Psych final exam: Detail View

1)

The extent to which an experimental measure is free from error

Accuracy

2)

The neural impulse that passes along the axon and subsequently causes the release of chemicals from the terminal buttons

Action potential

3)

The principle whereby a neuron fires with the same potency each time, although frequency can vary; it either fires or not - it cannot partially fire

All-or-none principle

4)

A brain structure that serves a vital role in our learning to associate things with emotional responses and in processing emotional information

Amygdala

5)

A mental representation that has some of the physical characteristics of an object; it is analogous to the object

Analogical representation

6)

A strong emotional connection that persists over time and across circumstances

Attachment

7)

Making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind

Availability heuristic

8)

Attachment style in which infants become extremely upset when their caregiver leaves but reject the caregiver when he or she returns

Anxious-ambivalent attachment

9)

Attachment style in which infants ignore their caregiver when he or she returns after a brief separation

Avoidant attachment

10)

A long narrow outgrowth of a neuron by which information is transmitted to other neurons

Axon

11)

A research method that involves the intensive examination of one person

Case study

12)

In the neuron, where information from thousands of other neurons is collected and processed

Cell body

13)

The brain and spinal cord

Central nervous system (CNS)

14)

A large, convoluted protuberance at the back of the brainstem, essential for coordinated movement and balance

Cerebellum

15)

The regulation of biological cycles into regular patterns

Circadian rhythms

16)

A type of learned response that occurs when a neutral object comes to elicit a reflexive response when it is associated with a stimulus that already produces that response

Classical conditioning

17)

Anything that affects a dependent variable and may unintentionally vary between the experimental conditions of a study

Confound

18)

The participants in a study that receive no intervention or an intervention different from the one being studied

Control group

19)

The clear outer covering of the eye

Cornea

20)

A research method that examines how variables are naturally related in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alter them

Correlational study

21)

Using a belief or rule to determine if a conclusion is valid (follows logically from the belief or rule)

Deductive reasoning

22)

Branchlike extensions of the neuron that detect information from other neurons

Dendrites

23)

Overall summary of data

Descriptive statistics

24)

A research method that involves observing and noting the behavior of people or other animals in order to provide a systematic and objective analysis of behavior

Descriptive studies

25)

When researchers find a relationship between two variables in a correlational study, they cannot determine which variable may have cause changes in the other variable

Directionality problem

26)

The inappropriate and unjustified treatment of people based solely on their group membership

Discrimination

27)

Attachment style in which infants give mixed responses when their caregiver leaves and then returns from a short absence

Disorganized attachment

28)

Any stimulus that is encoded along with an experience can later trigger memory for the experience

Encoding specificity principle

29)

A communication system that uses hormones to influence thoughts, behaviors, and actions

Endocrine system

30)

A study that tests causal hypotheses by measuring and manipulating variables

Experiment

31)

The participants in a study that receive the intervention

Experimental group

32)

Actual change in the behavior of the people or animals being observed that is due to observer bias

Experimenter expectancy effect

33)

The processes involved when people remember specific information

Explicit memory

34)

A process in which the conditioned response is weakened when the conditioned stimulus is repeated without the unconditioned stimulus

Extinction

35)

Motivation to perform an activity because of the external goals toward which that activity is directed

Extrinsic motivation

36)

The physiological preparedness of animals to deal with danger

Fight-or-flight response

37)

A schedule in which reinforcement is consistently provided upon each occurrence

Fixed schedule

38)

The center of the retina, where cones are densely packed

Fovea

39)

The region at the front of the cerebral cortex concerned with planning and movement

Frontal lobes

40)

A theory based on the idea that the whole of personal experience is different from simply the sum of its constituent elements

Gestalt theory

41)

A decrease in behavioral response following repeated exposure to nonthreatening stimuli

Habituation

42)

A brain structure important for the formation of certain types of memory

Hippocampus

43)

The tendency for bodily functions to maintain equilibrium

Homeostasis

44)

A small brain structure that is vital for temperature regulation, emotion, sexual behavior, and motivation

Hypothalamus

45)

A specific prediction of what should be observed in the world if a theory is correct

Hypothesis

46)

In an experiment, the condition that is manipulated by the experimenter to examine its impact on the dependent variable

Independent variable

47)

Using examples or instances to determine if a rule or conclusion is likely to be true

Inductive reasoning

48)

The system underlying unconscious memories

Implicit memory

49)

A set of procedures used to make judgments about whether differences actually exist between sets of numbers

Inferential statistics

50)

Motivation to perform an activity because of the value or pleasure associated with that activity, rather than for an apparent external goal or purpose

Intrinsic motivation

51)

A schedule in which reinforcement is available after a specific unit of time

Interval schedule

52)

In an experiment, the measure that is affected by manipulation of the independent variable

Dependent variable

53)

A disorder characterized by an inability to sleep

Insomnia

54)

The number computed by dividing a child's estimated mental age by the child's chronological age, and then multiplying this number by 100

IQ (intelligence quotient)

55)

Groups of people responsible for reviewing proposed research to ensure that it meets the accepted standards of science and provides for the physical and emotional well-being of research participants

IRBs (institutional review boards)

56)

The colored muscular circle on the surface of the eye; it changes shape to let in more or less light

Iris

57)

A research method that measures the same participants multiple times

Longitudinal study

58)

The plot of a dream; the way a dream is remembered

Manifest content

59)

What a dream symbolizes, or the material that is disguised in a dream to protect the dreamer

Latent content

60)

A measure of central tendency that is the arithmetic average of a set of numbers

Mean

61)

A measure of central tendency that is the value in a set of numbers that falls exactly halfway between the lowest and highest values

Median

62)

A measure of central tendency that is the most frequent score or value in a set of numbers

Mode

63)

Cues of depth perception that are available to each eye alone

Monocular depth cues

64)

A fatty material, made up of glial cells, that insulates the axon and allows for the rapid movement of electrical impulses along the axon

Myelin sheath

65)

A sleep disorder in which people fall asleep during normal waking hours

Narcolepsy

66)

A passive descriptive study in which observers do not change or alter ongoing behavior

Naturalistic observation

67)

The arguments concerning whether psychological characteristics are biologically innate or acquired through education, experience, and culture

Nature/nurture debate

68)

A chemical substance that carries signals from one neuron to another

Neurotransmitter

69)

Small gaps of exposed axon, between the segments of myelin sheath, where action potentials are transmitted

Nodes of Ranvier

70)

The understanding that an object continues to exist even when it cannot be seen

Object permanence

71)

Systematic errors in observation that occur because of an observer's expectations

Observer bias

72)

A learning process in which the consequences of an action determine the likelihood that it will be performed in the future

Operant conditioning

73)

All nerve cells in the body that are not part of the central nervous system; includes somatic and autonomic nervous systems

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

74)

A region of the cerebral cortex, in front of the occipital lobes and behind the frontal lobes, important for the sense of touch and of the spatial layout of an environment

Parietal lobe

75)

A region of the cerebral cortex, at the back of the brain, important for vision

Occipital lobe

76)

Cues of depth perception that arise from the fact that people have two eyes

Binocular depth cues

77)

A type of descriptive study in which the researcher is actively involved in the situation

Participant observation

78)

Punishment that occurs with the administration of a stimulus and thus decreases the probability of a behavior's recurring

Positive punishment

79)

The increase in the probability of a behavior's being repeated following the administration of a stimulus

Positive reinforcement

80)

Punishment that occurs with the removal of a stimulus and thus decreases the probability of a behavior's recurring

Negative punishment

81)

The increase in the probability of a behavior's being repeated through the removal of a stimulus

Negative reinforcement

82)

When prior information inhibits the ability to remember new information

Proactive interference

83)

Remembering to do something at some time in the future

Prospective memory

84)

The small opening in the eye; it lets in light waves

Pupil

85)

When the knowledge that one is being observed alters the behavior being observed

Reactivity

86)

In neurons, specialized protein molecules, on the postsynaptic membrane, that neurotransmitters bind to after passing across the synaptic cleft

Receptors

87)

A rule for categorization based on how similar the person or object is to our prototypes for that category

Representativeness heuristic

88)

A schedule in which reinforcement is based on the number of times the behavior occurs

Ratio schedule

89)

The extent to which a measure is stable and consistent over time in similar conditions

Reliability

90)

Repetition of an experiment to confirm the results

Replication

91)

The electrical charge of a neuron when it is not active

Resting potential

92)

The thin inner surface of the back of the eyeball; contains the photoreceptors that transduce light into neural signals

Retina

93)

The process whereby a neurotransmitter is taken back into the presynaptic terminal buttons, thereby stopping its activity

Reuptake

94)

Retinal cells that respond to low levels of illumination and result in black-and-white perception

Rods

95)

Retinal cells that respond to higher levels of illumination and result in color perception

Cones

96)

A subset of a population

Sample

97)

Everyone in the group the experimenter is interested in

Population

98)

A systematic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena to answer questions about what happens, when it happens, what causes it, and why

Scientific method

99)

Attachment style for a majority of infants, who are readily comforted when their caregiver returns after a brief separation

Secure attachment

100)

When participants in different groups in an experiment differ systematically

Selection bias

101)

The sense organs' responses to external stimuli and the transmission of these responses to the brain

Sensation

102)

When an observer's sensitivity to stimuli decreases over time

Sensory adaptation

103)

Memory for sensory information that is stored briefly close to its original sensory form

Sensory memory

104)

A process of operant conditioning; it involves reinforcing behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired behavior

Shaping

105)

A theory of perception based on the idea that the detection of a faint stimulus requires a judgment - it is not an all-or-none process

Signal detection theory (SDT)

106)

A disorder in which a person stops breathing while asleep

Sleep apnea

107)

Bodily reactions that arise from the emotional evaluation of an action's consequences

Somatic markers

108)

A major component of the peripheral nervous system; it transmits sensory signals to the CNS via nerves

Somatic nervous system

109)

A condition in which the corpus callosum is surgically cut and the two hemispheres of the brain do not receive information directly from each other

Split brain

110)

A process in which a previously extinguished response reemerges following presentation of the conditioned stimulus

Spontaneous recovery

111)

A statistical measure of how far away each value is, on average, from the mean

Standard deviation

112)

A differentiation between two similar stimuli when only one of them is consistently associated with the unconditioned stimulus

Stimulus discrimination

113)

Occurs when stimuli that are similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus produce the conditioned response

Stimulus generalization

114)

An abstract mental representation that does not correspond to the physical features of an object or idea

Symbolic representation

115)

When new information inhibits the ability to remember old information

Retroactive interference

116)

A division of the autonomic nervous system; it prepares the body for action

Sympathetic nervous system

117)

The site for chemical communication between neurons, which contains extracellular fluid

Synapse

118)

The lower region of the cerebral cortex, important for processing auditory information and for memory

Temporal lobes

119)

Small nodules, at the ends of axons, that release chemical signals from the neuron to the synapse

Terminal buttons

120)

The gateway to the brain; it receives almost all incoming sensory information before that information reaches the cortex

Thalamus

121)

The term used to describe the ability to explain and predict other people's behavior as a result of recognizing their mental state

Theory of mind

122)

When the experimenter cannot directly manipulate the independent variable and therefore cannot be confident that another, unmeasured variable is not the actual cause of differences in the dependent variable

Third variable problem

123)

A process by which sensory receptors produce neural impulses when they receive physical or chemical stimulation

Transduction

124)

A response that does not have to be learned, such as a reflex

Unconditioned response (UR)

125)

A stimulus that elicits a response, such as a reflex, without any prior learning

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

126)

The extent to which the data collected address the research hypothesis in the way intended

Validity

127)

An active processing system that keeps different types of information available for current use

Working memory

128)

The psychological principle that behavioral efficiency increases with arousal up to an optimum point, after which it decreases with increasing arousal

Yerkes-Dodson law

129)

A schedule in which reinforcement is applied at different rates or at different times

Variable schedule

130)

The processing, organization, and interpretation of sensory signals; it results in an internal representation of the stimulus

Perception

131)

A division of the autonomic nervous system; it returns the body to its resting state

Parasympathetic division

132)

A major component of the peripheral nervous system; it regulates the body's internal environment by stimulating glands and by maintaining internal organs such as the heart, gall bladder, and stomach

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

133)

A response that has been learned

Conditioned response (CR)

134)

A stimulus that elicits a response only after learning has taken place

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

135)

The relatively permanent storage of information

Long-term memory (LTM)