Psychology 101 Chapter 1-4 Exam

Psychology

the scientific investigation of mental process and behavior

Scientific Method

sets of orderly steps used to analyze and solve problems

Behavioral Perspective

how behavior is learned or modified by environmental causes (NURTURE)

Behavioral Data

reports of observation about the behavior of organisms and the conditions under which the behavior occur

Psychodynamic Perspective

behavior is motivated by inherited instincts, biological drives, & attempts to resolve personal conflicts between personal need and society's demands

Cognitive Perspective

an approach that emphasizes mental process in perception, memory, language, problem solving and other areas of behavior

Humanistic Perspective

emphasizes the individual's inherent capacity for making rational choices and developing maximum potential

Willhelm Wundt

founding father of psychology

Biological Perspective

study of physical bases on behavior

Behavior

organisms that adjust to their environment

Standardization

using uniform, consistent, procedures in all phases of data collection

Hypothesis

tentative and testable statement about the relationship between causes and consequences

Determinism

the idea that all events are determined by specific casual factors (physical, mental, and behavioral)

Theory

organized set of concepts (used to formulate research)

Sociocultural Perspective

studies how an individual's behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

Ivan Pavlov

Russian Physiologist

Discovered classical conditioning behaviorism

Operational Definition

standardizes the meaning within an experiment, by defining a concept in terms of the specific operations or procedures used to measure it

Independent Variable

factor manipulated and will cause changes (casual part of the relationship)

Dependent Variable

factor affected by independent variable (what is being measured)

Experimental Method

research methodology that involves the manipulation of independent variables to determine their effects on the dependent variables

Confounding Variable

a variable that could produce effects that are confused, or confounded with the effects of the independent variable

Double-blind Study

a study in which both participants and researchers are blind to the status of participants

Placebo Effect

a phenomena in which an experimental manipulation produces an effect because participants believe it will produce an effect

Control Group

participants in an experiment who receive a relatively neutral condition to serve as a comparison group

Population

a group of people or animals of interest to a researcher from which a sample is drawn

Sample

a subgroup of a population likely to be representative of the population as a whole

Random Sample

a sample of participants selected from the population in a relatively arbitrary manner

Correlation Coefficient

an index of the extent to which two variables are related

Reliability

a measure's ability to produce consistent results

Validity

the extent to which a test measures the construct it attempts to assess or a study adequately addresses the hypothesis it attempts to assess

Naturalistic Observation

observation of phenomena in its natural setting

advantage: natural environment

disadvantage: no control

Case Study

in-depth observation of one subject of a small group of subjects

Natural Selection

the mechanism by which environmental forces select traits in organisms

Genetics

study of inheritance of physical and psychological traits from ancestors

Heritability

the extent to which individual differences in phenotype are determined by genetic factors, or genotype

Sensory Neuron

transmits information from sensory receptors to the brain

Motor Neuron

transmits commands from the brain to the glands or the muscles through the spinal chord

Interneurons

connect other neurons to each other (only found in the brain and spinal chord)

Peripheral Nervous System

consists of neurons that convey messages to and from CNS

Function of Somatic Nervous System

transmits sensory information to the central nervous system and carries out its motor commands

Autonomic Nervous System

conveys information to and from internal bodily structures that carry out basic life process (digestion and respiration)

Sympathetic Nervous System

- response to threats

- fight or flight

- increase in heart rate, dilates the pupils

Parasympathetic Nervous System

regulates heart rate and pupil size

Dendrites

receives information from other cells

Cell Body

contains the nucleus

Axons

transmits information to other neurons

Myelin Sheath function

insulates the axon from chemical and physical stimuli that might interfere with the transmission of nerve impulses

Resting Potential

- condition in which neuron is not firing

- negative 70 million volts

Action Potential

temporary shift in the polarity of the cell membrane, which leads to the firing of a neuron

Excitatory Neurotransmitter

depolarize the postsynaptic cell membrane, making an action potential more likely

Inhibitory Neurotransmitter

hyperpolarize the membrane, action reduces likelihood that the postsynaptic neuron will fire

Hindbrain

controls the supply of air and blood to cells in the body and regulate arousal

Medulla Oblongata

regulates heart rate, blood pressure and reflexes

Reticular Formation

maintain consciousness, regulate arousal levels, and modulate the activity of neurons through CNS

Cerebellum

body movement such as balance, coordination, and fine motor skills

Hypothalamus

helps regulate behaviors ranging from eating and sleeping to sexual activity and emotional experience

Thalamus

process sensory information and transmits information to higher brain cells

The Limbic System

involves emotion, motivation, learning and memory

Amygdala

involved in many emotional process, especially learning and remembering emotionally significant events

Hippocampus

the storing of new information in memory

Basal Ganglia

movement and judgement requiring minimal conscious thought

Primary Areas of the Cortex

process raw sensory information or initiates movement

Association Area of the Cortex

involve in complex mental process such as forming perceptions, ideas, plans

Occiptal Lobes

receives visual input from the thalamus

Front Lobes

movement, attention, planning, social skills, abstract thinking, memory and some aspects of personality

Temporal Lobes

hearing, contains auditory cortex

Glutamate

Excitation of neurons throughout the nervous system

GABA

inhibition of neurons in the brain

Dopamine

Emotional arousal, behavior, pleasure

Acetylcholine (ACh)

learning and memory

Serotonin

sleep and emotional arousal; aggression, pain regulation, mood

Endorphins

pain relief and elevation of mood

Epinephrine

emotional arousal, anxiety, fear

Motor Cortex and Somatorsensory Cortex relation

they both send and receive information from the same parts of the body

Borca's Area

- left frontal lobe at base of the motor cortex

- specialized for movements of mouth and tongue necessary for speech production

Wernicke's Area

- left temporal lobe

- important in speech comprehension

Split-Brain Study

its for patients whose corpus callosum has been surgically cut (reaction)

6 differences in lateralization

1) females typically score higher on tests of verbal fluency

2) perceptual speed

3) manual dexterity than males

4) males tend to score higher on test of mathematical ability

5) spatial processing

6) geometric thinking

Terminal Buttons

transmits signals to adjacent cells

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

recording of the electrical activity of the brain

Neurotransmitter

chemicals that transmits information from one neuron to another

Synapses

the connection between neurons

Cerebral Hemisphere

two halves of the cerebrum, connected by the corpus callosum

Corpus Callosum

mass of nerve fibers connecting the two hemispheres for the cerebrum

Absolute Threshold

Minimum amount of physical energy needed to produce a reliable sensory experience

- can be detected 50% of the time

Difference Threshold

measure of smallest increase or decrease of a physical stimulus that produces a different sensation 50% of the time

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

smallest difference between two sensations that all them to be discriminated

Pitch

sound quality of highness of lowness, depends on frequency of sound wave

Loudness

perceptual dimension of sound influence by the amplitude of a sound wave

Pheromone

chemicals secreted by organisms in some species that allow communication between organisms

Gestalt Psychology

School of psychology that studies how people perceive and experience objects as whole patterns

Trichromatic Theory

explains color perception in the retina

- three color receptors in the eye (blue, green, and red)

Opponent Process Theory

3 kinds of cells respond by increasing and decreasing firing rates when seeing different colors