Midterm 2 Flashcards
What is consciousness?
People’s awareness of everything that is going on around them at any given moment (thoughts, sensations, feelings)
Waking Consciousness
Most of the day is spent in waking consciousness where these are clear and organized
When do altered states of consciousness occur?
When there s a shift in the quality or pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness. Alertness, thought content, and focus can vary greatly.
Can people live without sleep?
Only for a little while but cannot live without it all together.
Amount of sleep needed?
Average 7-9 hours per night but varies per individual and age
Is sleep a biological rhythm?
Yes, it is one of the bodies daily [circadian] biological rhythms.
What is the sleep/wake cycle controlled by?
Controlled by brain including the hypothalamus and serotonin.
What is REM?
Rapid Eye Movement
Stage of sleep where the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids and the person is typically dreaming.
What is nREM or non-REM sleep?
any of the stages of sleep that do not include REM
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is…
a mood disorder caused by the body’s reaction to low levels of sunlight in the winter months
Beta Waves
Brain waves that indicate a state of being awake and mentally active.
Alpha Waves
Brain waves that indicate a state of relaxation or light sleep
Theta waves
Brain waves indicating the early stages of sleep
Delta Waves
Long, slow waves that indicate the deepest stage of sleep.
Average time of stage 1 sleep?
Approx 10 minutes
Average time of stage 2 sleep?
As long as 20 minutes
Average time of stage 3 sleep?
Approx 30 minutes
Average time of stage 4 sleep?
30 - 40 minutes approx
Average time of REM sleep?
A few minutes to an hour
REM Paralysis
the inability of the voluntary muscles to move during REM sleep
REM Behaviour Disorder
a rare disorder in which the mechanism that blocks the movement of the voluntary muscles fails, allowing the person to thrash around and even get up and act out nightmares
REM rebound
Increased amounts of REM sleep after being deprived of REM sleep on earlier nights
Nightmares
Bad dreams occurring during REM sleep
Somnambulism
Sitting, walking, or performing complex behaviour while asleep
Sexsomnia
a rare stage 4 sleep disorder in which the person may groan loudly, masturbate, or even sexually assault a partner without waking and with no memory of their behaviour
Night Terrors
Extreme fear, agitation, screaming or runs around during sleep without waking fully.
Insomnia
The inability to get to sleep, stay asleep, or get a good quality sleep.
Sleep Apnea
Disorder in which the person stops breathing for nearly half a minute or more
Narcolepsy
Sleep disorder in which a person falls immediately into REM sleep during the day without warning.
Restless Leg Syndrome
Uncomfortable sensations in legs causing movement and loss of sleep
Nocturnal Leg Cramps
Painful cramps in calf or foot muscles
Hypersomnia
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Circadian Rhythm Disorders
Disturbances of the sleep-wake cycle such as jet lag and shift work
Enuresis
Urinated while asleep in bed
Cognition
Mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is organizing and attempting to understand information and communicating information to others.
Mental Images
Mental representations that stand for objects or events and have a picture-like quality.
Concepts
Ideas that represent a class or category of objects, events, or activities.
Formal Concepts
Concepts that are defined by specific rules or features.
Natural Concepts
Concepts people form as a result of their experiences in the real world.
Prototype
An example of a concept that closely matches the defining characteristics of a concept.
Problem Solving
Process of cognition that occurs when a goal must be reached by thinking and behaving in certain ways.
Trial and Error
Problem solving method in which one possible solution after another is tried until a successful one is found.
Algorithms
Very specific, step by step procedures for solving certain types of problems.
Heuristic
An educated guess based on prior experiences that helps narrow down the possible solutions for a problem. Also known as a “rule of thumb.”
Representative Heuristic
Assumption that any object (or person) sharing characteristics with the member of a particular category is a member of that category.
Availability Heuristic
Estimating the frequency or likelihood of an event of an event based on how easy it is to recall relevant information from memory or to think of related examples.
Means-end Analysis
Heuristic in which the difference between the starting situation and the goal is determination and then step are taken to reduce that difference.
Functional Fixedness
A block to problem solving that comes from thinking about objects in terms of only their typical functions.
Mental Set
The tendency for people to persist in using problem-solving patterns that have worked for them in the past.
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for evidence that fits one’s beliefs while ignoring any evidence that does not fit those beliefs.
Creativity
The process of solving problems by combining ideas or behaviour in new ways.
Convergent Thinking
Type of thinking in which a problem is seen as having only one answer, and all lines of thinking will eventually lead to that single answer, using previous knowledge and logic.
Divergent Thinking
Type of thinking in which a person starts from one point and comes up with many different ideas or possibilities based on the point.
Brainstorming
Generate as many ideas as possible in a short period of time without judging each idea’s merits until all ideas are recorded.
Keeping a journal
Carrying a journal to write down ideas as they occur or a recorder to capture those same ideas and thoughts.
Freewriting
Write down or record everything that comes to mind about a topic without revising or proofreading until all the information is written or recorded in some way. Organize it later.
Mind or Concept Mapping
Start with a central idea and draw a “map” with lines from the centre to other related ideas, forming a visual representation of the concepts and their connections.
Language
A system for combining symbols (such as words) so that an unlimited number of meaningful statements can be made for the purpose of communicating with others.
Grammer
The system of rules governing the structure and use of a language.
Syntax
The system of rules of combining words and phrases to form grammatically correct sentences.
Morphemes
The smallest units of meaning within a language.
Semantics
The rules for determining the meaning of words and sentences.
Phonemes
The basic units of sound in language
Pragmatics
Aspects of language involving the practical ways of communicating with others, or the social “niceties” of language.
Murder while sleepwalking
Sleep walking has been used as a defence in several cases of murder. In some of these cases, the defendant has been acquitted because of the sleepwalking defence.
TTCT was created by?
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking was created by E. Paul Torrance
What are the 3 components of TTCT’s
- Thinking critically with pictures
- Figural TTCT
- Verbal TTCT
Who proposed that language controls and helps the development of thought processes and concepts, an idea that is known as the linguistic relatively hypothesis?
Sapir and Whorf
Human Development
The scientific study of the changes that occur in people as they age from conception until death.
Longitudinal Design
Research design in which one participant or group of participants is studied over a long period of time.
Cross-sectional Design
Research design in which several different age groups of participants are studied at one particular point in time.
Cross-sequential Design
Research design in which participants are first studied by means of a cross-sectional design but are also followed and assessed for a period of no more than six years.
Nature
The influence of our inherited characteristics on our personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions.
Nurture
The influence of the environment on personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions.
Genetics
the scientific study of inherited traits
Dominant
Referring to a gene that actively controls the expression of a trait.
Recessive
Referring to a gene that influences the expression of a trait only when paired with an identical gene.
Ovum
the female sex, or egg
Fertilization
The union of the ovum and sperm
Zygote
Cell resulting from the uniting of the ovum and sperm.
Monozygotic Twins
“Identical” twins formed when one zygote splits into two separate masses of cells, each of which develops into a separate embryo.
Dizygotic Twins
Often called fraternal twins, occurring when two eggs each get fertilized by two different sperm, resulting in two zygotes in the uterus at the same time.
Germinal Period
First two weeks after fertilization, during which the zygote moves down to the uterus and begins to implant in the lining.
Embryo
Name for the developing organism from two weeks to eight weeks after fertilization.
Embryonic Period
The period from two to eight weeks after fertilization, during which the major organs and structures of the organism develop.
Critical Periods
Times during which certain environmental influences can have an impact on the development of the infant.
Teratogen
any factor that can cause a birth defect
Fetal Period
The time from about eight weeks after conception until the birth of the child.
Fetus
Name for the developing organism from eight weeks after fertilization to the birth of the baby.
Teratogens: Measles, Mumps, and Rubella
Blindness, deafness, heart defects, brain damage
Teratogens: Marijuana
Irritability, nervousness, tremors; infant is easily disturbed, startled
Teratogens: Cocaine
Decreased height, low birth weight, respiratory problems, seizures, learning difficulties; infant is difficult to soothe.
Teratogens: Alcohol
Fetal alcohol syndrome (intellectual disability, delayed, facial malformation), learning difficulties, smaller the normal heads.
Teratogens: Nicotine
Miscarriage, low birth weight, stillbirth, short stature, intellectual disability, smaller than normal heads
Teratogens: Mercury
Intellectual disability, blindness
Teratogens: Vitamin A (high doses)
Facial, ear, central nervous system, and heart defects
Teratogens: Caffeine
Miscarriage, low birth weight, stillbirth, short stature, intellectual disability, learning disabilities.
Teratogens: Toxoplasmosis
Brain swelling, spinal abnormalities, deafness, blindness, intellectual disability
Teratogens: High Water Temperatures
Increased chance of neural tube defects
Cognitive Development
The development of thinking, problem solving, and memory.
Scheme
In the case, a mental concept formed through experiences with objects and events.
Sensorimotor Stage
Piaget’s first stage of cognitive development, in which the infant uses its senses and motor abilities to interact with objects in the environment.
Object Permanence
The knowledge that an object exists even when it is not in sight.
Preoperational Stage
Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, in which the preschool child learns to use language as a means of exploring the world.
Egocentrism
the inability to see that world through anyone else’s eyes
Centration
in Piaget’s theory, the tendency of a young child to focus only on one feature of an object while ignoring its other relevant features.
Conservation
In Piaget’s theory, the ability to understand that simply changing the appearance of an object does not change the objects nature.
Irreversibility
in Piaget’s theory, the inability of the young child to mentally reverse an action.
Concrete Operations Stage
Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development, in which the school-age child becomes capable of logical thought processes but is not yet capable of abstract thinking.
Formal Operations Stage
Piaget’s last stage of cognitive development, in which the adolescent becomes capable of abstract thinking.
Scaffolding
process in which a more skilled learner gives help to a less skilled learner, reducing the amount of help as the less skilled learner becomes more capable
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Vygotsky’s concept of the difference between what a child can do alone and what that child can do with the help of a teacher.
Stages of Language Development
- Cooing
- Babbling
- One-word Speech
- Telegraphic Speech
- Whole Sentences
Cooing
At around 2 months of age, babies begin to make vowel-like sounds
Babbling
At around 6 months, infants add consonant sounds to the vowels to make a babbling sound, which at times can almost sound like real speech.
(Deaf children actually decrease babbling after 6 months while using sign language more)
One-word speech
- Around 1 year old
- say actual words (holophrases -“one word”)
Telegraphic Speech
- Around a year and a half old
- make short simple sentences
Whole Sentences
- Preschool Years (Use grammatical terms & increase # of words in sentences)
- Age 6 (nearly fluent allow less vocabulary than an adult)
Temperament
The behavioural characteristics that are fairly well established at birth, such as easy, difficult, and slow to warm up.
Attachment
The emotional bond between an infant and the primary caregiver.
Harlow and Contact Comfort
Rhesus monkey has two surrogate “mothers” one made of wire and one that is soft and fuzzy. The monkey spends all of its time with the soft, fuzzy one even though the wire one feeds it. This displays Harlow’s theory of the importance of contact comfort in attachment.
Gender
The behaviour associated with being male or female
Gender Identity
The individual’s sense of being male or female.
Gender Roles
A culture’s expectations for masculine or feminine behaviour, including attitudes, actions, and personality traits associated with being male or female in that culture.
Opioids
- substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects
- used medically to relieve pain
- examples are morphine, hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl
- antagonist drugs such as naloxone and endogenous peptides such as the endorphins
Adolescence
The period of life from about age 13 to the early 20s, during which a young person is no longer physically a child but is not yet an independent, self supporting adult.
Puberty
The physical changes that occur in the body as sexual development reaches its peak.
Personal Fable
Type of thought common to adolescents in which young people believe themselves to be unique and protected from harm.
Imaginary Audience
type of thought common to adolescents in which young people believe that other people are just as concerned about the adolescents thoughts and characteristics as they themselves are.
Ageism
Discrimination against individuals because of their age.
Menopause
The cessation of ovulation and menstrual cycles and the end of a woman’s reproductive capability.
Andropause
Gradual changes in the sexual hormones and reproductive system of middle aged males.
Intimacy
An emotional and psychological closeness that is based on the ability to trust, share, and care while still remaining a sense of self l.
Generativity
Providing guidance to one’s children or the next generation, or contributing to the well-being of the next generation through career or volunteer work.
Authoritarian Parenting
Style of parenting in which parent is rigid and overly strict, showing little warmth to the child.
Permissive Parenting
Style of parenting in which parent makes few, if any, demands on a child’s behaviour.
Permissive Neglectful
Permissive parenting in which parents are uninvolved with a child or child’s behaviour.
Permissive Indulgent l
Permissive parenting in which parents are so involved that children are allowed to behave without set limits.
Authoritative Parenting
Style of parenting in which parents combine warmth and affection with firm limits on a child’s behaviour.
Integrity
Sense of wholeness that comes from having lived a full life and the ability to let go of regrets; the final completion of the ego.
Activity Theory
Theory of adjustment to aging that assumes older people are happier if they remain active in some way, such as volunteering or developing a hobby.
Motivation
The process to which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or physiological needs or wants are met.
Extrinsic Motivation
Type of motivation in which a person performs an action because it leads to an outcome that is separate from or external to the person.
Intrinsic Motivation
Type of motivation in which a person performs an action because the act itself is rewarding or satisfying in some internal matter.
Instincts
The biologically determined and innate patterns of behaviour that exist in both people and animals.
Instinct Approach
Approach to motivation that assumes people are governed by instincts similar to those of animals.
