Chapter 11 Vocab.

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

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

general intelligence (g): a general intelligence factor that according to Spearman and others underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.

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

creativity: the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

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

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

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

intelligence quotient (IQ): defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ=ma/ca x 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100.

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

achievement test: a test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): the WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.

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

normal curve: the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, an fewer and fewer scored like near the extremes.

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

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

content validity: the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as a driving test that samples driving tasks).

criterion: the behavior (such as future college grades) that a test (such as the SAT) is designed to predict; thus, the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity.

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

mental retardation: a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound.

Down syndrome: a condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one's genetic makeup.

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

Chapter 10 Vocabulary

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

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

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

algorithm: 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.

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

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

confirmation bias: a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions.

fixation: the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving.

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

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

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

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

overconfidence: the tendency to be more confident than correct- to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments.

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

belief bias: the tendency fro one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid.

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

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

phoneme: in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

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

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

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

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

babbling stage: beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utter various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.

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

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

telegraphic speech: early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram- “go car”- using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words.

linguistic determinism: Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think.

Chapter 8 vocab... the first half....?

Positive reinforcement: increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

Negative reinforcement: increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengths the response.

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

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

Continuous reinforcement: reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

Partial (intermittent) reinforcement: 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.

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

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

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

Variable-interval schedule: in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

Punishment: an event that decreases the behavior that it follows.

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

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

Intrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior for its own sake.

Extrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishment.

Observational learning: learning by observing others.

Modeling: the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.

Mirror Neurons: 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, language learning, and empathy.

Prosocial behavior: a positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior.

Make sure to check on your own

Chapter 8 (1st half)

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

associative learning: 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).

classical conditioning: a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (US) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.

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

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

unconditioned stimulus (US): in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally – naturally and automatically – triggers a response.

conditioned response (CR): In classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus.

conditioned stimulus (CS): In classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.

acquisition: the initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that in neutral stimulus comes to elicit and conditioned responds. in operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

extinction: the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

spontaneous recovery: the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished response.

generalization: the tendency, onces a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

discrimination: unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members.

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

respondent behavior: behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus; Skinner's term for behavior learned through classical conditioning.

operant behavior: behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

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

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

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

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

Chapter 9 Vocabulary

notepad: the evolution of typing

Memory: the persistence of learning overtime through the storage and retrieval of information.
flashbulb memory: a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment of event.
encoding: the processing of information into the memory system
storage: the retention of encoded information over time
retrieval: the process of getting information out of memory storage.
sensory memory: the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.
short-term memory: activated memory that holds a few item briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.
long-term memory: the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.
working memory: a newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.
automatic processing: unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.
effortful processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
rehearsal: the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.
spacing effect: the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long term retention that is achieved through massed study or practice.
serial position effect: our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.
visual encoding: the encoding of picture images
acoustic encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.
semantic encoding: the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.
imagery: mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.
mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
chinking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.
iconic memory: a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
echoic memory: a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
long-term potentiation: an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.
amnesia: the loss of memory
implicit memory: retention independent of conscious recollection
explicit memory: memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare."
hippocampus: a neural central that is located in the limbic system and helps process explicit memories for storage.
recall: a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.
recognition: a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test.
relearning: a memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.
priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of a particular associations in memory.
deja vu: the errie sense that "I've experienced this before" Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.
mood-congruent memory: the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.
Proactive interference: the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.
retroactive interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information
repression: in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
source amnesia: attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about,read about, or imagined.

Jim does Pavlov experiment on Dwight in "The Office"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3sgR12ZSh8

Sleep Related Articles

Man without sleep for 33 years
I don't even get how this works, but if it's true this guy is amazing.

The Uberman's sleep schedule/ Polyphasic sleep
Sleep about 3-4 hours a day with increased energy.

Class related cool stuff.

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=22913
Auditory processing creates three dimension hearing in "Virtual Haircut"

http://www.cinemaroll.com/Animation/Disney-Films-The-Hidden-Myths-and-Meanings.286739
Disney subliminal messages we talked about.

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=32921
Figure ground example. Close your eyes and think of him spinning the other way, when you open them he will be.

http://www.johnsadowski.com/big_spanish_castle.php#
A simple illusion that demonstrates opponent processing.

Chapter 7 Vocabulary

Biological rhythms: periodic physiological fluctuations
Circadian rhythm: the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness that occur on a 24-hour cycle)
REM sleep: rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active.
Alpha waves: the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.
Sleep: periodic, natural reversible loss of consciousness, as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation.
Hallucinations: false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus
Delta waves: the large, slow brain waves associate with deep sleep.
Narcolepsy: a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often in inopportune times.
Sleep apnea: a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during a sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.
Night terrors: a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during Stage 4 sleep, within two or three ours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered.
Dream: a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind. Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities and incongruities, and for the dreamer’s delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it.
Manifest contest: according to Feud the remembered story lien of a dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden content
Latent content: according to Freud, the underlying meanings of a dream (as distinct its manifest content). Freud believed that a dreams latent content functions as a safety value.
REM rebound: the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakenings during REM sleep).
Hypnosis: a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.
Posthypnotic suggestion: a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors.
Dissociation: a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others.
Psychoactive drug: a chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood.
Tolerance: the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug’s effect.
Withdraw: the discomfort and distress that following discontinuing the use of an addictive drug.
Physical dependence: physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued.
Psychological dependence: a psychological need to sue a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions
Addition: compulsive drug craving and use.
Depressants: the drug (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduces neural activity and slow body functions.
Barbiturates: drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety by impairing memory and judgment.
Opiates: opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporally lessening pain and anxiety.
Stimulants: drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, and ecstasy) that excite neural activity and sleep up body function.
Amphetamines: drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing sped-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes.
Methamphetamine: a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with sped-up body functions and associated energy and moon changes; overtime, appeared to reduce baseline dopamine levels.
Ecstasy (MDMA) a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-term- harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition.
Hallucinogens: psychedelic drugs such as LSD that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.
LSD: a powerful hallucinogenic drug, also known as acid
THC: The major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations