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LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY (II SEMISTER
1 Achievement of which milestones mark the transition to adulthood? buying a car having a family buying a house none of these; the transition to adulthood is gradual and not marked by a single factor Answer: D
- What are the first two stages of Levinson’s (1978) stage model for adult development?
transition phase, entering adult world phase transition phase, settling down period transition phase, age 30 transition phase settling down period, age 30 transition phase Answer: D
- What are the final two phases of Levinson’s (1978) stage model for adult development?
transition phase, settling down period age 30 transition phase, settling down period transition phase, entering adult world phase settling down period, age 30 transition phase Answer: B
- Social and emotional well-being in young adulthood can be affected by what?
establishing a career establishing first serious relationships increasing responsibility and independence all of these Answer: D
- During early adulthood, which of the following begin to decline?
metabolism dexterity physical fitness cognitive functioning Answer: A
- During early adulthood, which of the following are thought to be at their peak?
hearing high-pitched noises metabolism flexibility reaction times Answer: D
- Schaie’s (1996) longitudinal study exploring the intelligence throughout the lifespan looked at five primary abilities. What did their results show?
modest decreases across most of the five areas of ability modest gains across most of the five areas of ability significant gains across most of the five areas of ability significant decreases across most of the five areas of ability Answer: B
- What are some of the ‘crises’ affecting social and emotional well-being in middle adulthood?
physical signs of ageing children growing up and leaving home boredom with a chosen career all of these Answer: D
- Leuner, Gould and Shors (2006) found that
new neurons can develop in certain parts of the brain throughout the lifespan no new neurons develop after adolescence; the brain is static neurons begin to die and are not replaced after adolescence none of these Answer: A
- Fluid abilities such as short-term memory are
more susceptible than crystallized abilities to cognitive decline less susceptible than crystallized abilities to cognitive decline equally susceptible to cognitive decline as crystallized abilities none of these Answer: A
- Fluid abilities include
information-processing ability short-term memory ability long-term memory ability all of these Answer: D
- Crystallized abilities include the ability to use skills, knowledge and experience. These abilities tend to
improve with age as individuals expand their knowledge through experience decline with age along with general cognitive function stay static over time none of these Answer: A
- The frontal lobe hypothesis is the theory that decline in frontal lobe functioning underlies general age-related cognitive ______?
improvements stereotypes decline perceptual skills Answer: C
- When a participant is effectively inhibiting attention towards a distracting item, if that item is then deemed relevant in the next trial of the task, his/her response will typically be slowed. This is an example of what?
learning difficulties negative priming cognitive decline fluid intelligence Answer: B
- Research on changes in the way cognitive skills develop or decline across the entire lifespan would need to use what type of research design?
cross sectional longitudinal observational natural Answer: B
- Carstensen, Turan, Schiebe, Ram, Ersner-Hershfield et al. (2011) found that
positive emotional experiences decrease with age positive emotional experiences increase with age positive and negative experiences increase with age positive experiences are higher in early adulthood than in late adulthood Answer: B
- Which of the following lifestyle factors are known to affect well-being positively in late adulthood?
mental and physical activity, nutrition alcohol consumption and retiring early drug consumption, mental and physical activity none of these Answer: A
- What does the term ‘population ageing’ mean?
the trend for the youngest age groups in society to grow faster than the oldest age groups the trend for the middle-aged groups in society to grow faster than the oldest age groups the trend for the oldest age groups in society to grow faster than the younger age groups the trend for the youngest age groups in society to grow faster than the middle-aged groups Answer: C
- Carson et al. (2013) found that giving up smoking in later life
is pointless as the damage has already been done tends to lead to a decrease in life expectancy makes no significant difference to health outcomes can add years to life expectancy Answer: D
- The concept of ‘grand-generativity’ refers to
the creation of large and significant projects that contribute to wider society having grandchildren people developing their abilities and transmitting knowledge and values to younger generations in later life younger generations teaching those in older generations to understand new concepts relating to changes in the modern world Answer: C
- What are the five dimensions of Martin Seligman’s PERMA model?
Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment Patience, Energy, Reasoning, Management, Acceptance Polecat, Echidna, Rat, Mouse, Anteater Placidity, Equitability, Resilience, Measurement, Adaptation Answer: A
Q1. Of the following sampling methods, which is a probability method?
a) Judgement
b) Quota
c) Simple random
d) Convenience
Answer: c
Q2.Which among the following is the benefit of using simple random sampling?
a) The results are always representative.
b) Interviewers can choose respondents freely.
c) Informants can refuse to participate.
d) We can calculate the accuracy of the results.
Answer: d
Q3. Increasing the sample size has the following effect upon the sampling error?
a) It increases the sampling error
b) It reduces the sampling error
c) It has no effect on the sampling error
d) All of the above
Answer: b
Q4. Which of the following is not a type of non-probability sampling?
a) Quota sampling
b) Convenience sampling
c) Snowball sampling
d) Stratified random sampling
Answer: d
Q5. Sample is regarded as a subset of?
(a) Data
(b) Set
(c) Distribution
(d) Population
Answer: d
Q6. The difference between a statistic and the parameter is called:
(a) Non-random
(b) Probability
(c) Sampling error
(d) Random
Answer: c
Q7. The probability of selecting an item in probability sampling, from the population is known and is:
(a) Equal to one
(b) Equal to zero
(c) Non zero
(d) None of the above
Answer: c
Q8. The distribution that is formed by all possible values of a statistics is known as:
(a) Hypergeometric distribution
(b) Normal distribution
(c) Sampling distribution
(d) Binomial distribution
Answer: c
Q9. Among these, which sampling is based on equal probability?
(a) Simple random sampling
(b) Stratified random sampling
(c) Systematic sampling
(d) Probability sampling
Answer: a
Q10. The difference between the expected value of a statistic and the value of the parameter being estimated is called a:
(a) Standard error
(b) Bias
(c) Sampling error
(d) Non-sampling error
Answer: b
MCQ on Sampling Methods Question 1:
Choose the correct option regarding the sampling method? A) the sample is the population’s part B) it helps in determining sampling error C) sampling saves money, time, and energy D) all these options are correct Answer: (D) all of these are correct
Question 2:
What do we say to all units aggregate that’s about a study? A) sample B) unit C) universe or population D) frame Answer: (C) universe or population
Question 3:
What do you understand by sampling cases? A) sampling of newspapers, people, television programs, etc. B) the researcher’s briefcase C) by using sampling frame for sampling D) identifying and finding the people who are suitable for the research Answer: (A) sampling of newspapers, people, television programs, etc. Question 4:
One of the members of the population is known as the A) data B) family C) element D) group Answer: (C) element
Question 5:
What refers to elements from where you choose the samples for the research? A) infinite population B) finite population C) sampling population D) target population Answer: (D) target population
Question 6:
If we have to sample the population, it’s partitioned into units. Those are known to be as? A) sampling units B) sampling gap C) sampling frame D) sampling error Answer: (A) sampling units
Question 7: What do we call the population value? A) statistic B) parameter C) data D) variable Answer: (B) parameter Question 8:
Which of these are the steps in the sampling process_____? A) choosing the sampling frame B) defining the target population C) identifying and selecting the method of sample D) all of these Answer: (D) all of these
Question 9:
What do we call sample value? A) variable B) parameter C) data D) statistic
Question 32
A teacher conducts an ethnographic probe for the issues that were being faced by the tribe members and the tribal students. The sampling method used here will be? A) cluster sampling B) systematic sampling C) all of the above-mentioned options D) none of these mentioned options Answer: (A) cluster sampling
Question 33
The method of drawing a _____ is the fishbowl drawing. A) structural sample B) independent sample C) random sample D) non-random sample Answer: (C) random sample
Question 34
A survey was done among the friends, class, and neighbors to know their preference for a particular brand of cold drink. This is an example of_______. A) judgment sampling B) cluster sampling C) convenience sampling D) stratified sampling Answer: (C) convenience sampling
Question 35 Out of the mentioned procedures of sampling, mention the one that’s appropriate for making research with the empirical-inductive paradigm? A) any non-probability sampling procedures B) systematic sampling procedures C) all of these mentioned procedures D) none of these mentioned procedures Answer: (A) any non-probability sampling procedures
Question 36
Snowball sampling is a method of choosing a sample using____. A) computer programs B) groups C) snowballs D) networks Answer: (D) networks
Question 37
Out of these mentioned sampling methods, name the one that’s a probability method? A) assignment B) judgment C) quota D) simple random Answer: (D) simple random
Question 38
Out of the mentioned, which is not a type of non-probability sampling? A) quota B) stratified random sampling C) none of the above-mentioned options D) all of the these mentioned options Answer: (D) stratified random sampling Question 39
Sample is known to be the subset of? A) population B) data C) set D) information Answer: (A) population
Question 40
Out of these, which of the sampling is based on equal probability? A) none sampling B) stratified sampling C) information D) simple random sampling Answer: (D) simple random sampling
Question 41
What do we call the difference between the parameter value that is being estimated and the expected value of that statistic? A) sampling error B) non-sampling error C) standard error D) bias Answer: (D) bias
Question 42 The increase in the size of the sample affects sample error by___. A) reducing the sampling error B) increasing the error of sample C) all of these options are correct D) none of these are true Answer: (A) reducing the sampling error
Question 43
What do we call the difference between the parameter and the statistic? A) probability B) non-random C) random D) sampling error Answer: (D) sampling error
Question 44
The probability of selecting an item in probability sampling from the population is known and is: A) non zero B) equal to 3 C) equal to 1 D) none of these Answer: (A) non zero
Question 45
The distribution that is formed by all possible values of a statistics is known as: A) normal distribution B) hypergeometric distribution C) binomial distribution D) sampling distribution Answer: (D) sampling distribution
Question 1 A sampling frame is:
**a) A summary of the various stages involved in designing a survey b) An outline view of all the main clusters of units in a sample c) **** ✔✔ A list of all the units in the population from which a sample will be selected d) A wooden frame used to display tables of random numbers Question 2 A simple random sample is one in which:
a) From a random starting point, every nth unit from the sampling frame is selected **b) A non-probability strategy is used, making the results difficult to generalize c) The researcher has a certain quota of respondents to fill for various social groups d) **** ✔✔ Every unit of the population has an equal chance of being selected Question 3 It is helpful to use a multi-stage cluster sample when:
a) The population is widely dispersed geographically b) You have limited time and money available for travelling c) You want to use a probability sample in order to generalise the results d) ✔ ****** ✔ All of the above Question 4 The standard error is a statistical measure of:
**a) The normal distribution of scores around the sample mean b) **** ✔✔ The extent to which a sample mean is likely to differ from the population mean c) The clustering of scores at each end of a survey scale d) The degree to which a sample has been accurately stratified Question 5 What effect does increasing the sample size have upon the sampling error?
a) ✔ ****** ✔ It reduces the sampling error b) It increases the sampling error c) It has no effect on the sampling error d) None of the above Question 6 Which of the following is not a type of non-probability sampling? a) Snowball sampling b) ✔ ****** ✔ Stratified random sampling c) Quota sampling d) Convenience sampling Question 7 Snowball sampling can help the researcher to: a) Access deviant or hidden populations b) Theorise inductively in a qualitative study c) Overcome the problem of not having an accessible sampling frame d) ✔ ****** ✔ All of the above Question 8 Which of the following is not a characteristic of quota sampling? a) The researcher chooses who to approach and so might bias the sample b) Those who are available to be surveyed in public places are unlikely to constitute a representative sample c) ✔✔ ****The random selection of units makes it possible to calculate the standard error d) It is a relatively fast and cheap way of finding out about public opinions Question 9** The findings from a study of young single mothers at a university can be generalised to the population of:
a) ✔ ****** ✔ All young single mothers at that university b) All young single mothers in that society c) All single mothers in all universities d) All young women in that university Question 10 The term 'data processing error' refers to:
a) Activities or events related to the sampling process, e.g. non-response b) ✔ ****** ✔ Faulty techniques of coding and managing data c) Problems with the implementation of the research process d) The unavoidable discrepancy between the sample and the population
which of the following is not an example of content theory @@ Expectancy theory different approaches to systemic enquiry developed with a particular parodigm with association epistemology assumptions@@ Research methodology the relationship between symbols and meaning in a linguistic system. also, the cueing system that connects what is written in the text to what is stored in the reader's prior knowledge @@ c. semantic how does a hypothesis relate to a theory? @@b. hypothesis test the relationships between concepts that represent the broader theory a method of estimating the internal-consistency reliability of an instrument; it is obtained by giving an instrument once but scoring it twice - for each of two equivalent "half tests." these scores are then correlated. @@split-half procedure As per the activity theory, engagement & interaction of individuals with the environment results into the creation of rools, which are the real world manifestation of their mental process the creation or production production of these tools makes the mental processes to be communicable & accessible to people easily. this psychological meta theory orginated by in russia & was founded by Alexei N lenoter & Sergei Rubinstein @@ Activity theory it is the activity of balancing the needs that conflict with each other. adjustment is a behavioral attribute found in both, human beings and animals. it also means to overcome the obstacles presented by the environment in order to fulfill the needs @@ b. adjustment the behavior used for adjusting to a different or new situation is known as adaptive behavior. such kind of behavior is often used for substituting disruptive behavior with constructive or positive behavior. @@ b. adaptive behavior A standard score derived from a z score by multiplying these score by 10 and adding 50 @@ T score the frequency with which data values appear in the sample.@@a sample a probability sampling strategy involving successive sampling of units (or clusters; the units sampled progress from larger ones to smaller ones @@ c. sampling
how many systems did bronfenbrenner's ecological model of development identify? @@a. 5 in survey research, a situation where questions may "lead" participant responses through establishing in the questionnaire. @@a. serial effect at which age would a child be categorized as preoperational according to piaget? @@c. 2-7yrs how has scholarly understanding of childhood changed over the past 200 years? @@d. children used to be perceived as under-developed adults, now they are perceived to have their own unique life period a measure of how well the independent or predicted variable predict the dependence or variable-variable @@a) r squared the formal aspect of the mind or intellect is referred to using the term active intellect. it is the term used in philosophical studies, and falls in line with the theory of hylomorphism. the idea of active intellect was, at first cited in the book 'de anima', written by aristotle. @@b. active intellect the process called action research is aimed at improving the manner, in which, problems are solved. for an action research to be fruitful, combined efforts of people striving towards a common goal are required, it is kind of an introspective process, which gives emphasis on improving the practices, strategies, and knowledge of the environment, in which, the group of people or system operates. @@a. action research according to greig and taylor (1999 how were children presented by the positivist approach? @@c. determined, knowable, objective and measureable in terms of psychology, addiction is described as excessive psychological dependence on a particular thing. a person could be addicted to drugs, money, work, gambling, eating, nicotine, pornography, computer, video games, etc. @@b. addiction
when did the lifespan approach emerge-emerge @@1960- who argued that adolescence is a period of 'storm and stress'@@ Stanley hall what does the term population ageing mean@@the trend for the oldest age groups in society to gore faster than the younger age groups at which age would a child be categorized as preoperational according to piaget? @@a.2-7yrs unusual events impact individuals life is called@@ non normative events development varies in different envirom @@c. development is contextual which methodological approaches were used in traditional devepsychology-psychology @@all the extent to which people believe in the importance of then of persistence of the values if personal stability, face saving respect for tradition and reciprocation of favors @@ confucian dynamism according to erikson what conflict is experienced during young adulthood@@. Intimacy verses isolation the skills and abilities are developing throughout life means @@ development is highly plastic
Q1. Of the following sampling methods, which is a probability method?
a) Judgement
b) Quota
c) Simple random
d) Convenience
Answer: c
Q2.Which among the following is the benefit of using simple random sampling?
a) The results are always representative.
b) Interviewers can choose respondents freely.
c) Informants can refuse to participate.
d) We can calculate the accuracy of the results.
Answer: d
Q3. Increasing the sample size has the following effect upon the sampling error?
a) It increases the sampling error
b) It reduces the sampling error
c) It has no effect on the sampling error
d) All of the above
Answer: b
Q4. Which of the following is not a type of non-probability sampling?
a) Quota sampling
b) Convenience sampling
c) Snowball sampling
d) Stratified random sampling
Answer: d
Q5. Sample is regarded as a subset of?
(a) Data
(b) Set
(c) Distribution
(d) Population
Answer: d
Q6. The difference between a statistic and the parameter is called:
(a) Non-random
(b) Probability
(c) Sampling error
(d) Random
Answer: c
Q7. The probability of selecting an item in probability sampling, from the population is known and is:
(a) Equal to one
(b) Equal to zero
(c) Non zero
(d) None of the above
Answer: c
Q8. The distribution that is formed by all possible values of a statistics is known as:
(a) Hypergeometric distribution
(b) Normal distribution
(c) Sampling distribution
(d) Binomial distribution
Answer: c
Q9. Among these, which sampling is based on equal probability?
(a) Simple random sampling
(b) Stratified random sampling
(c) Systematic sampling
(d) Probability sampling
Answer: a
Q10. The difference between the expected value of a statistic and the value of the parameter being estimated is called a:
(a) Standard error
(b) Bias
(c) Sampling error
(d) Non-sampling error
Answer: b
MCQ on Sampling Methods
Question 1:
Choose the correct option regarding the sampling method? A) the sample is the population’s part B) it helps in determining sampling error C) sampling saves money, time, and energy D) all these options are correct Answer: (D) all of these are correct
Question 2:
What do we say to all units aggregate that’s about a study? A) sample B) unit C) universe or population D) frame Answer: (C) universe or population
Question 3:
Question 24
One of the most useful samplings is random sampling due to the? A) the nature is economically B) this is a more accurate method reasonably in comparison to others C) it’s free from investigators’ personal biases D) all of the mentioned options Answer: (D) all of the mentioned options
Question 25
There are several advantages of sampling because__. A) sampling saves energy, money, and time in the collection of data B) sampling help in lessening the data volume C) help in getting higher accuracy if there is a homogeneous population D) all the above-mentioned options Answer: (D) all the above-mentioned options
Question 26
For sampling, one uses ____ techniques? A) flat-top sampling B) natural sampling C) instantaneous sampling D) all the mentioned options Answer: (D) all the mentioned options
Question 27
Out of these, which needs the small size sample to see its efficiency? A) quota sampling B) cluster sampling C) simple random sampling D) none of these Answer: (C) simple random sampling
Question 28
With the increase in sample size, the error also____ A) decreases B) increases C) remains the same D) all of the above Answer: (A) decreases
Question 29
When we do sampling in qualitative research, is it similar to the sampling in quantitative research? A) purposive sampling B) probability sampling C) all of these D) none of these Answer: (A) purposive sampling
Question 30
The sampling that is based on probability, that is equal, is known as___ A) stratified sampling B) simple random sampling C) probability sampling D) quota sampling Answer: (B) simple random sampling
Question 31
Snowball sampling comes under the category of ___. A) random sampling B) probability sampling C) quota sampling D) nonprobability sampling Answer: (D) nonprobability sampling
Question 32
A teacher conducts an ethnographic probe for the issues that were being faced by the tribe members and the tribal students. The sampling method used here will be? A) cluster sampling B) systematic sampling C) all of the above-mentioned options D) none of these mentioned options Answer: (A) cluster sampling
Question 33
The method of drawing a _____ is the fishbowl drawing. A) structural sample B) independent sample C) random sample D) non-random sample Answer: (C) random sample
Question 34
A survey was done among the friends, class, and neighbors to know their preference for a particular brand of cold drink. This is an example of_______. A) judgment sampling B) cluster sampling C) convenience sampling D) stratified sampling Answer: (C) convenience sampling
Question 35
Out of the mentioned procedures of sampling, mention the one that’s appropriate for making research with the empirical-inductive paradigm? A) any non-probability sampling procedures B) systematic sampling procedures C) all of these mentioned procedures D) none of these mentioned procedures Answer: (A) any non-probability sampling procedures
Question 36
Snowball sampling is a method of choosing a sample using____. A) computer programs B) groups C) snowballs D) networks Answer: (D) networks
Question 37
Out of these mentioned sampling methods, name the one that’s a probability method? A) assignment B) judgment C) quota D) simple random Answer: (D) simple random
Question 38
Out of the mentioned, which is not a type of non-probability sampling? A) quota B) stratified random sampling C) none of the above-mentioned options D) all of the these mentioned options Answer: (D) stratified random sampling
Question 39
Sample is known to be the subset of? A) population B) data C) set D) information Answer: (A) population
Question 40
Out of these, which of the sampling is based on equal probability? A) none sampling B) stratified sampling C) information D) simple random sampling Answer: (D) simple random sampling
Question 41
What do we call the difference between the parameter value that is being estimated and the expected value of that statistic? A) sampling error B) non-sampling error C) standard error D) bias Answer: (D) bias
Question 42
The increase in the size of the sample affects sample error by___. A) reducing the sampling error B) increasing the error of sample C) all of these options are correct D) none of these are true Answer: (A) reducing the sampling error
Question 43
What do we call the difference between the parameter and the statistic? A) probability B) non-random C) random D) sampling error Answer: (D) sampling error
Question 44
The probability of selecting an item in probability sampling from the population is known and is: A) non zero B) equal to 3
C) equal to 1 D) none of these Answer: (A) non zero
Question 45
The distribution that is formed by all possible values of a statistics is known as: A) normal distribution B) hypergeometric distribution C) binomial distribution D) sampling distribution Answer: (D) sampling distribution
Questions 1 Which of the following formulae is used to determine how many people to include in the original sampling? A Desired sample size/Proportion likely to respond B Desired sample size/Desired sample size + 1 C Proportion likely to respond/desired sample size D Proportion likely to respond/population size**
Answer: Desired sample size/Proportion likely to respond 2 Which of the following will give a more “accurate” representation of the population from which a sample has been taken? A A large sample based on the convenience sampling technique B A small sample based on simple random sampling C A small cluster sample D A large sample based on simple random sampling**
**Answer: A large sample based on simple random sampling 3 People who are available, volunteer, or can be easily recruited are used in the sampling method called ______. A Convenience sampling B Simple random sampling C Cluster sampling D Systematic sampling
**Answer: Convenience sampling 4 In which of the following nonrandom sampling techniques does the researcher ask the research participants to identify other potential research participants? A Quota B Purposive C Convenience D Snowball
Answer: Snowball 5 The type of sampling in which each member of the population selected for the sample is returned to the population before the next member is selected is called _________. A Sampling without replacement B Simple random sampling C Systematic sampling D Sampling with replacement**
**Answer: Sampling with replacement 6 Which of the following would usually require the smallest sample size because of its efficiency? A One stage cluster sampling B Two stage cluster sampling C Quota sampling D Simple random sampling
Answer: Simple random sampling 7 A technique used when selecting clusters of different sizes is called _____. A Two-stage sampling B Probability proportional to size or PPS C Cluster sampling D One-stage sampling**
Answer: Probability proportional to size or PPS 8 The nonrandom sampling type that involves selecting a convenience sample from a population with a specific set of characteristics for your research study is called _____. A Purposive sampling B Convenience sampling C Quota sampling D Snowball sampling**
Answer: Purposive sampling 9 Which of the following sampling methods is the best way to select a group of people for a study if you are interested in making statements about the larger population? A Random sampling B Convenience sampling C Quota sampling D Purposive sampling**
**Answer: Random sampling 10 Determining the sample interval (represented by k), randomly selecting a number between 1 and k, and including each kth element in your sample are the steps for which form of sampling? A Systematic Sampling B Simple Random Sampling C Stratified Random Sampling D Cluster sampling
**Answer: Systematic Sampling 11 When each member of a population has an equally likely chance of being selected, this is called: A An Equal probability selection method B A quota sample C A nonrandom sampling method D A snowball sample
Answer: An Equal probability selection method 12 Which of the following techniques yields a simple random sample? A Choosing volunteers from an introductory psychology class to participate B Listing the individuals by ethnic group and choosing a proportion from within each ethnic group at random C Randomly selecting schools, and then sampling everyone within the school D Numbering all the elements of a sampling frame and then using a random number table to pick cases from the table**
Answer: Numbering all the elements of a sampling frame and then using a random number table to pick cases from the table 13 Which of the following sampling techniques is an equal probability selection method (i.e., EPSEM) in which every individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected? A Simple random sampling B Systematic sampling C Proportional stratified sampling D All of the above are EPSEM**
Answer: All of the above are EPSEM 14 Sampling in qualitative research is similar to which type of sampling in quantitative research? A Purposive sampling B Simple random sampling C Systematic sampling D Quota sampling**
Answer: Purposive sampling 15 How often does the Census Bureau take a complete population count? A Every ten years B Every year C Twice a year D Every five years**
Answer: Every ten years 16 Which of the following types of sampling involves the researcher determining the appropriate sample sizes for the groups identified as important, and then taking convenience samples from those groups? A Quota sampling B Proportional stratified sampling C One-stage cluster sampling D Two-stage cluster sampling**
Answer: Quota sampling 17 Which of the following is the most efficient random sampling technique discussed in your chapter? A Simple random sampling B Cluster random sampling C different shear strengths of small magnitude D Systematic sampling
Answer: Proportional stratified sampling 18 A number calculated with complete population data and quantifies a characteristic of the population is called which of the following? A A parameter B A datum C A statistic D A population**
Answer: A parameter 19 Which of the following is not a type of nonrandom sampling? A Purposive sampling B Cluster sampling C Convenience sampling D Quota sampling**
Answer: Cluster sampling 20 The process of drawing a sample from a population is known as _________. A Census B Survey research C Sampling D None of the above**
Answer: Sampling
Questions 21 Which of the following is not true about stratified random sampling? A It involves a random selection process from identified subgroups B Disproportional stratified random sampling is especially helpful for getting large enough subgroup samples when subgroup comparisons are to be done C Proportions of groups in the sample must always match their population proportions D Proportional stratified random sampling yields a representative sample
Answer: Proportions of groups in the sample must always match their population proportions 22 Which of the following is not a form of nonrandom sampling? A Snowball sampling B Convenience sampling C Quota sampling D They are all forms of nonrandom sampling
Answer: They are all forms of nonrandom sampling 23 Which of the following would generally require the largest sample size? A Simple random sampling B Systematic sampling C Proportional stratified sampling D Cluster sampling
Answer: Cluster sampling 24 A type of sampling used in qualitative research that involves selecting cases that disconfirm the researcher's expectations and generalizations is referred to as _______________. A Negative-case sampling B Extreme case sampling C Critical-case sampling D Typical-case sampling
Answer: Negative-case sampling
A
Ability Model: an approach that views EI as a standard intelligence that utilizes a distinct set of mental abilities that (1) are intercorrelated, (2) relate to other extant intelligences, and (3) develop with age and experience.
Abnormal Psychology: The application of psychological science to understanding and treating mental disorders.
Absolute Threshold of a Sensation: the intensity of a stimulus that allows an organism to just barely detect it.
Access: Conscious experience that recalls experiences from memory.
Accommodation: helps determine visual depth. As the lens changes its curvature to focus on distant or close objects, information relayed from the muscles attached to the lens helps us determine an object’s distance.
Accommodation: Learning new information and thus changing the schema.
Action Potential: The change in electrical charge that occurs in a neuron when a nerve impulse is transmitted.
Activation-Synthesis Theory of Dreaming: A prominent neurobiological theory of dreaming that states dreams don’t actually mean anything, and people construct dream stories after they wake up to make sense of nonsensical brain impulses.
Active Imagination: Activating our imaginal processes in waking life in order to tap into the unconscious meanings of our symbols.
Adaptations: Internal mechanisms that are products of natural selection and helped our ancestors get around the world, survive, and reproduce. Evolved solutions to problems that historically contributed to reproductive success.
Addiction: When the user powerfully craves the drug and is driven to seek it out, over and over again, no matter what the physical, social, financial, and legal cost.
Adherence: Accurately and regularly following medical orders and recommendations.
Adolescence: The years between the onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood.
Adoption Study: A behavior genetic research method that involves comparison of biologically related people, including twins, who have been reared either separately or apart. Often includes a comparison of adopted children to their adoptive and biological parents.
Adrenal Glands: Two triangular glands found atop each kidney. Responsible for the production of hormones that regulate salt and water balance in the body and secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine when a person experiences excitement, threat, or stress. The two glands are also involved in metabolism, the
Adrenaline: A hormone that increases heart rate, elevates blood pressure, and boosts energy supplies.
Affect: The experience of a feeling or emotion.
Affective Forecasting: Predictions of one’s future feelings.
Agonist: A drug that has chemical properties similar to a particular neurotransmitter and thus mimics the effects of the neurotransmitter.
Agoraphobia: Anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing, or in which help may not be available.
Agreeableness: A core trait that includes dispositional characteristics as being sympathetic, generous, forgiving, and helpful, and behavioral tendencies toward harmonious social relations and likeability. The tendency to agree and go along with others rather than to assert one’s own opinions and choices.
Alcohol: a colorless liquid, produced by the fermentation of sugar or starch, that is the intoxicating agent in fermented drinks.
Altruism: Helping with the aim of improving the wellbeing of others.
Alzheimer’s Disease: A form of dementia that, over a period of years, leads to a loss of emotions, cognitions, and physical functioning, and that is ultimately fatal.
Ambivalent Attachment Style: When a child is wary about the situation in general, particularly the stranger, and stays close or even clings to the mother rather than exploring the toys.
Ambivalent Sexism: Recognizes the complex nature of gender attitudes, in which women are often associated with positive and negative qualities.
Amnesia: a memory disorder that involves the inability to remember information.
Amniotic Sac: The fluid-filled reservoir in which the embryo will live until birth, and which acts as both a cushion against outside pressure and as a temperature regulator.
Amphetamine: a stimulant that produces increased wakefulness and focus, along with decreased fatigue and appetite.
Amplitude: the height of a sound wave. Determines how much energy sound contains.
Amygdala: Located within the limbic system. This structure consists of two “almond-shaped” clusters and is primarily responsible for regulating our perceptions of, and reactions to, aggression and fear.
Anchoring: the bias to be affected by an initial anchor, even if the anchor is arbitrary, and to insufficiently adjust our judgments away from that anchor.
Anima: An archetype symbolizing the unconscious female component of the male psyche.
Animus: An archetype symbolizing the unconscious male component of the female psyche.
Anonymity: protecting a participant’s identity by not collecting or disclosing any personally identifiable information.
Antagonist: A drug that reduces or stops the normal effects of a neurotransmitter.
Anterograde Amnesia: the inability to transfer information from short-term into long-term memory, making it impossible to form new memories after the onset of amnesia.
Antianxiety Medications: Drugs that help relieve fear or anxiety by increasing the action of the neurotransmitter GABA.
Antidepressant Medications: Drugs designed to improve moods.
Antipsychotic Drugs (Neuroleptics): Drugs that treat the symptoms of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD): A pervasive pattern of violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.
Anxiety Disorders: Psychological disturbances marked by irrational fears, often of everyday objects and situations.
Anxiety: The nervousness or agitation that we sometimes experience, often about something that is going to happen.
APA Ethical Code: a set of 150 ethical standards that psychologists and students in psychology are expected to follow in their activities including clinical work, teaching, and research.
Aphasia: a condition in which language functions are severely impaired.
Applied Research: research that investigates issues that have implications for everyday life and provides solutions to everyday problems.
Appreciation Effects: Having people around us makes us feel good about ourselves.
Aptitude Tests: tests designed to measure one’s ability to perform a given task.
Archetypes: Primordial images that reflect basic patterns or universal themes common to us all.
Arithmetic Mean (M): the sum of all the scores of the variable divided by the number of participants in the distribution; Arithmetic Average.
Arousal Cost–Reward Model: Focuses on the aversive feelings aroused by seeing another in need.
Arousal: Our experiences of the bodily responses created by the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.
Assimilation: Using already developed schemas to understand new information.
Association Areas: The area within the cortex where sensory and motor information is combined and associated with stored knowledge. Responsible for most of the things that make humans seem human and are involved in higher mental functions, such as learning, thinking, planning, judging, moral reflecting
Associative Shifting: It is possible to shift any response from occurring with one stimulus to occurring with another stimulus.
At-Risk Research: research that exposes participants to harm that is greater than that found in everyday circumstances (i.e., greater than minimal risk) and must be reviewed by the full Institutional Review Board committee.
Attachment: The emotional bonds that we develop with those with whom we feel closest, and particularly the bonds that an infant develops with the mother or primary caregiver.
Attention: A state of focused awareness on a subset of the available perceptual information.
Attitudes: Opinions, feelings, and beliefs about a person, concept, or group. Our evaluations of things that can bias us toward having a particular response to it.
Attraction: Being sexually interested in another person.
Audience Design: constructing utterances to suit the audience’s knowledge.
Auditory Cortex: Located in the temporal cortex. Responsible for hearing and language.
Authoethnography: A narrative approach to introspective analysis.
Authoritarian Parents: Demanding but not responsive.
Authoritative Parents: Demanding but they also responsive to the needs and opinions of the child.
Autobiographical Memory: memory for the events of one’s life.
Automatic Behavior: an unconscious behavior that is not self-censored and is typically spontaneous.
Automatic Empathy: a social perceiver unwittingly taking on the internal state of another person, usually because of mimicking the person’s expressive behavior and thereby feeling the expressed emotion.
Automatic: A behavior or process that is unintentional, uncontrollable, occurs outside of conscious awareness, or is cognitively efficient.
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS): A division of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) that regulates autonomic processes, or internal activities of the human body including heart rate, breathing, digestion, salivation, perspiration, urination, and sexual arousal.
Autonomy: a fundamental right that describes a person’s ability to make his or her own decisions freely without being coerced by others.
Availability Heuristic: the tendency to make judgments of the frequency or likelihood that an event occurs on the basis of the ease with which it can be retrieved from memory.
Availability: The ease of getting a specific response.
Aversion Therapy: A type of behaviour therapy in which positive punishment is used to reduce the frequency of an undesirable behaviour.
Aversive Racism: The tendency for people to dislike admitting their own racial biases to themselves or others.
Avoidance Learning: A learned response to avoid an unpleasant stimulus or event.
Avoidant Attachment Style: When a child avoids or ignores his or her mother, showing little emotion when the mother departs or returns.
Axon: A long, segmented fibre within the neuron that transmits information away from the cell body toward other neurons or to the muscles and glands.
B
Babbling: the beginning stages of speech. Occurs at about seven months, babies engage in intentional vocalizations that lack specific meaning.
Balance: Putting less effort into a focal goal by working towards other goals.
Barbiturates: depressants that are commonly prescribed as sleeping pills and painkillers.
Basic Research: Research that answers fundamental questions about behavior.
Basic-Level Category: the neutral, preferred category for a given object, at an intermediate level of specificity.
Behavioral Genetics: A variety of research techniques that scientists use to learn about the genetic and environmental influences on human behaviour by comparing the traits of biologically and nonbiologically related family members
Behavioral Medicine: Focuses on the application of research on health predictors and risk factors, or interventions that prevent and treat illness.
Behaviour Therapy: Psychological treatment that is based on principles of learning.
Behaviourism: a school of psychology that is based on the premise that it is not possible to objectively study the mind, and therefore that psychologists should limit their attention to the study of behaviour itself. Focuses on observable behaviour as a means to studying the human psyche.
Belmont Report: a set of federal guidelines created in 1978 after the Tuskegee study that articulates ethical guidelines for research.
Beneficence: an ethical principle from the Belmont Report that emphasizes the importance of maximizing benefits and minimizing harm to research participants and society.
Benevolent Sexism: Refers to the perception that women need to be protected, supported, and adored by men.
Benzodiazepines: a family of depressants used to treat anxiety, insomnia, seizures, and muscle spasms.
Beta Effect: the perception of motion that occurs when different images are presented next to each other in succession.
Bias (i.e., test bias): a test that predicts outcomes better for one group than it does for another.
Biases: the systematic and predictable mistakes that influence the judgment of even very talented human beings.
Bilingualism: the ability to speak two languages.
Binocular Depth Cues: depth cues that are created by retinal image disparity and require the coordination of both eyes.
Bio-Psycho-Social Model of Illness: A way of understanding disorder that assumes that disorder is caused by biological, psychological, and social factors.
Biofeedback: A stress reduction technique where the individual is shown bodily information that is not normally available to them, and then taught strategies to alter this signal.
Biological Drive: A drive powering human behaviour including hunger, thirst, and intimacy.
Biological Psychology: School of psychology interested in measuring biological, physiological, or genetic variables in an attempt to relate them to psychological or behavioural variables.
Biological Rhythms: regularly occurring cycles of behaviours.
Biomedical Approach to Reducing Disorders: An approach that is based on the use of medications to treat mental disorders as well as the employment of brain intervention techniques.
Biomedical Model of Health: Posits thatphysical or pathogenic factors primarily contribute to illness.
Biomedical Therapies: Treatments designed to reduce psychological disorder by influencing the action of the central nervous system.
Biopsychosocial Model of Health: Posits that biology, psychology, and social factors are just as important in the development of disease as biological causes.
Bipolar Disorder: A psychological disorder characterized by swings in mood from overly “high” to sad and hopeless, and back again, with periods of near-normal mood in between.
Black Box Model: An interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics, decision processes, and consumer responses.
Blatant Biases: Conscious beliefs, feelings, and behavior that people are perfectly willing to admit, which mostly express hostility toward other groups while unduly favoring one’s own group.
Blind Spot: a hole in one’s vision due to a lack of photoreceptor cells. Occurs the optic nerve leaves the retina.
Blind to Condition: when the experimenter or the participants do not know which conditions the participants are assigned to.
Blind to the Research Hypothesis: When research participants are not aware of what is being studied.
Blindsight: a condition in which people are unable to consciously report on visual stimuli but nevertheless are able to accurately answer questions about what they are seeing.
Blocking: in classical conditioning, the finding that no conditioning occurs to a stimulus if it is combined with a previously conditioned stimulus during conditioning trials. Suggests that information, surprise value, or prediction error is important in conditioning.
Blood Alcohol Content (BAC): a measure of the percentage of alcohol found in a person’s blood. This measure is typically the standard used to determine the extent to which a person is intoxicated, as in the case of being too impaired to drive a vehicle.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): A psychological disorder characterized by a prolonged disturbance of personality accompanied by mood swings, unstable personal relationships, identity problems, threats of self-destructive behaviour, fears of abandonment, and impulsivity.
Bounded Awareness: the systematic ways in which we fail to notice obvious and important information that is available to us.
Bounded Ethicality: the systematic ways in which our ethics are limited in ways we are not even aware of ourselves.
Bounded Rationality: model of human behavior that suggests that humans try to make rational decisions but are bounded due to cognitive limitations.
Bounded Self-Interest: the systematic and predictable ways in which we care about the outcomes of others.
Bounded Willpower: the tendency to place greater weight on present concerns rather than future concerns.
Brain Lateralization: The idea that the left and the right hemispheres of the brain are specialized to perform different functions.
Brain Stem: The oldest and innermost region of the brain that is designed to control the most basic functions of life, including breathing, attention, and motor responses.
Broca’s Area: an area in front of the left hemisphere near the motor cortex responsible for language production.
Bruxism: a sleep disorder in which the sufferer grinds their teeth during sleep.
Bystander Intervention: A phenomenon in which people intervene to help others, including strangers.
C
Caffeine: a bitter psychoactive drug found in the beans, leaves, and fruits of plants.
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion: A theory proposed by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard that states that the experience of an emotion is accompanied by physiological arousal.
Cartesian Catastrophe: the idea that mental processes taking place outside conscious awareness are impossible.
Case Studies: descriptive records of one or more individual’s experience and behavior.
Cataplexy: a symptom of narcolepsy where an individual loses muscle tone, resulting in a partial or complete collapse.
Categories: networks of associated memories that have features in common with each other – a fundamental part of human nature.
Categorize: to sort or arrange different items into classes or categories.
Category Prototype: the member of the category that is most average or typical of the category.
Category: a set of entities that are equivalent in some way. Usually the items are similar to one another.
Central Executive: the part of working memory that directs attention and processing.
Central Nervous System (CNS): The collection of neurons that make up the brain and the spinal cord. Is the major controller of the body’s functions, charged with interpreting sensory information and responding to it with its own directives.
Continuous Distributions: A distribution in which most scores fall somewhere in the middle, with smaller numbers showing more extreme levels.
Contralateral Control: How the brain is wired such that in most cases the left hemisphere receives sensations from and controls the right side of the body, and vice versa.
Control: The belief in one’s own ability to control or influence events.
Controlled Behavior: a conscious behavior that is self-censored.
Convergence: the inward turning of our eyes that is required to focus on objects that are less than about 50 feet away from us.
Convergent Thinking: thinking that is directed toward finding the correct answer to a given problem.
Cornea: a clear covering that protects the eye and begins to focus the incoming light.
Corpus Callosum: The region that normally connects the two halves of the brain and supports communication between the hemispheres.
Correlational Research: research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge; involves the measurement of two or more relevant variables and an assessment of the relationships between or among those variables.
Cortisol: A primary stress hormone that increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances the brain’s use of glucose, and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.
Cost–Benefit Analysis: The process that potential helpers engage in to determine the costs and benefits associated with helping. Or, when costs are compared with the benefits in a research project to determine the ethical standing of that research project.
Counterconditioning: A second incompatible response (relaxation) is conditioned to an already conditioned response (the fear response).
Counterfactual Thinking: the tendency to think about and experience events according to “what might have been”.
Couples Therapy: Treatment in which two people who are cohabitating, married, or dating meet together with the practitioner to discuss their concerns and issues about their relationship.
Critical Period: a time in which learning can easily occur.
Cross-Cultural Psychology: Research that uses standard scales to compare cultural groups.
Cross-Cultural Studies: Research that uses standard forms of measurement to compare people from different cultures and identify their differences.
Cross-Sectional Research Design: Research designs in which age comparisons are made between samples of different people at different ages at one time.
Crystallized Intelligence: General knowledge about the world, as reflected in semantic knowledge, vocabulary, and language.
Crystallized Intelligence: the accumulated knowledge of the world we have acquired throughout our lives.
Cue Overload Principle: the principle stating that the more memories that are associated to a particular retrieval cue, the less effective the cue will be in prompting retrieval of any one memory.
Cues: a stimulus that has a particular significance to the perceiver (e.g., a sight or a sound that has special relevance to the person who saw or heard it).
Cultural Differences: Refers to the differences across cultures.
Cultural Display Rules: Rules that are learned early in life that specify the management and modification of our emotional expressions according to social circumstances.
Cultural Intelligence: The ability to understand why members of other cultures act in the ways they do.
Cultural Psychology: Attempts to understand and appreciate culture from the point of view of the people within it.
Cultural Relativism: The principle of regarding and valuing the practices of a culture from the point of view of that culture.
Cultural Scripts: How a person is taught how to behave according to regional cultural norms; people can have multiple cultural scripts.
Cultural Similarities: Refers to the similarities across cultures.
Culture of Honor: A cultural background that emphasizes personal or family reputation and social status.
Culture: It is a collective understanding of the way the world works, shared by members of a group and passed down from one generation to the next. Represents the common set of social norms, including religious and family values and other moral beliefs, shared by the people who live in a geographical region
Curvilinear Relationship: relationships that change in direction and thus are not described by a single straight line.
D
Daily Hassles: Everyday minor stressors that can raise blood pressure, alter stress hormones, and suppress the immune system function. Our everyday interactions with the environment that are essentially negative.
Data: any information that is collected through formal observation or measurement that is used within a research study.
Debriefing: refers to the process of informing research participants as soon as possible after the study about its purpose, disclosing any deception involved, and minimizing harm or misunderstandings that result from participating.
Decay: the fading of memories with the passage of time.
Deception: occurs whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it.
Decibel: a unit of relative loudness.
Declaration of Helsinki: an ethics code that was created in 1964 by the World Medical Council.
Declarative Memory: conscious memories for facts and events.
Deep Structure of an Idea: how the idea is represented in the fundamental universal grammar that is common to all languages.
Deficiency Needs: The bottom four levels of Maslow’s pyramid, including physiological, safety, and social needs.
Deliberative Phase: A person must decide which of many potential goals to pursue at a given point in time.
Delusions: False beliefs not commonly shared by others within one’s culture and maintained even though they are obviously out of touch with reality.
Dementia: A progressive neurological disease that includes loss of cognitive abilities significant enough to interfere with everyday behaviours.
Dendrite: A branching treelike fibre that collects information from other cells and sends the information to the soma.
Dependence: a need to use a drug or other substance regularly.
Dependent Variable: a measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulations.
Depressants: a class of drugs (psychoactive) that slow down the body’s physiological and mental processes. Also reduces the activity of the CNS.
Depression: a psychological disorder that affects millions of people worldwide and is known to be caused by biological, social, and cultural factors.
Depth Cues: messages from our bodies and the external environment that supply us with information about space and distance.
Depth Perception: the ability to perceive three-dimensional space and to accurately judge distance.
Derailment: The shifting from one subject to another, without following any one line of thought to conclusion.
Descriptive Norms: We act the way most people—or most people like us—act.
Descriptive Research: designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs.
Descriptive Statistics: used to analyze descriptive research results by summarizing the distribution of scores.
Development: The physiological, behavioural, cognitive, and social changes that occur throughout human life, which are guided by both genetic predispositions (nature) and by environmental influences (nurture).
Developmental Intergroup Theory: Postulates that adults’ heavy focus on gender leads children to pay attention to gender as a key source of information about themselves and others, to seek out any possible gender differences, and to form rigid stereotypes based on gender that are subsequently difficult to ch
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM): A document that provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): Essentially a cognitive therapy, but it includes a particular emphasis on attempting to enlist the help of the patient in his or her own treatment.
Dichotic Listening: an experimental task in which two messages are presented to different ears.
Difference Threshold (or Just Noticeable Difference [JND]): the change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected by the organism.
Diffusion of Responsibility: A phenomenon in which bystanders are relived of personal responsibility and do not intervene because they know that someone else could help.
Direct Effects of Social Support: Having people we can trust and rely on helps us directly by allowing us to share favours when we need them.
Directional Goals: When we want a situation to turn out a particular way or our belief to be true.
Discrimination: When a person is biased against an individual, simply because of the individual’s membership in a social category.
Discriminative Stimulus: in operant conditioning, a stimulus that signals whether the response will be reinforced. It is said to “set the occasion” for the operant response.
Disorganized Attachment Style: When a child has no consistent way of coping with the stress of the strange situation.
Dispersion: the extent to which the scores are all tightly clustered around the central tendency.
Dissociation: the heightened focus on one stimulus or thought such that many other things around you are ignored; a disconnect between one’s awareness of their environment and the one object the person is focusing on.
Dissociative Amnesia: A psychological disorder that involves extensive, but selective, memory loss, but in which there is no physiological explanation for the forgetting.
Dissociative Amnesia: loss of autobiographical memories from a period in the past in the absence of brain injury or disease.
Dissociative Disorder: A condition that involves disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, and identity.
Dissociative Fugue: A psychological disorder in which an individual loses complete memory of his or her identity and may even assume a new one, often far from home.
Dissociative Identity Disorder: A psychological disorder in which two or more distinct and individual personalities exist in the same person, and there is an extreme memory disruption regarding personal information about the other personalities.
Distinctiveness: the principle that unusual events (in a context of similar events) will be recalled and recognized better than uniform (nondistinctive) events.
Distractor Task: a task that is designed to make a person think about something unrelated to an impending decision.
Distribution: the central tendency and spread of data for a particular variable
Divergent Thinking: the ability to generate many different ideas for or solutions to a single problem.
Divided Attention: A person’s ability to focus on two or more things at one time; the ability to flexibly allocate attentional resources between two or more concurrent tasks.
DNA Methylation: Covalent modifications of mammalian DNA occurring via the methylation of cytosine, typically in the context of the CpG dinucleotide.
DNA Methyltransferases (DNMTs): Enzymes that establish and maintain DNA methylation using methyl-group donor compounds or cofactors. The main mammalian DNMTs are DNMT1, which maintains methylation state across DNA replication, and DNMT3a and DNMT3b, which perform de novo methylation.
Double-Blind Experiment: both the researcher and the participants are blind to condition.
Down Syndrome: a chromosomal disorder leading to intellectual disability caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome.
Dream Analysis: The therapist listens while the client describes his or her dreams and then analyzes the symbolism of the dreams in an effort to probe the unconscious thoughts of the client and interpret their significance.
Dreams: The succession of images, thoughts, sounds, and emotions that passes through our minds while sleeping; Specific expressions of the unconscious that have a definite, purposeful structure indicating an underlying idea or intention.
Drive State: An affective experience (something you feel) that motivates organisms to fulfill goals that are generally beneficial to their survival and reproduction.
Dualism: a term used by Descartes that states that the mind is fundamentally different from the mechanical body; the idea that the mind, a nonmaterial entity, is separate from (although connected to) the physical body.
Durability Bias: The tendency for people to overestimate how long positive and negative events will affect them.
Dysthymia: A condition characterized by mild, but chronic, depressive symptoms that last for at least two years.
E
Early Adulthood: Roughly the ages between 25 and 45.
Echoic Memory: auditory sensory memory. Decays slower than iconic memory (4 seconds).
Eclectic Therapy: An approach to treatment in which the therapist uses whichever techniques seem most useful and relevant for a given patient.
EEG (Electroencephalography): the recording of the brain’s electrical activity over a period of time by placing electrodes on the scalp.
Effect Size: A measure of the effectiveness of treatment.
Ego-Depletion: The exhaustion of resource that occurs from resisting a temptation.
Egocentric: The inability to readily see and understand other people’s viewpoints.
Egoism: Being primarily concerned with one’s own cost–benefit outcomes.
Eidetic Imagery (or Photographic Memory): a type of memory that allows people the ability to report details of an image over long periods of time.
Elaborative Encoding: process new information in ways that make it more relevant or meaningful.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): A medical procedure designed to alleviate psychological disorder in which electric currents are passed through the brain, deliberately triggering a brief seizure.
Electroencephalography (EEG): A technique that records the electrical activity produced by the brain’s neurons through the use of electrodes that are placed around the research participant’s head.
Electromagnetic Energy: pulses of energy waves that can carry information from place to place.
Embodied: becoming so closely in touch with the environment that the person’s body and the sensed environment becomes linked with our cognition, such that the world around us becomes part of our brain.
Embryo: A zygote that attaches to the wall of the uterus.
Emotion Regulation: The ability to control and productively use one’s emotions.
Emotion-Focused Coping: Regulates the emotions that come with stress.
Emotion: A mental and physiological feeling state that directs attention and guides behavior.
Emotional Intelligence (EI): the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions, and to effectively control one’s own emotions. EI includes four specific abilities: perceiving, using, understanding, and managi
Empathic Concern: When potential helpers become primarily interested in increasing the well-being of the victim, even if the helper must incur some costs that might otherwise be easily avoided.
Empathy–Altruism Model: Posits that the key for altruism is empathizing with the victim, that is, putting oneself in the shoes of the victim and imagining how the victim must feel.
Empirical Methods: refer to a set of methods used by scientists and include the processes of collecting and organizing data and drawing conclusions about those data.
Empirical: to be based on systematic collection and analysis of data.
Encoding Specificity Principle: the hypothesis that a retrieval cue will be effective to the extent that information encoded from the cue overlaps or matches information in the engram or memory trace.
Encoding: The initial experience of perceiving and learning events. It is the process by which we place the things that we experience into memory. The pact of putting information into memory.
Enculturation: Refers to the ways people learn about and shared cultural knowledge.
Endocrine System: The chemical regulator of the body that consists of glands that secrete hormones.
Engrams: a term indicating the change in the nervous system representing an event; also, memory trace.
Epigenetics: The study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetic marks include covalent DNA modifications and posttranslational histone modifications.
Epigenome: The genome-wide distribution of epigenetic marks.
Episodic Memory: Memory of autobiographical events that can be explicitly stated with a particular time and place. OR The firsthand experiences that we have had.
Error Management Theory (EMT): A theory of selection under conditions of uncertainty in which recurrent cost asymmetries of judgment or inference favor the evolution of adaptive cognitive biases that function to minimize the more costly errors.
Escape Learning: A learned behaviour to terminate an unpleasant stimulus.
Estrogen: One of two female sex hormones secreted by the ovaries. Estrogen is involved in the development of female sexual features, including breast growth, the accumulation of body fat around the hips and thighs, and the growth spurt that occurs during puberty. Also involved in pregnancy and the regulatio
Ethical Review Board (ERB): a committee of at least five members whose goal it is to determine the cost-benefit ratio of research conducted within in institution. Also known as an Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Ethics: a broad area within psychology that is concerned with what it means to be moral and how to act morally.
Ethnocentric Bias: The researcher who designs the study might be influenced by personal biases that could affect research outcomes, without even being aware of it.
Ethnographic Studies: Research in which the scientist spends time observing a culture and conducting interviews.
Eugenics: the proposal that one could improve the human species by encouraging or permitting reproduction of only those people with genetic characteristics judged desirable.
Euphoria: an intense feeling of pleasure, excitement or happiness.
Eureka Experience: when a creative product enters consciousness.
Eustress: Stress that is not necessarily debilitative and could be potentially facilitative to a person’s sense of well-being, capacity, or performance.
Evaluative Priming Task: An implicit test that measures how quickly the participant labels the valence of the attitude object when it appears immediately after a positive or negative image.
Event Time: scheduling is determined by the flow of the activity. Events begin and end when, by mutual consensus, participants “feel” the time is right.
Evolution: Certain traits and behaviors developing over time because they are advantageous to our survival.
Evolutionary Psychology: A branch of psychology that applies the Darwinian theory of natural selection to human and animal behaviour. Seeks to develop and understand ways of expanding the emotional connection between individuals and the natural world, thereby assisting individuals with developing susta
General Intelligence Factor (g): a construct that the different abilities and skills measured on intelligence tests have in common.
Generalization: the extent to which relationships among conceptual variables can be demonstrated in a wide variety of people and a wide variety of manipulated or measured variables.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): A psychological disorder diagnosed in situations in which a person has been excessively worrying about money, health, work, family life, or relationships.
Generativity: speakers of a language can compose sentences to represent new ideas that they have never before been exposed to.
Genotype: The DNA content of a cell’s nucleus, whether a trait is externally observable or not.
Gestalt Therapy: Focuses on the skills and techniques that permit an individual to be more aware of his or her feelings.
Gestalt: a meaningfully organized whole; a whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Gland: A gland in the endocrine system that is made up of a groups of cells that function to secrete hormones.
Glial Cells: (i.e., glia) Cells that surround and link to the neurons, protecting them, providing them with nutrients, and absorbing unused neurotransmitters.
Glutamate: a neurotransmitter and a form of the amino acid glutamic acid, is perhaps the most important neurotransmitter in memory.
Goal-Directed Behavior: instrumental behavior that is influenced by the animal’s knowledge of the association between the behavior and its consequence and the current value of the consequence. Sensitive to the reinforcer devaluation effect.
Goal: The cognitive representation of a desired state or mental idea of how we would like things to turn out.
Gratitude: A feeling of appreciation or thankfulness in response to receiving a benefit.
Group Therapy: Psychotherapy in which clients receive psychological treatment together with others.
Growth Need: the fifth level of Maslow’s pyramid that allows people to reach his or her fullest potential.
H
Habit: instrumental behavior that occurs automatically in the presence of a stimulus and is no longer influenced by the animal’s knowledge of the value of the reinforcer. Insensitive to the reinforcer devaluation effect.
Habituation Procedure: When a baby is placed in a high chair and presented with visual stimuli while a video camera records the infant’s eye and face movements.
Habituation: The decreased responsiveness toward a stimulus after it has been presented numerous times in succession.
Hallucinations: Imaginary sensations that occur in the absence of a real stimulus or which are gross distortions of a real stimulus.
Hallucinogens: psychoactive drugs/substances that, when ingested, alter a person’s sensations and perceptions, often by creating hallucinations that are not real or distorting their perceptions of time.
Hardiness Theoretical Model: Refers to the resilient stress response patterns in individuals and groups.
Health Behaviors: Behaviors that can improve or harm health.
Helpfulness: People high in helpfulness believe they can be effective with the help they give they are more likely to be helpful in the future.
Helping: Prosocial behaviour that involves providing assistance to another person or group who is in need of help.
Heritability Coefficient: An easily misinterpreted statistical construct that purports to measure the role of genetics in the explanation of differences among individuals. The heritability coefficient varies from 0 to 1 and is meant to provide a single measure of genetics’ influence of a trait.
Heritability of the Characteristic: refers to the proportion of the observed differences of characteristics among people that is due to genetics.
Heritability: (i.e., genetic influence) Is indicated when the correlation coefficient for identical twins exceeds that for fraternal twins, indicating that shared DNA is an important determinant of personality.
Heroin: a strong addictive drug derived from opium; twice as addictive than morphine.
Hertz: vibrations per second.
Heuristics: Cognitive (or thinking) strategies that simplify decision making by reducing complex problem-solving to simpler, rule-based decisions. These information processing strategies are useful in many cases but may lead to errors when misapplied. Two frequently applied heuristics include the represent
HEXACO Model: Posits that one important class of individual differences was omitted from the Five-Factor Model: Honesty-Humility.
High-Stakes Testing: Situations in which test scores are used to make important decisions about individuals.
Highlight: Prioritizing and putting greater effort towards goals.
Hindsight Bias: refers to the tendency to think that we could have predicted something that has already occurred that we probably would not have been able to predict.
Hippocampus: Located within the limbic system and consists of two “horns” that curve back from the amygdala. Important for the storage of information in long-term memory.
Histone Acetyltransferases (HATs) and Histone Deacetylases (HDACs): HATs are enzymes that transfer acetyl groups to specific positions on histone tails, promoting an “open” chromatin state and transcriptional activation. HDACs remove these acetyl groups, resulting in a “closed” chromatin state and transcri
Histone Modifications: Posttranslational modifications of the N-terminal “tails” of histone proteins that serve as a major mode of epigenetic regulation. These modifications include acetylation, phosphorylation, methylation, sumoylation, ubiquitination, and ADP-ribosylation.
Holist: Believing the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
Homeostasis: The natural balance in the body’s system. The tendency of an organism to maintain this stability across all the different physiological systems in the body.
Honeymoon Effect: The tendency for newlyweds to produce unrealistically positive ratings.
Hormone: A chemical that moves throughout the body to help regulate emotions and behaviours.
Host Personality: The personality in control of the body most of the time.
Hostile Sexism: Refers to the negative attitudes of women as inferior and incompetent relative to men.
Hostility: A pattern of arousal that involves becoming easily upset, angry, and having a negative personality style.
Hot Cognition: The mental processes that are influenced by desires and feelings.
HPA Axis: A physiological response to stress involving interactions among the (H) hypothalamus, the (P) pituitary, and the (A) adrenal glands.
Hue: the shade of a color.
Human Factors: the field of psychology that uses psychological knowledge, including the principles of sensation and perception, to improve the development of technology.
Human Intelligence: the ability to think, to learn from experience, to solve problems, and to adapt to new situations.
Humanistic Psychology: holds a hopeful, constructive view of human beings and of their substantial capacity to be self-determining.
Humanistic Therapy: A psychological treatment that emphasizes the person’s capacity for self-realization and fulfillment.
Humility: A clear and accurate sense of one’s abilities and achievements; the ability to acknowledge one’s mistakes, imperfections, gaps in knowledge, and limitations.
Hypnosis: the state of consciousness whereby a person is highly responsive to the suggestions of another; this state usually involves a dissociation with one’s environment and an intense focus on a single stimulus, which is usually accompanied by a sense of relaxation. OR a trancelike state of consciousness, us
Hypnotherapy: The use of hypnotic techniques such as relaxation and suggestion to help engineer desirable change such as lower pain or quitting smoking.
Hypothalamus: A brain region that islocated in the lower, central part of the brain that is responsible for synthesizing and secreting hormones and plays an important role in eating behavior.
Hypothalamus: Part of the limbic system, located just under the thalamus. A brain structure that contains a number of small areas that perform a variety of functions, including the regulation of hunger and sexual behaviour, as well as linking the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland.
Hypothesis: A proposed explanation for phenomenon that researchers test through research.
I
Iconic Memory: visual sensory memory. Decays rapidly (250 milliseconds).
Identical Elements Theory of Transfer:The more similar the situations are, the greater the amount of information that will transfer.
Identical Twins: Two individual organisms that originated from the same zygote and therefore are genetically identical or very similar. The epigenetic profiling of identical twins discordant for disease is a unique experimental design as it eliminates the DNA sequence-, age-, and sex-differences from considera
Identifiability: Identification or placement of a situation is a first response of the nervous system, which can recognize it.
Illusions: occurs when the perceptual processes that normally help us correctly perceive the world around us are fooled by a particular situation so that we see something that does not exist or that is incorrect.
Imaginary Audience: Refers to when teenagers are so highly self-conscious that they feel that everyone is constantly watching them.
Impact Bias: The tendency for a person to overestimate the intensity of their future feelings.
Implemental Phase: Planning specific actions related to the goal and involves having a mindset that is conducive to the effective implementation of a goal.
Implicit Association Test (IAT): A measure that assesses how quickly the participant pairs a concept with an attribute. A computer reaction time test measures a person’s automatic associations with concepts. For instance, the IAT could be used to measure how quickly a person makes positive or negative evalua
Implicit Attitude: An attitude that a person does not verbally or overtly express.
Implicit Learning: occurs when we acquire information without intent that we cannot easily express.
Implicit Measures of Attitudes: Measures that infer the participant’s attitude rather than having the participant explicitly report it.
Implicit Memory: a type of long-term memory that does not require conscious thought to encode. It’s the type of memory one makes without intent. Or, a memory that is acquired and used unconsciously. Implicit memories can affect a person’s thoughts and behaviors. Also the influence of experience on behav
Implicit Motives: Goals in which a person is not consciously aware of and that cannot be assessed via self-report.
Inattentional Blindness: the failure to notice a fully visible object when attention is devoted to something else.
Incidence: refers to the estimated frequency or occurrence (prevalence) of a psychological disorder within a population.
Incidental Learning: any type of learning that happens without the intention to learn.
Independent Self: Views people as unique with a stable collection of personal traits that drive behavior; people tend to express their emotions to influence others.
Independent Variable: the causing variable that is created (manipulated) by the experimenter.
Individual Differences: the variations among people on physical or psychological dimensions.
Individualism: Emphasizes the uniqueness between people, personal freedom, and individual expression of opinions and decision-making. Norms in Western cultures that center on valuing the self and one’s independence from others.
Individuation: The process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious, synergizing the many components of the psyche.
Infancy: The developmental stage that begins at birth and continues to one year of age.
Information Processor: A system for taking information in one form and transforming it into another.
Informational Influence: People go along with the crowd because people are often a source of information.
Informed Consent: information given before a participant begins a research session, designed to explain the research procedures and inform that participant of his or her rights during the investigation.
Ingroup: group to which a person belongs.
Inhibitory: Neurotransmitters that make the cell less likely to fire.
Insight: An understanding by the patient of the unconscious causes of his or her symptoms.
Insomnia: persistent difficulty falling or staying asleep.
Instincts: Complex inborn patterns of behaviors that help ensure survival and reproduction.
Institutional Review Board (IRB): a committee of at least five members whose goal it is to determine the cost-benefit ratio of research conducted within in institution. Also known as an Ethical Review Board (ERB).
Instrumental Conditioning: process in which animals learn about the relationship between their behaviors and their consequences. Also known as operant conditioning.
Integrative Psychology: Psychology that combines the nature and actions of mind, body, and spirit.
Intellectual Disability: a generalized disorder ascribed to people who have an IQ below 70, who have experienced deficits since childhood, and who have trouble with basic life skills, such as dressing and feeding themselves and communicating with others
Intentional Learning: any type of learning that happens when motivated by intention.
Intentional: an agent’s mental state of committing to perform an action that the agent believes will bring about a desired outcome.
Intentionality: the quality of an agent’s performing a behavior intentionally—that is, with skill and awareness and executing an intention (which is in turn based on a desire and relevant beliefs).
Interdependent Self. Views people as being different in each new social context and the social context as the primary drivers of behavior; people tend to control and suppress their emotions to adjust to others.
Interference: other memories get in the way of retrieving a desired memory
Internal Locus of Control: When a person believes that his or her achievements and outcomes are determined by his or her own decisions and efforts. If the person does not succeed, he or she believes it is due to his or her own lack of effort.
Internal Validity: the extent to which we can trust the conclusions that have been drawn about the causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables.
Interneuron: The most common type of neuron and is located primarily within the CNS. Responsible for communication among neurons. Interneurons allow the brain to combine the multiple sources of available information to create a coherent picture of the sensory information being conveyed.
Interpersonal Functions of Emotion: The role that emotions play between individuals within a group.
Interpersonal Intelligence: the capacity to understand the emotions, intentions, motivations, and desires of other people.
Interpretation: The therapist uses the patient’s expressed thoughts to try to understand the underlying unconscious problems.
Intersexual Selection: A process of sexual selection by which evolution (change) occurs as a consequences of the mate preferences of one sex exerting selection pressure on members of the opposite sex.
Intrapersonal Functions of Emotion: The role that emotions play within each of us individually.
Intrapersonal Intelligence: the capacity to understand oneself, including one’s emotions.
Intrasexual Competition: A process of sexual selection by which members of one sex compete with each other, and the victors gain preferential mating access to members of the opposite sex.
Intrinsic Motivation: A drive that powers human behaviour that results from the joy of the task itself. Motivation that comes from the benefits associated with the process of pursing a goal.
Introspection: A method used by structuralists to attempt to create a map of consciousness by asking research participants to describe exactly what they experience as they work on mental tasks. Asking research participants to describe exactly what they experience as they work on mental tasks.
Introvert: A person who is inner-directed.
Intuitive: Sees many possibilities in situations; goes with hunches; impatient with earthy details; impractical; sometimes not present.
Inverted U Hypothesis: Asserts that, up to a point, stress can be growth inducing but that there is a turning or tipping point when stress just becomes too much and begins to become debilitative.
IQ: A measure of intelligence that is adjusted for age.
Iris: The coloured part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil by constricting or dilating in response to light intensity.
J
James-Lange Theory of Emotion: A theory proposed by William James and Carl Lange that states that arousal and emotion are not independent, but rather that emotion depends on the pattern of arousal.
Jet Lag: The state of being fatigued and/or having difficulty adjusting to a new time zone after traveling a long distance (across multiple time zones).
Job Analysis: determining what knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics (KSAPs) are required for a given job.
Joint Attention: two people attending to the same object and being aware that they both are attending to it.
Justice: an ethical principle from the Belmont Report that emphasizes distributing risks and benefits fairly across different groups within society.
K
Kin Selection: The favoritism shown for helping our blood relatives.
Knocked Out: The action that certain genes will be eliminated during the creation of DNA.
L
Lack of Executive Control: Difficulty comprehending information and using it to make decisions.
Language: a system of communication that uses symbols in a regular way to create meaning. Gives the ability communicate our intelligence to others by talking, reading, and writing.
Late Adulthood: The final life stage, beginning in the 60s.
Latent Content: Content within dreams that relates to deep unconscious wishes or fantasies. Or, the hidden psychological meaning of a dream.
Laws: (in relation to psychology) principles that are so general as to apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry.
Law of Disuse: The longer an association is unused, the weaker it becomes.
Law of Effect: The idea that instrumental or operant responses are influenced by their effects. Responses that are followed by a pleasant state of affairs will be strengthened and those that are followed by discomfort will be weakened. Nowadays, the term refers to the idea that operant or instrumental behavior
Law of Readiness: A quality in responses and connections that results in readiness to act.
Law of Recency: The most recent response is most likely to reoccur.
Law of Use: The more often an association is used, the stronger it becomes.
Lens: a structure that focuses the incoming light on the retina.
Lesions: Areas of the brain that are damaged by surgeries, strokes, falls, automobile accidents, gunshots, tumors, etc.
Letter of Recommendation Effect: The tendency for informants to produce unrealistically positive ratings.
Multiple Regression: a statistical technique, based on correlation coefficients among variables, that allows predicting a single outcome variable from more than one predictor variable.
Multiple Response: An animal will try multiple responses (trial and error) if the first response does not lead to a specific state of affairs.
Multiply Determined: behaviour, for example, that is produced by many factors that occur at different levels of explanation.
Myelin Sheath: A layer of fatty tissue surrounding the axon of a neuron that both acts as an insulator and allows faster transmission of the electrical signal.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: A psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.
Mystery: Life is a great mystery.
N
Narcolepsy: a disorder characterized by extreme daytime sleepiness with frequent episodes of nodding off.
Natural Improvement: The possibility that people might get better over time, even without treatment.
Natural Selection: Differential reproductive success as a consequence of differences in heritable attributes.
Naturalistic Observations: research based on the observation of everyday events.
Nature Approach to Language: the belief that human brains contain a language acquisition device that includes a universal grammar that underlies all human language
Nearsighted: an image is focused in front of the retina, rather than on the retina. Occurs when the light rays bend incorrectly.
Need for Closure: The desire to come to a firm conclusion.
Need to Belong: The human need to make friends, start families, and spend time together.
Negative Linear Relationship: when above-average values for one variable tend to be associated with below-average values for the other variable.
Negative Reinforcement: Taking something negative away in order to increase a response.
Negative State Relief Model: People sometimes help in order to make themselves feel better.
Nerves: Bundles of interconnected neurons that fire in synchrony to carry messages.
Nervous System: A collection of hundreds of billions of specialized and interconnected cells through which messages are sent between the brain and the rest of the body.
Neural Correlates of Consciousness (NCC): Seeks to link activity within the brain to subjective human experiences in the physical world.
Neurogenesis: The generation or growth of new brain cells, specifically when neurons are created from neural stem cells.
Neuroimaging: the use of various techniques to provide pictures of the structure and function of the living brain.
Neuron: A cell in the nervous system that is responsible for receiving and transmitting information.
Neurophilosophy: Views neuronal correlates of consciousness as its cause, and consciousness as a state-dependent property of some undefined complex, adaptive, and highly interconnected biological system.
Neuroplasticity: The brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to experience or damage. Enables our ability to remember new things and adjust to new experiences.
Neurosis: A force that shatters the personality of the patient.
Neuroticism: The tendency to frequently experience negative emotions such as anger, worry, and sadness, as well as being interpersonally sensitive.
Neurotransmitter: A chemical that relays signals from terminal buttons and across the synapses between neurons to receiving dendrites using a lock and key type system.
Nicotine: a psychoactive drug found in tobacco and other members of the nightshade family of plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide.
No Relationship: when there is no relationship at all between the two variables, variables are then said to be independent.
Node of Ranvier: A series of breaks between the sausage-like segments of the myelin sheath that allow electrical charges to move down the axon.
Non-Rapid Eye Movement (non-REM) Sleep: a deep sleep, characterized by very slow brainwaves, that is further subdivided into three stages: N1, N2, and N3. A sleep state that processes conscious-related memory (declarative memory).
Nonassociative Learning: occurs when a single repeated exposure leads to a change in behavior.
Nonconscious: Refers to when a person is unaware of why he or she is pursuing a goal and may not even realize that he or she is pursing it.
Nonlinear Relationship: relationships between variables that cannot be described with a straight line.
Nonshared Environment: Is indicated when identical twins do not have similar traits. These influences refer to experiences that are not accounted for either by heritability or by shared environmental factors. Nonshared environmental factors are the experiences that make individuals within the same family le
Nonspecific Treatment Effects: Occur when the patient gets better over time simply by coming to therapy, even though it doesn’t matter what actually happens at the therapy sessions.
Nonverbal Communication: Communication that does not involve words.
Normal Distribution (or Bell Curve): the pattern of scores usually observed in a variable that clusters around its average. The bulk of the scores fall toward the middle, with many fewer scores falling at the extremes.
Normal Distribution: a data distribution in which most scores fall within the centre of the distribution and are symmetrical and bell-shaped.
Normative Influence: People go along with the crowd because they are concerned about what others think of them.
Nuremberg Code: a set of 10 ethics principles written in 1947 for human participants that emphasizes the importance of informed consent and weighing risks against benefits.
O
Obedience: Following orders or requests from people in authority.
Object Permanence: The child’s ability to know that an object exists even when the object cannot be perceived.
Objective: to be free from personal bias or emotions.
Observational Learning: learning by observing the behavior of others.
Obsessions: Repetitive thoughts.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A psychological disorder that is diagnosed when an individual continuously experiences distressing or frightening thoughts and engages in obsessions (repetitive thoughts) or compulsions (repetitive behaviours) in an attempt to calm these thoughts.
Occipital Lobe: A portion of the brain, also known as the visual cortex, that is involved in interpreting visual stimuli and information.
Olfactory Membrane: located within the upper nasal passage and embedded with 10 to 20 million receptor cells.
Olfactory Receptor Cells: embedded within the olfactory membrane. Topped with tentacle-like protrusions that contain receptor proteins.
Open Ended Questions: Research questions that ask participants to answer in their own words.
Openness: The tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values, feelings, and behaviors.
Operant Conditioning: A type of learning that refers to how an organism operates on the environment or how it responds to what is presented to it in the environment. Describes stimulus-response associative learning. Also see instrumental conditioning.
Operant: a behavior that is controlled by its consequences. The simplest example is the rat’s lever-pressing, which is controlled by the presentation of the reinforcer.
Operational Definition: a precise statement of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable.
Opioids: chemicals that increase activity in opioid receptor neurons in the brain and in the digestive system, producing euphoria, analgesia, slower breathing, and constipation.
Opium: the dried juice of the unripe seed capsule of the opium poppy.
Opponent-Process Color Theory: a theory that proposes that we analyze sensory information not in terms of three colours but rather in three sets of “opponent colours”: red-green, yellow-blue, and white-black.
Optic Nerve: a collection of millions of ganglion neurons that sends vast amounts of visual information, via the thalamus, to the brain.
Optimism: The general tendency to expect positive outcomes.
Ossicles: three tiny bones located within the middle ear. Includes the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup.
Other-Oriented Empathy: A characteristic that involves having a strong sense of social responsibility, the ability to empathize with and feel emotionally tied to those in need, understand the problems the victim is experiencing, and have a heightened sense of moral obligation to be helpful.
Outcome Research: Studies that assess the effectiveness of medical treatments to determine the effectiveness of different therapies.
Outgroup: group to which a person does not belong.
Outliers: one or more extreme scores which lay far outside the distribution.
Oval Window: the membrane covering the opening of the cochlea.
Ovaries: The female sex glands that are located in the pelvis. The ovaries produce eggs and secrete the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.
Overconfidence: the tendency for people to be too certain about their ability to accurately remember events and to make judgments.
Overconfident: the bias to have greater confidence in your judgment than is warranted based on a rational assessment.
Overextensions: the use of a given word in a broader context than appropriate. Generally a mistake made by children.
Overlearning: continuing to practice and study even when we think that we have mastered the material.
Ovulation: When an ovum, or egg (the largest cell in the human body), which has been stored in one of the mother’s two ovaries, matures and is released into the fallopian tube.
P
Pace of Life: the speed at which changes and events occur for individuals. Dependent on individual temperament, cultural norms, between places, at different times, during different activities.
Pancreas: Part of the endocrine system. Secretes hormones designed to keep the body supplied with fuel to produce and maintain stores of energy.
Panic Disorder: A psychological disorder characterized by sudden attacks of anxiety and terror that have led to significant behavioural changes in the person’s life.
Paradigm: Prevailing model that guides an area of study.
Parasympathetic Nervous System orParasympathetic Division: A division of the autonomic nervous system that tends to calm the body by slowing the heart and breathing and by allowing the body to recover from the activities that are caused by the sympathetic system. Works to bring the body back to its norm
Parathyroid Gland: The area responsible for determining how quickly the body uses energy and hormones (in conjunction with the thyroid gland), and controls the amount of calcium in the blood and bones.
Parenting Styles: Parental behaviours that determine the nature of parent-child interactions and that guide their interaction with the child.
Parietal Lobe: A portion of the brain that xtends from the middle to the back of the skull, also known as the somatosensory cortex, that is involved in the processing of other tactile sensory information (information about touch).
Pavlovian Conditioning: see classical conditioning.
Pearson Correlation Coefficient (r): the most common statistical measure of the strength of linear relationships among variables.
People’s (Folk) Explanations of Behavior: people’s natural explanations for why somebody did something, felt something, etc. (differing substantially for unintentional and intentional behaviors).
Perception of Social Support: The perception that a person has positive social relationships with others.
Perception: the organization and interpretation of sensations.
Perceptual Constancy: the ability to perceive a stimulus as constant despite changes in sensation.
Perceptual Learning: occurs when aspects of our perception changes as a function of experience.
Performance Assessment: a method of measurement associated with ability models of EI that evaluate the test taker’s ability to solve emotion-related problems.
Periodic Limb Movement Disorder: a sleep disorder that involves sudden involuntary movement of limbs.
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): The collection of neurons that link the central nervous system (CNS) to the body’s sense receptors, muscles, and glands.Divided into the somatic and autonomous nervous systems.
Permissive Parents: Tend to make few demands and give little punishment, but they are responsive in the sense that they generally allow their children to make their own rules.
Person-Centred Therapy (or Client-Centred Therapy): An approach to treatment in which the client is helped to grow and develop as the therapist provides a comfortable, nonjudgmental environment.
Person-Situation Debate: Places the power of personality against the power of situational factors as determinants of the behavior that people exhibit.
Person’ Mental Age: age at which a person is performing intellectually.
Persona: The mask or image a person presents to the world.
Personal Distress: Helpers who do not empathize with a victim may experience feelings of being worried and upset and will have an egoistic motivation for helping.
Personal Selection: the use of structured tests to select people who are likely to perform well at given jobs.
Personal Unconscious: An aspect of the psyche does not usually enter an individual’s awareness but appears in overt behaviour or in dreams.
Personal: The damaging impact of stress on physical and mental health.
Personality Disorder: A disorder characterized by inflexible patterns of thinking, feeling, or relating to others that cause problems in personal, social, and work situations.
Personality Traits: Reflect basic personality dimensions on which people differ.
Personality: The characteristic ways that people differ from one another.
Phenomenal: In the moment conscious experience.
Phenotype: The pattern of expression of the genotype or the magnitude or extent to which it is observably expressed—an observable characteristic or trait of an organism, such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, or behavior.
Phi Phenomenon: to perceive a sensation of motion caused by the appearance and disappearance of objects that are near each other.
Phobia: A specific fear of a certain object, situation, or activity.
Phoneme: the smallest unit of sound that makes a meaningful difference in a language.
Photo Spreads: a selection of normally small photographs of faces given to a witness for the purpose of identifying a perpetrator.
Physiological Adaptations: Adaptations that occur in the body as a consequence of one’s environment.
Pineal Gland: Located in the middle of the brain and secretes melatonin (a hormone that helps regulate the wake-sleep cycle).
Pinna: the external and visible part of the ear. Draws in sound waves and guide them into the auditory canal.
Pitch: the perceived frequency of a sound.
Pituitary Gland: A pea-sized gland located near the centre of the brain that also known as the “master gland”. The pituitary gland is responsible for controlling the body’s growth, as well as secreting hormones that signal the ovaries and testes to make sex hormones and influence our responses to pain. The glan
Place Theory of Hearing: proposes that different areas of the cochlea respond to different frequencies.
Placebo Effects: Improvements that occur as a result of the expectation that one will get better rather than from the actual effects of a treatment.
Placenta: An organ that allows the exchange of nutrients between the embryo and the mother, while at the same time filtering out harmful material.
Planning Fallacy: The tendency to underestimate how much time it will take to complete a task.
Plasticity: the brain’s ability to develop new neural connections.
Pluralistic Ignorance: Relying on others to define the situation and to then erroneously conclude that no intervention is necessary when help is actually needed.
Polychronic (P-time): typically used among people and organizations in event-time cultures, where there is a preference for focusing on several things at once.
Pons: A structure in the brain stem that helps control the movements of the body, playing a particularly important role in balance and walking.
Positive Affective States: Pleasant emotional arousal or feelings.
Positive Linear Relationship: when above-average values from one variable also tend to have above-average values for the other variable
Positive Psychology: A branch of psychology that focuses the on the strengths, virtues, and talents that contribute to successful functioning and enable individuals and communities to flourish. Also a self-help movement that has concepts grounded in emotion and intuition.
Positive Reinforcement: Adding something in order to increase a response.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):A psychological disorder that is diagnosed when an individual experiences high levels of anxiety along with reexperiencing the trauma (flashbacks), and a strong desire to avoid any reminders of the event.
Pre-Screening: identifying and excluding participants who are at high risk.
Preconscious: Those thoughts that are unconscious at the particular moment in question, but that are not repressed and are available for recall and easily capable of becoming conscious.
Prediction Error: when the outcome of a conditioning trial is different from that which is predicted by the conditioned stimuli that are present on the trial (i.e., when the US is surprising). Prediction error is necessary to create Pavlovian conditioning (and associative learning generally). As learning occurs over
Prejudice: Refers to how a person feels about an individual based on their group membership.
Preoperational Stage: At about two years of age, and until about seven years of age, children begin to use language and to think more abstractly about objects, with capacity to form mental images.
Preoptic Area: A region in the anterior hypothalamus (front of the hypothalamus) that strongly influences male sexual behavior.
Preparedness: the idea that an organism’s evolutionary history can make it easy to learn a particular association. Because of preparedness, you are more likely to associate the taste of tequila, and not the circumstances surrounding drinking it, with getting sick. Similarly, humans are more likely to associate im
Prepotency of Elements: A subject can filter out irrelevant aspects of a problem and focus on and respond to significant elements of a problem.
Prevalence: The frequency of occurrence of a given condition in a population at a given time.
