Study Guide Exam 2

Misinformation

________ effect: Corruption of a memory by misleading information.

Serial position

________ effect: Tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Biology

________ affects gender differences in life priorities, in risk- taking, and in math reasoning and spatial skills.

Acquisition

________: When one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response (Initial Stage) b.

Rods

________: Sensitive to faint light b. Cones: Sensitive to detail and color.

Perception

________: Brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful c. Transduction: Conversion of one form of energy into another (sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret)

Retroactive

________ (backward- acting) interference New learning disrupts recall of older information.

Emotions

________ trigger stress hormones which provoke the amygdala to initiate a memory trace i. Flashbulb Memories: Clear memories of emotionally significant moments /events.

Classical conditioning

________: A set of procedures used to investigate how organisms learn about the signaling properties of events i. Unconditioned stimulus: A stimulus that unconditionally- naturally or automatically triggers a response (food) ii.

Extinction

________: Diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus c. Spontaneous recovery: Reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response d. Generalization: Tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli like the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses e. Discrimination: Learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli.

new situations

Define intelligence (g): Ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to ________.

Confirmation Bias

________: Leads us to seek evidence for our ideas more eagerly than against them b. Fixation: Inability to adopt to a fresh perspective.

Reliability

________ (split- half, test- retest, correlation coefficients) a. Split- half ________: Agreement of odd- question scores and even- question scores b. Test- retest ________: Test with alternative forms of the test, or retest with the same test c. Correlation Coefficients: The higher the correlation between the two scores, the high the tests ________.

separate strengths

Tests ________; yields overall intelligence score and separate scores for verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed.

Automatic

________: Unconscious encoding of incidental information (implicit); involves retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations b. Effortful: Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort (explicit memory); Is memory based on facts and experiments that one can consciously know and ‘ declare.

Deep Processing

________: Encodes semantically, based on the words meaning.

Absolute Threshold

________: Involves the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 % of the time i. Subliminal: Input below the ________ for conscious awareness ii.

State dependency

________: Tend to remember information better if one is in the same psychological state or mood as when the information was encoded.

Storage decay

________: Poor durability of stored memories leads to their decay c. Retrieval failure: Not remembering something one is certain of knowing i. Proactive (forward- acting) interference: Prior learning disrupts recall of new information ii.

Representative Heuristic

________: Estimating likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular stereotypes (Suit & tie means lawyer) b.

Positive Punishment

________: Presents a negative consequence after an undesired behavior is exhibited, making behavior less likely to happen in the future c. Negative Punishment: Removes a desired stimulus after a particular undesired behavior is exhibited, resulting in reducing that behavior in the future.

Low Intelligence

________: Score below 70; apparent before age of 18 and sometimes with a known cause.

Negative reinforcement

________: Increases behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli i. Fasten seatbelt to stop beeping.

Availability Heuristic

________: Estimating likelihood of events based on their availability in memory (Plane crashes make people afraid of flying)

Memory

________: Persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Size Constancy

________: Perceiving objects as having constant size even when distance from them varies.

Sensation

Sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment b

Priming

Activating, often unconsciously, associations in our mind b

Difference Threshold

The minimum difference that a person can detect between any two stimuli half the time

Webers Law

For an average person to perceive a difference, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage

Define perceptual set and its effects on perception a. Perceptual Set

Mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another b. Preexisting schemas influence top-down processing of ambiguous sensation interpretation, including gender stereotypes

Depth Perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional

Shape Constancy

Perceiving the form of familiar objects as constant even when our retinas receive changing images of them b

Size Constancy

Perceiving objects as having constant size even when distance from them varies

Pitch Theory

Links the pitch heard with the place where the cochleas membrane is stimulated (high pitches) b

Frequency Theory (Temporal Theory)

The rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling its pitch to be sensed (low pitches)

Unconditioned response

The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (salivation in response to food) iii

Conditioned stimulus

Previously neutral stimulus (bell) that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response iv

Conditioned response

Learned response to a previously neutral stimulus (salivation in response to a bell)

Acquisition

When one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response (Initial Stage) b

Define operant conditioning a. Operant Conditioning

Behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli

Positive reinforcement

Increases behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers i

Negative reinforcement

Increases behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli i. Fasten seatbelt to stop beeping

Punishment

Administers an undesirable consequence or withdraws something desirable to decrease the frequency of a behavior b

Continuous Reinforcement Schedule

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs (faster acquisition, faster extinction) ii

Partial (intermittent) Reinforcement Schedule

Reinforcing a response only part of the time (slower acquisition, greater resistance to extinction) b

Variable-interval schedule

Reinforcing a response at unpredictable time intervals

Memory

Persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

Three basic processes involved in memory (encoding, storage, retrieval) a. Encoding

How information gets into memory storage b

Short-term memory

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the 7 digits of a phone number while calling, before the information stored is forgotten iii

Long-term memory

The permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

Echoic Memory

Sound memory of auditory stimuli; can be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

Spacing effect, testing effect a. Spacing Effect

Encoding is more effective when it is spread overtime b

Testing Effect

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

Shallow Processing

Encodes on a basic level (a words letters) or on a more intermediate level (a words sound) b

Deep Processing

Encodes semantically, based on the words meaning

Emotions trigger stress hormones which provoke the amygdala to initiate a memory trace i. Flashbulb Memories

Clear memories of emotionally significant moments/events

Priming

Associations activated without our awareness (memoryless memory)

Context dependency

People remember better when they attempt to recall information in the same context in which they learned it b

State dependency

Tend to remember information better if one is in the same psychological state or mood as when the information was encoded

Mood congruent memory

Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with ones current good or bad mood (seeing someone in a bad mood may interpret it as them glaring)

Serial position effect

Tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Misinformation effect

Corruption of a memory by misleading information

Representative Heuristic

Estimating likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular stereotypes (Suit & tie means lawyer) b

Availability Heuristic

Estimating likelihood of events based on their availability in memory (Plane crashes make people afraid of flying)

Receptive Language

Recognition of differences in speech sounds b

Define intelligence (g)

Ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

CHC theory a. Cattel-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Intelligence Theory

Bridges the gap between Gf and Gc; Recognizes that intelligence compromises many abilities, but that these specific abilities exist under a broader umbrella of general intelligence

Emotional intelligence

Critical part of social intelligence (made up of 4 abilities) a

Intelligence Tests

Assess mental aptitudes and compare them with those of others, using numerical scores b

Standardization, norms

Establishing norms for comparing the scores of people who will take the test tin the future

Validity (content, predictive) a. Validity

The extent to which the test measures or predicts what it promises b

Low Intelligence

Score below 70; apparent before age of 18 and sometimes with a known cause