AP Psychology
Midterm Exam Review
FALL 2015
(History & Approaches - Research Methods - Biological Bases of Behavior - Sensation & Perception - States of Consciousness - Learning - Cognition)
Unit 1: History & Approaches
 Pre-scientific Psychology
o Socrates, Plato, & Descartes: Believed the mind and body were separate entities (dualism) and that most ideas, thoughts, traits,
etc., were inborn. (Nature over Nurture).
o Aristotle and Locke: Believed that the mind and body were connected (monism) and that the mind was a "blank slate" upon
which experience writes (Nurture over Nature)
 Perspectives/Schools of Thought/Approaches:
o Introspection Wundt (Wilhem Wundt)- Father of Psychology; psychology = your conscious experience (mental processes!)
 Titchener (Edward Titchener) Structuralism Functionalism James (William James)o Gestalt Psychology: School of psychology that studies how people perceive and experience objects as whole patterns. Their
motto: "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". Their focus is perception; Wertheimer, Kohler, and Koffka
 Gestalt = German word for “whole”
 Max Wertheimero Psychoanalysis/ Psychoanalytic Perspective: unconscious drives & conflicts; internal unconscious conflict
 Sigmund Freud (Father of Psychoanalysis)- Internal conflicts; unconscious mind;
 Psychodynamic:
 Neo-Freudians: (psychodynamic): Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Carl Jung, Karen Horney
o Erik Erikson- Interested in studying how infants, “basic trust v. mistrust”, “autonomy v. shame & doubt”, etc. –
Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development- each stage focuses on an internal conflict (like Freud’s
theories) that needs to be resolved. Erikson agrees with Freud’s concepts of the unconscious mind, and
internal conflicts, that these things shape who we become, but Erikson’s theories focus on social conflicts, not
sexual & aggressive ideas like Freud. Erik Erikson is a “Neo-Freudian”, psychodynamic perspective, stage
theorist, developmental psychology; (Unit 9 Development) (Unit 10 Personality)
 View disorders other unwanted behavior- caused by internalized anger, other intrapsychic conflicts
o Behaviorism/ Behavioral Perspective: overt, observable behavior (NOT mental processes like consciousness!)
 John B. Watson – Classical conditioning of FEAR with Little Albert
 B. F. Skinner –Operant Conditioning – rewards/reinforcements and punishments- our behaviors are shaped by our
environment; shaping;
 Behaviors are classically or operantly conditioned
 This is a behaviorist view point. Explain why. “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well formed, and my own specified world to
bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to be any type of specialist I might selectdoctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, even a beggar-man and thief….”
o Humanism/ Humanistic Perspective: individual choice; free-will; self-esteem; self-actualization; self-concept; focus on “healthy”
people and how to help them strive to “be all that they can be”.
 Cause of disorders (or other unwanted behaviors): gap between ideal self and real self
 self-actualization –
 Abraham Maslow Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs- “PS BES”: physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness & love needs, esteem
needs, self-actualization!
 Carl Rogers- unconditional positive regard, assumes people are basically “good”; genuineness, acceptance, empathy for us
to grow; client-centered (person-centered) therapy;
 Existentialism- A label for widely different revolts against traditional philosophy, stressing choice, freedom, decision, and
anguish, and emerging strongly during and after the World War II years.
 existential therapies- see client's difficulties as caused by the clients having lost or failed to develop sense of their life
purpose; therapists seek to give client purpose
 Existentialist- a philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human
existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable, influenced humanistic psychology greatly
 Education system loves humanistic approach…
 Haters gon’ hate (critics say): humanistic cannot explain human capacity for evil; cannot explain people in 3 rd world
countries, starving nations, still have esteem & love
o Neuroscience/Biopsychology/ Biological Perspective: physiology (physical systems-the brain, body); neurotransmitters;
o Evolutionary: “survival of the fittest”, survival, aided in survival of ancestors,
 Charles Darwino Cognitive Perspective: Interest in mental processes; importance of how our mind processes and retains information; explores
the ways we perceive, process, and remember information; interested in studying the acquisition of knowledge, planning,
and problem solving
 Explain disorders (maladaptive, abnormal behaviors) are caused by irrational beliefs, ideas; distorted view of reality;
unrealistically negative thoughts; irrational and maladaptive thought processes
o Social-cultural/ Sociocultural Perspective Interested in how behaviors vary with culture
o Bio-psycho-social o Eclecticism/ Eclectic Perspective  Psychology’s Subfields:
o Biological Ψ: Concerned with the links between the brain and nervous system and behavior.
o Social Ψ: The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.
o Cognitive Ψ: The scientific study of how we think, perceive, and solve problems.
o Personality Ψ: Investigation of personality traits.
o Industrial/Organizational Ψ: The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in the
workplace.
o Clinical Ψ: The study, assessment, and treatment of people with mental illnesses. Clinical psychologists hold Ph.D.'s.
o Basic Research: pure experimental research that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.
o Applied Research: Scientific research that aims to solve practical problems.
o Psychiatry: A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians (MD's).
o Developmental Psychology- study of lifespan development, how we change from “womb to tomb”, physical, motor, and
cognitive changes; study changes over time; Study of physical, cognitive, and social changes throughout the lifespan
 Proximodistal trend- children gain movement in the center of their body first, arms and legs last. (Unit 9 Development)
 Cephalocaudal trend- children gain control of head first, and feet last. (Unit 9 Development)
 Psychology’s Big Issues (Debates):
o Nature v. Nurture: the controversy over the relative contributions that genes (nature) and experience (nurture) make to the
development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Nature
Nurture
 Baby you were born this way… genes
 Were you nurtured? How were you raised…
environment
 biology
 experiences
o Stability v. Change: Do our individual traits change as we age or do they remain fairly stable? Also, do our traits change in
different situations?
o Rationality v. Irrationality: Are we in control of our own behavior? Do we have free will or are we at the mercy of unconscious
desires or our environment? Do we really deserve to be called homo sapiens?
 Define each & name the perspective/approach for each treatment type below:
o Systematic desensitizationo Rational-emotive behavioral therapyo Client-centered therapyo Electroconvulsive therapyo Free association-
Unit 2: Research Methods
 Types of Research:
o Experiment Hypothesis Independent variable Dependent variable Experimental group Control Groupo Case Studyo Correlationalo Surveyso Naturalistic Observationo Lab Observationo Cross Sectional o Longitudinal –
 Confounding variable Why replicate studies?
 Operational Definition Representative sample Sampling bias Placebo effect Social desirability/Social desirability bias- tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself.
 Random assignment Correlational Coefficient ( r ) o Positive Correlation –
o Negative Correlationo Strength?
 Measures of Central Tendency(know what each type tells us about our data, don’t focus so much on math equation aspect of each)
o Meano Mediano Mode Measures of Variationo Rangeo Standard deviation statistical significance Types of graphs/charts (explain and draw a pic of each, correctly label the axis, etc.):
o frequency distributiono histogramo stem-and-leaf ploto scatterplot scatterplot with negative correlation:
 scatterplot with positive correlation:
o normal curveo positive skewo negative skew Ethical Guidelines/Principles developed by the American Psychological Association:
Unit 3: Biological Bases of Behavior
 Draw, label, explain parts of the neuron:
o Receptor siteso Dendriteso Soma (cell body)o Axono Myelin Sheatho Axon Terminal Brancheso Terminal Buttonso Synapse Explain neural communication:
 Types of neurons:
o Afferent Neuron (Sensory neuron)o Interneurono Efferent Neuron (Motor Neuron) Resting potential Action Potential All-or-none Response Depolarization Reuptake Agonists Antagonists Neurotransmitters(define, explain, know what happens when there is too much, too little, examples of medications, etc.)
o Acetylcholine (ACH)o Dopamineo Serotonin Fluoxetine (Prozac ®)- blocks reuptake and increases the level of serotonin in the synapses
 SSRIs?
o GABAo Endorphinso Epinephrineo Norepinephrine Blocks reuptake of neurotransmitter molecules Glial cells Nodes of Ranvier Hypothalamuso Ventromedial hypothalamuso Lateral hypothalamus Identify the brain part(s) and explain:
o Hearing difficultieso Difficulty controlling balance and coordinationo Difficulty controlling emotionso Difficulty with speech production What would happen if you damaged these parts? Stimulated them? :
o Hypothalamuso Frontal lobeo Reticular formationo Amygdalao Thalamus-
 Alcohol interferes with the brain’s ability to form new memories in what brain part?
 Angular gyrus Hippocampus Parasympathetic nervous system Sympathetic nervous system Ventricular system Neural Plasticity Contralateral Control Cerebral Cortexo Left Braino Right Braino 4 Lobes:
 Frontal Broca’s Area Motor Cortex Parietal Sensory Cortex Association Areas Occipital Visual cortex Temporal Wernicke’s Area Auditory Cortex Tools of Discovery (methods to study the brain):
o Accidents Phineas Gage –
o Lesionso MRIo CAT scanso PET scanso FMRIo EEG Long Term Potentiation- (LTP) Estrogen Testosterone Melatonin Insulin Leptin Substance P-
Unit 4: Sensation & Perception
 Prosopagnosia Sensation:
o Bottom-up Processingo Absolute thresholdo Signal detection theoryo Subliminal –
o Difference Thresholdo Just Noticeable Differenceo Weber’s Lawo Fechner’s Lawo Sensory Adaptationo Habituation Transduction  Vision:
o Transduction of vision is in the retina!
o Corneao Pupilo Iriso Lens Accommodationo Retina Rods Cones Bipolar cells Ganglion cells Blindspoto Fovea Foveal Visiono Correct path a neural impulse will follow through the different layers of the retina?
o Trichromatic (3-Color) Theoryo Opponent Process Theory of Vision After-Images-
 Audition (Hearing):
o Semicircular canalso Frequency of sound waveso Amplitude of sound waveso Pitch Perception Frequency theory Place theoryo Location of sound? Apparent distance of sound?
 Gustation (Taste)- (read & take detailed notes on the 4 paragraphs on TASTE in your text p.207)
o Sweeto Souro Saltyo Bittero Umami Monosodium glutamate (MSG)-
o Inborn distaste for bitter?
 Olfaction (Smell) Vestibularo Semicircular canals Kinesthetico Body’s posture and head position
 Paino Gate Control Theory of Pain Perception:
o Top-down Processingo Selective attention Cocktail party effecto Inattentional blindnesso Change blindnesso Primingo Attention & Multitasking:
o Parallel processingo Feature Detectors- (Hubel & Wiesel) –
 Gestalt Psychology:
o Max Wertheimer- German psychologist, founded Gestalt Psychology in early 1900s
o Gestalt = “whole”; “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (perception)
o Gestalt Psychologists- we actively process our sensations according to consistent perceptual rules. These rules create whole
perceptions, or gestalts, that are meaningful, symmetrical, and as simple as conditions will allow
o Figure-groundo Grouping- perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
o Gestalt Rules of Grouping: (explain and get a picture of each)
 Proximity Similarity Continuity Connectedness—
 Closure Depth Perceptiono Gibson’s Visual Cliffo Binocular Cues Convergence Retinal Disparityo Monocular Cues Relative Size Interposition Relative Clarity Texture Gradient Relative height Relative Motion (motion parallax) Linear perspective Aerial Perspective Atmospheric perspective- Objects in the distance have a bluish tint and appear more blurred than objects close at hand
 Light and Shadow-
 Which monocular cue for depth?
 Looking down a railroad track as it disappears into the distance Looking out a train window at passing scenery Throwing a ball to a friend Watching two people approach from different distances Watching a crowd of children at play in a school yard Motion Perception:
o Stroboscopic motiono Phi phenomenono Autokinetic illusion- perceptions of motion caused by movement of the eyes rather than objects
 Perceptual constancy- The tendency to perceive objects as maintaining stable properties, such as size, shape, brightness, and color,
despite differences in distance, viewing angle, and lighting
o Color constancy- perceiving objects as the same color even though they are different shades
o Size constancy- perceiving objects as being about the same size when they move farther away
o Shape constancy- tendency to perceive objects as having a stable or unchanging shape regardless of changes in the retinal
image resulting from differences in viewing angle
 The Mϋller-Lyer illusion Parallel processing Multitasking?
Unit 5: States of Consciousness
 Consciousness William James Levels of Information Processing Levels of Awareness:
o Controlled processeso Automatic processeso Subconsciouso No awareness Daydreams Biological Rhythms Circadian Rhythmso Sleep-wake cycleo Disrupt circadian rhythms…
 Rotating Work Schedules/ Shift Work Jet-Lag
“I’m so jet-lagged from Australia”
“You are, why”
 Sleep:
o Electroencephalogram (EEG)o NREM Sleep NREM 1- (Stage 1)  NREM 2- (Stage 2) –
 Sleep spindles NREM 3 (Stages 3 & 4)o REM Sleep Paradoxical sleep Dreams
 Genital arousal
 Relaxed muscles
 Body is “paralyzed”
o Sleep Cycles:
 Order of sleep cycle, how many each night, etc.
 When is the MOST amount of REM sleep?
 When is the LEAST amount of REM Sleep?
 Theories of Sleep:
o Restoration Theoryo Adaptive Theory -
“B/c I just got back from Australia”
 Theory of Dreams:
o Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic View The Interpretation of Dreams Manifest Content Latent Contento Activation Synthesis View Sleep Disorders:
o Insomniao Sleep Apneao Sleepwalkingo Night Terrorso Narcolepsy Hypnosiso Posthypnotic amnesiao Anton Mesmer- “animal magnetism” – “mesmerized’
 Psychoactive Drugs: chemicals that change conscious awareness, mood, and or perception; substances that cross the blood brain
barrier
o blood-brain barrier- enables the brain to fence out unwanted chemicals circulation the block, and some chemicals don’t have
the right shape to slither through this barrier
 Parkinson’s disease: tremors b/c death of nerve cells that produce dopamine; cannot give them Dopamine b/c it doesn’t
cross the blood brain barrier, give them L-Dopa, raw material can pass through, and brain converts it to Dopamine.
o Agnostic Drugso Antagonistic Drugso Withdrawalo Toleranceo Reverse Tolerance- a drug user's experiencing the desired effects from lesser amounts of the same drug (usually
Hallucinogens)
o Physical Dependenceo Psychological Dependence Types of Psychoactive Drugs:
o Depressants- slow the body’s functions; “downers”, calm neural activity and slow body functions
 Alcohol- most widely used depressant
 Barbiturates (tranquilizers)- mimic effects of alcohol; depress sympathetic nervous system (part of the CNS) activity;
sometimes prescribed for sleep and anxiety disorders; reduce anxiety but impair memory and judgment
 Anti-Anxiety drugs- Valium
 Opiates- (sometimes considered a Depressant, sometimes in its own category “opiates”)- pain killers- numb the senses and
relieve pain; morphine, heroine, codeine; extremely addictive; withdrawal is excruciatingly painful
 Endorphins- body’s natural pain killers/opiates
o Stimulants- “uppers”; excite neural activity and arouse body functions
 Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine;
 Amphetamineso Hallucinogens- “psychedelics”; “mind manifesting” drugs; produce sensory or perceptual distortions called hallucinations
 Hallucination – sensory perception in the absence of sensory input
 Marijuana; LSD;
 Mescaline- (Peyote) - psychedelic drug derived from the peyote cactus.
o MDMA (Ecstasy) - Synthetic club drug that combines stimulant and mild psychedelic effects. (Stimulant + Hallucinogen)
Unit 6: Learning
 Instincts Learning Classical Conditioning:
o Ivan Pavlovo Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)o Unconditioned Response (UCR)o Neutral Stimulus (NS)o Conditioned Stimuluso Conditioned Responseo Acquisitiono Extinctiono Spontaneous Recoveryo Generalization (Stimulus Generalization)o Discriminationo Higher-order Conditioningo Garcia’s Taste Aversiono John B. Watson- Classically Conditioning of Fear, Little Albert:
 Operant Conditioning:
o Rewards/Reinforcements, Punishments
o Edward L. Thorndike Thorndike’s Law of Effecto B.F. Skinnero Reinforcement Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement Appetitive stimulus Aversive stimuluso Types of Reinforcers:
 Primary Reinforcement Secondary Reinforcement (Conditioned Reinforcement) Continuous Reinforcement Intermittent Reinforcement (Partial Reinforcement) Fixed Ratio Schedule Variable Ratio Schedule- (Gamblers Schedule) Fixed Interval Schedule Variable Interval Scheduleo Punishment Positive Punishment Negative Punishment- (Omission Training) ( Time-Out Training) Effects of Punishmento Shapingo Token Economyo Premack Principleo Overjustification Effect Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation-
 Observational Learningo Social Learning (Social Learning Theory) o Albert Bandura Bobo Doll Experiment-
 Self-Efficacy - coined by Albert Bandura, self-efficacy is a person's belief in his or her ability to complete a future task or
solve a future problem. For example, if a person believes he is a brilliant scientist and can complete any scientific
experiment, he has a high self-efficacy in science because he believes in his competency to perform a future
experiment. Whether it is true that he is brilliant in science or not doesn't really matter. It only matters what he
believes. Self-Efficacy can also influence your goals, actions, and successes (or failures) in life. If your self-efficacy in an
area is much lower than your ability, you will never challenge yourself or improve. If your self-efficacy in an area is
much higher than your ability, you will set goals that are too high, fail, and possibly quit. The ideal self-efficacy is slightly
above a person's ability: high enough to be challenging while still being realistic
 Reciprocal Determinism- According to Albert Bandura, a person's behavior is both influenced by and influences a person's
personal factors and the environment. Bandura suggests that a person's behavior can be conditioned through the
operant conditioning (use of consequences like reward and punishment); he also believes that a person's behavior can
impact the environment. So it is not just that you are influenced by your environment, but that you also influence the
environment around you--each impacts the other
o Modelingo Mirror Neuronso Vicarious Learning Vicarious Reinforcement Vicarious Punishmento Prosocial Behavioro Antisocial Effectso Violence Effecto Violent TV & Video Games:
 Insight Learningo Wolfgang Kohler Sultan Latent Learningo Edward Tolmano Cognitive Map Personal Control o Copeo Problem-focused copingo Emotion focused copingo Learned Helplessness Martin Seligman
o Locus of Control Julian Rotter External Locus of Control Internal Locus of Control Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)-
Unit 7: Cognition
Cognition:
 Cognitive psychology focuses on:
 Cognitive therapists- focus on changing the ways in which the patient interprets events.
 How would cognitive therapists view depression (& other types of abnormal functioning/disorders)?
o Cognitive perspective assumes that abnormal functioning results from unreasonable beliefs or assumptions
 Role of a therapist in cognitive therapy is to identify the client’s irrational beliefs and provide alternative ways of believing
 Cognitive Therapies: cognitive therapists locate the cause of psychological problems in the way people think, their methods of
therapy concentrate on changing these unhealthy thought patterns. Cognitive therapy is quite often combative (aggressive) as
therapists challenge the irrational thinking patterns of their clients. In other words, the therapist often give advice using strong
words in an attempt to break the unreasonable thoughts of the client.
o Rational Emotive Therapy- (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, REBT) - Albert Ellis created what we know as Rational Emotive
Therapy (REBT). Therapists employing REBT look to expose and confront the dysfunctional thoughts of their clients. For
instance, someone suffering from a social phobia (speaking in public) might voice concern over being publicly embarrassed
when giving a class presentation. By using REBT, a therapist would question both the likelihood of such embarrassment
occurring and the impact that would result. The therapist's goal would be to show the client that not only that his or her
failure an unlikely occurrence but that, even if it did occur, it would not be such a big deal.
o Aaron Beck’s cognitive therapy model of treatment:
 Aaron Beck is the biggest guy in this field and he created Cognitive Therapy, a process most often used to treat depression.
This method involves trying to get clients to engage in pursuits that will bring them success. He is often quoted as
saying "we have to take the dark sunglasses of depression off and see the world for the bright, wonderful place it is"
(change your perspective). Beck explains depression using the cognitive triad, people's beliefs about themselves, their
worlds, and their futures. People suffering from depression often have irrationally negative beliefs about all three of
these areas. Cognitive therapy aims to make these beliefs more positive
 Cognitive Triad- a cognitive model developed by Aaron Beck to describe the cause of depression. He proposed that 3
types of negative thoughts lead to depression: thoughts about the self, the world/environment, and the future.
People suffering from depression will attribute negative and unpleasant events to their personal failings (self) and
to the unfair and unforgiving world. The future is perceived to be bleak and devoid of hope with their troubles
lasting forever. The components of the triad feed and strengthen each other with negative viewpoints in one area
making the other parts of the triad stronger. Attributions of events come from maladaptive beliefs about the self,
the world, and the future. Cognitive therapy focuses on changing these pessimistic ways of thinking in order to
alleviate bad symptoms. This could be done by pointing out the positive qualities of the depressed patient, the
world, and their future
 Cognitive distortion- ways that our mind convinces us of something that isn't really true. These inaccurate thoughts are usually used
to reinforce negative thinking or emotions — telling ourselves things that sound rational and accurate, but really only serve to
keep us feeling bad about ourselves
 Cognitive restructuring (in therapy)- therapeutic process of learning to identify and dispute irrational or maladaptive thoughts known
as cognitive distortions,- such as all-or-nothing thinking (splitting), magical thinking, filtering, over-generalization, magnification,
and emotional reasoning, which are commonly associated with many mental health disorders. Cognitive Restructuring (CR)
employs many strategies, such as Socratic questioning, thought recording and guided imagery and is used in many types of
therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and rational emotive therapy (RET). A number of studies demonstrate
considerable efficacy in using CR-based therapies
 Cognitive psychologists are most likely to study the acquisition of knowledge, planning, and problem solving
Memory:
 Memory Information Processing Model:
o Encodingo Storageo Retrieval Parallel Processing Atkinson & Shiffrin’s 3 Stage (3 Box) Processing Modelo Sensory Memory (Sensory Registry) Iconic Memory- (Sperling’s Iconic Memory) Echoic Memoryo Short Term Memory (STM) working memoryo Long Term Memory (LTM) –
 Automatic Processingo Space
o Time
o Frequency
o Well learned informationo Implicit Memories Effortful Processingo Rote Studyo Chunkingo Mnemonics Method of Loci Peg-word Systemo Hierarchieso Spacing Effecto Testing Effecto Acronymso Link method- Forming a mental image of items to be remembered in a way that links them together.
o Key-word method- A mnemonic technique in which one associates a concrete word with an abstract word and generates an
image to represent the concrete word.
o paired-associate learning- learning procedure in which items to be recalled are learned in pairs; during recall, one member of
the pair is presented and theF other is to be recalled; learning vocabulary in another language is a good example.
 Levels of Processing:
o Shallow processing Maintenance rehearsalo Deep processing Elaborative rehearsal-
o Craik & Tulving:
 Visual Encoding Acoustic Encoding Semantic Encoding Types of Long Term Memory (Endel Tulving):
o Implicit Memories- (non-declarative) Procedural Memories Cerebellum Basal gangliao Explicit Memories- (declarative) Episodic Memories Semantic Memories Hippocampus Amnesia Retrieval: Getting Info Out:
o Recallo Recognitiono Relearningo Rehearsal Overlearningo Ebbinghaus Retention Curveo Next-in-line effecto Sleep learning? No. Not w/o rehearsal, info presented an hour before sleep is well remembered though!
o Retrieval cues Priming Déjà vu Context-Dependent Memory State-Dependent Memory Mood- Congruent Memoryo ‘rosy retrospection’o Serial position effect Primacy Effect Recency Effect Emotion & Memories:
o Amygdalao Flashbulb Memories Long Term Potentiation (LTP) Forgetting:
o Cue-dependent forgetting- when environmental cues that were present during learning but absent during recall the effect to
remember is less successful.
o Organic amnesiao Anterograde Amnesiao Retrograde Amnesiao Brain structures & amnesia:
o Hippocampus, alcohol, memory:
o Decay Theory- (Storage Decay)o 3 Sins of Forgetting:
 Absent-mindedness- inattention to details produces encoding failure ( our mind is elsewhere)
 Transience- storage decay over time (unused information fades)
 Blocking- inaccessibility of stored information (it may be on the tip of our tongue), but we experience retrieval failure, we
cannot get it out.
 Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenono 3 Sins of Distortion:
 Misattribution - confusing the source of information (putting words in someone else’s mouth or remembering a movie
scene as an actual happening
 Suggestibility- the lingering effects of misinformation (a leading question – “Did Mr. Jones touch your private parts?”- later
becomes a young child’s false memory)
 Bias- belief colored recollections (someone’s current feelings toward their fiancé may color their recalled initial feelings)
o 1 Sin of Intrusion:
 Persistence- unwanted memories (being haunted by images of sexual assault)
 Encoding Failure-
 Storage Decayo Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve-
 Retrieval Failure-
 Interferenceo Proactive Interferenceo Retroactive Interference Motivated Forgettingo Repression-
 When do we forget?
 Memory Construction-
o False Memorieso Misinformation effect-Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event
o Elizabeth Loftus:
 Memory Construction Eyewitness Testimony:
 Accuracy of eyewitness testimony can be influenced by the way questions are phrased (Leading Questions)
 Children are particularly susceptible to having false memories planted
 There is little correlation between witness certainty and witness accuracy. Witnesses who believe they are correct are
no more likely to be correct than witnesses who are not sure. (overconfidence)
 Leading questionso Source amnesia- Attributing to the wrong source an event that we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined.
(Also called source misattribution) Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false
memories.
o Déjà vuo Children’s Eye Witness Recall…
o Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse…
 Recovered memories of abuse?
 False memory syndrome- a disruptive condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but
strongly believed memory of traumatic experience; the person resists disconfirming information and may become so
focused on the memory as to avoid coping with real problems
 APA (American Psych. Association) & others agree – in protecting abused children & those committed to protecting
wrongly accused adults agree on the following:
 Injustice happens- some innocent people have been falsely convicted. Some guilty people have evaded responsibility
by casting doubt on their truth-telling accusers.
 Incest happens- and it happens more often that we once supposed. There is no characteristic, “survivor syndrome”.
However, abuse can leave its victims predisposed to problems form sexual dysfunction to depression.
 Forgetting happens- forgetting isolated past events (bot good & bad events) is an ordinary part of everyday life
 Recovered memories are commonplace- cued by a remark or an experience, we recover memories of long-forgotten
events (good & bad), what is debated is whether the unconscious mind sometimes forcible represses painful
experiences, and if so, whether these can be retrieved by certain therapist-aided techniques
 Memories “recovered” under hypnosis or the influence of drugs are especially unreliable.
 Memories of things happening before age 3 are also unreliable
o Infantile amnesia- no memories before the age of 3
 Memories, whether real or false, can be emotionally upsetting.
Thinking:
 Cognition- mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
 Mental rotations- mentally rotating an image or object in our mind’s eye
 Mental images Concept Prototype Schemaso Script- type of schema that involves typical sequence of behavior expected ant an everyday event. (scripts for “riding a school
bus, attending a class, going to a party, taking a date to a movie”)
o Accommodationo Assimilation Problem Solving:
o Algorithmo Heuristics Availability Heuristic Representativeness Heuristic Means-End Analysis- a heuristic; probably most use; combines hillclimbing and subgoals; analyze a difference between the
current situation and the desired outcome, then do something to reduce the difference; does not preprint detours
from final goal; example: pitcher's strategy with best batter-ultimate goal-to win game and keep batters off the base, a
walk the best batter to eliminate more runs
o Insighto syllogism -the logical problem in which the goal is to determine the validity of a conclusion given two or more premises
o Ill-structured problems- Problems for which a clear path to the solution is not known.
o Incubation - a process by which a problem solver stops focusing conscious attention on solving the problem for a while and
lets the work continue
o Inductive Reasoningo Deductive Reasoning Obstacles in Problem Solving:
o Overconfidenceo Hindsight Biaso Belief Biaso Belief Perseveranceo Confirmation Biaso Fixationo Mental set- (rigidity)o Functional Fixedness-
o Framing Creativity:
o Convergent Thinkingo Divergent Thinking (Divergent Thought)o Creative people should have ideas that are novel, new, original AND valuable, useful.
o Intelligence & Creativity: people who do well on intelligence tests also do well on creativity tests; but beyond a certain level, IQ
of about 120, the correlation between intelligence scores and creativity shrinks
o Sternberg’s 5 Components of Creativity:
 Expertise
 Imaginative thinking skills
 A venturesome personality
 Intrinsic motivation
 Creative environment
Language:
 Language Motherese- maternal speech to infants in tonal language
 Language Structure:
o Phonemeso Morphemes Lexicon- The entire set of morphemes in a given language or in a given person's linguistic repertoire
o Grammar- system of rules that enables us to communicate with one another. Grammatical rules guide us in deriving meaning
from sounds (semantics) and in ordering words into sentences (syntax)
 Semantics- rules for deriving meaning from sounds
 Syntax- rules for ordering words into sentences
o Overgeneralization or overregulation of language- Overgeneralization in language occurs when a grammar rule is not used
correctly. For example while explaining her adventure to her brother, Jessie may make a word plural when it is supposed to
be in the singular form.
o Sentence structures:
 Surface Deep Language Development:
o Children’s language development mirrors language structure- it moves form simplicity to complexity (simple to complex)
o Infants- “in fantis” means “not speaking
o Babbling Stage 4 months- babies can read lips and discriminate speech sounds- they prefer to look at the face that matches the sounds
 Babies babble using all phonemes- no difference b/w French, Korean, or Ethiopian babies
 Deaf babies babble (repeat syllable like gestures)
 10 months- phoneme sounds outside the infant’s native tongue begin to disappear
o One-word Stage- (holophrasing)- the stage from about 1 to 2 years old during which a child speaks mostly in single words dynamic versus static objects i.e. daddy versus chair also known as holophrase speech
 About 1 yrs. old
o Two-Word Stage- stage in which children around age 2 begin to communicate in 2 word sentence, characterized by
 Telegraphic speech- early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram--'go car'--using mostly nouns and verbs and
omitting 'auxiliary' words
 About 2 yrs. old
o After 2 yrs. old, language develops rapidly into complete sentences
 Explaining Language Development:
o Noam Chomsky Inborn, universal grammar Language is brain function rather than a social phenomenon- Chomsky’s ideas led to boom in Cognitive Perspective
 What does Chomsky think of B.F. Skinner’s ideas that kids learn language only through reinforcement (Behaviorism)?
 Nativist Theory of Language Acquisition Language Acquisition Device
 Noam Chomsky & understanding a sentence involves the transformation between surface to deep structures (EXPLAIN
THIS)
 Noam Chomsky- how do humans learn language?
 The Brain & Language:
o Aphasia Broca’s Aphasia Wernicke’s Aphasiao Broca’s Areao Wernicke’s Areao Neurological Disorders that affect the ability to speak correctly:
 Strokes that damage left hemisphere areas of language ability, including Broca’s Area and Wernicke’s Area
 Williams Syndrome Autism Aphasia Deafness Language & Thought:
o Benjamin Whorf Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis Linguistic determinismo Denotation- explicit definition of the word, commonly thought of as the dictionary definition
o Connotation- underlying, secondary meaning of the word, commonly thought of as the emotional or contextual meaning
Additional facts that we’ll learn next semester (these will help you with process of elimination):
Development (Unit 9)

Object permanenceo In Piaget's theory, the sensorimotor stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world
mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.
o Develop object permanence, babies do not realize that objects continue to exist once out of sensory range.



AttachmentMaturation-
Abnormal (Unit 12):



Dissociative FugueDissociative Amnesia- (psychogenic amnesia)Conversion Disorder-
Social Psychology (Unit 14):


Cognitive dissonanceActor-observer bias- attributing internal attributes to others and situational factors to oneself