Final Review - E2

Question 1

Fusiform Gyrus

Answer 1

region of the brain that is dedicated to perceiving faces

Question 2

Prosopagnosia

Answer 2

inability to recognize faces

Question 3

Vental Stream

Answer 3

object recognition (what)

Question 4

Dorsal Stream

Answer 4

spatial perception (where)

Question 5

Absolute threshold

Answer 5

the smallest amount of stimulation that can be detected – rests on assumption that subjects response is an accurate reflection of the subjects perception

Question 6

Difference threshold

Answer 6

“just noticeable difference” (JND) - the smallest change in a stimulus that can be detected

Question 7

Transduction

Answer 7

process through which stimuli reaching the receptors are converted into neural impulses … OR … how physical signals from the environment are changed into the neural signals sent to the brain (hair cells in basilar membrane in the cochlea)

Question 8

Sensory Adaptation

Answer 8

a decrease in sensitivity to a constant level of stimulation

Question 9

Rods

Answer 9

help to see in low light, at night, and in peripheral vision - very sensitive, but gray-scale vision

Question 10

Cones

Answer 10

color vision - less numerous, need high light levels

Question 11

Visual Pathway #1

Answer 11

light - cornea - pupil (iris) - lens - retina (rods/cones)

Question 12

Visual Pathway #2

Answer 12

ganglion cells (optic nerves) - optic chiasm - thalamus - primary visual cortex

Question 13

Pain

Answer 13

two distinct neural paths – to the somatosensory cortex (thalamus)
OR to the emotional centers of the brain (limbic system)

Question 14

Olfactory bulb

Answer 14

brain center for smell – receives nerve impulses and relays the signal to other brain areas

Question 15

Encoding

Answer 15

deeply encoded information is more meaningful

Question 16

Vestibular sense

Answer 16

ability to compare one’s bodily position to the upright position (balance - and movement)

Question 17

Acquisition

Answer 17

the formation of learned response

Question 18

Visual Processing Pathway

Answer 18

rods and cones – ganglion cells – optic nerve – optic chiasm – thalamus

Question 19

Long-Term Potentiation

Answer 19

the strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons that frequently fire together – NDMA receptors are involved in this process

Question 20

Spontaneous Recovery

Answer 20

reappearance of a learned response after an apparent extinction

Question 21

Law of Effect

Answer 21

behaviors followed by positive outcomes are strengthened, and behaviors followed by negative outcomes are weakened (Thorndike)

Question 22

Reinforcement

Answer 22

increases the probability of a behavior occurring again (strengthens the response)

Question 23

Punishment

Answer 23

decreases the probability of a behavior occurring again (weakens the response)

Question 24

Reinforcer

Answer 24

a stimulus that occurs after a response and increases the likelihood that a response will be repeated

Question 25

Classical Conditioning

Answer 25

a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate one stimulus with another – Order: CS presented – US presented, which elicits the UR – after many trials, the CS elicits the CR

Question 26

Unconditioned

Answer 26

natural, innate response

Question 27

Conditioned

Answer 27

learned through association

Question 28

Dopamine

Answer 28

most important neurotransmitter for reinforcement learning

Question 29

Positive Reinforcement

Answer 29

increase response with positive stimulus (often reward)

Question 30

Negative Punishment

Answer 30

decrease the response by removing a desired stimulus (taking privileges)

Question 31

Conditioned taste Aversion

Answer 31

link between taste (or smell) and illness, easily produced

Question 32

Pleasure Centers

Answer 32

areas in brain that produce pleasure when stimulated (neurotransmitter associated = dopamine)

Question 33

Memory

Answer 33

influenced by suggestion, is changeable, and can be inaccurate (Loftus)

Question 34

Auditory Sense

Answer 34

eardrum - ossicles - cochlea - auditory nerve - thalamus - auditory cortex

Question 35

Sensory Memory

Answer 35

brief, fleeting sense information - echoic = auditory, iconic = visual

Question 36

Schema

Answer 36

mental framework centering on a specific theme, that helps us to reorganize social information

Question 37

Explicit memory

Answer 37

system of conscious memory - aka: declarative memory

Question 38

Implicit memory

Answer 38

system of unconscious memories - influences our attitudes and associations (non-declarative = very hard to put implicit memories into words)

Question 39

Suggestibility

Answer 39

tendency to incorporate misleading information into our own memories

Question 40

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 40

the inability to recall past memories

Question 41

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 41

the inability to form new memories

Question 42

Ames Room

Answer 42

distorted room that is used to create an optical illusion

Question 43

State-Dependent Memory

Answer 43

recall is improved when internal states match during encoding and recall

Question 44

Change Blindness

Answer 44

missing large changes in environment – perceptions are more limited then we tend to think they are

Question 45

Case of H.M.

Answer 45

the hippocampus and the medial temporal lobes are responsible for the consolidation of new explicit memories

Question 46

Watson and early behaviorists

Answer 46

observable events and acts were the only appropriate focus for psychological research