different forms of a gene

-genes within a population of entire species often take different forms

explores how thought and behavior change and show stability across the life span.

-allows us to appreciate that organisms change and grow, thus psychological functions likely change as well

the study of what makes people unique and the consistencies in people's behavior across time and situations.

-adresses questions such as whether our personal traits and dispositions change or stay the same from infancy to chilhood to adulthood.

the study of the treatment of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders and the promotion of psychological health.

-clinical psychologists work in universities, medical settings or private practices

involves drilling a small hole in a persons skull, usually less than an inch in diameter.

-some of these surgeries may have been for medical reasons (healing a brain injury) and some may have been for psychological reasons such as releasing spirits and demons posed by the person.

-a surprising amount of people survived these surgeries

-surgeons must have had a knowledge and understanding of the brain.

a clinically based approach to understanding and treating psychological disorders; assumes that the unconscious mind is the most powerful force behind thought and behavior.

-Sigmund Freud

-also assume that our experiences during childhood are a powerful force in development of our adult personality

used to diagnose psychological disorders

-currently in its 4th edition

-made in 1952

-used to diagnose over 250 psychological disorders.

the view that all knowledge and thoughts come from experience

-established by John Locke

-mind begins a "tabula rasa" (blank slate) onto which experience writes the contents of the mind

-the mind simply receives what our sensory organs-eyes,nose,skin,ears and tongue-experience and take in from the outside is very important in psychology and philosophy.

the main method of investigation for sturcturalists; it involves looking into ones own mind for information about the nature of conscious experience.

 -Wilhelm Wundt coined phrase

19th century school of psychology that argued that breaking down experience into its elemental parts offers the best way to understand behavior and thought.

-Wilhelm Wundt coined phrase

-debateable questions that caused structuralism and introspection: was it more important to study the elements of experience to understand human thought and behavior, or was it more important to study the functions behind human thought and behvaior?

a school of psychology that proposed that psychology can be a true science only if it examines observable behavior, not ideas, thoughts, feelings or motives.

-John Watson-founder (challenged the use of introspection)

-in Watson's view, such mental experiences are only hypothetical concepts as they cannot be directly measured.

-is an extreme form of environmentalism

founder of behaviorism

-as long as psychology focused on such internal states (ideas, thoughts,feelings, motives), it would be a false science.

a theory of psychology that focuses on personal growth and meaning as a way of reaching one's highest potential.

-waned in the 1970's and came back again in the 1990's.

-Maslow and Rogers

wrote a book that promoted a cognitive psychological view in the 1930's.

-stated that memory is not an objective and accurate representation of events but rather a highly personal reconstruction based on one's own beliefs, ideas and P.O.V.

ex. if a person witness a crime and a certain race commits that crime, they may be likely to hold a bias about that race because of what they saw.

Rene Descartes

-the body and the mind are seperate  entities

-the mind controls the body, and the body can occasionally control the mind too (like in the moments of passion)

a feedback process whereby nature favors one design over another because it has an impact on reproduction.

-Charles Darwin

-takes a long time to work, ultimately shapes who we are and how species evolve.

1. question authority

-don't just take the words of an expert, test results yourself, believing something doesn't make it true.

2.open skepticism

-be skeptical by default, but open to to accepting whatever the evidence reveals

3. intellectual honesty

-dont falsify data/results

the procedure by which scientists conduct research, consisting of five basic processes: observation, testing, interpretation, and communication

a set of related assumptions from which scientists can make testable predictions

-theories organize and explain what we have observed and guide what we will observe.

a specific, informed, and testable prediction of the outcome of a particular set of conditions in a research design.

-specifies a particularform of behavior in a specific group under particular conditions.

claims presented as scientific that are not supported by evidence obtained with the scientific method.

pseudo-scientists:

1)make no real advances i knowledge

2)disregard well-known facts that contradict their claim

3) do not challenge or questions their own assumptions

4)tend to give incomplete explanations of how they came to their conclusions

5)tend to use unsound logic in making their arguments

the tendency toward favorable self-presentation that could lead to inaccurate self-reports

-people may tell researchers what they want to hear rather then what they really believe.

a research sample that accurately reflects the population of people one is studying

studies that measure two of more variable and their relationship to one another; not designed to show causation.

-is X related to Y

-useful when the variable cannot be manipulated

-major limitation- cannot establish whether one variable actaully causes the other or vice versa

in an experiement, the outcome or response to the experimental manipulation

-not manipulated

-can be thought as the effect

studies that measure two or more variables and their relationship to one another; not designed to show causation

-X is related to Y

ex. is sugar consumption in children related to increased activity levels in children?

a property that is manipulated by the experimenter under controlled conditions to determinewheter it causes the predicted outcome of an experiment.

-can be considered the "cause"

a group consisting of those participants who will recieve the treatment of whatever is predicted to change behavior.

studies in which particpants do not know the experimental condition to which they have been assigned.

- to avoid that the participants dont act a certain way because they know their circumstances

-telling the participant in general terms what the study is about, what they will do, and how long it takes, what the known risks and benefits are, that they have the right to withdraw at any time and whom to contact with questions.

-if under the age of 18, consent must be given by legal gaurdians.

-almost always required

the explanation to the participants of the purposes of the study, following data collection.

-they are informed of the hypothesis

small segments of DNA that contain information for producing proteins.

-these proteins in turn make up most of the chemicals and structures in the body.

-genes seldom make behavior a certainty (ex.no single gene causes anxiety)

-environmental events such as smoking pregnant, early childhood experiences, stress or trauma and enriched environments all interact with genes to make specific behaviors more or less likely.

neve cells of the peripheral nervous system that transmit sensory information to the central nervous system (CNS) and those that transmit information from the CNS to the skeltal muscles.

-(from the barin to the spinal cord and from the brain and spinal cord to the skeletal muscles)

the branch of the autonomic nervous system that activates bodily systems in times of emergency

-controls organs such as stomach, small intestine, bladder, and in glands (sweat glands)

a hindbrain structure that extends directly from the spinal cord; regulates breathing, heartrate, and blood pressure

-also involved in various kinds of reflexes such as coughing, swallowing, sneezing and vomiting

a hindbrain sturcture that serves as a bridge between lower brain regions and higher brain and forebrain activity.

-means "bridge"

a hindbrain structure involved in body movement balance, coordination, fine-tuning motor skills and cognitive activities such as learning and language.

-"little brain"

-contains more neurons then any other part of the brain

a forebrain structure that receives information from the senses (ears, nose, skin, tongue, eyes) and relays it to the cerebral cortex for processing.

-from the bottom up, it is the 1st structure

-often called the sensory relay station

a limbic structure; the master regulator of almost all major drives and motives we have, such as:

-hunger

-thirst

-temperature

-sexual behavior

-also controls the petuitary gland

a limbic structure that wraps itself around the thalamus; plays a vital role in learning and memory

-sensory info from the sense organs goes to the hippocampus

-most important for thinking, planning, and integrating the brains activity

-holdin gthings in mind whole we solve problems, social awareness, attention

-more interconnected with other parts of the brain then any other part

-make up the top and rear sections of brain

-play important role in sensation and perception of touch

-in the rear of the brain

-optic nerve travels from eye to thalamus then to the occipital lobes

-lie directly below the frontal and parietal lobes and right behind the ears.

-main function is hearing

-houses auditory cortex

the nerve fibers that connect the two hemispheres of the brain

-provides a channel for extensive communication between hemispheres in both logical and creative tasks

the brains ability to adopt new functions, reorganize itself, or make new neural connections thoughout life, as a function of experience.

the master endocrine gland that controls the release of hormones from glands throughout the body.

-controlled by hypothallamus

the process by which our sensitivity diminishes when an object constantly stimulates our senses.

-ensures that we notice changes in stimulation more than stimulation itself.

the smallest amount of change between two stimuli that a person can detect half of the time

-also referred to as just noticeable differences (JND) beacuse they involved the smallest difference that is noticeable.

-the muscle that forms the colored part of the eye

-it adjusts the pupil to regulate the amount of light that enters the eye.

-Photoreceptors that function in low illumination and play a key role in night vision

-responsive to dark and light contrast

hieght of a wave

-determines loudness

-measured in decibles (Db)

-how many waves occur in a given period of time

-the higher the frequency the higher the pitch

-measured in Hertz (Hz)

example of/ best representation of how something most likely will be

ex. mamal-dog

bird- seagull

reptile- snake

reasoning from general statements of what is known to specific conclusions

-ex. i herd all french people are rude therefore my french waitor will be rude

specific to general reasoning

-ex. my read headed sister is a brat so all red heads are brats

OR

my french waitor was rude so all french people are rude

process by which one analyzes, evaluates and forms ideas:

-analyze

-evaluate

-explain

-make inferences

-self-regulate

-interpret

a strategy we use to estimate the probability of one even based on how typical it is of another event.

-ex. dying ona plane crash vs. dying in a car accident

benefits must outweigh the costs in a particular way

-cost-benefit analysis

Spearman's theory that intelligence is a single general (g) factor made up of specific components

-intelliegence is one general ability

the ability to think through a problem one has never confronted beore and recognize patterns that may lead to a solution

-decreases as one gets older

(example on page 375)

the kind of knowledge that one gains from experience and learning, education and practice

-increases as one ages

the enitre set of rules for combining symbols and sounds to speak and write a particular language.

-in english: subject verb agreement, plurals and use of possessives

nobody knows for sure when grammatical language first appeared

-believed that only humans have ever used grammatical language.

-language is less than 150,00-200,00 years old

-brain and language intertwined: they coevolved

-brain grew larger (esp. frontal lobes) and people began to be able to think and commincate in more abstract ways

the first sounds humans make other than crying, consisting almost exclusively of vowels; occurs during first 6 months of life

-doesnt vary btwn. deaf babies and non deaf babies and babies all over the world

sounds made as a result of the infant's experimentation with a complex range of phonemes, which include consonants as well as vowels

starts around 5-6 months

single words, such as "mama", "Dada", "more" or "no"

occurs around 12 months of age

phrases children put together, starting around 18 months

such as "my ball", "mo wawa" or "go away"

time period where children need to be exposed to a language inorder to fully develop

-begins in first years of life, end around age 12

-optimal time for learning a language

consistency of a measurement, such as intellegnce test

if a test is consistent, a person who takes a test two or more times would have very similar scores

a chromosomal disorder characterized by mild to profound mental retardation

has 3   21 chromosomes

a very rare condition in which people with serious mental handicaps also show isolated areas of ability or brilliance

IQ below 70

often cannot speak at all but excell at something like painting, music, remembering number or events

for a given trait, such as IQ, the genetically determined range of responeses by an individual to his or her environment

average is 25