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Intro to Psychology
Key Concepts for my Psych final
46
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
05/04/2009

Additional Psychology Flashcards

 


 

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Term
Psychology
Definition
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Term
Counseling psychology
Definition
A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (school, work, marriage, etc.) 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 can provide medical treatments such as drugs
Term
Wilhelm Wundt
Definition
Established first psychology lab in 1879 in Leipzig Germany
Term
William James
Definition
Philosopher-psychologist, author of Principles of Psychology. Professor at Harvard and tutor of Mary Calkins.
Term
Sigmund Freud
Definition
Austrian physician, personality theorist, and therapist with controversial ideas about self-understanding
Term
Behaviorism
Definition
The study of observing people's behavior in reaction to different situations.
Term
Key behaviorists
Definition
Skinner, Thorndike, Watson, Pavlov
Term
Main emphasis of behaviorists
Definition
Recording only observable behaviors
Term
Modern behavioral psychology
Definition
How people learn observable responses
Term
Modern Cognitive Psychology
Definition
How people encode, process, store, and retrieve information
Term
Modern Biological Psychology
Definition
How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
Term
Modern Psychodynamic Psychology
Definition
How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts
Term
Modern Sociocultural Psychology
Definition
How behavior and thinking vary across different cultures
Term
Correlational research
Definition
Study of the link between two variables
Term
Experimental research
Definition
Study of the effect a change in one variable related to another variable
Term
Correlational Coefficient
Definition
Measure of the direction (positive or negative) and extent (range of a correlation coefficient is from -1 to +1) of the relationship between two sets of scores. Scores with a positive correlation coefficient go up and down together (as with smoking and cancer). A negative correlation coefficient indicates that as one score increases, the other score decreases (as in the relationship between self-esteem and depression; as self-esteem increases, the rate of depression decreases).
Term
Random assignment
Definition
Assigning research participants into random groups
+ minimalizes preexisting differences, works well will larger groups
Term
Blind study
Definition
Participant is unaware if they are in control or experimental group
Term
Double blind study
Definition
Participant and researcher are both unaware which group the participant is in -- control or experimental
Term
Operational Definition
Definition
Statement of procedures used to define research variables and how they can be measured
Term
Divisions of the Nervous System
Definition
Peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system
Term
Peripheral nervous system
Definition
Sensory neurons, motor neurons, and sensory system (sensory receptors for hearing, vision, etc.)
Term
Central nervous system
Definition
Brain and spinal cord
Term
Autonomic nervous system
Definition
Peripheral nervous system branch relating to unconscious bodily actions and reflexes
Term
somatic nervous system
Definition
Voluntary movements of the peripheral nervous system
Term
Sympathetic nervous system
Definition
Arousal under the autonomic nervous system, involuntary
Term
Parasympathetic nervous system
Definition
Involuntary calming under the autonomic nervous system
Term
Endocrine system
Definition
System regulating hormones - thyroid, pituitary gland, adrenal gland, hypothalamus, etc.
Term
Pituitary gland
Definition
Regulates growth, pregnancy, blood pressure, food into energy, ADH, water
Term
Parts of a neuron
Definition
Cell body, axon, dendrite, axon terminal, myelin sheath
Term
Cell body function
Definition
Cell's life support center
Term
Dendrite function
Definition
receives messages from other cells
Term
axon function
Definition
passes messages from cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands
Term
Myelin sheath function
Definition
Protects axon of some neurons and improves the speed of neural impulses
Term
Axon terminal function
Definition
forms junctions with other cells
Term
Resting potential of a neuron
Definition
-70 millivolts
Term
Refractory period of a neuron
Definition
About 1 millisecond
Term
Limbic system
Definition
Doughnut shaped system of neural structures. Involved in emotions like fear and aggression. Controls feelings of hunger and sex drive. Amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, pituitary, cerebellum, and hypothalamus.
Term
Brain stem
Definition
Oldest and innermost part of the brain. Controls automatic survival functions. Includes the pons, medulla, basal ganglia, reticular formation
Term
Four lobes of the cerebral cortex
Definition
Parietal, occipital, frontal, temporal
Term
Corpus callosum
Definition
Connects right and left hemispheres of the brain
Term
Transduction
Definition
Interpretation of information collected from the environment
Term
Absolute threshold of a sensation
Definition
Minimum stimulus needed to perceive it 50% of the time
Term
Difference threshold
Definition
Minimum difference between 2 stimuli to detect a difference 50% of the time
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