Foundations of Psychology
The study of behavior and mental processes
What is psychology?
form of learning; when an association is formed between two stimuli resulting in an involuntary learned response (ex- Pavlov’s dogs)
What is classical conditioning?
Going along with the group; “fitting in”; subject of Asch’s ‘lines’ experiment!
What is conformity?
psychotic mental disorder; symptoms include loss of touch with reality - including hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia
What is schizophrenia?
concept consistent with brain plasticity; memory is changeable; it is subject to reconstruction and reconsolidation
What is memory malleability?
To avoid false conclusions, psychologists use this process of making observations, forming hypotheses, and experimentation
What is the scientific method?
In Operant Conditioning, behaviors are influenced by what two major external forces?
What are reinforcement and punishment?
a personality trait; tendency to be more sociable with large groups; need to be around people to get energy; need a lot of outside stimulation
What is extroversion?
reference book on mental health and brain-related conditions
What is the DSM-5?
Type of memories that includes practiced skills and learned habits; Brenda Milner’s ‘HM’ could make new ones
What are Procedural memories (aka implicit)?
Of nature or nurture, the one that involves the influence of environment and life experiences on human development
What is nurture?
when a conditioned response to a stimulus extends to similar objects or situations
generalization
The Stanley Milgram obedience study suggests that many people will harm others when urged to by an authority figure who claims to take all of “this” for any harm done
What is responsibility?
Of optimism or grit & resilience, which is more action than belief?
What are grit & resilience?
system of memory that handles both new information from the environment and information brought into consciousness from long-term memory; mental “chalkboard”
What is working memory (aka short-term)?
Which is not a goal of the science of psychology with respect to behavior?
- describe, explain, predict, influence, reinforce
What is reinforce?
Term for how learned behaviors weaken and even disappear over time when anticipated association or reinforcement is absent
What is extinction?
according to humanistic perspective this part of our personality is made up of self-image (who we think we are) and ideal self (who we would like to be); if these are similar a state of congruence exists
What is self-concept?
false beliefs that a person is powerful, wealthy, famous, or has a high status; John Nash experienced these
What are Delusions of Grandeur?
Despite having seen pennies many times, people often have difficulty recognizing which is the real penny due to the failure of which memory process?
What is encoding?
Isolated child “Genie’s” failure to develop understanding of language syntax (grammar) and semantics (meaning) past puberty suggests that language development has this biologically rooted “window of opportunity” to be learned
What is a critical period?
an unpleasant stimulus is taken away to make a behavior likely to continue
What is negative reinforcement?
process of synapse elimination or weakening; influenced by environmental factors
What is pruning?
type of happiness involving a deep sense of fulfillment and meaning
What is eudaimonic happiness?
Type of mental processing involving your brain using pre-existing knowledge and expectations to make quick sense of familiar things
What is top-down processing?