Final Exam

What is psychology?

The study of behavior and mental processes

What are the goals of psychology?

Description, Explanation, Prediction, Control

Hippocrates’ contribution to psychology

Developed first school devoted to intellectual medicine

Wundt’’s contribution to psychology

Focused on structuralism

William James’ contribution to psychology

Focused on functionalism and created the first psych lab in the US

Freud’s conscious vs unconscious mind

Conscious mind: Small part of our mental processes we are aware of

Unconscious mind: larger hidden reservoir containing repressed memories, desires, and traumas

Pavlov’s contribution to psychology

Practiced classical conditioning; ex, getting hungry when the lunch bell rings

Skinner’s contribution to psychology

Studied learning and effect of reinforcement, studied observable behaviors

Maslow’s contribution to psychology

Focused on each person’s consciousness and free will

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (in order from top to bottom)

Self actualization, esteem, love/belonging, safety, physiological

Psychoanalytic

Interacting between the conscious and unconscious mind

Behaviorist

Only observable behavior

Humanist

Helping people realize their full potential

Cognitive

Study mental processes using an information processing model

Neuroscience

Psychological functions explained in terms of biological processes

Evolutionary

Behavior and mental processes are explained in terms of evolution, inheritance, and adaptation

Clinical studies

Psychiatrists in the field, medically trained, psychologists with PHDs

Health psychology studies

Psychological factors in physical health

Counseling studies

Historically deals with normal life situations, provides guidance

Developmental studies

Pscyhological change over life span

School psychology

Addressing school settings, usually experts at psychological assessments

What is functionalism?

analyzes behaviors in terms of their purposes

what is structuralism?

Analyzing the mind by breaking it down into simple components and studying said components

Why is psychology a science?

Scientists use of the goals of psychology (DEPC)

what is the hypothetico-deductive approach?

Researchers propose hypotheses that can be disproved

What is a correlational study?

A statistic that measures the strength of the relationship between 2 variables

What is positive correlation?

when one variable increases, the other variable increases

what is negative correlation?

when one variable decreases, the other decreases

what is no correlation?

There is not a statistically significant relationship between two variables

Why does correlation not equal causation?

two variables changing together does not prove that one variable is causing the other to change

How to determine the strength of a correlation

If the R value is closer to 0, weaker correlation; closer to 1, stronger correlation

What is the survey method?

Asking one question (ex. how much pain are you in right now?)

Case study

An in depth examination of a single individual, group, or event

naturalistic method

Method of watching and recording the behavior of organisms in their natural habitat

Experimental method

Method where an investigator manipulates one or more variables

What is the independent variable?

A variable that is changed or manipulated by researchers

What is the dependent variable?

the variable that is measured and is expected to change

What is nature?

an individual’s innate biological characteristics

what is nurture?

the environmental and social factors that influence a person’s behavior

what is the critical period?

The specific time frame where an organism is particularly sensitive to environmental stimuli

What is the sensitive period?

A specific window of time during development where an individual is particularly susceptible to environmental influence

What is a cross sectional research design?

a research design where data is collected from different groups of people at a single point in time

What is a longitudinal study?

a research design where the same group of individuals are observed and measured repeatedly over a long period of time

Advantages/disadvantages to longitudinal study?

Advantage: ability to observe changes over time, can identify trends/ disadvantage: High cost, commitment of the participants

Advantages/disadvantages of cross sectional study

Advantages: Quick, cost effective, can analyze multiple variables at once/Disadvantages: Cannot establish cause and effect relationships

Why are twin/adoption studies useful?

They help researchers understand how genetics and environment affect human health and behavior

What is a genotype?

an organism’s complete set of genetic material

What is a phenotype?

An organism’s observable traits

What is heritability?

a measure of how well differences in people’s genes account for differences in their traits

What is temperment?

a person’s characteristic way of reacting to the world

Stages of prenatal development after conception

Zygote, embryo, fetus

What is the importance of the placenta?

Transfers nutrients and oxygen from mother to fetus, prevents harmful substances from getting to the fetus

What are tetrogens?

Harmful substances such as drugs and chemicals

Why are newborn babies considered competent?

Infants have a highly functioning perceptual system so they can acquire new skills

What is the sensorimotor stage?

Lack of object permanence (out of sight, out of mind)

What is the preoperational stage?

Lack the concept of conservation, lack theory of mind (what is conservation?)

What is the concrete operational stage?

Beginning to grasp principle of conservation (what is conservation?) and can do simple mathematical processes

What is the formal operational stage?

Abstract thinking emerges and has potential for mature moral reasoning

Harry Harlow’s experiment with monkeys

Wanted to find out babies’ preference of wire mother vs cloth mother (they preferred cloth mother)

What is identity vs role confusion

Adolescents searching for a sense of self and personal identity

Health consequences of aging

Alzheimer’s, dementia, memory gets worse

What is integrity vs despair

Integrity is feeling like you lived a meaningful life, few regrets/ Despair: many regrets, not happy with life

What are the parts of a neuron?

Dendrites, cell body, axon, axon terminal, myelin sheath

What is a cell body?

Life support center of neuron, contains nucleus

What are dendrites?

Branching extensions of cell body, receives messages from other neurons

What is an axon?

Long single extension of neuron, transmits a neural impulse down neuron to other neurons

What is a myelin sheath?

Covers the axon to insulate it, speeds up messages through neurons

What is an axon terminal?

Branched endings of an axon, transmits messages to other neurons

What is the function of neurons?

Meant to send and receive messages throughout the body

How do neurons communicate?

Use a combination of chemical and electrical signals

What is an agonist?

A molecule similar enough in structure to a neurotransmitter to mimic its effects (excites)

What is an antagonist

Molcule similar enough to the neurotransmitter to occupy its receptor and block its action (inhibits)

Function of the somatic nervous system

Consists of nerves that gather sensory information from the body and delivers it to the spinal cord and brain

Function of the autonomic nervous system

Controls involuntary functions like breathing, heart rate, digestion

Functions of sympathetic nervous system

Activated under conditions of stress, responsible for fight or flight

Functions of parasympathetic nervous system

Control basic functions that occur in the absence of immediate risk, calms after threat or stressor has passed

What is phrenology?

the study of the shape and size of the skull as an indication of character and mental abilities

What techniques are used to study the brain?

Brain lesion, clinical observation, EEG, neuroimaging techniques

What is a brain lesion?

Experimentally destroys brain tissue to study animal behaviors after the destruction

What is clinical observation?

Observing the effects of specific brain diseases and injuries on a person’s ability to function

What is an EEG?

Records the brain’s electrical activity

What are neuroimaging techniques?

Shows brain actibity by showing the area of the brain consuming chemical fuel (glucose)

What are the older brain structures?

Brainstem, cerebellum, midbrain, thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus

What is the function of the brainstem?

Controls heartbeat and breathing, contains neurons that produce serotonin

What is the function of the cerebellum?

Coordinates voluntary movement, enables nonverbal learning and memory

What is the function of the midbrain?

Controls the substantia nigra, which is important in movement. Substantia nigra produces dopamine

What is the function of the thalamus?

Relay station for sensory information, receives information from all the senses except smell, routes it to the brain

What is the function of the hypothalamus?

Plays important role in the control of hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior

What is the function of the amygdala?

Recognizing and responding to stimuli that induce fear, also involved in sympathy and love

What is the function of the hippocampus?

Learning and memory

What are the parts of the “New Brain”?

Cerebral cortex, frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lob

What is the function of the frontal lobe?

Personality and executive functions

What is the function of the parietal lobe?

Responsible for sensation of touch

What is the function of the temporal lobe?

Responsible for hearing, contains Wernicke’s area

What is the function of the occipital lobe?

Responsible for seeing

What does it mean to split the brain?

Cutting the corpus callosum

Consequences of sepparting the hemispheres

Patients might have difficulty communicating between both sides of the brain

What is Broca’s area?

region in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere, linked to speech production

What is Wernicke’s area?

Back side of temporal lobe in left hemisphere, responsible for language processing and comprehension

What happens when Broca’s area is damaged?

Can cause speech and language impairments (losing normal grammatical structure, difficulty repeating words or phrases)