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Exam 2
N/A
113
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
03/13/2010
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Term
SYNESTHESIA
 Definition
The perceptual experience of one sense that is evoked by another sense. [It is most likely to be caused by brain regions for different sensory modalities cross-activating each other]
Term
SENSATION
 Definition
Simple awareness due to the stimulation of a sense organ. [Related to, but different from perception]
Term
PERCEPTION
 Definition
The organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation.
Term
TRANSDUCTION
 Definition
What occurs when many senses in the body convert physical signals from the environment into neural signals sent to the CNS.
Term
PSYCHOPHYSICS
 Definition
Methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and observer's sensitivity to that stimulus.
Term
ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD
 Definition
the minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus
Term
JUST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE (JND)
 Definition
the minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected.
Term
WEBER'S LAW
 Definition
The just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity
Term
SIGNAL DETECTION THEORY
 Definition
An observation that the response to a stimulus depends both on a person's sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and on a person's response criterion. 
Term
SENSORY ADAPTATION
 Definition
Sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions
Term
VISUAL-FORM AGNOSIA
 Definition
The inability to recognize objects by sight
Term
PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY
 Definition
A perceptual principle stating that even as aspects of sensory signals change, perception remains consistent
Term
TEMPLATE
 Definition
A mental representation that can be directly compared to a viewed shape in the retinal image.
Term
MOTION PARALLAX
 Definition
A depth cue based on the movement of the head over time
Term
APPARENT MOTION
 Definition
The perception of movement as a result of alternating signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations
Term
HAPTIC PERCEPTION
 Definition
The active exploration of the environment by touching and grasping objects with our hands
Term
REFERRED PAIN
 Definition
Feeling of pain when sensory information from internal and external areas converge on the same nerve cells in the spinal cord
Term
GATE-CONTROL THEORY
 Definition
A theory of pain perception based on the idea that signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped, or gated, by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from two directions.
Term
MEMORY
 Definition
The ability to store and retrieve information over time
Term
ENCODING
 Definition
The process by which we transform what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory.
Term
STORAGE
 Definition
The process of maintaining information in memory over time
Term
RETRIEVAL
 Definition
The process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored
Term
ELABORATIVE ENCODING
 Definition
The process of actively relating new information to knowledge that is already in memory
Term
VISUAL IMAGERY ENCODING
 Definition
The process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures.
Term
ORGANIZATIONAL ENCODING
 Definition
The act of categorizing information by noticing the relationships among a series of items.
Term
MEMORY STORAGE
 Definition
The process of maintaining information in memory over time.
Term
SENSORY MEMORY STORE
 Definition
The place in which sensory information is kept for a few seconds or less
Term
ICONIC MEMORY
 Definition
A fast-decaying store of visual information
Term
ECHOIC MEMORY
 Definition
A fast-decaying store of auditory information
Term
SHORT-TERM MEMORY STORE
 Definition
A place where nonsensory information is kept for more than a few seconds but less than a minute.
Term
REHEARSAL
 Definition
The process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it.
Term
CHUNKING
 Definition
Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory
Term
WORKING MEMORY
 Definition
Active maintenance of information in short-term storage
Term
LONG-TERM MEMORY STORE
 Definition
A place in which information can be kept for hours, days, weeks, or years.
Term
ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA
 Definition
The inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store.
Term
RETROGRADE AMNESIA
 Definition
The inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or operation.
Term
LONG-TERM POTENTIATION (LTP)
 Definition
Enhanced neural processing that results from the strengthening of synaptic connections
Term
NMDA RECEPTOR
 Definition
A hippocampal receptor site that influences the flow of information from one neuron to another across the synapse by controlling the initiation of long-term potentiation. 
Term
RETRIEVAL CUE
 Definition
External information that is associated with stored information and helps bring it to mind
Term
ENCODING SPECIFICITY PRINCIPLE
 Definition
The idea that a retrieval cue can serve as an effective reminder when it helps re-create the specific way in which information was initially encoded.
Term
STATE-DEPENDENT RETRIEVAL
 Definition
The tendency for information to be better recalled when the person is in the same state during encoding and retrieval.
Term
TRANSFER-APPROPRIATE PROCESSING
 Definition
The idea that memory is likely to transfer from one situation to another when we process information in a way that is appropriate to the retrieval cues that will be available later.
Term
EXPLICIT MEMORY
 Definition
The act of consciously or intentionally retrieving past experiences.
Term
IMPLICIT MEMORY
 Definition
The influence of past experiences on later behavior and performance, even though people are not trying to recollect them and are not aware that they are remembering them.
Term
PROCEDURAL MEMORY
 Definition
The gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or "knowing how", to do things.
Term
PRIMING
 Definition
An enhanced ability to think of a stimulus, such as a word or object, as a result exposure to the stimulus.
Term
SEMANTIC MEMORY
 Definition
A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world.
Term
EPISODIC MEMORY
 Definition
The collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place. 
Term
TRANSIENCE
 Definition
Forgetting what occurs with the passage of time
Term
RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE
 Definition
Situations in which later learning impairs memory for information acquired earlier.
Term
PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE
 Definition
Situations in which earlier learning impairs memory for information acquired later.
Term
ABSENTMINDEDNESS
 Definition
A lapse in attention that results in memory failure
Term
BLOCKING
 Definition
A failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even though you are trying to produce it.
Term
TIP-OF-THE-TONGUE EXPERIENCE
 Definition
The temporary inability to retrieve information that is stored in memory, accompanied by the feeling that you are on the verge of recovering the information.
Term
MEMORY MISATTRIBUTION
 Definition
Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source
Term
SOURCE MEMORY
 Definition
Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired.
Term
FALSE RECOGNITION
 Definition
A feeling of familiarity about something that hasn't been encountered before
Term
SUGGESTIBILITY
 Definition
The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections.
Term
BIAS
 Definition
The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences
Term
PERSISTENCE
 Definition
The intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget.
Term
FLASHBULB MEMORIES
 Definition
Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events.
Term
LEARNING
 Definition
Some experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner.
Term
HABITUATION
 Definition
A general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding.
Term
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING 
 Definition
When a neutral stimulus evokes a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.
Term
UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (US)
 Definition
Something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism.
Term
UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE (UR)
 Definition
A reflexive reaction that is reliably elicited by an unconditioned stimulus.
Term
CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS)
 Definition
A stimulus that is initially neutral and produces no reliable response in an organism.
Term
CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CS)
 Definition
A reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus.
Term
ACQUISITION
 Definition
The phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together.
Term
EXTINCTION
 Definition
The gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the US is no longer presented.
Term
SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
 Definition
The tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period.
Term
GENERALIZATION
 Definition
A process in which the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the original one used during acquisition
Term
DISCRIMINATION
 Definition
The capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli
Term
BIOLOGICAL PREPAREDNESS
 Definition
A propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others.
Term
OPERANT CONDITIONING
 Definition
A type of learning in which consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future.
Term
LAW OF EFFECT
 Definition
The principle that behaviors that are followed by a "satisfying state of affairs" tend to be repeated and those that produce an "unpleasant state of affairs" are less likely to be repeated.
Term
OPERANT BEHAVIOR
 Definition
Behavior that an organism produces that some impact on the environment.
Term
REINFORCER
 Definition
Any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.
Term
PUNISHER
 Definition
Any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.
Term
OVERJUSTIFICATION EFFECT
 Definition
Circumstances when external rewards can undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of performing a behavior.
Term
FIXED INTERVAL SCHEDULE (FI)
 Definition
An operant conditioning principle in which reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made.
Term
VARIABLE INTERVAL SCHEDULE (VI)
 Definition
An operant conditioning principle in which behavior is reinforced based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement.
Term
FIXED RATION SCHEDULE (FR)
 Definition
An operant conditioning principle in which reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made.
Term
VARIABLE RATION SCHEDULE (VR)
 Definition
An operant conditioning principle in which the delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses
Term
INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT
 Definition
An operant conditioning principle in which only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement.
Term
INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT
 Definition
An operant conditioning principle in which only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement 
Term
INTERMITTENT- REINFORCEMENT EFFECT
 Definition
The fact that operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement.
Term
SHAPING
 Definition
Learning that results from the reinforcement of successive approximations to a final desired behavior.
Term
LATENT LEARNING
 Definition
A condition in which something is learned but it is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future.
Term
COGNITIVE MAP
 Definition
A mental representation of the physical features of the environment. 
Term
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
 Definition
A condition in which learning takes place by watching the actions of others.
Term
IMPLICIT LEARNING
 Definition
Learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the process and the products of information acquisition
Term
LANGUAGE
 Definition
A system for communicating with others using signals that convey meaning and are combined according to rules of grammar
Term
PHONEME
 Definition
The smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than random noise
Term
PHONOLOGICAL RULES
 Definition
A set of rules that indicate how phonemes can be combined to produce speech sounds
Term
MORPHEMES
 Definition
The smallest meaningful unites of language
Term
GRAMMAR
 Definition
A set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages
Term
MORPHOLOGICAL RULES
 Definition
A set of rules that indicate how morphemes can be combined to form words
Term
SYNTACTICAL RULES
 Definition
A set of rules that indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences
Term
DEEP STRUCTURE
 Definition
The meaning of a sentence
Term
SURFACE STRUCTURE
 Definition
How a sentence is worded
Term
FAST MAPPING
 Definition
The fact that children can map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure
Term
TELEGRAPHIC SPEECH
 Definition
Speech that is devoid of function morphemes and consists mostly of content words.
Term
NATIVIST THEORY
 Definition
The view that language development is best explained as an innate, biological capacity
Term
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE (LAD)
 Definition
A collection of processes that facilitate language learning
Term
GENETIC DYSPHASIA 
 Definition
A syndrome characterized by an inability to learn the grammatical structure of language despite having otherwise normal intelligence
Term
APHASIA
 Definition
Difficulty in producing or comprehending language
Term
LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY HYPOTHESIS
 Definition
The proposal that language shapes the nature of thought
Term
CONCEPT
 Definition
A mental representation that groups or categorizes shared features of related objects, events or other stimuli
Term
CATEGORY-SPECIFIC DEFICIT
 Definition
A neurological syndrome that is characterized by an inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category while leaving the ability to recognize objects outside the category undisturbed.
Term
FAMILY RESEMBLANCE THEORY
 Definition
Members of a category have features that appear to be characteristic of category members but may not be possessed by every member.
Term
PROTOTYPE
 Definition
The "best" or "most typical member" or a category
Term
EXEMPLAR THEORY
 Definition
A theory of categorization that argues that we make category judgments by comparing a new instance with stored memories for other instances of the category.
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