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199 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Definition of Psychology |
the scientific study of conscious experience, understanding human behavior |
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Nature v. Nurture |
the debate of whether our actions are born into us or learned by environment and experience |
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Empiricism/Empirical Research |
the premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation and evidence (data is needed) very scientific |
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Wilhelm Wundt |
Founding father of psychology, established the first lab and journal in Germany. |
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Introspection |
careful, systematic self-observation of ones own conscious experience (looking inward) |
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G Stanley Hall |
opened first psychology lab in America, driving force behind the APA and the first president |
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Sensation |
stimulation of sensory organs |
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Perception |
selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input |
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Pathway of sensory information |
sensory stimuli from the environment, accessory structure, transduction, thalamus (except smell), appropriate part of the cerebral cortex |
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Transduction |
converting energy from the environment into neural impulses |
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Sensory Adaptation |
gradual decline in sensitivity to prolonged simulation (neurons fire less and become less responsive) |
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Amplitude |
height of the wave, perception of brightness (sight) and loudness (sound) |
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Frequency or Wavelength |
distance between waves, perception of color, hue (sight) and pitch (sound) |
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Purity |
the smoothness of the wave (sound) or how varied the mixture of wavelengths is (sight), perception of saturation and richness (sight) timbre (sound) |
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Pinna |
the sound collecting cone of the ear, the external structure |
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Tympanic Membrane (eardrum) |
the part of the middle ear that receives sound waves and sends them to the ossicles |
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3 Little Bones |
hammer, anvil, and stirrup part of the middle ear |
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Oval Window |
sound enters the inner ear from the oval window |
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Cochlea |
the main part of the inner ear where transduction occurs |
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Basilar Membrane |
The area of the inner ear that neural tissue and the auditory receptors (haircells) sits on and divides the cochlea into upper and lower chambers |
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Conduction Deafness |
problems or damage to the middle ear (three little bones and eardrum) |
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Nerve Deafness (Sensorineural) |
problems/damage to the cilia (hair cells) or auditory nerve |
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Place Theory |
the entire basilar membrane is not vibrating, just specific places that correspond to specific pitches |
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Frequency Theory |
the entire basilar membrane vibrates, perception of pitch depends on the frequency of vibrations |
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Light |
form of electromagnetic radiation that travels as a wave moving at the speed of light |
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Cornea |
where light enters the front of the eye, protective outer layer |
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Pupil |
opening at the center of the eye that permits light to pass into the rear chamber |
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Iris |
colored ring of muscle surrounding the pupil
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Lens |
transparent eye structure that focuses light rays on the retina. The accessory structure for vision
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Retina |
neural tissue that receives light, lines the inside back surface of the eye, processes info and sends it to the brain |
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Accomidation |
curvature of the lens adjusts to alter visual focus |
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Nearsightedness |
lens bends too much, eyeball too long |
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Farsightedness |
lens does not bend enough, eyeball too short |
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Photoreceptors |
rods and cones |
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Rods |
specialized visual receptors that play a key role in night and peripheral vision, located outside the retina |
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Cones |
specialized receptors for daylight and color vision, located towards the center of the eye in the fovea |
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Bipolar Cells |
receive visual signals from photoreceptors, help see contrast and edges |
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Ganglion Cells |
collect at the optic nerve, leave the eye at the optic disk and connect the eye to the brain, they create a blindspot |
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Fovea |
tiny spot at the center of the retina that contains only cones |
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Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision |
The human eye has three types of cones with different sensitivities towards wavelengths of light associated with red, green, and blue |
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Opponent-Process Theory of Color Vision |
the cones work in pairs of colors (red v. green, blue v. yellow, black v. white) |
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Afterimage |
evidence for opponent-process theory, when looking at one color for a while if you look away you will see it's complementary color |
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Color-Blindness |
inability to distinguish between a set of colors, most commonly cannot see the red and green pair |
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Dichromats |
people who have only two kinds of photoreceptors, insensitive to one of the primary colors |
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Visual Pathway |
Light wave -> cornea -> iris and pupil -> lens -> image inverted onto the retina -> photoreceptors -> bipolar cells -> ganglion cells -> optic disk -> thalamus -> occipital lobe |
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Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN) |
visual signals are processed here, this is a part of the thalamus |
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Olfactory Bulb |
point in the brain where cilia in the nose send their signals, they are then sent to the olfactory cortex in the temporal lobe without going through the thalamus |
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Pheromones |
chemicals that shape behavior/physiology of animals |
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Vomeronasal Organ |
part of the nose that detect pheremones |
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Papillae |
scientific name for taste buds
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Touch Receptors |
three types, A B and C |
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A-Delta Fibers |
fast pathway for sharp pain |
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C-Delta Fibers |
slower pathway carrying longer lasting, aching or burning pain |
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Gate Control Theory of Pain |
incoming pain signals must pass through a "gate" in the spinal chord that can be closed to block pain |
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Analgesia |
inability to feel pain when pain is present |
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Kinesthesia |
sensory system about where body parts are in relation to eachother |
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Synesthesia |
cross talk of the senses |
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Absolute Threshold |
specific type of sensory input is the minimum stimulus intensity that an organism can detect |
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Weber's Law |
the JND is a fixed proportion of the intensity of the stimuli FORMULA JND=KI |
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Fechner's Law |
as the stimulus intensity increases, the amount of energy needed to perceive it has doubled also increases |
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Figure and Ground |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that objects are more likely to be viewed as a figure if they are smaller, higher in contrast, greater in symetry, and lower in the visual plane |
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Proximity |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that states elements that are close together tend tot be grouped together |
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Similarity |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that states elements that are similar tend to be grouped together |
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Continuity |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that states viewers tend to organize elements into the simplest way possible |
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Closure |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that states viewers tend to fill in the gaps |
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Texture |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that states objects similar in texture tend to be grouped together |
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Simplicity |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that states viewers tend to organize objects in the simplest way possible |
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Common Region |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that states people group things using boundaries (my things are on my placemat, your things are on yours) |
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Common Fate |
a Gestalt Principle of Organization that states smaller things that appear to be moving in the same direction are often viewed as a whole
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Retinal Disparity |
a binocular depth cue that uses the fact that objects within 25 feet of you tend to appear on your left and right retinas in slightly different places |
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Convergence |
a binocular depth cue, sensing your eyes converge as objects get closer to you |
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Interposition |
a monocular depth cue, shapes of near objects overlap further ones |
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Relative Size |
a monocular depth cue, if separate objects are expected to be the same size the one that appears larger must be closer |
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Texture Gradient |
a monocular depth cue, as distance increases texture becomes denser and less distinct |
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Linear Perspective |
a monocular depth cue, parallel lines that run away from the viewer seem to converge |
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Motion Parallax |
a monocular depth cue, closer objects move faster through our visual fields |
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Height in Plane |
a monocular depth cue, near objects are low in the visual field
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Looming |
as an object expands in our visual field, we perceive it as coming closer |
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Phi Phenomenon |
also called stroboscopic motion, illusion of motion created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession |
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Perceptual Constancy |
tendency to experience stable perception in the face of continually changing stimuli |
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Feature Analysis |
the process of detecting specific elements in visual input and assembling them into a more complex form |
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Top-Down Processing |
progression from the whole to individual elements using prior knowledge |
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Bottom-Up Processing |
progression from individual elements to the whole |
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Inattentional Blindness |
involves the failure to see visible objects or events because one's attention is focused elsewhere |
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Perceptual Set |
readiness or tendency to perceive a stimulus a particular way |
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Vestibular Sense |
sense of balance, position of body in space, helped by ears and eyes |
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Visual Agnosia |
an inability to recognize objects |
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Prosopagnosia |
an inability to recognize faces |
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Subliminal Perception |
registration (processing) of sensory input without conscious awareness |
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Gestalt Psychology |
the whole is greater than the individual pieces |
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Edward Titchner |
A student of Wundt's who came to america and brought structuralsim |
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Structuralism |
psychology is supposed to break down consciousness into its basic elements and examine how they are related |
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Sigmund Freud |
very open about ideas that were scandalous at the time, his ideas about the unconscious were slow to catch but they did because he was a very influential writer |
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Psychoanalytic (Psychodynamic) Theory |
attempt to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior |
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William James |
psychologist responsible for the emergence of functionalism |
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Functionalism |
psychology should investigate the purpose of the consciousness as opposed to its structure |
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John Watson |
founder of behaviorism, strong supporter of the nurture side of nature v. nurture |
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Behaviorism |
theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior. sometimes called stimulus-response (CR) psychology |
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B.F. Skinner |
brought back the idea not to study internal metal processes and proposed the idea that free will is an illusion |
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Mary Calkins |
first female president of the APA |
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Margaret Washburn |
first woman to receive a PhD in Psychology |
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Leta Hollingsworth |
Coined the term "gifted" and debunked sexist myths |
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Biological or Neuroscience Perspective |
much of behavior can be explained in terms of the brain structures and biochemical processes, nature, genetics, brain chemistry |
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Cognitive Perspective |
mental processes must be studied to fully understand behavior |
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Humanistic Perspective |
emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially freedom and potential for growth, very optimistic |
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Sociocultural Perspective |
examines how our culture, gender, peers, social groups, families etc. influence our behavior and thinking |
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Evolutionary Perspective |
examines behavioral processes in terms of their adaptive value for members of a species over many generations |
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Applied Psychology |
branch of psychology concerned with everyday practical problems |
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Clinical Psychology |
branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders |
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Social Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on interpersonal behavior and and the role of social forces governing them |
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Developmental Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on human development across a lifetime
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Educational Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on how people learn and the best ways to teach them
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Health Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on the relationship between physical and mental health
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Physiological Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on the influence of genetics
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Experimental Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on the topics heavily studied in psychology's beginnings
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Cognitive Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on "higher" mental processes
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Psychometrics Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on measures of behavior and capacity
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Personality Psychology |
a subfield that focuses on describing and understanding an individuals consistency in behavior
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Clinical Psychologist |
a psychologist who focuses on evaluating, diagnosing, and treating individuals with psychological disorders |
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Counseling Psychologist |
a psychologist who focuses on the same things as clinical psychologists but for people struggling with everyday problems
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Clinical Neuropsychology |
a psychologist who focuses on assessing and treating people with mental disorders due to medical things that compromise the brain
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Forensic Psychologist |
a psychologist who focuses on applying psychology to issues in the legal system
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Hypothesis |
a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables, must be testable |
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Operational Definitions |
describes the actions that will be used to control or define a a variable making them specific and measurable |
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Theory |
a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations (comes at the end after research) |
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Experiment |
a research method in which the investigator manipulates a variable under carefully controlled conditions and observes whether any changes occur in a second variable as a result |
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Random Sample v. Representative Sample |
random - every member of a population has an equally likely chance to be chosen to participate representative - when the demographics of the ample are proportionate to those of the population |
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Random Assignment |
subjects have an equal chance of being assigned to any group or condition in the expirament |
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Confounding Variables |
when two variables are linked together in such a way it is hard to differentiate their effects |
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Extraneous Variables |
variables that could unintentionally affect the study |
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Quasi-Expirament |
an experimental design were random assignment of the independent variable is unethical or impossible |
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Correlational Research |
look for relationships between variables |
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Naturalistic Observation |
a researcher engages in careful observation of behavior without intervening directly with the subjects. This is very inexpensive and is a natural setting but it falls victim to observer bias, hard to translate to numbers, and the experimenter has no control |
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Reactivity (Hawthorne or Obserever Effect) |
a subject's activity is altered by the presence of the observer |
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Demand Characteristics |
subjects behave how they think the researcher wants them to |
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Screw-You-Effect |
subjects behave the opposite of the way in which they think the researcher wants them to |
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Case Study |
an in-depth observation of an individual. helps to gather a lot of info or explain a phenomena, can be expensive and subjective |
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Survey Method |
researchers use questionnaires or interviews to gather info about specific aspects of participants' background, attitudes, beliefs, or behavior. efficient, but relies heavily on self-report data |
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Social Desirability Bias |
we like to be liked, we might answer in a way so that we conform to our peers |
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Framing |
the way questions are worded can influence people's opinions |
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Descriptive Statistics |
used to organize and summarize data, uses measures of central tendency- mean, median, and mode |
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Inferential Statistics |
used to interpret data and draw conclusions about the validity of their results |
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Variability |
range - and - standard deviation - average distance between data values and the mean |
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Correlation |
when two variables are related to each other positive - move in the same direction negative - move in opposite directions |
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Correlation Coefficient |
numerical index of the degree of relationship of two variables r |
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Causation |
one variable causes another |
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Sample |
collection of subjects selected for observation in an empirical study |
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Population |
much larger collection of people (from which the sample is drawn) that researchers want to generalize about |
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Sampling Bias |
when a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn |
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Statistical Signifigance |
exists when the probability that the results occurred by chance is less than 5 in 100 |
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Placebo Effect |
when participants expectations lead them to experience some change when given a placebo |
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Response Set |
tendency to respond to a question in a particular way that is unrelated to the content of the question (answering all C's) |
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Halo Effect |
occurs when one person's overall evaluation of another person, object, or institution spills over to influence more specific ratings |
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Experimenter Bias |
when a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained |
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Single-Blind Procedure |
participant doesnt know which group they are in |
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Double-Blind Procedure |
participant and experimenter dont know which group a subject is in |
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Illusory Correlation |
perceiving a relationship between variables when none exists |
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Parts of the Neuron and their Functions |
Dendrites - receive messages Soma - the cell body Axon - carries the message away Myelin Sheath - covers the axon, speeds up the messages Terminal Buttons - release neurotransmitters |
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Action Potential |
brief shift in a neuron's electrical charge that travels along an axon |
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Depolarization |
the neurotransmitters change the polarization from negative to positive enough that it reaches the absolute threshold and releases as action potential |
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(Hyper)Polarization |
(make it more negative) ability to change from negative to positive and vice versa |
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Refractory Period |
minimum length of time after an action potential during which another action potential cannot begin |
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Reuptake |
process in which neurotransmitters are sponged up from the synaptic clef into the presynaptic membrane |
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Glial Cells |
cells found throughout the central nervous system that assist the neurons, they are smaller than neurons and outnumber them 10 to 1 |
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Postsynaptic Potential |
a voltage change at a receptor cite on a postsynaptic cell membrane inhibitory - negative votage, decreases the chance of an action potential excitatory - positive voltage shift, increases the chances of firing an action potential, tells the postsynaptic neuron to keep firing |
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Agonist |
chemical that mimics the actions of a neurotransmitter |
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Antagonist |
chemical that opposes the action of a neurotransmitter, blocks receptors and prevents the NT from binding |
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Neurotransmitters |
chemicals that transmit info from one neuron to another |
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Acetylcholine |
memory for muscle movement, calms the body down (parasympathetic nervous system) an inadequate supply is seen in patients with Alzheimer's Disease |
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Norepinephrine |
affects arousal, in high levels it causes anxiety, this is adrenaline |
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Dopamine |
used by neurons that control voluntary movement, high levels lead to addictive disorders and schizophrenia, low levels lead to Parkinson's, gives you that euphoric "high" feeling |
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Seratonin |
low levels lead to depression, high levels = mania, fluctuating = bi-polar disorder |
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GABA |
inhibitory post synaptic potentials (help slow down for sleep), low levels are related to Huntington's Disease and epilepsy |
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Glutamate |
excitatory (keep firing) used for learning (strengthening neural connections) and memory, might contribute to learning disorders and ADHD |
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Endorphins |
internally produced chemicals that mimic opiates in structure and effect, reduce pain |
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All-or-None Principle |
no matter how strong the stimuli, the action potential remains the same, strength is perceived by how often the action potentials occur, neurons with thicker axons transmit info faster |
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Afferent Nerve Fibers |
axons that carry info inward towards the central nervous system, sensory nerons |
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Efferent Nervous System |
axons that carry info outward to the periphery of the body, motor neurons |
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Peripheral Nervous System |
Somatic (afferent and efferent) autonomic (sympathetic and parasympathetic) |
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Central Nervous System |
brain and spinal chord |
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EEG |
measures electrical activity using electrodes on the scalp |
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Leisoning |
destroying a piece of the brain and placing an electrode deep in the brain |
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ESB |
sending a weak signal into the brain to stimulate an area |
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TMS |
permits scientists to temporarily enhance or depress activity in a specific area of the brain |
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CT Scan |
multiple images of the brain combined by a computer to create a horizontal slice |
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PET Scan |
examines brain function rather than structure, radioactive material is injected |
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MRI |
uses magnetic fields, radio waves, computerized enhancement to map out the brain |
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fMRI |
a variation of MRI that shows blood flow to find areas of heightened activity |
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Hindbrain |
reticular formation, locus coeruleus, cerebellum, medulla, and pons |
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Pons |
connects the brainstem to the cerebellum, controls sleeping and dreaming |
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Medulla |
attaches to the spinal chord, controls unconscious but vital functions |
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Reticular Formation |
alertness, arousal, and attention |
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Locus Coeruleus |
nucleus within the reticular formation, controls stress and panic responses |
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Midbrain |
substantia niagra and striatum - initiation of movement |
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Forebrain |
thalamus, hypothalamus, superchiasmatic nucleus, amygdala, hippocampus, limbic system |
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Thalamus |
sensory relay system (except for smell) |
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Hypothalamus |
fighting, fleeing, feeding, and mating |
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Amygdala |
control center for fear and emotion |
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Limbic System |
emotion center |
