psych - midterm

positive psychology

a field of research that focuses on people’s positive experiences and characteristics, such as happiness, optimism, and resilience

biological psychologist

study the biological factors influencing behavior and mental processes

cognitive psychologists

study the mental processes underlying judgment, decision making, problem solving, imagining, and other aspects of human thought or cognition

engineering psychology

the field in which psychologists study human factors in the use of equipment and help designers create better versions of that equipment

developmental psychologists

seek to understand, describe, and explore how behavior and mental processes change over a lifetime

personality psychologists

study the characteristics that make individuals similar to or different from one another

clinical/counseling psychologists

seek to assess, understand, and change abnormal behavior

community psychologists

work to obtain psychological services for people in need of help and to prevent psychological disorders by working for changes in social systems

health psychologists

study the effects of behavior and mental processes on health and illness and vice versa

educational psychologists

study methods by which instructors teach and students learn and who apply their results to improving those methods

school psychologists

test iq’s, diagnose students’ academic problems, and set up programs to improve students’ achievement

social psychologists

interested in how people influence one another’s and mental processes, individually and in groups

industrial/organizational psychologists

study ways to increase efficiency, productivity, and satisfaction among workers and the organizations that employ them

quantitative psychologists

develop and use statistical tools to analyze research data

sports psychologists

explore the relationship between athletic performance and such psychological variable as motivation and emotion

forensic psychologists

assist in jury selection, evaluate defendants’ mental competence to stand trial, and deal with other issues involving psychology and the law

environmental psychologists

study the effects of the physical environment on behavior, mental processes

neuroscience

the scientific study of all levels of the nervous system, including neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neurology, neurophysiology, and neuropharmacology

biologival approach

assumes that behavior and behavior disorders are the result of physical processes, especially those relating to the brain and to hormones and other chemicals

natural selection

the evolutionary mechanism through which darwin said the fittest individuals survive to reproduce

evolutionary approach

emphasizes the inherited, adaptive aspects of behavior and mental processes

psychodynamic approach

emphasizes the interplay of unconscious mental processes in determining human thoughts, feelings, and behavior

behavioral approach

emphasizes that human behavior is determined mainly by what a person has learned, especially from rewards and punishments

cognitive approach

emphasizes research on how the brain takes in info, creates perceptions, forms and retrieves memories, processes info, and generates integrated patterns of action

humanistic approach

views behavior as controlled by the decisions that people make about their lives based on their perceptions of the world

sociocultural factors

refer to social identity and other background factors, such as gender, ethnicity, social class, and culture

culture

the accumulation of values, rules of behavior, forms of expression, religious beliefs, occupational choice, and the like for a group of people who share a common language and environment

encoding

the process of coding information so that it can be placed in sensory, short-term, or long-term memory

acoustic encoding

represents the sounds we hear in memory

visual encoding

represents the images we see in memory

semantic encoding

represents the meaning of experiences or factual info in memory

episodic memory

any memory of a specific event that happened while you were present

semantic memory

contains factual knowledge, this memory differs from episodic memory in that its contents are not associated with a specific event

procedural memory

holds “how-to” methods or processes that usually require some motor movement

explicit memory

the process of purposely trying to remember something

implict memory

the subconscious recall or influence of past experiences

levels-of-processing memory

holds that differences in how well something is remembered reflect the degree or depth to which incoming info is mentally processed

maintenance rehearsal

repeating info over & over, keeps info in short-term memory

elaborative rehearsal

involves thinking about how new material is linked or related in some way to info already stored in long-term memory

transfer-appropriate processing

model suggests that memory retrieval will be improved if the encoding method matches the retrieval method

parallel distributed processing

models of memory suggest that the connections between units of knowledge are strengthened with experience

information processing

model of memory has three stages: sensory

sensory memory

holds sensory info for a fraction of a second in sensory registers, if the info is attended to and recognized, perception takes place, and the info can enter short-term memory

sensory registers

hold incoming sensory info until it is processed, recognized, and remembered

selective attention

determines what info is held in sensory registers, info that is not attended to decays and cannot be processed any further

short term memory

receives info that was perceived in sensory memory, can store 7 items for 20 seconds

working memory

the part of the memory system that allows us to mentally manipulate info being held in short-term memory

immediate memory span

the largest number of items/chunks of info that you can recall perfectly from short-term memory after one presentation of the stimuli. most have this of 5-9 items

chunks

meaningful groupings of info that you place in short-term memory

brown peterson procedure

a research method that prevents rehearsal. a person presented with a group of 3 letters and then counts backwards by threes from an arbitrarily selected number

long-term memory

the stage of memory in whch the capacity to store new info is believed to be unlimited

primary effect

occurs when we remember words at the beginning of a list better than those in the middle of the list

recency effect

occurs when we remember the last few words on a list better than others on the list, the list’s final items are in short term memory at the time of recall

retrieval cues

help us recognize info in long term memory

encoding specificity principle

maintains that if the way info is encoded and the way it is retrieved are similar, remembering the info will be easier

context dependent memory

the environment acts as a retrieval cue

state dependent memory

your psychological state acts as a retrieval cue

spreading activiation

describes the way in which info is retrieved from long term memory according to semantic network theories

schemas

summaries of knowledge about categories

method of savings

a term introduced by Ebbinghaus to refer to the difference in the amount of time required to relearn material that has been forgetten and the amount of time it took to learn the material initially

decay

a mechanism whereby info not used in long term memory gradually fades until losr completely

interference

a mechanism whereby the retrieval or storage of info in long term memory is impaired by other learning

retroactive interference

occurs when info in memory is displaced by new info

proactive interference

occurs when old info in long term memory interferes with the remembering of new info

anterograde amnesia

a loss of memory for events that occur after a brain injury. memory for experiences prior to the trauma remains intact

retrograde amnesia

a loss of memory of events prior to to a brain injury. memories encoded days or years before the injury or trauma can be lost

mnemonics

encoding methods that increase the efficiency of your memory

nonconscious level

a level of mentala activity that is inaccessible to conscious awareness

preconscious level

a level of mental activity that is not currently conscious but of which we can easily become conscious

unconscious level

a level of mental activity that influences consciusness but is not conscious

altered state of consciousness

a condition in which changes in mental processes are extensive enough that a person or others notice significant differences in psychological and behavioral functioning

non-REM sleep

consists of sleep stages 1, 2, 3, and 4; they are accompanied by gradually slower, deeper breathing, a calm and regualr heartbeat, reduced blood pressure, and slower brain waves

nightmare

frightening dreams that take place during REM sleep

sleep terror

the occurrence of horrific dream images during stage 4 sleep, followed by rapid awakening in a state of intense fear

state theories of hypnosis

propose that hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness

nonstate theory of hypnosis

theories, such as role theory, proposing that hypnosis does not create an altered state of consciousness

agonsits

drugs that mimic the effects of the neurotransmitter that normally binds to a neutral receptor

antagonists

drugs that bind to receptors and prevent the normal neurotransmitters from binding

depressant drugs

psychoactive drugs that inhibit the functioning of the central nervous system

stimulating drugs

psychoactive drugs that have the ability to increase behavioral and mental activity

opiates

psychoactive drugs, such as opium, morphine, and heoin, that produce sleep-inducing and pain-relieving effects

big five model

the five factors that trait theorists believe best define the basic organization of personality. these factors are neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness

oedipus complex

a constellation of impulses that occur during the phallic stage. a boy’s id impulses involve sexual desire for the mother and a desire to eliminate the father

electra complex

occurs during the phallic stage when girls experience penis envy and transfer their love from their mothers to their fathers

trait approach

views personality as a unique combination of dispositions or tendencies to think and behave in certain ways

social-cognitive approach

views personality as the array of behaviors that a person acquires through learning. also important are the roles of learned thought patterns and the influence of social situations

self-concept

the way one thinks about oneself. it is influenced by self-actualizing tendencies and others’ evaluations

conditions of worth

the beliefs that a person’s worth depends on displaying the “right” attitudes, behaviors, and values. these conditions are created whenever people, instead of their behaviors, are evaluated

deficiency motivation

occurs when people are preoccupied with meeting needs for what they do not have. in other words, people focus on what is missing from their lives instead of what they have

growth motivation

occurs when people focus on deriving satisfaction from what they have

objective tests

paper-and-pencil tests containing clear, specific questions, statements, or concepts to which a person writes responses

projective tests

composed of unstructured stimuli that can be perceived and responded to in many ways, people who use theses kinds of tests assume that responses will reflect aspects of personality

TAT

picture of man in bed and woman crying

rorschach

ink blot test

maturation

refers to natural growth or change that unfolds in a fixed sequence relatively independent of the environment

zygote

a new cell formed from a father’s sperm and mother’s ovum

embryo

the developing individual from the fourteenth day after fertilization until the end of the second month after conception

fetus

the developing individual from the third month after conception until birth

teratogens

harmful substances that can cause birth defects

critical period

refers to an interval during which kinds of growth must occur if development is to proceed normally