ITP MIDTERM

Psychiatry

branch of medicine that deals with emotional disturbances

Psychoanalysts

therapy providers who rely heavily on the theories and methods pioneered by the early 20th-century Viennese physician Sigmund Freud and later modified by others

Counseling psychologists

help people with educational, vocational, marriage, health-related, and other decisions

forensic psychologists

provide advice and consultation to police, lawyers, and court

industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology

psychological study of people at work

a human factors specialist (or ergonomist)

attempts to facilitate the operation of machinery so that ordinary people can use it efficiently and safely

Military Psychologists

specialists who provide services to the military

Developmental psychologists

study how behavior changes with age, "from womb to tomb"

School psychologists

specialists in the psychological condition of students, usually in kindergarten through the 12th grade.

learning and motivation

studies how behavior depends on the outcomes of past behaviors and current motivations

neurons

consists of a cell body, dendrites, and an axon

glia

supports the neurons in many ways such as by insulating them, synchronizing activity among neighboring neurons, and removing waste products, also smaller but more numerous than neurons

cell body

contains the nucleus of the cell

dendrites

widely branching structures that receive input from other neurons

axon

single, long, thin, straight fiber with branches near its tip

myelin

an insulating sheath that speeds up the transmission of impulses along an axon

12-15 billion neurons

how many neurons are in CEREBRAL CORTEX and associated areas

70 billion neurons

how many neurons are in CEREBELLUM

1 billion neurons

how many neurons are in SPINAL CORD

action potential

an excitation that travels along an axon at a constant strength, no matter how far it travels

all-or-none law

The fact that an axon cannot vary the strength or velocity of its action potentials

resting potential

an electrical polarization across the membrane (or covering) of an axon

synapse

the specialized junction between one neuron and another, a neuron releases a chemical that either excites or inhibits the next neuron

presynaptic ending / terminal bouton

A typical axon has branches, each ending with a little bulge

neurotransmitter

a chemical that activates receptors on other neurons

postsynaptic neuron

the neuron on the receiving end of the synapse

reuptake

It could bounce back to reexcite the postsynaptic receptor, it could diffuse away from the synapse, or it could be reabsorbed by the axon that released it

Parkinson's disease

a condition that affects 1 to 2 percent of people over the age of 65. The main symptoms are difficulty in initiating voluntary movement, slow movement, tremors, rigidity, and depressed mood

dopamine

Parkinson's disease symptoms can be traced to a gradual decay of a pathway of axons that release

glutamate

The brain's main excitatory transmitter, present at most synapses; essential for almost all brain activities, including learning.

stimuli

energies from the world around us that affect us in some way

sensation

detection of stimuli

RECEPTORS

specialized cells that convert environmental energies into signals for the nervous system

light

part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the continuum of all frequencies of radiated energy

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

the continuum of all frequencies of radiated energy

PUPIL

adjustable opening that widens and narrows to control the amount of light entering the eye

IRIS

colored structure on the surface of the eye surrounding the pupil

VITREOUS HUMOR

Light passing through the pupil travels through a clear jellylike substance to strike the retina

RETINA

a layer of visual receptors covering the back surface of the eyeball

CORNEA

a rigid transparent structure on the surface of the eyeball

LENS

a flexible structure of the eye that varies its thickness

FOVEA

the central area of the human retina, is adapted for detailed vision

CONES

adapted for perceiving color and detail in bright light

RODS

adapted for vision in dim light.

PRESBYOPIA

Impaired ability to focus on nearby objects because of decreased flexibility of the lens

MYOPIA

Nearsightedness—impaired ability to focus on distant objects because of the shape of the eyeball

HYPEROPIA

Farsightedness—impaired ability to focus on close objects because of the shape of the eyeball

GLAUCOMA

Damage to the optic nerve, usually caused by increased pressure in the eyeball

CATARACT

A disorder in which the lens becomes cloudy

DARK ADAPTATION

Gradual improvement in the ability to see in dim light

SELECTIVE ATTRITION

the tendency for certain kinds of people to drop out of a study

SEQUENTIAL DESIGN/CROSS-SEQUENTIAL

starts with people of different ages and studies them again at later times

CROSS-SECTIONAL ADVANTAGES

1. QUICK2. NO RISK OF CONFUSING AGE EFFECTS WITH EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN SOCIETY

LONGITUDINAL DISADVANTAGE

1. Takes a long time2. Some participants quit3. Sometimes hard to separate effects of age from changes in society

ZYGOTE

fertilized egg cell

FETUS

8 weeks after conception

fetal alcohol syndrome

If the mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy, the infant may develop this.

FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

a condition marked by malformations of the face, heart, and ears; and nervous system damage, including seizures, hyperactivity, and impairments of learning, memory, problem solving, attention, and motor coordination

GLUTAMATE, GABA

Alcohol interferes with the brain's main excitatory neurotransmitter called ___ and facilitates the main inhibitory neurotransmitter called ___

William James

Founder of American Psychology

HABITUATION

decreased response to a repeated stimulus

DISHABITUATION

When a change in a stimulus increases a previously habituated response

SCHEMA

an organized way of interacting with objects

ASSIMILATION

applying an old schema to new objects or problems

ACCOMMODATION

modifying an old schema to fit a new object or problem

EQUILIBRATION

the establishment of harmony or balance between assimilation and accommodation

1. The sensorimotor stage (from birth to almost 2 years)

2. The preoperational stage (from just before 2 to 7 years)

3. The concrete operations stage (from about 7 to 11 years)

4. The formal operations stage (from about 11 years onward

PIAGET'S FOUR MAJOR STAGES OF INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT

Sensorimotor Stage

at this early age (the first 1½ to 2 years) behavior is mostly simple motor responses to sensory stimuli

OBJECT PERMANENCE

the idea that objects continue to exist even when we do not see or hear them

BEHAVIORISM

the position that psychology should concern itself only with what people and other animals do, and the circumstances in which they do it

JACQUES LOEB

one of the earliest & most extreme advocates of behaviorism

conditioned reflex (CR)

"teasing" a dog with the sight of food produced salivation that was as predictable and automatic as any reflex because it depended on conditions

unconditioned reflexes (UCR)

automatic connections between a stimulus such as food and a response such as secreting digestive juices

classical conditioning / Pavlovian conditioning

process by which an organism learns a new association between two stimuli—a neutral stimulus and one that already evokes a reflexive response

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

an event that automatically elicits an unconditioned response.

unconditioned response (UCR)

the action that the unconditioned stimulus elicits

conditioned stimulus (CS)

response to it depends on the preceding conditions

conditioned response (CR)

whatever response the conditioned stimulus elicits as a result of the conditioning (training)procedure

acquisition

The process that establishes or strengthens a conditioned response

extinction

To extinguish a classically conditioned response, repeatedly present the conditioned stimulus (CS) without the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Spontaneous recovery

a temporary return of an extinguished response after a delay

Stimulus generalization

the extension of a conditioned response from the training stimulus to similar stimuli.

discriminate

to respond differently to stimuli that predict different outcomes.

drug tolerance

Users of certain drugs experience progressively weaker effects after taking the drugs repeatedly

blocking effect

The previously established association to one stimulus blocks the formation of an association to the added stimulus

learning curve

a graph of the changes in behavior that occur over the course of learning.

reinforcement

the process of increasing the future probability of the most recent response

Memory

the retention of information

cued recall

receive significant hints about the material

recognition

chooses the correct item among several options

savings method / relearning method

detects weak memories by comparing the speed of original learning to the speed of relearning

Bhagavad Gita

the Hindu holy writings

free recall

to produce a response, as you do on essay tests or short-answer tests

explicit/direct memory

someone who states an answer regards it as a product of memory

implicit/indirect memory

an experience influences what you say or do even though you might not be aware of the influence

priming

Reading or hearing a word temporarily results in increasing the chance that you will use it yourself, even if you are not aware of the influence

Procedural memories

memories of how to do something

declarative memories

memories we can readily state in words

information-processing model

Information that enters the system is processed, coded, and stored

short-term memory

temporary storage of recent events