Intro to Psych (ch.1-2-4) Cheat Sheet by rymansk

Psychology is the study of overt behavior and mental proces­ses­(overt= things you can see and mentally process)

Psychology is a science and profession because what they do is based on eviden­ce/­science and they study human nature and the mind

A psycho­logists four main goals are, 1. Descri­ption: which is naming and classi­fying. 2. Unders­tan­ding: which is when we can state the causes of the behavior. 3. Predic­tion: which is the ability to forecast behavior accura­tely. and 4. Control: which is the ability to alter the conditions that affect behavior

"Few truths transcend the need for logical analysis and empirical thinki­ng" means some things don't need to be researched (religious beliefs)

"­Aut­hority or claimed expertise does not automa­tically make an idea true or false" means you don't have to automa­tically (dis) believe what a person says

"­Cri­tical thinking requires an open mind" means you should be able to consider others evidence

Edward Kitchener took Wundt's ideas and added 'struc­ture'. Struct­uralism means to analyze mental life into basic elements

John Watson and B.F. Skinner studied the mind or consci­ence. Behavi­orism is the study of observable behavi­or(no mind)

Fritz Perls created Gestalt Psychology which is the study of thinking, learning, and perception as a whole unit (can't break it down)

Freud came up with the uncons­cious mind, dream interp­ret­ation. Psycho­ana­lystic Psychology is where everyone is 'anal' and 'selfish'

Psycho­logical Perspe­ctive is the study of observable behaviors and the effects of learning

Eclectic Perspe­ctive is to draw insights from a variety of perspe­ctives

Clinical Psycho­logist treat psycho­logical proble­ms/­res­earch on therapies and mental disorders

Psychi­atrists can prescribe meds. They are medical doctors. Treatment of mental and emotional disorders. Have to have a PhD

Social workers are mental health profes­sionals that apply social science to help patients

(scien­tific method) A problem is what is wrong

(scien­tific method) gathering evidence means to test a hypothesis

(scien­tific method) Publishing results means to publish your results to see if your results to see if its right/­wrong

An advantage of natura­listic observ­ation is you can gather important inform­ation.

An observer effect is the change in an organisms behavior by knowing they are observed

Correl­ational studies are two or more factors are studie­d/n­on-­exp­eri­mental study to measure relati­onships

Negative correl­ational means a statis­tical relati­onship where is one measure increase the other will decrease

A clinical method (case study) is an in-depth focus on a single partic­ipant

A survey method allows inform­ation about large numbers of people to be gathered and can address questions not answered by other approaches

Internet surveys provide intere­sting inform­ation about topics BUT can limit web-based research

Subjects are who you use in an experi­men­t-not biased

Dependent variables depend on the indepe­ndents variable outcome

An experi­mental group is where one can alter a condition

A random assignment is where everyone is assigned different things

A meta-a­nalysis takes all the research, combines it, and finds the final outcome

A single­-blind experiment is when subjects don't know what testing they've got

Transd­ucers are devices that convert one kind of of energy into another

Percep­tions are the mental processes of organizing sensations into meaningful patterns

Sensory Selection is consid­erable selection that occurs because sensory receptors do not transduce all the energies that they encounter

The pupil is the centre of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina

The Retina is the light-­sen­sitive layer of cells at the back of the eye

The occipital lobe helps understand what the eyes are seeing

Cones are visual receptors for perceiving colors and daylight visual activity

Hyperopia is having difficulty focusing on nearby objects (farsi­ghted)

Astigm­atism is the defect in the cornea, lens, or eye that causes some areas of vision to be out of focus

Opponent Theory is the theory of color vision based on 3 coding color systems (R and G, Y and Blue, Black and W)

Dark adaptation is increased retinal sensit­ivity to light

Outer Ear(Pinna, Eardru­m)-­>Middle Ear(Os­sic­les­)->­Inner Ear(Co­chlea, Hair cells)

Place Theory is higher and lower tones excite specific areas of the cochlea

Sensor­ineural hearing loss is loss of hearing caused by damage to the inner ear hair cells or auditory nerves

Perception is the ability to see, hear, or come aware of something through senses

Figure­-Ground is perception so that part of a stimulus appears to stand out as an object against a less prominent background

Similarity is stimuli that are similar in size, shape, color, or form tend to be grouped together

Closure is the tendency to complete a figure, so that it has a consistent overall form

Shape is perceived shape of an object that is unaffected by changed it its retinal image

Depth Perception is the ability to see 3-D space and to judge distances accurately

Binocular disparity is discre­pancy in the images that reach the right and left eyes

Monocular is inform­ation about distance and 3-D space which requires one eye

Monocular Pictorial cues are monocular depth cues found in paintings, drawings, and photog­raphs that impart inform­ation about space, depth, and distance

Perceptual learning is the changes in perception that can be attributed to prior experi­ences; result of changes in how the brain processes sensory inform­ation

A cell body or soma is the main body of a neuron or other cell

A dendrite is a neuron fiber(s) that receive incoming messages

A myelin sheath is a fatty layer coating some axons

A synaptic cleft or space is a micros­copic space between 2 neurons, over which messages pass

Resting potential is an electrical charge of an inactive neuron

An action potential is a nerve impulse

A negative after-­pot­ential is a drop in electrical charge below the resting potential

An Excitatory neurot­ran­smitter partic­ipates in movement

Neurop­eptides are brain chemicals whereas Neurot­ran­smi­tters are any chemical released by a neuron that alters activity in other neurons

Neurop­las­ticity is the capacity of the brain to change in response to experience

EEG is a device that detects, amplifies, and records electrical activity in the brain (brain waves)

MRI is a recording of brain activity

The peripheral nervous system is a nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord

A autonomic System is no control of the body

Parasy­mpa­thetic (part of the autonomic system) slows down everything

The reflex arc is the local reflexes

Motor neurons carry signals from the central nervous system to the outer parts(­mus­cles)

The left brain is for language, math, time, movement, and controls the right side of the body. The right brain is skills, nonverbal, detect emotions, unders­tanding language, and controls the left side of the body. (The corpus callous cords connects the "two brains­"

The frontal lobe controls sense of self, motor control, and higher mental abilities such as reasoning and planning

The temporal lobe controls hearing and language, memory (Broca's Area- something to do with verbal talking)

Motor cortex is where the brains nerve impulses originate that make voluntary muscular activity

Medulla connects the brain with the spinal cord and controls vital life functions (heart rate, breathing)

Cerebellum is the brain structure that controls posture, muscle tone, and coordi­nation. (outside the brain-­"how to" skills)

Sub-co­rte­x(l­imbic system) is the system in the forebrain that is closely linked to emotional response

Hypoth­alamus has the control of hunger, thirst, temper­ature, and other visceral and bodily functions (emotions, motiva­tion)

Hippoc­ampus associates with strong memories

The pituitary gland is the master gland at the base of the brain whose hormones influence other endocrine glands

The thyroid glands helps regulate the rate of metabolism (in the neck)

Wernicke's helps understand commun­icating