Ch. 1
What is psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
In which stage of life do we have a "social clock" during social development?
Adulthood
Skinner used this animal to test operant conditioning.
rats
This type of psychology is described as the study of how people's affect, behavior, and cognition are influenced by the environment.
Social Psychology
Psychological disorders are marked by the 3 D's. What are they?
1. Deviance
2. Distress
3. Dysfunction
Who established the first psychology lab to study conscious awareness?
Wilhelm Wundt
Newborns arrive with four automatic reflexes to help them survive. What are they?
1. Rooting reflex
2. Sucking reflex
3. Startle/Moro reflex
4. Grasping reflex
This is described as using reinforcers to guide behavior towards the target behavior.
Shaping
These are the two types of persuasion methods we use.
Central merits
Peripheral cues
What is the most common mental illness in US adults?
Depressive disorders or bipolar disorders
Which subfield of psychology studies how people are influenced by others?
Social psychology
Developmental psychologists contend with three major topics. What are they?
1. Nature v nurture
2. Continuity and stages
3. Stability and change
What is observational learning?
Learning by watching others who model behaviors.
AKA social learning
We experience vicarious reinforcements and vicarious punishments.
What are the three reasons that we help others?
1. Rule of reciprocity
2. To receive social rewards
3. To reduce the distress we feel when we see others in distress
Name the 4 anxiety-related disorders we talked about.
1. Generalized anxiety disorder
2. Specific phobias
3. OCD
4. PTSD
This theory is described as the need for acceptance and the effct of the environment on personal growth.
Humanistic psychology
What happens to the frontal lobe and myelin during adolescence?
Frontal lobe - continues development
Myelin - grows to enable better communication between neurons
Leads to better judgement, impulse control, and planning abilities
What is the difference between associative learning and cognitive learning?
Associative - happens when two events that occur close together in time get linked in our minds
Cognitive - happens when we acquire mental information that guides our behavior
This term is defined as responsibility is divided amongst everyone who is present; each person feels less responsible in a group than when alone
Diffusion of responsibility
What are the three most common causes of anxiety-related disorders?
1. Classical conditioning - fear response gets linked to a formerly neutral. object
2. Cognition - we interpret stimuli as threatening when it may not be
3. Biology - more neural pathways and activity within the amygdila
Name the two types of variables needed in experiments.
Independent - variable that us manipulated by the researcher
Dependent - variable that is measured
Piaget's four cognitive development stages.
1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2yrs)
2. Preoperational stage (2 to 6/7 years)
3. Concrete operational stage (7 to 12 years)
4. Formal operational stage (12 years to adulthood)
List the five stages of classical conditioning.
1. Acquisition
2. Extinction
3. Spontaneous recover
4. Generalization
5. Discrimmination
What is the difference between sterotype and prejudice?
Stereotype - belief about a group and its member's characteristics & behaviors
Prejudice - negative feelings toward a group and its members
Name the 4 causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
1. Prenatal environment - stress hormones make their way to the fets
2. Genetics
3. Under-connectivity within the brain
4. Limited "mirroring" brain activity