Psych Test 1

  1. Who is the father of psychology?
    • Wundt, 1879, first psychology lab
    • Study of consciousness
  2. What two fields of study produced psychology?
    Philosophy (Aristotle and Plato) and physiology (Helmholtz)
  3. Structuralism
    • The analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind
    • Wundt- Subjective observation of one's own experience
    • Titchener - Focused on identifying the basic elements of consciousness
    • Weakness:  Science requires replicable observations
  4. Functionalism
    • The study of the function/purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment
    • James
    • Consciousness must serve an important biological function, trying to understand those functions.
  5. Psychoanalytic Theory
    • The importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
    • Freud
    • Dark view of human nature emphasizing limitations and problems
    • Psychoanalysis - bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness
  6. Humanistic Psychology
    • The positive potential of human beings.
    • Maslow/Rogers
  7. Behaviorism
    • The scientific study of objectively observable behavior, stimulus-response.
    • Watson - Human behavior is powerfully influenced by the environment
    • Skinner - How people act in their environment
  8. Gestalt Psychology
    • Emphasizes we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts.
    • The mind imposes organization on what it perceives
    • Wertheimer
  9. Cognitive Psychology
    The study of mental processes including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning
  10. Scientific Theory
    • When we have an idea about the world (theory), we should gather empirical evidence relevant to that idea and then modify the idea to fit the evidence
    • Theories make predictions about what we should and should not be able to observe in the world (hypothesis)
    • The best way to learn the truth about the world is to develop theories, derive hypotheses from them, test the hypotheses by gathering evidence, and then use that evidence to modify the theories.
  11. Theory
    A hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon
  12. Hypothesis
    A falsifiable prediction made by a theory.
  13. Variable
    A property whose value can vary across individuals or over time
  14. Operational definition
    A description of a property in concrete, measurable terms, i.e. happiness is defined by a smile
  15. Naturalistic observation
    A technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environment
  16. Data Collection in Psychological Research
    • Observation
    • Tests/questionnaires
    • Measure behaviors not susceptible to demands
  17. Experimental method
    • A technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables.
    • Manipulation
    • Random Assignment
    • Eliminates the countless differences between groups
    • Only good for the parameters set out by the experiment.
  18. Independent Variable
    The variable that is manipulated in an experiment
  19. Dependent Variable
    The variable that is measured in a study
  20. Experimental Group
    The group of people who are treated in a particular way, as compared to the control group.
  21. Control Group
    The group of people who are not treated in a particular way
  22. Correlation Coefficient
    • A measure of the direction and strength of the correlation
    • 1 = perfect positive, both variables increase by a fixed amount at the same time
    • -1 = perfect negative, 1 variable goes up and the other goes down
    • 0 =  no relation in increase/decrease
  23. Third-Variable Correlation
    The fact that two variables are correlated only because each is casually related to a third variable
  24. Informed Consent
    A written agreement to participate in a study made by an adult who has been informed of all the risks that participation may entail.
  25. Debriefing
    A verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study
  26. Ethical Issues
    • Respect for persons
    • Beneficent
    • Just
    • Informed consent
    • Freedom from coercion
    • Protection from harm
    • Risk-benefit analysis
    • Deception
    • Debriefing
    • Confidentiality
  27. Institutional Review Boards
    Ensure that data is collected ethically
  28. Random Selection/Representative Sample
    • A procedure that uses a random event to assign people to the experimental or control group
    • Statistically significant, odds less than 5% that random assignment failed
    • Odds
  29. Descriptive Research Methods
    • Central tendency - mean, median, mode
    • Variability - range, standard deviation
  30. Mode
    The value of the most frequently observed measurement
  31. Mean
    The average value of all the measurements
  32. Median
    The value in the middle, greater than half and less than half the numbers
  33. Sensory Neuron
    Receive information from the external world
  34. Motor Neuron
    Carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement
  35. Interneuron
    Connect to other neurons
  36. Neuron parts/functions
    • Dendrite - brings in new action potential from other neurons
    • Cell body
    • Axon - conducts new action potentials
    • Myelin sheath - insulating layer, increases speed of transmission
  37. Resting Potential
    • The difference in electrical charge between the insdie and outside of the cell membrane
    • Inside is -70 millivolts
    • K+ causes resting potential
    • K+ higher inside the cell, P+ higher outside
  38. Refractory Period
    • The period when a new action potential cannot be initiated
    • The ions are balancing via sodium/potassium pump
  39. Synaptic Transmission
    • AP travels down the axon
    • Simultaneous releate of NT from vesicles
    • NT released into the synapse where it binds with dendrites on postsynaptic neuron to initiate a new AP
    • Reuptake of NT by sending neuron or
    • NT broken down by enzymes in the synapse or
    • NT binds to autoreceptors on the sending neuron
  40. Neurotransmitters
    • Acetylcholine - voluntary motor control
    • Dopamine - regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure and emotional arousal
    • Glutamate - information transmission throughout the brain
    • GABA - inhibitory NT in the brain
    • Norepinephrine - influences mood and arousal
    • Serotonin - regulation of sleep, wakefulness, eating and aggressive behavior
    • Endorphins - pain pathways and emotion centers
  41. Agonist Actions
    • Enhance production of dopamine, L-dopa
    • Increase release of NT, prevent reuptake, amphetamine and cocaine
    • Bind to autoreceptors and block inhibitory effect, Clonidine
    • Bond to postsynaptic receptors and activate them, increase NT effect, nicotine
  42. Antagonist Actions
    • Block production of NT, AMPT
    • Depletion of NT in vesicles, Reserpine
    • Block release of NT, B. toxin
    • Activate autoreceptors so they inhibit NT release, caffeine
    • Bind to postsynaptic receptors and block NT binding, propranolol, Haldol
  43. Medulla
    Coordinates heart rate, circulation, and respiration
  44. Reticular formation
    Regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal
  45. Cerebellum
    Controls fine motor skills
  46. Thalamus
    Relays and filters information from the senses and transmits the information to the cerebral cortex
  47. Hypothalamus
    Regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst and sexual behavior
  48. Hippocampus
    Creating new memories and integrating them for storage
  49. Amygdala
    Central role in many emotional processes, especially memories
  50. Basal Ganglia
    A set of subcortical structures that directs intentional movements
  51. Cerebral Cortex
    The highest level of the brain, complex perception, emotion, movement and thought
  52. Cerebral hemispheres
    Left brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa
  53. Corpus Callosum
    A thick band of nerve fibers that connects large areas of the cerebral cortex on each side of the brain and supports communication of information across the hemispheres
  54. Frontal Lobe
    Movement, abstact thinking, planning, memory, judgment
  55. Parietal Lobe
    Processing information about touch
  56. Temporal Lobe
    Hearing and language
  57. Occipital Lobe
    Visual information
  58. Motor Cortex
    A strip of brain tissue in the frontal lobe, represents and controls different skin and body areas
  59. Somatosensory Cortex
    Represents skin areas of the particular parts on the contralateral side of the body
  60. Brain Plasticity
    • Adapting to changes in sensory inputs
    • Functions assigned to a certain area can be reassigned
  61. Broca's Area
    • Left frontal lobe
    • If damaged, can understand spoken language but cannot produce words
  62. Wernicke's Area
    • Upper-left temporal lobe
    • Can speak words but cannot understand speech of others if damaged
Author
reccarynn
ID
243450
Card Set
Psych Test 1
Description
Psych 201 Online, Chapters 103, Professor Kendra Burrows
Updated