Psychology and Sociology

Franz Gall

had the gall to know the size and shape of our heads and what mental abilities are where (phrenology)

Pierre Flourens

investigated functions of major brain sections

William James

How people think in order to adapt (functionalism)

John Dewey

experience is important in learning and behavior (Functionalism and pragmatism)

Paul Broca

studied people with holes in specific parts of the brain

Hermann von Helmholtz

Speed of impulse and now psychology is a science

Sir Charles Sherrington

sssynapses

Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalytic

Hindbrain

cerebellum, medulla oblongata, reticular formation

Midbrain

inferior and superior colliculi

Forebrain

thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, limbic system, cerebral cortex

Methods of Study

Electroencephalography (EEG), Regional cerebral blood flow

Sensory Neurons

Afferent: ascend to the brain from the receptors

Interneurons

between others mainly in CNS

Motor Neurons

Efferent: exit the CNS to the receptors in muscles/glands

Reflex arcs

interneurons in spinal cord send info to receptors AND SAME TIME relay info to the brain

CNS

brain and spinal cord

PNS

nervous tissue and everything else

PNS somatic

voluntary

PNS autonomic

sympathetic: flight/fight

parasympathetic: rest/digest

Thalamus

relay station for sensory info

Hypothalamus

controls homeostasis, flight, fight, food, fuck

Basal ganglia

stable posture, smooth movements

Limbic system

septal nuclei: pleasure/addiction

amygdala: fear/aggression

hippocampus: emotion/memory

Frontal Cerebral Cortex

executive function, impulse control, speech, motor

Parietal Cerebral Cortex

touch, pressure, temperature, pain, spatial awareness

Occipital Cerebral Cortex

visual

Temporal Cerebral Cortex

sound, speech perception, memory, emotion

left brain

analytic, language, logic, math

right brain

intuition, creativity, spatial processing

neurotransmitter

released by neurons to carry signal

acetylcholine

used to move muscles

dopamine

maintains smooth movements and steady posture

endorphins and enkephalins

pain killers

epinephrine and norepinephrine

epinephrine acts like hormone, norepinephrine acts like neurotransmitter

controls wakefulness and flight/fright response

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

inhibitor neurotransmitter, brain stabilizer

glutmate

excitatory neurotransmitters

serotonin

influences sleep, mood, eat, dreaming

cortisol

stress hormone released by adrenal cortex

testosterone and estrogen

influence sex drive, made in gonads released by adrenal cortex

neural tube becomes

CNS

Neural crest cells become

many diff tissues bc they spread throughout the body

primitive reflexes

seen in infants but disappear with age

Rooting Reflex: Turns head toward stimulus.

Moro Reflex: Extends arms, response to falling sensation.

Babinski Reflex: Big toe is extended and other toes fan

out in response to brushing on sole of foot.

Grasping Reflex: Grabs anything put into hands.

Sensory receptors

sensory nerves that respond to a stimulus

Sensory ganglia

cell bodies outside the central nervous system

Projection areas

areas in brain that decipher sensory input

Absolute threshold

minimum energy that will activate a sensory system

Threshold of conscious perception

minimum stimulus energy that creates a signal large enough (size & duration) to be aware of it

Difference threshold

minimum diff in magnitude in two stimuli before a difference can be perceived

Weber’s law

(just noticeable difference for a stimulus) is a constant ratio of the og stimulus

Signal detection theory

effects of factors like experiences, motives, and expectations on the perception of stimuli

Adaptation

increase or decrease in sensitivity to stimulus

outer ear

Pinna

External auditory canal

Tympanic membrane

middle ear

Ossicles:

Maelleus- hammer

Incus- Anvil

Stapes- Stirrup

inner ear

bony labyrinth: filled with perilymph

membranous labyrinth: filled with endolymph (this and peril are what controls balance)

*membranous has cochlea (sound) and utricle & saccule (linear acceleration) and semicircular canals (rotational acceleration and balance)

Projection areas (superior and inferior)

Superior olive: localizes sound (in brain stem)

Inferior colliculus: startle reflex also used by eyes and ears

*vestibulo-ocular reflex keeps eyes on a point as head rotates

Purpose of the cornea

gather and filter light coming into the eye

iris

controls size of the pupil

divides eye into ant and post chamber

muscles involved are dilator and constrictor

lens

refracts light to focus it on the retina

aqueous humor

nourishes eye and gives it shape

(made by ciliary body)

parts of retina

rods: light/dark

cones: color in wavelength

retina pathway

rods/cones → bipolar cells → ganglion cells → optic nerve

retinal disparity

space between eyes

horizontal & amacrine cells

integrate signals from ganglion cells and sharpens edges

what supports the eye

inside: vitreous

outside: sclera and choroid

vision processing

parallel: color, form motion at once

magnocellular cells: motion (temporal)

parvocelluar cells: shape (spatial)

vision pathway

eye → optic nerves → optic chasm → optic tracts → lateral geniculate nucleus → visual radiations → visual cortex

smell

detecting chemicals in the air by the olfactory chemoreceptors in the olfactory epithelium

pheromones

chemicals given off by animals that have effect on social and sexual behavior

taste

detection of dissolved compounds by the taste buds in papillae

somatosensation

refers to touch: pressure, vibration, pain, temperature

two point threshold

min distance between 2 points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as two different stimuli

physiological zero

normal temp of skin which objects are compared to

nociceptors

pain

kinesthetic sense

ability to sense the bodys position and movement (proprioception)

top down processing

recognition of something by memories and expectations

(background knowledge)

bottom up processing

details → whole. recognition of objects by features

(not influenced by prior knowledge)

gestalt principles

proximity, similarity, continuity, closure

habituation

getting used to a stimulus

dishabituation

2nd stimulus interrupts and causing a resensitization of the og stimulus

associative learning

pairing stimuli/responses or behaviors/consequences

ex. using stars to reinforce positive behavior in classroom

operant conditioning

changing behavior based on consequences

---

reinforcement (yay), punishment (boo), positive (addition) or negative (removal)

define reinforcement and give example of positive and negative

something that increases likelihood of behavior.

---

+ tell dog to sit → dog sits → give treat = dog will sit on command
- dog pulling on leash (uncomfy) → dog stops pulling on leash (comfy) = dog will walk politely

define punishment and give example of positive and negative

decreases likelihood of behavior

---

+ dog jumps on people → spray with water = dog will stop jumping to avoid being sprayed

- dog barking too much → removing attention = dog will stop barking

extinction in behavior

when a reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced

shaping in behavior

when reinforcements are given to behaviors closer to the target behavior

classical conditioning

the connection of stimuli that occur together i.e pavlov dogs with bells

observational learning

learning behaviors by watching others

encoding

process of putting new info into memory

sensory & short term memory

like a bubble rising thru waters, transitory and works off of neurotransmitter activity

working memory

uses short term memory, attention, and executive functioning to manipulate info

used to

• respond accordingly in convo

• follow recipe

• taking notes during lecture

• remember phone # enough to dial

long term memory

needs rehearsal and comes about by high neuronal connectivity

• explicit: memories that must be consciously recalled (mom’s bday, knowing DC is capital of USA, vacation plans)

• implicit: skills and conditioned responses we obtain (driving a car, typing on laptop)

semantic networks

stores facts and links concepts based on similar meanings

• memories can be triggered

retrieval

works by priming interconnected nodes of semantic network

(*recognition > recall, think abt test when u dont know the answer but remember learning it)

alzheimer’s

loss of acetylcholine in neurons that link hippocampus

korsakoff’s syndrome

thiamine deficiency in brain can cause amnesia and fake memories

agnosia

loss of ability to recognize things

interference

retroactive: new replaces old memories

proactive: old prevents new memories