Top 50 FRQ Terms

overjustification effect

The effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do. The person may now see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task. People are less motivated after money is earned.

state-dependent memory

The theory that information learned in a particular state of mind (e.g., depressed, happy, somber) is more easily recalled when in that same state of mind. For example, if you learned something while drunk, you will have a higher chance of remembering it if you are also drunk.

self-fulfilling prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment. A classic example of a self-fulfilling prophecy is the bank failures during the Great Depression

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence. For example, imagine that a person holds a belief that left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people. Whenever this person encounters a person that is both left-handed and creative, they place greater importance on this "evidence" that supports what they already believe.

postconventional morality

actions reflect belief in basic rights and self-defined ethical principles. A good example is that of northern states (in America) before the civil war

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups. Example of random assignment: you have a study group of 50 people and you write their names on equal size balls.

GAS exhaustion phase

body runs out of adaption energy stores for adjusting to stressor, and resistance drops below normal; if we can stay in the stress it can have a negative effect. Ex: Whenever there is a sudden stressful event, the GAS phases can occur.

Gestalt: Proximity

elements that are near each other are likely to be perceived as part of the same configuration.Ex: Two different size circles look the same size from afar

prospective memory

remembering to do things in the future. Examples of simple tasks include remembering to put the toothpaste cap back on, remembering to reply to an email, or remembering to return a rented movie.

implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection. examples of implicit memory include singing a familiar song, typing on your computer keyboard, and brushing your teeth.

gender roles

sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one's status as male or female. Ex: males dress in suits while females wear dresses.

distributed practice

spacing the study of material to be remembered by including breaks between study periods.For example, when studying for an exam dispersing your studying more frequently over a larger period of time will result in more effective learning than intense study the night before.

social facilitation

stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others. For example, say you were asked by your boss to perform a relatively easy task, such as cleaning up a common work area. Social facilitation theory says that you would be likely to go the extra steps to put everything in its place and make the area very tidy if there were people watching you while you were working.

belief perserverance effect

tendency to cling to initial beliefs even after they have been discredited.For example, Mike chose to dismiss the evidence that Jim presented to him.

circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle. The menstrual cycle in women and the hibernation cycle in bears are two good examples.

episodic memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place. Your memories of your first day of school, your first kiss, attending a friend's birthday party, and your brother's graduation are all examples of episodic memories

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information. An example would be calling your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend by your new boyfriend/girlfriend's name. The new name retroactively interferes with the old one, which is clearly problematic for recall

proactive interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. An example of proactive interference in everyday life would be a difficulty in remembering a friend's new phone number after having previously learned the old number.

sympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations. For example, the sympathetic nervous system can accelerate heart rate, widen bronchial passages, decrease motility of the large intestine, constrict blood vessels, increase peristalsis in the esophagus, cause pupillary dilation, piloerection (goose bumps) and perspiration (sweating), and raise blood pressure.

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval. An example of normative social influence is peer pressure.

self-efficacy

one's sense of competence and effectiveness. Ex: A student who feels confident that she will be able to learn the information and do well on a test.

Big Five Traits

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

prefrontal cortex

part of frontal lobe responsible for thinking, planning, and language. Ex: use this part of brain when you plan to pack for a trip.

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.A negative correlation is a relationship between two variables in which an increase in one variable is associated with a decrease in the other. An example would be height above sea level and temperature. As you climb the mountain (increase in height) it gets colder (decrease in temperature)

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction. When a person is bitten by a black widow, their acetylcholine levels rise dramatically, leading to severe muscle contractions, spasms, paralysis, and even death.

antisocial personality disorder

A personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist. A result of this can be spouse abuse or child abuse or neglect.

experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process. . An example of experiment is when you use test tubes and chemicals in a lab to complete a project and to try to better understand chemical reactions.

incentive theory

A theory of motivation stating that behavior is directed toward attaining desirable stimuli and avoiding unwanted stimuli. Money is an excellent example of an external reward that motivates behavior.

arousal theory

A theory of motivation suggesting that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of alertness and physical and mental activation.For example, if our levels drop too low we might seek stimulation by going out to a nightclub with friends.

random selection

A way of ensuring that a sample of people is representative of a population by giving everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample. An example of a simple random sample would be the names of 25 employees being chosen out of a hat from a company of 250 employees. In this case, the population is all 250 employees, and the sample is random because each employee has an equal chance of being chosen.

Serotonin

Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal. Examples include fluoxetine (Prozac), citalopram (Celexa) and sertraline (Zoloft). Normally, once a neurotransmitter has transmitted its neural impulse is reabsorbed into the body. SSRIs prevent the serotonin from being reabsorbed, leading to higher levels of serotonin in the synapses.

positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response. Ex: A dog trainer giving a dog a biscuit when she performs a trick; A father providing his child with a piece of candy for picking up his toys

cognitive dissonance

Inner tension that a consumer experiences after recognizing an inconsistency between behavior and values or opinions. For example, when people smoke (behavior) and they know that smoking causes cancer (cognition).

retinal disparity

a binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object. Ex: Grab a nearby object (a pencil perhaps) and hold it in front of your nose. Then, close your right eye and take notice of the view you have of the object with just your left eye. Then, do the same thing, switching eyes.

intrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake. An example of intrinsic motivation would be reading a book because you enjoy reading and have an interest in the story or subject, rather than reading because you have to write a report on it to pass a class

extrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment. Ex: praise, fame, or money after a performance is done.

adrenal glands

a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress. Ex: Whenever you are in a critical situation, the adrenal glands help you become aware.

stereotype threat

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype. For example, women might overeat, be more aggressive, make more risky decisions, and show less endurance during physical exercise. The perceived discrimination associated with stereotype threat can also have negative long-term consequences on individuals' mental health.

operational definition

a statement of the procedures used to define research variables. An example of operational definition of the term weight of an object, operationalized to a degree, would be the following: "weight is the numbers that appear when that object is placed on a weighing scale".

statistical significance

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. For example, you want to know whether or not changing the color of a button on your website from red to green will result in more people clicking on it. ... P-value refers to the probability value of observing an effect from a sample.

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common.A commonly cited example of the availability heuristic is Kahneman & Tversky's experiment that asked people to recall words that begin with the letter K versus those that have K as their third letter.

divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions) examples of divergent thinking include: Wondering how many ways you can use a fork. Showing a person a photo and asking them to create a caption for the photo.

encoding failure

failure to process information into memory. For example, your professor is discussing something that you forget a little while after.

Ethics of Experimentation

guidleines an experiment must follow. Ex: Letting volunteers know what will be conducted in a experiment before it is ran.

Dopamine

influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion. Effects of overly high dopamine levels include high libido, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, increased energy, mania, stress, and improved ability to focus and learn, among others.

explicit memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare". Remembering a specific driving lesson is an example of explicit memory

selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. Examples include listening carefully to what someone is saying while ignoring other conversations in a room (the cocktail party effect) or listening to a cell phone conversation while driving a car.

procedural memory

the gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or "knowing how" to do things. Riding a bike, tying your shoes, and cooking an omelet are all examples of procedural memories.

drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need. Ex: thirst, hunger, and warmth

Deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity. Classic examples include gangs, cults, and large mobs of people.

difference threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. For example, if I were to give you a pile of five marshmallows and then give you one more, you'd probably notice the difference.

external locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate. Students with an "external locus of control" generally believe that their successes or failures result from external factors beyond their control, such as luck, fate, circumstance, injustice, bias, or teachers who are unfair, prejudiced, or unskilled.

context dependent memory

when the recall situation is similar to the encoding situation. An example of context-dependence at work occurs when an individual has lost an item (e.g. lost car keys) in an unknown location.