Intro to Psychology Test 2

Learning

Relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge resulting from experience

Associative Learning

Organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment

Approaches to learning

Classical conditioning

Operant conditioning

Observational learning

Behaviorism

Approach to psych that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment and prior experience to determine behavior

Reflexes

Motor/neural reactions to a specific stimulus

Instincts

Behaviors triggered by a broader range of events

Classical Conditioning

Learning to associate stimuli, and to anticipate events

Before Conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus- reflective response (food)

Unconditioned response- unlearned reaction to stimulus (salvation in response to food)

During Conditioning

Neutral Stimulus

Stimulus that does not naturally elicit a response (ringing a bell)

Higher Order Conditioning

Established conditioned stimulus is paired with a new neutral stimulus, so that eventually the new stimulus also elicits the conditioned response, without initial conditioned stimulus being presented.

Acquisition

Initial learning period organisms learn to connect a neutral stim and an unconditioned stim

Extinction

Decrease the conditioned response when the UVS is no longer presented with the CR

Stim Discrimination

Organism learns to respond differently to various stimulus that may be similar

Stim generalization

Organism demonstrates the conditioned response to stimuli that is similar to the conditioned stimulus

Habituation

Learning not to respond to a stim that is presented repeatedly without change. As a stim is repeated, we learn not to focus our attention on it

Operant Conditioning

Organisms learn to associate behavior and its consequences

Positive

To add something

Negative

To take something away

Reinforcement

Increasing behavior

Punishment

Decreasing behavior

Positive Reinforcement

Something that is added to increase the likelihood of a behavior

Negative Reinforcement

Something is removed to increase the likelihood of a behavior

Positive Punishment

Something that is added to decrease the likelihood of a behavior

Negative punishment

Something is removed to decrease the likelihood of a behavior

Shaping Behavior

Rewarding only the target behavior, we reward successive approximations of a target behavior

Primary Reinforcers

Innate reinforcing qualities

Inherently desirable reinforcers

Not Learned

Secondary Reinforcers

No inherent value

The value is learnt

Continuous Reinforcement

When an organism receives a reward each time it displays a behavior

Quickest way to reinforce a behavior

Partial Reinforcement

The organism does not get rewarded every time they display the desired behavior

Reinforced intermittently

Fixed

Reinforcement is delivered at a predictable time intervals

Variable Intervals

Reinforcement is delivered at an unpredictable time interval

Fixed Ratio

Reinforcement is delivered after a predictable number of responses

Cognitive Map

A mental picture of the layout of an environment

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it

Social Learning Theory

People can learn without direct reinforcement or punishment

Cognitive factors as well as environmental factors

Observational Learning

Modeling

Learning by watching others and then imitating

Model

Individual performing the imitated behavior

Process of Modeling

Paying attention

Retaining modeled behavior

Reproducing the behavior

Being motivated to repeat the behavior

Applying Bandura to Teaching

·        Attentional phase

o   Paying attention to a model

·        Retention phase

o   Once attention is gained, the behavior is modeled

·        Reproduction

o   Students try to match the behavior in the models

·        Motivational phase

o   Students will imitate a model because they believe that doing so will increase their own chances of being reinforced

Meichenbaum Self-Regulated Learning Model

Self-monitoring and self-regulating plan

Cognitive behavior modification (CBM)

Highly individualized to match the learning needs of individual

Teaching skills via direct instruction and modeling self-talking technique

Cognitive Psychology

Cognition = Thinking

·        Language

·        Perception

·        Problem solving

·        Knowledge

Language

Using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit info from one individual to another

Components on language

Lexicon

Words of a given language

Grammar

Set of rules to convey meaning

Phoneme

Basic sound unit (ah, eh)

Morphemes

Smallest unit of language that conveys some meaning

Semantics

Meaning we derive from morphemes and words

Syntax

How words are organized

Noam Chomsky

Proposed that the mechanism underlying language acquisition are biologically determined

Critical Period

Proficiency at acquiring language is maximal early in life

Concepts

Categories of linguistic info, images, ideas, or memories

Natural Concepts

Created “naturally” either direct or indirect experience

Artificial Concepts

Defined by a specific set of characteristics

Prototype

Best example or representation

Schemes (schematics)

Mental structure of framework that’s formed by our experience, and once it’s formed, it’s going to influence all future experience that we ever have

Purposes

·        Label and categorize

·        Assign emotional value

·        Basic image

Schematic Network

Experience creates networks of neurons

Types of Schemata

·        Role schema

o   Make assumptions about how individuals in certain roles will behave

·        Event schema (cognitive script)

o   A set of routine or automatic behaviors

Problem Solving Strategies

·        Trial and Error

o   Continue trying different solutions until the problem is solved

·        Algorithm

o   Step by step problem solving formula

·        Heuristic

o   General problem-solving framework

§  Cognitive short cuts

§  A rule of thumb

·        Working Backwards

o   Begin solving a problem by focusing on the end result

§  Breaking large tasks into a series of smaller steps

Pitfalls to Problem Solving

·        Mental Sets

o   Persistence in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past

§  Becomes a problem when that way is no longer working

·        Functional fixedness

o   Inability to perceive an object being used for something other than what is was designed for

Heuristics are used when

·        Too much or too little info

·        Time to make a decision is limited

·        Decision is unimportant

·        An appropriate heuristic happens to come to mind in the same moment

Cognitive Bias

·        Systematic error in thinking

·        Occurs when processing and interpreting info

·        Influences decisions and judgments

Framing

The tendency for people’s choices to be affected by how a choice is presented, or framed, such as whether it is worded in terms of potential losses or gains

Cognitive Biases

·        Anchoring Bias

o   Tendency to focus on one piece of information when making a decision or problem solving

·        Base rate fallacy

o   People are relatively insensitive to consensus info presented in the form of numerical base rates

·        Availability heuristic

o   The tendency to estimate the likelihood that an event will occur how easily instances of it come to mind

·        Confirmation bias

o   The tendency to seek, interact and create info that verifies existing beliefs

o   Once we form an impression or belief, we seek info that confirms it

·        Representative bias

o   Tendency to unintentionally stereotype someone or something

·        Hindsight bias

o   The tendency to believe one could have predicted the outcomes of an event all along

o   Once someone knows the answer, they predict the would have guessed that was the answer

Intelligence

·        Inferred characteristics of an individual

·        Defined as the ability to profit from experience

·        Acquiring knowledge

·        Think abstractly

·        Act purposefully

·        Adapt to changes in environment

·        Psychometric approach

·        Intelligence quotient

o   One measure of intelligence

§  Computed by diving a person’s mental age by their chronological age and multiplying by 100

§  Now derived from norms provided for standardized intelligence tests

The source of intelligence

·        Nature Perspective

o   Intelligence is inherited from a person’s parents

§  The heritability of intelligence is often researched using twin studies

§  Identical twins raised together, and identical twins raised apart exhibit a higher correlation between IQ scores than siblings or fraternal twins raised together

o   Intelligence is shaped by a child’s developmental environment

§  If parents present children with intellectual stimuli it will be reflected in the child’s intelligence level

§  Most psychologists now believe levels of intelligence are a combination of both

·        Range of reaction

o   Theory that each person responds to the environment in a unique way based on his or her genetic makeup

o   Genetic makeup is a fixed quantity

o   Whether you reach your full intellectual potential is dependent upon environmental factors

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence              

·        Analytical Intelligence

o   Academic problem solving and computation

·        Practical Intelligence

o   Street smarts and common sense

·        Creative intelligence

o   Imaginative and innovative problem solving

Creativity

·        The ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities

o   Creative people usually

§  Have intense knowledge about something

§  Work on it for years

§  Look at novel solutions

§  Seek out the advice and help of other experts

§  Take risks

o   Though of as ability to engage in divergent thinking

·        Divergent thinking

o   Thinking “outside the box”, used when more than one possibility exists on a situation

·        Convergent thinking

o   Ability to provide a correct or well-established answer or solution to a problem

Multiple Intelligences Theory

·        Howard Gardner proposed that each person possesses at least 8 intelligences 

o   Verbal-linguistic intelligence

§  (well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words)

o   Logical-mathematical intelligence

§  (ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical and numerical patterns)

o   Spatial-visual intelligence

§  (capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly)

o   Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence

§   (ability to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully)

o   Interpersonal intelligence

§   (capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others)

o   Intrapersonal

§   (capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and thinking processes)

o   Naturalist intelligence

§  (ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in nature)

o   Existential intelligence

§   (sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence such as, “What is the meaning of life? Why do we die? How did we get here?”

·        Inter- and intrapersonal intelligences are often combined and called emotional intelligence

·        Emotional intelligence

o    the ability to understand the emotions of yourself and others, show empathy, understand social relationships and cues, and regulate your own emotions and respond in culturally appropriate ways

Learning Styles

·        The idea that people have one particular learning modality that works best across settings

·        VARK Model

o   Visual

o   Auditory

o   Tactile

§  Kinesthetic

o   Reading/writing

·        Learning best occurs when we engage with content using multiple modalities of learning

Research supported learning strategies

·        Use multiple modalities to engage with materials/content

·        Frequent knowledge checks/tests

o   Self-testing for understanding

·        Space out study sessions over time

o   Not cramming

·        Create meaningful connections between new information and prior knowledge

The Source of Intelligence

·        Range of reactions

o   Theory that each person responds to the environment in a unique way based on his or her genetic makeup

o   Genetic makeup is a fixed quantity

o   Whether you reach your full intellectual potential is dependent upon environmental factors

·        IQ

o   Score earned on a test designed to measure intelligence

o   First developed in late 1800s

·        The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

o   Alfred Binet developed an intelligence test to use on children to determine which ones might have difficulty in school

o   Louis Terman modified by standardizing the administration of the test and testing thousands of children to establish a norm

·        Standardization

o   The manner of administration, scoring, and interpretation of results is consistent

·        Norming

o   Giving a test to a large population so data can be controlled comparing groups, such as age groups

o   The resulting data provides norms/referential sources used to interpret future scores

o   Standardization and norming ensure that new scores are reliable

·        Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

o   Wechsler’s definition of intelligence

§  ”the global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment”

o   Developed new IQ test combining several subtests from other intelligence tests

o   Tapped into both verbal and nonverbal skills

o   One of the most extensively used intelligence tests

§  Verbal comprehension

§  Visual space

§  Fluid reasoning

§  Working memory

§  Processing speed

o   Flynn Effect

§  Each generation has a significantly different IQ than the last

·        The Bell Curve

o   Results of intelligence tests follow the bell curve

o   Demonstrates a sample/normal distribution of a trait in human population

o   Representative sample

§  A subset of the population that accurately represents the general population

o   Requires large sample size

·        IQ Bell Curve

o   Average score is 100

o   Standard deviations

§  Describe how data is dispersed in a population

o   One standard deviation in IQ testing is 15 points

o   Any score between one standard deviation above and below the mean is considered an average

·        Critiques of IQ Testing

o   Not representative of the full range of mental functioning

o   Leave out non-cognitive aspects of mental functioning

o   Inadequate for accounting for performance on mental life

o   Inconsistent at predicting variation in performance

o   Broad theories of intelligence not empirically grounded

o   Assesses acquired knowledge and culturally based

o   Doesn’t account for the impact on motivational and emotional processes

·        Intellectual Disability

o   DSM 5: neurodevelopmental disorders that begin in childhood and are characterized by intellectual difficulties as well as difficulties in conceptual, social, and practical areas of living

·        DSM 5 Diagnosis of ID

o   Deficits in intellectual functioning

o   Deficits in adaptive functioning

o   The onset of these deficits during childhood

·        Intellectual Disability

o   characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills before age 18

·        Five Essential Assumptions

o   Limitations in present functioning must be considered

o   Valid assessment considers cultural and linguistic diversity

o   Limitations also co-exist with strengths

o   The purpose of describing limitations is to develop a profile of needed supports

o   Appropriate support will improve the life of the person with the disability

·        Adaptive Behavior

o   the collection of conceptual, social, and practical skills that have been learned by people in order to function in their everyday lives

·        ID Causes

o   Genetic causes

o   Trauma

o   Toxin

o   Biomedical causes

§  Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome

o   Environmental causes

§  Psychosocial disadvantage

§  Poverty as a factor

·        Prevention

o   Ultrasonography and Maternal Serum Screening

o   Amniocentesis

o   Genetic Counseling

o   Mandatory Newborn Screening Tests for Inherited and Biomedical Risk Factors

·        Specific Larning Disabilities (SLD)

o   Cognitive disorders that affect different areas of cognition, particularly language or reading

o   May manifest itself in abilities to

§  Listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, do mathematical calculations

·        Identification and assessments

o   Standardized intelligence and achievement tests

o   Curriculum-based measurement

o   Direct daily measurement

·        Causes

o   Brain damage or dysfunction

o   Heredity

o   Biochemical imbalance

3/3/25

·        DRM Paradigm

o   Deese/Roediger-McDermott (CRM) Paradigm

§  Procedure

·        Oral presentation of words

·        Remember as many words from the list as possible

§  Results

·        Participants recall a related but not presented word

·        Critical lure

§  Explanation

·        Association networks

·        Source misattribution

·        False memory

·        Memory

o   The capacity to retain and retrieve info and the structures that account for this capacity

o   Highly selective

o   Reconstructive

o   Drawn from many sources

·        Flash bulb memories

o   Memories that hold special places are especially clear because of the unusual, shocking, or traumatic circumstances surrounding them

·        Confabulation

o   Confusion of an event that happened to someone else with one that happened to you

o   A belief that you remember something when it never actually happened

o   You have thought or told others about the memory multiple times

o   The image of the event contains lots of details that make it feel real

o   The event is easy to imagine

·        Eyewitness testimonies

o   Often inaccurate

§  Differing ethnicity

§  Question wording

§  Misleading info

·        Recall

o   The ability to retrieve and reproduce from memory previously encountered material

·        Recognition

o   The ability to identify previously encountered material

·        Modes of memory

o   Encoding

o   Retrieval

o   Storage

·        How memory functions

o   Memory is an information processing system like a computer. Uses a set of processes to encode, store, and retrieve info

o   Encoding encodes input of info into the memory system

o   Storage is the retention of encoded info

o   Retrieval is getting the info out of memory and back into awareness

·        Encoding

o   Brain takes in new info, labels/encodes it

o   Organizes it

o   Connects concepts

·        Automatic processing

o   Encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words

o   Dine without conscious awareness

·        Effortful Processing

o   Encoding of details that takes time and effort

·        Semantic encoding

o   Encoding of words and their meanings

·        Visual encoding

o   Encoding of images

·        Acoustic encoding

o   Encoding of sounds

·        Three Memory Systems

o   Sensory register

o   Short-term memory

o   Long term memory

·        Storage: Baddeley & Hitch Model

o   Model of storage where short term memory has different forms depending on the type of information received

·        Three short term systems

o   Visuospatial sketchpad

o   Episodic buffer

o   Phonological loop

·        Storage: Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of Memory

o   Info passes through three distinct stages in order for it to be stored in long term memory

o   Based on the belief that memories are processed the same way that a computer processes info

·        Sensory memory

o   Storage of brief sensory events, such as sights, sounds, and tastes

·        The Stroop Effect

o   Describes why it is difficult for us to name a color when the word of the color are different

·        Short term/working memory

o   Temporary storage system that processes incoming sensory memory

·        Memory consolidation

o   Transfer of STM to long-term memory

·        Rehearsal

o   The conscious repetition of information to be remembered

·        Long term memory

o   Continuous storage of information

o   Explicit and implicit