Psychology 105 Final

Front 1

Correlation

Back 1

– The cause and effect of correlation is the idea that as one variable increases, so does the other.

– Can be positive or negative relationship (slope). For example, the relationship between gray hair and years married (positive) and the relationship between grades and test anxiety (negative).

– The idea is that they don't necessarily cause each other. There is another variable.

– Correlation IS NOT causation.

Front 2

Self-Fulfilling Prophesy

Back 2

The tendency to act in ways that will lead us to find what we expect to find.

Front 3

Double-Blind Procedure

Back 3

Neither the participant nor the experimenter knows who is receiving what treatment.

Front 4

Limitations

Back 4

Does not imply causation; the "third variable" problem.

Front 5

Sampling (Defined and the 2 types)

Back 5

Some manner of choosing the participants for your experiment.

2 Types: Representative and Biased

Front 6

Representative Sample

Back 6

A sample that has the same characteristics of the population being studied.

Front 7

Biased Sample

Back 7

A sample that DOES NOT have the same characteristics that the population being studied has.

Front 8

Probability

Back 8

The study of likelihood and uncertainty

Front 9

Formula for probability

Back 9

p(A) = # of event outcome "A" + by Total # of possible events

Front 10

Randomness

Back 10

Each event may not be predictable when taken alone, but a collection of events can on a predictable form.

Front 11

Mutually Exclusive Events

Back 11

The two events cannot occur together.

Front 12

Gambler's Fallacy

Back 12

The belief that random events are self-correcting (i.e. shooting in streaks).

Front 13

Four reasons that people make poor decisions about likelihood and uncertainty:

Back 13

1.) Miscalculating probabilities, especially in multiple outcome situations.
2.) The search for meaning
– People like to look for patterns and cling to them (gambler's fallacy)
3.) Misusing Probability
– Where people use probability in order to support their cause (I.E. a 300% increase in crime might only be a jump from 2 to 6)
4.) Overconfidence
– Being more confident in the decisions you make than in the probabilities (i.e. People think they will beat the odds).

Front 14

Subjective Probability

Back 14

A personal estimate of the likelihood of events.
– I.E. What I think the probability will be

Front 15

Objective Probability

Back 15

Mathematically determined statement of the likelihood about known frequencies.

Front 16

Central tendencies (Different terms for average)

Back 16

Mean, median, mode

Front 17

Heuristics

Back 17

Mental shortcuts for making decisions

Front 18

Available Heuristic

Back 18

Judging by how quickly examples (or amounts of info) comes to mind.

Front 19

Representative Heuristic

Back 19

1.) The more similar an individual is to typical #s of a group, the more likely he/she is to belong to that group.

2.) The belief that any member of a category should "look like" or have the traits of that category.

Front 20

Bystander Effect (Effect)

Back 20

The decision to help decreases as the # of bystanders increases (more bystanders = less chance of help).

Front 21

Diffusion of Responsibility (Cause)

Back 21

If there are many observers of an event, each person feels they bear only a small portion of the blame for not helping.

Front 22

Why do Carnegie Medal winners exist?

Back 22

5 part model to help or not:
1.) Do people realize something is wrong?
2.) Is help required?
3.) Will I help
4.) Can I help?
5.) Should I help?

Front 23

Delayed Rewards

Back 23

– Short term and long term decisions are processed differently in your brain.
– Decisions with immediate rewards process in an area of the brain that makes dopamine.
– Decisions resulting in long term rewards use a different part of our brain that doesn't release dopamine.

Front 24

Emotional State

Back 24

1.) How our moods influence the way decisions are made.

2.) How we try to influence the moods of others who make decisions that affect us.

Front 25

Wishful Thinking

Back 25

The idea that if we want something to happen it will. People tend to overestimate their chances of success or likelihood of a desired outcome.

Front 26

Entrapment

Back 26

When time, money, and effort is invested into something. However, a change of heart occurs, and we are unable to start over due to the prior investment (i.e. switching majors)

Front 27

Reciprocity

Back 27

A determinant of what and whom we like.

Front 28

Decision Making (Defined)

Back 28

1.) Decision making is the study of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker.
– Making a decision implies that there are alternative choices to be considered, and in such a case we want not only to identify as many of these alternatives as possible but to choose the one that best fits with our goals, desires, lifestyle, values, and so on.

2.) Decision making is the process of sufficiently reducing uncertainty and doubt about alternatives to allow a reasonable choice to be made from among them.
– It should be noted here that uncertainty is reduced rather than eliminated. Very few decisions are made with absolute certainty because complete knowledge about all the alternatives is seldom possible. Thus, every decision involves a certain amount of risk.

Front 29

Psychological Reactants

Back 29

1.) Resistance arising from restrictions of freedom (i.e. a rebelling teenager)

2.) Wanting to do what you are told not to do.

Front 30

Mindessness

Back 30

1.) Without conscious though about what we are doing.

2.) Effortless decision-making

Front 31

Failure to seek disconfirming evidence

Back 31

– The hardest choice to make is the one that is almost opposite of what is stated.

– Humans would rather confirm data (confirmation bias) than deny it.

Front 32

Overconfidence

Back 32

Thinking that the odds related to a decision don't apply to you.

Front 33

Mere-Exposure

Back 33

When you are exposed to something, it will seem familiar. And the next time you face a decision relating to that, you will be more likely to decide to do that.

Front 34

Cognitive Dissonance

Back 34

- A feeling of discomfort that comes when performing a behavior that is not in line with a person's self-concept (am I a good person? Good friend, sister, etc.)

2.) You will do something to reduce that discomfort (a motivation to act).

Front 35

How do people reduce cognitive dissonance?

Back 35

1.) Changing your self-concept
– Internal Justification: A reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself.

2.) Blame others
– Belittling the victim: When you do someone wrong, and feel guilty about it, you dehumanize them.

Front 36

What is a problem?

Back 36

A gap or barrier between where you are and where you want to be.

Front 37

Stages in Problem-Solving:

Back 37

1.) Preparation or familiarization – the time you spend trying to understand the problem.

2.) Production Stage – Looking at all the actions you could take to solve the problem (solution paths).

3.) Judgment or Evaluation – Judging and evaluating your solution paths; which solution is the best?

4.) The problem is solved!

Front 38

Stages in Problem-Solving when there are no good options (part 2):

Back 38

3.5 A.) Incubation: The time when you are not actively considering the problem.
– Insight: The "Aha!" moment; sudden insight into the problem.

3.5 B.) Persistence: Continued efforts to solve the problem.

Front 39

Means-End Analysis

Back 39

A procedure by which people select and utilize subgoals and use them to progress towards the goal.

For example: A man with a fox, a goose, and a bag of corn had to cross a river. The man could carry only one thing across at a time. He knew that if he left the goose & the corn together, the corn would be eaten. If he left the fox & the goose together, the goose would be eaten. How did he get everything across?

Front 40

Working Backwards

Back 40

Start at the solution, then work back to where you are now (like a maze).

Front 41

Simplification

Back 41

Complex or abstract problems are best solved if you can find a way to look at them in a more concrete form.

Front 42

Trial-And-Error

Back 42

A systematic search through the problem space.

For example: Arrange the digits 0-9 so they add up to 99. You must use all the numbers.

Front 43

Split-Half Method

Back 43

Split the problem in half and work towards the goal.

– For example: A man decides to buy a nice horse. He pays $60 for it, and is happy with the strong animal. After a year, the value of the horse has increased to $70 and he decides to sell the horse. But after a few days he regrets his decision and he buys it back again. Unfortunately, he has to pay $80 to get it back, so he loses $10. One year later he finally decides to sell the horse for $90. What is the overall profit the man makes?

Front 44

Rules

Back 44

The underlying principle.

– For example: The alphabet is presented in 2 rows. What is the rule that determines whether a letter belongs in the top or bottom row?

A EF HI KLMN T VWXYZ

BCD G J OPQRS U

– Answer: Straight line letters on top and curved letters on bottom.

Front 45

Functional Fixedness

Back 45

– A mental set in which an individual only considers the usual use of objects.

– Restate the problem, question the underlying assumptions.

– For example: 60 - 2 = six
How can this be true??

Sixty - ty = Six

Front 46

What if you "feel" it doesn't matter?

Back 46

– The decisions you make have no impact on what happens.

– You simply cannot solve the problem, so why bother.

– For example: "Learned Helplessness"

Front 47

Creativity

Back 47

The regular production of something that is original, novel, and useful. In other words, it does not just happen once, but rather is a regular process.

Front 48

General or Domain Specific (General):

Back 48

– People are creative in all aspects of their lives.
– For example: Alice is a creative mother, painter, mathematician, and singer.

Front 49

General or Domain Specific (Domain Specific):

Back 49

– People are creative in one aspect of their lives.
– For example: Alisha is a creative painter.

Front 50

Myths about the nature of creativity:

Back 50

1.) Creativity occurs in a burst of insight (the "Aha!" moment)
– Not where creativity comes from.
2.) Depends on the unconscious mind.
– Frequently fabricated stories. But they attract attract publicity, confound rivals, and enhance status.

3.) A "creative" personality
– There is little relationship between the two.

4.) Mentally ill?
– Most creative people are not mentally ill.

Front 51

What is the nature of creativity?

Back 51

1.) Usually the product of hard work.
2.) Depends on Conscious/Problem Solving Effort
3.) We are all creativity to varying degrees

Front 52

Who are creative geniuses?

Back 52

1.) Need a baseline IQ of 120
2.) 10 years of experience
3.) Actively practice steps to improve their creativity

Front 53

How to improve creativity:

Back 53

1.) Try to restate the problem
2.) Production of ideas
3.) Evaluation

Front 54

Try to restate the problem:

Back 54

How can you take one away from 9 and get 10?:

1.) – 9 - (-1) = 9 + 1 = 10

2.) IX = 9; Remove I and you have X = 10

3.) NINE Take away I and you have N N E; N N E contains 10 straight lines

Front 55

Production of ideas or Brainstorming:

Back 55

Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking:
– Convergent Thinking: Finding a single good answer to a problem
– Divergent Thinking: Finding many answers to a problem

Front 56

RAT (Remote Association Test):

Back 56

Charming Student Valiant = ?
Rough Resistance Beer = ?

Food Catcher Hot = Dog (Because "dog food," "dog catcher," and "hot dog")

Dark Shot Sun = Glasses (Because "dark glasses," "sun glasses," and "shot glasses"

Tug Gravy Show = Boat (Because "tug boat," "gravy boat," and "show boat")

Front 57

Evaluations

Back 57

Evaluation: Decision Worksheet
1.) Define the problem
– Be careful if there is only 1 solution.
2.) Creative Thinking, develop alternatives
3.) List the impact of these alternatives
4.) Rate each of the impacts (1-5)
5.) Rate each alternative (1-5)
6.) Based on the total ratings of the impact & alternatives determine an overall assessment

Front 58

Additional method to improve your creativity NOW:

Back 58

Simply add the instruction, "Be creative!"

Front 59

Explanatory Style:

Back 59

– Indicates how people explain to themselves why they experience a particular event, either positive or negative.

– People who generally tend to blame themselves for negative events believe that such events will continue indefinitely, and let such events affect many aspects of their lives display what is called a pessimistic explanatory style. Conversely, people who generally tend to blame others for negative events, believe that such events will end soon, and do not let such events affect too many aspects of their lives display what is called an optimistic explanatory style.

Front 60

3 Components of Explanatory Style:

Back 60

1.) Personal: People experiencing events may see themselves as the cause; that is, they have internalized the cause for the event.
Example: "I always forget to make that turn" (internal) as opposed to "That turn can sure sneak up on you" (external).
2.) Permanent: People may see the situation as unchangeable, e.g., "I always lose my keys" or "I never forget a face".
3.) Pervasive: People may see the situation as affecting all aspects of life, e.g., "I can't do anything right" or "Everything I touch seems to turn to gold".

Front 61

Explanatory Style:

Back 61

– Indicates how people explain to themselves why they experience a particular event, either positive or negative.

– People who generally tend to blame themselves for negative events believe that such events will continue indefinitely, and let such events affect many aspects of their lives display what is called a pessimistic explanatory style. Conversely, people who generally tend to blame others for negative events, believe that such events will end soon, and do not let such events affect too many aspects of their lives display what is called an optimistic explanatory style.

Front 62

3 Components of Explanatory Style:

Back 62

1.) Personal: People experiencing events may see themselves as the cause; that is, they have internalized the cause for the event.
Example: "I always forget to make that turn" (internal) as opposed to "That turn can sure sneak up on you" (external).
2.) Permanent: People may see the situation as unchangeable, e.g., "I always lose my keys" or "I never forget a face".
3.) Pervasive: People may see the situation as affecting all aspects of life, e.g., "I can't do anything right" or "Everything I touch seems to turn to gold".