PSY 101 Midterm 3 Terms/Definitions

Just the relevant terms and definitions, nothing fancy

Law of Effect

actions that lead to a satisfying outcome are more likely to be repeated.

Operant Conditioning

process by which a stimulus & response become associated with the consequences of the response

Positive Reinforcement

presentation of a pleasant stimulus

Negative reinforcement

removal of an unpleasant stimulus

Positive punishment

presentation of an unpleasant stimulus

Negative punishment

removal of a pleasant stimulus

Shaping

Reinforcement of successive approximations of the desired complex behavior

Social learning theory

theory that says we learn from watching others’ behavior

Encoding

processing of information into stored memory for later retrieval

Iconic Memory

Sensory memory for visual info

Echoic memory

sensory memory for auditory info

Chunking

reorganizing info into larger bits, allowing you to circumvent short-term memory capacity limitations

Automaticity

extensive practice reduces load on STM capacity

Articulatory loop

short term memory system that allows a person to remember speech sounds in conscious awareness

Visuospatial sketchpad

component of working memory that can temporarily store and manipulate visual and spatial information

Central executive

short-term memory system that directs attentional control and resources

Depth of processing theory

theory stating deeper processing improves encoding

Maintenance rehearsal

rehearsal involving repetition, re-exposure

Elaborative rehearsal

rehearsal engaging with semantic processing and existing knowledge

Imagery effect

visually imagining things facilitates deeper encoding

Dual coding theory

theory stating that long-term memory has separate verbal-like and image-like codes, which enhance recall if encoded in both

Spacing effect

spaced sessions of practice/rehearsal are better than one long one

Sleep effect

sleeping immediately after encoding improves later recall of that material

Explicit memory

consciously or intentionally retrieved memories

Implicit memory

influence of past experiences on behavior and cognition without the need for awareness or effort for retrieval

Semantic memory

memory of general facts and information

Episodic memory

memory of experienced events

Procedural memory

Memory for how to do something, executed automatically

Encoding Specificity

recall is easier when external conditions are the same as those when learning

State Dependent Retreival

recall is easier when internal conditions (physiological, psychological) are the same as when learning

Testing effect

the retrieval of info will enhance the retention of that info

Anterograde amnesia

impaired ability to encode memories following a brain injury

Retrograde amnesia

impaired ability to remember information from before a brain injury

Imagination inflation

imagining an event that did not happen, mistaking it for real experience

Reality monitoring

distinguishing real from imagined occurences

Source monitoring

distinguishing personally experienced event from someone else’s experience

Misinformation effect

post-event information, especially leading questions, can distort recall

morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning in a language

Free morpheme

a stand alone word

Bound morpheme

a prefix or suffix

Semantics

the meanings of words and sentences

Logographic writing system

writing system where characters represent morphemes

Pragmatics

how meaning can be conveyed indirectly by language

Judgement

to infer, estimate, or predict some unknown property

Decision making

in addition to making a judgement(s), making a choice between alternatives

Reasoning

the evaluation or generation of a conclusion from given information

Problem Solving

utilizing any combination of JDMR for the purpose of devising a plan to overcome some obstacle(s) to attain a goal

Type 1 Processing

intuitive, fast, autonomous processing with low demand on cognitive resources

Type 2 Processing

analytical, slow, controlled processing with heavy demand on cognitive resources

Cognitive miserly processing

sticking to type 1 processing to save cognitive resources

Availability heuristic

judging the likelihood or probability of some event by the ease of which examples of it come to mind

Representativeness heuristic

judging category membership by similarity to a prototype of that category (stereotype)

Conjunction fallacy

judging the joint probability of two events as more likely than just one of the events aloneN

Normative models

optimal standards of JDMR (“what we ought to do”), serving as the standards of “Rationality”

Descriptive

descriptions of what we actually typically do with our JDMR ability

Algorithms

step-by-step procedures

Heuristics

rule-of-thumb strategies

Syntax

the rules that govern how words can be arranged in a language

Linguistics

the study of language

Psycholinguistics

the study of the mental processes involved in language (acquisition, production, comprehension)

Phone

the smallest unit of sound in a language

Phoneme

a psychological category consisting of a group of phones treated as the same sound

Alphabetic writing systems

writing system where characters represent phonemes

Syllabic writing systems

writing systems where characters represent syllables

Phonology

the “physical” level of language, the sounds made to construct it

Inductive Reasoning

forming a general conclusion on the basis of specific information

Deductive Reasoning

determining if a conclusion is logically valid given the premises

Confirmation Bias

a bias to seek information that will confirm a rule/hypothesis rather than refute it

Belief Bias

evaluating the strength/validity of a conclusion on the basis of its believability rather than logical form

Myside Bias

searching, processing, interpreting evidence to favor the belief we desire to be true

IQ Test: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

a battery of tests (verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory) meant to objectively quantify intelligence

Psychometric

pertaining to the application of tests, measurement, and mathematical analysis to psychological issues

Psychometric Approach to Intelligence

quantifying/measuring intelligence using tests, measurements, and mathematical analysis

Positive manifold

diverse measures of cognitive ability correlate significantly with each other