Psych lecture 1

Psychology

Scientific study of mind and behavior

Mind

The private inner experience of human beings and no human animals

Behavior

The observable actions of human beings and non human animals

Nativism

The philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate; supported by Plato

Philosophical empiricism

The view that all knowledge is acquired through experience; supported by Aristotle

Dualism

The argument for the distinction between the physical and non-physical mind; supported by Descartes(non physical=pineal gland)

Materialism

View that the mind and body are one and the same

Phrenology

Defunct theory that specific mental abilities and characteristics are localized in specific brain regions

Damage to Broca’s Area

Patient lacks ability to speak coherently, but can still comprehend speech

Damage to Wernicke’s Area

patient can speak, but lacks speech comprehension

William James

* first to approach psych scientifically
* Wrote The Principle of Psychology

William Wundt

* founded first laboratory devoted to psychology

Structuralism

Analyzes the mind by breaking it down to basic components; supported by Wundt

Functionalism

The study of the purpose of mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment; supported by James(influenced by Darwin)

Physiology

the study of biological process, especially in the human body 

Herman von Helmholtz

* developed a method for measuring the speed of nerve impulses(toe vs. thigh)
* Suggested that mental processes occur over time and are dependent on nerve length(responded to thigh faster than toe)

Introspection

* the examination of one’s own mental and emotional processes
* Often invalid and unreliable

Jean Martin Charcot and Pierre Janet

* Helped develop clinical psychology
* Found that when patients with hysteria were hypnotized, they experienced relief from physical and emotional symptoms

Hysteria

A temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as the result of emotionally upsetting experiences

Sigmund Freud

* influenced by Charcot and Janet, inspired him to create Psychoanalytic theory
* Theorized that hysterical symptoms resulted from early sexual molestation
* Discovered that hysterical patients experienced catharsis when talking about problems in a hypnotic state

Psychoanalysis

The therapeutic approach focusing on bringing unconscious material into the unconscious mind

Catharsis

Emotional release

The Topographic Model

* Created by Freud
* Model states that the mind has an organization that overflows consciousness and can be described in terms of levels: Unconscious, Preconscious, Conscious Awareness

Unconscious

(Freud) the part of the mind that exists at birth

Preconscious

(Freud) everything that can be summoned to consciousness on command (phone #)

Conscious awareness

(Freud) part of our mind that forms our waking minds

Abraham Maslow

* most known for Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
* Humanistic psychology pioneer(reaction to negative psychoanalytic theory)

Carl Rogers

* pioneered humanistic psychology
* Most known for Client Based Therapy

Behaviorism

* theory that behavior can be explained by conditioning without appeal to through to or feelings
* Advocated for psychologists to focus on only objective, observable behavior(not mental life)

Ivan Pavlov

* Founded classical conditioning(stimulus-response learning)
* observed that dogs naturally salivated at the sight of food(unconditioned stimulus), also observed that later dog would salivated at the sight of the feeding human (conditioned stimulus)

B.F. Skinner

* built the Skinner Box (conditioning chamber)
* Studied reinforcement
* Stated that behaviors are products of last and present reinforcement

Reinforcement

The process of encouraging or establishing a behavior by encouragement or reward

Noam Chomsky

Argued that since children generate unheard sentences in their own, language cannot only be learned by reinforcement

Cognitive Neuroscience

An approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily experiences

Behavioral Neuroscience

The field of study that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity

Dogmaticsm

the tendency for people to cling to their assumptions

Dogma

A principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true

Empiricism

The belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation

Empirical

Verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic

The scientific method

A procedure for finding truth using empirical evidence

Theory

A hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon

Parsimony

The simplest theory that explains all the evidence

Hypothesis

A falsifiable prediction made by a theory

Observation

To use one’s senses to learn about the properties of an event or object

Operational definition

A description of a property in concrete, measurable terms

Instrument

Anything that can detect the condition to which an operational definition refers

Validity

Acuity; the goodness with which a concrete event defines a property (dot on bullseye)

Reliability

The tendency for an instrument to the same result when used under the same setting (dots grouped together)

Demand characteristics

Those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think someone else wants or expects them to behave

Naturalistic observation

A technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments

Double blind

An observation whose true purpose is hidden from both the observer and the person being observed

Frequency distribution

A graphic representation of measurements arranged by the number of times each measurement was made

Normal distribution

A mathematically defined frequency distribution in which the frequency of measurements is highest in the middle and decreases symmetrically in both directions

Mean

The mathematical average of all the measurements

Mode

The value of the most frequently observed measurement

Median

The value that is in the middle

In a normal distribution, the mean mode and median are

Equal

In a positively skewed distribution(tail to positive), the order is

mean>median>mode

In a negatively skewed distribution(tail to negative), the order is

mode>median>mean

Range

The value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the smallest measurement

Standard deviation

A measure of how dispersed data is from the mean

Variable

A property whose value can vary across individuals over time

Correlation

Measure that expresses the extent to which variables are related

Correlation coefficient

A mathematical measure of both the direction and strength of a correlation (-1 to 1, r)

Positive correlation

* one variable goes up, other goes up
* One variable goes down, other goes down

Negative correlation

As one variable goes up, other goes down

Natural correlations

A correlation observed in the real world around us

Third variable correlation

Two variables are correlated only because each is causally remated to a third variable

Matched samples

Technique whereby the participants in two groups are identical in terms of a third variable

Matched pairs technique

Technique whereby each participant is identical to one other participant in terms of a third variable

Experiment

A technique for establishing the casual relationship between variables

Independent variable

The variable that is manipulated

Experimental grouo

The group of people who are exposed to a particular manipulation

Control group

The group of people who are not exposed to the particular manipulation

The Computational Theory of the Mind

• states that beliefs and desires are information incarnated as configurations of symbols

• the mind is what the brain does

neurons

• cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform information-processing tasks

• ones and zeroes of the mind

cell body (soma)

• part of a neuron that coordinates information processing tasks and keeps the cell alive

• home of the nucleus, protein synthesis, energy production, metabolism

dendrites

tree like structures of a neuron that receives info from other neurons and relays it to the cell body

axon

part of a neuron that carries info to other neurons

myelin sheath

• insulating layer of fatty material located on the axon of some neurons

• increases speed of neuronal transmission

synapse

the region/gap between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another neuron

NEURONS DO NOT TOUCH

sensory neurons

neurons that receive info from the external world and relay it to the brain through the spina cord

motor neurons

neurons that carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

interneurons

connects sensory neurons, motor neurons, etc. to other neurons

conduction

• stage of communication where movement of an electrical signal is within the neurons

• created by the flow of ions in and out the cell

transmission

stage of communication where the movement of electrical signals is from one neuron to another over the synapse

resting potential

• the natural/net electric charge of a neuron

• calculated by the difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron’s cell membrane

• net negative charge inside of neuron relative to outside

• Na+ and Cl- ions on the outside, K+ and A- ions on the inside

action potential

occurs when there is an electrical signal conducted along a neuron’s axon to a synapse

When does an action potential occur?

• when the state of the axon’s membrane channels changes

• When electrical charge is raised to threshold value, K+ channels briefly shit down and Na+ channels open

• open Na+ channels cause Na+ ions to flow into membrane, increasing positive charge= inside of axon

refractory period

time following an action potential during which a new potential action cannot to initiated

Terminal buttons

knob-like structures branching out from the axon

neurotransmitters

chemicals that transmit info across the synapse to a receiving neuron

receptors

the parts of the cell membrane that receive the neurotransmitter

presynaptic neuron

the sending neuron

postsynaptic neuron

the receiving neuron

Connection between electrical and chemical in the action potential

• electrical signal travels down the axon of the presynaptic neuron

• stimulates release of neurotransmitters from vesicles

vesicles

bag-like sac filled with neurotransmitters

Acetylcholine (Ach)

A neurotransmitter involved in a number of functions including voluntary motor control

Dopamine

• Neurotransmitter that regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure, and emotional arousal

• Low levels linked to Parkinson’s, high levels linked to schizophrenia

Glutamate

The major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain