Psych Exam 1
Psychology
scientific study of mind and behavior
Hindsight Bias
we overestimate our ability to have predicted an
outcome in hindsight
False consensus effect
tendency to think people agree with us more than they actually do
Confirmation Bias
tendency to seek out and interpret information as confirming our pre-existing beliefs
Explicit/Declarative
conscious memory
Semantic memory
general knowledge and facts known (long-term, declarative)
Episodic memory
recall events in our lives
Implicit
unconscious memory
Procedural memory
related to motor skills, knowing how to do somethig
Memory consolidation
when memories are transferred into long-term memory
Hippocampus is needed for...
declarative (conscious) but not procedural (motor skills) memories
Hippocampus consolidates...
short term memories into long term memories
Primacy effect
tend to remember the first item/event
Recency effect
tend to remember the last item/event
Encoding
initial learning of information, transforming perceptions into memory
Storage
maintaining memories over time
Retrieval
getting information out; accessing stored information
Distinctiveness
unusual stimuli or events will stand out and be more easily encoded than normal/ordinary stimuli and events
Flashbulb memory
a vivid personal memory of receiving an important (and usually emotional) piece of news.
Encoding depends on...
selective attention
Recoding
convert information into form that makes sense to us
Sensory memory
very brief, when first perceiving
Working memory
the ability to hold information in mind for a brief time and work with it. how much can be juggled in short term memory
Self-reference effect
tendency to better remember information when that information has been linked to the self
Retrieval cue
a prompt or hint that helps us retrieve a memory
Context-dependent memory
an increase in retrieval when the external situation in which information is learned matches the situation in which it is remembered
State-dependent learning
superior retrieval of memories when the individual is in the same physiological or psychological state as during encoding
Chunking
combining multiple pieces into a smaller number of pieces of information to remember
Spacing effect
long-term memory is enhanced when learning events are spaced apart in time
Encoding failure
selective attention—did not pay attention to it to begin with
Decay
lack of rehearsal does not get into long-term memory; the forgetting curve
Lack of retrieval cue
difficult to retrieve without a hint
Interference
memories blocking retrieval of other memories
Suppression
deliberately try to forget something
Retroactive inference
new memories make it harder to remember old things
Proactive interference
old memories make it hard to learn new things
Retrograde amnesia
forgot past memories
Temporally graded retrograde amnesia
forgot past memories in brief time leading up to onset of amnesia
Anterograde amnesia
unable to make new memories after onset of amnesia
DRM False memory effect
when presented with a list of words, people are likely to incorrectly remember seeing a word that is related to the other words
Misinformation effect
we incorrectly remember details about an event based off the incorrect information we received after the even
False memory
memory of an event that didn’t actually happen
Replication study
a study that repeats a previous one to check that the same results are found
Independent variable
the variable “I” (the experimenter) manipulates
Dependent variable
the outcome variable or result that the experimenter measures at the end of the experiment
Conceptual variable
the abstract concept/idea that we are trying to study
Operational definition
how we are specifically measuring or manipulating the variable in the study
Frequency claim
describe rate or frequency
Associative claim
describe relationship between 2 or more variable
Causal claim
claim that one variable has an effect on another variable
Random assignment
eliminate bias
Construct validity
does the operational definition match the conceptual variable?
Internal validity
does the study eliminate third variables or other explanations?
External validity
do the results generalize to other people?
Correlation does not...
prove causation
If a study is not an experiment...
we can not support causal claims
Respect for Persons
do not coerce or force people to participate
Beneficence
do not harm (protect the well-being)
Justice
fairness in how research is conducted and who benefits from the results
Sympathetic
arousing; fight or flight response
Parasympathetic
calming; rest and digest
Sensory
sensory input
Motor
motor output
Inside of a neuron is...
negative, sodium potassium pumps (more sodium out than potassium in)
Dendrites recieve...
neurotransmitters
Electrical signal goes..
down the axon
Action potential is...
an all or nothing response
What explains muscle memory?
thickening of myelin sheath
Diffusion
neurotransmitters might drift away
Reuptake
neurotransmitters be recycled and take back by the neuron that released them
Broken down
neurotranmitters might be broken down by enzymes
Adrenaline
increased heart rate, boost of energy, associated with fight or flight response
Dopamine
feelings of pleasure, reward, related to motivation and addiction
Serotonin
mood and well-being, affects sleep cycle and digestion
Gaba
slows down neurons, improve focus, calming
Glutamate
most common, related to memory, cognition, and learning
Brain fully developed at...
25
Neuroplasticity
brain’s ability to rewire itself
Left hemisphere
controls right side of the body
Right hemisphere
controls left side of the body
Gray matter
mostly found on the outside of brain (cortex), mostly cell bodies, processing
White matter
found inside of the brain, mostly myelinated axons, connect/communication
“Old” brain
pons (balance/walking), medulla (heart rate/breathing), cerebellum (voluntary motor movement)
Mid brain (Emotional)
amygdala (aggression/fear), hypothalamus (regulation), hippocampus (memories into long-term memories), corpus callosum (connects 2 hemispheres)
Frontal Lobe
motor movement, judgement, language, decision making
Parietal Lobe
touch and taste
Temporal Lobe
sound (auditory) and smell (olfactory)
Occipital
visual info
Given the most brain space in the sensory cortex
sensitive areas (lips, fingers face) than less sensitive areas (elbow, legs, hip)
PET
measure brain activity by detecting radioactive material that was injected into bloodstream, poor time precison, good spatial precison
fMRI
measure brain activity by measuring changes in oxygen levels in blood flow, poor time precison, good spatial precison
EEG
measures electrical activity from the scalp, good time precison, poor spatial precison
Central Nervous System
brain and spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System
all other nerves than brain/spinal cord
Requirments of an experiment
one manipulated variable, one measured outcome, at least two different conditions, control everything else