Myers Psychology for AP - EXAM

(PET) Positron emission tomography scan - answer-A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. absolute refractory period - answer-The minimum length of time after an action potential during which another action potential cannot begin. absolute threshold - answer-minimal amount of energy required to produce any sensation, 50 percent of the time accommodation - answer-in the theories of Jean Piaget: the modification of internal representations in order to accommodate a changing knowledge of reality accommodation - answer-Process by which the eye lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina achievement test - answer-a test designed to assess what a person has learned. acoustic encoding - answer-encoding of sound, especially the sound of words acquisition - answer-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 - answer-A brief change in a neuron's electrical charge. activation-synthesis theory - answer-theory that dreams reflect inputs from brain activation originating in the pons, which the forebrain then attempts to weave into a story active listening - answer-echoing, restating, and seeking clarification of what the person expresses and acknowledging the expressed feelings adaptation-level phenomenon - answer-our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level definite by our prior experience. addiction - answer-compulsive drug craving and use, despite adverse consequences adolescence - answer-the time period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood adrenal glands - answer-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. aggression - answer-any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy. aggression - answer-violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked agonist - answer-A chemical that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter. agoraphobia - answer-an anxiety disorder involving strong fear of being alone or away from the security of home Albert Bandura - answer-researcher famous for work in observational or social learning including the famous Bobo doll experiment Albert Bandura - answer-social-congnitive; personality comes from observing others and modeling ourselves after them. Alfred Adler - answer-inferiority complex, overcomeing childhood feelings of inferiority Alfred Binet - answer-the indvidual that published the first measure of intelligence in 1905. The purpose of his intelligence test was to correctly place students on academic tracks in the French school system. algorithm - answer-a precise rule (or set of rules) specifying how to solve some problem alpha waves - answer-the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state altruism - answer-unselfish regard for the welfare of others. alzheimers disease - answer-an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, characterized by the deterioration of memory, language, and eventually, physical functioning amnesia - answer-loss of memory Amos Tversky - answer-A key figure in the discovery of systematic human cognitive bias amphetamines - answer-drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing sped-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes amygdala - answer-neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion. (fear & aggression) anal stage - answer-Psychosexual stage (18-36m) Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control anorexia nervosa - answer-an eating disorder in which a normal-weight person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15 percent or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve. antagonist - answer-A chemical that opposes the action of a neurotransmitter. antianxiety drugs - answer-drugs that depress central nervous system activity; reduce symptoms without resolving underlying problems antidepressant drugs - answer-drugs that increase the availability of neurotransmitters norepinephrine or serotonin, which elevate arousal and mood and appear scarce during depression antipsychotic drugs - answer-certain drugs, used for other medical purposes, calmed psychotic patients antisocial personality disorder - answer-a personality disorder characterized by shameless disregard for, and violation of, other people's rights anxiety disorder - answer-a condition in which intense feelings of apprehension are long-standing and disruptive aphasia - answer-impairment of language, usually caused by Left Hemisphere damage to Brocas area or Wernickes. applied research - answer-scientific study that aims to solve practical problems aptitude test - answer-a test designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn. archetypes - answer-ideas and images of the accumulated experience of all human beings assimilation - answer-the process of assimilating new ideas into an existing cognitive structure association areas - answer-Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not invoved in primary motor or sensory funtions; they are involved in higher mental funtions such as learning, remebering, thinking and speaking. associative learning - answer-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 - answer-The strong bond (social-emotional) a child forms with his or her primary caregiver. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - answer-patients diagnosed with this disorder are impulsive and unable to concentrate on an activity as well as other children their age can attitude - answer-feelings often based on our beliefs, which predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events. attribution theory - answer-suggests how we explain someone's behavior—by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition. audtition - answer-The sense of hearing. Autism - answer-a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind automatic processing - answer-unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequence autonomic nervous system (ANS) - answer-The system of nerves that connect to the heart, blood vessels, smooth muscles, and glands. availability heuristic - answer-estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common aversion theory - answer-Aversion therapy is a form of behavior therapy in which an aversive (causing a strong feeling of dislike or disgust) stimulus is paired with an undesirable behavior in order to reduce or eliminate that behavior. aversive conditioning - answer-tries to replace a positive response to a harmful stimulus with negative response; opposite of systematic desensitization axon - answer-A long, thin fiber that transmits signals away from the neuron cell body to other neurons, or to muscles or glands. B.F Skinner - answer-pioneer of operant conditioning who believed that language development is determined by our past history of rewards and punishments B.F. Skinner - answer-Behaviorist B.F. Skinner - answer-pioneer of operant conditioning who believed that everything we do is determined by our past history of rewards and punishments. he is famous for use of his operant conditioning aparatus which he used to study schedules of reinforcement on pidgeons and rats. barbiturates - answer-drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment basal metabolic rate - answer-the body's resting rate of energy expenditure. basic research - answer-pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base basic trust - answer-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 basilar membrane - answer-A membrane inside the cochlea which vibrates in response to sound and whose vibrations lead to activity in the auditory pathways. behavior genetics - answer-: the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. behavior therapy - answer-therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors behavioral medicine - answer-an interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to healthy and disease. behavioral psychology - answer-the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning behaviorism - answer-the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science, overt that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2) behaviorism - answer-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 - answer-clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited Benjamin Whorf - answer-Concept of "liguistic determinism" or how language impacts thought binocular cues - answer-visual messages/cues that require two eyes (retinal disparity, convergence) biofedback - answer-Biofeedback is a technique that trains people to improve their health by controlling certain bodily processes that normally happen involuntarily, such as heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin temperature. biofeedback - answer-a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension. biofeedback - answer-a training program in which a person is given information about physiological processes (heart rate or blood pressure) that is not normally available with the goal of gaining conscious control of them biological psychology - answer-a branch of psychology that studies the links between biological (including neuroscience and behavior genetics) and psychological processes biological psychology - answer-Branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior biopsychosocial approach - answer-an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis biopsychosocial model - answer-a view of mental disorders as caused by a combination of interacting biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors bipolar I disorder - answer-a mood disorder in which a person alternates between deep depression and mania; also called manic depression bipolar II disorder - answer-a mood disorder in which a person alternates between major depressive episodes and hypomania episodes blind spot - answer-place on the retina out where the optic nerve leaves the eye, no receptors (rods/cones) are located here borderline personality disorder - answer-a personality disorder characterized by lack of stability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion; impulsivity; angry outbursts; intense fear of abandonment; recurring suicidal gestures bottom-up processing - answer-Starts with basic sensory information; transduction brainstem - answer-the oldest part and central core of brain. AKA reticular formation, or reticular activating system. In c