Psychology test 2

Developmental psychology

study of how humans change over lifespan from conception to death

three domains of developmental changes

physical, socio-emotional, cognitive

Prenatal stages

germinal, embryonic, fetal

germinal period

conception - 2 weeks; division of zygote and implantation in the uterine wall

embryonic period

3-8 weeks; brain, spine, major organs and bodily structures form in embryo

fetal period

9 weeks-birth; brain continues to develop, bodily structures refined, fetus grows in length and weight

teratogens

environmental substances that can harm pre-natal development

types of teratogens

alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, recreational drugs, rubella, syphilis, radiation, mercury

effects of teratogens

micro/macrocephaly (brain development, hydrocephalus, heart defect, vascular disruption, mandibular/ear abnormalities, spina bifida (neural tube defects), limb defects

cephalocaudal development

top-down growth

proximodistal development

growth occurs from center of body

inborn motor reflexes

basic automatic responses to stimuli that aid survival (rooting, sucking, grasping)

sensory development

infants get information from world by seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching

taste at birth

prefer sweet tastes

hearing at birth

infants hear well at birth

vision

poor vision at birth - black and white

maturation

physical development of the brain and body that prepares and infant for voluntary movement

changes in brain during maturation

formation of synapses b/w neurons, synaptic connections refined over time to preserve most important connections

early attachment

fundamental need to form strong connection with caretakers

harry harlow monkey experiment

attachment bond form when caretakers provide comfort over physical needs

Mary Ainsworth attachment styles

secure attachment, avoidant attachment, ambivalent attachment

secure attachment

infant confident enough to play in unfamiliar environment if caregiver present; infants readily comforted by caregiver in times of distress

insecure attachment: avoidant attachment

infants somewhat willing to explore unfamiliar environment but with little interest in caregiver

insecure attachment: ambivalent attachment

infants unwilling to explore unfamiliar environment with mixed feelings about the caregiver

theory of mind

capacity to understand that other people have minds and intentions; as children acquire this, they develop the ability to think more sophisticatedly

piaget theory of cognitive development

the way children think changes as they form new schemas of how the world works

assimilation

process used to incorporate new info into existing frameworks for knowledge

accomodation

Process used to create new frameworks for knowledge

or to drastically alter existing ones to incorporate new

information that otherwise would not fit

sensorimotor stage

(birth-2) acquisition of info thru senses and motor skills

- object permanence

preoperational stage

(2-7 yr) reasoning based on intuition and superficial appearanes rather than logic

concrete operational stage

(7-12) begin to think about and understand logical operations and no longer fooled by appearances

formal operational stage

(12-adulthood) think abstractly, able to formulate and test hypotheses through logic

Piaget's theory now

cognitive development understood in trends rather than stages

Language

0-60000 words - system in which sounds and symbols are used according to grammatical rules

babbling

intentional vocalization, often by infant with no specific meaning

telegraphic speech

rudimentary sentences with missing words and grammatical mistakes but follow logical syntax and meaning

over-regularization

incorrect use of regular syntax rule where exception to rule should be used

Cognitive Psychology

scientific study of mind and mental function, including learning, memory, attention, perception, reasoning, language, conceptual development, and decision-making

learning

process of acquiring through experience, new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Non-associative learning

learning about stimulus (info in the external world)

habituation

lengthy or repeated exposure to a stimulus which eventually leads to a decreased individual response

sensitization

lengthy or repeated exposure to a stimulus which eventually leads to an increased individual response

classical conditioning (associative learning)

Pavlovian conditioning - a form of learning in which reflex responses are associated with new stimuli (based on what happens before the response)

unconditioned stimulus (US)

reliably triggers response (unconditioned response)

neutral stimulus (NS)

triggers no response (before conditioning occurs)

state of acquisition

achieved when US paired with NS leading to unconditioned response - repeated many times until association between stimulus is made

After-conditioning phase

old neutral stimulus is now conditioned stimulus because it elicits conditioned response

John B. Watson "Little Albert" experiment (1920)

conditioned a 9-month old baby to associate rats (CS) with loud noise (US) and fear them (CR)

Phobias can begin as result of...

conditioned emotional responses

Extinction

disappearance of conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus no longer follows the conditioned stimulus

spontaneous recovery

return of a learned response after apparent extinction

stimulus generalization

tendency to respond to stimuli similar to but not identical to conditioned stimulus

stimulus discrimination

ability to respond differently to various stimuli

Operant conditioning

behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

law of effect

probability of a response is altered by the effect it has

operant reinforcer

event that follows a response and increases its probability of occurring again

positive reinforcement

strengthens responses by presenting a rewarding stimulus after desired event

negative reinforcement

strengthens the response by removing unpleasant stimulus after desired event

primary reinforcers

innately reinforcing stimulus such as one that satisfies biological need

secondary or conditioned reinforcers

stimulus that gains reinforcing power via association with a primary reinforcer

reinforcement schedule

pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

continuous reinforcement

the desired response is reinforced every time it occurs

partial reinforcement

responses are sometimes but not always reinforced

partial reinforcement effect

operant responses reinforced on partial schedules are more resistant to extinction

punisher

event that follows a response and decreases its probability of occurring again

positive punishment

decreases responses by presenting an aversive stimulus after an undesired event

negative punishment

decreases the response by removing a desirable or pleasant stimulus after an undesired event

observational learning

acquisition or modification of a behavior after exposure to at least one performance of that behavior

modeling

the imitation of behavior thru observational learning

vicarious conditioning

learning the consequences of an action by watching others being rewarded or punished for performing the action

decision making

attempting to select the best alternative among several options

bounded rationality

the idea that in decision-making, rationality of individuals is limited by the info they have, the cognitive limitations of their minds, and the finite amount of time they have

heuristics

shortcut used to reduce the amount of thinking needed to make decisions

availability heuristic

tendency to make a decision based on information that comes most easily to mind

representative heuristic

tendency to place people or objects in a category if they are similar to the concept that is the prototype

bias

systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgement whereby inferences about others and situations may be drawn in an illogical fashion

framing

how information is presented affects how that information is perceived and influences decisions

the paradox of choice

when too many options available especially when all are attractive, we experience conflict, indecision, and a form of cognitive paralysis

memory

learning that has been kept over time; information which has been stored and that can be recalled

memorization

process in which information is encoded, stored, and retreived

encoding

processing of info to allow its storage (transformation into neural code usable by brain)

storage

retention of encoded representations over time

retrieval

act of recalling or remembering information that has been stored when needed

filter theory

explains how we selectively attend to the most important info

change blindness

failure to identify significant visual changes in environment

sensory memory

< 1-4-5 sec, large capacity

short-term memory

retains limited amount of info for brief period of time (encoding visual and semantic, primarily auditorily)

long-term memory

long time, perhaps permanently - in-depth encoding of information

working memory

processing system which permits to maintain information in short-term storage by actively manipulating it and rendering it available for current use

chunking

using working memory to organize information into meaningful units to facilitate retrieval

maintenance rehearsal

shallow encoding by using working-memory processes that repeat auditory information

elaborative rehearsal

in-depth encoding and long-term storage by using working-memory processes to think about how new information relates to ourselves/prior knowledge (semantic info)

consolidation of memories

process through which immediate memories turn into enduring memories through long-term storage

Reconsolidation of Memories

memories need to be consolidated again for long-term storage but possibly affected by new circumstances

retrieval cue

facilitates the recovering of info stored in long-term storage

encoding specificity principle

cues present during encoding will facilitate the access to memories when present during retrieval attempt

context-dependent memory

congruence between environment when encoding and retrieving

state-dependent memory

congruence b/w physiological states when encoding and retrieving

mood-dependent memory effects

easier retrieval when same mood when encoding and retrieving

mood-congruence effect

easier retrieval when similar mood when encoding and retrieving