Studied by 21 people
Anecdotal Evidence
Evidence gathered from others’ or ones’ own experience.
Experiment
Scientific tool used to measure the effect of one variable on another
Independent Variable
Variable manipulated by the scientist
Dependent Variable
Variable being observed by the scientist
Within-Participants Design
Manipulating the independent variable within each participant to minimize the effect of the participant differences on the dependent measure
Answer: Control group
Question: Which group does not receive the experimental treatment or the manipulation of the independent variable?
Practice Effect
An improvement in performance over the course of an experiment as a result of experience, separate from the effect of the independent variable
Confounding variable
A variable associated with an independent variable that obscures the effects of the independent variable on the out come. This variable makes it difficult to draw findings and conclusions from an experiment.
Random Sample
A subset of people selected at random, so our sample is most representitive of the larger population. Random sampling ensures everyone has an equal chance of being selected
Random Assignment
Assigning participants to either the experimental or control group at random to avoid any biases that may create differences between the groups of participants
Placebo Effect
The situation where an individual exhibits a response to a treatment that is not due to its real therapeutic effects.
Blinding
When participants do not know whether they belong to the experimental or control group, or which treatment they are receiving
Experimenter bias
Actions made by the experimenter, intentionally or not, that influence the outcome of the experiment
Double-Blind Studies
Experiments in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know which group each participant belongs to
Descriptive Statistics
gives information about data at a glance to give overall idea of the experiment
Histogram
a type of graph used to report the number of times groups of values appear in a data set
Frequency Distribution
Type of graph illustrating the distribution of how frequently values appear in a data set
Normal distribution
A distribution with a characteristical bell-shaped curve containing a single peak
Mean
the AVERAGE value of a data set → susceptible to influences of outliers
Mode
The value the appears MOST FREQUENTLY in a data set → only one used for non numerical data
Median
The center value in a data set when arranged numerically
Standard Deviation
A measure of the average of the distance in each data point from the mean
larger spread → larger standard deviation
smaller spread → smaller standard deviation
Inferential Statistics
Statistics that allow us to use results from samples to make inferences about overall underlying population
T-Test
A statistical test that considers each data point from both groups to calculate the probability that two samples were drown from the same population → produces p-value
P-value
a probability (0-1) indicating the likelihood of this difference being observed even if no ‘real’ difference exists
Statistical Significance
When the difference between 2 groups is due to some true difference between the properties of the 2 groups and not simply due to random variation
Type 1 error
believing a difference when a difference does not exist → false alarm
Type 2 error
Failing to see a difference when a difference does exist → miss
Correlation
A measure of the strength of the relationship between 2 variables
Correlation Coefficient
A number between -1 and +1, denoted by ‘r’ indicating both the strength and direction of the correlation
Contingencies
When one stimulus reliably predicts the presentation of another
Classical Conditioning
The learning of a contingency between a particular signal and a later event that are paired in time and/or space
Unconditioned Stimulus
Any stimulus or event that triggers a response naturally without any prior learning
Conditioned Stimulus
paired with the unconditioned stimulus to produce a learned contingency
Unconditioned Response
A response that occurs naturally prior to learning
Conditioned Response
the response that occurs once the contingency between the CS and the US has been learned
Acquisition
The process by which a contingency between a CS and a US is learned
Extinction
the loss of the CR when the CS no longer predicts the US
Spontaneous Recovery
The sudden recovery of a conditional response following a rest period after extinction
Deductive Reasoning
Going from ideas and general information to a specific conclusion
Inductive Reasoning
Going from a specific fact to general ideas
Functional Fixedness
Our difficulty seeing alternative uses for common objects
reliability
produces the same result if one person takes in multiple times and they produce a similar result
validity
a test that measures the trait it is supposed to be measuring
The Flynn Effect
The observation that raw IQ scores have been on the rise since 1932 (mean score has always been 100)
Schema
A mental framework for interpreting the world around us
Assimilation
Incorporating new information into existing schemas
Accommodation
modifying existing schemas to fit incompatible information
Object permanence
Realization that objects continue to exist when no longer visible
Pre-Operational (2-7 years)
name the stage: difficulty with
egocentrism
seration
reversible relationships
conservation
Concrete Operational (7-12)
the stage where a child still struggles to take in abstract thinking and reasoning
Formal Operational Stage (12+ years)
develop an interest in fantasy games and movies
Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)
struggles with object permanence
Confirmation Bias
Our tendency to seek out information that supports our hypothesis
Heuristic
A mental shortcut used to solve a problem quickly and correctly
Availability Heuristic
Our tendency to make decisions based on the information that is most quickly available to us
Representative Heuristic
Our tendency to assume that what we are seeing is representative of the larger category we have in our mind
intelligence
the cognitive ability of an individual to learn from experience, reason well, remember important information, and cope with the demands of daily living
Framing
The bias to be systemically affected by the way in which information is presented
Regular (language)
the idea that language is regulated by the rules of grammar
arbitrary
words do not represent what they mean
Language is productive
Words in a language can be combined in different ways to describe almost any situation or idea
Saphir-Whorf Hypothesis
Language influences our thoughts and the way we perceive and experience the world.
Morphemes
the smallest units of sound that contain information
Phoneme
the smallest unit of sound in speech
Syntax
The rules that govern how words in a sentence are put together
Semantics
The meaning of the entire sentence/word
Babbling
Characterized by drawn-out vowel sounds made up of a variety of combinations of vowels and consonants
Universal Phoneme Sensitivity
The ability of infants to discriminate between any sounds they’re tested on
Language Acquisition Device
an innate mechanism, present only in humans, that helps language develop rapidly according to universal rules
Neural Activation
Prefer speech sounds over non-speech sounds
Attention
helps to focus finite mental resources on key parts of the active scene
Memory
recall specific thoughts and behaviours appropriate to your current needs
Classification
The ability to classify dissimilar objects together in the same group
Understanding
The ability to evaluate a situation and act appropriately based on prior experiences
Communication
The ability to describe complex ideas or objects using a single label
Illusion of the Expert
The feeling that a task must be simple for everyone because it is simple for oneself
Prototype theory
We categorize objects by comparing them to internal “best” representation of a given category.
Exemplar theory
We categorize objects by comparing them to every previously stored experience in a given category
Selection
The acts of attending to an object to select it apart from the unattended objects
Automatic processes
processes that are involuntary, fast and efficient
Controlled Processes
processes that require conscious attention, and are slow and effortful
Salience
A piece of information is one that appears to naturally pop out at you
Breakthrough
participants remember unattended information
Single Filter Model
The filter model based on the physical characteristics of stimuli
Dual Filter Model
the filter model that includes a semantic filter for meaningful stimuli
Set Size
The number of items to search through
Set Size Effect
Increase in difficulty as set size increases
Pop-out effect
When the object of a visual search is easily found regardless of set size
Focused attention
Participants are told to attend to one stimulus and ignore another. This informs us about the process of selection, and what happens unattended
Divided attention
participants attend to multiple stimuli
Encoding
What information is being learned
Storage
What information is being stored in the brain and how
Retrieval
how we access prior experiences
Retrieval Cue
Any piece of information that can be used to access other information
free recall test
a memory test where you generate the items yourself
Recognition test
Memory test where options are presented to you
multi store model
assumes that incoming sensory information is first stored in a short term memory buffer
7±2
short term memory capacity
Primacy Effect
Items at the beginning of the list are the first to enter short term memory
Note 
Flashcard (38)