Psych 2 Test

Front 1

natural selection

Back 1

according to Charles Darwin the process by which inherited characteristics that lead to an advant. in adapting to the environment are more likely to be passed on to subsequent generations through genetic material

Front 2

behavioral neuroscience

Back 2

a gen term encompassing a range of disciplines such as neurology, psychology, and psychiatry that focus on the role of the nervous system, especially the brain, in understanding behavior

Front 3

stimulus

Back 3

environmental feature that provokes a response from an organism

Front 4

receptors

Back 4

specialized cells that are sensitive to specific types of stimulus energy

Front 5

Central nervous system (CNS)

Back 5

division of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord

Front 6

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Back 6

division of the nervous system that consists of the neural fibers lying outside of the brain and spinal cord

Front 7

Neurons

Back 7

basic cells of the nervous system

Front 8

Somatic nervous system

Back 8

division of the peripheral nervous system that consists of nerves coming from the receptors to the brain and spinal cord as well as nerves that go from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles

Front 9

afferent (sensory) nerves

Back 9

nerves that carry info from the receptors to the spinal cord and brain

Front 10

efferent (motor) nerves

Back 10

nerves that carry info from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles

Front 11

Autonomic nervous system

Back 11

division of the peripheral nervous system involved in the control of bodily functioning through organs and glands

Front 12

sympathetic nervous system

Back 12

subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that is responsible for mobilizing the body in times of stress, preparing organisms for fight or flight

Front 13

Parasympathetic nervous system

Back 13

subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that is responsible for returning the body to a resting or balanced state

Front 14

reflex

Back 14

automatic behavior in response to a specific stimulus

Front 15

endocrine system

Back 15

system of glands that produce and secrete chemicals called hormones that can have effects some distance from the gland that secreted the hormone

Front 16

hormones

Back 16

chemicals produced by the glands of the endocrine system that are carried by the bloodstream to other organs throughout the body

Front 17

pancreas

Back 17

an endocrine gland that lies btwn the stomach and the small intestine; the primary hormone released, insulin, regulates levels of glucose in the body

Front 18

hypothalamus

Back 18

gland and brain structure that sends signals to the pituitary gland and contains key centers for fighting fleeing sexual activity and hunger

Front 19

pituitary gland

Back 19

called the master gland bc its secretions control many other glands; this endocrine gland is located in the brain below the thalamus and hypothalamus

Front 20

thyroid gland

Back 20

endocrine gland located just below the larynx that releases hormones including thyroxine which has widespread effects throughout the body via its effects on metabolic rate

Front 21

gonads

Back 21

gen term that refers to sex glands in either males (testes) or females (ovaries); they release hormones that affect sexual development

Front 22

ovaries

Back 22

female gonads

Front 23

testes

Back 23

male gonads

Front 24

adrenal glands

Back 24

pair of glands located at the top of each kidneys; they release a range of hormones including epinephrine and norepinephrine

Front 25

dendrite

Back 25

short, branchlike structure of a neuron that receives info from receptors and other neurons

Front 26

soma

Back 26

cell body of a neuron which contains the nucleus

Front 27

axon

Back 27

elongated part of a neuron that transmits info to other neurons, muscles, and glands

Front 28

terminal buttons

Back 28

component of a neuron located at the ends of the axon where neurotransmitters are stored before being released into the synapse

Front 29

myelin sheath

Back 29

whitish, fatty protein sub. composed of glial cells, that covers some axons and increases the speed of neural transmission

Front 30

glial cell

Back 30

special type of cell found in the nervous system that forms the myelin sheath, which increases the speed of neural conduction by providing insulation of the axons

Front 31

multiple sclerosis

Back 31

disease caused by degeneration of myelin in the central nervous system. Plaques formed in the myelin sheath interfere with neural transmission, resulting in a variety of effects, depending on their location in the body, but most often affecting motor movement

Front 32

synapse

Back 32

site where two or more neurons interact but do not touch; neurotransmitters are realease into the space in order to continue neural impulses

Front 33

neurotransmitters

Back 33

chem sub that are stored in terminal buttons and released into the synapse btwn two neurons to carry signals from one neuron to the next

Front 34

agonists

Back 34

drugs that enhance the effects of a part. neurotransmitter

Front 35

antagonists

Back 35

drugs that oppose or inhibit the effects of a part. neurotransmitter

Front 36

neuromodulators

Back 36

chemicals that may have a widespread of general effect on the release of neurotransmitters

Front 37

endorphins

Back 37

subs produced by the body that block pain; these subs are opium-like chemicals

Front 38

resting state

Back 38

electrical charge of a neuron when it is not firing

Front 39

action potential

Back 39

reversal in electrical charge of a neuron that occurs when the neuron fires

Front 40

electroencephalograph (EEG)

Back 40

device that monitors and records electrical activity of the brain in the form of a graphic rep of brain waves

Front 41

position emission tomography (PET)

Back 41

imaging technique that involves monitoring the metabolic activity of the brain

Front 42

Computerized axial tomography (CAT)

Back 42

imaging technique that involves the production of a large number of xrays interpreted by a computer

Front 43

Magnetic resonance imaging

Back 43

imaging technique that involves the use of radio waves and a strong magnetic field to produce a signal that can be interpreted by a computer

Front 44

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Back 44

a modification of the standard MRI procedure that allows both structural and temporal images of the brain to be gathered

Front 45

hindbrain

Back 45

oldest of the three main divisions of the brain; its major structures are the medulla, pons, and cerebellum

Front 46

medulla

Back 46

structure located in the hindbrain that regulates automatic responses such as breathing, swallowing and blood circulation

Front 47

pons

Back 47

structure of the hindbrain that connects the two halves of the brain; has nuclei that are important for sleep and arousal

Front 48

cerebellum

Back 48

structure of the hindbrain that coordinates muscular movements

Front 49

midbrain

Back 49

major division of the brain that contains fibers known as the reticular formation

Front 50

brain stem

Back 50

the oldest part of the brain; begins at the top of the spinal cord and contains brain centers responsible for basic survival activities

Front 51

reticular formation

Back 51

nerve fibers passing through the midbrain that control arousal

Front 52

forebrain

Back 52

major division of the brain that consists of subcortal structures and the cerebral cortex

Front 53

corpus callosum

Back 53

wide band of neural fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain

Front 54

cerebral cortex

Back 54

the convoluted (wrinkled) outer layer of the brain

Front 55

limbic system

Back 55

system of the interconnected subcortical structures that regulates emotions and motivated behaviors, such as hunger, thirst, aggression, and sexual behavior

Front 56

thalamus

Back 56

subcortial structure that relays incoming sensory info to the cerebral cortex and other parts of the brain

Front 57

frontal lobes

Back 57

the largest lobs of the cortex; they contain a motor strip, Broca's area (speech), and areas responsible for decision making

Front 58

parietal lobes

Back 58

lobes located behind the frontal lobes and containing the sensory cortex

Front 59

temporal lobes

Back 59

lobes responsible for hearing and understanding speech (wernike's area)

Front 60

occipital lobes

Back 60

lobes located at the back of the brain that are responsible for sight

Front 61

aphasia

Back 61

gen term for problems in understanding or producing spoken or written lang

Front 62

apraxia

Back 62

deficits in nonverbal skills

Front 63

sensation

Back 63

activation of receptors by stimuli in the environment

Front 64

perception

Back 64

the process of organizing and making sense of sensory info

Front 65

transduction

Back 65

conversion of stimuli received by the receptors into a form (patterns of neural impulses) that can be used by the nervous system

Front 66

adaptation

Back 66

loss of sensitivity to a stimulus by the receptors as a result of continued presentation of that stimulis

Front 67

Weber's Law

Back 67

the observation that the amount of stimulus increase or decrease required to notice a change, divided by the original stimulation, is a constant

Front 68

just noticeable difference

Back 68

smallest diff btwn two stimulus that is noticeable 50% of the time

Front 69

absolute threshold

Back 69

minimum amount of energy required for conscious detection of a stimulus 50% of the time

Front 70

differential threshold

Back 70

smallest amount of stimulation that must be added to or subtracted from an existing stimulus for a person to be able to detect a change 50% of the time

Front 71

signal detection theory

Back 71

the contention that the threshold varies with the nature of the stimulus (signal) and with background stimulation

Front 72

subliminal stimuli

Back 72

stimuli that are below the threshold of consciousness

Front 73

wavelength

Back 73

physical length of a light wave measured in nanometers

Front 74

amplitude

Back 74

strength or intensity of a stimulus (brightness for visual stimuli; loudness for auditory stimuli)

Front 75

saturation

Back 75

trueness or purity of a color

Front 76

radiant light

Back 76

visible energy emitted by an object

Front 77

reflected light

Back 77

energy that is reflected by objects

Front 78

accommodation

Back 78

in focusing, action of the ciliary muscles to change the shape of the lens

Front 79

retina

Back 79

tissue that contains the visual receptors, located at the back of the eye

Front 80

bipolar cells

Back 80

cells in the retina that connect the receptors to the ganglion

Front 81

ganglion cells

Back 81

cells in the retina whose axons form the optic nerve

Front 82

blind spot

Back 82

location at which the optic nerve leaves the eyeball; contains no receptors

Front 83

optic chiasm

Back 83

pt at which the optic nerve fibers from each eye join; fibers from the nasal half of the retina cross to the opp hemisphere of the brain

Front 84

rods

Back 84

most prevalent visual receptors; have a lower threshold and lower acuity than cones and do not detect color

Front 85

cones

Back 85

visual receptors that are less prevalent than rods; have a higher threshold and higher acuity and are able to detect color

Front 86

fovea

Back 86

indented spot in the center of the retina that contains only cones

Front 87

trichromatic theory

Back 87

color vision theory stating that there are three types of color receptors

Front 88

opponent-process theory

Back 88

color vision theory stressing the pairing of color experiences; activation of one process can inhibit its partner

Front 89

color afterimage

Back 89

perception of a color that is not really present; occurs after viewing the opposite or complementary color

Front 90

monochromat

Back 90

person who sees only shades of gray; caused by a rare form of color deficiency

Front 91

dichromat

Back 91

person who has trouble seeing one of the primary colors (reds, blues, or greens)

Front 92

hertz

Back 92

unit of measure for sound

Front 93

decibel

Back 93

unit of measure of the amount of energy producing the vibrations we perceive as sound

Front 94

timbre

Back 94

the purity of a sound wave

Front 95

ossicles

Back 95

three bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) located in the middle ear that conduct sound from the outer to the inner ear

Front 96

oval window

Back 96

structure that connects the middle ear with the cochlea of the inner ear; its movement causes fluid in the cochlea to move

Front 97

basilar membrane

Back 97

membrane located in the cochlea of the inner ear; movement of cochlear cluid causes it to vibrate

Front 98

organ of Corti

Back 98

structure located on the basilar membrane of the inner ear that contains the auditory receptors

Front 99

tectorial membrane

Back 99

membrane located above the organ of Corti in the inner ear

Front 100

place theory

Back 100

theory stating that the basilar membrane vibrates at diff places to create the perception of diff pitches

Front 101

frequency theory

Back 101

theory stating that the basilar membrane vibrates at diff reates to create the perception of diff pitches

Front 102

conduction deafness

Back 102

deafness caused by problems associated with transmitting sounds through the outer and middle ears

Front 103

sensorineural deafness

Back 103

deafness caused by damage to the inner ear, especially the hair cells

Front 104

central deafness

Back 104

deafness resulting from disease and tumors in the auditory pathways or auditory cortex of the brain

Front 105

gustatoin

Back 105

sense of taste

Front 106

taste buds

Back 106

taste receptors

Front 107

papillae

Back 107

lined with taste buds on tongue and throat

Front 108

microvilli

Back 108

hairs that project from taste receptors

Front 109

olfaction

Back 109

sense of smell

Front 110

vestibluar sense

Back 110

system located in the inner ear that allows us to make adjustments to bodily movements and postures

Front 111

semicircular canals

Back 111

fluid filled passages in the inner ear that detect movement of the head

Front 112

utricle

Back 112

fluid filled chamber in the inner ear that detects changes in gravity

Front 113

kinesthetic sense

Back 113

system of receptors located in muscles and joints that provides info about the location of the extremities

Front 114

cutaneous senses

Back 114

system of receptors located in the skin that provides info about touch, pressure, pain, and temp

Front 115

gate control theory

Back 115

theory of pain stating that the release of substance P in the spinal cord produces the sensation of pain

Front 116

cutaneous receptors

Back 116

receptors in the skin that provide sensory info

Front 117

divided attention

Back 117

the ability to process more than one source of stimulation at the same time

Front 118

pattern perception

Back 118

the ability to discriminate among diff figures and shapes

Front 119

feature analysis theory

Back 119

theory of pattern perception stating that we perceive basic elements of an object and assemble them mentally to create the complete object

Front 120

perceptual constancy

Back 120

the tendency to perceive the size and shape of an object as constant even though its retinal image changes

Front 121

shape constancy

Back 121

the tendency to perceive the shape of an object as constant despite changes in its retinal image

Front 122

size constancy

Back 122

the tendency to perceive the size of an object as constant despite changes in its retinal image

Front 123

depth perception

Back 123

the ability to perceive our world three-d

Front 124

binocular cues

Back 124

cues for depth perception that involve the use of both eyes

Front 125

monocular cues

Back 125

cues for depth perception that involve the use of only one eye

Front 126

binocular disparity

Back 126

the diff btwn the images seen by the two eyes

Front 127

figure-ground relation

Back 127

organization of perceptual elements into a figure and a background

Front 128

proximity

Back 128

Gestalt principle stating that perceptual elements that are close together are seen as a group

Front 129

similarity

Back 129

Gestalt principle stating that perceptual elements that are similar are seen as a group

Front 130

good continuation

Back 130

Gestalt principle stating that smooth, flowing lines are more readily perceived than choppy, broken lines

Front 131

closure

Back 131

Gestalt stating that organizing perceptions into whole objects is easier than perceiving separate parts indepentently

Front 132

apparent motion

Back 132

illusion of movement in a stationary object

Front 133

perceptual hypothesis

Back 133

inference about the nature of stimuli received from the environment

Front 134

perceptual illusion

Back 134

misperceptions or inerpretations of stimuli that do not correspond to the sensations received

Front 135

visual search

Back 135

identifying the presence of a target stimulus among a group of other, distractor items

Front 136

extrasensory perception (ESP)

Back 136

behaviors or experiences that cannot be explained by info received by the senses

Front 137

consciousness

Back 137

a person's awareness of feelings, sensations, and thoughts at a given moment

Front 138

day dreaming

Back 138

a form of consciousness involving fantasies, usually spontaneous, that occurs while a person is awake

Front 139

circadian rhythms

Back 139

internal biological changes that occur on a daily schedule

Front 140

jet lag

Back 140

temporary maladjustment that occurs when a change of time zones causes biological rhythms to be out of step with local time

Front 141

polysomnograph

Back 141

instrument that amplifies and records signals associated with biological changes taken during a night in a sleep laboratory

Front 142

non-REM sleep

Back 142

sleep stages 1,2,3, and 4; NREM sleep consists primarily of Stages 3 and 4 (deep sleep) early in the night and Stage 2 later on

Front 143

slow-wave sleep

Back 143

deep sleep of NREM stages 3 and 4, characterized by delta waves

Front 144

REM sleep

Back 144

sleep stage characterized by rapid eye movements, dreams, high levels of brain activity and muscle paralysis

Front 145

REM rebound

Back 145

an increase in the typical amount of REM sleep following reduction of REM sleep owing to sleep deprivation or the use of certain drugs that reduce REM sleep

Front 146

insomnia

Back 146

complaints of difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, frequent awakenings, or poor-quality sleep

Front 147

hypersomnias

Back 147

sleep disorders characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness

Front 148

narcolepsy

Back 148

sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and attacks of muscles weakness induced by emotion, as well as hypnagogic hallucinations; the symptoms are due to the intrusion of REM sleep into waking time

Front 149

sleep apnea

Back 149

sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep; most prevalent in older overweight men

Front 150

parasomnias

Back 150

sleep disorders, other than insomnia and hypersomnia which occur more frequently in children and often disappear without treatment

Front 151

sleepwalking

Back 151

a parasomnia that occurs during stage 4 sleep, usually in children; most often consists of sitting up in bed

Front 152

enuresis

Back 152

bedwetting, a sleep disorder that occurs primarily in children and is considered a disorder of arousal that is likely to improve with maturation of the CNS

Front 153

sleep terror

Back 153

partial awakening from stage 4 sleep characterized by loud screams and extreme physiological arousal

Front 154

nightmare

Back 154

frightening dream that usually awakens a sleeper from REM sleep; occurs most often in children ages 3 to 6

Front 155

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Back 155

the unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant up to age 1 that is not explained by autopsy, medical case info, or an investigation of the death scene

Front 156

dream

Back 156

a succession of predominantly visual images experienced during sleep

Front 157

manifest content

Back 157

according to Freud, the dream as reported by the dreamer

Front 158

latent content

Back 158

according to Freud, the deeper underlying meaning of a dream, connected by symbols to the manifest content

Front 159

activation-synthesis hypothesis

Back 159

explanation of dreams that suggests that they result when the cortex seeks to explain the high level of neuronal activity occurring during REM sleep

Front 160

hypnosis

Back 160

state of heightened susceptibility to suggestions

Front 161

dissociation

Back 161

splitting of conscious awareness that is believed to play a role in hypnotic pain reduction