Chapter 1Psychology- the study of behavior and mental processes Case Study- used by Freud - detailed investigation of one subject- advantages: lots of detailed info, may be only option - disadvantages: info gained cannot me applied to other cases; takes a long time; venerable to biasLaboratory observation - involves watching animals or people in an artificial but controlled situation such as a lab- advantages- high level of control - disadvantages- not the natural environment Naturalistic observation- involves watching animals or people in their natural environments- advantages- unbiased, people do what they would naturally do - disadvantages- no control over the environment; difficult to replicateo observer effect- the tendency for people or animals to behave differently when they know they are being observedo Observer Bias- the tendency for the observer to see/observe what they are looking for Control Group- group that is not exposed to the independent variable Correlation- a measure of the relationship between 2 variables Dependent variable - variable that represents the measureable response of participantsIndependent Variable- variable that is manipulated in an experimentExperiment- the only method that allows researchers to determine the cause of a behavior Experimental Group- group that is exposed to the change that the independent variable represents Placebo Effect - expectations and biases of participants that can affect their behavior Representative sample- randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjectsScientific Method- a system for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data1. Perceiving the questions 2. For a hypothesis 3. Testing the hypothesis 4. Drawing conclusions 5. Report your results Chapter 2Nervous System- A network of cells that carries info to and from all parts of the bodyo central and peripheral Action potential - The release of a neural impulse consisting of a reversal of the electrical charge within the axono Negative ion- chlorine Amygdala - Almond shaped structure near the hippocampus; involved in fear responses, influences motivation, emotional control and interpretations Autonomic Nervous System - “Automatic”- Controls organs, glands, etc. o Sympathetic – fight or flight o Parasympathetic- rest and digest Central nervous system - Brain, spinal cord, sensory neurons (afferent), motor neurons (efferent), internuerons Corpus callosum- Thick band of neurons that connects the right and left cerebral hemispheresCortex- Outer covering of the brain- Responsible for higher though processes and interpretation of sensory input Myelin- Coats the axon; fatty substance that helps insulate, protect, speed up processing Glial cells - Support neurons - Deliver nutrients to neurons- Produce myelin - Clean up waste and dead neurons- Influence generation of new neurons Hippocampus - Plays a role in our learning and memory and ability to compare sensory info to expectations; long term memory like location of thingsHypothalamus- Controls hunger, thrust, sleep, sexual behavior, emotions and pituitary gland; below andin front of thalamusLimbic system- Group of several brain structures located under the cortex; involved in learning, emotion, memory and motivation Lobes of the brain - Frontal-o Contains motor cortexo Higher mental functions (planning, language, emotion, complex decisions)- Occipital o Visual cortexo Process visual info from the eyes- Parietal o Sematosensroy cortex Responsible for processing info from the skin and other internal body receptors Neural impulse- Resting potential +(----)+- Action potential –(+++)- Pons - Bridge between upper and lower part of brain; involved in coordinating movement on the left and right side of the body; influences sleep, dreaming, and arousal Reticular Formation- Runs through the medulla and pons- Involved in control or attention, arousalSomatic Nervous System- Consists of nerves that carry information from the sense to the CNS and from the CNS tothe voluntary muscles of the body Thalamus- Relay center from sensory organs to the cerebral cortexChapter 3Absolute Threshold- Fechner created it- Least energy for the correct stimulus detection 50% of the timeJust Noticeable Difference- Smallest difference detectable 50%of the time - Weber’s Law Afterimages- Visual sensations that persist after the original image has been removed- Part of the opponent process theory Binocular Cues - Cues for depth based of 2 eyeso Convergence- rotation of the eyes to focus on an object o Binocular disparity- eyes don’t see the same image because of the distance from each other Color blindness- Monochrome (rare) – NO CONES; structural - Protanopia- (common) red/green lack of function in red cones- Tritanopia- (rare) blue/yellow blue cones don’t function Cornea - Focuses light coming into the eye; bends it so it’s focuses on the retinaPupil- Where the light enters the interior of the eyeLens- Changes shape to being objects info focuso Visual accommodation- changing thickness of the lensIris- The muscle that controls the size of the pupil; colored part Retina - Contains photoreceptor cellso Layer 1- light passes through ganglion and bipolar cells o Layer 2- its reaches and stimulates the rods and cones o Layer 3- nerve impulse from the rods and cones, travels along a nerve pathway to the brain Depth Perception - Ability to perceive the world in 3Do Monocular cues and Binocular CuesGestalt principles of perception - Figure ground- tendency to perceive objects or figures as existing on a background - Proximity- tendency to perceive objects close to each other as part of the same grouping- Similarity- things that look similar as being part of the same group- Closure- tendency to complete figures that are incomplete- Continuity- perceive things as simply as possible with a continuous patterns rather than with a complex, broken up pattern- Contiguity- perceive 2 things that happen to be close together in times as being related- Common Region- the idea that we perceive objects in the same region as a groupPerception- Method by which the sensations experienced at any given moment are organized and interpreted in some meaningful fashionPerceptual Constancy- Tendency to perceive shape, size and brightness the same regardless of how close, the angle, of light conditionsPerceptual expectancy- Tendency to perceive things a certain way because previous experiences or expectationsinfluence those perceptions o
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