Psychology Key Concepts: Schools, Perspectives, and Brain Structures

Overconfidence effect

Tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's knowledge or judgments.

Confirmation bias

Tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms preexisting beliefs.

Structuralism

Early school of psychology focused on breaking down mental processes into basic components.

Functionalism

Early school emphasizing the purpose of mental processes.

Clinical psychology

Branch of psychology concerned with diagnosing and treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

Evolutionary perspective

Focus on how natural selection influences behavior and mental processes.

Cultural perspective

Focus on how culture shapes behavior, thoughts, and emotions.

Cognitive perspective

Focus on mental processes such as thinking, memory, and problem-solving.

Emotional perspective

Focus on how emotions influence thought and behavior.

Biological/neuroscience perspective

Focus on brain structures, neurotransmitters, and genetics in behavior.

Developmental perspective

Study of how people grow and change across the lifespan.

Personality perspective

Study of individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Social perspective

Study of how individuals are influenced by others and society.

Positive psychology

Scientific study of human strengths, well-being, and factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive.

Variable

Any factor that can vary and be measured.

Operational definition

Specific, measurable definition of a variable for research.

Descriptive research

Research methods that describe behavior (e.g., surveys, naturalistic observation, case studies).

Correlational study

Examines relationships between variables without manipulation.

Correlation is not causation

Correlation does not prove one variable causes another.

Direction of causation problem

Uncertainty about whether A causes B or B causes A.

Third-variable problem

A third factor may explain the relationship between two correlated variables.

Positive correlation

Both variables increase or decrease together.

Negative correlation

One variable increases while the other decreases.

Experimental research

Manipulation of variables to establish cause-and-effect.

Independent variable

Variable manipulated by the researcher.

Dependent variable

Variable measured as the outcome.

Random assignment

Assigning participants to groups by chance to reduce bias.

Random sampling

Selecting participants so each member of a population has an equal chance of being included.

Meta-analysis

Statistical technique combining results of many studies.

Ethical principles

Guidelines ensuring research participants' rights and well-being are protected.

Replication

Repeating a study to confirm findings.

Central nervous system (CNS)

Brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Nerves outside the CNS.

Somatic nervous system

Controls voluntary movements of skeletal muscles.

Autonomic nervous system

Controls involuntary functions (organs, glands).

Sympathetic nervous system

Activates 'fight or flight' response.

Parasympathetic nervous system

Promotes 'rest and digest' functions.

Endocrine system

Glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Frontal lobe

Planning, decision-making, voluntary movement.

Parietal lobe

Sensory processing (touch, spatial awareness).

Temporal lobe

Hearing, memory, language.

Occipital lobe

Vision.

Somatosensory cortex

Processes touch sensations.

Motor cortex

Controls voluntary movements.

Limbic system

Structures involved in emotion, motivation, and memory.

Corpus callosum

Connects left and right hemispheres of the brain.

Contralateral control

Each hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body.

Split-brain procedure

Surgical cutting of the corpus callosum to reduce seizures.

TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation)

Temporarily disrupts brain activity to study function.

Neuron

Basic unit of the nervous system.

Action potential

Electrical signal traveling down a neuron.

Neurotransmitter

Chemical messenger between neurons.

Agonist

Drug that enhances neurotransmitter activity.

Antagonist

Drug that blocks neurotransmitter activity.

Epigenetics

Study of how environment influences gene expression.

Twin studies

Research method to study genetic vs. environmental influences.

Heritability

Proportion of variation in a population due to genetics.

Neural plasticity

Brain's ability to change and adapt.

Habituation

Decreased response after repeated exposure to a stimulus.

Sensitization

Increased response after repeated exposure to a stimulus.

Dishabituation

Recovery of a response after a change in stimulation.

Classical conditioning

Learning through association of stimuli.

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Naturally produces a response.

Unconditioned response (UR)

Natural response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Previously neutral stimulus that elicits a response after conditioning.

Conditioned response (CR)

Learned response to a conditioned stimulus.

Acquisition

Initial learning of the association.

Extinction

Weakening of a conditioned response when conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery

Reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction.

Systematic desensitization

Therapy using gradual exposure to reduce fear.

EEG (Electroencephalography)

A recording of electrical waves from many thousands of neurons. Used to determine brain states. Function localization.

Event-related Potential (ERP)

Synchronized electrical response to an event. Averages an EEG. Visualizes cognitive processes. Can recognize if you are paying attention to something or not. Function localization.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

A recording of the magnetic fields produced by the brains electrical currents. Analyzes the timing of the brain's electrical waves.

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Bettering imaging of where the brain is active, but very poor at timing.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Uses radioactive glucose that moves to active parts of the brain and glows on scanners showing exactly what part of the brain is active at a time. Represent activity in the brain over a long period of time.