Prologue

Terms:

1. Psychology
a. The science of behavior and mental processes
2. Empiricism
a. The view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b)
science flourishes through observation and experiment
3. Structuralism
a. An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental
structure of the human mind (see Titchener)
4. Functionalism
a. A school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes
function – how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish (see
William James)
5. Natural Selection
a. The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead
to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to
succeeding generations
6. Biopsychosocial approach
a. Involving the biological, social, and psychological approaches
7. Basic research
a. Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
8. Applied research
a. Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
9. Counseling Psychology
a. The branch of psychology that focuses on personal problems not classified as
serious mental disorders, such as academic, social, or vocational difficulties of
students
10. Clinical Psychology
a. A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with
psychological disorders

Perspectives

1. Neuroscience
a. The focus is on how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and
sensory experiences
2. Evolutionary
a. The focus is how the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of
one’s genes
3. Behavior Genetics
a. The focus is on how much our genes and our environment influence our
individual differences
4. Behavioral
 a. The focus is on how we learn observable responses
5. Cognitive
a. The focus is on how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information
6. Social – Cultural
a. The focus is on how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

People

1. Plato
a. He believed that mind and body are distinct and that some ideas are inborn
b. He was the student of Socrates
2. Aristotle
a. He believed that the mind and body are connected and that the mind is a blank
slate when born.
b. The student of Plato
3. Socrates
a. He believed that mind and body are distinct and that some ideas are inborn
b. He was the teacher of Plato therefore hugely influencing Plato
4. Bacon
a. He wrote that the human understanding, from its peculiar nature, easily
supposes a greater degree of order and equality in things than it really finds
5. Descartes
a. Agreed with Socrates and Plato
b. Dissected animals and concluded that the fluid in the brains cavities were
called “animal spirits”, later known as nerves
6. Locke
a. Improved on Bacon’s theories, and helped form modern empiricism
b. He thought that the mind was a blank slate when one is born
7. Wundt
a. Had the first psychology lab and they tested reflex times
8. Titchener
a. He introduced structuralism and encouraged people in introspection
i. Other words, their immediate feelings after they were given a stimulus
9. James
a. He introduced functionalism
i. Mainly focused on how mental and behavioral processes function
10. Calkins
a. She was a student of James’
b. She became a distinguished researcher after Harvard denied her PhD and she
became the first female president of the APA
11. Floy-Washburn
a. First woman to receive a psychology PhD from Harvard
b. Later on became the second female president of the APA
12. Freud
a. He was an Austrian personality theorist
13. Pavlov
 a. He pioneered the study of learning and was a Russian physiologist
14. Watson
a. He found psychology was the science of behavior and he demonstrated
conditional responses on “Little Albert”
15. Skinner
a. A leading behaviorist, who rejected introspection and studied how
consequences shape behavior

Chapter 1

Terms:

1. Operational definition
a. A statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables.
For example, intelligence may be operationally defined as what an
intelligence test measures
2. Case study
a. An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope
of revealing universal principles
3. Survey
a. A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people,
usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them
4. Population
a. All the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study.
(Note: Except for national studies, this does not refer to a country’s whole
population)
5. Random sample
a. A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an
equal chance of inclusion
6. Naturalistic observation
a. Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without
trying to manipulate and control the situations
7. Correlation
a. It is a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of
how well either factor predicts the other
8. Scatter plot
a. A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two
variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship
between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the
correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation)
9. Experiment
a. A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors
(independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental
process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the
experiment controls other relevant factors
10. Double-blind procedure
 a. An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the
research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have
received the treatment or a placebo
11. Placebo effect
a. Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior
caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is
assumed to be an active agent
12. Control condition
a. The condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition
and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment
13. Random assignment
a. Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus
minimizing preexisting difference between those assigned to the different
groups
14. Independent variable
a. The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being
studied
15. Dependent variable
a. The experimental factor – in psychology, the behavior or mental process –
that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to
manipulations of the independent variable
16. Mode
a. The most frequently occurring score in a distribution
17. Mean
a. The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and
then dividing by the number of scores
18. Median
a. The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are
below it
19. Range
a. The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
20. Standard deviation
a. A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score
21. Statistical significance
a. A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by
chance
22. Scientific Attitude
a. NOT DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 2

Terms:

1. Biological Psychology
a. A branch of psychology concerned with links between biology and behavior
2. Neuron
 a. A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
3. Dendrite
a. The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and
conduct impulses toward the cell body
4. Axon
a. The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which
messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands
5. Myelin Sheath
a. A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fivers of many neurons;
enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse
hops from one node to the next
6. Action potential
a. A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The
action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in
and out of channels in the axon’s membrane
7. Threshold
a. The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
8. Synapse
a. The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or
cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the
synaptic gap or cleft
9. Neurotransmitter
a. Chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. When
released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse
and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing
whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse
10. ACh
a. Otherwise known as acetylcholine; it is a neurotransmitter that, among its
functions, triggers muscle contraction
11. Endorphins
a. “morphine within” – natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain
control and to pleasure
12. Nervous System
a. The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication system, consisting of all
the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems
13. CNS
a. (Central Nervous System); the brain and spinal cord
14. PNS
a. (Peripheral Nervous System); the sensory and motor neurons that connect the
(CNS) to the rest of the body
15. Nerves
a. Neural “cables” containing many axons. These bundled axons, which are part
of the PNS, connect the CNS with muscles, glands, and sense organs
16. Sensory neurons
a. Neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the CNS
17. Motor neurons
 a. Neurons that carry outgoing information from the CNS to the muscles and the
glands
18. Interneurons
a. CNS neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory
inputs and motor outputs
19. Somatic Nervous System
a. The division of the PNS that controls the body’s skeletal muscles, also called
the skeletal nervous system
20. Autonomic Nervous System
a. The part of the PNS that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal
organs. Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms
21. Sympathetic Nervous System
a. The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body,
mobilizying its energy in stressful situations
22. Parasympathetic Nervous System
a. The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving
its energy
23. Reflex
a. A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-
jerk response
24. Neural Networks
a. They are interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can learn, as
feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results.
Computer simulations of neural networks show analogous learning.
25. Endocrine system
a. The body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands that
secrete hormones into the bloodstream
26. Hormones
a. Chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands,
that are produced in one tissue and affect another
27. Adrenal glands
a. A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals secrete the
hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noadrenaline), which
help to arouse the body in times of stress
28. Pituitary gland
a. The endocrine system’s most influential gland. Under the influence of the
hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine
glands
29. Lesion
a. It is tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused
destruction of brain tissue
30. EEG
a. An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across
the brain’s surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the
scalp
31. PET
 a. A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of
glucose goes while the brain performs a given task
32. MRI
a. A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-
generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows
us to see structures within the brain
33. fMRI
a. It detects blood rushing to the back of the brain, which processes visual
information. It is basically the lighting of the brain on the screen
34. CT Scan
a. A series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by
computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body
35. Brainstem
a. The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord
swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival
functions
36. Medulla
a. The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing
37. Reticular formation
a. A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling
arousal
38. Thalamus
a. The brain’s sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs
messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to
the cerebellum and medulla
39. Cerebellum
a. The “little brain” attached to the rear of the brainstem; it helps coordinate
voluntary movement and balance
40. Limbic System
a. A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem
and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and
aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the
hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus
41. Amygdala
a. Two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system
and are linked to emotion
42. Hypothalamus
a. A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance
activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine
system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion
43. Cerebral cortex
a. The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral
hemispheres; the body’s ultimate control and information-processing center
44. Glial cells
a. Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons
45. Frontal lobes
 a. The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in
speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments
46. Parietal lobes
a. The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the
rear; includes the sensory cortex
47. Occipital lobes
a. The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the
visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field
48. Temporal lobes
a. The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the
auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from the
opposite ear
49. Motor cortex
a. An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements
50. Sensory cortex
a. The area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body
sensations
51. Association areas
a. Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory
functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as
learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking
52. Aphasia
a. Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to
Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing
understanding)
53. Broca’s area
a. Controls language expression – an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left
hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech
54. Wernicke’s area
a. Controls language reception – a brain area involved in language
comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
55. Plasticity
a. The brain’s capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization
following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of
experience on brain development
56. Corpus callosum
a. The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and
carrying messages between them
57. Split Brain
a. A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting
the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them
b. The left hemisphere uses the right eye to see, it is the use of speech
c. The right hemisphere uses the left eye to see, it is the use of pointing and
reading

1.