PSYC 110 final

lake forest college

Experimental method

Max control: Manipulate and measure can establish causality.

Correlational Research

Measures strength of relationship, No manipulation of variables or casual conclusions.

Observational Research

Systematic assessment and coding of behavior, No manipulation of variables or casual conclusions.

Independent variable (IV)

the factor the researcher manipulates in a controlled experiment (the cause). Put in group A or B.

Simple vs complex experiments

simple has 2 variables, complex has more than two variables.

Dependent variable

The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is interested. (Numbers, surveys, interviews, etc.)

What is an operational definition?

A precise description of how the variables in a study will be manipulated or measured.

Causality

the notion that a change in one factor results in a corresponding change in another

How to establish causality

1. establish correlation 2. establish time order 3. rule out alternative explanations. (Hold everything equal or identical except for IV)

Within-subjects design (Repeated measures)

An experimental design in which the same subjects are tested under each condition.

Between-subjects design

Different participants are assigned to each of the conditions in the experiment.

Controls

Time, space, difficulty, Location, When

Confounds

Factors that undermine the ability to draw causal inferences from an experiment.

Random assignment

Place research participants into the conditions of an experiment so that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any level of the independent variable.

Random selection

Process in which subjects are selected randomly from a larger group such that every group member has an equal chance of being included in the study.

Measures of central tendency

The ways of calculating averages

Dispersion

The pattern of spacing of a population within an area

Correlation

A measure of the relationship between two variables. (Relationship amongst variables especially dependent variables.)

Inferential statistics

Use statistics to infer something. common by chance: not interesting. Rare by chance: interesting.

Statistical significance

Defines what is rare by chance. P value of 0.05 or 5%. If less than 5% it is rare.

Dendrites

receive messages from other cells

Cell body

processor of information

Axon

Conducts information

Terminal buttons

The branched end of the axon that contains neurotransmitters.

Synapse

Gap between neurons

Action potential

Neurons have a resting potential. the inside is polarized. -70mV once hit -55mV then AP happens.

Excitation

The inside becomes positively charged. more likely to see an action potential.

Hyperpolarization

inside becomes more negative less likely for AP

How do neurons pass info

Terminal buttons are involved, they contain neurotransmitters, packed in vesicles.

How to stop passing info from neuron to neuron

Reuptake, Enzyme Deactivation, Autoreception

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter that affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal; linked to depression and treated by Prozac. (Blocks reuptake of serotonin, activating more serotonin in neural pathways, therefore elevating mood.)

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter associated with movement, attention and learning and the brain's pleasure and reward system.

GABA

An inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. take GABA to quiet brain when anxious. Too little GABA if you have seizures.

Corpus callosum

Connects the left and right hemispheres

Cortex

outermost covering of the brain consisting of densely packed neurons, responsible for higher thought processes and interpretation of sensory input

Occipital Lobe

Back of the brain. Vision processed here.

Parietal Lobe

At the crown, going back a bit. Touch processed here. touch processed in the somatosensory cortex. (Speech, taste, reading, language)

Temporal Lobe

Located by your temples. Hearing is processed here. has primary and secondary auditory areas. speech production and comprehension. (Left temporal lobe)

Frontal Lobe

Located above forehead. primary motor cortex. goal-directed behavior, personality, impulse control, high level emotion.

Split brain

A conditioning resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers connecting them.

Hypothalamus

Main regulatory structure (Body temp, breathing). The main job is to maintain homeostasis (Involved in eating and drinking). controls the pituitary gland. (Hormones)

Thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages. smell is only one that doesn't go through thalamus.

Hippocampus

New memory formation. Spatial and location-based memories are stored here.

Amygdala

next to the hippocampus. Involved in emotions such as fear and disgust. Help us see emotions on other people's faces.

Nature

the influence of our inherited characteristics on our personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions. GENES

Nurture

(v.) to bring up, care for, train, nourish; (n.) rearing, training, upbringing.

Sensation

detection of stimuli in our environment. the moment the outside world interacts with your sensory apparatus.

Perception

Brains further processing. perception takes more time. take 50-100 milliseconds to go from sensation to perception.

Cornea

the transparent outer covering of the eye. help focus light onto the retina. its NOT adjustable.

Lens

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. the lens is adjustable. the muscles can contract.

Retina

Light sensitive layer of the eye; contains rods and cones. at the back of the eye. where detection and sensation happen.

Rods

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray. require little light. is fuzzy.

Cones

retinal receptor cells work in the center of the retina. function in daylight or well-lit conditions. good detail.

trichromatic theory

Most colors can be made by mixing 3 primary colors. red, blue, green. three different cones, one of each color.

opponent process theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.

Frequency

pitch. low sound or high sound. low=slow and long spaces. High=fast and short spaces.

Amplitude

loudness. quiet goes less off the line, and loud goes more off the line. measured in decibels, speaking is 60 decibels.

Outer ear

The part of the ear that collects sound waves; consists of the pinna, the ear canal, and the eardrum. Sound waves flow in, continue funneling at the auditory canal, tympanic membrane vibrates.

Middle ear

ossicles (three bones) hammer (connects to the ear drum, bone vibrates), anvil (This one vibrates more), stirrup (Vibrate even more, making stuff happen in the inner ear).

Inner ear

cochlea (Fluid-filled). slosh fluid around to make actual waves at the same frequency it came in the ear.

Basilar membrane

membrane supporting the organ of Corti and hair cells in the cochlea. early portion responds to high frequency and late proportions respond to low frequency.

Hair cell

contain tip links (Cilia at top). "Trap door" function. depolarize and hyperpolarize as open and close. every time it knocked over it becomes depolarized.

All auditory information is ambiguous

Use heuristics to organize and interpret information. use visual information to help you hear.

Haptic receptors

corpuscles for touch and pressure. Thermoreceptors=hot and cold Nociceptors=pain

A-delta fibres

fast immediate pain

c-fibres

slow dull pain

Gate control theory

neural gate in spinal cord that can pass ot block pain signals to the brain.

Olfaction

chemoreceptors in nasal cavity of throat

5 basic receptors in taste buds

sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami

Unconditioned

doesn't require learning; innate. Unconditioned stimulus=food Unconditioned response=salivation to food.

Conditioned

requires new learning; NS to CS. Conditioned stimulus (starts as Novel stimulus, paired with an unconditioned stimulus to become conditioned) =bell. Conditioned response=salivation to bell.

General rule

1; CS before US 2; CS and US close in time 3; CS should predict US 4; CS provide new information about occurrence of US.

Operant conditioning

Learning based on the consequences of responding.

key concepts in operant conditioning

reinforcement: increase in response rate. punishment: decrease in response rate. Positive: present something (addition +). Negative: Remove something (Subtraction -)

Appetitive

Desired or pleasant

Aversive

Undesired or unpleasant

Positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response. (Study hard for an A and get an A)

Negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

Positive punishment

the administration of a stimulus to decrease the probability of a behavior's recurring

negative punishment

the removal of a stimulus to decrease the probability of a behavior's recurring

Escape

in the presence of the aversive stimulus

avoidance

if you make a response, you will never experience the aversive stimulus.

Fixed ratio

describes a schedule of reinforcement wherein a worker is paid for a certain sum for each product produced

variable ratio

reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

fixed interval

reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

variable interval

reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Sound-based codes

Phonological similarity effect (Sound alike)

Meaning-based codes

Semantic confusions (Different sounds but have same meaning) sofa+couch

Visual-based codes

see pictures in your brain and use imagination, isn't precise in detail.

rehearsal

conscious repetition of information to keep in short term memory

key factors of working memory

fight against forgetting, rehearsal keeps info active, ability limits capacity.

Memory span

capacity is 7+-2 (Can increase span by chunking things together)

Retroactive Interference (RI)

New information disrupts old information

Proactive interference (PI)

old information disrupts new information

Episodic memory

memory for one's personal past experiences

Semantic memory

memory for knowledge about the world

procedural memory

A type of long-term memory of how to perform different actions and skills. Essentially, it is the memory of how to do certain things.

ensure long-term retention and retrieval

1. relate new information to existing information. 2. think about meaning. 3. m=notice relationships. 4. notice differences. 5. visualize.

mnemonics

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

transfer-appropriate processing

memory is best when cues at encoding match cues at test