Study guide for psychology

The space between two neurons is called the ________.

synaptic cleft

The ________ of a neuron contain ________ that house neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers of the nervous system.

terminal buttons, synaptic vesicles

Psychological knowledge is advanced through a process known as ________, which involves a prescribed series of steps designed to achieve the desired knowledge.

the scientific method

A(n) ________ is a well-developed set of ideas that proposes an explanation for observed phenomena.

theory

What do psychologists call a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience?

Learning

The first woman to earn the PhD degree in psychology was ________.

Margaret Floy Washburn

This organization, one of the largest professional groups of psychologists in the world, was founded in 1892.

APA

Classical and operant conditioning are forms of ________ learning.

associative

Human eggs and sperm each contain 23 ________, which are composed of long strands of ________.

chromosomes, DNA

Bev likes to be up late at night and sleep in; Caleb likes to wake up with the sun and go to bed early. A psychologist would say they have different ________.

chronotypes.

The scientific process is ________, involving both inductive and deductive reasoning.

circular,

Ali is aware of his feelings, emotions, and thoughts. He is also aware of his surroundings, the warmth of the sun, and the sound of nearby traffic. Ali is in a state of _______.

conciousness.

The theory of ________ states that organisms that are better suited for their environment will survive and reproduce, while those that are poorly suited for their environment will die off.

evolution

Changes in behavior and cognitive processes over time are studied by ________.

evolutionary psychologists.

Professor Steiger is examining a research question and has posted a hypothesis, but his student points out, "Prof. S, the assumption that you have made cannot be disproven no matter what data we gather!" This research study suffers from an absence of ________.

falsifiability

The myelin sheath is made from ________.

fatty substance.

What would be a good example of a reflex?

if you put your hand on a hot stove, a reflex causes you to immediately remove your hand before a "Hey, this is hot!" message even gets to your brain.

Knowing what a dinosaur is because you looked through a book with pictures of dinosaurs and watched the film Jurassic Park is an example of a natural concept that was developed through ________ experience.

indirect

Birds migrating, cats chasing prey, sea turtles moving toward the ocean immediately after birth, and a joey (baby kangaroo) moving to its mother's pouch immediately after birth are all examples of _______.

instincts

Knowing what a rainbow looks like because you have seen a rainbow is an example of a(n) ________ concept.

natural

The act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness is known as ________.

retrieval.

Ben is asked to memorize the words canine, feline, and avian. He remembers the words by associating them with their synonyms: dog, cat, and bird. This is an example of ________ encoding.

semantic

What is the set of processes used to encode, store, and retrieve information over different periods of time?

Memory

________ refers to what happens when sensory information is detected by a sensory receptor?

Sensation

________ concepts are ones that we know by a specific set of characteristics.

An artificial

________ are categories or groupings of linguistic information, images, ideas, or memories, such as life experiences.

Concepts

________ encompasses the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgment, language, and memory.

Congnition

What type of memories do we consciously try to remember, recall, and report?

Explicit memory

Which term describes the tendency to maintain a balance, or optimal level, within a biological system?

Homeostasis

What has research shown about processing subliminal messages?

In laboratory settings, people can process and respond to information outside of their awareness.

What are some dangers about rotating shift work?

It messes with someone's sleep schedule

________ refers to the way that sensory information is interpreted and consciously experienced;

Perception

________ asserts that our genes set the boundaries within which we can operate, and our environment interacts with our genes to determine where within those boundaries we will fall.

Range of reaction

Which type of processing involves the interpretation of sensations and is influenced by available knowledge and expectancies?

Top and down

Terrance finds it difficult to learn the alphabet, until he hears the alphabet song. Then he can easily remember it. This is an example of ________ encoding.

acoustic

Sarit is at a bar full of music, chatter, and laughter. He gets involved in an interesting conversation with a woman named Mona, and he tunes out all the background noise. Sarit's friend, Karen, taps him on the shoulder and asks what song just played on the jukebox. Sarit says he doesn't know, even though he is sitting right next to the jukebox and is familiar with popular music. This illustrates the role that ________ plays in what is sensed versus what is perceived.

attention

What would be a good example of instinct?

baby seeking food by rooting and suckling

Regular feelings of hunger are an example of a(n) ________ rhythm.

biological

Krista and Tatiana Hogan are a famous example of a ______ study in which it only focused on a specific example.

case

What are some dangers tied to sleep deprivation.

to increased risk of car crashes

Your ears receive sound waves and convert this energy into neural messages that travel to your brain and are processed as sounds. This is an example of ________.

transduction.