Psychology/Sociology Flashcards
absolute threshold
the minimum stimulus intensity to activate response 50% of the time
example: a dog’s absolute threshold for smell may be lower than a human’s
difference threshold
important for detecting small differences in special sense, the difference that is detectable 50% of the time
Weber’s Law
two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion in order for their difference to be perceptible
example: it is harder to tell the difference between a 100 and 101 pound weight than a 1 and 2 pound weight
Signal Detection Theory
How a person detects a signal through the noise, either a hit (present and detected), miss (present and not detected), false alarm (detected but not present), or correct rejection (not detected, not present)
examples: detection of tumor on CT scan
sensory adaptation
when sensory receptors change sensitivity to stimulus
examples: loud sounds, touch, smell, go away after repeated stimulus
Types of sensory receptors
- mechanoreceptors - respond to mechanical disturbances, graded response, examples: Pacinian corpuscles and auditory hair cells
- chemoreceptors - smell and taste
- nociceptors - pain, and referred pain
- thermoreceptors - temperature
- electromagnetic - rods and cones
order of cells on the retina
rods and cones (photoreceptors), bipolar cells, ganglion cells (optic nerve)
myopia
nearsightedness - focal point is before the retina
hyperopia
farsightedness - focal point is behind the retina
feature detection theory
different neurons fire depending on the stimulus, like lines, edges and angles. different areas are activated when looking at different things
parallel processing
everything is processed simultaneously instead of step by step, a holistic approach to sensing, requires large amount of resources
membranes separating sections of ear
tympanic membrane (inner and middle ear) oval window (middle and outer ear) - releases excess pressure
structures important for balance
semicircular canals, utricle and saccule
mechanism of hearing
vibration of tympanic membrane, vibration to bones, vibration to perilymph and endolymph (fluids in cochlea), vibration of basilar membrane, hair cells connected to tectorial membrane, together are known as organ of Corti
auditory cortex
senses sound, located in temporal lobe of brain
hair cells in ear
attached to basilar membrane, have cilia on opposite side of cell that contact tectorial membrane, resulting in bending and firing of afferent neurons
location of olfactory bulb
in temporal lobe near limbic system which is important for memory and emotion
pheromones
chemical signals that cause a social response
kinesthetic sense
proprioception, awareness of self, muscles spindle detect muscle stretch, golgi tendon organs in tendons, joint capsule receptors in joints
vestibular sense
the semicircular canals, utricle, saccule and ampullae, hair cells that detect motion, monitor acceleration and send afferent signals to the pons and cerebellum
Gestalt principles
the whole exceeds the sum of the parts, humans perceive an object rather than a collection of lines
bottom up processing
begins with sensory receptors and word up to complex integration of information in brain (brain uses for sensory receptors)
top down processing
brain applies experience and expectation to interpret sensory information (brain makes assumptions)
selected attention
when one input is attended and the others are tuned out, can have an attended and unattended channel (listening to two different headphones)
Broadbent filter model of selective attention
stimuli are put through a filter where important stimuli enter short term memory and less important ones die out
Anne Treisman’s Attenuation model
accounts for cocktail party effect, instead of a filter mind has an attenuator that turns up or down
divided attention
if and when we can perform multiple tasks at one time
resource model of attention
we have a limited amount of resources to put towards attention, too much and task is not accomplished
depends on task similarity, task difficulty, and task practice
information processing model of cognition
information is processed through a series of steps including attention, perception and storage into memory, minds are like mental computers
assimilation and accomodation
piagets theory of schemas, we either assimilate experiences into our existing schemas or accommodate our schemas to new information
stages of Piagets theory
- sensoriomotor stage - birth to 2, uses senses, gain object permanence
- preoperational stage - 2 to 7, use of symbols and language, are egocentric
- concrete operational stage, 7 to 11, logical and concrete thought, principle of conservation
- formal operational stage, 12 to adult, abstract and moral reasoning
cognitive changes in late adulthood
- decline in recall, recognition intact
- timed based task decline
- slower reaction times
recall vs. recognition
recall - retrieving information without clues, recognition - with clues (identifying a suspect on own or from a line up)
role of culture in cognitive development
individual and enviornment are in reciprocal relationship, example - expression of thoughts is limited by language
lobe of brain for executive functions like planning and organizing
frontal
lobe of brain for formation of new memories
hippocampus
lobe of brain for emotion
amygdala and limbic system
types of problem solving
- trial and error
- algorithm - step by step procedure
- heuristics - mental shortcuts
confirmation bias
only search for information that confirms our preconceived thinking, more likely to only view a problem one way
fixation
barrier of problem solving, inability to gain a fresh perspective, fixed on mental set even though it may not apply
functional fixedness
tendency to perceive the function of objects as fixed and unchanging
representative heuristic
tendency to judge the likelihood of an event occurring based on typical mental representations
example: more afraid of shark attack because its more scary even though it is less likely
availability neuristic
tendency to make judgements based on availability of information in our memories
example: watching violent crime on news, think violent crime will spread to your neighborhood
belief bias
instead of using logic, judge based on beliefs
belief preserverance
tendency to cling to previously held belief
overconfidence
overestimation of accuracy of knowledge and judgements
example: if you hear test was easy and someone finished quickly, you think you will do better
theories of intelligence
G factor - general intelligence (Spearman) 8 types of intelligence (Gardner) Triarchic intelligence (Sternberg) Emotional intelligence
reticular formation
structures for maintaining alertness
polysomnography
used to measuring physiologic sleep
stages of sleep
Stage 1 - theta waves, low intensity, low frequency, fleeting thoughts
Stage 2 - K complexes and sleep spindles, decreased HR and respiration
Stage 3 - slow wave sleep, delta waves, deep sleep
Stage 4 - REM sleep, beta waves (like awake, pysiolocially appear to be awake but there are no muscle movements
sleep cycles
stages 1,2,3,4 in sequence, then back then into REM = 90 minutes
circadian rhythm
24 hour clock, temp rises in morning then falls in afternoon for sieasta
somnambulsim
sleepwalking, during slow wave sleep (3)
night terrors
during stage 3 sleep, not REM so it is not remembered
barbituates
depress sympathethic nervous system
opiates
reduce pain by mimicking endorphins
stimulants
increase neurotransmitter uptake or prevent degradation, dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine
nucleus accumbens
pleasure center of the brain
encoding
process of transferring sensory information into our memory systems, working memory into long term memory
processes the aid in encoding
mnemonic
rehearsal - phonological loop
chunking - using discrete groups of data (parts of telephone number)
hierarchies
depth of processing
information thought at a deeper level is remembered better, general plot is easier to remember than details
dual coding hypothesis
easier to remember words with images than just words alone
iconic memory
brief photographic memory that decays quickly
echoic memory
memory for sound, lasts 3-4 seconds
brain regions for short term and working memory
short term = hippocampus
working = prefrontal cortex
Implicit or procedural memory
conditioned associations and knowledge of how to do something (having the muscle memory to shoot a basketball)
explicit or declarative memory
being able to declare or voice what is known (explaining how to shot a basketball)
episodic vs semantic memory
facts vs experiences
spreading activation
retrieval of information from one node may lead to activation of surrounding nodes as well, explains hints and context clues
priming
prior activation of nodes for the retrieval of information, context clues help, like you would be less likely to recognize a teacher if you saw them at a store
mood dependent memory
what we learn in one state is most easily recalled when we are again in that state
prospective memory
remembering what to do in the future, declines in older adults
types of amnesia
anterograde - cant form new memories
retrograde - cant recall old memories
proactive interference
previously learned information interferes with new information
example: remembering where you parked your park in a garage you have been to before
retroactive interference
new information interferes with old information
example: learning new address and directions interferes with old knowledge
positive transfer
old information can facilitate learning of new information
error in source monitoring
problem with people’s memories remembering the source of the information
behaviorist model of language (psychologist)
BF Skinner, infants trained by operant conditioning, is a behavior like everything else
Language acquisition device or universal grammar (psychologist)
Noam Chomsky, innate features that allows humans to gain language skills, not born to know the language but may have an innate ability to learn language/grammar
Three components of emotion
physiologic (body), behavioral (action) and cognitive (mind)
universal emotions
happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, disgust and anger
Yerkes-Dodson Law
people perform better when they are moderately aroused
James-Lange Theory
physiologic and behavioral responses lead to cognitive aspect of emotion
example: you are afraid because you run from a bear
Cannon-Bard Theory
physiological and cognitive of emotion occur simultaneously and independently and they will lead to a behavioral response
Schachter-Singer Theory
after experiencing physiological arousal we make a conscious cognitive interpretation based on circumstances
main structure involved with emotion
amygdala of limbic system, can communicate with hypothalamus (physiologic) and prefrontal cortex (decision making)
hippocampus
structure that plays role in forming memories
appraisal
important for determining if an event will be perceived as stressful for an individual, can be motivators or detractors
types of stressors
- catastrophes - unpredicatable large scale events
- life changes
- daily hassles
spinal cord functions
information integration and processing, simple spinal reflexes, primitive processes
parts of the hindbrain
medulla - regulates vital autonomic functions, relays to other areas
pons - connection point between brain stem and cerebellum, movement, balance, and antigravity posture
cerebellum - complex movements are coordinated
parts of the midbrain
contains relay for visual and auditory information and much of the reticular activating system
psychoanalytic perspective
personality, Freud, personality is shaped by a person’s unconscious thoughts, feelings and memories, from past experiences with early caregivers
death instinct and life instinct
humanistic perspective
personality, Carl Rogers, more focused on healthy development, humans are innately good and have free will and move towards human potential (self-actualization)
behaviorist perspective
personality, learned behavior based on a persons environment, is deterministic, all actions are already planned out, all dependent on conditioning
social cognitive perspective
reciprocal interaction among behavioral, cognitive and enviornmental factors, learn through classical conditioning and observation, self efficacy beleifs and situational influences
trait perspective
measuring similarities and differences between inherent traits, surface and source traits, Raymond Cattell, use of personality tests
Biological perspective
based on inheritable traits and brain structure, Hans-Eysenck = extroversion from reticular formation, neurotosicsm from limbic system
Jeffrey Alan Gray
person-situation controversy
degree to which a persons reaction is due to trait or state
rates of pyschological disorders
26% of adults, 6% are serious
anxiety disorders
emotional state of unpleasant physical and mental arousal, panic, phobia, PTSD, stress, OCD
somatic symptom and related disorders
physical symptoms that may mimic disease, conversion disorder (sensoimotor), pain disorder, somatization disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, hypochondriasis
schizophrenia
out of touch with reality, psychosis for one month, less extreme symptoms for 6 months can be positive (added) or negative (taken away)
types of schizophrenia
paranoid type - hallucinations or delusions
disorganized type - flat or innappropriate affect, disorganized speech/behavior
catatonic type - retarded or peculiar behviors
undifferentiated or residual - other
depressive disorder
feel worse than ever every day for two weeks, can not be within two months of bereavement
types of bipolar
type 1 - a manic or mixed episode
type 2 - manic phase is less extreme
dissociative disorder
thoughts feelings and perceptions are separated from conscious awareness and control, amnesia, fugue, identity disorder and depersonalization
personality disorder
enduring rigid set of personality traits that deviates from cultural norms, impairs functioning and causes distress, three different subclasses
biologic basis of schizophrenia
dopamine hypothesis - dopamine is hyperactive, overabundance of dopamine and receptor
also hypofunctioning of frontal lobe
biologic basis of alzheimers
neuritic plaques of beta amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles, hippocampus may be involved
biological basis of parkinsons
death of cells that generate dopamine in basal ganglia and substantia nigra, give L-dopa for treatment
factors that influence motivation
- instinct
- drive/negative feedback - maintain homeostasis
- arousal - senses
- needs - higher aspirations
drive reduction theory
physiologic needs create aroused state that results in drive reducing behaviors
incentive theory
external stimuli that induce or discourage certain behaviors, can have positive or negative incentives
Maslows hierarchy of needs
can only meet higher needs when lower needs are met, physiologic - safety - love - esteem - self
three components of attitude
affect, behavior tendencies and cognition
role playing
playing the role of someone else makes you more likely to adopt that attitude and behavior
public declaration
declaring something publicly means you are more likely to hold onto the belief more strongly
foot in the door
getting someone to agree to something small makes them more likely to agree to something larger
cognitive dissonance
when we feel tension when our attitudes don’t match our behaviors, if there is not enough justification for the dissonance
social facilitation
perform simple tasks better in front of others, but worse if the tasks are difficult, depends on the dominant response of the individual
deindividuation
high degree of arousal and low sense of responsibility, like in war or riots, depends on group size, anonymity and arousing activities
bystander effect
a person is less likely to offer help when in the presence of other bystanders
social loafing
tendency for people to exert less effort when they are being evaluated as a group rather than as individuals
group polarization
the entire group tends toward more extreme versions of the average views
groupthink
less likeihood of individuals to go against the group, to rock the boat
ways behavior may be motivated by social influence
compliance, identification, internalization
two means of social control
- informal means of control - internalization of norms and values by socialization
- formal means of control - external sanctions put in place by the government
sanctions
rewards and punishments for behaviors that are in accord with or against norms
mores
norms that are highly important for the benefit of society and are strictly enforced, like animal abuse and treason
folkways
less important norms but shape everyday behavior, like styles of dress or ways of greeting
anomie
a condition where society provides little moral guidance to individuals, breakdown of bonds between individuals and society
differential association theory
deviance, environment plays major role in deciding which norms people violate, people learn criminal behavior by interactions with others
labelling theory
deviance, type of symbolic interaction, behaviors are only deviant when they are labelled that way by society, hard to change
strain theory
social structures may put pressure on individuals to commit crime, poor people may sell drugs
agents of socialization
how we learn to adapt to society
family, school, peer groups, workplace, religion, government, mass media, technology
unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response
food for a dog and the dog salivating, the stimulus leads to the response
conditioned stimulus and conditioned response
a previously neutral stimulus becomes conditioned when it is associated with an unconditioned stimulus, leading to a response
ringing a bell and a dog salivates
acquisition
learning a conditioned response
extinction
when stimuli and response are no longer paired after some time
spontaneous recovery
when extinct stimulus and response is regained
generalization
when another stimuli ilicits the same response, another sound makes the dog salivate
discrimination (conditioning)
when another stimulus is differentiated from the conditioned stimulus
reinforcement vs punishment
reinforcement encourages behavior, punishment discourages behavior
positive vs negative conditioning
positive adds something negative takes something away
shaping
learning a behavior by adding pieces of the puzzle, like encouraging a child to walk
escape and avoidance
escape - an individual learns how to get away from an aversive stimulus by engaging in a behavior, a child throwing a tantrum to not eat veggies
avoidance - a learned behavior to make sure an adverse stimulus is not presented, faking illness to not eat veggies
instinctive drift
a tendency for animals to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with a conditioned response
modeling
observer sees a behavior being formed and they imitate it later on
mirror neurons
fire when a task is performed or when a task is observed, may be involved in vicarious emotions
elaboration likelihood model
explains when people will be persuaded, depends on:
- complexity of message
- source of message
- target characteristics
routes:
- central route - persuaded by message
- peripheral route - persuaded by outside factors
If target is paying attention, follow central route and will have longer lasting effects, otherwise peripheral route
diathesis stress model
biological predispositions interact with environment to lead to disease
self schemas
beliefs that a person has about him or herself
personal vs social identity
person = smart, funny, ones own sense of personal attributes social = white, american, student, how you fit within society
self reference effect
tendency to better remember information relevant to ourselves, a person who thinks they are smart doing poorly on an exam conflicts with this
self efficacy
belief in one’s own competence and effectiveness
locus of control
internal locus of control means that you believe you are the power to change, external locus of control means its out of your hands
learned helplessness
the belief that you cant change anything, that there is an external locus of control
looking glass self
person’s sense of self develops from interpersonal interactions with others in society and perceptions of others, people shaped their self concept based on how they believe others percieve them
reference group
a group that you compare yourself to, like a group studying for the MCAT
fundamental attribution error
underestimate the impact of the situation and think it depends more on the individuals, people act the way they are
illusory correlation
created between a group of people and a characteristic based on unique cases
self-fulfilling prophecy
you believe something, you act a certain way, the person ends up behaving in that way
ethnocentrism
favoritism for one’s in group over out-groups, judge other people by how they live
cultural relativism
judging another culture based on its own standards, judging a practice in the context of another culture’s values, accepting child labor laws in India
stereotype threat
a self fulfilling fear that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype, doing worse on a math exam when you are told men are worse at math
ascribed status
assigned to a person by society regardless of the person’s own efforts, like gender and race
achieved status
status obtained through an individual’s effort, parent or democrat
role conflict
when there is a conflict in society’s expectations for multiple statuses help by the same person, gay priest or male nurse
role strain
single status results in conflicting expectations, too gay or not gay enough
utilitarian vs normative organizations
getting paid vs having relevant goals
formal organization
businesses, governments, religious groups
ideal bureaucracy
Max Weber
- formal hierarchy
- management by rules
- organization by function specialty
- up focused or in focused
- purposely impersonal - treat all the same
- employment by technical quals
iron law of oligarchy
all organizations, no matter how they start, will develop into oligarchic tendencies, making true democracy impossible
mcdonaldization
organizations are becoming more like fast food restaurants
impression management
process by which people attempt to manage their own image by influencing the perceptions of others
dramaturgical perspective
stems from symbolic interactionism, we imagine ourselves playing certain roles when interacting with others, identities are not stable but dependent on interactions with others
front stage/back stage
dramaturgical perspective, front stage we play a role to present ourselves in a certain way, back stage we let our guard down and be ourselves
most powerful predictor of friendship
proximity
foraging behavior
animals spend a lot of energy looking for food so they spend a lot of time learning how to find food from older members
inclusive fitness
organism is defined by the number of offspring, support and how they support others, favors altruism
