AP Psych - Unit 1.1 & 1.2 Vocab

Heredity (Nature)

Passing down of genetic information from parents to offspring

Adoption Studies

Despite not even their knowing biological parents, the personality of children tends to reflect biological parents rather than adopted parents.

Identical Twin Studies

Those raised together and separately tend to demonstrate large similarities in personality.

Fraternal Twins

Twins who exhibit behavior differences at the same rate of non-twin siblings

Testosterone

Needed to develop and maintain male sex characteristics, such as facial hair, deep voice, and muscle growth.

Estrogen

A type of hormone made by the body that helps develop and maintain female sex characteristics.

Environmental Factors (Nurture)

All the external influences we encounter throughout our lives

Natural Selection

Traits that allow populations to reproduce and survive are passed on to subsequent generations.

Electrochemical signals

Signals within itself and through the spinal cord to other parts of the body.

Central Nervous System

Facilitation of communication between the brain and body

Spinal Cord

A tube of tissue that carries nerve signals from the brain to the rest of the body and back.

Peripheral Nervous System

The sensory nerves and tissues that relay messages to the brain through the CNS.

Brain Lobes

4 major identifiable regions of the cerebral cortex: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital.

Cortical Areas

Areas of the brain located in the cerebral cortex

Autonomic Nervous System

Argely uncontrollable, operating automatically to beat the heart, digest food, and move organs.

Somatic Nervous System

Enables voluntary muscle movement through motor neurons

Sympathetic Nervous System

Flight or fight

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Slows heartbeat, lowers blood sugar and calms systems afterwards