PSYC 100 USC Midterm 1

Psychological science

the study, through research, of mind, brain, and behavior

Major baises

1. ignoring evidence (confirmation bias)

2. failing to accurately judge source credibility

3. misunderstanding or not using statistics

4. seeing relationships that do not exist

5. using relative comparisons

6. accepting after-the-fact explanations (hindsight bias)

7. taking mental shortcuts (heuristics)

8. failing to see our own inadequacies (self-servicing)

Dualism

the mind and body are separate but intertwined

by René Descartes

Introspection

the systematic examination of subjective mental experiences

people inspect and report on the content of their thoughts

-Wilhelm Wundt, Titchener

Structuralism

1st formal school of psych

the concept that conscious experiences can be broken down into basic components

by Wilhelm Wundt

Q: What is it? What is it made of?

Functionalism

addressed the purpose of behavior

Concerned with how the brain or mind helps humans function or adapt

By William James (mind is adaptive)

What does it do for us?

Gestalt Psychology

- arose in opposition of structuralism

- says the whole of personal experience is more than the sum of perceptions

By Max Wertheimer

Sigmund Freud

neurologist

human behavior is determined by unconscious mental processes

developed psycholanalysis

themes- unconscious influence, early years are formative

Behaviorism

emphasize environmental forces on observable behavior

By John B. Watson then B. F. Skinner, pavlov

Cognitive Psychology

The study of mental functions such as intelligence, thinking, language, memory, and decision making

-mind= information processor

Social Psychology

focuses on situations on how interactions shape people

-attitudes, relations, influence

IRB

does not evaluate scientific merit

2 steps to inform participant-

informed consent- rights as participants

debriefing- after study, offer desensitization help (ie. counseling)

observational methods

naturalistic- unobtrusive

-descriptive notes> can introduce biases

participant observation-covert, not unobtrusive

-going undercover

-high external validity, minimize reactivity

-low internal validity (can not draw cause and effect conclusions)

-observation bias

self reporting method

case studies

-person or group has something unusual

-pros- lots of info, high external validity, can predict behavior

-limits- social desirability bias, low internal validity, observer bias

experiments

high internal validity

low external validity- artificial setting/task, convneience sampling

observer bias

expectancy effects

longitudinal fissure

runs down center of brain

has corpus callosum (thick bands of fibers that connect hemispheres)

Ventricles

filled with cerebrospinal fluid

schizophrenia- have larger ventircles

hydrocephalus

water on brain

blockage in ventricles causes fluid to accumulate and push on brain tissue

made but not absorbed

temporal lobe

broken into superior, middle, and inferior gyri (wrinkles on brain)

auditory cortex- wernicke's

memory areas

object and face recognition

prefrontal cortex

functions: planning, regulating behavior, directing attention

case studies

1. Phineas Gage- could function but not lead

2. Frontal lobotomy- emotionally flat

amygdala

middle gyrus

fear, facial responses

hippocampus

middle gyrus

processor of new information, makes memories

dementia, amnesia

basal ganglia

connected to frontal lobe and other motor areas

related to voluntary movement and reward related movement

nucleus accumbens

aphasia

deficit

parietal lobe

senses converge, spatial awareness, reading, calculation

devoted to touch

fusaform gyrus

between occipital and temporal

Cross-cutting Research

Frontal lobe - cuts across different research areas

Used to be studying one type of disorder - Realized that same symptoms were showing up in the same research ideas

Interdisiciplinary

Working as a team with people from different backgrounds

Ex. Neurosciences, education, gerontology, music

Primary Goals of Science

description

prediction

control

explanation

Critical thinkers:

1. question claims

2. seek definitions for the parts of the claims

3. evaluate the claims by looking for well-supported evidence

Theory

1. asks questions about how an observable thing works

2. consts of interconnected ideas

Hypothesis

1. is an attempt to answer a theory's questions

2. consists of a testable prediction that should be observed if the theory is correct

six steps of the Scientific method

1. forming a hypothesis

2. conducting a literature review

3. designing a study

4. conducting a study

5. analyzing the data

6. reporting the results

3 types of research in Psych

1. Descriptive

2. Correlational

3. experimental

Independent variable

variable that gets manipulated in a research study

Dependent variable

variable that gets measured in a research study

Operational definition

a definition that qualifies (describes) and quantifies (measures) a variable so the variable can be understood objectively

Descriptive Studies

observing and recording the behavior of people/animals

Ex. case study, participant vs naturalistic, surveys

Hawthorne effect

changes in behavior that occur when people know that others are observing them

Correlational Studies

Describe and Predict how variables are related

Ex. postive vs negative correlation, zero correlation

Directionality Problem

uncertain which variable caused the other

Ex. does less sleep cause more stress

or more stress cause less sleep

Third Variable Problem

C actually causes both A and B

Ex. Texting while driving (A) is correlated with driving dangerously (B). Risk taking (C) causes some people to text while driving. (C → A) and Risk taking (C) causes some people to drive dangerously. (C → B)

Experimental Studies (Method)

tests whether a change int he independent variable changes the dependent variable

Confound

anything that affects the dependent variable, a source of error

construct validity

the extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure

external validity

the degree to which the findings of a study can be generalized to other people, settings, or situations

internal validity

the degree to which the effects observed in an experiment are due to the independent variable and not confounds

reliability

consistency

Central tendency

represents typical response or behavior of group as whole

Central Nervous system

brain and spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system

all the nerves not part of CNS

Somatic nervous system

controls skeletal muscles, skin input

sensory system: afferent (to brain)

motor system: efferent (away from brain)

Automatic Nervous system

regulates glands, blood, internal organs

Sympathetic Nervous system

energy output, excites you

Parasympathetic Nervous system

conserves energy, maintains quiet state

Types of neurons

Sensory (afferent): detect info from physical world (goes from skinto primary cortex)

motor (efferent): direct muscles to contract or relax (goes from brain to muscles)

interneurons: communicate within local or short-distance circuits

dendrite

cell body

axon

terminal buttons

synapse (synaptic cleft)

vi. myelin sheath

nodes of Ranvier

resting membrane potential

electrical change (difference): negative on the inside vs outside

Excitatory signals

reduce polarization, increase action potential

Inhibitory signals

increase polarization, decrease action potential

Agonist

mimics action of a neurotransmitter, increases reaction

Antagonist

dug that blocks action of a neurotransmitter, decreases reaction

Polarity of neuron inside compared to outside

-70mv

Action Potential Process

- ligand channels open due to the receptor-binding, sodium comes in

- threshold is reached at axon hillock

- sodium rushes into the axon

- trigger, trigger all the voltage gated sodium channels

- Propagatgion down axon "rush"

- Neurotransmitter is released at the end

Ca 2+

facilitates release of neurotransmitters

Cerebral Cortex

4 Lobes:

- Frontal

- Parietal

- Occipital

- Temporal

Frontal Lobe

attention, inhibition, decision making, movement

- prefrontal cortex: planning, regulating behavior, directing attention, emotions

- primary motor cortex:

- Broca's Area: speech

Temporal Lobe

hearing, face and objection recognition

- Superior, middle and inferior gyri

- Primary auditory cortex

- Wernicke's area: speech comprehension

Limbic system

feeling

- Thalamus: sensory relay station

- Amygdala: fear and emotion, facial recognition

- Hippocampus: memory

-basal ganglia: planning/producing movement

Basal Ganglia

circuit connected to frontal lobe and otrher motor areas

- voluntary movement, plannign movemen

- uses dopamine, ex. parkinson's

Occipital Lobe

Vision

largest area= primary visual cortex

Parietal Lobe

sense converge area, spatial awareness, sight+sound = meaning (reading)

- somatosensory cortex: touch input

attention

Dorsal stream

Where

spactial awareness

parietal -> frontal

Ventral stream

What

object recognition

parietal -> temporal

Cerebellum

posture, balance, visual tracking

highly practiced body movements (muscle memory)

- Medulla and Pons : regualte heart rate, breathing

Excitatory

Na+

Inhibitory

Cl-

Acetylocholine

Motor control over muscles

learning, memory, sleeping and dreaming

alzheimer's

Epinephrine

Energy

Norepinephrine

Arousal, vigilance, and attention

pons-> brain

pons -> sympathetic NS

anti-depressants

Serotonin

emotional states, impulsiveness

dreaming

LSD, mushrooms

dopamine

reward and motivation

parkinson's: substantia nigra -> basal ganglia

reward: nucleus accumbens

attention: prefrontal cortex

GABA

motor control for voluntary

inhibition of action potentials

anxiety reduction, results in seizure if not enough

Glutamate

enhancement of action potentials

learning and memory

excitatory

need to be equal to GABA

endorphin

pain reduction

reward

natural pain killers, heroin, morphine bind to these receptors

Agonist neurotransmitters

Benxodiazepines (Xanax, Ambien)

Barbiturates (phenobarbital)

Alcohol

Anti-convulsant medication

Change blindness

a failure to notice large changes in one's environment

Subliminal Perception

the processing of information by sensory systems without conscious awareness

SWS

Slow wave sleep

deep sleep

stage 3-4

REM

rapid eye movement

occipital + brain stem is active

paralyzed

dreaming

deepest stage

Narcolepsy

- Affects the awake state

- Extreme daytime sleepiness, falling asleep

- Too much REM sleep

○ No deep sleep

- Linked to low hypocretin

○ Help Excitatory neurotransmitters in the brain

- May occur with cataplexy

○ Go into random sleep cycles

○ Lose muscle tone

REM behavior disorder

- Happens more in men

- During REM don't have muscle inhibition

- Higher risk of Parkinson's disease

- hits people (LOL)

Sleep paralysis

- 3/4 REM cycle

- Continued muscle inhibition

Cannot move even when conscious

PHD vs PsyD

PsyD no research training

cant be educators

at professional schools

psychiatrist

MD

medial perspective- can prescribe medication

Master Level Training

individual practive

talking/communication support

Why is psych misunderstood?

considered common sense

behavior is easy to theorize about

therapy is not specific or regulated

crisis debriefing, rebirthing

2 historic debates

nature vs. nurture (2/3 genetics driven, 1/3 other)

mind body problem- connected

glial cells

support- blood vessels to cell

clean up

support neural migration (only in prenatal)

facilitate nerual communication

form myelin

myelin in PNS

somatosensory, schwann cells