Social Sciences and Psychology Flashcards
Gestalt principles
Proximity; Similarity; Enclosure; Symmetry; Closure; Continuity; Connection; Figure/Ground;
Information Processing Theory
Idea that humans process the information they receive like a computer: mind has attention mechanisms for bringing information in; working memory for actively manipulating information; and long-term memory for passively holding information so that it can be used in the future
Nocturia
Need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night
Mechanisms to Aid Memory Retrieval
Serial recall; primacy and recency (things at start and end of list)
Sensory memory
retained just long enough to be transferred to short term memory; or discarded if attention is not being paid. Iconic=visual; echoic=hearing; haptic=touch
Procedural vs Declarative Memories
Types of long-term memory. Procedural- how to perform tasks. Declarative- memories that are consciously recalled
Semantic vs Episodic Memories
Types of declarative memory. Semantic- memory of facts. Episodic- memory of events
Implicit vs Explicit Memories
Implicit- unconscious. Explicit- conscious
Korsakoff Syndrome
Memory dysfunction: amnesia; invented memories; apathy caused by thiamine deficiency and common in alcoholics
Memory decay
Belief that memory fades due to passage of time; more relevant to short term memory; rehearsal keeps in tact
Interference (memory)
interaction between new material and old (ex. Professor can’t memorize student names b/c he’s already memorized so many)
Source monitoring error
mind constructs memory by assembling all sources and can have difficulty separating them (ex. Crime witness believes they saw a crime but only read about it)
Long term potentiation
persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity
Theory of language development: Nativism
(ie the nativist hypothesis) characteristics are hard wired at birth; language is not learned. No human society has not used language; children just pick it up naturally
Theory of language development: Empiricsm
language is a learned behavior acquired during early years
Theory of language development: Interactionism
language develops from interaction of biological; cognitive and environmental influences (a more broad definition)
Causal inference
one event caused another
Anaphoric inference
connects objects/persons from one to another sentence (ex. John took the aspirin. He is better. He is referring to john)
Instrumental inference
inference about the tools/methods used (ex. John took the aspirin. He must have swallowed it not snorted)
Predictive/forward inference
inference about the outcome of an event (ex. John took an aspirin. He will soon get better)
Wernicke’s area
Understanding written/spoken language (as opposed to producing)
Broca’s area
Producing language. Broca=boca=mouth=speaking
Piaget
Stages of Cognitive Development
Piaget’s stage of cognitive development: Sensorimotor
Age 0-2: simple reflexes; egocentric; experience world through 5 senses
Learn: object permanance, cause-and-effect, language
Piaget’s stage of cognitive development: Preoperational
Age 2-7: egocentric; lack of logical thinking and presence of magical thinking (making causal relationships where there is none). Engage in pretend play. Struggle with logic and taking the point of view of other people
Piaget’s stage of cognitive development: Concrete Operational
Age 7-12: Understand concepts attached to concrete situations. Can see multiple points of view. Understand time and space; but not as independent concepts. Know conservation. Less egocentric.
Piaget’s stage of cognitive development: Formal operational
Age 12+: abstract reasoning/problem solving
Availability Heuristic
Making judgements about event probabilities based on how easily examples come to mind Ex. Reads about several lottery winners and believes he is more likely to win it
Escalation of commitment (Heuristic)
increased investment in a decision based on cumulative prior investment Ex. Might as well buy a 5th lottery ticket to get some payout
Representative Heuristic
Making judgments about something based on its similarity to a prototypical example of that category; stereotyping
Belief perserverance (bias)
Bias. Unwillingness to admit that foundational premises are incorrect even when shown convincing evidence to the contrary
Confirmation bias
We love to agree with people who agree with us
Ingroup Bias
overestimate the abilities and value of our immediate group at the expense of people we don’t really know.
Gambler’s Fallacy (bias)
mistaken belief that; if something happens more frequently than normal during some period; it will happen less frequently in the future
Hindsight bias
the inclination; after an event has occurred; to see the event as having been predictable; despite there having been little or no objective basis for predicting it
Components of emotion
physiological arousal; an expressive behavior and experienced thoughts/feelings (Order/relation depends on theory)
James-Lange Theory of Emotion
Stimulus->ANS arousal->interpretation->emotion. The physiological change is primary; and emotion is then experienced when the brain reacts to the information received via the body’s nervous system. One patern of arousal->one emotion.
(Feel sad because you’re crying)
Cannan-Bard Theory
Perception of emotion->Conscious emotion and physiological changes. Emotional stimulus causes limbic system to arouse the ANS; create behavior and emotion simultaneously. Physiological response and emotional feeling are separate: expression from hypothalamus; feeling from thalamus.
Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory
Event->arousal->Reasoning/cognitive labels->Emotion. Experience arousal, look around, find a reason for it, feel emotion. Arousal in a mob=anger, arousal at concert=joy
Evolutionary Theory of Emotion
emotions evolved because they were adaptive and allowed humans and animals to survive and reproduce
Appraisal of stress
Stage 1: appraisal of situation. Stage 2: appraisal of self-ability to cope with stressor.
Serotonin
obsessions; compulsions; memory
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
Causes cortisol release
Components of attitude
Affective/emotional; cognitive; behavioral
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
you are more like to agree to requests if you have agreed to an easier one first (ex. can I use your car to go to the store? Actually can I use it for the weekend?)
Cognitive dissonance theory
discomfort from holding conflicting attitudes that is solved by reducing the importance of an existing attitude via a) acquiring new information; b) changing an attitude; c) ignoring conflicting information; or d) add new cognition
Freud (Psychoanalytic) theory of personality: Oral focus
Birth-1 year. cause orally aggressive (biting things) or orally passive behavior (smoking; kissing)
Freud (Psychoanalytic) theory of personality: Anal focus
1-3 years. cause anal retentive (obsessively neat) or anal expulsive (excessively disorganized/defiant)
Freud (Psychoanalytic) theory of personality: Genital focus
3-6 years. genitalia focus that can cause an Oedipus complex (desire to sexually possess the parent of opposite sex)
Freud (Psychoanalytic) theory of personality: Dormant
6-puberty. dormant sexual feelings that can cause sexual unfulfillment
Freud (Psychoanalytic) theory of personality: Mature sexual fixation
Puberty-death: mature sexual feelings that can cause unsatisfactory relationships; impotence
Psychoanalytic theory of personality
Id, ego, superego. ‘Slaves to the subconscious’
Humanistic theory of personality
people are responsible for their own free will /urges and are motivated to fulfill their own potential (as opposed to others). Does not reduce people to behaviors and drives. Focus on present. Maslow and Rogers.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Physiological > Safety > Belongingness > Esteem > Self-actualization
Trait theory of personality
Personality is interworking of various traits. Cardinal traits- dominate throughout life; rare and develop late (ex. Narcissism). Central traits- basic foundations of personality (ex. honest; shy; anxious). Secondary traits- attitudes under specific circumstances (ex. Shy in crowds)
Social-cognitive perspective on personality
learning and replicating the actions of others determines behavior. People choose environments based on personality, and personality dictates how they will interact with environment. Locus of control is important idea.
Behaviorist perspective on personality
personality is learned based on complex interactions between individual and environment; only observable/measurable behavior. Heavily based on operant and classical conditioning. Good behavior earns tokens
Biological perspective of personality
Biological factors determine behavior. Closely linked with trait theory
Drive
excitatory state produced by homeostatic disturbance (ex. the disturbance of thirst drives one to drink)
Theory of motivation: Drive-reduction theory
internal physiological need to minimize drive. Primary drives are innate, secondary drives (money) conditioned:
- Drive essential
- Stimuli and responses detected
- Response made
- Need satisfied-drive reduced
Theory of motivation: Incentive theory
people are driven by external positive incentives and driven away by external negative incentives (ex. Chasing money, drinking alcohol)
Theory of motivation: Need-based theory
motivation is based on satisfying various basic (ex. food/sex) to complex (ex. morality; self-esteem) needs
Theory of motivation: Cognitive theory
we are motivated through active cognitive processing of various needs (ex. A balance of study time to get grades but not be a nerd)
Sensitization
repeated stimulus causes response amplification (ex. getting irritated by someone saying like too many times)
Pathways to persuasion
Central (actual message) and peripheral (background clues)
Social facilitation
tendency for people to perform better when in presence of others (ex. running faster against competitors than against the clock)
Deindividuation
decreased self-evaluation when others have same attitudes/behaviors (ex. members of lynch mob have decreased moral compass)