Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

psych 3/4 > exam definitions > Flashcards

exam definitions Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
GRE® Psychology flashcards WSET ® Level 4 D2 Business of Wine flashcards Psychology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Central nervous
system (CNS)

A

the brain and the spinal cord; processes and coordinates responses to sensory stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Brain

A

a complex structure that receives and
processes sensory stimuli from the body
and coordinates responses, including
voluntary movements, emotions and
conscious thought

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Spinal cord

A

a dense bundle of nerves that carries sensory information from the body to the
brain and motor information from the brain to the body

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Spinal reflex

A

an involuntary and unconscious response to a stimulus involving the spinal cord, which occurs without input from the brain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Sensory receptor

A

a sensory nerve ending that produces an afferent or sensory impulse when stimulated

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Sensory neuron

A

a nerve cell that carries sensory signals throughout the nervous system

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Interneuron

A

a nerve cell in the spinal cord that connects motor and sensory neurons by relaying information between the two

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Motor neuron

A

a nerve cell that transmits motor impulses from the spinal cord to the skeletal and smooth muscles

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Peripheral
nervous system

A

all the nerves outside of the central nervous system that carry messages
between the central nervous system and
muscles, organs and glands throughout the body

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Somatic nervous
system

A

a subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that carries sensory information to the central nervous system and motor
information to the body

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Autonomic
nervous system

A

a subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s internal
environment in an autonomous or self-regulated manner

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Sympathetic
nervous system

A

a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that increases our arousal,
readying the body for a quick response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Parasympathetic
nervous system

A

a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that controls the body’s internal environment in an autonomous or self-regulated manner

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Unconscious
response

A

any response of our nervous system that does not require awareness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Conscious
response

A

any response of the nervous system that requires awareness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Neuron

A

an individual nerve cell that is specialised to receive, process and/or transmit information within the nervous system

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Neural
transmission

A

an electrical impulse that occurs when a neuron is activated or fires

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Neurotransmitter

A

a chemical produced by neurons that carries messages to other neurons or cells within the nervous system, including muscles, organs and glands

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Synapse

A

the point of communication between two neurons or between a neuron and a target cell such as a muscle or gland

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Synaptic vesicle

A

a membrane-bound sphere filled with neurotransmitter molecules

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Synaptic gap

A

the space between the
axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron and the membrane of the
post-synaptic neuron

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Receptor site

A

a membrane protein on the dendrites of neurons that receive and detect specific neurotransmitters

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Excitatory effect

A

the increased likelihood that the post-synaptic neuron will fire an action potential or neural impulse

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Glutamate

A

the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, which is involved with learning and memory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Inhibitory effect

A

the decreased likelihood that the post-synaptic neuron will fire an action potential or neural impulse

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA)

A

the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, associated with anxiety, specific phobias and Parkinson’s disease

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Neuromodulator

A

a subclass of neurotransmitters that alter
the strength of neural transmission, by increasing or decreasing the responsiveness of neurons to neurotransmitter signals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Dopamine

A

a multifunctional neurotransmitter with both excitatory and inhibitory effects, that is involved in many central nervous system functions such as movement, pleasure, attention, mood, cognition and motivation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Reward pathway

A

a group ofvstructures invthe brain that are activated by rewarding or reinforcing stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Serotonin

A

an inhibitory neurotransmitter that also acts as a neuromodulator, influencing a variety of brain activities

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Serotonin
pathway

A

serotonin’s neuromodulatory system, which originates in the brainstem and extends to almost all areas of the cerebrum including the cerebral cortex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

Synaptic
plasticity

A

specific changes that occur within the synapse, between neurons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

Long-term
potentiation (LTP)

A

the relatively permanent strengthening of synaptic connections as a result of repeated activation of a neural pathway

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

Long-term
depression (LTD)

A

the relatively permanent weakening of synaptic connections as a result of repeated low-level activation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

Sprouting

A

the growth of axon or dendrite fibres at the synapse

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

Dendritic spine

A

a dendrite fibre that grows by sprouting on the post-synaptic neuron

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

Filigree
appendage

A

a fibre that grows by sprouting from the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron

38
Q

Synaptogenesis

A

the formation of new synapses that result from the process of sprouting

39
Q

Rerouting

A

the formation of new connections between neurons to establish alternative neural pathways

40
Q

Pruning

A

the removal of excess neurons and synaptic connections to increase the efficiency of neuronal transmissions

41
Q

Stressor

A

any event that causes stress or is perceived as a threat and a challenge to our ability to cope

42
Q

Internal stressor

A

a cause of stress that originates within an individual; can be both psychological and biological/physiological

43
Q

External stressor

A

a cause of stress that originates from outside an individual, such as an event or environmental extreme

44
Q

Acute stress

A

stress that usually occurs because of a sudden threat and only lasts for a short time

45
Q

Chronic stress

A

stress that lasts for a long time

46
Q

Flight-or-fight-or-freeze response

A

an automatic biological response to a perceived stressor that increases our chances of survival in our environment

47
Q

Cortisol

A

a hormone produced by the adrenal glands that regulates a wide range of bodily processes, including metabolism, and is released in response to stress

48
Q

Gut–brain axis
(GBA)

A

the connection between the CNS and the ENS, that enables bidirectional communication between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract

49
Q

Enteric nervous
system (ENS)

A

a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system; it consists of nerve cells lining the
gastrointestinal tract and controls the digestive system

50
Q

Vagus nerve

A

a nerve that connects the brain (CNS) to organs within the autonomic nervous system, via nerve fibres that directly link organs such as:
- lungs
- heart
- oesophagus
- intestinal tract

51
Q

Gut

A

the gastrointestinal tract or long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the anus

52
Q

Gut microbiota

A

the microbe population found in the gut (digestive system)

53
Q

Microbe

A

a microscopic living thing found in water, soil and the air

54
Q

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

A

a biological model of stress that proposes we have a non-specific biological response to stress that occurs in three stages

55
Q

Transactional
model of stress
and coping

A

a model that suggests a stress response is only elicited if an event is perceived to exceed our ability to cope and is based on our appraisal of the situation

56
Q

Coping

A

all the things we do to manage and reduce the stress we experience

57
Q

Coping strategy

A

a method that we use to manage or reduce the stress produced by a stressor

58
Q

Coping flexibility

A

the ability to modify our coping strategies to adapt and meet the demands of different stressful situations

59
Q

Context-specific
effectiveness

A

when a coping strategy matches or is appropriate to the stressful situation

60
Q

Approach strategy

A

an effort to confront a stressor and deal directly with it and its effects

61
Q

Avoidance strategy

A

an effort to avoid a stressor and not deal directly with it and its effects

62
Q

Learning

A

the process of acquiring knowledge or skills resulting from experience; there are many approaches

63
Q

Behaviourist
approach

A

an approach to learning that states that behaviours are learned through interactions with the environment

64
Q

Conditioning

A

the learning process by which the behaviour of an organism becomes dependent on an event occurring in its environment

65
Q

Stimulus

A

an environmental event that triggers a response in an organism

66
Q

Response

A

a behavioural reaction to a stimulus

67
Q

Classical
conditioning

A

a simple form of learning that occurs through repeated associations between two stimuli to produce a conditioned
response

68
Q

Acquisition

A

the process during which an organism learns to associate two events (the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus)

69
Q

Operant
conditioning

A

a learning process in which the likelihood of a voluntary behaviour occurring is determined by its consequences

70
Q

Antecedent

A

an environmental stimulus that triggers an action

71
Q

Behaviour

A

any observable action by an organism

72
Q

Consequence

A

something that makes a behaviour more or less likely to occur again

73
Q

Observational
learning

A

a type of social learning that occurs when a learner observes a model’s actions and their consequences to guide their future actions

74
Q

Social-cognitive
approach

A

when individuals process, remember and learn information in social contexts to explain and predict their behaviour and that of others

75
Q

Memory

A

an information processing system that actively receives, organises, stores and recovers information

76
Q

Encoding

A

converting sensory information
into a useable from that can be processed by the brain

77
Q

Storage

A

retaining information over time

78
Q

Retrieval

A

accessing information that has previously been stored

79
Q

Sensory memory

A

a memory store that receives and stores an unlimited amount of incoming sensory information for a brief time

80
Q

Short-term
memory (STM)

A

a memory store that has limited capacity of short duration, unless the information is renewed

81
Q

Displacement

A

adding new single items to short-term memory by pushing out old items

82
Q

Decay

A

the fading away of information in short-term memory when not maintained by rehearsal

83
Q

Rehearsal

A

the conscious manipulation of information to keep it in short- term memory for longer or to transfer it to long-term memory

84
Q

Long-term
memory (LTM)

A

memory that is relatively permanent and holds huge amounts of information for a long time, possibly lifelong

85
Q

Semantic information

A

information related to meaning

86
Q

Explicit memory

A

information that can be consciously retrieved and stated, such as ‘known facts’

87
Q

Declarative
memory

A

an explicit long- term memory of specific facts and events, most of which can be stated or ‘declared’

88
Q

Semantic
memory

A

the declarative memory of facts or knowledge about the world

89
Q

Episodic memory

A

the declarative memory of personally experienced events

90
Q

Implicit memory

A

memory not requiring conscious retrieval, such as ‘how to’ skills

91
Q

Reconstruction

A

the combining of stored information with other available information to form what is believed to be a more coherent, complete or accurate memory

92
Q
A

psych 3/4 (24 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions