Psychology

modules 1.5a-1.6d

consciousness

subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

cognitive neuroscience

interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition (fMRI scan…)

cognition

thinking, remembering, knowing, communicating

dual processing

the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks (think about two things at once, one is subconscious and one is conscious)

blindsight

a condition where a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously being aware of it/experiencing it

parallel processing

processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

sequential processing

processing one aspect of a stimulus or problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems

neurogensis

sleep

a periodic, natural loss of consciousness-as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia or hibernation consciousness as

loss of consciousness, brain is still active

circadian rhythm

our biological clock, regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle. example: temperature, sleping, and wakefulness.

24 body clock

REM sleep

rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active. (sometimes called R sleep).

stage 1

light sleep, no REM, small/irregular EEG waves (alpha waves), often associated with hallucinations

stage 2

between light sleep and deep sleep, medium EEG waves, no REM, occational bursts of high activity called sleep spindles

stage 3

deep sleep, no REM, large/slow EEG waves (delta waves)

REM stage

rapid eye movement, small irregular EEG waves, dreams

alpha waves

slow EEG waves of a relaxed, awake state

delta waves

large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

NREM

non rapid eye movement, all stages but REM sleep

hallucinations

false sensory experiences (ex: LSD, starvation)

hypnagogic sensations

bizarre experiences while trying to sleep (ex: falling, floating)

suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

responsible for production of melatonin (feeling of sleepiness), cell clusters in hypothalamus that control circadian rhythm

why do we need sleep

protects, restores, aids memory consolidation, feeds creative thinking, supports growth, conserves energy

biology and environment

interacts with social, cultural, and economic influences and individual behaviors depending on our sleeping and waking patterns.

melatonin

hormone affecting sleep and wakefulness

increasing ghrelin (a hunger arousing hormone)

decreases leptin (a hunger suppressing hormone)

increasing cortisol (stress hormone that stimulates the body to make fat)

decreases metabolic rate

lack of sleep gives you what

gain weight, messes with hormones, metabolism, brain’s response to food

to resist temptation of food

enhance limbic brain- emotions, behavior, motivation, memory- response to sight of food and decreasing cortical responses

body effects of not sleeping (brain)

decreases ability to focus, process and stores memories, increase risk of depression, decreases metabolic rate, increased cortisol, enhances limbic brain response to mere sight of food, decreased cortical responses, reduced ability to resist temptation

body effects of not sleeping (heart)

increased risk of high blood pressure

body effects of not sleeping (immune system)

decreased production of immune cells, risk of viral infections, such as colds

body effects of not sleeping (stomach)

increased ghrelin decrease in leptin

body effects of not sleeping (fat cells)

increased production, greater risk of obesity

body effects of not sleeping (muscles)

reduced strength, slower reaction time and motor learning

body effects of not sleeping (joints)

increased inflammation and arthritis

Examples of major sleep disorders

insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, sleepwalking, REM sleep disorder

sleep apnea

irregular breathing, starts and stops, repeated momentary awakenings

insomnia

trouble falling asleep or staying asleep

narcolepsy

uncontrollable sleep attacks uncontrollable (tiredness), person can fall directly into REM sleep suddenly

REM sleep disorder

REM paralysis does not occur, person acts out dreams (twitching, talking, kicking, punching, etc.)

sleepwalking

effects motor complex, happens in stage 3

dream

a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind

the interpretation of dreams (book)

Sigmund Freud believed that dreams provided a psychic safety value that discharges otherwise unacceptable feelings

manifest content

the apparent and remembered story line

latent content

unconscious drives and wishes

to file away memories

dreams help sort, sift, and fix the day’s experiences into our memory

to develop and preserve neural pathways

REM sleep provides a periodic stimulation to expand the brain’s neural pathwaysto m,a

to make sense of neural static

dreams erupt neural activation spreading upward form the brainstem

to reflect cognitive development

dreams draw from our concepts and knoledge

REM rebound

the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep rebound

information processing/ consolitation

dreams help us sort out the days events and consolidate our memories

physiological function

regular brain stimulation from REM sleep may help develope and preserve nural pathways

activation synthesis

REM sleep triggers neural activitty that evokes random visual memories, which our sleeping brain weaves into stories (dreams)

cognitive development

dream content reflects dreamers level of cognitive development-their knowledge and understanding. dreams stimulate our lives, including worst-case scenarios

sleep deprivation causes

fatigue and irritability, impairs concentration and memory consolidation, leads to depression, obesity, joint inflammation and arthritis, suppresses immune system, slows performance

what do we usually dream?

ordinary events and everyday experiences, most dreams invoking anxiety or misfortune

four major contemporary views of the function of dreams

information processing/consolidation, physiological function, neural activation, cognitive development

prosopagnosia

face blindness, can’t even recognize her own face

what are human ears most sensitive to

human voices (babies crying)

sensation

sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

sensory receptors

sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli

perception

how our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful

bottom up processing (high road)

enables sensory systems to detect lines, angles, colors

top-bottom processing

interpret what your senses detect

transduction

conversion of one form of energy to another (ex: sights, smells, sounds into neural impulses the brain can interpret

psychophysics

study of relationship between physical characters of stimuli (intensity of smell), and our psychological experiences of them

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

signal detection theory

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulant or background noise, assumes there is no absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivations, and alterness

subliminal

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response

difference threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time (noticable difference)

Weber’s Law

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation (ex: loud music)

wavelength

distance from top to bottom in sound or light wave

hue

dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength light (ex: rainbow)

intensity

amount of energy is a sound or light wave, influences loudness or brightness

cornea

eyes clear protective layer, covering pupil and iris

pupil

adjustable opening in center of eye that lets light through (eye turns red in flash its becasue you’re seeing that back of it)iris

iris

right of tissue, color of eye, controls size of pupil

lens

transparent structure behind pupil that changes shape to help focus vision

retina

back inner surface of the eye, contains rods and cones, helps process visual info

accomidation

the process of an eye’s lens changing shape to focus on images of near or far objects on the retina

rods

black, white, grey, sensitive to movement

cones

retinal receptors that function in daylight or well-lit areas. cones detect fine detail and color

optic nerve

nerve that carries neural impulses from eye to brain

blind spot

point when optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a blind spot because no receptor cells are located there

fovea

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster

Young Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

retina contains 3 different types of color receptors, one sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue, when combined it can produce any color

opponent process theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-blue, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision

feature detectors

nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus (ex: shape, angle, or movement)

parallele processing

processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

audition

the sense or act of hearing

frequency

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (ex: seconds)

pitch

a tones lowness or highness, depending on the frequency

middle ear

chamber between eardrum and cochlea containing 3 tiny bones that concentrate on vibrations

cochlea

coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear

inner ear

the innermost part of the ear, contains: cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

sensorineural hearing loss

common form of hearing loss, damage to cochlea receptor cells, or the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness

conduction hearing loss

less common form, damage to mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

cochlear implant

device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea