Psychology CLEP

Psychology

The scientific study of human behavior and mental processes.

Wilhelm Wundt

set up the first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany to scientifically study how people sense and perceive the world around them.

Structuralists

consciousness was made up of basic elements that were combined in different ways to produce different perceptions. They want to discover the form of mental experience.

Introspection

reporting on one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings.

Functionalists

believed that consciousness, and behavior in general, helped people and animals adjust to their environments. Understanding the mind meant understanding what the mind accomplished.

William James

the most famous Functionalist.

Biological approach

physiological and biochemical explanation of behavior.

Psychodynamic approach

thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that stem from the interaction of innate drives and society’s restrictions on the expression of those drives.

Behaviorist approach

explain behaviors in terms of learned responses to predictable patterns of environmental stimuli.

(Think of Pavlov’s classical conditioning and Skinner’s studies of operant conditioning.)

Behaviorist approach

often study animals in order to glean general principles of learning that might then be applied to humans.

Cognitive approach

developed in reaction against behaviorism.

Cognitive approach

focuses on explaining behavior in terms of expectations, feelings, thoughts, etc.

Humanistic approach

People are motivated by a desire for optimal growth and development.

People aren’t merely machines whose behaviors are determined for them by a genetic code, conflicted childhood, brushes with stimuli, or cold mental calculations.

Self actualization

People are motivated by a desire for optimal growth and development.

The “cause”

independent variable

Experimental group

exposed to the presumed “cause”

Control group

not exposed to the presumed “cause”

Dependent variable

the “effect” and involve measuring how subjects behave.

Placebo effect

when groups behaves differently than they normally would even when they aren’t exposed to the “cause”.

Blind study

subjects don’t know whether they’re receiving the drug of the placebo.

Double blind study

experimenters don’t know which group receives drug or placebo.

Correlational studies

assessing the relationship between 2 variables but neither is manipulated.

Positive relationship

high scores on one variable tend to be paired w/ high scores on the other variable (and low scores w/ low scores)>

Negative Relationship

high scores on one variable tend to be paired w/ low scores on the other variable.

Surveys

participants fill out questionnaires that ask them about their opinions, attitudes, or behaviors.

Case studies

in-depth analysis of only one person.

Naturalistic observation

behavior is being studied in real-life settings.

Behavioral Neuroscience

concerned w/ how a body and communication among its parts happen and how behavior influenced by it.

Nervous system

organization of neurons, neurotransmitters, and brain structures that serves as the framework for moving info throughout the body.

Sensory (afferent) neurons

take in info from body tissues and sense organs, and transmit it to the spinal cord and brain.

Motor (efferent) neurons

send info in the opposite direction.

Interneurons (association neurons)

neurons that communicate w/ other neurons.

Neurons consist of a _______, dendrites, axons, and myelin sheath

cell body,

Neurons consist of a cell body, _______, axons, and myelin sheath

dendrites

Neurons consist of a cell body, dendrites,______, and myelin sheath

axons

Neurons consist of a cell body, dendrites, axons, and ___________

myelin sheath

Dendrites

short, bushy fibers that take info in from outside the cell.

Axons

relatively long fibers that pass info along to other nerve cells, to glands, or to muscles.

Myelin sheath

a fatty tissue that surrounds the axon and accelerates transmission of info.

Biological approach

behavior as a result of genes, nervous system, hormones, neurotransmitters, and other biological functions.

Psychological approach

behavior as a result of unconscious, attachment and interpersonal connection.

Cognitive approach

studied problem solving, attention, memory, and other thought processes.

Humanistic approach

developed in reaction to Behaviorist and Psychodynamic models.

Humanistic approach

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Carl Rogers believed people are basically good and driven by unconditional positive regard.

The _______ is made up of glands located throughout the body that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

endocrine system

_______ are chemical messengers secreted into the bloodstream to regulate bodily functions

Hormones

Pituitary gland master gland of the _______ system

endocrine

Pituitary gland

when activated by hypothalamus activates other glands throughout the body.

Etiology

biological explanation for mental disorders w/i psychology.

Etiology

genetic predisposition and hereditary links.

Cell Body

helps keep the cell alive and functioning.

Dendrites

take information in from outside of the cell.

Axons

pass info along to other nerve cells, muscles, or glands.

Sensory Neurons

take in info from body tissues and sense organs to transmit to spinal cord/brain.

Motor Neurons

send info from spinal cord/brain to body tissue, muscles, and sense organs.

Inter Neurons

communicate w/ other neurons

Sensory Neurons

also called Afferent Neurons

Motor Neurons

also called Efferent Neurons

Inter Neurons

also called Association Neurons

Reuptake

the process of taking back in the neurotransmitters that have broken down. Recycling the neurotransmitters.

Agonist

increases neural activity flow and effect

Antagonist

decrease neural activity and effect

Seotonin

mood, emotional states, sleep

Dopamine

attention, movement, pleasure sensations

Central Nervous System (includes the brain and spinal cord)

suspended in cerebrospinal fluid.

Central Nervous System (includes the brain and spinal cord)

reflexive behavior

Central Nervous System (includes the brain and spinal cord)

Relies on sensory, motor, and interneuron communication.

Peripheral nervous system

connects the brain and spinal cord to rest of the body

Peripheral nervous system

has 2 parts

Somatic nervous system

carries info from muscles, sense organs, and skin to the CNS. And carries messages from CNS to skeletal muscle.

Somatic nervous system

is part of the Peripheral nervous system.

Automoic nervous system

is part of the Perhipheral nervous system

Autonomic nervous system

controls interal and “automatic” body functions

Sympathetic nervous system

part of the autonomic nervous system

Sympathetic nervous system

fight or flight.

Parasympathetic nervous system

part of the Autonomic nervous system

Parasympathic nervous system

relaxes after fight or flight.

Genetics

plays large role in how and when learning, growing, and development occurs.

Genes

do not determine behavior exclusively.

Synapse

the end of one neuron meets the beginning of another.

Somatic nervous system

allows for voluntary movement.

Autonomic nervous system

allows for involuntary movement.

Brainstem

where the spinal cord enters the skill (the base)

Brainstem

controls basic, involuntary functions

Thalamus

receives info about taste, touch, sight, and hearing

Cerebellum

controls balance and other voluntary movements

Hypothalamus

controls feeding, fight or flight, pleasure sensations

Reticular (runs through thalamus and brain stem)

controls arousal (alertness) and sleep

Reticular

filters stimuli into correct parts of rains

Amygdala

controls fear and anger

Hippocampus

processes memory

Cerebral cortex

motor, cognitive, and sensory process

Cerebral cortex

is divided into 2 hemispheres connected by fibers

Frontal lobes

coordinate movement, higher level functioning, and speech (production and comprehension)

Parietal lobes

sense of touch

Temporal lobes

controls hearing

Occipital lobes

controls vision and back of the head

Physiological Techniques

examine the interrelationship between a person’s brain and their behavior.

The term “etiology” refers to the study of which of the following aspects of an illness?

Origins and causes

A neurons is said to be polarized when:

it is in a resting state