Psychology Revision

• Levels of organisation


  • Somatic Nervous System
  • Autonomic Nervous System
  • Sensory Nervous System
  • Motor Nervous System
  • Sympathetic Nervous System
  • Parasympathetic Nervous System
  • Central Nervous System
  • Peripheral Nervous System
• Nervous system response to external stimuli

  1. Receptors detect change in environment

  2. Sensory neurone sends message to central nervous system

  3. Central nervous system sends message via motor neurone to effectors (muscle)
• Brain


  Controls thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, breathing, temperature, hunger and every process that regulates our body
• Spinal Cord


  Carries nerve signals to and from your brain to your body. These nerve signals help you feel sensations and move your body
• Parts of a neuron

  • Axon Terminal
  • Myelin
  • Axon
  • Soma/cell body
  • Nucleus
  • Dendrites
• Axon Terminal


  Stores neurotransmitters and transmits messages to other cells using the neurotransmitters at the synapses
• Myelin


  Insulation sheath covering nerves increases the speed of nerve impulses
• Axon


  Carries nerve impulses away from cell body
• Soma/cell body


  Performs cell functions
• Nucleus


  Controls the neurone
• Dendrites


  Receives messages from other nerve cells and sends them to cell body
• Parts of a synapse

  • Axon of presynaptic neurone
  • Axon terminal
  • Neurotransmitter
  • Dendrite
• Axon of presynaptic neurone


  Carries electrical signal away from cell body
• Neurotransmitter


  Chemical messenger that travels across the synapse
• Dendrite


  Has receptors that receive the neurotransmitter and initiate the electrical signal to travel towards the cell body
• Lobes of the cerebral cortex

  • Frontal Lobe
  • Parietal Lobe
  • Temporal Lobe
  • Occipital Lobe

  
• Cerebral Cortex


  Carries out essential functions of your brain, like memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, emotions, consciousness, and sensory function
• Frontal Lobe


  Voluntary movement, expressive language and for managing higher level executive functions

  
• Parietal Lobe


  Receiving and processing sensory input such as touch, pressure, heat, cold, and pain
• Temporal Lobe


  Processing auditory information and with the encoding of memory
• Occipital Lobe


  Visuospatial processing, distance and depth perception, color determination, object and face recognition, and memory formation

  
• Parts of the brain

  • Forebrain
  • Midbrain
  • Hindbrain
• Forebrain


  Front part of brain containing the Cerebrum, Thalamus and Hypothalamus

  
• Cerebrum


  The largest part of the brain initiates and coordinates movement and regulates temperature, speech, judgment, thinking and reasoning, problem-solving, emotions and learning

  
• Thalamus


  Receives information from the body's senses (except smell) and processes them to send to cerebral cortex for interpretation
• Hypothalamus


  Produces hormones that control body functions such as body temperature, heart rate; hunger and mood
• Midbrain


  Transmits information necessary for vision and hearing. Also plays a role in arousal and the sleep/wake cycle
• Parts of the hindbrain

  • Pons
  • Medulla oblongata
  • Cerebellum
• Pons


  Unconscious movements and processes including sleeping and breathing
• Medulla oblongata


  Links cardiovascular and respiratory systems and controls heart rate, breathing and blood pressure
• Cerebellum


  "Little brain", coordinates balance and movement
• Parts of the limbic system

  • Amygdala
  • Hippocampus
  • Hypothalamus
• Amygdala


  Plays a central role in emotional responses e.g. pleasure, fear, anxiety and anger. Also responsible for our emotional memory -stronger emotion = stronger memory of that event
• Hippocampus


  Memory centre of the brain (long term memory) and also plays a role in spatial orientation and navigation
• Parts of the learning curve

  • Minimal improvement
  • Rapid improvement
  • Learning new skill
• Minimal improvement


  Skill is established and improvement rate decreases or plateaus
• Rapid improvement


  Ability to perform task improves rapidly as skill level increases
• Learning new skill


  Slow improvement due to acquiring the needed skills
• Mental imagery


  Mental Practice- Allows a person to visually rehearse a performance in their mind
• Motivation theories


  • Performance goal Theory/ Achievement Goal Theory
  • Cognitive evaluation theory
  • Incentive theory
  • Self Efficacy Theory