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AP Psychology Unit
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Structuralism | An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind. |
| Functionalism | A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function-how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish. |
| Nature-Nurture Issue | The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today’s science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture. |
| Psychoanalytic theory | Approach to understanding human behaviour that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping thoughts, feelings and actions. |
| Evolutionary Psychology | Explains mind and behaviour in terms of adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selction |
| Neuron | A nerve cell, the basic building block of the nervous system |
| Biological Psychology | A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. |
| Central Nervous System (CNS) | The brain and spinal cord. |
| Nervous System | The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems. |
| Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) | The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body. |
| Somatic Nervous System | The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the gland and the muscles of the internal organs. Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic divisions calms. |
| Autonomic Nervous System | Part of PNS that controls the glands and muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart) |
| Sympathetic Nervous System | "Fight-or-flight" A division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy. |
| Parasympathetic Nervous System | Calms a person down once a stressful event has passed. |
| Alpha Waves | The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state |
| Delta waves | The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep |
| Sensory Neurons | Detects stimuli and send signals to the spinal cord |
| Interneurons | Process info in spinal cord |
| Neural transmission | 1. Resting : ready to fire 2. threshold : min. level of stimuli needed 3. depolarization : positive ions rush in, neuron fires 4. refractory period : neuron resets and cant fire 5. reuptake : reabsorbed into sending neuron, resets, then readys up. |
| NREM | Non-rapid eye movement sleep; encompasses all sleep stages except for REM sleep. |
| Dreams | A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind. Dreams are notable for hallucinatory imagery and for the dreamer's delusional acceptance of content and later difficulty remembering it |
| CT (Computed Tomography) scan | A series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body. Also called CAT scan. |
| PET (positron emission tomography) scan | A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. |
| MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) | A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain. |
| Medulla | The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing |
| Thalamus | 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. |
| Cerebellum | The "little brain' attached to the rear of the brainstem, it helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance. |
| Amygdala | Two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic systems and are linked to emotion. |
| Hypothalamus | A neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion. |
| Cerebral cortex | The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center. |
| Broca's area | Controls the language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usaully in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech. |
| Wernicke's area | Controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression usually in the left temporal lobe. |
| Corpus callosum | The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them. |
| Temporal Lobes | 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. |
| Frontal lobes | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgements. |
| Occipital Lobes | 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. |
| Parietal Lobes | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head toward the rear; includes the sensory cortex. |
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