Psychology General

General Knowledge for Psychology

Psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

psychiatry

a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; who sometimes provide medical (for example

free will

The idea that human beings are free to make their own choices

Determinism

the philosophy that holds that every event

Nature

the influence of our inherited characteristics on our personality

nurture

the influence of our environment

CNS (central nervous system)

includes the brain and spinal cord

PNS (peripheral nervous system)

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

Cerebellum function

process and store information

Cerebrum

Largest part of the brain; responsible for voluntary muscular activity

involentary

autonomic nervous system

Voluntary

somatic nervous system

The brain

The mass of nerve tissue that is the main control center of the nervous system

electrical communication

travel up and down the spinal cord

cervical vertebrae

neck

Thoracic

chest

spinal nerves

carry impulses to and from the spinal cord

Receptor

A small area on the dendrite that receives the signal from the other neuron

afferent pathway

component of reflex arc that transmits information from receptor to integrating center

Integrating centre

one or more regions within the CNS that relay impulses from sensory to motor neurons

Efferent pathway

component of reflex arc that transmits information from integrating center to effector

Effector organ

The organ that carries out the command sent along a particular motor neuron

The area within the brain regulating our survival functions such as breathing and heartbeat is called the

Brain stem

Regulation of functions such as breathing and heart rate are controlled by the

autonomic nervous system

The left side of the brain is used for tasks such as

map reading and recognising patterns

Ben is having trouble sleeping and has been diagnosed with a sleep disorder that is caused by a chemical imbalance. It is possible he has abnormal levels of which neurotransmitter?

serotonin

Learning experiences \______________ the connections between neurons

while not using our memory \________________ neuron connections.

The chemical responsible for causing us to feel sleepy is called

melatonin

According to Plutchik

there are \______ primary emotions.

Which of the following structures in NOT part of the limbic system

cerebellum

The 3 stages of memory in order are

encoding

Ethan is playing golf and playing well. In front of a crowd on the last hole

he overestimates and misses a tricky long putt that would have won him the match. His miss in front of the crowd could be due to?

choking

an event where athletes experience a considerable decline in performance standard at a time when pressure was likely higher than normal.

social worker

someone employed to provide social services (especially to the disadvantaged)

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

How are sensation and perception related?

Sensation occurs when information interacts with sensory receptors—the eyes

Perception is the interpretation of what is sensed. The air waves that contact the ears might be interpreted as noise or as musical sounds

for example. The physical energy transmitted to the retina of the eye might be interpreted as a particular color

Free-Will vs Determinism Debate

Free Will - Determinism: to what extent are our behaviors freely selected rather than caused by factors outside of our control?

Nature vs. Nurture

Heredity vs. Environment

selective attention

the ability to focus on only one stimulus from among all sensory input

divided attention

concentrating on more than one activity at the same time (multi-tasking)

intelligence

the ability to learn from experience

Theories of Intelligence: Gardner

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner.

the traditional notion of intelligence

based on I.Q. ... Linguistic intelligence ("word smart") Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")

advantages and disadvantages of IQ tests

Advantage: they allow teachers and parents to channel additional resources to students who need them the most.

Disadvantage: labeling students as gifted or slow can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly

long-term memory

a type of storage that holds information for hours

What function of the brain controls short-term memory and long-term memory?

the cerebellum

What is Alzheimer's?

A progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions.

What is Alzheimer's? Detail treatment

Medications called cholinesterase inhibitors are prescribed for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease

Two types of motivation

intrinsic motivation; extrinsic motivation

intrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

extrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Who is Plutchik?

Psychologist Robert Plutchik states that there are eight basic emotions: joy

What are the 8 primary emotions?

joy

James-Lange Theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

Cannon-Bard Theory

The proposition that emotion and physiological reactions occur simultaneously

Schachter-Singer two-factor theory

a theory of emotion in which general arousal leads to assessment

What is the difference between Schachter-Singer two-factor theory

Cannon-Bard Theory and James-Lange Theory?

Psychology and the law

study of the psychological and behavioral dimensions of the legal system

What is an IQ test?

a test designed to measure intellectual aptitude

Motivation

A character's incentive or reason for behaving in a certain manner; that which impels a character to act

intrinsic

(adj.) belonging to someone or something by its very nature

extinct

A term that typically describes a species that no longer has any known living individuals.

performance

The manner in which something or somebody functions

arousal

Activation of the central nervous system

arousal theory

to be the physiological state of being aware

Sport Pschologists

Psychologists who explore relationships between athletic performance and psychological variables as motivation and emotion

What is sport psychology?

The scientific study of people and their behaviours in sport and exercise activities and the practical application of that knowledge

Why is psychology in sport important?

To help an athletes performance

consciousness

a person's subjective experience of the world and the mind

consciousness continuum

controlled processing

Inverted U theory

Theory linking arousal and performance by stating that increased arousal improves performance to an optimal point at moderate levels of arousal

optimal arousal theory

A theory of motivation stating that people are motivated to behave in ways that maintain what is

low arousal

extreme tiredness

high arousal

one may not be able to concentrate

Functions of the brain and spinal cord

- The brain controls our thoughts

- movement of the arms and legs.

- The brain also controls the many organs within our body.

Functions of the Peripheral Nervous System

Serve as communication lines among sensory organs

What are the two parts of the Peripheral Nervous System?

- somatic nervous system

- autonomic nervous system.

cerebral cortex

making new memories

Hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage (memory)

corpus callosum

A thick band of axons that connects the two cerebral hemispheres and acts as a communication link between them.

corpus callosum

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

sensory neurons

carry impulses from the sense organs to the spinal cord and brain

sensory cortex

registers and processes body touch and movement sensations

Thalamus

it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

primary auditory cortex

hearing

temporal lobe function

hearing and speech

parietal lobe

receives sensory input for touch and body position

frontal lobe

associated with reasoning

corpus callosum

A thick band of axons that connects the two cerebral hemispheres and acts as a communication link between them.

brain stem

Connection to spinal cord. Filters information flow between peripheral nervous system and the rest of the brain.

motor cortex

controls voluntary movements

Amygdala

A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion