psych midterm

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the data point that shows up most frequently

psychodynamic (the seven psychology perspective)

focuses on how past experiences, that have been repressed, impact our current experiences

cognitive (the seven psychology perspective)

focuses on how internal thoughts and feelings influence one's behavior. The cognitive approach emphasizes the importance of memory, perception and attention, language, decision-making and problem-solving

behaviorism (the seven psychology perspective)

we learn by watching others (modeling), through punishment or reinforcement, and by pairing events closely in time.

humanism (the seven psychology perspective)

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy growth potential. May or may not need help.

biological (the seven psychology perspective)

the biological approach believes behavior to be a consequence of our genetics and physiology.

socio-cultural (the seven psychology perspective)

examines the influences of social and cultural environments on behavior. socioculturalists argue that understanding a person's behavior requires knowing about the cultural context in which the behavior occurs.

evolutionary (the seven psychology perspective)

evolutionary psychologists presume all human behaviors reflect the influence of physical and psychological predispositions that helped human ancestors survive and reproduce.

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent

The different types of correlation and how they work

positive correlation is when as one thing increases, the other does too. negative correlation is when as one thing increases, the other decreases

scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables

The different types of ethics when it comes to studies

protection from harm (they won't face any unexpected harm in the experiment), right to withdraw (they can withdraw whenever they want), confidentiality (no one outside the experiment should be able to identify the participants), debriefing (meeting after the experiment and discussing the events), informed consent (participants know what the study involves), deception (misleading participants)

The different types of research and how each work

qualitative research (empirical research where the data are not in the form of numbers), quantitative research (deals with numerical data or data that can be transformed into numbers)

What is the range of a correlation coefficient and how it works

-1 to 1, the closer it is to one (1 or -1), the stronger the correlation it is

dependent variable

in an experiment, the outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated.

independent variable

in an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

sampling bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

endocrine system

system that controls the body's hormones. secretes them into the blood stream w/ glands

electroencephalogram

Recording of the electrical activity across the brain

drugs used for pain relief

opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Heroin. depressant

lucid dreaming

half asleep half awake state, high arousal or change in brain wave activity in the outer layer of the brain

sleep apnea

Breathing starts and stops while you sleep

melatonin

a hormone that your brain produces in response to darkness, helps with sleep

PET scan

a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task

range

highest data point - lowest data point

what are you suffering from if the corpus callosum is severed?

split brain, a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain’s two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them.)

nature-nurture issue

the scientific, cultural, and philosophical debate about whether human culture, behavior, and personality are caused primarily by nature or nurture.

natural selection

survival of the fittest, most advantaged organisms pass on their traits to the next generation

the refractory period

in neural processing, a brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron has fired; subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon returns to its resting state.

occipital lobe

Decodes visual signals, visual information comes from the retina (via the thalamus), informs us about where, how, and what we are seeing

cognitive map

a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it

discrimination learning

discrimination learning is defined in psychology as the ability to respond differently to different stimuli

testosterone

the most important male sex hormone. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher

extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced

mere exposure effect

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

observational learning

learning by observing

latent learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior. (remember the thing we did in class with "good, good, good")

conditioned stimulus

stimulus that incites a conditioned response (bell)

little albert study

the one where he emotionally traumatized a baby with sounds and made it scared of animals

biofeedback

a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

difference between classical and operant conditioning

in classical condition, the subject doesn't know it's happening. in operant they do

edward thorndike

law of effect (Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely)

unconditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers an unconditioned response UR)

opponent-processing theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

blind spot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there.

what is most likely about color blindness when it comes to deficiencies?

red-green color deficiency, maybe damaged retina or optic nerve

how is the psychological experience of pitch related to sound waves?

High pitch = high frequency | Low pitch = low frequency

top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. basically when you get a clue/context

what happens when tiny crystals break loose and bend hair cells in one’s semicircular canals?

you lose balance

visual cortex

responsible for interpreting and processing visual information received from the eyes

habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus

gate-control theory

a theory that our spinal cord has a "gate" that decides to block or allow pain signals to pass through

supertaster

a supertaster is someone who is born with more tastebuds, which can cause certain foods to taste especially bitter

dissociation

a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others

inattentive blindness

occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight, purely as a result of a lack of attention rather than any vision defects or deficits

gestalt's principles (figure-ground)

instantly perceiving if things are in front or behind, somethings obviously in the front and the rest blends in as a background

gestalt's principles (similarity)

when things look to be similar, we group them together

gestalt's principles (proximity)

we group things that are closer together as having a common function

gestalt's principles (common region)

when things are in the same closed region, they are perceived to be related

gestalt's principles (continuity)

things that seem to be continuous are perceived to be related

gestalt's principles (closure)

filling in gaps

gestalt's principles (focal point)

our brain will determine the most out-of-place thing as the focal point

gambler’s fallacy

occurs when an individual erroneously believes that a certain random event is less likely or more likely to happen based on the outcome of a previous event or series of events

priming

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

algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

rehearsal

process of repeating, verbalizing, thinking about, or otherwise acting on or transforming information in order to keep that information active in memory

procedural memory

the process of retrieving information necessary to perform learned skills

flynn effect

an secular increase in population intelligence quotient (IQ) observed throughout the 20th century

proactive interference

the forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories

reliablity

how dependably or consistently a test measures a characteristic. If a person takes the test again, will he or she get a similar test score, or a much different score? A test that yields similar scores for a person who repeats the test is said to measure a characteristic reliably

divergent thinking

expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions

recency effect

our tendency to recall best the last things

Noam Chomsky and his ideas on language

he suggests that language is an innate faculty - that is to say that we are born with a set of rules about language in our minds, which he refers to as the 'Universal Grammar'

What does percentile rank tell you on an achievement test

a percentile is the value at a particular rank. for example, if your score on a test is on the 95th percentile, a common interpretation is that only 5% of the scores were higher than yours.