psych midterm

Question 1

General psychology

Answer 1

in Shweder’s view, the overarching perspective of the field of psychology assumes that the mind operates under a set on natural and universal laws that exist independently of a persons context or content of that persons thoughts

Question 2

Nonuniversal

Answer 2

the lowest level of universality, which states that a given psychological process does not exist in all cultures and can be considered a cultural invention.

Question 3

Existential universal

Answer 3

the second-lowest level of universality, which states that given psychological process exists in all cultures, although it is nto necessarily used to solve the same problems across cultures.

Question 4

Function universal

Answer 4

the second-highest level of universality, which states that a given psychological process exists in all cultures and is used to solve the same problems across cultures, but is more accessible to people from some cultures than others.

Question 5

Accessibility universal

Answer 5

the highest level of universality, which states that a given psychological process exists in all cultures, is used to solve the same problems across cultures, and is accessible to the same degree across cultures

Question 6

WEIRD societies

Answer 6

a shorthand for the kind of societies on wish the database of psychological research is lareglyh based (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic)

Question 7

Muller-lyer illusion

Answer 7

a visual illusion in which two lines of equal length appear unequal; a line with ends that angle outward appears longer than a line with ends that angle inward.

Question 8

Color-blind approach

Answer 8

looking beyond ethnic or cultural background and focusing on common human nature

Question 9

Multicultural approach

Answer 9

focusin on and respecting the distinctive aspects of different cultural groups

Question 10

Ehtnocentrism

Answer 10

evaluation people from other cultures by comparing them to the standards of ones own culture

Question 11

Prestige bias

Answer 11

A tendency to imitate, and learn from, prestigious people, or those who have the respect and attention of others

Question 12

Similarity bias

Answer 12

a tendency to selectively imitate, and learn from, people who are similar to ourselves

Question 13

Conformist transmission

Answer 13

a tendency to learn behavious that are preformed by a greater number of people

Question 14

Mentalizing

Answer 14

taking an interest in the mental state and perspective of others, including their intentions, goals, preferences, and strategies

Question 15

Imitative learning

Answer 15

a type of cultural learning in which the learner internalizes aspects of a model’s goals and behavioural strategies

Question 16

Emulative learning

Answer 16

type of cultural learning focused ont he environment events involved with a models behaviour, such as how the use of ones object could potentially cause changes int he state of the learning environement

Question 17

Scaffolding

Answer 17

simplifying a task by direction a learners attention to the relevant steps in the process

Question 18

Ratchet effect

Answer 18

the process by which cultural information becomes more complex and often more useful overtime, because an initial idea can be learned from others and then modified and improved on by the learners

Question 19

Cultural worlds

Answer 19

worlds that content cultural ideas that have accumulated over time

Question 20

Encephalization quotient

Answer 20

the ratio of an animal’s brain weight to the weight predicted for a comparable animal of the same body size

Question 21

Gene-culture coevolution

Answer 21

the interaction of genes and culture, by which genetic evolution produces skills that enhance cultural learning, and by which cultural habits come to shape the evolution of genes

Question 22

Social brain hypothesis

Answer 22

the theory that cognitive demands inherent in social living led to the evolution of large primate brains

Question 23

Neocortext ratio

Answer 23

the ratio of the volume of the neocortex to the volume of the rest of the brain, which is used as a proxy measure of intelligence.

Question 24

Proximate cause

Answer 24

a cause that has direct and immediate relationship with its effects

Question 25

Distal cause

Answer 25

an initial difference that leads to effects over long periods of time, often though and indirect relationship

Question 26

Evoked culture

Answer 26

the idea that all people, regardless of where they are from, have biologically based repertoir of behavious that are accessible to them, and that these behaviours are engaged for appropriate situration

Question 27

Transmitted culture

Answer 27

the idea that people find out about certain cultural practices through social learning, or by modeling the behaviour of others who live near them

Question 28

Natural selection

Answer 28

the evolutionaly process that occurs when three conditions are present, those traits are associated with different survival or reproductive rates and those traits have a hereditary basis. This process determines which genetic variants will become more common across generations

Question 29

Dynamic social impact theory

Answer 29

a theory stating that individuals influence each other through their interecations, leading to clusters of like-minded people, separated by geography

Question 30

Contemporary legend

Answer 30

a fictional story told in modern societies as if it were true. Also called Urban Legend

Question 31

Minimally counterintuitive idea

Answer 31

an idea that violates our expectations enough to be considered surprising and unusual, but not too outlandish

Question 32

Individualistic culture

Answer 32

a culture with many practices and customs encouraging individuals to priortize their own personal goals ahead of collective goals, and to emphasizes the ways in which they are distinct from others

Question 33

Collectivistic culture

Answer 33

a culture with many practive, institutions and customs encouraging individuals to place relatgively more emphasis on cellective goals than individual ones

Question 34

Plusralistic ignorance

Answer 34

the tendency for people to collectively misinterprets the thoughts that underlie the behaviour of others

Question 35

Methodological equivalence

Answer 35

in cross-cultural research the demonstration that participants from different cultures understand the research questions or situations the same way

Question 36

Generalizability

Answer 36

the extension of research findings from a sample population to larger or broader populations

Question 37

Power

Answer 37

the capacity of a study to accurately detect an effect (such as a cross-cultural difference) to the extent that one exists; a reflection of the study’s design

Question 38

Independent variable

Answer 38

the variable the experimenter manipulates in order to examine its effect on the dependent variable

Question 39

Dependent variable

Answer 39

the variable effectedby manipulation of the independent variable

Question 40

Back translation

Answer 40

a method of translating research materials from one language to another; a professional translate materials from language A to language B, then a different translator translates the materials back from B to A. the originale and twice translated versions are compared, to identity and resolve any discreoencies

Question 41

Response bias

Answer 41

a factor that distorts the accuracy of a persons responses to survey question

Question 42

Socially desirable responding

Answer 42

a response bias in which peoples responses to survey question are distorted by their motivation to be evaluated positively by others

Question 43

Acquiescence bias

Answer 43

a tendency to agree with most statements one encounters

Question 44

Reference group effect

Answer 44

tendency for people to evaluate themselves by comparison with others from their own culture

Question 45

Deprivation effect

Answer 45

a tendency for people to value something more when it is lacking in their culture

Question 46

Betweengroups manipulation

Answer 46

a type of experimental manipulation in which different groups of participants receive different levels of the independent variables

Question 47

Within-groups manipulation

Answer 47

a type of experimental manipulation in which each participant receives more than one level of the independent variables

Question 48

Replication

Answer 48

repeating a study and generating the same general pattern of results as the original, thereby strengthening the study’s reliablity

Question 49

Situation sampling

Answer 49

a method used in cross-cultural comparisons by which situations are generated by participants in more than one culture, then those situations are presented to different groups of participants from multiple cultures. This approach enables researchers to see whether common situations in one culture influence people differently than situation common in another culture, and whether people in one culture respons t the same situation differently thank people in another culture

Question 50

Cultural priming

Answer 50

a method used in cross-cultural comparisons that makes ideas associasted with particular cultural meanings more accessible to particpants

Question 51

Tightness-looseness

Answer 51

the degree to which a culture has strong social norms and low tolerance for people who violate them

Question 52

Unpackaging

Answer 52

identifying the underlying variables that give rise to culltural differences

Question 53

Occam’s razor

Answer 53

the principal that any theory should makes as few assumptions as possible; it maintains that, all else being euqal, the simpler theory is more likely to be correct, or that the simpler solution to a problem thends to be the right one

Question 54

Culture of honor

Answer 54

a culture in which people (especially men) strive to protects their repuation through aggression

Question 55

Agent-based modeling

Answer 55

a way of testing a hypothesis by creatin simulations with virtual agents who are programmed to act autonomously in a computerized game

Question 56

Sensitive period

Answer 56

a period of time during development when it is relatively easy to acquire a set of skills

Question 57

Co-sleeping

Answer 57

the practive of children sharing the same bed with their caregivers

Question 58

Incest avoidance

Answer 58

a moral principal that postpubescent family members of the opposite sex should not sleep in the same room

Question 59

Protection of the vulnerable

Answer 59

a moral principal that young children who are needy and vulnerable should not be left alone at night

Question 60

Female chastity anxiety

Answer 60

a moral principal that unmarried adolescent women are vulnerable to shameful sexual activity, so they should always be chaperoned

Question 61

Respect for hierarchy

Answer 61

a moral principal that adolescent boys achieve social status by not having to sleep with parents or young children

Question 62

Sacred couple

Answer 62

a moral principal that married couples should have their own sleeping space for emotional intimacy and sexual privacy

Question 63

Autonomy ideal

Answer 63

a moral principal that young children should sleep alone in order to learn self-reliance

Question 64

Attachment theory

Answer 64

a theory proposing that the relationship formed in adulthood are shaped by the nature of the bonds formed with primary caregivers during infancy and early childhood.

Question 65

Secure attachment

Answer 65

infants seek their mother’s presence when she is around; their desire to be close to her intensifies after being left along in an unfamiliar situation

Question 66

Avoidant attachments

Answer 66

infants show little distress in response to their mothers absence and avoid her when she returns

Question 67

Anxious- ambivalent attachment

Answer 67

infants show frequent distress when their mother is either present of absent

Question 68

Authoritarian parenting

Answer 68

a parenting style that places high demands on children with strict rules, low levels of warmth and little open dialogue

Question 69

Authoritative parenting

Answer 69

child- centered parenting, in which parents try to understand their childrens feelings but encourage them to be independent while maintaining controls on their behaviour

Question 70

Permissive parents

Answer 70

a parenting style in which parents are responsive, warm, and involved with their children, but place few limits and controls on their behaviour

Question 71

Neglectful parenting

Answer 71

parenting style characterized by coldness, unresponsiveness and indifference to children

Question 72

Noun bias

Answer 72

the tendency in young children to have vocabulary with more nouns relative to the number of verbs and other relational words

Question 73

Independent view of self

Answer 73

a self-concept model in which identity is though to come from inner attributes that reflect a unique essence of the individual, and that remain stable across situations and throughout the lifespan

Question 74

Interdependent view of self

Answer 74

a self-concept model in which an individual is perceived not a separate and distinct but as a participant in a larger social unit, where identity depends on key relationships and roles with ingroups members

Question 75

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 75

the distressing feeling that accompanies the awareness that one is behaving inconsistently or against obese sense of self-consistency

Question 76

Subjective self-awareness

Answer 76

a state of mind in which a person considers the self fromthe inside out, with the perspective of the subject iterating with the world, habing little awareness of the self as an individual

Question 77

Objective self-awareness

Answer 77

a state of mind in which a person considers the self from the outside in, with the perspective of how he or she appears to others and is being evaluated

Question 78

Incremental theory of self

Answer 78

a view of the self in which a person’s abilities and traits are malleable and can be improved

Question 79

Entity theory of self

Answer 79

a view of the self in which a person's abilities and traits are innate features that cannot be changed

Question 80

Five factor model of personality

Answer 80

a model of the five core traits underlying personality: openes to experiences, conscientiousness, extraverion, aggreableness and neuroticism (The Big Five)

Question 81

Openness to experience

Answer 81

reflects a persons creativity and curiosity about the world

Question 82

Conscientiousness

Answer 82

indicates how responsible, dependable and self disciplines a person is

Question 83

Extraversion

Answer 83

indicates how outgoing, social, or dominant a person is

Question 84

Agreeableness

Answer 84

indicates how was, pleasant, and considerate a person is

Question 85

Neuaroticism

Answer 85

indicates emotional instability and unpredicatbility

Question 86

Self- enhancement

Answer 86

motivation to view oneself positively

Question 87

Self-esteem

Answer 87

the positivity of ones overall evaluation of oneself

Question 88

Self-serving bias

Answer 88

a tendency for people to view themselves in unrealistically positive terms

Question 89

Doward social comparison

Answer 89

comparing one’s performance with the performance of someone who is doing worse

Question 90

Upward social comparison

Answer 90

comparing one’s performance with someone who is doing better

Question 91

Compensatory self-enhancement

Answer 91

compensating for performance poorly by focusing on success in another area

Question 92

Discounting

Answer 92

reducing the perceived importance of a poor performance, inorder to feel better

Question 93

External attributions

Answer 93

interpreting the reason for an action or event as being caused by something outside of oneself

Question 94

Internal attribution

Answer 94

interpreting the reason for an action or event as being caused by internal factors

Question 95

Basking in the reflected glory

Answer 95

emphasizings ones connection to successful others in order to feel better about oneself; sharing the warm glow of their success

Question 96

Predestination

Answer 96

a belief about the afterlife holding that prior to birth, it has already been determined whether one is among the “elect: who will spende eternity in heaven or among those who will burn in hell forever

Question 97

Face

Answer 97

the amount of social values others give an individual if he or she lives up to the standards associated with his or her postitions

Question 98

Self-improvement

Answer 98

the process of identifying ones potential weaknesses and working on correcting them

Question 99

Prevention orientation

Answer 99

a concern with protecting oneself from negative outcomes

Question 100

Promotion orientation

Answer 100

a concern with advancing oneself and aspiring for gains

Question 101

Increment theory of the world

Answer 101

a view of the environment as being flexible and responsive to an individuals efforts to change it

Question 102

Entity theory of the world

Answer 102

a view of the environment as being fixed and beyond an individuals ability to make changes

Question 103

Primary control

Answer 103

the effort to shape existing realities to fit ones perceptions, goals, or wishes. Also called Internal Locus of Control, Influence or Agency

Question 104

Secondary control

Answer 104

the attempt to align oneself with existing realities leaving circumstances unchanged but exerting control over their psychological impact. Also called Adjustment or External Locus of Control

Question 105

Learned helplessness

Answer 105

the feeling of being powerless, unable to control or avoid unpleasant or harmful event, leading to stress and possibly depression