PSY100 - Quiz 1 Flashcards
Who developed the Theory of Motivation?
Abraham Maslow
What is an action potential?
A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.
What is an agonist?
A molecule that increases a neurotransmitter’s action, often refers to a drug.
What does the Animal Care Committee do?
Ensures high standard of animal ethics and care in research.
What is an antagonist?
A molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, inhibits or blocks a response, often refers to a drug.
What is the autonomic nervous system?
The part of the PNS that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs, functioning of involuntary movements.
What is an axon?
Where electrical signal transmission occurs.
What does the basal ganglia control?
Voluntary movements; has the nucleus accumbens which curves around the thalamus.
What is behaviorism?
Emphasizes the study of observable behavior over the study of the mind.
Who is BF Skinner?
Known for operant conditioning (reward and punishment).
What is biological psychology?
The study of physical and chemical changes that cause and result from behavior and mental processes.
What is the brainstem?
The part of the brain that controls basic life functions.
Who developed ‘client-centered’ therapy?
Carl Rogers.
What is a case study?
An in-depth analysis of the behavior of one individual.
What is a casual claim?
Argues that one of the variables is responsible for changing the other.
What is the cell body of a neuron?
The largest part of a typical neuron; contains the nucleus and much of the cytoplasm.
What is clinical psychology?
The field that explains, defines, and treats psychological disorders.
What does cognitive psychology study?
Information processing, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.
What is a confounding variable?
Differences or irrelevant variables that can alter conclusions.
What is a construct?
Characteristics that can’t be observed but are useful for describing behavior, such as anxiety.
What are convenience samples?
Samples drawn at the convenience of the interviewer.
What is a correlation coefficient?
A numerical index of the degree of relationship between two variables.
What is a correlation study?
Measuring two or more variables to study how they are related to each other without any manipulation.
What is debriefing?
The post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants.
What are dendrites?
Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.
What is a dependent variable?
The variable that is measured to see how it is affected by the independent variable.
What is descriptive research?
Systematic observation and classification of behavior.
What is laboratory observation?
Observations made in a laboratory setting.
What is naturalist observation?
Observers do not alter or manipulate, study natural behavior.
What is participant observation?
Observations made through interacting with participants. Researchers immersive themselves with the participants to observe them.
What are descriptive statistics?
Methods that describe data by organizing it into meaningful patterns and summaries.
What is developmental psychology?
The study of normal changes in behavior that occur across the lifespan.
What is the directionality problem?
A situation in which it is unclear which variable changed what. (Correlation Methods)
Who was Edward Titchener?
A student of Wilhelm Wundt; founder of Structuralism.
What is evolutionary psychology?
The study of how our physical structure and behavior have been shaped by their contributions to survival.
What are excitatory signals?
Signals that depolarize the cell membrane, increasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire.
What are inhibitory signals?
Signals that hyperpolarize the cell, decreasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire.
What is the difference between experiment, correlation, and descriptive research?
Experiment: Causal relationship;
Correlation: Association;
Descriptive: Frequency of behavior.
What are experimental methods?
Manipulation of variables to discover their effects.
What is external validity?
The extent to which findings can be generalized to different populations.
What is a field experiment?
Experiments that occur in real-world settings rather than in a lab.
What is functionalism?
The study of adaptive functions of behaviors, adapted over time for survival.
What does Gestalt psychology emphasize?
That we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts.
Who studied human reaction time?
Hermann von Helmholtz.
What is hub science?
The idea that psychology provides better insight and understanding into different fields of study.
What is humanistic psychology?
The belief that there are no bad people, just bad societies.
What is a hypothesis?
An educated guess based on prior evidence.
In a normal distribution, where do most scores fall?
Most scores fall near the mean.
What is an independent variable?
A variable that is manipulated to see its impact on the dependent variable.
What are inferential statistics?
Statistics that allow inferences based on data to extend conclusions from a sample to a broader population.
What is informed consent?
Permission obtained from a research participant.
What is internal validity?
The cause and effect relationship between two variables in experimental methods.
What is interrater reliability?
Consistency in interpretation of results over different observers.
What is introspection?
Personal observation of your own thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
Who studied observable behavior?
John Watson.
Who is Max Wertheimer?
The founder of Gestalt psychology.
What is the difference between mean and median?
Mean is the average; median is the middle value.
What is the myelin sheath?
Covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses.
What is a neuron?
A nerve cell.
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that transmit information from one neuron to another.
What are nodes of Ranvier?
Gaps in the myelin sheath where voltage-gated sodium channels are confined.
What is open science?
The practice of sharing one’s data and materials freely.
What does operational mean in research?
Definitions of theoretical constructs that are stated in concrete and measurable terms.
What is personality psychology?
The study of the effects of individual differences on behavior.
What is a quasi-experiment?
An experiment where random assignment of participants to different conditions has not been done.
What is a random sample?
Each member of a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate.
What is a receptor?
A small area on the dendrite that receives the signal from another neuron.
What is reliability in research?
The consistency of a measure.
What is replicability?
The ability to conduct the same study again to see if the results are the same.
What is reproducibility?
Whether it is possible for a researcher to use the data to create the same results.
What is a research ethics board?
A governmental institution that reviews the ethical acceptability of research.
What is resting potential?
The polarized state of a neuron, more negative inside the cell.
What is reuptake?
The process where transporters allow neurotransmitters to move back into the releasing neuron.
Who founded personality and psychodynamic theory?
Sigmund Freud.
What is social psychology?
The study of the effects of social environment on behavior.
What is structuralism?
The study of the mind broken down into smaller elements of mental experiences.
What is a survey?
The collection of data by having people answer a series of questions.
What is the synaptic cleft?
A gap into which neurotransmitters are released from the axon terminal.
What is test-retest reliability?
Consistent results each time the experiment is conducted.
What is a theory in psychology?
An explanation of the relationship between two or more variables.
What is the third-variable problem?
Another untested variable is causing the relationship between the two co-variables of interest.
What are the three things that will be true in an experiment?
1) Involve manipulation of one variable to understand its effect on another. 2) Tightly controlled laboratory setting. 3) Randomly assigned participants.
What is voluntarism?
The role of will and choice in determining thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors.
What are WEIRD samples?
Research participants from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic backgrounds.
What are the two types of replicability?
1) Close/Exact - Original is followed as closely as possible. 2) Conceptual - Similar thing but with slight changes.
What are the two types of theory?
Explanatory (broader than hypothesis) and Predictive/Generative (lead to more hypotheses).
What happens to the frequency of scores in a normal distribution as you move away from the mean?
Fewer and fewer scores are found near the extremes.
What is a normal distribution?
A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data.
What is depended on for reproducibility?
How much the researchers share about their studies.
What is observer/experimenter bias?
The influence of the researcher’s expectations on the outcome of the study.
What is random assignment in research?
The process of assigning participants to different conditions by chance.
What is reactivity in descriptive research?
Occurs when people know that they are being observed.
What is self-report bias?
Occurs when individuals may not want to report certain information.
What is the purpose of random assignment?
To minimize preexisting differences between participants assigned to different groups.
What is the title of William James’ textbook that dominated the field of psychology?
The Principles of Psychology.
What must scientific theories have?
Testable, falsifiable, and parsimonious.
What term did William James coin?
Stream of consciousness.
Which famous scientist inspired William James?
Charles Darwin.
Who is considered the founder of functionalism?
William James.
Who is William Wundt?
The founder of experimental psychology and the foundation of voluntarism and structuralism.
What is the Hawthorne Effect?
When people know that they are being observed, they may change behaviour.
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Nerves branch our from CNS to other organs (spinal and brain)
Cerebellum
Balance and motor coordination, higher order cognitive function
Cerebral Cortex
Localized functions (sensory, motor, association) made up of 4 parts.
Cingulate Cortex
Decision making, emotion, reward & empathy, memory & visual processing
Corpus Callosum
bridge of axons that connects the two hemispheres of the brain, aids information flow
Endocrine System
Glands that release hormones into the blood
Executive Functions
Occurs in the frontal lobe, range of cognitive functions that enable self-regulation.
Frontal Lobe
Planning and movement
GABA
Inhibitory neurotransmitter (STOP)
Glutamate
Excitatory neurotransmitter (STOP)
Serotonin
Mood, sleep, impulsive, hunger (no sleep=bad mood)
Dopamine
Reward/motivation, voluntary movement
Acetylcholine
movement, memory, cognition, sleep and learning
Epinephrine and Norepinephrine
Stress response
Endorphins
Modify body’s natural response to pain
Hippocampus
Formation of long term memories. Memories are not stored permanently but involved in storage and retrieval of memory. (impacts ability to form new memories)
- seahorse shape
Hypothalamus
movement, homeostasis, body function regulation (flight, feed, fight, fornication)
HPA-axis
Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis - hormone system that helps the body manage stress
Neurogenesis vs Neuroplasticity
Neurogenesis: generation of new neurons.
Neuroplasticity: ability of neurons to change its structure and function (environmental response)
Nucleus Accumbens
In the basal ganglia, role in the brain’s pleasure and response system (social connections)
Occipital Lobe
Vision, recognition and movement
Orbitofrontal Cortex
Emotion, reward-related decision making
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Rest, repair and energy storage, store nutrients, maintains homeostatic levels.
Parietal Lobe
Processes movement and taste (neglect syndrome)
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Nerves that exit CNS and carry information to and from the rest of the body.
Prefrontal Cortex
Behaviour, attention, judgement
Reticular Formation
Part of Brainstem: sleep-wake cycle, stay alert, levels of arousal
Somatic Nervous System
Sends commands for voluntary movement from CNS to muscles and back for processing
Sympathetic nervous system
Arousal, uses energy, stress, provides resources for fight/flight
Temporal Lobe
Processes incoming sounds, higher visual system tasks such as recognition of objects and faces.
Thalamus
Sensory system signals travels here first, forms many connections, involved in memory and states of consciousness.
