EVERYTHING FOR UR SEM1 PSYCH EXAM

Nervous System

A biological system that receives information via sensory pathways, processes it via the central nervous system, and coordinates responses via motor pathways.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Consists of the brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Consists of all nerves outside the CNS, including cranial and spinal nerves; it serves as communication lines between the CNS and the rest of the body.

Somatic Nervous System

Division of the PNS that transmits information from sensory receptors toward the CNS and carries motor messages to skeletal muscles to enable voluntary movement.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

Division of the PNS that regulates involuntary functions

Sympathetic Nervous System

Branch of the ANS that prepares the body to respond to threats (fight or flight)

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Branch of the ANS that returns the body to a resting state and achieves equilibrium of arousal (rest and digest)

Hindbrain

Medulla oblongata, cerebellum

Medulla

Part of the hindbrain responsible for autonomic functions such as breathing and heartbeat (nerves of the spinal cord connect to the brain)

Cerebellum

Part of the hindbrain that coordinates movement and balance

Midbrain

Reticular formation

Forebrain

hypothalamus, thalamus, cerebral cortex

Hypothalamus

A part of the forebrain that regulates body systems and maintains homeostasis.

Thalamus

Located in the forebrain and filters sensory information

Cerebral Cortex

Outer layer of the brain which is involved with information processing (frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe)

Corpus Callosum

Connects the left and right hemispheres, allowing them to communicate

Neuron

A specialized cell that receives, processes, and transmits information within the nervous system using electrical and chemical signals.

Dendrites

Extensions of a neuron that receive incoming information or signals from other neurons.

Soma (Cell Body)

Contains the nucleus and maintains the cell's life processes.

Sensory Neurons (Afferent)

Receive information from the external environment and internal body to transmit it toward the CNS.

Motor Neurons (Efferent)

Transmit messages away from the CNS to muscles, glands, and organs to initiate a movement or response.

Interneurons

Provide rapid neural links between sensory and motor neurons (reflex arcs)

Action Potential

An electrical charge that travels along the axon, initiated when charges reach a certain threshold

Electrochemical Process

action potentials and neurotransmitters

Synapse

Allow the release of neurotransmitters which moderate neural communication

Dopamine

Pleasure neurotransmitter

Serotonin

Mood neurotransmitter

Adrenaline

Fight or flight neurotransmitter

GABA

Calming neurotransmitter

Glutamate

Memory neurotransmitter

Endorphins

Euphoria neurotransmitter

Reuptake

When excess neurotransmitters are reabsorbed in the pre-synaptic neuron

Developmental stages (6)

infancy (0-18 months), childhood (18 months-12 years), adolescence (12-20), early adulthood (20-40), middle age (40-65), old age (65+)

Cognitive development

The emergence of the ability to think, understand, and apply logic

Neural plasticity

The brains ability to respond to change and experience

Stages of developmental plasticity (5)

proliferation, migration, synaptogenesis, synaptic pruning, myelination

Proliferation

Production of new neurons from stem cells

Migration

New cells move to final destination in the body

Synaptogenesis

Creation of connections between neurons by synapse formation

Synaptic pruning

Connections that aren’t useful are removed

Myelination

Axons are insulated with myelin, speeding up transmission

Adaptive neuroplasticity

Changes in the brain that occur in response to experience (functional of structural)

Piaget’s theory

1936

Schemas

A persons collection of related concepts or situations

Assimilation

Adding new information to a pre-existing schema

Accommodation

Adjusting a pre-existing schema to account for inconsistencies between schema and new information

Equilibrium

When schemas successfully explain past experiences and predict new experiences

Disequilibrium

When there are errors in a schema that don’t account for new information

Extraneous variables (definition)

Any variable with an unwanted effect on the DV

Extraneous variables (4)

experimenter effects, participant variables, environment, demand characteristics

Confounding variable

Uncontrolled variables that have affected the DV

A directional hypothesis needs:

population, define IV and DV, direction of relationship, measurement

Sample

Subset of the population

Population

Group of research interest

Snowball sampling

Researchers find individuals of interest, then those individuals suggest others

Stratified sampling

Dividing the population into strata based on shared characteristics

Concepts in ethics (5)

right to protection from harm, informed consent, voluntary participation/withdrawal rights, confidentiality, privacy

Socialisation

The process by which we learn to become members of society

Attachment

The close emotional bond formed between an infant and the primary caregiver

Critical period

0-5

Harlow

1958

Ethics code (3)

Respect, propriety, integrity

Three Rs of animal research

Replacement, reduction, refinement

Evidence based conclusion

Difference between groups, effect of the IV on DV, hypothesis supported/rejected

Bowlby

1969, 1988 (sensitive period, monotropy, maternal deprivation, internal working model)

Monotropy

The emotional need to attach to one person/caregiver who is more important than all others

Internal working model

Cognitive representation that serves as a prototype for all future relationships

Ainsworth

1978

Type a attachment

insecure avoidant (nonch)

Type b attachment

secure

Type c attachment

insecure resistant (crashout)

When a neuron is at rest…

negative inside, positive outside

Action potential is initiated…

At the axon hillock when combined signals reach a minimum intensity (threshold), and then sodium channels open (charges swap)

Communication within the cell/AP is due to…

the flow of electrical charge along the axon

Stages in Piaget’s stage theory (and corresponding tests) (4)

Sensorimotor (0-2, invisible displacement), pre-operational (2-7, three mountains), concrete operational (7-11, conservation task), formal operational (11-15, pendulum)

Role of ethics committees

To approve and monitor the conduct of psychological research

Single-blind procedure

Participants don’t know which group they’ve been allocated to

Double-blind procedure

Neither participants or researchers know which group the person has been allocated to

Ways to minimise the effects of extraneous/confounding variables (4)

Placebo, random allocation of participants, single/double-blind procedure, standardisation of procedure

Frontal lobe

Decision making, problem solving, planning (primary motor cortex, Broca’s area)

Parietal lobe

Reception and processing of sensory information from the body (primary sensory cortex)

Occipital lobe

Detection and integration of visual information (primary visual cortex)

Temporal lobe

Memory, emotion, hearing, and language (primary auditory cortex, Wernicke’s area)

Broca’s area

Located in the left frontal lobe next to the motor cortex and is responsible for clear, fluent speech

Wernicke’s area

Located in the temporal lobe of the left hemisphere next to the primary auditory cortex and is involved with the comprehension of speech

Primary motor cortex

Located in the frontal lobe and initiates neural signals that control muscle movement

Primary sensory cortex

Located in the parietal lobe and receives and processes information from our senses

Primary auditory cortex

Located in the temporal lobe and receives and processes auditory information

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

Measures the electrical activity of the brain via electrodes applied to your scalp (external)

Computed tomography (CT)

Medical imaging which generates a two dimensional image of a slice of a three-dimensional object (tomograph)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Uses a powerful magnetic field to measure signals emitted from atomic nuclei; used for identifying structures and tissues in the brain

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Allows us to detect which areas of the brain are involved in a task

Phineas Gage

(1848) Had a metal rod lodged in his head from his left cheek out the top of his skull, skewering his frontal lobe; his personality changed (localisation of function)

Roger Sperry

(1959-1968) Conducted a series of Nobel Prize-winning studies which isolated specific function to each hemisphere

Walter Freeman (1936-1945)

Created the lobotomy (a long thin rod is hammered through the skull behind the eye, being swept and removing cerebral tissue)

Steps of neurotransmission (SIX!)

NTs are stored in the preSN neuron in vesicles, when stimulated the vesicles move towards the synaptic cleft and fuse with the preNS membrane releasing NTs in the cleft, NTs diffuse across the cleft, NTs bind with specific receptor sites, the binding triggers the release of APs in the postSN, excess NTs are reabsorbed into the preSN