Psych/Soc Review

Nervous System (components)

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Central Nervous System is comprised of?

Brain + Spinal Cord

What are the 3 components of the brain?

Cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem

What is the cerebrum?

the largest part of the brain w 4 lobes

What are the 4 lobes of the cerebrum?

frontal, occipital, temporal, + parietal

What is the function of the frontal lobe?

Thinking, planning, voluntary mvmts, speech (Broca’s area), emotions

What is the function of the parietal lobe?

Processing sensory info (touch, temp, pain, etc.)

What is the function of the temporal lobe?

Hearing, memory, includes hypothalamus, speech comprehension (Wernicke’s area)

What is the function of the occipital lobe?

visual processing

What is the function of the cerebellum?

balance + coordination for smooth/precise mvmts

What is the spinal cord?

• main communication pathway

• long, thin nerve bundles

• transmits signals to rest of body

What is the peripheral nervous system comprised of?

somatic nervous system

autonomic nervous system

What does the somatic nervous system do?

voluntary mvmts w nerves that link to CNS + sensory organs

What are the components of the autonomic system and their fxns?

1. somatic: fight or flight

   1. parasympathetic: relax + digest

Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic

Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic

Pupils dilate constrict

Saliva inhibited stimulated

airways dilated constricted

HR inc dec

digestion dec inc

motor activity dec inc

glucogenesis dec bile secertion inc

norepi inc bladder contraction

What are the 3 divisions of the brain?

Hindbrain, midbrain, forbrain

rhombencephalon, mesencephalon, prosencephalon

Describe the hindbrain

• helps w survival + smooth motor mvmt/coordination

• myencephalon - develops into medulla oblongata

• metencephalon - develops into pons + cerebrum

Describe the midbrain

• unconscious rxns to sensory stimulus

• superior + inferior colliculus

Describe the forebrain

• higher executive fxn + cognition

• decision making, language comprehension

• telencephalon - cerebral cortex

• diencephalon - limbic system

• cerebral cortex, limbic system, hypothalamus

What is the cerebral cortex?

outermost neural tissue + covers forebrain

Describe the limbic system

• emotional processing, mem formation, sensory relaying

• amygdala

• hippocampus

• thalamus

• hypothalamus

• pre-frontal cortex

What does the amygdala do?

emotional recognition (fear, anger, anxiety)

What does the hippocampus do?

memory formation + consolidation

What does the thalamus do?

• central, sensory relay station

• takes stimuli + sends to diff brain regions

What does the hypothalamus do?

• main neuroendocrine interface

• homeostasis + equilibrium

• release hormones to pituitary gland

• controls physiological aspects of emotion

What do the amygdala and hippocampus do together?

allows for emotional association w memory

Describe the brain stem

• connects cerebral cortex to spinal cord

• regulates basic survival fxns

• midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata

What does the midbrain (in brain stem) do?

controls eye mvmt + processes visual/sound info

What does the pons do?

relays signaling btwn cerebrum + cerebellum

sleeping + breathing

What does the medulla oblongata do?

vital fxns (HR, BP, breathing)

What are the effects of norepineprhine/epinephrine?

sympathetic stimulation

Schema

• mental frameworks about how the world works

• shapes our experiences of the world + are themselves shaped by experience

Assimilation of Schema

Conforming new experience to fall into current scheme

Accommodation of Schema

Accommodating current schema to take into account the new experience

Heuristic

• Mental shortcuts used to increase efficiency in decision-making

• helpful most of the time but can lead to errors in judgment

Representative Heuristic

• Tendency to judge likelihood of event occurring based in our typical mental representation of those events

• ex: more likely to die from shark attack than from vending machine falling on you

Availability Heurstic

• tendency to make judgments based on how readily available info is in our memory

• if memory is more readily available, we may think the idea is more common than it actually is

confirmation bias

• tendency to search for info that confirms our preconceived thinking + bias

• not looking for info that can oppose our schema

Fixation

Inability to see problem from fresh perspective

Mental set

tendency to focus on solutions that worked in past, even if they don’t apply to current situation

Functional Fixedness

• tendency to perceive functions of objects as fixed + unchanging

• inability to see all multiple used an object has

Belief Bias

tendency to judge other’s arguments based on what 1 personally believes instead if the other person used sound logic

Belief Perseverance

• tendency to cling to beliefs despite presence of contrary evidence

  • inability to modify one’s schema

Framing

how info is framed

consciousness

awareness that we had ourselves + the environ

alertness

ability to remain attentive to what is going on

Hypnosis

• state of relaxation, focused attention + increased willingness to relinquish control over one’s actions

• induced thru cooperation w a hypnotist or self-hypnosis

• cannot be done against one’s will

Polysomnography (PSG)

used to measure physiological acrivity during sleep

Stages of sleep

• awake

• stage 1 slee

• stage 2 sleep

• stage 3 sleep

• stage 4 sleep (REM)

What type of waves are occurring during wakefulness?

beta waves - low amplitude + frequency

Describe Stage 1 sleep

• theta waves - intermediate amplitude + frequency

• non-rem

• when person is less responsive to stimuli + has fleeting thoughts

Describe Stage 2 sleep

• theta waves increase

• Has K-complex + sleep spindle

  • single wave w theta wave

• K-complex - large + slow

• Sleep spindles - bursts of waves

Describe Stage 3 sleep

• AKA slow wave sleep

• delta waves - high amplitude + low frequency

• non-rem

• deepest level of sleeo

• HR + digestion slow

• growth hormones secreted

Describe Stage 4 sleep

• AKA REM (rapid eye mvmt)

• beta waves

• REM sleep also known as paradoxical sleep bc of low skeleton mvmt

• dreams occur here

Paradoxical Sleep

person physiologically appears to be awake but has no muscle mvmt

Describe a sleep cycle

• lasts ~90mins

• ~4-5 cycles in a night

• amt of REM sleep increases w each cycle

• most REM occurring in the last cycles of sleep

• Stage 3 sleep decreases w each cycle

• Stages: 1,2,3,2,REM 2,3,2,REM 2,3,2,REM 2,REM 2,REM

Dreaming

occurs during REM sleep

REM Rebound

• missing REM sleep for 1 night will result in increase in REM sleep later to make up for it

• REM sleep is necessary for us

Manifest Content

• symbolic versions of latent content that manifest in dreams

• themes or storyline of dream

Latent Content

• Unconsciousness drives + wishes

• hidden msg of dream

Sleep Latency

amt of time it takes to fall asleep

REM Latency

time btwn the start of sleeping + the start of REM sleep

What are the 2 sleep disorders?

Dyssomnias + parasomnias

Dyssomnia

• sleep disorder that affects the amt of sleep, quality of sleep, or timing of sleep

• insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea

Insomnia

difficulty falling asleep

Narcolepsy

• periodic falling asleep during waking periods that last abt 5mins

• can be v dangerous for the person depending on the activity they are doing when they fall asleep

Sleep Apnea

Disorder that causes ppl to stop breathing during sleep → awaken after a min or w/o air

Parasomnia

• abnormal behavior that occur during sleep

• somnambulism + night terror

Somnambulism

Sleep-walking; occur during stage 3 sleep

Night Terror

waking up in the middle of the night in fear

Depressants

• slow down neural activity in the brain

• works by stimulating GABA + dopamine systems

• prolonged use can cause brain to stop producing endorphins → painful winthdrawals

What is GABA

inhibitory NT

What are examples of depressants?

• alc, barbiturates (tranquilizers), + opiates, weed

• alc + barbiturates depress SNS

Endorphins

NT involved in pain relief

Stimulants

• increases release of NTs

• speeds up body fxns → increased HR, resp. rate, + pupil dilation

Examples of Stimulants

cocaine

nicotine

caffeine

amphetamines

Hallucinogens (Psychedelics)

• create hallucinations by distorting perceptions in absence of any sensory input

• low level of dependence

Examples of Hallucinogens

LSD, shrooms

Psychological dependence

associated w use of a drug in response to hurt

Physical Dependence

when someone faces withdrawal from not using drug

3 components of emotion

• physiological (body): ANS

• cognitive (mind)

• Behavioral (action)

Yerkes-Dodson Law

ppl perform best when they are moderately aroused

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

• physiological + behavioral response to a stimuli → cognitive aspect of emotion

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

• physiological + cognitive → behavioral

• physiological + cognitive happen at same time → behavioral

Schachter-Singer Theory of Emotion

• physio → cognitive → behavior + label emotion

Phineas Gage Injury

injured prefrontal cortex + personality was never the same

Appraisal

how an individual interprets stressful nature of an event

learned helplessness

lack of belief in one’s ability to manage situations

Language Acquisition

describes the way babies learn to understand and speak

BF Skinner’s Behaviorist Model of Language Acquisition

language is a form of behavior like any other that is subject to conditioning

Noam Chomsky’s Universal Grammar

• believed human mind has innate feature allowing ppl to master language from limited experience

• AKA Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Broca’s Area + Aphasia

• area: speech production, left hemisphere of frontal lobe

• aphasia: ppl lose ability to speak due to injury in Broca’s

Wernicke’s Area + Aphasia

• area: speech + written language comprehension, posterior section of temporal lobe

• aphasia: can speak but can’t produce meaningful language

Global aphasia

both wernicke + broca’s damaged (no speech production or comprehension)

Non-Associative Learning

organism repeatedly exposed to one type of stim

Habit

action performed repeatedly until it is auto

Habituation

repeated exposure to same stim → decreased response

Dishabituation

recovery of a response to a stim after habituation occurs

Sensitization

• opposite of habituation

• repeated exposure to same stim → increased response

Associative Learning

• learning by associating btwn 2 diff stm

• associating a stim to another stimuli/behavior

• ex: classical + operant conditioning