P/S mcat

Reliability

producing similar results every time

Internal validity

Extent of true accurate results

External validity

Generalize to other settings

Proactive interference

Old information interferes with new learning

Retroactive interference

New information interferes with old memories

Episodic memory

Memory of personal events and experiences

Semantic memory

Memory of facts and concepts

Difference threshold

minimum difference perceived between two stimuli

Weber’s law

JND is proportional to the original stimulus intensity

Top-down processing

Perception influenced by expectations and prior knowledge

Bottom-up processing

Perception begins with sensory input

Cultural relativism

Understanding a culture based on its own standards

what is Symbolic interactionism?

development of identity through social interactions

Social facilitation

Performance changes in the presence of others

Groupthink

Pressure to conform in group decision-making

Frontal lobe

planning, impulse control, motor function

Parietal lobe

touch, spatial awareness

Amygdala

fear, aggression

Hippocampus

long-term explicit memory

Hypothalamus

homeostasis, 4 F’s (feed, fight, flight, fornicate)

Thalamus

sensory “way station" except for smell

Cerebellum

maintain posture and balance and coordination

Basal ganglia

movement, Parkinson’s

Broca’s area

speech production

Wernicke’s area

language comprehension

Sensorimotor stage

from 0-2, object permanence

Preoperational stage

from 2 -7, egocentrism

Concrete operational stage

from 7-11. conservation

Formal operational stage

from 12+ abstract reasoning

Kohlberg's moral Preconventional stage

punishment / reward

Kohlberg's moral Conventional stage

social approval / laws

Kohlberg's moral Postconventional stage

universal ethics

Characteristic of Stage 1 of sleep

Theta waves, light sleep

Characteristic of Stage 2 of sleep

sleep spindles, K complexes

Characteristic of Stage 3 of sleep

delta waves, deep sleep

Characteristic of REM sleep

dreaming, beta-like activity

Dissociative fugue

new location + new identity = coping mechanism for trauma

Dissociative amnesia

inability to recall past experience

James-Lange theory

arousal leads to an emotional experience.

Cannon-Bard theory

arousal and emotion occur simultaneously

Schachter-Singer theory

arousal + cognition leads to emotion.

Foot-in-the-door

small then large request

Door-in-the-face

large then smaller request

function of hindbrain

balance, coordination, breathing, digestion, arousal

function of medulla oblongata

vital functions: breathing, HR, digestion

GABA is a excitatory or inhibiting neurotransmitter

inhibiting

glutamate is a excitatory or inhibiting neurotransmitter

excitatory

what waves are visible when awake

beta and alpha

Personality disorders are characterized by

inflexible and enduring patterns

What is Manifest Functionalism?

Intended and obvious purpose

What is latent functionalism?

Unintended results

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behavior

Normative social influence

To fit in a group of people standards

Informational social influence

When you don’t know what to do and follow someone’s advice

what’s the behaviorist approach

environment shapes behaviour

When you see: low response rate (like 40–60%)

Think immediately:

selection bias / nonresponse bias

gender socialization in men include

high-risk behaviors

What’s disinhibition?

loss of behavioral control that leads to injuries

What is institutional discrimination?

systemic policies and structures that create unequal outcomes across groups

external locus of control refers to

fate

sympathetic vs parasympathetic nervous symstem

sympathetic: stress; parasympathetic: relaxation

what’s the biomedical approach?

treating psychological disorders primarily through medical interventions.

what’s Mead's Theory of Identity?

What do I want to do? and What does society expect from ME?

Fluid vs crsytallized intelligence

Fluid intelligence: problem-solving and reasoning skills; crystallized intelligence: accumulated knowledge and experience.

Aging decreases what types of memory?

episodic, fashbulb and source

Self-positivity bias

Bad things happen to other people, not me.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

scientific article and catchy phrases or celebrities

Optimism bias

tendency to believe you'll experience better outcomes than average.

Left hemisphere involves

language processing and analytical tasks.

right hemisphere involves

visual-spatial skills and creativity.