Studied by 1 personWhat 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
brain detects stressor
hypothalamus directs the pituitary to release a hormone into the bloodstream that increases the function of adrenal glands
adrenal glands release more cortisol into the bloodstream
cortisol changes the way multiple systems work
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)
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