Psychology

Case study

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

Psychology

The science of behavior and mental processes.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

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

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

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

Medulla

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

Sleep apnea

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

Central Nervous System

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

Sigmund Freud

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

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.

Occiputal

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

Pariental

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

Sensory Neurons

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

Naturalistic Observation

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

Circadian Rhythm

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

Psychodynamic

How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts.

Wilhelm Wundt

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

fMRI (functional MRI)

is a functional neuroimaging procedure using MRI technology that measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow.

Humanistic Psychology

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

Social-cultural

How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures.

Positron emission tomography

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

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.

Structuralism

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

Evolutionary

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

Behavioral

How we learn observable responses.

Neuron

a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses; a nerve cell.

Cognition

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

Functionalism

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

Charles Darwin

Darwin argued that natural selection shapes behaviors as well as bodies.

What are the four main goals of psychology?

Description, Explanation, Prediction, and Control

Hypothalamus

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

Behaviorism

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

Limbic System

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

Narcolepsy

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

Split brain

a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brains two hemispheres by cutting the fibers connecting them.

Somatic Nervous System

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

Temporal Lobes

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

Frontal lobes

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

Conditioned Response

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

Neutral Stimulus

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

Control group

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

REM sleep

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

Peripheral nervous system

the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord.

Nervous system

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

Autonomic Nervous System

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

Gestalt Psychology

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