Psychology Ch 1&2

Front 1

What is basic research?

Back 1

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Front 2

What is applied research?

Back 2

Used to solve a problem

Front 3

What is a psychologist?

Back 3

more focused on testing and research

Front 4

What is a psychiatrist?

Back 4

-medical doctor
-prescribes medication

Front 5

hindsight bias

Back 5

-idea that you already knew
-doesn't require any critical thinking

Front 6

case study

Back 6

study individual in great depth to reveal universal truths

Front 7

placebo

Back 7

substance administered without the drug in it

Front 8

structuralism

Back 8

-looks inward (introspective)
-Edward Titchner

Front 9

functionalism

Back 9

-how we interact w/ eachother
-why we do the things we do

Front 10

double-blind procedure

Back 10

experimental procedure where both participants and researchers are blind as to who received the treatment or placebo

Front 11

placebo effect

Back 11

any effect on behavior caused by the placebo

Front 12

experimental condition

Back 12

people who receive the treatment

Front 13

control condition

Back 13

w/o treatment for comparison

Front 14

random assignment

Back 14

assigning participants by chance, minimizing pre-exhisting differences between the assigned different groups

Front 15

independant variable

Back 15

factor that is being manipulated

Front 16

dependent variable

Back 16

experimental factor that is being effected

Front 17

corralation coefficient

Back 17

how much things vary/to what degree (relationships)

Front 18

neuroscience perspective

Back 18

how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences

Front 19

evolutionary perspective

Back 19

how the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of one's genes

Front 20

behavior genetics perspective

Back 20

how much of our genes ad our environment influence our individual differences

Front 21

psychodynamic perspective

Back 21

how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

Front 22

behavioral perspective

Back 22

how we learn observable responses

Front 23

cognitive perspective

Back 23

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

Front 24

social-cultural perspective

Back 24

how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

Front 25

empiricism

Back 25

the view that knowledge comes from experience via the senses and science flourishes through observation and experimentation

Front 26

neuron

Back 26

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

Front 27

dendrite

Back 27

the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell

Front 28

axon

Back 28

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons, muscles or glands

Front 29

action potential

Back 29

a neural impulse; a breif electrical charge that travels down an axon

Front 30

myeliln sheath

Back 30

-layer of fatty tissue encasing the axons
-helps speed neural impulses

Front 31

threshold

Back 31

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Front 32

synapse

Back 32

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite/cell body of the receiving neuron

Front 33

neurotransmitters

Back 33

chemical messengers that move thru the synaptic gaps between neurons

Front 34

autonomic

Back 34

controls self-regulated actions of internal organs and glands

Front 35

sympathetic

Back 35

arousing

Front 36

parasympathetic

Back 36

calming

Front 37

endorphines

Back 37

natural neurotransmitters linked to pain and pleasure

Front 38

somatic

Back 38

controls the movements of our skeletal muscles

Front 39

brainstem

Back 39

-base of brain
-begins from spinal cord

Front 40

medulla

Back 40

-runs from brainstem
-controls heartbeat and breathing

Front 41

reticular formation

Back 41

-above medulla
-controls arousal

Front 42

thalamus

Back 42

-above reticular formation
-reeives information from all senses except smell and routes it to the higher brain region

Front 43

EEG

Back 43

checks for electrial symptoms

Front 44

PET

Back 44

-swallow radioactive fluid
-visual display of brain activity

Front 45

MRI

Back 45

-uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce images that distinguish different types of soft tissue
-allows us to see structures w/in the brain

Front 46

aphasia

Back 46

-impaired use of language
-some can speak fluently but not read

Front 47

Broca's area

Back 47

-controls language expression
-after damage, a person struggles to form words yet can sing familiar songs easily

Front 48

Wernicke's area

Back 48

-controls language reception
-after damage, people could only speak meaningless words and were unable to comprehend other people's words

Front 49

amygdala

Back 49

aggression/fear

Front 50

hippocampus

Back 50

processes memory

Front 51

pituitary gland

Back 51

secretes different hormones

Front 52

hypothalamus

Back 52

maintenence regulator (eating, drinking, body temp)

Front 53

plasticity

Back 53

the brains capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development

Front 54

frontal lobes

Back 54

-portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead
-involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments

Front 55

parietal lobes

Back 55

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear

Front 56

occipital lobes

Back 56

-the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head
-includes the visual areas, which receive visual info from the opposite visual field

Front 57

temporal lobes

Back 57

-the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears
-includes auditory areas, each of chich receives auditory info primarily from the opposite ear

Front 58

motor cortex

Back 58

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

Front 59

sensory cortex

Back 59

the area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and proesses body sensations

Front 60

adrenal glands

Back 60

a pair of endocrine glands that secrete the hormones epinepherine and nonepinepherin, which help to arouse the body in times of stress

Front 61

pituitary gland

Back 61

the endocrine systems most influential gland that regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

Front 62

Function of ACh

Back 62

enables muscle action, learning and memory

Front 63

Function of Dopamine

Back 63

influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion

Front 64

Function of Serotonin

Back 64

affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal

Front 65

Function of norepinepherine

Back 65

helps control alertness and arousal

Front 66

Function of GABA

Back 66

a major inhibitory neurotransmitter

Front 67

Function of Glutamate

Back 67

-a major excitatory neurotransmitter
-involved in memory

Front 68

Undersupply of ACh causes...

Back 68

Alzheimer's disease

Front 69

Excess Dopamine causes...

Back 69

Schizophrenia

Front 70

Undersupply of Dopamine causes...

Back 70

Parkinson's

Front 71

Undersupply of Seratonin causes...

Back 71

Depression

Front 72

Undersupply of Norepinepherin causes...

Back 72

depressed mood

Front 73

Undersupply of GABA is linked to...

Back 73

seizures, tremors, and insomnia

Front 74

Oversupply of Glutamate can...

Back 74

produce migranes or seizures