David Myers, Psychology in Modules 11th Edition Exam 1

Madeleine L'Engle

"The naked intellect is an extraordinarily inaccurate instrument"

Endorphins [en-DOR-fins]

"morphine within"—natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure. (p. 58)

What are the three main criticisms of the evolutionary explanation of human sexuality?

(1) It starts with an effect and works backward to propose an explanation. (2) Unethical and immoral men could use such explanations to rationalize their behavior toward women. (3) This explanation may overlook the effects of cultural expectations and socialization.

Reflex

A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response. (p. 63) The neural pathways governing our reflexes, our automatic responses to stimuli, illustrate the spinal cord's work. A simple spinal reflex pathway is composed of a single sensory neuron and a single motor neuron. These often communicate through an interneuron. The knee-jerk response, for example, involves one such simple pathway. A headless warm body could do it. Or pain, hot/cold...

Your friend was in a car accident in which his heart stopped briefly and he had to be resuscitated. He informs you that he had a near-death experience. You are likely to believe him because up to _____ percent of people recall near-death experiences.

15

Correlation coefficient

A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from −1.00 to +1.00). (p. 32) A correlation coefficient helps us see the world more clearly by revealing the extent to which two things relate.

A psychologist treating emotionally troubled adolescents at a local mental health agency is most likely to be a(n) __________

Clinical psychologist

Those working in the interdisciplinary field called ___________ ___________ study the brain activity associated with perception, thinking, memory, and language.

Cognitive neuroscience

The amount of genetic variation between members of different population groups is about _____ percent of total human genetic variation.

5

The number _____ is the mode of the following set of numbers: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 7, 7, 7, 8, 9.

7 (The most frequently occurring score)

Janelle has five brothers who are 4, 6, 6, 9, and 15 years of age. The mean age of Janelle's brothers is:

8

Behavioral geneticists focusing on the molecular approach:

All of these choices are correct. A. study chromosomes using DNA scanning and genome sequencing. B. may open the door to a realm of ethical dilemmas. C. All of these choices are correct. D. strive to reveal at-risk populations for some of the most prevalent diseases today.

Studies show gender differences in the:

All of these choices are correct. B. amygdala. C. volume of gray matter versus white matter in the brain. D. hippocampus.

Members of the same population groups share roughly _____ percent of the genetic variation that exists in humans.

95

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors. (p. 35)

Which of the following scenarios is true based on research from cognitive neuroscience?

A researcher can tell that Julie is looking at a telephone based on cortical activation patterns.

The scientific method

A self-correcting process for asking questions and observing nature's answers.

Biological perspective

Concerned with the links between biology and behavior. Includes psychologists working in neuroscience, behavior genetics, and evolutionary psychology. These researchers may call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists. (p. 52)

_____ is the capacity to selectively focus senses and awareness on particular stimuli or aspects of the environment.

Consciousness

Hazardous Use

Continues to use despite hazards. Continues use despite worsening physical or psychological problems.

Correlation need not mean causation

Correlation does not prove causation. Correlation indicates the possibility of a cause-effect relationship but does not prove such. Remember this principle and you will be wiser as you read and hear news of scientific studies.

Which of the following is NOT one of the descriptive methods psychologists use to observe and describe behavior?

Correlational research

How do neuroscientists study the brain's connections to behavior and mind?

Clinical observations and lesioning reveal the general effects of brain damage. Electrical, chemical, or magnetic stimulation can also reveal aspects of information processing in the brain. MRI scans show anatomy. EEG, PET, and fMRI (functional MRI) recordings reveal brain function.

Cerebral Cortex

Location: Outermost layer of the brain Function: Responsible for thinking and processing information from the five senses The cortex is divided into four different lobes, the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital, which are each responsible for processing different types of sensory information.

Amygdala

Location: Part of Limbic System, at the end of the hippocampus Function: Responsible for the response and memory of emotions, especially fear

Hippocampus

Location: Part of the Limbic system, in each temporal lobe Function: Responsible for processing of long term memory and emotional responses

Thalamus

Location: Part of the forebrain, below the corpus callosum Function: Responsible for relaying information from the sensory receptors to proper areas of the brain where it can be processed

Parietal Lobe

Location: Upper, back part of the cortex Function: Processes sensory information that had to do with taste, temperature, and touch

Dr. Pennis a clinical psychologist studying the onset of psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia. Dr. Penn is most likely to use which of the following to get a glimpse of his subjects brains?

MRI

The year is 1880 and Grace Marsh wants to attend a university to study psychology. Based on the history of the field, what is the likely outcome?

She will be denied acceptance.

What is the place of consciousness in psychology's history?

Since 1960, under the influence of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive neuroscience, our awareness of ourselves and our environment—our consciousness— has reclaimed its place as an important area of research. After initially claiming consciousness as its area of study in the nineteenth century, psychologists had abandoned it in the first half of the twentieth century, turning instead to the study of observable behavior because they believed consciousness was too difficult to study scientifically.

The synapse was discovered and named by _____.

Sir Charles Sherrington

Severe substance use disorder

Six or more indicators

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.) (p. 20)

Dr. Kim experienced the divorce of her parents when she was a small child. She has devoted a considerable amount of her research endeavors studying the impact of parental divorce on children. Dr. Kim's research interests are affected by her _______.

Values

What withdrawal symptoms should your friend expect when she finally decides to quit smoking?

Your friend will likely experience strong craving, insomnia, anxiety, irritability, and distractibility. She'll probably find it harder to concentrate. However, if she sticks with it, the craving and withdrawal symptoms will gradually dissipate over about six months.

Medulla Oblongata

Location: Lower part of the brain stem Function: Carries out and regulates life sustaining functions such as breathing, swallowing and heart rate

Dr. Hernandez is interested in how Jake and his mother interact with each other during a play environment. Which of the following would be the best option for this research topic?

a case study

Psychoactive drug

a chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods. (p. 117)

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

a complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes. (p. 134)

Hypothalamus [hi-po-THAL-uh-muss]

a neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward. (p. 71)

environmental relatives

adoptive parents and siblings

Endocrine glands that play an important role in helping us respond to stress are the:

adrenal glands.

A drug that blocks the reuptake of a particular neurotransmitter is called a(n):

agonist

Manipulation of the experiment means that __________

all variables are controlled for, except the one being tested.

Colin was always a mild-mannered man. Suddenly his behavior changed radically. He instigated fights and was verbally abusive to the people around him. It is likely that John's problem initiated in his _____.

amygdala

Dr. Han is studying what brain structure is associated with aggressive behavior among rats. Which part of the brain is she likely to see activated when using neuroimaging techniques?

amygdala

Relational aggression

an act of aggression (physical or verbal) intended to harm a person's relationship or social standing. (p. 162)

Near-death experience

an altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death (such as through cardiac arrest); often similar to drug-induced hallucinations. (p. 124)

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity sweeping across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. (p. 67)

Motor cortex

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements. (p. 75)

It has been suggested that men in many cultures tend to marry women younger than themselves because men are genetically predisposed to seek female features associated with youthful fertility. This suggestion best illustrates:

an evolutionary perspective

Some psychologists suggest that older men in many cultures tend to marry women younger than themselves because men are genetically predisposed to seek female features associated with youthful fertility. This suggestion best illustrates:

an evolutionary perspective

To examine the effect of hunger on taste sensitivity, groups of research participants are deprived of food for differing lengths of time before they engage in a taste-sensitivity test. This research is an example of:

an experiment.

Knowing that two events are correlated provides

an indication that an underlying third factor is at work.

Less-variable observations

are more reliable than those that are more variable. As we noted earlier in the example of the basketball player whose game-to-game points were consistent, an average is more reliable when it comes from scores with low variability.

Mental processes

are the internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior—sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

Generalizations based on a few unrepresentative cases

are unreliable.

As scientists, psychologists

are willing to ask questions and to reject claims that cannot be verified by research.

Somatosensory cortex

area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. (p. 78) The more sensitive the body region, the larger the somatosensory cortex area devoted to it. Your super sensitive lips project to a larger brain area than do your toes, which is one reason we kiss with our lips rather than touch toes. Rats have a large area of the brain devoted to their whisker sensations, and owls to their hearing sensations.

While shopping at the local supermarket, Nora notices the "reduced for quick sale" table, which has discontinued items as well as dented cans. She buys some of the discontinued items and avoids the dented cans because she knows that improperly canned food can form:

botulin

Because of cataracts, a neighbor was deprived of visual experiences during early childhood. Last year, her vision was restored by surgery but she is having difficulty in dealing with the visual world. This is probably because:

brain cells normally devoted to vision died or were diverted to other uses.

Because humans live in the technology age, they are able to harness _____ so that they benefit from the preservation of innovation.

brain plasticity

If a child loses vision, his or her brain will respond by using the area previously devoted to vision for other abilities. This is an example of _____.

brain plasticity

If a child practices the piano every day for 30 minutes, 10 years later that child's brain will have a larger area of the brain devoted to fine motor control of the fingers than a child who never played. This is an example of _____.

brain plasticity

neural inhibitor

by slowing sympathetic nervous system activity a neural inhibitor can cause reactions to slow, speech to slur, and skilled performance to deteriorate. Alcohol is a neural inhibitor

Dr. McDougal decided to publish a paper based on a patient who presented her with a complicated case of depression and anxiety. Her hope, besides getting published, was to share universal principles with the psychology community. This is an example of a(n):

case study

Kari is conducting a study for which it is critical that the findings represent the population of interest. Which of the following research methods runs the greatest risk that its findings may be unrepresentative of what is generally true?

case study

In science, the clearest way to isolate _____ is to conduct an experiment.

cause and effect

During commencement, a parent sat waiting for his child's name to be called. He failed to realize that the person initially reading off the graduates' names left and that a new person was now reading. This scenario illustrates:

change blindness

In the brain, the massive loss of unused neural connections is known as:

pruning

Hallucinogens

psychedelic ("mind-manifesting") drugs, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input. (p. 124)

A mental health professional with a medical degree who can prescribe medication is a ________________

psychiatrist

The animal protection movement protests the use of animals in which of the following types of research?

psychological and biological

Adolescence is marked by the onset of ________________ .

puberty

In a survey, a sample that gives each person in the general population an equal chance of participating is a _____ sample.

random

Sally visited two casinos and won large jackpots at the slot machines. Her friends told her to keep playing because she is on a lucky streak. Sally just took an introductory psychology class and decided not to spend any more money. She realized the two winning events were:

random

Your psychology professor explains that her current research involves studying changes in brain activity in the visual areas of the brain when one is shown pictures of people making a variety of facial expressions. You conclude that your professor's area of research is:

cognitive neuroscience

Addiction

compulsive craving of drugs or certain behaviors (such as gambling) despite known adverse consequences. (p. 118)

By using random assignment, researchers are able to control for ______________ ___________ , which are other factors besides the independent variable (s) that may influence research results.

confounding variables

Experiments show that when you move your wrist at will, you consciously experience the decision to move it about 0.2 seconds before the actual movement (Libet, 1985, 2004). But your brain waves jump about 0.35 seconds before you consciously perceive your decision to move. From this study one can conclude:

consciousness sometimes arrives after decision-making

Substance use disorder

continued substance craving and use despite significant life disruption and/or physical risk. (p. 117) resulting brain changes may persist after quitting use of the substance (thus leading to strong cravings when exposed to people and situations that trigger memories of drug use)

Jessica is in labor with her first child. Her _____, which are enabled by oxytocin, are about 5 minutes apart

contractions

Many people believe that positive thinking helps people overcome diseases like cancer. Often, this belief results from hearing about people with positive attitudes who were cured. However, this type of correlation typically does not take into account:

contradictory evidence.

All of the following are main components of the scientific attitude EXCEPT:

critical thinking

Evolutionary psychologists believe that men in almost all cultures are attracted to women based on youthful physical characteristics that denote:

fertility and good health

Spermarche [sper-MAR-key]

first ejaculation. (p. 166)

ventricle

fluid-filled brain area

The shared human genetic profile is called the

genome

Individualism

giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in strongs of personal attributes rather than group identifications. (p. 157)

Collectivism

giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly. (p. 157)

Random samples provide _____ estimates of population averages if the samples have small _____.

good; standard deviations

In his own life, Steven Pinker has made a conscious decision NOT to:

have children

After seeing case information and an autopsy report, physicians may claim that they could have used the case information alone to predict the accurate cause of death. This illustrates an error in thinking known as _____.

hindsight bias

Before the annual "Blue versus Red" football game, Sara bet on the Blue team, which then lost. After the game, she claimed she knew Blue would lose. This illustrates an error in thinking known as _____.

hindsight bias

In some species of animals there is the nucleus accumbens

in front of the hypothalamus. Animal research has also revealed both a general dopamine-related reward system and specific centers associated with the pleasures of eating, drinking, and sex. Animals, it seems, come equipped with built-in systems that reward activities essential to survival.

Sex

in psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define males and females. (p. 161)

Gender

in psychology, the socially influenced characteristics by which people define men and women. (p. 161)

The prefrontal cortex

in the forward part of the frontal lobes enables judgment, planning, and processing of new memories. People with damaged frontal lobes may have intact memories, high scores on intelligence tests, and great cake-baking skills. Yet they would not be able to plan ahead to begin baking a cake for a birthday party

Josie intently watched the live tennis match and did not realize that a bird had landed on the empty seat next to her. Her inability to notice the bird can be explained by:

inattentional blindness.

Sue has Parkinson's disease. She takes medication that:

increases the level of dopamine.

The results of Jasper's dissertation showed that experimental Drug R had a minimal to modest effect in reducing the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). He decided that his original hypothesis that 200 mg of Drug R will reduce GAD symptoms by 25 percent needed to be revised by increasing the drug dosage to 300 mg. This increase in Drug R is a manipulation of the _____ variable.

independent

A researcher wants to determine whether noise level affects workers' blood pressure. In one group, she varies the level of noise in the environment and records participants' blood pressure. In this experiment, the level of noise is the _______ __________.

independent variable

If a researcher is studying different approaches to dieting to determine which is the most effective for weight loss, the experimenter's manipulation of dieting is the:

independent variable

In an experimental study of the effects of dieting on weight loss, dieting would be the:

independent variable.

Broca's area or the Broca area

is a region in the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere (usually the left) of the hominid brain with functions linked to speech production. Language processing has been linked to Broca's area since Pierre Paul Broca reported impairments in two patients.

Someone with a split brain will have trouble verbally identifying an object projected in their _____ visual field.

left

Almost all right-handers process speech in the __________ hemisphere; most left-handers process speech in the _____________ hemisphere.

left; left—the other 30 percent vary, processing speech in the right hemisphere or in both hemispheres

By _______ clusters of brain cells, scientists have discovered that damage to part of the pons results in sleep difficulties.

lesioning

excitatory signal

like pushing a neuron's accelerator

inhibitory signal

like pushing a neuron's brake

Parents and peers influence different domains. Parents influence _____ while peers influence _____.

long-range and large-scale plans; social status

Depressed mood states are linked to low levels of serotonin and _____ levels of norepinephrine.

low

A negative correlation between people's work-related stress and their marital happiness would indicate that higher levels of marital happiness are associated with _____ levels of work-related stress.

lower

Damage to the brain's right hemisphere is most likely to reduce a person's ability to

make inferences

The average of a distribution of scores is the ___________. The score that shows up most often is the __________. The score right in the middle of a distribution (half the scores above it; half below) is the ___________. We determine how much scores vary around the average in a way that includes information about the __________ of scores (difference between highest and lowest) by using the __________ __________ formula.

mean; mode; median; range; standard deviation

The _____________cortex controls our voluntary movements.

motor

Being born with six fingers on one's hand best illustrates:

mutation

Due to a random error in genetic replication, a lion is born with a heightened sense of smell. This variation in an inherited trait is due to:

mutation

Ants that become less sensitive to the repellants that are sprayed on them and are able to multiply are an example of:

natural selection

Bacteria that resist a hospital's antibiotics rapidly multiply as other bacteria die off. This best illustrates

natural selection

Dr. Hernandez is interested in parent-child interaction during a play environment. Dr. Hernandez will more than likely use _______ to collect data.

naturalistic observation

Dr. Hernandez is interested in parent-child interaction during a play environment. Which of the following would be the best option for this research topic?

naturalistic observation

Kayla sat in her local fast food restaurant and recorded what people ordered. She is using what descriptive method?

naturalistic observation

Which of the following research methods is best for observing and recording behavior in various environments without trying to control the situation?

naturalistic observation

A study finds that the more childbirth training classes women attend, the less pain medication they require during childbirth. This finding can be stated as a (positive or negative?) correlation.

negative

In a double-blind procedure,

neither the participants nor the researchers know who is in the experimental group or control group.

In terms of speed, it is clear that the endocrine system is the tortoise and the _____ system is the hare.

nervous (fast) endocrine (slow)

Limbic system (limbus means "border")

neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives. (p. 71)

Opiates

opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. (p. 120) codeine, morphine, methadone, heroin pupils constrict, breathing slows, and lethargy sets in as blissful pleasure replaces pain and anxiety. eventual craving, need for progressively larger doses, extreme discomfort of withdrawal, the brain eventually stops producing endorphins, its own opiates.

A professor conducts a survey of her class about whether the number of breaks is adequate for the three-hour course. For her survey, she decides to take all 40 students' names and assigns them each a number in order to have 20 students randomly chosen by her computer program. One could say that her survey will be both:

random and representative

Dr. Miller decided to conduct an exercise in his class wherein he had two students each flip a coin and record how many times they received heads or tails. One student had five heads in a row, while the other student's coin toss had no pattern. Dr. Miller explained that while the pattern is interesting it is best explained by:

random events

When trying to interpret a bar graph, do not be misled. Make sure to check the scale labels and note their _____.

range

The laboratory environment is designed to

re-create psychological forces under controlled conditions.

When viewing graphs

read the scale labels and note their range.

Midbrain, also called mesencephalon

region of the developing vertebrate brain that is composed of the tectum and tegmentum. The midbrain serves important functions in motor movement, particularly movements of the eye, and in auditory and visual processing. responds to loud startling sounds

When sample averages are __________ and the difference between them is __________, we can say the difference has statistical significance.

reliable; large

A pharmaceutical company has developed a new medication to treat depression. The results of the company's studies indicate that the medication significantly reduces symptoms of depression in 90 percent of people diagnosed with depression. However, these studies will have to be re-evaluated if numerous well-constructed follow-up studies fail to _____ the findings.

replicate

A professor conducts a survey of her class about whether the number of breaks is adequate for the three-hour course. For her survey, she decides to take all 40 students' names and assigns them each a number in order to have 20 students randomly chosen by her computer program. One could say that her survey will be both a(n) _____ and a random sample.

representative

You wish to survey a group of people who truly represent the country's adult population. Therefore, you need to ensure that you question a _______________ sample of the population.

representative

Which terms would most likely occur in description of a single study?

representative sample and survey

According to evolutionary psychologists, our predisposition to overconsume fatty junk foods illustrates that we are biologically prepared to behave in ways that promoted the ________ of our ancestors.

reproductive success

Michael recently suffered a stroke to his _____. Now he is unable to perceive accurately the emotions of others.

right hemisphere

Examples of psychologically induced states of consciousness

sensory deprivation, hypnosis, meditation

Steven Pinker states that an important difference exists between men and women in:

sexuality

Sequential processing

solving new problems, which requires our focused attention.

Our brain's ____________cortex registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.

somatosensory

An important point to remember about correlation is that it describes a(n) _____ relationship and does NOT equal causation.

statistical

stimulation of the amygdala

stimulated amygdala creates a fear response.

Dr. James found a correlation of +0.81 between obesity and the consumption of fast foods. This would be considered a(n) _____ positive correlation.

strong

Dr. James found a correlation of -0.81 between obesity and the consumption of low-fat foods. This would be considered a(n) _____ negative correlation.

strong

Two early schools of psychology were

structuralism and functionalism.

cultural neuroscience

studying how neurobiology and cultural traits influence each other

Descriptive statistics

summarize data

According to the principle of natural selection, if a large number of dogs were released into the wild and no longer cared for by humans, which dogs would survive?

the most able to meet their basic needs

Testosterone

the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period, and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty. (pp. 165, 433)

A pharmaceutical company has developed a new medication to treat depression. The results of the company's studies indicate that the medication significantly reduces symptoms of depression in 90 percent of people diagnosed with depression. However, numerous well-constructed replications of these studies fail to obtain the same results; rather, the replication studies indicate that the new medication is no more effective than a placebo in reducing the symptoms of depression. We can conclude that it is likely that:

the new medication is not an effective treatment for depression.

Recent research on babies has shown that babies prefer honest people over dishonest ones. This research is consistent with other findings showing that children globally have _____.

the same basic morality

X chromosome

the sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two X chromosomes; males have one. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child. (p. 165)

Y chromosome

the sex chromosome found only in males. When paired with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child. (p. 165)

Gender refers to:

the social construction of what it means to be male or female.

Epigenetics

the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change. (pp. 143, 612)

Molecular behavior genetics

the study of how the structure and function of genes interact with our environment to influence behavior. (p. 142)

Evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection. (pp. 7, 144)

Behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. (pp. 7, 134)

Molecular genetics

the subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes. (p. 142)

If you were to compare the endocrine system and the body's electrochemical information system in terms of speed, you might call the former a _____ and the latter a _____.

tortoise, hare

Freida's mother suffers from frequent panic attacks. The doctor has prescribed Nembutal (a depressant drug that reduces anxiety and induces relaxation). Nembutal is classified as a(n) _____.

tranquilizer

Of the following, who are likely to show greater genetic differences?

two individuals from the same small village in Denmark

Amygdala [uh-MIG-duh-la]

two lima-bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion. (p. 71)

Mild substance use disorder

two to three of these indicators

What do scientists think might have happened had the energy of the Big Bang been a little weaker?

universe would have collapsed in on itself

Pilar is reading the latest issue of the Journal of Neuropsychology and the article on a new neurocognitive test for Alzheimer's disease catches her attention. She is excited because it states that the new test is quite successful and has statistical significance. The article further states that the new test should be given to all Alzheimer's patients. She looks back at the beginning of the article and finds that the new test was given to 35 participants. She concludes generalizations based on a small number of cases are more likely to be _____.

unreliable

Hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage. (pp. 71, 329)

Dr. Miller is working on a research grant about the impact of evolution in everyday society. Dr. Miller is most likely a(n):

evolutionary psychologist

Evolutionary psychologists attribute the human tendency to fear snakes and heights to:

genetic predispositions

Endocrine [EN-duh-krin] system

the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. (p. 63)

In one survey of sixth-graders in 22 U.S. states, _____ percent believed their friends had smoked marijuana while 4 percent acknowledged doing so.

14

Michelle has a high level of oxytocin in her body. This helps her ______ with her baby.

Bond

What are the three key structures of the limbic system, and what functions do they serve?

(1) The amygdala is involved in aggression and fear responses. (2) The hypothalamus is involved in bodily maintenance, pleasurable rewards, and control of the hormonal systems. (3) The hippocampus processes conscious memory.

In the end, our theory will be useful if it

(1) organizes a range of self-reports and observations, and (2) implies predictions that anyone can use to check the theory or to derive practical applications. (Does people's sleep predict their retention?) Eventually, our research may (3) stimulate further research that leads to a revised theory that better organizes and predicts what we know.

What does a good theory do?

1. It organizes observed facts. 2. It implies hypotheses that offer testable predictions and, sometimes, practical applications. 3. It often stimulates further research.

Try moving your right hand in a circular motion, as if cleaning a table. Then start your right foot doing the same motion, synchronized with your hand. Now reverse the right foot's motion, but not the hand's. Finally, try moving the left foot opposite to the right hand. Why is reversing the right foot's motion so hard? Why is it easier to move the left foot opposite to the right hand?

1. The right limbs' opposed activities interfere with each other because both are controlled by the same (left) side of your brain. 2. Opposite sides of your brain control your left and right limbs, so the reversed motion causes less interference.

In what brain region would damage be most likely to (1) disrupt your ability to skip rope? (2) disrupt your ability to hear and taste? (3) perhaps leave you in a coma? (4) cut off the very breath and heartbeat of life?

1. cerebellum, 2. thalamus, 3. reticular formation, 4. medulla

(1) If we flash a red light to the right hemisphere of a person with a split brain, and flash a green light to the left hemisphere, will each observe its own color? (2) Will the person be aware that the colors differ? (3) What will the person verbally report seeing?

1. yes, 2. no, 3. green

Psychiatry

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy. (p. 12) Branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders. Psychiatrists may provide psychotherapy, are medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and otherwise treat physical causes of psychological disorders.

Counseling psychology

A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being. (p. 12) Help people to cope with challenges and crises (including academic, vocational, and marital issues) and to improve their personal and social functioning. Both counseling and clinical psychologists administer and interpret tests, provide counseling and therapy, and sometimes conduct basic and applied research.

Community psychology

A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups. (p. 12) Works to create social and physical environments that are healthy for all. (think school psychologist)

Clinical psychology

A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders. (p. 12) Studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders but usually does not provide medical therapy. Assess and treat people with mental, emotional, and behavior disorders. Both counseling and clinical psychologists administer and interpret tests, provide counseling and therapy, and sometimes conduct basic and applied research.

Operational definition

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study. For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures. (p. 26)

An in-depth observation of a small sample or single individual is an example of which research method?

A case study

Standard deviation

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score. (p. 45)

How does culture affect our behavior?

A culture is an enduring set of behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group and transmitted from one generation to the next. Cultural norms are understood rules that inform members of a culture about accepted and expected behaviors. Cultures differ across time and space

Case studies

A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. (p. 28) Case study does not explain behavior. In-depth analyses of individuals or groups. Individual cases can suggest fruitful ideas. What's true of all of us can be glimpsed in any one of us. But to discern the general truths that cover individual cases, we must answer questions with other research methods.

Naturalistic observations

A descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. (p. 28) Like the case study, naturalistic observation does not explain behavior. Watching and recording the natural behavior of many individuals. Naturalistic observation offers interesting snapshots of everyday life, but it does so without controlling for all the factors that may influence behavior. It's one thing to observe the pace of life in various places, but another to understand what makes some people walk faster than others.

Myelin sheath

A fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next. (p. 53)

Scatterplot

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation). (p. 32)

How do we describe data using three measures of central tendency, and what is the relative usefulness of the two measures of variation?

A measure of central tendency is a single score that represents a whole set of scores. Three such measures that we use to describe data are the mode (the most frequently occurring score), the mean (the arithmetic average), and the median (the middle score in a group of data). Measures of variation tell us how diverse data are. Two measures of variation are the range (which describes the gap between the highest and lowest scores) and the standard deviation (which states how much scores vary around the mean, or average, score). Scores often form a normal (or bell-shaped) curve.

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. (p. 32)

Agonist

A molecule that increases a neurotransmitter's action. (p. 59) Agonists may increase the production or release of neurotransmitters, or block reuptake in the synapse. Other agonists may be similar enough to a neurotransmitter to bind to its receptor and mimic its excitatory or inhibitory effects. Some opiate drugs are agonists and produce a temporary "high" by amplifying normal sensations of arousal or pleasure.

Antagonist

A molecule that inhibits or blocks a neurotransmitter's action. (p. 59) Botulin, a poison that can form in improperly canned food, causes paralysis by blocking ACh release. (Small injections of botulin—Botox—smooth wrinkles by paralyzing the underlying facial muscles.) These antagonists are enough like the natural neurotransmitter to occupy its receptor site and block its effect, as in FIGURE 5.6, but are not similar enough to stimulate the receptor (rather like foreign coins that fit into, but won't operate, a candy machine). Curare, a poison some South American Indians have applied to hunting-dart tips, occupies and blocks ACh receptor sites on muscles, producing paralysis in their prey.

Neuron

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system. (p. 53) cell body and its branching fibers

Action potential

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. (p. 54)

Dendrites

A neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body. (p. 53) Dendrites listen

All-or-none response

A neuron's reaction of either firing (with a full-strength response) or not firing. (p. 55) Increasing the level of stimulation above the threshold will not increase the neural impulse's intensity. How do we distinguish a gentle touch from a big hug? A strong stimulus can trigger more neurons to fire, and to fire more often. But it does not affect the action potential's strength or speed. Squeezing a trigger harder won't make a bullet go faster.

reuptake

A neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron. (p. 56) For an instant, the neurotransmitter unlocks tiny channels at the receiving site, and electrically charged atoms flow in, exciting or inhibiting the receiving neuron's readiness to fire. The excess neurotransmitters then drift away, are broken down by enzymes, or are reabsorbed by the sending neuron—a process called reuptake.

Adrenal [ah-DREEN-el] glands

A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress. (p. 64) (also called adrenaline and noradrenaline). These hormones increase heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar, providing a surge of energy. When the emergency passes, the hormones—and the feelings—linger a while.

Refractory period

A period of inactivity after a neuron has fired. (pp. 55)

Frontal Lobe

Location: Frontal and upper area of the cortex Function: Carries out higher mental processes such as thinking, decision making, and planning

Statistical significance

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. (p. 47) When sample averages are reliable and the difference between them is large, we can say the difference has statistical significance. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a result will happen by chance. But this does not say anything about the importance of the result. Most often, psychologists look for a probability of 5% (.05) or less that the results are due to chance, which means a 95% chance the results are "not" due to chance. When you hear that the results of an experiment were statistically significant, it means that you can be 95% sure the results are not due to chance...this is a good thing

Pituitary and Stress and blood sugar

A stressful event triggers your hypothalamus to instruct your pituitary to release a hormone that causes your adrenal glands to flood your body with cortisol, a stress hormone that increases blood sugar.

SQ3R

A study method incorporating five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, Review. (p. 14)

Normal curve or normal distribution

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (about 68 percent fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes. (pp. 45, 396)

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory. (p. 26)

What is the selection effect, and how might it affect a teen's decision to drink alcohol?

Adolescents tend to select out similar others and sort themselves into like-minded groups. This could lead a teen who wants to experiment with drinking alcohol to seek out others who already drink alcohol.

Here are some recently reported correlations, with interpretations drawn by journalists. Knowing just these correlations, can you come up with other possible explanations for each of these?

Adolescents who frequently see smoking in movies are more likely to smoke. (One interpretation: Movie stars' behavior influences impressionable teens.) Perhaps adolescents who smoke and attend movies frequently have less parental supervision and more access to spending money than other adolescents.

Constraint-induced therapy

Aims to rewire brains and improve the dexterity of a brain-damaged child or even an adult stroke victim (Taub, 2004). By restraining a fully functioning limb, therapists force patients to use the "bad" hand or leg, gradually reprogramming the brain. One stroke victim, a surgeon in his fifties, was put to work cleaning tables, with his good arm and hand restrained. Slowly, the bad arm recovered its skills.

Cerebellum

Location: Lower area of the brain, below the pons Function: Responsible for balance and coordination of muscles and the body

More cases are better than fewer.

An eager prospective student visits two university campuses, each for a day. At the first, the student randomly attends two classes and discovers both instructors to be witty and engaging. At the next campus, the two sampled instructors seem dull and uninspiring. Returning home, the student (discounting the small sample size of only two teachers at each institution) tells friends about the "great teachers" at the first school, and the "bores" at the second. Again, we know it but we ignore it: Averages based on many cases are more reliable (less variable) than averages based on only a few cases.

Intuition

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning. (pp. 20, 359)

Double-blind procedure:

An experimental procedure in which both 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. (p. 36)

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events. (p. 26)

Biopsychosocial approach

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis. (p. 9)

How are animal and human research participants protected?

Animal protection legislation, laboratory regulation and inspection, and local ethics committees serve to protect animal and human welfare. At universities, Institutional Review Boards screen research proposals. Ethical principles developed by international psychological organizations urge researchers using human participants to obtain informed consent,to protect them from harm and discomfort, to treat their personal information confidentially, and to fully debrief all participants.

Forensic psychologists (applied science)

Apply psychology's principles and methods in the criminal justice system.

Feynman, 1997

As a Nobel Prize-winning physicist explained, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool" (Feynman, 1997).

Surveys and interviews

Asking people questions.

Random assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups. (p. 35)

Why are association areas important?

Association areas are involved in higher mental functions—interpreting, integrating, and acting on information processed in other areas. Our mental experiences arise from coordinated brain activity.

The registrar's office at the University of Michigan has found that usually about 100 students in Arts and Sciences have perfect marks at the end of their first term at the University. However, only about 10 to 15 students graduate with perfect marks. What do you think is the most likely explanation for the fact that there are more perfect marks after one term than at graduation (Jepson et al., 1983)?

Averages based on fewer courses are more variable, which guarantees a greater number of extremely low and high marks at the end of the first term.

How is a "shopping addiction" different from the psychological definition of addiction?

Being strongly interested in something in a way that is not compulsive and dysfunctional is not an addiction. It does not involve obsessive craving in spite of known negative consequences.

How do sex hormones influence prenatal and adolescent sexual development, and what is a disorder of sexual development?

Both sex chromosomes and sex hormones influence development. Biological sex is determined by the father's contribution to the twenty-third pair of chromosomes. The mother always contributes an X chromosome. The father may also contribute an X chromosome, producing a female, or a Y chromosome, producing a male by triggering additional testosterone release and the development of male sex organs. During puberty, both primary and secondary sex characteristics develop. Sex-related genes and physiology influence behavioral and cognitive differences between males and females. Disorders of sexual development are inherited conditions that involve unusual development of sex chromosomes and anatomy.

Dr. Paivio studies the ways in which the endocrine system and the nervous system are similar. Which of the following might he conclude?

Both systems secrete molecules that activate receptors elsewhere.

A researcher can tell that a person is looking at an object based on _____ activity.

Brain

Of the following people, who is at greatest risk for drug use?

Brett, whose family just moved to a new state midway through the school year

Nerves

Bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs. (p. 60)

What advantage do we gain by using the biopsychosocial approach in studying psychological events?

By incorporating different levels of analysis, the biopsychosocial approach can provide a more complete view than any one perspective could offer.

We cannot assume that case studies always reveal general principles that apply to all of us. Why not?

Case studies involve only one individual or group, so we can't know for sure whether the principles observed would apply to a larger population.

An 89-year-old man has smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for more than 60 years and is in excellent health. A researcher does an in-depth study of this man in hopes of revealing universal principles related to the effects of smoking on health. However, the study may not provide useful results because the man is atypical. This illustrates a weakness of the _____ method of descriptive research.

Case study

Dr. Ahn is interested in the opinions of immigration among Caucasian-American citizens. Dr. Ahn distributes a survey and collects data from Caucasian-American citizens in Minnesota who have experienced an influx of immigrants from Somalia. The results of the study are representative of whom?

Caucasian-American citizens from Minnesota

Glial cells (glia) - glue cells

Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons; they may also play a role in learning, thinking, and memory. (p. 54) In more complex animal brains, the proportion of glia to neurons increases. Glial cells are worker bees. They provide nutrients and insulating myelin, guide neural connections, and mop up ions and neurotransmitters. Glia also play a role in learning and thinking. By "chatting" with neurons they participate in information transmission and memory (Fields, 2011, 2013; Miller, 2005).

Why do correlations enable prediction but not cause-effect explanation?

Correlations enable prediction because they show how two factors move together, either positively or negatively. A correlation can indicate the possibility of a cause-effect relationship, but it does not prove the direction of the influence, or whether an underlying third factor may explain the correlation.

How can critical thinking help you evaluate claims in the media, even if you're not a scientific expert on the issue?

Critical thinking examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions. In evaluating a claim in the media, look for any signs of empirical evidence, preferably from several studies. Ask the following questions in your analysis: Are claims based on scientific findings? Have several studies replicated the findings and confirmed them? Are any experts cited? If so, research their background. Are they affiliated with a credible university, college, or institution? Have they conducted or written about scientific research?

What are the key criticisms of evolutionary explanations of human sexuality, and how do evolutionary psychologists respond?

Critics argue that evolutionary psychologists start with an effect and work backward to an explanation. They also charge that evolutionary psychologists try to explain today's behavior based on decisions our distant ancestors made thousands of years ago, noting that a better, more immediate explanation takes learned social scripts into account. And, the critics wonder, does this kind of explanation absolve people from taking responsibility for their sexual behavior? Evolutionary psychologists respond that understanding our predispositions can help us overcome them. They recognize the importance of social and cultural influences, but they also cite the value of testable predictions based on evolutionary principles.

_______ is most likely to influence our attitude toward premarital sex.

Culture

Three components of Scientific Attitude

Curious, Skeptical, and Humble

Examples of spontaneous altered states of consciousness

Daydreaming, drowsiness, dreaming

Which of the following is an example of a psychologically induced altered state of consciousness?

Deirdre has just entered a state of hypnosis with the help of a psychologist.

What are depressants, and what are their effects?

Depressants, such as alcohol, barbiturates, and the opiates, dampen neural activity and slow body functions. Alcohol tends to disinhibit, increasing the likelihood that we will act on our impulses, whether harmful or helpful. It also impairs judgment, disrupts memory processes by suppressing REM sleep, and reduces self-awareness and self-control. User expectations strongly influence alcohol's behavioral effects.

Cognitive Revolution

In the 1960s, the cognitive revolution led the field back to its early interest in mental processes, such as the importance of how our mind processes and retains information.

Charles Darwin

Descartes' views gained support from a curious naturalist two centuries later. In 1831, an indifferent student but ardent collector of beetles, mollusks, and shells set sail on a historic round-the-world journey. The 22-year-old voyager, Charles Darwin, pondered the incredible species variation he encountered, including tortoises on one island that differed from those on nearby islands. Darwin's 1859 On the Origin of Species explained this diversity by proposing the evolutionary process of natural selection:

How do psychologists use case studies, naturalistic observations, and surveys to observe and describe behavior, and why is random sampling important?

Descriptive methods, which include case studies, naturalistic observations, and surveys, show us what can happen, and they may offer ideas for further study. The best basis for generalizing about a population is a representative sample; in a random sample, every person in the entire population being studied has an equal chance of participating. Descriptive methods cannot show cause and effect because researchers cannot control variables.

_____________ statistics summarize data, while _____________ statistics determine if data can be generalized to other populations.

Descriptive; inferential

Indicators of a substance use disorder

Diminished Control Diminished Social Functioning Hazardous Use Drug Action

Tina has trouble sleeping. She wakes up around the same time each night feeling like she can't breathe. Her physician suspects she may have sleep apnea, a sleep disorder. Her physician has decided to use _______ to view Tina's brain while she is sleeping in order to determine if Tina has a sleep disorder.

EEG

To monitor the electrical activity in the brain that is triggered by hearing one's own name, researchers would make use of a(n) _____.

EEG

How did psychology continue to develop from the 1920s through today?

Early researchers defined psychology as "the science of mental life." In the 1920s, under the influence of John B. Watson and the behaviorists, the field's focus changed to the "scientific study of observable behavior." In the 1960s, the humanistic psychologists and the cognitive psychologists revived interest in the study of mental processes. Psychology is now defined as the science of behavior and mental processes.

Structuralism - Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchener

Early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind. (p. 3) elements of their experience as they looked at a rose, listened to a metronome, smelled a scent, or tasted a substance. Failed school of thought because it required smart, verbal people, and its results varied from person to person and experience to experience. As introspection waned, so did structuralism.

Testing effect

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning. (pp. 13, 326)

How do evolutionary psychologists use natural selection to explain behavior tendencies?

Evolutionary psychologists seek to understand how our traits and behavior tendencies are shaped by natural selection, as genetic variations increasing the odds of reproducing and surviving in their particular environment are most likely to be passed on to future generations. Some variations arise from mutations (random errors in gene replication), others from new gene combinations at conception. Humans share a genetic legacy and are predisposed to behave in ways that promoted our ancestors' surviving and reproducing. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is an organizing principle in biology. He anticipated today's application of evolutionary principles in psychology.

How do evolutionary psychologists explain sex differences in sexuality?

Evolutionary psychologists theorize that females have inherited their ancestors' tendencies to be more cautious, sexually, because of the challenges associated with incubating and nurturing offspring. Males have inherited an inclination to be more casual about sex, because their act of fathering requires a smaller investment.

Drug action

Experiences tolerance (needing more substance for the desired effect). Experiences withdrawal when attempting to quit.

Cognitive psychologists

Experiment with how we perceive, think, and solve problems

Placebo effect - Latin for "I shall please"

Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent. (p. 36)

social psychologists

Explore how we view and affect one another

Biological psychologists

Explore the links between brain and mind

Functionalism - William James influenced by Darwin

Explored how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish. (p. 3) explorations of the functions of emotions, memories, willpower, habits, and moment-to-moment streams of consciousness.

Dr. Snell studies the part of the brain that is active when people are lying. She asks half of her participants to tell the truth about an event from their childhoods and half to tell a lie about an event from their childhoods. Which of the following brain imaging techniques should she use to detect brain areas that are active when the participants are lying?

FMRI

If a researcher is interested in measuring both the structure and function of the brain, which of the following techniques would you recommend?

FMRI

Christy's 17-year-old nephew seems to take a lot of risks compared to his sister. He drives faster than she does, smokes cigarettes, and has several casual sexual partners. How would an evolutionary psychologist explain the difference between her niece and nephew?

Females are supposedly attracted to males who appear healthy and bold, which encourages males to behave this way.

Pituitary and Sex

For example, under the brain's influence, the pituitary triggers your sex glands to release sex hormones. These in turn influence your brain and behavior.

inferential statistics

For guidance, we can ask how reliable and significant the differences are. These inferential statistics help us determine if results can be generalized to a larger population.

Research conducted by Dmitry Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut has shown that _____ can be domesticated, over the course of many generations, by selecting and mating animals with certain traits.

Foxes

The physician _____ claimed that bumps on the skull were correlated with intelligence and personality traits.

Franz Gall

The tendency to emphasize the impact of parents' child-rearing practices on children's personality has been most characteristic of:

Freudian psychologists

Right Hemisphere

Functions: Responsible for control of the left side of the body, and is the more artistic and creative side of the brain

Left Hemisphere

Functions: Responsible for control of the right side of the body, and is the more academic and logical side of the brain

What are gender roles, and what do their variations tell us about our human capacity for learning and adaptation?

Gender roles are social rules or norms for accepted and expected behavior for females and males. The norms associated with various roles, including gender roles, vary widely in different cultural contexts, which is proof that we are very capable of learning and adapting to the social demands of different environments.

How do gender roles and gender identity differ?

Gender roles, the behaviors a culture expects from its males and females, vary across place and time. Social learning theory proposes that we learn gender identity—our sense of being male, female, or some combination of the two—as we learn other things: through reinforcement, punishment, and observation. Critics argue that cognition also plays a role because modeling and rewards cannot explain gender typing. Some children organize themselves into "boy worlds" and "girl worlds"; others prefer androgyny. Transgender people's gender identity or expression differs from their birth sex. Their sexual orientation may be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual.

What are chromosomes, DNA, genes, and the human genome? How do behavior geneticists explain our individual differences?

Genes are the biochemical units of heredity that make up chromosomes, the threadlike coils of DNA. When genes are "turned on" (expressed), they provide the code for creating the proteins that form our body's building blocks. Most human traits are influenced by many genes acting together. The human genome is the shared genetic profile that distinguishes humans from other species, consisting at an individual level of all the genetic material in an organism's chromosomes. Behavior geneticists study the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Biological Influences

Genetic predispositions (genetically influenced traits) Genetic Mutation Natural Selection of adaptive traits and behaviors passed down through generations Genes responding to the environment

What are some benefits and risks of prenatal genetic testing?

Genetic tests can now reveal at-risk populations for dozens of diseases, and the search is on to discover the markers of genetically influenced disorders. But prenatal screening poses ethical dilemmas. For example, testing for an offspring's sex has enabled selective abortions, which in some cultures has resulted in millions more male births. And future screening for vulnerability to psychological disorders could deprive the world of great talents. (Handel, van Gogh, Churchill, Lincoln, Tolstoy, and Dickinson were all troubled people, for example.)

Informed consent

Giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate. (p. 41)

Examples of physiologically induced altered states of consciousness

Hallucination, orgasm, food or oxygen starvation

What are hallucinogens, and what are their effects?

Hallucinogens—such as LSD and marijuana—distort perceptions and evoke hallucinations—sensory images in the absence of sensory input. The user's mood and expectations influence the effects of LSD, but common experiences are hallucinations and emotions varying from euphoria to panic. Marijuana's main ingredient, THC, may trigger feelings of disinhibition, euphoria, relaxation, relief from pain, and intense sensitivity to sensory stimuli. It may also increase feelings of depression or anxiety, impair motor coordination and reaction time, disrupt memory formation, and damage lung tissue (because of the inhaled smoke).

Random sampling

Helps researchers generalize from a small set of survey responses to a larger population

What is heritability, and how does it relate to individuals and groups?

Heritability describes the extent to which variation among members of a group can be attributed to genes. Heritable individual differences (in traits such as height or intelligence) need not imply heritable group differences. Genes mostly explain why some people are taller than others, but not why people are taller today than they were a century ago.

Would the heritability of aggressiveness be greater in Belyaev and Trut's foxes, or in a wild population of foxes?

Heritability of aggressiveness would be greater in the wild population, with its greater genetic variation in aggressiveness.

________ ________ refers to our tendency to perceive events as obvious or inevitable after the fact.

Hindsight bias

Overestimate of our intuition vs Scientific Inquiry

Hindsight bias, overconfidence, and our tendency to perceive patterns in random events often lead us to overestimate our intuition. But scientific inquiry can help us sift reality from illusion.

Can you believe in science and religion?

Historians of science tell us that these three attitudes—curiosity, skepticism, and humility—helped make modern science possible. Some deeply religious people today may view science, including psychological science, as a threat. Yet, many of the leaders of the scientific revolution, including Copernicus and Newton, were deeply religious people acting on the idea that "in order to love and honor God, it is necessary to fully appreciate the wonders of his handiwork" (Stark, 2003a,b).

Cory's boss tells her some news that disturbs her, but a phone call from her spouse distracts her. After she gets off the phone, she has a lingering feeling that something is not quite right, but she cannot pinpoint what it is. It is likely she is reacting to the continued effect of _____.

Hormones

Dr. Clark published an article on teen parenting behaviors that demonstrated teen parents tend to develop insecure attachments with male infants but not female infants. However, three subsequent studies by other psychologists failed to confirm these results. After reading these other studies, Dr. Clark redid her study, found an error, and then decided to publish a retraction of her original results. She is demonstrating _____, which is one of the three main components of the scientific attitude.

Humility

Which theory implies the hypothesis that hungry adults will score higher on a math test than adults who are not hungry?

Hunger improves intellectual performance.

To what extent can a damaged brain reorganize itself, and what is neurogenesis?

If one hemisphere is damaged early in life, the other will pick up many of its functions by reorganizing or building new pathways. This plasticity diminishes later in life. The brain sometimes mends itself by forming new neurons, a process known as neurogenesis.

Occipital Lobe

Location: Bottom, back part of the cortex Function: Responsible for processing visual information from the eyes

Confounding variable

In an experiment, a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect. (p. 37)

Independent variable

In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. (p. 3

Experimental group

In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable. (p. 35)

Control group

In an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment. (p. 35)

Dependent variable

In an experiment, the outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated. (p. 37)

Change deafness

In one experiment, 40 percent of people focused on repeating a list of words that someone spoke failed to notice a change in the person speaking (Vitevitch, 2003). In two follow-up phone interview experiments, only 2 of 40 people noticed that the female interviewer changed after the third question (a change that was noticeable if people were forewarned of a possible interviewer change) (Fenn et al., 2011).

Perceiving Order in Random Events

In our natural eagerness to make sense of our world, we perceive patterns.

How does the meaning of gender differ from the meaning of sex?

In psychology, gender is the socially influenced characteristics by which people define men and women. Sex refers to the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define males and females. Our gender is thus the product of the interplay among our biological dispositions, our developmental experiences, and our current situation.

John Locke

In the 1600s, European philosophers rekindled the debate. John Locke argued that the mind is a blank slate on which experience writes.

What is included in the biopsychosocial approach to development?

Individual development results from the interaction of biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences. Biological influences include our shared human genome; individual variations; prenatal environment; and sex-related genes, hormones, and physiology. Psychological influences include gene-environment interactions; the effect of early experiences on neural networks; responses evoked by our own characteristics, such as gender and temperament; and personal beliefs, feelings, and expectations. Social-cultural influences include parental and peer influences; cultural traditions and values; and cultural gender norms.

How do individualist and collectivist cultures differ?

Individualists give priority to personal goals over group goals and tend to define their identity in terms of their own personal attributes. Collectivists give priority to group goals over individual goals and tend to define their identity in terms of group identifications.

Dr. Nguyen wants to conduct research on a new potential vaccine for Alzheimer's on rats with the hopes that the research will be successful and can progress to human trials. Dr. Nguyen needs to have his research idea reviewed by the _______.

Institutional Review Board

The _______ uses the guidelines of the American Psychological Association and the British Psychological Society to screen research proposals.

Institutional Review Board

Given the proportional amounts of the different types of neurons, the type of neuron one would be LEAST likely to worry about if one lost 100,000 of them would be _____

Interneurons

personality psychologists

Investigate our persistent traits

spinal cord

Is a two-way information highway connecting the peripheral nervous system and the brain. Ascending neural fibers send up sensory information, and descending fibers send back motor-control information. The neural pathways governing our reflexes, our automatic responses to stimuli, illustrate the spinal cord's work.

A good theory has which of the following characteristics?

It includes an integrated set of principles.

How did the cognitive revolution affect the field of psychology?

It recaptured the field's early interest in mental processes and made them legitimate topics for scientific study.

First Woman in Psychology - Mary Whiton Calkins

James' legacy stems partly from his Harvard mentoring and his writing. In 1890, over the objections of Harvard's president, he admitted Mary Whiton Calkins into his graduate seminar (Scarborough & Furumoto, 1987). (In those years women lacked even the right to vote.) When Calkins joined, the other students (all men) dropped out. So James tutored her alone. Later, she finished all of Harvard's Ph.D. requirements, outscoring all the male students on the qualifying exams. Alas, Harvard denied her the degree she had earned, offering her instead a degree from Radcliffe College, its undergraduate "sister" school for women. Calkins resisted the unequal treatment and refused the degree. She nevertheless went on to become a distinguished memory researcher and the American Psychological Association's (APA's) first female president in 1905.

William James

James' writings moved the publisher Henry Holt to offer James a contract for a textbook of the new science of psychology. James agreed and began work in 1878, with an apology for requesting two years to finish his writing. The text proved an unexpected chore and actually took him 12 years. (Why am I not surprised?) More than a century later, people still read the resulting Principles of Psychology (1890) and marvel at the brilliance and elegance with which James introduced psychology to the educated public.

In the early twentieth century, ________ redefined psychology as "the science of observable behavior."

John B. Watson

Which philosopher said that knowledge is not preexisting but grows from experiences?

John Locke

Psychological Influences

Learned fears and other learned expectations Emotional responses Cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations

Lee is only ten years old. He loves music and already plays seven different instruments. He frequently receives compliments on how well he plays. Following the trend of great musicians, Lee is probably _______.

Left handed

The axon's surface is selectively permeable.

Like batteries, neurons generate electricity from chemical events. In the neuron's chemistry-to-electricity process, ions (electrically charged atoms) are exchanged. Like a tightly guarded facility, the axon's surface is very selective about what it allows through its gates.

neural networks

Like people networking with people, neurons network with nearby neurons with which they can have short, fast connections. Each layer's cells connect with various cells in the neural network's next layer. Learning—to play the violin, speak a foreign language, or solve a math problem—occurs as experience strengthens connections. Neurons that fire together wire together.

The whole picture

Like two-dimensional views of a three-dimensional object, each of psychology's perspectives is helpful. But each by itself fails to reveal the whole picture.

Hypothalamus

Location: Above the pituitary gland and below the thalamus Function: Responsible for behaviors such as hunger and thirst, as well as the maintenance of body temperature

The Pons

Location: Area of the hindbrain that sits directly above the medulla Function: Connects upper and lower parts of the brain It also plays a key role in sleep and dreaming, where REM sleep, or the sleeping state where dreaming is most likely to occur, has been proven to originate here, in the pons.

Temporal Lobe

Location: Bottom middle part of cortex, right behind the temples Function: Responsible for processing auditory information from the ears (hearing)

According to evolutionary psychologists, there are clear differences between male and female behaviors related to reproduction. Imagine a study in which an attractive woman approaches a man in a bar and starts a casual conversation with him. What will observers of this interaction think?

Many men watching this scenario will perceive the woman's friendliness as sexual interest.

A police officer was fatally wounded. He was shot in the head and immediately stopped breathing. It is likely the bullet pierced his _____.

Medulla

How might an evolutionary psychologist explain male-female differences in sexuality and mating preferences?

Men tend to have a recreational view of sexual activity; women tend to have a relational view. Evolutionary psychologists reason that men's attraction to multiple healthy, fertile-appearing partners increases their chances of spreading their genes widely. Because women incubate and nurse babies, they increase their own and their children's chances of survival by searching for mates with the potential for long-term investment in their joint offspring.

How is molecular genetics research changing our understanding of the effects of nature and nurture?

Molecular genetics research on structure and function of genes is building new understandings of how teams of genes influence many human traits. One goal of molecular behavior genetics, the study of how the structure and function of genes interact with our environment to influence behavior, is to find some of the many genes that together orchestrate complex traits (such as body weight, sexual orientation, and impulsivity). Environments can trigger or block genetic expression. The field of epigenetics studies the influences on gene expression that occur without changes in DNA.

Curare poisoning paralyzes its victims by blocking ACh receptors involved in muscle movements. Morphine mimics endorphin actions. Which is an agonist, and which is an antagonist?

Morphine is an agonist; curare is an antagonist.

Marlee has just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). As the disease progresses, communication to some of her muscles may slow down and she could lose some muscle control as a result of the degeneration of the _____ sheath.

Myelin

The more children and youth used various media, the less happy they were with their lives (Kaiser, 2010). __________

Negative correlation

The more income rose among a sample of poor families, the fewer psychiatric symptoms their children experienced (Costello et al., 2003). __________

Negative correlation

What are neurons, and how do they transmit information?

Neurons are the elementary components of the nervous system, the body's speedy electrochemical information system. A neuron receives signals through its branching dendrites, and sends signals through its axons. Some axons are encased in a myelin sheath, which enables faster transmission. Glial cells provide myelin, and they support, nourish, and protect neurons; they may also play a role in learning and thinking. If the combined signals received by a neuron exceed a minimum threshold, the neuron fires, transmitting an electrical impulse (the action potential) down its axon by means of a chemistry-to-electricity process. The neuron's reaction is an all-or-none process.

What happens in the synaptic gap?

Neurons send neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) across this tiny space between one neuron's terminal branch and the next neuron's dendrite or cell body.

How do neurotransmitters influence behavior, and how do drugs and other chemicals affect neurotransmission?

Neurotransmitters travel designated pathways in the brain and may influence specific behaviors and emotions. Acetylcholine (ACh) affects muscle action, learning, and memory. Endorphins are natural opiates released in response to pain and exercise. Drugs and other chemicals affect brain chemistry at synapses. Agonists increase a neurotransmitter's action, and may do so in various ways. Antagonists decrease a neurotransmitter's action by blocking production or release.

Why do tobacco companies try so hard to get customers hooked as teens?

Nicotine is powerfully addictive, expensive, and deadly. Those who start paving the neural pathways when young may find it very hard to stop using nicotine. As a result, tobacco companies may have lifelong customers.

Another name for a bell-shaped distribution, in which most scores fall near the middle and fewer scores fall at each extreme, is a ___________ ______________

Normal curve or normal distribution

An American truck manufacturer offered graph (a)—with actual brand names included—to suggest the much greater durability of its trucks. What does graph (b) make clear about the varying durability, and how is this accomplished?

Note how the y-axis of each graph is labeled. The range for the y-axis label in graph (a) is only from 95 to 100. The range for graph (b) is from 0 to 100. All the trucks rank as 95% and up, so almost all are still functioning after 10 years, which graph (b) makes clear.

A friend has asked one to explain how hormones influence our interest in certain behaviors. Which of the following topics could one address?

One could address all of these topics. (food and sex/sex and aggression/aggression and food)

How does our everyday thinking sometimes lead us to a wrong conclusion?

Our everyday thinking can be perilous because of three phenomena: hindsight bias, overconfidence, and a tendency to perceive patterns in random events. Hindsight bias (also called the "I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon") is the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we would have foreseen it. Overconfidence in our judgments results partly from our bias to seek information that confirms them. These tendencies, plus our eagerness to perceive patterns in random events, lead us to overestimate our intuition. Although limited by the testable questions it can address, scientific inquiry can help us overcome our intuition's biases and shortcomings.

How do early experiences modify the brain?

Our genetic predispositions and our specific environments interact. Environments can trigger gene activity, and genetically influenced traits can evoke responses from others. As a child's brain develops, neural connections grow more numerous and complex. Experiences then prompt a pruning process, in which unused connections weaken and heavily used ones strengthen. Early childhood is an important period for shaping the brain, but throughout our lives our brain modifies itself in response to our learning.

How has our understanding of biology and experience, culture and gender, and human flourishing shaped contemporary psychology?

Our growing understanding of biology and experience has fed psychology's most enduring debate. The nature-nurture issue centers on the relative contributions of genes and experience, and their interaction in specific environments. Charles Darwin's view that natural selection shapes behaviors as well as bodies led to evolutionary psychology's study of our similarities because of our common biology and evolutionary history, and behavior genetics' focus on the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. Cross-cultural and gender studies have diversified psychology's assumptions while also reminding us of our similarities. Attitudes and behaviors may vary somewhat by gender or across cultures, but because of our shared human kinship, the underlying processes and principles are more similar than different. Psychology's traditional focus on understanding and treating troubles has expanded with positive psychology's call for more research on human flourishing and its attempt to discover and promote traits that help people to thrive.

What are the mind's two tracks, and what is "dual processing"?

Our mind has separate conscious and unconscious tracks that perform dual processing-organizing and interpreting information simultaneously.

Explain three attentional principles that magicians may use to fool us.

Our selective attention allows us to focus on only a limited portion of our surroundings. Inattentional blindness explains why we don't perceive some things when we are distracted by others. And change blindness happens when we fail to notice a relatively unimportant change in our environment. All these principles help magicians fool us, as they direct our attention elsewhere to perform their tricks.

Nurture works on what nature endows

Our species is biologically endowed with an enormous capacity to learn and adapt. Moreover, every psychological event (every thought, every emotion) is simultaneously a biological event. Thus, depression can be both a brain disorder and a thought disorder.

How are Belyaev and Trut's breeding practices similar to, and how do they differ from, the way natural selection normally occurs?

Over multiple generations, Belyaev and Trut selected and bred foxes that exhibited a trait they desired: tameness. This process is similar to naturally occurring selection, but it differs in that natural selection normally favors traits (including those arising from mutations) that contribute to reproduction and survival.

Dr. Fiero is studying prejudice among White Americans using neuroimaging technology. She is particularly interested in which part of the brain is active when those who are prejudice view photographs of White and Black people. The _______ scan would be the best neuroimaging technique for Dr. Fiero to use.

PET

Dr. Garcia is studying prejudice among White Americans using neuroimaging technology. She is particularly interested in which part of the brain is active when those who are prejudiced view photographs of White and Black people. Which of the following neuroimaging techniques is Dr. Garcia likely to use?

PET

In terms of speed, it is clear that the _____ system is the tortoise and the nervous system is the hare.

Parasympathetic

The _____ nervous system conserves energy, while the sympathetic nervous system consumes energy.

Parasympathetic

The _____ nervous system helps one to conserve energy as it calms one down after a stressful event.

Parasympathetic

After being startled awake in the middle of the night, it turns out that the noise the woman heard was the closet rod breaking from the weight of her winter coats. Knowing that, she begins to calm down and her heart stops racing. Clearly her _____ has now been activated.

Parasympathetic nervous system

The _____ nervous system conserves energy, while the sympathetic nervous system consumes energy.

Parasympathetic nervous system

In what ways do parents and peers shape children's development?

Parents influence their children in areas such as manners and political and religious beliefs, but not in other areas, such as personality. As children attempt to fit in with their peers, they tend to adopt their culture—styles, accents, slang, attitudes. By choosing their children's neighborhoods and schools, parents exert some influence over peer group culture.

Studies indicate that anxiety may be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. A chemist at a pharmaceutical company wants to conduct a research study of a new medication that she thinks will correct the imbalances. Which of the following hypotheses would move this research in a useful direction?

People with anxiety disorders who take the new medication will experience decreased anxiety.

Why did introspection fail as a method for understanding how the mind works?

People's self-reports varied, depending on the experience and the person's intelligence and verbal ability.

Acetylcholine (ACh) one of the best-understood neurotransmitters

Plays a role in learning and memory. In addition, it is the messenger at every junction between motor neurons (which carry information from the brain and spinal cord to the body's tissues) and skeletal muscles. When ACh is released to our muscle cell receptors, the muscle contracts. If ACh transmission is blocked, as happens during some kinds of anesthesia and with some poisons, the muscles cannot contract and we are paralyzed.

The less sexual content teens saw on TV, the less likely they were to have sex (Collins et al., 2004). __________

Positive correlation

The longer children were breast-fed, the greater their later academic achievement (Horwood & Ferguson, 1998). __________

Positive correlation

Studies have found that people who begin drinking in their early teens are much more likely to develop alcohol use disorder than those who begin at age 21 or after. What possible explanations might there be for this correlation?

Possible explanations include (a) a biological predisposition to both early use and later abuse; (b) brain changes and taste preferences triggered by early use; and (c) enduring habits, attitudes, activities, or peer relationships that foster alcohol misuse.

Social-cultural influences

Presence of others Cultural, societal and family expectations Peer and other group influence Compelling Models (media-sports-entertainment-politics)

How does this pleasure-pain description apply to the repeated use of psychoactive drugs?

Psychoactive drugs create pleasure by altering brain chemistry. With repeated use of the drug, the brain develops tolerance and needs more of the drug to achieve the desired effect. (Marijuana is an exception.) Discontinuing use of the substance then produces painful or psychologically unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

What is contemporary psychology's position on the nature-nurture debate?

Psychological events often stem from the interaction of nature and nurture, rather than from either of them acting alone.

How do theories advance psychological science?

Psychological theories are explanations that apply an integrated set of principles to organize observations and generate hypotheses—predictions that can be used to check the theory or produce practical applications of it. By testing their hypotheses, researchers can confirm, reject, or revise their theories. To enable other researchers to replicate the studies, researchers report them using precise operational definitions of their procedures and concepts. If others achieve similar results, confidence in the conclusion will be greater.

How has the concept of addiction changed?

Psychologists debate whether the concept of addiction has been stretched too far, and whether addictions are really as irresistible as commonly believed. Addictions can be powerful, and many with addictions do benefit from therapy or group support. But viewing addiction as an uncontrollable disease can undermine people's self-confidence and their belief that they can change. The addiction-as-disease-needing-treatment idea has been extended to a host of excessive, driven behaviors, but labeling a behavior doesn't explain it. The concept of addiction continues to evolve, as psychiatry's manual of disorders now includes behavior addictions such as "gambling disorder" and proposes "Internet gaming disorder" for further study.

Why is replication important?

Psychologists watch eagerly for new findings, but they also proceed with caution—by awaiting other investigators' repeating the experiment to see if the finding can be confirmed (the result replicated).

Why are psychologists concerned with human biology?

Psychologists working from a biological perspective study the links between biology and behavior. We are biopsychosocial systems, in which biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors interact to influence behavior.

Modern Definition of Psychology

Psychology is defined as as the science of behavior and mental processes.

Early definition of Psychology - through the 1920s

Psychology was defined as "the science of mental life."

John Watson and BF Skinner's definition of Psychology

Psychology was defined as "the scientific study of observable behavior."

Basic research

Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base. (p. 11)

What is regression toward the mean, and how can it influence our interpretation of events?

Regression toward the mean is a statistical phenomenon describing the tendency of extreme scores or outcomes to return to normal after an unusual event. Without knowing this, we may inaccurately decide the return to normal was a result of our own behavior.

What is regression toward the mean?

Regression toward the mean is the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back toward their average.

If different researchers get consistent results from testing a hypothesis, the results are said to be ________

Reliable

René Descartes

René Descartes disagreed with John Locke, believing that some ideas are innate.

Replication

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances. (p. 26)

What measures do researchers use to prevent the placebo effect from confusing their results?

Research designed to prevent the placebo effect randomly assigns participants to an experimental group (which receives the real treatment) or to a control group (which receives a placebo). A comparison of the results will demonstrate whether the real treatment produces better results than belief in that treatment.

Correlational methods

Research measures two or more factors and tries to discover if these factors are related. Prediction Correlational research allows researchers to predict when a behavior will occur. By knowing how changes in one factor (such as height) are related to another factor (such as weight) a person can measure one variable and be able to predict the value of the other variable.

Experimental methods

Researcher changes the setting of one factor in a situation to see how it changes the participants behaviors Causation Causation allows us to say that one factor (such as time spent studying a list of words) changes the value of another factor (such as memory for those words). An experiment is the only way to be able to draw this type of conclusion.

Descriptive methods

Researcher records ongoing behavior in a natural or laboratory setting Description Observational Research does an excellent job of allowing researchers to describe actual behavior and determine how often that behavior happens. However it does not do a good job of allowing us to predict when the behavior will happen or why it happens.

Can laboratory experiments illuminate everyday life?

Researchers intentionally create a controlled, artificial environment in the laboratory in order to test general theoretical principles. These general principles help explain everyday behaviors.

How do researchers use twin and adoption studies to learn about psychological principles?

Researchers use twin and adoption studies to understand how much variation among individuals is due to genetic makeup and how much to environmental factors. Some studies compare the traits and behaviors of identical twins (same genes) and fraternal twins (different genes, as in any two siblings). They also compare adopted children with their adoptive and biological parents. Some studies compare traits and behaviors of twins raised together or separately.

What bodily changes does your ANS direct before and after you give an important speech?

Responding to this challenge, your ANS sympathetic division will arouse you. It accelerates your heartbeat, raises your blood pressure and blood sugar, slows your digestion, and cools you with perspiration. After you give the speech, your ANS parasympathetic division will reverse these effects.

What is reuptake? What two other things can happen to excess neurotransmitters after a neuron reacts?

Reuptake occurs when excess neurotransmitters are reabsorbed by the sending neuron. (They can also drift away or be broken down by enzymes.)

Nerves from the left side of the brain are mostly linked to the ___________ side of the body, and vice versa.

Right

A ________________ provides a visual representation of the direction and the strength of a relationship between two variables.

Scatterplot

What event defined the start of scientific psychology?

Scientific psychology began in Germany in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory.

What is the "dual processing" being revealed by today's cognitive neuroscience?

Scientists studying the brain mechanisms underlying consciousness and cognition have discovered that the mind processes information on two separate tracks, one operating at an explicit, conscious level (conscious sequential processing) and the other at an implicit, unconscious level (unconscious parallel processing). This dual processing affects our perception, memory, attitudes, and other cognitions.

What does research tell us about being left-handed? Is it advantageous to be right-handed?

Some 10 percent of us (somewhat more among males, somewhat less among females) are left-handed. Handedness appears to be influenced by genetic or prenatal factors. Most left-handers process speech in the left hemisphere, as right-handers do, but some do so in the right hemisphere or use both hemispheres. Left-handers are more likely to be among those with reading disabilities, allergies, and migraine headaches, but sometimes do better academically. Left-handedness is also more common among musicians, mathematicians, architects, artists, and in professional baseball and cricket players. The pros and cons of being left-handed seem roughly equal.

endocrine system vs nervous system

Some hormones are chemically identical to neurotransmitters (the chemical messengers that diffuse across a synapse and excite or inhibit an adjacent neuron). The speedy nervous system zips messages from eyes to brain to hand in a fraction of a second. Endocrine messages trudge along in the bloodstream, taking several seconds or more to travel from the gland to the target tissue. If the nervous system transmits information with text-message speed, the endocrine system delivers an old-fashioned letter. Endocrine messages tend to outlast the effects of neural messages. The persistence of emotions—without conscious awareness of what caused them—was dramatically evident in one ingenious experiment. Brain-damaged patients unable to form new conscious memories watched a sad film and later a happy film. After each viewing, they did not consciously recall the films, but the sad or happy emotion persisted

Why do some people become regular users of consciousness-altering drugs?

Some people may be biologically vulnerable to particular drugs, such as alcohol. Psychological factors (such as stress, depression, and hopelessness) and social factors (such as peer pressure) combine to lead many people to experiment with—and sometimes become addicted to—drugs. Cultural and ethnic groups have differing rates of drug use. Each type of influence—biological, psychological, and social-cultural—offers a possible path for drug misuse prevention and treatment programs.

Why do psychologists study animals, and what ethical guidelines safeguard human and animal research participants? How do human values influence psychology?

Some psychologists are primarily interested in animal behavior; others want to better understand the physiological and psychological processes shared by humans and other species. Government agencies have established standards for animal care and housing. Professional associations and funding agencies also establish guidelines for protecting animals' well-being. The APA ethics code outlines standards for safeguarding human participants' well-being, including obtaining their informed consent and debriefing them later. Psychologists' values influence their choice of research topics, their theories and observations, their labels for behavior, and their professional advice. Applications of psychology's principles have been used mainly in the service of humanity.

popout

Some stimuli, however, are so powerful, so strikingly distinct, that we experience popout, as with the only smiling face in FIGURE 8.9 We don't choose to attend to these stimuli; they draw our eye and demand our attention. Likewise, when the female phone interviewer changed to a male interviewer, virtually everyone noticed.

What do split brains reveal about the functions of our two brain hemispheres?

Split-brain research (experiments on people with a severed corpus callosum) has confirmed that in most people, the left hemisphere is the more verbal, and that the right hemisphere excels in visual perception and the recognition of emotion. Studies of healthy people with intact brains confirm that each hemisphere makes unique contributions to the integrated functioning of the brain.

Yasmin is trying to decide between two schools for her eight-year-old daughter to attend. Two schools brag that the average IQ test score of its students is 125, which is higher than the norm of 100. If Yasmin is most interested in finding a school that has children with diverse abilities, she would want to know the _____ of the IQ scores for each school.

Standard deviation

PET (positron emission tomography) scan:

a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. (p. 67)

What are stimulants, and what are their effects?

Stimulants—including caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, the amphetamines, methamphetamine, and Ecstasy—excite neural activity and speed up body functions, triggering energy and mood changes. All are highly addictive. Nicotine's effects make smoking a difficult habit to kick, yet the percentage of Americans who smoke has been dramatically decreasing. Cocaine gives users a fast high, followed within an hour by a crash. Its risks include cardiovascular stress and suspiciousness. Use of methamphetamines may permanently reduce dopamine production. Ecstasy (MDMA) is a combined stimulant and mild hallucinogen that produces euphoria and feelings of intimacy. Its users risk immune system suppression, permanent damage to mood and memory, and (if taken during physical activity) dehydration and escalating body temperatures.

How does our nervous system allow us to experience the difference between a slap and a tap on the back?

Stronger stimuli (the slap) cause more neurons to fire and to fire more frequently than happens with weaker stimuli (the tap).

Titchener is to _____ as Freud is to psychoanalysis.

Structuralism

____________ used introspection to define the mind's makeup; ____________ focused on how mental processes enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Structuralism; functionalism

How do twin and adoption studies help us understand the effects and interactions of nature and nurture?

Studies of identical (monozygotic) twins versus fraternal (dizygotic) twins, separated twins, and biological versus adoptive relatives allow researchers to tease apart the influences of heredity and environment. Research studies on separated identical twins maintain the same genes while testing the effects of different home environments. Studies of adoptive families let researchers maintain the same home environment while studying the effects of genetic differences. Heritable individual differences (in traits such as height and weight) do not necessarily explain gender or ethnic group differences. Shared family environments have little effect on personality.

Developmental psychologists

Study our changing abilities from womb to tomb

What does the acronym SQ3R stand for?

Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, Review

The __________ __________ describes the enhanced memory that results from repeated retrieval (as in self-testing) rather than from simple rereading of new information

Testing effect

Sharing such similarities, should we not respect our animal relatives?

The animal protection movement protests the use of animals in psychological, biological, and medical research. "We cannot defend our scientific work with animals on the basis of the similarities between them and ourselves and then defend it morally on the basis of differences," noted Roger Ulrich (1991).

Mean

The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores. (p. 43)

How does the biopsychosocial approach explain our individual development?

The biopsychosocial approach considers all the factors that influence our individual development: biological factors (including evolution and our genes, hormones, and brain), psychological factors (including our experiences, beliefs, feelings, and expectations), and social-cultural factors (including parental and peer influences, cultural individualism or collectivism, and gender norms).

What are psychology's levels of analysis and related perspectives?

The biopsychosocial approach integrates information from three differing but complementary levels of analysis: the biological, psychological, and social-cultural. This approach offers a more complete understanding than could usually be reached by relying on only one of psychology's current perspectives (neuroscience, evolutionary, behavior genetics, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and social-cultural).

Nervous system

The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems. (p. 60)

Central nervous system (CNS)

The brain and spinal cord. (p. 60)

What structures make up the brainstem, and what are the functions of the brainstem, thalamus, reticular formation, and cerebellum?

The brainstem, the oldest part of the brain, is responsible for automatic survival functions. Its components are the medulla (which controls heartbeat and breathing), the pons (which helps coordinate movements), and the reticular formation (which affects arousal). The thalamus, sitting above the brainstem, acts as the brain's sensory control center. The cerebellum, attached to the rear of the brainstem, coordinates muscle movement and balance and also helps process sensory information.

Which area of the human brain is most similar to that of less complex animals? Which part of the human brain distinguishes us most from less complex animals?

The brainstem; the cerebral cortex

What are the functions of the nervous system's main divisions, and what are the three main types of neurons?

The central nervous system (CNS)—the brain and the spinal cord—is the nervous system's decision maker. The peripheral nervous system (PNS), which connects the CNS to the rest of the body by means of nerves, gathers information and transmits CNS decisions to the rest of the body. The two main PNS divisions are the somatic nervous system (which enables voluntary control of the skeletal muscles) and the autonomic nervous system (which controls involuntary muscles and glands by means of its sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions). Neurons cluster into working networks. There are three types of neurons: (1) Sensory (afferent) neurons carry incoming information from sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord. (2) Motor (efferent) neurons carry information from the brain and spinal cord out to the muscles and glands. (3) Interneurons communicate within the brain and spinal cord and between sensory and motor neurons.

What are the functions of the various cerebral cortex regions?

The cerebral cortex has two hemispheres, and each hemisphere has four lobes: the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal. Each lobe performs many functions and interacts with other areas of the cortex. The motor cortex, at the rear of the frontal lobes, controls voluntary movements. The somatosensory cortex, at the front of the parietal lobes, registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. Body parts requiring precise control (in the motor cortex) or those that are especially sensitive (in the somatosensory cortex) occupy the greatest amount of space. Most of the brain's cortex—the major portion of each of the four lobes—is devoted to uncommitted association areas, which integrate information involved in learning, remembering, thinking, and other higher-level functions. Our mental experiences arise from coordinated brain activity.

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. (p. 45)

Levels of analysis

The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon. (p. 9)

How does the endocrine system transmit information and interact with the nervous system?

The endocrine system is a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream, where they travel through the body and affect other tissues, including the brain. The endocrine system's master gland, the pituitary, influences hormone release by other glands, including the adrenal glands. In an intricate feedback system, the brain's hypothalamus influences the pituitary gland, which influences other glands, which release hormones, which in turn influence the brain.

Pituitary gland

The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. (p. 64) a pea-sized structure located in the core of the brain, where it is controlled by an adjacent brain area, the hypothalamus. Excretes oxytocin, which enables contractions associated with birthing, milk flow during nursing, and orgasm. Oxytocin also promotes pair bonding, group cohesion, and social trust Pituitary secretions also direct other endocrine glands to release their hormones. The pituitary, then, is a master gland (whose own master is the hypothalamus).

Culture

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next. (pp. 7, 155)

Humanistic psychologists - Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

The first, the humanistic psychologists, led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, found both Freudian psychology and behaviorism too limiting. Rather than focusing on the meaning of early childhood memories or the learning of conditioned responses, the humanistic psychologists drew attention to ways that current environmental influences can nurture or limit our growth potential, and to the importance of having our needs for love and acceptance satisfied.

resting potential

The fluid outside an axon's membrane has mostly positively charged sodium ions; a resting axon's fluid interior has mostly negatively charged ions. This positive-outside/negative-inside state is called the resting potential.

Hailey is babysitting her 2-year-old nephew for the first time. While his back is turned, he touches his index finger to the pan she just took out of the oven. He pulls his finger away quickly, and a few seconds later begins to scream. Why does it take longer for him to scream than to pull away his finger?

The hand-withdrawal reflex involves only the spinal cord, so it takes time before the information about pain reaches the brain.

In the rental housing experiment, what was the independent variable? The dependent variable?

The independent variable, which the researchers manipulated, was the set of ethnically distinct names. The dependent variable, which they measured, was the positive response rate.

Cognitive neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

Cognitive neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language). (pp. 5, 93)

Threshold

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse. (p. 55) If excitatory signals exceed the inhibitory signals by a minimum intensity, or threshold, the combined signals trigger an action potential. (Think of it this way: If the excitatory party animals outvote the inhibitory party poopers, the party's on.) The action potential then travels down the axon, which branches into junctions with hundreds or thousands of other neurons or with the body's muscles and glands.

Regression toward the mean

The tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back (regress) toward the average. (p. 33) When a fluctuating behavior returns to normal, there is no need to invent fancy explanations for why it does so. Regression toward the mean is probably at work.

What are the limbic system's structures and functions?

The limbic system is linked to emotions, memory, and drives. Its neural centers include the hippocampus (which processes conscious memories); the amygdala (involved in responses of aggression and fear); and the hypothalamus (involved in various bodily maintenance functions, pleasurable rewards, and the control of the endocrine system). The hypothalamus controls the pituitary (the "master gland") by stimulating it to trigger the release of hormones.

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. (p. 6) The Greek philosopher Plato (428-348 B.C.E.) assumed that we inherit character and intelligence and that certain ideas are inborn. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) countered that there is nothing in the mind that does not first come in from the external world through the senses.

depolarization

The loss of the inside/outside charge difference, called depolarization, causes the next axon channel to open.

Which of the three measures of central tendency is most easily distorted by a few very large or very small scores?

The mean

Median

The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it. (p. 43)

Mode

The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution. (p. 43)

Axon

The neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands. (p. 53) Axons speak

Freudian psychology

The other major force was Freudian psychology, which emphasized the ways our unconscious thought processes and our emotional responses to childhood experiences affect our behavior.

Autonomic [aw-tuh-NAHM-ik] nervous system (ANS)

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. (p. 60) Our autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls our glands and our internal organ muscles, thus influencing glandular activity, heartbeat, and digestion. (Autonomic means "self-regulating.") Like an automatic pilot, this system may be consciously overridden, but usually operates on its own (autonomously).

Debriefing

The post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants. (p. 41)

Natural selection

The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations. (pp. 6, 144)

What are the advantages and disadvantages of naturalistic observation, such as Mehl and Pennebaker used in this study?

The researchers were able to carefully observe and record naturally occurring behaviors outside the artificiality of the lab. However, outside the lab they were not able to control for all the factors that may have influenced the everyday interactions they were recording.

"For a lot of bad ideas, science is society's garbage disposal." Describe what this tells us about the scientific attitude and what's involved in critical thinking.

The scientific attitude combines (1) curiosity about the world around us, (2) skepticism about unproven claims and ideas, and (3) humility about one's own understanding. Evaluating evidence, assessing conclusions, and examining our own assumptions are essential parts of critical thinking.

How do the scientific attitude's three main components relate to critical thinking?

The scientific attitude equips us to be curious, skeptical, and humble in scrutinizing competing ideas or our own observations. This attitude carries into everyday life as critical thinking, which puts ideas to the test by examining assumptions, appraising the source, discerning hidden values, evaluating evidence, and assessing conclusions.

Positive psychology

The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive. (pp. 9, 479)

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body. (p. 60)

What have psychologists learned about temperament?

The stability of temperament, a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity, from the first weeks of life suggests a genetic predisposition. The genetic effect appears in physiological differences such as heart rate and nervous system reactivity.

Evolutionary psychology

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection. (pp. 7, 144)

Behavior genetics

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. (pp. 7, 134)

Electrical stimulation of a cat's amygdala provokes angry reactions. Which autonomic nervous system division is activated by such stimulation?

The sympathetic nervous system

You hear the school basketball coach telling her friend that she rescued her team's winning streak by yelling at the players after an unusually bad first half. What is another explanation of why the team's performance improved?

The team's poor performance was not their typical behavior. Their return to their normal—their winning streak—may just have been a case of regression toward the mean.

How can psychological principles help you learn and remember?

The testing effect shows that learning and memory are enhanced by actively retrieving, rather than simply rereading, previously studied material. The SQ3R study method—survey, question, read, retrieve, and review—applies principles derived from memory research. Four additional tips are (1) distribute your study time; (2) learn to think critically; (3) process class information actively; and (4) overlearn.

synaptic gap or synaptic cleft

The tiny gap at this junction (synapse)

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). (pp. 4, 282)

If a researcher asked participants to report at what time they consciously made a decision to throw a ball, while simultaneously monitoring their brain activity, what would he likely find?

Their brain shows activity before their conscious decision to act

A(n) _____ organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.

Theory

What do phrenology and psychology's biological perspective have in common?

They share a focus on the links between the brain and behavior. Phrenology (pioneered by Franz Gall) faded because it had no scientific basis—skull bumps don't reveal mental traits and abilities.

Critical thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions. (p. 24) Critical thinking, informed by science, helps clear the colored lenses of our biases.

Brain → pituitary → other glands → hormones → body and brain

This feedback system (brain → pituitary → other glands → hormones → body and brain) reveals the intimate connection of the nervous and endocrine systems. The nervous system directs endocrine secretions, which then affect the nervous system. Conducting and coordinating this whole electrochemical orchestra is that maestro we call the brain.

What is natural selection?

This is the process by which nature selects from chance variations the traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.

What are substance use disorders, and what roles do tolerance, withdrawal, and addiction play in these disorders?

Those with a substance use disorder may exhibit impaired control, social disruption, risky behavior, and the physical effects of tolerance and withdrawal. Psychoactive drugs alter perceptions and moods. They may produce tolerance—requiring larger doses to achieve the desired effect—and withdrawal—significant discomfort accompanying attempts to quit. Continued use may lead to addiction, which is the compulsive craving of drugs or certain behaviors (such as gambling) despite known adverse consequences.

Reduced reaction in the amygdala

Those with amygdala lesions often display reduced arousal to fear-and anger-arousing stimuli

What are the characteristics of experimentation that make it possible to isolate cause and effect?

To discover cause-effect relationships, psychologists conduct experiments, manipulating one or more factors of interest and controlling other factors. Using random assignment, they can minimize confounding variables, such as preexisting differences between the experimental group (exposed to the treatment) and the control group (given a placebo or different version of the treatment). The independent variable is the factor the experimenter manipulates to study its effect; the dependent variable is the factor the experimenter measures to discover any changes occurring in response to the manipulations. Studies may use a double-blind procedure to avoid the placebo effect.

How do we know whether an observed difference can be generalized to other populations?

To feel confident about generalizing an observed difference to other populations, we would want to know that the sample studied was representative of the larger population being studied; that the observations, on average, had low variability; that the sample consisted of more than a few cases; and that the observed difference was statistically significant.

John believes that animal testing is morally acceptable. John is most likely from where?

United States

Experiments manipulate a factor to determine its effect.

Unlike correlational studies, which uncover naturally occurring relationships, an experiment manipulates a factor to determine its effect.

Diminished Social Functioning

Use disrupts commitments at work, school or home. Continues to use despite social problems. Causes reduced social, recreational and work activities.

Industrial-organizational psychologists (applied Science)

Use psychology's concepts and methods in the workplace to help organizations and companies select and train employees, boost morale and productivity, design products, and implement systems.

Diminished Control

Uses more substance, or for longer than intended. Tries unsuccessfully to regulate use of substance. Spends much time acquiring, using, or recovering from effects of substance. Cravings

What are some ways in which males and females tend to be alike and to differ?

We are more alike than different, thanks to our similar genetic makeup—we see, hear, learn, and remember similarly. Males and females do differ in body fat, muscle, height, age of onset of puberty, life expectancy, and vulnerability to certain disorders. Men admit to more aggression than women do, and they are more likely to be physically aggressive. Women's aggression is more likely to be relational. In most societies, men have more social power, and their leadership style tends to be directive, whereas women's is more democratic. Women focus more on social connectedness, and they "tend and befriend."

Overconfidence

We humans tend to think we know more than we do

Why, when testing a new drug to control blood pressure, would we learn more about its effectiveness from giving it to half of the participants in a group of 1000 than to all 1000 participants?

We learn more about the drug's effectiveness when we can compare the results of those who took the drug (the experimental group) with the results of those who did not (the control group). If we gave the drug to all 1000 participants, we would have no way of knowing whether the drug is serving as a placebo or is actually medically effective.

Why, after friends start dating, do we often feel that we knew they were meant to be together?

We often suffer from hindsight bias—after we've learned a situation's outcome, that outcome seems familiar and therefore obvious.

How does selective attention direct our perceptions?

We selectively attend to, and process, a very limited portion of incoming information, blocking out much and often shifting the spotlight of our attention from one thing to another. Parallel processing takes care of the routine business, while sequential processing is best for solving new problems that require our attention. Focused intently on one task, we often display inattentional blindness to other events and change blindness to changes around us.

action potential

When a neuron fires, however, the security parameters change: The first section of the axon opens its gates, rather like sewer covers flipping open, and positively charged sodium ions flood in. The loss of the inside/outside charge difference, called depolarization, causes the next axon channel to open, and then the next, like falling dominos, each tripping the next. This temporary inflow of positive ions is the neural impulse—the action potential.

How do nerve cells communicate with other nerve cells?

When action potentials reach the end of an axon (the axon terminals), they stimulate the release of neurotransmitters. These chemical messengers carry a message from the sending neuron across a synapse to receptor sites on a receiving neuron. The sending neuron, in a process called reuptake, then normally reabsorbs the excess neurotransmitter molecules in the synaptic gap. If incoming signals are strong enough, the receiving neuron generates its own action potential and relays the message to other cells.

The production and transmission of hormones in the endocrine system is MOST similar to which of the following scenarios?

You type a text message, which your friend shows to a third party who reacts to it.

What does it mean when we say two things are correlated, and what are positive and negative correlations?

When we say two things are correlated, we are saying that they accompany each other in their movements. In a positive correlation, two factors increase or decrease together. In a negative correlation, one item increases as the other decreases. The strength of their relationship is expressed as a correlation coefficient, which ranges from +1.00 (a perfect positive correlation) through 0 (no correlation) to - 1.00 (a perfect negative correlation). Their relationship may be displayed in a scatterplot, in which each dot represents a value for the two variables.

In 1879, in psychology's first experiment, _________________ and his students measured the time lag between hearing a ball hit a platform and pressing a key.

Wilhelm Wundt

What were some important milestones in psychology's early development?

Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Germany. Two early schools were structuralism and functionalism.

What is the process that leads to drug tolerance?

With repeated exposure to a psychoactive drug, the drug's effect lessens. Thus, it takes bigger doses to get the desired effect.

How do individualist and collectivist cultures differ in their values and goals?

Within any culture, the degree of individualism or collectivism varies from person to person. Cultures based on self-reliant individualism, like those found in North America and Western Europe, tend to value personal independence and individual achievement. They define identity in terms of self-esteem, personal goals and attributes, and personal rights and liberties. Cultures based on socially connected collectivism, like those in many parts of Asia and Africa, tend to value interdependence, tradition, and harmony, and they define identity in terms of group goals, commitments, and belonging to one's group.

What are psychology's main subfields?

Within the science of psychology, researchers may conduct basic research to increase the field's knowledge base (often in biological, developmental, cognitive, personality, and social psychology) or applied research to solve practical problems (in industrial-organizational psychology and other areas). Those who engage in psychology as a helping profession may assist people as counseling psychologists, helping people with problems in living or achieving greater well-being, or as clinical psychologists, studying and assessing people with psychological disorders and treating them with psychotherapy. (Psychiatrists also study, assess, and treat people with disorders, but as medical doctors, they may prescribe drugs in addition to psychotherapy.) Community psychologists work to create healthy social and physical environments (in schools, for example).

Wilhelm Wundt - Germany's University of Leipzig

Wundt was seeking to measure "atoms of the mind"—the fastest and simplest mental processes. So began the first psychological laboratory, staffed by Wundt and by psychology's first graduate students.

Blindsight

a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it. (p. 94) Is the brain ahead of the mind? In this study, volunteers watched a computer clock sweep through a full revolution every 2.56 seconds. They noted the time at which they decided to move their wrist. About one-third of a second before that decision, their brain-wave activity jumped, indicating a readiness potential to move. Watching a slow-motion replay, the researchers were able to predict when a person was about to decide to move (following which, the wrist did move) (Libet, 1985, 2004). Other researchers, however, question the clock measurement procedure (Miller et al., 2011).

Split brain

a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them. (p. 83)

Which of the following is a statistical measure used to assess the extent to which two factors vary together and therefore how well the variables predict each other?

a correlation coefficient

Reticular ("net-like") formation

a nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus and plays an important role in controlling arousal. (p. 70) As the spinal cord's sensory input flows up to the thalamus, some of it travels through the reticular formation, which filters incoming stimuli, relays important information to other brain areas, and controls arousal. In 1949, Giuseppe Moruzzi and Horace Magoun discovered that electrically stimulating a sleeping cat's reticular formation almost instantly produced an awake, alert animal. When Magoun severed a cat's reticular formation without damaging nearby sensory pathways, the effect was equally dramatic: The cat lapsed into a coma from which it never awakened. The conclusion? The reticular formation enables arousal. Controls arousal and attention

Temperament

a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity. (p. 140) difficult—irritable, intense, fidgety, and unpredictable. Others are easy—cheerful and relaxed, feeding and sleeping on predictable schedules. Still others tend to be slow to warm up, resisting or withdrawing from new people and situations

Cocaine

a powerful and addictive stimulant derived from the coca plant; produces temporarily increased alertness and euphoria. (p. 123)

LSD

a powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid (lysergic acid diethylamide). (p. 124)

Methamphetamine

a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels. (p. 123)

Mutation

a random error in gene replication that leads to a change. (p. 145)

Gender role

a set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for males or for females. (p. 167)

Nicotine

a stimulating and highly addictive psychoactive drug in tobacco. (p. 121)

Dr. Petrie is interested in the immigration experiences of Somalian migrants in Minnesota. Which of the following would be best for this research interest?

a survey

Ecstasy (MDMA)

a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition. (p. 124)

FMRI (functional MRI)

a technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function as well as structure. (p. 68)

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. MRI scans show brain anatomy. (p. 67)

Disorder of sexual development

an inherited condition that involves unusual development of sex chromosomes and anatomy. (p. 167)

Transgender

an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex. (p. 169)

Norm

an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe "proper" behavior. (p. 156)

Tuber and colleagues measured stress hormone levels in dogs who resided in animal shelters and were able to come up with handling and stroking methods that could be used to reduce the stress of the dogs and help them adjust to their new home. This is an example of how _____ have benefited from animal research.

animals

People who suffer from schizophrenia have, among other things, an excess of dopamine. Therefore, medications used to treat this disorder are dopamine:

antagonists.

Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally. (pp. 162, 545)

Representative samples

are better than biased samples. The best basis for generalizing is not from the exceptional and memorable cases one finds at the extremes but from a representative sample of cases. Research never randomly samples the whole human population. Thus, it pays to keep in mind what population a study has sampled.

An evolutionary psychologist would be likely to suggest that human preferences for sweet-tasting foods:

are genetically predisposed

Association areas

areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking. (p. 79) these areas interpret, integrate, and act on sensory information and link it with stored memories The "uncommitted" areas that make up about three-fourths of the cerebral cortex.

Steven Pinker, a world-renowned evolutionary psychologist, states that many human traits are due to evolutionary heritage. Which trait is NOT one thought to be due primarily to natural selection?

attention span

The neuron fiber that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles and glands is the _____________.

axon

Dr. Wright is studying physiological changes when students are cheating. Dr. Wright sets up a study where participants are given a series of questions. Some questions are easy while other questions are difficult. It is not likely that the participants would be able to answer the difficult questions correctly. Dr. Wright makes it clear that she forgot the answer key to the questions prior to leaving the room of participants unattended. There is a hidden camera in the room to see what the participants do. After Dr. Wright is absent for 10 minutes she returns to the room. Participants then turn in their responses and have their heart rate, perspiration, etc. measured once they leave the testing room. Dr. Psychologist is measuring the _____ of participants.

behavior

Dr. Wright is studying physiological changes when students are cheating. Dr. Wright sets up a study where participants are given a series of questions. Some questions are easy while other questions are difficult. It is not likely that the participants would be able to answer the difficult questions correctly. Dr. Wright makes it clear that she forgot the answer key to the questions prior to leaving the room of participants unattended. There is a hidden camera in the room to see what the participants do. After Dr. Wright is absent for 10 minutes she returns to the room. Participants then turn in their responses and have their heart rate, perspiration, etc. measured once they leave the testing room. Dr. Wright is probably an expert in ____.

behaviorism

From the 1920s through the 1960s, the two major forces in psychology were __________ and __________ psychology.

behaviorism; Freudian

If a study were to show the correlation of -0.70 between children's physical height and popularity among their peers, then it would indicate that:

being short has a negative impact on children's popularity.

Which of the following factors does NOT help explain why 26 percent of U.S. high school dropouts, but only 6 percent of people with a postgraduate education smoke cigarettes?

biological

genetic relatives

biological parents and siblings

Psychology's Three Main Levels of Analysis

biological, psychological, and social-cultural

Nature is to nurture as

biology is to experience.

Dr. Gerhardt has a client who suffers from substance use disorder. In therapy, she suggests that his abusive home environment, limited sense of life purpose, and deficient dopamine reward circuits might account for his addiction. Dr. Gerhardt is most clearly using a(n) _____ approach to understanding addictive behaviors.

biopsychosocial

Which of the following does the autonomic nervous system most directly control?

bladder contractions

A scatterplot shows a pattern indicating a positive correlation. The pattern would be:

both scores going up.

Dr. Aba is conducting a study to see whether there is a relationship between birth order and shyness. Before conducting this study, Dr. Aba needs to develop an operational definition of:

both shyness and birth order

Janis volunteered to participate in a psychology experiment. When Janis arrives to the lab she is greeted by a lab assistant standing on the other side of a counter. The lab assistant explains the informed consent and asks her to sign the form. As the lab assistant reaches for the form he drops it behind the counter. The lab assistant reaches down behind the counter to pick up the form and unbeknownst to Janis another person stands up holding the form. After Janis signs the form, she is asked if she noticed the change. She replies that she did not. This phenomenon is known as:

change blindness

Hormones

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues. (p. 63) When hormones act on the brain, they influence our interest in sex, food, and aggression.

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse. (p. 56) For an instant, the neurotransmitter unlocks tiny channels at the receiving site, and electrically charged atoms flow in, exciting or inhibiting the receiving neuron's readiness to fire. The excess neurotransmitters then drift away, are broken down by enzymes, or are reabsorbed by the sending neuron—a process called reuptake.

When the mother's egg and the father's sperm unite, each contributes 23 _________.

chromosomes

At a large party with lots of music and conversations going on simultaneously, a person is talking to a friend. At the same time, the person hears his/her name spoken from the other side of the room. (S)he immediately looks in the direction of the voice and sees the person who spoke his/her name while conversing with another person. The ability to detect one's name being spoken in this situation is an example of the _____ effect.

cocktail party

In an interview, a movie star was going on and on about how horrible it is that people use psychoactive drugs. She proudly announced that she had quit smoking, stopped drinking, and had never touched any illegal drugs in her life. While talking, she would periodically take a sip from a cup on the table. What she did not realize was that the _____ in her cup also contains a psychoactive drug.

coffee

During the local evening news program, viewers were asked to send text messages indicating whether they supported or opposed an increase in property taxes. Later in the broadcast, the results were posted: 68 percent of the messages indicated support for an increase. The news anchor then said, "Sixty-eight percent of our viewers think a property tax hike is a good idea." Jane and Sarah wondered whether the evidence justified this conclusion; after all, only about 3,000 text messages had been received, but the program probably had tens of thousands of viewers. Jane and Sarah were demonstrating:

critical thinking

Critics of evolutionary psychology are particularly likely to emphasize that gender differences in mate preferences can also be byproducts of:

cultural practices

Social script

culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations. (pp. 150, 548)

Curiosity

curiosity about the world around us,

A local school board is setting up a program to help prepare children to become scientists. To carry out this program, which attitudes should teachers encourage in their students?

curiosity, skepticism, and humility

In defending their experimental research with animals, psychologists have noted that

d. all of these statements are correct. (a.animals' physiology and behavior can tell us much about our own. b.animal experimentation sometimes helps animals as well as humans. c.advancing the well-being of humans justifies animal experimentation.)

Which of the following is not a psychologically induced altered state of consciousness?

daydreaming

Nicotine triggers a(n) _____ in anxiety and an increase in mental alertness.

decrease

You invite a group of people to your house for a wine-tasting event, but you have not figured out how people will get home afterward. According to research, you should be concerned about this because as blood-alcohol level rises, people have _____ concerns about drinking and driving.

decreased

basal ganglia

deep brain structures involved in motor movement

When a neuron fires an action potential, the information travels through the axon, the dendrites, and the cell body, but not in that order. Place these three structures in the correct order.

dendrites, cell body, axon

Alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates are all in a class of drugs called _________.

depressants

Thomas Bouchard's research on identical twins reared apart revealed that:

despite being reared differently, they're often strikingly alike.

Identical twins (monozygotic twins)

develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms. (p. 134) Although identical twins have the same genes, they don't always have the same number of copies of those genes. That variation helps explain why one twin may have a greater risk for certain illnesses and disorders, including schizophrenia (Maiti et al., 2011). Most identical twins share a placenta during prenatal development, but one of every three sets has separate placentas. One twin's placenta may provide slightly better nourishment, which may contribute to identical twin differences (Davis et al., 1995b; Phelps et al., 1997; Sokol et al., 1995).

Fraternal twins (dizygotic twins)

develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than ordinary brothers and sisters, but they share a prenatal environment. (p. 136)

Shelby just finished eating lunch. Her autonomic nervous system is responsible for the _____ of her food

digestion

Androgyny

displaying both traditional masculine and feminine psychological characteristics. (p. 169)

Memory disruption

disrupt memory formation, long-term effects on the brain and cognition, contributes to nerve cell death, reduces the birth of new nerve cells, impairs the growth of synaptic connections

In research examining genes and neurons on addiction, the neurotransmitter _____ appears to be involved.

dopamine

Depressants

drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. (p. 119) calm neural activity and slow body functions

Stimulants

drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, Ecstasy, and methamphetamine) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions. (p. 120) People use stimulants to feel alert, lose weight, or boost mood or athletic performance.

Barbiturates

drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment. (p. 120) tranquilizers, sometimes prescribed to induce sleep or reduce anxiety, can impair memory and judgment.

In terms of their length of effect, _____ messages last far longer than neural messages.

endocrine

Environment

every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us. (p. 134)

People with autism have a tendency to be aloof, so that they keep a distance from others that feels emotionally manageable to them. Others, in turn, are likely to maintain that interpersonal distance. In this case, aloofness is a(n) _____ trait.

evocative

A professor suggests that the increasing problem of obesity in the United States might be attributable to an inherited predisposition to love the taste of sweets and fats. Although these foods were difficult for ancestors to find, they helped them to survive famines. Now, these foods are easily available and Americans are eating too much of them. What field does this theory belong to?

evolutionary psychology

Sam's sister has an independent study proposal due next week, and she has asked for help deciding on a topic. She is interested in studying what makes humans so similar to each other. On which of the following subfields of psychology would he recommend she focus?

evolutionary psychology

A neuron will fire if _____ signals are stronger than inhibitory signals.

excitatory

The only way to demonstrate causation is to conduct a(n) _____.

experiment

To explain behaviors and clarify cause and effect, psychologists use.

experiments

John had a brain tumor removed. Now he has no vision in his left ____. His tumor was located in his right occipital lobe.

eye

When conducting an experiment, it is important to manipulate the _____ of interest and to hold constant or control other factors.

factors

Change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment. (p. 98) While a man (in red) provides directions to a construction worker, two experimenters rudely pass between them carrying a door. During this interruption, the original worker switches places with another person wearing different-colored clothing. Most people, focused on their direction giving, do not notice the switch (Simons & Levin, 1998).

Inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere. (p. 97) Viewers who were attending to basketball tosses among the black-shirted players usually failed to notice the umbrella-toting woman sauntering across the screen (Neisser, 1979).

Men are about _____ times more likely to suffer alcoholism than women.

four

Moderate substance use disorder

four to five indicators

William James would be considered a(n) ________. Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener would be considered ________.

functionalist; structuralists

Put the following cell structures in order from smallest to largest: nucleus, gene, chromosome

gene, chromosome, nucleus

Dr. Petrie administers surveys to 15 migrants from Somalia who reside in Minnesota. Dr. Petrie is interested in their immigration experiences. After examining the survey answers, Dr. Petrie concludes that all immigrants in Minnesota have experienced racism and discrimination since coming to the United States. Dr. Petrie can _______ the results to other immigrants from Somalia in Minnesota.

generalized

The best basis for _____ about human behavior is from a representative sample of cases.

generalizing

Those studying the heritability of a trait try to determine how much of the person-to-person variation in that trait among members of a specific group is due to their differing _________.

genes

If the heritability of intelligence is fifty percent, this means:

genetic influence explains fifty percent of the observed variation among people.

Jaiden's high school's homecoming queen married the captain of the football team right after graduation, and he has just found out that they are splitting up. Thinking back to his high school days, he has the feeling that he would have predicted this, but he fails to remember that he said to his best friend at the time that he could not imagine them apart from each other. This illustrates an error in thinking known as _____.

hindsight bias

Shelby was in a car accident and now has problems moving information from her short-term memory into her long-term memory. Shelby's _____ was damaged in the car accident.

hippocampus

Growing up on the South Side of Chicago was rough for Lee. He worked hard in school, kept out of trouble, and graduated college this past year. All of the following are possible reasons for his success to this point EXCEPT:

his parents were not involved in his life.

Humanistic psychology

historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential. (p. 5)

These chemical messengers are mostly manufactured by the endocrine glands, and they can influence our interest in sex, food, and aggression.

hormones

The standard deviation is the most useful measure of variation in a set of data because it tells us

how much individual scores differ from the mean.

Helena Cronin suggests that as a science, psychology does NOT seek to explain:

how we ought to live.

Humility

humility about one's own understanding

Theory-based predictions are called ___________

hypotheses

"If hunger improves intellectual performance, then hungry adults will score higher on a math test than adults who are not hungry." In that statement, "hungry adults will score higher on a math test than adults who are not hungry" is a(n) _____.

hypothesis

Dr. Han is examining the impact of parental separation on student academic performance. Dr. Han defines parental separation as no contact between the child and parent for a period of 6 months or more. Academic performance is being measured using students' grade point average and end-of-year grades. Dr. Han believes that if the children have experienced parental separation that they will perform poorly in school. The idea that parental separation will negatively impact academic performance is the _______ of the study.

hypothesis

Roger believes he has extrasensory perception (ESP). He predicts that he will be able to correctly guess heads or tails at least 85 times out of 100 coin flips. Because this is a testable prediction, it is a(n) _____.

hypothesis

Angular gyrus

is a region of the brain lying mainly in the anterolateral region of parietal lobe, that lies near the superior edge of the temporal lobe, and immediately posterior to the supramarginal gyrus. Its significance is in transferring visually perceived words to Wernicke's area (making read words have meaning) It is also involved in a number of processes related to language, number processing and spatial cognition, memory retrieval, attention, and theory of mind.

hippocampus

is a small organ located within the brain's medial temporal lobe and forms an important part of the limbic system, the region that regulates emotions. The hippocampus is associated mainly with memory, in particular long-term memory. The organ also plays an important role in spatial navigation.

Behavior

is anything an organism does—any action we can observe and record. Yelling, smiling, blinking, sweating, talking, and questionnaire marking are all observable behaviors.

Wernicke's area also called Wernicke's speech area,

is one of the two parts of the cerebral cortex that are linked to speech (the other is Broca's area). It is involved in the comprehension or understanding of written and spoken language (in contrast to Broca's area that is involved in the production of language).

Inferential statistics

is used to determine whether a study's outcome is due to chance or not, and whether the outcome can be generalized to a larger population.

The experimental method offers the most reliable way of assessing whether caffeine consumption causes increased athletic performance because:

it is the only method that measures cause and effect.

Which of the following is a component of culture that is unique to the human species?

language

Differences between two samples are LESS likely to be statistically significant if the standard deviations of the samples are _____.

large

A highly-efficient computer engineer would most likely have:

larger parietal lobes

Sensory (afferent) neurons

neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord. (p. 60) carry messages from the body's tissues and sensory receptors inward (thus, they are afferent)Motor (efferent) neurons: neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands. (p. 60) Our nervous system has a few million sensory neurons.

Motor (efferent) neurons

neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands. (p. 60) carry instructions from the central nervous system out (thus, they are efferent) to the body's muscles and glands. Our nervous system has a few million motor neurons.

Interneurons

neurons within the brain and spinal cord; communicate internally and process information between the sensory inputs and motor outputs. (p. 60) Our complexity resides mostly in these interneurons. Our nervous system has billions and billions of interneurons.

neuroscientists can also stimulate various brain parts

neuroscientists can also stimulate various brain parts—electrically, chemically, or magnetically—and note the effect

In a sending neuron, when an action potential reaches an axon terminal, the impulse triggers the release of chemical messengers called

neurotransmitters

Serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins are all chemical messengers called _________.

neurotransmitters

Secondary sex characteristics

nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair. (p. 165)

The dramatic increase in Americans' premarital sexual activity over the past half century best illustrates that sexual behavior is influenced by:

norms

A good theory uses an integrated set of principles that organizes _____ and predicts behaviors or events.

observations

A psychologist conducting basic research to expand psychology's knowledge base would be most likely to

observe 3- and 6-year-olds solving puzzles and analyze differences in their abilities.

Humans share an irresistible urge to:

organize our world into simple categories.

Consciousness

our awareness of ourselves and our environment. (p. 92) This awareness allows us to assemble information from many sources as we reflect on our past and plan for our future. And it focuses our attention when we learn a complex concept or behavior.

Gender identity

our sense of being male, female, or a combination of the two. (p. 168)

While surfing in Hawaii Barry was thrown by a huge wave that caused his surfboard to hit his head, causing him to temporarily lose consciousness and almost drown. After being revived by a fellow surfer Barry reported seeing a light in a tunnel which he felt compelled to enter. He also reported hearing his late grandmother's voice telling him to come towards the light. This experience can be explained as being caused by lack of _____ to the brain.

oxygen

Hallucinations similar to those that accompany the near-death experience can be produced by _____.

oxygen deprivation

Botox injections smooth facial wrinkles because botulin is an ACh antagonist that:

paralyzes underlying facial muscle

Pamela is a 15-year-old white teen who lives in the suburbs. She is likely to have her _____ influence her clothing selection and her _____ influence her college choice.

peers, parents

Shelby and colleagues measured stress hormone levels in baby rats who were separated from their mothers at birth. They found that these baby rats had high stress levels and refused to eat. Many of them died. Shelby and colleagues concluded that the mother-infant bonding is important for human babies to thrive. Who has benefitted from this research?

people

John is convinced that his potato chip is in the shape of Elvis's face. John is demonstrating _______.

perceiving order in random events

Motor and sensory neurons together comprise the _____ nervous system.

peripheral

Motor and sensory neurons together comprise the

peripheral nervous system

To test the effect of a new drug on depression, we randomly assign people to control and experimental groups. Those in the control group take a pill that contains no medication. This is a _______.

placebo

Alcohol use disorder

popularly known as alcoholism - alcohol use marked by tolerance, withdrawal, and a drive to continue problematic use. (p. 120) can shrink the brain

Sabrina stated there was a _____ correlation between food intake and weight as the scores tended to rise and fall together.

positive

In a __________ correlation, the scores rise and fall together; in a __________ correlation, one score falls as the other rises.

positive; negative

A correlation is a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor _____ the other.

predicts

Studies of people with split brains and brain scans of those with undivided brains indicate that the left hemisphere excels in

processing language

Brain Plasticity

the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience. (p. 81)

Margaret suffered from a stroke over six months ago. She lost the ability to recognize faces and the ability to move her left arm and leg. She went through physical therapy to regain the use of her left arm and leg. While she is now able to walk with the use of a cane and can do many things with her left arm, she still has problems recognizing faces and is often unable to recognize her own children and grandchildren. Her stroke most likely impacted her _______.

right temporal lobe

Dr. Petrie administers surveys to 15 migrants from Somalia who reside in Minnesota. Dr. Petrie is interested in their immigration experiences. After examining the survey answers, Dr. Petrie concludes that all immigrants in Minnesota have experienced racism and discrimination since coming to the United States. What are some problems with this study?

sample size and selection bias

An experimenter flashes the word HERON across the visual field of a man whose corpus callosum has been severed. HER is transmitted to his right hemisphere and ON to his left hemisphere. When asked to indicate what he saw, the man says he

saw on but points to her

applied research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

Dr. Perry is examining academic performance based on parental income level. Dr. Perry finds that the sample variances are small and the differences between the groups are large. Dr. Perry expects that the results will be _______.

significant

Your friend was in a car accident in which his heart stopped briefly and he had to be resuscitated. He tells you that he experienced an out-of-body sensation and had visions of bright lights and tunnels. His description is:

similar to other people who have reported near-death experiences.

A local school board is setting up a program to help prepare children to become scientists. To carry out this program, teachers should encourage curiosity, _____, and humility in their students.

skepticism

Skepticism

skepticism about unproven claims and ideas

disinhibitor

slow brain activity that controls judgment and inhibitions (you do the things that you would normally perhaps enjoy in moderation in excess or are to shy to do) Alcohol is a disinhibitor

Differences between two samples are LESS likely to be statistically significant if the samples are _____.

small Generalizations based on a small number of cases are unreliable.

The __________ perspective in psychology focuses on how behavior and thought differ from situation to situation and from culture to culture, while the __________ perspective emphasizes observation of how we respond to and learn in different situations.

social-cultural; behavioral

The tiny space between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite or cell body of another is called the

synaptic gap

Nasim has a friend who tends to make errors based on hindsight bias, which is also known as:

the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.

Gender typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role. (p. 168)

Medulla

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing. (p. 69)

Genes

the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; segments of DNA capable of synthesizing proteins. (p. 134) Environmental events "turn on" genes, rather like hot water enabling a tea bag to express its flavor. When turned on, genes provide the code for creating protein molecules, our body's building blocks.

Primary sex characteristics

the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible. (p. 165)

Thalamus [THAL-uh-muss]

the brain's sensory control center, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla. (p. 70) Think of the thalamus as being to sensory information what London is to England's trains: a hub through which traffic passes en route to various destinations.

Carmen is participating in a dichotic listening study and is asked to ignore any information that is presented to her right ear. She finds that she has no problems in following the instruction except for when she thinks she hears her name in her right ear. Carmen is experiencing:

the cocktail party effect

Genome

the complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes. (p. 135)

Tolerance

the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug's effect. (p. 118)

Withdrawal

the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing an addictive drug or behavior. (p. 118)

Sympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy. (p. 61) The autonomic nervous system serves two important functions (FIGURE 5.8). The sympathetic nervous system arouses and expends energy. If something alarms or challenges you (such as a longed-for job interview), your sympathetic nervous system will accelerate your heartbeat, raise your blood pressure, slow your digestion, raise your blood sugar, and cool you with perspiration, making you alert and ready for action.

Parasympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. (p. 61) When the stress subsides (the interview is over), your parasympathetic nervous system will produce the opposite effects, conserving energy as it calms you. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems work together to keep us in a steady internal state called homeostasis.

Somatic nervous system

the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system. (p. 60) Our somatic nervous system enables voluntary control of our skeletal muscles. As you reach the end of this page, your somatic nervous system will report to your brain the current state of your skeletal muscles and carry instructions back, triggering a response from your hand so you can read on.

Culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next. (pp. 7, 155)

Menarche [meh-NAR-key]

the first menstrual period. (p. 166)

Selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. (p. 96) By one estimate, your five senses take in 11,000,000 bits of information per second, of which you consciously process about 40 (Wilson, 2002). Yet your mind's unconscious track intuitively makes great use of the other 10,999,960 bits.

Neurogenesis

the formation of new neurons. (p. 82) 700 new hippocampus neurons are born daily, making nearly a 2 percent annual turnover rate

Cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language). (pp. 5, 93)

Interaction

the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity). (p. 142)

Synapse [SIN-aps]

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 synaptic cleft. (p. 56)

Corpus callosum [KOR-pus kah-LOW-sum]

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them. (p. 82)

THC

the major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations. (p. 125)

In a double-blind procedure, one group of men is given a beverage containing alcohol and a second group is given a similar-tasting beverage that contains no alcohol. In each group, half the men are told they are drinking an alcoholic beverage and half are told their beverage is non-alcoholic. All the men then view erotic movies. After watching the erotic material, research indicates that:

the men who thought they were drinking alcohol will feel LESS guilty than those who did NOT think they were drinking alcohol, regardless of the true content of the beverage.

Brainstem

the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions. (p. 69) The brainstem is a crossover point, where most nerves to and from each side of the brain connect with the body's opposite side. This peculiar cross-wiring is but one of the brain's many surprises.

cerebellum

the part of the brain at the back of the skull in vertebrates. Its function is to coordinate and regulate muscular activity. Practiced movement

Puberty

the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing. (pp. 165, 204)

Dual processing

the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks. (p. 94) Perception, memory, thinking, language, and attitudes all operate on two levels—a conscious, deliberate "high road" and an unconscious, automatic "low road." The high road is reflective, the low road is intuitive (Evans & Stanovich, 2013; Kahneman, 2011).

Natural selection

the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations. (pp. 6, 144)

Parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions. (pp. 96, 246, 320)

Heritability

the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied. (pp. 140, 406)

John had a brain tumor removed. Now he has no vision in his left eye. Where was the tumor located?

the right occipital lobe

Social learning theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished. (p. 168)

cerebral hemispheres

the two halves of the brain

"If hunger improves intellectual performance, then hungry adults will score higher on a math test than adults who are not hungry." In that statement, "hunger improves intellectual performance" is a(n) _____.

theory

Chromosomes

threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes. (p. 134)

Lesion

tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue. (p. 66)

When we are generalizing from a sample, we must keep in mind all of the following EXCEPT:

unrepresentative samples are better than biased samples.

Clay tells his daughter that biracial relationships are against her upbringing. The words he has chosen to use to express his opinion reflect his _____.

values

Professor Kim is studying how the brain is involved in _____ movements. Professor Kim stimulates the motor cortex of his participants' brain with mild electrical signals. As a result, the right hand of his participants forms a fist.

voluntary

Dr. James found a correlation of -0.33 between exercise and weight loss in men over 40. This would be considered a _____ correlation.

weak negative

Regarding a neuron's response to stimulation, the intensity of the stimulus determines

whether or not an impulse is generated.

Laura must always have an early morning cup of coffee. She usually has several more cups throughout the day. If she misses her daily cups of coffee, she gets a headache. The fact that Laura experiences headaches when she discontinues the use of caffeine is an example of ______ symptoms.

withdrawal

When people breed dogs, are they capitalizing on any component of natural selection?

yes--they take advantage of variable traits in the dog population

cocktail party effect

your ability to attend to only one voice among many. Let another voice speak your name and your cognitive radar, operating on your mind's other track, will instantly bring that unattended voice into consciousness. This effect might have prevented an embarrassing and dangerous situation in 2009, when two Northwest Airlines pilots "lost track of time." Focused on their laptops and in conversation, they ignored alarmed air traffic controllers' attempts to reach them and overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles. If only the controllers had known and spoken the pilots' names.