Psych 201 - Natural Science Test 1 Review

Hippocampus

Seahorse shape. Takes short term memory and transports it to long term memory. Even without we can still have long term memory.

Short-term memory

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.

Long-Term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Number of items for short term memory

7 +/- 2

How long should you rehearse to reform short term memory

30 seconds

Evolutionary Psychology

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection (ex. mating preferences, jealousy, aggression, sexual behaviour)

Forgetting Curve

A graph showing retention and forgetting over time. The better the memory the more shallow it becomes. The longer you wait between learning info and being tested the more likely you are to forget.

Correlational

Relationship between two variables, not cause and effect.

Experimental

Used to explore cause and effect, lab experiment doesn't apply to the real world (artificial)

Freud

Unconsciousness (the unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and desires that can have great influence on behavior), psychoanalysis theory (attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on the unconscious), his theories were not falsifiable

Psychoanalysis Theory

Our thoughts, feelings, and actions are heavily influenced by the unconscious mind. These unconscious thoughts are caused from childhood experiences that shape your personality.

B.F. Skinner

Behaviorist that developed the theory of operant conditioning by training pigeons and rats.

Behaviorism

Study of observable behavior, not inner thoughts or feelings. Behavior is shaped by environment. Only visible actions.

Operant conditioning

Learning through rewards and punishments.

Equipotentiality

Stimulus can be associated with any response. Brain can form association with equal potential. (Behaviorist/ Skinner). Blank slate.

T/F Only 10% of the brain is used

FALSE

Conscious Introspection

Structuralist idea of looking inward to your own thoughts and feelings to understand your mental process.

Functionalism

Based on the belief that psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness rather than its structure

Behavior

Actions and responses we can directly observe.

Mind

Internal states and processes that we cannot see.

Basic Research

Learning for the sake of knowledge, not for immediate or specific use. Broad concepts or ideas.n

Applied Research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems, done to solve a specific problem.

Goals of Psychology

Describe, understand, predict, and influence.

Null Hypothesis (H0)

A statement that the value of a population parameter (such as proportion, mean, or standard deviation) is equal to some claimed value. Tested directly. Either reject H0 or fail to reject H0. Proposes that any pattern, change, or difference you see in your data happened purely by random chance.

Structuralism

an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind. Breaking it down. (sensations, feelings, images)

Humanism

Human growth and free will, human behaviour is governed primarily by each individual’s sense of self.

Neurons

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

Dendrites

Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.

Axon

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands

Soma

cell body of a neuron

What direction does information always flow in Neurons

Right

Glilal cells

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons

Synapse

Tiny gap where neurons pass messages to the next cell.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. (What is being passed). (key)

What catches the messages passed from neurotransmitters?

Neurotransmitter Receptors (lock)

Terminal buttons

Small knobs at the end of axons that secrete chemicals called neurotransmitters

Reuptake

When the sending neuron takes back the neurotransmitters that were released into the synapse. Done to clear the synapse and save resources.

How many neurons are there?

100 billion

How many synapses are there?

100-500 trillion

Sensory Neurons

Neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord. Deal with your 5 senses. Actions from the outside world.

Motor Neurons

Motor neurons are the nerve cells that carry instructions from your brain and spinal cord out to your body. Tells your muscles when to contract and when to relax.

Interneurons

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs. Let the sensory neurons and motor neurons talk to each other.

Action Potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. What a neuron uses to send a message.

Constant resting position of neurons

-70 millivolts

What can the action potential jump to?

-70 millivolts to +40 millivolts

Agonist

A chemical or drug that, by binding to a receptor site, stimulates a response or turns it on. Agonist is the key that opens up the receptor (the lock) to open up and make the cell respond.

Antagonist

a chemical or drug that binds to receptors in the brain and prevents an agonist from having a reaction. Like a broken key.

Reuptake inhibitors

Drugs that interfere with the reuptake of neurotransmitters in the synapse so that a greater amount remains in the synapse. Slows or stops the recycling process.

Two parts of the nervous system

central and peripheral

What makes up the central nervous system

brain and spinal cord.

What consists of the peripheral nervous system?

Automatic and Somatic controls.

Automatic controls

Involuntary control, things that happen automatically like organs, glands, and your heart.

Somatic controls

Voluntary control and things you choose to do dealing with your skeletal muscles. Like moving your arms, walking, or smiling.

spinal cord

Nerves that run up and down the length of the back and transmit most messages between the body and brain.

According to evolutionary psychology, what are three primary behavioral capabilities enabled by the evolution of an advanced central nervous system?

To have deception, decisions, and reflexes.

Spinal Reflexes

Simple pathways in the nervous system that rapidly generate muscle contractions.

Sensory Receptors

Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli. They detect things for your body like sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.

Divisions of the brain

forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain

What consists of the hindbrain?

medulla, pons, cerebellum

Cerebellum

A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills. Very densely packed. Exa: Flying a plane. In the Hindbrain.

What consists of the midbrain?

Tectum, tegmentum, and Superior Colliculus.

Superior Colliculus

The superior colliculus helps your eyes and head automatically turn toward sights and movements. Receives visual sensory input.

Cerebral Cortex

Wrinkly outer layer of the brain. The cerebral cortex is the brain's "control center" for higher thinking, sensing, and voluntary actions. Located in the midbrain

Amygdala

Small bean or almond shaped part of the brain that handles with emotions. Part of the limbic system.

Corpus callosum

Thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right sides of the brain.

Somatosensory cortex

Area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.

Phineas Gage

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

Frontal Lobe is important for what?

Personality, decision making, and self control.

Broca's Area

Small area in the frontal lobe of the brain to control how to produce speech.

Wernick's Area

Region in the temporal lobe of the brain to help us understand and comprehend language.

Contralateral organization

Left hemisphere controls right side of body and vice versa.

Observation

Information obtained through the senses.

Systematic Data Collection

Data collected in a uniform, consistent, or standard way. Exa: Surveys, questionnaires, experiments, and observations with a checklist.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process.

Generalization

The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

Anterograde amnesia

An inability to form new memories.

Serotonin

Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal

Job of the left brain

Logic and Language

Job of the right brain

Creativity, imagination, and art.

Resting Potential

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

Thalmus

Relay station to the cerebral cortex, forebrain.

Hypothalamus

Regulator, keeps the body balanced, found near the base of the forebrain, lies beneath the thalamus

Madulla

Part of brain stem- controls heart beat and breathing

Falsifiable

A theory that makes specific, concrete predictions that could be proven wrong by a real-world test or observation. Basically means a theory should be testable.

Tectum function

Processes visual/ auditory reflexes, orienting responses

Tegmentum function:

Regulates arousal, movement, and reward pathways

What does modularity mean in the context of the brain?

The brain is organized into distinct, specialized regions or networks that handle specific tasks (like vision or language) independently