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Midterm Vocabulary
Psychology
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Empiricism | The idea that knowledge comes from experience |
| Structuralism | An early school of thought |
| Introspection | The process of looking inward in attempt to directly observe one's own psychological processes |
| Functionalism | An early school of though that explored how mental and behavioral processes function |
| Behaviorism | The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes |
| Humanist Perspective | A perspective that emphasizes looking at the the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual |
| Cognitive Psychology | The study of mental processes; perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate and solve problems |
| Natural Selection | The idea, inherited traits can better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment |
| Evolutionary (Darwinism) | The study of the evolution of behavior and mind; uses principles of natural selection |
| Perspective | The ability to view objects, events, and ideas in realistic proportions and relationships |
| Behavior Genetics | The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior |
| Culture | The distinctive customs, values, beliefs, knowledge, art, and language of a society or a community |
| Positive Psychology | The scientific study of what makes life most worth living |
| Biopsychology Approach | Believes that human behaviors are all consequences of genetics and physiology |
| Behavioral Psychology | A systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and animals |
| Biopsychology/Neuroscience | The study of how the nervous system develops, its structure, and what it does |
| Psychoanalytic Psychology | A set of psychological theories and therapeutic methods which have their origin in the work and theories of Sigmund Freud |
| Psychodynamic Psychology | Explores the underlying factors affecting behavior in a person, especially the subconscious mind |
| Social-Cultural | To understand the way people behave in social situations, as well as the way they think about and feel about the broader social world |
| Psychology | The science of behavior and mental processes |
| Testing Effect | Enhanced Memory after retrieving rather then simply rereading information |
| SQ3R | A study method incorporating 5 steps: 1. Survey 2. Questions 3. Read 4. Retrieve 5. Review |
| Psychometric Psychologists | They update existing tests for clinical use |
| Basic Research | Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base |
| Developmental Psychologists | They study our changing abilities from the womb till death |
| Counseling Psychology | A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living environments |
| Psychiatry | The branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders |
| Community Psychology | A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments |
| Cognitive Psychology | A branch of psychology that experiments with how we perceive things, think and solve problems |
| Educational Psychologists | They study influences of teaching and learning |
| Experimental Psychologists | They investigate a variety of basic behavioral processes in humans and other animals |
| Quantitative Psychologists | They design and analyze the results of research programs |
| Social Psychologists | They explore how we view and affect one another |
| Forensic Psychologists | They conduct research on the interface of law and psychology to help law agencies in criminal investigations |
| Environmental Psychology | The study of the interaction of individuals with their natural/built environments |
| Health Psychology | The study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare |
| Industrial-Organizational Psychologists | The application of psychological concepts to optimize human behavior in work places |
| Neuropsychologists | Psychologist who investigate the relationship between neurological processes and behavior |
| Rehabilitation Psychologists | They are researchers who work with people who have lost optimal functioning after an incident |
| School Psychologists | Psychologists who assess educational settings for children |
| Sport Psychologists | Psychologists who study the factors that influence participation in sports and physical activities |
| Personality Domain | When feelings, beliefs, intentions and goals are constructed which then influence our interaction with others |
| Psychometric Domain | The field in psychology devoted to testing, measurement, assessment and related activities |
| Hindsight Bias | The idea that after learning an outcome one would have foreseen it; "I knew it all along" |
| Overconfidence Bias | When humans tend to think they know more then what they actually know |
| Perceiving Order in Random Events | People perceive patterns to make sense of their world |
| Applied Research | A scientific study that aims to solve problems |
| Theory | An explanation using integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events |
| Hypothesis | A testable prediction; implied by a theory |
| Operational Definition | A description of something in terms of the operations (procedures, actions, or processes) by which it could be observed and measured |
| Replication | Repeating a study with different participants and situations to see if the original finding can be reproduced |
| Case Study | When an individual/group is studied in depth |
| Naturalistic Observation | When one observes a behavior in a natural environment; not trying to manipulate the situation |
| Survey | A descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes/behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative |
| Longitudinal Studies | Looking at the same people over their lifetime |
| Cross-Sectional Studies | Looking at a group of people of all ages at one point in time |
| Sampling Bias | A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample |
| Population | All those within a group that's being studied |
| Illusory Correlation | Perceiving a relationship where none exists, or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship; when we see an association between two variables |
| Positive Correlation | A relationship between two variables in which both rise and fall together |
| Negative Correlation | A relationship between two variables in which the value of one variable increases as the value of the other decreases |
| Correlation Coefficient | A statistics index of the relationship between two things *from (-1.00 to +1.00) |
| Variable | A condition in an experiment |
| Scatterplot | A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of 2 variables |
| Position Emission Tomography (PET) Scan | A radioactive substance is used to look for injury/disease in the brain; shows how the brain tissues are working |
| Regression toward the mean | For unusual events to fall toward the average |
| Experiment | A research method where an investigator manipulates factors to observe the outcome |
| Experimental Group | The group exposed to the treatment in an experiment |
| Control Group | The group not exposed to the treatment within an experiment |
| Random Assignment | Assigning participants to experimental/control groups by chance |
| Random Sample | A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion |
| Representative Sample | A group that closely matches the characteristics of its population as a whole |
| Stratified Sampling | A method where researchers divide a population into smaller groups based on shared characteristics, then randomly selecting individuals to form a final sample group |
| Experimenter Bias | The tendency of a researcher to introduce a bias into the experiment |
| Single-Blind Procedure | When the experimenters know the makeup of the test, while the participants aren't aware |
| Double-Blind Procedure | When neither the experimenters within an experiment and the participants know the make-up of the test |
| Placebo Effect | Where one has something work because they have the expectation of it working |
| Independent Variable | A variable whose variation does not depend on that of another |
| Confounding Variable | A third variable that influences both the independent and dependent variables |
| Dependent Variable | A variable whose value depends on that of another |
| Informed Consent | Giving participants of an experiment enough information about the study, enabling them to have the choice to participate |
| Debriefing | Explaining the purpose of a study to its participants after its completed |
| Anonymity | There is no way for anyone to personally identify participants in the study |
| Confidentiality | The state of keeping or being kept secret or private |
| Random Sampling | Creates a representative survey sample |
| Institutional Review Boards (IRB) | A committee that applies research ethics by reviewing the methods proposed for research to ensure that they are ethical |
| Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) | Responsible for oversight of the animal care and use program, involving morals and ethical values |
| Descriptive Statistics | Numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups |
| Histogram | A bar graph showing a frequency distribution |
| Central Tendency | A single score that represents a whole set of scores |
| Mode | Most frequently occurring scores |
| Mean | Average |
| Median | The middle score |
| Skewed Distribution | A representation of score that lack symmetry around the average value |
| Range | The difference between the highest and lowest scores |
| Standard Distribution Variance | The probability of variables taking on a range of values |
| Normal Curve | A bell-shaped distribution thought to describe the frequency of occurrence of many natural phenomena |
| Inferential Statistics | Ways of analyzing data using statistical tests that allow the researcher to make conclusions about whether a hypothesis was supported by the results |
| Normal Frequency Distribution | A representation of the number of times a specific value occurs |
| Bimodal Frequency Distribution | A set of scores with two peaks or modes around which values tend to cluster |
| Validity | How close the outcome of an experiment was to its prediction |
| Reliability | The trustworthiness or consistency of a measure |
| Response Bias | Several factors that can lead someone to respond falsely or inaccurately to a question |
| Participant Bias | A tendency of participants (subjects) in an experiment to consciously or subconsciously act in a way that they think the experimenter or researcher wants them to act |
| Social Desirability Bias | The tendency to underreport socially undesirable attitudes and behaviors and to over report more desirable attributes |
| Hawthorne Effect | When being observed people change their behavior in response to knowing they are being watched |
| Survey Method | The collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions |
| Response Rate | The number of responses that occur within a specified time interval |
| Naturalist Observation | A research method where you record the behaviors of your research subjects in real world settings |
| Case Study Method | The use of a descriptive research approach to obtain an in-depth analysis of a person/group |
| Descriptive Statistics | Analyze data to help describe, show or summarize it in a meaningful way |
| Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, Mode | A summary measure that attempts to describe a whole set of data |
| Extreme Scores/Outliers | The values that are too far from the other observations of the given data |
| Positive Skew | When a distribution has a few extreme scores toward the high end relative to the low end |
| Negative Skew | When a distribution has a few extreme scores toward the low end relative to the high end |
| Neruoanatomy | The study of the structures and relationships among the various parts of the nervous system |
| Neuron | A nerve cell |
| Dendrites | A neuron's often bushy branching extensions that receive messages |
| Cell Body (Soma) | The part of a neuron that contains the nucleus; the cell's life support center |
| Axon | The neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons, muscles or glands |
| Myelin Sheath | A fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next |
| Glial Cells | Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish and protect neurons; they also play a role in learning, thinking and memory |
| Terminal Buttons | Small knobs at the ends of axons that secrete chemicals called neurotransmitters |
| Axon Terminal | Small swellings that are found at the terminal ends of axons |
| Synaptic Knobs | The ends of the neuron that are associated with the signaling of the neuronal impulses |
| Neurotransmitters | Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons |
| Synapse | The meeting point between neurons |
| Receptor Sites | Proteins found on the surface of cells; capable of recognizing and bonding to specific molecules |
| Threshold | A level of simulation required to trigger a neural impulse |
| Action Potential | A neural impulse; brief electrical change that travels down an axon |
| All or None Principal | A neuron's reaction of either firing (with full strength) or not firing |
| Refractory Period | A brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron has fired |
| Neural Firing | Electrochemical process where electricity travels within the cell and neurotransmitters travel between cells and the synapse |
| Excitatory Neurotransmitters | Chemicals released from the terminal buttons of a neuron that excite the next neuron into firing |
| Inhibitory Neurotransmitters | Chemicals released from the terminal buttons of a neuron that inhibit the next neuron from firing |
| Agonist | A molecule that increases a neurotransmitters actions |
| Antagonist | A molecule that blocks a neurotransmitters action |
| Reuptake | A neurotransmitters reabsorption by the sending neuron |
| SSRIs | Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors |
| Acetylcholine | A neurotransmitter that riggers muscle contraction and affects learning and memory |
| Dopamine | A neurotransmitter associated with movement, attention, learning and the brains pleasure and reward system |
| Endorphins | "morphine within" - natural; opiate like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure |
| Serotonin | A neurotransmitter that affects hunger, sleep, arousal and mood |
| GABA | A major inhibitory neurotransmitter |
| Glutamate | A major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory |
| Norepinephrine | A neurotransmitter involved in arousal as well as in learning and mood regulation |
| Afferent Neurons *Sensory Neurons | Neurons that carry incoming information from the body's tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord |
| Efferent Neurons *Motor Neurons | Neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands |
| Central Nervous System | The brain and spinal cord |
| Endocrine System | The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream |
| Peripheral Nervous System | The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body |
| Somatic Nervous System | Enables voluntary control of our skeletal muscles |
| Autonomic Nervous System | Controls our glands and internal organ muscles |
| Sympathetic Nervous System | The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy; flight or fight |
| Parasympathetic Nervous System | The division of the autonomic nervous system that clams the body, conserving its energy; rest and digest |
| Reflex | A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus such as the knee-jerk response |
| Hormones | Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel though the bloodstream and affect other tissues |
| Adrenal Glands | A pair of endocrine glands that sit right above the kidneys that secrete hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress |
| Pituitary Glands | This gland regulates growth and development and the functioning of the other endocrine glands |
| Lesions | Tissue destruction; natural |
| Electroencephalogram (EEG) | An amplified recording of the waves of an electrical activity sweeping across the brains surface; measured by electrodes |
| Computerized Axial Tomography (CT) *CAT Scan | A series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representative of a slice of the brains structure |
| Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) | A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissue; showing brain anatomy |
| Position Emission Tomography (PET Scan) | A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task |
| Functional MRI (fMRI) | A technique for revealing blood flow and brain activity; showing brain function and structure |
| Hindbrain | An area of the brain that coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord |
| Medulla | The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing |
| Pons | A brain structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain (sleep and arousal) |
| Cerebellum | The "little brain"; processes sensory input, coordinating movement output and balance - enabling nonverbal learning and memory |
| Midbrain | A small part of the brain above the pons that integrates sensory information and relays it upward |
| Brainstem | The brains oldest and innermost region. t is responsible for automatic survival functions |
| Reticular Formation | A neural network extending from the spinal cord right up through the thalamus |
| Forebrain | The largest and most complicated region of the brain including the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system and cerebrum |
| Thalamus | A pair of egg shaped structures that act as the brain's sensory control center |
| Hypothalamus | A neural structure that directs maintenance activities; like eating and drinking |
| Amygdala | Two neural clusters in the limbic system; liked to emotions |
| Hippocampus | A neural center located in the limbic system; helps process storage, memories and facts of events |
| Limbic System | Means border; neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres, associated with emotions and drives |
| Cerebral Cortex | A thin surface layer of interconnected neural cells; the information process center |
| Hypnagogic Hallucinations | Bizarre experiences, such as jerking or a feeling of falling or floating weightlessly while transitioning to sleep |
| Left Hemisphere | Controls the right side of the body; analytical, language and math |
| Right Hemisphere | Interpretation of arts, perceptual tasks, face recognition, emotional expression, spatial abilities |
| Brain Lateralization (hemispheric specialization) | The organization of the brain into right and left hemispheres, with each hemisphere |
| Corpus Callosum | The large band of neural fibers connecting the 2 brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them |
| Split Brain | A condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brains 2 hemispheres by cutting the fibers connecting them |
| Lobes | The different regions of the brain |
| Association Area | Areas in the cerebral cortex that are not involved in motor or sensory functions rather, involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking and speaking |
| Frontal Lobes | The portion of cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgements |
| Broca's Area | Help's control language expression; it directs the muscle movement involved in speech |
| Wernicke's Area | A brain area involved in language comprehension and expression |
| Motor Cortex | An area in the rear of the frontal lobes that control voluntary movements |
| Parietal Lobes | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head; receives sensory input for touch and body position |
| Sensory Cortex | The area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations |
| Occipital Lobes | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields |
| Temporal Lobes | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas |
| Brain Plasticity | A neural change; the ability to change |
| Neurogenesis | A formation of new neurons |
| Long-Term Potentiation | An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation - believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory |
| Endocrine System | The body's "slow" chemical communication system; these glands secrete hormones into the bloodstream |
| Dual Processing | The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks |
| Blindsight | A condition where a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it |
| Parallel Processing | Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; generally used to process well-learned information or to solve easy problems |
| Sequential Processing | Processing one aspect of a problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve a different problem |
| Magnetoencephalography MEG | A brain imaging technique that measures magnetic fields from the brain's natural electrical activity |
| Heredity | The genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring |
| Environment | Every non-genetic influence, from the prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us |
| Chromosomes | Threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes |
| DNA | A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up chromosomes |
| Genes | the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; segments of DNA capable of synthesizing proteins |
| Genome | The complete instructions for making an organism, consiting of all the genetic material in the organisms chromosomes |
| Dizygotic Twins | Fraternal twins; developed from 2 separate fertilized eggs, genetically no closer than ordinary siblings |
| Monozygotic Twins | Identical twins; developed from a single fertilized egg that splits in two |
| Interaction | The interplay that occurs when the effect of the factor depends on another factory |
| Molecular Genetics | The subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes |
| Molecular Behavior Genetics | The study of how the structure and function of genes interact with our environment and influence behavior |
| Epigenetics | The study of environmental influences that occur without a DNA change |
| Natural Selection | The principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations |
| Mutation | A random error in gene replication that leads to a change |
| Social Script | A culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations |
| NREM-1 | The transition into sleep; slow breathing, irregular brain waves - hypnagogic sensations/hallucinations, and myoclonic jerks may occur |
| NREM-2 | Bursts of rapid rhythmic brain wave activity occur, we are in this phase for about 1/2 of the night |
| NREM-3 | The sleep stage that lasts about 30 minutes when your brain emits large, slow delta waves, and you are hard to awake |
| REM | Rapid eye movement sleep; vivid dreams commonly occur |
| Alpha Waves | The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state |
| Hallucinations | False sensory experiences such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus |
| Delta Waves | The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep of N-REM 3 |
| Suprachiasmatic Nucleus | A pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm |
| Circadian Rhythm | Our biological clock |
| Insomnia | Reoccurring problems in falling or staying awake |
| Narcolepsy | A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks |
| Sleep Apnea | A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings |
| Night Terrors | A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; occurs in NREM-3 |
| Dreams | A sequence of images, emotions and thoughts passing through a sleeping persons mind |
| Manifest Content | The remembering of a story line in a dream |
| Latent Content | The underlying meaning of a dream |
| REM Rebound | The tendency for REM sleep to increase following sleep deprivation |
| Psychoactive Drugs | A chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods |
| Stimulants | Drugs that excite neural activity and speed up the body's functions; caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, meth, ecstasy |
| Depressants | Drugs that reduce neural activity and they slow body functions |
| Hallucinogens | "Mind Manifesting" drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input; LSD |
| Alcohol Use Disorder | Known as alcoholism; alcohol use marked by tolerance, withdrawal and drive to continue problematic use |
| Barbiturates | Drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement |
| Obiates | Drugs that depress neural activity and lessen pain temporarily; heroin, opium and morphine |
| Nicotine | A stimulating and highly addictive psychoactive drug in tobacco |
| Cocaine | A powerful and addictive stimulant derived from the coco plant; produces temporarily increased alertness and euphoria |
| Amphetamines | Drugs that stimulate neural activity causing accelerated body functions and associated energy and mood changes; methamphetamine |
| Methamphetamine (Meth) | A powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with accelerated body functions and associated energy and mood changes; overtime appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels |
| Ecstasy (MDMA) | A synthetic stimulant and mind hallucinogen; produces euphoria and social intimacy |
| Substance Abuse Disorder | A disorder characterized by continued substance craving and use despite significant life disruption and or physical risk |
| Sensation | The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment |
| Sensory Receptors Perception | Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli |
| Top-Down Processing | Information processing guided by higher-level mental process, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations |
| Bottom-Up Processing | Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information |
| Selective Attention | The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus |
| Inattentional Blindness | Failing to see visible objects when out attention is directed elsewhere |
| Change Blindness | Failing to notice changes in the environment, a form of inattentional blindness |
| Transduction | Conversion of one form of energy into another; sights, sounds, smells into neural impulses our brain can interpret |
| Absolute Thresholds | The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time |
| Signal Detection Theory | Predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background noise. Assumes their is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a persons experience, expectations, motivation and alertness |
| Subliminal | Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| Difference Threshold | The minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 505 of the time |
| Weber's Law | The principle that 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage to be perceived as different |
| Perceptual Set | A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another |
| Extrasensory Perception | The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input |
| Wavelength | The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of gamma rays to the long pulses of radio transmission |
| Hue | The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; we name these colors blue, brown and green |
| Intensity | The amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness |
| Cornea | The eye's clear protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris |
| Pupil | The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters |
| Iris | A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening |
| Lens | The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina |
| Retina | The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information |
| Accommodation | The process by which the eye's lends changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina |
| Rods | Retinal receptors that detect black, white and gray are sensitive to movement |
| Cones | Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions |
| Optic Nerve | The nerve that carries neutral impulses from the eye to the brain |
| Blind Spot | The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye |
| Fovea | The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster |
| Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (three color) Theory | The theory that the retina contains 3 different types of color receptors; when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color |
| Synesthesia | When the brain connections that dissolves in average people don't making one's senses much more connected |
| Opponent-Process Theory | The theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision; red-green, blue-yellow, white-black |
| Feature Detectors | Nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle or movement |
| Parallel Processing | Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously |
| Gestalt Principle | An organized whole; these psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes |
| Figure-Ground | The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings |
| Grouping | The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups |
| Proximity | Grouping near by figures together |
| Continuity | Perceiving smooth/continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones |
| Closure | We fill the gaps to see a whole object |
| Depth Perception | The ability to see objects in 3 dimensions |
| Visual Cliff | A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals |
| Binocular Cues | A depth cue that depends on the use of two eyes |
| Retinal Disparity | A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the greater the disparity between the 2 images the close the object |
| Monocular Cues | A depth cue, available to either eye alone |
| Phi Phenomenon | An illusion of movement created when 2 or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession |
| Perceptual Constancy | Perceiving objects as unchanged (having consistent color, shape size etc.) even as illumination and retinal images change |
| Color Constancy | Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even changing illumination alerts the wavelength reflected by the object |
| Frequency | The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (ex. per second) |
| Pitch | A tones experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency |
| Middle Ear | The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window |
| Cochlea | A coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear |
| Inner Ear | The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals and vestibular sacs |
| Sensorineural Hearing Loss | Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; most common form of hearing loss |
| Sensory Adaptation | The way our senses adjust to different stimuli |
| Perceptual Adaptation | The ability to adjust to changed sensory input |
| Conduction Hearing Loss | A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea |
| Cochlear Implant | A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes treaded into the cochlea |
| Place Theory | In hearing the theory that links the pitch we ear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is simulated |
| Frequency Theory | In hearing the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone; this enables us to sense its pitch |
| Gate Control Theory | The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain |
| Super Tasters | When one has a greater intensity in taste then the average person |
| Cocktail-Party Phenomenon | The brain's ability to focus one auditory attention while filtering our a range of other stimuli |
| Audition | The sense or act of hearing |
| Taste (gustation) | Refers to the sensation that occurs when chemicals stimulate taste receptors; sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or umami |
| Olfaction | The sense of smell |
| Kinesthesia | Our movement sense |
| Vestibular Sense | Our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance |
| Sensory Interaction | The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste |
| Embodied Cognition | The influence of bodily sensations, gestures and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements |
| Habituation | Decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus |
| Stimulus | Any event or situation that evokes a response |
| Associative Learning | Learning that certain events occur together |
| Respondent Behavior | Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus |
| Operant Behavior | Behavior that operates on the environment; produces consequences |
| Cognitive Learning | The acquisition of mental information; observing events, watching others, or through language |
| Classical Conditioning | We learn to associate 2 stimuli and this to anticipate events |
| Neutral Stimuli | In classical conditioning a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning |
| Unconditioned Response | In classical conditioning an unlearned, naturally occurring response *salvation due the thought of food |
| Unconditioned Stimulus | In classical conditioning a stimulus that unconditionally naturally an automatically triggers an unconditioned response |
| Conditioned Stimulus | In classical conditioning an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response |
| Aquististion | In classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response |
| High-Order Conditioning | A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a neutral stimulus, creating a second often weaker conditioned stimulus |
| Extinction | The diminished response that occurs when the conditioned stimulus no longer signals an impending unconditioned stimulus |
| Spontaneous Recovery | The reappearance after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response |
| Generalization | The tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the conditioned response |
| Discrimination | The learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that don't signal an unconditioned stimulus |
| Operant Conditioning | We learn to associate a response (our behavior) and its consequences |
| Law of Effect | Rewarded behavior tends to recur and punished behavior is less likely to recur *made by Thorndike |
| Operant Chamber | Known as the Skinner box; the box has a level/key the animal uses to release a reward of food or water |
| Reinforcement | Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows |
| Shaping | An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior *teaching a dog a trick |
| Discriminative Stimulus | A stimulus that elicit a response after association with reinforcement *green traffic lights |
| Positive Reinforcement | Strengthens responding by presenting a typically pleasurable stimulus immediately after a response |
| Negative Reinforcement | Strengthens a response by reducing or removing something |
| Primary Reinforcers | A innately reinforcing stimulus such as one that satisfies a biological need *unlearned |
| Conditioned Reinforcers | A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through is association with a primary reinforcer *aka secondary reinforcer |
| Reinforcement Schedules | A pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced *they vary |
| Continuous Reinforcement | Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs |
| Partial (intermittent) Reinforcement Schedules | Reinforcing a response only part of the time |
| Fixed Ratio Schedules | In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses |
| Variable Ratio Schedules | In operant conditioning a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses |
| Fixed Interval Schedules | A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed |
| Variable Interval Schedules | A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals |
| Positive Punishment | Adding a consequence after an undesired behavior *having a child do more chores then usual |
| Negative Punishment | Taking away a certain reinforcer after the undesired behavior occurs to try and prevent it from happening in the future *taking away a teenagers phone |
| Biofeedback | A system for electronically recording amplifying and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension |
| Preparedness | A biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea that have survival value |
| Instinctive Drift | The tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns |
| Cognitive Map | A mental representation of the layout of one's environment |
| Latent Learnring | Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it |
| Insight | A sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions |
| Intrinsic Motivation | A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake |
| Extrinsic Motivation | A desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or to avoid threatened punishment |
| Problem Focused Coping | Attempting to alleviate stress directly - by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor |
| Emotion Focused Coping | Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction |
| Personal Control | Our sense of conditioning our environment rather than feeling helpless |
| Learned Helplessness | The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events |
| External Locus of Control | The perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate |
| Internal Locus of Control | The perception that we control our own fate |
| Self Control | The ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards |
| Observational Learning | A form of cognitive learning that lets us learn from others' experiences |
| Modeling | The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior |
| Mirror Neurons | Frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so; the brains mirroring of another action |
| Prosocial Behavior | Positive, constructive, helpful behavior; the opposite of antisocial behavior |
| Memory | The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage and retrieval of information |
| Recall | A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in the blank test |
| Recognition | A measure of memory in which a person identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test |
| Relearning | A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again |
| Encoding | The process of getting information into the memory system |
| Storage | The process of retaining encoded information over time |
| Retrieval | The process of getting information out of memory storage |
| Parallel Processing | Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions |
| Sensory Memory | The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system |
| Short-Term Memory | Activated memory that holds a few items briefly *digits of a phone number before the info is forgotten |
| Long-Term Memory | The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills and experiences |
| Working Memory | A newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information and of information retrieved from long-term memory |
| Explicit Memory | Retention of facts and experiences that no one can consciously know and "declare" |
| Effortful Memory | Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort |
| Automatic Processing | Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time and frequency and of well-learned information, such as word meaning |
| Implicit Memory | Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned association independent of conscious recollection |
| Iconic Memory | A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli *picture image memory lasting a few tenths of a second |
| Echoic Memory | A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli |
| Chunking | Organizing items into familiar manageable units; often occurs automatically |
| Mnemonics | Memory aids |
| Spacing Effect | The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practiced |
| Testing Effect | Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information |
| Semantic Memory | Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge |
| Episodic Memory | An explicit memory of personally experienced events |
| Memory Consolidation | A neural storage of a long-term memory |
| Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) | An increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation |
| Encoding Specificity Principle | The idea that cues and context specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it |
| Mood-Congruent Memory | The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood |
| Serial Position Effect | Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list |
| Anterograde Amnesia | The inability to form new memories |
| Retrograde Amnesia | The inability to retrieve information from one's past |
| Proactive Interface | The forward acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information |
| Retroactive Interface | The backward acting disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information |
| Repression | In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety - arousing thoughts, feelings and memories |
| Reconsolidation | A process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved are potentially altered before being stored again |
| Misinformation Effect | Occurs when misleading information has distorted ones memory of an event |
| Source Amnesia | Faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined |
| Deja Vu | The eerie sense that, "I've experience this before" |
| Selective Attention | The process of reacting to certain stimuli when several occur simultaneously |
| Divided Attention | The ability to process more than one piece of information at a time |
| Metacognition | The knowledge and regulation of one's own cognitive processes |
| Cognition | All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and comunicating |
| Concept | A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people |
| Prototype | A mental image or best example of a category |
| Convergent Thinking | Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution |
| Divergent Thinking | Expanding the number of possible problem solutions |
| Algorithm | A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem |
| Heuristic | A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently |
| Insight | A sudden realization of a problems solution |
| Confirmation Bias | A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence |
| Fixation | In cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective |
| Mental Set | A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past |
| Intuition | An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought as contrasted with explicit conscious reasoning |
| Representativeness Heuristic | Estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent or match particular prototypes |
| Availability Heuristic | Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory |
| Overconfidence | The tendency to be more confident than correct |
| Framing | The way an issue is posed |
| Belief Perseverance | Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited |
| Language | Our spoken, written or signed words and the wats we combine them to communicate meaning |
| Phoneme | In language, the smallest distinctive sound unit |
| Morpheme | In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning |
| Grammar | In a language, a system of rules that enable us to communicate with and understand others |
| Babbling Stage | Beginning around 4 months the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language |
| One-Word Stage | The stage in speech development from about age 1-2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words |
| Two-Word Stage | Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements |
| Telegraphic Speech | Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram - "go car" |
| Aphasia | Impairment of language usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's Area or to Wernicke's Area |
| Broca's Area | An area in the frontal lobe, usually in the lest hemisphere that directs the muscle movements involved in speech |
| Wernicke's Area | A brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; in the left temporal lobe |
| Linguistic Determinism | Language controls the way think and interpret the world around us |
| Linguistic Influence | The idea that language effects thought |
| Intelligence | The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new solutions |
| General Intelligence (g) | Underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task of an intelligence test |
| Factor Analysis | A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test |
| Savant Syndrome | A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill such as in computation or drawing |
| Grit | Passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals |
| Emotional Intelligence | The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions |
| Intelligence Test | A method for assessing an individuals mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores |
| Achievement Test | A test designed to assess what a person has learned |
| Aptitude Test | A test designed to predict a person's future performance |
| Mental Age | A measure of intelligence test performance... the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age |
| Stanford-Binet | A widely used American revision of Binet's intelligence test |
| Intelligence Quotient (IQ) | Mental Age / Chronological Age x 100 |
| Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) | This test consists of 15 subtests |
| Content Validity | The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest |
| Predictive Validity | The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict |
| Cohort | A group of people sharing a common characteristic such as from a given time period |
| Crystallized Intelligence | Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age |
| Fluid Intelligence | Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age |
| Flynn Effect | A secular increase in population intelligence quotient (IQ) observed throughout the 20th century |
| Intellectual Disability | A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 7- or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life |
| Down Syndrome | A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 |
| Heritability | The proportion of variation among individuals in a group that we can attribute to genes |
| Stereotype Threat | A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype |
| Developmental Psychology | A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social change throughout the life |
| Zygote | The fertilized egg |
| Embryo | The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month |
| Fetus | The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth |
| Teratogens | Monster makers; agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the developing human organism |
| Fetal Alcohol Syndrome | Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by pregnant woman's heavy drinking *small/out of proportion facial features is a result |
| Maturation | Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience |
| Cognition | All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating |
| Schema | A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information |
| Assimilation | Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas |
| Accommodation | Adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information |
| Sensorimotor Stage | The state where infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities |
| Object Permanence | The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived |
| Preoperational Stage | When a child learns to use language but doesn't yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic |
| Conservation | The principle that properties such a mass, volume and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects |
| Egocentrism | The preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view |
| Theory of Mind | Peoples ideas about their own and others' mental states about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behaviors these might predict |
| Concrete Operational Stage | When a child gains he mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events |
| Formal Operational Stage | The stage of cognitive development; during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts |
| Scaffold | A framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking |
| Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) | A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors |
| Stranger Anxiety | The fear of strangers that infants commonly display beginning about 8 months |
| Attachment | An emotional with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to their caregiver and showing distress on separation |
| Critical Period | An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development |
| Imprinting | The process by which certain animals form strong attachments in early life |
| Strange Situation | A procedure for studying child-caregiver attachment; a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment while the caregiver leaves, the child's reactions are observed |
| Secure Attachment | Demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregiver, show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves and find comfort in the caregiver's return |
| Insecure Attachment | Demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness |
| Temperament | A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity |
| Basic Trust | A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy |
| Self-Concept | All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, "Who am I?" |
| Sex | In psychology the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male and female |
| Gender | The socially influenced characteristic by which people define, boy, girl, man, woman |
| Aggression | Any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or mentally |
| Relational Aggression | An act of aggression (physical or verbal) intended to harm a person's relationship or social standing |
| Role | A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave |
| Gender Role | A set of expected behaviors, attitudes and traits for males or for females |
| Gender Identity | Our sense of being male, female or some combination of the two |
| Social Learning Theory | The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished |
| Gender Typing | The acquisition of traditional masculine or feminine role |
| Androgyny | Displaying both traditional masculine and feminine psychological characteristics |
| Transgender | An umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth-designated sex |
| Puberty | The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing |
| Indentity | Our sense of self- the adolescents task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles |
| Social Identity | The "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships |
| X Chromosome | The sex chromosome found in both males and females... females have 2 while males have 1, both parents carry the chromosome |
| Y Chromosome | The sex chromosome typically found only in males |
| Testosterone | The most important male sex hormones; both males and females have this, but in males it stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period |
| Primary Sex Characteristics | The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible |
| Secondary Sex | Nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality and body hair |
| Characteristics | A particular feature or quality of ONE |
| Spermarche | The first ejaculation |
| Menarche | The first menstural period |
| Intersex | A conduction present at birth due to unusual combinations of male and female chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy; processing biological sexual characteristics of both sexes |
| AIDS | A life threatening sexually transmitted infection caused by HIV; it depletes the immune system leaving the person vulnerable to infections |
| Sexual Orientation | Our enduring sexual attraction |
| Menopause | The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a women experiences as her ability to reproduce declines |
| Authoritarian Parenting Style | Parents impose many rules and require obedience. Kids are likely to have low social skills and low self-esteem |
| Permissive Parenting Style | Parents make few demands, set few limits and use little punishment. Kids are more likely to be more aggressive and more immature. |
| Negligent Parenting Style | Parents are uninvolved; neither are demanding or responsive. Kids are more likely to have poor academics and negative social outcomes |
| Authoritative Parenting Style | Parents are confrontive, demanding and responsive. Kids are more likely to have high self-esteem, be self-reliance, self-regulation and social competence |
| Spinal Cord | Nerves that run up and down the length of the back and transmit most messages between the body and brain |
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