ap test study Flashcards
attribution theory
tendency to give explanations for someone’s behavior, often by crediting the situation or person’s disposition
fundamental attribution theory
the tendency to overestimate the impact of person’s disposition and underestimate impact of situation
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
tendency to agree to larger requests after responding to a smaller request
what experiment did philip zimbardo conduct? what did he discover?
he conducted the stanford prison experiment/lucifer effect. he discovered that people take on the role of what they feel are proper for the situation
explain the stanford prison experiment
psychologist philip zimbardo randomly assigned people the roles of a guard and prisoner to play in a prison. people playing as guards were aggressive and abusive towards the prisoners. the mistreatment against the prisoners became immoral and the experiment was cancelled after 6 days.
cognitive dissonance
mental discomfort caused by two contradicting beliefs, values, or attitudes (ex. smokers continue to smoke even though they know it’s unhealthy)
what did solomon asch discover?
conformity
conformity
process where people change their beliefs, attitudes, actions or perceptions to match those held by groups
what experiment did stanley milgram conduct? what did he study?
he conducted the shock experiment, through which he studied obedience
obedience
people tend to obey authority figures even if they do not agree
explain the shock experiment
conducted by stanley milgram. participants were told to press a button in order to shock another person. most participants obeyed (especially if the instructor was an authority figure or came from prestige) and continued to shock the victim even if they were in pain. they also continued even as the shock increased to a dangerous amount
social facilitation
improved performance in presence of others
social loafing
in the presence of others, people tend to do less, partly because they believe others will do it
deindividualization
loss individuality and personal responsibility, typically in a when in a group
group polarization
when a group adopts a more extreme decision/point
groupthink
a mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives
just-world phenomenon
tendency of people to believe that the world is just and people get what they deserve (karma)
social traps
situations in which the conflicting parties pursue their self interests and become caught in mutually destructive behavior
in-group
any group to which one belongs or which one identifies
out-group
group of people who do not belong to one’s own social group
hindsight bias
tendency to believe that, after learning an outcome, we would have predicted it beforehand
prejudice
unjustifiable attitude towards a group and its members
mere exposure effect
tendency to develop preferences for things simply because we are familiar (merely exposed) with them
altruism
unselfish regard for the welfare to others
bystander effect
tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
reciprocity norms
the expectation that we should return help, not harm, to those who have helped us
biological psych
explore the links between brain and mind
cognitive psych
study how we perceive, think, and solve problems
humanistic psych
study that says humans are and can become good and possess a free-will
behavioral psych
study that says all behavior is observable and measurable
psychoanalytic psych
study of the unconscious, includes childhood and aggression issues
sociocultural psych
study of how cultural and political experiences affect our life
evolutionary psych
study of the evolution of humans over time, psych related to genetics and nature-born
developmental psych
study of our changing abilities over the course of life
who is wilhelm wundt?
the father of psychology
introspection
looking inward at one’s own mental processes
what did bradford titchener study?
structuralism
structuralism
analyzing sensations, images, and feelings into their most basic elements
what did william james study? what did he believe?
he studied functionalism. he believed the brain and mind are constantly changing
functionalism
the mind is a functional tool that allows us to adapt to our environments
what did john locke believe?
he believed in tabula rosa–that the mind is a blank slate written on by experience
who is sigmund freud?
the founder of psychoanalysis
psychoanalytic theory
all behavior is meaningful and driven by unconscious forces
applied research
aims to solve practical problems
basic research
pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
hypothesis
a testable prediction
independent variable
the factor being manipulated by the experimentor
dependent variable
the factor that changes in response to the independent variable
theory
an explanation that integrates principles, organizes, and predicts behavior or events
operational definition
a description of something in terms of the operations (procedures) by which it could be observed and measured
validity
it measures what you want it to measure
reliability
it is replicable and is consistent
sampling
process by which participants are selected
population
the amount of participants that can be selected for the sample
representative sample
take the results from a smaller group and apply that to a larger group of people
random sample
participants are chosen at random, making everyone has an equal chance of being selected for the experiment
experimental group
the group that is being given the independent variable
control group
the group that is not given the independent variable and is used as a basis to be compared to
experimenter bias
the experimenter, either unconsciously or consciously, affects the outcome of the experiment
single-blind procedure
the subjects do not know to what group they belong
double-blind procedure
neither the experimenter nor the subject knows to what group the subjects are in. used to prevent experimenter bias
hawthorne effect
if you know you’re being studied, you will act differently than you normally would
placebo
something administered that has no real affect on the person other than what they think mentally
positive correlation
both factors moving in the same direction (up and up or down and down)
negative correlation
factors moving in opposite directions (up and down, down and up)
survey
a questionnaire to determine the self-reported attitudes, opinions, or behaviors of people to gain information
naturalistic observation
observing and recording behavior in the wild/natural environment
case study
getting a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group of participants
mean
average of the scores
median
middle score
mode
the most frequently occurring score in the distribution
range
higher score minus the lower score
standard deviation
the average distance of scores around the mean
z-score
a type of standard score that tells us how many standard deviation units a given score is above or below the mean
myelin sheath
fatty covering around the axon of some neurons that speeds the neural impulse
axon
wire-like structure ending in the terminal that extends from the cell body
neurons
a nerve cell. the basic building block of the nervous system
sensory neurons
neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system
interneuron
central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between sensory and motor neurons
motor neurons
neurons that carry incoming information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands
neurotransmiters
chemical contained in terminal buttons that enable neurons to communicate. fit into receptor site of neurons
agonist
drugs that enhance the effect of a neurotransmitter
antagonist
drugs that block the effect of a neurotransmitter
what makes up the central nervous system?
the brain and spinal cord
peripheral nervous system
sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body
what systems are inside the peripheral nervous system?
the somatic and autonomic nervous systems
somatic nervous system
part of the peripheral nervous system. controls the body’s voluntary actions and skeletal muscles
autonomic nervous system
part of the peripheral nervous system. controls the body’s involuntary actions, glands, and muscles of the internal organs. contains the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
sympathetic nervous system
arouses the body for fight-or-flight
parasympathetic nervous system
calms the body and restores energy
endocrine system
includes glands that secretes hormones
pituitary gland
the “master gland” and most influential gland. regulated growth and controls other endocrine glands
EEG scan
an amplified recording of waves of electrical activity that goes across the brain’s surface
PET scan
a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs certain tasks
MRI scan
uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce a computer generated image that distinguishes between the types of soft tissues in the brain
medulla
part of the brain stem. controls blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing
reticular formation
screens incoming info, filters out irrelevant info, controls arousal and attention
thalamus
the brain’s sensory switchboard, directs all senses except for smell
pons
part of the brain stem. makes chemicals involved with sleep and facial expressions
cerebellum
attached to the rear of the brain stem. controls coordination and balance
limbic system
associated with emotions and (anger) drives (hunger). 3 parts: amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus
amygdala
part of the limbic system and involved in emotions
hypothalamus
part of the limbic system. controls the metabolic functions (body temp, hunger, arousal)
hippocampus
part of the limbic system and involved in learning and memory
frontal lobe
front-most lobe. involved with judgment and cognitive functions
parietal lobe
top-most lobe. involved in touch
temporal lobe
bottom-most lobe. involved in memory and hearing
occipital lobe
back-most lobe. involved in vision
what did william penfield study?
he studied the effects of stimulation on the motor cortex
who is phineas gage and why is he important to psychology?
he was a worker who got an iron rod impaled through his head and miraculously survived. though he survived, he became a completely different person. he is important because he was living evidence that the different parts of the brain have different functions
broca’s area
damage to this area can cause an inability to produce speech
wernicke’s area
damage to this area can cause an inability to understand language
plasticity
the brain’s ability to modify itself after some kind of injury/illness
split brain
term for when the corpus callosum is cut and info cannot travel to the other side of the brain
corpus callosum
responsible for higher thinking functions and connects the two sides of the brain
what is the left hemisphere of the brain believed to be involved in?
logic (thinking, tasks, problem-solving, etc.)
what is the right hemisphere of the brain believed to be involved in?
creativity (emotions, artistic)
sensory cortex
received info from skin surface and sense organs to make out our senses
motor cortex
controls voluntary movements
hindbrain
lower brain at rear base of skill. responsible for reflexive or automatic behaviors
forebrain
largest part of brain that controls what we think of thoughts to reasons
midbrain
above the pons, integrates and relays sensory information to the main part of the brain
depolarization
this occurs when positive ions enter the neuron making it susceptible to fire an action potential
refractory period
the short period of recharge after an action potential is fired to fire it again
threshold
the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
absolute threshold
the weakest amount of stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time
difference threshold
the minimum amount of difference needed to detect a change in stimulus 50% of the time
signal-detection theory
theory that predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background noise
action potential
a neural impulse that travels down the axon
all-or-none principle
the strength of a response of a nerve cell is not dependent upon the strength of the stimulus (it will either fire or it won’t at all)
reuptake
neurotransmitters that can’t find an area across the synapse to attach to will be reabsorbed by another neuron
acetylcholine
activates motor neurons and skeletal muscles. too little = alzheimer’s
dopamine
chemical that contributes to voluntary movements and pleasurable emotions. too little = parkinson’s. too much = schizophrenia
endorphins
chemical that is a natural pain killer and promotes pain relief
serotonin
chemical involved in mood, sleep, appetite, and body temp. too little = depression. too much = OCD and mania
norepinephrine
chemical that affects memory, learning, mood changes. too little = depression
bottom-up processing
stimulus processing that begins with the sense receptor and works up the brain (seeing then interpreting)
top-down processing
info is processed by past experiences and recognition to extract meaning
olfaction
sense of smell
gustation
sense of taste
cocktail party phenomenon
focus of attention on selected aspects of the environment while blocking out the rest
retinal disparity
comparing the information from each eyeball. greater distance between two images = close
transduction
the conversion of one form of energy into another
retina
process visual info into neural impulses
cornea
outer layer. protects eye and bends incoming light rays
lens
focuses light rays on the retina
iris
controls the pupil’s size
fovea
central point, allows us to see color
pupil
adjusts opening to let in light
blind spot
point at which there are no rods/cones
optic nerve
carries neural impulses to the brain
rods
detect monochrome colors. grants peripheral and night vision
cones
detects color. grants day-time vision
parallel processing
the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaenously
young-helmholtz theory
color theory that we have 3 types of cones in the retina (red, blue, green) and we see colors by mixing those colors
opponent process theory
color theory that the sensory receptors arranged in the retina come in pairs (red-green, yellow-blue, black-white). as one turns on, another turns off
afterimage
the firing of the cones used after viewing something steadily
visual cliff
process to tell if a baby has a sense of depth
hearing intensity
loudness, measured in decibles
hearing frequency
pitch, a tone’s highness/lowness
outer ear
sound waves collected. noise ➜ ear canal ➜ eardrum (which vibrates when hit)
middle ear
transmits and amplifies the vibration hitting the eardrum. hammer (malleus) ➜ anvil (incus) ➜ stirrup (stapes)
inner ear
changes vibration to a neural impulse. cochlea (membrane w/ fluid that changes vibration to an electrical symbol) ➜ auditory nerve ➜ brain
sensory deprivation
if one sense is deprived, another will become stronger (ex. blind people have very good hearing)
sensory adaptation
after a while of constant stimulation, will stop detecting noise (ex. clock ticking eventually is not bothersome anymore)
vestibular sense
sense of body position and movement, balance
perceptual set
a mental predisposition to see one thing rather than another
what did gestalt discover? the principles of the gestalt theory?
that putting individual pieces together results in an organized whole. principles: similarity, continuation, closure, proximity
constancy
objects with similar size, shape, and brightness, are considered to be a set
metacognition
ability to think about the way you think (self-evaluation)
who is ivan pavlov?
the founder of classical conditioning
classical conditioning
learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. 5 parts: UCS, UCR, NS, CS, CR
UCS
unconditioned stimuli. stimuli that automatically triggers a response
UCR
unconditioned response. an unlearned natural response to the UCS
NS
neutral stimulus. stimuli that doesn’t trigger a response
CS
conditioned stimuli. NS that, after association with the UCS, elicits a certain response
CR
conditioned response, the learned response to a previously unconditioned response
acquisition
initial stage of classical conditioning, when association with the NS and the UCS begins. lasts a half a second
generalization
tendency to respond to a similar stimuli in the same way
discrimination
the learned ability to distinguish between the CS and other stimuli
spontaneous recovery
the reappearance of the CR to the CS
extinction
the fading of the CR to the CS
what did john garcia discover?
taste aversion after experimenting radiation on rats
taste aversion
eating food then feeling ill. believing the food is what caused the illness
operant conditioning
consequences that follow a behavior will increase/decrease the likelihood of it happening again
who is b.f. skinner?
the founder of operant conditioning
shaping
process of gradually training a learned behavior that would not normally occur
positive reinforcement
adding something pleasant to increase behavior
negative reinforcement
taking away something unpleasant to increase the behavior
positive punishment
adding something unpleasant to decrease behavior
negative punishment
taking away something pleasant to decrease behavior
primary reinforcement
stimuli that is satisfying without needing to learn it is (food, water)
secondary reinforcement
stimuli that has acquired power because it is learned to be important (money, grades)
continuous reinforcement schedule
repeatedly reinforces behavior every time it happens
variable ratio (schedule)
random number of responses (ex. slot machine)
fixed ratio (schedule)
after a set number of responses (ex. buy one get one free)
variable interval (schedule)
after a random amount of time (ex. fishing)
fixed interval
after a set rate of time (ex. allowance every friday)
who is albert bandura and what experiment did he conduct?
he created the social learning theory. he conducted the bobo doll experiment
explain the bobo doll experiment
children watch an adult model’s aggressive behavior towards a toy (bobo doll) by attacking them. then when left alone in a room with the doll, the children attacked it. children who watched an non-aggressive model were subdued and didn’t attack the doll
flashbulb memory
a clear memory of an emotionally significant event
what are the 3 types of memory?
episodic, semantic/generic, procedural
episodic memory
a memory of a specific event (ex. graduation)
semantic/generic memory
general knowledge that we do not remember acquiring (ex. george washington was the first president of the u.s.)
procedural memory
memory of how we perform an action (ex. driving)
what are the three processes of memory?
encoding, storage, retrieval
encoding memory
processing information into the memory system
storage memory
maintenance of encoded information over time in the memory
retrieval (memory)
process of getting information out of memory
what are the 3 stages of memory?
sensory, short-term/working, long-term
sensory memory
the immediate initial recording of information that enters through our senses
short-term/working memory
holds a few items (7 plus or minus 2) briefly (18-20 sec) before the information is stored or forgotten
long-term memory
storing memory
what did hermann ebbingaus do?
he pioneered the experimental study of memory. He discovered the forgetting curve and that the more time we spend learning info, the longer we remember it
serial position effect
tendency to recall the first and last items of a list
primary effect
tendency to recall the first items of a list
recency effect
tendency to recall the last terms of list
mnemonic devices
ways of remembering info by using creative memory techniques
chunking
putting many numbers into parts
iconic memory
visual memory
echoic memory
auditory memory
implicit memory
memory that does not need to be consciously remembered to be present
explicit memory
memory used when consciously trying to remember something (ex. what you ate for dinner yesterday)
retrograde amnesia
forgetting old info
anterograde amnesia
forgetting new info
source amnesia
inability to remember who told you something
infantile amnesia
inability to anything before age of 3
recall
retrieval of info already learned (filling blank parts in tests)
recognition
identifying info you already learned (multiple choice)
proactive interference
old info interferes with new info
retroactive interference
new info interferes with old info
repression
pushing a memory to the back of the mind
who is abraham maslow and what did he believe?
he’s a humanistic psychologist who believed that basic needs need to be met before pursuing self-actualization needs
maslow’s hierarchy of needs (bottom to top)
physiological needs (food, water) ➜ safety needs (security, shelter) ➜ belonging needs (friends, family) ➜ esteem needs achievement) ➜ self-actualization
