Psych Test 1

A method of exploring conscious mental processes by asking subjects to look inward and report their sensations and perceptions

A treatment or something that the researcher controls or manipulates

Describe, Explain, Predict, and Control

Composed of participants who undergo all the same procedures as the experiment participants except that the control participants do not receive treatment.

Involves how we process, store, and retrieve information and how cognitive processes influence our behavior.

focuses on the measurement of people's abilities, skills, intelligence, personality, and abnormal behaviors.

• Biological
• Cognitive
• Behavioral
• Psychoanalytic
• Humanistic
• Cross-Cultural
• Evolutionary

Refers to a combination of psychological, emotional, and cognitive components that interfere with one's concentration, planning, and academic performance.

some intervention, such as taking a pill, receiving an injection, or undergoing an operation, that resembles medical therapy but that, in fact, has no medical effects.

look like tiny bubbles that are located at the extreme ends of the axon's branches. Each end bulb is like a miniature container that stores chemicals called neurotransmitters, which are used to communicate with neighboring cells.

have at least three functions: providing scaffolding to guide the growth of developing neurons and support mature neurons; wrapping around neurons to form insulation to prevent interference from other electrical signals; and releasing chemicals that influence a neuron's growth and function

means neither participants nor researchers know which group is receiving which treatment.

is a single threadlike structure that extends from, and carries signals away from, the cell body to neighboring neurons, organs or muscles.

is an infinitely small space (20-30 billionths of a meter) that exists between an end bulb and its adjacent body organ (heart) muscles (head), or cell body.

is made up of neurons located in the brain and spinal cord

have the amazing capacity to change into and become any one of the 220 types of cells that make up a human body, including skin, heart, liver, bones, and neurons. Stem cells have been used in animals and have helped replace parts of the body that have lost function. However it can be seen as controversial because they come from embryos.

marked by especially abnormal or impaired development in social interactions, such as hiding to avoiding people, not making eye contact, not wanting to be touched. Autism is marked by difficulties in communicating, such as grave problems in developing spoken language or in initiating conversations.

a surgical procedure in which about one third of the front part of the frontal lobe was cut away from the rest of the brain.

means the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems work together to keep the body's level of arousal in balance for optimum functioning.

a specific segment on the long strand of DNA that contains instructions for making proteins. Proteins are chemical building blocks from which the parts of the brain and body are constructed.

involves passing non-harmful radio frequencies through the brain. A computer measures how these signals interact with brain cells and transform this interaction into an incredibly detailed image of the brain (or body). Used to study structure of the brain.

says that different species arose from a common ancestor and that those species that survived were best adapted to meet the demands of their environments.

says that if an action potential starts with the beginning of an axon, the action potential will continue at the same speed, segment by segment, to the very end of the axon.

usually located in the front left frontal lobe, is necessary for combining sounds into words and arranging words into meaningful sentences.

returns the body to a calmer, relaxed state and is involved in digestion

triggered by threatening or challenging physical or psychological stimuli, increases physiological arousal and prepares body for action.

function as a bridge to transmit messages between the spinal cord and brain. The pons also makes the chemicals involved in sleep.

an inherited development disability, is due to a defect in the X chromosome (the pinched end of X chromosome). It can result in physical changes, such as relatively large head with protruding ears, as well as mild profound mental retardation.

located in the tip of the temporal lobe, receives input from all the senses. It plays a major role in evaluating the emotional significance of stimuli and facial expressions, especially those involving fear, distress, or threat.

is a state of increased physiological arousal caused by activation of the sympathetic division, helps the body cope with and survive threatening situations.

located in the neck, regulates metabolism through the secretion of hormones.

refers to the condition of being born with little or no brain, if some brain or nervous tissue is present, it is totally exposed and often damaged because the top of the skull is missing. Survival is usually limited to days; the longest has been two months.