Learning, Cognition, Memory, and Motivation

A set of 50 comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing key psychology concepts across learning, conditioning, cognitive development, memory, motivation, and emotion.

Learning

A permanent change in behavior or knowledge due to experience.

Extinction

When a learned behavior decreases or disappears because reinforcement stops.

Taste Aversion

An evolutionary adaptation that helps organisms avoid foods that make them sick.

Adaptation

An evolutionary process that helps organisms adjust to their environment and survive.

Negative Reinforcement

Removing something unpleasant to increase a behavior (e.g., buckling your seatbelt to stop the annoying beeping).

Shaping

Teaching a behavior by rewarding small steps toward the desired behavior (e.g., rewarding a dog for sitting, then gradually teaching it to roll over).

Primary Reinforcers

Things that naturally satisfy basic needs, like food, water, and sleep.

Continuous Reinforcement

Rewarding a behavior every single time it happens (e.g., giving a dog a treat every time it sits correctly).

Fixed Interval

A reinforcement schedule where a reward becomes available after a set amount of time (e.g., getting paid every two weeks).

Cognitive Map

A mental picture of the layout of an area.

Social Learning Theory

The idea that people learn behaviors by watching and imitating others.

Cognition

Mental processes involved in thinking, learning, remembering, and problem-solving.

Natural Concept

A category formed through everyday experience rather than strict rules (e.g., knowing what a chair is even though chairs come in different shapes).

Indirect Experience

Learning through watching or hearing about someone else's experiences instead of experiencing something yourself (e.g., learning not to touch a hot stove after seeing someone else get burned).

Functional Fixedness

Being unable to see a new use for an object beyond its usual purpose (e.g., not realizing a cup could hold small items instead of just drinks).

Confirmation Bias

Paying more attention to information that supports what you already believe while ignoring information that disagrees.

Mental Set

The tendency to solve problems using methods that worked in the past, even when a better method exists.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe you knew something would happen after it has already happened, often referred to as 'I knew it all along' (e.g., saying, 'I knew we were going to lose,' after your team loses).

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

The ability to use logic, numbers, reasoning, and problem-solving.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to solve new problems and think logically without relying on previously learned knowledge.

Alfred Binet

A French psychologist who developed an early intelligence test to identify children who needed extra educational help.

Acoustic Encoding

Storing information based on how it sounds (e.g., remembering a song by its melody).

Sensory Memory

The very brief storage of information received through your senses.

Episodic Memory

Memory of personal experiences and events (e.g., remembering your last birthday).

Rehearsal

Repeating information over and over to help remember it (e.g., repeating vocabulary words before a test).

Damaged Hippocampus

Causes difficulty forming new long-term memories, especially memories of facts and events.

Suggestibility

The tendency for memories to be influenced by misleading information or suggestions from others, especially concerning eyewitness testimony.

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to form new long-term memories after an injury or brain damage.

Chunking

Grouping information into smaller, meaningful units to make it easier to remember (e.g., breaking a phone number into groups).

Distributed Practice

Studying information over several sessions with breaks in between instead of cramming all at once.

Cognitive Development

Changes in thinking, learning, memory, language, and problem-solving as a person grows.

Nature vs. Nurture

Nature refers to genetics and biological influences; nurture refers to environmental influences and experiences.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

A developmental framework proposed by Sigmund Freud.

Schemata

Mental frameworks that help us organize and understand information about the world.

Integrity vs. Despair

Erik Erikson's final stage of psychosocial development, occurring in late adulthood around age 65 and older.

Object Permanence

Understanding that objects still exist even when you cannot see or hear them.

Egocentrism

Difficulty seeing a situation from another person's point of view.

Secure Attachment

A bond where a child feels safe with their caregiver, uses them as a secure base to explore, and seeks comfort from them when upset.

Frontal Lobe Underdevelopment

The condition where the frontal lobe, especially the prefrontal cortex, is not fully developed until the mid-to-late 20s, affecting decision-making, impulse control, planning, and judgment.

Stages of Death and Dying

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's five stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance (note: individuals do not necessarily experience all stages or go through them in this exact order).

Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow's spectrum describing human needs, ranging from basic survival needs to self-actualization.

Motivation

The process that starts, directs, and maintains goal-oriented behavior.

Intrinsic Motivation

Doing something because you enjoy it or find it personally satisfying, rather than for a reward.

Extrinsic Motivation

Doing something to earn a reward or avoid punishment.

Self-Efficacy

Your belief in your ability to succeed at a specific task or reach a goal.

Drive Theory

The theory that biological needs create uncomfortable states of tension that motivate us to take action to restore balance (e.g., hunger motivates you to eat).

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder involving severe restriction of food intake, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted or disturbed perception of body weight or shape.

James-Lange Theory

The theory that emotions occur after we notice our body's physical reactions to a stimulus (e.g., you see a threat, your heart races, and you interpret that physical reaction as fear).

Emotion vs. Mood

Emotion is a relatively brief feeling involving physical responses and thoughts often triggered by a specific event, whereas mood is a longer-lasting feeling that may not have a clear cause.

Facial Feedback Theory

The theory that facial expressions can influence how we feel (e.g., smiling may help increase feelings of happiness).