psych confusing pairs

• Independent Variable vs. Dependent Variable

  Ind: what is manipulated, Dep: measures effect of the manipulation; independent is something that "I" change
• Experimental Group vs. Control Group

  EXPERIMENTAL GROUP is the group receiving the independent variable

  CONTROL GROUP does not receive anything, in order to act as a comparison
• Left Brain vs. Right Brain


  • Left- controls the ability to speak & understand language in most people

  • Right- controls the ability to pay attention, recognize things you see, hear or touch & be aware of your own body

  • In some left handed people language is controlled by the right side & awareness by the left
• Sympathetic Nervous System vs. Parasympathetic ...
• Corpus Callosum vs. Cerebral Cortex

  divides the brain vs. covers the brain
• Nerotransmitters vs. Hormones ...
• Lateral Hypothalamus vs. Ventromedial Hypothalamus

  Lateral: makes you hungry (lunch)

  Ventromedial: stop eating. satiety center. (vomit)
• Broca's Area vs. Wernicke's Area


  brocha = we speak with the left hemisphere, hard to produce speech; wernicke = auditory cortex, can produce speech but it makes no sense and language comprehension is also impaired
• Identical/Monozygotic Twins vs. Fraternal/Dizygotic Twins

  identical: two babies sharing one "sack"

  fraternal: Two babies in one pregnancy in separate "sacks"
• Afferent Neurons vs. Efferent Neurons


  afferent= arrive at brain

  efferent=exits the brain
• Assimilation vs. Accomodation


  assimilation: new experiences fit into old schemas (ex: only know cats, would call a cow "cat")

  accomodation: learning new schemas or updating old (ex: learn to call a cow "cow")
• Concrete Operations vs. Formal Operations


  Signs of adult thinking vs. abstract thinking
• Bottom-Up Processing vs. Top-Down Processing

  -bottom-up - components of a stimulus are combined in brain and prior knowledge used to make inferences about patterns(analyze parts of something then conclude)

  -top-down - previous experience and conceptual knowledge are applied in order to recognize nature of a whole and deuce components of that whole(proceed pattern first then analyze parts).
• Rods vs. Cones


  i) shape: rod-shaped vs. cone-shaped

  ii) population: more rods than cones

  iii) location: rods are in the periphery while cones are more centrally located

  iv) function: rods are made for scotopic (nighttime) vision while cones are for photopic (daytime) vision

  v) function: cones distinguish elements of color and sharpen an image
• Classical Conditioning vs. Operant Conditioning


  Operant: where the consequence of a behavior (e.g., punishment or reward) influences the probability that the behavior will occur again. Classical: Paired an air puff to the eye (used to induce blinking) with an auditory tone. Neurological source. Brain imaging found to be most active in the cerebellum ***the elicited behavior is unconscious and involuntary (reflexive behaviors)
• Primacy Effect vs. Recency Effect

  primary effect, easy to remember the first info in a series; recency effect, easy to remember the most recent items
• Proactive Interference vs. Retroactive Interference

  Proactive- Occurs when information or exp. already sotred in long-term memory hinder the ability to remember newer information.

  Retroactive- happens when new learning interferes with the ability to remember previously learned information.
• Implicit Memory vs. Explicit Memory


  Explicit memory: Conscious, may be visualized, may be verbally described. Implicit memory: Evident in physiological and behavioral responses
• Recall Memory vs. Recognition Memory

  RECALL: ability to retrieve and reproduce information encountered earlier (fill in the blank/essay) RECOGNITION: ability to identify information you have previously heard, read, or heard about (True or false/Multiple choice)
• Algorithms vs. Heuristics


  - Algorithms: specified sequence of steps that is guaranteed to produce an answer; usually guaranteed to produce the correct answer, but may be slow or laborious

  - heuristics: short cut/"rule of thumb"; never guaranteed to produce the correct answer, but usually quick and easy
• Representative Heuristics vs. Availability Heuristics ...
• Phonemes vs. Morphemes


  a phoneme is the smallest structural unit that distinguishes meaning morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that has semantic meaning
• Fluid Intelligence vs. Crystallized Intelligence

  fluid: non verbal, culture free, (memory of digits)

  crystallized: acquired skills/ culture education...(vocab)
• Validity vs. Reliability


  validity - truthfulness, measures what it claims to measure

  reliability - consistency of the measure, consistently indicates same value
• Achievement Tests vs. Aptitude Tests

  Aptitude tests are considered predictive; Achievement tests, in comparison, test an individual's knowledge
• Intrinsic Motivation vs. Extrinsic Motivation

  intrinsic motivation- your tendency to work on a task for your own satisfaction, rather than for rewards such as money or praise. Extrinsic motivation- motivated by external factors, to do things for tangible rewards or pressures, rather than for the fun of it.
• Internal Locus of Control vs. External Locus of Control

  Internal is when one accepts responsibility for their own behavior. External is when one blames fate, chance, other individuals, or task difficulty for their successes and failures.
• Lithium vs. Librium


  Treats bipolar vs.

  Treats anxiety
• Type A vs. Type B

  Type A: behavior characterized by a sense of time urgency, competitive, and hostility.

  -create stress for themselves

  -highly driven, impatient, hostile, aggressive

  -feel rushed and pressured

  -require themselves to achieve in everything they do

  Type B: Relax more readily than Type A

  -focus more on quality of life

  -less ambitious

  -less impatient

  -pace themselves

  *type a people achieve more but less satisfied with themselves
• Agontist vs. Antagonist ...
• Foot-in-the-Door vs. Door-in-the-Face


  foot-in-the-door technique, the fact that if you say yes to something, you will probably say yes to a similar act later on to remain consistent in your behavior.

  Door-in-the-face, start big and go smaller
• Random Assignment vs. Random Sample


  Participants are randomly assigned to different groups to spread out confounds AFTER a sample of participants has been randomly selected
• Applied Research vs. Basic Research

  basic: may have application but the primary purpose is to add to a body of knowledge. applied: designed for a specific and immediate use.
• Quantitative Data vs. Qualitative Data

  Quantitative "hard data" is most common and easily understood; is useful in telling what people think

  Qualitative "soft data" is a descriptive record of participants' observations; useful in explaining the why to the what
• Self-Serving Bias vs. Self-Fulfilling Prophecies ...
• Collectivist Cultures vs. Individualistic Cultures

  individualistic: the importance and uniqueness of the individual is stressed

  collectivist: person's link to various groups such as family or company is stressed
• Structuralism vs. Functionalism


  Structuralists wanted to understand the components of the mind based on introspection. Functionalists wanted to explore what the mind could do and they focused on behavior mostly
• Descriptive Statistics vs. Inferential Statistics

  descriptive statistics merely describe data, inferential statistics try to infer causation between variables.
• Syntax vs. Semantics


  Syntax are the set of rules that govern the formation of phrases, whereas semantics govern the meaning of words. (Syntax = rules, Semantics = meaning)
• Anterograde Amnesia vs. Retrograde Amnesia

  -anterograde amnesia: memory loss for information since the accident

  -retrograde amnesia: memory loss for information before the damage occurred