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| Question | Answer |
| "tabula rasa" At birth we are a blank slate; "a white sheet of paper on which experience writes" | John Locke |
| View that knowledge originates in experience and that science should rely on observation and experimentation | Empiricism |
| Edward Bradford Titchener; used introspection to explore the mind | Structuralism |
| "looking inward"; self-reflective | Introspection |
| William James; focuses on how mental and behavioral processes function- how they enable the organism to adapt and survive | Functionalism |
| Wrote the first psychology textbook; gave first psychology lecture at Harvard | William james |
| psychoanalysis; psycho-sexual theory; dream interpretation | Sigmund Freud |
| Stressed studying observable behavior ONLY | Behaviorism |
| More optimistic approach; emphasizes growth potential; self-actualization; stressed individual choice and free will | Humanistic psychology |
| study of interaction of thought processes and brain functions | Cognitive neuroscience |
| Longstanding controversy over contributions of genes (genetics) and experience | Nature vs. nurture debate |
| Charles Darwin's theory | Natural selection |
| perspective on psychology that emphasizes the study of the brain and its effect on behavior | Neuroscience (Bio-medical) perspective |
| emphasizes how the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of one's genes | Evolutionary perspective |
| emphasizes how we are affected by unconscious drives and conflicts | Psycho-dynamic perspective |
| a psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behaviour | cognitive perspective |
| a psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behaviour | Socio-cultural perspective |
| assists people with problems in living often related to work or school | Counseling psychologists |
| assess and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders | clinical psychologists |
| medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and treat causes of mental disorders; provide psychotherapy | Psychiatrists |
| psychologists who apply their knowledge in the workplace and are especially interested in work motivation and job performance | Industrial-organizational psychologists (I/O Psychologists) |
| pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base | Basic research |
| scientific study that aims to solve practical problems | Applied research |
| the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon) | hindsight bias |
| thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions | critical thinking |
| testable prediction | hypothesis |
| a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. Allows anyone to replicate (repeat) their experiment. | operational definition |
| observe, study one person in depth | case study |
| research method in which information is obtained by asking many individuals a fixed set of questions | survey |
| involves observing and recording behaviour in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation | naturalistic observation |
| the measure of a relationship between two variables or sets of data; it can vary from -1 (perfect negative correlation) through 0 (no correlation) to +1 (perfect positive correlation) | correlation |
| a graphed cluster of dots that show the correlation between two variables | scatter plots |
| Positive correlation | |
| negative correlation | |
| no relationship | |
| the perception of a relationship when none exists | illusory correlation |
| the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs | false consensus effect |
| a sample in which every element in the population has an equal chance | random sample |
| a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variable) to observe the effect on some behaviour or mental process (dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors | experiment |
| neither the experimenter or the participants know who has received the treatment or the placebo | Double-blind procedure |
| phenomenon that some people get better even tough they receive no medication but instead are administered an inert substance which should have no medical effect | Placebo effect |
| the group that is receiving the independent variable | experimental control (group) |
| in an experiement, the group that is NOT exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment | Control Condition (group) |
| mean- the average score and the most commonly used measure of central tendency, median- the midpoint, mode- the most frequently occurring score | central tendency |
| a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score | standard deviation |
| Animal Studies: 1) must have a clear, scientific purpose; 2) must care for animals in a humane way; 3) acquire animal subjects in a legal way; 4) least amount of suffering possible Human Research: 1) no coercion; 2) informed consent; 3) anonymity/confidentiality; 4) participants cannot be placed at significant mental or physical risk; 5) debriefing | APA Guidelines |
| study of the parts and function of neurons | Microanatomy |
| sensory (afferent) neurons carry info from the sensory organs to the brain (INPUT) Motor (efferent) neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands (OUTPUT) | S-A-M-E |
| Neurons that connect sensory and motor neurons, carrying messages between the two | interneurons |
| branching extensions of neuron that receives messages from neighboring neurons | Dendrites |
| contains the nucleus | cell body (aka soma) |
| a long, thin fiber that transmits signals away from the neuron cell body to other neurons, or to muscles and glands | axon |
| fatty covering around the axon that speeds up neural transmission | myelin sheath |
| branched end of the axon that contains the neurotransmitters | Terminal Buttons (aka synaptic knobs) |
| the space between the terminal buttons of one neuron and the dendrites of the next neuron | Synaptic gap (aka synapse) |
| a neuron that fires completely or it does not fire! | "all or none principle" |
| a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane | action potential |
| the state of neuron when it is at rest and capable of generating an action potential | resting potential |
| after a neuron fires, it can not fire again for a brief period of time | refractory period |
| chemical messengers that travel across the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse | neurotransmitters |
| involved in muscle movement, learning, and memory | Acetylcholine (Ach) |
| influences movement, learning | dopamine |
| affects mood, sleep, and arousal | serotonin |
| "morphine within" natural opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure | endorphins |
| brain and the spinal cord | Central Nervous System (CNS) |
| Links the CNS with the body's sense receptors, muscles, and glands | Peripheral nervous system (PNS) |
| the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls voluntary movement of skeletal muscles | somatic nervous system |
| control of involuntary body functions of muscles, glands, and internal organs | Autonomic nervous system |
| when sensory information only goes to the spinal cord and not the brain before reacting | simple reflex |
| the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream | endocrine system |
| release epinephrine (adrenaline) and nor | adrenal glands |
| "the master gland"; located in the core of the brain where it is controlled by an adjacent area of the brain (the hypothalamus); regulates growth and controls the other endocrine glands | pituitary gland |
| detects brain waves. Researchers can examine types of brain waves produced by the brain to generalize about brain function | Electroencephalogram (EEG) |
| Uses x-rays to take pictures of the brain at various angles | Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT or CT scan) |
| uses magnetic fields to measure the density and location of the brain material | Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) |
| Removal or destruction of part of the brain | Lesions |
| a visual display of brain activity that detects where radioactive form glucose goes while the brain performs a given task | Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan) |
| a technique for revealing blood flow, and therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. Show brain function. | Functional MRI (fMRI) |
| our life support system; includes the medulla, pons, and the cerebellum | Hindbrain |
| controls blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing | Medulla |
| connects the hindbrain and midbrain; involved in control of facial expressions | Pons |
| coordinates muscle movement; means "little brain" | Cerebellum |
| between the hindbrain and the forebrain; integrates sensory information and muscle movements | Midbrain |
| a net-like collection of cells throughout the midbrain that controls body arousal | Reticular Formation |
| control center; structures- thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus | Forebrain |
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