MCAT Psych/Soc

Hindbrain/Rhombencephalon

controls balance, motor coordination, breathing, digestion, and arousal. Divides to myelencephalon (medulla oblongata) and metencephalon (pons and cerebellum) in embryonic development

Medulla oblongata

controls regulation of vital functions like breathing, heart rate, and digestion

Pons

controls sensory and motor pathways between the cortex and medulla

cerebellum

controls posture and balance

midbrain (Mesencephalon)

recieves sensory and motor information from the rest of the body. Holds the colliculi

Superior colliculus

receives visual sensory input

Inferior colliculus

receives sensory information from the auditory system and plays a role in auditory reflexes.

Forebrain (prosencephalon)

involved in complex perceptual, cognitive and behavioral processes. Involved in emotion and memory. During development, divides into telencephalon (cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system) and diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior pituitary gland, pineal gland)

Acetylcholine location and functions

Seen in the CNS and PNS. In PNS functions in providing impulses to muscles. IN CNS, functions in attentiveness and arousal.

3 Catecholamines and their overall function

Epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Function in emotions

Epinephrine (adrenaline)

involved in alertness and wakefulness. Involved in fight or flight response. Secreted from medulla oblongata and acts as a hormone.

Norepinephrine (noradrenaline)

involved in alertness and wakefulness. Involved in fight or flight response. Works as a local neurotransmitter. When low, depression can develop. When high, anxiety or mania can develop.

Dopamine

controls movement and posture. Also aligned with schizophrenia with higher levels being aligned with higher levels or sensitivity of dopamine

Serotonin

controls mood, eating, sleep, and dreaming. Similar to norepinephrine plays a role in depression and mania/anxiety

GABA

creates inhibitory postsynaptic potentials to stabilize neural activity

Glycine

similar to GABA, creates inhibitory postsynaptic potentials to stabilize neural activity (specifically increases Cl- influx)

Glutamate

acts as a excitatory neurotransmitter

Neuromodulators/neuropeptides

use a more complex series of events in the postsynaptic neuron to impose slow/long lasting effects

Endorphins

natural pain killers in the brain

Innate behavior

behavior that is genetically programmed as a result of evolution (independent of environment or experience)

Learned behavior

behaviors that are not based on heredity but on environment and experience

Adaptive value

the extent to which a trait/behavior positively assists a species survival

Family studies

studies that examine individuals that have similar genetics due to their familial relations

Twin studies

studies that examine individuals that have similar genetics as twins and similar environments as family

Adoption studies

studies that examine affects of genetics by comparing individuals that have environmental similarities (adopted) and genetic similarities (blood)

Bottom up processing

object recognition by parallel processing and feature detection. First time seeing a object and understanding it by its parts

Top down processing

object recognition by memories and expectations. You’ve seen the object before and recognize it as a whole

Perceptual organization

ability to use both bottom up and top down processing to understand a object or idea

Monocular cues

visual cues that can be seen with one eye

Relative size

objects appear larger the closer they are

Interposition

when two objects overlap, the one in the front is closer

Linear perspective

as two parallel lines converge, the longer their convergence, the further the distance

Binocular cues

visual cues that involve the differences in images when projected on two retinas

Convergence

when the brain detects the angle between the two eyes required to bring a image to focus

Constancy

The ability to perceive constant characteristics in a object despite changes in environment

Gestalt Principles

rules that account for the fact that the brain tends to complete incomplete stimuli is a calculative manner

Law of proximity

elements near to one another are perceived as a unit

Law of similarity

elements that are similar are grouped together

Law of good continuation

elements that appear to follow a similar pattern are grouped together

Subjective contours

ability to perceive contours and shapes that are not actually present in a stimulus

Law of closure

when a space is enclosed, it is perceived as a complete figure

Law of pragnanz

Law that governs the gestalt principles which states that perceptual organization will always be as regular, simple, and symmetric as possible

Dishabituation

the recovery of a response to a stimulus often due to a second stimulus being introduced

Classical conditioning

associative learning that creates associations between two unrelated stimuli

Acquisition

process of turning a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to a conditioned stimulus

Extinction

the loss of a conditioned response

operant conditioning

the consequences of behaviors changes the frequency of behaviors

Fixed ratio schedules

reinforce a behavior after a specific number of instances of the behavior

Variable ratio schedules

reinforce a behavior after a varying number of instances of the behavior

Fixed interval schedules

reinforce the behavior at the first instance and then after a specific time interval after

Variable interval schedules

reinforce a behavior the first instance and then after a varying amount of time after

Latent learning

Learning that is done without a reward but can be repeated for a reward

Automatic processing/controlled processing

unintentional collection of information vs active memorization of information

Conformity

The tendency for individuals to align their beliefs with a similar group of individuals even if the belief is incorrect

Context effects

memory aided when in the same environment as when the memory was created

State dependent memory

memory aided when in the same mental state as when the memory was created

Serial position effect

The phenomenon where individuals are more likely to remember the list and last items on a list over what was in the middle

3 meninges of the brain (DAP)

From outer to inner; Dura mater, Arachnoid mater, and Pia mater. These layers are located in the skull

Periosteum

A layer of connective tissue above the skull

Thalamus

Sensory relay station

Hypothalamus

controls metabolism, temperature, and water balance

Pituitary gland

controls endocrine glands

Confirmation bias

tendency to pay more attention to opinions that supports ones views

Belief perseverance

When one holds a specific belief despite evidence to the contrary

Simple denial

refusing to admit that something is true despite knowing deep down that it is true

Overconfidence

Believing that ones beliefs are infallible

Sustained/Executive attention

When one focuses on one thing and ignores all other things

Divided attention

The ability to focus on multiple tasks

Piaget States and their years

Sensorimotor= birth-2 years

Preoperational= 2-7years

Concrete operational= 7-11 years

Formal operational= 11 years and beyond

Some People Cant Fly

Authentic self

who we actually are (good and bad)

Backstage self

who we are when we are not being observed and can act freely

Front stage self

who are are when we are in a audience and want to perform to keep an image

Ideal self

who we would like to be

Tactical self

who we advertise ourselves to be when we adapt to others expectations

Overrepresentation

When there is a higher percentage of cases than percent total

Underrepresentation

When there is a lower percentage of cases than percent total

Generalizability

when the results of a study can be placed onto a general population

Accuracy

checks that the researchers measured the proper data

Precision

consistency of measurements

Confounding

variable that influences both independent and dependent variables

Context effects

a retrieval cue that aids memory when one is in the same sensory condition as when the information was encoded

Semantic memory

type of declarative memory that includes facts and concepts

State dependent memory

memory that is recalled when in a similar mental/emotional state as when the information was encoded

What are the three ways of encoding information?

Visual, acoustic, and semantic

What are the strengths of the forms of encoding information?

Semantic>acoustic>visual

Primacy effect

tendency to remember terms early in a list

Serial position effect

retrieval cue to remember terms at the beginning and end of a list

Recency effect

tendency to recall terms at the end of the list

What is the strongest recall effect in a list

Primacy effect

Elaborative rehearsals

attaches new information to old information to place it into long term memory

Maintenance rehearsals

usage of repetition to keep information in the short term

Spreading activation

when a new term is associated with other learned related terms unknowingly

Priming

a retrieval cue that aids recall by first presenting a term that is closed to the desired memory

Source amnesia

memory loss of how the term was acquired

Clustering

group of related terms together in a chunk

Projection

when one places their emotions onto another person

Reciprocal determinism

states that there are personal AND environmental motivation that influence behavior

Trait theory

a personality is a sum of characteristic behaviors

What does behaviorism/behaviorist believe?

all behaviors are conditioned

What is synesthesia

condition where sounds result in visual flashes of colors