Psychology Midterm Master Study Guide
SOCIAL PSYCH
attribution theory/The belief that people attempt to understand events by connecting thoughts and feelings to those events.
fundamental attribution error/ A cognitive bias in which people tend to overemphasize personal characteristics when judging another person’s behavior, while putting less consideration into external or situational factors.
actor-observer discrepancy / The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal causes, while attributing our own behavior to external causes.
blaming the victim / A phenomenon in which people attempt to cope with a tragedy or trauma that happened to another person by assigning blame to the victim of that trauma or tragedy
self-serving bias / The tendency to attribute our success to internal factors, while attributing our failures to external factors.
self-effacing bias / When someone attributes their successes or positive behavior to external factors, and their failures or negative behavior to internal factors.
just-world phenomenon / the belief that the world is fair, and therefore our actions will affect what we get from them. “People get what they deserve”
prejudice / a negative attitude toward another person or group formed in advance of any experience with that person or group
Stereotype / a fixed, oversimplified, and often biased belief about a group of people
Discrimination / the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, species, religion, physical attractiveness or sexual orientation
automatic prejudice / an unconscious and automatic first thought about somebody or a group of people, it is often negative.
ingroup / “Us”—people with whom we share a common identity.
Outgroup / “Them”—those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.
scapegoat theory / the tendency to blame someone else for one’s own problems
other-race effect / the tendency to recognize and remember faces of one's own race more readily than those of other races
Attitudes / a learned tendency to view and judge things in a certain way.
foot-in-the-door phenomenon / The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
door-in-the-face technique / Persuader tries to convince respondent to comply by first making a large request.
central route to persuasion / Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts
peripheral route to persuasion / Occurs when people are are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness.
Role / a set of expectations about the ways in which people are supposed to behave in different situations. They are dependent on all sorts of things like the position a person holds, the culture, etc.
cognitive dissonance theory / The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent.
Leon Festinger / The psychologist who came up with the cognitive dissonance theory, he had participants complete a repetitive, tedious task for an hour and then studied how they would talk about the task to the next participant, especially when there was a monetary reward involved.
Norms / the accepted standards of behavior for any given group
social contagion / the spread of behaviors, attitudes, and affect through crowds and other types of social aggregates from one member to another
Conformity / the tendency for an individual to align their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those of the people around them
Asch study / participants were asked to identify which lines were longer, while people planted by the researchers of the study gave deliberately wrong answers. At the end, it was found that 75% of unaware participants based their answers off of the answer of those around them.
chameleon effect / a phenomenon that finds us mimicking the mannerisms, gestures, or facial expressions of the people we interact with most often. It causes you to subconsciously make behavioral changes to match the behavior of people in your close social circles, or even strangers
normative social influence / where a person conforms in order to be accepted and belong to a group. They do this because it is socially rewarding and/or to avoid social rejection
informational social influence / the change in opinions or behavior that occurs when we conform to people who we believe have accurate information
Milgram’s study on obedience / Also known as the shock experiment, it demonstrated the power of authority and how someone in a position of authority can influence people to behave unethically and against their wishes.
social facilitation / presence of others enhances performance of well-rehearsed/easy task
social inhibition / presence of others diminishes performance of poorly rehearsed/difficult task
social loafing / presence of others diminishes performance by assuming that others will do all the work
deindividuation / anonymous in group=unrestrained behavior
group polarization / beliefs become more extreme if part of like-minded group
Groupthink / desire for harmony/conformity=poor decision making
Culture / socially shared beliefs, values, norms, expectations, and practices within a group, community, or society at large
tight culture / cultures having strong expectations concerning adherence to social norms and little tolerance for deviance from them
loose culture / cultures in which social norms are flexible and informal.
influences of aggression / Genetic (twin studies), Neural (amygdala), biochemical (testosterone and alcohol), Psychological, Socio-cultural (varies by culture)
frustration-aggression principle / the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal creates anger, which can generate aggression.
social script / guidelines for how to behave in certain social situations. They're like a playbook that society gives us for different scenarios.
research on violent video games / violent video game play increases aggression in the player
factors of attraction / proximity (mere exposure effect), attractiveness, similarity
Sternberg’s Triangular Model of Love / theory of love that holds that love can be understood in terms of three components that together can be viewed as forming the vertices of a triangle. These three components are intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment.
Liking / Intimacy Alone, ex. True friendships without passion or long term commitment
companionate love / Intimacy and Commitment, ex. Long term relationships like marriage where the passion has faded
Empty Love / commitment alone, ex. Decision to love each other without the passion or intimacy
Fatuous Love / Passion and Commitment, ex. Whirlwind relationship where there isn’t enough time for intimacy to develop
Infatuation / Passion alone, ex. Obsessive love at first sight where there is no commitment or intimacy
Romantic Love / Intimacy and Passion, ex. A summer romance where there is no commitment
Consummate love / Intimacy, passion, and commitment, its an ideal love that is hard to obtain.
equity / individuals estimating a comparable ratio between what is contributed (inputs) to what is received (outputs) between themselves and others.
Self-disclosure / the act of revealing personal or private information about one's self to other people.
Altruism / acting to help someone else at some cost to oneself. Also known as selflessness
bystander effect / the greater the number of people there are present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress.
Kitty Genovese / A young woman who was killed in New York in 1964, her death is what sparked the concept of the bystander effect, due to the fact that many neighbors witnessed her death and didn’t do anything.
diffusion of responsibility / when people who need to make a decision wait for someone else to act instead. The more people involved, the more likely it is that each person will do nothing, believing someone else from the group will probably respond.
social exchange theory / a concept based on the notion that a relationship between two people is created through a process of cost-benefit analysis. In other words, it is a metric designed to determine how much effort someone invests in a one-on-one relationship.
reciprocity norm / a social rule that maintains, among other things, that people should return favors and other acts of kindness
social-responsibility norm / a societal expectation that people should engage in positive social behavior to contribute to the welfare of their community as a whole.
Conflict / a struggle or clash between opposing forces
social trap / A situation in which individuals act in their own self-interest to the detriment of long term interests.
mirror-image perceptions / when one person or party sees the person or the party they oppose as evil and wrong or as villains, while they see themselves as the hero who is morally just and right.
superordinate goals / shared goals that override differences amongst people and require them to cooperate with each other.
self-fulfilling prophecy / an expectation or belief that can influence your behaviors, thus causing the belief to come true
GRIT / Growth, resilience, Instinct, and tenacity, it refers to one's ability to show bravery when confronted with setbacks or obstacles.
RESEARCH METHODS
Limits of intuition / It is not very good at picking up flaws in evidence and it is driven by emotion instead of facts.
Limits of overconfidence / It causes you to overestimate what you are capable of. If you then fail at that task, you feel inferior even though you never had the skill set for it to begin with.
Barnum effect / a cognitive bias that occurs when individuals believe that generic personality descriptions and statements apply specifically to themselves when in reality, they could apply to almost everyone.
Hindsight bias / our tendency to look back at an unpredictable event and think it was easily predictable.
Theory / a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
Hypothesis / a proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.
Operational definition / a description of something in terms of the operations (procedures, actions, or processes) by which it could be observed and measured.
Replication / reproducing a study to see if you get the same results.
Case study / A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. Nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed.
Naturalistic observation / Naturalistic observation is a qualitative research method where you record the behaviors of your subjects in real world settings.
Survey / a data collection tool used to gather information about individuals. They are typically used to collect self-reported data from study participants
Generalizability / a measure of how useful the results of a study are for a broader group of people or situations.
Wording effect in surveys / when the way a question is phrased influences the responses given by participants, leading to skewed or inaccurate results.
False consensus effect / The tendency to overestimate how much others agree with us
Social desirability bias / when respondents give answers to questions that they believe will make them look good to others, concealing their true opinions or experiences
Sampling bias / the collection of samples that do not accurately represent the entire group
Population / the entire group or set of individuals, objects, or events that possess specific characteristics and are of interest to the researcher.
Simple random / a type of probability sampling in which the researcher randomly selects a subset of participants from a population. Each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.
cluster random / researchers divide a population into smaller groups. They then randomly select among these groups to form a sample
stratified random / researchers divide subjects into subgroups based on characteristics that they share (e.g., race, gender, educational attainment). Once divided, each subgroup is randomly sampled using another probability sampling method.
Correlation / a relationship between two or more variables (such between the variables of negative thinking and depressive symptoms), but this relationship does not necessarily imply cause and effect.
Correlation coefficient / often expressed as r, it indicates a measure of the direction and strength of a relationship between two variables. When the r value is closer to +1 or -1, it indicates that there is a stronger linear relationship between the two variables.
Scatterplot / it is composed of a horizontal axis containing the measured values of one variable (independent variable) and a vertical axis representing the measurements of the other variable (dependent variable). The data is represented as singular points.
Causation / one thing is a reason why something else happens.
Illusory Correlation / when we see an association between two variables (events, actions, ideas, etc.) when they aren't actually associated.
Ex Post Facto studies / After-the-fact research, the researcher tries to figure out the cause of something by looking backwards through the history of the person or thing being studied.
Experiment / the manipulation of an independent variable, the measurement of a dependent variable, and the exposure of various participants to one or more of the conditions being studied.
Experimental group / the group in an experiment that receives the variable being tested.
Control group / a group in the experiment which a variable is NOT being tested
Random assignment / every participant having an equal chance of being in either the experimental group or the control group.
Single blind procedure / a specific research procedure in which the researchers (and those involved in the study) do not tell the participants if they are being given a test treatment or a control treatment.
Double blind procedure / A type of clinical trial in which neither the participants nor the researcher knows which treatment or intervention participants are receiving until the clinical trial is over.
Placebo effect / when a person's physical or mental health appears to improve after taking a placebo or 'dummy' treatment.
Independent variable / the characteristic of an experiment that is manipulated or changed by researchers
Dependent variable / a response variable or output that is measured in a study and is expected to change as a result of the researcher's manipulation of the independent variable
Confounding variable / factors other than the independent variable that may cause a result.
Validity / whether a test measures what it aims to measure
Demand characteristics / research participants being aware of what the researcher is investigating.
Experimenter bias / occurs when scientists' hypotheses influence their results, even if involuntarily.
Quantitative research / the process of collecting and analyzing numerical data
Qualitative research / the process of collecting and analyzing non-numerical data
Ethics / principles that are in place to protect the participant, researcher, and reputation of the field of psychology.
Informed consent / the process by which researchers working with human participants describe their research project and obtain the subjects' consent to participate in the research based on the subjects' understanding of the project's methods and goals.
Debriefing / explaining the rationale and purpose of the study to the participants and encouraging feedback and questions.
Deception / when a researcher gives false information to subjects or intentionally misleads them about some key aspect of the research
Psychological stress / an emotional response to an external trigger.
Culture in research / the behaviours, values, expectations, attitudes and norms of research communities
Scientific integrity / the adherence to ethical principles and professional standards in the conduct of scientific research.
Descriptive statistics / mean, median, mode, range, and central tendency are all examples of…
Histogram / used to portray the (grouped) frequency distribution of a variable at the interval or ratio level of measurement. It consists of vertical bars drawn above scores (or score intervals) so that the height of the bar corresponds to the frequency
Mode / the value that is repeatedly occurring in a given set
Mean / obtained by adding up all the numbers then dividing by the size of the data set
Median / the middle value of the given list of data when arranged in an order
Positive skew / the mean is greater than the median or mode, the tail trails off to the right
Negative skew / mean is less than the median, and median is less than the mode. The tail trails off to the left
Range / the difference between the highest and lowest values for a given data set
Variance / the spread between numbers in a data set.
Standard Deviation / a measure of how dispersed the data is in relation to the mean.
Normal curve / a probability distribution that appears as a "bell curve" when graphed.
z scores / a statistical measurement of a data points relationship to the mean in a group of data points.
Percentile rank / it is the percentage of scores in its frequency distribution that are less than that specific score.
Inferential statistics / the use of a sample to estimate some characteristic in a large population; and to test a research hypothesis about a given population.
Statistical significance / the claim that a result from data generated by testing or experimentation is likely to be attributable to a specific cause
P-value / a statistical measurement used to validate a hypothesis against observed data
Null hypothesis / a hypothesis that says the opposite of what the researcher is trying to prove. Typically, they are trying to discredit this hypothesis
Type 1 error / occurs if an investigator rejects a null hypothesis that is actually true in the population
Type 2 errors / occurs if the investigator fails to reject a null hypothesis that is actually false in the population.
MOTIVATION AND EMOTION
Instinct / an innate, species-specific biological force that impels an organism to do something, particularly to perform a certain act or respond in a certain manner to specific stimuli.
Drive-reduction theory / the idea that all motivation comes from the result of biological needs
Homeostasis / the inclination of the human body to seek as well as maintain balance, stability, and equilibrium so that it is functioning at an optimal level.
Incentives / an external stimulus, such as a condition or an object, that enhances or serves as a motive for behavior.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs / a model for understanding the motivations for human behavior. These include physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.
Optimal Arousal Theory-Yerkes-Dodson Law (inverted U) / a model of the relationship between stress and task performance. It proposes that you reach your peak level of performance with an intermediate level of stress, or arousal. Too little or too much arousal results in poorer performance.
Need to belong / The motivation to form and sustain at least a minimum amount of social connections
Self-determination theory /a theory that suggests that all humans have three basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—that underlie growth and development
Intrinsically motivated / the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some separable consequence
Extrinsically motivated / a motivation to participate in an activity based on meeting an external goal, garnering praise and approval, winning a competition, or receiving an award or payment
Insecure anxious attachment / needing constant reassurance and validation, has a fear of abandonment, and may become overly dependent on their partner
Insecure avoidant attachment / withdrawal from emotional closeness, denial of emotions, independence, and self-sufficiency.
Ostracism / Being ignored, excluded, and/or rejected signals a threat for which reflexive detection in the form of pain and distress is adaptive for survival
Social networking / it can negatively impact our overall well being by fueling anxiety, depression, loneliness and FOMO (fear or missing out)
Achievement motivation / an individual's ability to building up their skills and behaviors so that they can tap into their highest potential
Grit / a personality trait characterized by perseverance and passion for achieving long-term goals
James-Lange Theory / Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli (biological)
Cannon-Bard Theory / Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger physiological responses and subjective experience of emotion (biological)
Schachter's two-factor theory / to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and be able to cognitively label the arousal (cognitive)
Influence of the Amygdala / participates in the regulation of autonomic and endocrine functions, decision-making and adaptations of instinctive and motivational behaviors to changes in the environment through implicit associative learning, changes in short- and long-term synaptic plasticity, and activation of the fight-or-flight response
Zajonc / Robert _____, says we can feel before we think/interpret
Lazarus / Richard____, says we have unconscious processing of emotion going on so we are thinking while feeling
Polygraphs / a test that measures physiological reactions that may be associated with an examinee's stress, fear, guilt, anger, excitement, or anxiety about detection or lying.
Facial expressions of 6 primary emotions / Research done on this by Paul Ekman, it found that there is a distinguishable set of emotions across all cultures.
Facial feedback effect / This hypothesis suggests that individuals' emotional experiences are influenced by their facial expressions. For example, smiling should typically make individuals feel happier, and frowning should make them feel sadder.
Behavior feedback / the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others' thoughts, feelings, and actions
NEURAL AND HORMONAL SYSTEMS
neural networks / interconnected clusters of neurons
central nervous system / Made up of the brain and spinal cord, it is the body's processing center.
peripheral nervous system / a network of nerves that runs throughout the head, neck, and body.
somatic nervous system / a subdivision of your peripheral nervous system, it allows you to move and control muscles throughout your body
autonomic nervous system / a network of nerves throughout your body that control unconscious processes
Sympathetic nervous system / a network of nerves that helps your body activate its “fight-or-flight” response.
Parasympathetic nervous system / The part of the nervous system that helps your body relax.
sensory (afferent) neuron / the nerve cells that are activated by sensory input from the environment - for example, when you touch a hot surface with your fingertips
motor (efferent) neuron / cells in the brain and spinal cord that allow us to move, speak, swallow and breathe by sending commands from the brain to the muscles
Interneurons neuron / a type of neuron that are located between sensory and motor neurons.
reflex arc / the pathway of neural stimulation that occurs to translate a sensation into a physical reflexive response, it bypasses the brain to execute the reflex
ADD PICTURES FOR FOLLOWING TERMS
cell body (soma) / central part of a neuron
Dendrite / receives the incoming neural signal
Axon / long fiber connecting the soma to the terminal at the end of the neuron
myelin sheath / Fatting covering that protects the axon and allows the signal to travel faster
Nodes of Ranvier / periodic gap in the myelin sheath on the axon of certain neurons that serves to facilitate the rapid conduction of nerve impulses
glial cells / the cells that make up the myelin sheath, also called schwann cells
axon terminal / terminal at the end of the neuron, converts the electrical signal into neurotransmitters and releases it into the synapse.
resting potential / normal state, the ions in the neuron have a slightly negative charge while the ions outside have a slightly positive charge
action potential / the reversal of the charges ions, positive ions flood into the neuron and cause an electrical signal to get passed along the axon
Sodium-Potassium pump / it maintains the proper concentration of potassium ions K+ and sodium ions Na+ inside and outside of the cell.
Polarized / the asymmetric distribution of cellular components along an axis
Depolarized / a reduction in the electric potential across a neuron so that the inner surface of the membrane becomes less negative in relation to the outer surface.
all or none response / Once the action potential is released, there is no going back. The axon either “fires” or it doesn’t
refractory period / Each action potential is followed by a brief recharging period known as the ______
neurotransmitters / chemicals released at the end of a neuron that travel across the synapse to the next neuron, they only fit into their specific receptors like a lock and key.
Synapse / the space between nerve cells, also known as the synaptic cleft
Reuptake / the process of the sending neuron taking back in any unused neurotransmitters
Dopamine / mood, emotion, arousal, muscle action, learning and thought. Too much equals schizophrenia, too little equals Parkinsons
Serotonin / sleep, hunger, temperature, mood, arousal. Too much equals anxiety and no dreams, too little equals depression
Norepinephrine / mood, arousal from stress, learning and memory. Too much equals anxiety, too little equals depression
Melatonin / circadian rhythm, lack of sunlight creates more. Too much equals seasonal depression and sleepiness, too little equals alertness and insomnia.
Acetylcholine / attention, arousal, muscle action, memory. Too much equals muscle spasms and convulsions, too little equals Alzheimer’s and paralysis
Endorphins / natural opiates, pain relief, pleasurable emotions. Too much equals euphoria, too little equals pain and no pleasure.
Glutamate / memory, cognition, mood regulation. Too much equals brain damage, too little equals reduced energy levels and memory delays
substance P / neurotransmitter, stops electrical impulses from travelling through cells.
Agonists / a substance that mimics the actions of a neurotransmitter or hormone to produce a response when it binds to a specific receptor in the brain.
Antagonists / a compound that has the opposite effect of an agonist. It decreases the activation of a synaptic receptor by binding and blocking neurotransmitters from binding or by decreasing the amount of time neurotransmitters are in the synaptic cleft.
Parkinson’s disease / A disorder of the central nervous system that often results in tremors, it is caused by a lack of dopamine
multiple sclerosis / an immune disorder where the immune system attacks the myelin sheath and causes it to break down. The cause is still unknown, though it is thought to be a result of genetics reacting to the environment
guillain barre syndrome / a disorder in which the immune system attacks the myelin sheath, it is caused by an infection due to bacteria.
endocrine system / body system, comprised of glands and hormones
Glands / two examples are the adrenal and pituitary, controlled by the hypothalamus
Hormones / three examples are oxycontin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine
pituitary gland / the master gland
adrenal gland / gland that secretes stress hormones
psychoactive drugs / Chemicals that change perception and mood.
substance use disorder /
Tolerance / “Neuroadaptation” occurs causing the user to require larger and larger doses to experience the drug’s effect.
Dependence / Describes the need for drugs. Can be physical and psychological, physical is intense pain and psychological is stress and anxiety.
Withdrawal / When the user of a drug experiences discomfort and distress after the discontinued use of the drug.
Depressant / drug types include barbiturates, alcohol, opioids
Barbiturates / also known as tranquilizers, they Depress the sympathetic nervous system, reduce anxiety and create calmness/euphoria, cause sleepiness, can be lethal (cardiac and respiratory arrest) in high doses or combined with alcohol. Impairs memory and judgment. Physical dependence with withdrawal symptoms such as headache cramps, nausea, insomnia.
Alcohol / Suppresses REM sleep, lessens memory, affects judgment, slows reaction time, kills neurons, organ damage (heart, liver, stomach), affects moral judgment, disinhibiting, aggression increases, increase in risky sexual behavior. It inhibits acetylcholine (coordinated movement) and increases dopamine in the brain.
Opioids / Also known as narcotics, Reduces pain and anxiety, leads to extreme euphoria. Depresses neural activity and depletes natural endorphins in the brain. Creates a quick tolerance and physical dependence with intense withdrawal symptoms. Easy to overdose (stop breathing). Includes heroin, morphine, opium, methadone
Stimulants / drug types include caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine
Caffeine / increases heart/breathing/alertness. Leads to wakefulness/insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, psychical dependence with withdrawal symptoms of headaches and irritability. It increases acetylcholine, dopamine, and norepinephrine in the brain.
Nicotine / Increases heart/breathing/alertness. Decreases appetite. Physical dependence with withdrawal symptoms of anxiety/insomnia. Nicotine increases acetylcholine in the brain.
Amphetamines / Speeds up body function—heart and breathing. Increases energy/alertness, euphoria, agitation, physical dependence with withdrawal symptoms that can include irritability, insomnia, seizures, headaches, depression and violence. Prolonged use can cause paranoia/psychosis.
Cocaine / It can increase confidence, energy, and cause intense euphoria by increasing dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine (it blocks the reuptake of these neurotransmitters). The high is followed by a “crash” of depression due to the depletion of those neurotransmitters after the high. Physically addictive and can cause cardiac arrest, stroke, convulsions, aggression, breathing failure, and suspicion/psychosis.
MDMA / also known as ecstasy, it is a stimulant and hallucinogen. Euphoric good feeling, disinhibition, connectedness to others. Increases dopamine and serotonin in the brain. Can lead to damage to serotonin production and cause long-term depression. Can spike temperature and cause dehydration. Impairs memory. Leads to jaw clenching, jerky movements, anxiety/panic, mental confusion. Lowers immune system.
Hallucinogens / drug types include LSD and marijuana (THC)
LSD / Causes major hallucinations in all senses. Causes pupil dilation, increases heart rate, nausea, distortion of spatial relations, mood alteration, detachment, panic, paranoia, synesthesia, flashbacks. Blocks serotonin and increases dopamine in the brain.
Marijuana / also known as THC, a mild hallucinogen. Increases dopamine and leads to euphoric high. Impairs mental functions such as memory, judgment, and perception. May also cause anxiety, panic attacks, delusions, paranoia, depressions, hallucinations.
near-death experience
Serotonin and Dopamine / the neurotransmitters affected the most by drugs
THE BRAIN
Biological psychology / a field of psychology, it is concerned primarily with the relationship between psychological processes and the underlying physiological events
Phrenology / a process that involves observing and/or feeling the skull to determine an individual's psychological attributes. It was invented in the eighteenth century and is considered the first form a psychology
Gall / Franz Joseph _____, inventor of Phrenology
Neuroplasticity / The ability of neurons to modify the strength of existing synapses, as well as form new synaptic connections
Lesions / any abnormal damage or change in the tissue of an organism, often caused by disease or trauma. In this case, it is related to the brain.
EEG / Measures electrical activity of neurons in the brain. Electrodes on the scalp send signals about brain activity in the form of waves to paper. Used to measure sleep stages, dreaming, brain injury from a concussion
CT scan / Uses X-rays that pass through the brain at many different angles. Gives a two dimensional “slice” at any angle or level desired. Can show a tumor or brain lesion as a gray shadow
MRI / Tunnel with a large magnet that creates a huge magnetic field and radio wave pulses. Gets rebound from cells that depend on the density of tissue. Shows structures in the brain’s Soft Tissue. No radioactive material used.
MEG / Measures magnetic fields from neural electrical activity. Participants complete activities, scan reads electrical pulses
PET scan / Radioactive glucose injected in the patient’s blood will display Brain Activity in colored computer graphics. Active areas of the brain require more blood flow and an increased use of oxygen and glucose. Patient is asked to read, solve problems, interpret images,..etc and you look to see what part of the brain lights up. Red=highest level of activity to Blue=lowest level of activity.
fMRI / Shows active areas in the brain but does not require injection of radioactive glucose. Detects increased oxygen in areas of heightened activity.
Hindbrain / includes the upper part of the spinal cord, the brain stem, and the cerebellum. It controls the body's vital functions such as respiration and heart rate.
Midbrain /Involved in hearing and sight and the muscle movements used by each sense.
Forebrain / responsible for voluntary actions, thinking, and processing
Brainstem / at top of spinal cord/oldest part of the brain “animal brain or reptilian brain.” Responsible for automatic survival functions. Contains the Medulla, pons, and RAS
Medulla / where the spinal cord enters the brain at the base of the brainstem. Controls heartbeat, breathing, vomit reflex, digestion. Keeps us alive!
(RAS) Reticular Activating System / regulates arousal and sleep−wake transitions.
Pons / Connects or bridges the cerebellum and medulla to the cerebral cortex. Helps coordinate movement. Also involved in sleep.
Cerebellum / Coordinates voluntary motor functions. Gives us smooth muscle movements, coordination, balance, and posture. Also involved in the memory of physical motor tasks.
Limbic System / Contains a number of structures that are focused on emotional states and drives. Includes the hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus. Our “mammalian brain” that fits over the “reptilian brain.”
Thalamus / Relay station for incoming messages from the sensory neurons to appropriate cerebral lobe (except for smell!) Relays outgoing messages from the brain to motor neurons. Also involves emotion. Contains pineal gland that secretes melatonin.
Hypothalamus / In charge of drives (eating/hunger, thirst, sex, sleep, emotions, temperature). Directs pituitary gland. Also contains the “pleasure center.”
Amygdala / Two almond-shaped neural clusters that influence fear and aggression. If stimulated will cause attack, if not simulated will cause placid action. (Tied to emotional memories).
Hippocampus / responsible for taking all incoming short-term memories and storing them as long-term memories. Directs memories to appropriate cerebral lobe for storage.
Basal Ganglia / Needed to initiate movement. Involved in Parkinson’s disease.
Cerebral Cortex / the outer layer of your brain's surface, located on top of the cerebrum. It carries out essential functions of your brain, like memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, emotions, consciousness, and sensory functions.
Frontal lobe / the front-most part of your brain. It's responsible for control over many abilities, including the way you think, how you move and how you remember things
Parietal lobe / processes your sense of touch and assembles input from your other senses into a form you can use.
Occipital lobe / the visual processing area of the brain.
Temporal lobe / processes auditory information and with the encoding of memory.
Motor Cortex / Located in the back of the frontal lobes, it sends signals to motor neurons
Somatosensory Cortex / the part of the brain within the cerebral cortex that receives all sensory information from various parts of the body, it is in the parietal lobe.
Broca’s area / located in the frontal lobe, it is responsible for speech and the vocalization of words. It needs the help of the motor cortex to do so.
Wernicke’s Area / in the temporal lobe, understands and interprets language, uses auditory input, assembles words to make meaningful sentences.
Angular Gyrus / upper corner of the temporal lobe, takes visual information and turns it into sound. Sounds are then sent to Wernicke's area for interpretation. Needs structure to read.
Aphasia / a language disorder caused by damage to parts of the brain that control speech and understanding of language
Association Areas / regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making.
Phantom Limbs / perception of the continued presence of an amputated limb.
Phineas Gage / young man who was in an accident working on a railroad, he had an accidental lobotomy that damaged his frontal lobe. After the fact, he became one of the most well known case studies in the field of psychology.
Neurogenesis / the process of generating new neurons from neural stem cells.
RIght Hemisphere / the hemisphere of the brain that controls creativity, spatial ability, artistic, and musical skills
Left Hemisphere / The hemisphere of the brain that controls speech, comprehension, arithmetic, and writing
Corpus Callosum / it serves as a conduit allowing information to transmit from one side of the brain to the other
Split Brain Research / research on how the two hemispheres of the brain work independently. This research is done with patients who have had their corpus callosum severed. Ghrelin / a hormone produced by your stomach, it tells your brain when you are hungry.
Orexin / a neuropeptide that helps control arousal, wakefulness, and appetite.
Leptin / hormone that reduces hunger and increases energy expenditure.
Obestatin / a hormone that inhibits food intake and regulates sleep
PYY / Peptide YY, hormone that regulates appetite
Set point / a person's body will adapt to their caloric intake and outtake in order to maintain the body's desired natural weight and shape.
Basal metabolic rate / the amount of energy per unit of time that a person needs to keep the body functioning at rest.
Emotional eating / eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Carbs boot levels of serotonin
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Consciousness / An individual’s perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and memories that are active at a given moment.
Cognitive neuroscience / a subfield of neuroscience that studies the biological processes that underlie human cognition, especially in regards to the relation between brain structures, activity, and cognitive functions.
Dual processing / The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.
Blindsight / a person can still unconsciously perceive some visual stimuli, like the movement of a simple object, despite being unable to see anything
Parallel processing / the ability to deal with multiple stimuli simultaneously.
Sequential processing / the mental process of integrating and understanding stimuli in a particular, serial order.
Selective attention / the ability to choose what to allow into consciousness
Inattentional blindness / an event in which an individual fails to recognize an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight.
Change blindness / a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when a change in a visual stimulus is introduced and the observer does not notice it
Choice blindness / the failure to recall a choice immediately after we have made that choice
Sleep / low levels of physical activity and reduced sensory awareness. It is regulated by circadian rhythms and homeostatic mechanisms
circadian rhythm / the physical, mental, and behavioral changes an organism experiences over a 24-hour cycle
entrainment / When one’s circadian matches up to the environment. Without any natural light, our bodies work on a 25 hour cycle.
Beta waves / brain waves present when someone is alert awake
alpha wave / brain waves present when someone is relaxed awake
NREM sleep / The sleep cycles that occur other than REM sleep
stage 1 sleep / light sleep, hypnagogic sensations, and hallucinations
stage 2 sleep / sleep spindles & K-complex
stage 3 / delta waves (deep restful sleep), sleepwalk, night terror, bedwetting
REM / rapid eye movement; dream, major muscle paralysis, paradoxical sleep, memory storage
Suprachiasmatic nucleus / located in the hypothalamus, it is the pacemaker for the circadian rhythm
Microsleep / a temporary episode of sleep which may last for a fraction of a second or up to 30 seconds where an individual fails to respond to some arbitrary sensory input and enters an altered state of consciousness.
theories of sleep / Inactivity theory, Energy conservation theory, Restoration theory, and the Brain plasticity theory.
REM Rebound / a temporary phenomenon where an individual experiences an increase in REM sleep during the night. Typically follows a period of sleep deprivation.
Insomnia / Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
sleep apnea / Breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep, treated with a CPAP machine
Narcolepsy / Brain’s inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles, causes “sleep attacks” where the person falls asleep suddenly. Caused by a lack of orexin.
REM sleep behavior disorder / a disorder in which a person does not become paralyzed during REM sleep, and therefore act out their dreams
Somnambulism / also known as sleep walking, is when a person gets up and walks around while they are in deep sleep. They are not conscious of what they are doing.
Lucid dream / when you are aware that you are dreaming while in a dream.
Freud / dream theorist, manifest and latent symbols, phallic symbols and unconscious release
Manifest symbols / The deeper meaning of dreams according to Freud, he says that these are the repressed emotions or urges.
Latent Symbols / the surface meaning of dreams according to Freud.
Jung / dream theorist, he says that archetypes appear from a collective unconscious
Cartwright / dream theorist, says that problem solving of the day that passed occurs in the dream
Activation Synthesis theory/ a neurobiological approach to explain why humans have dreams.
Information-processing theory / dreams may be important in helping the brain sort, process, and store information gathered throughout the day.
Physiological function theory / During REM sleep the brain is activated and "warming its circuits" and is anticipating the sights, sounds and emotions of the waking state.
Cognitive development theory / dreams express people's "conceptions," which are also the basis for action in the waking world.
STRESS, HEALTH, AND POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Health psychology / the study of how patients handle illness, why some people don't follow medical advice and the most effective ways to control pain or change poor health habits. They also develop health care strategies that foster emotional and physical well-being.
Psychoneuroimmunology / a psychological field that investigates interactions between the central nervous, endocrine system and immune system.
Stress / a feeling of emotional or physical tension
stressors / a chemical or biological agent, environmental condition, external stimulus or an event seen as causing stress to an organism
Approach motivation / the energization of behavior by, or the direction of behavior toward, positive stimuli
avoidance motivation / emotions, cognitions, and actions that are driven by the wish to avoid an aversive situation or undesired consequences
Epinephrine / also known as adrenaline, it is the hormone that activates the fight or flight response.
Cortisol / it is responsible for maintaining constant blood pressure and blood glucose levels, regulating immune function and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, and dictating our fight-or-flight response
Fight for flight response / a response triggered by epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol when something is seen as threatening
General Adaptation Syndrome / the process your body goes through when you are exposed to any kind of stress, positive or negative. The cycle goes through Alarm Reaction, Resistance, Exhaustion.
Tend and befriend response / when faced with a perceived threat, humans will tend to their young and rely on others for connection and support. This response is seen more so in women than men.
Coronary heart disease / the term that describes what happens when your heart's blood supply is blocked or interrupted by a build-up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries.
Psychophysiological illnesses / physical illnesses caused by psychological issues and physical illness made worse by psychological issues.
Type A / a personality type, it is characterized by competitiveness, drive, ambition, and urgency.
Type B / a personality type, it is characterized by being easygoing, relaxed and highly flexible
Catharsis / a process of releasing negative emotions such as grief and anger, thereby relieving the adverse psychological impact of these emotions
Coping / the thoughts and behaviors mobilized to manage internal and external stressful situations.
Problem-focused coping / a problem-solving technique in which an individual addresses a problem or stressor directly in an attempt to alleviate or eliminate it.
Emotion-focused coping / using skills for processing and dealing with feelings that arise due to stressful situations
Personal control / the perception that one has the ability, resources, or opportunities to get positive outcomes or avoid negative effects through one's own actions
Learned helplessness / a state that occurs after a person has repeatedly experienced a stressful situation. They believe they cannot control or change the situation, so they do not try, even when opportunities for change are available.
External locus of control / the belief that one's behavior will not lead to valued reinforcement that is available in the environment and therefore not under one's control
Internal locus of control / people that believe that they have agency over their own lives and that their actions, decisions, and efforts directly impact the outcomes they experience
Self-control / The ability to control behaviors to avoid temptations and achieve goals.
Optimism / a tendency to expect good things in the future
pessimism / a personality trait in which someone has a more negative—or some might say, realistic—view of life
Social support / having friends and other people, including family, to turn to in times of need or crisis to give you a broader focus and positive self-image.
Positive psychology / the science of human flourishing, the search for satisfaction and contentment that's within everyone's reach.
Subjective well-being / how people experience and evaluate their lives and specific domains and activities in their lives.
Feel-good, do-good phenomenon / after a mood-boosting experience such as recalling a happy event has made people more likely to give money, pick up someone's dropped papers, volunteer time, and do other good deeds.
Money and happiness / the relationship between ______________ and ______________ , for most americans higher incomes are related to greater happiness
Adaptation-level phenomenon / the tendency people have to quickly adapt to a new situation, until that situation becomes the norm
Relative deprivation / the belief that a person will feel deprived or entitled to something based on the comparison to someone else
Broaden-and-build theory / it suggests that positive emotions (such as happiness, and perhaps interest and anticipation) broaden one's awareness and encourage novel, exploratory thoughts and actions.
Resilience / the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.
Benefits of aerobic exercise / increased endurance, reduction of body fat, and decreased depression and anxiety
Mindfulness meditation / a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you're sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment
Gratitude / a positive emotional response that we experience when giving or receiving a benefit from someone
Faith factor / the link between faith or religious belief and health.
SUMMER WORK
Biological Perspective / how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences. Includes blood chemistry, hormones, brain functions, genetics, diseases and disorders.
Nature vs. Nurture / whether we are born with our knowledge and traits or if they are developed through our experiences in our life.
Psychometrics / the field in psychology devoted to testing, measurement, assessment and related activities.
Charles Darwin / The person who coined natural selection, he believed it can shape our behaviors and bodies
Clinical psychologist / A mental health professional that can assess, diagnose, and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. However, they cannot prescribe medication.
Psychiatrist / A doctor who specializes in mental health disorders and substance abuse. They can prescribe medication.
Basic research / research that seeks answers to universal, theoretical questions. It is generally not used to develop a solution.
applied research / research that discovers answers to specific questions. It should be used to find out new knowledge to solve a problem.
Community psychology / a type of psychology that focuses on social issues, social institutions, and other settings that influence individuals, groups, and organizations
Behavioral perspective / a perspective, says that events in our environment can influence our behaviors.
Humanistic perspective / a perspective, How we meet our needs for love and acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment.
Sociocultural perspective/ a perspective, how Ethnicity, gender, culture, socioeconomic status, etc. all influence our behavior. Specifically looking at cultural expectations.
Biopsychosocial approach / a concept used to understand human behavior by looking at the biological, psychological, and social factors.
Testing effect / suggests long-term memory is increased when part of the learning period is devoted to retrieving information from memory
SQ3R / a reading comprehension method named for its five steps: survey, question, read, recite, and review.
Epigenetics / the study of how the environment and other factors can change the way that genes are expressed.
Fraternal twins / twins that develop from two different eggs fertilized by separate sperm
Identical twins / twins that develop from the same fertilized egg that splits into two.
Heritability / a measure of how well differences in people's genes account for differences in their traits.
23 / number of chromosomes you get from your mother, you then get the same number from your father.
Molecular genetics / a field of biology that studies the structure and functions of genes at a molecular level, and their influence in determining the overall makeup of an organism.
Natural selection / the process by which biologically influenced characteristics become either more or less common in a population depending on how those characteristics affect an individual's reproductive fitness. The passing of genes on to future generations.
Mutation / a permanent change in the genetic material of an organism.
Universal moral grammar / an innate moral code that all humans seem to have from birth.
Evolutionary psychology / the study of behaviour, thought, and feeling as viewed through the lens of evolutionary biology.
Biopsychosocial model / typically depicted as a model, it emphasizes the interconnection between biological, psychological and socio-environmental factors.
Sexual response cycle / a four-stage model of physiological responses to sexual stimulation, which, in order of their occurrence, are the excitement, plateau, orgasmic, and resolution phases.
Sexual motivation / the impulse to gratify sexual needs, either through direct sexual activity or through apparently unrelated activities.
Testosterone / the hormone that controls aggression and sex drive.
Estrogen / the hormone that bolsters learning and memory through the hippocampus.
Gender roles / the prescribed behaviors, attitudes and characteristics associated with one's gender status as a female or a male
Gender schema / mental structures that organize incoming information according to gender categories and in turn lead people to perceive the world in terms of gender
Social learning theory / the philosophy that people can learn from each other through observation, imitation, modeling and even emotions.
Transgender / an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth
Gender typing / the process by which a child attributes himself or herself to a certain gender through adopting stereotypical behaviors of that gender
Gender identity / each person's internal and individual experience of gender.
Gender & Social Connectedness / women develop connectedness through intimacy and physical proximity to others, whereas men develop connectedness through social comparison with others
Gender & Aggression / men engage in more direct and physical aggression, and women engage in more indirect and relational aggression.
Sex / refers to biological characteristics like reproductive organs and chromosomes
Gender / refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men, and gender diverse people
Gender & Social power / men generally possess higher levels of expert and legitimate power than women do and that women possess higher levels of referent power than men do.
Primary sex characteristics / the organs and other physiological structures that are directly related sexual reproduction
Secondary sex characteristics / those physical features that allow us to tell males from females, such as breasts on women and beards on men
Intersex / an individual who exhibits sexual characteristics of both sexes.
Sexual orientation / an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes
Y Chromosome / known as the male chromosome, it carries the genes necessary for male development.
X Chromosome / known as the female chromosome, it carries the genes necessary for female development.
Sexual maturation / the stage of development of the reproductive system at which intercourse and reproduction can be achieved.
Puberty / The time of life when a child experiences physical and hormonal changes that mark a transition into adulthood.