Psychology Chapter 3 And 6

Front 1

Well-defined Problem

Back 1

Clear specifications of the start state (where people are), goal state (where people want to be), and processes for reaching the goal state (how to get there)

Monopoly/Scrabble

Front 2

Ill-defined Problem

Back 2

Lacks clear specifications of the start state, goal state, and processes for reaching the goal state

Getting your roommate to help clean

Front 3

Fixation

Back 3

The inability to create a new interpretation of a problem

"thinking outside the box"

Front 4

Functional Fixedness

Back 4

The inability to see that an object can have a function other than its typical one

Front 5

Mental Set

Back 5

The tendency to use previously successful solution strategies without considering others that are more appropriate for the current problem

Front 6

Insight

Back 6

The intuition of a new way of interpreting a problem that immediately gives them the solution

Front 7

Algorithm

Back 7

A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a correct answer to a problem

ex. using multiplication correctly guarantees the correct solution to a multiplication problem and looking at an inventory list guarantees you will find every item

Front 8

Heuristic

Back 8

A solution strategy that seems reasonable given past experiences with solving problems, especially similar problems. May pay off with a quick correct answer, but may also lead to no answer or an incorrect one.

Front 9

Anchoring and adjustment heuristic

Back 9

An initial estimate is used as an anchor and then this anchor is adjusted up or down; however, because of the anchor, this adjustment is usually insufficient to allow people to perceive reality in an objective fashion.

Front 10

Working Backward heuristic

Back 10

An attempt to solve a problem by working from the goal state backward to the start state.

Front 11

Means-ends Analysis heuristic

Back 11

Involves breaking down a problem into subgoals and working toward decreasing the distance to the goal state by achieving the subgoals.

Front 12

Representativeness heuristic

Back 12

A rule of thumb for judging the probability of membership in a category on the basis of how well an object resembles that category.

Front 13

Conjunction Rule

Back 13

The likelihood of the overlap of two uncertain events cannot be greater than the likelihood of either of the two separate events because the overlap is only part of each event.

Front 14

Conjunction Fallacy

Back 14

Occurs when people use the representativeness heuristic, is incorrectly judging the overlap of two uncertain events to more likely than the occurrence of either of the two events independently and explains why people tend to chose option (b), even though it is impossible for option (b) to be correct.

Front 15

Gambler's Fallacy

Back 15

the erroneous belief that a change process is self-correcting; that is, than an event that has not occurred for a while is more likely to occur.

Front 16

Availability heuristic

Back 16

The mental shortcut that the more available an event is in memory, the more probable it is.

Front 17

Confirmation Bias

Back 17

The tendency to seek evidence that confirms one's beliefs.

Front 18

Illusory Correlation

Back 18

The erroneous belief that two variables are related when they actually are not related.

Front 19

Belief Perseverance

Back 19

The tendency to cling to one's beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence.

Front 20

Person-who Reasoning

Back 20

Questioning a well-established finding based on awareness of one person who violates the established finding.

Front 21

Intelligence Quotient

Back 21

IQ = (mental age/chronological age) x 100

No longer used because it is biased against older people

Front 22

Standardization

Back 22

A process that allows test scores to be interpreted according to test norms

Front 23

Reliability

Back 23

The extent to which the scores for a test are consistent

Front 24

Validity

Back 24

The extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure or predicts the behavior it is supposed to predict

Front 25

Factor Analysis

Back 25

A statistical technique that identifies clusters of test items that measure the same ability (factor)

Front 26

Heredity (Nature) and Environmental Experiences

Back 26

Important in determining intelligence

Front 27

Reaction Range

Back 27

Genetically determined limits for an individual's intelligence, but the quality of the person's environmental experiences determines where the individual falls within the reaction range

Front 28

Heritability

Back 28

An index of the degree of variation of a trait that is due to heredity within a given population

Front 29

The Flynn Effect

Back 29

The steady improvement in average intelligence scores over the past century in the US and other Western industrialized nations

Front 30

Absolute threshold

Back 30

The minimum amount of energy in a sensory stimulus that is detected 50% of the time

Front 31

Signal Detection Theory

Back 31

Used to examine a person's detection of sensory stimuli according to the person's physiological sensitivity to the stimulus and nonsensory factors, such as personality traits, expectations, alertness, and motivation

Front 32

Difference Threshold

Back 32

The minimum difference between two stimuli that is detected 50% of the time

Front 33

Weber's Law

Back 33

Says that for each type of sensory judgment, the difference threshold is a constant fraction of the standard stimulus value used to measure it

Front 34

Steven's Power Law

Back 34

States that the perceived magnitude of a stimulus is equal to its actual physical intensity raised to a constant power for each type of judgment

Front 35

Sensory Adaptation

Back 35

The disappearance of sensitivity to repetitive or unchanging stimuli

Front 36

Wavelength

Back 36

The distance in one cycle of a wave, from one crest to the next

Front 37

Amplitude

Back 37

The amount of energy in a wave, its intensity, which is the height of the wave at its crest

Front 38

Frequency

Back 38

The number of times a sound wave cycles in one second; shorter wavelengths have higher frequencies

Front 39

Cornea

Back 39

Covers the eye. LIght rays pass through it from their source into the eye

Front 40

Pupil

Back 40

Filter the light rays

Front 41

Lens

Back 41

Accommodates the light waves from objects of different distances directly on the retina

Front 42

Nearsighted

Back 42

Light rays from close objects come into focus in front of the retina

Front 43

Farsighted

Back 43

Light rays from close objects come into focus behind the retina

Front 44

Retina

Back 44

The light-sensitive layer of the eye and is composed of three layers of cells

Front 45

Ganglion Cells

Back 45

The first layer through which light rays pass

Front 46

Biopolar Cells

Back 46

Second layer of the retina

Front 47

Receptor Cells

Back 47

Contain the visual receptor cells known as rods and cones

Front 48

Rods

Back 48

Responsible for seeing in dim light and for peripheral vision and colorless vision, and lead to law visual acuity

Front 49

Feature Detector Cells

Back 49

Recognize basic features of the stimulus, which are then coordinated to give it meaning (perceive it)

Front 50

Trichromatic Theory

Back 50

Contends that there are three types of cones, each activated by a certain wavelength that corresponds approximately to blue, green, or red

Front 51

Additive Mixtures

Back 51

Different wavelengths of lights are directly mixed together

Front 52

Subtractive Mixtures

Back 52

Some wavelengths are absorbed and so are not reflected from the mixture to the retina

Front 53

Opponent-Process Theory

Back 53

Assumes that there are three types of cell systems that help people see color and that these systems are located at the post-receptor level of processing

Front 54

Three Types of Cell Systems

Back 54

Red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white

Front 55

Pinna

Back 55

Collects sounds and funnels them through the auditory canal to the tympanic membrane (eardrum)

Front 56

Malleus, Incus, and Stapes

Back 56

Vibrate in reaction to sound saves from the suditory canal

Front 57

Oval Window

Back 57

Covers the inner ear

Front 58

Cochlea

Back 58

Contains about 16,000 hair cells that line the basilar membrane and are the receptor cells for hearing

Front 59

Nerve Deafness

Back 59

WHen the hair cells or auditory nerve fibers are damaged

Front 60

Place Theory

Back 60

Contends that there is a specific place along the basilar membrane in the inner war that corresponds to a particular frequency

Front 61

Frequency Theory

Back 61

Contends that the frequency of sound wave is mimicked by the firing rate of the hair cells across the entire basilar membrane

Front 62

Volley Principle

Back 62

Frequency theory explains human perception of sound up to about 5000Hz

Front 63

Sensation

Back 63

The initial information gathered and coded by sensory structures

Front 64

Perception

Back 64

The interpretation by the brain of this sensory information

Front 65

Bottom-Up Processing

Back 65

The processing of sensory information as it enters the sensory structures and travels to the brain

Front 66

Top-Down Processing

Back 66

THe brain's use of existing knowledge to interpret the sensory stimulation

Front 67

Perceptual Set

Back 67

Occurs when people interpret an ambiguous stimulus in accordance with past experiences

Front 68

Contextual Effect

Back 68

Occurs when people use the present context of sensory input to determine its meaning

Front 69

Figure-and-Ground Principle

Back 69

States that the brain organizes sensory input into a figure (the center of attention) and a ground (the background)

Front 70

Closure

Back 70

The tendency to complete incomplete figures to form meaningful objects

Front 71

Subjective controus

Back 71

Lines or shapes that are perceived to be present but do not really exist

Front 72

Perceptual Constancy

Back 72

Refers to the perceptual stability of the size, shape, brightness, and color for similar objects seen at varying distances, different angles, and under different lighting conditions

Front 73

Binocular Depth Cues

Back 73

Require the use of both eyes

Front 74

Retinal Disparity

Back 74

Refers to the fact that as the disparity between the two retinal images decreases, people perceive an object as being farther away

Front 75

Monocular Depth Cues

Back 75

Require the use of only one eye

Front 76

LInear Perspecive

Back 76

The name for the phenomenon that as parallel lines recede, they appear to converge

Front 77

Interposition

Back 77

The fact that if one object blocks people's view of another object, people perceive the blocking object as closer to them