Exam 1 Flashcards
The early roots of psychology are firmly planted in ____
physiology and philosophy
tabula rosa philosopher
Aristotle
first laboratory devoted entirely to psychology as an independent field of study
Leipzig, 1879
Freud’s view of human nature
negative
humanistic view of human nature
positive
behavioral school of thought
think in terms of observables
Beyond Freedom and Dignity author
B.F. Skinner
The Animal Mind
Margaret Floyd Washburn
studied perceptual psychology…the errors of kids
Piaget
empricism
making direct observations of the world
dogmatism
relying on assumptions and beliefs about the world
minimum amount of groups for an experiment
two
double-blind study
an experiment where the true purpose is hidden from the researcher and the participant
external validity
the closer an experiment is to the real world
Professor Kim creates a frequency distribution of exam scores from her class of 300 students. Possible scores on the exam ranged from zero to 100. What should be displayed on the x axis?
numbers from 0 to 100
third-variable problem
there always exists the possibility of a third variable that’s affecting the results
two key features to an experiment
independent and dependent variable
two specialized extensions of a neuron that allow it to communicate
axon and dendrite
how many cells are in the human brain?
100 billion
support cells in the nervous system
glial cells
parts that make up CNS
brain and spinal cord
pons
brain structure that’s a bridge between the cerebellum and other brain structures
amygdala
emotions
hippocampus
memory
ontogeny
individual brain development
neurons that receive information from the external world and convey information through the spinal cord
sensory neurons
At rest, there is a higher concentration of ____ inside the cell membrane of the neuron and a higher concentration of ____ outside.
potassium, sodium
simple awareness due to the stimulation of a sense organ
sensation
JND
minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected
you forget to take out the trash and then eventually don’t notice the smell
sensory adaptation
length of a light wave determines its
color
additive color mixing
to get pure white light
outermost layer of the retina consists of ___
cones and rods?
Gestalt principle
every stimulus is perceived in its most simple form…the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
accommodation
the retina maintains a clear image on the retina
change blindness
when people fail to detect changes to the visual details of a scene
Kevin correctly judged that his car was parked farther from his classroom than his friend’s car, because he perceived his car as smaller than his friend’s. His brain was making use of a monocular cue called:
binocular disparity
The timbre of a sound is determined by its ___
frequency? a listener’s experience of sound quality or resonance
The parts of the human ear in the order in which sound waves travel through them from the environment
auditory canal, eardrum (outer ear) / ossicles (middle ear) / cochlea, auditory nerve to brain
specialized receptors in the skin that sense cold and warmth
thermoreceptors
odorant molecules bind to ___
olfactory receptors
Wundt
first psychological laboratory (in Germany)
psychophysics
methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus
operational definition
a description of a property in concrete, measurable terms
reliability
the tendency of a measure to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing
demand characteristics
those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think they should (ex: when you tell people what kind of survey you’re conducting)
naturalistic observation
duh.
negative skewed
outlier is at the lower end of the distribution (higher on the right)
positive skewed
outlier is at the higher end of the distribution (higher on the left)
When every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in a sample, what sampling process is being used?
random assignment?
glutamate
primary excitatory, helps to speed up, promote neurocommunication
gaba
primary inhibitory neurotransmitter
Know the difference between behavioral neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and evolutionary psych
behavioral neuroscience:
cognitive neuroscience:
evolutionary: explains the mind and behavior in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection
Kerrie wants to understand how perceptions, beliefs, and memories activate different regions in the brain. Which field of psychology would you suggest Kerrie explore?
cognitive psychology
The American Psychological Association was originally made up of academic psychologists, whereas today nearly ________ of its members work in clinical and health-related settings.
70%
branches of psychology
cognitive psychology
behavioral
links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes
cognitive neuroscience
field that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity
evolutionary psychology
explains the mind and behavior in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection
Role of potassium and sodium in an action potential
sodium enters the cell at the stimulation of the neuron and increases the positive charge inside the axon relative to the outside, triggering the action potential
hysteria
a temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences
electrical charge inside a neuron during an action potential
+40 millivolts
Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke
lateralization…different parts of the brain control different things
place code
where frequencies fire on a basilar membrane (works well for high frequencies)
temporal code
how often frequencies fire (works well for low frequencies)
rods
become active under low-light conditions for night vision
cones
detect color and fine detail, operate under normal daylight conditions
fovea
area of the retina where vision is the clearest and there are no rods at all (only cones)
gate control theory of pain
non-painful input closes gates to painful input, which prevents the pain sensation from traveling to the CNS (spinal reflexes?)
