Exam 3 Psychology

Drug therapies (psychopharmacology)

directly alter brains' chemistry/physiology
pyschisatrist

Anti-psychotic drugs

Target dopamine, serotonin,
or glutamate systems

Thorazine, Clozaril,
Haldo, Zyprexa,
Abilify, Seroquel, Invega,
Zeldox

Anti-anxiety drugs

Benzodiazepines
– Xanax, Ativan,
Klonopin, Valium,
Librium
• Lexapro, Paxil, some
antidepressants
• Beta Blockers

Anti-depressant drugs

- Elavil,
Manerix, Wellbutrin
• SSRI’s – Prozac, Zoloft,
Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro,
Luvox
• SNRI’s – Effexor,
Cymbalta, Fetzima

mood stabilizing drugs

Lithium, Zyprexa, Risperdal, Abilify, Geodon,
Clozaril, Haldol

Psychosurgery (lobotomy)

between psychiatrists and neurosurgeons. During the operation, which is carried out under a general anaesthetic and using stereotactic methods, a small piece of brain is destroyed or removed

Antonio Moniz
cut connections from
thalamus to frontal
lobes
surgery for epilepsy and
OCD circuits

Walter did standard - lobotomy

ECT

electroconvulsive therapy It involves using an electrical current to induce seizures to help alleviate the effects of severe depression

alleviate symptoms for people with severe depression who have not responded to traditional drug therapy

rTMS

Repetitive Trans-Cranial Magnetic
Stimulation

stimulating the brain without surgery
Left prefrontal area stimulated
used for severe depression

deep brain stimulation

Electrodes implanted in area thought to be
involved in deep depression
"pacemaker"
sends electrical currents to target abnormal brain activity

lobotomy consist of

A local anesthetic and a
slight tap of a hammer
used to get the
sharpened device
through the eye orbit
and into the skull

Prosopagnosia

seeing face but not knowing
a neurological disorder that impairs a person's ability to perceive or recognize faces such as face blindness

sensation

the bottom up process by which our senses like vision, hearing, and smell, recieve and relay on outside stimuli

hearing a mosquito then hitting the bug

perception

-refers to knowledge and expectancy driving a process

top down processing our brains organize and interpret that information to put it into context
example walking to the fridge in the dark

psychophysics

the idea of thresholds
is the subfield of psychology devoted to the study of physical stimuli and their interaction with sensory systems

sensory threshold

limitations of the stimuli needed to register a particular stimulus fifty percent of the time

is the weakest stimulus that an organism can sense. Unless otherwise indicated, it is usually defined as the weakest stimulus that can be detected half the time

subliminal stimulation

Subliminal stimulation is sensory stimulation that is below a person's threshold for perception.
It can't be seen by the naked eye or consciously heard.

An example would be visual stimuli that is flashed so quickly on a screen that a person can't process it so therefore they are unaware they have seen anything

sensory adaptation

a reduction in sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it

Sensory transduction

is the translation of arriving stimulus into an action potential by a sensory receptor

cornea

ransparent protective coating over the front part of the eye, where it bends light waves so the image can be focused on the retina.

iris

Colored part of the eye with muscles that control the size of the pupil in response to light (in bright light the iris contracts to make the pupil smaller, and in darkness the iris muscles relax to open the pupil wider).

pupil

the contractile aperture in the center of the iris of the eye; resembles a large black dot

lens

Transparent part of the eye behind the pupil that focuses light onto the retina, changing shape to bring objects into focus.

retina

The light sensitive inner lining of the back of the eyeball, containing photoreceptor cells.

optic nerve

Carries messages from each eye to the brain, formed by axons of the ganglion cells.

stimulus = light

transforms light into neuron messages

lightwaves into images
wa

retina

The light sensitive inner lining of the back of the eyeball, containing photoreceptor cells.

photoreceptor cells

rods and cones

rods

black and white
vision (night vision + in
periphery)

cones

color vision (day
vision + in the fovea)

dark adaptation

The process by which rods and cones become more sensitive to light in response to lowered levels of illumination.
bright light to darkness- seeing black
allows pupils to open to see more

light adaptation

Decreased sensitivity of rods and cones in bright light
pupils restricted so less light can enter
dark to bright light
adapt to changes to light intensity
ex. waking up from a nap, looking at the sun

visual information processing in the brain

Visual processing is a term that is used to refer to the brain's ability to use and interpret visual information from the world around us. The process of converting light energy into a meaningful image is a complex process that is facilitated by numerous brain structures and higher level cognitive processes

color vision

Color perception is
manufactured within the
brain

Young-Helmholtz theory

suggest the retina houses three specific color receptors cones that register red, green, and blue
when stimulated together their combined power allows the eye to see any color

Hering's opponent-process theory

suggests that we see color through processes that work against each other

stimulus = air pressure waves

is how to hear

3 categories of sounds

Pure tones
Complex sounds
Broadband white noise

auditory anatomical structures and the sequence of steps to hearing

n/a

conduction

caused by something preventing sound to go into the inner ear

sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss due to failure of the auditory nerve

aging and hearing loss

stimulus = skin disturbance

n/a

4 types of skin sensations

touch, pain, heat, and cold.

pain perception

awareness of pain

gate-control theory of pain

the theory that the spinal cord contains neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is open by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming form the brain.

3 ways to minimize pain

ice, rub the area, distraction, acupuncture

chemical taste receptors

molecules of food dissolve into saliva

Six taste sensations

sweet
sour
salty
bitter
umani- meat
fat- baked chips vs fried

taste phenomena (smell + taste, color + taste, hardwired responses)

babies and lemons

stimulus = volatile chemical odorous molecules

n/a

olfactory structures (olfactory epithelium)

Part of olfactory system responsible for detecting odors.

smell phenomena, memory, aromatherapy

n/a

Balance,

n/a

body position

n/a

movement of body through space

n/a

Cocktail party effect

selectivehearing/ attention

Stroop effect

our tendency to experience difficulty naming a physical color when it is used to spell the name of a different color.

Figure/ground separation (3 rules)

people instinctively perceive objects as either being in the foreground or the background. They either stand out prominently in the front (the figure) or recede into the back (the ground).

Size
• Symmetry
• Convexity- curves

Gestalt grouping rules (5 rules)

these principles exist because the mind has an innate disposition to perceive patterns in the stimulus based on certain rules

Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, and Connectedness.

Binocular cue (retinal disparity)

depth cues that require the combined input of both eyes

Monocular cues (6 cues)

epth cues that only require input from one eye; often used in 2D art to create illusion of depth

Akinetopsia

rare brain disorder, however, makes perceiving the car's movement impossible. People with akinetopsia, or “motion blindness,” instead see the world as a series of freeze-frame images

Color, brightness, shape, and size constancy

an observer's recognition of an object can remain constant even if the objects size, shape, color, or brightness may appear to change.

Size-distance illusions (Muller-Lyer and Ames Room)

illusions can be created from distance and space
the room room is equal but painted to be tilted

Perceptual interpretation

our experience shapes how we perceive things
examples past experiences, motivation, context, emotional

perceptual set

collection of expectations and context affect perceptions

4 aspects (types of) ESP

Telepathy- communicating through the mind sentences

Precognition- seeing the future and foretelling

Clairvoyance- remote perception of something happening in a distance

psychokensis- mind over matter... moving things with the mind

Critical evidence about ESP

predictions were fact checked and not credible
people trying to replication ESP

The “hard problem” of consciousness

how does consciousness arise outside of our physical brain

Consciousness

awareness of ourselves and our environment
ones of identity separate from the things around us
external and interval stimuli

the dual-track mind

mind processes things in and out of awareness
90% of mental processing is out of awareness
example. listening but not knowing the processing of listening

divided attention

multitasking
to process several stimulus in the environment
limited but can be practiced
Monkey business illusion

dual processing

Dual processing is
related to selective
attention
• Ability to attend to one
stimulus while ignoring
others

selective attention

conscious to something while ignoring others
when someone calls your name you pay attention
dual processing is related

Circadian rhythms

A biological clock
synchronized to a 24-hr
cycle
Light > retina > SCN >
pineal gland > melatonin;
this process resets the body
clock each morning and
night
Jet lag, rotating work
schedules can disrupt
rhythms

The stages of sleep

1. Nonrapideyemovement 1 hypnagogic sensation feels like falling
2. Nrem 2 rapid brain activity sleep spindles... easily awaken
3. NREM 3 slow rolling delta waves

4. FULL REM
vivid visual dreams

stages

Awake/relaxed (beta to alpha waves)
• Stage 1 sleep (alpha to theta waves) also called
the "hypnogogic state"
• Stage 2 sleep (theta, spindles and K-complex
waves)
• Stages 3 and 4 sleep (delta waves)
• REM (sawtoothed waves)

Sleep walking

happens in stage 3 or 4 of rem

Details about the sleep cycle

Repeats every 90-100
minutes
During the night, the
deep stages get shorter
as REM periods
increase
2 stages of REM and NREM

REM sleep

Rapid Eye Movement
a recording sleep stage which viivd dreams commonly occur


• Brain stem blocks motor
messages
• Genitals become
aroused
• Auditory/visual areas
active
• Dreaming occurs

Why we sleep

recuperation- our cells repair themselves
growing- pituritary glands
imposes memory of the day
boost creatvity
Plays a role in growth process

Types of sleep disorders

insomnia problems falling or staying asleep
narcolepsy uncontrollable sleep attacks
sleep apnea temporaraily stop breathing
night terrors children have
rem sleep disorder

Dreams - what and why do we dream?

helps us process memories and better understand our emotions, also providing a way to express what we want or to practice facing our challenges
- Frued
dreams offer us wish fulfillment
information processing- fixing the problems and putting it into memory

manifest content

hidden meaning of a fantasy or dream is the actual

latent content

literal subject matter of the dream

4 theories of dreaming

-Information processing byproduct of the hypocampus
storing information into long term... dreams have no meaning

-Physiological Function
the minimal brain activity for the brain to function/operate

-Activation-Synthesis
during REM the frontal lobe is trying to make sense of spontatnouse activity

-Wish Fulfillment
dreams give space to workout issues and problems... dreams have meaning

neural transmission mismatch

sometimes the visual information process can be out of sink and two pathways are taking visual information to the brain

deja vu

the experience of thinking that a new situation had occurred before
triggered by a visual scene
last for a few seconds

slippage of
attention

sometimes we day dream and then when our attention snaps back to reality and then the experience is over

3 functions of daydreaming

escapist- mental vacation
adaptive- thinking about references, planning
substitution of impulsive behavior- crime,
instead of doing it... day dreaming about it

4 types of drugs (4 categories) and their effects, especially alcohol

Depressants
Stimulants
Opiates
Hallucinogens

Depressants

slow down the sympathetic system

examples alcohol, benzophenones, overdosing

Stimulants

Stimulants are psychoactive drugs, including caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine that increase the central nervous system activity.
speeding up neural activity
increases blood sugar

- caffeine
- nicotine
-ecstasy

Opiates

They are narcotic drugs that depress activity in the central nervous system and eliminate pain

-morphine
- fentanyl
codeine

Hallucinogens

Hallucinogens are psychoactive drugs that modify a person's perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real

examples are LSD, Escasty, Marijuana, synthetic drugs

US

Unconditioned stimulus
example (an illness)

An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus or trigger that leads to an automatic response.

CS

conditioned stimulus
(the food) is now a conditioned stimulus

A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that was once neutral (didn't trigger a response) but now leads to a response.

UR

unconditioned responses
example (feeling sick)

An unconditioned response is an automatic response or a response that occurs without thought when an unconditioned stimulus is present.

NS

A neutral stimulus is a stimulus that doesn't initially trigger a response on its own. If you hear the sound of a fan but don't feel the breeze, for example, it wouldn't necessarily trigger a response. That would make it a neutral stimulus.

Neutral stimulus
The previously neutral stimulus (the food)

CR

Conditioned Response
that elicits a conditioned response (avoiding the food)

A conditioned response is a learned response or a response that is created where no response existed before.