Final Exam Study Guide (Chapters 1-14) PDF

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Final exam study guide of all terms learned in the entire course from chapters 1-14....

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Psychology 120 Final Exam Study Guide Chapter 1 Structuralism- Wundt’s  approach to discovering the basic elements, or structures, of mental processes Functionalism- William James’s approach to mental processes, emphasizing the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual's adaptation to the environment Know the 7 contemporary perspectives: ● Biological Approach- Focusing on the body, especially the brain and nervous system ● Behavioral Approach- Observes behavior ● Psychodynamic Approach- Emphasizing unconscious thought ● Humanistic Approach- Emphasizing a person’s positive qualities/potential ● Cognitive Approach- Emphasizing mental processes involved in knowing: how we direct our attention, perceive, remember, think and solve problems ● Evolutionary Approach- Centered on evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors ● Sociocultural Approach- Examines the ways in which social and cultural environments influence behavior Theory- Attempts to predict and explain events Hypothesis- Can be tested by experiments Operational Definition- Provided an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study Placebo Effect- Occurs when participants’ expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce an outcome Correlation Research Design- Research that examines the relationships between variables, whose purpose is to examine whether and how two variables change together Descriptive Research Design- A scientific method used to describe the behavior of a subject Experimental Bias- The influence of the experimenter’s expectations on the outcome of research Participant Bias- The influence of participant’s expectations, and their thoughts on how they should behave, on their behavior

Third Variable Problem- The circumstance when where a variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two other variables. Third variables are known as confounds Random Assignment- Researchers’ assignment of participants to groups by chance, to reduce the likelihood that an experiment’s results will be due to preexisting differences between groups Deception- To mislead by a false appearance or statement Independent Variable- A manipulated experimental factor; the variable that the experimenter changed to see what its effects are Dependent Variable- The outcome; the factor that can change in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable Experimental Research Design- A carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables that are believed to influence some other variable Chapter 2 Integration- The brain integrates information from the environment so that people can function in the world. Each nerve cell in the brain communicates with some 10,000 other nerve cells Complexity- The brain is made up of billions of nerve cells, the orchestration of which allows a person to carry out a variety of activities Adaptability- As the world constantly changes, the brain and nervous system allows a person to adjust to those changes. The brain has a lot of plasticity, meaning it has a vast capacity for modification and change Electro-Chemical Transmission- Electrical impulses and chemical messenger systems allow the brain nervous system to work as an information-processing system Central Nervous System(CNS)- Brain and spinal cord Peripheral Nervous System(PNS)- Connects the brain and spinal cord to other parts of the body. Carries out commands to the CNS Limbic System- Important to memory and emotion Endocrine System- Consists of glands that regulate certain organs by releasing their chemical products into the bloodstream

Somatic Nervous System- To convey information from the skin and muscles to the CNS Know the four lobes and functions: ● Occipital Lobes- Vision ● Temporal Lobes- Hearing ● Frontal Lobes- Intelligence and personality ● Parietal Lobes- Attention and motor control Parasympathetic Nervous System- Calms the body down after a stressful situation Cell Body- Contains the nucleus, which directs the manufacture of substances that the neuron needs for growth and maintenance Dendrite- Receives information and send it on to the cell body Myelin Sheath- Covers the axon(carries info away from the cell body), certain substances can pass into and out of the axon. Multiple sclerosis occurs when there is a breakdown of the myelin sheath Resting Potential- The stable negative charge of a neuron Action Potential- Brief wave of positive electrical charge that sweeps down the axon Know all neurotransmitters and what diseases they are linked to: ● Acetylcholine- Sets the firing of neurons into motion and is involved in muscle action, learning, and memory ● GABA- Keeps many neurons from firing. Low levels of GABA are involved in anxiety ● Glutamate- Has a key role in exciting many neurons to fire and is involved in learning and memory ● Norepinephrine- Inhibits the firing of neurons in the CNS, but it excites the heart muscle, intenses, and urogenital tract. Stress stimulates the release of norepinephrine ● Dopamine- Helps to control voluntary movements and affects sleep, mood, attention, learning, and the ability to recognize rewards. Low levels of dopamine are associated with Parkison’s disease ● Serotonin- Involved in sleep regulation, mood attention and learning. Endorphins stimulate neuron firing. Endorphins alleviate pain and alleviate feelings of pleasure ● Oxytocin- Plays a role in the feelings of love and human bonding Know the different types of glands: ● Pituitary Glands- Involves growth and regulates other glands ● Adrenal glands- Involved in regulating mood, energy level, and the ability to cope with stress

Chapter 3 Sensation- Process of receiving stimulus energies from-external environment Sensory Adaptation- A change in responsiveness of the sensory system based on surroundings Top-Down Processing- Makes sense of what is happening Bottom-Up Processing- Taking in information and making sense of it Sensory Receptors- Vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste Absolute Threshold- The minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect Difference Threshold- amount of stimulus change required for detection Cocktail Party Effect- The brain’s ability to focus one’s auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli Rods- Are sensitive to light and allow a person to see at night Cones- Are used for color perception and are not very helpful at night(best in bright light) Selective Attention- The act of focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others Perceptual Constancy- The recognition that objects are constant and unchanging even though sensory input about them is changing Subliminal Perception- The detection of information below the level of conscious awareness Thermoreceptors- Located under the skin, respond to changes in temperature at or near the skin. They provide input to keep the body’s temperature at a steady 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit Chemical Senses- Smell and Taste Kinesthetic Sense- Provides information about movement, posture, and orientation. The kinesthetic senses are located in muscle fibers and joints throughout the body

Know the gestalt principles: Explains how people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns. Principles of closure, proximity, constancy (shape and size)

Chapter 4 Circadian Rhythm- Daily behavioral or physiological cycles that involve the sleep/wake cycle, body temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar level Controlled Processes- The most alert status of human consciousness, during which individuals actively focus their efforts toward a goal Automatic Processes- States of consciousness that require little attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities Sleep and Memory- A natural state of rest for the body and mind Know the theory of dreaming from the diff perspectives: Theory proposing that one can understand dreaming by applying the same cognitive concepts used in studying the waking wing Stimulants- Psychoactive drugs, including caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine, that increases the central nervous system’s activity Depressants- Psychoactive drugs that slow down mental and physical activity Hypnosis- An altered state of consciousness Stream of Consciousness- Term used by William James to describe the mind as a continuous flow of changing sensation, images, thoughts, and feelings Nightmares- A frightening dream that awakens a dreamer from REM sleep Night Terrors- Features sudden arousal from sleep and intense fear accompanied with heavy breathing, screams, and movement during non-REM sleep Physical Drug Dependence- The physiological need for a drug that causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms such as physical pain and a craving for the drug when it is discontinued Psychological Drug Dependence- The strong desire to repeat the use of a drug for emotional reasons Hallucinogens- Psychoactive drugs that modify a person’s perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real

Opiates- A class of drugs that act on the brain’s endorphin receptors. These drugs depress activity in the central nervous system and eliminate pain Meditation- Involves attaining a peaceful state of mind in which thoughts are not occupied my worry Chapter 5 Classical Conditioning- Learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an innate meaningful stimulus and acquired capacity to elicit a similar response Unconditioned Stimulus(US)- A stimulus that produces a response without prior learning(food) Unconditioned Response(UR)- An unlearned reaction that is automatically elicited by the unconditioned stimulus, happen involuntary(salivating in response to food) Conditioned Stimulus(CS)- A previously neutral stimulus that naturally elicits a conditioned response after being paired with the unconditioned(bell) Conditioned Response(CR)- A learned response to the conditioned stimulus that occurs after a CS-US pairing Habituation- Decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations Spontaneous Recovery- The process in classical conditioning by which a conditioned response can recur after a delayed time, without further conditioning Counterconditioning- A classical conditioning procedure for changing the relationship between a conditioned stimulus and its conditioned response Aversive Conditioning- A form of treatment that consists of repeated pairings of a stimulus with a very unpleasant stimulus Shaping- Rewarding successive approximations of a desired behavior Extinction- The weakening of the classical response when the unconditioned stimulus is absent, when a behavior is no longer reinforced and decreases in frequency Positive Reinforcement- The presentation of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior Negative Reinforcement- The removal of a stimulus following a given in order to increase the frequency of that behavior

Positive Punishment- The presentation of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to decrease the frequency of that behavior Negative Punishment- The removal of a stimulus following a given in order to decrease the frequency of that behavior Schedules of Reinforcement- Specific patterns that determine when a behavior will be reinforced..fixed ratio(follows a set # of behaviors), variable ratio(follows an unpredictable # of behaviors), fixed interval(after a set amount of time haas passes), variable interval(after an unpredictable amount of time passes) Learned Helplessness- Through experience with unavoidable aversive stimuli, an organism learns that it has no control over negative outcomes Observational Learning- Also called imitation or modeling, is learning that occurs when a person observes and imitates behavior Instinctive Learning- A form of problem solving in which the organism develops a sudden insight into or understanding of a problem’s solution Instinctive Drift- The tendency of animals to revert to instinctive behavior that interferes with learning Mindset- To describe the way our beliefs about ability dictate what goals we set for ourselves, what we think we can learn, and ultimately we do learn. Two types: fixed and growth mindset Operant Conditioning- A form of associative learning in which the consequences of behavior change the probability of the behavior’s occurrence Chapter 6 Encoding- The first step in memory, the process by which info gets into memory storage Storage- The retention of info over time and how this info is represented in memory Retrieval- The memory process that occurs when info that was retained in memory comes out of storage Divided Attention- Concentrating on more than one activity at the same time Know what is associated with diff levels of processing: ● Shallow- Physical or perceptual features are analyzed

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Intermediate- Stimulus is recognized and labeled Deep- Semantic, meaningful, symbolic characters are used

Elaboration- The formation of a number of different connections around a stimulus at a given level of memory encoding Imagery- Visualizing material that we want to remember in ways that create a lasting portrait, powerful encoding tool Chunking- Involves grouping info that exceeds the 7+/- 2 memory span into higher-order units that can be remembered as single units Selective Attention- The act of focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others Sensory Memory- Memory system that involved holding form the world in its original sensory form for only a moment, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory and other senses Long-term Memory- A relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of info for a long time Short-term Memory- Limited capacity memory system in which memory is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless strategies are used to retain it longer Visuospatial Sketchpad- Is a component of working memory responsible for handling visual and spatial information Implicit Memory- Memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience Explicit Memory- The conscious recollection of information, such as specific events, information that can be verbally communicated Procedural Memory- Memory for skills Episodic Memory- The return of info about where, when and what of life’s happenings, that is how individuals remember life’s episodes Recognition- A memory task in which the individual only has to identify/recognize learned items(mc tests)

Recall- A memory task in which the individual has to retrieve previously learned info(essay tests) Types of Amnesia: (loss of memory) ● Anterograde Amnesia- Affects the retention of new info and events ● Retrograde Amnesia- Memory loss of past events but not new ones Chapter 7 Concept- A mental category that is used to group objects, events, and characteristics Prototype- A model emphasizing that when people evaluate whether a given item reflects a certain concept, they compcare the item with the most typical items in that category and look for a “family resemblance” with that item’s properties Algorithm- Strategies, including formulas, instructors and the testing of all possible solutions-that guarantee a solution to the problem Heuristic- Shortcut strategies or guidelines that suggest a solution to a problem but do not guarantee an answer Subgoal- Intermediate goals or problems to solve that put one in a better position for reaching a final foal or solution Confirmation Bias- The tendency to search for and use the information that supports one’s ideas rather than refutes them Availability Heuristic- A prediction about the probability of an event based on ease of recalling or imagining similar events Representativeness Heuristic- The tendency to make about a group membership based on physical appearances or the match between a person and one’s stereotype of a group rather than on available base rate info Reliability and Viability(intelligence testing)- The extent to which a test yields a consistent, reproducible measure of performance IQ- An individual's mental age divided by chronological age multiplied by 100 Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences: ● Verbal- Ability to think in words and use language to express meaning ● Mathematical- Ability to carry out mathematical operations ● Spatial- Ability to think 3-D

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Bodily-Kinesthetic- Ability to manipulate objects and to be physically adept Musical- Ability to be sensitive to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone Interpersonal-Ability to understand and interact effectively with others Intrapersonal- Ability to understand one’s self Naturalist- Ability to observe patterns in nature understand natural and human made systems Existentialist- Ability to grapple with the big question of human existence

Phonology- A language’s sound system Semantics- The meaning of words and sentences in a particular language Morphology- A language’s rules for word formation Syntax- A language’s rules for combining words to form acceptable and sentences Pragmatics- The usual character of language and the ability of language to communicate even more meaning than is verbalized Chapter 8 Nature- An Individual's biological inheritance, such as genes Nurture- An individual’s environmental and social experiences Free-radical Theory- People age because unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals are produced inside their cells, may lead to disorders, including cancer and arthritis Accommodation- An individual’s adjustment of his/her schemas to new info Objective Permanence- Piaget's term for the crucial accomplishment of understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot directly seen, heard or touched Conservation- A belief in the permanence of certain attributes of objects despite superficial changes Piaget’s Stages of Development: ● Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to age 2)- infants construct an understanding to the world by coordinating sensory experiences(such as hearing and seeing) with morot(physical) actions ● Preoperational Stage (Age 2 to 7)- The child begins to represent the world with words and images

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Concrete Operational Stage (Age 7 to 11)- The child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets Formal Operational Stage (Age 11 to 15)- The adesolent reasons in more abstract, idealistic and logical ways

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory- Emphasized not only the importance of social interaction for learning and development but also the wider cultural context Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development: ● Preconventional- The individual’s moral reasoning is based primarily on the consequences of a behavior and on punishments and rewards from the external world ● Conventional- The individual abides standards learned by parents or society’s law ● Postconventional- The individual recognises alternative moral courses, explores the options, and then develop an increasingly personal moral code Egocentrism- refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view Parenting Styles(e.g., authoritarian, permissive,authoritative): ● Authoritarian Parenting- a strict punitive style, limits and control child w/ little verbal exchange, lack social skills ● Authoritative Parenting- encourages the child to be independent but still places limits and controls on behavior, more collaborative, socially competent, self reliable ● Neglectful Parenting- A lack of parental involvement in a child's life, poor self control ● Permissive Parenting- places a few limits on child’s behavior, poor social competence, not respectful Chapter 9 Drive Reduction Theory(Homeostasis)- As a drive becomes stronger, we are motivated to reduce it; the body’s tendency to maintain and equilibrium , or steady state Motivation- The force that moves people to behave, think and feel the way they do Chemical substances associated with hunger/eating: ● Glucose(blood sugar)- Important factor in hungar becasue the baincritaclly depends on sugar for energy ● Insulin- Pl...