Purdue Psych 12000 Exam 1, PSY 120 Purdue Exam #1

structuralism

breaking down experiences into basic elements, like parts of a machine or process

functionalism

focused on function or purpose of consciousness and behavior

William Wundt

Conducted first psychology experiments in first psych laboratory

Edward Titchener

coined structuralism

William James

main proponent of functionalism

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud's attempt to cure psych problems

Behaviorism

proposed psychology is the study of observable human behavior

Ivan Pavlov, BF Skinner, and John Watson

Behaviorism

humanists

focused on personal growth, achieving human potential, and the importance of unconditional positive regard

carl rogers and abraham maslow

humanistic psychologists

cognitive psychology

scientific approach to internal mental processes, emphasizes perception, memory, language, thinking, and problem solving; roots in exiled Gestalt psychologists; Ulric Neisser

descriptive methods

describe what exists

inferential methods

we manipulate what exists in order to draw conclusions about cause and effect

case study (descriptive)

study of an individual in great detail, but hard to generalize

Survey (descriptive)

getting small amount of info from large amount of people, screenshot view of population; need random, representative sample in order to describe a population

correlation study (descriptive)

describe the extent to which 2 variables occur and vary together in the world; CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN CAUSATION

confounding variables

factors that cause differences between the experimental group and the control group other than the independent variable

experimental effects

when a researcher unintentionally effects the results

demand characteristics

cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected

inferential method

we manipulate what exists in order to draw conclusions about cause and effect

research ethics

right to self-esteem, to privacy and confidentiality, to leave study at any time, and to informed consent

replication crisis

there was so reward for replicating another person's work to check the validity, so many fraudulent theories have been published

nurture vs nature

the longstanding controversial over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

genome

All the genetic information in an organism; all of an organism's chromosomes.

genotype

genetic makeup of an organism

Phenotype

physical characteristics of an organism

Heriability

% liklihood that the variation among members of a group is due to genetics

genetic environmental correlation

the degree of bidirectional interaction between genes and environment

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body; made of thick bundles of axons; 2 divisions: somatic and autonomic nervous systems

somatic nervous system

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls voluntary movement of skeletal muscles; relays sensory and motor information

autonomic nervous system

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart); sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

sympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations

parasympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy; homeostasis

dendrites

branches that receive information from other neurons

axon

branch that goes off to send information to other neurons

soma (cell body)

center of neuron, determines if it will fire or not

synaptic cleft

a gap into which neurotransmitters are released from the axon terminal

resting potential

The balance in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron's cell membrane

action potential

the change in electrical potential associated with the passage of an impulse along the membrane of a muscle cell or nerve cell.

excitatory

Causes next cell to fire

inhibitory

Keeps next cell from firing

seratonin

type of neurotransmitter; involved in sleep, appetite, sensory perception, pain suppression, mood

dopamine

type of neurotransmitter; voluntary movement, sleep, learning, memory, emotion (can cause parkinsons)

Acetylcholine

type of neurotransmitter; muscle action, cognition, memory, emotion

Norepinephrine

type of neurotransmitter; excitement related to stress, heart rate, alertness (fight or flight)

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

type of neurotransmitter; produces relaxation and sleepiness

glutamate

type of neurotransmitter; major excitatory neutrons

localization of function

specialization of particular brain areas for particular functions

lateralization of function

the notion that specific psychological or cognitive functions are processed primarily on one side of the brain

Plasticity

the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience

cerebelum

largest brain structure; upper brain and divided into two cerebral hemispheres (connected by corpus callosum)

right brain

intuitive, spatial problem solving, nonverbal sounds

left brain

strong on rational skills, cognition, and language

cerebral cortex

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.

occipital

cerebral lobe, visual cortex

parietal

cerebral lobe, somatosensory cortex

temporal

central lobe, memory, perception, emotion, and auditory cortex

frontal

central lobe, emotion, planning, creative thinking, and motor cortex

somatosensory cortex

map of sensory input from around the body

Hippocampus

responsible for the storage of new information in memory

Amygdala

responsible for arousal and regulation of emotion and initial emotional response

hypothalamus

involved in emotions and drives vital to survival including fear, hunger, thirst, and reproduction; involuntary sexual desire

cerebellum

regulates movement and balance, involved in remembering simple skills and acquired reflexes; plays a part in analyzing sensory information, solving problems, and understanding words

pons

involved in sleeping, waking, and dreaming

medulla oblongata

responsible for certain automatic functions such as heart rate and breathing

What is psychology?

scientific study of behavior and mind

Clinical psychologist

diagnose and treat psychological problems

ex: depression, anxiety, etc,

work in clinics or practices,

applied psychologist

extend principles of scientific psychology to practical problems

research psychologist

conduct basic research to discover the principles of behavior and mind

mean

average of a set of scores

median

middle point in set of scores

mode

most frequently occurring score

range

top score - bottom score

confounding variable

uncontrolled variable that changes along with the independent variable,

ex: giving an ad to people, must give them same exact ad, time to read it, time of day, etc, in order to have NO confounding variables

dependent variable

behavior that is measured in an experiment

ex: how much aggression someone has after they watch something

independent variable

aspect of the environment that is manipulated in an experiment, must consist of two conditions

ex: the level of violence in the thing the person watches

placebo

inactive substance that resembles an experimental substance

ex: they give people a fake drug in an experiment

correlational research

stats that indicate whether two variables vary together in a systematic way, from +1.00 to -1.00

experimental research

technique in which the investigator manipulated the environment to observe its effect on the behavior

ex: change of external (temperature), internal (mood), or social (presence of someone)

quasi-experimental research

used when people cannot be randomly assigned to experimental groups

(bad because you don't know what had manipulation on DV)

operational definition

procedures used in a study to get at (measure) variables

ex: intelligence as how well you do on a test

resting potential

created by the presence of electrically charged atoms and molecules called ions

its a specific time electric charge inside/outside the cell

action potential

all or none electrical signal that travels down a neuron's axon

synaptic gap

small gap between cells, typically between the terminal buttons of one neuron and the dendrite or cell body of another

neurotransmitters

chemical molecules that spill out into the synapse and interact chemically with the cell membrane of the next neuron

autonomic system

collection of nerves that controls the more automatic needs of the body (heart rate, digestion, blood pressure); part of the peripheral system

sympathetic division

triggers the release of chemicals, creating a state of readiness

parasympathetic division

calms the body down by slowing heart rate and lowering blood pressure (helps increase the body's supply of stored energy)

hindbrain

sits right where the spinal cord and brain merge, acts as the basic life-support system for the body, and is the oldest part of the brain

medulla and pons

in the hindbrain, associated with heart rate, breathing, sneezing, vomiting, reflexes

specifically sensitive to drugs and alcohol

reticular formation

in the hindbrain

network of neurons and nerves linked to the control of general arousal, sleep, and consciousness

cerebellum

base of the brain, motor skills

midbrain

middle portion of the brain, containing the tectum, superior colliculus, and interior colliculus, serve as neural relate stations and help coordinate reactions to sensory events

forebrain

outer portion of the brain, including the cerebral cortex and the structures of limbic system

cerebral cortex

outer layer of the brain, seat of higher mental processes, problem solving,

thalamus

close to the midbrain, important in gathering point for input from various senses

hypothalamus

lies just below the thalamus, important in motivation, particularly regulation of eating, drinking, body temp, sexual behavior

limbic system

several interrelated brain structures, amygdala and hippocampus

amygdala

motivational and emotional behaviors, (fear, aggression, and defensive actions)