PSYCH 1X03: Exam

Evidence gathered from others’ or ones’ own experience.

Scientific tool used to measure the effect of one variable on another

Variable manipulated by the scientist

Variable being observed by the scientist

Manipulating the independent variable within each participant to minimize the effect of the participant differences on the dependent measure

Question: Which group does not receive the experimental treatment or the manipulation of the independent variable?

An improvement in performance over the course of an experiment as a result of experience, separate from the effect of the independent variable

A variable associated with an independent variable that obscures the effects of the independent variable on the out come. This variable makes it difficult to draw findings and conclusions from an experiment.

A subset of people selected at random, so our sample is most representitive of the larger population. Random sampling ensures everyone has an equal chance of being selected

Assigning participants to either the experimental or control group at random to avoid any biases that may create differences between the groups of participants

The situation where an individual exhibits a response to a treatment that is not due to its real therapeutic effects.

When participants do not know whether they belong to the experimental or control group, or which treatment they are receiving

Actions made by the experimenter, intentionally or not, that influence the outcome of the experiment

Experiments in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know which group each participant belongs to

gives information about data at a glance to give overall idea of the experiment

a type of graph used to report the number of times groups of values appear in a data set

Type of graph illustrating the distribution of how frequently values appear in a data set

A distribution with a characteristical bell-shaped curve containing a single peak

the AVERAGE value of a data set → susceptible to influences of outliers

The value the appears MOST FREQUENTLY in a data set → only one used for non numerical data

The center value in a data set when arranged numerically

A measure of the average of the distance in each data point from the mean

• larger spread → larger standard deviation

• smaller spread → smaller standard deviation

Statistics that allow us to use results from samples to make inferences about overall underlying population

A statistical test that considers each data point from both groups to calculate the probability that two samples were drown from the same population → produces p-value

a probability (0-1) indicating the likelihood of this difference being observed even if no ‘real’ difference exists

When the difference between 2 groups is due to some true difference between the properties of the 2 groups and not simply due to random variation

believing a difference when a difference does not exist → false alarm

Failing to see a difference when a difference does exist → miss

A measure of the strength of the relationship between 2 variables

A number between -1 and +1, denoted by ‘r’ indicating both the strength and direction of the correlation

When one stimulus reliably predicts the presentation of another

The learning of a contingency between a particular signal and a later event that are paired in time and/or space

Any stimulus or event that triggers a response naturally without any prior learning

paired with the unconditioned stimulus to produce a learned contingency

A response that occurs naturally prior to learning

the response that occurs once the contingency between the CS and the US has been learned

The process by which a contingency between a CS and a US is learned

the loss of the CR when the CS no longer predicts the US

The sudden recovery of a conditional response following a rest period after extinction

Going from ideas and general information to a specific conclusion

Going from a specific fact to general ideas

Our difficulty seeing alternative uses for common objects

produces the same result if one person takes in multiple times and they produce a similar result

a test that measures the trait it is supposed to be measuring

The observation that raw IQ scores have been on the rise since 1932 (mean score has always been 100)

A mental framework for interpreting the world around us

Incorporating new information into existing schemas

modifying existing schemas to fit incompatible information

Realization that objects continue to exist when no longer visible

name the stage: difficulty with

• egocentrism

• seration

• reversible relationships

• conservation

the stage where a child still struggles to take in abstract thinking and reasoning

develop an interest in fantasy games and movies

struggles with object permanence

Our tendency to seek out information that supports our hypothesis

A mental shortcut used to solve a problem quickly and correctly

Our tendency to make decisions based on the information that is most quickly available to us

Our tendency to assume that what we are seeing is representative of the larger category we have in our mind

the cognitive ability of an individual to learn from experience, reason well, remember important information, and cope with the demands of daily living

The bias to be systemically affected by the way in which information is presented

the idea that language is regulated by the rules of grammar

words do not represent what they mean

Words in a language can be combined in different ways to describe almost any situation or idea

Language influences our thoughts and the way we perceive and experience the world.

the smallest units of sound that contain information

the smallest unit of sound in speech

The rules that govern how words in a sentence are put together

The meaning of the entire sentence/word

Characterized by drawn-out vowel sounds made up of a variety of combinations of vowels and consonants

The ability of infants to discriminate between any sounds they’re tested on

an innate mechanism, present only in humans, that helps language develop rapidly according to universal rules

Prefer speech sounds over non-speech sounds

helps to focus finite mental resources on key parts of the active scene

recall specific thoughts and behaviours appropriate to your current needs

The ability to classify dissimilar objects together in the same group

The ability to evaluate a situation and act appropriately based on prior experiences

The ability to describe complex ideas or objects using a single label

The feeling that a task must be simple for everyone because it is simple for oneself

We categorize objects by comparing them to internal “best” representation of a given category.

We categorize objects by comparing them to every previously stored experience in a given category

The acts of attending to an object to select it apart from the unattended objects

processes that are involuntary, fast and efficient

processes that require conscious attention, and are slow and effortful

A piece of information is one that appears to naturally pop out at you

participants remember unattended information

The filter model based on the physical characteristics of stimuli

the filter model that includes a semantic filter for meaningful stimuli

The number of items to search through

Increase in difficulty as set size increases

When the object of a visual search is easily found regardless of set size

Participants are told to attend to one stimulus and ignore another. This informs us about the process of selection, and what happens unattended

participants attend to multiple stimuli

What information is being learned

What information is being stored in the brain and how

how we access prior experiences

Any piece of information that can be used to access other information

a memory test where you generate the items yourself

Memory test where options are presented to you

assumes that incoming sensory information is first stored in a short term memory buffer

short term memory capacity

Items at the beginning of the list are the first to enter short term memory