Intro to Psychology Exam #2 Key Terms

Learning

the acquisition, from experience, of new knowledge, skills, or responses that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner

Habituation

a general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding

Sensitization

presentation of a stimulus leads to an increased response to a later stimulus.

Classical conditioning

a type of learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response.

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism

Unconditioned response (UR)

a reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus.

Acquisition

the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

a previously neutral stimulus that produces a reliable response in an organism after being paired with a US.

Conditioned response (CR)

a reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus.

Second-order conditioning

a type of learning in which a CS is paired with a stimulus that became associated with the US in an earlier procedure

Extinction

the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the US.

Spontaneous recovery

the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period

Generalization

The CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the CS used during acquisition

Discrimination

the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli.

Biological preparedness

a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over other kinds

Operant conditioning

a type of learning in which the consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will repeat that behavior in the future.

Law of effect

the principle that behaviors that are followed by a 'satisfying state of affairs' tend to be repeated, and those that produce an 'unpleasant state of affairs' are less likely to be repeated.

Operant behavior

behavior that an organism performs that has some impact on the environment

Reinforcer

any stimulus or event that increases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Punisher

any stimulus or event that decreases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.

Fixed-interval (FI) schedule

reinforcers are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made.

Variable-interval (VI) schedule

a behavior is reinforced on the basis of an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement.

Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule

reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made

Variable-ratio (VR) schedule

the delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses, although the ratio of responses to reinforcements is variable.

Intermittent reinforcement

whereby only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement

Intermittent reinforcement effect

the fact that operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement.

Shaping

learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior

Latent learning

something is learned, but it is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future

Cognitive map

a mental representation of the physical features of the environment

Observational learning

a process in which an organism learns by watching the actions of others

Diffusion chain

a process in which individuals initially learn a behavior by observing another individual perform that behavior, and then become models from which other individuals learn the behavior

Implicit learning

learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the process and the products of information acquisition.

developmental psychology

the study of continuity and change across the life span

germinal stage

the period from conception to 2 weeks after conception

embryonic stage

a period that starts at about the 2nd week after conception and lasts until about the 8th week after conception.

fetal stage

a period that lasts from about the 9th week after conception until birth

Myelination

the formation of a fatty sheath around the axons of a neuron

Teratogen

any substance that passes from mother to unborn child and impairs development.

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

a developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy

Infancy

the stage of development that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months

motor development

the emergence of the ability to execute physical actions such as reaching, grasping, crawling, and walking.

motor reflexes

motor responses that are triggered by specific patterns of sensory stimulation

cephalocaudal principle

the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet

proximodistal principle

the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery.

cognitive development

the process by which infants and children gain the ability to think and understand

sensorimotor stage

a stage of cognitive development that begins at birth and lasts through infancy.

Schemas

theories about the way the world works

Assimilation

the process of applying a schema to novel stimuli

Accommodation

the process of adjusting a schema to incorporate new information

object permanence

the understanding that objects exist even when they are not visible

Childhood

the period that begins at about 18 to 24 months and lasts until about 11 to 14 years

preoperational stage

the stage of cognitive development that begins at about 2 years and ends at about 6 years, during which children develop a preliminary understanding of the physical world.

concrete operational stage

the stage of cognitive development that begins at about 6 years and ends at about 11 years, during which children learn how actions, or operations, can transform the concrete objects of the physical world.

Conservation

the understanding that many of the physical properties of an object are conserved (i.e., not changed) by changes in the object's appearance.

formal operational stage

the final stage of cognitive development that begins around the age of 11, during which children learn to reason about abstract concepts.

Egocentrism

the failure to understand that the world appears different to different people.

theory of mind

the understanding that the mind produces representations of the world and that these representations guide behavior.

Attachment

The emotional bond with a primary caregiver

attachment styles

characteristic patterns of reacting to the presence and absence of one's primary caregiver

Temperament

biologically based pattern of attentional and emotional reactivity

internal working model

preconventional stage

a stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by its consequences for the actor

conventional stage

a stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it conforms to social rules.

postconventional stage

a stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core values.

Adolescence

the period of development that begins with the onset of sexual maturity (about 11 to 14 years of age) and lasts until the beginning of adulthood (about 18 to 21 years of age).

Puberty

the onset of bodily changes associated with sexual maturity.

Primary sex characteristics

bodily structures that change at puberty and are directly involved in reproduction (e.g., females begin to menstruate and males begin to ejaculate).

Secondary sex characteristics

bodily structures that change at puberty but are not directly involved in reproduction (e.g., females develop breasts and males develop facial hair).

Adulthood

the stage of development that begins around 18 to 21 years and lasts for the remainder of life.

Emotion

a temporary state that includes unique subjective experiences and physiological activity, and that prepares people for action.

Appraisal

conscious or unconscious evaluations and interpretations of the emotion-relevant aspects of a stimulus or event.

Action tendencies

a readiness to engage in a specific set of emotion-relevant behaviors.

James-Lange theory

feelings are simply the perception of one's own physiological responses to a stimulus.

Two-factor theory of emotion

stimuli trigger a general state of physiological arousal, which is then interpreted as a specific emotion.

Emotional expression

an observable sign of an emotional state.

Universality hypothesis

all emotional expressions mean the same thing to all people in all places at all times.

Facial feedback hypothesis

emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they typically signify.

Display rule

a norm for the appropriate expression of emotion.

Motivation

the internal causes of purposeful behavior.

Homeostasis

the tendency for a system to take action to keep itself in equilibrium.

Drive-reduction theory

the primary motivation of all organisms is to reduce their drives.

Hedonic principle

the idea that people are primarily motivated to experience pleasure and avoid pain.

Emotion regulation

the strategies people use to influence their own emotional experience.

Reappraisal

the process of changing one's emotional experience by changing the way one thinks about the emotion-eliciting stimulus.

Binge eating disorder (BED)

an eating disorder characterized by recurrent and uncontrolled episodes of consuming a large number of calories in a short time.

Bulimia nervosa

an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by compensatory behavior.

Anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of being overweight and a severe restriction of food intake.

Evolutionary mismatch

the idea that traits that were adaptive in an ancestral environment may be maladaptive in a modern environment.

Metabolism

the rate at which the body uses energy.

Human sexual response cycle

the stages of physiological arousal during sexual activity.

Intrinsic motivation

a motivation to take actions that are themselves rewarding.

extrinsic motivation

a motivation to take actions that are not themselves rewarding but that lead to reward

overjustification effect

a phenomenon whereby people who are rewarded for a behavior become less intrinsically motivated to repeat it.

conscious motivations

motivations of which people are aware

unconscious motivations

motivations of which people are not aware

achievement motivation

the desire to experience a sense of accomplishment by meeting one's goals

approach motivation

the motivation to experience positive outcomes

avoidance motivation

the motivation to avoid experiencing negative outcomes.

loss aversion

the tendency to care more about avoiding losses than about achieving equal-size gains

Terror Management Theory

a theory about how people respond to knowledge of their own mortality