Exam 1 Study Guide - General Psychology |, Study notes of Psychology

Download Exam 1 Study Guide - General Psychology | and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! General Psychology Exam 1 Study Guide • Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes • Observations in the Laboratory- when we observe organisms in a controlled setting to see how it responds to various types of stimuli and situations • Naturalistic Observations- observing organisms in their natural everyday environment • Surveys/Interviews- restricted to the observation of humans because it requires the use of language; survey is the most commonly used method of research because of its convenience; interviews allow us to obtain more information because they are usually conducted one person at a time • Case Study- make intensive observations of one event or person to gather as much information as possible • Correlational Research Design- examination of the relationship between two or more variables; need to observe large number of cases • Negative Correlation- when one variable goes up, the other goes down • Positive Correlation- when one variable goes up, the other goes up • Experimental Research Design- examination of effects after manipulating certain variables • Independent Variable- variable manipulated by the experimenter • Dependent Variable- variable measured as a result; assumed to be affected by the manipulation of the independent variable • Treatment Group or Experimental Condition- group(s) exposed to a certain condition that is assumed to affect the dependent variable • Control Group- group not exposed to any condition that is assumed to affect the dependent variable • Nervous System • Peripheral- motor (efferent) and sensory (afferent) neurons • Central- brain and spinal cord • Autonomic- sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems • Somatic- voluntary movements • Parasympathetic- relaxation • Sympathetic- arousal • Neuron- single nerve cell • Afferent Neurons (sensory)- body to brain/spinal cord; sensitive to non-neural stimuli • Efferent Neurons (motor)- brain/spinal cord to body; able to stimulate muscle cells throughout the body • Interneuron- in brain and spinal cord; process info and determines response • Axon- transmit an electro-chemical signal to the other neurons, sometimes over a considerable distance • Cell Body- main portion of the cell • Dendrites- large number of extensions; receive chemical messages from other neurons • Myelin Sheath- a series of fatty cells which have wrapped around an axon many times • Subliminal Perception- sensory information received below our level of conscious awareness; mind registers subliminal messages but they are not influential enough to substantially change behavior • Pupil- where light enters through the eye • Retina- where light is projected onto; composed of receptor neurons called rods and cones • Fovea- part of retina that consists of only cones • Blind Spot- optic nerve exits the eyeball (no rods or cones) • Rods- no color vision, effective in relative darkness; no rods in fovea • Cones- color vision, not effective in relative darkness; only cones in fovea • Young Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory- three types of cones, each sensitive to a certain color range (red, green, and blue) • Opponent Process Theory- color processed in relation to its opposing color in thalamus: red, green; blue, yellow; black, white • Monocular Depth Cues- cues of depth using only one eye • Relative Size- far objects look smaller • Interposition (Overlap)- closer objects cover objects further away • Texture Gradient- close to far; coarse to fine • Linear Perspective- convergence of parallel lines in the distance • Relative Height- high objects are further away • Relative Brightness- closer objects look brighter • Light and Shadow or Shadowing- assume light comes from above and shadows form on the bottom • Motion Parallax (Relative Motion)- objects closer than fixation point move back, objects further away than fixation point move forward • Binocular Depth Cues- cues for depth using both eyes • Binocular or Retinal Disparity- depth is estimated by the disparity of images in the 2 eyes • Convergence- angle of convergence of your 2 eyes determines depth