• the idea that the mind functions to help us adapt to the environment 
• in this belief conscious is regarded as an ever-changing stream of images and sensations

Gestalt 

• the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts 
• it focuses on what the individual is feeling at the moment not on your thoughts but emotions

• create and apply psychological knowledge
• 4 years will get you a BA or BS in Psychology
• 2 more years will get you an MA or MS in Psychology and you can work as a counselor 

• after you get your MA you put in 3000 hrs(1.5- 2 yrs) of internship and you become eligible to receive your state licensing exam. Once you pass you can become a MFT and open you own private practice
• or you can enter a Phd program  (3-6 yrs), then still do the 3000 hrs and take the licensing exam to have a private practice 

• did experiment with 5th grade class about whether your expectations affect your perceptions

• this study measures the relationship between two variables 
• it is measured in terms of r and it can equal from 0-1. with the higher the number equaling the higher the relationship between the two variables.
• it also tells you the strength ( higher #= higher correlation) and nature (positive and negative) of two variables
• positive correlation means the higher you score on one variable the higher you will score on the other
• negative correlations means the higher you score on one variable the lower you will score on the other 
• when you have a correlation study you cannot draw conclusions 

• they allow you to draw conclusions about cause and effect 
• they have an independent (variable that the experiment changes) and a dependent variable ( variable that is measured)
• you have two groups of subjects; a experimental (group that gets the independent variable) and a control group ( not exposed to independent variable) 
• you can also have an extreneous variable, or any outside variable ( like temp., time of day, etc.), but everyother variable has to be the same
• when you have this study you must have random assignment, each group has to be randomly selected and this is necessary for both the control and experimental group 
• the person running the experiment should not be observing results (observer biased)
• can be significant at 0.1 or 0.5 level 

blind/ double blind experiment

• an experiment done in the blind is one where subjects are not aware of whats going on
• a double blind is where both the subjects and the researchers are both unaware of the experiment and unaware of the hypothesis  

"fake pill" that works with the power of suggestion

• inactive placebo: doesnt cause same side effects as real pill
• active placebo: causes same side effects as the real medication 

• this is part of experimental studies 
• it means that we can say with 95% (99% for 0.1) certainty that the difference in scores between the experimental group and control group is due to the independent variable 
• means 5 % (or 1 %) chance of mistake

neurotransmitters

• part of nervous system, composed of nerves that carry information to and from the CNS 
• composed of the somatic and autonomic sytems and the autonomic system is composed of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems

• part of the limbic system responsible for rage reaction that gets activated very quickly . damage to this part of the brain leaves person feeling tamed or unable to sense danger.
• an overly sensitive amygdala results in paranoia and anxiousness. This is developed through early childhood trauma or constant trauma and a result of post-traumatic stress

• the more distracted you are the less pain you feel
• the less anxious you are the less pain you feel
• the more control you have over the pain, the less pain you report 
• how you interpret the pain will also affect how much pain you feel 

• objects
• the more intense a stimuli, the more attention you pay to it
• the  more a stimuli is repeated, the more likely you are to see it 
  
• the more motivated you are to see a stimuli, the more likely you are to see it 

sleep stages (1,2,3,4)

• during 1 and 2 you still have alpha brain waves, your eye movement continues to slow, and muscle tension continues to lower
• during stage 3 everything slows like in the other stages but begin to have delta brain waves
• during stage 4 its the same except 50% of your brain waves are now delta waves

REM (rapid eye movement)

• most dreaming occurs during this stage and typically your will have 5-6 dreams every night, lasting about 25 minutes in REM everytime. once the dream is over you go back to stage 1  of sleep 
• during this stage you have beta brain waves, rapid eye movement, and no/very low muscle tension

what to ask:

• how often do you drink?
• when?
• what do you drink?
• how much?
• does it interfere with work or family life?

alcoholics have a high denial rate