Term
CHAPTER 1: What is Psychology?
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Definition
- the science of behavior and mental processes
- observable behavior
- internal mental processing
- it is not sitting around using intuition, common sense, or "paranormal" abilities to read and analyze
- psychologists, like scientists, use scientific method to construct theories
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- how the brain, nervous system, and other physiological mechanisms produce behavior & mental processes
- ex. depression - deficiancy in active chemicals in the brain
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- how mental processes, such as perception, memory, and problem solving, work and impact on behavior
- ex. association: fruit = apple
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- how external environmental events condition observable behavior
- classical (Pavlovian) conditioning = sound + dog + treat = salavate @ sound of whistle
- operant =our behavior & its environmental consequences (reward vs. punishment)
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Sociocultural Perspective |
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- how other people and the cultural context impact our behavior and mental processes
- Kitty Genovese murder - many witnesses but no one called 911
- all witnesses assumed someone else would call 911 (bystander effect)
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- pop. images of psych - self-help, talk shows, counselors, mind-reading
- everyone is a "folk" psychologist
- think we have good understanding of people & behavior
- problem: explains any behavior w/ conventional wisdom, wrong & often biased
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| Perceiving Order in Random Events |
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Definition
- look for order & meaningful patterns in random data
- given large #s of random outcomes, a few are likely to ecpress random order
- assume order rather than chance
- 2 lotto winners who are married & won on the same day
- Birthday Paradox - 23 people + 50% chance of same b-day
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- knew it all along phenomenon
- anything seems commonplac, once explained
- the tendency, after learning about an outcome, to be overconfident in one's ability to have predicted it"
- already knew about this bias
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- average confidence is higher than percentage of correct answers
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- does not accept arguments and conclusions blindly
- it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions
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- all else being equal, the simplest solution is the best solution
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- a theory is an explanation that integrates principles and organizes and predicts events
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- testable prediction, often prompted by a theory, to enable us to accept, reject or refuse a theory
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- by administering tests of self-esteem and depression, we may find that in
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| Research Methods: Descriptive Methods |
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- observational techniques, case studies, surveys
- describes behavior but not definite about causes of behavior or about cooccurences
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Observational Techniques: Naturalistic Observation |
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- observational behavior of interest
- ex. children in front of one way mirror
- used when humans and animals behave in their natural environments - Diane Fossy & Jane Goodall
- prob: observer may influence/change behavior
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| Observational Techniques: Participant Observation |
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- observer becomes part of group being observed
- Dian Fossy became part of a gorilla family
- psychologists acted like people with severe mental disorders to test doctors @ psych hospitals (Rosenhan, 1973)
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- a technique in which one person is studied in depth over an extended period of time, usually b/c the person is unique in some way
- ex: Phineas Gage = railroad spike thru frontal lobe - personality changed
- ex: H.M. = severe seizures, back lobe removed (Hippocampus) - loss of memory
- ex: Anna O - Freud based many theories off of her
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- questionaires to collect info
- word order can mean biased answers
- needs representative sample
- sample = subset of people
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- 2 variables are measured to see if they are related
- variable =any factor thqat can take on more than 1 value
- correlated = when 1 trait or behavior accompanies another
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| Correlational Studies: Correlation Coefficient |
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Definition
- is a statistical measure of the relationship btwn 2 variables
- r = correlation coefficient (Pierson's value)
- -1.0 to +1.0 (negative or positive relation)
- <.2 = weak, .2-.5 = moderate, >.5 = strong
- slope of the points depicts the direction, while the amount of scatter depicts the strength of the correlation
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- the amount of variance in one variable accounted for by the other variable
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Correlation ≠ Causation: Directionality Problem |
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- Directionality Problem: poorer reades have more erractic eye movements during reading than better readers
- don't know what variable is causing the other
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| Correlation ≠ Causation: 3rd Variable Problem |
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| Experiments & Schachter's Affiliation Experiment |
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- many factors influence our behavior
- manipulate factors that interest us, while other factors are kept undercontrol
- if done well, thene effects must be due to the manipulated variable
- Schachter's Affiliation Experiment - social psychologist who studied pple & fear
- need to be w/ other pple when scared
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- the factor that is manipulated by the psychologists
- the variable that is a hypothesized cause and thus is manipulated
- Schachter's i.v. =fear
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- factor may change in response to an independent variable - measured variable
- variable that is hypothesized to be affected by i.v.
- Schachter's d.v. = pple wanting to be alone/together
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- pple randomly chosen to be put in one group versus the other
- helps to eliminate bias, choice, coincedence, washes out random factors
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- improvement due to the expectation of improving because of receiving treatment
- placebo group = a control group of participants who believe they are receiving treatment, but who really get a placebo
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- a control measure in an experiment in which neither the experimenters nor the participants know which participants are in the experimental and control groups
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| Research Ethics: Tuskegee Syphilis Study |
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- 400 African American men w/ latent syphilis (1930s - 1970s)
- most poor and illiterate, no health care
- methods for control = free meds, $ for burial,etc.
- no clear hypothesis
- @ start no treatment for syphilis
- even after penicillin was invente, refused to give to subjects - wanted to see effects of syphilis
- effected more than just the participants
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| Research Ethics: Rights of Participants |
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Definition
- informed consent (before or after)
- w/out informed consent, data can oly be collected by observation in public places
- research cannot expose participants to more harm than they could experience in normal life
- all studies must be approbed by an Institutional Review Board (ethics committee)
- all data has to be dealt w/ anonymously
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CHAPTER 2: Neuroscience - Mind vs. Brain |
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Definition
- mind vs. brain - maybe psychological vs. physical
- dualism - mindis more than just physical structure of brain
- materialism - mind cannot exist w/out brain, knowing brain means we can know mind
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- cells that transmit info within the nervous system[image]
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- life support system of neuron
- contains its nucleus & other bio. machinery to keep the cell alive and that decides whether or not to generate a neural impulse in order to pass incoming info on to other neurons
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- fibers projecting out of the cell body whose function is to receive information from other neurons
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- long single extension of a neuron covered w/ myelin sheath
- conducts the neural impulse from cell body to axon terminals which triggers chemical communication w/ other neurons
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- an insulatig layer covering an axon that allows for faster neural impulses
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- presynaptic neuron --> sends - action potential to postsynaptic neuron (synaptic gap)
- axon announce
- dendrites detect
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- chemical in the nervous system that specializes in transmitting info btwn neurons
- bind to the receptors of the postsynaptic neuron in a key-lock mechanism
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| How to Influence # of Neurotransmitters Available: Inhibit Reuptake |
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- neurotransmitters float above receptors instead of returning to presynaptic neuron
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| How to Influence # of Neurotransmitters Available: Block Receptors |
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- when there's an excess of a neurotransmitter - block receptor to level out the firing of neuron
- antagonist
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- a drug or poison that increases the activity of one or more neurotransmitters
- create more neurotransmitters, inhibit reuptake, or create an artificial transm. that basically fits receptors and will make the neuron fire
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- a drug or poison that decreases the activity of one or more neurotransmitters
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- a neurotransmitter involved in arousal and mood states, thought processes, and physical movement
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- neurotrans. involved in levels of arousal and mood, sleep, and eating
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- group of neurotrans. involved in pain relief and feelings of pleasure
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- earliest theory of localization/ how brain is connected to behavior
- 1800 Franz Gall
- believed that bulging eyes = good verbal memory
- brain size indicated memory/abilities
- theory failed:
- not well measured - operationally defitions weak
- objective comparison
- ignored combination
- assumed size = better
- assumed skull = brain size
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Definition
- brain stem = oldest part of the brain
- Medulla:
- base of the brain stem
- controls hearbeat, breathing, blood pressure, digestion, & swallowing
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| Brain Stem: Reticular Formation |
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- a network of neurons - up center of brain stem
- controls arousal and consciousness
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- brain's sensory switchboard
- top of the brain stem
- directs messages to sensory areas in cortex from cerebellum -->medulla
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- little brain attached @ rear of brain
- coordination of movements, balance, and motor learning
- siblings who walked on all 4 - brain scan showed underdeveloped cerebellum
- nature (biological,genetic) vs. nurture (behavioral, hormone inhibit cerebellum)
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- a group of brain structures that play an important role in our survival, memory and emotions
- associated w/ basic drives
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- 2 almond shaped neural clusters
- linked to emotions of aggression, fear, and anger
- provides emotional element of our memories and the interpretation of emotional expressions in others
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| Limbic System: Hypothalamus |
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Definition
- lies below the thalamus
- eating, drinking, body temperature & control of emotions, sex (pleasure) - maintenance activities
- hormones thru pituitary gland
- reward center (arousal - drive)
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| Limbic System: Hippocampus |
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Definition
- formation of new memories
- damage to hippocampus experience debilitating type of amnesia - anterograde amnesia (ex. H.M.)
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| Cerebral Cortex (Cerebrum) |
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- layers of connected cells covering the brain's 2 hemispheres
- control & info processing center for nervous system
- higher-level cognitive processing occurs
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| Cerebral Cortex: Corpus Callosum |
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- fibers that hold the two hemispheres of the brain together
- split brain patients - corp. callosum severed - good 4 observing how each hemisphere works
- few tasks are one sided
- language & motor activity use both hemispheres
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| Cerebral Cortex: Frontal Lobe - Motor Cortex |
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- motor cortex located here - controls body's movements
- motor strip in right hemisphere controls left side of body & vice versa
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| Cerebral Cortex: Parietal Lobe - Somatosensory Cortex |
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- somatosensory cortex located here
- receives input from body - feeling
- senses pressure, temperature, and pain in diff parts of our body as well as its position of our body parts
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| Cerebral Cortex: Temporal Lobe - Auditory Cortex |
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- primary auditory cortex - receive info & send results of analysis onto other areas in brain
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| Cerebral Cortex: Occipital Lobe - Visual Cortex |
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- visual cortex - receives input from eyes & analyzes it - sends info to rest of brain
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| Cerebral Cortex: Broca's Area |
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- controls speech muscle via motor cortex
- frontal lobe
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| Cerebral Cortex: Wernicke's Area |
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- interprets auditory code - specifically language
- comprehension of speech & text
- temporal lobe
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- if you see something on your ride side - info is transformed to left hemisphere of brain
- few tasks are one sided
- language & motor = extremely connected
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- % of left-handed individuals decreases sharply in samples of older people
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- an individual's subjective awareness of their inner thinking and feeling and their external environment
- can never really determine if something else is conscious
- Freud's Iceberg Metaphor - only small % of brain function is conscious process - most is unconscious
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| Unconscious Social Priming |
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Definition
- basic method = prime participants w/ certain social ideas thru a supposed "vocab test"
- compare behavior btwn those who wereprimed vs. those who weren't
- ex: Bargh primed rudeness
- real world = unconcious attitudes/ priming affects daily life
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- stereotypes - women in science
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Definition
- 5 stages of sleep
- REM = rapid eye movement
- REM sleep linked to dreaming
- characterized by twitching, eye mvmnt & brain wave patterns that resemble those for an awake state
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| Dreaming: Negative Emotional Content |
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- 80% of dreams have negative emotional content
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- failure, attacked, pursued, rejected or struck w/ misfortune - really common
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| Dreaming: Sexual & Gender Dreams |
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- contrary to our thinking, sexual dreams are sparse
- men: 1 in 10
- women: 1 in 30
- women dream of men & women equally whereas men dream of men more than women
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| Why Do We Dream: Wish Fulfillment |
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Definition
- Freud - suggested that dreams provide a psychic safety valve to discharge unacceptable feelings
- dreams manifest (apparent content) may also have symbolic meanings (latent content) that signify our emotions
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| Why Do We Dream: Information Processing |
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- dreams may help sift, sort and fix a day's experience in our memories
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| Why Do We Dream: Activation-Synthesis Theory |
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- suggests that the brain engages in a lot of random neural activity
- dreams make sene of this activity
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CHAPTER 3: Sensation and Perception - Sensation
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- sensation - detection of physical energy from environment and convert it into neural signals
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- select, organize, interpret those stimuli
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- info gathered by the senses and then interpreted
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- mind expects to see certain things and uses this knowledge to interpret sensory info
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- conversion of physical energy (light) into neural signals that our brain can understand
Physical Charact. Psych Stimulation wavelength color amplitude brightness -bigger = brighter
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- min. stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time
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- assumes that there's no single absolute threshold for detecting a stimulus from around background noise
- depends on top-down process
- personality traits
- motivation
- expectations
- awareness
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| Signal Detection Study - Lax Criteria |
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- tendency to say "yes"
- more hits, more false alarms
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| Signal Detection Study - Strict Criteria |
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- tendency to say "no"
- more correct rejections, more misses
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- played videogame - stimulus holding a gun or cell phone
- told to shoot if thought stimulus has gun - don't shoot if think it's not a gun
- i.v. = stimulus was either black or white
- study found people had more lax criteria w/ African Americans
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- min difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time
- a.k.a. just noticeable difference
- can you feel the weight of a quarter - in envelope vs. shoe
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- 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum % (rather than a constant amount), to be perceived as different
- light = 8%
- loudness = 5%
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- diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
- people w/ Autism cannot really adapt to stimuli - always notice an itchy tag
- neyrons fire less often as you don't address the stimuli
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- the focusing of light waves from objects of different distances directly on the retina
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- tells body something's gone wrong
- usuallyresults from famage to the skin & other tissues
- vast individual differences to pain sensitivity
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- Reducers = some have nervous systems that reduce the effects of sensory stimulation
- <60 reducer - need higher amount of stimuli to feel pain/respond to it
- seek out more stimulating experiences
- Augmenters = some have nervous systems that augment or amplify the effects of sensory stimulation
- >80 augmenter - less tolerant to pain, responds to stimuli more easily, less likely to abuse alcohol, cigarettes, etc.
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| Congenital Insensitivity to Pain w/ Anhidrosis |
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- rare genetic disease that causes people to lack the ability to feel pain
- can't sweat - unable to adequately regulate body temp so summers = very dangerous - high body temp
- most die @ young age - heat exhaustion or internal problems - diagnosed too late
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| Is Pain All About Bottom-Up Processing? |
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- no: Armel & Ramachandran (2003)
- bent participants fingers back slightly
- scientists showed fake fingers being bent completely
- people said extremely painful even though it wouln't have hurt
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- biological influences
- social influences
- psychological influences
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- some pain can be controlled to some extent by thought distraction
- burn victims going thru painful treatment distracted w/ videogames
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| How Do We Form Meaningful Perceptions from Sensory Information? |
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- organize it
- Gestalt psych suggested a # of principles that we use to make sense of what we see
- organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground)
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- organize the figure into a meaningful form using grouping rules
- proximity
- similarity
- continuity
- connectedness
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- have it since we learned to crawl (helps to develop d.p.)
- babies crawling - visual cliff
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How Do We Perceive Depth? |
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- in real, 3D, world we typically use the binocular cue of retinal disparity
- when we focus on an object, our 2 retinas take in slightly different views of the obj.
- when object is far away, these differences are smaller than when the object is nearer
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| Monocular Cue: Relative Size |
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- expect 2 objects to be similar in size
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| Monocular Cue: Interposition |
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- object that blocks other object tend to be perceived as closer
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| Monocular Cue: Relative Clarity |
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- perceive hazy object to be father away than in reality
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| Monocular Cue: Texture Gradient |
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- indistinct texture signals increasing distance
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| Monocular Cue: Relative Height |
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- higher in the field of vision = farther away
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| Monocular Cue: Linear Perspective |
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- parallel lines appear to converge
- more convergence = farther away
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| Monocular Cue: Light & Shadow |
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- nearby objects reflect more light into the eyes than more distant objects
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