Psychology Study Guide- 2

In psychology, the term sensation formally refers to:

the process of detecting a psychical stimulus.

In contrast to sensation, the term perception is formally defined as the:

active mental process of integrating , organizing, and interpreting sensory data.

The process by which physical energy such as light, is converted into a coded neural signal that can be transmitted to and interpreted by the brain is called:

transduction

The smallest possible stimulus that can be detected half the time, or or the minimum level of stimuli that we can detect is called:

the absolute threshold.

The smallest possible difference between two stimuli that can be detected is called the:

difference threshold, or just the noticeable difference

According to _____, whether we can detect a change in the strength of a stimulus depends upon the intensity of the original stimulus.

Weber’s law.

John puts one toe in the swimming pool…. blah blah blah… shivers… example of what?

Sensory difference

When psychologists refer to the visible spectrum, they mean:

the narrow range of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum that are visible to the human eye

The clear membrane that covers the outside of the eye and helps gather and direct incoming light is called the:

cornea

the muscle that controls the amount of light entering the pupil is the:

iris

The ____ thickens or thins to focus incomin light. This process is called____.

lends; accommodation

As light waves enter the eye, which three stuctures do they pass through first?

cornea, iris, lens

the blind spot is caused by

the absence of rods or cones at the point where the optic nerve leaves the eye.

Bob had perfect vision until he was 45, and then he needed to start wearing glasses for reading. Most likely, Bob has developed a visual problem called:

myopiam causes by thickening of the cornea

Identify the sequence that correctly represents the path taken by light signals through the eye

cornea,pupil,lens,retina,optic nerve

By definition, stimuli that are perceived subliminally are:

inaccessible to conscious awareness

How do glasses correct visual problems?

Glasses correct vision by intercepting and bending incoming light waves so that they are focused properly on the retina

Rods are used for vision in _____ light, and cones are used for vision in _____ light.

dim;bright

Cones are most concentrated in the:

fovea

According to the trichromatic theory of color vision:

cones come in three basic varieties: red-sensitive, green-sensitive, or blue-sensitive

Which of the following phenomena can be explained by the opponent-process theory of color vision?

afterimages

Our perception of sound is directly related to the physical properties of:

sound waves

Loudness is to ____ as pitch is to ____.

amplitude; frequency

The primary function of the ____ is to catch sound waves and funnel them into the ear canal.

pinna

The hammer, anvil, and stirrup are:

three tiny bones in the middle ear

Separating the middle ear from the inner ear is a structure called the:

oval window

The inner ear includes which of the following structures?

The cochlea, basilar membrane, and hair cells

Which of the following represents the correct sequence of parts of the ear that sound travels in hearing?

pinna, ear canal, eardrum, hammer, anvil, stirrup, oval window, cochlea, basilar membrane, hair cells, auditory nerve

Which of the following is true?

Place theory explains how people hear high pitched sounds, while frequency theory explains how people hear low pitched sounds

Smell and taste receptors respond to what type of stimulus?

chemical

Gustation is to olfaction as ____ is to ____.

taste; smell

Which part of the brain is thought to regulate the emotional response to odors?

the limbic system

The sensation of taste results from the activation of receptor cells by what kind of stimuli?

chemical substances dissolved in saliva

The primary tastes include:

sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami(MSG)

An influential theory for explaining the experience of pain is called the ____ theory of pain, which holds that the sensation of pain is controlled by a series of ____ in the spinal cord.

gate control; gates

You are able to maintain your equilibrium and balance because of the:

vestibular sense

In exercise class, your teacher instructs you to close your eyes and touch your toes. Your ability to touch your toes even though you can’t see them is due to your ____ sense.

kinesthetic

According to one important perceptual principle, when we look at a scene we automatically tend to separate the elements of that scene into an object and its background. This principle is called"

Figure-ground relationship

The tendency to group objects that are close to one another as a single unit is called the:

law of proximity

Because of the law of _____, you perceive the following as two groups of O’s that are separated by a group of dashes.

similarity

The letters on the falshing neon sign actually read: CPEN FOR BUSINESS! What law makes us perceive it as OPEN FOR BUSINESS?

closure

Two identical model cars are parked at the far end of a parking lot. You are able to determine that one of the cars is closer to you than the other because it appears to be slightly larger, even though you know it is the same size as the other. This is what perceptual cue?

relative size

Feedback from the muscles of the eye can help us judge the distance of an object, because the lens of the eye thickens when we change our focus from a distant object to a nearby object. This is a visual lens called?

accommodation

Which of the following statements is correct

the process of accommodation requires only one eye

IF you look at a far away street sign with first your left eye then your right eye the images look virtually identical. But if you look at your finger held just in front of your nose at a time, the two images look different. What kind of phenomenon is an example of which distance cue?

retinal disparity

Distance cues that involve both eyes are called ____ cues,while distance cues that involve only one eye are called___

binocular; monocular

the visceral sensory systems involves ____, while the vestibular system involves

internal organs; balance

psychologists formally define learning as

a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that is due to past experiance

when it comes to the learning theories of conditioning, which psychological perspective has has the most influence?

behaviorism

in psychology the term conditioning refers to:

learning associations between environmental events and behavioral repsonses

in response to a cold temperature, your body will shiver reflexively. Using Pavlov’s terminology, the cold temperature would be termed a(n):

unconditioned stimulus UCS

In response to cutting up an onion, airborne irritants released by the onion body will cause your eyes to tear, Using Pavlov’s terminologym the tears would be termed a(n):

Unconditioned response UCR

Essentially, classical conditioning is a process of learning:

an association between two stimuli

If you shine a bright light directly into a persons eye, the pupil of the eye will reflexively constrict. Using Pavlov’s terminology, the bright light would be termed _____, and the pupil constricting would be termed the ____.

UCS;UCR

After repeatedly paring the sound of a bell with food being placed in a dogs mouth,the sound of the bell alone will make the dog salivate. At this point, the sound of the bell is a

conditioned stimulus

A young child has learned to associate the sight of a nurse’s white uniform witht eh fear and pain of getting an injection. If the young child begins reacting with fear to the sight of any white jacket what has occurred?

stimulus generalization

After a dog had been conditioned to salivate at the sight of meat powderm the meat powder was presented to the dog every three mintues and held just out of the dogs reach. Over the course of several trials, the amount of saliva secreted by the dog decreased to zero, indicating that ____ had occurred.

extinction

What was the unconditioned response UCR in Watson and Rayners famous "Little albert" study?

fear in response to the loud clanging sound

What happened after little Albert was classically conditioned to fear a tame white rat?

stimulus generalization occurred, Albert responded with fear to fuzzy objects and furry animals

Ever since she foolishly drank too much beer at a party and vomited sharon becomes nausteated at the smell or taste of beer. The conditioned stimulus is ___ and the conditioned response is ____

the smell or taste of beer; nausea

Classical conditioning involves_____ while operant conditioning involves ____.

reflexive behaviors; voluntary behaviors

Which of the following statements best captures the flavor of Thorndike’s law of effect?

rewarding behaviors are more likely to be repeated, while unrewarded bahviors are less likely to be repeated

which of the following statement sbest captures the basic idea of operant conditioning

behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences

While a primary reinforcer derives it reinforcing value _____, conditioned reinforcers derive their reinforcing value _____.

naturally ; form primary reinforcers

Which of the following would be considered a secondary or conditioned reinforcer?

money

Negative reinforcement ____ the likelihood of a behavior being repeated, and punishment ____ the likelihood of a behavior being repeated

increases ; decreases

Punishment is most effective if

it consistently follows the operant

Which of the following alternatives to punishment represents the BEST method for reducing a problem behavior?

Jose is reinforced for working quietly in class instead of being punished for talking in class

If you reinforce successively closer approximations of a behavior until the desired behavior is displayed, you are using the perant conditioning procedure called:

shaping

Partial reinforcement is to ____ as continuous reinforcement is to ____

sometimes; always

The ____ scheduales of reinforcement prodice behavior that is MORE RESISTANT TO EXTINCTION

variable ratio and variable interval

A rat in a skinner box recieves a food pellet every ten times the bar is pressed. The rat is on a ____ schedule of reinforcement

fixed-ratio

If exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive events produces passive behaviorm the respinse of passivity is termed:

learned helplessness

A rat in skinners box is reinforced for the first bar press it maked after one minute has elapsed. The rat is on a ___ schedule of reinforcement

fixed- interval

Which of the following researches would be most likely to believe that we learn to do things by seeing others receive rewards or punishments for their actions

Albert Bandura

Positive reinforcement is to negative reinforcement as:

Addition of a reinforcing stimulus is to removal of an aversive stimulus

The famous bobo doll research was conducted by____ and showed the power of___

Albert bandura; obervational learning

according to the multi-store or stage model of memory:

Memory inolves the stages of sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory

Short-term memory is ofter referred to as ___ memory

working

Visual sensory memory is to auditory sensory memory as ___ is to ___

iconic memory; echoic memory

seeing what you wrote with a sparkler after you waved it around is an example of what

ionic memory

what happens to information in short term memory that is not firther processed or rehearsed?

the information fades or decays

When you relate a long number to other things to remember the full thing, like the first numbers 1997 is the year you were born and the last numbers are your aunts phone number what are you doing

chunking

Merely repeating information over and over is called___ while focusing on the meaning of the information is called___

maintenance rehearsal, elaborative rehersal

the amount of information that can be help in long-term memory:

seems to be limitless

which of the following statements about long-term memory is FALSE?

one effective strategy for encoding information into long term memory is maintenance rehersal

Knowledge of how to perform different skills and actions is called ___ memory while knowledge of facts, concepts, and ideas is called ____ memory

procedural; semantic

Brandon vividly remembers when he had to go to the emergency room for stitches on his left thigh. This is an example of which type of long term memory

episodic memory

Another name for explicit memory is

declarative memory

___ is the process of accessing information stored in long term memory

retrieval

Essay tests are to ___ as matching tests are to ___

free recal;cued recall

While trying to recall a list of items in correct order, the tendency to remember the first items in the list is called ____ while the tendency to remember the last items in the list is called ____

the primacy effect; the recency effect

When something tragic happens and you dwell on sad depressing things

mood congruence

specific, intense, emotional memories like the memory of your first child being born are what

flashbulb memories

which of the following is NOT a possible cause of forgetting described in your text book?

consolidation

When old memories interfere with a new memory,____ is said to have occurred, and when a new memory interferes with an old memory, ___ is said to have occurred

proactive interference; retroactive interference

___ is due to conscious deliberate forgetting as ____ is due to unconcious forgetting

suppression; repression

the idea of repression is a cornerstone of psychoanalysism Sigmund Frued’s famous theory of personality and psychotherapy. According to Frued, what gets repressed

psychologically threatening feelings, emotions, and memories, especially those from early childhood

Justin was involved in an automobile accident and sustained a serious injury to his head. When asked about the accident Justin could not remember what happened or how the accident occurred. Justin is suffering from

retrograde amnesia

The inability to remember pst events is ___ as the inability to form new memories is ___.

Retrograde amnesia; anterograde amnesia

The gradula, physical process of converting new long term memories into stable enduring memory codes is termed:

memory consolidation

Keisha is determined to ace her microbiology final. What is least likely to help her

going without sleep the night before and studying right up until she takes the test

the cocktail party effect provides an example of:

selective attention

Which of the following helps the process of consolidating new memories

sleep