psych exam 1

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