Intro. To Psychology Final Review

Front 1

What would a neuroscientist study?

Back 1

In general, the nervous system. In more detail: The neural basis of behavior. The various parts of the nervous system like the visual or auditory system. The function of groups of neurons. The study of what individual neurons do in relation to a "event" (also neurotransmitter studies). What happens at the synapse. What happens at ion channels on a neuronal membrane. And the genetic basis of neuronal function.

Front 2

What are neurons?

Back 2

Highly specialized cells that communicate information in electrical and chemical form; a nerve cell.

Front 3

Whats the function of a cell body of a neuron?

Back 3

Processes nutrients and provides energy for the neuron to function; contains the cell's nucleus; also called the soma.

Front 4

Nucleus-

Back 4

Contains the cell's genetic material-- twisted strands of DNA called chromosomes.

Front 5

dendrites-

Back 5

Multiple short fibers that extend from the neuron's cell body and receive information from other neurons or fromsensory receptor cells.

Front 6

Axon-

Back 6

The long, fluid-filled tube that carries a neuron's messages to other body areas. Neurons have no more than one of these, though it branches near the tips to allow the neuron to communicate info to more than one target.

Front 7

Myelin sheath-

Back 7

A white, fatty covering wrapped around the axons of some neurons that increases their communication speed.

Front 8

When does an action potential occur?

Back 8

When the electrical charge on the inside of the axon momentarily changes to a positive electrical charge of about +30 millivolts. Is a brief positive electrical impulse that progressively occurs at each segment down the axon.

Front 9

What two factors effect the speed of the action potential (neurotransmition)?

Back 9

Theaxon diameter and the myelin sheath. The greater the axon's diameter, the faster the axon conducts action potentials. In myelinated neurons, the sodium ion channels are concentrated at each of the nodes of Ranvier where the myelin is missing. So, in myelinated neurons the action potential "jumps" from node to node rather than progressing down the entire length of the axon.

Front 10

Presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons-

Back 10

The point of communication between two neurons is called the synapse. At this communication junction, the message-sending neuron is referred to as the presynaptic neuron.. The message-receiving neuron is caleld the postsynaptic neuron. They are separated by the synaptic gap.

Front 11

What happens to neurotransmitters that fail to attach to a recepter cell.

Back 11

Either the process of reuptake, in which a neurotransmitter is reabsorbed by a presynaptic neuron so it can be recycled and used again, or itis broken down or destoyed by enzymes.

Front 12

What do the brain and spinal cord make up?

Back 12

The Central Nervous System.

Front 13

What are the differences between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?

Back 13

Both are part of the autonomic nervous system, which is part of the peripheral nervous system. These systems control many of the same organs in your body but cause them to respond in opposite ways. In general, the sympathetic nervous system arouses the body to expend energy, and the parasympathetic nervous system helps the body conserve energy.

Front 14

Transduction-

Back 14

The process by which a form of physical energy is converted into a coded neural signal that can be processed by the nervous system.

Front 15

Sensory adapttion-

Back 15

The decline in sensitivity to a constant stimulus.

Front 16

Optic chiasm-

Back 16

Point in the brain where the optic nerve fibers from each eye meet and partly cross over to the opposite side of the brain.

Front 17

What do smell and taste receptors respond to?

Back 17

They respond to different types of chemical substances.

Front 18

Figure-ground relationship-

Back 18

A Gestalt principle of perceptual organization that states that we automatically separate the elements of a perception into the feature that clearly stands out (the figure) and its less distinct background (the ground).

Front 19

Shape Constancy-

Back 19

The perception of a familiar object as maintaining the same shape regardless of the image produced on the retina.

Front 20

Ivan Pavlov was into what aspect of learning?

Back 20

Classical Conditioning.

Front 21

Differences between stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination?

Back 21

Stimulus generalization is the occurrence of a learned response not only to the original stimulus butto other, similar stimuli as well.
Stimulus discrimination is the occurrence of a learned response to a specific stimulus but not to other similar stimuli.

Front 22

Spontaneous recovery-

Back 22

The reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned responseafter a period of time without exposure to the conditioned stimulus.

Front 23

Schedules of reinforcing:

Back 23

-Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule- A reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered after a fixed number of response has occurred.
-Variable-ratio(VR) schedule- A reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered after an average number of responses, which varies unpredictable from trial to trial.
-Fixed-interval (FI) schedule- A reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after a preset time interval has elapsed.
-Variable-interval (VI) schedule- A reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after an average time interval, which varies unpredictably from trial to trial.

Front 24

Continuous reinforcement-

Back 24

A schedule of reinforcement in which every occurrence of a particular response is reinforced.

Front 25

Stages of memory:

Back 25

-Sensory Memory- Stage of memory that registers information from the environment and holds it for a brief period of time. Has a large capacity for information. It's duration is about 1/4 second to 3 seconds.
-Short-term (working) memory- Active stage of memory in which information is stored for up to about 20 seconds. New information is transferred from sensory memory. Old information is retrieved from long-term memory. Has a limited capacity for info.
-Long-term Memory- Stage of memory that represents the long-term storage of info. Information that has been encoded in short-term memory is stored. Has an unlimited capacity for info. It's duration is potentially permanent.

Front 26

The difference(s) between maintenance rehearsal and elaborate rehearsal:

Back 26

Maintenance rehearsal is the mental or verbal repetition of information in ordr to maintain it beyond the usual 20-second duration of short-term memory.
Elaborative rehearsal is rehearsal that involves focusing on the meaning of informatin to help encode and transfer it to long-term memory. much more effective than maintenance.

Front 27

Chunking-

Back 27

Increasingthe amount of information that can be held in short-term memory by grouping related items together into a single unit, or chunk.

Front 28

Serial position effect-

Back 28

The tendency to remember items at the beginning and end of a list better than items in the middle. Influences forgetting of things in the middle of a list.

Front 29

Retrieval cue-

Back 29

A clue, prompt, or hint thathelps trigger recall of a givenpiece of information stored in long-term memory.

Front 30

Tip-of-toung failure-

Back 30

A memory phenomenon that involves the sensation of knowing that specific information is stored in long-term memory, but being temporarily unable to retrieve it.

Front 31

Cognition-

Back 31

The mental activities involved in acquiring, retaining, and using knowledge.

Front 32

Formal concept-

Back 32

A mental category that is formed by learning the rules or features that define it.

Front 33

Natural concept-

Back 33

A mental category that is formed as a result of everyday experience.

Front 34

Availability heuristic-

Back 34

A strategy in which the likelihod of an event is estimated on the basisof how readily available other instances of the event are in memory.

Front 35

Intelligence quotient (IQ)-

Back 35

A measure of general intelligence derived by comparing an individual's score with the scores of others in the same age group.
100 is the mean(average). Therefore under 100 is considered less intelligent and above 100 is considered more intelligent.

Front 36

Test validity-

Back 36

The ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure.

Front 37

Test reliability-

Back 37

The ability of a test to produce consistent results when administered on repeated occasions under similar conditions.

Front 38

Test Standardization-

Back 38

The administration of a test to a large, representative sample of people under uniform conditions ofr the purpose of establishing norms.

Front 39

Which psychologist has theory of multiple intelligences?

Back 39

Howard Gardner/ Louis L. Thurstone.

Front 40

For identical twins that were raisd apart, what are similarities due to?

Back 40

Genetics/ genes/ heredity

Front 41

What perspective puts a lot of focus into the influence of early childhood experiences?

Back 41

The Psychoanalytic perspective.

Front 42

What perspective represents an optimistic look at human nature, emphasizing the self and the fulfillment of a person's unique potential?

Back 42

The Humanistic perspective.

Front 43

What perspective emphasizes learning and conscious cognitive processes, including the importance of beliefs about the self, goal setting, and self-regulation?

Back 43

The Social Cognitive perspective.

Front 44

What perspective emphasizes the description and measurement of specific personality differences among individuals?

Back 44

The Trait perspective.

Front 45

Rorschach Inkblot Test-

Back 45

A projective test using inkblots, developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921.

Front 46

Thematic Apperception Test(TAT)-

Back 46

A projective personality test that involves creating stories about each of a series of ambiguous scenes.

Front 47

Social psychology-

Back 47

The branch of psychology that studies how people think, feel, and behave in social situations.

Front 48

What helped John Gacy escape detection?

Back 48

The implicit personality theory. Gacy was perceived as a family man so no one thought he could be a mass killer.

Front 49

What are some common perceptions of an attractive person?

Back 49

Higher intelligence, happier, and better adjusted than other people.

Front 50

Blaming the victim-

Back 50

The tendency to blame an innocent victim of misfortune for having somehow caused the problem or for not having taken steps to avoid or prevent it.

Front 51

Fundamental attribution error-

Back 51

The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal, personal characteristics, while ignoring or underestimating the effects of external, situational factors; an attributional bias that is common in individualistic cultures.

Front 52

Self-serving bias-

Back 52

The tendency to attribute successful outcomes of ones own behavior to internal cauess and unsuccessful outcomes to external, situational causes.

Front 53

Cognitive dissonance-

Back 53

An unpleasant state of psychological tension or arousal (dissonance) that occurs when two thoughts or perceptions (cognitions) are inconsistent; typically results from the awareness that attitudes and behavior are in conflict.

Front 54

What does DSM IV stand for?

Back 54

Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders. 4th edition.