PSYC 2301 Unit 1 Exam Study Guide

Flashcards for PSYC 2301 Unit 1 Exam Review

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior of individual organisms and environmental, physiological, mental, social, and cultural events that influence these behaviors.

Psychological Scientist

Conduct research and develop theories in psychology.

Psychological Practitioner

Work with clients and develop technologies within the field of psychology.

Psychological Perspectives

Philosophical ways of thinking about the goals of psychology and the nature of human behavior.

Psychological Subfields

Areas of research that focus on specific sets of influences on behavior.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology’s goal should be to study directly observable behavior and to understand how environmental events produce behavior.

Bio-psycho-social-cultural Perspective

A perspective inclusive of the many factors that work together to influence behavior; the most dominant perspective.

Humanism

The view that psychology’s goal should be to understand human strengths, aspirations, conscious experience, free will, and potential.

Evolutionary Perspective

Aims to understand the evolutionary pressures that shaped behavior and the adaptive functions of behavior.

Psychodynamic Theory

Psychological experience is the conflict between our id and our superego.

Id

The desire to find physical satisfaction and fulfill biological needs.

Superego

The need to meet the demands of society.

Ego

The component of our self that seeks compromise between the id and superego, between satisfaction and conformity.

Abnormal Psychology

The study of psychological problems, including mental illness, and their treatment.

Cognitive Psychology

The study of memory, thinking, reasoning, and other mental activities.

Developmental Psychology

The study of how the individual changes physically, cognitively, and emotionally over the life span.

Personality Psychology

The study of the relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving within an individual.

Social Psychology

The study of how the social environment influences the behavior of the individual

IRB (Institutional Review Board)

A committee that oversees all human research at an institution to protect the rights of research participants.

Pre-participation Informed Consent

Volunteers are given a form detailing their participation in the research study.

Post-participation Debriefing

Participants are informed of any deception and asked if researchers can keep their data.

Minimization of Harm

Benefits must outweigh risks to participants in research.

Case Study

A detailed observation of a single individual or group of individuals.

Correlation

A research study that involves the measurement and comparison of 2+ variables.

Experiment

The ability of the researcher to control the environment and minimize outside influences on the behavior of interest.

Naturalistic Observation

A situation in which the level of one or more independent variables has been changed, while holding as many other variables constant as possible.

Placebo Effect

A phenomenon in which people often feel better when exposed to a treatment, even if the treatment does not work.

Nature vs Nurture

DNA versus how you were raised

Stages vs. Continuity

Defined/distinct periods versus slow/gradual/cumulative development.

Teratogen

An agent or factor that causes malfunction of an embryo.

Stranger Anxiety

Anxiety born of an infant’s inability to assimilate strangers into the caregiver’s schema.

Authoritative Parenting Style

High responsiveness and high demands; best outcomes for the child.

Authoritarian Parenting Style

Low responsiveness and high demand.

Permissive Parenting Style

High responsiveness and low demands.

Uninvolved Parenting Style

No rules, no responsiveness.

Emotion-coaching

Parents monitor their child’s emotions, view their child’s negative emotions as opportunities for teaching, assist them in labeling emotions, and coach them in how to deal effectively with emotions.

Emotion-dismissing

Parents view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions.

Adolescent Egocentrism

The belief that an adolescent’s private experiences are unique and that others are always directing their attention toward it.

Feeling In-Between

Don’t consider themselves adolescents but it’s also hard to consider yourself a full-fledged adult.

Identity Exploration

Trying to figure out who you want to be with and what you want to do.

Instability

Where you live, love, work and education.

Self-Focused

Having very little in the way of social obligations and commitments to others, which leaves them a lot of independence in running their own lives.

Age of Possibilities

A time when people really have the chance to transform their lives.

Midlife Crisis

Feeling suspended between the past and the future, trying to cope with the gap that threatens life’s continuity.

Cognitive Activity

Read books, crossword puzzles on any type of mental activity to keep the neural connections really strong for your brain.

Physical Activity

They tend to have less health problems than those who don’t. A combination of aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and balance-improving exercises.

Social Activity

Seeing other people and talking to other people.

Dementia

An umbrella term for symptoms of a degenerating brain, such as impaired thinking and memory.

Life Review Outcomes

If they are well spent, then the older adult will be satisfied. If they land on the other side of the coin, they might feel like the worth of their life is negative.

Neuron

A brain cell that stores and processes information using an electrical code.

Glial Cell

A brain cell that supports the activities of neurons.

Soma

Part of the neuron that contains machinery to keep the neuron alive and functioning.

Dendrites

Branching neural fibers that collect inputs from other neurons.

Axon

A single long wire that sends electrical signals from the soma to other neurons.

Resting Potential

Voltage maintained by a neuron when it is not sending any electrical messages.

Action Potential

Electrical impulse that moves from the soma through the axon.

Ion Channels

Passageways that enable charged particles (ions) to travel through the neural membrane when opened.

Synapse

Tiny gap between two neurons where chemical transmission of neural messages occurs.

Neurotransmitter

Chemical messengers manufactured by one neuron that communicates with other neurons via synapses.

Vesicle

Tiny bags used to contain and transport neurotransmitters from the soma to the end of the axon.

Receptor Site

Locations where neurotransmitters fit like a key in a lock to activate postsynaptic neurons.

Central Nervous System

The part of the nervous system made up of the brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System

The portion of the nervous system containing all nerves outside the central nervous system.

Sympathetic Nervous System

The portion of the autonomic nervous system that controls the body’s organ activity in response to threats.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

The portion of the autonomic nervous system that controls organ activity.

Limbic System

A group of midbrain structures that contribute to our emotional experiences. It influences emotional responses, memory formation, motivation, and behavior.

Cortex

The wrinkly surface of the brain.

Hemisphere

The division of the brain into left and right sides.

Frontal Lobe

The area of the brain that is implicated in impulse control and personality.

Occipital Lobe

The lobe at the posterior corner of the brain, concerned primarily with basic visual processing.