General Psychology Final

Plato

the mind is 3 parts: spirit, reason, and appetite

Socrates

the mind and body are separate

Aristotle

dualism: the mind and soul are separate parts

Rene Descartes

agreed with dualism. the body is like a machine. while the mind (or soul) is nonmaterial and it does not follow the laws of nature.

ideas and emotions are innate, in-born

John Locke

empiricism: knowledge comes from sensory experience

the mind is a blank slate

William James

functionalism. viewed behavior as purposeful, because it led to survival

darwin rules

Sigmund Freud

id, ego, superego

psychodynamic theory

behavior is influenced by unconscious desires

Wilhelm Wundt

"father of psychology". 1st documented psychological experiment

Edward Titchener

student of Wundt, expanded on views to establish theory of structuralism

structuralism

the mind can be broken down into the smallest elements of mental experience

Ivan Pavlov

classical conditioning. behaviorism

John B. Watson

Little Albert experiment. behaviorism

Behaviorism

the organism responds to conditions (stimuli) in the environment and biological processes

B.F. Skinner

operant conditioning. behaviorism

Max Wertheimer

gestalt viewpoint.

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Carl Rogers

client based therapy. humanistic

Abraham Maslow

hierarchy of needs. humanistic

humanistic

emphasized the individual's drive to self actualization. people are inherently good

Ulrich Neisser

father of cognitive psychology

theory

an explanation of how and why things occur

the scientific method

1. make observations

2. formulate a research question

3. generate a testable hypothesis

(refine, alter, expand or reject hypotheses)

4. collect and analyze data

5. draw conclusions

make observations

What do I see in nature? This can be from one's own experiences, thoughts, or reading

formulate a research question

why does this pattern of behavior occur?

Generate a testable hypothesis

propose an explanation for the situation. "If A happens then B will result"

collect and analyze data

data can come from literature, observations, or formal experiments

draw conclusions

and formulate theories. general theories must be consistent with all or most available data and other theories

hypothesis

a proposed explanation for a phenomenon

types of studies

naturalistic observation, case study, survey, experiment

experimental design

random representative sample -> experimental group->study and test condition->independent variable->dependent variable

random representative sample-> control group-> study and test condition->no independent variable-> dependent variable

experimental terms

population of interest, sample, random assignment, experimental group, control group, placebo, independent variable, dependent variable, confounding variables, experimenter bias, double blind study design

time designs for experimentation

cross-sectional, longitudinal, mixed longitudinal

Statisitcal analysis

mean: average

median: half way mark

mode: most frequently occurring score in data

structure of a neuron

nucleus (contains dna), cell body (soma), axon (transmits electrical impulse), nodes of ranvier, dendrites (receives chemical messages), axon terminal (releases neurotransmitter), oligodendrocycle

the action potential

the change in electrical potential associated with the passage of an impulse along the membrane of a muscle or nerve cell

glia functions

1. provide framework

2. tight connections with vessels/Brain Blood Barrier

3. debris removal

4. form myelin

Acetylcholine (ACH)

neuromuscular junction. awareness, conciousness, and learning. loss of fxn in ad

Norepinephrine (NE)

arousal and vigilance. may play role in alleviating depression

Serotonin (5-HT)

sleep, arousal, mood, eating & pain perception. SSRI's treat depression

Dopamine (DA)

movement, learning, attention, motivation & reward. loss in PD

Endorphins

modify our natural response to pain

four lobes of the brain

frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal

septum

influences anger and fear

basal ganglia

involved in voluntary movement

cerebral cortex

controls thinking and sensing functions, voluntary movement

Hippocampus

learning and memory

Thalamus

sensory relay to cerebral cortex

corpus callosum

relays info between the two cerebral hemispheres

Hypothalamus

regulates temperature, eating, sleeping and endocrine system

Midbrain

reticular activating system: sleep and arousal

Amygdala

anger and agression

pons

relays information between cerebral cortex and cerebellum

pituitary gland

master gland of the endocrine system

cerebellum

coordinates fine muscle movement, balance

medulla

regulates heartbeat, breathing

nucleus accumbens

desire and reward center

spinal cord

relays nerve impulses between the brain and body, controls simple reflexes

Central Nervous System (CNS)

structure: brain and spinal cord

function: integrative and control centers

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

structure:cranial nerves and spinal nerves

function: communication lines between the CNS and the rest of the body

Sensory (afferent) division

structure: somatic and visceral sensory nerve fibers

function: conducts impulses from receptors to the CNS

Motor (efferent) division

structure: motor nerve fibers

function: conducts impulses from the CNS to effectors (muscles and glands)

somatic nervous system

structure: somatic motor (voluntary)

function: conducts impulses from the CNS to skeletal muscles

autonomic nervous system (ANS)

structure: visceral motor (involuntary)

function: conducts impulses from the CNS to cardiac muscles, smooth muscles, and glands

sympathetic division

mobilizes body systems during activity (fight or flight)

parasympathetic division

conserves energy, promotes housekeeping functions during rest

consciousness and the brain

- consciousness requires complex interactions between areas of the cerebral cortex and the thalamus

- the reticular formation of the brainstem, play and active role in raising or lowering the thresholds of conscious awareness

- lesions of the thalamus result in the type of profound unconsciousness typically associated with brain death

sleep cycle

1. interim between consciousness and sleep

(5-15 minutes)

2. heart rate slows, brain does less complicated tasks

(15 minutes)

3. body makes repairs

4. body temperature & BP decreases

(90 minutes)

5. (REM) increase in eye movement, heart rate, breathing, BP and temperature

insomnia

the most commonly reported sleep disorder, is the inability to get to sleep and/or stay asleep. Insomnia is associated with a multitude of factors, including stress, coping with the loss of a loved one, a change in sleep schedule, obesity, chronic pain, drug abuse, anxiety, or depression

Narcolepsy

occurs when a person falls asleep during alert times of the day. Narcolepsy is thought to stem from a loss of neurons in the hypothalamus of the brain. The person with narcolepsy experiences brief periods REM sleep that may be accompanied by muscle paralysis, a condition called cataplexy

sleep apnea

is a disorder in which a person stops breathing while sleeping. Obesity, being overweight, and the use of alcohol or sedatives increase one's chances of developing sleep apnea

restless leg syndrome (RLS)

is a common sleep movement disorder in which a person has unpleasant sensations in the legs and an irresistible urge to move them to relieve the pain. Symptoms occur primarily at night and the incidence is higher in women

night terrors

people awaken in an apparent state of fear. their heart rates and breathing are rapid, and they may scream loudly and sit up in bed, wide-eyed with terror. people rarely recall the incident in the morning and more commonly reported in children between the ages of 4 and 12, and in older adults with various neurological and cognitive disorders such as parkinson's disease and elderly dementia

nightmares

are brief scary dreams that typically occur during REM sleep and are often recalled in vivid detail in the morning

sleepwalking

or somnambulism, occurs during non-REM slow-wave sleep. people with this disorder get up and walk around during deep sleep, sometimes performing actions that make them appear to be awake. they make cook, eat, open doors, or engage in minimal conversation

Depressant (alcohol(ethanol), barbiturates, tranquilizers)

Typical Effects: relaxation, lowered inhibition, impaired physical and psychological functioning, reduced tension, impaired reflexes and motor functioning, drowsiness

Risks of high usage and/or chronic usage: disorientation, unconsciousness, possible death at extreme doses, shallow breathing, clammy skin, weak and rapid pulse, coma, possible death

stimulants (amphetamines, cocaine, ecstacy)

typical effects: increased alertness, pulse, and blood pressure; elevated mood; supressed appetite; agitation; sleeplessness

risks of high usage and/or chronic usage: hallucinations, paranoid delusions, convulsions, long-term cognitive impairments, brain damage, possible death

Opiates (opium, morphine, codeine, heroin)

typical effects: euphoria, pain relief, drowsiness, impaired motor and psychological functioning

risks of high usage and/or chronic usage: shallow breathing, convulsions, coma, possible death

Hallucinogens (LSD, Mescaline, Psilocybin)

typical effects: hallucinations and visions, distorted time perception, loss of contact with reality, nausea

risks of high usage and/or chronic usage: psychotic reactions (delusions, paranoia), panic, possible death

Marijuana

typical effects: mild euphoria, relaxation, enhanced sensory experiences, increased appetite, impaired memory and reaction time

risks of high usage and/or chronic usage: fatigue, anxiety, distortion, sensory distortion, possible psychotic reactions, exposure to carcinogens

reflexes

fast, involuntary, spinal cord, not learned

learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience

instincts

not learned, mediated in the brain, inflexible

habituation

reduced reaction to repeated experiences

sensitization

increase reaction to repeated experiences

conditioning dog experiment (salvation)

ivan pavlov, classical conditioning

contingency

pairing UCS & CS together often

contiguity

pairing USC & CS in close time proximity

generalization

a tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS

discrimination

ability to make fine distinctions between stimuli

extinction

when the association between the CS & UCS is broken

spontaneous recovery

reappearance of CRs after periods of rest

positive reinforcement

add or give something; the behavior happens more often

negative reinforcement

subtract or take something away; the behavior happens more often

positive punishment

add or give something; the behavior happens less often

negative punishment

subtract or take something away; the behavior happens less often

bandura observational learning

1. attention

2. retention in memory

3. reproduction of the behavior

4. motivation

memory

encoding -> storage -> retrieval

encoding

the transformation of information from one form to another (transducers = keyboard)

storage

the retention of information over time

retrieval

recovery of stored information when it is needed. (common retrieval errors, due to stress and interference)

the primacy effect

remembering the first items in a list