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Psych 1 Fridlund
Psych 1 midterm UCSB
159
Physiology
Undergraduate 1
02/07/2011

Additional Physiology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Physiological Psychology
Definition
How do certain actions effect the brain?
Term

 Psychophysics (Sensation and Perception)

Definition

Why do we see what we see and how do we function?

Term

 Quantitative (Math) Psychology

Definition

Using math to predict behavior 

Term

 Neuropsychology

Definition

Deals with the brain and its functions (started after WWI)

Term

 Social Psychology

Definition
People as a function of members of a group
Term

 Evolutionary Psychology

Definition
Biological inheritance  
Term
Industrial Psychology
Definition
- People in the workplace
Term
Consumer Psychology
Definition
What makes people buy things
Term
Clinical Psychology
Definition
Both research and applied psychotherapy
Term
Counseling Psychology
Definition
Problems with daily life (i.e. marriage)
Term
Educational and School Psychology
Definition
How can we improve learning and produce/develop tools for studying
Term
Brain-in-the-vat problem
Definition
Woman has a brain tumor that she had to have removed. In order to remove the tumor, she would have to have her whole brain extracted from her skull. When her brain was removed from her skull, it was put in a vat full of fluids/electricity to keep it hydrated and functioning. The question: Where do we locate ourselves and is it arbitrary? Are we in our body and sense organs or in our brain?
Term
mind-body or mind-brain problem
Definition
The philosophical question of how experience relates to the brain
Term
dualism
Definition
The mind is separate from the brain but somehow controls the brain and therefore the rest of the body.
Term
dualism
Definition
The mind is separate from the brain but somehow controls the brain and therefore the rest of the body.
Term
monism
Definition
The view that conscious experience is inseparable from the physical brain.
Term
free will
Definition
The belief that behavior is caused by a person’s independent decisions.
Term
determinism
Definition
The idea that everything happens has a cause, or determinant, that one could observe or measure.
Term
nature vs. nurture
Definition
How do differences in behavior relate to differences in hereditary and environment?
Term
Inductive Reasoning
Definition
Inductive Reasoning
Specific to General
Begin with a set of observations; find pattern; come up with a general rule (i.e. Freebirds)
Cannot be certain you are correct
The way scientists FORM theories
Term
Deductive Reasoning
Definition
General to Specific
Begin with a set of premises and facts; apply general rules of logic; derive a conclusion (i.e. blondes)
You can have certainty w/ your conclusion
The way scientists test their hypothesis against data
Term
burden of proof
Definition
The obligation to present evidence to support one’s claim.
Term
falsifiability of hypotheses
Definition
A clear predictive statement stated in such clear, precise terms that we can see what evidence would count against it.
Term
replicability of findings
Definition
Findings that anyone can obtain, at least approximately, by following the same procedures.
Term
parsimonious explanation
Definition
A preferred explanation due to its fewer, simpler, or more consistent assumptions when compared to other well-established theories.
Term
devaluation of anecdotal evidence
Definition
Experiences based on people’s reports of isolated events and often seem impressive, but they are not scientific evidence.
Term
experimenter bias
Definition
The tendency of an experimenter (unintentionally, in most cases) to distort or misperceive the results of an experiment based on the expected outcome.
Term
demand characteristics
Definition
Cues that tell participants what is expected of them and what the experimenter hopes to find.
Term
Ways to maximize experimental objectivity
Definition
"blinds" on observers and participants
Blind observer: an observer who records data without knowing the researcher’s predictions.
placebos
A pill with no known pharmacological effects given to maximize the efficiency of the experiment’s results.
Term
Naturalistic observations (definition)
Definition
A careful examination of what happens under more or less natural conditions.
Term
Case histories (definition)
Definition
A thorough description of the person, including abilities and disabilities, medical condition, life history, unusual experiences, and whatever else seems relevant.
Term
Correlational studies
Definition
A procedure in which investigators measure the correlation between two variables without controlling either of them.
Does not justify a cause and effect conclusion.
Term
Correlation
Definition
A measure of the relationship between two variables, helping us make useful predictions, but do not tell us the why these two variables are related.
Term
causation
Definition
A measure explaining how and why two variables share a relationship. This is found through manipulation of one of the variables directly through experiment.
Term
Experiment (definition)
Definition
A study in which the investigator manipulates at least one variable while measuring at least one other variable.
Term
Dependent Variable
Definition
The item that an experimenter measures to determine how it was affected (effect).
How many questions people answer or how rapidly they respond to signals.
Term
independent variable
Definition
The item that an experimenter changes or controls (cause).
Training or wording of instructions before an experiment begins
Term
descriptive statistics
Definition
Mathematical summaries of results in order to describe the general trends or averages.
Term
inferential statistics
Definition
Statements about a large population based on an inference from a small sample through statistical tests.
Term
Cerebrovascular accident (CVA)
Definition
Thrombotic/embolic stroke
Ruptured aneurysms
Hemorrhagic stroke (blood leaks out
Term
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Definition
Device that measures and amplifies slight electrical changes on the scalp that reflect brain activity
Term
Hindbrain w/functions
Definition
Pons and Medulla
Protective reflexes (sneezing, coughing)
Infant (“pathological”) reflexes
Rooting reflex: looking for something to grab
Babinski reflex: toes spread and curl
Morro reflex: reaching up to grab when being “dropped”
Orienting reflexes (when something new happens, we react/alert ourselves)
Cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive reflexes (yawning, etc.)
Term
“Old” (inner) cerebellum
Definition
balance (linked to semicircular canals of ears and trochlear nerve that moves the eyeballs)
Term
What happens if inner cerebellum looses balance?
Definition
Happens due to alcohol consumption and you adapt a wide center of gravity.
Term
“New” (outer) cerebellum
Definition
– rapid automatic movements, timing of movements and thoughts
* Tennis swing, muscle memory
Term
Midbrain w/functions
Definition
Midbrain reticular formation
General arousal (any format of arousal including coma to responding to an alarm, but does not include sexual arousal)
Sleep / wake cycles (24.5 hrs.)
Pain perception (sensitivity to pain)
Term
Visual targeting
Definition
saccades (saccadic movements: jerking our eyes around when there is no object to target)
Term
Forebrain w/functions
Definition
Basal forebrain (hypothalamus & thalamus)
Hypothalamus: Control of
Pituitary gland >> thyroid (growth), adrenals (stress hormones and adrenaline), bone growth
Autonomic Nervous System: response to threat (ANS), immune system
Hunger, thirst, body temperature and induction of fever (pyrogens: raise your body temperature, create a fever)
Sexual orientation
Reward and punishment
Thalamus: sensory relay station (where we are, maintaining position, etc.)
Term
Parkinson’s Diseas
Definition
more common in elders): caused by death of cells in the basal ganglia
Resting tremor
Rigidity
Slowed Movements
Confusion
Term
Huntington’s Chorea
Definition
Involuntary writhing movements
Impaired speech/swallowing
Staggering gait
Depression, irritability
Short-term memory loss
Term
Huntington’s Chorea
Definition
Involuntary writhing movements
Impaired speech/swallowing
Staggering gait
Depression, irritability
Short-term memory loss
Term
“New cortex” (neocortex)
Definition
Complex perception
Strategic movements
Higher intellectual functions
Social (“Machiavellian” - deceiving other people for your benefit) intelligence
Term
“Old cortex”
Definition
Limbic (“border”) system – complex reaction patterns
* (“4 F’s”: fighting, feeding, fleeting, sex)
Basal ganglia
background postural (axial) movements
smooth pursuit eye movements (when there is a target, the basal ganglia are responsible for this smooth movement)
regulation of foreground/ background thinking (disrupted in OCD: brain “hijacked” and becomes locked)
Term
Limbic system w/functions
Definition
Complex reaction patterns
The Four F’s
Fighting
Fleeting
Feeding
Sex
Term
Orienting response
Definition
Hindbrain is in charge of it (pons and medulla)
When something new happens, we react/alert ourselves
Term
Infant reflexes
Definition
- Rooting reflex: looking for something to grab
Babinski reflex: toes spread and curl
Morro reflex: reaching up to grab when being “dropped”
Term
Corpus callosum
Definition
Bridges the two hemispheres of the brain together for communication
Term
"Binding problem"
Definition
The question of how separate brain areas combine forces to produce a unified perception of a single object
Term
Nonfluent (Broca's)aphasia
Definition
Condition characterized by inarticulate speech and by difficulties with both using and understanding grammatical devices such as prepositions, conjunctions, etc.
Term
fluent (Wernicke's) aphasia
Definition
Condition marked by difficulty recalling the names of objects and impaired comprehension of language
Term
fluent (Wernicke's) aphasia
Definition
Condition marked by difficulty recalling the names of objects and impaired comprehension of language
Term
Neglect syndrome
Definition
Damage in the right parietal lobe causing a lack of awareness of the left side of the body
Term
Hemispheric lateralization
Definition
Two halves of the human brain are not exactly alike
Each hemisphere controls different aspects
Term
Occipital Lobe (location: back bottom of the brain)
Definition
Visual pattern recognition (Optical “grasping”)
Help us make certain shapes and identify them
* Manipulating products to understand what they are
Term
Parietal Lobe
Definition
Complex visual/touch perception
(R) Body sense
(L) Arithmetic, left-right sense
Term
Temporal Lobe
Definition
Hearing & Language decoding
Long-term memory
Face/object identification
Term
Frontal Lobe
Definition
Strategic thinking
Social cognition
Short-term memory
Language/music production
Voluntary movements
Term
Neurotransmitters w/ examples
Definition
A chemical that activates receptors on other neurons
Glumate: brain’s main excitatory transmitter; essential for almost all brain activities (learning)
Dopamine: movement, memory, cognition
Endorphins: decreases pain and increases pleasure
Serotonin: modifies many types of motivated and emotional behavior
Term
Axon
Definition
A single, long, thin, straight fiber with branches near its tip
Transmit messages throughout the body
Term
Dendrites
Definition
Widely branching structures that receive input from other neurons
Term
Synapse
Definition
The specialized junction between one neuron and another
A neuron releases a chemical that either excites or inhibits the next neuron
Pre-synaptic membrane + Post-synaptic membrane + Synaptic cleft = Synapse
Term
Resting potential
An electrical polarization across the membrane (or covering) of an axon
Definition
Action potential
An excitation that travels along an axon at a constant strength, no matter how far it must travel
Term
Glial cells (glia) and functions
Definition
Support the neurons in many ways such as by insulating them, synchronizing activity among neighboring neurons, and removing waste products
Possibly, a slow second signal system (calcium waves), running in parallel, and interacting, with neurons
Blood-brain barrier
Support structure during neurogenesis
Myelin sheaths
Neurotrophic functions
Term
Neurotransmitter reuptake
Definition
A process in which a neurotransmitter could be reabsorbed by the axon that released it
Term
"All-or-none" law
Definition
An action potential is a yes-no or on-off message (i.e. a standard light switch)
Term
Post-synaptic receptors
Definition
After release into the synaptic cleft, neurotransmitters interact with receptor proteins on the membrane of the postsynaptic cell, causing ionic channels on the membrane to either open or close. When these channels open, depolarization occurs, resulting in the initiation of another action potential.
Term
Aspirin
Definition
blocks substance P and causes analgesia
Term
Cocaine, Ritalin
Definition
block reuptake of dopamine and causes ANS arousal, euphoria
Term
Curare
Definition
blocks acetylcholine (Ach) receptors and causes paralysis
Term
Heroin, Oxycontin
Definition
mimic endorphins and causes analgesia
Term
Risperdal, Zyprexa
Definition
block dopamine and serotonin
Term
SSRI’s (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil)
Definition
block reuptake of serotonin
Term
THC
Definition
blocks anandamide and causes marijuana’s effects
Term
Alcohol, Xanax, Klonopin, Valium
Definition
facilitate GABA transmission and reduces anxiety
Term
Amygdala
Definition
Subcortical structure deep within the temporal lobe that responds strongly to emotional situations
People with damage are slow to process emotional information (facial expressions and situations)
People with an easily aroused amygdala tend to be shy and fearful
Term
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Definition
Attach too much meaning to events and manufacture meaning to what appears to be meaningless
Obsession with detail and meaningfulness of trivia
Talkativeness and hypergraphia (excessive writing)
Interpersonal viscosity (“stickiness”)
Hypermorality and diminished sense of humor
Hyperreligiosity with expanded sense of personal destiny
Fetishism and sexual disinterest
Term
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Definition
Attach too much meaning to events and manufacture meaning to what appears to be meaningless
Obsession with detail and meaningfulness of trivia
Talkativeness and hypergraphia (excessive writing)
Interpersonal viscosity (“stickiness”)
Hypermorality and diminished sense of humor
Hyperreligiosity with expanded sense of personal destiny
Fetishism and sexual disinterest
Term
Pineal gland
Definition
Melatonin controls sleepiness and onset of puberty
Term
Posterior pituitary
Definition
Oxytocin controls milk release; Vasopressin controls blood pressure and urine volume
Term
Thyroid
Definition
Thyroid hormone controls metabolic rate
Term
Hypothalamus
Definition
Hormones that control pituitary gland
Term
Anterior pituitary
Definition
Hormones that control other glands
Term
Parathyroids (behind thyroid)
Definition
Parathyroid hormone controls calcium and potassium
Term
Adrenal gland
Definition
Hormones that control metabolism and salt retention
Term
Pancreas
Definition
Insulin and glucagon control glucose storage and use
Term
Ovary, Testis
Definition
Hormones that control sexual behaviors
Term
Psycho
Definition
Mind (World of the Spirit)
Term
Physik
Definition
Nature (World of Things)
Term
Gustav Fechner Elemente der Psychophysik (1860)
Definition
investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they affect. Psychophysics has been described as "the scientific study of the relation between stimulus and sensation"
Term
Absolute Limen
Definition
the weakest stimulus that can be detected reliably

Under-threshold: subliminal
Over-threshold: supraliminal
Term
Difference Limen
Definition
the smallest difference between two stimuli that can be detected reliably
Term
The four basic questions of psychophysics
Definition
Detection - “Is there anything?”
Recognition - “What is it?”
- Scaling - “How much of it is there?”
Discrimination - “Are these things different?”
Term
Subliminal perception
Definition
Ability of the stimulus to influence our behavior even when it is presented so faintly or briefly or along with such strong distracters that we do not perceive it consciously
Term
Rods
Definition
detects black and white (used for night/dark vision), peripheral vision
Term
Cones
Definition
detect color, used for day time vision
Term
Fovea
Definition
Central part of the retina that has a greater density of receptors, especially cones, than any other part of the retina
Term
Blind spot
Definition
Area where the optic nerve exits the retina
Part of the retina that has no more room for receptors (axons take up all the space)
Term
Trichromatic theory
Definition
Also known as Young-Helmholtz theory
Theory that color vision depends on the relative rate of response of three types of cones
Term
Opponent-process theory
Definition
Theory that we perceive colors in terms of a system of paired opposites:
red versus green
yellow versus blue
black versus white
Term
Retinex theory
Definition
Concept that color perception results from the cerebral cortex’s comparison of various retinal patterns
Term
Nature of "color-blindness"
Definition
Complete colorblindness is rare
Red-green color deficient people (sometimes only in one eye) have only two kinds of cones:
Short-wavelength cone
Either long-wavelength or medium-wavelength cone
Males are more likely to have it because they only have one X chromosome
Term
Loudness and amplitude
Definition
Loudness (intensity) is a perception that depends on the amplitude (magnitude, extent of a vibration) of sound waves
Term
Conduction Deafness
Definition
Hearing loss that results when the bones connected to the eardrum fail to transmit sound waves properly to the cochlea
Term
nerve deafness
Definition
esults from damage to the cochlea, the hair cells, or the auditory nerve
Term
Gate theory of pain
Definition
Ronald Melzack and PD Wall (1965)
The idea that pain messages must pass through a gate, presumably in the spiral cord, that can block the messages
In short, the activities of the rest of the nervous system facilitate and inhibit pain messages
Term
Neurotransmitters involved in pain
Definition
All pains release glutamate
Intense pain releases substance P
Term
Endorphins
Definition
Neurotransmitters that inhibit the release of substance P and thereby weaken pain sensations
Pleasant experiences also release endorphins
Term
Signal detection theory
Definition
The study of people’s tendencies to make hits, correct rejections, misses and fire alarms
Hits and correct rejections are favored
Being able to detect alarms or significant noises
Term
Gestalt approach
Definition
The ability to perceive something in more than one way
“A field that focuses on our ability to perceive overall patterns”
Belief that feature detectors are not enough
Bottom-up process
Tiny elements combine to produce larger items
Top-down process
- A process in which you apply your experience and expectations to interpret what each time must be in context
Term
Constancies in vision
Definition
Our tendency to perceive objects as keeping their shape, size, and color, despite certain distortions in the light pattern reaching our retinas
Term
induced movement
Definition
Incorrectly perceiving an object as moving against a stationary background
Term
stroboscopic movement
Definition
An illusion of movement created by a rapid succession of stationary images (film)
Term
phi effect
Definition
Illusion of movement created when two or more stationary lights separated by a short distance flash on and off at regular intervals
Term
retinal disparity
Definition
The difference in the apparent position of an object as seen by the left and right retinas
Term
ocular convergence
Definition
The degree to which the eyes turn in to focus on a close object (the more the eyes pull, the closer the object must be)
Term
binocular cues
Definition
Retinal disparity and convergence depend on both eyes
Term
monocular cues
Definition
Ability to judge depth and distance with just one eye
Object size
Linear perspective
Detail
Interposition
Texture gradient
Shadows
Accommodation
Term
Circadian
Definition
lasting about a day
Rising and setting of the sun provide cues to reset rhythms, but we generate the rhythm ourselves
Term
Melatonin
Definition
Hormone secreted by the pineal gland
Important for the daily rhythm of sleep and certain animals’ annual rhythm of hibernation
Term
REM (“Paradoxical Sleep”) vs. NREM sleep
Definition
Dual sleep: alternating throughout the night
NREM Sleep
Stage 1 – transition between wakefulness and clear sleep (limbo)
Stage 2 – first bona fide sleep stage; “point of no return” (Stage One to Stage Two transition) at onset
Delta – deepest, most restful type of sleep
a. Physiological relaxation
a. Slow, rolling eye movements
a. Mundane “talking” dreams (more recurring dreams)
a. Growth hormone secretions
a. Deficient thermoregulation (we get colder)
Term
Repair/restoration Theories of sleep
Definition
Sleep helps us recover something depleted during wakefulness
Term
energy conservation theories of sleep
Definition
Sleep keeps us from overheating and helps conserve energy (memory strengthened)
Term
Sleep and aging
Definition
People sleep less as they get older, and the proportion of time in REM sleep decreases (about one hour)
Overall sleep gets lighter and wakefulness gets ‘sleepier.’
Aging is often accompanied by chronic sleep deprivation due to: illness, pain, breathing problems, frequent need to urinate
Term
Sleep paralysis
Definition
Sometimes after we wake up, we cannot step outside of the dream and our body is “stuck” in the mood/form
Term
Airway (obstructive) apnea
Definition
Breathing problem caused by insomnia disorders
Oral tissues begin to sag during sleep, causing snoring
Treatments:
Weight loss
Tennis-ball shirt (“back sleep is bad sleep”)
Positive Airway Pressure (e.g., CPAP) pumps
Somnoplasty- uses radio frequency energy to shrink the tissue that is causing the problem
MMA (Maxillomandibular advancement)
Term
Night terrors
Definition
Causes one to awaken screaming and sweating with a racing heart rate
Occur during stage 3 or stage 4, not REM, and their dream content is simple (usually a single image)
Term
Sleepwalking / talking
Definition
Sleep talking is the most common and least troublesome
Most common is stage 2, but can happen in any stage
Not related to mental or emotional disorders
Sleepwalking tends to run in families
Most common in children
Takes place during stage 4
Occurs when certain brain areas remain awake while others are asleep
Term
Nympholepsy
Definition
Excessive and overwhelming daytime sleepiness
Irresistible daytime sleep attacks
Term
Effects of sleep deprivation
Definition
Missing 1 night’s sleep results in sleepiness and slight cognitive impairment (no motor impairment)
Missing 2 or more nights’ sleep causes progressive cognitive and motor impairment.
“Microsleeps” begin to intrude upon wakefulness
Does not cause lasting mental illness
Can alleviate depression (temporarily) or trigger mania
Compromises immune function and increases risk of many illnesses
“REM rebound” on resuming sleep
But “sleep deprivation” refers to one’s habitual sleep times; some individuals never sleep
Term
Hypnosis
Definition
A condition of increased suggestibility that occurs in the context of a special hypnotist-subject relationship
Term
What hypnosis can and cannot do
Definition
Can do:
Inhibit pain
Alters emotional components to respond to pleasurable sensations
Can break of habits
Posthypnotic suggestion: a suggestion to do or experience something after coming out of hypnosis

Cannot do:
Does not enhance memory
Recall early childhood
Term
Associationism
Definition
Aristotle: “Experience determines what you know about the world”
Frequency
Intensity
Contiguity (occur together in time and space)
Term
Habituation
Definition
Decrease in a person’s response to a stimulus after it has been presented repeatedly
Term
Tabula rasa doctrine w/ rationale
Definition
John Locke (1690): Rights of life, liberty, and property
Blank slate
Doctrine argued that rulers were not born with any favored disposition or royal gifts
Knowledge comes from experience and perception
Term
CS
Definition
condition stimulus
Term
US
Definition
unconditioned stimulus
Term
UR
Definition
unconditioned response
Term
CR
Definition
conditioned response
Term
“Clockwork Orange” therapy
Definition
Take unwanted habits and make new conditional reflexes to make them stop
Term
Systematic desensitization
Definition
Time modern therapy that gets rid of phobias
Most common phobia - snake phobia
Rank phobias from 1-100 and then go through each step through relaxation
Term
Invivo-relaxation
Definition
being able to go out and challenge your fear
Term
Law of Effect
Definition
L. Thorndike
(S---R) Consequence: Eventually building a bond between stimulus and response as the person/animal becomes familiar with something.
Term
Insight learning
Definition
A way of learning and thinking in which one gets a certain insight to help him/her get an idea.
Term
F. Skinner
Definition
Operant conditioning
Gave people technology to show how behavior can be changed
Experiment: Skinner’s box (filled with rats)
Term
Operant conditioning
Definition
Classical conditioning presupposes a passive creature
Instead, animals act to change their environments
Much of animal learning isn’t reflexive but adaptive and flexible
Such adaptive learning is controlled by its consequences
“The process of changing behavior by following a response with reinforcement”
Term
"A-B-C's" of operant conditioning
Definition
Antecedent Stimulus
Behavior & Consequences: Contingency (B-C Rule)
Example: dancing at the party/pope audience
Term
Reinforcement vs. punishment
Definition
If a consequence results in the increased likelihood of a behavior then consequence is the reinforcement of the behavior
If the consequence results in the decreased likelihood of a behavior then consequence is the preventer of the behavior
Term
Operant extinction
Definition
Occurs if responses stop producing reinforcements
You are in the habit of asking your roommate to dinner and then she says no, so you stop asking
Term
conditioned taste aversions
Definition
Associating a food with illness
Example: if you go on a roller coaster and then throw up, you associate it with the food and will most likely not want to eat it again
Mostly with new food
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