psych 104

depressants

reduce nervous system activity (moderate- reduce tension/anxiety. high- inhibit critical system resulting in danger)

alcohol

most widely used drug

alcohol myopia

reductions in cognitive function

alcohol exerts effect

increasing GABA activity and then decreasing glutamate activity

Barbiturates and tranquilizers

used clinically and recreationally (for anxiety, sleep aid, seizures) increase gaba

stimulas

work by increasing neural firing and general nervous system activity (increase blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, feelings of alertness, etc.)

amphetamines

increase release of dopamine and norepinephrine

amphetamines psychosis

schizophrenia-like symptoms (e.g. hallucinations) result from excess dopaminergic activity

Crystal methamphetamine

particularly potent, and typically very ‘impure’, form of amphetamine

coca

blocks norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake (powdered from cocaine,)

MDMA (Molly)

affects a wide range of behaviours, processes and emotions (e.g. feelings of well-being, empathy,) - release and blocks reputake of serotonin

Opiates

Many forms, e.g. morphine, codeine, heroin, oxycontin, fentanyl (Bind to the same receptors as endorphin) (increase dopaminergic activity, accounting for their effect on mood (euphoria) )

Hallucinogens

distort and/or intensify sensory experience and modify cognition, typically by affecting serotonergic activity

Psilocybin:

found in various mushrooms.

Mescaline:

found in various cacti

LSD

synthesized via a slight modification of a naturally occurring compound

LSA

found in various sources: ergot, seeds, etc.

DMT

naturally occurring compound found in a range of plants, associated with particularly intense effects that last for a very short duration

cannabinoid system

(system in body) produces it’s own endogenous cannabinoids. (Cannabinoids affect a wide range of behaviours (e.g. sleep, appetite, pain, mood, memory, attention, etc.)
May interact with GABA, dopamine systems)

hypnosis

state of heightened suggestibility, in which people may experience imagined situations as if they were real (try to induce relaxted state of mind)

hypnotic induction

process by which hypnotist leads person into hypnosis

Hypnotic susceptibility scales

used after induction to gauge responsiveness to hypnotic suggestion, involves a series of questions about behaviour that are coded as pass/fail

hypnotic involuntary control

getting people to do things they wouldn’t normally do, ‘against their will’ (little evidence)

Social cognitive theories:

hypnotic experiences result from expectations, rather than being a distinct state of consciousness
(absorbed in role of being hypnotized)

learning

process by which experience produces a relatively enduring change in behaviour or performance capabilities

Behaviourist Approach

measure ‘doing’ (not ‘knowing’) by relying on performance-based metrics.

tabula rasa

blank state

beyond behaviour

View learning as personal adaptation in response to the specifics of one’s own environment

Habituation:

decrease in the strength of a response to a repeated stimulus (similar to, but distinct from, sensory adaptation)

Sensitization:

increase in the strength of a response to a repeated stimulus

classical conditioning

learning to associate two stimuli, such that one stimulus comes to elicit response originally produced by the other stimulus

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

elicits a reflexive or innate (unconditioned) response without prior learning

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

through learning, comes to produce a CR similar to the original UCR

Unconditioned response (UCR):

the response elicited by the UCS (occurs without prior learning)

Conditioned response (CR):

the response that eventually comes to be elicited by the CS after the association is formed

Acquisition

refers to the period of time in which a CC (classical conditioning) association is learned

learning trial

Each pairing of a CS/UCS is considered

Forward short-delay:

CS presented first (and remains), then UCS
 (Fastest
)

Forward trace:

CS presented first (then disappears), then the UCS
(Second-fastest)

Simultaneous:

CS and UCS presented at the same time
(
Slower than the previous two
)

Backward:

CS is presented after the UCS (
Little to no learning
)

Extinction:

As the CS stops being paired with UCS, the CR weakens, and eventually disappears

extinction trial

term used in experiments (when for each presentation of the CS without the UCS)

Spontaneous Recovery:

the reappearance of a previously extinguished CR, in the absence of any new learning trials

Generalization:

extension of classically conditioned associations to another (sufficiently similar) stimuli

Discrimination:

occurs when CR elicited in response to one stimulus but not to another

Higher-order conditioning:

chain of events involving multiple CS

examples of CC:

marketing (associating good things with certain product) or working at fast foos ruining a food you used to enjoy becuase you dislike your job

exposure therapy

expose patients to fearful/anxiety-provoking stimuli under neutral circumstances, to promote extinction

aversion therapy

attempts 
are made to try to establish a negative association 
with some stimuli (e.g. cigarettes) that a patient 
wants to avoid

law of effect

Responses that are followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to reoccur later

Operant conditioning

learning in which behaviour is influenced by it’s consequences

Skinner box

device designed by BF Skinner to automatically reinforce certain actions while keeping a cumulative record of behaviour

antecedent

stimuli presented before a behaviour occurs

behaviour

something organisim does

consequence

something that is conditional on the behaviour

CC

Involves learning association with two stimuli (CS-UCS) that occurs before a particular behaviour
( ‘elicited’ (automatic) behaviour)

OC

Involves learning an association between a particular behaviour and consequence, with the consequence occurring after the behaviour
( ‘emitted’ (voluntary) behaviour)

positive reinforcement

response is strengthened by presentation of a pleasant/desired stimulus

negative reinforecment

response is strengthened by removal (or avoidance) of an aversive stimulus

positive punishment

weakens response by introduction of something unpleasant (e.g. spanking, nagging, etc.)

negative punishment

weakens response by removal of something valued

specialized animal training

training animals to perform tasks to assist peopel with various disabilities

token economy

reinforce good behaviour with tokens to be exhanged for awards (does not work for long run)

biological preparedness

evolutionary pressures allowed us to easily learn behaviours related to survival

* Cerebellum:

* Involved in acquiring classical conditioning-based associations

* Hippocampus:

* Important for encoding explicit memories

amygdala

fear conditioning

dopamine

General reward activity important for learning in many contexts

fear conditioning

involves learning aversive associations with stimuli (quatified by measuring freeze time)

mirror neurons

fire when we perform certain actions, as well as observe others engaging in a range of behaviours

insight learning

refers to the sudden realization of some useful source of information and/or relationship that helps us solve a problem

memory

* collection of processes that allow us to record and retrieve information

modal memory system

sensory, short term (working , long term

encoding

translating info into neaural code

storage

maintaining info across time

retrieval

pulling info out of storage

Sensory memory registers

registers briefly holds sensory information

iconic memory

stores visual info, lasts for fraction of second

ehoic memory

stores auditory info. lasts 2 seconds

woking memory

active processing, manipulation, transformation and/or integration of various kinds of information we are consciously aware of (e.g. solving math problems

short term

passive component of the memory system

central executive

Directs attention, controls flow of information (Mediated by the prefrontal cortex)

visual spatial sketchpad

Processes visually-based information, mental images, spatial information

phonological loop

Processes auditory-based information

long term memory

information that has been successfully encoded and stored in our cognitive system

seriel position curve

refers to the superior memory typically found for information presented at the beginning, and end, of a list

recency effect

later items remembered better (Attributed to information still in STM)

primacy effect

earlier items remembered better (Attributed to information that has been transferred to LTM)

automatic processing

Unintentional, \n requires minimal attention

effortful processing

intentional, requires focussed attention

hierarchies

represent one kind of organizational stategy (Enhances memory by emphasizing associations between concepts understanding how elements are related, provide visually-based representations)

mnemonic devices

memory aids

Method of Loci

use imaginary physical environment and placement of images

imagery

another way to organize information during encoding

dual coding theory

predicts better memory for information encoded using both verbal and visually-based representations

shams

are a mental framework, or an organized pattern of thought

perceptual sets

can help to organize and interpret information

expertise knowlege

affects schema development

associative network

in which ideas/concepts, etc. become related to each other to varying degrees