jr tucker terms pt2

Karen Horney

was a brilliant woman psychoanalyst who split with Freud as she disagreed with a number of Freud's basic ideas. First, she emphasized "social", not sexual, tensions as being critical for personality formation. She also countered Freud's assumptions that women have weak superegos and suffer "penis envy," and she attempted to balance the bias she detected in this masculine view of psychology. She stated "The view that women are infantile and emotional creatures, and as such, incapable of responsibility and independence is the work of the masculine tendency to lower women's self-respect." That's a bold statement for a woman in 1932! Taking on Freud takes guts.

Kinesthetics

is one of the senses people don't even realize they have. It's the sense of knowing where all your body parts are. Your brain is always in touch with where your arms, legs, joints, hands are and this sense of body position works with your vestibular system to keep you balanced and in alignment.

Lawrence Kohlberg

was an important American psychologist who pioneered the study of moral reason-ing. He developed his three basic levels of moral reasoning: Preconventional, Conventional and Post- conventional level. I'd look these up if I were you so you can distinguish the kinds of thinking between them.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

is a famous Swiss-American psychiatrist who pioneered the study of the terminally ill. Her book On Death and Dying developed the famous Five Stages of Dying: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. I'd look these up and be familiar with the kind of thinking representative of each.

L-dopa

is an interesting chemical. Unlike a lot of drugs, it can cross the brain-blood barrier and then it gets converted into dopamine in the brain. It has been used with some success in treating Parkinson's and other illnesses.

learning curve

was first developed by Pavlov to describe the processes of: Acquisition, Extinction, Relearning, Reextinction and Spontaneous Recovery. From this curve one can measure the amount of time and reinforcement needed to learn a skill and the extinction rate.

limbic system

is a very ancient but powerful system in the brain that plays an important role in survival behaviors (eating, mating, fighting) as well as memory. It includes structures such as: hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, hippocampus and pituitary gland.

Linear perspective

is created by converging lines in the distance. It's an important feature allowing us to perceive depth and size.

Linkage analysis

is a kind of statistical study to determine the role that genetics might play in a trait or illness, such as depression or schizophrenia.

Lithium

is a common mineral salt that is often prescribed for the treatment of bi-polar disorders. But it's a trick chemical, and one has to take the right dose, at the right time and under the right conditions.

(localization)

by the differential arrival time that sound waves hit one ear versus the other ear. The brain does the calculus and immediately tell us that the sound is coming from one direction or the other.

Long term potentiation

is the neurological term to describe the lining up of neurons and their firing in a certain pattern which forms the neural basis for how memories are formed. So, every time you really learn something new, what's really happening is that the little neural networks are learning to communicate with each other in a certain pattern, and the more you drill the behavior, the stronger the firing (potentiation) becomes. Thus, a well learned behavior has a corresponding very developed pattern of firing.

longitudinal study

is one that reflects the study of a group or an individual over a long period of time.

short-term memory.

It only lasts about 20 seconds before decaying and we can only store 7 plus or minus 2 items in it (5-9).

neurotransmitters

that play a very important role in human behavior would include: serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, epinephrine, norepinephrine. Do you know what they do? Do you know what mental illnesses are associated with their presence or absence?

Martin Seligman

is a famous American psychologist (Professor at Pennsylvania University) who is credited with, among other things, the development of the concept of "Learned Helplessness". Do you know what that is?

measures of central tendency

in statistics are the: mean (average), mode (most frequently occuring event) and the median (midpoint). These measures tend to tell us something about the "center" of a set of statistics. On a curve of normal distribution, they all fall on the same point.

Measures of variability

such as: range and standard deviation, tell us how the scores vary in relation to the mean. The range is the difference between the highest and lowest value and the standard deviation tells us where the scores "hang" in relation to the mean.

Sensory memory

only holds information for a split second, it's the lingering of an image on the retina. Short-term memory is good for about 20 seconds, and long-term memory might last a lifetime.

mental age

was developed by Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon developed this term which refers to the chronological age typical of a given performance. Or, what kinds of thinking should a typical 9 year boy be capable of? If his performance was above or below what he should be able to do for that age, he would excel or struggle doing schoolwork or the kinds of thinking expected of him for his age group.

mental set

is often used with the term "perceptual set". It refers to a collection of beliefs (schema) or predispositions based on prior experience that one might use to solve a problem or interpret a situation. It's sort of like a bias, or a way of interpreting things.

Metacognition

is a term that refers to our knowledge about cognition and an understanding of the ways in which we can control our thought processes. Or, our knowledge about the thinking processes.  Developing a plan of action, Maintaining/monitoring the plan and Evaluating the plan.

Method of loci

is a mnemonic system based on visual imagery involving a series of loci (places) that are firmly fixed in memory. To remember a list of words, you create a mental image for each of the words and "place" each image in one of your loci. Then to recall the list, you take a "walk" past your loci and see what images they contain.

Milieu/Community Therapy

can be defined as the type of treatment in which the patient's social environment is manipulated for his benefit. One type of this treatment is the therapeutic community, in which patients stay at a residence where they lead a highly structured life. All of their interactions and relationships are geared toward helping them get better. This approach can be used for substance abusers, or people with severe disorders that impair their ability to function in normal living. Milieu is the French word for "environment."

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

is the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes. It measures such things as the degree of depression, psychopathic deviancy, masculinity/femininity scale, paranoia, schizophrenia, social introversion and hypochondriasis. MMPI: This is the most researched and commonly used of all personality tests.  It is empirically-derived, which means that research is done to identify questions that clearly distinguish different groups.  It is a diagnostic tool for identifying emotional disorders.

Misinformation Effect-

a term used to describe the phenomenon which occurs when exposure to new information (including one's own thoughts) after witnessing an event can lead people to believe that they have seen or experienced something they never did.

177\.Modeling-

adopting the behavior of a person or reference group. This is one component of observational learning.  People can bring behavior change by modeling a desired behavior.

178\.Monocular vs binocular depth

One can see or perceive more depth with binocular because one is using both eyes.

179\.Motion Aftereffect-

Motion aftereffects have the paradoxical quality that allows you to see motion where there is no motion.

180\.Motion Parallax-

Motion parallax is a depth cue that results from our motion.  As we move, objects that are closer to us move farther across our field of view than do objects that are in the distance.

Myelin sheath:

Layer of fatty tissue that sometimes surrounds the axon fibers of a neuron, which increases the speed of neural messages

Narcissism:

This term refers to an inflated but defensive sense of self-importance; a narcissist tends to ONLY view events in terms of how they influence him/her or how they make him/her look without regard for others.  Narcissists are extremely sensitive to criticism or PERCEIVED disapproval from others.

Nature versus nurture controversy:

This is a key debate in psychology related to the degree to which a person’s thoughts, feelings and actions are the result of one’s heredity and biology (NATURE) or one’s environment (NURTURE).

nervous system

central and peripheral systems

nerves consist of

dendrite, axon, cell body

neurotransmitters

Ach (acetylcholine), dopamine & serotonin.

babies are born with

the sucking reflex, the grasping reflex, the startle reflex and the Babinsky response rooting reflex

Next-in-line-effect:

When group members introduce each other, people generally experience encoding failure for the information presented just before them, so their recall is very poor for this information.

Normative social influence:

Conforming to a standard based on one’s desire to gain social approval and acceptance.

Norm:

A standard of behavior expected in a given culture or society.  (For ex: Being relatively quiet in an elevator.)

Novelty Preference

is a measure of his or her preference for the novel stimulus.

180\.Motion Parallax-

Motion parallax is a depth cue that results from our motion.  As we move, objects that are closer to us move farther across our field of view than do objects that are in the distance.

Novelty Preference

is a measure of his or her preference for the novel stimulus.

Obesity

Obesity is an excess of body fat. Most everything concerning weight management, weight loss or weight control  is related to the hypothalamus.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

A mental disorder characterized by obsessions- recurrent thoughts, images or impulses that recur or persist despite efforts to suppress them and compulsions, repetitive; purposeful acts performed according to certain roles or in a ritualized manner.

occipital lobe-

rearmost region of the brain, contains primary visual cortex.

Oedipal Conflict-

boys are subconsiously jealous of their fathers

196\.One-Eye Problem-

You wouldn't be able to see or perceive depth.

197\.Operationalizing

a definition- helps set up a way to measure something that you otherwise can't measure directly.

Opponent-process theory

of emotions- states that when one emotion is experienced, the other is suppressed. For example, if you are frightened by a mean dog, the emotion of fear is expressed and relief is suppressed.

Opponent-process theory

of visual processing(after images)- the theory that all color experiences arise from three systems, each of which includes two "opponent" elements(red vs.green, blue vs. yellow, black vs. white)

Optic disk-

the area where the optic nerve leaves each eye. It may be called the blind spot. It has no receptor cells at all.

Optic nerve-

ganglion cell that carry information from the eye toward the brain.  202. pancreas- organ that contains glands that produce hormones which regulate glucose metabolism

panic attacks-

begin with feelings of intense aprehension, fear, or terror. Physical  symptoms accompanying are anxiety (rapid heart rate), dizziness, faintness, or  sensations of choking or smothering. They are unexpected.

paradoxical sleep

it was originally called paradoxical sleep because the  EEG patterns during REM sleep greatly resemble those when one is awake.

paresis

paresis is a disorder characterized primarily by impaired mental function caused by damage to the brain from untreated syphilis.

perceptual constancy-

perceptual constancy-

perceptual set-

temporary readiness to detect a particular stimulus in a given  situation.

personal space-

the space that one needs to feel comfortable.

perspectives in psychology-

7 major views on human nature are: biological; psychodynamic; behavioral; humanistic; cognitive; evolutionary; social-cultural

phenylketonuria (PKU)-

a gentic inborn metabolism that is detectable right after birth,  people diagnosed with PKU have a deficiency of an enzyme that is responsible for  processing essential amino acid phenylalanine

Phi Phenomenon-

the simplest form of apparent motion; i.e. lights in sequence appearing to be moving light.

Phoneme vs Morpheme-

Phonemes are minimal units of speech in any language that make a meaningful difference between production and reception “/r/ vs. /l/.”  Morphemes are the smallest distinct unit of grammar.  Bins = bin+s

Photoreceptors-

Cells in the retina receptive to light (rods and cones)

Piaget’s

stages of cognitive development-  ·Sensorimotor (0-2) limited inborn schemes, learns of “object permanence” ·Preoperational (2-7) Egocentricism, little symbolic thought ·Concrete Operations (7-11) Understanding of conservation, can reason with respect to physical objects ·Formal Operations (11+) Develops ability for abstract thought

Pineal Gland-

Located in the base of the brain; releases melatonin; deals with Circadian Rhythm

Pitch-

Sound quality of highness or lowness, dependent of frequency

Pituitary Gland-

Located in brain, secretes Human Growth Hormone; regulates other hormonal secretions

Plasticity- 

 Variability in learning; the brain's ability to adapt once damaged

Positive reinforcement-

A behavior followed by a pleasant (desired) stimulus, increasing probability of that behavior in the future

Posttraumatic stress disorder-

an anxiety disorder characterized by chronic reexperiencing of traumatic events though dreams, hallucinations, etc.  Develops in response to rapes and similarly serious experiences.

Premack Principle:

The Premack principle suggests that a more probable activity can be used to reinforce a less probable one.  In his initial research, Premack found that water-deprived rats learned to increase their running in an exercise wheel when their running was followed by an opportunity to drink.  Conversely, exercise-deprived rats learned to increase their drinking when that response was followed by a chance to run.  Thus, the reinforcer may be any event or activity valued by the organism.

Primacy effect:

This theory states that when given a list of items or phrases a person is more likely to show improved memory for items at the beginning of the list.

Projective Tests:

TAT and Rorschach: Standardized personality tests; Rorschach is a test made up of inkblots on a few index cards and is given for someone to evaluate what they perceive the inkblot to be and why they see it as that.  TAT, Thematic Apperception Test, a person is shown a picture and is asked to generate an in detail story about the picture from how it all started to how they perceive it to end and all the emotions in between.

Prosocial Behavior:

A behavior in which is carried out with the goal or intention of helping another person.  Reciprocal altruism for example, is when someone carries out a behavior with the benefit of another person because they believe that person will do the same for them.

Proximity:

a Gestalt principle stating that a person generally perceives objects (or people) that are physically close as being part of the same group.  In social psychology, this physical closeness (living in the same neighborhood, for example, or being in the same class or classes) is a factor strongly correlated with friendship, as we <span>tend</span> to befriend those (physically) close to us whom we encounter regularly.

Prototype:

A “classical” example of an object used to help with categorization; when trying to determine a classification for an object or animal, for example, you compare one item to others in that category (ie, when deciding if a penguin is a bird, your “classic” example or prototype of a bird might be a robin, against which you would compare the penguin)

Punishment:

an action delivered by a punisher in consequence to an act carried out by the punished.  Punishment may be both positive and negative.  It may be used to show the difference in good and bad and to put a stop in bad behavior, but it also allow the punished to find loop holes where they can continue there behavior and also not suffer.

Rational Emotive Therapy:

A comprehensive system of personality change based on changing irrational beliefs that cause undesirable, highly charged emotional reactions such as severe anxiety.

Reality Principle:

a principle governing one’s ego which puts reasonable choices before pleasurable demands.

Recessive vs. Dominant genes:

genes are the biological units of heredity: discrete sections of chromosomes responsible for transmissions of traits.  Recessive and dominant genes are the genes that determine which traits will physically appear.  For example if a person has the genes for both blue and brown eyes the more dominant gene will physically appear which is usually brown, but they will always have the possibility of giving the recessive gene of blue eyes onto their own children.

Reflex arc-

somatic reflex arc is one in which there is the simplest possible arrangement of elements to permit a response to stimuli, and in which the final element in the chain is skeletal muscle.  One must view the sensory stimulus, central connections and motor responses not as separate and complete entities in themselves, but as divisions of labor, or function factors, within the single concrete whole.

Reliability-

The degree to which a test produces similar scores each time it is used.          Validity- The extent to which a test measures what it was intended to measure.

REM sleep-

Sleep during which the sleeper is likely to be experiencing dreamlike mental activity.

Repression-

Unconsciously pushing out or barring from awareness unwanted memories.

Reticular formation-

The region of the brain stem that alerts the cerebral cortex to incoming sensory signals and is responsible for maintaining consciousness and awakening from sleep.

Retinal disparity-

The displacement between the horizontal positions of corresponding images in the two eyes.

Robert Rescorla’s findings-

CS reliably precedes UCS.  Because it does, the CS predicts the UCS.  During conditioning the brain learns to expect that the UCS will follow the CS.  As a result, the brain prepares the body to respond to the UCS.

Rods and cones-

Photoreceptors.  Rods are in the periphery of the retina (cones in the center).  Rods are active in dim light, cones in normal light.  We have 120 million thin rods and 7 million fat cones.

Rooting reflex-

The neonatal reflex elicited by a light touch to the cheek causing the infant to turn toward the object and attempt to nurse.

sample-

A subset of a population selected as participants in an experiment.

Scatterplot:

Most often used to plot correlations.

Schedules of reinforcement:

In operant conditioning, the patterns of delivering and withholding reinforcement. There are five types of schedules: fixed-ratio schedule. variable-ratio schedule, fixed-interval schedule, and variable-interval schedule.  Responses acquired under schedules of partial reinforcement are more resistant to extinction that those acquired with continuous reinforcment.

Schema:

General conceptual frameworks, or clusters of knowledge regarding objects, people, and situations; knowledge packages that encode generalizations about the structure of the environment.

Schizophrenia:

Severe form of psychopathology characterized by the breakdown of integrated personality functioning, withdrawal from reality, emotional distortions, and disturbed through process.

Selective attention:

To select some part of the sensory input for further, and more in-depth processing.

Self-efficacy:

The set of beliefs that one can perform adequately in a particular situation.

Self-fulfilling prophecy:

A prediction made about some future behavior or event that modifies interactions so as to produce what is expected.

Self-serving bias:

A class of attributional biases in which people tend to take credit for their successes and deny responsibility for their failures.

Semantic memory:

Generic, categorical memories, such as the meanings of words and concepts.