Sem1 psychology

Evoulutionary perspective

A psychology perspective by Charles Darwin which includes natural selection, survival, cavemen, etc.

Gestalt Psychology

A psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts

Introspection

Examination of one's own thoughts and feelings/Detailed sensory description

Structuralism

An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind. People: William Wundt and Titchener. From Nature - Innate.

Biological Perspective

The psychological perspective that emphasizes the influence of biology on behavior, Ex. Brain, hormones, genes, neurotransmitters, physical.

Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic perspective

Freud. Role of unconscious conflicts in determining behavior and personality.

human factors psychology

a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

Functionalism

An early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish. From Nurture -comes from experience.

cognitive perspective

A psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior. Thoughts, mental processes, interpretations.

Humanistic perspective

stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment and the importance of consciousness, self-awareness, and the capacity to make choices. People: Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

School psychology

devoted to counseling children in elementary and secondary schools who have academic or emotional problems

Behavioral perspective

Rewards/Punishments, conditioning, environment, observational learning. People: John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov

control group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

random sample

A representative sample from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected

experimental group

In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

naturalistic observation

Describes an individual´s or animal´s behavior in their natural setting.

independent variable

variable that is manipulated/changed

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

single-blind study

study in which the subjects do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group, but the researcher does

double-blind procedure

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.

experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

representative sample

randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects

case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

descriptive statistics

statistics that summarize the data collected in a study - meaningful

correlation coefficient

the correlation coefficient tells us the strength and direction of the relationship, it goes from -1 to +1.

operational definition

the measurement of the dependent value with numbers, ratings, etc.

confounding variable

an extraneous variable that could skew results. ex: time of day, gender, age, sleep, etc.

correlation(+/-)CORRELATION DOES NOT SHOW CAUSATION

indicates that the two factors will either move in the same or opposite direction, otherwise known as direct relations

dependent variable

The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is interested.

inferential statistics

The type of statistics tells us if our results could have been due to chance. If there is a less than 5% probability that their results were due to chance, they are statistically significant.

placebo effect

a change in a patient´s illness that is a result of the imagined treatment

survey

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

measures of central tendency

mean, median, mode, the center of the data

debrief

the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

Replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

dendrites

Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.

myelin sheath

it insulates the axon and allows speed(Faster) - think of phone charger

all-or-none principle

Refers to the fact that the action potential in the axon occurs either full-blown or not at all.

synapse

Gap between neurons

acetylcholine

associated with muscle movement, memory(alzheimers, paralysis)

serotonin

mood, sleep(depression, sleep and eating disorder)

central nervous system

consists of the brain and spinal cord

sympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations

cerebellum

Balance and coordination

hypothalamus

A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.

frontal lobe

where the highest level processing tasks occurs - personality, executive functions, organization, planning ahead, working memory.

parietal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex whose functions include processing information about touch and body position.

soma

cell body of a neuron

resting potential

the state of the neuron when not firing a neural impulse

efferent neurons

motor neurons, carry info from your brain and spinal cord to muscles and organs.

Hippocampus

memory formation for explicit/declarative memories

brain stem

Connects the brain and spinal cord

axon terminal buttons

Where neurotransmitters are started and released

Reuptake

a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron

endorphins

pain control(runner´s high, feel good after exercising, acupuncture)

peripheral nervous system

A division of the nervous system consisting of all nerves that are not part of the brain or spinal cord.

parasympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy

thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

limbic system

neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives.

Wenicke's aphasia

Left temporal lobe damage (specifically in Wernicke's area)

Speech is fluent but nonsensical - understanding

Broca's aphasia

condition resulting from damage to Broca's area, causing the affected person to be unable to speak fluently, to mispronounce words, and to speak haltingly - speaking

temporal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex responsible for hearing and language.

right and left hemispheres

The left side of the brain is responsible for controlling the right side of the body. It also performs tasks that have to do with logic, such as in science and mathematics. On the other hand, the right hemisphere coordinates the left side of the body, and performs tasks that have do with creativity and the arts.

polarization

neuron is positive on the outside, negative on the inside

axon

A threadlike extension of a neuron that carries nerve impulses away from the cell body.

cerebrum

Big area of the brain responsible for all voluntary activities of the body

adrenaline

a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, especially in conditions of stress, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism and preparing muscles for exertion.

somatic nervous system

the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles

dopamine

movement, alertness, reward(Parkinson, schizophrenia)

GABA

a major inhibitory neurotransmitter, calms the brain(anxiety, insomnia)

autonomic nervous system

controls self-regulated action of internal organs and glands(automaticaly)

pituitary gland

Master gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.

Amygdala

A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression.

motor cortex

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

occipital lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information

lesion

tissue destruction

refractory period

a period of inactivity after a neuron has fired

afterimage

A visual image that persists after a stimulus is removed. Opponent-process color theory explains this.

bottom-up processing

based on the sensory information available in the environment

feature detectors

nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex (occiptal lobe)that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

motion parallax

the perception of motion of objects in which close objects appear to move more quickly than objects that are farther away - monocular depth cue

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

proximity

Gestalt grouping principle; we group nearby figures together

retina

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

rods

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond

cones

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

similarity

the tendency to perceive things that look similar to each other as being part of the same group - gestalt psychology

Connectedness

we group together things that are connected as one unit

stroboscopic movement

a type of apparent movement based on the rapid succession of still images, as in motion pictures

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

phi phenomenon

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Gestalt Principles

Describe the top-down processing that organizes sensory information into distinct forms. Six principles: nearness, similarity, common region, closure, continuity, and figure & ground

Muller-Lyer Illusion

illusion of line length that is distorted by inward-turning or outward-turning corners on the ends of the lines, causing lines of equal length to appear to be different

middle ear

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

Continuity

we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones

ganglion cells

the specialized cells which lie behind the bipolar cells whose axons form the optic nerve which takes the information to the brain

Closure

we fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object

inner ear

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

vestibular sense

the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance

cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses - transduction