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Weber's Law — formula and meaning
Answer: ΔI/I = k. The just-noticeable difference (JND) between two stimuli is a constant proportion of the original stimulus intensity, not a fixed amount.
ΔI = minimum detectable change in stimulus intensity; I = original stimulus intensity; k = Weber fraction (constant for a given sensory modality). E.g., if k=0.1 and I=100g, you need a 10g change to notice a difference.
Signal detection theory
Answer: Framework describing how a stimulus is detected amid 'noise,' depending on both sensory sensitivity and the observer's response bias/criterion; outcomes classified as hits, misses, false alarms, and correct rejections.
Explains why detection depends not only on sensitivity but on motivation and expectation (e.g., a radiologist's threshold for calling a scan abnormal).
Name the Gestalt principles of perceptual organization
Answer: Proximity, similarity, closure, continuity, figure-ground, and the overall principle that 'the whole is different from the sum of its parts.'
Proximity = nearby objects grouped; similarity = alike objects grouped; closure = mind fills gaps; continuity = perceiving continuous lines; figure-ground = separating object from background.
Bottom-up vs top-down processing
Answer: Bottom-up: perception built from raw sensory data upward. Top-down: perception guided by prior knowledge, expectations, and context.
Example: recognizing a blurry word using context (top-down) vs piecing together individual letters (bottom-up).
Absolute threshold vs difference threshold (JND)
Answer: Absolute threshold: minimum stimulus intensity detectable 50% of the time. Difference threshold (JND): minimum difference between two stimuli detectable 50% of the time.
Sensory adaptation
Answer: Decreased sensitivity to a constant, unchanging stimulus over time (e.g., no longer noticing a background smell).
Classical conditioning — who and what?
Answer: Ivan Pavlov; learning through association where a neutral stimulus (bell) becomes a conditioned stimulus after pairing with an unconditioned stimulus (food), eliciting a conditioned response (salivation).
US → UR naturally; after pairing, CS → CR.
Operant conditioning — who and what?
Answer: B.F. Skinner; learning through consequences (reinforcement increases behavior, punishment decreases it), often studied with the 'Skinner box.'
Positive vs negative reinforcement/punishment
Answer: Positive = adding a stimulus; negative = removing a stimulus. Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases behavior.
Positive reinforcement: giving a treat. Negative reinforcement: removing an annoying noise when behavior occurs. Positive punishment: adding shock. Negative punishment: taking away privileges.
Four schedules of reinforcement
Answer: Fixed ratio (reward after set # of responses), variable ratio (reward after unpredictable # of responses, most resistant to extinction), fixed interval (reward after set time), variable interval (reward after unpredictable time).
Variable ratio produces the highest, steadiest response rates (e.g., slot machines).
Extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination
Answer: Extinction: CR fades without reinforcement. Spontaneous recovery: CR reappears after a rest period. Generalization: responding to similar stimuli. Discrimination: responding only to the specific stimulus.
Observational learning — who and the famous experiment?
Answer: Albert Bandura; Bobo doll experiment showed children imitate aggressive behavior they observe in adults, demonstrating learning via modeling without direct reinforcement.
Three stages/stores of memory
Answer: Sensory memory → short-term/working memory (limited capacity, ~7±2 items, Miller's number) → long-term memory (relatively unlimited capacity and duration).
Types of long-term memory
Answer: Explicit (declarative): episodic (personal events) and semantic (facts). Implicit (nondeclarative): procedural (skills/habits), priming, classical conditioning responses.
Baddeley's working memory model components
Answer: Central executive, phonological loop (verbal info), visuospatial sketchpad (visual/spatial info), and episodic buffer (integrates info into a coherent sequence).
Misinformation effect — associated researcher
Answer: Elizabeth Loftus; exposure to misleading post-event information distorts recall of the original event, a key cause of eyewitness memory errors.
Serial position effect
Answer: Tendency to recall the first items (primacy effect, moved to LTM) and last items (recency effect, still in STM) of a list better than middle items.
Algorithms vs heuristics
Answer: Algorithm: step-by-step procedure guaranteeing a correct solution. Heuristic: mental shortcut/rule of thumb that is fast but can lead to errors.
Availability heuristic vs representativeness heuristic
Answer: Availability: judging likelihood by how easily examples come to mind. Representativeness: judging likelihood by how similar something is to a prototype, ignoring base rates.
E.g., overestimating plane crash risk after news coverage (availability); assuming a quiet, tidy person is a librarian rather than a farmer (representativeness).
Chomsky's language acquisition theory
Answer: Noam Chomsky proposed a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) — an innate, biological capacity enabling humans to acquire grammar/language universally and rapidly.
Linguistic relativity (Whorfian hypothesis)
Answer: The language a person speaks influences or shapes their thought and perception of the world.
Broca's area vs Wernicke's area
Answer: Broca's area (frontal lobe): speech production; damage causes nonfluent/expressive aphasia. Wernicke's area (temporal lobe): language comprehension; damage causes fluent but nonsensical/receptive aphasia.
James-Lange theory of emotion
Answer: Physiological arousal precedes and causes emotion: stimulus → bodily response → emotion (e.g., 'I feel afraid because I am trembling').
Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
Answer: Physiological arousal and the subjective experience of emotion occur simultaneously and independently in response to a stimulus (via the thalamus).
Schachter-Singer two-factor theory of emotion
Answer: Emotion results from physiological arousal plus a cognitive label/interpretation of that arousal based on context.
Supported by the Schachter-Singer epinephrine experiment where unexplained arousal was labeled differently depending on situational cues.
Yerkes-Dodson law
Answer: Performance improves with physiological/mental arousal up to a point, after which further arousal impairs performance — an inverted U-shaped relationship.
Optimal arousal level depends on task difficulty: easier tasks tolerate higher arousal, complex tasks need lower arousal for peak performance.
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) — who and stages?
Answer: Hans Selye; three stages of stress response: alarm (fight-or-flight activation), resistance (body tries to cope/adapt), exhaustion (resources depleted, increased illness vulnerability).
Primary vs secondary appraisal (Lazarus)
Answer: Primary appraisal: assessing whether a stimulus is a threat. Secondary appraisal: evaluating one's resources/ability to cope with that threat.
Freud's structure of personality
Answer: Id (unconscious, primitive drives, pleasure principle), ego (rational mediator, reality principle), superego (morals/ideals, conscience).
Big Five personality traits (OCEAN)
Answer: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism — the trait theory model of personality dimensions.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs (bottom to top)
Answer: Physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization.
Humanistic theory (with Carl Rogers) emphasizing free will and self-actualization as the drive toward reaching one's full potential.
Biopsychosocial model of disorders
Answer: Psychological disorders arise from interacting biological (genetics, neurochemistry), psychological (thoughts, coping), and social (environment, relationships) factors.
Major depressive disorder vs bipolar disorder
Answer: MDD: persistent depressed mood/anhedonia without manic episodes. Bipolar disorder: alternating episodes of depression and mania (or hypomania in Bipolar II).
Schizophrenia — positive vs negative symptoms
Answer: Positive symptoms: added abnormal experiences — hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech. Negative symptoms: diminished normal functions — flat affect, avolition, social withdrawal.
Anxiety disorder subtypes
Answer: GAD (chronic, excessive worry), specific phobias (irrational fear of an object/situation), panic disorder (recurrent unexpected panic attacks).
Fundamental attribution error
Answer: Tendency to overemphasize dispositional (personality) factors and underemphasize situational factors when explaining others' behavior.
Asch conformity experiment
Answer: Solomon Asch; participants often gave obviously wrong answers to match a group's incorrect consensus, demonstrating normative social influence/conformity.
Milgram obedience experiment
Answer: Stanley Milgram; participants administered what they believed were dangerous electric shocks to a confederate when instructed by an authority figure, showing high rates of obedience to authority.
Groupthink vs social loafing vs bystander effect
Answer: Groupthink: desire for group harmony overrides realistic decision-making. Social loafing: individuals exert less effort in a group. Bystander effect: less likely to help when others are present (diffusion of responsibility).
Cognitive dissonance — who and what?
Answer: Leon Festinger; the discomfort felt when holding contradictory beliefs/behaviors, which motivates people to change attitudes or justify actions to restore consistency.
Erikson's 8 stages of psychosocial development
Answer: Trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame/doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, integrity vs despair.
Each stage spans a life period and centers on resolving a specific psychosocial conflict.
Piaget's stages of cognitive development
Answer: Sensorimotor (object permanence), preoperational (symbolic thought, egocentrism), concrete operational (conservation, logical thought on concrete objects), formal operational (abstract reasoning).
Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Answer: Preconventional (punishment/reward focused), conventional (social norms/laws focused), postconventional (abstract ethical principles, justice beyond law).
Studied via moral dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma.
Vygotsky's zone of proximal development
Answer: The gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with guidance from a more knowledgeable other (scaffolding).
Sociological perspective: Functionalism
Answer: Society is a system of interrelated parts/institutions that work together to maintain stability and social order (associated with Émile Durkheim).
Sociological perspective: Conflict theory
Answer: Society is characterized by competition for limited resources and ongoing conflict between groups with unequal power (associated with Karl Marx).
Sociological perspective: Symbolic interactionism
Answer: Focuses on how individuals create meaning through everyday social interactions and shared symbols (associated with Mead, Cooley).
Social stratification
Answer: The hierarchical arrangement of individuals/groups into social classes based on factors like wealth, power, and prestige, affecting access to resources.
Demographic transition model (basic idea)
Answer: A population shift over time from high birth/death rates (preindustrial) to low birth/death rates (industrialized), typically passing through a stage of high growth as death rates fall before birth rates do.
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