Compare concepts
Similar words can answer different questions. Choose a pair, inspect the definitions and use the distinction to read an example more carefully.
Classical and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is learning a relationship between events so that a cue comes to elicit a response through its association with another stimulus.
Full concept and sourcesOperant conditioning
Operant conditioning is learning in which a behavior becomes more or less likely because of the consequences it produces.
Full concept and sourcesAsk what relationship is learned. Classical conditioning concerns a cue predicting another event. Operant conditioning concerns a behavior and its consequences. Both processes can operate in the same setting.
A question to ask
Is the example about a predictive cue, a behavior–consequence relationship, or both?
Reinforcement and punishment
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is a process in which an action’s consequence increases the future probability or frequency of that action in relevant conditions.
Full concept and sourcesPunishment
Punishment is a process in which a consequence decreases the future probability or frequency of the behavior it follows.
Full concept and sourcesClassify the effect on the specified behavior: reinforcement increases it, while punishment decreases it. Positive means something is added; negative means something is removed. Intentions or whether the consequence seems pleasant do not establish its function.
A question to ask
What happened to the future probability of the behavior being measured?
Working memory and long-term memory
Working memory
Working memory is a limited-capacity set of processes that temporarily maintains and updates information relevant to an ongoing task.
Full concept and sourcesLong-term memory
Long-term memory encompasses processes and representations that retain information over extended periods, from later in a day to many years.
Full concept and sourcesWorking memory concerns holding and using currently relevant information. Long-term memory concerns information retained beyond the immediate activity. The systems interact, and a familiar item can draw on both.
A question to ask
Is the task about keeping information active now, retaining it across time, or their interaction?
Encoding and retrieval
Encoding
Encoding is the processing through which an experience is represented in memory, including how its features and meaning are organized.
Full concept and sourcesRetrieval
Retrieval is the process of accessing information retained in memory so it can guide awareness, judgment or behavior.
Full concept and sourcesEncoding concerns how an experience becomes represented in memory. Retrieval concerns accessing retained information. A retrieval failure does not prove that nothing was encoded, and a vivid recollection does not guarantee accurate encoding.
A question to ask
Is the difficulty in forming a representation or accessing it later? What evidence would distinguish them?
Sensation and perception
Sensation
Sensation refers to detecting stimulation through sensory receptors and the associated processes that begin representing that stimulation in the nervous system.
Full concept and sourcesPerception
Perception is the organization and interpretation of sensory information that supports recognizing and interacting with the world.
Full concept and sourcesSensation concerns detecting and transducing stimulation. Perception concerns organizing and interpreting sensory information. This is a useful conceptual distinction within interacting processes, not two isolated stages with no feedback.
A question to ask
Is the claim about registering stimulation or about interpreting what it means?
Bottom-up and top-down processing
Bottom-up processing
Bottom-up processing is processing driven by incoming sensory information rather than primarily by existing expectations or knowledge.
Full concept and sourcesTop-down processing
Top-down processing is the influence of prior knowledge, expectations, or current goals on the processing of sensory information.
Full concept and sourcesBottom-up emphasizes information arriving from sensory input. Top-down emphasizes the influence of knowledge, expectations and context. Ordinary perception commonly involves both.
A question to ask
Which part of the explanation comes from the current input, and which from prior knowledge or context?
Absolute and difference thresholds
Absolute threshold
An absolute threshold is the stimulus intensity detected on a specified proportion of trials, conventionally half the time in introductory definitions.
Full concept and sourcesDifference threshold
A difference threshold, also called a just noticeable difference, is the change between stimuli detected at a specified performance criterion.
Full concept and sourcesAn absolute threshold concerns detecting that a stimulus is present. A difference threshold concerns detecting a change between stimuli. Both depend on the task, conditions and specified detection criterion.
A question to ask
Is the observer detecting something, or distinguishing a difference?
Emotion and mood
Emotion
Emotion is a coordinated psychological episode involving subjective feeling and other responses to something personally significant.
Full concept and sourcesMood
Mood is a relatively enduring affective state that is often less tied to one identifiable object than an emotion.
Full concept and sourcesEmotions are often more closely tied to an event or object; moods are often more diffuse and persistent. Duration and specificity are tendencies, not a stopwatch rule that settles every experience.
A question to ask
How specific is the apparent cause, and what is the experience doing in this context?
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation is motivation to undertake an activity for the satisfaction inherent in the activity itself.
Full concept and sourcesExtrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation is motivation to perform an activity because of a consequence or purpose separable from doing that activity.
Full concept and sourcesIntrinsic motivation concerns doing an activity for its inherent interest or enjoyment. Extrinsic motivation concerns a separable consequence. People can have several motives at once, and an external goal is not automatically harmful or unimportant.
A question to ask
What makes this person engage in the activity in this situation?
Prejudice and discrimination
Prejudice
Prejudice is an evaluative attitude or feeling directed toward people because of their membership in a social group.
Full concept and sourcesDiscrimination
Discrimination is differential treatment of people on the basis of group membership, commonly studied as unfair or harmful treatment.
Full concept and sourcesPrejudice refers to evaluations or attitudes toward people based on group membership. Discrimination concerns differential treatment. Attitudes and actions are connected, but an evaluation does not document every action and actions can reflect institutional processes.
A question to ask
What is the evidence about an evaluation, and what is the evidence about treatment?
Temperament and personality traits
Temperament
Temperament refers to early-emerging, biologically grounded differences in emotional, attentional, and behavioral reactivity and self-regulation.
Full concept and sourcesPersonality trait
A personality trait is a relatively enduring tendency in patterns of thinking, feeling, or behaving, expressed to varying degrees.
Full concept and sourcesTemperament describes early-emerging differences in reactivity and regulation. Personality traits describe broader recurring patterns of thought, feeling and behavior. They overlap developmentally; neither implies a fixed destiny or predicts every action.
A question to ask
Is the description about early reactivity and regulation or a broader pattern across situations?
Conformity and obedience
Conformity
Conformity is a change in behavior or judgment toward a group’s perceived pattern or expectations.
Full concept and sourcesObedience
Obedience is behavior performed in response to an order from a person perceived to have authority in the situation.
Full concept and sourcesConformity concerns adjustment to actual or perceived group pressure. Obedience concerns responding to an authority’s directive. A situation may combine authority, group expectations and other motives.
A question to ask
Is there an explicit authority directive, group pressure, or both?