PSYC 2010 - Exam 1 (Gitter)

What 3 things do psychologists study?

Mind, Brain, Human Behavior

What tools do we have to investigate behavior?

naturalistic observation, interviews/questionnaires, laboratory tasks

What is naturalistic observation?

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Strength: good reflection of the "real world"

Weakness: Limited studies

What are interviews/questionnaires?

Way of observing behavior by asking people what they do either face to face or through surveys

Strength: access to a broad variety of behaviors

Weakness: honesty and social desirability bias; humans have poor memory

What are laboratory tasks?

A predetermined set of instructions and see how people do it. Fewer errors in this set of tasks.

Strength: precise measurement and places everyone on the same playing field

Weakness: doesn't accurately reflect the real world; ethical limits

What makes science a science?

Scientific method and HOW the knowledge is obtained; we build through critical thinking

Who were the early pioneers in psychology, and what did they do?

Wilhelm Wundt (experimental psychology)

William James (American psychology)

Sigmund Freud (psychoanalysis)

John Watson (behaviorism)

Jean Piaget (cognitive development)

Structuralism

Mental processes should be studied by breaking it into its component parts

Functionalism

Psychology should investigate the purpose of mental processes rather than their form

Behaviorists

Psychology should focus on observable behavior only; believed it was scientifically unsound to study mental events because we cannot directly observe them

Psychoanalytic Theory

emphasized the ways our unconscious mind and childhood experiences affect our behavior; form of psychotherapy to treat mental illness

What was the cognitive revolution?

an intellectual shift that moved psychology away from the behaviorist focus on observable behavior to study of internal mental processes like thinking, memory, and language

What is the biopsychosocial approach?

a holistic framework for understanding and treating health conditions by considering interactions between biological, psychological, and social analysis

What is the overconfidence effect?

People are overconfident in their skills and abilities and believe they know/more skilled than they actually are; they greatly overstate

What is confirmation bias?

focusing on information that confirms your existing beliefs

What is hindsight bias?

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

What do we mean by scientific attitude?

Having a scientific attitude means being open-minded, skeptical, and also reliant on evidence and reasoning rather than bias or personal beliefs.

What is amiable skepticism?

Combines openness and wariness, remaining open to new ideas but being wary of new findings without supporting evidence

How does the scientific method help us overcome problems with human intuition?

Scientific method includes systematic observation, measurement, and experiment. On-going process that starts w/ a theory and provides a framework that counteracts the biases and flaws inherent in human practices

What are the qualities of a good theory?

Accurately explains and reliably predicts observations by being testable, falsifiable, and consistent with existing data

Why is it important that our theories be parsimonious?

It's able to explain as much as possible in the simplest explanation and with fewer assumptions

What is the difference between stating hypotheses a priori vs post hoc?

A priori = prediction of what will happen before the study occurs

Post hoc = an after the fact statement (not preferable)

How do hypotheses help us correct for the limitations of human judgment?

Helps limit hindsight bias when we are making our predictions before anything happens in the study

Why is peer review important? Why don't researchers just publish their work without peer review?

Peer review helps lessen subject bias and also allows the study to be performed again with support claims

What is a correlational study?

measures and observes variables as they naturally happen

What is an experimental study?

manipulate one variable and measure its effect on another

What is a cross-sectional study?

measures at one point in time

What is a longitudinal study?

measures at multiple points in time

Which type of study has better internal validity/causality?

Experimental research

Which type of study has better external validity/causality?

Correlational research (cross-sectional and longitudinal)

What is correlation?

How dependent variables are naturally related to each other withou any attempt to alter the information

How do you determine the magnitude and direction?

Measuring the correlation coefficient

What are 3 ways in which we can interpret the causal relationship between two variables that are correlated?

1. Pure random chance

2. Association of our measured variables

3. Spurious 3rd variable causing both

T/F: Correlation equals causation

FALSE: Can be a good predictor that there MAY be a relationship, but cannot be used to say one thing directly causes another!

What is the directionality problem?

a problem encountered in correlational studies in which the researchers find a relationship between two variables but cannot determine which caused the changes in the other

What is the third variable problem?

A type of confounding in which a third variable leads to a mistaken causal relationship between two others.

What three things do we need to establish causation?

Covariation, temporal precedence, and elimination of spuriousness

What is an independent variable (IV)?

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.

What is a dependent variable?

the behavioral effect being measured; the effect

What is a confound?

Anything that influences our study; leads to spurious correlation or misleading association between causes a false sense of causal relationship

What is the difference between internal validity and external validity?

Internal establishes a clear cause and effect relationship within a study by controlling for other variables while external determines if the study can be generalized to different people

Why does random sampling matter/preferred?

Each participant has an equal chance and can be applied to all design studies

What is the difference between random sampling and random assignment?

Random sampling: each individual in a population has an equal chance (better external validity)

Random assignment: participants within a sample of an experiment are selected randomly

What is the best way to correct for sampling bias?

Stratified sampling/random sampling: we specifically recruit to find a representative sample of the population and identify characteristics that are relevant to the study

Dendrites

Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.

Soma

cell body of a neuron; keeps neuron alive

Synaptic gap

space between neurons

Myelin Sheath

covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses; fatty proteins surrounding the axon

Axon

channel that propogates neuro messages

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons

Terminal branches/buttons

small knobs that secrete chemicals called neurotransmitters (chemical messengers)

Pre-synaptic region

send/transmit signal toward another neuron

Post-synaptic region

receives signals from presynaptic neuron and process them

Intraneuronal communication

communication within neurons; produces an action potential

Interneuronal communication

messages passed between neurons rather than within an individual neuron through synaptic transmission

Acetylcholine

enables muscle action, learning, and memory (contraction & relaxation)

(nor)epineprhine

initiate activity in the sympathetic nervous system - triggers the "fight or flight"

endorphins

helps reduce pain and block pain receptors

GABA

inhibitory neurotransmitter - slows you down and part of the parasympathetic nervous system (triggers relaxation by calming you down)

serotonin

stabilizes your mood and makes you feel happy, helping you feel content and balanced. Tells the brain it has "had enough"

dopamine

good feelings associated with goal pursuit; the pleasant sensation with achievement, and makes you want it more (motivation, reward, pleasure)

How do we use psychopharmacology to influence neuronal communication?

by altering how neurotransmitters are made, released, broken down, ect. We affect various functions in the communicatory process

Why is terminating synaptic transmission important?

Important to keep communication brief, accurate, and safe by preventing neurons from being overstimulated by overreleasing

Autoreception

signals the presynaptic neuron to stop releasing the neurotransmitter

Reuptake

reabsorbtion of excess neurotransmitters released

Enzymatic degradation

a way of removing excess neurotransmitter from the synapse, in which enzymes specific for that neurotransmitter bind with the neurotransmitter and destroy it

What do agonists do?

Enhance efficacy, increase production, increase release, and mimics morphine for activation (good copy and releases dophamine/seratonine)

What do antagonists do?

Reduce efficacy, decrease production, decrease release and mimicry for blockage (beta-blockers, so essentially impairs us)

What are the theories for how our brains learn?

Neurogenesis , synaptogenesis, synaptic pruning

Neurogenesis

growing new neurons upon learning new information (oldest theory and not accurate)

Synaptogenesis

strengthening connections between existing neurons - makes it more likely for neurons to fire as you reiterate things

Synaptic pruning

culling of less used connections between neurons (connections are weaker and less likely to activate if you use them less)

What does neuroplasticity mean?

Our brains are capable to be rewired, meaning to reorganize itself based on how much density is left over (also the brain's ability to retain and learn new information)

T/F: Our brains are only plastic during childhood/adolescence

FALSE: It's true our brains are highest plasticity during childhood, but we are able to rewire our brains no matter what age, just harder to do so the more we age

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body.

What is part of the somatic system?

Sensory and motor neurons

Afferent/Sensory neurons

carry messages from the senses to the spinal cord (A = Arrive at CNS)

Efferent/Motor neurons

carry messages from the spinal cord to the muscles and glands (E = Exist CNS/carries information away to the rest of the body!)

Interneuron

Central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs (between)

What is your CNS made of?

2 main parts: the brain and your spinal cord

What are parts of the "old" brain?

brainstem, medulla, pons, reticular formation, thalamus, cerebellum

What is the medulla's function?

Keeps your heart beating/lungs breathing; most basic life support function!

What does the reticular formation do?

a nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus and plays an important role in controlling arousal

What does pons do?

Extension of the reticular formation and manages sleep regulation

What does cerebellum do?

helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance, as well as learning motor control and precision

What is part of the limbic system?

Thalamus, Hippocampus, Amygdala, Hypothalamus

What does thalamus do?

sensory relay station; routing of sensory information throughout the cerebrum

What does hippocampus do?

learning and memory; formation of new memories and plays a big role in getting information in

What does amygdala do?

processes basic emotions (more neurons are going out than entering, so that's why emotions like anger are more easily remembered)

What does the hypothalamus do?

maintains homeostasis and basic motivational states (hunger, temperature, regulates pituitary gland)

What is the pituitary gland?

It is the master gland. It produces many hormones that regulate homeostasis e.g ADH, FSH

What is the cerebral cortex?

The outer wrinkly, folded "gray layer" of the brain, controls consciousness, memory and language

What occurs in gray matter?

Conscious decisions happen = more gray matter is better

What is white matter?

Carries one side of a neuron to another; allows communication between regions of your brain

Corpus callosum

connects left and right hemispheres, allowing for communication

Ventricles

These are the holes in your brain that provide cushion support

T/F: Larger brains have faster information traveling and retention

FALSE: The larger the brain, the slower it takes for information to travel

What are the four lobes of your brain?

frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe

Prefrontal cortext (PFC)

decision making sense of self, social cognition, and social emotions (embarassment, guilt, shame)

located in frontal lobe

Primary motor cortex

voluntary movement and MAKES the movement happen (executes; control of muscle movement)

located in frontal lobe