Experience Psychology Chapters 1-7 Flashcards
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Questions and Answers

What are the two principal structures of the brain mentioned?

Amygdala and hippocampus

What are the large neuron clusters located above the thalamus and under the cerebral cortex called?

  • Hippocampus
  • Basal ganglia (correct)
  • Cerebellum
  • Amygdala

What is the outermost part of the cerebral cortex that makes up 80 percent of the human brain's cortex?

Neocortex

What structures are located at the back of the head and respond to visual stimuli?

<p>Occipital lobes</p> Signup and view all the answers

What structures are involved in hearing, language processing, and memory located just above the ears?

<p>Temporal lobes</p> Signup and view all the answers

What portion of the cerebral cortex is located behind the forehead and is involved in personality and intelligence?

<p>Frontal lobes</p> Signup and view all the answers

What structures are involved in registering spatial location, attention, and motor control located at the top and toward the rear of the head?

<p>Parietal lobes</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the region in the cerebral cortex that processes information about body sensations?

<p>Somatosensory cortex</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is psychology?

<p>The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What encompasses the scientific study of behavior and mental processes?

<p>Psychology</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is science?

<p>The use of systematic methods to observe the natural world, including human behavior, and to draw conclusions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is behavior?

<p>Everything we do that can be directly observed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are mental processes?

<p>The thoughts, feelings, and motives that people experience privately but that cannot be observed directly.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is critical thinking?

<p>A serious examination and judgment of something.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the empirical method?

<p>Gaining knowledge through the observation of events, the collection of data, and logical reasoning.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is structuralism?

<p>Wundt's approach to discovering the basic elements or structures of mental processes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is functionalism?

<p>James's approach to mental processes, emphasizing the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual's adaptation to the environment.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is natural selection?

<p>Darwin's principle of an evolutionary process in which organisms that are best adapted to their environment survive and produce offspring.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the biological approach in psychology?

<p>An approach to psychology focusing on the body, especially the brain and nervous system.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is neuroscience?

<p>The scientific study of the structure, function, development, genetics, and biochemistry of the nervous system.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the behavioral approach?

<p>An approach to psychology emphasizing the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the psychodynamic approach?

<p>An approach to psychology emphasizing unconscious thought, the conflict between biological drives and society's demands, and early childhood family experiences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the humanistic approach?

<p>An approach to psychology that emphasizes a person's positive qualities, the capacity for positive human growth, and the freedom to choose one's own destiny.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the cognitive approach?

<p>An approach to psychology with an emphasis on mental processes involved in knowing, how we direct attention, perceive, remember, and solve problems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the evolutionary approach?

<p>An approach to psychology centered on evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the sociocultural approach?

<p>An approach to psychology that examines the ways in which social and cultural environments influence behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a variable?

<p>Anything that can change.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a theory?

<p>A broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain observations and to make predictions about future observations.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a hypothesis?

<p>A testable prediction that derives logically from a theory.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an operational definition?

<p>A definition that provides an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a case study?

<p>An in-depth look at a single person.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is correlational research?

<p>Research that examines the relationships between variables, whose purpose is to examine whether and how two variables change together.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the third variable problem?

<p>The circumstance where a variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two other variables.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is longitudinal design?

<p>A special kind of systematic observation that involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an experiment?

<p>A carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables that are believed to influence some other variable.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is random assignment?

<p>Researchers' assignment of participants to groups by chance, to reduce the likelihood that an experiment's results will be due to preexisting differences between groups.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an independent variable?

<p>A manipulated experimental factor, the variable that the experimenter changes to see what its effects are.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a confederate?

<p>A person who is given a role to play in a study so that the social context can be manipulated.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a dependent variable?

<p>The outcome, the factor that can change in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an experimental group?

<p>The participants in an experiment who receive the drug or other treatment under the study.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a control group?

<p>The participants in an experiment who are as much like the experimental group as possible and who are treated in every way like the experimental group except for a manipulated factor.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is validity?

<p>The soundness of the conclusions that a researcher draws from an experiment.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is external validity?

<p>The degree to which an experimental design actually reflects the real-world issues it is supposed to address.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is internal validity?

<p>The degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is experimenter bias?

<p>The influence of the experimenter's expectations on the outcome of the research.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are demand characteristics?

<p>Any aspect of a study that communicates to the participants how the experimenter wants them to behave.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is research participant bias?

<p>In an experiment, the influence of participants' expectations, and of their thoughts about how they should behave, on their behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the placebo effect?

<p>The situation where participants' expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce an experimental outcome.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a placebo?

<p>A harmless substance that has no physiological effect, given to participants in a control group.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a double-blind experiment?

<p>An experimental design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group until the results are calculated.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a population?

<p>The entire group about which the investigator wants to draw conclusions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a random sample?

<p>A sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is naturalistic observation?

<p>The observation of behavior in a real-world setting.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a sample?

<p>The subset of the population chosen by the investigator for study.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the nervous system?

<p>The body's electrochemical communication circuitry.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is plasticity?

<p>The brain's capacity for change.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are afferent nerves?

<p>Nerves that carry information about the external environment to the brain and spinal cord via sensory receptors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are efferent nerves?

<p>Nerves that carry information out of the brain and spinal cord to other areas of the body.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are neural networks?

<p>Networks of nerve cells that integrate sensory input and motor output.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the central nervous system (CNS)?

<p>The brain and spinal cord.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

<p>The network of nerves that connects the brain and spinal cord to other parts of the body.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the somatic nervous system?

<p>The body system consisting of the sensory nerves that convey information about conditions such as pain and temperature.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the autonomic nervous system?

<p>The body system that takes messages to and from the body's internal organs, monitoring such processes as breathing, heart rate, and digestion.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the sympathetic nervous system?

<p>The part of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body to mobilize it for action and is involved in the experience of stress.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the parasympathetic nervous system?

<p>The part of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is stress?

<p>The response of individuals to environmental stressors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are stressors?

<p>Circumstances and events that threaten individuals and tax their coping abilities.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are neurons?

<p>The nerve cells that handle the information-processing function.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are glial cells?

<p>The second of the two types of cells in the nervous system that provide support, nutritional benefits, and other functions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the cell body (called soma)?

<p>The part of the neuron that contains the nucleus, which directs the manufacture of substances for growth and maintenance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the myelin sheath?

<p>A layer of fat cells that encases and insulates most axons.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are dendrites?

<p>Tree-like fibers projecting from a neuron that receive information and orient it toward the neuron's cell body.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an axon?

<p>The part of the neuron that carries information away from the cell body toward other cells.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is resting potential?

<p>The stable, negative charge of an inactive neuron.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is action potential?

<p>The brief wave of positive electrical charge that sweeps down the axon.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the all-or-nothing principle?

<p>The principle that states when a brief wave of positive electrical impulse reaches a certain level of intensity, it fires and moves all the way down the axon without losing any intensity.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are synapses?

<p>Tiny spaces between neurons; the gaps between neurons.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are neurotransmitters?

<p>Chemical substances that are stored in very tiny sacs within the terminal buttons and involved in transmitting information across a synaptic gap to the next neuron.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is acetylcholine (ACh)?

<p>The neurotransmitter responsible for motor control at the junction between nerves and muscles, also involved in mental processes such as learning, memory, sleeping, and dreaming.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid)?

<p>A neurotransmitter found throughout the nervous system, believed to be in approximately 1/3 of the brain's synapses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is norepinephrine?

<p>A neurotransmitter that inhibits the firing of neurons in the CNS, but excites the heart muscle, intestines, and urogenital tract.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is dopamine?

<p>A neurotransmitter that helps to control voluntary movement and affects sleep, mood, attention, learning, and the ability to recognize rewards in the environment.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is serotonin?

<p>Involved in the regulation of sleep, mood, attention, and learning; low levels lead to depression.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are endorphins?

<p>Natural opiates that mainly stimulate the firing of neurons, shielding the body from pain and elevating feelings of pleasure.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is oxytocin?

<p>A hormone and neurotransmitter that plays important roles in love and social bonding.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an agonist drug?

<p>Drugs that often mimic or increase the work of neurotransmitters; they can also block their effects.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an antagonist drug?

<p>A drug that blocks a neurotransmitter's effects.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the hindbrain?

<p>Located at the skull's rear, the lowest portion of the brain, consisting of the medulla, cerebellum, and pons.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the cerebral cortex?

<p>The outermost layer of gray, wrinkled matter of the cerebral hemispheres that governs higher brain functions such as thinking and learning.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the amygdala?

<p>An almond-shaped structure at the base of the temporal lobe, related to emotion and memory formation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the hippocampus?

<p>The structure in the limbic system that has a special role in the storage of memories.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the pons?

<p>Part of the brain that governs sleep and arousal.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the cerebellum?

<p>Part of the brain that is a rounded structure involved in motor coordination.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the medulla?

<p>Part of the brain that governs breathing and reflexes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the reticular formation?

<p>A diffuse collection of neurons involved in arousal and stereotyped patterns such as walking.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the hypothalamus?

<p>A small forebrain structure located just below the thalamus that monitors pleasurable activities.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the thalamus?

<p>The forebrain structure that serves as an important relay station.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the midbrain?

<p>Located between the hindbrain and forebrain, it connects various nerve fiber systems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the brain stem?

<p>The stem-like area that connects with the spinal cord.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the reticular formation?

<p>A system in the midbrain comprising a diffuse collection of neurons involved in stereotyped patterns of behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the forebrain?

<p>The brain's largest division and its most forward part.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the limbic system?

<p>A loosely connected network system of structures under the cerebral cortex, important for memory and emotion.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Psychology Foundations

  • Psychology: Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
  • Science: Systematic methods to observe natural phenomena, including human behavior.
  • Behavior: Observable actions and responses of individuals.
  • Mental Processes: Internal experiences like thoughts and feelings that are not directly observable.

Research Methods

  • Critical Thinking: Rigorous examination and evaluation of evidence and arguments.
  • Empirical Method: Knowledge acquisition through observation and logical reasoning.
  • Case Study: In-depth analysis of a single subject.
  • Correlational Research: Examines relationships between variables to determine their interconnections.
  • Experimental Design: Rigorous testing where the researcher manipulates variables to observe effects.

Approaches to Psychology

  • Structuralism: Wundt's focus on basic elements of mental processes.
  • Functionalism: James's emphasis on the functions of mind and behavior in adaptation.
  • Biological Approach: Examines physical basis of behavior, including brain and nervous system.
  • Cognitive Approach: Studies mental processes like memory and problem-solving.
  • Psychodynamic Approach: Focus on unconscious drives and conflicts shaped by early experiences.

Nervous System and Brain

  • Nervous System: Electrochemical communication network of the body.
  • Central Nervous System (CNS): Comprises the brain and spinal cord.
  • Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): Connects CNS with limbs and organs.
  • Neurons: Basic units of the nervous system responsible for processing and transmitting information.
  • Glial Cells: Supportive cells in the nervous system aiding neuron function.

Brain Structures

  • Hindbrain: Includes the medulla, cerebellum, and pons, controlling vital functions and coordination.
  • Forebrain: Largest brain division, responsible for complex behaviors and functions.
  • Limbic System: Emotion and memory regulation; includes amygdala and hippocampus.
  • Cerebral Cortex: Outermost layer of the brain involved in higher cognitive functions.
  • Neocortex: Covers 80% of the cerebral cortex, linked to complex thought processes.

Neurotransmitters

  • Acetylcholine (ACh): Involved in motor control and memory processes.
  • Dopamine: Regulates movement and emotional responses; imbalances linked to disorders.
  • GABA: Major inhibitory neurotransmitter; low levels associated with anxiety.
  • Serotonin: Regulates mood, sleep, and learning; low levels linked to depression.
  • Endorphins: Natural pain relievers, promote feelings of pleasure.

Experimental Concepts

  • Hypothesis: Testable prediction derived from theories.
  • Independent Variable: The manipulated factor in an experiment.
  • Dependent Variable: The outcome measured in response to changes in the independent variable.
  • Validity: Soundness of conclusions drawn from research, divided into internal and external validity.
  • Random Assignment: Reduces bias by equally distributing participants across groups.

Stress and Coping

  • Stress: Response to perceived environmental threats.
  • Stressors: Events that challenge or harm an individual’s coping abilities.

Considerations in Research

  • Experimenter Bias: Influence of researcher's expectations on outcomes.
  • Demand Characteristics: Signals in research that hint to participants about expected behaviors.
  • Placebo Effect: Changes in participant behavior due to expectations rather than treatment.

Brain Functions

  • Myelin Sheath: Insulation around axons aiding faster signal transmission.
  • Action Potential: Electrical charge event triggering neuron firing.
  • Synapses: Gaps between neurons for neurotransmitter transmission.

Brain Regions and Functions

  • Thalamus: Relays sensory information to the cortex.
  • Hypothalamus: Regulates essential functions like hunger and temperature.
  • Cerebellum: Coordinates motor control and balance.
  • Frontal Lobes: Involved in personality, judgment, and motor function.
  • Occipital Lobes: Responsible for processing visual information.

These notes encapsulate key concepts and definitions from the first seven chapters of “Experience Psychology” by Laura King, essential for foundational understanding in psychology.

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Test your knowledge with these flashcards covering Chapters 1-7 of Laura King's 'Experience Psychology'. Each card presents key terms and definitions crucial for understanding the foundations of psychology. Perfect for students looking to reinforce their learning in this dynamic field.

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