Ap Psychology - AP Exam

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Cerebellum

the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem -- ex. it helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance

Martin Seligman

theorized learned helplessness ex. the organism just gives up trying to avoid it and just takes the aversive stimulus

Gardner

theory of multiple intelligences / savant syndrome

Self-serving bias

Perpetual process that's distorted by the need to maintain/enhance high self-esteem Personal credit for success and blaming others for failure Ex. A on a test

Memory

Persistence of learning over time via the storage and retrieval of info -- Personally constructed explaining why different people can experience same thing and recall it differently -- ex. Info processing system of a computer Encode- Write a file Storage- Save to disk Retrieval- Read from disk

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking -- Symptoms include facial disproportions -- ex. Some results include deformed heads, incomplete development of the face and mouth, brain deficits, and more

Temperament

(extrovert-introvert; hot temper-slow to anger, etc.) has a tendency to be stable throughout life -- ex. Having a bad temperament, you usually have a temper

Secondary traits

A characteristic apparent in only certain situations ex. Claustrophobia, or stage fright.

Secondary traits

A characteristic apparent in only certain situations ex: Claustrophobia, or stage fright.

Trait Theory

A characteristic pattern of behavior A disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports ex. behavior

Split Brain Research

A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them -- Ex: Operation is performed to prevent the spread of epileptic seizures -- Roger Sperry is best known for his work with "split-brain" patients

Cardinal traits

A defining characteristic that only a small number of us have ex. altruism

Limbic System

A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres -- Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus. -- ex. Associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex

Central traits

A general characteristic that forms the core of our personality ex. Shyness, assertiveness or sensitivity. Allport believed that each of us have 5-10 central traits.

Projective tests

A personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics ex. A test taker is presented with a dark circular drawing and is asked to describe what he or she sees

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another Past experiences and culture can influence our perceptual set What you see in the center is influenced by perceptual set The influence of culture and environment can have an effect on our visual perception ex. The picture of the family, are they in the woods or in a room

Thematic Apperception Test (T.A.T.)

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes The psychologist presumes that the hopes, fears and interests expressed through the descriptions of a series of 20 ambiguous pictures are projections of the person's inner feelings ex. I feel really angry, the person may indicate that the person in the picture looks really angry and upset about something

Depression

A prolonged feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and sadness ex. Prozac is a drug that can raise serotonin levels - agonist

Grammar

A system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate with and understand others Ex. Saying "ing" at the end of a word to put what you are saying in the present tense

Aptitude Tests

A test designed to predict a person's future performance, aptitude is the capacity to learn -- Ex. SATs

Aversive learning

A type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state w/ unwanted behavior -- ex. nausea→ drinking alcohol

Forensic

Apply psychological principles to legal issues, ex. CSI

Sensory Cortex

Area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body sensations

Motor cortex

Area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

Classical Conditioning

Associate two different stimuli (Pavlovian Conditioning) -- ex. Associate broccoli healthy

Theory X

Assumes that workers are basically lazy, error-prone, and extrinsically motivated by money -- Ex. Workers shouldn't have autonomy and be directed from above

Theory Y

Assumes that, given challenge and freedom, workers are motivated to achieve self-esteem and to demonstrate their competence and creativity. -- Ex. Google who gives their workers autonomy and the ability to think creatively

Emotional Intelligence

Ability to perceive, understand, and use emotions -- Ex. 5 year old who could most accurately recognize and label facial emotions later more easily made friends and effectively managed their emotions

William James

Accredited with the psychological approach of functionalism. Believed in fluid and continuous "stream of consciousness" that can't be broken down

Independent Variable (IV)

Actively manipulated variable by the researchers -- The cause to a "cause and effect" situation -- Ex. The type of drug in an experiment measuring the effectiveness of different types of drugs on depression

Accommodation

Adapting one's current schemas to incorporate new information -- ex. Soon the same child will accommodate by creating a new "Coyote" schema

Karen Horney

Added a female perspective to the psychodynamic theory Countered Freud's notion of penis envy with womb envy ex. Boys are jealous of their mom's ability to have children

Pupil

Adjustable opening in the center of the eye

Conventional level

Age 10-13 -- Moral decisions are determined by evaluating the action in terms of love and approval of family and friends -- Will my family or friends be mad at me? (Stage 3) Or to maintain law and order - Is it right according to the law? (Stage 4) -- Conventional morality is concerned with fitting in -- Following the rules and laws simply because they are the rules and laws -- ex. He shouldn't steal the drug because others will think he is a thief

Source amnesia

Attributing the wrong source to an event that we experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined (misattribution) -- Ex. Reagan's occasional misattributions illustrated how fiction can be remembered as a fact. His story of heroic sacrifice for a well veteran was confused with a scene from the wing and a prayer -- Karl Lashley (1950) Rats learn maze- then he cuts out pieces of the rat's cortex and re tested their memory -- Conclusion: Memories do not reside in single in single specific spots strong emotions make for stronger memories -- Some stress hormones boost learning/retention

Outer Ear

Auditory Canal, Eardrum

Order in which sound travels through the ear

Auditory canal → eardrum (Tympanic membrane) → middle ear (hammer, anvil, stirrup) → cochlea (inner ear)

Contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy Strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives Operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification It is totally irrational and self centered ex. It's the caveman/woman that dwells inside us. "I want it...and I want it now"

Hindbrain

Contains medulla, pons, and cerebellum

Preconscious

Contains thoughts, memories, feelings, and images that we can easily recall ex. Remembering what we had for dinner the night before, we can remember it for now buy will forget it in time

Preconscious

Contains thoughts, memories, feelings, and images that we can easily recall ex. Remembering what we had for dinner the night before, we can remember it for now buy will forget it in time

Hunger

Controlled by hypothalamus and is in first stage of Maslow's hierarchy -- Ex. You want to satisfy hunger before you satisfy self-actualization

Amygdala

Controls many of our emotional responses, especially fear and anger -- ex. A & E television network (Amygdala & Emotion)

Extrasensory Perception

Controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input ex. Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Precognition

Carol Gilligan's theory

Criticized Kohlberg for being biased on the argument that Kohlberg's theory fails to account sufficiently for differences between males/females -- ex. Gilligan is a founder of difference feminism which is a perspective that acknowledges that there are different methods and qualities between men and women but that no value or judgment should be placed on these differences

Criticisms

Critics such as Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and Karen Horney (Neo Freudians) discount most of Freud's theory ex. Alfred Adler who studied inferiority complex

Criticisms of stage theories

Critics such as Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and Karen Horney (Neo Freudians) discount most of Freud's theory ex. Alfred Adler who studied inferiority complex

Phantom limb Pain

Curious phenomenon found in people who have had a limb amputated Long after the body part is gone, some people still report strong sensations of pain in missing limb Taste buds: on the tongue absorb chemicals from the food we eat ex. located on the papillae

Sensorineural/nerve deafness

Damage to the cochlea's hair cell receptors or their associative nerves cause this type of deafness. Occasionally disease causes this but more likely it is aging or prolonged exposure to loud noise or music Once destroyed the tissues remain dead ex. Cochlear implants help by bypassing cochlea and going straight to the auditory nerve

Health

Deal with health related issues like weight management, ex. Help people with body image disorders such as anorexia

Archetypes in the collective unconscious

The Hero- ex. Mario The damsel in distress- ex. Princess peach The trickster- ex. Bowzer The shadow (our dark side)- ex. Wario The wise old one- ex. Kamek The Nurturing Mother- ex. Rosalina A male "in touch with" anima (sense of "femaleness" in males)- ex. Toad A female "in touch with" animus (sense of "maleness" in female)- ex. Dixie Kong

Nature-nurture controversy

The Nature-Nurture Issue is one of if not the longest running debate since the science of psychology began -- What makes us who we are and drives how we behave, our genes (nature) or our experiences (nurture)? -- ex. Nature - they are genetically pre-wired to be violent) or because of their experiences -- Nurture - growing up in an impoverished area, not getting a good education, no parental guidance or some other experience

Extinction

Diminished responding that occurs when CS no longer signals an impending UCS -- ex. After we got to rest from happening, heart rates still rose after the tapping

Genetic abnormalities

Disease/disorder inherited genetically

Bulimia Nervosa

Disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of highly caloric foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting or excessive exercise -- Ex. People get severe tooth decay because of the acid that comes up from vomiting

Corpus Callosum

Largest bundle of neural fibers -- Connects the two brain hemispheres -- Carries messages between the hemispheres

Extrinsic motivation

The desire to perform a behavior because of concrete rewards or threats of punishment -- Ex. The want to be a stockbroker just because it pays a lot

Secondary sex characteristics

Nonreproductive features associated with sexual maturity such as widening of the hips, breast development, facial hair, and deepening of the voice -- ex. nonreproductive sexual characteristics such as breasts (on females) and an adam's apple on men

Instinct Theory

Physical and mental instincts such as curiosity and fear cause us to act -- Instincts are rigid unlearned patterns of behavior characteristic of certain species -- Instinct has conscious thought and some element of free will -- Ex. Bears hibernate; the sucking motion of newborn infants

Avoidance-Avoidance

Occurs when you must choose between two unattractive outcomes -- Ex. Parents give you a choice one weekend between staying home and cleaning the garage or going on a family trip to visit some distant relatives!

Approach-Approach

Occurs when you must chose between 2 desirable outcomes -- Ex. Spending Spring Break in Puerto Rico or San Francisco

Charles Darwin

Paved the way for evolutionary psychology

School of Structuralism

Paved way for cognitive approach, Wilhelm Wundt: Father of psychology, focused on brain's structure, work was continued by Edward Titchener, Objective sensations- sight, Subjective feelings- emotional responses/mental images, Ex. A fleece blanket, you see it as warm, soft and fuzzy (feelings/sensations)

Ivan Pavlov's Dog experiment

Pavlov was trying to train dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell by pairing food with bell ringing b/c food naturally makes dogs salivate -- UCS: Food -- UCR: Salivation -- CS: Bell w/ food -- CR: Salivation

Rods

Peripheral retina Detect black, white and gray; rods handle brightness & dimness...as well black/white/and shades of gray ex. rats & cats have 4000 more rods than humans do and that's why they can see so much better in the dark

Endocrine System

What is it?- Consists of glands, Unlike the speedy central nervous system, our endocrine system is slower to awaken and slower to shut down -- How does it function?- Consists of glands, Unlike the speedy central nervous system, our endocrine system is slower to awaken and slower to shut down

Negative Skews

-- # on a data set squeeze towards the left and are lower numbers

The Iceberg Analogy

Id is mostly unconscious, superego

Self efficacy

Self-efficacy - the sense that one can control outcomes in one's environment ex. "I am confident that I will be able to grasp the main ideas in this chapter."

Jean Piaget's theory

Swiss psychologist who developed a stage theory for Cognitive development. His theory recognizes that children think differently from adults -- ex. Early in his career he noticed that children think differently from adults

The effect of framing on decisions

The way an issue is posed How an issue is framed can significantly affect your decisions and judgement Ex. You are more likely to buy a product that says 90% fat-free, than if it contains 10% fat

Discontinuity

Theories are more stage-like, in that changes occur more dramatically and obviously. Imply that everyone goes through the same steps in the same order -- ex. taking the stairs

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

Theorist who distinguished among 3 intelligences-- Analytical → Traditional IQ -- Creative → Insight, inventing -- Practical → Street smarts -- Ex. "For such a smart person you sure are dumb" -- person is likely analytically smart but not practically smart

Behaviorism

Viewed psychology as objective science -- recommended study of behavior w/o reference to unobservable mental processes

Inner Ear

oval window, cochlea, basilar membrane, hair cells

Middle Ear

(Ossicles) hammer, anvil, stirrup

GABA

(gamma amino butyric acid) -- reduces anxiety & tension -- Low levels epilepsy -- ex. When certain muscles are not inhibited and told when to stop moving, they can spasm painfully

Holophrastic speech

(one word stage) From about age 1-2 Stage in which speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words Ex. Pointing outside and saying, "Go!"

Semantic memory

(subcategory of explicit memory) -- Facts/general knowledge -- Ex. first president of USA

Episodic memory

(subcategory of explicit memory)-- Personally experienced -- Memory of winning a race -- ex. flashbulb memory of 9/11

Perceptual adaptation

(vision) ability to adjust to an artificially displaced visual field ex. Displacement goggles - Wearing these you try to reach for an object but find out that it wasn't where you thought it was Repeat your actions several times and you will probably be able to reach the item - You adapted to changed visual input

Control Group

-- "Non-treatment group", used to compare against the rest of the data to see a change -- Not subjected to any manipulation of the IV-- ex. Experiment testing effectiveness of advil on a headache, the group with a headache but not using advil

Experimental Group

-- "The treatment group", group that receives the manipulation of the IV -- Ex. Group that receives advil to see its effectiveness on treating headaches

Positive Skews

-- # in a data set on a graph squeeze towards the right side and are higher #s

Qualitative Research

-- Research whose findings are not reached by statistical or other quantifiable procedures -- Much more subjective-- ex. Measuring how in love someone is/ can't be statistically measured

Correlation Coefficients

-- Statistics ranging from -1.00 to +1.00; the sign indicated the type of relationship (positive/negative) -- Closer the statistic is to -1.00 / +1.00 the stronger the relationship -- Ex. negative correlation: increase in one variable matched by a decrease in the other

Supertasters

25% of people are supertasters (especially bitter) They were the poison detectors of ancient civilization ex. Today they are less likely to become alcoholics

Myelin Sheath

A layer of fatty cells encasing the fibers of many neurons -- Makes possible vastly greater transmission speed of neutral impulses -- Ex. Looks like a row of sausage links

Motivation

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior -- Ex. When you have not eaten for a period of time, you will eventually start having the feeling of hunger, which motivates you to eat something, and thus reduce the feelings of hunger

Neuron

A nerve cell - basic building blocks of the nervous system -- Approximately 100 billion of these cells in our body -- ex. A person tends to jump or flinch when a loud firework goes off

Emotion

A response by a whole organism, involving (1) physical arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience -- Ex. After someone dies you cry

Unconditioned Stimulus

An event or thing that naturally triggers a response in a particular learner; it does not have to be learned- thus conditioned -- ex. Pavlov's experiment: salivation

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

The Muller-Lyer illusion

An optical illusion involving two lines and arrowheads at the ends of each line When two lines and arrowheads of equal length are used, the one with ends pointing out is thought to be longer than the one with ends pointing in ex. <----------> >----------<

Preconventional level

Before age 9 -- Preconventional morality is based on concern with yourself and on the avoidance of punishment and the attainment of concrete (tangible) rewards -- ex. He shouldn't steal the drug because he might get caught and be punished

Ivan Pavlov

Behaviorism, Classical conditioning experience

Glial Cells

Cells in the nervous system that are not neurons but that support, nourish, and protect neurons

Fovea

Central point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster

Accommodation

Change in shape of lens ex. Focus near objects

Stimulus

Change in the experiment that elicits (brings about) a response -- ex. door bell rings → answer door

General Intelligence

Charles Spearman- a factor that Spearman and others believed underlies specific mental abilities -- G factor -- Ex. people who score high on one factor of the test, such as verbal intelligence will typically score higher than average on other factors such as reasoning ability

Pheromones

Chemically produced odors that send signals to other members of that species Mother-infant recognition pheromones, Menstrual synchrony pheromones in women ex. Many animal species do communicate through pheromones but whether we do remains open to debate

Avoidant

Child generally ignores the mother when she returns. -- The child often appears to "attach" just as much to a stranger as to the mother. -- Ex. Child generally ignores mom when she returns

Mental Age

Chronological age typical of a given level of performance -- Ex. Average 9 year old has a mental age of 9

Belief perseverance

Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited Ex. Continuing to believe, after the 9/11 attacks, that all Muslims are terrorists. That is not the case!

Monocular Cues

Clues about distance based on the image of one eye ex. Relative size / relative height / interposition

Binocular Cues

Clues about distance requiring two eyes ex. Move fingers out farther and the retinal disparity shrinks

Acetylcholine

Compound that occurs throughout the nervous system in which it functions as a neurotransmitter

Forebrain

Consists mainly of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and limbic system as well as cerebellum

Criterion Validity

Do the results from the assessment correlate with the results from other measures designed to assess similar or related things? -- Ex. If we construct a test to measure intelligence, we would need to show that scores on our test are highly correlated to some other valid measure of intelligence.

Permissive

Don't set firm guidelines and let children do what they want -- ex. Authoritative parenting is more effective

Telegraphic speech

Early speech stage in which the child speaks in a telegram Ex. "Go car" Using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting "auxiliary" words

Dorothea Dix

Educator and social reformer whose devotion to the welfare of mentally ill led to widespread international reforms

Forgetting

Encoding failure

Visual encoding

Encoding of picture images -- Ex. Henry demonstrating what a cognitive map was helped us to remember the term

The availability heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability If instances come readily to mind we presume such events are common Ex. Many people think nothing of taking a ride in a car but are afraid to fly in an airplane because they think it is so dangerous-- We are in fact far less likely to die as a result of flying in an airplane

Conditioned Stimulus

Event or thing that a learner is trained to respond to ; it's what we're teaching them to respond to -- ex. Pavlov's experiment bell (paired with food)

Approach-Avoidance

Exists when one event or goal has both attractive and unattractive features -- Ex. If you are 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!

Neuropsychologists

Explore relationships between brain/nervous system and behavior, ex. Actual doctors you'd see in a hospital

Down Syndrome

Extra chromatid on chromosome 21

Longitudinal studies

Follows the same group of people over a lifespan to evaluate changes in individuals -- Provides info about intellectual functioning over a lifetime -- ex. Measuring the effect of cigarettes on people's mental state by checking up on them every year for 50 years

The misinformation effect

Framing of questions about an event can affect the way those events are recalled (Elizabeth Loftus)

Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory

From Freud's theory which proposes that early childhood experiences and unconscious motivations influence personality Personality development is influenced by inner conflict, unconscious processes and defensive responses ex. "That's a nice mess... uh... I mean dress, you are wearing"

Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory

Gender roles

Gender roles refer to behaviors viewed as acceptable for each sex according to societal norms (nurture) -- ex. Men are more suited to go into business

Encoding

Get the info into our brain -- Automatic Processing (unconscious encoding) ex. what you ate for breakfast -- Effortful Encoding (Conscious encoding) ex. what did you have for breakfast last week -- Ebbinghaus (learning nonsense syllables)

Overjustification effect

Getting a reward for doing something that was intrinsically rewarding (it was fun to do all on its own) was now seen as totally different because they were getting rewarded for it -- Ex. What you once liked to do as a hobby has become work and therefore your quality of work actually decreases

Raymond Cattell and "The 16 P.F."

He developed a list of 16 basic source traits using a complex statistical analysis called factor analysis ex. he believed these source traits were fundamental in describing people

Erikson's Stage Theory of Psychosocial Development

He identified 8 stages during which we face an important issue or crisis -- How we resolve each crisis shapes our personality and affects our relationships with others -- ex. Each of the eight stages is marked by a conflict which must be successfully resolved in order to attain a favorable outcome, which he called "virtues."

Sports

Help athletes increase motivation, and deal with anxiety/fear of failure, ex. John F Murray (New England Patriots Sports Psychologist)

School

Help children with emotional, social, and academic issues, ex. Mrs. Sweeney at SMS

Skinner and Bandura

How do we acquire language?: Both are on the nurture side of the nature vs. nurture debate Argued that we develop language by imitating the sounds we hear to create words (behaviorism) → Observational learning Ex. Those that believed Genie would be able to learn language

Retrieval

How to get the info back

Developmental

Human growth over lifespan, ex. TV show 7 Up

Linguistic relativity

Hypothesis: Our language guides and determines our thinking Ex. John is referred to as a "male nurse" and mary just as a "nurse" → Language is guiding our thinking because we think of nurses as female

Critical Period Theory

If children are not exposed to language before adolescence they will be unable to acquire language Noam Chomsky believes children can't acquire language after this period Ex. Genie: Girl who was left in a room for close to ten years and had trouble learning to speak ever

Conduction deafness

If the eardrum is punctured or blocked or if the tiny bones of the middle ear lose ability to vibrate, the ear's ability to conduct vibrations diminishes ex. Aided by hearing aid which amplifies the sound

Aphasia

Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding)

Morphemes

In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning May be a word or a part of a word (prefix/suffix) Ex. In the word farmer-- "farm" (a word) - "er" (suffix)

Phonemes

In a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit Ex. In the word farm-- "f"- "ar" - "m"

Volley principle

In order to exceed their natural limit of 1000 neural impulses per second, groups of auditory nerve fibers "team-up" to fire in rapid succession, volleys up to 5000 impulses per second ex. explains issues with frequency theory

Temporal Lobes

Include the auditory areas

Parietal Lobes

Include the sensory cortex

Occipital Lobes

Include the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field

Conscious

Includes everything of which we are aware at a particular moment ex. As you wake up, everything that you take in sensorially

Misinformation effect

Incorporating misleading info into one's memory of an event -- Elizabeth Loftus: Framing of questions can influence how these events are recalled ("Which hand was the gun in?"-- lawyers can pose leading questions before it's even established that there was a gun -- Ex. Piper in the Vow Movie

Nodes of Ranvier

Indents between myelin along axon

Carl Rogers

Influenced the humanistic perspective

Acquisition

Initial stage of learning, during which a response is established and gradually strengthened -- Phase in which stimulus comes to evoke conditioned response (in classical conditioning) -- ex. First couple times when we were hopping, trying to get es to learn that tapping will raise heart rate

Neutral Stimulus

Initially doesn't elicit a response CS is neutral stimulus at first, but when paired with UCS, it elicits the conditioned response -- ex. bell didn't originally provoke Pavlov's dogs to salivate so it was neutral

Primary reinforce

Innately reinforcing a stimulus that satisfies a biological need -- Ex. Food, drink, sex

The Flynn Effect

Intelligence test scores have been rising generation to generation -- Due to technology and improvements in society -- Ex. One's child will perform better on an IQ test than they would and their grandson would continue to do even better

Stern

Intelligent Quotient (IQ)

Assimilation

Interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas -- ex. Simple schema for a dog, a toddler may call a coyote it sees at the zoo a doggie -- [The child is attempting to assimilate this new thing, a coyote, into a previously formed doggie schema]

Retrospective Studies

Investigate development in one person at a time -- Researcher reconstructs changes that have occurred in the subject's life -- ex. To look at the relationship between serial killers and child abuse, the investigators will identify convicted serial killers, and find out which of them have a past history of being abused as children.

Frontal Lobes

Involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments

Hippocampus

Involved with learning and memory -- Especially long-term

Phi Phenomenon

Is the perception of movement created by the successive blinking on and off of adjacent lights such as appearing like a rapidly moving arrow ex. Las Vegas sign

The S.A.T. - Reliable? Valid?

Is valid because it's an aptitude test hence predicting future performance and not what you have learned -- Reliable as people score about the same every time -- Isn't a definite determinant of your intelligence though -- Ex. a student might do poor on the SATs but do really good in college

Top down processing

It is how perception works That's when the incoming information is processed in conjunction with previous experiences and expectations ex. The old woman picture, for a young person it looks young, for an older person looks like an old woman

Bottoms up processing

It is how sensation works Our brains act as a detection device of the raw, smallest particles of information entering through our eyes, ears and other senses

Terminal Buttons

Knobs at the end of each axon from which neurotransmitters are released into the synapse -- The neurotransmitters provide a chemical signal that links the nerve cells to one another

Middle Age and Death

Kubler-Ross concluded that terminally ill patients pass through 5 stages of coping: Denial, Anger Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance

Left Hemisphere

Language/comprehension -- Movement of right side of the body

Focus

Largely inborn characteristics and tendencies

Unconscious

Largest part of the mind includes wishes, impulses, memories and feelings ex. Freud believed that people often have horrifically sexual fantasies that are so difficult to accept and deal with

Unconscious

Largest part of the mind includes wishes, impulses, memories and feelings ex. Freud believed that people often have horrifically sexual fantasies that are so difficult to accept and deal with

Secondary Drives

Learned from Experience -- Ex. Drives for revenge, job satisfaction, money, etc.

Crystallized intelligence

Learning knowledge and skills, such as vocabulary, which tends to increase with age -- Based on facts and rooted in experiences -- In old age, crystallized intelligence actually increases -- Ex. contestants on the TV show Jeopardy

The Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis

Links right into linguistic relativity Correlated with Benjamin Whorf More information below**

Alzheimer's disease

Loss of brain function affecting memory, thinking, and behavior -- ex. People with Alzheimer's require a great deal of care. Left alone they may forget to eat for days, try to cook and eat things that aren't edible, take walks and not know how to get home, or create dangerous situations with matches or cigarettes

Anosmia

Loss of the sense of smell ex. Can't smell a cookie

Scientific Method

Make observations from theories, then refine the theories in light of new observations -- Observe, define problem, hypothesis, design study, analyze -- ex. Solar heater lab in 9th grade

Median

Middle score at the 50th percentile of a data set -- Ex. Data set of (1,2,3) median= 2

Free will

Maslow studied that free will is essential in determining our destiny ex. Following our parents expectations for us rather than our own desires never works out

Mean

Mathematical average of a distribution -- Ex. data set of (3, 7, 20) mean= 10

Mnemonic devices

Memory aids -- Ex. King Henry Died Monday Drinking Chocolate Milk

Anterograde amnesia

Memory loss for info since the accident -- Memories stored before the accident would but you'd be unable to form new memories -- Damage to hippocampus: responsible for formation of new memories -- Ex. Fifty First Dates Movie

Decay

Memory loss over time

Procedural memory

Memory that involves tasks that we perform automatically without thinking -- ex. tying your shoelaces

Cognition

Mental activity associated with processing, understanding, and communicating information Ex. Learning how to say a word in a foreign language

Mental age divided by chronological age multiplied by 100 -- Ex. 10 years

Concepts

Mental groupings of similar objects, events, or people Ex. Address grouped into (country, city, street, house)

Intelligence

Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations -- Ex. Solving a math problem

Cognitive maps

Mental representation of the layout of one's environment -- Ex. After exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it, Yash's demonstration in class

Mammary glands

Milk production and produces hormone prolactin

Dualism

Mind and body function separately. 2-way interaction between mental and physical substances, Ex. Generally dualists more spiritual

Absolute threshold

Minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus Usually defined as the stimulus needed for detection 50% of the time ex. Vision - candle flame seen at 30 miles on a dark night

The M.M.P.I

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: The most widely used and researched standardized psychometric test of adult personality -- Ex. commonly used by psychologists to determine if people are fit to work in public safety occupations such as police officer

Method of loci

Mnemonic device that uses association of words on a list with visualization of places on a familiar path ex. Items on a shopping list associated with rooms in your house-- Associate apples with the closet

Pegword

Mnemonic device used to help us remember lists ex. "one is a bun, two is a shoe"

Mode

Most frequently occurring score in a statistical distribution -- Ex. Data set of (2,3,3,4,5,5,5) mode=5

Predictive Validity

Most important type of validity -- How well a test score predicts future behavior -- Ex. SAT is designed to predict success of student in college. High scores on SAT should predict high grades as a freshman in college

The Big Five - O.C.E.A.N.

Most popular present theory Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism ex. mnemonic to remember- OCEAN

Wechsler's IQ tests

Most widely used IQ test -- Consists of verbal scale & performance scale -- Performance test -- Ex. WISC & WAIS

Secure attachment

Mothers that were sensitive and responsive had babies that generally showed secure attachment -- ex. The child was somewhat distressed when mother left but was relatively easy to calm and greeted the mother warmly upon her return

Unconditioned Response

Natural, reflexive reaction to the unconditioned stimulus; doesn't have to learned, as it already occurs on its own -- ex. Pavlov's experiment: salivation

Cones

Near center of retina (fovea) Fine detail and color vision; Cones enable us to see in sharp details as well as in color Daylight or well-lit conditions

Optic nerve

Nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

The hippocampus

Neural center in the limbic system that helps process memories for storage

Resting potential

Neuron fully charged and waiting for the next signal (action potential) to be generated -- ex. If you are using a toilet with a tank, the water in the tank can represent resting potential. The toilet is waiting to fire!

Feature Detectors

Neurons in the visual cortex that respond to specific features shape angle movement ex. Bear you see outside; based on these factors you will decide whether to go inside or not

Retroactive interference

New information works backward to erase or inhibit older memories (new blocks old) -- Ex. when someone asks us for your old address it's blocked because your new address interferes with the recall of it

Nature

Nurture controversy- Long-standing disagreement over whether heredity or environment is more important in development of living things, ex. Homosexuality and whether you inherit that from birth or development that orientation over time

Discrimination

Occurs when only the conditioned stimulus (bell) produces conditioned -- ex. Dogs will only salivate to bells, not noises similar to bell

Chomsky and "nativism" (The L.A.D.)

On the nature side of the nature vs. nurture debate Claims children generate all sorts of sentences they have never heard of and thus can't be imitating Theorized we must have a kind of language acquisition device (LAD) in our brains that allows us to soak up language Ex. People believing Genie would not be able to learn language

Broca's Area

One of the main areas of the cerebral cortex responsible for producing language Controls motor function involved with speech production Ex. People who have had damage in that area have problems with articulating and being able to generate language

Token economy

Operant conditioning procedure that rewards desired behavior -- A patent exchanges a token of some sort, earned for exhibiting desired behavior, for various privileges or threats -- Ex. Money (receive money for working hard, use money to buy something you like)

Focus

Optimistic outlook on human aspirations and potential

Schema

Organized pattern of thought/behavior that organizes categories of relationships -- ex. Dog

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units -- Often occurs automatically -- Ex. Chunking the numbers in the activity that we did with 16 digits into years

Sigmund Freud

Originated the Psychodynamic Perspective. Behavior influenced by unconscious wishes, thoughts, etc.

The Evolutionary Perspective

Our behavioral tendencies prepare us to survive/reproduce -- Males are likely to take risks -- Females are more likely to be concerned w/ appearance -- ex. Humans love the taste of sugar but this is because evolutionarily sugar was more calorie dense and was preferred by hungry hunters

Language

Our spoken, written, or gestured works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning

Focus

Our thinking judgments, self perception; social/environmental impact

Surface structure of language

Outward form of a sentence Corresponds to the version of a sentence that can be spoken and heard Ex. You closed the door, the door is closed by you, close the door

The amygdala

Plays role in motion, plays a big role in encoding emotionally charged elements of memory such as fear and anger

Blind spot

Point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind spot" because there are no receptor cells located there ex. Blind Spot Test

Schemas

Pre Existing mental frameworks that start as basic operations, then get more complex as we add additional info -- Ex. Dentist chair in a dentist office or a whiteboard in a classroom-- wouldn't expect to see a jar of marmite in a classroom

Premack principle

Preferred activities can be used to reinforce behavior -- Ex. One hour of study can be rewarded with 20 minutes of watching TV

Type A

Refers to a set of dominant behaviors and emotional reactions that include a high emphasis of competition, impatience, hostility and aggression ex. The hot tempered person

Storage

Retain info over time

The Behavioral Perspective

Social learning theory -- founded by John B. Watson -- originally rejected the study of mental processes in favor of the study of overt behavior (observable behavior) and external factors - study of observable events -- ex. Children respond toward rewards and punishments and they observe/imitate role models

Premack Principle

Some behavior that happens reliably (or without interference by a researcher), can be used as a reinforcer for a behavior that occurs less reliably -- Ex. You reward yourself with 15 minutes of TV after an hour of homework

Proactive interference

Something from the past inhibits your attempts to recall more recent material (old blocks new) -- Ex. trying to remember a new phone # may be disrupted by the memory of old #

Sucking

The automatic response of drawing in anything to the mouth -- ex. Babies use pacifiers Swallowing: The contraction of throat muscles that enables food to pass into the esophagus without baby choking -- ex. Why small things have a choking hazard label for kids

Perception of Motion

The basic condition for the visual experience of motion is successive stimulation of visual receptors As things move within your field of vision, they activate different rods and cones ex. Stroboscopic movement / Phi Phenomenon

Repression

The basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness Freud believed that repression was often incomplete, that urges seeped out in dreams and slips of the tongue When you unconsciously submerge toxic material in your subconscious Usually reserved for heavy-duty things like physical or sexual abuse ex. thoughts that are too difficult or unacceptable to deal with, we unconsciously exclude them from our consciousness

Vestibular sense

The body's sense of orientation and balance This sense originates in the fluid-filled semicircular canals in the inner ear ex. the fact that the fluid in our middle ear is out of balance would play the biggest role in our feeling dizzy and unbalanced after a thrilling roller coaster ride

Brain Plasticity

The brain's capacity to wire and re-wire its synaptic connections in response to new situations, information and environmental stimuli

Embryo

The developing human organism from 2 weeks through 2nd months -- ex. The unborn baby is particularly susceptible to health problems

Reciprocal determinism

The interacting influences between personality and environmental factors Personality is created by an interaction between the person (traits), the environment, and the person's behavior Each of these three factors influences the other two in a constant reciprocal loop ex. The situation is the most important thing here -- the calm and serene teacher in the classroom becomes a nut when he or she is coaching

Sensory Interaction

The principle that one sense may influence another ex. Jelly Beans activity

Sensation

The process by which our senses first detect incoming stimuli and process it through the brain and nervous system ex. When the smell first hits your nose particles

Theories of Moral Development

The process through which people develop proper attitudes and behaviors toward other people in society, based on social and cultural norms, rules, and laws -- Moral development refers to a person's ability to tell right from wrong -- ex. As people grow older they develop more empathy and are more respectful

Parapsychology

The study of paranormal phenomena ex. telepathy- mind to mind communication clairvoyance- seeing beyond, crystal ball precognition- knowing the future

Hindsight bias

The tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly predicted the outcome of the event Ex. After a coach makes a bad play you say in retrospect that you knew all along that that play wouldn't have played out

Cornea

The transparent tissue in the front of the eye

Sympathetic Nervous System (arousing)

This arouses us for defensive action and is in charge of arousal to threatening or challenging situations -- It is this part of our body that is in charge of the physical reactions that have to do with the "fight or flight" response -- ex. Suppress appetite, increases heart rate

The Biological Perspective

To understand behavior by understanding the biological processes associated with those behaviors -- This includes the brain, nervous system, genetics, and more -- Males have 44 chromosomes plus x and y -- Females have 44 and xx chromosomes -- Sex chromosomes determine physical characteristics -- Corpus callosum in females tends to be larger -- ex. Understanding men biologically get angry easier, we can understand and feel empathy for a guy who snaps at something

Clinical

Treat severe mental disorders, ex. Schizophrenia

Wechsler

WISC & WAIS

Anorexia Nervosa

When a normal-weight person diets and fails to maintain at least 85% of what is considered their normal body weight -- Sufferers still believe themselves to be fat -- Usually adolescent females -- Ex. Someone who is "constantly" on a diet and is losing weight when they don't need, underweight

Linear Perspective

When parallel lines, such as railroad tracks seem to converge with distance ex. railroad tracks

The serial position effect

When people are shown a list of words, names, dates, and immediately asked to recall the items in any order, they tend to remember the last and first items best and middle items least -- ex. if you're given a shopping list and told to go get everything, you'd probably remember things at the beginning of the list and the end first

Androgyny

When personality traits fall between those typical of females and those of males -- ex. David Bowie

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

dictates that behavior is determined by your past experiences -- ex. Young girls learn to act feminine from mom -- Boys are masculine from dad

The trickster

ex. Bowzer

A female "in touch with" animus (sense of "maleness" in female)

ex. Dixie Kong

The wise old one

ex. Kamek

Spearman

general intelligence (g factor)

Short wavelength

high frequency (bluish colors, high-pitched sounds)

Long wavelength

low frequency (reddish colors, low-pitched sounds)

Right Hemisphere

recognize faces, music, art/creativity, spatial -- moves left side of the body

Egocentrism

see's the world from his/her own viewpoint -- ex. Playing house and war games

Womb envy

unconscious jealousy exhibited by males in regard to the female ability to bear children ex. Son begins to become jealous of his mom

direction of impulse (The toilet analogy)

water flows one way

Wilhelm Wundt

"Father of Psychology", German man who set up 1st lab to study conscious experience, focused on the structure of the mind

Metacognition

"Knowing about knowing"- awareness and understanding of one's own thought process Generally comes in two forms: Knowledge about cognition Regulation of cognition Ex. awareness that you have difficulty remembering people's names in social situations

Heuristics

"Rule-of-thumb" strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently Usually speedier than algorithms More error-prone than algorithms Ex. Using google, information can sometimes be wrong

Insight

"Sudden coming together." Elements of a situation so that the most efficient path becomes clear or problem is solved -- Ex. "Light bulb goes off in your head."

Afferent (Sensory) Neurons

"living wires" called nerves -- Transmit impulses from sensory receptors to spinal cord or brain -- ex. Like a stereo uses metal wires connected to antennae to bring information toward it, your body uses these "living wires" to do the same

The Pineal Gland (Melatonin)

( Brain) secretes the sleep inducing hormone melatonin

The adrenals (Adrenaline/epinephrine)

( Midsection of body) adrenaline aka epinephrine and cortisol - "fight or flight"

Sensorimotor (First Stage)

(0-2 yrs) -- Baby explores the world using his/her senses and motor interactions with objects in the environment -- ex. learn to coordinate all their sensory experiences (sights, sounds, etc.) Object permanence: Objects continue to exist even when out of sight -- ex. The ball that rolls out of sight into a closet still exists, even though unseen. 5 month old wouldn't search for it, but a 9 month old would

Carl Rogers

(1902-1987) Focused on growth and fulfillment of individuals.

Carl Rogers

(1902-1987) Focused on growth and fulfillment of individuals. Requires three conditions: genuineness, acceptance - unconditional positive regard, empathy ex. Flawed as a person without these conditions

Abraham Maslow

(1908-1970) Studied self-actualization processes of productive and healthy people and stressed the importance of our free will in determining who we want to be ex. Maslow's used his "hierarchy (pyramid) of needs" to explain personality and personal growth

Preoperational (Second) Stage

(2-7 yrs) -- Child is mainly egocentric and see's the world from his/her own viewpoint -- ex. Playing house and war games

Instrumental learning

(AKA; operant conditioning) A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher -- ex. Skinner Box→ Mouse pulls lever and gets reward

Echoic memory

(Auditory) -- Momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli -- ex. Remembering a speech (I have a dream...)

Stage Two

(Autonomy vs. shame) -- (1-3 years) -- Children of this age are totally fascinated by their world, they love to explore -- If parents continually frustrate their child by not letting them explore, or if a child repeatedly fails at mastering these skills, self doubt may grow -- That is, they learn not to be curious...not to try new things -- Name of the game is "encouragement with gentle limitations." -- ex. child learns to walk and begins to explore his environment

Stage Four

(Competence vs. inferiority) -- (6-12 years) -- Elementary school children need to be positively reinforced for productive activities in order to develop a healthy self-concept and sense of industry -- If not, feelings of social or mental Inferiority can carry over to a poor sense of self in the future -- ex. As the child goes to school, he begins to compare himself with others and develops a sense of industry as he accomplishes new things, or a feeling of inferiority if he considers himself inadequate as compared to others

Hierarchies

(Concept maps) Complex info broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories and subcategories -- ex. an outline for an essay

Interneurons

(Connector neurons) -- Once information reaches the brain or spinal cord, interneurons take the messages and send them elsewhere in the brain or onto efferent neurons -- ex. these are the "worker bees" of the Central Nervous System (CNS)

Explicit memory

(Declarative memory) -- Memory of facts/experiences that are consciously known/declared- long term -- ex. memory of your 15th birthday

Stage Seven

(Generativity vs. stagnation) -- (40-65 years) -- Adults need to express their caring and discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family and work -- People who fail to achieve generativity can become stagnant or feel a lack of purpose in life -- ex. corresponds to the midlife crisis, when the adult assess his contributions to society, or becomes self-absorbed and stagnates

Place theory

(Helmholtz's) Explains we hear different pitches because sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochlea's basilar membrane Brain determines a sound pitch by recognizing the place on the membrane from which it receives neural signals Best for high pitch sound ex. Plucking a string on a guitar while pressing down on the string at different spots on the neck

Stage Five

(Identity vs. role confusion) -- (12-20 years) -- Teenagers work at defining a sense of self by testing roles -- Need to answer the question "Who am I?" - which involves building a consistent identity -- Failure in this stage results in role confusion and uncertainty about who they are and where they are going -- ex. The adolescent tries to develop his own sense of identity, but may experience role confusion as he tries to reconcile his own desires with that of others around him

Stage Three

(Initiative vs. guilt) -- (3-5 years) -- Children learn to make plans and choices to develop initiative or they are criticized and discouraged from asking questions or making decisions and feel guilty about their efforts to be independent -- ex. learns initiative as he begins to do things for himself

Moro or startle reflex

(Innate behavior) -- (ex.) An unexpected loud noise usually elicits a response in which a child throws her arms and legs out then pulls them back into the body

Grasping reflex

(Innate behavior) -- (ex.) If you give your hand to a baby, even when it is sleeping, it will grab your hand

Stage Eight

(Integrity vs. despair) -- (late 60's and up) -- Adults who look back on their lives with satisfaction develop a sense of wholeness and integrity -- Those in despair look back with regrets and disappointment -- ex. when individuals look back at their accomplishments in life

Stage Six

(Intimacy vs. isolation) -- (21-40 years) -- Young adults form close relationships and share meaningful experiences, especially with a life partner -- Without this intimacy, people feel alone, uncared for and feel isolated -- ex. individual attempts to settle down and start a family

Gestalt Principles

(Max Werthiemer /Wolfgang Kohler) Emphasizes that the mind tends to perceive unified wholes and patterns rather than the bits and pieces that make up those wholes and patterns The whole is different from, and can be greater than, the sum of its parts Ex. When we watch a film we perceive the moving pictures as one meaningful event, not a succession of multiple still photos.

The Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands (Thyroxin)

(Neck) human growth hormone - aka thyroxine

Implicit memory

(Nondeclarative memory) -- Our LTM for skills and procedures to do things affected by previous experience without that experience being consciously recalled -- Ex. Know how to tie your shoes but you don't remember the experience of learning

Stage One

(Trust vs. mistrust) -- (0-1 years) -- If needs are met (a safe and loving environment) infants develop a sense of basic trust -- If not (cold, abusive situations) the child is prevented from leaving stage ready to form lasting close future relations -- ex. Child learns to trust that the world is a safe place and that he can rely on his caregivers to provide for his needs

Iconic memory

(Visual) -- Momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli -- Photographic image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second-- Ex. Remembering what a painting looks like (Mona Lisa)

Short Term Memory

(Working memory) Transient memory-- seems to have a capacity of seven pieces of info (+/-) 2 -- Capacity? 7 pieces of info (+/-) 2 -- Duration? short (about 20 sec. if it's random info such as random summers/letters -- ex. after seeing dwarfs names they should be in the STM

Efferent (Motor) Neurons

(are nerves that carry info away from the central nervous system to the body's muscles and glands so that your body can take action -- ex. motor means movement (MM)

Great amplitude

(bright colors, loud sounds)

Small amplitude

(dull colors, soft sounds)

Insecure attachment

(ex.) Child generally ignores mom when she returns -- ex.)Child's attachment to strangers is equal to the mom

Descriptive Statistics

-- # that summarizes a set of research data obtained from a sample -- Ex. mean, median, mode

Formal Operational (Fourth) Stage

-- (12-18 yrs) -- Adolescents can think abstractly, hypothetically and are capable of metacognition -- Can consider questions involving abstract concepts, such as truth and justice -- ex. They can extrapolate about events that occurred at different times

Concrete Operational (Third) Stage

-- (7-12 yrs) -- Child develops simple logic and masters Conservation Concepts -- ex. children gain the abilities and mental operations that allow them to think logically about concrete events such as mathematical operations and principles, and conservation

Cohort-Sequential studies

-- (ex.) People are assessed twice over a span of months or years rather than just once in cross-sectional studies

Correlational Research

-- 2nd best way to quantify information -- Employs statistical methods to examine the relationship between 2 or more variables -- 2 main types: naturalistic observation/surveys -- Ex. time spent on social media relating to GPA-- time spent smoking relating to health

Random Sample

-- A sample selected in which every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected -- Ex. choosing out of a hat

Representative Sample

-- A sample that is carefully chosen so that characteristics of the participants proportionally match the larger population -- Ex. studying the effect of caffeine on SHS students on a study relating to the population of students as a whole

Inferential Statistics

-- Attempt to generalize from the actual observations of a small group to the general pop. -- Ex. null hypothesis

Neurotransmitters

-- Chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons -- When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether it will generate a neural impulse

Correlation vs. causation

-- Correlation does not demonstrate causation -- Just because two variables are related does not mean that one variable causes the other to occur -- Ex. height and basketball scoring average

Operational Definitions

-- Describes exactly what the variables are and how they are measured within the context of your study -- Ex. define what sleep deprivation/driving performance means

Double Blind Study

-- Experiment/study in which neither the researchers who gather the data, nor the participants themselves are told of the true aim of the experiment -- Meant to minimize researcher bias and placebo effect -- Ex. Participants don't know they're getting drug x. Researchers don't know hypothesis or assigned group

Single Blind Study

-- Experiment/study in which the participants do not know which treatment they receive-- eliminates the placebo effect -- Ex. Giving a kid candy instead of the medicine they're supposed to receive during the experiment

Placebo Group

-- Group that received no manipulation of the IV but thinks they have -- This can cause a slight change in their condition caused placebo -- Ex. Giving someone a sugar pill telling them it is a drug

Scatterplots

-- Illustrates the strength and direction of correlation in which paired x and y scores for each subject are plotted as single points on a graph

The Standard Deviation

-- In a single #, tells how much the data is dispersed (spread) away from the mean/average -- Calculating the standard deviation is one of the most useful and widely used statistical tools -- Ex. IQs at Harvard will have a small standard deviation-- everyone is about as smart as everyone else

Positive Correlation

-- Increase in one variable matched by an increase in the other -- Ex. Years of college completed and personal income

Negative Correlation

-- Increase of one variable matched by a decrease in the other -- Ex. smoking and health

Percentiles

-- Indicates the percentage of scores at or below a particular score -- Ex. when you score 90th percentile on SAT-- 90% of people are at or below you

Zero Correlation

-- Irrelevant correlation -- There is no relationship between the two things being compared -- Ex. eyesight and IQ

Survey Methodology

-- Large # of participants are asked a set of standardized questions, usually in form of a questionnaire/interview -- Ex. advisory surveys

The Normal Curve

-- Normal distribution -- Symmetric, bell shaped curve that represents data about how many human characteristics are dispersed in the pop.

Case Studies

-- Observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles -- Provides a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group of participants -- Findings can't be be generalized to larger population -- Ex. Phineas Gage: rare, unrepeatable case

Naturalistic Observation

-- Observing a person or an animal in the environment in which they/it lives -- Ex. Observing people in the mall and seeing how they behave

Confounding Variables

-- Occurs when an uncontrolled variable, but related to the IV obscures the real effect and gives a false impression that the IV is producing the observed changes, when in fact it is not -- Ex. Not sleeping enough before a test measuring the effect of eating eggs in the morning on test performance

Hypothesis

-- Predictions of how 2 or more factors are likely to be related -- If... then... because... statement -- Experiment is based on answering hypotheses -- Ex. If a group takes an antidepressant drug, then their depression will decrease because of the chemical reaction within the brain that the drug causes

Operant Conditioning

-- Reinforcer, Shaping, Successive approximations

Replication

-- Repeating the essence of a research study -- Usually with different participants in different situations to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances -- Ex. do experiment twice and get completely different results... you need replication

Longitudinal Studies

-- Studies same group of people over a long period of time -- used in developmental psychology (correlational research technique) -- Usually minimum of 5 years -- Ex. "7 Up" film following group of people and interviewing them every 7 years

Cross Sectional Studies

-- Studying multiple people and seeing different events/viewpoints from same event -- "Flashbulb memories" -- Ex. researching different age groups, ethnicities, etc. and seeing how they felt after 9/11

Experimenter Bias

-- Tendency for researchers to selectively notice evidence that supports their hypothesis but ignore evidence that disproves it -- Ex. researcher that's anxious to find a link between body piercings and troubled teens

Zygote

-- The fertilized egg -- Enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division -- Develops into an embryo -- ex. Zygote divide very rapidly, thus doubling during each division

Statistical Significance

-- There is a substantial quantifiable amount of data that can prove a change in results rather than just chance alone -- Ex. A test designed to see whether a woman having 5 boys and 0 girls is due to chance or a real physiological problem

Null Hypothesis

-- Typically opposes the hypothesis given -- Ex. There's no correlation between handwriting and GPA-- when hypothesis says there is a correlation between handwriting and GPA

Dependent Variable (DV)

-- Variable that is measured to see how it has been affected or changed by the manipulations of the IV -- Ex. level of depression after taking an antidepressant

Hawthorne Effect

-- When people know they're being observed so they change their behavior to what makes himself look good or what they think the observer will expect -- Ex. Slowing down when you see the police

Developmental Psychology

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social change throughout the lifespan -- ex. the test is age appropriate, can we use it on people of other ages, what does having an age difference mean on whatever the test actually measured, etc.

Trait Theory

A characteristic pattern of behavior A disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports ex. behavior Focus- Largely inborn characteristics and tendencies

Mental Retardation

A condition of limited mental ability -- Indicated by intelligence scores below 70 -- Produces difficulty in adapting to the demands of life -- Varies from mild to profound *reference chart -- Ex. a person might have moderate mental retardation which means they may progress to a second-grade level academically

Secondary reinforcer

A conditioned reinforcer that is learned through association with a primary reinforcer -- Ex. Money, gold stars, good grades

Agonists

A drug that enhances or amplifies the action of a certain neurotransmitter -- ex. Dopamine and serotonin

Antagonists

A drug that inhibits or impedes the action of a neurotransmitter -- Curare (a poison and antagonist which inhibits) blocks ACh receptor sites leading to paralysis -- ex. naltrexone and naloxone

Synesthesia

A fascinating and rare ability in some people who vividly experience one sense in terms of another ex. To "see" musical notes or to "hear" certain colors

Iris

A ring of muscle that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

Relative Deprivation Syndrome

A view of social change and movements, according to which people take action for social change in order to acquire something (for example, opportunities, status, or wealth) that others possess and which they believe they should have, too -- Some sociologists believe relative deprivation theory explains why people join social movements or advocate social change -- Ex. Gay people join the movement for gay marriage in order to acquire something (the right to marry) they believe others already possess; relative to these people, such advocates of gay marriage believe they are deprived

Positron Emission Tomography (PET Scan)

A visual display in color as well as a measurement of glucose usage (the fuel the brain runs on) -- Scans function of the brain -- PET scans use radioactive glucose (instead of a strong magnetic field) to help study activity and locate structures in the body -- ex. with a PET, similar to an MRI, a psychologist can observe different structures in the brain by having a subject perform certain exercises or tasks.

Postconventional level

Age 13+ but sometimes never reached -- Moral decisions are based on fairness, justice and truth - People have the right to live. (Stage 5) -- Or internal judgments of what is right and wrong. Saving a life takes precedence over everything else, including the law. (Stage 6) -- ex. He should steal the drug but alert authorities he has done it. He will have to face a penalty, but he will save a human life.

Teratogen

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm -- ex. It can be in the form of harmful drugs or chemicals, like birth control pills, nicotine, alcohol, or some types of medication

Industrial/Organizational

Aim to improve productivity and quality of work life, ex. Human resources (H.R.)

Social Learning

Albert Bandura and "Bobo" doll Experiment: Children watched films of adults beating up inflatable clown doll named Bobo -- Some adults were rewarded for behavior and others were punished -- Children were then allowed to interact w/ similar doll -- Children who observed adults acting aggressively tended to do the same while those who watched adults ignore Bobo also did the same -- Power of modeling effects changes in behavior -- Albert Bandura focused on modeling behavior

Artificialism

All objects are made by people -- ex. The sun is created by a man with a match

Animism

All things are living just like him/her -- ex. When they trip over a toy they may claim toy is mean

Interposition

Also known as overlap Can be seen when a closer object cuts off the view of part of or all of a more distant object, making it seem closer ex. Card placed on top of another card

Cannon-Bard Theory

An emotion is produced when some stimulus triggers the thalamus to send information simultaneously to the brain (specifically, the cerebral cortex) and the autonomic system (including the skeletal muscles) -- Thus, the stimulus is perceived at both a physiological and the subjective level -- Ex. With an injured thalamus, you could possibly be more susceptible to being a sociopath

Positive reinforcement

An event or thing that's presented after a response that makes it more likely to be repeated. Application of desired stimulus -- Ex. If you get all A's you get $100

Cocktail Party Phenomenon

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

Babbling

Beginning at 3 to 4 months The stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language Ex. "Baba" or "bobo"

John B. Watson

Behaviorism, Studied animals almost exclusively, Skinner Box

B.F. Skinner

Behaviorism, Studied animals almost exclusively, Skinner Box was known for experimental work in animal behavior and motor theory development

Thorndike's Law of Effect

Behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely -- Ex. Getting praised for doing well on a test will make you more likely to want to do well

Monism

Belief that nothing exists apart from the material world, Ex. Physical matter like the brain

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Believed that intelligence comes in different packages -- Logical-mathematical, verbal-linguistic, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, intrapersonal, interpersonal -- Ex. The Rock Song Project in Integrated Science

Spearman's Intelligence Theory

Believed that people who score high on one factor of the test, such as the verbal intelligence, will typically score higher than average on other factors -- Ex. People who do well on listenin part of spanish final will also do well on multiple choice and writing

Normal Curve

Bell-shaped - 68% of people with standard deviation of 15 and within -- 95% of people with standard deviation of 30 and within -- Ex. Standardized tests / IQ test

Alfred Adler

Best known for his concept of the inferiority complex - we all have a drive to be competent, but as children we develop a sense of inferiority As we go through life we are thus striving for superiority to compensate for inadequacies Birth order plays a role in developing personality ex. Having lots of insecurities as children, always trying to fit in

Criticisms trait theory

Biggest criticism of the trait perspective: (no surprise) it overestimates the consistency of behavior in different situations. Extensive research has shown there is significant consistency of traits over the life span Doesn't take into account the power of the situation. Situational influences on behavior are important to consider. Only describes personality traits; they offer little in the way of explanation as to where those characteristics come from. People can fake desirable responses on self-report measures of personality

Criticisms

Maturation

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior -- Relatively uninfluenced by experience -- Sets the course for development while experience adjusts it -- ex. process of learning to cope and react in an emotionally appropriate way

Biological psychology

Branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior -- Some biological psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists -- ex. Someone that studies if Parkinson's is genetic

Retina

By far, is the most important part of the eye It is here that transduction of light energy into nerve impulses takes place The order in which light passes after entering the eye is as follows: cornea → pupil/iris → lens → retina Inner surface of eye Light sensitive Contains rods and cones Layers of neurons Beginning of visual information processing

Relative Height

Can be seen when objects closest to the horizon appear to be farthest from you The lowest objects in our field of vision generally seem the closest ex. This phenomenon can be seen when looking at a landscape and seeing that distant objects - trees, rocks, animals

Depolarization

Cell excitation begins -- Positively charged sodium ions rush into the cell and potassium ions flow out temporarily -- If there is enough input the neuron reaches its firing threshold -- ex. Represented by toilet flushing

Fluid intelligence

Cognitive abilities requiring speed or rapid learning that tend to diminish with adult aging -- Ex. solving puzzles

The anchoring effect

Common human tendency to rely heavily on 1st piece of info offered when making decisions Once anchor is set, other judgements are made by adjusting away from that anchor and there's bias towards other info Ex. Negotiating down a price of a car may make it seem cheap, even though it's overpriced

Criticisms

Concepts like self-actualization are vague The theory is unrealistically positive about human motivation and ignores the human capacity for evil Difficult to explore empirically and hard to measure humanistic concepts like self actualization ex. Emphasis on self may promote self-indulgence and lack of concern for others

Criticisms humanistic

Schemas

Concepts or frameworks that organize and interpret information ex. Loch Ness Monster or a log? Mental predispositions can influence what you perceive when you look at ambiguous stimuli

Instinctive drift

Conditioned response that drifts back toward the natural behavior of the organism -- Ex. Animal trainers must stay vigilant even after training as the animal may revert to dangerous behavior

Shaping

Conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer approximations of desired goal -- Ex. Potty training a child, getting a sticker when you do something well

Alfred Kinsey

Conducted confidential interviews during the 1940's to find out about people's sexual practices -- We do not know whether Kinsey's sample accurately represented the nation's sexual practices but the responses revealed that sexual behavior is enormously varied -- Ex. Sexual experiences take place differently for different people

Wernicke's Area

Connected to the Broca's Area of the brain, region of the brain where spoken language is understood Ex. People who have had damage in that area have problems understanding the meaning of what others are saying to them

Midbrain

Consists of reticular formation

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation -- Newborns become bored with a repeated stimulus, but renew their attention to a slightly different stimulus -- ex. Those who live in NYC have no problem falling asleep even with all the noise (they're habituated) but travelers to the city can't fall asleep and don't understand how anyone ever could sleep because it's so loud

Elaborative rehearsal

Deep processing as we attach maning or place or some context to what we are learning -- ex. Using examples in our psych flashcards to remember terms

Projection

Defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others ex. The individual who actually likes to have others do things for him may be quick to criticize other people for being dependent or lazy

Sublimation

Defense mechanism by which people re-channel their unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities ex. Channeling hostility into sports such as football and soccer

Reaction Formation

Defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their 'opposites' People may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings Doing exactly the opposite of what you're really feeling inside ex. Congratulating your arch rival for getting the lead in the Peter Pan play

Regression

Defense mechanism in which an individual retreats, when faced with anxiety, to a more infantile psychosexual stage where some psychic energy remains fixated ex. when facing the anxious first day of school, a child may regress to the oral comfort of thumb-sucking Or reverting to childlike behavior e.g. cop pulls you over and you cry

Displacement

Defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person ex. As when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet. Boss yells at employee; employee goes home and yells at kids; kids take it out on a toy or pet

Sexual Response Cycle

Described by Masters and Johnson and grouped into 4 stages -- Excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution -- Ex. You don't orgasm right away

Atkinson-Shiffrin model

Describes 2 memory systems: sensory, short term, and long term

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Describes the divide between what a child knows and can do on their own and what they might have the potential to do given a supportive enough environment -- Children who regularly interact and receive instruction from a teacher or caregiver are more likely to reach the top range -- Developed by Vygotsky as part of his theory on child development -- ex. When building a lego set, the point in which you ask your parents for help

B.F. Skinner and the Skinner Box

Designed operant chamber. -- Typically soundproof, has a bar/key that animal releases a reward -- Ex. Inside the box a rat presses a bar for a food reward. Outside box, a measuring device records animals accumulated responses

Intrinsic motivation

Desire to engage in activity for sake of enjoyment -- Ex. Taking psych because you want to learn

Cohort effect

Differences in the experiences of different age groups due to the changes that occur at specific times in history -- ex. A college freshman class could be said to be a cohort.

Hue

Dimension of color determined by wavelength of light

Spacing effect

Distributed practice yields better long term retention than massed practice -- Ex. Spaced out studying beats cramming because it will only be in your STM

Intra-Rater Reliability

Does the score a grader gives on a test match the score they give to the same test when they unknowingly grade it again? -- Ex. If your teacher read your paper first when starting on a set of 100 essays, would that score correlate with the score the teacher gives if the essay is reinserted into the pile at the very bottom

Retinal Disparity

Each eye receives a slightly different image of any object viewed, and the two are put together in the visual cortex Your brain figures out the distance of an object based on the amount of disparity between the two images ex. 3D movies are nothing more than movie makers successfully messing around with our built-in retinal disparity

Opponent Process Theory

Emotional reactions to a stimulus are followed by opposite emotional reactions -- Ex. This theory may explain why stunt people enjoy their work. First the individual will feel intense anxiety before performing a stunt and then the person will receive an opposite reaction of relief after the stunt is completed. -- The theory also postulates that repeated exposure to the stimulus will cause less of an initial reaction and a stronger opposing reaction -- Ex. Drugs, such as opiates, give diminishing returns after prolonged use yet the effects of withdraw become more intensified and unpleasant

James Lange Theory

Emotions are a consequence of our physiological responses to external stimuli followed by identification of the emotion by examining the physical responses -- So, some external stimulus produces a physiological response in your body -- Then, you examine this physiological response and identify the emotion you are experiencing based on the physiological response -- Ex. You see a bear in the woods, and you begin to tremble. You then identify the fact that you are trembling and conclude that you are afraid..."I am trembling, therefore I am afraid."

Carl Jung

Emphasized the collective unconscious - a set of common themes or archetypes inherited from the wealth of the human experience and shared by all people ex. an archetype from the Hobbit would be the dwarves are an archetype of mentors, because they help and mentor Bilbo Baggins

Biological Approach

Emphasizes physical and biological bases of behavior, Grown as there are advances in our ability to explore /understand the human brain and nervous system, Also looks at genetics, Ex. Andrea Yates probably had biological problem with her brain-- only way to explain her behavior

Semantic encoding

Encoding of meaning including the meaning of words -- ex. You might remember a particular phone number based on a person's name or a particular food by its color.

Acoustic encoding

Encoding of sound especially the sound of words -- Ex. Listening to a textbook online instead of reading it

Menopause

Ending of the ability to reproduce -- Decrease in production of female sex hormones -- ex. changes in hormones and side effects such as hot flashes

Schedules of Reinforcement

Ex. Rat receiving food pellet each time lever is pressed Partial reinforcement: Reinforcing a response only part of the time resulting in slower acquisition/resistance to extinction -- Ex. Treat given to a dog in a variable ratio

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Facial movement and expressions can influence attitude and emotional experience -- Ex. when a person attends a function and is required to smile for the duration of the function, they will actually have a better experience of the function

Gordon Allport

Father of the trait perspective

Stranger anxiety

Fear of unfamiliar people -- Begins at about 8 months old -- ex. Small child is scared sitting on Santa's lap

Figure and Ground

Figure; Our first perceptual task is to perceive any object -- ex. what you see first in the old lady picture Ground; Figure's surroundings -- ex. what you see second in the old lady picture ex. If you see a vase first that becomes the figure and the two faces become the ground

Similarity

Figures similar to each other we group together ex. We see squares and circles in vertical columns of similar shapes, not as horizontal rows of dissimilar shapes

Menarche

First period, marks the beginning of fertility -- ex. when a girl has her first "period".

Mary Whiton Calkins

First woman to become a president of American Psychological Association

Social

Focus on how a person's mental life and behavior are shaped by interactions with people, ex. Someone you'd go to if you were having trouble making friends

Educational

Focuses on how effective teaching/learning take place, ex. People who come into classrooms and observe teachers at SHS

Behavioral Approach

Focuses on learned behaviors. Concerned with how behaviors are learned and reinforced, Pioneers- Watson, Skinner, Pavlov, Ex. You see your mom kill a spider so you learn to fear them

Cognitive Approach

Focuses on mental processes such as memory, thinking, problem solving, language, and decision-making, Pioneers- Jean Piaget, Albert Bandura, Ex. Thinking you're too fat even when you are not and needing help to remove that faulty thought

Humanistic Approach

Focuses on the role of motivation on thought and behavior, Free will and potential for growth guide behavior, Pioneers- Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Ex. Believing you're fat but thinking you can exercise and get skinny-- Potential for growth/improvement

Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Approach

Focuses on the role of the unconscious mind, early childhood experiences, and interpersonal relationships to explain human behavior, Pioneer; Sigmund Freud, Ex. Being traumatized by clowns as a child so you grow up with a phobia of clowns

Evolutionary Approach

Focuses on the study of how evolution explains psychological processes, Psychologists take basic principles of evolution and apply them to psychological phenomena, Ex. Men are typically stronger than women

Visual Cliff Experiment

Glass covered drop-off to determine whether crawling infants can perceive depth Infants are reluctant to venture onto glass Ex. Infants as young 6 months who were exposed to the visual cliff usually refused to cross over the "deep" side to reach their mothers, thereby demonstrating that depth perception appears to be partly biological. However, experience amplifies it.

Harry Harlow

Harlow's Surrogate Mother Experiments -- Showed without a doubt that mother-infant emotional bonds (attachment) results primarily from mothers providing infants with body contact...not food. The monkeys became attached to the soft Terry-cloth mothers w/o nourishment. -- ex. known for his experiments on maternal separation and social isolation of rhesus monkeys

Freudian Slips

He also believed that we tell others things that we don't consciously wish to tell them but which come out anyway ex. "That's such a nice mess, dress"

Multiple Approach-Avoidance

Involves a number of courses of action that have both positive and negative aspects -- Ex. If you walk to the movies, you may get there late but you will have enough money to buy popcorn and won't have to help with making dinner and cleaning up the dishes

Retrograde amnesia

Involves loss of memory for a segment of the past, usually around the time of an accident due to the blow to the head -- Damage works backwards, erasing memories from the period before the damage occurred -- Ex. Fifty First Dates

Extrinsic motivation

Is a desire to perform or behave in a certain way due to promised rewards or threats of punishment -- Ex. Tiger Woods getting his paycheck

Stroboscopic movement

Is nothing more than the quick succession of briefly flashed (still) images ex. Movies

Ghrelin

Is secreted by an empty stomach and cues your brain that food is needed -- Ex. What causes you to feel hungry after not eating for a day

Leptin

Is secreted by fat cells and acts to reduced appetite -- Ex. After Thanksgiving dinner where you have taken in lots of fat and calories, this causes you to feel full

The Cognitive Perspective

Jean Piaget's theory -- The psychological viewpoint that the focuses on the how people (and other animals) process, store, and retrieve information and how this information is used to reason and solve problems -- ex. Children think differently from adults

John Watson and Little Albert experiment

John Watson trying to determine if fear was innate or conditioned response -- White lab rat was placed near 9-month old Albert and he wasn't scared -- Watson then made loud sounds when Albert went to touch the rat -- UCS (loud noise) -> UCE (fear) -- CS (rat) + UCS (loud noise) → CR (fear)

Synapse

Junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron -- Tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or cleft

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs buy isn't apparent until there's an incentive to demonstrate it -- Ex. Rats learn their way around a maze buy their learning only becomes obvious once a reward is given. Then they'll complete maze quicker. -- Ex. You don't demonstrate that you know layout of town until you have to go to H.P.

Algorithms

Methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem Less error prone but slower than heuristics Ex. Putting a math equation into a formula

Neonate

Newborn baby -- ex. an infant less than four weeks old Rooting reflex: (Innate behavior) Touch a newborn on the cheek and he will turn the head in that direction, "rooting" for a food source -- ex. The rooting reflex occurs in infants (we outgrow it)

Stability-change controversy

Over time are people's personalities consistent or do they change? -- Most people mellow with age -- Human personality has greatest stability in adulthood -- ex. Boys with explosive tempers are likely to have difficulty maintaining jobs

Gate Control theory

Pain is experienced only if pain messages can pass through a neurological "gate" in the spinal cord on route to the brain The gate is opened by small nerve fibers carrying pain signals Conditions that keep gate open are: Anxiety, Depression, Focusing on pain The gate may be closed by stimulating large fibers in injured area Conditions that close the gate: Massage, Rubbing, Acupuncture, Ice ex. Icing a bruise

The cerebellum

Part of brain at the back of the skull in the spine that coordinates/regulates muscular activity

Research of Fear

Physical and emotional response to dangerous or threatening situations that prepares the body to fight or flight in the situation -- Ex. It causes a release of adrenaline into the body that heightens the senses and provides energy to the muscles in order for the person to react successfully to the situation or event

Signal Detection Theory

Predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise) Assumes that there is no single absolute threshold Detection depends partly on person's; experience, expectations, motivation, level of fatigue ex. Parents listening for the possible cries of their newborn baby

Four skins senses

Pressure (only skin sensation with identifiable receptors) Warmth Cold Pain ex. Warmth doesn't have identifiable receptors

Internalization

Process of acceptance of a set of norms established by people/groups -- Influential to an individual -- ex. A group of friends who wear the same thing

Framing

Process of defining the context/issues that surround a problem/event -- ex. using knowledge to organize new info Constructive memory: An apparent memory, of an event that did not actually happen, unconsciously constructed to fill a gap -- ex. middle schoolers associate books being in a college classroom even though there aren't any there

Modeling

Process of observing and imitating behavior -- Ex. "Bobo" doll experiment: Child watches the behavior of adults towards Bobo, then repeats behavior

The T.A.T.

Projective test by David McClelland -- Involved presenting a photograph or picture to a volunteer and asking them to tell a story about it -- Stories were then rated for levels of achievement motivation -- He concluded there is a link between desire to achieve and fear of failure -- People with a high drive to succeed and relatively low fear of failure are most likely to seek challenges that are worthy of their efforts but also reasonably attainable -- People with a high fear of failure might choose to pursue very "safe" paths or nearly impossible ones -- Ex. Correlates with the quote, "Don't be afraid to fail"

Heritability

Proportion of variation among individuals -- That we can attribute to genes -- 50%-60% of difference between individuals in intelligence is due to genetics -- Ex. twin studies -- Twin studies lend support to nature side of argument (especially identical twins separated at birth and raised in different environments) -- Adoptive studies also show a strong genetic influence on intelligence Environment-- determinants of intelligence show that at the earliest stages of life, enriching a bad environment (malnourished, social isolation, sensory deprivation) has dramatic effects for the better -- ex. project Head Start for preschool poverty level children

Continuity

Propose that development is very gradual and it is difficult at any one time to notice the changes occurring -- ex. walking up a hill

Raymond Cattell

Proposed the idea of two different types of intelligence: fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence-- Ex. Everyone has different personalities and their learning changes as they grow Fluid intelligence: Cognitive abilities requiring speed or rapid learning that tend to diminish with adult aging -- Ex. solving puzzles

Incentive Theory

Proposes that individuals are motivated by a desire to obtain external incentives such as money or getting a 5 on the AP exam. Such external incentives are known as secondary drives. -- Ex. Wanting to do good in school because of a monetary reward by your parents

Arousal Theory

Proposes that individuals are often motivated by a desire to either maintain or increase their level of stimulation or excitement. -- Ex. People skydive for a rush of adrenaline

State-dependent memory

Proposes that one is more likely to recall details of something if one is in a similar state of consciousness as when they were exposed to the event one is trying to remember -- ex. being under the influence of alcohol and remembering something last time you were drunk -- Mood congruent memory: Mood can serve as a powerful retrieval cue -- Tendency when we are feeling down to vividly recall other sad episodes in our lives -- ex. Being really angry so you can recall angry memories

Long term potentiation

Provides a neural explanation on how memories form/endure -- When a group of neurons fire together repeatedly, the synaptic connections strengthen allowing for more efficient communication between them

Five basic perspectives

Psychoanalytic, Trait, Humanistic, Social-cognitive, and Behaviorist ex. some people's' personality tends to be shy and introspective while others tend to be outgoing and extroverted

Five basic perspectives

Psychoanalytic, Trait, Humanistic, Social-cognitive, and Behaviorist ex. some people's' personality tends to be shy and introspective while others tend to be outgoing and extroverted

Catharsis Hypothesis

Psychodynamic principle that, in its most basic sense, is simply an emotional release -- Aggressive or sexual urges are relieved by "releasing" aggressive or sexual energy, usually through action or fantasy -- Ex. A young male may watch a film in which an attractive woman engages in sexual behavior. The young male may become sexually aroused from this and subsequently frustrated because of his inability to act out his sexual desires. To release this sexual tension, the young male may go outside and play sports or engage in fantasies about himself and the woman.

Quantitative Research

Quantity= scientifically verify... to test hypotheses under rigorous conditions -- Can be shown with numerical data/empirical data (hard statistics) -- Experimental is the best way to quantify data -- ex. Class average on a test

Spontaneous Recovery

Reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished conditioned response -- ex. After we got to rest from hopping, heart rates still rose after the tapping

Context dependent memory

Recall can often be better when we try to recall info in same physical environment/setting -- Ex. You would likely perform better taking AP Psych test in Mr. Jordison classroom than in a church

Recall vs. Recognition

Recall involves 2-step process: generation of possible targets and identification of genuine ones -- Recognition is usually easier because the first step is already completed and all you have to decide is if the info is correct -- Ex. recall 7 dwarf names and recognize which ones are correct

Flashbulb memory

Recalling unique and highly emotional moments of the past -- Ex. Where were you when 9/11 happened

Content Validity

Refers to a test's individual items or questions -- To determine, psychologists evaluate each question to see if it relates to what the test is supposed to measure -- Ex. AP Psych exam will have 8-10 questions on cognition

Fixed Interval (F.I.)

Reinforcement is delivered based on a specific passage of time -- Ex. If you're awaiting a piece of mail due on Friday and you know when mail comes, you check then, not before

Variable Interval (V.I.)

Reinforcement is delivered based on a specified passage of time, but that interval changes from one trial to the next -- Ex. If you're awaiting a piece of mail due on Friday but the daily delivery time is highly variable, you're more likely to check more often

Fixed Ratio (F.R.)

Reinforcement will be delivered after a specified number of desired responses -- Ex. Every three times a rat presses a lever in SKinner Box, it gets food

Variable Ratio (V.R.)

Reinforcement will be delivered after some # of responses, but the amount is not specified for the learner -- Ex. Playing the lottery, unknown # before reward

Continuous

Reinforcing the desired response each time it occurs -- Ex. Gambling behavior isn't "extinct" b/c you don't quite know when you'll win

Primary Drives

Relate to our survival needs -- Ex. Thirst

Long Term Memory

Relatively limitless storehouse of the memory system -- Capacity? "Limitless" storage -- Duration? Relatively permanent ex. after the task and activity of remembering the dwarfs names, they should be in our LTM

Learning

Relatively permanent change in an organism's' behavior due to experience -- We learn by association -- Our minds connect events that occur in sequence -- experience (nurture) is key to learning

Negative reinforcement

Removal of undesirable stimulus -- Ex. Take aspirin to alleviate a headache

Construct Validity

Represents broadcast aspect of validity -- Does the assessment accurately test what you have defined as the characteristics you wish to assess? -- Ex. If your test is designed to measure levels of hyperactivity in children then you would have to build an operational definition of hyperactivity that your test would be designed to evaluate

Primary sex characteristics

Reproductive organs (testes, ovaries) start producing mature sex cells and external genitals grow -- ex. Females have ovaries whereas men have testes

Paul Ekman and facial expressions

Research has revealed that seven emotions have universal signals: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, contempt, surprise and happiness -- Ex. When you experience happiness you never frown, you always smile

Cross-sectional studies

Researchers assess developmental changes with respect to a particular factor by evaluating different age groups of people at the same time -- ex. a researcher may give one type of test to children in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades, to examine the differences in performance across these age groups.

Omission training

Response by learner is followed by taking away something of value from the learner. Removal of desirable stimulus -- Ex. Access to a family car taken away from a misbehaving teen

Turner Syndrome

Results from an incomplete set of sex chromosomes -- These females have one normal X chromosome, but their second sex chromosome is missing or incomplete -- They typically do not have functioning ovaries and don't develop secondary sex characteristics

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

Results when both parents pass on a mutated gene that leaves the child without an enzyme that breaks down the amino acid phenylalanine -- If it accumulates it can be toxic and cause mental retardation

Down Syndrome

Retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in genetic make up -- Ex. kids with down syndrome usually have delayed language and speech development

Lewis Terman

Revised Stanford-Binet IQ test at Stanford University -- Ex. Created American IQ frenzy we deal with today

Terman

Revised Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test at Stanford University

APA Ethical Guidelines for Human Research

Right to confidentiality -- All participants must be debriefed on the experiment -- Right to being protected from harm, stress, and discomfort -- Informed consent -- Ex. Milgram study broke these guidelines

The representativeness heuristic

Rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes or schemas May lead one to ignore other relevant information Ex. Thinking a 5'7", 155 lb. man who wears glasses and attends poetry readings is more likely to be an Ivy League Professor vs. a truck driver

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

Russian psychologist that emphasized the role of the environment and gradual growth in intellectual functioning -- Believed children learn from observing the interactions of others and that a child's mind wouldn't develop much more than an animal's mind without the help and guidance from adult mentors -- ex. Vygotsky would argue that Preschool-aged children require direct parental intervention to help them understand new things they encounter in the world (building a lego set with the help of your parents)

Sociocultural Approach

Says our cognitive developmental processes are products of our society/culture, Concentrates on an individual's culture or society rather than the individual, Ex. In mormonism you have multiple wives so mormons grow up thinking this is ok/normal

Yerkes Dodson Law

Says that arousal helps performance, but only up to a point...and that the optimum level of arousal depends upon the difficulty of the task -- Too little or too much arousal will decrease performance -- We tend to perform most activities best when moderately aroused -- Ex. A moderate level of stimulation (in the form of nervousness) is best for performance on a difficult task, such as taking the AP exam, while someone might be able to handle a much higher level of arousal when performing a well-learned or "easy" task

Schachter-Singer "Two Factor" Theory

Schachter proposed that human emotions contain two factors or parts: physical arousal and a cognitive label and both of these elements must be present for you to experience emotion -- Ex. While playing a physically demanding game like basketball, as soon as you are done with the game (and you are hot, your heart is racing, etc., which is the state of arousal) someone gives you some bad news. In response, you get angry (label the emotion as anger), and feel that anger. According to Schachter, you are probably going to be more angry in the aroused state than if you got the news in a less aroused state.

Engineering

Science of human behavior and capability applied to the design and operation of systems and technology, ex. Many employed by Exxonmobil to improve efficiency/products

Learned helplessness

Seligman argues that if a person tries hard to affect some outcome and continually meets with failure, the individual will soon stop trying altogether. They have made a cognitive judgment that they are helpless ex. the organism just gives up trying to avoid it and just takes the aversive stimulus

Sex differences

Sex differences are driven by actual biological gender disparity (nature), rather than by differing environmental factors (nurture), and affect our cognition and behavior -- ex. Men have more relative strength than women

Sex

Sex is a physiologically based motive, like hunger, but it is more affected by learning and values -- Ex. You appreciate it more as you grow older

Puberty

Sexual maturation marked by the onset of the ability to reproduce -- Ex. Voice gets deeper

Maintenance rehearsal

Shallow processing or simple repetition as a means to encode what we are taught -- ex. Using flashcards to try and study vocabulary terms

Shallow vs. Deep processing

Shallow- only involves maintenance rehearsal and leads to STM retention ex. repeating your social security number so you can remember it -- Deep- Involves semantic processing when we encode meaning of a word and relate it to similar words ex. remembering la piscina in spanish because it sounds like piss in english

Parallel Processing

Simultaneous processing of several dimensions through multiple pathways ex. With hearing the brain has the ability to simultaneously process the pitch, loudness, melody, and meaning of a song

Difference threshold (JND)

Smallest amount of change needed in a stimulus before we detect change The more intense the stimulus is, the more it will need to change before we notice a difference ex. How much does the volume have to increase before you can tell it has gotten louder?

APA Ethical Guidelines for Animal Research

Smallest number of animals should be used -- Animals should be distributed as little as possible in the wild -- Animals must be well cared for -- Experimenters must be familiar with technical aspects of anesthesia -- All procedures causing discomfort should be addressed relative to particular species -- Ex. PETA

Oral

Stage 1 (0-1 year) Infant receives pleasure and nourishment from the mouth If needs are not met you may become fixated at this stage This could take the form in adulthood as smokers, nail biters, overeaters, or oral-aggressive personality, characterized by sarcasm and argumentativeness ex. when infants will be found putting anything into their mouth including their thumbs

Anal

Stage 2 (1-3 years) Child obtains pleasure from defecation at the anus Conflict develops during toilet training Very strict inflexible methods may cause child to hold back feces leading to the anal retentive personality - uptight, stingy and controlling Or overindulgent parenting of a child may lead him to become angry and expel feces at inappropriate times leading to disorderliness and messiness ex. occurs because the child finds sexual pleasure in the sensations that come with having or withholding bowel movements

Phallic

Stage 3 (3-5 years) The erogenous zone moves to the genital region and stimulation of the genitals becomes a source of pleasure Oedipus Complex - Boys unconscious sexual desire for their mothers and they view their fathers as rivals for their mother's' love They deal with this jealousy by identifying with the same sex parent For girls, this period is marked by Freud's conception of penis envy Some Freudians believe that this unconscious penis envy contributes to a fundamental sense of inferiority in females The version of the Oedipus Complex for females is called the Electra Complex- The girl is in unconscious competition with her mother for the father's attention and affection A child resolves this conflict by identifying with their parent of the same sex, taking on many characteristics of that parent ex. Small boys start acting very similar to their father

Latency

Stage 4 (6-12 yrs) Freud theorized that sexual feelings are repressed Girls and boys transform the repressed sexual energy into developing social relationships and learning new tasks ex. Kids start to develop friend groups, etc.

Genital

Stage 5 (Adolescence) Adolescent develops warm feelings for others, sexual attraction and intimate relations ex. Kids start to date and get attached to one another

Standardization of Assessments

Standardization is accomplished by administering the test to a pilot sample (standardization sample) -- small test group of people who represent the population being tested -- Tests must be: -- a. Given in the same manner -- b. Given under the same time limitations -- c. Given with the same identical instructions -- Ex. SAT & ACT -- Pilot sample: High school juniors and seniors

Binet

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test / "The Father of Intelligence Testing"

Positive Psychology

Started in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mikhaly Csikszentmihalyi -- Field seeks to "seeks to nurture genius and talent" rather than focusing solely on the treatment of mental illness as a means of making human existence more rewarding and fulfilling -- Ex. The founders of this movement do not intend to replace traditional psychology, but to expand it through the encouragement of positive traits, relationships and institutions.

Alfred Binet "The Father of Intelligence Testing"

Started the modern intelligence testing movement in France in the late 1800's -- Ex. "The father of Intelligence Testing"

All or None Principle

States that a neuron always fires with the same intensity. -- Either neurons fire...or they don't fire -- ex. the toilet either flushes completely or not at all; it doesn't flush a little or a lot

Set Point Theory

States that the hypothalamus wants to maintain a certain optimum body weight -- When we drop below that weight, the hypothalamus tells us we should eat and lowers our metabolic rate -- The hypothalamus tells us to stop eating when that set point is reached and raises our metabolic rate to burn any excess food -- Set point - a person's "weight thermostat" that is pre programmed via inherited factors. key phrase: body fat level -- Ex. People born with a high set point are predisposed to be overweight. Those with a low set point are predisposed to be slender, even underweight

Opponent-process theory of color vision

States that the sensory receptors arranged in the retina come in pairs: red/green, yellow/blue, black and white If one sensor is stimulated, its pair is inhibited from firing They cannot be seen simultaneously because it's against the law of physics We derive color, not by adding colors to each other, but by subtracting colors from each other - and the color we end up with is a "leftover" or afterimage ex. If you stare at the color green 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 green will fire, and you will see a red afterimage

Factor Analysis

Statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test. -- Used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one's total score. -- Ex. People who do well on vocabulary items often do well on paragraph comprehension. This cluster would help define a verbal intelligence factor.

Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT or CT Scan)

Still X-ray photograph taken from 180 different angles and made into one composite -- Scans structure of the brain -- ex. It's like looking at a loaf of bread that has been sliced up--you can see the whole thing and also remove slices and see the entire slice and everything inside of it

Authoritarian

Strict rules and punishments for wrongdoings -- demanding and not responsive to children's needs

Mary Ainsworth

Studied attachment differences by watching mother-infant pairs in a "strange situation" - babies were left in a room without their mothers and then were monitored when their mothers returned. -- ex. developmental psychologist who became known for her work concerning early emotional attachment of babies to their primary caregivers

Savant Syndrome

Studied by Gardner -- Often score low on IQ test but have incredible ability in 1 area such as computation, drawing, or musical memory -- Ex. Rain man, Forest Gump, and Kim Peek

Diane Baumrind

Studied how parenting styles affect the emotional growth of children

Generalization

Tendency for a stimuli similar to conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses -- ex. dogs may salivate to a # of bells not just one they were trained with (or sound similar to bells)

Mental Sets

Tendency to approach a problem in a particular way Especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem Ex. Being in a building with many push doors and coming across a pull door, you go to push and don't know what to do when it doesn't work

Confirmation bias

Tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions or only the information that supports our ideas Ex. If you support Trump, you are only going to listen to conservative media that support Trump

Functional Fixedness

Tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions Impediment to problem solving Ex. You have a screwdriver and a soda without a bottle opener, not using the screwdriver to open the soda because you think it can only be used to screw in nails

Achievement Tests

Test designed to assess what a person has learned -- Ex. AP Psychology Test

Intelligence Tests

Tests that assess a person's mental abilities and compare them w/ abilities of other people, by means of numerical scores

Hans Selye and the General Adaptation Syndrome (G.A.S.)

The body has a natural, adaptive response to stress that is composed of three stages: alarm, resistance, exhaustion -- Ex. When a person gets to the exhaustion stage, they may experience severe physical problems -- A: Alarm stage→ Body labels the stressor as a threat or danger to balance and immediately activates its fight or flight response system, and releases the "stress" hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol -- Ex. When you start sweating when you feel in danger -- R: Resistance stage→ After the body has responded to the stressor, it is more likely that the stress level has been eradicated, or simply reduced. What happens next to the fight or flight response is that you body's defenses become weaker, as it needs to allocate energy to the repair of damaged muscle tissues and lower the production of the stress hormones. -- Ex. Body is still on alert but has calmed down since the alarming stage -- E: Exhaustion stage→ The stress has been persistent for a longer period. The body starts to lose its ability to combat the stressors and reduce their harmful impact because the adaptive energy is all drained out -- Ex. The gate towards burnout or stress overload, which can lead to health problems if not resolved immediately.

Dendrites

The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body -- ex. "the ears of the neuron"

Weber's Law

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 ex. If you have just paid $32,000 for a new car you would hardly notice $900 for a sound system to go with it

Resistant/Ambivalent

The child sends mixed messages to the mother upon her return, seemingly wanting to be held but then resisting attempts by the mother to do so -- Studies show that securely attached children have longer lasting, healthier relationships -- Ex. Child has a desire to be with parent but at the same time resists

Intrinsic motivation

The desire to perform a behavior for its own sake. That is, because it is inwardly fulfilling and rewarding -- Ex. Wanting to be a teacher simply because you are helping kids and that makes you feel good

Fetus

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth -- ex. By the end of the 6th month, the fetus usually has developed internal organs (e.g., stomach and intestines), which also become functional

Defense Mechanisms

The ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Axon

The extension or "tail" of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages are sent to other neurons or to muscles or glands. -- ex. "tail" of a neuron

The tip of the tongue phenomenon

The feeling when you know the name but can't retrieve it -- Occurs when retrieving process does not produce a complete response but produces parts that must be constructed into a whole -- Ex. knowing there's a 7th dwarf but not knowing the name

Drive Reduction Theory

The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need by drinking or eating, for example -- Theorized by Clark Hull -- Does not work to explain why people run marathons or jump out of planes? Humans are not -- always doing things to reduce tension! -- Ex. If an individually is extremely cold he will feel driven to seek warmth in order to return to homeostasis

External locus of control

The individual believes that luck and other forces outside of their control determine their destiny. ex. A man with an external locus of control might view his failure to get the job as "just bad luck" or "all politics"

Internal locus of control

The individual is responsible for what happens to them ex. Taking responsibility for your actions

Cerebral Cortex

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres -- ex. The body's ultimate control and information processing center -- ex. Higher order thinking abilities - the fact that we have a cerebral cortex distinguishes us from other animals.

Ego

The largely conscious, "executive" part of personality Mediates among the demands of the id, superego and reality Operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain ex. It's like a referee in a boxing match. Our egos keep us in touch with the real world...keeps us from going to jail!!

Ego

The Ponzo Illusion

The mind's tendency to judge an object's size according to the background ex. a set of converging lines drawn upward with an equal set of parallel lines drawn horizontally (this diagram appears to be like railroad tracks that stretch off into the distance). The horizontal lines (the railroad tracks in our example) near the bottom where the converging lines are farther apart appear to be shorter, and the rungs near the top where the lines are closer together appear to be longer.

Threshold

The minimum level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse. -- ex. You can push the handle a little bit, but it won't flush until you push the handle past a certain critical point

Prototypes

The model or best example of a category Matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category Ex. Prototypical bird is an eagle not a penguin

Rorschach Inkblot Test

The most widely used projective test A set of 10 inkblots designed by Hermann Rorschach Seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots Some who use it are confident that the interpretations of the inkblot stimuli reveal unconscious aspects of the person's personality Others use it as an icebreaker ex. Ink picture-- "What do you see, bat or bunny ears?"

Brain Stem

The oldest part and central core of the brain -- beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull -- ex. Responsible for automatic survival functions

Superego

The part of personality that presents internalized ideals Provides standards for judgement and for future aspirations - moral sense Acts as the conscience with feelings of guilt and shame The perfectionistic side of our personality It is as demanding, unreasonable and relentless in its pursuits for perfection as the id is for gratification ex. acts as our moral guide and mediates between the id and the ego

Transduction

The process in which sensory information is converted into neural energy/messages Neural impulses from each sense (except smell) then travel to the thalamus where they are rerouted to their appropriate destination in the brain Smell has a more direct route to the brain and is wired to an area near your hippocampus ex. Whether we see the red and blue high intensity strobe lights of a police car, or hear the soft whisper of someone talking to us, our eyes and ears send these light waves/sound waves to our brains, which in turn, transfers these light and sound waves into neural signals for processing

Perception

The process of (our brain's) organizing and interpreting all of this raw sensory data and creating meaningful patterns...giving it depth perception, a sense of perspective, movement, and above all...meaning ex. The brain interpreting the smell particles that hit the nose

Sensory Adaptation

The receptors for any particular sense actually no longer respond in the same way to repeated stimulation ex. You have experienced this when swimming. At first water is really cold, but you quickly adapt to the temperature

Syntax

The rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language Particular word order of a language Ex. A sentence that lacks proper syntax would be "a yellow, big balloon" -- doesn't sound right

Define Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes, Ex. overt such as crying < behavior ex. Mental processes<covert such as remembrance

Semantics

The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language Also, the study of meaning Ex. The words "destination" and "last stop" sound different but our brain associates them with the same meaning

In middle age

The significant conflict that must be dealt with during this period is Intimacy vs. Isolation as the individual attempts to settle down and start a family. If successfully resolved, he learns Love -- ex. People feel especially alone if they don't find a companion

Self actualization

The ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved ex. Often the super rich such as Bill Gates reach this as money at a point satisfies all their needs Requires three conditions: genuineness, acceptance - unconditional positive regard, empathy ex. Flawed as a person without these conditions

Self actualization

The ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achievedn / ex. Often the super rich such as Bill Gates reach this as money at a point satisfies all their needs

Hair cells

These hair cells lie in the basilar membrane of the cochlea which transduce the impulses from the nerve fibers into auditory messages Ossicles and the tympanic membrane: This membrane marks the beginning of the middle ear and is extremely sensitive. Pressure from the sound waves causes the eardrum to vibrate ex. Associated with conduction hearing loss

Hypothalamus

This hugely important part of the limbic system does the following: -- major link between the nervous and hormone systems -- "gives orders" to the pituitary gland (master gland). -- sexual motivation is controlled by this part of the brain -- regulates hunger - thirst - body temperature -- ex. houses "pleasure centers" or "reward centers" of the brain.

Rationalization

This is basically excuse making! ex. Telling yourself that you had to cheat on the exam because everyone else was probably going to do it as well

Refractory Period

This is the brief instant when a neuron action cannot fire because it is "recharging" -- ex. A flash in a camera

Reticular Formation

This part controls an organism's overall state of alertness (wakefulness and arousal) -- ex. Damage to this region would cause a deep sleep or a coma (unconsciousness)

Parasympathetic Nervous System (calming)

This part of the autonomic nervous system calms the body down after you conclude the above examples are no longer a threat -- ex. After discovering that the shadows outside your window were only the trees in the yard, your blood pressure decreased and your heartbeat slows back to normal

Thalamus

This part of the brain sits on top of the brainstem -- ex. acts as a "traffic cop" or switchboard for all our senses, except smell

Convergent thinking

Thought process that follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one solution Ex. Doing proofs in geometry

Divergent thinking

Thought process used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions Ex. Brainstorming, freewriting

Critical period

Time period during which specific stimuli have a major effect on development that the stimuli don't produce at other times -- ex. In particular, if children don't start speaking around a certain time, it can become even more difficult for them to pick up their native language.

Lens

Transparent structure behind pupil that changes shape to focus images on the retina

Sternberg

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Inter-Rater Reliability

Two different people should be able to score the same test and get the same result -- Ex. High if you give your test to two different teachers and they both give you the same score

Focus

Unconscious conflict from early childhood

Deep structure of language

Underlying syntactic structure of a sentence Abstract representation that identifies the ways a sentence can be analyzed Ex. The bear was chased by the lion

Punishment

Undesirable event that's presented after a response which makes it less likely to be repeated. Application/applying of undesirable stimulus -- Ex. B/c you didn't get good grades you have to do chores

The inferiority complex

We all have a drive to be competent, but as children we develop a sense of inferiority ex. We often we that we are not as good as our parents, what they say is true and the law, as we get older this complex lessens and we begin to question things

Closure

We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object ex. three angles with gaps in between, we will fill in and assume as a triangle

Proximity

We group nearby figures together ex. Grouping things into vertical and horizontal columns

Focus

We learn our personalities through conditioning and observation (Skinner)

Operant Conditioning

We learn to associate a response and its consequence -- ex. Pushing vending machine and receiving candy bar

Continuity

We perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones ex. when you see geese flying south for the winter, they fly in a formation that, to us, looks like a big "V"

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

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 goals 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 -- Psychologist Abraham Maslow pointed out that not all needs are created equal -- Predict which needs we will be motivated to satisfy first -- Ex. If stranded on a deserted island you will prioritize finding food and water over everything else

The WAIS

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale -- Ex. Vocabulary and math

The WISC

Wechsler's Intelligence Scale for Children -- Ex. Simple block arrangements

Cochlea

What the retina is to the eye, the cochlea is to the ear Part of the inner ear, snail-shaped, coiled fluid-filled tube transduces sound waves (vibrations) sends them to the temporal lobe's auditory cortex

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

When stimulated, suppresses eating -- When lesioned (cut) or destroyed results in overeating -- Ex. mnemonics: vhs (ventromedial hypothalamus stimulated) se (suppresses eating) vhs se

Lateral hypothalamus

When stimulated, will cause an animal to begin eating -- When lesioned (cut) or destroyed results in loss of appetite -- Ex. mnemonics: "L" stands for Lateral as well as for Large (as in what happens to you when you overeat)

Subliminals

When stimuli are detectable less than 50% of the time (below one's absolute threshold) they are "subliminal" ex. Amazon.com is a perfect example of powerful yet simple logo. The yellow arrow that points out from "a" to "z" neatly represents that they sell everything from A to Z . The subtle smile of the arrow's curve is an added bonus reflecting customer satisfaction

Relative Size

When the closer of two same-size objects casts a larger image on your retina than the farther one ex. Moon illusion - moon seems bigger and closer when it is near the horizon rather than high in the sky

Action Potential

When the neuron actually fires -- Sodium & potassium are the two substances most involved in the firing of an axon -- ex. The action potential is represented by opening the flap in the tank to let the water rush in and ultimately flush the toilet

Stanford-Binet IQ Test

Widely used American revision of Binet's original intelligence test -- Performance test -- Ex. The test comes with puzzles, pictures, math, etc.

School of Functionalism

William James believed there was a stream of consciousness that couldn't be broken down, Perception, emotion, and images can't be separated, Proposed adaptive behavior patterns are learned/maintained because they were successful, Paved the way for behaviorism, Ex. Rewarding a dog with treats after it does a trick

Counseling

Work with people who have everyday problems and help adapt and change these people, ex. anxiety/mild depression

Feel Good Do Good Phenomenon

You are more likely to help other people when you are already in a good mood -- Ex. If you just got an "A" on the big exam and a friend just gave you a great gift, you are more likely to help someone else that you might not if you weren't in such a good mood

Selective Attention

You focus your awareness on only a limited aspect of all you are capable of experiencing ex. The ball tossing video where the bear runs across and you don't notice it, you are focused on the balls

Trichromatic theory of color vision

Young and Helmholtz Three types of cones in the retina: red, green, blue These cones are activated in different combinations to produce all the colors of the visible spectrum Cannot explain such visual phenomena as afterimages but does explain color blindness Trichromats are people who have normal color vision ex. Dichromat can't see traffic light colors

Group Tests

a mental or achievement test designed to be administered to many individuals at once -- ex. Army General classification test

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI Scan)

a method used for studying the structure of the brain (or any living soft tissue) without surgery -- Images are obtained by using a strong magnetic field -- Ideal for finding a brain tumor or stroke damage -- ex. with a MRI, a psychologist can observe different structures in the brain by having a subject perform certain exercises or tasks

Denial

a person unconsciously rejects thoughts, feelings, needs, wishes, or external realities that they would not be able to deal with if they got into the conscious mind

Behaviorists Theory

a person who studies and does research about the behavior of animals or people ex. study the parameters of normal behavior and how basic behaviors can be shaped and modified in response to outside stimuli such as reward and punishment

Behaviorists Theory

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

a recording of the electrical brain waves of activity that occur in the brain, and across its surface -- Scans function of the brain -- Sticks electrodes to the scalp -- Diagnose sleep disorders and pinpoint where seizures occur -- ex. A recorder tape

Self Fulfilling Prophecy (negative)

a stereotype that causes a person to act in a manner consistent with that stereotype, ideas that become reality simply because someone believes them -- ex. when a teacher's expectations for a student actually influence that student's self image and performance

Factor analysis

a type of statistical procedure that is conducted to identify clusters or groups of related items (called factors) on a test ex. when you take a multiple choice Introductory Psychology test, a factor analysis can be done to see what types of questions you did best on and worst on (maybe they did best on factual types of questions but really poorly on conceptual types of questions)

Broca's Area

an area of the frontal lobe - left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex that directs muscle movements involved in speech -- ex. Broca's area has to do with speaking or "Bs-ing"

Wernicke's Area

an area that is involved in comprehension (understanding) of language -- ex. Wernicke's area has to do with understanding... Just remember that "W" and "u" are neighbors who live near each other at the end of the alphabet Wu

Basic anxiety

anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness ex. Fail a test, get stressed

Lawrence Kohlberg's theory

argued as we develop intellectually we also go through a number of different stages -- ex. Walking up the stairs vs. climbing a hill

Eysenck and P.E.N.

argued personality can be reduced to three trait dimensions: Extraversion - how outgoing, friendly and social your are Neuroticism - level of basic emotional stability one possess measured in terms of self esteem etc.. Psychoticism - general level of emotional caring one has or doesn't have ex. PEN - mnemonic to help you recall this

Albert Bandura

argued we learn more by observational learning also theorized that people's sense of self-efficacy has a powerful effect on their actions ex. Imitate behavior

Norepinephrine

arousal & wakefulness -- Also classified as a hormone. -- ex. administered as a drug in medical emergencies to raise blood pressure and heart rate

Autonomic Nervous System

automatically controls gland activity and the muscles of internal organs -- ex. Heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and digestive processes. It does all this automatically

Happiness is

being yourself, surrounding yourself with people who you enjoy being with, and having a passion -- Ex. Those who go through life only wanting to make large amounts of money with no regard for family or morals will likely be unhappy in life

Type B

better at relaxing without feeling guilty and working without becoming anxious or agitated ex. The easy going person

Endorphins

body's natural painkillers (opiates) released in response to pain and vigorous exercise -- ex. Morphine (an agonist that excites) mimics the actions of endorphins by stimulating receptors in the brain areas involved in mood and pain sensations

Cell Body (Soma)

cell body of a neuron and contains the nucleus of the cell -- Structure in neuron that fuels everything else -- The soma doesn't play an active role in transmitting neural signals, but it keeps the cell functioning and holds the cell's DNA -- ex. Maintenance worker

Imprinting

certain birds and mammals form attachments during a critical period very early in their lives -- ex. Chicks and baby birds follow their mother and do exactly what she does

Conservation concepts

changes in the form of an object do not alter physical properties of mass, volume and number -- ex. A tall glass with 16 oz. of water has same amount of water as a small glass with 16 oz. of water

Leading up to death

conflict of Integrity vs. Despair, corresponding to late adulthood, when individuals look back at their accomplishments in life. If successfully resolved, the individual gains Wisdom -- ex. Those who feel like they haven't accomplished anything in life feel depressed

Somatic Nervous System

contains the nerves you use to voluntarily activate muscles in your body -- ex. controlling the movement of your legs when you walk

Peripheral Nervous System

controls all voluntary and involuntary muscles and glands -- Essentially, the peripheral nervous system contains all your nerves and nerve bundles excluding the brain and spinal cord -- ex. Touching something

Lesions

damage to body tissue (any tissue in your body) -- When lesions occur in the brain they can cause serious problems or changes to brain functioning -- ex. Sometimes doctors say they "lesioned an area" which means they purposely damaged the tissue in that area

Central Nervous System

describes the brain and the spinal cord -- ex. Paralysis has to with the CNS

The Pancreas (insulin)

digestion and metabolism -- Main hormone is insulin, works the metabolism of blood sugar

Humanistic Theory

emphasizes the human capacity for choice and growth ex. Free will & self actualization

Humanistic Theory

emphasizes the human capacity for choice and growth ex. Free will & self actualization Focus- Optimistic outlook on human aspirations and potential

Acetylcholine

enables muscle action, learning, memory -- Low levels

The Hero

ex. Mario

The damsel in distress

ex. Princess peach

The Nurturing Mother

ex. Rosalina

A male "in touch with" anima (sense of "femaleness" in males)

ex. Toad

The shadow (our dark side)

ex. Wario

Test/Re-Test Reliability

if you take an intelligence test twice in 3 months, the results should be approximately the same -- ex. if you take the SATs in March, you should get the same scores when you take the SATs in April

Stereotype Threat

in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk for confirming negative stereotypes about their social group -- ex. African Americans have been found to score lower in tests of verbal aptitude when tested by whites than when tested by blacks, as well, women score higher on math tests when being tested without men present

Personal Constructs

individuals views of good and bad, right and wrong, selfish and unselfish that each of us build (or constructs) for ourselves He believed personality is built from a collection of cognitive interpretations of life events ex. For some of us, silence is wonderful, while for others it can be quite unsettling

Authoritative

is most effective as they set limits but explain reasons and make exceptions

Kinesthetic sense

is the sensation of your bodily movement and position in space using tendons, muscles and joints To say it another way, it is your sensation of your body's position and movement such as the experience of bending one's knees or raising one's arms ex. Clapping out rhythms; creating a model; are a few methods they use to learn

all-or-nothing (The toilet analogy)

it always flushes at same intensity, it either flushes or doesn't flush

Jean Piaget

largely influenced the cognitive approach

Spinal Cord

long, tubular bundle of nerve fibers that extends from the brain through the spinal column -- These nerve fibers. along with the brain form the central nervous system (CNS) -- ex. Paralysis caused by damaged spinal cord

Functional MRI (FMRI)

measures neural activity via blood oxygen level -- Scans function of the brain -- ex. This technique can be used to identify behavioral abnormalities that exist because of unusual activation of area of the brain

threshold (The toilet analogy)

minimum force to pull lever

Serotonin

mood, hunger, sleep and arousal -- Low levels

Dopamine

movement, learning, attention, and emotion -- Low levels

refractory period (The toilet analogy)

need to wait for flush to end before you can flush again

Gender identity

one's own perception or sense of being male or female -- ex. Bruce Jenner was biologically a man but his gender identity was a female

Collective efficacy

our belief that with collaborative effort our group will attain its desired goal ex. Seen more often in Non-Western societies

The ovaries and testes

produces hormones estrogen and testosterone

George Kelly

proposed the concept of personal constructs ex. focuses on mental structures called constructs that individuals use to interpret information and events

Prenatal development

refers to the development of a baby in the womb, a process that takes about 38 weeks -- ex. Prenatal period is a crucial time for physical development

Julian Rotter

social learning theory ex. Imitate behavior

The Pituitary Gland (Oxytocin)

the "master gland" -- Releases Oxytocin a chemical involved in bonding especially between child and parent

Papillae

the bumps you can see on your tongue 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 Flavor of food is a combination of taste and smell ex. interpret flavors of; Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, and umami

Frequency theory

the entire basilar membrane is vibrated by sound frequencies, not just in specific places. Our brain identifies the pitch of sounds according to how rapidly the nerve impulses fire Frequency Theory's big flaw is that these neurons do not have enough energy to keep firing to meet the demands of the incoming sounds ex. Couldn't apply to hearing a dog whistle

Pygmalion Effect (positive)

the teachers expectations for a certain group can have an effect on the overall class, leads to self fulfilling prophecy -- ex. the kids who were expected to get smarted by their teaches actually ended up getting smarter

resting potential (The toilet analogy)

water sitting in the bowl above the toilet

Social-Cognitive Theory

we learn behaviors through observation, modeling, and motivation such as positive reinforcement

Social-Cognitive Theory

we learn behaviors through observation, modeling, and motivation such as positive reinforcement Focus- Our thinking judgments, self perception; social/environmental impact Albert Bandura: argued we learn more by observational learning also theorized that people's sense of self-efficacy has a powerful effect on their actions ex. Imitate behavior

action potential (The toilet analogy)

when flap opens up and water rushes in

depolarization (The toilet analogy)

whole process of toilet flushing

Split Half Reliability

your score on the even-numbered items should be about the same as you score on the odd-numbered items -- ex. if you take the SATs, you should get the same score on the even and the odd numbered questions

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