Random sampling
randomly sampling to create a representative sample
Random assignment
randomly assigning participants into different groups to eliminate confounding variables
Quasi experiment
experiment that does not involve random assignment but strives to find cause and effect
sampling bias
error that occurs due to not properly selecting participants for research
peripheral nervous system
it controls our somatic and autonomic (voluntary, involuntary)
sensory neurons (afferent)
incoming message from the sense receptors to the CNS
motor neurons (efferent)
outgoing message from CNS to the peripheral nervous system
cerebral cortex
responsible for consciousness
somatosensory cortex
responsible for sensory info
motor cortex
responsible for voluntarily muscle movement
epigenetics
how behaviors can affect how genes work
molecular genetics
which genes are associated with personality
basal ganglia
processes movement-related info
GABA
inhibition of brain activity
acetylcholine
memory and learning
bottom-up processing
sense receptors to the level of brain
top-down processing
experience and expectations creates mental processes
absolute threshold
minimum stimulus needed for it to be detected fifty percent of the time
difference threshold
minimum difference needed to detect a difference between two stimuli required for 50% detection
Weber's law
the size of JND is proportional to the intensity of the stimulus
subliminal threshold
stimuli that are below one's absolute threshold
signal detection theory
judging a person's ability to differcinate a stimulus's absense/presence
perceptual set
mental predisposition to percieve one thing and not another
cochlea
physical stimuli of soundwave being converted into a neural impulse
place theory
sound frequencies stimulate basilar membrane at specific places
frequency theory
rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone
conduction deafness
caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
astigmatism
cornea is irregularly shaped and could impact a person's ability to focus
gate control theory
block pain or allow it to be sensed