psychology test 1

In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description of the structure of morphemes and other units of meaning in a language like words, affixes, and parts of speech and intonation/stress, implied context (words in a lexicon are the subject matter of lexicology). Morphological typology represents a way of classifying languages according to the ways by which morphemes are used in a language --from the analytic that use only isolated morphemes, through the agglutinative ('stuck-together') and fusional languages that use bound morphemes (affixes), up to the polysynthetic, which compress lots of separate morphemes into single words. While words are generally accepted as being (with clitics) the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that in most languages, if not all, words can be related to other words by rules (grammars).

Cognitive therapy is a type of psychotherapy developed by American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck. Cognitive therapy is one of the therapeutic approaches within the larger group of cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) and was first expounded by Beck in the

A prejudice is a prejudgment, an assumption made about someone or something before having adequate knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy. The word prejudice is most commonly used to refer to a preconceived judgment toward a people or a person because of race, social class, gender, ethnicity, homelessness, age, disability, obesity, religion, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics. It also means beliefs without knowledge of the facts and may include 'any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence.Common misconceptions<Prejudices are abstract-general preconceptions or abstract-general attitudes towards any type of situations, object, or person.Stereotypes are generalizations of existing characteristics that reduce complexity.

The science of mind and behavior. its goal is to understand behavior and mental processes by researching and establishing both general principles and specific cases. For many practitioners, one goal of applied psychology is to benefit society.

Originally the word theory is a technical term from Ancient Greek. It is derived from theoria, , meaning 'a looking at, viewing, beholding', and refers to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action. Theory is especially often contrasted to 'practice' a concept that in its original Aristotelian context referred to actions done for their own sake, but can also refer to 'technical' actions instrumental to some other aim, such as the making of tools or houses.

The James-Lange theory refers to a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions and is one of the earliest theories of emotion, developed independently by two 19th-century scholars, William James and Carl Lange. <br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23">The theory states that within human beings, as a response to experiences in the world, the autonomic nervous system creates physiological events such as muscular tension, a rise in heart rate, perspiration, and dryness of the mouth. Emotions, then, are feelings which come about as a result of these physiological changes, rather than being their cause. James and Lange arrived at the theory independently. Lange specifically stated that vasomotor changes are emotions.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone is a polypeptide hormone and neurotransmitter involved in the stress response. It belongs to corticotropin-releasing factor. Corticotropin-releasing hormone is a 41-amino acid peptide derived from a 191-amino acid preprohormone.

Critical thinking, in its broadest sense has been described as 'purposeful reflective judgment concerning what to believe or what to do.Critical thinking clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, accomplishes actions, and assesses conclusions. Critical' as used in the expression 'critical thinking' connotes the importance or centrality of the thinking to an issue, question or problem of concern. 'Critical' in this context does not mean 'disapproval' or 'negative.' There are many positive and useful uses of critical thinking, for example formulating a workable solution to a complex personal problem, deliberating as a group about what course of action to take, or analyzing the assumptions and the quality of the methods used in scientifically arriving at a reasonable level of confidence about a given hypothesis.

denotes information gained by means of observation

The hypothetico-deductive model, first so-named by William Whewell, is a proposed description of scientific method. According to it, scientific inquiry proceeds by formulating a hypothesis in a form that could conceivably be falsified by a test on observable data. A test that could and does run contrary to predictions of the hypothesis is taken as a falsification of the hypothesis.

SCAN is a set of tools created by WHO aimed at diagnosing and measuring mental illness that may occur in adult life. It is not constructed explicitly for use with either ICD-10 or DSM-IV but can be used for both systems. The SCAN system was originally called PSE, or Present State Examination, but since version 10 (PSE-10), the commonly accepted name has been SCAN. The current version of SCAN is 2.1.

Structuralism is an intellectual movement that developed in France in the 1950s and 1960s, in which human culture is analysed semiotically (i.e., as a system of signs). <br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23">Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism appeared in academia in the second half of the 20th century and grew to become one of the most popular approaches in academic fields concerned with the analysis of language, culture, and society.

Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy, developed largely as an alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviourism. Its core idea is that mental states (beliefs, desires, being in pain, etc). are constituted solely by their functional role -- that is, they are causal relations to other mental states, sensory inputs, and behavioral outputs .

Psychoanalytic theory refers to the definition and dynamics of personality development which underlie and guide psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy. First laid out by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytic theory has undergone many refinements since his work . Psychoanalytic theory came to full prominence as a critical force in the last third of the twentieth century as part of 'the flow of critical discourse after the 1960s', and in association above all with the name of Jacques Lacan.

Behavioral activation is a third generation behavior therapy for treating depression. It is one of many functional analytic psychotherapies which are based on a Skinnerian psychological model of behavior change, generally referred to as applied behavior analysis. This area is also a part of what is called clinical behavior analysis (CBA) and makes up one of the most effective practices in the professional practice of behavior analysis.

Psychodynamics is the theory and systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior, especially the dynamic relations between conscious motivation and unconscious motivation. The psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) developed 'psychodynamics' to describe the processes of the mind as flows of psychological energy (Libido) in an organically complex brain. In medical praxis, psychodynamic psychotherapy is a less intensive, 3-5 weekly sessions, than the classical Freudian psychoanalysis treatment of only one weekly session.

Behavioral neuroscience, biopsychology, or psychobiology is the application of the principles of biology (in particular neurobiology), to the study of physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in human and non-human animals. It typically investigates at the level of nerves, neurotransmitters, brain circuitry and the basic biological processes that underlie normal and abnormal behavior. Most typically experiments in behavioral neuroscience involve non-human animal models (such as rats and mice, and non-human primates) which have implications for better understanding of human pathology and therefore contribute to evidence based practice.

Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes. It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems. Cognitive psychology is radically different from previous psychological

The Nun Study is a longitudinal study of aging and Alzheimer's disease. Dr. David Snowdon, the founding Nun Study investigator, originally began his research at the University of Minnesota, but moved it to the University of Kentucky in 1986. In 2008, with Dr. Snowdon's retirement from the University of Kentucky the study returned to the University of Minnesota. The Nun Study, begun (officially) in 1986 with funding by the National Institute on Aging, focuses on a group of American Roman Catholic sisters who are members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone is a polypeptide hormone and neurotransmitter involved in the stress response. It belongs to corticotropin-releasing factor family. Corticotropin-releasing hormone is a 41-amino acid peptide derived from a 191-amino acid preprohormone.

The parasympathetic nervous system is one of the two main divisions of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is responsible for regulation of internal organs and glands, which occurs unconsciously. The parasympathetic system specifically is responsible for stimulation of activities that occur when the body is at rest, including sexual arousal, salivation, lacrimation (tears), urination, digestion and defecation. Its action is described as being complementary to that of one of the other main branches of the ANS, the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for stimulating activities associated with the fight-or-flight response. Because of this relationship, the action of the parasympathetic nervous system is often described as 'rest and digest'.

The somatic nervous system is the part of the peripheral nervous system associated with the voluntary control of body movements via skeletal muscles, and with sensory reception of external stimuli (e.g., touch, hearing, and sight). The Somatic nervous system consists of efferent nerves responsible for stimulating muscle contraction, including all the neurons connected with skeletal muscles, skin, and sense organs. The somatic nervous system processes sensory information and controls all voluntary muscular systems within the body, with the exception of reflex arcs.

The suprachiasmatic nucleus, abbreviated SCN, is a tiny region on the brain's midline, situated directly above the optic chiasm. It is responsible for controlling circadian rhythms. The neuronal and hormonal activities it generates regulate many different body functions in a 24-hour cycle, using around 20,000 neurons.

The (ortho-) sympathetic nervous system is one of the three parts of the autonomic nervous system, along with the enteric and parasympathetic systems. Its general action is to mobilize the body's resources under stress; to induce the fight-or-flight response. It is, however, constantly active at a basal level in order to maintain homeostasis.

An axon is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, that conducts electrical impulses away from the neuron's cell body or soma. An axon is one of two types of protoplasmic protrusions that extrude from the cell body of a neuron, the other type being dendrites. Axons are distinguished from dendrites by several features, including shape (dendrites often taper while axons usually maintain a constant radius), length (dendrites are restricted to a small region around the cell body while axons can be much longer), and function (dendrites usually receive signals while axons usually transmit them).

The soma is the bulbous end of a neuron, containing the cell nucleus. There are many different specialized types of neurons, and their sizes vary from as small as about 30 micrometres to over 10 millimetre for some of the largest neurons of invertebrates. The soma contains many organelles, including granules called Nissl granules, which are composed largely of rough endoplasmic reticulum and free polyribosomes. The cell nucleus is a key feature of the soma. The nucleus is the source of most of the RNA that is produced in neurons.

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms. Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females. It has a prevalence that ranges between 2 and 150 per 100,000. multiple sclerosis was first described in 1868 by Jean-Martin

Classical conditioning is a form of associative learning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov (1927). The typical procedure for inducing classical conditioning involves presentations of a neutral stimulus along with a stimulus of some significance, the 'unconditioned stimulus'. The neutral stimulus could be any event that does not result in an overt behavioral response from the organism under investigation.

Ion channels are pore-forming proteins that help establish and control the small voltage gradient across the plasma membrane of cells by allowing the flow of ions down their electrochemical gradient. They are present in the membranes that surround all biological cells. The study of ion channels involves many scientific techniques such as voltage clamp electrophysiology (in particular patch clamp), immunohistochemistry, and RT-PCR.

The chemical compound acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter in both the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS) in many organisms including humans. Acetylcholine is one of many neurotransmitters in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the only neurotransmitter used in the motor division of the somatic nervous system. (Sensory neurons use glutamate and various peptides at their synapses). Acetylcholine is also the principal neurotransmitter in all autonomic ganglia.

Reuptake is the reabsorption of a neurotransmitter by a neurotransmitter transporter of a pre-synaptic neuron after it has performed its function of transmitting a neural impulse. <br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23">Reuptake is necessary for normal synaptic physiology because it allows for the recycling of neurotransmitters and regulates the level of neurotransmitter present in the synapse and controls how long a signal resulting from neurotransmitter release lasts. Because neurotransmitters are too large and hydrophilic to diffuse through the membrane, specific transport proteins are necessary for the reabsorption of neurotransmitters. Much research, both biochemical and structural, has been performed to obtain clues about the mechanism of reuptake.

The James-Lange theory refers to a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions and is one of the earliest theories of emotion, developed independently by two 19th-century scholars, William James and Carl Lange.>The theory states that within human beings, as a response to experiences in the world, the autonomic nervous system creates physiological events such as muscular tension, a rise in heart rate, perspiration, and dryness of the mouth. Emotions, then, are feelings which come about as a result of these physiological changes, rather than being their cause. James and Lange arrived at the theory independently. Lange specifically stated that vasomotor changes are emotions.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. It results from the death of dopamine-containing cells in the substantia nigra, a region of the midbrain; the cause of cell-death is unknown. Early in the course of the disease, the most obvious symptoms are movement-related, including shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait. Later, cognitive and behavioural problems may arise, with dementia commonly occurring in the advanced stages of the disease. Other symptoms include sensory, sleep and emotional problems. Parkinson's disease is more common in the elderly with most cases occurring after the age of 50.

Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors and their variants. Dopamine is produced in several areas of the brain, including the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area.

Endorphins ('endogenous morphine') are endogenous opioid peptides that function as neurotransmitters. They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise, excitement, pain, consumption of spicy food, love and orgasm, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being. The term 'endorphin' implies a pharmacological activity (analogous to the activity of the corticosteroid category of biochemicals) as opposed to a specific chemical formulation.

Serotonin is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system (CNS) of animals including humans. It is a well-known contributor to feelings of well-being; therefore it is also known as a 'happiness hormone' despite not being a hormone.

Oxytocin is a mammalian hormone that acts primarily as a neuromodulator in the brain. Also known as alpha-hypophamine (α-hypophamine), oxytocin has the distinction of being the very first polypeptide hormone to be sequenced and synthesized biochemically, by Vincent du Vigneaud et al. in 1953.

Electroencephalography is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. Electroencephalography measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain. In clinical contexts, Electroencephalography refers to the recording of the brain's spontaneous electrical activity over a short period of time, usually 20-40 minutes, as recorded from multiple electrodes placed on the scalp.

Mania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. In a sense, it is the opposite of depression. In addition to mood disorders, individuals may exhibit manic behavior as a result of drug intoxication (notably stimulants such as cocaine or methamphetamine), medication side effects (notably steroids), or malignancy.

Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain. Cognitive neuroscience is a branch of both psychology and neuroscience, overlapping with disciplines such as physiological psychology, cognitive psychology and neuropsychology.

The cerebellum is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It is also involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and probably in some emotional functions such as regulating fear and pleasure responses. Its movement-related functions are the most clearly understood, however.

In biological anatomy, the mesencephalon (or midbrain) comprises the tectum (or corpora quadrigemina), tegmentum, the ventricular mesocoelia (or 'iter'), and the cerebral peduncles, as well as several nuclei and fasciculi. Caudally the mesencephalon adjoins the pons (metencephalon) and rostrally it adjoins the diencephalon (Thalamus, hypothalamus, et al)..During development, the mesencephalon forms from the middle of three vesicles that arise from the neural tube to generate the brain.

The striatum is a subcortical (i.e., inside, rather than on the outside) part of the forebrain. It is the major input station of the basal ganglia system. The striatum, in turn, gets input from the cerebral cortex. In primates (including humans), the striatum is divided by a white matter tract called the internal capsule into two sectors called the caudate nucleus and putamen.

• The are almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.
• Anatomical subdivisions<The regions described as amygdala nuclei encompass several structures with distinct functional traits.

The basal ganglia are a group of nuclei of varied origin (mostly telencephalic embryonal origin, with some diencephalic and mesencephalic elements) in the brains of vertebrates that act as a cohesive functional unit. They are situated at the base of the forebrain and strongly connected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus and other brain areas. The basal ganglia are associated with a variety of functions, including voluntary motor control, procedural learning relating to routine behaviors or 'habits' such as bruxism, eye movements, and cognitive, emotional functions.

The hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other mammals. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in long-term memory and spatial navigation. Like the cerebral cortex, with which it is closely associated, it is a paired structure, with mirror-image halves in the left and right sides of the brain. In humans and other primates, the hippocampus is located inside the medial temporal lobe, beneath the cortical surface. It contains two main interlocking parts: Ammon's horn and the dentate gyrus.

The Hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland (hypophysis). The hypothalamus is located below the thalamus, just above the brain stem.

The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different composition in terms of neurons and connectivity.

The occipital lobe is the visual processing center of the mammalian brain containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex. The primary visual cortex is Brodmann area 17, commonly called V1 (visual one). Human V1 is located on the medial side of the occipital lobe within the calcarine sulcus; the full extent of V1 often continues onto the posterior pole of the occipital lobe.

The parietal lobe is a part of the brain positioned above (superior to) the occipital lobe and behind (posterior to) the frontal lobe. The parietal lobe integrates sensory information from different modalities, particularly determining spatial sense and navigation. For example, it comprises somatosensory cortex and the dorsal stream of the visual system.

The prefrontal cortex is the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, lying in front of the motor and premotor areas. This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behaviors, personality expression, decision making and moderating correct social behavior. The basic activity of this brain region is considered to be orchestration of thoughts and actions in accordance with internal goals.

 <div style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23">The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain. The temporal lobe is involved in auditory perception and is home to the primary auditory cortex. It is also important for the processing of semantics in both speech and vision. The temporal lobe contains the hippocampus and plays a key role in the formation of long-term memory.

Aphasia meaning speechless, is an acquired language disorder in which there is an impairment of any language modality. This may include difficulty in producing or comprehending spoken or written language. In technical terms, aphasia suggests the total impairment of language ability, and dysphasia a degree of impairment less than total.

The executive system is a theorized cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. It is also referred to as the executive function, executive functions, supervisory attentional system, or cognitive control. <br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23">The concept is used by psychologists and neuroscientists to describe a loosely defined collection of brain processes that are responsible for planning, cognitive flexibility, abstract thinking, rule acquisition, initiating appropriate actions and inhibiting inappropriate actions, and selecting relevant sensory information.

Broca's aphasia in clinical neuropsychology and agrammatic aphasia in cognitive neuropsychology, is caused by damage to or developmental issues in anterior regions of the brain, including (but not limited to) the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus known as Broca's area (Brodmann area 44 and Brodmann area 45). Expressive aphasia is one subset of a larger family of disorders known collectively as aphasia. It is characterized by the loss of the ability to produce language (spoken or written).

Sensory memory is the ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has ceased. It refers to items detected by the sensory receptors which are retained temporarily in the sensory registers and which have a large capacity for unprocessed information but are only able to hold accurate images of sensory information momentarily. The two types of sensory memory that have been most explored are iconic memory and echoic memory.

The corpus callosum is a wide, flat bundle of neural fibers beneath the cortex in the eutherian brain at the longitudinal fissure. It connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication. It is the largest white matter structure in the brain, consisting of 200-250 million contralateral axonal projections.

Adrenaline is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. Chemically, epinephrine is a catecholamine, a monoamine produced only by the adrenal glands from the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine.

Functional selectivity is the ligand-dependent selectivity for certain signal transduction pathways in one and the same receptor. This can be present when a receptor has several possible signal transduction pathways. To which degree each pathway is activated thus depends on which ligand binds to the receptor .

In psychology, the Stroop effect is a demonstration of the reaction time of a task. When the name of a color (e.g., 'blue,' 'green,' or 'red') is printed in a color not denoted by the name (e.g., the word 'red' printed in blue ink instead of red ink), naming the color of the word takes longer and is more prone to errors than when the color of the ink matches the name of the color. The effect is named after John Ridley Stroop who first published the effect in English in 1935. The effect had previously been published in Germany in 1929. The original paper has been one of the most cited papers in the history of experimental psychology, leading to more than 700 replications.

The fovea centralis, also generally known as the fovea, is a part of the eye, located in the center of the macula region of the retina. The fovea is responsible for sharp central vision (also called foveal vision), which is necessary in humans for reading, watching television or movies, driving, and any activity where visual detail is of primary importance. The fovea is surrounded by the parafovea belt, and the perifovea outer region: The parafovea is the intermediate belt, where the ganglion cell layer is composed of more than five rows of cells, as well as the highest density of cones; the perifovea is the outermost region where the ganglion cell layer contains two to four rows of cells, and is where visual acuity is below the optimum.

A bipolar cell is a type of neuron which has two extensions. Bipolar cells are specialized sensory neurons for the transmission of special senses. As such, they are part of the sensory pathways for smell, sight, taste, hearing and vestibular functions.

The olfactory epithelium is a specialized epithelial tissue inside the nasal cavity that is involved in smell. In humans, it measures about 1 square centimetre (on each side) and lies on the roof of the nasal cavity about 7 cm above and behind the nostrils. The olfactory epithelium is the part of the olfactory system directly responsible for detecting odors.

Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant and smoking cessation aid. The drug is a non-tricyclic antidepressant and differs from most commonly prescribed antidepressants such as SSRIs, as its primary pharmacological action is thought to be norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibition. It binds selectively to the dopamine transporter, but its behavioural effects have often been attributed to its inhibition of norepinephrine reuptake.

Apperception is any of several aspects of perception and consciousness in such fields as psychology, philosophy and epistemology psychology, apperception is 'the process by which new experience is assimilated to and transformed by the residuum of past experience of an individual to form a new whole.' In short, it is to perceive new experience in relation to past experience. The term is found in the early psychologies of Herbert Spencer, hermann lotze, and wilhelm wundt.

Beta wave is the term used to designate the frequency range of human brain activity between 12 and 30 Hz (12 to 30 transitions or cycles per second). Beta waves are split into three sections: High Beta Waves (19 Hz+); Beta Waves (15-18 Hz); and Low Beta Waves (12-15 Hz). Beta states are the states associated with normal waking consciousness.

A delta wave is a high amplitude brain wave with a frequency of oscillation between 0-4 hertz. Delta waves, like other brain waves, are recorded with an electroencephalogram (EEG) and are usually associated with the deepest stages of sleep (3 and 4 NREM), also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS), and aid in characterizing the depth of sleep.

A sleep spindle is a burst of brain activity visible on an EEG that occurs during stage 2 sleep. It consists of 12-14 Hz waves that occur for at least 0.5 seconds.Sleep spindles (sometimes referred to as 'sigma bands' or 'sigma waves') may represent periods where the brain is inhibiting processing to keep the sleeper in a tranquil state.

The nucleus accumbens also known as the accumbens nucleus or as the nucleus accumbens septi, is a collection of neurons within the striatum. It is thought to play an important role in reward, pleasure, laughter, addiction, aggression, fear, and the placebo effect. Each half of the brain has one nucleus accumbens.

Cognitive switch theory is a theory in gender role awareness. This theory states that all children are born neutral; sex is there but gender is not. The child thereafter becomes deliberate in filtering information that is biased toward the gender they believe they are.

The ventral tegmental area is a group of neurons located close to the midline on the floor of the midbrain (mesencephalon). The ventral tegmental area is the origin of the dopaminergic cell bodies of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system and is widely implicated in the drug and natural reward circuitry of the brain. It is important in cognition, motivation, drug addiction, intense emotions relating to love, and several psychiatric disorders.

Heroin (diacetylmorphine (INN)), also known as diamorphine (BAN), is a semi-synthetic opioid drug synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. It is the 3,6-diacetyl ester of morphine (di (two)-acetyl-morphine). The white crystalline form is commonly the hydrochloride salt diacetylmorphine hydrochloride, though often adulterated thus dulling the sheen and consistency from that to a matte white powder, which diacetylmorphine freebase typically is. 90% of diacetylmorphine is thought to be produced in Afghanistan.

In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant, as well as many semisynthetic chemical derivatives of such alkaloids. Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. The major biologically active opiates found in opium are morphine, codeine, papaverine and to a lesser extent thebaine, which is not narcotic.

Amphetamine or amfetamine (INN) is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class that is known to produce increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite. Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat, Desoxyn, ProCentra, and Vyvanse, as well as Benzedrine in the past. The drug is also used recreationally and as a performance enhancer.

Cocaine benzoylmethylecgonine (INN) is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from 'coca' in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic. Specifically, it is a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor, which mediates functionality of these neurotransmitters as an exogenous catecholamine transporter ligand. Because of the way it affects the mesolimbic reward pathway, cocaine is addictive.

Methamphetamine, methylamphetamine, N-methylamphetamine, desoxyephedrine, and colloquially as 'meth' or 'crystal meth', is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. It increases alertness, concentration, energy, and in high doses, can induce euphoria, enhance self-esteem, and increase libido. Methamphetamine has high potential for abuse and addiction by activating the psychological reward system via triggering a cascading release of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin in the brain.

Behaviorism also called the learning perspective (where any physical action is a behavior), is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things that organisms do--including acting, thinking and feeling--can and should be regarded as behaviors. The behaviorist school of thought maintains that behaviors as such can be described scientifically without recourse either to internal physiological events or to hypothetical constructs such as the mind. Behaviorism comprises the position that all theories should have observational correlates but that there are no philosophical differences between publicly observable processes (such as actions) and privately observable processes (such as thinking and feeling).

Classical conditioning is a form of associative learning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov (1927). The typical procedure for inducing classical conditioning involves presentations of a neutral stimulus along with a stimulus of some significance, the 'unconditioned stimulus'. The neutral stimulus could be any event that does not result in an overt behavioral response from the organism under investigation.

Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.

A generalization of a concept is an extension of the concept to less-specific criteria. It is a foundational element of logic and human reasoning. Generalizations posit the existence of a domain or set of elements, as well as one or more common characteristics shared by those elements.

Sensory memory is the ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has ceased. It refers to items detected by the sensory receptors which are retained temporarily in the sensory registers and which have a large capacity for unprocessed information but are only able to hold accurate images of sensory information momentarily. The two types of sensory memory that have been most explored are iconic memory and echoic memory.

Spontaneous recovery is a term that is commonly associated with learning and conditioning. It is commonly referred to as 'one of the basic phenomena of Pavlovian conditioning'; however spontaneous recovery can also be seen in a variety of other designs (Domjan 2010). It is typically noted in relation to extinction.

Operant conditioning is the use of a behavior's antecedent and/or its consequence to influence the occurrence and form of behavior. Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical conditioning (also called respondent conditioning) in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of 'voluntary behavior' or operant behavior. Operant behavior 'operates' on the environment and is maintained by its consequences, while classical conditioning deals with the conditioning of reflexive (reflex) behaviors which are elicited by antecedent conditions.

Habituation, a form of non-associative learning, is the psychological process in humans and other organisms in which there is a decrease in psychological and behavioral response to a stimulus after repeated exposure to that stimulus over a duration of time.Habituation can refer to a decrease in behavior, subjective experience, or synaptic transmission. The changes in synaptic transmission that occur during habituation have been well-characterized in the Aplysia gill and siphon withdrawal reflex.

Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior (e.g. pulling a lever more frequently) by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus (e.g. a candy) immediately or shortly after the behavior, called a 'response,' is performed. <br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23">The response strength is assessed by measuring frequency, duration, latency, accuracy, and/or persistence of the response after reinforcement stops. Experimental behavior analysts measured the rate of responses as a primary demonstration of learning and performance in non-humans (e.g. the number of times a pigeon pecks a key in a 10-minute session).

The differential reinforcement of successive approximations, or more commonly, shaping is a conditioning procedure used primarily in the experimental analysis of behavior. It was introduced by B.F. Skinner with pigeons and extended to dogs, dolphins, humans and other species. In shaping, the form of an existing response is gradually changed across successive trials towards a desired target behavior by rewarding exact segments of behavior.

Avoidance learning is a type of learning in which a certain behavior results in the cessation of an aversive stimulus. For example, performing the behavior of shielding one's eyes when in the sunlight (or going indoors) will help avoid the aversive stimulation of having light in one's eyes.

Implicit learning is learning of complex information in an incidental manner, without awareness of what has been learned. It may require a certain minimal amount of attention and may depend on attentional and working memory mechanisms. The result of implicit learning is implicit knowledge in the form of abstract (but possibly instantiated) representations rather than verbatim or aggregate representations.

Latent learning is a form of learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt response; it occurs without obvious reinforcement to be applied later.Latent learning is when an organism learns a new concept in its life, however, the knowledge is not immediately expressed. Instead, it remains dormant, and may not be available to consciousness, until specific events/experiences might need this knowledge to be demonstrated.

Secondary sex characteristics are features that distinguish the two sexes of a species, but that are not directly part of the reproductive system. They are believed to be the product of sexual selection for traits which give an individual an advantage over its rivals in courtship and aggressive interactions. They are distinguished from the primary sex characteristics: the sex organs, which are directly necessary for reproduction to occur.

Intersex in humans refers to intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male. This is usually understood to be congenital, involving chromosomal, morphologic, genital and/or gonadal anomalies, such as diversion from typical XX-female or XY-male presentations, e.g., sex reversal (XY-female, XX-male), genital ambiguity, sex developmental differences. An intersex individual may have biological characteristics of both the male and the female sexes.

Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It is a psychiatric classification and describes the attributes related to transgenderism. Gender identity disorder in children is usually reported as 'having always been there' since childhood, and is considered clinically distinct from Gender identity disorder which appears in adolescence or adulthood, which has been reported by some as intensifying over time.

Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles. <br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23"><br style="-moz-user-select: none;" class="calibre23">Transgender is the state of one's 'gender identity' (self-identification as woman, man, neither or both) not matching one's 'assigned sex' (identification by others as male, female or intersex based on physical/genetic sex). 'Transgender' does not imply any specific form of sexual orientation; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, or asexual; some may consider conventional sexual orientation labels inadequate or inapplicable to them.

Sexual selection is the theory proposed by Charles Darwin that states that certain evolutionary traits can be explained by intraspecific competition. Darwin defined sexual selection as the effects of the 'struggle between the individuals of one sex, generally the males, for the possession of the other sex'. Biologists today distinguish between 'male to male combat' or 'Intrasexual Selection' (it is usually males that fight each other), 'mate choice' or 'Intersexual Selection' (usually female choice of male mates) and sexual conflict.

Gender roles refers to the set of social and behavioral norms that are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time. There are differences of opinion as to whether observed gender differences in behavior and personality characteristics are, at least in part, due to cultural or social factors, and therefore, the product of socialization experiences, or to what extent gender differences are due to biological and physiological differences. Though some views on gender-based differentiation in the workplace and in interpersonal relationships has undergone profound changes, especially in Western countries, as a result of feminist influences, there are still considerable differences in gender roles in almost all societies.

Role theory is a perspective in sociology and in social psychology that considers most of everyday activity to be the acting out of socially defined categories (e.g., mother, manager, teacher). Each social role is a set of rights, duties, expectations, norms and behaviour a person has to face and to fulfill. The model is based on the observation that people behave in a predictable way, and that an individual's behavior is context specific, based on social position and other factors.

A schema in psychology and cognitive science, describes any of several concepts including:An organized pattern of thought or behavior.A structured cluster of pre-conceived ideas.A mental structure that represents some aspect of the world.A specific knowledge structure or cognitive representation of the self.A mental framework centering on a specific theme, that helps us to organize social information.Structures that organize our knowledge and assumptions about something and are used for interpreting and processing information.A schema for oneself is called a 'self schema'. Schemata for other people are called 'person schemata'.

The corpus callosum is a wide, flat bundle of neural fibers beneath the cortex in the eutherian brain at the longitudinal fissure. It connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication. It is the largest white matter structure in the brain, consisting of 200-250 million contralateral axonal projections.

The Kinsey Reports are two books on human sexual behavior, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953), by Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy and others and published by Saunders. Kinsey was a zoologist at Indiana University and the founder of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction (more widely known as the Kinsey Institute).The Sexual Behavior in the Human Female was based on personal interviews with nearly 6,000 women.

Operant conditioning is the use of a behavior's antecedent and/or its consequence to influence the occurrence and form of behavior. Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical conditioning (also called respondent conditioning) in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of 'voluntary behavior' or operant behavior. Operant behavior 'operates' on the environment and is maintained by its consequences, while classical conditioning deals with the conditioning of reflexive (reflex) behaviors which are elicited by antecedent conditions.