Psychology Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from the semester 2 psychology course.

Nature-nurture issue

Controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.

Epigenetics

The study of molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression (without a DNA change).

Central nervous system

The brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral nervous system

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body.

Nerves

Bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sensory organs.

Sensory (afferent) neurons

Neurons that carry incoming information from the body's tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

Motor (efferent) 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.

Somatic nervous system

The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles.

Autonomic nervous system

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart).

Sympathetic nervous system

The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy.

Parasympathetic nervous system

The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.

Neuron

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.

Cell body

The part of a neuron that contains the nucleus.

Dendrites

A neuron's often bushy, branching extensions that receive and integrate messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body.

Axon

The segmented neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

Lesion

Tissue destruction.

MEG (magnetoencephalography)

A brain-imaging technique that measures magnetic fields from the brain's natural electrical activity.

PET (positron emission tomography)

A technique for detecting brain activity that displays where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task.

fMRI (functional MRI)

A technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans.

Medulla

The hindbrain structure that is the brainstem's base; controls heartbeat and breathing.

Barbiturates

Drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment.

Opiods

Opium and its derivatives; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety.

Stimulants

Drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions.

Hallucinogens

Drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.

Hormones

Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues.

Psychoactive drug

A chemical substance that alters the brain, causing changes in perceptions and moods.

Substance use disorder

A disorder characterized by continued substance use despite resulting life disruption.

Depressants

Drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions.

Tolerance

The diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug's effect.

Synapse

The function between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gap between neurons.

Endorphins

"Morphine within"; natural, opioid-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

Agonist

A molecule that increases a neurotransmitter's action.

Antagonist

A molecule that inhibits or blocks a neurotransmitter's action.

Endocrine system

The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands and fat tissue that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Myelin sheath

A fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; it enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next.

Glial cells

Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons.

Action potential

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.

Refractory period

In neural processing, a brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron has fired; subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon returns to its resting state.

REM rebound

The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation.

Suprachiasmatic nucleus

A pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm.

Insomnia

Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks.

Sleep apnea

A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.

REM sleep behavior disorder

A sleep disorder in which normal REM paralysis does not occur, instead twitching, talking, or even kicking or punching may occur, often acting out one's dream.

Dream

A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind.

REM sleep

Rapid eye movement; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur.

Alpha waves

The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.

NREM sleep

Non-rapid eye movement sleep, encompasses all sleep stages except for REM sleep.

Hallucinations

False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.

Hypnagogic sensations

Bizarre experiences, such as jerking or a feeling of falling or floating weightlessly, while transitioning to sleep.

Consciousness

Our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment.

Delta waves

The large, slow brain waves associated with sleep.

Cognitive neuroscience

The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.

Parallel processing

Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously.

Sequential processing

Processing one aspect of a stimulus or problem at a time.

Sleep

A periodic, natural loss of consciousness.

Circadian rhythm

Our biological clock.

Hippocampus

Helps process explicit (conscious) memories-of facts and events-for storage.

Frontal lobes

Enable linguistic processing, muscle movements, higher-order thinking, and executive functioning (such as making plans and judgments).

Occipital lobes

Receive information from the visual fields.

Parietal lobes

Receive sensory input for touch and body position.

Temporal lobes

Receive information primarily from the opposite ear.

Thalamus

The forebrain's sensory control center, 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.

Cerebellum

The hindbrain's "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input, coordinating movement output and balance, and enabling nonverbal learning and memory.

Amygdala

Two lima-bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion.

Hypothalamus

It directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system, and is linked to emotion and reward.

Accommodation

The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus images of near or far objects on the retina.

Rods

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement.

Cones

Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions.

Optic nerve

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.

Blind spot

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there.

Fovea

The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster.

Cornea

The eye's clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris.

Pupil

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters.

Iris

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening.

Lens

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

Retina

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information.

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response.

Sensory adaptation

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

Wavelength

The distance from the peak of one light wave or sound wave to the peak of the next.

Hue

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light.

Intensity

The amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness.

Transduction

Conversion of one form of energy into another.

Psychophysics

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experiences of them.

Absolute threshold

The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Signal detection theory

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation.

Subliminal

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Sensation

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Sensory receptors

Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli.

Perception

The process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful.

Bottom-up processing

Information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.

Top-down processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

Difference threshold

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time.

Weber's law

The principle that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount).

Gustation

Our sense of taste.

Olfaction

Our sense of smell.

Kinesthesis

Our movement sense.