Psych Exam 1

Norepinephrine (Ne)

influences mood and arousal

Psychology

the scientific study of mind (private inner experience) and behavior (observable actions)

Nativism (Kant)

philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn

Nature

our biological endowment, especially the genes were receive from our parents

Empiricism (Locke)

philosophical view that all knowledge is acquired through experience

Nurture

wide range of environments, both physical and social, that influence our development

Difference between nativism and empiricism

Nativism places an emphasis on being born with certain innate traits. Empiricism states that all knowledge is derived from experience.

Wilhelm Wundt is associated with which philosophy?

Structuralism

Structuralism

analyzing the mind by breaking it down into its basic components or its structure

William James is associated with which philosophy?

Functionalism

Functionalism

the study of how mental abilities/functions allow people to adapt to their environments, emphasis on how the mind functions

Operational Definition

a detailed explanation of how a variable or concept is assessed or used in a specific study; provides a precise, specific, and quantifiable description of a topic by outlining the steps or methods a researcher uses to define it

Example of operational definition

How the variable (employee satisfaction) is measured: Number of days per month an employee shows up to work on time or rating of job satisfaction from 1 to 10

Dependent Variable

variable measured in a study

Independent Variable

variable manipulated in an experiment or changed in a study

Reliability

tendency to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to produce the same thing, refers to consistency

Validity

the extent to which a measurement and a property are conceptually related, refers to precision

Demand Characteristics

those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think they should

Correlation

two variables are said to be correlated when variations in the value of one variable are synchronized with variations in the value of another; correlation does not equal causation

Positive Correlation

as a variable goes up or down, so does the other; more-more (ex. more exercise, more years of life expectancy)

Negative Correlation

as a variable goes up, the other goes down; less-more or more-less (ex. more exercise, less body fat)

Third variable problem (Confounding Variable)

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

Observer Bias

expectations of a study/results can influence observations and influence perceptions of reality

Double Blind

observation whose true purpose is hidden from both the observer and the person being observed to prevent swaying and bias; neither participants nor observers know what group is what

Naturalistic Observation

technique for gathering scientific info by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments

Experimental Group

the group of people who are treated in a particular way, as compared to what the control group is lacking in an experiment

Control Group

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

Random Assignment

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

Random Sampling

a technique for choosing participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample

Case Method (Case Study)

method of gathering scientific knowledge by studying a single individual

Informed Consent

an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

No Coercion

each participant has the right to confirm or deny participation in a study without being forced or threatened, participation should be voluntary

Protect from Harm

ensures research participants will not be caused distress and will protected from physical and mental harm

Risk-Benefit Ratio

an analysis of whether the research is important enough to warrant placing participants at risk

deception

misleading participants about the true purpose of a study or the events that will actually transpire

Debriefing

the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

Confidentiality

the assurance that messages and information are available only to those who are authorized to view them

Neuron

cells in the nervous system that communicate with each other to perform information processing tasks

Sensory Neurons

they receive info from the external world and convey this info to the brain via spinal cord

Motor Neurons

carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

Interneurons

neurons that connect sensory neurons, motor neurons, or other interneurons

Mirror Neurons

neurons that fire both when the animal is performing the action and when it observes another animal performing the action

Glutamate

major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in information transmission throughout the brain; learning and memory

Acetylcholine (ACh)

neurotransmitter that involves a number of functions including voluntary motor control; attention, learning, memory, prominent in nervous system

Serotonin (S-HT)

involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, eating, and aggressive behavior

Dopamine (DA)

regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure, emotional arousal, prominent in reward-seeking, part of addiction

Endorphins

chemicals that act within the pain pathways and emotional centers in the brain

Diseases associated with high and low levels of dopamine

high: BPD, mental health issues, mania, obesity; low: Parkinson's scizophrenia, restless leg syndrome, depression, ADD

Agonist action

activates receptor

Antagonist Action

prevent receptor activation

Hypnagogic sleep

Going to sleep, drownsiness

Hypnapompic

Popping out of bed, waking up

Thought Suppression

Conscious avoidance of a thought

Ironic Process

Monitoring for errors can end up producing them, conscious attempts to suppress thoughts make them more likely to surface

Mental Control

Attempting to change conscious states of mind

Default network

System of connected brain areas that show increased activity when a person is not focused on what is happening around them

Rebound effect of thought suppression

Tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following the suppression

Freud's perspective on the unconscious mind

Dynamic unconscious and repression

Dynamic unconscious

An active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the person's deepest instincts and desires, and the person's inner struggle to control these forces

Repression

A mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and memories from consciousness

Cognitive psychologist perspective on the unconscious mind

Cognitive unconsciousness and subliminal perception

Cognitive unconsciousness

the mental processes that give rise to a person's thoughts, choices, emotions, and behavior even though they are not experienced by the person

Subliminal perception

thought or behavior that is influenced by stimuli that a person cannot consciously report perceiving

levels of consciousness

Minimal, full, self

Minimal consciousness

a low-level kind of sensory awareness and responsiveness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behavior

Full consciousness

a level of consciousness in which you know and are able to report your mental state

self-consciousness

a distinct level of consciousness in which the person's attention is drawn to the self as an object

mirror test of consciousness

Recognition of self in mirrors by humans and other animals

4 properties of consciousness

intentionality, unity, selectivity, transience

Intentionality

Being directed toward an object, all mental states are intentional, conscious attention is limited

Unity

resistance to attention division, we're bad at focusing on two things at once but good at switching back and forth

Automaticity

Expertise through practice; performance of a skill that has been practiced repeatedly that is eventually executed with little or no direct attention

Stroop task

A task invented in which a subject sees a list of words (color terms) printed in an ink color that differs from the word named. The subject is asked to name the ink colors of the words in the list and demonstrates great difficult in doing so

Selectivity

the capacity to include some objects but not others

Dichotic listening

a task in which people wearing headphones hear different messages presented to each ear

Cocktail party phenomenon

a phenomenon in which people tune in one message even while they filter out others nearby ex) your name

Transience

tendency to change ex) acceptance of wandering minds, ability to change perspectives

Problem of other minds

the fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others

Mind/body problem

the issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body

Sleep disorders

Insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, night terrors, sleepwalking

sleep apnea

a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.

Night terrors

a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during Stage 4 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered

Insomnia

recurring problems in falling or staying asleep

Sleep walking

walking during non-REM sleep

circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle

Stages of sleep

1. Lightest Sleep (NREM) 2. Slightly Deeper Sleep (NREM) 3. Deeper Sleep (NREM) 4. Delta Waves are omitted but there is not much difference between this stage and stage 3 (NREM) 5. REM

Types of brain waves associated with the stages of sleep

Awake: beta, drowsy: alpha, stage 1: theta, stage 2: sleep spindles and mixed eeg activity, slow wave (stage 3 and 4): more delta waves, stage 5: rem, high frequency

Frontal lobe function

Motor

Parietal lobe function

somatosensory

Temporal lobe function

Auditory

occiptal lobe function

Visual

Amygdala function

Emotional processes, memory, and fear

Cerebellum function

coordination of voluntary movements, balance, fine motor skills

Hippocampus function

memory

Medulla function

controls heartbeat and breathing

Thalamus function

relay station for sensory impulses

Brain plasticity

The capacity for the brain to alter its structure and function

Mirror therapy

using a reflection of an existing limb to treat phantom limb pain

Synapse

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron