Psychology 110- Final Study Guide

• Assimilation - how we fit new experiences into our shcemata
• Accomodation - changing or modifying our existing schemata

• Sensorimotor: Child begins learning survival relfexes/motions
• Preoperational: Begin to use imaginations, lack basic mental functions
• Concrete: Aquire true mental operations, but lack abstract thought
• Formal Operational: Abstract thought

• Independent - the variable being manipulated
• Dependent - the variable that measures any affect of the manipulation on the independent variable
• Confounding - any factor affecting the dependent variable other than the independent variable

• Independent - manipulating the ammount of sleep one gets during an experiment
• Dependent - participants have their memories measured each day
• Confounding - age influence over one's memory

• Short-term: holds small amount of information for brief periods (selective attention)
• Working: briefly holds info while we are thinking or problem solving (mental scratchpad)
• Long-term: holds information that is important or meaningful

• Procedural - conditioned and learned actions
• Declaritive - factual information (names, dates)
• Semantic - names of things (mental dictionary)
• Episodic - record of personal experiences

• Recall - direct retrieval of facts or information
• Recognition - correctly identifying previously learned information
• Relearning - the ability to learn something faster after having increased exposure

• Habituation - slow or stop responding to an event that has become familiar
• Sensitization - increased response to an event that has been repeated

• Positive - an event presented after the response (scolding or spanking)
• Negative - an event removed after the response (taking away allowence or privelages)

• Fixed-ratio: number of responses does not change
• Fixed-interval: delivered at more than 1 pre-determined time
• Variable-ratio: number of responses changes
• Variable-interval: delivered at no set interval

• Cell body
• Dendrites
• Axon

• Central nervous system
• Peripheral nervous system
• Somatic nervous system

• Hidden messages do not trick the mind into obeying (i.e. flashing buy popcorn on a movie screen)
• Listening to "subliminal audiotapes" does not actually help you (it is your perception that they are helping that makes you improve)

• The brain sends messages to the eyes that your head is moving and compensates the movements
• We pervieve motion relative to the object's background

• The vast terrain between the viewer and the horizon (i.e. compare it to other objects on the horizon)
• The terrain between the viewer and horizon gives the impression of great distance (no basis to judge its size in the sky)

• Primary (hunger, thirst, pain)
• Secondary (learned needs, such as drives or goals)
• Stimulus (activity, physical contact?

• Distorted views of self
• Need for control in their lives
• Psychologically harmful messages in the media

Reading is an automatic process, and subjects find it difficult to ignore what they are reading and focus on the color of the ink.

• Cognitive processes are less complex
• Perceptions of self and world may change from what they really are
• Control over behavior may weaken

• Preservation and Protection - adaptive function to help keep animals out of harms way
• Restoration - restore depleted resources in the body

1. Transitional - between awake and asleep
2. Lower muscle tension - body relaxes
3. Deep sleep - brain activity slows
4. Very deep sleep - rythmic breathing
5. REM - active brain while body still rests

• Naxolone - blocks drug receptors in the brain
• Matainenance - subject is still give the drug but at a controlled rate (controversial method)
• Detoxification - weaning user of the drug and restoring good health habits

• Confirmation bias - accepting one belief without considering other possibilities
• Functional Fixedness - doing something in a fixed way without doing it any other way

• Broca's - characterized by inarticulate speech and difficulty with grammatical devices
• Wernicke's - characterized by difficulty recalling object names and impaired language comprehension

• Fluid - the natural ability to solve problems
• Crystallized - knowledge and abilities aquired through experience

1. Reliability - consistency of test results
2. Validity - how well the test measures what it is supposed to measure
3. Standardization - same kind of test across all administrations

1. Content - test should measure multiple areas of interest
2. Predictive - can somewhat accurately depict what it tests
3. Construct - how well a test applies to a theoretical theme

• Standardization is important so everyone involved in the test has an equal oppurtunity to perform
• Norm group - the reference group to determine how well a person performed on a test

• States - temporary activation of a particular behavior
• Traits - consistent long lasting tendency in behavior

• Reliability - consistency of the scores
• Validity - usefulness of scores in predicting something else

• Clinical syndromes
• Personality syndromes
• General medical conditions
• Psychosocial and environmental problems
• Global assessment of functioning

1. Phobias
2. Panic disorder
3. Generalized anxiety
4. Obsessive-compulsive (OCD)
5. Stress disorder

• Low levels of estrogen
• Men who are actually depressed are less likely to report it
• Greater stresses applied through life (i.e. sexual abuse, childbearing)

• Paranoid - persistent suspiciousness, but not schizophrenic
• Schizotypical - personality disorder characterized by oddities of thought and behavior
• Schizoid - characterized by social withdraw

• Hypnosis
• Free association - the uncensored muttering of all thoughts that come to mind

• Allows therapist to work with several clients at once
• Provides more information and life experience to draw on
• Members who show improvement provide hope for others

• People look to see if other people think there is an emergency
• Diffusion of responsibility within a larger group