AP Psych Final Review Flashcards
Action potential
A neural impulse; a brief electric charge that travels down an axon. Generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon membrane.
Aggression
Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.
Anxiety disorder
Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.
Absolute threshold
Minimum stimulation need to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
Anxiety
An unpleasant emotional state
Biological
Focuses on the relationship between the body and the mind
Cognition
Conceded with memory, perception, thought, and other mental processes
Behavioral
Concerned mainly with a person’s observable responses to stimuli
Humanistic
Focuses on a person’s capacity for self fulfillment and growth
Psychodynamic
Concerned with the influence of unconscious desires and motives
Hypotheses
Testable explanations of observed events
Reliability
The study produced consistent results when replicated
Validity
The study accurately measures what it claims to measure. 3 types.
Construct
Internal
External
Construct validity
The study measures the effect that it is trying to measure
Internal validity
The study shows the only experimental factor caused an effect
External validity
The study results apply to other situations
Correlational study
Expresses the relationship between two variables; does not imply causation
Experiment
Manipulation of an independent variable in order to understand its effect on a dependent variable. Identifies cause and effect relationships
Sampling
The process of choosing subjects to study
Sample
A group of subjects selected to study; subset of a population
Population
A group of people about whom the researcher wants to make conclusions.
Random assignment
Random placement of subjects into experimental or control groups
Control group
A group not subject to experimental manipulation
Variables
Things that can vary amount subjects
Independent
Dependent
Confounding
Independent variable
Manipulated by researcher; produces change in dependent variable
Dependent variable
Measured by the researcher
Confounding variable
Any possible variable (other than the independent variable) that may cause the observes effect
Statistical analysis
Desecibes dats and quantifies relationships between variables
Frequency distribution
An arrangement of data points on how frequent they occur
Normal and central tendency
Normal distribution
A frequency distribution with a symmetrical bell-shaped curve
Central tendency
Measures of the center of the frequency distribution.
Three types:
Mean
Median
Mode
Mean
Arithmetic average of data set
Median
Middle data point
Mode
Most frequent data point
Variability
How the data are dispersed or spread around the mean
Range
Standard deviation
Range
The distance between the highest and lowest data point
Standard deviation
The average distance of a data point from the mean. Small: scores are relatively close to the mean score. Large: scores have a wider range
Statistical significance
Means that the did fences observed are too high to have occurred by chance
Type 1 error
False positive; perceives an effect is not there
Type 11 error
False negative; fails to perceive an effect that is there
Nervous system
Receives and transmits information
CNS
Consists of the brains spinal cord wand brain
Contralateral control
Each hemisphere of the brain controls opposite sides of the body
Lateralization
Left and right hemispheres have different functions
Hindbrain
Top part of the spinal cord; includes the medulla, pons, and cerebellum
Medulla
Controls basic biological functions: breathing, swallowing, and balance
Pons
Controls facial expressions, sleep and dreaming
Cerebellum
Controls fine motor movement
Midbrain
Coordinates basic movements with sensory information
Forebrain
Large in humans; includes the cerebral cortex and sy cortical structures such as thalamus, hypothalamus, and basal ganglia
Basal ganglia
Regulates muscle contractions/movements
Thalamus
Incorporates and relays sensory information to the cortext
Hypothalamus
Controls motivated behavior: eating, drinking, and sex
Hippocampus
Helps process and receive long-term and spatial memory
Amygdala
Controls emotion and evaluation of stimuli
Cerebral cortext
Receives sensory information and transmits motor information
Corpus callosum
Nerve tract beneath the cortex the connects the two the two hemispheres and allow them to communicate
Occipital lobe
Processes Vision
Temporal lobe
Processes sound
Parietal lobe
Integrates sensory systems; is involves in attentions
Frontal lobe
Controls speech, learning, thinking, decision-making, and abstract thoughts
Peripheral nervous system
Includes all the members that spread through the body from the brain and the spinal cord
Somatic division
Autonomic division
Somatic division
Controls voluntary muscle movements and sense organs
Autonomic division
Controls involuntary actions and internal organs
Two parts:
Sympathetic
Parasympathetic
Sympathetic nervous system
Gets the body ready for emergency actions
Parasympathetic nervous system
Becomes active during states of relaxations
Neurons
Nerve cells, are basic unit of the nervous system. Each neuron has three main parts:
Soma
Dendrite
Axon
Soma
Cell body; stores energy for the cell
Dendrite
Receives messages from other neurons and conducts the messages toward the soma
Axon
Sends messages to other neurons
Terminal branches (axon terminals)
The end of the axon that contains neurotranmitters
Myelin sheath
insulates axons so signals can travel quickly
Glial Cell
Creates myelin, suppports and guides neurons, and help repair neurons
Synapse
the small gap between neurons where information is exchanged
synaptic vesicles
Places where neurotransmitters are stored until releases into the synapse
Neurotransmiitters
chemicals that stimulate neurons so they can communicate
Excitatory
Make neurons more likely to fire
Inhibitory
Make neurons less likely to fire
Excitation Threshold
the voltage difference (-55 millivolts) necessary to destabilize a neuron, causing an action potential to occur
Action potential (nerve impulse)
the brief charge in electrical charge that destabilizes a neuron. The action potential stimulates the axon terminals, restarting the process.
Endocrine system
Made up of hormone-secreting glands, affects communication inside the body
Hormones
Chemicals that help regulate bodily functions
Cornea
Protective covering where light first enters the eye
Lens
Bends or refracts light rays; focuses a flipped, inverted image into the retina
Retina
Thin structure at back of eye that contains two types of receptor cells: Cones and rods
Rods
Cells in the periphery of the retina that respond to black and white. Better in low light, more sensitive to motion, and have less visual acuity.
Cones
Centered in the fovea. Respond to color, good for daytime vision, more visual acuity.
Optic Nerve
Carries visual information to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
Blind Spot
A place where the optic nerve exits the eye; has no receptor cells, so no vision
Light waves
Electromagnetic waves that stimulate receptors in the eyes
Intensity
Amount of energy per unit of time (brightness)
Wavelength
Distance between two wave crests (color)
Trichromatic Theory (Young-Helmholtz)
Three types of cones detect three wavelengths of light (blue, green, red). DO NOT explain negative afterimages
Negative Afterimages
If you stare at one color and then look at white space, you see a color afterimage in the complementary hie of the original stimulus.
Opponent-Process Theory (Hering)
Receptor cells are arranged in pairs: red/green, blue/yellow, and black/white. If one color is stimulated, the other is inhibited.
Outer Ear (Pinna)
Collects sound from air and directs it through the ear canal.
Tympanic membrane
A membrane that vibrates when sound hits it
Oval Window
A membrane that separates middle ear from inner ear; sends vibrations to the cochlea
Cochlea
A fluid-filled membrane in the inner ear; its pressure changes stimulate hair cells
Hair Cells
Auditory receptor cells that initiate nerve impulses
Sound wave
Vibrations (changes in air pressure) that stimulate auditory receptors.
Amplitude
The height of a wave (loudness) The pressure exerted by each air particle
Frequency
The length of a wave (pitch) the time between two points of maximum amplitude.
Place Theory
Hair cells respond to different frequencies of sound based on their location in the cochlea.
Frequency Theory
Hair cells fire at different rates in the cochlea allowing us to sense pitch
Smell (Olfaction)
Information gathered from chemicals in the air. Inhaled molecules excite receptors in the olfactory epithelium.
Taste
Sensory receptors in taste buds of tongue sensitive to salty, sour, bitter, and sweet.
Olfactory bulb
Gathers messages from the olfactory receptor cells and sends them to the brain.
Skin senses
Information from the skin, including pressure, pain, warmth, and cold
Vestibular sense
Receptors in semicircular canal of inner ear sense how our body us oriented, maintains balance, and located our head in space.
Kinesthetic sense
Receptors in muscles, tendons, joints give information about our limbs.
Pereption
Refers to understanding and interpreting sensations from a stimulus,
Absolute threshold
The lease amount of stimulus that is observable
Difference Threshold
The smallest amount a stimulus must change so that the observer can perceive a just noticeable difference (JND)
Weber’s Law
The size of the difference threshold is proportional to the stimulus’s intensity.
Perceptual Constancy
We see qualities of an object as constant (size, shape, brightness)
Visual Depth Perception
The perception of cues that indicate the distance of an object.
Monocular Cues
Cues that do not use two eyes.
Four types: Interposition Size Linear Perspective Texture Gradients
Interposition
Objects in front are closer.
Size
Larger objects are closer.
Linear Perspective
Objects produce smaller retinal image as they are farther away
Texture Gradients
Detail of texture is greater if the surface is closer
Binocular Cues
Cues using two eyes.
Binocular or retinal desparity
Binocular or retinal desparity
The difference between the two eyes’ views. Binocular disparity increase the farther the object is from the observer.
Motion Cues: Motion Parallax
As you move your head, images of close things change position more quickly on the retina than images of distant ones.
Gestalt Rules
Laws that the brain uses to group or organize elements of a scene.
Proximity Similarity Continuity Closure Common Fate
Proximity
Objects near each other belong together.
Similarity
Objects that resemble each other belong together
Continuity
Objects that form a continuous line belong together
Closure
Objects that make up something we recognize belong togethr
Common Fate
Objects moving in the same direction belong together
Processing
Refers to the way in which we recognize and organize stimuli
Bottom-Up (Feature Analysis)
Starts with a smaller, specific elements of a scene and use them to creat the larger units or context.
Top-Down Processing
Starts with a larger context or units to recognize smaller, specific elements ot the scene; uses schemata
Schemata
Mental representations of our expectations of the world.
Attention
Process of perceiving some information and not other information.
Cocktail Party Effect
A person suddenly switches attention if his or her name is said
Stroop Effect
Automatic processes can interfere with other tasks; hard to name the color os a word colored differently
Habituation
Tendency to respond to stimuli lessens as the stimuli become more familiar
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
Creation of involuntary responses to stimuli
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
From the environment; triggers natural response
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Natural reaction to UCS
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Pair with UCS; before pairing, the CS does not produce a response; after pairing, it does.
Conditioned response (CR)
A response to a CS; the Cr is often the same as the UCR, but it is a leaned response.q
Extinction
When the CS appears withUCS, the CR eventually disappears
Spontaneous Recovery
After extinction, the CS reappears and elicits CR
Generalization
CR occurs to stimuli that are similar to CS
Discrimination
CR only occurs to CS that was previously paired with UCS.
Operant Conditioning
Learning based on the association of consequences to one’s behavior. A reinforcer is given only id there is an operant response.
Operant
An instrumental response
Reinforcer (reward)
Something that increases the likelihood of a behavior.
Positive Reinforcement
If desired behaviors occurs, add something pleasant
Negative Reinforcement
If desired behavior behavior occurs, take away something unpleasant.
Punisher
Something that decreases the likelihood of a behavior.
Learned Helplessness
Occurs when a subject believes that unpleasant or painful stimuli are inevitable and gives up trying to change the circumstances.
Shaping
Reinforcing successive steps to reach a desired behavior
Chaining
Reinforcing a series of behaviors to get a reward
Extinction
Occurs if behavioral response is no longer reinforced.
Schedule of Reinforcement
Pattern of reinforcing behavioral responses.
Two types:
Continuous
Partial
Continuous Reinforcement
Reinforcement after every correct response.
Partial Reinforcement
Reinforcement after some correct responses.
Four types: Fixed Variable Fixed-Ratio Variable-Ratio
Fixed
Reinforcement is given a fixed amount of time after a correct response. (response starts slow, increases rapidly)
Variable
Reinforcement is given an average amount of time after a correct response. (low rates of response)
Fixed-ratio Schedules
Reinforcement os given after a fixed number of correct responses.
Variable-ration Schedule
Reinforcement is given after an average number of correct responses (very high rates of response)
Memory
Refers to the way we record events, information, and skills.
Encoding
Acquiring information from the world and storing it in memory.
Shallow Encoding
Encoding for surface features (Less successful)
Deep Encoding
Encoding for structural relationships and meaning (more successful)
Storage
Holding on to information for later use
Retrieval
Getting information back when it is needed
Two ways:
Recall
Recognition
Recall
Supplying information in response to a cue or question
Recognition
Deciding whether information was encountered before
Sensory Memory
Where information first enters memory system. Large capacity, short duration; some of it is encoded or stored in STM.
Short-term Memory (working memory)
Where we use and are aware of memories
- Small capacity- (7+-2 items)
- Short Duration- (30 seconds)
Chunking
STM capacity increases by recoding information into larger, meaningful units. (Small Capacity)
Rehearsal
STM duration increases through repetition of information. (Short Duration)
Long-term Memory (LMT)
relatively permanent store of information, unlimited capacity, and long duration. One can transfer memories from STM and LTM by REHEARSAL.
Implicit Memory
Memory for skills and motor patterns
Explicit Memory
Momory for facts, events, and meanings
Semantic Memory
Memory for general meanings and information.
Episodic Memory
Memory of specific personal events.
Decay
Memory becomes eroded because we have not used it for a while.
Displacement
Items are pushed out of memory by other items; applies only to STM and sensory memory, not LTM.
Primary Effect
Higher likelihood of remembering earlier rather than later information. (Rehearsal)
Recency Effect
Higher likelihood of remembering earlier rather than later information (rehearsal)
Reconstructive Nature of Memory
Remembering by combing elements of experience with existing knowledge; often through use of schemas.
Schemas
Organized knowledge structures stored in memory that are used tp guide comprehension and memory.
Proactive Interference
Earlier learning disrupts later learning.
Retroactive Interference
Later learning disrupts earlier learning.
Anterograde Amnesia
Patient cannot form new memories after brain injury.
Retrograde Amnesia
Patient cannot remember events prior to brain injury.
Language
A system of symbols used to represent and communicate information.
Phoneme
Smallest unit of sound in language
Moroheme
Smallest sound unit that carries meaning
Syntax
The way in which words are arranged into phrases and sentences.
Two types:
Surface structure
Deep structure
Surface structure
The way words are organized
Deep Structure
the meaning of sentences
Language Acquisition
Learning occurs in stages:
- Babies innately practice with phonemes (babbling)
- Telegraphic Speech
Telegraphic Speech
Using short phases to form primitive sentences.
Aphasias
Absence of some part of the ability to use language
Broca’s Aphasia
Inability to produce fluent speech
Wernicke’s Speech
Inability to comprehend speech
Thinking
Refers to mental activities sed to reason or reflect
Metal Representations
Representation of knowledge and thought
Two types:
Analogical
Symbolic
Analogical
The representation has some of the qualities of the thing it represents.
Symbolic
The representation has none of the qualities of the thing it represents
Visual (mental) imagery
Representations of sensory experience that occur in the brain, without the presence of sensory input.
Concept information
Mental classification of objects and events based on common features.
Concept
A class or category with individuals or subtypes
Prototype
The best example of a concept
Problem Solving
Th use of a set of information to achieve a goal.
Algorithm
A systematic step-by-step method of trying every possible solution
Heuristic
Use of a rule of thumb that worked in the past; does not guarantee answer
Availability Heuristic
Judging a situation based on the frequency with which similar situations come to mind
Representativeness heuristic
Judging a situation based on how similar it is to a prototypical situation, regardless of how common the situation is.
Decision-making
the process of choosing between two options
Framing
The way a problem is posed affects the perception of how it is best solves.
Reasoning
The determination of the conclusions that can be drawn from examples or assertions
Inductive Reasoning
the construction of conclusions from particular examples.
Deductive Reasoning
The process of deciding whether a conclusion can be drawn from the premises or facts.
