TEST 1 Flashcards
Afferent Neurons
Sensory Neurons
Receive Signals
Efferent Neurons
Motor Neurons
Send Signals
Central Nervous System
Brain and Spinal Cord
Peripheral Nervous System
all of your nerves besides the brain or spinal cord
Somatic Nervous System
responsible for sending and receiving messages between the body and the brain
(made up of afferent and efferent nerves)
Autonomic Nervous System
Nerves involved in arousing and calming the body
Sympathetic Nervous System
activates the body, uses energy, fight or flight mode
Parasympathetic Nervous System
calms body, reserves energy
Sensation
stimulation of sensory neurons and transmission of sensory information to the central nervous system
Perception
organization and interpretation of sensations that forms your view of the world
Absolute Threshold
the weakest amount of stimulation needed to provide a sensation
Subliminal Stimulation
sensory stimulation that happened below the absolute threshold (i.e., below the amount needed to be recognized)
Difference Threshold
the minimal difference between stimuli that is needed to tell them apart
Just Noticeable Difference
the minimal difference between stimuli that you can detect
Signal Detection Theory
the perception of sensory stimuli depends on a combination of physical, biological, and psychological factors
Feature Detectors
sensory neurons that fire in response to particular features (such as edges, depth, length, textures, etc.)
Sensory Adaptation
process of becoming more sensitive to stimuli of low magnitude and less sensitive to stimuli that remains the same
Visible Light
the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that stimulate the eye and produces visual sensations
Cornea
transparent covering of the eye
Iris
the colorful part of the eye; dilation regulates how much light enters the eye
Pupil
black center of the eye; where light enters the eye
Lens
behind the iris; focuses the image on the retina
Retina
area of the inner surface of the eye; contains rods and cones
Photoreceptors
cells that respond to light
Optic Nerve
the nerve that transmits sensory information from the eye to the brain
Rods
photoreceptor that is sensitive to how bright or dim light is; allow us to see in black and white
Cones
photoreceptor that is sensitive to color
Fovea
area at the center of the retina; full of cones
Trichromatic Theory
states that color vision is the result of three types of cones cones that: -respond to red light -respond to blue light -respond to green light
Opponent-Process Theory
states that color vision is the result of three types of cones cones that: -respond to red or green light -respond to blue or yellow light -respond to intensity of light
Proximity
nearness; grouping objects that are near each other
Similarity
grouping objects that look similar
Continuity
the perception that a series of points or lines are continuous
Top-Down Processing
the use of knowledge or information to organize parts of a pattern
Bottom-Down Processing
Organizing parts of a pattern to recognize the pattern you make
Gate Theory
states that the nervous system can only process a limited amount of stimulation at a time
Approach-Approach Conflict
both goals are desirable and within reach
Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict
- you want to avoid both goals because both outcomes are undesirable
- if you avoid one goal, then you approach the other
Approach-Avoidance Conflict
a goal is desirable and undesirable at the same time
Multiple Approach-Avoidance Conflict
several different choices, each have pros and cons
Consciousness
- sensory awareness of the world
- inner awareness of thoughts and feelings
- selective attention
- awareness of your waking state
Preconscious
not in your awareness, but can be brought into awareness by focusing on it
Unconscious
without consciousness; not available in your awareness
Nonconscious
bodily processes that cannot become conscious
Insomnia
can’t fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up in the morning
Narcolepsy
“sleep attack” where the person spontaneously and randomly falls asleep
Sleep Apnea
stop breathing while sleeping for a short period of time
Sleep Terrors
frightening, dreamlike experiences that happen during NREM
Somnambulism
sleep walking
Enuresis
bed wetting
Explicit Memory
memory of specific information
Episodic Memory
what you remember; memories of events that happened to you
Semantic Memory
what you know; general knowledge
Implicit Memory
memory that is suggested but not directly expressed
Procedural Memory
memory of how to do something or skills you have learned
Priming
activation of associations in memory without making a conscious effort to access the memory
Retrospective Memory
memory for past events
Prospective Memory
memory to perform an act in the future
Sensory Memory
the first type of memory encountered by a stimulus
Iconic Memory
holds mental representations of visual stimuli
Echoic Memory
holds mental representations of auditory stimuli
Short Term Memory
- Holds information for up to about a minute
- Memories in STM can be manipulated
Serial Position Effect
tendency to recall the first and last items in a series more accurately
Chunking
grouping stimuli together to help remember them
Long Term Memory
stage of memory that is capable of relatively permanent storage
Flashbulb Memories
Surprising, important, and emotionally stirring events tend to be preserves in great detail
Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon
feeling that information is stored in your memory even thought the information cannot be readily retrieved
Context-Dependent Memory
Information encoded and stored in a given context is better retrieved in the same context
State-Dependent Memory
Information encoded and stored in a given physiological or emotional state is better retrieved in that same state
Recognition
- easiest type of memory task
- multiple choice or matching tests
Recall
- involves retrieving information that is stored
- short answer or essay tests
Relearning
relearning material often takes less time to learn than it initially took to learn the material
Interference Theory
we may forget stored material because other learning interferes with it
Retroactive Interference
trouble remembering/retrieving stored information because of the new information being learned
Proactive Interference
trouble remembering/retrieving recently learned information because of older information stored
Dissociative Amnesia
loss of memory of personal information
Infantile Amnesia
cannot recall events that occur prior to age 3
Anterograde Amnesia
cannot remember events that happened after a physical trauma
Retrograde Amnesia
cannot remember events that happened before a physical trauma
