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Intro to Psych > Test 1 > Flashcards

Test 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is Psychology

A

Study of the mind, body and complex behaviour.

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2
Q

name five types of Psychology

A
  1. Functionalism
  2. Behaviourism
  3. Psychoanalysis
  4. Inheritance and Evolution
  5. Positive Psychology
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3
Q

Explain the Scientific Method

A
  1. Theory
  2. Hypothesis
  3. Design and run experiment
  4. Interpret data
  5. Start again
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4
Q

Name three methods for psychological studies

A
  1. Natural Observation
  2. Correlation
  3. Experimentation
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5
Q

What is an independant variable?

A

The characteristic of an experiment that is manipulated or changed by researchers not by other variables

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6
Q

What is a dependant variable?

A

The variable that is being measured or tested in an experiment. Expected to change across levels of independent variable

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7
Q

What is neuroplasticity?

A

The brain’s ability to adapt and modify brain function and structure throughout life in response to experiences

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8
Q

Name the five things a neuron contains?

A
  1. cell body
  2. nucleus
  3. dendrites
  4. axon
  5. synapse
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9
Q

What are the two types of neurons? What are they used for?

A

Afferent (sensory) - organs and muscles -> spinal cord and brain
Efferent (motor) - brain and spinal cord -> muscles and organs

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10
Q

What are gilal cells?

A

Cells that nourish, provide support and protection to the neurons (nerve cells), maintain homeostasis, cleaning up debris and forming myelin.

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11
Q

Explain the function of a dendrite?

A

A dendrite (tree branch) is that part of a neuron that receives the impulses from other neurons. Dendrites branch as they move towards their tips and have leaf-like structures on them called spines. The more branches a dendrite has, the increased chance of ‘firing’

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12
Q

What is an axon?

A

The long arm of the neuron that extends away from the cell body/nucleus and terminates at the synapse. The electrical impulses travel down the axon towards the next neuron. Surrounded in a myelin sheath has increases the transmission speed

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13
Q

What is a synpase?

A

The space between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrites of another neuron. The nerve impulse must “jump” the space to fire to the adjacent neuron. Neurotransmitters assist in their flow of information

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14
Q

What are neurotransmitters?

A

Chemicals that are released into the synaptic space drawing the action potential of a nerve impulse. diminished by absorption and/or dissolution

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15
Q

What are the two types of nerve impulses?

A

Resting potential - axon in negative charge on inside and positive on the outside ~ at rest
Action potential - positive ions flow into axon, momentarily reversing internal electrical charge (depolarised); this sequence flows down the axon

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16
Q

Briefly explain the central nervous system (CNS)

A

nerve fibers run from spinal cord to bain and back; spinal cord -> brainstorm -> cortex

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17
Q

briefly explain the peripheral nervous system (PNS)

A

nerve fibers run from spinal cord and brain to periphery and back

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18
Q

What is an inhibitory neurotransmitter?

A

Inhibitory neurotransmitters block or prevent the chemical message from being passed along any farther

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19
Q

What is an excitatory neurotransmitters?

A

Excitatory neurotransmitters excite the neuron and cause it to fire off the message

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20
Q

What are the four aspects of the brainstem?

A
  1. medulla
  2. pons
  3. cerebellum
  4. reticular formation
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21
Q

What is the brainstem?

A

The brainstem is the bottom part of the brain. It looks like a stalk that connects the rest of your brain to the spinal cord. It sends signals from your brain to the rest of your body controlling many subconscious body functions, like breathing and maintaining heart rate

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22
Q

what does the medulla control?

A

heart rate, respiration and reflexes

23
Q

what do the pons control?

A

sleep and dream regulation and balance

24
Q

What does the cerebellum control?

A

motor control, balance, non-verbal learning and memory

25
Q

what does the reticular formation control?

A

arousal, attention and vagal nerve regulation

26
Q

What are three aspects of the main sub-cortex structure?

A
  1. Thalamus
  2. Limbic system
  3. Cerebral cortex
27
Q

What is the thalamus?

A

The thalamus is an egg-shaped structure in the middle of the brain. It’s known as a relay station of all incoming motor (movement) and sensory information — hearing, taste, sight and touch (but not smell) — from the body to the brain.

Sensory info (info route)

28
Q

Explain the limbic system?

A

a complex system of nerves and networks in the brain, involving several areas near the edge of the cortex.

29
Q

What are the three main function of the limbic system?

A

The limbic system functions to facilitate memory storage and retrieval (hippocampus), the perception of emotions such as anger, fear, and sadness, as well as the control of aggression (amygdala) and also keep your body in a stable state called homeostasis (hypothalamus).

30
Q

What is the hippocampus?

A

New memory and learning as well as memory storage and retrieval

31
Q

What is the amygdala?

A

responsible for the perception of emotions such as anger, fear, and sadness, as well as the controlling of aggression. Also stores memories of events and emotions so that an individual may be able to recognize similar events in the future

32
Q

What is the hypothalamus?

A

the reward centre

33
Q

What is the cerebral cortex?

A

the outermost layer of the brain that contains the four lobes and also has two hemispheres (left/right brain)

34
Q

What are the four types of lobes in the cortical organisation?

A

Frontal, Parietal, temporal and occipital

35
Q

Explain the frontal lobes

A

Responsible for higher cognitive functions such as memory, emotions, impulse control, problem solving, social interaction, and motor function

36
Q

Explain the parietal lobes

A

The parietal lobe is one of the major lobes in the brain, roughly located at the upper back area in the skull. It processes sensory information it receives from the outside world, mainly relating to touch, taste, and temperature (somatosensory cortex) and can send signals to muscles in relation to the environment (motor cortex)

37
Q

(Parietal cortex) what is the somatosensory cortex?

A

receives signals from sensory receptors

38
Q

(Parietal cortex) what is the motor cortex?

A

send signals out to muscles

39
Q

Explain the temporal lobes (auditory cortex) and the two areas

A

Sits behind the ears and is primarily responsible for interpreting sounds from the ears and plays a significant role in recognizing and using language.

Boca’s area: productive speech
Wernicke’s area: receptive speech

40
Q

Explain the occipital lobes (visual cortex)

A

The occipital lobes sit at the back of the head and are responsible for visual perception, including colour, form and motion

41
Q

What is the right hemisphere of the brain responsible for?

A

emotions (specifically negative), as well as visual and spatial relations

42
Q

what is the left hemisphere responsible for?

A

language (productive and receptive), as well as practiced motor sequences.

43
Q

what is the corpus callosum?

A

A large bundle of more than 200 million myelinated nerve fibers that connect the two brain hemispheres, permitting communication between the right and left sides of the brain.

44
Q

What is lateralisation of the brain?

A

localization of function or activity (as of verbal processes in the brain) on one side of the body in preference to the other. Contralateral control is how each side of the brain controls the opposing side of the body. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body, and the right hemisphere controls the left.

45
Q

what is neurogenesis?

A

Neurogenesis is the process by which new neurons are formed in the brain. Neurogenesis is crucial when an embryo is developing, but also continues in certain brain regions after birth and throughout our lifespan.

46
Q

what is modern interactionism?

A

Interactionism is a theory within social psychology that claims that people’s behaviour depends upon the impact and effect of their environment. Behavior has to do with both the environment and people as they interact.

47
Q

what is dynamic systems view?

A

a theory, that tries to explain behavior and personality in terms of constantly changing, self-organizing interactions among many factors

48
Q

What is behavioural genetics?

A

the interdisciplinary effort to establish causal links between genes and animal (including human) behavioural traits and neural mechanisms. relying heavily on twin studies

49
Q

what is epigentics?

A

Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work

50
Q

Explain modern synthesis (current model of evolution)

A

Based on Darwin’s idea of natural selection; within a given species, those individuals who successfully reproduce are regarded as more “fit”. natural selection does not pick the best but selects against the “unfit”.

51
Q

What are the possibilities between culture and evolution in regards to traits and behaviours humans display?

A

One possibility is that we start life with traits and behaviours determined by genes, but then the environment acts on those properties to either promote them or demote them.

Another possibility is that we are always nested within a specific environment and how our genes influence us is partly a result of those coactions (even before birth).

52
Q

what are the five main areas of psychology

A

biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive and humanistic.

53
Q

what is the sympathetic nervous system?

A

sympathetic nervous system is a network of nerves that helps your body activate its “fight-or-flight” response

54
Q

what is the parasympathetic nervous system?

A

parasympathetic nervous system is a network of nerves that relaxes your body after periods of stress or danger

Intro to Psych (1 decks)

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