Introduction, Research Methods, Stats, Biological Psychology Flashcards
What is Science?
the process of systemic observation
What is do scientific observations need to be, and what should you avoid using?
Objective and measurable observations
Avoid using your interpretation of events
What does it mean to say that Science is Democratic?
disagreements are solved by looking at the data and the evidence the data provides
What does it mean to say that Science is cumulative?
Big breakthroughs do not come out of no where. They come from small steps across time
True or False: Psychologists are all therapists
False. Psychology is a broad field
What is psychological inquiry?
the scientific study of human thought and behaviour on an individual level
Note: some exceptions in social psychology
What do Psychologists study?
human behaviour across all people
What does studying “good” and “bad” behaviour do?
Studying “good” and “bad” behaviour allows for the opportunity to understand why a behaviour occurs. It can then either be discouraged or encouraged
What is behaviour?
The observable actions produced by an organism while it adjusts to its enviornment
True or False: you are only adjusting to your environment when there are large changes
False. You are constantly adjusting to and reacting to things in your environment, both physically and inside your head.
True or False: Behaviour is solely the reaction to one’s environment
False. It is also a reaction to the interpretation of the environment
What is an example of an internal factor?
genetics
What is an example of an external factors?
Someone’s upbringing or where they live
What is the basis of CBT
Controlling maladaptive behaviour
What are the 2 parts required for informed consent?
- Signed statements indicating participants agree to be involved
- explaining so that the participant actually understands what you are doing to them
Why is informed consent sometimes difficult in social psychology?
Some experiments risk being affected when giving away all information, and thus must instead must only give away as much as they can without impacting the study.
They must give a debriefing at the end.
What is a big part of confidentiality?
Where your data is stored
What is important for data storage?
Servers must be in Canada, data must be encrypted
What is the animal rights perspective?
Animals have the same rights as humans
If following the animal rights perspective, can animals be used for studies?
No. They cannot give verbal consent like humans can
What is the animal welfare perspective?
Animal welfare is the utmost priority
What is the mind-body problem?
The conundrum of whether there is a physical mind that is part of the body or a figurative mind not bound by physics
What was the first scientific form of psychology?
Psychophysics
What is psychophysics?
An interest in the relationship between the physical and psychological worlds
What were the original Type of psychologists?
Structuralists
What were structuralists interested in?
The what. The structure of the mind
What was structuralism criticised as being?
Reductionist (reduced to fine details) and mentalistic (relying too much on introspection). Both have risk of missing stuff
What were functionalist interested in?
the purpose of thoughts and behaviours
What is the basis of gestalt psychology?
Don’t truly understand something by simply listing small features about it
What is colour constancy?
knowing it’s still the same colour even when the light changes
True or false: Phenemona can only be studied once
False. Can be done multiple times at various levels
What is the super ego?
code of ethics, social norms, etc
What is the ego?
The you that you know about
What is the Id?
tendencies not bound by ethics
What is the behaviourist perspective?
Looks purely at behaviour. “if you can’t see it it doesn’t matter.”
Come in to the world a blank slate and are shaped by experiences
What is different about the humanist perspective?
It looks forward, not back
What is the humanist perspective?
Everyone has hopes and dreams and the way you behave is a reflection of that
What is the cognitive perspective?
Behaviour is more than just stimulus response, it is how we interpret the environment to be
What is the biological perspective?
Behaviour explained by underlying physical structures and biochemical processes. It is not a reaction to anything, it is another level of analysis
True or false: Developmental psychology is the study of child development
False. it is the study of development across the life span
What is the basis of personality psychology?
What sets someone apart from others that is consistent across most situations
What is social psychology?
The influence that groups have on thoughts and behaviours and how group dynamics are influenced by individuals
What are the main aspects of clinical psychology
The assessment and treatment of disorders on emotional, mental, and behavioural levels
the promotion of psychological health (such as promoting sleep to prevent sleep deprivation)
True or False: It is possible to have absolute certainty in statistics
False. You only have varying degrees of probability. No matter how high the chances it will never be 100%
What is descriptive stats?
Describing the data in a way that the brain can comprehend without drawing conclusions
What are inferential stats?
Identifying if there are patterns in the data and determining if they are statistically significant
What does it mean for something to be statistically significant
That the difference is real and not just due to chance
Define “empirical methods”
approaches that are measurable and observable
What is empiricism?
the idea that all knowledge comes from experience
What is applied psychology
an interest in the application of psychology to everyday life. Mental testing for example
True or False: psychology aided to help add homosexuality to the DSM
False. The reverse is true.
Define “flashbulb memory”
A highly detailed and vivid memory of an emotionally significant event.
What is a neural impulse
An electro-chemical signal that enables neurons to communicate
The science of how genes and environments work together to influence behavior is called ____
behavioural genetics
Dizygotic twins are also known as ____
fraternal twins
Monozygotic twins are also known as ____
identical twins
What are quantitative genetics?
the scientific discipline in which similarities
among individuals are analyzed based on how biologically related they are.
True or false: genes are effected by environment
True. “genes cannot develop in a vacuum”
True or false: numerical analysis makes up a large portion of statistical investigation
False. it makes up a small part
What is central tendency
describing data with one single number. This includes mean, median, and mode
The mean is ___
the average
the median is…
the score that is in the middle, separating it in half
the mode is
the score that occurs most often
when is the mode used as a means of central tendency
when the data is not numerical
True or false: when looking at statistics you should look at more than the raw data
True. Rather than looking at the raw numbers, you are actually looking at the number of standard deviations
What is the p-value?
The probability value
What is a type one error
think something is there when it is not
What is a type two error
think something is not there when there is something
What is standardisation?
uniform and consistent procedures in all phases
the independent variable is
the variable the researcher manipulates
the dependent variable is
the variable you don’t control. the part you measure based on the IV
What are confounding variables
confused you interpretation of what is supposed to change
What is an expectancy effect?
when the researcher subtly communicates what they expect to find (typically unintentionally) and the participant thus tries to satisfy that
What is the placebo effect?
When the participant expects there to be a specific change and subconsciously adjust their behaviour to satisfy this
What is a double blind control?
Neither the participant nor the (hired) researcher know what is going on
What is placebo control?
Having a control group where everything is the same except it does not have the active ingredient
What are correlation methods?
determine how much two variables are related when the variables are unable to be manipulated
What is a between subjects design
Different groups of participants assigned to different conditions (experiment vs control)
What is within subjects design
Using the same group of subjects used throughout each level of the experiment
What is face validity
looks valid
What is predictive validity
measures that are good at predicting the phenomena
What is a self-report measures
they tell about themselves
What are behavioural measures
collecting data from other sources
what is a potential problem with behavioural measures
they rely on other people’s observations
what is an archival study?
info from existing records and data
what are case studies
extensive observation of one either one person or a small group
what are direct observations
- Bring someone to a lab and then watch how they behave or perform under the controlled conditions set up by the researcher
what are naturalistic observations
looking at the behaviour in the wild
note: you lose control over the environment
True or false: income is a behavioural measure
True
The neurons is the ___ of the nervous system
building block
The soma is ___
the cell body
True or false: dendrites are the starting point
True
The synapses is
The junction between axon terminal and dendrite of next Neuron
The synaptic terminals contain little containers that are called:
vesicles
the potential difference across the membrane is called
the resting potential
True or false: Ions cannot move freely through the membrane
true. they use an opening that can be opened or closed. these channels are specific to particles
Ions move according to concentration. this is called the___
concentration gradient
Hyper-polarize is when it is more or less negative
more negative
de-polarise is when it is more or less negative
less negative
true or false: you cannot generate an action potential during the absolute refractory period
true
true or false: you cannot generate an action potential during the relative refractory period
false. you can, it is just harder
During action potential, _____ enters the cell to fully depolarize it
sodium
_____ then leaves the cell, causing it to become more negative than the resting state temporarily
potassium
true or false: anions have their own channels
false they are proteins that never leave
functions you don’t have to think about are:
Autonomic
sympathetic nervous system is
you fight or flight
parasympathetic nervous system is
controls visceral organs
the somatosensory is responsible for
processing sensory info + controlling voluntary muscle movement
the three interconnected layers to the brain are the:
Brain stem
limbic system
cerebrum
the brain stem is responsible for
automative processes (heart rate, breathing)
the limbic system is responsible for:
motivation, memory, emotion
the cerebrum is responsible for:
sensory info, movement coordination, thinking and reasoning
the thalamus, hyperthalamus and brain stem are all part of the:
(midbrain, forebrain, or hindbrain)
forebrain
The substantial nigra does what
releases dopamine and sends it somewhere else
the ventral tegmental area does what
releases dopamine that then travels to other parts of the forebrain
the Pons is the
bridge between cerebellum and brain stem
the medulla does
very basic functions
the “gatekeeper” that determines the type of sound or stimulation that initiates action when unconscious is called
reticular formation
the cerebellum is responsible for
motor coordination (not controlling) and learning
maintains equilibrium (posture)
the limbic system contains the (3):
hippocampus
amygdala
hypothalamus
the hippocampus is responsible for
memory formation for both explicit (conscious) and implicit learning
cognitive maps: when you get to know your way around your environment and can get there on autopilot
what does the amygdala do
controls emotion, aggression, and retention of emotional information in memory
what does the hypothalamus do
regulates behaviour that is already motivated -> stuff like eating, temperature, sexual arousal. determines if motivated behaviour should be continued or stopped
what does the parietal lobe do
feelings of touch, pain, temperature
what does the occipital lobe do
primarily vision processes
what does the temporal lobe do
related to hearing, auditory cortex
determines what frequencies can be heard
what is the frontal lobe responsible for
motor control, cognitive activitities (planning, decision making, goal setting), personality
the motor cortex is responsible for:
action of voluntary muscles
the somatosensory cortex is responsible for:
sensory input processing
what does the association cortex do?
interprets and integrates information from sensory modalities in order to plan the response to stimuli
true or false: the brain representation of body parts depend on their size
false. Representation of different body parts on the brain varies based on how many receptors there are
____ is an impairment of language
Aphasia
damage to Broca’s area causes:
impaired speaking
damage to Wernicke’s area causes:
impaired understanding
true or false: It is possible to grow new synapses or receptors
true
neurogenesis is ___
the production of new brain cells from natural stem cells
true or false. stem cells can replace damaged neurons
true, under the right conditions when prompted to do so
Phantom Limb is when
Amputees experience feelings and pain in limbs that they do not actual have
true or false: The somatosensory cortex does not actually need the body part to feel
true
What is the neuralmatrix
a matrix of nerves in the parietal lobe. this matrix is independent of any limbs someone may or may not have. It is an association with a representation for the whole body and is not affected by development
What is xenomelia?
Alien limb syndrome. Occurs when you have control over a limb but do not feel like it belongs to you
True or false: you lose sensation if the somatosensory cortex is damaged
True
What does electrophysiology do?
Records the electronic charge coming of of a single, or group, or neurons in order to read the action potential
What does microdialysis do?
Measures fluid movement. you collect it and then measure how many neurotransmitters are in it
What is the primary limitation of micro dialysis
You can only collect it every 10 minutes
Where does the ventral tegmental area send dopamine
the nucleus accumbus
Measures electrical activity at the scalp and records it
EEG
timelocked processing of EEG signal
ERP
A series of x-rays that are taken at different depths of brain tissue
CT
Is a CT scan a functional measure
no
- Measures blood flow to brain areas
- a radioactive form of sugar (glucose) is injected
PET
an attempt to combine CT and PET using a giant magnet
fMRI
Define Cause-and-effect
whether we say one variable is causing changes in the other variable, versus other
variables that may be related to these two variables
What is a confidence interval?
An interval of plausible values for a population parameter; the interval of values within the margin of error of a statistic
What is generalisability?
Related to whether the results from the sample can be generalized to a larger population
What is the margin of error?
The expected amount of random variation in a statistic; often defined for 95% confidence level.
With correlations, researchers measure _____
variables as they naturally occur
With experiments, researchers____
manipulate a variable to watch what happens to the other variables
Science is the result of ____ and ______ study of the natural world.
Systemic and intentional
True or false: All methods have limitations, which is why the best research uses a variety of methods
True
Random assignment is critical to experimentation because ____
if the only difference between the two groups is the independent variable, we can
infer that the independent variable is the cause of any observable difference
What are confounds?
things that could undermine your ability to draw causal inferences
participant demands occurs when
participants try to behave in a way they think the experimenter wants them to behave.
correlational research is what
When scientists passively observe and measure phenomena
in correlational research you both identify patterns and infer about causes
false. you simply identify
who is the father of psychoanalysis
Sigmund freud
what type of analysis centers around the study of stories and personal accounts of people, groups, or
cultures
narrative analysis
what is a longitudinal study
track the same people over time
the strength of a scientific finding lies in the strength of its ___
methodology
“Resting Membrane Potential,” describes ______
what occurs in a neuron at rest, when
it is theoretically not receiving or sending signals
Synapsesform between the ____
presynaptic terminal button
what do interneurons do
process the sensory input from our environment into meaningful
representations
what do unipolar neurons do
involved in transmission of physiological
information from the body’s periphery
what do bipolar neurons do
involved in sensory perception such as
perception of light in the retina of the eye
what do multipolar neurons do
they communicate sensory and motor information in the brain.
which glia cells digest debris of dead neurons, carry nutritional support from blood vessels to the neurons, and help to regulate the ionic composition of the extracellular fluid?
microglia and astrocytes
true or false: glial cells are involved in communication the same way neurons do
false
negatively charged ions
anions
positively charged ions
cations
the force on molecules to move from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration
diffusion
the force on two ions with similar charge to repel each other and the force of two ions with opposite charge to attract to one another
electrostatic pressure
what is equilibrium potential
the voltage at which no ions flow
true or false: action potential is all or nothing
true
what is the threshold of excitation?
the minimum voltage to trigger an action potential. -55 mv
what happens if two IPSPs come into the
cell at the same time
they sum together to increase hyperpolarization
what are the gaps in the myelin sheath called
the nodes of ranvier
no ions flow between the ______ and ______ fluid
intracellular, extracellular
what is saltatory conduction?
the movement of action potential from node to node
A neurotransmitter that does not bind to receptors is ______
broken down and inactivated
by enzymes or glial cell
what is an axon?
Part of the neuron that extends off the soma, splitting several times to connect with other neurons; main output of the neuron
what is an ionotropic receptor
Ion channel that opens to allow ions to permeate the cell membrane under specific conditions,
what is the function of the Sodium-Potassium pump
An ion channel that uses the neuron’s energy (adenosine triphosphate, ATP) to pump three
Na+ ions outside the cell in exchange for bringing two K+ ions inside the cell
what are spines
Protrusions on the dendrite of a neuron that form synapses with terminal buttons of the
presynaptic axon
The nervous system is divided into _____ and _____ nervous systems
central, peripheral
The bulges between sulci are called _____
gyro (gyrus plural)
what is agnosia?
inability to know or understand language and speech-related behaviours
the primary visual cortex is in the ____ lobe
occipital
what is grey matter?
neuronal cell bodies
what is white matter?
mylienated axons
what is a downside to PET scans?
invasive and rendering poor spatial resolution
What are afferent nerves
Nerves that carry messages to the brain or spinal cord
what is the Arcuate fasciculus?
A fiber tract that connects Wernicke’s and Broca’s speech areas
what is the Cingulate gyrus?
A medial cortical portion of the nervous tissue that is a part of the limbic system
what are efferent nerves
Nerves that carry messages from the brain to glands and organs in the periphery.
what is a fornix?
(plural form, fornices) A nerve fiber tract that connects the hippocampus to mammillary
bodies
The brain uses _____ and ______,
delivered via the blood.
oxygen, glucose
what happens if you suffer damage to the brain stem?
you will require life support
what is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)?
technique in which an electronic pulse is applied to the head to temporarily induce weak reactions
what is diffuse optical imaging?
shining infrared light on brain and measuring the light that comes out
what is ablation
Surgical removal of brain tissue
what is the basal ganglia?
Subcortical structures of the cerebral hemispheres involved in voluntary movement.
The surgical procedure in which the corpus callosum is severed to control severe epilepsy is called _______
Callosotomy
