PSY 101 Straighterline Final Exam Rated A+

PSY 101 Straighterline Final Exam Rated A+ psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes science psychology uses systematic methods to observe human behavior and draw conclusions behavior everything we do that can be directly observed mental process The thoughts, feelings, and motives that each of us experiences privately but that cannot be observed directly critical thinking thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions. empirical method gaining knowledge through the observation of events, the collection of data, and logical reasoning structuralism focus on identifying the elemental parts or structures of the human mind; William Wundt functionalism A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish; William James natural selection A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits; Charles Darwin neurons a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system glial cells cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons cell body Largest part of a typical neuron; contains the nucleus and much of the cytoplasm dendrites Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information. axon the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands myelin sheath fatty layer that covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses resting potential The difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron's cell membrane; neg inside, pos outisde action potential a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon all or nothing principle The principle that once the electrical impulse reaches a certain level of intensity (its threshold), it fires and moves all the way down the axon without losing any intensity. synapses tiny gaps between dentrites and axons of different neurons Neuraltransmitters transmit, or carry, information across the synaptic gap to the next neuron Acetylcholine (ACh) stimulates the firing of neurons and is involved in the action of muscles, learning, and memory Alzheimer's disease degenerative brain disorder that involves a decline in memory, have an acetylcholine deficiency GABA a major inhibitory neurotransmitter decreased GABA levels lead to anxiety glutamate exciting many neurons to fire and is especially involved in learning and memory norepinephrine inhibits the firing of neurons in the central nervous system, but it excites the heart muscle, intestines, and urogenital tract dopamine control voluntary movement and affects sleep, mood, attention, learning, and the ability to recognize rewards in the environment seratonin involved in the regulation of sleep, mood, attention, and learning endorphins natural opiates that mainly stimulate the firing of neurons; block pain & increase pleasure oxytocin hormone and neurotransmitter that plays an important role in the experience of love and social bonding agonist A chemical that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter. antagonist drug that blocks a neurotransmitter's effects brain lesioning abnormal disruption in the tissue of the brain resulting from injury or disease Electroencephalogram (EEG) records the brain's electrical activity hindbrain medulla, pons, cerebellum; located at skull's rear thalamus relays info b/w lower and higher brain centers hypothalamus governs eating, drinking, and sex; plays a role in emotion and stress reticular formation a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal & stereotyped patterns