Exam 1 Terms Flashcards
Sociocultural Approach
An approach to psychology that examines the ways in which social and cultural environments influence behaviors.
- understanding a person’s behavior requires an understanding of the cultural context in which the behavior occurs.
- look at cultural influences on human interaction
Random Sample
A sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected.
- improves the chances that the sample is representative of the population
- typically only approximates this ideal
- not the same thing as random assignment
naturalistic observation
Viewing behavior in a real world setting
-ie: sporting events, child care centers, work, mall, etc.
correlation research
tells us about the relation between two variables.
- Examines whether or how two variables change together
- looks at co-relation
- if one variable changes, what happens to the other one?
- *correlation does not equal causation!
- useful when it’s unethical to conduct experiments (like pregnant women smoking), useful for everyday experience, looking for more variables that could also correlate,
- looks to see how variables are related
natural selection
Darwin’s principle of an evolutionary process in which organisms that are best adapted to their environments will survive and produce offspring.
- process by which nature determines who wins the competition for food and shelter in a given environment.
- gene mutations that aid an animal in being successful are passed on to its offspring, making that gene mutation eventually becoming more common in the species.
sympathetic nervous system
The part of the automatic nervous system that arouses the body to mobilize it for action and thus is involved in the experience of stress.
- involves the “flight or flight” response
- releases stress hormones to focus on the task at hand
axon
the part of the neuron that caries information AWAY from the cell body toward other cells
neural networks
networks of nerve cells that integrate sensory input and motor output.
- ex: reading textbook, the input from eyes is transmitted to brain then passed through neural networks which translate the received message.
- make up most of the brain, years to develop
- the strength of the connected neurons determine how well the information is remembered
dendrites
treelike fibers projecting from a neuron, which receive information and orient it toward the neuron’s cell body.
glial cells or glia
type of cells in the nervous system
provide support, nutritional benefits, and other functions that help the neurons continue to function smoothly.
action potential
the brief wave of positive electrical charge that sweeps down the axon.
- lasts only about 1/10000 of a second
- can only stay open a brief period
- commonly called “firing”
synapses
tiny spaces between neurons; the gaps between neurons are referred to as synaptic gaps
- most lie between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another neuron.
- impulses have to “bridge” these gaps
- addiction, learning, RX behaviors happen in this gap
limbic system
a loosely connected network of structures under the cerebral cortex. Important in both memory and emotion.
antagonist
blocking agent of a neurotransmitter’s effects
agonist
drug that mimics or increases a neurotransmitters effects
myelin sheath
layer of fat cells that encase and insulate most axioms. Speeds up the travel of information
motor cortex
a region of the cerebral cortex that processes information about voluntary movement, located just behind the frontal lobe.
hormones
chemical messengers that are produced by the endrocrine gland and carried by the bloodstream to all parts of the body.
corpus collosum
the large bundle of axons that connects the brain’s two hemispheres, responsible for relaying information between the two sides.
*women’s brains are more connected than mens
parietal lobes
- located at the top and toward the rear of the head
- involved in registering spatial location, attention, and motor control
frontal lobes
- portion of the cerebral cortex behind the forehead
- involved in personality, intelligence, and the control of voluntary muscles
- especially large in humans
Weber’s law
the principle that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) to be perceived as different
Ex: add 1 candle to 20 candles and notice a difference in the brightness of the candles; add 1 candle to 120 candles and do not notice a difference. We would notice 6 candles added to 120.
noise
term given to irrelevant and competing stimuli - not just sounds but any distracting stimuli for the senses
retina
the multi-layered light-sensitive surface in the eye that records electromagnetic energy and converts it to neural impulses for processing in the brain.
absolute threshold
the minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect.
*conscious reality begins here
rods
the receptor cells in the retina that are sensitive to light, but not very useful for color vision.
apparent movement
perception that a stationary object is moving.
Example: 3-D ride w/ seats that move, like the Shrek ride @ Universal, or Back to the Future / Simpsons
convergence
a binocular cue to depth and distance in which the muscle movements in an individual’s two eyes provide information about how deep and/or far away something is.
trichromatic theory
states that color perception is produced by three types of cone receptors in the retina that are particularly sensitive to different, but overlapping, ranges of wavelengths.
- color blindness test. #s in green inside orange circles
- does not explain after images (lightbulb flash)
middle ear
the part of the ear that channels sound through the eardrum, hammer, anvil, and stirrup to the inner ear.
outer ear
the outermost part of the ear, consisting of the pinna and the external auditory canal
pain
the sensation that warns us of damage to the body. Ability to sense pain is vital for our survival. The ability is adaptive.
- pain receptors are widely dispersed throughout the body
- anatomically identical, however, they differ in the type of physical stimuli they respond to
- travels via neural pathways to the brain: fast pathways (immediate warning system) & slow pathways (tells brain to restrict normal activity)
vestibular sense
sense that provides information about balance and movement
kinesthetic senses
senses that provide information about movement, posture, and orientation
papillae
contain the taste buds, the receptors for taste
volley principal
modification of frequency theory stating that a cluster of nerve cells can fire neural impulses in rapid succession, producing a volley of impulses.
Ex: civil war soldiers, alternating firing lines so that they can fire in rapid succession. Allows one line to reload while another is firing.
-this allows us to hear higher frequency sounds because how often the nerve fires determines the level we hear. If they alternate firing, we can hear a higher frequency.
