chapter 1 terms Flashcards
1
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biological psychology
A
focuses on the relationships between the mind and behaviour and the underlying biological processes
2
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evolutionary psychology
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how our physical structures and behaviour have been shaped by their contribution to our species survival (survival and reproduction advantages)
3
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cognitive psychology
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process of thinking, and processing information
4
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developmental psychology
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explores normal changes in behaviour that occurs across a life span
5
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social psychology
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examines the effects of the social environment on the behaviour of individuals
6
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personality psychology
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individuals way of thinking, feeling, and behaving
7
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clinical psychology
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seeks to explain, define, and treat psychological disorders
8
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voluntarism
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reflects the emphasis on conscious will and choice
9
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strcuturalism
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mind could be broken down into the smallest elements of mental experience (sensation, images, feelings)
10
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introspection
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personal observation of our own thoughts, feelings and behaviours
11
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functionalism
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interest in why behaviour and mental processes work in a particular way, asking questions about why our minds adapt
12
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behaviourism
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concentration on observable, measurable behaviours
13
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psychology as a hub science
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appears among the seven major areas of science
14
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theory
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explaining the relationship between two or more variables, explain and predict phenomena
15
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hypothesis
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inference/educated guess base on prior evidence and logical possibilites
16
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construct
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internal attributes that cannot be directly observed but are useful for explaining and describing behaviour
17
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operational definition
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theoretical constructs that are stated in term of concrete, observable procedures (something that can be measured)
18
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independent variable
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variable being manipulated
19
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dependent variable
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variable being measured
20
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descriptive research
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involving the systematic observation and classification behaviour, (surveys, case studies ,etc.)
21
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case study
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in-depth analysis of the behaviour of one person or small # of people
22
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correlational study
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examining the association between two or more variable
23
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types of correlational methods
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- no relationship
- positive, variables move in the same direction
- negative, variables move in opposite directions
24
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directionality problem
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not knowing what is the cause or the effect, two variables but not able to determine correlation except that they are related
25
third-variable problem
responsible for a correlation observed between 2 other variables of interest
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correlational coefficient
measure of the direction and strength of a relationship between two variables
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experiment
tests hypothesis and allows researchers to make conclusions
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causal claims
cause and effect are related
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random assignment
each participant has an equal chance of being placed in any group in an experiment
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random sample
each member has an equal opportunity to be a part of the research
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confound
variable that is irrelevant to the researcher's hypothesis but can alter their conclusions
32
quasi-experiment
experimental design where random assignment is not possible
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field experiment
an experiment conducted outside of a laboratory study
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external validity
generalizability - can we generalize the data
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internal validity
causality - is it appropriate to make a causal claim
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reliability
consistency of measure
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replication
repeating an experiment and producing the same results
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descriptive statistics
organizing data in a meaningful pattern and summary
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inferential statistics
allows experimenters to extend conclusions from samples to larger population
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normal distribution/curve
symmetrical probability function
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WEIRD samples
western, educated, industrialised, rich, and democratic
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research ethics board
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neuron
basic unit of the nervous system, operate through electrical impulses
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axon
branch of a neuron that is usually responsible for transmitting info to other neurons
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dendrite
branch from the neural cell body that usually receives input from other neurons
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myelin sheath
makes neural signaling fast and energy efficient, provides insulation
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cell body
large central mass of a neuron containing the nucleus
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nodes of ranvier
allows signals to travel faster
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action potential
neural impulse that passes along the axon, causes the release of chemicals from the terminal buttons
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resting potential
polarized state, more negative inside the cell, neuron is not processing any information
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synaptic cleft
point of communication between 2 axons
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receptor
special channel in the membrane of a neuron that interacts with neurotransmitters released by the other neurons
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neurotransmitters
chemical messenger that communicates across a synapse
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agonist
drugs that enhance the actions of neurotransmitters
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antagonist
drugs inhibiting the actions of neurotransmitters
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ANS
autonomic nervous system, concerned with the internal environment and changes involving involuntary bodily functions, efferent and afferent pathways between the CNS and the smooth muscles/glands
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basal ganglia
involved with voluntary movements that curve around to hug the thalamus
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CNS
central nervous system, brain and spinal cord
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brainstem
part of the brain connecting the midbrain, pons and medulla
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cerebellum
maintains balance and motor coordination, richly connected with the rest of the CNS
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cerebral cortex
thin layers of the cell covering the outer surface of the cerebral hemispheres
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cingulate cortex
above the corpus callosum. anterior --> decision making/emotion. posterior --> memory and visual processing
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endocrine system
glands that release hormones into the body, respond to input from the nervous system and hypothalamus
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corpus callosum
wide band of nerve fibres connecting the right and left cerebral hemispheres
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executive functions
cognitive processes that are involved with self-regulation and cognitive control of behavior
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frontal lobe
home of the primary motor cortex, production of speech, prefrontal cortex is involved with planning of behaviour attention and judgement, located in front of brain
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glia
nervous system cells that perform a variety of support functions including formation of the blood-brain barrier and myelin
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GABA
neurotransmitter, inhibition of brain activity
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glutamate
excitation of brain activity
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serotonin
mood, impulsiveness, hunger, sleep
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dopamine
reward and motivation, voluntary movement
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acetylcholine
movement; memory. cognition, sleep
67
epinephrine
arousal, fight or flight
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norepinephrine
arousal, vigilance, fight or flight
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hippocampus
formation of long-term memories, involved in the storage and retrieval of memories
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hypothalamus
involved with motivation and homeostasis: feeding, fighting, fleeing, fornication
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HPA-axis
main stress-response system
72
neurogenesis
creation of new neurons
73
neuroplasticity
ability of new neurons to change in structure and function in response to alterations in their environment
74
nucleus accumbens
subcortical structure participating in reward and addiction
75
occipital lobe
primary visual cortex, located at the back of the brain
76
orbitofrontal cortex
part of the prefrontal cortex, plays an important role In our emotional lives
77
parasympathetic nervous system
directs storage of energy, associated with rest, repair, and energy storage
78
prefrontal cortex
the most forward part of the brain of the frontal lobe
79
reticular formation
management of levels of arousal, located in the length of the brainstem
80
somatic nervous system
part of the peripheral nervous system, , includes peripheral portions of the sensory and voluntary movement systems
81
sympathetic nervous system
prepares the body for situations requiring the expenditure of energy
82
temporal lobe
primary auditory cortex, lower front of the brain
83
thalamus
processing of sensory info, states of arousal, learning/memory, located almost in the centre of the brain (input from most systems goes first to thalamus and then to the cerebral cortex)
84
sensation
process of detecting environmental stimuli or stimuli arising from the body
85
perception
process of interpreting sensory information
86
signal detection theory
analysis of sensory and decision-making processes in the detection of faint, uncertain stimuli
87
psychophysics
study of relationships between the physical qualities of stimuli and the subjective responses they produce
88
absolute threshold
smallest amount of stimulus that can be detected
89
difference threshold
smallest detectable difference between two stimuli
90
sensory adaptation
tendency to pay less attention to a nonchanging source of stimulation
91
audition
sense of hearing
92
binocular cue
depth cue using both eyes
93
bottom-up processing
perception based on building simple input into more complex perceptions
94
top-down processing
perceptual process in which memory and other cognitive processes are required for interpreting incoming sensory info
95
cochlea
structure in the inner ear that is contains auditory receptors
96
cone
photoreceptor that processes colour and fine detail
97
depth perception
ability to use the two-dimensional image projected on the retina to perceive three dimensions.
98
somatosensory homunculus
representation of a man that has the parts of the body different sizes based on sensitivity to touch
99
fovea
area of the retina that is specialized for highly detailed vision, responsible for central vision
100
mechanoreceptors
respond to mechanical distortion or pressure (temp, pressure and pain)
101
nociceptors
pain reception, somatosenses, activated by damaging stimuli
102
gate control theory
input from touch fibres competes with input from pain receptors, possibly preventing pain messages from reaching the brain
103
gustation
the sense of taste
104
olfaction
sense of smell
105
gestalt principles
help to explain how we percieve objects in our environment
106
figure-ground relationship
whatever is not the figure is automatically assigned as the background
107
illusory contours
tend to percieve contours even when they don't exist
108
proximity
the closer the two figures are, the more likely we are to group them together
109
continuation
interpreting intersecting lines as continuous rather than as changing direction radically
109
similarity
tendency to group figures according to how closely they resemble each other
110
closure
completing figures that have gaps
111
iris
muscle surrounding the pupil of the eye, adjusts the pupil to the amount of light entering the environment
112
lens
clear structure behind the pupil that bends light towards the retina
113
monocular cue
depth cue that requires the use of only 1 eye
114
motion parallax
objects that are farther away seem to move more slowly than objects that are closer
115
olfactory bulb
below the frontal lobe, receives input from the olfactory receptors in the nose
116
olfactory nerve
nerve carrying olfactory info from the olfactory receptors to bulbs
117
opponent process theory
green/red channel and blue/yellow channel
118
optic nerve
nerve exiting the retina
119
pupil
where travelling light enters, opening formed by muscles of the lens
120
retina
layers of visual processing cells in the back of the eye, thin and complex network of neurons
121
retinal disparity
important cue of depth perception, caused by the distance between they eyes, provides each eye with a slightly different image
122
taste bud
structure found in papillae that contains taste receptor cells
122
rod
photoreceptor specialized to detect dim light
123
transduction
the translation of incoming sensory information into neural signals
124
trichromatic theory
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