GA Tech - PSYCH1101 - Intro to Psychology Test 1 - Modules 1-7

Normal Distribution

a bell-shaped curve, describing the spread of a characteristic throughout a population

Mean

Average

Median

Middle

Mode

Most

Standard Deviation

A measure of how spread out the numbers are

Regression to the Mean

Extreme values tend to return to the average over time

Statistical Significance

How likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

Sample Size

The number of subjects used in an experiment or study. Generally, the larger the better.

Random Sampling

A method of poll selection that gives each person in a group the same chance of being selected

Psychology

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Biopsychosocial

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

Dualism (Descartes)
Mind-Body Problem

Mind and body are separate

Materialism (Hobbes)

The view that all mental phenomena are reducible to physical phenomena

Nagel

An organism has consciousness if it is like itself (bats)

Idealism

Real world is just manifestation of mental state

Psychoanalysis

Freud - How unconscious processes affect behavior

Structuralism

Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind; Senses

Functionalism

William James - Principles of Psychology - The purpose of the functions of mind

Empirical Approach

Evidence and observation based

Curiosity

Desire to learn or know

Skepticism

An attitude of doubt

Humility

The ability to question own beliefs

Philosophical Empiricism

The view that all knowledge is acquired through experience

Philosophical Nativism

The view that some knowledge is innate rather than acquired

Freud

Psychoanalysis, unconscious mind and childhood experiences affect behavior

Behaviorism

Pavlov and Watson - The approach to psychology that restricts scientific inquiry to observable behavior

Pavlov and Watson - Classical Conditioning

Stimulus-response

Skinner - Operant Conditioning

Positive reinforcement

Chomsky

Not learning by reinforcement (nativism)

Late 1800s
Early 1900s
Late 1900s
Early 2000s

Towards a science of mind
Psychoanalysis -> Behaviorism -> Resistance
The cognitive revolution
Imaging and neuroscience

Humanistic Psychology

Human growth potential (Maslow's need pyramid)

Cognitive Revolution

Late 1900s - Shift to focus on cognition

Cognitive psychology

The scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Cognitive Neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

Evolutionary Psychology

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

SQ3R

Scan, Question, Read, Recite, Review

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory; logical, testable, falsifiable, and positive

Operational Definition

A precise measurable definition of procedures and concepts

Feynman's Thoughts

Guess, Consequences, Test, Compare

Naturalistic Observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Description

Surveys and interviews; watch wording

Reliable

Get same results again and again

Valid

Measures what it wants to measure

Standardized

Normal curve, relative to average performance

Correlation

NOT equal to causation; correlation coefficient keeps track of deviation; suggests possible cause and effects but does not prove it

Replication

Repeat original with new participants, reliability confidence

Preregistration

Publicly communicating planned study design, hypotheses, data collection, and analyses

Meta-Analysis

Procedure for analysis of multiple studies

Random Assignment

Randomly assigning people to control or experimental groups

Experimentation

The gold standard for showing causation

Experimental/Control Group

Experimental Group receives treatment, control group does not

Independent Variable

I change, manipulated variable

Dependent variable

Outcome is measured

Quasi-Experiment

Compares groups but not using random assignment

Case Study

Study of one individual in great detail

Demand Characteristics

Those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think someone else wants or expects

Placebo Effect

Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.

Double Blind Procedure

Research participants and staff are blind about treatment/placebo

Informed Consent

An ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Perceiving Order from Random Events

Hindsight Bias - "I knew it all along"

Debrief

The post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

Neuroplasticity

The ability within the brain to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in response to experience or trauma

Glial Cells

Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons

Neuron

Building blocks of the nervous system

Dendrites

Part of neuron that listens to other neurons

Axon

Part of neuron that communicates with other neurons

Myelin Sheath

Covers the axon of some neurons; Helps speed up transmission of action potential; Insulator for 'passive' transmissions; Signal jumps between gaps

Cell Body (Soma)

Contains the nucleus and other parts of the cell needed to sustain the neuron

Action Potentials

Short periods of electrical activity at the membrane of a neuron, responsible for the transmission of signals within the neuron; All or nothing, can't change strength of reaction as it either fires or doesn't

Neurogenesis

The formation of new neurons

Synaptic Transmission

Neurotransmitters jump the synapse to another neuron

Excitatory Synapses

Receiving dendrites increase the likelihood of a cell firing

Inhibitory Synapses

Decrease the likelihood of a cell firing

Endorphins

Natural neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure

Agonists

Drugs that increase the action of a neurotransmitter

Antagonists

Drugs that block the function of a neurotransmitter

Sensory Neuron

Neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord

Motor Neuron

Neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands

Interneurons

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs

Neural Networks

Interconnected neural cells

Reflexes

Spinal reflex pathway and pain reflex

Peripheral Nervous System

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body; Autonomic and Somatic

Somatic System

Enables skeletal muscle control

Autonomic System

Controls glands and internal organs; Sympathetic = arouses, Parasympathetic = calming

Neurotransmitters

Act like lock and key systems with receptors (Ex. of neurotransmitters: endorphins, acetylcholine)

Reuptake

A neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron

Enzyme Deactivation

An enzyme destroys the neurotransmitter

Central Nervous System

Brain and Spinal Cord

Endocrine System

Set of glands that secrete HORMONES into bloodstream; takes longer but lasts longer

Adrenal Glands

A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. the adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress.

Pituitary Gland

The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.

fMRI and Structural MRI

Location of brain activity, bad for timing of brain activity, blood oxygen level using magnetic resonance (BOLD = Blood Oxygen level Dependent)

EEG

Good for timing of brain activity, bad for location

DTI (diffusion tensor imaging)

A technique used to produce images of the brain that shows connections among different regions

The Connectome

Map of neural connections in the brain

Dorsal

Back

Anterior

Front