Midterm Flashcards
What is psychology?
Using the scientific approach to understand how we process information acquired by our senses and experience emotions, and how those affect our actions; the scientific study of behaviour, thought and experience, and how they can be affected by physical, mental, social and environmental factors
What is the principle of parsimony?
The simplest (most parsimonious) of all competing explanations of a phenomenon should be the one we accept
What does ‘falsifiable’ mean?
The hypothesis is precise enough that it could be proven false
What is psuedoscience?
An idea that is presented as science but does not actually utilize basic principles of scientific thinking/procedures
What is scientific literacy?
The ability to understand, analyze, and apply scientific information
What is the biopsychosocial method?
A means of explaining behaviour as a product of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors
What is a hypothesis?
A testable prediction about processes that can be observed and measured
What is a theory?
An explanation for a broad range of observations that also generates new hypotheses and integrates numerous findings into a coherent whole; not the same as opinions/beliefs, are not equally plausible, and the quality is not determined by the # of people who believe it
What does ‘critical thinking’ mean?
Critical thinking involves exercising curiosity and skepticism when evaluating the claims of others, and with our own assumptions and beliefs; question, avoid emotion, avoid over simplification, tolerate ambiguity, compare
What is the scientific method?
A way of learning about the world through collecting observations, developing theories to explain them, and using the theories to make predictions
What is determinism?
The belief that all events are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships
What is functionalism?
The study of the purpose and function of behaviour and conscious experience; William James
What is psychoanalysis?
A psychological approach that attempts to explain how behaviour and personality are influenced by unconscious processes
What is Gestalt psychology?
An approach emphasizing that psychologists need to focus on the whole of perception and experience, rather than its parts
What is materialism?
The belief that humans, and other living things, are composed exclusively of physical matter
What is psychophysics?
The study of the relationship between the physical world and the mental representation of that world
What is behaviourism?
An approach that dominated the first half of the 20th century of North American psychology and had a singular focus on studying only observable behaviour, with little to no reference to mental events or instincts as possible influences on behaviour; B.F. Skinner
What is empiricism?
A philosophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience
What is humanistic psychology?
It focuses on the unique aspects of each individual human, each person’s freedom to act, his or her rational thought, and the belief that humans are fundamentally different from other animals
What is dualism?
The belief that there are properties of humans that are not material (a mind or soul separate from the body)
What is clinical psychology?
The field of psychology that concentrates on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders
What is cognitive psychology?
A modern psychological perspective that focuses on processes such as memory, thinking, and language
What is zeitgeist?
It refers to a general set of beliefs of a particular culture at a specific time in history
What is structuralism?
An attempt to analyze conscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements, and to understand how these elements work together; not valid/reliable; Titchener
What is social psychology?
The study of the influence of other people on our behaviour
How did psychology as a science emerge?
1 - Carefully measured observations that relied on introspection (not reliable, turn to systematic approach)
2 - Experiments
What is cognitivism?
Return to mental processes by using other approaches than introspection; Jean Piaget; objective confirmation
Why do we need a scientific approach?
Intuition is coloured by cognitive biases; Ex. hindsight bias, single case, perceiving order in incidental events; help organize
Why are we biased?
Simplify our thinking, helps us make decisions, protects how we view the world
What is an operational definition?
Statements that describe the procedures and specific measures used to record observations; objective/measurable, over simplification
What is knowledge mobilization?
Obligation to tell others; peer review; act of putting knowledge generated through research to active use
What are the six key principles of scientific thinking?
Falsifiability, replicability, extraordinary claims, Occam’s razor (simpler explanation?), ruling out rival hypotheses, correlation vs. causation
What is reliability?
Consistent and stable answers across multiple observations and points in time; Test re-test reliability, internal consistency
What is a variable?
The object or event being measured
What is the Hawthorne effect?
Behaviour change that occurs as a result of being observed; solution = unobtrusive measure
What is an appeal to common sense?
A claim that appears to be sound, but lacks supporting scientific evidence
What is a random sample?
A sampling technique in which every individual of a population has an equal chance of being included
What is the placebo effect?
A measurable and experienced improvement in health or behaviour that cannot be attributable to a medication or treatment; participant believes in the effectiveness of the manipulation; solution = control group with double-blind study
What is a population?
The group that researchers want to generalize about
What is a sample?
A select group of population members
What is anecdotal evidence?
An individual’s story or testimony about an observation or event that is used to make a claim as evidence
What are objective measurements?
The measure of an entity or behaviour that, within an allowed margin of error, is consistent across instruments and observers
What are convenience samples?
Samples of individuals who are the most readily available
What is social desirability?
Research participants respond in ways that increase the chances that they will be viewed favourably
What is replication?
The process of repeating a study and finding a similar outcome each time
What is a single-blind study?
A study in which participants do not know the true purpose of the study, or else do not know which type of treatment they are receiving (ex. a placebo or drug)
What is generalizability?
The degree to which one set of results can be applied to other situations, individuals, or events
What is an “appeal to authority”?
The belief in an “expert’s” claim even when no supporting data or scientific evidence is present
What are “demand characteristics”?
Inadvertent cues given off by the experimenter or the experimental context that provide information about how participants are expected to behave
What is “validity”?
The degree to which an instrument or procedure actually measures what it claims to measure
What is “ecological validity”?
The results of a laboratory study can be applied to or repeated in the natural environment
What is a double-blind study?
A study in which neither the participant nor the experimenter knows the exact treatment for any individual
What is “peer review”?
A process in which papers submitted in scholarly journals are read and critiqued by experts in the specific field of study
What are the 6 characteristics of quality scientific research?
1 - Objective, valid, and reliable measurements 2 - Research can be generalized 3 - Reducing bias 4 - Findings are made public 5 - Results can be replicated 6 - Done ethically
What are ‘demand characteristics’?
They affect how participants respond in research studies; attempt to portray themselves in a positive light
What is ‘self-reporting’?
A method in which responses are provided directly by the people who are being studied, typically through face-to-face interviews, phone surveys, paper/pencil tests, and web-based questionnaires
What is a dependent variable?
The observation or measurement that is recorded during the experiment and subsequently compared across all groups
What is an independent variable?
The variable that the experimenter manipulates to distinguish between 2 or more groups
What is correlational research?
Involves measuring the degree of association between 2 or more variables
What are “within-subject designs”?
An experimental design in which the same participants respond to all types of stimuli or experience all experimental conditions
What is a control group?
The group that does not receive the treatment or stimuli targeting a specific behaviour; this group therefore serves as a baseline to which the experimental group is compared
What is a third variable problem?
The possibility that a third, unmeasured variable is actually responsible for a well-established correlation between 2 variables
What is quantitative research?
Examining an issue or behaviour by using numerical measurements and/or statistics
What is a case study?
An in-depth report about the details of a specific case; overgeneralization
What is qualitative research?
Examining an issue or behaviour without performing numerical measurements of the variables
What are illusory correlations?
Relationships that really exist only in the mind, rather than in reality
What are naturalistic observations?
Observations that unobtrusively observe and record behaviour as it occurs in the subject’s natural environment; without control or manipulation
What is quasi-experimental research?
A research technique in which the 2 or more groups that are compared are selected based on predetermined characteristics, rather than random assignment
What is research design?
A set of methods that allows a hypothesis to be tested
What is an experimental group?
The group in the experiment that receives a treatment or the stimuli targeting a specific behaviour
What is a confounding variable?
A variable outside of the researcher’s control that might affect or provide an alternative explanation for the results
What is random assignment?
A technique for dividing samples into 2 or more groups in which participants are equally likely to be placed in any condition of the experiment
What is ‘between-subjects design’?
An experimental design in which we compare the performance of participants who are in different groups
What is positive correlation?
Variables increase or decrease together
What is negative correlation?
Variables are inversely related (as one increases, the other decreases)
What do experiments rely on?
Randomization and the manipulation of an independent variable to show cause and effect
Which research method is most common?
Experimental, because the primary goal is to examine causes
How do researchers control for external factors?
- Random assignment, and 2. Standardizing procedures
What is statistical inference?
Start with the assumption that there is no difference between conditions (null hypothesis); if probability is <5%, we can reject the null
What is debriefing?
When researchers explain the true nature of the study, and especially the nature of and reason for any deceptions
What is informed consent?
A potential volunteer must be informed (know the purpose, tasks, and risks involved in the study) and give consent (agree to participate based on the information provided) without pressure
What is the research ethics board (REB)?
A committee of researchers and officials at an institution charged with the protection of research participants
What is deception?
Misleading or only partially informing participants of the true topic or hypothesis under investigation
Why use animal testing?
- Research questions affecting medical/public health cannot be answered without animal testing, 2. Ethics may not allow research on humans, 3. Can control genetic/environmental variables
What is construct validity?
The extent to which the variables in a study truly represent the abstract concept of interest to the researcher
What is experimenter bias?
The experimenter’s expectations may influence the results; Solution = double-blind procedure
What is anonymity?
Anonymity means that each individual’s responses are recorded without any identifying information that could link a response to a particular individual
What is confidentiality?
The results will be seen only by the researcher
What does it mean to do ethical research?
1 - Clear benefits of the research to society and those have to outweigh the risks imposed on participants
2 - Participants need to have the opportunity to provide informed consent
What are stem cells?
A unique type of cell that does not have a predestined function; cell ‘virgin’ can take any function in the body if in the appropriate environment
What is an action potential?
A wave of electrical activity that originates at the beginning of the axon near the cell body and rapidly travels down its length; a neural impulse that travels to the terminal buttons by the axon is generated by moving positive and negative charges (akin to a wave)
What are agonists?
Drugs that enhance or mimic the effects of a neurotransmitter’s action; fills and activates receptor site; L-dopa for Parkinson’s disease
What is the hypothalamus?
A brain structure that regulates basic biological needs and motivational systems
What are glial cells?
Specialized cells of the nervous system that are involved in mounting immune responses in the brain, removing waste, and synchronizing the activity of the billions of neurons that constitute the nervous system
What is resting potential?
Relatively stable state during which the cell is not transmitting messages
What is the all-or-none principle?
Individual nerve cells fire at the same strength every time an action potential occurs; the signal strength = frequency of firing
What is serotonin?
A monoamine involved in regulating mood, sleep, aggression and appetite; undersupply linked to depression symptoms
What are the adrenal glands?
A pair of endocrine glands located adjacent to the kidneys that release stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine
What is myelin?
A fatty sheath that insulates axons from one another, resulting in increased speed and efficiency of neural communication
What is acetylcholine?
One of the most widespread neurotransmitters within the body, found at the junctions between nerve cells and skeletal muscles; it is very important for voluntary movement; attention/memory/learning; Huntingdon’s disease
What are antagonists?
Inhibit neurotransmitter activity by blocking receptors or preventing synthesis of a neurotransmitter; curare on darts
What is endorphin?
A hormone produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus that functions to reduce pain and induce feelings of pleasure
What are synapses?
The microscopically small spaces that separate individual nerve cells
What does ‘reuptake’ mean?
A process whereby neurotransmitter molecules that have been released into the synapse are reabsorbed into the axon terminals of the presynaptic neuron
What are neurotransmitters?
The chemicals that function as messengers allowing neurons to communicate with each other; different neurotransmitters have different receptor sites (keys/locks)
What is dopamine?
A monoamine neurotransmitter involved in such varied functions as mood, control of voluntary movement, and processing of rewarding experiences; Parkinson’s disease, ADHD
What is glutamate?
Most common excitatory neurotransmitter in the brains of vertebrates; learning/memory; oversupply = migraine/seizures
What is the pituitary gland?
The master gland of the endocrine system that produces hormones and sends commands about hormone production to the other glands of the endocrine system
What is an axon?
Transports information in the form of electrochemical reactions from the cell body to the end of the neuron
What is GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid)?
The primary inhibitory neurotransmitter of the nervous system, meaning that it prevents neurons from generating action potentials; lowers arousal, sleep, learning/memory; Alcohol increases GABA activity
What are dendrites?
Small branches radiating from the cell body that receive messages from other cells and transmit those messages toward the rest of the cell
What is norepinephrine/noradrenaline?
A monoamine synthesized from dopamine molecules that is involved in regulating stress responses, including increasing arousal, attention and heart rate; undersupply linked to ADD
What are hormones?
Chemicals secreted by the glands of the endocrine system
What are neurons?
One of the major types of cells found in the nervous system, which are responsible for sending and receiving messages throughout the body
What is the cell body?
The part of a neuron that contains the nucleus that houses the cell’s genetic material
What is neurogenesis?
The formation of new neurons from immature stem cells
What is the refractory period?
(1) Brief period in which a neuron cannot fire; (2) a time period during which erection and orgasm are not physically possible
What is a synaptic cleft?
The minute space between the axon terminal (terminal button) and the dendrite
What are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors?
(SSRIs) Slow reuptake process to increase serotonin and synapse; ex. Prozac
What was Descartes’ perspective?
The mind resides outside the body; known as dualism
What is the premise of psychology?
The human mind and the human brain are one
What is depolarization?
The ‘firing’ of a neuron, movement of charges
What is synaptic pruning?
Elimination and creation of new connections; A process in which weak and unused nerve cell connections are lost
What are nerves?
Consist of neural cables containing many axons
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
Arousing; fight or flight; prepare the body for action
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
Calming; rest and digest; helps maintain homeostatic balance in the presence of change
What is the endocrine system?
Set of glands that produce chemical messengers (hormones); slower but longer response than nervous system
What are hormones?
Substances synthesized by the endocrine glands and travel through the bloodstream (eg. epinephrine)
What is the somatic nervous system?
Consists of nerves that control skeletal muscles, which are responsible for voluntary and reflexive movement; it also consists of nerves that receive sensory input from the body
What are the occipital lobes?
Located at the rear of the brain and are where visual information is processed
What is the corpus callosum?
A collection of neural fibres connecting the 2 brain hemispheres
What is the brainstem?
The ‘stem’ or bottom of the brain and consists of 2 structures: the medulla and the pons; coordination of voluntary movement and balance
What is the cerebellum?
(‘Little brain’) the lobe-like structure at the base of the brain that is involved in the monitoring of movement, maintaining balance, attention, and emotional responses
What is the basal ganglia?
A group of 3 structures that are involved in facilitating planned movements, skill learning, and integrating sensory and movement information with the brain’s reward system
What is the amygdala?
A group of nuclei in the medial portion (middle) of the temporal lobes in each hemisphere of the brain that facilitates memory formation for (negative) emotional events, mediates fear responses, and appears to play a role in recognizing and interpreting emotional stimuli, including facial expressions
What is lesioning?
A technique that inflicts controlled damage to brain tissue so as to study its function
What is the forebrain?
The most visibly obvious region of the brain, consists of all the neural structures that are located above the midbrain, including all of the folds/grooves on the outer surface of the brain; the multiple interconnected structures in the forebrain are critical to such complex processes as emotion, memory, thinking and reasoning
What is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)?
A procedure in which researchers send an electromagnetic pulse to a targeted region of the brain, which can either stimulate or temporarily disable it
What is functional MRI (fMRI)?
Brain imaging technology designed to measure changes in oxygen-rich blood flow, which is correlated with neural activity, throughout the brain
What is the cerebral cortex?
The convoluted, wrinkled outer layer of the brain that is involved in multiple higher functions, such as thought, language, and personality
What is the autonomic nervous system?
Portion of the peripheral nervous system responsible for regulating the activity of organs and glands
What is the hindbrain?
A brain region consisting of structures that are critical to controlling basic, life-sustaining processes
What is the midbrain?
Resides just above the hindbrain, primarily functions as a relay station between sensory and motor areas; tracking of visual stimuli and reflexes triggered by sound
What are the parietal lobes?
Involved in our experiences of touch, as well as our bodily awareness; information about environment
What is positron emission tomography (PET)?
A type of brain scanning technology in which a low level of radioactive glucose is injected into the blood, and its movement to regions of brain engaged in a particular task is measured
What is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?
A technology designed to acquire highly detailed images of brain anatomy via exposure to a strong (and harmless) magnetic field; structural imaging
What is the central nervous system (CNS)?
Consists of the brain and spinal cord
What is the limbic system?
An integrated network involved in emotion and memory; hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus; processes information about internal states
What is magnetoencephalography (MEG)?
Technology that measures magnetic fields created by the electrical activity of nerve cells in the brain
What is the hippocampus?
Critical for learning and memory, particularly the formation of new episodic memories; mental maps
What are the temporal lobes?
Located at the sides of the brain near the ears and are involved in hearing, language and some higher-aspects of vision such as object and face recognition; active in deaf with sign language
What is neuroplasticity?
The capacity of the brain to change and rewire itself based on individual experience; Helps people recover from brain damage
What are the frontal lobes?
Important in numerous higher cognitive functions, such as planning, regulating impulses and emotion, language production, and voluntary movement
What is the thalamus?
A set of nuclei involved in relaying sensory information to different regions of the brain
What is the peripheral nervous system?
A division of the nervous system that transmits signals between the brain and the rest of the body and is divided into 2 subcomponents (somatic and autonomic system)
What is the electroencephalogram (EEG)?
A measure of brain activity that uses electrodes attached to the scalp to measure patterns of brain activity
What have split-brain patients told us?
Corpus callosum surgically severed, optic chiasm stays intact; There are 2 hemispheres specialized for certain cognitive tasks; useful before brain imaging became available
What is a computerized tomography (CT) scan?
A structural neuroimaging technique in which x-rays are sent through the brain by a tube that rotates around the head
What is functional neuroimaging?
A type of brain scanning that provides information about which areas of the brain are active when a person performs a particular behaviour
What is structural neuroimaging?
A type of brain scanning that produces images of the different structures of the brain
What is diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)?
A form of structural neuroimaging allowing researchers or medical personnel to measure white-matter pathways in the brain
What is a common process by which doctors diagnose brain injury?
1 - CT scan provides initial picture; 2 - MRI provides more detailed image (no metal fragments); 3 - DTI diagnoses white matter damage
What is the medulla?
Base of brainstem; “life-sustaining” functions (i.e. breathing)
What is the pons?
Helps coordinate unconscious movements; sleep
What is the reticular formation?
A collection of numerous neural networks spread throughout brain stem; regulates cardiovascular system, breathing, sleep, consciousness, arousal; filter incoming sensory information
What is the hypothalamus?
Associated with emotions/motivations; regulation of hunger/thirst/body temperature; Pleasure (dopamine producing cells); directs endocrine system via pituitary gland
What is the cerebral cortex and how is it divided?
Processes external stimuli; Circonvolutions (folds); grey matter = cell bodies, white matter = axons; glial cells keep rest of brain healthy
Why do we have such a large prefrontal cortex?
Executive function (good vs. bad, impulse control); top-down behaviour; social behaviour/relationships; humans can keep 150 relationships
What is Broca’s area?
Verbal abilities, produces language
What is Wernicke’s area?
Language comprehension
What is left hemisphere’s role?
Generally, language and analytical thinking
What is right hemisphere’s role?
Generally, visual and spacial tasks
What is the preoperational stage?
(ages 2-7) The stage of development devoted to language development, using symbols, pretend play, and mastering the concept of conservation (Pretend play and egocentrism)
What is the formal operational stage?
(ages 11-adulthood) The development of advanced cognitive processes such as abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking (abstract logic and potential for mature moral reasoning)
What is the sensitive period?
A window of time during which exposure to a specific type of environmental stimulation is needed for normal development of a specific ability
What is the sensorimotor stage?
(birth-2 years) A time during which infants’ thinking about and exploration of the world are based on immediate sensory (eg. seeing, feeling) and motor (eg. grabbing, mouthing) experiences (object permanence and stranger anxiety)
What is self-awareness?
The ability to recognize one’s individuality
What is theory of mind?
The ability to understand that people have thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives that may be different from one’s own
What is the caregiving behavioural system?
Focused on meeting the needs of others
What is the attachment behavioural system?
Focused on meeting our own needs for security
What is the core knowledge hypothesis?
The theory that infants have inborn abilities for understanding some key aspects of their environment
What is temperament?
A general emotional reactivity typically found in infants that serves as the basis for the development of adult personality; person’s characteristic style and intensity of emotional reactivity
What is inductive discipline?
Involves explaining the consequences of a child’s actions on other people, activating empathy for others’ feelings
What is the concrete operational stage?
(ages 7-11) Developmental stage at which children develop skills in logical thinking and manipulating numbers (conservation and mathematical transformations)
What is introjection?
The internalization of the conditional regard of significant others
What is cognitive development?
The study of changes in memory, thought, and reasoning processes that occur throughout the lifespan
What is attachment?
The enduring emotional bond formed between individuals; desire for physical closeness to caregiver
What is scaffolding?
A highly attentive approach to teaching in which the teacher matches guidance to the learner’s needs
What is conservation?
The knowledge that the quantity or amount of an object is not the same as the physical arrangement and appearance of that object
What does egocentric mean?
Seeing the world only from one’s own perspective
What is the zone of proximal development?
The concept that development is ideal when children attempt skills and activities that are just beyond what they can do alone, but they have guidance from adults who are attentive to their progress
What is object permanence?
The ability to understand that objects exist even when they cannot be directly perceived
What is assimilation?
A conservative process, whereby people fit new information into the belief systems they already possess; absorbs into existing schema
What is “strange situation”?
A way of measuring infant attachment by observing how infants behave when exposed to different experiences that involve anxiety and comfort
What is dishabituation?
The recovery of responsiveness to a habituated stimulus as the result of the presentation of a new stimulus
What is habituation?
A decrease in responding with repeated exposure to a stimulus or event
What is accommodation?
A creative process whereby people modify their belief structures based on experience; modifies schema
What is Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development?
Sensorimotor -> Preoperational -> Concrete operational -> Formal operational
What are the different attachment styles?
Secure (healthy relationships, distress at separation) or insecure (disorganized, anxious, avoidant)
What does maturation mean?
Biologically-driven growth and development enabling a sequence of predictable cognitive and behavioural changes; nurture can adjust timing, but nature sets sequence
What is cognition?
Mental activities that help us function, including problem-solving, storing knowledge, language
What is a schema?
A ‘mental container’ that holds our experiences and organizes them according to similarities and differences
How does Piaget describe development?
1 - combination of nurture and nature; 2 - occurs in steps
What is socialization?
The process by which children learn norms and values that regulate their social environment
What is authoritarian parenting?
Parents impose rules “because I said so” and expect obedience
What is permissive parenting?
Parents submit to kids’ desires, not enforcing limits or standards for child behaviour
What is authoritative parenting?
Parents enforce rules, limits, and standards but also explain, discuss, listen, and express respect for child’s ideas and wishes
What happens when a child is deprived of attachment?
Difficulty forming secure attachments, increased risk for anxiety/depression, lowered intelligence, increased aggression
What is spermarche?
During puberty, a male’s first ejaculation of sperm
What is postconventional morality?
Considers rules and laws as relative
What are primary sex traits?
Changes in the body that are part of reproduction
What is conventional morality?
Regards social conventions and rules as guides for appropriate moral behaviour
What is identity?
A clear sense of what kind of person you are, what types of people you belong with, and what roles you should play in society
What is delay gratification?
Putting off immediate temptations in order to focus on longer-term goals
What is menarche?
The onset of menstruation
What is preconventional morality?
Characterized by self-interest in seeking reward or avoiding punishment
What are secondary sex traits?
Changes in the body that are not part of reproduction
What does identity formation consist of?
Exploring different values and behaviours, seeking inclusion in different social groups; eventual outcome = relatively stable and personally satisfying sense of self
How do relationships change in adolescence?
Shift from family to friends/intimate relationships
What are moral emotions?
These feelings are what lead to moral behaviour; reasoning follows as justification to self
What leads to risk taking in adolescence?
Tug-of-war between emotional reward and prefrontal cortex; prefrontal cortex is still developing, so it is not often sufficient to override temptations
What is menopause?
The termination of the menstrual cycle and reproductive ability in women
What is dementia?
Mild to severe disruption of mental functioning, memory loss, disorientation, poor judgement, and decision making
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
A degenerative and terminal condition resulting in severe damage of the entire brain; buildup of proteins that clump together in spaces between neurons
What is the socioemotional selectivity theory?
Describes how older people have learned to select for themselves more positive and nourishing experiences
What are the four horsemen of the relationship apocalypse?
Being abusive, stonewalling, guilt-tripping, being contemptuous
What is generativity?
Desire to have a positive impact on the world
What do maturation, experience and education lead to?
Appreciating multiple answers, tolerate intellectual uncertainty, assess validity using critical thinking, accept multiple relativistic answers
What are Lawrence Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning?
Preconventional morality (reward vs. punishment) -> Conventional morality (societal values) -> Posconventional morality (internal morality)
What is Erik Erikson’s model of social development?
Model of lifelong psychosocial development; trust vs. mistrust -> autonomy vs. shame/doubt -> initiative vs. guilt -> competency vs. inferiority -> identity vs. role confusion -> intimacy vs. isolation -> generativity vs. stagnation -> integrity vs. despair
How do cognitive abilities change in later years?
Crystallized intelligence remains stable, fluid intelligence declines
What is bottom-up processing?
Occurs when we perceive individual bits of sensory information (ex. sounds) and use them to construct a more complex perception (ex. a message); Starts with primary visual cortex followed by association cortex
What is selective attention?
Involves focussing on one particular event or task; what we focus on is what we perceive; attention is limited
What is sensation?
The process of detecting external events with sense organs and turning those stimuli into neural signals
What is signal detection theory?
Whether a stimulus is perceived depends on both sensory experience and judgement made by the subject
What is the doctrine of specific nerve energies?
First proposed in 1826 by the German psychologist Johannes Muller, the doctrine states that the different senses are separated in the brain
What is inattentional blindness?
A failure to notice clearly visible events or object because attention is directed elsewhere
What is sensory adaptation?
The reduction of activity in sensory receptors with repeated exposure to a stimulus
What is perception?
Involves attending to, organizing, and interpreting stimuli that we sense
What is transduction?
Takes place when specialized receptors transform the physical energy of the outside world into neural impulses
What is psychophysics?
The study of the relationship between the physical world and the mental representation of that world
What is Weber’s Law?
States that the just noticeable difference between 2 stimuli changes as a proportion of those stimuli
What is divided attention?
Paying attention to more than one stimulus/task at the same time
What is the difference threshold?
The smallest difference between stimuli that can be reliably detected at least 50% of the time
What is top-down processing?
When our perceptions are influenced by our expectations or by our prior knowledge; starts with association cortex followed by primary visual cortex
What is the absolute threshold?
The minimum amount of energy or quantity of a stimulus required for it to be reliably detected at least 50% of the time it is presented
What is Gestalt psychology?
Although the individual parts of a stimulus may have little meaning on their own, these parts can be grouped together in ways that are perceived as distinct patterns (figure and ground, proximity, similarity, continuity, closure)
What is the iris?
A round muscle that adjusts the size of the pupil; it also gives the eyes their characteristic colour
What is perceptual constancy?
The ability to perceive objects as having constant shape, size, and colour despite changes in perspective
What is dark adaptation?
The process by which the rods and cones become increasingly sensitive to light under low levels of illumination
What is the sclera?
The white, outer surface of the eye
What is the cornea?
The clear layer that covers the front portion of the eye and also contributes to the eye’s ability to focus
What is the opponent-process theory?
A theory of colour perception stating that we perceive colour in terms of opposing pairs: red to green, yellow to blue, and white to black
What is the Young-Helmholtz theory (or trichromatic theory)?
Maintains that the colour vision is determined by 3 different cone types that are wavelengths of light
What is the lens?
A clear structure that focuses light onto the back of the eye
What is the pupil?
Regulates the amount of light that enters the eye by changing its size; it dilates (expands) to allow more light to enter and constricts (shrinks) to allow less light into the eye
What is the fovea?
The central region of the retina
What is the optic nerve?
A dense bundle of fibres that connect to the brain
What is convergence?
Occurs when the eye muscles contract so that both eyes focus on a single object
What are monocular cues?
Depth cues that we can perceive with only one eye; linear perspective, relative size, texture gradient, interposition, height in plane
What are binocular depth cues?
Distance cues that are based on the differing perspectives of both eyes
What are cones?
Photoreceptors that are sensitive to the different wavelengths of light that we perceive as colour
What are rods?
Photoreceptors that occupy peripheral regions of the retina; they are highly sensitive under low light levels
What is retinal (or binocular) disparity?
The difference in relative position of an object as seen by both eyes, which provides information to the brain about depth
What is the retina?
Lines the inner surface of the eye and consists of specialized receptors that absorb light and send signals related to the properties of light to the brain
What path does visual information follow?
Light transformed into neural signal by photoreceptors in retina; information relayed via optic nerve through the thalamus then to occipital lobe of cortex; neural circuits travel to other regions for specific levels of processing (temporal/parietal lobes)
What controls object/face perception?
Specialized perceptual regions of temporal lobe (ventral stream); facial recognition is specialized; some ganglion cells are dedicated; supercells integrate these feature signals to more complex forms
How do senses pass to brain?
Reception (stimulation) -> Transduction (neural impulses) -> Transmission (processing)
What does ‘subliminal’ mean?
Below our threshold for being able to consciously detect a stimulus, but still registered by sensory organ
What is the Law of Pragnanz?
We perceive stimuli in our environment in their simplest form
What creates different colours and intensities/brightness of light?
Wavelength and amplitude, respectfully
What is somnambulism?
A disorder that involves wandering and other activities while asleep; also known as sleepwalking
What is jet lag?
The discomfort a person feels when sleep cycles are out of synchronization with light and darkness
What is positive sleep state misperception?
A condition in which an individual substantially overestimates the amount of sleep the person is getting
What is problem-solving theory?
The theory that thoughts and concerns are continuous from waking to sleeping, and that dreams may function to facilitate finding solutions to problems encountered while awake
What are nightmares?
Particularly vivid and disturbing dreams that occur during REM sleep
What is consciousness?
A person’s subjective awareness, including thoughts, perceptions, experiences of the world, and self-awareness
What is manifest content?
In psychoanalytic terms, the imagery and storylines that make up a dream
What is the preserve and protect hypothesis?
Suggests that 2 adaptive functions of sleep are preserving energy and protecting the organism from harm
What is sleep state misperception?
A condition in which a person substantially underestimates the amount of sleep she gets
What is insomnia?
A disorder characterized by an extreme lack of sleep
What is REM sleep?
A stage of sleep characterized by quickening brain waves, inhibited body movement, and rapid eye movement (REM)
What are endogenous rhythms?
Biological rhythms that are generated by our body independent of external cues such as light
What are circadian rhythms?
Internally driven daily cycles of approximately 24 hours affecting physiological and behavioural processes
What is sleep displacement?
Occurs when an individual is prevented from sleeping at the normal time although she/he may be able to sleep earlier or later in the day than usual
What are night terrors?
Intense bouts of panic and arousal that awaken the individual, typically in a heightened emotional state
What is entrainment?
When biological rhythms become synchronized to external cues such as light, temperature or even a clock
What is the restore and repair hypothesis?
The idea that the body needs to restore energy levels and repair any wear and tear during the day’s activities
What is REM sleep behaviour disorder?
When a victim acts out their dreams
What is sleep deprivation?
Occurs when an individual cannot or does not sleep
What is polysomnography?
A set of objective measurements used to examine physiological variables during sleep
What is the activation-synthesis hypothesis?
Suggests that dreams arise from brain activity originating from bursts of excitatory messages from the pons, a part of the brainstem
What is latent content?
The actual symbolic meaning of a dream built on suppressed sexual or aggressive cues
What is narcolepsy?
A disorder in which a person experiences extreme daytime sleepiness and even sleep attacks
What is the neurocognitive hypothesis of dreaming?
Prediction that dreaming is not a completely random by-product of brain stem activity but rather reflects waking preoccupations and emotional experiences
What is restless legs syndrome?
A persistent feeling of discomfort in the legs and the urge to continuously shift them into different positions
What is sleep apnea?
A disorder characterized by the temporary inability to breathe during sleep
What is parallel processing?
Building perceptions out of sensory details processed in different areas of the brain at the same time
According to William James, what is the “stream of consciousness” governed by?
1 - Every thought tends to be part of a personal consciousness; 2 - Consciousness is in constant change; 3 - Within each personal consciousness thought is sensibly continuous; 4 - It attends to some parts to the exclusion of others
What does attention do?
Guides perception; Involves processing of sensory information in such a way that it produces conscious experiences that we attend to
What does Broadbent’s filter theory of attention say?
Attention is a bottleneck through which information passes; Pay attention to important stimuli while we ignore others
What is selective inattention?
Refers to our failure to notice part of our environment when our attention is directed elsewhere
What is naive realism?
False belief that our senses are infallible and that our perceptions offer perfect representations of the world
What is the unconscious ‘low’ track?
Bottom up; below the absolute threshold; does not require attention; automatic actions
What is the conscious ‘high’ track?
Top down (hippocampus); above absolute threshold; requires attention; deliberate actions
What is the difference between initial and additional iterations?
Initial provides quick perceptions, whether additional iterations are needed; Additional iterations accompanied by reflective processes yield nuanced perceptions
What are context effects?
Context provides us a basis for expectations
What is a perceptual set?
What we expect to see influences what we do see (top-down processing)
What are psychoactive drugs?
Substances that affect thinking, behaviour, perception and emotion
What is dependence?
A need to take a drug to ward off unpleasant physical withdrawal symptoms; often referred to as addiction
What is ecstasy (MDMA)?
A drug that is typically classified as a stimulant, but also has hallucinogenic effects
What is physical dependence?
The need to take a drug to ward off unpleasant physical withdrawal symptoms
What is tolerance?
When repeated use of a drug results in a need for a higher dose to get the intended effect
What are sedative drugs?
Sometimes referred to as “downers”, depress activity of the central nervous system
What are stimulants?
A category of drugs that speed up the nervous system, typically enhancing wakefulness and alertness
What is marijuana?
A drug comprising the leaves and buds of the Cannabis plant that produces a combination of hallucinogenic, stimulant, and relaxing (narcotic) effects
What is psychological dependence?
Occurs when emotional need for a drug develops without any underlying physical dependence
What are opiates?
(aka narcotics) Drugs such as heroin and morphine that reduce pain and induce extremely intense feelings of euphoria
What are hallucinogenic drugs?
Substances that produce perceptual distortions
