Psychology Cram Packet Review

A vocabulary-based flashcard set covering research design, biological bases of behavior, cognition, development, learning, social psychology, personality, and mental health based on the Cram Packet notes.

Hypothesis

A tentative explanation that must be FALSIFIABLE, meaning it is able to be supported or rejected.

Operational Definition

A clear, precise, quantifiable definition of variables that allows for replication and the collection of reliable data.

Qualitative data

Descriptive data, such as eye color.

Quantitative data

Numerical data which is IDEAL and necessary for statistics.

Population

Everyone the research could apply to.

Sample

The people (or person) specifically chosen for a study.

Correlation

A research design used to identify the relationship between two variables; it does not equal causation due to directionality and 3rd variable problems.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable purposefully altered by the researcher to look for an effect.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The measured variable that is dependent on the independent variable.

Confound

A confounding variable; an error or flaw in a study that is accidentally introduced.

Random Assignment

The process of assigning participants to control or experimental groups at random to increase the chance of equal representation and allow for cause/effect statements.

Naturalistic Observation

Observing people in their natural settings; provides real-world validity but lacks cause and effect.

Case Study

A study of one person (usually) in great detail to collect a lot of information.

Meta-analysis

A study that combines multiple studies to increase sample size and examine effect sizes.

Mean

The average of a data set, used in normal distributions.

Median

The middle number in a data set, used in skewed distributions.

Standard deviation

The average amount the scores are spread from the mean; a bigger number indicates more spread.

Statistical Significance

Indicated by p < .05; means results are not due to chance and experimental manipulation caused the difference in means.

Informed Consent

An ethical guideline where a participant must agree to be part of a study.

Debriefing

The process of telling participants the true purpose of the study after it is completed, especially if deception was used.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Consists of the brain and the spinal cord.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Part of the Autonomic NS that controls fight/flight responses and generally activates the body (except for digestion).

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Part of the Autonomic NS that controls rest/digest processes and generally inhibits the body (except for digestion).

Action Potential (AP)

An electrical charge that travels down the axon when ions move across the membrane.

Resting potential

The state in which a neuron maintains a $-70 ext{mv}$ charge when not active.

All or nothing principle

The principle that a stimulus must trigger the action potential past its threshold, and it does not increase the intensity or speed of the response.

GABA

The major inhibitory neurotransmitter.

Glutamate

The major excitatory neurotransmitter.

Acetylcholine (ACh)

A neurotransmitter involved in memory and movement; found in the hippocampus and associated with Alzheimer’s.

Agonist

A drug that mimics a neurotransmitter.

Antagonist

A drug that blocks a neurotransmitter.

Cerebellum

Brain part responsible for movement, balance, coordination, and procedural memory.

Hippocampus

Part of the limbic system responsible for episodic and semantic memory.

Corpus Callosum

A bundle of nerves that connects the two brain hemispheres.

Circadian Rhythms

The $ext{24-hour}$ biological clock of body temperature and sleep.

REM Sleep

Rapid Eye Movement sleep; characterized by dreaming, cognitive processing, and being paradoxical because the brain is active while the body is relaxed.

Absolute Threshold

The detection of a signal $ext{50}\%$ of the time.

Weber’s Law

The principle that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum proportion for the difference to be detectable.

Sensory Adaptation

Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation; sensory receptors respond less as they get tired.

Trichromatic Theory

The theory that there are three cones for receiving color: Blue (short waves), Green (medium waves), and Red (long waves).

Top-Down Processing

Processing that starts with the whole idea or prior expectations and moves to smaller parts.

Heuristics

A short cut strategy for problem solving, including representative and availability types.

Chunking

Breaking information into smaller units to aid in memory, such as a phone number.

Iconic Memory

Visual sensory memory that lasts $ext{0.3 seconds}$.

Echoic Memory

Auditory sensory memory that lasts $ext{2-3 seconds}$.

Short Term Memory (STM)

Memory that lasts about $ext{30 seconds}$ and can hold $7 ext{ ± } 2$ items.

Flynn Effect

The observation that IQ scores have steadily risen over the past $ext{80}$ years.

Teratogens

External agents such as alcohol or drugs that can cause abnormal prenatal development.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when removed from view; lacking in the early sensorimotor stage.

Conservation

The recognition that substances remain the same despite changes in shape, length, or position.

Phonemes

The smallest unit of sound in a language.

Morpheme

The smallest unit in a language that carries meaning.

Classical Conditioning

A type of learning that explains involuntary behaviors and emotions through the pairing of stimuli (UCS, UCR, CS, CR).

Pos. Reinforcement

Adding something nice to increase a behavior.

Neg. Reinforcement

Taking away something bad or annoying to increase a behavior.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to blame a person’s disposition (personality) and not consider the situation when explaining their behavior.

Cognitive dissonance

Discomfort caused by two opposing thoughts conflicting with each other, leading to justification.

Conformity

A change in a person’s behavior to more closely match a group.

Bystander effect

The phenomenon where the more people are around, the less likely someone is to help someone in need; also known as diffusion of responsibility.

Big Five Personality (OCEAN)

Personality traits consisting of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Self-efficacy

The belief that one can succeed; influences actions and self-concept.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that humans seek optimum levels of arousal; easier tasks require more arousal and harder tasks need less.

Diathesis-Stress Model

A model explaining that an individual has a genetic predisposition for a disorder, but it must be ‘turned-on’ by environmental stimuli like stress.

Schizophrenia

A disorder characterized by positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions) and negative symptoms (flat affect, catatonic stupor).

Systematic desensitization

A behavioral treatment that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli.