Psychology Cram

·       Major Parts of a Neuron: Dendrites receive, soma processes, axon sends, and synapse connects.

·       Neurotransmitters in the Synapse: They bind to receptors, break down, or get reabsorbed.

·       Dopamine & Serotonin Functions: Dopamine controls pleasure and movement; serotonin affects mood and sleep.

·       Excitatory vs. Inhibitory Neurotransmitters: Excitatory speed up signals; inhibitory slow them down.

·       Agonist vs. Antagonist: Agonists enhance neurotransmitters; antagonists block them.

·       Teratogen: A harmful substance that affects prenatal development.

·       Rosenzweig’s Rat Study: Rats in enriched environments had better brain growth.

·       Frontal Lobe: Controls thinking, movement, and decisions.

·       Temporal Lobe: Helps with hearing, memory, and language.

·       Parietal Lobe: Processes touch and spatial awareness.

·       Occipital Lobe: Handles vision and object recognition.

·       Thalamus: Relays sensory information to the brain.

·       Hypothalamus: Regulates hunger, thirst, and body temperature.

·       Amygdala: Processes emotions, especially fear.

·       Hippocampus: Helps form and store memories.

·       Corpus Callosum: Connects and coordinates both brain hemispheres.

·       Split Brain Research: Showed left brain handles language, right brain processes visuals.

·       Divisions of the Nervous System: CNS (brain/spine) and PNS (everything else).

·       Lesion vs. EEG vs. fMRI: Lesion studies brain damage, EEG tracks brain waves, fMRI maps blood flow.

·       Genotype vs. Phenotype vs. Heritability: Genotype = genes, phenotype = traits, heritability = genetic influence.

·       Heritability of Schizophrenia (60%): 60% of schizophrenia risk is genetic.

·       Gene-Environment Interactions: Passive (inherited environment), evocative (responses from others), active (choosing environment).

·       Cooper & Zubek’s Rat Study: Showed genes and environment both affect learning.

·       Family vs. Twin vs. Adoption Studies: Family = shared genes, twin = identical vs. fraternal, adoption = nature vs. nurture.

·       Genetics & Schizophrenia: Twin studies show genetic links to schizophrenia.

·       Stress-Diathesis Model: Genes + stress trigger mental illness.

·       Sensation vs. Perception: Sensation is raw input; perception is how we interpret it.

·       Absolute Threshold & Just Noticeable Difference: Smallest detectable stimuli and smallest noticeable change.

·       Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Processing: Top-down uses prior knowledge; bottom-up uses raw data.

·       Selective Attention: Focusing on one thing while ignoring others.

·       Light Path Through Eye: Cornea → Pupil → Lens → Retina → Optic nerve → Occipital lobe.

·       Rods vs. Cones: Rods = low light vision, cones = color vision.

·       Binocular vs. Monocular Depth Cues: Binocular uses both eyes, monocular uses one.

·       Binocular Disparity & Convergence: Disparity = slight image differences; convergence = eye strain to focus.

·       Monocular Cues: Relative size, texture gradient, linear perspective.

·       Gestalt Principles: Figure-ground (main vs. background), closure (filling gaps), proximity (close items grouped), similarity (similar items grouped).

·       Sound Path Through Ear: Pinna → Eardrum → Ossicles → Cochlea → Auditory nerve → Brain.

·       Binaural Cues for Sound Localization: Timing and intensity differences between ears.

·       Attention & Memory: Focus helps store and recall information.

·       Shallow, Intermediate, Deep Processing: Deeper thinking = better memory.

·       Elaboration & Encoding: More details help remember things.

·       Memory Types: Sensory (instant), short-term (brief), working (active), long-term (stored).

·       Echoic vs. Iconic Memory: Echoic = sound memory, iconic = visual memory.

·       Explicit vs. Implicit Memory: Explicit = conscious recall, implicit = automatic skills.

·       Schema & Memory: Schemas help organize and interpret information.

·       Long-Term Potentiation: Strengthens neuron connections for learning.

·       Spreading Activation: Thinking of one idea triggers related thoughts.

·       Brain & Memory: Hippocampus, amygdala, cortex all involved.

·       Serial Position Effect: First and last items in a list are easiest to remember.

·       Same-Location Test Advantage: Familiar settings help with recall.

·       Schachter’s 7 Sins of Memory: Forgetting (losing info), distortion (changing info), intrusion (unwanted memories).

·       Anterograde vs. Retrograde Amnesia: Anterograde = can’t form new memories, retrograde = can’t recall old ones.