uworld ps

central (foveal) visual field

increased cones/photoreceptors (fovea)

bright light

colour and detail

increased visual acuity (sharpness)

Peripheral visual field

increased rods

dim light

motion perception

increased light sensitivity

randomized controlled trial

treatment and placebo group

can determine efficacy of intervention

nonrandomized design

non random allocation into treatment and placebo groups

longitudinal vs cross-sectional

Longitudinal: Study that follows participants over time

Cross-Sectional: data gathered at one point in time

which of the following symptoms, if present, would help a clinician diagnose bipolar disorder rather than borderline personality?

lack of interest in activities previously enjoyed

NOT impulsive or reckless behaviour

BD : manic/depressive episodes

borderline : instability, extreme, impulsive, reckless, abandonment issues

heuristics

mental shortcuts to solve problems faster

opposite of algorithms (steps, definite solution, slower)

availability heuristic

tendency to make decisions/judgements based on how easily something is recalled form memory

examples readily in memory are thought to be more common

representativeness heuristic

tendency to compare things to existing mental prototypes when making judgements

fundamental attribution error

blame others behaviour on internal factors

negative priming

stimulus is initially ignored then later attended to

first asked to pick a red pen and ignore other colours, then asked to pick a blue pen, response time is slower

social networks

informal and nonhierarchical webs of interaction between nodes, linked by ties

nodes : individuals/organizations

ties : connections between nodes, strong or weak

social capital

networks of people that can be converted into economic gain

larger networks that provide information about work-related topics

social mobility

movement between or within status categories

horizontal or vertical

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1), r value

validity

accuracy of a study or measure

internal validity

extent to which a measure or experiment produces a true result

external validity

AKA generalizability; extent to which study results can be applied outside lab to real-life situations

reliability

extent to which an experiment or measure can consistently produce similar results every time

i.e. scores that are positively correlated from one administration to the next

i.e. scores that are similar regardless of interviewer

if scores are similar for all participants, regardless of their diagnosis at the end, what would happen to its validity?

its validity would be undermined

alternative hypothesis

based on prior evidence

assumes a significant relationship or difference exists between variables

null hypothesis

the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between specified variables

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development

according to the demographic transition model, a newly industrializing society is characterized by which of the following?

decreasing death rates

increasing access to food + medicine + improved sanitation

demographic transition model fully industrialized (developed) society

low birth and low death rates

slow population growth

highly developed/fully industrialized society

birth rate low enough for population to begin decline characteristics

preindustrial society

stage 1 of demographic transition

high birth and death rates

slow population growth

feature detection

differentiation of specific aspects of a given cell via feature detectors (nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement)

for all senses but mostly vision

i.e. experiment where certain neurons in visual cortex preferentially fire in response to specific stimuli, like a bar of light oriented at a specific angle

parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

dissociative identity disorder

presence of 2+ distinct personalities

dissociative amnesia

Inability to recall important personal information

social constructionism

reality is created through interactions

resulting in agreed-on, shared meanings

consensus that a particular set of symptoms should be treated as a psychiatric disorder = agreed-on, shared meaning

functionalism

analyzes how social structures work together in society to maintain equilibrium

social exchange theory

asserts that individuals interact with each other to maximize personal gain and minimize personal cost

flashbulb memory

emotional, important, personal, distinct events / happy or sad

vivid + detailed memory, increased confidence in memory, questionable accuracy of memory

alpha waves

regular + rhythmic, awake and relaxed

beta waves

highest frequency, awake and alert

theta waves

stage 1, light sleep

stage 2 but interrupted by occasional sleep spindles (burst in frequency) and K-complexes (increases in wavelength)

mental set

inclination to use old methods to solve new problems, even when those methods are not appropriate for the current problem

implicit (nondeclarative) memory

memory for things that cannot be consciously recalled

explicit (declarative) memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

short term memory can hold :

approximately 7 meaningful items, 5-9 items for about 20 seconds

Parkinson's

motor difficulties caused by dopamine loss

increased by dopamine antagonists

caused by gradual death of the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra

decreased dopamine in basal ganglia and less smooth motor control

participants were more likely to erroneously report hearing a tone when viewing a picture of an object that produces a tone-like sound, such as a telephone or a bell. what type of processing best explains why this mistake might occur?

top down processing

NOT parallel processing-- that is like auditory and visual events together

confidence interval error bars

95% + overlapping bars = maybe not significant

non-overlapping = ALWAYS SIGNIFICANT

actor-observer bias vs. self-serving bias vs. fundamental attribution error

- actor-observer : own actions to external factors, others actions to internal factors

- fundamental attribution : others behaviour on internal factors only; nothing about own behaviour

- self-serving bias : credit own success to internal factors but blame failures on external factors, key word success

James-Lange theory of emotion

James Bond is horny and so his body is aroused first

specific emotions are elicited by stimuli that produce specific physiological reactions

sensory emotion from the body reaches the brain

Schachter-Singer theory of emotion

singer's heart is beating fast after their performance and they look to the audience for the crowd's reception to her performance (interpretation) and once the crowd starts clapping the singer can then be happy (emotion)

emotion results from physiological arousal, followed by cognitive appraisal

sensory information + interpretation of environmental cues are required

"these 'schachkies' need to be appraised" referring to the cognitive appraisal

Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

physiological arousal and emotional experience occur at the same time

two cannons firing so arousal and emotions are happening at the same time.

universal theory of emotions

Certain emotions and the facial expressions that come with those emotions are universal and are the same everywhere

if studied with diverse cultural backgrounds

escape learning

organism learns how to terminate an ongoing unpleasant stimulus

when does escape learning become avoidance learning?

when an organism prevents coming into contact with an unpleasant stimulus

1) dog jumps over partition to flee from or stop a continuous electric shock

2) dog jumps over a partition to avoid electric shock before it occurs

optimal arousal theory

optimal level or physiological or mental arousal maximizes performance

test performance declines with too little or too much arousal

obedience

form of conformity where individual carries out orders given by authority figure

social roles

behaviours, beliefs, and norms that accompany a socially defined position

Broca's area

speech production, written language production

difficulty in speaking but can understand

Wernicke's area

language comprehension

internal validity

causality : extent to which changes in dependent variable can be attributed to changes in independent variable

confounding variables decrease internal validity

external validity 2

generalizability

limiting confounding variables that occur in real life decrease external validity

Weber's law

the just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity

constant = JND/original stimulus intensity

learning theory of language development

behaviorist theory

language is an entirely learned behaviour

humans are born as blank slates and develop language through operant conditioning, imitation, and pracice