Biological Bases of Behavior
The building block of the nervous system that communicates using electrical and chemical signals.
What is a neuron/nerve cell?
The persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.
What is memory?
The stage in Piaget’s theory during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.
What is the sensorimotor stage?
A personality trait characterized by emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, and irritability.
What is neuroticism?
A psychological disorder marked by persistent and excessive worry.
What is generalized anxiety disorder?
The destruction of tissue by natural or experimental causes.
What is lesion?
The activation (often unconsciously) of particular associations in memory.
What is priming?
A learning process where behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment.
What is operant conditioning?
When individuals exert less effort in a group than when working alone.
What is social loafing?
A medical model term referring to a false sensory perception, such as hearing voices.
What is a hallucination?
A part of the autonomic nervous system that controls arousal, alerting the body, and preparing it for action.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
An increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. It is believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.
What is long-term potentiation (LTP)?
A mental framework used to organize and interpret information, often developed during childhood.
What is a schema?
A change in behavior or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure.
What is conformity?
A mood disorder characterized by extreme highs and lows in emotion and energy.
What is bipolar disorder?
This neurotransmitter influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion. When oversupplied, it is linked to schizophrenia. Undersupply is linked to tremors and decreased mobility.
What is Dopamine?
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. It is one of the reasons/causes for false memories.
What is source amnesia?
A type of learning that occurs when one links two or more stimuli and anticipates events.
What is classical conditioning?
The tendency to overestimate the impact of personal disposition and underestimate the impact of the situation when analyzing others’ behavior.
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The “fight or flight” response is activated by this brain structure, especially during fear.
What is the amygdala?
The neuron network that extends from the spinal cord through the thalamus. It is inside the brainstem and between the ears. This structure filters incoming stimuli and relays important information to other brain areas.
What is the reticular formation?
The estimation of the likelihood of events based on the availability in memory. If instances come readily to mind, such events can be assumed to be common.
What is the availability heuristic?
Vygotsky's concept that refers to the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can achieve with guidance.
What is the zone of proximal development?
A personality theory suggesting that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs, beginning with physiological needs.
What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
An evidence-based therapeutic approach that combines cognitive restructuring with behavioral techniques.
What is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)?