AP Exam

Epinephrine (adrenaline) & norepinephrine (nonadrenaline)

"Fight or Flight" response (increased heart rate, circulation, etc.), alertness, & slows down appetite & digestion during F&F.

Toddlerhood (Erikson)

(1 to 3 years) Autonomy vs. shame and doubt -Toddlers learn to exercise their will and do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities

What are the three attributes to create a growth-promoting climate in which individuals can move forward and become capable of becoming their true self? (Rogers)

(1) Congruence (genuineness/realness) (2) Unconditional positive regard (acceptance/caring) (3) Empathy

Anal Stage

(1-3 yrs.) -Act of elimination -Child learns to control his bodily excretions -If someone makes you feel bad about an accident during this stage = unbending, controlling attitude later in life

Embryo

(2 to 9 weeks) ~10 days after conception, the zygote attaches to the mother's uterine wall. The zygote's inner cells form the embryo, the outer cells form the placenta. Over the next 6 weeks, the embryo's organs begin to form and function

Young adulthood (Erikson)

(20s to early 40s) Intimacy vs. Isolation -Young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain capacity for intimate love, or they feel socially isolated

Preschool (Erikson)

(3 to 6 years) Initiative vs. Guilt -Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans, or they feel guilty about their efforts to be independent

Phallic Stage

(3-5 yrs.) -Children obtain gratification primarily from the genitals

Middle adulthood (Erikson)

(40s to 60s) Generativity vs. Stagnation -In middle age, people discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose

Elementary school (Erikson)

(6 years to Puberty) Competence vs. Inferiority -Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks, or they feel inferior

Latency stage

(6-puberty) -Repression of sexual feelings -The primary focus is on the further development of intellectual, creative, interpersonal, and athletic skills (ego)

Fetus

(9 weeks to birth) During the 6th month, organs have developed enough to give the fetus a good chance of survival if delivered early. The fetus is responsive to sound and is exposed to the mom's muffled voice.

Postconventional morality

(Adolescence and beyond) -Actions reflect belief in basic rights and self-defined ethical principles (ex: "People have a right to live")

Preconventional morality

(Before age 9) -Self interest -Obey rules to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards (ex: "If you save your wife, you'll be a hero")

Oral Stage

(Birth-12 months) -Sucking, biting -Experience centers on the pleasures and frustrations associated with the mouth, sucking, and being fed -Don't feel supported, lack of nutrition = smoking, nail biting, other oral problems later in life

Zygote

(Conception to 2 weeks) The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

Superego

(Develops around age 5) -Represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations -Acts as a moral center

Conventional morality

(Early adolescence) -Uphold laws and rules to gain social approval or maintain social order (ex: "If you steal the drug, everyone will think you're a criminal")

Late adulthood (Erikson)

(Late 60s+) Integrity vs. Despair -Reflecting on his or her life, an older adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure

Teratogens

(Literally, "monster maker"); Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

Adult genital stage

(Rest of life) -People seek sexual pleasure through sexual relationships with others

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

(Stable) -Conflict that results from having to choose between two distasteful alternatives -Equilibrium is stable and the individual will likely stay balanced between the two options for as long as possible -The closer the person comes to a goal he wishes to avoid, the stronger the tendency to avoid it becomes -Ex: "Either do your homework or go to bed without supper"

Double Approach-Avoidance Conflict

(Stable; many different goals/more real-life) -A conflict in which one must choose between options that have many attractive and negative aspects -Ex: Choosing between a job that is far away but pays well, and a job that is nearby but with no room for advancement

Approach-avoidance conflict

(Stable; only one goal) -Conflict that results from an individual being both attracted and repelled by the same goal -Stress multiplies when facing many approach-avoidance conflicts -Ex: The timid man wishes to propose to his girlfriend fears rejection (avoid) and hopes for acceptance (approach)

Adolescence (Erikson)

(Teen years into 20s) Identity vs. Role Confusion -Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused about who they are

Infancy (Erikson)

(To 1 year) Trust vs. mistrust -If needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust

Approach-approach conflict

(Unstable) -Conflict that results from having to choose between two attractive alternatives -The least stressful but produces an unstable equilibrium -Ex: "Shall I fly or take a boat to Europe?" "Go to a sporting event or out for pizza"

Procedural memory

*A type of implicit memory for automatic skills* (like how to ride a bike) *and classically conditioned associations among stimuli* (visiting the dentist and linking the visit with a painful drill, in turn getting sweaty palms)

Gender differences in aggression, social power, and social connectedness:

*Males* are more: likely to commit suicide, develop alcohol use disorder, be diagnosed with ASD and ADHD as a child, antisocial personality disorder as an adult, be physically aggressive, and socially dominant. *Females* are more: emotionally expressive, vulnerable to depression and anxiety, at risk of developing an eating disorder, concerned with making connections more than with viewing themselves as separate individuals, and can smell fainter odors

Drive-reduction theory flow chart

*Need* (food, water) --> *Drive* (hunger, thirst) --> *Drive-reducing behaviors* (eating, drinking)

Hierarchy of needs levels

*Physiological* needs, *safety* needs, *belongingness and love* needs (love and be loved, acceptance, avoid loneliness and separation), *esteem* needs (self-esteem, achievement, competence, respect and recognition from others), *self-actualization* needs (need to live up to our full potential), *self-transcendence* needs (need to find meaning and identity beyond oneself)

What are two measures of variation? And why are they useful?

*Range* (gap between highest & lowest scores) & *standard deviation* (how much scores vary around the mean/average). They tell us how diverse data is.

3 basic steps to sensory systems:

*Receive* sensory stimulation (by receptor cells), *transform* that stimulation into neural impulses, and *deliver* info to brain

What information do procedural memories process?

*Space* (while studying, you encode where material appears in the textbook), *time* (while going about your day, the sequence of its events are encoded automatically), and *frequency* (you effortlessly keep track of how many times things happen)

Scientific method in psychology

*Theories* lead to *hypotheses* which leads to *research & observations* that confirm, reject, or revise theories.

Albert Bandura

-*Self-efficacy* (beliefs about your own abilities in a particular situation greatly affects how you actually do) -Your *effectiveness is influenced by your personal explanatory style* (how you explain yourself/react) -*Reciprocal Determinism* AKA Triadic Reciprocality -(Humanist and social-cognitive approach)

Social-cognitive theory

-Based on the assumption that cognitive constructs (schemas) are the basis for personality -We bring them to every social situation (ex: expectations) -As we learn in social environments, we develop and modify our constructs

How did psychology continue to develop from the 1920s through today?

-Early researchers defined psychology as a "science of mental life" -In the 1920s, under John B. Watson and the behaviorists, the field's focus changed to "scientific study of behavior" -In the 1960s, the humanistic psychologists and the cognitive psychologists revived interest in the study of mental processes -Psychology is now defined as the "science of behavior and mental processes"

Carl Jung

-Evolutionist that proposed the *unconscious consists of two different parts* (personal unconscious and collective unconscious) that interact with the ego and the self and is a product of evolution -*Goal of personality development was to become individuated* (unification of conscious and unconscious processes) *to realize the self* -*Mind is made up of opposing forces* (ex: the persona who you present to the world vs. the shadow that is the deep, passionate, inner person) *all balanced out by the Self*

Alfred Adler

-Focused on the *conscious role of the ego* (inferiority complex: fear of failure & superiority complex: desire to achieve) *and people's social interest as the driving force behind their behavior* -Important work on how *birth order shapes personality* (ex: oldest is responsible/protective, middle is ambitious/well-adjusted, youngest is spoiled)

Limits on Classical Conditioning

-Garcia and Koelling's taste-aversion research -Animals and humans seem biologically prepared to learn some associations rather than others -Conditioning is stronger when the CS is ecologically relevant -Genetic predisposition to associate CS with a US that follows predictably and immediately is adaptive

Carl Rogers

-Humanist that believed in order for people to self-actualize they need *unconditional positive regard* (total acceptance) -Must accept ourselves in order to be fully functioning and resolve incongruence (difference between our real and ideal selves) -Therapists see you as innately good and want to help you see that

Personal unconscious (Jung)

-Jung's name for Freud's unconscious mind -Complexes (things you don't want to confront)

Personal-construct theory

-Kelly's description of personality in terms of cognitive processes -We are capable of interpreting behaviors and events, using this understanding to guide our behavior, and to predict the behavior of other people

Ego

-Largely conscious part of personality that negotiates desires vs. limitations of the environment (ex: middle ground between id and superego) -The ego operates on the reality principle and use of defense mechanisms to protect conscious mind

Julian Rotter

-Locus of control theory (internal locus of control = success or failure is due to your own effort; external locus of control = success or failure is due to luck or chance) -Positive psychology says that a sense of self-control is the key to a sense of well-being -Humanist approach

Animus (Jung)

-Masculine side of the female -The more the person matches our projected standards, the more we will want a relationship with them

Three measures of central tendency

-Mode (most frequently occurring), -Mean (arithmetic average), and the -Median (the midpoint, 50%)

Rorschach Inkblot

-Most widely used projective test -A set of 10 ambiguous inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach -Seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Limits on operant conditioning

-Nature limits species' capacity for operant conditioning -Biological constraints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive -Instinctive drift occurs as animals revert to biologically predisposed patterns

Humanist approach to personality

-Not deterministic (you have no control over your own personality, it's shaped because of events during your childhood) like psychoanalysis and behaviorist theories -People are innately good and determine their own destinies -Subjective experience and feelings are important (focus on self-concept and self-esteem) -People need to be motivated to reach their full potential (self-actualization)

Collective unconscious (Jung)

-Not unique to the individual, but rather a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces by the entire human race -Archetypes (overarching human tendencies) are important for every person to become aware of so that they can become whole and individuated -These archetypes can be understood through studying philosophy, art, religion, mythology, and dreams

Heritability of personality traits

-People are born with a potential for intelligence that combines with environmental influences to determine adult intelligence levels -Psychological disorders are affected by the genes inherited, meaning some people are born with a higher susceptibility to disorders compared with others

Behavioral approach to personality

-Personality is determined by *environment/reinforcement* -"Personality" is meaningless, really just a collection of behaviors -*No cognitive element*, so often psychologists take a cognitive-behavioral approach

Hans Eysenck

-Personality is determined largely by genes -Used factor analysis to simplify personality into 3 dimensions (extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism) -Stepping stone to "Big 5"

16 Personality factors (Cattell)

-Raymond Cattell stated that personality could be described by 16 source (underlying) traits that cluster into surface traits -Each factor represents a dimension that ranges between two extremes

Id

-Reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives -Operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

Self-concept vs. self-esteem

-Self concept is how we view ourselves -Self esteem refers to how you feel about yourself

Individualist cultures

-The self is regarded as autonomous -Individual goals and wishes are prized above duty and relations with others

Collectivist cultures

-The self is regarded as embedded in relationships -Harmony with one's group is prized above individual goals and wishes

Walter Mischel

-Traits are not necessarily consistent across various situations -Often vary depending upon the circumstances -Desirable traits can be nurtured -Marshmallow test

Nomothetic traits

-Universal traits -More sciency -Used to compare people

Things that are highly heritable are close to the coefficient 1 while low heritability is close to-

0

What are the steps in a scientific research?

1. Identify the hypothesis 2. Develop operational definitions (each variable stated so it can be measured) 3. Collect data 4. Publish the findings (needs to be replicable)

5 explanations for dreaming:

1. To satisfy your own wishes- understand inner conflicts & symbolism 2. To file away memories- REM sleep is linked with memory 3. To develop & preserve neural pathways- provides brain with periodic stimulation 4. To make sense of neural static- caused by neural activation from brainstem 5. To reflect cognitive development

Raymond Cattel

16 PF (personalty factor) Questionnaire

Gordon Allport

3 levels of traits: -*Cardinal* (small amt. of traits that override your whole being/always true/you're known for being this way) -*Central* (primary/always true/form the foundation of you) -*Secondary* (interests/situational/shift and change over course of life)

How many divisions has the APA formed?

56 divisions.

Retinal disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

Psychiatry

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders.

Counseling psychology

A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.

Community psychology

A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups.

Developmental psychology

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Clinical psychology

A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.

Operational definition

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study.

Opponent-process cell

A cell in the thalamus that is excited by red and inhibited by green

Operant chamber

A chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking.

Flashbulb Memories

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Flow

A completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one's skills.

Instinct

A complex, unlearned behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species

Schema

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Savant Syndrome

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

Savant Syndrome

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability, has an exceptional specific skill

Down Syndrome

A condition of intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21

Intellectual Disability

A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound

Case study

A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Achievement motivation

A desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard.

Intrinsic motivation

A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Extrinsic motivation

A desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Heritability has what type of correlation?

A direct correlation that has a coefficient of 0 to 1.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors

Confounding variable

A factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment.

Family self

A feeling that what shames or honors the person also shames or honors the family

Sampling bias

A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample.

Forgetting Curve

A graph showing retention and forgetting, forgetting being rapid at first, but leveling out over time

Visual cliff

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee

A local level institution that is federally mandated.

Institutional Review Board

A local level research facility that approves research plans.

Polygraph

A machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (such as perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes).

Interrater Reliability (IRR)

A measure for the extent in which two or more spectators of the same behavior or event are in agreement with what they observed

Recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier (fill-in-the-blank test)

Recognition

A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned (multiple-choice test)

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

Elaborative Rehearsal

A memory technique that involves thinking about the meaning of the term to be remembered

Concepts

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Prototype

A mental image or best example of a category (provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories)

Perceptual set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Cognitive map

A mental representation of the layout of one's environment

Free association

A method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Biopsychosocial model

A model of health that integrates the effects of biological, behavioral, and social factors on health and illness

Echoic memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

Iconic memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

Linear perspective

A monocular cue for perceiving depth; the more parallel lines converge, the greater their perceived distance.

Relative size

A monocular cue for perceiving depth; the smaller retinal image is farther away

Motivation

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Reticular formation

A net-like collection of cells throughout the hind/midbrain that controls the body's general arousal/ability to focus attention.

Semantic memory

A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

Insula

A neural center deep inside the brain that is activated when we experience various social emotions, such as lust, pride, and disgust.

Hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage

Action potential

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

Dendrites

A neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body

All-or-none response

A neuron's reaction of either firing (with a full-strength response) or not firing.

Reuptake

A neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron

Reinforcement schedule

A pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Refractory period

A period of inactivity after a neuron has fired

Temperament

A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Temperament

A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity. Heredity predisposes temperament differences. "Difficult" babies are more irritable. intense, and unpredictable. "Easy" babies are more cheerful, relaxed, and predictable in feeding and sleeping. "Slow-to-warm-up infants tend to resist or withdraw from new people and situations

Sexual orientation

A person's romantic and emotional attraction to another person

Incentives

A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior; things that attract or lure people into action

Sexual dysfunctions

A problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning

Self-report/Personality Inventory

A questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

Mutation

A random error that leads to a change in DNA.

Variable-ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable (variable) number of responses (ratio)

Variable-interval schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable (variable) time intervals (interval)

Fixed-ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after (fixed) a specified number of responses (ratio)

Fixed-interval schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after (fixed) a specified time has elapsed (interval)

Secure attachment

A relationship in which an infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver. Sensitive, responsive parents tend to have securely attached children

Unconscious

A reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

Emotion

A response of the whole organism, involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience

Random sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Role

A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Gender role

A set of expected behaviors for males or for females

Central tendency

A single score that represents a whole set of scores.

Burnout

A state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion created by long-term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lowered performance and motivation

Correlation coefficient

A statistical measure of the relationship between two variables.

Statistical significance

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. (Ex: You must explain how the difference between groups is less likely due, OR not due, to chance OR is more likely due to manipulation of the independent variable)

Discriminative stimulus

A stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement)

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

A stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response (UR).

Wilhelm Wundt

A structuralist who established psych as a formal field of study using introspection.

Cross-sectional studies

A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.

Health psychology

A sub-field of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine

Cingulate cortex

A subcortical structure above the corpus callosum. Its anterior (forward) segment participates in decision making and emotion, and its posterior (rear) segment participates in memory and visual processing.

Insight

A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

Insight

A sudden realization of a problem's solution

Biofeedback

A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

Maintenance Rehearsal

A system for remembering involving repeating information to oneself without attempting to find meaning in it

Grammar

A system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Mental set

A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Confirmation bias

A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore/distort contradictory evidence

Appraisal theory

A theory of emotion that proposes that emotions are based on an individual's assessment of a situation or an outcome and its relevance to his or her goals

Signal detection theory

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.

Classical conditioning

A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Operant conditioning

A type of learning in which we associate a response (our behavior) and its consequence. Thus we learn to repeat acts followed by good results and avoid acts followed by bad results

Instinct theory

A view that explains human behavior as motivated by automatic, involuntary, and unlearned responses; focuses on genetically predisposed behaviors

Sensory neurons

AKA afferent neurons that carry *incoming information* from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

Motor neurons

AKA efferent neurons that carry *outgoing information* from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.

Higher-order conditioning

AKA second-order conditioning, occurs when a strong conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus, causing the neutral stimulus to become a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus

Conditioned reinforcers

AKA secondary reinforcers, stimuli that acquire their reinforcing power through their association with primary reinforcers

Pituitary gland

AKA the master gland, it controls other glands.

What is the cocktail party effect?

Ability to attend to only one voice among many

The process in which the lens changes its curvature is

Accommodation

Basic trust

According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

Manifest content

According to Freud, the literal content of a dream.

Latent content

According to Freud, the symbolic meaning of a dream.

Self-actualization

According to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

Antisocial behavior

Actions that are deliberately hurtful or destructive to another person

Bipolar cells

Activated by rods and cones

Short-term memory

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, before the information is stored or forgotten (info is encoded through rehearsal)

Hemispheres of the brain and emotion

Activity in the left hemisphere is correlated with the experience of positive emotions, while activity in the right hemisphere is correlated with negative emotions

Accommodation

Adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

What themes and influences mark our social journey from early adulthood to death?

Adults do not progress through an orderly sequence of age-related social stages. Chance events can determine life choices. The "social clock" is a culture's preferred timing for social events, such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. Adulthood's dominant themes are love and work, which Erikson calls intimacy and generativity

Dorthea Dix

Advocated for the mentally ill, reforming, & establishing asylums.

Birth

After birth, the melodic ups and downs of newborns' cries bear the tuneful signature of their mother's native tongue.

Examples of depressants:

Alcohol, barbiturates (ruffies & xanax), tranqs, & anxiety meds (anxiolytics)

Self-concept

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

Population (in psychology)

All those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn.

Coping

Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

Parasympathetic division

Allows the body to "unwind" and conserve energy.

Why are science-based answers more valid than those based on intuition and common sense?

Although limited by the testable questions it can address, scientific inquiry can help us overcome our intuition's biases and shortcomings.

Paul Eckman

American psychologist who analyzed facial expressions and found that there are 7 basic emotions (happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust, and contempt) that are found in all cultures. Also studied microexpressions and detecting lies

B.F. Skinner

American psychologist who developed operant behaviorism; emphasized studying relationship between environmental factors and observable actions in trying to achieve a scientific explanation of behavior.

Aging brain may help nurture positive feelings that are reported by many older adults. Brain scans of older adults show that the __________, a neural processing center for emotions, responds less actively to negative events (but not to positive events), and it interacts less what the hippocampus, a brain memory-processing center

Amygdala

John B Watson

An American psychologist/behaviorist who established the psychological school of behaviorism. Watson promoted a change in psychology through his address "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it"

Sigmund Freud

An Austrian physician who treated patients with psychological problems.

Human factors psychology

An I/O psychology subfield that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use.

Unconditional Positive Regard (Rogers)

An attitude of total acceptance towards others despite their failings

Theory of mind

An awareness that other people's behavior may be influenced by beliefs, desires, and emotions that differ from one's own. Infants as young as 7 months show some knowledge of others' beliefs (ex: they come to understand what makes a playmate angry, when a sibling will share). Between about 3.5 and 4.5, children worldwide come to realize that others may hold false beliefs (Band-Aid experiment)

Attachment

An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

McGurk Effect

An error in perception that occurs when we misperceive sounds because the audio and visual parts of the speech are mismatched.

Punishment

An event that decreases the behavior that it follows

Double-blind procedure

An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.

Phi phenomenon

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Anterograde Amnesia

An inability to form new memories

Retrograde Amnesia

An inability to retrieve information from one's past

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

An increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Language Aquisition Device (LAD)

An innate mechanism or process that facilitates the learning of language

Primary reinforcers

An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need; unlearned

Critical period

An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

Habituation

An organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it

Gestalt

An organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

An originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Transgender

An umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex

"Piaget's core idea is that the driving force behind our intellectual progression is-

An unceasing struggle to make sense of our experiences"

Cognitive dissonance

An unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs

Bottom-up processing

Analysis that begins at the sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing

What are 3 eating disorders?

Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder

Stimulus

Any event or situation that evokes a response

Reinforcement

Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Aggression

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

Punisher

Any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Stressor

Anything that causes stress. There are 3 main types of stressors: catastrophes, significant life changes, and daily hassles

Spillover effect

Arousal response to one event spills over into our response to the next event (Ex: arousal from a soccer match can fuel anger and lead to rioting)

How do early experiences modify the brain?

As a child's brain develops, neural connections grow more numerous and complex. Experiences then trigger a pruning process. Early childhood is an important period for shaping the brain, but throughout our lives our brain modifies itself in response to our learning

How can alcohol affect babies during prenatal development?

As alcohol enters the mother's bloodstream, and her fetus', it depresses activity in both their central nervous system. Alcohol use during pregnancy may prime the offspring to like alcohol and put them at risk for heavy drinking + alcohol use disorder during teens. Persistent heavy drinking puts the fetus at risk for birth defects and for future behavior problems, hyperactivity, and low intelligence.

What is true of social relations during the teen years?

As teens distance themselves from parents, peer relationships become more important

Cerebral cortex and emotion

As the body's SNS kicks into gear, the brain's cerebral cortex, through the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, directs the adrenal glands to release stress hormones like cortisol. These hormones are responsible for a person's sustained response to stress.

How does memory change with age?

As the years pass, recall declines, especially of meaningless information, but recognition remains strong. Older adults rely more on time management and memory cues to remember time-based and habitual tasks. Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are brain ailments, not normal parts of aging. Developmental researchers study age-related changes (such as memory) with cross-sectional studies (comparing people of different ages) and longitudinal studies (retesting the same people over a period of years). "Terminal decline" describes the cognitive decline in the final few years of life.

Surface traits

Aspects of personality that can be easily seen by other people through that person's behavior

Amygdala and emotion

Assesses stimulating events and forms emotional memories, responsible for instantaneous response to an emotional event, and emotional learning

Random assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups.

Suppose you see and smell freshly baked bread, eat some, and find it satisfying. The next time you see and smell fresh bread, you will expect that eating it will again be satisfying. What type of learning would this be?

Associative learning

How might Skinner's operant conditioning principles be applied at school?

At school, teachers can use shaping techniques to guide students' behaviors and use quizzes to get immediate feedback

Emotion-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction

Problem-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

Dopamine is associated with?

Attention, learning, pleasure, & the reward system.

Source Amnesia

Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined

Fancy name for hearing

Audition

Boez is a 2-year-old boy who is in the process of potty training. When Boez urinates in the potty, he has a sense of pride. If Boez urinates in his pants, he runs and hides. According to Erikson, in which psychosocial stage is Boez?

Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt

Metacognition

Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes

Deprivation of attachment

Babies reared in institutions without the stimulation and attention needed will become withdrawn, frightened, or even speechless

Reciprocal Determinism (Bandura)

Bandura's idea that though our environment affects us, we also affect our environment

Social learning theory

Bandura's theory of human development; we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished (emphasizes interraction)

When graphing a controlled experiment- what graph is used and where are the independent & dependent variable placed?

Bar graph; the independent variable goes on the x-axis & the dependent variable goes on the y-axis.

In the cochlea, sound vibrations cause fluid to move, creating ripples in the

Basilar membrane --> hair cells --> impulses in nerve fibers --> form auditory nerve --> auditory cortex --> temporal lobe

Cognitive approach

Behavior is influenced by our mental processes, like perception, memories, expectations (k.w.'s- thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, beliefs)

Respondent behavior

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Operant behavior

Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

Subconscious mind

Behaviors showing that information exists even if we are not aware of it (some blind people navigating around obstacles).

Johnathan Haidt

Believed that much of our morality is rooted in moral intuitions (our gut feelings)

Define subliminal

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

When awake, what brain waves does the brain show?

Beta waves (alert) & alpha waves (relaxed).

Maturation

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience; internally programmed growth of a child. Ex: Development of motor skills (rolling over, crawling)

How does the biopsychosocial approach explain our experience of pain?

Biological influences: activity in spinal cord's small and large fibers Psychological influences: Attention to pain & expectations Social-cultural influences: Presence of others & cultural expectations

How is our biological sex determined, and how do sex hormones influence gender development?

Biological sex is determined by the father's contribution to the 23rd pair of chromosomes. The mother always contributes an X chromosome and the father may also contribute an X chromosome, producing a female, or a Y chromosome, producing a male by triggering testosterone release and the development of male sex organs

Psychology's main subfields

Biological, developmental, cognitive, educational, personality, social, industrial-organizational, human factors, psychometric, counseling, clinical, positive, & community psychology

Biopsychosocial influence on sexual motivation:

Biological: hormones, sexual orientation Psychological: exposure to sexually stimulating material, fantasizing Social-cultural: Religious and personal values, media

Describe puberty using the three levels of analysis in the biopsychosocial model:

Biologically, it's a time when the body goes through a series of changes (ex: height and hair growth). Psychologically, there's a progression of sexual identity development and body image. Socially, puberty is usually the beginning of emotional separation from parents and exploring behaviors.

Repression

Blocking out painful thoughts or feelings from conscious awareness

What is similar about perceptual adaptation and neural plasticity?

Both allow the body to adapt to new/different environments

A person's eyes use ______, while their brain uses _______

Bottom-up processing; top-down processing

Oedipus Complex (Freud)

Boys desire mothers/fathers are rivals

Central nervous system consists of?

Brain and spinal cord

Apraxia

Brain damage that results in a person having difficulty moving

Agnosia

Brain damage that results in the inability to process sensory information

PET scans & fMRI's show what about the brain?

Brain function.

CAT scans & MRI's show what about the brain?

Brain structure.

After ________ maturation provides us with an abundance of _________ __________, our experiences trigger a ________ __________

Brain; neural connections; pruning process

Medulla - function and location?

Breathing, heart rate, sneezing, & swallowing. Hindbrain

Density Distribution Model (Fleeson)

Brings together the social-cognitive and trait approaches by saying traits simply summarize the average of all of your "states" (momentary and perhaps fleeting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors)

How did psychology develop from its prescientific roots in early understandings of mind and body to the beginnings of modern science?

Buddha & Confucius focused on the power and origin of ideas. Ancient Hebrews, Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle pondered whether mind and body are connected or distinct, and whether human ideas are innate or result from experience. Locke offered his famous description of the mind as a "blank slate". Bacon & Locke contributed to modern empiricism.

How can anxiety disorders be treated?

By increasing the body's GABA levels.

Examples of stimulants:

Caffeine, amphetamines, nicotine, cocaine, ecstasy/MDMA, & medications for ADHD.

Correlation does NOT equal-

Causation

Epinephrine and norepinephrine do what?

Cause fight, flight, or freeze when in a life-threatening or stressful situation.

Hallucinogens/psychedelics

Causes changes in perceptions of reality and alters mood.

Kinesthesia is perceived by

Cerebellum

Maturation - including the rapid development of the __________ at the back of the brain - creates our readiness to learn walking at age _____.

Cerebellum; 1

Sublimation

Channeling socially unacceptable impulses/frustrations into socially acceptable behavior or goals

Taste and smell are both what kind of senses?

Chemical

Neurotransmitters are what? And how do they communicate?

Chemical signals --> taken up by dendrites --> travel down axon --> out terminal buttons --> into another synapse

Vgotsky's Sociocultural Theory

Children actively construct their own knowledge; emphasizes how social interaction and culture guides cognitive development; learning is based on the inventions of society

Schemas

Clusters of knowledge from experience, they prime us to organize and interpret ambiguous stimuli in certain ways

Where does sensation occur in audition (hearing)?

Cochlea

Where does transduction occur in audition?

Cochlea (basilar membrane)

Richard Lazarus

Cognitive appraisal ("is it dangerous or not?"), sometimes without our awareness, defines emotion (ex: the sound is just the wind)

Mind-blindness theory

Cognitive disorder where an individual is unable to attribute mental states, intentions, beliefs, and thoughts of others

Aphasia

Collection of language disorders caused by brain damage.

What explains why a rose appears red in direct and dim light?

Color constancy

Rationalization

Coming up with a reason why something you don't want is actually good/making excuses

Mary Ainsworth

Compared effects of maternal separation, devised patterns of attachment. "The Strange Situation": A laboratory procedure for measuring attachment by evoking infants' reactions to the stress of various adults' comings and goings in an unfamiliar playroom

Test-Retest Reliability

Comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions

Megan, a third grader, is having trouble with math. She is starting to do poorly in other subjects, because she feels she cannot master math. Based on Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, which stage is Megan in?

Competence vs. Inferiority

What do you have to do to have a high quality experiement?

Compile groups using random sampling, random selection, avoid confounding variables, good operational definitions, replicability, and ethicality.

During infancy and childhood, how do the motor skills develop?

Complex motor skills --sitting, standing, walking-- develop in a predictable sequence, though the timing of that sequence is a function of individual maturation and culture

Working memory

Conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

Insecure anxious attachment

Constantly craving acceptance but remaining vigilant to signs of possible rejection

Top-down processing

Constructs perceptions from the sensory input by drawing on our experience and explanations

Color depends on

Context

Environmental influence on the way you perceive stimulus:

Context effect

Lev Vgotsky

Continuity theorist; his studies of child development focused on the ways a child's mind grows by interacting with the social environment. In his view, parents and caretakers provide temporary scaffolds enabling children to step to higher levels of learning

Francis Galton

Contributed through behavioral genetics and maintains that personality & ability depend almost entirely on genetic inheritance. Compared identical & fraternal twins, used bell curve for normal distribution (Hereditary Genius), & "Law of Errors" (differences in intellectual ability)

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Contributions: 1st to conduct studies on forgetting- first, a rapid loss followed by a gradual declining rate of loss; Studies: memory-series of meaningless syllables/words

Left hemisphere of the brain basically does what?

Controls communication.

Right hemisphere of the brain basically does what?

Controls feelings.

Wernicke's area

Controls language comprehension and the ability to make meaningful sentences; usually found in left-side of the parietal/temporal lobe.

Dopamine

Controls movement, attention, alertness, & rewards (related to addictions)

Broca's area

Controls speech production and is usually found in the left-side of the frontal lobe.

Acetylcholine

Controls voluntary movement, muscle contraction, learning, memory, & sleep

Define transduction

Conversion of one form of energy to another. In sensation, turning stimuli into neural impulses the brain can interpret.

Stress hormones are made up of?

Corisol.

Erik Erikson

Created 8 psychosocial stages of development: theory shows how people evolve through the life span. Each stage is marked by a psychological crisis that involves confronting "Who am I?"

Why did Skinner's ideas provoke controversy?

Critics of Skinner's principles believed the approach dehumanized people by neglecting their personal freedom and seeking to control their actions. Skinner replied that people's actions are already controlled by external consequences, and that reinforcement is more humane than punishment as a means for controlling behavior.

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Effects of excess/deficit of serotonin?

Deficit: Depression & some anxiety disorders (OCD)

Effects of excess/deficit of endorphins:

Deficit: May be involved in addiction

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100

Standardization

Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Ostracism

Deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups

Opiates/narcotics

Depress central nervous system to act as a pain reliever, can cause euphoria and drowsiness, & can be physically addictive

Monocular cues

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

Binocular cues

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

How do psychologists use case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys to observe and describe behavior?

Description methods show us what can happen, and they may offer ideas for further study.

Psychometric psychologists

Design and evaluate tests of mental abilities, aptitudes, interests, and personality

Rods

Detect black, white, & gray - necessary for peripheral and twilight vision.

Sensation is to ________ as perception is to ________

Detecting a stimulus; recognizing a stimulus

Basilar membrane

Detects different frequencies of sound

Stanley Schachter

Developed "Two-Factor" theory of emotion: our experience of emotion depends on general arousal and a conscious cognitive label; also conducted experiments on the spillover effect (ex: we may interpret our arousal as fear or excitement, depending on the context)

Paul Costa & Robert McCrae

Developed 5-factor model of psychology

David Wechsler

Developed WAIS and WISC (IQ tests); he worked with troubled kids in NYC, observing that many of them demonstrated a type of intelligence that was much different than what was needed to succeed in the school system

Sir Francis Galton

Developed a theory to understand how heredity influences people's abilities, character, & behavior.

Charles Darwin

Developed the theory of natural selection.

Robert Sternberg

Devised the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (academic problem-solving, practical, and creative)

Howard Gardner

Devised theory of multiple intelligence's: logical-mathematic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, linguistic, musical, interpersonal, naturalistic

Sensory adaptation (habituation)

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

As leaders, men tend to be more _______, even autocratic. Women tend to be more _________

Directive; democratic, more welcoming of subordinates' input in decision making

Sympathetic nervous system and emotion

Directs the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and noredrenaline . These hormones are responsible for a person's immediate response to stress

Noam Chomsky

Disagreed with Skinner about language acquisition, stated there is an infinite # of sentences in a language, and humans have an innate ability to develop language

What defense mechanism does this showcase? "Hey Molly," he said loudly, "I heard your date dumped you last night!"

Displacement

Autonomic nervous system

Divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic division.

Split-Half Reliability

Dividing a test into two parts and an individual's scores on both halves are compared

Information-processing theory

Dreams help us sort out the day's events and solidify our memories.

Antagonists

Drugs that block the function of a neurotransmitter

Psychoactive drugs

Drugs that change the chemistry of the brain & body and induce an altered state of consciousness.

Agonists

Drugs that mimic neurotransmitters

Depressants

Drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions

Stimulants

Drugs that speed up body processes and may give a sense of euphoria.

When do dreams occur?

During REM/paradoxical sleep.

When and how do pronounced physical differences emerge between male and females?

During adolescence when boys/girls hit puberty, a 2-year period us triggered by a surge of hormones that includes rapid physical development of both primary and secondary sex characteristics.

What physical changes mark adolescence?

During these years, both primary and secondary sex characteristics develop dramatically. Boys seem to benefit from "early" maturation, girls from "late" maturation. The brain's frontal lobes mature during adolescence and the early twenties, enabling improved judgement, impulse control, and long-term planning

What are some effective leadership techniques?

Effective leaders harness job-relevant strengths; set specific challenging goals; and choose an appropriate leadership style. A leadership style may be goal-oriented or group-orientied or a combination.

Archetypes (Jung)

Emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning (passed down through species/explains similarities between cultures)

Embodied emotion

Emotions involve bodily responses. Some of these responses are very noticeable (butterflies in our stomach when fear arises), but others are more difficult to discern (neurons activated in the brain).

Primary emotions

Emotions that are expressed by people in all cultures

Identification defense mechanism

Emulate/attach self to someone who threatens you (Ex: you don't like someone but are friendly/really nice to them)

Shallow processing

Encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

Deep processing

Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention (preservation)

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

When heritability is low-

Environmental variability is high

When heritability is high-

Environmental variability is low

What are social tasks and challenges of adolescence?

Erikson theorized that each life stage has its own psychosocial task and that a chief task of adolescence is solidifying one's sense of self - one's identity. This often means "trying on" a number of different roles

Psychosocial theory

Erikson's proposal that personality development is determined by the interaction of an internal maturational plan and external societal demands

Psychosocial theory (Erikson)

Erikson's proposal that personality development is determined by the interaction of an internal maturational plan and external societal demands

Strengths and weaknesses of Instinct Theory and Evolutionary Psychology:

Evolutionary psychology helps explain behavioral similarities due to adaptations from our ancestral past but instinct theory explains animal behavior better than human behavior; humans have few true instincts

"High-functioning" individuals generally have normal intelligence, and they often have an ________ ______ or talent in a specific area. But they lack ______ and _________ ______, and they tend to become distracted by minor and unimportant stimuli. Those at the spectrum's lower end are unable to use language at all.

Exceptional skill; social and communication skills

Effects of excess/deficit of adrenaline/nonadrenaline:

Excess: High blood pressure Deficit: Depression

Effects of excess/deficit of acetylcholine:

Excess: Linked to depression Deficit: Dementia & Alzheimer's Disease

Effects of excess/deficit of dopamine:

Excess: Schizophrenia Deficit: Parkinson's disease (tremors & muscular rigidity)

Effects of excess/deficit of GABA:

Excess: Seizures & insomnia Deficit: Anxiety disorders

3rd stage of GAS:

Exhaustion -Ex: The firefighters who extinguish the flames also comfort Jennifer, but the combined stressors of the day have led her to this stage

Divergent thinking

Expands the number of possible problem solutions (ie. creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

Placebo effect

Experimental results caused by expectations alone.

Strengths and weaknesses of Drive-Reduction Theory:

Explains our motivation to reduce arousal by meeting basic needs, such as hunger or thirst, but does not explain why some motivated behaviors increase arousal

Strengths and weaknesses of Optimal-Arousal theory:

Explains that motivated behaviors may decrease or increase arousal but does not explain our motivation to address our more complex social needs

Reaction formation

Express the opposite of how you really feel

Parts of the peripheral nervous system:

Eyes, salivary glands, heart, lungs, digestive tract, live, & urinary bladder.

Change blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment

Inattentional blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Lawrence Kohlberg

Famous for his theory of moral development in children; presented boys moral dilemmas and studied their responses and reasoning processes in making moral decisions. Most famous moral dilemma is "Heinz" who has an ill wife and cannot afford the medication. Should he steal the medication and why?

Objects higher in our field of vision are perceived as ________ due to the principle of ________.

Farther away; relative height

Myelin sheath

Fatty tissue encasing the axons of some neurons that enables greater transmission speed of neural impulses.

Satiety

Feeling of fullness

Insecure avoidant attachment

Feeling such discomfort over getting close to others that they employ avoidant strategies to maintain their distance

Emotions vs. Feelings

Feelings are learned behaviors experienced consciously, while emotions manifest either consciously or subconsciously. Unlike happiness for example (a feeling), joy (an emotion) involves little cognitive awareness—we feel good without consciously deciding to—and it's longer lasting

Who is more emotionally expressive? Males or females?

Females

Who is more vulnerable to depression and anxiety? Males or females?

Females

Anima (Jung)

Feminine side of the male

G Stanley Hall

First American to earn a PhD in Psychology & establish a psych lab in the USA; first president of APA.

Margaret Floy Washburn

First women to get a PhD in Psych; 2nd women to serve as APA president.

Anchoring effect

Fixating on initial information and ignoring subsequent information

Semicircular canals

Fluid-filled canals in the inner ear responsible for our sense of balance

Lens

Focuses light onto retina

Behavioral approach

Focuses on observable behavior; how stimuli condition our behavior, so attempts can be made to modify it (k.w.'s- consequences, association, modeling)

Decay Theory

Forgetting occurs because memory traces fade with time

Charles Spearman

Found that specific mental talents were highly correlated and concluded that all cognitive abilities showed a common core, which he labeled 'g' (general ability)

Carl Rogers

Founder of humanistic approach to psychology.

Sigmund Freud

Founder of psychoanalysis and psycho-sexual stages of development

Jean Piaget

Four stage theory of cognitive development: 1. Sensorimotor 2. Preoperational 3. Concrete operational 4. Formal operational He said that the two basic processes work in tandem to achieve cognitive growth- assimilation and accomodation

Mirror neurons

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy.

The maturation of the brain's _____________ lags behind the development of the limbic system, which may explain the impulsivity of teenagers compared to adults.

Frontal lobes

From ages 3 to 6, the most rapid growth occurs in the _______ _______, corresponding to an increase in rational planning and attention. The _______ ______ linked with thinking, memory, and language, are the last cortical areas to develop. As they do, mental abilities surge.

Frontal lobes; Association areas

Cones

Function in daily/well-lit conditions, detect fine details, and allow us to see in color

Who are some split brain researchers and what did they do?

Gazzaniga & Sperry found that differing hemispheres can give conflicting instructions.

How does age affect gender differences?

Gender differences in social connectedness, power, and other traits peak in late adolescence and early adulthood.

How do gender roles and gender typing influence gender development?

Gender roles, the behaviors a culture expects from its males and females, vary across place and time. Social learning theory proposes that we learn gender identity through reinforcement, punishment, and observation. Critics argue that cognition also plays a role because modeling and rewards cannot explain gender typing.

Excitatory neurotransmitter

Generates action potential at terminal buttons.

According to Erikson, what is the dominant goal of adulthood?

Generativity

Biological approach to personality

Genes, chemicals, and body types primarily determine personality

Our ________ (nature) dictate our overall brain architecture, but ________ (nurture) fills in the details, developing neural connections and preparing the brain for _________ and ________ and other later experiences

Genes; experience; thoughts; language

What seems to be the underlying source of ASD?

Genetic influences contribute to ASD like poor communication among brain regions that normally work together to take another's viewpoint. As does the male hormone testosterone. People with ASD are therefore said to have an impaired theory of mind.

The more heritable a disease or trait is, the more the differences between people can be associated with ______ ______?

Genetic variation.

Causes of obesity

Genetics and environment: -Obesity correlates with depression, especially among women -Twin and adoption studies indicate that body weight is genetically influenced -Environmental influences include lack of exercise, an abundance of high-calorie food, and social influence

Wolfgang Kohler

Gestalt psychologist that first demonstrated insight through his chimpanzee experiments. He noticed the solution process wasn't slow, but sudden and reflective.

Electra Complex (Freud)

Girls desire fathers/mothers are rivals

During early childhood, while excess connections are still on call, youngsters can most easily master skills such as _________ and _________________.

Grammar; accent of another language

Neo-Freudians

Group of psychologists who agree with Freud's emphasis on the impact of childhood on one's life, but move away from a sole focus on sex and aggression

Gestalt psychologists

Group of psychologists who studied how sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences.

Glands

Groups of cells that release hormones.

Hearing : Audition --> Taste : _______

Gustation

Taste is perceived in

Gustatory cortex

Sex hormones

Have two effects: Directing the physical development of male and female sex characteristics and (especially in nonhuman animals) activating sexual behavior

Temporal lobe - function and location?

Hearing and smell. Forebrain, near temples/ears.

Sensioneural hearing loss

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness

Conduction hearing loss

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Amplitude

Height of a sound wave

Elizabeth Loftus

Her research on memory construction and the misinformation effect created doubts about the accuracy of eye-witness testimony

Diana Baumrind

Her theory of parenting styles had 4 main types (permissive, authoratative, authoritarian, and neglectful)

The brain areas underlying memory, such as the ________ and ________ _______, continue to mature into adolescence

Hippocampus; frontal lobes

William James

His ideas were showcased in the James-Lange theory, which stated that emotional feelings follow our body's response to emotion-inducing stimuli

Ghrelin

Hormone secreted by empty stomach; sends "I'm hungry" signals to the brain

Insulin

Hormone secreted by pancreas; controls blood glucose

Messengers of the endocrine system?

Hormones

Which is more subtle: Hormones or Neurotransmitters?

Hormones because they take awhile to travel around through the bloodstream, instead of quick messages via nerves.

Which travel through the bloodstream: Hormones or Neurotransmitters?

Hormones, unlike neurotransmitters that travel through nerves throughout the body to the brain.

What problems with the Young-Helmholtz theory?

How can red-green color blind people still see yellow? Why does yellow appear to be a pure color rather than a mix?

What do measures of variation show?

How data relates to each other.

Nature vs. Nurture

How do genetic inheritance and experience influence our development? We are not formed by either nature or nurture, but by the interaction of biological, psychological, and social-cultural forces

Evolutionary approach

How the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes (k.w.'s- adaptation/adapt, natural selection, Darwin)

Sociocultural approach

How variables like gender & socioeconomic status - our culture, & ethnicity - shape our behaviors & mental processes.

Humanistic approach

How we meet our needs for love and acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment (k.w.'s- growth, free-will, self-esteem, self-actualization)

Self-esteem

How you feel about yourself

In vision, frequency determines

Hue

Abraham Maslow

Humanistic psychologist known for his "Hierarchy of Needs" and the concept of "self-actualization"

Problems with humanist approach to personality:

Humanists fail to account for evil and are instead relentlessly optimistic

Personality has three parts:

Id, ego, and superego

According to Erikson, what is the primary developmental task for adolescents?

Identity vs. Role confusion

Interposition

If one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

Levels of happiness

Immediate gratification, personal achievement, good beyond self, ultimate good

Frontal lobe - function and location?

Important cognitive skills like emotional expression, problem solving, memory, & language. Forebrain.

Intimacy

In Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood (an intimate relationship may or may not be sexual/vice versa)

Preoperational stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic (such as imagining an action and mentally reversing it).

Sensorimotor stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities; develop object permanence.

Concrete operational stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events. Given concrete materials, they begin to grasp conservation and Piaget believed that children are able to comprehend mathematical transformations

Formal operational stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12 through adulthood) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts. They can ponder hypothetical propositions and deduce consequences (*if* this, then *that*)

Place theory

In hearing, links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated (specific places = specific sounds)

Frequency theory

In hearing, the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

Perceptual adaptation

In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Strengths and weaknesses of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

Incorporates the idea that we have various levels of needs, including lower-level physiological and safety needs, and higher-level social, self-esteem, actualization, and meaning needs but the order may change in certain circumstances. Evolutionary psychologists note the absence in the hierarchy of the universal human motives to find a mate and reproduce

Misinformation Effect

Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response

Negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

Primary Mental Abilities

Individuals have seven primary mental abilities that make up intelligence; word fluency, verbal comprehension, numerical ability, spatial ability, general reasoning, processing speed, and associative memory

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development

Infancy, toddlerhood, preschool, elementary school, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood

Insecure attachment

Infants are wary of exploring new environments and resist or avoid the mother when she attempts to offer comfort or consolation

Kinesthesia involves

Information from the bones, ears, tendons, and joints

GABA

Inhibits excitation & anxiety (calming)

Pain is perceived by

Insula & anterior cingulate cortex (between frontal & temporal lobe)

Culture-Fair Test

Intelligence tests that are intended to be culturally unbiased

What does it mean to be psychologically dependent on a drug?

Intense desire for the drug because you think you need it.

In vision, amplitude determines

Intensity (brightness)

Spinal cord contains what?

Interneurons.

Assimilation

Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Structuralism

Introduced by Edward Bradford Titchener; used *introspection (self-reflection)* to reveal the structure of the human mind.

The size of the pupil is controlled by the

Iris

What is the big question for inferential statistics?

Is it statistically *significant*?

Corpus callosum - what does it do?

It exchanges information between the left and right hemispheres & connects them.

How did Kohlberg's work differ from Piaget's?

It expanded on Piaget's work by adding adolescent and adult moral development

Inhibitory neurotransmitter

It inhibits the firing of impulses- blocks transmissions.

EEGs - what are their function?

It is mostly used to study sleep

What is revealing about a controlled experiment?

It is the only method that shows *causation*.

Why is the biopsychosocial approach popular among many current psychologists?

It offers a more complete understanding than relying on one of psychology's current perspectives or historically influential perspectives.

Serotonin - why is it important?

It regulates your mood & the body's sleep cycle.

Compared with the late nineteenth century, what is true about the transition from childhood to adulthood in Western cultures?

It starts later and is completed later

How does a cochlear implant help people hear?

It translates sounds into electrical signals that convey sound to the brain using electrodes wired into the cochlea

Who coined the term "tabula rasa" (blank slate) to help explain the impact experience has on shaping an individual?

John Locke

Representative heuristic

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes

William James

Known as the "father of psych", wrote the 1st psych text, established functionalism by studying behaviors to see how people & animals adapt to their environment.

How do the ideas of Lawrence Kohlberg and Jonathan Haidt differ in regard to the development of morality?

Kohlberg focused on moral reasoning and the way people *think* about moral situations. Haidt focused more on moral intuition and the way people *feel* about moral situations.

How did Kohlberg describe adolescent cognitive and moral development?

Kohlberg proposed a stage theory of moral reasoning, from a preconventional morality of self-interest, to conventional morality concerned with upholding laws and social rules, to (in some people) a postconventional morality of universal ethical principles.

Examples of hallucinogens/psychedelics:

LSD (acids), peyote, shrooms (mescaline), marijuana, & PCP

Most color-deficient people will probably:

Lack functioning red- or green-sensitive cones.

Kittens and monkeys reared seeing only diffuse, unpatterned light

Later have difficulty perceiving the shape of objects

Observational learning

Learning by observing others

Observational learning

Learning by observing others; also called social learning

Associative learning

Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

Memory

Learning that has persisted over time, information that has been acquired, stored, and can be retrieved

Latent learning

Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Latent learning

Learning that remains hidden until its application becomes useful

Preconscious mind

Level of consciousness outside awareness.

Conscious mind

Level of the mind that is aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions (ex: what we are thinking about at any given moment)

Carol Gilligan

Maintained that Köhlberg's work was developed by only observing boys and overlooked potential differences between the habitual moral judgments of boys and girls; girls focus more on relationships than laws and principles

Availability heuristic

Making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Testosterone

Male sex hormones that stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

Who is more likely to be diagnosed with ASD and ADHD? Males or females?

Males

Who is more likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder? Males or females?

Males

Who is more likely to commit suicide? Males or females?

Males

Who is more likely to develop alcohol use disorder? Males or females?

Males

What are the characteristics of experimentation that make it possible to isolate cause & effect?

Manipulating & controlling variables, random assignment which limits confounding variables, having a control group, & validity if it tests what it's supposed to. Double-blind procedures can also avoid the researcher's bias.

Hierarchy of needs

Maslow's pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with *physiological* needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level *safety* needs, then *psychological* needs become active (ex: let your need for water go unsatisfied and your thirst will preoccupy you but deprived of air, your thirst would disappear)

"______________ (nature) sets the basic course of development; ____________ (nurture) adjusts it."

Maturation; Experience

Where sensation occurs in touch

Mechanoreceptors

Explicit memory

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare" (aka declarative memory)

State-dependent memory

Memory retrieval is most efficient when an individual is in the same state of consciousness as they were when the memory was formed (ie. from alcohol or psychoactive drugs)

What is the function of the hippocampus? Where is it?

Memory. Midbrain.

Gender and Social Connectedness

Men enjoy doing activities side-by-side and talk to communicate solutions. Young and old, women are more concerned with social connections. Women enjoy talking face-to-face and often talk to explore relationships. Women talk more often and more openly. Women also "tend and befriend"

Fraternal birth order effect

Men with older brothers are more likely to demonstrate a homosexual orientation, increasing with the number of older brothers

Sympathetic division

Mobilizes the body during extreme situations (such as fear, exercise, or rage).

Information Processing Model

Model of memory that compares human memory to a computer's operations through encoding, storage, and retrieval

Serotonin

Mood regulation, hunger/appetite, & sleep

Alex is angry while receiving her new locker combo, and while memorizing it. The next day, Alex is calm but can't seem to remember the combo. Getting frustrated, it suddenly comes to her. What type of memory is this showcasing?

Mood-dependent

More sleep equals-

More NREM-2 & REM sleep.

What stage of sleep does more stress result in?

More REM

Opiates/narcotics examples:

Morphine, heroin, & codeine

Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Most widely used intelligence test, containing verbal and performance subtests

Drive

Motivational (aroused) states that result from physiological needs

Our ___________ arise from the interplay between nature (the bodily "_________") and nurture (the "__________" from our thought processes and culture)

Motivations; nature : push; nurture : pulls

Relative motion

Movement in relation to a frame of reference

Somatic nervous system

Moving your muscles/turning thoughts into actions.

What stage of sleep is associated with high frequency & low amplitude waves?

NREM-1

What stage of sleep is associated with high frequency bursts (spindles) broken up by Ig, slow waves (K-complexes)?

NREM-2

What stage of sleep is the deepest sleep, made up of mostly delta waves, & supports growth and immune system support?

NREM-3

Convergent thinking

Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

What is psychology's historic big issue?

Nature vs. Nurture, focuses on the relative contributions of genes and experience

When there is both a ________ and an __________, we feel strongly driven. Ex: The food-deprived person who smells baking bread feels a strong hunger drive. In the presence of that drive, the baking bread becomes a compelling incentive.

Need; incentive

Feature detectors

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

Neurons

Nerve cells; the basic building blocks of the nervous system

Peripheral nervous system consists of?

Nerves.

Axon

Neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands

Messengers of the nervous system?

Neurons made up of neurotransmitters.

Nerves are made up of?

Neurons which are made up of nerve cells.

Interneurons

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and link sensory inputs and motor outputs.

Nervous system consists of?

Neurons, which communicate across synapses, using neurotransmitters.

Nature vs. Nurture (in newborns)

Newborns come equipped with reflexes ideally suited for survival. Rooting reflex (when something touches their cheek, they turn towards it, open their mouth, and suck) and sucking includes a coordinated sequence of reflexive tonguing, swallowing, and breathing

Sensation of pain happens in

Nocireceptors

Secondary sex characteristics

Non-reproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair

Limitations/critiques of the psychoanalytic approach to personality:

Not much empirical evidence and overestimates importance of childhood and sex

Is the social-cognitive theory nature or nurture?

Nurture

Naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Where does perception happen for vision?

Occipital lobe

What is the process of smell?

Odor molecules trigger olfactory cortex, receptor cells send messages to brain's olfactory bulb --> temporal lobe --> limbic system

Taste : Gustation --> Smell : _______

Olfaction

Smell is perceived by

Olfactory bulb (primary smell cortex)

Smell is sensed by

Olfactory receptor cells

According to Plomin and Daniels, "Two children in the same family are (apart from their shared genes) as different from ________ as are pairs of children selected randomly from the population."

One another

Sensation and perception blend into

One continuous process

Fluid intelligence

One's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

Self-efficacy

One's belief in his or her own ability (Social-cognitive approach)

Real self

One's perception of actual characteristics, traits, and abilities

Pupil

Opening in the center of the iris

When people interact, men are more likely to utter ________, women to express _________

Opinions; support

Junction of 2 optic nerves

Optic chiasm(a)

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Relationship between automatic processing and implicit memory:

Other information skips the conscious encoding track and goes directly to storage. This automatic processing, which happens without our awareness, produces implicit memories

How did other researchers describe adolescent cognitive and moral development?

Other researchers believe that morality lies in moral intuition and moral action as well as thinking. Some critics argue that Kohlberg's postconventional level represents morality from the perspective of individualist cultures

Crystallized intelligence

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Define consciousness. What sort of things can alter it?

Our awareness of ourselves and our environment. Sleep, meditation, hypnosis, & drugs

How does the ear transform sound energy into neural messages?

Our ears detect changes in air pressure and transform them into neural impulses which the brain decodes as sound

How do heredity and environment work together?

Our genetic predispositions and our surrounding environments interact. Environments can trigger gene activity, and genetically influenced traits can evoke responses from others.

Biological approach

Our physical bodies - brain, nervous system, hormones, genetics - heavily influence our behavior (k.w.'s- biological)

Our experience of pain when we are injured depends on:

Our physiology, experiences and attention, and surrounding culture

Gender identity

Our sense of being male or female

Identity

Our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles (One might act out one self at home, another with friends, or another at school but when two situations overlap, the unification of the various selves into a consistent and comfortable sense of self, is an identity)

Self-concept

Our understanding and evaluation of who we are

The tend-and-befriend response may be linked to what hormone?

Oxytocin (is the potion of devotion~)

The phantom limb sensation indicates

Pain involves the brain's interpretation of neural activity

Nocireceptors

Pain receptors

Endorphins - what are their function?

Pain relief, pleasure, stress reduction, & "natural opiates"

Complexes (Jung)

Painful or threatening memories and thoughts the person does not wish to confront (reside within the personal unconscious)

The brain breaks vision into separate dimensions such as color, depth, movement, and form and works on each aspect simultaneously. This is called:

Parallel processing

"Adolescence is typically a time of diminishing __________ influence and growing _________ influence"

Parental; peer

Permissive parents

Parenting style consisting of very few rules and allowing children to make most decisions and control their own behavior. Children with these parents tend to be more aggressive and immature.

In what ways do parents and peers shape children's development?

Parents influence a child's quality of life, attachments and beliefs (like religion), and exposure to peer culture via neighborhood and schools but not the child's personality. Peers influence a child's tastes and styles, accents and slang, and substance abuse

Authoritarian parents

Parents who enforce rigid rules and demand strict obedience to authority. Children with these parents tend to have less social skill and self-esteem

Authoritative parents

Parents who set high but realistic and reasonable standards, enforce limits, and encourage open communication and independence. Children with these parents tend to have the highest self-esteem, self-reliance, and social competence

For touch, perception occurs in

Parietal lobe (somatic sensory cortex)

Amnesia

Partial or total loss of memory

Grit

Passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.

Pavlov's Legacy

Pavlov taught us that significant psychological phenomena can be studied objectively, and that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning that applies to all species

Relative Deprivation Theory

People are happier about their own situations if they can see others are worse off.

Optimal arousal theory

People are motivated to behave in ways that maintain what is, for them, an optimal level of arousal; this theory also holds that some motivated behaviors actually *increase* arousal (ex: a well-fed monkey will leave their shelter to explore and gain information without a need-based drive)

Projection

People disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others (ex: there's something about yourself that you don't like and you pin it on someone else)

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

People express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Interference Theory

People forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember

Barnum effect

People have the tendency to see themselves in vague, stock descriptions of personality

Self-actualizing

People strive to achieve their highest potential against difficult life experiences

How does a perceived lack of control affect health?

People who perceive an internal locus of control achieve more, enjoy better health, and are happier than those who perceive an external locus of control

Color constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Perceptual constancy

Perceiving objects as unchanging (consistent shapes, size color, etc.) even as illumination and retinal images change

How does experience guide perception?

Perceptual adaptation allows people to adapt to new situations they experience and without early stimulation, the brain's neural organization does not develop properly (sensory restriction)

As we move, viewed objects cast changing shapes on our retinas, although we do not perceive the objects as changing. This is part of the phenomenon of

Perceptual constancy

Phosopagnosia

Perceptual disorder in which a person has lost the ability to recognize faces (face-blindness)

Arousal and performance

Performance peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and at higher levels for easy or well-learned tasks

Prefrontal cortex controls what?

Personality & a person's inhibitions, as well as planning, judging, & processing memories.

Projective tests

Personality assessments that present ambiguous visual stimuli to the client and ask the client to respond with whatever comes to mind -Ex: Rorschach inkblot test and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Type B personality

Personality characterized by relatively relaxed, patient, easygoing, amicable behavior

Type A personality

Personality type that describes people who are competitive, driven, hostile, and ambitious

Where does sensation happen for vision?

Photoreceptor cells in retina give image color & shadow

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features. The fetal damage may occur because alcohol has an epigenetic effect: it leaves chemical marks in DNA that switch genes abnormally on/off

Stress reaction

Physical and emotional response to a stressor

Emotions =

Physiological arousal + Expressive behaviors + Conscious experience

How did Piaget describe adolescent cognitive and moral development?

Piaget theorized that adolescents develop a capacity for formal operations and that this development is the foundation for moral judgement.

____________ believed that a child's moral judgments build on cognitive development. ____________ agreed and sought to describe the development of moral reasoning

Piaget; Kohlberg

Alfred Binet

Pioneer in general IQ tests and designed a test to identify slow learners in need of remediation

Cerebellum

Plays a key role in forming and storing the implicit memories created by classical conditioning

Prosocial behavior

Positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior

What are ethical research requirements in an experiment using people?

Potential participants give their informed consent, confidentiality, debriefed on the experiment, and if deception is used, the researcher must show how it's impossible to do experiment without.

At all ages, but especially during childhood and adolescence, we seek to fit in groups and are influenced by them. For example:

Preschoolers who disdain a certain food often will eat that food if put at a table with a group of children who like it.

Types of skin senses

Pressure, warmth, cold, & pain

What is the sense of touch made up of?

Pressure, warmth, cold, and pain

What are ethical research requirements in an experiment using animals?

Prevent needless suffering & benefits of research should outweigh any suffering.

Shaping

Procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Homeostasis

Process by which organisms maintain a balanced/constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

What is the function of the amygdala? Where is it?

Processes emotions (anger). Midbrain.

Parietal lobe - function and location?

Processes sensory info regarding location of parts of body, visual info, & language comp.. Forebrain- "quit poking my head!"

Functionalism

Promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; *explored how mental and behavioral processes function* - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

George Miller

Proposed that short term memory can retain about 7 (+/- 2) items

Leptin

Protein hormone secreted by fat cells; when abundant, causes brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger

American Psychological Association (APA)

Provides ethical & legal guidelines to protect research participants & promote ethical practice.

What is the difference between psychologists and psychiatrists?

Psychiatrists have an MD and are licensed to prescribe medication.

7 psychological approaches

Psychoanalysis/psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, evolutionary, cognitive, biological, & sociocultural approach

What approach to psych. uses dreams to uncover info that is repressed in the unconscious mind?

Psychoanalystic approach.

Unconscious mind

Psychoanalytical concept that disease, trauma, or amnesia creates a level of consciousness for unacceptable feelings that are not directly available to your conscious awareness.

How do theories advance psychological science?

Psychological theories are explanations that apply an integrated set of principles to organize observations and generate hypotheses. To enable other researchers to replicate the studies, researchers report them using precise operational definitions of their procedures and concepts. If others achieve similar results, confidence in the conclusion will be greater.

Hans Selye

Psychologist who researched a recurring response to stress that he called the general adaptation syndrome

How does the work of Charles Darwin inform the way psychologists can think about human behavior?

Psychologists use natural selection to understand the roots of behavior & mental processes.

Is psychology free of value judgements?

Psychologists' values influence their choices of research topics, theories and observations, labels for behavior, and professional advice.

Physical development in adolescence:

Puberty, following a surge of hormones, which may intensify moods and triggers a series of bodily changes. The sequence of physical changes in puberty is far more predictable than the timing.

Basic research

Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

How does day care affect children?

Quality day care, with responsive adults interacting with children in a safe and stimulating environment, does not appear to harm children's thinking and language skills. Some studies have linked extensive time in day care with increased aggressiveness and defiance, but other factors—the child's temperament, the parents' sensitivity, and the family's economic and educational levels and culture—also matter.

Heuristics

Quick mental shortcuts that often lead to a solution (but not always and are more error-prone)

Moral intuition (Haidt)

Quick, gut-feelings that precede moral reasoning

Illusory correlations

Random events that we notice and falsely assume are related.

What is the difference between random sampling and random assignment?

Random sampling is how a researcher draws the sample of people from a population for a study. Random assignment is how the researcher assigns the sample to different groups/treatments.

Imprinting (Lorenz)

Rapid, relatively permanent type of learning by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life. Familiarity = safety and contentment

What factors influence teenagers' sexual behaviors and use of contraceptives?

Rates of teen intercourse vary from culture to culture and era to era. Factors contributing to teen pregnancy include minimal communication about birth control with parents, partners, and peers; guilt related to sexual activity; alcohol use; and mass media norms of unprotected/impulsive sexuality

After staring at a very intense red stimulus for a few minutes, Carrie shifted her gaze to a beige wall and "saw" the color _____. Carrie's experience provides support for the _____ theory.

Red; opponent-process

Displacement

Redirect feelings to another person or object, "take it out on the wrong person"

Denial

Refusing to believe or perceive painful realities

Alfred Kinsey

Regarded by some as the father of the scientific study of human sexuality; published a series of reports which described common sexual behaviors in the US

Unconscious mind

Region of the mind we don't have access to/are not consciously aware of and may be using a lot of psychic energy to keep certain things there

Hypothalamus - function and location?

Regulates hunger, sex drive, body temp., & hormones. Midbrain.

Nonconscious mind

Regulates processes that are inaccessible to conscious awareness (blood flow, hormones, etc.)

Partial (intermittent) reinforcement

Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Continuous reinforcement

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Thalamus

Relays messages between lower brain centers and cerebral cortex

Pons - what is it's function and where is it?

Relays messages from cortex to cerebellum & is important for sleep. Hindbrain

Thalamus - function and location?

Relays motor & sensory signals to cerebral cortex. Midbrain.

Which philosopher proposed that nerve pathways allowed for reflexes?

Rene Descartes

Replication

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances.

Symbolic thinking

Representing things with words and images (ex: model room with hidden toy experiment)

What defense mechanism does this showcase? Henry got a bad lab report and was angry at Dr. Winnemuck. "Forget it," he thought to himself.

Repression

Types of defense mechanisms

Repression, denial, displacement, projection, identification, reaction formation, regression, rationalization, intellectualization, and sublimation

Albert Bandura

Researcher famous for work in observational or social learning including the famous Bobo doll experiment

Konrad Lorenz

Researcher who focused on critical attachment periods in baby birds, a concept he called imprinting

Longitudinal studies

Researchers observe the same sample(s) on many occasions over a long period of time; reduces confounding variables.

How do researchers explore infants' mental abilities?

Researchers use techniques that test habituation, such as the visual-preference procedure, to explore infants' abilities

2nd stage of GAS:

Resistance/body attempts to regain internal balance -Ex: Jennifer swerves over to the side of the road and leaps out of her car

Thorndike's Law of Effect

Responses that lead to satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated

Autonomic nervous system

Responsible for the body's unconscious movements, such as breathing, the heartbeat, and digestive processes.

Implicit memory

Retention independent of conscious recollection (aka nondeclarative memory)

The transduction of light energy into nerve impulses takes place in the:

Retina

When we stare at an object, each eye receives a slightly different image, providing a depth cue known as:

Retinal disparity

Regression

Returning to an immature but comforting pattern of behavior

Lewis Terman

Revised Binet's IQ test and established norms for American children; tested group of young geniuses and followed in a longitudinal study that lasted beyond his own lifetime to show that high IQ does not necessarily lead to wonderful things in life

Depression-prone people = more _____________

Right frontal lobe activity

The retina of a nocturnal animal would contain mostly

Rods

Where does transduction happen for vision?

Rods & cones transduce light into nervous impulses

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist who discovered classical conditioning through his work on digestion in dogs.

How does the Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) & Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) affect the heart?

SNS: accelerates heartbeat PNS: slows heartbeat

How does the Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) & Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) affect the lungs?

SNS: dilates lungs (breathe in) PNS: constricts lungs (breathe out)

How does the Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) & Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) affect eyes?

SNS: dilates the pupils PNS: constricts pupils

How does the Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) & Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) affect the urinary bladder?

SNS: inhibits bladder contraction (cant pee) PNS: contracts bladder (pees)

How does the Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) & Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) affect the digestive tract?

SNS: inhibits digestion PNS: stimulates digestion

How does the Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) & Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) affect salivary glands?

SNS: inhibits flow of saliva PNS: stimulates flow

How does the Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) & Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) affect the liver?

SNS: release of glycogen PNS: stimulates release of bile

Visual information processing

Scene --> retinal processing --> feature detection --> parallel processing --> recognition

Applied research

Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

How do children's self-concepts develop?

Self-concept, an understanding and evaluation of who we are, emerges gradually. At 15 to 18 months, children recognize themselves in a mirror. By school age, they can describe many of their own traits, and by age 8 to 10 their self-image is stable.

Do self-confidence and life satisfaction vary with life stages?

Self-confidence tends to strengthen across the life span. Surveys show that life satisfaction is unrelated to age. Positive emotions increase after midlife and negative ones decrease.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm (mobilize resources), resistance (cope with stressor), and exhaustion (reserves depleted)

Vestibular is sensed by

Semicircular canals (vestibular sacs)

Olfactory cells

Sensitive nerve cells in nasal passages.

Kinesthesia is sensed by

Sensors in joints, tendons, and muscles

Nerves contain what type of neurons?

Sensory neurons & motor neurons.

Mechanoreceptors

Sensory receptors responsible for sensing distortion in body tissues

In the 1900s, many developmental psychologists believed that all children struggle to create a-

Separate, independent identity

How does fetal brain development become part of the male versus female story?

Sex hormones bathe the fetal brain and influences its wiring through the levels of testosterone and estrogen

Paraphilias

Sexual arousal from fantasies, behaviors, or urges involving nonhuman objects, the suffering of self or others, and/or non-consenting persons

What has research taught us about sexual orientation?

Sexual orientation is not an indicator of mental health. There is no evidence that environmental influences determine sexual orientation. Evidence for biological influences includes the presence of same-sex attraction in many animal species, straight-gay differences in body and brain characteristics, higher rates in certain families and in identical twins, exposure to certain hormones during critical periods of prenatal development, and the fraternal birth-order effect

Your friend tosses you a frisbee. You know that it is getting closer instead of larger because of:

Shape constancy

Gestalt principles

Similarity, continuity, closure, proximity, figure-ground, and symmetry & order

Those who enjoy high-quality (intimate, supportive) relationships with family and friends tend to also enjoy-

Similarly high-quality romantic relationships in adolescence, which set the stage for healthy adult relationships

Motor development milestones:

Sit, crawl, walk, run -- the sequence of these developments are the same world round, though babies reach them at varying ages.

Microexpressions

Small, brief facial movements that signal emotional experiences, even in people who have been trained to hide their emotions

Why is smell linked to taste?

Smell and taste regions in brain are close together

Display rules for emotion

Social and cultural rules that regulate when, how, and where a person may express emotions

According to Erikson, you develop your __________, a part of who you are, from your group memberships

Social identity

How does social learning contribute to the formation of gender roles and gender schemas?

Social learning contributes to gender schema formation by the observation of gender roles, the rewarding of gender-appropriate behaviors, and the ways in which gender is discussed

Kurt Lewin

Social psychologist that studied the conflicts we face between our different motives (approach-avoidance conflicts)

High road emotions

Some emotions (especially complex feelings like hatred and love) travel (by way of thalamus) to the brains cortex where it is analyzed and labeled before the command is sent out, via the amygdala (emotion-control center) to respond

Low road emotions

Some emotions (especially simple likes, dislikes, and fears) travel on a neural shortcut that bypasses the cortex; a fear-provoking stimulus would travel from the eye or ear (via the thalamus) directly to the amygdala (automatic)

Support for opponent process theory

Some neurons in retina & thalamus are turned "on" by red and turned "off" by by green, vice versa. "Red" and "green" messages cannot travel at once, only in separate tubes so we don't see reddish-green but colors in different channels can be a mix

Robert Zajonc and Joseph LeDoux

Some of our emotional reactions involve no deliberate thinking and cognition is not always necessary for emotion (Ex: We automatically feel startled by a sound in the forest before labeling it as a threat)

Need

Something essential for survival

Ganglion cells

Specialized cells, activated by bipolar cells, whose axons form the optic nerve which takes the information to the brain

Life requires both _____ and ______

Stability and change. Stability provides our identity; it enables us to depend on others and be concerned about the healthy development of the children in our lives. Our trust in our ability to change gives us hope for a brighter future. It motivates our concerns about present influences and lets us adapt and grow with experience

Norm Referenced Tests

Standardized tests that compare an individual child's score to the average (norm) score of others their age.

Reticular formation - function and location?

States of consciousness like alertness. Hindbrain.

Factor Analysis (Cattel)

Statistical technique used to discover whether items or questions on a test or survey reflect broader underlying dimensions/factors, which are ideally independent of one another

Amygdala

Stress hormones trigger the amygdala (two limbic system, emotion-processing clusters) to initiate a memory trace in the frontal lobes/basal ganglia and boost activity in the brain's memory-forming areas

Cerebellum

Structure in hindbrain that controls fine motor skills.

Jean Piaget

Studied cognitive development in children.

Harry Harlow

Studied contact comfort and attachment; experimented with baby rhesus monkeys and presented them with cloth or wire "mothers"; showed that the monkeys became attached to the cloth mothers because of contact comfort rather than the wire mothers that provided nourishment

Hubel and Wiesel

Studied feature detection in visual cortex

Scaffolding (Vygotsky)

Support of learning allows students to complete tasks they are not able to complete independently, encouraging independence and growth

Punishment often teaches?

Suppressing unwanted behaviors, teaching aggression, creating fear, encouraging discrimination, and fostering depression and low self-esteem

What are ways to collect data in a scientific research?

Survey, case study, & controlled experiment

What are the senses of taste?

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami

Steps of a theory:

T-estable E-vidence A-pplication C-oncepts U-nbiased P-redictive

Sense of taste occurs in

Taste receptor cells (gustatory cells)

What are the three most testable forms of ESP?

Telepathy, clairvoyance (perceiving remote events), and precognition

Where does perception occur in audition?

Temporal lobe

Primacy Effect

Tendency to remember information at the beginning of a body of information better than the information that follows (remembering first item of a list better than the rest)

Recency Effect

Tendency to remember recent information better than earlier information (ie. remembering the last word of a list better than the first)

Weshsler Intelligence Scale for Children

Test ages 6-16, measures verbal and performance abilities, pinpoints a child's strengths, and help diagnose specific problems

Achievement tests

Tests designed to assess what a person has learned

Aptitude tests

Tests designed to predict a person's future performance (how well they will learn something)

All senses except smell are routed through the-

Thalamus

Social identity

The "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships/one's view of self as a member of a particular social category

Frequency

The # of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Gifted

The 2% of the population falling on the upper end of the normal curve and typically possessing an IQ of 130 or above

Main difference between the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system:

The CNS is the body's decision maker while the PNS is responsible for gathering info & transmitting CNS decisions throughout the body.

Nowadays, what is the official definition of psychology?

The Scientific Study of Mental Processes, Behaviors, Emotions & Attitudes

Self-control

The ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

The ability to express, recognize, and use emotions well within social interactions

Intelligence

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions

Creativity

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Eidetic Memory

The ability to remember with great accuracy visual information on the basis of short-term exposure (ie. photographic memory)

Depth perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; *allows us to judge distance*

Cognitive learning

The acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language, that guides our behavior

Define priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

1st stage of GAS:

The alarm stage/fight or flight -Ex: Jennifer's car begins overheating while driving home, in response to this stressor, her heart begins to beat wildly and she feels faint

Heritability

The amount of variation in the population that can be explained by genes.

Cognitive theory of personality

The analysis of your own perceptions, thoughts, and feelings = personality and individual differences

Positive punishment

The application of an aversive stimulus after a response

Industrial-organizational psychology

The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. (ie. sentence structure)

Moral Reasoning (Kohlberg)

The aspect of cognitive development that has to do with how an individual reasons about moral decisions (what's right and wrong)

Valence

The attractiveness or desirability of a reward or outcome

Object permanence

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

What did behaviorists believe?

The basic laws of learning are the same for all species, including humans

Coping methods

The behaviors, thinking, and emotional processes that a person uses to handle stress and continue to function

Activation-synthesis theory

The belief that dreams are the product of the brain trying to make sense of random neural activity/REM sleep. Dreams don't mean anything!

Why is random sampling important?

The best basis for generalizing about a population is a representative sample; in a random sample, ever person in the entire population being studied has an equal chance at participating.

Sex

The biological distinction between females and males

Gender

The biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female

What are psychology's levels of analysis and related perspectives?

The biopsychosocial approach integrates three differing complementary levels of analysis: the biological, psychological, and social-cultural.

Primary sex characteristics

The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible

Basal metabolic rate (BMR)

The body's resting rate of energy expenditure

How does maturation contribute to infantile amnesia?

The brain areas underlying memory need to mature before we can remember accurately. This maturation doesn't happen until after the age of 3.

Cognitive theory

The brain can't dream about anything that you haven't experienced or don't already know.

During infancy and childhood, how do the brain develop?

The brain's nerve cells are sculpted by heredity and experience. After birth, the branching neural networks that eventually enables you to walk, talk, and remember has a wild growth spurt that continues until puberty, when a pruning process begins shutting down unused connections

Psychosexual stages

The childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Mental age

The chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance; intelligence test devised by Binet

Cornea

The clear tissue that covers the front of the eye

Gender schemas

The cognitive ways in which we organize boy-girl characteristics

Episodic memory

The collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

Contralaterality

The concept that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa.

Rehearsal

The conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage

Incongruence

The degree of disparity between one's self-concept and actual experience

Extinction (classical conditioning)

The diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS)

Retroactive Interference

The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information (hard to remember old memories)

Proactive Interference

The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information (hard to remember new memories)

Parasympathetic nervous system

The division of the autonomic nervous system gradually calms the body, as stress hormones slowly leave the bloodstream

Overjustification effect

The effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do. The person may now see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task

Defense mechanisms

The ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality/diverting anxiety's energy towards something else

Visible light is only a small portion of

The electromagnetic spectrum of energy

Environmental determinism

The environment has a controlling influence over various aspects of human life like cultural development/traits

Alternate-form reliability

The extent in which scores on two different versions of the same test are consistent

Content Validity

The extent in which the content of a test is representative of the subject it's supposed to cover.

Construct Validity

The extent in which variables measure what they're supposed to measure

Validity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

Castration anxiety (Freud)

The fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers.

Stranger anxiety

The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age. Children this age have schemas for familiar faces; when they cannot assimilate the new face into these remembered schemas, they become distressed

Penis Envy (Freud)

The female desire to have a penis - a condition that usually results in their attraction to males

Estrogen

The female sex hormone that signals certain physical changes at puberty and controls the maturation of eggs

Mary Whiton Calkins

The first female president of APA.

Menarche

The first menstrual period

Selective attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Glucose

The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.

Sexual response cycle

The four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson - excitement (men and women's genital areas engorge with blood), plateau (excitement peaks as breathing, pulse, and blood pressure increase), orgasm, and resolution (males enter a refractory period and engorged genital blood vessels release their accumulated blood)

Five Factor Model of Personality

The fundamental building blocks of a person's personality are their level of *Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism*

Learned helplessness

The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Linguistic Relativity

The hypothesis that one's language determines the nature of one's thought

Drive-reduction theory

The idea that a physiological need creates a drive (an aroused state) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need (ex: eating or drinking); the physiological need is homeostasis

Facial feedback hypothesis

The idea that facial expressions can influence your emotions, as well as reflect them (ex: smiling can magnify your feeling of happiness but the feelings have to be there to begin with)

Growth mindset

The idea that our abilities are malleable qualities that we can cultivate and grow

Multiple Intelligences

The idea that people vary in their ability levels across different domains of intellectual skill

Fixed mindset

The idea that we have a set amount of ability that cannot change

Sensory memory

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Embodied cognition

The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements

Aquisition in classical conditioning

The initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response

Telegraphic Speech

The kind of verbal utterances in which words are left out, but the meaning is usually clear; seen during a child's early speech stage

Discrimination

The learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned response (CR)

The learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

Accommodation

The lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

Retina

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones, plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

Multi-Store Model of Memory

The memory model that visualizes memory as a system consisting of multiple memory stores through which a stream of data flows for processing

Cognition

The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Difference threshold

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time

Absolute threshold

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

Molecular geneticists study what?

The molecular structure and function of genes, including those that affect behavior.

What is the moon illusion?

The moon appears larger on the horizon than when it is higher in the sky because of surrounding objects

Source traits

The more basic traits that underlie the surface traits, forming the core of personality

Affiliation need

The need to build relationships and to feel part of a group

Optic nerve

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Critical thinking

The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment

Figure-ground

The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)

Ventromedial hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces feelings of fullness as opposed to hunger, and causes one to stop eating

Lateral hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that stimulates hunger

Preconscious mind

The part of the mind that contains all of the inactive but potentially accessible thoughts and memories

Illusory correlation

The perception of a relationship where none exists.

Ideal self

The perception of who we would like to be

External locus of control

The perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

Internal locus of control

The perception that you control your own fate

Grouping

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Set point

The point at which an individual's "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.

Blind spot

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there. Where optic nerves cross.

Egocentrism (Piaget)

The preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view

Conservation

The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects. Before about age 6, children lack this concept.

Sensory interaction

The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

Weber's Law

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage

Identification

The process by which a child adopts the values and principles of the same-sex parent into their developing superegos

Stress

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Lateralization

The process in which certain mental processes are specialized more in one hemisphere than the other.

Learning

The process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Gender typing

The process of acquiring the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions associated with a particular gender

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage (retrieving stored info)

Modeling

The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Define perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Storage

The process of retaining encoded information over time

Define sensation

The process our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus from our environment

Encoding

The processing of information into the memory system (extracting meaning)

Parallel processing

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Heritability

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The psychological principle stating that performance is best under conditions of moderate arousal rather than either low or high arousal (ex: when taking an exam, it pays to be moderately aroused--alert but not trembling with nervousness)

Spontaneous recovery

The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Long-term memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Negative punishment

The removal of a stimulus to decrease the probability of a behavior's recurring

Flynn Effect

The rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations

Idealized curve of acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery

The rising curve shows that the CR rapidly grows stronger as the NS becomes a CS as it is repeatedly paired with the US (aquisition), then weakens as the CS is presented alone (extinction). After a pause, the CR reappears (spontaneous recovery)

Psychoanalysis (Freud)

The root of all psychological problems are unconscious conflicts

How do we know whether an observed difference can be generalized to other populations?

The sample studied was representative of the larger population being studied. The average observations had low variability, the sample consisted of more than a few cases, and the observed difference was statistically significant.

Social psychology

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Positive psychology

The scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

Biological psychology

The scientific study of the links between biological and psychological processes.

Psychometrics

The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

Vestibular sense

The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance

Semantics

The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also the study of meaning

Phoneme

The smallest distinctive sound unit in language

Morpheme

The smallest unit that carries meaning (ie. a word or part of a word, like a prefix)

Gender

The socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female

Peripheral nervous system is divided into?

The somatic and autonomic nervous system.

Gate-control theory

The spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by small nerve fibers and is closed by larger fibers or by information coming from the brain.

Aquisition in operant conditioning

The strengthening of a reinforced response

Personality psychology

The study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Epigenetics

The study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change.

Educational psychology

The study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning.

What is parapsychology?

The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

Psychophysics

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

Evolutionary psychology

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

Predictive Validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior.

Kinesthesia

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

The temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it's just out of reach

Locus of control

The tendency for people to assume that they either have control (internal locus) or do not have control over events and consequences in their lives (external locus)

Reality principle

The tendency for the ego to postpone gratification until it can find an appropriate outlet

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct (ie. to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgment).

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

Functional fixedness

The tendency to perceive an item only in terms of its most common use (can hamper problem solving)

Belief perserverance

The tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

Generalization

The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

James-Lange Theory

The theory that emotion results from physiological states triggered by stimuli in the environment

Opponent-processing theory

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

Cannon-Bard Theory

The theory that our bodily responses and experienced emotions occur separately but simultaneously in response to an emotion-arousing stimulus

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors—red, green, blue—which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color.

Menopause

The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

What is emerging adulthood?

The transition from adolescence to adulthood is now taking longer. Emerging adulthood is the period from age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many young people are not yet fully independent. But critics note that this stage is found mostly in today's Western cultures.

Adolescence

The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

Unconditioned response (UR)

The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.

Modern empiricism

The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should rely on observation and experimentation.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Standford-Binet Intelligence Test

The widely used American revision of the original French Binet-Simon intelligence test

Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale

The world's first standardized intelligence test, containing items arranged in order of increasing difficulty; measured vocabulary, memory, common knowledge, and other cognitive abilities

Compared with the rats in an enriched environment, what would be true of rats raised in isolation?

Their brain cortex is less developed

Gender differences can be partially explained by?

Their sex hormones (estrogen & testosterone).

Arousal theory of motivation

Theory of motivation in which people have an optimal (best or ideal) level of arousal that they seek to maintain by increasing or decreasing stimulation; focuses on finding the right level of stimulation

Trait theory

Theory of personality that focuses on identifying, describing, and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions

What is true about the early formation of brain cells?

They are overproduced early in the prenatal period, and then the rate decreases and stabilizes

What do descriptive methods not do?

They do not explain behavior, because these methods do not control for the many variables that can affect behavior.

Blood-brain barrier

Thicker walls around brain's blood vessels to protect brain from harmful chemicals.

To be a moral person is to ________ morally and _______ accordingly.

Think; act

Critical thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions.

Pineal gland

This gland produces melatonin to regulate the body's circadian rhythm

Thyroid gland

This gland regulates cellular metabolism

Why would Jennifer come down with a bad cold after experiencing GAS?

This may be an effect of the stress weakening her immune system

Biology affects behavior in what 5ish ways?

Through the nervous system, endocrine system, brain, brain-gut microbiome, & heredity-environment-evolution interaction

Lesion

Tissue damage.

What is the scientific attitude's three main components?

To be curious, skeptical, and humble in scrutinizing competing ideas or our own observations.

What do skeptics argue about ESP?

To believe in ESP, you must believe the brain is capable of perceiving w/o sensory input & researchers have been unable to replicate ESP phenomena under testable, controlled environments

Schacter's Two-Factor Theory

To experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal

Body senses

Touch (skin), pain (nocireceptors), vestibular sense (part of ear associated w/ semicircular canals), and kinesthesis

Idiographic traits (I for individual)

Traits that are unique to the individual

Reciprocal Determinism AKA Triadic Reciprocality (Bandura)

Traits, environment, and behavior all continually influence each other (ex: it's not just that the environment shapes your personality - your personality influences which environment you're in)

Vitreous humor

Transparent jellylike tissue filling the eyeball behind the lens.

What do measures of central tendency show?

Trends in data.

True or false: Are there *federal regulations* for ethical research experiments?

True

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

"Tend and befriend" response

Under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)

Fixation (Freud)

Under- or over-gratification leads to your libido getting stuck at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved (ex: anal retentive, oral fixations, sexual aggressiveness)

Intellectualization

Undertaking an academic, unemotional study of a topic (ex: distancing yourself from the unwanted feeling(s))

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeremy Hunter

Used a beeper to sample the daily experiences of American teens. They found that teens were unhappiest when alone and happiest when with friends (as Aristotle long ago recognized, we human are "the social animal")

Inferential statistics

Used to make predictions about how a sample can be generalized to a larger population.

Psychoanalysis/psychodynamic approach

Uses case studies & techniques like free association, this approach focuses on examining the unconscious processes (k.w.'s- childhood, trauma, dreams)

Descriptive statistics

Using math to analyze data (ie. what's going on in the sample)

Linguistic Determinism

View that all thought is represented verbally and that, as a result, our language defines our thinking

Occipital lobe - function and location?

Vision. Forebrain- "eyes on the back of your head"

We perceive amplitude as

Volume (loudness)

Cerebellum - function and location?

Voluntary movements, posture, coordination, & speech. Hindbrain.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Vygotsky's concept of the difference between what a child can do alone and what that child can do with the help of a teacher

Colors of light differ depending on their

Wavelength

Relationship between explicit memories and effortful processing:

We encode explicit memories through conscious, effortful processing

How do an infant's developing brain begin processing memories (episodic memory)?

We have no conscious memories of events occurring before about age 3.5 in part because major brain areas have not yet matured

Social learning theory (Bandura)

We learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

Relative height

We perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away

Punishment tells you ________; reinforcement tells you _______

What not to do; what to do

Continuity vs. Stages

What parts of development are gradual and continuous (like riding an escalator) and what parts change abruptly (like climbing a ladder)?

Conditions of Worth (Rogers)

What we develop when we take on board other people's values and ideas about how we should be

REM rebound

When REM is missed, the body will make it up the next night.

Lucid dreaming

When a person is aware they are dreaming & can control the environment.

Extinction (operant conditioning)

When a response is no longer reinforced

Mood-dependent memory

When learning occurs during a particular emotional state, it is most easily recalled when one is again in that emotional state

When do chemical signals travel faster?

When the axon is covered with a myelin sheath.

What does the McGurk effect tell us about the way senses influence each other?

When two senses disagree, they will blend together

Curse of knowledge

When we know something, we often make the mistake of assuming others know it too; children are very susceptible to this tendency

Stability vs. Change

Which of our traits persist through life? How do we change as we age?

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Widely used structured personality test designed to assess symptoms of mental disorders and personality

What are some important milestones in psychology's early development?

Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory in 1879, Germany. Two early schools of psychology were structuralism and functionalism.

What does it mean to be physically dependent on a drug?

Will experience withdrawal without it.

Dream theories:

Wish-fulfillment, Activation-Synthesis, Info-processing, Cognitive theory, & Physiological

Learning of language begins in the-

Womb

Which of the following is true of menopause?

Women experience menopause around the age of 50, but men don't experience menopause

Glial cells

Work to keep brain running smoothly & heal if needed.

What makes experiments "better" than the other research methods?

You can get causation & use the scientific method (empirical).

Advice for future parents and teachers:

Young children are incapable of adult logic. Children are not passive receptacles waiting to be filled with knowledge. Better to build on what they already know, engaging them in concrete demonstrations and stimulating them to think for themselves

Prenatal development

Zygote, embryo, fetus

Brain regions involved in emotion

amygdala, cingulate cortex, cerebral cortex

Sound waves enter your outer ear and are-

channeled through auditory canal --> eardrum --> ossicles (hammer, anvil, stirrup) --> oval window --> cochlea

Light enters the eye through the

cornea --> pupil --> iris --> lens --> vitreous humor --> retina --> retina (rods & cones) --> bipolar cells --> ganglion cells --> optic nerve --> thalamus --> visual cortex

Perceptions are influenced by

motivation and emotions

In the absence of perceptual constancy

objects would appear to change size as their distance from us changed

We perceive frequency as

pitch (how high or low a sound is)

How long does it take for a behavior to become habitual?

~2 months