Psychology Test 2

Unit 2 Chapters, 3,6, and 11

How many genes do humans have

around 30,000

Chromosomes

Strands of hereditary material

Genes

sections along each chromosome, control the chemical reactions that direct development

Dominant gene

a single copy of the gene is sufficient to produce its effect

Recessive Gene

its effect appear only if the dominant gene is absent

Sex chromosomes

specific type of chromosome that helps determine the biological sex of an individual

X chromosome

a female has two in each cell

Y chromosome

a male has one x chromosome and one y chromosome

Sex- limited genes

occurs equally in both sexes but exerts its effect mainly or entirely in one or the other

Field of epigenetics

deals with charges in gene expression without modification of the DNA sequence

Heritability

an estimate of the variance within a population that is due to heredity

Monozygotic twins

develop from a single fertilized egg (zygote) and therfore have identical genes

Dizygotic twins

develop from two egss and share only half their genes

Zygote

the single cell formed when a sperm and an egg cell join together during fertilization

Multiplier effect

A small initial advantage in some behavior possibly genetic in origin, alters the environment and magnifies that advantage

PKU

an inheritied condition that if untreated leads to mental retardation

Evolution ( Darwins definition)

descent with modification

• actual definiion - a gradual change in the frequency of avrious genes from one generation to the next

Natural selection

acts on brain and behavior just as it does on the rest of the body

Evolutionary psychologists

try to infer the benefits that favored certain genes and behaviors

Behaviorism

the position that psychology should concern itself only with what people and other animals do and the circumstances in which they do it without reference to thoughts,ideas, emotions or any other internal state

Unconditioned reflexes

between a stimulus such as food and a response such as secreting digestive juices

Classical conditioning

The process by which an organism learns a new association between two stimuli, a neutral stimulus and one that already evokes a reflexive response

Unconditioned stimulus

an event that automatically elicits an unconditioned reponse

Unconditioned response

the action that the unconditioned stimulus elicits

Conditioned stimulus

previously neutral trigger that comes to a cause a learned reaction after it is paired multiple with a natural automatic trigger

Conditioned response

whatever response the conditioned stimulus elicits as a result at the conditioning procedure

Acquisition

the process that establishes or strengthens a conditioned response

Extinction

decrease of the conditioned response

How to classically conditioned response is extinguished

to extinguish a classically conditioned response repeatedly present the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus

Spontaneous recovery

a temporary return of an extinguished response after a delay

Stimulus generalization

is the extension of a conditioned response from the training stimulus to similar stimuli

Discriminate

to respond differently to stimuli that predict different outcomes

Drug tolerance

users of certain drugs experience progressively weaker effects after taking the drugs repeatedly

Law of effect

behavior is determined ( or caused) by its consequences

Operant conditioning

the process of changing behavior by providing a reinforcer after a response

Reinforcement

the process of increasing the future probability of the most recent response

Reinforcer

any event, action or thing that makes a behavior more likely to happen again

Positive reinforcement

giving a pleasant reward after a behavior to make that behavior more likely to happen again

Negative reinforcemnt

a learning process that increases a good behavior by taking away an unpleasant or annoying thing

Punishment

decrease the probability of something or a removal

(Operant) extinction

occurs if response stop producing reinforcements

Stimulus generalization

the more similar a new stimulus is to the original reinfored stimulus the more likely is the same response

Discriminative stimulus

a stimulus that indicates which response is appropriate or inappropriate

Stimulus control

the ability of a stimulus to encourage some response and discourage others

B.F. skinner

one of the most famous psychological researchers demonstrated many uses of operant conditioning

Chaining

a long sequence of actions to produce a sequence

Shaping

establishing a new response by reinforcing succesive approximations to it

Intermittent reinforcement

reinforcement for some response and not for others

Continous reinforcement

provide reinforcement for every correct response

Behavior Modification

A psychologist removes reinforcement for unwanted behaviors and provides reinforcement for more acceptable behaviors

Conditioned taste aversions

a learned response where you develop a lasting dislike for a food or drink because you felt sick after eating it

Social learning approach

learn about many behaviors by observing the behaviors of others

Motivation

as the process that determines the reinforcement value of an outcome

Drive

a state of unrest or irritation that energizes one behavior after another until one of them removes the irritation

Incentives

stimuli that pulls us toward an action

Homeostasis

the maintenance of an optium level of biological conditions within an organsim

Delay of gratification

declining a pleasant activity now in order to get greater pleasure later

Glucose

the most abundant sugar in the blood, is an important energy source for the body and by far the main energy source for the brain

Insulin

increases how the glucose and several other nutrients into the bodies cells

Glucagon

natural hormone produced by the pancreas that raises blood glucose (sugar) levels to prevent them from dropping too low

The main brain area involved in hunger and satiety

The hypothalamus

• has one set of neurons that recieve hunger signals and other neurons that recieve satiety signals

Obesity

the excessive accumulation of body fat

Anorexia nervosa

a condition in which someone intensely fears gaining weight and refuses to eat a normal amount

Bulimia nervosa

mostly women alternate between self -deprivation and periods of excessive eating while feeling a loss of control

Male sex hormones

male fetuses secrete higher levels of Testosterone

Female sex hormones

Estrogen

Sexual Orientation

someone’s tendency to respond sexually to male or female partners or both or neither