Test 1 Flashcards
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What is the forebrain responsible for?
Higher cognitive functions such as thinking, processing information, making decisions, sensory processing involved in planning and executing movements, behavioral responses, sleep-wake cycles by producing melatonin, controlling body temperature, reproductive functions, eating, and display of emotion.
What does the midbrain connect?
It connects the forebrain, midbrain, and the cerebrum to the pons.
What is the midbrain responsible for?
Auditory and visual reflexes, controlling body movement (especially eye movement), managing sleep-wake cycles, and temperature regulation.
What does the hindbrain regulate?
Vital functions that are essential for survival such as breathing, heart rate, sleep and wakefulness, coordinating motor activity and balance.
What structures make up the hindbrain?
medulla, pons, and cerebellum
What is the cerebellum responsible for?
motor control, coordination, balance, posture, processing sensory feedback from the eyes and inner ears to process nerve impulses and coordinate muscle movement.
What does the brainstem control?
breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, coughing, and sneezing
What are the four lobes of the brain?
Frontal, Parietal, Temporal, and Occipital
What is the frontal lobe involved in?
reasoning, motor control, emotion, language
What structures does the frontal lobe contain?
Motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, and Broca’s area
What does the motor cortex do?
plans and coordinates movement
What does the prefrontal cortex do?
It is responsible for higher-cognitive functioning
What does Broca’s area do?
It is essential for language production.
What is the parietal lobe involved in?
Processing information from the body’s senses
What structure does the parietal lobe contain?
Somatosensory cortex
What does the Somatosensory cortex do?
It is essential for processing sensory information from across the body.
What is the temporal lobe associated with?
hearing, memory, emotion, and some aspects of hearing
What structure does the temporal lobe contain?
Auditory cortex, wernicke’s area
What does the auditory cortex do?
main area for processing auditory information
What does wernicke’s area do?
important for speech comprehension
What is the occipital lobe responsible for?
interpreting visual information
What structure does the occipital lobe contain?
primary visual cortex
What does the primary visual cortex do?
organized retinotopically, meaning there is a close relationship between the position of an object and in a person’s visual field and the position of that object’s representation on the cortex.
What is the limbic system involved in?
processing emotion and memory
What does the limbic system contain?
hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus
Where is the reticular formation?
It extends from the forebrain down to the hindbrain and is centered in the midbrain.
What does the reticular formation regulate?
sleep-wake cycle, arousal, alertness, motor activity
What is a synapse?
A synapse is a junction between two nerve cells consisting of a minute gap across which impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter.
What is a terminal button?
A terminal button is an axon terminal containing synaptic vesicles that release chemicals called neurotransmitters.
What is the longitudinal fissure?
It is a deep grove in the brain’s cortex that separates the two brain hemispheres.
What are synaptic vesicles?
storage sites for neurotransmitters
Experiments
involve the manipulation of an independent variable, the measurement of a dependent variable, and the exposure of various participants to one or more of the conditions being studied
Case studies
observational research study focusing on one or a few people
Clinical Psychology
concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness and psychological problems
Research guidelines
informed consent, protection from harm, right to withdraw, confidentiality, debriefing, deception
Positive correlation
two variables change in the same direction
Negative correlation
two variables change in different directions, one becoming larger as the other becomes smaller
Multicultural psychologist
study cultural differences and their impact on behavior
cross-cultural psychologist
study cultural differences and their impact on behavior
biopsychologist
studies the relationship between the brain and behavior
cognitive psychologist
study mental processes such as perception, attention, and memory
developmental psychologist
study human development across the lifespan
personality psychologist
study individual differences in behavior, thought, and emotion
social psychologist
study how people feel, think, and behave in social situations
Industrial-organizational psychologist
study how to improve performance and well-being in the workplace
health psychologist
study how to promote health and well-being
sport and exercise psychologist
study how to improve performance and well-being in sports and exercise
Clinical psychologist
concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness and psychological problems
counseling psychologist
concerned with helping people cope with personal, social, and vocational issues
Forensic psychologist
concerned with the application of psychology to the law
Military psychologist
concerned with the application of psychology to military settings
Educational Psychologist
concerned with the application of psychology to education
Personality traits
openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
Openness
tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values, feelings, and behaviors
Conscientiousness
tendency to be careful, on time, and hardworking
Extroversion
tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy others
Agreeableness
tendency to agree and go along with others rather than to assert one’s own opinions or choices
Neuroticism
tendency to frequently experience negative emotions such as anger, worry, and sadness
What is the cerebral cortex?
It is the outer layer of neural tissue in the brain’s cerebrum. It is the largest site of neural integration in the central nervous system (CNS) and is responsible for many essential brain functions including: cognition, perception, motor functions, emotions, and consciousness.
What is signal detection?
Signal detection relates to the idea that the intensity of the stimuli and psychological and physical state of the person contribute to whether or not the person is able to detect the stimuli.
What is the Mueller-Lyer illusion?
It is a well known illusion that makes two lines of equal distance appear different lengths.
What is perception?
It is a top-down way our brains organize and interpret the information and put it into context.
How do light waves enter the eye?
through the pupil after being transmitted by the cornea
What are the 5 taste groups?
Sweet, Salty, Savory, Sour, Bitter
What is sleep deprivation?
It is a condition characterized by inadequate or insufficient sleep sustained over a period of time.
What is rapid eye movement (REM ) sleep?
characterized by darting eye movements under closed eye lids; brain waves are similar to those during wakefulness
What is non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep?
a period of sleep outside of the periods of REM sleep
What is lucid dreaming?
A lucid dream is when people become aware that they are dreaming and can control the dream’s content.
What is hypnosis?
the state of extreme self-focus and attention in which minimal attention is given to external stimuli
Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens are psychedelic drugs that can potentially change the way people see, hear, taste, smell, or feel, and also affect mood and thought.
Stimulants
A stimulant is any of various agents that excite functional activity in an organism or in a part of an organism.
Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that the brain produces in response to darkness, helping with the timing of circadian rhythms.
Validity
Validity refers to how well a test actually measures what it was created to measure. It is focused on the accuracy of a test.
Reliability
Reliability is the consistency of the findings or results of a psychology research study.
Ethics
Ethics are the standards that direct the conduct of professional members.
