GRE Psychology Subject Test Accurate
100%
Ablation - ANSWER A surgically induced brain lesion.
Absolute refractory period - ANSWER The period that follows the onset of an action
potential. During this period, a nerve impulse cannot be initiated
Absolute threshold - ANSWER The minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate a
sensory system.
Accommodation - ANSWER A principle of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. It
occurs when cognitive structures are modified because new information or new
experiences do not fit into existing cognitive structures.
Acetylcholine - ANSWER A neurotransmitter found in both central and peripheral
nervous systems linked to Alzheimer's disease and used to transmit nerve impulses to
the muscles, respectively.
Acrophobia - ANSWER A specific phobia that is an irrational fear of heights.
ACT model (Adaptive Control of Thought) - ANSWER A model that describes memory
in terms of procedural and declarative memory.
Actor-observer effect - ANSWER The tendency of actors to see observer behavior as
due to external factors (situational factors) and the tendency of observers to attribute
actors' behaviors to internal characteristics (dispositional characteristics).
Adrenaline - ANSWER A hormone that increases energy available for "fight or flight"
reactions (also known as epinephrine).
Afterimages - ANSWER A visual sensation that appears after prolonged or intense
exposure to a stimulus.
Agnosia - ANSWER Impairments in perceptual recognition.
Agoraphobia - ANSWER An irrational fear of being in places or situations where escape
might be difficult.
All-or-none law - ANSWER A law about nerve impulses stating that when depolarization
reaches the critical threshold (-50 millivolts) the neuron is going to fire, each time, every
time.
,Alternate-form method - ANSWER In psychometrics, it is the method of using two or
more different forms of a test to determine the reliability of a particular test.
Altruism - ANSWER A form of helping behavior where the person's intent is to benefit
someone else at some cost to him- or herself.
Amnesia - ANSWER A dissociative disorder where individuals are unable to recall past
experience, but this inability is not due to a neurological disorder.
Analogy of inoculation - ANSWER McGuire's analogy that people can be
psychologically inoculated against the "attack" of persuasive communications by first
exposing them to a weakened attack.
Analyses of Variance (anovas) - ANSWER A statistical method to compare the means
of more than two groups by comparing the between-group variance to the within-group
variance.
Anchoring - ANSWER A cognitive term (a heuristic) that refers to the tendency of
people to make decisions based on reference points, or standards used to make
judgements.
Anima (animus) - ANSWER An archetype from Jung's theory referring to the feminine
behaviors in males, and the masculine behaviors in females.
Anorexia nervosa - ANSWER An eating disorder characterized by a refusal to maintain
a minimal normal body weight.
Anterograde amnesia - ANSWER Memory loss for new information following brain
injury.
Anti-social personality disorder - ANSWER A personality disorder characterized by a
pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others.
Aphagia. - ANSWER An impairment in the ability to eat.
Aphasias - ANSWER Language disorders, which are associated with Broca's and
Wernicke's areas in the brain.
Apparent motion - ANSWER An illusion that occurs when two dots flashed in different
locations on a screen seconds apart are perceived as one moving dot.
Apraxia - ANSWER An impairment in the organization of voluntary action.
Archetypes - ANSWER The building blocks for the collective unconscious referred to in
Jung's theory of personality.
,Assimilation - ANSWER A principle of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. It is the
process of understanding new information in relation to prior knowledge, or existing
schemata.
Association area - ANSWER Areas in the brain that integrate information from different
cortical regions
Atkinson-Shiffin model - ANSWER A model of memory that involves three memory
structures (sensory, short-term and long-term), and the processes that operate these
memory structures.
Attachment bond - ANSWER Evidence of a preference for the primary caregiver and a
wariness of strangers.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/HD) - ANSWER A disorder characterized
by developmentally atypical inattention and/or impulsivity-hyperactivity.
Attribution theory - ANSWER Fritz Heider's theory that people tend to infer the causes
of other people's behavior as either dispositional (related to the individual) or situational
(related to the environment).
Authoritarian parenting style - ANSWER A parenting style tending to use punitive
control methods and lacking emotional warmth.
Authoritative parenting style - ANSWER A parenting style tending to have reasonably
high demands for child compliance coupled with emotional warmth.
Autism - ANSWER A disorder whose essential features are lack of responsiveness to
other people, gross impairment in communication skills, and behaviors and interests
that are repetitive, inflexibly routined and stereotyped.
Autokinetic effect - ANSWER An illusion that occurs when a spot of light appears to
move erratically in a dark room, simply because there is no frame of reference.
Availability heuristic - ANSWER A decision-making short-cut that people tend to use
when trying to decide how likely something is based upon how easily similar instances
can be imagined .
Aversion therapy - ANSWER A behavioral therapy of pairing unpleasant stimuli with
undesirable behavior.
Balance theory - ANSWER Fritz Heider's consistency theory that is concerned with
balance and imbalance in the ways in which three elements are related
, Behavioral contracts - ANSWER A therapeutic technique that is a negotiated agreement
between two parties that explicitly stipulates the behavioral change that is desired and
indicates consequences of certain acts.
Behavioral-stimulants - ANSWER A class of drugs that increase behavioral activity by
increasing motor activity or by counteracting fatigue, and which are thought to stimulate
receptors for dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin.
Békésy's traveling wave theory - ANSWER Proposed by Von Békésy, the theory holds
that high frequency sounds maximally vibrate the basilar membrane near the beginning
of the cochlea close to the oval window and low frequencies maximally vibrate near the
apex, or tip of the cochlea.
Between-subjects design - ANSWER An experimental design whereby each subject is
exposed to only one level of each independent variable.
Binocular disparity (stereopsis) - ANSWER A cue for depth perception that depends on
the fact that the distance between the eyes provides two slightly disparate views of the
world that, when combined, give us a perception of depth.
Bi-polar disorders - ANSWER A mood disorder characterized by both depression and
mania.
Boomerang effect - ANSWER In theories of attitude persuasion, it is an attitude change
in the opposite direction of the persuader's message.
Borderline personality disorder - ANSWER A personality disorder characterized by an
instability in interpersonal behavior, mood and self-image that borders on psychosis.
Bottom-up processing (data-driven processing) - ANSWER Information processing that
occurs when objects are recognized by the summation of the components of incoming
stimulus to arrive at the whole pattern.
Brightness - ANSWER The subjective impression of the intensity of a light stimulus.
Brightness contrast - ANSWER In brightness perception, it refers to a when a particular
luminance appears brighter when surrounded by a darker stimulus than when
surrounded by a lighter stimulus.
Broca's aphasia - ANSWER Impairments in producing spoken language associated with
lesions to Broca's area.
Bulimia nervosa - ANSWER An eating disorder that involves binge eating and excessive
attempts to compensate for it by purging, fasting, or excessive exercising.
100%
Ablation - ANSWER A surgically induced brain lesion.
Absolute refractory period - ANSWER The period that follows the onset of an action
potential. During this period, a nerve impulse cannot be initiated
Absolute threshold - ANSWER The minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate a
sensory system.
Accommodation - ANSWER A principle of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. It
occurs when cognitive structures are modified because new information or new
experiences do not fit into existing cognitive structures.
Acetylcholine - ANSWER A neurotransmitter found in both central and peripheral
nervous systems linked to Alzheimer's disease and used to transmit nerve impulses to
the muscles, respectively.
Acrophobia - ANSWER A specific phobia that is an irrational fear of heights.
ACT model (Adaptive Control of Thought) - ANSWER A model that describes memory
in terms of procedural and declarative memory.
Actor-observer effect - ANSWER The tendency of actors to see observer behavior as
due to external factors (situational factors) and the tendency of observers to attribute
actors' behaviors to internal characteristics (dispositional characteristics).
Adrenaline - ANSWER A hormone that increases energy available for "fight or flight"
reactions (also known as epinephrine).
Afterimages - ANSWER A visual sensation that appears after prolonged or intense
exposure to a stimulus.
Agnosia - ANSWER Impairments in perceptual recognition.
Agoraphobia - ANSWER An irrational fear of being in places or situations where escape
might be difficult.
All-or-none law - ANSWER A law about nerve impulses stating that when depolarization
reaches the critical threshold (-50 millivolts) the neuron is going to fire, each time, every
time.
,Alternate-form method - ANSWER In psychometrics, it is the method of using two or
more different forms of a test to determine the reliability of a particular test.
Altruism - ANSWER A form of helping behavior where the person's intent is to benefit
someone else at some cost to him- or herself.
Amnesia - ANSWER A dissociative disorder where individuals are unable to recall past
experience, but this inability is not due to a neurological disorder.
Analogy of inoculation - ANSWER McGuire's analogy that people can be
psychologically inoculated against the "attack" of persuasive communications by first
exposing them to a weakened attack.
Analyses of Variance (anovas) - ANSWER A statistical method to compare the means
of more than two groups by comparing the between-group variance to the within-group
variance.
Anchoring - ANSWER A cognitive term (a heuristic) that refers to the tendency of
people to make decisions based on reference points, or standards used to make
judgements.
Anima (animus) - ANSWER An archetype from Jung's theory referring to the feminine
behaviors in males, and the masculine behaviors in females.
Anorexia nervosa - ANSWER An eating disorder characterized by a refusal to maintain
a minimal normal body weight.
Anterograde amnesia - ANSWER Memory loss for new information following brain
injury.
Anti-social personality disorder - ANSWER A personality disorder characterized by a
pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others.
Aphagia. - ANSWER An impairment in the ability to eat.
Aphasias - ANSWER Language disorders, which are associated with Broca's and
Wernicke's areas in the brain.
Apparent motion - ANSWER An illusion that occurs when two dots flashed in different
locations on a screen seconds apart are perceived as one moving dot.
Apraxia - ANSWER An impairment in the organization of voluntary action.
Archetypes - ANSWER The building blocks for the collective unconscious referred to in
Jung's theory of personality.
,Assimilation - ANSWER A principle of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. It is the
process of understanding new information in relation to prior knowledge, or existing
schemata.
Association area - ANSWER Areas in the brain that integrate information from different
cortical regions
Atkinson-Shiffin model - ANSWER A model of memory that involves three memory
structures (sensory, short-term and long-term), and the processes that operate these
memory structures.
Attachment bond - ANSWER Evidence of a preference for the primary caregiver and a
wariness of strangers.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/HD) - ANSWER A disorder characterized
by developmentally atypical inattention and/or impulsivity-hyperactivity.
Attribution theory - ANSWER Fritz Heider's theory that people tend to infer the causes
of other people's behavior as either dispositional (related to the individual) or situational
(related to the environment).
Authoritarian parenting style - ANSWER A parenting style tending to use punitive
control methods and lacking emotional warmth.
Authoritative parenting style - ANSWER A parenting style tending to have reasonably
high demands for child compliance coupled with emotional warmth.
Autism - ANSWER A disorder whose essential features are lack of responsiveness to
other people, gross impairment in communication skills, and behaviors and interests
that are repetitive, inflexibly routined and stereotyped.
Autokinetic effect - ANSWER An illusion that occurs when a spot of light appears to
move erratically in a dark room, simply because there is no frame of reference.
Availability heuristic - ANSWER A decision-making short-cut that people tend to use
when trying to decide how likely something is based upon how easily similar instances
can be imagined .
Aversion therapy - ANSWER A behavioral therapy of pairing unpleasant stimuli with
undesirable behavior.
Balance theory - ANSWER Fritz Heider's consistency theory that is concerned with
balance and imbalance in the ways in which three elements are related
, Behavioral contracts - ANSWER A therapeutic technique that is a negotiated agreement
between two parties that explicitly stipulates the behavioral change that is desired and
indicates consequences of certain acts.
Behavioral-stimulants - ANSWER A class of drugs that increase behavioral activity by
increasing motor activity or by counteracting fatigue, and which are thought to stimulate
receptors for dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin.
Békésy's traveling wave theory - ANSWER Proposed by Von Békésy, the theory holds
that high frequency sounds maximally vibrate the basilar membrane near the beginning
of the cochlea close to the oval window and low frequencies maximally vibrate near the
apex, or tip of the cochlea.
Between-subjects design - ANSWER An experimental design whereby each subject is
exposed to only one level of each independent variable.
Binocular disparity (stereopsis) - ANSWER A cue for depth perception that depends on
the fact that the distance between the eyes provides two slightly disparate views of the
world that, when combined, give us a perception of depth.
Bi-polar disorders - ANSWER A mood disorder characterized by both depression and
mania.
Boomerang effect - ANSWER In theories of attitude persuasion, it is an attitude change
in the opposite direction of the persuader's message.
Borderline personality disorder - ANSWER A personality disorder characterized by an
instability in interpersonal behavior, mood and self-image that borders on psychosis.
Bottom-up processing (data-driven processing) - ANSWER Information processing that
occurs when objects are recognized by the summation of the components of incoming
stimulus to arrive at the whole pattern.
Brightness - ANSWER The subjective impression of the intensity of a light stimulus.
Brightness contrast - ANSWER In brightness perception, it refers to a when a particular
luminance appears brighter when surrounded by a darker stimulus than when
surrounded by a lighter stimulus.
Broca's aphasia - ANSWER Impairments in producing spoken language associated with
lesions to Broca's area.
Bulimia nervosa - ANSWER An eating disorder that involves binge eating and excessive
attempts to compensate for it by purging, fasting, or excessive exercising.
