Psychology Ch. 4-7

Phonemes

combined to form morphemes, the smallest unit of meaning in language

why do we dream?

consolidate memories

David Wechsler

described intelligence as: "Intelligence is the global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with the environment"

Alfred Binet

developed methods of identifying children who were unable to cope with the demands of regular classroom education

Insomnia

difficultly falling asleep, remaining asleep, or returning to sleep after nightmares; Caused by substance abuse, physical illness, and psychological disorders

Gender Differences- Females

do better in verbal skills (reading, writing, and spelling)

Gender Differences- Males

do better with math skills (however the gender gap is narrowing), and visual-spatial skills such as map reading

drug abuse

drug use becomes abuse when repeated use causes personal, occupational, or health-related problems

flashbulb memories

enduring memories of emotionally charged events that seem permanently seared into the brain

marijuana

hallucinogen derived from the cannabis plant

gifted

having an IQ of 130 or greater

primary reinforcers

intrinsically rewarding stimuli because they satisfy basic biological needs or drives. The reinforcement of this does not depend on learning

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

language we use determines how we think and how we perceive the world

sleep stage 3 & 4

large slow brain waves, difficult to wake; is the deepest level of sleep

Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning

learning by association - you learn to connect or associate two stimuli

retrograde amnesia

loss of memory of past events

anterograde amnesia

loss or impairment of the ability to form or store new memories

Misinformation effect

memory distortion that affects eyewitness testimony and is caused by misinformation provided during the retention interval

declarative memory

memory of facts and personal information that requires conscious effort to bring to mind

Opiods

narcotics that are pain-relieving and sleep inducing addictive drugs ex.) Morphine, heroin, codeine, and synthetic drugs including Darvon and Percodan

Spearman

observed that people who scored well on one test generally tended to score well on other tests

detoxification

process in which a user's body is cleared of the addictive drug(s)

dissociative amnesia

psychological causes: Blows to the head, Degenerative brain diseases, Blockage of blood vessels, Infectious diseases, Chronic alcoholism

short term memory

retains and processes information for a maximum of 30 seconds

syntax

rules of grammar

semantics

set of rules that govern meaning

sleep stage 2

sleep begins 2 minutes into stage 1. bursts of brain wave activity, spend more than 1/2 of total sleep in this stage--can still be awakened

spontaneous recovery

sometimes the salivation came back at a later time when the dog was exposed to the bell. The response will again be extinguished if the bell isn't paired with food.

George Miller

studied human "storage capacity" in the 1950's and determined that humans can retain about 7 items plus or minus 2 in short term memory

sleep apnea

temporary stopping of breath during sleep

remembering less

the belief that forgetting is the result of the interference of memories with one another

extinction

the process by which responses are weakened and eventually eliminated when the response being performed is no longer reinforced

memory retrieval

the process of accessing stored information to make it available in the consciousness (Not all retrieval is perfect, some requires retrieval clues which help jog them into awareness)

memory storage

the process of retaining information in memory ex.) Your first kiss, graduating from high school, etc

REM sleep

the stage of sleep where one's eyes dart under closed eyelids; most closely associated with dreaming, the brain is very active

positive reinforcement

the strengthening of a response through the introduction of a stimulus after the response occurs

serial position effect

the tendency to recall items at the start or end of a list better than items in the middle of a list

primacy effect

the tendency to recall items better when they are learned first

recency effect

the tendency to recall items better when they are learned last

improve memory

using mneumonics

consciousness

viewed as a state of awareness of ourselves and of the world around us

Psychological dependence

a pattern of compulsive or habitual use of a drug

Physiological dependence

a person's body chemistry changes as the result of repeated use of a drug so that the body depends on it

eyewitness testimony

can be flawed just as other forms of memory

sleepwalking

5% of children, occurs during deep, dreamless sleep

Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences

8 independent kinds of intelligence (linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist)

divided conciousness

A state of awareness characterized by divided attention to two or more tasks or activities at the same time (One is usually a mechanical task like driving)

focused awareness

A state of heightened alertness in which you are fully absorbed in the task at hand

drifting conciousness

Because it is difficult to keep a state of focused awareness for long periods of time, your mind may start drifting from thought to thought

binge drinking

Defined by having 5 or more drinks for men and 4 or more for women

William James

First person to write a textbook in the field of psychology -Principles of Psychology (1890)

repression

Freud believed that certain memories are not forgotten but are kept hidden

memory encoding

Information comes from the outside world through our senses, for it to remain in memory it must go through the process of memory encoding

cognitive learning

Involves mental processes that cannot be directly observed ex.) Thinking, information processing, problem solving, and mental imaging

observational learning

Learning by observing and imitating the behavior of others

latent learning

Learning that occurs without apparent reinforcement and that is not displayed until reinforcement is provided

repressed memory

Memories that suddenly surface in adulthood are many times under scrutiny

prospective memory

Memory of things you need to do in the future Example: I have an exam next week, I need to study

retrospective memory

Memory of your past experience Example: What you learned in class last week

long term memory

Some information remains for days or weeks and other information remains for a lifetime

circadian rhythm

The fluctuation of daily bodily processes; regulated by the hypothalamus

punishment

The introduction of an aversive stimulus or the removal of a reinforcing stimulus after a response occurs

operant conditioning

The process of learning in which the consequences of a response determine the probability that the response will be repeated

insight learning

The process of mentally working through a problem until the sudden realization of a solution occurs

negative reinforcement

The strengthening of a response when it leads to removal of an aversive stimulus ex.) loud noises, cold, pain, nagging, or a child's crying

can animals acquire a language?

This depends on the definition of language; The current definition includes syntax and grammar which makes it only unique to humans

procedural memory

This is a memory that helps us remember how to do things Example: riding a bike

episodic memory

This is memory of personal experiences- "story of our life"; Like a personal diary

semantic memory

This is the memory of facts- "mental encyclopedia"; Better remembered when rehearsed or retrieved from time to time

law of effect

Thorndike's principle that responses that have satisfying effects are more likely to recur, whereas those that have unpleasant effects are less likely to recur (pull box)

Freud and Dreams

Two types of dream content 1. Manifest content: the events that occur in the dream 2. Latent content: the underlying meaning of the dream disguised in dream symbols-disguised so that they don't disrupt sleep

classical conditioning and fear

Watson and baby Albert is a good representation of a conditioned emotional reaction

Sleeping

We spend about 1/3 of our lives doing this

alcoholism

a chemical dependent which effects the liver

mental retardation

a deficit or impairment in intellectual and social skills

sensory memory

a memory system for storing sensory information for a very short period of time (3-4 seconds)

drug dependence

a severe drug-related problem characterized by impaired control over the use of the drug

Narcolepsy

a sudden unexplained sleep attack occurring during the day, the person goes directly into REM sleep for 15 minutes

human memory

a type of information processing system that has three basic functions: encoding, storage, and retrieval

sleep deprivation

an slow reaction times, impairs concentration/memory, impairs problem solving, and make it more difficult to retain new information

stimulants

are the leading cause of premature death in the U.S.

The Wechsler scales

are the most widely used intelligence assessments

Noam Chomsky

believed humans have a language acquisition device which is hard wired

Albert Bandura

believes children learn to imitate aggressive behavior they observe at home, in school, or on TV

sleep stage 1

brain waves become small and irregular with varying frequencies, sleeper can be easily wakened

alcohol

called an intoxicant which produces a state of drunkenness, with heavier doses it can induce a state of stupor, unconsciousness, and death