Psychology Test One

Front 1

identical twins

Back 1

monozygotic

Front 2

fraternal twins

Back 2

dizygotic

Front 3

3 types of studies

Back 3

1) experimental
2) correlational
3) descriptive

Front 4

The basic unit of the nervous system system; it operates through electrical impulses, which communicate with other neurons through chemical signals. Neurons receive, integrate, and transmit information in the nervous system.

Back 4

neuron

Front 5

branchlike extensions of the neuron that receive messages from other neurons

Back 5

dendrites

Front 6

where the messages from thousands of other neurons are collected and processed

Back 6

cell body

Front 7

the extension of a neuron, through which messages are sent to other neurons

Back 7

axon

Front 8

small nodules branching out at the end of axons; the release chemical (neuro-transmitters) into the synapse (which are then received by another neurons dendrites)

Back 8

terminal button

Front 9

the site for chemical communication between neurons, which contains extracellular fluid

Back 9

synapse, synaptic cleft

Front 10

a fatty material, made up of glial cells, that insulates the axon and allows for the the rapid movement of electrical impulses along the axon

Back 10

myelin sheath

Front 11

small gaps of exposed axon, between the segments of myelin sheath, where action potentials are transmitted

Back 11

nodes of Ranvier

Front 12

a chemical substance that carries signals from one neuron to another

Back 12

neurotransmitter

Front 13

in neurons, specialized protein molecules, on the postsynaptic membrane, that neurotransmitters bind to after passing across the synaptic cleft

Back 13

receptors

Front 14

the process by whereby a neurotransmitter is taken back into the presynaptic terminal buttons, thereby stopping its activity

Back 14

reuptake

Front 15

any drug that enchances the actions of a specific neurotransmitter

Back 15

agoist

Front 16

any drug that inhibits the action of a specific neurotransmitter

Back 16

antagonist

Front 17

motor control over muscles, learning, memory, sleeping, and dreaming

Back 17

acetylcholine

Front 18

energy

Back 18

epinephrine

Front 19

arousal and vigilance

Back 19

norepinephrine

Front 20

serotonin

Back 20

emotional states and impulsiveness, dreaming

Front 21

reward and motivation, motor control over voluntary movement

Back 21

dopamine

Front 22

inhibition of action potentials, anxiety and intoxication

Back 22

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

Front 23

enhances action potentials, learning and memory

Back 23

glutamate

Front 24

pain reduction, reward

Back 24

endorphins

Front 25

pain perception, mood and anxiety

Back 25

substance P

Front 26

one of the three types of nuerons, these afferent neurons detect information from the physical world and pass that information along to the brain.

Back 26

sensory neurons

Front 27

one of the 3 types of neurons, these efferent neurons direct muscles to contract or relax, thereby producing movement.

Back 27

motor neurons

Front 28

one of the 3 types of neurons, these neurons communicate onle with other neurons, typically within a specific brain region

Back 28

interneurons

Front 29

the neural impulse the passes along the axon and subsequently causes the release of chemicals from the terminal buttons.

Back 29

action potential

Front 30

the brain and spinal cord

Back 30

central nervous system

Front 31

all the nerve cells in the body that are not part of the central nervous system. Includes the somatic and autonomic nervous systems

Back 31

peripheral nervous system

Front 32

a section of the bottom of the brain, housing the most basic porgrams of survival, such as breathing, swallowing, vomiting, urination, and orgasm

Back 32

brainstem

Front 33

blood pressure, breathing, and circulation

Back 33

medulla

Front 34

sleep and wakefulness

Back 34

pons

Front 35

amygdala

Back 35

emotion

Front 36

basal ganglia

Back 36

movement, reward

Front 37

brainstem

Back 37

survival

Front 38

cerebellum

Back 38

motor function

Front 39

cerebral cortex

Back 39

thought, planning

Front 40

hippocampus

Back 40

memory

Front 41

hypothalamus

Back 41

regulates body function

Front 42

reticular formation

Back 42

sleep and arousal

Front 43

thalamus

Back 43

sensory gateway

Front 44

structure of the basal ganglia, important for experiencing reward, drugs act on it

Back 44

nucleus accumbens

Front 45

the outer layer of brain tissue, which forms the convoluted surface of the brain

Back 45

cerebral cortex

Front 46

a massive bridge of millions of axons, connects the two hemisphere of the cerebral cortex and allows information to flow between them

Back 46

corpus callosum

Front 47

a region of the cerebral cortex, at the back of the brain, important for vision

Back 47

occipital lobe

Front 48

a region of the cerebral cortex, in front of the occipital lobes and behind the frontal lobes, important for the sense of touch and of the spatial layout of an environment

Back 48

parietal lobe

Front 49

the lower region of the cerebral cortex, important for processing auditory information and for memory, hold the primary auditory cortex

Back 49

temporal lobes

Front 50

the region at the front of the cerebral cortex concerned with planning and movement

Back 50

frontal lobes

Front 51

a region of the frontal lobes, especially prominent in humans, important for attention, working memory, decision making, appropriate social behavior, and behavior

Back 51

prefrontal cortex

Front 52

(parietal lobe) some areas of the body are more sensitive than other (lips and hands)

Back 52

somatosensory cortex

Front 53

sensations on one side of the body are processes by the opposite hemisphere of the brain

Back 53

contralateral processing

Front 54

(frontal lobe) includes neurons that project directly to the spinal cord to move the body's muscle

Back 54

primary motor cortex

Front 55

language comprehension, speech, sequential tasks, comprehending logic and symbolic meaning, dominate

Back 55

left hemisphere

Front 56

spatial relationships, face recognition, interpretation of facial expressions, recognizing nonverbal and some sounds

Back 56

right hemisphere

Front 57

the subjective experience of the world and of mental activity

Back 57

consciousness

Front 58

active constant firing of neurons when awake

Back 58

beta waves

Front 59

when you close your eyes and relax brain activity slows a little and becomes synchronized

Back 59

alpha waves

Front 60

a condition in which the corpus callosum is surgically cut and the two hemispheres of the brain do not receive information directly from each other

Back 60

split brain

Front 61

a left hemisphere process that attempts to make sense of events

Back 61

interpreter

Front 62

information processed without conscious awareness

Back 62

subliminal perception

Front 63

a condition in which people who are blind have some spared visual capacities in the absence of any visual awareness

Back 63

blindsight

Front 64

the stage of sleep marked by rapid eye movements, dreaming, and paralysis of motor systems

Back 64

REM sleep

Front 65

a disorder characterized by an inability to sleep

Back 65

insomnia

Front 66

a disorder in which a person stops breathing while asleep

Back 66

sleep apnea

Front 67

a sleep disorder in which people fall asleep during normal waking hours

Back 67

narcolepsy

Front 68

brief, unintended sleep episodes, ranging froma few seconds to a minute, caused by chronic sleep deprivation

Back 68

microsleeps

Front 69

the regulations of biological cycles into regular patterns

Back 69

circadian rhythms

Front 70

the sense organs' responses to external stimuli and the transmission of these responses to the brain

Back 70

sensation

Front 71

the processing, organization, and interpretation of sensory signals; it results in an internal representation of the stimulus

Back 71

perception

Front 72

a process by which sensory receptors produce neural impulses when they receive physical or chemical stimulation

Back 72

transduction

Front 73

how much physical energy is required for our sense organs to detect a stimulus

Back 73

psychophysics

Front 74

minimum intensity of a stimulus required before you know its there

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absolute threshold

Front 75

min amount of change necessary before you detect change

Back 75

difference threshold (JND)

Front 76

when we become insensitive to constant stimulation after along period of time

Back 76

sensory adaptation (habituation)

Front 77

our own judgement matters in detection of a faint stimulus

Back 77

signal dectection theory (SDT)

Front 78

when researchers find a relationship between two variables in a correlational study, they cannot determin which variable may have cause changes in the other variable

Back 78

directionality problem

Front 79

when the experimenter cannot directly manipulate the independent variable and therefore cannot be confident that another, unmeasured variable is not the actual cause of differences in the dependent variable

Back 79

third variable problem

Front 80

anything that affects a dependent variable and may unintentionally vary between the experimental conditions of a study

Back 80

confound

Front 81

produces general arousalm regulates sleep/wake cycles, activates other areas of the brain

Back 81

reticular formation