Psych Unit 1b Flashcards

Consciousness

our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

Circadian rhythm

the natural rhythm of being awake and being asleep, run by your biological clock, that occurs on a 24-hour cycle

Jet lag

when your circadian rhythm is knocked off from traveling through time zones

Awakeness

when you are conscious

N-REM sleep

the stages of sleep that aren’t REM

REM Sleep

the stage of sleep of Rapid Eye Movement, a recurring sleep stage where you dream. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches), but other body systems are active

Beta waves

these waves have the highest frequency and lowest amplitude, and they tend to show more variability

Alpha waves

relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

N-REM Stage 1

the first stage of sleep, where you are still able to wake up easily, but heartbeat, eye movements, brain waves, and breathing activity begin to taper down

Theta waves

brain waves that occur when you’re sleeping or dreaming, but they don’t occur during the deepest phases of sleep. They may occur when you’re drifting off to sleep or suspended in that light phase of sleep, just before you wake up

Hypnagogic sensations

bizarre experiences, such as jerking or a feeling of falling or floating weightlessly, while transitioning to sleep

N-REM Stage 2

the stage of sleep where you can still be awakened without too much difficulty, but you are still asleep. Sleep spindles occur in this stage

Sleep spindle and K complex

bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity that aid memory processing

N-REM Stage 3

the stage of sleep that is the deepest and most restorative sleep, crucial for physical healing and growth, immune function, and is characterized by delta brainwaves, and is hard to wake from

Delta waves

the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

REM rebound

the increased occurrence of REM sleep following REM-sleep deprivation

Melatonin

the brain neurotransmitter that controls sleep, found in the hypothalamus

Activation-synthesis

the theory that REM sleep triggers neural activity that evokes random visual memories, which our sleeping brain weaves into stories. However, the individual’s brain is weaving the stories, which still tells us something about the dreamer

Consolidation theory

the theory that dreams help us sort out the day’s events and consolidate our memories

Sleep deprivation

when you don't get enough sleep

Insomnia disorder

when people have trouble falling and staying asleep

Narcolepsy

when people can fall asleep at the most inconvenient time, and go directly into REM sleep

REM sleep behavior disorder

when people don’t get REM sleep, paralysis does not occur; instead, twitching, talking, or even kicking or punching may occur, often acting out one’s dream

Sleep apnea

when during sleep, people stop breathing for a moment, wake themselves up, and then fall asleep again and don’t remember waking up

Somnambulism (sleepwalking)

when people start acting out their dreams during stage 3 sleep

Sensation

bottom-up processing, where receptors pick up information from the outside world and send it up to the brain

Perception

when the brain interprets and organizes information about the world through previous bias and experiences, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful

Transduction

the conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transformation of physical energy, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses that the brain can interpret

Absolute threshold

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Just-noticeable difference

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

Weber’s Law

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Sensory adaptation

when your senses blur out a particular stimulus after a while, until it changes

Sensory interaction

the integration of sensory processes when performing a task, as in maintaining balance using sensory input from both vision and kinesthesis

Synthesia

when people’s senses intertwine and they see colors with music, etc

Cornea

the clear part of the eye that bends light and protects the pupil and iris

Pupil

the part of the eye that takes in light, and contracts and dilates

Iris

the colored muscle of the eye that controls the size of the pupil opening

Lens

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Retina

the light-sensitive back inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones, plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

Rods

the cells in the eye that process light, darkness, and movement. They are necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond

Cones

the cells in the eye concentrated in the center of the eye, process colors, are either responsible for the colors red, green, or blue, and work together. They are sensitive to fine detail

Fovea

the central focal point in the retina, where the cones of the eyes are

Bipolar cells

cells with one dendrite opposing an axon that are often found in the retina

Ganglion cells

the only type of neuron in the retina that sends signals to the brain, resulting from visual stimulation. Retinal cells receive input from retinal bipolar cells, and their axons form the optic nerve

Optic nerve

the nerve of the eyes that sends signals to the thalamus, which are then relayed to the visual cortex

Blind spot

the part of vision where you cannot see because it is where your fovea is optic nerve is, and there are no receptor cells located there

Accommodation

the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus images of near or far objects on the retina

Nearsightedness

when someone struggles to see something far away

Farsightedness

when someone struggles to see something close up

Dark adaptation

when your eyes adjust to the dark, and your pupils dilate

Light adaptation

when your eyes adjust to the light, and your pupils constrict

Trichromatic Color Theory

the theory you process color with three different types of cones of red, green, and blue, which can together form any color

Wavelength

the distance from the peak of one light wave or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short gamma waves to the long pulses of radio transmission

Opponent-process theory of color

the theory that cones process colors by being responsible for opposite colors (red-green, orange-blue, etc.), being stimulated by one color and inhibited by another

Afterimages

when you stare at something for a long period of time and then look somewhere else, you see a faint outline of what you were staring at

Color vision deficiency

when somebody doesn’t have enough of one type of cones, so two colors look the same to them (color blindness)

Dichromatism

partial color blindness in which the eye contains only two types of cone photopigment instead of the typical three: Lack of the third pigment leads to confusion between certain colors

Monochromatism

a partial color blindness in which the eye contains only one type of cone photopigment instead of the typical three: Everything appears in various shades of a single color

Prosopagnosia (face blindness)

when people are unable to recognize faces

Blindsight

the capacity of some individuals with damage to the primary visual cortex to detect and even localize visual stimuli presented to the blind portion of the visual field

Pinna

the funnel-shaped part of the external ear that projects beyond the head

Auditory Canal

the canal through which sound passes to reach the eardrum

Eardrum

the part of the ear that separates the external ear from the middle ear and serves to transform the pressure waves of sounds into mechanical vibration of the ossicles

Ossicles

the chain of three tiny bones in the middle ear that transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the oval window of the inner ear. They are the malleus (or hammer); the incus (or anvil); and the stapes (or stirrup)

Oval Window

a membrane-covered opening in the bony wall of the cochlea in the ear

Cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses

Basilar Membrane

the membrane within the cochlea with the hair cells that pick up sound waves

Semicircular Canals

canals within your ear filled with fluid that help you balance

Amplitude

the height of the wave

Place theory

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated

Frequency theory

in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

Volley theory

following frequency theory, the theory that neural cells alternate firing, and by firing in rapid succession, they can achieve a combined frequency above 1000 waves per second

Sound localization

the ability to identify the position and changes in position of sound sources based on acoustic information

Conduction hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve

Olfaction

the sense of smell

Pheromones

chemicals that bodies release by members of a species and that influence the behavior of other members of the same species

Gustation

the sense of taste

Umami

the taste of meat

Oleogustus

the taste of fat

Types of tasters

super-tasters, medium-tasters, and non-tasters, the different levels of being able to distinguish flavors

“Hot” sensation

a perception created when both warm and cold thermoreceptors in the skin are activated simultaneously

Gate-control theory

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers, and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

Phantom limb sensation

when people who don't have a limb feel like they have it, even they don’t, because their nervous system amplifies random electrical activity, expecting it to be from the missing limb(s)

Vestibular sense

the sense of balance

Kinesthesia

the sense of position