PSYCH 101 FINALS

• Cognition


  Mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is processing information
• 2 Systems of Cognition

  • System 1 (Automatic, quick, association between ideas, reading social situations)
  • System 2 (Effortful, slow, requires attention and focus, attention is limited)
• Cognitive Illusion


  2 lines with arrows on both ends; one appears to be longer
• Mental Imagery


  We can think in terms of mental imagery that we can also interact with or manipulate
• Mental Rotation Test


  Are two figures the same except for their rotation
• Concepts


  Ideas that represent a class or category of objects, events, or activities; allows us to understand and identify objects
• Types of Concepts


  • Formal Concepts (Defined by rigid rules and features, Reinforcement)
  • Natural Concepts (Based on experience in real world)
• Prototype


  Represents the typical features of a concept; develops according to exposure to objects
• Schemas


  Frameworks that puts together and organizes information
• Scripts


  Schemas for a sequence of events
• Problem-solving


  Process of achieving a goal by thinking and behaving in a certain way
• Decision-making


  Identifying, evaluating, and choosing alternatives
• How do we solve problems?

  • Trial-and-error (Mechanical Solutions)
  • Algorithms (System 2, Step-by-step specific procedures)
  • Heuristics (System 1, Rule that applies to many situations)
• Use of Heuristics in Making a Choice

  • Satisficing (Looking for and choosing satisfactory option)
  • Maximizing (Looking for all possible options to find the best)
  • Representativeness Heuristics (If something has features that resemble a category, we think of it as belonging to that category)
  • Availability Heuristics (If we can easily recall something in minds, we believe that it is more common)
  • Confirmation Bias (Only looking for evidence that confirm what we already think)
• Errors in Problem-solving


  • Functional Fixedness (Limiting thoughts to only the obvious or typical use of an object)
  • Mental Set (Using problem solving strategies that have worked in the past)
• Creativity


  Solving problems by combining ideas or behavior in new ways
• Types of Thinking


  • Convergent Thinking (Thinking that only focuses on one solution to a problem, Logical thinking, algorithmic)
  • Divergent Thinking (Thinking that only focuses on several solutions to a problem)
• Human Development


  The scientific study of the changes that occur in people as they age, from conception until death
• Longitudinal Study


  Research design that extends into several years and measures variables across several time points in order to track development
• Concerns of Developmental Psychologists in Designing and Implementing Research Involving Very Young Children: The usual data gathering method of self-report will NOT work well for very young children, They often use observation when gathering data on very young children
• Nature


  Refers to heredity, the influence of inherited characteristics on personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions
• Nurture


  Refers to the influence of the environment on personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions, including parenting styles, physical surroundings, economic factors
• Heritability


  An estimate of the variance within a population that is due to heredity, ranges from 0 to 1, estimated using twin and adoption studies
• Gene Expression


  Genotype (variant in the genome) -> Phenotype (observable trait)
• Types of Gene-Environment Correlation

  • Passive Correlation (Parents contribute genes and environment to the child, but the latter does not do anything)
  • Reactive Correlation (Parents respond to the child differently because of the latter's genotype)
  • Active Correlation (A child actively seek out an environment that matches his or her genotype)
• Stages of Prenatal Development

  • Fertilization
  • Germinal Period (2 weeks, Zygote travels from fallopian tube to uterus, Placenta and umbilical cord develops, Cells are beginning to differentiate to become organs)
  • Embryonic Period (2-8 weeks, Zygote becomes an embryo, Embryo attached to the placenta, Critical period, Teratogens)
  • Fetal Period (From 8 weeks after conception until birth, Rapid growth, Structure of the organs are developing)
• Maternal anxiety and depression during the prenatal stage predicts negative reactivity of infants to new stimuli, Prenatal anxiety predicts poor newborn health and delayed development
• Preferential Looking


  The longer a child/ an infant looks at a stimulus, the more the infant prefers that stimulus
• Habituation


  Tendency to stop paying attention to stimulus that does not change, Useful in detecting an infant's ability to detect when a stimulus has changed
• Physical Development in Infancy

  • Reflexes (Grasping, Startle, Rooting, Stepping, Sucking)
  • Motor Development (Raising head and chest, Rolling over, Sitting up with support, Sitting up without support, Walking)
  • Sensory Development (Touch, Smell, Taste - all well-developed, Vision - least developed, cannot see clearly beyond 7-10 inches)
  • Cognitive Development (Increase in physical mass of brain)
• Object Permanence


  Knowledge that objects exist when they are not in sight, Indication of a child's ability to have symbolic or abstract thought
• Stages of Cognitive Development (Piaget)

  • Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 y/o, Use of senses and motor abilities to explore, think, and learn about the world, Gain object permanence)
  • Preoperational Stage (2-7 y/o, Can mentally represent and refer to objects and events, Limitations: Egocentrism, Centration, Irreversibility, Lack of conservation)
  • Concrete Stage (7-12 y/o, Capable of centration, reversibility, Difficulty with abstract thinking)
  • Formal Operations (12-adulthood, Capacity for abstract thinking, Understand and think about things that are not concrete or that are not present, Problem solving, decision making, planning)
• Scaffolding (Vygotsky)


  Those who are more learned or more skilled than the child (usually an adult or it can also be a peer) provide guidance until such time that the learner's skill increases so that help is not required anymore
• Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)


  A way to evaluate when an how to provide help for children
• Types of Temperament


  • Easy (Easy to soothe, Infants are not easily bothered or distressed by changes, Regular sleeping and feeding schedule)
  • Difficult (Loud, active, Infants are easily bothered or distressed by changes, Display irregularity in sleeping and feeding)
• Vygotsky


  Believed that children's cognitive development depends on other people/ socio-cultural context
• Scaffolding


  Those who are more learned or more skilled than the child (usually an adult or it can also be a peer) provide guidance until such time that the learner's skill increases so that help is not required anymore
• Zone of proximal development


  A way to evaluate when an how to provide help for children
• Temperament


  Behavioral and emotional characteristics that are already fairly established at birth
• 3 Main Types of Temperament

  • Easy
  • Difficult
  • Slow to Warm Up