AP Psychology Research, Neurobiology, and Perception

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering AP Psychology research methods, neuroanatomy, sensory processes, learning theories, developmental stages, and social psychology concepts based on lecture notes.

Experiment

Groups, random assignment, active manipulation of the Independent Variable

Correlational Study

Relationships in general data collection usually via survey

Naturalistic Observation

No direct interaction with participants where one observes only

Case Study

Study of one person, one group, or one incident in great detail

Meta-Analysis

Analysis of multiple studies done by others

Soma

Contains the nucleus and other parts of the cell needed to sustain its life.

Dendrites

Rootlike parts of the cell that stretch out and grow to make connections to other neurons.

Synapse

The space between the terminal buttons of one neuron and the dendrites of the next neuron.

Neurons

Individual nerve cells that make up our entire nervous system.

Axon

Wirelike structure ending in the terminal buttons that extends from the cell body.

Myelin Sheath

A fatty covering around the axon of some neurons that speeds neural impulses.

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals contained in terminal buttons that enable neurons to communicate; fit into receptor sites on the dendrites of neurons like a key fits into a lock.

Terminal Buttons

The branched end of the axon that contains neurotransmitters.

All of None Principle

A neuron either fires completely or it does not fire, based upon the amount of neurotransmitters it receives

Action Potential

Electric message firing between two neurons that occur when enough neurotransmitters are received, causing a change in charge that spreads down the length of a neuron “like a bullet from a gun”

Serotonin

Neurotransmitter involved with mood control; lack of this is associated with depression.

Acetylcholine

Neurotransmitter involved with motor movement; lack of this is associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter involved with motor movement and alertness; lack of this is associated with Parkinson’s Disease, while too much is associated with schizophrenia.

Sensory Neurons

Neurons that take information from the senses to the brain (sometimes called Afferent).

Interneurons

Takes messages and sends them to elsewhere in the brain after the information reaches the brain or spinal cord.

Motor Neurons

Takes information from the brain to the rest of the body (can be seen as nerves carrying information that exits the brain).

Autonomic Nervous System

Nervous system that controls our heart, lungs, internal organs, glands, and so on; control our responses to stress including the “fight or flight” syndrome.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Nervous system responsible for slowing down our body after a stress response (seen as part of the autonomic nervous system).

Somatic Nervous System

Nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movements; the motor cortex of the brain sends impulses to this.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Nervous system that mobilizes our body to respond to stress; accelerates some functions but conserves resources needed for a quick response by slowing down other functions (seen as part of the autonomic nervous system).

Peripheral Nervous System

Nervous system that consists of all the nerves in the body not encased in bone; commonly divided into the somatic and automatic nervous systems.

Central Nervous System

Nervous system that consists of our brain and spinal cord (all the nerves housed in bone).

Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT)

A sophisticated X-ray that uses several cameras to rotate around the brain and combine all the pictures into a detailed three-dimensional picture of the brain’s structure.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Uses magnetic fields to measure the density and location of brain material; as it does not use X-rays, it does not expose the patient to carcinogenic radiation.

Positron Emission Tomography

A scan that lets researchers see what areas of the brain are most active during certain tasks by measuring how much of a certain chemical parts of the brain are using.

Lesions

Removal or destruction of part of the brain

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

A newer technology that can show details of brain structure with information about blood flow in the brain, tying brain structure to obtain activity during cognitive tasks.

Cerebellum

Located on the bottom rear of the brain that looks like a smaller version of our brain; coordinates some habitual muscle movements (means little brain).

Medulla Oblongata

Involved in the control of our blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing; located above the spinal cord.

Hindbrain

Consists of structures in the top part of the spinal cord and serves as our “life support system” as it controls the basic biological functions that keep us alive.

Pons

Connects the hindbrain with the midbrain and forebrain; involved in the control of facial expressions.

Reticular Formation

A netlike collection of cells throughout the midbrain that controls general body arousal and the ability to focus our attention; if this does not function, we fall into a coma.

Forebrain

Areas of this region of the brain control what we think of as thought and reason; seen as “what makes humans human”

Midbrain

Area of the brain located just above the spinal cord that coordinates simple movements with sensory information.

Amygdala

Structures near the end of each hippocampal arm that are vital to our experiences of emotion.

Hippocampus

Part of the mind that surrounds the thalamus that is vital to our memory system as memories are processed through this area and then sent to other locations for permanent storage (damage to this prevents the storage of new information).

Hypothalamus

A small structure right next to the thalamus; controls several metabolic functions, including body temperature, sexual arousal, hunger, thirst, and the endocrine system.

Thalamus

Located on top of the brain stem and is responsible for receiving sensory signals coming up the spinal cord and sending them to the appropriate areas of the forebrain.

Cerebral Cortex

Gray wrinkled surface of the brain that is actually a thin layer of densely packed neurons.

Corpus Callosum

The nerve bundle that connects the two hemispheres of the brain.

Contralateral Control

Phenomena in which the right hemisphere of the brain gets sensory messages and controls the left side of the body, and vice versa.

Fissures

Wrinkles on the surface of the brain that increases the available surface area and therefore areas for neurons to be tightly packed together.

Association Area

Any area of the cerebral cortex that is not associated with receiving sensory information or controlling muscle movements; areas are very active in various human thoughts and behaviors.

Prefrontal Cortex

Anterior of the frontal lobe that is thought to play a critical role in directing thought processes; said to act as the brain’s central executive and believed to be responsible for abstract thought and emotional control.

Broca’s Area

Portion of the frontal lobe responsible for controlling the muscles involved in producing speech; damage to this might leave us unable to make the movements needed to speak.

Occipital Lobes

Located at the very back of our brain that receives impulses from the retinas in our eyes and is therefore connected to vision

Parietal Lobes

Located behind the frontal lobe but still on top of the brain that contains the sensory cortex

Frontal Lobe

Large areas of the cerebral cortex located at the top front part of the brain behind the eyes.

Wernicke’s Area/Temporal Lobe

Area of the brain that processes sound sensed by our ears.

Sensory Cortex

A thin vertical strip that receives incoming touch sensations from the rest of our body.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid

The genetic material that material that makes up chromosomes; certain segments of this control the production of specific proteins that control some human traits.

Endocrine System

System of glands that secrete hormones that affect many different biological processes in our bodies; controlled by the hypothalamus.

Adrenal Glands

Glands that produce adrenaline, which signals the rest of the body to prepare for fight or flight.

Monozygotic Twins

Twins that develop from one fertilized egg called a zygote; researchers study them in order to examine the influence of genes on human traits as they share all the same genetic material.

Turner’s Syndrome

Babies born with only a single X chromosome in the spot usually occupied by the twenty-third pair; causes some physical characteristics like shortness, webbed necks, and differences in physical sexual development.

Klinefeller’s Syndrome

Babies born with an extra X chromosome, resulting in an XXY pattern. The effects of this syndrome vary widely, but is usually causes minimal sexual development and traits like extreme introversion.

Down Syndrome

Babies are born with an extra chromosome on the twenty-first pair; some physical characteristics are indicative of this: rounded face, shorter fingers and toes, and often some degree of mental impairment.

Sensory Adaptation

Decreasing responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation.

Sensory Habituation

Decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to our level of focus on the perception of sensation.

Cocktail Party Phenomena

An involuntary shift in focus of from one stimuli to another, such as when someone says your name from across the room and you focus on them as opposed to the person you are talking to.

Transduction

When signals picked up by sensory organs are transformed into neural impulses.

Cornea

A protective covering for the eye where light first enters.

Accommodation

A process in which light that enters the pupil of the eye is focused by the lens.

Cones

Special cells within the eye that are directly activated by color.

Rods

Special cells within the eye that respond to black and white.

Fovea

A special indentation in the very center of the retina that contains the highest concentration of cones.

Pupil

Section of the eye often related to as a “shutter on a camera”

Lens

A curved and flexible part of the eye that allows the eye to focus light entering.

Retina

A section in the back of the eye where are specialized neurons are activated by different wavelengths of light; sometimes described as “a screen” on the back of the eye.

Ganglion Cells

The axons of these special cells make up the optic nerve that sends these impulses to the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN); only activates if enough bipolar cells fire previously.

Blind Spot

The spot where the optic nerve leaves the retina which has no rods or cones.

Trichomatic Theory

This theory hypothesizes that we have three types of cones in the retina which detect blue, red, and green and they activate in different combinations to produce all the colors of the visible spectrum.

Opponent-Process Theory

This theory states the sensory receptors arranged in the retina come in pairs, and if one sensor is stimulated its pair is inhibited from firing (pair examples include red/green and black/white)

Afterimages

Phenomena that occurs when you stare at one color for a while and then look at a white or blank and see a color where there should not be one.

Optic Chiasm

The spot where the optic nerves cross each other as the impulses from the left side of each retina goes to the left hemisphere of the brain and the impulses from the right side of each retina goes to the right hemisphere of the brain.

Tympanic Membrane

Thin membrane inside the ear that vibrates when sound hits it.

Auditory Canal

Also referred to as the ear canal, it carries sounds inside the ear to tympanic membrane.

Malleus

One of the parts of the inner ear (some say shaped like a hammer) and connected to the anvil which vibrates due to sound.

Cochlea

A structure shaped like a snail’s shell that is filled with fluid that reacts to vibrations from the oval window

Amplitude

The height of the wave and determines the loudness of the sound, which is measured in decibels.

Incus (Anvil)

One of the parts of the inner ear connected to the stirrup that vibrates due to sound.

Organ of Corti

Neurons activated by the movement of hair cells which line the basilar membrane.

Pinna

The outer ear where sound waves are first collected.

Place Theory

Theory holds that the hair cells in the cochlea respond to different frequencies of sound based on where they are located in the cochlea.

Frequency Theory

Theory that holds that lower tones are sensed by the rate at which the hair cells in the cochlea fire (we sense pitch because the hair cells fire at different rates (frequencies).

Frequency

The length of the waves and determines pitch, measured in megahertz.

Conduction Deafness

Occurs when something goes wrong with the system of conducting sound to the cochlea.

Sensorineural Deafness

Occurs when the hair cells in the cochlea are damaged, usually by loud noise.

Gate-Control Theory

Helps explain how we experience pain by stating that some pain messages have a higher priority than others.

Papillae

Bumps you can see on your tongue which contain the taste buds.

Olfactory Bulb

Gathers the messages of the olfactory receptor cells and sends this information to the brain.

Olfactory Receptor Cells

Effectively the cells that allow for roughly 100 types of smells to be detected; located inside each nostril.

Kinesthetic Sense

Gives us feedback about the position and orientation of specific body parts, such as our limbs.

Vestibular Sense

Tells us about how our body is oriented in space; connected with three semicircular canals inside the inner ear; often connected with feelings of nausea and dizziness for some.

Difference Threshold

The smallest amount of change needed in a stimulus before we can detect change.