UNIT 1- AP Psych Midterm Vocab

Nature

biological factors that influence individual traits

Nurture

environmental factors that influence development/personality

Natural Selection

survival of the fittest, dif chance variations nature selects traits for best chance of survival

Hereditary

Passing of traits from parents to offspring

Eugenics

science dealing with improving hereditary qualities

Environment

the surroundings or conditions in which something operates

Central Nervous System

brain and spinal cord

Sympathetic nervous system

arouses and expands energy

Somatic Nervous system

voluntary control of skeletal muscles

Autonomic nervous system

self-regulating

Parasympathetic nervous system

calms the body down, recovery

Depolarization

The process during the action potential when sodium is rushing into the cell causing the interior to become more positive.

Refectory period

a period of inactivity after a neuron has fired

Threshold

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Peripheral nervous system

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

All-or-nothing response

a neuron's reaction of either firing at full strength, or not firing.

Neurons

nerve cells, the basic elements of the nervous system

Sensory neurons

neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord

Resting period

When neuron is charged, but waitng for new action potential

Glial cells

maitanence crew, repairs neurons in myeline sheath

Reuptake

a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers, transmit signals across synapse

Glutamate

A major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory

Norepinephrine

helps control alertness and arousal

GABA

a major inhibitory neurotransmitter

Ghrelin

hormone that tells you when you're hungry

Endorphins

natural, linked to pain control and to pleasure

Substance P

pain perception

Leptin

hormone that signals brain when you're full

Hormones

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream

Oxytocin

released in bloodstream, love hormone, facilitates child birth

Dopamine

a neurotransmitter that regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure, and emotional arousal

Serotonin

Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal

Acetylecholine

enables muscle action, learning, and memory

Adrenaline

A hormone that gives the body extra energy

Melatonin

regulates sleep cycle and reproduction cycles

Psychoactive drugs

drugs that alter the brain

ex: alcohol, opiods

Depressant

damages brain/body functions, reduces neural activity

Agonist

drugs that occupy receptors and activate them

Stimulant

drugs that speed up neural activity

Addiction

compulsive drug craving and use

Antagonist

blocks neurotransmitter

Hallucinogen

affects perception of reality

Opiods

pain relief and feelings of euphoria.

Withdrawl

the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug

Brain stem

Connects the brain and spinal cord, medulla, pons, cerebellum

Thalamus

sensory hub, processes senses EXCEPT smell

Hippocampus

stores short term memory

Medulla

connects spine and brain, control heartbeat and breathing

Limbic System

neural system, associated with emotions and drives

Amygdala

emotions, anger and fear

Reticular Activating system

the part of the brain that is involved in attention, sleep, and arousal

Corpus Callosum

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

Cerebellum

little brain, sensory input, voluntary movements,

Hypothalamus

maintenance, in charge of endocrine

Cerebrum

largest part of the brain

Pituitary gland

regulates hormones

Cerebral cortex

wrinkles of brain, control center

Parietal Lobe

sensory input for touch and body position

Broca's area

left brain function, muscle movements involved in speech

Frontal Lobe

critical thinking, executive functioning

Prefrontal cortex

area in the frontal lobe responsible for higher-level cognitive functioning

Wernicke's cortex

language comprehension

Occipital lobe

visual processing

Motor cortex

controls voluntary movements

Temporal lobe

auditory, iinguistics

Brain plasticity

brain changes over time, develops

EEG

amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. T

fMRI

A technique for revealing blood flow and brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans.

Lesions

tissue destruction

Phineas Gage case study

An example of brain damage: a metal pole went through his brain and changed his personality from friendly to anti-social.

Split-brain

a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the corpus callosum

Consciousness

Awareness of ourselves and our environment

Circadian rhythm

biological clock, regulates temperature and menstration

REM sleep

a stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and a high level of brain activity

NREM sleep

encompasses all sleep stages except for REM sleep

Insomnia

inability to sleep

Narcolepsy

attacks of sleep

REM sleep behavior disorder

paralysis, talking, walking in REM

Sleep apnea

disruptive breathing

Somnambulism

walk or perform other activities during sleep

REM rebound

not in for more than 60 min, make up for lost sleep

Hypnogogic sensations

sensations of falling or floating that are sometimes later incorporated into memories

Absolute threshold

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Sensory Interaction

one sense may influence another

Sensory receptors

sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli

Perception

The act of becoming aware through the senses

Bottom-Up Processing

analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Top-down processing

a progression from the whole to the elements

Signal detection theory

theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions

Subliminal

below the level of consciousness

Priming

Predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Sensory adaptation

a decrease in sensitivity to a constant level of stimulation

Wavelength

distance from one light/sound wave to peak of next

Hue

dimension of color

Intensity

amount of enery in wave (bright, dim)

Cornea

protective layer of eyeball

Pupil

black dot of eye

Iris

muscle tissue around color of eye (how you get color)

Lens

glassy, back of eye, changes shape to help focus retina for images