PSY Final Exam Flashcards
Behaviorism
Watson and Skinner believed this, idea that the mind is like a black box
Theory
organizes observations
falsifiable/ testable
Can never be fully 100% proven, always going to be an outlier
Replication
across samples, materials, cultures, situations
Naturalistic Observation
observing behavior in natural setting
Correlation
when there is a relationship between two variables
Independent variable
experimental factor that varies between groups, independent of other variables/factors
Dependent variable
outcome/measures variable, depends on the IV
Limbic System
has a significant influence on behavior (fear, aggression, anxiety) almost connects lots of pieces of the brain together
Nueron
a nerve cell, the basic building block of the nervous system
Broca’s area
when this area of the brain was destroyed it was made clear that the brain’s ability to produce speech was gone
Wernicke’s area
when this area of the brain was destroyed it was made clear that the brain’s ability to comprehend speech was gone
rods
helps see black and white, low light vision
cones
help see color as well as fine detail
psychophysiological illness
physical diseases that are either brought about or worsened by stress and other emotional factors
Nature v Nurture
both genetics and environment can significantly impact a person
Operant Conditioning
you have a behavior and you introduce a punishment or reward to get desired response
Classical Conditioning
A third party is involved as a neutral stimulus
Unconditioned Stimulus
Something that automatically delivers a response (good smelling food)
Unconditioned Response
Naturally occurring unlearned response to the US (mouth waters to the good smelling food)
Neutral Stimulus
On its own it gets no response (Bell in the dog and food example)
Conditioned Stimulus
Old neutral stimulus that has changed after conditioning (bell now makes dog’s mouth water)
Rorschach test
show you a distorted image and interpret what you see
Thematic Apperception Test
Show you a picture of a situation and have you interpret them in order to understand your mental processing
Repression
Hiding your feelings by ignoring them so that they don’t cause pain
Reaction formation
bullying others for your insecurity
Projection
Put your feelings on others (“you look very stressed”)
Displacement
Putting your feelings on a safer target
Sublimation
when someone replaces a desire with an acceptable action (aggressive –> sports)
Denial
rejecting claims
Regression
retreating to an earlier developmental stage to cope with stress
Rationalization
people justify difficult or unacceptable feelings with seemingly logical reasons and explanations
Neuroticism
how irritated you get in situations
Id
Pleasure principle, based around hunger and sex
Ego
Reality, balance between Id and SuperEgo
SuperEgo
Morals, right thing to do
What happens when personality structures compete?
Conflicts arise between Id, Ego, and SuperEgo and disorders can form
Oral
0-18 months, biting and chewing
Anal
18-36 months, likes control and is sloppy
Phallic
3-6 years, child’s pleasure focuses on genitals
Latency
6-puberty, cooties stage
Genital
Puberty-forever, mature sexual functioning and intercourse
fixation
getting stuck in a psychosexual stage
Anal retentiveness
person who pays such attention to detail that it becomes an obsession and may be an annoyance to others
anal expulsive
person who exhibits cruelty, emotional outbursts, disorganization, self-confidence, artistic ability, generosity, rebelliousness and general carelessness
Oedipal conflict
a boy who acts possessive of his mother and tells the father not to touch her, being attracted to your parent
factor analysis
technique that is used to reduce a large number of variables into fewer numbers of factors
Assessing traits (MMPI)
the MMPi is the most widely researched and clinically used personality test
social psychology
study of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors due to the implied presence of other people
Self
most complex and elaborate schema
The Big Five
Open to new experiences
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
reciprocal determinism
exists among environment, behavior, and the individual
learned helplessness
lack of self-esteem, low motivation, a lack of persistence, the conviction of being inept, and ultimately failure due to repeated failure
Dispositional
internal, aggressive personality
Situational
external, Abusive parents
Attitudes
Global evaluation of stimulus which guides our behavior and is shaped by beliefs
Cognitive Dissonance
we like consistency, dissonance is uncomfy and this motivates us to change
Social Influence
intentional and unintentional efforts to change another person’s beliefs, attitudes, or behavior
Conformity
Adjusting our behaviors to the standards of others
Normative social influence
change to be socially accepted
Informational Social Influence
we change in order to be correct
Obedience
following orders of a legit authority figure
Deindividualization
we lose our sense of self because we are aroused and totally anonymous (concerts)
Social Loafing
exert less when in a group because we are less concerned about being evaluated
Social Facilitation
being in the presence of others improves individual task performance (packed gym in basketball = better game)
Prejudice
based solely on emotions you FEEL for a certain group
Stereotypes
what we THINK is the representation of a typical group member
Discriminization
how we ACT or behave
Modeling
We look to others to copy their behavior
Social Scripts
TV shows and movies constantly show us that aggression is acceptable
Proximity
Being around others makes us like them even more
Physical Attractiveness
tend to think that these people are more funny and social than they actually are
What is attractive?
symmetry
average faces
waist to hip ratio
baby face
Similarity
We very much like people who have attitudes and beliefs that are similar
Physical Love
physical arousal and cognitive appraisal
Companionate love
fostered by equity and self disclosure (marry your best friend)
Altruism
prosocial behavior that has no benefit to yourself
Bystander Effect
the more people that are present the less likely help will be given
Helping
Anything that benefits others
Social Exchange Theory
helping others so that they will exchange a favor and return it eventually
Reciprocity Norm
the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit (bringing someone to the airport)
Social Responsibility
Helping another person because it is socially your job to do
Reliability
refers to the consistency of a measure
Validity
refers to the accuracy of a measure
central nervous system
brain and spinal
