DP Psych Year 1 Midterm

Biopsychosocial Approach

Understanding behavior or mental processes from three key viewpoints: Biological, Psychological, and Socio-Cultural

Cognitive Neuroscience

Combines the study of brain activity with how we learn, think, remember, and perceive.

Humanistic Psychology

A perspective that emphasizes looking at the the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual.

Evolutionary Psychology

The study of how behaviors and mental processes present in the species today exist because they were naturally selected.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Studies the relationship between people and our work environments. Investigates worker productivity and personnel selection, as well as organizational structuring, consumer behavior, and training.

Psychodynamic Perspective

Uses math and statistics to create, administer, score, and interpret tests. For example, IQ tests.

Social-Cultural Perspective

How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures.

Action Potential

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

Endocrine System

The body's slow chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. Hormonal secretion is slower; the endocrine system is like email.

Central Nervous System

Is made up of the brain and spinal cord. Is the decision maker. Is responsible for coordinating incoming sensory messages and outgoing motor messages.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Made up of sensory and motor neurons. Connects the body to the CNS by gathering the information from the senses and transmitting the messages from the CNS.
Contains the Sympathetic Nervous System (arouses the body, mobilizing its energy, gas pedal of a car) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (calms the body, conserving its energy, brake pedal of a car)

Association Area

A region of the cortex of the brain which connects sensory and motor areas.
Most of the brain's cortex which integrates information involved in learning, remembering, thinking, and other higher-level functions.

The Reticular Formation

Nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus.
Helps control arousal and filters incoming sensory stimuli.

Circulatory System

A system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate.

G x E Interaction

Gene Environment Interaction. Is when two different genotypes respond to environmental variation in different ways.

Genetic Predispositions

An increased chance that you’ll develop a certain disease, disorder, etc. based on your genetic makeup.

Adaptive Flexibility

The ability to respond flexibly to change. Has a strong influence on a person's adaptation and growth throughout life.

X Chromosome

One of two sex chromosomes involved in sex determination. Females have two of these.

Y Chromosome

One of two sex chromosomes involved in sex determination. Males have one of these and one of the other.

Corpus Callosum

A thick bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain, ensuring both sides can communicate and send signals to each other.

Dendrites

Receive messages from other cells
Bushy, branching extension that receive and integrate messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body.

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)

A complex molecule that contains the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes.

Cell Body (Soma)

The cell's life support system.
The part of the neuron that contains the nucleus.

EEG

A recording of the waves of electrical activity across the brain's surface measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. Indicates function.
Records brain wave activity while sleeping.

Axon

Passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands.
Attached to the cell body (soma).

Endorphin

Neurotransmitters that influence the perception of pain or pleasure.
An oversupply with opiate drugs can suppress the body's natural supply of this neurotransmitter.

Epigenetics

The study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change.
Shows how an individual's lifestyle, choices, etc. can directly interact with the genome.

Angular Gyrus

Involved in a number of processes related to language, number processing and spatial cognition, memory retrieval, attention, and theory of mind. Proposed as the key area of reading and writing function.

Cerebellum

At the rear of the brainstem.
Processes sensory input, coordinates movement and balance, and nonverbal learning and memory.

Chromosomes

The threadlike structures made of DNA that contain the genes. Each person has 46 of these, 23 from each parent.

Genes

The biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes.
Segments of DNA capable of synthesizing proteins.
You have ~20,000 of these.

Synapse

The junction through which neural signals are transmitted across from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron.

Glial Cells

Cells that support, nourish, and protect neurons.
Also play a role in learning, thinking, and memory.
Neurons are like queen bees; on their own they cannot feed or sheathe themselves. These are like worker bees; they provide nutrients and insulating myelin, guide neural connections, and mop up ions and neurotransmitters.

Hemispherectomy

A procedure in which one hemisphere of the brain is removed/disconnected. Is often used to treat refractory or drug resistant seizure disorders.

Lesion

Brain tissue is destroyed and researchers study the impact on functioning.

Hormones

Chemical messengers released from endocrine glands that influence the nervous system to regulate the physiology and behavior of individuals.

Hypothalamus

Directs eating, drinking, and body temperature.
Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, linked to emotion and reward.

Amygdala

Linked to emotion, fear, and aggression.

Hippocampus

Helps process for storage of explicit (conscious) memories of facts and events.

MRI

A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of brain anatomy. More detailed than a CT scan. Shows brain structure.

Motor Cortex

Controls voluntary movements

Motor Neurons

A neuron whose axon connects directly to muscle fibers. Allows for both voluntary and involuntary movements.

MRI

A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of brain anatomy. More detailed than a CT scan. Shows brain structure.

Mutations

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

Natural Selection

The principle that inherited trains that will better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Nervous System

The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous system.
Neurons release neurotransmitters, neurotransmitters move across synapses. Neural transmission is nano-fast, can be thought of as a "text message."

Neural Networks

A technique for modeling the neural changes in the brain in which a large number of neural units are connected to one another.

Neurogenesis

Although the brain often attempts to self-repair by reorganizing existing tissue (plasticity), it sometimes attempts to mend itself through producing new neurons (this).

Plasticity

The brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.

Thalamus

At the top of the brainstem. Is a relay station for incoming and outgoing sensory information (except smell).

Neurotransmitters

Any of a large number of chemicals that can be released by neurons to mediate transmission of nerve signals across synapses between neurons.

Phrenology

An incorrect historical theory that suggests specific abilities and personality traits are represented by specific areas of the brain. Is the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities.

Visual Cortex

The cortex that receives information from the eyes.

Sensory Neurons

A neuron that receives information from the environment, and transmits this information in the form of nerve impulses through synapses with other neurons to the central nervous system.

Basilar Membrane

A stiff structural element within the cochlea of the inner ear that separates two liquid-filled tubes that run along the coil of the cochlea.The motion of sound vibrations against the oval window of the cochlea causes vibrations here, bending hair cells lining its surface.

Sensory Adaptation

A perceptual phenomenon that occurs when the brain stops recognizing a constant or unchanging stimulus, allowing us to focus on stimuli that are changing.

Subliminal Stimulation

A kind of stimulus that may be perceived and processed in the brain, but does not elicit awareness of perception.

Phi Phenomenon

Our brain perceives a rapid series of slightly varying images as continuous movement. We construct that motion in our heads. Lighted signs exploit this with a succession of lights that creates the impression of, say, a moving arrow.

Top-Down Processing

Guided by experience and higher-level processes; we see what we expect to see.

Conscious Awareness

One part of the dual processing of our two track minds. Although much of our information processing is conscious, more is unconscious and automatic.

Perceptual Adaptation

The ability to adjust to changes in sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.

Opponent-Process Theory

Cone photoreceptors are paired together (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) to enable color vision. Activation of one color of the pair inhibits activation of the other.
Think about staring at the green, yellow, and black flag British. When you look at a white space after, you see a correctly colored British flag, even though there is none there.

Difference Threshold (Just Noticeable Difference/JND)

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

Embodied Cognition

The influence of bodily sensation, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements.
For example, after holding a warm drink rather than a cold one, people were more likely to rate someone more warmly, feel closer to them, and behave more generously.

Feature Detectors

Nerve cells located in the visual cortex of the occipital lobe that respond to a scene's edges, lines, angles, and movements.
Receive information from individual ganglion cells in the retina and pass it to other cortical areas, where supercell clusters respond to more complex patterns.

Semicircular Canals

Three fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that regulate balance and the head's (and body's) movements.

Frequency Theory

Suggests that the brain reads pitch by monitoring the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve. The whole basilar membrane vibrates with the incoming sound wave, triggering neural impulses to the brain at the same rate as the sound wave.

Gate-Control Theory

States the the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain.

Inner Ear

Has the cochlea, vestibule, and semicircular canals.

Interposition

If one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer.

Kinesthesis

The sense that provides information through receptors in the muscles, tendons, and joins, enabling humans and other animals to control and coordinate their movements.

Sensory Interaction

When different senses work together

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines appear to meet in the distance. The sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance.

Middle Ear

Contains the eardrum (tympanic membrane), the ossicles (incus, malleus, but & stapes), and the oval window.

Cornea

The eye's clear, protective outer layer covering the pupil and iris. Light first enters the eye through the cornea.

Optic Nerve

Comprised of the axons of ganglion cells. Leaves through the back of the eye and carries the neural impulses from the eye to the brain.

Parallel Processing

Thinking about many aspects of a problem simultaneously. This is the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. The brain delegates the work of processing motion, form, depth, and color to different areas.

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Continuity

A Gestalt law of grouping that states we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones. The pattern could be a series of alternating semicircles, but we perceive it as two continuous lines—one wavy and one straight.

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. We see what we want to see. For example, a to-be-climbed hill can seem steeper when carrying a heavy backpack, or if we are told a drink is name brand, we may think it tastes better.

Phantom Limb Sensation

The brain can create pain, as it does in phantom limb sensation after a limb amputation. Without normal sensory input, the brain may misinterpret and amplify spontaneous but irrelevant central nervous system activity.

Place Theory

Presumes that we hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different spots along the cochlea's basilar membrane. Thus, the brain determines a sound's pitch by recognizing the specific area (on the membrane) that is generating the neural signal.

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response. Even if you don't think you notice a stimuli, your brain might, and that can impact you.

Pupil

A small, adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light passes.

Skin Receptors

Receptors that respond to pressure, warmth, cold, and pain.

Relative Height

We perceive objects higher in our vision as farther away.

Retinal Disparity

By comparing retinal images from two eyes, the brain computes distance. The greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object.

Rods

Retinal photoreceptors that detect black, white, and gray. Are sensitive to movement, dim light, and peripheral motion. Remain sensitive in dim light. Are located along the retina's outer periphery. Have no hotline to the brain.

Cones

Detect fine detail and create color sensations. Cluster in and around the fovea. In dim light, they become unresponsive and we're unable to see color. Many have their own hotline to the brain.

Selective Attention

Defined as our tendency to focus on just a particular stimulus among the many that our being received.

Figure-Ground

The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings.

Sensation

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Binocular Cues

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes.

Sensory Input

The stimulation of a sense organ, causing a nerve impulse to travel to its appropriate destination.

Lens

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. To focus the rays, this changes its curvature and thickness in a process called accomodation.
If it focuses the image on a point in front of the retina, you have nearsightedness, and vice versa.

Closure

A Gestalt law of grouping that states we fill in gaps to create a complete, whole, object.

Bipolar Cells

A neuron with only two extensions (an axon and a dendrite) that run from opposite sides of the cell body. Found primarily in the retina.

Synesthesia

In a few select individuals, the brain circuits for two or more senses become joined in this phenomenon, where the stimulation of one sense (such as hearing sound) triggers an experience of another (such as seeing color)

McGurk Effect

An illusion where speech sound are often miscategorized when the auditory cues conflict with the visual cues from the speaker's face.

Blind Spot (Optic Disk)

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating this, because no receptor cells (rods or cones) are located there.