psych 2000 final

psychology

scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Wilheim Wundt (father of psychology)

objective introspection

objective introspection

objectively examining and measuring internal thoughts, experiences, and emotions

Edward Titchener (student of Wundt)

structuralism

structuralism

study consciousness by trying to understand its smallest, most basic elements

William James (Harvard professor)

functionalism

functionalism

influenced by Charles Darwin - study the function of consciousness, how the mind allows people to work, play, adapt to new circumstances

Max Wertheimer

Gestalt psychology

Gestalt psychology

how we experience the world (perceive and sense) the sum is greater than the parts

Sigmund Freud

unconscious and psychoanalysis

unconscious

part of our mind outside of our awareness that a we push down, our dark urges and desires

psychoanalysis

therapy based on Freud’s idea, focus on early childhood development, cured when unconscious desires/ conflicts are understood

psychodynamic

modern version of psychoanalysis, focuses on the development on a sense of self/ discovery of unknown motivations behind a person’s behavior

attachment theory

type of bond formed between a caregiver and an infant

behavioral perspective

heavily influenced by work done by BF Skinner, leading psychological perspective

operant conditioning

how to manipulate voluntary behavior by changing the consequences of behavior

conditioning

created by Ivan Pavlov, a conditioned or learned reflexive response

Humanistic perspective - carl Rodgers (self-actualize)

emphasis on conscious and immediate experiences and the empowerment of the individual to become the best he/she can be

Humanistic perspective - Abraham Maslow (free will)

humanists held the view that people have the freedom to choose/shape their own destiny, client centered therapy

Cognitive perspective

grew in part out of the gestalt psychology, how people think, remember, and store information

cognitive neuroscience

brain and cognitive processing

sociocultural perspective

combines social and cultural psychology

social phsycology

study of groups, relationships, social influences on behavior

cultural psychology

study of cultural values and norms, or standards of behavior

biopsychological perspective

mental processes can be explained by the interaction with biological factors like genes or hormones

behavioral genetics

the relationship between certain genes and mental processes and behaviors

evolutionary perspective

grew in part out of functionalism, argues that human behavior is a result of psychological adaptions that help people successfully function and survive

theory

a well developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena. they are supported by a range of scientific data

hypothesis

a testable prediction about how the world will behave

naturalistic observation

watching behavior in real world settings, high degree of external validity, low degree of internal validity

external validity

extent to which we can generalize our findings to the real world

internal validity

extent to which we can draw cause and effect inferences

case study designs

studying on person or a small number of people for an extended period of time, common with rare types of brain damage or mental illness, helpful in providing existence proofs, but can be misleading and anecdotal

self report measures

asses characteristics such s personality or mental illness

surveys

ask about a person’s opinions or abilities, not all measures an surveys are equal

pros of self report measures and surveys

easy to administer, direct (self) assessment of person’s state, can inquire about topics that are not easily observable

cons of self report measures and surveys

accuracy is skewed for certain groups, potential for dishonesty, response sets-tendencies of research subjects to distort their responses, positive impression management, malingering , lack of insight by participants

correlations designs

examine how two variables are related, may use surveys, observations, archival data, can vary from +1 to -1, depicted in a scatterplot

illusory correlation

perception of statistical association where none exists, just because two things are related does not mean that one causes another

experimental design

the only way to determine if one thing is casually related to another, you purposefully manipulate variable, rather than just measure already existing differences

experimental group

receives the manipulation

control group

does not receive the manipulation

independent variable

what the experimenter manipulates

dependent variable

what the experimenter measure to see whether manipulation had an effect

confounds

any difference between the experimental and control groups aside form the independent variable

placebo effect

improvement resulting form the mere expectation of improvement

mean

average of all scores

median

middle score in the data set

mode

most frequent score in the data set

range

difference between the highest and lowest scores

standard deviation

measure that takes into account how far each data point is from the mean

types of correlations

a causes b, b causes a, c causes both a and b

dendrites

receive messages from other neurons

nucleus

contains genetic material(DNA)

soma

the cell body of the neuron responsible form painting the life of the cell

axon

carries the neural message from the cell body to the axon terminals for communication with other cells

myelin sheath

fatty substances that coat axons of neurons to insulate, protect, and speed up the neural impulse

axon terminals

ends of axonal branches of the neuron, specialized for communication between cells

resting potential

the state of the neuron when not firing a neural impulse

action potential

the release of the neural impulse, consisting of a several of the electrical charge within the axon

synapse

microscopic fluid filled space between the axon terminal of one cell and the dendrites or soma of the next cell

neurotransmitters

chemicals found in the synaptic vesicles that, when released, has an effect on the next cell

reuptake

process by which neurotransmitters are taken back into the synaptic vesicles

acetylcholine

Important for learning, memory, muscle movement

serotonin

influences mood and regulates food intake

dopamine

important to movement and to frontal lobe activity

somatic nervous system

nerves that carry information from the senses to the CNS and from the CNS to the voluntary muscles of the body, allows you to move your body

autonomic nervous system

nerves that control all of the involuntary muscles, organs, and glands

sympathetic

responsible for reacting to stressful events and bodily arousal

parasympathetic

restores the body to normal functioning after arousal and is responsible for the day to day functioning of the organs and glands

central nervous system

Brian and spinal cord

cortex

“newest” part of the brain located the forebrain

frontal lobe

reasoning, decision making, fluent speech, personality, motor cortex

parietal lobe

touch, taste, temperature, somatosensory cortex

temporal lobe

hearing , meaningful speech

occipital lobe

vision

limbic system

between the “older” parts of the Brian and the cerebral hemisphere, processes emotion and memory

amygdala

emotions

thalamus

relay station between lower part of the brain and the cortex

hypothalamus

motivation behaviors, sleep, hunger, thirst, sex

cingulate cortex

emotions and cognition

hippocampus

memory

medulla

regulates heart rate and breathing

pons

links ot cerebellum, affects arousal, dreaming

cerebellum

balance, coordination, movement

broca’s aphasia

speaking impairment, difficulty getting words out, aware they are having difficulty

wernicke’s aphasia

understanding impairment, sentences don’t make sense, not aware they don’t make sense

electroencephalogram (EEG)

brain waves are studied by placing electrodes on the scalp

positron emission tomography (PET)

small amounts of radiation are injected into the blood and tracked

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Brian structures, uses giant magnet to align atoms in your Brian

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Brian activity, measure blood oxygenation

waking consciousness

state in which thoughts, feelings, and sensations are clear and organized and the person feels alert

altered state of consciousness

state in which there is a shift in the quality or pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness

adaptive theory

animals and humans evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators, when we sleep

restorative theory

sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage, why we sleep

stages of sleep - awake

alpha and beta waves

stages of sleep - 1

theta waves, hypnagogic imagery, myoclonic jerks (5-10 minutes/cycle)

stages of sleep - 2

sleep spindles an k complexes, as much as 65 percent of total sleep (10-30 minutes/cycle)

stages of sleep - 3

delta waves, crucial to feel rested suppressed by alcohol, 40 percent of sleep in children 25 perennial in adults, (15-30 minutes/cycle)

stages of sleep - REM

Brian activity similar to wakefulness, becomes longer as the right goes on (10-20 minutes/cycle)