PSYC100 Exam 1 - Will Kenkel (UD)

What is psychology?

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

How is studying psych helpful?

It makes you more aware of how people work and how you work, can help you be more effective in various

career paths and help you relate better to others

Name some sub disciplines of psychology

clinical, counseling, educational, social, etc.

What is trephination?

drilling a small hole in person's skull to release spirits and demons

How did views of psychology change from prehistoric to ancient times?

Moved away from supernatural and toward natural and physiological explanations of psychological disorders

What term is used for conditions that are deplorable and chaotic?

bedlam

What were Emil Kraeplin's diagnoses?

schizophrenia and depression

What is Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis?

emphasis on the unconscious mind, defense mechanisms, and childhood experiences

What three psychological developments were made in the mid 1900s?

psychotherapy, drug treatment, and criteria for diagnosing mental disorders

What is the name of the classification system that includes diagnoses for more than 250 psychological disorders?

DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th edition)

Who emphasized empiricism in the 17th century?

John Locke

Who emphasized ideas of behaviorism?

John Watson and BF Skinner

What is Gestalt psychology?

it means we perceive things as wholes rather than a compilation of parts

What are the 7 perspectives on psychology today?

psychoanalytic, behaviorism, humanistic, cognitive, sociocultural, neuropsychological, evolutionary

What is nature vs. nurture?

Genetic vs. environment producing traits or behaviours

What is nature through nurture?

Position that the environment

constantly interacts with biology to shape who we are, and what we do

What is natural selection?

The idea that the fittest survive and pass along their traits to their offspring.

What do chance mutations result in?

-disadvantages (selected against)

-adaptations (selected for)

-by products or "exaptations" (at first, neutral)

What is critical thinking?

ability to analyze, evaluate and form ideas based on evidence

________ _______ is the cognitive skills required to generated, test, and revise theories

scientific thinking

What is a theory?

an explanation for past facts and an expectation of future facts

What is a hypothesis?

specific, informed, testable prediction under particular conditions

What does OPTIC stand for?

Observe, Predict, Test, Interpret, Communicate

The advancement of science hinges on _________.

replication

What is a population vs a sample?

Population --> entire group about whom you have a research question

Sample --> portion of population actually observed

- The sample should be representative of the population

What is a descriptive study?

The researcher defines a problem and variable of interest, but makes no prediction and does not control or manipulate anything.

Does correlation equal causation?

NO

When evaluating the strength of a correlation, the strongest one will be the ______________.

highest absolute value

What are the characteristics of an experimental study?

random assignment, experimental group, control group, determines causation

What is a placebo?

an inactive substance that has no effect on the body

What study is used to examine the nature vs nurture debate?

twin adoption studies

What is a meta-analysis?

A quantitative method for combining all available research results on one question and drawing a conclusion

What is an error bar?

Graphical representation of the variability of data (researchers' uncertainty)

What mathematical methods are used to report data?

collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of numerical data

What is the difference between descriptive and inferential data?

descriptive: describe/summarize

inferential: draw conclusions, allow for testing of hypotheses, likelihood find was result of mere chance

What is a T-test?

Compares two means to see how likely it is they

came from the same population; helps to rule out "chance" differences

What are the important ethics when researching humans?

informed consent, respect, beneficence, debriefing, privacy/confidentiality, justice

What is the core principle when researching animals in regards to ethics?

humane treatment

Memory is the ability to?

take in, solidify, store and use information

What are the 4 steps in forming memories?

(1) encoding, (2) consolidation, (3) storage, (4) retrieval

Taking in information is referred to as _________.

encoding

What is the difference between automatic and effortful processing?

-automatic: little effort or attention, hard to retrieve (episodic memory)

-effortful: rehearsal and mnemonic devices (semantic memory)

Solidifying information is known as ___________.

consolidation

Keeping information is known as ________.

storage

What is a hierarchy vs schema?

-hierarchy: specific to general; ex: cantaloupe -> melon -> fruit -> food

-schema: mental frameworks for objects/events (filters and organizes new info)

What is a node?

concept within a network

A neural network includes ______________ neurons.

intercommunicating

Getting and using information is known as ____________.

retrieval

A retrieval error is __________.

forgetting

What are the depths of processing?

1. structural

2. phonemic

3. semantic

Difference between explicit vs implicit memory

explicit- conscious, implicit-unconscious

Difference between declarative and procedural memory

declarative- facts/events, procedural- skills/tasks

Difference between episodic and semantic memory

episodic- events/experiences, semantic- facts/concepts

What is a sensory memory?

Holds Information in its original sensory form; information held for a very brief period of time, usually about a half a second or less

What is working memory?

focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information

What is priming?

exposure to one stimulus biases response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention

Retroactive interference vs proactive interference

retroactive- forgetting a previously learned task due to the learning of a new task

proactive- difficulty learning a new task because of an old task that had been learned

Absent-mindedness vs blocking

absent mindedness- inattention to a stimulus impairs one's ability to encode, store, and later retrieve information.

blocking- an inability to retrieve stored information

Anterograde vs retrograde amnesia

Anterograde: inability to encode new memories

Retrograde: inability to recall past memories

What is long-term potentiation (LTP)?

an increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Short term memories encoded in

-frontal lobe (selects to be held in short term memory)

-hippocampus (consolidates into long term memories)

-wernicke's area (phonological loop)

The _________ helps convert short term memories to long term.

hippocampus

Long term memories encoded in _____________.

Multiple areas with help of the prefrontal cortex.

What does the prefrontal cortex do?

helps filter important from unimportant information

The cerebellum and striatum is involved in what kind of memory?

implicit procedural memory

The amygdala is involved in ________ memory.

emotional

The hippocampus is involved in ____________ memory and then is sent back to the cortex from which it came.

explicit declarative memory

What are some main characteristics of Alzheimer's disease?

progressive memory loss, dementia, no cure, runs in families, etc.

_______ is the extent to which a characteristic is influenced by genetics.

Heritability

What is epigenetics?

the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself.

What are the two parts of the nervous system?

central (brain/spinal cord) and peripheral

What is included in the peripheral nervous system?

somatic (voluntary) and autonomic nervous systems

What is included in the autonomic nervous system?

sympathetic (arousing) and parasympathetic (calming)

________ are cells that process and transmit information in the nervous system.

neurons

What are glial cells?

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons

What are interneurons?

they only communicate with other neurons (most common)

Interconnected pathways of nerve cells that integrate sensory input and motor output are called _______________.

neural networks

What is the building block of the nervous system?

neurons

What part of the neuron contains the nucleus?

soma

The axon is the projection that ________ __________.

transmits signals

The dendrites ______ ________.

receives signals

The myelin sheath is in charge of _________.

insulation

Where does the axon meet the dendrite?

synapse

What is action potential?

information traveling one. way down axon as an electrical signal

Information transmitted between neurons via chemicals called __________.

neurotransmitters

What does an agonist do?

mimics or enhances neurotransmitter effects

What does an antagonist do?

blocks effects of neurotransmitter

The medulla is essential for?

breathing, heart, arousal, survival reflexes

The cerebellum is essential for?

balance and coordination

The forebrain is composed of

thalamus, limbic system, cerebrum, etc

The thalamus is the _______ ________ station.

sensory relay

What makes up the limbic system?

hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus

What is the hypothalamus responsible for?

sex drive, blood pressure, thirst, hunger, temperature regulations

What is the cingulate gyrus?

plays role in attention and cognitive control

What is the basal ganglia?

a group of structures involved in voluntary motor control

What is the frontal lobe responsible for?

planning, impulse control, abstract thinking

What is the parietal lobe responsible for?

Contains the primary somatic sensory area, which integrates somesthetic information (pressures, pain, temperature, touch)

What is the temporal lobe responsible for?

Processing hearing information and comprehending speech; also memory and emotion

What is the occipital lobe responsible for?

visual processing

Difference between right and left hemisphere of the brain

right- holistic, integrated

left- analytical and focused