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Psychology
The Mind At Work
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Consciousness | The awareness of sensations, thoughts, and feelings being experienced at a given moment |
| Stage 1 Sleep | The state of transition between wakefulness and sleep, characterized by relatively rapid, low-amplitude brain waves |
| Stage 2 Sleep | A sleep deeper than that of stage 1, characterized by a slower, more regular wave pattern, along with momentary interruptions of sleep spindles |
| Stage 3 Sleep | The deepest stage of sleep, during which we are least responsive to outside stimulation |
| Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep | Sleep occupying 20 percent of an adult’s sleeping time, characterized by increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate; erections (in males); eye movements; and the experience of dreaming |
| Unconscious Wish Fulfillment Theory | Sigmund Freud’s theory that dreams represent unconscious wishes that dreamers desire to see fulfilled |
| Latent Content of Dreams | According to Sigmund Freud, the “disguised” meaning of dreams, hidden by more obvious subjects |
| Manifest Content of Dreams | According to Sigmund Freud, the apparent story line of dreams |
| Dreams-for-Survival Theory | The theory suggesting that dreams permit information that is critical for our daily survival to be reconsidered and reprocessed during sleep |
| Activation-Synthesis Theory | J. Allan Hobson’s theory that the brain produces random electrical energy during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep that stimulates memories stored in the brain |
| Circadian Rhythm | Biological processes that occur regularly on approximately a 24-hour cycle |
| Hypnosis | A trancelike state of heightened susceptibility to the suggestions of others |
| Meditation | A learned technique for refocusing attention that brings about an altered state of consciousness |
| Psychoactive Drugs | Drugs that influence a person’s emotions, perceptions, and behavior |
| Addictive Drugs | Drugs that produce a biological or psychological dependence in the user so that withdrawal from them leads to a craving for the drug that, in some cases, may be nearly irresistible |
| Stimulants | Drugs that have an arousal effect on the central nervous system, causing a rise in heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension |
| Depressants | Drugs that slow down the nervous system |
| Narcotics | Drugs that increase relaxation and relieve pain and anxiety |
| Learning | A relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience |
| Classical Conditioning | A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response |
| Neutral Stimulus | A stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the response of interest |
| Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) | A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response without having been learned |
| Unconditioned Response (UCR) | A response that is natural and needs no training (e.g., salivation at the smell of food) |
| Conditioned Stimulus (CS) | A once-neutral stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response formerly caused only by the unconditioned stimulus |
| Conditioned Response (CR) | A response that, after conditioning, follows a previously neutral stimulus (e.g., salivation at the ringing of a bell) |
| Extinction | A basic phenomenon of learning that occurs when a previously conditioned response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears |
| Spontaneous Recovery | The reemergence of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of rest and with no further conditioning |
| Stimulus Generalization | A process in which, after a stimulus has been conditioned to produce a particular response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus produce the same response |
| Stimulus Discrimination | The process that occurs if two stimuli are sufficiently distinct from each other that one evokes a conditioned response but the other does not; the ability to differentiate between stimuli |
| Operant Conditioning | Learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened, depending on the response’s favorable or unfavorable consequences |
| Reinforcement | The process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a preceding behavior will be repeated |
| Reinforcer | Any stimulus that increases the probability that a preceding behavior will occur again |
| Positive Reinforcer | A stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a preceding response |
| Negative Reinforcer | An unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase in the probability that a preceding response will be repeated in the future |
| Punishment | A stimulus that decreases the probability that a previous behavior will occur again |
| Schedules of Reinforcement | The pattern of frequency and timing of reinforcement following desired behavior |
| Continuous Reinforcement Schedule | A schedule in which behavior is reinforced every time the behavior occurs |
| Partial (or Intermittent) Reinforcement Schedule | Reinforcing of a behavior some but not all of the time |
| Fixed-Ratio Schedule | A schedule by which reinforcement is given only after a specific number of responses are made |
| Variable-Ratio Schedule | A schedule in which reinforcement occurs after an average number of responses, but the reinforcement schedule is unpredictable |
| Fixed-Interval Schedule | A schedule that provides reinforcement for a response only if a fixed time period has elapsed, making overall rates of response relatively low |
| Variable-Interval Schedule | A schedule by which the time between reinforcements varies around some average rather than being fixed |
| Shaping | The process of teaching a complex behavior by rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior |
| Behavior Modification | A formalized technique for promoting the frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing the incidence of unwanted ones |
| Cognitive Learning Theory | An approach to the study of learning that focuses on the thought processes that underlie learning |
| Latent Learning | Learning in which a new behavior is acquired but is not demonstrated until some incentive is provided for displaying it |
| Cognitive Map | A mental representation of spatial locations and directions |
| Observational Learning | Learning by observing the behavior of another person, or model |
| Cognitive Psychology | The branch of psychology that focuses on the study of higher mental processes, including thinking, language, memory, problem solving, knowing, reasoning, judging, and decision making |
| Memory | The process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information |
| Sensory Memory | The initial, momentary storage of information, lasting only an instant |
| Short-Term Memory | Memory that holds information for 15 to 25 seconds |
| Long-Term Memory | Memory that stores information on a relatively permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve |
| Chunk | A meaningful grouping of stimuli that can be stored as a unit in short-term memory |
| Rehearsal | The repetition of information that has entered short-term memory |
| Declarative Memory | Memory for factual information: names, faces, dates, and the like |
| Procedural Memory | Memory for skills and habits, such as riding a bike or hitting a baseball, sometimes referred to as nondeclarative memory or implicit memory |
| Semantic Memory | Memory for general knowledge and facts about the world, as well as memory for the rules of logic that are used to deduce other facts |
| Episodic Memory | Memory for events that occur in a particular time, place, or context |
| Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon | The inability to recall information that one realizes one knows—a result of the difficulty of retrieving information from long-term memory |
| Recall | Memory task in which specific information must be retrieved |
| Recognition | Memory task in which individuals are presented with a stimulus and asked whether they have been exposed to it in the past or to identify it from a list of alternatives; generally easier than recall |
| Levels-of-Processing Theory | The theory of memory that emphasizes the degree to which new material is mentally analyzed |
| Explicit Memory | Intentional or conscious recollection of information |
| Implicit Memory | Memories of which people are not consciously aware, but which can affect subsequent performance and behavior |
| Flashbulb Memories | Memories centered on a specific, important, or surprising event that are so vivid it is as if they represented a snapshot of the event (like remembering where you were and what you were doing on 9/11) |
| Constructive Processes | Processes in which memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events |
| Schemas | Organized bodies of information stored in memory that bias the way new information is interpreted, stored, and recalled; sets of cognitions about people and social experiences |
| Autobiographical Memories | Our recollections of circumstances and episodes from our own lives |
| Decay | The loss of information in memory through its nonuse |
| Interference | The phenomenon by which information in memory disrupts the recall of other information |
| Cue-Dependent Forgetting | Forgetting that occurs when there are insufficient retrieval cues to rekindle information that is in memory |
| Proactive Interference | Interference in which information learned earlier disrupts the recall of newer information |
| Retroactive Interference | Interference in which there is difficulty in the recall of information learned earlier because of later exposure to different material |
| Thinking | Brain activity in which people mentally manipulate information, including words, visual images, sounds, or other data |
| Mental Images | Representations in the mind that resemble the object or event being represented |
| Concepts | Mental groupings of similar objects, events, or people |
| Prototypes | Typical, highly representative samples of a concept |
| Algorithm | A rule that, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to a problem |
| Heuristic | A thinking strategy that may lead us to a solution to a problem or decision, but—unlike algorithms—may sometimes lead to errors |
| Means-Ends Analysis | Problem solving which involves repeated tests for differences between the desired outcome and what currently exists |
| Functional Fixedness | The tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical use |
| Language | The communication of information through symbols arranged according to systematic rules |
| Babble | Meaningless speechlike sounds made by children from around the age of 3 months through 1 year |
| Telegraphic Speech | Sentences in which only essential words are used, typically including only nouns and verbs |
| Overgeneralization | The phenomenon by which children overapply a language rule, thereby making a linguistic error (like adding -ed to walk to create "walked", and adding -ed to run to create "runned") |
| Learning-Theory Approach to Language Development | The theory suggesting that language acquisition (gaining) follows the principles of reinforcement and conditioning |
| Nativist Approach (to Language Development) | Theory that humans are genetically prewired to learn language at certain times and in particular ways |
| Universal Grammar | Noam Chomsky’s theory that all the world’s languages share a common underlying structure |
| Language-Acquisition Device | A neural system of the brain hypothesized by Noam Chomsky to permit understanding of language |
| Interactionist Approach to Language Development | The view that language development is produced through a combination of genetically determined predispositions and environmental circumstances that help teach language |
| Linguistic-Relativity Hypothesis | The hypothesis that language shapes and helps determine the way people perceive and understand the world |
Created by:
KaleighMichelle
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