Ap Psych: Biological bases of behavior and scientific foundations of psychology (Units 0 and 1)

Neuroanatomy

The study of the parts and functions of neurons.

Neurons

Individual nerve cells.

Dendrites

Rootlike parts of the cell that stretch out from the cell body; grow to make synaptic connections with other neurons.

Cell body/soma

Contains the nucleus and other parts of the cell needed to sustain its life.

Axon

Wirelike structure ending in the terminal buttons that extends from the cell body.

Myelin sheath

A fatty covering around the axon of some neurons that speeds neural impulses.

Terminal buttons

The branched end of the axon that contains neurotransmitters.

Synapse

The space between the terminal buttons of one neuron and the dendrites of the next neuron.

Action potential

The electric message firing of neurons.

All-or-none principle

States that a neuron must either fire completely or not at all; a neuron cannot fire a little or a lot - the impulse is the same every time.

Acetylcholine

Neurotransmitter that controls motor movement; a lack of it is associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter that controls motor movement and alertness; a lack of it is associated with Parkinson's disease while an overabundance is associated with schizophrenia.

Endorphins

Neurotransmitters that act as pain control; excess or deficits of endorphins are involved in addictions.

Serotonin

Neurotransmitter that act as mood control; a lack of it is associated with clinical depression.

Afferent/sensory neuron

Takes information from the senses to the brain.

Interneuron

Takes the messages from afferent neurons in the brain or spinal cord and sends them elsewhere in the brain or on to efferent neurons.

Efferent/motor neuron

Takes information from the brain to the rest of the body.

Central nervous system (CNS)

Consists of our brain and spinal cord (all the nerves housed within bone); transmits information from the rest of the body to the brain.

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Consists of all the nerves not encased in bone; divided into the somatic and autonomic nervous systems.

Somatic nervous system

Controls our voluntary muscle movements.

Autonomic nervous system

Controls the automatic functions of our body; divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Sympathetic nervous system

Mobilizes our body to respond to stress.

Parasympathetic nervous system

Responsible for slowing down our body after a stress response.

Lesioning

The removal or destruction of part of the brain.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Detects brain waves; shows researchers the types of brain waves produced during different stages of consciousness.

Computerized axial tomography (CAT/CT) scan

A sophisticated X-ray that uses several X-ray cameras that rotate around the brain and combine the pictures into a detailed three-dimensional picture of the brain's structure.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Uses magnetic fields to measure the density and location of brain material and creates a detailed image of the brain.

Position emission tomography (PET) scan

Lets researchers see what areas of the brain are most active during certain tasks; measures how much of a certain chemical parts of the brain are using.

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Combines elements of the MRI and PET scans to show details of brain structure with information about blood flow in the brain, tying brain structure to brain activity during cognitive tasks.

Hindbrain

Consists of structures in the top of the spinal cord; the life support system; controls the basic biological functions that keep us alive; consists of the medulla, pons, and cerebellum.

Medulla

Involved in the control of our blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing; located above the spinal cord; part of the hindbrain.

Pons

Connects the hindbrain with the midbrain and the forebrain; also involved in the control of facial expressions; located just above the medulla and toward the front; part of the hindbrain.

Cerebellum

Coordinates some habitual muscle movements; located on the bottom rear of the brain; part of the hindbrain.

Midbrain

Consists of structures just above the spinal cord but still below areas categorized as the forebrain; in general, coordinates simple movements with sensory information; most important part is the reticular formation.

Reticular formation

A netlike collection of cells throughout the midbrain that controls general body arousal and the ability to focus our attention; if this does not function, we fall into a deep coma; part of the midbrain.

Forebrain

Control what we think of as thought and reason; consists of the thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.

Thalamus

Responsible for receiving the sensory signals coming up the spinal cord and sending them to the appropriate areas in the rest of the forebrain; located on top of the brain stem; part of the forebrain.

Hypothalamus

Controls several metabolic functions including body temperature, sexual arousal (libido), hunger, thirst, and the endocrine system; located right next to the thalamus; part of the forebrain.

Amygdala

Vital to our experiences of emotion; located near the end of each hippocampal arm; part of the forebrain.

Hippocampus

Vital to our memory system - memories are processed through this area and then sent to other locations in the cerebral cortex for permanent storage; consists of two arms surrounding the thalamus; part of the forebrain.

LImbic system

Consists of the thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala; deals with aspects of emotion and memory.

Cerebral cortex

The gray wrinkled surface of the brain which is actually a thin (1 mm) layer of densely packed neurons; covers the rest of the brain.

Fissures

Wrinkles in the brain.

Contralateral control

Describes the ability of the right hemisphere to control the left side of the body and vice versa.

Brain lateralization

The specialization of function in each hemisphere of the brain.

Hemispheric specialization

The specialization of function in each hemisphere of the brain.

Split-brain patients

Patients whose corpus callosum has been cut to treat severe epilepsy; cannot orally report information only presented to the right hemisphere since the spoken language centers of the brain are usually located in the left hemisphere.

Cerebral cortex

The collection of the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes.

Association area

Any area of the cerebral cortex that is not associated with receiving sensory information or controlling muscle movements.

Frontal lobes

Large areas of the cerebral cortex located at the top front part of the brain behind the eyes.

Prefrontal cortex

The anterior or front of the frontal lobe that is thought to play a critical role in directing thought processes; said to act as the brain's central executive and is believed to be important in foreseeing consequences, pursuing goals, and maintaining emotional control; researchers believe this part of the brain is responsible for abstract thought and emotional control.

Broca's area

Located in the frontal lobe and is responsible for controlling the muscles involved in producing speech; damage to in might leave us unable to make the muscle movements needed for speech.

Motor cortex

Thin vertical strip at the back of the frontal lobe; sends signals to our muscles, controlling our voluntary movements.

Parietal lobes

Located behind the frontal lobe but still on the top of the brain.

Sensory cortex

Thin vertical strip that receives incoming touch sensations from the rest of our body; located behind the motor cortex in the parietal lobe.

Occipital lobes

Located at the very back of the brain, farthest from the eyes; interpret messages from our eyes in our visual cortex.

Temporal lobes

Process sound sensed by our ears.

Wernicke's area

Located in the temporal lobe and is responsible for interpreting both written and spoken speech; damage to it would affect our ability to understand language.

Endocrine system

System of glands that secrete hormones that affect many different biological processes in our body; controlled by the hypothalamus.

Adrenal glands

Produce adrenaline, which signals the rest of the body to prepare for fight or flight.

Turner's syndrome

People born with only a single X chromosome in the spot usually occupied by the twenty-third pair; causes some physical characteristics, lie shortness, webbed necks, and differences in physical sexual development.

Klinefelter's syndrome

People born with an extra X chromosome, resulting in an XXY patter; causes minimal sexual development and personality traits.

Down syndrome

People born with an extra chromosome on the twenty-first pair; causes some physical characteristics like a rounded face, shorter fingers and toes, slanted eyes set far apart, and some degree of mental retardation.

Operational definition

\________ describes the specific procedure used to determine the presence of a variable.

Validity

\________ is the extent to which an instrument measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov

\________ trained dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a tone, demonstrating stimulus- response learning.

Freud

\________ believed that early life experiences shape personality and that the unconscious is the source of desires, thoughts, and memories.

Reliability

________ is consistency or repeatability.

G Stanley Hall

\________ founded the American Psychological Association, founded a psychology lab using introspection at Johns Hopkins University, and became its first president.

Descriptive Statistics

\________: Numbers that summarize a set of research data obtained from a sample.

Pavlovs experiments

\________ at the beginning of the 20th century paved the way for behaviorism, which dominated psychology in America from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Empirical philosopher Locke

\________ believed that mind and body interact symmetrically (monism), knowledge comes from observation, and what we know comes from experience since we are born without knowledge,"a blank slate "(tabula rasa)

Participation

\________ in a study should be voluntary, and not coerced or influenced as part of a grade, raise, or promotion.

Statistical significance

\________ (p) is a measure of the likelihood that the difference between groups results from a real difference between the two groups rather than from chance alone.

American Psychological Association

The ________ lists ethical principles and code of conduct for the scientific, educational, or professional roles for all psychologists.

Wundt

\________ used trained introspection to study the mind's structure and identify consciousness's basic elements- sensations, feelings, and images.

Nature nurture controversy

\________: which our behavior is inborn or learned through experience.

standard deviation

Variance and \________ (SD) indicate the degree to which scores differ from each other and vary around the mean value for the set.

Sigmund Freud

\________ opposed behaviorists in Austria.

Descartes

\________ defended mind- body dualism (Cogito ergo sum "- I think, therefore I am) "and that what we know is innate.

Neuropsychologists

\________ explore the relationships between brain /nervous systems and behavior.

scientific experiment

In a(n) \________, the researcher controls a variable and observes the response.

modern psychology

The model is a unifying theme in \________ drawing from and interacting with the seven approaches to explain behavior.

median

The \________ is the middle score when the set of data is ordered by size.

mode

The \________ is the most frequently occurring score in a set of research data.

Roots of psychology

\________ can be traced to philosophy and physiology /biology over 2, 000 years ago in ancient Greece.

Case Study

\________: is an in- depth examination of a specific group or single person that typically includes interviews, observations, and test scores.

Meta analysis

\________ provides a way of statistically combining the results of individual research studies to reach an overall conclusion.

Survey Method

\________: researchers use questionnaires or interviews to ask a large number of people questions about their behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes.

Clinical psychologists

\________ treat people with temporary psychological crises like grief, addiction, or social issues and those with chronic psychiatric disorders.

Social psychologists

\________ focus on how a persons mental life and behavior are shaped by interactions with other people.

Humanists

\________ value feelings and believe people are naturally positive and growth- seeking.

Wilhelm Wundt

In 1879, ________ founded scientific psychology by founding a laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, to study immediate conscious sensation.

Inferential statistics

\________ are used to interpret data and draw conclusions.

Psychoanalytic theory

\________ explained mental disorders, personality, and motivation through unconscious internal conflicts.

Demand characteristics

\________: The clues participants discover about the purpose of the study, including rumors they hear about the study suggesting how they should respond.

Variables

\________ are factors with multiple values.

Variability

\________ describes the spread or dispersion of scores for a set of research data or distribution.

Psychologists

\________ studied social and environmental factors affecting cultural differences in behavior.

Double

\________- blind procedure, a research design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group.