane is equal

Authoritarian parenting

parents impose strict rules that are expected to be followed unconditionally

Authoritative parenting

parent place limits on behavior and consistently follow through on consequences, but also allow for two way communication with children

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

the division of the peripheral nervous system that innervates and controls the visceral organs; can be subdivided into sympathetic and parasympathetic branches

Availability heuristic

mental shortcut of making judgements on the frequency of something occurring based on how readily it is available in our memories

Avoidance learning

the process by which one learns to ensure that a negative stimulus will not occur

Avoidant personality disorder

a psychological disorder characterized by feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, and undesirability, and a preoccupation with fears of criticism

Axon

a long projection of the cell body of a neuron down which an action potential can be propagated

Back stage

in the dramaturgical perspective, this is where we can “let down our guard” and be ourselves

Albert Bandura

famous for his bobo doll studies that demonstrated observational learning

Baroreceptor

a sensory receptor that responds to changes in pressure

Basal nuclei/basal ganglia

structures that coordinate smooth motion by inhibiting excess movement

Basilar membrane

membrane in the cochlea that supports the organ of Corti, which contains hearing receptors

Behavioral genetics

study of the role of inheritance in interacting with experience to determine an individual;s personality and behaviors

Behavioral therapy

this type of therapy uses conditioning to shape a client's behavior in the desired direction

Behaviorism

the perspective that personality is a result of learned behavior patterns based on the environment

Belief bias

a tendency to draw conclusions based on what one already believes rather than sound logic

Belief perseverance

the maintenance of beliefs even in the face of evidence to the contrary

Beliefs

the convictions or principles that people within a culture hold

Beta waves

walking EEFG waves seen during alert focus with oscillations between 12.5 Hz and 30Hz

Between subjects designs

comparison are made between one group and another to test for differences

Bilateral descent

a system of lineage in which the relatives on the mother’s side and father’s side are considered equally important

Biofeedback

means of recording and feeding back information about autonomic responses to an individual in an attempt to train the individual to control previously involuntary responses

Biographical studies

studies that investigate all relevant details of the life of an individual or small group

Bipolar disorder

a psychological disorder characterized by mood episodes of depression and mania

Bipolar neuron

a neuron with a single axon and a single dendrite

Borderline personality disorder

a psychological disorder characterized by enduring or recurrent instability in impulse control, mood, and image of self and others

Bottom up processing

sensory processing that begins with sensory receptors and works up to complex integration of information in the brain

Broca’s area

region in the left hemisphere of the frontal lobe involved in language production

Bystander effect

the fact that a person is less likely to provide help when there are other people around

Cannon Bard Theory

asserts that the physiological and cognitive aspects of emotion occur simultaneously and collectively lead to the behavioral reaction

Capitalism

an economic system in which resources and production are mainly privately owned and goods/services are produced for a profit

Case studies

studies that make a deep and comprehensive exploration of a single individual, phenomenon, or disorder

Caste system

a closed social stratification where people remain in the category they are born into

Category

people who share similar characteristics but are not otherwise linked as a group

Raymond Cattell

Psychologist who used factor analysis with hundred of traits to identify sixteen source traits, then reduce these into five global factors

Central executive

part of working memory that controls the visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and episodic buffer

Central nervous system

the subdivision of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord

Central route

cognitive route of persuasion based on the content and deeper aspects of an argument

Cerebellum

the region of the brain that coordinates and smooths skeletal muscle activity

Cerebral cortex

a thin layer of gray matter on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres

Cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)

a clear fluid that circulates around and through the brain and spinal cord

Charismatic authority

a form of leadership where devotion is reliant upon an individual with exceptional charisma

Chemical synapse

synapse at which a neurotransmitter is released from the axon of a neuron into the synaptic cleft, where it binds to receptors on the next structure

Chemoreceptor

a sensory receptor that responds to specific chemicals, for example, gustatory (taste) receptors, and olfactory (smell) receptors.

Chunking

memory technique in which information is organized into groups of data, allowing more information to be remembered overall

Church

a type of well integrated religious organization that attempts to provide an all encompassing worldview for followers

Ciliary muscle

muscle that helps focus light on the retina by controlling the curvature of the lens of the eye

Circadian rhythm

the waxing and waning of alertness throughout the 24 hour day

Class system

a social stratification where people are grouped together by similar wealth, income, and education but the classes are open, so people can strive to reach a higher class or fall to a lower class

Classical conditioning

process in which two stimuli are paired in a way that changes a response to one of them

Cochlea

the curled structure in the inner ear that contains the membranes and hair cells used to transduce sound waves into action potentials

Cocktail party effect

phenomenon in which salient information catches one’s attention

Coercive organizations

organizations in which members don’t have a choice in joining

Cognitive behavioral theory(CBT)

a type of therapy that addresses thoughts and behaviors that are maladaptive by using goal oriented and systematic techniques

Cognitive dissonance theory

a theory that explains that we feel tension whenever we hold two thoughts that are incompatible

Cognitive psychology

tradition of psychology that focus on the brain, cognitions, and thoughts as mediating learning and stimulus response behaviors

Conditioned stimulus

an originally neutral stimulus that is paired until it can produce the conditioned response without the unconditioned stimulus

Conduction aphasia

language dysfunction characterized by poor speech repetition despite intact comprehension and fluent speech

Cones

photoreceptors in the retina of the eye that respond to bright light and provide color vision

Confederates

a person who is working with the experimenter and posing as a part of the experiment, but the subjects are not aware of this affiliation

Confirmation bias

a tendency to search only for information that confirms a preconceived conclusion