General Psychology Exam 1 (Holm) – Flashcards
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Define Psychology
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-Scientific study of thought, feeling, & behavior - Logos, meaning Study & Psyche, meaning Soul/Mind
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How does psychology relate to the concept of science?
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It strives to know facts by using objective evidence, avoids opinions, intuition, and guesses. It uses logic to reason possible causes of events and tests them using observation, measurements, and experiments.
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How does psychology relate to the concept of mind?
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Consciousness or mental processes.
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How does psychology relate to the concept of behavior?
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It is observable.
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What is Plato's view on nativism?
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That certain characteristics are innate or born with you.
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What is Aristotle's view on philosophical empiricism as it relates to psychology?
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That traits and characteristics and abilities are molded by experiences.
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Describe the nature vs. nurture debate.
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Nature is the belief that we are born with characteristics, and Nurture is the belief that characteristics are molded through experience.
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Compare and contrast dualism and monism.
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Dualism is the idea that the brain has nothing to do with the mind, while Monism is the idea that the mind and body are one.
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Describe Gall's theory of phrenology.
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He believed that specific mental abilities and characteristics are localized in specific regions of the brain.
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What are Flouren's and Broca's contributions to the history of psychology?
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Florin added precision through surgical experiments on rats and made the first connection between scientific functions and the brain, and Broca showed that specific parts of the brain were related to specific abilities.
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What are Wilhelm Wundt's concepts of structuralism and introspection?
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Structuralism - breaking the mind down into "building blocks". Introspection - personal observation of mental events, not objectively verifiable, limited access. (opposite of structuralism)
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Define and describe Gestalt Psychology.
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Identifying rules on how people perceived the world around them. Included the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its' parts. As we grow in age and gain experience, we all develop to perceive meaning even when none exists.
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functionalism.
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William james: based on function and adaption of consciousness and what features make human being better.
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Describe Sigmund Freud.
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An individual who influenced society and history. He was the first person to purpose the existence of the unconscious mind. He thought that the first way to treat a mental illness was through psycho analysis.
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Who founded the Psychodynamic Theory?
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Sigmund Freud.
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Describe the Psychodynamic Theory.
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The first science based word that meant "mental illness."
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Define the theory of Behaviorism.
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The mind can't be observed or measured so you should focus on something that is directly observed. You can manipulate the environment to look at behavior.
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What did John Watson propose as the basic goals of scientific psychology?
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The ultimate goal of psychology should be to predict and control behavior.
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What is S-R psychology?
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Stimulus-Response Psychology
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Describe stimulus and response as they relate to behaviorism.
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Any type of sensory put out from the environment (stoplight, sound, heat) response is any observable action or change on the reaction of stimulus.
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How did B.F. Skinner contribute to behaviorism?
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He was the first person in history to study reward and punishment. He found that you learn better and more efficiently by reward, not punishment.
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Define reinforcement.
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When a consequence of a voluntary behavior increases the future likelihood of that behavior.
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Define the theory of Humanistic psychology.
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Direct scientific reaction to the belief that free will isn't real. It is based on the belief that people who have free will are inherently good and motivated to learn and improve. We have the potential to do anything we want to do.
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How did Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow contribute to the theory of Humanistic psychology?
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Rogers taught people how to heal themselves, and Maslow found that all humans are motivated at some point to be the best humans they can be (inherent motivation).
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Describe the socio-historical evolution of clinical psychology.
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World War 2 influenced psychology through the changes that it brought. Before WWII, clinical psychology didn't exist.
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How did the advent of computers and information processing systems relate to the development of cognitive psychology?
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Through the use of these machines that processed information efficiently and quickly using complex circuits, we were able to invent a model of the human mind.
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Define cognitive neuroscience.
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The study of the connection between the software and hardware - what parts of the brain control the functions.
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What is evolutionary psychology?
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The study of the function or adaptive purpose of human ability and behavior. The study of how cognitive strategies evolve.
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What is cultural universality as it relates to evolutionary psychology?
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The same mental ability that occurs in all cultures around the world.
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What is culture?
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Language, belief, values, rules, and behaviors shared among members of a group, passed from one generation to the next.
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What is cultural psychology?
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The study of how culture reflects the shape and mental processes and behavior of their members.
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How do the concepts of absolutism and relativism relate to the field of cultural psychology?
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Absolution - doesn't change based on culture. Relativism - certain things that culture influences that you can't understand unless you take them out of the culture.
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What is the difference between clinical psychologists and a psychiatrist?
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Psychiatrists are mental doctors that take medical approach to the treatment of mental illness, while psychologists are non medical people who have a background in research (talk therapy).
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What is the difference between as academic psychologist and an applied psychologist?
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An academic psychologist teaches and conducts research, while an applied psychologist takes results and applies them to real-world problems.
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What is the difference between dogmatism and empiricism?
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Dogmatists come up with theories about human illness and never test them, just assume it's true. Empiricists are the same as Dogmatists, but they test their theories.
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What is the scientific method?
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Rules and techniques for observation that allow observers to avoid illusions, mistakes, and erroneous conclusions that simple observation can produce.
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Define and describe variable.
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No two people will ever do, say, think, or feel exactly the same thing under the exact same conditions.
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Define and describe operational definition.
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Specifies how the variables are measured or manipulated in a study.
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Define and describe data.
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Define and describe data. Careful objective observations or numerical measurements of a phenomenon.
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Define and describe hypothesis.
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A proposed explanation for a situation. And educated guess about variables or the relationship between variables in a study.
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Define and describe theory.
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A set of facts and beliefs about relationships between those facts that can explain and predict related phenomena.
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Define and describe replication.
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Involves repeating the method of a study and collecting comparable data as were found in the original study.
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What is case study science?
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The study is only done on an "exceptional individual."
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How do population and sample relate to the law of large numbers?
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As the sample size increases, the attributes of the sample more closely reflect the attributes of the population that the sample was drawn.
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Define population.
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An entire set.
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Define sample.
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A group that is drawn from a large population.
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What is the law of large numbers?
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The law of large numbers is based on testing huge numbers of people.
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What is frequency distribution?
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The range of scores for data.
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What is descriptive statistics?
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Individual numbers that represent all of the scores. (average)
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Science is a psychology based on _______. What is true on average is rarely true in _____________.
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Averages; Individual cases.
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What is reliability?
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Consistency.
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What is validity?
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Accuracy.
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What is bias?
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The behavior of people being researched or conducting the study.
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Compare and contrast response bias and sampling bias.
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Response bias happens when people have the tendency to respond in a particular way if they are being watched. Sample bias is defined when a sample is not able to represent everyone.
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What is naturalistic observation?
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Watching people without their knowledge.
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What are the four ways that bias may be avoided?
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Anonymous surveys, reflexes, deception (when participants are told they are being observed for one thing when experimenters are actually observing something else), and random sampling (having everyone participate in an experiment).
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What is double-blind design?
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Researchers remove themselves from doing the study and hire someone else to do so.
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What is correlation and how does it relate to variables?
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(Ex. age and health, height and weight, attendance and exam grades)
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What is correlation coefficient?
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Strength and direction.
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Describe the concepts of strength and direction with regard to correlations.
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Strength: 0-1; 0 means no relation, 1 means perfect predictability, .4+ means scientifically valuable Direction: +/-
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What is the difference between positive correlation and negative correlation?
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Positive correlation happens as one goes up, the other goes up, and negative correlation happens when variables co-vary in opposite directions.
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What are confounds?
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Any variable not in correlation that could affect the correlation. (ex.
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What is the third variable problem?
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Variables that are causally related are correlated but not all variables that are correlated are causally related.
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Define and describe experiment.
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manipulation of one variable under carefully controlled lab
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Define and describe the critical experimental features of manipulation and random assignment.
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Manipulation: independent variable-cause, dependant variable- efftect, control group; no special treatment or manipulation, experimental group; special treatment or manipulation Random: versus self-selection or experimeter assignment
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What are the critical experimental features of manipulation and random assignment?
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Done in a lab environment when you manipulate the setting and environment.
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How do you choose whether to do correlation or experiment?
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Ethical.
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What is pseudo-psychology?
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False science, they look like psychology but are superstitions or unsupported options. Ex. Dr. Phil
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What is biological psychology?
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The explanation of behavior and mental processes in terms of the functioning of the chemical body/branch of psychology that seeks to explain human experience and behavior in terms of processes in the physical body.
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What is lesion?
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A naturally occurring or deliberate damage to the brain.
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Discuss the case of Phineas Gage.
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Minding with dynamite and a piece of rock went through his head. Although it destroyed his frontal lobe, he was able to walk away from the incident and live. His frontal lobe was removed and he was a living being, but he did not act like a normal human.
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What is electroencephalogram (EEG) and single-cell recording and what do these show about brain functioning?
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EEG is a general reading of the brain's overall electric activity - brain wave patterns.
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Define and describe the function of neurons.
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To process and transmit transformation.
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Define and describe dendrites, and axons.
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Dendrites receive input from other neurons, and axons are responsible for carrying information to other neurons.
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What is the terminal button?
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The terminal button is responsible for sending the signal on to other neurons.
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What are the differences in function between sensory neurons and motor neurons?
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Motor Neurons transmit impulses from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands, and Sensory Neurons run from various types of stimulus receptors (touch, odors, taste, sound, vision).
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What are the functions of glial cells?
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They form tight connections with the blood vessels serving the nervous system forming a blood-brain barrier that prevents toxins in the blood from entering the brain tissue where neurons could be harmed.
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Compare and contrast resting potential and action potential.
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Compare and contrast resting potential and action potential.
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Define and describe the function of myelin.
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Form a layer of insulation, making neural signaling faster and energy efficient.
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What is synapse?
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The gap at the end of the terminal button.
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Define neurotransmitters. How do they relate to the communication in the nervous system?
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The brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body. They relay signals between nerve cells, called "neurons."
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Define receptors. How do they relate to the communication in the nervous system?
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An organ or cell able to respond to light, heat, or other external stimulus and transmit a signal to a sensory nerve.
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What is the difference between excitatory and inhibitory?
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Excitatory neurotransmitters stimulate the brain. Inhibitory calm the brain and help create balance.
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What are the basic functions of the neurotransmitters: acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and GABA?
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Neurotransmitters are used to send a message from one neuron to the next. Acetylcholine is import in the automatic nervous system which carries commands from the brain to the glands and organs. Norepinephrine leads to arousal when released. Dopamine is involved with the systems dealing with movement, planning, and reward. Serotonin regulates sleep, appetite, and mood. GABA is a neurotransmitter that slows down the activity of nerve cells in the brain.
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What is agonist?
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A substance that initiates a physiological response when combined with a receptor.
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What is antagonist?
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A substance that interferes with or inhibits the physiological action of another.
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Define and describe the functions of the central nervous system.
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Controls most functions of the body and mind. It consists of two parts: the brain and the spinal cord. The brain is the center of our thoughts, the interpreter of our external environment, and the origin of control over body movement
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Define and describe the functions of the peripheral nervous system.
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Serves as a communication relay going back and forth between the brain and the extremities.
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Define and describe the functions of the autonomic nervous system.
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Regulates the functions of our internal organs
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Define and describe the functions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
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The sympathetic nervous system allows the body to function under stress - the idea of fight or flight. The parasympathetic nervous system controls vegetative functions.
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Describe the spinal chord.
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The cylindrical bundle of nerve fibers and associated tissue that is enclosed in the spine and connects nearly all parts of the body to the brain, with which it forms the central nervous system.
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What are examples of reflexes under spinal chord control?
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Ex. Pulling your hand away when it touches a hot object or your finger is pricked.
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What is the cerebral cortex?
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Pinkish-gray surface of the brain itself under the network of blood vessels. Brimming with the cell bodies of neurons. Nickname "gray-matter". Where the mental processes arise.
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Describe the cerebral hemisphere.
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Each of the two halves of the brain
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Describe the lobes of the cortex.
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Occipital, Temporal,Parietal, Frontal
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Occipital Lobe
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Located at back of the brain. Concerned with different aspects of vision & most of the nerve fibers from the eyes lead to these lobes. These areas work together to visualize properties such as shape, color, & motion. Damage may cause blindness.
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Temporal Lobe
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Located below temples in front of ears. Involved in processing sound, entering new information into memory, storing visual memories, & comprehending language.
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Parietal Lobe
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Located in upper rear portion of brain above occipital lobe. Involved in registering spatial location, body position, movement, senses of touch and pain, & skin temp.
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Frontal Lobe
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Located behind forehead. This makes humans different from animals. Involved in speech, the search for specific memories, reasoning and memory, planning, emotions, & significant portion of personalities.
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Define and describe the corpus callosum.
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A wide band of axons that connect the right and left cerebral hemispheres.
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Define and describe the occipital lobe.
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Processes vision.
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Define and describe the temporal lobe.
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Processes incoming sound.
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Define and describe the parietal lobe.
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Processes taste, as well as lets the body know how quickly something is moving towards us.
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Define and describe the frontal lobe.
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Responsible for some of the most complex cognitive processes (like speech).
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What are the functions of the prefrontal cortex?
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Deals with the planning of behavior, attention, and judgement.
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What are split-brain operations?
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Patients with severe, otherwise untreatable epilepsy. To help them cope with the epilepsy, doctors sever the corpus callous (which connects the two hemispheres). This prevents the spasm that originates in one hemisphere from reaching the other hemisphere. Thus, the whole brain doesn't become involved in the convulsions ; the severity of the convulsions is lessoned. However, the procedure creates an inability for the right and left hemisphere to communicate.
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What is the function of the subcortical structures?
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parts of the brain that carry out crucial tasks that affect every moment of life. These are evolutionary older parts of the brain that carry out functions more similar to those of most mammals.
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What does medulla do?
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Manages heart rate and blood pressure damage, can lead to death.
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What do pons do?
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Serve as a bridge from the lower and higher portions of the brain and connects the cerebellum to the brain.
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What does cerebellum do?
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Maintains balance and motor coordination.
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What does hypothalamus do?
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Controls the autonomic system along with the endocrine system.
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What does hippocampus do?
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Has the most impact on your memories.
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What does amygdala do?
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Plays a role in identifying, remembering, and responding to fear and aggression.
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What is the function of the endocrine system?
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To make hormones that affect many bodily functions and also provide the CNS with information. Mostly involved with arousal, metabolism, growth and sex.
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What is Mendelian inheritance?
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A paper written by Gregor Mendel in 1866 formulating the core ideas of the transmission of characteristics by individual elements(now know not be genes), each acting separately. Two ideas are key: 1) For each trait, an offspring inherits an "element" from each parent. 2) In some cases, one of the elements dominated the other, and that is the element whose effect is apparent.
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Compare and contrast genotype and phenotype
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Genotype:The sum total of your particular set of genes, your genetic code Phenotype:The observable structure or behavior of an organism, the physical expression of your genetic code
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How does complex inheritance relate to psychological traits?
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The joint actions of combination of genes working together, rather than Mendelian inheritance, which describes the effects of individual elements of inheritance.
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What is pruning?
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A process in which certain neural connection are eliminated
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What is plasticity?
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A part of pruning. Refers to the brains ability to change with experience.
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Define behavioral genetics.
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The science where scientists try to determine the extent to which the differences among people's behaviors or psychological characteristics are due to their different genetic makeup or to differences in their environment.
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How are twin study's and adoption studies used in the heritability field?
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Heritability:Refers to how much of the variability in a characteristic or ability in a population is due to genetics- due to specific environment
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Adoption studies
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An even better way to gather evidence. Characteristics of children adopted at birth are compared to those of their adoptive parents or siblings versus their biological.
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Twin studies
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Compare identical and fraternal twins to determine the relative contribution of genes to variability in a behavior characteristic. Identical twins start life when a single fertilized egg divides into two.
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Experience is _______, meaning:
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Subjective; No two people experience, perceive, react, or remember the same act in the same way.
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Psychology is _______ above all else.
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Science.
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Psychology is an ________ science because it is always changing.
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Evolutionary.
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What are the major areas that lead to modern Psychology?
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Philosophy and Physiology.
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Who is Wilhelm Wundt and what is he known as?
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He was the first person to create a lab to observe the mind (University of Leipzig 1979); He is known as the Father/Founder of Scientific Psychology.
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________ and _________ both believe that human beings have no control over their life.
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Psychodynamic; Behaviorism.
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What did Skinner believe about the psychodynamic theory and behaviorism?
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That free will doesn't exist, the choices are made by the environment.
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The cognitive strategy that is unique to human beings is ______.
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Lying.
