Exam 1 Flashcards
Chapters 1-5
Wilhelm Wundt
“Father of Psychology”
Introspection; Asked patients to describe their feelings
Freud
Psychoanalysis; investigates the conscious and unconscious mind (sounded unscientific)
Behaviorism
Emphasized observable behavior over mental processes (because behavior can be measured, feelings can’t as easily) (good for animals)
Humanism
States that human nature is generally good and people are normally motived to be the best they can be.
“Self-actualize”
Biological/Neuroscience
The link between behavior and biological function
Uses computers to see brain activity
Cognitive Psychology
Study of the inside of the mind; how we acquire and use information
Positive Psychology
Meant to help people flourish
Focuses on health and reaction to their success
Multiculturalism/sociocultural
Influence of culture (shared lifestyle with those around you). This is more than just race
Evolutionary Psychology
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution as an influence on behavior; explains behaviors we do as linked to things we used to need to do to survive
Biopsychological Psychology
Combines all theories and shows how they all interact to make who we are as humans
Hypothesis vs. Theory
A hypothesis is an educated guess for an experiment. The theory is our explanation for probably why something happens
Random Assignment
Subjects are randomly assigned into groups
Independent vs. Dependent Variables
Independent is manipulated, dependent changes because of that
Experimental vs. Control Groups
Experimental gets the change, control has no changes
Case Study
A case study is a descriptive and exploratory analysis of a person, group or event
Nerve Cell Atanomy
Axon carries information»_space; Axon Terminals form bonds»_space; Soma (cell body) preforms basic activities»_space; Denderites
Synapse
Gap between Neurons
Action Potential
High energy release through a neuron
Neurotransmitters
Carry messages across synapse
Central vs. Peripheral Nervous system
Central is the spine and brain, peripheral connects the central to the rest of the body
Somatic vs. Autonomic Nervous systems
Somatic is voluntary movement, autonomic is involuntary
Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic Nervous systems
Sympathetic is in response to stress, and parasympathetic is calming the body afterward
Brain Plasticity
The brains’ ability to shift how much of itself it dedicates to different bodily functions
Brainstem
Controls 24/7 functions, and other things such as reproduction, swallowing, and vomiting
Cerebellum
Coordination of movement, some attention to memory
Medulla
Heartbeat, breath, swallowing
Limbic System
The four “f”s, fleeting, fighting, feeding, and f*cking
Hypothalamus
Steadiness in bodily functions, homeostasis
Hippocampus
Memory, spital and long-term
Amygdala
Emotions; mostly fear; fight or flight
Thalmus
Takes sensory processes and sends them to be processed
Left and Right hemispheres
The left side is logical and controls the right half of the body (reading)
The right side is creative and controls left (face recognition)
Four lobes
Optical (sight), Temporal (hearing processes), Parental (touch and perception), Frontal (advanced functions)
Motor vs. somatosensory cortex
Motor is voluntary movement and somatosensory processes sensory information
Bottom-up vs. Top-down processing
Bottom up is no influence, top down is experienced
Sensation vs. Perception
Bottom up vs. Top down
Absolute Threshold
Minimum level of stimulus for you to detect it half the time
Difference Threshold
It’s proportional to the amount of stimulus present initially
Sensory Adaption
How you notice a stimulus less if it stays the same
Selective Attention
Choosing one sense to pay attention to than others
Perceptual Constancies
Perceiving things a certain way because of your previous experiences and attention to strategy
Inattentional Blindness
Failure to see change because of expectations
Retina
The rear section of eye, send information to the optic nerve. Contains rods and cones
Rods vs. Cones
Rods = receptor cells that detect grey and low light Cones = detect color when light is plentiful
Trigonometric vs. Opponent Process Theories
Trigonometric says that cones are specialized to wavelength and color
Opponent says your visual system is specialized to see specific pairs of colors
Cochlea
In the ear; sprial, fluid-filled, sends sound waves to brain via the auditory nerve
Olflication
Sense of smell
Gustation
Sense of taste
Kinesthetic
Sense of position
Vestibular
Sense of balance
Conscioussness
Awareness of self and surroundings
Mindfulness
Awareness of the moment w/o distraction
Cardicuralim Rythms
The body’s 24-hour schedule
REM sleep
Rapid eye movement; when brain activity is high
Stages of sleep
1- light sleep 2- a bit deeper, temprature drops 3 & 4- slow-wake deep sleep REM repeat
Insomnia
Not being able to sleep
Narcolepsy
Passing out on a spur (prolly bc of high emotions)
Sleep Apnea
When breathing stops and starts when in sleep
Drug tolerance vs. withdrawal
Tolerance is when doses of a drug no longer have the same effect
Withdral is symptoms from stopping a habit
Physical vs. Psychological dependance
Needed for body vs. mind to function normally
Stimulants
Speed up bodily functions
Depersants
Slow down bodily functions
Opiates
Pain-reliever (both physical and mental)
Hallucinogens
Produce weird sesnsations (ex. weed)
Memory
The process of taking in information and calling it to mind
Information Processesing Model
Model of memory
1) encoding 2) storage 3) retrival
Traditional Three-Stage Memory Model
Atkinson-Shiffrin Theory
1) sensory register 2) short-term memory 3) long-term memory
STM duration and capacity
30 seconds, and 5-9
Chunking
Learning something in memorable pieces to help it become more commited to memory
Matienence vs. Elaborative Rehersal
Matience = Working hands on to learn something Elaborative = Talking about it and applying it to things to learn
Explicit Memory
You consciously know this (you know you know it)
Semantic Memory
For facts that you learn
Episodic Memory
Memory of personal firsthand experiences
Implicit vs. Procedural Memory
Implicit = You are consciously aware you know about it Procedural = learned habits, ex. walking
Flashbulb Memory
Vivid memory of an emotional event
Serial position effect
and
Primary vs. Renecy effect
SPE = the tendency to learn some last and first items, but not the center ones Primary = tendency to remember only the start of the list Renecy = only the end
Spacing Effect
You learn better in spaced out incraments (don’t cram)
Amneisa
A head injury that causes memory problems
