College Psych Test #1

Psychology

Psychology

scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Goal of psychology

describe, predict, and explain behavior

Socrates & Plato

dualism: mind (soul) is separate from the body, ideas thought
and traits are inborn (character/intelligence), knowledge is innate (nature>nurture)

Aristotle

monism: mind (soul) and body are connected / cannot exist separately, knowledge grows from observations and memories (nurture>nature)

Rene Descartes

Dissected animals, observations = key tool, mind is the same as the soul but mind and body are separate entities, mind = non-physical substance

Francis Bacon

father of scientific method, incorporated experiments and research into psychological findings especially how we notice / remember things, compared objects

John Locke

mind at birth is a blank slate, all ideas from experience (nurture), father of empiricism

Empiricism

knowledge originates in experience

Wilhelm Wundt

father of psychology, first to use experimental psychology, opened psych only lab, mental map: physical - chemistry - biology - psychology - philosophy, sensations / apperceptions

Edward Titchener

first US psychologist, structuralism, introspection

Structuralism

what exists

Introspection

sit down and think about it

William James

sought to identify how the mind and consciousness worked, what is the purpose / practical applications to life, interested in how humans function adapt flourish and survive, functionalism

Functionalism

how we function

Sigmund Freud

developed the 1st comprehensive theory of personality, gained his understanding of human behavior simply through non-scientific consultations with patients. Sexual in nature - dreams. Stress and early childhood (unconscious forces) highly influence behavior

Ivan Pavlov

classic conditioning-simple behaviorism, use of dogs in research, Russian psychologist

Jean Piaget

swiss scientist, observed children and attempted to explain how children reason through various stages of life

John Watson & B.F. Skinner

behaviorists, observed and measured people's behavior as they respond to different surroundings. Definition changes: psychology is the scientific study of observable behavior very strict definition, introspection to the trash

Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow

1960's humanists, stresses self-fulfillment and worth, focused on ways that current environments nurture or limit growth potential and the importance of love / acceptance satisfied, high level of free will, people are basically good and capable of perfection (self actualization)

Psychology's 3 main levels of analysis

biological, psychological, social-cultural --> biopsychosocial

Biological*

focuses on the brain and nervous system - anatomy. neuroscience structure, function, development, genetics, biochemistry of the nervous system

BUZZ WORDS: chemicals, medication, physical causes, genetics, hormones, brain chemistry

Evolutionary

evolutionary theory to all behavior and mental processes --> chances to ancestral environments. Ex: global warming causes people to have darker eye color which helps see at night.

BUZZ WORDS: evolved, higher being, higher order, adaptation, survive (nature)

Charles Darwin

Psychodynamic

unconscious thoughts and conflicts between internal drives and society. Early family experiences influence behavior, thought, and emotion

BUZZ WORDS: unconscious, guilt, conflict, repression, denial, anal retentive

Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, Alfred Adler

Behavioral*

humans are the products of learning and associations (nurture). Role of heredity is greatly deemphasized as is mental processes

BUZZ WORDS: rewards, punishments, learned habits, training-conditions

John Watson, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura

cognitive*

mental process involved in how we direct our attention, perceive, remember, think, and solve problems. input vs output --> we take info from the environment

BUZZ WORDS: cognitive therapy, thinking, irrational thinking

Piaget

humanistic

positive human qualities, capacity for self-actualization, free will. people are inherently good in nature, we can reach perfection

BUZZ WORDS: inner world, self, personal growth, free choice, free will, understanding life events

Carl Rodgers, Abraham Masslow

sociocultural*

social and cultural environments influence behavior and mental processes --> societal influeces,, pressures, ethnicity, race, religion. Studies differences in ethnic and cultural groups in a country.

BUZZ WORDS: setting, society, situations, groups, race, culture, gender, religion, peer pressure

Behavior Genetics

study of the effects of heredity on behavior. To what extent are abilities, personalities, sexual orientations, sociability, psychological disorder determined by genes from our parents?

Neuroplastiity

the brains ability to repair itself

Neurons

Individual cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate, and transmit information.

Cell body

the cells life-support center

Dendrite

receive messages from other cells

Axon

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

Glial Cells

glue, provides physical & chemical support to neurons and maintain their environment

Threshold

magnitude of intensity that must be exceeded for a certain reaction

Refractory period

period immediately following stimulation

All-or-none response

strength of response of nerve cell not dependent upon strength of stimulus

Myelin Sheath

covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses

People with _______ have degeneration of their myelin sheath

Multiple Sclerosis

Action potential

a neural impulse that travels down an axon like a wave

Synapse

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons

Reuptake

After the neurotransmitters stimulate the receptors on the receiving neuron, the chemicals are taken back up into the sending neuron to be used again.

Acetycholine

enables muscle action, learning, and memory

Dopamine

influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion

Serotonin

affects mood, hunger, sleep, & drousal

Norepinephrine

helps control alertness and aorusal

GABA

a major inhibitory neurotransmitter

Glutamate

excitatory neurotransmitter, involved in memory

Endorphine

"morphine within"--natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

Agonist

mimics neurotransmitter

Antagonist

blocks neurotransmitter

Sensory Neurons

carry messages from the body's tissues and sensory organs inward to the brain and spinal cord for processing

Motor neurons

carry instructions from the central nervous system out to the body's muscles and glands

Interneurons

what information is processed between sensory input and motor output

What happens when you are in Sympathetic mode?

fight or flight, NS arouses

What happens in parasympathetic mode?

rest and digest, NS calms

endocrine system

network of organs and glands that uses hormones to control and coordinate your bodies metabolism, energy level, reproduction, growth / development, etc. Within --> through the bloodstream, slow but sure

Why is the pituitary gland called the master gland?

it controls the function of many of the other endocrine glands

What is the function of the adrenal glands

produce hormones that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, response to stress and other essential functions.

______ release small amount near the receptor

neurotransmitters

_____ release through the whole body (bloodstream)

glands

Hormones vs neurotrasmitters

Serotonin can be in both, speed is the difference

Cerebellum

helps coordinate voluntary movement (sports, balance, coordination)

Parts of the brain stem

medulla, pons, reticular formation, thalamus

Function of brain stem

coordinate the body

Medulla

controls basic functions (heartrate, breathing, regulates reflex)

Pons

coordinates automatic and unconscious movements (sleep, breathing, balance, hearing, taste, chewing, swallowing)

Reticular formation

regulates sleep-wake cycle, filters stimuli and alertness

Thalamus

bodies information relay station, processes all body senses (except smell)

Parts of the limbic system / border system

hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus

Function of the limbic system

manages emotions and connects thought to body

Hypothalamus

control coordinating center, maintains homeostasis

Amygdala

regulation of autonomic and endocrine functions, emotions, fear, aggression, decision making

Hippocampus

long term memory formation and memory retrieval

Corpus Callosum

condult --> allows information to transmit from 1 side of the brain to another

Parts of the cortex / outer covering

frontal lobe, frontal cortex, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe

Function of the cortex / outer covering

integrates information

Frontal lobe

voluntary movement, expressive language, higher level executive functions

Motor Cortex

generate signals to direct the movement of the body

Frontal cortex

performance motor tasks, judgement, abstract thinking, creativity, socail appropriation

Parietal lobe

sensory perception / integration, management of senses

Somatosensory cortex

detect info from the body about temp, proprioception, touch, texture, pain

Occipital lobe

visuospatial processing, distance / depth perception, color determination, object / face recognition, memory formation

Visual cortex

receives, segment, integrate visual information

Temporal lobe

manage emotions, processes info from senses, auditory processing center, storing / retrieving memories and understanding of language

Auditory cortex

simple detection of sound and discrimination of frequency

Average adult brain weights ___ pounds

3

Average adult brain has more than ____ billion cells

100

Adult brain makes up ___ % of body weight and requires ___ % of bloods oxygen supply

2-3, 20

Cerebrum makes up ___ % of brains weight and is surrounded by the cerebral cortex

85%

Areas of the body that receive more area of the brain devoted to it

thumb, fingers, lips, toungue

Functions of the association areas of the brain

neurons are busy, higher mental functions. areas of the cerebral cortex are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking and speaking

Phineas Gage

railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury that dramatically changed his personality and behavior; case played a role in the development of the understanding of the localization of brain function

Brain plasticity / neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to rearrange the connections between neurons due to learning or experience

Neurogenesis

the formation of new neurons

Split Brain

a condition resulting from surgery that separates the brains 2 hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly of corpus callosum) connecting them

Areas of intelligence in the left brain

Right hand control, writing, scientific skills, lists, logic, speaking, math calculations, language, analysis

Areas of intelligence in the right brain

Left hand control, emotions, creativity, perception tasks, makes inferences, helps modulate speech, helps orchestrate self-awareness, spatial awareness, music, imagination

Consciousness

our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment