AP Psych Unit 1

Heredity/environment, nervous system, the brain, sleep, sensation

Heredity/nature

Genetic or predisposed characteristics

Environment/nurture

Environmental factors such as family life or education

Evolutionary perspective

How natural selection impacts behavior and mental processes; Darwin

Epigenetics

study of how environment affects gene expression

Central nervous system

brain and spinal cord; interacts with all processes in the body

Peripheral nervous system

nerves; relays messages from the central nervous system to the rest of the body; composed of somatic and autonomic

Somatic nervous system

Voluntary processes

Autonomic nervous system

Involuntary processes; composed of sympathetic and parasympathetic

Sympathetic

Arousing; fight or flight; increases heart rate, slows digestion

Parasympathetic

Calming; “rest and digest”; slows heart rate, increases digestion

Afferent/sensory neurons

Send incoming info from sensory receptors to CNS

Efferent/motor neurons

Send outgoing info to muscles and glands

Glial cells

Provide structure, insulation, communication, and waste transport; support neurons

Neurons

Transmit information

Reflex arc

Nerve pathway; sensory neuron to interneuron to motor neuron

Action potential

Electrical impulse that travels down the axon

Resting potential

Negative inside the neuron, positive outside

Depolarization

Charge inside the neuron becomes positive when there is an action potential

All or nothing principle

The neuron will either fire or not fire, depending on if the threshold is met; it fires with the same intensity each time

Refractory period

Brief period where the neuron cannot fire after an action potential

Reuptake

Sending neuron recollects the neurotransmitters

Multiple sclerosis

Caused by deterioration of myelin sheath;