Psychology 101 Miderm review

Stuttering

Chronic hesitation or stumbling in speech. It seems to involve speech timing mechanisms in the brain and is not caused by parenting. Four times more common in males. May be partially inherited.

Dyslexia

Inability to read with understanding; classic example is reversing letters. Affects 10–15% of school-age children.

Learning disabilities

Problems with reading, math, or writing that cause academic achievement to be significantly lower than expected for a child’s intellectual level.

Levels of moral development

Preconventional (guided by consequences), Conventional (guided by rules and approval), Postconventional (guided by self-accepted principles).

Kubler-Ross’s stages of death and dying

Denial and Isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance.

Euthanasia

Passive: letting death occur; Active: taking steps to speed death; Physician-assisted: doctor provides lethal dose to patient.

Subliminal messages

Perception of a stimulus below the threshold for conscious recognition.

Causes of deafness

Conduction deafness (poor transfer of vibrations to inner ear), Nerve deafness (damage to hair cells/auditory nerve), stimulation deafness (exposure to loud noise).

Taste sensations

Sweet, salt, sour, bitter, umami.

Taste buds

Receptor cells for taste found mostly around the edges of the tongue.

Visual spectrum

Portion of the electromagnetic spectrum the human eye can detect.

Pheromones

(not directly in slides; related concept: olfactory receptor response to gaseous molecules).

Pain (different types)

Phantom limb, visceral pain, referred pain, somatic pain. Warning system: fast, sharp pain. Reminding system: slow, aching pain.

Crista

Structure that detects movement in semicircular canals of the vestibular system.

DNA

Double-helix molecular structure containing coded genetic information.

Reflexes

Grasping, rooting, sucking, Moro reflexes in newborns.

Sensory motor stage

Piaget’s first stage (0–2 years); coordination of sensory input and motor responses, object permanence develops.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget’s third stage (7–11 years); concepts of time, space, volume, and number understood in concrete terms, conservation and reversibility appear.

Life span development

Study of developmental tasks and milestones from birth to death.

Erikson’s stages of development

Trust vs mistrust, Autonomy vs shame and doubt, Initiative vs guilt, Industry vs inferiority, Identity vs role confusion, Intimacy vs isolation, Generativity vs stagnation, Integrity vs despair.

ADD-ADHD

Characterized by short attention span, rapid speech, impulsivity, and rarely finishing work; treated with stimulants like Ritalin and behavior modification.

Receptor cells for vision

Rods and cones in the retina.

Receptor cells for hearing

Hair cells in the cochlea.

Receptor cells for taste

Taste buds on the tongue.

Receptor cells for smell

Olfactory nerve fibers.

Cones and rods

Cones are for color and bright light; rods are for dim light and black-and-white vision.

Ishihara test

Test for color blindness.

Color blindness

Inability or weakness in perceiving colors; most common is red-green color weakness.

Anosmia

Defective sense of smell for a single odor.

Gustation

Sense of taste.

Amount of taste buds

Most people have around 10,000 taste buds; some people (supertasters) have significantly more.

Fovea

Area of the retina containing only cones; responsible for sharp central vision.

Sensory conflict theory

Motion sickness occurs when vestibular sensations don’t match information from eyes/body.

Vestibular system

Organs for balance; includes semicircular canals, otolith organs, and crista.

Pica

Eating or chewing inedible objects (e.g., lead, chalk).

Rhodopsin

Light-sensitive pigment in rods involved in night vision.

Vygotsky’s theories

Emphasize the role of social interaction and culture in cognitive development; zone of proximal development and scaffolding.

Andropause

Reduced testosterone in men; can cause fatigue, weight gain, reduced sex drive.

Menopause

End of menstruation and childbearing; often includes hormonal changes and hot flashes.

Thanatologist

A person who studies emotional and behavioral reactions to death and dying.

Cryonics

Freezing the body (or head) after death in hope of future revival.

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

The minimal amount of change in stimulus intensity that is detectable.

Hyperopia

Farsightedness; difficulty focusing on nearby objects.

Dark adaptation

Increased retinal sensitivity after entering darkness; involves rods and rhodopsin.

Cochlea

Inner ear organ of hearing; snail-shaped structure containing hair cells.

Malleus

Hammer; first bone of the auditory ossicles.

Incus

Anvil; second bone of the auditory ossicles.

Stapes

Stirrup; third bone of the auditory ossicles.

Piaget’s stages of development

Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, Formal operations.