Psych 10 UCLA final
barnum effect
"we have something for everyone"
nativist perspective
Chomsky argues that language learning capacities are built into the brain
personality
a characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
mental set
a frame of mind involving a certain representation of a problem, its context or procedure for solving it
sound wave
a pattern of changes in air pressure during a period of time; produces sound
long term potentation
a process whereby communication across the synapse strengthens the connection, making further communication easier
imprinting
a sensitive period during which young animals become strongly attached to a nearby adult
Trait
a stable quality of a person that shows in most situation
language
a system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and convey meaning
stress
a type of physical and psychological response that typically involves an unpleasant state, such as anxiety/tension
discrimination
ability to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli
intelligence
ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
positive punishment
adding an unfavorable consequence to decrease behavior
positive reinforcement
adding favorable consequence to increase behavior
recognition by components
all objects can be described as a collection of several volumetric primitives or geons and the reactions between them
fight or flight response
an emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action
telomerase
an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres at the tips of chromosomes
prototype theory
an imaginary average
coping response
any attempt made to avoid, escape from, or minimize a stressor
environment
any non genetic influence on behavior
template theory
any pattern that fits template of an object will be recognized as that object
Cartensen's socioemotional selectivity theory
as people grow older they perceive time to be limited and adjust their priorities to emphasize emotionally meaningful events, experiences, and goals
behavior therapy
assumes disordered behavior is learned; seeks to change maladaptive behaviors into more constructive behaviors
resting membrane potential
at rest electrical charge
visual neglect
attentional disorder in which patients are unaware or don't respond to objects on one side of space
family resemblance theory
attributes may be true of some but not all members
echoic memory
auditory sensory register
temporal lobe
auditory, processing language
ratio
based on number of behaviors
interval
based on time intervals
Neurons
basic units of the nervous system that operate via electro-chemical signals
Hindsight Bias
belief that an outcome was foreseeable
antipsychotic drugs
block dopamine receptor cites; treat some positive symptoms but not negative
HPA axis
body system involved in stress responses
immune system
body's mechanism for dealing with invading microorganisms
humanistic therapy
boost people's self fulfillment and promote self growth
CNS
brain and spinal cord
sound localization
brain integrates different sensory info coming from each ear
psychosis
break from reality in which the person has difficulty distinguishing what thoughts or perceptions are real vs imagined
motor neurons
carry info from CNS to muscles/glands (brain to body)
Sensory neurons
carry info from sensory receptors to CNS (brain to body)
action potential
caused by changes in the electrical and chemical gradients across the cell membrane
fovea
center of retina where cones are densely packed
framing effects
changing how an issue is presented can change people's decisions
bipolar disorder
characterized by cycles of abnormal, persistent high mood and low mood
panic disorder
characterized by the sudden occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of terror
generalized anxiety disorder
chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance
interposition
closer objects block farther ones
stereotypes
cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of info about people based on their membership in certain groups
cell body (soma)
collects/sums input; contains nucleus and cell material
exemplar theory
compare new instances with stored memories for other instances
interneurons
connect sensory, motor, and other interneurons
pons
connects to rest of brain
general adaptation syndrome
consistent pattern of responses to stress that consists of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion
myelin sheath
covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed up neural impulses
dendrites
detect incoming signals
sensation
detecting physical stimuli and sending this info to the brain
amplitude
determines loudness
frequency
determines pitch
retinal disparity
different retinal images each eye receives based on its different perspectives
agnosia
difficulty perceiving shapes and object form
sensory adaptation
diminished sensitivity as a result of a constant or recurring stimuli
episodic memory
discrete events, specific time/place, personally experienced
positive psychology
emphasizes the strengths and virtues that help people thrive; its primary aim is an understanding of psychological well being
law of conservation of quantity
even if a substance's appearance changes its quantity may remain unchanged
learning
experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner
semantic memory
facts, general knowledge
blocking
failing to recall something even when you know it
bystander intervention effect
failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need when other people are present
agoraphobia
fear of public places, often because of fear of panic attacks in public
tend and befriend response
females' tendency to protect and care for their offspring and form social alliances rather than fight or flee in response to threat
cerebellum
fine motor skills; balance and coordinated movement
post-decisional dissonance
focusing on positive aspects of something you chose and the negative aspects of something you did not choose
spontaneous recovery
following extinction, presenting the CS may lead to the CR again
misattribution
forgetting who you told a joke to; Ronald Cotton Case
Structuralism
goal: to discover the mind's structure by breaking down experiences into their underlying components
functionalism
goal: to study the purpose of behaviors and mental processes by examining them in terms of adaption to the environment
atherosclerosis
gradual narrowing of the arteries that occurs as fatty deposits or plaque build up on the inner walls of the arteries; main cause or coronary heart disease
chunking
group items into more meaningful chunks
medulla
heart rate, circulation, breathing
oxytocin
hormone important for mothers in bonding to newborns and encourages affiliation during social stress
top down processing
how knowledge, expectations, or past experiences shape the interpretation of sensory info
foot in the door effect
if people agree to a small request, they become more likely to comply with a large undesirable request
belief perseverance
ignoring opposing information
sensory memory
immediate, brief recoding of sensory info before it is processed into short term or long term memory
Weber's Law
in order to be perceived as different, the intensity of two stimuli must vary by a constant proportion of the intensity of the original stimulus
aphasia
inability to comprehend and produce language
achromatopsia
inability to perceive color despite having a normally functioning eye
functional fixedness
inability to realize that something has a certain use might also be used for performing other functions
prosopagnosia
inability to recognize faces
fixation
inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective
insecure (anxious) attachment
infant avoids contact with caregiver or switches between approach and avoidance behaviors
secure attachment
infant is confident enough to play in unfamiliar area only if caregiver is there
narcissistic personality disorder
inflated sense of self importance, exploitative of others
group polarization
initial attitudes become extreme over time
acquisition
initial stage of learning/conditioning
interactionalist perspective
innate capacity for language interacts with experience
specific phobia
irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual's ability to function
social phobia
irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed
availability heuristic
judging the probability of events based on examples that come readily to mind
non declarative memory
knowing "how", expressed behaviorally, awareness not necessary (implicit memory)
declarative memory
knowing "what", expressed verbally, conscious awareness (explicit memory)
informativeness
knowledge of category membership allows inferences to be made
absentmindedness
lapses in attention, sometimes due to divided attention
retina
light sensitive inner surface of the eye
persistent depressive disorder
long lasting depression, lasting two or more years
prospect theory
losses "matter" more than gains
long term memory
memory that persists over time without conscious activation
concepts
mental representations that group related things together into categories
intelligence test
method of assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them to others'
reduced discrimination
minimize the number of labels of objects
absolute threshold
minimum amount of stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time
difference threshold
minimum difference between 2 stimuli needed to detect difference between them 50% of the time
Institutional Review Board
need to make sure it meets the accepted standards of science
PNS
neurons transmit info from CNS to organs/muscles
retroactive interference
new learning gets in the way of old
behavior
observable actions of humans and animals
dissociative identity disorder
occurrence of two or more distinct identities int he same individual, along with memory gaps
transience
of the forgetting that will happen, most happens fast
proactive interference
old learning gets in the way of new
join attention
older infants follow an adult's gaze while younger infants follow head movement
generalization
once a response has been conditioned, similar stimuli can elicit the same response
expert blind spot
once you know the answer it is impossible to remember what it felt like to not know
schemas
organized knowledge structure or mental model that we've stored in our memory
hierarchies
organizing information
normative influence
our tendency to conform in order to fit in with the group
informational influence
our tendency to conform when we assume that the group is right
door in the face
people are more likely to agree to a small request after they have refused a large request
ingroup favoritism
people are more likely to favorably evaluate and privilege members of the ingroup more than members of the out group
diffusing of responsibility
people fear making social blunders in ambiguous situations
representative heuristic
people judge probabilities based on the degree that the situation is similar to, or representative of, their stereotypes or knowledge
sunk-cost fallacy
people make their decisions about a current situation based on prior investments
problem focused coping
people take direct steps to confront or minimize a stressor
loss aversion
people tend to want to avoid losses more than they want to achieve gains
emotion focused coping
people try to prevent having an emotional response to a stressor
bottom up processing
perception based on the physical features of the stimulus - basic to more complex
incubation
period of not thinking about a problem for a while
austism spectrum disorder
persistent communication deficits, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors, interests, and actions
mental disorder
persistent disturbance or dysfunction in behavior, thoughts, or emotions that causes significant distress or impairment
antisocial personality disorder
pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood
frontal lobe
planning, decision making, speaking
signal detection theory
predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background noise; assumes that there is no single absolute threshold and detection depends on experience, expectations, motivations, fatigue, etc
social facilitation
presence of others generally enhances performance
consolidation
process by which memories become stable in the brain
transduction
process of converting one form of energy to another
accommodation
process of creating a new schema or drastically altering an existing schema to include new info that wouldn't have fit in the old schema
assimilation
process of placing new info into an existing schema
perception
processing, organizing, and interpreting sensory info
schizophrenia
profound disruption of basic psychological processes; a distorted perception of reality; altered or blunted emotion; disturbances of thoughts, motivation, and behavior
plasticity
property of the brain that allows it to change as a result of experience or injury
heritability
proportion of variation in the population that is explained by genetic factors
BMI
ratio of body weight to height
cognitive revolution
reaction against behaviorism in 1950s-1960s; brought back interest in mental processes; set stage for modern approach to psychology
retrieval
reactivating and recalling information
perceptual constancy
real objects don't change at random so our perceptions of those objects don't change either even though the visual info can change drastically
occipital lobe
receive visual information
somatosensory cortex
receives info
seasonal affective disorder
recurrent depressive episodes in a seasonal pattern
behaviorism
redefined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior; predominant in 1920s-1960s
means ends heuristic
reduce the difference between the current state and the goal state
fixed
reinforcement after a given amount of time or responses
variable
reinforcement after a random amount of time or responses
negative punishment
removing a favorable consequence to decrease behavior
negative reinforcement
removing unfavorable consequence to increase behavior
cones
respond to higher level of light; result in color perception
rods
respond to low levels of light; results in black and white perception
Nervous system
responsible for everything we think, feel, and do
working backwards heuristic
reversed version of means end work from goal state to current state
grammar
rules for combining sounds/words to make meaningful speech
anti-depressants
selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors
motor cortex
sends out info
parietal lobe
sensory input for touch and position
major depressive disorder
severely depressed mood and/or inability to experience please, lasting two or more weeks, accompanied by feelings of worthlessness, lethargy, and sleep/appetite disturbance
behaviorist perspective
skinner says we learn languages through reinforcement
reticular formation
sleep/wakefulness, arousal
terminal buttons
small modules at the end of the axon that release chemical signals from the neuron into the synapse
morphemes
smallest unit of meaning in a language
phonemes
smallest unit of sound in language (not letters)
chronic stressors
sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly
synapse
space between axon of a sending neuron and dendrite of a receiving neuron
attachment
strong emotional bond that persists over time and across circumstances (usually with a caregiver)
psychopharmacology
study of the effect of drugs on the mind and behavior
genetic influence
study people with different genes raised in the same environment
environmental influence
study people with same genes raised in different environments
forebrain
subcritical structures and cortex
health psychology
subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health
psychodynamic
takes one to two sessions per week for several months, therapist in view, focus on childhood experience
Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy
teach people new more constructive ways of thinking and acting
cognitive therapy
teach people new, more constructive ways of thinking and feeling
suggestibility
tendency to incorporate misleading info into memories
confirmation bias
tendency to produce positive rather than negative information in reasoning
Theory of Mind
the ability to explain and predict another person's behavior as a result of recognizing his/her mental state
encoding
the information gets into our brains in a way that allows it to be stored
storage
the information is held in a way that allows it to later be retrieved
mental processes
the mind, private inner experience
stereotype
the process by which we draw inferences about others based on knowledge of the categories to which they belong
psychology
the scientific investigation of behavior and mental processes
egocentrism
the tendency to view the world through their own experiences
opponent process theory
three sets of retinal processes; red/green, yellow/blue, white/black
Young Heimholtz Trichromatic Color Theory
three types of cones; respond to red, green or blue light
psychoanalytical
took several sessions per week for years, therapist was out of view, focused on childhood experiences
axon
transmits signal to axon terminal
operant conditioning
type of learning in which the consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will be repeated again
electroconvulsive shock therapy
type of neurostimulation where patient is induced into a brain seizure
anti-anxiety drugs
type of tranquilizer; facilitates the neurotransmitter GABA which can inhibit some neutral activity
object permanance
understanding that an object continues to exist when it cannot be seen
short term memory
used to keep track of what is currently relevant
mnemonics
using mental imagery and other well known cues; loci
social referencing
using others' reactions to gauge how we should think or feel
iconic memory
visual sensory register
rational choice theory
we make decisions by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the values of the possible outcome and multiplying by two
attribution theory
we tend to give casual explanations for people's behavior
convergence
when a person views a nearby object, eye muscles turn inward
social loafing
when evaluation apprehension is low, effort is low
extinction
when the US and CS stop occurring together and the CR is weakened
paradox of choice
when too many options are available, people experience conflict and indecision
low balling strategy
when you agree to buy a product for a certain price, you are more likely to comply with a request to pay more for the product
Bias
your current knowledge/beliefs can affect how you remember the past
persistence
PTSD, flashbulb memories
