psy 201 ch1-4
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- positive psychology movement
- emphasizes the view of human strengths, fulfillment, and optimal living
- absolute refractory period
- time after an action when neuron is incapable of firing another impulse
- motor cortex
- rear portion of the frontal lobes. controls voluntary movements on the opposite side of the body
- archival measures
- records of past documents that contain info about some type of behavior
- prefrontal cortex
- frontal lobe and involved in executive functions of planning, self-awareness and responsibility
- reuptake
- transmitter substances are taken back into the presynaptic neuron so that they don't continue to stimulate post synaptic neurons
- psychology
- scientific study of behavior and the mind
- acetylcholine
- an excitatory neurotransmitter that operates at synapses with muscles and is also the transmitter in some neural networks involved in memory
- lateralization
- the degree of localization of a function in either the right or left cerebral hemisphere
- functional MRI (FMRI)
- pictures of blood flow in the brain. pictures are taken less then a second apart
- medulla
- brain stem structure that controls heartbeat and respiration
- experiment
- manipulate an independent variable in controlled conditions
- colletivism
- a cultural orientation that emphasizes that achievement of group over individual goals and in which personal identity is largely defined by ties to the larger social group
- behavior genetics
- the scientific study of the role of genetic inheritance in behavior
- synaptic space
- the microscopic space between the axons of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another over which the nerve impulse is transmitted
- computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan
- several different x-rays providing brain structures from many different angles
- behaviorism
- a school of psychology that emphasizes the efforts of learning and environmental control of behavior and maintains that the proper subject matter of psychology is observable behavior
- hindbrain
- above the spinal cord that contains the brain stem and cerebellum
- structuralism
- German. attempted to study the structure of the mind by braking it down into basic components, which were believed to be sensations
- neurotransmitters
- chemical substance that are released from the axons of one neuron, travel across the synaptic space, and bind to specially keyed receptors in another neuron, where they produce a chemical reaction that is either excitatory or inhibitory
- social constructivism
- people construct their reality through their cognitions
- agonist
- drug that increases or mimics the activity of a neurotransmitter
- unobtrusive measure
- measuring behavior in which participants are kept unaware that their behavior is being recorded or observed
- cerebral cortex
- the gray, convolted outer covering of the brain that is the seat of higher-order sensory, motor, perceptual, and mental processes
- cerebrum
- most advanced portion of the brain. containing the cortex and underlying structures
- sample
- subset of individuals drawn from the population
- psychoactive drugs
- chemicals that produce alterations in consciousness, emotion and behavior
- reticular formation
- a structure extending from the hindbrain into the lower forebrain that plays a central role in consciousness, sleep, and attention, in part by alerting and activating higher brain centers(ascending portion) and by selectively blocking some inputs to higher regions in the brain (descending portion)
- Wernicke's area
- an area of the left temporal lobe that is involved in speech comprehension
- cognitive behaviorism
- a behavior approach that incorporates cognitive concepts, suggesting that the environment influences our behavior be affecting our thoughts and giving us information
- positive correlation
- a relation between 2 variables in which higher scores on one variable are associated with higher scores on the other variable
- cerebellum
- a convoluted hindbrain structure involved in motor coordination and some aspects of learning and memory
- somatic nervous system
- provides input from sensory receptors and output to the voluntary muscles of the body-peripheral nervous system
- correlation coefficient
- statistic that indicates the direction and strength of a relation between 2 variables; range from +1.00 to -1.00
- counterbalancing
- in experiments, a procedure in which each participant engages in all of the conditions. the conditions are altered for different participants
- cognitive neuroscience
- an area of psychology that intersects the subfields of cognitive psychology and psychological psychology and examines brain processes that underline mental activity
- operational def
- defining a concept or variable in terms of the specific procedures used to produce or measure it
- electroencephalograoh (EEG)
- device used to record the simultaneous activity of many thousands of neurons through electrodes attached to the scapl
- theory
- formal statements that explains how and why certain events or phenomena are related to another
- sympathetic nervous system
- has an arousal function on the bodies internal organs,speeding up bodily processes and mobilizing the body
- dependent variable
- factor measured by the researcher
- parasympathetic nervous system
- the branch of the autonomic nervous system that slows down bodily processes to conserve energy and reduce arousal
- corpus callosum
- a broad band of white, myelinated fibers that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and allows the two hemispheres to communicate with one another
- basic research
- research designed to obtain knowledge for its own sake
- receptor sites
- protein molecules on molecule dendrites or soma that are specially shaped to accommodate a specific neurotransmitter molecule
- hypothalamus
- controls autonomic and hormonal processes and plays a major role in many aspects of motivation and emotional behavior
- Gestalt psychology
- German. emphasized the natural organization of perceptual elements into wholes, patterns, as well as the role of insight in problem solving
- action potential
- a nerve impulse resulting from depolarization of an axon's cell membrane
- representative sample
- a sample that accurately reflects the important characteristics of a population
- biological perspective
- a view that focuses on the role of biological factors in behavior, including biochemical and brain processes, as well as genetic and evolutionary factors
- meta-analysis
- combining results of different studies that examine the same topic
- correlation research
- research that measures 2 or more naturally occurring variables and examines whether they are statistically related
- myelin sheath
- a fatty insulating substance on the axon of some neurons that increases the speed of neural transmission
- resting potential
- voltage differential between the inside and outside of a neuron(about 70mv) caused by the unequal distribution of ions inside the neurons membrane and outside in the fluid surrounding the neuron when the neuron is at rest
- dendrites
- small branching fibers that extend from the soma of a neuron and receive messages adjacent neurons
- pons
- a branch stem structure having sensory and motor tracks whose functions are involved in sleep and dreaming
- culture
- enduring values, beliefs, behaviors, and traditions that are shared by a large group of people and passed from one generation to the next
- internal validity
- the degree to which an experiment produces clear causal conclusions; it's high where there are no confounding variables
- applied research
- research that is designed to solve or examine specific, practical problems
- psychodynamic perspective
- focuses on personality processes-including unconscious impulses, defenses, and conflicts- influence behavior
- cognitive perspective
- a view that emphasizes humans as rational information processors and problem solvers, and focuses on the mental processes that influence behavior
- aphasia
- total or partial loss of ability to understand speech (receptive) or to produce it (productive)
- motor neurons
- carry neural messages from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands
- antigens
- antibody generators. foreign substances that activate the cells of the immune system
- confounding of variables
- we cannot tell which variable is responsible for changes in the behavior of interest
- hypotheses
- tentative explanation or prediction
- forebrain
- above midbrain. higher order sensory, motor, and cognitive functions
- thalamus
- a major sensory integration and relay center in the fore brain, sometimes referred to as the brain's sensory switchboard
- natural selection
- evolutionary process, survival of the fittest
- independent var
- factor that is manipulated
- central nervous system
- portion of the nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord
- adrenal glands
- glands that release stress hormones, including catecholamines and cortichosteroids
- individualism
- many western nations. favors the achievement of individual over group goals
- descriptive research
- main goal is to carefully describe how organisms behave, particularly in natural settings
- somatic sensory cortex
- cortical strips in the front portions of the parietal lobes that receives sensory input from the opposite side of the body
- cultural psychology
- explores how culture is transited to its members and examines psychological similarities and differences that occur between ppl from diverse cultures
- monism
- philosophical position that mental events are reducible to physical events in the brain, so that mind and body are one and the same
- experimental validity
- the degree to which the results of a study can be generalized to other ppl, settings and conditions
- norms
- often unwritten rules that specify acceptable behavior for a group
- social desirability bias
- a tendency to self-report or behave in a way that presents oneself in a favorable light, rather that respond as one truly feels
- socialization
- culture is transmitted to the new members and internalized by them
- range
- represents the difference between the highest and the lowest scores
- functionalism
- focuses on the functions of consciousness and behavior helping organisms adapt to their environment and satisfy their needs
- brain stem
- formed by swelling of the spinal cord as it enters the skull' regulates survival functions in the body
- hormones
- chemical substance secreted by the glands of the endocrine system that travel in the bloodstream and affect bodily organs, psychological functions, and development
- positron-emission tomography (PET) scan
- picture of absorption of a radioactive substance by neurons, including how actively they are involved as the brain performs a task
- sociocultural perspective
- emphasizes the role of culture and the social environment in understanding commonalities and differences in human behavior
- statistical significance
- in research, a term that means it is unlikely that a particular finding occurred by chance alone. typically consider a result to be statically significant only if it could have occurred by chance less that 5 times in 100
- all-or-none law
- a neuron either fires with max intensity or not at all
- axon
- an extension from one side of the neuron cell body that conducts nerve impulses to other neuron, muscle, or glands
- magnetic response imaging (MRI)
- produces highly detailed images of living tissue based on tissues response to a magnetic field.
- antagonist
- drug that inhibits or decreases the action of a neurotransmitter
- case study
- in-depth analysis of an individual, group, or event
- synaptic vesicles
- chambers within the axon that contain neurotransmitter substance
- variable
- any characteristic of an organism or situation that can vary
- mind-body dualism
- philosophical position that the mind is a nonphysical entity that is not subject to physical laws and therefore cannot be reduced to physical precesses; mind and body are separate entities
- limbic system
- a group of subcortical structures, including the hippocampus and amygdala, that are involved in organizing many goal-oriented and emotional behaviors
- experimental group
- a group that receives treatment or active level of independent variable
- association cortex
- areas of cerebral cortex that do not have sensory or motor functions but are involved in the integration of neural activity that underlies perception, language, and other higher-order mental processes
- behavioral perspective
- a view that emphasizes how the environment and learning experiences shape and control behavior
- amygdala
- a limbic system structure that helps organize emotional response patterns
- hippocampus
- in limbic system that plays a key role in the formation and storage of memories
- survey research
- questionnaires and interviews to obtain info
- evolutionary psychology
- a field of study that focuses on the role of evolutionary processes (especially natural selection) in the development of adaptive psychological mechanisms and social behavior in humans
- object relations theory
- a view that people form images or mental representations of themselves and other people as a result of early experiences with caregivers
- neurons
- nerve cells that constitute the basic building blocks of the nervous system
- psychoanalysis
- freud- internal and primarily unconscious causes of bahavior
- experimenter expectancy effect
- and experimenter influences variables to get desires outcomes. subtle and mostly unconscious
- inferential statistics
- tell us how confident we can be in drawing conclusions or inferences about a population based on findings obtained
- standard deviation
- a measure of variability that takes into account how much each score in a distribution deviates from the average score
- cognitive psychology
- an area of psychology that specializes in studying mental processes such as thinking, memory, planning, reasoning, attention, and perception
- neurogenesis
- the production of new neurons in the nervous system, sometimes to replace neurons that have died or been damaged
- humanism (humanistic perspective)
- emphasizes personal freedoms, choice, and self-actualization
- graded potentials
- a change in the electrical potential of a neuron that is proportional to the intensity of the incoming stimulation but not sufficient to produce an action potential
- British empiricism
- a 17th century school of psychology championed by Locke- all contents of the mind are gained experientially through the senses
- homeostasis
- the maintenance of biological equilibrium, or balance, within the body
- interneurons
- neurons that are neither sensory nor motor neurons but that perform associative or integrative functions within the nervous system
- descriptive statistics
- summarize and describe the characteristics of a set of scores
- autonomic nervous response
- the branch of the peripheral nervous system that activates the body's involuntary muscles (eg heart) and internal organs
- population
- entire set of individuals in which we draw conclusions from
- neural plasticity
- the ability of neurons to modify their structure and function in response to experiential factors or injury
- neuromodulators
- neurotransmitter substances that are released by neurons and circulate within the nervous system to affect the sensitivity of many neurons to their natural transmitter substances
- defense mechanisms
- how we deal
- sensory neurons
- carries messages from sense organs to spinal cord and brain
- negative correlation
- a relation between 2 variables in which higher scores on one variable are associated w/lower scores on another variable
- endocrine system
- glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream and thereby affect many bodily functions
- neural stem cells
- immature "uncommited" cells that can mature into any type of neuron or glail cells needed in the brain
- Broca's area
- region of the left frontal lobe involved in speech production
- behavioral neruoscience
- a subfield of psychology that examines brain processes and other psychological functions that underlie our behavior, sensory experience, emotions and thoughts