psychology
The scientific study of thought, behavior, and emotion
neuroscience
how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
evolutionary
natural selection of traits being passed down from generation to generation and the promotion of survival of genes
behavior genetics
how genes and environment influence individual differences
psychodynamic
behavior from unconscious drives and conflicts
behavioral
how we learn observable responses
cognitive
how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information
social-cultural
how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures
hindsight bias
Overestimation of the ability to have predicted an outcome/ once we know the outcome, the answer seems obvious
scientific method
testing ideas with the use of data/ steps:
Make a research question
Formulate the hypothesis
Design a study to test the hypothesis
Perform the study
Interpret the data and draw conclusions
Communicate findings
hypothesis
Testable prediction/ when you anticipate what the results are
operational definition
statement of procedures the researcher used to measure a variable/ researcher’s definition of a term and how it’s sued in an experiment
case study
indepth analysis of one subject or more
advantages of a case study
to learn new things about certain cases
involve a small sample of people
lots of data is connected from participants
disadvantages of a case study
cant use the results of a case study to make generalizations of the public
small testable group
observational method
when the researcher collects data by watching and listening/ researcher is NOT interfering
advantages of the observational method
researchers can learn a lot by just watching how the participants acct in certain environments or in studies
disadvantages of the observational method
researchers cannot interfere so they cant ask questions
survey method
asking people questions about their thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions/ recording their answers
advantages of the survey method
very fast and can ask a large group of people
inexpensive
best way to get data
disadvantages of the survey method
have to be careful of wording
response bias
wording effects
have to be careful with wording because it can influence a person to pick a choice to make themselves look better
response bias
when responses to questions dont accurately reflect the content of the question/ can be due to the participant not remembering the answer, not caring, or social desirability bias
random sampling
when everyone has an equal chance in taking part in the experiment/ will allow you to make generalizations of the public bc of your random sample selection
correlational method
measuring the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables/ NO manipulations
positive correlation
when two variables change in the same direction
negative correlation
when two variables change in the opposite direction/ shows an inverse relationship
how are the correlation coefficients (rs) interpreted?
r= # that indicates the strength of the relationship between two variables/ range is from -1 to +1/ 0 means that theres no relationship between the variables/ absolute value of r shows the strength of the relationship
true or false: does correlation indicate causation
false
alternatives of causation and correlation
A could cause B
B could cause A
C (another variable) can cause both A and B
third variable
variable that can end up causing both variables A and B
experimentation
when a researcher manipulates one variable and then measures the effects/ ONLY research design can infer cause and effect between the variables/ you cant prove causation with generalizations
independent variable
variable that gets manipulated in an experiment
dependent variable
outcome variable
experimental group
receives the treatment or independent variable
control group
does not receive the stimulus or treatment/ group is used as a comparison to the experimental group
confounding variable
variable that can cause the dependent variable to change/ or the results
random assignment
when a participant has an equal chance of being selected for the experimental or control group/ no determining factor that assigns a person to one specific group
experimental control
researcher has to make sure that no other variables besides the independent variable are changing the results and thus could affect the DV
placebo effect
when theres an observed improvement following an inert treatment/ people or animals having an effect after responding to something that has no effect/ ex= sugar pill
placebo control group
participants that are given the placebo instead of the actial treatment or nothing
expectancy effect
when the researchers have an expectation towards the hypothesis that unintentionally increases the likelihood of the participants behavior to confirm the hypothesis/ researcher expects change → the participants following that change and causing it to happen
single-blind procedures
when the participants do not know if they are in the experimental or control group
double-blind procedures
when both the researchers and participants dont know which group is the experimental or control group
generalizability
outcome to other groups and settings that can be applied to groups of societies
replication
repetition of a study
informed consent
when researchers give the participants enough info about the study to enable them to decide if they wat to participate
debriefing
at the end of the experiment, participants are told the study’s purpose and deceptions that researchers used
neurons
cells of the nervous system
dendrites
cell ‘listeners’ that receive neural messages from other neurons and have receptors for other signals and messages
cell body
contains the nucleus of the cell and houses DNA
axons
one single fiber that sends the message to other neurons and transmits the messages/ could have myelin sheath on it to make the message go through the neuron faster
glia cells (glia)
cells around the neurons that provide structure for neurons/ some form the blood brain barrier or the myelin sheath
blood brain barrier
prevents some toxins from entering the brain/ very selective on what enters the brain and what cant/ redundancy in pathways
myelin sheath
created by the glia on axons to speed up messages and electrical impulses down the axon/ electrical impulses jump on the areas where myelin sheath isnt and continue to go down the cell
action potential
electrical signal within a neuron that starts from the cell body to the end of the axon
threshold
state or number of electric charge that the stimulus has to reach in order for an action potential to start
all or none response
when threshold is reached, an action potential starts/ if the stimulus is too small and threshold isnt reached, nothing will happen
synapse
gap at the end of the neuron/ where the electrical signal is transduced into a chemical signal/ junction between two neurons and messages are transmitted across the synapse via NTs
neurotransmitters
chemical messages that travel across the synapse to the receiving neuron
reuptake
sending neuron that reabsorbs the extra neurotransmitters
inhibitory signals
decrease chance of neuron firing
excitatory signals
increase the chance of a neuron firing
acetylcholine
involves muscle contraction, learning, and memory
endorphins
reduce pain and promotes pleasure
dopamine
involved in voluntary movement, reward, learning, and memory
serotonin
involved in sleep, appetite, and mood
glutamate
excitatory NT (causes APs) that helps in learning and memory enhancement
GABA
inhibitory NT (blocks APs) that calms
epinephrine and norepinephrine
work similar to each other. involved in stress response/ specifically fight or flight
agonist
increase the activity of the NT
ways an agonist works
agonists shape themselves as NT to fit the receptor
can increase the production of NT
can block reuptake of NT to make the NT available for a long period of time
antagonist
decrease the activity of a NT/ can block the receptor so the NT cant bind
motor neurons
carry signals from brain or spinal cord to muscles, skin, and glands/ gives messages
sensory neurons
carry messages from receptors to the spinal cord and brain/ can sense stimuli
central nervous system
brain and spinal cord
able to respond to sensory info
can send messages to muscles, glands, and organs
spinal cord= extension of the brain
handles incoming and outgoing messages
acts as a bridge between the brain and body
spinal reflexes
automatic brain responses that dont involve the brain
peripheral nervous system
nerves that go to the rest of the body/ all of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord
allows communication between the CNS and sensory systems
contains the somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system
somatic nervous system
voluntary movement/ sensory and motor pathways
autonomic nervous system
involuntary functions such as heart rate, swallowing, gaggling, etc/ contains the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
sympathetic nervous system
under the autonomic nervous system/ increases the physiological arousal/ works with epinephrine and norepinephrine in fight or flight
parasympathetic nervous system
under the autonomic nervous system/ decreases arousal → lowers heart rate and breathing rate
endocrine system
involves hormones and glands
hormones
chemicals that are secreted by endocrine glands into the bloodstream/ have a slow onset but long term effects
hypothalmus
brain structure that controls the pituitary gland to secrete hormones
pituitary gland
master gland that sends messages to other glands to secrete hormones
adrenal glands
glands that sit on top of the kidneys/ are important for mood, energy level, and stress response
electroencephalogram (EEG)
able to detect electrical activity of neurons in a particular region of the brain/ does NOT show an image of the brain/ shows brain waves= activity and function
PET scan
positron emission tomography that records the biochemical changes in the brain in different parts of the brain/ active parts of the brain and lit up/ shows a picture of the brain and function
CAT scan
computerized axial tomography/ x-ray beams sent through the head to show pictures of the brain but does NOT show function
MRI
uses magnetic field to measure the activity of various brain areas to produce a detailed image of the brain but does NOT show the function of the brain
fMRI
functional magnetic resonance imaging/ uses MRI to measure relative activity of various brain areas during tasks/ shows function and image
brain stem
older brain structure/ contains the medulla and pons
medulla
controls life-sustaining bodily functions such as breathing and heart rate/ if it is damaged→ death
pons
above the medulla/ is involved in sleep (stops motor messages during dreaming) and connects the cortex to lower brain regions
reticular formation
controls alertness and attention/ does not give the same amount of attention to everything
thalamus
relay station except for smell/ directs incoming sensory receptors to the cerebral cortex
cerebellum
coordination of movement/ controls balance, muscle contraction, and memory of simple skills
amygdala
processes emotions such as aggression and fear
hypothalamus
regulates the endocrine system by telling the pituitary gland what hormones to release/ involved in reward and pleasure