Psychology Review Flashcards

Flashcards based on lecture notes covering various topics in psychology, including history, research methods, biological basis of behavior, sensation and perception, states of consciousness, learning, cognition, motivation and emotion, development, personality, testing and individual differences, abnormal behavior, treatment of psychological disorders, and social psychology.

What type of neurons receive signals?

Sensory neurons

What type of neurons send signals?

Motor neurons

What is introspection, as it relates to structuralism?

The act of looking inward to examine mental experience

What psychological approach focuses on free will, choice, and self-actualization?

Humanistic

Which psychologist is known as the Father of American Psychology?

William James

What is the advantage of experiments in psychology?

Researchers can control variables to establish cause and effect.

What is a clear, precise, typically quantifiable definition of variables called?

Operational definition

What does random assignment minimize?

Bias and increases chance of equal representation

What is the main disadvantage of naturalistic observation?

It does not establish cause and effect.

In correlation, what does the strength of the number indicate?

The strength of the relationship between variables, regardless of the positive or negative sign

What is the main disadvantage of case studies?

No cause and effect

Which measure of central tendency is best used with a normal distribution?

Mean (average)

According to ethical guidelines, what four things must a clinican uphold?

Confidentiality, informed consent, debriefing, warranted deception

What is the function of the myelin sheath?

Speeds up signal down axon

What is the all-or-none law?

A stimulus must trigger the action potential past its threshold, but does not increase the intensity of the response.

What are the two parts of the central nervous system?

Brain and spinal cord

What are the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system?

Sympathetic and parasympathetic

Which division of the autonomic nervous system is responsible for the fight or flight response?

Sympathetic Nervous System

What is the function of GABA?

Major inhibitory neurotransmitter

What neurotransmitter is associated with reward and movement?

Dopamine

What is the the role of Acetylcholine (Ach)?

Memory

What is an agonist?

A drug that mimics a neurotransmitter.

What do SSRIs block?

Reuptake of serotonin

What part of the brain is responsible for movement?

Cerebellum

What does the medulla control?

Vital organs (HR, BP)

Which area of the brain is the location of the reticular formation?

Midbrain

Which part of the brains contains the amygald and hippocampus?

Limbic System

Which area of the brain functions as a relay center?

Thalamus

Which area of the brain is associated with reward and pleasure?

Hypothalamus

What is the function of Wernicke's area?

Speech comprehension

Which lobe is responsible for decision making, planning, and judgment?

Frontal lobe

What does the temporal lobe control?

Hearing and face recognition

What structure connects the two hemispheres of the brain?

Corpus callosum

What is brain plasticity?

The brain's ability to heal itself

What do twin studies help determine?

The influence of nature vs. nurture

What gland releases growth hormones?

Pituitary gland

Which glands release adrenaline?

Adrenal glands

What is absolute threshold?

Detection of a signal 50% of the time

What is a just noticeable difference?

The smallest change in stimulation that a person can detect.

What is sensory adaptation?

Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation

What is inattentional blindness?

Failure to notice something because you're so focused on another task

What is the visual system pathway?

Light → cornea →pupil/iris → lens → retina → rods/cones → bipolar cells → ganglion cells → optic nerve → optic chiasm → occipital lobe

What is the area of best vision; contains cones?

Fovea

What do feature detectors see?

Motion, shapes, lines, etc.

What are the three cones for receiving color?

Blue, red, green

What is visual capture?

Visual system overwhelms all others

What is Phi Phenomenon?

Adjacent lights blink on/off in succession – looks like movement

What is interposition?

Overlapping images appear closer

How do both eyes make up a 3D image?

Retinal Disparity & Convergence

What is top-down processing?

Whole → smaller parts

What is bottom-up processing?

Smaller Parts → Whole

What is the auditory system pathway?

Sound → pinna → auditory canal →ear drum (tympanic membrane) → hammer, anvil, stirrup (HAS) → oval window → cochlea → auditory nerve → temporal lobes

Where are sounds first processed?

Cochlea

What does the frequency theory determine about a sound?

Pitch (low pitches)

What is the Gate-control theory?

We have a “gate” to control how much pain is experienced

Which sense is NOT routed through the thalamus first?

Smell (olfaction)

What are the Gestalt Principles?

Figure/ground, closure, proximity, similarity, continuity

What are the states of consciouness?

Higher-Level, Lower-Level, Altered States, Subconscious, No awareness

What is metacognition?

Thinking about thinking

Which waves are present while awake?

Beta Waves

Which waves are present while drowsy?

Alpha waves

What is a characteristic of stage 2 sleep?

Bursts of sleep spindles

What waves are present during stages 3 and 4 sleep?

Delta waves

What is controlled by the Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain?

Circadian Rhythm

What is narcolepsy?

Fall asleep out of nowhere (due to deficiency in orexin)

What is the manifest content of dreams?

Obvious storyline of dream

Can hypnosis give you superhuman strength?

No

What do psychoactive drugs trigger?

Dopamine release in the brain

What do depressants do to the sympathetic nervous system?

Decrease sympathetic NS activation

What do stimulants do to the sympathetic nervous system?

Increase sympathetic NS activation

What happens to the conditioned stimulus (CS) in classical conditioning?

Once neutral stimulus that now brings about a response

What is contiguity in classical conditioning?

Timing of the pairing, NS/CS must be presented immediately BEFORE the US

What is generalization in classical conditioning?

CR to like stimuli (similar sounding bell)

What does the Contingency Model of classical conditioning involve?

Cognitive processes

What did Little Albert and John Watson demonstrate?

Conditioned a fear in a baby

What is the Law of Effect?

Behaviors followed by pos. outcomes are strengthened, neg. outcomes weaken a behavior

Give a definition of negative reinforcement

Take away something bad/annoying to increase a behavior

Give a definition of negative punishment

Take away something good to decrease a behavior

What is a primary reinforcer?

Innatley satisfying (food and water)

What is the Overjustification Effect?

Reinforcing behaviors that are intrinsically motivating causes you to stop doing them

What is shaping?

Use successive approximations to train behavior

What is the most resistant reinforcement schedule to extinction?

Variable schedules

What did Bandura use BoBo dolls to demonstrate in his modeling behaviors theory?

Prosocial and antisocial behaviors

What is latent learning?

Learning is hidden until useful

What is encoding?

Getting info into memory

What is the shallow, intermediate, deep process?

The more emphasis on MEANING the deeper the processing, and the better remembered

What is chunking?

Break info into smaller units to aid in memory (like a phone #)

Give an example of a mnemonic?

Acronyms, Method of loci

What resets the clock in Short Term Memory?

Rehearsal (repeating the info)

What long term memory is conscious

Explicit (Declarative)

What long term memory is unconscious

Implicit (Nondeclarative)

What is priming?

Info that is seen earlier “primes” you to remember something later on

What is the Cerebellum responsible for, as it related to long term memory?

Procedural memories

What is the neural basis of memory?

Long-term potentiation: connections are strengthened over time with repeated stimulation

How do you remember what you’ve been told in recall?

Remember what you’ve been told w/o cues (essays)

How do you remember what you’ve been told in recognition?

Remember what you’ve been told w/ cues (MC)

Who created the Forgetting curve?

Ebbinghaus

What is the Misinformation effect?

Distortion of memory by suggestion or misinformation

What is retrograde amnesia?

Amnesia moves backwards (forget old info)

What is the smallest unit of sound called?

Phoneme