Psychology Flashcards
Long-term Potentiation
when neurons are repeatedly stimulated, they demonstrate an increased firing rate known as, LTP
Tonic Stimulus Response
continued production of action potentials throughout the duration of a stimulus (only in PNS)
Sensory Memory
auditory, visual, very short (few seconds)
Implicit Memory
does not require conscious thought, such as procedural memory (don’t need to remember how to drive)
Ambient Stressor
environmental (e.g., pollution)
Catastrophic Stressor
large-scale tragedy (e.g., natural disaster)
Personal Life Event Stressor
major life transitions
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
tells how the body reacts to stress that is acute or long-lasting with 3 stages of stress response–the alarm stage, resistance stage, and exhaustion stage
Thomas Theorem
predicts that an individual’s response/reaction to a situation is a result of her own interpretation of the situation
Yerkes-Dodson Law
suggests there’s an optimal level of psychological or mental arousal at which performance is maximized–performance declines with too much or too little
Hawthorne Effect
experimental subjects modifying their behavior or responses because they know they’re being observed
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
attempts to change negative thoughts/beliefs and maladaptive behaviors
Psychoanalytic Therapy (Talk Therapy)
attempts to uncover how unconscious conflicts rooted in childhood shape behaviors
Humanistic Therapy (Person-centered Therapy)
attempts to empower individual to move towards self-actualization
Motion Parallax
monocular cue whereby objects in the foreground are perceived as moving faster than objects in the background
Cocktail Party Effect
at a crowded party you tune out noise to talk to one person (attended stimulus), but if you hear your name across the room your attention quickly shifts to that unattended stimulus
Interference Effect
a memory process describing when old info prevents recollection of new info or new info (proactive interference) prevents recollection of old info (retroactive interference)
Speech Shadowing
a selective attention process used in dichotic listening tasks (competing info presented in each ear) that involves repeating info presented in one ear while tuning out the competing info in other ear
James-Lange Theory of Emotion
something causes a physiological response, which then causes brain to register associated emotion
Cognitive Appraisal Theory
evaluation of situation precedes emotional and physiological reactions and determines what emotion will be experienced
Schachter-Singer Theory
emotion is the result of physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal
Functionalism Theory
society = an organism, each part of society works to maintain dynamic equilibrium (Émile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons)
Conflict Theory
society = struggle for limited resources, inequality based on social class (Karl Marx, Max Weber)
Social Constructionism
social actors define what is real, knowledge about world based on interactions
Symbolic Interactionism
meaning and value attached to symbols, individual interactions based on these symbols (Charles Cooley, George Herbert Mead)
Rational Choice/Social Exchange
individual behaviors and interactions attempt to maximize personal gain and minimize personal cost