Psychology Flashcards
(124 cards)
1
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empirical approach
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knowledge gained through direct observation and measurement
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limitation of case study
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resource intensive, it’s anecdotal and may not generalize to population
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negative correlation
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as one variable increases, the other variable decreases
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positive correlation
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as one variable increases, so does the other
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no correlation
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the direction of one variable had no relationship to the direction of the other variable
6
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limitation of correlation
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can’t draw causal conclusions because there could be a third variable and the bidirectionally issue
7
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definition of psychology
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The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
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independent variable (IV)
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variable that is manipulated/controlled by the experimenter; affects dependent variable.
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Dependent Variable (DV)
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variable that is manipulated by the Independent Variable.
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correlations
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can make predictions
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experiments
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can draw conclusions
12
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Biological Psychology
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Examines the link between biological activity and psychological events
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Nervous System
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complex combination of cells that allows us to gain information about what’s going on inside and outside our bodies and respond appropriately
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The two main parts of the Peripheral Nervous System
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Somatic and Autonomic
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Function of Somatic Nervous System
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Carries sensory and motor muscle information to and from the CNS
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Function of Autonomic Nervous System
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Controls bodily functions not consciously directed
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Two main parts of the Autonomic nervous system
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Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
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function of Sympathetic Nervous System
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Expending energy and the fight or flight system
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function of Parasympathetic Nervous System
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Replenishing energy and Resting and the Digestive System
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Neurons
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Building blocks of the nervous system
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functions of neurons
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processing and storing information
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size of neurons
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fraction of inch to several feet
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Dendrites
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rootlike structures attached to cell body, receives impulses
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Soma
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cell body of neuron, contains nucleus, controls center of cell
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Axon
long thin part of the neuron and transmits info to other neurons, muscles or glands
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Myelin Sheath
goes around axon of some cells to speed up information transmission; made of a fatty waxy substance
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when does myelination happen
throughout the first 25 years of life; allows for greater muscle control, judgement, and self control
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Axon Terminal Buttons
Bulblike structures around axons; they store all of the chemical messengers
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Reuptake
when neuron that fired takes back neurotransmitters
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SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor)
drug used for depression because in a depressed brain, reuptake of serotonin occurs too prematurely
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Neurotransmitters are aka
chemical messengers are aka
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Serotonin (Rastafarian Neurotransmitter)
Mood, Hunger, Sleep, Arousal
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Neurotransmitter associated with depression
Serotonin
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MDMA
floods brain with serotonin
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Ritalin and Adderall
Drugs that inhibit reuptake of dopamine
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Neurotransmitter associated with Schizophrenia
Dopamine
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Tolerance
when the brain of a person adapts to offsets a drug's effects
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Withdrawal
Discomfort and distress following the discontinuation of an addictive drug
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Average weight of an adult brain
3 pounds
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Parts of the Brain stem
Medulla, Pons, and Reticular Formation
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Function of Pons
Coordinating Movement
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Function of Medulla
Heart rate and breathing
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Function of Reticular Formation
Filters incoming stimuli and controls degree of wakefulness
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Function of Cerebellum
Controls Balance, Coordination, and Voluntary movement
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Function of Thalamus
Sensory switchboard; transfers sensory info to and from higher and lower brain
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Function of Limbic system
emotion and behavior, contains Hippocampus, Amygdala, and Hypothalamus
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Function of Hippocampus
forms new memories
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Function of Amygdala
Involved with Emotion
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Function of Hypothalamus
Regulates motivated behaviors; Controls Autonomic nervous system (Sympathetic and Parasympathetic)
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Cerebrum
Higher Brain Structure, grey matter, Consists of two hemispheres; left and right
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Contralateral brain
The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa
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Corpus Callosum
Connects the two hemispheres of the brain; collection of axon fibers about 200 million
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Cerebral Cortex
Outer covering of the cerebrum; impulse control, plan making, four lobes
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Four Lobes of Cerebral Cortex
Occipital, Temporal, Parietal, Frontal
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Occipital lobe
part of the cerebral cortex that controls sight
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Temporal Lobe
part of the cerebral cortex responsible for hearing
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Parietal Lobe
part of the cerebral cortex that contains the Somatosensory cortex responsible for the feeling in the body
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Frontal Lobe
Part of the Cerebral Cortex that responsible for free will, decision making, etc.
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Cognitive Psychology
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social changes throughout the lifespan
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Cognition
All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
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Jean Piaget
Father of cognitive psychology, came up with four stages of cognitive development
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Piaget's Four stages of cognitive development
Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational
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Sensorimotor stage
Occurs from birth-2 years; take in through senses and motor movement, here and now, throughout stage babies begin to mentally represent the world
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Preoperational Stage
Occurs from ages 2-6; symbolic capacity - uses images, words, gestures, to stand for objects and experiences. no longer trapped in here and now, one dimensional thinking - can only focus on one aspect of a situation at a time, egocentrism, can't empathize, can't pass law of conservation
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Concrete operational
Occurs from ages 7-11; perform mental actions on concrete objects and events; two dimensional thought, can focus on more than one aspect of a situation. Can pass law of conservation task. Less egocentric, Lacks abstract reasoning, incapable of hypothetical thinking
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Formal Operational
11 and older; develop abstract reasoning, can perform mental actions on concrete objects and events as well as on ideas, hypothetical thinking, more systematic approach to problem solving
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Learning
Relatively permanent change in behavior or mental processes due to experience
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Classical Conditioning
A simple form of learning where you make associations between two or more things and learn to anticipate events form those associations
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Ivan Pavlov
Father of classical conditioning
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Pavlov's famous classical conditioning study
Make dogs salivate for meat when their hear the ringing of a bell
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Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
Stimulus that causes a response prior to conditioning (learning)
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Unconditioned Response (UR)
Unlearned response to unconditional stimulus
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Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Previously neutral stimulus causes conditioned response because it's been repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
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Conditioned Response (CR)
Learned response to conditioned stimulus
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Operant Conditioning
Simple form of learning based on consequences; controls the likelihood of voluntary behaviors
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Positive Reinforcers
increase the likelihood that a behavior will occur again
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Negative Reinforcers
increases likelihood of behavior when reinforcer removed
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Punisher
decreases the likelihood of a behavior
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Memory
learning that persists over time; something that is stored and retrieved
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What do we remember
things that are important
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Three Processes of Memory
Encode, store, and retrieve
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three stage memory model
sensory, short term, long term stores
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How much information can we remember
infinite amounts
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Dual Track Memory system
Implicit and Explicit Memory
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Two types of encoding
automatic and effortful processing
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Automatic Processing
encodes implicit memories
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Effortful processing
encodes explicit memories
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Effortful encoding strategies
Mnemonics, Chunking, Hierarchy, Distributed Practice, Self-test, encoding verbal information at different levels
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Misinformation effect
when you incorporate misleading information into one's memory of an event
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Social Psychology
Scientific Study of how we thing about, influence, and relate to one another
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Social Perception
Examines ways in which people form and modify impressions and relate to one another
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Attribution
Belief concerning why a person/people behaved in a certain way
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Two Types of Attributions
Dispositional and Situational
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Dispositional Attributes
ascribing a person's behavior to internal factors eg. free will, personality traits
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Situational Attributes
ascribing a person's behavior to something external e.g. social influences, and circumstances
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Fundamental Attribution Error (FAD)
Tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior to underestimate situational attributes and overestimate the impact of dispositional attributes eg. saying people driving in the rain suck at driving in the rain
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Actor-Observer Effect
Tendency to attribute people's behavior to dispositional factors but our own situational factors
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Self Serving Bias
tendency to attribute our successes to something dispositional but our failures to something situational
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Zimbardo's definition of Evil
An exercise of power to intentionally harm people
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Milgram Experiment
1960s experiment to test whether an average american would hurt a stranger simply because an authority figure told them to do so
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Foot in the door technique
someone will be more likely to obey a major request of they obey a small request first
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Stanford Prison Experiment
had to end study after 6 days because it got out of hand
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7 social processes that lead down slippery slope to evil
Mindlessly taking first small step, dehumanization of others, De-individuation of self (anonymity), Diffusion of personal responsibility, Blind obedience to authority, Uncritical conformity to group norms, Passive Tolerance to evil through inaction/indifference
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Psychology of Heroism
You have to learn to be a deviant to be a hero, go against the conformity of the group, act when others don't
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Attitudes
Feelings often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to object, people, and events
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Cognitive Dissonance
When two attitudes are in conflict or when behavior is not in line with thoughts or beliefs, we experience discomfort
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Explicit Attitude
consciously aware of being held, and can consciously decide to think about it
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Implicit Attitude
not consciously aware that the attitude is held, can be shown to exist with nonverbal cues and an IAT
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Central Route of Attitude Formation
Uses Evidence/Info and is straightforward
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Peripheral Route of Attitude Formation
Associations with positive/negative cues and isn't straightforward
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Results of Milgram Experiment
Over 60% of people in the study administered maximum voltage
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Hallucination
a faulty perception of reality
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Delusion
a faulty interpretation of reality
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Agoraphobia
an anxiety disorder where you're afraid of being trapped in an inescapable situation so you stay home all the time
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Social Phobia
an anxiety disorder where you think everyone around you criticizes everything you do and causes you to avoid situations where you are around other people
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Panic Disorder
Mary in front of TV on Friday night example
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Constant low-grade level of anxiety
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PTSD
Anxiety disorder always preceded by a traumatic event
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OCD
Anxiety disorder where an obsession (unwanted repetitive thoughts) cause a compulsion (unwanted repetitive action)
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Major Depression
symptoms: thoughts of suicide, lethargy, loss of appetite, can't stop eating, irrational thinking, not happy.
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Persistent Depressive Disorder
symptoms: same as major depression but less severe and longer lasting
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Bipolar Disorder
symptoms: rebound from major depression to mania and vice versa
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Depressed Explanatory Style
Internal, stable, and global way of dealing with things
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Nondepressed Explanatory Style
External, Temporary, and Specific
