antianxiety drugs Commonly known as tranquilizers; drugs that reduce anxiety by making

individuals calmer and less excitable.

antidepressant drugs Drugs that regulate mood

antipsychotic drugs Powerful drugs that diminish agitated behavior, reduce tension, decrease
hallucinations, improve social behavior, and produce better sleep patterns in people who have a
severe psychological disorder, especially schizophrenia

aversive conditioning (classical conditioning) Treatment that consists of repeated pairings of the
undesirable behavior with aversive stimuli to decrease the behavior’s rewards.

behavior modification The application of operant conditioning principles to change human

behaviors; especially to replace unacceptable, maladaptive behaviors with acceptable, adaptive
behaviors.

behavior therapies Therapies that use principles of learning to reduce or eliminate maladaptive
behavior.

biological therapies Treatments to reduce or eliminate the symptoms of psychological disorders

by altering the way an individual’s body functions

client-centered therapy Rogers's humanistic therapy in which the therapist provides a warm,
supportive atmosphere to improve the client's self-concept and encourage the client to gain
insight about problems.

cognitive therapies Therapies emphasizing that individuals' cognitions, or thoughts, are the
main source of abnormal behavior and psychological problems.

cognitive-behavior therapy Therapy consisting of a combination of cognitive therapy and

behavior therapy; self-efficacy is an important goal of cognitive-behavior therapy

couples therapy Group therapy with married or unmarried couples whose major problem lies
within their relationship.

dream analysis The psychotherapeutic technique used to interpret a person's dream.

Psychoanalysts believe that dreams contain information about the individual's unconscious
thoughts and conflicts.

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) Commonly called shock therapy; a treatment used for
severely depressed individuals that causes a seizure to occur in the brain.

family therapy Group therapy with family members.

free association The psychoanalytic technique of having individuals say aloud whatever comes
to mind.

gestalt therapy Perls's humanistic therapy in which the therapist challenges clients to help them
become more aware of their feelings and face their problems

humanistic therapies Therapies that encourage clients to understand themselves and to grow
personally. The humanistic therapies are unique in their emphasis on self-healing capacities.

insight therapy A therapy that encourages insight and self-awareness; includes the
psychodynamic and humanistic therapies.

integrative therapy A combination of techniques from different therapies based on the

therapist's judgment of which particular techniques will provide the greatest benefit for the
client.

lithium A drug that is widely used to treat bipolar disorder

post-traumatic growth Improvements individuals can see in themselves as a result of a struggle

with negative life events.

psychoanalysis Freud's therapeutic technique for analyzing an individual's unconscious

thoughts. Freud believed that clients' current problems could be traced to childhood experiences,
many of which involved conflicts about sexuality.

psychodynamic therapies Therapies that stress the importance of the unconscious mind,
extensive interpretation by the therapist, and the role of experiences in the early childhood years.
The goal of the psychodynamic therapies is to help individuals recognize their maladaptive ways
of coping and the sources of their unconscious conflicts.

psychosurgery A biological therapy that involves removal or destruction of brain tissue to

improve an individual's adjustment

psychotherapy The nonmedical process used by mental health professionals to help individuals
recognize and overcome their problems

rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT) A therapy based on Ellis's assertion that

individuals develop a psychological disorder because of their beliefs, especially those that are
irrational and self-defeating; the goal of REBT is to get clients to eliminate self-defeating beliefs
by rationally examining them.

reflective speech A technique in which the therapist mirrors the client's own feelings back to the
client.
resistance The psychoanalytic term for the client's unconscious defense strategies that prevent
the analyst from understanding the person's problems.

systematic desensitization A method of behavior therapy based on classical conditioning that

treats anxiety by getting the person to associate deep relaxation with increasingly intense
anxiety-producing situations.

therapeutic alliance The relationship between the therapist and client.

transference The psychoanalytic term for the client's relating to the analyst in ways that
reproduce or relive important relationships in the client's life.

well-being therapy (WBT) A short-term, problem-focused, directive therapy that encourages

clients to accentuate the positive.

Affectionate love Also called companionate love; the type of love that occurs when individuals
desire to have the other person near and have a deep, caring affection for the person.

Altruism An unselfish interest in helping someone else.

Attitudes Opinions and beliefs about people, objects, and ideas.

attribution theory Theory that views people as motivated to discover the underlying causes of
behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior.

bystander effect The tendency of an individual who observes an emergency to help less when
other people are present than when the observer is alone.

cognitive dissonance A concept developed by Festinger; an individual's psychological

discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts.

Confederate A person who is given a role to play in a study so that social context can be
manipulated.

Conformity Change in a person's behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard.

Deindividuation The reduction of personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal
responsibility that can arise when one is part of a group.

Discrimination In social psychology, an unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member

of a group simply because he or she is a member of that group.

Egoism Giving to another person to ensure reciprocity; to gain self-esteem; to present oneself as
powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid social and self-censure for failing to live up to
society's expectations.
elaboration likelihood model Theory identifying two ways by which a communication can be
persuasive—a central route and by a peripheral route.

Empathy A feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another person.

Ethnocentrism The tendency to favor one's own ethnic group over other groups.

false consensus effect Overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the
way we do, stemming from the use of our own outlook or situation to predict that of others.

fundamental attribution error The tendency for observers to overestimate the importance of
internal traits and underestimate the importance of external situations when they seek
explanations of an actor's behavior.

group polarization effect The solidification and further strengthening of an individual's position
as a consequence of a group discussion.

Groupthink Group members' impaired decision making and avoidance of realistic appraisal to
maintain group harmony.

informational social influence The influence other people have on us because we want to be
right.

investment model A model emphasizing the ways that commitment, investment, and the
availability of attractive alternative partners predict satisfaction and stability in relationships.

mere exposure effect The outcome that the more we encounter someone or something (a person,
a word, an image), the more likely we are to start liking the person or thing even if we do not
realize we have seen it before.

normative social influence The influence that other people have on us because we want them to
like and approve of us.

Obedience Behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority.

positive illusions Positive views of oneself that are not necessarily deeply rooted in reality.

Prejudice An unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on the individual's

membership in a group.

risky shift The tendency for a group decision to be riskier than the average decision made by
individual group members.
romantic love Also called passionate love; the type of love that has strong components of
sexuality and infatuation and often predominates in the early part of a love relationship.

self-objectification The tendency to see oneself primarily as an object in the eyes of others.

self-perception theory Bem's theory about the connection between attitudes and behavior;
stresses that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior.

self-serving bias The tendency to take credit for one's successes and to deny responsibility for
one's failures.

social comparison The process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors,
and abilities in relation to other people.

social contagion Imitative behavior involving the spread of behavior, emotions, and ideas.

social exchange theory A theory based on the notion of social relationships as involving an
exchange of goods, the objective of which is to minimize costs and maximize benefits.

social facilitation Improvement in an individual's performance because of the presence of

others.

social identity The way individuals define themselves in terms of their group membership.

social identity theory Tajfel's theory that social identities are a crucial part of individuals' self-
image and a valuable source of positive feelings about themselves.

social loafing Each person's tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced
accountability for individual effort.

social psychology The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people.

social support Information and feedback from others that one is loved and cared for, esteemed
and valued, and included in a network of communication and mutual obligation.

Stereotype A generalization about a group's characteristics that does not consider any variations
from one individual to another.

stereotype threat An individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged on the basis of a
negative stereotype about his or her group.