PSY 100 EXAM 1

UMaine

case study

in depth research of a single person that provides detail and can provide suggestions for further research

naturalistic observation

study of behavior in its typical setting with no attempt to alter it

systematic observation

The careful observation of one or more specific behaviors in a particular setting

survey research

a battery of questions to extract information about a particular subject

qualitative research

a holistic research method that seeks to provide a complete narrative description of an entire phenomenon or culture

experimental method

research method that involves manipulating independent variables to determine how they influence dependent variables

independent variable

the variable that is manipulated in an experiment

dependent variable

the variable that you measure as the result of your experiment

control variables

anything in an experiment that stays the same to provide comparison in an experiment

operational definition

a careful and precise definition of what you are studying to ensure that an experiment can be accurately repeated

confederate

a person working with the person running an experiment without the knowledge of the participants

random assignment

assures two groups in an experiment are as alike as possible

clinical psychology

often confused with psychiatrists, diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders

counseling psychology

administer tests and provide therapy for less severe psychological problems

cross cultural psychology

goal is to determine f research results can be applied to other cultures

research psychology

primary activity is to conduct and report the results of experiments

school psychologist

diagnosing and treating learning disabilities and providing consultation for those with them

industrial organizational psychology

applying psych to the concepts of a business or organization to improve it

consumer psychology

studies the behaviors of consumers, used for marketing and advertising

health psychology

concerned with how psychological and social variables affect health and illness

forensic psychology

applying psych to law and legal proceedings

sports psychology

provide services to athletes and coaches based on psych principles

neuropsychologist

diagnoses and helps rehabilitate those with brain disorders

sensation

activation of receptors by stimuli in the environment

perception

the process of organizing and making sense of infermation

transduction

conversion of stimuli received by the receptors into a form (patterns of neural impulses) that can be used by the nervous system

electrochemical

the form of energy that sensory information must be converted to in order for the nervous system to use it

adaptaion

loss of sensitivity to a stimulus by the receptors as a result of continuous exposure to that stimulus

Weber's law

the observation that the amount of stimulus increase or decrease required to notice a change, divided by the original stimulation is a constant; i.e., the amounts are proportional

differential threshold (just noticeable difference)

smallest difference between two stimuli that is noticeable by participants 50% of the time

absolute threshold

minimum amount of energy required for a conscious detection of a stimulus 50% of the time

signal detection theory

the contention that the threshold varies with the nature of the stimulus and the background stimulation

subliminal stimuli

stimuli that are below the threshold of consicous awereness

cornea

protective chamber that helps focus light waves

sclera

opaque whitish covering of the eye

accomodation

changing the shape of the lens to focus

retina

light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye that contains visual receptors

bipolar cells

cells in the retina that connect the receptors to the ganglion cells

ganglion cells

cells in the retina whose axons form the optic nerve

blind spot

location at which the optic nerve leaves the eyeball and contains no receptors

optic chiasm

point at which the optic nerve fibers from each eye join; fibers from the nasal half of the retina cross to the opposite hemisphere of the brain

rods

most prevalent visual receptors; low threshold, low sharpness, do not detect color

cones

less prevalent visual receptors; high threshold, high sharpness, can detect color

fovea

indent on the retina with only cones: where the lens focuses

trichromatic theory

Visual theory, stated by Young and Helmholtz that all colors can be made by mixing the three basic colors: red, green, and blue, all percieved by different types of cones; a.k.a the Young-Helmholtz theory.

opponent-process theory

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

color afterimage

the perception of a color that is not really present, occurs after viewing the complimentary color

monochromat

person who can only see shades of grey due to only having one type of cone

dichromat

a person who cannot see one of the primary colors due to the lack of a certain type of cone

trichromats

organisms that see all colors in the visual spectrum

audition

sense of hearing

pinna

outer ear that gathers sound waves

auditory canal

funnels waves toward the eardrum

eardrum

tightly stretched membrane located at the end of the ear canal that vibrates when struck by sound waves

ossicles

bones of the middle ear (hammer, anvil and stirrup) that conduct sound from the outer to inner ear

oval window

the structure hit by the stirrup that connects the middle ear to the cochlea; its movement causes fluid in the cochlea to move

basilar membrane

membrane in the cochlea that vibrates in response to movement of cochlear fluid

organ of corti

located on the basilar membrane that rises and falls due to vibrations; contains auditory receptors

tectorial membrane

membrane above corti with hair cells that act as auditory receptors for transduction

place theory

hairs on different places of the corti transmit info about sound from different pitches; true for sounds above 1000Hz

frequency theory

we receive pitch sue to how fast the basilar membrane vibrates

conduction deafness

deafness caused by inability to transmit sounds through outer and middle ear

sensorineural deafness

caused by damage to the inner ear, especially the hair cells

central deafness

deafness resulting from disease and tumors in the auditory pathways or auditory cortex of the brain

gustation

taste

taste buds

taste receptors

papillae

bumps on tongue and throat lined with taste buds

olfaction

sense of smell

vestibular sense

system in the inner ear that allows us to make adjustments to bodily movements and posture

semicircular canals

Detect the rotation of the head.

utricle

A small, fluid-filled sac in the vestibular system above the saccule that responds to static positions of the head and gravity

proprioception

provides info about where limbs and body parts are in space

kinesthetic sense

provides info about limb motion

cutaneous

sense located in skin receptors

gate control theory

theory of pain that states the release of substance p in the spinal cord produces the sensation of pain

nocioreceptors

responds to painful stimuli

divided attention

the ability to process more than one source of stimulation at the same time

pattern perception

ability to discriminate among different shapes and patterns

feature analysis theory

we perceive basic elements of a shape and assemble them mentally to create an object

perceptual constancy

tendency to perceive the size and shape of an object as constant regardless of ts position or retinal image changing

retinal disparity

differences in images seen by the two different eyes

apparent motion

illusion of motion in a stationary object

perceptual hypothesis

An initial guess regarding how to organize (perceive) a stimulus pattern.

convergence

binocular cue; eyes turn in when things get closer, brain calculates angle to determine how close something is

linear perspective

monocular cue; parallel lines appear to converge in the distance

interposition

monocular cue; blocking objects look closer than objects that are blocked

texture gradient

monocular cue; finer detail on closer objects

size constancies

monocular cue; closer objects appear larger than far objects, even if they are the same size

aerial perspective

monocular cue; horizon is a point of perspective

atmospheric theory

monocular cue; objects that are farther away are weaker and fuzzier because there is more atmospheric material between us and them

motion parallax

monocular cue; things that are far away appear to move less than objects that are closer moving the same amount

Gestal principles

brain groups together in these categories: proximity, similarity and closure

stimulus

environmental feature that provokes a response from an organism

receptors

specialized cells that are sensitive to specific types of stimulus energy

central nervous system

division of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord

somatic nervous nystem

division of the peripheral nervous system that consists of nerves coming from the receptors to the brain and spinal cord as well as nerves that go from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles

peripheral nervous system

division of the nervous system that consists of neural fibers outside of the brain and spinal cord

neurons

basic cells of the nervous system

afferent nerves

sensory nerves: carry information from receptors to the spinal cord and brain

efferent nerves

motor nerves: carry information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles