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Psychology > Midterm Study > Flashcards

Midterm Study Flashcards

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1
Q

Plasticity

A

The Brain’s capacity for change

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2
Q

Afferent Nerves

A

Also known as sensory nerves, carry info to the brain and spinal cord. (Think “A” for “Arrival”)

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3
Q

Efferent Nerves

A

Also known as motor nerves, carry information out of the brain and spinal cord, the nervous system’s output. (Think “E” for “Exit”)

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4
Q

Neural Networks

A

Interconnected group of nerve cells that integrate sensory input and motor output.

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5
Q

Central Nervous System (CNS)

A

The Brain and Spinal Cord

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6
Q

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

A

Network of nerves that connects the brain and spinal cord to other parts of the body.

Brings information to and from the brain and spinal cord and carries out the commands of the CNS to execute various muscular and glandular activities.

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7
Q

What are the two systems of the PNS?

A

Somatic and the Autonomic

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8
Q

Somatic Nervous System

A

Sensory Nerves (Afferent) conveys info from skin and muscles to the CNS, such as pain and temperature, and motor nerves (Efferent) whose function is to tell those muscles what to do.

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9
Q

Autonomic Nervous System

A

Takes messages to and from the body’s internal organs, monitors breathing, heartrate, digestion.

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10
Q

What are the two parts of the Autonomic Nervous System?

A

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic

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11
Q

Sympathetic Nervous System

A

Arouses the body to mobilize for action and is involved in times of stress

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12
Q

Parasympathetic Nervous System

A

Calms the body.

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13
Q

Stress

A

The body’s response to stressors.

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14
Q

Stressors

A

The circumstances and events that threaten individuals and tax their coping abilities.

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15
Q

Neurons

A

Nerve cells that handle the information processing function.

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16
Q

Glial Cells (Glia)

A

Provide support, nutritional benefits, and other functions in the nervous system.

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17
Q

Cell Body

A

Part of the neuron that contains the nucleus, which directs the manufacture of substances that the neuron needs for growth and maintenance.

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18
Q

Dendrites

A

Treelike fibers projecting from a neuron, which receive info and orient it towards the neuron’s cell body.

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19
Q

Axon

A

Part of the neuron that carries information away from the cell body toward other cells.

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20
Q

Myelin Sheath

A

A layer of fat cells that encases and insulates most axons. This speeds up the transmission of nerve impulses.

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21
Q

Resting Potential

A

The stable, negative charge of an inactive neuron.

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22
Q

Action Potential

A

Brief wave of positive electrical charge that sweeps down the axon.

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23
Q

All-or-nothing principle

A

Once the electrical impulse reaches a certain level of intensity (its threshold) it fires and moves all the way down the axon without losing any intensity.

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24
Q

Synapses

A

Tiny spaces between neurons; the gaps between neurons are referred to as synaptic gaps

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25
Q

Neurotransmitters

A

Chemical substances that are stored in very tiny sacs within the neuron’s terminal buttons and involved in transmitting info across a synaptic gap to the next neuron.

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26
Q

Acetycholine

A

Stimulates the firing of neurons and is involved in the action of muscles, learning, and memory.

(Individuals with Alzheimer’s have an Acetycholine deficiency)

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27
Q

GABA (Gamma aminobutyric acid)

A

A neurotransmitter found throughout the CNS, controls the precision of the signal being carried from one neuron to the next.

(Low levels of GABA are linked to Anxiety)

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28
Q

Glutamate

A

Excites neurons to fire and is especially involved in learning and memory.

(too much can cause migraines, headaches, and seizures. Also a factor in anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.)

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29
Q

Norepinephrine

A

Inhibits firing of neurons in the CNS, but excites the heart muscle, intestines, and urogenital tract. Stress stimulates this transmitter’s release. Also helps control alertness.

(too little=depression
too much=agitation)

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30
Q

What neurotransmitters work together to regulate sleep and wakefulness?

A

Acetylcholine and Norepinethrine along with Serotonin

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31
Q

Dopamine

A

Controls voluntary movement and affects sleep, mood, attention, learning, and the ability to recognize rewards in the environment.

(related to personality trait extraversion, being outgoing)

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32
Q

Serotonin

A

Regulation of sleep, mood, attention, and learning.

(Also key to maintaining the brain’s neuroplasticity,
low levels are associated with depression)

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33
Q

Endorphins

A

Natural Opiates, shield the body from pain and elevate feelings of pleasure.

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34
Q

Oxytocin

A

Plays an important role in love and social bonding.

(Surges in mothers who have just given birth, related to the onset of lactation and breast feeding.
This transmitter is also released during orgasms, and plays a role in forming emotional bonds with romantic partners)

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35
Q

Agonist

A

A drug that mimics or increases a neurotransmitter’s effects

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36
Q

Antagonist

A

A drug that blocks a neurotransmitter’s effects

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37
Q

Brain Lesioning

A

Abnormal disruption in the tissue of the brain resulting from injury or disease.

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38
Q

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

A

Records the brain’s electrical activity, via electrodes placed on the scalp.

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39
Q

Prefrontal Asymmetry

A

More left prefrontal activity than right.

(People with this report higher measures of well-being, self acceptance, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and life satisfaction)

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40
Q

Single-unit recording

A

Probe inserted into an individual neuron, to observe that single neuron’s electrical activity.

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41
Q

Phenotype

A

An Individual’s Observable Characteristics

42
Q

Broca’s Region

A

Speech

43
Q

Wernicke’s Region

A

Language

44
Q

Collateral Sprouting

A

Process by which axons of healthy neurons adjacent to damaged neurons grow new branches to make up for damage

45
Q

Skinner’s Rats

A

Perform a new behavior to receive food

46
Q

Shaping

A

The technique of rewarding successful approximations of a desired behavior

47
Q

Hermann Ebbinghaus

A

First to conduct scientific research on forgetting

48
Q

Action

A

Brief wave of positive electrical charge sweeping down the axon

49
Q

Sodium and Potassium ions move in and out of the axon when the membrane is ______

A

Depolarized

50
Q

Correlation Coefficient

A

statistic that tells the strength and direction of association between two variables

51
Q

Validity

A

Soundness of conclusions

52
Q

Neuroscience Studies are based on _________ to psychology

A

Biological Approaches

53
Q

Longitudinal Design

A

Systematic observation, used by correlational researchers, that involves obtaining measures of variables of interest in multiple waves over time.

54
Q

Behavioral Approach

A

Observable actions and/or responses and their environmental determinants (or forces).

55
Q

First step in the scientific method

A

observing some phenomenon in the world

56
Q

Empirical Method best fulfills which goal of science?

A

Objectivity

57
Q

Placebo Effect

A

When participant’s expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce an experimental outcome

58
Q

What attitudes are central to the scientific approach to psychology?

A

Critical thinking, curiosity, skepticism, and objectivity.

59
Q

Potential problem of correlational studies in psychological research?

A

They fail to establish a clear causal relationship between variables.

60
Q

Theory

A

Broad idea or closely related set of ideas that attempts to explain observations and to make predictions about future observations.

61
Q

A psychologist who adopted the structuralism approach would be interested in the___________

A

structures of the mind using introspection as their primary research method

62
Q

Cognitive approach

A

views the mind as an active and aware problem solving system

63
Q

Double-blind experiment

A

designed to eliminate biased results, in which the identity of those receiving a test treatment is concealed from both administrators and subjects until after the study is completed.

64
Q

What do humanistic psychologists believe?

A

That people have the ability to control their lives (free will) and are not simply controlled by their environment

65
Q

What part of the nervous system is responsible for calming and relaxation?

A

Parasympathetic

66
Q

What part of the nervous system is responsible for flight or fight response?

A

Sympathetic

67
Q

Limbic System

A

set of subcortical brain structures central to emotion, memory, and reward processing

68
Q

What part of the nervous system regulates breathing and heartrate?

A

the medulla

69
Q

Decline in memory during Alzheimer’s is due to deficiency of what?

A

Acetylcholine

70
Q

What is the function of the myelin sheath?

A

Speeds up transmission of nerve impulses

71
Q

Synapses

A

chemical substances stored in very tiny sacs within the neurons terminal buttons, transmit information across the synaptic gap to the next neuron

72
Q

Oxytocin

A

Produces bonding response in new mothers

73
Q

Genotype

A

a person’s genetic heritage, actual genetic material

74
Q

Cerebellum

A

Balance and muscle coordination

75
Q

Serotonin

A

Mood and Attention

76
Q

Somatic and Autonomic nervous system are components of the

A

peripheral nervous system

77
Q

One of Gestalt psychology’s main principles is_____?

A

The whole is different from the sum of its parts

78
Q

Visual information is mainly processed in the

A

Occipital lobes

79
Q

Top down processing starts with

A

cognitive processing in the brain

80
Q

Pavlovs dog salivated at the sound of the bell because_______

A

It had become associated with the food

81
Q

Operant conditioning relies on the idea that

A

a behavior is likely to be repeated if it is followed by a reward

82
Q

Acquisition

A

initial learning of the connection between the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus when these two stimuli are paired

83
Q

Discrimination

A

process of learning to respond to certain stimuli and not others

84
Q

short term memory is improved by

A

chunking and rehearsal techniques

85
Q

Retrograde amnesia

A

lose past memories and the ability to acquire new memories will be unaffected

86
Q

Anterograde amnesia

A

remembering past memories but being unable to form new ones

87
Q

Attkinson-Shiffren Theory

A

Memory storage involves three systems; sensory, short term, and long term.

88
Q

Endel Tulving (Canadian cognitive psychologist)

A

believed that episodic memory is the retention of information about the where, when, and what of life’s happenings

89
Q

Working memory

A

holds information temporarily while cognitive tasks are being performed

90
Q

Explicit memory is subdivided into

A

episodic and semantic memory

91
Q

critical thinkers

A

grasp deeper meaning

92
Q

phonology

A

language’s sound system

93
Q

Inductive Reasoning

A

involves forming opinions based on previous experiences

94
Q

Noam Chomsky

A

children learn language without awareness to its underlying logic

95
Q

concepts provide clues about how to

A

react to a particular object or experience

96
Q

fixation

A

using prior strategy to solve problems rather than looking at them from a fresh, new perspective

97
Q

Heuristics are

A

shortcut strategies

98
Q

first step of the problem solving process

A

finding and framing problems

99
Q

semantics

A

meaning of words and sentences of a language

100
Q

syntax

A

sentence structure/word order

101
Q

pragmatics

A

manner, place, time, utterance, taking turns in conversation

Psychology (5 decks)

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