Psychology CLEP

Psychology

Scientific study of human behavior and mental processes

Structuralism

Consciousness was made up of basic elements that were combined in different ways to produce perceptions (mental components)

Functionalists

Consciousness helps people and animals adjust to their environments (mental functions)

Biological Approach

Physiological and biochemical explains behaviors- genetics and hormones- root of human behavior and emotions

Behavioral Approach

Learned responses to predictable patterns of external stimuli

Psycho dynamic Approach

Sigmund Freud
Unmet needs and conflicts during childhood determines personality

Behavior arises as an unconscious attachment as interpersonal connection

id, ego, superego

Id

Pleasure principal (devil)

Superego

Moral behavior (angel)

Ego

Decision maker (moderator)

Cognitive Approach

Reaction to behavioralists → memory and attention because behavioralists believe only observe what can be observed→

internal mental processes (thinking, memory, perception, problem-solving) to understand how people acquire, process, and store information, viewing the mind like a computer

Humanistic Approach

People are motivated by desire for growth and development (people are inherently good)

Random Assignment

Random treatment application - avoids biases that can arise when selecting people for treatment

Double Blind Study

Neither the patient or the experimenter knows what treatment is getting administered

Placebo

Fake medication- however if people believe they get the real medication can cause placebo effect

Correlational

How two variables relate

to one another

No manipulation of

variables

Does NOT measure

cause and effect

Case Study

A process or record of research in which detailed consideration is given to the development of a particular person, group, or situation over a period of time.

Advantages - gives an in depth analysis on a specific situation/ person

Disadvantages- hard to generalize to a general population

Naturalistic Observation

A research method where scientists study subjects (people, animals, etc.) in their real-world environments, without interfering or manipulating variables, to understand authentic, spontaneous behaviors

Clinical Interviews

Interview someone one on one and get information on someone’s clinical presentation

very subjective

Positive Correlation

Increase in one variable, increases the other variable

Negative Correlation

Increase in one variable, decreases the other variable

Correlation Coefficient

Measures relationship between two variables (-1, 1)

Self-reporting Surveys

Asks individuals to provide information about themselves (feelings, behaviors, beliefs, etc.) through questionnaires, polls, or interviews, without direct external assessment

Advantage- reach a lot of people

disadvantages- dishonest self-reporting

Endocrine System

Glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Hormones

Chemical messengers that regulate bodily functions (metabolism, growth rate, digestion, blood pressure)

Pituitary Gland

Master gland that activates remaining glands in the body

Etiology

Biological explanation for mental disorders

the cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition

Genetic predispositions and hereditary links (schizophrenia and alcoholism)

Malfunctioning brain chemistry

Neurons

Cells that are highly specialized to receive and transmit information across the body

Cell Body

Neurons- keep cell alive and functioning

Dendrites

Neurons- takes info in from outside the cell

Axons

Neurons- pass info along to other nerve cells muscles and glands

Myelin Sheath

Accelerates transmission of information

Sensory / Afferent Neurons

Takes information from body and sense organs → transmits to spinal cord and brain

Motor Neurons

Send information from spinal cord and brain to body tissue muscles and sense organs

Inter / Association Neurons

Neurons that communicate with other neurons → most common

Neurotransmitters

Chemical molecules contained in vesicles within axon terminal. Communicate across the synapse gap

Synapse Gap

Space between 2 neurons

Reuptake

Neurotransmitter left in synaptic gap that’s broken down or absorbed back into the neuron

Agonist

Increase neural activity flow and effect (positive feedback)

Antagonist

Decrease neural activity and effect (negative feedback)

Central Nervous System

(Brain and Spinal Cord) The part of the nervous system is responsible for processing sensory information, coordinating motor responses, and carrying out reflexes.

Somatic Nervous System

(Peripheral Nervous System) The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls voluntary skeletal muscle movement and transmits sensory information from the body to the central nervous system

Automatic Nervous System

(Peripheral Nervous System) The division of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary bodily functions, including heart rate, digestion, and gland activity.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Prepares you for action (Prepares the body for fight-or-flight (arousal, energy use))

Parasympathetic Nervous System

During relaxation (Promotes rest-and-digest (calming, energy conservation))

Brainstem

The oldest part of the brain that connects the spinal cord to the brain, controlling basic life functions such as breathing, heart rate, and arousal

Cerebellum

Coordinates voluntary movement, balance, posture, and motor learning

Thalamus

A brain structure that receives and routes sensory information (taste, touch, sight, and hearing) to the appropriate areas of the cerebral cortex.

Reticular Function

Controls arousal and sleep, filters incoming sensory information, and directs important stimuli to higher brain areas.

Limbic System

A group of brain structures located between the brain stem and the cerebral cortex that is involved in emotion, motivation, memory, and basic drives. Includes Hippocampus, Amygdala, and hypothalamus.

Hippocampus

Processes memory

Amygdala

Fear and anger

Hypothalamus

Controls pituitary gland and maintains homeostasis; controls hunger, thirst, and hormones

Cerebral Cortex

2 hemispheres and the outer layer of the brain responsible for thinking, perception, memory, and voluntary movement.

Frontal Lobes

Coordinating movement, higher level functioning and speech (Broca’s Area, Wernicke’s Area) Involved in decision-making, planning, personality, and voluntary movement.

Broca’s Area

Controls speech production and language expression.

Wernicke’s Area

Responsible for language comprehension

Parietal Lobes

Processes touch and body position (somatosensory information).

Temporal Lobes

Involved in hearing basically

Occipital Lobes

Responsible for visual processing.

Physiological Techniques

Examine interrelationship between a person’s brain and their behavior (EEG, MRI, CAT, PET, FMRI)

Corpus Callosum

Bundle of nerve fibers that facilitates interhemispheric communication.

Acetylcholine

key role in muscle contraction and is also linked to learning and memory.

Genotype

Genetic makeup of an organism, which interacts with the environment to influence behavior.

Serotonin

Mood, emotional states, sleep

Dopamine

Attention, movement, pleasure, sensation

Sensation

Transforming energy from outside stimuli into neural energy

Perception

Taking neural energy and creating an image of outside world- constructing meaning out of sensation

Psychophysics

The study of the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they produce.

Signal Detection Theory

A theory that examines how psychological factors (such as expectations, motivation, and alertness) influence the ability to detect a stimulus amid background noise.

Selective Attention

Focusing on one thing and filtering out distractions