theories Flashcards
social learning theory
we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
gender schema theory
children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male or female and that they adjust their behavior accordingly
signal detection theory
predicts how and when we detect the presences of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation
young-helmholz trichromatic theory
the retina contains three different color receptors (red, green, and blue), which when stimulated in a combination, can produce the perception of any color
opponent process theory
opposing retinal processes enable color vision (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black)
frequency theory
the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch
place theory
links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated
gate-control theory
the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
drive-reduction theory
the idea that psychological need creates an aroused state that motivates an organism to satisfy the needs
james-lange theory
our experience of emotion is our awareness of our body responding to emotion-causing stimuli
cannon bard theory
an emotion-causing stimulus causes responses in the body and an emotional response at the same time
schachter’s two factor theory
to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal
attribution theory
we tend to give a casual explanation for someone’s behavior, often by creating either the situation or the person’s disposition
cognitive dissonance
we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent
social exchange theory
our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim being to maximize benefits and minimize costs
