What is psychology?

What is psychology?

What is psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour

What is the mind?

The mind is defined as the part of us that reasons, thinks, feels, perceives, and judges

What is behaviour?

The response of living organisms to stimulus, both internal and external

Nature vs. Nurture

Nature is the natural/genetic behaviours of a person, while Nurture is the environmental factors of how a person was rasied

Why is Psychology still not considered a science in some places?

Due to methodological challenges, historical baggage, and misconceptions

Cognitive process

explains how the mind works. These include memory, perception, attention, deicision-making, and thinking/reasoning

What makes a good theory? (TEACUP)

T - Testiable (Flaseafilable)
E - Experiment
A - Application (Can be applied to real world situations)
C - Concepts
U - Unbiased
P - Perdictable

What psychological factors can affect our behaviour and cognition?

• Neurotransmitters/Brain structure

• Hormones

• Genes

Interactionist approach

Lots of things are responsible for psychological effects

Reductionist approach

One thing is responsible for psychological effects

What is the difference between MRI, FMRI, and PET scans?

MRI - 3D picture of the brain structure
FMRI - Scan of brain activity
PET - invasive brain scan

Label the brain

What is Neuroplasticity?

The brain’s ability to change it’s structure in response to stimuli

LTP

Long term potentiation - The process of strengthening the connection between neurons

Synaptic Pruning

The breaking of neural connections

What is a synapse?

A signal sent to the detrite, passes through the body of the neuron, then through the axon terminal to another neuron

What are the two types of synapses?

Electrical - Less complex signals and allows ions to pass through
chemical - Slower than electrical signals but more complex

What are neurotransmitters?

electro-chemical signals

What happens if neurotransmitters aren’t taken by the post-synaptic neuron?

They are either diffused by enzymes or taken back by the pre-synaptic cell via a process called “re-uptake”

What are hormones?

Hormones are similar to neurotransmitters but are secreted by glands in the body and travels through the blood

What are beta-blockers and what are they used for?

blocks/stops development of emotional memories and are used to prevent PTSD

Excitatory

Higher likelihood of a neuron firing to another neuron by depolarizing the neuron

Inhibitory

Lowers likelihood of a neuron firing to another neuron by hyper-polarizing the neuron

Diathesis Stress Model

Behaviour is determined by both a person’s genetic vulnerability and environmental factors

Genetic predisposition

Your likelihood of developing a certain trait based on your genetics (inheritance)

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