Exam 1: 4-5

Intro to Psychology

Consciousness

Subjective awareness of mental activities, internal sensations, and the external environment.

Split-brain research

Shows two streams of consciousness; each brain hemisphere can have its own memories, preferences, and expressions.

Corpus callosum

Connects the brain's left and right hemispheres; cutting or damaging it makes communication difficult.

Brain hemispheres

Left controls the right side of the body; right controls the left. Each processes information differently.

Split-brain experiments

Researchers flashed images into one visual field; a person could recognize something without being able to verbally identify it.

Altered states of consciousness

Changes in awareness, including sleep, dreams, meditation, hypnosis, trance, hyper-alertness, and drug-induced states.

Circadian rhythm

Internal biological clock regulating the sleep-wake cycle over approximately 24 hours.

Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

Group of neurons in the hypothalamus, above the optic chiasm, that controls circadian rhythm.

SCN and pineal gland

SCN signals the pineal gland when to release melatonin.

Light and SCN

Light influences the SCN and helps regulate when we feel awake or sleepy.

Melatonin

Sleep-regulating hormone produced by the pineal gland; increases in darkness and is suppressed by bright and blue light.

Blue light

Electronic-device light that can suppress melatonin and make falling asleep harder.

Sleep without environmental cues

Natural sleep-wake rhythm is approximately 24.2 hours; people gradually stay up later without light or clocks.

Circadian rhythm shifts

Easier to adjust to later sleep schedules than earlier ones; explains differences in shift-work and jet-lag adjustment.

Other circadian rhythms

Body temperature, alertness, physical strength, pain sensitivity, and allergic sensitivity.

Restorative theory of sleep

Sleep allows the body and brain to recover.

Evolutionary theory of sleep

Sleep conserves energy and helps organisms stay safe.

EEG (electroencephalogram)

Uses scalp electrodes to monitor brain waves, especially from the cortex.

Beta waves

Alert and awake.

Alpha waves

Relaxed and drowsy.

Theta waves

Falling asleep.

Delta waves

Deep sleep.

N1 sleep

Lightest sleep stage; theta waves replace alpha waves; easiest stage to wake from.

N2 sleep

Sleep spindles appear; theta waves dominate; body temperature, heart rate, and breathing slow.

N3 sleep

Deepest sleep; delta waves dominate; hardest to awaken; sleepwalking and night terrors can occur.

REM sleep

Rapid eye movement; vivid dreams, beta-like brain activity, and temporary muscle paralysis.

Deep sleep timing

Most delta-wave deep sleep occurs early in the night.

REM rebound

Increased REM sleep after losing REM sleep.

Nightmares

Frightening REM dreams that are usually remembered after waking.

REM sleep behavior disorder

REM muscle paralysis fails, causing people to physically act out their dreams.

Night terrors

Intense fear or panic during N3 sleep; person is difficult to comfort and usually has little memory afterward.

Nightmares vs. night terrors

Nightmares occur during REM and are remembered; night terrors occur during N3 and are usually forgotten.

Sleepwalking

Performing activities while asleep during N3; often begins in childhood and can be hereditary.

Insomnia

Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting restful sleep; can cause daytime tiredness and poor concentration.

Sleep apnea

Breathing repeatedly stops during sleep.

Obstructive vs. central sleep apnea

Obstructive: tissue blocks the airway. Central: brain fails to send proper breathing signals.

Narcolepsy

Sleep disorder involving sudden sleep attacks that can go directly into REM sleep.

Cataplexy

Sudden loss of muscle tone while awake because the REM paralysis mechanism activates.

Sleep paralysis

Waking up temporarily unable to move because REM muscle paralysis continues.

REM behavior disorder vs. sleep paralysis

REM behavior disorder: acts out dreams. Sleep paralysis: temporarily cannot move after waking.

Sigmund Freud and dreams

Believed dreams reveal unconscious thoughts and feelings; called them the "royal road to the unconscious."

Manifest content

Actual events and storyline remembered from a dream.

Latent content

Hidden psychological meaning behind a dream, according to Freud.

Activation-synthesis hypothesis

Brain creates dream stories to make sense of random neural activity during REM sleep.

Activation-information-mode model

Dreams reflect the brain processing information and memories, influenced by emotional state.

Depressants

Slow the central nervous system; examples include alcohol and benzodiazepines.

Stimulants

Increase alertness and nervous system activity; examples include caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamines.

Hallucinogens

Alter perception, thoughts, and sensory experiences; examples include LSD and PCP.

Opioids/opiates

Pain-relieving substances that can cause drowsiness and slow breathing; examples include morphine and heroin.

Alcohol

Depressant; reduces coordination and judgment; most commonly abused depressant.

Marijuana (cannabis)

Can alter perception, mood, memory, and coordination; associated with increased risk of psychotic symptoms.

Morphine

Opioid derived from opium and used for severe pain.

Amphetamines

Stimulants; a class used to treat ADHD.

Benzodiazepines

Depressants commonly prescribed for anxiety and stress.

Nicotine

Highly addictive stimulant that increases alertness and heart rate.

Caffeine

Stimulant that blocks adenosine, reducing feelings of tiredness.

Cocaine

Highly addictive stimulant; historically used in Coca-Cola.

LSD

Hallucinogen originally derived from a fungus.

MDMA (Ecstasy/X)

Stimulant and hallucinogen that affects mood, energy, and perception; associated with memory problems.

PCP

Dissociative hallucinogen that alters perception and can cause detachment from reality.

Learning

Relatively permanent change in behavior caused by experience or practice.

Classical conditioning

Learning by associating two stimuli; a previously neutral stimulus eventually triggers an automatic response.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist who discovered classical conditioning by observing dogs salivating to cues associated with food.

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Naturally triggers a response without learning.

Unconditioned response (UCR)

Natural, unlearned response to the UCS.

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Previously neutral stimulus that becomes associated with the UCS through learning.

Conditioned response (CR)

Learned response to the conditioned stimulus.

Stimulus generalization

Responding to stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

Stimulus discrimination

Learning to respond only to a specific conditioned stimulus, not similar stimuli.

Extinction

Conditioned response weakens when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS.

Spontaneous recovery

An extinguished conditioned response suddenly reappears after time has passed.

John B. Watson

American psychologist known as the founder of behaviorism; emphasized environmental influences on behavior.

Little Albert experiment

Watson conditioned a baby to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud noise.

Little Albert's generalization

Albert generalized his fear to similar objects, including a white rabbit, dog, and seal fur coat.

Little Albert's extinction

Repeatedly presenting the rat without the loud noise could gradually weaken Albert's learned fear.

Classical conditioning in advertising

Pairing a product (NS) with something that creates positive feelings (UCS) makes the product a CS that produces positive feelings (CR).

Biological preparedness

Natural tendency to learn certain associations more easily than others, such as associating food with sickness.

Conditioned taste aversion

Developing an avoidance of a food after associating it with becoming sick.

Phobias and classical conditioning

A fear can develop when a previously neutral stimulus becomes associated with a frightening or painful experience.

Operant conditioning

Learning through consequences that increase or decrease the likelihood of repeating a behavior.

Edward Thorndike

Psychologist who studied cats escaping puzzle boxes through trial and error.

Law of Effect

Behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated.

B.F. Skinner

Psychologist known for developing operant conditioning and studying how consequences shape behavior.

Classical vs. operant conditioning

Classical: learning through stimulus associations. Operant: learning through behavioral consequences.

Reinforcement

A consequence that increases the likelihood of repeating a behavior; another word for reward.

Punishment

A consequence that decreases the likelihood of repeating a behavior.

Reinforcer vs. punisher

Whether something reinforces or punishes depends on the individual and whether the behavior increases or decreases.

Unintentional reinforcement

Even negative attention, such as yelling, can reinforce behavior if it increases that behavior.

Primary reinforcer

Naturally satisfies a biological need, such as food, water, or sleep.

Secondary reinforcer

Learned reward, such as money, grades, or praise.

Positive reinforcement

Adds something desirable to increase a behavior.

Negative reinforcement

Removes something unpleasant to increase a behavior.

Positive punishment

Adds something unpleasant to decrease a behavior.

Negative punishment

Removes something desirable to decrease a behavior.

Positive vs. negative

Positive means something is added; negative means something is removed. Neither means good or bad.

Reinforcement vs. punishment

Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases behavior.

Fixed ratio schedule

Reward follows a set number of responses; example: free coffee after 10 purchases.

Variable ratio schedule

Reward follows an unpredictable number of responses; example: winning a claw machine prize.

Fixed interval schedule

Reward becomes available after a set amount of time; example: biweekly paycheck.

Variable interval schedule

Reward becomes available after unpredictable amounts of time; example: checking for randomly arriving emails.