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42 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
Psychology
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The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
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Four goals of psychology
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Psychologists attempt to describe,explain, predict, and control behavior
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Seven themes of psychology, especially nature versus nurture
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Psychology is empirical- empiriscism is the premise that knowledge should be aquired through observation
Psychology is theoretically diverse- a theory is a system of interrelated issues used to explain a set of observations Psycholgoy evolves in a sociohistorical context Behavior is determined by multiple causes Our behavior shaped by culture Heredity and environment jointly influence behavior Our experience of the world is highly subjective |
she does not want a hint
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Basic understanding of psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, behavioral, and humanistic perspectives
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Psychoanalytic:
Psychodynamic: unconscious mind, influence over conscious behavior, less emphasis on sex and more emphasis on development of sense of self Behavioral: Skinner's operant conditioning Humanistic: people's ability to direct their own lives, freewill |
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Cultural relativity
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the idea that behavior must be judged relative to the values of the culture in which it occurs
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Applied psychology
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the branch of psychology concerned with everyday, practical problems
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Empirical
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The premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation
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Scientific method – what are the steps, and what does each step mean?
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-Percieving the question
-Forming a Hypothesis -Testing the hypothesis -Drawing conclusions -report the results -replication |
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Correlation (positive and negative)
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is the existence of a consistent, systematic relationship between two events, measures, or variables
Positive correlation indicates a statistical relationship in which increases in one measure are matched by increases in the other Negative correlation indicates a statistical relationship in which increases in one measure are matched by decreases in the other |
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Experimental design and associated terms (independent, dependent, and extraneous variables; random assignment)
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Independent variable (IV): the condition being investigated as a possible cause of some change in behavior
Dependent variable (DV): the condition that is affected by the independent variable Extraneous variable (EV): conditions or factors excluded from influencing the outcome of an experiment |
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• Know which research design allows one to infer cause and effect
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• Common threats to research, such as placebo effect and experimenter bias
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placebo effects occur when subjects' expectations lead them to experience some change even though they receive empty, fake or ineffectual treatment
Experimenter bias occurs when a researchers expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained- the experimenter may "see what he wants to see" |
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• Ethical considerations for psychological research
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• Neuron, including dendrites, axon, soma
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Neuron: individual nerve cell
Dendrites: recieve incoming messages Axon: the fiber that carries information away form the cell body of a neuron Soma: the main body of a neuron |
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• Neurotransmitter
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Chemicals that go across the synapse and afffect the activity of the next neuron
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• Agonist
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A chemical that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter (cocaine)
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• Endorphins
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Pain relief and pleasurable emotions
Runner’s high |
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• What makes up the central nervous system?
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The central nervous system (CNS) includes the brain and spinal cord
The CNS sends messages to the peripheral nervous system (PNS) |
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• Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
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The sympathetic branch prepares the body for “fight or flight” during times of danger or high emotion
The parasympathetic branch quiets the body and returns it to a lower level of arousal |
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• Fight or flight
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• Sensory neurons and motor neurons
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Sensory neurons carry information from senses to the CNS
Motor neurons carry motor commands from the CNS to muscles and glands |
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• Medulla
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connects the brain with the spinal chord, and controls vital life functions such as heart rate, breathing, and swallowing
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• Limbic system
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Made up of the hypothalamus, parts of the the thalamus, the amygdala, and the hippocampus; this system produces emotion and motivates behavior
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• Hippocampus
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Associated with storing memories
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• Know the four lobes of the brain and what functions they are responsible for
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1> Occipital - back of brain, vision
2> Parietal - above the occipital lobes, bodily sensations 3> Temporal - each side of the brain, hearing 4> Frontal - front of brain, control of movement and higher mental abilities |
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• Pituitary gland
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is the master gland of the endocrine system and influences other glands in the body
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• Sensation and perception
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Sensation is the stimulation of sense organs
Perception is the method of taking information gathered by the senses and interpret it in a meaningful way |
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• Just noticeable difference
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the smallest difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50 percent of the time
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• Sensory adaptation
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is the tendency of sensory receptor cells to become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging
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• Habituation
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Habituation is the tendency of the brain to stop attending to constant, unchanging information
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• Brightness and color
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Brightness corresponds to the height or intensity of light waves (higher waves brighter colors)
Color, or hue, is determined by the length of the wave |
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• Parts of the eye, particularly the pupil
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The pupil regulates the amount of light that passes into the rear chamber of the eye
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• Rods and cones
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Rods and cones, located in the retina, receive photons of light and turn them into neural signals to the brain
Cones work best in bright light, produce color sensations, and pick up fine details Rods are unable to detect colors, can only perceive black and white, are more sensitive to light than cones are, and allow us to see in very dim light The rods and cones affect visual acuity, or sharpness; tightly packed cones in the fovea produce the sharpest images Areas outside the fovea also get light, creating peripheral vision |
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• Tri-chromatic color theory
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• Know how frequency affects pitch
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• Four taste sensations
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Sweet
Salty Sour Bitter We are most sensitive to bitter and sour (perhaps this helped avoid poisonous foods when humans foraged for food) |
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• Lock and key theory of smell
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Odors are related to the shapes of chemical molecules
Chemicals produce odors when part of a molecule matches a hole on the surface of the olfactory receptors of the same shape |
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e familiar with the points discussed on the Powerpoint slide on touch
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• Depth perception, including the difference between monocular and binocular cues
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Binocular depth cues are clues about distanced based on the differing views of the two eyes
Monocular depth cues are clues about distance based on the image in either eye alone |
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• Dark adaptation
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is the process in which the eyes become more sensitive to light in low illumination
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• Shape and size constancy
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Size constancy: the perceived size of an object remains constant, despite changes in its retinal image
Shape constancy: the perceived shape of an object is unaffected by changes in its retinal image |
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• Gestalt principles (proximity, similarity, simplicity, etc.)
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Something whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Figure and ground: we divide visual displays into figure and ground to organize visual perceptions Proximity: things that are near one another seem to belong together Closure: people group elements to create a sense of completeness Similarity: stimuli that are similar are grouped together Simplicity: people tend to group elements that combine to form a good figure Continuity: people tend to connect points that result in straight or gently curved lines that create a smooth path or pattern |
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