AL Psych Juris flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Action potential phases

Depolarization from sodium influx, repolarization from potassium efflux, brief hyperpolarization, then a refractory period during which a new potential cannot fire.

HPA axis sequence

Hypothalamus releases CRH, pituitary releases ACTH, adrenal cortex releases cortisol; chronic activation can impair hippocampal function and memory.

Heritability

The proportion of observed variance in a trait within a population attributable to genetic differences; it is population-specific and not a fixed property of an individual.

Sympathetic versus parasympathetic

Sympathetic division mobilizes fight-or-flight responses using norepinephrine and epinephrine; parasympathetic division supports rest-and-digest functions primarily via acetylcholine.

Broca versus Wernicke areas

Broca's area in the frontal lobe supports speech production; Wernicke's area in the temporal lobe supports language comprehension; damage yields distinct aphasias.

Classical conditioning components

A neutral conditioned stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus elicits a conditioned response; extinction and spontaneous recovery describe response decline and return.

Reinforcement versus punishment

Reinforcement increases behavior frequency; punishment decreases it. Positive adds a stimulus, negative removes one, yielding four operant contingency types.

Encoding specificity principle

Retrieval is most effective when cues at recall match those present at encoding, including context and internal state (state-dependent learning).

Yerkes-Dodson law

Performance is optimal at moderate arousal; the optimal arousal level is lower for complex tasks and higher for simple tasks.

Working memory capacity

Short-term storage holds roughly seven plus or minus two items for about twenty to thirty seconds without rehearsal; chunking effectively expands capacity.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overattribute others' behavior to dispositional traits while underweighting situational factors, especially for out-group members.

Bystander effect

Helping behavior decreases as the number of bystanders increases, largely due to diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance.

Cognitive dissonance

Holding inconsistent cognitions produces discomfort that motivates attitude or behavior change; insufficient external justification strengthens the effect.

Groupthink

A concurrence-seeking tendency in cohesive groups that suppresses dissent and critical evaluation, leading to poor decisions; devil's advocacy reduces it.

Stereotype, prejudice, discrimination

Stereotype is a cognitive belief about a group, prejudice is an affective attitude, and discrimination is the behavioral enactment of differential treatment.

Erikson identity stage

The fifth psychosocial stage (adolescence) centers on identity versus role confusion; successful resolution yields a coherent sense of self.

Attachment styles

Ainsworth identified secure, avoidant, ambivalent/resistant, and disorganized patterns assessed via the Strange Situation and caregiver responsiveness.

Kohlberg moral development

Moral reasoning progresses from preconventional (obedience, self-interest) to conventional (approval, law) to postconventional (social contract, universal principles).

Fluid versus crystallized intelligence

Fluid intelligence involves novel reasoning and processing speed and declines earlier; crystallized intelligence is accumulated knowledge and remains stable longer.

Authoritative parenting

High warmth combined with high, reasoned control; associated with the best child outcomes compared with authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful styles.

Standard error of measurement

SEM equals the standard deviation times the square root of one minus reliability; it estimates the typical error around an observed score.

Reliability versus validity

Reliability is consistency of measurement; validity is whether a test measures the intended construct. A test can be reliable without being valid.

Base rate effect

When a disorder is rare, even a sensitive and specific test yields many false positives, lowering positive predictive value.

Standard score conversions

z-scores have mean zero and SD one; T-scores mean fifty and SD ten; IQ scores mean one hundred and SD fifteen; percentile rank is not percent correct.

Transference and countertransference

Transference is the client's projection of feelings onto the therapist; countertransference is the therapist's emotional reaction to the client.

Levels of prevention

Primary prevents onset, secondary enables early detection and treatment, and tertiary reduces disability and recurrence after disorder is established.

Systematic desensitization

A behavioral technique pairing relaxation with a graded hierarchy of feared stimuli to reduce anxiety through counterconditioning and extinction.

Informed consent elements

Disclosure of treatment nature, risks, benefits, alternatives, confidentiality limits, and right to withdraw, documented before treatment begins.

Type I and Type II errors

Type I is rejecting a true null (false positive, alpha); Type II is failing to reject a false null (false negative, beta); power equals one minus beta.

Random selection versus assignment

Random selection of participants supports external validity and generalizability; random assignment to conditions supports internal validity and causal inference.

Tarasoff duty

A duty to protect identifiable third parties from a client's serious threat, satisfied by warning, notifying authorities, or other protective action per law.

Multiple relationship standard

A secondary relationship with a client is discouraged when it risks exploitation or impaired objectivity; not all such relationships are automatically unethical.