Chapter 5, 6 and 7
False
True or False: When problems assault us, irrational beliefs help diminish their effect.
True
True or False: Woman under stress are more likely to care for their children and seek social contact and support from others. Taylor termed this the "tend-and-befriend" response.
Many life changes are positive and occur less frequently.
Which of the following are some of the differences between life changes and daily hassles?
prototype
a concept of a category of objects or events that serves as a good example of the category
anchoring and adjustment heuristic
a decision-making heuristic in which a presumption or first estimate serves as a cognitive anchor; as we receive additional information, we make adjustments but tend to remain in the proximity of the anchor
availability heuristic
a decision-making heuristic in which our estimates of frequency or probability of events are based on how easy it is to find examples
representativeness heuristic
a decision-making heuristic in which people make judgments about samples according to the populations they appear to represent
counterconditioning
a fear-reduction technique in which pleasant stimuli are associated with fear-evoking stimuli so that the fear-evoking stimuli lose their aversive qualities
intelligence
a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
means-end analysis
a heuristic device in which we try to solve a problem by evaluating the difference between the current situation and the goal
conditioned response (CR)
a learned response to a conditioned stimulus
conditioned stimulus (CS)
a previously neutral stimulus that elicits a conditioned response because it has been paired repeatedly with a stimulus that already elicited that response
positive reinforcer
a reinforcer that when presented increases the frequency of an operant
negative reinforcer
a reinforcer that when removed increases the frequency of an operant
classical conditioning
a simple form of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to evoke the response usually evoked by another stimulus by being paired repeatedly with the other stimulus
operant conditioning
a simple form of learning in which an organism learns to engage in behavior because it is reinforced
reflex
a simple unlearned response to a stimulus
holophrase
a single word used to express complex meanings
exemplar
a specific example
unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
a stimulus that elicits a response from an organism prior to conditioning
secondary reinforcer
a stimulus that gains reinforcement value through association with established reinforcers
algorithm
a systematic procedure for solving a problem that works invariably when it is correctly applied
divergent thinking
a thought process that attempts to generate multiple solutions to problems
convergent thinking
a thought process that narrows in on the single best solution to a problem
learning
according to behaviorists, a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience
intelligence quotient (IQ)
(a) originally, a ratio obtained by dividing a child's score (or mental age) on an intelligence test by chronological age. (b) generally, a score on an intelligence test
law of effect
Thorndike's view that pleasant events stamp in responses, and unpleasant events stamp them out
learning
according to cognitive theorists, the process by which organisms make relatively permanent changes in the way they represent the environment because of experience
systematic random search
an algorithm for solving problems in which each possible solution is tested according to a particular set of rules
stimulus
an environmental condition that elicits a response
model
an organism that engages in a response that is then imitated by another organism
primary reinforcer
an unlearned reinforcer whose effectiveness is based on the biological makeup of the organism and not on learning
orienting reflex
an unlearned response in which an organism attends to a stimulus
unconditioned response (UCR)
an unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus
conditioned reinforcer
another term for a secondary reinforcer
operant behavior
behavior that operates on, or manipulates, the environment
successive approximations
behaviors that are progressively closer to a target behavior
insight
in Gestalt psychology, a sudden perception of relationships among elements of the mentally represented elements of a problem that permits its solution
generalization
in conditioning, the tendency for a CR to be evoked by stimuli that are similar to the stimulus to which the response was conditioned
discrimination
in conditioning, the tendency for an organism to distinguish between a CS and similar stimuli that do not forecast a UCS
discriminative stimulus
in operant conditioning, a stimulus that indicates that reinforcement is available
heuristics
rules of thumb that help us simplify and solve problems
happy
sad
big
small
creativity
the ability to generate novel and useful solutions to problems
mental age (MA)
the accumulated months of credit that a person earns on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
observational learning
the acquisition of knowledge and skills through the observation of others (who are called models) rather than by means of direct experience
extinction
the process by which stimuli lose their ability to evoke learned responses because the events that had followed the stimuli no longer occur (The learned responses are said to be extinguished.)
displacement
the quality of language that permits one to communicate information about objects and events in another time and place
spontaneous recovery
the recurrence of an extinguished response as a function of the passage of time
operant
the same as an operant behavior
mental set
the tendency to respond to a new problem with an approach that was successfully used with similar problems
contingency theory
the view that learning occurs when stimuli provide information about the likelihood of the occurrence of other stimuli
The exhaustion stage
Which of the following is one of Selye's three stages in the general adaptation syndrome?
They combat allergic reactions.
Which of the following is true of corticosteroids?
primary mental abilities
according to Thurstone, the basic abilities that make up intelligence examples include word fluency and numerical ability
Overeating
Which of the following is a risk factor for coronary heart disease?
True
True or False: In the context of stressors, Albert Ellis referred to situations such as loosing a job as an activating event.
True
True or False: Psychological states such as anxiety and depression can impair the functioning of the immune system.
False
True or False: Unhealthy stress is referred to as eustress.
aggression
Which of the following is not a characteristic of psychological hardiness?
fulfillment
Which of the following is not a demand that stress makes on an organism?
emotional concern
According to the different kinds of support for coping with stress, _______ involves listening to people's problems and expressing feelings of sympathy, caring, understanding, and reassurance.
alarm reaction
According to the general adaptation syndrome, the ________ is first triggered by perception of a stressor.
multiple approach-avoidance conflict
After returning from work, Greg contemplates whether he should stay at home or exercise at the gym. He wants to stay home because he likes to relax, but feels guilty about not getting enough exercise. He knows that if he goes to the gym, he will be glad that he is exercising but unhappy because he does not enjoy the activity. According to Neal E. Miller, this is an example of a(n) _______________.
a Type B behavior pattern
Although academically gifted, Chloe never had the desire to be the best in her class. She would most likely be considered to exhibit __________.
daily hassles
David was experiencing a lot of stress because he was experiencing some pain in his right foot, the weather was poor, and he owed money to a friend. These types of stress are considered _____________.
are less ambitious and less impatient
Unlike Type A people, Type B people ___________.
It stems from a period in human prehistory when many stressors were life threatening.
In the context of general adaptation syndrome, which of the following is true of fight-or-flight reaction?
g
Spearman's symbol for general intelligence, which he believed underlay more specific abilities
s
Spearman's symbol for specific factors, or s factors, which he believed accounted for individual abilities
catastrophizing the extent of loss.
Suppose a person is fired and he harbors beliefs such as: "This job was the most important thing in my life'" "What a no-good failure I am," "My family will starve," "I will never find a job as good," " There's nothing I can do about it." According to Albert Ellis, such irrational beliefs contribute to anxiety and depression by:
music and exercise
The American Psychological Association (2017) has found that Americans are most likely to do one of the following to cope with stress?
sympathetic nervous system
The ________ activates the adrenal medulla, causing it to release a mixture of adrenaline and noradrenaline during the alarm stage of the general adaptation syndrome.
False
True or False: According to the general adaptation syndrome, in the resistance stage, levels of endocrine and sympathetic activity are higher than in the alarm reaction stage.
True
True or False: Debbie failed her Chem. exam because she was very stressed and tired. Her mind jumped to the beliefs that she was a "terrible student" and a "failure"; she became certain she would fail the class and perhaps fail at school altogether. Debbie catastrophized failing her exam.
True
True or False: If you have an internal locus of control, it means you feel you have control over the direction of your life.
False
True or False: In the approach-avoidance conflict, each of the two goals is desirable, and both are within reach.
flooding
a behavioral fear-reduction technique based on principles of classical conditioning; fear-evoking stimuli (CSs) are presented continuously in the absence of actual harm so that fear responses (CRs) are extinguished
systematic desensitization
a behavioral fear-reduction technique in which a hierarchy of fear-evoking stimuli is presented while the person remains relaxed
higher-order conditioning
a classical conditioning procedure in which a previously neutral stimulus comes to elicit the response brought forth by a CS by being paired repeatedly with that conditioned stimulus
cognitive map
a mental representation of the layout of one's environment
shaping
a procedure for teaching complex behaviors that at first reinforces approximations of the target behavior
fixed-interval schedule
a schedule in which a fixed amount of time must elapse between the previous and subsequent times that reinforcement is available
variable-interval schedule
a schedule in which a variable amount of time must elapse between the previous and subsequent times that reinforcement is available
fixed-ratio schedule
a schedule in which reinforcement is provided after a fixed number of correct responses
variable-ratio schedule
a schedule in which reinforcement is provided after a variable number of correct responses
continuous reinforcement
a schedule of reinforcement in which every correct response is reinforced
latent learning
learning that is hidden or concealed
motivated reasoning
making decisions and judgments on the basis of emotion rather than careful evaluation of all the available evidence
cognition
mental activity involved in understanding, processing, and communicating information
concept
mental category that is used to class together objects, relations, events, abstractions, ideas, or qualities that have common properties
partial reinforcement
one of several reinforcement schedules in which not every correct response is reinforced
thinking
paying attention to information, mentally representing it, reasoning about it, and making decisions about it
biological preparedness
readiness to acquire a certain kind of CR due to the biological makeup of the organism
incubation
in problem solving, a process that may sometimes occur when we stand back from a frustrating problem for a while and the solution "suddenly" appears
language acquisition device (LAD)
in psycholinguistic theory, neural "prewiring" that facilitates the child's learning of grammar
overregularization
the application of regular grammatical rules for forming inflections (e.g., past tense and plurals) to irregular verbs and nouns
infinite creativity
the capacity to combine words into original sentences
language
the communication of information by means of symbols arranged according to rules of grammar
heritability
the degree to which the variations in a trait from one person to another can be attributed to, or explained by, genetic factors
framing effect
the influence of wording, or the context in which information is presented, on decision making
semanticity
the quality of language in which words are used as symbols for objects, events, or ideas
functional fixedness
the tendency to view an object in terms of its name or familiar usage
psycholinguistic theory
the view that language learning involves an interaction between environmental factors and an inborn tendency to acquire language
linguistic-relativity hypothesis
the view that language structures the way we view the world
reinforce
to follow a response with a stimulus that increases the frequency of the response