Psychology 1010 Final Exam

UVA- Mazurek

Wundt

believed consciousness could be broken into thoughts, experiences, emotions, and other basic elements and objective introspection

Titchener

believed in structuralism and that every experience can be broken down into its individual emotions and sensations

James

believed scientific study of consciousness was not yet possible; focused on functionalism

functionalism

the study of how the mind allows people to work, play, live, and adapt to their surroundings

objective introspection

thinking objectively about one’s own thoughts

structuralism

structure of mind

gestalt psychology

studying whole patterns rather than small pieces of them

psychoanalysis

insight therapy that emphasizes the revealing of unconscious thoughts

Freud’s belief of the unconscious

• unconscious mind into which we push, or repress, all our threatening urges and desires and that repressed urges that try to surface create nervous disorders

• stressed importance of early childhood experiences, believing personality was formed in first six years and any significant problems began in the early years

Pavlov

showed that a reflex could be caused to occur in response to a formerly unrelated stimulus due to conditioning (Pavlov’s dog)

Watson

focus on behaviorism which focuses only on observable behavior, and he believed all behavior is learned including phobias

Cover Jones

conditioned a child to develop a phobia and then counter conditioned to rid the child of the fear

behavioral perspective

behavior results from learning and experience

cognitive perspective

behavior results from mental processes involved in decision making and problem solving

evolutionary perspective

behavior results from natural selection of advantageous traits

humanistic perspective

behavior results from free will and need for self-actualization

neuroscience/biological perspective

behavior results from genes, the brain, and other biological processes

psychodynamic perspective

behavior results from unconscious memories, conflicts, and desires

sociocultural perspective

behavior results from the social environment and cultural pressures

psychologist

no medical training, but doctorate degree

basic research

research for sake of gaining scientific knowledge

applied research

research aimed at answering real-world, practical issues

psychiatrist

medical degree, specializes in diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders

pseudoscience

system of theories, assumptions, and methods mistakenly regarded as based in science and the scientific method

critical thinking

• making reasoned judgement

• four criteria

  • very few truths that do not need to be subjected to testing

    • questions that can be investigated empirically should be examined using established scientific approaches

  • All evidence is not equal in quality

    • Evaluate how evidence is gathered before deciding that it provides good support for a claim

  • Just because someone is an authority/expert does not make everything that person claims automatically true

    • Always ask to see evidence rather than just take someone’s word

  • Critical thinking requires an open mind

    • Must have delicate balance between skepticism and the willingness to consider possibilities, even possibilities that contradict previous judgements/beliefs

law of parsimony

idea that if there are two explanations for some phenomenon and both account for the phenomenon equally well, the simplest explanation is more often the best one

scientific approach

an approach to research intending to reduce the likelihood of bias and error in the measurement of data

four goals for psychological investigations

• Description: to understand, you must describe

  • Describing involves observing a behavior and noting everything about it

• Explanation: finding explanations for behavior helps to form theories

• Prediction: determine what will happen in the future to change or modify behavior

• Control: the focus of control is to change a behavior from an undesirable one to a desirable one

theory

general explanation of a set of observations or facts

naturalistic observation

way of researching just by observing behaviors; more genuine; possibility of observer bias and changes in environment may change results

observer effect

animals and people will not behave normally if they know they are being watched

participant observation

where the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed

observer bias

when the person observing has a particular opinion about what they expect to see; avoidable with masked observers

masked observers

people who do not know what the research question is and therefore have no preconceived notions about what they should see

laboratory observation

observer maintains a degree of control while setting up the experiment; more likely to encounter artificial behavior

case study

where one individual or a small, unique group is studied in extensive detail; can’t really be applied to other similar people

surveys

researchers ask a series of questions about the topic they’re studying (may include use of focus groups: group of people from different backgrounds who are selected to participate in guided discussion about some topic of interest); uses representative sample, disadvantageous due to possible inaccurate answers (courtesy bias)

courtesy bias

when people give answer they think is more socially correct than their true answer to make sure they don’t offend anyone

correlation

statistical technique, particular way of organizing numerical information to make finding patterns easier; measure of relationship between two or more variables; correlation does not mean causation (extraneous variables)

correlation coefficient (r)

represents direction of relationship and strength; between -1 < r < 1 (closer to 1 means stronger relationship); Positive: decreases in one variable are associated with decreases on the other, increases with one variable are associated with increases on the other; Negative: decreases in one variable are associated with increases on the other

experiment

a deliberate manipulation of a variable to see if corresponding changes in behavior result, allowing the determination of cause-and-effect relationships

operationalization

specific description of a variable of interest that allows it to be measured

placebo effect

the phenomenon where the expectations and biases of the participants in a study can influence their behavior; solution= single-mask

experimenter effect

tendency of the experimenter’s expectations for a study to unintentionally influence the results of the study; solution= double-mask

nervous system

network of cells that carries information to and from all parts of the body

neuroscience

branch of the life sciences that deals with the structure and functioning of the brain and neurons, nerves, and nervous tissue that form the nervous system

biological psychology/behavioral neuroscience

branch of neuroscience that focuses on the biological bases of psychological processes, behavior, and learning

neuron

specialized cell in the nervous system that receives and sends messages within that system; semiliquid inside is mostly negative, semiliquid outside is mostly positive; cell membrane is semipermeable; will fire at full strength or not at all (more stimulation means more repeated firing)

dendrites

parts of neuron that receive messages from other cells (looks like branch); connects to other neurons

soma

part of the cell that contains nucleus and keeps entire cell alive and functioning (attached to dendrites)

axon

fiber attached to soma that carries messages out to other cells

nerves

bundles of axons coated in myelin that travels together through the body

axon terminals

shorter fibers that make shorter knots at the end of the axon branches and are responsible for communicating with other nerve cells

glial cells

cells that provide support for neurons to grow on and around, deliver nutrients to neurons, produce myelin to coat axons, clean up waste products and dead neurons, influence information processing, and during prenatal development influence generation of new neurons

• oligodendrocytes: produce myelin for neurons in brain and spinal cord

• Schwann cells: produce myelin for neuron of body

myelin

fatty substances that coat the axons of neurons to insulate, protect, and speed up the neural impulse; electrical impulse regenerated at each node

synaptic vesicles

little saclike structures that contain neurotransmitters and are found within axon terminals

neurotransmitters

chemical that when released influences the next cell; flows in synaptic gap (space between neurons); can turn cells on (excitatory effect) or turn cells off (inhibitory effect)

antagonist

a chemical substance that blocks or reduces the effects of a neurotransmitter (like curare)

serotonin

sleep, impulsivity, aggression, appetite, mood (too little = depression, too much = mild euphoria, MDMA, neurotoxic)

dopamine

learning, attention, movement (too little = Parkinson’s, too much = schizophrenia)

agonist

a chemical substance that mimics or enhances the effects of a neurotransmitter (like heroin, opiates, morphine)

electrical stimulation of brain (ESB)

study of brain by temporarily disrupting or enhancing normal functioning of specific brain areas through electrical stimulation and then study resulting changes in behavior or cognition

deep brain stimulation (DBS)

electrodes placed in deep-brain areas and route electrode wires to pacemaker-like device called an impulse generator that is surgically implanted under the collarbone (impulses sent to electrodes to stimulate the brain); also noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS)

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

when magnetic pulses are applied to cortex using special copper wire coils positioned over the head

• repetitive stimulation is called repetitive TMS (rTMS)

transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

uses scalp electrodes to pass low amplitude direct current to brain to change excitability of cortical neurons directly below the electrodes

CT scan

computed tomography involves mapping “slices” of the brain by computer

• Shows stroke damage, tumors, injuries, and abnormal brain structure

• Helpful for imaging skull fractures and finding metal in the body

MRI

magnetic resonance imaging uses radio waves and magnetic fields to align hydrogen atoms in brain tissues and make them spin at a particular frequency to create 3D image of brain

•   MRI spectroscopy allows researchers to estimate concentration of specific chemicals and neurotransmitters

•   DTI or diffusion tensor imaging to provide way to measure connectivity in brain by imaging these white matter tracts (fiber tracts consisting of myelinated axons)

  •   Gray matter is the outer areas consisting largely of neurons with unmyelinated axons

EEG

Electroencephalogram uses small metal disks or sponge-like electrode placed directly on the scalp and a special solution to help conduct electrical signals from the cortex below

• indicates stages of sleep, seizures, and even the presence of tumors

• event related potentials (ERPs) measures multiple presentations of a stimulus during an EEG and then averaged to remove variations in the ongoing brain activity

MEG

magnetoencephalography detects small magnetic fields generated by electrical activity of neurons

•   Used to explore longitudinal changes in learning-induced neuroplasticity in musicians, how our brains process words when they are sentences versus when they are listed, and changes in brain activity when individuals view photos of food items they could readily identify versus when they are presented subliminally

PET

Positron emission tomography injects a person with radioactive glucose and the computer detects activity of the brain cells by looking at which cells are using up the glucose and projecting the image of activity onto the monitor

• Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) measures brain blood flow and uses more easily obtainable radioactive tracers

fMRI

Functional MRI provides information on brain’s function

• Measuring blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) brain activity to see how brain might respond differently to stimuli that induce different emotions

• Can identify what brain areas are most active during specific tasks by superimposing information about where oxygen is used in the brain over an image of the brain’s structure

fNIRS

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy uses near-infrared light (which can penetrate skin and skull and is absorbed differently by oxygenated versus deoxygenated hemoglobin) to measure cortical changes in the concentration of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen)