General Psychology Exam Flashcards

Flashcards for General Psychology Exam Review focusing on key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture notes.

Selfridge

Developed the template-matching theory of perception.

Feature detection theory

Suggests perception relies on detecting key features.

Selfridge

Created the Pandemonium model of pattern recognition.

Pandemonium model

A hierarchy of feature detectors.

Biederman

Proposed Recognition-by-components theory.

Geons

Basic 3D shapes used for object recognition.

Gestalt principle of proximity

Objects near each other are grouped.

Founders of Gestalt psychology

Wertheimer, Köhler, Koffka

Closure principle

Suggests we fill in gaps in visual stimuli.

Wertheimer

Studied the phi phenomenon.

Phi phenomenon

Perceived motion from stationary images.

Inattentional blindness

Missing visible objects when attention is elsewhere.

Simons and Levin

Demonstrated change blindness with visual scenes.

Broadbent

Proposed filter theory of attention.

Broadbent's filter model

Suggests only attended info is processed.

Treisman

Developed the attenuation theory of attention.

Treisman's attenuation theory

Unattended input is weakened, not blocked.

Posner

Proposed the spotlight metaphor of attention.

Posner’s cueing task

Attention enhances processing at cued locations.

Treisman

Created the feature integration theory.

Feature integration theory

Attention binds features into objects.

Cocktail party effect

Hearing your name in noisy settings.

Cherry

Coined the term 'cocktail party effect'.

Treisman

Studied visual search tasks.

Pop-out effect

Target jumps out due to unique feature.

Cherry

Developed the dichotic listening task.

Dichotic listening

Used to study selective auditory attention.

Sensory adaptation

Reduced sensitivity to constant stimulation.

Gestalt psychologists

Proposed the law of Prägnanz.

Law of Prägnanz

Perceive the simplest pattern possible.

Köhler

Studied perception in chimpanzees.

Atkinson and Shiffrin

Created the multi-store model of memory.

Multi-store model components

Sensory, short-term, long-term memory.

Sperling

Studied sensory memory capacity.

Baddeley and Hitch

Developed the working memory model.

Phonological loop

Stores verbal information briefly.

Visuospatial sketchpad

Holds visual and spatial data.

Central executive

Directs attention and coordinates subsystems.

Episodic buffer

Integrates information across domains.

Peterson & Peterson

Studied about STM duration.

STM duration without rehearsal

About 15–30 seconds

Miller's STM capacity

7±2 items

Chunking

Grouping info to enhance memory capacity.

Glanzer and Cunitz

Discovered serial position effect.

Primacy effect

Better recall of early list items.

Recency effect

Better recall of latest items.

Craik and Lockhart

Researched levels of processing.

Craik and Tulving's findings

Deeper processing improves memory.

Elaborative rehearsal

Linking new info to existing knowledge.

Rogers et al.

Developed the self-reference effect.

Self-reference effect

Better memory for info related to self.

Tulving

Studied encoding specificity.

Encoding specificity

Memory improves with matching contexts.

State-dependent memory

Recall improves when internal states match.

Godden and Baddeley

Proposed context-dependent memory.

Godden and Baddeley study

Divers remembered better in matching environments.

Bartlett

Studied schemas in memory.

Bartlett's 'War of the Ghosts'

Memory is reconstructed by schemas

Proactive interference

Old info disrupts new learning.

Retroactive interference

New info disrupts old memory.

Consolidation

Stabilizing memory after encoding.

Pavlov

Considered the father of classical conditioning.

Pavlov's discovery

Association of stimuli through salivation.

Unconditioned stimulus

Naturally triggers a response.

Conditioned stimulus

Learned trigger after association.

Skinner

Studied operant conditioning.

Skinner's invention

Invented Skinner box.

Positive reinforcement

Adding a reward to increase behavior.

Negative reinforcement

Removing something unpleasant to increase behavior.

Positive punishment

Adding something unpleasant to decrease behavior.

Negative punishment

Taking away something desirable.

Thorndike

Developed the law of effect.

Law of effect

Behaviors followed by good outcomes are repeated.

Shaping

Reinforcing successive approximations.

Continuous reinforcement

Reward every time behavior occurs.

Variable ratio schedule

Reinforcement after unpredictable number of responses.

Fixed interval schedule

Reward after set amount of time.

Tolman

Studied latent learning in rats.

Latent learning

Learning without visible behavior until incentive.

Tolman

Proposed the concept of cognitive map.

Observational learning

Learning by watching others.

Bandura

Developed social learning theory.

Bandura's famous experiment

Bobo doll experiment.

Bobo doll study result

Children imitate aggressive models.

Vicarious reinforcement

Learning through observing others being rewarded.

Extinction (classical conditioning)

Conditioned response fades over time.

Spontaneous recovery

Reappearance of conditioned response after extinction.

Stimulus generalization

Responding to similar stimuli.

Stimulus discrimination

Differentiating between similar stimuli.

Habituation

Decreased response to repeated stimulus.

Learned helplessness

Passive behavior after repeated failure.

Concept

Mental grouping of similar items.

Prototype

Best example of a category.

Algorithm

Step-by-step method to solve a problem.

Heuristic

Simple rule-of-thumb for decisions.

Availability heuristic

Judging likelihood by ease of recall.

Representativeness heuristic

Judging by how well it matches prototype.

Functional fixedness

Inability to see objects used in new ways.

Confirmation bias

Focusing on info that confirms beliefs.

Mental set

Tendency to approach problems in familiar way.