Psychology Final Exam Spring 2009 Part Ii

Front 1

Third stage of cognitive development in Piaget’s theory (ages 7 through 12), during which children begin to use logical mental operations or rules, mastering the concept of conservation.

Back 1

concrete operations stage

Front 2

The understanding that changing the form of an object does not necessarily change its essential character. A key achievement in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

Back 2

conservation

Front 3

Periods in the developmental sequence during which an organism must experience certain kinds of social or sensory experiences in order for normal development to take place.

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critical periods

Front 4

In Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s inability to take another’s point of view.

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egocentrism

Front 5

Fourth and final stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (ages 12+), during which individuals acquire the ability to make complex deductions and solve problems by systematically testing hypotheses.

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formal-operations stage

Front 6

Process by which certain infant animals, such as ducklings, learn to follow or approach the first moving object they see. See also critical periods.

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imprinting

Front 7

Orderly unfolding of certain patterns of behavior, such as language acquisition or walking, in accordance with genetic blueprints.

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maturation

Front 8

Realization that objects continue to exist even when they are not in view. In Piaget’s Theory, this awareness is considered as a key achievement of the sensorimotor stage of development.

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object permanence

Front 9

According to Piaget, the second major stage of cognitive development (ages 7 to 12). children can develop only limited concepts, and they are unable to evaluate simultaneously more than one physical dimension.

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preoperational stage

Front 10

In reference to memory, conceptual frameworks that individuals use to make sense out of stored information. In Piaget’s theory, the mental structures we form to assimilate and organize processed information.

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schemas

Front 11

In Piaget’s theory, the period of development between birth and about age two during which infants learn about their worlds primarily through their senses and actions.

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sensorimotor stage

Front 12

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Back 12

absolute threshold

Front 13

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference. Also called "just noticeable difference" or JND.

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difference threshold

Front 14

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

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sensation

Front 15

The process of organizing and interpreting our sensations, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

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perception

Front 16

A condition in which one type of sensory stimulation evokes the sensation of another. For example, the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color.

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synesthesia

Front 17

Process by which sensory organs transform mechanical, chemical, or light energy into the electrochemical energy that is generated by neurons firing.

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transduction

Front 18

Distance (depth) cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes.

Back 18

binocular cues

Front 19

The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings; similar to the forground-background distinction.

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figure-ground

Front 20

The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance.

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depth perception

Front 21

Approach to psychology that argues that the whole of an experience is different from the sum of its parts.

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Gestalt psychology

Front 22

Distance cues, such as linear perspective and overlap, available to either eye alone.

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monocular cues

Front 23

The tendency to organize patterns of stimuli into larger units according to proximity, similarity, and good continuation.

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perceptual grouping

Front 24

The process of perceiving an object as unchanging even though the stimuli we receive from it change. Accounts for our ability to recognize a familiar object without being deceived by changes in its size, shape, brightness, or color.

Back 24

perceptual constancy

Front 25

A perceptual grouping principle in which, all else being equal, we tend to organize perceptions by grouping elements that are the nearest to each other.

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proximity

Front 26

The process of focusing on one or a few stimuli of particular significance while ignoring others. Sometimes referred to as the "cocktail party effect."

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selective attention

Front 27

A form of perceptual set. The tendency to perceive stimuli that are consistent with expectations and to ignore those that are inconsistent.

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selective perception

Front 28

An element of perceptual constancy. We perceive objects as maintaining the same shape even though their retinal images change when we view them from different angles

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shape constancy

Front 29

In perception, the principle that we tend to group elements that are similar to each other.

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similarity

Front 30

One form of perceptual constancy. Although the retinal image of an object becomes smaller as the object recedes into the distance (or larger as it approaches), the viewer adjusts for this change and perceives the object to be constant in size.

Back 30

size constancy

Front 31

Device that produces the illusion of a cliff, allowing researchers to test the ability of humans and animals to perceive and respond to depth cues.

Back 31

visual cliff

Front 32

The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input. Said to include telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.

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extrasensory perception

Front 33

Our mental predisposition that influences what we perceive. Includes our assumptions, biases, and expectations.

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perceptual set

Front 34

State of awareness or alertness to processes that are going on inside or outside one’s own body.

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consciousness

Front 35

Stages of sleep during which rapid eye movements typically do not occur.

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NREM sleep (Non-rapid eye movement sleep)

Front 36

State of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements, and often associated with dreaming.

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REM sleep

Front 37

Natural, periodically occurring altered state of consciousness, characterized by reduced activity, lessened responsiveness to stimuli, and distinctive brain-wave patterns.

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sleep

Front 38

Light sleep that occurs just after dozing off.

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Stage 1 sleep

Front 39

Stage of sleep that typically follows Stage 1 sleep, characterized by brief bursts of brain activity called sleep spindles.

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Stage 2 sleep

Front 40

Stage of sleep that typically follows Stage 2 sleep, during which there are virtually no eye movements.

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Stage 3 sleep

Front 41

Deepest level of sleep following Stage 3, during which there are virtually no eye movements.

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Stage 4 sleep

Front 42

State of altered consciousness characterized by a deep relaxation and detachment as well as heightened suggestibility to the hypnotist’s directives.

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hypnosis

Front 43

In classical conditioning the initial process of learning to associate a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, the process of learning to associate responses with their consequences (either reinforcing or punishing).

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acquisition

Front 44

Learning by making a connection or association between two events, through either classical conditioning or operant conditioning.

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associative learning

Front 45

A type of learning by temporal association in which a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with another stimulus, called the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), that naturally elicits a certain response, called the unconditioned response (UCR). After repeated pairings the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and evokes the same or a similar response, now called the conditioned response (CR).

Back 45

classical conditioning

Front 46

In classical conditioning, a learned response to a stimulus.

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conditioned response (CR)

Front 47

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response only after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

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conditioned stimulus (CS)

Front 48

In operant conditioning, the presentation of a reinforcer for each occurrence of a specific behavior. Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

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continuous reinforcement schedule

Front 49

In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.

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discrimination

Front 50

In classical conditioning, the process by which a conditioned response is eliminated through repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, the process of eliminating a response by discontinuing reinforcement.

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extinction

Front 51

Process by which, once a response has been conditioned, an organism responds in the same way to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.

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generalization stimulus

Front 52

A relatively enduring change in potential behavior that results from experience.

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learning

Front 53

In classical conditioning, an unlearned response or reflex caused by a stimulus.

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unconditioned response (UCR)

Front 54

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a natural (unlearned) response or reflex.

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unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Front 55

A type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol).

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aversive conditioning

Front 56

In operant conditioning, the learning of a response to a discriminative stimulus that allows an organism to avoid exposure to an aversive stimulus.

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avoidance conditioning

Front 57

Mental representations of the relationship between events or spatial elements.

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cognitive map

Front 58

A stimulus that takes on reinforcing properties after being associated with a primary reinforcer or other secondary reinforcer.

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conditioned reinforcer

Front 59

In operant conditioning, a stimulus that controls a response by signaling the availability of reinforcement.

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discriminative stimulus

Front 60

In operant conditioning, learning that takes place when an organism performs a response that will terminate an aversive stimulus.

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escape conditioning

Front 61

Partial reinforcement schedule in operant conditioning wherein reinforcement is provided for the first response after a specified period of time has elapsed.

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fixed interval (Fl) schedule

Front 62

Partial reinforcement schedule in operant conditioning wherein reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses.

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fixed ratio (FR) schedule

Front 63

Learning that is not demonstrated by an immediately observable change in behavior.

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latent learning

Front 64

Theory originally proposed by Edward Thorndike that is the foundation of the operant condi­tioning theory: Behavior followed by reinforcement will be strengthened while behavior followed by punishment will be weakened.

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law of effect