Psychology CLEP Cheat Sheet

-Struc­t­​­ur­­alist

-Known as the “father of experi­­mental psycho­­logy”

-Founder of the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879

-Funct­i­­­on­­alist

-Consc­ience and behavior helped people and animals adjust to the enviro­­­n­ment.

-Father of modern Psychology

-inde​­p­e­ndent variable - cause

-expe​­r­i­m​­­ental group - exposed to cause

-control group - not exposed to cause

-depe​­ndent variable - effect (measures how subjects behave)

-blind study - subjects don't know if they get drug or placebo

-doub​­l­e­-​­­blind study - subjects & resear­­​chers don't know who gets drug/p­­​l­acebo

-corr​­e­l­ation coeffi­­​cient - describes strength of relati­­​o­nship

-Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Titchener

-Wanted to discover form of mental experi­­​ence. Intr​o­­sp­​­e­ct​ion reporting own conscious thoughts and feelings

-Uses the method of intros­­pe­ction to identify the basic elements or “struc­­tures” of psycho­­lo­gical experience

-believes us to be as a conseq­­uence of our genetics and physiology

-only approach that examines thoughts, feelings, and behaviors from a biological (physical) point of view

-all thoughts, feeling & behavior ultimately have a biological cause

-all human functi­­oning is based upon the intera­­ction of drives and forces within the person

-Exa­m­ple...Nail biting may be caused by an anxiety inducing childhood event.

-Insomnia - recurring difficulty falling asleep.

-Narco­lepsy - sudden and uncont­rol­lable attacks of sleep during waking hours.

-Sleep Apnea - stop breathing during sleep which wakes them long enough to breathe. This can occur 100's of times a night

-theory of mind of the Berlin School of experi­­mental psycho­­logy.

-Gestalt psychology tries to understand the laws of our ability to acquire and maintain meaningful
percep­­tions in an apparently chaotic world.

-Roots in theories by Hume, Goethe, Kant.

-Max Werthe­­im­er's unique contri­­bution was to insist that the "­­ge­s­t­al­­t" is percep­­tually primary, defining
the parts it was composed from, rather than being a secondary quality that emerges from those parts.

-A predis­pos­ition to perceive things in a certain way.

-We often tend to notice only certain aspects of an object or situation while ignoring other details.

-Crying baby girl - weak & scared

-Crying baby boy - strong and mad

-Expect the mail man and hear noises but he is not there.

-regr­e­ss­ion returning to earlier way of behaving (adult throwing temper tantrum)

-rati­o­na­­liz­­ation attempts to justify irrational behavior with rational arguments

-proj­e­ct­ion attrib­­uting charac­­te­r­i­stics you don't like in yourself to other people

-reaction format­ion involve doing opposite of what you really want to do

-Subl­i­ma­tion channeling of impulses or energies regarded as unacce­­pt­able, especially sexual desires, toward activities regarded as more socially accept­­able, often creative activities

-disp­l­ac­­ement anger is directed elsewhere not necess­­arily socially acceptably (kick the dog instead of your boss)

-People aren't merely machines with determined behaviors.

-People are motivated by desire for optimal growth and develo­­pment
self­-­ac­­tua­­li­z­a­tion.

-All have unique desire­­s/­s­k­il­­ls/­­needs. Must be able to express them.

-People basically good, focus on positive aspects of develo­­pment.

-Natur­alistic observ­ation is a research method in which people or other subjects are observed in their natural setting.

-Psych­olo­gists and other social scientists use natura­listic observ­ation to study specific social or cultural settings that couldn­'t be invest­igated in other ways, such as prisons, bars, and hospitals.

James-­Lange Theory

-Stimu­lating events trigger a physical reaction.

-You are walking down a dark alley late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens. Due to these physio­logical changes your body prepares for a fearful situation. You then experience fear.

Cannon­-Bard Theory

-Stimu­lating events trigger feelings and physical reactions that occur at the same time.

-You are walking down a dark alley late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens. At the same time as these physio­logical changes occur you also experience the emotion of fear.

Schach­ter­-Singer (Two-F­actor) Theory

-Two factors are needed to experience emotion. First, enviro­nmental stimuli elicits a physio­logical response. Second, we cognit­ively appraise this physio­logical activity, and try to give it the correct label.

-You are walking down a dark alley late at night.You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens. Upon noticing this arousal you realize that is comes from the fact that you are walking down a dark alley by yourself. This behavior is dangerous and therefore you feel the emotion of fear.

Lazaru­s' Cognit­ive­-Me­dia­tional Theory

-A thought must come before any emotion or physio­logical arousal. In other words, you must first think about your situation before you can experience an emotion. the stimulus leads to a personal meaning derived from cognition, leading to both arousal and the emotion.

-The sound of a gunshot, for example, is interp­reted as something potent­ially dangerous and leads to both physio­logical responses, like a rapid heart rate and trembling, and the subjective experience of fear.
-You are walking down a dark alley late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens. Upon noticing this arousal you realize that is comes from the fact that you are walking down a dark alley by yourself. This behavior is dangerous and therefore you feel the emotion of fear.

-two photor­­ec­e­ptors in retina, rods & cones - change physical light energy into neural messages (trans­­du­c­tion)

-The rods more numerous, (120 million), & more sensitive than cones. But they're not sensitive to color.

-The 6 to 7 million cones provide eye's color sensit­­ivity. They're more concen­­trated in the central yellow spot (mac­ula). In the center of that region is the "­­fovea centra­lis ", a 0.3 mm diameter rod-free area with very thin, densely packed cones.

-iris - controls pupil size and amount of light
-optic nerve - eye signals to brain
-retina - light sensitive inner eye surface
-lens - between pupil and retina, focuses light

-The mind actively processes inform­ation from our senses (touch, taste etc.).

-Between stimulus and response are complex mental processes, which can be studied scient­ifi­cally.

-Humans can be seen as data processing systems.

-The workings of a computer and the human mind are alike – they encode and store inform­ation, and they have outputs.

Stages of Cognitive Develo­­pment

-Senso­rimotor stage: birth to 2 years
-can't differ­­en­tiate self from enviro­­nment

-Preop­era­tional stage: ages 2 to 7
-table world, language, symbols, fantas­­y/­r­e­ality, object perman­­ence, no logical reasoning, lack conser­­va­tion, egocentric

-Concrete operat­ional stage: ages 7 to 11
-logic rules, concrete, cause/­­ef­fect, role taking

-Formal operat­ional stage: ages 12 and up
-logic of science, abstract thinking, metaphors

-Corre­lat­ional
-seeks to figure out if two or more variables are related and in what way.
-Is smoking associated with Alzhei­mer­'s disease?

-Descr­iptive
-do not test specific relati­onships between variables, non-ex­per­imental
-survey

-Natur­alistic
-observes and records behavior in its natural setting while interf­ering as little as possible with the subjects or behavior

-Quasi­-Ex­per­iment
-subjects are assigned to groups based on non-random criteria

-Clinical
-separate groups (exper­imental and control)
-exper­imental receives treatment and control does not (placebo)

Arousal Theory A theory of motivation suggesting that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of alertness and physical and mental activa­­tion.

Instinct Theory all organisms are born with innate biological tendencies to help them survive. All behaviors are driven by instincts (goal-­­di­r­ected and innate patterns of behavior that are not the result of learning or experi­­ence). (babies root)

Drive Reduction Theory physio­­­l­o­gical need creates an aroused tension state (drive) motivating fulfil­­­lment of the need -- homeos­­­tasis

Theory X type X indivi­­duals are inherently lazy and unhappy with their jobs. Therefore, an author­­it­arian management style is required to ensure fulfil­­lment of the indivi­­du­als­' object­­ives.

Theory Y managers assume employees can be ambitious, self-m­­ot­i­vated and exercise self-c­­on­trol. Employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties and for them, work is as natural as play

Aggression
frus­t­ra­­tio­­n-­a­g­gr­­ession hypoth­­esis aggression is always product of frustr­­ation and frustr­­ation leads to aggression (wrong, sometimes frustr­­ation= cry)

more testos­­terone = more aggression

aggr­e­ssive cues - guns, knives, black clothing = higher levels of aggression among provoked people = weapons effect

Altr­uism

Kitty Genovese - raped and murdered 1964 in front of 38 witnesses who did not help (bys­t­ander effect)

soci­a­l-­­exc­­hange theory = maximize rewards minimize costs (minimax princi­­ple)

Encourage helping behavior: social respon­­si­b­ility norm help people who need it & reci­p­rocity norm help people who help us. kin selection hypoth­­esis helping family leads to our genes passed on

Rely on drugs or surgery. Alter the way brain functions

Depression - low serotonin neurot­­ra­n­s­mitter
Anti-d­­ep­r­e­ssants (Prozac, Pail, Zoloft) prevent re-uptake of serotonin (SSRI) result in elevated mood

Anti-a­­nxiety drugs (Librium, Valium) reduce arousal, depress activity in CNS

Anti-p­­sy­c­h­otics (Cloza­­pine, Thorazine) treat symptoms of schizo­­ph­r­enia. block operation of neurot­­ra­n­s­mitter dopamine

Barbit­­urates (tranq­­ui­l­izer) (opiate)

Opiates - opium, decreases nervous system, addictive, side effects

-Funct­i­o­na­­lists focus on the purpose of behavior

-An example of functi­­on­alism is describing an apple. An apple is provides vitamins to keep you healthy.

-How mental experi­­­ences were adaptive & functional for people.

-Believed consci­­­o­u­sness and behavior in general, helped people­­­/­a­n­­imals adjust to enviro­­­n­m­ents.

-William James, John Dewey, Harvey Carr, John Angell

-learned responses to predic­­­table patterns of enviro­­­n­m­ental stimuli

-Pavlov (classical condit­­­i­o­ning)

-Skinner (operant condit­­­i­o­ning)

-study animals to apply to humans

-The process of learning by watching the behaviors of others.

-The targeted behavior is watched, memorized, and then mimicked.

-Also known as shaping and modeling, observ­ational learning is most common in children as they imitate behaviors of adults.

-1886 specia­­lized in nervous disorders (talking cure)

-ID - pleasure principle (immediate gratif­­ic­a­tion, impulsive) (devil)

-EGO - reality principle (mediates between id & superego) (self)

-SUPEREGO - morality principle (social part, get along with others) (angel)

-Phobia - cause when you want something you can't have

-Sensation
-Bottom up (vision, hearing, smell) receive and relay outside inform­­ation to the brain

-Perce­ption
-Top Down brain interprets & organizes that inform­­ation

-The ability to notice stimulus varies with psycho­­lo­gical factors including motiva­­tion, past experi­­ence, expect­­ations

-Assumes that there is “noise” in any system.
-If we have an old car, we may hear clunks even when the car is operating effect­ively,
-The signal is what you are trying to detect.

-Sometimes called the "­­em­o­t­ional brain" because it plays a primary role in range of emotions,
including pain, pleasure, docility, affection and anger.

-The limbic system is made up of the hypoth­­al­amus, thalamus, amygdala and hippoc­­ampus.

-Picture a HIPPOp­­otamus wearing a HAT.
(HIPPO­­ca­mpus, Hypoth­­al­amus, Amygdala and Thalamus)

-Functions as a sensory relay station

-see, hear, taste and touch

-Sometimes called the aggression center.

-If you stimulate the amygdala, you can produce feelings of anger and violence, fear and anxiety.

-If you damage your amygdala, it can cause a mellowing effect. That is why benzod­­ia­z­epine is used to
control anxiety attack.

-Kluve­r­-Bucy syndrome is where there is a bilateral (both) destru­­ction of the amygdala that can cause
hypero­­rality (put things in your mouth alot), hypers­­ex­u­a­lity, disinh­­ibited behavior (ignore social
conven­­tions, do dangerous reckless things).

-Its main function is to form long term memories.

-Converts short term memory to long term memory.

-Thinking back on memories can evoke all kinds of
emotions.

-Plays a role in regulating the autonomic nervous system (ANS) that relates to emotions.

-Controls the endocrine system, by triggering the release of hormones into your bloods­­tream.
epinep­­hrine (adren­­aline) and norepi­­ne­p­hrine (norad­­re­n­a­line).

-Controls the '­flight or fight' vs. 'rest and digest­' responses.

-Behav­i­­­orist

-Estab­l­­­ished the psycho­­­l­o­gical school of behavi­­­orism

-Conducted research on animal behavior, child rearing, and advert­­­ising

-Afferent neurons are sensory neurons that carry nerve impulses from sensory stimuli towards the
central nervous system and brain.

-Efferent neurons are motor neurons that carry neural impulses away from the central nervous system and towards muscles to cause movement.

-Inter­n­e­urons do not have motor or sensory functions; they just act to pass on inform­­ation.

-Glia - neu­ronal glue that holds neurons together and provide nutrients.

-Neuro­t­r­an­­smi­­tters are chemical substances made by the neuron specif­­ically to transmit a message.

-Neuro­t­r­an­­smi­­tters are chemical messengers that transmit a signal from a neuron across the synapse
to a target cell, which can be a different neuron, myocyte, or gland cell.

-The resting membrane potential of a neuron is about -70 mV (mV=mi­­ll­i­volt)

When awake the brain produces alpha waves which are relatively slow

Stage 1
breathing slows with irregular, erratic brain waves. alpha waves cease and are replaced with theta waves

Stage 2
deeper relaxa­­ti­o­n­/o­­cca­­sional bursts of rhythmic waves "­­sleep spindl­­es­" and K-comp­­lexes

Stage 3
large slow delta waves. transition to Stage 4

Stage 4
stronger more consistent delta waves. These last 2 stages are referred to as slow-wave sleep

REM
Sleep dreams

Freud
-dreams manifest content of latent desires. Disguising the wish dreamer avoids anxiety.

Acti­v­ation Synthesis Theory
-dreams don’t actually mean anything
-merely electrical brain impulses that pull random thoughts and imagery from our memories

Thre­a­t-­­Sim­­ul­ation Theory
-dreams simulate potential threat­­ening events in order to prepare us for actual life threat­­ening situat­­ions.

Info­r­m­­­ation proces­­sing
-way to consol­­idate inform­­ation, sort thru day's events

Cont­i­nu­­al-­­Ac­t­i­vation Theory
--During REM sleep, the uncons­­cious part of the brain is busy processing procedural memory.

Phys­i­ol­­ogical Functi­ons
-dreams stimulate the brain which may help build neural connec­­tions

Manifest content is the actual content, or storyline, of a dream.

Latent content refers to the hidden meaning of a dream.

-Gestalt (German for "a whole" or "­­fo­r­m­") Psycho­­lo­gists were among the first to study how the brain
makes things from fragments of sensat­­ions.

-Depth percep­­tion
-both eyes work together to gather Binocular cues, which use the space between the eyes (retinal
disparity) and how much the eyes turn inwards, towards the nose (conve­­rg­ence) to roughly estimate
distance.

-Monocular cues (one eye)

-Linear perspe­­cti­ve
-par­allel lines appear to converge

-Motion parall­ax
-­refers to apparent movement of stable objects as we move.

-Perce­ptual sets
-predi­s­p­os­­itions to perceive one thing and not another will affect the way reality is viewed

Psycho­­ph­i­sic­s - the relati­onships between physical stimuli and mental phenomena

Absolute Threshold - the intensity needed for stimulus to be detected 50% of the time it is presented

Just Noticeable Difference (JND) or the difference threshold - minimum stimul­­ation required for detection.

Weber's Law - Difference is harder to detect in more intense stimuli.

Sensory adaptation - prolonged exposure to an unchanging stimulus causes nerves to fire less and detection dimini­­shes.

Something that feels good is reinfo­­rc­ement (not punish­­ment)

Positive reinfo­­rc­e­ment - stimulus
a) presented
b) desirable
= feels good
(earn $1.00 for every magazine sold = sell more magazines)


negative reinfo­­rc­e­ment - stimulus
a) REMOVED
b) desirable
= feels good
(take aspirin to remove headache)

interval schedule - odds of reinfo­­rc­ement go up with passage of time

ratio schedule - odds of reinfo­­rc­ement go up depending on how many responses are made
variable ratio - number of responses needed vary from one win to the next

Anxi­ety - dread, fear, terror
- Genera­­lized - persistent but don't know source, sweaty palms, shake, nail bite
- Panic - sudden onset episodes
- OCD - thoughts & behavior

Mood - depres­­sion, mania or both
- Major - 2 weeks of sadness, hopeless, discou­­ra­g­ement
- Bipolar

Diss­o­ci­­ative - fragmented person­­ality
- Amnesia - can't remember personal info
- Fugue - leaves work, confused, assumes new identity
- Identity Disorder (multiple person­­ality)

Schi­z­op­­hre­nia - halluc­­in­a­t­ions, delusions
- Paranoid - believe famous, delusions of grandeur or persec­­ution
- Disorg­­anized - disorg­­anized speech, inappr­­op­riate behavior
- Catatonic - odd motor activity, echopr­­axia, echolalia

Soma­t­of­orm - physical symptoms can't be explained medically
- Conversion - impaired motor/­­se­nsory function
- Hypoch­­ondria

Pers­o­na­lity - behavior incons­­istent to culture
- Paranoid - suspic­­ious, distru­­stful (not delusi­­onal)
- Antisocial - impulsive, no conscience
- Borderline - relati­­on­s­h­ip­­/self image problems
- Narcis­­sistic - needs admiration

1. Nurturing = trust vs mistrust (baby-1yr)
2. Autonomy vs shame doubt (toddler-2 yr)
3. initiative vs guilt (preschool 3-5 yrs)
4. indust­­rious vs inferior (6-12 yrs)
5. identity vs role confusion (12-18)
6. intimacy vs isolation (18-40)
7. genera­­tivity vs stagnation (40-65)
8. integrity vs despair (65 & up)