Barron's AP Psychology Flash Cards

Nature vs Nurture

"Nature" refers to genetic factors involved in development and maturation "Nurture" refers to environmental factors involved in development and naturation

Ivan Pavlov

A Russian physiologist who inadvertently discovered a kind of learning while studying digestion in dog. Found that the dog learned to pair the sounds in the environment where they were fed with the food that was given to them and began to salivate simply upon hearing the sounds. Deduced the basic principle of classical conditioning. People and animals can learn to associate neutral stimuli (eg sounds) with stimuli that produce reflexive, involuntary responses (eg food) and will learn to respond similarly to the new stimulus as they did to the old one (eg salivate)

Normal Curve Methods

A bell-shaped curve that represents a distribution of scores that is normally distributed ( a few scores at eh low end and high end of the distribution, with most of the scores clustered around the mean). Approximately 68 percent of scores in normal distribution fall within one standard deviation of the mean, approximately 95 % of scores fall within two standard deviation of the mean, and almost 99% of scores fall within three deviations of the mean.

Anterograde Amnesia

A biological condition (caused by brain damage) in which an individual cannot encode new memories but can recall events already in memory. These individuals can learn new skills, but will not remember learning them, which indicates that the memory for these skills or procedural memory, is store elsewhere in the brain (studies on animals indicate procedural memories are store in the cerebellum).

Retrograde Amnesia

A biological condition (caused by brain damage) in which an individual cannot recall events previously stored in memory.

Spinal Cord Biology

A bundle of nerves that run through the center of the spine. Transmits information from the rest of the body to the brain

Waxy Flexibility

A characteristic of catatonic schizophrenia Suffers allow their bodies to be moved into any alternative shape and will then hold that new pose.

Oedipus Crisis

A crisis Freud thought boys went through during the phallic stage of his psychosexual stage theory of personality. Boy's sexual desire for their mothers, and the view of their fathers as rivals for their mothers' love, occurs in this stage.

Normal Distribution

A distribution of scores that falls into a bell curve of normal curve. The percentages of scores that fall under each part of the normal curve are predetermined. Approximately 68 % of scores fall within one standard deviation of the mean, approximately 95% fall within two standard deviations of the mean, and 98 to 99 % of scores fall within three standard deviations of the mean IQ scores for normal distributions

Scatter Plot Methods

A graph of correlated data Graphs pairs of values, one on the y-axis and one on the x-axis. For instance, the number of hours a group of people study per week could be plotted on the x-axis, while their GPAs could be plotted on the y-axis. The result would be a series of points called a scatter plot. The close the points come to falling on a straight line, the, stronger the correlation. A line that slopes upward, from left to right, indicates a positive correlation. A downward slope evidence a negative correlation.

Bulimia

A kind of eating disorder. Bulimics eat large amounts of food in a short period of time (binging) and then get rid of the food (purging) by vomiting, exercising excessively, or using laxatives. Bulimics are obsessed with food and their weight. The majority of bulimics are women.

Operant Conditioning

A kind of learning based on the association of consequences with one's behaviors. Edward Thorndike was one of the first people to research this kind of learning. BF Skinner coined the term operant conditioning, and studied this form of learning over his entire career. A kind of learning based on the association of consequences with one's behaviors. Thorndike put forth the law of effect that states that if the consequences of a behavior are pleasant, the stimulus-response (S-R) connection will be strengthened and the likelihood of the behavior will increase. However, if the consequences of a behavior are unpleasant, the S-R connection will weaken and the likelihood of the behavior will decrease.

Recognition

A kind of retrieval The process of matching a current event or fact with one already in memory (eg "have I smelled this smell before?")

Clinical Psychologists

A kind of therapist Clinical psychologists hold doctoral degrees (PhDs) that require four or more years of study. They then work in an internship overseen by a more experienced professional.

Counseling Psychologists

A kind of therapist Counseling psychologists have graduate degree in psychology. They have generally undergone less training and deal with less severe problems than clinical psychologists do.

Psychiatrists

A kind of therapist Psychiatrists are medical doctors and are therefore the only therapists permitted to prescribe medication in most US states. Often favor a biomedical model of mental illness because of their backgrounds and are often less extensively trained in psychotherapy

Psychoanalysts

A kind of therapist Psychoanalysts are people specifically trained in Freudian methods. They may or may not hold medical degrees

Learning

A long-lasting change in behavior resulting from experience. Although learning is not the same as behavior, most psychologists accept that learning can best be measured through changes in behavior.

Random Selection Methods

A method of selecting a sample from a population. Every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected. Random selection increases the likelihood that the sample represents the population and that one can generalize the findings to the larger population.

Big Five Personality Traits

A number of contemporary trait theorists believe that personality can be described using these five personality characteristics: 1. Agreeableness - How easy to get along with someone is. 2. Conscientiousness - How hardworking, responsible, and organized one is. 3. Openness - How creative, curious, and willing to try new things one is 4. Emotional stability (neuroticism) - How consistent one's mood is. 5. Extraversion - How outgoing and sociable someone is.

Temperaments

A person's emotional style and characteristic way of dealing with the world. Infants' temperament seems to differ immediately at birth. Some welcome new stimuli, whereas others seem more fearful. Some seem extremely active and emotional, while others are calmer. Psychologists believe that babies are born with different temperaments. A child's temperament, then is thought to influence the development of his or her personality.

Collectivist cultures

A person's link to various groups such as family or company is stressed , as in Japanese culture. Some cultures are individualistic cultures when the importance and uniqueness of the individual is stressed

Heuristic

A problem-solving rule of thumb Rule that is generally, but not always, true that we can use to make a judgment in a situation. Two common types of heuristics are the Representativeness Heuristic and the Availability Heuristic.

Stratified Sampling Methods

A process that allows a researcher to ensure that the sample represents the population on some criteria, such and age or race. For instance, if a researcher thinks that participants of different racial groups might respond differently, he or she would want to make sure that each race is represented in the sample in the same proportion that it appears in the overall population. In other words, if 500 of the 1000 students in a school are Caucasian, 300 are African American, and 200 are Latino, in a sample of 100 students the researcher would want to have 50 Caucasians, 30 African Americans, and 20 Latinos.

Narcolepsy

A rare sleep disorder, occurring in less than 0.001 % of the population. Narcoleptics suffer from periods of intense sleepiness and may fall asleep at unpredictable and inappropriate times. Narcoleptics may suddenly fall into REM sleep regardless of what they are doing at the time. Narcolepsy can be successfully treated with medication and change in sleep patterns.

Case Study Methods

A research method used to get a full, detailed picture of one participant or small group of participants. For instance, clinical psychologists often use case studies to present information about a person suffering from a particular disorder. Allows researchers to get the richest possible picture of what they are studying, but the focus on a single individual or small group means that the findings cannot be generalized to a larger population.

Dreams

A series of story-like images we experience as we sleep. A difficult research area for psychologists because thy rely almost entirely on self-report. If people are awakened during or shortly after a REM episode, they often report they were dreaming. Validating theories about the purposes and meanings of dreams is difficult because researchers currently have limited access to dreams.

Attitude

A set of beliefs and feelings Attitudes are evaluative, meaning that our feelings toward people, particular events, and places are necessarily positive or negative. A great deal of social psychology research focuses on what affects people's attitudes and what kind of impact behaviors have on attitude. Attitudes do not perfectly predict behaviors. What people say they will do and what they actually do often differ.

Sleep Cycles

A sleep cycle is a typical pattern of sleep. Researchers using EEG machines record how active our brains are during sleep. WE cycle through different stages of sleep during the night. Our brain waves slow down and our level of awareness lessens as we cycle down from sleep onset through stages 1-4. After a period of time in deep stage 3 and 4 sleep, our brain waves start to speed up, and we go back through stages 3 and 2. As we reach stage 1, our brain produces a period of intense activity, our eyes dart back and forth, and many of our muscles may twitch repeatedly. This is REM - Rapid Eye Movement - sleep

Computerized Axial Tomography (CST or CT Scan) Biology

A sophisticated X-ray Use several X-ray cameras that rotate around the brain and combine all the pictures into a detailed three-dimensional picture of the brain's structure. Can show only the structure of the brain, not the function or the activity of different brain structures.

Sensory Memory

A split-second holding tank for incoming sensory information. All the information our sense are processing right now is held in sensory memory for a very short period of time (less than a second)

Sleep

A state of consciousness in which we are less aware of ourselves and our environment than we are when we are in our normal awake state. A sleep cycle is a typical pattern of sleep. Researchers using EEG machines can record how active our brains are during sleep and describe the different stages of sleep we progress through each night. We cycle through different stages of sleep during the night. Our brain waves and level of awareness changes as we cycle through the stages.

Correlation Methods

A statistical measure of a relationship between two variables. Correlation does not imply causation: Just because two variables are correlated does not mean that one variable causes the other. Can be either positive or negative. A positive correlation between two variables means that the presence of one variable predicts the presence of the other. A negative correlation means that the presence of one variable predicts the absence of the other. The strength of a correlation is expressed by a number called a correlation coefficient, which ranges from -1 and +1 where -1 is a perfect, negative correlation and +1 is a perfect, positive correlation.

Factor Analysis

A statistical technique used to analyze results of personality tests. Allows researchers to use correlations between traits in order to see which traits cluster together as factors For example, if a strong correlation is found between punctuality, diligence, and neatness, one could argue that these traits represent a common factor that we could name conscientiousness.

Free association

A technique sometimes used by psychoanalysts to uncover unconscious conflicts Involves saying whatever comes to mind without thinking Based on the idea that we all constantly censor what we say, thereby allowing us to hide some of our thoughts from ourselves. If we force ourselves to say whatever pops into our minds, we are more likely to reveal clues about what is really bothering us by eluding the ego's defenses.

Dream Analysis

A technique sometimes used by psychoanalysts to uncover unconscious conflicts. Psychoanalysts ask their patients to describe their dreams Since the ego's defenses are relaxed during sleep, they hope the dreams will help the therapist see what is at the root of the patient's problem. What a patient reports about a dream is called the manifest content of the dream. What is really of interest to the analyst is the latent or hidden content, which is revealed only as result of the therapist's interpretive work.

Resistance

A term used by psychoanalysts to describe a patient disagreeing with his or her therapist's interpretations. Since psychoanalysis can be a painful process of coming to terms with deeply repressed, troubling thoughts, people are thought to try to protect themselves through resistance. A particularly strongly voiced disagreement to an analyst's suggestion is often viewed as an indication that the analyst is closing in on the source of the problem.

Latent Content

A term used by psychoanalysts when using dream analysis in order to uncover unconscious conflicts Revealed only as a result of the therapist's interpretive work. What a patient reports about a dream is called the manifest content of the dream

Manifest Content

A term used by psychoanalysts when using dream analysis in order to uncover unconscious conflicts. What a patient reports about a dream The latent content of the dream is revealed only as a result of the therapist's interpretive work.

validity

A test is valid when it measures what it is supposed to measure. For example, a personality test is valid if it truly measures an individual's personality. A test cannot be valid if it is not reliable. If subsequent administrations yield grossly disparate results for the same person, it is not reliable (consistent) and therefore not valid (accurately measuring what it is supposed to) A test may be reliable without being valid. Even if someone's performance of the test is consistent, that performance may not be an accurate measurement.

Standardized test

A test with items that have been piloted on a population similar to those who are meant to take the test and whose achievement norms have been established. For example, people taking the SAT on a particular testing date are fairly representative of the population of people taking the SAT in general. Such a group of people is known as the standardization sample. This process of standardization yields equivalent exams, allowing a fair comparison between scores of different people

Trichromatic Theory Sensation

A theory of color vision (the other theory is Oponent-Process Theory) Also called Young-Helmholtz Theory Hypothesizes that we have three types of cones in the retina: cones that detect the primary colors of light - blue, red, and green. These cones are activated in different combinations to produce all the colors of the visible spectrum. Even though this theory has some research support and makes sense intuitively, it cannot explain such visual phenomena as afterimages and color blindness. most researchers agree that color vision is explained by a combination of the Trichromatic and Opponent-Process Theories.

Opponent-process Theory Sensation

A theory of color vision (the other theory is Trichromatic Theory). States that the sensory receptors arranged in the retina come in pairs ; red/ green pairs, yellow/ blue pairs, and black/ white pairs. If one sensor is stimulated, its pair is inhibited from firing. This theory explains color afterimages. If you stare at the color red for a while, you fatigue the sensors for red. Then when you switch your gaze and look at a blank page, the opponent part of the pair for red will fire, and you will see a green afterimage. The Opponent-process Theory explains afterimages and color blindness. Most researchers agree that color vision is explained by a combination of the Trichromatic and Opponent-Process Theories.

Psychoanalysis

A therapeutic technique developed by Freud. A patient undergoing psychoanalysis will usually lie on a couch while the therapist sits in a chair out of the patient's line of vision. Psychoanalytic theorists view the cause of disorders as unconscious conflicts. Psychoanalysts may ask patients to free associate - to say whatever comes to mind without thinking. Psychoanalysts may use dream analysis. They ask their patients to describe their dreams. Again, since the ego's defenses are relaxed during sleep, they hope the dreams will help the therapist see what is at the root of the patient's problem.

Systematic Desensitization

A type of behavior therapy Involves teaching the client to replace the feelings of anxiety with relaxation. The first step is to teach the client to relax. Next, the therapist and client work together to construct what is called an anxiety hierarchy, a rank-ordered list of what the client fears, starting with the least frightening and ending with the most frightening. Often used to treat specific phobias

Conterconditioning

A type of behavioral therapy A kind of classical conditioning developed by Mary Cover Jones in which an unpleasant conditioned response is replaced with a pleasant one. For instance, suppose Charley is afraid of going to the doctor and cries hysterically as soon as he enters the doctor's office. His mother might attempt to replace the conditioned response of crying with contentment by bringing Charley's favorite snacks and toys with them every time they go to the office.

Anersive Conditioning

A type of behavioral therapy Pairs a habit a person wishes to break (e.g. smoking or bed-wetting) with an unpleasant stimulus (e.g. electric shock or nausea)

Flooding

A type of behavioral therapy Unlike the gradual process of systematic desensitization, flooding involves having the client address the most frightening scenario first. Produces tremendous anxiety If clients face their fears and do not back down, they will soon realize that their fears are, in face, irrational.

Token Economy Treatment

A type of behavioral therapy involving operant conditioning Desired behaviors are identified and rewarded with tokens. The tokens can then be exchanged for various objects or privileges Often used in mental institutions and school

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT or RET)

A type of cognitive behavioral therapy developed by Albert Ellis. Therapists look to expose and confront the dysfunctional thoughts of their clients. For instance, someone suffering from a social phobia might voice concern over being publicly embarrassed when giving a class presentation. A therapist would question both the likelihood of such embarrassment occurring and the impact that would result. The therapist's goal would be to show the client that not only is his or her failure an unlikely occurrence but that, even if it did occur, it wold not be such a dig deal.

Measures of Variability Methods

A type of descriptive statistical measure that attempts to depict the diversity of the distribution. Range, variance, and standard deviation are measures of variability. range is the distance between the highest and lowest score in a distribution. Variance and standard deviation are closely related; standard deviation is simply the square root of the variance. Both measures essentially relate the average distance of any score in the distribution from the mean.

Classical COnditioning

A type of learning first descried by Ivan Pavlov. The classical conditioning process begins when a stimulus elicits a response. This is know as an unconditioned stimulus (US or UCS) A US is something that elicits a natural, reflexive response. This response is called the unconditioned response (UR or UCR) Through repeated pairings with neutral stimulus (CS), animals will come to associate the two stimuli together. When the CS elicits a response without the US, a conditioned response (CR) occur.

Fixed-Ratio (FR) Schedule

A type of reinforcement schedule Provides reinforcement after a set number of responses. For example, if a rat is one an FR-5, it will be rewarded after the fifth bar press.

Variable-Ratio(VR) Schedule

A type of reinforcement schedule Provides reinforcement based on the number of bar presses, but that number varies. A rat on VR-5 might be rewarded after the second press, the ninth press, the third press, the sixth press, and so on; the average number of presses required to receive reward will be five. Variable schedules are more resistant to extinction than fixed schedule

Fixed-Interval (FI) Schedule

A type of reinforcement schedule. Requires that a certain amount of time elapse before a bar press will result in a reward. In an FI-3 minute, for instance, the rat will be reinforced for the first bar press that occurs after 3 minutes have passed.

Variable-Interval (VI) Schedule

A type of reinforcement schedule/ Varies the amount of time required to elapse before a response will result in reinforcement. in a VI-3 minute schedule, the rat will be reinforced for the first response made after an average time of 3 minutes. Variable schedule are more resistant to extinction than fixed schedule.

Freudian Dream Interpretation

According to Freudian psychoanalysis, a method to uncover the reprocessed information in the unconscious mind. Freud said that dreams were wish fulfilling, meaning that we act out our unconscious desires in our dreams. Manifest content is the literal content of our dreams Latent content is the unconscious meaning of the manifest content. The ego protects dreamers from the material in the unconscious mind (protected sleep) by presenting these repressed desires in the form of symbols.

Discrimination

Acting on a prejudice The difference between prejudice and discrimination is that prejudice is an attitude and discrimination is a behavior. DO not confuse the term "discrimination" in the context of social psychology with the ways it is used in operant and classical conditioning contexts.

Theory Methods

Aims to explain some phenomenon and allows researchers to generate testable hypotheses with the hope of collecting data that support the theory. Hypotheses often grow out of theories.

Reciprocal Determinism

Albert Bandura suggested that personality is created by an interaction between the person (traits), the environment, and the person's behavior. Each of these factors influences the other two in a constant reciprocal loop

Stanford-Binet IQ Test

Alfred Binet was Frenchman who wanted to design a test that would identify which children needed special attention in school. Louis Terman, a Stanford professor, developed the intelligence quotient (IQ) score. IQ score is computed by dividing the person's mental age by his or her chronological age and multiplying by 100

Peripheral Nervous System Biology

All the nerves in your body other than the brain and spinal cord nerves; all the nerves not encased in bone. The peripheral nervous system is divided into two categories: The somatic and the autonomic nervous system.

Sensory Cortex Biology

Also called the somato-sensory cortex. Thin vertical strip of the cerebral cortex that receives incoming touch sensations from the rest of our body. Organized similarly to the motor cortex Top of the sensory cortex receives sensations from the bottom of the body, progressing down the cortex to the bottom, which processes signals from our face and head.

Defense Mechanisms

An element of Freud's Psychoanalytic Personality Theory. Used by ego to help protect the conscious mind. Freud described several kinds of defense mechanism Repression - Blocking thoughts out from conscious awareness Denial - Not accepting the ego-threatening truth Displacement - Redirecting one's feeling toward another person or object Projection - Believing that the feelings one has toward someone else are actually held by the other person and directed at oneself. Reaction formation - expressing the opposite of how one truly feels Regression - Returning to an earlier, comforting form of behavior Rationalization - Coming up with a beneficial result of an undesirable occurrence. Interllectualization - undertaking an academic, unemotional study of a topic Sublimation - Channeling one's frustration toward a different and more socially acceptable goal.

Unconditioned Response (UR or UCR)

An element of classical conditioning. In classical conditioning, a conditioned stimulus (a neutral stimulus, like a bell) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response, such as food eliciting salivation). This reflexive response elicited by the unconditioned stimulus is the unconditioned response. Eventually, the conditioned stimulus (eg a bell) alone elicits a conditioned response (eg salivation)

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

An element of classical conditioning. In classical conditioning, a conditioned stimulus (an originally neutral stimulus, like a bell) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response, such as food eliciting salivation). Eventually, the conditioned stimulus (eg a bell) alone elicits a conditioned response (eg salivation). This stage is also called acquisition, since the organism has acquired a new behavior.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US or UCS)

An element of classical conditioning. The classical conditioning process begins when a stimulus elicits a response, which is known as an unconditioned stimulus (US or UCS) Something that elicits a natural, reflexive response. IN the classic Pavlovian paradigm, it is food. Food elicits the natural, involuntary response of salivation, which is called the unconditioned response. (UR or UCR)

Punishment

An element of operant conditioning. Affects behavior by using unpleasant consequences. By definition, punishment is anything that makes a behavior less likely. The two types of punishment are: Positive punishment (usually referred to simply as "punishment"), which is the addition of something unpleasant. Omission training or negative punishment, the removal of something pleasant. If we give a rat an electric shock every time it touches the lever, we are using punishment. If we remove the rat's food when it touches the lever, we are using omission training.

Positive Reinformcement

An element of operant conditioning. Reinforcement is defined by its consequences; anything that makes a behavior more likely to occur is a reinforcer. Two kinds of reinforcement exist: Positive (+) reinforcement refers to the addition of something pleasant. Negative (-) reinforcement refers to the removal of something unpleasant. For instance, if we give a rat in a Skinner box good when it presses a lever, we are using positive reinforcement.

Negative REinforcement

An element of operant conditioning. Reinforcement is defined by its consequences; anything that makes a behavior more likely to occur is a reinforcer. Two kinds of reinforcement exist: Positive (+) reinforcement refers to the addition of something pleasant. Negative (-) reinforcement refers to the removal of something unpleasant. For instance, if we terminate a loud noise or shock in response to a press of the lever, we are using negative reinforcement.

Reinforcement

An element of operant conditioning. Reinforcement is defined by its consequences; anything that makes behavior more likely to occur is a reinforcer. Two kinds of reinforcement exist: Positive (+) reinforcement refers to the addition of something pleasant. Negative (-) reinforcement refers to the removal of something unpleasant. For instance, if we give a rat in a Skinner box food when it presses a lever, we are using positive reinforcement. If we terminate a loud noise or shock in response to a press of the lever, we are using negative reinforcement.

Positive Punishment

An element of operant conditioning. Affects behavior by adding unpleasant consequences. By definition, punishment is anything that makes a behavior less likely. The two types of punishment are: Positive punishment (usually referred to simply as "punishment"), which is the addition of something unpleasant. Omission training or negative punishment, the removal of something pleasant. If we give a rat an electric shock every time it touches the lever, we are using positive punishment.

Omission Training or Negative Punishment

An element of operant conditioning. Affects behavior by using unpleasant consequences. By definition, punishment is anything that makes a behavior less likely. The two types of punishment are: Positive punishment (usually referred to simply as "punishment"), which is the addition of something unpleasant. Omission training or negative punishment, the removal of something pleasant. If we remove the rat's food when it touches the lever, we are using omission training.

Token Economy

An example of practical use of operant condition. In a token economy, every time people perform a desired behavior, they are given a token. Periodically, they are allowed to trade their tokens for any one of a variety of reinforcers. Token economies have been used in prisons, mental institutions, and even schools.

Operational Definitions Methods

An explanation of how variables are measures. Tow variables need to be operationally defined in the hypothesis "Watching violent television programs makes people more aggressive": What programs will be considered violent? What behaviors will be considered aggressive?

Hypothesis Methods

An statement that expresses a relationship between two variables. In an experimental hypothesis, the dependent variable depends on the independent variable. In other words, a change in the independent variable will produce a change in the dependent variable. For instance, consider the hypothesis that watching violent television programs makes people more aggressive. In this hypothesis, watching television violence is the independento variable since the hypothesis suggests that a change in television viewing will result in a change in the dependent variable, aggression. In testing a hypothesis, researchers manipulate the independent variable and measure the dependent variable.

Prejudice

An undeserved, usually negative, attitude toward a group of people. Stereotyping can lead to prejudice when negative stereotypes are applied uncritically to all members of a group and a negative attitude results.

association area Biology

Any area of the cerebral cortex that is not associated with receiving sensory information or controlling muscle movements

Confounding Variables Methods

Any difference between the experimental and control conditions (such as time of day), except for the independent variable, that might affect the dependent variable. An experiment allows the researcher to manipulate the independent variable and control for confounding variables.

Memory

Any indication that learning has persisted over time. Memories can be categorized as episodic (memories of specific events), semantic (general knowledge of the world stored as facts), or procedural (memories of skills and how to perform them). Memories can also be categorized as explicit (conscious memories of facts or events ) or implicit (skill memories, such as learning to walk).

Lobes Biology

Areas of the cerebral cortex: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital

Receptor Sites Biology

Areas on a dendrite designed to receive a specific neurotransmitter.

Behaviorist Theories of Personality

Argue that behavior is personality and that the way most people thin of the term "personality" is meaningless. According to this view, personality is determined by the environment The reinforcement contingencies to which one is exposed creates one's personality. Therefore, by changing people's environments, behaviorists believe we can alter their personalities.

Acetylcholine Biology

Associated with motor movement Lack of acetylcholine is associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Dopamine Biology

Associated with motor movement and alertness Lack of dopamine is associated with Parkinson's disease; an overabundance is associated with schizophrenia.

Shaping

Associated with operant conditioning. Reinforcing the steps used to reach the desired behavior. For example, first the rat might be reinforce for going to the side of the box with the lever. Then we might reinforce the rat for touching the lever with any part of its body. By rewarding approximations of the desired behavior, we increase the likelihood that the rat will stumble upon the behavior we want.

Chaining

Associated with operant conditioning. Teaching subjects to perform a number of responses successively in order to get a reward. The goal of shaping is to mold a single behavior (eg a bar press by a rat); the goal in chaining is to link together a number of separate behaviors into a more complex activity (eg running an obstacle course).

Instincts

Automatic behaviors performed in response to specific stimuli. Even though psychologists debate whether humans are born with any instincts, they agree that our behavior is also motivated by other biological and psychological factors.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Based on the idea that people are motivated to have consistent attitudes and behaviors. When they do not, they experience unpleasant mental tension or dissonance. For example, Lucy thinks that studying is only for geeks. If she studies for 10 hours for her chemistry test, she will experience cognitive dissonance. Because she cannot, at this point, alter her behavior (she has already studied for 10 hours), the only way to reduce this dissonance is to change her attitude and decide that studying does not necessarily make someone a geek. This change in attitude happens without conscious awareness. Based on experience by Festinger and Carlsmith in the late 1095s

Behavioral Perspective History

Behaviorists explain human thought and behavior in terms of conditioning (learning). Behaviorists look strictly at observable behaviors and what reaction organisms get in response to specific behaviors. Dominant school of thought in psychology from the 1920s through the 1960's.

Hawthorne Effect Methods

Being selected to be in a group of people to participate in an experiment will affect the performance of that group, regardless of what is done to those individuals. Just selecting a sample of people and including them in an experiment will affect performance of the sample, as the chosen participants will try to please the researcher. Control groups help to control for the Hawthorne effect.

Delusions of Persecution

Belief that people are out to get you.

Delusions of Grandeur

Belief that you enjoy greater power and influence than you do

Ethnocentrism

Belief the one's culture (ethnic group, racial group, etc) is superior to others. A specific kind of prejudice. People from one culture become so used to their own culture that they see it as the norm and use it as the standard by which to judge other cultures. Many people look down upon others who don't wear the same type of clothes, eat the same foods, or worship the same God in the same way that they do.

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) History 6

Believed he discovered the unconscious mind - a part of our mind over which we do not have conscious control that determines, in part, how we think and behave. Proposed that we must examine the unconscious mind through dream analysis, word association, and other psychoanalytic therapy techniques if we are to truly understand human thought and behavior. Has been criticized for being unscientific and creating unverifiable theories.

Trait Theorists

Believed that we can describe people's personalities by specifying their main characteristics, or traits. These characteristics (eg honesty, laziness, ambition) are thought to be stable and to motivated behavior in keeping with the trait.

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

Benjamin Whorf theorized that the language we use might control, and in some ways limit, our thinking. Many studies demonstrate the effect of labeling on how we think about people, objects, or ideas, but few studies show that the language we speak drastically changes what we can think about.

Primary Drives

Biological Needs (eg thirst) Drive reduction theory states that our behavior is motivated by biological needs

Biopsychology (or Neuroscience ) Perspective History

Biopsychologists explain human thought and behavior strictly in terms of biological processes. Neuroscientists believe that human cognition and reactions might be caused by effects of our genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters in the brain or by a combination of all three.

Terminal Buttons (Also called End Buttons, Axon Terminal, Terminal Branches of Axon, and Synaptic Knobs) Biology

Branched end of the axon that contains neurotransmitters.

Unconditional positive Regard

Carl Rogers' personality theory is based on the belief that people are innately good and require certain things from their interaction with others. Rogers believes that people must feel accepted in order to make strides toward self-actualization. Rogers argued that people need unconditional positive regard, a kind of blanket acceptance, in order to move toward self-actualization.

Anxiety Disorders

Category of psychological disorders Includes the diagnoses for specific phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Hallucinogens (also called Psychedelics)

Cause change in perception of reality, including sensory hallucinations, loss of identity, and vivid fantasies. Common hallucinogens include LSD, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, and marijuana. May remain in the body for weeks. If an individual ingests the hallucinogen again during this time period, the new dose of the chemical is added to the lingering amount, creating more profound and potentially dangerous effects. This effect is sometimes called reverse tolerance. Effects are less predictable than those of stimulants or depressants.

Accomodation

Changing our schemata to incorporate new information. For example, a child who tried to incorporate a pony into his / her schemata for a dog might finally realize the mistake and make a new schemata for pony.

Neurotransmitters Biology

Chemicals (such as dopamine and serotonin) contained in terminal buttons that enable neurons to communicate. Neurotransmitters fit into receptor sites on the dendrites of neurons like a key fits into a lock.

Teratogens

Chemicals or agents that can cause harm if ingested or contracted by the mother. The placenta can filter out many potentially harmful substances, but teratogens pass through this barrier and can affect the fetus in profound ways. One of the most common teratogens is alcohol.

Inhibitory Neurotransmitters Biology

Chemicals released from the terminal buttons of a neuron that inhibit the next neuron from firing.

Excitatory Neurotransmitters Biology

Chemicals released from the terminal buttons of neuron that excite the next neuron into firing.

Psychoactive Drugs

Chemicals that change the chemistry of the brain (and the rest of the body) and induce an altered state of consciousness. Some of the behavioral and cognitive changes caused by these drugs are due to physiological processes, but some are due to expectations about the drub. All psychoactive drugs change our consciousness through similar physiological processes in the brain. Drugs that mimic neurotransmitters are called agonist. Drugs that block neurotransmitters are called antagonists. Drugs gradually alter the natural level of neurotransmitters in the brain. The brain will produce less of specific neurotransmitter if it is being artificially supplied by a psychoactive drug.

Aversive Conditioning

Classically conditioning an organism to have an aversive response to a conditioned stimulus. For example, to stop biting their nail, some people paint them with horrible-tasting material. nail biting therefore becomes associated with a terrible taste, and the biting should cease.

Cognitive Perspective History

Cognitive psychologists examine human thought and behavior in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events. Cognitive psychologists believe that the rules or methods we use to view the world are important to understanding why we think and behave the way we do.

Schemata

Cognitive rules we use to interpret the world For example, a child's schemata for a god night be any animal with fur and four legs.

Attributional style

Cognitive therapies sometimes involve challenging unhealthy attributional styles An example of an unhealthy attributional style is attributing failures to internal ,global, and permanent aspect of the self. Fir example, a student who has an unhealthy attributional style and fails a test might think "I am an idiot" and "I will fail all my tests in all my classes no matter how hard I try."

BF Skinner (1904 - 1990)

Coined the term operant conditioning. Best-known behaviorist psychlogist Invented a special contraption, aptly named a Skinner box, to use in his research of animal learning. A Skinner box usually has a way to deliver food to an animal and lever to press or disk to peck in order to get the food. The food is called a reinforcer, and the process of giving the food is called reinforcement.

Visible Light Sensation

Color is perceived due to a combination of different factors: Light intensity - How much energy the light contains determines how bright the object appears. Light wavelength - The length of the light waves determines the particular hue we see. We see different wavelengths within the visible light spectrum as different colors.

Social-Cognitive Personality Theories

Combine behaviorists' emphasis on the importance of the environment with cognitive psychologists' focus on patterns of thought Example: Albert Bandura's Reciprocal Determinism

Functional MRI (fMRI) Biology

Combines elements of the MRI and PET scans Can show details of brain structure with information about blood flow in the brain, tying brain structure to brain activity during cognitive tasks.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Combines the idea and techniques of cognitive and behavioral psychologists One example is rational emotive behavior therapy, developed by Alert Ellis. Therapists look to expose and confront the dysfunctional thoughts of their clients For instance, someone suffering from a social phobia might voice concern over being publicly embarrassed when giving a class presentation. A therapist would question both the likelihood of such embarrassment occurring and the impact that would result. The therapist's goal would be to show the client that not only is his or her failure an unlikely occurrence but that, even if it did occur, it wold not be such a dig deal.

Opiates

Common opiates include morphine, heroin, methadone, and codeine, all of which are similar in chemical structure to opium. Act as agonists for endorphin and thus are powerful painkillers and mood elevators. Cause drowsiness and euphoria associated with elevated endorphin levels. Some of the most physically addictive drugs because they rapidly change rain chemistry and create tolerance and withdrawal symptoms.

Psychogenic Amnesia

Condition wherein a person cannot remember things but no physiological basis for the disruption in memory can be identified.

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Condition wherein a person experiences depression but only during certain times of the year, usually winter, when there is less sunlight.

Mood or Affective Disorders

Condition wherein a person experiences extreme or inappropriate emotions Disorders include major depression, seasonal affective disorder, and bipolar disorder

Hypochondriasis

Condition wherein a person has frequent physical complaints for which medical doctors are unable to locate the cause. Such a person may believe that minor problems, such as headaches or occasional shortness of breath, are indicative of severe physical illness even after he or she is assured by doctors that no evidence of such physiological problems exist.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Condition wherein a person has little regard for the feeling of others. They view the world as a hostile place where people need to look out for themselves. Criminals seem to manifest a high incidence of antisocial personality disorder.

Fugue

Condition wherein a person not only experiences psychogenic amnesia but also finds himself or herself in an unfamiliar environment. For example, one day Albert wakes up with no memory of who or where he is and no one else in the environment can answer that either. Albert has left friends and family, as well as his memory, behind.

Panic Disorder

Condition wherein a person suffer from acute episodes of intense anxiety without any apparent provocation Panic attacks tend to increase in frequency, and people often suffer additional anxiety due to anticipating the attacks.

Conversion Disorder

Condition wherein a person will report the existence of severe physical problem, such as paralysis or blindness, and will, in fact, be unable to move their arms or see. no biological reason for the problem can be identified.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Condition wherein persistent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) cause someone to feel the need (compulsion) to engage in a particular action Common obsessions concern cleanliness Obsessions result in anxiety, and this anxiety is reduced when the person performs the compulsive behavior.

Festinger and Carlsmith

Conducted the classic experiment about cognitive dissonance in the late 1950s Participants performed a boring task and were then asked to lie and tell the next subject that they had enjoyed the task. To reduce the cognitive dissonance, participants changed their attitudes and said that they actually did enjoy the experiment.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Conduit wherein a person experiences constant, low-level anxiety Such a person constantly feel nervous and out of sort

Explicit Memories (also called Declarative Memories)

Conscious memories of facts or events we actively tried to remember Any memory you can recall is an explicit memory Episodic and semantic memories are two different categories of explicit memories.

Superordinate Goal

Contact between hostile groups will reduce animosity if the groups are made to work toward a goal that benefits all and necessitates the participation of all (a superordinate goal) Sherif's (1966) camp study ("Robbers Cave") established the effectiveness of superordinate goal

Cell Body (Also called the Soma) Biology

Contains the nucleus and other parts of the cell needed to sustain its life.

Autonomic nervous System Biology

Controls the automatic functions of the human body - heart, lungs, internal organs, glands, and os on. Controls responses to stress - the fight or flight response that prepares the body to respond to a perceived threat. Divided into two categories: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

Somatic Nervous System Biology

Controls voluntary muscle movements. The motor cortex of brain sends impulses to the somatic nervous system (also called the skeletal nervous system), which controls the muscles that allow us to move.

Forebrain Biology

Controls what we think of as thought and reason. The size of our forebrain makes humans hhuman, and most psychological researchers concentrate their efforts in this area of the brain. Specific areas of interest to us in the forebrain are the thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.

Client-Centered Therapy (or Person_Centered Therapy)

Created by Therapist Carl Rogers Hinges on the therapist providing the client with unconditional positive regard Unconditional positive regard is blanket acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the poerson says or does. Rogers believes that unconditional positive regard is essential Are usually non-directive. For example, Rogerian therapists would not tell their clients what to do but, rather, would seek to help the clients choose a course of action for themselves.

Weschler Intelligence Scales

David Weschler developed three different intelligence scales: Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children(WISC) Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) Do not involve finding a quatient, but are still known as IQ test. Standardized so that teh mean is 100, the standard deviation is 15, and the scores form a normal distribution.

John Watson (18748-1958) History

Declared that psychology must limit itself to observable phenomena, not unobservable concepts like the unconscious mind, if it is to be considered a science. Wanted to establish behaviorism as the dominant paradigm of psychology. Behaviorists maintain that psychologists should look at only behavior and causes of behavior - stimuli (environmental events) and responses (physical reactions) - and not concern themselves with describing elements of consciousness.

Sensory Adaptation Sensation

Decreasing responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation. For example, we eventually stop perceiving a persistent scent in a room.

Learned Helplessness

Depression has been found to correlate positively with feelings of learned helplessness Occurs when one's prior experiences have caused a person to view himself or herself as unable to control aspects of the future that are controllable. This belief, then, may result in passivity and depression When undesirable things occur, the individual feels unable to improve the situation and therefore becomes depressed.

Psychoanalytic Perspective History

Described by Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysts believe that the unconscious mind - a part of our mind that we do not have conscious control over or access to - controls much of our thoughts and actions. Psychoanalysts would look for impulses or memories pushed into the unconscious mind through repression. Psychoanalysts think we must examine our unconscious mind through dream analysis, would association, and other psychoanalytic therapy techniques in order to understand human thought and behavior.

Jean Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory

Describes how children view the world through schemata, cognitive rules we use to interpret the world. normally, we incorporate our experience into these schemata in a process called assimilation. Sometimes, information does not fit into our violates our schemata, so we must accommodate and change our schemata.

Set-Point Theory

Describes how the hypothalamus might decide what impulse to send States that the hypothalamus wants to maintain a certain optimum body weights When we drop below that weight, the hypothalamus tells us we should eat and lowers our metabolic rate - how quickly our body uses energy The hypothalamus tells us to stop eating when we set point is reached and raises our metabolic rate to burn any excess food.

Selective Attention

Determines which sensory messages get encoded. We encode from sensory memory into working memory what we are attending to or what is important to us.

Cognitive Therapy for Depression

Developed by Aaron Beck Involves trying to get clients to engage in pursuits that will bring them success. This will alleviate the depression while also identifying and challenging the irrational ideas that cause unhappiness. Beck explains depression using the cognitive triad: People's beliefs about themselves, their worlds, and their futures. People suffering from depression often have irrationally negative belief about all three of these areas. Cognitive therapy aims to make these beliefs more positive.

Gestalt Therapy

Developed by Fritz Perls Gestalt psychologists emphasize the importance of the whole and encourage their clients to get in touch with their whole selves. Gestalt therapists encourage their clients to explore feelings of which they may not be aware and emphasize the importance of body position and seemingly minute actions. They want their clients to integrate all of their actions, feelings and thoughts into harmonious whole.

Gestalt Rules Sensation

Developed by a group of researchers from the early 20th century who described the principles that govern how we perceive groups of objects (eg proximity, similarity, continuity, closure.) Based on observation that we normally perceive images as groups, not as isolated elements. This process believed to be innate and inevitable.

Harry Harlow's attachment research

Developmental psychologist Harry Harlow studied infant attachment using monkeys. Used wire frame and cloth-covered "mothers" to study the impact of nurturing touch, warmth, and food on infant monkey attachment. Found that preventing attachment with a real mother had long-term effects on monkeys' behavior.

Longitudinal Research

Developmental research that takes place over a long period of time. Instead of sampling from various age groups as in cross-sectional research, a longitudinal study examines one group of participants over time. For example, a developmental researcher might study how a group of mentally challenged children progress in their ability to learn skills. The researcher would gather the participants and test them at various intervals of their lives (eg every three years) Longitudinal studies have the advantage of precisely measuring the effects of development on a specific group. However, they are obviously time-consuming, and the results can take years or decades to develop.

Cross-Sectional Research

Developmental research that uses participants of different ages to compare how certain variables may change over the life span. For example, a developmental researcher might be interested in how our ability to recall nonsense words changes as we age. The researcher might choose participants from different age groups, say 5-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40 and test recall of a list of nonsense words in each group. Can produce quick results, but researchers must be careful to avoid the effects of historical events and cultural trends.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) Biology

Device that detects brain waves. Researchers can examine what type of waves the brain produces during different stages of consciousness and use this information to generalize about brain function. Widely used in sleep research to identify the different stages of sleep and dreaming.

Psychological Disorder

Disorders are definied by four criteria; 1. Maladaptive (harmful) and / or disturbing to the individual. For example, someone who has agoraphobia, fear of open spaces - and is thus unable to leave his or her home - experiences something maladaptive and disturbing. 2. Disturbing to others. For example, zoophilia, being sexually aroused by animals, disturbs others. 3. Unusual, not shared by many members of the population. For example, in the United States, having vision is atypical, while in some other cultures it occurs more commonly. 4. Irrational; it does not make sense to the average person. For example, feeling depressed when your family first moves away from all your friends is not seen as being irrational, while prolonged depression due to virtually any situation is.

Disorganized schizophrenia

Disorganized schizophrenics evidence some odd uses of language. They may make up their own words (neologisms) or string together a series of nonsense words that rhyme (clang associations) People with disorganized schizophrenia often evidence inappropriate affect. For instance, they might laugh in response to hearing someone has died. Alternatively, they may consistently have essentially no emotional response at all (flat affect)

Permissive Parent

Do not set clear guidelines for their children The rules that do exist in the family are constantly changed or are not enforced consistently. Family members may perceive that they can get away with anything at home. For example, if your parents were permissive and you came in 15 min after your curfew, your parent's reaction would be unpredictable. They may not notice, not seem to mind, or threaten you with a punishment that they never follow through on.

Vision Sensation

Dominant sense in human beings. Sighted people use vision to gather information about their environment more than any other sense. The process of vision involves several steps: 1. Light is reflected off objects. 2. Reflected light coming from the object enters eye through the cornea and pupil, is focused by the lens, and is projected on tot the retina where specialized neurons are activated by the different wavelengths of light. 3. Transduction occurs when light activates the special neurons in the retina and sends impulses along the optic nerve to the occipital lobe of the brain. 4. Impulses from the left side of each retina (right visual field) go to the left hemisphere of the brain, and those from the right side of each retina (left visual field) go to the right side of the brain. 5. Visual cortex receives the impulses from the retina, which activate feature detectors for vertical lines, curves, motion, among others. What we perceive visually is a combination of these features.

Antagonists

Drugs that block neurotransmitters Fit into receptor sites on a neuron. Instead of acting like a neurotransmitter, they prevent natural neurotransmitters from using the receptor site.

Agonists

Drugs that mimic neurotransmitters Fit in the receptor sites on a neuron that normally receive the neurotransmitter. Function as that neurotransmitter normally would.

Accidents Biology

Early psychologists studied accidents as a way to investigate brain function. Accidents resulting in injuries to specific brain areas (such as the Phineas Gage case study) helped psychologists get an idea about the function of each part of the brain.

The Law of Effect

Edward Thornkike, one of the first people to research operant conditioning, explained this kind of learning through the law of effect. Law of effect states that if the consequences of a behavior are pleasant, the stimulus-response (S-R) connection will be strengthened and the likelihood of the behavior will increase. However, if the consequences of a behavior are unpleasant, the S-R connection will weaken and the likelihood of the behavior will decrease.

Action Potential Biology

Electric charge that spreads down the length of a neuron after the threshold is achieved. Travels like a bullet from a gun.

Neural Firing Biology

Electrochemical process Electricity travels within the cell (moves from the dendrites to the terminal buttons - called action potential), and chemicals (neurotransmitters) travel between cells in the synapse. Electricity does not jump between the neurons.

Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Developmental Theory

Erik Erikson was a neo-Freudian who believed in the basics of Freud's theory but adapted it to fit his own observations. Bsed on his own life experiences and his study of psychoanalysis with Anna Freud (Sigmund Freud's daughter), Erikson developed his own stage theory of development. Erikson believed personality is profoundly influenced by our experiences with others, so he created the psychosocial stage theory. It consists of eight stages, each stage centering on a specific social conflict.

Constancy Sensation

Every object we see changes minutely from moment to moment due to our changing angle of vision, variation in light, an so on. Our ability to maintain a constant perception of an object despite these changes. Several types of constancy: Size constancy, shape constancy, and brightness constancy.

Evolutionary ( or Darwinian) Perspective History

Evolutionary psychologists (also sometimes called sociobiologists) examine human thoughts and actions in terms of natural selection. Natural selection in this context refers to the idea that some psychological traits might be advantageous for survival and that these traits would be passed down from the parents to the next generation. Similar to (and in some ways a subset of ) the Biopsychology Perspective.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

Exists when one event or goal has both attractive and unattractive features. If you were lactose-intolerant, an ice-cream cone would present such a conflict; the taste of the ice cream is appealing, but its effects on you are not.

B F Skinner (1904 - 1990) History

Expanded the basic ideas of behaviorism to include the idea of reinforcement and punishment - environmental stimuli that either encourage or discourage certain responses. Helped establish and popularize the operant conditioning model of learning. Skinner's intellectual influence lasted for decades.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Expectations we have about others can influence the way those others behave. For example, if Jon is repeatedly told that Chet is really funny, when Jon does finally meet Chet, he may treat Chet in such a way as to elicit the humorous behavior he expected. Rosenthal and Jacobson's 1968 "Pygmalion in the Classroom" experiment explored self-fullfilling prophecies.

Attribution Theory

Explain how people determine the cause of what they observe. Dispositional attributions occur when we attribute a person's behavior to his or her internal personality or character rather than the situation the person is in. Situation attributions occur when we attribute a person's behavior to the situation the person is in rather than his or her internal disposition. Fundamental attribution error occurs when people tend to overestimate the importance of dispositional factors and underestimate the role of situational factors.

Gate-Control Theory Sensation

Explains how we experience pain Some pain messages have a higher priority than others. When a high-priority message is sent, the gate swings open for it and shut for low-priority messages, which will not be felt. Of course, this gate is not a physical gate swinging in the nerve, it is just a convenient way to understand how pain messages are sent. For example, when you scratch an itch, the gate swings open for your high-intensity scratching and shuts for the low-intensity itching; this stops the itching for a short period of time. Endorphin, or pain-killing chemicals in the body, also swing the gate shut. Natural endorphin in the brain, which are chemically similar to opiates like morphine, control pain.

Level of Processing Model

Explains why we remember what we do by examining how deeply the memory was processed or thought about. Memories are neither short- nor long-term. They are deeply (or collaboratively) processed or shallowly (or maintenance) processed. We remember things we spend more cognitive time and energy processing. Explains why we remember stories better than a simple recitation of events and why, in general, we remember questions better than statements.

Extinction (classical Conditioning)

Extinction has taken place when the conditioning stimulus no longer elicits the conditioned response. Extinction is achieved by repeatedly presenting the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus, thus breaking the association between the two. If one rings the bell over and over again and never feeds the dogs, the dogs will ultimately learn not ot salivate wen the bell rings.

Constructed (or Reconstructed) Memory

False details of real event or recollection of an event that never occurred. Studies show that leading questions can easily influence us to recall false details and questioners can create an entirely new memory by repeatedly asking insistent questions. The impact of these leading questions is called the Misinformation Effect. Constructed memories feel like accurate memories to the person recalling them.

Myelin Sheath Biology

Fatty covering around the axon of some neurons that speeds neural impulses .

Aboraphobia

Fear of open, public spaces People with severe agoraphobia may be afraid to venture out of their homes at all.

Social Phobia

Fear of situation in which one could embarrass oneself in public, such as when eating in a restaurant or giving a lecture

Motivations

Feelings or ideas that causes us to act toward a goal

Margaret Floy Washburn (1871-1939) History

First woman to earn a PhD in psychology (1894)

Humanistic Therapies

Focus on helping people to understand and accept themselves, and strive to self-actualize. Assert that if people are supported and helped to recognize their goals, they will move toward self-fulfillment. Humanistic therapists operate from the belief that people are innately good and are capable of controlling their own destinies.

Lens Sensation

Focuses light that enters the pupil. Curved and flexible in order to focus the light. As the light passes through the lens, the image is flipped upside down and inverted. The focused inverted image projects on the retina.

Heritability Testing

For a specific characteristic, the percentage of variation between people that can be attributed to genetic factors. For example, if a trait is highly heritable (eg height), much of the variation between a group of people on that trait is determined by genes Heritability can range from 1 to 0, where 0 indicates that the environment is totally responsible for differences in the trait and 1 means that all of the variation in the trait can be accounted for genetically

Heritability

For a specific characteristic, the percentage of variation between people that can be attributed to genetic factors. For example, if a trait is highly heritable (eg height), much of the variation between a group of people on that trait is determined by genes. Heritability can range from 0 to 1, where 0 indicates that the environment is totally responsible fro difference in the trait and 1 means that all of the variation in the trait can be accounted for genetically.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

Formerly known as multiple personality disorder. Condition wherein a person has several personalities rather than one integrated personality. Someone with DID can have any number of personalities. The different personalities can represent many different ages and both sexes. Often, tow of the personalities will be the opposite of each other. People with DID commonly have a history of sexual abuse or some other terrible childhood trauma. Theories about the causes of DID and validity of the DID diagnosis vary. Some researchers argue that DID symptoms may be induced by poor therapeutic techniques.

Psychoanalytic Personality Theory

Freud therized that personality consists of three parts: id, ego, and superego. The id is propelled by the pleasure principle; it wants immediate gratification The ego follows the reality principle; it negotiates between the desires of the id and the limitations of the environment, acting as a mediator between the two The superego is our sense of conscience, how we think about what is right and wrong

Personal-Construct Theory

George Kelly argued that people, in their attempts to understand their world, develop their own, individual systems of personal constructs. Such constructs consists of pairs of opposites such as fair - unfair, smart - dumb, and exciting - dull. People then use these constructs to evaluate their worlds. Kelly believed that behavior is determined by how people interpret the world.

Max Wertheimer (1880 - 1943) History 5

Gestalt psychologist Argued against dividing human thought and behavior into discrete structures. Gestalt psychology tried to examine a person's total experience because the way we experience the world is more than just an accumulation of various perceptual experiences. Gestalt theorists demonstrated that the whole experience is often more than just the sum of the parts of the experience.

Right Hemisphere Biology

Gets sensory messages and controls the motor function of the left half of the body. Right hemisphere may be more active during spatial and creative tasks

Left Hemisphere Biology

Gets sensory messages and controls the motor function of the right half of the body. Left hemisphere may be more active during spoken language, logic, and sequential tasks

Retrieval

Getting information out of memory so we an use it. Two different kinds of retrieval; recognition and recall.

Kinesthetis sense Sensation

Gives us feedback about the position and orientation of specific body parts. Receptors in our muscles and joints send information to our brain about our limbs. This information, combined with visual feedback, lets us keep track of our body.

Reliability

Good personality test are both valid and reliable. A personality test is reliable when it returns consistent results. A related concept is validity: A personality test is valid when it measures what the test claims to measure; it is accurate. A personality test can be reliable, but it may not be valid.

Validity

Good personality tests are both valid and reliable A personality test is valid when it measures what the test claims to measure; it is accurate. A related concept is reliability; A personality test is reliable when it returns consistent results. A personality test cannot be valid if it is not reliable.

Validity Methods

Good research is both valid and reliable Research is valid when it measures what the researcher set out to measure; it is accurate. A related concept is reliability; Research is reliable when it can be replicated; it is consistent.

Reliability Methods

Good research is both valid and reliable. Research is reliable when it can be replicated; it is consistent. If the researcher conducted the same research in the same way, the researcher would get similar results. A related concept is validity; research is valid when it measures what the researcher set out to measure; it is accurate.

Cerebral cortex Biology

Gray wrinkled surface of the brain A thin (1 mm) layer of densely packed neurons. This layer covers the rest of the brain, including most of structures we have described.

Chunking

Grouping items into meaningful units. Our capacity in short-term memory is limited on average to around seven items. Limit can be expanded through chunking most mnemonic devices are example of chunking, such as memorizing the names of the planets by remembering the sentence, "my very excellent mother just served us nothing."

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Hane Seyle's GAS describes the general response animals (including humans) have to a stressful event. Our response pattern to many different physical and emotional stresses in very consistent. Process progresses through alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion phase Explains some of the documented problems associated with extended periods of stress. (eg ulcers and heart conditions) and emotional difficulties (eg depression)

Sigmund Freud

Historically, first to theorize that we pass through different stage. Said we develop through four psychosexual stage. If we fail to resolve a significant conflict in our lives during one of these stages, Freud said we could become fixated in the stage, meaning we might remain preoccupied with the behaviors associated with that stage.

Frustration-Agression Hypothesis

Hold that the feeling of frustration makes aggression more likely

Existential Therapies

Humanistic therapies that focus on helping clients achieve a subjectively meaningful perception of their lives. Existential therapists see clients' difficulties as caused by the clients having lost or failed to develop a sense of their lives' purpose. Therefore, these therapists seek to support clients and help them formulate a vision of their lives as worthwhile.

State Theory of Hypnosis

Hypnosis meets some parts of the definition for an altered state of consciousness. Hypnotists seem to be able to suggest that we become more or less aware of our environment. Some people report dramatic health benefits from hypnosis, such as pain control and reduction in specific physical ailments.

Stereotypes

Ideas about what members of different groups are like. These expectations may influence the way we interact with embers of those groups may be either negative or positive and can be applied to virtually any group of people (for example, racial, ethnic, geographic).

Sleep Disorders

Identified and diagnosed by sleep researchers. The most common sleep disorders are insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, night terrors, and somnambulism

Cocktail-Party Phenomenon Sensation

If you are talking with a friend and someone across the room says your name, your attention will probably involuntarily switch across the room. An example of selective attention.

Learned Taste Aversions (Garcia Effect)

If you ingest an unusual food or drink and then become nauseous, you will probably develop an aversion to the food or drink. Can result in powerful classically conditioned avoidance responses on the basis of a single pairing. Animals, including people, seem biologically prepared to associate strange taste with feelings of sickness.

Individualistic Cultures

Importance and uniqueness of the individual is stressed Some cultures are collectivist cultures where a person's link to various groups such as family or company is stressed

Unconditional positive regard

Important element of client-centered therapy developed by Carl Rogers Blanket acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does.

Rosenhan Study

In 1978, David Rosenhan conducted a study in which he and a number of associates sought admission to a number of mental hospital. All claimed that they had been hearing voices; that was the sole symptom they reported. All were admitted to the institutions as suffering from schizophrenia. At that time, they ceased reporting any unusual symptoms and behaved as they usually did. None of the researchers were exposed as imposters, and all ultimately left the institutions with the diagnosis of schizophrenia in remission. While in the institutions, the researchers' every behavior was interpreted as a sign of their disorder.

Transference

In the course of therapy, patients begin to have strong feelings toward their therapists. Patients may think they are in love with their therapists, may view their therapists as parental figures, or may seethe with hatred toward them. Psychoanalysts believe that, in the process of therapy, patients often redirect strong emotions felt toward people with whom they have had troubling relationships (often their parents) onto their therapists.

Fovea Sensation

Indentation at the center of the retina where cones are concentrated. When light is focused onto your fovea, you see it in color. Your peripheral vision, especially at the extremes, relies on rods and is mostly in black and white. Foveal vision, focusing light on the fovea, results in the sharpest and clearest visual perception.

Color Blindness Sensation

Individuals with dichromatic color blindness cannot see either red/green shades or blue/ yellow shades. Those who have monochromatic color blindness see only shades of gray.

Specific Phobia

Intense unwarranted fear of situation or object such as claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces) or arachnophobia (fear of spiders) Two other common types of phobias are agoraphobia and social phobia

Dissociative Disorders

Involve a disruption in conscious processes. Psychogenic amnesia, fugue, and dissociative identity disorder (DID) are classified as dissociative disorders.

Medulla Biology

Involved in the control of our blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. Also known as the medulla oblongata and located above the spinal cord.

Survey Method Methods

Involves asking people to fill out surveys. Often used to gather opinions or attitudes and for correlational research. Response rate refers to the proportion of surveyed group who respond to and return a survey.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Involves flashbacks or nightmares following a person's involvement in or observation of an extremely troubling event such as a war or natural disaster. Memories of the event cause anxiety

Relearning Effect

It will take less time to relearn material we previously encoded, even if we have"forgotten" what we learned previously.

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging a situation based n how similar the aspects are to prototypes the person holds in his or her mind.

Availability Heuristic

Judging a situation based on examples of similar situations that come to mind initially. Might lead to incorrect conclusions due to variability in personal experience.

Locus of control

Julian Rotter described two characteristic ways of thinking about influences on successes and failures. People with and internal locus of control believe they are responsible for what happens to them. FOr instance, they tend to believe that hard work will leavd to success. People with an eternal locus of control generally believe that luck and other forces outside of their own control determine their destinies. A person's locus of control can have a large effect on how he or she thinks and acts, thus impacting the individual's personality.

Secondary Drives

Learned drives For instance, we learn that resources like money can get us food an water to satisfy our primary drives Drive reduction theory states that our behavior is motivated by biological needs.

Retroactive interference

Learning new information interferes with the recall of older information. For example, if you study your psychology at 3:00 and our sociology at 6:00, you might have trouble recalling the psychology information on a test the next day.

Threshold Biology

Level of neurotransmitters required to "fire" a neuron

Retina Sensation

Like a screen on the back of your eye. As the light passes through the lens, the image is flipped upside down and projected on the retina. Special neurons in the retina (cones, which detect color, and rods, which detect black and white) are activated by light and send impulses along the optic nerve to the occipital lobe of the brain.

Cognitive Therapies

Locate the cause of psychological problems in the way people think. Concentrate on changing unhealthy thought patterns. Involves challenging the irrational thinking patterns of patients. An example of an unhealthy way of thinking is attributing all failures to internal, global, and permanent aspect of the self.

Occipital Lobes Biology

Located at he very back of our brain, farthest from our eyes. One of the major functions of this lobe is to interpret messages from our eyes in our visual cortex. Impulses from the retinas in our eyes are sent to the visual cortex to be interpreted. Impulses from the right half of each retina are processed in the visual cortex in the right occipital lobe. impulses from the left part of each retina are sent to the visual cortex in our left occipital lobe

Frontal Lobes Biology

Located at the top from part of the brain behind the eyes. Anterior or front of the frontal lobe is called the prefrontal cortex and is thought to play a critical role in directing thought process. Prefrontal cortex is said to act as the brain's central executive and is believed to be important in foreseeing consequences, pursuing goals, and maintaining emotional control. Researchers believe this part of the brain is responsible for abstract thought and emotional control

Parietal Lobes Biology

Located behind the frontal lobe on the top of the brain. Contain the sensory cortex (also known as the somato-sensory cortex), which is located right behind he motor cortex in the frontal lobe.

Broca's Area Biology

Located in the frontal lobe and responsible for controlling the muscles involved in producing speech. Damage to Broca's area might leave us unable to make the muscle movements needed for speech.

Wernicke's Area Biology

Located in the left temporal lobe. Interprets both written and spoken speech. Damage to this area would affect our ability to understand language Our speech might sound fluent but lack the proper syntax and grammatical structure needed for meaningful communication.

Pons Biology

Located just above the medulla and toward the front. Connects the hindbrain with the midbrain and forebrain. Involved in the control of facial expressions and sleep regulations.

Midbrain Biology

Located just above the spinal cord Controls some very important functions, such as the ability to focus attentions. Coordinates simple movements with sensory information.

Cerebellum Biology

Located on the bottom rear of the brain Looks like a smaller version of our brain stuck onto the underside of our brain. Cerebellum means little brain. Coordinates some habitual muscle movements, such as tracking a target with our eyes or playing the saxophone.

Thalamus Biology

Located on top of the brain stem Responsible for receiving the sensory signals coming up the spinal cord and sending them to the appropriate areas in the rest of the forebrain.

Occipital Lobe Sensation

Location of the visual cortex Part of the brain that processes vision sensation. Receives impulses via the optic nerve. The optic nerve is divided into two parts. Impulses from the left side of each retina (right visual field) go to the left hemisphere of the brain, and those from the right side of each retina (left visual field) go to the right side of the brain.

Deindividuation

Loss of self-restraint that occurs when group members feel anonymous and aroused. Sometimes people get swept up by a group and do thing they never would have done if on their won such as looting or rioting

Sleep Apnea

May be almost as common as insomnia. Causes a person to stop breathing for short period of time during the night. The body causes the person to wake up slightly and gasp for air, ad then sleep continues. This process robs the person of deep sleep and causes tiredness and possible interference with attention and memory. Overweight men are at a higher risk for apnea. Can be treated with a respiration machine that provides air for the sleeper.

Aptitude Test

Measure ability or potential Different than achievement test, which measure what one has learned or accomplished. Intelligence tests are supposed to be aptitude test; they are made to express someone's potential, not his or her current level of achievement.

Achievement Test

Measure how much you have learned in a given subject area. Different than aptitude tests, which measure ability or potential. Most of the tests you take in school are supposed to be achievement tests. They are supposed to indicate how much you have learned in a given subject area. making a test that exclusively measures achievement is virtually impossible. Whatever one's aptitude for a particular field or skill, one's experience affects it.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET Scan) Biology

Measures how much of a certain chemical (glucose, for example) parts of the brain are using. The more used, the higher the activity. Different types of scans are used for different chemicals such as neurotransmitters, drugs, and oxygen flow.

Somatic Treatments

Medical treatments for psychological disorders, including drug treatments (psychopharmacology), psychosurgery, and electroconvulsive shock therapy. Based on the biomedical model of psychological disorders

Short-Term Memory (Working Memory)

Memories we are currently working with and are aware of in our consciousness. Everything you are thinking at the current moment is held in your short-term or working memory Short-term memories are temporary. If we do nothing with them, they usually fade in 10-30 seconds.

Mnemonic Devices

Memory tricks that aid in encoding information for easier recall. Mnemonics are specific examples of chunking, such as memorizing the names of the planets by remembering "my very excellent mother just served us nothing."

Images

Mental pictures we create in our minds of the outside world.

Double-Blind Procedure Methods

Method followed such that neither the participants nor the researcher are aware of who is in the experimental or control groups while the experiment is going on. Double-blind procedures control for both experimenter bias (researcher treating members of the experimental and control groups differently) and participant bias (the tendency for subjects to behave in certain ways based on their perception of an experiments).

Ovegeneralization or Overregularization

Misapplication of grammer rules Occus during language acquisition Example: "Marky hitted my head so I throwed the truck at him."

Sympathetic Nervous System Biology

Mobilizes our body to respond to stress Part of the nervous system that carries message to the control systems of the organs, glands, and muscles that direct the body's response to stress. The alert system of the human body. It accelerates some functions (such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration) but conserves resources needed for a quick response by slowing down other functions (such as digestion).

Smell (or Olfaction) Sansation

Molecules of substances rise into the air and are drawn into our nose. The molecules settle in a mucous membrane at the top of each nostril and are absorbed by receptor cells located there. As many as 100 different types of smell receptors may exist. These receptor cells are linked to the olfactory bulb, which gathers the messages from the olfactory receptor cells and sends this information to the brain. Nerve fibers from the olfactory bulb connect to the brain at the amygdala and then to the hippocampus, which make up the limbic system, which is responsible for emotional impulses and memory. This direct connection to the limbic system may explain why smell is such a powerful trigger for memories.

Tardive Dyskinesia

Muscle tremors and stiffness caused by extensive use of anti-psychotic drugs

Limbic System Biology

Name for a group of brain structures: Thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.

Weber's Law Sensation

Named after psychophysicist Ernst Weber. Describes the difference thresholds for different senses The change needed is proportional to the original intensity of the stimulus. The more intense the stimulus is, the more it will need to change before we notice a difference.

Corpus Callosum Biology

Nerve bundle that connects the two brain hemispheres.

Optic Nerve Sensation

Nerve leading from the retina that carries impulses to the occipital lobe of the brain. The optic nerve is divided into two parts. Impulses from the left side of each retina (right visual field) go to the left hemisphere of the brain, and those from the right side of each retina (left visual field) go to the right side of the brain.

Taste (or Gustation) Sensation

Nerves involved in the chemical sense (taste and smell) respond to chemicals rather than to enter. Taste buds on the tongue absorb chemicals from the food we eat. Taste buds are located on papillae, the bumps you can see on your tongue. Taste buds are located all over the tongue and on some parts of the inside of the cheeks and roof of the mouth. Humans sense five different types of tastes: sweet, salty, sour, umami, and bitter. People differ in their ability to taste food. The more densely packed the taste buds, the more chemicals are absorbed, and the more intensely the food is tasted. The flavor of food is actually a combination of taste and smell.

Reticular Formation Biology

Netlike collection of cells throughout the midbrain that controls general body arousal and the ability to focus attention. If the reticular formation does not function, we fall into a deep coma.

Neuron Biology

Neural cell Made up of specific structures: dendrites, cell body, axon, and terminal buttons.

All-or-none Principle Biology

Neuron either fires completely or it does not fire at all. If the dendrites of a neuron receive enough neurotransmitters to push the neuron past its threshold, the neuron will fire completely every time.

Long-term Potentiation

Neurons can strengthen connections between each other. Through repeated firing, the connection is strengthened and the receiving neuron becomes more sensitive to the messages from the sending neuron. This strengthened connection might be related to the connections we make in our long term memory

Efferent Neurons (or Motor Neurons) Biology

Neurons that take formation from the brain to the rest of the body. Efferent neurons carry information that exists the brain.

Afferent Neurons (or Sensory Neurons) Biology

Neurons that take information from the senses to the brain. Afferent neurons are responsible for transmitting neural impulses from the rest of the body to the brain.

Serotonin Biology

Neurotransmitter associated with mood control and memory. Lack of serotonin is associated with clinical depression

Endorphin Biology

Neurotransmitter associated with pain control. Also involved in drug addictions.

Size Constancy Sensation

Objects closer to our eyes will produce bigger images on our retinas, but we take distance into account in our destination of size. We keep a constant size in mind for an object (if we are familiar with the typical size of the object) and know that it does not grow or shrink in size as it moves closer or farther away.

Shape Constancy Sensation

Objects viewed from different angles will produce different shapes on our retinas, but we know the shape of an object remains constant. For example, the top of a coffee mug viewed from a certain angle will produce an elliptical image on our retinas, but we know the top is circular due to shape constancy.

Somatoform Disorders

Occur when a person manifests a psychological problem through a physiological symptom Such a person experiences a physical problem in the absence of any physical cause. Tow somatoform disorders a hypochondriasis and conversion disorder

Withdrawal

Occurs as a consequence of drug use. Symptoms vary from drug to drug Dependence on psychoactive drugs can be psychological, physical, or both. Psychologically dependent individuals feel an intense desire for the drug; they are convinced they need it in order to perform or feel a certain way. Physically dependent individuals have a tolerance for the drug, experience withdrawal symptoms without it, and need the drug to avoid the withdrawal symptoms.

Spontaneous Recovery (Operant Conditioning)

Occurs when a response begins again after extinction For example, a rat being to press the bar after having extinguished the bar press response without providing any further reinforcement

Discrimination (Operant Conditioning)

Occurs when an organism responds in only a very specific way to elicit a reinforcer. For example, a rat presses only a particular bar or presses a bar only under certain condition (eg when a tone is sounded).

Generalization (Operant Conditioning)

Occurs when an organism responds in similar ways in order to elicit a reinforcer. For example, a rat begins to press other things in the Skinner box or the bar in other boxes.

Discrimination (Classical Conditioning)

Occurs when an organism responds only to specific conditioned stimuli instead of similar conditioned stimuli. For example, to train dogs to discriminate between different bells, we would repeatedly pair the original bee with presentation of food, but we would intermix trials where we presented other bells that we did not pair with food. Generalization, responding only to similar conditioned stimuli instead of only a specific conditioned stimuli, is the opposite of discrimination.

Insight Learning

Occurs when one suddenly realized how to solve a problem YOu have probably had the experience of skipping over a problem on a test only to realize later, in an instant (we hope before you handed the test in) how to solve it. Wolfgang Kohler is known for his studies of insight learning in chimpanzees.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Occurs when people tend to overestimate the importance of dispositional factors and underestimate the role of situational factors. People are more inclined to make this error when explaining the behavior of others - they do not evidence this same tendency in explaining their own behaviors.

Nerve Deafness Sensation

Occurs when the hair cells in the cochlea have been damaged, usually by loud noise. In conduction deafness, the other type of deafness, something goes wrong with the system of conducting the sound to the cochlea (in the ear canal, eardrum, hammer/ anvil / stirrup, or oval window). Difficult to treat because no method yet found that will encourage the hair cells to regenerate.

Approach-approach conflict

Occurs when you must choose between two desirable outcomes. For example, imagine that for Spring Break one of your friends invites you to spend the week in Puerto Rico and another asks you to go to San Francisco. Assuming that both choices appeal to you, you have conflict because you can only do one.

Avoidance-Avoidance conflict

Occurs when you must choose between two unattractive For example, if your parents gave you a choice one weekend between staying home and cleaning out the garage or going on a family trip to visit some distant relatives, you might experience an avoidance-avoidance conflict.

Generalization (classical Conditioning)

Often animals conditioned to respond to a certain stimulus will also respond to similar stimuli, although the response is usually smaller in magnitude. For example, dog may salivate to number of bells, not just the one with which they were trained. This tendency to respond to similar conditioned stimuli is know as generalization. Discrimination, responding only to specific conditioned stimuli instead of similar conditioned stimuli, is the opposite of generalization.

Diathesis-Stress Model

Often applied to schizophrenia but can be more widely applied to many psychological and physical disorders. Environmental stressors can provide the circumstances under which a biological predisposition for illness can express itself. Helps explain why even people with identical genetic makeups (ie monozygotic twins) do not always suffer from

Protective Personality Tests

Often used by psychoanalysts Involve asking people to interpret ambiguous stimuli Psychoanalysts believe that people's interpretations reflect their unconscious thoughts. People are thought to project their unconscious thoughts onto the ambiguous stimuli Common examples are the Rorschach inkblot test and Thematic Apperception test (TAT)

Opponent-Process Theory of Motivation

Often used to explain addictive behaviors. States that people are usually at normal, or baseline, state. WE might perform an act that moves us from the baseline state, such as smoking a cigarette. These acts may be initially pleasurable (because nicotine is a stimulant and it makes us feel a good "buzz"), but the theory states that we eventually feel and opponent process, meaning a motivation to return to our baseline, neutral state. Do not confuse the Opponent-Process Theory of Motivation with the Opponent-Process Theory of Color Vision

Proactive interference

Older information learned previously interferes with the recall of information learned more recently. For example, if a researcher reads a list of items n a certain order and then rereads them in a different order and asks you to list them in the new order, the old list proactively interferes with recall of the new list.

Second-order or Higher-order Conditioning

Once a CS elicits a CR, it is possible, briefly, to use that CS as a US in order to condition a response to a new stimulus. By using a dog and a bell as our example, after the dog salivates to the bell (first-order conditioning), the bell can be paired repeatedly with a flash of light, and the dog will salivate to the light alone (second-order conditioning), even though the light has never been paired with the food.

Spearman's General Intelligence Theory

One fundamental issue of debate is whether intelligence refers to a single ability, a small group of abilities, or a wide variety of abilities. Charles Spearman argued that intelligence could be expressed by a single factor. He used factor analysis, a statistical technique that measures the correlations between different items, to conclude that as types of intelligence is a single general factor g.

Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory

One fundamental issue of debate is whether intelligence refers to a single ability, a small group of abilities, or a wide variety of abilities. Howard Gardner argued that intelligence can best be described as multiple abilities (multiple intelligences). Three of Garder's multiple intelligences - linguistic, logical-mathematical, and spatial - fall within the bounds of qualities traditionally labeled as intelligences. To that list Gardner added musical, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist intelligence.

Sternberg's Triarchic Intelligence Theory

One fundamental issue of debate is whether intelligence refers to a single ability, a small group of abilities, or a wide variety of abilities. Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory argues that three types of intelligence exist: 1. Analytic intelligence involves the skills traditionally thought of as reflecting intelligence: The ability to compare and contrast, explain, and analyze. 2. Creative intelligence focuses on people's ability to use their knowledge and experiences in new and innovative ways. 3. Practical intelligence refers to "street-smarts" or the ability to apply what we know to real-world situations.

Trust vs Mistrust

One of Eirk Erikson's stages of Psychosocial development Babies'' first social experience of the world centers on need fulfillment Babies learn whether or not they can trust that the world provides for their needs. Erikson thought that babies need to learn that they can trust their caregivers and that their requests (crying, at first) are effective. This sense of trust or mistrust will carry throughout the rest of our lives, according to Erikson.

Intimacy vs isolation

One of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development How much time should we spend on ourselves and how much time should we spend with our families? What is the difference between a platonic and romantic relationship? The patterns established in this stage will influence the effort spent on self and others in the future.

Generativity vs Stagnation

One of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development Erikson felt that by the time we reach this age, we are starting to look critically at our life path. We want to make sure that we are creating the type of life that we want for ourselves and family. In this stage, we try to ensure that our lives are going they way we want them to go. IF they are not, we may try to change our identities or control those around us to change our lives

Industry vs Inferiority

One of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development If we feel that we are as good at kickball (or math problems or singing or anything else) as the child in the next desk, we feel competent. If we realize that we are behind or cannot do as well as our peers, having an inferiority complex, we may feel anxious about our performance n that are throughout the rest of the stage.

Identity vs Role Confusion

One of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development In adolescence, Erikson felt our man social task is to discover what social identity we are most comfortable with. He thought that a person might naturally try out different roles before he or she finds the one that best fits his or her internal sense of self.

Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt

One of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development Toddlers begin to exert their will over their own babies for the first time. Erikson thought that potty training was an early effort at gaining this control Toddlers should also learn to control temper tantrums during this stage. Childrens' most popular word during this stage might be "no!", demonstrating their attempt to control themselves and others. Erikson believes we can then control our own body and emotional reactions during the rest of the social challenges we will face.

Integrity vs despair

One of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development Toward the end of life, we look back at our accomplishments and decide if we are satisfied with them or not. Erikson thought that if we can see that our lives were meaningful, we can "stop outside" the stress and pressures of society and offer wisdom and insight. If, however, we feel serious regret over how we lived our lives, we may fall into despair over lost opportunities.

Initiative vs Guilt

One of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development In this stage, childrens' favorite word changes from "no!', to "Why?" Children in this stage want to understand the world. they take the initiative in problem solving and ask many (many!) questions. If this initiative is encouraged, we will feel comfortable about expresing our curiosity through the rest of the stages. If those around us scold us for our curiosity, we might learn to feel guilty about asking questions and avoid doing so in the future.

Formal operations

One of Jean Piaget's cognitive developmental stages Age twelve through adulthood This final stage of Piaget describes adult reasoning. Piaget theorized that not all of us reach forma operations in all areas of thought. Formal operational reasoning is abstract reasoning. WE can manipulate objects and contrast ideas in our mind without physically seeing them. WE also gain the ability to think about he way we think; this is called metacognition. We trace our thought processes and evaluate the effectiveness of how we solved a problem.

Concrete Operations

One of Jean Piaget's cognitive developmental stages Eight to approximately twelve years old. Children learn to think more logically about complex relationship between different characteristics of objects. Piaget categorized children in the concrete-operations stage when they demonstrated knowledge of concepts of conservation, the realization that properties of objects remain the same even when their shapes change. These concepts demonstrate how the different aspects of objects are conserved even when their arrangement change.

Sensorimotor stage

One of Jean Piaget's cognitive developmental stages. Birth to approximately two years old. At the beginning of life, Piaget noted that behavior is governed by the reflexes we are born with. Soon, we start to develop our first cognitive schemata that explain the world we experience through our senses. One of the major challenges of this stage is to develop object permanence. Babies at first do not realize that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sensory range. When babies start to look for or somehow acknowledge that objects do exist when they cannot see them, they have object permanence.

Preoperational Stage

One of Jean Piaget's cognitive developmental stages. Two to approximately seven years old. The beginning of language is the most important cognitive development of this stage. We start speaking our first words and gradually learn to represent the world more completely through language. Even though we can refer to the world through symbols during the preoperational stage, we are still limited in the ways we an think about the relationships between object and the characteristics of object. Children in this stage are also egocentric in their thinking because they cannot look at the world from anyone's perspective but their own.

Secure attachments

One of the categories of infant attachment studied by Mary Ainsworth. In novel situations, these infants confidently explored the environment while the parents were present, were distressed when the parents left, and came to the parents when they returned.

Avoidant Attachment

One of the categories of infant attachment studied by Mary Ainsworth. In novel situations, these infants resisted being held by the parents and explored the environment. They did not go to the parents for comfort when the parents returned after an absence

Anxious / Ambivalent Attachment

One of the categories of infant attachment studies by Mary Ainsworth In novel situations, these infants had ambivalent reactions to the parents. They may have shown extreme stress when the parents left but resisted being comforted by them when they returned.

Norms of Reciprocity Compliance Strategy

One of the compliance strategies used to get others to comply. Occurs when people think they ought to do something nice of someone who has done something nice for them. For example, you may feel compelled to send money to the charity that sent you free return address labels.

Door-in-the-Face Compliance Strategy

One of the compliance strategies used to get others to comply. Suggests that after people refuse a large request, they will look ore favorably upon a follow-up request that seems, in comparison, much more reasonable. For example, after flat-out refusing to lend you $100, your friend might feel bad. The least he or she could do then is lend you $20

Foot-in-the-Door Compliance Strategy

One of the compliance strategies used to get others to comply. Suggests that if you can get people to agree to a small request, they will become more likely to agree to follow-up request that is larger. For example, once your friend agrees to lend you $5, he or she will be more likely to lend you additional funds.

Ego

One of the components of Freud's Psychoanalytic Personality Theory Freud theorized that personality consists of three parts: Id, ego, and superego The ego follows the reality principle; it negotiates between the desires of the id and the limitations of the environment, acting as a mediator between the id and the superego.

Superego

One of the components of Freud's Psychoanalytic Personality Theory. Freud theorized that personality consists of three parts: id, ego, and superego. The superego operates as our sense of conscience, how we think about what is right and wrong.

Id

One of the components of Freud's Psychoanalytic Personality Theory. Freud theorized that personality consists of three parts; id, ego, and superego. The id is propelled by the pleasure principle; it wants immediate gratification

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

One of the earliest theories about emotion was put forth by William James and Carl Lange Suggests that we feel emotion because of biological changes caused by stress For example, when the bid bad wolf jumps out of the woods, Little Red Riding Hood's heart races. This physiological change causes her to feel afraid

Postconventional Stage

One of the stages of Lawrence Kohlberg's Moral Developmental Theory A person evaluating moral choice using postconventional reasoning examines the rights and values involved in the choice. Kohlberg described how self-defined ethical principles (eg a personal conviction to uphold justice) might be involved in the reasoning in this stage, weighing the merit of altruism or limiting certain rights for the good of the group.

Conventional Stage

One of the stages of Lawrence Kohlberg's Moral Developmental Theory Children are able to move past personal gain or loss and look at the moral choice through others' eyes Children in this stage make a moral choice based on how others will view them Children learn conventional standards of what is right and wrong from their parents, peers, media, and so on. They may try to follow these standards so that other people will see them as good.

Preconventional stage

One of the stages of Lawrence Kohlberg's Moral Developmental Theory Children focused on making decisions most likely to avoid punishment. Their moral reasoning is limited to how the choice affects themselves.

Central Route to Persuasion

One of the ways persuasive messages can be processed. Involves deeply processing the content of the message, such as focusing on safety features when shopping for a new car. The opposite route is the peripheral route to persuasion, which focuses on other aspects of the message including the characteristics of the person imparting the message (the communicator.)

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

One of the ways persuasive messages can be processed. involves other aspects of the message including the characteristics of the person imparting the message (the communicator) certain characteristics of the communicator have been found to influence the effectiveness of a message (e.g. attractive people, famous people, and experts are among the most persuasive communicators). The opposite route is the central route to persuasion, which involves deeply processing the content of the message.

Test-Retest Reliablility

One of the ways to measure reliability of a test. Refers to the correlation between a person's score on one administration of the test with the same person's score on a subsequent administration of the test.

Pupil Sensation

Opening in the center of the eye. Similar to the shutter of a camera. Muscles that controls the pupil (called the iris) open it (dilate) to let more light in and also make it smaller to let less light in.

Bottom-Up Processing (also Feature Analysis) Sensation

Opposite of top-down processing. Instead of using our experience to perceive an object, we use only the features of the object itself to build a complete perception. We start our perception at the bottom with the individual characteristics of the image and put all those characteristics together into our final perception. Our minds build the picture from the bottom up using basic characteristics.

Perceptual Set Sensation

Our experience creates schemata, mental representations of how we expect the world to be, our schemata influence how we perceive the world. Schemata can create a perceptual set, which is a predisposition to perceiving something in a certain way. For example, you may perceive a cloud as being shaped like a heart around Valentine's Day.

Consciousness

Our level of awareness about ourselves and o ur environment. We are conscious to the degree we are aware of what is going on inside and outside ourselves. Consciousness is not an on/off switch; we are not conscious or unconscious. Psychologists refer to different levels and different states of consciousness.

Consciousness

Our level of awareness about ourselves and our environment We are conscious to the degree we are aware of what i s going on inside and outside ourselves. Consciousness is not an on / off switch; we are not conscious or unconscious. Psychologists refer to different levels and different states of consciousness.

Sensory Habituation (also called Perceptual Adaptation)

Our perception of sensations is partially determined by how focused we are on them. For example, no longer hearing traffic from the nearby freeway after having lived in a place for years.

Vestibular Sense Sensation

Our vistibular sense tells us about how our body is oriented in space. There semicircular canals in the inner ear give the brain feedback about body orientation. When the position of your head changes, the fluid moves in the canals, causing sensors in the canals to move. The movement of these hair cells activate neurons, and their impulses go to the brain. For example, our vestibular sense helps us figure out which way is up or down when doing a flip.

Lateral Hypothalamus

Part of the Hypothalamus involve in human motivation Stimulating this area causes an animal to eat. Destruction of this area destroys hunger, and the animal will starve to death unless forced to eat. If the hypothalamus functions normally, this area and the ventoromedial hypothalamus oppose each other and signal impulses to eat and stop eating at appropriate times.

Central nervous System Biology

Part of the Nervous system that consists of our brain and spinal cord. All the nerves are housed within bone (the skull and vertebrae).

Anxiety Hierarchy

Part of the process of system desensitization The therapist and client work together to construct an anxiety hierarchy, a rank-ordered list of what the client fears, starting with the least frightening and ending with the most frightening.

Syntax

Particular word order of language Each language has its own syntax, such as where the verb is usually placed in the sentence.

Brain Plasticity Biology

Parts of the brain can adapt themselves to perform other functions if needed. The cerebral cortex is made up of a complex network of neurons connected by dendrites that grow to make new connections. Since dendrites grow throughout our lives, if one part of the brain is damaged, dendrites might be able to make new connections in another part of the brain that would be able to take over the functions usu sally performed by the damaged part of the brain. Dendrites grow most quickly in younger children. Researchers know that younger brains are more plastic and are more likely to be able to compensate for damage.

Observational Learning (Modeling)

People and animals learn many things simply by observing others. Watching children play house, for example, gives us an indication of all they have learned from watching their families and the families of others. Studied by Albert Bandura in formulating his social-learning theory. This type of learning is said to be species-specific; it only occurs between members of the same species.

Social Facilitation

People perform tasks better in front of an audience than they do when they are alone. They yell louder, run faster, and reel in a fishing rod more quickly. The opposite effect is social impairment. When the task being observed was a difficult one rather than a simple, well-practiced skill, being watched by others actually hurt performance

Catatonic Schizophrenia

People who suffer from catatonic schizophrenia engage in odd movements. They may remain motionless in strange postures for hours at a time, move jerkily and quickly for no apparent reason, or alternate between the two. When motionless, catatonic schizophrenics usually evidence waxy flexibility. That is, they allow their body to be moved into any alternative shape and will then hold that new pose.

Self-efficacy

People with high self-efficacy are optimistic about their own ability to get things done, whereas people with low self-efficacy feel a sense of powerlessness. Albert Bandura theorized that people's sense of self-efficacy has a powerful effect on their actions

Undifferentiated Schizophrenia

People with undifferentiated schizophrenia exhibit disordered thinking but no symptoms of one of the other types of schizophrenia (disorganized schizophrenia, paranoid schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia)

Feature detectors Sensation

Perception researchers Hubel and Weisel discovered that groups of neurons in the visual cortex respond to different types of visual images. Visual cortex has feature detectors for vertical lines, curves, and motion, among others. What we erceive visually is a combination of these features.

Flynn Effect

Performance on intelligence tests has been increasing steadily throughout the century. Since the gene pool has remained relatively stable, this finding suggests that environmental factors such as nutrition, education, and perhaps, television and video games play a role in intelligence.

Ivan Pavlov (1849 - 1936) History

Performed pioneering conditioning experiments on dogs. These experiments led o the development of the classical conditioning model of learning.

Long-Term Memory

Permanent memory storage As far as we know, the capacity of long-term memory is unlimited. People do not report that their memory if full and that they cannot encode new information. Studies show that once information reaches long-term memory, we will likely to remember it for the rest of our lives. However, memories can decay or fade from long-term memory, so it is not truly permanent.

State-Dependent Memory

Phenomenon of recalling events encoded while in particular states of consciousness. if you suddenly remember an appointment while ou are drowsy and about to go to sleep, you need to write it down. Very possibly, you will not remember it again until you are drowsy and in the same state of consciousness.

Social Loafing

Phenomenon wherein individuals do not put in as much effort when acting as part of a group as they do when acting alone. One explanation for this effect is that when alone, an individual's efforts are more easily discernible than when in a group, Thus, as part of a group, a person may be less motivated to put in an impressive performance

Concepts of conservation

Piaget categorized children in the concrete-operations stage when they demonstrated knowledge of concepts of conservation, the realization that proprieties of objects remain the same even when their shapes change.

Flashbulb Memories

Powerful, detailed memories encoded because of importance of the event caused us to encode the context surrounding the event. Some studies show that flashbulb memories can be inaccurate. Perhaps we construct parts of the memory to fill in gaps in our stories. Related to constructive memory. A person's memory of a natural disaster, such as a tornado, would be a flashbulb memory.

Temporal Lobes Biology

Process sound sensed by our ears Sound waves are processed by the ears, turned into neural impulses, and interpreted in our auditory cortices. The auditory cortex is not lateralized like the visual cortices are. Sound received by the left ear is processed in the auditory cortices in both hemispheres.

Three-Box / Information-Processing Model

Proposes the three stages that information passes through before it is stored External events are first processed by our sensory memory. Then some information is encoded into our shot-term (or working) memory. Some of that information is then encoded into long-term memory.

Cornea Sensation

Protective covering on the front of the eye. Helps focus the lights.

Maslow's hierarchy of Needs

Psychologist Abraham Maslow pointed out that not all needs are created equal. Predicts which needs we will be motivated to satisfy first. We will act to satisfy biological needs like survival and safety. Then we will act to satisfy our emotional needs like love and self-esteem. Finally, once the previous goal have been met, we will want to attain our life goals like satisfaction and self-actualization, a need to fulfill our unique potential as a person.

Psychodynamic theorists

Psychologists who have been influenced by Freud's work but have significantly modified his original theory

Group Therapy

Psychotherapy can involve groups of people in addition to one-on-one client-therapist interactions. Therapists running groups can lave any of the theoretical orientations (e.g. cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic) Family therapy is one common use of group therapy Many therapists find meeting with the whole family helpful in revealing the patterns of interaction between family members and altering the behavior of the whole family rather than just one members. Sometimes group therapy involves meeting with number of people experiencing similar difficulties (e.g. Alcoholics anonymous)

William James (1842-1910) History 3

Published The Principles of Psychology, the science's first textbook Established the Theory of Functionalism; How mental processes function in our lives

Self-report Inventories

Questionnaires that ask people to provide information about themselves. Many different kinds of psychologists use self-report inventories as one means by which to gather data about someone. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) is one of the most widely used self-report instruments. A potential problem with such inventories is that peopole may not be completely honest in answering the questions.

Serial Position Effect (also Serial Position Curve)

Recall of a list is affected by the order of items in a list. Related to the primacy and recency effects.

Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Reference book that describes the symptoms of everything currently considered to be a psychological disorder. The current version of the DSM is the DSM IV-TR

Psychotherapy

Refers to all forms of talk therapy Used by psychoanalytic, humanistic, behavioral, and cognitive psychologists. Be careful; don't confuse psychotherapy, a general term used to describe any kind of therapy that treats the mind and not the body, wit psychoanalysis, a specific kind of psychotherapy pioneered by Sigmund Freud.

Secondary Reinforcers

Reinforcers that are rewarding because we have learned that they are reinforcing. Things we have learned to value such as praise or the chance to play a video game.

Primary Reinforcers

Reinforcers that are, in and of themselves, rewarding. The include things like food, water, and rest, whose natural properties are reinforcing.

Lesions Biology

Removal or destruction of part of the brain Sometimes doctors decide that the best treatment for a certain condition involves surgery that will destroy or incapacitate part of the brain. Doctors closely monitor the patient's subsequent behavior for changes.

Rehersal

Repeating information in order to encode it. Simple repetition can hold information in short-term memory, but other strategies are more effective in ensuring short term memories are encoded into long-term memory.

Naturalistic Observation Methods

Research method that involves observing participants in their natural habitats without interacting with them. The goal is to get a realistic and rich picture of the participants' behavior. cannot establish cause and effect relationship between variables.

Basic Research Methods

Research that explores questions that are of interest to psychologists but are not intended to have immediate, real-world applications. An example of basic research is an investigation into which areas of the brain are involved in seeing color. The other category of research is applied research, which is conducted in order to solve practical problems.

Applied Research Methods

Research that psychologists conduct to solve practical problems, such as investigating how people can best resolve personality conflicts at work. Research that has clear, practical applications. The other category of research is basic research, which explores questions that are of interest to psychologists but are not intended to have immediate, real-world applications.

Depth Cues Sensation

Researchers divide the cues that we use to perceive depth into tow categories: Monocular cues - depth cues that do not depend on having two eyes (eg linear perspective, interposition, shading, and texture gradient). Binocular cues - cues that depend on having two eyes (eg retinal disparity and convergence.)

Just-World Bias

Researchers find that people evidence a bias toward thinking that bad things happen to bad people. This belief in a just world, in which misfortunes befall people who deserve them, can be seen in the tendency to blame victims. For example, the belief that people are unemployed because they are lazy. If the world is just in this manner, then, assuming we view ourselves as good people, we need not hear bad things happening to us.

Parasympathetic Nervous System Biology

Responsible for slowing down the body after a stress response. Carries messages to the stress response system that causes the body to slow down. Think of the parasympathetic nervous system as the brake pedal that slows down the body's autonomic nervous system.

Extrinsic Motivatiors

Rewards that we get for accomplishments from outside ourselves (eg grades, salary) Studies show that if we want an advantageous behavior to continue, intrinsic motivation is most effective. Extrinsic motivations are very effective for a short period of time. Inevitably, thought, the extrinsic motivations end and so will the desired behavior unless some intrinsic motivation continues to motivate the behavior.

Intrinsic Motivators

Rewards we get internally, such as enjoyment or satisfaction Studies show that if we want an advantageous behavior to continue, intrinsic motivation is most effective. Extrinsic motivations are very effective for a short period of time. Inevitably, though, the extrinsic motivations end and so will the desired behavior unless some intrinsic motivation continues to motivate the behavior.

Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987)

Rogers created client-centered therapy, also known as person-centered therapy. This therapeutic method hinges on the therapist providing the client with what Rogers termed unconditional positive regard. Unconditional positive regard is blanket acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does. Rogers believes that unconditional positive regard is essential to healthy development.

Newborn Reflexes

Rooting reflex - when touched on the cheek, a baby will turn his or her head to the side where he or she felt the touch and seek to putthe object into his or her mouth. Sucking reflex - when an object is placed into the baby's mouth, the infant will suck on it. Grasping reflex - if an object is placed into a baby's palm or foot pad, the baby will try to grasp the object with his or her fingers or toes. moro reflex - when startled, a baby will fling his or her limbs out and the quickly retract them, making himself or herself as small as possible. Babinski reflex - when a baby's foot is stroked, he or she will spread his or her toes.

Dendrites Biology

Rootlike parts of the cell that stretch out from the cell body. Dendrites grow to make synaptic connections with other neurons.

Group Norms

Rules about how group members should act For example businesses may have rules governing appropriate work dress

Schizophrenic Disorders

Schizophrenia is one of the most severe and debilitating of the psychological disorders. It tends to strike people as they enter young adulthood. The fundamental symptom of schizophrenia is disordered, distorted thinking often demonstrated through delusions and/ or hallucinations. Delusions are beliefs that have no basis in reality hallucinations are perception in the absence of any sensory stimulation Kinds of schizophrenia include disorganized schizophrenia, paranoid schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, and undifferentiated schizophrenia.

Statistical Significance Methods

Scientists have decided that 5% (0.05) is the cutoff for statistically significant results. This means that in a statistically significant experimental result, there is less than a 5% chance that the results occurred by chance. Researchers use inferential statistics to determine whether results are statistically significant.

Sensation Sensation

Sensation occurs when one of our senses (sights, smell, hearing, touch, or taste) is activated by something in our environment. Occurs before the process of perception (the brain interpreting these sensations).

Touch Sensation

Sense of touch is activated when our skin is indented, pierced, or experiences a change in temperature. Some nerve endings in the skin respond to pressure; other respond to temperature. Brain interprets the amount of indentation (or temperature change) as the intensity of the touch, from a light touch to a hard blow. We sense placement of the touch by the place on our body where the nerve endings fire. nerve endings are more concentrated in different parts of our body. If we want to feel something, we usually use our fingertip, an are of high nerve concentration, rather than the back of our elbow, an area of low nerve concentration. Pain is a useful response because it warns us of potential dangers.

Authoritative Parents

Set consistent standards for their children's behavior, but the standards are reasonable and explained. The rationale for family rules are discussed with children old enough to understand them. Authoritative parents encourage their children's independence but not past the point of violating rules. They praise as often as they punish. In general, explanations are encouraged in authoritative house, and the rules are reasonable and consistent. For example, if your parents were authoritative and you cam in 15 minutes after your curfew, you would already know the consequences of your action. You would know what the family rule was for breaking curfew, why the rule existed, what the consequences were, and your parents would make sure you suffered the consequences.

Authoritarian Parents

Set strict standards for their children's behavior and apply punishments for violations of these rules. Obedient attitudes are valued more than discussions about the rationale behind the standards. Punishment for undesired behavior is more often used than reinforcement for desired behavior. For example, if your parents were authoritarian and you came in 15 min after your curfew, you might be grounded from going out again the rest of the month without explanation or discussion.

Psychoanalytic Psychosexual Stage Theory of Personality

Sigmund Freud believed that one's personality was essentially set in early childhood. He proposed a psychosexual stage theory of personality. Freud believed that sexual urges were an important determinant of people's personality development.. Each stage is named for the part of the body from which people derive sexual pleasure during the stage Freud's theory has four stages: Oral, anal, phallic, and adult genital Freud suggested that children could get fixated in any one of the stages. A fixation could result from being either undergratified or overgratified.

Signal detection Theory Sensation

Signal Detection Theory investigates the effects of the distractions and inferences we perceive while experiencing the world. Theory that takes into account how motivated we are to detect certain stimuli and what we expect to perceive. These factors together are called response criteria. By using factors like response criteria, Signal Detection Theory tries to explain and predict the different perceptual mistakes we make (such as not seeing a stop sign, or thinking that you see a friend in the distance when you are actually seeing a stranger).

Implicit Memories (also called Nondeclarative Memories)

Skill memories (eg leaning to walk) We do not have conscious memories of learning the skill, but we are able t perform it. Thought to be located in the cerebellum

Sleep Stages

Sleep onset - The stage between wakefulness and sleep. We might experience mild hallucinations (such as falling or rising) during this stage. Stage 1 and 2 - Stage in which the brain produces theta waves, which are relatively high-frequency, low amplitude waves. Stage 3 and 4, sometimes called delta sleep - Stage where the body's chemical supplies are replenished. The slower the wave, the deeper the sleep and the less aware we are of our environment. People who are deprived of delta sleep will be more susceptible to illness and will fell physically tired. Stages 1-4 are called Non-REM sleep After a period of time in deep stage 3 and 4 sleep, our brain waves start to speed up, and we go back through stages 3 and 2. As we reach stage 1, our brain produces a period of intense activity, our eyes dart back and forth, and many of our muscles may twitch repeatedly. This is RED - Rapid Eye Movement- Sleep

Depressants

Slow down body processes, including our reaction and judgement, by slowing down brain processes ( central nervous system processes). Common depressants include alcohol, barbiturates, and anxiolytics (also called tranquilizers or antianxiety drugs) like Valium. Euphoria accompanies the depressing effects of depressants, and continued use leads to tolerance and withdrawal symptoms.

Amygdala Biology

Small area of the brain within the limbic system Vital to our experiences of basic emotions, such as fear and aggression.

Hypothalamus Biology

Small structure next to the thalamus. The small size of the hypothalamus belies the importance of its functions. They hypothalamus controls several metabolic fictions, including body temperature, sexual arousal (libido), hunger, thirst, and the endocrine system.

Difference Threshold (also Just-Noticeable Difference)

Smallest amount of change needed in stimulus before we detect a change. Computed by Weber's law, named after psychophysicist Ernst Weber. Change needed is proportional to the original intensity of the stimulus. The more intense the stimulus is, the more it will need to change before we notice a difference.

Absolute Threshold Sensation

Smallest amount of stimulus we can perceive. Technical definition - the minimal amount of stimulus we can detect 50 % of time. For example, the absolute threshold for vision is the smallest amount of light we can detect, which is estimated to be a single candle flame about 30 miles (48 km) away on perfectly dark night.

Zimbardo's Prison Experiment

Social psychologist, Philip Zimbardo, assigned a group of Stanford Students to play either the role of prison guard or prisoner. All were dressed in uniforms, and the prisoners were assigned members. The prisoners were locked up in the basement of the psychology building, and the guards were put in charge of their treatment. The students took to their assigned roles perhaps to well, and the experiment had to be ended early because of the cruel treatment the guards were inflicting on the prisoners.

Attraction Research

Social psychologists study what factors increase the chance that people will like one another" Similarity - we are drawn to people who are similar to us, those who share our attitudes, backgrounds, and interests. Proximity - the greater your exposure to another person, the more you will generally come to like that person Reciprocal liking - the more someone likes you, the more you will probably like that person.

Social-Cultural (or sociocultural) Perspective History

Social-cultural psychologists look at how our thoughts and behaviors vary from people living in other cultures. Sociocultural psychologists emphasize the influence culture has on the way we think and act. For example, social-cultural psychologists are interested in the emphasis some cultures place on the value of the group (collectivism) or the individual (individualism).

REM Sleep

Sometimes called paradoxical since our brain waves appear as active and intense as they do when we are awake. Purpose of REM sleep are not clear, but dreams usually occur in REM sleep. REM sleep deprivation interferes with memory The more stress we experience during the day, the longer our periods of REM sleep will be. Babies spend more total time sleeping the we do (up to 18 hours), and they spend more time in REM sleep. As we age, our total need for sleep declines as does the amount of time we spend in REM sleep.

Spontaneous Recovery (Classical conditioning)

Sometimes, after a classically conditioned response has been extinguished and no further training of the animals has taken place, the response briefly reappears upon presentation of the conditioned stimulus.

Synapse Biology

Space between the terminal buttons of one neuron and the dendrites of the next neuron.

Rods and Cones Sensation

Special neurons in the retina that are activated by light. Cones are activated by color Rods respond to black and white.

Brain Lateralization (or Hemispheric Specialization) Biology

Specialization of function in each brain hemisphere. Right hemisphere may be more active during spatial and creative tasks Left hemisphere may be more active during spoken language, logic, and sequential tasks.

Stimulants

Speed up body processes, including autonomic nervous system functions such as heart and respiration rate. This dramatic increase is accompanied by a sense of euphoria. Caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines, and nicotine are common stimulants All stimulants produce tolerance, withdrawal effects, and other side effects (eg disturbed sleep, reduced appetite, increased anxiety, and heart problem)

Language acquisition

Stages in how we learn language. Stages include babbling, holophrastic, and telegraphic speech. Researchers disagree regarding whether language acquisition is governed more by nature or nurture; Nature - Biological influences such as the language acquisition device described by Chomsky. nurture - Environmental influences such as Skinner's operant conditioning principles.

Two-Factor theory

Stanley Schachter's two-factor theory explains emotional experiences in a more complete way than either the James-Lange or Cannon-Bard theories do. Suggests that both our physical responses and our cognitive labels (our mental interpretations) combine to cause any particular emotional response. For example, if your heart rate is already elevated after a quick job, you will report being more frightened by a sudden surprise than you would if you got a surprise in a resting state.

Dopamine Hypothesis

State that high levels of dopamine seem to be associated with schizophrenia

Drive Reduction Theory

States that our behavior is motivated by biological needs. A need is one of our requirements for survival (eg food, water, shelter) A drive is our impulse to act in a way that satisfies this need. Our body seeks homeostasis, a balanced internal state. When we are out of homeostasis, we have a need that creates a drive. Drives can be categorized in two ways: primary drives and secondary drives.

Arousal Theory

States that we seek an optimum level of excitement or arousal. Each of us has a different need for excitement or arousal, and we are motivated by activities that will help us achieve this level. People with high optimum levels of arousal might be drawn to high-excitement behaviors, while the rest of us are satisfied with less exciting and less risky activities. In general, most of us perform best with an optimum level of arousal, although this varies with different activities. We might perform well at an easy task with a very high level of arousal, but the same high level of arousal would prevent us from performing well on a difficult task. This relationship is called the Yerkers-Dodson law after the researchers who first investigated the concept in animals.

Inferential Statistics Methods

Statistics that can determine whether or not findings can be applied to the larger population from which the sample was selected. Related to the concept of statistical significance: Scientists have decided that 5% (0.05) is the cutoff for statistically significant results. This means that in a statistically significant experimental result, there is less than a 5% chance that the results occurred by chance.

In-group Bias

Stems from a group's belief that they themselves are good people The people with whom they share group membership are thought to be good as well

Subliminal Messages Sensation

Stimuli below our absolute threshold Research does not support claim that subliminal messages affect our behavior in overt ways.

Incentives

Stimuli that we are drawn to due to learning. We learn to associate some stimuli with rewards and others with punishment, and we are motivated to seek the rewards. For example, you may learn that studying with friends is fun but does not produce the desired result around test time, so you are motivated to study alone to get the reward of a good test score.

Compliance Strategies

Strategies used to get others to comply The foot-in-the-door phenomenon suggests that if you can get people to agree to a small request, they will become more likely to agree to a follow-up request that is larger. The door-in-the-face strategy argues that after people refuse a large request, they will look more favorably upon a follow-up request that seems, in comparison, much more reasonable. The norms of reciprocity strategy occur when people tend to think that when someone does something nice for them, they ought to do something nice in return.

Hindbrain Biology

Structures in the top part of the spinal cord. The life support system; it controls the basic biological functions that keep us alive. Some of the important specific structures within the hindbrain are the medulla, pons, and cerabellum.

Mary Whiton Calkins (1863 - 1930) History

Student of William James. Became president of the American Psychological Association (1905) Completed her doctoral studies but Harvard refused to award her a PhD because, at the time they did not grant doctoral degrees to women.

Latent Learning

Studied extensively by Edward Tolman Latent means hidden, and latent learning is leaning that becomes obvious only once a reinforcement is given for demonstrating it. Behaviorists had asserted that learning is evidenced by gradual changes in behavior, but Tolman conducted experiments illustrating that sometimes learning occurs but is not immediately evidence.d

Developmental Psychologist

Studies how our behaviors and thoughts change over our entire live, from birth and death

Obedience Studies

Studies that focus on participants' willingness to do what another asks them to do. Milgram (1974) found that over 60% of participants obey experimenters' orders, even when the orders involve potentially hurting someone else. participants' compliance is created when they are in close contact with those people whom they are being ordered to harm. When the experimenter left in the middle of the experiment and was replaced by an assistant, obedience also decreased. When other people were present in the room and they objected to the orders, the percentage of participants who quit in the middle of the experiment skyrocketed. Milligram's research has been severely criticized on ethical grounds

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Sufferers exhibit overly dramatic behavior (histrionics)

Obsessive-compulsive personality Disorder

Sufferers may be overly concerned with certain thoughts and performing certain behaviors, but they will not be debilitated to the same extent that someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder would.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Sufferers themselves as the center of the universe (Narcissism means self-love)

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Suffers feel constantly persecuted

Dependent personality Disorder

Suffers rely too much on the attention and help of others.

Endrocrine System Biology

System of glands that secrete hormones - chemicals that travel through our blood stream. Affects many different biological processes in our bodies, such as reproduction.

Introspection History 2

Technique used by Wilhelm Wundt who asked subject to accurately record their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli. Through this process, Wundt hoped to examine basic mental processes.

False-Consensus Effect

Tendency for people to overestimate the number of people who agree with them For example, if Jamal dislikes horror movies,he is likely to think that most other people share his aversion. Conversely, Sabrina, who loves a good horror flick, overestimate the number of people who share her passion.

Groupthink

Tendency for some groups to make bad decisions. Groupthink occurs when group members suppress their reservations about the ideas supported by the group. As a result, a kind of false unanimity is encouraged, and flows in the group's decision may be overlooked. Highly cohesive groups involved in making risky decisions seem to be at particular risk for groupthink.

Participant Bias (also called Response Bias) Methods

Tendency for subjects to behave in certain ways based on their perception of an experiment. Can be controlled for using a single-blind procedure (when participants do not know whether they are assigned to an experimental or control group) or a double-blind procedure (when neither the participants nor the researcher are aware of who is in the experimental or control groups while the experiment is going on)

Belief Bias or Belief Perseverance

Tendency not to change our beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence. A person who believes in ghosts and interprets every noise in an old house as a sign of "ghostly behavior" is engaging in belief bias.

Confirmation Bias

Tendency to look for evidence that confirms our beliefs and to ignore evidence that contradicts what we think is true.

Self-Serving Bias

Tendency to take more credit for good outcomes than for bad ones. For instance, a basketball coach would be more likely to emphasize her or his role in the team's championship win than in their heartbreaking first-round tournament loss.

Hindsight Bias Methods

Tendency upon hearing about research findings (and many other things) to think that they knew it all along. After an event occur, it is relatively easy to explain why it happened. The goal of scientific research, however, is to predict what will happen in advance. AN example of hindsight bias: Someone reads a study indicating that married people tend to live longer. This person says, " That's obvious! Everyone already knew that!"

APA Ethical Guidelines for Animal Research Methods

The APA (American Psychological Association) established ethical guidelines for human and animal research. Ethical psychological studies using animal must meet the following requirements: Have a clear scientific purpose Care for and house animals in a humane way Acquire animal subjects legally Design experimental procedures that employ the least amount of suffering feasible.

APA Ethical Guidelines for Human Research Methods

The APT (American Psychological Association) established ethical guidelines for human and animal research. Any type of academic research must first propose the study to the ethics board or institutional review board (IRB) at the institution. Guidelines for human research include: Coercion Informed consent Anonymity / confidentiality Lack of risk Debriefing procedure

Intelligence

The ability to gather and use informtion in productive ways. Many psychologists differntiate between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence refers to our ability to solve abstract problems and pick up new information and skills, while crystallized intelligence involves using knowledge accumulated over time. Several different theories of intelligence try to explain and categorize intelligence, including theories that define intelligence as a single ability (Spearman) and those that define intelligence as multiple theories (Gardner)

Language Acquisition Device

The ability to learn a language rapidly as children (this is called the Nativist Theory of Language Acquisition). Noam Chomsky theorized that humans are born with this device.

Metacognition

The ability to trace our thought processes and evaluate the effectiveness of how we solve a problem.

Information-Processing Dream Theory

The brain may be dealing with daily stress and information during REM dreams. Stress during the day will increase the number and intensity of dreams during the night. Most people report their dream content relates somehow to daily concerns. The function of REM sleep may be to integrate the information processed during the day into our memories. Babies may need more REM sleep than adults because they process so much new information every day.

Tolerance

The brain will produce less of a specific neurotransmitter if it is being artificially supplied by a psychoactive drug. This physiological change produces tolerance, a need for more of the same drug in order to achieve the same effect. Will eventually cause withdrawal symptoms in users.

Perception Sensation

The brain's interpretation of sensory messages. Occurs after the process of sensation (the activation of our senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste). The process of understanding and interpreting sensation.

Hemispheres Biology

The cerebral cortex is divided into two hemispheres: left and right. Each hemisphere has four lobes. The hemisphere look like mirror images of one another, but they exert some differences in function.

Levels of Consciousness

The consciousness consists of different levels or layers is well established. not all researchers agree about what the specific levels are. The most frequently mentioned levels: conscious level, nonconscious level, preconscious level, subconscious level, and unconscious level .

Mood Congruent Memory

The greater likelihood of recalling an item when our mood matches the mood we were in when the event happened. We are likely to recall happy events when we are happy and recall negative events when we are feeling pessimistic

Hearing Sensation

The hearing process occurs in several steps: Sound waves, vibrations in the air, travel through the air, and are then collected by our ears. Sound waves have amplitude and frequency. Amplitude is the height of the wave and determines the loudness of the sound, which is measured in decibels. Frequency, which is measured in megahertz, refers to the length of the waves and determines pitch. Vibrations enter the ear and vibrate the eardrum, which connects with three bones in the middle ear: the hammer (or malleus), the anvil (or incus), and the stirrup (or stapes). THe vibration is transferred to the oval windrow, a membrane very similar to the eardrum The oval window membrane is attached to the cochlea, where the process of transduction occurs and neural messages are sent to the auditor cortex in the temporal lobe.

Humanist Perspective History

The humanists, including theoriests Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) and Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987), stressed individual choice and free will. This contrasts with with the deterministic behaviorists who theorized that all behaviors are caused by past conditioning. Humanists believe that we choose most of our behaviors and that these choices are guided by physiological, emotional, or spiritual needs.

Egocentric

The inability to look at the world from anyone's perspective but our own. For example, a child might demonstrate egocentrism when talking to a sibling by saying, "No, Mommy is MY mommy!" Egocentrism prevents the child from being able to realize that her / his mother is "mommy" to all the siblings.

Functional Fixedness

The inability to see a new use for an object A guitar player who loses her pick and doesn't realize she could use a paperclip is falling victim to functional fixedness.

Assimilation

The incorporation of experiences into existing schemata. For example, a child who sees a pony for the first time might try to incorporate it into his / her schemata for a dog.

Sampling Methods

The individuals on whom the research is conducted are called participants ( or subjects), and the process by which participants are selected is called sampling. To select a sample (the group of participants), first identify the population from which the sample will be selected. The population includes anyone or anything that could possibly be selected to be in the sample. The goal in selecting a sample is that it represents a larger population. Random selection means that every member of the population has an equal change of being selected. Random selection increases the likelihood that the sample represents the population and that one can generalize the findings to the larger population.

Paranoid Schizophrenia

The key symptom in paranoid schizophrenia is delusions of persecution For example, a man suffering from delusions of persecution would believe hat others are trying to hurt him or are out to get him

Diffusion of Responsibility (also called the Bystander Effect)

The larger the number of people who witness an emergency situation, the less likely anyone will be to intervene. The larger the group of people who witness a problem, the less responsible any one individual feels to help People tend to assume that someone else will take action so they need not do so. The vicious murder of Kitty Cenovese in Kew Gardens, NY, committed within view of at least 38 witnesses, noe of whom intervened, let John Darley and Bibb Latene to research diffusion of responsibility

More Exposure Effect

The more one is exposed to something, the more one will come to like ti. For example, you are more likely to buy the brand of potato chips you have seen advertised thousands of times than one you have never heard of.

major Depression (also known as Unipolar Depression)

The most common mood disorder. Often referred to as the common cold of all psychological disorders. One key diagnostic factor is the length of the depressive episode. People who a re clinically depressed remain unhappy for more than two weeks in the absence of clear reason. Other common symptoms of depression include loss of appetite, fatigue, change in sleeping patterns, lack of interest normally enjoyable activities, and feelings of worthlessness.

Insomnia

The most common sleep disorder. Insomniacs have persistent problems getting to sleep or staying asleep at night. Usually treated with suggestions for changes in behavior; reduction of caffeine or other stimulants, exercise at appropriate times during the day (not right before bedtime), and maintaining a consistent sleep pattern. Insomniacs are advised to use sleeping pills only with caution, as they disturb sleep patterns during the night and can prevent truly restful sleep.

Psychosurgery

The most intrusive and rarest form of somatic therapy Psychosurgery involves the purposeful destruction of part of the brain to alter a person's behavior. Used only as a last resort and only on people suffering to a great extent An early, and unfortunately widespread, form of psychosurgery was the prefrontal lobotomy, which involved cutting the main neurons leading to the frontal lobe of the brain. Although this procedure often calmed the behavior of patients, it reduced their level of functioning and awareness to vegetative state

Prototypes

The most typical apple of particular concept If someone says the word "bird" and you think of a robin, then a robin represents your prototype of a bird.

Experiment Methods

The only research method that can show a casual relationship. Allows the researcher to manipulate the independent variable and control for confounding variables. A confounding variable is any difference between the experimental and control conditions, except for the independent variable, that might affect eh dependent variable. Experiments compare at least two groups; an experiential group and a control group that differ based on the independent variable.

Assignment Methods

The process by which participants are put into either an experimental or a control group. Random assignment means that each participant has an equal chance of being placed into any group. it limits the effects of confounding variables based on differences between people. Using random assignment diminishes the chance that participants in the two groups differ in any meaningful way.

Cochlea Sensation

The process of transduction (where sound waves are changed into neural impulses) occurs in the cochlea. Shaped like a snail's shell and filled with fluid. As sound waves move the fluid, hair cells move. Neurons are activated by movement of the hair cells. Neural messages are sent to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe.

Reliability Testing

The repeatability or consistency of the test as a means of measurement. For instance, if you were to take a test three times that purportedly determined what career you should pursue,and on each occasion you received radically different ercommendation s, you might question the reliability of the test. If yo are to have any faith in the meaning of a test score, we must believe the test is both reliable and valid.

Reinforcement Schedules

The schedule used to determine when a reinforcer is administered. Continuous reinforcement is reinforcing a behavior each time it is performed. Reinforcement schedule can be based on two factors: The number of responses made ( ration schedules) The passage of time (Interval schedules

Chemical Senses Sensation

The senses of taste and smell. These senses work by gathering chemicals.

Energy Senses Sensation

The senses of vision, hearing, and touch. These senses gather energy in the form of light, sound waves, and pressure, respectively.

Morphemes

The smallest unito fo meaningful sound. morphemes can be words, such as a and but, or parts of words, such as the prefixes un- and pre-. Language consists of phonemes put together to become morphemes, which make up words.

Phonemes

The smallest units of sound used in a language English speakers use approximately 44 phonemes

Blind Spot Sensation

The spot on the retina where the optic nerve leaves the retina and there are no rods or cones. We cannot detect objects in our blind spot, but our brains and the movement of your eyes accommodate for the blind spot, so we usually don't notice it.

Instinctive Drift

The tendency for animals to forgo rewards to pursue their typical patterns of behavior. Researchers have found that animals will not perform certain behaviors that go against their natural inclinations. For example, rats will not walk backward. In addition, pigs refuse to put disks into a bank-like object and tend, instead, to bury the disks in the ground.

Group Polarization

The tendency of a group's views to get stronger during group discussions, which may lead to more extreme decisions. Explanations include the fact that in a group, individuals may be exposed to new, persuasive arguments they had not thought of themselves and that the responsibility for an extreme decision in a group is diffused across the group's many members.

Social Impairment

The tendency of people to go along with the views or actions. Solomon Asch (1951) found that in approximately one-third of the cases when people gave an incorrect answer, the participants conformed to that wrong answer. Approximately 70 % of the participants conformed on at least one of the trials. In general, conformity is most likely to occur when a group's opinion is unanimous. Groups larger than three (in addition to the participant) do not significantly increase the tendency to conform

Transduction Sensation

The translation of incoming stimuli into neural signals. Neural impulses from the senses travel first to the thalamus and then on to different cortices of the brain. The sense of smell is the one exception to this rule.

Experimenter Bias Methods

The unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypothesis. Experimenter bias is not a conscious act. If researchers purposely distort their data, it is called fraud, not experimenter bias.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist when we cannot see them.

Personality

The unique attitudes, behaviors, and emotions that characterize. Psychologists from each of the different perspectives have different ideas about how an individual's personality is created. Psychoanalytic, trait, biological, behaviorist, social-cognitive, and humanistic theorists all define and explain personality differently.

Active Listening (also called Reflective Listening)

Thechnique used in non-directive client-centered therapy Therapists using active listening wuold not tell their clients what to do but, rather, would seek to help the clients choose a course of action for themselves. Client-centered therapists say very little and encourage the clients to talk a lot about how they feel and sometimes mirror back those feelings ("so what I'm hearing you say is...") to help clarify the feelings for the client.

Pitch Theories Sensation

Theories that explain how we hear different pitches or tones. Place Theory explains that the hair cells in the cochlea respond to different frequencies of sound based on where they are located in the cochlea. According to Frequency Theory, Place Theory accurately describes how hair cells sense the upper range of pitches but not the lower tones. Lower tones are sensed by the rate at which the cells fire. We sense pitch because the hair cells fire at different rates (frequencies) in the cochlea.

Role Theory of Hypnosis

Theorizes that hypnosis is not an alternate state of consciousness at all. Some people are more easily hypnotized than others, which is called hypnotic suggestibility. People with high hypnotic suggestibility tend to have richer fantasy lives, follow directions well, and be able to focus intensely on a single task for a long period of time. These factors may indicate that hypnotism is a social phenomenon. During hypnosis people may act out the role of hypnotized person and follow the suggestions of the hypnotist because that is what is expected of them.

Dissociation Theory of Hypnosis

Theory based on research by Ernest Hilgard Suggests that hypnosis causes us to divide our consciousness voluntarily. One part level of our consciousness responds to the suggestions of the hypnotist; another part or level retains awareness of reality. Hilgard's experiments indicate the presence of a hidden observer, a level of our consciousness that monitors what is happening while another level obeys the hypnotist's suggestions.

Functionalism History 4

Theory described by William James Examines how the mental processes described by Wilhelm Wundt function in our lives

Activation-Synthesis Dream Theory

Theory that proposes dreams are nothing more than the brain's interpretations of what is happening physiologically during REM sleep. Dreams seen as biological phenomena Brain imaging proves that our brain is very active during REM sleep.

Somatic Therapies

Therapies that produce bodily changes Psychologists with biomedical orientation see the cause of psychological disorders as being organic (i.e. imbalances in neurotransmitters or hormones, structural abnormalities in the brain, genetic predispositions that might underlie the other two) and advocate the use of somatic therapies.

Bipolar Cells and Ganglion Cells Sensation

These cells make up different layers in the retina. In the retina, light activates rod and cone cells. Rods and cones send signals to the next layer of cells in the retina: bipolar cells. Bipolar cells send signals to the next layer of cells in the retina: ganglion cells. Ganglion cells send signals to the brain through the optic nerve.

Motor Cortex Biology

Thin vertical strip at the back of the frontal lobe. This part of the cerebral cortex sends signals to our muscles, controlling our voluntary movements. The top of the body is controlled by the neurons at the bottom of this cortex (by the ears), progressing down the body as you go up the cortex.

Population Methods

To group from which a sample is selected. The population includes anyone or anything that could possibly be selected to be in the sample. The goal in selecting a sample is that it represents a larger population.

Achievement Motivation

Tries to explain the motivations behind more complex behaviors. Examines our desires to master complex taskes and knowledge and to reach personal goals. Humans (and some other animals) seem to be motivated to figure out our world and master skills, sometimes regardless of the benefits of the skills or knowledge. Studies in achievement motivation find that some people have high achievement motivation and consistently feel motivated to challenge themselves more than do other people.

Semantic Memory

Type of long-term memory General knowledge of the world, stored as facts, meaning, or categories rather than sequentially. Your knowledge of the way the elements are organized in the periodic table is a semantic memory.

Procedural Memory

Type of long-term memory Memories of skills and how to perform them These memories are sequential but might be very complicated to describe in words. Your ability to ride a bicycle is an example of a procedural memory.

Episodic Memory

Type of long-term memory Memories of specific events, stored in a sequential series of events your memory of the presents you received at your 6th birthday party is an episodic memory.

Electroconvulvise Therapy (ECT)

Type of somatic therapy Electric current is passed through both hemispheres of the brain The electric shock causes patients to experience a brief seizure. Prior to administering ECT, patients are given a muscle relaxant to reduce the effects of the seizure. Usually, following the seizure, patients briefly lose consciousness. Less common treatment than chemotherapy, it is used, most often, for severe cases of depression after other methods have failed. Can involve significant negative side effects, most notably loss of memory. Means by which ECT works is not completely understood. One theory suggests that the benefits are the result of a change in the brain's blood flow patterns.

Antianxiety Drugs

Type of somatic therapy used to treat anxiety disorders. Act by depressing the activity of the central nervous system, thus making people feel more relaxed. Two main types of anti anxiety drugs are barbiturates (e.g. Milton) and benzodiazepine (e.g. Xanax and Valium)

Antidepressant Drugs

Type of somatic therapy used to treat mood disorders Th three most common kinds of drugs used to treat unipolar depression are tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, and serotonin-reputake-inhibitor drugs (SSRIs, most notably Prozac) All tend to increase the activity of serotonin, although tricyclics and MAO inhibitors seem to have wider effects. Lithium, a metal is often used to treat the manic phase of bipolar disorder.

Antipsychotic Drugs

Type of somatic therapy used to treat schizophrenia, which is generally treated with antipsychotic drugs (e.g. Thorazine or Haldol) Function by blocking the receptor sites for dopamine An unfortunate side effect of antipsychotic medication is tardive dyskinesia, Parkinsonian-like, chronic muscle tremors.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI Scan) Biology

Use magnetic fields to measure the density and location of brain material. Does not use X-ray as the CAT scan does, so the patient is not exposed to carcinogenic radiation. Like the CAT scan, the MRI gives doctors information about only the structure of the brain, not the function.

Psychopharmacology

Using drugs to treat psychological disorders The most common type of somatic therapy Drugs treat many kinds of psychological problems, ranging from anxiety disorders to mood disorders to schizophrenia. The more severe a disorder, the more likely that drugs will be used to treat it. Schizophrenia, for example, is most always treated with drugs.

Bipolar Disorder

Usually involves both depressed and manic episodes. People experience manic episodes in different ways, but they usually involve feelings of high energy. While some sufferers will feel a heightened sense of confidence and power, others simply feel anxious and irritable. Even though some people feel an inflated sense of well-being during the manic period, they usually engage in excessively risky and poorly thought out behavior that ultimately has negative consequences for them.

Sound Waves Sensation

Vibrations in the air. They travel through the air and are collected by our ears. Sound waves have amplitude and frequency. Amplitude is the height of the wave and determines the loudness of the sound, which is measured in decibels. Frequency, which is measured in megahertz, refers to the length of the waves and determines pitch.

Biological Theories of Personality

View genes, chemicals, and body types as the central determinants of who a person is. A growing body of evidence sports the idea that human personality is shaped, in part, by genetics.

Humanistic Theories of Personality

View people as innately good and able to determine their own destinies through the exercise of free will. Stresses the importance of people's subjective experience of people's subjective experience and feelings. Focuses on the importance of a person's self-concept and self-esteem. Self-concept is a person's global feeling about himself or herself. Self-Concept develoops through a person's involvement with others, especially parents. Someone with a positive self-concept is likely to have high self-esteem. Two of he most influential humanistic psychologists were Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

Hippocampus Biology

Vital to our memory system Located in the limbic system Memories are not permanently stored in this area of the brain, however. Memories are processed though this area and then sent to other locations in the cerebral cortex for permanent storage.

Cannon-Bard theory of Emotion

Walter Cannon and Philip Bard demonstrated that similar physiological changes correspond with drastically different emotional states. Suggests that the biological change and the cognitive awareness of the emotional state occur simultaneously. For example, when the Bid Bad Wolf jumps out of the woods, Little Red Riding Hood feels afraid and her heart races at the same time.

Descriptive Statistics Methods

Ways of describing a set of data Measures of central tendency are common descriptive statistic. Three common measures of central tendency are the mean, median, and mode. The mean is the average of all the scores in a distribution. The median is the central score in the distribution. The mode is the score that appears most frequency.

Primacy Effect

We are more likely to recall items presented at the beginning of a list.

Recency effect

We are more likely to recall the items at the end of a list

Brightness Constancy Sensation

We perceive objects as being a constant color even as the light reflecting off the object changes. For example, we will perceive a brick wall as brick red even as the daylight fades and the actual color reflected from the wall turns gray.

Personality Disorders

Well-established, maladaptive ways of behaving that negatively affect people's ability to function

Extinction (Operant Conditioning)

When an organism stops a response because the reinforcer ceases. For example, when a rat ceases to press the lever because the reward no longer results from this action. Note that punishing the rat for pushing the lever is not necessary to extinguish the response. Behavior that are not reinforced will ultimately stop and are said to be on an extinction schedule.

Top-Down Processing Sensation

When we use top-down processing, we perceive by filling in gaps in what we sense. Occurs when you use your background knowledge to fill in gaps in what you perceive. our experience creates schemata, mental representations of how we expect the world to be . Our schemata influence how we perceive the world. Schemata can create a perceptual set, which is a predisposition to perceiving something in a certain way.

Axon Biology

Wirelike structure ending in the terminal buttons that extends from the cell body.

anorexia

a kind of eating disorder Anorexics starve themselves to below 85% of their normal body weight and refuse to eat due to their obsession with weight The vast majority of anorexics are women

obesity

a kind of eating disorder People with diagnosed obesity are severely overweight, often by over 100 pounds, and the excess weight threatens their health. Obese people typically have unhealthy eating habits rather than the food obsessions of the other two disorders. Some people may also be genetically predisposed to obesity.

Recall

a kind of retrieval Retrieving a memory with an external cue (eg "What does my Aunt Beki's perfume smell like?")

Algorithm

a problem-solving rule that guarantees the righ solution by using a formula or other foolproof method.

Hypnosis

an altered state of consciousness in which a person is highly suggestible. Some people are more hypnotizable than others Hypnotic phenomena include posthypnotic amnesia (forgetting events that occurred hypnosis) and posthypnotic suggestion after he or she is brought out of hypnosis)

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) History 1

set up the first psychological laboratory in an apartment near the university at Leipzig, Germany. Trained subjects in introspection. Subjects were asked to accurately record their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli.