PSYC 100 Midterm

Dualism

body and mind are of different quality, or composed of different elements.

Cartesian Dualism

Mind: non-physical, non-extended (takes up no space); Body: physical, extended

Interaction Problem

How can the mind and body interact?

Monism

there is only one kind of reality

The hard problem

philosophical question as to why and how brain activity becomes conscious

Consciousness as a subjective, private experience

Can we ever know what it is like to be a bat? What it is like to be tracy?

Quality of our own experience of this world cannot be shared with anybody

Mind-Body problem

the issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body

Easy problem

The problem of consciousness that refers to when we correlate certain functions of the mind with processes going on in the brain.

Quale, qualia

a purely subjective experience of perception

Definition of consciousness

Awareness of ourselves and our environment

Philosophical Zombie

a hypothetical being that behaves indistinguishably from us, but lacks any conscious awareness of itself or its surroundings, or qualia

Panpsychism

The idea that the mind exists as a property of all matter—that is, that all matter has consciousness.

Phi score

the amount of consciousness something has: ant, low-phi; human, hi-phi

Unconsciousness

the condition of not being alert or aware of your surroundings

Self-awareness

a person's realization that he or she is a distinct individual whose body, mind, and actions are separate from those of other people

Self (I vs me, dynamic self-concept)

"I" is the self that experiences while "me" is the self that can be perceived as an object (a body with beliefs and attitudes)

William James believed that the self could be separated into two parts ("I" and "Me")

EEG (Electroencephalograms)

measure activity across the surface of the brain

Alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

Beta Waves

smaller and faster brain waves, typically indicating mental activity

delta waves

the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

theta waves

brain waves indicating the early stages of sleep

REM, Slow-Wave Sleep

Important for memory consolidation to take place

Sleep Stages

relaxed stage (alpha waves)

stage 1 (early sleep) (hallucinations)

stage 2 (sleep spindles - bursts of activity) (sleep talk)

stage 3 (transition phase) (delta waves)

stage 4 (delta waves) (sleepwalk/talk + wet the bed)

stage 5 (REM) (sensory-rich dreams) (paradoxical sleep)

Hypnogram

a graph that represents the stages of sleep as a function of time

Sleep Spindles, K-Complex

stage 2 sleep

Sleep functions

protection, recuperation, restoration and rebuilding of fading day memories, feeding creative thinking, supporting growth

Functions of slow wave sleep

-repair of body (protein synthesis)

-recovery from intense mental activity

Functions of REM sleep

• Promote brain development

• Facilitate learning

• REM Rebound Phenomenon

Circadian Rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle

Hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur

Hypnotic analgesia

the reduction of pain through hypnosis in people who are susceptible to hypnosis

Dissociation

a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others

Selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

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

Default mode network

The network of brain structures that tends to be active when the brain is in default mode.

Global workspace hypothesis

A hypothesis about the neural basis of consciousness. It proposes that specialized neurons, called workspace neurons, give rise to consciousness by allowing us to link stimuli or ideas in dynamic, coherent representations.

Mind wandering

the situation in which a person's attention and thoughts wander from the current task to some other, inappropriate line of thought

nature

the influence of our inherited characteristics on our personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions

nurture

the influence of our environment on our personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions

interactionism

the idea that situations and personality interact to determine behavior

nativism

Knowledge of the world is mostly innate, and determines certain abilities.

empiricism

At birth mind is a tabula rasa (empty slate),nothing in terms of behaviour and knowledge is inherited, all is learned (Locke was an empiricist)

species

A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

genus

A classification grouping that consists of a number of similar, closely related species

homo erectus

extinct species of primitive hominid with upright stature but small brain, upright man

homo neanderthalensis

the species before us homo sapiens; lived form 30,000 to 300,000 years ago; they were stronger and had bigger brains

homo sapiens

A species of the creatures Hominid who have larger brains and to which humans belong, dependent of language and usage of tools.

out of Africa hypothesis

The hypothesis that modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved in Africa and spread to other continents, replacing other Homo species without interbreeding with them.

multiregional hypothesis

the hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens throughout the inhabited world

cognitive revolution (increase in brain size and its consequences, planning, coordination, communication,Innovation)

Rapid shift to symbolic behaviour, art, ornaments, complex tools, long-distance exchange, possibly trade.

agricultural revolution (change from hunter-gatherer,domestication and its consequences)

domestication of humans and animals

scientific revolution

A major change in European thought, starting in the mid-1500s, in which the study of the natural world began to be characterized by careful observation and the questioning of accepted beliefs.

Anthropocene

the modern geological era during which humans have dramatically affected the environment

Gene

a unit of heredity that is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring.

genotype

An organism's genetic makeup, or allele combinations.

phenotype

the set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment.

epigenetics

the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change

chromosome

A threadlike, gene-carrying structure found in the nucleus. Each chromosome consists of one very long DNA molecule and associated proteins.

nucleus

A part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for growth and reproduction

DNA

A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes.

allele

one of a number of different forms of a gene

Innate behaviours of humans

inborn reflexes

an attraction to novelty

a motive to explore and manipulate objects

an impulse to play

the capacity for certain basic cognitive skills

Baby scheme/Kindchenschema

cute 'baby' facial characteristics elicit caretaking - concept emerges from 3-6 yrs old

Piloerection

hair standing on end

Preference for cover

children build forts + like to hide, sit w/ back against the wall, people gravitate towards corners

Innate social behaviours

• Stretching out hand in primates and humans signals initiation of contact

• Body contact signals affection, caring

• Some ethologists have argued that human behaviour to pet/caress/ gentle touch comes from primate behaviour of social grooming (allogrooming)

Grasping reflex

an infant's clinging response to a touch on the palm of his or her hand

Laughing

an emotionally induced response that produces air movements similar to crying

Trait

A characteristic that an organism can pass on to its offspring through its genes.

Twin studies on intelligence

identical twins reared together's scores are identical. Fraternal twins are much less similar. 70% intelligence score variation due to genes

Heritability

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied.

dizygotic twins

often called fraternal twins, occurring when two eggs each get fertilized by two different sperm, resulting in two zygotes in the uterus at the same time

monozygotic twins

identical twins formed when one zygote splits into two separate masses of cells, each of which develops into a separate embryo

natural selection

A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.

Darwin's theory of evolution (Rapid multiplication, limited resources, competition, variation & adaptation, survival of the fittest)

all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce.

Prokaryotic cell

A type of cell lacking a membrane-enclosed nucleus and membrane-enclosed organelles; found only in the domains Bacteria and Archaea.

Eukaryotic cell

cell that has a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles

Symbiotic process

The evolution of eukaryotic cells may not have been the result of mutation or natural selection alone, but also this process.

Endosymbiotic theory/Theory of symbiogenesis

eukaryotic cells arose from symbiosis of singly living prokaryotic life forms ex:mitochondria

Spontaneous mutation

a random change in the DNA arising from errors in replication that occur randomly

Human nervous system

Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), results in what people think, feel or do.