PSYC 201 EXAM 1

Statistically Significant

P<0.05; results guaranteed despite unaccountable factors

Memory

Processes of encoding existence

Hippocampus

Part of the brain; helps to consolidate immediate events to the long-term memory (LTM)

Hippocampus Damage?

anterograde or (rarely) retrograde amnesia

Anterograde Amnesia

inability to create new, long term memories

Retrograde Amnesia

loss of long-term memories, usually pertaining to events.

Short Term Memory

Limited capacity, can remember up to 7 digits or singular entities strung together in a moment

Long Term Memory

theoretically infinite space to store recolection of experiences, functionally infinite till proven otherwise.

How are memories created?

1) Perceive and cement in short-term memory

2) Encode this short-term object to the long-term memory

3) Periodically retrieve this object from the long-term memory

Person-Action-Object

Memorization system that associates object with a person, action, and object (PAO) by repeated utterance of the created object sequence with association to the original concepts.

Memory Techniques

Creative, personal associations utilizing sensory info can make it easier to recall memories from the LTM

Eddinghouse

Study demonstrates the inffectiveness of cramming, proposes students ought to study over multiple days to continuously refresh the memory

Forgetting Curve

A graph representing the capability to forget over time, with forgetting being possible in a matter of minutes, repeats with ecological validity over multiple studies

Observation

Witnessing a subject and documenting finding based on the viewing.

Systematic Data Collection

fixed plans for collecting data

Hypothesis

A claim that seeks to make a claim upon a phenomenal premise

Theory

An argument that seeks to support a hypothesis

Experiment

A study to assess the validity of a theory and, by extension, the theory’s hypothesis

Bias

Inherent qualities that skew the results of a study due to explicit, implicit, or unobservable factors.

Generalization

Tendency to respond to the same way to similar stimuli

Theories & Data

Theories can be of varying qualities and are not sufficient for truthful results, data clearly shows the validity of a study,

Third Variable

alternative explanations that explain findings

Reverse correlation

a resultant that shows one variable incresing with a decrease in the correlated variable

Philosophical underpinning of Psychology

Correlations do not equate to causations, the absence of evidence does not equate to there being a total lack of evidence altogether

Wundt

German scientist active from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Wundt is credited as being the first psychologist. Wundt pioneered the idea of conscious introspection in the West, proposing that trained individual could scientifically examine their conscious action and that of others.

Titchener

An English psychologist who studied under Wundt and was active from the late-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Titchener proposed that the adult mind’s conscious action through breaking it down into fundamental elements, he was focused on determining what consciousness is elementally rather than why consciousness works.

James

An American psychologist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. James’ functionalism was Darwinian-inspired, proposing that specific mind and behavior exists for evolutionary reasons of survival and reproduction. James focused on the total operation of mind and its function in relation to reality. James also proposed that consciousness is like a constnatly changing problem-solving stream.

Watson

American psychologist who proposed the school of behavioralism, in which psychology is an entirely objective natural science. Watson proposed that psychology can only be studied through the measurement of outward actions due to the inability to scientifically verify an inner consciousness.Watson proposed that all behavior is motivated by environment, learning, and conditioning via stimuli and response.

Freud

An Austrian psychologist who is considered one of the most famous psychologists of all time. Freud proposed that there is an “unconscious” space of mind in which people store emotion that they are unaware of, and that to become conscious of this space could allow one to rethink their conscious action and mental health. Freud utilized psychoanalysis, a specific method of talk therapy to become aware of patients unconscious. Freud’s theories have technically not been falsified, though many scientists provide criticisms that aim to show that it is scientifically impossible to prove the existence of unconscioussness and that a psychoanalyst could easily attribute any behavior to a randomized cause.

Skinner

voljuntary behavior created, maintained, and destroyed by rewards and punishments of environment; any stimuli can be associated to any outcome

Pavlov

Unconscious responses become paired with once-neutral stimuli, creating an association of the two.

Behavior

directly observable actions and reactions

Mind

internal states that cannot be viewed directly, but inferred from observable characteristics.

Why don’t we need “mind” in psych?

Behaviorists would say “no” because: behavior=result of inner state, behavior=function of external environment, behavior=function of the envrionment’s functions

Why do we need a “mind” in psych?

Not all choices can be so logically explained.

What sciences compose psych?

Biology, medicine, computer science, anthropology, sociology

Basic and Applied Research

Basic research=for its own sake, applied research=solving specific, practical problems

Goals of Psychology

1. Describe the behavior of humans and other species

2. understand behavioral causes

3. predict the behavior of humans and other species under set conditions

4. influence behaivor through controlling causes

5. enhance the collective human mental welfare

R-value/Pearson R

measurement of strength and direction between two continuous variables

Null Hypothesis

Baseline statistical assumption that promotes that there is no relationship, effect, or difference between two variables.

Reasons for Animal Research

Animals provide an excellent starting point for research, especially if that research would be unacceptable to conduct on humans

Observe common behaviors

Learn about a particular animal

Controversies of animal research

Ethically questionable to inflict harm or pain on animals for research

Violation of animal rights in many trivial studies

Results may not be relevant to human knowledge

Milgram Experiment

An experiment aimed at understanding why humans choose to follow evil authority systems. Milgram convinced an unaware participant under the watch of an authority figure to, without being able to view the other person, shock another human at increasingly dangerous voltages for incorrect answers to a quiz, to which over 2/3 of participants complied. In reality the “person” on other side of the barrier was an actor, the reponses of seizure, harm, and death were faked. Milgram’s experiment demonstrated humanity’s capacity for consciously agreeing to evil deeds, but also demonstrated the absolute need for ethics within psychological sciences.

Ethics for Research on Humans

1. Participation is voluntary and participants are able to withdraw from a study at any given time for any reason

2. Participants should not be subjected to harm or danger in an experiment

3. If deception is required, participants must know the true intentions as soon as possible

4. Participants’ rights to privacy should never be questioned for any reason

Ethics for Research on Animals

1. Harmful or dangerous research cannot be justified unless the potential outcomes of the research would be significantly beneficial to human knowledge

2. Animals must have acceptable, decent living conditions

Parts of the Neuron

1. Dendrites (branches)

2. Soma (body)

3. Axon

Neuron differences

1. Different parts of brain have different neurons

2. Differences in: function, response frequency, and action potential

Action Potential

The impulses of the neurons that generate an electrochemical process which leads to brain and body actions