AP Psychology Unit 1 Study Guide PDF

[Biology and Behavior] ================================== 1. How do messages travel from one neuron to another? a. messages travel from dendrites through the cell body and down the axon to the axon terminals. i. myelin sheath protects and increases action potential b....

[Biology and Behavior] ================================== 1. How do messages travel from one neuron to another? a. messages travel from dendrites through the cell body and down the axon to the axon terminals. i. myelin sheath protects and increases action potential b. the message is sent across the synapse by means of neurotransmitters to the dendrites of the next neuron. ii. examples of **neurotransmitters**: dopamine (alertness), endorphins (pain relief), serotonin (mood) 2. Identify the systems that make up the peripheral nervous system. c. The somatic nervous system (which transmits sensory messages with muscles) and the autonomic nervous system (which regulates the body's vital functions). The autonomic nervous system is made up of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system. 3. In what way do parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems work together? d. Although the two systems have opposing functions, they actually work together. The sympathetic prepares the body to confront a stressful situation. The parasympathetic system restores the body's function to normal levels. Our bodies are unable to function at aroused levels for long periods of time. 4. Why is the cerebral cortex important? e. it is the part of the brain that controls the way we think as well as our memory, language, emotions, associations, perceptions and complex motor functions f. divided into lobes- frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal g. Within these lobes are specific ―CORTEX‖ that provide a specific function a. **motor cortex:** back of the frontal lobe running from ear to ear; causes movements in specific body parts b. **sensory cortex:** receives info from skin senses and the movement of body parts; parallel to the motor cortex and just at the front of the parietal lobes c. **association areas**: pretty much the rest of the cortex; integrate information from incoming sensory info with stored memories d. Can also see some impairment with language if cortex areas damaged: **aphasia** - could speak, but not read or write (any combination) - **Broca's** area: left frontal lobe: can comprehend language, but not find own words; associated with the muscles used to help form speech - **Wernicke's** area: left temporal lobe; speak meaningless words 5. Describe two differences between the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex. h. the left hemisphere is usually more involved in language and logic, while the right hemisphere plays more of a role in emotions, creativity and spatial relations. 6. What are the three main sections of the brain? 1. The **brainstem**: starts where the spinal cord enters the skull; where most nerves from both sides of the brain connect to other side of the body 2. the **medulla**: where the brainstem swells slightly; controls heartbeat and breathing 3. **pons**: just above the medulla: coordinates movements (like facial expressions) 4. **reticular formation**: just inside the brainstem (split b/t hind and midbrain); network of neurons that extends from the spinal cord to the thalamus; filters info and relays important info to other areas of the brain; involved in arousal (damage could lead to coma) 5. **Cerebellum**: ―little brain‖/ baseball sized; some nonverbal learning and memory (think body language); fine, voluntary motor movements like reading music - The MIDBRAIN - The FOREBRAIN- extremely complex; AKA ―**limbic system**‖: b/c all deal with emotion/memory 1. **thalamus**: received info from all senses except smell and routes it to the brain regions that deal with that sense; like the ―hub‖ or ―switchboard‖; also receives some higher level info from cerebellum and medulla; pain and touch from the spine 2. **Hypothalamus**- hunger, thirst, sex drives, body temperature; controls the pituitary gland; serves as a sort of ―reward center‖ essential to survival; control biological rhythms 3. **Amygdala**- lima bean shaped; emotions tied to memory (especially aggression and fear); the perception and processing of emotional memories 4. **Hippocampus**- process new memories (but don't store); shrinks as we age 7. List the different imaging techniques used to study the brain. i. EEG, CAT scan, the MRI/ fMRI and PET scan 8. Why do you think it benefits people to have brains that are flexible? What would happen if brains were not flexible? j. Because the brain is flexible, if one part is injured, another part may be able to assume the functions of the damaged part. If the brain were not flexible, then abilities controlled by the damaged part would be completely and forever lost. - **brain plasticity** 9. List and describe the role of hormones produced by the pituitary gland, the thyroid gland, the adrenal glands and the testes and ovaries. k. part of the endocrine system; travel through bloodstream; send messages between glands 10. The Endocrine system: interconnected w/ the nervous system - cells form special organs called **glands** - they communicate with each other by secreting hormones: similar to neurotransmitters; put chemicals in bloodstream to carry throughout the body - can only influence **target organs**: cells capable of receiving them - travel MUCH SLOWER than neurotransmitters - **pituitary gland:** regulates growth, water and salt metabolism, reproductive organs and controls the adrenal glands; controlled by the hypothalamus in the brain - **adrenal glands**: regulate carbs, salt metabolism; prepares body for action (sympathetic) - **thyroid gland**: controls metabolic rate - **testes**: males- physical development, reproductive organs**; ovaries**: females [Sensation] ======================= 1. How do our senses convert incoming stimuli into neural impulses? a. Process of **transduction** b. **Cocktail party phenomenon:** when attention involuntarily switches across the room when you hear your name (were not paying attention to conversation, but heard your name) 2. Label a diagram of the parts of the eye and ear and explain the role of each part. c. Know lens (accommodation), cornea, pupil, iris, retina, fovea, optic nerve and blind spot, rods, cones, bipolar cells, ganglion cells d. Know the difference between the two theories of color i. Opponent- process ii. Triarchic theory e. Know the parts of a wave and how it assists in hearing (amplitude, frequency, pitch, etc.) iii. pitch theories: **place theory:** the hair cells in the cochlea respond to different frequencies of sound based on where they are located in the cochlea; mostly higher tones **Volley theory**: neural cells alternate firing in rapid succession, so firing at above 1000x/ second f. Explain hearing problems iv. **conduction deafness:** problem with conducting sound thru ear to cochlea v. **nerve deafness:** occurs when hair cells in cochlea are damaged 3. Explain the operation of other sensory systems, such as taste and touch. g. Taste is sensed through receptor neurons located on the tongue (papillae) h. The four basic taste qualities are sweetness, sourness, saltiness and bitterness i. Touch is a combination of pressure, temperature and pain. Our skin senses are vitally important to us. - gate control theory ===================== j. smell based on chemicals; message processed via olfactory bulb 4. Explain our body position senses k. k**inesthetic:** keeps track of position and orientation of specific body parts in relation to each other l. **vestibular**: tells how body is oriented in space; sense of balance 5. Define the different thresholds needed to detect sensory information. m. **absolute threshold**: The smallest amount of stimulus that can be sensed n. **difference threshold**: AKA just noticeable difference; the amount of stimulus change needed in order to sense that change o. **Weber's law**: used to compute the difference threshold. The more intense the stimulus, the more change will be needed for us to detect and vice versa 6. Describe a recent situation where you were so involved in something that you did not notice your surroundings. How does that experience relate to **signal-detection theory**? p. Examples might include talking with friends and not hearing the background music because of being more concerned about what the friends were saying q. Reading a book while eating and not noticing the taste of the food because of being more interesting in the story. r. **Signal detection theory** explains the examples because motivation lessens the effect of the stimuli vi. based on **response criterion**: how motivated we are to detect certain stimuli and what we expect to perceive vii. **selective attention**: our awareness can only focus on a limited aspect of all that we experience (only actually process a small portion of all the info we take in) [Sleep/Consciousness] ================================= 1. What is consciousness? a. The mental experience that arises from sensation and perception 2. What is the difference between the unconscious and the subconscious? b. The unconscious is where sexual and aggressive urges reside (according to Freud) c. Most psychologists refer to the subconscious as the place where mental processing, outside conscious awareness, occurs. 3. What kinds of mental processes occur at each of the stages of consciousness? d. The conscious level deals with events and mental processes you are aware of. e. The preconscious level processes mental events easily accessed by the conscious f. Subconscious level deals with mental processes outside awareness and difficult to access g. Nonconsciousness processing is totally removed from conscious awareness 4. How are the stages of sleep determined? h. There are several stages of sleep measurable with an electroencephalogram (EEG) 5. What are the features of each stage of sleep? i. part of the **circadian rhythm**: 24- hour pattern  Stage 0- sleep onset: individual is relaxed but awake; experience mild hallucinations; alpha waves Stage 4- determined by the appearance of a particular brain wave pattern; difficult to wake 6. What is REM sleep? j. An additional stage of sleep called Rapid Eye Movement k. Identified by EEG waves of an awake person with near paralysis muscle tone. l. An individual's eye will move rapidly under the eyelid and sudden spasmic activity may occur, particularly in the hands and face 7. What are the common sleep disorders? m. Insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, sleepwalking (somnambulism), nightmares, night terrors, REM behavior disorder and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) 8. What are the explanations for why people sleep and dream? n. Sleep theories- sleep may have evolved for 4 reasons 1. protects: in early days, were safer in a cave sleeping than trying to hunt in the dark 2. recuperate, restore and repair: brain tissue, neural connections 3. remembering: restore and rebuild the day's memories; promotes recall 4. growth: pituitary gland releases a growth hormone- also explains why we grow more as babies and adolescents- b/c we tend to sleep more!! o. Dream theories i. Activation- synthesis theory (lucid dreaming) ii.Problem- solving theory 9. What are the factors that determine an individual's susceptibility to hypnosis? p. An individual with the potential to be hypnotized must have a willingness to be hypnotized, a better ability to focus attention and ignore distraction, has a more active imagination, a tendency to fantasize and a capacity for processing information quickly and easily. q. Can be used to recover repressed memories (Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic therapy) - **Age regression**: the ability to recover childhood experiences/ even ACT THE AGE! - **posthypnotic suggestion**: a suggestion made while subject is hypnotized to be carried out after the session - Pain relief: can be given suggestions to feel no pain, reduce ear of pain, no anesthesia - most people also experience **posthypnotic amnesia**: report forgetting events that occurred while they were hypnotized; usually happens if no posthypnotic suggestion 10. Is hypnosis an altered state of consciousness? r. There are three major theories that examine hypnosis as an altered state ii. State theory iii. Role theory iv. Dissociation theory 11. What is psychopharmacology? s. The study of psychoactive drugs 12. How do psychoactive drugs affect the brain? t. cross the blood-brain barrier u. Categorized as either agonists or antagonists, affect the brain through negative interactions with neurotransmitters 13. What is a psychological dependence? Physical dependence? v. Psychological dependence occurs when an individual uses a drug, despite adverse effects, in order to achieve a state of well being. The individual will become preoccupied by the drug. w. Physical dependence (addiction) occurs when an individual must continue taking a drug to prevent withdrawal. 14. What are the different categories of psychoactive drugs? x. Depressants- alcohol, barbiturates, anxiolytics Stimulants- caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine y. Opiates- morphine, heroin, methadone, codeine z. Hallucinogens (psychedelics) - LSD, peyote, mushrooms, marijuana