Chapter 1
The study of the mind and behavior
What is psychology?
The group of people in the study that are representing a population
What is a sample?
The brain and the spinal cord
What makes up the central nervous system?
When more of the substance is needed each time in order to feel an effect
What is tolerance?
The recognition of a sensation by the brain
What is perception?
This person can diagnose disorders and prescribe medication
What is a clinical psychologist?
Both participants and researchers are unaware if they are receiving/administering the manipulation or the control
What is a double blind?
When a neuron becomes more negative that its resting state before returning to its resting charge of -70 mV
What is hyperpolarization?
A 24 hour biological rhythm that maintains homeostasis and our sleep-wake cycle
What is a circadian rhythm?
Another stimulus/sensation that makes perceiving and organizing other stimuli more challenging for a person
What is noise?
The first American psychologist
Who is William James?
The study of a relationship between two variables
What is experimental research?
A recycling process when a neuron reabsorbs a neurotransmitter after it has sent its nerve impulse
What is reuptake?
The actual content or storyline of a dream
What is manifest content?
The part of the brain where all sensory information (except smell) is received
What is the thalamus?
Observe, ask, hypothesize, collect/analyze, and conclude
What are the parts of the empirical method?
Measuring what you intended to measure
What is validity?
A drug that blocks the the normal activity of a neurotransmitter at the receptor site
What is an antagonist?
The sleep stage that deals with theta waves, sleep spindles, and k-complexes
What is non-REM stage 2?
The absolute bare minimum of a stimulus you need to be able to recognize that a stimulus is there 50% of the time
What is absolute threshold?
The focus on the role of something in a system, and how it contributes to the system as a whole
What is functionalism?
Drawing a conclusion from empirical observations
What is inductive reasoning?
Neurons that carry messages from the body to the CNS
What are afferent (sensory) neurons?
A substance that has an excitatory effect on our body and are dopamine agonists
What are stimulants?
Processing the stimuli in the environment using information that you already know
What is top-down processing?