All keywords Flashcards
internal mental processes
‘private’ operations of the mind such as perception and attention
schema
mental frame work of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive process
inference process
where cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about way mental processes operate
cognitive neuroscience
scientific study of those biological structures that underpin the cognitive process (e.g MRI’s, PET scans)
Cognitive approach
term ‘ cognitive’ has come to mean ‘mental processes’ so it focuses on how thoughts, perception and attention affect a persons behaviour
brocas area
damage to frontal lobe could permanently impair speech production
thinking machines
use of ai which has been used in the comparison on how humans think
Computer models
used in the cognitive approach in order to have a comparison on how they believe the mind processes information similar to a computer
machine reductionism
ignores influence of human emotion and motivation (ex in thinking machines)
Brain fingerprinting
determines whether specific information is stored. Involves measuring brain waves response to stimuli, used in criminal court cases to see if suspects are lying in court
behaviourist approach
a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what us observable and in terms of learning
classicial conditioning
learning by association, occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together- an unconditioned stimulus and neutral stimulus which eventually receives same response as unconditioned stimulus alone
operant conditioning
form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by it’s consequence, possible consequences of behaviour include reinforcement and punishment
Reinforcement
a consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated
Token economy system
used in psychiatric institutions and prisons where good behaviour given tokens used to spend or trade in for good (example of positive reinforcement)
Environmental determinism
limitation of behaviourist approach as it sees behaviour as a sum of all past conditioning experiences ignoring possibility of free will
lab studies
research carried out in a controlled environment where researchers have lots of control over DV and IV along with any extraneous and confounding variables
Positive reinforcement
receiving reward when behaviour is performed
Negative reinforcement
avoiding something unpleasant by performing behaviour
Punishment
unpleasant consequence of behaviour (finding way to avoid would be negative)
Psychodynamic approaches
a perspective that describes the different forces (dynamic) most of which are unconscious that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience
the unconscious
part of mind we are aware of which directs much of our behaviour
Id
entirely unconscious made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification
Ego
balances conflicting demands of Id and SuperEgo
SuperEgo
moralistic part of personality which represents ideal self
Defence mechanisms
unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage conflicts between Id and Superego
Psychosexual stages
five developmental stages that all children pass through. At each stage there is a different conflict, the outcome of which determines future development
Parapraxes
repressed or locked away memories that can be accessed through ‘slips of the tounge’
Preconscious
contains thoughts and memories which can be accessed but not always in consciousness
Morality principle
represents moral standard (super ego)
Falsification
psychodynamic approach doesn’t meet this as isn’t scientific as it cannot be replicated or tested
Humanistic psychology
an approach to understanding behaviour that emphasises the importance of subjective experience and each persons capacity for self determination
Free will
notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by internal biological or external forces
Self actualisation
desire to grow psychologically and fulfil ones full potential (becoming what you are capable of)
Hierarchy of needs
five levelled sequence in which basic psychological needs must be satisfied before higher psychological needs can be achieved
Self
ideas and values that characterise ‘i’ and ‘me’ and includes perception and valuing of ‘what i am’ and ‘what i can do’
Congruence
aims of Rogerian therapy when the self-concept and ideal self are seen to broadly or match
Conditions of worth
when a a parent places limits of love on their children saying ‘i will only love you if’
Unconditional positive regard
unconditional love
Counselling
client centred therapy proposed by carl rogers where he found it important to make clients feel loved and safe also encouraging towards their own solutions
Clients
carl rogers refered to patients as this as he found it important to view their experience as an individual rather than an excerpt of their own condition
Holism
ideas that subjective experience can only be understood considering the whole person
SLT
a way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with the role of cognitive factors
Imitation
copying behaviour of others
Identification
observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like role model (attractive or higher status)
Modelling
from observers perspective modelling is imitating the behaviour of a role model. From role models perspective modelling is the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour that may be imitated by observer
Vicarious reinforcement
reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced by behaviour. key factors of imitation
mediational process
cognitive factors that influenced learning and come between stimulus and response
Attention
extent to which we notice certain behaviour
Retention
how well behaviour remembered
Motor reproduction
ability of observer to perform behaviour
Motivation
will to perform the behaviour, often determined by whether behaviour rewarded or punished
Mirror neurones
allows us to emphasise and imitate others
Demand characteristics
clues or signals in experiment to hint at how p’s should not
Reciprocal determinism
not only influenced by external environment but also except influence upon it
biological approach
perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neutral functions
genes
make up chromosomes and consists of DNA which codes for physical features of an organism
Biological structure
organisation of parts in body (organ system)
Neurochemistry
chemicals in brain that regulate psychological function
Geno type
set of genes a person possesses
Phenotype
characteristics determined by gens and environment (physical)
Monozygotic
identical twins (100% concordance rates)
Dizygotic
non identical twins (50% concordance rates)
Concordance rates
extent to which twins share the same characteristics
Biological determinism
sees human behaviour as governed by internal genetics and we have no control (free will)
Somatic nervous system
transmits information from receptor cells, also receives information from CNS that directs muscles to act
Autonomic nervous system
transmit information to and from bodily organs. it is automatic meaning it’s involuntary
Sympathetic nervous system
subsystem of ANS which is your psychologically aroused state when you produce adrenaline and cortisol due to threat or danger
Parasympathetic nervous system
resting state and acts as ‘brake’ to reduce activities in body ( often referred to as rest and digest response)
conformity
a change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
Group size
Asch increased the size of the group by adding more confederates, thus increasing size of majority. Conformity increases with group size, but only up to a point. Levelling off when majority greater than 3 (curvilinear)
Unanimity
the extent to which all members of a group agree. In Asch’s studies, the majority was unanimous when all the confederates selected the same comparison lines. This produced the greatest degree of conformity in naive participants
Task difficulty
Asch’s line judging task is more difficult when it becomes harder to work out the correct answer. Conformity increased because naive participants assumed that the majority is more likely to be right
Confederates
a person who is aware of the research taking place but acts as a normal participant unaware
Individualist
more people concerned with themselves than the group
Collectivist
social group more important than individual
internalisation
a deep type of conformity where we take on the majority view because we accept it as correct. It leads to a far reaching and permanent change in behaviour, even when the group is absent
Identification
a moderate type of conformity where we act in the same way as the group because there is something we value about it and want to be part of it. But we don’t necessarily agree with everything the group/majority believes
Compliance
a superficial and temporary type of conformity where we outwardly go along with the majority view but privately disagree with it. The change in out behaviour only lasts as long as the group is monitoring us
informational social influence
an explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct. We accept it because we want to be correct as well. This may lead to internalisation
Normative social influence
an explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to gain social approval and be liked. This may lead to compliance
nAffiliators
people who have a strong need for affiliation meaning they want to relate to other people
Social roles
the ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups. Everyday examples include parent, child, student, passenger and so on. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role, for example caring, obedient, industrious, etc
Obedience
a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. Person issuing the order is usually the figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming
Debriefing
When p’s are told the aims of the study after the research has occurred and can be reassured their behaviour is normal
Social identity theory
only obeying due to scientific aims of the research
Situational variables
features of the immediate physical and social environment which may influence a persons behaviour (such as proximity, location and uniform) The alternative is dispositional variables where behaviour is explained in terms of personality
Proximity variation (milgram)
The physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving orders too or teacher and learner
Location variation
(Milgram)
the place where order issued, status or prestige of location can influence obedience of a p
Uniform variation
(Milgram)
uniform can be a specific symbol of authority
Autonomous state
Means the person is independent and free
Agentic shift
Moving from the autonomous state of free will to the agentic state
Binding factors
aspects of situation that allows the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour on others in order to reduce moral strain
Agentic state
a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure, i.e. as their agent. this frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure
Legitimacy of authority
an explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified (legitimate) by the individuals position of power within a social hierarchy
Dispositional factors
any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individuals personality (i.e. their disposition). Such explanations are often contrasted with situational eplanations
Authoritarian personality
A type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. Such individuals are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors
Resistance to social influence
refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. This ability to withstand social pressures is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors
Social support
the Prescence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. there people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible
Locus of Control (LOC)
refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. Internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them (internal locus of control). Externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces (external locus of control)
Minority influence
a form of social influence in which a minority of people (sometimes just one person) persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours. leads to internalisation or conversion, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviours
Consistency
minority influence is most effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs, both overtime and between all the individuals that form the minority. Consistency is effective because it draws attention to the minority view
Commitment
minority influence is most powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position, for example making personal sacrifices. This is effective because it shows the minority is not acting out of self interest
Flexibility
Relentless consistency could be counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. Therefore minority influence is more effective if the minority show flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise
Augmentation principle
augmentation principle states that if a person performs a behaviour despite significant obstacles or inhibitors, we are more likely to attribute that behaviour to the person’s intentions, traits, or internal states rather than external circumstances.
Snow ball effect
Where the minority view slowly becomes the majority view
meta analysis
Where someone compares multiple different studies to see if they all came to same conclusion
Social influence
the process by which individuals and groups change each others attitiudes and behaviours. includes conformity, obedience and minority influence
Social change
This occurs when whole societies, rather than just individuals , adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things.
Social cryptomnesia
Where people have a memory of a change but they cannot remember when the change occured
Deeper processing
thinking deeply about a topic or issue
short term memory
the limited capacity memory store. In STM, coding is mainly acoustic (sounds), capacity between 5 to 9 items on average and duration of around 18 seconds
Long term memory
the permanent memory store . In LTM, coding is mainly semantic (meaning), it has unlimited capacity and can store memories up to a lifetime
Coding
the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores
Capacity
the amount of information that can be held in a memory store
Duration
the length of time information can be held in the memory
Multi store model (MSM)
a representation of how memory works in terms of three stores called the sensory register, short term memory and long term memory. it also describes how information is transferred from one store to another, what makes some memories last and what makes some memories disappear
sensory register
the memory stores for each of our five senses, such as vision (iconic store) and hearing (echoic store). coding in the iconic sensory register is visual and in the echoic sensory register it is acoustic. The capacity of sensory registers is huge (millions of receptors) and information lasts for a very short time (less than half a second)
episodic memory
a long term memory store for personal events. It includes memories of when the events occurred and of the people, objects, places and behaviours involved. memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort
semantic memory
a long-term memory store for our knowledge of the world. this includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean. these memories usually also need to be recalled deliberately
procedural memory
a long-term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things. This includes our memories of learned skills. We usually recall these memories without making a conscious or deliberate effort
working memory model (WMM)
a representation of short term memory. It suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using subunits co-ordinated by a central decision making system
central executive
the component of the WMM that co-ordinates the activities of the three subsystems in memory. It also allocates processing resources to those activities
Phonological loop
the component of WMM that processes information in terms of sound. this includes both written and spoken material. It’s divided into the phonological store and the articulatory process
Visuo spatial sketchpad
the component of WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called our inner-eye
episodic buffer
component of WMM that brings together material from the other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands. It also provides a bridge between working memory and long-term memory
interference
forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten
proactive interferance
forgetting occurs when older memories, already stored, disrupt the recall of newer memories. the degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar
Retroactive interference
forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored. The degree of forgetting is again greater when the memories are similar
retrieval failure
a form of forgetting. It occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cues us provided
cue
a ‘trigger’ of information that allows us to access memory. Such cues may be meaningful or may be indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning. Indirect cues may be external (environmental context) or internal (mood or degree of drunkness)
eyewitness testimonies (EWT’s)
the ability of people to remember the details of events, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves have observed. Accuracy of EWT can be affected by factors such as misleading information and anxiety.
misleading information
incorrect information given to an eyewitness usually after the event (hence often called ‘post-event information’) it can take many forms, such as leading questions and post-events discussion between co-witnesses and/or other people
leading questions
a question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer
Post-event discussion (PED)
occurs when there is more than one witness to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or with other people. This may influence the accuracy of each witness’s recall of event
anxiety
a state of emotional and physical arousal. The emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension. Physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweatiness. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations, but it can affect the accuracy and details of EWT’s
cognitive interview
a method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories. It uses four main techniques, all based on evidence-based psychological knowledge of human memory - repot everything, reinstate context, reverse the order and change perspective
reciprocity
a description of how two people interact (e.g. caregiver-infant interaction)
interactional synchrony
caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this coordinated
Stages of attachment
many developmental theories identified a sequence of qualitatively different behaviours linked to specific ages. In the case of ‘stages of attachment’ qualitatively different infant behaviours linked to specific ages and all babies go through them in same order
multiple attachments
attachments of two or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one strong attachment with carers
primary figure
person to whom a baby attaches itself to
Father
in attachment research the father is anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver. This can be but is no necessarily the biological father
Animal studies
In psychology these are studies carried out on non-human animal species rather than on humans, either for ethical or practical reasons - practical because animals breed faster and researchers are interested in seeing results across generations of animals
Learning theory
a set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. Explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning
monotropic
a term sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory. Mono means ‘one’ and tropic means ‘leaning towards’. This indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to a child’s development
Critical period
the time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all. Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkeys had critical periods Bowlby extended the idea to humans, proposing that human babies have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment
Internal working model
our mental representation of the world e.g. the representation we have of our relationships to our primary attachment figure. this model affects our relationships because it carries our perception of what relationships are
social releasers
innate ‘cute’ behaviours to initiate attention from adult signalling they are ready for a spell of interaction
