A set of all the key vocab, concepts, definitions, people, studies, experiments and real word connections from the proglogue and chapter 16 of the Psychology textbook written by Myers.
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| 82897456 | structuralism | Definition: an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind Researchers: Edward Bradford Titchener (1892) Study: trained people to explain their immediate sensation, images, and feelings as they looked at a rose, smelled a sense, listened to a metronome, or tasted a substance | |
| 82897457 | functionalism | Definition: a school of psychology focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function and how they allow us to adapt, survive, and flourish Researchers: William James (with the influence of Charles Darwin) Study: thinking is adaptive, like smelling | |
| 82897458 | behaviorism | Definition: view that psychology should be an objective science that studies the behavior without reference to mental processes Researchers: John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner (1920s-1960s) Study: science is rooted in observation; you cannot observe a thought or feeling but you CAN observe someone's behavior | |
| 82897459 | humanistic psychology | Definition: historically significant perspecitve that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individuals potential for personal growth Researchers: Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow Study: affect and influence of society on people and the importance of acceptance and love | |
| 82897460 | cognitive neuroscience | Defintion: interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (perception, thinking, memory, language) Researchers: N/A Study: helpful in understanding and finding new ways to treat disorders like depression | |
| 82897461 | psychology | Definition: the science of behavior and mental processes Researchers: every psychologist Study: a behavior is something you do; a recordable action like yelling, smiling, or sweating. a mental process is an internal, inferable action based on behavior such as perceptions, dreams, and thoughts | |
| 82897462 | nature-nurture issue | Definition: controversy over whether genes and experience contribute to the development of psychological traits and behaviors Researchers: Plato (428 B.C.), Aristotle 9348 B.C.) and John Locke and Rene Descartes (1600s) Study: do human traits develop through experience or are we born with them? | |
| 82897463 | natural selection | Definition: principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations Researchers: Charles Darwin (1859) Study: explained animal structure (why a polar bear has a white coat) and human behavior (why there are emotions like lust and anger) | |
| 82897464 | nurture works on what nature endows | Definition: humans have, biologically, a big capacity to learn and adapt. everyt thought is not only psychological but biological Researchers: N/A Example: depression can be both a brain AND thought disorder | |
| 82897465 | levels of analysis | Definition: differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given development Researchers: N/A Study: all views/perspectives are related to each other and necessary to fully understand | |
| 82910330 | attribution theory | Definition: theory explaining someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition Researchers: Fritz Heider (1958) Study: is a child's hostility in school caused by their personality or possibly stress or abuse? | |
| 82910331 | fundamental attribution error | Definition: the tendancy for observers, when analyzing anothers behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation, and overestimate the impact of personal disposition Researchers: David Napolitan and George Goethals (1979) Experiment: had two groups of kids meet women who either acted really nice or really rude. one group was told in advance that the women was going to act either nice or mean but when they met her they disregarded the insight and focused solely on the personal disposition | |
| 82910332 | attitudes | Definition: feelings, often influenced, by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events Researchers: N/A Study: our attitudes affect our actions | |
| 82910333 | foot-in-the-door phenomenon | Definition: the tendancy for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later to a large one Researchers: N/A Example: the people in the Jonestown cult did not originally realize that the would end up killing themselves, they just started to listen and agreed to services once a week (not any different from temple or church) that turned into more often and then long retreats, etc | |
| 82910334 | role | Definition: a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave Researchers: Phillip Zimbardo (1972) Example: students play roles of guards and prisoners in prison stimulation. after a day or so the roles became very real and the guards began to develop cruel routines and the prisoners had mental break downs. it got so bad Zimbardo had to end it earlier than planned | |
| 82910335 | cognitive dissonance theory | Definition: the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when 2 of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. When our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes Researchers: Leon Festinger Example: writing an essay for a researcher (in exchange for money) on a topic you don't agree with makes you feel responsible for the statements even though they aren't the same as your attitudes | |
| 83111159 | chameleon effect | Definition: uncounsciously mimicking others' expressions, tones, or posture to help us feel as they feel Researchers: Tanya Chartand and John Bargh (1999) Experiment: when students were talking with a confederate who rubbed their face and shook their foots constantly, the participant began to do the same | |
| 83111160 | conformity | Definition: adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard Researchers: Solomon Asch (1955) Experiment: participant asked an easy question, and five other people answer it wrong before the participant. the participant answers wrong too so they can go along with the group and not be the odd one out | |
| 83111161 | normative social influence | Definition: influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval Researchers: Solomon Asch (1955) Experiment: participant asked an easy question, and five other people answer it wrong before the participant. the participant answers wrong too so they can go along with the group and not be the odd one out | |
| 83111162 | informational social influence | Definition: influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality Researchers: Robert Baron (1996) Experiment: showed difficult slides testing accuracy and the participant conformed with the rest of the group who answered wrong, because they were unsure of the right answer and thought since everyone else said the other it was probably correct | |
| 83111163 | obedience | Definition: how far would you follow demands to hurt someone? Researchers: Stanley Milgram (1963, 1974) Experiment: experimenter tells participant to send volt every time the "learner" (in another room) misses a word. the learner does not really recieve the shock, but pretends to be in pain and beg him to stop but the experimenter demands the participant to continue. the shock levels increase each time until its Danger: Very Severe. most people followed the demands and went to the very last one | |
| 83111164 | social facilitation | Definition: stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presense of others (unmastered, toucgher tasks are performed less well when observed) Researchers: Norman Tripett (1898) Experiment: kids wind a fishing reel as fast as possible and its faster when someone else is doing it with them | |
| 83111165 | social loafing | Definition: the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforst toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable Researchers: Bibb Latane Experiment: a blindolfed person wearing headphones with the sound of clapping playing is asked to clap and shout as loud as possible. when told they are alone they scream 2/3 as loud than they do when they are told there is a group of people doing it with them | |
| 83111166 | deindividuation | Definition: the loss of self-awareness and self restraint occuring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity Researchers: N/A Example: in Jonestown the leader was a very enthusiasitic speaker and aroused to crowd and made them lose their self-awareness of the fact that killing themselves would be bad | |
| 83111167 | group polorization | Definition: the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group Researchers: George Bishop Study: people living near and learning from like-minded people strengthen their preexisting attitudes | |
| 83111168 | groupthink | Definition: the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives Researchers: Irving Janis Example: negative views on President Kennedy invading Cuba (Bay of Pigs Invasion) were surpressed to preserve good group feeling | |
| 85224531 | prejudice | Definition: an unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude toward a group of people Researchers: N/A Example: after 9/11 most non-Muslim Americans percieved ALL Muslims (even ones that were U.S. citizens) to be terrorists | |
| 85224532 | stereotypes | Definition: a generalized belief about a group of people Researchers: N/A Example: african americans play basketball, asians are smart, jews like money | |
| 85224533 | discrimination | Definition: unjustifiable behavior towards a group and its members Researchers: N/A Study: acting on prejudice attitudes | |
| 85224534 | automatic prejudice | Definition: implicit awareness, unconcious and automatic first thoughts and judgements Researchers: 1.Anothony Greenwald (1998), 2. Kent Harber (1998), 3. Jennifer Eberhardt (2004) Experiment: 1. connect names to words, black names identified with words like bad and evil as oppossed to good and peace, 2. white teacher graded same essay but graded easier when told it was written by a black person instead of a white person, 3. police officers looked at faces and said black faces were more criminal | |
| 85224535 | steretypes rationalize inequalities | Definition: people use stereotypes to justify their reasoning for being unjust Researchers: N/A Example: slave owners considered slaves lazy, stupid, ignorant, and irresponsible; justifying their enslavement. women considered unassertive and sensitive so they are meant for cartetaking tasks not real work | |
| 85224536 | scapegoat theory | Definition: theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame Researchers: N/A Example: to boost our own sense of status, it helps to make other suffer; a bully who is insecuring picks on others to make themselves feel better | |
| 85224537 | other-race effect | Definition: tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races Researchers: N/A Study: "us" vs "they"- "they all look alike, but we are so different and individualistic"- white Americans see Hispanics as all same one race but Hispanics see themselves as different types (Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Spanish, etc) | |
| 85224538 | just-world phenomenon | Definition: tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people get what they deserve and want Researchers: N/A Study: did they deserve to get raped? abused? was it their fault? | |
| 85224539 | aggression | Definition: physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone Researchers: N/A Example: bullying someone by punching them or verbally yelling or mocking | |
| 85224540 | neural influences on aggression | Definition: animal and human brains have neural systems that, when stimulated, either inhibit or produce aggressive behavior Researchers: Dorothy Lewis (1986) Example: 15 death-row inmates had suffered severe head injuries which affected their ability to control impulse and aggression, therefore causing them to be violent | |
| 85224541 | biochemical influences on aggression | Definition: hormones, alcohol, and other substances in the blood influence the neural systems and aggression control Researchers: N/A Study: if you have consumed alcohol or drugs you ability to control impulse and aggression decreases | |
| 85224542 | frustration-agression principle | Definition: the principle that furstration (the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal) creates anger, which can generate aggression Researchers: N/A Example: in major league baseball the pitcher was found more likely to hit a batter when frustrated by the previous batter hitting a home run | |
| 85224543 | social and cultural influences on aggression | Definition: our reactions are most likely to be agressive in situations where the experience has taught us that aggression pays Researchers: N/A Example: school shootings usually due t oa kid feeling rejected and bullied by his classmates | |
| 85224544 | observation of aggression models | Definition: parents and tv often set bad examples that abuse is okay and video games can send the wrong message about violence and killing Researchers: Dolf Zillman and Jennings Bryant Experiment: one group watched sexually explicit films for 6 weeks and the other group watched more pleasent films. after 6 weeks the groups read a newspaper repot about a rape incident and had to decide how long the rapist should be in prison. the sexually explicit movie group said that he should be in prison for half as long as the other group | |
| 85224545 | altruism | Definition: unselfish regard for the welfare of others Researchers: N/A Exmaple: helping save innocent people from genocide (Carl Wilkens) | |
| 85224546 | bystander effect | Definition: the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present Researchers: N/A Example: Kitty Genovese was stabbed repeatedly and 38 or so neighbors saw and heard but did nothing | |
| 85224547 | social exchange theory | Definition: the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs Researchers: Elizabeth Dunn (2008) Study: those who spend money on others instead of entirely on themselves end up happier | |
| 85224548 | reciprocity norm | Defintion: an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them Researchers: N/A Study: we usually give (gifts, favors) as much as we recieve | |
| 85224549 | social-responsibility norm | Definition: an expectation that people will help those depndent upon them Study: religious people donate more money and help the poor more than non-religious people | |
| 85224550 | conflict | Definition: a percieved incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas Researchers: N/A Example: wars, disputes- physically, mentall, and socially destructive | |
| 85224551 | social traps | Definition: a situation in which the conflicting parties by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior Researchers: N/A Study: if both pursue own immediate best interest you both end up with nothing | |
| 85224552 | mirror-image perception | Definition: mutual view often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees istelf as ethical and peacefule and views the other side as evil and aggressive Researchers: N/A Experiment: a person is suppossed to recipricate the same amount of pressure they feel from a device on their finger but results show they recipricated with MORE force | |
| 85224553 | superordinate goals | Defintion: shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation Researchers: Muzafer Sherif (1966) Experiment: split camp into 2 groups and had them compete against each other so they were rivals, but they had them work together and they became friends | |
| 85224554 | GRIT | Definition: Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension- a strategy designed to decrease international tensions Researchers: Thomas Sowell (1991) Study: every modern society is enriched by a cultural mix | |
| 85224555 | availability heuristic (vivid cases) | Definition: estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness or rarity), we presume such events are common Researchers: N/A Study: can lead us to believe a relationship exists between 2 events/things when none really does (illusory correlation) | |
| 85224556 | confirmation bias | Definition: tendency to notice and recall instances that confirm our beliefs and ignore instances that discomfort them Researchers: N/A Study: N/A | |
| 85224557 | belief perserverance | Definition: clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited Researchers: N/A Study: N/A | |
| 85224558 | self-fufilling prophecy | Definition: occurs when one person's belief about others leads one to act in ways that induce the others to appear to confirm the belief Researchers: N/A Example: person A believes that persoon B has a particular characteristic and Person B begins to behave in accordance with that characteristic. | |
| 85224559 | mere exposure effect | Definition: the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them Researchers: Richard Moreland and Scott Beach (1992) Experiment: four equally attractive women sat silently in 200 student class for 0, 5, 10, or 15 classes. At the end of the course the students were asked to rate the attractiveness of the women. The one they saw most often (15 times) was rated higher | |
| 85224560 | attractiveness influences first impressions | Definitions: people are physically attracted to good-looking people Researchers: N/A Example: top-grossing movies feature more attractive characters portrayed superior | |
| 85224561 | similiarity | Definition: attracted to peopel with similar beliefs, interests, attitudes Researchers: N/A Study: N/A | |
| 85224562 | reward theory of attraction | Definitoin: we will like those whose behavior is rewarding to us and that we will continue relationships that offer more rewards than costs Researchers: N/A Study: N/A | |
| 85224563 | passionate love | Definition: an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship Researchers: Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron (1974, 1989) Experiment: 2 bridges; one high and shaky, the other low and sturdy. An attractive girl asked cars passing over to fill out a questionnaire and gave her number in case they wanted more information on the project. More people on the high, shaky bridge called later because they were aroused by adrenaline on the scary bridge and associated it with her | |
| 85224564 | compassionate love | Definition: the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those whom our lives are intertwined Researchers: N/A Study: N/A | |
| 85224565 | equity | Definition: giving and recieving same amount in relationship Researchers: N/A Study: N/A | |
| 85224566 | self-disclosure | Definition: revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others Researchers: N/A Study: N/A | |
| 86175728 | catharsis hypothesis | Definition: mantains that releasing action (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges and thus reduces anger Researchers: N/A Example: Towanda in Fried Green Tomatoes let out her anger by hitting the car that took her parking spot | |
| 86175729 | spill-over effect | Definition: maintains that "blowing off steam" or releasing the aggressive feelings may TEMPORARILY calm us, but it also may AMPLIFY underlying hostility and therefore influence our SUBJECTIVE view of reality Researchers: N/A Example: Towanda in Fried Green Tomatoes began to believe she could right all the wrongs and rid the punks of the world after she hit the car that took her parking spot |
