key terms in intro to psych Flashcards
Dualsim
separation of mind and body
the malevolent demon
controlling all the input into sentences. feel like you are in a place you’re not
introspection
the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes
noise
random excitation or inhibition of neurone that either increases o decreases the senses
absolute threshold
the physical intensity at thwack person can detect stimulus 50% of the time
webers law: difference threshold
smaller amount of change in the intensity of stimulus before a china Is detected
webers law: weber fraction
difference threshold increases in proportion to the standard
place theory
different places on basilar membrane vibrate more depending on pitch
frequency theory
basilar membrane is like a guitar string. the higher the frequency of the sound, the faster it vibrates
dichromatic colour blindness
some people only have 2 types of iodopsin - either blue and green or blue and red
monochromatic colour blindness
only have one type of iodopsin - see shades of monochrome
perceptual constancy
despite variation in the “raw data” received by the brain from the senses, our perception of the world remains constant
perceptual set
readiness to interpret stimuli in a certain way depending on expectations, experience and psychological state
perceptually ambiguous figures
figures that can’t be perceived in two different ways
depth perception
ability to judge distance
convergence
eyes move together as object gets closer muscle tension is a cue to how far way object is
binocular disparity
slightly different views of world presence to each eye are interpreted b brain to give depth information
motion parallax
objects closer to the observer appear to move faster
relative size
size of an object relative to others around it
linear perspective
apparent convergence of parallel lines on the horizon. converge at vanishing point
texture gradient
objects at a distance are denser, less detailed and closer together
arial perspective
distant objects are fuzzy due to moisture and particles in the air
occlusion
objects that occlude others are perceived to be closer
muller-lyer illusion
suggest the “long” line is closer, the principle of size constancy causes us to see same size retina image as larger
ponzo illusion
linear perspective suggests that objects are further away; perceptual system makes me size retinal image seem larger
the Ames room illusion
all depth cues suggest these people are the same distance from the observer; they are not
figure/ground distinction
the distinction between that which stands out and that which is background
acquisition
the process of attending to a stimulus and encoding into memory
retention
preservation of stored material over an interval
retrieval
process of getting information back for use
decay
with time it is like the memory trace rusts
displaced
new items can enter short term memory and knock others out
primacy effect
earlier information has stronger influence than later info
negativity bias
negative information has stronger influence than positive information. especially in the domaine of sociability and morality
halo effect
Assumption that someone with known positive qualities also possess additional undisclosed positive/negative qualities
self perception theory
we learn about ourselves by observing how we behave
social comparison theory
people are driven to gain accurate self evaluations often achieved by comparing ourselves to others
attribution theory
an explanation of how people develop a causal understanding of human behaviour
actor-observer effect
when we look for causes of behaviour it matters if we are the actor or the observer
fundamental attribution error
the tendency to consider behaviour to reflect underlying and immutable properties of people
false consensus
tendency for people to believe that their own behaviour is widely shared and that their own views are consensual
self-serving bias
tendency to attribute one’s success to dispositional characteristics and one’s failures to situational factors
representativeness heuristic
classifying something as belonging to a certain category to extent it is similar to typical case
availability heuristic
estimate likelihood of event by ease with which instances of that event come to mind
anchoring and adjustment heuristic
estimates are made by starting with an initial value (anchor) that is adjusted to reach an answer
nature of attitudes
relatively enduring sets of beliefs, feelings and intention towards an object, person event or symbol
dissonance
unpleasant state; tension arises when perceived discrepancy between:
- attitudes and beliefs
- behaviour and self-image
- one attitude and another
mere exposure effect
attraction to stimuli that are familiar to us
social influence
how other people influence our behaviour
compliance
change of behaviour in response to a direct request
obedience
change of behaviour in response to a direct oder from a police officer, parent, teacher or school official
conformity
change in behaviour to math the repose or actions of others
reciprocity
the role tat obliges us to repay others for what we have received from them
consistency
the rule that obliges us to be consistent in our behaviour
commitment
once we make a commitment; we feel a pressure to follow through
informational influence
conformity because we believe others understand the situation better than we do
normative influence
conformity in order to be liked and accepted by others
dominant response
the reaction elicited most quickly and easily by a given stimulus
prejudice (emotional)
a shared attitude or feeling towards a social outgrip and their member based on group membership - often negative
stereotypes (cognitive)
are generalised beliefs about members of groups
discrimination (behavioural)
not all prejudice translates to behaviour, but when it does it is called discrimination
illusory correlations
perception of a relation between two distinctive elements that does not exist or is exaggerated
illusion of out-group homogeneity
tendency to perceive members of the out-group as more similar to each other than the members of the in-group
contact hypothesis
contact people of out-group should reduce prejudice
decategorisation
seeing others as an individual rather than as a member of the out-group. attention is on individual characteristics rather than group characteristics
recategorisation
instead of in-group vs out-group, focus is on common membership in a superordinate group
bystander effect
tendency for bystander to be less Lilly to help in an emergency if there are others present
pluralistic ignorance
a majority of group members private, reject belief but incorrectly assume most others accept it and therefore go along with it
schemata
mental representations that define a particular category/ behaviour
concepts
rules that describe properties of environment events and their relations to other concepts
assimilation
new information is modified to fit into existing schema
accommodation
new schemata produces or old schemata changed by information
object permanence
out of sight does not equal out of existence
deferred imitation
forming mental representation of actions that are recalled later
rudimentary symbolic thinking
words to represent objects
zone of proximal development
range of tasks/skills that a child is unable to master alone but can perform with the assistance of peers and adults
approach-approach
choice between two desirable outcomes
approach-avoidance
one outcome is desirable, the other is not
avoidance-avoidance
both outcomes are undesirable
maladaptive
impaired ability to function which causes distress to the individual and/or others
anxiety
apprehension/ doom accumulated by physiological reactions
dissociative (psychogenic) amnesia
memory loss that is more severe than normal forgetfulness and can’t be explained by medical conditions
dissociative identity disorder
two or more operate personalities within the same individual
paranoid schizophrenic
delusions of grandeur/ persecution / control, hallucinations, very suspicious of others, intelligent, grand schemes
disorganised schizophrenic
disturbed thought, verbally incoherent, inappropriate affect
catatonic schizophrenic
psychomotor disturbances
