UD- PSYC100- Exam 1

Psychology

The scientific study of thought and behavior

-Why people think the way they do

-real science, not pseudoscience

Subdisciplines of psychology

(Largest to smallest)

-clinical, counseling, cognitive, development, experimental, industry, health, neuro, social, educational

critical thinking

process in which one analyzes, evaluates, and forms idea

Steps of critical thinking

1. Analyze

2. Evaluate

3. Make inferences

4. interpret

5. Explain

6. Self Regulate

metacognitive thinking

ability first to think and then to reflect on one's own thinking

Biopsychoscial model

used to explain human behavior

Biological factors

Genetics, immune/stress response, metabolic disorders, physical health, neurochemistry

psychological factors

self-esteem, attitude, beliefs, perceptions, coping skills, social skills, temperament

Social and environmental factors

peers, work, school, socio-economic status, culture, family circumstances

Common sense and logic

both can be argued as correct

Rationalism

using logic and reasoning to understand the world

Limits of Observation

-senses can be tricked(visual and auditory)

-Sampling error- not taking a large enough sample

Science

An organized way of gathering and analyzing evidence about the natural world.

scientific thinking

1. Question authority

2. Open skepticism

3. intellectual honesty

Scientific Method

A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Reliability

Ability of a test to yield very similar scores for the same individual over repeated testings

Validity

-Actually measuring exactly what you intend to measure

-correlation

Pseudoscience

claims presented as scientific that are not supported by evidence obtained with the scientific method

variables

characteristics that changes between or within individuals(openness, reading ability)

Correlation studies

Between two continuous variables

Shown as:

-Positive, none, or negative correlations

-correlation /= causation

- 3rd variable problem

experimental studies

include independent and dependent variables

independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

dependent variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

confounding variable

can influence the outcome of the study, but not part if the research question

random assignment

all participants are equally likely to be placed in each research group

experimental group

In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

control group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

experimenter expectancy effect

the experimenter's expectations about how participants "should" behave in the experiment, this can influence their interactions with participants

self-fulfilling prophecy

an expectation that causes you to act in ways that make that expectation come true.

double-blind experiment

an experiment in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know which participants received which treatment

Genome

all of an organism's genetic material

Genotype

genetic makeup of an organism

Phenotype

An organism's physical appearance, or visible traits.

monogenetic traits

Determined by a single allele (ie. eye color)

Polygenetic traits

trait controlled by two or more genes(skin color)

Allele

Different forms of a gene

-dominant or recessive

Heritability

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes.

Epigenetics

Environmental factors can turn genes on and off

soft inheritance

Idea that hereditary matter is affected by the environment. It is the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics

Neurons

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

action potential

the change in electrical potential associated with the passage of an impulse along the membrane of a muscle cell or nerve cell.

-70mV

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons

sensory neurons

neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord

motor neurons

neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands

Interneurons

neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs

propagation

impulsive traveling down an axon in a wave

all-or-none principle

Refers to the fact that the action potential in the axon occurs either full-blown or not at all.

myelin sheath

A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next.

enzymatic degradation

process by which structure of neurotransmitter is altered so it can no longer act on a receptor

Reuptake

neuron will reabsorb neurotransmitter

excitatory neurotransmitters

excite the next cell into firing

inhibitory neurotransmitters

inhibit the next cell from firing

Agonist drug

a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, stimulates a response

Antagonist drug

the medication that blocks or counteracts the effects of a psychoactive drug

Nerves

bundled axons that form neural "cables" connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs

Hindbrain

medulla, pons, cerebellum, spinal cord

Medulla

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing

Pons

A brain structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain

spinal cord

Nerves that run up and down the length of the back and transmit most messages between the body and brain

Cerebellum

A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills.

Midbrain

Region between the hindbrain and the forebrain; it is important for hearing and sight.

Forebrain

thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, limbic system, cerebral cortex

basal ganglia

voluntary motor control

-parkinson's effects

Hypothalamus

maintains homeostasis

Amygdala

emotion significants, mostly fear

Hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.

Thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

cingulate gyrus

attention and cognitive tasking

cerebral hemispheres

-Left = analytic

-right = integrative, holistic

contralateral control

The typical pattern in vertebrates in which movements of the right side of the body are controlled by the left hemisphere, while movements of the left side are controlled by the right hemisphere.

corpus callosum

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

frontal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex that has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgement

temporal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex responsible for hearing and language.

parietal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex whose functions include processing information about touch, and memory

occipital lobe

vision

Neuroplasticity

brain's ability to adopt new functions, reorganize itself, or make new neural connections, as a function of experience

neurogenesis

the formation of new neurons

arborization

branching of dendrites

Snyaptogenesis

growing new synapses

consciousness

Awareness of ourselves and our environment

synchronization

act of occurring, or of causing to occur, at the same time

radical plasticity theory

consciousness must be learned

wakefulness

the degree of alertness reflecting whether a person is awake or asleep

awareness

the monitoring of information from the environment and from one's own thoughts

coma

closed eyes; person is unresponsive and unarousable

reticular activating system

Part of brain stem involved in arousal and attention, sleep and wakefulness, and control of reflexes.

vegetative state

a state of minimal consciousness in which the eyes might be open, but the person is otherwise unresponsive.

minimally conscious state

one stage higher than a vegetative state marked by occasional brief periods of purposeful action and limited speech comprehension

Disorders of consciousness

- Coma

- Vegetative state

- Minimally conscious state

moderate consciousness

when information is just below conscious awareness; have the potential to access the information

flow

a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time

midfulness

Heightened awareness of the present moment; either events or own mind

- forcing yourself to pay attention

attention

the limited capacity to process information that is under conscious control

- cant pay focus on everything at once

selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, while ignoring others

dichotic listening

a task in which people wearing headphones hear different messages presented to each ear

- attended channel

-unattended channel

cannot listen to both at once

cocktail party effect

Words in unattended channel carrying personal importance are noticed

inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

perceptual load model

we do not notice potential distracters when a primary task consumes all of our attentional capacity

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment