PSYCH.1010 (Exam #1)

What is Psychology?

The science of BEHAVIOR and MENTAL PROCESSES

-scientific method

-critcally thinking

observable behavior (OVERT)

Behaviors that can be obviously seen by others

(speech and physical movement)

internal mental processes (COVERT)

hidden/hard to find, cannot be directly observed

(remembering, thinking, problem solving, decision making, dreaming)

Empricism

gathering knowledge through careful observation

GOALS (of psychologist)

-describe

-explain

-predict

-control

Trepanning

drilling holes in someones head to see whats in there

Phrenology

reading bumps on the head (like palm reading)

*behavior doesn't always match mental

Four Major Research Perspectives

-biological (internal)

-cognitive (internal)

-behavioral (external)

-socioculture (external)

(used to describe a more complete explanation of our behavior and mental processing)

biological perspective

our physiological hardware (especially the brain and nervous system) is viewed as the major determiner of behavior and mental processing

cognitive perspective

how our mental processes such as perception, memory and problem solving, work and impact behavior

behavior perspective

how external environmental events condition observable behavior

(environmental events condition our behavior and are the cause of it)

socioculture

how other people and the cultural context impact on behavior and mental processes

bystander affect

the probability of a victim receiving help is higher when there is only ONE bystander than when there are many

reason being: if there are many bystanders, each assumes someone else will help

Eclectic

using many different approaches (multiple perspectives)to help us gain a more complete understanding of our behavior and mental process

hingsight bias (I knew it all along)

the tendency after learning about an outcome, to be overconfident in ones ability to have perdicted it

(research shows that after learning about an experimental finding, the finding seems obvious and very predictable)

W.James

-functionalist

-considered to be the first psychologist

-interested in how mind functions

-how we think/process info

history of psychology mind-body dualism

mind-body dualism-are mind/body seperate or do they interact?

-nature vs. nurture

-W. JAMES

nature vs. nurture

nature- biological/genetic, things you were born with

nurture-things you gain/develop externally

W.WUNDT (germany)

-influence of physiology

-structalist

-first to design experiments

-FATHER OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

-believed in structure/anatomy of mind

S. FREUD (europe)

-physican

-interested in abnormal human behavior

-LEVELS OF CONCIOUSNESS (aware/unaware)

-analyzed dreams

-manifest/latent content

manifest/latent contents

manifest content- the literal dream

latent content-different meaning to dream, can mean different things to different people

3 categories of research methods

-descriptive

-correlational

-experimental

descriptive method

THREE TYPES

-obsevational techniques

-case studies

-survey research

all used to provide objective and detailed descriptions of behavior and mental processes

oberservational techniques

researcher directly observes the behavior of interest

-naturalistic observation

-participant observation

naturalistic observation

behavior of interest is observed in a natural setting without the researcher intervening

participant observation

the observer becomes part of the group being observed

-has less subject bias

-realistic

case studies

-studies an indivduals in dept over an extended period of time

-used in situations where disorder is rare

-get to interact with individual you're studying

-can be experimental/subject bias

-time consuming, expensive, can have many problems

survey research

descriptive research method in which the researcher uses questionaires and interviews to collect info about the behavior, beliefs and attitudes of particular groups of people

-can have expertimental/subject bias

-easily done, can survey lots of people for cheap

-survey researchers need to be aware of soical desirability bias

population

the entire group of peple the researcher is studying

sample

the subset of the people in a population that actually participate in a study (n-1)

random sampling

your sample will represent population because everyone in population has equal chance to be in study

ex: flipping a coin

representative sampling

carefully chosing people to represent characteristics of the population

-has potential for bias

unobtrusive method

methods used to guarentee subject does not know they are part of an experiment

examples:

ARCHIVES- observing someone by their records (limited and unethical)

TRACE MEASURES-trace/residue, what subject leaves behind (measure wear in carpet @ museum)

triangulation of methods

combining research methods

Experimental Research (lab)

research in which researcher manipulates one or more independent variables and measures their effect on one or more dependent variables while controlling for other potentially relevant variables

random assignment

randomly assigning the participants to groups in an experiment in order to equalize participant characteristics across the various groups in the experiment

random assignment vs. random sampling (KNOW THE DIFFERENCE)

Random assignment- sampling technique, used in experiments and other research methods, researcher generalizes findings to relevant population

random sampling-control measure, used only in experiments, researcher controls for possible influence of individual characteristics of participants

Independent variable (iv)

free to be manipulated, you can change it

dependent variable (dv)

can be affected by the independant variable, it is measured by experiment

CAUSE---->AFFECT

(iv) (dv)

experimental group

the group exposed to the independent variable

control group

the group not exposed to the independent variable

operational definition

description of operations or procedures the researcher uses to manipulate or measure a varible. Is as specific as possible.

inferential statistical analyses

statistical analyses that allow researchers to draw conclusions about the results of their studies

single blind experiment

subject doesnt know what group they are in

double blind experiment

both the experimenters and participants dont know what group the participant is in

goal of experimental research

your IV and nothing else is responsible for dependent measure

meta analysis

combines the results for a large number of studies on one experimental question into one analysis to arrive at an overal conclusion

-gives a strong conclusion

correlational research

two variables are measured to determine if they are related

correlation coeffecient "r"

statistic that tellls us the type and the strength of the relationship between two variables

(ranges from -1.0 to +1.0)

(+) = direct relationship

(-)= inverse relationship

third-variable problem

another variable may be responsible for the relationship observed between two variables

descriptive statistics

describes data of a research study in a concise fashion

frequency description

the number of participants receiving each score for a variable

standard deviation

average extent to which scores vary from the mean of distrubution

the brain and nervous system are composed of what two types of cells?

Nuerons

Glial Cells

Nuerons

responsible for information transmission throughout the nervous system, they recieve, send and integrate information within the brain and the rest of the nervous system

3 main components of a neuron

dendrites

cell body (or soma)

axon

dendrites

fibers that project out of the cell body like tree brances

FUNCTION: recieve information from other neurons

cell body

contains nucleus of cell and keeps cell alive

FUNCTION: decides whether or not to pass info from dendrites on to other nuerons

axon

long, singular fiber leaving the cell body, subdivides into axon terminals, branchlike endings

FUNCTION: conduct info from cell body to axon terminals in order to trigger the transmission of information with other neurons

Glial cells

constitute support system for nuerons, take away waste products of nuerons, keep nuerons chemical environment stable and insulate them which allows neurons to do their work more efficently

myelin sheath

insulating layer covering an axon that allows for faster nueral impulses (suasage link look)

The process of how the nueron works

1. resting state

2. the signal

3. synaptic transmission

4. the return

5. characteristics of transmission

neurotransmitter

naturally occuring chemical in the nervous system that specializes in transmitting info between nuerons

-excite

-inhibit

excite & inhibit

excite- binds/excites, promotes depolarzation

inhibit-hyperpolarizes nueron so it has less charge to fire

acetycholine (ACh)

involved in learning memory and muscle movement

-alzheimers patients have LOW ACh levels

dopamine

affects arousal (awareness) mood, thought processes and physical movement

ex: schizophrenics- have too much dopamine

parkinsons patients- low levels of dopamine

seratonin

affects mood, eating, sleeping

ex: depression is linked to low seratonin levels

neropinepherine

affects mood, arousal,awareness, learning & memory

ex: depression linked to low levels

mania- linked to high levels

agonist

drug or poison that INCREASES the activity of one or more nuerotransmitters (morephone, L-dopa, black widow venom)

-drugs from outside of body

ex: cocaine

antagonist

drug or poison that DECREASES the activity of one or more nuerotransmitters

-Botullnum (food poisioning)

blood-brain barrier

protective mechanism by which the blood capillaries supplying the brain create a barrier that prevents dangerous substances acess to the brain

GABA

main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, keeps brain from becoming too aroused

glutamate

main excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, involved in memory storage and pain perception

endorphines

group of neurotransmitters involved in pain relief and feelings of pleasure

central nervous system

made up of the brain and spinal cord

the brain

central control of everything

hind brain

controls things that are necessary to survive althought we arent aware of them

medulla

brain stem structure that links the spinal cord to the brain, involved in regulating essential body functions such as heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, digestion and swallowing

-where many neurons cross over on their way to higher levels of the brain

-well protected, damage can cause death

pons

bridges cerebellum to cerbral cortext

reticular formation

invovled in controlling our different levels or arousal and awareness ( are you awake, aware, concious)

-damage=coma

cerebellum

involved in coordination of our movements, our sense of balance and motor learning, coordinates all movements such as walking, running, dancing

thalamus

"the great relay station"

-two egg shape structures at top of brain stem

-serve as relay station for incoming sensory info (vision, hearing, taste, though) NOT SMELL

hypothalamus

located below thalamus, effects human behavior, interacts with nervous system and endocrine system

-has influence on motivation to EAT/DRINK, AGRESSION LEVELS, EMOTIONALITY, SEXUALITY

basal ganglia

-side of hypothalamus

-initation and execution of movement

(influence on posture)

limbic system

thalamus & hypothalamus

rings around thalamus

-play an important role in our survival, memory and emotions

hippocampus

involved in the formation of memory (never forgets)

almygada

plays major role in regulating our emotional experiences, like fear anger and agression

-effects behavior

cerebral cortext

the control and information processing center for the nervous system, where perception, language, memory, decision making and all other higher level cognitive processing occur

corpus collosum

a bridge of neurons that allows the two hemispheres to communicate

frontal lobe

voluntary muscle movement (motor)

ocipital lobe

located in the back of the brain, process visual

temperal lobe

primary auditory cortext is in this lobe (hearing)

parietal lobe

somatosensory cortex is in this lobe + body senses (skin, muscles) regesters pain, pressure, external temperature

neurogenesis

when nerve growth occurs after 13

positron emission tomography (PET) scans

visual display of the activity levels in various areas in the brain generated by detecting the amount of positron emission created by the metabolization of radioactive glucose in each area

fMRI

computerized image of the activity levels of various areas in the brain generated by detecting the amount of oxygen brought to each area

brain scans

-surgery

-accidents/injury (stroke)

-autopsy

the endocrine system

ductless gland owns chemicals called hormones that go directly into blood stream

nuerohormones

interact with nervous system (not same as nuerotransmitters)

-can go more places than axons but travels than nuerotransmitters

pituary gland

secretes own nuerohormones, influences other glands (sometimes called master gland)