PSYCH 1X03: Exam

definitions and concepts

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