Psychology Exam

Learning

The process of acquiring new information or behaviors through experience.

Adaptability

Human capacity to learn new behaviors that help us cope with our changing world.

Cognitive learning

Acquiring mental information that guides behavior; we can learn things we've neither experienced nor observed.

Associative learning

Learning that certain events occur together.

Classical conditioning

A basic form of learning that virtually all species use to adapt to their environment; involves expecting and preparing for significant events.

Operant conditioning

Repeating acts that bring rewards and avoiding acts that bring unwanted results.

Observational learning

Learning from others' experiences.

Stimulus

Any event or situation that evokes a response.

Response

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers the unconditioned response (ex. food).

Unconditioned response (UR)

Naturally occurring (unlearned) response to unconditioned stimulus (ex. Dog salivating at the sight of food).

Neutral stimulus (NS)

Stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning (ex. Sound of the metronome).

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Originally neutral stimulus that, after association with the unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger the conditioned response (ex. Sound of the metronome).

Conditioned response (CR)

Learned response to the conditioned stimulus that used to be a neutral stimulus (ex. Dog salivating at the sound of the metronome).

Generalization

The tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses once a response has been conditioned.

Discrimination

Learned ability to distinguish between conditioned stimulus that predicts the unconditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli.

Law of effect

Principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Positive reinforcement

Increases behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers; any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

Negative reinforcement

Increases behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli; not punishment.

Positive punishment

Punishing by adding an unpleasant stimulus.

Negative punishment

Punishing by taking away a desired stimulus.

Memory

Learning that persists over time; information that has been acquired, stored, and can be retrieved.

Recall

Retrieving information that is not currently in conscious awareness but was learned at an earlier time.

Recognition

Identifying items previously learned.

Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve

Information is lost over time when there is no attempt to retain it.

Encoding

Process of getting information into the memory system.

Storage

Process of retaining encoded information over time.

Retrieval

Process of getting information out of memory storage.

Implicit memories

Memories formed through automatic processing and bypass the conscious encoding track.

Explicit memories

Conscious facts and experiences encoded through conscious, effortful processing.

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units.

Mnemonics

Memory aids, especially techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Aphasia

Impairment of language caused by damage to brain regions associated with language.

Broca's area

Frontal lobe brain area involved in directing muscle movements for speech.

Wernicke's area

Brain area involved in language comprehension and expression.

Intelligence

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

Fluid intelligence (Gf)

Ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age.

Crystallized intelligence (Gc)

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.

Emotional intelligence

Ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

(Mental age/Chronological age) x 100; used to measure intelligence.

Reliability

Extent to which a test yields consistent results.

Validity

Extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure.

Amnesia

A loss of memory, often due to brain trauma or disease.

Proactive interference

Older memories disrupt the recall of new information.

Retroactive interference

New learning disrupts memory for older information.

Self-fulfilling prophecies

Expectations cause test-takers to become what is expected.

Stereotype threat

Self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.