Psychology 101 Flashcards

The confirmation bias is best described as the tendency to:

Answer: Seek, interpret, and recall information that confirms pre-existing beliefs

Confirmation bias involves actively favoring information that supports what we already believe and discounting contradictory evidence.

Which psychologist conducted the famous 'Little Albert' experiment demonstrating that fear could be classically conditioned in humans?

Answer: John B. Watson

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner conditioned infant Albert to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud noise.

Which term describes the cognitive shortcut of judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily an example comes to mind?

Answer: Availability heuristic

The availability heuristic leads people to overestimate the probability of vivid or memorable events.

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

Answer: Identity vs. role confusion

Erikson proposed that adolescents must resolve a crisis between forming a coherent personal identity and experiencing role confusion.

Which neurotransmitter imbalance is most commonly associated with major depressive disorder according to the monoamine hypothesis?

Answer: Deficient serotonin

The monoamine hypothesis links depression to insufficient serotonin (and sometimes norepinephrine and dopamine) activity.

Stanley Milgram's obedience experiments primarily demonstrated that:

Answer: Ordinary people can inflict harm when instructed by an authority figure

Milgram found that about 65% of participants administered what they believed were severe electric shocks when ordered by an experimenter.

The term 'neuroplasticity' refers to:

Answer: The brain's ability to change structure and function in response to experience

Neuroplasticity is the brain's capacity to reorganize synaptic connections, grow new neurons, and adapt to learning, injury, or environmental changes.