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Infantile amnesia
the inability to remember events from early childhood
Operational definitions
a statement of the procedures used to define research variables
Sensory adaptation
diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
Sensory interaction
the principle that one sense may influence another
Experiment
a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process
Independent variable
variable that is manipulated
Confounding variable
a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment
Sampling bias
a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample
Random assignment
assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups
Experimental group
the group in an experiment that receives the variable being tested
Control group
the group that does not receive the experimental treatment.
Case study
a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
Medulla
the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing
Reticular formation
a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal
Limbic system
neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives
Amygdala
two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion.
Hypothalamus
brain region controlling the pituitary gland
Pituitary gland
regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands, master gland
Hippocampus
a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage
Corpus callosum
a broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the brain.
Occipital lobes
portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields
Parietal lobes
portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position
Temporal lobes
portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear
Introspection
examination of one's own thoughts and feelings
Agonist
a molecule that increases a neurotransmitter's action
Antagonist
a molecule that inhibits or blocks a neurotransmitter's action
Depressants
drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions
Stimulants
drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions
Monocular cues
depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone
Linear perspective
the tendency for parallel lines to appear to converge on each other
Binocular cues
depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes
Retinal disparity
the differences between the images stimulating each eye
Convergence
A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object
Scatter plot
A graph with points plotted to show a possible relationship between two sets of data.
Afferent neurons
Nerve cells that carry impulses towards the central nervous system
PET scan (positron emission tomography)
a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task
EEG scan (electroencephalogram)
an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface
Action potential
the change in electrical potential associated with the passage of an impulse along the membrane of a muscle cell or nerve cell.
Resting state
All gated Na+ and K+ channels are closed
Refractory phase
a period during and immediately after a nerve impulse when a neuron cannot produce another action potential
Sympathetic nervous system
the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations
Parasympathetic nervous system
the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy
Priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
Motion parallax
a depth cue in which the relative movement of elements in a scene gives depth information when the observer moves relative to the scene
Selective attention
the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
Absolute threshold
the weakest amount of a stimulus that a person can detect half the time
Signal detection theory
theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions
Correlation (strength)
A measure of the relationship between two variables
Positive correlation (direct)
a relationship between two variables in which both variables either increase or decrease together
Negative correlation (inverse)
as one variable increases, the other decreases
Visual neural pathway
optic nerve-->optic chiasm-->lateral geniculate nucleus-->striate cortex (primary visual cortex/part of cerebral cortex)
Auditory neural pathway
hair cell receptors-->medulla oblongata-->thalamus--> primary auditory area (in temporal lobe)
Nature-nuture issue
the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
Gestalt principles
Principles that describe the brain's organization of sensory information into meaningful units and patterns.
Similarity
the tendency to perceive things that look similar to each other as being part of the same group
Closure
the tendency to complete figures that are incomplete
Continuity
we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones
Stage 2 (sleep spindles)
still lower pulse, blood pressure, body temperature; hard to awaken; unresponsive to stimuli
REM (dreams)
more dreams, emotional, illogical, prone to plot shifts, biologically crucial
Circadian rhythm
the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle
Top-down processing
the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole
Bottom-up processing
analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information
Shaping
The reinforcement of closer and closer approximations of a desired response.
Kinesthesia
the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
Vestibular sense
the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance
Semicircular canals
three canals within the inner ear that contain specialized receptor cells that generate nerve impulses with body movement
Gate control theory
the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
Rods and cones
in the retina, receives images that have passed through the lens of the eye
Aphasia
loss of speech
Lateralization
cognitive function that relies more on one side of the brain than the other
Opponent-process theory
the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision
Afterimages
Sensations that linger after the stimulus is removed
Belief perseverance
tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them
Conditioned stimulus
a stimulus that elicits a response only after learning has taken place
Unconditioned stimulus
A stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning
Conditioned response
a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus
Unconditioned response
a reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus
Extinction
the diminishing of a conditioned response
Acquisition
the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together
Discrimination
in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus
Generalization
responding similarly to a range of similar stimuli
Fixed/variable-ratio
based on amount of times a behavior occurs
Fixed/variable-interval
based on amount of time that passes between consequences of behavior
Latent learning
learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it
Mirror neurons
frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so
Negative reinforcement
Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock, any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response
Secondary reinforcer
neutral object that becomes associated with a primary reinforcer
Sleep apnea
a disorder in which the person stops breathing for brief periods while asleep
Observational learning
learning by observing others
Mean, median, mode
average, middle, most
Inattentional blindness
failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
Change blindness
failing to notice changes in the environment
Perceptual set
a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Dendrites
branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.
Reuptake
a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron