Module 1-2 Simplifed Version

My life is a movie. What a privilege.

Overt

Behavior

• actions people can see.

Covert

Behavior

• thoughts and feelings people cannot directly see.

Mental Processes

These are internal experiences like:

• Thinking

• Feeling

• Dreaming

• Sensing

overt

• Raising your hand in class

covert

• Feeling nervous before reporting

scientific method

Psychology became a science by using the ____________.

Steps:

1. Observe.

2. Make a prediction.

3. Test it.

4. See if results support the prediction.

Example:

• You think listening to music helps students study.

• You test two groups and compare their scores.

Nature

• Genes and Hereditary factors

• Physical appearance

• personality and characteristics

Nurture

• Environmental variables

• Childhood experiences

• how we were raised

• social relationships

• surrounding culture

Nativist (Rene Descartes)

• Knowledge is inborn.

Example:

• A child naturally learns language quickly.

Empiricist (John Locke)

• Knowledge comes from experience.

• Locke called the mind a blank slate (tabula rasa).

Example:

• A child learns kindness because parents teach it.

Animistic view

Early people believed:

• Gods and spirits controlled human behavior.

Example:

• Ancient communities believed illness was caused by angry spirits.

Democritus

He believed:

• The mind is made of atoms.

• Atoms enter through the senses to help us understand the world.

Think of it as an early attempt to explain perception.

Plato

The soul has three parts:

• Head = Reason

• Heart = Emotions

• Abdomen = Desires

Example:

• Solving math = head.

• Feeling compassion = heart.

• Craving food = abdomen.

Aristotle

He described three functions of the soul

• Vegetative = Survival

• Appetitive = Wants

• Rational = Thinking

Example:

• Eating = vegetative.

• Wanting ice cream = appetitive.

• Choosing wisely = rational.

  
  

Galen

believed body fluids affected personality.

• Sanguine = Cheerful

• Phlegmatic = Calm

• Melancholic = Sad

• Choleric = Easily angry

Descartes

• Mind-body interaction

Locke

• Experience builds knowledge

Berkeley

• Reality comes through ideas

Hume

• Studied impressions and ideas

Sympathetic

• Fight or Flight

• Speeds heart

• Dilates pupils

Parasympathetic

• Rest and digest

• Slows heart

• Constricts pupils

• sympathetic

• parasympathetic

A dog suddenly chases you.

• Heart races.

• Breathing becomes faster.

That's ________

After you're safe, your body calms down.

That's __________

Acetylcholine

• Learning

• Memory

Too little → memory problems.

Example:

• Forgetting lessons after little sleep

Norepinephrine

Controls:

• Alertness

• Mood

Too little → depression.

Too much → hyperactivity.

Dopamine

• Movement

• Reward

• Motivation

Too much → schizophrenia-related symptoms.

Too little → Parkinson's disease.

Serotonin

Often called the worry chemical.

Helps regulate:

• Mood

• Sleep

Low serotonin affects emotional balance.

GABA

• Reduces neuron activity.

• Helps decrease anxiety.

Think of it as the brain's brake pedal

Endorphins

• Natural painkillers.

Example:

• You feel better after exercising because endorphins are released.

hormones

• The endocrine system uses ________ instead of nerves.

Pituitary

• Growth

Thyroid

• Metabolism

Adrenal

• Stress response

Pancreas

• Blood sugar