Psyc 101 midterm 1

The study of mental processes and behaviors.

What is psychology?

Description, Explanation, Prediction, Control.

What are the four main goals of psychology?

Describing specific observations of phenomena.

What does the description goal in psychology involve?

Why do certain behaviors and mental processes occur?

What is the key question psychologists seek to answer for the explanation goal?

Predicting the circumstances under which behaviors and mental processes are likely to occur.

What does the prediction goal in psychology focus on?

Limiting or increasing certain behaviors and mental processes.

What does the control goal in psychology aim to achieve?

Brain level, Individual level, and Group level.

At what levels do psychological processes occur?

Neuronal activity, brain structure, and genetic influences.

What is studied at the brain level in psychology?

The content of mental processes like emotions, thoughts, and ideas.

What does the individual level in psychology analyze?

It recognizes that humans are shaped by their social environment and cultural context.

How does the group level perspective influence psychology?

Myths reflect an innate human need to understand and rationalize life and the natural world.

What is the relationship between myths and psychology according to some theorists?

They sought to determine the nature of reality and the limitations of human awareness through critical discussion.

What did Greek philosophers contribute to psychology?

Hippocrates believed disease had a physical and rational explanation.

Who is considered the father of medicine and what was his belief about disease?

An excess or lack of bodily humors.

What did Hippocrates propose influenced an individual's health?

They concluded that the mind and body are distinct and that the mind continues after the body dies.

What was Socrates' and Plato's view on the mind and body?

He believed that truth lies in the mind and that knowledge is innate.

What did Plato believe about knowledge?

He studied sensations, dreams, sleep, and learning, and categorized living things hierarchically.

What significant contributions did Aristotle make to psychology?

Empiricism is the view that all knowledge originates in experience, created by Francis Bacon.

What is empiricism and who created it?

The Renaissance and the development of Associationism.

What historical period contributed to the scientific revolution in psychology?

They were viewed as machines subject to fixed natural laws.

How did the view of the universe and human beings change during the scientific revolution?

Rene Descartes

Who established and popularized the scientific method?

He believed that all truths are linked and can be understood through science and mathematics.

What did Rene Descartes believe about the natural world?

It is the point of contact between the mind and body, where the mind (soul) survives after death.

What is the pineal gland according to Descartes?

He believed that we learn through our experiences.

What is John Locke's view on learning?

It means that the mind at birth is a blank slate, waiting for experiences to imprint knowledge.

What does John Locke mean by 'tabula rasa'?

A prominent physiologist who studied the relationship between physical stimuli and their psychological effects.

Who was Johannes Muller?

He was the first to measure the speed of a nerve impulse.

What significant contribution did Hermann von Helmholtz make?

He is considered one of the founders of experimental psychology and published 'Elements of Psychophysics'.

What is Gustav Fechner known for in psychology?

The theory of evolution, suggesting all life is related and humans are one outcome of many variations.

What theory did Charles Darwin propose in 'The Origin of Species'?

It proposes that chance variations are passed down and some are adaptive to the environment.

What is natural selection?

Wilhelm Wundt in Germany.

Who opened the first psychology laboratory?

A theory where will is regarded as the ultimate agency in human behavior, emphasizing that behavior is motivated.

What is voluntarism in psychology?

He expanded on Wundt's approach and formed the theoretical paradigm called structuralism.

What did Edward Titchener contribute to psychology?

A philosophical approach that studies the structure of conscious experience.

What is structuralism?

Introspection, which involves careful evaluation of mental processes.

What method did structuralists rely on to study the conscious mind?

It was deemed unreliable as reflection on an experience could change the experience itself.

What criticism did introspection face?

An approach that considers how mental processes function to adapt to changing environments.

What is functionalism in psychology?

William James.

Who wrote 'Principles of Psychology'?

The idea that we have inborn tendencies to impose structure on what we see, perceiving things as whole units.

What did Gestalt psychology emphasize?

Problems remain unsolved until a person develops a sudden and complete insight into a solution.

What is the significance of insight in Gestalt psychology?

1. The universe operates according to natural laws. 2. Such laws are discoverable and testable.

What are the two core beliefs that all sciences share?

They look for laws that describe these processes and behaviors through observation and experimentation.

How do psychologists approach the study of mental processes and behavior?

He believed that it requires 1/10 of a second to shift focus from one object to another.

What did Wundt believe about attention and focus?

To break mental processes down into their most basic components.

What is the main focus of structuralism?

He acknowledged the need to understand the purpose of human thought and behavior rather than merely describing it.

What did Titchener acknowledge about understanding human thought?

The investigation by William Lowe and Brian and Noble Harter on telegraph operators' typing skills.

What was one of the first studies to have a significant social impact?

They studied illusions and errors in perception, memory, and judgment.

What did Gestaltists study to understand perception?

A logical approach to discovering and testing laws about how things happen.

What is the scientific method?

A reasoning approach that starts with broad general ideas and applies them to specific situations.

What is deductive reasoning?

A British philosopher and statesman in the early 1600s who advocated for inductive reasoning.

Who is Sir Francis Bacon?

A reasoning process that proceeds from small specific situations to more general truths.

What is inductive reasoning?

It is better at avoiding biases because it starts from specific observations.

Why is inductive reasoning preferred over deductive reasoning according to Bacon?

A modern scientific process where scientists begin with an educated guess and design controlled observations to test it.

What is hypothetico-deductive reasoning?

A specific statement that is objectively falsifiable.

What is a hypothesis?

Through repetition of testing hypotheses, leading to modifications or new hypotheses based on results.

How do theories evolve in psychology?

To isolate fundamental elements of behavior and mental processes.

What is the primary goal of psychology?

A condition, event, or situation that is studied.

What is a variable in an experiment?

The condition or event thought to be a factor in changing another condition or event.

What is an independent variable?

The condition or event expected to change as a result of variations in the independent variable.

What is a dependent variable?

To develop a working definition of a variable that allows for testing.

What does it mean to operationalize a variable?

The group that is exposed to the independent variable in an experiment.

What is an experimental group?

The group that has not been exposed to the independent variable.

What is a control group?

Research that observes, collects, and records data without specifying a causal relationship.

What is descriptive research?

Good for developing early ideas and more reflective of actual behavior.

What are the advantages of descriptive research?

Little control over variables and potential researcher and participant biases.

What are the disadvantages of descriptive research?

To identify cause and effect relationships.

What is the purpose of experimental research?

Allows precise control over variables and identification of cause and effect.

What are the advantages of experimental research?

Ethical concerns, practical limits, and artificiality of lab conditions.

What are the disadvantages of experimental research?

A study where researchers directly observe people behaving as they normally do.

What is naturalistic observation?

They allow researchers to look closely at parts of functioning brains.

What is the role of animal studies in neuroscience?

A neuroimaging technique that uses a magnetic field to produce images of anatomy and physiology.

What is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?

The newest structural imaging technique that measures the orientation and integrity of white matter in the brain.

What is diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)?

Psychology studies complex behaviors influenced by many factors, while physical sciences study more observable phenomena.

What is the primary difference between psychology and physical sciences?

Many psychological phenomena do not have a clear and observable physical reality.

What is the challenge faced by psychologists in their research?

MRI and CT scans

What conventional brain scanning techniques cannot detect white matter?

To scan the brain using a harmless radioactive substance injected into the blood.

What is the purpose of Positron Emission Tomography (PET)?

Changes in blood flow and amounts of hemoglobin in the brain.

What does Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) detect?

The neuron (nerve cell).

What is the fundamental building block of the nervous system?

Neurons and glia.

What are the two main types of cells in the nervous system?

Dendrites and axons.

What structures do neurons contain for communication?

To collect inputs from other neurons.

What is the function of dendrites?

To carry information away from the cell body toward other neurons.

What is the role of axons?

The end of a neuron's axon from which neurotransmitters are released.

What is the axon terminal?

A fatty covering that insulates axons and speeds up electrical signal transmission.

What is the myelin sheath?

Non-neuronal cells that support and protect neurons.

What are glial cells?

Regulate blood flow, provide nutrients, and clean up chemicals in the brain.

What do astroglia do?

To provide myelin sheaths that insulate axons.

What is the function of oligodendroglia and Schwann cells?

Line the ventricles and secrete cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

What do ependymal cells do?

To clean up debris from dead neurons and protect against infection.

What is the role of microglia?

The difference in charge across a neuron's membrane.

What is the membrane potential?

Typically around -70 millivolts.

What is the resting potential of a neuron?

Sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl-), and anions (A-).

What ions contribute to the resting potential of a neuron?

The membrane's ability to allow certain ions to pass while blocking others.

What is selective permeability in neuron membranes?

It causes vesicles filled with neurotransmitters to release into the synapse.

What happens when an action potential reaches the axon terminal?

About 200 specific types of neurons.

How many types of neurons are estimated to exist in the human brain?

Approximately 86 billion neurons.

What is the estimated number of neurons in the human brain?

They are points of communication between neurons.

What is the significance of synapses?

To transmit signals between neurons.

What is the role of neurotransmitters?

Na+ ions are higher outside the cell, while K+ ions are higher inside.

What is the difference between the concentration of Na+ and K+ ions at rest?

It helps maintain equilibrium by attracting and repelling ions.

What is the role of electrostatic pressure in neurons?