PSYCH 202 FINAL EXAM - DR. GALLIMORE - UNIVERSITY OF WICSONSIN-MADISON
Sensation & Perception
Scientists interested in both physiological aspects of sensory systems as well as in the psychological experience of sensory information
Operational Definition
a description of how we measure our variables so everyone understands and interprets data correctly and similarly
Cofounding Variable
a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment
Cochlea
a fluid-filled, seal-shaped structure that contains the resort receptor cells (hair cells) of the auditory system
Informed Consent
a form that must be signed by participants of a study before they participate
Unconditioned Response
a natural reaction to a given stimulus
Humanism
a perspective within psychology that emphasizes humanity's innate capacity for good
Introspection (Wundt)
a process by which someone examines their own conscious as objectively as possible
Classical Conditioning
a process by which we learn to associate stimuli and, consequently, to anticipate events
Cross-Sectional Research
a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time; information is not as good as longitude research, but it is cheaper and can be done faster
Timbre
a sound's purity
Unconditioned Stimulus
a stimulus that elicits a reflective response in an organism
Conditioned Stimulus
a stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus
Short-Term Memory
a temporary storage system that processes incoming sensory memory
Procedural Memory
a type of implicit memory that stores information on how to do things
Decibles
a unit of sound intensity; how loudness is measured
Recall
accessing information without cues
Misinformation Effect Paradigm
after exposure to incorrect information, a person may misremember the original event
Peer-Reviewed Journal Article
aimed at an audience of professionals and scholars who are actively involved in research themselves
Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision
all colors in the spectrum can be produced by combining red, green and blue, the three types of cones are receptive to each color
Flashbulb Memory
an exceptionally clear recollection of an important event
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
applies psychological theories, principles, and research findings in industrial and organizational settings
Temporal Lobe
auditory cortex
Hair Cells
auditory receptor cells of the inner ear embedded in the basilar membrane
Medulla
autonomic nervous system
Fixed Interval Reinforcement Schedule
behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time
Law of Effect
behaviors that are followed by consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated
Vicarious Reinforcement
being more motivated to imitate behavior if you saw that the behavior brought positive reinforcement (opposite = vicarious punishment)
Skinner
believed that reinforcement and punishment were major factors in driving behavior; behaviorist
Resting Potential
between signals, the neuron's membrane potential is held in a state of readiness
Antagonist Medication
block or impede the normal activity of a neurotransmitter at the receptor site to weaken its effects
Congenital Deafness
born deaf
Central Nervous System (CNS)
brain and spinal cord
The Experimental Hypothesis
cannot use limited personal observations and anecdotal evidence to rigorously test hypothesis; must use real-world data
Optic Nerve
carries visual information from retina to brain
Soma
cell body; houses the nucleus; has branching extensions called dendrites
Pheromones
chemical messages
Mylein Sheath
coats the axon and acts as an insulator, increasing signal speed
Surverys
collect data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire; not in depth and not always accurate because not objective
Opponent-Process Theory
color is coded in opposing pairs (black/white, yellow/blue, green/red), and some cells of the visual system are excited by one of the colors and inhibited by its opponent color
Iris
colored portion of the eye
Behavior
comes from intention & perceived behavioral norm; intention comes about through one's attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral norm
Institutional Review Board
committee that must approve that a study is safe and ethical before it can be done
Statistical Analysis
conducted to find out if there are meaningful differences between the two groups
Ganglion Cells
connect rods and cones
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
connects CNS to the rest of the body (nerves)
Terminal Buttons
contain synaptic vesicles that house neurotransmitters
Middle Ear
contains 3 tiny bones known as ossicles
Inner Ear
contains semi-circular canals which are involved in balance and movement and the cochlea
Afterimage
continuation of a visual sensation after removal of the stimulus
Long-Term Memory
continuous storage or information
Persistence
continuously remembering something to the point that you can't get it out of your head
Vestibular Sense
contributes to our ability to maintain balance and body posture
Autonomic Nervous System
controls internal organs and glands, considered to be outside the realm of voluntary control, and can be divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
Feminist Psychology
criticized male psychologists for constructing the psychology of women entirely out of their own cultural basis and without careful experimental tests to verify any of their characterizations of women
Lens
curved, transparent structure that provides additional focus after light enters the pupil
Forensic Psychology
deals with questions of psychology as they arise in the context of the justice system
Extinction
decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus
Longitudal Fissure
deep grove that separates the brain into two halves
Meniere's Disease
degeneration of inner ear structures that can lead to hearing loss
Suggestibility
describes the effects of misinformation from external sources that leads to the creation of memories
Ruffini Corpuscles
detect stretch
Pacinian Corpuscles
detect transient pressures and high frequency vibrations
Place Theory
different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencies
Congenital Insensitivity to Pain
disorder in which one cannot feel pain
Conductive Hearing Loss
due to age, genetic predisposition, or environmental effects
Tympatic Membrane
eardrum
Perceptual Hypothesis
educated guesses that we make while interpreting sensory information
Amygdala
emotional processing
James-Lange Theory
emotions come from physical symptoms that arise due to stimuli
Inductive Reasoning
empirical observations lead to new ideas
Visual Encoding
encoding of images
Acoustic Encoding
encoding of sounds, especially words
Semantic Encoding
encoding of words and their meaning; deep level of processing
random assignment
every participant in a study has an equal chance of being assigned to either group
Biopsychology
explores how our biology influences our behavior
Inattentional Blindness:
failure to notice something that is completely visible because of a lack of attention
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
failure to transmit neural signals from the cochlea to the brain
A scientific hypothesis must be...
falsifiable, or capable of being shown as incorrect
Clinical or Case Studies
focus on one person or a few individuals; information collected is unmatched but cannot be generalized to the population
Counseling Psychology
focuses on emotional, social, vocational, and health-related outcomes in individuals who are considered psychologically healthy
Health Psychology
focuses on how health is affected by the interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors (biopyschosocial model)
Clinical Psychology
focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behavior
Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud)
focuses on the role of the unconscious mind & childhood experiences and how these two things affect the conscious mind
Personality Psychology
focuses on through and behaviors that make each individual unique; Freud proposed that personalities arise from conflicts between the conscious and unconscious minds
Taste Buds
formed by groupings of taste receptor cells with hair-like extensions that protrude into the central pore of the taste bud
Temporal Theory for Pitch Perception
frequency is coded by the activity level of a sensory neuron
Sulci
grooves between gyri
Experimental Group
group that is exposed to the independent variable that is being tested
Secondary Reinforcer
has no inherent value and has only reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer
Confirmation Bias
having a hunch about something and searching for facts to support it instead of objectively looking at facts
Just Noticeable Difference or Difference Threshold Or Weber's Law
how much difference in stimuli is required to detect a difference between them
Social Psychology
how we interact with and relate to others
Top-Down Processing
how we interpret sensations is influenced by our available knowledge, our experiences, and out thoughts
The Scientific Process (2)
hypothesis/general premise --> deductive reasoning --> empirical observations --> inductive reasoning --> hypothesis/general premise --> and so on...
Deductive Reasoning
ideas are tested against empirical world
The Scientific Process
ideas are tested against the world, those observations lead to more ideas, those are tested, and so on; circular
Threshold of Excitation
if a neuron's charge reaches a certain level, the neuron becomes active and active potential begins
Equipotentiality Hypothesis
if part of one area of the brain involving memory is damaged, another part of the same area can take over that memory function
Models
individuals that are performing imitative behavior
PET Scan
ingest radioactive tracer which binds to glucose in blood; more blood flow = more cerebral activity
Acquisition
initial period of learning in classical conditioning; an organism learns to connect neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus
The Spinal Cord
initiates automatic reflexes; messages do not have to be sent to the brain
Neurons
interconnected information processors that are essential for all the tasks of the nervous system
Electrochemical Event
involves electric and chemical process; inside the neuron is electrical process, in the synapse is chemical process
Deception
involves purposefully misleading participants in order to maintain integrity of the experiment, but not to the point where it could be harmful; participants are debriefed by the end of the study
Hippocampus
learning and memory
Observational Learning
learning by watching others and then imitating what they do or say
Latent Learning
learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it
Retina
light-sensitive lining of the eye
Epigenetics
looks beyond the genotype itself and studies how the same genotype can be expressed in different ways
Watson
majorly involved in shifting the study of psychology at the time from the mind to behavior; behaviorist
Inter-rater Reliability
measure of agreement among observers on how they record and classify a particular event
Limbic System
mediates emotion and memory
Transience
memories can fade over time
Subliminal Messages
messages that are presented below the threshold for conscious awareness
Agnonist Medication
mimic a neurotransmitter at the receptor site and strengthen its effects
Sound Localization
monaural cues and binaural cues are used to localize sound
Dopamine
mood, sleep, learning; increased pleasure, suppressed appetite
Frontal Lobe
motor cortex, language
Reuptake
neurotransmitter is pumped back into the neuron that released it in order to clear the synapse
Approaches to Research
observational techniques, interactions between researcher and individual, well-controlled experiments; these are all correlational; researchers can speak to important relationships that might exist between two or more variables of interest, cannot be used to make claims on cause-and-effect relationships; correlation does not equal causation
Associative Learning
occurs when an organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment
"5 Big Traits"
openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
Stimulus Generallization
opposite of stimulus discrimination; when an organism demonstrates the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus
Variable Interval Reinforcement Schedule
organism gets the reinforcement based on a varying amount of time, which is unpredictable
Operant Conditioning
organism learns to associate a behavior and its consequence
Partial Reinforcement
organisms does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired behavior
Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
organisms that are better suited for their environment will survive and reproduce, while those that are poorly suited for their environment will die off
Pattern Perception
our ability to discriminate among different figures and shapes
Genetic Environmental Correlation
our genes influence our environment, and our environment influences the expression of our genes
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
oversees ensuring that all animal participants are treated humanely
Neuropathic Pain
pain signals sent to the brain are exaggerated when damage to neurons of either PNS or CNS takes place
Inflammatory Pain
pain that signals tissue damage
Gyri
patterns of fold and bumps on cerebral cortex
Illusionary Correlation
people believe that relationships exist between two things when no such relationship exists
Proprioception
perception of body perception
Bottom-Up Processing
perceptions are built from sensory input
Rods
photoreceptors located in the remainder of the retina (not the fovea); work well in low light conditions; perception of movement in the peripheral
Cones
photoreceptors that work best bring light conditions; very sensitive to acute detail; found on fovea
EEG
picks up electrical charge of neuron firing & measures them
Blind Spot
point in the visual field where even when light from a small object is focused on the blind spot, we cannot see it
Sympathetic Nervous System
prepares the body for stress-related event
Substantia Nigra & Ventral Tegmental Area
produce dopamine; critical for movement
Receptors
proteins on the cell surface where neurotransmitters attach
Sport and Exercise Psychology
psychological aspects of sports performance: motivation and performance anxiety, effects of sport on mental and emotional well-being
Biological Perspective of Psychological Disorders
psychological disorders are associated with imbalances in one or more neurotransmitter systems
Scientific Method
question why something happens --> purpose hypothesis --> test hypothesis --> make observations --> come up with theory
False Memory Syndrome
recall of false autobiographical memories
Cerebellum
receives messages from body; balance
Hypothalamus
regulates homeostasis
Pons
regulates sleep
Primary Reinforcer
reinforcers that have innate reinforcing qualities
Binocular Cues
rely on the use of both eyes
Monocular Cues
require only one eye; depth in images when they are only 2D
Effortful Processing
requires much work and attention in order to encode information
Merkel's Disks
respond to light pressure (regular touch)
Meissner's Corpuscles
respond to pressures and low frequency vibrations
Parasympathetic Nervous System
returns the body to routine operations (homeostasis)
The Cognitive Revolution
revived interest in the mind as a focus of scientific inquiry
Shaping
reward successive approximations of a target behavior
Evolutionary Psychology
seeks to study the ultimate biological causes of behavior; how universal patterns of behavior change over time
Outer Surface of Brain
semipermeable membrane
Thalamus
sensory relay center
Nociception
signal indicating potential harm and maybe pain
Suggestibility
similar to misattribution, but instead of creating a false memory entirely on your own, it comes from someone else
Olfactory Receptors
small hair-like extensions from taste buds that serve as sites for odor molecules with chemical receptors located on these extensions
Fovea
small indentation in the back of the eye; part of the retina; contains densely packed photoreceptor cells
Pupil
small opening in the eye through which light passes; controlled by mucus
Pariental Lobe
somatosensory cortex
Lateralization
specialization of function in each hemisphere; left side of brain controls right half of body, right half of brain controls left side of body
Sensory Receptors
specialized neurons that respond to specific types of stimuli
Neutral Stimulus
stimulus that does not naturally elect a response
Sensory Memory
storage of brief sensory events
Declarative Memory
storage of facts and events we personally experienced
Arousal Theory
strong emotions trigger the formation of strong memories, and weaker emotional experiences form weaker memories
Olfactory Bulb
structure at the tip of the frontal lobe where olfactory nerves begin
Pavlov
studied condition reflex (classical conditioning); behaviorist
Behavioral Genetics
studies how individual differences arise, in the present, through the interaction of genetics and environment
Naturalistic Observation
studies humans in their natural state; very useful if obtained, but hard to obtain because we cannot spy on people, people tend to change their behavior if they know someone is watching, people have a hard time being honest, observer bias, inter-relator reliability
Double-Blind Study
study in which both of the groups are unaware as to which group they are in
Single-Blind Study
study in which one of the groups are unaware as to which group they are in while researcher knows
Multicultural Psychology
studying effects of the same stimulus on different cultures showed different results
Random Sample
subset of a larger population in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected
Glial Cells
supports neurons
Cerebral Cortex
surface of the brain
Chemical Senses
taste and smell; both have sensory receptors that responds to molecules in the food we eat and the air we breathe
Thermoreception
temperature perception
Observer Bias
tendency of observers to see what they expect to see
Longitudinal Research
tests the same group of individuals repeatedly over a long period of time; information is unmatched, but cannot be generalized
Signal Detection Theory
the ability to identify a stimulus when it is embedded in a. distracting background
Retrieval
the act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness
Cognitive Psychology
the area of psychology that focuses on studying conditions, or thoughts, and their relationship to our experiences and our actions
Neurotransmitters
the chemical messengers of the nervous system
Rehearsal
the conscious repetition of information to be remembered
Transduction
the conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential
Storage
the creation of a permanent record for information; must go through sensory memory, short-term memory, and then long term memory
Membrane Potential
the difference in charge across the membrane which proves energy for the signal; inside is negative, outside is positive
Action Potential
the electrical signal that typically moves from the cell body down the axon terminals; all-or-none phenomenon
Automatic Processing
the encoding of details
Construction
the formulation of new memories
Pitch
the frequency of a sound wave
Control Group
the group that does not receive the experimental treatment
Amplitude
the heigh of a wave measured from the highest point (peak/crest) to the lowest point (trough)
Encoding
the input of information into the memory system
Wavelength
the length of a wave from one peak to the next
Absolute Threshold
the minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time
Variable Ratio Reinforcement Schedule
the number of responses needed for a reward varies
Frequency
the number of waves that pass a given point in a given time period, expressed in hertz
Visible Light Spectrum
the portion of the larger electromagnetic radiation that occurs in our environment
Reconstruction
the process of bringing up old memories
Spontaneous Recovery
the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a resting period
Binocular Disparity
the slightly different view of the world that each of our eyes receives; work in 3D sense
Developmental Psychology
the study of development across a lifespan
Self-Reference Effect
the tendency for an individual to have better memory for information that relates to oneself rather than to material that has less personal relevance
Behaviorism
the theory that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning
Client-Centered Therapy
the therapist maximizes unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy; therapist acts as a mirror for client to see themselves in an objective manner
Perception
the way sensory information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced; involves bottom-up and top-down processing
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement Schedule
there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded
Correlational Research
there is a relationship between two or more variables, but they are not dependent on each other; +1 or -1 to determine how closely related they are; +1 is strongest positive correlation, -1 is strongest negative correlation; correlation might equal causation sometimes, but most of the time there is a cofounding variable
Corpus Callosum
thick band of neural fibers connecting the brain's two hemispheres
Basilar Membrane
thin strip of tissue within the cochlea
Principle of Similarity
things that are alike tend to be grouped together
Proximity
things that are close to one another tend to be grouped together
Implicit Memory
those that are not part of our consciousness
Explicit Memory
those we consciously try to remember and recall
Memory Consolidation
to move short-term memory into long-term memory
Dendrites
transmit signals across soma and down the axon, which ends at terminal buttons
Cornea
transparent covering over the eye; serves as a barrier between the inner eye and the outside world; involved in focusing light waves that enter the eye
Psychotropic Medications
treat psychiatric symptoms by restoring neurotransmitter balance
Archival Research
use existing records to answer various research questions
Rodgers
used client-centered therapy; humanist
fMRI
uses BOLD signals to look at metabolization of oxygen
CT Scan
uses x-ray to look at different densities
Higher Order or Second Order Conditioning
using a conditioned stimulus to condition another stimulus
Synapse
very small space between two neurons, important site where communication between neurons occurs
Structuralism (Wundt)
view each part of a system independently and observe it's individual function
Functionalism (James)
views system as a whole instead of as individual parts as well as how it works as a whole
Pinna
visible part of the ear that protrudes from the head
Occipital Lobe
visual cortex
Law of Continuity
we are more likely to perceive continuous, smooth flowing lines rather than jagged, broken lines
Sensory Adaptation
we don't perceive stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time
Principle of Closure
we organize our perception into complete objects rather than a series of parts
Linear Perspective
we perceive depth when we see two parallel lines that seem to converge into an image
Figure-Ground Relationship
we tend to segment our visual world into figure and ground (person = figure, ground = background)
Continuous Reinforcement
when an organism receives a reinforcer each time is displays a behavior
Retroactive interference
when information learned more recently hinders the recall of older information
Proactive Interference
when old information hingers the recall of newly learned information
Sensation
when sensory information has been detected by a sensory receptor, sensation has occurred
Habituation
when we learn how to not respond to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without change
Misattribution
when you confuse the source of your information
Recognition
when you identify information that you have previously learned after encountering it again
Optic Chaism
where the optic nerve from each eye merges, just below the brain