Psych 10 UCLA final

psychology

the scientific investigation of behavior and mental processes

behavior

observable actions of humans and animals

mental processes

the mind, private inner experience

Hindsight Bias

belief that an outcome was foreseeable

expert blind spot

once you know the answer it is impossible to remember what it felt like to not know

barnum effect

"we have something for everyone"

Structuralism

goal: to discover the mind's structure by breaking down experiences into their underlying components

functionalism

goal: to study the purpose of behaviors and mental processes by examining them in terms of adaption to the environment

behaviorism

redefined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior; predominant in 1920s-1960s

cognitive revolution

reaction against behaviorism in 1950s-1960s; brought back interest in mental processes; set stage for modern approach to psychology

Institutional Review Board

need to make sure it meets the accepted standards of science

Nervous system

responsible for everything we think, feel, and do

Neurons

basic units of the nervous system that operate via electro-chemical signals

CNS

brain and spinal cord

PNS

neurons transmit info from CNS to organs/muscles

Sensory neurons

carry info from sensory receptors to CNS (brain to body)

motor neurons

carry info from CNS to muscles/glands (brain to body)

interneurons

connect sensory, motor, and other interneurons

dendrites

detect incoming signals

cell body (soma)

collects/sums input; contains nucleus and cell material

axon

transmits signal to axon terminal

myelin sheath

covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed up neural impulses

terminal buttons

small modules at the end of the axon that release chemical signals from the neuron into the synapse

synapse

space between axon of a sending neuron and dendrite of a receiving neuron

resting membrane potential

at rest electrical charge

action potential

caused by changes in the electrical and chemical gradients across the cell membrane

cerebellum

fine motor skills; balance and coordinated movement

medulla

heart rate, circulation, breathing

reticular formation

sleep/wakefulness, arousal

pons

connects to rest of brain

forebrain

subcritical structures and cortex

frontal lobe

planning, decision making, speaking

parietal lobe

sensory input for touch and position

temporal lobe

auditory, processing language

occipital lobe

receive visual information

plasticity

property of the brain that allows it to change as a result of experience or injury

motor cortex

sends out info

somatosensory cortex

receives info

sensation

detecting physical stimuli and sending this info to the brain

perception

processing, organizing, and interpreting sensory info

transduction

process of converting one form of energy to another

bottom up processing

perception based on the physical features of the stimulus - basic to more complex

top down processing

how knowledge, expectations, or past experiences shape the interpretation of sensory info

absolute threshold

minimum amount of stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time

difference threshold

minimum difference between 2 stimuli needed to detect difference between them 50% of the time

Weber's Law

in order to be perceived as different, the intensity of two stimuli must vary by a constant proportion of the intensity of the original stimulus

signal detection theory

predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background noise; assumes that there is no single absolute threshold and detection depends on experience, expectations, motivations, fatigue, etc

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a result of a constant or recurring stimuli

retina

light sensitive inner surface of the eye

cones

respond to higher level of light; result in color perception

rods

respond to low levels of light; results in black and white perception

fovea

center of retina where cones are densely packed

Young Heimholtz Trichromatic Color Theory

three types of cones; respond to red, green or blue light

opponent process theory

three sets of retinal processes; red/green, yellow/blue, white/black

template theory

any pattern that fits template of an object will be recognized as that object

recognition by components

all objects can be described as a collection of several volumetric primitives or geons and the reactions between them

interposition

closer objects block farther ones

retinal disparity

different retinal images each eye receives based on its different perspectives

convergence

when a person views a nearby object, eye muscles turn inward

perceptual constancy

real objects don't change at random so our perceptions of those objects don't change either even though the visual info can change drastically

prosopagnosia

inability to recognize faces

achromatopsia

inability to perceive color despite having a normally functioning eye

agnosia

difficulty perceiving shapes and object form

visual neglect

attentional disorder in which patients are unaware or don't respond to objects on one side of space

sound wave

a pattern of changes in air pressure during a period of time; produces sound

amplitude

determines loudness

frequency

determines pitch

sound localization

brain integrates different sensory info coming from each ear

learning

experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner

acquisition

initial stage of learning/conditioning

extinction

when the US and CS stop occurring together and the CR is weakened

spontaneous recovery

following extinction, presenting the CS may lead to the CR again

generalization

once a response has been conditioned, similar stimuli can elicit the same response

discrimination

ability to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli

operant conditioning

type of learning in which the consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will be repeated again

positive reinforcement

adding favorable consequence to increase behavior

negative reinforcement

removing unfavorable consequence to increase behavior

positive punishment

adding an unfavorable consequence to decrease behavior

negative punishment

removing a favorable consequence to decrease behavior

fixed

reinforcement after a given amount of time or responses

variable

reinforcement after a random amount of time or responses

interval

based on time intervals

ratio

based on number of behaviors

encoding

the information gets into our brains in a way that allows it to be stored

storage

the information is held in a way that allows it to later be retrieved

retrieval

reactivating and recalling information

chunking

group items into more meaningful chunks

mnemonics

using mental imagery and other well known cues; loci

hierarchies

organizing information

sensory memory

immediate, brief recoding of sensory info before it is processed into short term or long term memory

iconic memory

visual sensory register

echoic memory

auditory sensory register

short term memory

used to keep track of what is currently relevant

long term memory

memory that persists over time without conscious activation

schemas

organized knowledge structure or mental model that we've stored in our memory

declarative memory

knowing "what", expressed verbally, conscious awareness (explicit memory)

non declarative memory

knowing "how", expressed behaviorally, awareness not necessary (implicit memory)

episodic memory

discrete events, specific time/place, personally experienced

semantic memory

facts, general knowledge

consolidation

process by which memories become stable in the brain