psc 001: midterm #1 vocabulary

learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of an experience

classical conditioning

refers to the learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally produces an involuntary response. after the association is learned, the previously neutral stimulus is sufficient to produce a response

unconditioned stimulus

something that triggers a naturally occurring, involuntary response

unconditioned response

the naturally occurring involuntary response that follows an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned stimulus

a neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly presented prior to the unconditioned stimulus, evokes a similar involuntary response as the unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response

the acquired involuntary response to the formerly neutral stimulus

acquisition

when the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are repeatedly paired together and behavior increases such that the neutral stimulus alone will eventually be enough to cause the involuntary response, now the conditioned response as well

extinction

refers to the reduction in responding that occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus

spontaneous recovery

when sometimes the conditioned response emerges even after extinction. this is when, after a time lapse, the association between the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus appears

generalization

refers to the tendency to respond, but to a lesser extent, to stimuli that resemble the original conditioned stimulus

discrimination

the tendency to respond differently to stimuli that are similar but not identical

preparedness

the bodys ability to biologically prepare itself for things that it knows harm or please it

second-order conditioning

when a new neutral stimulus comes to predict the established conditioned stimulus resulting in the involuntary response

operant learning

learning that occurs based on the consequences of a voluntary behavior

thorndike’s law of effect

the principle that responses that create a typically pleasant outcome in a particular situation are more likely to occur again in a similar situation, whereas responses that produce a typically unpleasant outcome are less likely to occur again in the situation

skinner’s operant chamber

an enclosure that contains a bar or a key that the animal can manipulate to release food or water. it also contains a recording device to record the animals responses

shaping

the process of guiding a subject’s behavior to the desired outcome through the use of successive approximation to a final desired behavior

reinforcement

any event that strengthens or increases a behavior

punishment

any event that weakens or decreases a behavior

positive reinforcement

when a behavior is strengthened after the presentation of something pleasant

negative reinforcement

when a behavior is strengthened after the reduction of something unpleasant

positive punishment

when a behavior is weakened after the presentation of something unpleasant

negative punishment

when a behavior is weakened after the reduction of something pleasant

continuous reinforcement schedule

the desired response is reinforced every time it occurs

partial reinforcement schedule

a schedule in which the responses are sometimes reinforced, and sometimes not

fixed-ratio schedules

behavior is reinforced after a specific number of responses

variable-ratio schedule

behavior is reinforced after a specific amount of time has passed

fixed-interval schedule

behavior is reinforced for the first response after a specific amount of time has passed

variable-interval schedule

behavior is reinforced for the first response after an average, but unpredictable, amount of time has passed

explicit memory

the knowledge or experiences that can be conciously remembered

semantic memory

our knowledge of facts and concepts about the world

episodic memory

the firsthand experiences we have had

recall memory test

a measure of explicit memory that involves bringing from memory information that has been previously remembered

relearning

assess how much more quickly information is processed or learned when it is studied again after it has already been learned but forgotten

procedural memory

our often unexplainable knowledge of how to do things

implicit memory

the influence of experience on behavior, even if the individual is not aware of those influences

priming

changes in behavior as a result of experiences that have happened recently or frequently

sensory memory

the brief storage of information. a memory buffer that lasts briefly and then, unless it is attended to and passed on for more processing, is forgotten

iconic memory

visual sensory memory

echoic memory

auditory sensory memory

short term memory

the place where small amounts of information can be temporarily stored for more than a few seconds but usually for less than a minute

working memory

the processes that we use to make sense of, modify, interpret, and store information in short term memory

chunking

the process of organizing information into smaller groupings, thereby increasing the number of items that can be held in short term memory

long term memory

memory storage that can hold information for days, months, and years

encoding

the process by which we place the things we experience into memory

elaborative encoding

taking information we want to remember and embellishing it or attaching it to prior knowledge

ebbingahus’ spacing effect

the fact that learning is better when the same amount of study is spread out over periods of time than when it occurs close together or at the same time

context-dependent memory

an increase in retrieval when the external situation in which the information was learned matches the situation in which it is remembered

state-dependent memory

refers to the superior retrieval of memories when the individual is in the same physiological state as during encoding

serial position effect

the tendency to better remember information that occurs at the beginning and the end of a list, in comparison to memory for information that occurs in the middle of a list

primacy effect

a tendency to better remember stimuli that are presented early in a set list of things

recency effect

a tendency to better remember stimuli that are presented later in a set list of things

proactive learning

when earlier learning impairs our ability to encode information that we try to learn later

retroactive learning

when learning something new impairs our ability to retrieve information that was learned earlier

categories

networks of associated memories that have features in common with each other

prototype

the member of the category that is the most average or typical of the category

schema

patterns of knowledge in long-term memory that help us organize information

long term potentiation

the strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons as a result of frequent stimulation

cognitive bias

systematic errors in memory or judgement

source confusion

forgetting the source of our memory

confirmation bias

the tendency to verify and confirm our existing memories rather than to challenge and disconfirm them

functional fixedness

when people’s schemas prevent them from using an object in new and nontraditional ways

misinformation effect

errors in memory that occur when new information influences existing memories

overconfidence

the tendency for people to be too certain about their ability to accurately remember events and make judgements

heuristics

information-processing strategies that can help us make decisions quickly, but which leave us susceptible to making incorrect decisions

representativeness heuristic

a cognitive bias that may occur when we base our judgements on information that seems to represent, or match, what we expect will happen

availability heuristic

the tendency to make judgements of the frequency or likelihood that an event occurs on the basis of the ease with which the event can be retrieved from memory

counterfactual thinking

the tendency to think about and experience events according to “what might have been”

sensation

awareness resulting from the stimulation of a sense organ

perception

the organization and interpretation of sensations by the brain

top-down processing

involves our brain using prior knowledge and experience to interpret sensory information

bottom-up processing

processing sensory information as it is coming in

transduction

the conversion of stimuli detected by receptor cells to electric impulses that are then transported to the brain

process of transduction

1. Light hits the photoreceptors, either the cones or the rods

2. Once the light binds to that information, they hand it off to the bipolar cells which do specialized processing

3. Opponent processing then happens with the bipolar cells

4. The information then gets handed off to the ganglion cells which becomes the optic nerve with axons that send all the information to the brain

5. This information is sent to the occipital lobe of the brain

psychophysics

the branch of psychology that studies the effects of physical stimuli on sensory perceptions and mental states

absolute threshold

the intensity of a stimulus that allows an organism to just barely detect it

difference threshold

the change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected

signal detection theory

theory that assumes that there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on the persons experiences, expectations, motivations, and alertness

weber’s law

maintains that the just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion of the original intensity of the stimulus. the difference has to be big enough, relative to what we were looking/hearing/feeling before, for our brain to tell us that something has changed

sensory adaptation

when we are constantly exposed to a stimulus that does not change, we become less aware of it because our nerve cells fire less frequently

selective attention

the focusing of our conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. we decide where we want to focus our sense

inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

retina

light-sensitive inner surface of the eye

cones

cone-shaped neurons in the retina that respond to light waves, specializing in detecting fine detail and colors

rods

rod-shaped neurons in the retina that respond to light waves, specializing in detecting black, white, and gray colors

young helmholtz trichromatic color theory

the color we see depends on the mix of signals from the three types of cones: red, green, and blue

opponent process theory

proposes that we analyze sensory information from our retina’s cones as three sets of opponent colors: red-green, yellow-blue, and white-black

blind spot

a hole in our vision

gestalt psychology

when it comes to understanding what we perceive, the sum is greater than its parts. we take into account the big picture of what we are observing and make inferences off of that

figure-ground

organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)

grouping

how we organize information into a meaningful whole

proximity (grouping)

allows us to make inferences about what belongs with what

continuity (grouping)

elements arranged in a line or a soft curve are perceived to be more related than those randomly arranged or in a harsh line

closure (grouping)

when our brain looks at an object and extrapolates what is missing and what is there

depth perception

messages from our bodies and the external environment that supply us with information about space and distance

oculomotor depth cues

depth cues that comes from the muscles of the eyes

convergence

the inward turning of the eyes that is required to focus on objects that are less than 50 feet away from us

binocular depth cues

depth cues that are created by retinal image disparity. requires that we use two eyes

monocular depth cues

depth cues that help us perceive depth using only one eye