EXAM 1 Terms Flashcards
Wilhelm Wundt
Established the first psychology laboratory
Mary Whiton Calkins
First woman to be president of the American Psychological Association
Margret Floyd Washburn
The first woman to recive psychology ph.D
B.F. Skinner
A leading behaviorist, Skinner rejected introspection and studied how consequences shape behavior
Cognitive Neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language.)
Psychology
The science of behavior and mental processes.
Nature-Nurture issue
The longstanding controversy over the relative contribution that genes and experiences make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Levels of Analysis
The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural for analyzing a given phenomenon.
Biological Influences on behavior
- Natural selection of adaptive traits
- genetic predisposition to responding to environment
- brain mechanisms
- hormonal influences.
Psychological Influences on behavior
- Learned fears and other learned expectations
- emotional responses
- cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations
Socio-cultural Influences on Behavior
- presence of others
- cultural societal and family expectations
- peer and group influences
- compelling models (such as media)
Hindsight Bias
The tendency to believe after learning an outcome that one would have foreseen it.
Naturalistic Observation
Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation
Localization of Function
The idea that certain brain regions have specific functions
Biological Perspective
Concerned with the links between biology and behavior. Includes psychologists working in neuroscience, behavior, genetics, and evolutionary psychology.
Neuron
A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
Dendrites
A neuron’s bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses towards the cell body.
Axon
The neurons extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands.
Myelin
A fatty tissue segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next
Action Potential
A Neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down the axon
Threshold
The level of stimulation required to trigger and neural impulse
Synapse
The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at the junction in called a synaptic gap.
Neurotransmiteres
Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gap between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse to bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.
Reuptake
A neurotransmitte’s reabsorption by the sending neuron
Acetylcholine
Enables muscle action, learning and memory.
Dopmine
Influences movement, learning, attention and emotion
Serotonin
Affects mood, hunger, sleeep and arousal
Glutamate
A major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory
Endorphins
Natural opioid-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.
Central Nervous System
The brain and spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System
The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body
Nerves
Bundled axons that form neural “cables” connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands and sense organs.
Sensory Neurons
Neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.
Motor Neurons
Neurons that carry incoming information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glads.
Interneurons
Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory impulses and motor outputs.
Somatic Nervous System
The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal, nervous system.
Autonomic Nervous System
The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the musucles of the internal organs such as the heart. Its sympathetic division arouses, its parasymathetic division calms.
Sympatheics Nervous System
The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations
- Dilates pupils
- accelerates heartbeat
- inhibits digestion
- stimulates glucose release in liver
- simulates secretion of epinephrine, norepinephrine
- relaxes bladder
- Stimulates ejaculation in males
Parasympathetic Nervous system
The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body conserving its energy
- Contracts pupils
- slows heartbeat
- stimulates digestion
- stimulates gallbladder
- contracts bladder
- allows bloodflow to sex organs.
Reflexes
A somple automatic responce to a sensory stimulus
Endocrine System
The body’s “slow” chemical communications system. A set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
Thyroid Glands
Affects Metabolism
Adrenal Glands
A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidney and secrete hormones. Triggers fight or flight response
Pancreas
Reguates blood sugars in the body
Pituitary Gland
The endocrine systems; most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.
EEG (electromagnagraph)
An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brains surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.
PET (positron emission tomography scan)
A visual display of the brains activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. MRI scans show brain anatomy.
fMRI (functional MRI)
A technique for revealing for revealing blood flow and therefore brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function.
Brainstem
The oldest part and the central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cords swell as it enters the skull. The brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions.
Medulla
The base of the brainstem. Controls heartbeat and breathing
Thalamus
The brains sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.
Reticular Formation
A nerve network that travels through the brainstem and plays an important role in controlling arousal.
Cerebellum
The “little brain” at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing input and coordinating movement.
Limbic System
Neural System (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drive.
Amygdala
Two lima-bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotions.
Hypothalamus
A neural structure lying below the thalamus. It directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature) helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland and is linked to emotion and reward.
Corpus Callosum
Axon fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres
Glial Cells
Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish and protect neurons; they may also play a role in learning and thinking
Frontal Lobes
A portion of the cerebral cortex laying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.
Parietal Lobes
Portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and towards the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position.
Occipital Lobes
Portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receives sensory input for touch and body position
Temporal Lobes
Portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear.
Sensory Cortex
Area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations
Association Areas
Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions. Rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking and speaking.
Plasticity
The brain’s ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.
Neurogenesis
The formation of new neurons
Corpus Callosum
The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them
split brain
a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain’s two hemispheres by cutting the fibers, mainly in the corpus callosum, connecting them
cognitive neuroscience
the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition, including perception, thinking, memory, and language
absolute threshold
the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time
signal detection theory
a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise), Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a persons experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.
subliminal
below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness
priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory or response.
difference threshold
the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time
Weber’s law
the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage, rather than by a constant amount.
