Key Approches Key Words

Question 1

Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context

Question 2

Reductionism

Answer 2

The idea that human behaviour can be most effectively explained by breaking it down into constituent parts.

Question 3

Subjective

Answer 3

Something based on or influenced by personal feelings, taste or opinions

Question 4

Introspection

Answer 4

The examination or observation of ones own mental and emotional processes.

Question 5

Structuralism

Answer 5

Any theory that aims to study the relationship among phenomena rather than the phenomena themselves and the systems formed by these relations.

Question 6

Classical conditioning

Answer 6

Learning by association (pavlov’s dogs)

Question 7

Positive reinforcement

Answer 7

A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it’s pleasurable.

Question 8

Behaviourist approach

Answer 8

A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.

Question 9

Punishment

Answer 9

Any procedure that decreases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated because the overall experience is unpleasant.

Question 10

Operant conditioning.

Answer 10

A form of learning in which behaviour is maintained and shaped by its consequences

Question 11

Negative reinforcement

Answer 11

A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it leads to escape from an unpleasant situation and is experienced as rewarding

Question 12

Social learning theory

Answer 12

A way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with a role of cognitive factors.

Question 13

Vicarious reinforcement

Answer 13

Reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour.

Question 14

Identification

Answer 14

A moderate type of conforming where we act in the same way with the group because we value it and want to be apart of it.

Question 15

Mundane realism

Answer 15

Refers to how an experiment mirrors the real world

Question 16

Mediation processes

Answer 16

Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response.

Question 17

Modelling

Answer 17

From the observers perspective modelling is imitating the behaviour of a role model.

Question 18

Imitation

Answer 18

Copying the behaviours of others

Question 19

Empiricism

Answer 19

The theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses.

Question 20

Neuron

Answer 20

The basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals.

Question 21

Sensory Neuron

Answer 21

Carry messages from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system. Long dendrites, short axons.

Question 22

Motor Nueron

Answer 22

Carries messages from the central nervous system to the effectors such as glands and muscles. Short dendrites and long axons.

Question 23

Relay nueron

Answer 23

Carry messages from sensory neurons to motor neurons and other relay neurons. Short dendrites and short axons.

Question 24

Synaptic transmission

Answer 24

The process in which neighbouring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the synapse.

Question 25

Neurotransmitter

Answer 25

Brain chemicals released from synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from one neuron to another. They can be broadly divided in terms of whether they are excitatory or inhibitory.

Question 26

Excitation

Answer 26

When a neurotransmitter, such as, adrenaline increases the positive charge of the post synaptic neuron. This increases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.

Question 27

Inhibition

Answer 27

When a neurotransmitter such as serotonin increases the negative charge of the post synaptic neuron. This decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.

Question 28

Evolution

Answer 28

The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations

Question 29

Inference

Answer 29

The process where by cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour

Question 30

Internal mental processes

Answer 30

Private operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response.

Question 31

Schema

Answer 31

A mental frame work of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. They are developed from experience.

Question 32

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 32

The scientific study of biological structures that underpin cognitive processes.

Question 33

Cognitive approach

Answer 33

This term cognitive has come to mean ‘mental processes’. Is focused on how mental processes affect behaviour.

Question 34

Biological structure

Answer 34

An arrangement or organisation of parts to form an organ, system or living thing.

Question 35

Phenotype

Answer 35

The characteristics of an individual determined by both genes and the environment.

Question 36

Genotype

Answer 36

The particular set of genes a person posses.

Question 37

Genes

Answer 37

They make up chromosomes and consists of DNA which codes the physical features of an organism and psychological features. Genes are transmitted from parents to off spring.

Question 38

Biological approach

Answer 38

A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neutral function.

Question 39

Neurochemistry

Answer 39

Relating to chemicals in the brain that regulate psychological functioning