Psychology 101: Cognitive Processes, Motivation, and More

Cognitive Processes

• Perception: the process of interpreting and organizing sensory information from the environment
  • Bottom-up processing: raw sensory data → higher-level cognitive processes
  • Top-down processing: higher-level cognitive processes → raw sensory data
• Attention: the ability to selectively focus on certain stimuli or tasks while ignoring others
  • Types: divided attention, selective attention, sustained attention
• Memory: the process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information
  • Types: sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory
• Learning: the process of acquiring new knowledge, behaviors, or attitudes
  • Types: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning

Motivation and Emotion

• Motivation: the driving force behind behavior, influencing the direction, intensity, and persistence of actions
  • Types: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation
• Emotion: a complex psychological and physiological state, influencing behavior and decision-making
  • Primary emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise
  • Secondary emotions: jealousy, guilt, shame, pride

Personality Theories

• Type Theories: categorize individuals into distinct personality types
  • Examples: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Type A and Type B personalities
• Trait Theories: describe personality in terms of stable, enduring patterns of behavior
  • Examples: Big Five personality traits (OCEAN), Eysenck's three dimensions
• Psychoanalytic Theories: emphasize the role of the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences
  • Examples: Freud's psychoanalytic theory, Jung's analytical psychology

Research Methods

• Descriptive Research: aims to describe and summarize existing phenomena
  • Methods: surveys, case studies, correlational studies
• Experimental Research: aims to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables
  • Methods: laboratory experiments, field experiments
• Quasi-Experimental Research: combines elements of descriptive and experimental research
  • Methods: natural experiments, quasi-experiments

Psychological Disorders

• Anxiety Disorders: characterized by excessive fear or anxiety
  • Examples: generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, panic disorder
• Mood Disorders: characterized by disturbances in mood or emotional state
  • Examples: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder
• Psychotic Disorders: characterized by a disconnection from reality
  • Examples: schizophrenia, delusional disorder

Memory and Intelligence

• Memory: the process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information
  • Types: declarative memory (facts), procedural memory (skills)
• Intelligence: the ability to learn, reason, and solve problems
  • Types: fluid intelligence (reasoning), crystallized intelligence (knowledge)
• Theories of Intelligence: attempt to explain and measure intelligence
  • Examples: Gardner's multiple intelligences, Sternberg's triarchic theory