Anything that can vary 

Any factor in a study that you seek to measure 

Gender

Shoe size

A factor manipulated by the experimenter

The effect of the independent variable is the

focus of the study 

Less expensive 

Good starting point for experimental research 

Can look at problems that are unethical to manipulate 

Random assignment of participants to conditions 

Manipulation of and independent variable 

Both are necessary; If a study does not contain both it is not an experiment 

Cofounding Variable 

(Third Variable Problem)

consist of bunches of neurons that respond stimuli in the environment 

Involved in all senses 

A neural impulse. A brief electrical charge that travels down the axon to the terminal branches. Is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of the channels in the axon membrane.

Branching extensions at the cell body. Receive messages from other cells. 

Branched endings of an axon that transmit messages to other neurons.

Forms junctions with other cells  

Synaptic Cleft

(Synapse)

A space between the axon tip of the sending

neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.

This tiny gap is called the Synaptic Cleft  During a synapse the neurons never actually touch there is always a gap.

Myelin Sheath

 A layer of fatty tissues encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables faster transmission speed of impulses  

Covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses 

An action potential stays the same throught the 

legth of the axon 

Once the neuron fires the speed of action 

potential stays the same

Parasympathetic Nervous System 

(PNS)

Calming system 

Conserves energy and lowers your level of arousal 

Sympathetic Nervous System 

SNS

Arousing system 

Responds to heightened states of arousal

Fight of Flight 

Peripheral Nervous System 

(PNS)

Sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body 

Includes the Autonomic System 

Processes memory and emotional processes 

Contains:

Hypothalamus 

Hippocampus

Amygdala

Chemicals that determine if the neuron fires or not 

Either an increase or decrease in neurotransmitters will fire the neuron 

Either the neuron fires or it doesn't 

A strong stimulus can trigger more neurons to fire more  often, but does not affect the action potentials strength or speed

The distribution center for the brain.

Receives and relays importan neural information from areas of lower complexity 

Optic nerves connect to the thalamus and the thalamus connects to the visual cortex

Important in the regulation of the Autonomic Nervous System 

Maintains Equilibrium 

The 3 F's 

Amygdala

Stores and retrieves declarative memories 

Differentiates between declarative memories and procedural memories 

Moves memories from STM to LTM 

Coordinates/Fine tunes

Motor movement 

Important in Learning/Conditioning and priming 

Controls heartbeat and breathing 

Located in the Hindbrain 

EEG

Electroencephalograph

fMRI

Functional MRI

Observes blood flowi in the brain 

More blood flow is concentrated in the parts of the brain active during specific tasks

Used in most brain research, especially somatosensory cortex researchers 

MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

PET

Positron Emission Topography 

Determins which area of the brain are specific for certain tasks 

Person swallows radioactive Glucose

region of the cerebral cortex involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary movements

If you stimulate the motor cortex with an electrode then that corresponding part of the body would move 

Cortex that deals with senses/sensations 

If you stimulate sensory cortex you would feel a sensation in the corresponding body part 

The individual would do virtually nothing but 

Breathe

SSRI

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor

The amount of energy needed to for the neuron to fire 

Each neuron must reach a minimum intensity in ourder to fire

Brain size does matter to a certain extent

The size of the brain does not always determine the intelligence of an animal 

Visual Processing 

*Reading

*Vision

Spatial awareness and abilities 

*Sense youch and appreciation of form through touch 

*Sensry combination and comprehension

*Spatial manipulation of objects or maps 

Temporal Lobes 

Memory, emotion and language 

Functions

Some hearing, language, and speech 

Some behavior and emotions 

Memory 

Fear

Recognizing objects

Planning and inhibition

Functions 

Abstract tought 

Problem solving 

Attention

Creative thought 

Reflection 

Coordination of movement 

Autonomic System 

Autonomic System Includes

Sympathetic System

Parasympathetic System 

Linear thinking mode, sees images as a whole 

Right Hand Control

Writing 

Scientific Skills

Math 

Lists 

Logic 

Speech 

Hollistic Thinking 

Left hand control

Emotional expression 

Spatial awareness 

music, creativity, imagination 

Dimension

Analytic- Details of an image/what makes up the image 

Issues occur on the opposing side of the the body.

Example

Stoke on left side of brain= Issues on Right side

Stroke on Right side of brain= Issues on Left side

Hands could work independently 

Each hand does only what its half of the brain sees 

The two halves of the brain do not communicate 

Right Hemisphere completely removed 

Degenerative brain disorder 

Loss of complete control of her left side 

Right hemisphere fills up with spinal fluid 

Declarative Memory 

Explicit Memory 

The process of recalling information intentionally 

Implicit Memory 

Memory for motor skills and habits 

Is used when we 

Ride a bike or Open a soda 

Processing of information done by the brain

Brains interpretation of raw sensry inputs 

Using previous knowledge to gather and interpret stimuli registered by our senses 

Filters, organizes and interprets raw data 

Brain is at the top of our bodies and it's influence reached down to affect incoming stimulus energies 

Sense Driven 

Starts with our expectations 

Associated with perception, items or event to which we deliberatly direct our attention

Emphasizes how a persons concept and mental proccesses influence object recognition 

Starts with sensory receptors 

Associated with sensation, Items that grab our attention

Thought Driven 

Emphasizes the importance of stimulus in object recognition (What our sensory receptors actually register)

*Environment: Stimuli registered on our sensory receptors; Lines, angels, shapes, colors, sounds, smells etc.

Minimum stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Minimum stimulation necessary to detect a stimulus 50% of the time 

We can sense below absolute threshold, but less than 50% of the time 

Stimulation below the absolute threshold for conscious awareness

"Sex" spelled out in the stars in Lion King 

Subliminal stimuli has a subtle, fleeting effect 

Priming and pleasantnes 

Familiarity/recognition 

Do NOT have powerful enduring effects 

Difference Threshold 

(JND)

Minimum difference a person can detect between two stimuli

Just noticeable difference 

The magnitude of stimulus Increases 

Two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount), to be perceived as different.

Light: 8%

Weight: 2%

Tone: 0.3%

Diminishing sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

After constant exposure, nerve cells fire less

Our body's ability to convert one type of energy to another 

Where light enters the eye

protects the eye and bends the light to focus it 

Colored muscle around pupil

Regulates light getting in, affected by light intensity and emotions 

Focuses light rays into an image on the back of the surface of the eye 

Does this by changing it curvature or shape 

(Process called accommodation)

Light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, where the light is focused

Originally brings image in upside down, but brain receives it right side up 

Optic Nerve 

Carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain (occipital lobe)

Carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain 

(occipital lobe)

Where the optic nerve leaves the eye, there are no receptorcess this is your blind spot 

Receptor cells associated with black and white vision

Located at the periphery of the retina

More sensitive in dim light; picks our contrast

(Can't see colors well)

In dim light, pupil dilates to let more light reach the rods in the retina 

Receptor cells associated with color vision 

Better at detecting detail

Carries visual information into the optic nerve

Located at the fovea of the retina 

Nerve cells in the brain respond to the specific features of a stimulus 

Edges

Shapes 

Angles

Movements 

Different areas of your brain respond to different items

Processing of several aspects of the stimulus simultaneously

The brain divides a visual scene into subdivision such as color, depth, form, movement etc.

Our eyes have three types of color receptors, one for each primary colory 

Can create any color by combining the three primary colors, Red, Green, Blue.

Ex. Yellow comes from stimulating both red and green sensitive cones 

We have two additional color processes 

One responsible for red vs. green

One responsible for blue vs. yellow 

After leaving your receptor cells, visual information is analyzed in terms of the opponents colors

Explains after images ]

Example: Stare at green and look away and see red 

Gate Control Theory 

(Melzack and Wall)

Proposed that our spinal cord contains neurological "gates" that eith block pain or allow it to be sensed 

Large Fiber tract is for your sensory signals

Small fibers are a separate channel for pain

The tracts decide what is sent to the brain 

We receive projections from the sensory path way 

 *Individuals born without the ability to feel pain often die by early childhood 

The Gate Control Theory 

Exceptional Cases of Pain 

Ringing with hearing loss 

Phantom limb sensations

Virtual reality pain control

Sensation of lingering pain in a limb that is no longer there

Pain may last months or years after loss

More frequent because of increased war survivors

Up to 70% suffer

May be some relief through theraputic efforts

Amputation changes the brains motor map 

The body's sense of itself

Allows the person to coordinate movement without attending to it 

Perception is an integration of what is actually out there and top down processing 

Sensation sensory information is what is being integrated 

Reduced sensitivity to constant sensory information frees us to focus on informative changes in our environment 

We don't need to be constantly reminded that your wearing a watch, glasses or clothing

The smallest distinctive sound unit 

40 in the English language, 869 in all 

The smalles unit that carries meaning 

Prefixes and suffixes 

A morpheme that comes at the beginning or end of a work 

Suffix or Prefix 

A system of rules that allows us to communicate with each ohter

Includes semantics and syntax

Children learn language by reinforcement principles

(Operant Conditioning)

Issue: Children make utternces that are not taught by parents (I hate mommy)