Spark Notes Psychology Flashcards
Absolute refractory period
Period when neuron lies dormant after an AP is completed
Absolute threshold
Minimum amount of stimulation needed for person to detect stimulus 50% of the time
Accomodation
Process by which the shape of an eye’s lends adjust to focus light from objects nearby or far away. Also: the modification of a scheme as new information is incorporated.
Acetylcholine
NT involved in muscle movement, attention, arousal, memory, and emotion
Achievement motive
Impulse to master challenges and reach high standard of excellence
Achievement tests
Assessment that measures skills and knowledge that people have already learned.
Acronym
A word made out of the first letters of several words
Acrostic
A sentence or phrase in which each word begins with a letter that acts as a memory cue
Action Potential
A short-lived change in electric charge inside a neuron.
Activation-synthesis theory
A theory proposing that neurons in the brain activate randomly during REM sleep.
Active listening
A feature of client-centered th erapy that involves empathetic listening, by which the therapist echoes, restates, and clarifies what the client says.
Adaptation
An inherited characteristic that increases in a population because it provides a survival or reproductive advantage.
Adaptive behaviors
Behaviors that increase reproductive success.
Additive strategy
The process of listing the attributes of each element of a decision, weighing them according to importance, adding them up, and determining which one is more appealing based on the result.
Adoption Studies
Studies in which researchers examine trait similarities between adopted children and their biological and adoptive parents to figure out whether that trait might be inherited.
Adrenal Cortex
The outer part of the adrenal glands, which secretes corticosteroids.
Adrenal medulla
The inner part of the adrenal glands, which secretes catecholamines.
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
A hormone released by the pituitary gland that stimulates release of corticosteroids from the adrenal cortex.
Afferent nerves
Bundles of axons that carry information from muscles and sense organs to the central nervous system.
Afterimage
A color we perceive after another color is removed.
Age of viability
The point at which a fetus has some chance of surviving outside the mother if born prematurely.
Agonists
Chemicals that mimic the action of a particular neurotransmitter.
Agoraphobia
A disorder involving anxiety about situations from which escape would be difficult or embarrassing or places where there might be no help if a panic attack occurred.
Algorithm
A step-by-step procedure that is guaranteed to solve a problem.
All or none law
States that neurons fire to generate an action potential only if stimulation reaches a minimum threshold.
Alpha waves
Type of brain waves present when a person is very relaxed or meditating.
Alternate forms reliability
The ability of a test to produce the same results when two different versions of it are given to the same group of people.
Ambigiuous language
Language that can be understood in several ways.
Amplitude
The height of a wave.
Amygdala
A part of the limbic system of the brain that is involved in regulating aggression and emotions, particularly fear.
Animism
The belief that inanimate objects are alive.
Anorexia Nervosa
A disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a body weight in the normal range, intense fear about gaining weight, and highly distorted body image.
Antagonists
Chemicals that block the action of a particular neurotransmitter.
Anterograde amnesia
An inability to remember events that occurred after a brain injury or traumatic event.
Antisocial personality disorder
A disorder characterized by a lack of conscience and lack of respect for other people’s rights, feelings, and needs, beginning by age fifteen.
Appraisal
The process of evaluating an environmental challenge to determine whether resources are available for dealing with it.
Approach approach conflict
A conflict between two desirable alternatives.
Approach avoidance conflict
A conflict that arises when a situation has both positive and negative features.
Aptitude test
An assessment that predicts people’s future ability to acquire skills or knowledge.
Archetypes
Images or thoughts that have the same meaning for all human beings.
Assimilation
The broadening of an existing schema to include new information.
Atherosclerosis
Hardening of arteries because of cholesterol deposits.
Attachment styles
Types of attachment, which include secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment, and avoidant attachment.
Attachement
The close bond between babies and their caregivers.
Attitudes
Evaluations people make about objects, ideas, events, or other people.
Attributions
Inferences people make about the causes of events and behavior.
Atypical antipsychotic drugs
A new class of antipsychotic drugs that are effective for treating negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia. They target the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.
Auditory nerve
A nerve that sends impulses from the ear to the brain.
Automatic thoughts
Self defeating judgments people make about themselves
Automatic nervous system
The part of the peripheral nervous system connected to the heart, blood vessels, glands, and smooth muscles.
Availiability heuristic
A rule-of-thumb strategy in which people estimate probability based on how quickly they remember relevant instances of an event.
Avoidance advoidance conflict
A conflict that arises when a choice must be made between two undesirable alternatives.
Avoidant personality disorder
A disorder involving social withdrawal, low self-esteem, and extreme sensitivity to being evaluated negatively.
Aversion therapy
A therapy in which a stimulus that evokes an unpleasant response is paired with a stimulus that evokes a maladaptive behavior.
Axon
A fiber that extends from a neuron and sends signals to other neurons.
Babbling
A producton of sounds that resemble many different languages.
Basal metabolic rate
The rate at which energy is used when a person is at complete rest.
Basilar membrane
A membrane in the inner ear that runs along the length of the cochlea.
Behavior genetics
The study of behavior and personality differences among people.
Behavior therapies
Treatments involving complex conversations between therapists and clients that are aimed at directly influencing maladaptive behaviors through the use of learning principles.
Belief perserverance
The process of rejecting evidence that refutes one’s beliefs.
Benzodiazepines
A class of antianxiety drugs. They are also called tranquilizers.
Beta waves
The type of brain waves present when a person is awake and alert.
Bias
The distortion of results by a variable that is not part of the hypothesis.
Big Five
Five basic personality traits from which other traits are derived. They include neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.
Binocular cues
Depth perception cues that require both eyes.
Biologival rhythms
Periodic physiological changes.
Biomedical therapies
Treatments that involve efforts to directly alter biological functioning through medication, electric shocks, or surgery.
Biopsychosocial model of illness
The idea that physical illness is the result of a complicated interaction among biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.
Bipolar disorders
Disorders in which people alternate between periods of depression and mania
Blood brain barrier
A membrane that lets some substances from the blood into the brain but keeps out others.
Boderline personality disorder
A disorder characterized by impulsive behavior and unstable relationships, emotions, and self-image.
Brain
The main organ in the nervous system.
Brain waves
Tracings that show the electrical activity of the brain.
Broca’s area
A part of the brain, in the left frontal lobe, that is involved in speech production.
Bulimia nervosa
A disorder involving binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as vomiting, fasting, excessive exercise, or use of laxatives, diuretics, and other medications to control body weight.