Psychology: Sleep, Learning, and Behavior Theories

Contributing factors to SIDs

Premature birth, smoking within the home and hyperthermia

What is consciousness

awareness of internal and external stimuli, such as feelings of hunger and pain, or detection of light

Sleep stage 1

transitional phase occuring between wakefulness and sleep, rates of respiration and heartbeat slow down, overall muscle tension and core body temperature decrease, and it produces alpha and theta waves

Sleeping stage 2

the body goes into deep relaxation, theta waves, characterized by the appearance of both sleep spindles and K-complexes. (both sleep spindles and K-complexes can be seen on an EEG)

Melatonin

hormone that regulates our sleep cycle. Melatonin release is stimulated by darkness, making us sleepy, and is inhibited by daylight

Narcolepsy

An irresistible urge to fall asleep during waking hours. Often triggered by states of heightened arousal or stress

Parasomnia

Involve unwanted motor behavior/experiences throughout the sleep cycle

Latent content in a dream

the hidden meaning of the dream

Tolerance in substance use disorders

Occurs when a person requires more and more of a drug to achieve effects previously experienced at lower doses; linked to psychological dependence

Physical dependence in substance use disorders

involves changes in normal bodily functions and withdrawal upon cessation of use

Psychological dependence in substance use disorders

emotional need for the drug and may use the drug to relieve psychological distress

Rapid eye movement (REM)

Paralysis of voluntary muscles (except those that make circulation and respiration occur) eyelids will quiver

Stimulant drugs

Increase overall levels of neural activity.

Drugs include:

Cocaine

- Amphetamine (including methamphetamine)

- Cathinones (i.e., bath salts)

- MDMA (ecstasy)

- Nicotine & Caffeine

Top down/Bottom up processing

Top-down processing occurs when previous experience and expectation are first used to recognize stimuli. Bottom-up processing occurs when we sense basic features of stimuli and then integrate them

Sensation

occurs when sensory receptors detect stimuli

Transduction

When sensory receptors detect a specific stimuli, they convert that energy into an action potential which is sent to the central nervous system

Perception

Way that sensory information is interpreted, organized, and consciously experienced

Inattentional blindness

failure to notice something that is completely visible because of a lack of attention

Muller-Lyer illusion

Lines appear to be different lengths although they are identical

Figure-Ground relationship

the idea that we tend to segment our visual world into figure and ground. (Figure: focus of the visual field, Ground: the background)

Gestalt principle of proximity

The idea that things that are close to one another tend to be grouped together

Gestalt principle of similarity

The idea that things that are alike tend to be grouped together

Gestalt principle of continuity

The idea that we are more likely to perceive continuous, smooth, flowing lines rather than jagged, broken lines

Gestalt principle of closure

The principle of closure states that we organize our perceptions into complete objects rather than a series of parts. Closure suggests that we will perceive a complete circle and rectangle rather than a series of segments

Signal detection theory

change in stimulus detection as a function of current mental state (ex., mother awakened by a quiet murmur from a baby but not by a dog barking while she is asleep)

Sensory adaptation theory

not perceiving stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time. (ex., when you first enter a quiet room you may hear the clock ticking. over time you become unaware of the clock ticking. the sound is still affecting sensory receptors but you no longer perceive the sound)

what is learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience

Instincts

behaviors are triggered by a broader range of events (babies instinctively reach for food and turn their head when stroking their cheek)

reflexes

motor/neural reactions to a specific stimulus

examples of innate behavior

- Web making in spiders

- Nest building in birds

- Fighting among male stickleback fish

- Cocoon spinning in insects such as moths

- Swimming in dolphins and other aquatic species

- A snake's knowledge of how to hunt

- A cat hunting birds or mice

- Monarch butterflies migrating

- Bears hibernating

- Dogs shaking water off

extinction

decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer present with the conditioned stimulus

classical conditioning

process by which we learn to associate stimuli and consequently to anticipate events

unconditioned stimulus

stimulus that elicits a reflextive response (food)

unconditioned response

a natural unlearned reaction to a stimulus (salvation in response to food)

neutral stimulus

a stimulus that does not initially elicit a response (ringing a bell - does not cause salivation by itself prior to conditioning)

conditioned stimulus

stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response

the behavior caused by the conditioned stimulus

spontaneous recovery

return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period

continuous reinforcement

when an organism receives a reinforcer every time it displays a behavior

cognitive map

mental picture of the layout of the environment

observational learning

learning by watching others and then imitating or modeling what they do or say

social learning theory

1. Attention - focus on the behavior.

2. Retention - remember what you observed.

3. Reproduction - be able to perform the behavior.

4. Motivation - must want to copy the behavior.

ways that instincts and reflexes are different from each other

reflexes: Simpler than instincts

- Involve activity of specific body parts (knee jerk, pupil dilation in bright light)

- Involve primitive centers of the CNS (spinal cord and medulla)

- Example: Human babies are born with a sucking reflex

instincts: More complex patterns of behavior

- Involve movement of the organism as a whole (sexual activity, migration)

- Involve higher brain centers

positive reinforcement

something is added to increase the likelihood of a

behavior.

Everyday examples:

- High grades

- Paychecks

- Praise

negative reinforcement

something is removed to increase the likelihood of a behavior.

Everyday examples:

- The beeping sound that will only go away when you put your seatbelt on.

positive punishment

something is added to decrease the likelihood of a behavior.

- Scolding a student for texting in class

negative punishment

something is removed to decrease the likelihood of a

behavior.

- Taking away a favorite toy when a child misbehaves.