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Cornell Psych101
Pavlov's my homedog.
68
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
09/03/2009

Additional Psychology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term

 

 

 

psychology

Definition




the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Term

 

 

 

empiricism

Definition

 

 

 

the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b) science flourishes through observation and experiment

Term

 

 

 

structuralism

Definition

 

 

 

an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

Term

 

 

 

functionalism

Definition

 

 

 

a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function -- how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

Term

 

 

 

humanistic psychology

Definition

 

 

 

historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth poetntial of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth

Term

 

 

 

nature-nurture issue

Definition

 

 

 

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

Term

 

 

 

natural selection

Definition

 

 

 

the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

Term

 

 

 

biopsychosocial approach

Definition

 

 

 

this integrated viewpoint incorporates various levels of analysis and offers a more complete picture of any given behavior or mental process

Term

 

 

 

basic research

Definition

 

 

 

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Term

 

 

 

applied research

Definition

 

 

 

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

Term

 

 

 

counseling psychology

Definition

 

 

a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being

Term

 

 

 

clinical psychology

Definition

 

 

 

a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

Term

 

 

 

psychiatry

Definition

 

 

a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy

Term

 

 

 

hindsight bias

Definition

 

 

 

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (aka the "I knew it all along" phenomenon)

Term

 

 

 

critical thinking

Definition

 

 

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions

Term

 

 

 

theory

Definition

 

 

 

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations

Term

 

 

 

hypothesis

Definition

 

 

 

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Term

 

 

 

operational definition

Definition

 

 

a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables (ex. "human intelligence" may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures)

Term

 

 

 

replication

Definition

 

 

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

Term

 

 

 

culture

Definition

 

 

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

Term

 

 

 

case study

Definition

 

 

 

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Term

 

 

 

survey

Definition

 

 

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually be questioning a representative, random sample of them

Term

 

 

 

false consensus effect

Definition

 

 

 

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Term

 

 

 

population

Definition



all cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study (note: except for national studies, this does *not* refer to a country's whole population)

Term

 

 

 

random sample

Definition

 

 

 

a sample that fairly represents a population because each number has an equal chance of inclusion

Term

 

 

 

naturalistic observation

Definition

 

 

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Term

 

 

 

correlation

Definition



a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. The correlation coefficient is the mathematical expression of the relationship, ranging from -1 to +1

Term

 

 

 

scatterplot

Definition

 

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation); aka scattergram or scatter diagram

Term

 

 

 

illusionary correlation

Definition

 

 

 

the perception of a relationship where none exists

Term

 

 

 

experiment

Definition

 

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors

Term

 

 

 

double-blind procedure

Definition


an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo; commonly used in drug evaluation studies

Term

 

 

 

placebo effect

Definition


 

Latin for "I shall please;" experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent

Term

 

 

 

experimental condition

Definition




the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment; that is, to one version of the independent variable

Term

 

 

 

control condition

Definition



the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

Term

 

 

 

random assignment

Definition



assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

Term

 

 

 

independent variable

Definition




the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied

Term

 

 

 

dependent variable

Definition




the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

Term

 

 

 

mode

Definition




the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

Term




mean

Definition




the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

Term

 

 

 

median

Definition




the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it

Term

 

 

 

range

Definition




the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Term

 

 

 

standard deviation

Definition




a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

Term

 

 

 

statistical significance

Definition




a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

Term

 

 

 

biological psychologists

Definition

 


psychologists concerned with the links between biology and behavior (behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists 

Term

 

 

 

dendrite

Definition




the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward a cell body

Term

 

 

 

axon

Definition



the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands

Term

 

 

 

myelin sheath

Definition



a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next

Term

 

 

 

action potential

Definition



a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon; the action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane

Term

 

 

 

synapse

Definition



the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron; the tiny gap at this junction is called the *synaptic gap* or *cleft*

Term

 

 

 

neurotransmitters

Definition


chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons; when released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether or not that neuron will generate a neural impulse

Term

 

 

 

acetylcholine

Definition




a neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction

Term

 

 

 

endorphins

Definition




"morphine within" -- natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure

Term

 

 

 

reflex

Definition




a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response

Term

 

 

 

neural networks

Definition



interconnected neural cells; with experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results; computer simulations of neural networks show analogous learning

Term

 

 

 

electroencephalogram

Definition



an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface; these waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp

Term

 

 

 

PET (proton emission tomography)

Definition

 


a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task

Term

 

 

 

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

Definition



a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain

Term

 

 

 

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

Definition


 

a technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity  by comparing successive MRI scans

Term

 

 

 

brainstem

Definition



the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions

Term

 

 

 

medulla

Definition




the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing

Term

 

 

 

reticular formation

Definition




a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal

Term

 

 

 

thalamus

Definition



the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

Term

 

 

 

cerebellum

Definition



the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance

Term

 

 

 

limbic system

Definition


a doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex; includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus

Term




amygdala

Definition



two lima bean-sized neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion

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