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116 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Anxiety Disorder
General term for disorders in which chronic anxiety with debilitating consequences is prominent. Includes phobias and panic attacks.
Aphasia
Speaking disorder usually caused by lesions in the broca's area causing problems articulating words.
Apraxia
Movement disorders caused by damage to higher brain centers
Archetypes
Images held in the collective unconscious frequent in folk art and mythology. Ex. "mother nature"
JUNG
Asch Effect
Conformity from awareness that individual opinion or judgment would cause dissension from the group.
Association Cortex
Loose term given to parts of the cerebral cortex which don't have a specific, localized function.
Audience Effect
Effects produced by the presence of other people on individual behavior.
Auditory Cortex
Part of the cerebral cortex associated with hearing. Located on the temporal lobe of the cerebrum.
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
Network of unmyelinated nerve fibers running from the brain stem and spinal cord to internal organs. Divided into Parasympathetic and Sympathetic divisions.
Autism
Disorder appearing towards end of infancy in which total withdrawl from social contact which may cause aversion or distress prominent.
Aversion Therapy
A technique of behavior therapy that uses classical conditioning to develop an alternative behavior pattern through association of unpleasant stimuli or consequences with said maladaptive behavior, causing avoidance.
Axon
elongated stem of a neuron which passes the electrical current from one region of nervous system to another. Found after cell body, before dendron.
Babinski Reflex
reflex in newborns when scratching bottom of foot produces extension of toes. Absence indicates damaged motor system.
Balance Theory
Haider's theory that we need to maintain balance between different attitudes and modify social cognitions to do so.
Barbiturate
widely used drug used for promoting sleep and control epilepsy. Highly addictive and promote amnesiac disorders in long term users.
Behavior Disorders
general term used to describe disorders causing concerning behaviors and conduct, usually bringing sufferers into conflict with society.
Behaviorism
School of though est. by JB Watson in which to be truly scientific, one can only be concerned with that which can be directly observed. i.e behavior of organisms.
Benzodiazepines
Form of barbiturate and light tranquilizers used for muscle relaxation and to decrease anxiety.
Bimodal Distribution
Set of scores which shows two separate peaks, usually means scores aren't from the same population.
Binomial Distribution
Set of scores with two mutually exclusive outcomes. i.e heads/tails.
Biogenic amines
group of amines important in functioning of nervous system. i.e catecholamines, histamines.
Bipolar Depression
Affect disorder which causes swings between two extremes of mania and depression. Biogenic in origin and treated with lithium.
Borderline Disorder
Personality disorder originally given to those on borderline or neurosis and psychosis. More broadly used to describe those with instability in emotions and interpersonal relationships without other diagnosis.
Brocas Area
area of cerebral cortext and the base of the frontal lobe, usually on the left hemisphere mainly concerned with speech production and formulation of words.
Canon-Bard theory of emotion
theory stating that psychological experience of emotion and physiological reactions are independent of one another.
Catastrophe Theory
mathematical theory of sudden and irreversible changes of state. i.e- walking off a cliff.
Catatonia
a state in which muscles are extremely tense for several hours or longer. i.e- catatonic schizophrenia
Catecholamines
Biogenic amines which aid in neural transmission. Ex. Adrenaline, excess of which though to be present in schizophrenia.
Catharsis
Sudden release of tension or anxiety from uncovering repressed trauma. Release of built up emotional energy.
Cathexis
Investment of intense emotional energy, opposite of catharsis.
Central Fissure
Deep groove running from the top of the cerebrum down, separating frontal and parietal lobes.
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Network of nerves, fibers and supporting cells forming the brain and spinal cord. Coordinates and regulates major body functioning and operates body systems.
Cerebellum
Large cauliflower like structure at the back of the brain responsible for mediation of voluntary movement and balance.
Cerebral Cortex
Ourter part of cerebrum in which informational processing of language and sensory perception take place.
Cerebral Hemispheres
Two halves of cerebrum, joined by corpus collosum. Left side responsible for right side of body, and v.v.
Cerebral Palsy
condition causing difficulty in motor control from damage around time of birth. Most common form is spasticity which causes tension and paralysis of muscles.
Cerebrum
largest mass of the brain concerned with information processing and coordination of voluntary responses. Divided into two hemispheres with four lobes each: frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital.
chlorpromazine
anti-psychotic drug used for sedative effect caused by raised threshold for sensory information in brain stem. Blocks uptake of noradrenaline and acetylcholine. aka thorazine.
Coefficient
numerical value which indicates strength of a relationship and how much the variable is modified.
Cohort
any grouping of people or animals used for testing.
Collective Unconscious
Concept that the human race has developed a shared unconscious containing archetypes.
Complex Cell
type of neuron found in the visual cortex which codes incoming visual information into shapes and patterns.
Compulsion
an unwanted and unnecessary repetitive behavior carried out by an individual. Usually associated with obsessions.
concept formation
process by which an individual comes to develop mental categories to group and classify events.
concurrent validity
the degree to which a test or measurement agrees with another measure of the same thing, taken at the same time.
Conditioned reflex
a physiological reflex produced in response to a stimulus which would not normally produce such a rxn, but does so because of classical conditioning.
Conditioned reinforcer
an event or stimulus which strengthens a learned response.
conditioned stimulus
a stimulus which brings a response as a result of repeated association with an unconditioned stimulus.
conduct disorders
a group of behavior disorders in children in which aggression or rule breaking is involved.
Connector Neuron
neurons found in the grey matter of the brain and spinal cord which link and pass impulses onto other neurons
construct validity
a test of the validity of a test or measurement which involves seeing whether it makes sense in terms of the accepted theory
control group
a group in an experiment used for comparison with the experimental group
correlation
a statement of relationship between two variables. Changes in one is accompanied by changes in the other.
Correlation coefficient
numerical statement of the extent to which variables vary together. Expressed as a number between +1 and -1.
Covariance
a change in one variable causing a change in the other.
Cretinism
severe congenital condition caused by by lack of thyroxine or iodine in pregnant mothers diet resulting in severely stunted physical and mental development.
Decentration
process of someone stepping out of their own mental perspective to take anothers point of view.
Defense Mechanism
a strategy which protects the ego from real or imaginary threats. In Freudian theory they are: repression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, denial.
Degeneration
the deterioration of neural tissue from lack of stimulation, nutrients, or injury.
Dementia
a state in which the cognitive abilities of a person are so damaged that they are no longer able to function independently.
Dendrites
branched structures at the end of the axon used for reception and transmission of neurotransmitters.
Dendron
elongated part of neuron stem before cell body taking the same direction as the impulse travels.
Dependent Variable
variable measured as an indicator of the outcome of the experiment. Ex. experiment of effect of caffeine on writing speed; DV would be writing speed.
Determinism
the belief that everything that happens is the result of an identifiable cause.

Behaviorism/Freudian Theory
Development Norms
the expected level of performance of children at a specific age.
Distribution
pattern made by a set of scores when grouped according to frequency.
ABA Design
refers to a specific type of research design in which you have a baseline period where no treatment is given and/or no variable is introduced (A), followed by a period in which the treatment or variable is introduced (B), and then a period in which the treatment is removed so the behavior can be observed a second time (A).
Absolute threshold
the smallest intensity of a stimulus that has to be present for the stimulus to be detected.
Catalepsy
Unusual Immobility
Denial
ignoring unpleasant aspects of external reality
Dissociative Amnesia
memory failure following gross emotional trauma
Dystonia
involuntary and severely increased tone in a group of voluntary muscles
Global Aphasia
combined motor and sensory aphasia
Tactile Hallucination
sensation of physical contact with an object that isn't there.

Ex. Natalie Marie
Gustatory Hallucination
tasting something which isn't there.

Ex. always thinking your food tastes rotten.
Sublimation
diversion of destructive impulses into acceptable outlets
Olfactory Hallucination
Smelling something that isn't there.
Persecutory Delusion
Fixed, false belief that others are out to harm oneself.
Paranoid Delusion
Fixed, false belief in ones special and specific importance to others, especially strangers.
Psychosis
The most severe form of thought disorder
Somatic Delusion
Fixed, False believe that ones body is grossly abnormal.

ex. bugs under skin = extensive scratching.
Sublimation
Diversion of destructive impulses into acceptable outputs
Visual Hallucination
Seeing something that isn't there
Hypnagogic Hallucination
false sensory perception at the onset of sleep

ex. "MOTHS!"
Hypnopompic Hallucination
false sensory perception while awakening from sleep.
Gustatory Hallucination
Tasting something that isn't there.

ex. always thinking your food is rotten
Action Potential
Neural impulses; the all-or-nothing electrical bursts that begin at one end of the axon of a neuron and move along the axon to the other end.
Amygdala
brain structure that is part of the limbic system and is particularly important for evaluating the emotional and motivational significance of stimuli and generating emotional responses.
Axon Terminal
A swelling at the end of an axon that is designed to release a chemical substance (neurotransmitter) onto another neuron, muscle cell, or gland cell.
Basal Ganglia
The large masses of gray matter in the brain that lie on each side of the thalamus; they are especially important for the initiation and coordination of deliberate movements.
Chromosomes
The structures within the cell nucleus that contain the genetic material
Coding
In sensation, the process by which information about the quality and quantity of a stimulus is preserved in the pattern of action potentials sent through sensory neurons to the central nervous system
Conversion Disorder
A category of somatoform disorder in which the person, for psychological reasons, loses some bodily function.
Correlation Coefficient
A numerical measure of the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.
Defense Mechanisms
In psychoanalytic theory, self-deceptive means by which the mind defends itself against anxiety
empiricism
The idea that all human knowledge and thought ultimately come from sensory experience
Excitatory Synapse
A synapse at which the neurotransmitter increases the likelihood that an action potential will occur, or increases the rate at which they are already occurring, in the neuron on which it acts.
Fechner's Law
The idea that the magnitude of the sensory experience of a stimulus is directly proportional to the logarithm of the physical magnitude of the stimulus.
Functionalism
A school of psychological thought, founded by William James and others, that focuses on understanding the functions, or adaptive purposes, of mental processes.
Gestalt Psychology
A school of psychological thought, founded in Germany, which emphasizes the idea that the mind must be understood in terms of organized wholes, not elementary parts.
Hippocampus
A structure in the limbic system of the brain that is essential for encoding explicit memories for long-term storage.
Humanistic Psychology
An approach to understanding the human personality that emphasizes (a) the person's subjective mental experiences, (b) a holistic view of the person, and (c) the person's inner drive toward higher psychological growth
Inhibitory Synapse
A synapse at which the neurotransmitter decreases the likelihood that an action potential will occur, or decreases the rate at which they are already occurring, in the neuron upon which it acts.
Interneuron
A neuron that exists entirely within the brain or spinal cord and carries messages from one set of neurons to another
Leptin
A hormone produced by fat cells that acts in the brain to inhibit hunger and regulate body weight
Myelin Sheath
A casing of fatty cells wrapped tightly around the axon of some neurons.
Negative Symptoms
The class of symptoms of schizophrenia that are characterized by the absence of, or reduction in, expected behaviors, thoughts, feelings, and drives.
Normative Influence
The class of social influence that derives from people's concern about what others will think of them if they behave in a certain way or express a certain belief.
Object Permanence
Piaget's term for the understanding that an object still exists even when it is out of view.
Peripheral Nervous System
The entire set of cranial and spinal nerves that connect the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) to the body's sensory organs, muscles, and glands
Rational Emotive Therapy
A type of cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis, based on the idea that people's irrational interpretations of their experiences, not the experiences themselves, cause their negative emotions.
Resting Potential
The constant electrical charge that exists across the membrane of an inactive neuron.
Rorschach Test
A widely use projective test in which symmetrical inkblots are presented and the person is asked what the inkblots look like
Schema
The mental representation of a concept; the information stored in long-term memory that allows a person to identify a group of different events or items as members of the same category
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
A mood disorder characterized by severe depression in the fall and winter, apparently caused by reduced daylight
Yerkes-Dodson Law
The idea that the optimal degree of arousal for performing a task depends on the nature of the task. High arousal is best for easy tasks and low arousal is best for difficult tasks