Chapters 1-4 Exam Flashcards
Disorder where people stop breathing when asleep
Apnea
location where neurotransmitters attach on the receiving side of the synaptic gap
Receptor sites
neurotransmitter important in mood, sleep, aggression, appetite
Serotonin
chemical messages that neurons use to communicate at the synapse
Neurotransmitter
tendency to perceive stimuli based on past experiences and expectations
Perceptual Set
Inner-ear deafness resulting from damage to the cochlea, hair cells, or auditory nerve
Nerve deafness
People naturally group items that have similarities between them, such as color, size, shape, and orientation
Similarity
tendency to focus awareness on a small segment of information
Selective attention
brain’s ability to modify itself after some types of injury
Plasticity
Group that was interested in how our brain organizes what we percieve
Gestalt psychologists
Things that people commonly dream about
Negative Emotional Content, Failure
Insisted psychology should only study observable behavior
John Watson, B.F. Skinner, etc.
language areas of the brain
Broca’s Area and Wernicke’s Area
People tend to perceive a set of individual elements as a single, recognizable pattern
Closure
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Psychology
interpretation of sensory information
Perception
Occurs when neurotransmitters are not reabsorbed and drift out of the synaptic gap
Diffusion
Brainstem does not completely block motor signals during REM sleep
REM sleep behavior disorder
neurotransmitter making neurons fire and playing central role in memory and learning
Glutamate
Proposed consciousness as “stream”
William James
When people perceive objects or events that have no external basis in reality
Hallucination
People believe things that are arranged in a continual line or curve are related to one another
Continuity
science where bumps in head reflect personality characteristics
Phrenology
2 types of psych
Basic and Applied
neurotransmitter inhibiting neurons firing and contributes to motor control and vision
GABA
Founded psychology as science based on study of consciousness
Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener
Blocks neurotransmitters
Antagonist
includes brain and spinal cords
Central Nervous System
Sleepwalking and night terrors both occur in this type of sleep
Deep (Non-REM) sleep
the information the brain receives from the senses
Sensation
The minimum difference between two stimuli that can be noticed 50% of the time
Difference Threshold
There are three types of cones: red, green and blue
Trichromatic Theory
Contains photoreceptor cells
Retina
Color vision is based on three “systems”: red or green, blue or yellow, black or white
Opponent-Process Theory
neurotransmitter enabling movement and improving memory
Acetylcholine
Absorbs light energy and convert it to neural activity (include rods and cones)
Photoreceptors
Middle-ear deafness resulting from problems with transferring sound waves to the inner ear
Conduction deafness
the sympathetic and parasympathetic aspects of this system rev up and calm down adrenaline, respectively
Autonomic Nervous System
Objects that are closer together appear to be grouped, even if there isn’t a clear relationship between them
Proximity
Process by which neurotransmitters are reabsorbed by the sending terminal bud
reuptake
People instinctively perceive objects as either being in the foreground or the background.
Figure-ground
impairment of language
Aphasia
Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation
Sensory Adaptation
Misleading or distorted perceptions of stimuli that have some basis in reality
Illusion
Mental representations of external events that are actively created by your brain
Perceptual Constructions
We know through experience that objects do not change in shape, size, color, although sensory data might tell us otherwise
Perceptual Constancy
includes everything outside the brain and spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System
Minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time
Absolute Threshold
Most prevalent sleep disorder
Insomnia
Our awareness of internal stimuli (thoughts and feelings) and external stimuli (sounds, smells, etc.)
Consciousness
People see symmetrical elements as a single unit
Symmetry
Mimics neurotransmitters
Agonist
involves study of the brain and nervous system
Neuroscience
Names of types of selective attention
Inattentional blindness, change blindness, divided attention
