Definitions
Define: Pseudopsychology
Phony, unscientific psychology masquerading as the real thing.
Mary Ainsworth
Studied attachment in infants using the "strange situation" model. Label infants "secure", "insecure" (etc.) in attachment.
Axon
In a nerve cell, an extended fiber that conducts information from the soma to the terminal buttons.
Dopamine
-voluntary movement, learning, attention, emotion
Limbic System
The middle layer of the brain, involved in emotion and memory; includes the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, and other structures.
Define: Structuralism
Focused on revealing the most basic "structure" or components of the mind, rather than what consciousness could do.
Solomon Asch
Conducted famous conformity experiment that required subjects to match lines.
Soma
The part of a cell (such as neuron) containing the nucleus, which includes the chromosomes, also called the cell body.
Serotonin
-Mood, hunger, sleep, dreaming, arousal, pain, aggression, sexual behavior, emotional state,
Medulla
A brain-stem structure that controls breathing and heart rate.
Define: Psychiatry
A medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.
Erik Erikson
Known for his 8-stage theory of Psychosocial Development
Myelin Sheath
Protects nerves from other electrical impulses.
Norepinphrine
-autonomic nervous system: sleep and heart rate
- Sexual responsiveness
-control alertness
-arousal
-learning and memory
Pons
A brain-stem structure that regulates brain activity during sleep and dreaming.
Define: Neuroscience
The field devoted to understanding how the brain creates thoughts, feelings, motives, consciousness, memories and other mental processes.
Sigmund Freud
Developed psychoanalysis; considered to be "father of modern psychiatry"
Dendrite
A branched fiber that extends outward from the main cell body and carries information into the neuron.
GABA
Major INHIBITORY neurotransmitter
-inhibitory--slows down system, linked to insomnia seizures, anxiety
Hippocampus
A component of the limbic system, involved in establishing long-term memories.
Define: Cognitive Neuroscience Psychologists
Psychologists who are especially interested in the connections among mind, brain and behavior have pioneered a hybrid field.
John B. Watson
Early behaviorist; famous for the "Little Albert" experiments on fear conditioning
Terminal Buttons
Tiny bulblike structures at the end of the axon, which contain neurotransmitters that carry the neuron's message into the synapse.
Endorphins
pleasurable sensations/control of pain lowered levels resulting from opiate addiction
Cerebellum
The "little brain" attached to the brain stem, responsible for coordinated movements.