Vocab

Cards (26)

  • Introspection
    process by which a person gains knowledge about their own mental + emotional states
    as a result of the observation of their conscious thoughts and feelings
  • Empiricism
    belief all knowledge derived from sensory experience
    characterised by use of scientific method in psychology
  • Scientific method
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  • Behaviourist
    people who believe human behaviour can be explained in terms of conditioning,
    without the need to consider thoughts or feelings
  • Classical conditioning
    When a neutral stimulus is consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus
    so that eventually it takes on the properties of this stimulus
    and is able to produce a conditioned response
  • Operant conditioning
    Learning through reinforcement or punishment
    If a behaviour is followed by a desirable consequence then that behaviour is more likely to occur again in the future
  • Punishment
    Involves application of an unpleasant consequence following a behaviour
    with the result that behaviour is less likely to occur again in the future
  • Reinforcement
    Anything that strengthens a response
    + increases the likelihood that it will occur again in the future
  • Identification
    form of influence where an individual adopts an attitude because they want to be associated w a particular person or group
  • Imitation
    action of using someone or something as a model and copying their behaviour
  • Mediational processes

    refer to the internal mental processes that exist between environmental stimuli + the response made by an individual to those stimuli
  • Modelling
    form of learning where individuals learn a particular behaviour
    by observing another individual performing that behaviour
  • Social learning theory
    Learning through observing others and imitating behaviours that are rewarded
  • Vicarious reinforcement
    Learning that is not a result of direct reinforcement of behaviour,
    but through observing someone else being reinforced for that behaviour
  • Cognitive
    relates to mental processes such as perception, memory and reasoning
  • Cognitive neuroscience

    area of psychology dedicated to the underlying neural bases of cognitive functions
  • Computer model
    refers to the process of using computer analogies as a representation of human cognition
  • Inference/inferring

    reaching a logical conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning
  • Schema
    cognitive framework that helps to organise and interpret info in brain
    schemas help an individual to make sense of new info
  • theoretical models
    in cognitive psychology,
    models are simplified, usually pictorial,
    representations of a particular mental process based on current research evidence
  • biological approach

    views humans as biological organisms
    and so provides biological explanations for all aspects of psychological functioning
  • Evolution
    refers to the change over successive generations of the genetic make-up of a particular population
    the central proposition of an evolutionary perspective is that the genotype of a population is changeable rather than fixed,
    and that this change is likely to be caused by the process of natural selection
  • Gene
    part of the chromosome of an organism that carries information in the form of DNA
  • Natural selection
    the process by which inherited characteristics,
    that enhance an individual's reproductive success (or 'fitness'),
    are passed onto the next generation,
    and so become more widespread in the population over time
  • Neurochemistry
    study of chemical and neural processes associated w the nervous system
  • Phenotype
    the observable characteristics of an individual
    this is a consequence of the interaction of the genotype w the environment