PSYCH CHAPTER 2

abnormal outside of what would be considered as normal; unusual

acting-out when an internal and ambiguous wish or unavailable fear is managed by converting it into an external action

anxiety an excess of being nervous, or jumpy, or frightened

change blindness or perceptual occlusion the difficulty associated with learning to see (objects, experiences, ideas, concepts)

compassionate curiosity a psychological attitude that invites us to swallow others’ truths rather than make meaning ourselves; to notice what is in our bowl so that we make room for the gifts of others

compulsions what one must do in order to quiet obsessive thoughts

confirmation bias the tendency to take in information from the world in a way that supports our existing ideas about it; to deflect or distort or deny information from the world that threatens our existing ideas of it

correlational fallacy making the assumption that because two things happen together, that one is causing the other

description a theory function where we start to speak our experience in psychological terms

determinism refers to a cause that we can seek to know, observe, and describe with scientific compassionate curiosity

explanation a theory function that involves making careful inferences or guesses about causes

five functions of theory observe, describe, explain, predict, intervene

“hmmm… It’s complicated” a doorway into a room where new, kind, clear psychological description is starting to happen

imagine taking the time to form a mental image of something

intervention a theory function that uses descriptions, explanation, and predictions in the interest of understanding suffering so that we may be more careful and kind

lookism a confirmation bias and perceptual occlusion in which we privilege appearance over being; make judgments based on appearance

normal 1) what we see when we watch and count 2) Does not have anything to do with what is normal for you, but rather normal for us

observation a theory function that sensitizes and disciplines us to a careful, compassionately curious noticing of what might matter through seeing, touching, smelling, hearing, feeling, and even imagining our experience

obsessions persistent and unwelcome thoughts

prediction a theory function that allows us to involve ourselves with problems before they become problems

prophylaxis to prevent what might happen if we were not to predict and try to prevent it from occurring

science (scientific) a system of watching our experience in new, kind, clear, and careful ways

structure & mechanism a psychological bridge between what is observable (structure) and what can be seen or imagined (mechanism); A part to psychological explanation

theory a set of provisional, humble, testable, best guesses about how the world works