Laurier PS101 Final Exam

What are the three levels of analysis?

The brain, the person, the group.

The Brain

How brain structure and brain activity vary from person to person and situation to situation

The Person

How the content of the individuals' mental processes form and influence behavior

The Group

How behavior is shaped by culture and environment

Mental Processes

Activities of our brain when engaged in thinking, observing the environment, and using language.

What are the four goals of Psychology?

Description, Explanation, Prediction, Control
D - How and What? (ie. Learning to talk) (Observe, record and generate date) (Naturalist observation, laboratory, case study)

E - Why? (Hypothesis) (ie. Develop addictions) (Requires experimentation)

P - When? (ie. What conditions?) (Cause and effect)

C- Limit or increase behavior (Design - experiment)

Hippocrates

Had 4 humours that defined personality, character and health.
1. Yellow Bile
2. Blood
3. Phlegm
4. Black Bile

Socrates and Plato

Concluded mind and body are distinct and that the mind continues even when the body dies. "Truth" lies in the brain and is with-in a person from birth.
Socrates - Essence of human nature. (ie. why something is beautiful)
Plato - Can use reasoning to determine what's inside someone's soul.

Aristotle

Sensations, dreams, sleep and learning.

Quasi-Experiment

No randomization of the participant groups. People are chosen for a specific reason.

Francis Bacon

Creator of empiricism - all knowledge resonates in experience.

Dendrites

Attached to the cell body, they connect with other neurons to give incoming messages. The prime receiver of information from other neurons.

Rene Descartes

First of modern philosophers. Believed meaning of the natural world could be defined by science and mathematics.

Terminal Buttons

Send messages to Dendrites.

Charles Darwin

Human origins and behaviour.

Glial Cells

Glue that holds neurons together. Blood-brain barrier, waste management system, myelin, can act like a neuron.

Wilhelm Wundt

Creditor as founder of psychology. Created lab in Leipzig, Germany. Conducted experiment by questioning experience and immediate consciousness. Believed all experience could be reduced to basic elements. (Introspection)

CT Scan

X-ray type imaging showing the structures of the brain.

John Locke

Learn by experiences.

EEG

Measures electrical activity in the brain.

Max Wertheimer

Gestalt psychology creator.

Somatic Nervous System

Voluntary movement and sensory information.

Voluntarism

How does 'will' influence behavior? Behaviour is motivated for an explicit purpose.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Calms the body and preserves energy.

Structuralism

Created by Titchener. Belief that experience could be reduced to basic elements and that those structures could be identified. Identify structures that support actions - utilized introspection.

Spinal Cord

Sends info to and from the brain and PNS and controls reflexes.

Introspection

Individuals all have different views on the same experience. Looked at individuals rather than the group.

Problems: Not objective, not clean data, answers can change. Excluded animals, children etc..

Brain

Directs coherent and organized control of the body,

Fuctionalism

Focus on how mental processes function and how we use them to adapt and survive. Was influenced by...
1) Darwin - Origin of species by natural selection
2) Galton - inheritance on mental abilities

Included behaviour and mental processes and larger group of people.

Forebrain

Largest most complex region. Includes subcortical and cortex. Involved in planning.

William James

Advocated for functionalism.

Midbrain

Reticular formation. - Regulates attention and alterness.

Gestalt Psychology

The "whole" experience. Against structuralists.

Hindbrain

Basic survival location. Closest to spinal cord and includes: the medulla, the pons, and the cerebellum. Need this area to survive.

Deductive Reasoning

Take big general ideas and apply to specific situations.
Theory - Prediction - Experiment

Thalamus

Acts as a relay station between low and higher brain centre. All sensory information except for smell. Forwards information to cerebral cortex.

Inductive Reasoning

Small specific situations leading to generalizations.
Experiment - Predictions - Theory

Hypothalamus

Regulates hunger, thirst, body temp, sexual and emotional behavior.
(The Four F's!)

Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning

Modern science where scientists begin with an educated guess and design small, controlled observations to attempt to prove the hypothesis.
Hypothesis - Experiment - Proven W/R

Limbic System

Group of brain structures that is responsible for emotional expression, some memory and motivation.
Emotion and fear - Amyglada.
Memory - Hippocampus.

Descriptive Research

Observation: Naturalistic, Laboratory, Case Study

Cons: Cannot get cause and effect from descriptive methods.

Cerebrum

Two hemispheres with four lobes.
Left - Language, math, analytical
Right - Creative, Visual, Spatial

Experimental Research

Can test cause and effect. Create hypothesis to prove theories: Prediction, cause and effect relationship, manipulation.

Cons: Selection bias

Reticular Formation

Involved in arousal and attention and screens messages coming into the brain. Consciousness and arousal.

Random Selection

ie. Put names into a hat

Pons

Exerts influence on dreaming and sleep. Includes the locus coeruleus. Functions as a relay mechanism.

Naturalistic Observation

Watching event occur in their natural environment. ie. watching children play.

Medulla

Control-centre for heart-beat, breathing, blood pressure, swallowing, coughing. Basic bodily processes and certain reflexes.

Hawthorne Effect

You do better when you know you're being observed.

Cerebellum

The brain structure that coordinates skilled muscle movement and body balance. Motor coordination. Sits on the spinal cord.

Experimental Group

Gets the manipulation.

Corpus Callosum

Connects the two hemispheres.

Control Group

Does not get manipulation.

Amygdala

Involved in responding to aversive stimuli. (Fear)

Double-Blind Procedure

Experimenter only knows what the participant is receiving once the experiment begins. The participant is unaware as well.

Pituitary Gland

Hormones, Growth and Reproduction. Impacts endocrine and adrenal glands.

Correlation

Exists when cause and effect does not. It measures the relationship between two variables. (ie. number of friends and self-esteem)

Neurotransmitter Receptors

Proteins in the membranes of neutrons that bind neurotransmitters

Correlation Coefficient

Positive: Both variable rise. (0-1)
Negative: As one goes up, the other goes down. (0 to -1)
Perfect: Exactly related.

Serotonin

Mood regulation, sleep, aggression, appetite. Deficiency linked to depression.

Causation

One thing causes another.

Dopamine

Movement, reward centre. Linked to Parkinson's.

Statistical Significance

Reliable? or not important?

Acetylcholine

Learning and attention, memory, REM sleep and muscle movement. Without it, you can't move.

Standard Deviation

How much results vary.

GABA

Learning, anxiety regulation

Norepinephrine

Attention, arousal, eating habits, sleep. Linked to depression. Predominate in fear!!

Placebo Effect

Response to manipulation due to expectations and not the manipulation.

Glutamate

Learning and movement.

Descriptive Statistics

Used to give basic information about what we find (summary). Includes numerical information ie. mean, median, mode, standard deviation, variability

Neuroplasticity

Ability to regenerate

Inferential Statistics

Can make inferences about a whole population using samples. Used to test a hypothesis. Used to determine if results are due to chance or not.

Hippocampus

Involved in formation of conscious memory.

Ungrouped Frequency Distribution

Raw data

Rational Emotive Therapy

Created by Ellis. Challenging irrational thinking, often done by applying therapeutic suggestions in real life situations. Therefore has homework assignments. Works to identify irrational thinking.

Grouped Frequency Distribution

Classified data

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Identify negative thoughts and errors in logic, and helps them change their dysfunctional thoughts. (Beck) Works to alter negative thinking.

Central Tendency

Numbers used to summarize data sets

Titchener

Creator of structuralism.

Broca's Area

Frontal lobe - Production Of Speech

Case Study (i.e.. The Case of M)

Selected or limited populations.
Cons: limited sample size.

Wernicke's Area

Between Temporal and Parietal Lobes - Comprehension of speech and language.

Applied Research

Conducted specifically for the purpose of solving practical problems and improving quality of life.

Types: Real life problems, finding solutions, why things happen (i.e elders lose memory, multitasking).

Frontal Lobe

Movement and speech production.

Basic Research

Involves seeking new knowledge and exploring and advancing general scientific understanding.

Types: animal, sensory, computer modeling, cellular, cognition/ behavior

Parietal Lobe

Related to TOUCH information and processing visual information usually in regards to locations.

Informed Consent

Participant is aware of risks.

Temporal Lobe

Speech comprehension and recognizes complex visual stimulus (ie. Faces)

Four Types Of Brain Waves

Alpha (Relaxed), Beta (Active), Theta (Light Sleep), Delta (Deep Sleep)

Occipital Lobe

Processes visual information.

Unconscious vs. Nonconscious

Unconscious (Freud) - Keep them out of conscious awareness, not accessible to the conscious mind.

Prefrontal Lobe

Higher order thinking: memory, moral reasoning, planning.

Circadian Rhythms

Patterns of sleep and wake cycles that in human beings, corresponds to periods of daylight and night. Promote readiness for sleep and influence morning people vs night owls.
During the day: inhibits melatonin secretion.
At night: Release melatonin and promotes relaxation.

Basal Ganglia

Movement and Reward

Classical Conditioning

Pairing stimulus and reactions.

MRI

Uses magnets and builds 2-D or 3-D images. Very clear images.

Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory

Wish fulfillment, gratification of desires/needs

PET Scan

Small dose of radioactive substance injected.

Karl Rogers

Self-theory - organized and consist set of perceptions, relativerly stable.

fMRI

Based on amount of oxygen in the blood, uses magnets, measures brain activity. Parts will light up.