Chapter 15 Key Terms

Chapter 15 Key Terms Introduction to Personality: Toward An Integration 7e 1

Chapter 15 – Key Terms

Ascending reticular activation system (ARAS) – the system in the brain that is believed to regulate overall arousal in the cortex (p. 352)

Behavioral activation system (BAS) – neurological system in the brain that activates approach behavior (p. 354)

Behavioral inhibition system (BIS) – neurological system in the brain that activates withdrawal from certain stimuli an inhibits behavior (p. 354)

Biological preparedness – biological predisposition to learn some associations more readily than others (p. 348)

Brain asymmetry – the degree to which the right versus the left sides of the brain are activate (p. 355)

Cheater detector – a mechanism that humans have developed to detect individuals who seek the benefits of social exchange without reciprocating appropriately (p. 349)

Directional selection – selection process in which versions of characteristics that enhance survival and reproduction gradually become increasingly represented, while those that handicap survival and reproduction tend to fade out (p. 346)

Discriminative facility – the ability to appraise situations as they present themselves and to respond accordingly (p. 350)

Domain specificity – specific psychological problem-solving strategies that facilitated reproduction, adaptation and survival in the course of evolution (p. 349)

Ectomorph – according to Sheldon, an individual who has a tall, thin, and stoop-shouldered figure and has an artistic, restrained, and introvertive temperament (p. 352)

Endomorph – according to Sheldon, an individual who is obese and correspondingly tends to be relaxed, sociable and likes to eat (p. 352)

Level of physiological arousal (LOA) – level of stimulation in the brain (p. 352)

Mesomorph – an individual who has an athletic build and has a very energetic, assertive, and courageous temperament according to Sheldon (p. 352)

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) – enzymes that breaks down the neurotransmitters after they have passed along the route, maintaining the proper level of neurotransmitters (p. 358)

Neurotransmitters – chemicals that enable the nerve impulses to jump across nerve synapses from one nerve to the next (p. 358)

Optimal level of arousal (OLA) – arousal level that is most appropriate for performing a given task effectively (p. 353)

Reciprocal altruism – the recognition that if we help others they are likely to reciprocate in kind (p. 347)

Sensation seeking – trait that represents an individual’s level of desire to experience new things and take risks (p. 356)

Sensation seeking scale (SSS) – measure that taps into four different aspects of sensation seeking behavior: thrill and adventure seeking, experience seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility (p. 357)

Stabilizing selection – mechanism that weeds out characteristics at both extremities of a given dimension (p. 346)