The term “affect” refers to an underlying state or feeling a person has that is connected to their emoitons. Affective states are usually described along two dimensions: valence (from positive to negative) and arousal (from high to low). In common parlance, the terms affect and emotion are often used interchangeably. Even academics use the two […]
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Automatic processing refers to mental activity that does not require conscious effort or control. There are some cognitive tasks that an individual can perform without even thinking about it. In some cases, there simply is no need to expend a great deal of mental effort or concentration to perform a given task. Researchers usually define
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Circular logic occurs when the supporting premise of one statement is based on the premise of another statement, which in turn is based on the support of a preceding statement. Since each statement is supported by the other, there is no way to disprove any of them. This line of thinking is often referred to
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Effortful processing refers to mental activity that requires conscious effort. When engaged in thinking about a given subject or performing a task mentally, the individual must concentrate when processing the information related to those tasks. Effortful processing is sometimes referred to as controlled processing. For example, reading text regarding a complex subject requires concentration. The
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A psychosocial stressor is a life event or situation that creates stress. It may be a mildly stressful event such as being stuck in a traffic jam or a more severe stressor such as enduring a chronic disease. The unfortunate thing about psychosocial stress, is that even positive events can create stress (referred to as
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Article Summary Social-cognitive theory (SCT) is a theory of learning that examines how cognitive processes and environmental factors influence behavior. The theory considers how the individual’s past experiences, including reinforcements and interpretations of the environment through individual-specific cognitive processes, combine to shape expectations and behavior in any given situation. An individual’s behavior shapes the environment,
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A fixed interval schedule of reinforcement rewards behaviors after set periods of time. The interval of time between rewards is “fixed” and does not change, unlike other types of partial reinforcements like fixed variable schedules. Strictly speaking, after the interval has elapsed, the very next occurrence of the goal behavior is rewarded. However, in practice,
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Acquisition refers to the initial stage of learning when a behavior is first being acquired. The term is used in both classical and operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, a stimulus that naturally triggers a response (e.g., food that makes a dog salivate), is presented along with a second stimulus that is neutral (e.g., the sound
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Escape learning is when a person or animal learns to terminate an aversive stimulus by engaging in a specific behavior. Escape learning can range from an individual simply leaving a noisy room to evade the sound, to children engaging in disruptive classroom behavior to escape instruction. Escape Learning Definition and Origins Escape learning was originally
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Secondary appraisal refers to the analysis of one’s available resources to overcome a potentially stressful situation. The analysis will either conclude that sufficient resources do, or do not exist. It is a term contrasted to primary appraisal, referring to the evaluation of the harm or benefit to be gained from a situation: If a person’s
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