Top 100 Terms Part 1 Flashcards
What is the Serial Position Effect?
States that people are more likely to recall the first and last information from a memorized list rather than the information in the middle
What is closure (Gestalt Psychology)?
When people tend to seee perceive incomplete forms as complete;
Our brains tend to fill in the missing parts to see the stimulus as a whole
What is proximity (Gestalt Psychology)?
When elements are placed closer together, we start to see them as part of a group
What is figure-ground?
When the figure (the focal point) and the ground (background) of an image become ambiguous
What is the reciprocity norm (social standard)?
If someone helps another person, that individual is expected to return the favor
What is group polarization?
After dicussing a topic, the group members’ beliefs become more extreme than prior to the discussion
What is confirmation bias?
Tendency for a person to look for information supporting their beliefs, while ignoring or dismissinf evidence that doesn’t support their position
What is belief perserverance?
Tendency for individuals to hold onto a belief event after being presented with information that discredits it
What is the self-serving bias?
Tendency to overstate one’s role when there’s a positive outcome and understate it when there’s a negative outcome
What is the stereotype threat?
Anxiety that members of a group feel if they think that their performance will confirm a negative stereotype
What is the foot-in-the-foor phenomenon?
-A request is made
-Individual agrees
-Larger request is then made
-Individual is more likely to agree after accepting the smaller request
What is the door-in-the-face phenomenon?
-Large request is made
-Individual denies
-Smaller request is made
-Individual is more likely to accept smaller request after denying larger one
What is hostile aggression?
End goal is physical harm;
Ex: bar fight
What is instrumental aggression?
Aggression is used to achieve some other means;
Ex: beating someone up to get their wallet
What are neurons?
Messengers that send signals throughout the body
What are affferent (sensory) neurons?
Send information at the brain
What are efferent (motor) neurons?
Send information from the brain to the rest of the body
What are long term potentiation?
A process by which synaptic connections between neurons become stronger with frequent activation;
Practice makes neural pathways stronger
What is arousal?
A state of alertness and/or being awake
What parts of the body oversee arousal?
-Sympathetic nervous system
-Reticular formation (network of neurons that runs in the brainstem)
What makes up the central nervous system?
Brain (information center) and spinal chord (information highway)
What makes up the peripheral nervous system?
Nerves that branch from the spinal cord to other parts of the body
What is the peripheral nervous system divided into?
Somatic (motor and sensory nerves);
autonomic (digestive, respiratory, circulatory, reproductive)
What is the autonomic nervous system split into?
Sympathetic (alert system that reacts to stressors);
parasympathetic (calms body down after stressful situation)
What is the arousal theory of motivation?
People are motivated to engage in a given behavior to raise or lower their arousal level
What is the common sense theory of emotion?
A stimulus prompts an emotion, which results in arousal
What is the James-Lange Theory of emotion?
A stimulus prompts arousal, which results in emotion
What is the Cannon-Bard Theory of emotion?
A stimulus will prompt emotion and arousal at the same, exact time
What is the cerebellum?
Attached to the brain stem;
Deals with coordination, motor control, balance, and muscle memory;
Slurred speech happens when it is affected by alcohol
What is Broca’s area?
Produces speech;
Damage leads to expressive aphasia
What is Wernicke’s area?
Interprets spoken language;
Damage leads to receptive aphasia
What does the angular gyrus do?
Takes visuals and sends them to Wernicke’s area for comprehension
What is inattentional blindness?
Failing to notive a recognizable stimulus because one’s attention is elsewhere
What is the Cocktail Party Effect?
Person’s ability to focus on one stimulus while ignoring all others
What are cognitive maps (Tolman)?
A mental representation of the layout of one’s environment
What is the approach-approach conflict?
Choice between two desirable outcomes
What is the avoidance-avoidance conflict?
Choice between two options that have unattractice outcomes
What is the approach-avoidance conflict?
One event/goal has attractice and unattractice features
What is the multiple approach-avoidance conflict?
Choice between two or more options, each option having both desirable and undesirable features
What is habituation?
The diminished effectiveness of a stimulus in elicting a response, following repeated exposure to the stimulus
What is an algorithm?
A step-by-step procedure that guarantees solving a problem;
Downside: slow
What is framing?
Presenting a problem, question, or situation in a way that impacts how that issue is perceived
What is source amnesia/source misattribution?
Incorrectly identifying where a memory came from
What is chunking?
Organizing information into meaningful units to be stored into memory
What is functional fixedness?
Cognitive bias that limits a person’s ability to use an object in a way besides its intended purpose
What is mental set?
When an individual uses a solution that worked in the past on a currenty problem, which may or may not work
What is reciprocal determinism (Bandura)?
Belief that one’s thoughts, behavior, and environment all influence each other
What is external locus of control?
One’s perception that chance or outside forces control their fate
What is internal locus of control?
Perception that an individual can control their own fate
Who creates theories on personal control?
Julian Rotter
What happened in the Learned Helplessness Experiment by Seligman?
There were three groups of dogs that were all harnessed;
Group 1 (Control Group): No shock
Group 2: Shocked but lever stopped shock
Group 3: Shocked but lever did not stop shock;
After being placed in a box where one section would shock them and the other did not, Group 1 and 2 went to the non-shock side but Group 3 stayed in the shock section
What is learned helplessness?
When one feels as if they are unable to change the outcome of their situation after repeated aversive events
What is Positive Psychology?
Focuses on the study of the factors that allows individuals to thrive
What is humanistic psychology?
Looks at helping people achieve happiness, a meaningful life, and self-fulfillment
What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
We prioritize our needs on the basis of this hierarchy;
We aim to achieve self-actualization;
Self-actualization
Esteem
Love and belonging
Safety
Physiological needs
What is self-actualization?
Fulfilling one’s highest potential
What is a criticism of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
It’s hard to have a set definition for self-actualization because it’s a concept that varies from person to person
What is the self-concept (Maslow and Rogers)?
The way a person views themselves (either positive or negative)
What is unconditional positive regard?
Needed to achieve congruence between one’s ideal self and real self;
Is when a person is fully accepting of another person despite their flaws but does not accept their behavior
What is self-esteem?
Feelings of self-worth;
Must be moderate
What is narcissism?
Having too much self-esteem;
Inflated view of oneself that leads to attention-seeking and exploitative behavior
What is standard deviation?
How close the values in a data set are to the mean
What occurs if values in a data set are spread out?
They are more varied
What is the circadian rhythm?
Biological cycles that occur approximately every 24 hours
What is REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep?
One’s eyes are closed and behind the closed eyelids, our eyeballs are moving around rapidly;
Most dreams occur in this stage
What is a popular theory about the purpose of REM sleep?
It’s a time for our brains to process and consolidate our experiences and memories that day
What is REM rebound?
Occurs when sleep is missed;
Means that a person will spend more time in the REM cycle than they normally would
What is the only thing that can prove cause and effect?
Experiments
What is the correlation coefficient (r-values)?
Indicates the strength of the relationship
What is the authoritative parenting style?
Strong discipline;
Very supportive
What is the authoritarian parenting style?
Strong discipline;
Little/lack of support
What is the permissive parenting style?
Weak discipline;
Very supportive
What is the neglectful parenting style?
Weak discipline;
Little/lack of support
What are Freud’s defense mechanisms for?
Used to relieve anxiety
What is Kohlberg’s Moral Development Theory?
-Pre-Conventional
Obedience and Punishment
Individualism and Exchange
-Conventional
Good boy/Good girl
Law and Order
-Post-Conventional
Social Contract
Universal Ethical Principles
What is Piaget’s Cognitive Development Stages?
-Sensorimoto (0-2)
World is experienced through the 5 senses
-Preoperational (2-7)
Begin to use words and images to represent ideas
-Concrete Operational (7-11)
Basic logic
-Formal Operational (12+)
Abstract/advanced thinking
What is Erikson’s Psychosocial Development?
-Infancy (0-1)
Trust VS Mistrust
-Early Childhood (1-2)
Autonomy VS Shame
-Preschool (3-5)
Initiative VS Guilt
-School Age (6-11)
Industry VS Inferiority
-Adolescence (12-18)
Identity VS Role Confusion
-Young Adulthood (19-40)
Intimacy VS Isolation
-Middle Adulthood (40-65)
Generativity VS Stagnation
-Maturity (65-Death)
Integrity VS Death
What is absolute threshold?
Smallest detectable level of a stimulus (identifiable about 50% of the time)
What is difference threshold?
The minimum change in the intensity of a stimulus needed to detect that a change has taken place (detectable only 50% of the time)
What do the adrenal glands do?
Secrets the hormones adrenaline and norepinephrine, which provide more oxygen to our muscles which energizes us to attack or flee
What is Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome?
If there’s a stressor, that will activate the alarm stage (sympathetic nervous system is activated), then the resistance stage (homeostasis, body trying to go back to normal, but one’s physiological arousal may begin to stabilize through the resistance process), then the exhaustion stage (body’s resources depleted, risk of serious illness)
