Final Exam Prep Flashcards
1
Q
What is psychology?
A
Scientific study of the mind, brain, and behaviour
2
Q
What are the levels of analysis?
A
Biological, psychological, social culture influences
3
Q
What does the biological level of analysis involve?
A
Study of molecular or neurochemical and involves molecules and brain structure
4
Q
What is the psychological level of analysis and what does it involve?
A
Mental or neurological; involves thoughts, feelings, and emotions
5
Q
What is the social culture influences level of analysis and what does it involve?
A
Social or behavioral; involves relating to others and personal relationships
6
Q
Why do interrelated factors make human behaviors difficult to predict?
A
These make it difficult to determine which factor contributes to the behavior as they could all be playing a role
7
Q
What are individual differences and why do they make psychology difficult?
A
- People differ in their thinking, emotion, personality, and behavior
- Makes it different to explain behaviors that apply to everyone
8
Q
What is reciprocal determination and why does it make psychology difficult?
A
- We mutually influence each other’s behavior
* Makes it challenging to isolate the causes of human behavior
9
Q
Why do cultural differences make psychology difficult?
A
Place limits on generalizations that can be drawn about human nature
10
Q
What is the emic approach?
A
Study the behavior of a culture from the perspective of a “native” or insider
11
Q
What is the etic approach?
A
Study the behavior of a culture from the perspective of an outsider
12
Q
What is structuralism?
A
The elements of the mind.
Aimed to identify basic elements of psychological experience (much like a periodic table) using introspection
13
Q
Who was the leading figure in structuralism?
A
Edward Bradford Titchener (student of Wundt)
14
Q
Why didn’t structuralism work?
A
Subjective reports and others have imageless thought, the ability to solve problems without a conscious experience
15
Q
What did we learn from Structuralism?
A
- Need more than a single method for a complete science
* Importance of systematic observation needed to study conscious experience
16
Q
What is functionalism?
A
Psychology meets Darwin.
• Aimed to understand the adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics, such as thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
• Believed we evolved these traits to increase changes of survival and reproduction
17
Q
Who was the leading figure of functionalism?
A
William James, influenced by Charles Darwin
18
Q
What did we learn from functionalism?
A
Gradually absorbed into mainstream psychology and continues to indirectly influence the science
19
Q
What is behaviorism?
A
The laws of learning.
• Uncover the general principles of learning that explain all behaviours
• Focus is largely on observable behaviour
• Looked at rewards and punishments given by the environment
• Sometimes called black box psychology because they believed that we know the input and output from the mind, but didn’t worry about what happens between the two
20
Q
Who were the leading figures in behaviorism?
A
John B Watson and B. F. Skinner
21
Q
Why didn’t behaviourism work?
A
The neglect of cognition bothered many psychologists
22
Q
What did we learn from behaviourism?
A
- One of the first to focus on need for objective research
* Influential in models of human and animal learning
23
Q
What is cognitivism?
A
- Thinking is central to understanding behaviour
- Examines the role of mental processes on behaviour
- Believed only looking at rewards and punishments isn’t accurate because the interpretation of them are central to our behaviour
24
Q
Who were the leading figures of cognitivism?
A
Jean Piaget and Ulric Neisser
25
What did we learn from cognitivism?
* Still widely used today to get insight on a persons behaviours
* Cognitive neuroscience is a new field examining the relationship between brain functioning and emotion which will add biological processes to thoughts and feelings
26
What type of thought called the mind the black box?
Behaviourism
27
What type of thought was considered opening the black box?
Cognitivism
28
What is psychoanalysis?
* Uncover role of unconscious psychological processes and early life experiences in behaviour
* Believed primary influences are not rewards and punishments but rather unconscious drives, especially sexuality and aggression
* Believed in the significance of symbols and “Freudian slips”
* Believed core personalities is moulded in the first few years of life
29
Who was the leading figure of psychoanalysis?
Sigmund Freud
30
Why didn't psychoanalysis work?
Many believe it slowed the progress of psychology as a science
31
What did we learn from psychoanalysis?
Much of our mental process goes on outside of conscious awareness
32
What is evolutionary psychology?
* Applies Darwin’s theory of natural selection to human and animal behaviour
* Unable to be proven false though
33
What is determinism?
* The theory that free will is an illusion
* We are not consciously aware of thousands of subtle environmental influences
* Our behaviours are completely determined, caused by preceding influences
34
What is naïve realism?
* Belief that we see the world precisely as it is
* We assume “seeing is believing”
* We often have our own bias that interferes
35
What is a scientific theory?
* Explanation for many findings in the natural world
| * Ties multiple findings together into one package
36
What is a hypothesis?
A testable prediction derived from a scientific theory
37
What is confirmation bias?
* Tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypothesis and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them
* “You’ll see what you are looking for”
* Biggest bias and we need to strive to contradict it
38
What is belief perserverance?
* Tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them
* None of us want to believe we are wrong
39
What are metaphysical claims?
* Assertion about the world that is not testable
* Include existence of God, soul, afterlife etc.
* Cannot be tested using scientific methods
* Doesn’t mean they are wrong or unimportant, they just do not fall in the province of science as they are not testable
40
What is pseudoscience?
* Set of claims that seems scientific but isn’t
| * Lacks the safeguards against confirmation bias and belief perseverance that characterizes science
41
What does overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypothesis mean?
o Escape hatch or loophole that defenders of a theory use to protect the theory from being disproven
o Makes claims essentially impossible to test
42
What are the warning signs of pseudoscience?
* Overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypothesis
* Lack of self correction
* Overreliance of anecdotes
* Exaggerated claims
* Absence of connectivity to other research
* Lack of independent reviews
* Meaningless psychobabble
* Talk of proof, not evidence
43
What is patternicity?
Tendency to detect meaningful patterns in random stimuli
44
What is the terror management theory?
Proposes our awareness of our death leaves us with an underlying sense of terror and we cope by adopting reassuring cultural world views
45
What is the emotional reasoning fallacy?
Using our emotions or guides for evaluating the validity of a claim
46
What is the bandwagon fallacy?
Popular opinion isn’t a dependable way to determine accuracy
47
What is the not me fallacy?
Believing we are immune to bias
48
What is the either or fallacy?
Framing a question as if it can be only answered by opposite extremes
49
What is the appeal to authority fallacy?
Accepting a claim because an authority figure endorses it
50
What is genetic fallacy?
Confusing correctness of a belief with its origins
51
What is the argument for antiquity fallacy?
Belief must be accurate because its old
52
What is the argument from adverse consequences fallacy?
Confusing validity with its real world consequences
53
What is the appeal to ignorance fallacy?
Must be true because no one has proven it false
54
What is the naturalistic fallacy?
Inferring moral judgement from a scientific fact
55
What is the hasty generalization fallacy?
Drawing a conclusion from insufficient evidence
56
What is the circular reasoning fallacy?
Basing a claim on the same claim reworded in slightly different terms
57
What is scientific skepticism?
Approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them
58
What is critical thinking?
o Set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open-minded and careful fashion
o Used in psychology as scientific thinking
59
Name a few logical fallacies.
```
Emotional reasoning fallacy
Bandwagon fallacy
Not me fallacy
Either or fallacy
Appeal to authority fallacy
Genetic fallacy
Argument for antiquity fallacy
Argument from adverse consequence fallacy
Appeal to ignorance fallacy
Naturalistic fallacy
Hasty generalization fallacy
Circular reasoning fallacy
```
60
What is ruling out rival hypothesis?
Have important alternative explanations for the findings been excluded?
61
What is correlation vs causation?
Correlation-causation fallacy is the error of assuming that because one thing is associated with another, it must cause the other
62
What is falsifiability?
o Claim must be capable of being disproved
o Must state in advance what would be against the claim
o The best theories make risky predictions that risk being wrong so that if they are correct it is more likely to be caused by more than just chance
63
What is replicabilty?
Can results be consistently duplicated
64
What does extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary evidence mean?
Is the evidence as strong as the claim?
65
What is Occam's razor?
Does a simpler answer exist that accounts for all the data?
66
What are the scientific thinking principles?
* Rule out rival hypothesis
* Correlation isn’t causation
* Falsifiability
* Replicability
* Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence
* Occam’s Razor
67
What is basic research as it applies to psychological research?
Research examining how the mind works
68
What is applied research as it applies to psychological research?
Research examining how we can use basic research to solve real world problems
69
Why do we need research designs?
* To avoid being fooled by fallacies and bias
| * Avoid putting patients through useless treatments and focus on scientifically proven treatments
70
What is intuitive thinking and when do we need it?
* Quick, reflexive, mostly hunches
* Brain does this on autopilot
* We need these snap decisions in every day life
71
What is analytical thinking and when do we need it?
* Slow, reflective, and takes mental effort
* Can override intuitive thinking when “the gut” was wrong
* Good research designs can help prevent us from using intuitive thinking and have us using analytical thinking
72
What does heuristic means when applied to thinking?
Mental shortcut or rule of thumb that helps us to streamline our thinking and make sense of our world
73
What is naturalistic observation?
Watching behavior in real world settings without trying to manipulate the situation
74
What does external validity mean?
The extent to which we can generalize findings to real world settings
75
What does internal validity mean?
The extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study
76
What are the advantages to naturalistic observation?
High external validity
77
What are the disadvantages to naturalistic observation?
* Low internal validity
* We are unable to change the variables
* Unable to infer causation
* Must wait for right situation
* If subjects are aware they are being observed, it can affect their behavior
78
What are case studies?
Examines one person, or a small number of people in depth, often over an extended period of time
79
What are advantages to case studies?
* Can provide existence proofs
* Valuable with rare or unusual phenomena that are difficult or impossible to re-create
* Can give a basis for further hypothesis and later systematic testing
80
What is an existence proof?
Demonstration that a given psychological phenomenon can occur
81
What are disadvantages to case studies?
* Are typically anecdotal
* Unable to infer causation
* Rival hypotheses are not able to be ruled out
* Unable to determine if case generalizes in a population beyond the single case
82
What are self report measures and what can they assess?
o Often called questionnaires
| o Assesses variety of characteristics, such as personality traits, mental illness, and interests
83
What is a survey?
Typically used to measure people’s opinions and attitudes
84
What is random selection?
o Procedure that ensures that every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate
o Critical to generalize results to broader population
85
What is reliability when it comes to research?
o Refers to consistency of measurement
| o Should be able to repeat the test with the same results
86
What is interrater reliability when it comes to research?
Degree different people agree on the characteristics being measured
87
What is validity as it applies to research?
o Extent to which a measure assesses what it purports to measure
o Reliability is necessary for validity, but does not guarantee validity
88
What are some advantages to self reporting and surveys?
* Easy to administer
| * Self reporting of personality traits and behaviours work relatively well
89
What are some disadvantages to self report measures and surveys?
* Assumes participants have enough insight into their personality characteristics to report them accurately
* Response sets (people distorting their responses)
* When asking people to evaluate others (such as job performance), there are 2 pitfalls halo and horns effects
90
What is response sets when it comes to questionnaires and surveys and how can we manage it?
o Tendency of research participants to distort their responses (good or bad) to questionnaire items
o Can ask several questions that measure these tendencies and use this to compensate for this in clinical practice or research
91
What is the halo effect?
Tendency of ratings of one positive trait to influence other characteristics
92
What is the horns effect?
Tendency of one negative trait to influence ratings of other characteristics
93
What are correlational research designs?
* Examines the extent to which two variables are associated
| * Can be positive (same direction), negative (opposite direction), zero (no correlation)
94
What is the correlation coefficient?
o The statistics that psychologists use to measure correlations
o Range between -1.0 (perfect negative) and 1.0 (perfect positive)
95
What are advantages to correlational designs?
• Can help predict behavior or future patterns
96
What are disadvantages to correlational designs?
* Unable to infer causation
| * Illusory compensation (perception of correlation where none exists)
97
What is illusory compensation?
o Perception of a statistical associate between two variables where none exists
o Provides need to calculate correlations rather than relying on our own eyes
o Our intuitions mislead us, especially when we’ve learned to expect two things to go together
98
What is the between-subjects experimental design?
o Random assignments into experimental or control groups
| o Need to ensure that control group believes they are getting treatment (placebo)
99
What is the within-subject experimental design?
o Each participant acts of their own control
| o Participants are measured before and after the manipulation
100
What is the independent variable?
Variable that the experimenter manipulates
101
What is the dependent variable?
Variable that the experimenter measures to see whether this manipulation has had an effect
102
What is the operational definition of an experimental design?
A specific definition of what’s being measured
103
What is the confounding variable in an experimental design?
Any difference in variables between experimental and control groups that isn’t the independent variable
104
What is the placebo effect?
o Improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement
o We need to be aware of this and ensure both groups are equally likely to experience it
105
What is a blind experimental design?
o Unaware of whether one is in the experimental or control group
o If patients are not blind, the experiment is essentially ruined
106
What is a double blind experimental design?
o Experiment in which neither researchers nor participants are aware of who is in the experimental or control group
o Safeguards against confirmation bias and experimenter expectancy effect
107
What is the nocebo effect?
Expectation of harm that results in harm (voodoo)
108
What is the experimenter expectancy effect?
o Also called the Rosenthal effect
o Researchers’ hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study
o Affects results in subtle ways, almost outside of their knowledge
o Researchers can fall prey to confirmation bias
109
What is demand characteristics of an experimental design?
o Cues that participants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researcher’s hypotheses
o Experimenters may use a cover story or distractor items on a survey
110
What is the advantage of experimental designs?
Allows us to infer causation
111
What are the disadvantages to experimental design?
Can be low in external validity
112
Who provides ethical guidelines for researchers?
Research Ethics Board
113
What is informed consent?
Participants must be aware of what is involved in a study prior to asking them to participate
114
When is deception justified in research designs?
o Study cannot be performed without the deception
o Does not negatively affect rights of the participant
o Does not involve a medical or therapeutic intervention
115
What is a debriefing?
Researchers tell participants about full experiment including deceptions and what was learned
116
Who's guidelines must be followed for the use of animals in research?
Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC)
117
What are statistics?
Application of mathematics to describing and analyzing data
118
What are descriptive statistics?
Numerical characterizations that describe data
119
What is the central tendency?
Measures of the “central” scores in a data set or where the group tends to cluster
120
What are the three measures for central tendency?
Mean, median, and mode
121
What is the mean?
Average, total score divided by the number of people
122
What is the median?
Actual middle score of a data set
123
What is the mode?
Most frequent score in a data set
124
What is the variability in statistics?
Measure of how loosely or tightly bunched scores are; sometimes called dispersion
125
What is the range?
o Simplest measure of variability
o Difference between the highest and lowest scores
o Can be deceptive as it doesn’t share the distribution of scores in the range
126
What is standard deviation?
Average amount that each data point is from the mean rather than just the range
More difficult to calculate but less deceiving than simple range
127
What is inferential statistics?
Mathematical methods that allow us to determine whether we can generalize findings from our sample to the full population
128
What is statistical significance?
* When the finding would have occurred by chance less than 5 in 100 times
* The larger the sample, the greater the odds that a result will be statistically significant
129
What is the practical significance?
* Real world importance
| * Just because it’s statistically significant does not mean that it makes any difference in the real world
130
What is the base rate when looking at statistics?
How common a characteristic or behaviour is in the general population
131
What is balanced coverage when discussing evaluating psychological research?
Try to cover both sides using “experts” and can create pseudosymmetry, the appearance of scientific controversy where none exist
132
What are glial cells?
* Carry away debris
| * Are a support cell for neurons
133
What is an astrocyte?
* Communicate closely with neurons
* Control blood flow in brain
* Intimately involved in thought, memory, and immune system
* Play a role in blood brain barrier
134
What is an oligodendrocyte?
* Promotes new connections among nerve cells
* Releases chemicals to aid in healing
* Produces myelin sheath
135
What is the resting potential?
No neurotransmitters acting on neurons
136
What is the threshold level for neurons?
Membrane potential necessary to trigger an action potential
137
What is an action potential?
Electrical impulse travels down the axon and triggers release of neurotransmitters
138
What law does an action potential follow?
All or nothing law
139
What is a graded potential?
Post synaptic potentials that can be excitatory or inhibitory depending on whether + or – charged particles flow across the neuronal membrane and in which direction they flow
140
What is an excitatory postsynaptic potential and what is it caused by?
* Graded potential in a dendrite that is caused by excitatory synaptic transmission
* Caused by positive ions
141
What is an inhibitory postsynaptic potential and what is it caused by?
* Graded potential in a dendrite that is caused by inhibitory synaptic transmission
* Caused by negative ions
142
What is long term potentiation?
* Neurons mechanism for memory and basis for our memories
* Occurs when graded potential becomes larger than it was prior to stimulation
* Increases ability of neuron to communicate and fire action potentials
143
What is a neurotransmitter?
o Chemical event allowing communication among neurons
o Can be excitatory of inhibitory
o Each has something different to say
144
What is a receptor site?
o Location that recognizes a neurotransmitter
| o Different receptors recognize different neurotransmitters (lock and key analogy)
145
What is reuptake?
Presynaptic axon reabsorbs the neurotransmitter and halts further transmission
146
What is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS?
Glutamate
147
What is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS?
Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA)
148
What is glutamate associated with?
Learning and memory
149
What are elevated levels of glutamate related to?
o Schizophrenia and other mental health disorders
| o Damage to receptors due to overstimulation
150
What does glutamate interact with?
Alcohol and memory enhancers
151
What does GABA play a role in?
Learning, memory and sleep
152
What does GABA interact with?
o Alcohol
| o Anti-anxiety drugs suppressing overactive brain areas linked to worry
153
What does GABA stand for?
Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
154
What does ACh stand for?
Acetylcholine
155
What is ACh associated with?
* Work in muscle contraction in PNS
* Affects cortical arousal in CNS
* Plays role in arousal, selective attention, sleep, and memory
156
What happens to ACh receptors in Alzheimer's disease?
Neurons containing acetylcholine (and others) are progressively destroyed
157
What does ACh interact with?
o Nicotine stimulates ACh receptors
o Memory enhancers increase ACh
o Insecticides block the breakdown of ACh, resulting in violent, uncontrolled movements that kills the bugs
o Botox causes paralysis by blocking ACh release
158
What are the monoamines?
Norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin
159
What is norepinephrine associated with?
Brain arousal and other functions like mood, hunger, and sleep
160
What does norepinephrine interact with?
Amphetamine and methamphetamine increase NE
161
What is dopamine associated with?
Motor function and reward
162
What does dopamine interact with?
L-Dopa increases dopamine, used to treat Parkinson’s disease
Antipsychotic drugs which block dopamine action are used to treat schizophrenia
Amphetamine and methamphetamine increase dopamine
163
What is serotonin associated with?
o Mood and temperature regulation, aggression, and sleep cycles
164
What does serotonin react with?
Serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants used to treat depression
Amphetamine and methamphetamine increase serotonin
165
Which neurotransmitter binds to the same receptors as THC?
Anandamide
166
What is anandamide associated with?
* Plays roles in eating, motivation, memory, and sleep
| * Plays a role in pain reduction
167
What type of neurotransmitter is endorphins?
Neuropeptides
168
What is endorphins associated with?
o Play a role in pain reduction
| o Opioids hijack the endorphin receptors
169
What are psychoactive drugs and what do they affect?
o Drugs that interact with neurotransmitter systems
| o Affect mood, arousal, or behaviour
170
What is an agonist?
•Increase receptor site activity
171
What is an antagonist?
Decrease receptor site activity
172
What is neural plasticity?
* Ability of the nervous system to change
* Constantly changing, more in early childhood
* Often cannot change enough to compensate for injury or stroke
173
What are the 4 primary changes of neural plasticity?
* Growth of dendrites and axons
* Synaptogenesis, the formation of new synapses
* Pruning
* Myelination
174
What is pruning as it relates to neural plasticity?
o Death of 70% of neurons
o Retraction of axons to remove connections that aren’t useful
o Streamlines neural organization and becomes more efficient
o Autism may be due to inadequate pruning
175
How does neural plasticity play a role in learning?
* Change results from formation of new synapses and strengthening existing connections
* Develop long term potentiation
176
What is adult neurogenesis?
* Creation of new neurons in the adult brain
* May play a helpful role in learning
* Studying ability to trigger this to help with recovery
177
What is a stem cell and what applications do they have in neuroscience?
* A cell, often originating in embryos, having the capacity to differentiate into a more specialised cell
* Implanting stem cells can induce them to grow and replace damaged cells
* May have gene therapy applications as well
178
What does the fusiform gyrus in the temporal lobe play a role in?
Facial recognition
179
What is the basal ganglia?
Structures in the forebrain that help to control movement
180
What is the limbic system?
* Emotional centre of the brain that also plays roles in smell, motivation, and memory
* Processes information about our internal states and emotions
181
What is the function of the thalamus?
* Works as a sensory relay center
| * Sensory information first passes through it, undergoing some initial processing before travelling onto the cortex
182
What is the function of the hypothalamus?
* Regulates and maintains constant internal bodily states
| * Plays roles in hunger, thirst, sexual motivation, emotional behaviours, temperature regulation
183
What is the function of the amygdala?
* Responsible for excitement, arousal, and fear
| * Plays role in fear conditioning
184
What is the function of the hippocampus?
* Critical role in memory, especially spatial memory
* Evidence suggests this area can change size following learning
* Damage causes issues forming new memories while leaving old memories intact
185
What is the reticular activating system?
Reticular Activating System
• Connects to forebrains and cerebral cortex
• Plays important role in arousal
• Damage can result in coma
186
What is the function of the pons?
Crucial role in triggering dreams
| Connects cortex to cerebellum
187
What is the function of the medulla?
Regulates breathing, heartbeat, and other vital functions
Controls nausea and vomiting
Serious damage can cause brain death, and irreversible coma
188
What is the "master gland" of the body?
Pituitary gland
189
What is phrenology?
Belief that bumps on the head contribute to intelligence and personality
190
What is a CT scan?
• Computed tomography (CT)
o 3D reconstruction of multiple x-rays taken through a part of the body
o Displays more detail than an individual x-ray
191
What is an MRI?
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
o Shows structural detail and superior to CT for soft tissues
o Measures release of energy from hydrogen atoms in biological tissues following exposure to a magnetic field
192
What is a PET test?
* Positron emission tomography (PET
* Measures changes in brains activity in response to stimuli
* Injection of radioactive glucose like molecules, scanner measures where in the brain most of these are consumed as neurons increase glucose consumption when they are active
193
What is an fMRI?
* Functional MRI
| * Measures changes in blood oxygen levels as oxygen demands increase as activity increases
194
What is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)?
* Applies strong and quickly changing magnetic fields to the skull to create electric fields in the brain
* Can enhance or interrupt brain function in specific regions depending on level of stimulation
195
What is Magnetoencephalography (MEG)?
* Detects electrical activity by measuring tiny magnetic fields
* Measures activity changes millisecond to millisecond
196
What is localization of function as it comes to neuroscience?
Brain areas identified as active during specific psychological tasks over a baseline rate of activity
197
What is lateralization as it applies to neuroscience?
o Cognitive function that relies more on one side of the brain than the other
o Many of these functions concern specific language and verbal skills
198
What is split brain surgery?
o Procedure that involves severing the corpus callosum to reduce the spread of epileptic seizures
o Rare operation that is no longer performed
199
What is heritability in respect to behavioural genetics?
o Extent to which genes contribute to differences in a trait among individuals
o Typically expressed as a percentage
o So if it’s 40% heritable, than 40% is genes and 60% is environment
200
What is behavioural genetics?
Examines influence of nature and nurture on psychological traits
201
What are examples of behavioural genetic designs?
Family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies
202
What is a family study?
* Researchers examine the extent to which a characteristic runs in an intact family
* Doesn’t allow environments to be ruled out
203
What is a twin study?
* Analysis of how traits differ in identical versus fraternal twins
* Would assume that environment for the twins is the same so allows us to see the genetic differences in fraternal twins
204
What are adoption studies?
Examines the extent to which children adopted resemble their adoptive as opposed to their biological parents
205
What is sensation?
Detection of physical energy by sense organs, which then send information to the brain
206
What is perception?
• The brains interpretation of raw sensory inputs
207
What is an illusion as it pertains to sensation and perception?
• Perception in which the way we perceive a stimulus doesn’t match its physical reality
208
What is filling in as it pertains to sensation and perception?
* Occurs entirely without our awareness
* Usually adaptive and helps us make sense of our world
* We use available information to make sense of what’s missing
209
What is transduction?
• Process of converting an external stimulus into electrical activity within neurons
210
What is a sensory receptor?
• Specialised cell responsible for converting external stimuli into neural activity for a specific sensory system
211
What is sensory adaptation?
* Activation is greatest when stimulus is first detected
* Declines in strength after
* Occurs at level of receptor
212
What is psychophysics?
• Study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics
213
What is the absolute threshold as it pertains to sensation?
* Lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change of 50% of the time
* Demonstrates how sensitive our sensory systems are
* Human error increases as stimuli become weaker
214
What is the just noticeable difference (JND)?
* Smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect
* Ability to distinguish strong from weak stimuli
215
What is Weber's Law?
o Principle stating there is a constant proportional relationship between the JND and original stimulus intensity
o Basically, the stronger the stimulus, the bigger the change needed for a change in stimulus intensity to be noticeable
216
What is the signal detection theory?
• Theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions
217
What is the signal to noise ration as it pertains to the signal detection theory?
o How much the signal needs to be increased to be heard over background noise
218
What is the response bias as it pertains to the signal detection theory?
o Tendencies to make one type of guess over another when we’re in doubt about whether a weak signal is present or absent under noisy conditions
219
What is the McGurk effect as it pertains to sensation?
o We integrate visual and auditory information when processing spoken language and our brain automatically calculates the most probably sound given the information between the 2 sources
220
What is the rubber hand illusion?
o Touch and sight can interact to create a false perceptual experience
221
What is synesthesia?
o Rare condition in which people experience cross-modal sensations
o Shows up lots in children but no longer present in adults
222
What is selective attention?
• Process of selecting one sensory channel and ignoring or minimizing others
223
What part of the brain is main brain region involved in selective activation?
Selective attention
224
What is the filter theory of attention?
o Views attention as a bottleneck through which information passes
o Allows us to pay attention to important information and ignore others
225
What is the cocktail party effect?
o Allows us to pick out important information when we are not actively paying attention, like someone saying your name across the room at a party
226
What is inattentional blindness?
* Failure to detect stimuli that are in plain sight when our attention is focused elsewhere
* The gorilla in the basketball game study
227
What is change blindness as it relates to attention?
Failure to detect obvious changes in one’s environment
228
What is the trichromatic theory?
Idea that colour vision is based on our sensitivity to three primary light colours
229
What is the opponent process theory?
Theory that we perceive colours in terms of 3 pairs of opponent colours
o Red or green
o Blue or yellow
o Black or white
230
What theory explains after images? (the ones that remain after we stare at a colour for a long time and look away)
Opponent Process Theory
231
What is blindness?
* Dramatic reduction in ability to see
| * Less than or equal to 20/200
232
What is blind sight?
* Damage to the V1 primary visual cortex area of their brain
* Coarser visual information still reaches the visual association cortex V2 through an alternative pathway that bypasses V1
233
What is visual agnosia?
* Deficit in perceiving objects
| * Recognize colour and shapes of objects but cannot recognize or name them
234
What is pitch?
* The frequency of the wave
| * The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch
235
What is loudness?
• The amplitude, or height, of the sound wave
236
What is timbre?
* The quality or complexity of the sound
| * Makes musical instruments, human voices, or other sources sound unique
237
What is place theory?
o Specific place along the basilar membrane matches a tone with a specific pitch
o Only accounts for high pitch between 5 000 to 20 000 Hz
238
How is frequency detected?
based on the location in the cochlea
o Higher frequency base of the basilar membrane
o Lower frequencies at the top of the basilar membrane
239
What is cognitive deafness?
o Malfunctioning of the ear, especially failure of eardrum or ossicles
240
What is nerve deafness?
o Due to damage in the auditory nerve
241
What is parallel processing?
• Ability to attend to many sense modalities simultaneously
242
What is bottom up processing?
o Processing in which a whole is constructed from its parts
243
What is top down processing?
o Conceptually driven processing influenced by beliefs and expectancies
244
What is the perceptual hypotheses?
* Get away with economizing in our sensory processing and making educated guesses
* Decent guess with fewer neurons is more efficient than a more certain answer with a huge number of neurons
245
What is perceptual sets?
• Set formed when expectations influence perceptions
246
What is perceptual constancy?
• Process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varied conditions
247
What is shape constancy?
o Even as the shape moves as a door opens, we still know it’s a door
248
What is the size constancy?
o My dog is still the same size even when he runs ahead of me on the path and appears smaller to my eyes
249
What is colour constancy?
o Ability to perceive colour consistently across different levels of lighting
250
What are subjective contours?
* Mere hint of three or four corners gives perception of imaginary shape
* Our brains provide missing information about the outlines
251
What are bistable images?
* Images that can be perceived in two ways
| * Limits to how quickly we can shift from one view to the other
252
What is the illusion of emergence?
• Perceptual gestalt (whole) that jumps off the page and hits us once we can see it
253
What are the gestalt principles?
* Rules governing how we perceive objects as wholes within their overall context
* Help explain why we see our world as unified forms rather than jumbles of lines and curves
254
What is the gestalt principle of proximity?
• Objects physically close to each other tend to be perceived as unified wholes
255
What is the gestalt principle of similarity?
• We view similar objects as composing a whole, much more so than dissimilar objects
256
What is the gestalt principle of continuity?
• Perceive objects as wholes even when other objects block part of them
257
What is the gestalt principle of closure?
• When partial visual information is present, our brains fill in what’s missing
258
What is the gestalt principle of symmetry?
• Perceive objects that are symmetrically arranged as holes more often than those that are not
259
What is the gestalt principle of figure-ground?
* Make instant decisions to focus attention on the central figure, largely ignoring the background
* Example is the black vase/two faces illusion
260
What part of the brain perceives faces?
• Lower part of the temporal lobe responds to faces
261
What is the Phi phenomenon when it comes to perceiving motion
o Perception of movement produced by successive flashing of images
o Shows that our perceptions about what is moving is based on only partial information and then our brain guesses at what is missing
262
What is motion blindness?
o Serious disorder in which patient’s can’t seamlessly string still images into perception of ongoing motion
o Like having lagging frames in a game, things jump rather than move seamlessly
263
What is depth perception?
o Ability to judge distance and three-dimensional relations
264
What are monocular depth cues?
* Stimuli that enable us to judge depth using only one eye
| * Rely on pictorial cues to give a sense of what’s located where in stationary scene
265
What are monocular depth cues?
* Relative size
* Texture gradient
* Interposition
* Linear perspective
* Height in plane
* Light and shadow
* Motion parallax
266
How does relative size help with depth perception?
o More distant objects look smaller than closer objects
267
How does texture gradient help with depth perception?
o Texture less apparent at a distance
268
How does interposition help with depth perception?
o We know an object is closer if it blocks the view of another object
269
How does linear perspective help with depth perception?
o Outlines of rooms or buildings converge as distance increases
270
How does height in place help with depth perception?
o Distant objects tend to appear higher
271
How does light and shadow help with depth perception?
o Objects cast shadows that tell us of their 3-D form
272
How does motion parallax help with depth perception?
o Not pictorial
o Ability to judge the distance of moving objects by their speed
o Near objects seam to travel faster than those further away
273
What are binocular depth cues?
• Stimuli that enable us to judge depth using both eyes
274
What is binocular disparity?
o Information is much more different with near objects than far objects
o Each eye sees the world just slightly differently and brains use this to judge depth
275
What is binocular convergence?
o As we turn our eyes inwards to see a close-up object, the brain is aware of how much our eyes moved and can use this to estimate depth
276
How do we perceive where sounds are located?
o Some axons connect to cells on the same side of the brain as the ear that heard the noise, and some are sent over to the other side of the brain, this difference causes a different length of time for the stimulus to be received
o Our brains compare the difference between the ears
o Sound is also louder in the ear closest to the noise
277
What is the moon illusion?
• Moon appears to be a different size at the horizon/in the sky
278
What is the Muller-Lyer illusion?
• Lines appear longer with arrows going to it than with arrows pointing away
279
What is the Ponzo Illusion?
• Converging lines, like railroad tracks going to the distance, the brain assumes that objects closer to the converging lines as further away, and it would be correct generally, but in images rather than real life, this can trick the brain about object sizes
280
What is the horizontal-vertical illusion?
• When looking at an upside-down T, we see the vertical part as longer because the horizontal line is divided in half
281
What is the Ebbinghaus-Tichener illusion?
• Perceive a circle as larger when surrounded by smaller circles and smaller when surrounded by larger circle
282
What is subliminal perception?
* Perception below the limen, or threshold of conscious awareness
* Evidence for subliminal perception is compelling but the effects often vanish when participants become aware or even suspect attempts to influence them
283
What is consciousness?
• Our subjective experience of the world, our bodies, and our mental perspectives
284
What is sleep paralysis?
• State of being unable to move just before falling asleep or right before waking up
285
What are some theories about why we sleep?
```
o Storing memories
o Immune system support
o For insight and problem solving
o Neurological support
o Ability to function and plan
o Conserving energy and hiding from predators
```
286
What is the circadian rhythm?
• Cyclical changes that occur on a roughly 24-hour basis in many biological processes
287
What can disruptions to the circadian rhythm cause?
```
o Risk of injury
o Fatal accidents
o Health problems including
Diabetes
Heart disease
```
288
What is the bodies biological clock in reference to sleep patterns?
• Term for the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus that’s responsible for controlling our levels of alertness
289
What is the hormone responsible for triggering feelings of sleepiness?
Melatonin
290
What is jet lag?
• Disruption of circadian rhythm caused by flying
291
What is sleep dept?
• Accumulation of sleep deprivation
292
What can sleep deprivation after multiple nights cause?
o Depression
o Difficulties learning
o Difficulties paying attention
o Slowed reaction times
293
What can sleep deprivation lasting 4 days or more cause?
Hallucinations
294
What conditions is sleep deprivation associated with?
```
o Increased weight
o Increased blood pressure
o Diabetes
o Heart problems
o Immunosuppression
```
295
What brain waves are shown when someone is awake?
beta waves 13 plus times/second
296
What brain waves are shown when the brain is awake but relaxed?
alpha waves 8 – 12 times/second
297
What does REM stand for?
Rapid eye movement
298
What is the first stage of sleep and how long does it last?
* Very light and may not be aware they are sleeping
| * Lasts 5 – 10 min
299
What brain waves are shown during stage 1 sleep?
theta waves 4 – 7 times/second
300
What brain waves are shown during stage 2 sleep?
Sleep Spindles and K complexes
301
What brain waves are shown during stage 3 sleep?
• Delta waves 20 – 50% of the time
302
What brain waves are shown during stage 4 sleep?
• Delta waves 50% plus
303
What is hypnagogic imagery?
• Scrambled and bizarre dreamlike images that flit in and out of consciousness
304
What are myoclonic jerks?
• Sudden jerks as if startled or falling
305
About how long does stage 2 sleep last?
10-30 minutes
306
What are sleep spindles?
* Sudden intense bursts of electrical activity
| * 12 – 14 cycles/second
307
What are K complexes?
• Occasionally sharply rising and falling waves
308
In which stage of sleep does the average person spend about 65% of their sleep in?
Stage 2
309
What symptoms will a person show when they are in stage 2 sleep?
```
o Slower brain waves
o Decreased heart rate
o Decreased temperature
o Muscles relax
o Eye movement stops
```
310
What are delta waves?
* Slow brain waves
| * About 1 – 2 cycles/second
311
What depresses delta waves?
Alcohol
312
What is stage 5 sleep?
REM sleep
313
About how much of sleep is spent in the REM stage of sleep?
About 25%
314
What type of dreams are usually had in REM sleep?
Emotional and illogical
315
What type of dreams are usually had in non REM sleep?
Usually every day tasks
316
What are symptoms that someone is in REM sleep?
* Brain is most active
| * Heart rate, blood pressure and irregular breathing all increase
317
What brain waves are shown during stage 5 sleep?
• Resembles wakefulness with high frequency low altitude waves
318
What is REM rebound and when does it occur?
* Occurs when deprived of REM for a few nights
| * Amount and intensity of REM increases
319
What happens to the middle ear during REM sleep?
Middle ear becomes active
320
What is paradoxical sleep?
• Brain is active but body is paralyzed
321
What is REM behaviour disorder?
* Characterized by not being paralyzed during dreams
* Act out sometimes violent dreams
* May be early marker of dementia
322
What is lucid dreaming?
* Being aware that you are dreaming
| * Parts of cerebral cortex for perceptions and evaluating are active
323
What is the most common sleep disorder?
Insomnia
324
What are symptoms of insomnia?
o Have trouble falling asleep (>30 min)
o Waking too early
o Waking during night and having difficulty resuming sleep
325
Who are most at risk for insomnia?
Those suffering from
o Depression
o Chronic pain
o Variety of medical conditions
326
What may brief bouts of insomnia be caused by?
```
o Stress
o Shiftwork
o Naps
o Meds
o Jet lag
o Illness
o Caffeine
```
327
What are treatments for insomnia?
o Psychotherapy
| o Sleep meds, but they may result in rebound insomnia
328
What is narcolepsy and what can it be associated with?
* Sudden sleep lasting a few seconds to several minutes, rarely can last up to an hour
* Go directly to REM sleep when they dose off
* Can be associated with strong emotions
329
Who is most at risk for narcolepsy?
o Genetic abnormality
| o Brain damage
330
Which hormone plays a role in sleep but narcolepsy pts have very few producers for?
orexin
331
What is cataplexy?
* Complete loss of muscle tone that can be experienced by a patient with narcolepsy
* Occurs in healthy people during REM sleep
* Some narcoleptics suffer cataplexy but remain alert
332
What is sleep apnea?
* Blockage of airway during sleep
| * Causes patient to wake up hundreds of times at night leading to fatigue but they have no awareness of waking
333
What are symptoms of sleep apnea?
o Snoring loudly
o Gasping
o Stop breathing >20 seconds
334
What can the decrease in oxygen and increase in carbon dioxide caused by not breathing during sleep apnea cause?
```
o Night sweats
o Weight gain
o Fatigue
o Hearing loss
o Irregular heart rate
o Increased risk of dementia
```
335
What are treatments for sleep apnea?
o Weight loss
| o CPAP
336
What are night terrors?
```
• Sudden waking episodes characterized by
o Screaming
o Perspiring
o Confusion
o Usually only lasts a few minutes
o Drop back to deep sleep with no recollection
• Occur almost exclusively in children
• Can occur in adults under great stress
```
337
What is sleep walking and who does it usually affect?
* Waking while fully asleep
* Patient usually acts fully awake although more clumsy
* More common with sleep deprivation
* Most common in children
* Almost always occur during non-REM sleep (usually stages 3 & 4)
* Usually harmless although doors can be alarmed for those that try dangerous activities
* It is safe to wake them up
338
What is sexsomnia?
* Also called sleep sex
| * Engage in sexual acts while asleep with no recollection upon waking
339
Although we don't know why we dream, what are some theories?
```
o Processing emotions
o Integrate new experiences
o Learn new strategies
o Cope with threatening situations
o Recognizing and consolidating memories
```
340
What is Freud's dream protection theory?
• Believe sex and aggression during sleep stopped them from “bubbling up”
341
In Freud's dream protection theory, what is the dream-work?
o Putting impulses into symbols representing wish fulfilment
342
In Freud's dream protection theory, what is the manifest and latent content?
Manifest content - dream itself
| Latent content - hidden meaning
343
What is the activation-synthesis theory? What neurotransmitters and parts of the brain are thought to be involved?
* Theory that dreams reflect inputs from brain activation originating in the pons, which the forebrain then attempts to weave into a story
* Acetylcholine that increases during REM and activates pons
* Decreased serotonin and norepinephrine lead to decrease reflective thought, reasoning, attention, and memory
* Pons sends incomplete signals to thalamus, relay for sensory info that forebrain attempts to interpret as a story
* Amygdala increases resulting in fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, and elation
344
What is the dreaming and forebrain theory?
* Alternative to activation-synthesis theory
* Emphasizes forebrain role in dreaming
* Damage to deep frontal or parietal lobes can stop dreams
* Proponents believe dreams driven by motivational and emotional control centers as logical parts rest
345
What is the neurocognition theory?
o Theory that dreams are a meaningful product of our cognitive capacities which shape what we dream about
• Complex dreams are cognitive achievements parallel their cognitive abilities
• More than random, focus on everyday activities, emotional concerns, and preoccupations
• Context is surprisingly stable, 50-80% have recurrent dreams
346
What is a hallucination and what do their brain scans reveal?
* Realistic perceptual experiences in the absence of external stimuli
* Brain scans reveal activity for the sense being perceived
347
How do some induce hallucinations?
o Prayer
o Fasting
o Hallucinogenic drugs
348
What can bring on visual hallucinations?
```
o Oxygen/sensory deprivation
o Epilepsy
o Fever
o Dementia
o Migraines
```
349
What is the difference of hallucinations in psychotic individuals and non psychotics?
• Psychotic individuals report more negative/less controllable hallucinations than non-psychotics
350
What is an out of body experience (OBE)?
* Sense of consciousness leaving the body
* While they feel out of body, their reports of what’s above them is often inaccurate
* Many result from scrambled senses of touch and vision
* Decreased glutamate from ketamine can lead to OBE type symptoms
351
What do people who are prone to out of body experiences often also report experiencing?
```
o Vivid fantasies
o Hallucinations
o Strange body sensations
o Lucid dreams
o Perceptual distortion
```
352
What is a near death experience and what do they usually include?
• OBE reported by people who’ve nearly died or thought they were going to die
• Experiences include
o Passing through to light
o Life review (life flashing before your eyes)
o Meet spiritual being
o Meet long dead relatives
• Constructed by prevalent beliefs of afterlife
353
What nonlife threatening events can trigger a near death experience?
o Electrical stimulation of temporal lobe
o Decreased oxygen during rapid acceleration of pilot training
o Psychedelics (LSD) or anesthetics (ketamine)
354
What are mystical experiences?
* Feelings of unity or oneness with the world often with strong spiritual overtones
* Contributes to formations of many religions
* Differ across religious faiths with individual experiences being unique
* Difficult to study due to unpredictability
* At least 12 different areas of brain associated with emotion, perception, and cognition become active when reliving mystical experiences, but this may differ from spontaneous events
355
What effects can taking psilocybin (sacred mushrooms) have on a person?
o Taking it had improvements in mood and mystical experiences
o 30% suffered from fear and anxiety
356
What is hypnosis?
• Set of techniques that provides people with suggestions for alterations in their perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
357
What is the induction method for hypnosis?
o Suggestions for relaxation and instructions to think of pleasant experiences
358
What are the results of hypnosis?
* Enhances effectiveness of psychodynamic and CBT
* Useful for pain, medical conditions, and habit disorders
* Boosts effectiveness of therapy for anxiety, obesity and other conditions
* No evidence of effectiveness alone
359
What is the sociocognitive theory of hypnosis?
* People’s beliefs and expectations of hypnosis and suggestiveness shape their response
* Training to increase people’s positive feelings and expectancies about hypnosis can change suggestibility
360
What is the dissociation theory of hypnosis?
* Suggestions result in a separation between personality functions that are not normally well integrated
* Hypnosis is shaped by expectations and beliefs
* Suggestions bring responses with little to no effort or conscious control
361
What are psychoactive drugs?
• Contains chemicals similar to those found naturally in our brains that alter consciousness by changing chemical processes in neurons
362
What is substance abuse?
o Experience recurrent problems associated with the drug
363
What is substance dependence?
o Clinically significant impairment, distress, or both
364
What is tolerance of a substance?
o Increased amount required for intoxication
365
What is withdrawal and what are some symptoms?
```
o Unpleasant effects of decreased or stopping consumption
o Symptoms include
Insomnia
Anxiety
Seizures
Confusion
Hallucinations
```
366
What is withdrawal and what are some symptoms?
```
o Unpleasant effects of decreased or stopping consumption
o Symptoms include
Insomnia
Anxiety
Seizures
Confusion
Hallucinations
```
367
What is physical dependence?
o Continue to take drug to avoid withdrawal
368
What is psychological dependence?
o Use motivated by intense cravings
369
What are sociocultural influences for drug use and abuse?
* Cultures with drinking prohibited have decrease in alcoholism than “vino” or “wet” cultures
* Unemployed at higher risk of alcohol abuse
370
What is an addictive personality in association with drug use and abuse?
* Correlated with impulsivity, sociability, anxiety, and hostility
* Causation not established
371
What is the tension reduction hypothesis for drug use/abuse?
o Self medicating reinforces and increases probability of continued use
o Works because they believe it will reduce stress
372
What is the result of a depressant and what is the mostly widely used and abused drug?
Depresses CNS, alcohol
373
What is a sedative hypnotic and what drugs does it include?
* Sedative is calming, hypnotics means sleep inducing
* Includes barbiturates, non barbiturates, and benzodiazepines
* Usually used for sleep issues or anxiety
* Dangerous at high levels including unconsciousness, coma, and death
* Benzos still widely used today and greatest risk potential
374
What is the result of stimulants?
• Increases CNS and causes increased heart rate, respirations, and blood pressure
375
What drugs fall under depressants?
Alcohol and sedative-hypnotics
376
What drugs fall under stimulants?
Nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamines
377
What does nicotine cause?
• Activates acetylcholine receptors
• Feelings of stimulation, relaxation, and alertness
• Adjustive value
o Enhances positive and minimizes negative emotional responses
378
What is the most powerful natural stimulant?
Cocaine
379
What symptoms are caused by cocaine?
```
o Euphoria
o Enhanced physical and mental capacity
o Stimulation
o Decreased hunger
o Indifference to pain
o Sense of well being
o Decreased fatigue
• Peaks quickly and fades in 30 min
• Heavy intake produces intense drive to use
• Increases activity of dopamine and maybe serotonin
```
380
What are the effects of taking amphetamines?
• Occasional small doses can postpone fatigue and increase mood
• Regular use for euphoria can cause psychological dependence and depression if use is interrupted
• Large doses for the rush experience
o Increase activity
o Decrease sleep
o Decrease appetite
o May develop paranoia and delusions
381
What are methamphetamines and what is the result of use?
* More powerful but chemically similar to amphetamines
| * Intense exhilaration, followed by euphoria for 12-16 hours
382
What are narcotics and what are the symptoms of taking them?
```
• CNS depressant
• Relieve pain and induce sleep
• Opiates provide sense of euphoria
• Symptoms of use include
o Decreased breathing and pulse
o Pinpoint pupils
o Coma and death
```
383
What drugs fall under psychedelics?
Marijuana, LSD, Ecstasy,
384
What are psychedelics?
• Hallucinogenic/psychedelic produce dramatic alternations in perception, mood, and thought
385
What is the result of taking marijuana?
* Feelings of well being, “high”, and increased appetite
* May become introspective and sleepy
* May cause anxiety, panic, and psychosis
386
What is LSD and what are the symptoms of taking it?
• Even small amounts can cause dramatic changes in perception
• Associated with areas responding to dopamine
• May cause
o Synesthesia
o Mystical experiences
o Panic, paranoid delusions, confusion
o Depression
o Bodily discomfort
• Some symptoms may last for a long time after experience, most often in people with psych history
• Suspicious or insecure individuals may suffer most from anxiousness
• Flashbacks may occur but no clinical reason for this
387
What is ecstasy and the effects of taking it?
* Both stimulant and hallucinogenic properties
* Causes cascades of serotonin increasing self-confidence and wellbeing
* Also causes high blood pressure, depression, nausea, blurred vision, liver problems, sleep disturbance memory loss, and damage to neurons
388
What is learning?
• Change in an organism’s behavior or thought as a result of experience
389
What is habituation?
* Process of responding to less strongly over time to repeated stimuli
* Tied to reduced neurotransmitters in response
* Makes adaptive sense
* Don’t habituate dangerous stimuli and typically not powerful stimuli
390
What is sensitization?
* Responding more strongly over time to repeated stimuli
| * Most likely to occur with dangerous or irritating stimuli
391
What is conditioning?
• Forming associations among stimuli
| o Some believes associations were building blocks for more complex ideas
392
What is classical (Pavlovian) conditioning?
• Form of learning in which animals come to respond to a previously neutral stimulus that had been paired with another stimulus that elicits an automatic response
393
What is the neutral stimulus in classical conditioning?
* Stimulus that does not elicit any particular response
| * Pavlov used a metronome (not a bell lol)
394
What is the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) in classical conditioning?
* Stimulus that elicits an automatic response without prior conditioning
* Product of nature not nurture
* Salivation in Pavlov’s experience
395
What is the conditioned stimulus (CS) in classical conditioning?
* Initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response due to association with an unconditioned stimulus
* Sound of metronome now elicits salivation
396
What is the conditioned response (CR) in classical conditioning?
* Response previously associated with a nonneutral stimulus that is elicited by a neutral stimulus through conditioning
* Product of nurture not nature
* The salivation that results from the metronome sound
397
What are the 3 phases of classical conditioning?
acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery
398
What is the acquisition phase in classical condition?
• Learning phase during which a conditioned response is established
• The CS and UCS are paired repeatedly
o Should be given within ½ second of each other to be effective
• Progressively increases in strength
399
What is the extinction phase in classical condition?
• Gradual reduction and eventual elimination of the CR after the CS is presented repeatedly without the UCS
• New response gradually inhibits the CR
o Absence of salivation writes over salivation
400
What is the spontaneous recovery phase in classical condition?
* Sudden re-emergence of an extinct CR after a delay following an extinction procedure
* Generally weaker than before
* Dog presented with CS again after a time had CR return, was just hiding in the background
401
What is the renewal effect in classical condition?
* Sudden re-emergence of a CR following extinction when an animal is returned to the environment in which the CR was acquired
* Similar to spontaneous recovery
* Ie. Fear from being bitten by snake in an area, overcome fear, become fearful again when back in the place they were bitten
402
What is stimulus generalization in classical condition?
• Process by which CS similar, but not identical to the original CS elicit a conditioned response
• Generalization gradient
o More similar to the original the new CS is, the stronger the CR
• Allows adaptation, I learned to drive my car, now I can drive your car
403
What is stimulus discrimination in classical condition?
* Process by which organisms display a less pronounced CR to CS that differ from the original CS
* Allows us to distinguish between CS that are similar but different in important ways
* Why we can enjoy scary TV but know it’s not real
404
What is higher order conditioning?
* Developing a CR to a CS by virtue of its association with another CS
* Each progressive level results in weaker conditioning
405
How can classical conditioning be applied to advertising?
• Pair products with positive emotions or favoured celebrities
406
How can classical conditioning be applied to the acquisition of fears and phobias?
* Messed up study by Watson trying to induce a phobia using classical conditioning in a small kid
* Also shown that positive classical conditioning can help alleviate someone of fears
407
How can classical conditioning be applied to fetishes?
* Sexual attraction to nonliving things
| * Some evidence fetishes developed through classical conditioning
408
How can classical conditioning be applied to disgust reactions?
* Easy to develop
* Most cases reactions are probably due to classical conditioning
* Better safe than sorry conditioning to keep us safe
409
What is latent inhibition when talking about using classical conditioning in advertising?
• Difficulty in establishing classical conditioning to a CS we’ve repeated experienced alone, that is without the UCS
410
What is operant conditioning?
* Also called instrumental conditioning
* Learning controlled by the consequences of the organism’s behavior
* Often consequence is a reward of some kind
* An operant is the behavior produced by an animal to receive an award
411
What is the Thorndike and Law of Effect?
• Principle asserting that if a stimulus followed by a behaviour result in a reward, the stimulus is more likely to give rise to the behaviour in the future
412
What is S-R psychology?
o Believe our complex voluntary behaviours are due to every previous association we have built
o Believe we learn through trial and error rather than insight
413
What is the Skinner Box?
o Electronic box recording and printing out animals’ activity using a bar that delivers food when pressed
414
What is reinforcement?
* Outcome or consequence of a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
* Only considered reinforcements if they make response more likely to occur in the future
415
What is positive reinforcement?
o Presentation of a (pleasant) stimulus following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
o Ex. Giving a kid candy for cleaning his room
416
What is negative reinforcement?
o Removal of a (unpleasant) stimulus following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
o Ending time out once child stops whining
417
What is punishment?
• Outcome or consequence of a behaviour that weakens the probability of the behaviour
418
What is negative punishment?
o Removing a stimulus the organism wants to experience
| o Ex. Confiscating a favorite toy until the child stops throwing a temper tantrum
419
What is positive punishments?
o Administers stimulus the organism wants to avoid
| o Ex. Scolding the dog reduces his habit of chewing on your shoes
420
When is punishment the most effective?
when given immediately and provided simultaneously with reinforcement of a desired behaviour
421
What is a discriminative stimulus?
• Stimulus associated with the presence of reinforcement
| o A friend waving signals they want to chat, reinforcing us for responding to her wave
422
What is extinction burst?
o Undesired behaviour increases in intensity shortly after withdrawing reinforcement, given time, it will begin to decrease
o Gets worse before it gets better
423
What is stimulus discrimination?
• Organism can tell the difference between 2 different types of stimuli
424
What is stimulus generalization?
• Organism able to tell similarities between different stimuli
425
What is the schedule of reinforcement?
Pattern of reinforcing a behaviour
426
What is continuous reinforcement?
o Reinforcing the behaviour every time it occurs
o Faster to learn
o Faster extinction
427
What is partial reinforcement?
o Also called intermittent reinforcement
o Reinforcing the behaviour only occurs some of the time
o Slower to learn
o Slower extinction
o May play a role in keeping people in DV situations as violent partners provide partial reinforcement
428
What is a fixed ratio (FR) schedule of reinforcement?
o Reinforcement after a specific number of responses
429
What is a fixed interval (FI) schedule of reinforcement?
o Reinforcement after a specific amount of time
| o Ends up with scalloped effect as animal waits for a time after a treat before trying again
430
What is a variable ratio (VR) schedule of reinforcement?
o Reinforcement after a variable number of responses varying randomly around an average
o Gets best responses
o Done in casinos explaining gambling issues
431
What is a variable interval (VI) schedule of reinforcement?
o Reinforcement for first response after a variable amount of time varying randomly around an average
432
What is shaping?
o Conditioning a target behavior by progressively reinforcing behaviours that come closer and closer to the target
433
What is fading?
o Follows shaping
| o Reducing frequency of reinforcement for not-exact behaviours
434
What is chaining?
o Linking a number of interrelated behaviours to form a longer series (like learning the alphabet)
o Combines shaping and fading to learn more complex behaviours
435
What is the two-process theory of learning?
o Need both classical and operant conditioning to explain persistent anxiety disorders
o Eg. Receive a dog bite and become scared of dogs through classical conditioning. Every time they see the dog they walk across the road which is negative reinforcement for the fear (removing the scary stimulus)
436
What is S-O-R psychology?
* Puts organism between stimulus and response
* Believe the link isn’t mindless and response depends on what the stimulus means to the organism
* Believe cognition is central to explaining learning and explains how 2 organisms may differently interpret the same stimulus
437
What is cognitive conditioning?
o Interpretation of the situation affects conditioning
| o More than an automatic process
438
What is latent learning?
• Learning that is not directly observable
o Competence (knowledge) is not the same as performance
o I learn even when not tested
• Brought by Edward Chace Tolman
• Believe reinforcement is not necessary for learning
439
What is a cognitive map?
o Mental representation of how a physical space is organized
o How rats run mazes quicker over time, builds even without rewards
440
What is observational learning?
* Learning by watching others
* Form of latent learning as learn by watching others without reinforcement
* Spares us having to learn everything firsthand
* Saves us from serious or life-threatening mistakes
* Can contribute to maladaptive habits
441
What did the Bobo doll aggression study show?
Observational Learning of Aggression
• Bobo doll aggression study shows that an aggressive model caused significantly more aggression against the doll than those not exposed to the aggressive model
442
What are mirror neurons and how doe they work for observational learning?
o Cell in prefrontal cortex that becomes activated by specific motions when an animal both preforms and observes that action
o Neurons are imagining what it would be like to perform the behaviour
o Extremely selective and only for specific actions
• Humans have a small number of these
• May be how we learn from others or have empathy for others pain
443
What is insight learning?
• Humans and other animals may have insight, like the “aha” reaction to a problem rather than having to solve it through trial and error
• Brought by Wolfgang Köhler
o Most of his research was anecdotal
444
What is conditioned taste aversions?
* Classical conditioning leads to avoidance reactions to the taste of food
* We associate n/v with food over any other stimulus
* Typically develops after only one trial
* Delay from eating food (CS) to vomiting (UCS) in conditioned aversions can be as long as 6 – 8 hours
* Remarkably specific and little stimulus generalization
* Is adaptive to prevent us from getting sick again
445
What is memory?
o Retention of information over time
446
What is the memory paradox?
o Same memory mechanisms that serve us well in most circumstances can sometimes cause us problems in others
447
What is a memory illusion?
o False but subjectively compelling memory
448
What are the 3 systems of memory?
Sensory, short term and long term
449
What is sensory memory?
* Brief storage of perceptual information before it is passed to short term memory
* Processes incoming sensations
* Fills in blanks to see world as unbroken stream of events
450
What is iconic memory?
* Visual sensory memory
| * Fades quickly enough we can’t access all information before it disappears
451
What is eidetic memory?
* Also called photographic memory
* May be due to longer iconic memory
* Still does contain minor errors
452
What is echoic memory?
* Auditory sensory memory
| * Can last 5-10 seconds
453
What is short term memory?
• Memory system that retains information for limited duration
• Closely relates to working memory
o Ability to hold information we are currently attending to
• Will move from here to long term storage or scrapped
• Only lasts about 10-15 seconds
• Errors are usually accoustic
454
What is decay in terms of short term memory?
• Fading of information from memory over time
455
What is interference in terms of short term memory?
* Loss of information from memory due to competition from additional information
* Two types of interference, both are more likely to occur when old and new information are similar
456
What is retroactive interference in terms of short term memory?
• Learning something new hampers earlier learning
457
What is proactive interference in terms of short term memory?
• Earlier learning gets in the way of new learning
458
What is the magic number in terms of short term memory?
* Span of short term-memory
| * According to George Miller its 7 +/- 2 pieces of information
459
What is chunking in terms of short term memory?
* Organizing information into meaningful groupings
| * Allows extended span of short-term memory
460
What is rehearsal in terms of short term memory?
• Repeating information to extend duration of retention in short term memory and promoting likelihood of transfer to long term memory
461
What is maintenance rehearsal in terms of short term memory?
• Repeating stimuli in their original form to retain them in short term memory
462
What is elaborative rehearsal in terms of short term memory?
* Linking stimuli to each other in a meaningful way to improve retention of information in short term memory
* Usually works better than maintenance rehearsal
463
What are the levels of processing in terms of short term memory?
* Depth of transforming information, which influences how well we remember it
* Visual – how it looks
* Phonological – how it sounds
* Semantic – emphasizing meaning
* Critics say this is unfalsifiable
464
What is long term memory?
* Relatively enduring (minutes to years) retention of information stored regarding our facts, experiences, and skills we’ve acquired over our lifetime
* Capacity is much larger, don’t’ actually know how long
* Errors general semantic
465
What is permastore in relation to long term memory?
• Long term memory that appears to be permanent
466
What are types of long term memory?
Semantic (facts), episodic (events), explicit (conscious memories), implicit (unconscious memories)
467
What is the recency effect when remembering a list?
• Tendency to remember words at the end of a list
468
What is the primacy effect when remembering a list?
• Tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list well
469
What is the Von Restorff effect when remembering a list?
• Tendency to remember stimuli that are distinctive or that stick out like sore thumbs from other stimuli
470
What is the serial position curve when remembering a list?
• Graph depicting both primary and recency effects on people’s ability to recall items on a list
471
What are the processes of memory?
Encoding, storage, and retrieval
472
What is the encoding process of memory?
* Process of getting information into our memory banks
| * No encoding = no memory
473
What is the storage process of memory?
* Process of keeping information in memory
| * How we store memories depends on our interpretation and expectations of the event
474
What is the retrieval process of memory?
• Reactivation or reconstruction of experiences from our memory stores
o Transforms recollections to fit beliefs and expectations
475
What is the role of attention with encoding memories?
• If you are not paying attention it does not get encoded
476
What is the next in line effect with encoding memories?
o You forget what the person in front of you said because your focus was on what you would say next
477
What are mnemonics?
* Learning aid, strategy, or device to enhance recall
* Can apply them to just about anything
* Depend on having a store of knowledge to begin with
478
What is the Peg Word Method?
* Used to recall list of words
* Associate each number with a word that rhymes – peg word
* Create an image associated with the peg word and the one you want to remember
479
What is the Method of Loci?
* Mental image of places like walking a familiar place
| * Associate each term along the path
480
What is a schema for storing memories?
• Organized knowledge structure or mental model we have stored in our memory
• Script
o Order of events
• Gives a frame of reference for interpreting new situations
• Can create memory illusions
o Us remember what never happened
481
What is a memory illusion?
We remember what never happened
482
What are retrieval cues?
o Hints that make it easier to recall information
483
What is recall when measuring memory retrieval?
* Generating previously remembered information
| * More difficult
484
What is recognition when measuring memory retrieval?
* Selecting previously remembered information from an array of options
* Easier, such as MC questions
485
What is relearning when measuring memory retrieval?
* Reacquiring knowledge that we have previously learned but largely forgotten over time
* Occurs much faster the second time around
* Shows memory is still around there somewhere
* More sensitive measure of memory by tracking how much faster rather than simply right or wrong
486
What is the tip of the tongue phenomenon in regards to memory retrieval?
* Experience of knowing that we know something but being unable to access it
* Form of retrieval failure
* Shows difference between something that didn’t get stored to something that is there we just can’t retrieve
487
What is encoding specificity?
• Phenomenon of remembering something better when the conditions under which we retrieve information are similar to the conditions under which we encoded it
488
What is context dependent learning?
* Superior retrieval of memories when the external context of the original memories matches the retrieval context
* I.e. may do better on exams when in the same room that you took the course
489
What is state-dependent learning?
• Superior retrieval of memories when the organism is in the same physiological or psychological state as it was during encoding
• Influence of alcohol, mood, etc.
• May be called mood-dependent learning if mood is involved
o Current psychological state can distort memories of the past
490
What is long-term potentiation?
* Long-lasting strengthening of the connections between two neurons after synchronous activation
* Basically neurons that fire together wire together
* LTP plays roll in learning
491
What part of the brain play a key role in forming lasting memories?
Hippocampus
492
What is long term depression in regards to memory?
* Long-lasting weakening of the connections between two neurons after low patterns of activation
* Process acts to balance out LTP by helping resetting connections allowing space for new information
493
What is amnesia?
* Recovery happens gradually, if at all
* Damage to the hippocampus impairs explicit memories by leaves implicit memory intact
* Theory is large circuits connecting different parts of the limbic system, including hippocampus and amygdala are critical to memory
494
What is generalized amnesia?
* Loss of all details of their previous life
| * Very rare
495
What is retrograde amnesia?
* Loss of memories from the past
| * Not especially common
496
What is anterograde amnesia?
• Inability to encode new memories from our experiences
• Much more frequent among people with brain damage
• Can develop new implicit memories
o Memories we don’t deliberately remember or reflect on consciously
497
What is the role of the amygdala in regards to memory?
* Stores emotional component of memories, especially those governing fear
* Works with hippocampus during memory formation with hippocampus storing factual component of memory
498
What is the brain scan results show for Alzheimer's disease?
• Brain contains senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles
o Contributes to loss of synapses and death of cells in hippocampus and cortex
o May contribute to memory loss and intellectual decline
o Loss of synapses causes degeneration and death of acetylcholine neurons in forebrain
499
What are flashbulb memories?
* Emotional memory that is extraordinarily vivid and detailed
* Feels like it doesn’t decay over time and more movie like
* Research shows that initial memories of significant events differ sometimes significantly from later memories
* Phantom flashbulb memory term used for false flashbulb memories
* They are much like other memories, and prone to decay, they are just more intense
500
What is source monitoring confusion?
* Lack of clarity about the origin of a memory
* Was it a memory or a dream?
* Forgetting where you heard something is an example of source monitoring fail
* Helps avoid confusion with memory and fantasy
501
What is Cryptomnesia?
* Failure to recognize that our ideas originated with someone else
* May be cause of unintentional amnesia
502
What is the suggestive memory technique?
* Procedure that encourages patients to recall memories that may or may not have taken place
* Often creates recollections that were never present
* Proves memories more malleable than most had assumed
503
What is the misinformation effect?
* Creation of fictitious memories by providing misleading information about an event after it takes place
* Older adults particularly vulnerable to it
504
What are implanted memories?
* We can implant elaborate memories of made up events that never occurred
* False events containing information personally relevant to the individual are more likely to incorrectly recall the implanted event
505
What is emotion?
```
• Mental state or feeling associated with our evaluation of our experiences
• Motivated state marked by
o Physiological arousal
o Expressive behaviour
o Mental experience
```
506
What is the discrete emotions theory?
* Theory that humans experience a small number of distinct emotions that are rooted in our biology
* May combine in complex ways
507
What is universality of emotions?
o People recognize and generate the same emotional expressions across cultures
508
What are the primary emotions believed to be universal?
```
Happy
Sad
Surprise
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Contempt
```
509
What are secondary emotions?
o Created by combinations of primary emotions
510
What are display rules?
o Cross cultural guidelines for how and when to express emotions
o Different cultures show different display rules
o Culture generally does not influence the emotion, just the display of it
511
What are the cognitive theories of emotion?
* Emotions are products of thinking
* As many emotions as there are thoughts
* Different thoughts related to stimuli and spark different emotions
512
What is the James Lange theory of emotion?
* Emotions result from our interpretations of our bodily reactions to stimuli
* We are afraid because we ran away
513
What is the somatic marker theory?
* We use our “gut reactions” to help us determine how we should act
* Especially automatic responses
* Evidence says they are not necessary for wise choices, but may be helpful
514
What is the Camon Bard theory of emotion?
* An emotion provoking event leads simultaneously to an emotion and to bodily reactions
* Sight of bear triggers fear and running at the same time
515
What is the two factor theory of emotion?
* Emotions are produced by an undifferentiated state of arousal along with an attribution (explanation of that arousal)
* Undifferentiated means same for all emotions
* Emotions are the explanation of our arousal
* We see a bear, fight/flight triggered, and we attribute it to the bear so we feel fear
516
What are the unconscious influences on emotion?
• Variables outside awareness that can affect feelings
517
What is the automatic generation of emotion?
• Emotions generated in a knee-jerk reaction
518
What is the facial feedback hypothesis?
* Blood vessels in face feed back temperature information in the brain altering our experience of emotion in predictable ways
* Makes you likely to feel emotions corresponding to your facial expressions
519
What is nonverbal leakage?
o Unconscious spillover of emotions into nonverbal behaviour
520
What is the curse of knowledge?
o We know and make assumptions that others know the same
| o What causes miscommunication over text
521
What are illustrators?
Hand gestures
522
What are manipulators?
o One body part touches another
523
What are emblems?
o Gestures recognized by members of a culture, wave, nod, etc.
o Can differ greatly between cultures
524
What is proxemics?
o The study of personal space
| • When “rules” violated it makes us uncomfortable
525
What are the 3 types of questions asked in a polygraph test?
o Relevant – those bearing on the crime in question
o Irrelevant – Not bearing on crime
o Control – reflect probably lies and ask about trivial flaws and supposedly gives baseline
526
What is the guilty knowledge test?
* Alternate to polygraph
* Relies on premise that criminals harbour concealed knowledge about the crime that innocent people don’t
* Monitors responses to multiple choice questions in which one is from the crime scene
527
What is an integrity test?
* Questions that presumably assesses workers tendency to steal or cheat
* Can predict theft, absenteeism, other misbehaviours
* False positives for extra forgiving people
528
What is positive psychology?
• Discipline that has sought to emphasize human strengths and includes
o Resilience
o Coping
o Life satisfaction
o Love
o Happiness
• Character strengths positively associate with long term life satisfaction
• Two styles, individual differences, no one size fits all
(defensive pessimism and optimists)
529
What is defensive pessimism?
* Strategy of anticipating failure and compensating for this expectation by mentally overpreparing for negative outcomes
* Robing defense mechanisms from these makes performance worse
530
What are optimists in positive psychology?
* Prevent learning about their own social skills
| * Display greater physiological responses to stressor
531
What is happiness?
o Peoples subjective sense of how satisfied they are with life
532
What is the Broaden and Build theory on happiness?
• Theory proposing happiness predisposes us to think more openly
533
What is the durability bias when forecasting happiness?
o Belief good and bad moods will last longer than they do
| o Overestimate long term impact of events on our moods
534
What is the hedonic treadmill when forecasting happiness?
o Tendency for our moods to adapt to external circumstances
| o We have a “set point” we always return to but this level differs for everyone
535
What is motivation?
• Psychological drives that propel us in a specific direction
536
What is the drive reduction theory?
* Proposes certain drives, like hunger, thirst, and sexual frustration, motivate us to act in ways that minimize aversive states
* All drives are unpleasant but satisfaction of them results in pleasure
* Ensures our survival and reproduction
* Motivates us to maintain psychological homeostasis
537
What is the Yerkes-Dodson law regarding drives and arousal?
o Inverted U-shaped relation between arousal on the one hand and mood and performance on the other hand
o Shows when moderately aroused we have ideal balance of motivation and control to accomplish goals
538
What are incentive theories about motivation
* We’re often motivated by positive goals
* Intrinsic motivation – motivated by internal goals
* Extrinsic motivation – motivated by external goals
539
People who are depressed tend to report a lot of fatigue, and report spending less time in social situations. Thus, depression is __________ correlated with fatigue and __________ correlated with spending a lot of time in social situations.
positively; negatively
540
The Dean believes that the placement of motivational posters on the walls in classrooms will lead to better grades. To test his hypothesis, he randomly assigns certain classrooms to have the posters while others do not. He then records average grades of classes held in classrooms with posters compared to grades of classes held in other classrooms. He also documents other information, like class topics and class size. What is the independent variable in this study?
Motivational posters
541
Which of the following is a lasting contribution by the school of thought known as structuralism?
It emphasized the need for systematic observation.
542
__________ are general explanations, whereas __________ are specific predictions derived from these explanations.
theories; hypotheses
543
In ___________ conditioning, the focus is change to voluntary behaviours whereas in _____________ conditioning, the focus is change to involuntary behaviours.
operant; classical
544
Which of the following phenomena was found to be common among patients who reported being abducted by aliens?
Sleep paralysis
545
The emotion of 'alarm', which is a mixture of fear and surprise, is one example of a
secondary emotion.
546
Tracey has trouble reading her textbooks that are right in front of her, and James has trouble reading the board at the front of his classrooms. Based on this information, it is likely that Tracey has __________ and James has __________.
hyperopia; myopia
547
You ask your friend Drea what she had for dinner last night, and she responds that she can't remember because her "short-term memory isn't working." Based on the information you have learned in your psychology course, what might you say to Drea about her short-term memory?
The duration of your short-term memory is really only about 20 seconds, so that is not related to your forgetting.
548
Nic smiled when he heard a song that reminded him of a great summer, years ago. That song was very popular that summer, so it became associated with a lot of fun events. Which type of learning does this represent?
classical conditioning
549
The blood–brain barrier, which keeps harmful molecules from entering the brain, is composed of __________ that form a fatty coating around tiny blood vessels.
glial cells
550
During the lecture, Dr. Brown moved his right hand forward, as if he were knocking on a door, while highlighting an important point. This gesture is one example of
an illustrator.
551
Researchers have demonstrated that people who believe that hypnosis will help them quit smoking have much greater success in quitting than people who don't believe that hypnosis will be effective. Which theory of hypnosis is supported by this evidence?
sociocognitive theory
552
Suppose you were one of the early students in the new field of psychology. Your mentor is interested in answers to questions such as "Why do we see in colour?" "Why do people cry when they are sad?" and "Why do we dream?" Your mentor's approach is most consistent with the __________ perspective.
functionalist
553
As the number of losses by the Edmonton Oilers hockey team increase, the number of fans decrease. This is an example of a __________ correlation.
negative
554
_______________ can vary from culture to culture and are socially acceptable ways of showing emotion in public settings.
Display rules
555
As you look out the window of the car, the scenery moves past very quickly. Your impression of this scenery is briefly stored in which memory system?
iconic memory.
556
Suppose Dr. Fish has a hypothesis that dogs make people happy. He supports his hypothesis by interviewing people at the dog park who are smiling and laughing. This demonstrates
the confirmation bias.
557
Fred has grown up in Ottawa, whereas Amir was raised in Pakistan. They meet and become friends at university, where they are both completing their undergraduate degrees. In one class, Amir just finished a presentation and asked Fred how he thought it went. Fred gave Amir the "thumbs up" sign and Amir became offended. What is the most likely explanation for Amir's reaction?
Emblems may differ across cultures, and "thumbs up" is not a sign of approval in in Amir's culture.
558
Casey is participating in a psychology experiment where he is asked to indicate whether he heard a sound or did not hear a sound on successive testing trials. If Casey says he did not hear a sound, and no sound was presented, his response would be considered a __________ according to signal detection theory.
true negative
559
A group of student researchers watch various buildings on their campus at different times of day to attempt to determine when people will hold a door open for another person. These student researchers are most likely to use which research method design when conducting their study?
Naturalistic observation design
560
Fred is afraid of spiders. He won't even watch a nature show on TV about them. When he sees a picture of a spider, he has a panic attack, but when he avoids looking at the image, his panic goes away. Fred's avoidance of spiders is being
negatively reinforced, because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down.
561
The __________ is where incoming light is converted into nerve impulses and the __________ is where light is most sharply focused.
retina; fovea
562
Leslie just started a new job, and got a new company email address. When people ask for his email address, he often responds with his old one by accident. Which source of interference is most likely in this example?
Proactive interference
563
John has to give his cat Garfield a pill every day. He always opens up the pill bottle (which makes a popping sound) and removes one pill before giving it to Garfield, and he follows this by giving him a treat as a reward. After a while, John notices that when he opens up the pill bottle, Garfield comes running to him right away. In this example, the __________ is the conditioned stimulus.
sound of the pill bottle opening
564
Dr. Trawma wants to study whether cognitive-behavioural therapy or systematic desensitization is better at reducing his patients' anxiety. The dependent variable in this study is
the patients' levels of anxiety.
565
Alice went to the local coffee shop and ordered her usual drink, before sitting down to read her book. She didn't realize that a group of her friends were sitting at a table with a giant sign that said "Happy Birthday Alice!" even though she walked right past their table. They had to actually tap her on the shoulder before she noticed them. This is an example of
inattentional blindness.
566
Sensory memory has a larger _________ than short-term memory, but a smaller _________.
capacity; duration
567
Nicotine activates receptors sensitive to the neurotransmitter __________, and smokers report feelings of stimulation as well as relaxation and alertness.
acetylcholine
568
You are walking through a store when you see a good friend. According to the James-Lange theory, what might happen?
You experience physiological changes followed by a feeling of happiness.
569
The polygraph should be more accurately titled ________________ rather than a lie detector.
an arousal detector
570
Ito was out hunting when a stray bullet hit the front of his head. Most of his prefrontal cortex was severely damaged, but little damage was found elsewhere in his brain. As a result of the accident, change most likely happened to Ito?
He experienced a change in personality.
571
When Pavlov placed meat powder or other food in the mouths of canine subjects, they began to salivate. The salivation was a(n)
unconditioned response.
572
Naturalistic observation and case study methods are to __________ as correlational methods are to __________.
description; prediction
573
You are listening in on a discussion among a group of psychology majors. One major says that field will only move forward if we use objective methods for understanding the principles that guide publicly observable human actions. This statement is most consistent with
behaviourism
574
If the dendrites of a neuron were damaged, what problem would that cell have?
It would not be able to receive neurotransmitters.
575
Renata doesn't like to check her email because when she does there is usually a nasty message from her coworker. This is an example of which operant concept?
positive punishment
576
Young children tend to have simple dreams, whereas adults tend to have more complex dreams with bizarre features and stronger emotions. This suggests that as we learn more and have more complex thoughts, our dreams also become more complex. Which theory of dreaming is supported by this evidence?
neurocognitive theory
577
Milo and Shirley have been happily married for 20 years. They believe they made it to this milestone because they know each other so well. They recently did a quiz that showed them that they don't know each other as well as they thought! This evidence didn't change their minds, however, and they still believe that their love is because they know nearly everything about each other. This is an example of
belief perseverance.
578
What property of sound is the most similar to the brightness of light?
loudness
579
Neurons that fire together will wire together. Which process is associated with this rhyme?
long-term potentiation
