-The scientific study of the mind

-study of the processes and structures which take in, usem and transforn information

-metaphor for the mind (we cannot directly observe it)

-we observe the input and outputs

-look inside yourself 

-very difficult to verify, private events, still only the outputs (doesn't explain the mind)

-Introspectionist

-trained patients to describe their sensations; added them up to achieve experiences

-emphasis on what can be directly observed (stimuli, responses, reinforcements/rewards, rats in mazes)

-ignore the mind

-study the relationship between stimuli and responses

Issues

-cant account for human diversity

-limited science to the observable (bad idea!!

-classical conditioning experiments

-trained dogs to assosiate a ringing bell with food

-observed the behavior of salivation even when the meat wasn't present

-psychology is the "science of behavior"

-studied reinforcement learning

-infer what's going on in the box

-what we manipulate

*i.e. physical properties of/number of stimulus*

-what we measure

*i.e. reaction time*

-weak

-providing good evidence for a hypothesis

-Donders

-the study of the time course of mental processes

-each stage:

-receives info from the previous stage

-transforms the info

-sends info to the next stage

-inject radioactive tracer

-as tracer decays we get a measure 

-more active parts of the brain have more oxygen and blood

-good spatial resolution

-bad temporal resolution

-indirect measure of blood activity

-exposure to radioactivity

-active areas of the brain need oxygen 

-measures the BOLD (blood oxgen level dependent) signal

-good spatial and temporal resolution

-less invasive than PET

-indirect measure of brain activity

-expensive

-something that is out there in the world

*i.e. the computer*

-when the proximal stimulus does NOT match with the distal stimulus but the PERCEPT DOES

*i.e. moving objects*

-our perception of an object's features remains constant even when viewpoint changes

-perception of size doesn't change with distance

-perception of color doesn't change with light

-perception of shape doesn't change with angle

-all about what's out in the environment (all the necessary cues needed for percception are in the environment)

-stimulus info is NOT ambiguous

-perception uses cues and prior knowledge

-sensory info is often ambiguous (must rely on knowledge/expectations)

-processing that is driven by gthe external stimulus, rather than internal knowledge

-direct perception claims perception is purely bottom up

-processing that is driven by knowledge and expectations

-contructivism claims that perception is both bottom up and top-down

-distal stimulus in 3D

-proximal stimulus is 2D

-Percept is 3D

-we exploit environmental cues to recover depth

-linear perspective

-shape (the closer something is the more detailed it is)

-relative size (the closer an object is the tighter the eye muscles have to work to focus on it)

-Interposition

-Shadows

-Accommodation (the closer an object is the tighter the eye muscles have to work to focus on it)

-Retinal Disparity (when an object is far away it goes to about the same spot)

-Convergence (when an object is very close your eyes have to tilt inward)

-located at the start of the axon

-currents add up to produce an action potential

-action potential always has same strength 

-either get all of it (above threshold) or none of it

-binds to receptors on target neuron

-causes chain of events that eventually change potential across axon of target cell

-executive functions

-planning

-motor control

-working memory

-personality

-Long Term Memory

-Emotions

-Primary Auditory Cortex

-Attention 

-Location

-Touch Sensations

-photo-receptors

-photo-chemical reaction takes place inside these cells when exposed to light

-Rods detect brightness

-cones are in the foves (blue, green, and red)

-detect single bar of light at a particular orientation

-normally when it is stable

-very specific shapes

-corners

-gaps