Exam 1 Flashcards by Kate Feldmann

when you are able to live on your own and not have to rely on other people to meet your needs

Adulthood (in terms of psychology)

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Scientific study of thought and behavior

Psychology

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consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method.

Pseudoscience

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Assess and treat mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. Diagnosable such as OCD

Clinical Psychology

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career help, relationship help, etc

Counseling

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language

Cognitive/psycholinguistics

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changes in humans over lifespan (aging) Physical and cognitive changes, social development

Developmental Psychology

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sensation and perception

Experimental Psychology

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Analyze, Evaluate, Make inferences, Interpret, Explain, Self-Regulate

Steps in Critical Thinking

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ability to think first and then reflect on that thinking

Metacognitive thinking

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to explain human behavior (see slide) Combination of biological factors, social & environmental factors, and psychological factors

Biopsychosocial model

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using logic and reasoning to understand the world

Rationalism

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the strength and direction of the relationship between two continuous variables

Correlational Studies

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An experiment is the only kind of research design that allows you to make causal claims. You can say “x causes y” unlike a correlation study.

Experimental Studies

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a segment of DNA that codes for protein synthesis

Gene

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All the genetic information in DNA

Genome

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entire genetic makeup of an organism

Genotype

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organism’s observed characteristics

Phenotype

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one gene controlling it

Monogenetic traits

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multiple genes controlling it

Polygenetic traits

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different forms of a gene

Alleles

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how much of a certain characteristic can be explained by biological factors

Heritability

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genes get turned on or turned off depending on environmental factors

Epigenetics

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an individual can inherit characteristics that were not expressed in their biological parents but got passed down from their grandparents

Soft inheritance

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Glial cells and neurons

Cells of the nervous system

the cells that transmit nerve impulses between parts of the nervous system

Neurons

part of the cell that contains all of the little organelles that are responsible for sustaining the life of the cell

Soma

the many branch-like extensions that come off of the cell body. Their job is to receive messages from other cells

Dendrites

(looks like a long tail) responsible for sending messages to the next cell

Axon

wrapped around the axon, and is made up of glial cells; the function is to help speed up neural communication

Myelin Sheath

electrical signal within cell. positive impulse that runs down an axon. When a neuron is at rest, net negative on the inside, and net positive on the outside. There is sodium and potassium

Action Potential

chemical messengers between cells

Neurotransmitters

attached to your sense organs (eyes, ears, skin, etc). Also known as afferent neurons; inputs

Sensory neurons

“output” neurons. They are responsible for your actions (could be voluntary or involuntary). Connected to your muscles and your glands. Also known as efferent neurons

Motor neurons

a type of motor neuron that get activated when you see someone else engaging in an action. But you yourself are not doing that action.

Mirror neurons

your processing neurons. They are responsible for integrating information from various sources.

Interneurons

brief period of time when the neuron is temporarily incapable of firing until it gets back to its resting potential; the charge is too negative to fire

Refractory period

impulse travels down the axon in a wave

Propagation

once the voltage threshold has been crossed, an action potential WILL fire

All-or-none principle

Space between two neurons

Synapse

it is like the cells are being broken down; this happens when they are not usable again, and enzymes break them down

Enzymatic degradation

The axon that had released the neurotransmitter reabsorbs it so it can be used again; this happens when they are still usable

Reuptake

they bring the cell closer to its firing threshold

Excitatory

take the cell further away from its firing threshold

Inhibitory

a drug that is similar enough in molecular structure to the neurotransmitter so that it can do two things; bind to the receptor site, and mimic the function of the neurotransmitter

Agonist (class of drug)

they are similar enough to bind to the receptor site but not similar enough to mimic the function

Antagonist

contains satellite cells, schwann cells

Peripheral nervous system

contains oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia, ependymal cells

Central nervous system

bundles of axons that form “cables” and connect the CNS with muscles, glands, and sense organs.

Nerves

brain and spinal cord

Central Nervous System

the nerves that branch out of the brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral nervous systems

controls self regulated action of internal organs and glands (peripheral nervous system)

Autonomic Nervous System

controls voluntary movements of skeletal muscles (peripheral nervous system)

Somatic nervous system

sits at top of spinal cord, regulates heart rate, respiration/breathing, and blood pressure

Medulla

integrate information from different systems, serves as a gateway to those higher brain structures

Pons

“little brain” responsible for balance, coordination, and fine motor skills

Cerebellum

visual and auditory processing, on top of pons, eye movements

Midbrain

responsible for sleep/wake systems

Reticular formation

Thalamus, Limbic system, cerebrum

Forebrain

located at the very top of the hindbrain and midbrain. “Sensory switchboard”. Sensory information comes in through eyes, ears, and travels through the spinal cord to the thalamus to send sensory information to different parts of the brain to get processed “visual info goes here, auditory info goes here, etc”.

Thalamus

Helpful for attention and executive control. Executive control is the ability to focus and block other stimuli out, and the ability to decide to initiate an action.

Cingulate Gyrus

voluntary motor control

Basal ganglia

job is to maintain homeostasis in your body, monitors your other systems such as blood pressure and temperature

Hypothalamus

responsible for memory consolidation; taking memories and putting them into a permanent storage. Most active during rem sleep. The biological reason why pulling an all nighter doesn’t work

Hippocampus

responsible for emotional evaluation

Amygdala

Analytic

Left hemisphere

Integrative, holistic

Right hemisphere

band of nerve fibers in the middle of the brain connecting the left and right hemispheres together, so left and right hemispheres can communicate with each other

Corpus Callosum

Vision processing

Occipital lobe

Language comprehension, understanding what you are reading/hearing

Temporal lobe

Sense of touch gets processed here

Parietal lobe

Problem solving, Speaking and writing, Broca's area, Judgment, Reasoning, Primary motor cortex, Voluntary motor movements

Frontal lobe

Very back of the frontal lobe, output

Motor cortex

Front of the parietal lobe, input

Sensory cortex

the brain's ability to adopt new functions, reorganize itself, or make new neural connections, as function of experience

Neuroplasticity

awareness of one's surroundings and what's in one's mind at a given moment

Consciousness

degree of alertness; awake or asleep

Wakefulness

monitoring information from environment and own thoughts

Awareness

brainstem; involved in wakefulness and transition between wakefulness and sleep

Reticular activating system

eyes open; otherwise unresponsive

Vegetative state

limited capacity to process information that is under conscious control

Attention

focus awareness on specific features in the environment while ignoring others

Selective attention

words in unattended channel carrying personal importance are noticed

Cocktail Party Effect

don’t notice potential distractors when primary task consumes all of our attentional capacity

Perceptual load model

ability to maintain focus awareness on a target or idea

Sustained attention

conception to 2 weeks, called a zygote

Germinal stage

2 weeks to 8 weeks, major organ systems start to develop, called an embryo

Embryonic stage

8 weeks to birth, formation of bone cells, growth, strengthening of organ systems

Fetal stage

movement of neurons from one part of fetal brain to more permanent destination (during 3-5 months of prenatal development)

Neural migration

events in womb alter development of physical and psychological health

Prenatal Programming

substances that can disrupt normal prenatal development and cause lifelong deficits; fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

Teratogens

biologically based tendency to behave in particular ways from early life (fussy, easy)

Temperament

unique relatively enduring set of behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and motives that characterize an individual

Personality

inability to take the perspective of another person

Egocentrism

strong emotional connections that develop early in life to keep infants close to caregivers

Attachment

Transition between childhood and adulthood. Marked by beginning of puberty- sexual maturation begins

Adolescence