Psychology Unit 0 Vocabulary

Flashcards for Psychology Unit 0

Standard Deviation

Amount of spread among the scores; how much the scores vary from each other.

Negative Correlation

A relationship where one variable increases as the other decreases.

Skew

Distorted representation of data caused by outliers.

Hindsight Bias

"I knew it all along" phenomenon; the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

Hawthorne Effect

People change their behavior when they know they are being watched.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System

All of the nervous system except for the brain and spinal cord.

Neurotransmitters (NT)

Chemical messengers of the nervous system.

Dendrites

Receive neurotransmitters.

Action Potential (AP)

Nerve signals

Axon

Carries action potentials away from the cell body.

Somatic Nervous System

Voluntary control of skeletal muscles.

Autonomic Nervous System

Involuntary control of internal organs and glands.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Fight or flight response.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Rest and digest response.

Myelin Sheath

Fatty tissue that insulates axons and speeds up action potential transmission.

Synapse

The gap between two neurons where neurotransmitters are released and received.

Sensory Neurons

Receive signals (afferent neurons).

Motor Neurons

Send signals to muscles or glands (efferent neurons).

Interneurons

Responsible for reflex arcs (immediate reactions).

Glia

Support cells; also protect signals.

Resting Potential

Maintains a negative charge of -70mV

Depolarization

Brief shift in a neuron's electrical charge from negative to positive.

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals released by neurons that transmit signals across a synapse.

GABA

Inhibitory neurotransmitter.

Hormones

Chemical messengers produced by glands (not part of the nervous system).

Oxytocin

Associated with love and bonding.

Ghrelin

Stimulates hunger.

Glutamate

Excitatory neurotransmitter.

Dopamine

Associated with reward and motivation.

Serotonin

Affects mood regulation (long term).

Hypothalamus

Brain region involved in emotion, hunger, and lactation.

Leptin

Reduces hunger.

Acetylcholine

Involved in memory and movement, especially in the hippocampus.

Agonist

Mimics a neurotransmitter's effects.

Norepinephrine

Involved in sympathetic nervous system activity and depression.

Endorphins

Decreases pain perception.

Substance P

Regulates pain.

Opiates

Relieve pain (endorphin agonists).

Antagonist

Blocks a neurotransmitter's effects.

Reuptake

Process where neurotransmitters are taken back into the sending neuron.

Withdrawal

Symptoms associated with discontinuing a drug.