Psych Study Questions Exam 1

Why does'yo-yo dieting' lead to weight gain?

"Yo-yo dieting," repeatedly losing and gaining weight, is especially dangerous because frequent changes in weight can dramatically slow the body's metabolic rate (ultimately leading to weight gain).

displaced aggression

- Instead, the aggression may be displaced, or redirected, toward whomever or whatever is available. Targets of displaced aggression tend to be safer, or less likely to retaliate, than the original source of frustration. At one time or another, you have probably lashed out at a friend or relative who was not the real cause of your annoyance.

reaction formation

- Preventing dangerous impulses from being expressed in behavior by exaggerating opposite behavior.

Differences between anorexia and bullimia?

-Anorexia nervosa is active self-starvation or a sustained loss of appetite that has psychological origins. -Bulimia nervosa is another eating disorder characterized by gorging on food and then vomiting or taking laxatives to avoid gaining weight.

What is the difference between extracellular thirst and intracellular thirst? Which type requires salty water (water with minerals) rather than plain water to quench thirst?

-Extracellular thirst= water is lost from the fluids surrounding the cells of your body. Bleeding, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, and drinking alcohol cause this type of thirst (When a person loses both water and miner- als in any of these ways—especially by perspiration—a slightly salty liquid may be more satisfying than plain water). -excess salt causes fluid to be drawn out of cells. As the cells "shrink," intracellular thirst is triggered; quenched by plain water.

Is the stomach essential for feelings of hunger? What is satiety? What is a taste aversion and bait shyness how do they develop?

-No, it is the hypothalamus (small area at the base of the brain that regulates many aspects of motivation and emotions, especially hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior). -The second area in the hypothalamus is part of a satiety system or the "stop mechanism" for eating. -Taste aversion= active dislike for a particular food (can happen if it causes sickness or is merely associated with nausea). -Bait shyness= unwillingness of hesitation on the part of animals to eat particular food (same reason).

Describe the effect of the following in the regulation of food intake: the hypothalamus, neural messages from the stomach and liver, neuropeptide Y (NYP), glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), and leptin

-The hypothalamus is sensitive to levels of sugar in the blood (and other substances described in a moment). -^receives neural messages from the liver and stomach; combined signals= hungry or not -NYP (neuropeptide Y) large amounts causes an animal to eat until it cannot hold another bite. -GLP-1 (glucagonlike peptide) involved in causing eating to cease. It is released by the intestines after you eat a meal and travels in the bloodstream to your brain. -Leptin is released by your fat cells when you are above your weight's set point and is carried in the bloodstream to the hypothalamus, where it tells us to eat less.

What are the major reasons that college students become depressed? Is depression in college students unusual?

1. Stresses from college work and pressures to choose a career can leave students feeling that they are missing out on fun or that all their hard work is meaningless. 2. Isolation and loneliness are common when students leave their support groups behind. In the past, family, a circle of high school friends, and often a boyfriend or girlfriend could be counted on for support and encouragement. 3. Problems with studying and grades frequently trigger depression. Many students start college with high aspirations and little prior experience with failure. At the same time, many lack basic skills necessary for academic success and are afraid of failure. 4. Depression can be triggered by the breakup of an intimate relationship, either with a former boyfriend or girlfriend or with a newly formed college romance. 5. Students who find it difficult to live up to their idealized images of themselves are especially prone to depression. 6. An added danger is that depressed students are more likely to abuse alcohol, which is a depressant.

What are the three stages is the General Adaptation Syndrome?

1. the alarm reaction, your body mobilizes its resources to cope with added stress. The pituitary gland signals the adrenal glands to produce more adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol. As these stress hormones are dumped into the bloodstream, some bodily processes are speeded up and others are slowed. 2. stage of resistance, bodily adjustments to stress stabilize. As the body's defenses come into balance, symptoms of the alarm reaction disappear. Outwardly, everything seems normal. However, this appearance of normality comes at a high cost. The body is better able to cope with the original stressor, but its resistance to other stresses is lowered. 3. stage of exhaustion, in which the body's resources are drained and stress hormones are depleted. Emotional signs: Anxiety, apathy, irritability, mental fatigue. Behavioral signs: Avoidance of responsibilities and relationships, extreme or self-destructive behavior, self-neglect, poor judgment. Physical signs: Excessive worry about illness, frequent illness, exhaustion, overuse of medicines, physical ailments and complaints.

Relation between needs, drives and incentives

A need, or internal deficiency, causes a drive (energized motivational state) that activates a response (an action or series of actions) designed to push us towards a goal. The "pull" of a goal is called its incentive value (the goal's appeal beyond its ability to fill a need).

avoidance-avoidance conflict

A person in an approach-avoidance conflict is "caught" by being attracted to, and repelled by, the same goal or activity. Attraction keeps the person in the situation, but its negative aspects cause turmoil and distress.

What is the SRRS and what is a LCU?

A scale that rates the impact of various life events on the likelihood of illness. life change units (LCUs) (numerical values assigned to each life event).

Define what a stressor is and discuss the roles of predictability and Pressure in stress.

A stressor is a condition or event that challenges or threatens a person. unpredictability adds to stress. . Pressure occurs when a person must meet urgent external demands or expectations

What are the major characteristics of the Type A and Type B personalities? Which characteristic of the Type A Personality is the most lethal with respect to heart disease?

A= hard driving, ambitious, highly competitive, achievement oriented, and striving; believe that with enough effort they can overcome any obstacle, and they "push" themselves; time urgency and chronic anger or hostility; hurry from one activity to another, they feel a constant sense of frustration and anger. Feelings of anger and hostility, in particular, are strongly related to increased risk for heart attack. All personality types other than Type A; a low cardiac risk personality.

Define behavioral risk factor and give five examples.

Actions that increase the chances of disease, injury, or early death. Ex: smoking, obesity, high stress, untreated hbp, abuse of alcohol/drugs, unsafe sex, violence, excess sun, reckless driving, disregarding personal safety

Ex. that show circadian rhythm

Activities in the liver, kidneys and endocrine glands; Body temperature, Blood pressure, Amino acid levels

Describe gender differences in emotion. What is alexithymia and who is more likely to experience it?

Although male babies start out life more emotionally expressive than female babies, little boys soon learn to "toughen up," beginning in early childhood. As a result, men have learned to curtail the expression of most of their emotions. Whereas girls are encouraged to express sadness, fear, shame, and guilt, boys are more likely to be allowed to express only anger and hostility. Men who fail to express emotions over time become less aware of their own emotions and, hence, less able to name them alexithymia -"can't name emotions."

Describe the functions of the following: the amygdala, the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system, and parasympathetic rebound.

Amygdala- specializes in producing fear. The amygdala receives sensory information very directly and quickly, bypassing the cortex. As a result, it allows us to respond to potential danger before we really know what's happening. This primitive fear response is not under the control of higher brain centers. autonomic nervous system- the neural system that connects the brain with internal organs and glands. sympathetic nervous system - activates the body for emergency action—for "fighting or fleeing." It does this by arousing some body systems and inhibiting others parasympathetic nervous system- reverses emotional arousal. This calms and relaxes the body. After a period of high emotion, the heart is slowed, the pupils return to normal size, blood pressure drops, and so forth. In addition to restoring balance, the parasympathetic system helps build up and conserve the body's energy. parasympathetic rebound- Excess activity in the parasympathetic nervous system following a period of intense emotion.

Give examples of communities that do NOT glorify thinness the way Western cultures do.

Asian American college students are only half as likely to diet as other college women are. Within the African American and Pacific-Islander communities, there is a general preference for a fuller and shapelier figure. In these groups, a larger body size is associated with high social status, health, and beauty.

Projection

Attributing one's own feelings, shortcomings, or unacceptable impulses to others.

Lie detectors do NOT detect lies. What do they detect? Should they be used as evidence in a murder trial? What is the guilty knowledge test?

Because the device records only general emotional arousal, it can't tell the difference between lying and fear, anxiety and excitement. The test is much more likely to label an innocent person guilty rather than a guilty person innocent. In studies involving real crimes, an average of one innocent person in five was rated as guilty by the lie detector.

Describe Maslow's hierarchy of human needs in terms of basic needs, growth needs, and meta-needs. Are many people motivated by meta-needs compared to basic needs and growth needs?

Biological= base of the pyramid; 1st 4 lvls =basic needs, deficiency motives (i.e. water, security, love shelter) ; top=growth needs, need for self-actualization. The need for self-actualization= positive, life enhancing force for personal growth. If our basic needs are met, tend to move on to actualizing our potentials; meta needs=less powerful but humanly important actualization motives, an expression of tendencies to fully develop personal potentials; Most concerned with esteem, love, or security. Perhaps this is because rewards in our society tend to encourage conformity, uniformity, and security in schools, jobs, and relationships.

What is BMI and how is it calculated?

Body Mass Index can be used to essentially measure whether your weight is healthy or not. BMI = (your weight in pounds)/[(height in inches)^2] x 703.

What are the roles of hope and learned helplessness in depression?

Both are marked by feelings of despondency, powerlessness, and hopelessness. "Helpless" animals display decreased activity, lowered aggression, blunted appetite, and a loss of sex drive. Humans suffer from similar effects and also tend to see themselves as failing, even when they're not. "hope" and feelings of control

Light and Melatonin in adjusting

Bright light affects the timing of body rhythms by reducing the amount of melatonin produced by the pineal gland. When melatonin levels rise late in the evening, it's bedtime as far as the brain is concerned.

Compensation

Counteracting a real or imagined weakness by emphasizing desirable traits or seeking to excel in the area of weakness or in other areas.

What are the characteristics of the disease-prone personality?

Depressed, anxious, hostile, frequently ill

What is the difference between the need for achievement (nAch) and the need for power? Are people whose main goal in life is making money happier than those who don't?

Desire to meet an internal standard of excellence; strive to do well any time they are evaluated; lead to wealth and prestige; high achievers in art, music, science, or amateur sports may excel without seeking riches. Desire to have impact or control over others; want their importance to be visible; buy expensive possessions, wear prestigious clothes, and exploit relationships; pursuit of power and financial success is the dark side of the American dream; tend to be poorly adjusted and unhappy.

What are the implications of the findings regarding unhealthy health habits described in the Discovering Psychology Box: Unhealthy birds of a feather?

Don't wait for your friends or family to adopt healthier habits. Take the lead and get them to join you. Failing that, start hanging out with a healthier crowd. You might catch something healthy.

What are the four components of emotional intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to 1) perceive, 2) use, 3) understand and 4) manage emotions.

Why do college students gain the F15?

External eating cues like all-you-can-eat dining halls in the dorms and nighttime snacking as well as the presence of others affect whether people overeat, especially in college.

What is the facial-feedback hypothesis and what is its relevance to the way a person feels?

Facial Feedback Hypothesis-Emotions cause innately programmed changes in facial expression. "making faces" can actually cause emotion. Can also affect the autonomic nervous system, as shown by changes in heart rate and skin temperature. In addition, each facial expression produces a different pattern of activity. An angry face, for instance, raises heart rate and skin temperature, whereas disgust lowers both

Jet Lag adjustment

For major time zone shifts (5 hours or more), it can take up to 2 weeks to resync. The direction of travel also affects adaptation. If you fly west, adapting is relatively easy; if you fly east, adapting takes much longer.

Fantasy

Fulfilling unmet desires in imagined achievements or activities.

What are the techniques used in behavioral dieting?

Get yourself committed to weight loss., Exercise, Learn eating habits by observing yourself/keeping a "diet diary", Learn to weaken your personal eating cues; Count calories, but don't starve yourself; Develop techniques to control the act of eating; Avoid snacks; Chart your daily progress; Set a "threshold" for weight control

Describe cultural differences in the source of positive emotions in the USA and Japan. What is a Duchenne smile?

In America, we tend to have positive feelings such as pride, happiness, and superiority, which emphasize our role as individuals. In Japan, positive feelings are more often linked with membership in groups..Authentic smiles are called Duchenne smiles. The muscles around the eyes are very difficult to tighten on command. Hence, to tell if a smile in authentic, or merely posed, look at the corners of a person's eyes, not the mouth

What is the difference between problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping?

In emotion-focused coping, we try to control our emotional reactions to the situation. For example, a distressed person may distract herself by listening to music, taking a walk to relax, or seeking emotional support from others. In contrast, problem-focused coping is aimed at managing or correcting the distressing situation itself. Some examples are making a plan of action or concentrating on your next step

What are the differences between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation? Give examples.

Intrinsic motivation- act without any obvious external rewards. (i.e. mountain biking, gardening, writing, photography, or jewelry making) Extrinsic motivation- pay, grades, rewards, obligations, and approval; activities we think of as "work"

Rationalization

Justifying your behavior by giving reasonable and "rational," but false, reasons for it.

Correlational study+limitations

Make measurements to discover relationships between events; First, two factors are measured. Then, a statistical technique is used to find their degree of correlation. This can be calculated as a number falling somewhere between ¬1.00 and 1.00. Drawing graphs of relationships can also help clarify their nature. If the number is zero or close to zero, the association between two measures is weak or nonexistent does not demonstrate causation (a cause-effect relationship)

Motivation+ 3 categories

Motivation refers to the dynamics of behavior—the ways in which our actions are initiated, sustained, directed, and terminated. -Biological motives= biological needs -Stimulus motives= needs for stimulation and information. -Learned motives= learned needs, drives, and goals.

According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, what is the relationship between arousal and performance? Is performance always best when at moderate levels of arousal? Give examples.

No, the ideal level of arousal depends on the complexity of a task. If task is relatively simple, best for arousal to be high. Task is more complex, best performance will occur at lower levels of arousal. It applies to a wide variety of tasks and to measures of motivation other than arousal. For example, at a track meet, it is almost impossible for sprinters to get too aroused for a race. The task is direct and simple: Run as fast as you can for a short distance. On the other hand, a golfer making a tournament-deciding putt faces a more sensitive and complex task. Excessive arousal is almost certain to hurt his or her performance. In school, most students have had experience with "test anxiety," a familiar example of how too much arousal can lower performance

Define the following: polygraph, galvanic skin response, control questions.

Polygraph- A device for recording heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and galvanic skin response; commonly called a "lie detector." Galvanic Skin Response- changes in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and the galvanic skin response (GSR). The GSR is recorded from the hand by electrodes that measure skin conductance, or, more simply, sweating. Guilty knowledge test -Polygraph procedure involving testing people with knowledge only a guilty person could know.

Describe the four techniques that the text suggests for coping with test anxiety.

Preparation- over prepare by studying long before the "big day." Well-prepared students score higher, worry less, and are less likely to panic Relax- Learning to relax is another way to lower test anxiety. Emotional support also helps. Rehearsal- rehearse how you will cope with upsetting events; imagine yourself going blank, running out of time, or feeling panicked., calmly plan how you will handle each situation Restructuring Thoughts- involves listing the upsetting thoughts you have during exams. Then you can learn to combat these worries with calming, rational replies

Denial

Protecting oneself from an unpleasant reality by refusing to perceive it.

Regression

Retreating to an earlier level of development or to earlier, less demanding habits or situations.

Isolation

Separating contradictory thoughts or feelings into "logic-tight" mental compartments so that they do not come into conflict.

Intellectualization

Separating emotion from a threatening or anxiety-provoking situation by talking or thinking about it in impersonal "intellectual" terms.

Identification

Taking on some of the characteristics of an admired person, usually as a way of compensating for perceived personal weaknesses or faults.

What are the most general messages that are conveyed with body language? What is the "chameleon effect?" What is its relationship to being liked by another person?

The body telegraphs other feelings. The most general "messages" involve relaxation or tension and liking or disliking. Relaxation is expressed by casually positioning the arms and legs, leaning back (if sitting), and spreading the arms and legs. Liking is expressed mainly by leaning toward a person or object Chameleon effect refers to unconsciously imitating the postures, mannerisms, and facial expressions of other people as we interact with them. Chartrand also found that if another person copies your gestures and physical postures, you are more inclined to like them. This implies that to make a stronger connection with others, it helps to subtly mimic their gestures.

What is the difference between primary appraisal and secondary appraisal?

The first is a primary appraisal, in which you decide whether a situation is relevant or irrelevant, positive or threatening. In essence, this step answers the question, "Am I okay or in trouble?" Then you make a secondary appraisal, in which you assess your resources and choose a way to meet the threat or challenge. ("What can I do about this situation?") Thus, the way a situation is "sized up" greatly affects our ability to cope with it

Gives examples of illustrators and emblems. Why are they important?

The gestures people use to illustrate what they are saying may reveal lying. These gestures, called illustrators, tend to decrease when a person is telling a lie. Emblems are gestures that have widely understood meanings within a particular culture. Emblems tend to increase when a person is lying. More importantly, they often reveal true feelings contrary to what the liar is saying.

What are the best ways for college students to cope with depression?

The implication is that it's important to take daily tasks one step at a time and chip away at them. Make a daily schedule for yourself. Try to schedule activities to fill up every hour during the day. It is best to start with easy activities and progress to more difficult tasks. Check off each item as it is completed. That way, you will begin to break the self-defeating cycle of feeling helpless and falling further behind. A series of small accomplishments, successes, or pleasures may be all that you need to get going again. Consider writing down such thoughts as they occur, especially those that immediately precede feelings of sadness. write a rational answer to each

Give examples of hassles (microstressors) and indicate their relationship to health compared to the impact of major life events.

Too many things to do, Not enough money for housing, Feeling discriminated against, People making gender jokes, Communication problems with friends, Driving to school, People making fun of my religion, Fear of losing valuables, Work schedule, Getting into shape, Parents' expectations

Repression

Unconsciously preventing painful or dangerous thoughts from entering awareness.

"correlation does not demonstrate causation."

What if a psychologist discovers that the blood of patients with schizophrenia contains a certain chemical not found in the general population? Does this show that the chemical causes schizophrenia? It may seem so, but schizophrenia could cause the chemical to form. Or both schizophrenia and the chemical might be caused by some unknown third factor, such as the typical diet in mental hospitals

Sublimation

Working off unmet desires, or unacceptable impulses, in activities that are constructive.

Scapegoating

a person or a group is blamed for conditions not of their making. A scapegoat is a person who has become a habitual target of displaced aggression

Representative sample

a small group that accurately reflects a larger population

control

ability to alter the conditions that affect behavior

prediction

ability to forecast behavior accurately

health psychology

aims to use behavioral principles to prevent illness and death and to promote health

learned helplessness

an acquired inability to overcome obstacles and avoid aversive stimuli

behavioral medicine

apply psychology to manage medical problems, such as diabetes or asthma. Their interests include pain control, helping people cope with chronic illness, stress-related diseases, selfscreening for diseases

What is biofeedback and what types of health problems can be treated effectively with this technique?

applying informational feedback to bodily control; psychosomatic problems-- prevent migraine headaches, anxiety, phobias, drug abuse

Anthropomorphic error

attributing human thoughts, feelings, or motives to animals—especially as a way of explaining their behavior

What are the most important ingredients for success (the keys to success)?

begin when parents expose their children "just for fun." It is most likely to blossom when parents actively support a child's special interest and emphasize doing one's best at all times. Studies of child prodigies and eminent adults also show that intensive practice and expert coaching are common ingredients of high achievement.

approach-avoidance conflict

being forced to choose between two negative, or undesirable, alternatives creates an avoidance-avoidance conflict. A person in an avoidance conflict is caught between "the devil and the deep blue sea," "the frying pan and the fire," or "a rock and a hard place."

understanding

can state the causes of behavior

Is it possible to change the fat set point? Does the number of fat cells change when you diet? What is diet induced obesity?

cannot change your fat set point since the number of fat cells remains unchanged throughout adult life. Radical dieting does not really help either. Diet induced obesity occurs when diets actually end up raising the set point for fat.

Placebo effect

changes in behavior caused by belief that one has taken a drug or received some other treatment.

4 Goals of Psychology

description, understanding, prediction, control

statistical significance

difference must be large enough so that something would occur by chance in less than 5 experiments out of 100.

Biased sample

does not accurately reflect the population from which it was drawn

Operational definition

exact procedures used to represent a concept

What are the typical personality characteristics of people anorexia nervosa

extremely dissatisfied with their bodies. Usually, they have distorted views of themselves, exaggerated fears of becoming fat, and low self-esteem. Many overestimate their body size by 25 percent or more. As a result, they think they are disgustingly "fat" when they are actually wasting away

Negative Correlation

higher scores on one measure are associated with lower scores on the other

Positive correlation

higher scores on one measure are matched by higher scores on the other (+1.00)

Cultural relativity

idea that behavior must be judged relative to the values of the culture in which it occurs—greatly affects the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders

Describe the opponent process theory and indicate how it accounts for sensation-seeking behaviors such as skydiving?

if a stimulus causes a strong emotion, such as fear or pleasure, an opposite emotion tends to occur when the stimulus end; extreme skydiver terrified during his first jump. repeated jumps= fear decreases, until skydiver feels a "thrill" instead of terror; emotional after effects get stronger with repetition. After a first jump, beginners feel a brief but exhilarating sense of relief. After many, can get a "rush" of euphoria that lasts for hours after a jump. With repetition, the pleasurable after effect gets stronger and the initial "cost" (pain or fear) gets weaker.

progressive relaxation technique

is to tighten all the muscles in a given area of your body (the arms, for instance) and then voluntarily relax them. By first tensing and relaxing each area of the body (also called the tensionrelease method), you can learn what muscle tension feels like. Then when each area is relaxed, the change is more noticeable and more controllable

What is stress inoculation? What are the roles of negative self-statements and coping statements in stress inoculation?

learn to fight fear and anxiety with an internal monologue of positive coping statements negative self-statements (self-critical thoughts that increase anxiety). Negative thoughts tend to directly elevate physical arousal.Coping statements are reassuring and self-enhancing, used to block out, or counteract, negative self-talk in stressful situations.

palmistry

lines on the hand=personality traits and predict the future.

Psychiatrist

medical doctors who treat mental disorders w/ psychotherapy. Psychiatrists prescribe drugs

What are the roles of androgens and estrogen in the sex drives in men and women?

men= related to the amount of androgens (i.e. testosterone) provided by the testes; Testosterone levels decline with age, various medical problems can lower sexual desire. women= estrogen levels. "male" hormones also affect the female sex drive; woman's body produces small amounts of androgens; androgen inc. = inc. in sex drive.

What is the textbook's definition of mood?

mood= mildest form of emotion, low intensity emotional states that can last for many hours, or days. Moods often affect day-to-day behavior by preparing us to act in certain ways.

description

naming and classifying typically based on making a detailed record of scientific observations

Double Blind Experiment

neither subjects nor researchers know who is in the experimental group or the control group, controls for research participant bias and keeps researchers from unconsciously influencing participants; hire research assistants to collect data from the participants; shown that about 50 percent of the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs, such as the "wonder drug" Prozac, is due to the placebo effect

Zero correlation

no relationship

Naturalistic observation

observe behavior as it unfolds in natural settings.

What is the role of appraisal in stress? Your answer should include the term eustress and threat

our emotions are greatly affected by how we appraise situations. That's why some people are distressed by events that others view as a thrill or a challenge (eustress). Ultimately, stress depends on how you perceive a situation. whenever a stressor is appraised as a threat (potentially harmful), a powerful stress reaction follows.

Single blind experiment

participants do not know whether they are in the experimental or control group or whether they are receiving a drug or a placebo. All participants given the same instructions; blind to hypothesis and drug; expectations (conscious and unconscious) are the same. Any difference in behavior must be caused by the drug.

guided imagery

people visualize images that are calming, relaxing, or beneficial in other ways

phrenology

personality traits= shape of the skull.

graphology

personality traits=handwriting

What is a psychosomatic disorder? Is this the same as hypochondriasis?

psychological factors contribute to actual bodily damage or to damaging changes in bodily functioning Hypochondriacs imagine that they have diseases. Severe psychosomatic disorders can be fatal.

Counseling psychologist

psychotherapy and personal counseling; researches emotional disturbances and counseling methods; troubles at work or school

Survey Method

questionnaires to poll large groups of people

lifestyle diseases

related to health-damaging personal habits

Confirmation bias

remember or notice things that confirm our expectations and forget the rest

What are the major characteristics of the hardy personality?

resistant to stress 1. sense of personal commitment to self, work, family, and other stabilizing values. 2. felt control over their lives and their work. 3. tendency to see life as a series of challenges

mastery training

responses that lead to mastery of a threat or control over one's environment are reinforced

Homeostasis+Ex. of Set Point

steady state of body equilibrium i.e. thermostat

Positive psychology

study of human strengths, virtues, and optimal behavior

psychoneuroimmunology

study of links among behavior, stress, disease, and the immune system

Clinical Method

study psychological problems and therapies in clinical settings

Barnum effect

tendency to consider personal descriptions accurate if they are stated in general terms

psychologist

trained in methods, knowledge, and theories of psychology; have a master's degree or doctorate; teach. research (basic or applied), consulting, therapy, give psychological tests