Psych 401 Exam 3 Vocab

Front 1

apparent motion

Back 1

-Wertheimer
-phenomenon in which stationary stimuli appear to move under certain circumstances

Front 2

Gestalt Organizing

Back 2

-Perpetual principles described by the gestaltists
-summarize the ways in which sensory phenomena become organized into a whole, meaningful figure

Front 3

Pragnanz

Back 3

-Gestalt
-organizing principle of perception
-tendency for our perceptions to mirror reality as closely as possible

Front 4

Figure Ground Segregation

Back 4

-Gestalt organizing principle
-states that a fundamental perceptual tendency is to separate whole figures from their backgrounds

Front 5

Closure

Back 5

-Gestalt organizing principle
-tendency to fill in missing gaps in our perception in order to perceive full figures

Front 6

Proximity

Back 6

-Gestalt organizing principle of perception
-a tendency to perceive that objects in close proximity "belong" together

Front 7

Similarity

Back 7

-Gestalt organizing principle of perception
-a tendency to perceive that objects resembling each other "belong" together

Front 8

Good Continuation

Back 8

-Gestalt organizing principle
-a tendency to organize perceptions in a smoothly flowing direction

Front 9

Geographical Environment

Back 9

-Gestaltists
- refers to the physical environment, as contrasted with the environment as perceived (the behavioral environment)

Front 10

Behavioral Environment

Back 10

-Gestaltists
-referred to the environment perceived, as contrasted with the physical environment (the geographical environment)

Front 11

Insight

Back 11

-Gestaltists
-a sudden problem solution
-occurred when the individual reorganized the elements of the problem situation into a new configuration

Front 12

Functional Fixedness

Back 12

-Failure to solve a problem because of an inability to think of using some object in a manner different from its normal function

Front 13

Von Restorff Fixedness

Back 13

-increased recall of information that stands out in some manner from other to-be-learned information

Front 14

Valence

Back 14

-Lewin
-term used to describe whether an object is valued by the person (positive valence) or not valued (negative valence)

Front 15

Vector

Back 15

-Lewin
-refers to the direction of a desired goal

Front 16

Approach-Approach Conflict

Back 16

-Lewin
-a situation in which a conflict exists within a person
-resulting from having to make a choice between 2 goals with a positive valence

Front 17

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

Back 17

-Lewin
-a situation in which a conflict exists within a person
-occurring when a goal elicits both approach and avoidance tendencies

Front 18

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

Back 18

-Lewin
-a situation in which a conflict exists within a person
-resulting from having to make a choice between 2 goals w/ a negative valence

Front 19

Zeigarnik Effect

Back 19

-Named for a student of Lewin
-refers to a tendency to be more likely to recall unfinished tasks than finished tasks

Front 20

Psychophysical Isomorphism

Back 20

-Gestaltists & Kohler
-in a given case the organization of experience & the underlying physiological facts have the same structure
-underlying brain processes mirror the experience

Front 21

Conditioned Reflexes

Back 21

- the outcome of Pavlovian conditioning
-pairing a conditioned stimulus (ex:tone) w/ an unconditioned stimulus (ex:food)
-the conditioned stimulus eventually elicits a conditioned response/reflex

Front 22

Unconditioned Reflexes

Back 22

-Pavlov
-any stimulus-response connection (ex: food-salivate) that does not have to be learned

Front 23

Extinction

Back 23

-In Pavlovian conditioning
-the gradual elimination of a conditioned response following the repeated presentation of a conditioned stimulus in the absence of an unconditioned stimulus

Front 24

Generalization

Back 24

-the tendency for a response learned to one stimulus to occur after the presentation of a second stimulus similar to the first

Front 25

Systematic Desensitization

Back 25

-pioneered by Jones & Wolpe, who named it
-behavior therapy procedure in which fear response is replaced by an incompatible response (ex:relaxation)

Front 26

Neobehaviorism

Back 26

-associated w/ Tolman, Hull & others
-behaviorist movement that emerged in the 1930s

Front 27

Logical Positivism

Back 27

-associated w/ the Vienna Circle
-philosophical movement that extended positivist thinking
-distinguished btw theoretical & observable events
-described ways of connecting the two through operational definitions

Front 28

Operationalism

Back 28

-Philosophical position that scientific concepts were to be defined in terms of a set of operations used to measure those concepts

Front 29

Purposiveness

Back 29

-Tolman
-referred to a goal-directedness & was believed by him to be a universal feature of behavior

Front 30

Intervening Variable

Back 30

-Used by Tolman & Hull
-referred to hypothetical internal factors that intervened btw stimulus & response

Front 31

Cognitive Map

Back 31

-Tolman
-a hypothetical spacial memory of a maze
-acquired simply as a result of experiencing the maze

Front 32

Hypothetico-Deductive system

Back 32

-Hull
-general approach in which a hypotheses for research are deduced from the formal postulates of the theory
-the outcomes of research support the theory or lead it to its modification

Front 33

Habit Strength

Back 33

-Hull
-an intervening variable influencing behavior that was a direct function of the number of reinforced trials

Front 34

Primary Reinforcers

Back 34

-Hull
-unlearned reinforcers (ex:food)

Front 35

Secondary Reinforcers

Back 35

-Hull
-reinforcers that are learned through association w/ primary reinforcers (ex: money)

Front 36

Reaction Potential

Back 36

-Hull
-the probability that a response will occur at a given time
-depending on such factors as drive & habit strength

Front 37

Operant Conditioning

Back 37

-Skinner
-conditioning in which a behavior occurs & the immediate consequences of the behavior determine its future probability of occurrence.

Front 38

law of acquisition

Back 38

-Skinner
-the strength of an operant behavior is increased when it is followed by the presentation of an reinforcing stimulus

Front 40

Positive Reinforcer

Back 40

-adding a positive stimulus (food, water, etc.) to increase behavior

Front 41

Negative Reinforcer

Back 41

-removing a negative stimulus ( loud noise, electric shock) to increase behavior

Front 42

Instinctive Drift

Back 42

-misbehavior of organisms
-instinctual behavior that interferes w/ & displaces learning
-breland & breland

Front 43

Sociobehaviorism

Back 43

-Bandura
-social learning approach
-behavior as formed and modified in social situations

Front 44

Vicarious Reinforcement

Back 44

-Bandura social learning theory
-a reinforcement which is received indirectly by observing another person who is being rewarded for behavior.

Front 45

Self Efficacy

Back 45

-Sociobehaviorism & Bandura
-one's self esteem & competence in dealing w/ life's problems
- High & low self efficacy

Front 46

Shaping

Back 46

-Operant procedure for developing complex behavior by reinforcing successive approximations to the final behavior.

Front 47

Classical Conditioning

Back 47

-Pavlov
-conditioning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli
-a neutral stimulus that signals an UCS & begins to produce a response that anticipates & prepares for the UCS

Front 48

Reinforcers

Back 48

-Skinner
-when following as an immediate consequence of some behavior, an stimulus that has the effect of strengthening the behavior

Front 49

Differentiation

Back 49

-Pavlov
-referring to classical conditioning
-being able to distinguish btw 2 stimuli
-ex: being able to train a dog to drool to one tone and not another