Exam #1

What is psychology

the scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior

Different levels of analysis

behavioral, societal, mental, physiological, molecular, and neurochemical

Structuralism

identify the most basic elements or "structures" of psychological experience through introspection

functionalism

understand the adaptive purpose of thought and behavior

psychoanalysis

uncover mental processes that may be operating below conscious

behaviorism

uncover how animals learn behaviors through environmental experiences, and why people behave differently under different conditions

cognitivism

demonstrates how mental processes shape our behavior

Humanistic and positive psychology

how individuals find meaning and meet their full potential

What type of education do you need to become a psychologist?

advanced degree, usually a doctorate

clinical psychologist

perform an assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders; conduct research on people with mental disorders

counseling psychologies

works with people experiencing temporary or relatively common life problems such as career uncertainty, marital conflict, greed, and loss concerns

school psychologist

work with teachers, parents, and children to remedy students' behavioral, emotional, and learning difficulties

forensic psychologist

works in jails, prisons, and other settings to assess and diagnose inmates and assist with their rehabilitation and treatment; conduct research on eyewitness testimony or jury decision making

industrial-organizational psychology

work in companies and businesses to help select productive employees, evaluate performance, and examine the effects of different work settings; design equipment and workspaces to maximize employee performance

How do psychologists study behavior

using the scientific method

characteristics of the scientific method

empiricism, replication, publication

characteristics of psychologists

skeptical, open-minded, understand they can be fooled

different ways psychologists get fooled into believing what is not true

repetition of false information
desire for easy answers and quick fixes
selective perception and memory
inferring causation from correlation
exaggeration of the truth

what are the goals of the scientific study of behavior

describe behavior
predict behavior
identify causes of behavior to control or change it
explain behavior

observational research

describes behavior; objectively observe and record behavior

correlation research

predict behavior; measures two variables, determine if a relationship exists between them

experimental research

identifying the cause and explaining behavior; control or manipulate one variable and determine if changes in the IV are causing changes in the DV

what is a scientific theory?

a systematic body of ideas that organizes what is known about a topic from past observations and makes predictions about future observations

what is a hypothesis

a prediction about the outcome of our research

how does support for hypothesis impact our use of theories?

if the hypothesis is supported, we have evidence of the correctness of the theory
if the hypothesis is not supported, we have evidence against the theory
theories with ample support become accepted as facts
theories with little or no support are modified or dropped

what are variables

used to measure and is a quality or characteristic that can take on different values for different observations

manipulated variables

variable we change when doing research

measured variable

the variable we measure when doing research

operational definitions

define variables in terms of the operations performed to measure them (how to measure anger, happiness, funniness, ect.)

sample

a small group we measure

population

a large group of interest

biased sample

sample is not representative of the population we are trying to research

random sampling

all members of the population have an equal change of being selected for the sample

naturalistic observational studies

researchers make observations of people/animals in their normal environments; often use coding scheme to describe the observed behaviors

case study approach

detailed observation of a single individual to provide a description of the condition and its development
limited usefulness because of the lack of comparative information

what Is meant by correlation is not causation

changes in A may cause changes in B if a correlation exists
Changes in B may cause changes in A
Changes in a third variable, C, may cause changes in A and B
A and B may be related by coincidence

What does experimental research allow researchers to do?

allows researchers to identify causal relationships between variables

Correlation research

utilizes two measured variables

experimental research

manipulates one variable, measures another

random assignment

create two equivalent groups by randomly assigning people to one group of the other

random sampling

where we choose a sample from a population at random so that the sample is similar to the population

confound

any factor that covaries perfectly with the IV

External validity

can we generalize the results of our experiment to the population from which our sample was drawn?

Internal Validity

can we draw correct conclusions about the causal relationships between the IV and the DV?

construct

an abstract psychological concept we cannot observe or measure directly

construct validity

is our operational definition of a construct a good way to measure the construct?

why do we need statistics in behavioral research?

different people behave differently in identical situations, aka the world has variability
Produces a p-value to tell us if an effect is actually happening

P-Value

probability that you would obtain the difference that you obtained just by chance

beneficence

maximize the benefits to society while minimizing harm to research participants

autonomy

allow research participants to give consent to participate in research; don't force or coerce people to participate

justice

don't conduct research on a small segment of the population; be sure that the people who are bearing the burden of participating are representative of the who can benefit from the research

measures of central tendency

mean, median, mode

descriptive statistics

summarize participants differing responses in terms of what was most typical and how much people's responses varied from the average

inferential statistics

use sample results to infer what is true about the broader population

reliability

extent to which a test produces consistent results

Who was Phineas Gage and why is he important?

iron rod through the skull
destroyed a region of the lower and medial frontal lobe called the vMPF
drastically changed demeanor and shows connection between prefrontal cortex and self

hemispatial neglect

caused by damage to the brain's cerebral cortex on one side, usually because of a stroke where the patient is unaware of the left half of the world

Who was H.M.?

suffered severe epilepsy and had part of his medial temporal lobes removed and could no longer form new long-term episodic memories

Central Nervous System

consists of the brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

connects the CNS to the rest of the body

somatic nervous system

voluntary muscle movement

autonomic nervous system

involuntary muscle movement

sympathetic nervous system

fight or flight respose

parasympathetic nervous system

relaxed, natural bodily functions

key components of the endocrine system

hypothalamus, thyroid gland, pancreas, ovary, pituitary gland, parathyroid gland, adrenal gland, testies

hypothalamus

links nervous system and endocrine system via the pituitary gland

thyroid gland

regulates energy metabolism

pancreas

regulates blood sugar levels

ovary

secretes female sex hormones

pituitary gland

master gland that controls other glands throughout the body

parathyroid

regulates calcium levels in bones and blood

adrenal gland

involved in flight-or-fight response

testes

secretes male sex homones

Endocrine gland operates while stressed

1) brain detects stressor
2) hypothalamus directs the pituitary to release a hormone into the bloodstream that increases the function of adrenal glands
3) adrenal glands release more cortisol into the bloodstream
4) cortisol changes the way multiple systems work
5) brain detects elevated cortisol and tells hypothalamus that its enough

Lobes of the brain

frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, insular

frontal lobe

complex thought, planning control of movement, map of the body's muscles

parietal lobe

touch, spatial awareness, map of the body's skin surface

temporal lobe

hearing, object memory

insular lobe

taste, awareness of internal organs

occipital lobe

vision

aphasia

impaired spoken communication, can be caused by a stroke in either of two regions of the brain

Wernicke's aphasia symptoms

saying many words that don't make sense
unable to understand the meaning of words
able to speak well in long sentences but they don't make sense
using the wrong words or nonsense words
unable to understand written words
trouble writing

area of difficulty that contributed to HM

temporal lobe

what area of the brain is disrupted in hemispatial neglect

parietal lobe

what is the somatotropin map in the "somatosensory cortex"

on the border of the parietal lobe next to the frontal lobe

proprioception

sense of where/how the body is moving

how the frontal lobe execute our intentions

motor cortex in the frontal lobe
somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobe

broca's aphasia

injury to the frontal regions of the left hemisphere
difficulty forming complete sentences
leaves out words like "is" or "the"
trouble understanding sentances

What are the connections that the prefrontal cortex regulates?

motor cortex, evaluation of our options and consequences, self-control, planning, attention, ect., executive functions

How is the insulation different from other lobes/What are the functions?

interoceptive rather than extroceptive
hunger, thirst, pain, internal feelings

subcortical region

ancient and powerful structures supporting memory, emotions, and motivation

limbic system

major subcortical forebrain structures and are made of evolutionarily older "paleocortex"

place cells

individual neurons in the hippocampus selectively fire to represent a particular area in the world

hippocampus is essential in forming what kind of memory?

episodic memory

Amygdala

what emotional content did the experience have?

loss of amygdala use

loss of function can diminish the ability of both strong good and bad things to affect our decisions and memories

Brain regions important for motivation and habit formation

basal ganglia, nucleus accumbens, caudate and putamen

thalamus

relay between cortical and subcortical regions

hypothalamus

communicates information to and from endocrine/hormone systems

Where is dopamine produced?

ventral tegmental area and substantial nigra (midbrain)