Psychology Semester 1 Exam

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist who, working with dogs, had shown that a reflex such as salvation could be caused to occur in response to a totally new and formerly unrelated stimulus

John B. Watson

* psychologist who’s the founder of behaviorism
* believed all behavior is learned

B.F. Skinner

* new leader of the behavioral perspective field
* developed theory that voluntary behavior is learned through operant conditioning (which is behavioral responses that are strengthened when followed by pleasurable consequences)

Abraham Moslow

* one of the founders of humanist psychology
* wanted better understanding for self-actualization (which is achieving one’s full potential)

Carl Rogers

one of the founders of humanistic psychology

Jean Piaget

* believed that children form mental schemes as they experience new situations ad events
* stages of cognitive development include:
* sensorimotor
* preoperational
* concrete operations
* formal operations

Sigmund Freud

* neurologist who developed the psychoanalysis theory
* believed all behavior stems from an unconscious motivation

William James

founder of functionalism

Scientific method

system of gathering data so that bias and error in measurements are reduced

Case study

study of one individual in great detail

Naturalistic Observation

study of people or animals in their natural enviornment

Longitudinal Study

one group of people is followed and assessed at different times as the group ages

Random Sample

every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected

Cross-Sectional Study

several different age groups are studied at one time

Independent Varibale

variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter

Dependent Variable

variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of the suspects in an experiment

Placebo

phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior

Double-Blind Procedure

study in which neither the experimenter nor the subjects know if the subjects are in the experimental or control group

Genes

sections of DNA having the same arrangement of chemical elements

Chromosomes

tightly wound strands of genetic material or DNA

DNA

special molecule that contains the genetic material of the organism

Genome

a complete set of DNA in an organism

Mutation

a permanent change in the genetic material of an organism

Natural selection

principle stating that inherited characteristics that give a survival advantage are more likely to be passed on to future generations

Culture

a shared set of beliefs, behaviors, values, and attitudes held by a group of people or a society

Norms

a culture’s understood rules for expected behavior, values, beliefs, and attitudues

Collectivism

a cultural style that emphasizes the importance of interdependence, group goals, and group needs

Individualism

a cultural style that emphasizes the importance of individuality, independence, and personal needs

Neuron

the basic cell that makes up the nervous system and that receives and sends messages within that system

Dendrite

branchlike structures that receive messages from other neurons

Soma

the cell body of the neuron responsible for maintaining the life of the cell

Axon

tubelike structures that carries the neural message to other cells

Refractory Period

period of time during which a cell is incapable of repeating an action potential

Synapse

fluid-filled space that connects sensory organs in the peripheral nervous system to the brain

Resting Potential

state where the sodium ions are outside the cell

Neurotransmitter

chemical found in the synaptic vesicles that, when released, has an effect on the next cell

Interneurons

neurons found in the center of the spinal cord that recieves information from the sensory neurons and sends commands to the muscles

Sympathetic Divison

* fight or flight system
* part of the ANS (automatic nervous system) that is responsible to stressful events and bodily arousal

Parasympathetic Divison

part of the ANS (automatic nervous system) that restores the body to normal functioning after arousal and is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the organs and glands

Endocrine System

consists of the glands and organs that make hormones and release them directly into the blood

Pituitary Gland

* AKA the mastery gland
* secretes human growth hormone and influences all the other hormone-secreting glands

Thyroid Gland

* endocrine gland found in the neck
* regulates metabolism

Adrenal Glands

* endocrine glands
* secrete hormones to:
* deal with stress
* regulate salt intake
* provide a secondary source of sex hormones affecting the sexual changes that occur during adolescence

Brainstem

part of the brain that connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord

Medulla

* first large swelling at the top of the spinal cord, forming the lowest part of the brain
* responsible for life-sustaining functions such as breathing, swallowing, and heart rate

Thalamus

relays sensory information from the lower part of the brain to the cerebral cortex

Cerebellum

* located behind the pons
* controls and cordinates involuntary, rapid, fine motor movement

Hypothalamus

* small structure in the brain located below the thalamus and directly above the pituitary gland
* responsible for motivational behavior such as sleep, hunger, thirst, and sex
* maintains homestasis

Hippocampus

* curved structure located within each temperol lobe
* responsible for the formation of long-term memories and the storage of memory for location of objects

Amygdala

* brain structure located near the hippocampus
* responsible for fear responses and memory of fear

Cerebral Cortex

* outermost covering of the brain consisting of densely packed neurons
* responsible for higher thought processes

Corpus callosum

thick band of neurons that connects the right and left cerebral hemispheres

Broca’s Area

* located in the left frontal lobe
* devoted to the production of speech

Wernicke’s Area

* located in the left temporal lobe
* helps us understand the meaning of words

N-REM Sleep

any of the stages of sleep that do not include REM

REM Sleep

stage of sleep in which the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids and the person is typically experiencing a dream

Sleep Apnea

disorder in which the person stops breathing for nearly half a minute or more

Nacrolepsy

disorder in which the person falls immediately into REM sleep during the day w/o warning

Melatonin

* secreted by pineal gland
* when present it makes us sleepy, when not we become awake

Circadian rythms

a cycle of bodily rhythms that occurs over a 24-hour period

Ultradian rhythms

rhythm w/ a length of less than a day

Infradian rhythm

biological rhythm w/ a frequency of less than 1 cycle in 24 hours

Night terrors

rare disorder in which the person experiences extreme fear and screams or runs around during deep sleep w/o waking fully

Ernest Hilgard

believed hypnosis worked only on the immediate conscious mind of a person, while a part of that mind remained aware of all that was going on

Social Influence Theory

idea that people are heavily influenced by the thoughts and actions of others

Divided Consciousness Theory

state in which one’s consciousness is split into distinct components, possibly during hypnosis

Posthypnotic suggestion

* person is told to focus on what’s being said
* told to relax and feel tired
* told to “let go” and accept suggestions easily
* told to use vivid imaginations

Posthypnotic amnesia

hypnosis can create amnesia of whatever happens during the hypnotic session

Psychoactive drugs

drugs that alter thinking, perception, and memory

Dependence

person’s body becomes unable to function normally w/o a particular drug

Withdrawl

* physical symptoms that can include nausea, pain, tremors, crankiness, and high blood pressure
* results from a lack of an addictive drug in the body systems

Depressants

drugs that increase the functioning of the nervous system

Opiates

relieves pain and causes euphoria

Endorphine

hormone released when body feels pain or stress

Stimulants

drugs that increase the functioning of the nervous system

Amphetamines

stimulants made in labs

Hallucinogens

drugs that alter perceptions and may cause hallucinations

Barbiturates

depressant drugs that have a sedative effect

Bottom-up processing

the analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete perception

Top-down processing

use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features in a united whole

Absolute threshold

lowest level of stimulation that a person can consciously detect 50% of the time the stimulation is present

Sensory adapation

tendency of sensory receptor cells to become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging

Selective attention

the focusing of attention on selected aspects of the environment and the blocking out of others

Hue

* color
* determined by the length of the wave

Cornea

bends light waves so the image can be focused on the retina

Iris

* colored part of the eye
* muscles control the size of the pupil

Pupil

* interior of the eye
* iris opening that changes sizes depending on the amount of light in the environment

Retina

* a light-sensitive area at the back of the eye
* contains photoreceptor cells

Rods

* responsible for non-color sensitivity to low levels of light

Cones

* responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision

Optic nerve

nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Blind spot

* area in the retina where the axons at the 3 layers of the retinal cells exit the eye to form the optic nerve
* sensitive to light

Trichomatic theory

* theory of color vision
* proposes 3 types of cousins: red, blue, and green

Opponent-process theory

* theory of color vision
* proposes 4 primary colors w/ cones arranged in pairs: red and green, blue and yellow

Hertz

* cycles or waves per second
* a measurement of frequency
* human limits between 20-20,000

Ear drum (tympanic membrane)

separates the outer ear from the middle ear

Cochlea

small-shaped structure of the inner is filled w/ fluid

Hair cells

* on the organ of Corti
* receptors for sound

Auditory nerve

bundle of axons from the hair cells in the inner ear

Kinesthetic sense

sense f the location of body parts relation to the ground and each other