PSYC1003 Psychology 1: Understanding Mind, Brain and Behaviour Module 1

Module 1

Australian Psychology Society Code of Ethics Principles

• respect for rights and dignity

• propriety- conformity to conventionally accepted standards of behaviour or morals

• integrity

informed consent

• obtaining voluntary agreement from participants before they take part in research

• fully aware of the nature and implications of the study

• cannot use cash rewards to incentivise participation

• participant may fully withdraw from study at any time

• confidentiality (and anonymity) may be maintained

Confidentiality vs Anonymity

• all personal data MUST remain private and held safely by researchers. researchers should not collect unnecessary data. data must not be able to be linked to a particular person.

• participants MAY not have to provide any identifying data, or request that it not be collected

Deception in psychological research

• misleading subjects about the true nature of a study to avoid bias. often ethically strained as it places informed consent into question.

• it is only ethically viable under certain conditions:

  • the study is of great importance and the ____ is essential to the method

  • participants will find it reasonable when it is explained

  • participants can withdraw at any time

  • participants will be debriefed afterwards to share the true scope and ensure welfare

considering impact on Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander communities

• may have differing cultural norms, communication and understanding of consent, confidentiality and welfare

• accomodations facilitate truth telling, improving the study’s accuracy

• considering the specific ethical concerns when studying a vulnerable group

• data collected extends beyond the scope of the study’s participants, impacting a broader community

Somatic Nervous System

voluntary control of movement, sensing

autonomic nervous system

homeostasis, muscles, organs, resting, digesting (contains sympathetic and parasympathetic)

neurons 101

• ~86 billion in the adult body

• transmit electrical messages across body to trigger and send chemical instructions

soma/cell body

nucleus, ribosomes, mitochondria, cell health, metabolism

dendrites

receive and send information to ___, protrudes off ___

axon

receives info from ___ and transmits it down the cell to the ___ ___. accelerated and protected by ___ ___.

myelin sheath

made of lipids and proteins, accelerates saltatory conduction by allowing the electric signal to skip chunks of the ___ and only cross nodes of ranvier. constructed by ___ cells.

glial cells 101

support and protect the ___ cells, eg in the myelin sheath.

terminal buttons

send info to other nerves, control the release of neurotransmitters from the synaptic vesicles into the synaptic cleft.

synaptic cleft

the space between two neurons’ synapses. the place into which neurotransmitters are released.

synaptic vesicles

the place where neurotransmitters are stored and from which they exit via exocytosis.

astrocytes

type of glial cell: clear up excess neurotransmitters

oligendrocytes

glial cell: central nervous system, myelination of neuron (many at once)

schwann cells

glial cell: peripheral nervous system, myelination of neuron (many at once)

microglia

glial cell: immune cells of brain and spinal cord

radial glia

glial cells: develop embryonic brain tissue, neurogenesis, guide the migration of neurons.

Resting Potentials

• polarised state (charge inside is more negative, charge outside more positive)

  • difference of ~70mV

• K+ is greater inside, Na+ and Cl- are greater outside

• electrical gradient: Na+ attracted to negative inside, K+ attracted to negative charge outside neuron.