Psych Terms 2
Terms
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- Present in the spinal cord and brain
- Peripheral Nervous System
- Plays a central role in coordinating and integrating all bodily functions
- Central Nervous System
- Consists of the somatic and autonomic nervous systems
- Peripheral Nervous System
- Activated in emergency situations and causes heart rate and breathing to increase
- Sympathetic Nervous System
- Counteracts the responses of the SNS
- Parasympathetic Nervous System
- Relays or sends messages from the body to the spinal cord and brain
- Sensory Neuron
- Relays or sends messages from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands
- Motor Neuron
- Electrical state that occurs in an all-or-none matter
- action potential
- Sends the action potential toward other neurons
- axon
- Controls the metabolic functions of the neuron
- cell body
- Receives information from other neurons
- dendrites
- Occurs when positive charged ions enter the postsynaptic membrane
- EPSPs
- Vary in relation to the intensity of stimulation and distance from the point of stimulation
- graded potentials
- Occurs when negative charged ions enter or positive charged ions exit the postsynaptic membrane
- IPSPs
- Composed of insulating glia cells
- myelin sheath
- Chemicals that move between two neurons
- neurotransmitter
- Exposed or uninsulated areas of the axon
- node of Ranvier
- Polarized electrical state of a neuron when it is not receiving information or impulses from other neurons
- resting potential
- Release neurotransmitter
- terminal buttons
- Relates to where neurotransmission is primarily a chemical process
- synapse
- Provides control of body movements
- Cerebellum
- Largest part of the brain consisting of two hemispheres
- Cerebrum
- Nerve fibers that connect the two cerebral hemispheres
- Corpus Callosum
- Involved in basica motivation, emotional expression, and control of the endocrine system
- Hypothalamus
- Contains the amygdala, hippocampus, and septal areas - involved with emotional expression
- Limbic System
- Motor movement - contains caudate nucleus, putamen, and substantia nigra
- Basal Ganglia
- Controls species-specific behaviors and influences facial expressions
- Pons
- Plays a practical role in arousal or alertness
- Reticular Formation
- Directs sensory information to the appropriate areas of the cortex
- Thalamus
- Controls vital functions such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure
- Medulla
- Contains the auditory cortex and Wernicke's area
- Temporal Lobe
- Contains the somatosensory cortex
- Parietal Lobe
- Involved in higher mental functions and consists of 75 percent of the cortex
- Association Cortex
- Contains the motor cortex, Broca's area, and is involved in emotional expression
- Frontal Lobe
- Contains the visual cortex
- Occipital Lobe
- Secretes hormones that act in association with the sympathetic nervous system and also increases metabolism
- Adrenal Gland
- Secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream or lymph fluids
- Endocrine System
- Secrete estrogens and or androgens
- Gonads
- Chemicals secreted into the bloodstream that influence target organs
- Hormones
- Releases a number of hormones that influence other glands
- Pituitary Gland
- Regulates metabolism
- Thyroid Gland
- The scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of humans and other animals
- Psychology
- Provides reliable information as opposed to subjective opinions
- Scientific Method
- An activity of an organism that can be observed
- Behavior
- Tentative attempts to organize and explain a body of data, facts, or observations
- Theories
- Organization :Applied Psychology
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- Organization : Academic Approach
- American Psychological Society (APS)
- Involve manipulating conditions or behaviors and observing the results
- Emperical tests
- Scientific approach to the study of behavior that emphasizes the relationship between environmental events and an organisms behavior
- Behaviorism
- Emphasizes the practical nature of the mind
- Functionalism
- Believes the relationship between the parts is more important than the individual parts
- Gestalt Psychology
- Emphasizes the role that free choice and conscious rational choices have on human behavior
- Humanistic Psychology
- Emphasized the role of the unconscious mind and sexual urges in influencing human behavior
- Psychoanalysis
- Attempts to reduce conscious experience to its basic elements (Introspection)
- Structuralism
- Developed his approach as a result of treating emotionally disturbed individuals
- Freud
- Was strongly influenced by Darwins Theory of Natural Selection
- James
- Believed that people have a natural tendency to strive for self actualization or attainment of their fullest potential
- Maslow and Rogers
- Pioneered the stimulus - response approach to psychology and emphasized objectively verifiable phenomena
- Watson
- Believed that the whole of an experience was different from the sum of its parts
- Wetheimer, Kohler, and Koffka
- Used introspection to study mental processes
- Wundt and Titchener
- Artificial Intelligence
- Develops computer models that stimulate complex human cognitive processes
- Biological
- Focuses on the relationship between physiological processes and behavior
- Clinical
- Concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of serious psychological problems
- Cognitive
- Resulted in renewed interest in mental processes such as thinking, problem solving, and creativity
- Counseling
- Focuses on adjustment problems that are not serious psychological problems
- Developmental
- Concerned with factors that influence behavior and development througout the life cycle
- Educational
- Focuses on the study and application of teaching methods and learning
- Engineering
- COncerned with the relationship between the working enviornment, equipment, and people
- Experimental
- Primary activity is conducting research
- Forensic
- Works with the legal system in a variety of ways
- Health
- Concerned with how psychological and physical factors relate to the treatment and prevention of illness
- Industrial/Organizational
- Concerned with using pyschological concepts to make the workplace a more satisfying enviornment for employees and management
- Personality
- Focuses on the uniqueness of individuals and the key elements that provide the foundation of them
- Social
- Would be interested in topics such as interpersonal attraction, conformity, and group processes
- School
- Concerned with evaluating and resolving learning and emotional problems
- Commonly focuses on a specific individual
- Case Study
- Provides information concerning the relationship between two variables
- Correlational Method
- Allows for conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships
- Experimental Method
- Elimates the possibility of inaccurate reports supplied b the subjects either intentionally or unintentionally
- Observational Method
- Provides information concerning attitudes and behaviors
- Survey Method
- Condition or factor that the reseracher manipulates
- Independent Variable
- Measure of behavior in an experiment
- Dependent Variable
- Varies between -1.00 and +1.00
- Coefficient of Correlation
- Subjects who receive the independent variable
- Experimental Group
- Subjects who do not receive the independent variable
- Control Group
- Associated with deception, debriefing, and the protection of confidentiality
- Ethical Guidelines
- Assessed behavior in a natural setting
- Naturalistic Observation
- Tendency of a researcher to misinterpret behavior
- Observer Bias
- Used because it is usually impossible to study all members of the group or population of interest to the researcher
- Sample
- Would include individuals who reflect or mimic the characteristics of the entire population of interest to the researcher
- Representative Sample
- May not accurately reflect or mimic the characteristics of the entire population of interest to the researcher
- Random Sample
- The tendency of individuals to modify their behavior because of the researchers presence
- Observer Effect
- Involves an individual answering a written list of questions
- Questionnaire
- Allowes the researcher to clarify confusing questions
- Interview
- Indicates that an increase in one variable is accompanied by an increase in a second variable
- Positive Correlation
- Reduce a quanity of data to a form that is more understandable
- Descriptive Statistics
- Mathematical methods used to draw conclusions about the meaning of data
- Inferential Statistics
- Reflect the middle, average, or typical score from a group of scores
- Measures of Central Tendency
- Specifies the procedures or techniques used to measure or observe a variable
- Operational Definition
- Mathematical methods used to describe and interpret data
- Statistics
- Reflect the distribution of scores from a group of scores
- Measures of Variability
- Arithmetic average of a group of scores
- Mean
- Score that falls in the middle of a distribution of a groupof scores
- Median
- Most frequently occuring score in a group of scores
- Mode
- Exists when the three measures of central tendency are close together
- Normal Distribution
- Difference between the highest and lowers scores in a group of scores
- Range
- Takes into account all scores in a group of scores and indicates how closely individual scoresa re clustered around the average score
- Standard Deviation
- Mathematical measure that allowes the researcher to determine, with a high level of confidence, if the independent variable was responsible for the difference in scores between the experimental and control group
- Statistical Significance
- Exists when the three measures of central tendency are very different
- Skewed