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MCAT > PS Cards > Flashcards

PS Cards Flashcards

1
Q

convergence

A

– things far away, eyes are relaxed. Things close to us, eyes contract.

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2
Q

the vestibular system

A

-semicircular canals filled with endopymph and sense rotation
- Otolithic organs (utricle and saccule) help us to detect linear acceleration and head positioning. In these are Ca crystals attached to hair cells in viscous gel. If we go from lying down to standing up, they move, and pull on hair cells which triggers AP.
 Also contribute to dizziness and vertigo

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3
Q

bottom up processing

A

stimulus influences our perception.
• Processing sensory information as it is coming in (built from smallest piece of sensory information)
• Inductive reasoning
-feature detection: serial processing, happens after parallel processing: multiple paths for the same stim

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4
Q

top down

A

background knowledge influences perception. Ex. Where’s waldo
• Driven by cognition (brain applies what it knows and what it expects to perceive and fill in blanks)
• Deductive Reasoning
-gestalt, depth, motion, constancy

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5
Q

distal stim

A

what cause the stim(a tree)

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6
Q

proximal stim

A

what is actually perceived (photons from the tree interacting with retina)

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7
Q

anterior chamber

A

space filled with aqueous humour, which provides pressure to maintain shape of eyeball

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8
Q

vitreous chamber

A

filled with vitreous humour, jelly-like substance to provide pressure to eyeball.

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9
Q

sclera

A

whites of the eye, thick fibrous tissue that covers posterior 5/6th of eyeball. Attachment point for muscles.

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10
Q

choroid

A

pigmented black in humans, a network of blood vessels. Bc black all light is absorbed.

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11
Q

Phototransduction Cascade – when light hits rods and cones

A

normally on, but when light hits it turns off, receptors go off but other cells turn on
• As less Na+ enters the cell, rods hyperpolarize and turn off. Glutamate is no longer released, and no longer inhibits ON bipolar cells (it’s excitatory to OFF bipolar cells).
• So bipolar cells turn on. This activates retinal ganglion cell which sends signal to optic nerve to brain.

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12
Q

organ of corti

A
  • splits cochlea into 2
  • Reason doesn’t go back to oval window, is because in middle of cochlea is a membrane – the organ of Corti (includes the basilar membrane and the tectorial membrane
  • has hair cells
  • hairs attached to K channels, when K influxes it depolaraizes
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13
Q

Freq in cochlea

A

20-20000dB, high freq at base, low at apex

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14
Q

tonotopical mapping

A
  • Primary auditory cortex is also sensitive to various frequencies in diff locations.
  • So with basilar tuning, brain can distinguish diff frequencies – tonotypical mapping.
  • Mapped along the cochlea
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15
Q

proprioreception

A
  • balance/position
  • Proprioception was cognitive awareness of body in space.
  • always know how contracted/relaxed muscles are
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16
Q

Kinaesthesia

A

is talking about movement of the body

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17
Q

 3 types of fibres – fast, medium, slow.

A
  • A-beta fibres - Fast ones are thick and covered in myelin (less resistance, high conductance)
  • A-delta fibres -– smaller diameter, less myelin.
  • C fibres - small diameter, unmyelinated (lingering sense of pain).
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18
Q

taste receptors

A

GPCR: sweet, umami, bitter
Ion: salty, sour

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19
Q

EEG

A
  • Beta (13-30Hz) – associated with awake/concentration. Increased stress, anxiety, restlessness. Constant alertness.
  • Alpha waves (8-13 Hz) – in daydreaming. Disappear in drowsiness but reappear in deep sleep. During relaxation.
  • Theta waves (7 Hz) – Drowsiness, right after you fall asleep.
  • Delta waves (0.5-3 Hz) - Deep sleep or coma.
  • EEGs can measure brainwaves
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20
Q

REM

A
  • prefrontal cortex activity decreased
  • rythm controlled by melatonin from pineal gland
  • desynchronous waves
  • memory consolidation
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21
Q

activaiton synthesis

A

Do our dreams have a meaning? Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams says dreams represent our unconscious feelings/thoughts. Like an iceberg.
 1. What happens? Manifest content (Ex. Monster chasing you)
 2. What is hidden meaning? Latent content (Ex. Job pushing you out)
• Can help us resolve and identify hidden conflict.
Activation Synthesis Hypothesis
 Brain gets a lot of neural impulses in brainstem, which is sometimes interpreted by the frontal cortex.
 Brainstem = activation, and cortex = synthesis.
 Our brain is simply trying to find meaning from random brain activity. Therefore might not have meaning.

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22
Q

sleep deprivaiton

A

makes more cortisol

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23
Q

hypnotism

A

more alpha
 2 theories for how it works:
• Dissociation Theory - hypnotism is an extreme form of divided consciousness
• Social Influence Theory - people do and report what’s expected of them, like actors caught up in their roles

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24
Q

barbiturates

A

sed to induce sleep or reduce anxiety. Depress your CNS.

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25
Q

reward pathway

A

involves VTA which is nucleus acumbens (motor), amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex
-involves dopamine

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26
Q

CBT

A

 Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) addresses both cognitive and behavioural components of addiction. Recognize problematic situations and develop more positive thought patterns and coping strategies, and monitor cravings. Long-lasting!

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27
Q

shadowing task

A

left ear hear one thing, right ear another thing. Told to repeat everything said in one ear and ignore the other. We can learn about how selective attention works by seeing what they filter out in other ear

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28
Q

info processing model

A

proposes our brains are similar to computers. We get input from environment, process it, and output decisions.
 First stage is getting the input – occurs in sensory memory (sensory register). Temporary register of all senses you’re taking in.

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29
Q

iconic

A

what you see, lasts half a second

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30
Q

echoic

A

what you hear, lasts 3-4 seconds

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31
Q

dual coding hypothesis

A

says it’s easier to remember words associated with images than either one alone.

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32
Q

negative priming

A

implicit memory effect in which prior exposure to a stimulus unfavorably influences the response to that stimulus.

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33
Q

spacing

A

spreading out studying to shorter periods

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34
Q

context effect

A

the environment you encode and take the test.
• Scuba divers who learned and tested on same place scored better than learned in one place and took test in another.
• But not always the case, if you can’t take test in same place studying in different places gives you diff cues for retrieval – so multiple cues that will help you.

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35
Q

free recall

A

no cues in recalling

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36
Q

cued recall

A

give you “pl” for “planet”.

37
Q

• Ebbinghaus

A

was first investigator of decay. Found his rate of forgetting very fast, but if he remembered it after initial stage it levelled out.

38
Q

Korsakoff’s Syndrome

A

caused by lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine. Caused by malnutrition, eating disorders, and especially alcoholism.
 Thiamine converts carbohydrates into glucose cells need for energy. Important for neurons.
 Damage to certain areas causes poor balance, abnormal eye movements, confusion, and memory loss. At this stage called Wernicke’s encephalopathy – precursor to KS. If diagnosed in time can prevent further damage. If untreated, will progress to Korsakoff’s. Main symptom is severe memory loss, accompanied by confabulation (patients make up stories to fill in memories).
 Treatment is healthy diet, abstain from alcohol, take vitamins, and relearn things.

39
Q

anterograde amnesia

A

is inability to encode new memories. q

40
Q

Type 1 error

A 
false positive (rejection is positive action… so false rejection of null) … is the incorrect rejection of the null hypothesis
•	so if the null hypothesis was that people can remember 7 things… and the researcher read the things too quickly, this would cause the subject to remember fewer things… thus a rejection of the null incorrectly.
•	Null = no difference between the groups
41
Q

type 2 error

A

false negative (False acceptance) … is the incorrect acceptance of the null hypothesis

42
Q

availability heuristic

A

method – using examples that come to mind.
• Helpful, but our memories don’t match real state of the world.
-stuff that comes to mind easily
-usually more extreme like things that happen freq, or vivid, negative things that people think of with an event

43
Q

representative heuristic

A

a heuristic where people look for the most representative answer, such as if person matches a prototype.
-assuming frat

44
Q

availability v representative

A
  • Availability = actual memories in mind

* Representativeness = not thinking of exact memories, thinking of a prototype of idea.

45
Q

fluid and crystalized

A
  • Fluid is ability to reason quickly and abstractly.
  • Tends to decrease as we move into older adulthood
  • Crystallized refers to accumulated knowledge and verbal skills.
  • Usually increases or stays same into adulthood
46
Q

theories of lanurage and cog

A

 Behaviorists– (skinenr) also learnign, empiricist, believe language is just conditioned behavior.
 Nativists – (chomsky) rationalist, language must be innate.
 Materialist – look at what happens in the brain when people think/speak/write.
 Interactionist – (vygostky) emphasizes interplay between environmental cues and innate biology

47
Q

universalism

A

thought determines language completely…. In opposition to linguistic determinism

48
Q

brocas

A

frontal lobe, understand but not talk

49
Q

wernickes

A

temporal, talk but not understand

50
Q

agraphia

A

inabiliity to write

51
Q

anomia

A

inability to name things

52
Q

split brain

A
  • Left side needed for language, right side needed for action/perception/attention.
  • If you see object on left, won’t be able to name it. Can pick it up with left hand (since right side controls left), but has to be in right visual field before brain can name it.
  • Ex. showing colors on left side of visual field, information is sent to right hemisphere, which is responsible for perception/attention, but can’t speak it, because left brain is needed for language
53
Q

limbic system

A

hippo wears a HAT

-hippo damage you still remember old memories but cannot form new

54
Q

L and R hemis

A

 Positive emotions evoke more activity on left side, and negative emotions evoke more activity on right side.

55
Q

3 components of emotion

A

Emotions are subjective experiences accompanied by physiological, behavioural, and cognitive changes. All interrelated
 Physiological components – when surprised HR increase, muscles tense, temperature increase.
 Cognitive – vary person to person, they’re mental assessments that can include thoughts and assessments of situation. Cognitive experiences result from emotions, and can cause emotions.
 Behavioural – emotions may bring about behaviours.
 Emotions are temporary, and can be negative or positive. Also vary in intensity. They’re involuntary.

56
Q

paul ekman

A

found 6 universal emotions identified by everyone around the world
• happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger and surprise. Consistent expressions across culture.

57
Q

James lange

A

physio first, you are sad because you cry, not cry because sad

58
Q

cannon bard

A

physio and emotion (feelings) at same time

59
Q

schacter-singer

A

two factor, pysio is first and takes into account situational to interpret cognitively

60
Q

lazarus

A

Thought is FIRST, so you think you are in danger rin a dark ally then your HR increases and shit

61
Q

appraisal theory of stress

A

primary: evalutaing for threat
secondary: assessing how to cope with stress
 Primary appraisal – evaluating for presence of a potential threat.
• 3 categories of response to this primary appraisal – irrelevant, benign (positive), stressful (negative).
• If primary appraisal is negative, move forward with secondary appraisal.
 Secondary appraisal – assessing capability to cope with the threat or to deal with stressor.
• Appraisal of harm, threat, and challenge (how to overcome it).
• CORTISOL is stress hormone

62
Q

reticular activating system

A

 The ANS works with the limbic system and reticular activating system to allow us to experience and understand our emotions
• Reticular activating system – overall level of consciousness – nuclear structures in the midbrain composed of nerve fibers going to and from higher brain centers, which controls our arousal and alertness levels… sleep and wake

63
Q

tend and befriend

A

response - sometimes better response to stress is to have support systems.
• Oxytocin is important for this – peer bonding. Oxytocin is strongly linked to estrogen, so why this response is stronger in women.

64
Q

approach conflict shit

A

Approach-Approach conflict
 Must choose between two desirable attractive goals
Avoidance-Avoidance conflict
 Must choose between two undesirable goals
Approach-Avoidance conflict
- One goal that has both positive and negative elements

65
Q

impotence

A

 Reproduction huge energy expense in women, so this gets shut down during stress response. Impotence (sexual dysfunction) is also often caused by stress.

66
Q

brain areas of stress

A

2 areas of brain with most glucocorticoid receptors are the hippocampus and frontal cortex
 Hippocampus is associated with learning and memory.
 Frontal cortex is responsible for impulse control, reasoning, etc. Atrophy during chronic stress.

67
Q

homophily

A

= tendency for people to have social ties with those who are similar to themselves in a significant way (like being obese)

68
Q

gray and white matter

A

 Gray matter contains most of the neuron somas.
 White matter contains myelinated axons.
• In spinal cord, grey is on inside and white matter on outside.
• For brain, different. White on inside and grey on outside. Axons go down tracts of white matter.

69
Q

parietal lobe

A

somatosensory cortex, spatial manipulation

70
Q

temporal lobe

A

sound, Wernicke’s area

71
Q

basal ganglia

A

– major role in motor functions, don’t have UMNs but help motor areas to perform proper movements. Also cognition + emotion.

72
Q

NT

A

 Glutamate – most common excitatory neurotransmitter.
• Reticular activating system (required for consciousness) has diffuse projection of glutamate to the cerebral cortex.
 GABA (brain) and Glycine (spinal cord) – most common inhibitory NTs
 Acetylcholine – nuclei in frontal lobe that releases it to cerebral cortex, called the Basilis and septal nuclei.
• Released for LMNs, and the autonomic nervous system.
 Histamine – hypothalamus sends it
 Norepinephrine – area in pons called the locus coeruleus that releases it.
• Also ANS, but less so than Ach.
 Serotonin – raphe nuclei in midbrain/medulla release it.
 Dopamine – VTA and substantia nigra

73
Q

study the brain

A

 Brain structure
• CAT scans (CT scan)
• MRI
 Brain function
• EEG – external, can’t tell us about activity of individual/groups of neurons. Can only look at sum total. Can tell us about seizures, sleep stage, cognitive tasks.
• MEG (aka SQUIDS) – better resolution than EEG, but more rare because requires a large machine and special room to shield it.
 Can we combine brain structure and function? Yes!
• fMRI – same image from MRI but can look at which structures are active (can see BLOOD FLOW)… oxygen use
• PET scans – can’t give us detail of structure, but can combine them with CAT scans and MRIs. Inject radioactive glucose into cells and see what areas of brain are more active at given point in time.

74
Q

components fo attitude

A

 What is attitude? A learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way – people, events, objects.
 3 components – affective (emotional), behavioural (how we act or behave towards object/subject), cognitive component (form thoughts/beliefs, and our knowledge)

75
Q

elaboration likelyhood model

A

 More cognitive approach – focuses on the why/how of persuasion.
 2 ways info is processed:
• Central - depends on quality of arguments by persuader
• Peripheral - superficial/non-verbal persuasion cues, such as attractiveness/status of persuader

76
Q

role playing

A

 Everyone plays roles in life. Picture yourself in a new role. First few days are a bit fake – we’re trying to follow social quota in that role. Trying to sound professional. But over time, what feels like acting starts to feel like you.
 Changed attitude as a result of our behavior and carrying out that role.
 Ex. Zimbardo’s prison experiment

77
Q

reaction formation

A

(defence mechanism where someone says or does exact opposite of what they actually want/feel)… like acting like you hate someone when you truly have a crush on them.

78
Q

sublimation

A

defence mechanism where unwanted impulses are transformed into something less harmful.

- mature defense mechanism.
- socially unacceptable impulses are transformed into socially acceptable actions/behavior.
79
Q

self concept

A

 In order for this climate to help someone reach self-actualization, 2 conditions that need to be met:
• Growth is nurtured by when individual is genuine, one has to be open and revealing about themselves without fear of being wrong.
• Second is growth is nurtured through acceptance from others – allows us to live up to our ideal selves.
 Central feature of our personality is self-concept, achieved when we bring genuineness and acceptance together to achieve growth-promoting climate.
• When there’s discrepancy between conscious values and unconscious true values leads to tension, must be resolved.
• Genuine + acceptance = self-concept
• Importance of congruency between self-concept and our actions to feel fulfilled.

80
Q

 Hans Eysenck

A

We have 3 major dimensions of personality, which encompass all traits we all possess, but the degrees to which we individually express them are different. Allport said we have dif unique subsets, Eysenck says we all have them but just express them in different degrees. These 3 are extroversion, neuroticism (emotional stability), and psychoticism (degree to which reality is distorted). However, Eysenck said not all necessarily have psychoticism.

81
Q

 C. Robert Cloninger

A

linked personality to brain systems in reward/motivation/punishment, such as low dopamine correlating with higher impulsivity.

82
Q

gordon allport

A

all of us have different traits. Came up with list of 4500 different descriptive words for traits. From those he was able to come up with 3 basic categories of traits: cardinal, central, and secondary traits.
 Cardinal traits are characteristics that direct most of person’s activities – the dominant traits. Influence all of our behaviours, including secondary and central traits.
 Central trait is ex. honesty, sociability, shyness. Less dominant than cardinal.
 Secondary trait is love for modern art, reluctance to eat meat – more preferences/attitudes.

83
Q

social cognitive theory

A

is theory of behaviour change that emphasizes interactions between people and their environment. Unlike behaviourism (where environment controls us entirely), cognition is also important.
• Social factors, observational learning, and environmental factors (ex. opinions/attitudes of friends and family) can influence your beliefs.

84
Q

personality disorders

A

– related to personality. Involves long-term mental and behavioural features characteristic of a person, huge spectrum of personality types considered acceptable. Personality disorders involve ones outside those accepted of societal norms.
 Cluster A odd/eccentric,
 Cluster B intense emotional/relationship problems,
 Cluster C is anxious/avoidant/obsessive

85
Q

paraphilic disorders

A

having sexual arousal to unusual stimuli

86
Q

schizo

A

both biological and environmental etiology.
 Abnormal perceptions of reality – hallucinations, delusions.
 3 categories of symptoms:
• cognitive (attention, organization, planning abilities),
• negative (blunted emotions),
• positive (hallucinations, delusions)
• limbic structure causes negative symptoms
a. makes sense b/c schizophrenic people have less emotion
• temporal cortex causes positive symptoms.
a. Makes sense b/c hallucinations are positive… and temporal is involved in hearing (like hearing things that aren’t there)

87
Q

depression

A

 Abnormal pathways in depression.
• One starts in the raphe nuclei of the brainstem responsible for serotonin release.
• Also the locus coeruleus, which sends long axons to cerebrum and releases norepinephrine.
• Also the VTA sends long axons to different areas of cerebrum, supplies dopamine.
 Medications that affect serotonin, NE, and dopamine often improve symptoms. Ex. monoamine oxidase inhibitors (increase amount of monoamines in synapse)
• Monoamines include adrenaline, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin (involved in onset of darkness).

88
Q

alzheimers

A

• Starts in temporal lobes, important for memory.
• Later, atrophy spreads to parietal and frontal lobes. Many other cognitive functions.
Under microscope, 3 main abnormalities:
• loss of neurons,
• plaques (amyloid, because plaques are made of beta-amyloid. Occur in spaces between cells, outside of neurons in abnormal clumps),
• and tangles (neurofibrillary tangles, clumps of a protein tau. Located inside neurons. Develop proteins normally in the brain, but changed so it’s abnormal and causes them to clump together).
• Not clear if they’re what’s killing neurons, or if they’re a by-product.

MCAT (12 decks)

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