Psych Exam 1

Behaviorism

The study of only observable behavior shaped by our environment (hugs, kisses, smiles) a figure associated with this is Watson Skinner. Real world examples: exposure therapy

Structuralism

Breaking down experiences into basic parts - reporting the sweetness, texture, and bitterness of a piece of chocolate. Wundt, Tichener.

Functionalism

How mental processes help us adapt and survive (William James) Ex: asking what the purpose of eating an apple is to survive

Psychodynamic

Unconscious drives and childhood (overlapping of past and present). Sigmund, Freud

Social-cultural perspective

Influence of our culture and society (independence vs interdependence) ex. putting family first

Evolutionary perspective

Traits passed down for survival. ex) why do we fear snakes more than electric outlets?

Neuroscience/ Biological perspective

How the brain and body create emotions and memories.

Critical Thinking

Examining assumptions, assessing a source, and uncovering hidden values in claims

Scientific Skepticism

Demanding evidence, testing beliefs for reliability

Overconfidence

Thinking we know more than we do

Hindsight bias

Believing after learning an outcome that we could have predicted it

Perceiving patterns/order in random events

The cognitive tendency to seek order, structure, or meaningful connections in random sequences (e.g., seeing faces in clouds or assuming a coin-flip streak has a cause).

Case studies

Examining one group or individual in depth

Naturalistic Observation

Examining responses in people’s natural environments without interference

Surveys

A research technique used to collect self-reported attitudes, opinions, or behaviors of a specific population by questioning a representative, random sample. (Asking people questions)

Correlational research

Measure of which two factors vary together and how well these factors predict each other

Manipulated variables

Independent variables (experimental group)

Affected variables

Dependent variables (control group)

Random assignment

A procedure that places participants into groups by chance, ensuring each person has an equal likelihood of being in any condition

Why experiments can help researchers determine cause and effect

Experiments control variables and use random assignment, allowing researchers to isolate the effect of the independent variable and establish causal relationships

Why correlation does not necessarily establish causation

Correlation only shows that two variables are related; it cannot rule out third variables or coincidences

Operational definitions

Specific, measurable descriptions of how variables will be observed, manipulated, or measured in a study.

Replication

Repeating a study with new participants or in new settings to see whether the original findings hold.

Why replication is important to science

It confirms reliability, reduces the chance that results were due to error or coincidence, and strengthens scientific confidence in findings.

Neurons

A nerve cell that sends and receives information through electrical and chemical signals

Synapses

Junction between one neurons axon and another’s dendrite/cell body

Neurotransmitter

chemical messengers that pass from one neuron to another to send a signal across the synapse

Hormone

A chemical messenger released by endocrine glands into the bloodstream that affects organs and behavior over longer periods.

Frontal Lobes (directly behind your forehead)

Responsible for speaking and muscle movements, plus making plans and judgement. ____ lobe damage can alter personality, as it did in the famous case of railroad worker Phineas Gage causing him to be irritable (Studies of others with damaged ___ lobes reveal similar losses — they know right from wrong but often don’t care.)

Prefrontal cortex

Enables our forward thinking — our planning, judgment, social interactions, and processing of new memories. People with damage to this area may have high intelligence test scores and great cake-baking skills

Parietal Lobes (the rear of your head)

Receives sensory information for touch and body position. Example: If a stroke or head injury destroyed part of your ___ lobes, you might lose mathematical and spatial reasoning

Temporal lobes (sides of your head above each ear)

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes areas that receive information from the ears.

Occipital (back of your head)

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields

Motor cortex

The ____ cortex controls voluntary body movements. Stimulating one of its specific spots produces movement in the associated body part; damaging that spot produces corresponding paralysis.

Auditory cortex

If you have hearing, any sound you now hear is processed by your temporal lobes ____ cortex (just above your ears). Ex) If stimulated in your auditory cortex, you alone might hear a sound.

Left Hemisphere

The ___hemisphere is good at making quick, exact interpretations of language. Controls the right side of our bodies. Ex) A ___hemisphere stroke disrupts a deaf person’s signing, much as it disrupts a hearing person’s speaking.

Right Hemisphere

Involved with visual skills, artistic abilities, reasoned conclusions, inferences, and recognizing faces. Controls the left side of our bodies. Ex) If you performed a perceptual task like identifying a car on the road, a brain scan would show increased activity in your __ hemisphere

Contralateral control

Each hemisphere’s motor cortex controls voluntary movement on the opposite side of the body. Example) information from the left half of a person’s field of vision goes to their right hemisphere, and information from the right half of their visual field goes to their left hemisphere.

Amygdala

two almond-shaped neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion, fear, and threat perception. Example) In 1939, researchers surgically removed a rhesus monkeys ____, turning the normally ill-tempered animal into the mellowest of creature

Hippocampus

Linked to conscious memory

REM Sleep

rapid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body and brain systems are active.

N1 sleep

During this you may experience fantastic images resembling hallucinations. You may have a sensation of falling (when your body may suddenly jerk) or of floating weightlessly.

N2 sleep

After N1, you relax more deeply and begin about 20 minutes of __ sleep. The EEG will show bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity.

N3

After N2 you enter the deep sleep of ___. During this slow-wave sleep, which lasts for about 30 minutes, your brain emits large, slow delta waves. You would be hard to awaken

Delta wave sleep

large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

Alpha wave sleep/ slow wave

relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

General states of consciousness

meditating, daydreaming, sleeping, hypnosis, and drug-induced hallucinating.

Narcolepsy

a sleep disorder in which a person has uncontrollable sleep attacks, sometimes lapsing directly into REM sleep.

Sleep apnea

a sleep disorder in which a sleeping person repeatedly stops breathing until blood oxygen is so low the person awakens just long enough to draw a breath.

REM sleep behavior disorder

a sleep disorder in which normal REM muscle paralysis malfunctions, and people act out dreams while sleeping, through physical movements (such as kicking or striking out) and vocal behaviors (such as talking or yelling)

Manifest dream content (Freud)

the remembered storyline of a dream

Latent dream content (Freud)

the underlying meaning of a dream, such as unconscious drives and wishes that would be threatened if expressed directly.

Learning

relatively permanent change in behavior that is acquired through experience

Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)

a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Unconditioned response

in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth).

unconditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally — naturally and automatically — triggers a response (UR)

Neutral stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that evokes no response before conditioning

Conditioned response

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

Conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR). Example) stimulus that used to be neutral (in this case, a previously meaningless tone that now triggers drooling) is the ____.

Acquisition

in classical conditioning, the initial stage — when we link a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response.

Extinction

the weakening of a conditioned response — when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus

Spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of a weakened conditioned response. Example: extinction suppressing a conditioned response rather than eliminating it completely is called ___.

Generalization

to respond similarly to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus

Discrimination

learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus (which predicts the US) and other irrelevant stimuli.

Why is Pavlov’s research on classical conditioning important?

1. 1. Many other responses to many other stimuli can be classically conditioned in many other creatures (Many other responses to many other stimuli can be classically conditioned in many other creatures). 2. Pavlov showed us how a process such as learning can be studied objectively.

Operant Conditioning (B. F Skinner)

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more probable if followed by a reinforcer or less probable if followed by a punisher.

Positive reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting a pleasurable stimulus, such as food.

Negative reinforcement

strengthens a response by reducing or removing something undesirable or unpleasant. Ex) taking painkillers to end pain, fasten seat belt to end loud beeping

Positive punishment

Punishing by adding (administering) an unpleasant stimulus. Ex) The rat that is shocked after touching a forbidden object

Negative punishment

is punishing by subtracting (taking away) a rewarding stimulus. Ex) A child who has a favorite doll taken away after hitting the dog with it.

Fixed-ratio schedules

Reinforce behavior after a set number of responses. Ex) Coffee shops may reward us with a free coffee after every 10 purchased

Variable-ratio schedules

Provide reinforcers after an unpredictable number of responses. This unpredictable reinforcement is what slot-machine players experience or gambling.

Fixed-interval schedules

Reinforce a response after a fixed time period. Ex) People waiting for an important letter check more often as delivery time approaches.

Variable-interval schedules

reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals. Example) Longed-for message that finally rewards persistence in rechecking our phone,

Is reinforcement based on responses or time?

In general, response rates are higher when reinforcement is linked to the number of responses (a ratio schedule) rather than to time (an interval schedule).

Is reinforcement predictable or unpredictable?

Responding is more consistent when reinforcement is unpredictable (a variable schedule) than when it is predictable (a fixed schedule).

Cognitive maps

a mental image of the layout of one’s environment. Example) rats exploring a maze, given no obvious rewards, seem to develop a __.

Latent learning

Learning that is acquired without conscious effort or reinforcement and only revealed when it is needed. Example) Children may learn from watching or listening to a parent but demonstrate the learning much later, as needed.

Observational learning

___ is learning by observing others — also called social learning. A child who sees a sibling get burned on a hot stove learns not to touch it is an example of ____.

Model learning

We learn our native languages and other specific behaviors by observing and imitating others, a process called ___.

Memory processing

Encode - getting info from the brain, Store - retaining that info, Retrieval - later getting that info back out.

Sensory memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system. (visual, verbal, smell, taste, touch)

Short-term memory

briefly activated memory of a few items (such as digits of a phone number while calling) that is later stored or forgotten

Long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

Implicit memories (nondeclarative memories)

retention of learned skills, or classically conditioned associations, without conscious awareness. (Also called nondeclarative memory) formed through automatic processing

Automatic processing

unconscious encoding of everyday information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of familiar or well-learned information, such as sounds, smells, and word meanings (knowing how)

Explicit memory (declarative memories)

retention of facts and personal events we can consciously retrieve encoded through effortful processing. (knowing that)

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Semantic memories (Explicit)

Facts and general knowledge

Episodic memories (Explicit)

Experienced events

What kinds of information do we tend to encode automatically?

Implicit memories - because we react automatically and without conscious effort. Examples) space - encoding a place on a page where info occurred after reading it, time - your brain jotting down the sequence of your day’s events to recall where you have left something. frequency - recalling seeing someone multiple times throughout a day

What kind of memories require conscious effort?

Explicit memories - form new explicit memories of a fact or experience by using specific effortful processing strategies, such as chunking and mnemonics.

Spacing effect

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice. (distributed practicing)

Long-term potential

An increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. LTP is a neural basis for learning and memory

Context-Dependent memory

Putting yourself back in the context where you earlier experienced something can prime your memory retrieval. Our memories are ____-dependent and are affected by the cues we have associated with that context.

State-Dependent Memory

What we learn in one state — be it drunk or sober — may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state.

Mood-congruent memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with your current good or bad mood. Ex) Study found when teens were down, their parents seemed cruel. As moods brightened, those devil parents became angels.

Encoding failure

Much of what we sense we never notice, and what we fail to encode, we will never remember. Age can affect encoding ability.

Storage Decay

After encoding something well, we may later forget it. “You are already beginning to forget the material you just read.

Proactive Interference

Occurs when an older memory makes it more difficult to remember new information. Ex) If you buy a new combination lock, your well-rehearsed old combination may interfere with your retrieval of the new one