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psychology
The scientific study of behavior and mind
Clinical Psychologists
§  Psychologists who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment or psychological problems §  Focus on adjustment issues and marriage problems
Applied Psychologists
§  Psychologists who extend the principles of scientific psychology to practical problems in the world Consist of school psychologists and industrial/organizational psychologists
Research psychologists
§  Psychologist who try to discover the basic principles of behavior and mind §  Tend to work in research institutes and universities
Psychiatrists 
Medical doctors who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems
Confounding Variable
An uncontrolled variable that changes along with the independent variable
Dependent Variable
The behavior that is measure or observed during an experiment
Independent Variabl
The aspect of the environment that is manipulated in an experiment. Must consist of at least two condition
Placebo
An inactive substance that resembles an experimental substance
Correlational Research
Measuring variable not manipulating them
Experimental Research
A technique in which the investigator actively manipulates the environment to observe its effect on behavior
Quaso Experimental Research
Lack experimental research’s element of random assignment
Variability
A measure of how much the scores in a distribution of scores differ from one to another
Standard deviation
An indication of how much individual scores differ or vary from the mean
Anatomy of a Neuron
§  Dendrites – fibers that extend outward from a neuron and receive information from other neurons §  Soma/Cell Body – contains genetic information and energy §  Axon – sends electrical message on te next cell §  Terminal Buttons – contains chemicals important to neural transmission
Action potential
Facitation that travels along the axon at a constant strength regardless of the distance it may travel
Neurotransmitters
"fit” into dendrites of a new neuron from terminal points of another
Autonomic Nervous System
§  The collection of nerves that controls the more automatic needs of the body §  Heart rate, digestion, blood pressure
Sympathetic nervous system
Things that make the heart rate go up
Parasympathetic nervous system
Things that make the heart rate go down
Acetylchlorine
§  Controls muscle contraction §  Formation of memories §  Paralysis,
Dopamine
Pleasure and addiction
Norepinephrine
§  Accelerates heart rate §  Affects eating
Serotonin
Emotional arousal and sleep
GABA
Neurotransmitter that may play a role in the regulation of anxiety
Glutamate
Most common neurotransmitter in the brain
Left hemisphere
verbal tasks
Right hemisphere
Spatial tasks and emotions
Sympathetic Nervous System
Increases heart rate
Parasympathetic nervous system
Decreases heart rate
Frontal lobe
Motor cortex, higher level thought process
Occopital lobe
Visual processing
Temporal lobe
Speech and language perception
Parietal lobe
Sense of touch
Hindbrain
Acts as basic life support
Midoroin
Houses neural relay stations
Forebrain
Performs higher mental functions
Motor Cortex
Plans control and execution of movements
Somto sensory cortex
Peripheral sensations
Germinal Period
Period from conception to implantation in the uterus
Zygote
Fertilized human egg
Embryonic Period
Period lasting from implantation to eight week
Fetal Period
Period from 9th week to birth
Teratogens
Environmental agents that can damage the embryo/fetus
Visual Acuity
Depth perception is 60-70%
Habituation
Present the same stimulus to a baby or they will get bored
Sense of smell
Infants are super sensitive to smell
Taste
More sensitive. Preference to sweet things. Cannot taste salt until 4 moths
Sensorimotor
§  Birth – 2yeras §  Revolve around sensory and motor abilities object performance
Preoperational
2-7 years
Concrete Operational
§  7-11 years §  Here and now
Formal Operational
§  11 years – adulthood §  Abstracts and hypotheticals
Conservatives
§  Physical properties of an object stay the same despite superficial changes §  Cup example
Assimilation
New experiences incorporated into existing schemata
Change Blindeness
When you see things selectively
Decision Making Fallacy
Categorize things or find patterns in things that may not have a category or pattern in order to make it easier to understand
Figure Ground
Identifying a figure in the background
Retinal Disparity
Cue for depth that is based on location differences between the image in each eye
Convergence
Binocular cue for depth that is based on the extent to which the two eyes more inward or outward when looking at an object
Looming
The rapid expansion of an image that comes at you
Gestalt Principle of Organization
Proximity, Similarity, Common Fate, Simplicity, Closure 
Proximity
If objects are close together, they appeared grouped
Similarity
Items that are similar get grouped together
Common fate
If things move in the same direction, they are grouped togethe
Simplicity
Eyes live to see the simplest thing
Closure
Even if something has a gap, people see if to be closed   
stages of sleep
REM, N1, N2, N3
Stage N1 Sleep
Theta waves
Stage N2 Sleep
Sleep spindles, K complexes
Stage Ng sleep
Delta activity
REM sleep
§  Saw tooth waves §  Men become erect, women get wet §  Dreaming
Sleep Cycle
N1 -> N2 -> N3 -> N2 -> N1 -> REM
Dyssomnias
§  Insomnia: difficulty initiating or maintain sleep §  Hypersomnia excessive sleepiness §  Narcolepsy: sudden extreme sleepiness
Parasomnias
§  Nightmares: frightening or anxiety arousing dreams during REM §  Night terrors: terrifying experiences which occur mainly in children, wake up in a panic §  Sleepwalking: sleeper rises during the sleep and wanders around
Orienting Response
Habituation and Sensitization
Habituation
The decline in the tendency to respond to an event that has become familiar through repeated exposure
Sensitization
Increase response or sensitivity, to an event that has to be repeated
Classical Conditioning
o  Unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response o  Stimulus Generalization: Generalized fear. If you don’t like mice you won’t like rats o  Spontaneous Recovery : Recovery of CR after a period of nonexposure Taste Aversion : Throw up from p…
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcementand Punishment
Reinforcement
o  Increases likelihood of something §  Positive: reward for a good behavior §  Negative: stop nagging in order to clean room
Punishment
o  Cecreases likelihood of something §  Positive: §  Negative: no dessert for Johnny because he taunted his sister
Reinforcement Schedules
Fixed Ratio Variable Ratio Fixed Interval Radical Behaviorism
Fixed Ratio
Reinforced behavior after a number of responses are made (frequent buyer’s card)
Variable Ratio
Reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses (gambling)
Fixed Interval
Reinforced after a specific interval
Radical Behaviorism
All behavior is a result of its reinforced history
Encoding
Determines and controls how memories are formed
Storage
Controls how memories are stored and kept
Retrieval
How memories are recovered
Sensory Memory
an exact replica of an environmental message toward spinal cord and brain
Short Term Memory
Limited capacity, depends on repetition
Long Term Memory
o  Episodic: memory of a specific event o  Semantic: knowledge about the words, stored as facts o  Procedural: how to do things, like riding a bike
Flashbulb Memory
rich memory, records emotionally
Memory Accuracy
How well we actually remember the true details of an event
Primary Effect
better memory of things at the beginning of a list
Amnesia
o  Anterograde: lose memory of things after a certain event o  Retrograde: lose memory of things after an event
Functional Fixedness
o  Your frame sets the range of responses o  Bias that limits a person to using an object in the way it is traditionally used
Representative Heuristic
People tend to judge the probability of an event by finding a comparable know event and assuming the probability will be similar (ex: met a guy from IU, shes a slut. All IU girls are sluts
Infants know four things by the age of two
§  Phonology: sounds of words §  Segmentation: pick out individual words §  Semantics: meaning of a particular word §  Grammar: how words are connected together
Syntax    
Rules governing how words should be combined to form sentences
Gardener’s Theory of Intelligence
People possess a set of separate “intelligences”
Cattell’s Theory of Intelligence
G (General Intelligence) and S (Specific Intelligence)
G (General Intelligence)
contributes to performance on a variety of tests
S (Specific Intelligence)
unique to a specific kind of test
Cattell suggested general intelligence has two components
§  Fluid Intelligence: §  Crystallized Intelligence
Crystallized Intelligence
measures acquired knowledge and ability
Three components of a good test
Reliability, Validity, Standardization
Reliability
a measure of the consistency of test results; prove similar scores from one to another
Validity
an assessment of how well a test measures what it is supposed to measure
Standardization
keeping the testing, scoring, and interpretation procedures similar across all parts of a test
Intelligence Quotent (IQ)
(mental age)/(chronological age) x 100
Mental Age
age test best fits childs performance on a test of mental ability
Chronological Age
how old you actually are
Intrinsic Motivation
Goal directed behavior that seems to be entirely self motivated
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
o  Hans Selyes model of stress as a general, nonspecific reaction that occurs in three phases §  Alarm: fight or flight response §  Resistance: body adjusts to threat §  Exhaustion: energy resources depleted; body starts to give up
Facial Feeback Hypothesis
The proposal that muscles in the face deliver signals to the brain that are then interpreted, depending on the pattern as a subjective emotional state
Evolutionary View of Mate Selection
o  Men: tend to pursue short term sexual strategies, value attractiveness in a long term mating partner. This is an adaption to increase the likelihood of successful reproduction o  Women: long term relationships value financial stability as in the their sexual partners
Homeostasis
The process though which the body maintains a steady state, such as a constant internal temperature or an adequate amount of fluids
Self- Report Personality Test
Personality tests in which people answer groups of questions about how they typically think, act, and feel; their responses, or self reports, are then compared to average responses complied from large groups of prior test takers
Five dimensions of personality (Big Five)
§  Extroversion: talkative, sociable, fun loving, affectionate §  Agreeableness: sympathetic, warm, trusting, cooperative §  Neuroticism: anxious, insecure, guilt prone, self conscious §  Openness: dent, nonconforming, showing broad interest, imaginative §  Conscientiousness: ethical,…
Person Situation Debate
A controversial debate centering on whether people really do behave consistently across situations
Self Monitoring
The degree to which a person monitors a situation closely and changes his or her behavior accordingly; people who are high self monitors may not behave consistently across situations
The degree to which a person monitors a situation closely and changes his or her behavior accordingly; people who are high self monitors may not behave consistently across situations
o  Strong situation: exerts pressure to behave on a certain way, which leads to similar behavior across people o  Weak situation: little pressure as to an appropriate behavior. People’s reactions vary on personality of traits
Projective Tests
A type of personality test in which individuals are asked to interpret unstructured or ambiguous stimuli (ex: Rorschach test)
Asch’s Conformity Study ( The Line Test)
§  Social Loading: laziness in a group §  Deindivudalism: loss on individualness §  Conformity: tendency to comply to the wishes of the group
Latene and Darley Decision Tree (5 Steps)
§  Notice the situation §  Assume responsibility  §  Know appropriate action §  Implement action
Bystander Effect
The reluctance to come to someone’s aid when other people are present. Characterized by the diffusion of responsibility (ex: someone will help)
Attribution Errons
The tendency to overestimate the impact of personal disposition and underestimate the impact of situations in analyzing the behaviors of others
Rational Imotive Therapy
therapist acts as a cross examiner, verbally assaulting the clients irrational thought process
Becks Cognitive theory
clients are ask to become psychological detectives. Extensive record keeping
Gestalt Therapsits
Clients are actively encouraged-even forced- to express their feelings openly. Emphasis on the here and now
Depression Treatment and Diagnosis
o  Characterized my prolonged and disabling disruptions in emotional state o  The world is seen through a dark filter
Schizophrenia Treatment and Diagnosis
o  A class of disorders characterized by fundamental disturbances in thought processes, emotional or behavior o  Three Types of Symptoms §  Positive: abnormal behavior §  Negative: deficits in behavior, inability to express emotion §  Cognitive: difficulties in memory and decision mak…
Bipolar Treatment and Diagnosis
o  Disorder where persons mood shifts from depression to a manic state §  Depression state – “lowly” §  Manic state – “top of the world”
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Treatment and Diagnosis
Excessive worrying or free floating anxiety that last and cannot be attributed to any single identifiable source
Systematic Desensitization
Using counter conditioning and extinction to reduce fear
Aversion Therapy
A treatment for replaying a positive reaction to a harmful stimulus, such as alcohol, with something negative such as nausea
Humanistic Therapy
Treatments designed to help clients gain insight into their fundamental self worth, of value as human beings   
Hallucinations
Seeing/imaging things that are not real
Somatoform Disorders
Physiological Disorders that focus on the physical body. These disorders can be associated with specific body complaints (such as continuing pain) and or excessive worry about the possibility of contracting a serious disease
Lazarus’s Theory of Stress
Whether we feel stress depends on how we interpret the situation we are in
Type A Personality
Hard driving. Ambitious, impatient
Coping with Stress
o  Types of social support §  Emotional: expressing empathy §  Esteem: expressing positive regard §  Tangible: giving direct assistance §  Informational: giving advice §  Network: providing feeling of membership in groups that share interest
Holmes and Role Social Readjustment Scale
A scale with life events connected to some kind of change in day to day activities. Includes both positive and negative events

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