AP Psych Unit 1

conciousness

awareness of thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and internal/external events

circadian rhythm

a roughly 24-hour biological cycle regulating sleep/wake, body temperature, and other processes

disruptions to circadian rhythm

jet lag, shift work fatigue

sleep cycle

90-minute cycle that repeats through the night, moving from NREM (stages 1-3) to REM (stage 4)

NREM-1

light sleep, hypnagogic sensations (fallings, jerks), easy to wake

NREM-2

deeper sleep, EEG shows sleep spindles & K-complexes; body temperature & heart rate drop

NREM-3 (deep sleep)

slow-wave (delta) sleep, very restorative, hardest to wake

REM sleep (paradoxical sleep)

brain active (like wakefulness), vivid dreams, body paralyzed (muscle atonia). REM increases as night progresses

REM rebound

extra REM after deprivation

why we sleep (theories)

memory consolidation theory, restoration theory, activation-synthesis theory, consolidation theory of dreams

memory consolidation theory

strengthens and organizes memories

restoration theory

repairs the brain & body, clears waste, restores neurotransmitters

activation-synthesis theory

brain tries to make sense of random neural activity

consolidation theory of dreams

helps process daily experiences and emotions

sensation

the process of detecting physical stimuli

transduction

converting physical energy (light, sound, chemical) into neural messages

perceptions

the brain’s interpretation of sensory input

absolute threshold

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

difference threshold (JND)

minimum change in a stimulus requires for detection 50% of the time

weber’s law

JND is a constant proportion of the stimulus

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity after constant exposure (e.g. not noticing a smell)

sensory interaction

one sense can influence another (e.g. smell + taste = flavor)

synesthesia

rare condition where stimulation of one sense triggers another (e.g. seeing colors when hearing music)

rods

peripheral vision, movement, low light

visual system

rods, cones, fovea

cones

color and detail (especially in the fovea)

blind spot

no photoreceptors where optic nerve exits; brain “fills in” gaps

color vision theories

trichromatic theory, opponent-process theory

trichromatic theory

3 cones: red, green, blue

opponent-process theory

red-green, blue-yellow, black-white; explains after images

auditory

sound is defined by pitch and loudness

pitch theories

place theory, frequency theory, volley theory

place theory

different frequencies stimulate specific spots on basilar membrane (high pitch)

frequency theory

pitch perceived by firing rate of entire basilar membrane (low pitch)

volley theory

groups of neurons fire in rapid alternation (intermediate pitches)

chemical senses

olfaction (smell), gustation (taste)

olfaction (smell)

only sense that bypasses thalamus

gustation (taste)

six qualities (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, oleogustus)

gustation sensitivity

varies: supertasters vs medium tasters vs nontasters

touch

gate-control theory of pain; warm + cold receptors = sensation of hot

pain (gate-control theory)

non-painful input can block pain signals; stress can increase pain

phantom limb sensation

pain felt in amputated limb due to sensory cortex activity

vestibular sense

balance, detected by semicircular canals

kinesthesis

body position and movement

dendrites

receive messages from other neurons

cell body (soma)

contains nucleus from other neurons

axon

sends electrical signals away from soma

myelin sheath

fatty covering around axon, speeds transmission

terminal buttons

release neurotransmitters

synapse

gap between neurons where neurotransmitters cross

resting potential

neuron is polarized (negative inside, positive outside)

action potential

electrical impulse that travels down the axon when threshold is reached

refractory period

neuron can’t fire again until reset

acetylcholine (ACh)

memory, learning, muscle movement

dopamine

movement, reward, emotion

schizophrenia

too much dopamine

parkinson’s

too little dopamine

serotonin

mood, sleep, hunger

depression

low serotonin

norepinephrine

alertness, arousal

GABA

inhibitory that calms nerve activity by blocking or slowing down nerve signals

seizures, insomnia

too little GABA

glutamate

excitatory, memory

migraines, seizures

too much glutamate

endorphines

pain relief, euphoria

brainstem and hindbrain

basic life functions

medulla

heartbeat, breathing

pons

sleep, arousal, coordination

cerebellum

balance, motor learning, coordination

limbic system

emotions and memory

amygdala

fear, aggression

hippocampus

memory information

hypothalamus

hunger, thirst, body temp, sexual drive; controls endocrine system via pituitary gland

cerebral cortex

higher thinking

frontal lobe

planning, judgement, problem-solving, movement (motor cortex)

broca’s area

left frontal; speech production

parietal lobe

sensory input, touch (somatosensory cortex)

temporal lobe

hearing language

wernicke’s area

language comprehension

occipital lobe

vision

corpus callosum

connects hemispehres

brain plasticity

brain’s ability to reorganize after damage

split-brain research

left = language, right = spatial/creative

brain imaging methods

EEG, MRI, fMRI, PET scans

heredity

genetic influence (nature)

environment

all nongenetic influences (nurture)

behavior

observed actions

mental processes

non-observable actions

twin studies

assessing the amount of genetic influence by comparing identicial twins and fraternal twins for one trait

concordance rate

the percent of pairs who share a trait or characteristic given that one individual already possess the trait

identical

monozygotic, 100% shared genes, one egg

fraternal

dizygotic, 50% shared genes, two eggs

adoption studies

comparing adopted individuals to their biological parents(heredity) and adoptive parents(environment)

family studies

looking at blood relatives to examine a specific trait to understand the influence of genetics and environment on behavior

molecular genetics

specific genes studied to compare between two individuals

polygenic

influenced by multiple genes

heritability

proportion of variation among individuals that can be attributed to genes (populations)

gene-environment interaction

genetic predisposition can be expressed differently in different environments

epigenetic

environmental factors can chemically modify gene expression without changing the genes

evolutionary perspective

almost instinctual fear or acceptance of objects or things