Psychological Concepts

Variables

• Moderating variables influence the strength of a relationship, without explaining it.
• Mediating variables explain how or why two variables are connected.
• Confounding variables affect both independent and dependent variables, potentially distorting research results.
• Continuous variables exist on a spectrum, while binary variables have only two possible values.

Pituitary Gland Hormones

• The anterior pituitary produces endorphins, which inhibit pain.
• The posterior pituitary releases vasopressin (fluid balance) and oxytocin (bonding).

Adrenal Gland Hormones

• The adrenal cortex secretes aldosterone (blood pressure) and cortisol (stress response).
• The adrenal medulla produces epinephrine and norepinephrine for the fight-or-flight response.

Motivation Theories

• Self-efficacy impacts depression, but it is not a component of drive-reduction theory.
• Drive-reduction theory explains motivation as the desire to eliminate uncomfortable internal states.

Arousal

• Arousal refers to mental alertness, attention, and awakeness.
• Low arousal causes drowsiness and boredom.
• High arousal leads to restlessness and jitters.
• Yerkes-Dodson law relates to how arousal impacts performance.

Hunger

• Drive-reduction theory explains hunger as a drive that causes discomfort, motivating eating to reduce the drive and restore balance.

Locus of Control

• External locus of control involves the belief that outside forces determine outcomes.
• Locus of control reflects how much control people believe they have over life events.

Emotions

• The three components of emotions are Behavioral, Cognitive, and Physiological.
• β-endorphins and oxytocin are hormones associated with social bonding.
• James-Lange theory posits that physiological response precedes emotion; physiological response first, then emotion.
• Cannon-Bard theory suggests physiological and emotional responses occur simultaneously but independently.
• Schachter-Singer theory describes how arousal and context determine emotion.

Sociology

• Social reproduction occurs when one disadvantage leads to another, creating a cycle of inequality across generations.
• Social capital refers to access to social networks and resources that provide support and opportunities.

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Fixed ratio schedules provide reward after a set number of responses.
• Variable ratio schedules provide reward after an unpredictable number of responses.
• Fixed interval schedules provide reward after a set amount of time has passed.
• Variable interval schedules provide reward after a random amount of time.

Visual Perception

• Retinal disparity is a binocular depth cue that helps in perceiving depth by comparing slightly different images from each eye.
• Monocular cues, like object clarity, can be used with one eye to estimate depth.

Memory

• Semantic (Explicit) Memory is for facts & knowledge.
• Episodic Memory is for personal experiences & events.
• Short-Term Memory lasts for a few seconds to minutes, with a limited capacity.

Validity

• Construct validity assesses whether a study accurately measures what it intends to measure.
• External validity assesses whether study results can be generalized to other populations or settings.
• Criterion validity assesses whether a variable accurately predicts an expected outcome.

Research Methods

• Randomization ensures participants are selected fairly, giving everyone an equal chance of being included in the study.

Heuristics

• Availability heuristic is biased by specific events that are easily recalled.
• Representativeness heuristic is biased by stereotypes or general patterns rather than specific events.

Social Groups

• Reference groups are groups people compare themselves to for identity and norms.
• In-groups are groups a person identifies with.
• Out-groups are groups a person sees as different or separate.

Cognitive Biases

• Hindsight bias occurs when past experiences make people believe an event was predictable, even if it wasn’t at the time.
• Causation bias is when people assume cause-and-effect relationships that don’t actually exist.

Social Mobility and Demographics

• Vertical mobility is when a person moves up or down the social hierarchy.
• Urbanization refers to the movement of people from rural areas to cities in search of better opportunities.
• Population growth refers to an increase in the total number of people in a region.

Variables in Experiments

• The independent variable is manipulated.
• The dependent variable is measured to determine the effect.

Social Deviance

• Stigma is strong social disapproval of a group that violates norms.

Prejudice

• Discrimination refers to actions based on prejudice.

Operant Conditioning

• Positive punishment involves adding something bad to stop a behavior.
• Negative punishment involves taking away something good to stop a behavior.
• Positive reinforcement involves adding something good to encourage a behavior.
• Negative reinforcement involves taking away something bad to encourage a behavior.

Social Influence

• Informational influence describes how people accept information from others as true, especially when unsure.
• Normative influence describes how people conform to gain social approval or fit in.
• Compliance is when people change their behavior publicly but don’t necessarily believe in it.
• Ingratiation involves people trying to make others like them to gain influence.

Theories

• Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that people feel uncomfortable when their actions don’t match their beliefs.
• Opponent-process theory is about how one emotion fades, and the opposite emotion grows over time.
• Drive reduction theory is about people acting to satisfy basic needs like hunger or thirst.
• Expectancy-value theory is about motivation depending on how much a goal matters and the chance of success.

Social Norms

• Formal norms are written rules with penalties.
• Informal norms are unwritten rules enforced socially, not legally.
• Mores are strong moral norms with severe social consequences if broken.
• Folkways are minor social norms with mild consequences if broken.

Conflicts

• Double approach-avoidance conflict involves two choices, each with good and bad outcomes.
• Approach-approach conflict involves choosing between two good options.
• Avoidance-avoidance conflict involves choosing between two bad options.
• Approach-avoidance conflict involves one choice with both pros and cons.