school of psychology that focused attention on the adaptive value of conscious thoughts and motives
functionalism
focused on the importance of healthy growth potential
humanistic psychology
studies the links between biological and psychological processes
ex. blood chemistry, neurons, brain
biological perspective
what is the difference between a psychiatrist vs a psychologist
psychiatrists have a medical degree and can prescribe medication
refers to people’s tendency to exaggerate their ability to have foreseen the outcome of past events
hindsight bias
arithmetic average of a distribution of scores
mean
middle score
median
most frequently occurring score
mode
measure of the degree of variation among a set of events
standard deviation
when the observed difference between the means of an experimental group and control group are not likely due to chance
statistical significance
reabsorption of excess neurotransmitter molecules by a sending neuron
reuptake
brief electrical charge that travels down the axon of a neuron
action potential
carries message away from the cell body to other neurons
axon
nourishes and supports the neuron
cell body
receives incoming messages
dendrites
forms junctions with other cells
axon terminals
threadlike structures that contain genes
chromosomes
the extent to which trait differences among individuals are attributable to genetic variations
heritability
minimum amount of stimulation a person needs to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time
absolute threshold
detection of a stimulus
sensation
interpretation of a stimulus
perception
the process by which our sensory systems convert stimulus energies into neural messages
transduction
the coiled fluid-filled tube in which sound waves trigger nerve impulses
cochlea
theory that suggests that large-fiber activity in the spinal cord can prevent pain signals from reaching the brain
gate-control theory
