AP Psych Unit 1 Vocab

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Nature nurture issue

The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.

Natural Selection

The principle that the inherited traits enabling an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Evolutionary Psychology

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

Behavior Genetics

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Mutations

A random error in gene replication that leads to a change.

Environment

Every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to our experiences of the people and things around us.

Heredity

The genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring.

Genes

The biochemical units of heredity; some 20,000 in total, either active (expressed) or inactive.

Genome

The complete instructions for making an organism, containing the common sequence within human DNA.

Identical (monozygotic) twins

Individuals who developed from a single fertilized egg that split in two, creating two genetically identical organisms.

Fraternal (dizygotic) twins

Individuals who developed from separate fertilized eggs; genetically no closer than siblings but sharing a prenatal environment.

Interaction

The interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity).

Epigenetics

The study of molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression without DNA change.

Nervous System

The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

The brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body.

Nerves

Bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the CNS with muscles, glands, and sensory organs.

Sensory (afferent) neurons

Neurons that carry incoming information from the body’s tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

Motor (efferent) neurons

Neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.

Interneurons

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord; they communicate internally and process information between sensory inputs and motor outputs.

Somatic nervous system

The division of the PNS that controls the body’s skeletal muscles (also called skeletal nervous system).

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

The part of the PNS that controls glands and internal organ muscles; its sympathetic division arouses, parasympathetic calms.

Sympathetic nervous system

The division of the ANS that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy.

Parasympathetic nervous system

The division of the ANS that calms the body, conserving its energy.

Reflexes

A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee jerk reflex.

Neurons

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.

Cell Body

The part of a neuron that contains the nucleus; the cell’s life support center.

Dendrites

Bushy, branching extensions that receive and integrate messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body.

Axon

The neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or muscles/glands.

Myelin Sheath

Fatty tissue encasing axons of some neurons; enables faster transmission of neural impulses.

Glial cells (glia)

Cells that support, nourish, and protect neurons; may also aid in learning, thinking, and memory.

Action potential

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge traveling down an axon.

Threshold

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

Refractory period

A brief resting pause after a neuron fires, during which another action potential cannot occur.

All or none response

A neuron’s reaction of either firing with full strength or not firing at all.

Synapse

The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the receiving neuron’s dendrite or cell body.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gap and bind to receptor sites on receiving neurons, influencing impulses.

Reuptake

A neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron.

Endocrine System

The body’s slow chemical communication system; glands and fat tissues that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Hormones

Chemical messengers made by endocrine glands that travel through the bloodstream and affect other tissues.