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68 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Psychology
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Scientific study of behavior and the mind
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Behavior
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directly observable responses
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Mind
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internal states/processes that we infer from measurable responses
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WABTA Bias
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"We're all better than average"
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Clinical Psychology
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Sub-field of Psychology
Psychological model Ph.D. or Psy.D. Cannot prescribe drugs |
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Psychiatry
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Sub-field of medicine
Disease model M.D. Can prescribe drugs |
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Psychodynamic Psych
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Unconscious mind - Causal factors:
- Unknown motives and conflicts - Defense mechanisms - Childhood experiences Freud - Psychoanalytic theory |
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Behavioral Psych
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Stimulus-response. Causal factors:
- environmental stimuli - consequences - prior learning, habits Watson, B.F. Skinner |
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Humanistic Psych
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Human as free agent. Causal factors:
- Choice, responsibility - Self-actualization - Search for meaning Rogers, Maslow |
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Cognitive Psych
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human as thinker. Causal factors:
- attention, perception |
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Sociocultural Psych
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Human in a social context. Causal factors:
- Socialization - Current social environment - attitudes, attributions |
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Biological Psych
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Human animal. Causal factors:
- Brain processes - Other bodily processes - Genes |
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Psychophysics
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Study of relations between physical characteristics of stimuli and sensory/perceptual experiences they produce
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Hoffman's study
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What is the absolute threshold for detecting horizontal acceleration?
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Bidirectionality problem
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Does X cause Y or does Y cause X?
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Internal validity
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Can we draw clear, causal conclusions? Plausible alternative explanations?
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External validity
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Do results generalize to other populations and settings?
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Central Nervous System (CNS)
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Brain, Spinal cord
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Peripheral Nervous System
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Neural tissue beyond the CNS
Includes: Somatic NS, Autonomic NS, |
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Somatic Nervous System
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Skeletal muscle, sensory info to CNS
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Autonomic Nervous System
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Smooth muscle of Internal organs. Includes: Sympathetic NS, Parasympathetic NS
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Sympathetic Nervous System
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arousal, "fight or flight"
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Parasympathetic Nervous System
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relax (return to baseline)
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Glial Cells ("Glia")
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Purpose: to support neurons
- supply oxygen and nutrients - aid in waste disposal |
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Dendrites
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Major part of neuron. Specialized for receiving input from other neurons
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Soma (cell body)
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Major part of neuron. Contains nucleus; regulates cell's life functions
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Axon Hillock
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Major part of neuron. Location at which input from other neurons is integrated
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Axon
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Major part of neuron. Carries a neural impulse to the end of the neuron (i.e., to the axon terminals).
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Myelin Sheath and Nodes of Ranvier
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Major part of neuron. Increase the speed of a neural impulse
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Axon terminals
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Major part of neuron. Manufacture, store, and release neurotransmitters (Nts)
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Resting potential
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~70 mv
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Excitatory input
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Makes the neuron's electrical potential less negative
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Inhibitory input
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makes the neuron's electrical potential more negative
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Action potential
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reversal of polarity ~40mv
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Action potential threshold
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~50 mv
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Presynaptic neuron
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sends messages (Nts)
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Postsynaptic neuron
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receives messages
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Neurotransmission
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5 Basic steps:
- Synthesis - Storage - Release - Binding - Deactivation |
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Reuptake
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Nts are reabsorbed into the presynaptic axon terminals
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Neurotransmitters
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Seven Major ones of these:
- Serotonin - Norepinephrine - Acetylcholine (ACh) - GABA - Glutamate - Endorphins - Dopamine |
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Serotonin
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Major neurotransmitter. Sleep, appetite, arousal, mood
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Norepinephrine
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Major neurotransmitter. Learning, appetite, arousal, memory.
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Acetylcholine (ACh)
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Major neurotransmitter. Memory, movement.
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GABA (gamma-amino-butyric-acid)
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Major inhibitory neurotransmitter.
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Endorphins
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Major neurotransmitter. Pain inhibition.
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Dopamine
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Major neurotransmitter. Learning, arousal, movement, pleasure
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Amphetamines and Cocaine
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- Stimulants
- Increase activity of dopamine (DA), Norepinephrine (NE): * inhibit reuptake * amph also cause presynaptic neurons to realease more DA, NE - "Amphetamine Psychosis" - antipsychotic drugs: decrease DA activity
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Alcohol
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- depressant
- increase GABA activity, DA - decrease glutamate activity - Net effect: increase inhibitory Nt + decrease excitatory Nt = neural suppression |
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Left Hemisphere of Brain
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Overall, this hemisphere is more dominant for:
- Language - tasks involving logic - planning sequences - experiencing our own positive emotions |
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Right Hemisphere of Brain
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Overall, this hemisphere is more dominant for:
- Spacial tasks - recognizing faces - emotional expressions - melodies - mental imagery - experiencing our own negative emotions |
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Plasticity
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Brain's capacity to modify, reorganize itself
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Sensation
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A stimulus is detected by a sensory receptor
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Transduction
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The stimulus is converted into a neural code that is sent to the brain
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Perception
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The brain organizes and interprets the neural code; gives it meaning
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Absolute threshold
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lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be identified correctly 50% of the time
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Difference threshold
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Smallest difference (for a particular property) between two stimuli that people can detect 50% of the time
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Bottom-up Processing
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Individual elements of a stimulus are examined and combined into a "whole" (i.e. unified perception).
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Top-down processing
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Our prior experiences, knowledge, and expectations influence how we perceive a stimulus
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Figure-ground relations
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Our tendency to organize stimuli into a central foreground and background
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Closure
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Our tendency to organize stimuli into a central foreground and background
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Perceptual Set (mental set)
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readiness to perceive a stimulus in a particular way
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Monism
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The mind and the body(brain) are one, and thus mental events are a product of physical events
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Convergence
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Depth perception
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Genotype
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Specific genetic makeup of the individual
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Phenotype
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The individual's observable characteristics
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Polygenic Transmission
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A number of gene pairs combine their influences to create a single phenotypic trait.
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Epigenetics
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Changes in gene expression that are independent of the DNA itself and are caused instead by environmental factors.
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Absolute refractory period
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the membrane is not excitable and cannot discharge another impulse
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