Psych Exam 1 Study Guide

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127 Terms

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Psychology

The scientific study of the mind and behavior

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Psychology is ________ compared to other sciences

young

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Psychology began in…

Western Europe

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Who was William James?

First to take a scientific approach to study Psychology

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Critical Thinking

“purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed” thinking that seeks to examine evidence, evaluate conclusions, solve problems, make decisions, and formulate reasonable and accurate conclusions.

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What are WEIRD samples?

Research participants from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic backgrounds.

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What is Behaviorism?

An approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior

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Cognitive Revolution

Focused on uncovering the underlying mental processes for behavior.

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Scientific Method

A set of principles about the appropriate relationship between ideas and evidence

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Who is the father of the scientific method?

Ibn al-Haytham

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Empericism

the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation

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Theory

a hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomena

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Hypothesis

a falsifiable prediction made by a theory

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Independent Variables

the manipulated variable (the hypothesized cause)

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Dependent Variables

the measured variable (the hypothesized effect)

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Operational Definition

a description of a property in concrete, measurable terms

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Theory v Hypothesis

A theory is supported by evidence while a hypothesis is formed before an research has been done.

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Reliability

the tendency of a measure to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing

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Validity

the extent to which a measurement and a property are conceptually related

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Measure

a device that can detect the condition to which an operational definition refers

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Measures of central tendency (center or midpoint)

mean, median, and mode

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Variability (extent measurements differ)

range and standard deviation

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Normal Distribution

a mathematically defined frequency distribution in which most measurements are concentrated around the middle

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Population of Interest

the full set of cases the researcher is interested in

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Sample

The group who participated in research and who belong to the larger group (population of interest) that the researcher is interested in understanding

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Naturalistic Observations

a technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people or animals in their natural environments

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Correlational Research

A type of study that measures two or more variables in the same sample of people and then observes the relationship between them.

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Third Variable Problem

the fact that a casual relationship between two variables cannot be inferred from the naturally occurring correlation between them because of the ever- present possibility of third variable correlation.

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Experimental Research

A study is which one variable is manipulated, and the other in measured. Experimental research can establish causation.

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Manipulation

the creation of an artificial pattern of variation in a variable in order to determine its causal powers

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Random Assignment

a procedure that uses a random event to assign people to the experimental or control group

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Experimental Group

the group of people who are treated in a particular way in an experiment

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Control Group

the group of people who are not treated in the particular way that the experimental group is treated in an experiment

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Placebo Effect

The influence of a subject’s beliefs and expectations on their experience

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Internal Validity

The characteristic of an experiment that established the causal relationship between variables

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External Validity

the property of an experiment in which the variables have been operationally defined in a normal, typical, or realistic way

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Significance

Establishes whether the sample results can be used to generalize and infer about the broader population

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Neurons

cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform information processing tasks

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Soma (Cell Body)

the part of the neuron that coordinates information-processing tasks and keeps the cell alive

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Dendrite

the part of a neuron that receives information from other neurons and relays it to the soma

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Axon

the part of the neuron that transmits information to other neurons, muscles, or glands

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Synapse

the junction or region between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another

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Neurotransmitters

chemicals that transmit information across the synapse to a receiving neuron’s dendrites

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Neurotransmission

The transfer of information between neurons

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Action Potential

The electrical impulse “fired” by neurons when stimulated with enough energy. A wave of change in electrical potential that rushes down the axon.

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Amygdala

plays a central role in many emotional processes, particularly the formation of emotional memories

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Central Nervous System

composed of the brain and the spinal cord

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Peripheral Nervous System

connects the CNS to the body’s organs and muscles

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Somatic Nervous System

conveys information into and out of the CNS

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Autonomic Nervous Systems

carries involuntary and automatic commands that control blood vessels, body organs, and glands

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Sympathetic Nervous Systems

prepares the body for action in threatening situations

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Parasympathetic Nervous System

helps the body return to a normal resting state

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Endocrine System

a network of glands (organs) throughout the body that receive signals from the CNS and PNS to release chemical messages known as hormones

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Limbic System

a group of forebrain structures involved in motivation, emotion, learning, and memory

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Brain Stem

The part of the brain that connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord, located in the lowest part of your brain at the base of the skull, ensures that your brain gets the oxygen it needs. It regulates vital functions such as breathing and heart rate

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Cerebellum

Hangs off the back of the brain stem, contributes to coordination, precision, balance, and accurate timing.

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Pons

An upper brainstem structure that controls breathing and relays sensations, such as hearing, taste, and balance, to the subcortex and cortex.

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Medulla Oblongata

A lower brainstem structure that controls autonomic functions, including heart rate and blood pressure, and reflexes like swallowing and coughing.

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Reticular Formation

A structure thats runs through the brainstem and is connected to many parts of the brain; plays a central role in arousal and attention.

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Homunculus

a very small human

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Somatotopic Organization

The point for point correspondence of an area of the body to a specific point on the central nervous system. Supports a map of our body’s skin surface and the sense of touch.

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Cerebral Cortex

The outermost layer of the brain; supports cognitive skills, complex emotions, and complex mental activity, including your sense of mind and self

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Gyrus

the raised part of the cerebral surface

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Sulcus

the fissures of the cerebral surface

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Occipital Lobe

processes vital information

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Parietal Lobe

processes information about touch

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Temporal Lobe

responsible for hearing and language

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Frontal Lobe

has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgement

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Single Dissociation

A lesion to brain structure A disrupts function X but not function Y

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Double Dissociation

a lesion to brain structure A disrupts function X but not function Y, a lesion to brain structure B disrupts function Y but not function X

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Sensation

simple stimulation of a sense organ

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Perception

The organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation

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Transduction

what takes place when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into encoded neural signals sent to the central nervous system

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Synesthesia

the perceptual experience of one sense that is evoked by another sense

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Psychophysics

methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus

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Absolute Threshold

the minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus

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JND (Just Noticeable Difference)

the minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected

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Sensory Adaptation

sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions

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Light: Wavelength

perceived as a hue and corresponds to what we see as color

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Light: Amplitude

the height of a light wave and is related to our experience in brightness and intensity

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Blindspot

a location in the visual field that produces no sensation on the retina because the corresponding area of the retina contains neither rods nor cones and therefore has no mechanism to sense light

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Rods and Cones

Rods are for night vision, only showing shades of gray. Cones detect color. Rods are more plentiful than cones.

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Color Perception

The individualized perception of different colors

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Opponency

Pairs of visual neurons that work in opposition

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Trichromatic

the pattern of responding across the three types of cones that provides a unique code for each color

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How do we see?

Light passes through the cornea, pupil, lens, and then retina

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Ventral Pathways

Carries visual information to the temporal lobe such as object shape and identity

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Dorsal Pathways

Carries visual information to the parietal lobe such as location and movement of an object

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Sounds: Frequency

How high/low a sound is

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Sounds: Amplitude

How intense a sound is

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Timbre

a listener’s experience of sound quality or resonance

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The Outer Ear

collects sound waves

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The Middle Ear

transmits vibrations

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The Inner Ear

transduction into neural impulses

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Somatosenses

the body senses

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Olfaction

the sense of smell

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Gustation

the sense of taste

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Gestalt Laws

principles that define a set of rules that the visual system follows in order to differentiate between simplicity, closure, continuity, similarity, proximity, and common fate

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Consciousness

a person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind

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Intentionality

attention