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AP Psychology > Exam #1 Terms (Learning) > Flashcards

Exam #1 Terms (Learning) Flashcards

(118 cards)

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1
Q

What is critical thinking?

A

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

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2
Q

What is empiricism?

A

The idea that knowledge comes from experience, and that observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge.

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3
Q

What is structuralism?

A

An early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.

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4
Q

What is introspection?

A

The process of looking inward in an attempt to directly observe one’s own psychological processes.

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5
Q

What is functionalism?

A

An early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function-how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

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6
Q

What is behaviorism?

A

The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

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7
Q

What is humanistic psychology?

A

A historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential.

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8
Q

What is cognitive psychology?

A

The study of mental processes, such as occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems.

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9
Q

What is cognitive neuroscience?

A

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

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10
Q

What is psychology?

A

The science of behavior and mental processes.

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11
Q

What is natural selection?

A

The principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

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12
Q

What is evolutionary psychology?

A

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

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13
Q

What are behavior genetics?

A

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

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14
Q

What is culture?

A

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

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15
Q

What is positive psychology?

A

The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

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16
Q

What is the biophyscosocial approach?

A

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social cultural viewpoints.

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17
Q

What is behavioral psychology?

A

The scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning.

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18
Q

What is biological psychology?

A

The scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes.

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19
Q

What is psychodynamic psychology?

A

A branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders.

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20
Q

What is social-cultural psychology?

A

The study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking.

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21
Q

What is testing effect?

A

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information.

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22
Q

What is SQ3R?

A

A study method incorporating five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, Review.

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23
Q

What is psychometrics?

A

The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

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24
Q

What is basic research?

A

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

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25
What is educational psychology?
The study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning.
26
What is personality psychology?
The study of individuals' characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.
27
What is social psychology?
The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.
28
What is applied research?
Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
29
What is industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology?
The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces.
30
What is human factors psychology?
A field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use.
31
What is counseling psychology?
A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and achieving greater well-being.
32
What is clinical psychology?
A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.
33
What is psychiatry?
A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders.
34
What is community psychology?
A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups.
35
What is hindsight bias?
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.
36
What is a theory?
An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.
37
What is a hypothesis?
A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.
38
What is an operational definition?
A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study.
39
What is replication?
Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced.
40
What is a case study?
A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.
41
What is naturalistic observation?
A descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation.
42
What is a survey?
A descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group.
43
What is sampling bias?
A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample.
44
What is population?
All those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn.
45
What is a random sample?
A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.
46
What is correlation?
A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.
47
What is correlation coefficient?
A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1.00 to +1.00).
48
What is a variable?
Anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure.
49
What is illusory correlation?
Perceiving a relationship where none exists, or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship.
50
What is regression toward the mean?
The tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back (regress) toward the average.
51
What is an experiment?
A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process.
52
What is an experimental group?
In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.
53
What is a control group?
In an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment, contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.
54
What is random assignment?
Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups.
55
What is a double-blind procedure?
An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo.
56
What is a placebo?
Experimental results caused by expectations alone.
57
What is a confounding variable?
A factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study's results.
58
What is an independent variable?
In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated.
59
What is a dependent variable?
In an experiment, the outcome that is measured.
60
What is validity?
The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to.
61
What is informed consent?
Giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.
62
What is debriefing?
The post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants.
63
What is learning?
The process of acquiring through experiences new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.
64
What is habituation?
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus.
65
What is associative learning?
Learning that certain events occur together.
66
What is a stimulus?
Any event or situation that evokes a response.
67
What is respondent behavior?
Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.
68
What is operant behavior?
Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.
69
What is cognitive learning?
The acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language.
70
What is classical conditioning?
A type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, the first stimulus comes to elicit behavior in anticipation of the second stimulus.
71
What is a neutral stimulus (NS)?
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.
72
What is an unconditioned response (UR)?
In classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response, to an unconditioned stimulus (US).
73
What is an unconditioned stimulus (US)?
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers an unconditioned response (UR).
74
What is a conditioned response (CR)?
In classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).
75
What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?
In classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR).
76
What is acquisition?
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.
77
What is higher-order conditioning?
A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.
78
What is extinction?
The diminishing of a conditioned response.
79
What is spontaneous recovery?
The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.
80
What is generalization?
The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for similar stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.
81
What is discrimination?
In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.
82
What is operant conditioning?
A type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher.
83
What is the law of effect?
Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.
84
What is an operant chamber?
In operant conditioning research, a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer.
85
What is reinforcement?
In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.
86
What is shaping?
An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
87
What is a discriminative stimulus?
In operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement.
88
What is positive reinforcement?
Increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers.
89
What is negative reinforcement?
Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing aversive stimuli.
90
What is a primary reinforcer?
An innately reinforcing stimulus.
91
What is a conditioned reinforcer?
A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer.
92
What is a reinforcement schedule?
A pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced.
93
What is a continuous reinforcement schedule?
Reinforcing the desired response every time it comes.
94
What is a partial reinforcement schedule?
Reinforcing a response only part of the time.
95
What is a fixed-ratio schedule?
In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.
96
What is a variable-ratio schedule?
In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.
97
What is a fixed-interval schedule?
In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.
98
What is a variable-interval schedule?
In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.
99
What is punishment?
Any event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.
100
What is biofeedback?
A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state.
101
What is preparedness?
A biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value.
102
What is instinctive drift?
The tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns.
103
What is a cognitive map?
A mental representation of the layout of one's environment.
104
What is latent learning?
Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.
105
What is insight?
A sudden realization of a problem's solution.
106
What is intrinsic motivation?
A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.
107
What is extrinsic motivation?
A desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment.
108
What is problem-focused coping?
Attempting to alleviate stress directly-by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.
109
What is emotion-focused coping?
Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction.
110
What is personal control?
Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless.
111
What is learned helplessness?
The helplessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
112
What is external locus of control?
The perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate.
113
What is internal locus of control?
The perception that we control our own fate.
114
What is self-control?
The ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards.
115
What is observational learning?
Learning by observing others.
116
What is modeling?
The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.
117
What are mirror neurons?
Frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so.
118
What is prosocial behavior?
Positive, constructive, helpful behavior.

AP Psychology (8 decks)

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