UTM PSY100 Term 1 Test

What is psych?

The study of science, behaviour, & mental processes

What is critical thinking?

how we reflect deeply and actively

Who coined Structuralism?

William wundt

Who was the founder of modern psychology?

William wundt

What is Structuralism?

the basic elements (structures) of mental processes

What was the main method of study for Structuralism?

introspection

Who coined Functionalism?

William James

What is functionalism?

exploring the functions of the brain rather than its structures; the WHY

What are the 4 core attitudes of the scientific approach?

critical thinking, skepticism, objectivity, curiousity

Who coined Natural Selection?

Charles Darwin

What is natural selection?

organisms are based on their “survival”; variation, competition, selective advantage, inheritance

What is the Biological Approach?

A focus on the body (brain and nervous system)

What is neuroscience?

study of the nervous system

What is the third variable problem?

When attempting to connect correlation → causation, there are often “third variables” unaccounted for

What is critical thinking?

The process of reflecting deeply and actively, asking questions, and evaluating the evidence.

What is Research Participant Bias?

a participant knowingly or unknowingly deviates their response to correspond with the way they think the researcher wants them to

What is the false consensus effect?

the idea that your beliefs are shared amongst the majority

What is behaviour? 

Everything we do that can be directly observed (if overt)

What is the behavioural approach? 

the scientific study of observable behavioural responses and their environmental factors

Who are some famous behaviourists?

John B. Watson, B.F Skinner

What is the humanistic approach?

The emphasis on ones positive qualities & the ability to grow and choose your own destiny

What is the cognitive approach?

belief that the human brain is a mind that allows mental processes to occurs

How do the behavioural and cognitive approach contrast?

behavioural believes behaviour is a result of environmental factors; congnitive believe mental processes control behaviours

What is the evolutionary approach?

focus on the evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection to explain human behaviour

What is the sociocultural approach?

focus on how social and cultural environments influence behaviour

what is the empirical method?

the observation of events, the collection of data, and logical reasoning

what are mental processes?

the thoughts, feelings, and motives that each of us experiences privately but that cannot be observed directly

what is psychopathology?

the study of psychological disorders and development of diagnostic categories & treatment

what is positive psychology?

emphasizes human strengths

what is archival research?

research focused on data from the past to identify current trends

what is a case study?

an indepth study on an individual phenomenon or characteristic that occured

what is a confederate?

a person within an experiment given a role to manipulate the social context

what is a control group?

something used within experiments to provide a baseline expectation; treated the exact same way as the experimental group except for the manipulated variable

what is a convenience sample?

a sample based on participants who are readily available to be studied

what is convergent evidence?

findings that have been discovered across different populations rather than 1 single one

what is correlational research?

findings based simply on correlations with each other; NOT causational

what is a cross-sectional design?

a correlational study where dependent variables are evaluated at a specific point in time

what is a demand characteristc?

an aspect of an experiment that hints to participants how they want them to act

what is a dependent variable?

the variable that is impacted upon due to the manipulation of another 

what is descriptive research?

research that determines a specific phenomenon; defining what it is, how often it occurs, etc.

what is descriptive statistics

mathematical procedures that are used to describe large sets of data, aka the “big picture”

what is a double-blind procedure?

neither participants nor experimenters know which group is the control or the experimenter group to reduce bias

what is experimenter bias?

the influence of the experimenters expectations on the outcomes of the research

what is external validity?

how much a research design actually represents the real world issues its supposed to address

what is inferential statistics?

the methods to empirically see if the data results support the hypothesis or not

What is a null hypothesis

the automatic assumption when determining if the data results support a hypothesis or not

what is internal validity?

the degree in which the independent variable actually changes the dependent variable or not

what is a longitudal design?

a systematic observation used by correlational researches that observe over a long period of time

what is a meta-analysis?

a study using a multitude of different official sources on one specific topic to come to a conclusion

what is naturalistic observation?

observing people in their natural states to determine behaviours

what is physical trace research?

the study of the remnants that remain following some activity

what is a placebo?

a substance that does not actually treat something leading to participants experiencing false results

what is the placebo effect?

the effect of a false medication providing real benefits despite not being an actual med

what is a population?

an entire group in which an experimenter wants to draw conclusions

what is random assignment?

the placement of participants to a control or experimental group based completely on chance

what is a random sample?

randomly choosing people from a population to be selected to be studied

what is standard deviation?

a measure of dispersion that indicates how much the scores in a sample differ from the mean in the sample in an experiment

what is an action potential?

a signal after passing threshold in the neuron that travels down the axon

what are the adrenal glands?

glands that are responsible for regulating mood, energy levels, and coping with stress

where are the adrenal glands located?

ontop of the kidneys

what are afferent (or sensory) nerves?

nerves that send signals from ones external environment towards the central nervous system to be processed via receptors

what is the amygdala?

a structure in the midbrain that attaches meaning to our experiences, and our response to fear in each lobe of the brain

what is the autonomic nervous system?

a system that regulates the “automatic” processes within our body such as breathing, heartrate, and digestion

what is an axon?

part of the neuron that brings information away from the cell body towards other cells

what is the basal ganglia?

large cluster of neurons that allows us to automate daily tasks to control and coordinate voluntary movements

where is the amygdala?

the limbic system

what other structures does the basal ganglia work with?

cerebellum & parts of the cerebral cortex

what is the brainstem?

parts of the brain that looks like a stem; consists of the hindbrain and midbrain, which connects to the spinal cord

What is the cell body?

the area of the cell that contains the nucleus

what is the cell membrane?

a thin structure surrounding the neuron to keep it together, works as a barrier to chemicals & molecules dissolved in water

what is the central nervous system?

the brain and spine

what is the peripheral nervous system?

the network of nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body

what is the cerebral cortex?

part of the forebrain responsible for the most complex mental functions such as thinking and planning

what are chromosomes? 

threadlike structure that comes in 23 pairs containing DNA

what is a connectome?

a complete map on the neural networks of the brain

what is the corpus callosum?

the cluster of axons connecting the two hemispheres of your brain together, responsible for sending info between each lobe

what is the dominant-recessive gene principle?

if one gene is dominant and another recessive, the dominant will override the recessive

what are efferent (motor) nerves?

nerves that carry information out from the brain to other areas of the body; mainly muscles

what is the endocrine system?

a communication system of hormones transporting info throughout the bloodstream to bind to receptors

what is the forebrain?

the brain’s largest division and its most forward part

What are the frontal lobes?

portions of the cerebral cortex responsible for personality, intelligence, and voluntary muscle movements

what is a genotype?

ones genetic heritage, your actual genetic material

what are glands?

organs or tissues that create chemicals to influence other organs functions

what are glial (glia) cells?

provide support, nutritional benefits, protection to keep neurons running faster.

what is the hindbrain?

the lowest portion of the brain containing the medulla, the pons, cerebellum

what is the hippocampus?

a structure in the limbic system responsible for the storage of memories

what is a homonculus?

a way the parietal and frontal lobes function is shown laid out through different cortex’s of the brain

what are hormones?

a chemical messanger within our bloodstream that bind to receptors on specific organs that affect their behaviours

what is the hypothalamus?

a structure below the thalamus that monitors the three pleasure activites: eating, drinking and sex

what is the insula?

part of the brain that represents the internal organs crucial for taste, visceral sensations

what is the limbic system?

located deep in the forebrain, responsible for memory and emotion

what is the medulla?

joins the spinal cord to the rest of the brain, regulating crucial functions such as swallowing, controlling heartbeat, blood pressure, digestion, vomiting etc

what is the midbrain?

relays information between the brain and the eyes and the ears

what is the motor cortex?

a region of the cerebral cortex responsible for processing information about voluntary movement

what is the mylein sheath?

a fatty substance surrounding the axon of a neuron that insulates its charge, allowing for information to travel much faster

what is the neocortex?

the outermost part of the cerebral cortex that makes up 80% of the cortex of the human brian

what is the nervous system?

a major system within the brain for the transport of information from the environment to the body, and vice versa

what are neuropeptides?

short sequences of amino acids synthesized by neurons that last much longer than neurotransmitters

what is neuroplasticity?

the concept that the brain is able to physically adapt to change

what are neurotransmitters?

communicators at the synaptic gap that get released after an action potential to send messages inhibiting or exiting another neuron