Psych 101 exam 2

consciousness

awareness of internal and external stimuli.

Sleep

a state marked by relatively low levels of physical activity and reduced sensory awareness that is distinct from periods of rest that occur during wakefulness.

Wakefulness

characterized by high levels of sensory awareness, thought, and behavior.

Selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Change blindness

a phenomenon of visual perception that occurs when a stimulus undergoes a change without this being noticed by its observer

circadian rhythm

biological clock ; a biological rhythm that takes place over a period of about 24 hours.

Homeostasis

the tendency to maintain a balance, or optimal level, within a biological system.

SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus)

controls circadian rhythms in the brain

Melatonin

A sleep-inducing hormone produced by the pineal gland

Pineal gland

a small gland in the center of the brain that secretes melatonin, which plays a role in the circadian rhythms or body clock

Sleep regulation

the brain’s control of switching between sleep and wakefulness as well as coordinating this cycle with the outside world.

Sleep debt

\[term\] is when you sleep fewer hours than your body needs

Problems with insufficient sleep

• decreased levels of alertness and mental efficiency,

• depression-like symptoms

• obesity

• increased blood pressure

• increased levels of stress hormones

• reduced immune functioning

evolutionary psychology

a discipline that studies how universal patterns of behavior and cognitive processes have evolved over time as a result of natural selection

Cognitive function of sleep

impairments in our abilities to maintain attention, make decisions, and recall long-term memories in relation to sleep deprivation

Stage 1 NREM sleep

a transitional phase that occurs between wakefulness and sleep, the period during which we drift off to sleep. During this time, there is a slowdown in both the rates of respiration and heartbeat.

* relatively easy to wake someone from stage \[?\] sleep

alpha waves

patterns of electrical activity resemble that of someone who is very relaxed, yet awake, but have less variability and are relatively lower in frequency (8–12 Hz) and higher in amplitude than beta waves

theta waves

even lower frequency (4–7 Hz), and higher in amplitude, than the alpha wave patterns.

Stage 2 sleep

the body goes into a state of deep relaxation.

sleep spindles

is a rapid burst of higher frequency brain waves that may be important for learning and memory

K-complexes

a very high amplitude pattern of brain activity that may in some cases occur in response to environmental stimuli.

Stage 3 sleep

often referred to as deep sleep or slow-wave sleep b/c this stage is characterized by low frequency & high amplitude **delta waves**

delta waves

have the lowest frequency and highest amplitude of our sleeping brain wave patterns.

REM sleep

characterized by darting movements of the eyes under closed eyelids.

* often referred to as paradoxical sleep because of this combination of high brain activity and lack of muscle tone.

REM rebound

when people are deprived of REM sleep and then allowed to sleep without disturbance, they will spend more time in REM sleep in what would appear to be an effort to recoup the lost time in REM.

Lucid dreams

dreams in which certain aspects of wakefulness are maintained during a dream state.

a person becomes aware of the fact that they are dreaming, and they can control the dream’s content

Freud’s wish fulfillment

when wishes can't or won't be fulfilled in our waking lives, they are carried out in dreams

manifest content

is the actual content, or storyline, of a dream.

latent content

refers to the hidden meaning of a dream.

Activation-synthesis theory of dreaming

dreams are just the brain's efforts to make sense out of meaningless patterns firing in the brain as during REM sleep

Insomnia

a consistent difficulty in falling or staying asleep for at least three nights a week over a month’s time

Parasomnias

one of a group of sleep disorders in which unwanted, disruptive motor activity and/or experiences during sleep play a role.

* ex. Sleepwalking, restless leg syndrome, and night terrors

Sleepwalking (somnambulism)

the sleeper engages in relatively complex behaviors ranging from wandering about to driving an automobile.

* most often occurs during slow-wave sleep,

Night terrors

a sleep disorder in which a person quickly awakens from sleep in a terrified state

* often accompanied by screams and attempts to escape from the environment

Sleep apnea

episodes during which a sleeper’s breathing stops.

These episodes can last 10–20 seconds or longer

may not be aware of these repeated disruptions in sleep, they do experience increased levels of fatigue.

CPAP

a device includes a mask that fits over the sleeper’s nose and mouth, which is connected to a pump that pumps air into the person’s airways, forcing them to remain open,

SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), and how to avoid it

an infant stops breathing during sleep and dies

risk factors: premature birth, smoking at home, and hyperthermia.

tx: infants should be placed on their backs when put down to sleep, and their cribs should not contain any items which pose suffocation

DSM-5

…. to be added

Physical dependence

involves changes in normal bodily functions—the user will experience withdrawal from the drug upon cessation of use.

mental dependence

an emotional, rather than physical, need for the drug and may use the drug to relieve psychological distress.

Tolerance

when a person requires more and more of drug to achieve effects previously experienced at lower doses.

can cause the user to increase the amount of drug used to a dangerous level— i.e. overdose and death.

Withdrawal

a variety of negative symptoms experienced when drug use is discontinued.

* symptoms usually are opposite of the effects of the drug.

Depressants

a drug that tends to suppress central nervous system activity.

Alcohol

A depressant that is associated with decreases in reaction time and visual acuity, lowered levels of alertness, and reduction in behavioral control.

Barbiturates

drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment

Stimulants

drugs that tend to increase overall levels of neural activity and speed up body functions

Cocaine

\[term\] agonizes the dopamine neurotransmitter system by blocking the reuptake of dopamine in the neuronal synapse.

Amphetamine and methamphetamine

\[term\] have a mechanism similar to cocaine in that they block the reuptake of dopamine in ==addition== to stimulating its release

Nicotine

highly addictive, the ingestion of \[term\] results in a discharge of epinephrine from the adrenal cortex, causing a sudden release of glucose. Stimulation is followed by depression and fatigue, leading the user to seek more

Caffeine

a stimulant and probably the most commonly used drug in the world, it’s used to maintain increased levels of alertness and arousal.

Ecstasy (MDMA)

a mild stimulant with perception-altering effects. It is typically consumed in pill form.

Users experience increased energy, feelings of pleasure, and emotional warmth.

Opiates

derivatives of opium, which is a naturally occurring compound found in the poppy plant and have very potent painkilling effects,

Opioids

have analgesic properties; that is, they decrease pain.

Heroin

can be snorted, smoked, or injected intravenously and produces intense feelings of euphoria and pleasure

Following the initial "rush," users experience 4–6 hours of alternating between conscious and semiconscious states.

Methadone

a synthetic opioid that is less euphorigenic than heroin and similar drugs.

often given to those going through withdrawal

Codeine

an opioid with relatively low potency. It is often prescribed for minor pain, and it is available over-the-counter in some other countries.

Oxycontin

a class of pain-relieving opioid drug

Naloxone

overdose-reversal drug

Hallucinogens

one of a class of drugs that results in profound alterations in sensory and perceptual experiences, vivid visual hallucinations, hallucinations of body sensations and a skewed perception of time.

LSD

a potent psychedelic drug that are serotonin agonists (amplifies certain receptors).

Effects include intensified thoughts, emotions, & sensory perception

Marijuana

a psychoactive drug that is used both recreationally and in medical settings.

the main psychoactive ingredient stimulates the part of your brain that responds to pleasure

Hypnosis

a state of extreme self-focus and attention in which minimal attention is given to external stimuli.

Meditation

a state of extreme self-focus and attention in which minimal attention is given to external stimuli.

mindfulness meditation

a mental training practice that teaches you to slow down racing thoughts, let go of negativity, and calm both your mind and body

* pairs meditation with focus on the present; grounding

Definition of sensation

When sensory information is detected by a sensory receptor, **[term]** has occurred.

Transduction

The conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential

Absolute threshold

refers to the minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time.

Subliminal messages

messages that are presented below the threshold for conscious awareness

* A message below that threshold is said to be subliminal: We receive it, but we are not consciously aware of it.

Just noticeable difference (jnd)

interest in how much difference in stimuli is required to detect a difference between them.

Sensory adaptation

failing to perceive stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time.

Sensory interaction

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.

perception

refers to the way sensory information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced

Bottom-up processing

refers to sensory information from a stimulus in the environment driving a process

Top-down processing

refers to knowledge and expectancy driving a process,

Inattentional blindness

the failure to notice something that is completely visible because the person was actively attending to something else and did not pay attention to other things

Cornea

is the transparent covering over the eye. It serves as a barrier between the inner eye and the outside world, and it is involved in focusing light waves that enter the eye.

Pupil

the small opening in the eye through which light passes, and the size of the \[term\] can change as a function of light levels as well as emotional arousal.

Lens

a curved, transparent structure that serves to provide additional focus. The \[term\] is attached to muscles that can change its shape to aid in focusing light that is reflected from near or far objects.

Retina

the light-sensitive lining of the eye.

Fovea

a small indentation in the back of the eye

Photoreceptor cells

light-detecting cells.

cones

specialized types of photoreceptors that ==work best in bright light conditions==. \[term\] are very sensitive to acute detail and provide tremendous spatial resolution.

rods

specialized photoreceptors that ==work well in low light conditions== and are involved in our perception of movement on the periphery of our visual field.

Optic nerve

carries visual information from the retina to the brain.

blind spot

Even when light from a small object is focused on the \[term\], we do not see it. We are not consciously aware of our \[term\]

Trichromatic theory of color vision

all colors in the spectrum can be produced by combining red, green, and blue

Opponent-process theory

color is coded in opponent pairs: black-white, yellow-blue, and green-red.

The basic idea is that some cells of the visual system are excited by one of the opponent colors and inhibited by the other.

Depth perception

Our ability to perceive spatial relationships in three-dimensional space.

With \[term\] we can describe things as being in front, behind, above, below, or to the side of other things.

binocular cues

use of a variety of cues in a visual scene to establish our sense of depth, which means that they rely on the use of both eyes.

Six basic tastes (be able to recognize them)

sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami (taste monosodium) and taste of fatty content in foods

Olfactory receptor cells

located in a mucous membrane at the top of the nose.

Small hair-like extensions from these receptors serve as the sites for odor molecules dissolved in the mucus to interact with chemical receptors

Olfactory bulb

a bulb-like structure at the tip of the frontal lobe where the olfactory nerves begin.

Pheromones

substances which are secreted to the outside by an individual and received by a second individual of the same species, in which they release a specific reaction

thermoception

temperature perception

nociception

a signal indicating potential harm and maybe pain)

Gate-control theory

a mechanism, in the spinal cord, in which pain signals can be sent up to the brain to be processed to accentuate the possible perceived pain, or attenuate it at the spinal cord itself

The role of wide/narrow nerve fibers in pain perception

Large fibers carry messages to the muscles to control our movements. They also receive and carry some sensations to the spinal cord and brain including touch, vibration, and balance.

The small fibers send messages about illness and injury, including pain and itch and hot and cold.

Psychological and social influences on pain perception

psych- Emotional factors that may increase pain perception are anxiety, depression and anger.

social - Some cultural groups expect an extravagant display of emotion in the presence of pain, but others value stoicism, restraint and playing down the pain.

Vestibular sense

contributes to our ability to maintain balance and body posture.

Proprioception

perception of body position