Psychology

Front 1

theory

Back 1

an organized set of concepts that explain a phenomena

Front 2

determinism

Back 2

the doctrine that all events- physical, behavioral and mental- are determined by specific causal factors that are potentially knowable.

Front 3

hypothesis

Back 3

a tentative and testable explanation of the relationship between two events or variables; often stated as a predicition that a certain outcome will result from specific conditions

Front 4

observer bias

Back 4

the distortion of evidence because of the personal motives and expectations of the viewer.

Front 5

standardization

Back 5

a set of uniform procedures for treating each participant in a test, interview, or experiment , or for recording data.

Front 6

operational definition

Back 6

a def. of a variable conditions in terms of the specific operation or procedure used to determine its presence.

Front 7

variable

Back 7

ina an experimental setting, a factor that varies in amount and kind

Front 8

independent variable

Back 8

a variable that researchers manipulate with the expectation of having and impact on the dependent variable.

Front 9

dependent variable

Back 9

a variable that the researcher measures to assess the impact of a variation in an independent variable

Front 10

experimental method

Back 10

manipulation of independent variables to determine the effects on the dependent variables

Front 11

confounding variable

Back 11

a stimulus other than the variable an experimenter explicitly introduces into a research setting that affects a participants behavior

Front 12

expectancy effect

Back 12

result that occurs when a researcher or observer subtly communicated to participants the kind of behavior he or she expects to find, thereby creating that expected reaction

Front 13

placebo effect

Back 13

a change in behavior in the absence of an experimental manipulation

Front 14

control procedure

Back 14

consistent procedure for giving instruction, scoring responses and holding all other variables constant except those being systematically varied

Front 15

double-blind control

Back 15

an experimental technique in which biased expectations of experimenters are eliminated by keeping both participants and experimental assistants unaware of which participants have received which treatment.

Front 16

placebo control

Back 16

an experimental condition in which treatment is not administered; it is used in cases where a placebo effect might occur

Front 17

between-subjects design

Back 17

a research design in which different groups of participants are randomly assigned to experimental conditions or to control conditions

Front 18

random assignment

Back 18

a procedure by which participants have an equal likelihood of being assigned to any condition within an experiment

Front 19

experimental group

Back 19

a group in an experiment that is exposed to a treatment or experiences a manipulation of the independent variable

Front 20

control group

Back 20

group that is not exposed to a treatment or manipulation of the independent variable

Front 21

population

Back 21

the entire set of individuals to which generalizations will be made based on an experimental sample

Front 22

sample

Back 22

a subset of the population selected as participants in an experiment

Front 23

representative sample

Back 23

a subset of the population that closely matches the overall characteristics of the population with respect to distribution of males and femals , racial and ethnic groups, and so on.

Front 24

random sampling

Back 24

a procedure that ensures that every member of a population has an equal likelihood of participating in the experiment

Front 25

within-subject design

Back 25

ex. the behavior of an experiment al participant before receiving treatment might be compared to his or her behavior after receiving treatment

Front 26

correlational method

Back 26

researchers determine to what extent two variables are related

Front 27

correlation coefficient

Back 27

(r) a statistic that indicates the degree of relationship between two variables

Front 28

reliability

Back 28

the degree to which a test produces similar scores each time it is used; stability or consistency

Front 29

validity

Back 29

the extent to which a test measures what it was intended to measure

Front 30

self-report measure

Back 30

a self-behavior that is identified through a participants own observations and reports

Front 31

behavioral measure

Back 31

overt actions or reaction that is observed and recorded, exclusive or self-reported behavior

Front 32

naturalistic observation

Back 32

a research technique in which unobtrusive observations are made of behaviors that occur in natural environments

Front 33

case study

Back 33

intensive observation of a particular individual or small group of individuals

Front 34

informed consent

Back 34

individuals are informed about experimental procedures, risks, benefits before they provide formal consent to become research participants

Front 35

debriefing

Back 35

at the end of the experiment the researcher provides as much information about the study as possible

Front 36

descriptive statistics

Back 36

statistical procedures that are used to summarize sets of scores with respects to central tendencies, variability, and correlations

Front 37

inferential statistics

Back 37

statistical procedures that allow researchers to determine whether the results they obtain support their hypotheses or can be attributed just to chance variation

Front 38

frequency distribution

Back 38

a summary of how frequently each score appears in a set of observations

Front 39

measure of central tendency

Back 39

a statistic, such as a mean, median, or mode, that provides one score as representative of a set of observations.

Front 40

mode

Back 40

the score appearing most frequently in a set of observations

Front 41

median

Back 41

the score in a distribution above and below which lie 50 percent f the other scores

Front 42

mean

Back 42

the arithmetic average of a group of scores

Front 43

measure of variability

Back 43

a statistic, such as a range or a standard deviation that indicates how tightly the scores in a set of observations cluster together

Front 44

range

Back 44

the difference between the highest and the lowest scores in a set of observations

Front 45

standard deviation

Back 45

average difference between the highest and the lowest scores ina set of observations

Front 46

normal curve

Back 46

the symmetrical curve that represents the distribution of scores on many psychological attributes

Front 47

significant difference

Back 47

a difference between experimental groups or conditions that would have occurred by chance less than an accepted criterion

Front 48

natural selection

Back 48

darwin's theory that favorable adaptations to features of the environment allow some members of a species to reproduce more successfully than others

Front 49

genotype

Back 49

the genetic structure an organism inherits from its parents

Front 50

phenotype

Back 50

the observable characteristics of an organisms, resulting from the interaction between the organisms genotype and its environment

Front 51

heredity

Back 51

the biological transmission of traits from parents to offspring

Front 52

genetics

Back 52

the study of the inheritance of physical and psychological traits from ancestors

Front 53

DNA

Back 53

the physical basis for transmission of genetic information

Front 54

gene

Back 54

the biological unit of heredity; discrete section of a chromosome responsible for transmission of traits

Front 55

sex chromosome

Back 55

chromosome that contains the genes that code for the development of male or female characteristics

Front 56

polygenic trait

Back 56

characteristic that is influenced by more than one gene

Front 57

genome

Back 57

the genetic information for an organism, stored in the DNA of its chromosomes

Front 58

human behavior genetics

Back 58

the area of study that evaluates the genetic component of individual differences in behavior and traits

Front 59

heritability

Back 59

the relative influence of genetics-versus environment- in determining patterns of behavior

Front 60

sociobiology

Back 60

a field of research that focuses on evolutionary explanations for the social behavior and social systems of humans and other animal species

Front 61

evolutionary psychology

Back 61

the study of behavior and mind using the principles of evolutionary theory.

Front 62

neuroscience

Back 62

the scientific study of the brain and of the links between brain activity and behavior

Front 63

neuron

Back 63

a cell in the nervous system specialized to receive, process, and/or transmit information to other cells

Front 64

dendrite

Back 64

one of the branched fibers of neurons that receive incoming signals

Front 65

soma

Back 65

the cell body of a neuron, containing the nucleus and cytoplasm

Front 66

axon

Back 66

the extended fiber of a neuron through which nerve impulses travel from the soma to the terminal buttons

Front 67

terminal button

Back 67

a bulblike structure at the branched ending of an axon that contain vesicles filled with neurotransmitters

Front 68

sensory neuron

Back 68

neuron that carries messages from sense receptors toward the central nervous system

Front 69

motor neuron

Back 69

neuron that carries messages away from the central nervous system toward the muscles and glands

Front 70

interneuron

Back 70

brain neuron that relays messages from sensory neurons to other interneurons or to motor neurons

Front 71

glia

Back 71

the cells that hold neurons together and facilitate neural transmission, remove damaged and dead neurons, and prevent poisonous substances in the blood from reaching the brain

Front 72

myelin sheath

Back 72

insulating material that surrounds axons and increases the speed of neural transmission

Front 73

excitatory input

Back 73

information entering a neuron that signals it to fire

Front 74

inhibitory input

Back 74

information entering a neuron that signals it not to fire

Front 75

action potential

Back 75

the nerve impulse activated in a neuron that travels down the axon and causes neurotransmitters to be released into a synapse

Front 76

resting potential

Back 76

the polarization of cellular fluid within a neuron, which provides the capability to produce an action potential

Front 77

ion channel

Back 77

a portion of neurons cells membrane that selectively permits certain ions to flow in and out

Front 78

all-or-none law

Back 78

the rule that the size of the action potential is unaffected by increases in the intensity of stimulation beyond the threshold level

Front 79

refractory period

Back 79

the period of rest during which a new nerve impulse cannot be activated in a segment of an axon

Front 80

synapse

Back 80

the gap between one neuron and another

Front 81

synaptic transmission

Back 81

the relaying information from one neuron to another across the synaptic gap

Front 82

neurotransmitter

Back 82

chemical messenger released from a neuron that crosses the synapse from one neuron to another, stimulation the postsynaptic neuron

Front 83

neuromodulator

Back 83

any substance that modifies or modulates the activities of the postsynaptic neuron

Front 84

Broca's area

Back 84

the region of the brain that translates into speech or signs

Front 85

lesion

Back 85

injury to or destruction of brain tissue

Front 86

repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Back 86

a technique for producing temporary inactivation of brain areas using repeated pulses of magnetic stimulation

Front 87

electroencephalogram EEG

Back 87

a recording of the electrical activity of the brain

Front 88

computerized axial tomography CAT

Back 88

a technique that uses narrow beams of x-rays passed through the brain at several angles to assemble complete brain images

Front 89

positron emission tomography scan PET

Back 89

brain image produced by a device that obtains detailed pictures of activity in the living brain by recording the radioactivity emitted by cells during different cognitive or behavioral activities

Front 90

magnetic resonance imaging MRI

Back 90

a technique for brain imaging that scans the brain using magnetic fields and radio waves

Front 91

functional MRI

Back 91

a brain imaging technique that combines benfit of both MRI and PET scans by detecting magnetic changes in the flow of blood to cells in the brain

Front 92

central nervous system

Back 92

the part of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord

Front 93

peripheral nervous system

Back 93

the part of the nervous system compound of the spinal and cranial nerves that connect the bodys sensory receptors to the CNS and the CNS to the muscles and glands

Front 94

somatic nervous system

Back 94

the subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that connects the central nervous system to the skeletal muscles and skin

Front 95

autonomic nervous system

Back 95

the subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's involuntary motor responses by connecting the sensory receptors to the central nervous systems and the CNS to the smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands

Front 96

sympathetic division

Back 96

the subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that deals with the emergency response and the mobilization of energy

Front 97

parasympathetic division

Back 97

the subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that monitors the routine operation of the bodys internal functions and conserves and restores body energy

Front 98

brain stem

Back 98

the brain structure that regulates the bodys basic life processes

Front 99

medulla

Back 99

the region of the brain stem that regulates breathing, waking, and heartbeat

Front 100

pons

Back 100

the region of the brain stem that connects the spinal cord with the brain and links parts of the brain to one another

Front 101

reticular formation

Back 101

the region of the brain stem that alerts the cerebral cortex to incoming sensory signals and is responsible for maintaining consciousness and awakening from sleep

Front 102

thalamus

Back 102

the brain structure the relays sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex

Front 103

cerebellum

Back 103

the region of the brain attached to the brain stem that controls motor coordination, posture, and balance as well as the ability to learn control of body movements

Front 104

limbic system

Back 104

the region of the brain that regulates emotional behavior, basic motivational urges, and memory, as well as major physiological function

Front 105

hippocampus

Back 105

the part of the limbic system that is involved in the acquisition of explicit memory

Front 106

amygdala

Back 106

the part of the limbic system that controls emotion, aggression, and the formation of emotional memory

Front 107

hypothalamus

Back 107

the brain structure that regulates motivated behavior such as eating and drinking and homeostasis

Front 108

homeostasis

Back 108

constancy or equilibrium of the internal conditions of the body

Front 109

cerebrum

Back 109

the region of the brain that regulates higher cognitive and emotional functions

Front 110

cerebral cortex

Back 110

the outer surface of the cerebrum

Front 111

cerebral hemispheres

Back 111

the two halves of the cerebrum, connected by the corpus callosum

Front 112

corpus callosum

Back 112

the mass of nerve fibers connecting the two hemispheres of the cerebrum

Front 113

frontal lobe

Back 113

region of the brain located above the lateral fissure and in front of the central sulcus; involved in motor control and cognitive activities

Front 114

parietal lobe

Back 114

region of the brain behind the frontal lobe and above the lateral fissure; contains somatosensory cortex

Front 115

occipital lobe

Back 115

rearmost region of the brain; contains primary visual cortex

Front 116

temporal lobe

Back 116

region of the brain found below the lateral fissure; contains auditory cortex

Front 117

Wernickes area

Back 117

a region of the brain that allows fluent speech production and comprehension

Front 118

motor cortex

Back 118

the region of the cerebral cortex that controls the action of the bodys voluntary muscles

Front 119

somatosensory cortex

Back 119

the region of the parietal lobes that processes sensory input from various body areas

Front 120

auditory cortex

Back 120

the area of the temporal lobes that receives and processes auditory information

Front 121

visual cortex

Back 121

the region of the occipital lobes in which visual information is processed

Front 122

association cortex

Back 122

the parts of the cerebral cortex in which many high-level brain processes occur

Front 123

endocrine system

Back 123

the network of glands that manufacture and secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Front 124

hormone

Back 124

one of the chemical messengers, manufactured and secreted by the endocrine glands, that regulate metabolism and influence body growth, mood, and sexual characteristics

Front 125

pituitary gland

Back 125

located in the brain, the gland that secretes growth hormone and influences the secretion of hormones by other endocrine glands

Front 126

testosterone

Back 126

the male sex hormone, secreted by the testes, that stimulates the production of sperms and is also responsible for the development of males secondary characteristics

Front 127

estrogen

Back 127

the female sex organ, produced by the ovaries, that is responsible for the release of eggs from the ovaries as well as for the development and maintenance of of female reproductive structures and secondary sex characteristics

Front 128

plasticity

Back 128

changes in the performance of the brain; may involve the creation of new synapses or changes in the function of existing synapses.

Front 129

neurogenesis

Back 129

the creation of new neurons

Front 130

perception

Back 130

the processes that organize information in the sensory image and interpret it as having been produced by properties of objects or events in the external three-dimensional world

Front 131

sensation

Back 131

the process by which stimulation of a sensory receptor gives rise to neutral impulses that result in an experience , or awareness, of conditions inside or outside the body

Front 132

perceptual organization

Back 132

the processes that put sensory information together to give the perception of a coherent scene over the whole visual field

Front 133

identification and recognition

Back 133

two ways of attaching meaning to percepts

Front 134

distal stimulation

Back 134

in the processes of perception, the physical object in the world, as contrasted with the proximal stimulus, the optical image on the retina

Front 135

proximal stimulus

Back 135

the optical image on the retina; contrasted with the distal stimulus, the physical object in the world

Front 136

psychophysics

Back 136

the study of the correspondence between physical simulation and psychological experience

Front 137

absolute threshold

Back 137

the minimum amount of physical energy needed to produce a reliable sensory experience; operationally defined as the stimulus level at which a sensory signal is detected half the time

Front 138

psychometric function

Back 138

a graph that plots the percentage of detections of a stimulus(on the vertical axis) for each stimulus intensity (on the horizon axis)

Front 139

sensory adaptation

Back 139

a phenomenon in which receptor cells lose their power to respond after a period of unchanged stimulation; allows a more rapid reaction to new sources of information

Front 140

response bias

Back 140

the systematic tendency as a result of non sensory factors for an observer to favor responding in a particular way.

Front 141

signal detection theory

Back 141

a systematic approach to the problem of response bias that allows an experimenter to identify and separate the roles of sensory stimuli and the individuals criterion level in producing the final response

Front 142

difference threshold

Back 142

the smallest physical difference between two stimuli that can be recognized as a difference; operationally defined as the point at which the stimuli are recognized as different half of the time

Front 143

just noticeable difference

Back 143

the smallest difference between two sensations that allows them to be discriminated

Front 144

Weber's Law

Back 144

an assertion that the size of a difference threshold is proportional to the intensity of the standard stimulus

Front 145

transduction

Back 145

transformation of one form of energy into another; for example, light is transformed into neural impulses

Front 146

sensory receptor

Back 146

specialized cell that converts physical signals into cellular signals that are processed by the nervous system

Front 147

pupil

Back 147

the opening at the front of the eye through which light passes

Front 148

lens

Back 148

the flexible tissue that focuses light on the retina

Front 149

accommodation

Back 149

the process by which the ciliary muscles change the thickness of the lens of the eye to permit variable focusing on near and distant objects

Front 150

retina

Back 150

the layer at the back of the eye that contains photoreceptors and converts light energy to neutral responses

Front 151

photoreceptor

Back 151

receptor cell in the retina that is sensitive to light

Front 152

rod

Back 152

one of the photoreceptors concentrated in the periphery of the retina that are most active in dim illumination; rods do not produce sensation of color

Front 153

cone

Back 153

one of the photoreceptors concentrated in the center of the retina that are responsible for visual experience under normal viewing conditions for all experiences of color

Front 154

dark adaptation

Back 154

the gradual improvement of the eyes' sensitivity after a shift in illumination from light to near darkness

Front 155

fovea

Back 155

area of the retina that contains densely packed cones and forms the point of the sharpest vision

Front 156

bipolar cell

Back 156

nerve cell in the visual system that combines impulses from many receptors and transmits the results to ganglion cells

Front 157

ganglion cell

Back 157

cell in the visual system that integrates impulses from many bipolar cells in a single firing rate

Front 158

horizontal cell

Back 158

one of the cells that integrate information across the retina; than sending sending signals toward the brain, horizontal cells connect receptors to eachother

Front 159

blind spot

Back 159

the region of the retina where the optic nerve leaves the back of the eye; no receptors cells are present in this region

Front 160

optic nerve

Back 160

the axons of the ganglion cells that carry information from the eye toward the brain

Front 161

receptive field

Back 161

the area of the visual field to which a neuron in the visual system responds

Front 162

hue

Back 162

the dimension of color space that captures the qualitative experience of the color of light

Front 163

saturation

Back 163

the dimension of color space that captures the purity and vividness of color sensations

Front 164

brightness

Back 164

the dimension of color space that captures the intensity of light

Front 165

complementary colors

Back 165

colors opposite each other on the color circle; when additively mixed, they create the sensation of white light

Front 166

trichromatic theory

Back 166

the theory that there are three types of color receptors that produce the primary color sensations of red, green and blue.

Front 167

opponent-process theory

Back 167

the theory that all color experiences arise from

Front 168

pitch

Back 168

sound quality of highness or lowness; primarily dependent on the frequency of the sound wave

Front 169

loudness

Back 169

a perceptual dimension of sound influenced by the amplitude of a sound wave

Front 170

loudness

Back 170

a perceptual dimension of sound influenced by the amplitude of a sound wave; sound waves in large amplitudes are generally experienced as loud and those with small amplitudes as soft.

Front 171

timbre

Back 171

the dimension of auditory sensation that reflects the complexity of a sound wave

Front 172

cochlea

Back 172

the primary organ of hearing; a fluid-filled coiled tube located in the inner ear

Front 173

basilar membrane

Back 173

a membrane in the cochlea that, when set into motion, stimulates hair cells that produce the neural effects of auditory stimulation

Front 174

auditory nerve

Back 174

the nerve that carries impulses from the cochlea to the cochlear nucleus of the brain

Front 175

place theory

Back 175

the theory that different frequency tones produce maximum activation at different locations along the basilar membrane, with the result that pitch can be coded by the place at which activation occurs

Front 176

frequency theory

Back 176

the theory that a tone produces a rate of vibration in the basilar membrane equal to its frequency, with the result that pitch can be coded by the frequency of the neural response.

Front 177

volley principle

Back 177

an extension of frequency theory, which proposes that when peaks in a sound wave come too frequently for a single neuron to fire at each peak, several neurons fire as a group at the frequency of the stimulus tone

Front 178

sound vocalization

Back 178

the auditory processes that allow the spatial origins of environmental sounds

Front 179

olfaction

Back 179

the sense of smell

Front 180

olfactory bulb

Back 180

the center where odor-sensitive receptors send their signals, located just below the frontal lobes of the cortex

Front 181

pheromone

Back 181

chemical signal released by an organism to communicate with other members of the species; pheromones often serve as long-distance sexual attractors

Front 182

gustation

Back 182

the sense of taste

Front 183

cutaneous senses

Back 183

the skin senses that register sensations or pressure warmth, and cold

Front 184

vestibular sense

Back 184

the sense that tells how one's own body is oriented in the world with respect to gravity

Front 185

kinesthetic sense

Back 185

the sense concerned with bodily position and movement of the body parts relative to one another

Front 186

pain

Back 186

the bodys response to noxious stimuli that are intense enough to cause, or threaten to cause, tissue damage

Front 187

gate-control theory

Back 187

a theory about pain modulation that proposes that certain cells in the spinal cord act as gates to interrupt and block some pain signals while sending others to the brain

Front 188

attention

Back 188

a state of focused awareness on a subset of the available perceptual information

Front 189

goal-directed selection

Back 189

a determinant of why people select some parts of sensory input for further processing; it reflect the choices made as a function of one's goals

Front 190

stimulus-driven capture

Back 190

a determinant of why people select some parts of sensory input for further processing ; occurs when features of stimuli- object in the environment- automatically capture attention, independent of the local goals of a perceiver

Front 191

gestalt psychology

Back 191

a school of psychology that maintains that psychological phenomena can be understood only when viewed as organized, structured wholes, not when broken down into primitive perceptual elements

Front 192

phi phenomenon

Back 192

the simplest form of apparent motion, the movement illusion in which one or more stationary lights going on and off in succession are perceived as a single moving light

Front 193

binocular depth cue

Back 193

depth cue that uses information from both eyes

Front 194

retinal disparity

Back 194

the displacement between the horizontal positions of corresponding images in the two eyes

Front 195

convergence

Back 195

the degree to which the eyes turn inward to fixate on an object

Front 196

motion parallax

Back 196

a source of information about depth in which the relative distances of objects from a viewer determine the amount and direction of their relative motion in the retinal image

Front 197

monocular depth cue

Back 197

depth cue that uses information from only one eye

Front 198

perceptual constancy

Back 198

the ability to retain an unchanging percept of an object despite variations in the retinal image

Front 199

size constancy

Back 199

the ability to perceive the true size of an object despite variation in the size of its retinal image

Front 200

shape constancy

Back 200

the ability to perceive the true shape of an object despite variations in the size of the retinal image

Front 201

lightness constancy

Back 201

the tendency to perceive the whiteness, grayness, or blackness of objects as constant across changing levels of illuminations

Front 202

illusion

Back 202

an experience of a stimulus pattern in a manner that is demonstrably incorrect but shared by others in the same perceptual environment

Front 203

bottom-up processing

Back 203

perceptual analyses based on the sensory data available in the environment; results if analysis are passed upward toward more abstract representations

Front 204

top-down processing

Back 204

perceptual processes in which information from an individuals past experience, knowledge, expectations, motivations, and background influence the way a perceived object is interpreted and classified

Front 205

ambiguity

Back 205

property of perceptual object that may have more than one interpretation

Front 206

set

Back 206

a temporary readiness to perceive or react to a stimulus in a particular way