Psych Exam 2
What is priming?
recent experiments cause an increase in likelihood of recalling certain memories (ex. media violence prime aggresssion)
What are retrieval cues?
reminders that facilitate retrieval of information from memory
What are objective personality tests and projective personality tests?
Objective personality tests: the client responds to a standardized set of questions in multiple choice or true-false format; MMPI-2 Projective personality tests: clients respond to ambiguous stimuli in a freeform way; Rorschach Inkblot technique
What is observational learning?
Observational learning is learning that occurs as a result of observing behavior and consequences than our own; Bandura's Bobo doll studies
Pretend play is a clear sign of which stage of cognitive development?
Preoperational stage: age 2 to 6, when children use language and other symbols for real objects but still can't complete many mental operations; pretend play
Differentiate between reliability and validity
Reliability: the extent to which an assessment technique provides consistent, repeatable results Validity: the extent to which an assessment technique measures what it claims to measure
What is fixation?
a lingering psychological problem related to unsuccessful experiences of a particular psychosexual age
What is chunking?
grouping pieces of information together in a meaningful way to enhance memory Ex: NBCHBOCNNMTVTNTCBS NBC, HBO, CNN, MTV, TNT, CBS
Define the following concepts: (1) neutral stimulus, (2) unconditioned stimulus, (3) unconditioned response, (4) conditioned stimulus, and (5) conditioned response
(1) neutral stimulus: no response (a bell) (2) unconditioned stimulus: causes an automatic response (food) (3) unconditioned response: automatic response to an unconditioned stimulus (salivation in response to food) (4) conditioned stimulus: a former neutral stimulus that causes a response because of its link to an unconditioned stimulus (the bell) (5) conditioned response: the response to a conditioned stimulus acquired through learning (salivating in response to just the bell on its own after conditioning)
HOCK: Bandura, Ross, & Ross, Transmission of aggression Describe the Bobo doll study. What happened when the children saw and aggressive model?
A demonstrator showed the children how to play with the doll. Some were gentle and some were aggressive. The children who were given the aggressive demonstration were more likely than the children who did not watch the aggressive demonstration to be aggressive with the doll. Children were more aggressive after having been exposed to a same-gender aggressive model than an opposite-gender aggressive mdoel
Explain what is meant by the following concepts: acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, stimulus generalization, and stimulus discrimination What are the two things necessary for acquisition to take place?
Acquisition: the point at which the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus because it causes the conditioned response. One stimulus must predict the other, the neutral stimulus comes before the unconditioned stimulus, the NS and US happen close together Extinction: the point at which the conditioned stimulus no longer causes the conditioned response because it is no longer linked to the unconditioned stimulus Spontaneous Recovery: after a temporary period of inactivity, the return of the conditioned response that had become extinct Stimulus Generalization: stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus causes the same conditioned response Stimulus Discrimination: stimuli that are different from the conditioned stimulus fail to cause the same conditioned response
Identify and describe the three types of amnesia
Amnesia: the inability to remember some or all information, either temporarily or permanently Retrograde: memory impaired before a point in time Anterograde: memory impaired after a point in time, the case of Clive Wearing Source: forgetting how you obtained a particular memory (but not the memory itself)
What is the association illusion and orientation illusion?
Association illusion: remembering things that you never actually witnessed because you saw or heard similar things (recalling the word sleep after hearing a bunch of related words even though sleep wasn't on the list) Orientation illusion: remembering the orientation or other physical attributes of an item incorrectly (misidentifying the direction of Lincoln's head on the coin)
What is attachment?
Attachment: a close emotional bond between two people, particularly a young child and a caregiver; secure attachment, insecure attachment, insecure-resistant attachment, and disorganized attachment
Identify and describe the three types of parenting styles
Authoritarian parenting style: an approach in which parents require children to obey unquestionable strict rules Permissive parenting style: an approach to parenting in which parents place minimal demands and allow children to run their own lives Authoritative parenting style: an approach to parenting in which parents set rules, but also explain and negotiate those rules with their children, generally seen as the best
What did behaviorists focus on (and ignore), and why? What was their aim in doing so?
Behaviorists focused on observable behavior and ignored mental processes. This is because behavior can be seen and measured; mental processes cannot. The aim was to make psychology objective and scientific. John B. Watson
What is classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning is a connection between two stimuli that have occurred together such that one predicts the other
What is conservation and during which stage of cognitive development is conservation achieved?
Concrete Operational Stage: from 7-11, in which children acquire the ability think logically about (perform mental operations) concrete things, fully master conservation
Differentiate between partial and continuous reinforcement. How does each type impact acquisition and extinction?
Continuous reinforcement: behavior is reinforced every time it occurs; faster acquisition, faster extinction Partial reinforcement: behavior is reinforced only some of the time; slower acquisition, slower extinction
Compare and contrast cross-sectional research design with longitudinal research design. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each design? In which design fo you have concern with dropout? Which design is vulnerable to cohort effects? What is a cohort effect?
Cross-sectional research design: a research design in which people of different ages are compared to each other at the same point in time. Advantages: can be done quickly, data is collected only once form each participant. Disadvantages: vulnerable to cohort negatively affecting validity Longitudinal research design: a research design in which the same group of people is compared to itself at different points. Advantages: not vulnerable to cohort effects negatively affecting validity. Disadvantages: takes a long time, some drop out, often expensive Cohort effects:
Compare and contrast decay and interference
Decay: use it or lose it Interference: retroactive or proactive
What are defense mechanisms? repression, regression, projection, rationalization, reaction formation, displacement, and sublimation
Defense mechanisms: techniques used by the ego to manage conflict between the Id and Superego Repression: hides your Id impulse in the unconscious to keep you unaware of it Denial: blocks external events from consciousness because they are too threatening Regression: retreats to an earlier time in your life when the current stressor was absent Projection: "projects" your Id impulses onto others, so it appears they have it rather than you Rationalization: comes up seemingly acceptable explanations to behaviors actually based on your Impulses Reaction formation: overreacts against Id impulses by doing the exact opposite, as if overcompensating Sublimation: redirects the Id impulses in a way that actually benefits others
What is egocentrism and during what stage of cognitive development does it occur?
Egocentrism: the in ability to understand a situation from a point of view other than your own; mountain task preoperational stage
Arnett, Emerging Adulthood What is emerging adulthood? What are the five features of emerging adulthood? How are identity explorations different in emerging adulthood than in adolescence? What three areas of identity exploration does Arnett say emerging adults especially focus on?
Emerging adulthood: when a person has left adolescence yet hasn't assumed adult responsibilities Five features: feeling in between, identify exploration (love, work, worldview), self-focused, instability, and possibilities identity explorations: love becomes more serious and longer lasting, work experiences are focused on preparation for a future career Focus: (self efficiency) accepting responsibility for one's self, making independent decisions, and becoming financially independent
Describe the behavioral theory of personality
Emphasizes the influence of the environment and the importance of observable measurable behavior
Describe the social-cognitive theory of personality
Emphasizes the interactions of environment, thought, process, and social factors
What is encoding specificity (AKA context-dependent learning)
Encoding specificity: the effect of contextual information present when memory was encoded, such as physical surroundings, on retrieval (ex. students perform better on exam when they're tested in the same setting the learned the material
What are the three steps of memory in the information processing model?
Encoding: entering information into memory Storage: retaining information in memory Retrieval: pulling information out of memory
Compare and contrast explicit memory versus implicit memory. Compare and contrast the two types of explicit memory (semantic vs. episodic) What are the three types of implicit memory?
Explicit memory: AKA declarative memory, conscious Semantic memory: facts, figures, word meanings, and other general information (ex. the Chicago cubs won the world series in 2016) Episodic memory: personal firsthand experiences (ex. I watched the Cubs in the world series at a party at my brother's house where we ordered pizza and chicken wings)
Describe the five-factor model (Big Five) of personality
Five-factor model: an explanation of personality that emphasizes five fundamental traits present in all people to varying degrees; OCEAN; emerge in childhood and remain relatively stable, evident across all cultures Neuroticism: the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and stress Extraversion: the tendency to be socially outgoing Openness to experience: the tendency to be receptive to new or unconventional ideas Conscientiousness: the tendency to be organized, responsible, and deliberate Agreeableness: the tendency to be easy to get along with, cooperative, and sympathetic
Identify and describe the four schedules of partial reinforcement How does each of these reinforcement schedules impact the response rate and extinction?
Fixed ratio: reinforcement comes when you perform the behavior a predictable amount of times; soda machine. High response rate with pauses after reinforcement Variable ratio: reinforcement comes when you perform the behavior an unpredictable amount of times; slot machine. High and steady response rate Fixed interval: reinforcement comes when you perform the behavior after a predictable amount of time has passed; mail. Moderate response rate with significant pauses after reinforcement Variable interval: reinforcement comes when you perform a behavior after unpredictable amount of time; email. Moderate yet steady response rate
What is goodness-of-fit? How does fit affects the parent-child relationship?
Goodness-of-fit: the match between parenting style and a child's temperament Adapting a parenting style to match child's temperament can foster healthy development
According to Erikson, how does a psychosocial stage work?
He believes there are 8 psychosocial stages covering the entire lifespan. He replaced Freud's emphasis on biology and sex with an emphasis on social interactions with significant others. Each stage is characterized by a crisis, a successful resolution = virtue
HOCK: Harlow, the nature of love What did Harlow conclude was the basis of attachment?
He concluded that contact comfort is the primary basis for attachment in both monkeys and humans. Contact comfort: the instinctual need to touch and be touched by something soft such as skin or fur
Describe the humanistic theory of personality What is meant by self-actualization, conditions of worth, congruence, and incongruence?
Humanistic Theory of Personality: emphasizes our inherent tendencies toward healthy, positive growth and self-fulfillment Self-actualization: fully becoming the person you have potential to become requires positive regard; warmth acceptance, and love Conditions of Worth: "I am worth if I live up to someone else's expectations of me" Congruence: match between real self and ideal self; the root of mental wellness Incongruence: mismatch between real self and ideal self; leads to unhappiness and mental illness
Identify and describe the three components of the mind according the Freud
Id: the animalistic part of the mind that generates our most primal, biological based impulses such as sex and aggression; pleasure principle Superego: the part of the mind that opposes the Id by enforcing rules, restrictions, and morality; similar to consciousness Ego: the part of the mind that serves as a realistic mediator between the Id and Superego; reality principle
What is learning? What are the three main types of behavioral learning?
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience. The three main types of behavioral learning are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus is associated with a natural response Operant conditioning: a response is increased or decreased due to reinforcement or punishment Observational learning: occurs through observation and imitation of others
Compare and contrast shallow processing versus deep processing Which type of processing would lead to better recall later?
Level of Processing Theory: how deeply information is processed Shallow: superficial, tends to be forgotten quickly. Happens when you consider questions about superficial characteristics of the material Deep: meaningful, tends to be remembered well. Happens when you consider questions of the significance of material
Compare and contrast long-term potentiation and long-term depression
Long Term Potentiation: the increase connectivity between simultaneously stimulated neurons that form biological basis of memory Long Term Depression: a decrease in the connectivity between neurons in the brain that correlates with memory fading
Compare and contrast maintenance rehearsal with elaborative rehearsal How do they both correspond to the level of processing?
Maintenance rehearsal: information is repeated in exactly the same form it was originally enhance, shallow Elaborative rehearsal: involves adding meaning or association to information, which enhances memory, deep
What is a mnemonic? What are acronyms?
Mnemonics: a specific technique or strategy deliberately used to enhance memory (ex. spring forward fall back) Acronyms: word or words formed by using the first letter(s) of the items you want to remember (Roy G. Biv) Method of Loci: you picture the items in a particular location you already have memorized
Compare and contrast classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which the consequences of a voluntary behavior affect the likelihood that the behavior will occur, consequences shape behavior OC is ruled by consequences, CC is shaped by stimuli
Identify and describe Freud's psychosexual stages What is the focus of each stage? What about personality is rooted in each stage? What are the special names given to the conflict for boys and girls in the genital stage? How is the conflict resolved?
Oral Stage: birth to 18 months, focuses on the psychosocial consequences of feeding behavior, proposed roots of optimism/pessimism Anal Stage: 18 months to 3 years, focuses on the psychosocial consequences of toilet training, proposed roots of the need for control Phallic Stage: 3 to 6 years, focuses on the psychosocial consequences of attraction to the opposite-sex parent (Oedipus complex-boy, Electra complex-girls), proposed roots of self-worth; resolved through identification- the child models themselves after the undefeatable same-sex parent, if you can't beat em join em Latency Stage: elementary school years to puberty, energy's focused on school rather than on sexual issues Genital Stages: puberty to adulthood, focuses on mature, adult sexual relationships, personality is set prior to this stage
Who discovered classical conditioning, and how did this happen?
Pavlov accidentally discovered classical conditioning when he began studying digestive process in dogs
Differentiate between primary reinforcers and secondary reinforcers
Primary reinforcers: an innate reinforcer that requires no learning to have a reinforcing effect it satisfies a biological need; food, water, physical touch, sex Secondary reinforcers: a reinforcer that requires a learned link to a primary reinforcer to have a reinforcing effect; money, grades, tokens, extra credit points
What is propositional thought, and during which stage of cognitive development does it occur?
Propositional thought: adolescent's ability to evaluate the logic of propositions (verbal statement) without referring to the real world, not everyone reaches this stage Formal Operational Stage: beginning around 11-adulthood, in which the person becomes able to think logically about abstract things
Compare and contrast recall and recognition
Recall: a type of retrieval in which you access stored information without any comparison in the blank (ex. essay and fill in the blank) Recognition: a type of retrieval in which stored information is compared to external information to determine if it matches (ex. true-false and multiple choice)
What are recovered memories? What is false memory syndrome?
Recovered memories: recollection of past events, such as sexual abuse, that have been forgotten or repressed; the accuracy of these memories has been highly debated False memory syndrome: remembering a past traumatic experience that is objectively false, but nevertheless accepted as true
Differentiate between positive/negative reinforcement/punishment.
Reinforcement: serves to increase behavior Positive: add something desirable; a dog gets a treat for sitting on command Negative: remove something undesirable; taking a pain reliever to relieve a headache Punishment: serves to decrease behavior Positive: add something aversive or negative; a parent spanks their child for cursing Negative: remove something pleasuring or positive; a parent takes away a child's handheld video game system
Differentiate between retroactive interference and proactive interference
Retroactive interference: problems remembering older information caused by newer information; can't remember old cell phone number Proactive interference: problems remembering newer information caused by older information: can't remember to write the new year
What are the mental operations of reversibility and transitive reasoning?
Reversibility: the ability to recognize that numbers or objects can be changed and returned to their original condition, math concepts Transitive reasoning: using previous knowledge to determine the missing piece; using basic knowledge, if A=B and B=C then A=C Concrete Operational Stage
Explain Vygotsky's important concepts of scaffolding and the zone of proximal development
Scaffolding: a process by which a person learns new words, ideas, and ways of thinking by interacting with a more advanced person who provides decreasing levels of help Zone of proximal development: the range of learning just above what a child can do alone
Explain what Piaget meant by the following concepts: schema, assimilation, and accommodation
Schema: a concept or mental representation that guides the way a person makes sense of new information Assimilation: making sense of new information by sorting it into existing schemas Accommodation: making sense of new information, revising existing schemas, or creating new schemas
What is object permanence, and during which stage of cognitive development does object permanence occur? How did Piaget test children for it?
Sensorimotor stage: from birth to age 2, when babies understand the world through sensory experience Object permanence: the ability to realize that an object continues to exist even when you can't see, hear, or otherwise sense it emerging around the age of 1 year Piaget would hide toys underneath blankets and children wouldn't know where they went.
What are the special names given to auditory sensory memory and visual sensory memory?
Sensory memory: the earliest part of the memory process, in which the sense take in and very briefly hold information; echo memory: auditory memory (3-4 seconds); Iconic memory: visual sensory memory (about half a second)
What is shaping?
Shaping: the process of gradually learning a complex behavior through reinforcement of each of its small steps Ex. Skinner used shaping to teach pigeons to play pingpong in these steps by rewarding them when they: (1) were near the ball (2) when they pecked the ball (3) when they pecked the ball to the other side of the table
Compare and contrast short-term and long-term memory What is the "magic number" and to what does it refer? What is working memory? What is automatic processing?
Short term memory: a limited amount of new information being held briefly until it is either discarded or kept long term; magic number 7 +- 2, chunking can expand STM Long term memory: a seemingly limitless amount of information being held for extensive periods of time; limitless capacity Automatic encoding: the entrance of some information into long term memory without any conscious processing (ex. frequency of events) Working memory: a type of memory in which processing, or work, is done on briefly held information
HOCK: Skinner, Superstition in pigeons What is non-contingent reinforcement? How was Skinner able to use this to condition pigeon to engage in superstitious behaviors
Skinner believed that animals and humans were both superstitious. Pigeons were given food randomly. Whatever the pigeon was doing at the time the food was given, they continued to do because they thought it would give them food. Noncontingent reinforcement: rewarded pigeons every 15 seconds no matter what they did
What are the two important functions of sleep related to memory?
Sleep between encoding and retrieval appears the enhance memory (1) sleep allows for consolation of memories, strengthening memory formation (2) sleep prevents any kind of interference of taking place
What is the spacing effect (AKA advantage of distributed practice over mass practice)?
Spacing effect: the tendency to have better long-term memory for information when your attempts to study are spaced out rather than crammed together
What are the major issues in developmental psychology?
Stability vs. Change: do personality traits that are present in individuals from birth remain constant throughout the lifespan? Stage Development vs. Continuous Development: does development proceed through a sequence of separate stages, a series of sudden abrupt changes, from one level to the next, or is it gradual? Nature vs. Nurture: which has more impact on our development: nature (genetic influences) or nurture (environmental influences)?
How is classical conditioning used in advertising?
The company takes a figure that is seen as inspirational and ties to to their brand (Colin Kaepernick and Nike)
What is the law of effect? How did Thorndike's experiments with cats in puzzle boxes demonstrate the law of effect?
The law of effect: if we like the outcome, we will repeat the action. If we dislike the outcome, we will not repeat the action Thorndike's cat experiment demonstrates this because the cats figure out how to get out of the box and are able to eat
What is theory of mind, and during which stage of cognitive development does it occur? What test do psychologists use to measure theory of mind?
Theory of mind: the understanding of the thoughts, feelings, intentions, and other mental activities of one's self and others; preoperational stage, false-belief test
HOCK: Watson & Rayner, Conditioned emotional response Identify the neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response What other objects did the conditioned response generalize to?
They showed the child different objects and animals. At first the child felt indifferent about the animals. Once the child was shown a rat, it became scared of everything else that had similar texture to it, creating a phobia. Stimulus generalization of fear to other objects similar to the rat (white and furry). Stimulus discrimination of objects that did not resemble the rat (toy bikes). This study would not be allowed by an IRB today because it was very traumatic for the child and the experimenters ran out of time before they were able to teach the child to unlearn the phobias. The was not able to consent to the experiement.
Describe the trait theory of personality What are traits?
Trait Theory of Personality: the discovery and description of the basic components of personality; "what" vs. "why" Traits: stable elements or personality that influence thoughts, feelings, and behavior across most situations; varying amounts of each that account for differences in personality
What is the unconscious mind? What is psychic determinism? What is a Freudian slip?
Unconscious mind: mental activity of which the person is unaware Psychic determinism: the belief that all thoughts and behaviors, even those that seem accidental, arbitrary, or mistaken, are determined by psychological forces Freudian slip: verbal or behavioral mistakes that reveal unconscious thoughts or wishes
HOCK: Gibson & Walk, The "visual cliff" What is the visual cliff meant to test? How did babies behave, and what does this indicate about their understanding of depth and the dropoff? Gibson and Walk's research question is an example of which major issues in development?
Visual cliff: babies were placed on a table that was half wood and half glass. The mothers stood on each end and the babies were ask to crawl to their mothers. It was meant to test depth perception Behavior: the babies crawled to their mothers with no problem when they were on the wood side, but when they would not go to their mothers on the glass side because they thought they would fall through. Babies understand depth Major issue: debate on nature vs. nurture. Naturists argued that depth perceptions is innate and present at birth. Empiricists (nurture) argued that depth perception is learned and developed later as a result of experiences. Children can perceive depth by the time they can move on their own (6 months).
What is the primary force behind cognitive development according to Piaget vs. Vygotsky?
Vygotsky argues that the primary force behind cognitive development is social interaction; Piaget argues that schemas are the primary source
What is your self-concept?
Your view of who you are.
What is a flashbulb memory?
a distinctively clear and vivid memory of an emotionally charged and novel event. not more accurate (though more vivid) than regular memories. Ex. Boston Marathon Bombing
What is personality?
a person's distinctive and stable way of thinking, feeling, and behaving
What is higher-order conditioning?
also known as second order conditioning. it occurs when there a three or more stimuli, and a new neutral stimulus is paired with a previously created conditioned stimuli (a light paired with a bell)
Describe psychodynamic theory of personality
an explanation of personality based on the ideas of Freud's, that emphasize unconscious forces and early childhood experiences
What is temperament?
basic emotional responsibilities that characterizes a person throughout his or her lifespan; easy, difficult, slow-to-warm-up Easy: positive mood, establishes regular routines in infancy, adapts easily to new experiences Difficult: reacts negatively, cries frequently, irregular routines, slow to accept change Slow-to-warm-up: low activity levels, somewhat negative, and low intensity of mood
What is rehearsal?
deliberately repeating information to enhance memory
How did the way the witnesses were questioned influence their memories of the accident?
eyewitnesses are not reliable. 75% of convictions that are overturned have false memories of the accident. The eye witnesses were probed in their questions which swayed them to answer in different way and changed what they thought they saw
What is self-efficacy?
one's belief about one's capabilities
What is reciprocal determinism?
the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment
What is the misinformation effect?
the tendency of false or misleading information presented after the fact to become mistakenly incorporated into memory False memory: a fabricated or distorted recollection of an event
