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75 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Wilhelm Wundt
Father of Psychology (not America)
William James
Father of American Psychology
Positive Psychology
the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable indiviuals and communities to thrive
Naturalistic Observation
observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
Neuron
a nerve cell; trhe basic building block fo the nervous system
Axon
the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands
Neurotransmitters
chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons, When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the recieving neuron, thereby influencing whether that enruon will generate a neural impulse
Central Nervous System (CNS)
the brain and spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body
Parasympathetic System
the division of the the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy
Somatic Nervous System
the division of the peripheral nervous system tha tcontrols the body's skeletal muscles
Frontal Lobes
the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments
Temporal Lobes
the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each of which receives auditroy information primarily from the opposite ear
Dendrite
the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body
Myelin Sheath
a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hopd from one node to the next
Endorphins
"morphine within"- narual, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure
Occipital Lobes
the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the visual areas, which recieve visual information from the opposite visual field
Autonomic Nervous System
the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of hte internal organs. Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms
Sympathetic System
the division of the autonomic nervous sysstem that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations
Brain Stem
the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spianl cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions
Parietal Lobes
the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and twoard the rear; recieves the sensory input for touch and boyd position
Broca's Area
controls language expression-an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech
Wernicke's area
controls language reception-a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal
Hippocampus
a neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage
Hypothalamus
a neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activies, helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion
Amygdala
two lima bean-sized neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion
Endocrine System
the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones in to the bloodstream
Pituitary Gland
the endocrine system's most influential gland. Regulate growth and controls other endocrine glands
Medulla
the base of the brain stem; controls heart beat and breathing
Cerebellum
the "little" brain attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance
Limbic System
a doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex.
Thalmamus
the brain's sensory switchboard, located on to p of the brainstem; it directs meassges to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies ot the cerebellum and medulla
Corpus Callosum
the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemipsheres and carrying the messages between them
Hormones
chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, tha tare produced in one tissue and affect another
Plasticity
the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on bran development
Longitudinal Study
research in which the same people are restudided and retested over a long period
Assimilation
interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas
Conservation
the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, voluem and number sremain the same despite changes in the forms of the objects
Lorenz
Studied imprinting such as with ducks
Attachment
an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
Stranger Anxiety
the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age
Temperament
a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Cross-Sectional Study
a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Accommodation
adapting one's current understanding (schemas) to incorporate new information
Egocentrism
in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty in taking another's point of view
Imprinting
the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life
Harlow
Did a study with monkeys and the types of attachment they had.
Sensation
the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
Absolute Threshold
the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time
Lens
the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina
Rods
retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripgheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond
Cones
Retinal receptor cells tha tare concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.
Fovea
the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster
Weber's Law
the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differe by a constant minimum percentage
REM sleep
rapid eye movement. Has vivid dreams
Latent Content
according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream.
Physical Dependence
a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the durg is discontinued
Perception
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Difference Threshold
the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. the just noticeable difference
Pupil
the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through wich light enters
Retina
the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layer of neurons that begin the processing of visual information
Optic Nerve
the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
Circadian Rhythm
the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle
Manifest Content
according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream
Psychological Dependence
a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions
Morphemes
the smallest meaningful unit of sound
Semantics
the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language
Reliability
the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting
Phoneme
smallest distinct unit of sound
Syntax
the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language
Validity
the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
Predictive Validity
the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test score and the criterion behavior
Generalization
the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit simlar responses
Operant Conditioning
a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
Fixed Interval
reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed