Psych Up: Improve your understanding of psychology by applying useful concepts to actual situations.

How many can you identify from experience without looking at definitions? Psychological Situations Psychological Concepts & Categories/Definitions Biases James is sure his argument will be proven Confirmation Fixation Rigidly trying to keep, prove and right. justify certain beliefs. Charlie believes that his partner is clumsy after Fundamental Attribution Judging own errors based on she tripped. circumstances, but others on presumed character. Bob says the teams loss was an easy Hindsight Confidence Believing after an occurrence prediction. that it could be easily foreseen. Amanda said Lee was always rude and never Over-Generalizing Going beyond the actual facts with polite. extreme words such as never, all or none. Jan estimates that her driving is way above Self-Serving Evaluation Tendency to judge oneself average. favorably in comparison to other people. Cognitions/Perceptions Rob was persistently worried about vague Anxious Thinking Cognitions emphasizing possible kinds of losses. losses, vague fears, and unfounded worries. Following her essay about Koreans, Yurikos Dissonance Reduction Inconsistency between new attitude changed. behavior and previous idea leading to new attitude. Rick had a negative general, personal and Depressive Thinking Cognitions emphasizing failures, future outlook. disappointments, and hopelessness. Vic automatically saw the lines forming a Gestalt Tendency to see whole figures or forms from whole pattern. separate pieces. Susan is aware that she has been dwelling on a Meta-Cognition Thoughts about thoughts. lot of worries. Mia just observed her stream of consciousness Mindfulness/Self-Awareness Observation of personal without criticism. mental contents and processes. Eve was expecting a smart date and saw those Perceptual Set Perceiving something in a given way indicators. due to expectations. Communications Kiki reflected Jills emotional message back to Active Listening Intently restating another persons her. feelings and meanings. Jo expressed her preferences clearly and fully. Assertiveness Communication that states personal preferences and decisions. Chico stated his deep concern in a nonI (Feel) Message Stating ones feelings descriptively blameful manner. and factually without blaming the recipient. The guide restated the conflict to present a Reframing Looking at a situation with a different, new larger viewpoint. generally beneficial, emphasis. Helen increased the buyers offer by Semantic Anchors/ Priming Using words and other mentioning a high number. cues to influence perceptions and decisions. Dynamics/Defenses Harriet took her anger at the boss out on her Displacement Expressing emotional behavior to family. someone who was not the source of the feelings. Jack believed Jills generosity was part of his Introjection Imagining characteristics of another character. person are ones own. Jill thought Jack was interested since she felt Projection Imagining ones own characteristics to be that way. those of another person. Sal wanted the new boat and began making up Rationalization Making up justifiable reasons for an justifications emotionally desired choice. Although Sue disliked her aunt, she talked in Reaction Formation Stating the opposite of hateful or an opposite way. unacceptable feelings. Hank acted like a child again after the disaster. Regression Reverting back to behavior of an earlier age, generally to a more secure time.

Mike was aware of the present situation without denial. After a nice walk, Jing is in a better mood. Ike started yelling and pounding, then became angrier. Don set a valued goal that he worked on with satisfaction. After exercising, Stan helped at the school and felt even better. Lucy felt better by recalling what she appreciated in her life. After a big sports thrill, Candy wanted a still bigger thrill. Jean was working diligently to get the desired bonus. Bo liked using his skills to be freely creative. Lou tried to act nervous, but became more relaxed from the acting. By looking at her audience, Ann increased their interest. Jeff could tell Toms smile was forced during his welcome. Dawn likes the people that she knows best. The event was so intense that it stood out in Sids mind. Maria practiced the dance very well in her mind. Mary knew her neighbors after seeing them for several weeks. The inactive pill had the same effect on Al as medication pill. Lois recalled the first and last items on the list. Kim thought all eyes were on her whenever she entered a room. Dick ate so much food, he was not aware of the taste. Due to extreme stress, Carys job performance declined. Lucy sees her actions effecting her outlook and friends. Crystal built up a dependence on more and more of her drug. The DNA test measured the relevant facts. Sam solved the puzzle with a few quick strategies.

Emotion/Motivation Acceptance Mental and emotional openness to current facts and situations. Activity-Affect Influence Effects of movement and exercise on feelings and moods. Behavioral Feedback Awareness of behavior that may impact emotion and further behavior. Commitment Holding to a goal or purpose. Feel Good-Do Good & Reverse Relation between more upbeat feelings and contributing to others. Gratitude Attitude Viewing appreciatively ones positive experiences and bolstering happiness. Hedonic Threshold Need to go beyond previous level of attainment or enjoyment. Incentive Reward that a person will work to achieve. Intrinsic Motivation Desire to do something based on internal reasons. Paradoxical Reaction After a communication, an opposite result from whatever seemed to be obvious. Effects Eye Contact Influence of looking at peoples eyes for a few seconds. Facial Expressions Range of emotional messages communicated by human faces. Familiarity Preference Liking someone more due to getting to know that person. Flashbulb Intense visual memory after an extremely strong experience. Imagery/Vivid Reality Power of vivid mental images to substitute for the physical world. Mere Exposure Learning from sensory contact alone. Placebo Inactive substance or condition that imitates the active one, perhaps with similar effects. Serial Position Greater recall of first and last items in a list. Spotlight Believing that others are closely watching ones behavior. Stimuli Adaptation Decreased impact of sensory input with prolonged exposure. Stress Curve Increasing, peaking, and decreasing performance due to increased stimulation. General/Science Biopsychosocial Connection and interaction between biological, psychological and social levels. Chemical Tolerance Requiring more of a substance to produce a former reaction. Evidence/Validity Sufficient proof to support a belief; accurate measurement of something. Heuristic Searching, problem-solving and/or learning strategy.

When Tony stopped thinking about the question, the answer came to mind. Craig defined the cake by the actions that created it. Kip allowed the entire target group an equal chance of selection. Similar testing results were found repeatedly at other sites. Len focused on the route to the goal and blocked distractions. Ray added his ideas to the open discussion of possibilities. Curt did not help the victim due to the crowd of onlookers. Cal became very aggressive in the concert mob. John closely imitates his kindergarten playmates. The group members went along with the vocal minority opinion. From the groups arguments, Garys position became more extreme. Juju was blamed for the crime because she was an outsider. Laura left the class work to the other group members. Dean thought the girl was happy since she looked pretty. Heather helped and talked to others after the tragedy. Harry is closer with his teammates while cooperating for the prize. Rachael did her bedtime ritual without thinking about it. Denise became more relaxed from watching the calm leader. Billys good behavior increased from getting rewarded. From the repeated ad song, Chris kept seeing the product. Ernesto kept playing the slots since he won intermittently. Paul improved his skill after the boss emphasized his progress. Kevin stopped speeding after losing his license for a month. Hal went over his presentation until his delivery was smooth. Eric gradually changed his dogs behavior with small rewards. Lorie understood the topic more when she awakened.

Mental Dual-Processing Conscious and unconscious information tracks. Operational Definition Specifying anything by the actions needed to make it occur. Random Sample Assuring that members have an equal chance of inclusion for fair representation. Replication/Reliability Yielding consistent results in repeated experiments/tests Selective Attention Factor Focusing on one thing exclusively for heightened and narrow awareness. Groups |Brainstorming Group members freely and creatively contributing to a topic or solution. Bystandering Believing that others present will help a victim. Deindividuation Decreased inhibitions against aggression when part of an excited crowd. Group Conformity Going along with group ideas and actions although different from own. Groupthink Harmonizing with influential group members opinions. Polarization Opinions becoming more extreme after discussion with like-minded group. Scapegoating Prejudicially blaming a person or group as outlet for fear and anger. Social Loafing Avoiding individual responsibilities by relying on group members. Stereotyping General, often over-generalized, belief about a group of people Tend & Befriend Providing and seeking social support when highly stressed. Us-Them & Teamwork Identifying with own group and goals versus other group. Learning Automatic Routines/Habit Links A series of behaviors that no longer require thinking due repeated use. Model Imitation Learning from watching particular actions. Operant Conditioning Learning from the consequences (reinforcers) of a behavior. Paired Association/Repetition Linking two items from repeated occurrence together. Partial Reinforcement Getting a reward some times for a behavior. Positive Emphasis Value in learning, performance and satisfaction of focusing on correct actions Punishment Event that may suppress or decrease the behavior before it. Rehearsal Practicing a performance for effective presentation. Shaping Training a behavior by rewarding actions successively closer to desired target. Sleep Consolidation Improved organization and recall of recent learning following sleep.

Paula studied some content each day and remembered more. Tys trauma images were replaced by new soothing input. Ken imagined unknown details when reporting the accident. Louise used HOMES to recall the five Great Lakes. When Zach was in the same mood, he recalled the scene. Dr. Lin recalled other patients diagnoses when examining Paul. Tracy made up a story to remember the item list. Carol heard the story from her friend, not her doctor as she had said. Doug asked his date about parenting views. Glen gave half the money away and kept half for himself. Adam believed there should be a fair exchange in his relationships. Biff said the poor people get the life they deserve. Flynn realized that he had the power to stop smoking. Kit saw herself as a mean person and acted accordingly. Kevin had a sense of flow and oneness in the process. Carls usual role was joker and competed with other jokers. Wayne was often impatient, angry and tense.

Spaced Practice Allowing time between learning sessions to enhance effectiveness. Systematic Desensitization Gradually weakening anxiety stimuli by pairing with relaxation. Memory Memory Reconstruction Filling in the blanks when remembering an incident. Mnemonic Method for recall, often using cues such as sounds or letters. Mood Congruence/Affective Linking Remembering an item when having same feeling as previous time. Recency /Saliency/Availability Deciding on memory correctness due to ease and sharpness of recall. Retrieval Cueing Varied stimuli for remembering such as notes, stories, and rhymes. Source Misattribution Referring to the incorrect origin of second-hand information. Personalities/Self Compatible Values Similar and complementary valued outlooks and goals between people. Egoism-Altruism Balance Healthy sustainable ratio of helping self and helping others. Equity/Fairness Desire for equal and just transactions. Just World Believing people get what they deserve, especially if doing well. Personal Control/Internal LOC Believing that the locus of control is within ones own powers. Self-Concept Personal evaluation for thoughts, feelings, and actions. Self-Transcendence Sense of unity beyond individual concerns Social Script/Comparison Roles learned to guide interaction in reference to others. Type A Overly competitive, hard-driving, aggressive, and anger-prone people. Skills Cognitive-Behavioral Training Learning how changing thoughts can change feelings and actions. Conflict Resolution Procedure for clarifying different positions and options to reach some agreement. Emotional Intelligence Understanding, communicating and managing emotions and social realities. Emotion-Focused Coping Using methods that soothe disturbed feelings. Hypothesizing Formulating a proposition that can be tested against evidence to be gathered. Interpersonal /Social Support Positive contact and encouragement from another person. Problem-Focused Coping Using methods that seek needed solutions. Small Step/Foot-in-Door Initial minor action leading way to larger actions.

Rich learned how his ideas were affecting his feelings & actions. Monique listed their goals and options for an agreement. Manny was able to empathize with his coworkers feelings. Angie wrote her raw feelings in a helpful journal. Tina planned to test the truth of her idea by gathering facts. Steve gave his friend a sincere and meaningful compliment. Cathy looked for possible options for her challenge. Carlos put up a small sign and then put up a larger one.

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