Perception
What is selective attention?
When you focus on a specific stimulus and ignore other stimuli.
ex: Cocktail Party Effect - focusing on one conversation in a noisy room.
Which brain lobe is involved with visual perception?
The occipital lobe. (Back of the brain)
What's reciprocal determinism?
Personality shaped by belief (cognitive processes), behaviors, and their environment. Each factor influences each other in continuous cycle.
What's agoraphobia?
The fear of places or situations where help may not be available, like open and enclosed spaces, crowds, or even being outside of one's home. This leads to anxiety and avoidance of these places.
What does electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) do?
What's the difference between bottom-up and top-down processiong?
Bottom-up processing: Starting with sensory receptors to gather sensory info, and brain interprets it.
Top-down processing: Info processed by higher-level mental processes, the use of prior experience to process stimuli.
It controls life-sustaining functions like heartbeat and breathing.
What is the Id, ego, and superego?
Id: Pleasure principle, seeks immediate pleasure (devil on shoulder)
Ego: Reality principle, mediates between Id and superego.
Superego: Internalized morals/ideals, provides sense of right and wrong (angel on shoulder)
What's the bystander effect?
The tendency to be less likely to help one in an emergency, if others are present. This is due to diffusion of responsibility.
What are key symptoms of major depressive disorder?
Persistent sadness, loss of interest, fatigue, change in apetite/sleep, and feeling worthless.
What is perceptual constancy?
Ability to recognize objects as unchanging (shape, size, color) even with differing angles, lighting and distances.
What's the function of the hypothalamus?
What's the difference between the external and internal locus of control?
External locus of control: Belief that outside forces (luck, fate, others) control their destiny.
Internal locus of control: Belief that one can control their fate and life outcomes.
What is groupthink and when does it occur?
When people in a group prioritize harmony, which can lead to poor decisions because opposing arguments are suppressed.
Occurs during high pressure.
Whats the focus of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)?
What's Gestalt's principle of proximity?
Objects close together are perceived as being together in the same group.
What's the role of the parietal lobe?
It processes sensory info relating to touch, temperature, and pain.
What is the social-cognitive perspective on personality?
Focus on interaction between cognitive processes, behavior, and environmental factors.
Emphasizes observational learning, self-eficacy, and personal control.
What's cognitive dissonance?
When an individual's actions and beliefs contradict, causing discomfort. This leads to them changing one to reduce discomfort.
What type of drug is typically used to treat schizophrenia, and how does it work?
Antipsychotic drugs are used to block dopamine receptors. This reduces hallucination and delusion (symptoms of schizophrenia).
What is depth perception, and how can it be studied?
Depth perception allows one to judge distances in 3 dimensions. It is studied by using the visual cliff experiment, showing that infants can naturally perceive depth when they can start crawling.
What's the difference between Broca's area and Wernicke's area? Where are they located?
Broca's area: In the left frontal lobe, it controls speech production.
Wernicke's area: In the left temporal lobe, it controls language comprehension.
What's the Big Five personality traits, and what do they represent? (OCEAN)
Conscientiousness - Organization, responsibility, attention to detail.
Extraversion - Sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness.
Agreeableness - Compassion, cooperation, trust in others.
Neuroticism - Emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness.
What is fundamental attribution error?
The tendency to overestimate personal traits and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behaviors.
GAD is persistent, excessive worry about various parts of life.
Panic disorders involve sudden panic attacks including intense fear. They occur even when there is no clear danger or trigger.