Bachelor of Social Science Psychology Flashcards

Which concept describes the tendency to attribute others' behavior to internal traits rather than situational factors?

Answer: Fundamental attribution error

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overemphasize dispositional explanations while underestimating situational influences on others' behavior.

In Erikson's psychosocial theory, the central conflict of adolescence is:

Answer: Identity vs. role confusion

Erikson identified identity vs. role confusion as the core developmental challenge during adolescence, involving exploration of personal identity.

Which schedule of reinforcement produces the highest and most steady rate of responding?

Answer: Variable-ratio

Variable-ratio schedules produce the highest, most consistent response rates because reinforcement is unpredictable, as seen in gambling behavior.

The concept of 'learned helplessness' was originally demonstrated by which researcher?

Answer: Martin Seligman

Martin Seligman demonstrated learned helplessness through experiments where dogs exposed to inescapable shocks later failed to avoid escapable ones.

Which brain structure is most critically involved in forming new explicit (declarative) memories?

Answer: Hippocampus

The hippocampus is essential for encoding new explicit memories; damage to it, as in patient H.M., results in anterograde amnesia.

According to Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, dissonance is reduced by:

Answer: Adding, changing, or reducing the importance of cognitions

Festinger proposed that people reduce dissonance by changing one cognition, adding consonant cognitions, or downplaying the importance of the conflict.

In psychophysics, Weber's Law states that the just noticeable difference (JND) is:

Answer: A constant proportion of the original stimulus

Weber's Law holds that the JND is a constant fraction (Weber fraction) of the original stimulus magnitude, not a fixed absolute amount.