Individual Psychology and Behavior - AP Psychology

When Skinner developed the operant conditioning box, it famously became known as the Skinner box. When a stimulus was presented, the box was designed such that a reward (or punishment) could be delivered depending on the subject's reaction to the stimulus. For example, when a light was shown, a mouse could push a lever and receive food.

B.F. Skinner is considered to be the founder of operant conditioning (the type of learning in which the effects of an action determine whether it will be repeated in the future). He is most famous for Skinner's box-- a box in which he placed animals to conduct operant conditioning experiments.

Classical conditioning can be thought of as learning through association and operant conditioning as learning through effect. Positive, negative, and punishment conditioning as methods do not exist.

Current research has contradicted Piaget's original notion that children do not possess much cognitive ability until they are a year old. Instead, it suggests that children as young as 4 months have a basic understanding of physics. For instance, a four-month-old can recognize that solid objects cannot pass through other solid objects and that objects roll down slopes instead of up.

The best definition of problem solving is making an active effort to achieve a goal that cannot be easily attained. At times, individuals view this unmet need as a problem and whatever means he or she comes up with to fulfill that need is the solution. The process of coming up with this solution is known as problem solving.

Problems involving structure usually require figuring out the relationship between two elements. Take this analogy problem: women are to men as sweets are to                     . The problem requires you to figure out the implied (i.e. not explicit) relationship between women and men and apply it to sweets. Structural problems are primarily based on relationships between parts.

Problems associated with arranging involve moving parts to fulfill a certain criterion. This manifests in many forms. Puzzles, anagrams, and block building are all forms of arrangement tasks. In the example provided in the answer, the letters are appropriately arranged to make the word “dancing.”

There are many resources at our disposal to solve problems. We can use trial and error, algorithms, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, dialectical reasoning, heuristics, forming sub-goals, and similar problems to help us approach the problem at hand. No single one method is measurably better than the other but some are more appropriate for particular problems.

Information only remains in our short-term memory for about 30 seconds. At the end of this time, this information is either forgotten or transferred to long-term memory.

A "mental set" is an obstacle to problem solving which involves fixating only on solutions that have worked in the past. For instance, someone who knows that yelling and throwing a fit has gotten them what they wanted might only use this solution to get they want in the present. Instead, it might be more effective to think of a new solution.

When a person is presented with a problem this problem may be presented with irrelevant information. That is, this information will not be useful when coming up with a solution. This is a common device used in riddles. Teasing out irrelevant information entails figuring out what precisely is being asked of you for the solution.

Motivation is not included among the list of human needs according to Maslow. Maslow identified five levels in his hierarchy: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.

Oxytocin works on a positive feedback loop because the actions which oxytocin causes also cause more oxytocin to be produced. This can be seen, among other examples, in the contractions of labor.

Chromosomes are complex structures that contain a molecule of DNA and a protein. DNA strands contain genetic information.

Trial and error is an appropriate approach to a problem when the number of possible solutions is relatively small. If number of possible solutions were large, then using trial and error would potentially take too long and be ineffective. If someone is presented with five light switches, they might try each one until they find the correct one. If someone is presented with 300 light switches, then trial error might not be the best option.

All of these answers are examples of algorithms. Algorithms are problems involving a step-by-step procedure to get one goal. This is not restricted to just math as one might think. People use algorithms in day-to-day life whether baking cookies using a particular recipe or driving somewhere by using directions.

Short-term memories are stored differently than long-term memories. Short-term memories generally include quick observations, and are only stored for 10-30 seconds. Short-term memories must be processed and stored as long-term memory in order to be accessible for any longer period of time.

A succinct and clear definition for cognition could be the following: "thinking, reasoning, remembering or almost any other activity in the brain." Cognition drastically changes throughout our lifetimes and is the object of much psychological study. In other words, the correct choice for the basic and clear definition of cognition is the following: "cognition relates to almost any activity in the brain, particularly thinking, reasoning and remembering."

Implicit memory refers to memories that do not rely upon conscious recall activities. Procedural memory is the type of memory that we use to do everyday tasks like tying our shoes or riding a bike. These activities do not require our conscious awareness of our previous attempts.

The ear is separated into three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear is the visible part of the ear. It acts to funnel the vibrations into the middle ear. The middle ear only contains a piston made up of three tiny bones. These bones are the anvil, hammer, and stirrup. Their purpose is to amplify the vibrations so that they can continue into the inner ear and create the necessary ripples in the basilar membrane to bend hairs. The bending hairs will initiate neural impulses, sending messages to the brain. It is the inner ear that contains most of the structures required for sensing sounds.