Psychology Exam 1 Study Guide

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering introductory psychology terminology, research methods, memory models, and social psychology concepts.

Introspection

A technique used by structuralists involving "looking inward" and reporting the contents of consciousness to study a person's experiences.

Wilhelm Wundt

The individual who established the first psychological laboratory in $1879$.

Psychodynamic approach

A psychological perspective that emphasizes unconscious processes within the individual, such as inner forces or conflicts.

Cognitive perspective

An approach that emphasizes the mental processes involved in perception, memory, language, and problem solving.

Academic psychologists

Psychologists who divide their time between supervising and teaching students, completing administrative tasks, and carrying out research.

Hypothesis

A testable statement within the scientific method, such as "Children who watch violent cartoons will become more aggressive."

Critical thinking

A way of processing information by examining assumptions, evaluating evidence, looking for hidden agendas, and assessing conclusions.

Reactivity

A problem in naturalistic observation where a participant's behavior is different than normal because they are being observed.

Naturalistic observation

A form of research involving the observation of subjects (like dogs in a park or professors in class) in their normal environment.

Case study

A detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated; used for unique topics like the development of a baby raised as a different gender.

Representative sample

A group of randomly selected participants that matches the population on important characteristics such as age and sex.

Negative correlation

A relationship where the increase of one variable is associated with the decrease of another, such as brushing teeth and number of cavities.

Correlation coefficient strength

A measure where values of $+0.89$ and $-0.89$ are considered equally strong.

Experiment

A research method that allows researchers to determine the cause-effect relationship of a behavior.

Independent variable

The variable in an experiment that is manipulated or changed by the researcher.

Dependent variable

The variable in an experiment that is measured to determine the outcome or effect.

Experimental group

The participants in a study who are exposed to the independent variable, such as those drinking a beverage with sugar.

Control group

The participants in a study who do not receive the experimental treatment, such as those drinking a sugar-free beverage or a fake cigarette.

Confounding variable

An external variable, such as age, that could influence the results of a study if not accounted for by the researcher.

Random assignment

A process where each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each condition in an experiment.

Functionalism

An early movement in psychology that investigated how our minds help us adapt to the world around us.

Evolutionary psychology

A perspective suggesting that certain cognitive strategies are built into the brain because they help humans adapt to their natural environment.

Humanism

A psychological perspective consistent with concepts like free will and self-actualization.

Sociocultural perspective

A perspective focused on how patterns, beliefs, and customs influence human behavior.

Information-processing approach

A model suggesting memory works like an administrative assistant that encodes, stores, and retrieves information.

Sensory memory

The initial stage of memory that holds information from the senses for a very brief duration.

Working memory

A part of memory that actively processes information obtained from the environment, rather than just passively storing it.

Connectionist model

A model viewing memory as a set of instructions neurons send to each other to create a pattern of activity among neural networks.

Iconic memory

A type of sensory memory that specifically handles visual senses.

Echoic memory

A type of sensory memory for auditory stimuli that lasts for $3-4\,\text{seconds}$..

Short-term memory duration

The length of time information is typically held in short-term memory, which is $15-30\,\text{seconds}$.

Elaborative rehearsal

A strategy to remember the meaning of a concept by connecting it to a personal story or existing knowledge.

Method of loci

A memory technique involving visualizing items in different rooms of a house to aid recall.

Episodic memory

A type of long-term memory for specific personal events, such as the first semester of college.

Procedural memory

A type of long-term memory for skills and habits, such as riding a bike.

Encoding specificity

The principle that memories are most easily retrieved when the context of retrieval matches the context of encoding.

Flashbulb memory

A highly vivid and detailed memory of exactly where one was during a major event, like the terrorist attacks on September $11$, $2001$.

Retroactive interference

Occurs when new information (like a current address) interferes with the ability to recall older information (like a previous address).

Anterograde amnesia

A condition, seen in patient H.M., where an individual is unable to form new long-term memories.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

The strengthening of neural connections, which is considered the biological basis of memory.

Neuroplasticity

The process where the brain changes as a result of experience or learning new skills.

Chunking

A strategy to increase short-term memory capacity by combining small bits of information into larger meaningful units.

Interleaving

The technique of studying multiple different concepts or mixing information from different chapters during a single study session.

Primacy effect

The tendency to remember the first items on a list better than those in the middle.

Situational attribution

Attributing a person's behavior to external or environmental factors.

Dispositional attribution

Attributing a person's behavior to internal traits, personality, or character.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overestimate dispositional influences and underestimate situational influences when explaining the behavior of others.

Self-serving bias

The tendency to attribute one's own successes to dispositional factors and failures to situational factors.

Cognitive dissonance

The sense of unease or conflict experienced when one's beliefs or attitudes do not match their behavior.

Peripheral route processing

A path of persuasion that relies on factors like attractiveness, celebrities, and flashy lights rather than the content of a message.

Foot-in-the-door technique

A compliance method where a small request is made first to increase the likelihood of agreement to a larger request.

Deindividuation

A concept explaining behaviors like cyberbullying where anonymity within a group situation leads to a loss of individual identity.

Prejudice

An attitude, often negative, held toward a group of people.

Discrimination

A behavior or action directed toward a group of people based on prejudice.

Realistic conflict theory

A theory suggesting that prejudice arises from competition between groups over scarce resources.

Social loafing

The phenomenon where individuals exert less effort in a group project compared to when they are graded individually.

Group polarization

The tendency for group views to become more extreme after members discuss similar opinions.

Mere exposure effect

The tendency to feel more positive toward a person or stimulus after being exposed to it frequently.

Altruism

Helping behavior performed without the expectation of reward, even at personal risk.

Bystander effect

A phenomenon where an individual is less likely to help in an emergency as the number of witnesses increases.