PSU PSY 100: Unit 2 (Chap: 4: States of Consciousness, 5: Learning, & 6: Memory) Fall 26' Dr. G

Consciousness

sensory awareness of the environment (our sense of sight allows us to see the sun gleam on the snow)

Selective attention

Focusing on one's consciousness on a particular stimulus (cocktail party effect)

Preconscious

Descriptive of material that is not in awareness but can be brought into awareness by focusing one's attention (ex. What did you eat for breakfast?)

Unconscious

Descriptive of ideals that are not available to awareness; not conscious.

Repression

Automatic and unconscious ejection of anxiety-evoking ideas, impulses, or images from awareness. (Freud believed this included painful memories and sexual/aggressive impulses).

Supression

The deliberate or conscious placing of certain ideas, impulses, or images out of awareness (Trying to forget about studying for a test while at a party).

Nonconscious

Descriptive of bodily processes, such as growing hair, of which we cannot become conscious; we may "recognize" that our hair is growing but we cannot directly experience the biological process.

Circadian Rhythm

A cycle that is connected with the 24 hour period of the earth's rotation

Stage of Sleep: Awake

low amplitude, high frequency (the more awake you are, the faster the frequency of brainwaves and weaker the amplitude)

Stage of Sleep: Drowsy

higher amplitude, slower frequency

NREM Stage 1 Sleep

Brain waves begin to slow down; low frequency, low amplitude. If awakened from this stage, it may feel like we weren't even sleeping at all. Lasts between 30-40 minutes

NREM Stage 2 Sleep

brain waves are medium in amplitude and frequency is at 4-7 cycles per second (sleep spindles). Brief bursts of brain activity (freq. of 12-16 cycles per second)

NREM Stage 3 Sleep

low frequency ( 1-3 cycles per second), high amplitude

NREM Stage 4 Sleep

Deepest stage of sleep; most difficult to wake up from here.

REM Sleep

Re-entering stage 1 about 90 minutes after falling asleep (paradoxical sleep - brain waves act as though you are awake/waking up); linked to dreaming

Dreams

imagery in the absence of external stimulation and can seem real.

Dreams as "residue of the day"

Involving memories of the activities and problems of the day

Insomnia

A sleep disorder experienced by at least half of american adults, mostly in older adults. Unable to fall asleep.

Narcolepsy

Falling asleep suddenly. "sleep attack" may last around 15 minutes

Sleep Apnea

Affects fewer than 10% of americans. Stop breathing periodically, up to several hundred times per night, associated with obesity and chronic snoring.

Sleep Terrors

Common among children and may reflect immaturity of the nervous system. Usually occurs during the first two sleep cycles of the night.

Hypnosis

an altered state of consciousness in which people are highly suggestible and behave as though they are in a trance

Franz Mesmer

The modern-day founder of hypnosis. Believed everything in the universe was connected in forms of magnetism. Where the term "mesmerizing" comes from

Transcendental meditation

the simplified form of meditation brought to the US by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and used as a method for coping with stress. (Om)

Mindful meditation

a form of meditation that provides clients with techniques they can use to focus on the present moment rather than ruminate about problems (going to the grocery store and only buying whats on your list)

Biofeedback training

system that provides information about a bodily function; people have learned to change some bodily functions voluntarily, including heart rate.

Electromyograph (EMG)

an instrument that measures muscle tension; widely used in sports psychology.

Psychoactive substance

drugs that have psychological effects such as stimulation of distortion of perceptions and can alter mood

depressant

a drug that lowers the rate of activity of the nervous system; they can help people fall asleep. alcohol, opiates, and barbituates

stimulant

a drug that increases activity of the nervous system; can help people move in the morning. amphetamines, cocaine, and nicotine

Substance-use disorder

a problem characterized by a loss of control over usage, social impairment, risky use, and tolerance and withdrawal symptoms.

Tolerance

Habituation to a drug, with the result that increasingly higher doses of the drug are needed to archive similar effects.

Abstinence syndrome

a characteristic cluster of withdrawal symptoms that results from sudden decease in addictive drug's level of usage. symptoms could include anxiety, tremors, restlessness, rapid pulse and high blood pressure.

Alchohol

most abused drug; men most likely to use this drug because they have more of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase that metabolizes the drug in the stomach

Opiates

Includes morphine, heroin, and codeine. Gives a sense of euphoria. Eradicate thoughts of food or sex, can cause drowsiness and stupor, and impairs judgement. Regular use stops the brain form producing neurotransmitters that are chemically similar to opiates- pain relieving endorphins.

Barbituates

An addictive depressant used to relieve anxiety or induce sleep. produce mild euphoria, drowsiness, impaired speech, irritability and poor judgement.

Amphetamines

colorless liquid consisting if carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. abused for euphoric rush. may lead to suicide. Ritalin and Adderall actually treat ADHD, but can also increase risk for sleep disorders and loss of appetite.

Cocaine

Stimulant that produces euphoria, reduces hunger, deadens pain, and boosts self confidence. Can lead to cardiovascular and respiratory collapse.

Nicotine

Stimulant in tobacco smoke. Stimulates discharge of adrenaline and releases dopamine and endorphins. Symptoms of withdrawal include nervousness, loss of energy, headaches, dizziness.

Hydrocarbons

Chemical compounds consisting of hydrogen and carbon; the "tars" in cigarette and cigar smoke.

2nd hand smoke

smoke inhaled from other people's tobacco products.

Hallucinogenics

a substance that causes hallucinations; relaxation, euphoria, and panic. includes marijuana and LSD

Marijuana

the dried vegetable matter of the cannabis sativa plant. helps some people relax and elevate their mood. produces mild hallucinogenics.

Learning

relatively permanent change in behavior that arises from practice or experience. Cognitive psychologists define this as the process by which organisms change the way they represent the environment because of experience.

Classical Conditioning

Simple form of learning in which organisms come to anticipate or associate events with one another. (Pavlov and his dogs)

Reflex

a simple, unlearned response to a stimulus (Pavlov's dogs salivating in response to meat powder)

Stimuli

an environmental condition that elicits a response (Pavlov's dogs salivating when an assistant entered the room because the assistant brought them the food)

Unconditioned Stimulus

a stimulus that elicits a response from an organism prior to conditioning (the meat powder)

Unconditioned Response

an unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus (salivation in response to the meat powder)

Conditioned Response

learned response to a conditional stimulus (salivation in response to tone)

Taste aversion

an example of classical conditioning; eating something to the point of becoming nauseated by the taste.

Extinction

the process by which stimuli lose their ability to evoke learned responses because the events that had followed the stimuli no longer occur (dogs stop salivating when they are not given food after the bell rings)

Spontaneous recovery

the recurrence of an extinguished response as a function of the passage of time (the dogs randomly salivate at the sound of a bell months after the experiment)

"Little Albert"

classical conditioning; psychologists allowed a boy to play with a rat and then clang steel bars together to teach the boy to be afraid of the rat. This is controversial since the psychologists never practiced counter conditioning on him

Counter Conditioning

a fear-reduction technique in which pleasant stimuli are associated with fear-evoking stimuli so that the fear-evoking stimuli lose their aversive qualities. (Peter given cookies when around rabbits to teach him to not be afraid of them)

B.F. Skinner

proposed "project pigeon" (training pigeons to become missiles in WWII through REINFORCEMENT like food pellets) and also taught the pigeons to engage in operant behavior

Operant behavior

behavior that operates on, or manipulates, the environment (

Operant conditioning

a simple form of learning in which an organism learns to engage in behavior because it is reinforced

Rat in Skinner box

allowed skinner to control the environment of the animal and demonstrate how the environments determined the animal's behavior. (The pellet reinforced the lever pulling)

positive reinforcers

reinforcer that is presented increases the frequency of an operant (food and approval)

negative reinforcers

reinforcer that is removed increases the frequency of an operant (fear that something will go wrong)

immediate reinforcers

short-term consequences (seeing cookies while trying to diet)

delayed reinforcers

long-term consequences (not studying for a test in advance)

primary reinforcer

an unlearned reinforcer whose effectiveness is based on the biological make up of the organism and not on learning (food, water, warmth, pain)

secondary reinforcer

also called "conditioned reinforcers," a stimulus that gains reinforcement value through association with established reinforcers (we seek money because we learned it can be exchanged for primary reinforcers)

continuous reinforcement

a schedule of reinforcement in which every correct response is reinforced (becoming less thirsty after each drink of water)

partial reinforcement

one of several reinforcement schedules in which not every correct response is reinforces (playing the slot machine)

shaping

a procedure for teaching complex behaviors that at first reinforcers approximations of the target behavior (telling a clumsy dance they're doing well because they're doing their best)

biofeedback training

operant conditioning; receive reinforcement in the form of information

behavior modification

another reinforcer (teachers use this to reinforce children when they are behaving appropriately and to extinguish bad behavior by ignoring it ).

Program learning

developed by B.F. Skinner, based on operant conditioning. any complex task can be broken down into small steps. Correct responses are reinforced with immediate feedback. One can learn without making mistakes.

cognitive map

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment (knowing campus)

latent learning

learning that is hidden or concealed (rats knowing their way around a maze but not showing it/moving faster until influenced by food.)

contingency theory

the view that learning occurs when stimuli provide information about the likelihood of the occurrence of other stimuli. (dogs chocked after the sound of a bell - learned to fear the sound)

observational learning

shows we can acquire skills by observing the behavior of others (ironing a shirt)

violence in media and aggression

media suggests this is a risk factor for increasing emotional arousal, aggressive behavior, and violent thoughts.

Bandura (bobo doll)

tested the children for how aggressive they were though observational learning. children frequently imitate the aggressive behavior that they observe.

explicit memory

also called declarative memory, is memory for specific information (what did you eat for breakfast?)

episodic memory

memories of the things that happen to us or take place in our presence (remember when we went on that walk and saw that cute dog?)

semantic memory

general knowledge (you KNOW how many states there are without visiting them all)

priming

what you remember as a result of repetition and without making a conscious effort to access the memory (the alphabet)

retrospective memory

recalling information that has been previously learned (episodic and semantic memories)

prospective memory

remembering to do things in the future, like paying the bills.

encoding

first part of the process of memory; modifies information so it can be placed in memory. visual, acoustic, or semantic

storage

second part of the process of memory; maintenance of information over time.

maintenance rehearsal

mental repetition of information to keep it in memory (mentally repeating or saying what ever it is to yourself)

elaborative rehearsal

connecting information to something you already know. you're "elaborating" on information already stored.

retrieval

third part of process of memory; locating a memory and returning it to consciousness.

memory

the process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved.

sensory memory

type of memory that is first encountered by a stimulus. holds impressions briefly.

iconic memory

accurate, photographic memories.

memory trace

if a picture is flashed on a screen for half a second, you would only be able to see it for another half a second afterwards.

eidetic imagery

the maintenance of detailed visual memories over several minutes

echoic memory

the sensory register that briefly holds mental representations of auditory stimuli

short-term memory

the type or stage of memory that can hold information for up to a minute or so after the trace of the stimulus decays (working memory)

chunking

must be kept in short -term memory; remembering a group of stimuli in pieces.

schema

a way of mentally representing the world, such as a belief or expectation and can influence our perceptions of people, objects, and situations.

flashbulb memory

a memory in distinct detail from something surprising or important happening

tip of the tongue phenomenon

the feeling that information is stored in the memory but cannot be retrieved. the "feeling of knowing" experience

forgetting

failing to remmeber