History of Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt

developed technique of introspection, “Father of Psychology”, and established the first psychological laboratory

foundation of psychology

Edward boring’s proposal

Neuronal Communication

can be measured, suggesting mental processes might be measured

William James

proposed functionalism and emphasized the continuous flow of consciousness, opposed to structuarlism

functionalism

how mental processes work

Sigmund Freud

the notion that behavior and subjective experience was largely controlled by forces outside of conscious awareness

Karl Popper

introduced falsifiability

Falsifiability

scientific theories must be testable, and if it doesn’t make predictions, it isn’t good science

behaviorism

psychology should only study observable behavior not hidden mental processes

Ivan Pavolv

makes first english-language report of classical conditioning with an animal study

Thorndikes

discovers instrumental condition

John Watson

advocated radical behaviorism

methodological behaviorism

cannot observe processes (introspection was a failure)

B.F. Skinner

all behavior is the result of classical and instrumental/operant conditioning

Philosophical basis

other science requires unobservable theoretical entities

Edward C. Tolman

internal representation very useful for explaining behavior…cognitive maps

Noam Chomsky

verbal behavior…lack of overt reinforcement in language learning

hidden mental processes

memory, attention, stereotypes, beliefs, etc

computational theory of mind

mind works like a computer, as long as there is a testable approaches

correlational research

involves measuring two or more variables, nothing is manipulated

positive correction

amount of time study and test score

negative correlation

temperature is dropping so heating bill is high

no correlation

no correlation whatsoever

spurious correlations

are two or more variables that appear to have a causal relationship but do not and could be due to pure coincidence, a third variable, or confounding variable

experimental research

a researcher manipulates one variable and measures on another

hypothesis

testable prediction of what will happen under certain circumstances

independent variable

the manipulated variable

dependent variable

the measured variable

Experimental/Treatment

the group that receives the treatment/drug/etc

control

the group that doesn’t receive the treatment

random assignment

assures each participant has an equal likelihood of being assigned to any experimental group

bias

something that systematically affects participant performances

demand characteristics

cues revealing the experimenter’s expectations to participants

placebo effect

when a participant gains benefits not because of a treatment, but because of an expectation of benefits

Clever Hans

Horse that supposedly could do math, but only because he looked at the facial expression of the audience

double blind studies

a study in which both the investigator and the participants are blind (unaware of) the nature of the treatment the participant is receiving

scientific theories

make predictions, are explicit as possible, deterministic, public, and communal

psedudoscience

post-hoc explanations, procedures hard to replicate, appeals to “insiders”, vested interest in outcome

Post-hoc explanations

explaining how you feel after the results

Procedures hard to replicate

have to be told exactly how to do the experiment

appeals to “insiders”

aren’t able to communicate with the rest of the world

vested interest in outcome

want those who aren’t typically invested

criteria we use to evaluate theories

predictive power, falsifiability, parsimony, and coverage

variable

anything that is measured in an experiment or sutdy

dependence

one variable depends on another

independence

one variable doesn’t depend on another

nuisance variable

uncontrolled variable that varies independently of independent variables

confounds

a nuisance variable that varies with independent variable, provide alternative interpretation of experimental outcome

operational

link between theory and data; convergent operations

validity

the quality of the operation definitions

construct validity

is the construct real, and is it being measured?

face validity

weak test

criterion validity

empiricla test

convergent validity

validity across experimentals

reliability

any valid measure is reliable, but a reliable measure may not be valid

Psychokinesis

60% of the American public believe in such phenomena

Psi Phenomena

ESP and Psychokinesis

Bem

argued that people can be sensitive to the future

HARKing

Hypothesizing After Results Known

characteristics of science

structured empiricism, verifications, testable hypotheses

cautionary points of science

anecdotes don’t make scientific points, bold claims aren’t necessarily true, just because something is unexplained doesn’t mean an explanation doesn’t exist, coincidence, don’t appeal to authority only, and explore alternative explanations

a purposed hierarchy

intuition, authority, reason, data

Three major divisions of the brain

forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain

basal ganglia

required for normal movement, learning new motor skills, and moves dopamine

limbic system

amygdala and hippocampus

amygdala

a bunch of neurons, emotions

hippocampus

learning and memory

smell

trigger for our memories and emotions

cerebral cortex

wrinkly, ‘gray matter’, two hempisheres

2 hemispheres

4 lobes

Localization of Lobe Functions

different regions of cortex responsible for different psychological behaviors, our behaviors use all 4 lobes

Occipital lobs

devoted to vision and visual perception, back of the brain

Parietal lobe

perception of touch and spatial perception, above the back of the head

Line cancellation test

used for lack of awareness usually for stroke patients

balance syndrome

lose of awareness on both sides of the brain

only see one thing at a time

struggle with the location of things in space

Temporal Lobe

perception of objects, auditory perception, and language comprehensions; bottom part of the brain

Frontal lobe

speech production, movement, complex thinking, aspects of personality

back of the frontal lobe is primary motor cortex

movement of arms, legs, etc

Phineas Gage

camping iron went through his skull, his frontal lobe was damage, he had a personality change

somatosensory homunculus

ordered map of skin surface in parietal cortex

cortex

plastic-malleable based on experience

changes based on experience

changes follwing amputation

action potentials and neurotransmitters

different across individuals and leads to experience

leads to experience

alters action potentials and neurotransmitters which are different across individuals

action potential

everything you see, hear and do

resting potential neuron

altered by inputs in the neuron

thershold exceeded

neuron fires an action potential

A.P is caused by 2 steps

Na rushing in and K rushing out…they help each other out

synaptic transmission

Ap causes synaptic vesicles to dump contents into gaps between neurons

neurotransmitters connect to receptors

let out + ions, change metabolism of the other neuron, and change the number of receptors on the other neuron

lock and key

1st neuron has the key, 2nd neuron binds with the receptor is the lock

glutamate

always excited transmitters, way you exit out neurons, involved in learning and memory

Gaba

inhibitory neurotransmitter, receptors may be involved in anxiety orders, why our cortex inhibits neurons

inhibitory neurotransmitter

let + ions out and - ions in

Serotonin

concentrated in hypothalamus and cortex, involved in sleep

Dopamine

can be excitatory in inhibitory based on what receptors it connects with

too much dopamine

result in schizophrenia

not enough dopamine

result in Parkinson’s

Neuropsychological methodology

looking at individuals with brain damage and figuring out what they have troubles

psychopharmacology

get someone on drugs and alter the effect on the brain

single-cell recording

put an electrode in the brain and record activity