History & Perspectives
He is known as the "father of psychology" and opened the first psychology lab in 1879
Who is Wilhelm Wundt?
The name of the group of people who are NOT exposed to the independent variable in an experiment
What is the Control Group?
This is the basic unit of the nervous system that transmits information
What is a Neuron?
This is when sensitivity to a constant stimulus decreases over time. (For example, you stop noticing the smell in a room after being there for a while).
What is sensory adaptation?
This is doing something because it is inherently enjoyable or satisfying rather than doing it to earn a reward or avoid punishment
What is intrinsic motivation?
This perspective in psychology emphasizes unconscious drives and early childhood experiences
What is the Psychodynamic (or psychoanalytic) perspective?
This type of study collects data at one point in time (snapshot) from many people
What is a Cross-sectional study?
These are the two major divisions of the peripheral nervous system
What are the Somatic and Autonomic nervous systems?
This bodily sense gives you a sense of where your body parts are located in space, even with your eyes closed
What is the kinesthetic sense?
This is the third level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs
What is love and belonging?
This school of thought focused on breaking consciousness into basic elements using introspection
What is Structuralism?
One strength of this research method is that behavior is observed in a natural setting. However, one weakness is a lack of control and possible observer bias.
What is naturalistic observation?
This endocrine system uses these to send messages through the bloodstream
What are hormones?
This is the smallest change in a stimulus that can be detected.
What is the Difference threshold or Just noticeable difference (JND)?
This occurs when previously learned information hinders the recall of newer information (For example, your old password prevents you from remembering your new password)
What is proactive interference?
This approach (influenced by Darwin) studies how behavior and mental processes help people adapt to their environment
What is Functionalism?
The main purpose of random assignment in experiments
What is to create equivalent groups so that differences in the outcome can be attributed to the independent variable rather than preexisting differences (confounding variables)
This structure connects the two hemispheres of the brain
What is the Corpus callosum?
This uses prior knowledge, expectations, and context to interpret sensory information (For example, reading messy handwriting by guessing words)
What is Top-down processing?
This theory of emotion states that an emotional stimulus triggers the physiological response and the subjective experience of emotion simultaneously
What is the Cannon-bard theory?
This is the major difference between the focus of behaviorism and humanistic psychology.
What is focusing only on observable behavior and learning through reinforcement (Behaviorism) and focusing on individual choice, free will, and self-actualization (humanistic psychology)?
This research method measures the relationship between two variables (how they change together) while this research method demonstrates how one variable causes change in the other. The first method does not imply causation.
What are correlational research and an experiment?
These are the names and functions of the four lobes of the brain
What are the Frontal lobes (decision-making, planning, motor control), Parietal lobes (touch, spatial awareness, sensory integration), Temporal lobes (hearing and language processing) and Occipital lobes (vision)?
This is the process of converting physical energy from the environment into neural signals
What is Transduction?
These are the three stages in the classic model of memory (the memory store model)
What are Sensory memory, short-term (working) memory and long-term memory?