Psychology

Endocrine

The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Which of the seven modern perspectives stemmed from Watson's behaviorism but was taken over by BF Skinner?

Behavioral Perspective

Peripheral nervous system

the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord.

Plasticity

The brains ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.

Placebo

a fake treatment, an inactive substance like sugar, distilled water, or saline solution -- can sometimes improve a patient's condition simply because the person has the expectation that it will be helpful.

Brainstem

controls the flow of messages between the brain and the rest of the body, and it also controls basic body functions such as breathing, swallowing, heart rate, blood pressure, consciousness, and whether one is awake or sleepy. The brain stem consists of the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata.

independent variable

experiment that is manipulated or changed. For example, in an experiment looking at the effects of studying on test scores, studying would be the independent variable.

Delta waves

the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep.

What was William James' theory in psychology?

Functionalism

Dependent Variable

is the variable that is being measured in an experiment. For example, in a study looking at how tutoring impacts test scores, the dependent variable would be the participants' test scores.

Which of the seven modern perspectives focuses on the part biological processes play on the mind?

Biopsychological Perspective

Reuptake

A neurotransmitters re-absorption by the sending neuron.

Humanistic Psychology

Historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individuals potential for personal growth.

REM sleep

is the stage of sleep associated with quick, darting eye movements, the paralysis of major voluntary muscles, increased and irregular heart rate and breathing, and a high level of brain activity (comparable to brain activity when awake).

Random Sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Double-blind procedure

An experimental procedure in which both of the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.

Circadian Rhythm

Often referred to as the "body clock", the circadian rhythm is a 24-hour cycle that tells our bodies when to sleep and regulates many other physiological processes. This internal body clock is affected by environmental cues, like sunlight and temperature.

What does a double-blind experiment control?

The Experimenter Effect

Central Nervous System

the complex of nerve tissues that controls the activities of the body. In vertebrates it comprises the brain and spinal cord.

When and how did psychological science begin?

Psychological science had its modern beginning with the first psychological laboratory, founded in 1879 by German philosopher and physiologist Wilhelm Wundt, and from later work of other scholars from several disciplines and many countries.

What current theory of psychology was based off of psychoanalysis?

Psychotherapy

Basic research

Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

Corpus Callosum

a broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the brain.

Action potential

threshold in a neuron is the point of depolarization at which the neuron fires, transmitting information to another neuron. Psychologists use the concept of action potential threshold to explain how neurons send information to each other.

Functionalism

was a philosophy opposing the prevailing structuralism of psychology of the late 19th century. Edward Titchener, the main structuralist, gave psychology its first definition as a science of the study of mental experience, of consciousness, to be studied by trained introspection.

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter involved in muscle movement, attention, arousal, memory, and emotion.

Functionalism

A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function-how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Evolutionary

How the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes.

According to psychoanalysis, when is the personality developed?

Within the first 6 years of life

Narcolepsy

a condition characterized by an extreme tendency to fall asleep whenever in relaxing surroundings.

Pariental

portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position.

Introspection

the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.

Autonomic Nervous System

the part of the nervous system responsible for control of the bodily functions not consciously directed, such as breathing, the heartbeat, and digestive processes.

Gestalt Psychology

the study of perception and behavior from the standpoint of an individual's response to configurational wholes with stress on the uniformity of psychological and physiological events and rejection of analysis into discrete events of stimulus, percept, and response.

What was William James's area of specialization?

Functionalism

Parasympathetic Nervous system

The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.

Wilhelm Wundt

Wundt established the first psychology laboratory at the university of Leipzig, Germany.

Pituitary gland

the major endocrine gland. A pea-sized body attached to the base of the brain, the pituitary is important in controlling growth and development and the functioning of the other endocrine glands.

Cognition

the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

Social-cultural

How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures.

Behavioral

How we learn observable responses.

Which of the seven modern perspectives focuses on people's abilities to direct their own lives, have free will, and strive for self-actualization?

Humanistic Perspective

Which of the seven modern perspectives stemmed from Freud's psychoanalysis?

Psychodynamic Perspective

Structuralism

An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind.

Case study

An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

What theory focuses on learned behaviors and was based on Pavlov's experiment?

Behaviorism

Who created the theory of behaviorism?

John Watson

What was the study done under John Watson's watch that had to do with fear?

Little Albert

All-or-none response

a neuron's reaction of either firing with a full-strength response or not firing.

Lesion

a region in an organ or tissue that has suffered damage through injury or disease, such as a wound, ulcer, abscess, tumor, etc.

Manifest Content

according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden content).

Latent content

according to freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (from manifest content).

Alpha waves

are a type of brain wave that occur when a person is relaxed, but still awake.

Empirical Approach

based on evidence. Empirical data is produced by experiment and observation.

Somatic Nervous System

deals with our voluntary control of muscles and our five senses.

Temporal Lobes

each of the paired lobes of the brain lying beneath the temples, including areas concerned with the understanding of speech.

Frontal lobes

each of the paired lobes of the brain lying immediately behind the forehead, including areas concerned with behavior, learning, personality, and voluntary movement.

Conditioned Response

is a behavior that does not come naturally, but must be learned by the individual by pairing a neutral stimulus with a potent stimulus.

Neurotransmitters

is a chemical messenger that carries, boosts, and modulates signals between neurons and other cells in the body. In most cases, a neurotransmitter is released from the axon terminal after an action potential has reached the synapse.

Reticular Formation

is a portion of the brain that is located in the central core of the brain stem. It passes through the medulla, pons, and stops in the midbrain. Its functions can be classified into 4 categories: motor control, sensory control, visceral control, and control of consciousness. It controls arousal.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

is a recording of the electrical waves of activity that occur in the brain, and across its surface. Electrodes are placed on different areas of a person's scalp, filled with a conductive gel, and then plugged into a recording device.

Medulla

is a section of the brain located in the brainstem which is responsible for automatic functions like breathing, blood pressure, circulation and heart functions, and digestion. It is also the area responsible for many reflexes like swallowing, vomiting, coughing, and sneezing.

Sleep apnea

is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person's breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. This means the brain -- and the rest of the body -- may not get enough oxygen.

Neutral Stimulus

is a stimulus which initially produces no specific response other than focusing attention. In classical conditioning, when used together with an unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus.

Control group

is composed of participants who do not receive the experimental treatment. When conducting an experiment, these people are randomly selected to be in this group. They also closely resemble the participants who are in the experimental group, or the individuals who receive the treatment.

Experimental group

is the group in an experiment that receives the variable being tested. One variable is tested at a time. The experimental group is compared to a control group, which does not receive the test variable. In this way, experimental groups are used to find answers in an experiment.

Cerebral Cortex

is the most important part of our brain (at least in the field of psychology) because it is what makes us human. The cerebral cortex (sometimes referred to as called "gray matter", is actually densely packed neurons. Its the information processing center.

Occiputal

portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields.

Axon

the long threadlike part of a nerve cell along which impulses are conducted from the cell body to other cells.

Nervous system

the network of nerve cells and fibers that transmits nerve impulses between parts of the body.

Sigmund Freud

The controversial ideas of this framed personality theorist and therapist have influenced humanity self-understanding.

Sympathetic Nervous System

The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.

Amygdala

a roughly almond-shaped mass of gray matter inside each cerebral hemisphere, involved with the experiencing of emotions.

Dendrite

a short branched extension of a nerve cell, along which impulses received from other cells at synapses are transmitted to the cell body.

Neuron

a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses; a nerve cell.

Psychology

The science of behavior and mental processes.

Positron emission tomography

which is similar to the MRI, is a scanning method that enables psychologists and doctors to study the brain (or any other living tissue) without surgery. PET scans use radioactive glucose (instead of a strong magnetic field) to help study activity and locate structures in the body.

What does the theory of psychoanalysis focus on?

The Unconcious

Psychiatry

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy.

B.F Skinner

A leading behaviorist, Skinner rejected introspection and studied how consequences shape behavior.

Adrenal

A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys.

Biopsychosogical approach

An integrated approach that incorporates biological,psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

What main goal of psychology involves changing a behavior from an undesirable one to a desirable one?

Control

What is the measure of the relationship between two variables?

Correlation

What are the four main goals of psychology?

Description, Explanation, Prediction, and Control

Which of the seven modern perspectives focuses on the biological bases for universal mental characteristics that all humans share?

Evolutionary Perspective

What is the theory in psychology that believes that "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts"?

Gestalt Psychology

Psychodynamic

How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts.

Neuroscience

How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences.

Sensory Neurons

Neurons that carry incoming information from sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

Naturalistic Observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Applied Research

Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

Which of the seven modern perspectives focuses on the way people act when they are alone vs when they're with family, friends, classmates, etc.?

Sociocultural Perspective

Hypothalamus

The area of the brain that secretes substances that influence pituitary and other gland function and is involved in the control of body temperature, hunger, thirst, and other processes that regulate body equilibrium.

Synapse

The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or the synaptic cleft.

Nature-Nurture issue

The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2)

Limbic System

a complex system of nerves and networks in the brain, involving several areas near the edge of the cortex concerned with instinct and mood. It controls the basic emotions (fear, pleasure, anger) and drives (hunger, sex, dominance, care of offspring).

Myelin

a mixture of proteins and phospholipids forming a whitish insulating sheath around many nerve fibers, increasing the speed at which impulses are conducted.

Interneurons

a neuron that transmits impulses between other neurons, especially as part of a reflex arc.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

is a brain imaging technique that detects magnetic changes in the brain's blood flow patterns.