Chapter 1 -2 Flashcards
What is Psychology
Psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. psychology uses scientific methods to observe, describe, and predict behavior
What is Behavior
Behavior is everything that a person does that can be directly observed.
What is Mental
processes
Mental
processes are the thoughts, feelings, and motives that each of us experiences
privately but that cannot be observed directly
What are the four attitudes At the core of the scientific approach
critical thinking, curiosity, skepticism, and objectivity
What is Critical thinking
Critical thinking is the
process of thinking deeply and actively, asking questions, and evaluating the evidence.
What are empirical methods
The empirical method is
gaining knowledge through observation, collecting evidence, and logical reasoning
Who created the academic discipline of psychology
Wilhelm Wundt,
Wilhelm Wundt studies what type of Psychology
Structuralism
What is Structuralism
Structuralism is looking inside the mind, the What of the mind
What is Introspection
the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes.
William James’ approach to mental processes was
Functionalism
What are Functionalists
Functionalists focus on how
humans interact with the outside world, the what of the mind
What is Charles Darwin’s principle of natural selection
an evolutionary process in
which organisms that are best adapted to their environment will survive and, importantly,
produce offspring
What Contemporary approach to psychology emphasizes unconscious thought
Psychodynamic Approach
What is Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the structure, function, development,
genetics, and biochemistry of the nervous system. It emphasizes that the brain and nervous
system are central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion
What Contemporary approach to psychology emphasizes the scientific study of observable behavior
The behavioral approach
Who was the first behaviorists
John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner
What are the seven Contemporary approaches to Psychology?
biological, behavioral, psychodynamic, Humanistic, cognitive, evolutionary, sociocultural
What Contemporary approach to psychology focuses on the body, especially the brain and nervous system
Biological Approach
Which of the following are significant ingredients in producing behavior, according to the biopsychosocial approach?
biological factors
psychological factors
social factors
What is a theory?
a broad idea, or set of closely related ideas, that attempts to explain certain observations
The first step in conducting a scientific inquiry is
observing some phenomena in the world.
What is a variable?
anything that can change
What is a hypothesis?
a testable prediction that is derived logically from a theory
The _____ perspective on human behavior asserts that biological, psychological, and social factors are all significant ingredients in producing behavior.
biopsychosocial
During the third step of the scientific method, when researchers test the hypothesis, they
conduct empirical research
What is descriptive research
research that involves finding out about the basic dimensions of some variable
What is correlational research
research that is interested in discovering relationships between variables, to determine how variables change together Example SAT scores are related to GPA.
What is an experimental research
to determine whether a causal relationship exists between two variables
Developing a testable prediction that derives logically from a theory is part of the _____ step in the scientific method
Second
What is operational definitions
is an objective description of how a research variable is going to be measured and observed.
Which of the following are types of psychological research?
descriptive
correlational
experimental
correlational coefficient
The degree of relationship between two variables is expressed as a numerical value called a(n)
Which of the following are descriptive research methods?
surveys
interviews
observation
case studies
What is a longitudinal design?
systematic observation that involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time
An experiment involves What?
manipulating one variable and observing the effect on another variable
What Contemporary approach to psychology emphasizes a persons positive qualities
The Humanistic approach
What Contemporary approach to psychology emphasizes the mental process involved in knowing how we direct our attention, perceive, remember think and solve problems
The Cognitive approach
What Contemporary approach to psychology emphasizes evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproductions, and natural selection
The Evolutionary Approach
What Contemporary approach to psychology examines the influences of social and cultural environments
The Sociocultural Approach
What is the Nervous System
the body’s electrochemical
communication circuitry
What are Characteristics of the Nervous System
Complexity.
* Integration.
* Adaptability, or plasticity—the brain’s special capacity
for change.
* Electrochemical transmission
What do Afferent nerves, or sensory nerves do?
carry information
from sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord
What do Efferent nerves, or motor nerves do?
carry information out of
the brain and spinal cord to other areas of the body.
What are Neural networks?
networks of nerve cells that
integrate sensory input and motor output
What is the Central nervous system (CNS)
The brain and
spinal cord.
Peripheral nervous system
The network of
nerves that connects the brain and spinal cord to
other parts of the body.
The peripheral nervous system is divided into how many parts?
Two
What is the Somatic nervous system?
The sensory nerves that
convey information from the skin and muscles to the
central nervous system
What is the Autonomic nervous system?
Takes messages to and
from the body’s internal organs and monitors body
processes.
The autonomic nervous system is divided into how many parts?
Two
What is the Sympathetic nervous system?
arouses the body to
mobilize it for action and thus is involved in the experience
of stress
What is the Parasympathetic nervous system?
calms the body
Witch neurons carry information to the brain and spinal cord
Sensory
Afferent
Which identifies the body’s electrochemical communication circuitry?
nervous system
What neurons carry information to the brain and spinal cord
Sensory
Afferent
What nervous system contains sensory nerves whose function is to carry information from the skin and muscles to the CNS regarding pain and temperature.
somatic
When a neurotransmitter is reabsorbed by the axon that has released it to await the next neural impulse, the process is referred to as
Reuptake
The all-or-nothing principle maintains that once the electrical impulse reaches a _____, the impulse will fire.
threshold
What neurotransmitter is involved with the action of muscles, learning, and memory
Acetylcholine
Which statements are true regarding GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)?
Low levels are linked to anxiety.
It is important in the brain because it keeps many neurons from firing.
It is believed to be the neurotransmitter in as many as one-third of the brain’s synapses.
The complex interaction of neurons working together to integrate and organize incoming and outgoing information is referred to as a neural
Network
Positron-emission tomography (PET scan) identifies levels of activity throughout the brain by measuring levels of:
Glucose.
Which of the following structures are located in the hindbrain?
cerebellum
pons
medulla
What is a hindbrain and midbrain structure that connects to the spinal cord and regulates basic survival functions
Brain Stem
A network of structures under the cerebral cortex, behaviors it controls memory and emotion
limbic system
a structure that sits on top of the brain stem, in the central core of the brain, The thalamus acts as a relay station for information. responsible for sorting information and relaying it to appropriate areas in the forebrain for further integration and interpretation?
thalamus
a cluster of neurons that sits below the cerebral cortex and atop the thalamus
basal ganglia
a small structure just below the thalamus, connects the endocrine system and the nervous system?
hypothalamus
the outer layer of the brain, The cerebral cortex is part of the forebrain.
cerebral cortex
What is is part of the limbic system and has a special role in the storage of memories.
hippocampus
Which of the following structures are part of the forebrain?
limbic system
cerebral cortex
thalamus
Which part of the brain is responsible for thinking and planning
cerebral cortex
What percentage of the human brain’s cortex is attributed to the neocortex?
80%
Which brain area is most associated with intense emotions such as fear and rage, and is an almond-shaped structure near the base of the brain.
amygdala
What is the neocortex
is the outer layer of the cerebral cortex, which is the highly developed, convoluted outer surface of the brain. It is a part of the forebrain and is responsible for higher-order cognitive functions, sensory perception, and motor control in mammals.
The four lobes of the brain are the?
occipital
parietal
frontal
temporal
The brain is divided into left and right
hemispheres
What is Broca’s
An area is a region in the left hemisphere of the brain that is involved in the control of speech. People with damage in this part of the brain have problems saying words correctly
What is the function of Wernicke’s area in the brain?
Wernicke’s area, also known as the posterior superior temporal gyrus, is a region in the left hemisphere of the brain that is associated with language comprehension and the understanding of spoken and written language.
Which part of the brain is responsible for communication between the two hemispheres? is a large bundle of axons connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain
corpus callosum
What is the endocrine system
system that is a set of glands that regulates the activities of certain organs by releasing chemical products into the bloodstream.
integration is
is referred to as the of function in the brain.
Collateral sprouting, substitution of function, and neurogenesis are examples of brain
plasticity
What is an experimental procedure involving the implantation of healthy tissue into damaged regions of the brain
Graft
The nucleus of each human cell contains 46 what?
chromosomes
What is selective breeding?
a technique in which two specific organisms are chosen for reproduction to see what traits their offspring display.
What is polygenic inheritance?
Complex human characteristics, such as personality, determined by multiple genes. principle of genetics
Reflexes, which are automatic and involuntary, use the what to transmit information back through interneurons to control muscle fibers.
Spinal Cord
