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Chapter 1
Flashcards for Chapter 1 in Psychology
115
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
09/17/2012

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Term
psychology
Definition
the study of behavior and experience
Term
determinism
Definition
the idea that everything that happens has a cause, or determinant, that one could observe or measure
Term
mind-brain problem
Definition
the question of how experience relates to the body
Term
dualism
Definition
one theory to the mind-brain problem, says that the mind is separate form the brain but somehow controls the brain and therefore the rest of the body
Term
monism
Definition
theory for the mind-brain problem, says that the mind and the brain are the same thing
Term
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Definition
a technique to measure brain activity
Term
nature-nurture issue
Definition
how do differences in behavior relate to difference in heredity and environment?
Term
clinical psychologists
Definition
advanced degree in psychology, understand and help people with psychological problems, i.e. anxiety
Term
psychiatry
Definition
branch of medicine that deals with emotional disturbances. are doctors with a Ph.D, can prescribe medicine
Term
psychoanalysts
Definition
therapists who use freud's theories. psychiatry or clinical psychology plus 6-8 years in a psychoanalytic institute
Term
clinical social worker
Definition
clinical psychologist with different training. masters degree + 2 years of supervised experience
Term
counseling psychologist
Definition
help people with educational, marriage, health, etc. has a doctorate degree. similar to clinical psychologist, but more focus on life decisions
Term
forensic psychologist
Definition
provide advice to police, lawyers, and courts. doctorate
Term
I/O psychologist
Definition
hires the right people for the right jobs, and helps people in the word place be more satisfied
Term
wilhelm wundt
Definition
set up first psych lab in leipzig, germany, 1879.
said that experiences are made of elements and compounds,
Term
human factors specialist (ergonomist)
Definition
help to let ordinary people operate machinery
Term
developmental psychologist
Definition
study how behavior changes with age
Term
learning and motivation
Definition
how our behavior depends on the outcome of past behaviors and our current motivation, i.e. if you eat something then feel sick, you will form an aversion to it
Term
biopsychologist
Definition
explains behavior in terms of biological factors, i.e. chemicals in nervous system, effects of drugs and hormones, etc.
Term
evolutionary psychologist
Definition
explains behavior in terms of the evolutionary history of the species
Term
cross-cultural psychologist
Definition
compares behaviors of people form different cultures
Term
social psychologist
Definition
study how individuals influence others and how the group influences the individual
Term
edward titchener
Definition
student of wundt, founded structuralism.
psychologists abandoned his theories
Term
william james
Definition
founded functionalism
the founder of american psychology
Term
functionalism
Definition
a theory that wanted to figure out how people produced behaviors. looking at how trains systems interact while it is running.
Term
structuralism
Definition
an attempt to describe the structures that compose the mind through introspection. in other words, stopping a train to tear it apart to study its parts is structuralism. this theory was later abandoned because it was deemed unanswerable
Term
stimuli vs sensations
Definition
a light that is twice as intense does not look twice as bright
Term
psychophysical function
Definition
the description of the relationships of physical properties of a stimulus and its perceived properties (lights being bright)
Term
charles darwin
Definition
founded theory of evolution by natural selection
Term
delayed-response problem
Definition
signal for food goes out and the animal needs to find it
Term
detour problem
Definition
a barrier is placed in front of food and the animal needs to figure out how to get it
Term
comparative psychologists
Definition
specialists who compare different animal species
Term
john b. watson
Definition
the founder of behaviorism
Term
behaviorism
Definition
a field of psychology that concentrates on behaviors and not mental processes
Term
falsifiable
Definition
when there is very little evidence to prove a theory wrong
Term
burden of proof
Definition
obligation to present evidence to support one's claim
Term
replicability
Definition
valid results are accompanied by detailed instructions on replicating the experiment so that anyone can produce it and get the same results
Term
meta-analysis
Definition
combining the results of many small studies to create one outcome
Term
parsimony
Definition
scientists choose theories with the least radical assumptions or those that are consistent with other well-established theories
Term
perpetual motion machines
Definition
these machines violate the laws of physics, and claims of such machines should be looked at with skepticism.
Term
hans the horse
Definition
was "intelligent" and could count, but scientist found that hans could only read people's expressions
Term
extrasensory perception (esp)
Definition
a claim that some people can sometimes acquire information without any physical energy

anecdotes are usually the only form of evidence
Term
the prophet nostradamus
Definition
"predicted" the future with very vague descriptions
Term
the amazing kreskin
Definition
a "psychic" who he deceived his audience with magic
Term
the ganzfeld procedure
Definition
a common lab test for esp, a test subject must sense the name of a movie title without any stimuli
Term
operational definition
Definition
a definition that has a numerical value, i.e. operational definition of hunger could be the number of hours since the last meal
Term
population
Definition
the whole group of people being considered
Term
convenience sample
Definition
a group chosen because it is easy to study
Term
representative samples
Definition
resemble the population in terms of men/women, black/white, etc
Term
random sample (random assignment)
Definition
every individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected
Term
cross-cultural samples
Definition
groups of people from at least two cultures
Term
experiments
Definition
investigator manipulates at least one independent variable while measuring at least one dependent variable
Term
institutional research board (irb)
Definition
a panel of judges of ethical concerns in research involving humans who review proposals before a study can begin
Term
institutional animal care and use committee (iacuc)
Definition
panel of judges for ethical concerns of research involving non-humans that reviews protocols before experiment can begin
Term
central nervous system
Definition
contains the brain and the spinal cord
Term
experimenter bias
Definition
tendency of the experimenter to misperceive the results of the experiment based on the expected outcome
Term
counteracting experimenter bias
Definition
use blind observers and participants
Term
naturalistic observation
Definition
observing what happens under natural conditions, i.e. jane goodall recorded chimpanzees in the wild
Term
case history
Definition
a thorough observation and description of a person's life
Term
phineas gage
Definition
man who had his face impaled with an iron rod, and lost part of his frontal lob, but still managed to make an almost full recovery
Term
survey
Definition
study of the belief's, attitudes, and behaviors based on people's response to questions. i.e. alfred kinsey's survey
Term
concerns about surveys
Definition
some people won't take them seriously

wording of questions can influence choices

surveys must use random or representative samples
Term
correlation and causation
Definition
correlation does not mean causation. correaltional research only tells if and how two variables are related. i.e. do people get more sleep because they are dying, or are people dying because they get more sleep?
Term
zero correlation
Definition
there is no linear relationship between the variables
Term
correlational studies
Definition
measure of the relationship of two variables outside of the investigator's control
Term
correlational coefficiet
Definition
the numerical estimate of a relationship between two variables. can range form -1 to +1
Term
physiological explanation
Definition
the mechanisms in the brain that produce behavior. i.e. how birds figure out how to fly south for the winter
Term
evolutionary explanation
Definition
believes that psychology relates behavior to evolutionary history of the species

genes help some organisms to survive better and those organisms are more likely to reproduce and pass on those genes
Term
developmental explanation
Definition
deals with changes over age

believes that no one is born with a behavior, we are born with the capacity to develop one
Term
peripheral nervous system (pns)
Definition
nerves between the spinal cord and the rest of the body. has two subdivisions:

1. somatic nervous system
2. autonomic nervous system
Term
autonomic nervous system
Definition
part of the peripheral nervous system. controls the involuntary actions of interal organs. there are two subdivisions:

1. sympathetic nervous system
2. parasympathetic nervous system
Term
somatic nervous system
Definition
nerves that communicate with the skin muscles
Term
sympathetic nervous system
Definition
fight or flight systems. uses energy i.e. accelerates heartbeat
Term
parasympathetic nervous system
Definition
controls relaxation bodily functions, conserves energy i.e. lowers heartbeat
Term
forebrain
Definition
two separate hemispheres, left and right. separate by the corpus callosum
Term
corpus callosum
Definition
thick bundle of neuronal fibers, connect the hemispheres together and allow them to communicate
Term
cerebral cortex
Definition
the outer covering of the brain. has four lobes:

1.frontal lob
2. occipital lobe
3. temporal lobe.
4. parietal lobe
Term
frontal lobe
Definition
front part of the brain, includes the primary motor cortex and prefrontal cortex. also contains mirror neurons.
Term
mirror neurons
Definition
allow you to mimic others actions, leads to a deeper connection.
Term
prefrontal cortex
Definition
controls certain aspects of memory and decision making. impaired prefrontal cortex leads to impulsive decisions
Term
primary motor cortex
Definition
allows for fine movements, i.e. pointing one finger at a time
Term
occipital lobe
Definition
located in the rear of the head, controls vision. damage to this area can cause cortical blindness
Term
cortical blindess
Definition
people with cortical blindness have no visual imagery, not even dreams
Term
temporal lobe
Definition
located on the left and right side of the head, controls hearing and complex aspects of vision. damage to this lobe can cause motion blindness, motion deafness, and inability recognize faces. contains the amygdala
Term
amygdala
Definition
lies deep in the temporal lobe, responds strongly to emotional situations. damaged amygdalas find it hard to read faces or emotional situations
Term
parietal lobe
Definition
located in front of the occipital lobe. contains the primary somatosensory cortex. parietal lobe is responsible for the senses, i.e. touch, pain, temperature,and awareness of location of body parts.
Term
primary somatosensory cortex
Definition
part of the parietal lobe, has cells sensitive to touch in different areas of the body
Term
the hindbrain
Definition
includes pons, medulla, and cerebellum
Term
hypothalumus
Definition
regulates many important body functions, i.e. hunger, thirst, sex, etc
Term
hippocampus
Definition
regulates memory processes
Term
medulla oblongata and pons
Definition
regulate levels of arousal in the brain, also breathing and heart rate
Term
cerebellum
Definition
important for coordination and timing. also handles how well you can switch from one task to another
Term
endocrine system
Definition
a system of glands that releases hormones into the bloodstream
Term
hormones
Definition
chemicals released by glands into blood that alter the activity in various organs and affect mood, behavior, etc. i.e. serotonin, testosterone
Term
pituitary gland
Definition
releases hormones and controls the other glands in your body
Term
magnetoencephalographs and electroencephalographs
Definition
record electrical and magnetic activity int he brain. used to diagnose alzheimer's and schizophrenia
Term
computed tomography (ct)
Definition
provides high resolutions pictures of brain activity using 3D images from a large series of 2D x-rays
Term
positron emission tomography (pet)
Definition
proves a picture of the brain using radioactivity from chemicals injected into the bloodstream
Term
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fmri)
Definition
uses magnetic detectors outside the head to compare the amounts of hemoglobin with and without oxygen in different brain areas
Term
spinal cord
Definition
controls muscles from the neck down, also controls reflexes
Term
sensory neurons
Definition
carry information from sense organs to the central nervous systems. neurons in the cns then process the information and send commands to muscles, glands, and organs through motor neurons
Term
motor neuron
Definition
send information to you brain telling you if something is hot after you touch it
Term
glia
Definition
cells that support the neurons by insulating them and bringing them nourishment

they are 1/10th the size and 10 times as numerous as neurons

they remove waste products and foreign bodies

if you kill the glia the neurons will die
Term
anatomy of a neuron
Definition
cell body (contains the nucleus)

axon

dendrites
Term
axon
Definition
long, thin, straight fiber with branches that transmit information to the dendrites and cell bodies of neighbor neurons. some are covered with myelin
Term
dendrites
Definition
branches that receive input from other neurons
Term
myelin
Definition
insulating sheath that speeds up the transmission of impulses along an axon
Term
action potential (neural impulse)
Definition
a combination of electrical and chemical impulses. it is an excitation that travels along an axon at a constant strength, no matter how far it travels (look at diagram for sodium potassium pump)
Term
inhibitory
Definition
a message that decreases the probability that the next cell will send a message of its own. i.e. an inhibitory message would stop neurons from sending a sensation of pain throughout your body after stepping on a tack
Term
neurotransmission
Definition
communication between neurons occurring at the synapses
Term
synapses
Definition
specialized junctions between two neurons. releases a chemical that can excite or inhibit the next neuron
Term
terminal boutin
Definition
located at the end of every branch of the axon; releases a neurotransmitter
Term
neurotransmitter
Definition
a chemical that activates receptors of other neurons
Term
postsynaptic neuron
Definition
neuron on the receiving end of the synapse
Term
what can happen after the nuerotransmitter detaches from the receptor site
Definition
1. be reabsorbed by the axon that it released it (called reuptake)

2. diffuse away

3. be metabolized and removed from the body as a waste product

4. remain in the synapse and reattach to the receptor
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