IB psychology terminology

• define schema theory 


  idea of how our mind organises information and how this can affect our thinking and behaviour
• whats a cognitive schema 


  is a cluster of knowledge of memory that is stored in the MIND
• whats memory reliability 


  our brain does not photographs things that happen BUT we take pieces of information from an event and adapt them , creating memories based on that so it is never perfect
• whats it meant by conformation bias ?

  • we tend to focus on information that WE believe is RIGHT (eg. steriotypes)
• why does behaviour exist?

  because it helps an individual pass soon their genes to allow survive. to have awareness of danger around us
• whats cortisol? 


  cortisol is a type of hormone that helps keep us out of danger (adrenal gland)
• define localisation of the brain 


  different areas of the brain are responsible for different functions
• whats neuroplasticity 


  how the brain changes itself to suit the damands of the environment
• whats a neural pathway


  brain consists of many neuron's that pass on information to each other making a neural pathway
• what are the branches of neurons called

  dendrites
• define an agonist 


  substances in the brain that increase the chances of an action occurring by binding to the receptor present at the end of the dendrite.
• how can agonist be produced? 


  in the body in the form of hormones of neurotransmitters
• whats an endogenous agonist 


  they are agonists in the form of drugs that enter our body and bind to receptors
• whats a gene ?

  basic building block of a person that determines their personality and their beheviour
• define epigenetics


  looks at how interaction between genetics and environment determines gene expression
• whats gene mapping?


  process of understanding the position of each gene on a chromosome
• what are neurotransmitters?


  chemical messengers that send message along neural pathway
• describe the difference between an agonist and an antagonist

  • agonist INCREASES affect of neurotransmitter whilst ANTAGONIST reduces it
• what are neurotransmitters affected by?


  agonist and antagonist
• what does the hormone serotonin give?

  agression and violence
• whats the role of the amygdala ?

  perceives threatening stimuli and activates the stress response senses danger flight or fight mode
• define an hormone 


  chemical messenger realised by glands
• whats one hormone associated with anggression


  testosterone
• define a pheromone


  chemical messengers that are secreted by one individual and are DETECTED by the other of the same species (sweat)
• what organ detects pheromones in animals


  vomeronasal organ
• whats 1 specific gene that may affect our beheviour ?

  monoamine oxidase - MAOA gene bc of its correlation with aggressive beheviour
• what are twin kinship studies used to determine?


  heritability
• what is a monozygotic twin?


  twins that share 100% of their DNA
• whats dizygotic twins


  they share 50% of their DNA
• whats it meant by antisocial behaviour?


  Disruptive behavior such as aggression or violence includes drug use and non-violent beheviour too
• what are kinship studies ?


  use various family members if different genetic relatedness to compare similarities in beheviour
• whats it meant by evolutionary explanation of beheviour?


  beheviour exists because it helps an individual to pass their genes by helping them to survive
• whats a 'true experiment'

  when researchers manipulate an independent variable and create different conditions. carefully controlling any external variables to have reliable conclusions
• what are fMRI used for

  to see how chemical messengers can influence brain activity
• whats it meant by animal welfare?


  that researchers have to take good care of the animals their experimenting including avoiding uneccesary harm or suffering
• define selective breeding


  selecting (eg rats) based on how much they attack, basically choosing animals with favourable characteristics that can be passed on
• multi-store model of memory atempts to explain the formation of memories by identifying multiple stores and explaining how information travels between them
• what are the 3 things the multi store model constricts of?

  1. sensory stores 2. short term store 3. long term store
• working memory is the information that we are conscious of at any one time and ia executed during cognitive tasks
• the phonological loop deals with auditory information