PSY241 Exam1

Genetic Variation

The diversity in DNA sequences among individuals within a population, driven by mutation, gene flow, and sexual reproduction.

Mutations

Spontaneous, often unpredictable changes in genetic material. Rare but are usually harmful when they do occur.

Natural Selection

Reproduce more offspring than others; making some genetic variations more frequent in the population.

Evolutionary Theory

Attempts at explaining how and by what specific mechanisms evolution works.

Phylogeny

The evolution and development of a species over many generations.

Epigenetics

How environmental factors can alter how and when genes are expressed during the lifetime of the individual.

Ontogeny

Development of an individual organism throughout its lifespan.

Theory

A collection of formal hypotheses or postulates that attempt to explain documented natural phenomena.

Hypothesis

An educated guess that can be directly evaluated through experimentation.

Skepticism

The tendency to suspend judgment until there is reasonable certainty that all possible explanations for a phenomenon have been considered.

Independent Variable

Variable does not depend on that of another.

Dependent Variable

Value depends on that of another.

Control Variable

Any factor in a research study or experiment that is purposely kept stable, unchanged, or held constant to prevent it from influencing the dependent variable.

Confound Variable

External factors in a study that influence both the independent variable (the cause being tested) and the dependent variable (the outcome).

Habituation

Occurs when the response to a stimuli becomes less intense with repeated presentations of the stimulus; a kind of adaptation.

Compound Stimuli

Most behavior occurs is characterized by a mosaic of stimulation, and relevant stimuli may be impinging on various sensory modalities (auditory, olfactory, tactile, visual) simultaneously.

Closed Genetic Program

Nervous systems are relatively closed to or unaffected by experiences.

Open Genetic Program

A nervous system capable of being modified by experience.

Fixed-Action Patterns

An innate, hardwired, instinctive sequence of behaviors triggered by a specific external cue (sign stimulus) that runs to completion automatically, even if the stimulus is removed.

Releasing Stimuli

Stimuli that elicit simple reflexes.

Behavioral Psychologist

Views behavior as the principle subject matter of psychology, not merely as an index of internal processes.

Cognitive Psychologist

Describe and explain the processes in the brain and how they contribute to behavior.

Behaviorism

A theory of learning focused on observable behaviors acquired through environmental interaction, rather than internal mental states.

Cognitivism

Views the mind as an active, computer-like processor of information, focusing on internal mental processes.

John B. Watson

Credited as the drive to make psychology an experimental science and to emancipate the discipline from philosophy.

Methodological Behaviorism

Emphasis on experimentation and its claims about the scientific inaccessibility of private experience.

B. F. Skinner

Advocated a philosophy of science that departed considerably from Watson's, promoting radical behaviorism.

René Descartes

Claimed that human beings come into the world equipped with certain fundamental ideas or knowledge.

Rationalism

The major tenet of which is that knowledge and truth are to be sought primarily through the process of logical reasoning.

Epistemology

The collection of rules or criteria to be used in establishing truth or knowledge.

John Locke

Empiricist; claimed that humans can have no knowledge without prior sensory input.

Empiricism

All human knowledge was derived from experience.

Neonatal Reflexes

All healthy babies enter the world possessing a small collection of behavior; goes away with age.

The Cognitive Revolution

Conference in California, 1948, brought together scientists and mathematicians to explore the advantages of information-processing approach to studying human behavior.

Alfred Russel Wallce

independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 paper on the subject was published that year alongside extracts from Charles Darwin's writings on the topic

Contiguity

the sequential occurrence or proximity of stimulus and response, causing their association in the mind; revolves around the question of whether simply pairing the two will produce conditioning

Contingency

a future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty; if-then predictability must be evident before conditioning can take place

CS-US Temporal Contiguity

the close proximity in time between the presentation of a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning.

Second-Order Conditioning

like a regular Pavlovian conditioning but using CS1 instead of US

Stimulus Substitution Theory

during classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus (CS) becomes a direct substitute for the unconditioned stimulus (US), causing the CS to elicit the same conditioned response (CR) as the original US.

Semantic Conditioning

changing the meaning through conditioning

Capaldi, Hunter, and Privitera

2004 study demonstrated that rats can form aversions to the odor of taste stimuli

Learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior potential brought about by practice or experience.

Stimuli

changes in an organism's internal or external environment that trigger a physical or behavioral response.

Cognition

all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used.

Classical Conditioning

the entire process of bringing about a conditioned reflex.

Unconditioned Stimulus

events in the environment that produce reflexive, involuntary reactions.

Neutral Stimulus

an environmental event that initially evokes no specific, inherent, or conditioned response.

Pairing

the psychological process where a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned reinforcer by being paired with a primary reinforcer.

Unconditioned Response

involuntary or automatic response; simple reflex.

Conditioned Stimulus

a neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus, learns to trigger a learned response all by itself.

Conditioned Response

the response to a trained stimulus even without the presence of the unconditional stimulus.

Contiguity

the sequential occurrence or proximity of stimulus and response, causing their association in the mind.

Contingency

a future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty; if-then predictability must be evident before conditioning can take place.

Latent Inhibition

a phenomenon where prior, non-reinforced exposure to a neutral stimulus makes it harder to later form an association with it.

Blocking

an initial stimulus previously associated with the Unconditional Stimulus impairs conditioning to a new Conditioned Stimulus when the two elements are presented as a compound.

Extinction

the Conditioned Stimulus is presented by removing the contingency; when the CS no longer signals the US, thus stopping the UR.

Overshadowing

occurs when a compound Conditioned Stimulus is presented in a standard Pavlovian procedure, and one element of the compound stimulus elicits a Conditioned Response while the other does not.

Spontaneous Recovery

tendency for previous Conditioned Response to occur subsequently to an extinction phase.

Generalization

the tendency to respond to stimuli resembling the conditioned stimulus; but not equally as intense.

Discrimination

when responding occurs in the presence of one stimulus, but not in the presence of another.

Delayed

CS and US are presented with some overlap.

Trace

CS presented before the US.

Simultaneous

CS and US presented together.

Backwards

US presented before the CS.

CS-US Temporal Contiguity

the close proximity in time between the presentation of a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning.

Ivan Pavlov

was a physiologist studying digestion when the experiment went off course and discovered classical conditioning.

Psychic Secretion

Pavlov's dogs secreted saliva before food was put in their mouths.

Summation Test

used to evaluate the inhibitory properties of a stimulus; involves pairing a suspected inhibitor (X) with a known excitatory stimulus (B).

Higher-Order Conditioning

When having an already conditioned response, but then continually pairing the Conditional Stimulus to a novel stimulus without receiving any reward.

Second-Order Conditioning

like a regular Pavlovian conditioning but using CS1 instead of US.

Third-Order Conditioning

using CS2 to condition; only possible with shock.

Stimulus Substitution Theory

during classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus (CS) becomes a direct substitute for the unconditioned stimulus (US).

Evaluative Conditioning

words may acquire certain meanings or emotional effects through Pavlovian conditioning process.

Semantic Conditioning

changing the meaning through conditioning.

Compensatory Response Theory

the CR represents an attempt by the body to prepare itself for the onset of the US.

Rescorla-Wagner Model

represents a relatively simple mathematical account of how associative strength, and therefore conditioning, builds up over the course of a learning experiment.

Garcia and Koelling Study

Some animals drank sweetened water and others regular water with flashing lights and loud noises when drinking it (CS). Some animals received an electric shock or made nauseous (US). Animals avoided water if they only had one of the US but didn't "learn" when receiving both; demonstrated that only certain CS-US connections would support learning.

Capaldi, Hunter and Privitera Study

2004 study demonstrated that rats can form aversions to the odor of taste stimuli.

Equipotentiality Hypothesis

All stimuli are created equal, or that all stimuli should support similar conditioning.

Aversive Stimuli

Anything unpleasant, noxious, or undesirable that an organism tends to avoid, escape from, or that decreases a behavior when presented.

Ader and Cohen's Study

Conditioning of the immune system is a reliable effect, and that different conditioning histories can bring about either increases in or suppression of immune system activity.

Garcia and Gustavon's Study

Changing the predatory habits of coyotes who had a fondness for sheep. They contaminated chunks of lamb meat with poison and distributed it throughout a sizeable range.

Psychoneuroimmunology

Research that focuses on the conditioned responsiveness of the immune system.

Watson and Rayner Study (Little Albert)

How fear was established and what specific role learning plays in the process. Little Albert was then given a rat toy, once he touched it, they would sound off the metal bar. In a fairly short time period, Albert was now afraid of rats.

Mary Cover Jones

presented with Peter who was a 3 year and scared of rabbits. Knew that in a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm, conditional stimuli assume their properties through association with unconditional stimuli, eliminating the connection by presenting the CS repeatedly by itself or by associating the CS with an alternative US

Joseph Wolpe

Describe the role that conditioning might play in both the development and elimination of human fear.

Systematic Desensitization

A procedure in which the anxious client is gradually exposed to the feared stimuli while practicing previously learned relaxation.

Flooding/Exposure Therapy

Therapeutic procedures in which clients are exposed directly to the feared stimulus and without previous relaxation training was first introduced by Stampfl.

VRE

Virtual Reality Exposure; as long as the virtual stimuli produce the same kind of emotional effect as would the real thing.