AP Psych

Wilhem Wundt

established first psychology lab, founder of structuralism and developed introspection

structuralism

uses introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind

William James

founder of functionalism & published first psychology text

functionalism

how our mental and behavioral processes function (how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish)

Psychodynamic psychology

studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior.

Sigmund Freud

founder of psychoanalysis (therapy like free association and dream interpretation) and thought that our cognition and actions are based on our unconscious motivations (sexual, aggressive). developed 4 stages of psychosexual theory of personality development: oral, anal, phallic, genital. created the defense mechanisms.

Humanistic Psychology

growth potential of people and individual potential for personal growth (free will)

Abraham Maslow

a humanistic psychologist who found the hierarchy of needs and self actualization

Carl Rogers

A Humanistic psychologist who developed the client-centered therapy including the unconditional positive regard

evolutionary psych

the study of the roots of behavior and mental processes using the principles of natural selection (survival)

natural selection

nature selects the traits that best enable an organism to survive (charles darwin)

biopsychosocial approach

approach that incorporates biological pysch, and social cultural levels of analysis

level of analysis

the differing complementary views

psychiarty

branch of medicine that deals with psychological disorders

psychometrics

scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

basic research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

applied research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

Unit 9: Developmental Psychology

Unit 9: Developmental Psychology

nature vs nurture

what youre born with vs the enviornment you grew up with

zygote

fertilized egg (2 week)

embryo

the form about 2 weeks after fertilization

fetus

9 weeks after conception to birth

teratogens

chemicals and viruses that can reach embryo or fetus and can cause harm

placenta

carries nutrients

Fetal alcohol Syndrome

abnormalties in children caused by pregnant alcoholic women (possibly facial misproportions)

reflexes

An involuntary reaction or response. examples are: grabbbing, sucking, squeezing, rooting

habituation

a novel stimulus gets attention when first presented, then the more often it is presented, the weaker the interest/response becomes

schema

concept or framework that organizes and interprets info

Assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Accomodation

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new info

object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not percieved

pre operational stage

(2 to 6/7 years of age) child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

Noam chomsky

discovered nativism: innate, universal grammar and the critical period for language development

Jean Piaget

discovered the 4 stage theory of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.

concrete operational stage

(6/7 to 11 years of age) child gains mental operations that enables them to think logically about concrete events.

formal operational stage

(beginning at age 12) people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Imprinting

(duck study) process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.

Harry Haslow

Studied attachment styles among monkeys and conducted the fake mothers study.

Marry Ainsworth

studied the (secure and insecure) attachment styles (strange situation study)

Lawrence Kholberg

made the 3 stage theory of moral development: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional

temperament

a persons characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

egocentrism

childs difficulty taking anothers point of view

authoritive

let kid help with rules

pruning

cleaning; removing brain cells you dont need

cessation

stopping; bringing something to a stop

out of the 5 senses, which one is last/least developed when you are born?

sight.

Unit 2: Research

Unit 2: Research

theory

explanation using a set of principles

operational definition

statement of the operations used to define research variables

case study

one person is studied in full depth

survey

look at many cases at once

naturalistic observation

recording behavior in naturally occurring situations (in habitat)

confounding variable

another factor that might produce an effect

Placebo effect

a fake nontreatment; reactions caused by only expectations

double blind procedure

both research participants and staff are blind to whether participants received treatment or placebo

experimental group vs control group

group being exposed to the treatment vs the group not exposed to treatment

correlation coefficient

number that measures the strength of the relationship between two things

standard deviation

scale

statistical significance

how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

Unit 3: Biological bases of behavior

Unit 3: Biological bases of behavior

biological psychology

study of the links between biological (genes and neuroscience) affect our behavior

3 types of neurons and where do they each carry their info from and to?

a. sensory - senses to brain

b. motor - brain & spinal cord to muscles

c. interneurons - sensory to motor cortex

3 parts of neuron and functions of each?

a. dendrite - (fingers) receive info

b. axon - (tail) sends out info

c. myelin sheath - encases/protects axon

threshold

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

action potential

a neural impulse (electrical charge)

reuptake

a neurotransmitters re absorption by the sending neuron

agonists vs antagonists

mimic vs block

peripheral nervous system

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) to the rest of the body

autonomic nervous system

controls the glands and muscles of the internal organs (heart)

somatic nervous system

voluntary; controls body's skeletal muscles

parasynthetic nervous system

calms the body

sympathetic nervous system

arouses the body

some common neurotransmitters and what they control and how an under/over supply can affect our bodies

a. Acetylcholine - enables muscle action, learning, memory (undersupply causes alzheimers)

b. dopamine - movement, learning, attention, emotion (excess causes schizophrenia and undersupply causes parkinsons disease)

c. serotonin - mood, hunger, sleep, arousal (undersupply causes depression)

d. norepinephrine - alertness and arousal (undersupply can depress mood)

adrenal glands vs pituitary glands

helps arouse body vs regulates growth

EEG

recording of waves of electrical activity

CAT scan vs PET scan

x-ray photographs vs visual display of brain activity that detects glucose

MRI VS FMRI

uses magnetic fields and radio waves vs bloodflow

what is the oldest part of the brain?

brainstem

medulla

controls heartbeat and breathing

thalamus

switchboard that directs messages to sensory receiving areas and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

cerebellum

coordinating movements and balance

hypothalamus

directs maintenance like hunger and body temperature

glial cells

support, nourish and protects neurons

parietal lobes

recieves sensory input for touch and body positon

frontal lobes

(language) speaking, muscle movements, making plans and judgement

occipital lobes vs temporal lobes

visual fields vs auditory areas and also recognizes faces

aphasia

impairment of language

brocas area vs wernickes area

muscles required to talk vs hearing and understanding language

plasticity

brains ability to change

How do messages travel from one neuron to another?

messages travel from dendrites through the cell body and down the axon to the axon terminals

Unit 4: sensation and perception

perception

using sensory information to recognize meaning

transduction

conversion of one energy to another, occurs in the optic nerve