Unit 1 AP Psych Test Review

Nature

Nature

refers the genetic or predisposed characteristics that influence physical, behavioral, and mental traits (heredity)

Nurture

the external factors that a person experiences, parenting, social interaction, education, etc. (environment)

Natural Selection

forces such as competition for resources, disease, and climate tend to eliminate individuals who are less well-adapted to the environment, better adapted individuals are more likely to survive

Eugenics

seeks to eradicate genetic defects and improve the genetic makeup of populations through selective human breeding, based on the theory of evolution and the hereditary genius theory

Positive Eugenics

promotes reproduction by individuals who have traits viewed as more desirable

Negative Eugenics

seeks to prevent reproduction by individuals who have traits deemed as undesirable

Identical Twin

monozygotic, single fertilized egg split in two

Fraternal Twin

dizygotic, two separate egg fertilized by two different sperm cells

Family Studies

research conducted among siblings, parents, or children to assess evidence for genetic links for characteristics or outcomes, often related to health or disease

Adoption Studies

investigates the relationships among genetic and environmental factors in the development of personality, by comparing similarities of biological parent-child pairs with those of adoptive parent-child pairs

Gilal Cells

provides structure, insulation, communication, and waste transport

Neurons

used to transmit information and comes in three types

Motor Neurons

communicates to the muscles and glands to promote action and/or movement

Interneurons

act as a bridge between sensory and motor neurons

Central Nervous System

consists of the brain and spinal cord, extends from the upper part of the lower-back upward to the base of the skull

Peripheral Nervous System

carries sensory information to, and motor information away from the cns, divided into two subdivisions

Somatic Nervous System

controls motor functions

Autonomic Nervous System

controls involuntary actions, heartbeat, breathing, reflexes, and further subdivided with fight or flight nervous systemsAll

Sympathetic Nervous System

helps deal with stressful events (excitatory)

Parasympathetic Nervous System

helps with normal body maintenance and calming effects (inhibitory)

Cell Body (Soma)

contains cytoplasm, nucleus, mitochondria, and ribosomes

All-Or-Nothing Principle

once the electrical impulse reaches a certain level of intensity, it fires and moves all the way down the axon without losing any intensity

Depolarization

a change within a cell, during which the cell undergoes a shift in electric charge distribution, negative charge inside and positive charge outside

Refractory Period

a state of recovery that occurs after a neuron has fired an action potential

Resting Potential

the stable electrical charge across a neuron's membrane when it is not actively sending signals

Action Potential

a neural impulse, brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

Reuptake

a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron into the synaptic vesicles

Threshold

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Multiple Sclerosis

a degrading of the myelin sheath can lead to demyelinating diseases

Myelin Sheath

a layer of fatty tissue that covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses

Demyelination

destruction of myelin on axons of neurons

Dopamine

primarily involved in processing smooth and coordinated gross motor movements, in attention, and learning

Serotonin

role in regulation of mood, control of eating, sleep, arousal, the regulation of pain, and control of dreaming

Norepinephrine

governs sympathetic arousal by activating the heart and blood vessels, triggers fight or flight response

Glutamate

stimulates receptors associated with learning and memory as well as sensory and motor functions, most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

inhibits the firing of neurons, most abundant inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain

Endorphins

released by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus, natural pain relievers, reduces stress, and important for mood regulation

Substance P

regulates bone and cartilage metabolism, heals bone fractures, released to reduce stress

Acetylcholine

causes contraction of skeletal muscles, regulates heart muscles, transmits messages between the brain and spinal cord, associated with Alzheimer's

Excitatory Neurotransmitters

glutamate, epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine

Inhibitory Neurotransmitters

GABA, serotonin, and glycine

Adrenaline

increases heart rate, respiration, and metabolizing of carbohydrates, secreted by the adrenal gland

Leptin

regulates appetite, energy balance, and body weight, released by fat tissue

Ghrelin

stimulates appetite, called the "hunger hormone", produced in the stomach

Melatonin

regulates the sleep-wake cycle, produced by the brain

Oxytocin

involved in childbirth, uterine contractions, social recognition, relationship formation, secreted by the hypothalamus

Pituitary Gland

regulates growth, metabolism, and reproduction through hormones

Stimulants

reduces drowsiness and enhances problem solving and physical abilities, high doses can cause tremors and anxiety

Depressants

results in relaxation, mild euphoria, and decreased alertness, causes decreased nerve activity

Hallucinogens

drugs that significantly alter perception, thought, and mood, can lead to a blending of the senses, and hallucinations

Opiods/Opiates

relieve pain and result in euphoria and relaxation

Agonists

encourages neural firing/action of neurotransmitter

Antagonists

inhibits neural firing/block neurotransmitters

Reuptake Inhibitors

drugs that interfere with the reuptake of neurotransmitters in the synapse so that a greater amount remains in the synapse

Tolerance

increasingly larger doses are required to achieve the same effect

Dependency

a combination of tolerance and withdrawal and/or continued drug use despite adverse consequences

Addiction

a diseases process with strong genetic influences, that can make a person more prone to physiological or psychological dependence to drugs

Withdrawal

negative biological effects when you stop using the drug

Brainstem

located at the base of the brain, near the top of the spinal cord

Midbrain

transmission of visual and auditory information, as well as motor movement, pain processing, and the sleep/wake cycle

Pons

sends sensory information to the cerebellum, regulates breathing, and involved in the sleep/wake cycle

Medulla

controls involuntary vital processes like heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure, relay between the spinal cord and brain

Reticular Activating System (RAS)

regulates arousal and sleep/wake functions like muscles tone, and transition between sleep rhythms, part of the brain's reward system

Cerebellum

involved in many critical functions of the body, located at the back of the head, beneath the occipital and temporal lobes, but above the brainstem, helps in movement coordination, balance, motor skills, and vision and eye movement

Cerebral Cortex

role in memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, problem solving, emotions, consciousness, and sensory processing, divided into two hemispheres

Limbic System

one of the oldest structures of the brain, produces instincts such as eating, drinking, reproduction, caring for the young, and the fight or flight response, divided into four main structures with each hemisphere having one of the lobes

Thalamus

processes sensory information and helps with memory, planning, and emotions

Hypothalamus

produces hormones that help you sleep, melatonin, and also involved with managing mood, hunger, thirst, blood pressure, body temp, and heart rate

Pituitary Gland

helps promote growth, hormone development, and reproduction

Hippocampus

responsible for converting short-term memories into long term memories by organizing, storing, and entering information within the brain

Amygdala

plays a role in how we experience emotions, as well as memory formation and social interpretations

Frontal Lobe

controls language-producing, higher-order thinking, and executive functions, contains the prefrontal cortex, the personality center, located directly behind the forehead

Occipital Lobe

controls visual information processing, distance and depth perception, object and face recognition, located at the rear of the brain

Temporal Lobe

generally controls auditory and language processing, responsible for understanding written and spoken language, critical to speech production, located on the lower sides of the brain near the ears

Parietal Lobe

controls association areas, used to process and organize information, helps us understand the world around us, located near the back crown of the brain

Corpus Callosum

a broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the brain

Somatosensory Cortex

processes sensory information related to touch, temperature, pain, and pressure, located in the parietal lobe

Motor Cortex

controls most types of skeletal movement, located at rear of the frontal lobe

Prefrontal Cortex

personality enter of the brain that makes us unique human beings, located in the front of the frontal lobe

Visual Cortex

visual processing areas of cortex in the occipital and temporal lobe

Auditory Cortex

responsible for processing sound information, located in the temporal lobe

Split Brain

divided into two hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum, left side processes right side functions and vice versa

Broca's Area

responsible for speech production, located in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere

Wernicke's Area

responsible for understanding written and spoken language, located in the temporal lobe of the left hemisphere

Wernicke's Aphasia

fluent but meaningless speech and an inability to understand what is being spoken by others, located in Wernicke's Area

Expressive Aphasia

someone knows what they want to say but has trouble expressing the proper words, located in Broca's Area

Left Brain

language and logic

Right Brain

creative and emotional

Neuroplasticity

the ability within the brain to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in response to experience or trauma

EEG

records electrical activity patterns in the brain, to check for abnormalities and cognitive dysfunction

MRI

uses radio wave and magnetic fields to produce images of the brain

CT

uses x-rays to produce images of the brain

PET

a radioactive tracer gets injected into the body to measure the metabolic activity of neurons in brain, identifies what parts of the brain are receiving changes in blood flow

Case Studies

a research method that involves unique situations involving hard to replicate situations

Lesioning

a scientific method that studies patients with brain damage to learn how the damaged areas affect their behavior

Sleep/Wake Cycle

the circadian rhythm, internal clock based on the 24-hour time period

Infradian Rhythm

longer than 24 hours, like menstrual cycle

Ultradian Rhythm

less than 24 hours, like eating schedules/digestion

Circannual Rhythm

year long, like our body's response to seasonal changes

Diurnal Rhythm

day and night