Psych BOE

Hindsight Bias

Hindsight Bias is the tendency to believe that you knew something all along after learning the outcome.

Operational Definition

A precise, carefully worded statement about the exact procedure used in a research experiment

Case Study

A non-experimental technique where one individual person or group is being examined in depth in order to reveal universal principles.

Naturalistic Observation

A non-experimental technique where something is being examined in a naturally occurring setting or environment.

Survey

A non-experimental technique where people self report their attributes or behaviors.

Experiment

A research method used to examine a cause and effect relationship through the manipulation of independent and dependent variables.

Control Group

A group in an experiment which isn’t being manipulated in order to find a comparison between itself and the experimental group

Experimental Group

The group that is being experimented with or changed in order to find a comparison between itself and the Control group.

Population

All the people that are being studied.

Random Sample

A sample taken from the population in which everyone in the population had a equal chance of being selected.

Representative Sample

A sample taken from the population in which all the people in the sample are a fair representation of all of the people in the population in terms of characteristics.

Convenience Sample

A sample taken from the population out of convenience because they are more easily accesible and readily available to the researcher.

Random Assignment

Random Assignment is assigning participants into a study into control and experimental groups on a random basis in order to eliminate preexisting differences.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental method in which neither the researchers or participants know who is receiving the treatment, or who is in which group.

Placebo

A placebo is a insert substance.

Independent Variable

The Independent variable is the variable being manipulated in order to determine it’s effect on another variable.

Dependent Variable

The Dependent variable is the variable that is not experimented with, but that is measured.

Statistical significance

A statistical statement discussing how likely it is that a result occurred by chance.

Effect Size

The strength in relationship between 2 variables.

Standard Deviation

The measure of how much the scores vary from the mean.

Quantitative Measures

A research method that relies on numerical data.

Qualitative Measures

A research method that relies on in-depth narrative data.

Meta-analysis

A statistical procedure for identifying the results of various studies and drawing conclusions between them.

Aggression

Any physical or verbal action meant to hurt someone physically or emotionally.

altriusm

Altriusm is a unselfish regard for the well being of others

Bystander Effect

The Bystander effect explains how in a group people are less likely to take action and help others

Social Loafing

When put in a group, people may exclude themselves from the work and depend on the others to complete a task, more so than if they were alone.

Reciprocity Norm

The Reciprocity Norm asserts that if someone is to help you or shows you good treatment, you should help them back or show them that type of treatment back.

Conflict

Conflict is a disagreement, clash or tension between two elements.

social facilitation

People tend to do better at what they are confident in, whilst in a group setting.

Social Trap

In social traps we harm our collective well being by pursuing our own interests

Out-group Homogenity Bias

we view a group that is different from us as the “outgroup”, and tend to mistakenly think fothem all as the same.

fundamental attribution error

The Fundamental Attribution Error describes how one makes internal judgements about someone without considering their external environments

diffusion of responsibility

when one is in a group setting, they tend to diffuse the responsibility of completing an act to everyone else, taking less initiative by assuming someone else will do so.

deindividuation

when someone loses their sense of self and self restraint in a group setting leading to a sense of anonomity

Social Responsibility Norm

the expectation that people will naturally help those who are dependent on them.

Groupthink

When in a group situation people try to diminish their opposing opinions in order to maintain a good relationship with the rest if the group of their leader.

Obedience

Obedience is a behavior in compliance with a command.

Conformity

Adopting a group’s standards of behavior and beliefs as your own in the hopes to fit in.

Asch’s Experiment

Solomon Asch developed an experiment to analyze social conformity. He gathered a group of several random people, all except one being a actor and asked them several simple questions with there being a obvious answer. All the actors purposely chose the wrong one, and eventually the participnt, even thought he new what the right answer was, began to choose the wrong one too in order to conform with the group.

Milgram Study

In this study John Milgram attempted to identify if people would obey a command even if it meant harming someone else. He did this by ordering participants to deliver a shock to other participants if they got a question wrong, gradually increasing the shock. The results of this study show that people are more likely to obey the commands of authority figures, even if it clashes with their own moral ideas.

Stanford Prison experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a 1971 psychology study by Philip Zimbardo that simulated a prison environment, assigning participants to roles as guards or prisoners. It aimed to investigate how situational factors influence behavior, but it quickly escalated, with guards becoming abusive and prisoners showing extreme emotional distress. The study, which was terminated after six days, is a notable example in social psychology of how ordinary individuals can engage in harmful behaviors within specific social contexts and is a significant case study on research ethics

neuron

nerve cells, building blocks of the nervous system

action potential

a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

myelin sheaths

insulating materials that encases axons, and increases the speed of impulses traveling down an axon. 

reuptake

the neurotransmitter’s reabsorption of the sending neuron

endocrine system 

the body’s chemical communication system that secretes hormones into the bloodstream

pituitary gland 

the body’s master gland at the base of the brain which secretes hormones that control growth, metabolism, and more. 

glutamate

an excitatory neurotransmitter that plays a part in memor. too much overstimulation, too little Alzheimer's

dopamine

a neurotransmitter that produces a reward feeling and pleasureable emotions

too little depression, too much behavioral issues

acetylcholine

a neurotransmitter that influences memory learning and muscle movement. too little alzheimers, too much seizures

norepenephrine

a neurotransmitter that controls alertness and arousal. too little depression, too much manic episodes

GABA

an inhibitory neurotransmitter that calms and relaxes the brain too little insomnia

serotonin

a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, hunger, sleep and arousal. too little bad mad

medulla

A hindbrain structure that controls heartbeat and breathing

thalamus

a forebrain structure that controls the body’s snesory info

cerebral cortex

the outer wrinkly part of a brain that controls higher level functioning, such as thought, language, and memory

sensation

hypothalamus

the hypothalamus is a brain structure which controls basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and maintains homeostasis

reticular formation

a system of nerve networks that go through the brain stem into the thalamus and controls alertness and arousal. 

sensation 

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive stimulus from the environment 

perception

the interpretation of sensation, allowing us to form meaningful objects and events.

bottom-up processing

analysis taht begins with sensory receptors, and works up to the brain’s perceptions

top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

just noticeable difference threshold

the minimum stimulus difference a person can detect half the time.

signal detection theory

the minimum change in a stimulus needed for a person to notice a difference 50% of the time

cocktail party effect

the phenomenon where a person can focus their auditory attention on a single conversation while filtering out other background noises

selective attention

the phenomenon where a person can focus their auditory attention on a single conversation while filtering out other background noises

circadian rhythym

our biological clock that manages regular body rhythm, occuring on a 24-hour cycle.

sleep apnea 

temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent momentary  reawakenings 

night terrors

a sleep disorder characterized by terrified fits in preoubescent childnre.

insomnia

having recurring problems falling or staying asleep, preventing one from going through the full sleep cycle.

narcolepsy

uncontrollable, unpredictable bouts of sleep.

somnabulism

performing complex behaviors like walking or talking while asleep,during stage 3 NREM sleep.

delta waves

the slowest and highest amplitude brain waves, occurring during the deepest stages of sleep

sleep spindles 

bursts of rapid brain activity that occur during Stage 2 non-REM sleep

alpha waves

relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state,

REM sleep

a sleep stage characterized by active brain waves similar to wakefulness, vivid dreaming, and muscle paralysis

info processing theory

Information processing theory is a cognitive theory that describes how individuals perceive, interpret, and remember information.

activation synthesis theory

proposes that dreams are the brain's attempt to make sense of random neural firings that occur during REM sleep

physiological functioning theory 

dreams are the brain's way of stimulating itself to preserve neural pathways

REM Rebound 

the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation.

shaping

an operant conditioning procedure where reinforcers guide behavior toward the desired behavior.

partial/intermittent reinforcement

reinforcing a response only part of the time which develops greater resistance to extinction.

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

positive reinforcement

strengthens desired actions by adding a pleasant stimulus or reward after the behavior

negative reinforcement

strengthens desired actions by removing a unpleasant stimulus or reward after the behavior

operant conditioning

a learning process where behaviors are strengthened or weakened by their consequences,

little albert experiment

the little albert experiment was conducted by Jihn B Watson, and tested the effects of classical conditioning. generalization of fear.

B.F. Skinner

B.F. Skinner is an American behavioral psychologist, who proposed the operant conditioning technique

classical conditioning

classicial conditioning is learning built by association of variables.

Ivan Pavlov

A Russian scientist who proposed the idea of classical conditioning.

Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo doll experiment, conducted by Albert Bandura in the 1960s, demonstrated that children learn aggressive behaviors through social observation, not just direct reinforcement, showing they would imitate adults' physical and verbal aggression towards an inflatable Bobo doll

Observational Learning

learning new behaviors, skills, and attitudes by watching others

modeling

form of observational learning where individuals learn things by watching and imitating others

habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation.

cognitive map

a mental representation of one's environment

James-Lange Theory

The James-Lange Theory in AP Psychology states that emotions arise from our awareness of our physiological responses to stimuli

Cannon-Bard Theory

The Cannon-Bard theory proposes that emotions & physiological reactions occur simultaneously