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MCAT Prep > AAMC Psych Terms > Flashcards

AAMC Psych Terms Flashcards

1
Q

Spreading activation

A

activation over a set of chunks

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2
Q

Proactive interference

A

long term memories interfering with new information

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3
Q

Latent learning

A

learning that produces a change in behavior some time after learning

no immediate change in behavior

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4
Q

Mead’s theory of identity

A

“I” is the spontaneous and autonomous part of self

“me” is the self that is influenced by society and conforms to society’s norms

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5
Q

Where is merit derived from?

A

achieved status

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6
Q

Saccade

A

a quick jump of the eye from one position to another as it takes in visual stimuli

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7
Q

limen

A

a threshold below which a stimulus is not perceived or is not distinguished from another

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8
Q

Can classical conditioning affect voluntary behaviors?

A

no

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9
Q

Anterograde amnesia

A

inability to create new memories after an event

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10
Q

EOG

A

measures eye movement during sleep

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11
Q

Vicarious conditioning

A

another term for observational learning

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12
Q

Attrition bias

A

occurs when people drop out of a long term study

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13
Q

Classic sign of conformity

A

privately disagreeing with something but publicly agreeing with it

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14
Q

The Stroop effect

A

difficulty naming a physical color when it is used to the spell the name of a different color

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15
Q

Construct validity

A

how well did the study examine what it intended to

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16
Q

social clock

A

a culturally-specific timetable of when life events should occur

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17
Q

activity theory

A

elderly people wish to stay active just as much as younger people

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18
Q

Harlow’s monkey experiments

A

monkeys only went to wire mother for food and still went to cloth mother for comfort when she did have food

both monkeys ended up eating the same amount

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19
Q

What increases statistical power?

A

increasing the number of subjects

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20
Q

Reciprocal determinism

A

people’s behavior is both influenced by other people and the environment

people also influence others and the environment

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21
Q

What theory does reciprocal determinism apply to?

A

social cognitive theory

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22
Q

Shadowing

A

used in attention studies where a person repeats word for word while other stimuli are in the background

test selective attention

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23
Q

Path of verbal input through left ear

A

goes to auditory cortex in the right hemisphere and then is processed by language areas of the left hemisphere

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24
Q

What are IQ tests normalized to?

A

100 +/- 15

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25
Q

Bell curve percentages

A

2.1, 13.6, 68, 13.6, 2.1

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26
Q

What do stimulants function like?

A

stress responses

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27
Q

What type of reinforcement is used during the acquisition phase?

A

continuous reinforcement

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28
Q

What is the most effective type of reinforcement?

A

variable ratio

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29
Q

Semantic memory

A

long term memory about facts

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30
Q

Episodic memory

A

long term memory about the self

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31
Q

Explicit memory

A

includes semantic and episodic memory

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32
Q

Implicit memory

A

procedural long term memory

uses past experience to remember things without thinking about them

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33
Q

Where are neurotransmitters made?

A

neurons

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34
Q

How many items can the working memory store?

A

7 +/- 2

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35
Q

Neural plasticity

A

any change in the connectivity of the brain

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36
Q

Parietal lobe

A

associated with somatosensation

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37
Q

Which lobe is associated with attention?

A

frontal lobe

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38
Q

Temporal lobe

A

associated with memory and hearing

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39
Q

How can external validity be decreased?

A

1) limiting criteria to be selected for study
2) subjects’ awareness of being in a study
3) lab versus the real world

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40
Q

Parasomnias

A

abnormalities during sleep

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41
Q

Dysomnias

A

affect the total hours of sleep

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42
Q

Humanistic theory

A

intrinsic motivation

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43
Q

cognitive theory of motivation

A

motivation because you have successfully completed something in the past

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44
Q

zeitgebers

A

external factors that affect sleep

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45
Q

somatic symptom disorder

A

excessive preoccupation and anxiety regarding a real symptom

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46
Q

illness anxiety disorder

A

excessive worry about the possibility of having an illness

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47
Q

Weber’s ideal bureaucracy includes

A

hierarchy of authority, specialization, promotion based on effort, formal rules

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48
Q

otoliths

A

responsible for linear acceleration in ear

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49
Q

Semicircular canals

A

rotational acceleration

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50
Q

social interference

A

reduced performance due to the presence of others

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51
Q

Non-declarative memory

A

procedural, emotional and other unconscious memories

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52
Q

What test can measure attachment styles?

A

strange situations

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53
Q

Correspondence bias

A

another name for fundamental attribution error

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54
Q

Cross-sectional study

A

analyzes subsets of the population at a specific point in time

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55
Q

Behaviorist theory

A

focuses on the idea that all behaviors are learned from interaction with the environment

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56
Q

Spacing effect

A

long term memory is enhanced when learning events are spaced out

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57
Q

How to determine motivational state in operant conditioning?

A

deprive the subject

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58
Q

Partial report technique

A

method of testing memory in which only some of the total information presented is to be recalled.

59
Q

Word association test

A

a test of personality and mental function in which the subject is required to respond to each of a series of words with the first word that comes to mind

60
Q

Psychophysical discrimination testing

A

varying a physical stimulus slightly and observing the effect on a subject’s experience or behavior in order to better understand perceptual processing

61
Q

Operational span testing

A

Test to see the general capacity of working memory tasks

62
Q

Context effect

A

aspect of cognitive psychology that describes the influence of environmental factors on one’s perception of a stimulus

63
Q

Feature detection

A

process by which the nervous system sorts or filters complex natural stimuli in order to extract behaviorally relevant cues that have a high probability of being important

64
Q

Multistability

A

when an image can be perceived two or more ways and/or our perception of that image fluctuates

65
Q

Where are the amygadalae located?

A

in the temporal lobe

one in each hemisphere

66
Q

Incentive theory of motivation

A

calls attention to how factors outside of the individual, including community values and cultural aspects, can motivate behavior

67
Q

Cultural capital

A

refers to knowledge, skills and education that are used to make social distinctions and are associated with differences in social status

68
Q

Demographic transition theory

A

refers to changes in birth and death rates associated with economic development

begin with a drop in death rate and increase in birth rate

eventually both birth and death rates are low

69
Q

Discriminatory stimuli

A

a type of stimulus commonly used in classical conditioning

use the stimulus to consistently gain a specific response

70
Q

Positive punisher

A

a positive punisher decreases the likelihood of an event happening again

an aversive event happens that decreases the likelihood of another event from happening

71
Q

Negative punisher

A

a negative punisher decreases the likelihood of an event happening again

a desired event is taken away

72
Q

What type of cells are hair cells?

A

mechanoreceptors

73
Q

How to study sympathetic nervous system arousal?

A

electrical conductivity of the skin

74
Q

Behaviorist theory

A

can also focus on the role of reinforcement and punishment on behavior

75
Q

Basic group dynamics of sociology

A

larger groups are considered more stable but less intimate than smaller groups

smaller groups are considered less stable but more initmate

76
Q

fMRI

A

measures brain activity through detecting changes in blood flow

77
Q

PET scan

A

radiolabel glucose to measure activity and structure

see where glucose metabolizes

78
Q

EEG

A

measures a neuron’s electrical activity

79
Q

CT

A

a less invasive technique than MRI for measuring structure

use X-rays to make cross sections to get image

80
Q

When do sleep spindles and k-complexes appear?

A

in stage 2 of sleep

81
Q

When do delta waves appear?

A

in stage 3 and 4 of sleep

82
Q

Evolutionary perspective of human behavior

A

humans engage in behaviors to increase survival

83
Q

When does stranger anxiety develop?

A

around 8 months

84
Q

When do each of Piaget’s stages occur?

A

sensorimotor: 0-2
preoperational: 2-7
concrete operational: 7-12
formal operational: 13-adult

85
Q

When does object permanence occur?

A

around 8 months

86
Q

When does conservation develop?

A

concrete operational period

7-12 years

87
Q

When is the child egocentric?

A

preoperational

88
Q

When can you think abstractly?

A

formal operational

89
Q

Interposition

A

a monocular depth cue that says that when one object is obscuring another, the one in front is said to be closer

90
Q

Parallel processing

A

brain can process different forms of information at once

91
Q

Accomodation

A

new information or experiences cause you to change your existing schemas

92
Q

Place theory

A

places on the basilar membrane detect different sound frequencies

93
Q

What is a characteristic of dissociative disorders?

A

selectively forgetting distracting elements of life

94
Q

What do memory schemas do?

A

increase speed of recall/recognition

95
Q

What is conflict theory commonly associated with?

A

resources, class stratification, and power

96
Q

Analytical intelligence

A

the ability to analyze and evaluate ideas, solve problems and make decisionns

97
Q

What does emotional intelligence allow people to do?

A

be self-aware and delay gratification/ not be overtaken by impulses

98
Q

Escape learning versus avoidance learning

A

Escape learning: stimulus is already present and you stop it

Avoidance learning: avoid the stimulus even starting

99
Q

How does CBT therapy work?

A

systematically modify a person’s behavior to address maladaptive behaviors

100
Q

What does a functionalist look at?

A

utility/ function

manifest and latent functions

101
Q

The Hawthorne effect

A

changes in research participant’s behavior as a result of their awareness that they are being observed

102
Q

The Thomas theorem

A

if someone believes something to be real, then it is real in its consequences

103
Q

What does counterbalancing control for?

A

controls for any effect that the order of presenting stimuli might have on the dependent variable

104
Q

Priming and procedural memories are …

A

examples of implicit memories

105
Q

Neuroleptics

A

the first antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia

106
Q

What are the benefits and cons of neuroleptics?

A

Neuroleptics can treat the positive symptoms of schizophrenia

They can lead to cognitive dulling / more negative symptoms

107
Q

General adaptation syndrome

A

alarm to resistance to exhaustion

the stress response is the same for different types of stressors

108
Q

Dependent stressor

A

behavior causes negative life events

109
Q

What type of information is the brain not able to parallel process?

A

novel information

110
Q

Example of parallel processing

A

processing visual and spatial and temporal information

111
Q

In which side of the brain is language processed?

A

the left side

112
Q

Example of the foot in the door technique

A

signing a petition which then leads to supporting a cause in the future

113
Q

Cognitive dissonance theory

A

when attitudes and behaviors do not align, you need to change either your attitude or behavior

more likely to change your attitude to match your behavior

114
Q

Can you be in a group for it to be a reference group?

A

yes

115
Q

Differences between operant and classical conditioning

A

operant conditioning involves a change in behavior

classical conditioning involves adding a reflex to a new stimuli

116
Q

Does classical or operant conditioning increase the frequency of behavior?

A

operant

117
Q

Script

A

organized actions appropriate to a familiar situation

118
Q

Schema

A

cognitive framework that organizes ideas

119
Q

What do you need to look at when determining how to rationalize a variable?

A

look at if the researchers want to determine cause or correlation

will tell you if you need to make an experiment or observational study

120
Q

Retrograde memory

A

ability to remember information before a brain injury/point in time

121
Q

Anterograde memory

A

ability to remember information after a brain injury

122
Q

What does reticular activating system control?

A

awakeness

123
Q

Exchange theory

A

addresses decision making cost-and-benefit analyses

individuals are motivated to engage in behaviors that produce rewards

124
Q

What does the term “manifest” imply?

A

how does something actually happen / be seen in specific situations

125
Q

Constructivism

A

the idea that people actively construct or make their own knowledge

reality is determined by experience

126
Q

Do personality traits affect interpersonal attraction?

A

no

127
Q

What three factors does SES include?

A

occupation, income and education

128
Q

Dichotic listening task

A

presenting two different auditory messages one to each ear

129
Q

PET scan

A

measures brain activity in specific regions by tracking glucose breakdown

130
Q

Are peer groups a primary group?

A

yes

131
Q

Social solidary

A

emphasizes interdependence between individuals in society

functionalists would look at this

132
Q

NMDA

A

glutamate receptors

133
Q

Self-verification

A

refers to seeking out info that is in line with one’s self concept

134
Q

Discriminating stimuli

A

signal the availability of reinforcement or punishment

135
Q

What does traditional behaviorist theory focus on?

A

actual outcomes that produced rewards or punishments

136
Q

Incongruence

A

refers to the gap between someone’s actual and ideal self

137
Q

Base rate fallacy

A

error people make when they ignore base rates / prior probabilities

138
Q

Glass escalator

A

men who pursue occupations in female driven fields will be promoted quicker

139
Q

Maladaptiveness criterion

A

takes into account whether an abnormal behavior interferes with life or is a threat to others

140
Q

Schizophrenia and dopamine

A

people with schizophrenia have high dopamine levels

dopamine antagonists lower positive symptoms of schizophrenia

141
Q

Bootstrapping

A

the initial stages of grammatical development

142
Q

Overextension

A

term for applying a term of one class of objects to other objects that only bear a superficial resemblance

143
Q

object of focus

A

used in retinal disparities

indicates a binocular depth cue

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