Psychology 2000 LSU Exam 1

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Wilheim Wundt

father of psychology, first attempt to bring objectivity/measurements in psychology, founded the 1st experimental psychology lab, work involved objective introspection

Edward Titchener

student of Wundt, founder of structuralism

structuralism

study consciousness by trying to understand its smallest, most basic elements

William James

founder of functionalism

Functionalism

study consciousness & how the mind allows people to work, play, adapt, to new circumstances..

Max Wertheimer

founder of Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt Psychology

how we experience the world , "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts"

Sigmund Freud

worked with patients whose complaints had no identifiable physical cause, focused on the role of the unconscious,focus on early childhood developments

Psychoanalysis

psychology based on Freud's ideas

John Watson

conducted the Little Albert Study

John Watson

founder of behaviorism

Behaviorism

study of observable behaviors and actions

Scientific Method

A system for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data

Steps of the scientific method

perceiving the question
forming a hypothesis
testing the hypothesis
drawing conclusions
reporting results

Naturalistic observation

watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment

Observer effect

tendency of people or animals to behave differently from normal when they know they are being observed

Participant observation

a naturalistic observation in which the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed to reduce observer bias

Observer bias

tendency of observers to see what they expect to see

Blind observers

people who do not know what the research question is to reduce observer bias

Correlations

a measure of the relationship between two variables. If variables are causally related, a ____________ wont tell you which variable is the cause and which is the effect

sign

direction of the relationship

number

strength of relationship

Range

the closer to 1 or -1 the stronger the relationship, the closer to 0 the weaker it is.

Experiment

a researcher manipulates one variable and measures its effect

Confirmation bias

Tendency to notice, seek out, and interpret information in a way to consistent with your own prior beliefs

Laboratory observation

looking in a controlled environment. Advantages: control over environment. Allows use of specialized equipment. Limitations: artificial situation that may result in artificial behavior

Case study

study of one individual in great detail. Advantage: tremendous amount of detail. Limitations: finding may not generalize to others

Surveys

Advantage's: data from large numbers of people, study covert behaviors. Limitations: people are not always accurate, small variations in wording used or order of question can affect outcomes. Researchers have to ensure representative sample if interest in generalizing finding to a certain population

Population

entire group of people or animals the researchers is interested in

Variable

anything that can change or vary

Positive correlation

variables are related in the same direction

Negative correlation

variables are related in opposite direction

Independent

What is manipulated by the experimenter?

Dependent

this represents the measurable response or behavior of the subject in the experiment

Experiment group

subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent variable

Control group

subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment

Random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by ____________ ______________ minimizes pre-existing differences between the two groups

confounds

extraneous variable that affects the variables you are interested in studying

demand characteristics

participants change their behavior based on what they perceive the experiment to be about

placebo effect

expectations of participants can influence their behavior

Experimenter effect

experimenter's expectations can unintentionally influences the results of the study

action potential

all or nothing

Myelination

fast versus slow action potential

synapse

the tiny gap between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

receptor sites

where neurotransmitters bind to on the receiving neurons

neurotransmitters in the synapse

reabsorbed
diffuse
broken down

agonists

increase original message that neurotransmitters were supposed to send

antagonist

blocks original message that neurotransmitters were supposed to send

Central nervous system

Brain and spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system

Peripheral nerves

Nervous system

Network of specialized cells that carry information throughout the body

Neurons

Basic cell that sends and receives messages throughout the body

Glia

90% of the cells in our nervous system are ____________

Dendrites

receive messages fro other cells

Axon

passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands

Axon Terminal

form junction with other cells

Cell body

Soma

Action potential

Neural transmission, all or nothing

The number of actions potentials

How does the strength of the message get coded?

Synapse

is the tiny gap between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

Neurotransmitter

chemicals released from the sending neuron, travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing it

Serotonin, Acetylcholine, & Dopamine

Name the Neurotransmitters that we talked about in class.

Reabsorbed into the sending neurons through the process of reuptake, diffuse, or are broken down by enzymes

Neurotransmitters in the synapse are either

Agonists

increases original message that NT was supposed to send

Antagonists

blocks original message that NT was supposed to send

Endocrine system

the body's slow chemical communications system. Communication is carried out by hormones

Cortex

outermost covering of the brain consisting of densely packed neurons; responsible of higher thought processes and interpretations of sensory input

corticalization

wrinkling of the cortex

Frontal lobe

Are responsible for higher complex mental processes and decision making also contains the motor cortex

Parietal lobe

contains the somatosensory cortex: area of neurons running sown the front of the parietal lobes; responsible for processing information from the skin and internal body receptors fro touch temperature and body position

Temporal lobe

Primary auditory cortex, Auditory association cortex, some parts also responsible for aspects of language

primary auditory cortex

processes auditory information from the ears

auditory association cortex

interprets or makes sense of auditory information

Occipital lobes

Primary visual cortex, Visual association cortex

primary visual complex

processes visual info from the eyes

visual association cortex

interprets or makes sense of visual info

Midbrain

is the segment of the brainstem that lies between the hindbrain and the forebrain. It integrates sensory processes, such as vision and hearing. also involved in dopamine sythesis

Limbic system

Homeostasis, smell, memory, emotion

Thalamus

is a round structure in the center of the brain that acts as the brain's sensory switchboard, relaying incoming sensory information to the appropriate sensory areas in the cortex. Is the brains sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem. It directs all sensory messages to the sensory areas in the cortex

Hypothalamus

helps directs several maintenance activities like thirst, hunger, body temp, sleeping and waking, sexual behavior and emotions

Hippocampus

Plays a vital role in learning and memory (for facts/knowledge)

Amygdala

two almond-shaped neural clusters linked to emotion, especially fear

Cerebellum

controls and coordinate all involuntary, rapid, fire motor movements, as well as voluntary movements that happen in rapid succession

sensation

detecting physical energy (stimuli) from the environment and convert it into neural signals

transduction

the process of converting outside stimuli into neural activity

sensory receptors

special receivers in our sense organs that are activated and allow various forms of outside stimuli to become neural signals

perception

when we select, organize, and interpret our sensations

absolute threshold

minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

difference threshold

minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time, also called just noticeable difference(JND)

just noticeable difference (JND)

another name for difference threshold

Weber's Law

2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage to be perceived as different. k=ΔI/I

Habituation

the tendency of the brain to ignore stimuli that do not change

sensory adaptation

the tendency of sensory receptors to become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging

transduction

the transformation of stimulus energy into neural impulses

phototransduction

conversion of light energy into neural impulses that the brain can understand

wavelength

determined by the length of the wave, the distance from the peak of one wave to the next determines color

amplitude

determined by the height of the wave, determines brightness

intensity

amount of energy in a wave, determined by amplitude

cornea

transparent tissue where light enters the eye