Ap psych final

behavioral perspective

views all behavior as learned through interaction with the environment and responses

evolutionary perspective

Explains behaviors and traits by examining how they were shaped by natural selection over generations to enhance survival

biological perspective

an approach that explains human behavior, thoughts, and emotions by studying their physical and physiological basis

cognitive perspective

an approach that focuses on understanding human behavior by understanding human behavior by examining internal mental processes, such as perception, memory, and thinking

humanistic perspective

an approach that emphasizes the study of the whole person, subjective human experiences, free will and internal drive towards self actualization and belief that people are innately good

independent variable

one you change or manipulate in an experiment

dependent variable

the one you measure to see if it changes in response

refractory period in action potential

a recovery phrase after a cell has responded to a stimulus during which it cannot be stimulated again or requires stranger stimulus to do so

function of endocrine system

to regulate various bodily functions and maintain homeostasis by producing and releasing chemical messengs called hormones

corpus callosum

connects right and left cerebral hemispheres

function of mri

diagnosing cancer, strokes, also used for monotering existing conditions

function of cerebellum

coordinating voluntary movements, maintaining balance and posture, and facilitating motor units

function of sensory and motor cortices

motor cortex controls voluntary movements and sensory cortex processes incoming information

function of hippocampus

forming new memories, spatial navigation, and flexible goal directed behavior

split brain patients have..

possibly epilepsy, language, and spatial/ visual may be affected

what ear structure is responsible for transduction

hair cells located within the organ of corti inside the cochlea or the inner ear

sensory adaptation

process by which living organisms become less sensitive over time to a constant or unchanging stimulus. Often alters the brain to filter out unnecessary backround information.

route of sensory info in hearing until revealed at the cerebral cortex

hearing ear→auditory nerve→brain→auditory cortex

route of sensory info in vision revealed at cerebral cortex

vision eye→optic nerves→brain→visual cortex

gate control theory

proposes that the spinal cord has “gate” that can block pain signals from reaching the brain

perception

process by which brain organized and interprets sensory information enababling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

sensation

the process where sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from the environment such as light, sound, and touch

absolute threshold

minimum intensity of a stimulus for example quietest sound you can hear

supralimial stimuli

sensory inputs which often help for conscious perception for example a president holding a baby to seem nurturing

sublimial stimuli

consciously detected but potentially unnoticed in the backround ex flashes of ice in coca cola ad to show the drink as being cold \

response criterion

an individuals internal decision threshold in a situation where a stimulus is ambiguous ex when a doctor says there is a tumor in case that they missed one even if there are false alarms

difference threshold

the minimum amount by which a stimulus must change to be detached 50% of the time ex) smallest difference in light brightness you are able to perceive

top down processing

a cognitive approach that means your mind uses previous knowledge or information and creates expectations

bottom up processing

where you build an understanding based on basic incoming data to complete idea

inatttentional blindness

an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus because their attention is focused on another task or event

change blindness

people fail to notice large changes in their enviorment, especially when their sttention is focused elsewhere interuption such as construction or a blinking light

three steps of creating new memory

encoding, storage, retrieval

episodic memory

the recalll of specific personal events from your life. ex) first kiss

procederal memory

type of implicit unconscious memory to perform skills and actions. ex) tying shoe laces

semantic memory

how we understand and store more permanent knowledge ex) more factual concepts of the world. Capitals of states and countries

short term memory (STM)

uses acoustics for encoding ex) singing alphabet song

magic number for stm

7+- 2

maintenence rehearsal

memory technique involving simple repetition for example reading a phone number

implicit memory

unconscious such as riding a bike

elaborative rehearsal

linking new info to stuff you already know to remember it better long term

explicit memory

conscious memory such as remembering your birthday

serial positioning affect recency

we typically remember the last recently stated piece of information

serial positioning affect primacy

We typically remember the first information given

a cognitive map

a mental picture of a place

availibility heuristic

mental shortcut where you judge events likelihood based off how easily examples come to mind ex) overestimating risks of shark attacks

eeg alpha waves

stat of relaxed alertness, calm, focused

REM rebound occurs

after periods of REM sleep, deprivation, stress, withdrawal

content validity

a degree in which a test accurately measure all relevant aspects of the specific topic or skill ex a driving test

testing reliability

ability to consistently perform the intended function under specific conditions ex) iq test given to the same person each month