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Psych. 2nd test
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97
Psychology
Undergraduate 3
10/11/2011

Additional Psychology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
What parts of body does CNS contain? PNS?
Definition

CNS: The brain and spinal cord

PNS: Network of nerves that act as central communication link between CNS and the rest of the body (relay messages to muscles ot produce actual responses)

Term
Neuroscience
Definition
Studies the connection between the connection between the  brain and behavior
Term
Neurons. What do they do and what are the sub categories they are broken into?
Definition

They receive, transmit, and integrate information

 

Sensory Neurons - take input from the environment and carry it toward the spinal cord/brain (they are the initial contact with the environment

 

Interneurons - Located in between sensory and motor neurons (make no direct contact with the external world)

 

Motor Neurons - Carry output or info from the spinal cord / brain towards areas of action (muscles, glands, etc.)

Term
Glial cells. What do they do?
Definition

Greatly outnumber neurons, but don't directly communicate messages on their own

 

They remove waste, fill empty space, and help neurons to communicate efficiently (myelin sheath)

 

Term
Reflexes. what are they and what are they controlled by?
Definition
Autonomic body reactions that are controlled primarity by spinal cord pathways
Term
Neuron anatomy. What does this shit consist of?
Definition

Dendrites - Fibers that extend outwards from a neuron and receive info from other neurons (the beginning of a neuron; receives info and carries to soma)

 

Soma - The cell body of a neuron (cell's metabolic center and where genetic material is stored)

 

Axon - Long tail-like part of a neuron that is the cell's transmitter (an action potential is sent down its axon towards other neurons)

 

Terminal buttons - Tiny swellings (vesicles/sacks) at the end of a neuron and the dendrite or cell body of another neuron

Term
Neuron Transmission
Definition

1. Action potential must be reached to fire a neuron (all or nothing response)

2. Once AP is receach, travels down entire axon to terminal buttons

3. Messages travel the same regardless of content or intensity as long as the AP is reached

Term
Resting Potential
Definition

The tiny electrical charge (-60 to -70 mV) between the inside and the outside of a resting neuron (in part because of large protein molecules making the membrane selectively permeable

 

Na+ and Cl- ions are outside of neuron

K+ is inside neuron

Maintained by sodium-potassium pump

Goes to about +40 to +50 mV at firing

Term
Depolarization vs hyperpolarization vs repolarization
Definition

Depolarization - moves the electrical potential of the cell from negative towards zero, and increases the changes of an AP (Na+ enters the cell from the opening of Na+ channels)

 

Hyperpolarization - the electrical potential of the cell becomes more negative, and the chances of an AP decrease (after K+ channels close, before sodium-potassium pump works again)

 

Repolarization - the electrical potential of the cell becomes more negative after an AP returning towards zero from being positive (Na+ channels close, K+ channels open and leaves the cell)

Term
Types of messages

Excitatory
Inhibitory
Definition

Excitatory - causes depolarization of membrane potential (NA+ enters cell) making AP more likely

 

Inhibitory - causes hyperpolarization of internal potential (K+ leaves cell) making AP less likely

Term
Axon Hillock
Definition
The trigger zone for action potentials; where all excitatory and inhibitory potentials combine
Term
Nodes of Ranvier
Definition
Gaps in the myelin sheath that permit the AP to jump down the action potential instead of traveling its whole length, allowing quicker transitions
Term
Salutatory Conduction
Definition
The process of AP jumping from one node to the next
Term
Schwann Cells
Definition
Provide myelination for the axon
Term
Communication between neurons
Definition

1. AP reaches end of neuron and triggers the releases of neurotransmistters in vesicles

2. Neurotransmitters interact with other (postsynaptic) neurons' cell membranes

3. Receptor molecules determine if the neurotransmitter is excitatory or inhibitory, which would open or close certain ion channels

4. Reuptake of neurotransmitters occurs

 

Term
Acetylcholine (ACh)
Definition
Excitatory; a neurotransmitter that plays multiple roles in the CNS and PNS, including the excitation of muscle contractions. (Involves motor neurons)
Term
Dopamine
Definition

Inhibitory; help dampen and stabilize communications in the brain and elsewhere

 

Schizophrenia (when too great)

Parkinson's (when too little)

Term
Serotonin
Definition

Inhibitory; Affects sleep, dreaming, and general arousal

 

related to depression and OCD

Term
GABA
Definition
inhibitory; thought to be related to anxiety
Term
Endorphins
Definition
serve as natural painkillers in the body; modulate (increase or decrease) the effectiveness of neurotransmitters; released under stress or exertion
Term
Refractory period
Definition
Folls the generation of an AP; during this time additional AP's cannot be generated
Term
Breakdown of peripheral nervous system
Definition

PNS-->Autonomic NS --> Sympathetic NS (fight or flight)

                               --> Parasympathetic NS (Rest digest)

      --> Somatic NS

Term
Somatic
Definition
The collection of nerves that transmits information toward the brain and connects to the skeletal muscles to initiate movement
Term
Autonomic
Definition
collection of nerves that controls more automatic needs of the body (Heart rate, digestion, blood pressure, etc.)
Term
Afferent pathways
Definition
towards the brain and spinal cord (sensory)
Term
Efferent pathways
Definition
Carries CNS messages to muscles and glands (motor)
Term
Ways to monitor brain activity?
Definition

EEG - used to monitor gross electrical activity of brain; shows up in brain waves

 

CT scan - use of highly focused beams of X-rays to construct detailed anatomical maps of the living brian

 

PET - measuring how radioactive substances are absorbed in the brain; it can be used to detect how specific tasks activate certain areas of the living brain

 

MRI - device that uses magnetic fields and radio-wave pulses to construct detailed, three-dimensional images of the brain; "functional" MRIs can be used to map changes in blood oxygen use as a function of task activity

 

Term
Parts of the brain (see image)
Definition

Broca's Area - controls speech

Central sulcus - divides frontal and parietal lobe; above tempoeral lobe

 

Occipital lobe - interpretation of eyesight

Temporal lobe - Hearing

Wernicke's Area - understanding/comprehension of words

Term
Hindbrain
Definition

- Primitive part of the brain that sits at the juncture point where the brain and spinal cord meet. Acts as basic life support system for body

 

Consists of metencephalon and myelencephalon

 

Metencephalon:

Pons - between medulla oblangata and mesencephalon and contains reticular formation which is sleep and arousal

Cerebellum (little brain) - has 2 hemispheres and is integral to motor functioning; helps smooth and coordinate movements (standing dancing)

Term
Midbrain
Definition

Middle portion of the brain; structures here serve as neural relay stations and may help coordinate reactions to sensory events. Parts:

 

Mesencephalon consists of 2 parts

 

Tectum: neural relays; help coordinate rectiosn to sensory events

 

Tegmentum:

Reticular formation -for sleep and attention

Substantia nigra - release dopamine (Parkinsons)

Term
Forebrain - the outer portion of the brain
Definition

Telencephalon - composed of three things

Cerbral cortex- for reasoning  and solving problems

4 lobes

Frontal: planning decisions, brocas

Parietal: top middle of brain, touch temp pain

Temporal: Sides aspect speech and auditorry (Wernicke)

Occipital: visual processing

 

Basal ganglia - control of movement

Limbic system - motivational and emotional and memory

 

Diencephalon 2 parts

Thalamus - relay station thought to be important gathering point for input from senses

Hypothalamus - Thought to play a role in regulation and various motivation activities (eating drinking sex)

Term
Corpus collosum
Definition

Main network of neurons that connect left and right hemisphere

 

split brain patients occur due to agenesis of CC, usualy for people with epilepsy (report what you see on right side of screen)

 

Term
Hemispheric Specialization
Definition

Right hemisphere - for spatial ability, emotional processing, judging time

 

Left hemisphere- language abilities

Term
Broca's Aphasia
Definition
patients inability to properly move muscles of tongue and mouth to produce speech; still understands what is being asked
Term
Wernicke's Aphasia
Definition
Patients inability to comprehend language or speak with appropriately meaningful words; sometimes does not understand what is being asked
Term
Endocrine System
Definition

network of glands that use blood stream rather than neurons to send chemical messages (in form of hormones) that regulate growth and other internal functions

 

Regulated by hypothalmus and pituitary gland

Term
Sensation
Definition
elementary components, or building blocks, of an experience (such as a pattern of light and dark, a bitter taste, or a change in temperature)
Term
Perception
Definition
The collection of processes used to arrive at a meaningful interpretation of senses
Term
Visible light
Wavelength
Intensity
Purity
Definition

One part of the spectrum of all electromagnetic energy; has 3 main properties:

 

Wavelength: corresponds to the physical distance from one energy cycle to the next; changes here are usually experienced as changes in hue (color)

 

Intensity: The amplitude; determined by the amount of light falling on an object; changes are experienced as increases or decreases in brightness

 

Purity: determined by the wavelengths present, and can influence the saturation of perceived colors

Term
Enters the eye through:
Definition

Cornea - protective outer layer

Pupil - hole in a ring of the iris

Lens - clear, flexible piece of tissue that sits behind the pupil

Retina - the thin layer of tissue that covers the back of the eye and contains the light-sensitive receptor cells for vision (cells here receive input from rods)

Term
Light transduction
Definition

The process by which external messages are translated into the internal brain language

 

Light strikes the retina, where light-sensitive cells react to light by creating neural impulses

Term
Rods and Cones
Definition

Rods - receptor cells in retina, located mainly around the sides; highly sensitive and active in dim light

 

Cones - receptor cells (ganglion) in the central point of the retina; operate best when light levels are high, and primarily responsible for the ability to sense color; processing fine detail

Term
Photopigments
Definition

Substance that chemically reacts to light and is contained by rods and cones

 

-These break down in bright light, regenerate after time in low light, causing dark adaption

 

Term
Identifying message components
Definition

1. Neural messages travel to brain via optic nerve

1a. Splits at the optic chiasm - where the information travels into the separate hemispheres of the brain

1b. Information from the right visual field goes to the left hemisphere; information from the left visual field goes to the right hemisphere

2. Most of the information travels to LGN in the thalamus

Term
The visual cortex
Definition

From LGN, messages are relayed to parts of occipital lobe that process vision ("visual cortex")

 

Visual cortex picks out and identifies features

Term
Prosopagnosia
Definition
The inability to recognize faces
Term
Color vision theories (Trichromatic and Opponent Process)
Definition

Trichromatic -  proposes that color information is extracted by comparing the relative activations of three different types of cone receptors

 

-there are 3 types of cones in retina, each maximally sensitive to one range of wavelengths (wavelengths of blue, green, and red)

-colors are sensed by comparing the amount of activation coming from them (most a mix:orange)

-Certain kinds of colorblindness result from having wrong kind of photopigment in cones

 

Opponent Process - Cells in the visual pathway increase their activation levels (respond positively) to one color and decrease their activation levels (respond negatively) to another

-Why does yellow seem like primary color?

Term
Bottom-up processing
Definition
Controlled by the physical message delivered to the senses
Term
Top down
Definition
controlled by ones beliefs and expectations about how the world is organized
Term
Gestalt principles
Proximity
Similarity
Closure
Good continuation
Common fate
Definition

Proximity - elements that are close to each other are seen as being part of the same object (3 groups of dots rather than one collection

 

Similarity - Items sharing physical properties are put into the same set (rows of X's and rows of O's rather than mixed-object columns)

 

Closure - Figures with gaps or small missing parts of the border are seen as complete (whole circle rather than broke)

 

Good continuation - lines that are interrupted are seen as continuously flowing (road intersection)

 

Common fate - Things moving together in same direction are seen as a group

Term
Recognition by components
Definition

Proposed by Biederman that people recognize objects perpetually via smaller components called geons (simple geometric forms)

 

Term
Monocular depth cues
Definition
Cues for depth that require input from 1 eye
Term
Binocular depth cues
Definition
Cues for depth that depend on comparison between 2 eyes
Term
Retinal disparity
Definition
Binocular cue for depth that is based on location differences between the images in each eye
Term
Convergence
Definition
Binocular cue for depth that is based on the extent to which the two eyes move inward, or converge, when looking at an object
Term
Phi Phenomenon
Definition
An illusion of movement that occurs when stationary lights are flashed in succession
Term
Perceptual constancies (size constancy & shape constancy)
Definition

Size constancy - the perceived size of the object remains constant even though the actual size of the reflected image is changing with distance

-perceived size

-perceived distance

-retinal image

 

Shape constancy - Shape can be recognized as it moves in space (ex: door opening)

-We do this by making assumptions that allow us to guess, for example, about relative distances of objects

Term
Perceptual illusions (Ames Room Illusion, Ponzo Illusion, Muller-Lyer Illusion)
Definition

Ames Room Illusion - misshapen room, perceived as normal because of the assumption that rooms are rectangular

 

Ponzo Illusion - the linear perspective cue-converging parallel lings- tricks the brain into thinking that the horizontal line near the top of the display is farther away, when actually same size

 

Muller-Lyer Illusion - based on the assumption that converging lines are corners; depth cues cause perceptual errors

Term
Sound
Definition

Mechanical energy requiring a medium such as air or water to move

-Caused by a vibrating stimulus

Term
Frequency
Definition
Determined by the rate of the vibrating stimulus; hear as pitch
Term
Pitch
Definition
the psychological experience that results from the auditory processing of a particular frequency of sound (high or low)
Term
Amplitude
Definition
The intensity of the vibration (what we experience as loudness)
Term
Outer ear
Definition
Sound funnels from pinna towards ear drum
Term
Middle Ear
Definition
Malleus, incus, and stapes bones vibrate
Term
Inner Ear
Definition

- Vibrations sent to the cochlea

- Hair cells (auditory receptor cells) on basilar membrane send signals to brain

 

Term
How does hearing occur?
Definition

1. Sound enters the auditory canal and causes tympanic membrane to vibrate in a pattern that is then transmitted through three small bones in middle ear to oval window

2. Vibrating fluid in oval window causes fluid in cochlea to be displaced, which moves basilar membrane

3. Auditory nerve - Transmits messages from the hair cells on auditory cortex

 

Term
Semi-circular canals
Definition
Contribute to our sense of balance
Term
Place theory vs Frequency theory
Definition

Place theory - The idea that the location of the hair cells activated by the movement of the basilar membrane underlies the perception of pitch

 

Frequency theory - the idea that pitch is determined partly by the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the auditory pathway (coming from hair cells)

- High-frequency sounds are coded with colleys of firing

Term
Kinesthesia
Definition

ability to sense the position and movement of ones body parts

-many systems are involved

-nerve impulses travel to the somatosensory cortex

Term
Vestibular sense
Definition

The ability to sense changes in acceleration or posture

-inner ear organs contribute

--Semicircular canals

--Vestibular sacs - organs of the inner ear that contain receptors thought to be primarily responsible for balance

Term
Synesthesia
Definition
Blending of sensory experiences
Term
Stimulus detection (absolute threshold & signal detection technique)
Definition

Absolute threshold - the intensity level at which people detect the stimulus 50% of the time

 

Signal detection technique - A technique used to determine the ability of someoen to detect thepresence of stimulus (varies)

Term
Weber's Law
Definition

Principle stating that the ability to notice a difference in the magnitude of two stimuli is a constant proportion of the size of the standard stimulus

-Psychologically, the more intense a stiumulu is to begin with, the more intense it will need to become for one to notice a change

Term
Sensory adaptation
Definition
The tendency of sensory systems to reduce sensitivity to a stimulus source that remains constant
Term
Consciousness
Definition
The subjective awareness of internal and external events
Term
Dichotic listening
Definition

Different auditory messages are presented separately and simultaneously to each ear. The subject's tast is to repeat aloud one message while ignoring other

-Unattended message: little is remembered

Term
Cocktail party effect
Definition
ability to focus on one auditory message and ignore others; also refers to tendency to notice when your name suddenly appears in a message you've actually been ignoring
Term
Treisman's ear switching experiment
Definition
2 different sentences were presented to the ears at the same time and swithed in the middle; in some of the cases, the people kept saying the sentence that made sense. Brain doesn't filter out what's in unattended message
Term
Visual neglect
Definition

complex disorder of attention characterized by tendency to ignore things that appear on one soide of the body (usually left)

-result from damage to right parietal

-Reading only one side of page

Ex: cant see difference between 2 houses but would rather live in not burned one

Term
ADHD
Definition

psychological disorder marked by difficulties in concentrating or in sustaining attention for extended periods; can be associated with hyperactivity

-treatable with medication/training

-possible causes

--anxiety

--depression

--ODD

Term
Circadian rhythms & Biological clocks
Definition

Circadian - biological activities that rise and fall in accordance with 24 hour cycle (regular daily transition from waking to sleep)

 

Biological clocks - brain structures that schedule rhythmic variations in bodily functions by triggering them at appropriate times (environment syncs these)

Term
Alpha waves
Definition
The pattern of brain activity observed in someone who is in a relaxed state
Term
Stages of sleep
EEG's
Stage 1
Stage2
Stage 3 & 4
Definition

EEG's - device that monitors electrical activity in the brain

-Reveals regular, cyclic changes in brain activity during sleep

-Sleep cycles about every 90 minutes, 4-5 times

 

Stage 1: Theta waves appear

-Light sleep; person may claim to be awake

Stage 2: sleep spindles (short bursts of activity that interrupt theta waves), K complexes (sudden, sharp, intermittent wave forms - ex: loud noises)

 

Stage 3 and 4: Delta activity (characterized by sychronized slow waves)

- Very deep sleep; nonresponsive to most stimuli and slow to awake

 

Term
REM Sleep
Definition

Stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements, low amplitude, irregular EEG patters, resembling those of a waking brain

-associated with dreaming

-begins 70-90 minutes into sleep cycle

 

Term
Dreaming
Manifest Content
Latent Content
Definition

Manifest content - actual symbols of dream

Latent - true psychological meaning of dream symbols

Term
Activation-synthesis hypothesis
Definition

Idea that dreams represent the brain's attempt to make sense of the random patterns of neural activity generated during sleep

-Other posibilities

--Problem solving and threats from environment

Term
Sleep Disorders
Dyssomnias
Insomnia
Hypersomnia
Narcolepsy
Cataplexy
Parasomnias
Nightmares
Night terrors
Sleepwalking
Definition

Insomnia - chronic condition marked by difficulty maintaining or initiating sleep (drugs, stress, alchohol)

Hypersomnia - marked with excessive sleepiness (sleep apnea (wake up gasping for breath))

Narcolepsy - rare sleep disorder characterized by sudden extreme sleepiness

Cataplexy - sudden and transient episode of loss of muscle tone (often from emotions) affect 70% of narcoleptics

 

Nightmares - fright during REM

Night terror - Awake sudden state of panic

Sleepwalkign - occurs in non REM sleep

Term
Psychoactive drugs
Definition

drugs that affect behavior and mental processes through alterations of conscious awareness

- work mainly by changing communication channels of neurons

--may mimic neurotransmitters

Term
Depressants
Definition
Slow or depress ongoing activity of CNS (alcohol and tranquilizers)
Term
Stimulants
Definition
Increase CNS activity (caffeine, nicotine, ecstasy)
Term
Opiates
Definition
Reduce anxiety, lower sensitivity to pain (opium, morphine, heroin)
Term
Hallucinogens
Definition
Tend to disrupt mental and emotional functioning (LSD, mescaline)
Term
Synergistic effects
Definition
Drugs work w/ each other or alcohol to make extreme effeecst
Term
Antagonistic effects
Definition
drugs work against each other to keep you awake and consume more, the amount needed in order to cause system crash doesnt change
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