ap psych midterm review

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, (b) science flourishes through observation and experiment

an early school of psycholgy that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

historically signifficant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth

the longstanding controversy over the relative contrabutions that genes and experience make to the development or psychological traits and behaviors

the principle that among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributong to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon

an integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater wellbeing

a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments(for example, drug) as well as psychological therapies

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions - rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

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

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

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

a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables

the perception of a relationship where none exists

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or the placebo

experimental results caused by expectations alone

the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable

the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to different groups

the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied

the experimental factor that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

the most frequently occurring score in a distribution

the arithmetic average of a distribution

the middle score in a distribution

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

the extention of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands

a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next

a neural impulse; a breif electrical charge that travels down an axon

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gap between neurons

a neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle contraction

"morphine within" - natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure

the body's speedy, electrochemical communication system, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems

the brain and spinal cord

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body

neural "cables" containing many axons

neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system

central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs

neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands

the division of the perihperal nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy

a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus

interconnected neural cells - with experience, networks can learn

tissue destruction

an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface - these waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp

a series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body

a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task

a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue

the oldest part and central coe of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; responsible for automatic survival functions

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing

a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; it helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance

a doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and agression and drives such as those for food and sex

two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion

a neural struture lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities, helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion

the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; invloved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; includes the sensory cortex

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from the opposite ear

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

the area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body sensations

areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking

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

controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

a condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them

the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine system, that are produced in one tissue and affect another

a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys that secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress

the endocrine system's most influential gland - under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes