Psychology 1000 Unit 2 Flashcards

Learning

Some experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner. Can be conscious and deliberate or unconscious.

Habituation

A general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding. A simple form of learning.

What takes place in classical conditioning?

A neutral stimulus evokes a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism.
Ex: the food in Pavlov's dog experiment.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

A reflexive reaction that is reliably elicited by an unconditioned stimulus.
Ex: the dogs salivating in Pavlov's experiment.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A stimulus that is initially neutral and produces no reliable response in an organism.
Ex: sound of the bell in Pavlov's experiment.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus.
Ex: Salivation to the bell in Pavlov's experiment.

What are the different types of reinforcement and punishment?

Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Positive Punishment
Negative Punishment

Which type of reinforcement or punishment is most effective at changing behavior?

Positive reinforcement

Example of Positive Reinforcement

Getting a pizza party for earning a good grade on an exam.

Example of Negative Reinforcement

Taking a particular pain reliever medication to get rid of a headache.

Example of Positive Punishment

Having to do more weekly chores for getting caught stealing money.

Example of Negative Punishment

Having car privileges taken away for disobeying a curfew.

What takes place in operant conditioning?

A type of learning in which the consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future.

What is Thorndike's law of effect?

The principle that behaviors that are followed by a "satisfying state of affairs" tend to be repeated and those that produce an "unpleasant state of affairs" are less likely to be repeated.

Acquisition

The phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together.

Extinction

The gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the US is no longer presented.

Spontaneous Recovery

The tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period.

Generalization

A process in which the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the original one used during acquisition.

Discrimination

The capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli.

Biological Preparedness

A propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others.

Reinforcer

Any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.

Punisher

Any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.

Over-justification Effect

Circumstances when external rewards can undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of performing a behavior.

Shaping

Learning that results from the reinforcement of successive approximations to a final desired behavior.

What are the schedules of reinforcement?

When/how an organism is reinforced for a particular behavior.
interval schedule: time intervals
ratio schedule: ratio/number of responses

Fixed Interval Schedule (FI)

Reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made.
Ex: For every 10 minutes you sit still at the doctor's office, you get a lollipop.

Variable Interval Schedule (VI)

Reinforcements are based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement.
Ex: A car dealership gives away keys to a brand new car (on average) every hour.

Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR)

Reinforcements are presented after a specific number of responses have been made.
Ex: After every 10 pizzas you buy, you get one free.

Variable Ratio Schedule (VR)

Reinforcements are based on a particular average number of responses.
Ex: A casino jackpot machine hits every 100th player.

Intermittent Reinforcement

Only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement.

Latent Learning

A condition in which something is learned but is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future.
Reinforcement not required.

Cognitive Map

A mental representation of the physical feature of the environment.

How does observational learning work?

Learning takes place by watching the actions of others.
Ex: someone whose behavior might serve as a guide for others.
Also occurs in animals.

What is the difference between implicit learning and explicit learning?

Implicit Learning: learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the process and the products of information acquisition.
Explicit Learning:

Language

A system for communicating with others using signals that convey meaning are combined according to rules of grammar.

Phenome

The smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than as random noise.

Morpheme

The smallest meaningful unit of language.

Grammar

A set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages.

Deep Structure

The meaning of a sentence.

Surface Structure

How a sentence is worded.

Fast Mapping

The fact that children can map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure.

What are the different theories of language development?

Behaviorist Explanations
Nativist Explanation
Interactionist Explanations

How do they explain language development?

Behaviorist Explanations: children acquire language through operant conditioning.
Nativist Explanation: language is an innate, biological capacity.
Interactionist Explanations: social interactions play a crucial role in language.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

A collection of processes that facilitate language learning.

Genetic Dysphasia

A syndrome characterized by an inability to learn grammatical structure of language despite having otherwise normal intelligence.

Aphasia

Disorder involving the difficulty in producing or comprehending language.

Areas of the brain important for language ability: Where are they located in the brain and what do they do?

Broca's Area: responsible for production of sequential patterns in vocal and sign languages. (left frontal lobe).

Wernicke's Area : Responsible for comprehension of vocal and sign languages. (left temporal lobe).

Category-Specific Deficit

A neurological syndrome that is characterized by an inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category while leaving the ability to recognize objects outside the category undisturbed.
-depends on where the brain is damaged.

What are the different theories of concepts and categories?

Family Resemblance Theory
Prototype Theory
Exemplar Theory

Family Resemblance Theory

Members of a category have features that appear to be characteristic of category members but may not be possessed by every member.

Prototype Theory

We make categorial judgments by comparing new instances to a category's prototype.
prototype: the "best" or "most typical" member of a category.

Exemplar Theory

We make category judgments by comparing a new instance with stored memories for other instances of the category.

What are the theories about decision making?

Rational Choice Theory
Prospect Theory

Rational Choice Theory

We make decisions by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome, and then multiplying the two.

Prospect Theory

People choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains.
-simplify available information
-choose prospect with greatest value

Conjunction Fallacy

When people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event.

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

When people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation.

What are framing effects and how do they work?

When people give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is phrased (or framed).

What is IQ?

An objective test that would provide an unbiased measure of a child's ability.

Ratio IQ

A statistic obtained by dividing a person's mental age by their physical age, and then multiplying by 100.

Deviation IQ

A statistic obtained by dividing a person's test score by the average test score of people in the same age group and then multiplying by 100.

What was the original goal of the IQ test?

To help people and be able to find out things about the children who took the test.

What do intelligence tests predict?

The succes on a wide variety of behaviors.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to process information.

Crystallized Intelligence

The accuracy and amount of information available for processing.

Savants

Low intelligence with an extraordinary ability.

Prodigies

Normal intelligence with an extraordinary ability.

What is the heritability coefficient?

A statistic that describes the proportion of the difference between people's scores that can be explained by differences in their genetic makeup.

What is the difference between relative intelligence and absolute intelligence?

An individual's relative intelligence is stable over time, yet one's absolute intelligence typically changes.

Consciousness

The person's subjective experience of the world and the mind.

Phenomenology

How things seem to the conscious person.

Problem of other minds

The fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others.
-the "zombie" problem
-people judge minds according to experience and agency.

Mind-Body Problem

The issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body.
-Rene Descartes proposed that the body is a physical machine and the mind/soul is a separate "thinking substance"
-pineal gland proposed as center of consciousness

What is the cocktail party phenomenon?

The capacity to include some objects but not others

Minimal Consciousness

Low-level sensory awareness

Full Consciousness

Consciousness in which you know and are able to report your mental state.

Self-Consciousness

A person's attention is drawn to the self as an object.

What happens when people try to suppress their thoughts?

Rebound effect of thought suppression happens; this is the tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression.

Mental Control

The attempt to change conscious states of mind.

Rebound Effect of Thought Suppression

Tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression.

Ironic Processes of Mental Control

Mental processes can produce ironic errors because monitoring for errors can itself produce them.

Dynamic Unconscious

An active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, deepest instinct and desires, and an inner struggle to control these forces.

Repression

A mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and memories form consciousness. "Freudian Slips"

Cognitive Unconsciousness

The mental processes that give rise to a person's thoughts, choices, emotions, and behavior even though they are not experienced by the person.

Subliminal Perception

A thought or behavior that is influenced by stimuli that a person cannot consciously report perceiving.

Circadian Rhythm

The internal mechanism that regulates when we feel sleepy and when we feel alert.

What are the different stages of sleep?

Beta-Normal waking thought, alert problem solving
Alpha-Deep relaxation, blank mind, meditation
Theta-Light sleep
Delta-Deep sleep

What is REM sleep and how is it special and different from the other stages?

Rapid eye movement; dreams occur; 25% of the night.

Can you ever get too much sleep?

No

What are the negative effects of sleep deprivation?

Bad cognitive functioning
Mood Changes
Bad work performance and quality of life
Makes you hungry
Insulin response
Coronary Heart Disease
Heart Rhythm (poor vagal tone)
Reduced pain tolerance
Immune function-reduced natural killer cell activity, elevated cytokines

Insomnia

Difficulty in falling or staying asleep.

Sleep Apnea

A person stops breathing for brief periods while asleep due to obstruction in airway that causes gasps and waking.

Somnambulism

Occurs when a person arises and walks around while sleep. (sleepwalking).

Narcolepsy

Sudden sleep attacks occur in the middle of waking activities.

Sleep Paralysis

The experience of waking up unable to move.

Night Terrors

Abrupt awakenings with panic and intense emotional arousal.

What is activation-synthesis model and how does it differ from Freud's theory of dreams? Which theory do most people still believe?

The theory that dreams are produced when the brain attempts to make sense of activations that occur randomly during sleep. This differs from Freud's theory of dreams in which dreams represented suppressed wishes. Most people still believe Freud's.

Psychoactive Drugs

A chemical that influences consciousness or behavior by altering the brain's chemical message system.

Drug Tolerance

The tendency for larger doses of a drug to be required over time to achieve the same effect.

Physical Dependence

When pain, convulsions, hallucinations, or other unpleasant symptoms accompany withdrawal.

Psychological Dependence

A strong desire to return to the drug even when physical symptoms are gone.

Characteristics of Depressants

Substances that reduce the activity of the central nervous system.
Ex: alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, toxic inhalants

Characteristics of Stimulants

Substances that excite the central nervous system, heightening arousal and activity levels
Ex: caffeine, amphetamines, nicotine, cocaine, ecstasy

Characteristics of Narcotics/Opiates

Highly addictive drugs derived from opium that relieve pain
Ex: Heroin, morphine, methadone, codeine

Characteristics of Endorphins

Neurotransmitters that have a similar structure to opiates and that appear to play a role in how the brain copes internally with pain and stress.

Characteristics of Hallucinogens

Drugs that alter sensation and perception and often cause visual and auditory hallucinations.
Ex: LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, PCP, ketamine

Characteristics of Marijuana

The leaves and buds of the hemp plant that produces a mildly hallucinogenic intoxication.
Relaxes, disinhibits, produces a euphoric high
Can be used as relief for pain, nausea, severe weight loss
Impairs motor coordination, perceptual skills, and reaction time
Disrupts memory formation

What do expectancy theory and alcohol myopia explain about the different ways people act under the influence of alcohol?

Expectancy Theory: the idea that alcohol effects can produced by people's expectations of how alcohol will influence them in particular situations.
Alcohol Myopia: Results when alcohol hampers attention, leading people to respond in simple ways to complex situations.

What is hypnosis?

An altered state of consciousness characterized by suggestibility and the feeling that one's actions are occurring involuntarily.

What can hypnosis be helpful for?

Can reduce pain

Hypnotic Analgesia

The reduction of pain through hypnosis in people who are susceptible to hypnosis.

Meditation

The practice of intentional contemplation.
-Variety of techniques have a period of quiet
-Produces alpha waves

Emotion

A positive or negative experience that is associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity.
Two dimensions:
-Valence-Is it good or bad?
-Arousal-Does it involve more or less energy?

Appraisal

An evaluation of the emotionally-relevant aspects of a stimulus that is performed by the amygdala.

Reappraisal

A strategy that involves changing one's emotional experience by changing the meaning of the emotion-eliciting stimulus.

What are the three main theories of emotion?

James-Lange Theory
Cannon-Bard Theory
Schacter-Singer (two-factor) Theory

James-Lange Theory

Stimuli trigger activity in the autonomic nervous system, which in turn produces an emotional experience in the brain.

Cannon-Bard Theory

A stimulus simultaneously triggers activity in the autonomic nervous system and emotional experience in the brain.

Schacter-Singer Theory (Two-factor Theory)

Emotions are inferences about the causes of undifferentiated physiological arousal.

What did the Dutton and Aaron (1974) bridge study teach us about misattribution of arousal?

Misattribution of arousal can occur when people misinterpret their autonomic arousal. People on a higher bridge will think that someone is more attractive then if they were on a lower bridge because of their heart beating faster.

Is our perception of expressions universal?

For the most part yes. Facial expressions such as anger, disgust, fear happiness, and surprise are all universal.

Display Rules

Norms for the control of emotional expression.
-Intensification-pretending to enjoy something
-Deintensification-hiding your excitement
-Masking-showing one emotion to disguise the real one
-Neutralizing-trying to act neutral so as not to affect other's perceptions of you.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they signify.

Motivation

The purpose for or cause of an action.

Hedonic Principle

The notion that all people are motivated to experience pleasure and avoid pain.

Drive

An internal state generated by departures from physiological optimality.

Instinct

The inherited tendency to seek out a particular goal.

Which hormones are important for turning hunger on and stopping hunger?

Ghrelin-tells the brain to switch hunger "on"
Leptin-tells the brain to switch hunger "off"

Which part of the brain will cause animals to starve themselves to death when destroyed vs. gorge until they are sick?

The Lateral Hypothalamus.
The Ventromedial Hypothalamus causes us to start eating more.

What are the three main eating disorders and what characterizes each?

Bulimia Nervosa- A disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging.
Anorexia Nervose- A disorder characterized by an intense fear of being fat and severe restriction of food intake.
Obesity

What happens to our bodies when we try to diet?

The fat cells get smaller but there are not less of them. It also decreases metabolism, the rate at which energy is used.

Which hormones are important for sexual interest?

DHEA
Estrogen
Testosterone

DHEA

Hormone involved in the onset of sexual desire.

Estrogen

Regulates ovulation and sexual interest. More in Females.

Testosterone

Increases sex drive. More in males.

What are the different types of motivation?

Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic Motivation
Conscious Motivation
Unconscious Motivation
Approach Motivation
Avoidance Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation

A motivation to take actions that are themselves rewarding.

Extrinsic Motivation

A motivation to take actions that are not themselves rewarding but that lead to the reward.

Conscious Motivation

A motivation of which one is aware.

Unconscious Motivation

A motivation of which one is not aware.

Approach Motivation

A motivation to experience positive outcomes.

Avoidance Motivation

A motivation not to experience negative outcomes.

What are the phases of the human sexual response cycle?

Excitement phase-initial interest
Plateau phase-increased heart rate/muscle tension
Orgasm phase-"climax"
Resolution phase-refractory period when blood pressure drops, muscles relax, and some time must pass before the cycle can restart.

Zygote

A single cell that contains chromosomes from both a sperm and an egg.

Germinal Stage

The 2-week period of prenatal development that begins at conception.

Embryonic Stage

The period of prenatal development that lasts from the 2nd week until about the 8th week.

Fetal Stage

The period of prenatal development that lasts from the 9th week until birth.

Infancy

The stage of development that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months.
Habituation occurs

Childhood

The stage of development that begins at about 18-24 months and lasts until adolescence.

Adolescence

The period of development that begins with the onset of sexual maturity (about 11-14 years) and lasts until the beginning of adulthood (about 18-21 years).

Adulthood

The stage of development that begins around 18-21 years and ends at death.

What is myelination? In what stage does it take place?

The formation of a fatty sheath around the axons of a brain cell (takes place during fetal stage).

How do teratogens affect fetal development?

They are agents that damage the process of development, such as drugs and viruses.

Cephalocaudal Rule

The "top-to-bottom" rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet.

Proximodistal Rule

The "inside-to-outside" rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

A developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy.

Motor Development

The emergence of the ability to execute physical action.

Reflexes

Specific patterns of motor response that are triggered by specific patterns of sensory stimulation.

Cognitive Development

The emergence of the ability to understand the world.

Schemas

Theories or models of how the world works.

Assimilation

Applying schemas to new situations.

Accommodation

Revise schemas in light of new information.

Object Permanence

The idea that objects exist even when they're not visible.

Egocentrism

The failure to understand that the world appears differently to different observers.

Theory of Mind

The idea that human behavior is guided by mental representation, which gives rise to the realization that the world is not always the way it looks and that different people see it differently.

Attachment

The emotional bond that forms between newborns and their primary caregivers.

What characterizes each of Piaget's 4 stages of cognitive development?

Sensorimotor Stage (birth-infancy)-schemas, assimilation, accommodation, and object permanence.
Preoperational Stage (2-6yrs)
Concrete Operational Stage (6-11yrs)-Conservation and mental representations.
Formal Operational Stage (11yrs-adulthood)

What is an internal working model of attachment?

A set of expectations about how the primary caregiver will respond when the child feels insecure.

What characterizes each of Piaget's 3 stages of moral development?

Preconventional Stage-The morality of an action is primarily determined by its consequences for the actor.
Conventional Stage-The morality of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it conforms to social rules.
Postconventional Stage-The morality of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core values.

What takes place during puberty?

Bodily changes are associated with sexual maturity; primary and secondary sex characteristics are involved.

Primary Sex Characteristics

Bodily structures that are directly involved in reproduction.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Bodily structures that change dramatically with sexual maturity but that are not directly involved in reproduction.

Do people tend to feel more or less happy as they get older?

More happy

Psychology 1000 Unit 2 Flashcards

Psychology 1000 with Lust at University of Missouri- Columbia

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