Psychology Unit 3 Key Terms

Front 1

psychology

Back 1

the scientific study of the mind and behaviour.

Front 2

clinical psychology

Back 2

clinical psychology deals with the study

Front 3

cognitive psychology

Back 3

cognitive psychology focuses on the study of higher mental processes

Front 4

counseling psychology

Back 4

counseling psychology focuses primarily on educational

Front 5

developmental psychology

Back 5

developmental psychology examines how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death

Front 6

educational psychology

Back 6

educational psychology studies the processes of sensing

Front 7

forensic psychology

Back 7

forensic psychology focuses on legal issues

Front 8

health psychology

Back 8

health psychology explores the relationship between psychological factors and physical ailments or disease.

Front 9

industrial/ organizational psychology

Back 9

industrial/ organizational psychology is concerned with the psychology of the work place.

Front 10

personality psychology

Back 10

personality psychology focuses on the consistency in people's behavior over time and the traits that differentiate one person from another.

Front 11

psychology of women

Back 11

psychology of women focuses on issues such as discrimination against women and the causes of violence against women

Front 12

sports psychology

Back 12

sport psychology applies psychology to athletic activity and excercise

Front 13

functionalism

Back 13

an early approach to psychology that concentrated on what the mind does- the functions of mental activity- and the role of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environment

Front 14

behavioral perspective

Back 14

the approach that suggests that observable

Front 15

cognitive perspective

Back 15

the approach that focuses on how people think

Front 16

humanistic perspective

Back 16

the approach that suggest that all individuals naturally strive to grow

Front 17

theories

Back 17

broad explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest.

Front 18

hypothesis

Back 18

a prediction about the relationship between two or more variables

Front 19

operational definition

Back 19

the translation of a hypothesis into specific measures.

Front 20

naturalistic observation

Back 20

research in which an investigator simply observes some naturally occuring behavior and does not make a change in the situation

Front 21

survey research

Back 21

research in which people chosen to represent a larger population are asked a series of questions about their behavior

Front 22

case study

Back 22

an in- depth

Front 23

variables

Back 23

behaviors

Front 24

correlational research

Back 24

research in which the relationship between two sets of variables is examined to determine whether they are associated

Front 25

experiment

Back 25

the investigation of relationship between two (or more) variables by deliberately producing a change in one variable in a situation and observing the effects of that change on other aspects of the situation.

Front 26

experimental manipulation

Back 26

the change that an experimenter deliberately produces in a situation

Front 27

treatment

Back 27

the manipulation implemented by the experimenter

Front 28

experimental group

Back 28

any group participating in an experiment that receives a treatment

Front 29

control group

Back 29

a group participating in an experiment that receives no treatment.

Front 30

independent variable

Back 30

the variable that is manipulated by an experimenter.

Front 31

dependent variable

Back 31

the variable that is measured and is expected to change as a result of changes caused by the experimenter's manipulation of the independent variable.

Front 32

random assignment to condition

Back 32

a procedure in which participants are assigned to different experimental groups or "conditions" on the basis of chance and chance alone

Front 33

significant outcome

Back 33

meaningful results that make it possible for researchers to feel confident that they have confirmed their hypothesis

Front 34

replicated research

Back 34

research that is repeated

Front 35

informed consent

Back 35

a document signed by participants affirming that they have been told the basic outlines of study an dare aware of what their participation will involve

Front 36

experimental bias

Back 36

factors that distort how the independent variable affects the dependent variable in an experiment

Front 37

placebo

Back 37

a false treatment such as a pill "drug" or other substance

Front 38

neurons

Back 38

nerve cells

Front 39

dendrite

Back 39

a cluster of fibers at one end of a neuron that receives messages from other neurons

Front 40

axon

Back 40

the part of the neuron that carries messages destined for other neurons.

Front 41

terminal buttons

Back 41

small bulges at the end of axons that send messages to other nuerons

Front 42

myelin sheath

Back 42

a protective coat of fat and protein that wraps around the axon

Front 43

all- or -none law

Back 43

the rule that are either on or off

Front 44

resting state

Back 44

the state in which there is a negative electrical charge of about -70 millivolts within a neuron

Front 45

action potential

Back 45

an electric nerve impulse that travels through a neuron's axon when it is set off by a "trigger" changing the neuron's charge from negative to positive

Front 46

mirror neurons

Back 46

specialized neurons that fire not only when a person enacts a particular behavior

Front 47

synapse

Back 47

the space between two neurons where the axon of a sending neuron communicated with the dendrites of a receiving neuron by using chemical messages.

Front 48

excitatory message

Back 48

a chemical message that makes it more likely that a receiving neuron will fire and an action potential will travel down its axon

Front 49

inhibitory message

Back 49

a chemical message that prevents or decreases the likelihood that a receiving neuron will fire.

Front 50

reuptake

Back 50

the reabsorption of neurotransmitters by a terminal button

Front 51

central nervous system (CNS)

Back 51

the part of the nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord

Front 52

spinal cord

Back 52

a bundle of neurons that leaves the brain and runs down the length of the back and is the main means for transmitting messages between the brain and the body.

Front 53

reflex

Back 53

an automatic

Front 54

sensory (afferent) neurons

Back 54

neurons that transmit information from the perimeter of the body to the central nervous system.

Front 55

motor (efferent) neurons

Back 55

neurons that communicate information from the nervous system to muscles and glands

Front 56

interneurons

Back 56

neurons that connect sensory and motor neurons

Front 57

peripheral nervous system

Back 57

the part of the nervousl system that includes the autonomic and somatic subdivisions; make up of neurons with long axons and dendrites

Front 58

somatic division

Back 58

the part of the peripheral nervous system that specializes in the control of voluntary movements and the communication of information to and from the sense organs.

Front 59

autonomic division

Back 59

the part of peripheral nervous system that controls involuntary movement of the heart

Front 60

sympathetic division

Back 60

the part of the autonomic division of the nervous system that acts to prepare the body for action in stressful situations

Front 61

parasympathetic division

Back 61

the part of the autonomic division of the nervous system that acts to calm the body after an emergency has ended.

Front 62

evolutionary psychology

Back 62

the branch of psychology that seeks to identify behavior patterns that are a result of our genetic inheritance form our ancestors.

Front 63

behavioral genetics

Back 63

the study of the effects of heredity on behavior

Front 64

endocrine system

Back 64

a chemical communication network that sends messages throughout the body via the bloodstream.

Front 65

hormones

Back 65

chemicals that circulate through the blood and regulate the functioning or growth of the body.

Front 66

pituitary glands

Back 66

the major component of the endocrine system

Front 67

central core

Back 67

the "old brain" which controls basic functions such as eating and sleeping and is common to all vertebrates.

Front 68

cerebellum

Back 68

the part of the brain that controls bodily balance

Front 69

reticular formation

Back 69

the part of the brain extending from the medulla through the pons and made up of groups of nerve cells that can immediately activate other parts of the brain to produce general bodily arousal.

Front 70

thalamus

Back 70

the part of the brain located in the middle of the central core that acts primarily to relay information about the senses

Front 71

hypothalamus

Back 71

a tiny part of the brain

Front 72

limic system

Back 72

the part of the brain that controls eating

Front 73

cerebral cortex

Back 73

the "new brain" responsible for the most sophisticated information processing in the brain; contains four lobes.

Front 74

motor area

Back 74

the part of the cortex that is largely responsible for the body's voluntary movement

Front 75

sensory area

Back 75

the site in the brain of the tissue that corresponds to each of the senses

Front 76

association areas

Back 76

one of the major regions of the cerebral cortex; the site of the higher mental processes

Front 77

neuroplasticity

Back 77

changes in the brain that occur throughout the life span relating to the addition of new neurons

Front 78

neurogenesis

Back 78

the creation of new neurons

Front 79

hemispheres

Back 79

symmetrical left and right halves of the brain that control the side of the body opposite to their location

Front 80

lateralization

Back 80

the dominance of one hemisphere of the brain in specific functions

Front 81

biofeedback

Back 81

a procedure in which a person learns to control through conscious thought internal physiological processes such as blood pressure