Psychology & Sociology Comprehensive Flashcard Study Guide

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering Sensation, Perception, Memory, Cognition, Biology, and Sociology themes adapted from the lecture transcript.

Weber's Law

A principle stating that the just noticeable difference ($JND$) is proportional to the intensity of the original stimulus, maintaining a constant ratio expressed as $\frac{\Delta I}{I} = k$.

Absolute Threshold of Sensation

The minimum intensity of a stimulus needed to detect it $50\,\%$ of the time; it is influenced by expectations, experience, motivation, and alertness.

Signal Detection Theory

A framework for determining how signals are detected amid noise, using $d'$ for signal strength and $c$ for strategy (conservative vs. liberal), with outcomes including hit, miss, false alarm, and correct rejection.

Bottom-Up Processing

Perception driven by the stimulus itself, built from the smallest sensory pieces without prior expectations.

Top-Down Processing

Perception driven by background knowledge, cognition, and expectations that fill in gaps in sensory information.

Gestalt Principles

A set of principles including Similarity, Pragnanz, Proximity, Continuity, and Closure that describe how the brain groups sensory triggers into meaningful wholes.

Phototransduction Cascade

The process where light hits retinal in rhodopsin, causing a shape change that activates transducin and $PDE$, leading to reduced $cGMP$, the closing of $Na^+$ channels, and cell hyperpolarization.

Feature Detection

The processing of specific stimulus qualities: color via cones, form via the parvocellular pathway (high spatial resolution), and motion via the magnocellular pathway (high temporal resolution).

Basilar Tuning

The tonotopic mapping of the cochlea where hair cells at the base respond to high frequencies and hair cells at the apex respond to low frequencies.

Cochlear Implants

Devices used to treat sensorineural hearing loss by converting sound into electrical impulses delivered directly to the cochlea via a stimulator.

Somatosensory Homunculus

A topological map of the body within the sensory cortex used to represent how different body parts are processed.

Proprioception

A cognitive awareness of body position and balance in space, primarily informed by muscle stretch sensors.

Kinaesthesia

The behavioral sense of body movement, which excludes the sense of balance.

TrypV1 Receptor

A receptor sensitive to both heat and pain (capsaicin), associated with $A-\beta$ (fast/thick), $A-\delta$ (medium), and $C$ (slow/lingering) fiber types.

Pheromones

Chemical signals released by one member of a species that trigger an innate response in another, such as mating or communication.

Circadian Rhythms

Regular $24$-hour body rhythms regulated by melatonin from the pineal gland, primarily cued by daylight.

Sleep Stages and Brainwaves

The cycle of consciousness: Beta ($13 \times 30\,Hz$/awake), Alpha ($8 \times 13\,Hz$/relaxed), Theta ($7\,Hz$/$N1$ and $N2$), and Delta ($0.5 \times 3\,Hz$/$N3$ deep sleep).

Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis

A dream theory suggesting that the brainstem provides random neural activation and the cortex synthesizes this into a meaningful narrative.

Reward Pathway

The mesolimbic pathway where the ventral tegmental area ($VTA$) releases dopamine to the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus.

Broadbent's Early Selection Theory

An attention model where a selective filter immediately blocks unattended information before any meaning is assigned.

Treisman's Attenuation Theory

An attention model where an attenuator weakens, rather than eliminates, unattended input, allowing for concepts like the cocktail party effect.

Long Term Potentiation ($LTP$)

The strengthening of a synapse between pre- and post-synaptic neurons following repeated stimulation, representing the cellular basis of learning.

Interference

A memory phenomenon where learning interferes with recall: retroactive (new impairs old) or proactive (old impairs new).

Korsakoff's Syndrome

A condition caused by thiamine ($B1$) deficiency, often linked to alcoholism, characterized by severe memory loss and confabulation.

Piaget's Stages of Development

The four stages of cognition: Sensorimotor ($0 \times 2$ years), Preoperational ($2 \times 7$ years), Concrete Operational ($7 \times 11$ years), and Formal Operational ($12+$ years).

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts used in problem solving, such as availability (using memorable examples) and representativeness (matching a prototype).

Aphasia Types

Broca's aphasia (impaired speech production), Wernicke's aphasia (meaningless speech/impaired comprehension), and conduction aphasia (damaged arcuate fasciculus).

Limbic System

The 'Hippo wearing a HAT': Hypothalamus, Amygdala, Thalamus, and Hippocampus, responsible for emotion and memory.

Theories of Emotion

James-Lange (physiology causes emotion), Cannon-Bard (simultaneous), Schachter-Singer (physiology plus cognitive label), and Lazarus (cognitive appraisal).

General Adaptation Syndrome ($GAS$)

Hans Selye's three stages of stress response: Alarm, Resistance (high cortisol), and Exhaustion (recovery or illness).

Lower Motor Neuron ($LMN$) Signs

Physical indicators of $LMN$ damage, including atrophy, fasciculations, hypotonia, and hyporeflexia.

Upper Motor Neuron ($UMN$) Signs

Physical indicators of $UMN$ damage, including hyperreflexia, clonus, hypertonia, and the extensor plantar response.

Heritability

The proportion of trait variability in a population that is due to genetic differences, which increases when environment is held constant.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A five-level pyramid of human needs: Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Self-esteem, and Self-actualization.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

The theory that discomfort arises from conflicting cognitions, which individuals resolve by modifying, trivializing, or adding cognitions.

Big 5 Personality Traits (OCEAN)

A trait theory model including Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Schizophrenia (Biological Basis)

A disorder linked to increased dopamine activity in the mesocorticolimbic pathway and decreased cortical size.

Parkinson's Disease (Biological Basis)

A motor disorder caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the presence of Lewy bodies containing $\alpha$-synuclein.

Asch Conformity Studies

Experiments showing that $75\,\%$ of participants conformed to a wrong group answer at least once due to normative or informational social influence.

Milgram Experiment

A study on obedience where $65\,\%$ of participants delivered the maximum electric shock to a learner when ordered by an authority figure.

Bystander Effect

The finding that individuals are less likely to help a victim when others are present due to the diffusion of responsibility.

Social Norm Types

Folkways (mild manners), Mores (moral norms), Laws (formal consequences), and Taboos (extreme wrongs/severe punishment).

Classical Conditioning

A learning process where a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Patterns governing reward delivery: Fixed-Ratio, Fixed-Interval, Variable-Ratio (highest resistance to extinction), and Variable-Interval.

Erikson's Psychosocial Development

An $8$-stage model where each stage consists of a crisis and a resulting virtue, such as Trust vs. Mistrust.

Kohlberg Moral Development

A model of moral reasoning stages: Pre-conventional (obedience), Conventional (law and order), and Post-conventional (universal ethics).

Looking Glass Self

Charles Cooley's concept that a person's self-identity is shaped by how they imagine others perceive them.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize internal/dispositional factors and underestimate external/situational factors when judging the behavior of others.

Harlow Monkey Experiments

Studies demonstrating that baby monkeys prefer a soft cloth 'mother' over a wire mother with food, highlighting the importance of contact comfort.

Role Strain vs. Role Conflict

Role strain involves tension within a single status; role conflict involves a clash between two different statuses.

Functionalism

A macrosociological theory by Durkheim that views society as a system seeking equilibrium through interdependent institutions and social facts.

Conflict Theory

A macrosociological theory by Marx focusing on the struggle between the bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (workers) over power and resources.

Symbolic Interactionism

A micro-level theory by Mead and Blumer stating that individuals act based on the meanings they assign to things, which are social constructs.

Demographic Transition Model

A $5$-stage model describing the shift from high birth/death rates to low birth/death rates as a country industrializes.

Absolute vs. Relative Poverty

Absolute poverty is a lack of resources for basic survival ($\approx \$1-2$ per day); relative poverty is income below a percentage (e.g., $60\,\%$) of the median.

Social Reproduction

The transmission of social inequality across generations through financial, social, and cultural capital.

Intersectionality

Kimberlé Crenshaw's concept describing how multiple overlapping identities (race, gender, class) compound to create unique disadvantages.

Statistical Tests

Chi-square (categorical differences), T-test (comparing means of $2$ groups), and ANOVA (comparing means of $3+$ groups).

Validity Types

Internal validity (causal certainty), external validity (generalizability), and construct validity (measuring the intended concept).