Psychology Test 2

The Brainstem (also callednHindbrain)

The oldest and innermost region

Medulla

Base of brainstem

Reticular Formation

important role in arousal (sleeping/awake)

Thalamus

Direct sensory messages to cortex (smells go straight to where they need to go)

Transmits replies to cerebellum

Cerebellum

coordinates voluntary movement (ex. balance)

Limbic System

emotions, memory, and drives

includes limbic (love, lust) and amygdala (linked to emotion ex. anger)

Cerebral Cortex

this distinguishes us from less complex animals

2 hemispheres and 4 lobes total- Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal

Frontal Lobe

executive functions, higher order, judgement and planning

Broca’s area- essential for language production

Motor Cortex- motor functions

Parietal Lobe

sensational/ perception

Somatosensory cortex- processes information from skin sense and body part movements

Occipital Lobe

optic (visual cortex) vision is processed

Temporal Lobe

speech and audio is processed (auditory cortex)

Phineas Gage

he had frontal lobe damage (iron rode penetrated his skull)

he experienced changes in personality and more impulsivity

Traumatic Brain Injury

3 peaks in incidence across lifespan

0-4 years: being dropped

15-24 years: car accident

65+ years: falling

Brain Plasticity

brain adapts and can change around to accommodate injuries and such

Caveat to Plasticity

earlier age than Plasticity and can lead to poor outcomes

Sensation and Perception

both are part of one continuous process

Sensation

detection of physical energy

Perception

brain’s interpretation of sensory data

5 Senses

hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell

all use sense organs and relayed by thalamus EXCEPT smell

Transduction

external stimulus is converted by sense receptors into neutral activity

Sensory Adaptation

you get adapted to surroundings ex. flashing light outside window

Absolute Threshold

minimum stimulus needed to detect 50% of the time

Subliminal

below 50% of conscious awareness threshold

Subliminal Stimuli

those that are too weak to detect 50% of the time

JND (Just Noticeable Difference)

smallest amount of stimulus change we can detect

Cross-modal effects

perception that involves interactions between two or more different sensory modalities

Perceptual Set

expectations influence our perceptions

Conception

Females are born with all their eggs (cells)

Men produce sperm cells nonstop, starting at puberty

Twins

monozygotic are genetically identical twins

Teratogen

an agent that can disturb development of embryo or fetus (and cause harm)

Newborns

capable of learning and remembering

arrive with automatic reflex responses for survival

prefer to look at face/ face-like images

possess a biological rooted temperament

Infantile Amnesia

the inability of adults to remember events before 3-4 years of age

Brain Development

brain cells are sculpted by heredity and experience

Nature versus nurture

essentially biology versus environment

Continuous and Discontinuous

essentially a little better each day (a cumulative process) and distinct stages of growth (unique stages at specific ages or times)

Piaget

believes in discontinuous development although it is actually more continuous

Stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Sensorimotor Phase

Birth to 2 years

object permanence (awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived)

Preoperational Phase

2-7 years

they don’t get conversation

egocentrism (can’t take another’s perspective)

kids may have theory of mind

Concrete Operational Phase

7-11 years

think logically about concrete events

Conservation (ability to determine that a certain quantity will remain the same despite adjustment of the container, shape, etc.)

Formal Operational

11+ years

able to think abstractly

Parenting Styles

authoritarian, authorities, permissive, disengaged/uninvolved

Authoritarian style

more control and less warm

Authorities style

more control AND warm

Permissive style

less control and more warm

Disengaged/ Uninvolved style

less control AND less warm

Psychosocial Development

feelings of comfort and security are critical components to maternal-infant bonding

attachment (long-standing connection with others)

Stranger Situation Responses

secure, avoidant, resistant, disorganized

Secure response

child uses the parent as a secure base from which to explore

Avoidant response

unresponsive to parent, does not use the parent as a secure base, and does not care if parent leaves

Resistant response

show clingy behavior, but then reject mothers attempts to interact with them

Disorganized response

show odd behavior around caregiver

Learning

relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience

Ivan Pavlov

Classical Conditioning (C.C.) means we learn to associate stimuli and, consequently, to anticipate events

Neutral Stimulus

stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditional Response

an unlearned, naturally occurring response

Unconditioned Stimulus

stimulus that unconditionally triggers an unconditioned response

Aquisition

when an organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus

Extinction

the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus

Spontaneous Recovery

reappearance of an extinguished conditional response

Stimulus Generalization

stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar resopnse

Stimulus Discrimination

when an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar

Instincts & Reflexes

innate behaviors that organisms are born with

B.F. Skinner (Skinner Box)

Operant Conditioning which is learning through consequences (punishments or rewards)

Reinforcement Schedule

continuous reinforcement that must be presented immediately even though it is not great for long term behavior

Partial Reinforcement

intermittent reinforcement

Shaping Behavior

reward successive approximations of a target behavior (ex. stepping toward the chair you are told to sit in)

Cognitive Learning

learning along the way for the first time (ex. navigating a video game for the first time and trying different paths along the way)

Latent Learning

learning that occurs, but it may not be evident until there is a reason to demonstrate it (ex. you don’t show your skills in the video game until you are being timed)

Observational Learning

we learn by watching others and then imitating, or modeling, what they do or say