Foundations
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?
This tiny gap between neurons allows chemical messengers called neurotransmitters to pass signals from one nerve cell to another.
What is a synapse?
Going along with the group; “fitting in”; subject of Asch’s ‘lines’ experiment!
What is conformity?
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?
In John B. Watson’s famous study with “Little Albert,” a young child was conditioned to fear a white rat after it was repeatedly paired with a loud, frightening noise, demonstrating this type of learning.
What is Classical conditioning?
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?
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
What is generalization?
In Albert Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment, children who watched adults act aggressively toward a doll were more likely to imitate that behavior, demonstrating this type of learning through observation.
What is Social Learning?
In Milgram Obedience Study, participants were far more likely to administer what they believed were painful electric shocks when prompted by this influential presence overseeing the experiment.
What is an authority figure?
stage of memory storage 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?
In Harry Harlow’s rhesus monkey experiments, infant monkeys preferred soft, cloth surrogate mothers over wire ones, revealing that this need was more important than food for attachment.
What is contact comfort?
Type of memories that includes practiced skills and learned habits; Brenda Milner’s ‘HM’ could make new ones
What are procedural memories (aka implicit)?
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?
In B. F. Skinner’s experiments using the “Skinner box,” animals learned behaviors through rewards delivered at different patterns and intervals, illustrating this concept in operant conditioning.
What are schedules of reinforcement?
When old information disrupts the recall of new material, or new information interferes with remembering old material, this common cause of forgetting is at work.
What is interference?