Theories Flashcards
Weber’s law
Just noticeable difference
Young Helmholtz Color Theory
(trichromatic theory) color determined by the relative activity in red, blue, or green sensitive cones
Opponent Process Color Theory
Color information is organized into 3 antagonistic pairs
Place Theory
Relates perceived pitch to region
Frequency Theory
Related pitch to the frequency of sound waves and frequency of neuron firing
Facial Feedback hypothesis
Sensations from the face provide cues to the brain that help us determine what emotion we are feeling
Statistical Significance
.05 chance accounts for results less then 5% of the time
Template Matching Theory
Stored copies
Prototype Matching Theory
recognition involves comparison
Feature Analysis Theory
patterns are represented and recognized by distinctive features
Restorative Theory
We sleep in order to replenish
Adaptive Nonresponding Theory
Sleep and inactivity have survived value
Activation Synthesis hypothesis
Dreams are products of spontaneous neural activity
Thorndike’s Law of effect
Reward and punishment encourages and discourages responding
Premack principle
States that any high probability behavior can be used as a reward for any lower probability behavior
Continuity vs. Discontinuity
Theories of development, nature vs. nurture
Serial position phenomenon
Sequence influences recall
Primacy effect
Enhanced memory for items presented earlier
Recency effect
Enhanced memory for items presented last
Decay theory
Forgetting caused by learning similar materials proactive;initially Retroactive;previously
Linguistic relativity hypothesis
Person’s language determines and limits a persons experiences
Hull’s drive
Reduction model motivation arises out of need
Cognitive consistency theory
Cognitive inconsistencies create tension and thus motivate the organism
Festinger’s Cognitive dissonance theory
Reconcile cognitive discrepancies
Arousal Theories
We all have optimal levels of stimulation that we try to maintain
Yerkes Dodson law
Arousal will increase performances up to a point, then further increases will impair performance; inverted U function
Incentive theory
Behavior is pulled rather then pushed
James Lange theory
emotion is caused by bodily changes
Cannon Bard’s Thalamic theory
Emotional expression caused by simultaneous changing bodily event thoughts and feelings
Schachter’s Cognitive Physiological Theory
Bodily changes, current stimuli, events, and memories combine to determine behavior
Attribution theory
Explains how people make inferences about the causes of behavior;personal or situational;self serving bias
Deindividuation
Loss of self restraint that occurs out of anonymity
Contact theory
Proposes that equal status contract between antagonistic groups shoul lower tension and bring harmony
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome
(GAS) emergency reaction to stressful situations alarm raconstion, resistance and exhaustion
Lazaru’s Cognitive Psychological Model
Emphasizes the process of appraisal (primary and secondary) as the primary determinant of stress
Twin Studies
Allows a researcher to test influence of heredity v. environment
Personal Construct Theory
Unique system of reality
Deinstitutionalization
Occurred because of changes in political policy and development of new drug therapies
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
Looked at attachment in young children to their parents
