question

what is psychology?

answer

the scientific study of thought, behavior, and emotion - helps us understand why people behave, think, and feel the way they do - many ppl think it only has to do with psychological disorders and therapies

question

behavioral perspective

answer

we learn how we behave from the environmental factor and people around conditioning with reinforcements and punishments ex. People turn violent b/c they were brought up in a bad neighborhood where "every man for themselves" is the motto

question

psychoanalytic/psychodynamic perspectives

answer

unconscious dynamics in the individual Floyd - he thought that we have unconscious conflicts that we are unaware of and that we cannot get rid of. It started in a young age so that is the reason why we are the way we are now

question

evolutionary perspectives

answer

natural selection of traits passed on from generations to generations people are attracted to other people b/c of the way that they look, some features on their face ex. Ancesters are sociable = they survived through all these years...those sociable genes got passed down to you

question

cognitive perspective

answer

How people reason, remember, understand language, form beliefs

question

Sociocultural perspective

answer

How social and cultural forces shape individuals' behavior Shared values and culture Ex. Violent v/c exposed to TV violence

question

biological / neuroscientific perspective

answer

How bodily events affect behavior, feelings, and thoughts Hormones in the body (neuro transmitters, testosterone, etc.) Ex. puberty

question

social vs behavioral

answer

Behavioral = learn from environment from punishments, etc • Has individual influence Social = have traits that move us in the social group where we feel the most comfortable • Group influence

question

What did Descartes do?

answer

mind/body dualism - philosopher Exploring between mind and body Thought: religion -; people were not allow to do experiments on the body b/c of the soul • Thinks that the mind and the body were different = can study the body He gave permission for people to study the human brain b/c it is not not religious

question

Wilhelm Wundt

answer

- made the 1st psychological laboratory - 1st to study psychology w/ introspection - study feelings and sensation and structure of the mind

question

E. B. Titchener

answer

- created structuralism : the analysis of mental structures - understand what the mind and sensation is by looking at conscious experience - uses introspection : to ask people to focus, think and describe stuff - about what

question

William James

answer

- functionalism - the study of how the mind works -functionalism emphasis on the adaptive function of behavior, consciousness , the way it helps ppl. adapt to their environment - ex. why do we have certain traits? about why

question

Hindsight bias

answer

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have forseen it. - ex. i knew it all along

question

hypothesis

answer

testable prediction about the relationships between variables or conditions under the event that will happen - one of the variable is usually a behavior Ex. Meditation reduces stress

question

operational definition

answer

measures that redefines multiple concepts to clear observable operations that anyone can see / repeat • Concepts that have the potential of multiple values • Ex. Meditation. Variables: body, hormones, etc.

question

naturalistic observation

answer

Describe and measure people and/or animals' behavior systematically It can be a bi-product of a behavior - ex. Going to a frat party to calculate how much they drink beer (trace of tracking those behavior) Researchers are not interfering with the experiment - recording the observation • Ppl change their behaviors if they know they are being watched

question

case study

answer

in-depth analysis of one subject (or more) - More common in clinical setting : usually include face-to-face interviews / fill out a questionaire, take some tests Cannot generalize b/c the subject is too small but will get a lot of info from just one subject

question

survey

answer

Asking people questions about their thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions and recording their answers - Written questionnaire, online survey, etc. - can get a lot of info in a short time - problem = wording can lead people from answers to answers - can lead to response bias --> they give answers that are not true to avoid judgment

question

correlation

answer

- measure how strong the association is between two variables (perfect correlation ranges from -1.00 to +1.00) - all correlations are linear

question

positive correlation

answer

variables change in the same direction -• Ex. Obese people eat unhealthy foods increases and healthy food prices increases • +1 is perfect correlation = but is unrealistic ...0.4 is really good

question

negative correlation

answer

variables change in opposite directions - ex. Social status increases and smoking decreases

question

does correlation indicate causation?

answer

NO - causation means that one variable directly influenced the outcome of the other variable - doesn't mean one variable affected the other, could be something different - but causation is a possibility Instead of A causing B, B could cause A C could be causing both A and B

question

how are scatterplots understood?

answer

Very useful to look at the data b/c it shows you what the correlation is Curved scatter = 0 correlation

question

how are correlation coefficients understood?

answer

- curved scatter = 0 correlation

question

experiments

answer

researcher manipulates variable they think is causing some behavior while holding all other variables constant (study doesn't mean experiment but experiment is a type of study)

question

independent variable

answer

manipulated by experimenter by assigning them to do stuff

question

dependent variable

answer

outcome variable - Purpose: test the effects of the IV on the DV - important to hold the DV constant

question

experimental conditions / experimental group

answer

gets treatment / stimulus - group of ppl that the researcher is manipulating the IV to compare it w/ the control group

question

control condition/ control group

answer

doesn't get treatment / stimulus - give baseline of the variable - group of ppl who is very alike to the experiential group, but doesn't receive the experimental treatment

question

experimental control

answer

researcher makes sure that no other factors are changing and thus could affect the DV • You only want your IV to be affected • Ex. Intervention - have students follow instructions so they don't do something that will jeopardize the results (control group will follow the instructions too but more)

question

confound

answer

variable that might be responsible for the results, but is not the variable of interest • not the independent variable

question

random assignment

answer

participants have an equal chance of being in every experimental group

question

expectancy effect

answer

results when hypothesis held by the experimenter leads unintentionally to behavior toward the subject that, in turn increases the likelihood that the hypothesis will be confirmed

question

limbic system

answer

emotion, fear, sexual behavior - Region of brain that has to do with learning and emotional behavior - Key role : learning, emotions, and sensor processing

question

hippocampus

answer

gateway to memory - has to do with processing, storing, and forming new memory abt facts and events

question

amygdala

answer

- very important in emotions - process fear

question

placebo effect

answer

observed improvement b/c of an inert treatment (fake treatment) - trick the mind/brain that they are getting better by doing nothing • Better to have a placebo group b/c it doesn't have a DV group

question

double-blind procedures

answer

- controlling expectancy effect - neither the participants groups know what group they are in (ex. Placebo group & control)

question

random sampling

answer

everyone in the population has an equal chance of being studied Getting a list of ppl in population and just pick random ppl

question

generalizability

answer

generalize of an outcome to other groups and settings

question

replication

answer

repetition of a study usually using a similar method The more replication of the study, the more positive you feel about the results

question

what measures central tendency

answer

- way to describing data of statistical reasoning : indication of where the scores mainly are - typical behavior for the sample as a whole - mean, median, mode

question

mean

answer

avg of all scores

question

median

answer

middle score

question

mode

answer

most frequent score

question

what measures variation

answer

- it indicate how spread out the scores are

question

range

answer

difference between largest and smallest scores

question

standard deviation

answer

avg amount that each individual differs from the mean - its a measure of variance

question

statistical significance

answer

-probability that results are due to chance probability of just finding it by chance is really low The probability of finding it again using different method is very high • Unlikely to be found by chance Want lower P value b/c it means less chance of chance • Use a software to figure out P value

question

P-value

answer

the probability that the difference between 2 samples can happen by chance alone

question

standards of ethical conduct

answer

- has to do w/ humans and animals meeting ethical standards - researchers have to submit a detailed plan for any experiment to be reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) for humans or Institutional Animal care and Use Committee (IACUC) for animals - makes sure that safety and privacy of any people being studied - make sure participants give informed consent - require that investigators avoid / minimize any stress, pain, or discomfort to animals as stated by federal guidelines

question

how information transfers

answer

- information arrives at the dendrites an cell body - travels down the axon - each axon terminals send information to another cell (usually to another neuron)

question

dendrites

answer

- receives neural messages from other neurons • They receive the messages from pervious neurons • Look like trees

question

axons

answer

thin tube that transmits messages • Sends the message to the next neuron • Can be up to 3 ft long depending on their body location • Covered in a fatty tissue so it's a smoother trip

question

glial cells

answer

Means glue hold them in place communicate with each other respond to and release neurotransmitters give nourishment to the cells, remove waste, form Myelin sheath form blood rainbarrier made up of glial cells protect brain from a lot of substances , toxins, invading substances • tied to creativity ; imagination : geniuses have more than avg glial cells , which makes them so smart

question

synapse

answer

- junction between 2 neurons where the axon terminal of a neuron communicates with another cell - its the place where an axon of one neuron meets a dendrite of another - Impulses are transmitted across synapse - Can affect appetite, mood, behavior, etc -have different affects on the way we behave and are - Learning Create synapses makes new pathway in the brain

question

neurotransmitters

answer

chemical messengers that travel across synapse from one neuron to the next - this is released when the action potential arrives at the end of a branch and the axon terminal releases this chemical

question

acetylcholine

answer

- muscle movement - affects neurons that has to do with muscle action, memory motion, cognitive functioning, memory, emotion, and part of the nervous system that does automatic functions (ex. heart beating - some neurons release this into the heart to slow its beating) - contract muscles, slows heart rate and breathing -Muscle movement function = to control movement Too much = seizures , too little = muscle paralysis, lead to altizmers

question

glutamate

answer

- excites neurons - linked to learning, memory enhancement - one of the most common neurotransmitters in the brain --> used in almost every sensory system (from pain to vision) - Causes neurons to fire/ more active - give them action potential - Associated to synapses to regenerate - Too much = damage neurons

question

GABA

answer

- has an inhibitory effect - inhibits neurons (reduces the activity of neurons Causes neurotransmitters not to transmit People w/ anxiety doesn't have enough GABA Sleep disorders, anxiety disorder, eating disorder

question

endorphins

answer

endogenous opioid peptides - Reduce pain and promote pleasure - Body's natural painkiller , numb pain in the moment - Synthetic endorphins stops the body's natural making of endorphins so its addictive to stop the pain

question

serotonin

answer

affects neurons involved in mood, sleep, appetite, pain suppression Depressed people have low serotonin

question

norepinephrine

answer

affects neurons involved in stress response, learning, memory, dreaming, waking, emotion - fight or flight response -ex. Driving and a person almost hits you = increase heart rate, breathing, stress In post-dramatic stress disorder - their bodies are always in stress

question

dopamine

answer

- affects neurons involved in pleasure, voluntary movement, learning, memory, emotion,appetite suppression Reward and pleasure temporary state - can get symptoms of schizophrenia Ex. Sex dopamine is released after it as a reward

question

motor neurons

answer

a type of neuron that carry signals from brain or spinal cord to make muscles move, skin, and glands - uses acetylcholine as a neurotransmitter Ex. Brain tells arm to move by sending motor neurons down the arm Responsible for the signals from the brain to parts of the body and internal organs to do stuff

question

sensory neurons

answer

carry messages from receptors to brain Go from body to brain to tell us something is going on around us For pain, itching, temperature, etc. Ex. I feel pain send to brain

question

interneurons

answer

- receive signals from sensory neurons and other interneurons and send impulses to other interneurons or motor neurons - analyze that sensory info and make decisions about what behavior the motor neurons should make Part of a pathway - in between cells

question

action potential

answer

electro-chemical impulse that travels from the cell body down to the end of the axon Neuron fibering Neuron is at rest then it gets a neuron transmitter message and it gets a change in the electrical charge

question

threshold

answer

level of electric charge needed to stimulate action potential

question

all-or-none response

answer

once the electric charge of the neuron reaches a certain threshold, it fires an action potential Speed and frequency changes action potential

question

myelin sheath

answer

specialized cells that are wrapped around the axon to help transmit message Important for messages to transfer from neuron to neuron Fatty substance covers axon

question

inhibitory signals

answer

decreases likelihood that neuron will fire

question

excitatory signals

answer

increases likelihood that neuron will fire

question

agonists

answer

- a drug that activates the receptor in the same way as the normal neurotransmitter

question

antagonists

answer

- drugs that blind the receptor but don't activate it - so prevents the neurotransmitter from working there

question

blood brain barrier

answer

made by glial - blocks chemicals from going into the brain

question

endocrine system

answer

works by having glands that gives out hormones

question

hormones

answer

chemicals secreted by endocrine glands into bloodstream Travels in the blood stream in a slower pace compared to neurotransmitters and get throughout all the body instead of just in certain nerves (neurotransmitters)

question

pituitary gland

answer

- "master gland" Responsible for blood pressure, thirst, growth hormones - gland is entirley controlled by the brain

question

spinal cord

answer

cylindrical bundle of neurons and axons connected to the base of the brain - acts as a messenger between brain and body - to control other muscles besides head and upper neck, the brain sends commands to the spinal cord to send out info

question

adrenal glands

answer

important in mood, energy level, coping with stress Release stress hormones

question

central nervous system

answer

brain and spinal cord Receives, processes, interprets, and stores incoming sensory information Sends messages • Brain sends messages out through spinal cord

question

peripheral nervous system

answer

o All of nervous system outside brain and spinal cord o Allows communication between central nervous system and sensory systems o Contains sensory and motor neurons o Somatic nervous system (voluntary) o Autonomic nervous system (automatic)

question

Somatic nervous system (voluntary)

answer

-Sensory and motor pathways --> like touch, visual, sound ; sends messages to the brain -voluntary movements of muscles - controls voluntary behavior like having the brain send info to the muscles for them to move -limitations: cannot tell internal organs to work

question

autonomic nervous system (automatic)

answer

divided into : -sympathetic nervous system - parasympathetic nervous system - controls part of internal bodily functions that are beyond our control (ex. blood vessels functions, glands, hormones releases sweating, blushing, etc)

question

sympathetic nervous system

answer

- bodily arousing nervous system - ex. to move the body when it is in danger - increase heart rate, pupils dilate, bladder relaxes, digestion slows, muscle tense =; all to mobilize the body for action

question

parasympathetic nervous system

answer

- calming nervous system - triggers responses to put the body at rest - tends to have a slow reaction than sympathetic nervous system - makes heart rate slow, stuff calms down

question

reflexes

answer

automatic responses that happen without any brain involvement

question

brain

answer

core nervous system - made of billions of Neurons (nerve cells)

question

mind

answer

process that goes on in the brain that includes all thoughts and feelings : experiencing the world through our senses, reasoning, paying attention, imaginging, self awareness, etc

question

how does a brain work?

answer

works by o Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can be traced to electrical signals traveling through the brain and body --> how everything we do takes place in neurons Get signals that turn on and off

question

brainstem

answer

- information relay center - controls involuntary behaviors and primitive behaviors under voluntary control : regulates vital functions - inner brain = responsible for primitive behaviors - temp regulations, eating, breathing, sleeping ; connected to spinal cord, control involuntary behavior to help us survive (gagging, sneezing,, coughing) - outside brain = more complicated

question

things inside brainstem

answer

thalamus, hypothalamus, reticular formation, cerebellum

question

thalamus

answer

- relay station process info from sense receptors and direct the info to the right brain centers in the cerebrum - directs and process every sense besides smell - trades info with cerebrum

question

hypothalamus

answer

- under thalamus - this controls pituitary gland, motivation , and 4 f's (feeding, fleeding, fortification, fighting) - involved w/ motivation and emotional drivers - regulates hunger, thirst ,sexual behavior, body temp, biological clock, rage, and pressure - regulate endocrine activities = glands that give out hormones

question

reticular formation

answer

controls arousal (sleep , wake) and attention - we shut this down during sleep time to allow us to have selective attention - ex. during class time, we can focus/filter noise so we can hear the professor in a noisy room

question

cerebellum

answer

- has to do w/ coordination of movement (like balance, muscle coordination, simple elarning) - functions are autonomic nervous system - has memory of simple skills, language, planning, reasoning - ex. to maintain a good posture effortlessly

question

cerebral cortex

answer

- outer layer of cerebrum = higher forms of thinking - has 2 hemispheres of cerebrum = left and right = don't have identical functions - covers the cerebral hemispheres that has a lot of nerve cell bodies and their branches

question

name of 4 lobes on each hemisphere

answer

frontal lobes, parietal lobes, occipital lobes, temporal lobes

question

frontal lobes

answer

- at front of brain = last area of the brain to develop - has to do w/ planning, creative thinking, organization, personality - has motor cortex = voluntary movement (somatic nervous system) - homunculus (little man)= map of motor cortex ; sensory cortex - map of our body that has to do w/ movement in different parts of body - has broca's area = responsible for producing speech (if damaged then it can affect their ability to produce speech) found only in the left frontal lobe

question

parietal lobes

answer

- at top of brain - has somatosensory cortex - which gets info about sensation - analyze info from our skin to give us the sense of touch, pain, and body sense - info about what our body is doing from movement to movement

question

occipital lobes

answer

- at back of head - has visual cortex which process visual signals - if damaged: impairs vision and blindness = has nothing to do w/ eyeball but the brain cant process the info

question

temporal lobes

answer

- at the sides of head - process auditory information (sound from ear) - receives information about smell, taste, and sound - contains auditory cortex = process sound (when damaged, speech may not come out) - contains wernicke's area = process language comprehension and understanding of speech( if damanged = speech may not make sense ; have difficulty understanding other people)

question

when corpus callosum is severed ...

answer

brain adapts and it learns to work together without the corpus callosum

question

lateralization

answer

- hemispheric specialization - left side controls right side of body and vice versa - hemisphere communicate w/ corpus callosum (band of fiber)

question

studying the mapping of the brain

answer

- hard to do b/c they can study indirectly by looking at the outcome of brain - case studies : used when something happens and you can study and witness what is happening (Ex. phineas gage - rod goes through frontal lobe) - electroencephalograph (EEG) : detect electrical activity of neurons in particular regions of brain

question

ways we learn about brain structures and activity

answer

case studies and lesion method

question

methods of mapping the brain

answer

lesion method, electrode method, PET scan, CAT scan, fMRI

question

neural networks

answer

a. A wide ranging scattering of many interneurons communication with one another to process information b. Sensory neurons send info into the network -; then reaches a decision and sends commands out to motor neurons so you can get the motion you want

question

lesion method

answer

removing part of damaged brain from animals to see how it affects them

question

Electroencephalograph - EEG

answer

shows researcher where the electrical activity is in the brain

question

CAT scan

answer

computerized axial tomography (better than EEG) - x ray beams from all different angles through the head to see the full picture of brain - doesn't tell you about the function of the brain

question

PET scan

answer

positron emission tomography - tells researcher what area of the brain is active when the person is doing something - have to take radioactive glucose pills = it allows pics to be taken where the brain is working

question

plasticity

answer

flexibility of brain structures - brain is plastic and not fixed = it can be changed from experience and learning

question

fMRI

answer

functional magnetic resonance imaging - magnates are used to see functions of brain - better than PET scan b/c you don't need to take radioactive glucose pills to see where the activity is

question

functional plasticity

answer

ability of the brain area to take over the function of a damaged area of the brain ex) stroke person cannot move left side of body; therapy makes him use the bad arm so new brain connections are working

question

structural plasticity

answer

The brain's ability to change its physical structure in response to learning, active practice, or environmental influences ex) football players play better not b/c of brain, but from the experience of playing the sport

question

neurogenesis

answer

growth of new neurons - damaged brain forms new synapses by reorganizing

question

genes

answer

basic units of heredity - carried in pairs (23 pairs) : one from mom and one from dad - made up of segments of DNA moledcules where DNA tells cells what to do and what to be - carried: by chromosomes

question

chromosomes

answer

structure in the nucleus of every cell in the body

question

phenotypes

answer

observable characteristics that are expressed sum total of all the physical characteristics and processes going on inside you at a particular time - Ex. Hair color, your intelligence, tendency to get hiccups - Never stays the same

question

genotypes

answer

profile of genes that you get from your parents - it is set at the instant of fertilization, it will remain the same for the rest of your life -Never changes - our genetic set of genes = genetic info that people have

question

PKU - phenylketonuria

answer

• Recessive hereditary disorder that at one time usually leads to mental impairment • They lack protein that breaks down phenylalanine (an amino acid that is in many foods) • Leads to brain cells dying and mental functions - treatment : diet to avoid protein

question

nature vs nurture debate

answer

nature view: humans enter the world w/ a stored knowledge --> we are born how we are, born with the ability to do things and know things nurture view: knowledge is through experience and interactions with the world --> env influences how people turn out b/c we are born on a blank state and learned from experience

question

range of reaction

answer

- env influenced expression of genes - genetic makeup makes range of possible developmental outcomes - env determines how people actually develop - result of combination of genes and env : most behavior, traits, etc

question

genotype-environment interaction

answer

effects of similar environmental conditions on genetically different people - When the env determines if a gene will affect behavior, by affecting expression of that gene ex) children who are raised in a violent household has traumatic experience and respond to stress differently from abuse but genes can be changed if they are put in a loving home

question

epigenetics

answer

Heritable information that does not depend on DNA sequence. These alterations in gene expression arise during development and cell proliferation

question

ways that behavior geneticists can determine the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to traits and behavior

answer

family studies, adoption studies, twin studies, adoption twin studies

question

behavioral genetics

answer

study of genetics basis of individual differences in behavior and personaility - these studies show heritability of genes and how important these genes are

question

family studies

answer

measure degree to which biological relatives share certain traits - we share more genetic materials to our sister than to our half-sister

question

adoption studies

answer

compare adopted children to adoptive families and biological families - estimate how important genes / env is to develop the outcome as to who they are

question

twin studies

answer

compare pairs of monozgotic and same sex- dizygotic twins ; Most common method to find the confounding variable of similar env shared by relatives

question

confounding variables

answer

• 2 variables that change togetherr, making it diffiuclt to know which one is at work

question

Monozygotic twins

answer

share 100% genes - Identical twins : researcher measure some kind of traits and look at the concordance rate between the identical twin pairs with the dizygotic twin pairs

question

Dizygotic twins

answer

share, on average, 50% genes • not-identical twins - share the same womb but are not the same

question

adoption twin studies

answer

compare monozygotic twins separated in infancy and reared apart

question

concordance rate

answer

ranges from 0.0-1.0 • Monozygotic twins have a higher concordance rate b/c they are the same • Tells us how genetically heritable some genes are

question

heritability

answer

statistical estimates of contribution of heredity to individual Relies on correlation research method • Shows how similar people are to each other

question

Natural selection favors beneficial alleles

answer

alleles = has 2 different versions of this in your body; one from mom and the other from dad

General Psychology – Exam 1 – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards