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Exam 1, Ch 1-3
Psych Ch 1-3
57
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
02/06/2011

Additional Psychology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
experimental pyschologists
Definition

-usually work for universities/hospitals/clinics

-produce research on behavior

Term
applied pychologists
Definition

-corporations/hospitals/clinics

-practical problem solving

-provide services to public

Term
what is psychology?
Definition
scientific study of emotions, behavior, and cognition
Term
Publish or Perish
Definition
research must be published (journal) or it's not legit
Term
theory
Definition

broad statement about how the world works (ideas)

 

can be very simple or complicated (ex-evolution)

Term
dependent variable
Definition
DV- what you are trying to predict
Term
independent variable
Definition
what you are using to predict the dependent variable
Term
EX- traffic accidents are more frequent at high speeds and during rain
Definition

the dependent variable- accidents

 

independent variable- speed and weather conditions

Term
hypothesis
Definition

a testable prediction between two or more IV's and a DV derived from a theory

 

-specific to given situation or experiment

-'educated guess' means come from a theory

Term
correlation
Definition

a number between -1 and +1 that describes strength and direction of the relationship between two variables

 

-two signs- pos, and neg

-two parts- a sign (- or +) and a number

positive corr- height and weight

neg corr- drug use goes up, grades go down

Term
Rule of Thumb
Definition

0= no relationship, 1= perfectly correlated

 

.6 and up -- strong

.3 to .6 -- moderate

up to .3 -- weak

Term
basic model of an experiment
Definition

-theory

-sample from population

-random assignment

Term

Ethics and Experiments

 

(4 answers, and descriptions)

 

Definition

informed- participants must get info, and be able to refuse to participate

minimal risk- should not be in any greater risk than those encountered in everyday life

debriefing- should be told purpose after it ends

IRB- (insitutional review board)- reviews all projects before starting for ethics and appropriateness, and consists of scientists and members of public

Term

Why a big brain?

 

*they need a lot of energy to build/run

but what are 4 other reasons?

Definition

1. control and regulate bio functions

2. handle sensory information

3. control animal action (plants, cockroaches)

4. learning. primary function.

Term

What's in the brain?

 

*4 things

Definition

1.nuerons- cells that send and receive info. (about 100-200 billion)

2. blood vessels - carry nutrients

3. glial cells - provide structure and nutrition

4. myelin- fatty cells around axons

Term
motor nueron?
Definition

a motor nueron is used to send info from brain to muscles. unlike others, it has dendrites (receiving part)

 

Term
axon?
Definition
long soft stalk which it's terminals <--- cells send information
Term

sending messages in the brain

 

 

action potential? nuerotransmitters?

Definition

action potential- (fast as light) in the cell (electrical)

 

nuerotransmitters- (very slow) between cells (chemical)

 

*nuerons are both electrical and chemical

Term
LSD
Definition

mimics and therefore blocks seratonin

 

(which is important all over cortex)

Term
cocaine
Definition
blocks reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine, leading to overabundance
Term

alcohol

 

*4 things

Definition

-affects many different nuerotransmitters

-some are produced more but some less

-also produces endorphins

-abuse can damage your brain

Term
what causes many brain difficulties?
Definition

nuerostransmitters

 

*can be affected by chemicals

*can cause various disorders

Term
what are the 4 lobes of the brain?
Definition
frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal
Term
frontal lobe?
Definition

-biggest on humans

-motor cortext

(planning and control)

Term

parietal lobe?

 

*3 things

Definition
sensation, perception, navigation
Term

temporal lobe?

 

*3 things

Definition
language, memory, comparing sensory input
Term

how many cortex's do humans have?

 

what are they called?

Definition
2; left and right
Term
what are the cortex's connected by?
Definition
corpus collosum
Term
limbic system parts?
Definition
hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalmus 
Term
hippocampus?
Definition
memory (amnesia occurs if broken)
Term
amygdala?
Definition
emotion, behavior regulation
Term
hypothalmus
Definition
pleasure, basic drives
Term

what are the functions of the brain stem?

 

*3 things

Definition

-controlling movements

-control many involuntary processes

(breathe, pump blood, poop)

-sleep and arousal

Term
CT scan (cat scan)
Definition
uses x-rays, not very detailed, good for spotting major damage
Term
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Definition

-reads electrical impulses through the skull

(know WHEN things happen, not WHERE)

 

Term
Functional/structural magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Definition

-uses big magnets to detect oxygen in the head

(knows WHERE, not WHEN)

-

Term

true or false?

 

both genes and other environment shape our brain functioning

Definition
true
Term

sensation?

 

perception?

Definition

-sensation is encoding into nervous system

-perception is understanding whats sensed

 

*looking at something is sensing it, knowing its an apple is perceiving it

Term

what are the parts of the eye?

 

*4 things

Definition

pupil- shutter that controls light intake

 lens- changes shape to let us focus

retina- where we detect light and preprocess it for brain

fovea- center of retina

 

Term
what are the two types of cells that the retina divides labor between?
Definition
cones and rods
Term
what are the three types of cones?
Definition
long, medium, and short (wavelength)
Term

what are cones jobs?

 

rods?

Definition

cones- color

 

rods- adapted for dim light

Term
where are cones located?
Definition

fovea

 

*no colors at edge of vision or night

Term

how is colorblindness detected?

 

what are the two colors that are the same?

 

most common type?

 

which sex is most common in?

Definition

Ishihara test

 

green and red

 

type 1

 

men

Term

true or false?

 

there are no such things as "sight rays", just "light rays"

Definition
true
Term
What two scientists opened cat/monkey skulls and attached electrodes to indivisual nuerons in visual cortex to show that specific cells respong to specific features?
Definition
Hubel and Wiesel (1968)
Term
How do you know how big something is? How far away?
Definition

Clue 1- size of image on retina

Clue 2- retinal disparity "difference"

Clue 3- Motion Parallex - far away things move by slower than nearby things

Term
what are the 4 major research perspectives?
Definition
biological, cognitive, sociocultural, behavioral
Term
which research method allows the researcher to draw cause-effect relationships?
Definition
experimental
Term

left skewed?

 

right skewed?

Definition

left skewed means very low scores

 

right skewed means unusually high scores

Term
About ___% of scores fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean
Definition
68
Term
About ___% of scores fall within 2 standard variations of the mean
Definition
95
Term
About ___% of scores fall within 3 standard deviations of the mean
Definition
99
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