Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Gen Psych 111 > Chapter 1 & 2: Psychology as a Science/Neuroscience > Flashcards

Chapter 1 & 2: Psychology as a Science/Neuroscience Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

A review panel established by a publicly funded research institution to evaluate all proposed research by that institution.

A

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q
  1. Obtained informed consent
  2. Minimize harm to participants
  3. Avoid deception when possible
  4. Voluntary withdrawal from research
  5. Protect the confidentiality of participants
A

Ethical considerations evaluated by the IRB (Insitutional Review Board)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

When researchers observe and describe behaviors without investigating the relationship between specific variables

  • can include observation in natural habitat or a laboratory, case studies or conducting surveys
  • can have a narrow or broad focus
A

Descriptive study

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Study of one individual or a few individuals in depth.
-Use real-life observations, interviews or tests to obtain information. (i.e. brain damage-not possible or ethical to obtain any other way).

A

Case Study

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

A study that allows researchers to measure the degree to which two variables are related.

  • Includes a Variable or characteristic that can vary, such as age, weight, or height.
  • variables are not manipulated
  • observes whether a relationship exists between the variables
A

Correlational design

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

A study that enables researchers to determine causality by manipulation of one or more independent variables and observing the effect on some outcome.

  • Includes an independent variable (manipulated or changes) and a dependent variable (the variable being measured).
  • random assignment (experimental group=independent variable; control group=no treatment/no effect)
  • single blind-participants don’t know which group they have been assigned
  • double blind-neither participants or experimenters know who is in which group.
A

Experimental Design (or study)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

A variable that is manipulated or changed in an experiment

A

Independent Variable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

A variable that is being measured to determine the impact of changes in the other variable;

A

Dependent Variable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

A variable other than the independent variable that could have an impact on the dependent variable; variables the researcher failed to control, or eliminate, damanging the internal validity of an experiment; aka third-degree variable.

A

Confounding Variable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

provide participants with a verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study after the study occurs.

A

Debriefing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

The consistency of a measure.

A

Reliability

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Accuracy of a measure; meaning that the test is accurately measuring the construct it is designed to measure.

A

Validity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Explanations and interpretations of the facts; a principle that has been formed as an attempt to explain things that have already been substantiated by data.

A

Theory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

A testable prediction about new facts, based on existing theories; an assumption, something proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true.

A

Hypothesis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

The research participants do not know whether they have been assigned to the experimental or control group. When they don’t know, their expectations can no longer bias the results.

A

Single-blind experiments

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Both the participants and the researchers do not know which participants are receiving the actual treatment and which are receiving a placebo treatment. Most effective in reducing bias from the participant or the researcher.

A

Double-blind experiment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

The process by which participants in an experiment are randomly placed into experimental and control groups.

A

Random assignment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

A technique in which the participants in a survey are chosen randomly in an attempt to get an accurate representation of a population.

A

Random Sampling

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

To be truly random, every member of the population of interest has to have an equal chance of being included in the study; and so that a sample is representative of the general population.

A

Relationship between a population and a random sampling. Why use random sampling?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Includes the brain and spinal cord

A

Central Nervous System

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Branch of the nervous system that is external to the CNS, or external to the brain and spinal cord.

A

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Divided into the somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system.

A

Two main divisions of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Receives stimuli from the outside world, coordinates our movements, and performs other tasks that we control consciously; part of the peripheral nervous system.

A

Somatic Nervous System

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Responsible for the involuntary functions of the internal organs of our bodies and consists of the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system; is part of the peripheral nervous system.

A

Autonomic nervous system

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

A

Parts of the Autonomic System

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Responsible for the involuntary functions of the body’s internal organs; particularly active during times of stress; part of the autonomic nervous system.

A

Sympathetic nervous system

27
Q

Responsible for returning the body to its natural resting state; part of the autonomic nervous system

A

Parasympathetic nervous system

28
Q

Which part of the nervous system is responsible for “fight or flight”?

A

The Sympathetic nervous system

29
Q

Which part of the nervous system is responsible for “rest and digest”?

A

The Parasympathetic nervous system

30
Q

Rapid and automatic neuromuscular actions generated in resonse to a specific stimulus; Organized by the spinal cord without the conscious participation of the brain.

A

Reflexes

31
Q

A sensory neuron must carry the stimulus to the spinal cord, where an interneuron enables connection to a motor neuron that produces a specific motor pattern.

A

How a reflex is produced

32
Q

The gyrus or folds are what give the brain that wrinkled appearance. They increase the cortex’s total surface area and increase its processing power.

A

The benefits of the many folds in the cerebral cortex

33
Q

Severing the fibers of the corpus callosum in an effort to control seizures of patients with severe epilepsy.

A

Callosotomy (aka split-brain procedure)

34
Q

An excitatory neurotransmitter who’s primary functions are feelings of pleasure, learning and memory, movement.

Low levels: parkinson’s disease, depression
High levels: schizophrenia

A

Dopamine

35
Q

Both an excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter responsible for arousal, attention and memory; muscle contractions.

Low levels: Alzheimer’s disease

A

Acetylcholine (ACh)

36
Q

Both an excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter responsible for arousal and sleep, mood, appetite

Low levels: Depression, anxiety (OCD)
High levels: A syndrome who’s symptoms include agitation, rapid heart rate/high blood pressure, muscle rigidity, sweating, high fever, seizures; can be life threatening.

A

Seratonin

37
Q

An inhibitory neurotransmitter responsible for sleep, inhibits movement.
Low levels: Insomnia, seizures, tremors, depression, anxiety

A

Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)

38
Q

An excitatory neurotransmitter responsible for learning and memory, synaptic plasticity

High levels: Migraines (often from MSG) seizures, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease

A

Glutamate

39
Q

Responsible for processing visual stimuli by receiving input from the eyes and is then able to translate that input into things we see; it’s association cortex integrates the color, size, and movement of our visual perceptions so that visual stimuli become recognizable to us.

A

Occipital lobes

40
Q

Involved primarily in auditory processing, including understanding language; located in front of the occipital lobes and above the ears

A

The Temporal lobes

41
Q

“little man” is a distorted body map of the sematosensory cortex, with each part of the body sized according to how much space the brain gives to processing information about that body part; because so many neurons process information from the hands and lips, the hands and lips are remarkably oversized.

A

Homunculus

42
Q

A region in the frontal lobe that initiates the movements needed to produce speech. Individuals who suffer an injury to this area of their brain have a very difficult time speaking or making the words come out correctly. Their comprehension is typically intact, but they have great difficulty expressing themselves.

A

Broca’s Area

43
Q

An area in the left hemisphere of the temporal lobe; associated with receptive language deficits. Patients with brain damage to this area have difficulty understanding what was said to them. They can typically respond with lengthy sentences; however, the sentences themselves often don’t make sense.

A

Wernicke’s area

44
Q

Part of the limbic system; a structure essential for creating and consolidating information to make new memories; Individuals with damage to this area are able to hold new information for a short time but are unable to make enduring memories.

A

Hippocampus

45
Q

Located at the rearmost part of the skull and known for their visual processing abilities; Damage may result in loss of visual capability, an inability to identify colors, and hallucinations. At times, severe vision loss or total blindness

A

Occipital Lobes

46
Q

Part of the brain that lies behind the forehead that performs a variety of integration and management functions. If damaged there can be a loss of voluntary movement, including difficulties with gross motor skills (like moving the arms and legs) and fine motor skills (like moving the fingers). It can affect short term memory, lead to personality changes, difficulty concentrating or palnning, and impulsivity.

A

The Frontal Lobe

47
Q

provided evidence that the frontal lobes play a critical role in personality and behavior; railroad worker who had an iron rod go through his left cheek and up through his skull;

A

Case of Phineas Gage

48
Q

Helped researchers understand the biological connection between memory, memory loss and the brain; how the brain works, how memory is formed and retained over time.

A

Case of H.M. (Henry Molaison)

49
Q

Study that helped support Donald Hebb’s ideas that the more cells “talk” to one another, the more plentiful their synaptic connections become or the idea of synaptic plasticity which is the ability of the brain to adapt and change over time; helps understand how individuals recover from damager to areas of the brain.

A

London taxicab drivers vs London bus drivers study

50
Q

“Finger type” branches or bushy end of a neuron that have the important job of catching the signal, or information, from the previous neuron. They stretch out over a large area to increase their chances of “grabbing onto” the incoming signal.

A

Dendrites

51
Q

The cell body containing the cells nucleus, which houses the cell’s genetic information.

A

Soma

52
Q

A long, thin fiber responsible for carrying information down to the end of the neuron; like our spine

A

Axon

53
Q

A layer of fatty tissue that covers the axon; speeds up the transmission of information down the axon (think of a slip and slide)

A

Myelin Sheath

54
Q

Swollen part at the end of the branches located at the end of the axon; contains vesicles holding the neurotransmitter, which is released into the synapse during an action potential;

A

Terminal button or axon terminal

55
Q

small, fluid-filled sacs located in the terminal buttons; typically hold the neurotransmitter

A

Vesicles

56
Q

a brief electrical charge that travels down the neuron. At first, the neural impulse is an electrical event. When it reaches the end of the neuron, it becomes a chemical event in order to “pass on” the information to the next neuron.

A

Action potential

57
Q

State of tension between the negative charge inside the cell relative to the outside of the cell; prepares the neuron for an action potential; when a neuron is at rest, the inside of the neuron is more negatively charged compared to the outside of the neuron

A

Resting potential

58
Q

space between the presynaptic neuron and the postsynaptic neuron; filled with the neurotransmitter after an action potential; a very small space between the neuron’s terminal buttons and the next neuron’s dendrites

A

Synapses or Synapses Cleft

59
Q

A process that moves many of the released neurotransmitters back into the presynaptic neuron

A

Reuptake

60
Q
  1. Identify the problem
  2. Conduct background research
  3. Formulate a hypothesis
  4. Test the hypothesis
  5. Analyze your results
  6. Report your result
A

Scientific Method

61
Q

A methodology used to solve a specific, practical issue affecting an individual or group. This scientific method of study and research is used in business, medicine, and education in order to find solutions that may improve health, solve scientific problems or develop new technology.

A

Applied Research

62
Q

A study that strictly adheres to a scientific research design. It includes a hypothesis, a variable that can be manipulated by the researcher, and variables that can be measured, calculated and compared. Most importantly it is completed in a controlled environment. It involves testing or attempting to prove a hypothesis by way of experimentation.

A

Experimental Research

63
Q

It can never be proven; A basic principle in science is that any law, theory, or otherwise can be disproven if new facts or evidence are presented.

A

Can a theory be proven? Disproven?

64
Q

Tongues, Lips and Fingertips

A

Which areas of the body are most densely saturated with nerve endings?

Gen Psych 111 (2 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions