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psychology
the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes
descriptive methods
examination of individual variables
variables
what psychologists measure to assess behaviours and mental processes
sensations
information in the physical world is detected by sensory organs
attention
incoming sensory information is reduced to an amount that can be interpreted by the brain
perception
sensory information is interpreted in the brain
challenges
information processing tendencies that create bias or error in attention and perception
naive realism
tendency to believe that we must perceive the world objectively and that people who disagree with us are wrong, ill- intentioned, and/ or stupid; reflects variation in sensation and perception
the elephant
- experimental processing
- fast thinking
- automatic and quick
- cannot be turned off
- creates perceptions, impressions, intentions
the rider
- effortful processing
- thinking slow
- use for activities that are 'hard work'
- related to feelings of choice, concentration, agency
- form belifs, manage uncertainty, make choices
confirmation bias
tendency to look for and interpret new information in a way that is consistent with our beliefs/ disregard information that is inconsistent with those beliefs
transducers
translates various forms of energy found in the environment into energy understood by the brain
stimuli
a thing or event that evokes a specific functional reaction in an organ or tissue
selective attention
sensory input that is sent to the brain is excluded from processing
inattention blindness
failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
change blindness
failing to notice changes in the environment
descriptive research
observing research with one variable at a time
descriptive study
examine individual variable
report a number, percentage, range, or average
perceptual experience
on- going and continuous nature of perception and sensory experiences
perceptual rules
shape consistency
brightness consistency
the elephant corrects
experience
similar 'perceptual rule' to interpret stimuli and consequently have similar perceptual experiences (low variation)
transduction
human transducers often work in the same way for most people; similar perceptual experience (low variation)
top- down processing
past experiences and content allow for very quick perception
relies on the elephant
bottom- up processing
no experience of context related to the stimuli
focus on its individual part and try to construct something
relies on the rider
perception
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
multimodal integration
brain doesn't deal with information coming from one sense at a time
combines information from all senses
driven by elephant
extraneous variable
factors, aside from the independent variable, that also impact the dependent variable
dependent variable
measured after the independent variable is manipulated
independent variable
controlled by researcher; manipulated
second variable
demonstrate the effect of change in the independent variable
first variable
cause a change in second variable; independent variable
true experiment
examine cause and effect relationships
allow for us to make claims that changes one variable are responsible for changing another variable
correlational studies
- two or more variables measured as they occur naturally
- variables are not manipulated by researchers
- no groups are compared
case study
close examination of a small number of people to learn about a phenomenon
quasi-experiment
two or more groups of people that differ on IV
cannot be randomly assigned (for practical or ethical reasons)
EV not always controlled
compared groups on the DV
correlation coefficient
number used to capture both strength and direction of the relationship
non- experimental methods
examining relationships or associations between two or more variables
cannot make cause/ effect claims
episodic explicit memory
autobiographical memory
memories connected to a specific time and or place
semantic explicit memory
memory for facts and concepts
not often associated to time or place
explicit long term memory
easy to verbalize
what people usually think of when they think 'memory'
implicit long term memory
hard to verbalize
procedural knowledge
learned association (classical, operant, conditioning)
priming
activating specific information in memory increases the likelihood that related information will also be activated
long- term memory
very large capacity
very long duration
not conscious
working (short term) memory
very small capacity
manipulating information
draws information from sensory memory and long term
brief duration
all conscious thoughts and cognitive learning occurs here
+7/ -2 bits of information
sensory memory
large capacity
not conscious
ionic (visual): 50ms
echoic (auditory): 8-10 s
misinformation condition
the incorrect side of the experiment
ex. did another car pass the red car at the yield sign
control condition
there to create a controlled experiment
ex. did another car pass the red car at the stop sign
intrusion error
a 'hole' in our memory is filled with whats typically true based on our schema for a similar experience
might be incorrect
schemas
organized ideas about something
guide what we expect based on past experiences
reintegration
process by which we try to create a complete memory from the parts that make it up
spreading activation
lights up other nodes that were associated with this memory
loci
a physical site or location within a genome
working memory capacity
+7/ -2 bits of information
small capacity
memory processes (MMM)
more information between memory systems (arrows)
memory systems (MMM)
types of memory (boxes)
theory of mind
the cognitive ability to understand that other people are different than you
cognitive egocentrism
fail to recognize other people have other thoughts or feeling
physical egocentrism
cannot consider what the physical world looks like to others
assimilation
adapting existing concepts and schemas when confronted with new information
cognition
thinking, how perceptions are interrupted in relation to whats in our memory
conditioned stimulus
neutral stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response
neural stimulus
stimulus that doesn't produce a specific response, but causes a person to focus their attention
inborne responses
automatic instinctive unlearned reaction to a stimulus
unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response
based on an inborne response; automatic reaction
permanent
the behaviour/ knowledge must be stored in LTM
learning
relatively permanent changes in behaviour including skills and knowledge
optimistic bias
we evaluate ourselves more favourably than others evaluate us
meta- cognition
ability to evaluate your thought processes, understanding skill level, and performance
cognitive learning
active style of learning that focuses on helping you learn how to maximize your brains potentional
central nervous system
includes the brain and spinal cord receives sensory information, makes decisions, and command muscles, organs, and glands to act
transporters
involves the re-uptake process
uptake neurotransmitters from the synapse and change it to the neuron that released it
inhibitory neurotransmitters
less likely the neuron will fire and make an action potential
ex. serotonin, GABA
excitatory neurotransmitters
increases the likelihood that the neuron fires
ex. dopamine
receptors
- located on the dendrites of the post synaptic neurons
- neurotransmitters bind to these sites affecting the level of excitation and whether the post synaptic neurons fire
synaptic vesicles
- chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) are stored here
- release neurotransmitters into synapse when action potential reaches the axon terminal
synaptic gap
gap between the axon terminal of the pre-synaptic (sending) neuron and the dendrites of the post-synaptic (receiving)
post synaptic
receiving signals neuron
pre synaptic axon terminal
sends the synaptic signal
threshold of excitation
level that must occur for the action potential to occur
sodium and potassium
positive electrical charge
ion
molecules with a positive or negative electrical charge
amygdala
shares the information with the brain stem
key part of limbic system
provides emotional context, influences emotional responses
fusiform face area
aids in facial recognition
shares with other areas of the brain to guide context
neurons
cells in nervous system that are specialized to receive processes and transmit information with electrical and chemical signals
brain structure
CT scans and MRI scans are examples of neuroimaging techniques that measure brain structure
brain function
measuring brain levels; fMRI and PET scans measure brain function, to reveal activity levels in different parts of the brain
three divisions of the brain
hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain (cerebral cortex, subcortical structures)
hindbrain
oldest part of your brain, controls information out of spinal cord
medulla
part of the hindbrain
automatically does vital life functions (breathing, heart rate, digestion)
reticular formation
part of the hindbrain
arousal levels, consciousness, and attention
connected with pain signals
cerebellum
part of the hindbrain
coordinating movement and fine motor skills
procedural memory
pons
part of the hindbrain
connects cerebellum to the rest of the brain
brain structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain
midbrain
connects the hindbrain to the forebrain
integrates sensory information and relays it upward
brainstem
pons, medulla, and hindbrain make the brainstem
all communication from the cerebral cortex goes through the brainstem
subcortical forebrain
subcortical structures that sit between the cortex and brain stem
thalamus
part of the subcortical forebrain
relays sensory information to the cerebral cortex
filters and prioritizes information
basal ganglia
part of the subcortical forebrain
directs intentional movement
hypothalamus
controls hormones by directing the pituitary gland in the Endocrine system
regulates bodily functions, motives, and behaviour to ensure survival
hippocampus
creates long term memories stored in cerebral cortex
limbic system
subcortical structures grouped together
contributes to emotions and memories