Psychology Chapters 1-4

Parietal Lobe

Somatosensory (touch) Parallels the motor cortex

correlation design

Tests relationships between variables Two or more variables are examined Correlation coefficients range from -1 to 1 (indicates a perfect correlation, 0 indicates no correlation)

behavior learning

The belief that for psychology to be true science, we should be more focused on studying behavior and not abstract thoughts or ideas

cerebrum cortex

The cerebral cortex is responsible for many higher-order brain functions such as sensation, perception, memory, association, thought, and voluntary physical activity.

Psychoanalsis

(Sigmund Freund): Theorized that our unconscious mind was a way to get an insight about the problems we were facing as well as why we face the problems the way that we do. Our childhood experiences influence our adult life

Norepinephrine

Affects CNS activity; plays role in increasing alertness, attention

Amplitude

Height of a wave, perceived as loudness (decibles)

experimental design

Includes both independent and dependent variables and random assignment of participants to both control and experimental groups or condition

Epinehrine

Increases ANS activity; fight-or-flight response

behavioral measures

Information is taken through observing participants actual behaviors Can happen in a naturalistic setting (children at a park) or a controlled setting (laboratory)

Qualitative Research

Interview/Open-Ended All about the words/phrases = Data

Amyglada

emotional significance of stimuli especially fear

behavioral neuroscience

an approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes

Forensic Psychology

What place does psychology have in the study and practice of law? What does it mean to be an expert witness? How can psychology influence criminal justice proceedings? Getting into people's minds to admit to a crime

physiological measures

Where we examine physical/bodily responses to assess change in psychological states Cortisol can be measured to look at a stress level Heart rate can be measured to look at attraction Brain activity can be used to look at the formation of memories

Psychology as a science

Wilhelm Wundt created a laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in the late 1800s psychophysics

Hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; selection for lasting memory and learning

gestalt psychology

a psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts

counseling psychology

help people w/ everyday problems

peripheral nervous system

home to the rest of our cells outside of the brain and spinal cord

self-report measures

information taken from our own thoughts, feelings, and actions Typically collected from survey questionnaires (using numeric scales) and open-ended interviews (participants speak freely/are recorded)

hypothalumus

involved in major drives: sex, thirst, tired pituitary hormones: sexually maturity

cerebrum

is divided into two large hemispheres and is the uppermost portion of the brain

Empiricism

is the philosophical belief that all knowledge comes from our experiences

Neuropeptides

mall strings of amino acids that carry information among neurons

temporal lobe

memory, emotion Auditory cortex (hearing)

Glutamate

most common excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain; involved in learning and memory; may be involved in schizophrenia

corpus callosum

connecting both hemispheres and facilitates communication between both logical and creative tasks.

Transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

automatic nervous system

nerve cells of the PNS that serve involuntary systems of the body

somatic nervous system

nerve cells of the PNS that serve the skeletal muscles and sense sensory information back to the PNS (voluntary, thinking, and perceiving)

Limbic System

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

sensory neurons

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

case study

one person is observed over a long period of time (Harley & Joker)

Interneurons

only communicate with other neurons helps curb inhibition of pulses from one neuron to the next

Frequency

perceived as a pitch (hertz, HZ)

Acetylcholine

slows ANS activity; eating, drinking, memory, sleeping, and dreaming, learning, neuromuscular junction

HIT

stimulus present, participant says yes

Miss

stimulus present, participants says no

double-blind studies

studies in which neither the participants nor the researchers administering the treatment know who has been assigned to the experimental or control group

Medulla

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat, breathing, arousal, survival reflexes

Thalamus

the brain's sensory control center, located on top of the brainstem. (every sense except smell)

purity

the complexity of the wave-perceived as timbre, the quality or "color" of a sound

Humanist school of thought (John Locke):

the mind is a blank state and we write our own story-empiricism (​​free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization)

single blind studies

the participants do not know which group they are assigned to

nature through nurture

the positons that the environment constantly interacts with biology to shape who we are and what we do

naturalistic observation

the researcher observes subjects in their natural environment but from afar (Jane & Gorillas)

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another How do we form groups? Why are we more likely to help others who look like us than others who do not look like us? What does it mean to be altruistic/pro-social? How do our biases affect our ability to get along w/ others?

Cognitive Psychology

the scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning

personality psychology

the study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting Can our personalities change over time? What can our personality tells us about predicting our behaviors and how we interact w/ others?

absolute threshold

the weakest amount of a stimulus that a person can detect half the time

behavioral school of thought

told you all about who a person is based on biology/genetics

motor neurons

transmits information through the body to initiate movement

continuity

we see point/lines in such a way that they follow a continuous path

similarity

we tend to group like objects together into the same category

proximity

we tend to group objects together that are near another

Social desirability bias:

when we try to answer in a way that will provide the experiments with answers we think that want to hear.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

when your body "powers down" and goes into a normal resting state Slows heart rate, decreased blood pressure, less air through the lungs

sympatheic nervous system

when your body gears up for a "fight or flight response" Dilated pupils, increased heart rate, shutdowns digestive functioning, increases air to the lungs

frontal lobe

planning, impulse control, abstract thinking Primary motor cortex

Dopamine

plays an important role in arousal, mood (especially positive); oversupply correlates with schizophrenia; voluntary muscle control

Phineas Cage

railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury that changed his personality and behavior played a huge role in understanding localization of brain function

Pons

A brain structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain "bridge"

Meta-analysis

A method of cross-referencing published findings across many sources of a particular body of literature to develop new hypotheses and ask new questions

sensation

A physical process involving the stimulation of our sense organs of the outer world The sense organs transform information from its physical form (light or sound waves or chemicals) into a nerve impulse and transmit it to the brain. Objective

perception

A psychological process involving the act of organizing and interpreting sensory experience Sensation is taking things as they are, and perception enables us to attach meaning to what things are Subjective

Representative Sample

A representative sample is a sample in which the relevant characteristics of the sample members are generally the same as the characteristics of the population. This type of sample is important because only a representative sample can be used to make trustworthy inferences about the population.

theory

A set of related assumptions from which scientists can make testable predictions Thoughts that allow you to create a hypothesis

Midbrain

A small part of the brain on top of brainstem. Responsible for Parkinson's disease and upper reticular formation

descriptive study

A study where we can define a problem/question about the population but there are no variables, controls, or manipulation involved

basal ganglia

Collection of structures that surrounds the thalamus Voluntary motor control Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease affect the functioning

Cerebellum

Controls balance and coordination

limits

Correlation can never equal Causation!!! Sample sizes Biases Placebo Effect Expensive/Amount of Time Any outside source

Neuropsychological-behavioral generic

Foundation for Thought and behavior is biological and genetic forces

longitudinal study

How do human behaviors change over time? Longitudinal studies importantly vary by length of study duration (months to even several decades) How do children's early math abilities predict their potential to pursue STEM careers? Usually involve observational, correlational, and quasi-experimental techniques

industrial-organizational psychology

How do we put psychology to work? How can psychology help w/ employee productivity? Preventing burnout (making employee's happy) How can companies use psychology to strategize for increased customer satisfaction? Motivate people to do surveys to get data and improve customer service Industry vs Organizational: why do performance evaluations matter vs how do management styles help or harm employees?

clinical psychology

How do we treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders? How do we find ways to promote psychological health? usually work in hospitals/mental health

sports psychology

How does psychology affect athlete performance? Athletes who feel supportive=do better How do we promote and optimize exercise for everyday living? How do we increase participation in sports? How can sports be a healthy outlet for stress?

adaptive mechanisms

Human thought and behavior have been shaped by evolutionary forces- natural and sexual selection

Hind brain

Located at the lower part of the brain. Consists of the medulla, pons, cerebellum

scientific method

Observe Predict Test Interpret Communicate Replicate

Psychoanalytic Psychodynamic Approach:

Our behavior is shaped by our early childhood as well as our unconscious mind and motives

Humanist-Positive Psychology

People deserve to be treated with kindness and are overall trying to do good in the world and find happiness

different field of human behavior

Political science psychology, sociology, economics, and anthropology.

False Alarm

Stimulus is not present and observer responds "Yes"

Quantitative Research

Surveys/Questionnaires All about the numbers/averages = Data

Forebrain

The largest and most complicated region of the brain, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, and cerebrum.

Epigenetics

The study of changes in the way genes are expressed-that are activated or deactivated without changing the sequence of DNA How your behaviors and environments can cause changes to how your genes work?

developmental psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain; slows CNS function; correlates with anxiety and intoxication

Cingulate gyrus

attention and cognitive control

cross-cultural psychology

branch of psychology that studies the effects of culture on behavior and mental processes How do our cultural backgrounds affect how we experience the world around us? Why are things considered normal in some cultures but completely alien in other cultures? What does it mean to be individualistic versus communal?

The Gesalts Laws

describe how the human eye perceives visual elements.

nurture

environment, upbringing, social influences

nature

genetically based traits

correct rejection

if the signal is not presented and the participant does not detect it

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

central nervous system

our bodies control center Brain and the Spinal Cord

control group

participants are handled the same as the experimental group but DO NOT receive the treatment

experimental group

participants receive the actual treatment

ocipital lobe

primary visual cortex

Serotonin

role in mood, sleep, eating, temperature regulation; undersupply correlates with anxiety and depression