Lecture 1
Define psychology.
It is the study of the mind and behavior.
Name the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
It is involved with pleasure and reward.
Define absolute threshold.
It is the minimum amount of stimulus needed to detect the presence of the stimulus 50% of the time.
Define attachment.
It is the emotional bond between people (typically a child and their caregiver) which is determined by the level of consistency, responsiveness, and attunement.
Define case study.
It is a type of research that is used to identify and describe variables in one individual or group (e.g. Phineas Gage).
Name an example of a confounding variable in an experiment where the IV is medication and the DV is symptom severity.
They can be age, gender, co-occurring disorders, other types of treatment, etc.
Name the role of the neurotransmitter serotonin.
It is associated with wellbeing and happiness, so deficiencies are linked to many psychological disorders.
Identify the vestibular sense.
It is the body's sense of position/movement.
Define critical period.
It is the optimal time frame where exposure to a certain stimuli or experience promotes normal development while the absence of a certain stimuli or experience promotes abnormal development.
Describe neurotransmitters.
They are a chemical messenger that is triggered by the neuron’s electrical impulse. They can be excitatory or inhibitory. They only bind to specific receptor sites (lock and key).
Name something that is discussed during the informed consent process.
They can be the rights of the participant, potential risks of participating, potential benefits of participating, etc.
Identify where memories are stored in the brain.
They are stored in the hippocampus, except for emotional memories which are stored in the amygdala.
Name the senses associated with the perception of flavor.
They are taste, smell, and texture/touch.
Define object permanence according to Piaget.
It is the awareness that objects continue to exist even when they are not readily visible.
Define sensory adaptation.
It is the diminished sensitivity to a particular stimulus following repeated or constant exposure (e.g. air freshener).
State the main difference between a single blind and double blind procedure.
With single blind, the participants do not know who is receiving a treatment versus a placebo but the researchers do. With double blind, neither the participants nor the researchers know.
State the general functions of the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain.
Hindbrain = autonomic survival functions
Midbrain = emotional processing/memory
Forebrain = complex executive functions
Name the four skin sensations associated with touch.
They are pressure, warmth, coldness, and pain.
Define conservation according to Piaget.
It is the principle that perceivable properties of an object such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite physical changes in the object’s appearance.
The frontal lobes are still developing, which causes deficits in executive functions like judgment and impulse control. The emotional limbic system is also overactive.
State the main difference between a correlational and experimental study.
You can determine causation with an experimental study but not with a correlational study.
Correlation does NOT imply causation!
Identify the four lobes of the cortex and their general functions.
Frontal = executive functions
Parietal = body movement/positioning
Temporal = auditory processing
Occipital = visual processing
Identify the cause of color blindness.
It is caused by deficiencies in the cone photoreceptors in the retina since cones are associated with color vision (versus rods that are associated with black and white vision).
Identify the three parenting styles and their characteristics.
Authoritarian = high control, high expectations/rules, high punishment
Authoritative = appropriate control, appropriate expectations/rules, appropriate punishment
Permissive = low control, low expectations/rules, low punishment
State the main difference between sensorineural and conduction hearing loss.
Sensorineural hearing loss involves damage to the sensory receptors and neurons in the ear while conduction hearing loss involves damage to the physical ear structures.