Flashcard Friday

Lec 1-9 psyc 101

What is the Mind-Body Problem?

The question of whether the mind and body are separate or the same.

What does Dualism propose about the mind and body?

That the mind and body are fundamentally separate entities.

What is Materialism's view on the mind and body?

The mind and body are the same; modern neuroscience supports this.

What does Philosophical Realism say about perception?

Perception is direct information from the senses.

How does Philosophical Idealism explain perception?

Perception is the brain's interpretation of sensory information.

What is Empiricism?

The idea that knowledge comes from experience (nurture).

What is Nativism?

The idea that some knowledge is innate (nature).

What study supports Nativism by showing innate depth perception?

The Visual Cliff Study.

What was Structuralism’s main focus?

Breaking down the mind into basic elements using introspection.

What does Functionalism study?

The purpose of mental processes as adaptations for survival.

Who founded Psychoanalysis and what does it emphasize?

Sigmund Freud; emphasizes unconscious influences on behavior.

What does Behaviourism focus on?

Observable behavior only, ignoring mental processes.

What is Classical Conditioning?

Learning by associating two stimuli (Pavlov’s dogs).

What is Operant Conditioning?

Behavior shaped by its consequences (reinforcements and punishments).

What is the key idea of Gestalt Psychology?

Perception involves organized wholes, not just sums of parts.

What is an Operational Definition?

Clearly defined, measurable term for abstract concepts.

What does Reliability mean in research?

Produces consistent results.

What does Power mean in research?

Detects even small changes.

What is Construct Validity?

Measures what it claims to measure.

What are Demand Characteristics?

Participants alter behavior based on expectations.

What is Observer Bias?

Researcher expectations skew observations.

What is the Clever Hans Effect?

Subjects respond to subtle cues from researchers.

What is Naturalistic Observation?

Watching subjects in real, natural settings.

Why is Deception used in studies?

To prevent bias and demand characteristics.

What is a Double-Blind Design?

Neither researcher nor participant knows group assignment.

What does Correlation ≠ Causation mean?

Two variables may be related but one does not necessarily cause the other.

What are Confounding Variables?

Uncontrolled variables that influence results.

What is the Directionality Problem?

Can't tell which variable causes which in correlational studies.

What is the Self-Selection Problem?

Participants influence their own group assignment.

What is Random Assignment?

Participants are randomly placed into groups to avoid bias.

What is External Validity?

How well findings generalize to real-world settings.

What is the Independent Variable (IV)?

The variable manipulated by the experimenter.

What is the Dependent Variable (DV)?

The variable measured as an outcome.

What does Statistical Significance p < 0.05 mean?

Results are unlikely due to chance.

What is the Replication Crisis?

Many studies fail to replicate, raising concerns about reliability.

What is the WEIRD Problem?

Most research samples are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic, limiting generalizability.

What is Embodied Cognition?

Physical experiences influence judgments and thinking.

What happened in the Milgram Study?

Participants were coerced; lacked right to withdraw.

What ethical requirements must research follow?

Informed consent, right to withdraw, deception + debrief, minimize harm, confidentiality, IRB approval, truthful reporting.

What are the parts of a neuron?

Dendrite, cell body, axon, myelin sheath, synapse.

What is the difference between Conduction and Transmission?

Conduction is signal within neuron; transmission is signal between neurons.

What is an Action Potential?

All-or-nothing neural firing triggered at threshold -55 mV.

What ions are involved in neuron firing?

Na+ enters at -55 mV; K+ exits at +30 mV; resting potential restored to -70 mV.

Name an excitatory neurotransmitter.

Glutamate.

Name an inhibitory neurotransmitter.

GABA.

What neurotransmitter regulates mood and sleep?

Serotonin.

What neurotransmitter is linked to motivation and motor control?

Dopamine.

What neurotransmitter is important for attention and memory?

Acetylcholine.

What neurotransmitter increases arousal and alertness?

Norepinephrine.

What is an agonist drug?

A drug that increases neurotransmitter activity.

What is an antagonist drug?

A drug that blocks neurotransmitter activity.

What are the four mechanisms for neurotransmitter cleanup?

Reuptake, enzyme breakdown, diffusion, autoreceptors.

What is brain plasticity?

The brain's ability to reorganize and adapt functionally and structurally.

What is phantom limb syndrome?

Sensation in a missing limb due to brain remapping.

What is face pareidolia?

Tendency to see faces in objects.

What brain area is critical for face identity recognition?

Fusiform Face Area (FFA).

What does MT+ area do?

Processes motion perception.

What is akinetopsia?

Motion blindness caused by damage to MT+.

What are the main parts of the limbic system?

Amygdala (emotion), hippocampus (memory), thalamus (sensory relay).

What are positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech.

What are negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Blunted affect, reduced speech, low motivation.

What brain areas activate during anxiety?

Limbic system, brainstem; frontal lobe function decreases.

Which neurotransmitters increase during anxiety?

Epinephrine and norepinephrine.

What imaging technique measures blood oxygenation?

fMRI.

What imaging technique uses radioactive tracers?

PET.

What brain stimulation technique temporarily deactivates neurons?

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

Who was Phineas Gage?

Patient with frontal lobe damage who showed personality changes.

What is epigenetics?

Environmental influences change gene expression without altering DNA sequence.

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

Sensation is detecting stimuli; perception is interpreting those stimuli.

What are rods and cones?

Rods detect light in low conditions; cones detect color and detail.

What is the trichromatic theory?

Colour vision is based on 3 cone types sensitive to red, green, and blue wavelengths.

What is opponent process theory?

Colors are processed in opposing pairs (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white).

What are monocular depth cues?

Visual cues like occlusion, relative size, texture gradient that require only one eye.

What is cortical magnification?

More brain area is devoted to processing sensitive body regions.

Front

Back

What is binocular disparity?

Depth cue from slight differences in images between the two eyes.

What is binocular rivalry?

When each eye receives a different image, only one is consciously perceived at a time.

What is motion parallax?

Nearby objects move opposite your motion; distant objects move with you.

What do stereograms use to create depth?

Binocular disparity.

How does the Ames Room illusion work?

It distorts depth cues to make people appear dramatically different in size.

What determines perceived size of an object?

Its visual angle on the retina.

How does familiar size affect depth perception?

Known object sizes help us estimate distance.

What happens to visual angle as an object gets closer?

It increases.

Why do size illusions occur in 3D space?

Because distance cues are misinterpreted or missing.

What are feature detectors?

Neurons in visual cortex that respond to shapes, angles, motion.

What is parallel processing in vision?

Brain processes shape, motion, colour, etc. simultaneously.

What are the dorsal and ventral streams in vision?

Dorsal: "Where/How"; Ventral: "What". DF case shows object recognition (ventral) can be damaged while action (dorsal) is intact.

What is the binding problem?

The challenge of how the brain combines features into a single percept.

What is an illusory conjunction?

Incorrectly combining features from different objects when distracted (e.g. red square + green circle → green square).

What sound wave property determines pitch?

Frequency.

What determines loudness in hearing?

Amplitude of sound wave.

What determines timbre?

Complexity of the sound wave.

How do we localize sound with two ears?

By using differences in timing and intensity between ears.

What is place coding in hearing?

Different parts of the cochlea respond to different frequencies.

What is temporal coding in hearing?

Firing rate of auditory neurons codes low frequencies.

What is top-down processing in auditory perception?

Expectations and prior knowledge shape what we perceive (e.g. hearing your name in noise).

What are the four types of somatosensory nerve fibres from skin, ordered by speed?

A-alpha (proprioception), A-beta (touch), A-delta (fast pain), C (slow pain)

How do fibre characteristics affect conduction speed?

Larger diameter and more myelination = faster conduction