AP PSYCH UNIT 1-3

Wilhelm Wundt

founder of structuralism,father of psychology (opened the first psych lab),his findings are highly subjective, his findings are about how ppl relate to certain things

What is introspection

process of looking inward to examine ones own thoughts and feelings

structuralism

early approach( inolving titchener, and wundt) that studies the structure of the mind through introspection

functionalism

Early approach ( william James, influenced by darwin) studying how mental/ behavioral processes function to help organisms survive

behaviorism

Psychology should only study observable behavior (watson, skinner)

psychoanalysis/psychodynamic

frueds theory, unconsious drives and childhood experiences shape behavior

humanistic

Rogers and maslow, emphasizes free will, growth, and self actualization ( very postive outlook)

biological approach

A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function.

Applied vs. basic research

Basic increases knowledge while applied solves practical problems

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it( " you knew the outcome all long")

overconfidence bias

overestimation of the accuracy of knowledge and judgements

scientific method

A logical, systematic approach to the solution of a scientific problem: theory, hypothesis, experiment, observation and then replication

hypothesis

A hypothesis is a statement that can be tested

operational definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study for replication

replication

repeating a research study to see if results generalize

case study

a description of the behavior or abilities of a single individual

naturalistic observation

Observing behavior in natural setting

Survey

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

sampling bias

flawed sampling that doesnt represent the population

random sample vs random assignment

random sample the choice of participants is undirectedrandom assignment participants are placed different groups without a plan to counter confounding variables (after a sample of participants has been randomly selected)

correlation coefficient

Statistical measure of relationship between two variables. (-1 to +1)

positive vs negative correlation

-positive correlation (co-vary in the came direction)

-negative correction ( co-vary in different direction

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

experiment

manipulating an independent variable to see how it affects a dependent variable, while also controlling the effects of additional extraneous variables

placebo effect

the phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior not treatment

double-blind study

both subjects and the experimenter do not know who has been assigned to which group in order to prevent bias

confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

Dependent vs. independent variable

Dependent variable is altered by the independent variable. DV measures outcome IV manipulated factor

descriptive vs. inferential statistics

descriptive statistics merely describe data, inferential statistics determine if results generalize

measures of control tendency

mean, median, mode

measures of variation

range and standard deviation

What does statisical significance mean?

results unlikely due to chance (p<.05)

ethics in psychology

informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, benefits, debriefing

Parts of the neuron

denrites, soma, axon, myelin sheath, terminal button

denrites

Short, branching extensions that transmit electrical signals

Soma

Cell body of a neuron containing the nucleus.

Axon

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands

meylin sheath

fatty substance that coats to insulate, protect, and speed up nural impluses

terminal buttons (axon terminals)

ends of axons that secrete neurotransmitters

Resting potenital

-70mV, cell is at rest and there is a difference in voltage in the inside and outside of the cell

threshold

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

all-or-none principle

the law that the neuron either fires at 100% or not at all

Synapse

Gap between neurons

Reuptake

a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron

Acetylcholine function and malfunction

Memory & movement (Alzheimer's disease)

Dopamine function and malfunction

Movement, learning, attention, emotion, reward, and pleasure

Lack of dopamine, the brain produced tremors and decreased mobility of Parkinson’s excess dopamine is linked to schizophrenia

serotonin function and malfunction

Affects mood, hunger, sleep and arousal. Lack of it is linked to depression.

norepinephrine function and malfunction

helps control alertness and arousal; undersupply can depress mood, and ADHD

GABA function

inhibitory neurotransmitter

Gluatamate function and malfunction

a major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in learning and memory. oversupply can over-stimulates the brain producing migraines or seizures

Endorphins function

Neurotransmitters that influence the perception of pain or pleasure

Agonists

chemical substances that mimic or enhance the effects of a neurotransmitter on the receptor sites of the next cell, increasing or decreasing the activity of that cell

Antagonists

drugs that block the function of a neurotransmitter

central nervous system

made up of the brain and spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body (somatic and autonomic)

parts of the autonomic nervous system

sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

sympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations FIGHT OR FLIGHT

parasympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy REST AND DIGEST

brainstem structures

medulla, pons, reticular formation

Medulla

controls heartbeat and breathing

Pons

A brain structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain; sleep/dreaming

reticular formation

a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal/alertness

cerebellum function

Balance and coordination and procedural memory

limbic system structures

thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, and pituitary gland

thalamus

the brain's sensory control center, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

Amygdala

A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression.

Hypothalamus

A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (homeostasis)

hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.

Pituitary gland

Hormones( master gland)

four lobes of the cerebral cortex

frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal

Frontal lobe

decision making, movement, brocas area

parietal lobe

sensory input, somatosensory cortex

temporal lobe

hearing, wernickes area

occipital lobe

vision

corpus callosum

connects hemispheres, cut in split brain research

left hemisphere

controls language, math, and logic controls right side of body

Right hemisphere

controls the left side of the body; creative, intuitive, spacial

Motor cortex

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

somatosensory cortex

area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch

Broca's area

controls language expression - an area, usually in the left frontal lobe, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Wernickes area

a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

Nueroplasticity

The nervous system's ability to rewire it structures as a result of experience

Sensation

simple stimulation of a sense organ

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

Difference threshold

Minimum difference to detect change 50% of time

webers law

The JND is always large when the stimulus intensity is high, and small when the stimulus intensity is low

Signal detection theory

theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions

Sesnroy adaptation?

reduced sensitivity due to constant stimulation

parts of the eye

cornea, pupil, optic nerve, iris, lens, retina, rod cells, cone cells, fovea, optic nerve, blind spot

Rods

dim light and peripheral vision receptors, blck and white

Cones

color and detail

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors—one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue—which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color.

Opponent process theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

Parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously( color, motion, depth)

parts of the ear

outer: auditory canal + eardrum, middle: bones, oval and circular window, inner: cochlea etc

Place theory

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated( pitch depends on rate of impluses)

frequency theory

in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch(pitch depends on rate of impulses)