Psych 101- Exam 1

The Scientific Attitude

curiosity+skepticism+humanity

Behavioral Theoretical Perspective

Has a focus on how we learn observable responses

Cognitive Theoretical Perspective

Has a focus on how we encode process, store, and retrieve information.

Evolutionary Theoretical Perspective

Has a focus on how the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes

Neuroscience Theoretical Perspective

Has a focus on how the body and the brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences

Psychology Subfields

psychiatry, clinical psychology, counseling, social work

Ethical principles

informed consent, debriefing, confidentiality, benefit vs. risk

Informed consent

people was are participating in a study must be notified about the risks, benefits, and alternatives of a given procedure or intervention

debriefing

a set of procedures including counseling and the giving of information aimed at prevent

confidentiality

the ethical guidelines of psychologists and means that information between a patient and a therapist cannot be shared with anyone

benefit vs. risk

Increased risk should be accompanied by the probability of appropriately increased benefits

The Biopsychosocial Approach

Includes Psychology’s three main levels of analysis (Biological, Psychological, and Social-Cultural)

Why is our commonsense thinking flawed?

-hindsight bias: a psychological phenomenon in which one becomes convinced they accurately predicted an event before it occurred

-overconfidence: a cognitive bias characterized by an overestimation of one's actual ability to perform a task successfully

-perceiving patterns in random events

Hypothesis

a testable statement of what the researchers predict will be the outcome of the study

operational definition

precise, measurable statements of the exact procedures /operations used in a research study

Theory

Explain behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize observations. Theories can help us develop hypotheses to test.

Inductive Reasoning

a general conclusion is inferred from a set of observations

Deductive reasoning

a general premise determines the interpretation of specific observations

Standard Deviation

a measure of dispersion that shows the spread of scores around the mean

Range

a measure of dispersion obtained by subtracting the lowest score in a distribution from the highest score

Mean

a measure of central tendency that is calculated by adding all of the scores in a data set and dividing by the total number of scores (most prone to outliers)

median

The middle of a set of numbers. It is determined by arranging the numbers in ascending order to find the middle score.

Mode

a measure of central tendency which is calculated by reporting the most frequently occurring number in a data set

Infer cause and effect

Causality describes ideas about the nature of the relations of cause and effect. A cause is something that produces or occasions an effect. Causal inference is the thought process that tests whether a relationship of cause to effect exists.

Independant variable

the variable that is manipulated

dependant variable

the variable that is measured

experimental group

the group that is exposed to treatment

Control Group

the group not exposed to the treatment that serves as a comparison for measuring the effect of the treatment

Random Assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the groups

Confounding Variables

other factors not being studied that can influence the results'; random assignment controls for possible confounding factors

double-blind procedure

a study in which neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment

Placebo effect

when a person's physical or mental health appears to improve after taking a placebo or 'dummy' treatment

Correlational Study

A type of research design that looks at the relationships between two or more variables. Correlational studies are non-experimental, which means that the experimenter does not manipulate or control any of the variables.

Correlation

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

(CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN CAUSATION)

Correlation Coefficient (r)

The correlation coefficient is a number between -1 and 1 and tells us the strength and direction (positive or negative) of a relationship between 2 variables.

Scatterplot

a graphical illustration of the relationship between two variables; each dot represents an individualʼs score on the two variables measured

Cross sectional research

involve sampling participants at various ages of interest at a single point in time

Longitudinal studies

involves following participants over a period of time (can last from few weeks to many years)

Quasi-experimental research

A quasi-experimental design is similar to experimental research, except random assignment is not used to assign participants to conditions. Instead, participants are grouped based on their existing group memberships; e.g., married vs. single. (hard to infer causation)

Representative Sample

a group that closely matches the characteristics of its population as a whole

Null Hypothesis

the theory that no differences exist between the groups

Alternative hypothesis

the theory that a difference does exist between groups

Statistically significant

the term used by research psychologists to indicate whether or not the difference between groups can be attributed to chance or if the difference is likely the result of experimental influences

Biological psychology

he scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes; behavioral neuroscience, neuropsychology, physiological psychology, biopsychology

Neuroplasticity

the brains’ ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways and connections based on experience

Cell body

the cells life support center

Dendrites

receives messages from other cells

Axon

passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands

Neural Impulse

action potential; electrical signal traveling down the axon

Myelin sheath

covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses

Terminal branches of axon

form junctions with other cells

Action Potentional

Neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. Neurons either fire or they don’t, this is known as an “all-or-none response”.

The chemical messengers of the nervous system

Neurotransmitters

The chemical messengers of the endocrine system

hormones

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that your body can't function without. Their job is to carry chemical signals (“messages”) from one neuron (nerve cell) to the next target cell. The next target cell can be another nerve cell, a muscle cell or a gland,

synapse/synaptic gap

a small gap at the end of a neuron that allows a signal to pass from one neuron to the next

Serotonin

Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal (Undersupply linked to depression. Some drugs that raise serotonin levels are used to treat depression.)

Dopamine

Influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion (Oversupply linked to schizophrenia. Undersupply linked to tremors and decreased mobility in Parkinson’s disease)

Norepinephrine

Helps control alertness and arousal (Undersupply can depress mood.)

Endorphins

Neurotransmitters that influence the perception of pain or pleasure (Oversupply with opiate drugs can suppress the body’s natural endorphin supply.)

Sympathetic Nervous System

Known for its role in responding to dangerous or stressful situations (can accelerate heart rate, widen bronchial passages, constrict blood vessels, cause pupil dilation, activate goose bumps, start sweating and raise blood pressure)

Parasympathetic nervous system

a network of nerves that relaxes your body after periods of stress or danger. It also helps run life-sustaining processes, like digestion, during times when you feel safe and relaxed (part of autonomous nervous system)

Amygdala

a major processing center for emotions

Hippocampus

linked to conscious memory

Hypothalamus

controls maintenance functions such as eating; helps govern endocrine system; linked to emotion and reward

Thalamus

relays messages between lower brain centers and cerebral cortex

Frontal lobes

involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments

Pariental lobes

receives sensory input for touch and body position

Occipital lobes

includes areas that receive information from the visual fields

Temporal Lobes

includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear

Motor and somatosensory cortices

The amount of cortex dedicated to a body part depends on sensitivity and control required rather than size

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

People sit or lie down in a chamber that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to provide a map of brain structure.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Measures blood flow to brain regions by comparing continuous MRI scans.

Brain Hemispheres

The left side of the body is controlled by the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Consciousness

our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

Inattention 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

Sensory Adaptation

When constantly exposed to an unchanging stimulus, we become less aware of it because our nerve cells fire less frequently (ex. We tend not to notice the sound of a fan until it is turned on/off)

Duel Processing

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

• Conscious, deliberate, reflective “high road”

• Unconscious, automatic, intuitive “low road”

Parallel processing

processing many aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously; enables our minds to take care of routine business

Sequential processing

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

Altered states of consciousness

In addition to normal waking awareness, consciousness comes to us in altered states, including those that occur spontaneously, some that are physiologically induced, and others that are psychologically induced. (ex. dreaming, hallucinating, hypnosis, and meditation)

Absolute Threshold

The minimum amount of stimulation that a sense organ, such as the eyes, needs in order to detect an external stimulus. Researchers define absolute threshold as the minimum amount of stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.

Differential Threshold

the smallest difference needed to differentiate between two stimuli 50% of the time, also known as just noticeable difference (JND).

Weber’s Law

refers to the idea that bigger stimuli require bigger differences to be noticed

Depth perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

Binocular cues

depth cues depending on the use of two eyes; such as retinal disparity and convergence (convergence and retinal disparity)

Monocular Cues

depth cues depending on the use of one eye alone; such as interposition, relative motion, relative size, or linear perspective

Gestalt’s Principle of Closure

when we look at a complex arrangement of visual elements, we tend to look for a single, recognizable pattern

Gestalt’s Principle of Continuity

when visual elements are aligned with each other, our visual perception is biased to perceive them as continuous forms rather than disconnected segments

Gestalt’s Principle of proximity

things that are close together appear to be more related than things that are spaced farther apart

Perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images

Opponent-process theory

Three sets of opposing retinal process (red-green) (blue-yellow) (white-black)

Trichromatic (three-color) theory

The retina contains three different color receptors – one most sensitive to red, green, and blue

Rods

detect black, grey, white; necessary for peripheral and dim light vision

Cones

detect color and details in daylight

Perceptual Set

A set of mental tendencies and assumptions that affect (top-down) what we perceive. Through experience, we come to expect certain things... these expectations make us more likely to perceive one thing and not another.

Bottom-up processing

starts at your sensory receptors and works up to processing and integrating sensory information in the brain

Top-down processing

starts with higher-level mental processes in the brain, and constructs perceptions by drawing on your experience and expectations.

Sensation

The process of sensory organs responding to external stimuli