Learning: Chapter 6

Learning (Chapter 6)

• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge due to past experience.
• Conditioning occurs through learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses.
• Ivan Pavlov's study of saliva in dogs led to the discovery of classical conditioning.
• An unconditioned response (UCR) is a reflexive withdrawal from something hot, based on Pavlov's terminology.
• Repeatedly pairing a bell with food caused dogs to salivate at the bell's sound alone, termed a conditioned response (CR).
• Stimulus generalization is when a child fears all white jackets after associating a nurse's uniform with the pain of injections.
• Spontaneous recovery shows extinguished conditioned responses are not completely eliminated.
• John B. Watson founded behaviorism.
• John Watson and Rosalie Rayner's "Little Albert" study conditioned an emotional reaction to a neutral stimulus.
• Stimulus generalization occurred when Little Albert feared other furry animals after being conditioned to fear a white rat.
• The ethics of the "Little Albert" study are criticized because a lasting fear was intentionally induced without attempts to extinguish it.
• Classical conditioning principles are used in advertising, like using a sexy model for Brand X.
• Mental processes play a key role in learning, as highlighted by the cognitive perspective.
• The evolutionary perspective explains common phobias like spiders, snakes, and heights.
• An operant is a voluntary action.
• B.F. Skinner coined "operant" to describe active behaviors generating consequences.
• Stickers rewarding students for sitting quietly are an example of a conditioned reinforcer.
• Punishment by application is demonstrated when Rachel avoids cacti after getting pricked.
• Environmental factors determine a person's behavior, according to B.F. Skinner.
• Shaping uses reinforcement of successively closer approximations to achieve a desired behavior.
• Superstitious behaviors are the result of accidental reinforcement, according to B.F. Skinner.
• Applying learning principles to improve behavior is called behavior modification.
• Edward Tolman found reinforcement isn't always needed for learning through rat maze studies.
• Learned helplessness is shown when Roy stops studying calculus after repeated failures.
• The capacity to learn is essential for human and nonhuman animal survival.

Memory (Chapter 7)

• Memory is the mental process to acquire, retain, and retrieve data.
• Encoding transforms data for retention by the memory system.
• Storage keeps information in memory for later use.
• Retrieval accesses stored information in long-term memory.
• Short term memory is also referred to as working memory.
• Information is typically stored in short term memory for 30 seconds.
• Auditory sensory memory lasts longer than visual sensory memory.
• Information decays if short term memory is not processed or rehearsed, it fades.
• Short term memory holds about 7 items at a time.
• Long term memory has a seemingly limitless capacity.
• Clustering happens when recalling words by grouping related items like harp, flute, and piano.
• Tip-of-the-tongue experiences show logical organization and connections in long-term memory.
• Flashbulb memories function like ordinary memories, according to research.
• Schema is an organized cluster of knowledge about an object, event, situation, or concept.
• Eyewitness misidentification was the largest factor in wrongful convictions in study of crime.
• Inability to recall which United States president is pictured on a $5 bill is likely due to encoding failure.
• Interference is most likely when memories contain similar information.
• Repressed memories can still influence behavior and personality, according to Freud.
• We forget memories that aren't used and fade over time, according to decay theory.
• Retrograde amnesia is often the result of the head injuries in automobiles and motorcycle accidents.
• Removing the amygdala in monkeys results in a loss of fear.
• Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of senile dementia.
• Sleep is the best way to help the process of consolidating new memories.

Intelligence (Chapter 8)

• Thinking is the psychological process of manipulating mental representations to draw inferences and conclusions.
• Concepts are mental categories used to group objects, events, or situations with common characteristics.
• Problem-solving involves thinking and behavior directed towards a goal that isn't readily available.
• Functional fixedness is the tendency to only see objects as functioning in customary ways.
• Insight involves suddenly realizing how a problem can be solved.
• Creativity involves using cognitive processes to generate useful, original, and novel ideas.
• Confirmatory bias is the strong tendency to search for information that confirms a belief, while ignoring contradictory information.
• Language systems combine arbitrary symbols to produce an unlimited number of meaningful statements.
• Intelligence is the ability to learn and gain knowledge from experience.
• Alfred Binet developed the first systematic intelligence test.
• The mental age is a measurement of intelligence compared to a given age.
• The intelligence quotient (IQ) is a measure of general intelligence derived by comparing individual scores to those of others in the same age group.
• David Wechsler developed the WAIS intelligence tests designed for adults.
• An achievement test measures a person's knowledge, skill, or accomplishment in a particular area.
• An aptitude test measures a person's capacity to benefit from education or training.
• Standardization is when a test is given to a representative sample under uniform conditions establishing norms.
• Scores in a normal distribution cluster around the average score.
• Reliability is when a test produces consistent results under similar conditions.
• Validity is when a test measures what is intended to measure.
• Approximately 1% of the population scores above 145 or below 55 on an intelligence test.
• Both environment and heredity are important in determining intelligence level, according to most psychologists.
• Identical twins share the same genes; therefore, differences between them are due to environmental factors.

Motivation and Emotion (Chapter 9)

• Motivation involves forces that act on an organism to initiate and direct behavior.
• Instinct theories initially explained motivation in the late 1800s when psychology was founded.
• Drive theories suggest behavior is motivated by reducing internal tension caused by unmet biological needs.
• Sensation seekers are motivated to experience high arousal levels from varied activities.
• The cafeteria diet effect explains people eat more in buffets because of wide variety of food selections.
• The body mass index reflects a person's weight relative to their height.
• Anorexia nervosa involves refusal to maintain normal body weight and a fear of gaining weight or a distorted perception.
• Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder causes a normal weight person to binge eat and purge.
• Underweight characterizes anorexia, whereas normal or slightly overweight body weight characterizes bulimia.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs is when Ethan attempts to fulfill fundamental needs like buying food and paying rent..
• Individualistic cultures emphasizes personal success, especially in achievement motivation and competitive tasks.
• Display rules dictate that it is more acceptable for women than men to cry in public in the United States.
• Alcohol is classified as a depressant.
• Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug.
• Prolonged use of cocaine can produce schizophrenic-like symptoms, like paranoid ideas and hallucinations.
• The active ingredient in marijuana is THC.

Development Across the Life Span (Chapter 4)

• Humans have 46 chromosomes, which are organized into 23 pairs.
• Developmental psychology studies how people chance physically, mentally, and socially throughout their lives.
• Each parent contributes 23 chromosomes at conception.
• An XY combination in the 23rd pair of chromosome indicates a male.
• An XX combination in the 23rd pair of chromosomes indicates a female.
• At conception, life starts as a single cell called a zygote.
• At birth, infants distinguish their mother's voice from other women.
• Temperament is an infant's inborn predisposition to behave and react in specific ways
• Attachment refers to the emotional bond between an infant and caregiver.
• Most cultures worldwide infants customarily sleep near their mothers, but not in the U.S.
• Schema are mental representations guiding how people interpret new data.
• Basic parenting styles include authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive, according to Diana Baumrind.
• Authoritative parenting is associated with well-adjusted children.
• Adolescence is the stage between childhood and adulthood.
• Puberty involves sexual maturity and physiological capacity for sexual reproduction.
• Conflicts between parents and teens often center around control and authority.
• Kohlberg identified preconventional, conventional, and postconventional levels of moral reasoning.
• Love and work are the two fundamental adult development themes according to Erik Erikson.
• Menopause is the end of menstruation of women, marking reproductive capacity.
• People tend to marry others similar in attractiveness, ethnicity, beliefs, and values.
• Satisfaction with marital relationships often declines after having a baby.
• Death anxiety peaks before older adulthood.
• People often reach their intellectual peak in their forties.
• Most adults 65 and older in the U.S. are healthy and self-sufficient.
• Nursing home populations have decreased in the past decade across all age groups.

Sex (Chapter 10)

• Sex refers to the biological classifications of "male" and "female."
• Primary sex characteristics include the uterus, ovaries, pennis, and testicles
• Gender refers to the cultural, social and psychological meanings associated with masculinity and feminity.
• Gender roles refer to behaviors attitudes and personality traits that are being masculine and feminine within a culture.
• Gender identity is how a person identifies their sense of "male" or "female".
• The adolescent growth spurt is rapid height and weight increase during puberty.
• Girls experience their first menstrual period around the same age as their mothers.
• Most 19-year-old men have already had sexual intercourse.
• Testicular cancer can cause testicle removal and a decreased sex drive.
• Bodily levels of testosterone influence sexual activity and motivation in both sexes.
• Orgasm is the shortest human sexual response stage.
• Sexual orientation is defined as whatever sex(es) and individual feels attracted towards.
• Heterosexuals are attracted to the opposite sex and homosexuals are attracted to the same sex.
• Bisexuals are attracted to both males and females.
• Cisgender refers to a match between gender and sex.
• Transgender refers to a mismatch between gender and sex.
• Researchers determined sexual orientation is established around age six, but is resistant to change.
• Common sexual problems for women are low sexual desire and arousal problems.
• Sexual dysfunctions are most common in young and older people.

Health and Well-Being (Chapter 11)

• Stress is a psychological or physical reaction to challenging circumstances.
• A stressor is an event or change that causes stress.
• Fight-or-flight is a automatic response towards perceived threats preparing us to either attack or flee the threat.
• The hippocampus can be damaged with continuous stress.
• Health is particularly compromised with disruptions of sleep due to stress.
• The Holms and Rahe Scales have been use to predict vulnerability to physical and psychological disorders because of negative and positive stressors.
• Conflict is the feeling of being pulled among opposing motives, goals and desires.
• Type A behavior is associated with a sense of time urgency, competitiveness, and hostility, accoridng to Friedman and Rosenman.
• Hostility can predict the development of coronary heart disease.
• Coping encompasses efforts to manage or reduce stress.
• Females demonstrate a "tend-and-befriend" response according to Shelley Taylor characterizing the female response.
• Social support refers to the resources offered by others during times of need.
• Women are more likely than men to seek out social support during challenges.
• Being a good listener and showing concern/interest is perceived as the most helpful support behavior.
• Regular aerobic exercise and getting enough sleep help promote stress managemen.t

Social Psychology (Chapter 12)

• Social psychology studies the feelings, thoughts and behavior of people in social situations.
• Person perception is using certain mental processes to judge people and infer motives and characteristics.
• Social norm refers to the rules and expectations for behaving appropriately in a social setting.
• Attribution relates to explaining the causes of behaviour.
• Fundamental attribution error refers to overestimated traits and underestimate the importance of a given situation.
• Social categorization is the classifying of person in groups based on the common traits that they process.
• Social influence relates to changing an individuals behavior to conform with behaviour from other people.
• Solomon Asch is best known for his pioneering conformity studies.
• Obedience entails the compliance to the demands that authority poses.
• Stanley Milgram is known for his controversial obedience studies.
• In MIilgram's obedience study, two thirds of participants complied until 450v.
• Stereotypes are beliefs about the character of a group, often inaccurate.
• Once formed, Stereotypes are often impossible to eradicate.
• Discrimination refers to actions based on prejudice towards social groups.
• Prejudice is a negative attitude directed towards a specific group.
• Rationalizing Prejudice leads people to believe the world is fair, that those who suffer deserve it.
• Men in heterosexual relationship seek women who are youthful.
• Altruism means helping others without getting personal rewards or benefits.
• Prosocial behavior refers to helping others when the intent is self-serving.
• The feel-good do-good effect entails the fact that happy and successful people help one another.
• Kinship theory suggests that people will help those whom they share genes with when in matters of life and death.
• Bystander Effect refers to the less a person is to help is there are many onlookers.
• Phillip Zimbardo's mock prison study has have the experiment aborted due to the subjects frightening behavior.