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AP Psychology > Exam #2 Terms (Nature vs. Nurture) > Flashcards

Exam #2 Terms (Nature vs. Nurture) Flashcards

1
Q

What is a neuron?

A

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.

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2
Q

What is the cell body?

A

The part of a neuron that contains the nucleus; the cell’s life-support center.

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3
Q

What are dendrites?

A

A neuron’s often bushy; branching extensions that receive and integrate messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body.

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4
Q

What is an axon?

A

The neural extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

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5
Q

What is the myelin sheath?

A

A fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next.

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6
Q

What are glial cells?

A

Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons; they also play a role in learning, thinking, and memory.

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7
Q

What is action potential?

A

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.

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8
Q

What is the threshold?

A

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

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9
Q

What is the refractory period?

A

In neural processing, a brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron has fired; subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon returns to its resting state.

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10
Q

What is an all-or-none response?

A

A neuron’s reaction of either firing (with a full-strength response) or not firing.

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11
Q

What are ions?

A

An atom or molecule with a net electric charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons.

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12
Q

What is a selectively permeable membrane?

A

A type of biological or synthetic, polymeric membrane that will allow certain molecules or ions to pass through it by osmosis.

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13
Q

What is resting potential?

A

The imbalance of electrical charge that exists between the interior of electrically excitable neurons (nerve cells) and their surroundings.

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14
Q

What are excitatory neurotransmitters?

A

Has excitatory effects on the neuron; increases the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential.

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15
Q

What are inhibitory neurotransmitters?

A

Has inhibitory effects on the neuron; decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential.

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16
Q

What is the synapse?

A

The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft.

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17
Q

What are neurotransmitters?

A

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.

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18
Q

What is reuptake?

A

A neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron.

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19
Q

What is the function of acetylcholine?

A

Enables muscle action, learning, and memory; linked to Alzheimer’s disease, where ACh-producing neurons deteriorate.

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20
Q

What is the function of dopamine?

A

Influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion; oversupply linked to schizophrenia, while undersupply is linked to tremors and decreased mobility in Parkinson’s disease.

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21
Q

What is the function of serotonin?

A

Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal; undersupply linked to depression.

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22
Q

What is the function of norepinephrine?

A

Helps control alertness and arousal; undersupply can depress mood.

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23
Q

What is the function of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)?

A

A major inhibitory neurotransmitter; undersupply linked to seizures, tremors, and insomnia.

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24
Q

What is the function of glutamate?

A

A major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in memory; oversupply can overstimulate the brain, producing migraines or seizures.

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25
What is the function of endorphins?
Neurotransmitters that influence the perception of pain or pleasure; oversupply with opiate drugs can suppress the body's natural endorphin supply.
26
What is an agonist?
A molecule that increases a neurotransmitter's action.
27
What is an antagonist?
A molecule that inhibits or blocks a neurotransmitter's action.
28
What is the nervous system?
The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.
29
What is the central nervous system?
The brain and spinal cord.
30
What is the peripheral nervous system?
The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body.
31
What are nerves?
Bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs.
32
What are sensory (afferent) neurons?
Neurons that carry incoming information from the body's tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.
33
What are motor (efferent) neurons?
Neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.
34
What are interneurons?
Neurons within the brain and spinal cord; they communicate internally and process information between the sensory inputs and motor outputs.
35
What is the somatic nervous system?
The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles.
36
What is the autonomic nervous system?
The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart).
37
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy.
38
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.
39
What is a reflex?
A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus.
40
What is the endocrine system?
The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.
41
What are hormones?
Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues.
42
What are adrenal glands?
A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress.
43
What is the pituitary gland?
Regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands under the control of the hypothalamus.
44
What is lesion?
Tissue destruction.
45
What is an EEG (electroencephalogram)?
An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity sweeping across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.
46
What is an MEG (magnetoencephalography)?
A brain imaging technique that measures magnetic fields from the brain's natural electrical activity.
47
What is a CT (computed tomography) scan?
A series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the brain's structure.
48
What is a PET (positron emission tomography) scan?
A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task.
49
What is an 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.
50
What is an fMRI (functional MRI)?
A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function as well as structure.
51
What is the brainstem?
The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions.
52
What is the medulla?
The base of the brainstem; controls hearbeat and breathing.
53
What is the thalamus?
The brain's sensory control center, 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.
54
What is the pons?
Handles unconscious processes and jobs, such as your sleep-wake cycle and breathing.
55
What is the reticular formation?
A nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus and plays an important role in controlling arousal.
56
What is the cerebellum?
The "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input, coordinating movement output and balance, and enabling nonverbal learning and memory.
57
What is the limbic system?
Neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives.
58
What is the amygdala?
Two lima-bean sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion, specifically anger and fear.
59
What is the hypothalamus?
A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities, helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.
60
What is the hippocampus?
A neural center located in the limbic system; helps process for storage conscious memories of facts and events.
61
What is the cerebral cortex?
The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.
62
What are the frontal lobes?
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.
63
What are the parietal lobes?
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position.
64
What are the occipital lobes?
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information form the visual fields.
65
What are the temporal lobes?
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear.
66
What is the motor cortex?
An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.
67
What is the somatosensory cortex?
An area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.
68
What are 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.
69
What is plasticity?
The brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.
70
What is neurogenesis?
The formation of new neurons.
71
What is the corpus callosum?
The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them.
72
What is a split brain?
A condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers connecting them.
73
What is consciousness?
Our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment.
74
What is dual processing?
The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.
75
What is blindsight?
A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it.
76
What is parallel processing?
Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; generally used to process well-learned information or to solve easy problems.
77
What is sequential processing?
Processing one aspect of a problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems.
78
What is cognitive neuroscience?
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition.
79
What is behavior genetics?
The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.
80
What is heredity?
The genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring.
81
What is an environment?
Every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us.
82
What are chromosomes?
Threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes.
83
What is DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)?
A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes.
84
What are genes?
The biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes: segments of DNA capable of synthesizing proteins.
85
What is a genome?
The complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes.
86
What are identical (monozygotic) twins?
Develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms.
87
What is are fraternal (dizygotic) twins?
Develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically not closer than ordinary brothers and sisters, but they share a prenatal environment.
88
What is heritability?
The proportion of variation among individuals in a group that we can attribute to genes.
89
What is an interaction?
The interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor depends on another.
90
What is molecular genetics?
The subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes.
91
What is molecular behavior genetics?
The study of how the structure of function of genes interact with our environment to influence behavior.
92
What is epigenetics?
The study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change.
93
What is evolutionary psychology?
The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.
94
What is natural selection?
The principle that inherited traits that better enable and organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
95
What is a mutation?
A random error in gene replication that leads to a change.
96
What is a social script?
A culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.
97
What are norms?
Rules for accepted and expected behavior.
98
What is personal space?
The personal buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies.
99
What is individualism?
Our independent self-actualization.
100
What is collectivism?
Our interdependent self-actualization.
101
What is a role?
A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.
102
What is a gender role?
A specific set of expectations assigned within a given culture based on gender.
103
What is gender identity?
Our personal sense of being either male or female.
104
What is gender typing?
The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.
105
What is the social learning theory?
Contends that we learn behavior by observing and imitating and being rewarded or punished.
106
What is the function of the pineal gland?
Receive information about the state of the light-dark cycle from the environment and convey this information by the production and secretion of the hormone melatonin.
107
What is the function of the thymus gland?
Train special white blood cells called T-lymphocytes or T-cells.
108
What is the function of the thyroid?
Controls the speed of your metabolism.
109
What is the function of the pancreas?
Send out hormones that control the amount of sugar in your bloodstream.
110
What is the function of the ovaries/testes?
Secrete sex hormones.

AP Psychology (8 decks)

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