psych unit 1 test

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confirmation bias

refers to how our current values and beliefs function as a filter through which we select and recall information. If the information doesn’t align with what we already believe to be true, we simply dismiss it.

overconfidence

People tend to think more than they do. Confidence drives people to think quickly rather than correctly.

Perceiving order in random events:

 Humans have an innate eagerness to make sense of the world

hypothesis

 a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

random selection/assignment

a sample that represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

case studies

• examine one individual or group in depth

  • Provide fruitful ideas

  • Do not uncover general truths

limitation: provide fruitful ideas, do not uncover general truths

naturalistic observations

• observe and record behavior in a natural environment without changing or controlling the situation

  • Describe but do not explain behavior

  • Can be revealing

limitations: describe but do not explain behavior

surveys

• descriptive techniques for obtaining self-reported attitudes or behaviors in a group, usually questioning a representative, random sample of that group

  • Considerations:

    • Wording effects – does your wording introduce bias?

limitation: wording effects, how does it introduce bias

correlational studies

Measure of the extent to which two variables relate to each other, and thus of how well either one predicts the other

Limitation: correlation =/= causation

correlation coefficient

• Mathematical expression of the direction strength of the relationship between two things

• Ranges from -1.00 to +1.00

  • 0 indicates no relationship

positive correlation

• (above 0 to 1.00)

  • Indicates a direct relationship

  • Two things increase together or decrease together

negative correlation

• Indicates an inverse relationship

• As one thing increases, the other decreases

experiment

method in which researchers vary one or more variables (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable)

independent variable

• Variable that is manipulated

• Variable whose effect is being studied

dependent variable

• Variable that is measured

• Variable that may change when the independent variable that is manipulated 

cofounding variable

Variable other than the variable being studied that might influence a study’s result

placebo effect

is a psychological and physiological phenomenon where a patient experiences a real improvement in health or symptoms after receiving a "placebo"—an inactive or dummy treatment (such as a sugar pill, saline injection, or sham procedure) that has no active medical properties.

axon

Passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands

dendrites

Receive messages from other cells

gaba

oversupply: drowsiness and elevated blood pressure

undersuppy: seizures, tremors, insomnia

acetylcholine

oversupply: muscle spasms

undersupply: issues with memory, language, and thinking (alzheimer’s causes ACh-producing neurons to deteriorate)

dopamine

oversupply: schizophrenia

undersupply: tremors, and drecreased mobility in parkinson’s disease

serotonin

oversupply: shaking, fast heart rate, confusion

undersupply: depression

motor neurons

carry outgoing instructions from the CNS to the body’s muscles

sensory neurons

carry incoming messages from the body’s tissue and sensory receptors to the spinal cord and brain

interneurons

• Present in the brain and spinal cord

• Communicate internally and process information between sensory inputs and motor outputs

central nervous system

• Brain

  • Enables our humanity

  • Contains 128 billion neurons that cluster into work groups to form neural networks

• Spinal cord

  • Connects the PNS and the brain

  • Governs reflexes

  • Injury could cause the loss of sensation and voluntary movement

pituitary gland

• Control center of the endocrine glands

• Controlled by the hypothalamus

• Releases hormones and directs other endocrine glands to release their hormones

• Secretes growth hormones that stimulate physical development

  • Oxytocin enables orgasm, labor contractions, and milk flow and aids social connections

cerebellum

• Processes sensory input

• Coordinates movement output and balance

• Enables nonverbal learning and memory

• Helps process and store memories of things that cannot be consciously recalled

limbic system

• Includes the amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus

  • Amygdala: two almond shaped neural clusters linked to emotions, threat perception, and fear

  • Hypothalamus: positioned below the thalamus, linked to emotion and reward, directs several maintenance activities, helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland

  • Hippocampus: helps process conscious, explicit memories of facts and events 

• Associated with emotions and drives

peripheral nervous system

Sensory and motor neurons connecting the CNS to the rest of the body

cortical tissue

The amount of cortical tissue dedicated to a specific body part in the brain's cortex (specifically the primary somatosensory cortex and primary motor cortex) is determined by the density of sensory receptors and the precision of motor control required for that body part—not by its actual physical size.

parietal lobe

Receives sensory input for touch and body position

temporal lobe

Includes areas that receive information from the ears

occipital lobe

Includes areas that receive information from the visual fields

frontal lobes

Involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans in judgement

heredity and environment

• A person’s genetically influenced traits affect how others respond

• Environment: every external influence, from prenatal nutrition to social support in later life

• Interaction: interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity)

egocentrism

having a difficulty imagining things from another’s perspective

conservation

 properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the form of objects

object permanence

an awareness that objects continue to exist when out of sight

critical period of time

• Neural networks develop rapidly after birth; brain size increases in an enriched environment

  • From ages 3 to 6, the frontal lobes grow rapidly

  • Fiber pathways supporting language and agility continue their growth into puberty

  • Sights and smells, touches and tastes, music and movement strengthen neural pathways while disuse weakens them

• Humans have a critical period for some skills, but brain development does not end with childhood

Sensorimotor stage

• In Piaget’s theory, the stage at which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities (where object permanence develops)

Preoperational stage

• In Piaget’s theory the stage in which a child learns to use language but cannot yet perform the mental operation of concrete logic

• Symbolic thinking enables pretend play, as children imaginatively use one object to represent a different object

• Piaget also taught us that preschool children are egocentric (having a difficulty imagining things from another’s perspective)

Concrete Operational Stage

• Stage in which a child learns to think logically from concrete events

• Mental operations enable thinking logically about concrete events

Formal Operational Stage

• The stage of cognitive development at which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

• Children are no longer limited to purely concrete reasoning based on actual experience 

  • Develop “if..then thinking”

  • Piaget referred to this systematic reasoning ability as formal operational thinking 

Kohlberg’s Moral Development

1. Preconventional morality (before age 9)

   1. Self-interest; obey rules to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards

2. Conventional morality (early adolescence)

   1. Uphold laws and rules to gain social approval or maintain social order

3. Postconventional morality (adolescence and beyond)

   1. Actions reflect beliefs in basic rights and self-defined ethical principles 

identity vs social identity

• Identity: one’s sense of self

  • A sense of self developed by testing and blending various roles

• Social identity: “We” aspect of one’s self-concept

  • Comes from their group memberships

  • Group identities form through differences in demographics (ex. Gender, race), access, abilities, and beliefs

“tip-of-the-tongue” forgetting

• Older adults experience tip-of-the-tongue forgetting more frequently

emotions evolving with age

• From the teens to midlife, people’s sense of identity, confidence, and self-esteem typically grows stronger

• Positive feelings, supported by better emotional control, tend to grow after midlife, and negative feelings decline

• Older adults experience fewer relationship problems

  • Less attachment anxiety, stress, and anger

• At all ages, people are happiest when they are not alone

adolescent’s impulsivity

Frontal lobe maturation lags behind the emotion-controlling limbic system’s development