Psych 101 - Midterm Study Guide: Chapters 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 from 'Psychology In Your Life', 3rd Edition

Psychology

is the science of the brain and how the human brain works

Psychoanalytic

understanding how unwilling/unconscious thoughts can cause mental disorders

Cognitive

exploring how mental processes can influence behavior.

Humanistic

How people find happiness/ the good in people

Behaviorism

behavior responds to environment/ nature over nurture.

Compare and contrast the following approaches to psychology and identify contributions of each approach: Psychoanalytic

Cognitive, Humanistic, and Behaviorism, All four of the psychological approaches are about how humans behave and the process of the brain but focus on different parts, subjects, and methods.

Scientific Method

Make a theory, Develop a hypothesis, Work with a chosen research method, Analyze the data from your research, Share the results/ Research more.

Critical Thinking

Systematically going through information to reach the strongest conclusion.

Discuss the importance of critical thinking in Psychology

Critical thinking can help narrow down possible situations in such a broad topic and reach the strongest possible conclusion in many for Psychology. It can also help separate fact from opinion.

Distinguish between theory and hypothesis

A theory is a broader, untested explanation of how something occurs and what occurs. However, a hypothesis is a more specific and narrow forecast of the theory.

Theory

is an explanation or a model of how some mental process or behavior occurs.

Hypothesis

is a specific, testable prediction about the theory

Case Study

an intensive examination of individuals. Advantages- can give a lot of information on a specific topic. Disadvantage- researcher could have a bias against the individual.

Self Reports

A descriptive method that consists of obtaining self-reports from research participants.

Self Reports Advantages

can gathers a lot of data from a lot of people in a small amount of time, gives the interviewer more opportunities.

Self Reports Disadvantages

People can give biased answers or might not be able to remember.

Observational Studies

They involve observing and classifying behavior, either with intervention by the observer or without intervention by the observer.

Observational Studies Advantages

important when trying to find out if an entity exists can take place with or without intervention.

Observational Studies Disadvantages

observer bias/ observer can change the data witnessed.

Correlational Methods

examine how variables are related without intervention by the observer.

Correlational Methods Advantages

naturally occurring, may take place in real life, observer (should) have no bias.

Correlational Methods Disadvantages

no casual relationships, cannot determine directionality, and there might be a hidden third variable.

Experimental methods

how when one variable is manipulated by researchers the other variable is affected.

Experimental methods Advantages- Provides control over the controlled variable can demonstrate what happens to the other variables. Experimental Methods Disadvantages- something other than the independent variable can affect the dependent variable resulting in inaccurate results.

Dependent Variable

the variable affected by the manipulation of the independent variable.

Independent Variable

the controlled variable that the experimenter can manipulate.

Axon

A long narrow outgrowth of the neuron that communicates/ transmits information to other neurons.

Cell Body

Collects and integrates the information from thousands of other neurons.

Dendrites

Extensions of the neuron with receptors that help receive information from other neurons.

Terminal Buttons

end of the axon that helps release chemicals from the neuron to the synapse.

Neuron

Part of the nervous system; receives, integrates, and transmits information throughout the nervous system.

Synapse

the space between neurons where communication takes place by the neurotransmitters.

Peripheral Nervous System

consists of nerve cells outside of the brain and spinal cord, it contains two nervous systems including the Somatic and Autonomic nervous system.

The Central Nervous System

consists of nerve cells in only the brain and spinal cord. The two body parts are separate in the nervous system however communicate constantly.

antagonists

on the neural transmitters decrease the effect of the neurotransmitters

agonists

facilitate the effect of the neurotransmitter making it easier to affect the brain.

Electroencephalograph(EEG)

measures the brains electrical activity

Functional Magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

maps mental activity during a mental task by measuring the blood oxygen levels in the brain.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

momentarily disrupts brain activity in a specific region.

Hypothalamus

Part of the forebrain (subcortical structures); regulation of body functions and motivation.

Hippocampus

Part of the forebrain; consists of the formation of new memories.

Amygdala

Part of the forebrain; the association of emotions with new experiences.

Occipital lobe

vision

Parietal lobe

touch and spatial information

Frontal lobe

planning, movement, and complex thought

Temporal lobe

planning movement and complex thought.

The Prefrontal Cortex

focuses on attention, self-control, and social processes. It's critical for rational thought processes, personality, and how someone functions socially.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

prepares the body for action and brings it to alert making heart rate and respiration increase as well as your pupils dilating and digestion slowing down.

Sympathetic Nervous System

functions are to calm down the body and bring it to a resting state having the opposite effect of the parasympathetic nervous system.

Plasticity

is a property in the brain which causes it to change through experience, drugs, and/or injury. This occurs through strengthening or weakening neural connections, growing new neurons, and brain reorganization.

Learning

Any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about through experience.

Sensitization

an increase in behavioral response

Habituation

a decrease in behavioral response

Classical conditioning

learning that two stimuli go together.

Operant

an action that is performed on an environment and has consequences.

Reinforcer

a consequence of an action that affects the likelihood of the action being repeated, or not, in the future.

Thorndike's Law Of EFFECT

any behavior that leads to a "satisfying state of affairs" is likely to occur again. Any behavior that leads to an "annoying state of affairs" is less likely to occur again.

Operant conditioning

a learning process when somethings behavior leads to a certain outcome and can eventually determine what would happen if that behavior occurs again

fixed interval schedule (FI)

reinforcing the occurrence of a particular behavior after a predetermined amount of time since the last reinforcement.

variable interval schedule (VI)

reinforcing the occurrence of a particular behavior after an unpredictable and varying amount of time since the last reinforcement.

fixed ratio schedule (FR)

reinforcing a particular behavior after that behavior has occurred a predetermined number of times

variable ratio schedule (VR)

reinforcing a particular behavior after the behavior has occurred an unpredictable and varying number of times.

Behavior modification

the use of operant conditioning techniques to eliminate unwanted behaviors and replace them with desirable ones.

Memory

The nervous system's ability to take information and skills for later retrieval in the future.

Encoding

Processing information so it will be able to be stored.

Retrieval

Remembering stored information when it is needed.

Selective attention

The ability to direct mental resources to relevant information in order to process that information further, while also ignoring irrelevant information.

Sensory Information

Unattended information is lost/ very briefly holds a vast amount of information.

Short term storage

When information is not repeated/ manipulated so it gets lost.

Long term storage

When only a little information gets lost.

Chunking

organizing information into groups to make it easier to remember.

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating auditory information to make it easier to remember; only provides a shallow amount of information.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Connecting old information and traits to newly given information to make it easier to remember.

Primary Effect

Only or better remembering of the first part of information of the group.

Recency Effect

Only or better remembering of the last part of information of the group.

Schemas

ways of structuring memories in long term storage that help you perceive, organize, process, and use information

Long Term Storage

Information being withheld for long amounts of time.

Amnesia Retrograde

A condition in which people lose the ability to access memories they had before a brain injury.

Amnesia Anterograde

A condition in which people lose the ability to form new memories after experiencing a brain injury.

Episodic Memory

A type of explicit memory that includes a person's personal experiences.

Semantic Memory

A type of explicit memory that includes a person's personal experiences.

Explicit Memory

The system for long term storage of conscious memories that can be verbally described.

Implicit Memory

The system for long term storage of unconscious memories that cannot be verbally described.

Consolidation

When immediate memories become permanent through the processes of long term storage.

Reconsolidation

The process of consolidation long term memories again after reactivating them.

Context Dependent Memory Effect

A unique study showing that the context of a memory can help retrieve that memory.

State Dependent Memory Effect

When our internal states are the same during both encoding and retrieval, the situation can provide a retrieval cue that enhances access to a memory.

Interference (retroactive)

When access to older memories is impaired by newer memories.

Interference (proactive)

When access to newer memories is impaired by older memories.

Blocking

When you temporarily forget a small piece of information.

Absentmindedness

the inattentive or shallow encoding of events. Vague memories of relevant information.

Persistence

The continual recurrence of unwanted memories from longterm storage.

Memory Bias

Memories that get effect/changed according to your current views and morals.

Flashbulb Memories

Vivid memories of an event that seem like a photo, usually of an event that creates strong emotion. People tend to fake/ alter flashbulb memories and repeat that version to boost memory confidence.

Misattribution

Not knowing what the source, place, person, or circumstance involved with memory.

False Memories

Memories that are not remembered or memories that you remember even if it did not happen to the person.

Thinking

the mental manipulation of representations of information we have on the environment.

Analogical Representations

Mental representations of an object that have some similar characteristics of the object.

Symbolic Representations

Abstract mental representations of objects that consist of words and ideas.

Reasoning

Using given information to see if a claim or answer is reasonable.