AP Psychology: Chapters 1-4 Difficult Terms

Thomas Hobbes

Was a 17th-century philosopher known for his social contract theory and belief in absolute monarchy, articulated in his work "Leviathan." He argued that human beings are naturally selfish and that a strong central authority is necessary to maintain order. His Philosophy was materialism, which is the belief that nothing but matter exists, and everything can be explained by physical laws.

Charles Darwin

A 19th-century naturalist known for his theory of evolution by natural selection, which posits that species evolve over time through the survival and reproduction of individuals best suited to their environments.

Wilhelm Wundt

A German psychologist often regarded as the father of psychology, who established the first psychology laboratory to study consciousness in Leipzig in 1879.

Edward Titchener

An English psychologist and a student of Wilhelm Wundt, who is best known for developing the theory of structuralism, in psychology, emphasizing the analysis of conscious experience through introspection.

William James

An American philosopher and psychologist, he is best known for his contributions to functionalism, which focuses on how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environment. He believed that consciousness is a continuous stream and should be studied in its entirety. He did not approve on structuralism or introspection.

Dorothea Dix

Crucial in advocating for the rights of mentally ill poor people, and she was instrumental in founding the first public mental hospital in the United States.

Mary Whiton Calkins

First female graduate student in psychology, although she was denied a formal PhD because of her gender.

Margaret Floy Washburn

The first female to earn a formal PhD in Psychology, and served as the second president of the American Psychology Association.

Carl Rogers

Stressed the role of unconditional positive regard in interactions and the need for a positive self-concept as critical factors in attaining self-actualization.

Sigmund Freud

Developed a theory of human behaviour known as psychoanalytic theory. He drew a distinction between the conscious mind: a mental state of awareness that we have ready access to, and the unconscious mind, those mental processes that we normally don’t have access to, but still influence our emotions

Type I Error

Saying that something is different when it actually isn’t

Type II Error

Saying that something is not different when it actually is

Central Nervous System

Comprised of the brain and the spinal chord

Peripheral Nervous System

Comprised of all other nerves in the body

Afferent neurons

neural connections carrying sensory information to the brain

Efferent neurons

neural connections carrying commands and motor control from the brain to the body

Somatic Nervous System

Responsible for all voluntary movement, like kicking a can

Autonomic Nervous System

Responsible for all involuntary movement, like breathing and the beating of the heart

Sympathetic Nervous System

Responsible for the heightened state of psychological arousal known as the fight-or-flight reaction-an increase in heart rate and resperation

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Responsible for digestion, sleep, and conserving energy. Lets the sympathetic nervous system take over when the fight-or-flight reaction is called for

Hindbrain

Consists of the cerebellum, medulla oblongata, reticular activating system, and pons

Cerebellum

controls muscle tone and balance

Medulla Oblongata

controls involuntary actions and is closely linked with the autonomic nervous systems.

reticular activating system (RAS)

Controls wakefulness/alertness, also known as arousal.

Pons

a bridge for neural information to be sent to different parts of the brain.

Midbrain

Composed of the tectum and tegmentum

Tectum and Tegmentum

govern visual and auditory reflexes such as orienting to a sight or sound

Forebrain

contains the limbic system, the emotional center of the brain, and is composed of the thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

Thalamus

Relays sensory information; receives and directs sensory information from visual and auditory systems

Hippocampus

involved in processing and integrating memories. Damage to the hippocampus does not eliminate existing memories, because memories are stored in the neocortex, but rather it prevents the formation of new memories. This condition is called anterograde amnesia

anterograde amnesia

the inability to form new memeries

Amygdala

implicated in the expression of anger, frustration, and fear

Hypothalamus

controls temperature and water balance, hunger and the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system. It can be divided into the lateral and the ventromedial hypothalamus

lateral hypothalamus

the “on switch” for eating

ventromedial hypothalamus

the “off switch” for eating.

cerebral cortex

involved in higher cognitive functions such as thinking, planning, language use, and fine motor control. This area receives sensory information and sends out motor information

sensory cortex

receives sensory information

motor cortex

outputs motor information

left and right cerebral hemispheres

two symmetrical-looking parts of the brain. Connected by the corpus callosum, a thin band of connective nerve fibers

left hemisphere of cerebral cortex

mostly responsible for language processing, first discovered by Paul Broca, which is another name for the area: Broca’s area. controls the right side of the body

expressive aphasia

loss of the ability to speak, caused by damage in the Broca’s area

Wernicke’s area

An area in the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex that controls speech comprehension

receptive aphasia

the inability to comprehend speech, caused by damage in Wernicke’s area of the left temporal hemisphere of the cerebral cortex

Roger Sperry

demonstrated that the two major hemispheres of the cerebral cortex worked independently of each other.

right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex

primarily responsible for spatial reasoning, creativity, artistic abilities, and emotional processing, while also controlling the left side of the body

association areas

regions beyond the primary sensory and motor areas that integrate information, enabling higher-level cognitive functions like language, planning, and memory.

aprazia

inability to organize movement

agnoisa

a difficulty to process sensory information

alexia

inability to read

agraphia

inability to write

Fontal Lobe

Responsible for higher-level thought and processing. That includes paying attention, working memory, and performing complicated movements.

Parietal Lobe

handles somato-sensory information

Leak Channels

are channels that are open all the time and that simply allow ions to “leak” across the membrane

enzymes

Speeds up chemical processes

Neuroplasticity

allows the brain to compensate for injury or disease in order to continue adapting to an environment.

Michael Gazzaniga

Has done pioneering research on neuroplasticity.

endocrine system

A system for our body to relay information from one part of the body to another part of the body

adrenocorticotropic hormone

stimulates the adrenal gland

edpinephrine

adrenaline

norepinephrine

removal of adrenaline

Endorphins

The body’s natural painkillers

neuroplasticity

allows the brain to compensate for injury or disease.

endocrine system

another way our body provides information to various parts of our body

hormones

affect cell growth and proliferation (rapid growth)

pituitary gland

also known as the master gland, it has complete control all hormone release in the body

adrenocorticotropic hormone

stimulates the adrenal glands, resulting in fight-or-flight reactions

epinephrine

adrenaline

thyroid gland

producees thyroxine

thyroxine

importnat for regulating cellular metabolism