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psychology 100a
university of victoria
294
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
04/13/2010

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Term
mind
Definition
the contents and processes of subjective experience; sensations, thoughts, and emotions.
Term
behaviour
Definition
observable actions, such as moving, talking, gesturing, and so on; can also refer to the activities of cells, as measured through physiological recording devices, and to thoughts and feelings, as measured through oral and written expression.
Term
clinical psychologists
Definition
professional psychologists who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems.
Term
counselling psychologists
Definition
professional psychologists who deal with milder problems, such as family and personal adjustment issues.
Term
counsellor
Definition
an individual who provides some sort of therapy or support to clients but who (typically) does not have advanced training in providing psychological treatment.
Term
psychiatrists
Definition
medical doctors who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems; unlike psychologists, psychiatrists are licensed to prescribe drugs
Term
applied psychologists
Definition
psychologists who apply the principles of scientific psychology to practical, everyday problems.
Term
research psychologists
Definition
psychologists who conduct experiments or collect observations designed to discover the basic principles of behaviour and mind.
Term
empiricism
Definition
the idea that knowledge comes directly from experience.
Term
nativism
Definition
the idea that certain kids of knowledge and ideas are innate, or present at birth; innate ideas do not need to be learned.
Term
structuralism
Definition
an early school of psychology; structuralists attempted to understand the mind by breaking it down into its basic constituent parts, much as a molecular biologist might try to understand an organic compound.
Term
functionalism
Definition
an early school of psychology; functionalists believe that the proper way to understand mind and behavior is to analyze their function and purpose. you can only truly understand a mental process, functionalists argue, by first knowing the purpose of that process.
Term
behaviourism
Definition
a school of psychology proposing that the proper subject matter of psychology is directly observable behaviour and the situations that lead to changes in behaviour, rather than immediate conscious experience.
Term
psychoanalysis
Definition
a term used by Freud to describe his theory of mind and system of therapy which involves analyzing the conscious mind to discover underlying unconscious influences.
Term
humanistic psychology
Definition
an approach to personality that focuses on people's unique capacity for choice, responsibility and growth.
Term
eclectic approach
Definition
the position adopted by many psychologists that it's useful to integrate information from several sources; we need not rely exclusively on any single theoretical approach.
Term
cognitive revolution
Definition
the shift away from strict behaviourism, begun in the 1950s, characterized by renewed interest in the study of consciousness and internal mental processes.
Term
evolutionary psychology
Definition
the study of the human mind and behavioral processes as products of natural selection.
Term
culture
Definition
the shared values, customs, and beliefs that are characteristic of a group or community.
Term
descriptive research
Definition
the methods used to measure and describe aspects of behaviour and experience.
Term
reactivity
Definition
the extent to which an individual's behaviour changes as a result of being observed; the behaviour is altered in reaction to being observed.
Term
external validity
Definition
the extent to which the results of an observation generalize to other situations or are representative of real life.
Term
naturalistic observation
Definition
a research technique that involves recording only naturally occurring behaviour as opposed to behaviour produced in the laboratory.
Term
case study
Definition
a descriptive research technique in which the research effort is focused on one or a few individuals who are studied in great depth.
Term
survey
Definition
a descriptive research technique designed to gather limited amounts of information from many people, usually by administering a questionnaire.
Term
random sampling
Definition
a procedure for selecting a representative subset of a target population; the procedure guarantees that everyone in the population has an equal likelihood of being selected for the sample.
Term
correlation coefficient
Definition
a statistic that indicates whether two variables are related or vary together in a systematic way; vary from +1.00 (perfect positive relationship) to 0.00 (no relationship) to -1.00 (perfect negative relationship)
Term
experimental method
Definition
a technique in which the investigator actively manipulates or alters some aspect of the environment independently of other variables and observes the effect of the manipulation on behaviour.
Term
independent variable
Definition
the aspect of the environment that is manipulated by the researcher in an experiment; manipulation must consist of at least two conditions, experimental and control.
Term
dependent variable
Definition
the behaviour that is measured in an experiment.
Term
confounding variable
Definition
an uncontrolled variable that changes along with the independent variable.
Term
internal validity
Definition
the extent to which an experimenter has effectively controlled for confounding variables; internal valid experiments allow for the determination of causality.
Term
random assignment
Definition
a technique that ensures that each participant in an experiment has an equal chance of being assigned to any of the conditions in the experiment.
Term
placebo
Definition
an inactive, or inert, substance or treatment that resembles an experimental substance or treatment.
Term
single-blind study
Definition
an experimental design in which the participants do not know to which of the conditions they have been assigned (e.g., experimental versus control); used to control for subject expectancies.
Term
double-blind study
Definition
an experimental design in which neither the participants nor th research observers are aware of who has been assigned to the experimental and control groups; used to control for both subject and experimenter expectancies.
Term
mean
Definition
the arithmetic average of a set of scores, obtained by dividing the sum of all scores by the number of scores.
Term
mode
Definition
the most frequently occurring score in a set of scores.
Term
median
Definition
the middle point in an ordered set of scores; half the scores fall below the median score and half fall above.
Term
variability
Definition
a measure of how much the scores in a data set differ from one another.
Term
range
Definition
the difference between the larges and smallest scores in a distribution.
Term
standard deviation
Definition
an indication of how much individual scores differ or vary from the mean in a set of scores.
Term
descriptive statistics
Definition
mathematical techniques that help researchers describe and summarize their data
Term
inferential statistics
Definition
mathematical techniques that help researchers estimate the likelihood that recorded behaviours are representative of a population or the likelihood that differences or relationships between observations are due to chance.
Term
informed consent
Definition
the principle that before consenting to participate in research, people must be fully informed of any significant factors that might affect their willingness to participate.
Term
debriefing
Definition
at the conclusion of an experimental session, informing the participants about the purpose of the experiment, including any deception that was involved.
Term
confidentiality
Definition
the principle that all personal information from a participant in research or therapy should not be revealed without the individual's permission.
Term
neurons
Definition
the cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate, and transmit information by generating an electrochemical signal; the basic building blocks of the nervous system
Term
sensory neurons
Definition
neurons that make initial contact with the environment and carry the message inward toward the spinal cord and brain.
Term
interneurons
Definition
neurons that make no direct contact with the external world but rather convey information from one neuron to another
Term
motor neurons
Definition
neurons that carry information away from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands that directly produce behvaioural responses.
Term
glial cells
Definition
cells in the nervous system that are not neurons and hence do not transmit or receive information but perform a variety of functions, such as removing waste, filling empty space, and helping neurons to communicate efficiently.
Term
myelin sheath
Definition
an insulating material that protects the axons of some neurons and helps to speed up neural transmission.
Term
dendrites
Definition
the branchlike fibres that extend outward from a neuron and receive information from other neurons.
Term
soma
Definition
the body of a neuron.
Term
axon
Definition
the long tail-like part of a neuron that serves as the cell's transmitter device.
Term
nodes of Ranvier
Definition
spaces seperating the segments of the myelin sheath covering of the neuron; they help speed the nerve impulse along the axon.
Term
terminal buttons
Definition
the tiny swellings at the end of a neuron's axon that contain chemicals that, when released into the synapse, are taken up by the dentrites of other neurons, thereby stimulating them.
Term
synapse
Definition
the junction, or small gap, between a terminal button of one neuron and a dendrite of another neuron.
Term
resting potential
Definition
the tiny electrical charge in place between the inside and outside of the resting neuron.
Term
action potential
Definition
the all-or-none electrical signal that travels down a neuron's axon
Term
refractory period
Definition
the period of time following an action potential during which more action potentials cannot be generated.
Term
neurotransmitters
Definition
chemical messengers that relay information from one neuron to the next; released from the terminal buttons in to the synapse, where they interact chemically with the cell membrane of the next neuron; the result is either an excitatory or an inhibitory influence on the recipient neuron.
Term
acetylcholine
Definition
a neurotransmitter that plays several roles in the central and peripheral nervous systems, including the excitation of muscle contractions
Term
dopamine
Definition
a neurotransmitter that often leads to inhibitory effects; decreased levels have been linked to Parkinson's disease, and increased levels have been linked to schizophrenia; also plays an important role in the neurological mechanisms of reward.
Term
serotonin
Definition
a neurotransmitter that has been linked to sleep, dreaming, and general arousal and may also be involved in some psychological disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia.
Term
gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA)
Definition
a neurotransmitter that may play a role in the regulation of anxiety; it generally produces inhibitory effects
Term
endorphins
Definition
morphine-like chemicals that act as the brain's natural painkillers
Term
reflex
Definition
a largely autonomic body movement, such as the knee jerk, that is controlled by a simple network of sensory neurons, interneurons in the spinal cord, and motor neurons.
Term
neural plasticity
Definition
ability of neurons to alter synaptic connections during learning and during recover from brain injury.
Term
nerves
Definition
bundles of axons that make up neural "transmission cables"
Term
somatic system
Definition
nerves that transmit information from sensory organs to the brain, and from the brain to the skeletal muscles; part of the peripheral nervous system.
Term
autonomic system
Definition
nerves that control the more automatic needs of the body, such as heart rate, digestion, blood pressure, and so on; part of the peripheral nervous system.
Term
sympathetic system
Definition
the division of the autonomic nervous system that helps the body respond to emergencies.
Term
parasympathetic system
Definition
the division of the autonomic nervous system that helps the body calm down.
Term
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Definition
powerful pulses of magnetic energy applied to the scalp stimulate action potentials in the regions of the cortex; behavioural responses cast light on the function of the stimulated brain region.
Term
electroencephalograph (EEG)
Definition
a device used to monitor the electrical activity of the brain by measuring tiny changes in the electrical fields on the scalp.
Term
event-related potentials (ERP)
Definition
EEGS patterns observed shortly after presentation of a stimulus.
Term
computerized tomography scan (CT scan)
Definition
the use of highly focused laser beams of X-rays to construct detailed anatomical maps of the living brain.
Term
positron emission tomography (PET)
Definition
a method of measuring how radioactive substances are absorbed in the brain; it can be used to detect how different tasks activate different areas of the living brain.
Term
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Definition
a device that uses magnetic fields and radio-wave pulses to construct detailed, three-dimensional images of the brain.
Term
hindbrain
Definition
a primitive part of the brain that sits at the juncture where the brain and spinal cord merge; structures in the hindbrain, including the medulla, pons, and reticular formation, control the basic life-support systems of the body.
Term
cerebellum
Definition
a hindbrain structure at the base of the brain that is involved in the coordination of complex motor skills (e.g., walking, throwing) and may contribute to the performance of other similar tasks as well
Term
midbrain
Definition
the middle portion of the brain, containing such structures as the tectum, superior colliculus, and inferior colliculus; structures serve as neural relay stations and may help coordinate reactions to sensory events.
Term
forebrain
Definition
the outer portion of the brain, including the cerebral cortex and the structures of the limbic system.
Term
thalamus
Definition
a relay station in the forebrain though to be an important gathering point for input from the senses.
Term
hypothalamus
Definition
a forebrain structure thought to play a role in the regulation of various motivational activities, including eating, drinking, and sexual behaviour.
Term
limbic system
Definition
a system of structures thought to be involved in motivational and emotional behaviours (the amygdala) and memory (the hyippocampus).
Term
frontal lobes
Definition
one of four anatomical regions of each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, located on the top front of the brain; contain the motor cortex and are involved in initiating higher-level thought processes.
Term
parietal lobes
Definition
one of four anatomical regions of each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, located roughly on the top middle portion of the brain; contain the somatosensory cortex which controls the sense of touch.
Term
temporal lobes
Definition
one of four anatomical regions of each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, located roughly on the sides of the brain; involved in certain aspects of speech and language perception.
Term
occipital lobes
Definition
one of four anatomical regions of each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, located at the back of the brain; visual processing is controlled here.
Term
lateralization
Definition
asymmetry in the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the cerebral cortex (e.g., in most indiviuals, most language skills are lateralized to the left hemisphere.
Term
corpus callosum
Definition
the collection of nerve fibres that connect the two hemispheres and allow information to pass from one side to the other.
Term
endocrine system
Definition
a network of glands that uses the bloodstream to send chemical messages that regulate growth and other internal functions.
Term
hormones
Definition
chemicals released into the blood by the various endocrine glands to help control a variety of internal regulatory functions.
Term
pituitary gland
Definition
a kind of master gland that controls the release of hormones from other glands in response to signals from the hypothalamus.
Term
adrenal glands
Definition
glands that secrete norepinephrine and epinephrine into the bloodstream
Term
norepinephrine and epineprhine
Definition
hormones that cause a surge of energy that increases the heart rate, directing blood to areas that require it (and away from the stomach and intestine) and making glucose available to the muscles.
Term
natural selection
Definition
the differential production and survival of offspring by species members with advantageous traits.
Term
trait
Definition
a distinguishable characteristic of an organism.
Term
evolutionary adaptation
Definition
a heritable trait that provided an organism with an advantage in surviving or reproducing during its evolutionary history.
Term
genes
Definition
segments of chromosomes that contain chemically coded instructions for creating particular hereditary characteristics
Term
dominant versus recessive genes
Definition
many traits have two genes: one dominant and the other recessive; if the two such genes for a given trait differ, the dominant gene controls the observable characteristic.
Term
genotype
Definition
the genetic information inherited from parents.
Term
phenotype
Definition
a person's observable characteristics, such as hair colour; controlled partly by the genotype and partly by the environment.
Term
mutation
Definition
error in the process by which chromosomes are copied that changes the genotype specified by those chromosomes.
Term
family studies
Definition
the study of similarities and differences between biological (blood) relatives to help discover the role heredity plays in physical or psychological traits; rarely provide conclusive evidence because genes and the environment are usually entangled.
Term
adoption studies
Definition
the traits of children adopted at an early age are compared with those of heir biological parents and siblings, with whom they share genetic material but not rearing environment.
Term
twin studies
Definition
identical twins, who share genetic material, are compared with fraternal twins in an effort to disentangle the roles of heredity and environment in giving rise to psychological traits.
Term
environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA)
Definition
the environment, or environments, in which a species' evolutionary adaptations were selected.
Term
light
Definition
the small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is processed by the visual system; light is typically classified in terms of wavelength (the physical distance from one energy cycle to the next) and intensity (the amount of light falling on an object).
Term
hue
Definition
the dimension of light that produces colour; hue is typically determined by the wavelength of light reflecting from an object.
Term
brightness
Definition
the aspect of the visual experience that changes with light intensity; in general, as the intensity of light increases, so does its perceived brightness.
Term
cornea
Definition
the transparent and protective outer covering of the eye.
Term
lens
Definition
the flexible, transparent disk of tissue that helps focus light toward the back of the eye.
Term
pupil
Definition
the hole in the centre of the iris through which light enters the eye, the size of the pupil changes with light intensity.
Term
iris
Definition
the ring of coloured tissue surrounding the pupil; if you have brown eyes, your irises are (mostly) brown.
Term
accommodation
Definition
in vision, the process by which the lens changes shape temporarily to help focus light on the retina.
Term
retina
Definition
the thin layer of tissue that covers the back of the inside of the eye and contains the light-sensitive receptors cells for vision
Term
rods
Definition
receptors cells in the retina, located mainly on the periphery of the retina, that transduce light energy into neural inputs; highly sensitive and are active in dim light.
Term
cones
Definition
receptors cells in the central portion of the retina that transduce light energy into neural activity; operate best when light levels are fairly high, and they are primarily responsible for the ability to sense fine detail and colour.
Term
fovea
Definition
the “central pit” area in the centre portion of the retina where most of the cone receptors are located.
Term
visual acuity
Definition
the ability to see fine detail.
Term
dark adaptation
Definition
the process through which the eyes adjust to dim light.
Term
receptive field
Definition
in vision, the portion of the retina that, when stimulated, causes the activity of a higher-level neuron (such as a ganglion cell or an even higher-level neuron in the visual cortex) to change.
Term
blind spot
Definition
the point where the optic nerve leaves the back of the eye; the blind spot has no rods or cones.
Term
parallel processing
Definition
processing that occurs in many different brain regions at the same time, in parallel.
Term
feature detectors
Definition
cells in the visual cortex that respond to very specific visual events, such as bars of light at particular orientations.
Term
trichromatic theory
Definition
a theory of colour vision proposing that colour information is extracted by comparing the relative activations of three different types of cone receptors.
Term
afterimage
Definition
a sensation (a vision of complementary colour) experienced after removal of a stimulus (staring at a patch of vivid colour);
Term
opponent process theory
Definition
a theory of colour vision proposing that certain cells in the visual pathway increase their activation levels to one colour and decrease their activation levels to another colour (e.g. increasing to red and decreasing to green).
Term
bottom-up processing
Definition
processing that is driven by the physical input contacting the sensory receptors.
Term
top-down processing
Definition
processing that is driven by beliefs and expectations about how the world is organized.
Term
Gestalt principles of organization
Definition
the organizing principles of perception proposed by the Gestalt psychologists, which are the laws of proximity, similarity, closure, continuation, and common fate.
Term
recognition by components
Definition
the idea proposed by Biederman that people recognize objects perceptually through smaller components called geons.
Term
texture gradient
Definition
gradual reduction, with increasing distance, of the apparent coarseness of a surface (such as the ground or floor); provides a powerful cue to the distances of objects located on that surface.
- lower region: bias to perceive the lower part of a visual scene as the “figure” (meaningful object of perception) rather than “ground” (background).
Term
monocular depth cues
Definition
cues for depth for which input from one eye is sufficient.
Term
binocular depth cues
Definition
cues for depth that depend on comparisons between the two eyes.
Term
retinal disparity
Definition
a binocular cue for depth that is based on differences between the images in each eye.
Term
convergence
Definition
a binocular cue for depth that is based on the extent to which the two eyes move inward, or converge, when looking at an object.
Term
perceptual constancy
Definition
perceiving the properties of an object as remaining the same even though the physical properties of the sensory input from that object are changing.
Term
perceptual illusions
Definition
inappropriate interpretations of physical reality; perceptual illusions often occur as a result of the brain’s use of otherwise adaptive organizing principles.
Term
sound
Definition
the physical input to the auditory system, a mechanical energy travelling in waves that requires a medium, such as air or water, through which to move.
Term
pitch
Definition
the psychological experience that results from the auditory processing of a particular frequency of sound.
Term
loudness
Definition
the psychological experience that results from the auditory processing of a particular amplitude of sound.
Term
pinna
Definition
the external flap of tissue commonly referred to as the “ear”; it helps direct sounds toward the tympanic membrane.
Term
tympanic membrane
Definition
the eardrum which responds to incoming sound waves by vibrating.
Term
middle ear
Definition
the portion of the ear between the eardrum and the cochlea containing three small bones (the malleus, incus, and stapes) that intensify and prepare the sound vibrations for passage into the inner ear.
Term
cochlea
Definition
the snail shell-shaped sound processor in the inner ear, where sounds are transduced into nerve impulses.
Term
basilar membrane
Definition
a flexible membrane running through the cochlea that, through its movement, displaces the auditory receptor cells (hair cells).
Term
place theory
Definition
the idea that the location of auditory receptors cells activated by movement of the basilar membrane plays a role in the perception of pitch.
Term
frequency theory
Definition
the idea that pitch perception is determined partly by the frequency of neural impulses travelling up the auditory pathway.
Term
cold fibres
Definition
neurons that respond to a cooling of the skin by increasing the production of neural impulses.
Term
warm fibres
Definition
neurons that respond vigorously when the temperature of the skin increases.
Term
pain
Definition
an adaptive response by the body to any stimulus that is intense enough to cause tissue damage.
Term
gate-control theory
Definition
the idea that neural impulses generated by pain receptors can be blocked, or gated, in the spinal cord by signals produced in the brain.
Term
kinaesthesia
Definition
in perception, the ability to sense the position and movement of one’s body parts.
Term
semicircular canals
Definition
a receptor system attached to the inner ear that responds to movement, acceleration, and deceleration and to changes in upright posture.
Term
vestibular sacs
Definition
small organs in the inner ear that contain receptors responsible for the sense of balance.
Term
chemoreceptors
Definition
receptor cells that react to molecules in the air or dissolved in liquids, leading to the sense of smell and taste.
Term
olfaction
Definition
the sense of smell.
Term
gustation
Definition
the sense of taste.
Term
flavour
Definition
a psychological term used to describe the overall gustatory (eating) experience; flavour is influenced by taste, smell, the visual appearance of food, and expectations about the food’s quality.
Term
taste buds
Definition
the receptor cells on the tongue involved in taste.
Term
psychophysics
Definition
a field of psychology in which researchers search for ways to describe the transition from the physical stimulus to the psychological experience of that stimulus.
Term
absolute threshold
Definition
the level of intensity that lifts a stimulus over the threshold of conscious awareness; it’s defined as the intensity level at which a person detects the presence of the stimulus 50% of the time.
Term
signal detection
Definition
a technique that can be used to determine an individual’s ability to detect the presence of a stimulus and to measure the individual’s response bias.
Term
difference threshold
Definition
the smallest difference in the magnitude of two stimuli that an observer can reliably detect.
Term
Weber's Law
Definition
states that the ability to notice a difference in the magnitude of two stimuli is a constant proportion of the intensity of the standard stimulus; psychologically, the more intense a stimulus is to begin with, the more intense it will need to become for a person to notice.
Term
sensory adaptation
Definition
the tendency of sensory systems to reduce sensitivity to a stimulus that remains constant.
Term
attention
Definition
the internal processes people use to set and follow priorities for mental functioning.
Term
dichotic listening
Definition
a technique in which two different auditory messages are presented simultaneously, one to each ear; usually the subject’s task is to shadow, or repeat aloud, one message while ignoring the other.
Term
cocktail party effect
Definition
the ability to focus on one auditory message, such as a friend’s voice at a noisy party, and largely ignore others, yet notice when your own name is spoken among the auditory stimuli that you have been ignoring.
Term
automaticity
Definition
fast and almost effortless processing that requires little or no focused attention.
Term
visual neglect
Definition
a complex attention disorder characterized by a tendency to ignore things that appear on one side of the body, usually the left side.
Term
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Definition
a psychological condition marked by difficulties in concentrating and sustaining attention and by high levels of fidgety physical activity; occurs most often in children.
Term
circadian rhythms
Definition
biological activities that rise and fall in a 24-hour cycle.
Term
biological clocks
Definition
brain structures that schedule rhythmic variations in bodily functions by triggering them at the appropriate times.
Term
alpha waves
Definition
the pattern of brain activity observed in someone who is in a relaxed state, with his or her eyes closed.
Term
theta waves
Definition
the patter of brain activity observed in stage 1 sleep.
Term
delta activity
Definition
the pattern of brain activity observed in stage 3 and stage 4 sleep; it’s characterized by synchronized slow waves (also called slow wave patterns).
Term
REM
Definition
a stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and low-amplitude, irregular
Term
psychoactive drugs
Definition
drugs that affect behaviour and mental processes, and produce alterations of conscious awareness.
Term
tolerance
Definition
an adaptation that the body makes to compensate for the continued use of a drug such that increasing amounts of the drug are need to produce the same physical, psychological, and behavioural effects.
Term
drug dependency
Definition
a condition in which an individual experiences a physical or psychological need for continued use of a drug.
Term
withdrawal
Definition
clean and measurable physical reactions, such as sweating, vomiting, tremors, or changes in heart rate, that occur when a person stops taking certain drugs after continued use.
Term
depressants
Definition
a class of drugs that slow or depress the ongoing activity of the central nervous system.
Term
stimulants
Definition
a class of drugs that increase central nervous system activity, enhancing neural transmission.
Term
opiates
Definition
a class of drugs that reduce anxiety, lower sensitivity to pain, and elevate mood; opiates often act to depress nervous system activity.
Term
hallucinogens
Definition
a class of drugs that tend to disrupt normal mental and emotional functioning and produce distorted perceptions.
Term
hypnosis
Definition
a social interaction between a person perceived to be a hypnotist and a person who perceives himself or herself to be a hypnotic subject; the interaction produces a heightened state of suggestibility of the subject.
Term
catalepsy
Definition
a hypnotically induced behaviour characterized by an ability to hold one or more limbs of the body in a rigid position for long periods without tiring.
Term
hypnotic hypermnesia
Definition
the supposed enhancement of memory that is said to occur under hypnosis; little evidence supports the existence of this effect.
Term
hypnotic dissociation
Definition
a hypothesized, hypnotically induced splitting of consciousness during which two streams of awareness are said to coexist: one that is fully under the sway of the hypnotist’s suggestions and one that remains more aloof and objective.
Term
meditation
Definition
a technique for self-induced manipulation of awareness, often used for relaxation and self-reflection.
Term
orienting response
Definition
an inborn tendency to shift our focus of attention toward a novel or surprising event
Term
habituation
Definition
the decline in responsiveness to repeated stimulation; habituation has been used to investigate the perceptual capabilities of infants.
Term
sensitization
Definition
an increase in tendency to respond to an event that has been repeated; sensitization is more likely when a repeated stimulus is intense.
Term
classical conditioning
Definition
a set of procedures, initially developed by Pavlov, used to investigate how organisms learn about the signalling properties of events; leads to the learning of relations between events - conditioned and unconditioned stimuli - that occur outside of our control.
Term
unconditioned stimulus (US)
Definition
a stimulus that automatically produces - or elicits - an observable response prior to training.
Term
unconditioned response (UR)
Definition
the observable response that is produced automatically, before training, on presentation of an unconditioned stimulus.
Term
conditioned response (CR)
Definition
the acquired response that is produced to the conditioned stimulus in anticipation of the arrival of the unconditioned stimulus; often resembles the unconditioned response, although not always.
Term
conditioned stimulus (CS)
Definition
a neutral stimulus (one that does not produce the unconditioned response before training) that is paired with the unconditioned stimulus during classical conditioning and thereby comes to vive rise to a conditioned response.
Term
second-order conditioning
Definition
a procedure in which an established conditioned stimulus is used to condition a second neutral stimulus.
Term
stimulus generalization
Definition
responding to an new stimulus in a way similar to the response produced by an established conditioned stimulus.
Term
stimulus discrimination
Definition
responding to a new stimulus in a way that is different from the response to an established conditioned stimulus.
Term
extinction
Definition
presenting a conditioned stimulus repeatedly, after conditioning, without the conditioned stimulus, resulting in a gradual loss of the conditioned response
Term
spontaneous recovery
Definition
the recovery of an extinguished conditioned response after a period without exposure to the conditioned stimulus.
Term
conditioned inhibition
Definition
learning to associate a previously neutral stimulus with the absence of an unconditioned stimulus.
Term
instrumental or operant conditioning
Definition
a procedure for studying how organisms learn about the consequences of their own voluntary actions: their behaviours are instrumental in producing rewards and punishments.
Term
law of effect
Definition
if a response in a particular situation is followed by a satisfying or pleasant consequence, the response will be strengthened; if a response in a particular situation is followed by an unsatisfying or unpleasant consequence, the response will be weakened.
Term
radical behaviourism
Definition
a perspective on the analysis of human and animal behaviour that emphasizes explaining behaviour in terms of environmental events and that minimizes the use of internal explanations, like thoughts, beliefs, and intentions.
Term
discriminative stimulus
Definition
the stimulus situation that sets the occasion for a response to be followed by reinforcement or punishment.
Term
reinforcement
Definition
response consequences that increase the likelihood of responding in a similar way again.
Term
positive reinforcement
Definition
an event that, when presented after a response in a certain situation, increases the likelihood of that response occurring again in that situation.
Term
negative reinforcement
Definition
an event that, when removed after a response in a situation, increases the likelihood of that response occurring in that situation again.
Term
conditioned reinforcer
Definition
a stimulus that has acquired reinforcing properties through prior learning.
Term
schedule of reinforcement
Definition
a rule that an experimenter uses to determine when particular responses will be reinforced: in a continuous reinforcement schedule, a reward is delivered every time the target behavior is performed; partial reinforcement schedules, in contrast, can be fixed or variable, and ratio or interval.
Term
partial reinforcement schedule
Definition
a schedule in which reinforcement is delivered only some of the time after the response has occurred.
Term
fixed-ratio schedule
Definition
a schedule in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is fixed and does not change from trial to trial.
Term
variable-ratio schedule
Definition
a schedule in which a certain number of responses is required for reinforcement, but the number of required responses typically changes from trial to trial.
Term
fixed-interval schedule
Definition
a schedule in which the reinforcement is delivered for the first response that occurs following a fixed interval of time.
Term
variable-interval schedule
Definition
a schedule in which the alloted time before a response will yield reinforcement changes from trial to trial.
Term
shaping
Definition
a procedure in which reinforcement is delivered in which reinforcement is delivered for successive approximations of the desired response.
Term
punishment
Definition
consequences that decrease the likelihood of responding in a similar way again.
Term
positive punishment
Definition
an event that, when presented after a response, lowers the likelihood of that response occurring again.
Term
negative punishment
Definition
an event that, when removed after a response, lowers the likelihood of that response occurring again.
Term
observational, learning, social learning, or modelling
Definition
learning that occurs as a result of observing the experiences of others.
Term
encoding
Definition
the processes that control the acquisition of information into memory.
Term
storage
Definition
the processes that determine how information is maintained over time.
Term
retrieval
Definition
the processes that control how information is recovered from memory and translated into performance.
Term
sensory memory
Definition
the capacity to preserve sensory information in a relatively pure, unanalyzed form for a very brief period.
Term
short-term memory
Definition
a limited-capacity “working memory” system that people use to hold information, after it has been perceptually analyzed, usually for less than a minute; the system used to temporarily store, think about, and reason with new information and with information retrieved from long-term memory.
Term
iconic memory
Definition
the system that produces and stores visual sensory memories.
Term
rehearsal
Definition
a strategic process that helps maintain short-term memories through the use of internal repetition.
Term
memory span
Definition
the largest number of items that can reliably be recalled from short-term memory in their proper presentation order.
Term
chunking
Definition
a short-term memory strategy that involves mentally rearranging many pieces of information into a familiar and meaningful pattern; a single chunk can represent a wealth of information.
Term
long-term memory
Definition
the system used to maintain information for extended periods, from several seconds to a lifetime.
Term
episodic memory
Definition
remembering a particular past event or episode that happened to you personally, such as recalling having breakfast this morning or recollecting your high-school graduation ceremony.
Term
semantic memory
Definition
knowledge about language and the world, retrieved as abstract facts or beliefs that make little or no reference to any particular episode in personal experience.
Term
procedural memory
Definition
memory for how to do things, such as ride a bike or swing a golf club.
Term
elaboration
Definition
an encoding process that involves the formation of connections between to-be-remembered input and other information in memory.
Term
distinctiveness
Definition
a term used to refer to how unique or different a memory record is, compared with other information in memory; distinctive memory records tend to be recalled well.
Term
massed practice
Definition
clustering repetitions of to-be-remembered information close together in time.
Term
distributed practice
Definition
spacing the repetitions of to-be-remembered information over time.
Term
primacy effect
Definition
the better memory for items near the beginning of a studied list compared with mid-list items.
Term
recency effect
Definition
the better memory for items near the end of a studied list compared with mid-list items.
Term
visual imagery
Definition
the processes used to construct an internal visual image through the use of some of the same brain mechanisms as in perception.
Term
mnemonic devices
Definition
special mental tricks that help people think about material in ways that improve later memory; most use visual imagery and elaboration during encoding and a systematic strategy for searching memory during retrieval.
Term
method of loci
Definition
a mnemonic device in which you first memorize a series of locations along a familiar real-world pathway, such as the route from your residence to the university, and then form visual images of the to-be-remembered items along that pathway; to recall the items, you mentally traverse the pathway, checking each location as a retrieval cue.
Term
link-word system
Definition
a mnemonic device for remembering foreign language vocabulary in which you (1) think of an English word that sounds similar to the to-be-learned foreign word and (2) form a visual image connecting the meaning of the to-be-remembered word with the similar-sounding English word.
Term
free recall
Definition
a testing condition in which a person is asked to remember information without specific retrieval cues: subjects might simply be asked to ‘recall the words you studied a few minutes ago”.
Term
cued recall
Definition
a testing condition in which subjects are given specific retrieval cues to help them remember: subjects might be given hints or cues, such as “some of the words were fruits; others were vegetables”.
Term
cue-dependent forgetting
Definition
the idea that forgetting is caused by a failure to retrieve memories because of a lack of appropriate retrieval cues.
Term
encoding specificity principle
Definition
the idea that the effectiveness of retrieval cues depends on the extent to which they match the specifies of the to-be-remembered material; the more similar the cue and the testing situation to the to-be-remembered material and the studying situation, the more likely the memories will be accessed.
Term
transfer-appropriate processing
Definition
the idea that the likelihood of correct retrieval increases as function of the similarity between mental processes during encoding and those during test.
Term
schema
Definition
an organized knowledge structure in long-term memory.
Term
flash-bulb memory
Definition
highly detailed and vivid recollections of the circumstances under which one first learned of an emotionally significant and surprising event.
Term
implicit memory
Definition
use of memory that occurs automatically and without conscious awareness of remembering.
Term
explicit memory
Definition
deliberate uses of memory with conscious awareness of remembering.
Term
forgetting
Definition
the loss in accessibility of previously accessible memory information.
Term
decay
Definition
the proposal that memories are forgotten or lost spontaneously with passage of time (or with some passive chemical processes that occur over time, akin to rusting)
Term
retroactive interference
Definition
a process in which the formation of new memories hurts the retrieval of old memories.
Term
proactive interference
Definition
a process in which old memories interfere with the establishment and retrieval of new memories.
Term
organic amnesia
Definition
forgetting that is caused by physical problems in the brain, such as those induced by injury or disease.
Term
retrograde amnesia
Definition
memory loss for events that happened before the brain injury.
Term
anterograde amnesia
Definition
memory loss for events that happen after the physical injury.
Term
thinking
Definition
the processes that underlie the mental manipulation of knowledge, images, and ideas, often in an attempt to reach a goal, such as solving a problem.
Term
linguistic relativity hypothesis
Definition
the proposal that language determines the characteristics and content of thought.
Term
grammar
Definition
the rules or procedures of language that allow the communicator to combine arbitrary symbols in an infinite number of ways to convey meaning; includes the rules of phonology, syntax, and semantics.
Term
phonology
Definition
the rules and procedures for combining sounds to make words in a language.
Term
syntax
Definition
the rules and procedures for combining words to form sentences.
Term
semantics
Definition
the rules and procedures for communicating meaning through words and combinations of words.
Term
phonemes
Definition
the smallest significant, difference-making sound units in speech.
Term
morphemes
Definition
the smallest units in a language that carry meaning (words, prefixes, suffixes).
Term
surface structure
Definition
the literal ordering of words in a sentence.
Term
deep structure
Definition
the underlying representation of meaning in a sentence.
Term
pragmatics
Definition
the practical knowledge used to comprehend the intentions of a speaker and to produce an appropriate response.
Term
well-defined problem
Definition
a problem with a clear starting point and a fully specified goal.
Term
ill-defined problem
Definition
a problem, such as “becoming a better person,” for which the starting point and goal cannot be clearly specified.
Term
functional fixedness
Definition
the tendency to see objects, and their functions, in certain fixed and typical ways, and thereby to fail to see alternative uses of objects that would enable us to solve a problem.
Term
mental sets
Definition
well-established habits of perception and thought used to solve problems; typically efficient and effective, but sometimes make problem solving more difficult.
Term
algorithms
Definition
step-by-step rules or procedures that, if applied correctly, guarantee a problem solution eventually.
Term
heuristics
Definition
the rules of thumb we often use to solve problems; are quick and easy but do not guarantee a correct solution.
Term
means-ends analysis
Definition
a problem-solving heuristic that involves devising actions, or means, that reduce the distance between the current starting point and the desired end ( the goal).
Term
working backwards
Definition
a problem-solving heuristic that involves mentally starting at the goal and mentally moving backwards towards the starting point to see how the goal can be reached.
Term
searching for analogies
Definition
a problem-solving heuristic that involves trying to find a connection between the current problem and some previous problem you have solved successfully.
Term
decision making
Definition
the thought processes involved in evaluating and choosing from among a set of alternatives; it usually involves some degree of risk.
Term
framing
Definition
the way the alternatives in a decision making situation are structured and described.
Term
confirmation bias
Definition
the tendency to emphasize hypothesis confirming evidence when making decisions.
Term
illusory correlation
Definition
perception of a relationship between variables (e.g. handwriting and personality) that does not really exist.
Term
representative heuristic
Definition
the tendency to base judgements on similarity to an abstract ideal, expectation, or stereotype; for example, when deciding whether a sequence of coin-toss outcomes is random, people who use the representative heuristic focus on how irregular the sequence looks, because they think short random sequences should look irregular.
Term
availability heuristic
Definition
the tendency to base estimates of frequency or probability on the ease with which examples come to mind; for example, if you’ve just heard about a plane crash, your estimate of the likelihood of plane crashes may increase because the recent plane crash easily comes to mind.
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