Vocab words 3/30/23 Flashcards
The basic building block of the nervous system
Neuron
The neuron’s bushy branching extensions the receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell
Dendrites
The neuron’s extension passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or to glands
Axon
a fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one sausage-like node to the next?
Myelin Sheath
A neural impulse; a brief electric charge that travels down an axon
Action potential
A period of inactivity after a neuron has fired
Refractory period
Level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
Threshold
Neuron’s reaction of either firing (with a full-strength response) or not firing
All or nothing response
Junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron
Synapse
Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. Influences whether a neuron will generate a neural impulse or not
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron
Reuptake
“morphine within” - Natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure
Endorphins
A molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, simulates a response
Agonist
A molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, inhibits or blocks a response
Antagonist
Neurotransmitter that enables muscle action, learning and memory
Acetylcholine (Ach)
The neurotransmitter that influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion
Dopamine
The neurotransmitter that affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal
Serotonin
Neurotransmitter that helps control alertness and arousal
Norepinephrine
Major inhibitory neurotransmitter whose undersupply is linked to seizures, tremors and insomnia
GABA
Major excitatory neurotransmitter that is involved in memory. Oversupply can cause migraines or seizures
Glutamate
A poison that can form in improperly canned food that causes paralysis by blocking Ach release
Botulin
A poison some South American Indians have applied to hunting-dart tips which occupy and blocks Ach receptor sites on muscles, producing paralysis in animals struck by the darts
Curare
Chemicals which are agonists and produce a temporary “high” by amplifying normal sensations of arousal or pleasure
Opiate drugs
Ancient Greek philosopher who correctly located the mind in the spherical head- his idea of the perfect form
Plato
The study of the bumps on the skull to reveal the persons’ mental abilities and character traits
Phrenology
Early German physician who proposed the study of phrenology
Franz Gall
Scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes
Biological psychology
First woman president of the American Psychological Association
Mary Whiton Calkins
The first female to earn a psychology Ph.D. from Cornell
Margaret Floy Washburn
Man who suffered massive brain damage when a large iron rod accidentally pierced his brain
Phineas Gage
Man who proposed a hierarchy of motives from physiological needs to self-actualization
Abraham Maslow
Father of behaviorism
John B Watson
Man who published the Interpretation of Dreams
Sigmund Freud
Name of man who began publishing studies of the conditioning in animals
Ivan Pavlov
Man who outlines “The Nature of Love” his work on attachment in monkeys
Harry Harlow
British philosopher who rejected Descartes’ notion of innate ideas
John Locke
Psychologist who reasoned that we are born with an innate language acquisition device
Noam Chomsky
Face blindness
Prosopagnosia
Study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change
Epigenetics
Proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes
Heritability
Study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior
Behavior genetics
Large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them
Corpus callosum
Formation of new neurons
Neurogenesis
Brain’s ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing new pathways or by building new pathways based on experience
Plasticity
Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; they are involved in higher mental functions
Association areas
cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons
glial cells
A portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head, and receives information from the visual fields
occipital lobe
Area at the rear of the frontal lobe that controls voluntary movements
motor cortex
a portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; including the auditory areas
temporal lobe
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and towards the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position
Parietal lobe
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and making plans and judgements
frontal lobe
The intricate fabric or interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres
cerebral cortex
The “little brain”
Cerebellum
The neural system located below the vertebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives
limbic system
The part of the brain at the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing
medulla
Body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
Endocrine system
A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus
Reflex
Division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body
Sympathetic nervous system
The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body
Parasympathetic nervous system
The statistical index of the relationship between two variables (from -1.0 to +1.0)
Correlation coeicient
Graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables
Scatterplot
The perception of a relationship where none exists
illusory correlation
Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance
random assignment
The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied
independent variable
The outcome factor the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the IV
Dependent variable
factor other than the IV that might produce an effect in an experiment
Confounding variable
The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to
Validity
The tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that one would have foreseen it
Hindsight bias
The thinking that not blinding accept arguments and conclusions
Critical thinking
The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation
REM rebound
A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind
Dreams
Recurring problems in falling and staying asleep
Insomnia
Sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks
Narcolepsy
characterized by temporary cessation of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings
Sleep apnea
Our awareness of ourselves and our environment
Consciousness
A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others
Dissociation
The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms
Circadian rhythm
The periodic, natural loss of consciousness as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, anesthesia, or hibernation
Sleep
perceiving object as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change
Perceptual constancy
The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance
Depth perception
The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
Grouping
The theory is that the retina contains three different color receptors, which produce the perception of any color
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory
The theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision
Opponent-process theory
Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement
Feature detectors
The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster
Fovea
The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina
Accommodation
Amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave’s amplitude
Intensity
The body’s resting rate of energy expenditure
Basal metabolic rate
The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues
Glucose
A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
Motivation
The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state that motivate an organism to satisfy the need
Drive reduction theory
A tendency to maintain a balance or constant internal state
Homeostasis
Another name for a fertilized egg
Zygote
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, can reach the embryo or fetus and cause harm
Teratogens
People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states-feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors they might predict
Theory of mind
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Object permanence
concept or framework that organizes and interprets inforation
Schema
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Assimilation
Adapting our current understanding to incorporate new information
Accommodation
The optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
Critical period
A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Temperament
The sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy
Basic trust
The concept that all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the questions, “Who am I?”
Self-concept
socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defins male and females
Gender
A set of expected behaviors for males and females
Gender roles
Our sense of being male or female
Gender identity
The first menstrual period
Menarche
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Cross-sectional study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Longitudnal study
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
Social clock
The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological response and subjective experience of emotion
Cannon-bard theory
The schachter-singer theory that to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal
Two-factor theory
Learning by observing others
Observational learning
An event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows
Punishment
A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
Operant conditioning
A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events
Classical conditioning
