Psychology Final

cognitive economy

we are economical with how we invest our cognitive energy in order to minimize cognitive burden

representativeness heuristic

using memories to predict characteristics of an object or person based on superficial similarities

availability heuristic

using memories to predict the likelihood of an event based on how readily available that example is in your mind

divergent thinking

ability to generate multiple solutions

convergent thinking

ability to generate single best solution

Phonemes

categories of sounds produced my our vocal apparatus

Morphemes

smallest unit of meaning created by combining phonemes

Syntax

rules for how we use morphemes to construct sentences

Extralinguistic information

the interpretation of language/context

intelligence

a concept that aims to capture individual differences in cognitive processing

Initial use of IQ test

to identify students in need of help with learning

IQ tests in eugenics movement

Lucrative business

How IQ tests are used today

Weschler; Used for job interviews, school placement, and evaluation of special needs.

genetic expression

environment can trigger gene expression

nature via nurture

genetic predisposition leads to selection of certain environments

Cohort effects

developmental researchers may study differences in behavior between people in different age groups; cross sectional and longitudinal

Post hoc fallacy

just because A happened before B does not mean that A caused B

Bidirectional influences

human development is a two-way street; humans influence their environment just as much as the environment influences them

Piaget's stages of cognitive development

cognitive development as children strive to match their thinking about the world through assimilation and accommodation

Stage 1 - sensorimotor (0-2 years)

live in current physical moment

Stage 2 - pre-operational (2-7 years)

thought is self focused

Stage 3 Concrete operations (7-11 years)

Can take perspectives

Stage 4 Formal operations (11+ years)

Regular thinking

Vygotsky's theory of learning

describes how social and cultural factors influence learning

scaffolding

providing structure to the learner to support learning, which is gradually removed as the learner progresses

zone of proximal development

between learning being too hard and too easy

Critical periods

narrow window of time where an ability is most readily learned (genies case study)

temperament

from birth, infants exhibit characteristic emotional styles that influence how they respond to the world and others

imprinting

some animals bond/attach to the first moving object they see

contact comfort

physical touch elicits positive emotion which helps with attachment

Strange Situation

Tests how infants react to being separated from and then reunited with their primary caregiver

Erikson's theory of psychosocial identity development

Each stage centers around psychosocial crises: a dilemma about how we relate to others

Post-conventional

adulthood; moral reasoning based on personal ethics

Conventional

8-13; moral reasoning based on external ethics

Pre-conventional

3-7; moral reasoning based on reward and punishment

stress

the physiological response to a stressor

Acute stress

alarm and resistance occur to accommodate stress

Chronic stress

alarm and resistance occur but are inaffective and exhaustion sets in

eustress

stress that helps motivate, move us forward, allows for flow and gives us drive to perform

distress

form of stress that results in a negative impact on the individual

Stressor

a type of stimulus that challenges our physiological or psychological ability to cope

general adaptation syndrome

stress response:
Three stages:
1. Alarm
2. Resistance
3. Exhaustion

alarm

In the presence of a stressor, the amygdala
rings the alarm.
• This activates the Hypothalamic Pituitary
Adrenal (HPA) axis

resistance

Adaptation to the stressor
• Using the areas of our cortex to help us
regulate our response in the face of
strong emotions and physiological
sensations

exhaustion

In the face of chronic (recurring) stress
that is out of the individual’s control,
exhaustion sets in

informational control

Proactively obtaining information about a stressful event

decisional control

Evaluation options and making effective decisions about behavior to address the
stressor

behavioral control

Using behavior to address the stressor

cognitive control

Reframing thoughts related to emotions elicited by the stressor

emotional control

Managing emotions in the way that is most adaptive to the stressor

cognitive distortions

all or nothing thinking, jumping to conclusions, mental filter

acceptance

Allowing thoughts, feelings, sensations, events instead of
fighting them

identification of values

Theory: Acting out of line with your values leads to
emotional distress

How do circulating stress hormones affect our physical health and immunity?

Cortisol can suppress your immune system's effectiveness in fighting off invaders by lowering the number of lymphocytes present in the blood and interfering with normal white blood cell communication.

Biopsychosocial model

Illness is a product of a
combination of biological,
psychological, and social factors

complementary

practices and
products used in combination with
conventional medicine

alternative

Practices and
products used in place of conventional
medicine

CAM treatments

mindfulness, natural supplements, chiropractics

Evidence based medicine vs CAM

CAM therapies have limited
evidence of efficacy in rigorous
experimental research

Internal validity -

can we draw cause and effect inferences from a study

External validity -

can we generalize findings to real-world settings

Existence proofs -

demonstrating that a given psychological phenomenon can occur

Confounds -

third variables that affect outcome

Placebo/Nocebo Effect -

effects of a treatment due to expectations (blind experiment)

Experimenter Expectancy Effect - experiment)

experimenter may consciously or unconsciously behave differently due to their knowledge of the participant's condition (double blind

Demand Characteristics -

participants can pick up on cues to guess the hypothesis, changing their behavior (vaping experiment) (Distracter questions).

descriptive statistics

tells us about central tendency and variability

inferential statistics

helps identify statistical significance between groups

statistical significance

p>5%

• Neurotransmission -

neurotransmitters flow from tail of one neuron to head of another

Neurotransmitters

messengers within the body; released into the synapse by one neuron, where they bind with receptors on the dendrites of another cell

reuptake inhibitors

Block the reuptake of neurotransmitters, thus increasing their function

Somatic -

voluntary movement of skeletal muscle; carries messages between brain and skeletal muscle.

Autonomic -

involuntary movements such as heart beating and internal glands

Sympathetic -

fight or flight

Parasympathetic

rest and relax

Naive Realism

the belief that we see the world as it really is

Confirmation Bias

the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs and deny evidence that our belief is wrong

Belief Perseverance

the tendency to keep believing something after being shown evidence that supports the contrary

Logical Fallacies

trap in thinking that leads us to incorrect conclusions

emotional reasoning fallacy

use emotions to guide our conclusions

bandwagon fallacy

using the number of people to guide our conclusions

not me fallacy

believing that we are immune from biases and errors in thinking

Pseudoscience

claims that seem to be based on science but are not.

Structuralism

way we are structured, important structure of systems

Functionalism

function of conscious

Behaviorism

what drives out behavior

Cognitivism

how thinking impacts our behavior

Psychoanalysis

how do unconscious internal processes drive our behavior

Sensory adaptation

sensory responses are initially strong, weaken over time

Absolute threshold

there is a minimum amount of a stimulus that is required for us to detect/sense it 50% of the time

Just noticeable difference

there is a minimum amount that stimulus must be change for us to detect a difference

Webers law

the stronger an initial stimulus, the more change we need to achieve a noticeable difference

Cross-modal effects

there can be interactions between our different senses during perception

Synesthesia

is a condition in which a person experiences cross-modal perceptions like smelling colors.

The somatosensory stimuli -

touch, pressure, injury - initiate sensation

Proprioception -

our sense of our bodily position

Vestibular sense -

our sense of balance

Bottom-up processing -

processing in which a whole is constructed from parts

Top-down processing -

our existing beliefs and expectations influence what we perceive