Psychology- Chapters 5-6

Consciousness

Everything we’re aware of at any given time

• Our awareness of ourselves and our environment

Sleep Stage 1

• Lasts about 10 minutes- often unaware we’re asleep

• Theta waves

Sleep Stage 2

• Lasts about 30 minutes

• Heart rate and body temp lower

Sleep Stage 3-4

• Lasts about 30 minutes

• Slow wave / deep sleep

• Hard to wake

• Important for bodily repair

Sleep Stage 5- REM

• Lasts about 20 minutes

• 80-90% report vivid dreams

REM Behaviour Disorder

Individuals act out their dreams due to a lack of paralysis

REM Dreams

Can be emotional, illogical, and have plot shifts

Non-REM Dreams

Shorter, more thought-like, and repetitive

Somnambulism

Sleepwalking that occurs during deep sleep (s3-4)

Somniloquy

Sleeptalking that occurs during any stage

• More frequent in kids

Nightmares

Occur towards morning, during REM sleep

• REM Rebound can create more nightmares

Sigmund Freud

Claimed dreams represented wish fulfillment or were sexual

Importance of dreaming

• Process emotional memories

• Integrate new experiences

• Learn new strategies

• Simulate threats

• Reorganize and consolidate memories

Activation Synthesis Model

The cortex gets random signals from the brain stem that are hard to interpret

Dreams reflect brain activity in sleep

Out of Body Experience

A sense of the consciousness leaving the body

• 25% of post-secondary students

• 10% of the general population

Near Death Experience

OBE reported by someone who nearly died

• 12-33% of people

• 15% are described as “hellish”

• Differ across cultures

Déjà vu

A feeling of reliving a new experience

• 2/3 of people

• Occurs just before a seizure in people who get them

Hypnosis

A set of techniques that provides people with suggestions for alterations in perception, thoughts, and feelings

Hypnosis is not

• A unique altered state

• A sleep-like state

• An unawareness of surroundings

• Forgetting what occurred

• Recalling forgotten events

Pharmacokinetics

The movement of the drug through the body

Pharmacodynamics

The mechanism of action of drugs

Psychoactive drugs

Induce psychological effects by altering normal biochemical reactions in the nervous system

Blood-Brain Barrier

• Drugs can’t enter unless they’re lipid soluble

• Keeps out poisons

• Prevents needed chemicals from escaping

• Covers 85% of brain capillaries

Solubility

The ability to dissolve in a medium

• Ability to dissolve in water and lipids

• Lipid solubility is critical for drugs

Ion

An atom that has lost 1+ electrons to another atom or has taken from another

Ionization

When a drug enters the body it may ionize as it dissolves, making a solution of ionized and unionized portions

The ionized part has difficulty crossing the membrane

pH

A number from 0-14 that describes how acidic or basic a solution is

Acidity

Lower on the pH scale (0-6)

Neutrality

7 on the pH scale

Alkalinity

Higher on the pH scale (8-14)

pH in drugs

If the pH matches, absorption occurs

If the pH differs, dissolving occurs

Ion trapping

If a drug in the blood stream starts to ionize it gets “trapped”

Oral administration

Drugs swallowed and absorbed through the GI tract

• Oral route drugs go to a site of action and cross body compartments and membranes to do so

Oral Administration: Advantages

• Economical, convenient, easy

• Safe in case of emergencies

Oral Administration: Disadvantages

• Not good in emergencies

• Requires proper drug pH (acidic)

• Must be conscious and consent

• First pass metabolism

IV Administration

Involves depositing a drug directly into a vein

• Needs to be slightly alkaline

IV Administration: Advantages

• Most accurate means of controlling dose

• Results in rapid onset of drug action

• Short delay of effect

• Can be used when patient is unconscious

IV Administration: Disadvantages

• Frequent use of vein may lead to irritation or collapse

• Can’t be recalled unless an antagonist is available

• Pain of injection, sterility, cost

• Drugs must be aqueous

• Drug may be toxic in IV

Inhalation: Advantages

• Alveoli provide a huge surface with blood vessels behind

• Lungs have an efficient system for moving oxygen

• Psychoactive effect comparable to IV

Inhalation: Disadvantages

• Long-term hazard of breathing particles

• Possibility of throat to lung irritation

• Asthma and lung cancer could result

Effective Dosage

The dosage that produces an effect in a given % of people

Lethal Dosage

The dosage that causes death in a given % of people

Therapeutic Index

A measure of a drug’s safety

Ideally LD1 / ED99

TI for alcohol: 6

TI for weed: 900 joints at once

Potency

If drug A produces an effect at a lower dose than B then A is more potent

Maximum efficiency

The dosage needed to fully produce an effect

Half-Life

The time it takes for blood concentration of a drug to drop to half

Biotransformation

The process where enzymes modify the chemical properties of a molecule

Cytochrome P-450

A nonspecific microsomal liver enzyme that breaks down alcohol, hormones, and basically all meds

Tolerance

Occurs when repeated doses produce less and less of an effect

Metabolic Tolerance

Involves liver enzymes induction

An increase in enzymes means more drug is needed to achieve an effect

Cellular Tolerance

The adaptation of individual nerve cells to the presence of a drug

Cross Tolerance

When the use of one drug provides tolerance for another

Dependence

A state where the removal of a drug leads to withdrawal symptoms

Physical Dependence

The body requires the drug to continue to function normally

Psychological Dependence

Continued use is motivated by cravings

Withdrawal

A set of symptoms that occur when a drug is discontinued

Excretion: Kidneys

Main excretory organ, that strains blood and removes used or useless material

Excretion Process

• Blood enters the nephron

• Some substances from the blood are pushed into the tubule and the body reabsorbs what it needs back into the blood

• Drugs also enter the tubule, and if a drug isn’t ionized and can dissolve in fats, it can go back into the blood

• If a drug is ionized, it gets trapped in the tubule and is removed from the body

• The liver helps by changing drugs to make them ionized so they can be removed

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behaviour or thought due to experience

Classical Conditioning

A type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning in which behaviour is strengthened if followed by a reinforcement or weakened if diminished by a punisher

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

An unlearned stimulus that triggers a response

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

The unlearned response to the Unconditioned Stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

An originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an Unconditioned Response, triggers a Conditioned Reaction

Conditioned Response (CR)

The learned response to a Conditioned Stimulus

Extinction

Lessening of a CR when US doesn’t occur after a CS

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished CR

Generalization

The tendency for similar stimuli to the CS to elicit similar CR’s

Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between a CS and a stimuli that doesn’t signal a US

Conditioned Tolerance

When drugs are used in a certain setting, an enhanced tolerance can be built because the brain prepares for the drug

Behaviourism

Ideas that behaviours are the result of learning through association

Fears can be conditioned

Created by John Watson

Shaping

Progressively reinforcing behaviours that come closer to the target

Positive

Involves giving something

Negative

Involves taking something away

Reinforcement

Strengthens behaviour

Punishment

Weakens behaviour

Positive Reinforcement

Giving something (pleasant) to strengthen behaviour

Negative Reinforcement

Taking something (unpleasant) away to strengthen behaviour

Positive Punishment

Giving something (unpleasant) to weaken behaviour

Negative Punishment

Taking away something (pleasant) to weaken behaviour

Continuous Reinforcement

When each correct response is reinforced

Partial Reinforcement

When correct responses are reinforced randomly/ intermittently

Fixed Ratio

Reinforcement given after a fixed number of correct responses

Variable Ratio

Reinforcement given after a varying number of correct responses

Fixed Interval

Reinforcement given after a specific time interval has passed

Variable Interval

Reinforcement given after a varying amount of time has passed

Learning skills

An individuals preferred/optimal way of learning

• Basically BS

• Combining all styles works best

Parsimony

Idea that when faced with multiple hypotheses, the simplest one should be selected

Manifest Content

The actual details of a dream

-Freud

Latent Content

A dream’s hidden meaning

-Freud