Psych Exam 1 content

Psychology

The scientific study of mind and behavior

Philosophical dualism

The view that the mind and body are fundamentally different things, Rene Descartes

Religion with this theory, the notion of a non-physical soul

Philosophical materialism

The view that all mental phenomena are reducible to physical phenomenon, the mind is what the brain does,THOMAS Hobbes

Most Psychologists side with this theory

Philosophical realism

The view that our perceptions of the physical world are a faithful copy of information from the world that enters our brains through our sensory apparatus, John Locke

Philosophical idealism

The view that our perceptions of the physical world are our brain’s best interpretation of the information that enters through our sensory apparatus, Immanuel Kant

What your Brain believes is happening

Modern psychologist side with this theory

Philosophical empiricism

The view that all knowledge is acquired through experience, baby is a “tabula rasa”=blank slate, Locke

Philosophical nativism

The view that some knowledge is inate rather than acquired, Kant

Space, time, Causality, and number

Most modern psychologist embrace some version of nativism

Reaction time

The amount of time between the onset of a stimulus and a person’s response to that Singh, recorded by Helmholtz

Structuralism

An approach to psychology that attempted to isolate and analyze the minds, basic elements, created by Wilhelm Wundt

Introspection

The analysis of the subjective experience by train observers, Systematic self observation, technique pioneer by Edward Titchener

Functionalism

An approach to psychology that emphasize the adaptive significance of mental processes, William James

Adaptive significance refers to natural selection(Darwin)

Unconscious

The part of the mind that contains information of which people are not aware, term popularized, and created by Freud

Psychoanalytic theory

A general theory that emphasizes the influence of the unconscious on feelings, thoughts, and behaviors

Psychoanalysis

A therapy that aims to give people insight into the contents of their unconscious minds, Freud , free association, William James admired for his insights, but thought most of his theorizing was nonsense, but he was a very influential figure

Behaviorism

An approach psychology that restricts scientific inquiry to observable behavior, John B Watson,

Pavlov/dog, only stimulus and response mattered

Principle of reinforcement

Principal stating that any behavior that is rewarded will be repeated, and any behavior that isn’t rewarded won’t be repeated

Skinner

Creator of the Skinnerbox, rat, explores environment and learns to operate to produce food and reinforcement

Gestalt psychology

An approach to psychology that emphasizes the way in which the mind creates perceptual experience, whole psychology, related to philosophical idealism,Wertheimer

Developmental psychology

The study of the ways in which psychological phenomenon change over lifespan, Piaget

Social psychology

The study of the causes and consequences of sociology, understanding how people see the social world, relationships with each other, Lewin

Social inferences, beliefs, stereotypes, prejudice, identities, intentions- Concepts, uncommon, and behaviorism, began to resurge

Noam Chomsky

Linguist who Critiqued Skinner’s book called verbal behavior and mathematically proved Behaviorist count of learning could not work

Cognitive psychology

The study of human information processing

The cognitive revolution, a dramatic shift in psychology orientation towards studying the mind once more, spurred by the invention of the digital computer

Evolutionary psychology

The study of the ways in which the human mind has been shaped by natural selection, biologist E.O.Wilson publish the book. Sociobiology: the new synthesis, admired Garcia‘s experiments with rats and nausea.

Evolutionary psychology is not a specific sub of psychology, such as the study of vision reasoning, or social behavior, it is a way of thinking about psychology that can be applied to any topic within it, and modern psychologist apply this thinking to a wider rate of topics

Cognitive neuroscience

The study of the relationship between the brain and the mind, especially in humans

Behavioral neuroscience

The study of a relationship between the brain and behavior, especially in non-human animals

Cultural psychology

The study of how culture influences mental life

Positive psychology

The study of things that make life worth living, including happiness, resilience, compassion, optimism, wisdom, etc.

empiricism

The conviction that accurate knowledge of the world can be acquired by observing it

The scientific method

A procedure for using empirical evidence to establish facts

theory

An explanation of a natural phenomenon,

Good theories give rise to hypotheses that can be falsified, when a hypothesis is Falsified in his role, a theory can never be proved right. Observations can be consistent with a hypothesis or inconsistent, but not proven, correct.

Empirical method, methods of observation, methods of explanation

A set of rules and techniques for observation, difficult in psychology because people are complex, variable, and reactive

Methods of observation – allow psychologist to discover what people do

Methods of explanation – allow psychologist to discover why people do it

Hypothesis

A falsifiable prediction made by a theory

Operational definition

A description of a property in measurable terms

Constructibility

The degree to wish the operational definition adequately describes the important features of the phenomenon being studied,

an operational definition is said to have construct validity when most people agree that it is an indicator of the property

Two key features of a good detector

Power – a detector’s ability to detect the presence of differences or changes in the magnitude of the property

reliability – a detector’s ability to detect the absence of differences or changes in the magnitude of the property

Demand characteristics

Those aspects of an observational setting that caused people to behave as they think someone else wants or expects

Naturalistic observation

A technique for gathering information by unobtrusively, observing people in their natural environments, avoiding demand characteristics

Observer bias

The tendency for observers expectations to influence both what they believe they observed, and what they actually observed

Double blind study

A study in which neither of the researcher nor the participant knows how the participants are expected to behave, a common technique used to avoid observer bias

Variables

Properties that can have more than one value

Correlation

Our relationship between variables in which variations in the value of one variable are synchronized with variations in the value of the other

Positive – exist when two variables have a more is more relationship

Negative – when two variables have a more is less relationship

Third variable problem

the correlation between two variables cannot be taken as evidence of a causal relationship between them because a third variable could be causing them both

Experimentation

A method for establishing the causal relationship between variables, two critical components:

Manipulation and random assignment

Three steps: 1) manipulate the independent variable, 2) measure the very dependent variable, 3) compare the value of the dependent variable in one condition with the value of the dependent variable in the other condition if the values differ, and we know the changes of the independent variable cause the changes to the value of the dependent variable

Manipulation

A technique for determining the causal power of a variable by actively changing its value

Independent variable

Variable that is manipulated in an experiment

Dependent variable

Variable that is measured in an experiment

Self selection

A problem that occurs when anything about a participant determines the value of the independent variable to wish the participant was exposed

Random assignment

A procedure that assigns participants to conditions by chance, ensures only one independent variable

Internal validity

An attribute of an experiment that allows it to establish causal relationships, ex: randomly assigned participants to conditions created by the manipulation of an independent variable

External validity

An attribute of an experiment in which variables have been operationally defined in a representative way, variables in an experiment or defined as they typically are in the real world, a.k.a. they are representative of the real world

Population

A complete collection of people

Sample

A partial collection of people drawn from a population

case method

A procedure for gathering scientific information by studying a single individual

Random sampling

A technique for selecting participants that ensures every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample, the sample is said to be representative of the population, which allows us to generalize from the sample to the population and conclude that what you observed in our sample would have been observed if the entire population had been measured

Replication

An experiment that uses the same procedures as a previous experiment for the new sample from the same population

Nuremberg code of 1947, declaration of Helsinki in 1946

A code of ethics developed by the international community, spells out the rules for the ethical treatment of people who participate in experiments

Tuskegee experiment

From 1932 until 1972 the US public health service conducted this experiment in which 399 black men were infected with syphilis and denied treatment to researchers could observe the progression of the disease

The Belmont report

The 1979 US Department of health, education and welfare report describing three basic principles all research involving human participants must follow:

1. Research should show respect for persons and their right to make decisions for and about themselves without undo influence or coercion

2. It should be Beneficial, maximize benefits, and reduce risks to participants

3. Be just, it should distribute benefits, and risks equally to participants without prejudice towards particular individuals or groups

Informed consent

A verbal agreement to participate in a study made by an adult who has been informed of all the risks that participation may entail

Freedom from coercion

Psychologist made not coerce participation via physical, psychological, or monetary means

Protection from harm

Psychologist must take every possible precaution to protect their research participants from physical or psychological harm

Risk benefit analysis

When patients are asked or accept risks, they must be shown that these risks are outweigh by the social benefits of new knowledge

Deception

Psychologist may only use deception when it is justified by the studies scientific educational or applied value deception can never cause participants, physical or psychological harm

Debriefing

If a participant is deceived in any way, the psychologist must afterwards provide them with a deep briefing, which is a verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study

Confidentiality

Psychologist are obligated to keep private any personal information obtained during a study

Neurons

Cells in the nervous system that communicate with each other to perform information processing tasks

Cell body or Soma

The largest component of the neuron that coordinates the information processing tasks and keeps the cell alive, contains the nucleus, enclosed in a porous membrane

Dendrites

Receive information from other neurons and relay it to the cell body

Axon

Carries information to other neurons, muscles or glands, can be very long, even stretching up to a meter

Myelan sheath

An insulating layer of fatty material composed of glial cells, which are support cells found in the nervous system

Synapse

The junction or region between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another

Sensory neurons

Receive information from the external world and convey this information to the brain via the spinal cord

Motor neurons

Carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

Interneurons

Connect sensory neurons, motor, neurons, or other interneurons

Resting potential

The difference in electrical charge between the inside and outside of a neuron cell membrane, usually about 70 mV

Action potential

An electrical signal that is conducted along the length of a neurons axon to a synapse

Refractory period

The time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated

Terminal buttons

Knoblock structures that branch out from an axon, usually how they end

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals that transmit information across the synapse to a receiving neuron generates, contained in tiny vesicles in terminal buttons

Presynaptic neuron, Post synaptic, neuron, synaptic transmission

The sending neuron, the receiving neuron, the sending and receiving of chemical neurotransmitters

The three ways neurotransmitters leave the synapse

1 Reuptake, neurotransmitters are absorbed by the terminal buttons of the presynaptic, neurons axon or neighboring glial cells

2 Neurotransmitters destroyed by enzymes, enzyme deactivation

3 Diffusion, neurotransmitters drift out of the synapse and can no longer reach receptors

Auto receptors

Detect how much of a neurotransmitter has been released into a synapse and may stop the release of more, receptor site that neurotransmitter bind to on the presynaptic neuron

Acetylcholine, ACH

Neurotransmitter, involved in voluntary motor control, contributes to regulation of attention, learning, sleeping, dreaming, and memory

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter that regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure, emotional arousal

Glutamate

Major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, enhances transmission of information between neurons

GABA, Gamma-aminobutyric acid

Primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, prevents firing a barons

Norepinephrine, serotonin

Influence mood, and arousal, and is involved in states of vigilance or heightened awareness of dangers in the environment, S involved in regulation of sleep and faithfulness, eating, and aggressive behavior

Endorphins

Chemicals that act within the pain, pathways and emotional centers, help build the experience of pain and elevate moods

Agonists and antagonist

Drugs that increase the action of a neurotransmitter, drugs that diminish the function of a neurotransmitter

Nervous system

Interacting network of neurons that conveys electrochemical information throughout the body, divided into central and peripheral, central receives sensory information and is composed of the brain and spinal cord, peripheral connects the central nervous system to the bodies, orient and muscles, and out puts their reactions

Somatic, nervous system and automatic(sympathetic and parasympathetic)

A set of nerves that conveys information between skeletal muscles and central nervous system,

set of nerves that carries involuntary and automatic commands that control blood vessels, body organs, and glands

-S-nerves that prepare the body for action and challenging or threatening situations

-P-Helps the body return to a normal resting state

Spinal reflexes

Simple pathways in the nervous system that rapidly generate muscle contractions

Hindbrain

An area of the brain that coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord

Medulla

An extension of the spinal cord into skull that coordinates heart rate, circulation, and respiration

Reticular formation

Regulate sleep , wakefulness, and levels of arousal

Cerebellum

A large structure of the hindbrain that control fine motor skills

Pons

A structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest brain

Midbrain

Tectum : orients an organism in an environment

tegentum: is involved in movement and arousal, it also help to orient an organism toward sensory stimuli

Forebrain

Highest level of the brain - complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions

Divided into cerebral and sub cortical structures

Cerebral cortex

The outermost layer of the brain and is divided into two hemispheres

Subcortical structu

areas of the forebrain housed under the cerebral cortex near the center of the brain