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Psychology Midterm
46 cards·by legacy-5421139606110208@noemail.invalid
What is the difference between nature and nurture?
Nature deals with genetics and nurture deals with your experiences
What are the four milestones that occur in each of Piaget's stages of cognitive development?
sensorimotor, preoperatinal, concrete operational, and formal operational
What happens in the sensorimotor stage?
hearing, taste, grasping, seeing, smelling
What happens in the preoperational stage?
before the child can reason; words and symbols
What happens in the concrete operational stage?
reason logically
What happens in the formal operational stage?
can think abstractly
What is epigenetics?
Epigenetics is the study of how the environment influences genetic expression
What is emerging adulthood?
a developmental phase that spans between adulthood and adolescence
How did Erik Erikson influence our understanding of development?
Erik Erikson talked about from birth to death movements; how we have crisis
What did Erik Erikson say is occurring with individuals in young adulthood?
Intimacy vs Isolation
What is the purpose of glial cells?
provide support to the neurons
What are the four lobes located in the hemisphere of the brain?
frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobe
Describe the frontal lobe
personality
Describe the parietal lobe
facial recognition
Describe the temporal lobe
hearing
Describe the occipital lobe
vision
Explain the purpose of the endocrine system
to maintain homeostasis
Identify the chemical messengers found in this system and explain how it transmits messages
hormones are transmitted through the bloodstream
Explain the difference between the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic
nervous system
sympathetic nervous system gets us aroused and the parasympathetic nervous system calms us
down
What is structuralism?
the sum total of experience from birth to the present
What is functionalism?
a theory about the nature of mental states
What is psychology?
the scientific study of the human mind and its functions
What is cognitive psychology?
the study of mental processes, such as occur when we perceive, learn,
remember,think,communicate, and solve problems
What are psychology's current perspectives?
biological, humanistic, psycho dynamic, cognitive, behavioral, social cultural, and
evolutionary
The principle that our mind processes information at the same time on separate conscious and
unconscious tracks
dual processing
What are the types of psychological research?
correlational, descriptive, and experimental research
Why do psychologist use the scientific method?
They observe events, form theories, and then refine their theories in the light of new
observations
What is descriptive research?
to observe and record behavior
What is experiemental research?
to explore cause and effect
What is correlational research?
to assess how well one variable predicts another
What is plasticity?
the brain’s ability to change
What are neurons?
a nerve cell; the basic building blocks of the nervous system
What are dendrites?
neuron extensions that receive messages and conduct them toward the cell body
What are axons?
the neuron extension that sends messages to other neurons or to muscles and glands
What are neurotransmitters?
neuron-produced chemicals that cross the synaptic gap to carry messages to other neurons or
to muscles and glands
What is the nervous system?
the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve
cells of the central and peripheral nervous systems
What is the endocrine system?
the body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into
the bloodstream
What are teratogens?
an agent, such as a chemical or virus, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal
development and cause harm
Define learning
the process of acquiring, through experience, new and relatively enduring information or
behaviors
What is associative learning?
The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its
consequences (as in operant conditioning).
What is classical conditioning?
a type of learning in which we learn to link two or more stimuli and anticipate event
What is operant conditioning?
we learn to repeat acts that bring good results and to avoid acts tat bring us bad results
What is a positive reinforcement?
increases behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food
What is a negative reinforcement?
increases behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock
What is generalization?
responding to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus
What is observational learning?
learning through observing others