Sensation & Perception
What is the difference between sensation and perception?
Sensation detects physical energy; perception organizes and interprets it.
Who is considered the “father” of classical conditioning?
Ivan Pavlov.
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through consequences — reinforcement or punishment.
Learning that occurs by watching others and imitating their behavior is called what?”
Observational Learning
What are the three main stages of memory?
Encoding, storage, and retrieval.
The smallest level of stimulation that can be detected 50% of the time is known as what?
Absolute threshold.
Identify the UCS, UCR, NS, CS, and CR in this example: A dog salivates to a bell after it was paired with food.
UCS = food, UCR = salivation to food, NS = bell before pairing, CS = bell, CR = salivation to bell.
What is positive reinforcement? Give an example.
Adding something pleasant to increase behavior, e.g., praise for studying.
What were the key findings from the Bobo Doll Experiment?
Children imitated aggressive behaviors modeled by adults.
What is the difference between automatic and effortful processing?
Automatic happens unconsciously; effortful requires focus and rehearsal.
What does inattentional blindness demonstrate about how attention works?
We can fail to notice visible events when our attention is focused elsewhere.
What is acquisition in classical conditioning?
The phase where the NS becomes associated with the UCS.
What is negative punishment?
Taking something pleasant away to decrease behavior, e.g., losing phone privileges.
What are the four components of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory?
Attention, Retention, Reproduction, Motivation.
What’s the difference between explicit (declarative) and implicit (nondeclarative) memory?
Explicit = conscious recall; implicit = unconscious skills and habits.
What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up processing?
Top-down uses prior knowledge; bottom-up relies on raw sensory input.
What’s the difference between stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination?
Generalization = similar stimuli evoke the response; discrimination = only the original stimulus does.
What is shaping?
Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior.
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Learning by seeing someone else rewarded for a behavior.
Define episodic, semantic, and procedural memory with examples.
Episodic = personal events; semantic = facts; procedural = skills.
Name and describe two Gestalt principles of perception.
Possible answers: proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, figure-ground.
When a conditioned response weakens after the CS is presented without the UCS, this is called what?
Extinction
Distinguish between positive punishment and negative reinforcement.
Positive punishment adds an unpleasant stimulus to decrease behavior; negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant stimulus to increase behavior.
What is the difference between a live model, verbal model, and symbolic model?
Live = real person performing; verbal = explanation of behavior; symbolic = representation like media.
What’s the difference between anterograde and retrograde amnesia?
Anterograde = can’t form new memories; retrograde = can’t recall old ones.