Psychology

a systematic examination of subjective mental experiences that requires people to inspect and report on the content of their thoughts.

An approach to psychology based on the idea that conscious experience can be broken down into its basic underlying components.

A phrase coined by William james to describe each person's continous series of ever-changing thoughts.

An approach to psychology concerned with the adaptive purpose, or function, of mind and behavior

A theory presented by the naturalist Charles Darwin; it views the history of a species in terms of the inherited, adaptive value of physical characteristics, of mental activity, and of behavior.

In evolutionary theory, the physical characteristics, skills, or abilities that increases the chances of reproduction or surivival and are therefore likely to be passed along to future generations.

In evolutionary theory, the idea that those who inherit characteristics that help them adapt to their particular environments have a selective advantage over those who do not.

A theory based on the idea that the whole personal experience is different from simply the sum of its constituent elements.

The mental processes that operate below the level of conscious awareness

A method developed by Sigmund Freud that attempts to bring the contents of the unconscious into conscious awareness so that conflicts can be revealed.

A psychological approach that emphasizes the role of environmental forces in producing behavior

The study of how people think, learn, and remember.

The study of the neural mechanisms (mechanisms involving the brain, nerves, and nervous tissue) that underlie thought, learning, and memory

The study of how people are influenced by their interactions with others.

behaviorism

functionalism

cognitive

social

Gestalt

structuralism

psychoanalysis

A systematic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena (observable things) to answer questions about what happens, what causes it, and why

Repetition of an experiment to confirm the results.

Unexpectedly finding things that are valuable or agreeable.

A research method that involves observing and nothing the behavior of people or other animals to provide a systematic and onjective analysis of the behavior.

A type of descriptive study in which the researcher is a passive observer, making no attempt to change or alter ongoing behavior.

A type of descriptive study in which the researcher is actively involved in the situation.

Systematic errors in observation that occur because of an observer's expectations.

Actual change in the behavior of the people or nonhuman animals being observed that is due to the expectations of the observer.

A research method that examines how variables are naturally related in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alther them or assign causation between them.

A problem encountered in correlational studies, the researchers find a relationship between two variables, but they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in the other variable.

A problem that occurs when the researcher cannot directly manipulate variables; as a result, the researcher cannot be confident that another, unmeasured variable is not the actual cause of differences in the variables of interest.

Anything that affects a dependent variable and may unintentionally vary between the ecperiemtnal conditions of study.

A research method thst studies the same participants multiple times over a period of time.

A research method that compares participants in different groups at the same time.

The extent of which the data collected in a study address the reseatch hypothesis in the way intended.

The extent to which a measure is stable and consistent over time in similar conditions.

A measure that represents the typical response or the behavior of a group as a whole.

A set of procedures used to make judgements about whether differences actually exist between sets of numbers.

The basic units of the nervous system; cells that receive, integrate, and transmit information in the nervous system. They operate through electrical impulses, communicate with other neurons through chemical signals, and form neural networks.

The brain and spinal cord.

All nerve cells in the body that are not part of the central nervous system. The peripheral nervous system includes the somatic and autonomic nervous system.

naturally occurring chemicals in the nervous system that transmit information between neurons

contains sacs of neurotransmitters

naturally occurring chemicals in the nervous system that transmit information between neurons

located in the postsynaptic membrane. When a neurotransmitter binds to the receptor, an excitatory or inhibitory signal is produced

• (1) conveys information to and from the PNS to the brain (incoming sensory data and outgoing movement and commands to muscles)         
• (2) coordinates spinal reflexes, whoch are simple automatic functions not involving the brain

• -basic survival functions
• -breathing, swallowing, urinating         
• -level of arousal/sleepiness

• -essential for movement          
• -controls balance         
• -allows us to conduct learned movements unconsciously

play a key part in psychological functions

affectss internal functioning (blood temperature, blood pressure, basic drives)

sensory relay

formation of memories

emotinoal associations

planning and producing of movement

• -outer wrinkly cover of the brain          
• -most important brain structure, underlies complex mental activity          
• -seat of complex
• cognitions           
• -consists of two hemispheres (right and left)

-connected by a band of neurons called the corpus callosum, that enables the two hemispheres to communicate           -cutting ther corpus callosum causes "split brain"

•   -back portion of the head                 
• -primarily involved in vision

• -located in the back half of the brain                  
• -important for the sense of touch    

• -syndrome caused by damage to the right parietal region                  
• -patients fail to notice anything on their left
• sides        

• -located above the ear                  
• -responsible for hearing

• -located at the front of the brain                  
• -involving in planning and movement

• -region of the frontal lobes         
• -responsible for rational activity         
• -and: appropriate social behavior, attention, decision making, personality

• -disorder characterized by lack of empathy         
• -people diagnosed with APD show decreased activity in the right prefrontal cortex

• -prefrontal cortex is not fully developed in adolescents  
• -assocaited with difficulties in decision-making and self-control         
• -continues to mature into the 20s