GRE Psychology

E.L. Thorndike

suggested the law of effect - behavior revolving around reinforcement

Kurt Lewin

developed the theory of association - grouping things together based on the fact that they occur together in time and space

Edward Tolman

proposed that performance = expectation x value (expectancy value theory); people are motivated by goals that they think they might actually meet

Henry Murray and David McClelland

studied the possibility that people are motivated by a need for achievement (nAch); a need to pursue success or a need to avoid failure

John Atkinson

suggested a theory of motivation in which people who set realistic goals with intermediate risk sets feel pride with accomplishment and want to succeed more than they fear failure

Neil Miller

proposed the approach-avoidance conflict - refers to the state one feels when a certain goal has both pros and cons

John Garcia

performed classical conditioning experiments in which it was discovered that animals are programmed through evolution to make certain connections; the concept that certain associations are learned more easily than others is called preparedness

M. E. Olds

performed experiments in which electrical stimulation of pleasure centers in the brain were used as positive reinforcement - this was viewed as evidence against the drive-reduction theory

Noam Chomsky

the most important figure in psycholinguistics (transformational grammar, surface structure, deep structure, language acquisition device)

Benjamin Whorf

posited that language, or how a culture says things, influences that culture's perspective (Whorfian Hypothesis)

Roger Brown

found that children's understanding of grammatical rules develops as they make hypotheses about how syntax works and the self-correct with experience

Katherine Nelson

found that language really begins to develop with the onset of active speech rather than the first year of only listening

William Labov

studied "black" english (ebonics) and found that it had its own complex internal structure

Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria

studied the development of word meanings and found them to be complex and altered by interpersonal experience

Charles Osgood

studied semantics or word meanings; he created semantic differential charts which allowed people to plot the meanings of words on graphs - the results were that people with similar backgrounds and interests plotted words similarly, indicating that words have similar connotations for cultures or subcultures

George Sperling

found that people could see more than they could remember

Ulric Neisser

coined the term icon for brief visual memory and found that an icon lasts for about one second; in addition he found that when subjects are exposed to a bright flash of light or a new pattern before the iconic image fades, the first image will be erased (backward masking)

George Miller

found that short-term memory has the capacity of about seven items

Hermann Ebbinghaus

the first to study memory systematically - proposed a forgetting curve that depicts a sharp drop in savings immediately after learning and then levels off with a slight downward trend

Allan Paivio

suggested the dual code hypothesis, which states that items will be better remembered if they are encoded both visually and semantically

Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart

asserted that learning and recall depend on the depth of processing - different levels of processing exist from the most superficial pronunciation level to the deep meaning level

Elizabeth Loftus

found that memory of traumatic events is altered by the event itself and by the way that questions about the event are phrased

Hermann von Helmholtz

famous for his theory of color blindness

Konrad Lorenz

the founder of ethology and discovered the phenomenon of imprinting, argued that certain kinds of aggression were necessary for survival (instinctual), did the earliest work with releasing stimuli and conceived that fixed action patterns are instinctual, complex chains of behavior triggered by releasing stimuli

Nikolaas Tinbergen

one of the founder of modern ethology; best known for his use of models in naturalistic settings - most famous for experiments involving stickleback fish and herring gull chicks

Karl Von Frisch

a major figure in animal behavior; most famous for his discovery that honeybees communicate through dance

Walter Cannon

coined the term fight or flight and also proposed the idea of homeostasis (the internal regulation of body to maintain equilibrium)

Wolfgang Kohler

acquired fame by experimenting with chimpanzees and insight into problem solving

Harry Harlow

researched development with rhesus monkeys; particularly significant relating to developmental psychology were his results with social isolation and maternal stimulation

R. C. Tyron

selectively bred "maze bright" and "maze dull" rats to demonstrate the heritability of behavior

Harry Stack Sullivan

emphasized social and interpersonal relationships

Abraham Maslow

the leader of the humanistic movement in psychology; best known for hierarchy of needs, which really pertains to human motivation

Stress Inoculation Training

developed by Donald Meichenbaum, prepares people for foreseeable stressors

Diathesis-Stress Theory

a physiological predisposition paired with an external stressor

Schizoaffective Disorder

schizophrenic symptoms accompanying a depressive episode

Dysthymic Disorder

symptoms of MDD are present more days than not for more than two years but there is never an actual depressive episode

Conversion Disorder

psychological problems are converted to bodily symptoms; the symptoms generally relate to voluntary movement

Amnesia

inability to recall information relating to trauma

Fugue

suddenly fleeing to a new location; forgetting true identity

Neuroleptic Drugs

(antipsychotic) reduce dopamine activity by blocking dopamine receptors and reducing schizophrenic symptoms

Tardive Dyskinesia

can result from a long-term use of neuroleptic drugs; characterized by involuntary, repetitive movements of the tongue, jaw or extremities

Korsakoff's Syndrome

results from years of heavy drinking and caused by vitamin B deficiency; loss of memory and orientation

Wernicke's Syndrome

results from years of heavy drinking and caused by thiamine deficiency; memory problems and eye dysfunctions

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

a recessive, infant disease related to excess amino acids

Tay-Sachs Disease

a recessive, genetic deficiency of hexosaminidase A; symptoms resemble psychological disorders

Klinefelter's Syndrome

a male with one Y and two X chromosomes

Reactive Depression

depression resulting from particular events; has been noted for its similarity to Martin Seligman's idea of learned helplessness

Thomas Szasz

viewed the schizophrenic world as simply misunderstood or artistic; felt that they should not be treated

David Rosenhan

studied the effect of diagnostic labels on the perception of behavior

APA

founded in 1892 by Stanley Hall

Community Psychology

a model in which psychology is taken into the community via community centers or schools, as opposed to having individuals come to clinics and universities

Germinal Stage

lasts two weeks during which the zygote moves down the fallopian tube, grows into 64 cells through cell division and implants itself into the wall of the uterus

Embryonic Stage

lasts until the end of the second month and consists of organ formation

Fetal Stage

lasts from the third month until birth

H-Y Antigen

six weeks after conception, the presence of H-Y antigen causes testis to form, while the absence causes ovaries to form

Moro Reflex

the throwing out of arms and legs elicited by loud or frightening noises

Babinski Reflex

the fanning of the toes elicited by touching the bottom of the baby's foot

Palmar Reflex

the hand grasping elicited by placing an object in the baby's hand

Twin Studies

frequently used to examine nature and nurture combinations

Jean Piaget

best known for his work in child development, in particular for his theory of child cognitive development - he asserted that humans experience an interaction between internal maturation and external experience that creates qualitative change

Assimilation

fitting new information into existing ideas

Accommodation

modification of cognitive schemata to incorporate new information

Sensorimotor Stage (Piaget)

0-2 years

First, reflexive behavior cued by sensations; then circular reactions (repeated behavior intended to manipulate environment); later, development of object permanence; finally, acquiring the use of representation (visualizing or putting words to objects)

Preoperational Stage (Piaget)

2-7 years

Egocentric understanding; rapidly acquiring words as symbols for things; inability to perform mental operations

Concrete Operational Stage (Piaget)

7-12 years

Understanding of concrete relationships (math and quantity); development of conservation (knowing changes in shape are not changes in volume)

Formal Operational Stage (Piaget)

12+ years

understanding of abstract relationships such as logic, ratios and values

Rochel Gelman

showed that Piaget might have underestimated the cognitive ability of preschoolers; said that they can deal with ideas such as quantity in small sets of objects

Moral Development in Children (Piaget)

4-7: imitates rule-following behavior

7-11: understands rules and follows them

12+: applies abstract thinking to rules (can change rules if all parties agree)

Five Stages of Development (Freud)

deal with how the individual meets these sensual gratification or biological needs; advancing through the stages affects personality development

parental over or under-indulgence at a particular stage might result in fixation (inability to move on to the next stage); later, life stressors may result in regression (a return to an earlier stage)

Oral Stage (Freud)

Birth - 18mos

receives pleasure orally through sucking, eating, biting

Anal Stage (Freud)

18mos - 3 years

receives pleasure with the control and release of feces

Phallic Stage (Freud)

3 - 6 years

receives pleasure from self-stimulation of genitals

Latency Stage (Freud)

adolescence

repressed sexuality; identification with same-sex friends; focus on school and growing up

Genital Stage (Freud)

adolescence - adulthood

hormones rewaken sexual instincts; love object is now nonfamilial

Lawrence Kohlberg

created the best known theory of moral development through analyzing responses of children to nine hypothetical moral dilemmas (heinz dilemma)

Heinz Dilemma

a woman is dying and needs an expensive medication; using responses to such dilemmas, Kohlberg discerned the progress of moral understanding

Preconventional/Premoral Stage (Kohlberg)

"if I steal the medicine, i'll get in trouble"

level 1: should avoid punishment

level 2: should gain rewards

Conventional/Morality of Conformity Stage (Kohlberg)

"stealing is against the law"

level 3: should gain approval

level 4: should follow law and authority

Postconventional/Morality of Self-Accepted Principles Stage (Kohlberg)

"it is unjust that money is an obstacle to life; it is ethical to save my wife"

level 5: beyond the black and white of laws

level 6: makes decisions based on abstract ethical principles

Carol Gilligan

asserted that Kohlberg's moral development theory was biased toward males because it was dominated by rules, whereas women's morality focuses more on compassion

Erik Erikson

best known for a development scheme that addresses the entire life span; viewed each stage as having its own unique psychosocial conflict to resolve

Life Span Development (Erikson)

birth - 18mos: trust vs. mistrust

18mos - 3 years: autonomy vs. shame and doubt

3 - 6 years: initiative vs. guilt

6 - puberty: industry vs. inferiority

teen years: identity vs. role confusion (identity crisis)

young adult: intimacy vs. isolation

middle age: productivity vs. stagnation

old age: ego integrity vs. despair

John Bowlby

suggested that infants are motivated to attach to their mothers for positive reasons (wanting closeness) and for negative reasons (avoiding fear)

Mary Ainsworth

studied attachment through the use of the strange situation: mother and infant (8mos - 2 years) playing together in a lab setting as researchers watch through a one-way mirror

securely attached infants ran and clung to their mothers, avoidant infants ignored or avoided their mothers and ambivalent infants squirmed or kicked if their mothers tried to comfort them

Diana Baumrind

studied the relationship between parenting style and personality development

Authoritarian Parents

(demanding, unaffectionate and strict) had children who were withdrawn and unhappy

Permissive Parents

(affectionate and not strict) had children who were happy but lacking in self-control and self-reliance

Authoritative Parents

(affectionate, firm but fair) had self-reliant, self-confident, assertive, friendly, high-functioning kids

Arnold Gessel

an early child developmentalist who believed that nature provided only a "blueprint for development" through maturation and that environment or nurture filled in the details

Sex-Typed Behavior

(behavior that seems stereotypical for gender) is low during prepubescence, highest in young adulthood and lower again in later life

Symbolic Play

usually begins when children are 1 to 2 years old and involves pretend roles, imagination and using objects to represent other things

Parallel Play

usually occurs when children are 2 to 3 years old; when children are standing next to each other and playing in similar styles but are playing by themselves and not interacting with one another

Type Theory

originally dominated personality theory; as far back as Hippocrates, people were placed into personality-type categories often based on physical appearance

Phrenology

the practice of examining head and skull shape; used to discern personality in the 1800s

William Sheldon

devised a system based on somatotypes (body types); endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph

Endomorph

short, plump body; pleasure-seeking, social behavior

Mesomorph

muscular, athletic body; energetic, aggressive behavior

Ectomorph

skinny, fragile body; inhibited, intellectual behavior

Gordon Allport

emphasized an ideographic approach to personality theory (attempts to capture an individual's unique, defining characteristics) as opposed to a nomothetic approach (uses large numbers of people to study the commonalities of personality)

concerned only with conscious motives governed by the proprium or propriate function (his version of the ego)

hypothesized that people act differently in different situations because they have a trait hierarchy: cardinal, central, seecondary

Raymond Cattell

used factor analysis in data reduction of Allport's 5,000 traits; he eventually identified 16 bipolar source traits that seemed to underlie all of the 5,000 traits; these were Cattell's 16 personality factors tested in his sixteen personality questionnaire