AP Psych Final Review Flashcards
(221 cards)
1
Q
Action potential
A
A neural impulse; a brief electric charge that travels down an axon. Generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon membrane.
2
Q
Aggression
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Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.
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Q
Anxiety disorder
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Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.
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Absolute threshold
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Minimum stimulation need to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
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Q
Anxiety
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An unpleasant emotional state
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Q
Biological
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Focuses on the relationship between the body and the mind
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Q
Cognition
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Conceded with memory, perception, thought, and other mental processes
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Behavioral
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Concerned mainly with a person’s observable responses to stimuli
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Q
Humanistic
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Focuses on a person’s capacity for self fulfillment and growth
10
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Psychodynamic
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Concerned with the influence of unconscious desires and motives
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Hypotheses
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Testable explanations of observed events
12
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Reliability
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The study produced consistent results when replicated
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Validity
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The study accurately measures what it claims to measure. 3 types.
Construct
Internal
External
14
Q
Construct validity
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The study measures the effect that it is trying to measure
15
Q
Internal validity
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The study shows the only experimental factor caused an effect
16
Q
External validity
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The study results apply to other situations
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Correlational study
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Expresses the relationship between two variables; does not imply causation
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Experiment
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Manipulation of an independent variable in order to understand its effect on a dependent variable. Identifies cause and effect relationships
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Sampling
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The process of choosing subjects to study
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Sample
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A group of subjects selected to study; subset of a population
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Population
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A group of people about whom the researcher wants to make conclusions.
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Random assignment
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Random placement of subjects into experimental or control groups
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Control group
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A group not subject to experimental manipulation
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Variables
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Things that can vary amount subjects
Independent
Dependent
Confounding
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Independent variable
Manipulated by researcher; produces change in dependent variable
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Dependent variable
Measured by the researcher
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Confounding variable
Any possible variable (other than the independent variable) that may cause the observes effect
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Statistical analysis
Desecibes dats and quantifies relationships between variables
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Frequency distribution
An arrangement of data points on how frequent they occur
Normal and central tendency
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Normal distribution
A frequency distribution with a symmetrical bell-shaped curve
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Central tendency
Measures of the center of the frequency distribution.
Three types:
Mean
Median
Mode
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Mean
Arithmetic average of data set
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Median
Middle data point
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Mode
Most frequent data point
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Variability
How the data are dispersed or spread around the mean
Range
Standard deviation
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Range
The distance between the highest and lowest data point
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Standard deviation
The average distance of a data point from the mean. Small: scores are relatively close to the mean score. Large: scores have a wider range
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Statistical significance
Means that the did fences observed are too high to have occurred by chance
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Type 1 error
False positive; perceives an effect is not there
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Type 11 error
False negative; fails to perceive an effect that is there
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Nervous system
Receives and transmits information
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CNS
Consists of the brains spinal cord wand brain
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Contralateral control
Each hemisphere of the brain controls opposite sides of the body
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Lateralization
Left and right hemispheres have different functions
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Hindbrain
Top part of the spinal cord; includes the medulla, pons, and cerebellum
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Medulla
Controls basic biological functions: breathing, swallowing, and balance
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Pons
Controls facial expressions, sleep and dreaming
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Cerebellum
Controls fine motor movement
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Midbrain
Coordinates basic movements with sensory information
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Forebrain
Large in humans; includes the cerebral cortex and sy cortical structures such as thalamus, hypothalamus, and basal ganglia
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Basal ganglia
Regulates muscle contractions/movements
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Thalamus
Incorporates and relays sensory information to the cortext
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Hypothalamus
Controls motivated behavior: eating, drinking, and sex
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Hippocampus
Helps process and receive long-term and spatial memory
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Amygdala
Controls emotion and evaluation of stimuli
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Cerebral cortext
Receives sensory information and transmits motor information
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Corpus callosum
Nerve tract beneath the cortex the connects the two the two hemispheres and allow them to communicate
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Occipital lobe
Processes Vision
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Temporal lobe
Processes sound
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Parietal lobe
Integrates sensory systems; is involves in attentions
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Frontal lobe
Controls speech, learning, thinking, decision-making, and abstract thoughts
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Peripheral nervous system
Includes all the members that spread through the body from the brain and the spinal cord
Somatic division
Autonomic division
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Somatic division
Controls voluntary muscle movements and sense organs
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Autonomic division
Controls involuntary actions and internal organs
Two parts:
Sympathetic
Parasympathetic
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Sympathetic nervous system
Gets the body ready for emergency actions
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Parasympathetic nervous system
Becomes active during states of relaxations
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Neurons
Nerve cells, are basic unit of the nervous system. Each neuron has three main parts:
Soma
Dendrite
Axon
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Soma
Cell body; stores energy for the cell
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Dendrite
Receives messages from other neurons and conducts the messages toward the soma
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Axon
Sends messages to other neurons
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Terminal branches (axon terminals)
The end of the axon that contains neurotranmitters
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Myelin sheath
insulates axons so signals can travel quickly
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Glial Cell
Creates myelin, suppports and guides neurons, and help repair neurons
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Synapse
the small gap between neurons where information is exchanged
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synaptic vesicles
Places where neurotransmitters are stored until releases into the synapse
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Neurotransmiitters
chemicals that stimulate neurons so they can communicate
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Excitatory
Make neurons more likely to fire
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Inhibitory
Make neurons less likely to fire
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Excitation Threshold
the voltage difference (-55 millivolts) necessary to destabilize a neuron, causing an action potential to occur
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Action potential (nerve impulse)
the brief charge in electrical charge that destabilizes a neuron. The action potential stimulates the axon terminals, restarting the process.
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Endocrine system
Made up of hormone-secreting glands, affects communication inside the body
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Hormones
Chemicals that help regulate bodily functions
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Cornea
Protective covering where light first enters the eye
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Lens
Bends or refracts light rays; focuses a flipped, inverted image into the retina
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Retina
Thin structure at back of eye that contains two types of receptor cells: Cones and rods
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Rods
Cells in the periphery of the retina that respond to black and white. Better in low light, more sensitive to motion, and have less visual acuity.
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Cones
Centered in the fovea. Respond to color, good for daytime vision, more visual acuity.
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Optic Nerve
Carries visual information to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
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Blind Spot
A place where the optic nerve exits the eye; has no receptor cells, so no vision
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Light waves
Electromagnetic waves that stimulate receptors in the eyes
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Intensity
Amount of energy per unit of time (brightness)
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Wavelength
Distance between two wave crests (color)
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Trichromatic Theory (Young-Helmholtz)
Three types of cones detect three wavelengths of light (blue, green, red). DO NOT explain negative afterimages
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Negative Afterimages
If you stare at one color and then look at white space, you see a color afterimage in the complementary hie of the original stimulus.
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Opponent-Process Theory (Hering)
Receptor cells are arranged in pairs: red/green, blue/yellow, and black/white. If one color is stimulated, the other is inhibited.
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Outer Ear (Pinna)
Collects sound from air and directs it through the ear canal.
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Tympanic membrane
A membrane that vibrates when sound hits it
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Oval Window
A membrane that separates middle ear from inner ear; sends vibrations to the cochlea
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Cochlea
A fluid-filled membrane in the inner ear; its pressure changes stimulate hair cells
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Hair Cells
Auditory receptor cells that initiate nerve impulses
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Sound wave
Vibrations (changes in air pressure) that stimulate auditory receptors.
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Amplitude
The height of a wave (loudness) The pressure exerted by each air particle
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Frequency
The length of a wave (pitch) the time between two points of maximum amplitude.
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Place Theory
Hair cells respond to different frequencies of sound based on their location in the cochlea.
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Frequency Theory
Hair cells fire at different rates in the cochlea allowing us to sense pitch
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Smell (Olfaction)
Information gathered from chemicals in the air. Inhaled molecules excite receptors in the olfactory epithelium.
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Taste
Sensory receptors in taste buds of tongue sensitive to salty, sour, bitter, and sweet.
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Olfactory bulb
Gathers messages from the olfactory receptor cells and sends them to the brain.
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Skin senses
Information from the skin, including pressure, pain, warmth, and cold
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Vestibular sense
Receptors in semicircular canal of inner ear sense how our body us oriented, maintains balance, and located our head in space.
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Kinesthetic sense
Receptors in muscles, tendons, joints give information about our limbs.
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Pereption
Refers to understanding and interpreting sensations from a stimulus,
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Absolute threshold
The lease amount of stimulus that is observable
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Difference Threshold
The smallest amount a stimulus must change so that the observer can perceive a just noticeable difference (JND)
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Weber's Law
The size of the difference threshold is proportional to the stimulus's intensity.
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Perceptual Constancy
We see qualities of an object as constant (size, shape, brightness)
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Visual Depth Perception
The perception of cues that indicate the distance of an object.
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Monocular Cues
Cues that do not use two eyes.
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Four types:
Interposition
Size
Linear Perspective
Texture Gradients
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Interposition
Objects in front are closer.
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Size
Larger objects are closer.
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Linear Perspective
Objects produce smaller retinal image as they are farther away
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Texture Gradients
Detail of texture is greater if the surface is closer
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Binocular Cues
Cues using two eyes.
Binocular or retinal desparity
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Binocular or retinal desparity
The difference between the two eyes' views. Binocular disparity increase the farther the object is from the observer.
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Motion Cues: Motion Parallax
As you move your head, images of close things change position more quickly on the retina than images of distant ones.
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Gestalt Rules
Laws that the brain uses to group or organize elements of a scene.
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Proximity
Similarity
Continuity
Closure
Common Fate
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Proximity
Objects near each other belong together.
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Similarity
Objects that resemble each other belong together
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Continuity
Objects that form a continuous line belong together
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Closure
Objects that make up something we recognize belong togethr
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Common Fate
Objects moving in the same direction belong together
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Processing
Refers to the way in which we recognize and organize stimuli
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Bottom-Up (Feature Analysis)
Starts with a smaller, specific elements of a scene and use them to creat the larger units or context.
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Top-Down Processing
Starts with a larger context or units to recognize smaller, specific elements ot the scene; uses schemata
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Schemata
Mental representations of our expectations of the world.
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Attention
Process of perceiving some information and not other information.
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Cocktail Party Effect
A person suddenly switches attention if his or her name is said
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Stroop Effect
Automatic processes can interfere with other tasks; hard to name the color os a word colored differently
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Habituation
Tendency to respond to stimuli lessens as the stimuli become more familiar
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Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
Creation of involuntary responses to stimuli
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Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
From the environment; triggers natural response
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Unconditioned response (UCR)
Natural reaction to UCS
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Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Pair with UCS; before pairing, the CS does not produce a response; after pairing, it does.
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Conditioned response (CR)
A response to a CS; the Cr is often the same as the UCR, but it is a leaned response.q
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Extinction
When the CS appears withUCS, the CR eventually disappears
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Spontaneous Recovery
After extinction, the CS reappears and elicits CR
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Generalization
CR occurs to stimuli that are similar to CS
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Discrimination
CR only occurs to CS that was previously paired with UCS.
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Operant Conditioning
Learning based on the association of consequences to one's behavior. A reinforcer is given only id there is an operant response.
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Operant
An instrumental response
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Reinforcer (reward)
Something that increases the likelihood of a behavior.
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Positive Reinforcement
If desired behaviors occurs, add something pleasant
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Negative Reinforcement
If desired behavior behavior occurs, take away something unpleasant.
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Punisher
Something that decreases the likelihood of a behavior.
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Learned Helplessness
Occurs when a subject believes that unpleasant or painful stimuli are inevitable and gives up trying to change the circumstances.
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Shaping
Reinforcing successive steps to reach a desired behavior
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Chaining
Reinforcing a series of behaviors to get a reward
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Extinction
Occurs if behavioral response is no longer reinforced.
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Schedule of Reinforcement
Pattern of reinforcing behavioral responses.
Two types:
Continuous
Partial
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Continuous Reinforcement
Reinforcement after every correct response.
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Partial Reinforcement
Reinforcement after some correct responses.
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Four types:
Fixed
Variable
Fixed-Ratio
Variable-Ratio
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Fixed
Reinforcement is given a fixed amount of time after a correct response. (response starts slow, increases rapidly)
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Variable
Reinforcement is given an average amount of time after a correct response. (low rates of response)
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Fixed-ratio Schedules
Reinforcement os given after a fixed number of correct responses.
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Variable-ration Schedule
Reinforcement is given after an average number of correct responses (very high rates of response)
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Memory
Refers to the way we record events, information, and skills.
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Encoding
Acquiring information from the world and storing it in memory.
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Shallow Encoding
Encoding for surface features (Less successful)
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Deep Encoding
Encoding for structural relationships and meaning (more successful)
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Storage
Holding on to information for later use
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Retrieval
Getting information back when it is needed
Two ways:
Recall
Recognition
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Recall
Supplying information in response to a cue or question
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Recognition
Deciding whether information was encountered before
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Sensory Memory
Where information first enters memory system. Large capacity, short duration; some of it is encoded or stored in STM.
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Short-term Memory (working memory)
Where we use and are aware of memories
1. Small capacity- (7+-2 items)
2. Short Duration- (30 seconds)
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Chunking
STM capacity increases by recoding information into larger, meaningful units. (Small Capacity)
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Rehearsal
STM duration increases through repetition of information. (Short Duration)
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Long-term Memory (LMT)
relatively permanent store of information, unlimited capacity, and long duration. One can transfer memories from STM and LTM by REHEARSAL.
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Implicit Memory
Memory for skills and motor patterns
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Explicit Memory
Momory for facts, events, and meanings
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Semantic Memory
Memory for general meanings and information.
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Episodic Memory
Memory of specific personal events.
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Decay
Memory becomes eroded because we have not used it for a while.
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Displacement
Items are pushed out of memory by other items; applies only to STM and sensory memory, not LTM.
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Primary Effect
Higher likelihood of remembering earlier rather than later information. (Rehearsal)
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Recency Effect
Higher likelihood of remembering earlier rather than later information (rehearsal)
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Reconstructive Nature of Memory
Remembering by combing elements of experience with existing knowledge; often through use of schemas.
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Schemas
Organized knowledge structures stored in memory that are used tp guide comprehension and memory.
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Proactive Interference
Earlier learning disrupts later learning.
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Retroactive Interference
Later learning disrupts earlier learning.
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Anterograde Amnesia
Patient cannot form new memories after brain injury.
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Retrograde Amnesia
Patient cannot remember events prior to brain injury.
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Language
A system of symbols used to represent and communicate information.
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Phoneme
Smallest unit of sound in language
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Moroheme
Smallest sound unit that carries meaning
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Syntax
The way in which words are arranged into phrases and sentences.
Two types:
Surface structure
Deep structure
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Surface structure
The way words are organized
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Deep Structure
the meaning of sentences
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Language Acquisition
Learning occurs in stages:
1. Babies innately practice with phonemes (babbling)
2. Telegraphic Speech
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Telegraphic Speech
Using short phases to form primitive sentences.
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Aphasias
Absence of some part of the ability to use language
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Broca's Aphasia
Inability to produce fluent speech
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Wernicke's Speech
Inability to comprehend speech
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Thinking
Refers to mental activities sed to reason or reflect
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Metal Representations
Representation of knowledge and thought
Two types:
Analogical
Symbolic
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Analogical
The representation has some of the qualities of the thing it represents.
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Symbolic
The representation has none of the qualities of the thing it represents
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Visual (mental) imagery
Representations of sensory experience that occur in the brain, without the presence of sensory input.
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Concept information
Mental classification of objects and events based on common features.
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Concept
A class or category with individuals or subtypes
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Prototype
The best example of a concept
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Problem Solving
Th use of a set of information to achieve a goal.
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Algorithm
A systematic step-by-step method of trying every possible solution
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Heuristic
Use of a rule of thumb that worked in the past; does not guarantee answer
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Availability Heuristic
Judging a situation based on the frequency with which similar situations come to mind
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Representativeness heuristic
Judging a situation based on how similar it is to a prototypical situation, regardless of how common the situation is.
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Decision-making
the process of choosing between two options
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Framing
The way a problem is posed affects the perception of how it is best solves.
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Reasoning
The determination of the conclusions that can be drawn from examples or assertions
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Inductive Reasoning
the construction of conclusions from particular examples.
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Deductive Reasoning
The process of deciding whether a conclusion can be drawn from the premises or facts.
