Comprehensive Psychology Review: Brain, Behavior, Sensation, Consciousness, and Learning

A comprehensive set of fill-in-the-blank practice flashcards covering brain structures, neurochemistry, sensation and perception, consciousness, sleep cycles, conditioning theories, and psychological foundations.

The brain's special capacity for change and rewiring neural pathways is known as __________.

plasticity

Sensory nerves, also known as __________ nerves, carry information from sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

afferent

Motor nerves, also known as __________ nerves, carry information out of the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands.

efferent

calms the body and restores to baseline function after a stress response

parasympathetic

Neurons that are activated both when performing an action and when watching someone else perform that same action are called __________ neurons.

mirror

The layer of fat cells that encases and insulates most neuronal axons to speed up signal transmission is the __________.

myelin sheath

Low levels of the neurochemical messenger __________ are linked with anxiety, insomnia, irritability, and restlessness.

GABA

The neurotransmitter __________ plays a key role in voluntary movement, sleep, mood, attention, learning, and the recognition of rewards.

dopamine

In the diagram showing the functional regions of the brain, the lobe located at the back of the head that primarily responds to visual stimuli is the __________ lobe.

occipital

The large bundle of axons connecting the brain's right and left hemispheres is the __________.

corpus callosum

The process of receiving stimulus energy from the external environment and transforming it into neural energy is called __________.

sensation

__________ processing begins with sensory receptors registering external environmental signals and sending them up to the brain for interpretation.

Bottom-up

Sensory receptors that detect pressure, vibration, and movement to produce touch, hearing, and equilibrium are classified as __________.

mechanoreceptors

The rare condition in which one sensory experience induces an experience in another sense, such as seeing colors when hearing music, is called __________.

synesthesia

The minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect 50 percent of the time is the __________.

absolute threshold

According to __________, the difference threshold is proportional to the original stimulus intensity.

Weber's Law

In signal detection theory, adopting a __________ criterion means requiring stronger evidence before declaring a signal present, leading to fewer false alarms but more misses.

conservative

The failure to detect unexpected events when attention is engaged by a specific task is known as __________.

inattentional blindness

In the retina, receptor cells called __________ are sensitive to light but are not useful for color vision.

rods

The color vision theory stating that perception is produced by three types of cone receptors sensitive to red, green, and blue wavelengths is the __________ theory.

trichromatic

The principle by which we organize the perceptual field into stimuli that stand out and those that remain left over is the __________ relationship.

figure-ground

In the inner ear, mechanical vibrations are converted into electrochemical sound signals within the fluid-filled structure called the __________.

cochlea

Biological rhythms that last longer than 24 hours, such as the menstrual cycle, are called __________ rhythms.

infradian

Nathaniel Kleitman proposed the Basic Rest–Activity Cycle (BRAC), discovering that the human body runs on short __________ cycles.

90-minute

Circadian rhythms are daily behavioral or physiological cycles monitored in the brain by the __________.

suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

Stage N1 sleep is characterized by slower __________ brain waves and sudden muscle movements called myoclonic jerks.

theta

short bursts of rapid energy during stage N2 sleep

sleep spindles

Stage N3 sleep represents our deepest sleep and is characterized by slow, high-amplitude __________ waves.

delta

Temporary muscle paralysis occurring during REM sleep is termed REM __________.

atonia

According to Freud, the hidden, unconscious meaning behind a dream is called its __________ content.

latent

The __________ theory suggests that dreams are created when the cerebral cortex synthesizes a narrative out of random neural signals fired by the brainstem.

activation-synthesis

The __________ view of hypnosis asserts that hypnosis is a normal state in which a person behaves as they believe a hypnotized person should behave.

social cognitive behavior

In classical conditioning, an unlearned, automatic reaction to an unconditioned stimulus is called an __________.

unconditioned response (UR)

the initial learning stage between CS and US

acquisition

The weakening of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is repeatedly absent is called __________.

extinction

Thorndike's __________ states that behaviors followed by positive outcomes are strengthened, while behaviors followed by negative outcomes are weakened.

law of effect

Rewarding successive approximations of a desired behavior to teach complex actions step-by-step is called __________.

shaping

The removal of an aversive stimulus following a behavior to increase the frequency of that behavior is called __________ reinforcement.

negative

Exposure to unavoidable aversive stimuli can cause an organism to learn that it has no control over outcomes, resulting in __________.

learned helplessness

Albert Bandura's observational learning model includes four key processes: attention, retention, __________, and reinforcement.

motor reproduction

Unreinforced learning that is not immediately reflected in behavior and only appears when an incentive is provided is called __________ learning.

latent

The bi-directional influence among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors is referred to as the psychological __________.

triad

Gaining knowledge by collecting data, observing events, and applying logical reasoning is known as the __________ method.

empirical

Wilhelm Wundt's early school of psychology, which aimed to break down conscious experiences into basic components using introspection, was __________.

structuralism

William James championed __________, an early perspective focusing on how mental activities help an organism adapt and survive in its environment.

functionalism

John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner were prominent leaders of the __________ approach, which emphasizes observable behavior rather than private mental thoughts.

behavioral

The __________ approach to psychology focuses on unconscious thought, internal drives, and early childhood relationships.

psychodynamic