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Psyc 101 > Exam #1 Review > Flashcards

Exam #1 Review Flashcards

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1
Q

define psychology

A
  • the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
  • psychology is a science
  • prevents possible biases from leading to faulty observations
  • precise and careful measurement
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2
Q

what are the 4 goals of psychology?

A
  1. description: what is happening?
  2. explanation: why is it happening?
  3. prediction: will it happen again?
  4. control: how can it be changed?
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3
Q

what is behaviorism?

A
  • the science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only
  • must be directly seen and measured
  • proposed by John B. Watson (Little Albert experiment)
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4
Q

what are the 7 modern perspectives in psychology?

A
  1. psychodynamic perspective
  2. behavioral perspective
  3. humanistic perspective
  4. cognitive perspective
  5. sociocultural perspective
  6. biopsychological perspective
  7. evolutionary perspective
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5
Q

what are psychological perspectives?

A
  • different ways of thinking about and explaining human behavior
  • a variety of perspectives are utilized when studying how people think, feel, and behave
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6
Q

what is the behavioral perspective?

A
  • based on the theories of learning
  • this approach focuses on the effect of the environment on behavior and includes aspects of social cognitive theory in that interactions with others and personal thought processes also influence personality
  • B.F. Skinner (American psychologist known for his impact on behaviorism) introducted the concept of reinforcement to behaviorism
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7
Q

what is the humanistic perspective?

A
  • emphasizes looking at the whole individual and stresses concepts such as free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization
  • early founders: Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
  • emphasized the human potential, the ability of each person to become the best person he or she could be
  • humanists held the view that people have free will (the freedom to choose their own destiny) and strive for self-actualization (the achievement of one’s full potential)
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8
Q

what is the biopsychosocial perspective?

A
  • attributes human and animal behavior to biological events occurring in the body, such as genetic influences, hormones, and the activity of the nervous system
  • human and nonhuman behavior is seen as a direct result of events in the body
  • hormones, heredity, brain chemicals, tumors, and diseases are some of the biological causes of behavior and mental events
  • some of the topics researched by biopsychologists include sleep, emotions, aggression, sexual behavior, learning and memory, and disorders
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9
Q

what is the psychodynamic perspective?

A
  • modern version of psychoanalysis
  • more focused on the development of a sense of self and the discovery of other motivations behind a person’s behavior other than sexual motivations
  • emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind, early childhood experiences, and interpersonal relationships to explain human behavior, as well as to treat mental illnesses
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10
Q

what is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?

A
  • brain-imaging method using radio waves and magnetic fields of the body to produce detailed images of the brain
  • only show structure
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11
Q

what is positron emission tomography (PET)?

A
  • the person is injected with a radioactive glucose (a kind of sugar). the computer detects the activity of the brain cells by looking at which cells are using up the radioactive glucose and projecting the image of that activity onto a monitor. the computer uses colors to indicate different levels of brain activity.
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12
Q

what is functional MRI (fMRI)?

A
  • computer makes a sort of “movie” of changes in the activity of the brain using images from different time periods
  • by superimposing information about where oxygen is used in the brain over an image of the brain’s structure, researchers can identify what areas of the brain are most active during specific tasks
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13
Q

what is computed tomography (CT)?

A
  • brain-imaging method using computer controlled X-rays of the brain
  • CT scans can show stroke damage, tumors, injuries, and abnormal brain structure
  • is also the structural imaging method of choice when there is metal in the body and useful for imaging possible skull fractures
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14
Q

what is the observer effect?

A
  • tendency of people or nonhuman animals to behave differently than normal when they know they are being observed
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15
Q

what is observer bias?

A
  • tendency of observers to see what they expect to see
  • this happens when the person doing the observing has a particular opinion about what they expect to see. if that is the case, sometimes that person recognizes only those actions that support the preconceived expectation and ignores actions that coincide with it.
  • one way to avoid observer bias is to use blind observers - people who do not know what the research question is and therefore have no preconceived notions about what they “should” see.
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16
Q

what is the bystander effect?

A
  • refers to the finding that the likelihood of a bystander (someone observing an event and close enough to offer help) to help someone in trouble decreases as the number of bystanders increases
  • if only one person is standing by, that person is far more likely to help than if there is another person, and the addition of each new bystander decreases the possibility of helping behavior even more.
  • bystanders do not act because of diffusion of responsibility (the phenomenon in which a person fails to take responsibility for either action or inaction because of the presence of other people who are seen to share the responsibility), among other concerns.
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17
Q

what do psychiatrists do?

A

diagnose and treat psychological disorders

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18
Q

what do social workers do?

A

focus on the environmental conditions that can have an impact on mental disorders, such as poverty, overcrowding, stress, and drug abuse

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19
Q

what are all of the parts of a scientific experiment?

A
  • independent variable (IV) - variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter
  • dependent variable (DV) - variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of the subjects in the experiment
  • placebo - the phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior
  • experimental group - subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent variable
  • random assignment - process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control groups randomly, so that each subject has an equal chance of being in either group
  • control group - subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment (controls for confounding variables)
  • blind study - subjects do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group (reduces placebo effect)
  • double blind study - neither the experimenter nor the subjects knows if the subjects are in the experimental or control group (reduces placebo effect and experimenter effect)
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20
Q

define positive correlation, negative correlation and no correlation

A
  • positive correlation - variables are related in the same direction (as one increases, the other increases; as one decreases, the other decreases)
  • negative correlation - variables are related in opposite direction (as one increases, the other decreases)
  • no correlation - no relationship between the two variables (a change in one variable does not lead to any changes in the other variable)

correlation does NOT prove causation !!

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21
Q

common ethical guidelines:

A
  1. Rights and well-being of participants must be weighed against the study’s value to science.
  2. Participants must be allowed to make an informed decision about participation.
  3. Deception must be justified.
  4. Participants may withdraw from the study at any time.
  5. Participants must be protected from risks or told explicitly of risks.
  6. Investigator must debrief participants, telling the true nature of the study and expectations of results.
  7. Data must remain confidential.
22
Q

ethics commitees

A

groups of psychologists or other professionals who look over each proposed research study and judge it according to its safety and consideration for the participants in the study

23
Q

what are neurons

A

the basic cell that makes up the nervous system and which receives and sends messages within that system

24
Q

what is the soma, axon, and dendrite of a neuron

A
  • soma - the cell body of the neuron, responsible for maintaining the life of the cell
  • axon - long tube-like structure that carries the neural message to other cells
  • dendrite - branch-like structures that receive messages from other neurons
25
Q

what are the pons and medulla of the brain stem

A

pons - the larger swelling above the medulla that connects the top of the brain to the bottom and that plays a part in sleep, dreaming, left–right body coordination, and arousal
medulla - the first large swelling at the top of the spinal cord, forming the lowest part of the brain, which is responsible for life-sustaining functions such as breathing, swallowing, and heart rate

26
Q

what are neurotransmitters?

A
  • molecules of substances. a chemical found in the synaptic vesicles that, when released, has an effect on the next cell.
  • neurotransmitters are inside a neuron and they are going to transmit a message
27
Q

what is the central nervous system (CNS)?

A
  • part of the nervous system consisting of the brain (interprets and stores information and sends orders to muscles, glands, and organs) and spinal cord (a long bundle of neurons that carries messages to and from the body to the brain that is responsible for very fast, lifesaving reflexes)
28
Q

what is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

A
  • all nerves and neurons that are not contained in the brain and spinal cord but that run through the body itself.
  • divided into the: somatic nervous system (carries sensory information and controls movement of the skeletal muscles) and autonomic nervous system (division of the PNS consisting of nerves that control all of the involuntary muscles, organs, and glands sensory pathway nerves coming from the sensory organs to the CNS consisting of sensory neurons)
29
Q

sympathetic division (fight or flight system)

A

part of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) that is responsible for reacting to stressful events and bodily arousal

30
Q

parasympathetic division

A

part of the (autonomic nervous system) ANS that **restores the body to normal functioning after arousal **and is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the organs and glands

31
Q

hippocamus

A

curved structure located within each temporal lobe, responsible for the formation of long-term memories and the storage of memory for location of objects

32
Q

what are association areas of the cortex

A
  • made up of neurons in the cortex devoted to making connections between the sensory information coming into the brain and stored memories, images, and knowledge
  • help people make sense of the incoming sensory input
33
Q

broca’s area

A
  • located in the left frontal lobe of most people is an area of the brain associated with the production of speech
  • responsible for the interaction between frontal, temporal, and motor areas responsible for speech production
  • allows a person to speak smoothly and fluently
  • damage to broca’s area causes a person to be unable to get words out in a smooth, connected fashion. people with this condition cannot control the actual production of their own words. speech is halting and words are often mispronounced.
34
Q

Broca’s aphasia

A
  • condition resulting from damage to Broca’s area, causing the affected person to be unable to speak fluently, to mispronounce words, and to speak haltingly
  • some words may be left out entirely, such as “the” or “for”
35
Q

Wernicke’s aphasia

A
  • condition resulting from damage to Wernicke’s area (usually in left temporal lobe), causing the affected person to be unable to understand or produce meaningful language
  • a person with this condition would be able to speak fluently and pronounce words correctly, but the words would be the wrong ones entirely
36
Q

habituation

A

tendency of the brain to stop attending to constant, unchanging information

37
Q

microsaccades

A

constant movement of the eyes, tiny little vibrations called that people do not notice consciously

38
Q

structure of the eye: iris

A
  • round muscle (the colored part of the eye) in which the pupil is located
  • can change the size of the pupil, letting more or less light into the eye
  • helps focus the image
39
Q

structure of the eye: lens

A
  • another clear structure behind the iris, suspended by muscles
  • finishes the focusing process begun by the cornea
40
Q

structure of the eye: rods

A
  • visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina
  • responsible for noncolor sensitivity to low levels of light
41
Q

structure of the eye: cones

A
  • visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina
  • responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision
42
Q

color vision: opponent processing theory

A

theory of color vision that proposes four primary colors with cones arranged in pairs: red and green, blue and yellow

43
Q

sensation: what are the 5 senses?

A
  • eyes
  • ears
  • nose
  • skin
  • taste buds
44
Q

structure of the ear: 3 tiny bones in the middle ear

A

when sound waves hit the eardrum, it vibrates and causes 3 tiny little bones in the middle ear to vibrate:
* hammer
* anvil
* stirrup

45
Q

applying psychology: precognition, telepathy and clairvoyance

A
  • precognition - supposed ability to know something in advance of its occurrence or to predict a future event
  • telepathy - claimed ability to read another person’s thoughts, or mind reading
  • clairvoyance - upposed ability to “see” things that are not actually present
46
Q

2 theories for why we sleep:

A
  • adaptive theory - theory of sleep proposing that animals and humans evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators by sleeping when predators are most active
  • restorative theory - theory of sleep proposing that sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage
47
Q

dreams: manifest and latent content and the 2 theories as to why we dream

A
  • manifest content - the actual dream itself
  • latent content - the true, hidden meaning of a dream
  • activiation synthesis hypothesis - explanation that states that dreams are created by the higher centers of the cortex to explain the activation by the brain stem of cortical cells during REM sleep periods
  • activation-information-mode model (AIM) - revised version of the activation-synthesis explanation of dreams in which information that is accessed during waking hours can have an influence on the synthesis of dreams
48
Q

substances/psychoactive drugs: withdraw, psychological dependence, and tolerance

A
  • withdraw - physical symptoms that can include nausea, pain, tremors, crankiness, and high blood pressure, resulting from a lack of an addictive drug in the body systems
  • psychological dependence - the feeling that a drug is needed to continue a feeling of emotional or psychological well-being
  • tolerance - more and more of the drug is needed to achieve the same effect
49
Q

stages of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (non-REM sleep)

A
  • rapid eye movement (REM) - stage of sleep in which the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids and the person is typically experiencing a dream
  • non-REM (non-REM sleep) - any of the stages of sleep that do not include REM.
50
Q

what are the 4 stages of sleep?

A
  • non-REM stage 1 - light sleep (may experience hypnagogic images and hypnic jerk)
  • non-REM stage 2 - sleep spindles (brief bursts of activity only lasting a second or two)
  • non-REM stage 3 and 4 - delta waves pronounced (deep sleep)

Psyc 101 (4 decks)

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