Exam 1 Flashcards
(52 cards)
Cognitive neuroscience
Study the relationships between thought process and brain function
Culture
Enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and handed down from one generation to another
Nature/nurture
A less stable environment can exacerbate a mental disorder. In most cases, nurture works on what nature endows.
Dual processing
Principal that, at the same time, our mind processes information on separate conscious and unconscious tracks
Positive psychology
Scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive
Overconfidence
We think we know more than we do
Hindsight bias
Believing you already knew something.
Tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we could have predicted it
Hypothesis
Testable prediction
Case study
Research an individual or group in great depth
Positive correlation
Indicates a direct relationship, meaning that two things increase together or decrease together
Negative correlation
Indicates an inverse relationship: as one thing increases, the other decreases
Correlation coefficient
Provides a statistical measure of how closely two things vary together and how well one predicts the other
Correlation
Measure of the extent to which two events vary
Experimental
Manipulate one factor to observe its effects/outcome
Blind study
You’re not sure as a participant if you’re getting treatment
Neuron, dendrites and axons
Dendrites receive information – Hairy cells
Axons send information
Ways to study the living brain
Computerized axial tomography (CAT)
Magnetic residence imaging (MRI)
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Functional magnetic residence imaging (FMRI)
Poron emission tomography (PET)
CAT
Using x-rays, a scanner creates multiple cross-sectional images of the brain
MRI
A computer analyzes the electromagnetic response – using powerful magnet – creating higher detailed images than CAT
EEG
Electrodes placed on the scalp record electrical activity from the area directly below
fMRI
One of the most specific ways to get your brain studied
Uses powerful magnets to track changes in blood, oxygen levels. Like PET, this produces measurements of activity throughout the brain.
PET
A radioactively labeled substance called the tracer is injected into the bloodstream and track while the participant performs a task. A computer creates 3-D imaging showing degrees of brain activity areas with the most activity appear in red.
Neurotransmitter
Chemical messengers sent by axons to be received by dendrites
Everything you do – your neurons have to send and receive those messages telling you about to do so – without us having to think about it, i.e. writing, walking, talking
All or none response
When our neurons communicate with each other, they either fire at full strength or not at all
