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Psychology

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the scientific study of the behavior of individual organisms and the environmental, physiological, mental, social, and cultural events that influence these behaviors

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Gestalt Psychology

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claimed that human experience is more than the sum of the component parts. Imagine eating all the ingredients of your favorite food separately. Eating all the ingredients one at a time would not be as satisfying as eating them all mixed together.

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Psychodynamic Theory

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the product of the conflict between the desire to find physical satisfaction and fulfill biological needs and the need to meet the demands of society

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Behaviorism

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argued that psychology's goal should be to study directly observable behavior and to understand how the events in the external environment produce behavior

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Humanistic psychology

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believed the goal of psychology to be understanding human strengths, aspirations, conscious experience, free will, and potential

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Positive psychology

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a sub-field of psychology that aims to understand the strengths, virtues, and values of human behavior

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Description

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This goal concerns providing a careful understanding of when and where the observed behavior occurs

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Prediction

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asks when and under which conditions the behavior will and will not occur and about the magnitude of the behavior that might be observed

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Explanation

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to explain why the behavior happens the way it does

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Control

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to apply the knowledge gained to our daily lives through the development of psychological technologies

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Naturalistic observation

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a research method where behavior is observed and recorded in the context where it typically occurs with as little interference from the researchers as possible

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Case Study

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a detailed observation of a single individual or group of individuals

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survey

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a series if questions used to gain insight into the quality of things from groups of individuals, its biggest strength is also its biggest weakness, without direct observation, its difficult to assess the accuracy of this method

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correlational research

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studies that involve the measurement and comparison of two or more variables

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experimental research

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when the scientist manipulates one variable, which means that there is one set of participants exposed to a treatment and withhold the treatment from others

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internal validity

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the degree to which the research design is able to minimize the influence of confounding variables and other influences other than the independent variables on the dependent variable

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external validity

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the degree to which findings from the study can be applied to situations and participates outside the original group of participants

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dependent variable

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the behavior that is being directly measured or observed

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independent variable

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the variable that is being manipulated

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experimental condition

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the group getting the drug

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control condition

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the group not getting the drug

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debriefing

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making sure the participants know exactly what is going on in the study

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How animal rights are weighed against benefits to society in research on animals.

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research and ethics board goes over the the gains and harm and decide whether to perform the experiment on the animals

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central nervous system

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the part of the nervous system made up of the brain and the spinal cord

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peripheral nervous system

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the portion of the nervous system containing all nerves outside the central nervous system

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endocrine system

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contains all the glads that secrete hormones into the blood

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dendrites

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branching neural fibers that collect inputs from other neurons

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soma

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part of the neuron that contains machinery to keep the neuron alive and functioning

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axon

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a single long wire that sends electrical signal from the soma to other neurons

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action potential

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electrical impulse that moves from the soma through the axon

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neurotransmitters

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communication through neurons is accomplished through this

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synapse

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tiny gap between two neurons where chemical transmissions of neural messages occur

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receptors

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locations where neurotransmitters fit like a key in a lock to activate postsynaptic neurons

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limbic system

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a group of midbrain structure that contributes to our emotional experience

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thalamus

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receives incoming sensory information passes the information onto the limbic system and the cortex

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hypothalamus

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a midbrain structure that is essential to motivated behaviors such as feeding or fighting

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left hemisphere

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usually better at speech and language

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right hemisphere

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spatial reasoning, face recognition,

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corpus callosum

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located in the middle of the brain, a broad band of fibers that connects the left hemisphere and the right

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frontal lobe

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area of the brain that is implicated in impulse control and personality

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parietal lobe

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part of the cortex that processes visual locations and contains the primary somatosensory cortex

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occipital lobe

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the lobe at the posterior corner of the brain concerned primarily with basic visual processing

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temporal lobe

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part of the cortex that allows us to recognize visual objects such as faces

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transduction

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the transformation of one kind of energy into another kind of energy

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transduction of the ears

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sound waves reach the eardrum causing it to vibrate, the vibrations are amplified by the ossicles and delivered to the cochlea through its oval window, parts of the basilar membrane resonate to the frequencies present in the sound, this pushes hair cells that act like electrical switches, and send electrical signals to the brain through the auditory nerve

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sensation

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the process of collecting sensory information from the outside world through the five senses

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perception

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the mental experience of sensory information

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perceptual consistancy

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the visual perception that objects remain constant even when their retinal image changes

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figure-ground segregation

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the ability to distinguish nearby objects from the surrounding background

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binocular depth cue

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two eyes

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monocular depth cue

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one eye

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classical conditioning

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involves the training of a biological inherited behavior that is triggered by a specific evolutionary important environmental event to occur in the presence of a new stimulant

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unconditioned stimulus

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A stimulus that automatically and naturally triggers a response

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unconditioned response

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A unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus, like salivation in the dog when food is in the mouth.

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conditioned stimulus

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a previously neutral stimulus that begins to elicit the unconditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

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conditioned response

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an unconditioned response that was elicited by the presentation of a conditioned stimulus

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extinction

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occurs anytime the conditioned stimulus is presented without presenting the presenting the unconditioned sitmulus

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generilization

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occurs when the conditioned response is observed in the presence of stimuli that was not present during training

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discrimination

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the behavior is observed in the presence of stimuli used during training, but not in their absence

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reinforcement vs punishment

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...... makes a behavior likely to happen again while ......... make the behavior not likely to happen again

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continuous reinforcement

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refers to a schedule where every occurrence of the target behavior produces reinforcement

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partial reinforcement

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refers to a schedule where only some occurrence of the target behavior produces reinforcement

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encoding

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the transformation of various kinds of energy from the world into a form usable by the brain, the resulting sensory impressions are held briefly in sensory memory

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storage

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the storing of information in memory

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retrival

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getting the information from memory

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sensory memory

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means for each of the five senses to briefly retain a trace of every stimulus

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long-term memory

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memory of past events and facts about the world

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short-term memory

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a memory store containing whatever currently inhabits the conscious mind

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working memory

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a form of memory that contains both storage and processing mechansims

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amnesia

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loss of memory, typically due to brain damage

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general intelligence (Spearman's g factor)

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a single factor that accounts for much of the variance in intelligence scores across individuals

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Alfred Binet

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created tests to assess physical , pedagogical, and psychological influences on intelligence.

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mental age

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the age that they scored

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deviation

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a measure of how far scores typically spread from the mean

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validity and reliability

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the ______ refers to how well it measures or predicts what it was intended to assess, while _______ refers to the consistency of the test across the entire measurement and different test taking occasions

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Lewis Terman

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came up with the idea to divide the test takers mental age by their chronological age to create a comparison that could be used across individuals of different ages

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culture fair

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this means that the score is not biased by the test taker's cultural and social background

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the degree to which intelligence is inherited

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50%

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id

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purely unconscious, represents the primitive biological side of our personality, focuses on the pleasure principal

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ego

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operates on the reality principal, and constantly strives to find a way to express the pleasurable impulses generated by the id while still trying to be socially acceptable

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superego

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essentially our conscious, or set of ethics

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defense mechanisms

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processes by which the ego tries to reduce anxiety

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self-actualization

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the final tear in Maslow's theory of Human Motivation in which the person reaches their full potential in every aspect of their life

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self-efficacy

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the beliefs an individual holds concerning his or her skills and ability to perform certain acts

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internal and external

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______ locus of control is when the person believes that they themselves control what happens to them, while the _______ locus of control believes that what happens to them is because of fate, or things that happen outside themselves

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objective and projective

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_______ personality tests are self-report questionnaires that clearly ask about a wide range of behaviors and feelings, and assess several behaviors at once while ______ personality tests are assessment instruments that are sensitive to the examiner's beliefs

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Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

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primary purpose of this is to help diagnose psychological disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM)

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the purpose of this is to provide a guideline for all mental illnesses

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attitude

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the emotional and cognitive evaluations that we attach to people, places, and ideas

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cognitive dissonance theory

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the theory that the tension we experience when our attitudes and behaviors do not match motivates us to change our attitudes to be more consistent with our behaviors

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attribution

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when we make a determination about the perceived cause of our actions or those of another person

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fundamental attribution error

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the tendency to make more personal attributions than situational attributions when observing other peoples errors

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self-serving bias

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the tendency to accept our successes as a product of personal characteristics and losses due to the situation

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bystander effect

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the tendency for the likelihood of receiving help to decrease as the number of people witnessing the emergency increases

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diffusion of responsibility

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the more people in the group, the less any one person is responsible for the outcome of the situation

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prejudice stereotype

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a strong attitude towards a group of people that affects the way we feel about them is ______, while ________ is when you make assumptions about a person because they belong to a particular group

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fixed ratio schedule

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Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses e.g., like piecework pay.

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variable-ratio schedule

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Reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. Hard to extinguish because of unpredictability, e.g., behaviors like selling, gambling and fishing.

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fixed-interval schedule

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Reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed e.g., Christmas shopping or preparing for an exam only when the exam draws close.

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variable-interval schedule

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: Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals. produces slow steady responding, e.g., like pop quiz or calling a busy phone number.

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generalized anxiety

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Persistent and uncontrollable tenseness and apprehension (free-floating anxiety)Autonomic arousal. Unable to identify or avoid the cause of their feelings.

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phobia

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Marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that disrupts behavior.

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panic attack

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Minute-long episodes of intense dread which may include feelings of terror, chest pains, choking or other frightening sensations.

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somatoform

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A psychological disorder takes on somatic (bodily) symptoms without an apparent physical cause.

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post-traumatic stress disorder

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Four or more weeks of the following symptoms Haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, sleep problems

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obsessive-complusive

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Persistence of unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and urge to engage in senseless rituals (compulsions) that cause distress.

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depression

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Major depressive disorder occurs when signs of depression last two weeks or more and are not caused by drugs or medical conditions. Lethargy and tiredness, Feelings of worthlessness, Loss of interest in family & friends, Loss of interest in activities

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bipolar

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Formerly called manic-depressive disorder, alteration between depression and mania signals this disorder.

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suicide and sex

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females attempt more, but males succeed more

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antisocial

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Disorder in which the person (usually men) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even towards friends and family members. Formerly called sociopath or psychopath.

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narcissistic

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Exaggerated sense of self-importance; Entitled to special privileges; Needs to be the center of attention; Lack of regard for others; No empathy; No capacity to genuinely love, either themselves or others

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