Midterm Flashcards
Sensation
Activation of the sense organ
Perception
Brain sorts out stimuli
Stimulus
Energy that produces a response
Sensory adaptation
Turning down responses
Decline in sensitivity
Inability of the sensory nerves to fire off messages
Absolute threshold
Smallest intensity of a stimulus
Retina
Converts electromagnetic energy of light to electrical impulses
Rods
Thin cylinders receptors sensitive to light
Sound
Movement of air molecules with vibration
Balance
Contains semicircular canals: three tube like structures of the inner ear contain fluid that moves with the head
Smell
Olfaction
Is activated when molecules of a substance enter the nasal passages
Taste
Gestation
Responds to basic stimuli
Sweet
Sour
Salty
Bitter
Umami (food with amino acids)
Psychophysics
Physical aspects of stimuli and our psychological experience of them
Skin senses
Touch, pressure, temperature, and pain
Gestalt Organization
Series of principles that describe how we organize bits of information
Remember broken triangle
Learning
Change in behavior brought about by experience
Habituation
Decrease in response to a stimulus
Classical Conditioning
Behaviors are learned by connecting a neutral stimulus with a positive one
Operant Conditioning
Learning in which a response is strengthened or weakened
Neutral Stimulus
A stimulus that initially does not produce a response
Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus that automatically triggers a natural response
Unconditioned Response
A unlearned reaction to a stimulus
Conditioned Stimulus
A former natural stimulus, that becomes a learned response
Conditioned Response
A behavior that does not come naturally
Extinction
A conditioned responses that decreases frequently
Spontaneous Recovery
reemergence of a extinguished response
Punishment
Stimulus that decreases the probability that a previous behavior will occur again
Reinforcement
A stimulus increases the probability that a preceding behavior will be repeated
Positive reinforcement
Stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a preceding response
Negative reinforcement
Unpleasant stimulus when remove brings about a former response
Positive punishment
Addition
Weakens a response through the application of a unpleasant stimulus
Negative punishment
Removal
Weakens a response through the removal of something pleasant
Observational learning - Imitation
Learning by observing the behavior of another person
The bobo doll experiment
Albert Bandura
Social cognitive approach
Memory
Process by which we encode store and retrieve information
Encoding
Putting information into memory
Storage
information is stored in memory
Retrieval
Recovering information in memory
Sensory memory
Storage of memory last only an instant
Iconic memory
Reflects memory from the visual system
Echoic memory
Stores auditory memory
Short term memory
Holds information for 15-25 seconds
Stores according to meaning
Long term memory
Stores information on a permanent basis
Working memory
Holds information while rehearsing that information
Chunk
Grouping of information that can be stored in short term memory
PBS FOX
Rehearsal
Repetition of information
Rule 7 +- 2
Serial position effect
Primacy effect
Remembering a chunk in the beginning of sequence
Recency effect
Remembering a chunk at the the end of a sequence
Declarative memory
For factual information
Semantic memory
For general knowledge
Procedural memory
For skills and habits
Episodic memory
For events that occur in a particular time
Tip of the tongue phenomenon
Inability to recall information that one realizes one knows
Recall
Remember a specific piece of information
Recognition
Recognizing a stimulus that one has previously been exposed too
Explicit memory
Intentional recollection of information
Implicit memory
Memories of which people are not consciously aware
Flashbulb memory
Memories related to a specific and vivid event
Autobiographical memory
Decay
Loss of information through no use
Interference
Information in memory disrupts the recall of other information
Proactive interference
Information learned earlier disrupts the learning of new information
Retroactive interference
Material learned disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier
Amnesia
Memory loss that occurs without other mental difficulties
Alzheimer’s disease
Progressive pain disorder that leads to impaired active abilities
Retrograde Amnesia
Memory is loss for occurrences prior to a certain event
Anterograde amnesia
Memory is lost for event usually followed a injury
Korsakoff’s syndrome
Afflicts long term alcoholics, includes hallucinations
Improving memory
Memory process
Sensation and perception
