AP Psych Unit 8 Vocab

need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

idea that physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behaviors

form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues

when its level is low, we feel hunger

point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set

when the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight

the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure

ED in which a person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15% or more) underweight, yet still feeling fat, continues to starve

ED characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise

significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa

4 stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson

excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution

resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm

sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males and contributing to female sex characteristics

estrogen levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity

the most important of the male sex hormones

both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus, and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one’s owns sex (homosexual orientation) or the other sex (heterosexual orientation)

response of the whole organism, involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience

theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

basically emotions trigger physiological responses

theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses, and the subjective experience of emotion

basically physiological triggers emotions

the Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal

a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (such as perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes)

effect of facial expressions on experienced emotions, as when a facial expression of anger or happiness intensifies feelings of anger or happiness

emotional release

maintains that “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

people’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life; used along with measures of objective well-being to evaluate people’s quality of life

ex: physical and economic indicators

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, lights, income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves

an interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease

subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine

process by which we perceive and respond to certain events (aka “stressors”) that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in 3 phases

alarm, resistance, exhaustion

clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle

the leading cause of death in North America

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

for easy going, relaxed people

literally, “mind-body” illness

any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches

study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health

2 types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system

B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections

T lymphocytes form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances