Term
|
Definition
| "the little man in your head, " "motormap" - a way to depict how different areas are represented in the cortex |
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Term
| Computerized Tomography (CT) |
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Definition
| "x-ray" of the brain: can see large areas, but not very precise. Used mostly for diagnostic purposes. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (Applies to twin studies) - both twins show/don't show the trait = concordant, one twin shows trait and other doesn't = discordant |
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Term
|
Definition
| (inferential statistics) when the probability that the observed findings are due to chance is very low (les that 0.05 level) |
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Term
| Action potential spike mV |
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Definition
| +20-40mV (textbook says +40, +30 in ppt/lecture) |
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Term
|
Definition
| - 70 mV, represents the electrochemical equilibrium of +/- charged ions inside and outside the neuron |
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Term
| Characteristics of a Good Theory (4) |
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Definition
| 1) Fits known facts 2) Predicts new discoveries 3) Is falsifiable 4) is parsimonious |
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Term
| Steps in Conducting an Experiment (5) |
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Definition
| 1) Formulate a hypothesis (usually based on theory) 2) Design the study 3) Collect the data 4) Analyze the data and draw conclusions 5) Report the findings |
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Term
|
Definition
| 1) Preoccupied with animal behavior (easy to precisley control their environemtn) 2) Focus on simple behaviors 3) Doesn't address interesting psych issues |
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Term
| Goals of the Sientific Method (3) |
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Definition
| 1) measurement and description 2) understanding and prediction 3) application |
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Term
|
Definition
| 1956 - electrical brain stimulation evokes emotional responses in animals |
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Term
|
Definition
| 1981 - demonstrated left and right brain specialization, each handles different types of mental tasks |
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Term
| Why is correlation useful? |
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Definition
| Allows prediction (but does NOT infer cause and effect!) |
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Term
|
Definition
| Analysis of mind in terms of basic elements of consciousness (sensations). Relied on introspection. |
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Term
| Cognitive Psych (1950s&60s) |
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Definition
| Application of scientific methods to study internal mental events. Some argue is now the dominant psych perspective. |
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Term
| Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) |
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Definition
| Austrain physician, founded psychoanalytic psychology. Believed people are influenced by unconscious forces. Unconscious conflict (esp. about sexual urges) plays central role in behavior. |
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Term
| Beyond Freedom and Dignity |
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Definition
| B.F. Skinner's book, published in early 70s. Asserted all behavior is governed by external stimuli, not by people themselves…free will is an illusion. |
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Term
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Definition
| Basic tenet: only observable behavior should be studied in scientific psych. Emphasized nurture over nature. Focus on stimulus-response relationships (manipulating stimuli could alter behaviors). |
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Term
| Birth of Psych vs. Pd of Largest Growth |
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Definition
| Born in Germany, largest period of growth in US (1883-1893 24 new labs opened) |
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Term
| 2 Main Divisions of the Nervous System |
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Definition
| Central (CNS), Peripheral (PNS) |
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Term
|
Definition
| Cerebral cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, pleasure centers |
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Term
|
Definition
| Changes in behavior caused by the unintended influence of the experimenter |
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Term
|
Definition
| Concordance gives rise to hereditability, esp. looking at identical twins reared apart |
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Term
| Humanism (Humanistic Perspective) |
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Definition
| Emphasized free will, personal growth, and the attempt to find meaning in one's existence. Each person has innate goodness and is able to make free choices. |
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Term
| American Psychological Association (APA) ethical standards for research |
|
Definition
| Ensures both human and animal subjects are treated with dignity: voluntary participation, research not harmful, deception only when necessary and debriefed afterwards, respect privacy/confidentiality, harm/pain imposed upon animals thouragly justified and on as few animals as possible, prior approval by host instutions and research review committes - results shared |
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Term
|
Definition
| Environmental factors determine behavior - responses leading to positive outcomes more likley to be repeated and vice versa. |
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Term
| G. Stanley Hall (1846-1924) |
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Definition
| Est. the first psych lab in the us in 1883 |
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Term
|
Definition
| Estimate of the extent to which differences in some characteristics are due to differences in genes |
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Term
| Why do random assignment? |
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Definition
| Evenly distributes all extraneous variables so any difference between the two groups is due to the manipulated variable |
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Term
| Biopsychology (Behavioral Neruoscience) |
|
Definition
| Examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behavior. Holds behavior can be explained through physiological processes. Treats psychological problems with medications. |
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Term
| Early Development of Psych: Chronological Order |
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Definition
| Experimental Psychology -> structuralism -> functionalism -> psychoanalytic psychology -> behaviorism -> Gestalt psych -> neo-Freudianism |
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Term
| Brain Structure: 3 Main Parts |
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Definition
| Forebrain, Midbrain, Hindbrain |
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Term
| John B. Watson (1878-1958) |
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Definition
| Founded behaviorist school of thought. Invented the infomercial. |
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Term
| Why give stimulant to kids with ADHD? |
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Definition
| Frontal lobe is underactive, stimulating it causes to inhibit behavior more and has a positive effect. |
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Term
| William James (1842-1910) |
|
Definition
| Functionalism, Harvard University |
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Term
| Parental Investment Theory |
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Definition
| Goal: to spread one's genetics. Men increased liklihood of fathering more children by having more partners, youth and good looks indicators of fertility and overall health (so preference towards them). Women maximized reproductive success by choosing mates able to give resources towards raising the offspring. |
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Term
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Definition
| Had patients lie on a couch facing away from him (so he didn't influence them) and talk about anything, believed that bringing repressed thoughts to the surface would force patients to deal with them. |
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Term
| Mike the Headless Chicken |
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Definition
| His head was cut off but his medulla wasn't, he lived headless for several years as his life-sustaining functions continued |
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Term
| Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) |
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Definition
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Term
|
Definition
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Term
| Characteristics of Early Life |
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Definition
| Hunter/gatherer/scavening subsistence, nomadic or semi-nomadic, high infant mortality and low life expectancy, vulnerability |
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Term
|
Definition
| Inferiority and superiority complexes, birth order and personality |
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Unexpected findings lead to… |
|
Definition
| MORE RESEARCH QUESTIONS!!! |
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Parental Investment Theory: Explanation for Jealousy |
|
Definition
| Men jealousy aroused by threat of sexual infidelity (b/c potential for uncertanity about father of offspring and don't want to waste resources on another's offspring). Women jealousy aroused by threat of emotional infidelity (b/c know offspring are yours, could lose resources for offspring if partner develops emotional commitment to another woman). |
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Term
|
Definition
| Mid 1800s railroad worker. A large metal rod went through his skull after an explosion. He survived, but his personality was completely altered for the worse. -> indicated personality is in the brain |
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Term
|
Definition
| Movement of skeletal muscles. Size of cortical representation isn't proportional to the size of the body part byt to the precision of movement. |
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Term
| Is postsynaptic potential an all-or-none event? |
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Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| Natural selection occurs for behavioral as well as physcial characteristics. (Functionalist!) |
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Term
| Behaviorism vs. Psychoanalytic School - Free Will |
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Definition
| Neither gives much free will: behaviorism blames environment, Freud the subconscious |
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Term
|
Definition
| Neurotransmitter, general arousal |
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Term
|
Definition
| Neurotransmitter, involved in motor control. Too little - Parkinson's disease. Overactivity -> schizophrenia. Typical reward pathway, increases in specific brain regions after many drugs of abuse. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Neurotrasnmitter, low levels associated with depression |
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Term
| Evolutionary Psychology: Criticism |
|
Definition
| Not much evidence to support one viewpoint over another (could just make up any story to fit the facts) |
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Term
|
Definition
| Nuerotransmitter involved in attention. Too little -> Alzheimer's disease |
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Term
| Naturalistic Observation: Problems |
|
Definition
| Observer effect & bias, anthromorphic fallacy |
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Term
|
Definition
| Occurs when observers see what they expect to see or record only selected details |
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Term
|
Definition
| Process by which someone makes careful, systematic self-observations of one's own conscious experience. CONCERN: relying on opinions for data to est. a precise, objective research domain |
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Term
|
Definition
| Produce lesion in animals to target a specific brain structure w/ proper experimental controls |
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Term
| Positron Emission Tomography (PET) |
|
Definition
| Produces a static picture of active areas in the brain - accumulation of radioactively tagged chemicals in a brain region implies the area is active during an action. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Regulate activity of other neurons |
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Term
|
Definition
| Researcher engages in careful observation of behavior without intervening directly with the subjects |
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Term
|
Definition
| Sensory information from the skin - size of cortical representation not proportional to size of body part, but to acuity of touch |
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Term
|
Definition
| Shift in electrical charge travels along (all-or-none law) |
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Term
|
Definition
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|
Term
| Experiments: Strenghts and Weaknesses |
|
Definition
| Strenghts: conclusions about cause-and-effect can be drawn. Weaknesses: artificial nature of experiments, ethical and practical issues. |
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Term
| Ways Lesions Can Occur In Humans |
|
Definition
| Stroke, ruptured aneurism, car accident, medical treatment (ex: Parkinson's disease, lesion areas that are overactive) |
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Term
| Edward Titchner (1867-1927) |
|
Definition
| Structuralism, Cornell University |
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Term
|
Definition
| Studies whole, not parts. Parts add up to more than the whole - reveal other patterns you can't see from just the parts. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Study of function/purpose of consciousness rather than structure. |
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|
Term
| Evolutionary Psych: Explanation to Maladaptive Traits |
|
Definition
| They might have made sense in the past! |
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|
Term
| Goal of Evolutionary Psych |
|
Definition
| To understand the human mind/brain from an evolutionary perspective |
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Term
|
Definition
| Unconscious = personal and ancestors' experiences (unconscious behavior not sexually driven, ancestors' experienes had to be taken into account) |
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|
Term
| Descriptive/Correlational Methods - use and types |
|
Definition
| Used when a researcher cannot manipulate the variables under study; naturalistic observation, case studies, surveys |
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|
Term
| Is action potential an all-or-none event? |
|
Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| a prediction that leads people to act in ways to make the prediction come true |
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Term
|
Definition
| a strand of DNA (unit of heredity) |
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Term
|
Definition
| a strand of genes (humans have 46 organized into pairs) |
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Term
|
Definition
| a tenative statement about the relationship between two variables |
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|
Term
| Outline of a Reaserch Report |
|
Definition
| abstract - introduction - methods - results - discussion |
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|
Term
| Electrical Brain Stumulation (EBS) |
|
Definition
| activate a region of the brain w/ electric current or chemicals to directly view effects on behavior |
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Term
|
Definition
| applies accumulated knowledge of this science to practical problems |
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Term
|
Definition
| association areas, somatosensory cortex (sensory info from the skin) |
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Term
|
Definition
| assoiates sounds of words with their meanings |
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Term
|
Definition
| attributing human thoughts, feelings, or motives to animals, esp. as a way of explaining their behavior |
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Term
|
Definition
| auditory processing (language, music perception), complex visual info (object recognition) |
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Term
|
Definition
| basic unit of the nervous system |
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Term
|
Definition
| behavior explained in terms of psysiolgical processes |
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Term
|
Definition
| below the thalamus, 4 F's, controls endocrine system |
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Term
|
Definition
| can be directly observed (ex: crying) |
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Term
|
Definition
| can't be directly observed (ex: memory) |
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Term
|
Definition
| caused by damage to the parietal lobe, causes patients to neglect part of their environment |
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Term
|
Definition
| cell body, contains biochemical structures needed to keep the neuron aliva + genetic info (in nucleus) |
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Term
|
Definition
| cells that provide structure and insulation for neurons - neural "glue"- recent research indicates might play a role in communication |
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Term
|
Definition
| changes in behavior caused by awareness of a person or animal being obeserved |
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Term
|
Definition
| changes in behavior that result from expectations that a drug or other treatment will have some effect |
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Term
|
Definition
| chemical substances that carry messages across the synaptic space ro other neurons, muscles, or glands |
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|
Term
| 4 Major Applied Psych Areas: |
|
Definition
| clinical, counseling, educational/school, industrial/organizational |
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Term
|
Definition
| concerned with sensory processes (location of stimuli), contains nuclei that degenerate Parkinson's disease, reticular formation (arousal) |
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Term
|
Definition
| connection between the brain and spinal cord, controls life-sustaining functions |
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Term
|
Definition
| consist of differing approaches to the observation, measurement, manipulation, and control of variables in empirical studies |
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Term
|
Definition
| contains 10% of brain's neurons, controls movement coordination and sense of balance |
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Term
|
Definition
| controls production of language |
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| 2 Major Approaches to Research/Which implies causation? |
|
Definition
| descriptive/correlational and experiments (imply causation!) |
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Term
|
Definition
| developmental, social, experimental, physiological, cognitive, personality, and psychometrics |
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Term
|
Definition
| division of PNS, monitors and controls internal environment |
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Term
|
Definition
| division of PNS, mostly involved with voluntary movements |
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Term
| Basic Ethical Guidelines for Psych Research |
|
Definition
| do no harm, accurately describe risks, voluntary participation, minimize discomfort, maintain confidentiality, don't invade privacy, deception only when necessary, debrief, provide results to participants, dignity/respect |
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Term
|
Definition
| drug that mimics neurotransmitter action |
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Term
|
Definition
| drug that opposes action of a neurotransmitter |
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|
Term
| Right Hemisphere: specialization |
|
Definition
| emotional content of language/speech intonations, nonverbal communication (facial expressions), music, creativity, holistic, configural, synthetic |
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|
Term
| Terminal Buttons (Axon Terminal) |
|
Definition
| end of axon; secrete neurotransmitters |
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|
Term
| Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) |
|
Definition
| est. the first lab for the study of psych in 1879. Wanted to model psych study after the natural sciences (structuralist). Measured simple rxns (ex: response time to a flash of light). |
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Term
|
Definition
| fighting, fleeing, feeding, "mating" |
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Term
|
Definition
| gene will be expressed if you have it |
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Term
|
Definition
| group of several structures (hippocampus, amygdala, septum, cingulate cortex, parts of the hypothalamus) involved in memory, emotions, and motivation |
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Term
|
Definition
| groups of cells that serve a particular function (close together) |
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Term
|
Definition
| in depth investigation of particular subjects (usually 1-3) |
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Term
|
Definition
| involved in emotions (esp. fear and anxiety), almond-shaped |
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Term
|
Definition
| involved in spatial memory, seahorse-shaped |
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Term
|
Definition
| ions want to go from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration |
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|
Term
| Left Hemisphere: specialization |
|
Definition
| language, mathematical, analytical, sequential |
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Term
|
Definition
| large group of axons in the pleasure center - dopamine release stimulated by drugs of abuse esp. through this pathway |
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Term
| Contemporary Psych: Cultural Diversity |
|
Definition
| late 80s movement towards incorporating cultural factors into research and theory |
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Term
|
Definition
| left and right hemispheres each have specialized functions |
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Term
|
Definition
| lipid bilayer, semi-permeable, allows potassium into the cell |
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Term
|
Definition
| long, thin fiber that conducts electrical impulses away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands |
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Term
|
Definition
| looks at a characteristic of an adopted child: more like biological parents -> assume genetic basis, more like adoptive parents -> assume biological basis |
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Term
|
Definition
| looks at the developmental impact of losing the gene (the gene may effect other things and one of these effects is causing the studied effect instead of the gene itself) |
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Term
|
Definition
| major pathway connecting the left and right brain |
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| map functions of brain regions during neurosurgery, treatment (activate underative areas), inhibit brain activity (depends on frequency and amount of current applied, can be used as a treatment) |
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Term
|
Definition
| mating strategies and preferences reflect interited tendencies, shaped over time in response to different types of adaptive problems that men and women faced |
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Term
|
Definition
| means part of the brain has been damaged. Are non-specific (may affect large areas including many brain regions), so inferring cause-effect relations is difficult. |
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Term
|
Definition
| measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviors that are controlled or measured in the study |
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|
Term
| Electroencephalogram (EEG) |
|
Definition
| measures activity of groups of neurons using scalp electrodes (non-invasive) |
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Term
|
Definition
| measures changes in blood and oxygen flow to different brain regions (active brain regions require more) in real time. Great spatial resolution, but it takes a few seconds to see changes so it can be hard to say whether they are directly related to an event. |
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|
Term
| Descriptive Statistics: Ex. Of Types (3) |
|
Definition
| measures of central tenency (mean, median, more), measures of variability (standard deviation), correlation coefficient |
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Term
|
Definition
| mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge |
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Term
|
Definition
| mice in which a gene has been removed - can then ask if a gene is an important genetic factor contributing to an effect |
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Term
|
Definition
| misleading subjects in order to obtain accurate results - eithical controversy - use only when absolutely necessary - subjects must be debriefed as to the true purpose of the study afterward |
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Term
|
Definition
| more complex way in which genetic transmission can occur - each gene contributes proportionally to the overall effect (multiple genes) |
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Term
|
Definition
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|
Term
|
Definition
| neural peptides, relieve pain and stress |
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Term
|
Definition
| neutrotransmitter binding causes voltage change on postsynaptic neuron (changes probability that the neuron will fire) |
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Term
|
Definition
| nickname for the cerebellum (because it has an outer cortex and then deeper layers like the brain itself) |
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Term
|
Definition
| only the subjects don't know whether they're in the experimental or control group |
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Term
|
Definition
| outermost layer of the brain, convoluted, two hemispheres (left, right), 4 lobes (frontal, occipital, temporal, parietal) |
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Term
|
Definition
| point at which neurons interconnect (synaptic cleft = small gap between axon terminal and next neuron) |
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|
Term
| Action potential timeline: polarization |
|
Definition
| polarized -> depolarization -> positive charge -> hyperpolarized (more - than in beginning -> returns to rest |
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Term
|
Definition
| positive and negative charges attract |
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| rats in a maze, bred over generations into two groups, Maze Bright and Maze Dull. Maze Bright rats did much better in mazes in an impoverished environment, but in an enriched environment, there was almost no difference (Maze Bright rats did the same in both environments) |
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|
Term
| Why expose a single experimental group to both conditions? |
|
Definition
| reduces extraneous variables BUT subjects can be influenced by the previous study |
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Term
|
Definition
| regulat intervals along the myelin sheats where the myelin is extremely thin or absent - allows electrical conduction to jump from node to node at higher speed |
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Term
|
Definition
| reliability issues: social desirability, memory lapses, intnetional deception, subjects just don't care |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| researchers use questionnaires or interviews to obtain specific info about subjects' behavior |
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|
Term
| Action potential timeline: basic steps |
|
Definition
| resting potential -> Na channels open, Na+ ions flow in -> action potential -> K channels open, K+ flow out -> absoulte refractory period -> return to resting potential |
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|
Term
| Methodological Pitfals in Evaulating Research (4) |
|
Definition
| sampling bias, placebo effects, self-report data distortions (social desirability bias), experimental bias |
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Term
|
Definition
| seat of highest cognitive functions (planning, morality, inhibitions, decisions, memory, etc.) and the motor cortex |
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Term
|
Definition
| sensory relay centory, aids in sensory integration |
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Term
|
Definition
| set of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of obeservations |
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Term
|
Definition
| sex-linked gene, males are more likley to be color blind (males are XY, females are XX, need only one recessive x to cause color blindness in males but need 2 for females) |
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Term
|
Definition
| specialized receiving units (featherlike structures) that collect messages from neighboring neurons and send them on to the cell body |
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Term
|
Definition
| state of a neuron at rest |
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Term
|
Definition
| state of neuron at beginning of action potential |
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Term
|
Definition
| studied split-brain patients - splitting the corpus callosum to prevent severe epileptic seizures by preventing electrical signals from transmitting across the brain |
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Term
|
Definition
| studies behavior and the physiological and congitive processes that underlie it |
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Term
|
Definition
| studies how the brain controls behavior |
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Term
|
Definition
| subjects might not be representative of general population, can't replicate |
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|
Term
| 2 Divisions of Autonomic System |
|
Definition
| sympathetic (arousal), parasympathetic (conservation of energy) |
|
|
Term
| Major Assumptions of Evolutionary Psych |
|
Definition
| the design of the mind was shaped by natural selection, mental abilities and behavior reflect adjustments to adaptive problems |
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|
Term
| Absolute refractory period |
|
Definition
| the neuron membrane is not excitable and cannot discharge another impulse |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| the subjects and the experimenters don't know whether the subjects are in the experimental or control group (best type of experiment if properly set up) |
|
|
Term
| Why use multiple dependent variables? |
|
Definition
| to obtain a more complete picture of the effects of manipulating the variable BUT gathering date from multiple sources can draw subjects' attention to particular variables, possibly influencing their behavior |
|
|
Term
| Why manipulate multiple independent variables? |
|
Definition
| to see what the combined effect is (effects of one variable often depends on the effect of another) |
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| use laws of probability to allow researchers to interpret data and draw conclusions |
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Term
|
Definition
| use of mathmatics to organize, summarize, and interpret numerical data - allow researchers to draw conclusions about their data |
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Term
|
Definition
| used to analyze data and decide whether hypotheses were supported |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| used to clarify what variables mean |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| used to organize and summarize data to provide an overview |
|
|
Term
| Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) |
|
Definition
| uses magnetic fields and radio waves to map brain structure, better image precision/clarity |
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Term
|
Definition
| vague area in the forebrain, stimulation creates pleasure sensation |
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Term
|
Definition
| variable affected by manipulation, measured variable |
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Term
|
Definition
| very back of the brain, primary visual cortex (responds to simple shapes, borders, and contrasts) |
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Term
|
Definition
| whiteish, fatty insulation layer covering axons of nurons that transmit info throughout the brain and spinal cord - speeds up transmission |
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Term
|
Definition
| will only express this gene if you have 2 copies |
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