Psych/Soci Flashcards
Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) activation
“rest and digest”
- pupils constrict
- saliva stimulated
- constricts bronchii
- heart rate slows
- blood pressure lowers
- digestive peristalsis and secretion stimulated
- bile release stimulated
- contracts bladder
Sympathetic Nervous System (PNS) activation
“fight or flight”
- pupils dilate
- saliva inhibited
- relaxes bronchii
- heart rate increases
- blood pressure increases
- peristalsis and secretion inhibited
- glucose production and release stimulated
- release of epi + norepi from adrenal glands
- bladder inhibited from contraction
- orgasm stimulated
Hindbrain
cerebellum, medulla oblongata, pons, reticular formation
Midbrain
superior and anterior colliculi
Forebrain
Thalamus, hypothalamus, cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system
Thalamus function
relay system for sensory information
Hypothalamus function
maintains homeostasis and integrates with the endocrine system through the hypophyseal portal system that connects it with the anterior pituitary
Basal ganglia function
smooths movements and helps maintain postural stability
Limbic system (parts + function)
Amygdala - fear and agression
Hippocampus - memory storage
Septal nuclei - pleasure seeking
Fornix - communication with the limbic system
Frontal lobe function
Executive function, impulse control, long-term planning (PFC), motor function (primary motor cortex), speech production (Broca’s Area)
Parietal lobe function
Sensation of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain (somatosensory cortex), spatial processing, orientation, and manipulation
Occipital lobe function
Visual processing
Temporal lobe function
Sound processing (auditory cortex), speech perception (Wernicke’s area), memory, and emotion (limbic system)
Acetylcholine
Voluntary motor control, parasympathetic nervous system, attention, alertness
Epinephrine and norepinephrine
Fight-or-flight responses wakefulness, alertness
Dopamine
Smooth movements, postural stability
Serotonin
Mood, sleep, eating, dreaming
GABA
Brain “stabilization”; major inhibitory neurotransmitter
Endorphins
Natural painkillers
Sensation pathway
Sensory receptors respond to stimuli and trigger electrical signals; sensory neurons send impulses to the CNS, where the signals are transmitted to projection areas in the brain for further analysis.
Weber’s law
The just-noticeable-difference for a stimulus is proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus
Signal detection theory
The effects of nonsensory factors, such as experiences, motives, and expectations, on perception of stimuli (hit, miss, false alarm, correct rejection)
Adaptation
A decrease in response to a stimulus over time
Visual pathway
retina –> optic nerve –> optic chiasm –> optic tract –> LGN –> visual radiations –> visual cortex
Cochlea
Detects sound
Uticle and saccule
Detect linear accleration
Semicircular canals
Detect rotational acceleration
Auditory pathway
cochlea –> vestibulocochlear nerve –> MGN –> auditory cortex
Smell
Detection of volatile or aerosolized chemicals by olfactory chemoreceptors –> olfactory nerves
Taste
Detection of dissolved compounds by taste buds in papillae
Somatosensation
Four touch modalities - pain, pressure, vibration, temperature
Kinesthetic sense (proprioception)
Ability to tell where one’s body is in space
Bottom-up processing
recognition of objects by parallel processing and feature detection; slower but less prone to mistakes
Top-down processing
recognition of an object by memories and expectations, with little attention to detail; faster but more prone to mistakes
Gestalt principles
Ways the brain can infer parts of an image when it is incomplete: Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, and Connectedness
Habituation
The process of becoming used to a stimulus
Dishabituation
Occurs when a second stimulus intervenes, causing a resensitization to the original stimulus
Observational learning
the acquisition of behavior by watching others; mirror neurons
Associative learning
pairing together stimuli and responses, or behavior and consequences; includes classical and operant conditioning
Reinforcement vs Punishment
Reinforcements increase a behavior, punishments decrease it
Awake
Beta and alpha waves; able to perceive, process, access, and express information
Sleep Stage 1
Theta waves; light sleep
Sleep Stage 2
Theta waves with sleep spindles and K-complexes
Sleep Stage 3/4
Delta waves; slow wave sleep with dreams, declarative memory consolidation, some sleep disorders
REM
Mostly beta waves; apears physiologically awake but dreams, is paralyzed; procedural memory consolidation, some sleep disorders
Dyssomnias vs Parasomnias
Dys = amount or timing of sleep; para = odd sleep behavior
Drug addiction (neuro basis)
Mediated by mesolimbic pathway which includes NAcc, VTA, and medial forbrain bundle with dopamine as the major NT
Depressants
alcohol, benzos, barbituates; sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety
Stimulants
caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy; increased arousal
Opiates/opiods
heroin, meth, opium, pain pills; decreased reaction to pain, euphoria
Hallucinogens
LSD, peyote, mescaline, ketamine, psilocybin; distortions of reality and fantasy; introspection
Sensory Memory
< 1 sec; the ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimuli have ended
Short term memory
15 - 30 seconds, capacity about 7 items; capacity for holding, but not manipulating, a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state
Working memory
The part of short-term memory that is concerned with immediate conscious perceptual and linguistic processing
Explicit/Declaritive Memory
Conscious long term memory; consists of episodic memory for events, experiences and semantic memory for facts and concepts
Implicit/Procedural Memory
Unconscious long term memory; consists of memory for skills and tasks
Semantic Network
Facts are stored in these and often retrieved based on priming interconnected nodes.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor (birth to 2) - manipulating environment to meet physical needs through circular reactions; learn object permanence
Preoperational (2 to 7) - symbolic thinking and egocentrism, as well as centration
Concrete operational (7 to 11) - understanding feelings of others and manipulating concrete objects
Formal operational (11 and up) - abstract thought and problem solving
Deductive reasoning
Deriving conclusions from general rules
Inductive reasoning
Deriving conclusions from evidence
Selective attention
allows one to pay attention to a particular stimulus while determining if additional stimuli require attention in the background
Divided attention
uses automatic processing to pay attention to multiple activities at one time
Wernicke’s Area
Language comprehension; damage results in Wernicke’s aphasia (fluent, nonsensical language without comprehension)
Broca’s Area
Language production; damage results in Broca’s aphasia (nonfluent language where every word takes great effort)
Arcuate fasciculus
Connects Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas; damage results in conduction aphasia (inability to repeat words despite intact speech generation and comprehension)
Extrinsic motivation
Motivation coming from external circumstances
Intrinsic motivation
Motivation coming from internal drive or perception
Instinct theory of Motivation
Innate, fixed patterns in response to stimuli
Arousal theory of Motivation
The state of being awake and reactive to stimuli; aim for optimal amount of arousal for a given task (Yerkes-Dodson)
Drive Reduction theory of Motivation
Individuals act to relieve internal states of tension
Maslow’s Hierarchy
Prioritizes needs into five categories - 1) physio 2) safety 3) social 4) self-esteem 5) actualization
Seven universal emotions
happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise, fear, anger
James-Lange Theory
1) Physiological arousal
2) Conscious emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory
1) Physiological arousal and conscious emotion
2) Behavior
Schachter-Singer Theory
1) Physiological Arousal
2) Cognitive Appraisal
3) Conscious Emotion
Stress
Physiological and cognitive response to challenges or life changes
Primary Appraisal (Stress)
Classifying a potential stressor as irrelevant, benign-positive, or stressful
Secondary Appraisal (Stress)
Directed at evaluating whether the organism can cope with the stress, based on harm, threat, and challenge
Distress vs Eustress vs Neustress
Bad vs Good/Adaptive vs Neutral
General Adaptation Syndrome (Stress)
The three stages are alarm, resistance, and exhaustion
Self-Concept
The sum of the ways in which we describe ourselves: in the present, who we used to be, and who we might be in the future
Identities
Individual components of our self-concept related to the groups to which we belong
Self-esteem
Our evaluation of ourselves
Self-efficacy
The degree to which we see ourselves as being capable of a given skill in a given situation
Locus of control
The way we characterize the influences in our lives (external vs internal)
Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development
Based on tensions caused by the libido, with failure at each stage leading to fixation; oral, anal, phallic, gentical
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
Stem from conflicts that are the result of decisions we are forced to make about ourselves and the environment around us at each life phase
1) trust vs mistrust
2) autonomy vs shame/doubt
3) initiative vs guilt
4) industry vs inferiority
5) identity vs role confusion
6) intimacy vs isolation
7) generativity vs stagnation
8) integrity vs despair
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Personality is the product of unconscious urges and desires
Freud: superego, ego, id
Jung: collective unconscious, archetypes
Humanistic Perspective
Emphasizes internal feelings of healthy individuals as they strive toward happiness and self-realization
Maslow: Hierarchy of Needs
Rodgers: Unconditional Positive Regard
Type and Trait theory
Personality can be described as a number of identifiable traits that carry characteristic behaviors
Type theories: ancient Greek humors, Sheldon’s somatotypes, Types A and B, and MBTI
Trait theories: Eysenck’s three major traits (psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism), OCEAN, Allport’s three basic types of traits (cardinal, central, and secondary)
Schizophrenia (incl. + and - symptoms)
Disorder characterized by distortions of reality and disturbances in content and form of thought, perception, and behavior
+ = hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought and behavior
- = disturbance of affect and avolition
Major depressive disorder (criteria)
Contains at least one major depressive episode
Pervasive depressive disorder (criteria)
A depressed mood for at least two years
Seasonal affective disorder
Name for major depressive disorder with seasonal onset
Bipolar Disorder (I vs II vs cyclothymic)
I = at least one manic episode II = at least one hypomanic episode and at least one major depressive episode cyclothymic = hypomanic episodes with dysthymia
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Consistent disproportionate and persistent worry
Specific phobias
Irrational fears of specific objects
Social Anxiety disorder
Anxiety due to social or performance situations
Agoraphobia
Fear of places or situations where it is hard for an individual to escape
Panic Disorder
recurrent attacks of intense, overwhelming fear and SNS activation with no clear stimulus.
OCD
Obsessions (persistent intrusive thoughts and impulses) and compulsions (repetitive tasks that relieve tension but cause significant impairment)
Dissociative amnesia
Inability to recall past experience; may involve dissociative fugue, or a sudden change in location that can involve the assumption of a new identity
Dissociative identity disorder
Two or more personalities that take control of behavior
Depersonalization/derealization disorder
Feelings of detachment from the mind and body, or from the environment
Somatic Symptom Disorder
At least one somatic symptom, which may or may not be linked to an existing medical condition, that causes disproportionate concern
Illness anxiety disorder
Preoccupation with having or coming down with a serious medical condition
Conversion Disorder
Unexplained symptoms affecting motor or sensory function
Personality disorders (incl. clusters)
Patterns of inflexible, maladaptive behavior that cause distress or impaired function
A (weird) - schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid
B (wild) - antisocial, narcissistic, histrionic, borderline
C (worried) - avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive
Social facilitation
Tendency to perform at a different level (better or worse) when others are around
Deindividuation
Loss of self-awareness in large groups; can lead to drastic changes in behavior
Bystander Effect
In a group, individuals are less likely to respond to a person in need
Peer pressure
Social influence placed on an individual by other individuals they consider equals
Group polarization
Tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the views of any of the members
Groupthink
Tendency to make decisions based on ideas and solutions that arise within the group without considering outside ideas
Assimilation
One culture begins to melt into another
Multiculturalism
Encouragement of multiple cultures within a community ti enhance diversity
Subculture
A group that distinguishes itself from the primary culture to which it belongs
Socialization
The process of developing and spreading norms, customs, and beliefs
Norms
Boundaries of acceptable behavior within society
Stigma
Extreme disapproval or dislike of a person or group based on perceived differences
Deviance
Any violation of norms, rules, or expectations within a society
Conformity
Changing beliefs or behaviors in order to fit into a group or society
Compliance
Individuals change behavior based on the request of others; ex. foot-in the-door, door-in-the-face, lowball, that’s-not-all
Obediance
Change in behavior based on a command from someone seen as an authority figure
Status
A position in society used to classify individuals; can be ascribed, achieved, or master (primary identity)
Role
Set of beliefs, values, and norms, that define the expectations of a certain status
Group
Two or more individuals with similar characteristics who share a sense of unity
Network
Observable pattern of social relationships between groups and individuals
Organization
Group with a structure and culture designed to achieve specific goals; exists outside of each individual’s membership within the organization
Display rules
Unspoken rules that govern the expression of emotion
Impression Management
Maintenance of a public image through various strategies
Dramaturgical approach
Individuals create images of themselves in the same way that actors perform for an audience
Interpersonal attraction
Influenced by physical, social, and psychological factors
Aggression
Behavior with the intention to cause harm or increase social dominance
Attachment
An emotional bond to another person; usual caregiver/child
Altruism
Helping behavior in which the person’s intent is to benefit someone else at a personal cost
Dispositional vs Situational Attribution
To internal qualities vs to environmental variables
Correspondent Inference theory
Describes attributions made by observing the intentional (especially unexpected) behaviors of another person
FAE
The tendency to attribute other’s actions to dispositional factors
Stereotypes
Attitudes and impressions that are made based on limited and superficial information
Self-fulfilling prophecy
The phenomenon of a stereotype creating the expectation of a particular group, which creates conditions that lead to confirmation of this stereotype
Stereotype threat
A feeling of anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype
Prejudice
An irrationally based attitude prior to actual experience
Ethnocentrism
The practice of making judgements about other cultures based on the values and beliefs of one’s own culture (in group vs out group)
Cultural Relativism
Studying social groups and cultures on their own terms
Discrimination
When prejudicial attitudes cause differences in treatment of a group
Functionalism
Focuses on the function and relationships of each component of society; macro
Conflict theory
Focuses on how power differentials are created and how they maintain order; macro
Symbolic interactionism
The study of how individuals interact through a shared understanding of words, gestures, and other symbols; micro
Social constructionism
Explores how individuals and groups make decisions to agree upon a given social reality; bridge micro and macro
Material culture
Physical items one associates with a given group
Symbolic culture
The ideas associated with a cultural group
Migration
Refers to the movement of people into (imm) or out of (em) of a geographical location
Demographic transition
A model used to represent drops in birth and death rates as a result of industrialization
Class
A category of people that share the same socioeconomic characteristics
Power
The capacity to influence people through real or perceived rewards and punishments
Social capital
The investment people make in society in return for economic or collective rewards
Social reproduction
The passing on of social inequality, especially poverty, to other generations
Poverty
low SES; in the US, poverty line is the government’s calculation of the minimum income requirements to acquire the minimum necessities in life
Incidence
Number of new cases/population at risk per time
Prevalence
Number of cases/total population per time
Morbidity
The burden or degree of illness associated with a given disease
Mortality
Death caused by a given disease
Schema
a pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them
Script
a series of behaviors, actions, and consequences that are expected in a particular situation or environment.
Retrograde vs Anterograde Amnesia
Ant - ability to memorize new things is impaired or lost because data does not transfer successfully from the conscious short-term memory into permanent long-term memory
Ret - pre-existing memories are lost to conscious recollection even though they may be able to memorize new things that occur after the onset of amnesia
