Psy100

the course

How is psychology a Hub science

It’s the study of people and almost if not all fields require some understanding of how people think

Behaviour

any action that we can observe

Introspection

A personal observation of our own thoughts feelings and behaviors. (Not ideal for scientific methods as it is too subjective and can be influenced by many different structures, factors and processes).

John Locke

* was an empiricist
* the mind is a blank slate

Western biases

* individuality
* experiment-base empiricism
* quantification
* objectivity
* nomothetic approach (measuring of rates for objectively philosophical questions)
* male dominance

Wilhelm Wundt

* founder of experimental psychology
* conducted the first psychological experiments
* attempted to time mental processes
* thought meter: would sound at certain points of the pendulum and would note when they heard it (would be delayed) (did something similar with light)
* mentor: Helmholtz
* inspired voluntarism
* 1879 Leipzig Germany

Structuralism

* Edward Titchener (a student of Wundt) founded it
* took Wuhdt’s idea further: “we can understand consciousness by breaking it down to its elemental units (sensations, images, and feelings)
* allows us to describe consciousness

Gestalt psychology

* founded by Koffka, Wentheimen and Kohler
* the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and rejected structuralism

Functionalism

* William James: coined the term stream of consciousness and emphasized the role of evolution
* influenced by Darwin and believed that consciousness would be considered via its function (explaining consciousness)

Behaviorism

* John Watson (applied psychology to ads) and B.F. Skinner (applied to operant conditioning)
* “psychologists should just study observable **behaviour** as understanding the processes of the mind is unattainable” (black box)

Humanism

* Carl rogers, Abraham Maslow
* focused on helping people reach their full potential and achieve happiness
* not just negativity or animalistic like Freud proclaimed
* approach that sees people as inherently good and motivated to learn and improve, and only behave poorly when affected by society.

Biological Psychology

* relationships among mind, behaviours, and underlying processes (genetics, biochem, and physiology)

Evolutionary Psychology

* explored how physical structure and behaviour have been shaped by their contribution to survival and reproduction

Cognitive Psychology

* investigates info processing, thinking, reasoning and problem-solving

Developmental psychology

* examines the normal changes in behavior that occur across the lifespan

Social Psychology

* examines the effects of the social environment on behavior

Personality Psychology

* an individual’s own way of thinking, feeling, and behaving

Clinical Psychology

* seeks to explain, define, and treat abnormal behaviors

Voluntarism

* approach emphasizes the role of will and choice in determining thoughts perceptions and behaviours

Objectivity

* conclusions based on facts uninfluenced by personal biases or emotions

Subjectivity

* conclusions reflect personal points of views

Confirmation bias

* the tendency to notice and remember instances that supports your beliefs more than information that contradicts them

Critical Thinking

* the ability to think clearly, rationally, and independently:
* what am I being asked to believe or accept?
* what evidence supports this?
* what’re the other interpretations?
* what other evidence would I need to evaluate these alternatives?
* Most reasonable conclusion ?

Theory

* a set of facts and relationships between facts that can explain and predict related phenomena
* explain known facts and are used to make predictions
* must be":
* Testable using currently available research techniques
* falsifiable
* Parsimonious → preference for simplicity

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hypothesis

* a proposed explanation for a situation, usually the form if A happens then B will be a true result”
* inference or educated guesses on prior evidence and logical possibilities
* false ones must be discarded or modified

Variable

* a characteristic or condition that changes or has different values for different individuals

independent variable

* A variable that is manipulated, in order to see its impact on the dependent variable

Dependent Variable

* A variable that is measured, in order to see how it is affected by the independent variable

Conceptual definition

* Akin to a dictionary or textbook definition, the *meaning* of the term

Operational definitions

* definitions of theoretical constructs that are stated in terms of concrete, observable procedures
* something that can be measured

Constructs

* Internal attributes or characteristics that cannot be directly observed but are useful for describing and explaining behaviour

Descriptive methods

* often concerned with a single variable of interest
* involve the systematic observation and classification behaviour
* includes:
* surveys→ allow us to gather larger amounts of info quickly and easily
* focus groups→ provide rich detailed info that is lacking in surveys
* case studies→ provide important insights and stimulate further research to test specific hypotheses
* observational research

Naturalistic observation

* Passive observation. Observers do not change or alter ongoing behaviour (at least not intentionally)
* observing an individual in their natural environment

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Participant Observation

Active observation. the researcher is actively involved in the situation. Observer has inserted themselves into the situation

Laboratory Observation

Systematic observations are made within a laboratory setting (rather than in the “real world”).

Problems with descriptive methods

* observer/ experimenter bias
* self-report bias
* social desirability bias
* the “better-than-average” effect
* reactivity (e.g. the Hawthorne effect
* demand characteristics

Correlational methods

* examine associations between two or more variable
* do not tell us whether one variable causes changes in another variable!
* Directionality problem→ don’t know which is affecting the other
* Third-variable problem→ don’t know id there’s a third variable that won’t measured and is the one ensuring the differences in A and B

Experimental methods

* examine cause and effect relationships between two or more variables (can make claims about causality)

Control Group

* experiences all experimental procedures with the exception of exposure and independent variable

Experimental groups

A group of participants who are exposed to the independent variable.

Random assignment

* each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any condition in the study
* necessary component of an experiment, because this ensures that your different groups are equivalent on average
* secures internal validity

Random Sample

Each member of the population you are interested in has an equal chance of being chosen to participate. secures external validity.

Confound

* anything that may unintentionally very along with the independent variable
* is there anything else that might be different between experimental conditions
* Confounds limit our ability to make casual claims

Internal Validity

How well has the study established a cause and effect relationship between variables

external validity

the extent you can generalize the findings to other groups and individuals oustide of the sample

Double-Blind experiment

both the participants and the experimenters who interact with them are unaware of which condition that participant is in

Population

The group that you want to be able to generalize your findings to

Sample

the group of individuals from this population who are part of your study

WEIRD problem

* study are viewing the western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic which does not reflect EVERYONE

Quasi-Experiments

* The risk of potential confounds limits the claims that a researcher can make
* but they can be very useful for studying variables where random assignment isn’t feasible or ethical
* Experimental design where random assignment is not possible
* e.g. researcher takes advantage of pre-existing

Field Experiments

* experiments that occur in real-world settings (the field) rather than the laboratory
* Random assignment is possible but researchers have less control over the study
* participants are often unaware of the study

Validity

a quality of a measure that leads to correct conclusions

Reliability

* consistency of a measure

Interrater reliability

* Are there fairly close rates between raters
* consistency in interpretation across observers

Test-retest reliability

consistency when test is performed more than once

Construct validity

how well they operationalize constructs

Descriptive statistics

* organize data into meaningful patterns and summaries
* they describe the data
* percentages, counts, averages, correlations, etc.

Inferential statistics

* allow us to extend conclusions from a sample to a population
* allows us to make inferences based on data
* THESE INFERENCES ARE ALWAYS PROBABILISTIC

Reproducibility

A study can be duplicated in method and or/ analysis

Replicability

* A study about a phenomenon produces similar results from a previous study of the same phenomenon
* Close/exact replications
* conceptual replication

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Francis Galton

* coined “nature vs nurture
* contributed to statistics and other fields
* promoted eugenics was a white supremacist
* believed it was dominated by nature
* set out HOW studies can be conducted (didn’t do it)

Twin Studies

* help research study the impact of genetics versus environmental influences
* monozygotic vs dizygotic twins
* monozygotic twins raised together vs raised apart
* ex. Jim Twins

Epigenetics

changes in gene expression that are due to non-genetic influences

Heredity

the genetic transmission of characteristics from parents to offspring

Heritability

* an estimate of the genetic proportion of the variation in some specific trait
* within a particular population (not an individual)

Nervous system

* The nervous system is the body’s electrochemical communication circuitry
* Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
* somatic nervous system
* autonomic nervous system
* sympathetic nervous system
* parasympathetic nervous system
* Central Nervous system (CNS)
* brain and spinal cord

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Neurons

* Are the basic unit of the nervous system
* operate through electrical impulses
* communicate with other neurons through chemical signals
* Three types of neurons:
* Sensory neurons (afferent neurons)
* motor neurons (efferent neurons)
* interneurons

Dendrites

Receives many signals then via summation neuron decides to have an action potential or not

Axon

Transfers the signal in the neuron

Myelin sheath

* insulating covering some axons
* grows throughout only to completion (in adulthood)

Action potential

The neural impulse that passes along the axon and subsequently causes the release of chemical s form the terminal buttons

Resting potential

* polarized state (more negative inside the cell, approximately -70mV)
* more sodium (Na+) outside and more potassium inside

Excitatory signal

Increase the likelihood that the neuron will fire by depolarizing the cell to reach the threshold of -55mV then it will increase the likelihood of an action potential

Inhibitory Signals

Decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire by hyperpolarizing the receiving neuron moving it farther from the threshold.

All or None principle

A neuron fires with the same magnitude each time (if it either fires or does not fire) if it reaches -55mV. But how frequently the neuron fires can vary.

Depolarization

* If the neuron reaches its excitatory threshold, it will fully depolarize (generate an action potential)
* all or none principle
* Na+ channels open and the charge across the membrane reverses → becomes more positive Inside the cell, due to the influx of NA+

Peak action potential

* at the peak of the action potential, Na+ channels will close and K+ channels will open allowing K+ to leave the cell → this outflowing of K+ actually leads to temporary hyperpolarization, during which the cell cannot fire (refractory period)
* K+ channels close and the cell returns to it’s polarized, resting state

Saltatory Conduction

* Because of the myelin sheaths the propagation of the action potential only occurs at the unmyelinated nodes of Ranvier so the propagation does not occur along the entire length of the axon so the transmission is much faster

Neurotransmitters

* Are **chemical substances** that carry signals from one neuron to another
* Are stored in **vesicles** (small packages) inside the terminal buttons
* when the axon reaches the terminal the vesicle fuses with the membrane and releases it into the synaptic cleft and it binds to the receptors on a dendrite of a different neuron

Pre synaptic cleft

membrane of the neuron that is sending the signal

Post-synaptic cleft

membrane of the neuron that is receiving the signal

Glutamate

primary *excitatory* neurotransmitter

GABA

primary *inhibitory* neurotransmitter

serotonin

mood, impulsiveness, hunger, sleep

Dopamine

reward and motivation, voluntary movement

Acetylcholine

movement; memory, cognition, sleep

Epinephrine and norepinephrine

e.g. stress response (“fight or flight”)

Agonists

* binding to receptors and producing a response that mimics the effects of an endogenous neurotransmitter

Drugs may also enhance the effects of  endogenous neurotransmitters by

* *Increasing* the release of neurotransmitters


* *Blocking* the reuptake of neurotransmitters


* E.g., Morphine (mimics endorphins), cocaine (prevents the reuptake of dopamine)

Antagonists

*inhibiting* the action of an endogenous neurotransmitter by

* *Blocking* the release of neurotransmitters
* *Destroying* neurotransmitters in the synapse
* *Mimicking* a neurotransmitter (& blocking neurotransmitter binding)

E.g., Beta-blockers (block epinephrine), Botulinum toxin (blocks acetylcholine)

Neuroplasticity

* the brain is plastic able to be changed, reorganized, as a result of experience drugs or injury

Nervous system

The nervous system is the body’s **electrochemical communication circuitry**

* Central nervous system (CNS)
* Brain & spinal cord
* Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
* Somatic nervous system
* Autonomic nervous system
* Sympathetic nervous system
* Parasympathetic nervous system

Glia

nervous system cells that provide a blood-brain barrier and produces myelin and forms scar tissue

HPA

* releases cortisol into the bloodstream

Brainstem

Controls life sustaining functions of the *autonomic nervous system*, including breathing, digestion, heartbeat, etc.

Reticular formation

alertness, sleep, net-like structure with many tracts of info from medulla all the way up to the midbrain

Cerebellum

* essential for coordinating movement and balance, and in complex cognitive processing
* 10% of the brain has half the neurons

Hypothalamus

* Tiny but powerful – is the brain’s *master regulatory structure à* Connects the nervous system to the endocrine system


* The “Four F’s”
* responsible for motivation and homeostasis

Thalamus

* often referred to as a **relay station** à Handles all incoming sensory information *except smell*
* receives input and sends to other regions
* Case studies:
* Tatiana & Krista Hogan
* Patient George

Basal Ganglia

Participates in the control of movement

Cingulate cortex

participates in decision-making and emotion (anterior), posterior participates in memory and visual processing