AP Psych MidTerm

the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier--but also more error-prone--use of heuristics.

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms.

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions.

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set.

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving.

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information.

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhabs because of their vididness), we presume such events are common.

the tendency to be more confident than correct--to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.

the way as issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix).

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also the the study of meaning.

the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language.

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in whcih the infant spontaneoulsy utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements.

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram--"go car"--using mostly nouns and verbs.

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

controls language expression--an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

controls language reception--a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

Whorf's hypopthesis that language determines the way we think.

linguist who contended that language determines the way we think; according to his linguistic determinism hypothesis, different languages impose different conceptions of reality: "Language itself shapes a man's basic ideas." Ex. The Hopi have no past tense for their verbs. Therefore, he contended, a Hopi could not so readily think about the past. (it is more accurate to say that language influences thought)

behaviorist who proposed that we learn language by the familiar principles of association (of sights of things with sounds of words), imitation (of words and syntax modeled by others), and reinforcement (with smiles and hugs after saying something right).

linguist who argued that we are born with a language acquisition device that biologically prepares us to learn language and that equips us with a universal grammar, which we use to learn a specific language.

a method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores.

mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

an intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score.

a condition in which a person otherwise limited inmental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.

our abilities are best classified into 8 independent intelligences, which include a broad range of skills beyond traditional school smarts

our intelligence is best classified into three areas that predict real-word success: analytical, creative, and practical.

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological agethat most tyhpically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.

the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford Unviersity) of Binet's original intelligence test.

commissed (with Theodore Simon) by French government, he started the modern intelligence-testing movement by developing questions that helped predict children's future progress in the Parish school system. He believed intelligence more a product of the environment.

while at Stanford University, he revised Binet's word for use in the United States. He believed could help guide people toward appropriate opportunities, but more than Binet, he believed intelligence is inherited. With his help, the U.S. government developed new tests to evaluate both newly arriving immigrants and WWI army recruits--the world's first mass administration of intelligence tests.

a test desinged to assess what a person has learned.

a test designed to predict a person's future performance; the capacity to learn.

the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.

the children's version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, the most widely used intellignece test.

defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group.

the symmetrical bell-shapred curve that describes the distribution of many physical dn psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes.

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, or on retesting.

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest.

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criteria on behavior (Also called criterion-related validity)

also called intellectual disability; a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demand of life; varies from mild to profound.

a condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning)

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events.

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

received a medical degree at age 33, spent next two decades studying the digestive system (earned Russia's first Nobel prize in 1904 for this work), then devoted the last three decades of his life to studying learning. Known for his studies with dogs and classical conditioning.

in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally--naturally and automatically--triggers a response.

in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).

in classical conditioning, an origianlly irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.

in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one learns a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned simulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light preedicts the tone and begins responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning.)

the diminishing oa a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when anundonditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elecit similar responses.

studied taste aversion (with Robert Koelling): gave rats a particular taste, sight, or sound (CS) and later also gave them radiation or drugs (US) that led to nausea and vomiting (UR). Findings: Even if sickened as late as several hours after tasting a particular novel flavor, the rats thereafter avoided that flavor. This appeared to violate the notion that for conditioning to occur, the US must immediately follow the CS. Secondly, the sickened rats developed aversions to tastes but not to sights or sounds. This contradicted the behaviorists' idea that any perceivable stimulus could serve as a CS. Point: We are biologically prepared to learn some associations rather than others.

Pavlov's work provided a basis for his idea that human emotions and behaviors, though biologically influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned responses. With Rosalie Rayner, they showed how specific fears might be conditioned using Baby Albert and a white rat: Little Albert feared loud noises but not white rats.

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking.

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli such as food. Any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. Any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response.

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need.

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer.

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement.

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

an event that decreases the behavior that it follows

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment. for example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised reward or avoid threatened punishment.

learning by observing others.

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.

frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation and empathy.