AP PSYCH SEMESTER 1 FINAL

learning

relative & permanent changes in behavior

classical conditioning

forming an association between 2 stimuli

operant conditioning

using consequences to encourage or discourage a behavior

negative punishment

removing a desirable stimulus to decrease behavior

positive punishment

adding an undesireable stimulus to decrease behavior

negative reinforcement

removing an undesireable stimulus to increase behavior

positive reinforcement

adding a desireable stimulus to increase behavior

shaping

reinforcers guide an individuals actions toward a desired, complex behavior

spontaneous recovery

return of a prevoiusly extinct response after a resting period

habituation

decrease in response to a stimulus in after repeated exposure

discrimination

ability to differentiate between CS and other stimuli that havent been conditioned

generalization

tendency for CS to evoke similar responses after the response has been conditioned

respondent behavior

behavior in response to a specific stimulus

primary reinforcer

things that motivate behavior because they satisfy survival needs

seccondary reinforccer

things that we value because they are tied to primary reinforcers

law of effect

consequences (reinforcement/punishment) will increase/decrease behavior

sensation

Margret Washburn

first woman to recieve a pHD in psychology

researched animal behavior

William James

idk

Mary Calkins

first female president of APA

illusory correlation

we percieve a correlation that does not exist

confounding variable

difference in results between control/experimental group that isnt caused by independent variable

operational definiton

definition of all variables involved & their measurements

5 ethical guidelines

informed consent, debriefing, protection from harm, confidentiality, withdrawl

qualitative

descriptive measure of something

qualitative

numerical measure of something

hawthorne effect

attention from researcher may cause a change in behavior instead of independent variable

central tendency

mean, mode, median

measures of variation

standard deviation

cognitive research subfield

study of mental activities like thinking, memory, reasoning

psychometric research subfield

study of measurement of human abilities

sensation

the taking in of sensory information

perception

how we interpret the sensory information

top-down processing

starting with the big picture and working inward toward the smaller details. influenced by expectations & experiences

bottom-up processing

starting with the stimulus and working upward until we see/recognize an object. starts with the actual stimulus, not our perception.

selective attention

we pay more attention to important elemetns while paying less attention to things in the backround.

change blindness

the tendency of ppl to miss changes in their immdiate environement.

inattentional blindness

when we focus on one stimuli, we are blind to others

transduction

transformation of stimulus energy into neural impulses

context effects

the influence of environmental factors on one's perception of a stimulus.

amplitude

height of the peaks

determines the intensity of light

wavelength(frequency)

distance between the peaks.

determines the hue

absolute threshold

lowest level of stimuli that can be detected

signal detection theory

states that there is no universal absolute threshold and detection mainly depends on experiences, expectations, and motivations.

difference threshold

smallest amount of difference between 2 stimuli for that difference to be noticeable

weber’s law

for two stimuli to be perceived as different, they must differ by a constant minimum percentage.

subliminal message

a stimuli/message below ones absolute threshold for concious awareness.

priming

exposure to one stimulus triggers a response to a subsequent stimulus

sensory adaptation

process by which our brain starts to become less senstive to constant stimuli

perceptual set

our tendency to percieve aspects of sensory info and ignore others. influenced by expectations, emotions, culture

receptor cells

special cells that respond to specific stimuli

telepathy

communication between two minds without physical interaction

synesthesia

condition where two sense are used at the same time

divided attention

also called multitasking, occurs when we focus on mulitple things at once.

cocktail party effect

the ability to focus on a particular sound while filtering out others into the backround

trichromatic theory

our eyes have three correspoidnign types of color receptors; red, green, blue

opponent process theory

retinal proccesses occur in 3 sets

red-green

blue-yellow

black-white

figure-ground

organization of visual field into objects and its environemt

grouping

our brain brings about order through the use of grouping; similarity, proxmity, closure, continuity

visual-cliff study

model of a cliff with a “drop-off” that was actually covered with glass. demonstrates depth perception

retinal disparity

binocular cue. there is a difference between the images recieved by each eye. the bringing of these images together allows us to percieve depth/distance.

convergence

binocular clue

our eyes move closer to focus on closer objects and vice versa.

allows us to determine relative distance

linear perspective

monocular cue

parallel lines seem to converge at the horizion; allows us to judge distance

texture gradient

the amount of texture we can see on an object correlates to the proximity of an object. more texture= closer

relative size

if we assume 2 objects are the same size, most people wil l percieve the smaller object as being further away

relative height

higher objects are further away/higher, closer objects are closer/shorter

interposition

looking at the overlap between figures to judge distance

relative clarity

closer objects- less blurry

further objects= more blurry

phi phenomenon

two adjacent, stationary, lights turning off and on quickyly as a single light moving quickly

perceptual constancy

recognizing objects as constant despite changes in color, brightness, shape or size

audition

process by which we process sound waves

frequency

determines pitch of a sound.

short wavelength= high frequency= high pitch

neuron

cell within the nervous systm that recieves & sends electrochemical messages

neurotransmitters

chemical messengers of the brain

glial cells

cells that provide support for neurons to grow on

dendrite

part of the neuron; recieves messages from other cells

receptor sites

recieves signals from neurotransmitters

each neurotransmitter has its own type of receptor site that only recieves signals from that neurotransmitter

soma

cell body of the neuron.

includes nucleus

axon

extends from cell body

carrys messages to other cells

myelin sheath

fatty substance around axon that insulates it

axon terminal

at the end of the axon. sends signal to other neurons

synapse

meeting point betweeen neurons

synaptic vesicles

stores various neurotransmitters

neural transmission

process by which information travels thru a neuron

reuptake

after neuroteansmitters stimulate the receptors, any left over neurotransmitters are sent back to be used again

threshold

level of stimulation that a soma uses to decide whether an axon should create electricity

resting state/potential

neuron is charged & ready to fire.

all-or-none principle

action potential strength is constant as long as the threshold is met

refractory period

period of time after an action potential during which a cell cannot repeat action potential

excitatory neurotransmitter

excite neurons & cause them to fire

inhibitory neurotransmitter

prevents next neuron from firing

acetylcholine (ACh)

thought, learning, memory, muscle action

serotonin

feeling of well-being & happiness. regulates sleep cycle & intenstinal movements

dopamine (reward)

pleasure center of the brain. reward, motivation , addiction

norepinephrine

fight or flight response. contracts blood vesseles + increases blood flow

GABA (calming)

calms the nervous system

increases sleepiness

decreases anxiety, memory, muscle tension

glutamate (memory)

thinking, long-term memory, learning

endorphins

relieves pain & stress.

released during exercise, pain, excitement

central nervous system (CNS)

brain & spinal cord

main control center

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

sensory nerves outside of CNS