Psychology Midterm 1

Scientific Method

A procedure for using empirical evidence to establish facts and explain natural phenomena

Hypothesis

A falsifiable prediction made by a theory (capable of being proven wrong)

Naturalistic Observation

Research Method: Observing behavior in its natural environment

Case Study

Research Method: Intensive examination of one person or a wider group

Self-Report

Research Method: People report their own thoughts, feelings, or behavior

Surveys

Research Method: Information collected from many people

Experimental Design

Research Method: A research design where researchers manipulate a variable to see the effects, used to make cause-and-effect conclusions

Random Selection

How you choose people for a study or group

Random Assignment

How you place participants into specific experimental groups

Reliability

The consistency of measurement

Internal Validity

How confidently you can declare that the independent variable actually caused the change in the dependent variable. Did X really cause Y?

External Validity

How well the findings of a study generalize to other people or situations. Does this result apply outside this experiment?

Construct Validity

Whether a measure actually measures the psychological concepts it claims to measure.

ex) measuring anxiety by seeing how well someone reads, poor construct validity!

Variable Manipulation

When a researcher deliberately manipulates a variable to study the effect

Correlation

A relationship between two variables where changes in one variable are associated with changes in another.

Correlation ≠ Causation

Positive Correlation

As one variable increases, so does the other

More studying → Higher Grades

Negative Correlation

As one variable increases, the other decreases

More sleep → Less free time

Zero Correlation

No systematic relationship between two variables

Third-Variable Problem

A third variable may be causing the relationship between the two variables, tricking us to think they're related.

Ice cream sales UP. Drownings UP. Third variable: Temperature

Outlier

STATS: A value unusually far away from the other values. (Can skew the mean!)

Informed Consent

Participants must be given enough information about a study to make an INFORMED decision about particpating.

ex) in the article, the families didn't consent for their children's info to be used in race-related studies

Freedom from Coercion

Participants must be free to choose whether they want to participate without feeling forced or pressured.

Should be voluntary

Protection from Harm

Researchers must protect participants from unnecessary physical or psychological harm.

Risk-Benefit Analysis

Researchers must consider whether the potential benefits of a study justify the associated risks.

Deception

Giving participants incomplete or misleading information about the study when deception is necessary for the research. Allowed only if necessary.

Debriefing

Explaining the true purpose and procedures of the study AFTERWARD.. especially when deception was used.

Confidentiality

Keeping participants personal info and data private

Neuron

A cell that receives, processes, and sends info throughout the nervous system

Glial Cells

Increases communication between neurons, creates myelin sheath around axons that speeds up communication, protects neurons, blood-brain barrier, respond to injury, form the myelin sheath.

Myelin Sheath

Covers the axon, speeds up communication, created by glial cells.

Blood-Brain Barrier

A protective barrier that controls which substances in the bloodstream can enter the brain.

Action Potential

The electrical signal that travels down a neuron's axon to the synapse. All or nothing response.

Refractory Period

The brief period after an action potential when the neuron cannot immediately fire another action potential.

Absolute refractory period → cannot fire at all.

Relative refractory period → possible but requires stronger stimulus.

Synapse

The small gaps between neurons (the axon and dendrite specifically) where communication takes place.

Neurotransmitter

A chemical messenger released by one neuron that carries a signal across the synapse to another cell.

Synaptic Vesicles

Small structures at the end of a neuron that store and release neurotransmitters.

Glutamate

NEUROTRANSMITTER: The major excitatory neurotransmitter. Makes neurons more likely to fire!

GABA

NEUROTRANSMITTER: The major inhibitory neurotransmitter. Makes neurons less likely to fire!

Acetylcholine

NEUROTRANSMITTER: Involved in muscle movement in the PNS and cortical functions in the CNS (brains levels of awakeness).

PNS

Peripheral Nervous System.

The network of nerves that connects your brain and spinal cord to the rest of your body. It acts as a messaging system to send signals back and forth.

CNS

Central Nervous System.

The main command center of the body that responds to sensory information. Brain and Spinal Cord.

Serotonin

NEUROTRANSMITTER: Involved in mood, eating, aggression, sex, and sleep.

Dopamine

NEUROTRANSMITTER: Involved in movement, motivation, and reward. (Think FroSci).

Norepinephrine

NEUROTRANSMITTER: Involved in vigilance and awareness of danger. Increases alertness, attention, and blood pressure.

Endorphins

NEUROTRANSMITTER: Help reduce pain and produce feelings of pleasure/euphoria

Corpus Callosum

BRAIN: Connects and allows the left and right hemispheres to communicate.

Hindbrain

BRAIN: The part of the brain involved in basic functions and in coordinating info going TO and FROM the spinal cord

Thalamus

BRAIN: Receives and sends sensory information toward the cerebral cortex.

Hypothalamus

BRAIN: Helps maintain the body's internal balance. Regulates temperature, hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior.

Hippocampus

BRAIN: Creates and integrates new memories.

Amygdala

BRAIN: Processes emotions.

Basal Ganglia

BRAIN: Involved in intentional movement.

Broca's Area

Associated with producing speech/language. In the frontal lobe.

Wernicke's Area

Associated with understanding language. In the temporal lobe.

Endocrine System

A system of glands that releases hormones into the bloodstream to regulate bodily functions.

Like neurotransmitters but they move slower and last longer.

Adrenal Glands

Help regulate the body's stress response. Produces adrenaline and cortisol.

Cortisol

Produced by the adrenal glands. Manages the body's response to stress, regulates metabolism, and controls blood pressure.

Thyroid Gland

Regulates body temperature and heart rate.

Pancreas

Produces hormones and substances involved in DIGESTION and blood-sugar regulation.

Pituitary Gland

"Master Gland." Releases hormones that direct many other glands.

Pineal Gland

Produces melatonin. Regulates sleep-wake cycle.

Epigenetics

The study of how environmental influences affect the expression of genes.

Epigenetic Marks

Chemical modifications to genes that can turn them ON or OFF.

DNA Methylation

Adding a methyl group to DNA, generally reducing or switching off expression of that gene.

Histone Modification

Adding chemical modifications to proteins called histones that are involved in packaging DNA.

EEG (Electroencephalograpy)

A method that records the electrical activity in the brain. A noninvasive, painless diagnostic test.

Pros: measures the brain directly

high temporal resolution (easy to know when).

Cons: low spatial resolution (hard to pinpoint where).

Temporal Resolution

How precisely a method can tell you WHEN something happens.

Spatial Resolution

How precisely a method can tell you WHERE something happens.

Sensation

The process of detecting physical stimuli through sensory receptors. DETECT.

Perception

The process of interpreting and organizing sensory information. INTERPRET.

Transduction

Process whereby sense receptors convert physical signals from the environment into neural signals sent to the CNS.

Sense Receptor

Specialized cell responsible for converting external stimuli into neural activity for a specific sensory system.

Sensory Adapation

Process whereby sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current (unchanging) conditions.

Think building a tolerance.

Psychophysics

The study of the relationship between physical stimuli and psychological experiences of those stimuli.

Absolute Threshold

Minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus in 50% of the trials.

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

Minimal changes in a stimulus (loudness or brightness) that can be barely detected.

Weber's Law

The JND between two stimuli is a constant proportion of the original stimulus intensity, despite the variation in intensities.

Rods

Photoreceptors that allow us to see in low light. Night vision.

Cones

Photoreceptors that allow us to see in color, focus in on fine detail, operate under normal daylight conditions.

Fovea

Part of the retina where vision is clearest and there are no rods at all.

Synesthesia

When activity in one perceptual pathway (auditory music) automatically spreads to another pathway (color processing).

ex) Billie Eilish, Cynthia Erivo

Ventral Pathway

The WHAT Pathway. Helps determine what an object is, including shape and color. Extends to sounds also.

Dorsal Pathway

The WHERE pathway. Helps determine where and how and object is moving. Extends to sound.

Visual Form Agnosia

An inability to recognize objects by sight, despite being able to technically see them.

Parallel Processing

The brains ability to process multiple aspects of info at the same time. Think the brain multi-tasking.

Binding Problem

How the brain links features together so that we see unified objects in our visual world.

Bottom-Up Processing

Building a perception from the sensory info itself. Think building a whole from its parts.

Top-Down Processing

Using expectations, knowledge, and beliefs to interpret sensory information.

Change Blindness

Failing to notice that something in the visual scene has changed.

Inattentional Blindness

A failure to perceive objections not in focus of attention.

Sound Wave

A pattern of changes in air pressure that travels through the environment.

Pitch

How HIGH or LOW a sound seems. Determined by frequency (Hz)

(higher frequency = higher pitch)

Loudness

How STRONG or INTENSE a sound seems. Determined by amplitude

(higher amplitude = louder sound)

Timbre

The quality or texture of a sound. Allows you to distinguish between two sounds with the same pitch and loudness. Determined by waveform

Proprioception

Sense of bodily position.

Vestibular System

The sensory system that provides information about balance, movement, and spatial orientation.

Referred Pain

Pain that is felt in one part of the body even though the actual source of the pain is somewhere else.

Gate Control Theory

Signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped, or gated, by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from the skin or brain. Used to understand pain perception.

Frequency Distribution Normal

STATS: mean is best measure.

Usually looks like a bell-shaped distribution.