MCAT Psych/Soc from Sketchy

Top Down processing

the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole

Bottom Up Processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Gestalt Principles

ways for the brain to infer missing parts of a picture when a picture is incomplete

How we perceive objects and patterns

Similarity Principle

consumers tend to group together objects that share similar physical characteristics

Pragnanz

every stimulus is seen as simply as possible

View chain as circles simply rather than each intricacy

Alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

Beta Waves

awake and alert, intense focus waves

Theta Waves

light sleep, Stage 1 of sleep, first stage when you enter sleep

Delta Waves

Deep sleep, Coma waves, not much going on

Stage 3 Sleep

dominated by Delta Waves, deepest wave of sleep, sleep talking and walking

Stage 4 (REM)

alpha, Beta, desynchronous waves. High frequency. Similar to wakefulness

Mechanism of Depressants

enhance GABA, inhibitory chemical

Disinhibition

Consequence of alcohol consumption. Expressing messages without considering the consequences of doing so

Stimulants

Boost levels of serotonin, dopamine, and NE

Mesolimbic pathway

Reward pathway, dopaminergic pathway, subcortical part of the brain involved in cognition and emotion

inductive reasoning

Inny belly button. Uses specific reasoning. First pig in the barn is pink, all pigs are pink

deductive reasoning

Using rules and facts to prove something. Syllogisms

Mental Set

approach similar problems in similar ways because of familiarity

Functional fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

Heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Ex. using common sense, making decisions on the fly

availability heuristic

Hearing about lottery winners makes you think that you are more likely to win the lottery. Judging a situation based on similar situations that come to mind

representativeness heuristic

See cheerleaders as female because your image of a cheerleader is female. Comparing something to a mental prototype.

base rate fallacy

Rely on prior experience or beliefs over statistical realities. .

cognitive bias

systematic error in thinking

disconfirmation principle

If shit doesn't work, count it out.

Idea that states that if evidence obtained during testing does not confirm a hypothesis, then the hypothesis is discarded or revised.

Hindsight bias

Overestimate your ability to predict shit retrospectively.

"I knew we were gonna lose"

belief perseverance

tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

recognition-primed decision model

Accepting the first option that makes sense

A decision-making model in which experience and recognition of similar situations one has already experienced play a large role in decision-making and actions;

also one of the explanations for the experience of intuition.

associative learning

when association forms between two events. Behavior and reward.

non-associative learning

Does not rely on reward or punishment, like grading. Habituation and sensitization

latent learning

Unintentional learning. learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

mirror neurons

fire when you do something and when you watch someone do womething

long-term potentiation

connection between brain cells, strengthens neuron connection the more frequently they are activated

Response

any action provoked by a stimulus

drooling from smell of cheesy pizza

unconditioned stimulus

A stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response

Neutral Stimuli (Classical Conditioning)

a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Ex. The bell

Acquisition

period when a person is trained to pair connect a neutral stimulus to an unconditioned stimulus

generalization (classical conditioning)

the tendency of a new stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus to elicit a response that is similar to the conditioned response

Extinction (classical conditioning)

conditioned response decreases and eventually disappears.

Dog ceases to drool at the sound of a bell

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

dog randomly drools even after response to bell is extinct

Punishment

decrease target response

Reinforcement

Increase the target response

Primary reinforcers

Events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs

Ex. food, sex, good stuff

secondary reinforcer

any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, or gold stars

Money to buy steak

Token economy

an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats

Primer rib punch card

discriminative stimulus

Signals that reinforcement or punishment will soon be available.

a stimulus that elicits the same response after association with reinforcement

Steak shack jingle brings dogs in

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

effective for teaching target response quickly, but doesn't last

partial reinforcement

more common than continuous, only receive reinforcement sometimes

Fixed-Interval schedules

consequences occur after specific amounts of time performing a target behavior.

ex. every minute dog runs, dog gets abone

variable-interval schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

fixed-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Ex. one bone every two hurdles they jump

variable-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

ex. receives bones every random number or hurdle

ratio based reinforcement

More effective than interval based reinforcement.

Reinforcing after behaviors; either fixed or variable

Shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

avoidance learning

the process by which one learns to perform a behavior in order to ensure that a negative or aversive stimulus will not be present

Ex. dog covers their ears to avoid unpleasant noises, and is prompted by students on the track

escape learning

A type of learning in which an organism acquires a response that decreases or ends some aversive stimulation.

Ex. dog jumps fence and runs off of track to avoid disturbing noises

instinctual drift

The tendency for an animal to drift back from a learned operant response to an innate, instinctual response to an object.

Ex. Dog runs after cat rather than running on track for bones

Construct validity

the extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure

Content validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

Ex. measures of the brain, measuring intelligence, emotion, or ability

face validity

the extent to which you can tell what the items are measuring

criterion validity

the extent to which a measure is able to measure the concrete outcome it is designed to measure

external validity

extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings to study other shit

internal validity

extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences about the study group from a study

ecological validity

The extent to which a study is realistic or representative of real life.

Ex. how good a simulation of in-flight safety videos represents the actual thing

Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

theory in which the physiological reaction and the emotion are assumed to occur at the same time

Thalamus controls emotion.

Ex. seeing snake causes mental fear as well as increased heart beat.

ideal beuracracy

-heirarchical structure

-division of labor

- written rules and expectations

- hired and promoted based on technical competence and expertise

- neutrality/impersonality

Escape Learning (vs avoidance)

running away from a current unwanted stimulus

Avoidance Learning (vs escape)

running away from a future stimulus before it becomes distressful.

Encoding

Synthesizing outside information.

the processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

memory storage

the process of maintaining information in memory over time

long term or for a second

memory retrieval

the process of accessing and bringing into consciousness information stored in memory

automatic processing

Encode memories without trying.

ex. remember dinner last night without trying

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

controlled processing

intentional use of encoding strategies

Ex. what I'm doing right now

method of loci

mentally placing items you want to remember in places you are very familiar with. You remember spatial info better

self-reference effect

tendency to better remember information relevant to ourselves

ex. elephant remembers sketch about elephants

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units

ex. Making grocery list into smaller lists

spacing effect

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice

Habituation

Decreased response to a stimulus overtime

ex. not noticing scratchy sweater after wearing for a few minutes.

Dishabituation

Renewed response to a previously habituated stimulus

Ex. put sweater back on and it feels scratchy again.

recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation

Sensitization

an increase in behavioral response after exposure to a stimulus

Desensitization

Decreased response to a previously sensitized stimulus over time

Ex. irritation from previously unbearable scratchiness diminishes over time

source monitoring error

occurs when a memory derived from one source is misattributed to another source

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

self-schema

beliefs about self that organize and guide the processing of self-relevant information

ex. Personality, interests, characteristics

self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

Existential self

The most basic part of self concept. It is the sense of being separate and distinct from others. Awareness that the self is constant throughout life.

Acquired at a young age.

Categorical self

Occurs once babies realize they are separate. It is becoming aware that even though we're separate, we exist in the world with others. Babies first learn AGE and GENDER, then SKILLS and SIZE. They learn concepts like traits, comparisons, and careers last.

heirarchy of salience

How one ranks their identity.

let the situation dictate which identity holds the most importance for us at any given moment

Reference Group

a social group that serves as a point of comparison in making evaluations and decisions

looking-glass self

an image of yourself based on what you believe others think of you

erogenous zones

pleasure sensitive areas of the body

First Stage of Development

Oral stage (Birth - 18 months)

Second Stage of Development

Anal fixation, potty training (people become obsessed with order)

Third Stage of Development

Phallic stage, identify genetalia

Fourth Stage of Development

Latency- pre adolescence problems remain hidden, no new conflicts

Sexual drives repressed, pleasure from hobbies

Fifth Stage of Development

Genital Stage, engage in intimate relationships

Psychosocial theory of development

Based on Balance ------Erikson's theory that personality develops through eight stages of adaptive functioning to meet the demands framed by society

Erik Erikson

Proposed eight stages of psychoSOCIAL development

Piaget's stages of cognitive development

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational