Study psychology test 1 Flash Cards

 
Pile Management Card
psychology test 1

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right hemisphere
-associated with spatial, visual tasks, facial recognition, creation and appreciation or art, music and processing negative emotions
limbic system
-group of brain areas involved in emotional reactions and motivated behavior
-hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus
sympathetic
-subdivision of autonomic nervous system that mobilizes bodily resources and increases output of energy during emotion and stress
-blush, sweat, breathe deeply, increase heart rate, and blood pressure, dilate pupil, inhibits digestion
-flight, flee, and cope
parasympathetic
-subdivision of autonomic nervous system that separates during relaxed states and conserves energy
-constrict pupil, stimulates tear gland, slows heartbeat, activates digestion
left hemisphere
-active in processing language, logic, and symbolic sequential tasks
corpus callosum
-bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres
cerebral cortex
-collection of several thin layers of cells covering the cerebrum
-responsible for higher mental functions
-occipital, parietal, temporal, frontal lobes
cones
-visual receptors involved in color vision
-center of retina
-low sensitivity
-sensitive to color
agonist
-drugs that affect system are in synapse for neurotransmitter
dendrites
-neuron's branches that receive information from other neurons and transmit it toward the cell body
axon
-neuron's extending fiber that conducts impulses away from the cell body and transmits them to other neurons or to muscle or gland cells
firing (action potential)
-brief change in electrical voltage that occurs when a neuron is stimulated
-neuron either firing or at rest
neurotransmitter
-chemical substance that is released by a transmitting neuron at the synapse and that alters the activity of a receiving neuron
-serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, GABA, glutamate
empirical question
-evidence gathered by careful observation, experimentation, and measurement
dependent variable
-reaction of subject
-behavior researcher tries to predict
independent variable
-aspect of experiment manipulated or varied by the researcher
experimental method
-allows researcher to control or manipulate the situation being studied
-can make statements of cause and effect
myelin sheath
-fatty insulation that may surround the axon of a neuron
-made of glia cells
-prevent signals in adjacent cells form interfering with each other
naturalistic observation
-observes, measures, and records behavior while taking care to avoid intruding on ppl being observed (not artificial setting)
-cannot make statements of causation
-can make direct realizations
relative threshold
-smallest difference in stimulation that can be reliably detected by an observer when 2 stimuli are compared
case study
-froidian method
-detailed description of particular person, based on observation or formal psych testing
-cannot make statements of causation
-used as sources rather than hypothesis
survey
-questionnaires and interview that gather info by asking ppl directly about their experiences, attitudes, and opinions
-produce lots of data, not easy to do well easiest method of gather lots of info
-cannot make statements of cause and effect
-hard to pick sample of similar ppl
sensation
-detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects
-sense organs, eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin
inhibitory message
-change that occurs in receiving neuron's membrane that results in a voltage shift in the negative direction
-the probability that receiving neuron will fire decreases
thalamus
-brain structure that relays sensory messages to cerebral cortex
-no smell
perception
-process by which brain organizes and interprets sensory information
-set of mental operations that organizes sensory signals into meaningful patterns
excitatory message
-a change that occurs in the receiving neuron's membrane that results in a voltage shift in a positive direction
-probability that receiving neuron will fire increases
all or none prinicple
-neuron either always either firing or at rest
-neuron can't fire stronger of softer
random sample
-procedure for assigning people to experimental and control group groups in which each individual has same probability as any other of being assigned to a given group
correlation
-measure of how strongly 2 variables are related to each other
-doesn't est. causation
-negative: association btw increases in 1 variable and decreases in another
-positive: association btw increases in 1 variable and increases in another or btw decreases in one and decreases in another
hypothesize
-statement that attempts to decide or explain a given behavior
-specify relationships among events or variables and are empirically tested
antagonist
drugs that affect system in synapse against neurotransmitter
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