Psychology and Sociology Terms for the MCAT Part 2

3) Fixed-interval schedule: Provides the reinforcement after a set period of time that is constant. Behavior increases as the reinforcement interval comes to an end. 4) Variable-interval schedule: Provides the reinforcement after an unpredictable amount of time. Results in slow steady behavioral response rate. - Ideal behavioral training would use a continuous reinforcement schedule to initially condition a behavior, and then use an intermittent reinforcement schedule to maintain the behavior. Escape – An individual learns how to get away from an aversive stimulus by engaging in a particular behavior. Ex. Throwing temper tantrum to not have to eat vegetables Avoidance – Occurs when a person performs a behavior to ensure an aversive stimulus is not presented. Ex. Child faking sickness to avoid eating vegetables Observational learning (social learning) – Learning through watching and imitating others Modeling – An observer sees the behavior being performed by another person and then imitates it. Persuasion: Elaboration likelihood model – Explains how people will be influenced by the content of the speech (logic of arguments), and by more superficial characteristics. Three key elements of persuasion: 1) Message characteristics-The features of the message itself, such as logic and number of key points. Also includes superficial things like length of speech/article and grammatical complexity. 2) Source characteristics- The person or venue delivering the message. Includes things like expertise, knowledge, and trustworthiness. 3) Target characteristics – The self-esteem, intelligence, mood, and other personal characteristics of the person receiving the message. There are two cognitive routes that people are persuaded by: Central route – People are persuaded by the content of the argument. 11 Peripheral route – People focus on superficial or secondary characteristics of the speech or orator. Behavior: Social cognitive theory – States that social factors, observational learning, and environmental factors influence a person’s beliefs and attitude. Emphasizes social influence and observational learning on behavior. Reciprocal determinism – States how people both shape and are shaped by their environments. - People choose their environments which in turn shape them. - Personality shapes how people interpret and respond to their environment - Personality influences the situation to which the person reacts to. Behavioral genetics – Focuses on the role of inheritance in behavioral traits. The interaction between heredity and experience determines an individual Human development: Motor development: Reflexive movements – Primitive involuntary movements. (Birth- Age 1) Rudimentary movements – Voluntary movement. Sitting, crawling, standing, walking. (Birth – Age 2) Fundamental movement – Running, jumping, throwing, catching. (Age 2-7) Specialized movement – Combination of fundamental movements applied to specific tasks. (Age 7-14) Brain development: During prenatal development, the brain actually produces more neurons than needed. However, the immature brain does not have many neural networks (codified routes for information processing). Infantile amnesia – Not being able to remember anything from when we were infants (around 3.5 years old and younger on average) Mary Ainsworth attachment studies- 12 Securely attached infants – When caregiver leaves the room infant is distressed, when caregiver returns the infant is easily consoled. Insecurely attached infant – When caregiver leaves room will be distressed or be indifferent to departure and return. Memory: Encoding – The process of transferring sensory information into our memory system. Serial position effect – An individual is most likely to recall the first and last items on a list. This is also known as the primacy effect and the recency effect. Mnemonic – Any technique for improving retention and retrieval of information from memory. Rehearsal – Repeating the information over and over in your head. Chunking – A strategy to improve memory in which information to be remembered is organized into discrete groups of data. This decreases the number of “things” to be remembered. Hierarchies – A chunking strategy to improve memory, by organizing information into different hierarchies of information. This is the process of dividing broad concepts into categories. Ex. Birds include ostriches, penguins, etc. Big cats include lions, tigers, etc. Method of loci – A technique used to improve memory. Involves moving through a familiar place (such as your home) and leaving a visual representation of a topic to be remembered. For recall, the images of the places could be called upon to bring into awareness the associated topics. - Depth of processing has also been shown to be important for encoding memories. The deeper something is thought about the better it is remembered. Meaning that semantic information (meaning) is more easily remembered than details usually. Dual coding hypothesis – Indicates that it is easier to remember words with associated images than it is to remember words or images alone. Self-reference effect – It is easier to remember things that are personally relevant. Long term potentiation – The strengthening of neural connections due to rehearsal or relearning. Thought to be the source of long-term memory. Potentiation is the strengthening of neural connections. Types of memory storage: 13 Sensory memory – Initial recording of sensory information (very brief). Two types: Iconic, echoic Iconic memory – Memory for visual information Echoic memory – Memory for sound Short term memory – Recall capacity is around 7 items plus or minus 2. Implicit memory- Also known as unconscious memory and automatic memory. It uses past experiences to remember things without thinking about them. The performance of implicit memory is enhanced by previous experiences, no matter how long ago. Procedural memory- A type of implicit memory that is specific to motor skills. Unconscious ability to remember how to perform a particular task. Such as riding a bike, walking, etc. Explicit memory- Involves conscious recollection. Such as trying to remember the capitals of the cities in the US. Semantic memory – Long term memory that includes things that are common knowledge and basic facts. Sensory memory- Where sensory information is stored just long enough to be transferred to short term memory. Episodic memory – A person’s unique memory of a specific event. This will differ with someone else’s episodic memory of that event. Flashbulb memory – A clear memory of an emotionally significant event or moment Consolidation – The transfer of working memory to long term memory. Spacing effect – The tendency for spaced study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved from a massed study or practice session. Essentially, we learn things better through spaced repetition over a period of time (exposure to information spread out over a given period of time) than through long and hard study sessions. Free recall – Retrieving an item “out of thin air” Cued recall – Retrieving the information when provided with a cue. Recognition – Involves identifying specific information from a set of information that is presented. An easier form of retrieval. 14 Relearning – Involves the process of learning material that was originally learned. Priming – Prior activation of nodes and associations. Retrieval cues – Environmental stimuli or information that are associated with a memory and aid in retrieval of memory. Typically, are present at the time of memory formation. Emotions act as a retrieval cue. State-dependent learning – Something learned in an emotional state is most easily recalled when we are once again in that same emotional state. Semantic networks – Organization of information in networks of meaningfully related networks. Spreading activation – Occurs when one item brought into working memory triggers an activation of related memory. Remembering a specific topic primes the brain to recall related concepts. This shows the interconnectedness of semantic networks. Anterograde amnesia – The inability to encode new memories Retrograde amnesia – The inability to recall previously encoded information Proactive interference – When information previously learned interferes with the ability to recall newer information. New information recall is interfered by old information. Retroactive interference – When newly learned information interferes with the recall of information learned previously. Old information recall is interfered by new information. Positive transfer – When old information facilitates the learning of new information Source monitoring – Occurs when a person attributes a memory to a specific source (where the information came from. such as a friend, television, movie, dream, etc.) Source monitoring error – A type of memory error where the source of a memory is incorrectly attributed. Often due to limited encoding of source information. Memory construction can follow leading to a false memory. Misinformation effect – When people are exposed to subtle misinformation about an event and then asked to recall about the event, they are more likely to misremember details. Ex. When asked about how fast a car was going when they smashed into each other instead of hit each other, people will indicate higher speeds. False memories – When asked to repeatedly imagine nonexistent actions and events people can create false memories. Repeatedly imagining something happened makes it feel more 15 familiar and it can take on the flavor of being a real memory. Both false memories and real feelings can be associated with emotion, making it harder to distinguish. Korsakoff’s syndrome – A nutritional deficiency in vitamin B1 that results in a decrease in the ability to recall recent events. Often due to severe alcoholism. Personality: Personality – The individual pattern of thinking, feeling, and behavior associated with each person. Psychoanalytic theory: Personality is shaped by a person’s unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories. - Two instinctual drives motivate human behavior according to psychoanalytic theory: Libido (life instinct), Death instinct. Life instinct focuses on survival, growth, pain avoidance, and pleasure. Death instinct focuses on aggressive behaviors fueled by an unconscious wish to die or hurt others. id – Ruled by the pleasure principle. The id seeks to reduce tension, avoid pain, and gain pleasure. Young children function almost entirely from the id. Ego – Ruled by the reality principle. Uses logical thinking and planning to control the consciousness and the id. The ego tries to find realistic ways to satisfy the id’s desire for pleasure. Superego – Focuses on a higher purpose. Inhibits the id and influences the ego to follow moralistic and ideal goals. The superego makes judgments of right and wrong and strives for perfection. The superego seeks rewards such as feelings of pride and self-love, and avoid psychological punishment such as feelings of guilt and inferiority. - The id is our primitive and innate desire for pleasure. The ego is the intelligent part which uses logic and reasoning to achieve goals. The superego is our desire to be good and in turn feel self-love and important, as such it inhibits the id’s selfish desires. Ego defense mechanisms: (psychoanalytic theory) People develop ego defense mechanisms that unconsciously deny or distort reality in order to avoid anxiety and protect the ego. This occurs when people begin to become aware of repressed feelings, memories, desires, or experiences. 16 Repression – Lack of recall of an emotionally painful memory Denial – Forceful refusal to acknowledge an emotionally painful memory Reaction formation – Expressing the opposite of what one really feels, when it would feel too dangerous to express the real feeling Projection – Attributing one’s own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to another person Displacement – Redirecting aggressive or sexual impulses to something else Rationalization – Explaining and justifying one’s impulsive behavior Regression – Reverting to a less sophisticated behavior to deal with an event Sublimation – Channeling aggressive or sexual energy into positive constructive activities (ex. producing art) Psychosexual stages: According to psychoanalytic theory, at each developmental stage there are certain needs and tasks that must be satisfied. When these needs and tasks are not met, a person harbors unresolved unconscious conflicts that lead to psychological dysfunction. The stages of development are characterized by impulses of the id and the overcoming of these impulses. There are five stages: Oral stage (1st year) – Requires development of trust and the capacity of delayed gratification. Child seeks sensual pleasure through oral activities (sucking and chewing) Anal stage (2nd year) – Toilet training. Allows the development of self-control. Child seeks sensual pleasure through control of elimination Phallic stage (3- 6 years) – Gender and sexual identification. Child seeks sensual pleasure through genitals. Sexually attracted to the opposite sex parent and hostile toward same-sex parent at this stage. Internalization of society’s rules and development of superego occur. Oedipus complex – Occurs in a boy (jealous of dad, attracted to mom) Electra complex – Occurs in a girl (jealous of mom, attracted to dad) - If a child does not resolve that stage’s developmental conflicts. A child becomes psychologically fixated at that stage and as an adult continue to seek pleasure through behaviors related to that stage. 17 Latent stage (7-12 years) – Social development and suppression of sexual impulses. Allows children to focus on other developmental tasks. Genital (Adolescence) – Mature sexuality and the return of sexual impulses. Fixation – Fixation is the persistent focus of the id’s pleasure-seeking energy at an earlier stage of psychosexual development. Fixations occur when an issue or conflict in a psychosexual stage remains unresolved, leaving an individual focused on this stage and unable to move to the next. Erik Erikson’s stages of development- 18 - - - Each stage represents a psychosocial crisis that must be faced, and can have a positive or negative effect on one’s personality development. Failure to complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and an unhealthy personality and sense of self. These crises arise because of the conflict between an individual’s psychological (psycho) needs and the needs of society (social). The epigenic principle states that the personality develops in a predetermined order (the Erik Erikson stages of development) that builds upon each previous stage. Success in each stage will result in the gaining of the virtue associated with it. The ego develops as it successfully resolves these crises. These stages can still be resolved at a later age. Allowing for personality development throughout life. However, adolescent period is the most important crucial time for developing a healthy personality. Trait theory (dispositional theory) – An approach to understanding human personality. Focuses on the measurement of traits that define a person’s personality. These traits are believed to be of biological and genetic origin. Speech shadowing - A technique where a participant is asked to repeat a word or phrase immediately after its heard. Linguistic relativity (Sapir-Whorf hypothesis)- States that the structure of language affects its speaker’s world view or cognition. The differences in language affect the way that speakers of different languages see the world and as such influence them to think and behave differently. Weber’s law- A proposed relationship between the magnitude of physical stimulus and the intensity that people experience (perception). 7 plus or minus 2- The estimated capacity of working memory. 5 to 9 items can typically be remembered in working memory. 19 Working memory- The short-term memory which can interact with long term memory for the purpose of completing a cognitively complex task. Extrinsic motivation – Results from external rewards. Such as money or fame. Intrinsic motivation- Results from internal motivations. Personal motivations. Public conformity – Conformity on the surface. No internalization of ideas or behaviors. Conformity only to please others. People privately think that the group is wrong. Private conformity – Internalization of beliefs. Occurs in the absence of others when one truly believes the group is right. A more powerful form of conformity. Serotonin – A neurotransmitter important for long-term memory consolidation. Chunking- The process of taking individual pieces of information and chunking them together into larger units. By grouping individual pieces of information into a larger whole, the amount of information that can be remembered can be increased. This is a technique used for memory enhancement. Implicit memory- Also known as unconscious memory and automatic memory. It uses past experiences to remember things without thinking about them. The performance of implicit memory is enhanced by previous experiences, no matter how long ago. Procedural memory- A type of implicit memory that is specific to motor skills. Such as riding a bike, walking, etc. Explicit memory- Involves conscious recollection. Such as trying to remember the capitals of the cities in the US. Semantic memory – Long term memory that includes things that are common knowledge and basic facts. Such as names of colors, the capitals of countries, sounds of letters, etc. Sensory memory- Where sensory information is stored just long enough to be transferred to short term memory. Episodic memory – A person’s unique memory of a specific event. This will differ with someone else’s episodic memory of that event. Organic amnesia- Amnesia caused from damage to the brain by “organic causes”. Including concussion, strokes, infections, and tumors. 20