Psych Final

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Sensation

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The detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects; it occurs when the energy in the external environment or the body stimulates receptors in the sense organs.

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Perception

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The process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory information.

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Transduction

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The process of turning raw sensory data into a neural impulse that the brain can read.

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Absolute Threshold

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The smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected by an observer.

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Difference Threshold (or jnd)

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The smallest difference in stimulation that can be reliably detected by an observer two stimuli are compared.

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Sensory adaptation

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The reduction or disappearance of sensory responsiveness when stimulation is unchanging or repetitious.

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Selective attention

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The focusing of attention on selected aspects of the environment and the filtering out of others.

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Intattentional blindness

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The failure to consciously perceive something that you are looking because you are not attending to it.

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Change blindness

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The phenomenon that occurs when a person viewing a visual scene apparently fails to detect large changes in the scene.

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Bottom-up processing

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The raw sensory data is sent to the brain and your brain uses all of that data to build a perception

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Top-down processing

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You use previously learned information to help recognize and interpret the data coming into your brain

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Synesthesia

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A condition in which stimulation of one sense also evokes another

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Doctrine of specific nerve energies

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The principle that different sensory modalities exist because signals received by the sense organs stimulate different nerve pathways leading to different areas of the brain

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Sense receptors

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Specialized cells that convert physical energy in the environment or the body to electrical energy that can be transmitted as nerve impulses to the brain

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Descriptive studies

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Methods that yield descriptions of behavior but are not necessarily causal explanations

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case study

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a detailed description of a particular individual based on careful observation of formal psychological testing

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observational research

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The researcher observes, measures, and records behavior, taking care to avoid intruding on the people (or animals) being observed

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Surveys

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Questionnaires and interviews that gather information by asking people directly about their experiences, attitudes, or opinions

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socially desirable responding

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the tendency for participants to respond in a way that would be viewed favorably by others

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Correlational study

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A type of study that focuses on the relationship between two variables

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Psychology

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The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, and external environment

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Difference between psychology and psychobabble/pseudoscience

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Psychology relies on evidence gathered by careful observation, experimentation, or measurement; psychobabble is quackery covered by a veneer of psychological and scientific-sounding language

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8 guidelines for critical thinking

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Ask questions; define terms; examine evidence; analyze assumptions and biases; avoid emotional reasoning; don't oversimplify; consider other interpretations; tolerate uncertainty

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Assumptions

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beliefs that are taken for granted

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biases

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assumptions or beliefs that keep us from fairly considering the evidence

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Occam's razor

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the law of parsimony

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Basic research

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Just for knowledge; nothing comes out of it

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applied research

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has a direct practical significance and improves something somehow

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clinical psychologists

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diagnose, treat, and study mental or emotional problems; have a doctorate

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psychiatrists

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medical doctors; diagnose and treat mental or emotional problems; prescribe medication

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psychotherapists

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anyone who does any psychotherapy; no educational background needed

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psychoanalysts

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receive training in Freudian analysis

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Descriptive studies

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methods that yield descriptions of behavior but are not necessarily causal explanations

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Variables

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characteristics of behavior or experiences that can be measured or described by a numeric scale

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control condition

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comparison condition in which participants are not exposed to the same treatment as in the experimental condition

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experiment

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controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable

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Independent variable

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variable that experimenter manipulates; will influence dependent variable

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dependent variable

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variable that experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulating IV; it is measured

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Positive correlations

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high values of one variable that are associated with high values of the other and low values of one variable are associated with low values of the other; numeric value is positive

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negative correlations

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high values of one variables are associated with low values of the other; numeric value is negative

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placebos

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fake or phony treatment, such as a sugar pill; participant doesn't know if pill is real or fake; used because sometimes power of the mind is stronger than the body

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unconditioned stimulus

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a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in the absence of learning

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unconditioned response

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reflexive response elicited by a stimulus in the absence of learning

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conditioned stimulus

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an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus

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conditioned response

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a response that is elicited by a conditioned stimuli; occur after CS is associated with US

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positive reinforcement/punishment

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presentation of, or increase in intensity of, a stimulus

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negative reinforcement/punishment

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removal of, or reduction in intensity of, a stimulus

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punishment

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stimulus or event weakens or reduces probability of response that follows

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negative reinforcement

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removal of, or reduction in intensity of, a stimulus

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extinction

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weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response, occurring when the CS is not longer paired with the US

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spontaneous recovery

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reappearance of a learned response after its apparent extinction

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higher-order conditioning

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process that occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes a CS through association with an already established CS

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stimulus generalization

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after conditioning, tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning

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stimulus discrimination

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tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli

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shaping

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successive approximations of a desired response are reinforced

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extrinsic

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reinforcing that are not inherently related to the activity being reinforcedq

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intrinsic

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reinforced that are inherently related to the activity being reinforced

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social-congitive theory

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emphasizes how behavior is learned and maintained through observation and limitation of others, positive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plans, expectations, and beliefs

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Albert Bandura's work

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observational learning; learning by watching others' behavior rather than through direct experience

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norms

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rules that regulate human life, including social conventions, explicit laws, and implicit cultural standards

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roles

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social positions that are governed by sets of norms for proper behavior

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Milgram's study

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investigated whether people would follow orders, even when the order violated ethical standards; most people more obedient than anyone expected; every single participant complied with orders to shock another person; 2/3 shocked learner to full extent; results controversial and have generated further research on violence and obedience

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IRBs

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Protect human subjects

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Asch's study

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elevator experiment; conformity

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Prison study

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Zimbardo and Haney; participants took on roles of prisoners and guards; unethical

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Situational attribution

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cause of behavior is in the situation/environment

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dispositional attribution

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behavior lies within person

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reindividuation

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in groups of crowds, loss of awareness of one's own individuality

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pluralistic ignorance

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failing to take action because of lack of response of others

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diffusion of responsibility

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in groups, tendency of members to avoid taking because they assume that others will

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bystander effect

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tendency for individuals not to offer help when others are present

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social loafing

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people do not work as hard when in the presence of others and individual output cannot be identified

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Affect heuristic

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tendency to consult one's emotions instead of objective evidence

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framing effect

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tendency for people's choices to be affected by how a choice is presented or framed

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hindsight bias

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tendency to over-estimate one's ability to have predicted an event once the outcome is known

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confirmation bias

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the tendency to look for or pay attention only to information that confirms one's own belief

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mental sets

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tendency to solve problems using procedures that worked before on similar problems

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initial state of problem solving

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starting point

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goal state of problem solving

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what you are attempting to solve

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obstacles of problem solving

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restrictions that interfere with the move toward the goal state

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trial and error

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try a number of solutions and hopefully one will work

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algorithm

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problem-solving strategy guaranteed to produce a solution even if the user does not know how it works

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emotion

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a state of arousal involving facial and bodily changes, brain activation, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, and tendencies toward action

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facial feedback

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facial muscles send muscles to the brain about the basic emotion being expressed

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emotion work

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expression of an emotion, often because of a role requirement, that a person does not really feel

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mindfulness

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the ability to be aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and actions in the present moment without judging or criticizing yourself or your experience

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ID

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primitive and instinctive; unconscious

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ego

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realistic ways of achieving ID's desires

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superego

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values and morals; conscience

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self-actualization

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need to fulfill our full and special potential as human beings

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humanist theory of personality development

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emphasizes personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential

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electroconvulsive therapy

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a procedure which causes a brief brain seizure and is used in cases of prolonged and severe depression

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behavior therapy

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applies principles of classical conditioning and operant conditioning to help people change self-defeating or problematic behaviors

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client-centered therapy

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based on humanist philosophy (Carl Rogers)

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behavioral therapy

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applies principles of classical conditioning and operant conditioning to help people change self-defeating or problematic behaviors

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all-or-nothing thinking

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seeing thing in black or white categories

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overgeneralization

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seeing a single negative event, such as romantic rejection etc, as a never-ending pattern of defeat by using words such as "always" or "never"

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mental filter

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picking out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively, so that your vision of all reality becomes, like a drop of ink that discolors water

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discounting the positive

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rejective positive experiences by insisting they "don't count"

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jumping to conclusions

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interpreting things negatively when there are no facts to support your conclusion

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magnification

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exaggerating the importance of problems and shortcomings, or minimizing importance of desirable qualities

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emotional reasoning

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assuming negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are

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should statements

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telling yourself that things should be the way you hoped or expected them to be

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labeling

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extreme form of all-or-nothing thinking

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personalization and blame

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occurs when you hold yourself personally responsible for an event that isn't entirely under your control

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sensory memory

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lasts only a couple seconds, moves to short-term memory; flashing pictures for a second, remembering them?

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short-term memory

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limited capacity; brief storage; conscious processing of information

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long-term information

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unlimited capacity; information organized

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mapping the brain: Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI

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a method for studying body and brain tissue using magnetic fields and special radio receivers; MRI is faster form often used in psychological research

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localization of function

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specialization of particular brain areas for particular functions

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hindbrain

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coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord

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medulla oblongata

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an extension of the spinal cord that coordinates heart rate, circulation, and respiration

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Reticular activating system (RAS)

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dense network of neurons found in the core of the brain stem; arouses cortex, screens imformation

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cerebellum

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coordinates muscles so movement is smooth, contributes to balance

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pons

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sleeping, waking, and dreaming; connects info from cerebellum to rest of brain

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midbrain

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small collection of brain regions important for orientation and movement

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tectum

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orients an organism in the environment toward sensory stimuli from the eyes, ears, and skin

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tegmentum

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movement and arousal; involved with pleasure-seeking and motivation

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substantia nigra

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brain region important in reward, addiction, and fluidity/inhibition of movement; produces dopamine, associated with Parkinson's disease

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cerebrum

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highest level of the brain that controls complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions; divided into cerebral cortex and subcortical structures

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cerebral cortex

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outermost layer of brain responsible for higher mental functions

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subcortical structures

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areas of the forebrain under the cerebral cortex

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Gyri

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smooth, raised part of the surface of the brain

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Sulci

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indentations or fissures of the brain

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thalamus

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relays sensory information to the cerebral cortex; NOT SMELL

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hypothalamus

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involved in emotions and drives vital to survival such as fear, hunger, thirst, sex, and body temperature

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amygdala

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evaluates sensory information, quickly determining its emotional importance; associated with emotional memories and approach or withdrawal

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hippocampus

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storage of new information in memory; compares new information to what the brain has learned to expect; stores spatial information, facts, and events

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parasympathetic nervous system

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slows activity in the body like the brake slows a car

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Phineas Gage

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Got into accident; metal rod went through frontal lobe and his personality changed completely

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central nervous system

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brain and spinal cord; all sensory and motor information

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peripheral nervous system

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everything that isn't the brain and spinal cord

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sensory neuron

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The stimulus is a change in the internal or external environment

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interneuron

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stimulus is a neurotransmitter released from a sensory neuron or another interneuron; found in brain and spinal cord

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motor neuron

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stimulus is a neurotransmitter released from an interneuron; neurons send messages to muscles or glands

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dendrites

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neuron parts that detect the stimulus

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cell body

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neuron part that contains most of cytoplasm and the nucleus

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synapse

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space between two neurons or between a neuron and effector; when neurotransmitters get released

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axon

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neuron part that sends an action potential away from the cell body

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axon endings

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ends of axons that contain vesicles with neurotransmitter

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myelin sheath

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layer of fatty cells wrapped around axon to prevent electrolyte loss

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effector

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muscle or a gland that receives a message from a motor neuron

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nodes of Ranvier

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Gaps in myelin sheath

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action potential

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nerve impulses

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nerve

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a bundle of sensory and/or motor neurons, side by side

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neuron

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nerve cell