Psych Test 1 Terms

Descriptive Research

Non-experimental method of research used to observe, measure, and document behaviors as they naturally occur, without manipulating any variables

Double-blind experiment

research design where neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the active treatment or not.

External Validity

The extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other people/settings

Internal Validity

The extent to which a study can establish that changes in the dependent variable were caused by the independent variable, rather than by other confounding factors

Longitudinal Design

Research method that collects data from the same group repeatedly over an extended period

Meta-analysis

statistical method that combines and analyzes the results of multiple studies

Correlational Research

Explore the relationship between two or more variables without manipulating them. Helps identify patterns or associations

Operational Defintion

The statement of procedures the researcher is going to use to measure/observe/manipulate a specific variable.

Cross-sectional design

Type of observational study (descriptive research) that involves analyzing information about a population/many individuals at a single, specific point in time

Case Study

an in-depth examination of a person, group, or community of people (interviews, observations)

Third variable problem

Flaw in correlational research where an uncontrolled factor affects both variables, which makes them look causally related when they may not be.

Action Potential

An electrical nerve impulse that travels along a neuron’s axon to send information to other cells

Amygdala

Small, almond-shaped structure in brain that links emotions to many other brain abilities (memories, learning, your senses, threat detection)

• Part of Limbic System

Corpus Callosum

Bundle of nerve fibers that allows your brain’s left and right hemispheres to communicate. Plays role in how you think, remember, and coordinate movements

Brain Stem

Connects brain to the spinal cord and sends messages to the rest of body to regulate balance, breathing, heart rate, etc.

Frontal Lobes

Front-most part of brain and is responsible for higher-level cognitive processes, voluntary movements, and emotional control

Hippocampus

Part of brain responsible for memory (short/long term) and learning

Neural networks

series of interconnected biological or simulated neurons that process information through the spread of activation across pathways

Hypothalamus

Structure deep in brain that acts as body’s smart control coordinating center and aims to keep the body and its internal systems in homeostasis.

Neurotransmitters

Specialized chemical messengers that nerve cells use to communicate with each other and with target tissues across a synapse

Neuroplasticity

The brain’s ability to change, grow, and reorganize its structure and neural connections over time in response to new experiences

Central Nervous System

The main processing and control center of the body that consists of the brain and spinal cord

Parasympathetic Nervous System

A division of the autonomic nervous system that conserves energy, slows the body down, and maintains a resting state after periods of stress/danger

Sympathetic Nervous System

A division of the autonomic nervous system that controls the body’s flight or fight response in response to fear, stress, or perceived danger.

Temporal Lobe

One of four main regions of the cerebral cortex responsible for processing hearing, language comprehension, and long-term memory. Helps you use your senses to understand the world around you

Peripheral Nervous System

Network of nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord that connects the central nervous system to rest of body.

Consists of the Somatic Nervous system (controls voluntary movements) and the Autonomic Nervous system (controls involuntary, internal movements)

Synapses

specialized junction/tiny gap between 2 nerve cells where signals pass from one neuron to the next

Binocular Cues

visual depth information that requires input from both eyes to perceive distance and 3D space

Bottom-up processing

Perception driven directly by the senses (external stimulus)

Top-down processing

When your brain uses prior knowledge and context to perceive and make sense of new sensory data.

Cones

Specialized photoreceptor cells in the retina that enable color vision and sharp visual detail in bright light

Rods

Specialized light-detecting photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that function best in dim light and perceive light and dark contrasts

Gestalt Psychology

school of thought that views the human mind, behavior, and perception as unified wholes rather than breaking them into separate parts

Figure-Ground Relationship

Core principle of Gestalt’s psychology that describes how the human brain automatically divides a visual scene into a main focus object and everything else that forms the background

Opponent-Process theory

Cones analyze information in “opposite” pairs (colors). Like a see-saw, where activating a visual receptor suppresses another

Priming

Exposure to one stimulus influences how a person responds to a subsequent stimulus, often without intention

Selective Attention

Focus on a particular stimulus in the environment while also suppressing other stimuli

Trichromatic Theory

Human color perception is based on three types of cone photoreceptors in the retina that are sensitive to short (blue), medium (green), and long (red) wavelengths of light.

Sensory Adaptation

natural process where your sensory receptors become less sensitive to a constant, unchanging stimulus overtime

Weber’s Law

States that the just-noticeable difference between two stimuli is a constant proportion of the original stimulus intensity

Latent Content

hidden psychological meaning behind a dream or symbol

Reticular Activating system (RAS)

Web-like network of neurons located in the brainstem that controls waking, arousal, and filtering repetitive or unnecessary background noise

Theory of Mind

Cognitive ability to understand mental states to oneself/others and recognize that other peoples’ internal mental state differ from your own

Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM)

Stage of sleep where the body is paralyzed and is associated with vivid dream states. Could be useful for memory consolidation, emotional regulation, threat stimulation, and “cognitive housekeeping”

Circadian Rhythm

Internal, biological, and behavioral 24-hour cycle that regulates your sleep-wake patterns, alertness, and cognitive performance.

Executive Function

set of higher-level mental skills that act as the brain’s command center to help you plan, focus, remember instructions, and mutlitask.

Emotion-focused coping

stress-management strategy where a person focuses on regulating their negative emotional reactions to a stressor rather than trying to change the external stimuli itself.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Describes the three predictable stages your body goes through when facing long/short-term stress

Alarm Reaction Stage - initial flight or fight response

Resistance Stage - Body tries to adapt and recover from initial shock

Exhaustion Stage - Body can no longer fight the stress

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)

The core neuroendocrine feedback system that manages the body’s physiological reaction to stress

Problem-focused coping

stress-management strategy that involves tackling a stressful situation or stressor directly to alter the root cause

Positive reappraisal

cognitive emotional regulation and coping strategy where an individual reinterprets a stressful situation to find a personally relevant positive meaning without denying the reality of the distress

Theory of Planned Behavior

states an individual’s behavior is directly shaped by their intention to perform that behavior, which is driven by their attitude and perceived behavioral control

Availability Heuristic

mental shortcut that relies on immediate, easily recalled examples when evaluating a topic

Hindsight Bias

Psychological tendency to believe that an event was predictable all along, only after you already know how it turned out

Representativeness heuristic

mental shortcut that estimates the likelihood of an event or person belonging to a category based on how closely they match an existing mental prototype

Base Rate Neglect

cognitive bias where people ignore or underweight general statistical information in favor of specific or anecdotal details when making probability judgements