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| The perspectives that are used to understand behavior. 3 levels, lower (biological), middle (interpersonal), higher (cultural and social). |
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| The variations among people on physical or psychological dimensions |
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| Uses the method of introspection to identify the basic elements or "structures" of psychological experience. |
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| Attempts to unerstand why animals and humans have developed the particular psychological aspects that they currently possess. |
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| Focuses on the role of our unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories and our early childhood experiences in determining behavior. |
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| Based on the premise that it is not possible to objectively study the mind, and therefore that psychologists should limit their attention to the the study of behavior itself. |
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| The study of mental processes, including perception, thinking, memory and judgements. |
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| The study of how the social situations and cultures in which people find themselves influence thinking and behavior. |
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| The proportion of the observed differences on characteristics among people that is due to genetics. |
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| A method of learning about psychological processes in which research participants are asked to describe exactly what they experience as they work on mental tasks. |
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| A branch of psychology that applies the Darwinian theory of natural selection to human and animal behavior. (Came from Functionalism) |
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| The extent to which having a given genetic characteristic helps an individual organism survive and reproduce at a higher rater than do other members of the species who do not have the characteristic. |
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| an approach to understanding human behavior that focuses on the role of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories. |
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| The use of various techniques to provide pictures of the structure and function of the living brain. |
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| The ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving that are shared by group members and are perceived by them as appropriate. |
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| Based on systematic collection and analysis of data. |
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| The set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research. |
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| Free from the personal bias or emotions of the scientist. |
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| Principles that are so general as to apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry |
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| An integrated set of principles that explains nad predicts many, but not all, observed relationships within a given domain of inquiry. |
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| The variables of interest of a theory or hypothesis can be shown through research to be incorrect. |
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| A specific and falsifiable prediction about the relationship between or among two or more variables. |
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| Any attribute that can assume different values among different people or across different times or places |
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| Abstract ideas that form the basis of research hypotheses. |
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| Variables consisting of numbers that represent the conceptual variables |
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| A precise statement of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable |
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| A situation that occurs whenever reserach participants aren't completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it. |
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| Creates a snapshot of the current state of affairs. Useful because it provides a relatively complete picture of what is occuring at a given time. Does not assess relationships among variables, may be unethical if participants don't know they are being observed |
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| Asses the relationships between and among two or more variables. Allows testing of expected relationships between and among variables and the making of predictions. Can asses these relationships in everday life events. Cannot be used to draw inferences about the causal relationships between and among the variables |
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| Assess the causal impact of one or more experimental manipulations on a dependent variable. Allows drawing of conclusions about the causal relationships among variables. Cannot experimentally manipulate many important variables. May be expensive and time consuming. |
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| A descriptive record of one or more individual's experiences and behavior. |
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| A relationship between two variables in which a common-causal variable produces and "explains away" the relationship. |
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| Common-Causal Relationship |
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| A variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but that causes both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus produces the oberserved correlation between them. |
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| The causing variable in an experiment that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation. |
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| In an experiment, the measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation. |
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| The extent to which the variables used in the research adequately assess the conceptual variables they were designed to measure. |
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| The consistency of a measured variable. |
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| The confidence with which we can conlcude that data are not due to chance or random error. |
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| A variable other than the independent variable on which the participants in one experimental condition differ systematically from those in other conditions. |
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| Experimental design where both the researcher and the participants are blind to the condition. |
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| A collection of hundreds of billions of specialized cells that transmit information between different parts of the body. |
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| Central Nervous System (CNS) |
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| The brain and the spinal cord |
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| Peripheral nervous system (PNS) |
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| The nerves that link the CNS to the skin, muscles, and glands. |
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| The chemical regulator of the body, composed of the glands that secrete hormones. |
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| One of the more than 100 billion cells in the nervous system. |
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| the part of the neuron that contains the nucleus of the cell and that keeps the cell alive. |
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| The part of the neuron that collects information from other cells and sends the information to the soma. |
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| The part of the neuron that transmits information away from the cell body toward other neuron. |
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| A layer of fatty tissue surrounding the axon of a neuron that acts as an insulator and allows faster transmission of the electrical signal. |
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| A state in which the interior of the neuron contains a greater number of negatively charged ions than does the area outside the cell. |
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| A change in the electrical charge that occurs in a neuron when a nerve impulse is transmitted. |
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| The small gap between neurons acrss which nerve impulses are transmitted. |
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| A chemical that relays signals across the synapses between neurons. |
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Common neurotransmitter used in the spinal cord and motor neurons to stimulate muscle contractions. it's also used in the brean to regulate memory, sleeping, and dreaming.
Alzheimer's with undersupply, nicotine is an agonist. |
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| Involved in movement, motivation, and emotion, Dopamine produces feelings of pleasure when released by the brain's reward system, and it's also involved in learning. Schizophrenia linked with increases, Parkinson's linked with reductions. |
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| Released in response to behaviors such as vigorous exercise, orgasm, and eating spicy foods. Natural pain relievers. Found in opium, morphine and heroin. |
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| The major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. Lack of which can lead to involuntary motor actions, including tremors and seizures. Alcohol stimulates the release of GABA, inhibitting the nervous system and making us feel drunk. Low levels can produce anxiety. |
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| Most common neurotransmitter, it's released in more than 90% of the brain's synapses. Glutamate is found in the food additive MSG. Excess can cause overstimulation, migraines and seizures. |
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| Involved in many functions, including mood, appetite, sleep, and agression. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression, and some drugs designed to treat depression (known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs) serve to prevent their reuptake. |
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| The process in which the neurotransmitters in the synapse are reabsorbed into the transmitting terminal buttons. |
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| A drug that has chemical properties similar to a particular neurotransmitter and thus mimics the effects of the neurotransmitter. |
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| A drug that reduces or stops the normal effects of a neurotransmitter. |
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| The oldest and innermost region of the brain, it serves to control the most basic functions of life, including breathing, attention, and moto responses. |
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| The area of the brain stem that controls heart rate and breathing. |
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| A structure in the brain stem that helps control the movements of the body, playing a particularly important role in balance and walking. |
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| A long, narrow network of neurons that runs through the medulla and the pons. |
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| The egg-shaped structure above the brain stem that filters sensory information coming up from the spinal cord and realys signals to the higher brain levels. |
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| Two wrinkled ovals located behind the brain stem that function to coordinate voluntary movement. |
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| A brain area located between the brain stem and the two cerebral hemispheres that governs emotion and memory. |
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| A region of the old brain primarily responsible for regulating our perceptions of, and reactions to, aggression and fear. |
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| A brain structure that performs a variety of functions, including the regulation of hunger and sexual behavior, as well as linking the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. |
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| The outer bark-like kayer of the brain that allows us to so successfully use language, acquire complex skills, create tools, and live in social groups. |
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| Cells that surround and link to the neurons, protecting them, providing them with neutrients, and absorbing unused neurotransmitters. |
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| One of the four brain lopes, responsible for thinking, planning, memory, and judgment. |
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| One of the four brain lopes, responsible primarily for processing information about touch. |
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| One of the four brain lopes, responsible primarily for processing visual information. |
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| One of the four brain lopes, responsible primarily for hearing and language. |
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| the part of the cortex that controls and executes movements of the body by sending signals to the cerebellum and spinal cord. |
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| An area just behind and parallel to the motor cortex at the back of the frontal lobe that receives informaton from the skin's sensory receptors and the movements of different body parts. |
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| The area located in the occipital lobe that processes visual information |
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| The area located in the temporal lobe that is responsible for hearing and language. |
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| Brain regions in which sensory and motor information is combined and associated with stored knowledge. |
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| The brain's ability to change its structure and function in response to experience or damage. |
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| the forming of new neurons |
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| The idea that the left and the right hemispheres of the brain are specialized to perform different functions. |
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| The region that connects the two halves of the brain and supports communication between the hemispheres. |
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| A technique that records the electrical activity produced by the brain's neurons through the use of electrodes placed around the research participant's head. |
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| Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) |
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| A neuroimaging technique that uses a magnetic field to create images of brain structure and function. |
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| Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) |
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| A procedure in which magnetic pulses are apllied to the brain of living persons with the goal of temporarily and safely deactivating a small brain region. |
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| A bundle of interconnected neurons that fires in synchrony to carry messages. |
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| Sensory (or afferent) neuron |
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| A neuron that carries information from the sensory receptors. |
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| Motor or (efferent) neuron |
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| A neuron that transmits information to the muscles and glands. |
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| The most commom type of neuron, responsible for communicating among neurons. |
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| The long, thin, tubular bundle of nerves and supporting cells that extends down from the brain. |
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| An involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus. |
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| the division of the PNS that governs the internal activities of the human body, including heart rate, breathing, digestion, salivation, perspiration, urination, and sexual arousal. |
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| the division of the PNS that controls the external aspects of the body, including the skeletal muscles, skin, and sense organisms. |
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| Sympathetic division of the ANS |
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| involved in preparing the body for behavior, particularly in response to stress, by activating the organs and the glands in the endocrine system. |
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| The natural balance in the body's systems |
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| a group of cells that function to secrete hormones |
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| a chemical that moves throughout the body to help regulate emotions and behaviors. |
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| A small pea-sized gland located near the center of the brain that is responsible for controlling the body's growth. |
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| Produce hormones that regulate salt and water balance in the body, and involved in metabolism, the immune system, and sexual development and function. |
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