Basics
What is the definition of psychology
The scientific study of mind and behavior
Which early movement focused on the structure / elements of the mind and who "started it"?
Structuralism - Wilhelm Wundt & Titchener
What is an empirical approach?
Gaining knowledge through observation, evidence or experimentation, rather than simply through logic or reasoning.
Name the basic parts of a neuron.
Dendrites, soma (cell body), axon, myelin sheath, terminal branches.
What is the difference between social and personality psychology?
Social psychology studies how others influence behavior -- the interaction between one's traits and their environment, whereas personality psychology mainly focuses on studying individual traits and consistency.
How is a hypothesis different from a theory?
A hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction; a theory is a broader explanation supported by evidence.
What did functionalism emphasize, and who "founded" it?
Focused on why the mind works and the adaptive function of mental processes -- founded by William James
Which type of neuron carries messages from the brain to muscles?
Motor neurons
Give an example of an agonist and an antagonist. What's the difference between the two?
Agonist -- mimics action of neurotransmitter: cocaine; Antagonist -- blocks action by binding to the receptor site: caffeine.
What did Phineas Gage’s case reveal about the brain?
Damage to the frontal lobe can alter personality, decision-making, and behavior.
What is behaviorism and who founded it? Also, why was it popular in the 20th century?
The study of observable and measurable behavior -- founded by John B. Watson. It became popular because psychology was seen as too "subjective", and wanted to be treated more like a "hard" science -- so they turned to studying concepts that were "objective and measurable".
Give two reasons correlation does not equal causation.
Third variable Problem
Directionality Problem
What do neurotransmitters do? Give one example of one and what it's function is.
They carry chemical messages across synapses between neurons.
Random sampling vs random assignment?
Sampling = who gets IN the study -- helps make the sample representative and generalizable
Assignment = where they go IN the study --helps spread out confounding variables between two groups
What are the three goals of scientific inquiry?
Describe (what is it/what happens), explain (why does it occur), and predict (based on our explanation for the concept, given certain conditions, what will occur?).
What is Gestalt Psychology?
States that the mind is a whole not just a sum of parts -- focuses on holistic perception, and how the brain breaks down chaotic stimuli into organized patterns.
What are the 3 Descriptive Methods?
Naturalistic observation, case study, surveying
What is the limbic system and it's major. components?
The limbic system includes the hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, and hypothalamus -- it's primary role is regulating emotion, memory, survival behaviors and motivation.
Distinguish the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain.
Forebrain "fancy" -- most anterior and largest part -- higher order cognitive functions, voluntary actions, etc.
Midbrain "manager" -- connects forebrain and hindbrain -- relays sensory and motor information, coordination
Hindbrain "housekeeping" -- lower part of brain, connects to spinal cord -- regulates vital life support and survival functions
Who is Patient Tan and what did his case study reveal?
A French neurological patient who could only utter the syllable "tan" due to a severe speech deficit. He was studied by physician Paul Broca in 1861, his autopsy revealed a lesion (damaged brain tissue) in the left frontal lobe, leading to the discovery of "Broca's area" which is responsible for speech production.
Name an example of a minority group in psychology and some of their contributions.
Mary Whiton Calkins -- First Female APA President -- Paired Association method for studying (a memory research technique in which participants learn pairs of stimuli and are later tested on their ability to recall one item when presented with its paired associate -- helped show that memory works through associations, not just rote repetition)
Distinguish reliability and validity
Reliability = scale is consistently measuring the same construct
Validity = scale is actually measuring what it should be measuring
Describe the whole process of how an action potential occurs?
1. Neuron starts at resting potential (-60 mV)
2. Receives stimulus and resting potential drops to excitatory threshold (-50 mV) which causes sodium channels to open rush into the cell, depolarizing the membrane, bringing the mV closer to 0 -- triggering the action potential
3. Potassium channels then open, depolarizing the cell -- briefly causing hyper polarization and a refractory period -- this ensures that an action potential can't move "backwards"
4. Neuron returns to resting potential due to charge being balanced by the potassium ions.
5. In myelinated axons, the signal moves faster as it moves through the nodes of ranvier (space between myelinated sections of an axon)
What is lateralization and how does it relate to split-brain patients?
Each hemisphere has specialized functions; the corpus callosum connects them, and when severed, information cannot easily transfer between hemispheres.