Exam 2

conciousness

our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

concious awareness

* helps us make sense of our life, including our sensations, emotions and choices
* focuses our attention when learning a behavior

states that occur spontaneously

daydreaming and drowsiness, flow, and dreaming

states that are physiologically-induced

hallucinations, orgasm (lol), and food or oxygen starvation

states that are psychologically-induced

sensory depreivation, hypnosis, and meditation

concious awareness states

over time, we flit between different states of conciousness, including normal waking areness and various altered states

cognitive neuroscience

interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating)

selective attention

focusing concious areness on a particular stimulus

cocktail party effect

our ability to attend to only one voice within a sea of many

selective attention and accidents

when we switch attentional grears, especially to and from complex tasks (like noticing and avoiding cars around us), we pay a toll - a slight and sometimes fatal delay in coping

inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness

dual-processing: the two-track mind

the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks

blindsight

a consdition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it

dual-processing system

* a visual perception track enables us “to think about the world” - to recognize things and to plan future actions
* a visual action track guides our moment-to-moment movements

parallel processing

processing multiple asoects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

sequential processing

processing one aspect of a stimulus or problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems

circadian rhythm

biological clock; refular bodily rhythms (ex. temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle

* age and experience can alter circadian rhythm

sleep stages

* about every 90 min, you cycle through distinct sleep stages (for younger adults)
* as night wears on, deep N3 sleep grows shorter and disappears. REM and N2 sleep periods get longer

REM sleep

rapid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical slep, because the muscles are relaced (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active

alpha waves

relativelt slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

N1 sleep, hallucinations

false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus

N2 sleep, sleep spindles

bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity that aid memory processing

N3 sleep, delta waves

the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

ERM sleep

* increased heart rate, rapid and irregular breathing, rapid eye movements
* brain’s motor cortex is active, byt your brainstem blocks its messages
* alpha waves

sleep deprivation

* sleep loss affects our mood
* sleep loss predicts depressive disorders
* REM sleep’s processing of emotional experiences helps protect against depression
* later secondary school start times consistently produce more sleep, better and more on-time attendance, improved alertness, and fewer car accidents among students
* lack of sleep can als omake you gain weight
* increasing ghrelin, a hunger-arousing hormone, and decreasing its hunger-suppressing partner, leptin
* increasing cortisol, a stress hormone that stimulates the body to make fat, and decreasing metabolic rate
* enhancing limbic brain responses to the mere sight of food and decreasing cortical responses that help us resis temptation
* slows reactions and increases errors on visual attention tasks similar to those involved in screening airport baggage, performing surgery, and reading X-rays

microsleep

when you fall asleep for a period of several seconds. as the name implies, it occurs so quickly that people who have an episode might not even realize they have fallen asleep

* can occur at any time of the day

effect of sleep deprivation on brain

decreased ability to focus attention and process and store memories; increased risk of depressing; decreased metabolic rate; increased cortisol; enhanced limbic brain responses to the mere sight of food; decreased cortical responses - reducing ability to resist temptation

effect of sleep deprivation on heart

increased risk of high blood pressure

effect of sleep deprivation on stomach

increase in the hunger-arousing hormone, ghrelin; decrease in the hunger-suppressing hormone, leptin

effect of sleep deprivation on immune system

decreased production of immune cells; increased risk of viral infections, such as colds

effect of sleep deprivation on fat cells

increased production; greater risk of obesity

effect of sleep deprivation on joints

increased inflammation and arthritis

effect of sleep deprivation on muscles

reduced strength; slower reaction time and motor learning

insomnia

* affects 1 in 5 adults
* ongoing difficult falling or staying asleep
* chronic tiredness, increased risk of depressing, obesity, hypertension, and arthritic and fibromyalgia pain

narcolepsy

* affects 1 in 2000 adults
* sudden attacks of overwhelming sleepiness
* risk of falling asleep at a dangerous moment
* narcolepsy attacks usually last less than 5 minutes, but they can heppen at the worst and most emotional times
* everyday activities, such as driving, require extra caution

sleep apnea

* affects 1 in 20 adults
* stopping breathing repeatedly while sleeping
* fatigure and depression (as a result of slow-wave sleep depreivation)
* associated with obesity (especially among men)

sleepwalking and sleeptalking

* affect 1-15 in 100 in the general population for sleepwalking
* affect about half of young children for sleeptalking
* doing normal waking activities (sitting up, walking, speaking) while asleep
* sleeptalking can occur during any stage of sleep (wakling happens in N3 sleep)
* few serious concerns; sleepwalkers return to their beds on their own or with the help of a family member, rarely remembering their trip the next morning

night terrors

* affects 1 in 100 adults; 1 in 30 children
* appearing terrified, talking nonsense, sitting up, or walking around during N3 sleep; different from nightmares
* doubling of a child’s heart and breathing rates during attack
* luckily, children remember little or nothing of the fearful event the next day
* as people age, night terrors become increasingly rare

dreams

a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind

* a dream’s storyline incorporates traces of pervious days’ experiences and preoccupations
* trauma and dreams
* music and dreams
* vision loss and dreams
* media experiences and dreams
* our two-track mind continues to montiro our environment while we sleep

sensory stimuli

a particular odor or a phone’s ringing - may be instantly and ingeniously woven into the dream story

manifest content

according to Freud, the symbolic, remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent content)

latent content

according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest content)

why we dream

* to satisy our own wishes (latent and manifest content)
* to file away memories
* information-processing perspective proposes that dreams help sift, sort, and fix the day’s experiences in our memory
* to develop and preserve neural pathways
* dreams, or the brain activity associated with REM sleep, serve a physiological function, providing the sleeping brain with periodic stimulation


* to make sense of neural static
* dreams erupt from neural activation spreading upward from the brainstem
* to reflect cognitive development
* dreams as part of brain maturation and cognitive development
* imulate reality by drawing on our concepts and knowledge
* engage brain networs that also are active during daydreaming - and so may be viewed as intesisfied mind-wandering, enhaced by visual imagery

fixed stages

* development as a sequence of genetically predisposed stages or steps
* although progress through the various stages may be quick or slow, everyone passes through the stages in the same order

continuity

researchs who emphasize experience and learning typically see development as a slow, continuous shaping process

motor development

* with occasional exceptions, the motor development sequence is universal
* developing brain enables physical coordination
* maturation - including rapid development of the cerebellum at the back of the brain - creates our readiness to learn walking around 1 year
* genes also guide motor development
* identical twins typically begin walking on nearly the same day

All of these psychologists are considered stage theorists EXCEPT:

a. Lawrence Kohlberg.

b. Marc Bornstein.

c. Erik Erikson.

d. Jean Piaget.

Marc Bornstein.

Developmental psychologists focus on all of these issues EXCEPT:

a. continuity and stages.

b. stability and change.

c. nature and nurture.

d. individual similarities and separations among humanity.

individual similarities and separations among humanity.

An infant is most likely to be at risk for FAS if her mother is:

a heavy drinker.

According to Piaget, during which stage of cognitive development do abstract logic and the potential for mature moral reasoning form?

formal operational

Jean Piaget

Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development are as follows:


1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years)
2. Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years)
3. Concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years)
4. Formal operational stage (11 years and up)

During each stage, children develop new cognitive abilities and ways of thinking about the world around them.

Lawrence Kohlberg

Moral Development

* 3 Stages: Pre-conventional morality > Conventional morality > post-conventional morality

Erik Erikson

Psycho-social development

* basic trust, autonomy, competence, identity, etc
* believe the securely attached children approach life with a sense of __basic trust__
* a sense that the world is predictable and reliable
* attributed basic trust not to environmne tor inborn temperament, but to early parenting

social development: each stage of life has its own psychosocial task - a crisis that needs resolution

* adolescent’s search for identity: task to synthesize past, present, and future possibilities into a clearer sense of self

attachment

an emotional tie with others; dhown in young children by their seeiking closeness to caregivers and showing distress on separation

* from birth, babies are social creates
* develop intense attachment to their caregivers
* come to prefer familiar faces and voices
* coo and girgle when given a caregiver’s attention
* \~4.5 months
* infants can tell apart familiar and unfamiliar languages
* \~8 months
* stanger anxiety developes (occurs after object permanence and children becoming mobile)

stranger anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display

secure attachment

gree parents with positive emotions

ambivalent attachment

wary of strangers

avoidant attachment

may avoid parents

discorded attachment

confusion or apprehension

temperament

a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

* studies reveal that heredity affects temperament, and that temperament affects attachment style
* babies differ right out of the womb
* identical twins, more than fraternal twins, often have similar temperaments
* temperament differences typically persist
* most emotionally reactive newborns tend also to be the most reactive 9-month-olds

Attachment Styles and later relationships

many researchers believe that our early attachments form the foundation for our adult relationships

ancious attachment

people constantly crave acceptance but remain alert to signs of possible rejection

avoidant attachment

people experience discomfort getting close to others and use avoidant strategies to maintain distance from others

authoritarian parenting style

coercive and impose rules, expecting obedience

permissive parenting style

unrestraining and make few deamns, set few limits, and use little punishment

neglectful parenting style

uninvolved, neither demanding nor responsive, careless, inattentive, don’t see a close relationship with their children

authoritative parenting style

confrontive, both demanding and responsive, exert control by setting rules but also encourage open discussion and allow exceptions

adolescence

transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

physical development of the brain

until puberty, brain cells increas their connections

* during adolescence, a selective pruning of unused neurons and connections occurs

frontal lobes also continue to develop

* continuing growth of __myelin__, the fatty tissue that forms around axons and speeds neurotransmission, enables better communication with other brain regions
* improved judgement, impulse control, and long-term planning
* maturity of frontal lobes lags behind the emotional limbic system
* puberty’s hormonal surge and limbic system development help explai nteens’ occasional impulsiveness, risky behaviors, and emotional storms

cognitive development

developing reasoning power

* formal operaions - applying new abstract reasoning tools to the world around them
* may think about what is ideally possible and compare that with imperfect reality of their society, parents, and themselves
* reasoning hypothetically and deducing consequences also enables adolescents to detect inconsistencies and spot hyposcrisy in others’ reasoning

moral intuitions

quick gut feeling; mind makes moral judgements quickly and automatically

moral action

morality involves doing the right thing, and what we do also depends on social influences

* moral action feeds moral attitudes

delay gratification

self-discipline needed to restrain one’s own impulses

identity

our sense of self; according to erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

* may be influenced by culture, parents, peers, etc.
* solidifying in adolescent means tryping out a number of different roles
* adolescent identity formation (continues into adulthood) s followed in young adulthood by a developing capacity for intimacy

intimacy

ability to form emotionally close relationships

emerging adulthood

a period from about age 18 to mid-twenties, when manu in western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults

physical development - middle adulthood

* during early and middle adulthood, physical vigor has less to do with age than with a person’s health and exercise habits
* agining brings a gradual decline in fertility, esp. for women
* women experience menopause around 50
* some experience distress as a result of declining virility

physical development - late adulthood | sensory abilities, strength, and stamina

* with age, visual sharpness diminishes, as does distance perception and adaptation to light-level changes
* eye’s pupil shrinks and lens becomes less transparent, reducing amount f light reaching the retuna
* senses of smell, hearing, and touch also diminish

physical development - late adulthood | health

* body’s disease-fighting immune system weakens, making older adults more susceptible to life-threatening ailments
* people over 65 suffer fewer short-term ailments, such as common flu and cold viruses

physical development - late adulthood | brain

* brain regions important to memory begin to atrophy during aging
* older people take a bit more time to react and such
* blood-brain barrier also breaks down beginning in hippocampus, furthering cognitive decline
* still some neuroplasticity in the aging brain, which partly compensates for what it loses by recruiting and reorganizing neural networks

physical development - late adulthood | exercise and aging

* exercise slows aging
* maintains telomeres that protect the chromosome ends and can slow progression of alzheimer’s disease
* exercise also appears to stimulate neurogenesis - the development of new brain cells - and neural connections (maybe bc increased oxygen and nutrient flow)

cognitive development | aging and memory

* early adulthood is peak time for some types of learning and remembering
* in our capacity to learn and remmeber, as in other areas of development, we show individual differences
* younger adults vary in ability to learn and remember, but 70-year-old vary much more
* memory also depends on type of information we are trying to retrieve
* if information is meaningful, older people’s rich web of existing knowledge will help hold onto it
* older adults also more often experience tip-of-the-tongue forgetting

midlife transition

time when they realize that life will soon be mostly behind instead of ahead of them

* midlife crisis not triggered by age, but usually, a major event (illness, divorce, job loss)

social clock

culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement

adulthood’s ages and stages

* life events trigger transitions to new life stages at varying ages
* chance events can also have lasting significance, by deflecting us down one road rather than another

generativity

being productive and supporting future generations

adulthood’s commitments

love:

* adult bonds of love are most satisfying and enduring when marked by a similarity of interests and values, a sharing of emotional and material support, and intimate self-disclosure
* lasting relationships not alway devoid of conflict

work:

* hapiness is about having work that fits your interests and provides a sense of competence, identity, and accomplishment

successful aging | biological influence

* no genetic predispostition to early cognitive or physical decline
* appropriate nutrition

successful aging | physcological influence

* optimistic outlook
* physically and mentally active lifestyle

successful aging | social-cultural influence

* support from family and friends
* cultural respect for aging
* safe living conditions

sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

perception

the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful

bottom-up processing

the information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

three steps basic to all our sensory systems

conversion of one form of energy into another. in sensation, the transforming of physical energy, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret


1. receive sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells
2. transform that stimulation into neural impulses
3. deliver the neural information to our brain

Gustav Fechner

German scientist and philosopher, studied the edge of our awareness of these faint stimuli

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

* Detecting a weak stimulus/signal depends not only on its strength but also on our psychological state -- signal detection theory

Signal detection theory

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise).

* Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’ s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness

Difference Thresholds

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference