Psych midterm

★ Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Induction

The process by which a hypnotist leads a participant into a state of trance

★ Conjunction Fallacy

A fallacy or error in decision-making in which a person decides that a conjunction of two possible events is more likely than one (or both) of the conjuncts

Introspection

Examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings

Hypothesis

A precise, testable statement of what a research predicts will be theoutcome of a study

★ Operational definition

A description of something in terms of the operations (procedures, actions, or processes) by which it can be observed and measured; i.e. A "short amount of time" lacks specificity because it should be quantifiable and replicable. A three minute period is objective, rather than subjective.

★ Control Group

The participants in an experiment who are not exposed to the independent variable (e.g. In a drug study, this would be the group of participants taking a placebo/sugar pill

★ Experimental group

The participants in an experiment who are exposed to the independent variable (e.g. In a drug study, this is the group of participants taking the drug)

★ Experimenter Bias

The tendency of a scientist or experimenter to introduce bias into an experiment, consciously or subconsciously

★ Psychoanalysis

Freud's controversial theory of personality; A therapeutic technique that attempts to provide insight into the thoughts and actions by exposing and interpreting the underlying unconscious motives and conflicts

Freudian Slip

An unintentional error viewed as revealing something from the subconscious mind

Behaviorism

The theory that psychology should only study observable behaviors, not mental processes; Connect to Watson

Sample size

the number of observations (cases, individuals, units) included in a selection of items to be studied

Neurons

Highly specialized and unique nerve cells of the nervous system (brain, spinal cord, nerves); They transmit impulses, or "fire"

Dendrites

Branching extensions of a neuron that receive information and conduct impulses toward the cell body - From Greek word for "tree"

Axon Terminal

End point of a neuron where neurotransmitters are stored

Neural Impulse

When a neuron fires, it creates a neural impulse called an action potential

Neural Inhibitors

Make it less likely that action potential is generated

Dopamine

Affects learning, attention, and emotion; Associated with pleasure

Central Nervous System

Brain and Spinal Cord; So important that they are encased inbone

Case Study

A study in which one person is studied in-depth in the hope of revealing useful information

Plasticity

The ability of the brain to "reprogram" itself to fix a problem

Broca's Area

An Area in the Left Hemisphere of the Brain in which Damage will affect speech; "Broca Can't Spoka"

★ Sensation

The process of being aware of the world around you through your senses; Bottom Up Processing

★ Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting incoming sensory information; Top-Down Processing (Driven by Cognition)

★ Absolute Threshold

The minimum amount of stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus

★ Selective Attention

Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus to the exclusion of others

★ Sensory Adaptation

The adaptive nature of humans with regards to senses

Receptor cells (Rods and Cones)

Deepest layer of the retina; Has the ability to changelight energy into nerve impulses that the brain can interpret

★ Rods

Can detect only black, white, and shades of gray

★ Cones

Detect sharp details and colors

Blind Spot

Occurs where the optic nerve exits through the retina, because there are no cones or rods at this point

★ Cochlea

The main organ of hearing; Changes sound waves to neural impulses

★ Cochlear implant

surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides a personwho has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception

★ Doppler Effect

The change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source

★ Kinesthetic sense

The system that senses the position and movement of yourindividual body parts; Relies on receptor cells throughout muscles and joints

★ Vestibular sense

The system for sensing body orientation and balance; Located in your inner ear, it relies on fluid-filled canals on top of the cochlea

★ Vertigo

A sensation of whirling and loss of balance

★ Interposition

Closer objects will partially obstruct farther objects

★ Circadian rhythm

Biological rhythms that occur every 24 hours

★ Ultradian rhythm

Biological rhythms that occur more than once a day (Sleep cycles)

★ Sleep apnea

A disorder characterized by repeated awakenings throughout the night as a result of not being able to breathe

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks

★ Somnambulism

Sleep walking

Night terrors

Characterized by high arousal and every indication of being terrified

Bruxism

Teeth grinding; Adults who wear tooth guard

Enuresis

Bedwetting

Myoclonus

Sudden jerking of the body that occurs in NREM I...Acute cases can result in daytime symptoms

★ Insomnia

Recurring problems in falling asleep or staying asleep

★ Tolerance

Reduced response to a drug

★ Withdrawal

Feeling of discomfort or distress coming from deprivation of a drug

★ Depressant

A drug that reduces neural functioning and slows body functions

★ Temperament

Characteristic emotional excitability

★ Attachment

The emotional tie with another person by seeking closeness to the caregiver and distress upon separation

★ Object Permanence

The awareness that things continue when you can't seethem or hear them

★ Social Clock

The culturally preferred timing of social events, such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement

★ Classical Conditioning

A type of learning by association by which a stimulusgains power

★ Menopause

When the menstrual cycle ends; typically between ages 45 and 55

★ Alzheimer's disease

A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterizedby gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and physical functioning

★ Extinction

Diminishing of a learned response

★ Acquisition

The process of developing a new, learned response

★ Generalization

When an organism produces the same response to two similarstimuli (Drug packaging looking too much like food packaging can be dangerous)

★ Topic to know: Basic Research v. Applied Research

Basic research is the actual research, applied research is when the research is used

★ Topic to know: Facebook's model is based on encouraging dopamine production through increased exposure (screen time) of a user

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Topic to know: Generally, a 5-year-old has figured out that a picture of a marshmallow is less enticing than an actual marshmallow with regards to reasoning; A 4-year-old cannot make this distinction

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★ Neural Exciter v. Neural Inhibitors

Exciters make the neuron more likely to fireInhibitors make the neuron less likely to fire

What are the 4 lobes?

FPOT - Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal

What does each lobe control?

Frontal - Decision-MakingParietal - ProcessingOccipital - VisionTemporal - Auditory/Sound

What do the left and right hemispheres control?

Left Hemisphere - LanguageRight Hemisphere - Spatial Reasoning

★ Topic to know: Rods v. Cones

Rods: low light vision, black and whiteCones: color

The size of wavelengths in comparison to one another

gamma rays -\> x-rays -\> ultraviolet -\> visible -\> infrared -\> microwaves -\> radio waves

★ How do adolescents foster identity?

Experimentation, rebellion, focus on self, optimism/energy

★ Fluid Intelligence v. Crystallized Intelligence

Fluid intelligence is the ability to process new information, learn, and solve problems. Crystallized intelligence is the stored knowledge, accumulated over the years

★ Stimulus v. response

A stimulus is a detectable change in an environment and a response is any behavior of a living organism that results from the stimulus

★ How stimulus/response relates to Pavlov's experiments with dogs in the 1920s

Pavlov trained dogs to give a specific response (drooling) when they receive a stimulus (seeing/hearing/smelling food, a bell ringing, etc)

★ Topic to know: Children in the Preoperational Stage do not understand conservation; Cannot understand how volume shifts in different size containers

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★ Topic to know: Peek-A-Boo works from ages 0-2 (Sensorimotor) when an infant/toddler does not understand object permanence

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Where colors fall on the visual spectrum compared to other forms of electromagnetic energy

Between ultraviolet and infrared

Trichromatic Theory of Color v. the Opponent-Process Theory of Color

The trichromatic theory holds that people have three types of receptors that are sensitive to wavelengths associated with red, green, and blueThe opponent process theory holds that color perception depends on receptors that make antagonistic responses to red versus green, blue versus yellow, and black versus white

Topic to know: Doppler Effect produces a high pitch as an object in motion moves towards you (police siren)

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Gestalt Organizational Principles

Gestalt psychologists emphasized that the whole is different than the sum of the parts

★ Topic to know: Alcohol shuts down the frontal lobe, which is responsible for decision-making

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Topic to know: Teratogens can cross the placental barrier, which is what occurs in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

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★ What are the ages for Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational?

Sensorimotor 0-2, Preoperational 2-7, Concrete Operational 7-11, Formal Operational 12+

★ Wilhelm Wundt

Founder of Psychology; Early studies

★ Jean Piaget

Studied Development; Came up with Sensorimotor/Preoperational/Concrete Operational/Formal Operational Stages

Abe Maslow

Humanist; Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

★ Lawrence Kohlberg

A psychologist in the 1980s who focused on attributing a structure of moral development; As people age, they generally move from a preconventional stage to conventional to postconventional stage of moral reasoning.

★ Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis; Oedipus complex, Freudian slip, anal retentiveness

★ Ivan Pavlov

Behaviorism; Classical conditioning and his experiment with an auditory stimulus and dogs

★ Phineas Gage

General story of explosion, damage to frontal lobe, subsequent behavior change - Must be able to connect to localization (People's brains operate in specific localized ways; Areas are responsible for specific functions)

Sean Parker

A founding member of Facebook who helped pioneer a dopamine-hit model

★ Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark

Educational Psychology; Crucial to providing evidence for the Brown v. Board of Ed case (1953); Argued that there were racial stigmas attached to the idea of separate, but equal

★ Walter Mischel

Stanford Professor responsible for studies on executive functioning and gratification delay in the 1960s and 1970s

★ Marshmallow Experiment (Mischel)

An experiment in which 4 year olds are tested on if they can wait for a second marshmallow with the temptation in front of them

★ What significant change did Coca-Cola make to their beverage in the early 1900s?

They took cocaine out of the recipe

What are types of basic research?

exploratory, descriptive or explanatory

What are types of applied research?

evaluation research, research and development, and action research

What defines "Gestalt" psychology

the whole of anything is greater than the sum of its parts

★ What is learned from Harlow's monkey experiment?

love is vital for normal childhood development