Untitled Quiz

General Psychology - Chapter 1

• Psychology's definition: the scientific study of the mind and behavior.
• Mind encompasses subjective experience: perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings.
• Behavior refers to observable actions of humans and animals.
• Philosophy forms the roots of modern psychology, with figures like Plato and Aristotle debating innate knowledge versus empirical learning.
• Descartes theorized about mind-body dualism, while Hobbes linked the mind to brain activity.
• Early psychological theories, like phrenology (Gall), attempted to map mental functions to brain regions, though inaccurate. Broca's work on language demonstrated a link between brain and behavior.
• Helmholtz's work on measuring nerve impulse speed paved the way for scientific psychological studies.
• Wundt established the first psychology laboratory in 1879, marking the birth of psychology as a scientific discipline.

General Psychology - Chapter 2

• The scientific method demands empirical evidence for claims through repeatable and verifiable procedures.
• Theories are explanations of observed phenomena.
• The scientific method fosters parsimony (simpler explanations are preferable).
• Hypotheses are specific testable predictions derived from theories.
• Observation can be casual or systematic. Systematic observation often employs instruments for precise measurement.
• Measurement requires operational definitions (concrete, measurable descriptions) and reliable and valid instruments.
• Demand characteristics influence participants' behavior during observation due to their awareness of being studied.
• Naturalistic observation allows researchers to study behavior in natural settings, while controlled experiments are more suitable for determining cause-and-effect relationships.
• Random assignment helps ensure groups are similar before introducing an intervention.
• Experiments allow for careful manipulation of variables to isolate cause-and-effect relationships.
• Correlation studies can reveal relationships between variables, but cannot establish cause-and-effect.

General Psychology - Chapter 4

• Sensation: the basic stimulation of a sensory organ (e.g., light, sound, pressure).
• Perception: the organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation into a meaningful representation.
• Transduction is the process of transforming physical signals into neural signals.
• Color perception depends on the activity of cones in the retina that respond to different wavelengths.
• Color afterimages result from adaptation.
• Opponent-process theory explains color perception through antagonistic pairs of neurons.
• Shape perception involves analyzing the positions and orientations of object edges as well as different pathways for object recognition in the brain (ventral or dorsal).
• Agnosia is a perceptual deficit that affects object recognition.
• Parallel processing allows the brain to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.
• The binding problem describes how the brain combines features into a coherent whole.
• Feature integration theory suggests that focused attention is necessary to bind features.

General Psychology - Chapter 5

• Consciousness: subjective experience of the world and the mind.
• Intentionality: consciousness is always "about" something.
• Unity: consciousness is a unified whole.
• Selectivity: consciousness chooses what to focus on.
• Transience: consciousness is always changing.
• Minimal consciousness: basic awareness, alertness, and responsiveness.
• Full consciousness: awareness of oneself and one's mental state.
• Self-consciousness: awareness of oneself as an object of thought.
• Subliminal perception: how stimuli presented below conscious awareness can influence judgment or behavior.

General Psychology - Chapter 6

• Memory: the capacity to retain and retrieve information.
• Encoding: transforming information into a storable format.
• Storage: maintaining information over time
• Retrieval: recovering stored information
• Types of encoding: semantic (meaning-based), visual (mental images), and organizational (categorization).
• Sensory memory: brief storage of sensory information.
• Iconic memory: visual sensory memory
• Echoic memory: auditory sensory memory
• Short-term memory: temporary storage of information that is not sensory.
• Rehearsal: repeating information to maintain it in short-term memory.
• Chunking: combining pieces of information into larger units for improved storage
• Working memory: active maintenance and manipulation of information.
• Long-term memory: relatively permanent storage of information.
• Consolidation: strengthening of memories over time.
• Retrieval cues: information associated with stored information that aids retrieval.
• State-dependent retrieval: better memory when the retrieval state matches the encoding state.
• Encoding specificity principle: memory recall is best when the context of retrieval is similar to the encoding context.
• Forgetting: loss of information from memory.

General Psychology - Chapter 7

• Learning: relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge as a result of experience.
• Habituation: decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated exposure.
• Sensitization: increased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated exposure.
• Classical Conditioning: a type of learning where a neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits that response.
• Unconditioned stimulus: elicits an unconditioned response naturally.
• Unconditioned response: unlearned response to a stimulus.
• Conditioned stimulus: initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
• Conditioned response: learned response to a conditioned stimulus.
• Operant Conditioning: a type of learning where consequences of a behavior influence its likelihood to be repeated.
• Positive reinforcement: presenting a desirable stimulus after a behavior.
• Negative reinforcement: removing an aversive stimulus after a behavior.
• Punishment: presenting an aversive stimulus after a behavior, or removing a desirable stimulus, to decrease the likelihood of it being repeated.
• Shaping: gradually guiding behaviors toward a desired response through reinforcement of successive approximations.
• Observational learning: acquiring new behaviors by observing others.

General Psychology - Chapter 8

• Emotions: feelings that are associated with specific patterns of physiological and behavioral responses.
• Motivation: the driving force that directs and sustains our thoughts and behaviors
• Instincts: innate behavioral tendencies.
• Drives: internal states of tension that motivate behavior to reduce the tension.
• Homeostasis: the tendency of the body to maintain a constant internal state (temperature, blood sugar).
• Drive reduction theory: organisms are motivated to reduce these internal states.
• Hierarchy of Needs: (Maslow) Basic needs (physiological, safety) must be met before higher-order needs (self-actualization) are pursued.
• Types of motivation: intrinsic (internal rewards) vs. extrinsic (external rewards) and conscious vs. unconscious.

General Psychology - Chapter 9

• Language: a system of communication using symbols that are combined according to grammatical rules.
• Grammar: the rules governing how words and phrases are combined.
• Phonemes: the basic units of sound in a language.
• Morphemes: the basic units of meaning in a language.
• Morphology: the rules that govern how morphemes are combined.
• Syntax: the rules that govern how words are assembled into phrases and sentences.

General Psychology - Chapter 10

• Intelligence: the ability to learn, reason, problem-solve, and adapt to the environment.
• Intelligence testing: methods to assess cognitive abilities.
• IQ (Intelligence Quotient): measure of intelligence.
• Standardization: procedures to ensure consistency across tests.
• Norms: established scales for comparison.
• Reliability: extent to which a test yields consistent results
• Validity: degree to which a test measures what it intends to measure.
• Specific versus general abilities: are there factors overarching specific abilities or are these abilities independent variables
• Nature versus nurture: extent to which intelligence is determined by genes vs. environment.
• Cultural influences on intelligence: how culture affects cognitive skills.

General Psychology - Chapter 11

• Development: the pattern of continuity and change in human capabilities that occurs throughout life, including physical, cognitive, social, and emotional domains.
• Prenatal development: stages of development from conception to birth.
• Infancy: developmental period from birth to 18-24 months.
• Motor development: emergence of physical abilities.
• Cognitive development: changes in the way individuals think and understand the world.
• Piaget's stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.
• Theory of mind: understanding that others have beliefs, desires, and perspectives different from one's own.
• Attachment: emotional bond between infant and caregiver.
• Adolescence: developmental period from puberty to early adulthood.
• Puberty: period of rapid physical maturation.
• Identity development: process of forming a sense of self.
• Early adulthood: period of establishing careers, relationships, and families.
• Middle adulthood: period of focusing on maintaining existing relationships and raising children.
• Late adulthood: period of reflecting on life and adjusting to aging.

General Psychology - Chapter 12

• Personality: enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, motives, and behaviors that characterize an individual.
• Trait approach: understanding personality through stable characteristics or traits.
• Biological approach: investigating the role of genetics and brain structures in shaping personality.
• Psychodynamic approach: emphasizing unconscious conflicts and early experiences.
• Humanistic-existential approach: highlighting personal growth, freedom, and responsibility.
• Social-cognitive approach: focusing on how thoughts, feelings, and social contexts interact to shape behavior.
• Self-concept: individual's knowledge and beliefs about themselves.
• Self-esteem: individual's evaluation of their worth or value.

General Psychology - Chapter 13

• Stress: psychological response to challenging or demanding situations.
• Stressors: events or conditions that trigger stress responses.
• General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): three-stage physiological response to stress: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
• Immune system: body's defense system against illness.
• Cardiovascular system: heart and blood vessels.
• Psychological factors, such as personality traits (Type A), social support, and coping strategies, are related to stress and health outcomes
• Health psychology: studying psychological factors related to health and illness.