PSYC100 Exam 2

Neuron

the building blocks of your brain

Nerve cell

communicates with other cells in your brain

Cell body (soma)

cell’s life support center

Dendrites

receive messages from other cells

Axon

passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands

Myelin sheath

helps the signal travel across the neuron

Action potential

electrochemical transmission of a signal

Multiple sclerosis

chronic autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the myelin sheath

Synapse

the gap between two neurons where communication occurs

Neurotransmitter

chemical released into the synapse to communicate with other neurons

Agonist

increases the effect of a neurotransmitter

Antagonist

decreases the effect of a neurotransmitter

Glutamate

increases nervous system activity

GABA

decreases nervous system activity

Dopamine

reward neurotransmitter

Synergistic effect

combined substances create a greater effect than individually

Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

seat of your circadian clock

Circadian clock

keeps track of daily biological cycles

Circadian rhythm

24-hour biological processes

Zeitgebers

external cues like light that regulate circadian rhythm

Beta waves

alert and awake state

Alpha waves

relaxed but awake

Theta waves

light sleep or deep relaxation

Delta waves

deep sleep

REM sleep

dreaming stage with active brain

REM paralysis

body cannot move during REM sleep

Lucid dreams

awareness that you are dreaming

REM rebound

increased REM after deprivation

Freud

dreams represent wish fulfillment

Insomnia

difficulty sleeping

Sleep apnea

disorder where people can’t breathe and wake up for a moment to get air and then go back to sleep.

Narcolepsy

falling asleep easily and quickly into REM sleep

Sleepwalking/talking

movement during sleep without awareness

Night terror

intense fear during deep sleep

Activation synthesis theory

dreams are the brain making sense of random activity

Threat simulation theory

dreams simulate danger for survival practice

Anton Mesmer

early developer of hypnosis

Hypnosis

focused state with increased suggestibility

Learning

change in behavior due to experience

Habituation

decreased response after repeated exposure

Ivan Pavlov

discovered classical conditioning

Classical conditioning

learning through association

Stimulus

anything that triggers a response

Unconditioned stimulus

naturally causes a response

Neutral stimulus

does not initially cause a response

Conditioned stimulus

learned stimulus that causes a response

Behaviorism

study of observable behavior

John Watson

founder of behaviorism

B.F. Skinner

developed operant conditioning

Operant conditioning

learning through consequences

Reinforcement

increases behavior

Positive reinforcement

adding something to increase behavior

Negative reinforcement

removing something to increase behavior

Punishment

decreases behavior

Positive punishment

adding something unpleasant

Negative punishment

removing something pleasant

Extinction

behavior decreases when reinforcement stops

Extinction burst

temporary increase in behavior before stopping

Generalization

similar stimuli produce same response

Shaping

reinforcing steps toward a behavior

Observational learning

learning by watching others

Albert Bandura

developed social learning theory

Prepared learning

ability to learn certain associations quickly

Learned helplessness

giving up after lack of control

Memory

retention of information over time

Encoding

putting information into memory

Storage

keeping information over time

Retrieval

getting information from memory

Memory model

sensory to short-term to long-term memory

Sensory memory

very short memory from senses

Short-term memory

holds info briefly

Long-term memory

stores info long-term

Magic number

7 plus or minus 2 items

Rehearsal

repeating information

Maintenance rehearsal

simple repetition

Elaborative rehearsal

linking meaning to information

Explicit memory

conscious memory

Implicit memory

unconscious memory

Episodic memory

personal experiences

Semantic memory

general knowledge

Primacy effect

remember beginning items

Recency effect

remember last items

Mnemonics

memory aids

Chunking

grouping information

Long-term potentiation

strengthening of neural connections

Hippocampus

forms long-term memories

Context dependent

recall better in same environment

State dependent

recall better in same internal state

Mood dependent

recall better in same mood

Recall

retrieving without cues

Recognition

identifying with cues

Spacing effect

studying over time improves memory

Flashbulb memory

vivid emotional memory

Amnesia

memory loss

Retrograde amnesia

hard time remembering before event

Anterograde amnesia

inability to form new memories

Retroactive interference

new info blocks old

Proactive interference

old info blocks new

Prenatal

conception to birth

Infancy

birth to 2 years