U4: Vocab Quiz #4 (Modules 4.6, 4.7, 4.8)

Module 4.6a: (5 words)

1. 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.

2. personality inventory- a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

3. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)- the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

4. empirically derived test- a test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items that discriminate between groups.

5. Big Five factors- five traits — openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism — that describe personality. (Also called the five-factor model.)

Module 4.6b: (3 words)

1. social-cognitive perspective- a view of behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context.

2. behavioral approach- focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development.

3. reciprocal determinism- the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

Module 4.6c: (8 words)

1. Self- in modern psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

2. spotlight effect- overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

3. Self-esteem- our feelings of high or low self-worth.

4. Self-efficacy- our sense of competence and effectiveness.

5. self-serving bias- a readiness to perceive ourselves favorably.

6. Narcissism- excessive self-love and self-absorption.

7. Individualism- a cultural pattern that emphasizes people’s own goals over group goals and defines identity mainly in terms of unique personal attributes.

8. Collectivism- a cultural pattern that prioritizes the goals of important groups (often one’s extended family or work group).

Modules 4.7a: (7 words)

1. Motivation- a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

2. Instinct- a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned.

3. physiological need- a basic bodily requirement.

4. drive-reduction theory- the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

5. 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.

6. Incentive- a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

7. Yerkes-Dodson law- the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.

Module 4.7b: (7 words)

1. affiliation need- the need to build and maintain relationships and to feel part of a group.

2. self-determination theory- the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

3. intrinsic motivation- the desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.

4. extrinsic motivation- the desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment.

5. Ostracism- deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups.

6. achievement motivation- a desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard.

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

Module 4.7c: (4 words)

1. 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.

2. set point- the point at which the “weight thermostat” may be set. When the body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight.

3. basal metabolic rate- the body’s resting rate of energy output.

4. Obesity- defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher, which is calculated from our weight-to-height ratio. (Individuals who are overweight have a BMI of 25 or higher.)

Module 4.8a: (2 words)

1. Emotion- a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal,(2) expressive behaviors, and, most importantly, (3) conscious experience resulting from one’s interpretations.

2. Polygraph- a machine used in attempts to detect lies; measures emotion-linked changes in perspiration, heart rate, and breathing.

Module 4.8b: (2 words)

1. facial feedback effect- the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness.

2. behavior feedback effect- the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions.