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Understanding Love and Relationships Through Psychology Study Guide

This guide provides an overview of the cerebral cortex, detailing its structural organization into hemispheres and lobes. It explains the primary functions of each lobe (occipital for vision, temporal for hearing and language, parietal for touch and spatial awareness, frontal for higher-order cognition, and insular for taste and internal perception). The guide also differentiates between primary sensory areas and association cortex, highlighting their roles in processing and interpreting sensory

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Foundations of Psychological Science and Perspectives

Introduction to Interactive Psychology Perspectives

Psychologists adopt diverse perspectives and study diverse populations to achieve a more complete and accurate understanding of human behaviour.

  • WEIRD samples
  • Evolutionary perspective
  • Cognitive perspective
  • Cultural perspective
  • Emotional perspective
  • Biological-neuroscience perspective
  • Developmental perspective
  • Personality perspective
  • Social perspective
  • Clinical perspective
  • Western cultures
  • Human behaviour
  • Mental processes

Principles of Psychological Science and Critical Thinking

Psychological science is the scientific study of mind and behaviour that utilizes empirical evidence and critical thinking to overcome biases and distinguish between valid science and pseudoscience.

  • Psychological science
  • WEIRD samples
  • Indigenous perspectives
  • Two-eyed seeing
  • Overconfidence effect
  • Confirmation bias
  • Empirical evidence
  • Pseudoscience
  • Mozart effect
  • Popular psychology
  • Critical thinking
  • Psychological literacy

Principles of Operant and Observational Learning

This topic explores operant conditioning through reinforcement, punishment, and schedules of reinforcement, alongside observational learning and cognitive processes like latent learning and insight.

  • Operant conditioning
  • Law of effect
  • Antecedent, Behaviour, Consequence
  • Reinforcement
  • Punishment
  • Primary reinforcers
  • Secondary reinforcers
  • Premack principle
  • Positive reinforcement
  • Negative reinforcement
  • Positive punishment
  • Negative punishment
  • Shaping
  • Instinctive drift
  • Continuous reinforcement
  • Partial reinforcement
  • Fixed ratio schedule
  • Variable ratio schedule
  • Fixed interval schedule
  • Variable interval schedule

Limits of Intuition and Experience

Psychology systematically collects evidence to overcome the limitations of using experience and intuition for understanding human behaviour.

  • Experience
  • Intuition
  • Limitations of experience and intuition
  • Confirming evidence
  • Disconfirming evidence
  • Science of psychology
  • Rational perceiving of reality
  • Indigenous science

Sensation, Perception, and Visual Systems

Sensation and Perception Fundamentals

The process by which sensory organs receive stimulus energies and transduce them into electrical energy for neural processing and perception.

  • Sensation
  • Transduction
  • Perception
  • Psychophysics
  • Absolute thresholds
  • Signal detection theory
  • Liberal bias
  • Conservative bias
  • Just-noticeable difference
  • Sensory adaptation
  • Perceptual adaptation
  • Aftereffects

Properties of Light and Visual Transduction

Light is electromagnetic energy that is transformed into neural energy through photoreceptor cells in the retina.

  • Motion Aftereffect
  • Wavelength
  • Amplitude
  • Purity
  • Brightness
  • Saturation
  • Visual Transduction
  • Cornea
  • Pupil
  • Lens
  • Photoreceptor cells
  • Photopigments
  • Cones
  • Optic nerve
  • Blind spot
  • Fovea
  • Acuity
  • Sensitivity

Psychological Lenses on Love and Relationships

Psychological Lenses on Love and Relationships

This content examines how evolutionary, cultural, cognitive, emotional, and biological-neuroscience perspectives interact to influence human attraction, mate preferences, and behavior.

  • evolutionary perspective
  • cultural perspective
  • nature and nurture interaction
  • cognitive perspective
  • emotional perspective
  • conscious vs. unconscious mental processes
  • biological-neuroscience perspective
  • oxytocin in trust and bonding
  • growth mindset

Biology, Structure, and Function of the Nervous System

The Biology of the Nervous System

This study unit covers neurons, neuroscience, and the components of the central and peripheral nervous systems.

  • Neurons
  • Neuroscience
  • Top-down processing
  • Motor neurons
  • Sensory neurons
  • Interneurons
  • Central Nervous System
  • Peripheral Nervous System
  • Somatic Nervous System
  • Autonomic Nervous System
  • Sympathetic Nervous System
  • Parasympathetic Nervous System
  • Fight-or-flight response

The Cerebral Cortex and Mental Life

The cerebral cortex is divided into hemispheres and lobes including the occipital, temporal, parietal, frontal, and insular lobes.

  • cerebral cortex
  • hemispheres
  • occipital lobe
  • primary visual cortex
  • temporal lobe
  • primary auditory cortex
  • primary somatosensory cortex
  • frontal lobe
  • primary motor cortex
  • insular lobe
  • primary sensory areas
  • olfactory area
  • gustatory area
  • association cortex
  • convolutions

Brain Structure, Function, and Localization

This study unit explores brainstem and cerebellum functions, hemispheric lateralization, and methods for mapping brain structure and function through neuropsychology.

  • Pons
  • Medulla oblongata
  • Ventromedial prefrontal cortex
  • Lateralization
  • Language production
  • Speech comprehension
  • Contralateral organization
  • Split-brain procedure
  • Computerized Tomography (CAT/CT Scan)
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
  • Grey matter
  • White matter
  • Phrenology
  • Localization
  • Neuropsychology
  • Lesion
  • Dissociation
  • Double dissociation

Measuring Brain Activity and Function

Recording electrical waves, magnetic fields, and blood flow to determine when and where brain activity happens.

  • Electroencephalography (EEG)
  • Event-Related Potential (ERP)
  • Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
  • Positron emission tomography (PET)
  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
  • Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
  • Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
  • Temporal resolution
  • Spatial resolution
  • Neurons
  • Cortex
  • Subcortex

Structure of Neurons and Action Potentials

This content covers the structure of neurons and the process of the action potential.

  • Cell body
  • Glial cells
  • Action potential
  • Resting potential
  • Ion channels
  • Depolarization
  • Voltage threshold
  • Repolarization
  • Refractory period
  • Excitatory signals
  • Inhibitory signals
  • All-or-none response

Neurotransmission and Psychoactive Drugs

How neurons communicate through neurotransmitters and how psychoactive drugs influence neurotransmission in the nervous system.

  • Synapse
  • Neurotransmitter
  • Receptors
  • Lock-and-key system
  • Excitatory and inhibitory responses
  • Diffusion
  • Degradation
  • Reuptake
  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
  • Amino acids
  • Monoamines
  • Psychoactive drugs
  • Agonist
  • Antagonist

Colonization Impacts and Effective Study Strategies

Colonization Impacts and Effective Study Strategies

This content examines the psychological consequences of colonization on Indigenous peoples in Canada and provides university-level studying strategies including the Cornell note-taking method.

  • Colonization and psychology in Canada
  • Negative psychological health consequences for Indigenous peoples
  • Residential schooling system
  • Systemic racism
  • Cognitive imperialism
  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
  • Indigenous healing centres
  • Cultural competency training
  • Indigenous cultural resurgence
  • Distributed practice vs. cramming
  • Note-taking efficiency

Psychological Research Methods and Statistical Analysis

Operationalizing Measured Variables in Research

Researchers convert concepts of variability into concrete, quantifiable, and measurable variables through operational definitions.

  • Operational definition
  • Operationalizing variables
  • Self-reporting
  • Direct observation
  • Physiological measures

Descriptive Research Methods and Survey Research

This topic covers descriptive research methods including survey research, naturalistic observation, and case studies used to test theories.

  • Descriptive research
  • Correlational research
  • Experimental research
  • Survey research
  • Sample
  • Population of interest
  • Random sampling
  • Observational research
  • Big Data
  • Naturalistic observation
  • Case study

Correlational and Experimental Research Methods

Correlational research measures variables to observe relationships using scatterplots, while experimental research manipulates an independent variable to observe its effect on a dependent variable.

  • Correlational research
  • Scatterplot
  • Positive correlation
  • Negative correlation
  • Zero correlation
  • Correlation is not causation
  • Third-variable problem
  • Experimental research
  • Independent variable
  • Dependent variable
  • Random assignment
  • Experimental group
  • Control group
  • Placebo condition
  • Double-blind procedure

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