Psychology 100, Exam 1

Correlation versus causation

A correlation is a predictable relationship between two variables makes it possible to predict the other. However, just because two variables are correlated does not mean that one causes the other.

Biological perspective

A psychological approach that emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts.

Classical conditioning

A type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (US) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.

The unconscious

According to Freud, it contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but nonetheless exert great influence on behavior.

Manifest content

According to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden, content).

Random assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups.

Closure Grouping Principle

Filling in gaps or missing information when we perceive something as incomplete.

Bandura's bobo doll experiment

In this experiment children watched a model attack a doll and then the children were put in a room with toys including the same doll and children it was found that the kids who watched the model were much more likely to imitate the actions.

Neurons

Individual cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate, and transmit information.

Observational learning

Learning by observing others.

Reticular formation and personality

Nerve network in the brainstem, controls arousal. Shy personality is more sexually aroused. Outgoing personality is less sexually aroused.

Sleep paralysis

state of being unable to move just after falling asleep or right before waking up

Reinforcement

stimulus or event that follows a response and increases the likelihood that the response will be repeated

Wilhelm Wundt

structuralism; in 1879 founded first psychology laboratory in world at University of Leipzig; introspection, basic units of experience

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

Activation-synthesis theory

the theory that dreams result from the brain's attempt to make sense of random neural signals that fire during sleep

Neurocognitive theory

theory that dreams are a meaningful product of our cognitive capacities, which shape what we dream about

Picture prime experiment

those exposed to picture of einstein (below level of awareness) did bettter on test; vice versa when exposed to paris hilton

Right hemisphere of brain

touch and movement, superior at nonverbal, visual, and spatial tasks. controls left side

Plasticity

The brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development

Independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

Dependent variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Parasomnias

a catergory of sleep disorders characterized by arousal or activation during sleep or sleep transitions; inclues sleepwalking, night terrors, sleep bruxism(teeth grinding), sleep-related eating disorder, and REM sleep behavior disorder

Positive correlation

a correlation in which large values of one variable are associated with large values of the other and small with small

Negative correlation

a correlation in which large values of one variable are associated with small values of the other

Action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. the action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane

REM sleep

a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active.

Experiment

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors.

Functionalism

a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.

Operant conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

Latent content

according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest content). Freud believed that a dream's latent content functions as a safety valve.

John Watson

behaviorism; emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; famous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons

Elderly prime experiment

conducted by Bar; college students had to unscramble words with negative stereotypes about the elderly; affected how fast students walked down the hall

Transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies into neural impulses

Monocular cues

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

Ivan Pavlov

discovered classical conditioning; trained dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell

William James

founder of functionalism; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment

Survey research

gathering primary data by asking people questions about their knowledge, attitudes, preferences, and buying behavior

Unconditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.

Conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Discrimination

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned response

in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).

Unconditioned response

in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.

Variable-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Variable-interval schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Fixed-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Fixed-interval schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Left hemisphere of brain

logical, contains mathamatics, lauguage, & speech. controls right side of the body

Random sample

method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected

Perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

B.F. Skinner

pioneer of operant conditioning who believed that everything we do is determined by our past history of rewards and punishments. he is famous for use of his operant conditioning aparatus which he used to study schedules of reinforcement on pidgeons and rats.

Gestalt psychology

school of psychology that studies how people perceive and experience objects as whole patterns

Structuralism

An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind

Case study

An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Dopamine and Parkinson's disease

Death of dopamine producing cells leads to Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination.

Naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Punishment

Occurs when stimulus change immediately follows a response and decreases the future frequency of that type of behavior in similar conditions.

Expectancy effects

Results that occur when a researcher or observer subtly communicates to participants the kind of behavior he or she expects to find, thereby creating that expected reaction.

Edward Titchener

Student of Wilhelm Wundt; founder of Structuralist school of psychology.