AP PSYCH S1 FINAL

FINAL

Psychology

behavior and thoughts

Positive psychology

focuses on positive experiences + emotions

Developmental psychologists

how psychology changes over a lifetime

Clinical psychologists

Psychologists who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and everyday behavioral problems.

Counseling psychologists

help people adapt to change or make changes in their lifestyle

Community psychology

ensures that services reach those who need it

Health psychologists

relationship between risky behaviors and health problems, + impact of physical illnesses

Industrial/Organizational psychologists

efficiency, productivity, and satisfaction among workers

Environmental psychologists

effect of physical environment on psych

Biological approach

brain (physical), genetics, nervous system, chemical

Evolutionary approach

natural selection, evolve + adapt - human race as a whole

Psychodynamic/psychoanalytic approach

unconscious; Freud

Behavioral approach

learning, rewards and punishments, observable behavior

Cognitive approach

thoughts (byproducts of brain), decision-making, emotions

Humanistic approach

growth + potential, perception of self

Sociocultural/social-cultural approach

nurture, environment, way you were raised, etc.

Eclectic approach

uses more than one approach

Empiricism/Empirical approach

psych through the rules of science, use of data

Nature

genetics

Nurture

environment

Basic research

to increase scientific knowledge *we know more than we did yesterday

Applied research

using the information *conducting a study and doing something with the results

Hypothesis

prediction, early in study

Operational definition

must define the variables as precisely as possible

Naturalistic observation

observe something in its natural environment, cannot interfere

Case studies

in-depth investigation of a person, group, etc. - you can do what you want

experimental group

what you study, this groups gets the treatment or change

Control group

serves as a baseline, status quo, you compare the results to this

Independent variable

manipulate/control - whether or not you get this

Dependent variable

what you measure

Double-Blind design

both the research participants and the researchers are unaware who is receiving a placebo and they do not know expected results

Random Sample

everyone in the population has an equal chance of selection

Representative sample

all demographics are accounted for

Random assignment

participants have an equal chance of being in the experimental group or the control group

Standard deviation

tells you variability and/or consistency*greater the range = greater the standard deviation

Positive correlation

variables move in same direction, both up or both down

Negative correlation

variables move in opposite directions, 1 up 1 down

Correlation coefficient

strength and direction of correlation (+1 to -1)

Statistically significant

results did not come by chance, results are not random

Debrief/debriefing

after experiment has been conducted, researchers explain to participants*must be done if deception is used in a study

Neuron

basic building block of nervous system; releases neurotransmitters

Peripheral nervous system

has autonomic and somatic nervous systems

Somatic nervous system

voluntary muscle movement

Autonomic nervous system

sympathetic and parasympathetic; involved with involuntary movement

Sympathetic nervous system

gets ready for action, flight or fight response/syndrome

Parasympathetic nervous system

feeling of weight being lifted, calming down, lowers heart rate, stops adrenaline

Central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

EEG

skull cap- electrodes, measures electrical activity in brain, simplified way, general info + shows overall brain function (aka if brain is working)

MRI

magnetic resonance imaging, looks like a CAT more detailed than CAT, picture

Medulla

heart rate, breathing, blood pressure

Cerebellum

finely coordinated movements

Amygdala

in limbic system; linked to emotion + judging emotions of others

Hypothalamus

lots of functions - hunger, thirst, sex drive, sleep

Frontal lobe

largest, divided into left + right, speech (left), muscle movement, has prefrontal cortex for decision making, personality; has motor cortex

Parietal lobe

sensation of touch + body position (know where body parts are), has somatosensory cortex

Temporal lobe

primarily hearing, also helps with facial recognition + ability to remember facts/dates/names, when damaged you cannot PROCESS what you hear

Occipital lobe

vision, in back of head, left + right eyeballs attached to both occipital lobes*damage does not mean blindness, but cannot process what you are seeing

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter; lack of can lead to Alzheimer's Disease

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter; not enough can lead to depression

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter; lack of can lead to Parkinson's Disease while too much can lead to Schizophrenia

Sensations

Messages from senses that make up information affecting psych, senses produce sensations

Transduction

the conversion/change of energy

Sensory Adaptation

a decrease in sensitivity to a constant level of stimulation (ex. glasses on face)

Coding/encoding

**after transduction, encoding begins translation

Conduction deafness

hole in ear drum, related to OSSICLES, can be more temporary, fluid in ear/ear blockage, ossicles stuck together (surgical)

Nerve Deafness

hair cells in cochlea damaged due to old age or extended exposure to loud noise; hearing aids can help amplify sound

Place theory

hair cells at a particular PLACE on the BASILAR MEMBRANE respond to a certain FREQUENCY of sound (high pitch-mild frequencies-lower)

Frequency matching theory ("volley theory")

firing rate of a NEURON in the auditory NERVE; can make the frequency of a sound better for lower pitch frequency

Rods

ability to see in dim light; peripheral vision

Cones

help see color; central vision

Visual acuity

ability to see details; greatest in fovea

Trichromatic theory (Young-Helmholtz)

cones are sensitive to 3 colors - red - long wavelengths - green - medium wavelengths - blue - short wavelengths

Opponent process theory

color sensitive elements are "opposites" of each other -1st: red-green -2nd: blue-yellow -3rd: black-white *after image effect

Synesthesia

the blending of the senses *cross-wire

Olfactory bulb

A brain structure that receives messages regarding smell

Gate control theory

Suggests that the spinal cord that either lets pain travel to the brain or blocks it

Endorphins

neurotransmitter that deals with pain control

Vestibular sense/sense of equilibrium

A proprioceptive sense; position of head & movement (dizziness)

Vestibular sacs

Organs in the inner ear that connect semicircular canals and the cochlea; helps with balance

Kinesthesia

Proprioceptive sense that tells you were your body parts are in respect to one another

Perception

analysis of the energy collected by sensation ("step \#9")

Computation model/approach

take in EVERYTHING; slowest way to perceive the world, new, step-by-step

Constructivist approach

still taking in information but bigger chunks, a bit faster w more experience

Ecological approach

familiar, take in very little, consciously you ignore so much, autopilot

Absolute threshold

SMALLEST amount of ENERGY needed to DETECT something 50% or more of the time (dif for each person)

Just-noticeable difference / difference threshold

when do you notice a CHANGE in stimuli?

Weber's Law

to be perceived as different, differs in WEIGHT

Figure-ground discrimination

something will always be in focus and something will always be out of focus (figure vs. background)

Proximity

close together goes together

Similarity

similar characteristics go together (ex. red vs. black dots)

Closure

fill in the gaps

Connectedness

physical, joined together goes together

Relative size

brain knows relative size; smaller is looks, farther away

Height in the visual field

higher in visual field, farther away

Texture gradient

more texture, the closer it is

Bottom-up processing

use of senses 1st to perceive *think feature detectors

Top-down processing

schema-driven before senses

Cocktail party effect

focus on 1 stimuli and still pay attention to other CERTAIN stimuli

Overt orienting

look like you are paying attention and you are

Covert orienting

look like you're paying attention but you are NOT