Page 646 - Understanding Psychology

Glossary
cognitive consistency–crisis intervention program
cognitive consistency the theory that people’s attitudes change because they are always trying to get things to fit together logically inside their heads (p. 584)
cognitive dissonance a state of unpleasant psychological tension that arises when a person experiences contradic- tory or conflicting thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, or feelings (p. 584)
cognitive learning a form of learning that involves mental processes and may result from observation or imitation (p. 260)
cognitive map a mental picture of spatial relationships or relationships between events (p. 260)
cognitive therapy an approach in which thoughts are used to control emotions and behaviors (p. 499)
cognitivist a psychologist who studies how we process, store, retrieve, and use information and how cognitive processes influence our behavior (p. 20)
cohesiveness the factors that work to hold groups to- gether (p. 547)
collective unconscious the part of the mind that contains inherited instincts, urges, and memories common to all people (p. 384)
community psychologist a psychologist who may work in a mental health or social welfare agency operated by the government or private organization (p. 26)
companionate love a condition associated with trusting and tender feelings for someone whose life is closely bound up with one’s own (p. 536)
comparable worth the concept that women and men should receive equal pay for jobs calling for comparable skill and responsibility (p. 441)
complementarity the attraction that often develops between opposite types of people because of the ability of one to supply what the other lacks (p. 525)
compliance a change of behavior to avoid discomfort or rejection and to gain approval (p. 583)
compulsion an apparently irresistible urge to repeat an act or engage in ritualistic behavior such as hand wash- ing (p. 458)
computerized axial tomography (CAT) an imaging technique in which low levels of X rays are passed through the brain, and a computer measures the amount of radiation absorbed by the brain cells and produces a relatively good image of the brain (p. 167)
concept a way to group objects, events, or characteristics on the basis of some common property they share (p. 296)
conditioned response (CR) a response elicited by the con- ditioned stimulus; it is similar to the unconditioned response, but not identical in magnitude or amount (p. 242)
conditioned stimulus (CS) a once-neutral event that elicits a given response after a period of training in which it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus (p. 242)
conditioning a type of learning that involves stimulus- response connections in which the response is condi- tional on the stimulus (p. 241)
conditions of worth the conditions a person must meet in order to regard himself or herself positively (p. 395)
cones visual receptors that are adapted for color vision, daytime vision, and detailed vision (p. 215)
confabulation the act of filling in memory with statements that make sense but that may be untrue (p. 284)
conflict situation a situation in which a person must choose between two or more options that tend to result from opposing motives (p. 414)
conformity acting in accord with group norms or customs (pp. 111, 556)
consciousness an individual’s state of awareness, includ- ing a person’s feelings, sensations, ideas, and percep- tions (p. 183)
conservation according to Piaget, the principle that a given quantity does not change when its appearance is changed (p. 73)
constancy the tendency to perceive certain objects in the same way regardless of changing angle, distance, or light- ing (p. 229)
content validity similarity between the items in a test and the information the test is meant to measure (p. 360) contingencies of reinforcement the occurrence of
rewards or punishments following particular behaviors
(p. 388)
contingency management a form of behavior therapy in
which undesirable behavior is not reinforced, while desir-
able behavior is reinforced (p. 504)
control group in an experiment, a group of participants
that is treated in the same way as the experimental group except that the experimental treatment (the independent variable) is not applied (p. 40)
convergence the process by which your eyes turn inward to look at nearby objects (p. 228)
convergent thinking a way of thinking that depends heavily on symbols, concepts, and rules (p. 297)
conversion disorder a somatoform disorder characterized by changing emotional difficulties into a loss of a spe- cific voluntary body function (p. 461)
correlation the measure of a relationship between two variables or sets of data (p. 39)
correlation coefficient a statistic that describes the direc- tion and strength of the relationship between two sets of variables (p. 52)
counseling psychologist an individual who has a Ph.D. in psychology or education who helps people deal with problems of living (p. 25)
counterattitudinal behavior the process of taking a public position that contradicts one’s private attitude (p. 585)
creativity the ability to use information, invent new solu- tions to problems, or create original and ingenious mate- rials (p. 300)
crisis intervention program a short-term psychological first aid that helps individuals and families deal with emergencies or highly stressful situations (p. 604)
632 Glossary