PSYCH - Flashcards for most needed topics

sensitisation

temporary state of heightened alertness and responsivity that occurs as a result of a shocking event

habituation

an organism's decreasing response to a non-threatening stimulus with repeated exposure to it

rapid re-acquisition

quick re-learning of conditioned response after extinction

spontaneous recovery

the re-appearance of a learned response after extinction has occurred

How can spontaneous recovery be prevented?

Extinction should be spaced apart over multiple sessions

extinction

the temporary diminishing of a conditioned response when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus, occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced

continuous reinforcement

a type of learning in which behavior is reinforced each time it occurs

partial reinforcement

reinforcing a response only part of the time, results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than continuous reinforcement

shaping behaviour

Systematically reinforcing each successive step that moves an individual closer to the desired response

contingency

Relationship between behaviour and its consequences

consistency

the same consequence must occur each time the target behaviour is displayed

contiguity

the consequence must follow immediately after the behaviour

What are the cons of punishment?

- Does not produce long-term changes in behaviour

- Tends to suppress behaviour temporarily

- Does not teach/reinforce an alternative behaviour

- Produces negative feelings in learner

- Child may become aggressive towards others

What are alternatives to punishment?

- Do not give attention to the undesirable behaviour

- Reinforce an alternative behaviour through rewards

- Only reward when the undesirable behaviour is not displayed

discriminant stimuli

an antecedent becomes a discriminative stimulus when it signals which of two or more potential behaviours is appropriate in a context

behaviourism

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behaviour without reference to mental processes

latent learning

learning that occurs in the absence of rewards and punishment and is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

What were the results of the Bobo doll experiment?

The children who observed aggressive models made more imitative aggressive responses than those in non-aggressive or control groups.

There were more partial and non-imitative aggression from children who observed aggressive behavior, although the difference for non-imitative aggression was small.

Girls in aggressive conditions also showed more physical aggressive responses if the model was female (except for how often they bunch Bobo, where the effects of gender were reversed).

Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls. The evidence for girls doing the same wasn't strong.

Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. There was little difference in verbal aggression between boys and girls.

encoding

attending to and acquiring information via experiences and mental processes, using past experiences to integrate new information

storage

memory traces stored in neural networks throughout the brain

retrieval

the process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored

What was Sperling's (1960) Study on Memory?

Measuring the capacity and duration of sensory memory

Array of letters flashed quickly on a screen

Participants asked to report as many as possible

partial report method

A research procedure where subjects are asked to report only a portion of the information presented

full report method

Participants are asked to recall all items from a display

What were the results of Sperling's (1960) Study on Memory?

Participants could recall all of the letters from any cued row - all 12 items were available for the first partial report

Participants could recall only 1 letter on average for the modified partial report

Why was the partial report method needed?

Sperling's full report method was intended to provide a measure of visual sensory memory capacity However, the results underestimated the capacity of visual sensory memory because participants were experiencing a rapid decay of information as they were not given enough time to attend to it

What were the results of the Brown-Peterson task?

Demonstrates that the number of items that can be kept in STM rapidly decays with the passage of time

What did participants do in the Brown-Peterson task?

An experimental paradigm in which subjects are given a set of items and then a number

Subjects immediately begin counting backward by threes from the number and after a specific interval, are asked to recall the original items

What was Craik and Tulving's (1975) study testing?

depth of processing model: three different levels of processing

Structural: word in capital letters?

Phonemic: word rhyme?

Sentence: would word fit the sentence?

What were the results of the Craik and Tulving (1975) study?

Recognition accuracy was highest for meaningful processing and lowest for shallow processing

phonological loop

mental workspace for interpreting and encoding auditory and visual information, must actively attend information to encode it into memory

visuo-spatial sketchpad

temporary store of visual and spatial information, including visual imagery

central executive

planning and coordinating complex behaviour, controlled by pre-frontal cortex

episodic buffer

a storage component of working memory that combines the images and sounds from the other two components into one, unified representation

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

amnesias

loss of memory which may be temporary or permanent that can be caused by trauma, brain injury, disease or toxins

anterograde amnesia

inability to consolidate memories after the trauma took place

retrograde amnesia

inability to retrieve information from before the trauma took place

What was the case study of H.M?

He was a young man who suffered from regular seizures

He had his hippocampus removed during surgery which helped the seizures but instead caused severe memory loss

He could not form new memories

What did the case study of H.M demonstrate?

Showed that hippocampal impairment resulted in the inability to transfer information from STM to LTM

proactive interference

the forward-acting disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

variable-ratio schedule

Rewarded after an unknown amount of responses e.g. gambling

variable-interval schedule

Rewards the first correct behavioural response after an unknown amount of time e.g. texting

fixed-ratio schedule

Rewarded after a set amount of responses e.g. getting a free bread after 9 stamps

fixed-interval schedule

Rewarded after a set amount of time e.g. being paid at the end of each month

What type of amnesia did H.M experience?

Severe anterograde amnesia and some temporally graded retrograde amnesia

Could not form new memories but could remember early childhood memories

behavioural neuroscience

The study of the relationship between the brain and behaviour

What are the factors that limit changes in our scientific understanding?

Religious/moral views

Methodological limitations

Belief in serendipity

Scientific conservation

Who discovered the first brain scans?

Papyrus, in the form of ancient scrolls

How much does the average brain weigh?

1400g

How much of our total body weight does the brain make up?

3%

What is the Allen Brain Institute doing?

Using computer systems to stimulate and model the working brain, creating detailed maps of the brain using rat and humans as models

What is the Human Brain Project doing?

In-silico neuroscience

What is in-silico neuroscience?

Stimulating neurons via computer systems, rather than using animals to study brain differences

What is Broca's aphasia?

Individual is not able to produce complete speech but can understand speech well caused by frontal lobe damage

What is Wernicke's aphasia?

Individual is able to produce complete speech that does not make logical sense caused by temporal lobe damage

rostral

toward the forehead or nose

caudal

toward the tail

dorsal

toward the back

ventral

towards the belly

lateral

side

medial

toward the midline

ipsilateral

on the same side of the body

contralateral

on the opposite side of the body

What makes up the Telencephalon?

Cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system

white matter

myelinated axons

grey matter

unmyelinated neuron cell bodies and short, unmyelinated axons

What makes up the diencephalon?

thalamus and hypothalamus

What makes up the mesencephalon?

midbrain

What makes up the metencephalon?

pons and cerebellum

What makes up the myelencephalon?

medulla

dorsal stream

visual path in the parietal cortex that helps the motor system locate objects (important in spatial awareness)

ventral stream

a system of interconnected regions of visual cortex involved in complex object recognition

What is the resting action potential of a cell?

-70mv

When is the action potential triggered?

-50mv

refractory period

the time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated

hyperpolarisation

An increase in the potential difference across a cell's membrane, making it more negative than the resting potential

depolarisation

The change from a negative resting potential to a positive action potential (caused by opening of sodium channels)

What are the steps of chemical signalling?

AP from pre-synaptic neuron triggers vesicles to move towards cell membrane

Fusion of membranes

Neurotransmitters released from vesicles

Neurotransmitters received by synaptic cleft of post-synaptic neuron

neural inhbition

Inhibitory post-synaptic potentials hyperpolarise the cell membrane and the likelihood of an AP being triggered decreases

neural excitation

Excitatory post-synaptic potentials depolarise the cell membrane and the likelihood of an AP being triggered increases

What are the strengths of an EEG?

Good temporal resolution

Relatively cheap

Portable

Safe to use and does not cause discomfort

What are the weaknesses of an EEG?

Poor spatial resolution

Only detects activity on the surface of the cortex

electrophysiology

the study of the electrical activity of cells

What are the strengths of neurophysiology?

Records direct activity of neurons

What are the weaknesses of neurophysiology?

High risk of infection

Highly invasive

Can only record up to 100 neurons at a time

How does an MRI work?

Magnetic resonance imaging

Produces images of the brain to show which parts are active by lighting up when the patient does different tasks

This is because the active parts of the brain will have a greater flow of oxygen and blood

What are the strengths of an MRI?

High spatial resolution

Can identify specific brain areas

What are weaknesses of an MRI?

Very expensive

Safety risks due to the magnetic field

Requires specialised, trained staff

How does an fMRI work?

uses magnetic field and radio waves to view blood flow in the brain for function, tracking ratio of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood

What are the strengths of an fMRI?

Non-invasive

Objective and reliable measure

What are the strengths of PET?

Can use different chemicals related to energy consumption to measure brain activity

What are the weaknesses of PET?

Expensive

Requires trained, specialised staff

Lower spatial resolution than MRI

Radioactive tracers must be injected into patients

surgical ablation

removal of a body part, pathway, or function by surgery, chemical destruction, electrocautery, freezing, or radio frequency (RF)

frontal leucotomy

- Egas Moniz introduced leucotomy for relief of psychiatric disorders

- For severe psychosis for which there was not other treatment

- Stopping following the introduction of antipsychotic medications in 1950s

electrical brain stimulation

Stimulation of a brain area by passing electrical current through an electrode

non-invasive brain stimulation

Stimulates the brain from the outside using a magnetic coil

emotion

positive, negative or neutral feelings that can be translated into physiological or behavioural changes

emotional responses - behavioural

Muscular changes that are appropriate to the situation that elicits them

emotional responses - autonomic

Physiological changes induced by the autonomic nervous system facilitate behavioural responses