Chapter 1 2 3 Flashcards
What is Psychology?
The study of the mind or soul and human behavior/ experience
What are the three major Philosophical issues in Psy?
free will vs determinism
Mind brain problem
Nature vs Nurture
What is free will vs determinism?
Free will: That behavior is caused by a person independent decision.
Determinism:The idea that every event has a cause or determinant or actions are a reaction to the environment
What is the Mind Brain Problem?
Mental activity and brain activity are inseparable
What are the two terms that are connected to Mind Brain Problem?
Monism and dualism
What is Dualism?
Holds the mind separate from the brain but somehow controls the brain and therefore the rest of the body.
What is Monism?
The view that conscious experience is inseparable from the physical brain and the mind is the body/brain
What is nature vs Nurture?
Behavioral differences relate to differences in both heredity and environment.
What is Nature?
Explained by biology and genetics/hereditary
What is Nurture?
Explained by the environment
What is a clinical psychologist?
Have advanced degrees like PhD and helping people with psychological problems
What is a Psychiatrist?
have an MD degree and four years of residency, deal with emotional disturbances, and can prescribe drugs.
What is a research psychologist?
Cognitive, Biological, Evolutionary, Social, and Cross Culture Psychology
What is an independent variable?
Controlled (manipulated) by the researcher because the researcher
believes it will impact the DV
What is a dependent variable?*
- Impacted by the IV
- Measurable outcome
What is an experiment?
Experiments require observations
○ Physical evidence, systematically recorded
Experiments can tell you the causation
What is a Hypothesis?
Prediction about the relationship between variables and must be done before analyzing data
Good observations and measurements often suggest a pattern, which is a clear predictive statement, often an attempt to explain the observations.
What is Correlations?
Correlations can only tell you if there is a relationship
* Additional exploration is always needed to determine if there is a
cause and effect relationship
True or False: Correlation does not equal causation
True
What is the principle of parsimony?
We stick with ideas that work and try as hard as we can to avoid new assumptions, - All else being equal, scientists prefer the theory that relies on simpler assumptions, or assumptions consistent with other theories that are already accepted.
What is a Placebo effect?
It is a substance with no known pharmacological effects.
Which of these comes first in a research study?
Hypothesis
When Clever Hans appeared to do math, what was he responding to?
Facil expressions
What is an anecdote?
a report of a single event
An experiment is the only way to determine which of the following?
cause and effect relationship
What is a theory?
Its not a guess but an explanation or model that fits many observation and makes accurate predictions.
What is the testing psychological phenomenon?
Hypothesis, Method,Replication,Interpretation
What is Causality/causation?
Causation, or cause and effect, is used in experimental research to determine whether or not changes in one variable lead to changes in another.
What is a neuron?
Cells that communicate messages to other cells and communication occurs via neurotransmitters and neurotransmitters have specific functions / Neurons - The brain consists of an enormous number of separate cells
What are the three parts a neuron consists of?
A cell body, dendrites, and an axon.
What is a neurotransmitter?
When an action potential reaches the terminal bouton, it releases a neurotransmitter, a chemical that activates receptors on other neurons
What is dopamine?
The mood and feelings of pleasure, also addiction,movement and motivation.People repeat behaviors that lead to dopamine release
What is Serotonin?
A mood contributes to well-being and happiness. Helps sleep cycle and disgective system requlation.Affected by exercise and light exposure
What are stimulants?
drugs that increase energy, alertness, and activity
Two terms that are part of the nervous system?
Central and Peripheral nervous system
What does the central nervous system consist of?
Brain & Spinal Cord
● Concentration of neurons
whose primary job is to
process information and
send messages to the rest
of the body
What does the peripheral nervous system consist of?
Nerve cells in the skin, muscles
and other organs
● Includes Autonomic Nervous
System and somatic and sympathetic and parasympathetic
What response is the sympathetic nervous system?
A stress response as it revs you up, prepares you to flight, take flight, or freeze
What response is the parasympathetic nervous system?
A relaxation response calms you down, preparing you to rest, think and restore
What is part of the peripheral nervous system?
The somatic and autonomic and sympathetic and parasympathetic
What is the difference between somatic and autonomic?
Somatic: Voluntary movement of skeletal muscle
Autonomic: is part of the para-sympathetic, that are involuntary movement of smooth muscles and glands of organs
What does the autonomic nervous system control?
the heart and other organs
The central nervous system consists of what cells?
neurons and glia
What is the synapse?
The places where neurons connect and communicate with each other
What effects occur when consuming marijuana?
Biological: Slow synaptic firing
Behavioral: moderate pain reduction, cognitive effect
What effects occur when consuming depressants?
Biological:inhibits (stops) synapses from firing
behavioral:Decrease arousal, decrease activity (suppresses biological functions)
What effects occur when consuming narcotics?
Biological: Increase endorphins
Behavioral: pain reduction, euphoria
What effects occur when consuming hallucinogens?
Biological: increases serotonin
Behavioral: induces sensory distortions
What is the autonomic nervous system?
Controls bodily functions
that are “automatic”
○ Includes sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous
system
■ Both target similar
organs but have
different functions
