PSYC 100 Exam 1

Psychology

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Psychology requires -

1. Critical thinking: process of reflecting deeply and actively, asking questions, and evaluating evidence

2. Skepticism: Challenging whether a supposed fact is really true, questioning what everybody knows

3. Objectivity: being open to evidence

4. Curiosity: being observant and asking questions

Wundt’s Structuralism vs. James’ Functionalism

Structuralism: focus on identifying the structures of the human mind through introspection (“what”)

Functionalism: functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual’s adaptation to the environment (“why”)

Natural Selection

Evolutionary process in which organisms better adapted to their environment will survive and produce offspring

Scientific Method

1. Observe

2. Hypothesize

3. Test

4. Conclusion

5. Evaluate

Types of Research

1. Descriptive

2. Correlational

3. Experimental

4. Quasi-experimental

Internal Validity

Rules out confounding variables, and confirms a cause-and-effect relationship

External Validity

Degree to which an experiment can be generalized to the real world

Research settings

1. Artificial world (laboratory)

2. Real world (natural)

Experimenter bias

Experimenter’s expectations affect the outcome of the research

Demand characteristic

Aspect of a study that communicates to participants how the experimenter wants them to behave

Research participant bias

Behavior of research participants is influenced by their own expectations of the experiment

Placebo Effect

Participant bias causes a particular outcome rather than the experimental treatment, often occurs when taking a placebo that doesn’t have an actual physiological effect

Brainstem

Connects spinal cord to midbrain, consists of:

1. Medulla: keeps breathing and heart beating automatically

2. Pons: coordinates movement, signals to the brain while dreaming

Thalamus

Involved in vision. hearing, taste, and touch (input/output), but not smell (hypothalamus)

Cerebellum (“little brain”)

Coordinates voluntary movement and balance, enables non-verbal memory (motor skills)

Limbic system

Subcortical neural structures between the brainstem and cerbral cortex, made up of:

1. Hypothalamus

2. Pituitary gland: endocrine gland that influences hormone levels

3. Amygdala

4. Hippocampus: involved in memory

Hypothalamus

Directs eating, drinking body temperature, sexual behavior, and sleep. Also processes emotions and rewards.

Amygdala

Almond-shaped neural clusters involved in fear and aggression, its size is positively correlated with the size of a person’s social network

Cerebral cortex

Surface layer of the brain, contains 21-25 billion neurons and 10x more glial cells.

Responsible for senses, motor functions, speech, reading, reasoning, math skills, and more (ultimate control and information center).

Glial cells

Provide support for neurons such as protection, nourishment, and information transmission

Occipital lobes

Back of the brain, have the visual cortex and auditory cortex. Language is processed in the left side, while music is processed on the right

Temporal lobes

Above the ears, involved in hearing, language processing, and memory

Frontal lobes

Portions of the cerebral cortex behind the forehead, involved in personality, intelligence, and the control of voluntary muscles

Parietal lobes

Located at the top rear of the head, responsible for registering spatial location, attention, and motor control (e.g. playing video games, solving puzzles)

Somatosensory cortex

Front of the parietal lobes, processes information of body sensations

Motor cortex

Rear of the frontal lobes, processes information about voluntary movement

Visual cortex

Rear of the occipital lobes, processes visual information

Auditory cortex

On the left and right sides of the temporal lobes, processes auditory infomation

Association areas

Uncommitted areas of the brain that allow for higher-level processing (e.g. reasoning, language), and coordinates integration of information from various areas.

Animals with higher intelligence have more association areas

Phineas Gage

Suffered damage to his left frontal lobe and its connections to the limbic system, causing his personality to change

Aphasia

Impairment of language use

1. Broca’s: struggle to form words due to damage to the Broca’s area

2. Wernicke’s: damage to the Wernicke’s area, patients are unable to comprehend language and speak meaningless words

3. Global: damage to more than one area related to speech

Neuron parts

• Cell body: cell’s life support center

• Dendrites: receive messages from other cells

• Axon: passes messages from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, and glands

• Myelin sheath: covers the axon, speeds up impulses

• Terminal branches: connect with other neurons

Acetylcholine

Controls muscle action, learning, and memory. Lack of it is linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Dopamine

Movement, learning, attention, emotion. Excess is linked to schizophrenia, lack is linked to Parkinson’s.

Serotonin

Controls mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal. Low production or high reuptake is linked with depression

Norepinephrine

Controls alertness and arousal. Lack of it is linked with depressed mood

GABA

Inhibits neuron firing (“brake”). Lack of it is linked with anxiety, so it’s used in antiaxiety medication

Glutamate

Excites neurons (“accelerator”), involved in learning and memory. Excess leads to migraines.

Plasticity

Brain’s capacity for modification and repair, highest under the age of 5

1. Collateral sprouting: axons of healthy neurons adjacent to damaged cells grow new branches

2. Substitution of function: damaged region’s function is taken over by other brain areas

3. Neurogenesis: new neurons are generated

Action potential

Electrochemical process generated by movement of positively charged atoms in and out of the axon.

An action potential can’t be weak or strong, it either happens or it doesn’t.

Sensation vs. Perception

Sensation: detecting physical energy from the environment and encoding it as neural signals

Perception: constructing raw sensory information into experiences

Bottom-up processing

Initiated by sensory input (new experiences)

Top-down processing

Initiated by cognitive processing (expectations)

Absolute threshold

Minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time, different for each sense

Subliminal stimulus

Stimulus under the absolute threshold

Difference threshold

Minimum difference that can be detected between two stimuli 50% of the time

Signal Detection Theory

People make perceptions of stimuli under uncertain conditions. The absolute threshold of a stimulus changes with experience, expectations, fatigue, urgency, and our judgments about whether a false alarm or a miss is worse

Outer ear

Collects sounds and channels them into the rest of the ear. Consists of the pinna and the external auditory canal

Middle ear

Channels sounds through the eardrum, hammer, anvil, and stirrup, causing a vibration. This vibration transmits sound waves to the inner ear

Inner ear

Converts sound waves into neural impulses and send them to the brain

Theory of Mind

Ability to attribute different mental states (beliefs, intentions, desires, knowledge) to different people. Starts at 2 years old and develops at 3-4.5 years old

Stages of Sleep

Awake

• W-alert: beta waves (high frequency, low amplitude)

• W-relaxed: alpha waves (low frequency, high amplitude)

Light sleep

• Stage N-1: theta waves (low frequency, low amplitude)

• Stage N-2: sleep spindles, sudden frequency increases

Deep sleep

• Stage N-3: lowest frequency, highest amplitude

• Stage R: rapid eye movements, dreams

Sleep disorders

1. Insomnia

2. Sleep walking/talking/eating

3. Nightmares

4. Night terrors (screaming while asleep)

5. Narcolepsy (random onsets of sleep)

6. Sleep apnea (lack of breathing during sleep)

Psychoactive drugs

Alter consciousness, modify perception, and change mood

Tolerance

The need to take increasing amounts of a drug to get the same effect

Addiction

A physical and/or psychological dependence on a drug

Depressants

Slow down mental and physical activity

1. Alcohol

2. Barbiturates (former sleep aids)

3. Tranquilizers (anti-anxiety meds)

4. Opiates (painkillers)

Stimulants

Increase central nervous system activity

1. Caffeine

2. Nicotine

3. Amphetamines

4. Cocaine

5. MDMA (Ecstasy)

Hallucinogens

Modify perceptual experiences and produce visual images that aren’t real

1. Marijuana

2. LSD

Hypnosis

Altered attention and expectations

1. Distractions are minimized

2. Told to concentrate on something specific

3. Told what to expect

4. Certain events or feelings are suggested