Midterm Flashcards
Behavioural Perspective
Created by BF Skinner. ex: operant conditioning and positive reinforcement
Evolutionary Perspective
Darwin. species change over time and we share common ancestors
Psychodynamic Perspective
Freud. unconscious psychological process
Cognitive Perspective
Jean Piaget. Stages of development, problem solving and memory
Cognitive Psychology
how the brain works, memory, learning, making decisions
Social Psychologist
how thoughts, feelings, and behaviours affect us in the presence of others
Clinical Psychology
Diagnosing, Prescribing
Developmental Psychology
Aging, growing up
Hindsight Bias
looking at something after the fact, aftermath
An Empirical Approach
numbers, statistics,
A Scientific Attitude
Accuracy, calculations, observations and reports
Overconfidence
overestimating knowledge and abilities
A Scientific Attitude requires an open-minded humility because it involves a willingness to…..
recognize the errors in our own ideas
Critical Thinking
questioning things
Experimentation
Running experiments
Correlation
+= positive correlation
-= negative correlation
1= perfect
0.70 to 1 is moderate to strong anything below is weak
Naturalistic Observation
observing subjects in natural habitat without them knowing
Replication Experiement
Recreating the experiment
The Case Study
Descriptive research of a person, group or event
Random Sampling
People walking on the street
Correlational Research
tests the strength of a relationship between 2 or more variables without researchers manipulating any of them
Simple Random Sample
50 girls, 50 boys: pick 10 random boys and 10 random girls
Neurotransmitters
chemicals that allow neurons to communicate with each other throughout the body
Parathyroids
hormone that controls the release of calcium
Synapses
where neurons connect and communicate with each
other
Neural Networks
interconnected units that connect the hemispheres and send signals to one and other
Endocrine Glands
Organ that makes hormones and releases them into the blood
Axon
The neuron located in the center of the cell between soma and axon terminals
Synaptic gap
Pathway that neurons send and receive signals from other neurons
Myelin Sheath
on the outside of nerves, allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly along nerve cells
Medulla
essential, respiratory, cardiovascular, motor and sensory tracts, the connection between brainstem and spinal cord
Ceerebellum
movement, motor activity and balance
Amygdala
Emotions, fear, memory, social cognition
Hippocampus
memory and learning
Hypothalamus
temp regulation, thirst, hunger, hormone control, mood
Thalamus
relay motor and sensory signals to the cerebral cortex, attention and info processing
Occipital
processing eye info, vision, balance, distance and depth perception, colour determination, object and face recognition
Parietal
sensory (5 senses) vital for sensory perception and integration, including the management of taste, sight, touch, and smell, speech
Temporal
managing your emotions, processing information from your senses, storing and retrieving memories, hearing, and understanding language.
Frontal
thinking, impulses, voluntary movement, expressive language, deep thought
Genetic Predisposition
more likely to inherit certain genes, illnesses or behaviours
Nature vs Nurture
Genetic behaviours vs learned behaviour
Nature: personality traits
Nurture: religious beliefs,
political attitude, moral values
Norms
Shared standard of acceptability
Object permanence
devolopes in the sensorimotor stage (0-2). a child knows an object is still around even if they can not see or feel it.
Stranger Anxiety
crying when an unfamiliar person approaches, distinguishing familiar with unfamiliar
Theory of Mind
Understanding that others have thoughts, feelings, mental states, knowledge, intentions and beliefs
Egocentrism
develops in the preoperational stage (2-6). A child’s thinking is self-centered.
Capacity for abstract reasoning
developed in the formal operational stage (11-16). Identify patterns and think conceptually
Concept of Conservation
deveoples in the concrete operational stage (7-11). The amount of liquid doesn’t change depending on the glass it was put in.
Insecure Attachment Theory
lack of trust and a lack of a secure base.
Postconventional Mortality
ethical reasoning, making decisions based on rights, values and duties, NOT ADHERING TO SOCIETY
Role Confusion
changing beliefs, external appearance, figuring out who they are.
Conventional Mortality
Accepting society’s views of right and wrong, social norms, Adhering to societies expectations
Preconventional Mortality
childhood-not yet adopted the moral principles of society, Adhering to self-interest only
Formal Conventional Mortality
Social rules, laws,
Hypnagogic Sensations
brief hallucinations that take place while falling asleep. stage 1 of sleep
Biological Rhythms
internal clock, sleep, body temp, hormones
REM rebound
catching up on lost REM sleep the next night
Sequential Processing
Executing tasks in specific order, and not starting anew one until the first is complete.
Choice Blindness
not noticing your choice after you make it, you order vanilla and get handed chocolate and don’t notice
Dual Processing
two different ways of thinking at the same time, multitasking, driving while talking
Selective Attention
Focusing on one stimuli while ignoring another
Sensory Adaptation
Brain cells becoming less sensitive to constant stimuli, watch
Accomodation
modifying cognitive schema to incorporate new information or experiences
Webers Law
The just a noticeable difference between the two stimuli
Parallel Processing
Processing multiple stimuli, you see a bus coming towards you, and its colour, shape and size.
Sensory Interaction
when our 5 senses work together
Bottom-up processing
Specific details to general about an object
Psychophysics
Sensations and Stimuli
Optic Nerve
Carries signals from the eye to the brain
Fovea
details and central vision, white part
Cornea
Clear outer structure, directs light rays to retina
Lens
behind the pupil, focuses light rays
Perceptual constancy
perceiving something the same even if a stimulus has changed, snow looks whit even if it sunny or dark out.
Perceptual Adaptation
Adjusting to sensory input over time, walking into a strong smelling room, you get used to it after a couple minutes
Interposition
Distance of objects can be perceived because one overlaps with another
The electrical charge inside a neuron is…
positive
The electrical charge outside a neuron is…
negative
Corpus Callosum
A bundle of nerve fibres that allow the right and left hemispheres to communicate
Sensation is ______ as perception is to ________
gathering; understanding
Top-down processing
general to specific
Subliminal Perception
information received that you are not consciously aware of
What principle did Gestalt emphasize
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Figure ground principle
paying attention to a figure rather than the background
Continuity
the ability to continue the same way indefinitely
height in plane
objects placed higher are perceived as farther away
linear perspective
creating the illusion of depth with lines on paper
Generalizability
making predictions based on past perceptions
Validity
How well a test actually measure its intent
Reliability
getting consistent and stable results
Verifiability
the ability to be proved right
Reasons replication is an important component of scientific research
- to build upon scientific understanding
- to act as a corrective measure
- to see if other scientists following the same procedure produce a similar outcome
Independent Variable
the variable researchers manipulate
Dependent Variable
the variable researchers measure
Confounding Variable
the unmeasured variable that influences both the dependent variable and independent variable
Autonomic Nervous System
Involuntary functions: heart rate and breathing
Parasympathetic Nervous System
rest & digest
Sensory Motor Nervous System
5 senses: touch, taste, smell, see, hear (spinal chord)
Sympathetic Nervous System
fight or flight response
Limbic System
Consists of the hypothalamus, hippocampus and reticular formation.
process and regulate emotion and memory while also dealing with sexual stimulation and learning
Medial Thalamus
cognition, memory and stress regulation
PET scan
tissues and organs
MRI scan
organs, bones, muscles and blood vessels
EEG scan
electrical ensufrogram, sleep waves, electrical activity
Difference Threshold
change in stimulus, the minimum level of stimulus a person can detect 50% of the time. It increases with the size of the stimulus. It is the just noticeable difference
Absolute Threshold
the smallest amount of stimulus needed for a person to detect it 50% of the time
Recognizing an individual steps
Photoreceptors, optic nerve, optic chiasm, visual cortex
In a neuron, what is the function of the axon?
Aids in the speed of message transmission and protects the information channel
Sensation is…
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive stimulus energy from our environment
Perception is…
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information enables us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Retina
coloured part, perceives a visual picture
Wavelength
distance between waves
Hue
colour
Intesity
brightness and dullness of colour
Cones vs Rods
cones detect colour, rods detect light
optic nerve
comprised of millions of nerve fibers that send visual messages to your brain to help you see. You have an optic nerve at the back of each eye that connects directly to your brain.
Myelin Sheath
goes around nerves, allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly along nerve cells
Terminal Buttons
found at end of the axon below the myelin, send signals to other neurons
Dendrites
where neurons receive input from other cells
Cell body
spherical part of neuron that contains necleus
Acetylcholine
memory, learning, attention and involuntary muscle movement (Alzheimers)
Dopamine
satisfaction, pleasure and motivation
Seretonin
behaviour, mood and memory
Norepiephrine
arousal, attention, cognitive function, stress reaction (schizophrenia)
Assimilation
adding info to our existing structures of knowledge
Crystalized intelligence
remains stable or increases with experience
According to Erikson the crisis faced in infancy is…..
trust vs mistrust
