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CLEP - Introduction to Psychology > REA Guide For The Introductory Psychology CLEP Terms > Flashcards

REA Guide For The Introductory Psychology CLEP Terms Flashcards

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1
Q

Psychology

A

Scientific study of human behavior and mental processes.
Answers philosophical questions about human nature.
Uses methods borrowed from other disciplines.

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2
Q

Wilhelm Wundt

A

German. Set up first psychology lab. Was a Structuralist.

Studied how people sense and perceive world around them.

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3
Q

Structualists

A

Believed that consciousness was made of basic elements. combined in different ways to produce different perceptions.
They wanted to discover the form or elements of mental experience.

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4
Q

introspection

A

Technique favored by structuralists for examining mental experience. Involves reporting one’s own conscious thought and feelings. It fell out of favor, too subjective, not usable on children or animals.

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5
Q

Edward Titchener

A

Set up first American psychology lab, was a structuralist.

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6
Q

Functionalists

A

Believed mental experiences were adaptive, or functional for people. Believed behavior and consciousness allowed people & animals to adjust to environments.

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7
Q

William James

A

a most notable functionalist.

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8
Q

Current state of the study of psychology

A

psychologists study both the structure and functions of behavior. both are methods, are of many that are used to study psychology.

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9
Q

Approaches to understanding human behavior

A

Biological, Psychodynamic, Behavioral, Cognitive Approach, Humanistic

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10
Q

Biological approach

A

Focus on physiological and biochemical processes might produce psychological phenomena.

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11
Q

Psychodynamic approach

A

Thoughts, feelings and behaviors stem from the interaction of innate drives and restrictions on those drives. Most important drives according to Sigmund Freud are that of sexual and aggression.
[we have drives]+[society, limitations]=[conflicts]
how we approach conflicts determines personality.

The reason for much of your behavior are unconscious and rooted in childhood.

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12
Q

Behaviorist approach

A

Explains behavior in terms of learned responses to predictable patterns of environmental stimuli.

Pavlov (and his dogs) = classical conditioning
Skinner = operant conditioning

They study animals in order to understand people more often than the other approaches. They don’t believe in expectations, feelings or thoughts.

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13
Q

Cognitive approach

A

reaction against behaviorism.

Focuses on explaining behavior in terms of expectations, feelings, and thoughts.

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14
Q

Humanistic approach

A

They believe that people are not machines based on genetic code, stimuli, or calculations, but instead humans have the desire for optimal growth & development (i.e. self-actualization).
They believe people are basically good and focus on positive aspects of development.

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15
Q

experiments

A

cause and effect relationships

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16
Q

independent variables

A

The “cause” & always involves treating subjects in at least two different ways

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17
Q

experimental group

A

exposed to cause

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18
Q

control group

A

not exposed to cuase

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19
Q

dependent variable

A

the “effects” of the cause

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20
Q

placebo effect

A

different behavior because the subject knows they are being tested/getting special treatment

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21
Q

placebo

A

fake special treatment

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22
Q

blind study

A

subjects unaware if they are reciving special treatment or not

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23
Q

double blind study

A

both experimenter and experimetee are unaware of who has recivied special treatment

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24
Q

correlational studies

A

assessing the relationship between two variables

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25
Q

positive relationship

A

high score in one variable results in/correlates to a high score in another variable (+1)

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26
Q

negative relationship

A

high score in one variable results in/correlates to low scores in another variable (-1)

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27
Q

correlation coefficient

A

(+/-)1, the higher the absolute value = more correlation, +/- indicates type of relationship, 0 is no relationship

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28
Q

surveys

A

participants fill out questionaries that ask about variables, researchers determine patterns

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29
Q

case studies

A

in-depth analysis of only one person (Freud used these a lot).

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30
Q

naturalistic observation

A

studying behavior as it occurs in real life settings

must be unobtrusive, and have inter-judge/inter-rater/inter-observer reliability (the confirmation of what is happening)

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31
Q

behavioral neuroscience

A

focused on communication between body parts, how behavior is influenced by it

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32
Q

nervous system

A

organization of neurons, transmitters, and brain structures that moves information throughout the body

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33
Q

neurons

A

pathways for communication (i.e. nerve cells)

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34
Q

sensory neurons

A

aka afferent neurons. They take in information and transmit to the spinal cord and brain.

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35
Q

motor neuorns

A

aka efferent neurons. They send information in opposite direction (away from brain)

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36
Q

interneurons

A

aka associasion neurons. They communicate with other neurons

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37
Q

cell body

A

keep cell alive and functioning, nucleus, etc.

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38
Q

dendrites

A

short fibers that take information from outside the cell

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39
Q

axons

A

fibers that pass information along to other nerve cells, gland or musclesfibers that pass information along to other nerve cells, gland or muscles

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40
Q

mylein sheaths

A

fats that surround axons and accelerates transmission of information

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41
Q

action potential

A

electrical impulse that activates nerves and sends messages

+outside, -inside cell

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42
Q

refractory period

A

the neuon has time to pump out sodium ions and fire again

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43
Q

neurotransmitters

A

chemicals contained within vesicles (sacs) that when released from the axon terminal cross the synaptic gap to next cells dendrites, continue relay

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44
Q

serotonin

A

controls arousal and sleep. low levels of this in the brain is typical of depression

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45
Q

agonists

A

drugs that mimic a neurotransmitter or make more by blocking reuptake

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46
Q

antagonists

A

drugs that block neurotransmitters receptor sites or inhibit release

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47
Q

CNS

A

brain, spinal cord, reflexive behavior and relays information. Central Nervous System.

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48
Q

PNS

A

sensory and motor neurons that connect the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. Divided into the SNS and ANS. Peripheral Nervous System.

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49
Q

Somatic Nervous System

A

allow you to operate in the external environment. carries info to CNS, carries info from CNS to muscles, etc. SNS

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50
Q

Autonomic Nervous System

A

regulates the internal environment, controlling glands, organs, etc. ANS.

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51
Q

ANS divisions

A 
Sympathetic = fight or flight (prepares you for action)
Parasympathetic = rest and digest (slows your body down for rest)
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52
Q

Brainstem

A

spinal cord enters skull

controls breathing and heartbeat

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53
Q

thalamus

A

sits on top of brianstem and receives information on touch taste sight and hearing (not smell), sends info to higher brain regions

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54
Q

reticular formation

A

runs though both brainstem and thalamus and controls arousal and sleep (as well as filters incoming stimuli and sends info to other parts of the brain)

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55
Q

cerebellum

A

at the rear base of brainstem. adjustment of movements, coordination of voluntary movement

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56
Q

limbic system

A

sits near the cerebral cortex and comprises several component structures

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57
Q

hippocampus

A

processes memory

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58
Q

amygdala

A

influences fear and anger

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59
Q

hypothalamus

A

influences hunger, thirst, sexual behavior,

controls pituitary glad (a “master gland” which influences the release of hormones from other glands)

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60
Q

hormones

A

chemical messengers

this and the glads that produce this make up the endocrine system

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61
Q

cerebral cortext

A

the outer covering of the brain
primarily involved in motor, cognitive, and sensory processes
(divided into left and right hemispheres which are then each divided into four regions)

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62
Q

frontal lobes

A

coordinates movement and higher level thinking (such as planning and predicting) Also contains speech areas.

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63
Q

Broca’s area

A

speech (when damaged a person can usually understand speech but not speak as easily as everyone else)

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64
Q

Wernicke’s area

A

when damadged a person can physically speak but only with meaningless words

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65
Q

parietal lobes

A

involved in sense of touch, keep tabs on where hands and feet are (located on top of head behind frontal lobes)

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66
Q

temporal lobes

A

involve hearing (located just above and on either side of the ears)

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67
Q

occipital lobes

A

involve vision (located at the base of the skull)

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68
Q

sensation

A

transforming engery from outside stimulus to neural energy used for perception

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69
Q

perception

A

mentally creating an image of the outside world

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70
Q

psychophysics

A

area of psychology that addresses the topic of sensation, levels of intensity we detect stimuli, how sensitive we are to changes in stimulation, and how psychological factors influence our ability to sense stimuli

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71
Q

signal detection theory

A

our ability to notice a stimulus will vary based on psychological factors such as expectations, past experience, motivation

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72
Q

absolute threshold

A

minimum intensity necessary to detect a stimulus (detected 50% of the time it is present)

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73
Q

just noticeable difference

A

jnd/difference threashold is the smallest
difference
a person can detect

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74
Q

Weber’s Law

A

the ability to differentiate between like differences deceases with increasing intensity or magnitude of the stimuli

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75
Q

sensory adaptation

A

less frequent firing results in diminishing stimulus. This allows us to attend to stimuli that matter and not to those that don’t matter

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76
Q

feature detectors

A

detect specific stimuli, activate identification centers to understand more complex patterns

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77
Q

selective attention

A

too many stimuli to attend to so body is only aware of certain stimuli. reality is chosen organized and interpreted, not simply detected.

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78
Q

Gestalt Psychologists

A

discovered that the brain pieces together meaningful experiences out of fragments of sensation, mind fills in gaps in our sensations

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79
Q

Depth perception

A

allows to estimate distances between ourselves and objects we see (our retinas can only see 2D our brains do the rest) uses binocular cues and/or monocular cues

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80
Q

Binocular cues

A

requires both eyes, includes retinal disparity & convergence

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81
Q

retinal disparity

A

uses differences in images between right and left eye to gauge distance

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82
Q

convergence

A

extent to which eyes must turn toward the nose to gauge closeness of an object

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83
Q

Monocular cues

A

uses one eye only for depth perception (includes linear perspective, motion parallax, and texture gradients)

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84
Q

linear perspective

A

parallel lines appear to converge as they get farther away

closer together = farther away (like railroad tracks in the distance)

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85
Q

motion parallax

A

aka relative motion. apparent movement of stable objects as we move. fixation points are what you are looking at (these object move quickly when close to you and slowly when far away)

interposition = when an object partially blocks out another object and therefore looks closer than the object it is blocking out

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86
Q

texture gradients

A

objects closer have more texture, objects farther have
blend
together

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87
Q

critical period

A

time which exposure to stimuli is required in order for various perceptual skills to develop, even though many of these ideas are wired into our brains

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88
Q

general principle of sensation and perception

A

processing info about environment uses both a bottom up fashion (simple receptors to neural networks) and top down fashion (expectations, motives and cues down to raw data)

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89
Q

Consciousness

A

the state of being aware. reflecting on environment rather than just reacting to it (thinking, problem solving, learning and memory)

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90
Q

Circadian Rythm

A

rise and fall in predictable ways during the day, synchronized (these things have this: hormone levels, body temperature, wakefulness)

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91
Q

sleep

A

cycles through 5 stages every 90 minutes (stages named based on type and appearance of brain waves)

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92
Q

alpha waves

A

relatively slow and regular/awake stage

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93
Q

Stage 1

A

Slower breathing, irregular erratic brain waves. This sleep stage is 5 minutes long.

hypnogogic = drowsiness, floating or falling may be experienced

alpha waves are replaced by thetha waves

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94
Q

Stage 2

A

deeper relaxation and occasional bursts of brainwaves called sleep spindles and k-complexes. This sleep stage is 20 minutes long.

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95
Q

Stage 3

A

brain starts producing delta waves (large & slow), this is a transition to the next stage.

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96
Q

Stage 4

A

stronger more consistent delta waves.

Stages 3 and 4 are slow wave sleep, combined lasts 30 minutes (they are the hardest to wake someone during)

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97
Q

REM

A

After stage 4 sleep, they go to 3, 2, but then this stage for 10 minutes which is similar to stage 1 but breathing is more rapid and irregular, heart rate increases and eyes move back and forth
but, action/movement is blocked by brainstem.

rapid eye movement, sometimes called paradoxical sleep

They then go back through the cycle (stage 2, 3, …)

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98
Q

Insomnia

A

difficulty falling or staying asleep

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99
Q

Narcolepsy

A

sudden and uncontrollable attacks of sleep during daytime/waking hours (sometimes falling directly into REM)

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100
Q

sleep apnea

A

when the person stops breathing intermittently during sleep, the lack of oxygen then wakes the sleeper (this can happen 100s of time per night)

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101
Q

manifest content

A

(the images that actually appear to the dreamer) Freud thought that this was a disguised version of the dreams latent content (usually “forbidden” sexual or aggressive wish of the dreamer)

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102
Q

activation-synthesis theory

A

brains neurons fire randomly during sleep, we construct a dream in order to make sense of the random images

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103
Q

information processing

A

dreams are a way to consolidate information, sort through the day’s events and put them into our memory

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104
Q

REM rebound

A

when deprived of paradoxical sleep, people make up by experiencing prolonged periods of it

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105
Q

Hypnosis

A

deep relaxation and heightened suggestibility
some explanations for heightened suggestibility are that they are more motivated, fulfilling social roles, other think it involves dissociation which allows the person to become aware of their activities

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106
Q

psychoactive drugs

A

produce consciousness that is different than “normal”

mimicks, inhibits or stimulates neurotransmiters

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107
Q

depressants

A

slows body’s functions and neurological activity (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates)

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108
Q

stimulants

A

increase neural activity and body functions

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109
Q

hallucinogens

A

distort perceptions and produce sensations that have no physical basis

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110
Q

learning

A

relatively enduring change in behavior that is the product of experience

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111
Q

stimuli

A

various effects that are capable of triggering responses or changes in behavior

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112
Q

cognitive factors

A

expectations and ability to represent events mentally

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113
Q

non-associative learning

A

repeated presentation of a single stimulus produces an enduring change in behavior

114
Q

habituation

A

repeated presentations of stimuli reduces responses to that stimulus
i.e. clock chiming

115
Q

sensitization

A

repeated or long lasting presentation of stimulus increases the response to a weaker stimulus
i.e. movie action to soft clap

116
Q

Associative learning

A

learning of a connection between two stimuli or between a response and a stimulus

117
Q

classical/Pavlovian conditioning

A

Making a connection between two stimuli. The US already produces the UR which is the desired response to the neutral stimulus.
{First letter = unconditioned/conditioned
Second letter = stimulus/response}

Before conditioning: US -> UR
First conditioning: neutral stimulus [-> no response] + US -> UR
After learning: CS -> CR

118
Q

expectation

A

that the US will show up after the CS (remember the food and the bell)

119
Q

extinction

A

if the CS is presented without the US, then the CR will go away
learning a new expectation: that US no longer follows CS

it returns to its baseline level (how it was before conditioning)

120
Q

Operant/instrumental Conditioning

A 
learning an association between a stimulus and a response that follows it (basically consequences)
(B = behavior)
Stimulus Applied:
B Increase = Positive Reinforcement
B Decreases = Positive Punishment
Stimulus Removed:
B Increases = Negative Reinforcement
B Decreases = Negative Punishment
121
Q

Cognition

A

mental activities involved in solving problems: thinking, language, memory and intelligence

122
Q

Heuristics

A

Mental rules of thumb/shortcuts that are used to solve problems.
Do not necessarily steer towards correct judgement, though it probably frequently does

123
Q

Representativeness Heurisitc

A

comparing characteristics, how similar one event is to something you already know

124
Q

Avalibility Heuristic

A

judging the likelihood that an event will happen in terms of how readily you can bring an instance of it to mind
more vivid/memorable->more likely to happen than those that are less vivid or cecent

125
Q

confirmation bias

A

people look for information that supports their beliefs, typically ignoring the information against your belief

126
Q

functional fixedness

A

inability to see new uses for familiar objects

ex. unable to find screwdriver, but can’t use a quarter because that is what a screwdriver is for

127
Q

semantics

A

rules for mapping morphemes onto the ideas they represent

morphemes are words or parts of words that convey meaning

128
Q

syntax

A

rules for combining morphemes in meaningful ways

morphemes are words or parts of words that convey meaning

129
Q

babbling stage

A

4-6 months to 1 yr

practicing sounds of the language, recognize sounds that aren’t used and don’t use them

130
Q

one word stage

A 
12 months (1 yr) to 18 months
use one words with gestures sometimes
131
Q

telegraphic speech

A

gestures accompanying speech to convey additional meaning

132
Q

two word stage

A

use a noun and a verb combined or a few months later an adjective and a noun (also uses telegraphic speech)

133
Q

language development and conditioning

A

B. F. Skinner said that conditioning probably can’t account for how quickly children learn language and the novel ways which they use it

134
Q

Language acquisition device

A

Noam Chomsky claimed that children have this. A universal built in mental system that steers us toward interpreting and using language in particular ways

135
Q

Memory

A

ability to store information and retrieve it again

3 types: sensory, short term, long term

136
Q

Sensory memory

A

a fleeting awareness of whatever the senses have detected.

possible of entering short term memory

137
Q

short term memory

A

aka working memory
can be kept in the mind long enough to solve problems
possible to store in long term memory with some work

138
Q

long term memory

A

unlimited and perhaps permanent store house of memories

139
Q

Mnemonic strategies: rehearsal, chunking

A

strategies deliberate to get information into long-term memory, sometimes unconscious: deliberate conscious repetition of info, grouping pieces of info (combining numbers or making acronyms, etc.)

140
Q

intelligence

A

ability to solve problems

141
Q

mental age

A

chronological age that corresponds to a given level of performance on an intelligence test

Alfred Binet was the first to develop an intelligence test.

142
Q

IQ

A

mental age divided by chronological age multiplied by 100 (to eliminate the decimal point)

143
Q

standardization or norms-based referencing

A

Now IQ tests are based on a comparison between test takers of the same age.

144
Q

general intelliegence

A

aka “g”
title given to IQ scores by Charles Spearman.
a single unitary skill underlying peoples ability to solve all problems.

145
Q

multiple intelligences

A

sperate disticnt problem solving abilities

146
Q

Nature vs. Nurture

A

both contribute to differences in intelligence and there is interaction between them
biologically built vs. enviornment

147
Q

Motivation

A

psychological process that energizes and directs behavior, activating behavior an steering it toward a goal. influenced by both biological and social-psychological factors (needs, and desires)

148
Q

Hunger

A

not sure where it comes from. could be triggered by low glucose level (blood sugar from breakdown of foods) and/or high insulin level (a hormone that converts glucose to fat for storage)

externals become hungry based on external cues (such as smell of food or time of day), internals become hungry when their body is hungry (such as hunger pangs), externals are more likely to become overweight

149
Q

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

A

main portion of this part of the brain that has to do with hunger, (aka VH, lower middle portion of Hypothalamus), stopping hunger.
stimulation depresses hunger & damage causes eating when full

Lateral Hypothalamus (LH, sides of Hypothalamus), increasing hunger, stimulation increases eating & damage stops eating

150
Q

set-point

A

weight our own body works to maintain

151
Q

Emotions

A

prepare us to deal with the many ways in which events can impact our motives, goals, values, etc. They can be a source of motivation.

152
Q

basic level emotions

A

wired into our neverous systems
anger, sadness, joy, fear, love
(There are also combinations of basic level emotions [blended emotions] & learned emotions)

153
Q

elements of emotion

A 
physiological arousal (increase/decrease in heart rate, etc.)
behavioral expression (running or punching, etc.)
conscious experience (knowing the emotion, "I feel agitated", etc.)
154
Q

Cannon-Bard theory

A

you perceive a stimulus has relevance to well-being and will generate arousal and subjective emotional experience simultaneously.

Information goes to the sympathetic nervous system (causes arousal), and to the cortex (causes experience).

155
Q

James-Lange theory

A

you perceive a stimulus which causes arousal first which then causes emotion
heart pounding leads to emotion

156
Q

facial feedback hypothosis

A

(an implication of the James-Lange theory) the activity of facial muscles tells us whether we are happy or not

157
Q

Stanley Schacter’s two-factor theory

A

the arousal being labeled as a particular emotion is what varies the experience (arousal is the same physiologically regardless of the emotion)

158
Q

abnormal psychology

A

the branch that deals with psychological disorders (thoughts, feelings or behaviors that interfere with person’s ability to function at work, in relationships, or at leisure)

159
Q

DSM-IV

A

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Assosciation. different patterns of abnormal behavior that are grouped together to make diagnosis simpler and
more
reliable

160
Q

Anxiety disorders

A

feelings of dread, fearfulness, or terror

161
Q

Generalized anxiety disorder

A

feeling persistent anxiety, but unaware of its source
free-floating anxiety
may be accompanied by physical symptoms

162
Q

panic disorder

A

unpredictable minutes long episodes of terror that have a sudden onset
generally accompanied by racing heart, breathlessness, dizziness, etc.

163
Q

phobias

A

intense and irrational fears of specific objects or events (from the Freudian perspective, the things they are afraid of are symbolic or metaphorical reminders of things the person wants but can’t allow themselves to have)

164
Q

OCD

A

obsessive compulsive disorder, repetitive (obsessive) thoughts that provoke anxiety and repetitive (compulsive) behaviors
Common obsesions/preoccupations are with germs and dirt, impending disaster, or neatness

165
Q

mood disorders

A

depression, mania, or both

166
Q

Major depressive disorder

A

feelings of sadness, hopelessness and discouragement (all lasting at least two weeks), and a loss of interest in pleasurable activities

167
Q

bipolar disorders

A

back and forth between depression and mania

168
Q

dissociative disorders

A

fragmentation of personality, behaves as if one part of their experience is separated from other parts

169
Q

dissociative amnesia

A

being unable to remember personally relevant information due to stressful events

170
Q

dissociative fugue

A

travels away from home or work unexpectedly, becomes confused about his or her past and identity, sometimes assuming a new identity

171
Q

Dissociative identity disorder

A

two or more distinctly different identities in the same person, the person is controlled by one of these personalities at a time and typically has trouble remembering information about the other personalities
(used to be called multiple personality disorder)

172
Q

Schizophrenia

A

often confused with having multiple personalities
it is really having symptoms of psychosis (hallucinations and delusions). they often have trouble distinguishing between the real world and their own fantasy or imagination. additional symptoms include incoherent speech, unusual behavior, and dull/flat emotions.

173
Q

hallucinations

A

false sensations (hearing voices that aren’t there, or seeing objects that don’t exist, etc.)

174
Q

delusions

A

false ideas, thoughts (for example that they are someone famous, like Teddy Roosevelt)

175
Q

Paranoid Schizophrenics

A

delusions of grandeur (believing they are important/famous)
or delusions of persecution (believing others want to harm them)
and auditory hallucinations that reinforce the theme of their delusion

176
Q

Disorganized Schizophrenics

A

have disorganized speech or behavior and inappropriate emotional responses

177
Q

Catatonic schizophrenia

A
  • odd motor activity (excessively active and agitated without any obvious reason/purpose or immobile)
  • waxy flexibility (catalepsy) holding weird positions
  • echolalia (senselessly repeating words that someone just said)
  • echopraxia (repeating other people’s movements)
178
Q

undifferentiated schizophrenia

A

can exhibit symptoms from the other versions but does not fit any of them exactly

179
Q

Personality disorders

A

patterns of behavior or thinking that are inconsistent with the expectations of one’s culture

180
Q

paranoid personality

A

suspecious and distrustful, but not delusional

181
Q

antisocial personality

A

has no conscience, tramples on others rights, and is impulsive

182
Q

borderline personality disorder

A

has trouble maintianing relationships and has wide fluctuations in both self image and emotional behaviors

183
Q

narcissistic personality

A

needs undue attention and is preoccupied with fantasies of success, accomplishment and recognition, they feel entitled to special treatment and lack empathy for others

184
Q

ions

A

electrically charged atoms

185
Q

synapse

A

the junction where two neurons are connected/meet (there is a microscopic gap between the neurons

186
Q

neural networks

A

groups of neurons that serve similar functions

187
Q

perceptual sets

A

predispositions to perceive one thing and not another (such as stereotypes)

188
Q

EEG

A

electroencephalogram (machine that shows brain waves)

189
Q

reinforcement schedule (ratio, interval; fixed or variable)

A

rules for determining when reinforcement will be given [re: Operant Conditioning] (determined by how many times the response has been made, the amount of time since the last reinforcement; stays constant or changes)

190
Q

Observational Learning

A

We can learn from seeing others (models) learn. Learning vicariously (by watching what happens to models) gives us opportunity for more learning

191
Q

anorexia nervosa

A

people who are considered this want to be skinny/beautiful and are “obsessed” with food but avoid eating it

192
Q

bulimia

A

people who are considered this want to be skinny/beautiful and binge then purge (eat a lot then get rid of it without allowing it to digest)

193
Q

excitation transfer

A

when people’s arousal is increased (by exercise, etc.), they become more angry when insulted then people who haven’t been physiologically aroused first

194
Q

cross-sectional study

A

Comparing people who are at different ages from each other at a single point in time.
The biggest problem with this is when someone’s age and cohort (a group of people born during the same period of time) are confused/”confounded” with each other. Cohorts make it hard to tell whether it is a factor of age or a factor of differences in the periods of time in which the subjects grew up.

195
Q

longitudinal study

A

Tracking the behavior of a single cohort over a long period of time
The biggest problem is that age is confounded with the time of testing (the changing times could effect the subjects instead of their age).

196
Q

cross-sequential study

A

people of different ages are followed over a long period of time

197
Q

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

A

Sensorimotor stage, Pre-Operational stage, Concrete Operations stage, Formal Operations stage

198
Q

Sensorimotor stage

A

0-2 years old. Lacks concept of object permanence (understanding that objects continue to exist even when their presence can’t be sensed) & knows what they can do with their senses. Piaget.

199
Q

Pre-Operational stage

A

2-6or7 years old. They understand object preminence, think symbolically (e.g. language), reason intuitively, don’t understand conservation (an objects mass, volume, weight, etc. does not change just because its appearance changes), and they are egocentric (they have trouble seeing things from others’ perspectives). Piaget.

200
Q

Concrete Operational stage

A

6or7-11or12 years old. Piaget defines an “operation” is a logical thought. The person now thinks logically about things that are “concrete” (not algebra) and understands conservation. Piaget.

201
Q

Formal Operations stage

A

Starts at about 12 years old. They can think scientifically and hypothetically about abstractions. Piaget.

202
Q

disequilibrium

A

according to Piaget, this is what changes children’s understanding of the world. a child understands the world in a particular way (their scheme) then sees something happen that can’t fit into that understanding.

203
Q

assimulation

A

understanding events in terms of your current scheme

204
Q

Erikson’s theory of psycho-social development

A

Also holds that disequilibrium is necessary for change. Says people go through 8 stages in their life (each involving a different crisis). Depending on how the person deals with/comes out of each stage determines and develops their personality.

205
Q

trust vs. mistrust

A

Determining if others are reliable. Erikson.

206
Q

autonomy vs. doubt and shame

A

1-3 years old. capable of self control

Determining how you are allowed to exercise freewill. Erikson.

207
Q

initiative vs. guilt

A

3-5 years old. can set goals

Determining if initiative is encouraged. Erikson.

208
Q

industry vs. inferiority

A

6-11 years old. can reason and likes success

Determining whether or not you are praised and taught to do so. Erikson.

209
Q

identity vs. role confusion

A

12-18 years old. can reflect on identity and consider multiple roles
Determining if you are willing to make an effort to integrate all of those roles. Erikson.

210
Q

intimacy vs. isolation

A

18-35 years old. ready to break away from family and form new intimate relationships
Determining if you are ready to share yourself or not. Erikson.

211
Q

generativity vs. stagnation

A

36-55 years old. kids are gone - you’re free

Determining whether or not you are going to show interest in others. Erikson.

212
Q

integrity vs. despair

A

Starts at 55 years old. reflecting on your life

Determining if you are going to accept it all or not. Erikson.

213
Q

Psychoanalytic personality theories

A

(including those by Freud, Jung,Adler, Horney, and Erikson) says that people’s behavior is motivated largely by unconscious needs; that people feel conflict between getting those needs met and social pressures to behave in ways that wouldn’t meet those needs; and that maladaptive, unhealthy behavior is the product of that conflict.

214
Q

Freud’s theory of Psychoanalytic

A

Most important motives/needs according to Sigmund Freud are that of sexual and aggression.
[we have drives]+[society, limitations]=[conflicts]
how we approach conflicts determines personality.

215
Q

id

A

Freud’s. biological part of personality. an infant’s personality is completely this.

216
Q

pleasure principle

A

“do what feels good, and do it now”

217
Q

ego

A

rational, realistic part of our personality. involves learning, problem solving, and reasoning.
the reality principle: “do what will gets your needs met effectively, efficiently, and without getting yourself hurt”

218
Q

superego

A

the social part of our personality.

the morality principle: “do what’s right and don’t do what’s wrong”

219
Q

defense mechanism

A

people distort reality in order to delude themselves into believing that something anxiety-provoking isn’t happening
anxiety = when there is conflict over how to behave; tension

220
Q

psychosexual stages

A

by Freud. periods of life defined by parts of the body.

221
Q

oral stage

A

birth-about 2 years old. experiencing tension having to do with their mouth, throat, and digestive tract. Freud.

222
Q

fixation

A

a desire to build one’s life around getting certain needs met

223
Q

anal stage

A

2-4 years old. children come into conflict with parents over potty training. anal retentive put it off until the last
minute
and anal expulsive people are messy and rebellious. Freud.

224
Q

phallic stage

A

starts at about 4 years old. awkward stuff happens with you and your parents (o_0) So Freud thinks!

225
Q

Rogers’ self/person-centered theory

A

an example of the humanistic approach to personality (people are basically good).
in this theory, the components of personality are (1) true self (talents, thoughts, desires, and feelings that we genuinely have; similar to Freud’s id), (2) self concept (what we think we’re like; similar to Freud’s ego), and (3) ideal self (what we would like to be; similar to Freud’s superego)

226
Q

self actualization

A

accepting who you are as part of your self concept and adjusting your ideals to reflect that; in other words, being all you can be.
This is sometimes hindered due to conditions of worth imposed by parents and others. conditions of worth can be terminated when parents/others are empathetic, accepting, genuine, and offer the person unconditional positive regard (an appreciation of who the person is, faults and all). basis of self esteem

227
Q

social-cognitive approach to personality

A

Focused on how people think about themselves and their relations with the world around them.

228
Q

reciprocal determinism

A

An important part of social-cognitive approach to personality. It shows that (1) how people think, (2) how people act, and (3) what their environment is like all interact to influence the consistency of behavior.

229
Q

individual difference approach to personality

A

often focused on traits (consistent patterns of behavior) through self-report questionaires

230
Q

Big Five

A

the main traits (which were determined through factor analysis).
Openness (inquiring, independent, curious)
Conscientiousness (dependable, self-controlled)
Extraversion (outgoing, socially adaptive)
Agreeableness (conforming, likable)
Neuroticism (excitability, anxiousness)

231
Q

mania

A

heightened excitement and risk taking optimism

232
Q

explanations for abnormal behavior

A

approaches include: medical (biological), psychoanalytic, cognitive (in terms of abnormal thinking patterns), and learning aka behavioral (the problems were learned/encouraged to continue)

233
Q

psychoanalytical approach to therapy

A

made by Freud, uncommon today (but an important basis for other methods). tries to help the person recognize the conflict (between what the want to do and what is socially acceptable) that they have repressed, and help them deal with it in a socially acceptable and productive way.

234
Q

free association

A

having the person relax as much as possible and say whatever comes to mind (often by starting with a recent emotional experience, dream, or memory). used in the psychoanalytical approach to therapy.

235
Q

catharsis

A

the liberation of energy which was formerly spent trying to hold back the conflict in the psychoanalytical approach to therapy. therapists also look at transference, which is expressions toward the therapist that indicate feelings linked to earlier relationships.

236
Q

humanistic therapies

A

puts more of an emphasis on what is currently happening in the person’s life and what they want for the future (instead of their childhood).

237
Q

client vs. patient

A

Carl Rodgers (a humanist) preferred using the term client whereas psychoanalysts tend to use the term patient

238
Q

client-centered therapy

A

a humanistic therapy. instead of trying to help the person, the therapist is trying to help the person help themselves. the therapist provides the right (encouraging) environment so that the client can work out their problems.

239
Q

active listening

A

made by Rodgers. paraphrasing what the client said, asking for clarification/elaboration, and reflecting on the client’s feelings.

240
Q

cognitive approach to therapy

A

doesn’t assume that there conflict/anxiety as the problem, tries to fix the person’s way of thinking so that they see the world accurately and rationally.

241
Q

behavior modification

A

behavioral therapies. fixing their problems through classic or operant conditioning. Counterconditioning is used when the person has learned their behavior that is trying to be remedied.

242
Q

systematic desensitization

A

a method of counterconditioning. imagining a mild form of a fear-arousing situation then relaxing, then continuing to do this, gradually working your way up to the scariest situation. this makes the person
relax
when they run into this situation in real life, and thus not being afraid

243
Q

flooding

A

a method of counterconditioning. the person goes into a fear-provoking situation assuming that it is not harmful
and
when they realize that they were right the CR is extinguished.

244
Q

aversive conditioning

A

in therapy, an unpleasant response becomes associated with what would normally be a pleasant activity, thus eliminating the activity

245
Q

operant conditioning therapies

A

usually focused on rewarding desirable behaviors and eliminating rewards for undesirable ones (punishing undesirable behavior can often create more problems than it solves). a token economy is based on getting tokens that you can turn in for rewards

246
Q

social psychology

A

focuses on how people are influenced by other people. it has 3 main sections: social cognition, social influence, and social realationships

247
Q

attribution theory

A

dispositional attributions = internal, explains behavior in terms of factors inside the person (personality, intelligence, maturity, etc.)

situational attributes = external, explains behavior in terms of factors outside the person (luck, interference from other people, social etiquette, etc.)

attributions are Not rational (although they were first thought to be)

248
Q

actor-observer difference

A

observers tend to attribute others’ behavior to dispositions (this is called the fundamental attribution error)
but people attribute their own behavior to the situation (because they know how their own behavior changes from one situation to another)

249
Q

cognitive dissonance theory

A

if you behave in a way that is inconsistent with one of your attitudes you feel compelled to explain what you did in order to ease your “conscience”, so you try to blame it on the situation, etc.

250
Q

foot-in-the-door tecnique

A

a social influence strategy. getting someone to comply with a small request before asking them to comply with a larger request. after complying with the small request, they will be more likely to comply with the larger request than they otherwise would be.

251
Q

door-in-the-face tecnique

A

a social influence strategy. making a request that is so big that it will be turned down then making a smaller, more reasonable request.

252
Q

Lowballing

A

a social influence strategy. getting someone to commit to doing something, then increasing the effort or cost required to fulfill the commitment.

253
Q

Solomon Asch

A

did experiments about conformity (changing your behavior in order to fit with group norms). he had some of the “participants” give the wrong answer (for which of 3 lines was the same length as the 4th line) and 2/3rds of the time the participants conformed.

254
Q

normative social influenece

A

pressure to comply with a norm in attempt to not be rejected by the group

255
Q

informational social influence

A

what other people do provides information about how to behave (for example if you are not sure if someone has made a joke, you would wait until everyone else laughs before you do)

256
Q

Stanley Milgram

A

dude who had issues (if the experiment was real). wrong answer = “shock” = obedience experiment
63% of the subjects continued until the end

257
Q

obedience is less likely when…

A

1) the authority figure isn’t close by, 2) the victim (from Milgram’s experiment) was visible, and 3) the other subjects disobeyed

258
Q

frustration-aggression hypothesis

A

aggression (behavior that is intended to hurt others) is always the product of frustration and frustration always leads to aggression (this is of course wrong), this led to tests that showed that any adverse event can lead to aggression depending on a variety of factors

259
Q

testosterone

A

a hormone (which men normally have higher levels of then women), the more you have the more easily you are provoked to aggression

260
Q

weapons effect

A

the presence of aggressive cues leads to higher levels of aggression amoung people who have already been provoked

261
Q

altruism

A

behavior aimed at “unselfishly” helping others

262
Q

Kitty Genovese

A

a young woman who was murdered in New York City, while none of the 38 witnesses called the police until after the murderer fled. this event made more people conduct studies on altruism.

263
Q

bystander effect

A

in an emergency, increasing the number of witnesses decreases the likelihood that any of them will help

264
Q

social-exchange theory

A

says that our goal in life is to maximize our rewards and minimize our costs (the minimax principle), so if helping someone will benefit us more than it will hurt us, we’ll help.

265
Q

test-retest reliablility

A

consistency of scores (does this person get about the same scores on this test every time they take it, including in different situations, etc?)
Coefficients larger than about +.70 are generally considered adequate

266
Q

Cronbach’s alpha

A

split-half reliability (often used to test internal consistency) is where the even and odd questions/answers are scored separately to make sure that the two scores are approximately the same

267
Q

face/content validity

A

face/content validity

268
Q

predictive validity

A

how well scores on a test predict the actual behavior that the test is supposed to measure

269
Q

construct validity

A

whether scores on the questionnaire are related in expected ways (i.e. positively or negatively) to scores on other questionnaires (for example does someone have consistent traits on all of the personality tests they have taken?)

270
Q

population

A

all of the people who fit under a particular category (such as all Americans, all high-school students with an eating disorder, etc.)

271
Q

sample

A

a representative subset of a population (in other words, less than all of the people from the population)

272
Q

descriptive statistics

A

mode = the most common score
median = the middle of all of the scores
mean = all the scores added together then divided by the number of scores
standard deviation = and index of how widely scattered scores tend to be around the mean

273
Q

inferential statistics

A

they allow you to make inferences about populations based on the characteristic of your sample, using statistical significance

274
Q

statistical significance

A

a relationship between two things in a relationship could just happen by chance, so the farther away from .00 the coefficient is, the more certain you can be that it was not just by chance (which would mess up the reliability)….

275
Q

social responsibility norm

A

we are obligated to help people who need our help

276
Q

reciprocity norm

A

we are obligated to help those who have helped us

277
Q

kin selection hypothesis

A

this is an example of the idea that helping behavior has evolved. it says that those of our ancestors who were genetically predisposed to help their relatives would have been passed down and spread throughout the human race, thus today we help those who are similar to us and who has the same genes as us… (see pg. 92)

278
Q

anti-depressant drugs

A

Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, etc. they prevent the re-uptake of serotonin

279
Q

anti-anxiety drugs

A

Librium, Valium, etc. they reduce arousal by depressing activity in the central nervous system

280
Q

anti-psychotics

A

Clozapine, Thorazine, etc. these that threat the symptoms of schizophrenia block the operation of the neurotransmitter dopamine

281
Q

Classical Learning vs. Operant Learning

A 
C = reflexive
O = voluntary
282
Q

Epinephrine

A

Adrenaline

CLEP - Introduction to Psychology (1 decks)

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