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college psychology > Unit 2 > Flashcards

Unit 2 Flashcards

(103 cards)

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1
Q

neuron

A

receives and sends messages within the nervous system

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2
Q

dendrites

A

part of the neuron that receives messages from other cells (kind of like a branch)

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3
Q

axon

A

fiber attached to the soma. Job is to carry messages out to other cells

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4
Q

soma

A

part of the cell that contains the nucleus and keeps the entire cell alive

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5
Q

axon terminals

A

responsible for communicating with the other cells

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6
Q

glial cells

A

serves as a structure for which neurons develop and hold neurons in place

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7
Q

myelin

A

protective covering over the axon

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8
Q

nerves

A

a bundle of axons

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9
Q

diffusion

A

process of ions moving from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration

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10
Q

resting potential

A

meaning the sodium ions cannot enter. They have not gotten a strong enough stimulation from another cell yet

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11
Q

action potential

A

this is the the ions entering through the cell membrane channels

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12
Q

all-or-none

A

Neurons either fire at full strength or do not fire at all

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13
Q

neurotransmitters

A

chemicals suspended in fluid inside the synaptic vesicles. These are what transmit the message

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14
Q

synapse

A

these contain molecules of neurotransmitters

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15
Q

receptor sites

A

proteins that allow only particular molecules of a certain shape to fit into it. (just as a keyhole will only fit a particular key in it)

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16
Q

antagonist

A

a chemical substance that blocks or reduces the effects of a neurotransmitter

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17
Q

agonist

A

chemical substance that mimics or enhances the effects of a neurotransmitter

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18
Q

central nervous system

A

brain and spinal cord

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19
Q

brain

A

interprets and stores information and sends orders to muscles, glands, and organs

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20
Q

spinal cord

A

Pathway connecting the brain and the peripheral nervous system

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21
Q

peripheral nervous system

A

Transmits information to and from the central nervous system

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22
Q

Autonomic nervous system

A

Automatically regulates glands, internal organs and blood vessels, pupil dilation, digestion, etc. (everything automatic)

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23
Q

somatic nervous system

A

carries sensory information and controls movement of the skeletal muscles

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24
Q

sensory system (afferent)

A

carries messages from sense to CNS

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25
motor system (efferent)
carries messages from CNS to muscles and glands
26
Learning
any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice
27
reflex
an unlearned, involuntary response that is not under personal control or choice
28
classical conditioning
an involuntary, reflex-like response to a stimulus other than the original
29
unconditioned stimulus
original naturally occuring stimulus. (the food)
30
unconditioned response
dog salivating after seeing food
31
conditioned stimulus
the bell
32
conditioned response
dog salivating after hearing bell but not the food
33
stimulus generalization
Someone might be scared if they hear a noise that is similar to a noise that freaks them out
34
stimulus discrimination
being able to detect the difference between a sound that freaks you out and a sound that is close to that sound
35
extinction
having the bell go off but not giving the dog food leads to this. Not having the CR after the NS goes off
36
spontaneous recovery
The dog would forget about the CR due to extinction, but then randomly be have the CR with the CS.
37
higher order conditioning
If Pavlov snapped his fingers before the bell, eventually the dog would salivate to the snapping of his fingers as well
38
vicarious conditioning
becoming classically conditioned by watching someone respond to stimulus
39
conditioned taste aversion
(the reason I don't eat Mashed potatoes) being classically conditioned to not eat a food because you got sick off of it
40
Edward Thorndike and B. F. Skinner describe the theory of:
Operant conditioning
41
Law of effect
If an action is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated (Cat finding his way out of the box)
42
Operant conditioning
how organisms learn voluntary responses
43
reinforcement
anything that causes a response to be more likely to happen again
44
primary reinforcer
recieving food when youre hungry, water when thirsty, etc.
45
secondary reinforcer
best explained by a puppy being praised and petted and eventually the praise alone will make the puppy happy
46
positive reinforcment
receiving something that makes you happy or feel good (a pat on the back)
47
negative reinforcement
the removal of something that makes you unhappy
48
Punishment
any event or stimulus that follows a response with something that will make that less likely to happen in the future
49
discriminative stimulus
any stimulus that provides an organism with a cue to make a certain response. (Slowing down when seeing cop so that you don't get a ticket)
50
shaping
taking a bunch of a small steps in order to reach a large goal. (A dolphin can't instantly know how to jump through a hoop)
51
successive approximation
small steps that are taken one after the other to get closer and closer the goal.
52
behavior modification
refers to the application of operant conditioning to bring about such changes
53
Applied behavior analysis (ABA)
Skills are broken down to their simplest steps and then taught to the child through a system of reinforcement
54
latent learning
(The example with the rats.) This says that while one might have something stored away in knowledge
55
Eward Tolman
taught a group of rats the same maze one at a time. (latent learning)
56
Wolfgang Kohler
conducted the insight learning theory with the monkey and the banana
57
Martin Seligman
Learned helplessness
58
Learned helplessness
the tendency to not even try to escape from a dangerous situation after being conditioned to be helpless
59
Bandura
observational learning
60
observational learning
the learning of a new behavior through watching the actions of a model
61
learning/performance distinction
The fact that learning can take place without actual performance
62
what are the four elements of observational learning
1. attention 2. memory 3. imitation 4. desire
63
Medulla
Part of the brain that controls heartbeat, breathing,and swallowing
64
Pons
The Pons influences sleep and dreaming. Bridge between the lower parts of the brain and the upper sections
65
Reticular formation
this part of the brain allows for you to ignore constant unchanging behavior
66
Cerebellum
This means little brain. it controls all involuntary motor movement. People can sit up right because of it.
67
Thalamus
relays information from sensory organs to the cerebral cortex
68
hypothalmus
regulates body temp, hunger, thirst, sex drive
69
Hippocampus
Learning and memory
70
Amygdala
involved in fear and anxiety
71
Left brain
spoken language, math, logic
72
right brain
music, arstical, emotional thought
73
Occipital lobe
visual information from the eyes in primary visual cortex
74
Parietal lobe
processes touch, temperature, and body position (located at the top and back of the brain )
75
temporal lobes
just behind temples of head. this is the primary auditory cortex area. (also involved a little with language)
76
frontal lobes
planning, personality, memory storage, and complex decision making
77
Broca's area
This area of the brain allows people to talk smoothly and fluently.
78
Wernicke's area
People can talk fluently but the words that they are saying don't make sense
79
Lens
Changes shape to bring objects into focus
80
retina
contains photorecetpor cells
81
Iris
muscles control size of the pupil
82
cornea
bends light waves so the image can be focused on the retina
83
visual accommodation
the lens changes its shape from thick to thin, enabling it to focus on objects that are close or far away.
84
Cornea
bends light so image can focus on light
85
Pupil
changes based on amount of light coming in
86
Trichromatic theory
proposed three types of cones: red blue and green.
87
opponent process theory
sensory receptors come in pairs (red/green) (blue/yellow)
88
place theory
this says that different hairs in the ears will be stimulated based on the pitch of the tone
89
Frequency theory
(by Rutherford) says that pitch is related to how fast the basilar membrane vibrates. The faster, the higher the pitch
90
pinna
part of the external part of the ear that serves as a kind of concentrator
91
auditory canal
the short tunnel that runs down to the eardrum. The eardrum then causes three tiny bones in the inner ear to vibrate
92
volley principle
accounts for pitches from 400 hz to 4000 hz
93
Hans Henning
came up with the idea that there are only 5 basic tastes
94
olfaction
the ability to smell odors
95
gate control theory
two nerves determine if pain gets sent to the brain. Large fibers close the gate while small fibers allow pain
96
Kinesthetic sense
Having a sense of where your body is at all times (max swinging a golf club)
97
Perception
method by which the brain takes all sensations and allows them to mean different things
98
shape constancy
this explains why a person still perceives a coin as a circle no matter the angle it is presented
99
Proximity
to perceive objects as one based on the nearness of the objects
100
Similarity
things that are similar are in the same group (people when they see a basketball team)
101
Closure
the tendency to complete figures that are incomplete
102
Muller-Lyer illusion
the thing with the lines thinking that one is longer than the other
103
top down processing
the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole

college psychology (6 decks)

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