PSY100

Psychology

• Scientific study of behaviour, mental processes, and brain functions

• Hub science: provides insight into other fields, one of the most influential sciences

• Roots: philosophy and natural science

Introspection

• Personal observation of own thoughts and behaviours

• Subjective, does not guarantee accuracy

Behaviour

* Observable action

 

Empiricism

* Views the mind as a blank slate at birth, and is shaped by experience

Contemporary Psychology

*  Integrates all 5 perspectives: biological and evolutionary, developmental, cognitive, social and personality, clinical

Wilhelm Wundt

• First experimental psychologist

• Voluntarism: emphasizes the role of will and choice in thoughts and behaviours

• Viewed mental experience as a hierarchy

Structuralism

• Mind is broken down to smallest elements of mental experience

• Three types of elements o Sensations o Images o Feelings

Gestalt

• Max Wertheimer

• Sees experience as being different than the sum of its elements

• Breaking a “whole” perception into its building blocks loses psychological information

Functionalism

• William James o Stream of consciousness: flow of ideas people experience when awake

• Behaviour as a purpose for survival

• Value of an activity depends on its consequences

Humanistic Psychology

• Sees people as inherently good and motivated to improve

• Bad behaviour is a result of being corrupted by society

• Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers

Client-centered Therapy

• People receiving treatment are called clients, not patients

• Clients have active role in therapy

Behaviourism

• Study and measurement of observable behaviours

• Many behaviourists studied animals because of their link w humans

• Law of effect: behaviours followed by pleasant outcomes are more likely to occur, and those followed by unpleasant outcomes are less likely to occur

Cognitive psychology

• Process of thinking and processing info

• Cognition: private and internal mental processes o i.e. information processing, thinking, reasoning, problem solving

• Cognitive neuroscience: links between cognition and brain activity

• Storage and retrieval of memories

• Use of mathematical and computer models

Biological Psychology / Behavioural Neuroscience

• Focus on relationships between mind and behaviour, plus biological processes

• Observe brain activity (technology such as fMRIs)

Evolutionary Psychology

• Branch of bio psych

• Modern extension of functionalism

• How physical structure and behaviour have been shaped by their contributions to survival and reproduction

Developmental Psychology

* Explores normal changes in behaviour across the life span

Social and Personality Psychology

• Social: effects of social environment on behaviour

• Personality: one’s characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and behaving

Clinical Psychology

* Explains, defines, treats abnormal behaviours and psychological disorders

Voluntarism

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\-       Emphasis on conscious will and choice

Gestalt Principles

\-       Proximity

o   Things near one another seem to belong together

\-       Similarity

o   People group stimuli that are alike 

\-       Continuity

o   People tend to connect points that create smooth paths

\-       Closure

o   Gaps in figures are ignored to create a sense of closure and completeness 

\-       Simplicity

o   Forms are organized and interpreted in the simplest ways possible

Stream of consciousness

\-       Coined by William James

\-       Flow of ideas experienced when awake 

Sigmund Freud

\-       Psychodynamic theory

\-       Focus on unconscious minds, development of sexuality, dream analysis, abnormal behaviour and culture

\-       Founded study of personality in psychology

\-       Developed psychoanalysis techniques for treating mental disorders

\-       Non-scientific methods, based on observation of upper-class Viennese housewives 

\-       What goes wrong with people (believes we are naturally selfish and aggressive)

 

Law of effect

\-       Proposed by Edward Thorndike

\-       Behaviours followed by positive outcomes are more likely to occur in the future

\-       Behaviours followed by negative outcomes are less likely to occur

Objectivity

• Basing conclusions on facts

• Eliminating personal emotion and bias

Subjectivity

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\-       Conclusions that reflect personal perspectives

Hit or Miss Observation 

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\-       Making conclusions based only on what’s happening around us

Confirmation Bias

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\-       Tendency to notice and remember instances that support your beliefs more than those that contradict them

Critical Thinking

\-       Ability to think clearly, rationally, and independently 

\-       Foundation of scientific reasoning

\-       Not built in, involved development of habits, skills and mindsets that are improved with practice 

Scientific Theories

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\-       Facts and the relationships between facts that explain and predict phenomena 

Scientific predictions

\-       Rigorous and mathematical statement

\-       Under a certain set of circumstances, a certain set of outcomes are like to occur

Generalization

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\-       General statement that ignores other variables 

Hypothesis

\-       Inference or educated guess based on prior evidence and logical possibilities

\-       Links concrete variables and makes scientific predictions

Descriptive research

\-       Methods include surveys, case studies, observations, focus groups, interviews

\-       Making careful, systematic observations

Case study

\-       In depth analysis of the behaviour of one person or small number of people 

\-       Useful source of hypotheses

\-       Also used to test hypotheses 

Naturalistic Observation 

\-       In-depth study of a phenomenon in its natural setting 

\-       Looks at larger group of people

\-       Good for developing hypotheses, can’t test them 

\-       Subjects either know they’re being observed or don’t 

Surveys

\-       Asks large numbers of people questions

\-       Provide lots of information quickly with less expense

\-       Places restrictions on type of data collected

Focus groups / Interviews

\-       Focus groups: small, often deliberately chose group who engage in structured discussion

\-       Interviews: participants answer predetermined set of questions by the researcher 

\-       More detailed information

\-       Less constraints on data collection 

Correlational Research

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\-       Relationship between two variables of interest

\-       Direction and strength of relationship 

\-       Does not determine causality

Correlational Relationships

\-       Positive: high levels of one variable result in high levels in the other

\-       Negative: high levels of one variable result in low levels of the other

\-       Zero: variables have no relationship

Independent Variable

Is manipulated

Dependent Variable

is measured

 

Experimental Research

\-       Experiments used to test hypotheses and determine causes of behaviour

\-       Determines causality

\-       Can be artificial due to controlled setting

Control group 

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\-       Group that experiences all experimental procedures without being exposed to independent variable 

 

Experimental group

Group exposed to independent variable

Random assignment

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\-       Every participant has equal chance of being paces in any group in an environment 

Confounding variables

\-       Variables that are irrelevant to hypothesis

\-       Can alter or distort conclusion

 

Constructs

\-       Hypothetical internal attributes that can’t be directly observed 

\-       Useful for describing and explaining behaviour 

 

Inferential statistics

\-       Extend conclusions from a sample to a p opulation

\-   Allow us to make inferences based on data

\- Never probabilistic

Operationalization

\-       Defining constructs in ways that allow them to be measured 

\-       Define variables in practical terms

Reproducibility

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\-       Study can be duplicated in method and/or analysis

Replicability

\-       Study provides similar results from previous study

 

Sample

\-       Subset of population being studied

\- Large samples that represent population are likely to achieve good results

Meta analysis

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\-       Statistical analysis of previous experiments on the same topic

Publication bias

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\-       Possibility that published studies are not representative of all work done on a phenomenon

Double blind procedure

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\-       Neither participant nor experimenter know whether participant is receiving experimental or control treatment (i.e. placebo)

Cross sectional study

\-       Assesses age related changes

\-       Data obtained simultaneously from different age groups

Longitudinal study 

\-       Assesses age related changes

\-       Data obtained from same individuals over a long period of time 

 

Mixed longitudinal design

\-       Assesses age related changes

\-       Combines cross sectional and longitudinal

\-       Observes cross section over shorter period than longitudinal

Reliability

\-       Consistency of a measure

\-       Measure can be reliable without being valid

Test-retest reliability

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\-       Consistency of experimental results over time as study is replicated

Interrater reliability

\-       Consistency in interpretation of a measure across different observers 

\-       should get the same results if measured multiple times

Inter-method reliability

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\-       Positive correlation of several approaches to measure a feature in an individual

Internal consistency reliability 

\-       Measures within a single test positively correlate with one another 

\-       All questions on a test proposed to measure certain content should produce similar and consistent results

Validity

\-       Measure leads to correct conclusions

\-       Evaluates concept that it is designed to do 

\-       Can be determined by seeing if measure correlates with other existing measures of the same concept

\-       Measure can’t be valid without being reliable

External Validity

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\-       How well results can generalize to contexts besides those in the study

Construct Validity

\-       how valid are the measures used in the study

\-       are there any alternative constructs that are being assessed

\-       limitations of the measure

 Concurrent Validity

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\-   How a new test compares against a validated test

Predictive Validity     

whether or not test results predict something in the future

Descriptive Statistics

\-       Organize individual bits of data into meaningful patterns and summaries 

o   I.e., finding average value, frequency distributions

Measures of Central Tendency

\-       Mean: numerical average 

\-       Median: halfway mark in data set 

\-       Mode: score that occurs most frequently 

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Standard Deviation

\-       Tells us how tightly clustered group of scores is around the mean

\-       Looks at variance of scores

\-       Smaller SD: more scores near the mean

\-       Larger SD: scores spread out from mean

Normal Distribution

\-       Symmetrical probability function

\-       Equal number of scores above and below the mean

\-       Most scores occur near the mean

\-       Normal curve

 

Correlation coefficient

\-       -1 to +1 score

\-       Zero coefficient: no systematic relationship

\-       -1 and +1 are equally strong, perfect correlation but in different directions

Inferential statistics

\-       Allow us to extend conclusions from samples to larger populations (generalizations)

\-       Allows us to find statistical significance

\-   Standard for deciding if an observed result is because of chance

Field experiment

• slightly controlled environment

• takes place in real-world settings rather than in a lab

 

Quasi-Experiments

• estimates causal relationships on a target population

• random assignment is not possible

Phrenology

* theory that bumps on the skull and overall head shape are correlated with personality traits and abilities

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Reductionism

\-       Explanation of complex things as sums of simpler things

\-       All modern science is reductionist

Spatial Resolution

Information about the specific location of activity within the brain

Temporal resolution

 Indication of the precise timing of activity in the brain 

Histology

  Microscopic examination of nervous system

Skin conductance response

  Measurement of electricity passed between two surface electrodes placed on the hand or finger

 

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

\-       Measurement of brain’s electrical activity 

\-       Electrodes on scalp

\-       Temporal resolution

Event-related potential (ERP)

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\-       Measurement formed by averaging EEG responses to a stimulus

Single Cell Recording

\-       Measurement of single neuron’s activity obtained through surgically implanted electrode

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Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

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\-       Recording amounts of magnetic output of the brain

Position Emission Tomography (PET)

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\-       Uses accumulation of radioactively tagged glucose or oxygen to identify activity levels in parts of the brain

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

\-       Identification of active parts of the brain 

\-       Uses magnetism to track oxygen flow

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

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\-       Applying magnetic fields to brain with instrument held near the scalp

Optogenetics

\-       Genetically inserted light-sensitive proteins

\-       Allow cells in brain to be turned on with light

Central nervous system

\-       Brain and spinal cord

\-       Spinal cord extends from medulla to the middle of the back, handles reflexes

\-       Encased in bone 

\-       Membrane under bones called meninges provide extra protection

\-       Also protected by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that fills ventricles of the brain 

\-       Damage is permanent (glia form scar tissue and inhibit repair)

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

\-       Nerves branching outwards from CNS that carry sensory and motor information to and from the rest of the body

\-       Not protected by bone

\-       Nerve damage can heal (Glia do  not form scar tissue and help regrow damaged axons)

Neurons

\-       Nerve cells

\-       Specialized to send and receive neural messages

\-       Contains cell body, axon, dendrite

Glia

\-       Supporting cells in NS

\-       Perform functions such as formation of blood brain barrier and myelin on axons and in NS, reflexes

\-       Some provide structure for neurons and keep them in place

\-       Others move to damaged neurons to clean up debris

\-       Form connections with blood vessels to prevent toxins entering the brain

Myelin

\-       Makes neural signalling fast and energy efficient

\-       Increases amount of information neuron can transmit

\-       Not all axons are myelinated

\-       Myelination (white matter growth) increases in childhood

Cell Body

\-       Large central mass of neuron

\-       Contains nucleus

\-       Housekeeping tasks take place

\-       Translation of genetic codes into manufacture of proteins

Fatty membrane

\-       Separates intracellular and extracellular fluids

\-       Pores allow ions to move in and out

Axon 

   Branch of neuron that transmits info to other neurons

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Dendrites

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 Branch from neural cell body that receives input from other neurons

Axon terminal

Synaptic vesicles which contain neurotransmitters that transmit signals between neurons across synapse