Intro to Psych - Final Exam

what are the goals of psychology?

describe, explain, predict, applocation

understand the distinction between nativism/empiricism

nature: the idea that our thoughts, ideas, and characteristics are inborn

nurture: knowledge is gained through experiences

introspection

examine own thoughts/feelings

know the modern perspectives of psychology

structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism

structuralism: elements of the mind

the stuidy of the most basic elements, primary sensations and perceptions, that make up our conscious mental experiences

involves introspection

functionalism: functions of the mind

the study of the function rather than the structure of the consciousness

how our minds adapt to a changing environment

behavioral observations conducted in a laboratory

behaviorism

emphasized the objective, scientific analysis of observable behaviors - mental events are triggered by external stimuli which led to behaviors

looked at behavior and its measurement rather than “consciousness” of Wundt and James

what is the scientific method?

set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research

know the steps of the scientific method

observe/question, form hypothesis, conduct research/test, data analysis and conclusions, report results

what are the three types of research designs?

descriptive, correlational, experimental

descriptive research

case studies, surveys, and naturalistic/laboratory observation

may not be representative

correlational research

a measure of the relationship between variables

predict, strength and directions, illusory

strongest: r=+1.0, r=-1.0

weakest: r=0.0

experimentation

manipulate variable of interest, while controlling everything else

many factors influence our behavior

independent variable

variable manipulated by experimenter

has an effect of the dependent variable

dependent variable

factor that is proposed to change in response to the independent variable

measured by the experimenter

problems with surveys

wording, knowledge, representativeness

random sampling

a process by which each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected

illusory correlation

add causation or relation between things that don’t

how to experiments help researchers isolate cause and effect?

manipulating a specific IV while holding other factors constant, allowing researchers to measure its direct impact on an independent variable

control group

know the 3 measures of central tendency and why one may be better than another

mean, median, mode

median is better for skewed distribution because it is not influenced by extreme values

measures of variation

range: difference, varies more

standard deviation: a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean

dendrites

branching extensions at the cell body, receives messages from other neurons

cell body

life-support center of the neuron, integrates signals from other neurons

axon

long single extension of a neuron, covered with myelin sheath to insulate and speed up messages through neurons

carries electric impulses (action potentials) away from soma

terminal branch

distal, brand ending of an axon that transmits signals to other cells

synapse

areas where the terminal buttons at the end of the axon of one neuron don’t quite touch the dendrites of another

allows axons to communicate with many dendrites in neighboring cells

what are the properties of an action potential?

generated by the movement of charged ions in and out of channels in the axons membrane

input to dendrites, strong enough input crosses threshold and the cell fires

know how neurons communicate with each other

action potential reaches end of axon, it signals terminal buttons to release neurotransmitters into synapse

dendrites will admit neurotransmitters only if they are the right shape to fit in the receptor sites on the receiving neurons

when neurotransmitters are accepted by the receptors on the receiving neurons, their effect may be excitatory or inhibitory

neurotransmitter

relays signals across synapses between neurons

excitatory

make cell more likely to fire

inhibitory

less likely to fire

reuptake

neurotransmitters that are in the synapse are reabsorbed into the transmitting terminal buttons, ready again for release after the neuron fires

autonomic nervous system

sympathetic: fight or flight

parasympathetic: rest or digest

somatic nervous system

voluntary movements of skeletal muscles

clinical observations/lesions

damage to brain (strokes, falls, accidents, gunshots, tumors)

EEG

amplified recording of the electrical waves sweeping across the brains surface, measured by electrodes on scalp

watch electrical current change over time

great temporal resolution (millisec), poor spatial resolution

PET

ingest radioactive glucose, scanner detects where glucose goes while brain performs a task

MRI

x-ray but can look at soft tissue

very good spatial resolution (millimeters)

4 lobes of the cortex

frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital

where is the motor cortex located?

cerebellum

voluntary movements

where is the sensory cortex located?

parietal

receives information from skin surface and sense organs

aphasia

impairment of language, left hemisphere damage to Brocas area or Wernicke area

broca’s area

impaired production

wernicke’s area

impaired meaning

sensation

the physical, bottom-up (raw data/senses) process of detecting sensory stimuli

perception

organization and interpretation of input, top-down

cognition

higher level processing, including memory, thought, and language

bottom-up processing

sensory to brain, recognizing new unexpected stimuli

top-down processing

uses pre-existing knowledge, experiences, and expectations to interpret sensory data, allows us to fill gaps when sensory data is incomplete

selective attention

attention processes act like a funnel - more energy into what’s important, funneling out what isn’t

inattentional blindness

failing to detect visible objects when attention directed elsewhere

wavelength

corresponds to psychological dimension of hue (color). where longer wavelengths are perceived as red/orange, shorter as blue/violet

amplitude

corresponds to brightness (intensity), higher amplitude waves appear brighter, lower appear dimmer

rods

visual neurons that specialize in detecting black, white, and gray

not a lot of detail, highly sensitive to shorter waved (darker) and weak light, help see in dim light/night

rest words blur

cones

visual neurons that are specialized in detecting fine details and color

operate best in bright light, located: fovea/central point of retina

focus on one word

nearsighted

image focused in front of the retina

farsighted

image focused behind retina

trichromatic theory (Young + Helmholtz)

retina contains three receptors normally sensitive to red, blue, and green wavelengths

colorblindness

opponent-process (Hering)

we process four primary colors opposed in pairs of red-green, blue-yellow, black-white

competition between colors

afterimages

two binocular cues

binocular disparity and covergence

binocular (retinal) disparity

our eyes are located slightly apart, image on each retina is slightly different

when brain combines images, seeing things in 3D

convergence

our eyes move together to focus on something close, farther apart for distant objects

monocular cues for perceiving depth

relative size, interposition (occlusion), aerial perspective, texture gradient, linear perspective, motion parallax

perceptual constancy

perceiving the properties of an object to remain the same even though the physical properties (what’s on the retina) are changing

retinal image changed, perception stays the same

shape constancy

shape perception same, retinal image different

size constancy

we perceive objects as same size, even if retinal size changes

size-distance relationship

color constancy

color of object remains the same under different illuminations

however, when context changes, color of object may look different

encoding

getting info in memory system

events we notice/attend to are encoded in working memory, further processing/rehearsing may encode in LTM

storage

retention of information

retrieval

getting information out

information processing model

sensory, short, long

working memory

contains visual and auditory eleements

automatic processing

enormous amount of information is processed effortlessly in space and time

other things require effort to process

effortful processing

novel info committed to memory requires effort

maintenance rehearsal

repeating info to keep in working memory (Rote)

memorization of facts, stop = generally goes away

3 ways to encode information

semantic

acoustic

visual

semantic

encoding (meaning), leads to better performace

sensory memory

pattern recognition, iconic and echoic

working/short term memory

visual/auditory, magic 7, 12 rto 39 seconds - maintenance rehearsal

serial position effect

remember inffo at beginning (primary effect) and end (recency effect) of list better than middle

proactive interference

old interferes with new

retroactive

new interferes with old

memory is a

constructive process

reconstruction can

lead to false memories

how are implicit memories processed?

processed in part by cerebellum, remember what we do

how are explicit memories processed?

processed in hippocampus

retrograde amnesia

loss of memory for the past

believed to be related to the consolidation process

anterograde amnesia

remember events from before trauma but cannot make new memeories

how can we measure what infants know?

habituation (selective looking): decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation

know how the brain develops prenatally and after birth

the developing brain overproduces neurons, peaks around 7 months, biggest change after birth is connections

maturation

growth in neural networks allow for orderly changes in behavior

allow you to walk, talk, and remember

schema

mental concept that organizes information

assimilation

interpreting new information in terms of our existing schemas

accomodate

adapting or adjusting our schemas to fit new experiences (calling a cat a dog, changing schema when corrected)

sensorimotor stage (birth-2)

take in world through senses, gain object permanence

preoperational stage (2-6/7)

learns language, doesn’t understand logic

lack concept of conservation

children are egocentric, but they start to form a theory of mind (how feelings, perceptions, and thoughts can predict behavior)

concrete operational stage (7-11)

gain mental operations that enable them to think logically, understand conservation, gain understanding of mathematical transformations

formal operational stage (11+)

can think logically about abstract concepts, probably begins earlier than Piaget believed

criticism of Piaget’s theory

contemporary beliefs support a much more continuous development, underestimated the abilities of young children

three parenting styles

authoritative, authoritarian, permissive