Term | Definition |
Sensation | process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment (touch, smell, taste, hear) |
Perception | process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, transforming it into meaningful objects and events (organizes sensory in order for it to interpret what we see, smell, hear and taste) |
Transduction | changing one form of energy into another (in terms of sensation, sights, sounds, smell etc. are transformed into neutral impulses) |
Absolute Threshold | the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time |
Subliminal | below our absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
Difference Threshold | The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time; experience it as "just a noticeable difference" |
Sensory adaptation | reduced sensitivity in response to constant stimulation |
Perception Set | a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another |
Sight=Vision->Waves
Sound=Audition->Waves | light for vision and sound for audition |
Smell=olfaction->Particles
Taste=Gustation->Particles | sensing chemicals for olfaction and gustation |
Touch=Touch | pressure, warmth, cold on the skin |
Body Position and Movement | change in position, interacting with vision, movements of fluids in the inner ear |
Feature detector | nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of a stimulus, such as edges, lines, and angles ( able to recognize faces) |
Prosopagnosia | failure to recognize; they know they are looking at a face, but cannot tell who the face is even if it's their own or that of a friend or relative (Can't recognize faces) |
Synesthesia | a mixing of sensory information, (taste and smell closely related) anytime you hear something you can see a color |
Parallel Processing | the processing of many aspects of a problem or scene at the same time; the brain's natural made of information processing for many functions, including vision |
Kinesthesia | the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts |
Audition | the sense or act of hearing |
Vestibular Sense | the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance. Even if we can't see it, we know what position our body is still in |
Learning | the process of acquiring, through, experience, new and relatively enduring information or behaviors |
Classical Conditioning | a type of learning in which we learn to like two or more stimuli and anticipate events |
Acquisition | in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when we link a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. ( in operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response) |
Condition=Learned
Before Conditioning | ns (lightning)->no response
+
us (thunder)->ur= cry |
During Conditioning | ns->lightning
+
us (thunder)->ur=cry |
After Conditioning | ns
|
cs (lightning)->cr= cry |
The major researchers of Classical Conditioning are: | John Watson and Ivan Pavlo |
Neutral Stimulus (NS) | in classical conditioning a stimulus that evokes no response before conditioning |
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) | in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally-naturally and automatically-triggers a response (UR) |
Unconditioned Response (UR) | in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an Unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth) |
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) | in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US). comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR) |
Conditioned Response (CR) | in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS) |
Generalization | in classical conditioning, the tendency, after conditioning, to respond similarly to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus (respond to anything similar) |
Discrimination | in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli (learning to distinguiush between conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli) |
Extinction
(hold back stimuli when using the conditioned stimuli) | in classical conditioning, the weakening of a conditioned response when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus. (in operant conditioning, the weakening of a response when it is no longer reinforced) |
Spontaneous Recovery | the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response; (reappearance of the conditioned response) |
Operant Conditioning | a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforce or diminished if followed by a punisher |
Reinforcement | in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows |
Punishment | an event that decreases the behavior it follows |
Schedules of reinforcement | the same<-Fixed Ratio-># of responses
Changes<-Variable Raito-># of responses
the same<-Fixed interval->amount of time
changes<-Various interval->amount of time |
Fixed | number of tries stays the same |
Variable | number of tries changes |
Shaping | an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide actions closer and closer toward a desired bahavior |
Reinforcement Schedule | a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced |
Cognitive Learning | the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language |
Positive Reinforcement | increases behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforce is anything that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response |
Negative Reinforcement | increases behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforce is anything that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (NOTE: NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IS NOT PUNISHMENT) |
Major Researcher of Learning by Observation is: | Albert Bandura-Bobo Doll experiment |
Modeling | the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior |
Memory | the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information |
Sensory Memory | the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system |
Iconic Memory | visual sensory memory; a fleeting memory for a few tenths of a second, our eyes retain a picture-image memory6 of a scene |
Echoic Memory | auditory sensory memory; a fleeting sensory memory of sounds, the sounds echoes in our mind for 3 or 4 seconds |
Working Memory | a newer understanding of short-term memory that stresses conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory |
Short-tem Memory | activated memory that holds a few items briefly (such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing) before the information is stored or forgotten; not going to last very long and can't hold very much. |
Long-term Memory | the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of memory system. includes knowledge, skills, and experiences; there is no limit as of how much it can hold and it is relatively permanent. |
Explicit Memory | memory of facts and personal events you can consciously retrieve. (also called declarative memory); episodes of life that we can tell people about |
Implicit Memory | retaining learned skills, or classically conditioned associations, without conscious awareness. (also called nondeclarative memory); can't show but already know and some comes from people or movies |
Automatic Processing | unconscious encoding of everyday information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings |
Effortful Processing | encoding that requires attention and conscious effort. |
Spacing Effect | the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice; learn a little at a time |
Testing Effect | Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather then simply rereading, information. also sometimes referred to as the retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning; have to think about it to be able to retrieve it |
Serial-Position Effect | our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list; switch up how you study |
Flashbulb Memory | a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event; something big happens |
Recall | memory demonstrated by retrieving information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test |
Recognition | memory demonstrated by identifying items previously learned, as on a multiple -choice test. |
Retrieval Cue | any stimulus (event, feeling, place, and so on) linked to a specific memory |
Deja Vu | that eerie sense that "I have experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience; it has a lag time |
Proactive Interference | the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information; old information messes with new information |
Retroactive Interference | the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information; new information messes with old information |
Repression | in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness that thoughts, feelings, and memories that arouse anxiety. |
Cognition | all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating |
Thinking | every time you use information and mentally set on it by forming ideas, reasoning, solving problems, drawing conclusions, expressing thoughts, or comprehending the thoughts of others |
Mental Image | a mental representation of a previously stored sensory experience, including visual, auditory, olfactory, motor, and gustatory; mental image form a vision of something like the beach |
Concept | a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, and people |
Language | our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning |
Algorithms | a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees you will solve a particular problem. Contrast with the usually speedier-but also more error-prone-use of heuristics; example: step-by-step description for evacuating a building during a fire |
Heuristics | simple thinking strategies that often allow us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms (such as running for an exit when you smell smoke) |
Insight | a sudden realization of the situation to a problem; it contrast with strategy-based solutions to a problem (a Aha! reaction) |
Availability Heuristic | judging the likelihood of an event based on its availability in memory; if an event come readily to mind (perhaps because it was vivid) we assume it must be common (not based on how likely they are to actually occur) |
Fixation | the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to a problem solving; mental sets or functional fixnessive |
Conformation Bias | a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort evidence that contradicts them |
Overconfidence | the tendency to be more confident than correct-to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments; having to see facts |
Framing | the way an issue is posed; framing can significantly affect decisions and judgments; can mean the same thing like Obama-Care and Affordable Care |
Belief Perseverance | clinging to beliefs and ignoring evidence that proves they are wrong: people are actually watching you |
Intelligence | mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situatuons |
Intelligence Disability | a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life. (formerly referred to as mental retardation) |
Savant Syndrome | a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing |
Standardization | defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested standardization group (must have norms and instructions must be uniform) |
Reliability | the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting |
Validity | the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to |
Intelligence Test | a method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores |
Aptitude Test | a test designed to predict a person's future performance, aptitude is the capacity to learn |
Achievement Test | a test designed to assess what a person has learned |
Stereotype Threat | a self-confirming concern that we will be judged based on a negative stereotype |
Urinary System | |