Year 11 ATAR Psychology Unit 1

Hindbrain

Base of the brain near back of skull, made up of the brainstem and the cerebellum.
Controls vital activities over which we have no control (breathing, heart rate, BP, coughing, sleeping, vomiting)

Midbrain

On top of brain stem, under cerebal ball hemisphere, Receive messages from all senses except smell.
Sends messages from the senses to the regions of the brain that deal with the senses: involves receiving messages and processing sensory information and receives replies and sends messages to cerebellum.

Forebrain

Largest part of the brain (cerebral cortex/cerebrum) most highly developed part of the brain
Deals with higher functioning activities and controls how we think, feel and behave

Hemispheres

The two half of the brain and known as hemispheres which are separated by deep groove by the corpus collosum which allows communication between them.

Corpus Callosum

main communication route between the two hemispheres

Cerebral Cortex / Cerebrum

each hemisphere receive sensory information and controls motor movement for the opposite side of the brain

Occipital Lobe

Receives information related to sight, part of the visual pathway system.
- received and processes visual information from opposite fields
- primary visual cortex is at the back of the lobe
- destruction of any part of visual cortex produces cortical blindness

Parietal Lobe

primary target from touch sensations and information from muscle-stretch receptors and joint receptors.
- Process's proprioception: the sense of the relative positons of one's own parts of the body and strength of effect used in movement.

Temporal Lobe

processes auditory information.
- Involved in the comprehension of spoken languages and contributes to complex aspects of vision, including facial recognition and perception of movement.

Frontal Lobe

forms a large part of the brain and it receives information from all the senses.
- Associated with higher mental abilities: planning, decision making, personality, reasoning and expressive language
- Damage causes= change in personality, reduced capacity for reasoning.

Cerebellum

responsible for non-verbal learning and memory, the perception of time and modulating emotions

neurons

neurons communicate with each other.
- at any moment, an individual neuron can receive hundreds of messages.
(building blocks that comprise our nervous systems)

Dendrites

fine branches from cell body that receive incoming information from neurons to cell body.

Cell Body

controls maintenance and metabolic function, growth and repair energy provided by mitochondria.

Axon

transmits from cell body to other neurons, cells in glands and muscles.

Myelin Sheath

motor and sensory neurons axons are surrounded by myelin sheath = protect, conduct electrical messages.

Neurotransmitters

chemicals that affect the way messages are passed from one neuron to another.
- Carry a message from a sending neuron across a synapse to receiving emotions.
- The sending neuron usually reabsorbs any excess neurotransmitters molecules (reuptake)
- If an excess of neurotransmitters are produced, the individual experiences a mood boost (runners high)
- Send a message from a sending neuron across the synapse to receptor sites on the receiving neuron.

Physical Activity

the movement of the body that requires energy to maintain a person's health and wellbeing.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

- Measures overall brain activity using electrodes placed on the head
- Measures frequency and amplitude of brain waves.

Computed Tomography (CT)

- Low resolution image
- Uses computer-processed X-rays to produce tomographic images (virtual slices) of specific areas of a scanned object.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

- MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields and radio waves to form images of the body
- Person lies in magnetic field and is exposed to particular radio frequency pulse, causes body to emit a signal
- Creates 3D images that can be divided into slices, enlarged

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

- Uses MRI technology to measure brain activity be detecting changes in blood flow
- Relies on the fact that hen an area of the brain is in use, blood flow

Position Emission Tomography (PET)

- Shows which part of is most active based on the amount of glucose being used there
- The scan usually takes between 30 minutes and two hours
- Computer turns energy measurements into multi-coloured 2D or 3D images.

Phineas Gage (1848)

In a work accident, a metal rod shot up through Phineas Gages skull, destroying his eye and part of his frontal lobe. After healing he was able to function in many ways but his personality changed.

Phones Gage Before and After Accident

Before accident:
capable and efficient foreman, well-balanced shrewd smart businessman, sociable.
After accident:
angry, disrespectful, profane, impatient and stubborn, unable to create and stick to future plans.

Explanation of Phineas Gage

damage to the frontal lobes could result in loss of the ability to supress impulses and modulate emotions.
= limbic system structures are involved in many of our emotions and motivations, particularly those that are related to survival.

Importance of Phineas Gage

first patient from whom we learned something about the relation between personality and the function of the front parts of the brain. Gage had a tremendous influence on early neurology. The specific changes observed in his behaviour pointed to the idea that certain functions are associated with specific areas of the brain.

Physical response to Cannabis

- messes with brain areas (cerebellum and basil ganglia which regulate balance, posture, coordination and reaction time) and user becomes clumsy.
- Interrupts stages of REM sleep (the point during the night that is most crucial to making the body feel reenergized when you wake up)
- Causes heart rate to increase
- Red eyes, expanding of pupil
- Low blood pressure
- Increased appetite

Psychological réponse to Cannabis

- causes brain to release dopamine (a feel-good brain chemical)
- acts in part of brain called hippocampus= alters the way information is processed and how memories are formed.
- Increase the risk of depression for young people who have a genetic vulnerability to the mental illness
- Intense anxiety, fear, distort or panic = common side effects
- Large doses = experience acute psychosis (hallucinations, delusion)

Physical Response to Alcohol

- Short Term:
Loss of coordination, loss of vision, loss of balance, loss of speech
- Long term:
Cirrhosis of the liver, gastrointestinal problems, damage to the heart, impaired muscle functioning, lack adequate diets, suffer nutritional imbalance, impaired immune system, brain damage as a result of vitamin B2 deficiency

Psychological Response to Alcohol

- Lack of inhibitions
- Mood changes/ mood swings
- Increase in aggression and violence
- Uninhibited sexual behaviour/lack of interest in sex
- Impaired memory and sensory-motor co-ordination

Physical Response to Amphetamines

- Appetite and stimulate respiration
- Increase in levels of activity
- Rise in blood pressure
- Increase (sometimes irregular) heart rate
- Energized and focused
- Quicker reaction times
- Violent behaviour
- Loss of coordination

Psychological Response to Amphetamines

- Individual feels more alert and confident
- Enlargement of physical, mental and sexual powers
- Absence of urge to eat or sleep
- Excitement
- Increased attentiveness and concentration
- Paranoia
- hallucinations

Sensation

the passive process of bringing information from the outside world into the body and to the brain
-the process is passive because we do not have to be consciously engaging in a 'sensing' process

Perception

the active process of selecting, organizing and interpreting the information brought to the brain by the senses.

Sensation and Perception process

1. sensory organs absorb energy (light) from stimulus=
2. sensory receptors (rods, cones) convert energy into electricity to end information to the brain=
3. brain organizes that information into something meaningful

Stimulus

anything in the environment that causes a response in the sensory organs

Sensory Organ: Eyes

lens bends light rays to focus on the retina:
changes shape to focus on object:
close: ciliary muscles, contrast, lens bulge
far: ciliary muscles relax, lens flat light receptors
cones: bright light and colour
rods: dim light
iris: coloured part of eye contains muscles to increase and decrease size of pupil
dim light: wide pupil to let more light enter eye
bright light: constricted

Consciousness

William James (1890)
consciousness is a constantly moving stream od thought, feelings and emotions.

Different states of Consciousness

- conscious: the mental events you are aware of
- pre-conscious: mental events that can be brought into awareness
- un-conscious: mental events that are inaccessible to awareness; events are actually kept out of awareness.

Functions of Consciousness

MONITORING mental events
CONTROL: consciousness allows us to formulate and reach goals

Day Dreams

shifts in attention toward internal thoughts and imagined scenarios = students may spend as much as 50% of their waking time in a day-dream.

Neurology of Consciousness

consciousness is distributed throughout the brain.
- Hindbrain and midbrain are important for arousal and sleep
- Damage to the reticular formation can lead to a coma
- Prefrontal cortex is key to conscious control of information processing.

Functions of Sleep

- memory consolation
- energy conservation
- preservation from predators
- restoring bodily functions;
(sleep deprivation can alter immune functions and lead to early death, hallucinations and perceptual disorder)

Stage 1 of Sleep

Stage 1 (NREM)
- Half awake, half asleep
- Few minutes once a night
- theta waves

Stage 2 of Sleep

Stage 2 (NREM)
- More theta waves - progressively slower
- Sleep spindles - sharp bursts of rapid brain waves

Stage 3 and 4 of Sleep

Stage 3 and 4 (NREM)
- Slow wave sleep
- Awaken = groggy
- Vital for restoring body's growth and overall health (hormones)

REM Sleep

- rapid eye movement
- dreaming
- increased automatic nervous system activity
- EEG resembles that of awake state (beta-wave)
- motor paralysis (except for diaphragm)

Dreaming Theories

- Psychoanalytical View: dreams represent a window into the unconscious
- Cognitive View: dreams are constructed from the daily issues of the dreamer
- Biological View: dreams represent the attempt of the cortex to interpret the random neural faring of the brain during sleep

Freuds theory of dreams

- Dreams are a road way into the unconscious
- Manifest content (story line)
- Latent content (underling meaning)
- Dreams are a way to deal with the stress of everyday life
- We tend to dream more when we are stressed

Physiological responses = different states of consciousness

Electrical activity of brain hear rate, body temperature, galvanic skin response:
cannot be measured directly, different patterns associated with different states of consciousness

Brain Waves

- number of waves per second: frequency
- sizes of peaks and troughs: amplitude
- high frequency is faster than low frequency.
- High amplitude brain waves have bigger peaks and troughs
- Electrical activity is highest during normal waking consciousness: fast and small
- Shape changes during different stages of sleep cycle

Heart Rate

- Changes in heart rate accompany changes in level of awareness
- Fall asleep = slow heart rate
- Control heart rate by controlling breathing =
slow and deep: lowered heart rate
fast and shallow: heighten heart rate.
- raised by using stimulants

Ethics

moral principles and codes of behaviour, prior to research one must submit research plans to ethic committee to investigate harm, risks or discomfort to participants and its benefits to society.

Confidentiality

participants rights to privacy

Voluntary Participation

participants willingly decide to take part with no pressure or threats.

Withdrawal rights

cease participation at any time without negative consequences

Informed Consent

before experiment commences a written informed permission, form must be signed.

Deception

deception should not occur unless necessary

Debriefing

debrief about why deception was used

Independent Variables

changing

Dependant Variables

measure

Control Variables

kept the same

Uncontrolled Variables

the variable that has the potential to negatively impact the relationship between the independent and depend variable.

Experimental Groups

an experimental group is the group in an experiment that receives the variable being tested. One variable is tested at a time. Used to find answers in an experiment.

Controlled Groups

a control group does not receive the test variable.

Reliability

how consistent the outcome of the tool is

Validity

how well the tool measures what it is supposed to measure.

data

reordered observations, usually in numeric or textual form.

non-scientific data

acquiring knowledge and truths but the world using techniques that do not follow the scientific method.

experimental data

research method in which investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe effect on some behaviour or mental process.

population

all cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn.

non-experimental data

research that lacks the manipulation of an independent variable, random assignment of participants to conditions or orders of conditions.

sample

the population researched in a particular study.

scientific

series of steps followed to solve problems including data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis and stating conclusions.

subjective data

collected through observation of behaviour or information based on participants self-reports

objective data

collected under controlled conditions and are easily measured and compared with other data

qualitative data

describes the changes in the quality of behaviour and are often expressed in words. Opinion based

quantitive data

numbers or categories and can be statistically analysed and readily measured and compared with other data.

median

middle number in data set

mean

add all numbers together and divide by how many there are.

mode

most occurring number

range

largest number take away smallest number

displaying of data

Frequency distribution table, histograms (bars touching), frequency polygon, line graph, pie chart, bar graph.

attraction

positive feelings that an individual feel about another person. It can take up many forms including liking, love, admiration, lust and friendship.

determinants of liking

- similarity
- proximity- familiarity, availability, expectation
- reciprocity

DOL= similarity

mutual attraction based on the degree of similar attributes between people: attitudes and values, level of education, view on politics and religion, hobbies and interests.
Common characteristics: physical appearance, value, demographics

DOL= proximity

the physical closeness to someone or something on a geographical scale. Made up of three key factors

DOL= familiarity (proximity)

How familiar you are with another person, how well you know them.

DOL= availability (proximity)

How available another person is to frequently see you.

DOL= exception (proximity)

The expectation you will see another person more than one time.

DOL= reciprocity

a social norm that suggests that people will pay back, in kind, what another person has provided for them. People reciprocate the kind behaviour they receive.

changing relationships

Children move away from close relationships with their parents to form various kinds of relationships with their peers. Peers become very important and noticeable in adolescence and form peer groups.
Peer groups- groups of peers → people in the same demographics.

clique

- Usually between three and nine members.
- Close, relationships, intimate
- Talking is most common activity Interaction occurs mostly during the week.
- Members tend to live in close by areas.

crowds

- Larger → range between 15-30 members
- Need to be a member of a clique to be a part of a crowd but not all cliques are part of crowds.
- Crowds are responsible for organised social activities such as parties.
- Interactions occur most on weekends.

leaders

- Most participants said cliques don't have leaders
- Were often labelled e.g. "John's group"
- Leader coordinates and interrogates group.
- Leaders date more often and organised 'dates' for 'slow learners'.
- In crowds, leaders often male.

Dunphy

- Field study → later became observational
- Made initial contact with participants in institution settings to form a rapport with them, before then observing them in social settings.
- Questionnaires and interviews were also used to collect data.
- Participants required to keep a diary.
- Sample- 303 Sydney adolescents between ages 13 and 21.
Dunphy- Adolescent relationship status.
1. Young people form unisex cliques
2. Unisex cliques interact to form heterosexual crowds
3. High ranking members pair off and date
4. Fully developed crowds, including couples.
5. Crowds start to separate.
- Heterosexual = multiple genders
- Unisex = Single gender

Prosocial Behaviour

Occurs when a person selflessly does something to help somebody else, with little regard for their own self- interest or personal safety.
- Positively valued by society
- Must be: helpful to the person being helped, selfless; not looking for a reward or recognition
- E.g. helping an elderly walk when they need it

Antisocial Behaviour

Selfish, negatively valued behaviour that is intentional and usually results in a reward or causes harm.

ASB Factors

- Diffusion of responsibility: everyone believes someone else will act.
- Personal responsibility is spread amongst people present