Psychology: Psychology Flashcards

When you are so anxious about being next that you cannot remember what the person just before you in line says, but you can recall what the other people around you say.

We retain information better when we rehearse over time.

When you recall is better first and last items on a list, but poor for the middle.

the basis for knowing your friends, neighbors, the English language, the national anthem, and yourself.

Any indication that learning has persisted over time. It is our ability to store and retrieve information.

A unique and highly emotional moment may give rise to a clear, strong, and persistent memory. However, this memory is not free from errors.

Requires that you select some stimulus event (from the vast array of inputs assaulting your senses).

involves the retention of encoded material over time.

accessing the information and bringing it to consciousness.

the most fleeting of the 3 stages
-typically holds sights, sounds, smells, textures, and other sensory impressions for only a fraction of a second.

takes info from sensory register and connects it with items already in long-term storage

receives info from working (STM) and can store it for much longer periods of time

1) Some information skips the first 2 stages and enters long-term automatically
2) We select information (through attention) that is important to us.
3) The nature of short-term memory is more complex

repeating info to yourself over and over again
-serves well for maintaining info. Temporarily in working memory.

information is repeated and actively connected to knowledge already stored-better strategy for getting info into long-term memory

organizing pieces of information into a smaller number of meaningful units of chunks.

Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories and subcategories

found that this stage of memory holds far more info than ever reaches consciousness

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; photographic or picture image fleeting

momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; sounds/words better than iconic

refers to synaptic enhancement after learning.
-An increase in neurotransmitter release or receptors on the receiving neuron indicates strengthening of synapse

Heightened emotions (stress-related or otherwise) make for stronger memories. Continued stress may disrupt memory

refers to facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare

involves learning an action while the individual does not know or declare what she knows.

a neural center in the limbic system that processes explicit memories

a neural center in the hind-brain that processes implicit memories

the implicit memory effect in which exposure to a stimulus influences response to a later stimulus.
-an increase sensitivity to certain stimuli due to prior experience. Priming is believed to occur outside the conscious awareness

the inability to recall a word while knowing that it is in memory.

An inability to retrieve information due to poor encoding, storage, or retrieval.

we cannot remember what we don't encode

1) Absent-mindedness
2) Transience
3) Blocking
4) Misattribution
5) Suggestibility
6) Bias
7) Persisitance

inattention to details produce encoding failure

storage decay over time (fading memories)

Interference causes forgetting inaccessibility of stored information(TOT; one item acts as an obstacle to accessing and retrieving another memory).

Confusing the source of information; memories associated with the wrong times; place or person

the distortion of memory by suggestion or misinformation ( a leading question later becomes a false memory)

Belief-colored recollections; the influence of personal beliefs, attitudes and experiences on memory

unwanted memories; when we can't forget.

poor durability of stored memories leads to their decay.

Learning some new information may disrupt retrieval of other information.

Although the information is retained in the memory store, it cannot be retrieved

a cause of forgetting by which previously stored information prevents learning and remembering new information.

a cause of forgetting by which newly learned information prevents retrieval of previously stored material.
-Sleep prevents this. it leads to better recall

People unknowingly revise their memories.

A defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Forgetting can occur at any memory stage. WE filter, alter, or lose much information during these stages

While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in missing pieces of information to make our recall more coherent.

Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.

Attributing an event to the wrong source that we experienced, heard, read, or imagined.

A condition in which a person's identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of a traumatic experience, which is sometimes induced by well- meaning therapists.

1) Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall
2) Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material
3) Make material personally meaningful
4) use memory devices
5) Activate retrieval cues- mentally recreate the situation and mood
6) Recall events while they are fresh- before you encounter misinformation
7) Minimize interference

-associate with peg-words- something already stored
-make up a story
-chunk

1)test your knowledge
2) Rehearse and then determine what you do not yet know

Organism comes to associate 2 stimuli.
A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus.

stimulus that unconditionally-automatically and neutrally- triggers a response

unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus

originally irrelevant stimulus that, after associations with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response.

learned response to previously neutral conditioned stimulus.

the initial stage in classical conditioning in which a association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus takes place.

when the US does not follow the CS, CR begins to decrease and eventually causes extinction.

After a rest period, an extinguished CR spontaneously recovers, but of the CS persists alone the CR becomes extinct again.

Tendency to respond to a stimuli similar to the CS
-Toddlers taught to fear moving cars in the street similarly respond to trucks and motorcycles.

the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimulus that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.

a form of behavioral learning in which the probability of a response is changed by its consequence (stimuli that follow the response)

Procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the desired target behavior through successive approx.

a stimulus presented after a response and increasing the probability of the response happening again.
-increases behavior

the removal of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus, contingent on a particular behavior.
-increases behavior by stopping or reducing negative stimuli such as a shock; annoying seat-belt noise.

an innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink.

A learned reinforcer that get its reinforcing power through association with the primary reinforcer.

A reinforcer that occurs instantly after a behavior. A rat gets a food pellet for a bar press.

A reinforcer that is delayed in time for a certain behavior. A paycheck that comes at the end of a week.

developed the operant chamber, or skinner box, to study operant conditioning.

Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses; response rate is usually high.

Piecework pay-suppose you own a tire factor and you pay each worker a dollar for every 10 tires produced

The number of responses required for reinforcement varies from trail to trail. This is hard to extinguish because of the unpredictability. Response rate is the highest.

Telemarketers-they never know how many calls they must make before they get the next sale-less predictable

Reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed; time period between rewards remain constant. Results in low response rate.

-Students who studies for a weekly quiz
-receiving a monthly paycheck

Most unpredictable of all; time interval between rewards varies; response con be low or high steady responses

Fishing, pop quiz, random visits

presenting an unpleasant stimulus after a response or behavior

removing a reinforcing stimulus after a response/behavior

being able to navigate quickly for a reward than the organism who haven't seen the reward, despite the lack of reinforcement.

based in latent learning, being able to navigate directional in different ways without thinking about it.

proposed the idea of cognitive maps and latent learning by working with rats in a maze.

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

they are found in the frontal lobe of the brain; they fire when performing certain actions or when observing what another is doing.

-pioneer in research on observational learning
-Bobo doll study indicated that individuals learn through imitating others who receive rewards and punishments

we go through various stages of sleep

Circadian rhythms occur on a 24-hour cycle and include sleep and wakefulness, which are disrupted during transcontinental flights.
-our thinking is sharpest and memory most accurate when we are at our daily peak on circadian arousal.

During strong engagement, the brain exhibits low amplitude and fast, irregular beta waves (15-30 cps). An awake person involved in a conversation shows shows beta activity.

When an individual closes his eyes but remains awake, his brain activity slows down to a large amplitude and slow, regular alpha waves (9-14 cps). A meditating person exhibits an alpha brain activity.

During early, light sleep the brain enters a high-amplitude, slow, regular wave form called theta waves (5-8 cps).
A person who is daydreaming shows theta activity.
you may experience hypnotic sensations during stage 1.

During deepest sleep, brain activity slows down. there are large- amplitude. slow delta waves (1.5-4 cps)
-heart rate and breathing rate slows down

After reaching the deepest sleep stage, the sleep cycle starts moving backward towards stage 1. although still asleep, the brain engages in low-amplitude, fast and regular beta waves (15-40 cps).
A person during this sleep experiences rapid eye movement and reports vivid dream.
Over the course of an average night's sleep, most people make the circuit (stages) 4-6 times.

Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.

Sleepwalking or sleep talking
-genetic

Frightening dreams that wake a sleeper form REM

sudden arousal from sleep with intense fear accompanied by psychological reactions that occur during stage 4.

Overpowering urge to fall asleep that may occur while talking or standing up.

Failure to breathe when asleep. After an airless minute decreased blood oxygen causes a person to wake up.

Dreams provide a psychic safety value to discharge unacceptable feeling.
-Dreams manifest content may also have a symbolic meaning (latent content) that signify our acceptable feelings.

Dreams may help sift, sort, and fix a days experiences in our memories.
-dreams may relate to life stressors that have found their way into you sleeping thoughts

suggests that the brain engages in a lot of random neural activity. Dreams make sense of this activity

A social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perception, feeling, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.

A chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood (effects consciousness).

Drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions.
1) Alcohol
2)Barbituates
3) Opiates

affects motor skills, judgement, and memory... and increase aggresiveness while reducing self awareness.
-slows down body processes

Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous syestem, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement.

Opium and its deratives.
-depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety
-brain eventually stops prodicing its own endorphins causing extreme discomfort of withdrawl.

drugs that exite neural activity and speed up body functions.
1) CAffenie
2) Nicotine
3)Cocaine
4)Ecstasy
5)Amphetamines
6)Meth

increase heart and breathing rates and other autominic functions to provide energy.

stimulate neural activity causing accelerated body functions and associated energy and mood changes, with devasting effects.

(speed)with the use over time it lowers dopamine levels, leaving the user with permanently depressed functioning

a stimulant and mild hallucinogen. It produces a euphoric high and can damage serotonin-producing neurons, which results in a permanent deflation of mood and impairment of memory.

induces immediate euphoria (15-30 mins) followed by a crash. Crack, a form of cocaine, can be smoked, other forms can be sniffed or injected.
-rush depletes brain supply if dopamine, serotonin,norepinephrine causing agitated depressoin

are psychedelic (mind-manifesting) drugs that distort perception and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.

powerful hallucinogenic drug that is also known as acid.

is the major active ingredient in marijuana that triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinogens.

a process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energy.

a process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

our body's way of telling us something has gone wrong

theory that the spinal cord contains neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain.
-"gate" opened by activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers
-"gate" closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain.

information processing guided by higher-level mental processing
-as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation
-assumes that there is no single absolute threshold
-detection depends partly in person"s: experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue

to perceive as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a differ a constant min. percentage.
-light intensity: 8%
-weight: 2%
-tone frequency: .3%

min. stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.

min. difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time.
- just noticeable difference (JND)

processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously

Simply states the retina has 3 types of color receptors.

theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision (cells in visual system). Complementary pairs.

information form the retina's receptor cones and rods is received and transmitted by the ganglia cells, whose axons make up the optic nerve, which shoots information to the brain.

different sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochleas basilar membrane

suggest an alternative explanation. whole basilar membrane vibrates with the incoming sound wave, triggering neural impulses to the brain of the same rate as the sound wave.

is a chemical sense.
-taste receptors reproduce themselves every week or so (tongue burn)
-as you get older the number of taste buds decreases; as does your taste sensitivity.

a chemical sense.-Olfaction receptors recognize odors individually
-our ability to identify scents peaks in early adulthood and gradually declines.

when vision competes with our other senses, vision usually wins- a phenomenon called visual capture
-We organize it. Gestalt psychologists showed that a figure formed a "whole" different than its surroundings.

ability to see objects in three dimensions
-allows us to judge distance

help the brain compute distance
-retinal disparity and convergence

Images form 2 eyes differ. "Finger sausage"

Neuromuscular cues. when 2 eyes move inward (towards the nose) to see near objects and outward (away from nose) to see faraway

available to each eye separately

closer object blocks distant object
- objects that occlude (block) other objects tend to be perceive as closer

hazy object seen as more distant
- because light from distant objects, we perceive hazy objects to be far away than those objects that appear sharp and clear.

indistinct (fine) texture signal an increasing distance.
-coarse= close
-fine= distant

higher objects seen as more distant
- in our field of vision to be farther away than those that are lower

closer objects seem to move faster
-fixation point

Parallel lines appear to converge in the distance. The more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance

Nearby objects reflect more light into our eyes than more distance objects. Given 2 identical objects, the dimmer one appears to be farther away.

how big and close something is

objects traveling towards us grow in size and those moving away shrink in size. The same is true when the observer moves to or from an object.

When lights flash at a certain speed they tend to present illusions of motion.

perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal image change
-color, shape, and size

We perceive an object as having a constant lightness even while its illumination varies

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color even when changing illumination filters the light by the object

one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills
- tends to increase with age

ones ability to reason speedily and abstractly
-tends to decrease during late adulthood

first stage of prenatal development
-attaches to uterine wall and forms a placenta through which nourishment passes

after 2 weeks, the zygote develops into this.
- last 6 weeks
- heart begins to beat and th organs begin to develop

after 9 weeks, by the 6th month, the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside the mother.
- at this time the baby can hear sounds and respond to light.

interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas
- mental process that modifies new schemas

-A toddler may call all 4 legged animals doggies
- An infant will suck a bottle the same way he or she sucked a breast

adapting one's current understanding to incorporate new information

Children give mainly reflexive or motor responses to stimulation
- very little thinking involved
- coordination of their body parts to grasp and explore attractive objects
-- avoidance of things they dislike

the awareness that things continue to exist even when no perceived

The ability to represent objects mentally.
Emerging sense of self as distinctive form other people and objects in the environment.
- the ability to solve simple problems using mental representation

the inabilty to realize that there are other view points beside one's own

being aware that there are 2 glasses that have the same amount of liquid. however, when the liquid is poured into a taller narrow glass: the indication is that there is more liquid in the taller one.

Children can now understand that the short glass hols the same amount as the tall narrow glass.

understanding that the thought properties of an object or substance do not change when the appearances change, but nothing is added or taken away.

an emotional tie with another person
- shown in younger children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and displaying distress on separation

Reared monkey with 2 artificial mothers: one with a bare wire cylinder with a wooden head and an attached feeding bottle; the other with no bottle but covered with foam rubber and wrapped with cloth
-monkeys preferred contact with the comfortable mother, while feeding from the nourishing wire mother.

Process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.
-children become attached to what they've known
-ex. Watching the same movies

- both demanding and responsive
- set rules, but explain reasons and encourage open discussion

Parents impose rules and expect obedients

Submit to children s desires, make few demands, use little punishment

sought to describe the development of moral reasoning
- his findings led him to believe that as we develop intelligence, we pass thru 3 basic levels of moral thinking

As moral development progresses, the focus of concern moves from the self to the wider social world.

stated that each stage of life has its own psychological task.
- a crisis that needs resolution

One sense of self
-the adolescents task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

the ability to form close, and loving relationships
-a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early childhood

study of the relative power and limits of a genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Identical twins: show remarkable similarities in: Intelligence, temperament, gestures, posture, and pace of speech
-can be genetically influenced
Fraternal twins and other sib;ings show fewer similarities which suggest that heredity forces are at work.

A person's characteristic emotional re-activity and intensity
- EX. Fidgety, easygoing, quiet, placid, intense, unpredictable, cheerful, relaxed.

the sub-field of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes.

the study of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

-the fact that twins reared together typically are more alike than those reared a part provides further testimony to the effect of environment.
-neither heredity nor environment ever acts alone to produce behavior or mental processes.
-they always interact
-from a developmental perspective, heredity and environment work together throughout a person's life.

adopted children tend to resemble their biological parents in their personality (thinking, feel, acting), and their adoptive parents in their values, attitudes, manners, faith, and politics.

Base of the brain-stem
-controls heart beat and breathing

a nerve network in the brain-stem that plays an important roll in controlling arousal and the ability to focus attention

the brain's sensory switch board, located on top of the brain stem
-Receives sensory information in the cortex and transmits replies to cerebellum and medulla

- the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brain-stem.
- it helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance

- a doughnut- shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brain-stem and cerebral hemispheres
- associated with emotions and drives
- includes the hypothalamus, hypocampus, and amygdala

- 2 almond- shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system
- emotional control center
- Memory

involved in memory processing

Neural structure lying below the thalamus; directs several maintenance activities
-hunger, thirst, body temperature, and sexual arousal
Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland
Is linked to emotion

involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plan and judgement
- contains Broca's area

include the sensory cortex

include the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field
- Right half of each retina goes to left occipital lobe and Vice versa.

include the auditory areas
-contains Wernicke's area (Speech/language development)

The ability for our brains to form new connections after the neurons are damaged
-the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage
- the younger you are the more plastic your brain is

Wrote the principles of Psychology and discussed functionalism
- Focused on how mental and behavioral processes enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish
- in reality these ideas don't have much impact on how psychologists think today.

first psychological laboratory and his grad. student Edward Titchener's concept of introspection in Germany 1879.
- Looking inward to discover the elements of mind.

The wave of thinking started by Freud
-we protect ourselves from our real feeling by using defense mechanisms

Focuses on the unconscious mind.
We are motivated primarily by the energy of irrational desires generated in our unconscious minds
- we repress many of our true feelings and are not aware of them
- in order to get better, we must bring forward the true feelings we have in our unconscious.

Focuses on observable behaviors while putting feelings to the side.
- we behave in ways because we have been recondition to do so.
- To change behaviors, we have to recondition the client

Our actions are hugely influenced by our need for personal growth and by our need for personal growth and fulfillment
- Happiness is defined by the distance between our "self- concept" and "ideal self"

Focuses on how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information
- Cognitive therapists attempt to change the way you think

the relative contribution that genes and experience make to development of psychological traits and behaviors

study and advise on behavior in the workplace

the "I-knew-it-all-along" phenomenon
-After learning the outcome of an event, many people believe they could have predicted that very outcome

But even the control group may experience changes
- just the fact that you know you are in an experiment can cause change

a factor manipulated by the experimenter
- The effect of this variable is a focus of the study

a factor that may change in response to an independent variable
- it is usually a behavior or a mental process
-this variable would be the effect of the drug

A technique in which one person is studied in depth to reveal underlying behavioral principes

If each member of a population has an equal chance of inclusion into a sample (unbiased). If the survey sample is biased, its results are not valid

Watch subjects in their natural environments
- Do not manipulate the environment
-Ex. Observing and recording the behavior of animals in the wild

Expresses a relationship between 2 variables
- when 1 trait or behavior accompanies another we say the 2 correlate
-Ex. Smoking and lung cancer
-this does not necessarily mean causation

Variables go in the same direction

Variables go in opposite directions

In evaluating drug therapies, patients and experimenters assistants should remain unaware of the real treatment and which patients had the placebo treatment

tools that help us see and interpret what the unaided eye might miss.

better that biased samples
- not exceptional and memorable cases one finds at the extremes

more reliable than more variable ones
- the average is more reliable when it comes from scores with low variability

average based on may cases and not just a few