Psychology 121 Midterm

What controls memory

hippocampus

Storing

holding information in memory

Retrieval

reactivating or "retrieving" information that is stored in memory

Implicit memory + example

Non-declarative (unconscious memory)
-knowledge that we cannot consciously access
-ex. knowing how to talk without consciously remembering learning this
-cerebellum

Prenatal Development Stages

germinal stage, embryonic stage, fetal stage

preoperational stage

-2 to 6 years old
-can now represent things with language/mental images but lack logical reasoning
-egocentrism; world is only viewed from their perspective
-pretend play, language development
-"world revolves around me"

The body is controlled by the _____________

nervous system

nervous system

billions of interconnected cells where messages are sent between brain and body

Nervous system consists of

central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

Central Nervous System (CNS)

brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

neurons that connect CNS to our body

endocrine system

chemical regulator of our body consisting of glands that secrete hormones

The __________ is the building block of the nervous system

neuron

Neuron

a cell in the nervous system that receives and transmits information

Three major parts of a neuron

dendrites, cell body, axon

Dendrites

receives info from other neurons and sends it to the cell body

cell body (soma) of neuron

contains the nucleus and keeps it alive

axon

transmits neuron's messages from cell body toward other neurons/muscles/glands

DCBA

Dendrite to Cell Body to Axon

myelin sheath

a layer of fatty tissue encasing some axons that speeds up transmission of electrical signals

Neurotransmitters vs Synapse

Neurotransmitters- chemical messengers that relay signals across synapses between neurons
Synapse- space between neurons

Neurotransmitters can be

excitatory (makes cell more likely to fire) or inhibitory (makes cell less likely to fire)

hormones

chemicals in bloodstream that affect behavior

brain plasticity

-brain's ability to change its structure and function in response to damage or experiences, especially in childhood
-helps us learn and remember new things

The cerebral cortex is divided into ______ hemispheres, with each hemisphere divided into ______ lobes

two; four

right hemisphere of brain controls...

-controls left side of the body
-controls non-verbal things, attention, music listening, spacial awareness

left hemisphere of brain controls...

-controls right side of body
-controls language, cognitive function, logic
-most people are dominant here

Major lobes of the brain

frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital

frontal lobe function

-behind forehead
-motor function: problem solving, memory, judgment, impulse control
-does not develop until 23-25

parietal lobe function

-middle-back of skull
-processes sensory and bodily information
-temperature, pain etc.

temporal lobe function

-sides of brain
-responsible for hearing, language, integrating vision/auditory

occipital lobe function

-back of skull
-controls vision, processing of visual info

consciousness

awareness of what is going on around us (external stimuli), and internal events like memories, thoughts, sensations

circadian rhythm + sunlight's role

-daily cycles of sleep and waking, controlled by biological clock
-sunlight makes body alert (decreased melatonin)
-as sun sets, body gets sleepy (increased melatonin)

Melatonin

A sleep hormone manufactured by the pineal gland (endocrine system)

two major types of sleep

-Non-rapid eye movement (NREM)
-Rapid eye movement (REM)

Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) Sleep

-deep sleep characterized by very blow brain waves
-divided into stage 1, 2, 3, 4

Stages of sleep

1, 2, 3, 4, REM

Sleep Stage 1

-brief, light sleep (5% of sleep)
-irregular theta waves
-breathing slows, some muscle tone is lost, most awareness of the environment is lost
-(some have) sudden jerks, hallucinations, sense of falling

Sleep Stage 2

-half (50%) of total sleep time usually
-theta waves with more rapid/random bursts of brain activity (spindles)
-muscle activity further decreases, and conscious awareness of the environment is completely lost
-sleep talking can occur

Sleep stage 3

-Transition stage to deepest sleep
-delta waves start
-very hard to wake up (still possible)

Sleep stage 4

-slow-wave sleep, the deepest level of sleep
-very slow delta waves
-sleepwalking, sleeptalking, sleep terrors, bed-wetting in kids
-consciousness is distant, yet even in deepest sleep we are still aware of external world (if a baby cries we can still react)

REM sleep (rapid eye movement)

-25% of sleep; usually after about 60 minutes after falling asleep
-brain becomes more active again, heart rate rises, breathing is rapid/irregular
-Dreaming is most common
-Emotional sleep, motor cortex active, limbic activity/amygdala increases, genitals become aroused (even without sexual dreams)
-NO sleepwalking/sleeptalking
-essentially paralyzed

dreams tend to...

become more vivid and elaborate as the night goes on

alpha and beta waves

common in wakefulness

4 main sleep disorders

-Night terrors
-Insomnia
-Sleep apnea
-Narcolepsy

Night terrors

-extreme fear waking you up, may involve loud screams or intense panic
-most common in childhood
-effects can linger after waking up
-sufferer cannot wake up when trying to

Insomnia

-inability to sleep
-persistent difficulty in falling or staying asleep
-lack of melatonin
-more common in older people

Sleep apnea

-inability to breathe properly; pauses in breathing while asleep
-not taking in enough oxygen during sleep and can be fatal
-do not go into REM sleep leading to constant tiredness
-CPAP machine helps to breath at night
-sleep study can be done to evaluate

Narcolepsy

-sudden uncontrollable/random episodes of falling asleep
-can be caused by genetics or (rarely) by brain injury
-people with this disorder cannot swim, drive, etc.

Learning

relatively permanent change in knowledge or behavior resulting from experience

Types of learning

classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational learning

classical conditioning + example

-learning involving an association between two stimuli
-most common type of learning
-Pavlov's dog: Initially dogs only salivated when they saw or smelled food. He repeatedly exposed dogs to a sound before they received food. Eventually, dogs salivated as soon as they heard the sound.

Unconditioned stimulus (US) and unconditioned response (UR)

US- something triggering a natural response
UR- naturally occurring response resulting from the US (unconditioned stimulus)
-Shivering (UR) to cold (US)
-since responses are reflexive, not learned, this makes them unconditioned

Neutral stimulus (NS), Conditioned stimulus (CS), and Conditioned response (CR)

NS- something that does not naturally produce a response
CS- a repeatedly presented neutral stimulus prior to an unconditioned stimulus that evokes similar response to the US, making it a conditioned response
CR- resulting response to conditioned stimulus, which was formerly the neutral stimulus

operant conditioning + example

-Learning that occurs based on consequences of behavior
-Rewards and punishments
-Cats Escaping/Skinner Box
-Child getting good grades because her parents punish her if she does not
-dog rolling over because it was rewarded/praised for doing so previously

Reinforcement vs. Punishment

reinforcement increases behavior, punishment decreases behavior

positive reinforcement vs negative reinforcement + examples

positive: strengthens a response/behavior by positive reward
-giving a child candy for completing homework

negative: strengthens response/behavior by reducing/removing something negative
-taking Advil to reduce pain of headache

both increase likelihood of behavior occurring again

positive punishment vs negative punishment + examples

positive: weakens response/behavior by presenting something unpleasant
-giving student extra homework after misbehaving in class

negative: weakens a response/behavior by removing something pleasant
-taking away teen's phone after missing curfew

both weaken the likelihood of behavior occurring again

observational learning + example

-aka modeling
-learning/modeling our behavior by observing behaviors of others
-"monkey see, monkey do"
-Bobo doll: kids seeing adults "attack", kick, and punch the doll increasing the chance of kids attacking, kicking, punching the doll

memory + three processes of it

-ability to store and retrieve information over time
-encoding, storing, retrieving

encoding

placing things we experience into memory

sensory memory

very brief storage of sensory information

iconic memory + example

-sensory memory for visual information
-lasts about 1/4 of a second
-ex. temporarily remembering a picture/image

echoic memory + example

-sensory memory for sound
-lasts as long as 4 seconds
-ex. briefly remembering a melody of a song after it stops playing

how many numbers can the brain hold

7

short-term memory (STM) + example

small amounts of info temporarily held for about 30 seconds; not stored permanently and limited capacity
-ex. phone number/someone's name

long-term memory (LTM) + example

-memory storage that holds information for days, months, and years
-ex. knowing how to ride a bike

explicit memory + example

Declarative (conscious memory)
-knowledge or experiences that can be consciously remembered
-remembering a conversation you had with someone
-hippocampus

two types of long term memory

explicit and implicit

intermediate memory

transfers short-term to long-term memory

Chunking + examples

-memory technique
-grouping things together; organizing things by "chunks"
-remembering phone numbers
-The alphabet song "A, B, C, D..." (chunking groups of letters together to memorize alphabet)

Two types of intelligence

fluid and crystallized

fluid intelligence

-capacity to learn new ways of solving problems/performing activities quickly/abstractly
-decreases as you get older
-logic, problem-solving, facts

crystallized intelligence

-accumulated knowledge of the world acquired over time; comes from experience
-increases as you get older
-language, vocab, history

Types of parenting styles

-authoritarian
-authoritative
-permissive
-neglectful

Demanding vs responsive

demanding- high expectations of behavior/control over kid
responsive- degree of warmth and attention provided

authoritarian parenting

-demanding/strict/controlling but not responsive
-says no all the time without explanation ("because I said so!")
-kids have no say so

permissive parenting

-make few demands, almost no punishment, but are warm and affectionate
-allows kid to do whatever they want
-afraid to/never says no to their kid

neglectful parenting

-undemanding, unresponsive overall
-lack of care/discipline for the kid

authoritative parenting

-balance of rules/demands and responsiveness/understanding/listening to kid's needs and opinions
-says yes and no with explanations ("lets discuss what an appropriate curfew might be")
-kids have some say so
-considered the best way to parent

development is guided by...

genetics (nature) and environment (nurture)

Chromosomes

cells/chains made of DNA that contain the genes (segments of DNA)

prenatal

conception to birth

conception + sex cells #

-egg and sperm sex cells unite
-each sex cell has 23 chromosomes

germinal stage of prenatal development

-conception to implantation in the uterine wall
-lasting about 10-14 days
-zygote

Zygote

-fertilized egg
-23 egg chromosomes + 23 sperm chromosomes fuse together (46 chromosomes)

Zygote process (germinal stage)

-travels down fallopian tubes and attaches itself to the uterus (embryo)
-incorrectly fertilized zygotes get flushed out by the menstrual cycle (most cases)
-zygote cells divide rapidly and start to form a human being (embryotic stage starts)

embryonic stage of prenatal development

-cells on insides start to form human being
-zygote attaches itself to wall of uterus making an embryo
-lasts about 6 more weeks
-rapid development
-protected by placenta and amniotic fluid (amniotic sac)
-umbilical cord linking mom and embryo; transfers nutrients and protects

embryo

-major internal organs are formed
-begins when zygote attaches itself to the wall of the uterus

fetal stage of prenatal development

-final stage; embryo becomes a fetus
-massive growth/increase in size; becoming a human
-9 weeks to birth
-takes on sleeping, breathing, developing senses
-develops initial preferences; newborn prefers mothers voice over strangers

Down Syndrome

-problem with, or usually an extra 21st chromosome
-born with physical/cognitive impairments

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

-maternal alcohol drinking is associated with numerous detrimental developmental effects/conditions
-baby with FAS is born with cognitive/physical defects, but not born an alcoholic

Teratogens

substances that can harm the fetus
-ex. alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, air pollution, environmental factors

Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development

1. Sensorimotor Stage
2. Preoperational Stage
3. Concrete Operational Stage
4. Formal Operational Stage

sensorimotor stage

-birth to 2 years old
-experiences world through senses/actions (seeing, hearing, touching, mouthing, grasping)
-object permanence/stranger anxiety

Object Permanence (Piaget)

-concept, gained in infancy, that objects continue to exist even when they are hidden from view
-very young infants (younger than 8 months) do not have this

concrete operational stage

-7 to 11 years old
-thinking logically about events/things, but not abstractly
-can perform operations and do math
-conservation

Conservation (Piaget)

-understanding that changes in the form of an object do not necessarily mean object changed in quantity/mass
-children younger than about 7 do not have this
-ex. children think that a taller glass of milk has more mass than a shorter/wider glass of milk, even when they see the same milk poured from glass to glass

formal operational stage

-12 to adulthood
-abstract reasoning/logic
-potential for mature moral reasoning