Psychology Crygier 3-4

Ciradian Rhythm

a biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle.

Psychoactive drug

a chemical substance that alters perception and mood. Also, addiction may result, the craving of a substance despite consequences .

Insomnia

a sleep disorder characterized by recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.

Narcolepsy

a sleep disorders characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times. Often lasting, at most 5 minutes.

gender schema

a theory that children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male or female an that they adjust their behavior accordingly.

gene

biochemical units of heredity that makeup the chromosomes; a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein.

opiates

depress neural activity and temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. Consists of opium, its derivatives, morphine, and heroin.

depressants

drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. (such as alcohol, opiates, and barbiturates). Can cause slow reactions, speech slurs, and memory can be affected and well as judgment.

Hallucinations

false sensory experiences, seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.

gender

in psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define as male or female.

Consciousness

our awareness of ourselves and our environment. Related to dreaming, sleeping, and other mental states. Altered states, including dreaming, meditating, and drug-induced hallucinating.

gender identity

our sense of being male or female.

physical dependence

physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued. Unpleasant symptoms may be intense craving and physical pains.

psychological dependence

psychological need for drugs such as to relieve negative emotions. Usually developed for stress relieving drugs such as alcohol.

stimulants

speed up and increase brain activity and body functions. (caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, ecstasy, and methamphetamine.)

genome

the complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all genetic material in the organisms chromosomes.

withdrawal

the discomfort and distress that follow when discontinuing the use of an addictive drug. links to both psychological and physiological dependence.

culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, beliefs, and traditions shared by one group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Posthypnotic amnesia

the inability in hypnotic subjects to recall events that took place while under hypnosis.

testosterone

the most important of the male sex. Both male and female have it, but additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.

natural selection

the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will mostly be passed on to succeeding generations.

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits or genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

social learning theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and being rewarded or punished for acting in certain ways themselves.

chromosome

threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contains the genes.

hallucinogens

"mind-manifesting" drugs, such as LSD, that distorts perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input. Drugs that contain hallucinations. Rapid increase mood swings, increased heart rate and blood pressure that can cause seizures.

REM sleep

(rapid eye movement sleep) recurring sleep stages during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Known as "paradoxical sleep" because muscles are relaxed, besides twitches, but other body systems are active, as though they are awake.

Describe the stages of sleep including Alpha, Delta, NREM, & REM sleep.

Each dream stage is different and each affects us in many different ways. The sleep stages in order are waking beta, waking alpha, NREM-1, NREM-2, NREM-3 and then REM sleep. There are 7 stages of sleep. The first stage is being awake, and slowly transitioning to sleep. The second stage is waking beta, where brainwaves are of an alert and awake state. The third stage is waking alpha, which brainwaves occur when a person is relaxed, but still in an awake state. Alpha waves typically occur when you are falling asleep, from wakefulness into sleep. The fourth stage is NREM-1, which is marked by slow breathing and irregular brainwaves. During this stage, you are slightly awake and this stage lasts around 10 minutes. Sleep finally kicks in, in the fifth stage and moves to NREM-2. Lasting around 20 minutes, this stage is characterized by a decrease in body temperature and slower heart rate. The sixth stage is NREM-3, which last around 30 minutes; the brain emits large delta waves making it harder to be awakened. A delta wave is a brainwave that is large (high amplitude) and slow (low frequency), most often associated with slow wave sleep. Night terrors might also occur during this stage. Night terrors are characterized by high arousal and appearance of being terrified. Occurs within 2-3 hours of falling asleep. The final stage is REM sleep. REM sleep does not occur until after all of the stages of sleep has been repeated and this continues for another 5 or so cycles. REM sleep stands for rapid eye movement sleep and are recurring sleep stages during which vivid dreams are commonly occurring. Also, know as "paradoxical sleep" because muscles are at a relaxed state, besides twitches, and all body systems are active (as though they are awake). Muscles are unable to move during this state because the brainstem block motor cortex's messages. Around 20-25% of sleep is in the REM sleep and most people don't remember their dreams. During REM sleep, your heart rate rises, breathing becomes rapid and irregular, and eyes start to dart every 30 seconds. Sleep disorders can occur and affect many people today. The two major sleep disorders are insomnia and narcolepsy. Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by the recurring problems with falling or staying asleep. The most common fixes are sleeping pills and alcohol but can aggravate the problem by reducing REM sleep. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse into REM sleep, often at inopportune times. This last, at most around 5 minutes. Sleep paralysis is not being able to move muscles during REM sleep and muscle tone gets declined. Certain parts of the brainstem cause REM by sending signals to random parts of our brain. The Amygdala causes more negative emotions in REM dreams, as its more active. Depressed people go straight to REM sleep. REM dreams can be 5 times longer, be simulations, replay memories, and help maximum potential. Dreams tend to have more hallucinations, be more vivid, emotional, and bizarre. Becuase the dream is so vivid, it may confuse them with reality. Damage to the parietal lobe can cause dreaming to stop.

Argue and discuss the Nature v. Nurture disagreement with details, examples, and support.

The Nature v. Nurture argument is a psychological argument over where personality of an individual comes from. Nature begins at conception and are the attributes and genes you are born with. Nurture also begins in the womb, but is continued on, as it is how the environment plays a role. Nature can affect attraction through sex chromosomes and different concentrations of sex hormones. Sex hormones are responsible for changes during puberty and type of attraction. When conceived one is given two sex hormones. An X-chromosome from the mother, which is found in both men and women. Also, you may receive and X from your dad, making you girl, or a Y chromosome, which can be received from your father and makes you a male. Both of these makes up the 23rd pair of chromosomes. The Y chromosome produces testosterone, which is the male hormone that stimulates the growth of the male reproductive organs and development of the male during puberty. Testosterone is also found in women but mainly affects the males. Also, frontal lobes, that control verbal fluency, are larger within women. Nature also causes Klinefelter syndrome, in which a child receives a chromosome pair of XXY. When they grow up the decide which "parts" they would prefer to keep. Most view themselves as girls and not boys and many turn out heterosexual, though some become lesbian. Since they have an excess amount of testosterone, they end up behaving more aggressively. Nurture also affects a person. Culture shapes men and woman's behaviors. Gender roles are behaviors men and women are expected to withhold. Women are expected to stay and decorate the home, care for the child, and select wedding gifts. On the other hand, men are expected to drive the car, pick up checks, and ask the lady on the date. The social learning theory, which is the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and being rewarded or punished. Gender Identity is the sense of being male or female, and both a result of nurture. The theory suggests that people learn to act a certain way as a result of the response to certain actions. Some disagree and say that modeling and rewarding aren't enough to explain the traditional male or female role (gender typing). As you grew older you learned of gender schema, which organizes boy-girl characteristics. They begin to make stereotypes of the average female and male. Such as male is strong and the female is weak. Some people, as a result of the environment, becomes transgender, meaning they identify with the opposite of their birth sex. Nature and Nurture both play a huge role in the lives and actions of people.