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When two stimuli are functionally equivalent

autonomic reflex

nothing that we've learned, just natural physical response such (dog saliva/straw lecture story)



episodic memory

memory for episodes in your own life

semantic memory

your memory for meanings and general (impersonal) facts

procedural memory

Memory of learned skills that does not require conscious recollection

sensory memory

the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system

short term memory


long term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.


very specific, systematic methods that always reach a correct result


mental shortcuts that help us to streamline our thinking and make sense of our world

mental set



smallest units of sound in the human language, like consonants or vowels



heirarchy of needs




childhood amnesia

A phenomenon that no one can accurately recall events from the first three years of life.

conditioned stimulus

the stimulus that is the occasion for a conditioned response

conditioned response


unconditioned stimulus


unconditioned response


classical conditioning

a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli - learning by association

ivan pavlov

Russian physiologist who observed conditioned salivary responses in dogs (1849-1936) (CLASSICAL CONDITIONING)

aptitude testing

A test designed to predict future performance

achievement testing

a test designed to asses what a person has learned

memory processes

encoding storage and retrieval

neutral stimulus

a stimulus that does not initially elicit a response

alfred binet

the indvidual that published the first measure of intelligence in 1905. The purpose of his intelligence test was to correctly place students on academic tracks in the French school system.

garcia and koelling

researchers who did major studies on classical conditoning and taste aversions - rats

systematic desensitization


proactive interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information


1904-1990; Field: behavioral; Contributions: created techniques to manipulate the consequences of an organism's behavior in order to observe the effects of subsequent behavior; Studies: Skinner box


the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences


(Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) Verbal & performance scores. Most widely used intelligence test today

abraham maslow

humanistic psychology; hierarchy of needs-needs at a lower level dominate an individual's motivation as long as they are unsatisfied; self-actualization, transcendence

James Lange theory

we are afraid BECAUSE WE TREMBLE, different PATTERNS of autonomic activation lead to the experience of different emotions

facial feedback



forebrain region that governs motivation and emotional responses


performance is best under a condition of moderate arousal - social interaction causes stimulation, change in activity




"anything that happens to us that alters our thoughts or views"

fixed ratio

a schedule where reinforcement happens after a correct number of responses

variable ratio

a schedule where reinforcement happens after a varied number of responses

higher order conditioning


state dependent

memories that are recalled better when the mood in which they were orginallt encoded is recreated

context dependent

the cue is the environment you learnt it in


Swiss psychologist remembered for his studies of cognitive development in children (4 stages)(1896-1980)


state of deprivation


a reason for doing something


a reason or an emotion that makes one act in a certain way


state of tension produced by a need that motivates an organism toward a goal

psychic energy

Freud's term for the biologically based instinctual drives that he believed fuels behavior, thoughts and feelings

instinct theory

theory that states behavior is motivated by instincts

unconditioned stimulus

this is what the meat powder is considered

conditioned stimulus

this is what the bell tone in the dog experiments is considered

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