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James-Lange Theory

You feel an emotion because of how your body reacts first.

Cannon-Bard Theory

You feel an emotion and have a body reaction at the same time.

Two-Factor Theory

Body reaction + thinking = emotion

Id

impulsive

Ego

Mediator

Superego

moral guide

Fixed Ratio Schedule

Fixed number

Variable Ratio Schedule

Random number

Fixed Interval Schedule

Fixed time

Variable Interval Schedule

Random time

Independent Variable

What you change (the cause)

Dependent Variable

What you measure (the effect)

Activation Synthesis

How dreams are formed

Habituation

You stop reacting to something because you've gotten used to it

Sensory Adaption

Your senses stop noticing something constant (like a smell) because they adjust.

Manifest Content

What you see in the dream

Latent Content

The secret message of a dream

Repressed Content

Buried feelings

Hidden Content

Not out in the open

Generativity versus Stagnation

Giving back vs. feeling stuck

integrity versus despair

pride vs. regret

intimacy versus isolation

Connection vs. loneliness

identity versus role confusion

Finding yourself vs. feeling lost

industry versus inferiority

Feeling capable vs. feeling less than

hallucinations vs delusions

sensory vs false beliefs

Binocular Cues

Depth perception using both eyes

Monocular Cues

Depth perception using one eye

Retinal Disparity

Binocular cue, the slight difference in images

Linear Perspective

Lines that meet in the distance

Attribution Theory

A way to understand why people think others behave a certain way. It looks at how we explain someone's actions, whether we think it's because of their personality (internal) or the situation they are in (external).

frustration-aggression hypothesis

when people feel frustrated because they can't reach a goal, they are more likely to act aggressively

Weber's law

The idea that to notice a difference in a stimulus, the change must be proportional to the original amount. For example, a small change is easier to notice in a light weight than in a heavy weight.

Wernicke's Area

Understanding words

Broca's Area

Speaking words

Hypothalamus

Body's control center

Lateral Hypothalamus

Hunger and eating

Hippocampus

Memory

Medulla

Breathing and Heart rate

Amygdala

Fear and Aggression

Signal Detection Theory

A theory that explains how we detect signals (like sounds or sights) in the presence of noise. It considers both the ability to sense a stimulus and the decision-making process involved in whether we think we've detected it.

absolute threshold

Minimum detection level

the oral stage

Mouth-focused activities

the anal stage

Toilet training time

disequilibrium

Feeling out of balance

assimilation

Adding to what you know

social-exchange theory

This theory suggests that social behavior is the result of an exchange process. People weigh the costs and benefits of relationships and seek to maximize rewards while minimizing costs in their interactions

reciprocity norm

This is the social rule that says people should return favors or kindness

bystander effect

The tendency for people to be less likely to help someone in need when others are present. The more bystanders there are, the less responsibility each person feels to take action.

Availability Heuristic

If something easily pops into your head, you might think it's more common or likely.

Representativeness Heuristic

People often judge something based on how well it matches their expectations, rather than using actual statistics.

Confirmation Bias

Seeing what I believe

facial feedback hypothesis

Your face affects your feelings (smiling = happy)

classical conditioning

Learning by association

operant conditioning

Learning through consequences

counterconditioning

Changing the reaction

interposition

Closer objects block farther ones

Convergence

Eyes come together

texture gradient

Closer = coarser; farther = finer

feature detection theory

A theory that explains how we recognize objects by focusing on specific features (like lines, shapes, and colors). It suggests that our brain has specialized neurons that respond to certain features of a stimulus.

an external attribution

if someone is late, you might think they got stuck in traffic or had an emergency.

a dispositional attribution

explaining someone's behavior by focusing on their internal traits or characteristics, such as their personality or attitudes

an internal attribution

if someone is late, you might think they are careless or disorganized

the actor-observer difference

if you trip, you might blame it on the uneven ground (external), but if someone else trips, you might think they are clumsy (internal)

the fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overemphasize personal characteristics and underestimate situational factors when explaining someone else's behavior

sympathetic

fight or flight

parasympathetic

rest and digest

somatic

Voluntary muscle control

limbic

Emotional brain

central

Main control center

factor analysis

A way to simplify a lot of information by finding common themes or patterns

introspection

Looking inside yourself

Big Five trait approach

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

self theory

Understanding yourself

The flynn effect

Smarter generations

the all-or-none law

Fire or don't fire

a critical period

Must learn by this time

Noam Chomsky

Language expert

Alfred Binet

Father of IQ testing

Charles Spearman

General intelligence theorist

Jean Piaget

Cognitive development expert

unconditioned stimulus

Natural trigger

neutral stimulus

No response at first

unconditioned response

Natural reaction

conditioned response

Learned reaction

conditioned stimulus

Learned trigger

Thalamus

Sensory relay

Parietal Lobes

Sensory and spatial processing

limbic system

Emotional brain network

motion parallax

Closer objects move quicker

functional fixedness

only using an object the way it's supposed to be used

somatoform

Mind affecting the body

aversive conditioning

Unpleasant reaction to unwanted behavior

unconditional positive regard

Love without conditions

active listening

Listen to understand

self-actualization

Becoming your best self

token economy

Earn tokens, get rewards

Sublimination (defense mechanism)

example: using a sport to get your anger out (turning unsocially acceptable behavior into socially acceptable behavior)

humanistic approach

growth and self-fulfillment

Functionalism

mental and behavioral processes

Structuralism

basic elements that make up the mind