PSYC100 Midterm 2

What does it mean to be self aware?

to understand that you exist as a separate entity from the rest of the world

a. And when are half of all children able to pass this test?

By the age of 2.

b. What other animals are able to pass this test?

all great apes and elephants

How have researchers tested for self awareness in children and animals?

the mirror test, place a child or an ape in front of a mirror to see if it recognizes it is looking at itself, mark the child or ape and place them in front of the mirror to see if they recognize they themselves are the one who is marked

Theory of mind

the ability to understand others have their own mental states (belief, desires, intentions, and emotions) that are differ from our own

How have researchers tested whether a child has developed a theory of mind?

Tell a three year old about the story of Sally and Anne. Anne watches Sally put a ball in a basket and leaves the room. Sally actually puts the ball in a cupboard when Anne is away. Ask the 3 year old, where is Sally going to look for the ball? The 3 year old will say the cupboard because that is where she knows it is. A 5-6 year old will say the basket because they are able to attribute a different state of mind to Anne, and they know that Anne thinks the ball is in the basket.

Why do we talk about theory of mind as a theory?

because we cannot truly know what another person is thinking, but we can create assumptions, which is why it is a theory

Difference between self awareness and theory of mind

self recognition is the first step and developing theory of mind is an even higher level of self awareness

What makes emotions basic?

if they are expressed the same way and universally understood by facial expressions and communication mechanisms that evolved to help others understand our own emotions.

7 Basic emotions

Anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise, and contempt (SSCADFJ) Created by Paul Ekman, who watched hours of expressions in footage of secluded tribes and had them match emotions with the correct emotion provoking story.

How does his work support the evolutionary perspective on emotions?

supports Darwin’s theory that some important emotional expressions are in fact universal

How might another emotion be different from a basic emotion?

An emotion such as jealousy is not considered "basic," because there isn't one unique facial expression that is universally recognized as jealousy. Jealousy can manifest in a way that is facially similar to sadness, anger, disgust, or others.

What, according to Schachter and Singer (1962), are the two things that happen when we experience emotion?

arousal and a cognitive component (based on context) called labeling or interpretation

How did they support their theory by injecting their patients with epinephrine? Be clear about the study's methods and results

when people didn't have an explanation for the arousal caused by the epinephrine injections, they attributed their arousal to the situation (the behavior of the confederate), and when they did have an explanation (they'd been told the real side effects), they attributed it to the injection

How did Dutton and Aron (1974) demonstrate that a misattribution of arousal can influence our emotional experience? Be clear about the methodology used in the two studies described (bridge and shocks) and how the pattern of results relates to the two factor theory

the misattribution of arousal seems to be dependent on several conditions that have little to do with arousal and context. Men on footbridge approached by hot girl (arousal, contacted), men on land approached by hot girl (not aroused, less contact). Severe shock approached by hot girl (wanted to initiate, aroused), mild shock approached by hot girl (less initiation, less aroused).

How is a body's stress response an adaptive mechanism that increases survival?

changes the immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, reproductive system, and growth process.

What beneficial effects does the release of adrenaline and cortisol have that supports a fight-or-flight response?

Adrenaline gives you more energy, cortisol slows functions that would not be essential in a fight or flight situation

How are the side effects of each of these chemicals potentially harmful if we frequently experience stress over a long period of time?

Too much exposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can disrupt almost all bodily processes, putting you at higher risk of many health problems like: anxiety, depression, digestive problems, head aches, etc.

What is the relationship between people's beliefs about stress and the effect that stress actually has? People who experienced a lot of stress, but did not view stress as harmful were at lowest risk of dying. Believing stress is bad for you puts you at deeper risk than actually experiencing stress.

Could stress be healthy?

Your stress response could be healthier. When you change your mind about stress, you can change the way your body deals with stress.

What is the protective stress hormone discussed in the text (e.g., strengthens heart during stress and helps you be social)?

Oxytocin

Why do we sleep?

Sleep is necessary for replenishing our resources, including cognitive abilities.

What is a circadian rhythm?

Circadian rhythms include some of the physical, mental, and behavioral changes an organism experiences over a 24 hour cycle, influencing functions like sleep patterns, hormone release, appetite, digestion, and temperature.

What happens in each of the stages of sleep?

approx. 100 minutes in length, increases in length after each completion of stage 5, a good sleeper goes through about 5 cycles per night

Drowsiness

5/10 minutes

Light sleep

muscles relax, preparing for deep sleep, beginning of sleep cycle, accounts for 45 to 60% of a good sleeper’s night

Deep or Delta

10/30 minutes
A Deeper version of stage 3

REM Sleep

where you dream, Rapid Eye Movement, increased heart rate, erratic breathing, twitching eyes, muscle tense, 10 minutes in length, form of paralysis

How does alcohol consumption influence sleep?

Alcohol is a sedative, but sedation is not sleep, you are switching off the fire in brain cells in the cortex. Can fragment sleep, can trigger fight-or-flight, which will wake you up. Can block REM sleep

How is monophasic sleep different from polyphasic sleep?

monophasic (sleeping in one singular period), polyphasic (sleeping smaller chunks of time)

What happened to rats deprived of the ability to dream?

sleep deprived rats experienced a regression of their survival instincts/behaviors

What does it mean that dreams were “epiphenomena”

excrescences of the brain with no function at all, the mind’s attempt to make sense of random neural firing while the body restores itself during sleep

What are “threat dreams” and what percentage of recalled dreams did they make up in Revonsuo’s research?

dreams that rehearse for similar real events, so that threat recognition and avoidance happens faster and more automatically in comparable real situation, we have 300 to 1,000 threat dreams per year (1 to 4 per night)

What is Revonsuo’s theory of why we dream?

dreams served to protect us, teaching us how respond to threats, to stimulate the potential threats and prepare us to act quickly

How does Stickgold’s research support and maybe even expand Revonsuo’s general theory?

Stickhold had people tap out a sequence with their fingers, then again later in the day, no difference. But, when there was sleep in between, they improved drastically. The ability of sleep allows us to integrate and consolidate knowledge.

Lucid Dreaming

the act of knowing you are dreaming while you are dreaming

How to induce lucid dreaming

tell yourself to remember you are dreaming before you sleep

Why are depressants called depressants? What do they depress?

depressants decrease central nervous system (CNS) arousal and excitability levels, feeling sedated.

What are some examples of depressants?

alcohol, benzodiazepine, barbiturates, ketamine

How does alcohol work in the synapse?

increases the effects of GABA receptors

What neurotransmitters does alcohol affect and how does it affect them?

inhibitory neurotransmitters, called GABA, are active throughout the brain. These neurotransmitters act to control neural activity along many brain pathways. When GABA binds to its receptor, the cell is less likely to fire.

Why are stimulants called stimulants? What do they stimulate?

increase CNS activity and prevent certain chemicals from being reabsorbed, so the synaptic space becomes overloaded with neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin

What are some examples of stimulants?

cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ephedrine

How does cocaine work in the synapse?

The natural effect of dopamine on the post-synaptic neurons is amplified. Higher dependency, feelings of confidence and energy.

What neurotransmitter does stimulants affect and how does it affect it?

Dopamine transporters are responsible for removing dopamine molecules from synaptic clefts after they have done their job.

Why are hallucinogens called hallucinogens?

effects of these drugs can range from visual or, more rarely, auditory hallucinations, to euphoric and dissociative sensations

What are some examples of hallucinogens? LSD, MDMA/ecstasy, PCP, ketamine

How does LSD work in the synapse?

LSD acts almost exclusively on serotonin neurons. LSD chemically resembles serotonin and elicits its effects by binding to serotonin receptors.

What neurotransmitter does LSD affect and how does it affect it?

serotonin

What are opioids/narcotics?

highly addictive drugs that work on the dopaminergic system, giving a strong pleasure response

What are some examples of opioids/narcotics?

Opium, heroin, methadone

How does heroin work in the synapse?

Before heroin enters the system, inhibitory neurotransmitters are active in the synapse. These neurotransmitters inhibit dopamine from being released.

What neurotransmitters does heroin affect and how does it affect them?

inhibitory and dopamine neurotransmitter, inhibit dopamine from being released.

What are cannabinoids?

include marijuana, hashish, and other cannabis derivatives

What are some examples of cannabinoids?

Marijuana, hashish

How does marijuana work in the synapse?

Before marihuana enters the system, inhibitory neurotransmitters are active in the synapse. These neurotransmitters inhibit dopamine from being released.

What neurotransmitters does cannabinoids affect and how does it affect them?

Inhibitory and dopamine neurotransmitter, inhibit dopamine from being released.

What should we do about dangerous drugs? How should we treat addiction?

Human nature is to bond. Decriminalize all drugs, but take all the money used to cut off addicts and spend it on reconnecting them with society. The opposite of addiction is connection.

Neuron

building block of the brain

Cell body

cell’s life support center, has nucleus

Dendrites

receives messages from other neurons, tells you to fire or not

Axon

passes messages away from cell body

Neuron impulse

electrical signal traveling down the axon

Myelin Sheath

covers axon and some neurons

Axon Potential

an electro chemical transmission of a signal

Multiple Sclerosis

problem w/ myelin sheath

Neurotransmitters

chemical that is released in the synapse carried across neurons

Synapse

space between one neuron and another
l
Agonist

Antagonist

slows down effect of neurotransmitters

Glutamate

neurotransmitter that increases nervous system activity, alcohol is a glutamate antagonist

GABA

depresses nervous system activity, alcohol is a GABA agonist

Dopamine: a reward

Synergistic Effects

synergize or work on the same thing (effects the same neurotransmitter (1+1 effect)

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)

the seat of your circadian clock (sensitive to blue light, treatment is bright light therapy)

Circadian clock

keeps track of your circadian rhythm (cycle of biological processes)

Zeitgebers

environmental cues to set your biological clock (sunlight)

Brain Waves

Beta (awake conscious) + Alpha (relaxed calm) 1/2nd

Theta (deep relaxation meditation) + Delta (deep dreamless sleep) 3/4th.

REM Rebound

when you sacrifice so much sleep, your REM cycle will occur faster

Why we sleep

predators, memories, brain development

Dream Theory

wish fulfillment (Freud) dualistic

Insomnia

sleep problems (clinical), early, mid, late insomnia

Sleep Apnea

disorder where people can’t breathe when sleeping

Narcolepsy

falling asleep really easily and doing straight to REM sleep

Sleep walking/talking

REM sleep w/o REM paralysis

Night Terror

nightmare that occurs in stage ¾, partially awake

Stimuli

some environmental event that we hear, see, feel, smell, or tast

Response

something we do after detecting a stimulus

What does it mean to say that a response has been classically conditioned?
Classical conditioning involves learning that a stimulus that would otherwise have no biological meaning is associated with something that does. “Unconditioned” responses are caused by the stimulus naturally.

How did Pavlov initially demonstrate classical conditioning with dogs?
Demonstrated that a biological response (drooling) could be triggered by a stimulus (sound) if dogs learned to associate the sound with food.

How did Watson's study with "Little Albert" demonstrate that fear can be explained by classical conditioning?
Watson pairs a white rate with a large clanging noise (stimulus) which triggers fear in Little Albert (response).

A neutral stimulus (NS)

White rat was a neutral object to Albert as he had no prior experience with it and naturally had no wired response, does not lead to the response we want

An unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

startle response to loud noise was natural and automatic for Albert
An unconditioned responses (UCR)

A conditioned stimulus (CS)

repeatedly pairing the white rat (NS) with the gong (UCS), Albert learns the association. Rat turns from NS to CS

A conditioned response (CR)

Albert sees the rat and begins to cry without hearing the scary sound. Crying turns from UCR to CR in the presence of the rat CS

How would you go about establishing a classically conditioned association?

The NS (rat) was presented, and just a moment later, the UCS (gong). The NS becomes useful in predicting the UCS (when I see the rat something scary is about to happen)

If we want to establish an association, why is forward short delay the best way?

because the conditioned stimulus (CS) precedes and overlaps with the unconditioned stimulus (US)

Simultaneous

we hit the easy button and at the exact same time we shoot the Airsoft bullet

Forward long delay

we hit the easy button and two minutes later we shoot the Airsoft bullet

Backwards

we shoot the Airsoft bullet and then we hit the easy button