Psych Exam 2

amygdala

emotions, aggression, fear; larger in people who have anxiety

hypothalamus

regulates endocrine activity, controls hormone release, responsible for reward/pleasure (releases dopamine)

hippocampus

“gateway to memory”, enables formation of new conscious memories

cerebral cortex

higher forms of thinking; 2 hemispheres - left and right w/ 4 lobes per hemisphere - frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal

frontal lobes

at front of brain; last part to be myelinated (why teens and adults are so different); controls judgement, impulse control, morality, personality, planning, creative thinking

motor cortex

in frontal lobe, controls voluntary movement; corresponds to opposite side of body

homunculus

part of motor cortex, map of motor (or sensory) cortex

Broca’s area and aphasia

part of frontal lobe, controls speech production (left frontal lobe); Broca’s aphasia is damage to Broca’s area, have difficulty developing language (speaking and writing) but can comprehend language just can’t produce

mirror neurons

fire when observing another person doing something; involved in empathy and observational learning

parietal lobes

at the top of the brain; contains somatosensory cortex - recieves information about touch sensation

occipital lobes

at back of the head; contains visual cortex - processes visual signals

temporal lobes

on sides of head; contain auditory cortex - process sound; Wernicke’s area - language comprehension (left side in most people); Wernicke’s aphasia is impairment in understanding language, can speak normally but no comprehension (words may not make sense together)

Plasticity

flexibility of brain structures; can shift functions from damaged to undamaged brain areas (brain can form new synapses and reorganize); can physically change structure in response to learning AKA structural plasticity

neurogenesis

growth of new neurons; an example of plasticity

selective attention

focusing on specific information while ignoring other information; ability to filter out surrounding information and focus on one thing

inattentional blindness

failing to detect available stimuli due to selective attention; new stimuli but not detected bc we are focused on something else

change blindness

failing to detect changes in stimuli due to selective attention; stimuli changes but not noticed

suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

in hypothalamus, sensitive to changes in light; controls circadian rhythm and sleep wake cycle by controlling pineal gland

pineal gland

secretes melatonin, controlled by SCN; melatonin is hormone that causes sleepiness

Circadian Rhythm, Darkness/Lightness, and melatonin production

biological 24 hr clock controlled by hypothalamus, provides approximate schedule for physical processes; darkness causes SCN to direct pineal gland to secrete melatonin, light causes SCN to direct pineal gland to stop secreting melatonin; artificial lighting interferes w/ circadian rhythm

Non-rapid eye movement (N-REM)

contains 3 stages N1, N2, and N3

N1

light sleep, easy to wake up, people might not realize they are asleep; hypnic/hypnagogic jerk (muscle spasms makes you feeling like your falling); hynagogic hallucinations (you see random images, NOT a dream)

N2

true sleep, 15-20 min, harder to wake up; brain activity slows, reductions in heart rate and muscle tension

N3

deep sleep, 20-40 minutes, further slowing of brain activity (brain activity at its slowest, muscles relaxed, fully calm); hard to wake up, disoriented when awakened; growth hormones released from pituitary (growth, repair, immune system, bone); spend more time in N3 if physically active during day

Rapid eye movement (REM)

brain waves resemble wakefulness; eyes move back and forth; heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing becomes rapid or irregular (REM brain looks like awake brain); sleep paralysis (can’t move major muscles, pons shuts down, messages of movement); “paradoxical sleep” (brain active but body inactive); dreams; more emotional day means more time spent in REM

Evolutionary/adaptive theory of sleep

protection, not out and vulnerable to predators in dark

Restorative theory of sleep

sleep supports growth and healing, physical benefits of sleep; production of growth hormones, supports immune functioning; sleep deprivation means slower healing, reduced immune system activity, mortality rates

Information processing theory of sleep

sleep supports cognitive processes, cognitive benefits of sleep; supports learning, restores and rebuilds memories, sleep deprivation means impairment of memory formation; supports creative thinking

Freudian theory of dreams

dreams stem from unconscious thoughts and come in dreams as symbols, did dream analysis; manifest content - the actual images in the dream and literal content of the dream; latent content - the unconscious thoughts, feelings, and wishes behind the manifest content, what is represented by the literal image

activation synthesis

brain’s internally generated signals form dreams

Information processing theory of sleep

memories of events form dreams; recall people’s faces or information you studied

Preserving neural pathways

purpose of dreaming is to provide brain stimulation, maintains synapses and brain connections

Behavior genetics and heritability

study of genetic and environmental bases of individual differences in behavior and personality; heritability is statistical estimate of contribution of heredity to individual differences

Adoption studies

compared adopted children to adoptive families and biological families

Twin studies

compare pairs of monozygotic (identical twins) and same-sex dizygotic (fraternal) twins

Adoptive twin studies

compare identical twins separated at infancy and generally remained identical despite different environments

Infant/primitive reflexes

automatic responses to a specific stimuli; sucking - 4 months, helps w food consumption; rooting - 3-4 weeks, root for source food, when something touches babes cheek they turn their head and begin sucking; moro - startle reflex, extent hands out; grasping - when something touches babies palm they grasp; babinski - stroke up babies foot, toes separate and curl

Piaget’s approach to cognitive development

children understand the world with schemes/schemas - mental categories; said kids are active in their own learning by exploring or learning on their own, called them little scientists; developed 4 cognitive stages, stages completed then moved to next stage (theory, not fact); underestimates younger kids abilities and overestimates older kids abilities, got sequence right but timeline is a bit off. influenced education

Assimilation

according to Piaget, fitting new information into present system of knowledge (schema), schema doesn’t change

Accommodation

according to Piaget, as a result of new information, change existing schema

Sensorimotor stage

birth to 2 years; looking, sucking, and touching; develop object permanence - understanding that something continues to exist even when it cannot be seen (why they enjoy peak a boo)

Preoperational stage

age 2-7; egocentric - only use own frame of reference, think of everything from their perspective; animistic thinking - attribute life to objects (lifeless things have feelings); can’t understand conservation - understanding that physical properties do not change when appearance changes (shape can change w/out volume changing)

Concrete operational stage

age 7-11; can understand conservation; can understand reversibility - idea that stimulus that has been changed can return to its original state (ex: take out ice cream, can put it back); can understand transitivity - understanding how components in a series are related (if A>B and B>C, then A>C; if poodles is dog and dogs are mammals, then poodles are mammals)

Formal operation stage

age 11-adulthood; abstract and systematic reasoning; thinking about future possibilities (impact of current actions on future); kids can understand abstract things like metaphors or hypotheticals

Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

cognitive development results from guidance, called kids little apprentices

Zone of proximal development

in Vygotsky’s theory, level at which a child can almost perform a task independently; level of difficulty children are learning at

Scaffolding

in Vygotsky’s theory, teacher adjusts amount of support to child’s level of development; how much help teacher (or any guiding figure) gives

Theory of mind

understanding of how other people think, people have different opinions; band-aid box study - kids shown Band-aid box, asked what was inside and said bandaids, kids found pencils in box; younger kids assume everyone has the same knowledge

Erik Erikson’s stage theory of social development

changes in interpersonal thought, feeling, and behavior; social development is lifelong

Trust v. mistrust

1st stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory, birth-1 yr; trust allows formation of intimate relationships; develops when caregiving is sensitive, responsive, and consistent

Autonomy vs. shame and doubt

2nd stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory, 1-3 yrs old; toddlers want to develop autonomy (independence, self-control)

Initiative vs. guilt

3rd stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory, age 3-5; Am I good or bad? get this by having approval or disapproval by adults in their life

Industry vs. inferiority

Erikson’s 4th stage of psychosocial theory, age 6-11; sense of competence (industry-hard work) or inadequacy (social comparison, grades, etc.)

Harlow’s studies of infant attachment

theory that soft contact was important in attachment, tested rhesus monkeys with 2 different mothers, cloth (no food) vs. wire (food) mother; baby attached to cloth monkey

Mary Ainsworth attachment styles study

mother and infant in room, stranger enters, mother leaves (measure separation anxiety), mother returns (behavior at reunion), then infant left alone

Secure attachment style

Ainsworth claims adults act as a secure base from which to explore

Insecure-anxious/ambivalent (resistant)

infants were happy to see mother return but and she left, greets mother but pushes her away

Insecure-avoidant

infants had no attachment to mom, not sad when she left and not happy when she returns;

Contributions to attachment styles

temperament (some babies born this way), stressful home life (too many people means less attention), parenting (parents response to babies needs in timely matter)

Long-term effects of attachments

affects emotional, social, and cognitive competence; size of vocabulary, interpersonal interaction (impacts longevity and emotional attachment to relationships in future), emotions (toddles w/ insecure attachment have more negative emotions, secure attachment is emotionally stable)

Langlois et al.’s (1995) study

infants rated for attractiveness, mothers observed interacting with infants and behavior rated; resulted in finding that higher infant attractiveness increase affection and attention

Baumrind’s 2 dimensions of parenting

warmth (responsiveness; expression of love, affection, and value) and control (demandingness), resulted in 4 parenting styles

Authoritarian Parenting

low warmth, high control; controlling, demanding, high emphasis on obedience; very restrictive, lots of rules, “because I said so”; lower grades and lower self-esteem (bc more dependent on parents)

Permissive Parenting

high warmth, low control; very few rules or restrictions, no behavioral expectations, allow all behavior; easily frustrated and low self-control

Uninvolved (neglectful) Parenting

low warmth, low control; absent either psychologically (emotionally distant) or physical (not present); least effective, most detrimental, usually result of addiction or lack of care; low self-esteem and emotionally detached

Authoritative

high warmth, high control; not overly demanding or hostile, child-centered, most optimal (receive high grades, assertive, cooperative)

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

cognitive capabilities determine development of moral reasoning

Preconventional morality stage

Age 4-10; avoid punishment or gain reward, ex: don’t steal drugs bc you’ll be punished

Conventional morality stage

after age 10, “law and order” or “good boy morality”; just following rules, acting in a certain way so people like you; ex: don’t steal bc its against the law and makes you a bad person

Postconventional morality stage

early adolescence/young adulthood,; individual principles and conscience, morals are internalized and held as their own; ex: don’t steal drugs bc stealing is immoral

Heinz dilemma

Heinz needs an expensive drug to help his dying wife but can’t afford it, should he steal the drug from the pharmacy?

Delay of gratification and marshmallow test

ability to forego smaller, immediate rewards for greater rewards later; marshmallow test was the choice of 1 marshmallow now or 2 marshmallows in a few minutes, children’s ability to delay gratification correlates with positive social and academic outcomes (higher GPA, higher income, less likely to be an addict)

Identity vs. confusion

5th stage of Erik Erikson’s stages of social development; teen into 20s, stable sense of who one is and what one’s values are or identity confusion; role confusion: an identity created around their role in society, no longer vulnerable/unsure on who they are, can’t be told who they are anymore; Identity: who am I? where do I belong?

Intimacy vs. isolation

6th stage of Erik Erikson’s stages of social development; 20s into early 40s; establish enduring and committed relationships; people can become capable of establishing enduring, committed relationships; learn that relationships are difficult, require sacrifice, and compromise; learning to continue or get out in the right way

Generativity vs. stagnation

7th stage of Erik Erikson’s stages of social development; generativity - generate things that contribute to the future of society; not necessarily direct work w/ young people but overall improvement for future gen

stagnation - see life as meaningless, might try to go back in time and get some excitement, unsatisfied with life

Integrity vs. despair

8th stage of Erik Erikson’s stages of social development; late 60s+, look back on their lives on what happened and how did they react; ego integrity - feeling that one’s life has coherence and purpose, highs and lows contribute to wisdom, accept good and bad as part of life

despair - disappointment, regret over life you led, only dwell on regret instead of accepting things

socioemotional selectivity theory

model of social activity, what you want from a relationship and why you put in the effort to maintain it

old age - smaller social network, more meaningful, less energy to maintain; close relationships maintained, superficial filtered out; less anxiety and fear about death (children grown, not leaving anyone behind, socialized possibility of death)

younger - larger, more superficial network; more energy to maintain numerous relationships

Sensation

process by which sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose) obtain info about the environment and transmit it to the brain without interpretation

Perception

the organization of sensations into interpretations, using prior knowledge to interpret something

Transduction

translation of physical energy into electrical signals

Bottom-up processing

starts w/ raw sensory data that gets communicated to the brain

Top-down processing

starts w/ observer’s expectations and knowledge

Absolute thresholds

minimal amount of stimulation that can be detected half of the time, arbitrarily defines as 50% of the time; some universal baselines in humans

Difference thresholds/just noticeable differences (jnd)

smallest difference in intensity between 2 stimuli that a person can detect; how much diff intensity of a stimulus change to tell diff OR how diff 2 stimuli have to be in intensity to tell diff

Weber’s law (fraction)

for 2 stimuli to be perceived as different in intensity, the second must differ from the first by a constant portion

Sensory adaptation

decreasing response of sensory receptors to unchanging stimuli; evolutionary theory states constant sensory input provides no new info, if its constant/stuck around for so long and nothing happened we turn of the stimulation to save cognitive power

Sensory detection theory

perception results from both sensory information and making a judgment, meaning your psychological state affects whether you detect something, depends on sensitivity of sensory systems and response bias

Response bias

person’s readiness to report detecting a stimulus; in what direction are you more willing to be wrong - see something that’s not there or miss something that’s there

Signal detection possible outcomes

hits, misses, false alarms, and correct rejections; impacted by expectations and motivation; history of signal detections errors may affect future response bias

Hits

signal detection outcome - both signal and response present

Misses

signal detection outcome - signal present but no response

False alarms

signal detection outcome - no signal present but response given

Correct rejections

signal detection outcome - no signal given and no response

Factors Affecting Response Bias

expectations - if you are expecting a result, you’re more likely to detect something (false alarm or miss)

motivation - how important is it to you to detect/miss something

Gestalt approach

we perceive objects as whole rather than as a sum of the individual parts; brain just does this, we can’t not do it

Figure-ground perception

we inherently distinguish between object and background

Proximity

type of grouping organizational principle, we tend to group together objects that are close to one another

Similarity

type of grouping organizational principle, we tend to group together objects that are similar to one another

Continuity

type of grouping organizational principle, brain organizes stimuli into continuous lines or patterns

Closure

type of grouping organizational principle, we tend to perceive incomplete figures as complete