Psych Exam 1 Review (MSU)

Study religiously

Goals of psych

• study the mind, brain, and behavior scientifically 

• study the physical neurons of the brain

• how and why do people do what they do? 

• unconscious forces: people do things without realizing

Hindsight Bias

claiming to have a prediction about something after it happens (“I knew it all along”)

Confirmation Bias

looking for evidence that confirms predictions and beliefs

Correlational Research

measures 2 variables and sees if they’re related, and how strongly they are related

correlational coefficient 

• (-1 to 1) 

positive correlational coefficient

high values of one variable ( r ) are associated with high values of the other

negative correlational coefficient

high values of one variable are associated with low values of the other

Does correlation always mean causation? 

CORRELATION DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN CAUSATION 

Descriptive studies

• seeks out ways to observe or describe a certain phenomenon

A case study

a study of one person or a small group

strengths of case studies 

they have a powerful impact on our understanding of a phenomenon 

weaknesses of a case study

1. have a small sample size 2. susceptability to research bias 3. cannot establish causality

naturalistic observation

analyzing a natural occurrence

advantage of naturalistic observation 

generalizability

disadvantage of naturalistic observation

• observation can alter behavior

• cannot infer the cause of behavior

survey research

asking questions to a large number of people to gain insight on attitude and behavior

advantage of survey research 

very large sample sizes, increase reliability and replicability 

disadvantage of survey research

• sampling issues

• people may not respond accurately

Descriptive Research strength

may be only way to analyze phenomenon

descriptive research weakness

• cannot determine the cause of the behavior 

• may have observer bias 

Experimental Research

when there are 2 variables and one is being changed to measure the others outcome

independent variable

the variable that is manipulated or changed

dependent variable 

• variable that is measured after the change of the first variable 

population of an experinent

the group that the researcher is interested in studying (ex. people or monkeys)

sample

individuals taken randomly from a population that are being tested on

control group

• a group that is identical to the experimental group, except it has not been exposed to treatment

• used because other factors can vary with the independent variable

what are the neuroimaging methods

1. single cell recordings

2. electroencephaloraphy (EEG)

3. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI)

single cell recording

inserting a microelectrode to record changes in the voltage or current, often in response to stimuli or during specific behaviors

single cell recording strength 

1. direct observation of cells activity 

2. good temporal resolution 

single cell recording weakness

1. hole in the brain

2. limited number of cells at once

3. only animal research

electroencephalography

scalp electrodes measure the summed electrical activity of large populations of neurons

EEG strength 

• good temporal resolution 

EEG weakness

bad spatial resolution

FMRI- functional magnetic resonance imagine

• magnetic resonance imaging of relative amounts of oxygenated vs deoxygenated blood

FMRI strength 

good spatial resolution 

FMRI weakness

bad temporal resolution

Midbrain and hindbrain

The midbrain and hindbrain are for basic life functions: respiration, cardiac function, regulation of homeostasis, sleep/wake cycles

Pons

involved in respiration 

Medulla

controls heart rate, respiration 

Reticular formation:

 involved in respiration, heart rate, wakefulness

Cerebellum

coordinates smooth movements, balance, posture 

Thalamus-

one on the left and right side of the brain 

• Considered to be the relay station of the brain

• Receives all of the incoming sensory information and relays to other parts of the cortex 

• One exception for senses: The smell sense (olfaction)

Hypothalamus

• Sits right in front of the thalamus 

• Regulates vital functions: body temp, hunger, hormone release, biological rhythms 

Amygdala

• Processes emotional information 

• Fear, aggression

Hippocampus

• Formation of declarative and spatial memory 

• Not permanent storage area 

• Memory will be distributed throughout brain 

• Hippocampus helps form new memories

The cortex: 

• Specialized for higher level processes 

• Humans can sustain life without the cortex 

• Grey matter: cell bodies and dendrites 

• White matter: axons 

Gyri and Sulci: 

• Exaction of differ for each brain 

• Relative positioning consistent across brains 

To cram(technical term) more brains have many more gyri and sulci than other primates 

Cerebral lateralization 

• Relatively greater location of function 

Cortex

• Partially specialized functions in humans, less so in other animals 

• Left-more often controls language 

• Better at spatial processing

Cerebral Lateralization 

• LH is dominant for language 

• RH is dominant for non-linguistic functions (e.g. mental imagery, spatial relationships)

 

Brocas Aphasia 

• In 1861, paul broca evaluated leborgne 

• Known today as “Tan” or “Tan Tan” 

• Brocas Aphasia: language production: affects ability to speak and find words 

• Patients can understand speech of others

Aphasia

• Brocas: Language production: affects ability to speak and find words: can usually understand the speech of others

• Wernicke's: difficulty with comprehension: patients will speak long sentences but often do not make sense 

Dominant gene:

• expressed whenever present

Recessive gene:

•  only when matched with similar gene from both parents 

Genotype

• genetic constitution 

phenotype 

the set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment 

monozygotic

one fertilized egg divides into 2 (same looking twins)

dizygotic

• two seperately fertliized eggs develop simultaneously

heritability

estimate the extent to which variation in a given trait is due to genetic factors 

McGurk Principles 

• top down interpretation of movements

• based off of knowledge (knowing what mouth movements make certain sounds)

• hear “da” instead of “ba” 

S cone color

blue

M cone color

green

L cone color 

red 

color blindness malfunction

often caused by malfunction of M cones

how can people identify colors outside of the 3 cone colors?

your brain can identify color by comparing patterns of activity across multiple different cones by using a bit of each instead of one whole

Binocular cues

• each eye sees a different image

• the brain compares them

• the greater the difference, the closer the object

• convergence: when you look at something close, your eyes turn inward, the mount of tension helps estimate the difference

monocular views

• relative size: if two objects are known to have the same size, the smaller retinal image looks farther away

interposition: monocular views

if one object blocks another, the blocked one is seen as farther

linear perspective: monocular cues 

• parallel lines appear to meet in the distance 

texture gradient: monocular views

fine detail is visible up close but the texture gets blurier and more dense farther away

relative height: monocular views

objects higher in the visual field are seen as farther

light and shadow: monocular views 

give us a sense of depth 

motion parallax: monocular views

when you move the closer objects zip by faster than the farther ones

SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptae inhibitors)

• block reuptake of serotonin into neuron

• effect: more serotonin remians in the synapse

• clinical use: antidepressants

MOAIs (monomine oxidase inhibitors)

• block the enzyme that breaks down monoamines

• increase dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin

• depression treatment

Acytlcholinesterase (AChE)

• prevent breakdown of acetylcholine

• effect: ACh in the synapse, imporved cholinergic signaling

• alzheimers disease (helps memory learning) and alzheimers, myasthenia gravis

Receptive field

 the specific area where a sensory neuron responds to stimulation 

In other words: the patch of the world” a neuron cares about 

Vision

 a photoreceptor in your retina only responds to light in one spot of your visual field 

If the ligh hits outside that spot, the cell doesnt do anything 

touch receptor

•  a touch receptor in your fingertip responds only when that tiny patch of skin is pressed 

• Touch somewhere else: the receptor doesn't fire

Area VI

• Also called the striate cortex 

• In the occipital lobe 

• First place in the cortex that receives visual input from the retina 

• Neurons respond to simple features: 

• Edges, lines, orientation, motion, color, and spacial frequency 

• Builds foundation for high level processing

Ventral stream (“what” pathway) 

• Object identification and recognition 

• Shape, color, texture (“what am i looking at)

Dorsal stream (where and how pathway)

neuron 

• receive, integrate, and transmit information 

• operate through electrical impulses

• communicate through chemical signals

dendrites

• component of a neuron that branches to a dendritic tree dendritic tree, tapering with each branch 

• receives information that atatches to a dendritic tree 

sensory neurons

• transmit information form the bodys organs and tissues to the central nervous system

• bodys internal sensors

action potential

• momentary reversal of membrane potential that is the bases for electrical signaling between neurons

• when the neurotransmitters bind to the receptors on the dendrites of a neuron, they depolarize it

• influx of positive ions, creates electrical signal

• potasium flows out of the cell

• depolarize: make the membrane less polarized and it gets closer to zero

motor neurons 

carry signals to central nervous system to muscle and glands 

steps of action potential

1. resting state

2. depolarization

3. repolarization

4. hyperpolarization

5. resting potential

glial cells

• support and protect neurons in the nervous system

• provide insulation

• they form in myelin sheaths

acetylcholine 

• memory motor control 

• acts on serotonin 

monoamines

• affect arousal, and motivation

• prevents breakdowns

amino acids

• general inhibatory

• used in alzheimers to boost cholingeic signaling

resting potential 

• at rest, neurons are polarized

• charged difference that sits from the inside of the cell compared to the outside of the cell 

• is waiting to be excited so it can do its activity 

what happens resting potential

• more prevalent inside the cell, inside is more negatively charged than the outside of the cell

• -70 millivolts

• transport protein that uses sodium (na) and potasium (K) pump, 3 sodium out of the cell and 2 negative potasium ions into the cell

bottom up processing

• raw sensory data is analyzed

• builds complex systems from what you see and hear

top down processing 

• starts with big picture 

• knowledge based 

• what do you expect? 

gestalt principles of perception

• proximity: grouping nearby objects

• similarity: grouping alike objects

• closure: seeing incomplete figures as complete

• continuity: perceiving continuous paths

• pragnanz: simples possible form