History
This person theorized that knowledge is innate and derived from a realm of abstract, perfect "Forms" or ideals. In his view, learning is recalling these eternal truths rather than acquiring new information. Memory is a bridge to access this higher realm of perfect ideas.
Plato
This is the central part of a neuron that contains the nucleus and other organelles. It is responsible for maintaining the neuron's health and integrating incoming signals from the dendrites before generating an action potential.
This is the stimulus that initially produces no specific response other than drawing attention. It becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus and eventually elicits a conditioned response.
Neutral stimulus
This law states that learning is more effective when an organism is prepared to act, but if forced to perform when unready, frustration or resistance may occur.
Law of Readiness
This is a cognitive process where perceptions are influenced by prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations. Instead of building a perception from raw sensory input, the brain interprets incoming data using what it already "knows."
Top-Down Processing
This person proposed that memory and learning are guided by associations between ideas or experiences, based on three principles: similarity, contrast, and contiguity.
Aristotle
These are the branching extensions of the neuron that receive signals from other neurons at synapses. They transmit these signals toward the soma for processing.
This is a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any prior learning.
Conditioned stimulus
This law states that connections between stimuli and responses are strengthened with practice and weakened when not used.
Law of Exercise
This is a cognitive process where perception begins with raw sensory input, and the brain builds an interpretation from the ground up without preconceived notions.
Bottom-up Processing
This person described two types of reaction times. Simple: The time it takes to respond to a single, known stimulus. Choice: The time it takes to make a decision and respond when presented with multiple stimuli and corresponding responses.
Donders
This is a long, slender projection of a neuron that carries electrical impulses (action potentials) away from the soma to other neurons, muscles, or glands. It is the main structure for transmitting signals over long distances within the nervous system.
Axon
This is an automatic, natural reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.
Unconditioned response
This law states that behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated, while behaviors followed by unpleasant outcomes are less likely to occur.
Law of Effect
This is a systematic, step-by-step procedure for solving a problem that guarantees a correct solution if followed correctly.
Algorithm
This person studied nonsense syllables (meaningless combinations of letters) and the forgetting curve (memory retention decreases rapidly after learning and then levels off)
Ebbinghaus
This is a fatty insulating layer that wraps around the axon in segments. It increases the speed of electrical signal transmission along the axon by facilitating saltatory conduction, where the action potential jumps between gaps (nodes of Ranvier) in the sheath.
Myelin sheath
This is a previously neutral stimulus that, after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, triggers a learned response.
Conditioned stimulus
THis device was used in experiments with animals, particularly cats. It was a small enclosure with a mechanism that the animal had to manipulate to escape and receive a reward.
Puzzle Box
This is a mental shortcut or rule of thumb used to solve problems quickly and efficiently, though it doesn’t guarantee a correct solution.
Heuristic
This person established the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879. His approach, structuralism, sought to analyze the basic elements of consciousness (sensations, feelings, and thoughts) through introspection.
Wilhelm Wundt
This is the junction between two neurons (or a neuron and another target, such as a muscle cell). It is the site where communication occurs, usually involving the release of neurotransmitters from the presynaptic neuron, which bind to receptors on the postsynaptic cell.
Synapse
This is a learned response to a conditioned stimulus that occurs after repeated associations between the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned response
This person was an early behaviorist and psychologist who studied animal learning and developed key theories of instrumental conditioning, emphasizing trial-and-error learning. His work laid the foundation for modern behaviorism.
Thorndike
This psychologist laid the groundwork for cognitive psychology and influenced later research in creativity, learning, and problem-solving. His experiments demonstrated the complexity of animal cognition and challenged simpler, mechanistic explanations of behavior.
Wolfgang Kohler