Behavioral Perspective
John Watson and B.F Skinner
Study only observable behavior and explain behavior through learning principles
Leaned through rewards and punishments
Biological Perspective
Behavior/Behavior disorders are seen as the result of physical processes, especially those relating to the brain and to hormones and other chemicals
Concerned with how the physical properties of the brain influence behaviors and mental state
Cognitive Perspective
Mental processes underlying judgement, decision making, problem solving, imagining, and other aspects of human thought or cognition
How individuals interpret their experience
Evolutionary Perspective
Emphasizes the inherited adaptive aspects of behavior and mental processes
Humanistic Perspective
Behavior is controlled by the decisions that people make about their lives based on their perceptions of the world; view in which personality develops through and actualizing tendency that unfolds in accordance with each person's unique perceptions of the world
Psychodynamic Perspective
Sigmund Freud
Behavior is controlled by the unconscious mental processes in determining human thought, feelings, and behavior
Who established the first psychology lab?
Wilhelm Wundt
Explain the concept of standard deviation
A measure of variability that is the average difference between each score and the mean of the data set
The "average of the average"
A lower standard deviation = more consistent results
What are descriptive statistics?
Numbers that summarize a set of research data
Describes a data set numerically
What are inferential statistics?
A set of procedures that provides a measure of how likely it is that research results came about by chance
Naturalistic Observation
The process if watching without interfering as a phenomenon occurs in the natural environment (ie. observing children's interactions on a playground)
Survey
Research method that involves giving people questionnaires or special interviews designed to obtain descriptions of their attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and intentions
Case Studies
Research method involving the intensive examination of some phenomenon in a particular individual, group, or situation
Double-Blind Design
Research design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group which guards bias
Correlation Study
Research method that examines relationships between variables in order to analyze trends in data, to test predictions, to evaluates theories and to suggest new hypotheses
What are the correlation coefficients associated with positive correlation, negative correlation and no correlation?
Positive correlation = 0 to +1
Negative correlation = 0 to -1
No correlation = 0
Statistical significance
Describes research results when the outcome of a statistical test indicates that the probability of those results occurring by a chance is small
More likely to find statistical significance with a large sample size
Sympathetic Nervous System
The subsystem of the autonomic nervous system that usually prepares the organism for vigorous activity
Mobilizes its energy in stressful situations & arousal
Parasympathetic Nervous System
The subsystem of the autonomic nervous system that typically influences activity related to the protection, nourishment, and growth of the body
Conserves energy and calms the body
Axon
A fiber that carries signals from the body of a neuron out to where communication occurs with other neurons
Dendrite
A neuron fiber that receives signals from the axons of other neurons and carries those signals to the cell body
Synapse
The tiny gap between neurons across which they communicate
Refractory Period
A short rest period between action potentials
Neurons needs to take a break in between firing action potentials to become re-polarized
Thalamus
A forebrain structure that relays signals from most sense organs to higher levels in the brain and plays an important role in processing and making sense out of this information
"Relay Station"
Which human sense does not pass through the thalamus?
Olfactory (Smell)
What is the primary function of the endocrine system?
Cells that form organs called glands and that communicate with one another by secreting chemicals called hormones into the bloodstream
Regulates functions ranging from stress responses to physical growth
Somantic Nervous System
The subsystem of the peripheral nervous system that transmits information from the senses to the central nervous system and carries signals from the central nervous system to the muscles
Central Nervous System
The parts of the nervous system encased in bone, including the brain and the spinal cord
Corpus Callosum
A massive bundle of fibers that connects the right and left cerebral hemispheres and allows them to communicate with each other
Describe the common responses of split brain patients when taking visual tests
Left hemisphere more verbal
Right hemisphere excels in visual perception and emotion
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Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Exposes the brain to a magnetic field and measures radio frequency waves
Forms a detailed structural picture of the brain
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Positions and photons are emissions from radioactive substances
Glucose in brain is marked with a radioactive substance. Then radiation detectors identified especially active brain areas
Explain the functions of the two hemispheres of the brain and how they control the rest of the body
Hemispheres control sensations and motor movements from the opposite side of the body
Right Hemisphere: More artistic and creative side of the brain
Left Hemisphere: More academic and logical side of the brain
Cerebellum
The part of the hindbrain whose main functions include controlling finely coordinated movements and storing memories about movement, but which may also be involved in impulse control, emotion, and language
Balance and coordination
Hippocampus
A structure in the forebrain associated with the formation of new memories
Sensory Cortex
The parts of the cerebral cortex that receive stimulus information from the senses
Motor Cortex
The part of the cerebral cortex whose neurons control voluntary movements in specific parts of the body
What ear structure is responsible for transduction?
Cochlea
Sensory Adaptation
The process through which responsiveness to an unchanging stimulus decreases over time
Describe the route of sensory information in hearing
Pinna funnels sound > eardrum > bones of inner ear (hammer, anvil, & stirrup) > oval window to cochlea > transduction > temporal lobe
Describe the route of sensory information in vision
Cornea > Pupil > Lens > Fovea & Photoreceptors > Bipolar Cells > Ganglion Cells > Optic Nerve > Optic Chiasm > Thalamus > Occipital Lobe
Gate Control Theory
A theory suggesting that a functional 'gate' in the spinal cord can either let pain impulses travel upward to the brain or block their progress
Example: Josh fell off the jungle gym and scraped his arm. At first he cried out in pain, but when he rubbed his knee the pain went away
Perception
The process through which people take raw sensations from the environment and interpret them, using knowledge, experience, and understanding of the world, so that the sensations become meaningful experiences
Sensation
Messages from the senses that make up raw information that affects many kinds of behavior and mental processes
Absolute Threshold
The minimum amount of stimulus energy that can be detected 50% of the time
Subliminal Stimuli
Stimuli that are too weak or brief to be perceived
Supraliminal Stimuli
Stimuli that are strong enough to be consistently perceived
Response Criterion
The internal rule a person uses to decide whether or not to report a stimulus.
Difference Threshold
The smallest detectable difference in stimulus energy
Top Down Processing
Aspects of recognition that are guided by higher-level cognitive processes and psychological factors such as expectations
Bottom Up Processing
Aspects of recognition that depend first on the information about the stimulus that comes to the brain from the sensory receptors
Inattentional Blindness
When the spotlight of your attention is voluntarily or involuntarily focused on one part of the
environment, you may ignore of be "blind" to stimuli occurring in other parts. (ie. Moonwalking Bear)
Change Blindness
Researchers found that 40 percent of people focused on repeating a list of challenging words failed to notice a change in the person speaking
Learning
The modification through experience of pre-existing behavior and understanding
Relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge due to experience
Spontaneous Recovery
The reappearance of the conditioned response after extinction and without further pairings of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli
Reconditioning
The quick relearning of a conditioned response following extinction
Classical Conditioning
A procedure in which a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a stimulus that elicits a reflex or other response until the neutral stimulus alone comes to elicit a similar response
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
A stimulus that elicits a response without conditioning
Example: Meat powder / food
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
The automatic or unlearned reaction to a stimulus
Example: Salivate to food
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
The originally neutral stimulus that, through pairing with the unconditioned stimulus, comes to elicit a conditioned response
Example: Bell
Conditioned Response (CR)
The response that the conditioned stimulus elicits
Example: Salivate to bell
Learned Helplessness
Learning that responses do not affect consequences, resulting in failure to try to exert control over the environment
Example: George keeps failing his bio class. He has tried to take several different types of study methods, but nothing seems to help. When his teacher recommends a new study idea, George doesn't even bother to go try it
Observational Learning
Learning how to perform new behaviors by watching others
Operant
A response that has some effect on the world
Fixed Interval (FI)
A partial reinforcement schedule that provides reinforcement for the first response that occurs after some fixed time has passed since the last reward
Fixed Ratio (FR)
A partial reinforcement schedule that provides reinforcement following a fixed number of responses Example: Car salesmen receive a $1000 bonus for every twenty cars they sell
Variable Interval (VI)
A partial reinforcement schedule that provides reinforcement for the first response after varying periods of time
Example: In Econ 101 the professor takes attendance on the average every 5 to 10 days, and students who are present receive extra points
Variable Ratio (VR)
A partial reinforcement schedule that provides reinforcement after a varying number of responses