Psychology Review

Experiment
Reliability: Consistency
1. Split-half reliability
2. Equivalent form reliability
Validity:
1. Construct: measures the effect it wants to measure
2. Internal: only the independent variable caused the effect
3. External: apply to others (content validity)
4. Criterion-related validity: Concurrent ~ & predictive ~
Variability:
How the data are dispersed or spread around the mean
Confounding variable:
Any variable other than the independent variable
Random assignment:
Limits the effect of participant-relevant confounding variables
Situation-relevant confounding variable:
e.g.: experimenter bias
Double blind eliminates both experimenter and participant bias.
Single blind minimizes the effects of demand characteristics and
participant bias.
Case study
Longitudinal study
Cross-sectional study:
A type of observational study that involves the analysis of data
collected at one specific point in time.
Hawthorn effect:
Individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in
response to their awareness of being observed.
Placebo effect
Order effect
Naturalistic observation vs. Field experiment
Case study
P value: the possibility that the difference between the groups is due
to chance
APA Ethical Guidelines

Neuropsychology
Central nervous system: brain + spinal cord
The brain exhibits Contra-lateral control and lateralization.
1. EEG: brain waves
2. CAT/CT: structure
3. MRI: structure
4. PET: activity
5. Functional MRI: MRI+PET
Hindbrain:
1. Medulla: breathing + swallowing + balance
2. Pons: facial expressions + stimulate dreaming
3. Cerebellum: fine motor movements
Midbrain:
Coordinates basic movements with sensory info
1. Reticular formation: body arousal + the ability to focus our
attention. If not functionalcoma
Forebrain:
1. Basal ganglia: regulates muscle contractions + movements
2. Thalamus: incorporates and relays sensory info to the cortex
3. Hypothalamus: motivated behavior: sex + eating + drinking
4. Hippocampus
5. Amygdala: emotion
6. Cerebral cortex:
Corpus callosum connects the two hemispheres and
allows them to communicate.
(A split-brain patients corpus callosum is cut.)
a. Parietal lobe: integrate sensory systems + involved in
attention
(Somato-)sensory cortex
b. Frontal lobe
Prefrontal cortex: foreseeing consequences, pursuing
goals and maintaining emotional control
Brocas area
Motor cortex
c. Occipital lobe
Visual cortex (lateralized) optic chiasm
d. Temporal lobe: sound
Auditory cortex (not lateralized)
Wernickes area: interpret written and spoken speech

Peripheral nervous system

1. Somatic division: voluntary muscle movements
2. Automatic division: The alert system of the body
E.g. fight or flight response (prepared by the adrenal glands
in the endocrine system)
Neurons:
1. Soma
2. Dendrite
3. Axon
a. Terminal branches
b. Myelin sheath
Afferent/sensory neurons
Efferent/motor neurons
Info exchange
1. Synapse
2. Synaptic vesicles
3. Neurotransmitters: excitatory/inhibitory
4. Action potential/nerve impulse
Language: Once the Excitation Threshold is reached, the
action potential begins and a neuron fires.
Neurotransmitter
1. Acetylcholine: motor movement (muscle control)
Deficit: Alzheimers disease
2. Dopamine: motor movement
Deficit: Parkinsons disease
Overabundance: schizophrenia
3. Endorphin: pain control
Addiction
4. Serotonin: mood control
Deficit: clinical depression
5. GABA: Inhibitory
Seizure + sleep problems
6. Glutamate: excitatory
Seizure + migraine
7. Norepinephrine: alertness + arousal
Turners syndrome: extra X
Environmentality: the degree to which a traits expression is
caused by the environment in which the organism lives.

Sensation
Eyes:
1.
2.

Cornea
Lens: bends (focuses) light rays
Accommodation
3. Retina: rods + cones
fovea
4. Optic nerve
Blind spot: where optic nerve exits the eye
Theories:
1. Trichromatic theory (Young-Helmholtz): blue, red, green
2. Opponent-Process
theory:
green/red,
blue/yellow,
black/white; If one color is stimulated, the other is inhibited.

Ears:
1. Pinna (Outer ear)
2. Ossicle (hammer + anvil + stirrup)
3. Tympanic membrane (Eardrum)
4. Oval window: sends vibrations to the cochlea
5. Cochlea (in the inner ear)
6. Hair cells: initiate nerve impulses
Theories:
1. Place Theory: Hair cells respond to different frequencies of
sound based on their location in the cochlea.
2. Pitch theory: Hair cells fire at different rates in the cochlea,
allowing us to sense pitch.
Deafness:
1. Conduction deafness:
Failure of the system in conducting sound to the cochlea
2. Nerve/Sensorineural deafness
Damaged hair cells
Smell (Olfaction)
Olfactory bulb gathers info from the olfactory receptor cells.
Taste (Gustation): Taste buds. Salty, sour, sweet, bitter
Touch:
Gate-control theory: high priority pain messages over low priority
Vestibular senses: receptors in the semicircular canal of inner ear
Half filled by fluid
Kinesthetic senses: receptors in muscles and joints
(Synesthesia)

Perception
Absolute threshold
(<: Subliminal)
Difference threshold
Webers law: size of the difference threshold is proportional to the
stimuluss intensity
Perceptual constancy
Visual depth perception:
Monocular cues:
1. Interposition
2. Relative Size
3. Linear perspective
4. Texture gradients
5. Shadowing
Binocular cues:
1. Convergence
2. Retinal disparity (Stereopsis)
Motion cues: as you move your head, images of close things
change position more quickly on the retina than images of
distant ones.
Figure-ground relationship
Gestalt rules:
1. Proximity
2. Similarity
3. Closure
4. Continuity
5. Common fate (things moving in the same direction)
Signal detection theory:
Response criteria
Bottom-up processing a.k.a. Feature analysis: more accurate
Top-down processing:
Schemata (mental representation of our expectations of the
world) Perceptual set
Stroboscopic effect
Phi phenomenon
Autokinetic effect
Stroop effect: Green

Learning
Habituation (less responsive to familiar stimuli)
1. Delayed conditioning (best) (CS first)
2. Trace conditioning (CS first)
3. Simultaneous conditioning
4. Backward conditioning (UCS first)
Principles of Classical Conditioning:
1. Extinction
2. Spontaneous recovery
3. Generalization
4. Discrimination: CR only occurs to CS
Aversive training (Garcia effect)
Second-order/higher order conditioning
Principles of Operant Conditioning:
Law of effect (Edward Thorndikeinstrumental learning)
1. Chaining
2. Shaping
3. Extinction
Avoidance learning
Escape learning
Positive & Negative reinforcement
Primary reinforcers
Secondary reinforcers
Generalized reinforce: money (token economy)
Premack Principle:
The reinforcing properties of something depend on the situation.
Positive & Negative punishment (a.k.a. Omission training)
Schedules of reinforcement:
1. Continuous reinforcement
2. Partial reinforcement
a. Fixed interval (CR starts slow but grows rapidly.)
b. Variable interval (slow rates of response)
c. Fixed ratio (high rates of response)
d. Variable ratio (very high rates of response)
Instinctive drift
Latent learning (Tolman); Observational/Vicarious learning; Insight
learning (Kohler); Abstract learning

Memory
Encoding: shallow/deep
Storage
Retrieval:
1. Recall
Serial position effect: primacy effect and recency effect
2. Recognition
Semantic network theory explains Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
1. Flashbulb memory
2. Mood-congruent memory
3. State-dependent memory
4. Constructive memory
1. Sensory memory
Iconic memory
Echoic memory
2. STM:
Small capacity (7 +- 2), chunking
Short duration (30 s), rehearsal: elaborative & maintenance ~
3. LTM (STM can be transferred to LTM by rehearsal.)
Implicit: skills + motor patterns
Explicit: facts + events + meanings
Semantic + Episodic = Declarative
Procedural
Autobiographical
Forgetting:
1. Decay (versus relearning)
2. Displacement: items are pushed out of memory by other
items.
3. Interference in LTM: proactive & retroactive interference
4. Anterograde amnesia & Retrograde amnesia

Language, thinking and intelligence

Language
Elements:
1. Phoneme: smallest unit of sound
Babies start from babbling. (Phoneme)
Holographic stage: one-word
Telegraphic stage: two-word
Nativist theory: humans are born with the instinct for
acquiring language. (Chomsky: Language Learning Device)
2. Morpheme: smallest sound unit with meaning
3. Syntax
Surface structure
Underlying structure
Brocas aphasia: inability to produce
Wernickes aphasia: inability to comprehend
Thinking
Directed thinking & Autistic thinking (fantasizing and daydreaming)
Mental representation: Analogical & Symbolic
Visual (mental) imagery
Concept formation: concept (bird) & prototype (sparrow)
Problem-solving:
1. Algorithm
2. Heuristic:
Availability heuristic
Representativeness heuristic
Impediments:
1. Mental set
2. Confirmation bias
3. Framing
Inductive & deductive reasoning (Syllogism)
Theories of intelligence
1. Spearman: g factor
2. Sternberg: 3 types of intelligence: analytical/componential,
practical/contextual and experiential/creative
3. Gardner: 7 types of intelligence: linguistic, logical, musical,
spatial, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal
4. Goleman: EQ

Ways of measuring
1. IQ test
Normal: 90-110
Retardation: 70 and under
2. Stanford-Binet Scale: tests verbal, abstract/visual, and
quantitative reasoning and STM
3. Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): test of general
knowledge, verbal, mathematical, spatial skills
Types of test:
1. Aptitude test & ability test
2. Speed test & power test
Fluid intelligence & crystallized intelligence
Flynn effect: environmental factors play a role in intelligence

Addition
Damage to association areas:
1. Apraxia : inability to organize movement
2. Agnoxia: difficulty processing sensory input
3. Alexia: inability to read
4. Agraphia: inability to write

Development
Physical development: infant stage, adolescence, aging
Social development
A. Attachment
1. Harlows monkey studies
Comfortableness
2. 3 types of attachment (Ainsworth)
a. Secure attachment
b. Resistant attachment: afraid of abandonment
c. Avoidant attachment: indifferent
B. Socialization
Autocratic/authoritarian, authoritative and permissive parents
C. Ericksons 8 stages of psychosocial development:
Trust/mistrust 0~18 months
Autonomy/shame and doubt 18 months ~3 yrs
Initiative/guilt 3~6
Competence/inferiority 6~12
Identity/role confusion 12~18
Intimacy/isolation
19~40
Productivity/stagnation 40~65
Integrity/despair
D. Psychosexual development
Oral stage smoke and overeat
Anal stage retentive (controlling) & expulsive
Phallic stage: Oedipus complex (boys)
Electra complex (girls)
Latency stage
Genital stage
Cognitive development
Piagets theory
1. Assimilation
Accommodation: changing schemas
2. Stages of development
a. Sensory-motor development
Object permanence
b. Preoperational
Conservation, animism, artificialism, egocentrism
c. Concrete-operations
Reversibility
d. Formal operations
Abstract thought, Metacognition

Moral development
Kohlbergs theory
1. Pre-conventional stage: avoid punishment
2. Conventional stage
3. Post-conventional stage
Theory of mind: (false belief task): about 4

Motivation
Theories of motivation
1. Biological reasons
Homeostasis & physiological drives
Primary drive & secondary drive
2. Social reasons: intrinsic/extrinsic
Overjustification
3. Motivation theories
a. Drive-reduction theory
b. Opponent-process theory
Motivated to maintain homeostasis
c. Arousal theory
Yerkes-Dodson law: performance with physiological or
mental arousal, but only up to a point
d. Incentive theory
e. Maslows hierarchy of needs
Physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem,
self-actualization
Hunger motivation
Set-point theory
Lateral hypothalamus (hunger)
Ventromedial hypothalamus
Eating disorders
1. Bulimia
2. Anorexia nervosa
3. Obesity
Sexual response cycles:
Initial excitement, Plateau phase, Orgasm, Resolution phase

Emotion
1. James-Lange theory
Emotion is a result of bodily response.
2. Cannon-Bard theory
Emotion and bodily response are simultaneous.
3. Schacter-Singer (attribution of arousal) aka. Two-factor Theory
Emotional experience depends on interaction between the bodily
response and cognitive interpretation of the stimulus.
Stress
Stressors can be positive or negative.
General adaptation syndrome (Seyle):
Alarm Resistance Exhaustion

Consciousness and sleep

1.

2.

Levels of consciousness
a. Conscious
b. Preconscious
c. Subconscious (priming and mere-exposure effect)
d. Nonconscious (respiration)
e. Unconscious
Drugs
(tolerance, withdrawal symptoms)
a. Agonist: mimics neurotransmitters
b. Antagonist: blocks neurotransmitters
c. Types of drugs:
Stimulants:
Caffeine, nicotine, amphetamine, cocaine
Depressants:
Alcohol, Barbiturates, Anxiolytics (tranquilizers)
Opiates
Narcotics, Morphine, Heroin
Hallucinogens
LSD, Marijuana, Peyote, mushrooms

Sleep-wake cycle
(Melatonin)
1. Awake
2. Slow-wave/NREM sleep (90 min)
3. REM sleep: dreams. Important for memory consolidation and
learning. (10-15 min) beta waves
4. Brain waves:
Sleep onset/ before sleep: alpha waves
Stage 1 and 2: theta waves
Stage 3 and 4: delta waves
Sleep problems:
1. Insomnia
2. Narcolepsy: intense sleepiness
3. Sleep apnea: stop breathing
4. Somnambulism (stage 4)
5. Night terror (stage 4)
Hypnosis:
Post-hypnosis amnesia, hypnotic analgesia
Post-hypnosis suggestion, neo-dissociative theory

Personality
Trait approach
A. Three-factor Model (Eysenck)
Extroversion/introversion
Neuroticism/stability
Psychoticism/self-control
B. The five-factor model (Big Five) (Norman)
Extroversion,
neuroticism,
openness,
agreeableness,
conscientiousness
C. Gordon Allport
Cardinal & Central & Secondary dispositions (interests)
Psychoanalytic approach
A. Freuds theory
1. Id: pleasure principle, libido
Ego: reality principle
Defense mechanisms: repression, displacement, denial,
projection,
reaction
formation,
rationalization,
intellectualization, sublimation, compensation
Superego
2. Anxiety: defense mechanisms protect ego from anxiety.
B. Criticisms: not testable/predictable, not sample-based

Social-cognitive approach:
A. Bandura:
Triadic reciprocality: person + environment + behavior
Maladaptive schemas: arbitrary interference (drawing
unsupported conclusions) and dichotomous thinking
Self efficacy
Humanistic approach
A. Maslow: hierarchy of needs
B. Rogers: Self-concept: I & me
Personality assessment:
A. Self-reported
1. MMPI: diagnose psychological disorders
2. CPI: nonclinical. For personality traits
B. Projective techniques
1. Rorschach inkblot test
2. TAT: tell stories about scenes

Social psychology
A. Social comparison
B. Attitudes: cognitive dissonance
C. Attribution:
1. Situational
2. Dispositional (within a person)
D. Social role theories
1. Role: governed by norms
2. Zimbardos prison study
Compliance strategies
1. Door in the foot
2. Face in the door
The self
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

()

Self-concept
Self-esteem
Self-conscious
Self-monitoring
Self-perception theory (Bem)

Exchange relationships: give and take

Love relationships
1. Romantic
2. Compassionate
Attraction: proximity (nearness) + similarity + reciprocal liking
Group dynamics:
1. Group polarization
2. Groupthink: false unanimity
3. Deindividualization: loss of control
4. Social loafing: do not put in as much effort when in a group
5. Bystander effect: diffusion of responsibility (+pluralistic
ignorance: look to others about how to behave)
Attributional biases
1. Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to explain
behavior as an effect of disposition rather than situation
2. Self-serving bias
3. Self-fulfilling prophecy
4. False-consensus effect
5. Just-world bias

6. Out-group homogeneity
7. In-group bias (contact theory, superordinate goal, GRIT)
8. Illusory correlation
Stereotype
Prejudice (attitude)
Discrimination (action)
Aggression and antisocial behavior
Instrumental aggression and hostile aggression
Frustration-aggression hypothesis
Dehumanization
Influences of others on an individuals behavior
1. Social facilitation: presence of others
2. Social Impairment
3. Rosenthal Effect:
higher expectation from othersbetter performance
4. Conformity
5. Obedience
Milgram studied obedience to authority

Abnormal Psychology
Rosenhan sanity study: hard to diagnose insanity
DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
A. Anxiety disorders
1. Phobia
a. Agoraphobia: fear of open/public places
b. Social phobia
c. Claustrophobia
d. Arachnophobia : fear of spiders
2. General Anxiety Disorder (GAD): chronic
3. Post-traumatic stress disorder
4. Panic disorder: intermittent
Panic attacks
5. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
a. Obsessions: thoughts
b. Compulsions: behaviors
B. Mood/affective disorders (cognitive triad: self + world + future)
1. Major(unipolar) depression
serotonin
2. Bipolar depression (Manic Depression)
3. Seasonal affective disorders
C. Dissociative disorders
1. Amnesia
2. DID
D. Somatoform/Somatic symptom disorders
1. Hypochondriasis
2. Conversion disorder:
E. Schizophrenia
1. Delusions of persecution & grandeur
2. Hallucination
3. Neologism
4. Inappropriate affect/flat affect
5. catatonia
Positive symptoms: hallucinations, disorganized thought and
speech, and delusions
Negative symptoms: lack of speech and emotional expression,
and social withdrawal
Types of schizophrenia: disorganized, paranoid, catatonic
F. Personality disorders
1. Antisocial personality disorder
2. Narcissistic personality disorder
3. Paranoid personality disorder
4. Histrionic personality disorder
5. Dependent personality disorder

6. Borderline personality disorder

7. Avoidant personality disorder
G. Psychosexual disorders
1. Pedophilia
2. Zoophibia
3. Fetishism
4. Voyeur
5. Masochist/sadist
H. Neurodevelopmental disorder
1. Autism spectrum disorder
2. ADHD

Treatment of psychopathology
A. Classical psychoanalysis (Freud)
1. Free association
2. Transference
3. Resistance: focus on what the client refuses to talk about
4. Dream analysis
B. Psychodynamic therapy: explores cultural or interpersonal
factors, not childhood
C. Humanistic therapies
1. Person-centered therapy (Rogers)
a. Unconditional positive regard
b. Authenticity, non-directive
c. Empathy
2. Existential therapy: imbue meaning in clients life
D. Behavioral therapies
1. Systematic desensitization (anxiety hierarchy) (imagine)
2. Flooding (experience) (Classical conditioning)
3. Aversion therapy (Classical conditioning)
4. Counterconditioning (Classical conditioning)
5. Covert desensitization and in vivo desensitization
6. Operant conditioning
Token economy
Contingency management
E. Cognitive therapies
1. Rational-Emotive therapy (Ellies): expose and confront the
dysfunctional thoughts for anxiety and mood disorders
2. Cognitive therapy (Beck): replaces negative thoughts with
positive thoughts self+world+future

Biological/Medical Treatment
A.

Drug Therapy
1. Antidepressants
a. SSRI (e.g.: Prozac): increase activity of serotonin
b. MAO-inhibitors (e.g.: serotonin)
2. Anxiolytics:
a. Benzodiazepines: tranquilizers
(e.g.: Valium)
3. Antipsychotics: treat schizophrenia
(e.g.: Clozapine, Thorazine, Haldol)
(Side effect: tardive dyskinesia)
1.
2.
3.

Unipolar depression: antidepressants

Bipolar depression: mania Lithium
Anxiety disorders: Barbiturate (e.g.: Miltown)
Benzodiazepines (e.g.: Xanax, Valium)
B. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
(memory loss)
C. Surgery (e.g.: prefrontal lobotomy)