Core Ideas

Question 1

*Independent Variable

Answer 1

> factor being manipulated
ex. Breastfeeding experiment
(IV is breast feeding)

Question 2

*Dependent Variable

Answer 2

> factor being measured (outcome)
usually behavior/mental process
ex. Breastfeeding experiment
(DV is intelligence)

Question 3

*Random Assignment

Answer 3

> randomly assign participants to experimental & control conditions
balances groups w/respect to uncontrollable variables

Question 4

*Replication

Answer 4

> if repeat experiment, get same pattern of results
confidence in experiment results
ex. Safety/effectiveness of drug treatments (check for side effects)

Question 5

*Non-Experimental Methods

Answer 5

> have no cause/effect, result is a correlation
correlation (r) - strength of relationship between two variables
ex. Linear scatterplot of husband & wife ages

Question 6

*Correlation of Height/Weight

Answer 6

> scatterplot shows strength of relationship
positive correlation- points up/right
negative correlation- points down/left (inverse relationship between x & y)
no correlation- points all over

Question 7

*Correlation Coefficient (number of Correlation)

Answer 7

> ranges from -1 to 1
if abs value is close, then its strong relationship
correlation does not prove causation, since no experiment done
NOT CAUSATION

Question 8

*Why use correlation?

Answer 8

> for prediction & decision making
if unable to conduct experiment
ex. Zajonc tested family size vs. IQ
Family Resource Model- number of resources down with increase of kids

Question 9

*Placebo Effect

Answer 9

> people actually get fake drug and feel better
treatment doesn’t do anything in reality
used in drug tests
ex. Patients even “Morphine”
(70% felt better after placebo drug)

Question 10

*Transduction

Answer 10

> converting environmental stimulus into nerve impulses

>sensory receptors convert environmental energy into nerve impulses (then to brain)

Question 11

*Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies

Answer 11

> quality of experience determined by sensory receptor stimulated and where info goes

Question 12

*Feature Detection

Answer 12

> cells in visual cortex respond to specific features

>plant electrobe in cortex to test activity in animals

Question 13

*Feature Detectors

Answer 13

> edge detectors
complex cells
hyper complex cells

Question 14

*Top Down Process

Answer 14

> stuff stored in head from previous experiences
knowledge, beliefs, expectations, memories
ex. LSU game outcome changed judge’s sentences

Question 15

*Bottom Up Process

Answer 15

> sensory input from sensors go to brain

>info from feature detectors

Question 16

*Capacity Theory

Answer 16

> attention is limited resource
individual controls distribution
difficult tasks require more
causes breakdown into serial processing

Question 17

*Classical Conditioning

Answer 17

> teach something to respond/remember
every animal can be
ex. Pavlov & his dog digestion experiment
ex. Vietnam vets w/sounds

Question 18

*Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

Classical Conditioning Terminology

Answer 18

> something person/animal already knows

>perhaps innate (food)

Question 19

*Unconditioned Response (UCR)

Classical Conditioning Terminology

Answer 19

> reflexive/innate biological response

>ex. dog salivates to food

Question 20

*Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

Classical Conditioning Terminology

Answer 20

> learned stimulus

Question 21

*Conditioned Response (CR)

Classical Conditioning Terminology

Answer 21

> actual learned response

Question 22

*Classical Conditioning Chart

Dog Example

Answer 22

> UCS: food
UCR: salivation
CS: bell rings/show food
CR: salivation from hearing bell

Question 23

*Shaping (by Successive Approximation)

Answer 23

> low achievable goal to harder goal
give/withhold reward to tell what to do
used to train animals
ex. dogs play piano, prisons, psych-wards

Question 24

*Reinforcement

Answer 24

> something increases strength or likelihood of getting response
key to operant condition
based on if-then contingency

Question 25

*Reinforcement Overview

Answer 25

> positive: give
negative: take away
continuous: happens every time
partial:

Question 26

*Decay Theory

Answer 26

> over time memory trace broken down = lost

>ex. newspaper in sun

Question 27

*Interference Theory

Answer 27

> memory doesn’t decay
info jumbled with other memories (can’t locate)
actual cause of forgetting
ex. lost keys exist, but don’t know where to find

Question 28

*Encoding Specificity Principle

Answer 28

> learn in a context
retrieval cues can be external environment or internal state of person
memory is optimal when retrieval conditions duplicate conditions present when memory formed

Question 29

*State Dependent Retrieval Eich’s Experiment

Answer 29

>tested frame of mind (1970's)
>Ranks of Study/Test Results:
Non-drug/non-drug
Drug/drug
Non-drug/drug
Drug/non-drug

Question 30

*Depth of Processing

Answer 30

> perspective on memory, changes how long it lasts
more neurons required for deep processing
quality of processing, not quantity of time spent

Question 31

*Depth of Processing Example

Answer 31

> remember BEAR (shallow, rhyme, deep task)
Results:
shallow- 42%
rhyme- 65%
deep- 90%
results were same even if knew test was coming

Question 32

*Memory is Reconstructive Process

Answer 32

> based on facts and bias
periodically updated (thus, prone to errors)
ex. video camera vs. website