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AP Psych unit 1 test
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| absolute threshold | the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time |
| accommodation | the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus images of near or far objects on the retina |
| action potential | a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon |
| addiction | an everyday term for compulsive substance use that continue despite harmful consequences |
| agonist | a molecule that increases a neurotransmitter's action |
| alpha waves | the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state |
| amygdala | two lima bean sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion |
| antagonist | a molecule that inhibits or blocks a neurotransmitter's action |
| association areas | areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions, but rather are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking |
| audition | the sense or act of hearing |
| autonomic nervous system | the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscle of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. |
| Axon | the segmented neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands |
| barbiturates | drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement |
| behavior genetics | the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior |
| biological psychology | the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes. |
| biopsychosocial approach | an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis |
| blind spot | the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there |
| blindsight | a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it |
| bottom up processing | information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information |
| computed tomography (CT) | x ray photographs taken from angles and combined by a computer into a representation of the brains structure |
| electroencephalogram (EGG) | a recording of the waves of electrical activity across the brains surface measured by electrodes placed on the scalp |
| functional MRI (FMRI) | reveals blood flow and therefore brain activity |
| magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) | uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissue anatomy. |
| positron emission tomography (PET) | detects brain activity that displays where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task |
| brainstem | the central core of the brain responsible for automatic survival functions |
| cell body | the part of a neuron that contains the nucleus; the cell's life support center |
| central nervous system | brain and spinal cord |
| cerebellum | processing sensory input, coordinating movement, balance, and nonverbal learning |
| cerebral cortex | covers the forebrains cerebral hemisphere; the body's ultimate info processing center |
| circadian rhythm | our biological clock of temperature and wakefulness that occur on a 24 hour cycle |
| cochlea | coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear that sounds travel through |
| cochlear implant | a device for converting sounds into the electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes |
| cognitive neuroscience | the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (thinking, knowing, remembering, communicating) |
| conduction hearing loss | caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea |
| cones | retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and function in daylight or well lit conditions. |
| consciousness | subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment |
| contralateral hemispheric organization | the brain is structured so the controls and sensory reception are received by the opposite side hemisphere (left hemisphere controls ride side of the body etc) |
| cornea | the eye's clear protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris |
| corpus callosum | the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them |
| delta waves | large slow brain waves associated with deep sleep |
| dendrites | a neurons bushy branching extensions that receive messages |
| depressants | drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions |
| difference threshold | the minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time |
| dreams | a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a person's mind |
| dual processing | the principle that information is often simultaneously processed consciously and unconsciously |
| embodied cognition | the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments |
| endocrine system | the body's slow chemical communication system that secrete hormones into the bloodstream |
| endorphins | natural opioid like neurotransmitter linked to pain control and pleasure |
| environment | every nongenetic influence from prenatal nutrition to our experience of the people and things around us |
| epigenetics | the study of the molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression |
| eugenics | discriminatory and discredited practice of selectively breeding humans to promote certain characteristics |
| evolutionary psychology | perspective that studies the evolution of behavior and the mind |
| feature detectors | nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex that respond to stimulus like shape, angle, or movement |
| forebrain | consists of the cerebral cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus; manages complex cognitive actives, sensory, and voluntary motor |
| fovea | the central focal point in the retina around which the eye's cones cluster |
| fraternal twins | individuals who developed from separate fertilized eggs |
| frequency | the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time |
| frequency theory | the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve for us to hear low pitch |
| frontal lobe | enables processing, muscle movements, planning, decisions making, judgement, personality |
| gate control theory | contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain |
| genes | biochemical units of heredity |
| genetic predisposition | increased likelihood of developing a particular |
| genome | complete instructions for making an organism |
| glial cells | supports, nourishes, and protects neurons |
| gustation | sense of taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, oleogustus) |
| hallucinogens | drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input |
| hallucinations | false sensory experiences |
| hemispheric specialization | left hemisphere = language right hemisphere = spatial reasoning |
| heredity | genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring |
| hindbrain | consists of medulla, pons, cerebellum. |
| hippocampus | processes explicit conscious memories for storage |
| hormones | chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands and travel through the bloodstream |
| hue | the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light |
| hypothalamus | a limbic system neural structure lying below the thalamus responsible for eating, drinking, and body temp |
| hypnagogic | bizarre experiences such as jerking or a feeling of falling or floating weightlessly |
| identical twins | individuals who developed from a single fertilized egg that split into two |
| inner ear | innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs |
| insomnia | recurring problems in falling or staying asleep |
| intensity | the amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive was brightness or loudness |
| interaction | the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor depends on another factor |
| iris | ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil |
| kinesthesis | our movement sense; our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts |
| lens | transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina |
| lesion | tissue destruction from disease or trauma |
| limbic system | neural system located mostly in the forebrain that includes amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, thalamus, and pituitary gland. Emotions and drives |
| medulla | controls heartbeat and breathing |
| middle ear | chamber between eardrum and the cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window |
| motor neurons | neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands |
| motor cortex | cerebral cortex at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movement |
| mutation | random error in gene replication that leads to a change |
| myelin sheath | fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons and speeds as neural impulses hop from one node to the next |
| narcolepsy | sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks |
| natural selection | inherited traits that makes an organism survive in a particular environment will most likely be passed on |
| nature vs nurture | contributions that genes and experiences make the development of psychological traits and behaviors |
| near death experience | an altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death |
| nerves | bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sensory organs |
| nervous system | the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous system |
| neurogenesis | the formation of new neurons |
| neuron | a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system |
| neuroplasticity | the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience |
| neurotransmitters | chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gap between neurons |
| acetylcholine | enables muscle action, learning, and memory ↓ = Alzheimer's |
| dopamine | influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion ↑ =schizophrenia |
| endorphins | a collection of neurotransmitters that influence the perception of pain or pleasure |
| GABA | major inhibitory neurotransmitter (calms) |
| Glutamate | major excitatory neurotransmitter (alerts) |
| norepinephrine | helps control alertness and arousal |
| serotonin | affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal |
| substance p | involved in pain perception and immune response |
| NON rem | non rapid eye movement sleep; encompasses all stages except for REM sleep |
| occipital lobe | portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual field |
| olfaction | sense of smell |
| opioids | depresses neural activity (mimics endorphins) |
| optic nerve | the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain |
| opponent process theory | the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow- white-black) enable color vision |
| parallel processing | processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously |
| parasympathetic nervous system | rest and digest |
| parietal lobe | receives sensory input for touch and body position |
| perception | the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory info |
| peripheral nervous system | sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body |
| pitch | a tone's experienced highness or lowness |
| pituitary gland | most influential endocrine gland |
| place theory | the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated |
| pons | between midbrain and medulla assists in movement, posture, and sleep |
| priming | activation often unconsciously of certain associations thus predisposing one's perception |
| prosopagnosia | neurological condition where individuals have difficulty recognizing faces |
| psychoactive drug | chemical substance that alters the brain, causing changes in perceptions and moods |
| psychophysics | study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli |
| pupil | the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters |
| refractory period | in neural processing, a brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron has fired; subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon returns to its resting state |
| reflex | a simple automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk reflex |
| REM rebound | the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation |
| REM sleep | rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep. |
| REM sleep disorder | a sleep disorder in which normal REM paralysis does not occur |
| reticular formation | filters information and plays an important role in controlling arousal |
| retina | the light sensitive back inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones |
| reuptake | a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron |
| rods | retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement. Rods are necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond |
| sensation | the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment |
| sensory (afferent) neurons | neurons that carry incoming information from the body's tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord |
| sensory adaptation | diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation |
| sensory interaction | the principle that one sense can influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste |
| sensory receptors | sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli |
| sensorineural hearing loss | the most common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerve. |
| sequential processing | processing one aspect of a stimulus or problem at a time; generally used to process new information |
| signal detection theory | a theory predicting how and when we detect a signal amid background stimulation assumes there is no single absolute threshold |
| sleep | a periodic natural loss of consciousness |
| sleep apnea | a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings |
| somatic skeletal nervous system | division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles |
| somatosensory cortex | cerebal cortex area at the front of the parietal lobe that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations |
| split brain | a condition resulting from surgery that separates the brain's two hemisphere by cutting the fibers |
| stimulants | drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions |
| subliminal | below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| substance use disorder | a disorder characterized by continued substance use despite resulting life disruption |
| sympathetic nervous system | the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy |
| synapse | the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. |
| temporal lobe | the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears |
| thalamus | the grand central station of sensation |
| threshold | level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse |
| tolerance | the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses |
| top down processing | information processing guided by higher mental processes as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations |
| transduction | conversion of one form of energy into another |
| vestibular sense | our balance sense |
| wavelength | the distance from the peak of one light wave or sound wave to the peak of the next |
| weber's law | the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ b y a constant minimum percentage |
| withdrawal | the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing an addictive drug or behavior |
| young HemHoltz | the theory that the retina contains 3 different types of color receptors |
| alcohol | depressant |
| heroin | depressant |
| caffeine | stimulant |
| nicotine | stimulant |
| cocaine | stimulant |
| methamphetamine | stimulant |
| ecstasy | stimulant & hallucinogen |
| LSD | hallucinogen |
| marijuana | hallucinogen |
| parallel processing | processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously |
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