Psych Exam 1

What is psychology?

The scientific study of mind and behavior

Mind

The private inner experience. This includes perception, thoughts, memories, and feelings.

Behavior

The observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals

What is science in terms of psychology?

A systematic process of answering questions about mind and behavior

The problem with the mind

How can someone dictate someone elses private, subjective experiences?

The problem with behavior

How can we say or attribute what motivates what we can see? How does behavior relate to subjective inner experiences?

What is a question philosophers has when they studied mind and behaviors?

Are cognitive abilities and knowledge inborn, or are they acquired only through experience?

Nativism (Plato)

The philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn

Philosophical Empiricism

The philosophical view that all knowledge is acquired through experience

Dualism

Mental activity can be reconciled and coordinated with physical behavior (they exist separately)

Materialism

The mind and body are one and the same (The mind is what the brain does)

Structuralism

Analyzes the mind by breaking it down to its basic components

Functionalism

The study of the purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment (Evolutionary approach)

Consciousness

A person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind

Introspection

The subjective awareness of one’s own experiences

The problem with introspection*

1. Different people see different things

2. The same person could see different things at different times

3. People are often mistaken about their experiences

4. A lot of events happen outside of our conscious awareness

Hysteria

A temporary loss of cognitive or motor function, usually as a result of an emotionally upsetting experience

Theory of neuroses

The mind defends against painful experiences by actively excluding them from conscious awareness

The topographic model*

The idea that the mind has an organization or architecture that overflows consciousness and can be described in terms of different levels or compartments

The unconscious: Only part of mind that exists at birth

The preconscious: Stuff we aren't aware off but that we can recall

The conscious awareness: The part of our mind that forms our waking lives

Behaviorism

The idea that psychology should only focus on the behavioral actions that we can observe

Humanistic Psychology

Emphasized the positive potential of human beings

Cognitive Neuroscience

An approach to psychology that link psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily experiences

Behavioral Neuroscience

The field of study that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity

The bad reasons for believing

1. Observation: Our eyes and ears see/hear what they want to

2. Tradition: No matter how long ago it was made up; it is still the same amount of truth or untruth as the original story

3. Authority: Because someone said so

4. Intuition: Common sense differs from theoretical sense

Dogmatism

The tendency for people to cling to their assumptions

Dogma

A principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true

Empiricism

The belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observations

Empirical

Based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic

The Scientific Method

A procedure for finding truth using empirical evidence

Theory

A hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon

Hypothesis

A falsifiable prediction based off of a theory

Parsimony

The simplest theory that still explains all of the evidence

Observation

To use one’s senses to learn about the characteristics of an event or object

Two characteristics of measurement

1. Define the property you wish to measure

2. Find a way to detect that property

Operational definition of measurement

A description of an object in concrete, measureable terms

Instrument*

Anything that can detect the condition to which an operational definition refers

Detect the property

An operational definition that has validity

Define the Property

Design an instrument that has reliability and power

Validity

The goodness with which a concrete event defines a property

Reliability

The tendency for an instrument to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing

Relationship between Validity and Reliability

An unreliable measure can’t be valid, but an invalid measure could be reliable

Demand characteristics

Participants want to please scientists, so they behave in the way they think scientists want them to

How to combat demand characteristics

1. Observe people without their knowledge

2. Measure something that is not easily controlled like pupil dilation or facial expression

3. Don’t inform the participant of what is being studied (Blind studies and also considered to be ethically wrong)

4. Make the study double-blind (Hides the groups and treatment conditions from participants and researchers)

Observer bias

When expectation influences observation. Researchers see what they want to if it helps their experiments.

Correlation

When variations in the value of one variable are in sync with variations in the value of the other

Correlation and Caustion

They do not equal each other

The Computation Theory of Mind

The nonphysical things in your mind exist physically but as configurations of symbols. The symbols are the physical status of bits of matter. It allows us to keep the mind stuff firmly in the physical realm.

Do neurons touch?

No, they don’t physically touch one another

How do neurons communicate?

They communicate via neurotransmitters at the synapse

Synapse

The region between the axon terminals of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another neuron

The 3 major types of neuron

Sensory neurons (gets information from the environment), motor neurons (control our muscular behavior), interneurons (connect neurons to other neurons)

The 2 stages of communication between neurons

Conduction (movement of an electric signal with a neuron), and transmission (movement of electrical signal between neurons)

Neurons

Cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform information-processing tasks

Components of a neuron

Dendrites (receive information), cell body (coordinates/processes information), Axon (carries information to other neurons, muscles, glands, etc.)

Myelin Sheath

Insulating layer of fatty material that is located on the axon of some neurons. It increases the speed of neural transmission.

Resting potential

The natural electric charge of a neuron. In this state a neuron has a net negative charge.

Action potential

An electric signal that is conducted along a neuron’s axon to a synapse

Refractory period

When the neuron has to return to original position before going through another electrical signal. (i.e. the time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot start)

Terminal buttons

Knob-like structures branching out from the axon, they are filled with vesicles (bags) containing neurotransmitters

Presynaptic neuron

The sending neuron

Postsynaptic neuron

The receiving neuron

Receptor

Parts of the cell membrane that receive the neurotransmitter

6 main types of neurotrasmitter

Acetylcholine, Dopamine, Glutamate, GABA, Norepinephrine, Serotonin

Acetylcholine

Involved in a number of functions including voluntary motor function

Dopamine

Regulates motor behaviors, motivation, pleasure, and emotional arousal

Glutamate

Major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brian

GABA

The primary inhibitory neurotransmitter

Norepinephrine

Involved in states of vigilance, or heightened awareness of dangers in the environment

Serotonin

Involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, eating, and aggressive behavior

Central nervous system

Consists of brain and spinal cord. Receives information from environment.

Peripheral nervous system

Connects the central nervous system to the body’s organs and muscles

Somatic nervous system (Part of peripheral nervous system)

A set of nerves that convey information between voluntary muscles and the central nervous system. We have conscious control over this system.

Autonomic nervous system (Part of peripheral nervous system)

A set of nerves that carries involuntary and automatic commands that control blood vessels, body organs, and glands

Sympathetic nervous system (Part of the autonomic nervous system)

A set of nerves that prepares the body for action in challenging or threatening situations

Parasympathetic nervous system (Part of the autonomic nervous system)

A set of nerves that helps the body return to a normal resting state

The 3 parts of the brain

The hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain

The hindbrain

Coordinates information coming in and out of the spinal cord

The midbrain

Important for orientation and movement

The forebrain

Critical for complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions

Parts of the hindbrain

Medulla, reticular formation, cerebellum, and pons

Parts of midbrain

Tectum and tegementum

Parts of the forebrain

Cerebral cortex and subcortical structure

Subcortical structure

The limbic system: hippocampus, amygdala, basal ganglia, thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland

Cerebral cortex

Divided into 2 hemispheres. Hemispheres are connected to one another by commissures.

Commissures

A bundle of axons that communicate between the two hemispheres

Corpus Callosum

Connects the two hemispheres and supports communication of information across them

The 4 lobes of the brain

Occipital lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, frontal lobe

Occipital lobe

Processes visual information

Parietal lobe

Processes information about touch

Temporal lobe

Processes auditory information. Hearing, language, music, etc.

Frontal lobe

Processes movement, planning, thinking, memory, judgment, etc.

Ways to study the brain

Structural brain imaging (CT scans, MRIs), functional brain imaging (PET scan, fMRI)

Sensation

Stimulation of a sense organ. Getting the energy from the environment and turning it into electrical sensation.

Perception

The organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation

Transduction

Sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into encoded neural signals sent to the central nervous system

Absolute threshold

Minimum intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus in 50% of trials

Just noticeable difference

Minimum change in a stimulus that we can perceive

Psychophysics

Simple studies that measure the strength of stimulus and the subjects sensitivity to that stimulus.

Weber’s Law

The just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity

Sensory adaptation

Sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions.