Behavioral Sciences Flashcards
Franz Gall
One of the first theorists to tie behavior, intellect, and personality to brain anatomy
Pierre Flourens
First person to study functions of major sections of the brain
William James
Studied how the mind adapted to the environment- functionalism
John Dewey
Believed psychology should focus on the study of the organism as a whole as it functioned to adapt to the environment- functionalism
Paul Broca
Examined behavioral deficits of people with brain damage
Herman von Helmholtz
First to measure the shows of a nerve impulse
Sir Charles Sherrington
First inferred the existence of synapses
Sensory neurons
Afferent neutrons- from receptors to the spinal cord and brain
Motor neurons
Efferent neurons- motor information from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands
Cerebral Cortex
Forebrain- complex perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral processes
Basal Ganglia
Forebrain- movement
Limbic System
Forebrain- emotion and memory
Thalamus
Forebrain- sensory relay station
Hypothalamus
Forebrain- hunger and thirst; emotion
Interior and superior colliculi
Midbrain- sensorimotor reflexes
Cerebellum
Hindbrain- refined motor movements
Medulla oblongata
Hindbrain- heart, vital reflexes (vomiting, coughing)
Reticular formation
Hindbrain- arousal and alertness
Pons
Hindbrain- communication within the brain, breathing
Acetylcholine
Voluntary muscle control, parasympathetic nervous system, attention, alertness
Epinephrine & Norepinephrine
Fight our flight responses, wakefulness, alertness
Dopamine
Smooth movements, postural stability
Serotonin
Mood, sleep, eating, dreaming
GABA & Glycine
Brain “stabilization”
Glutamate
Brain excitation
Endorphins
Natural painkillers
Rooting reflex
Infants turn their heads toward anything that brushes the cheek
Moro reflex
The infant extends the arms, then slowly retracts them and cries in response to a sensation of falling
Babinski reflex
The big toe is extended and the other toes can in response to the bridging of the soles of the foot
Grasping reflex
Infants grab anything put into their hands
Photoreceptors
Respond to electromagnetic waves un the visible spectrum (sight)
Mechanoreceptors
Respond to pressure or movement (movement, vibration, hearing, rotational and linear acceleration)
Nociceptors
Respond to painful or noxious stimuli (somatosensation)
Thermoreceptors
Respond to changes in temperature (thermosensation)
Osmoreceptors
Respond to the osmolarity of the blood (water homeostasis)
Olfactory receptors
Respond to volatile compounds (smell)
Taste receptors
Respond to dissolved compounds (taste)
Absolute threshold
The minimum of stimulus energy that is needed to activate a sensory system; how bright, loud, or intense a stimulus must be before it is sensed
Threshold of conscious perception
The level of intensity that a stimulus must pass in order to be consciously perceived by the brain
Subliminal perception
Information that is received by the CNS but that does not cross the threshold of conscious perception
Difference threshold
The minimum change in magnitude required for an observer to perceive that two different stimuli are, in fact, different
Weber’s law
Observation that difference thresholds are proportional and must be computed as percentages by Ernst Weber
Signal detection theory
Studies how internal (psychological) and external (environmental) factors influence thresholds if sensation and perception
Cornea
Gathers and focuses incoming light
Pupil
Allows passage of light from the anterior to posterior chamber
Iris
Controls the size of the pupil
Ciliary body
Produces aqueous humor; accommodation of the lens
Canal of Schliemann
Drains aqueous humor
Lens
Refracts the incoming light to focus it on the retina
Retina
Detects images
Sclera
Provides structural support
Bottom-up processing
Data driven; refers to object recognition by parallel processing and feature detection
Top-down processing
Driven by memories and expectations that allow the brain to recognize the whole object and then recognize the components based on these expectations
Method of loci
Involves associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a memorized building
Peg-word system
Associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers
Chunking
Involves taking individual elements of a large post and grouping them together into groups of elements with related
Sensory memory
Preserves info in its original sensory form; high accuracy and lasts a short time
Short-term memory
Fades quickly, over the course of approximately 30 seconds without rehearsal, housed in hippocampus
Working memory
Enables us to keep a few pieces of info in our consciousness simultaneously and to manipulate that info; involves hippocampus, frontal and parietal lobes
Long-term memory
Able to recall on demand; hippocampus, long-term memories are moved to cerebral cortex over time
Implicit memory
Nondeclarative; consists of our skills, habits, and conditioned responses
Proactive interference
Old information is interfering with new learning i.e. new address when you move
Retroactive interference
New information causes forgetting of old information i.e. new set of classmates causes forgetting older classmates
Instinct theory of motivation
Certain behaviors are based on evolutionarily programmed instincts; James and McDougall ex: suckling and carrying food to mouth motivate one to eat
Arousal theory of motivation
People perform actions in order to maintain an optimal level of arousal
Yerkes-Dodson Law
Based on arousal theory- Bell curve graph of arousal vs performance
Drive reduction theory of motivation
Explains that motivation is based on the goal of eliminating uncomfortable states
Primary drives
Drives that motivate us to sustain necessary biological processes; compare to secondary drives
Secondary drives
Drives that motivate us to fulfill nonbiological, emotional, or “learned” desires; compare to primary drives
What are the four primary factors that influence motivation?
(NAID) Needs, arousal, instincts, drives
Self-determination theory of motivation
Emphasizes the role of 3 universal needs : autonomy, competence, and relatedness; these needs must be met to develop healthy relationships
Incentive theory of motivation
Explains that behavior is motivated by desire to pursue rewards and to avoid punishment
Expectancy-value theory of motivation
States that the amount of motivation is the result of both the individual’s expectation of success in reaching the goal and the degree to which the individual values succeeding at the goal
Opponent-process theory of motivation
Drug use; as drug use increases, the body counteracts its effects, leading to tolerance and withdrawal
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Highest: self-actualization
Esteem
Love/belonging
Safety
Lowest: physiological
James-Lange theory of emotion
A stimulus results in the physiological arousal, which leads to a secondary response in which the emotion is labeled
Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
Stated that the conscious experience of emotion and physiological arousal occur simultaneously, and then the behavior component is emotion (action) follows
Schachter-Singer theory of emotion
Both physiological arousal and a cognitive label (identify the environmental stimulus causing the physiological arousal) are needed to experience emotion
Amygdala
Small round structure; associated with fear and plays a role in human emotion through interpretation of facial expressions
Thalamus
Preliminary sensory processing station and routes information to the cortex and other appropriate areas of the brain
Hypothalamus
Located below the thalamus; synthesizes and releases neurotransmitters, homeostasis and modulating emotion
Hippocampus
Involved in creating long-term memories
According to Freud, what are the five stages of psychosexual development?
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
Kohlberg’a theory of moral reasoning
As our cognitive abilities grow, we are able to think about the world in more complex and nuanced ways, and this directly affects the way in which we resolve moral dilemmas and perceive the notion of right and wrong; involves three phases: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional morality
Zone of proximal development
Vygotsky; Skills and abilities that have not yet fully developed but are in the process of development
Repression
Unconsciously removing an idea or feeling from consciousness; ex: unconsciously forgetting a traumatic event
Suppression
Consciously removing an idea or feeling from consciousness; ex: Ill pt disregarding anxiety to enjoy a family gathering
Regression
Returning to an earlier stage of development; ex: Baby talk
Reaction formation
An unacceptable impulse is transformed into its opposite; ex: fighting with someone you are attracted to
Projection
Attribution if wishes, desires, thoughts, or emotions to someone else; ex: a cheater accusing partner of cheating
Rationalization
Justification of attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors; ex: a muttered saying killing is wrong but this victim “deserved it”
Displacement
Changing the target of an emotion, while the feelings remain the same; ex: child sent to room, starts to throw things
Sublimation
Channeling of an unacceptable impulse in a socially acceptable direction;ex: boss attached to an employee becomes their mentor
Symbolic interactionism
Attempts to understand human action and interaction by studying the symbols we use to communicate
Symbol
Any object, image, sounds, or action that carries meaning to humans
Social constructionism
The attempt to understand a society through the stuff of the society’s social constructs
