Psych 111 Exam 1 University of Michigan

Psychology

scientific study of the mind, brain and behavior.

Pseudoscience

set of claims that see scientific but aren't. Lack safeguard against conservation bias and belief perseverance that characterize science.

6 principles of scientific theory

1. ruling out rival hypotheses 2. correlation vs. causation 3. falsifiability 4. replicability 5. extraordinary claims 6. Ocam's razor

5 great theoretical frame works

1. structuralism 2. functionalism 3. behavioralism 4. cognitivism 5. psychoanalysis

Naturalistic observation

watching behavior in real world settings without trying to manipulate the situation.

Case Study

research design that examines one person or a small # of people in depth, usually over extended time period.

Correlational design:

research design that examines the extent to which 2 variables are associated.

experimental design

manipulate variable to see whether these manipulations produce differences in participants behavior.

Self report measures

Questionnaires, random selection is important, must evaluate results based on reliability and validity.

Independent variable

variable experimenter manipulates

Dependent variable

measured to see if manipulations had any effect

Operational definition

working definition on what researcher is measuring.

Hypothesis

specific predictions based on scientific theory

Random assignment

randomly assorting participants into 2 groups, control or experimental.

Random selection

every person in population has an equal chance at being chosen to participate

Demand characteristics

...that participants pick up in a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding researcher's hypothesis

Informed Consent

informing research participants of what is involved in a study before asking the to participate

Debriefing

process where by researchers inform participants on what the study is about

Confounding variables

things that have an affect on the DV but were taken into account in the experimental design.

Central nervous system

part of nervous system that contains brain and spinal cord that controls the mind and behavior

Peripheral Nervous System

Nerves in the body that extend outside the CNS. Consists of two parts: Autonomic and Somatic

Autonomic Nervous System

Part of the nervous system controlling involuntary actions of our internal organs and glands which participates in emotion regulating. Contains Parasympathetic and sympathetic

Somatic Nervous System

Part of the nervous system that conveys info between the CNS and the body, controlling and coordinating voluntary movement.

Parasympathetic; Autonomic nervous system

division of autonomic nervous system engaged during a crisis or after actions requiring fight or flight actions.

Sympathetic; Autonomic nervous system

division of autonomic nervous system that controls rest and digestion.

Wernicke's Area

part of the temporal involved in understanding speech. Damage results in people not knowing the words they say in gibberish don't make sense.

Broca's Area

Language area in the prefrontal cortex. Responsible for motor function, language, memory and planning. Damage results in trouble producing speech

Primary somatosensory cortex

Receives data about sensations in skin, muscles and joints.

Motor Cortex

part of the frontal lobe responsible for body movement. Each part of motor cortex controls a specific part of the brain.

Prefrontal Cortex

Part of frontal lobe responsible for thinking, planning and language, mood personality and self awareness. Damage changes personality.

Corpus Callosum

Large band of fibers connecting the 2 cerebral hemispheres.

Hypothalamus

Part of the brain responsible for maintaining a constant internal state. Emotion and motivation, hunger, thirst, sexual motivation etc. Regulates body temperature.

Thalamus

Gateway for the sense organs to the primary sensory cortex.

Amygdala

part of the nervous system responsible for fear excitement and arousal. Fear conditioning. Damage results in not being able to detect faces.

Basal Ganglia

Structures in forebrain that help to control movement. Damage results in parkinson's disease, lack of control over movement, tremors. Controls movement to obtain rewards.

Medulla

Regulates breathing, heartbeat and other vital functions. Damage results in brain death.

Reticular Activating System

Plays key role in arousal, damage results in coma.

Hippocampus

Role in spatial memory, the memory of physical layout of things in our environment. Damage results in problems creating new memory while leaving old memories intact.

Substantia Nigra

Part of basal ganglia, movement reward.

Superior Colliculus

Tracking visual stimuli

Inferior Colliculus

Sound Triggered Reflexes

4 lobes of the cerebral cortex

1. Frontal: forward part, motor function, language and memory. Oversees/organizes most other brain function.

2. Parietal Lobe: upper middle part, behind frontal love. Track objects locations, shapes and orientations. Process actions and represents numbers. Transmits visual and touch info to the motor cortex.

3. Temporal Lobe: hearing, understanding language and storing memories of our past. Auditory cortex on top, language area. Lower part stores autobiographical events.

4. Occipital Lobe: very back, visual cortex.

Brain stem

Between spinal cord and cerebral cortex. Contains midbrain, pons and medulla. Basic bodily functions. Relay station between cortex and rest of nervous system.

Brain lateralization

A wider range of abilities given limited bran mass, but no back up system if 1 side is damaged. Everything in the right visual field goes left. Left handed works right side of the brain, right handed works left side of the brain.

Genotype

genetic make up

Phenotype

observable traits

Dominant Gene

gene that masks other genes effects

Recessive gene

expressed only in the absence of a dominant gene

Fitness

organisms capacity to pass on their genes

Heritability

Percentage of variability in a trait across individuals that is due to genes.

Family studies

extent to which a characteristic runs/ goes together in intact families

Twin studies

analysis of how traits vary in individuals raised apart from their biological relatives

Adoption studies

analysis of how traits vary individuals raised apart from their biological relatives

Endocrine system

system of glands and hormones that controls secretion of flood-cone chemical messengers

Hormones

chemicals released into bloodstream that influences particular organs and glands. Through blood vessels, so much slower than neurotransmitters.

Pituitary Glands

Controls other glands in the body under hypothalamus. Hormones from the pituitary gland regulate physical growth, controlling blood pressure, water goes to the kidneys, controls oxytocin.

Adrenal glands

tissue located at the top of kidneys that release adrenaline and cortisol during state of emotional arousal. Creates adrenaline, which boosts energy production in cells, action.

Adrenaline

triggers many actions such as, contraction of the heart muscle, blood vessel constriction to provide more blood flow throughout the body, opening or bronchioles in the lungs, breaks down fat and fatty acid, breaks down carbs into sugar, opens the pupil.

Neuron

Nerve cell specialized for communication

Sensory neurons

being able to see, hear, taste and touch

Moto neurons

Activates muscles

Interneurons

Connects sensory and motor neurons

8 major neurotransmitters

1.Glutamate 2. GABA 3. Acetylocholine 4. Dopamine 5. Norepinephrine 6. Serotonin 7. Endorphins 8. Anandamide

Glutamate

Rapidly excites neurons, increasing likly hood they'll communicate with other neurons. Linked with enhanced learning, and memory. Schizo results in high doses. High doses are toxic.

GABA

Inhibits neurons, dampening neural activity. Anti anxiety drugs bind to GABA receptors, learning, memory and sleep.

Acetylocholine

Arousal, selective attention, memory. Alzheimer's disease. Neurons with acetlocholine are destroyed.

Dopamine

Only one amino acid. Dopamine linked with rewarding experiences that occur when we seek out or accomplish goals.

Norepinephrine

Activate and deactivate various parts of the brain, influencing arousal and readiness to respond to stimuli. Brain arousal and other function like mood, hunger and sleep. Methamphetimine increases norepinephrine.

Serotonin

Mood and temperature regulation, aggression and sleepiness.

Endorphins

Chemical in brain that plays specialized role in pain reduction. Drugs reduce pain and produce euphoria.

Anandamide

Pain reduction, increase in appetite, motivation, memory and sleep. Marijuana.

Personality

peoples typical way of thinking, feeling and behaving

Nomothetic approach

One way to study personality. understand personality by identifying general laws that govern the behavior of all individuals. Generalization across individuals. Limited insight into unique pattern of attribute with in one person.

Idiographic approach

Understand personality by identifying the unique configuration of characteristics and life history experiences with in a person.

Freud: id

Basic instincts. Variety of drives, sex drive or labido and aggressive drive. Operates by pleasure principle.

Freud: ego

The boss, boss of personality, decision maker, interact with the real world. Governed by reality principle.

Freud: superego

Moral standards. Right vs. wrong

Psychic determinism

The assumption that all psychological events have a cause. Dreams, slips of the tongue, etc. all are reflections of deep conflict coming to the surface.

Symbolic symptoms

no matter how trivial something is its not meaningless

Parapraxes

Freudian slops of tongue. Mixing up words.

Dreams

Wishes fulfilled by fantasy

Defense MechanismsL

ego must contend with threats from outside world. defense mechanisms are unconscious maneuvers intended to minimized anxiety

Repression

motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses

Denial

motivated forgetting of distressing experiences

Regression

Returning psychologically to a younger and safer time.

Reaction Formation

transforming an anxiety producing experience into its opposite

Projection

Unconscious attribution of our negative qualities onto others

Displacement

directing an impulse form a socially unacceptable target onto a more acceptable one

Rationalization

Reasonable sounding explanations for unreasonable behaviors or failures.

Intellectualization

Avoiding emotions associated with anxiety provoking experiences by focusing on abstract and impersonal thoughts

Identification with the aggressor

adopting the psychological characteristics of people we find threatening

Sublimation

transforming socially unacceptable impulses onto an admired and socially valued goal

Humanistic approach to personality

Rejected the determinism of psychoanalysts and behaviorists and embraced the notion of free will.

Self actualization

drive to develop our innate potential to the fullest possible extent

Rogers model of personality

1. the organism: our innate and substantially genetically influenced blue print. 2. The self: self concept, set of beliefs about who we are. 3. Conditions of worth: expectations we place on ourselves for appropriate and inappropriate behaviors arise in childhood.

Big 5 theory

1. Openness to experience: intellectually curious. 2. conscientiousness: careful and responsible. 3. Extraversion: social and lively. 4. Agreeableness: sociable and easy to get along with. 5. Neuroticism: tense and moody.

Paiget's 4 stages of cognitive development

1. Sensorimotor 2. Pre-operational 3. Concrete Operational stage 4. Formal operations stage

Sensorimotor stage

birth- 2years. Focus on here and now without the ability to represent experiences mentally. Milestones: mental representation, deferred imitation

Pre-operational stage

2-7years. Ability to construct mental representation of experiences but not yet preform operations on them.

Concrete Operational stage

7-11 years. ability to preform mental operations, only for physical events.