AP Psychology Test 1 Vocab

The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2)

Historically significant perspective that emphazied the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.

The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenom

Pure science theat aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being

A branch of psychology that studies, asseses, and treats people with psychological disorders

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy

The scientific study of how we think, about, influence, and relate to one another

Suggests how we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the persons disposition

The tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Feelings, often based on our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

A set of explanations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

Influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinion about reality

Stranger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that faster arousal and anonymity

The enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

An unjstifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and predisposition to discrimatoy actions

A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members

"us"- people with whom one shares a common identity

"Them"- those perceived as different or apart fromm one's ingroup

The tendency to favor one's own group

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

The tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they got

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

The principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal- creats anger, which can generate aggression

The phenomenom that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship

The deep affectionate attachement we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it

Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others

Unselfish regard for the welfare of others

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation