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Psychology Unit 1 (Chap 1-3) Flashcards

1
Q

The Biological Perspective

A

Studying the physical bases of human and animal behavior, including the nervous system, endocrine system, immune system, and genetics

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2
Q

Psychology

A

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

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3
Q

The Psychodynamic Perspective

A

emphasize the importance of unconscious influences, early life experiences, and interpersonal relationships in explaining the underlying dynamics of behavior or in treating people with psychological problems

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4
Q

The Behavioral Perspective

A

Study how behavior is acquired or modified by environmental causes, focus on the observable behaviors and the fundamentals laws of learning, human behavior shaped and maintained by external causes

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5
Q

The Humanistic Perspective

A

focuses on the motivation of people to grow psychologically, the influence of interpersonal relationships on a person’s self-concept, and the importance of choice and self-direction in striving to reach one’s potential. Most emphasized by psychologists working in the mental health field

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6
Q

The Positive Psychology Perspective

A

emphasis on psychological growth and human potential contributed to the recent emergence of a new perspective

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7
Q

Positive Psychology

A

field of psychological research and theory focusing on the study of positive emotions and psychological states, positive individual traits and social environments that foster those qualities.

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8
Q

The Cognitive Perspective

A

focused on the role of mental processes, how people process and remember information, develop language, solve problems and think.

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9
Q

The Cross-Cultural Perspective

A

how cultural factors influence patterns of behavior

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10
Q

The Evolutionary Perspective

A

the application of the principles of evolutions to explain psychological processes and phenomena, believe psychological processes are also subject to the principle of natural selection

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11
Q

Psychiatry

A

medical specialty, focused on diagnosis, treatment, causes, and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders

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12
Q

Clinical Psychology

A

trained in diagnosis, treatment, causes, and prevention of psychological disorders

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13
Q

William Wundt

A

Founder of Psychology, outlined connections between psychology and physiology, wrote Principles of Physiological Psychology, Used scientific method to study fundamental psychological processes. Argued the psychology should be established as a separate scientific discipline

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14
Q

Edward B. Titchener

A

structuralism - One of Wundt’s students, developed his own major school of thought called structuralism (Our most complex conscious experiences could be broken down into elemental structures of sensations and feelings. His death marked the end of structuralism,

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15
Q

William James

A

functionalism - Wrote Principles of Psychology which discussed many topics such as brain function, habit, memory, and sensation, perception, and emotion. Created functionalism, studying the purpose, or functions of behavior and mental experiences

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16
Q

Charles Darwin

A

wrote On the Origin of Species which gathered evidence from different scientific fields to provide a compelling account of evolutions throughout natural selection

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17
Q

Robert V. Guthrie

A

A Black American psychologist, wrote a book called Even the Rat Was White, highlighted important contributions by early Black American psychologists and described significant obstacles they faced.

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18
Q

Pauline Elizabeth Scarborough

A

Russian-born American psychologist, championed the inclusion on women in U.S psychology, she explored women’s changing social status affected the field of psychology

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19
Q

G. Stanley Hall

A

Received the first Ph.D in psychology awarded in the U.S at Johns Hopkins University, 1883. Founded the American Psychological Association, elected the first president.

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20
Q

Mary Whiton Calkins

A

Taught experimental psychology at new women’s collage (Wellesley Collage), completed requirements for a Ph.D in psychology but Harvard did not give it to her because she was a woman. Made notable contributions to psychology, did research in dreams, memory, and personality. Elected president of APA, first female president

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21
Q

Margaret Floy Washburn

A

First woman to earn an official Ph.D in psychology, student of Titchener. First doctoral student at Cornell University, advocated for the scientific study of the mental process of different animal species, published The Animal Mind, focused on sensation, perception, learning in animal species

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22
Q

Francis C. Sumner

A

First Black American psychologist to receive a Ph.D in psychology

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23
Q

Kenneth Bancroft Clark

A

One of Summer’s students, conducted research on the negative effects of racial discrimination, their work helped the supreme court to end segregation in schools, first Black American president of the APA

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24
Q

Mamie Phipps Clark

A

Wife of Kenneth, worked with him on research projects

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25
Sigmund Freud
Created the school of thought: Psychoanalysis, a personality theory and form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the role of unconscious factors in determining behavior and personality.
26
Ivan Pavlov
Behaviorism: emphasized the study of observable behaviors, especially as they pertain to the process of learning, rejected emphasis on consciousness, studied on dogs to test observable behaviors, believed he discovered the mechanism of which all behaviors were learned
27
John B. Watson
shared Pavlov enthusiasm. But opposed to both it’s method of introspection and it’s focus on conscious mental processes, wrote Behaviorism The goal of behaviorists was to discover the fundamental principles of learning, how behavior is modified in response to environmental influences
28
B.F Skinner
believed that psychology should restrict itself to studying outwardly behaviors that could be measured and verified
29
Carl Rogers
founded Humanistic Psychology: empathized each person’s unique potential for psychological growth and self direction, emphasized self-determination, free will
30
Abraham Maslow
another advocate of humanistic psychology, developed a theory of motivation that emphasized psychological growth
31
The Scientific Method
a set of assumptions, attitudes, and procedures that guide researches in creating questions to investigate, in generating evidence, and in drawing conclusions
32
Descriptive Research
aims to accurately and systematically describe a population, situation or phenomenon
33
Longitudinal Design
research strategy that tracks a particular variable or set of variables in the same group of participants over time, long
34
Cross-sectional Design
a research strategy for study a variable or set of variables among a group of participants at a single point in time
35
Naturalistic observation
The systematic observation and recording of behaviors as the occur in their natural settings
36
Experimental Design
a method of investigation used to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships by purposely manipulating one factor thought to produce change in an other factor
37
Random Assignment
process of assigning participants to experimental conditions so that all the participants have an equal chance of being assigned to any of the conditions or groups in the study
38
Hypothesis
a tentative statement that describes the relationship between two or more variables
39
Variable
a factor that can vary, or change, in ways that can be observed, measured, and verified
40
Operational Definition
a precise description of how the variable in a study will be measured, manipulated, or changed
41
Independent Variable
a factor that is purposely manipulated to produce change
42
Confounding Variables
extraneous variables that are not the focus of the experiment but could affect the outcome of an experiment
43
Dependent Variable
a second factor, observed and measured for change in an experiment
44
Experimental Group
group of participants exposed to the treatment condition
45
Control Group
group exposed to the control condition of the independent variable
46
Positive Correlation
a finding that two factors vary in the same direction, both increase or decrease together
47
Negative Correlation
a finding in which the two variables move in opposite directions, one increasing, the other decreases
48
Neurons
cells that are highly specialized to receive and transmit information from one part of the body to another
49
Sensory Neurons
convert information on the environment such as light or sound, from specialized receptor cells in the sense organs to the brain
50
Motor Neurons
communicates information to the muscles and glands of the body
51
Interneuron
communicates information between neurons
52
All or nothing response
if a single nerve fibre is stimulated, it will slates give a maximal response and produce an electrical impulse of a single amplitude
53
Resting Potential
the state in which a neuron is prepared to activate and communicate it’s message if it receives sufficient stimulation
54
The Action Potential
a brief electrical impulse that transmits information along the axon of a neuron
55
Midbrain
an important relay station that contains centers involved in the processing of auditory and visual sensory information
56
Forebrain
the largest and most complex brain region, contains centers for complex behaviors and mental processes; also called the cerebrum
57
Hindbrain
a region at the base of the brain containing several structures that regulate basic life functions
58
Brainstem
a region of the brain made up of the hindbrain and the midbrain
59
Medulla
The Brainstem (Hindbrain Structures) a hindbrain structure that controls vital life functions, stuff you don’t have to think about
60
Cerebellum
The Brainstem (Hindbrain Structures) a large, two-sided hindbrain structure at the back of the brain that is responsible for muscle coordination and equilibrium
61
Pons
The Brainstem (Hindbrain Structures) a hindbrain structure that connects the medulla to the two sides of the cerebellum and helps coordinate and integrate movements on each side of the body, information of other parts of the brain are relayed to the pons
62
Reticular Formation
The Brainstem (Hindbrain Structures) a network of nerve fibers located in the center of the medulla that helps regulate attention, arousal, and sleep
63
Cerebral Cortex
The Brainstem (Midbrain Structures) the wrinkled outer portion of the forebrain, contains the most sophisticated brain centers,
64
The Limbic System
a group of forebrain structures that form a border around the brainstem and are involved in emotion, motivation, learning, and memory
65
Hippocampus
a large forebrain structure that is part of the limbic system and embedded in the temporal lobe in each cerebral hemisphere, able to form new memories of events and information
66
Thalamus
a rounded forebrain structure located within each cerebral hemisphere that processes sensory information, except smell. Processes and distributes motor/sensory information going to and from cerebral cortex
67
Hypothalamus
located below thalamus, helps regulate pituitary glad, regulates both divisions of the autonomic nervous system, increasing and decreasing heart rate and blood pressure, regulate a variety of behaviors related to survival
68
Amygdala
an almond-shaped cluster of neurons at the base of the temporal lobe, involved in a variety of emotional responses, brain’s “lookout”, looks at environment for anything relevant to your survival
69
Cerebral Hemispheres
the nearly symmetrical left and right halves of the cerebral cortex
70
Corpus Callosum
thick band of axons that connects the two cerebral hemispheres and acts as a communication link between them
71
Occipital Lobe
an area at the back of each cerebral hemisphere that is the primary receiving area for visual information, includes primary visual cortex,
72
Parietal Lobe
an area on each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex above the temporal lobe that processes the body’s sensations, includes touch, temperature, pressure, and information from muscles and joints
73
Temporal Lobe
an area on each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, near the temples, that is the primary receiving area for auditory information, includes primary auditory cortex
74
Frontal Lobe
largest lobe of each cerebral hemisphere; it process voluntary muscle movements and is involved in thinking, planning, and emotional control
75
Sensation
the process of detecting a physical stimulus, such as light, sound, heat, or pressure
76
Perception
the process of integrating, organizing, and interpreting sensations
77
Absolute Threshold
the smallest possible strength of a stimulus that can be detected half the time
78
Difference Threshold
the smallest possible difference between two stimuli that can be detected half the time
79
Transduction
process in which physical energy is converted into a coded neural signal that can be processed by the nervous system
80
Sensory Adaptation
the gradual decline in sensitivity to a constant stimulus
81
Gate-Control Theory of Pain
the theory that physiological and psychological factors cause spinal gates to open and relay to the brain patterns of stimulation that are perceived as pain
82
Wavelength
the distance from one wave peak to another
83
Proprioception
the sense of body movement and position
84
Bottom-Up Processing
emphasizes sensory receptors in detecting the basic features of a stimulus; attention focuses on the parts of the pattern before moving to the whole
85
Top-Down Processing
emphasizes the observer’s experience in arriving at meaningful perceptions; attention moves from the whole to part of the pattern
86
Gestalt Psychology
a school of psychology, humans don't focus on separate components but instead tend to perceive objects as elements of more complex systems
87
Max Wertheimer
German psychologist, founded gestalt psychology, early 1900s
88
Kurt Kofka’s Theory
early learning is "sensorimotor learning," which is a type of learning which occurs after a consequence
89
Kohler’s Theory
a type of learning theory that suggests that the mind perceives sections of information as a whole
90
Figure-Ground Relationship
Gestalt principle, a perception is automatically separated into the figure, which is the main element of the scene, and the ground, which is its background
91
Depth Perception
the use of visual cues to perceive the distance or the tree-dimensional characteristics of an object
92
Monocular Cues
distance or depth that can be processed by either eye alone
93
Perceptual Constancy
tendency to perceive objects, especially familiar objects, as constant and unchanging despite changes in sensory input
94
Size Constancy
perception that an object is the same size despite its changing image on the retina
95
Shape Constancy
perception that a familiar object is the same shape despite the image produces in our retinas
96
Perceptual Illusion
misperception of the true characteristics of an object or an image
97
Müller-Lyer Illusion
a famous visual illusion involving the misperception of the identical length of two lines, one with arrows pointed inward, one with arrows pointed outward
98
Moon Illusion
a visual illusion involving the misperception that the moon is larger when it is on the horizon that when it is directly overhead
99
Perceptual Set
tendency to perceive objects or situations from a particular frame of reference

Psychology (2 decks)

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