Introduction to Psychology and Neuroscience Concepts

Excitatory Neurotransmitters

Bind to receptors, leading to small depolarizations.

Thalamus

Integrates sensory input, involved in learning and memory.

Cerebral Cortex

Responsible for complex behaviors and higher mental processes.

Goals of psychology

Describe, predict, explain, and change behavior.

Major perspectives in psychology

Psychodynamic, Behavioral, Humanistic, Cognitive, Biological, Evolutionary, Sociocultural.

The Scientific method

A systematic approach to research with steps including introduction, method, results, and discussion.

Psych statistics

The application of statistics to psychology for analyzing and interpreting data.

Psychology

The scientific study of the mind (internal) and behavior (external)

Functionalism

An early school of psychology concerned with understanding why people think and feel as they do, emphasizing allied fields like Biology and Sociology.

Systematic empiricism

The foundation of science involving working from observations, seeking evidence, and following a protocol to find evidence.

Systematic empiricism

Questions that can be answered through direct observation or experience.

Falsifiability

The ability of a hypothesis or theory to be proven wrong.

Theory

A general explanation for a set of observations or facts.

Dendrites

Neuronal extensions that receive information from other neurons and sensory receptors.

Cell body

Part of a neuron that receives information from dendrites and passes messages to the axon.

Axon

The part of a neuron that carries messages to other body cells.

Myelin sheath

Insulating covering of the axon that helps speed up neural impulses.

Terminal buttons

Ends of axons that release neurotransmitters to communicate with other cells.

Agonists

Substances that enhance neurotransmission.

Antagonists

Substances that inhibit neurotransmission.

Sympathetic nervous system

Arouses the body to expend energy and respond to threats.

Neuroplasticity

Changes in the structure or function of existing neurons.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Calms the body, constricting pupils, slowing heart rate, etc.

Amygdala

Influences aggression and fear, part of the limbic system.

Occipital Lobes

Responsible for vision and visual perception.

Research methods in psychology

Various techniques used by psychologists to collect data for research purposes.

Research ethics

Guidelines and principles for conducting ethical research with human or animal subjects.

Structuralism

An early school of psychology focusing on the structure of the mind and relationships between elements in cognition, behavior, and culture.

Public Knowledge

The requirement in science to reveal methods and allow for replication of experiments.

Hypothesis

A specific prediction about how variables are related.

Action potential

The firing of a neuron when the sum of depolarizations reaches a threshold. Neural communication within a neuron, generating a neural impulse.

Hormones

Chemicals released into the bloodstream that regulate bodily functions.

Nervous System

The brain and all neurons extending throughout the body.

Central nervous System

Brain and spinal cord responsible for mental and basic life processes.

Peripheral nervous system

Carries information to and from the central nervous system.

Parasympathetic nervous system

Calms the body to conserve energy and maintain homeostasis.

Neurogenesis

The growth of new neurons.

Positive correlation

When one variable increases, the other also increases.

T-test

A statistical tool to determine significant differences between means of groups or values.

Genes

Basic building blocks of biological inheritance, controlling transmission of traits.

Behavioral Genetics

Study of genetic and environmental influences on behavior and mental processes.

Evolutionary Psychology

Study of behavior and mental processes through natural selection and adaptation.

Neuroscience

Focuses on the structure and function of the nervous system and brain.

Heritability

Proportion of phenotypic variance attributed to genetic variance.

Neuron

Basic unit of the nervous system, transmitting electrical messages.

Myelin Sheath

Insulates axons, speeding up neural impulses.

Neurotransmitter

Chemicals released by neurons affecting other neurons.

Inhibitory Neurotransmitters

Bind to receptors, leading to small hyperpolarizations.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Arouses the body, dilating pupils, accelerating heart rate, etc.

Brain Structure

Organizes lower-level and forebrain structures for various functions.

Hypothalamus

“master control center” for emotions and many basic motives such as hunger, thirst, sex, and aggression. It regulates the body’s internal environment, including temperature control, which is accomplished by regulating the endocrine system.

Frontal Lobes

Control motor functions, speech production, and higher cognitive functions.

Parietal Lobes

Receive and interpret bodily sensations, including touch and pain.

Temporal Lobes

Responsible for hearing, language comprehension, and memory.

Experimental Research

allows the experimenter to manipulate and control the variables and can determine cause and effect.

Descriptive Research

used to observe and describe behavior and mental processes without manipulating variables

Correlational Research

the researchers observes or measure two or more variables to find relationships between them.

Ethnocentrism

Experimenters skew the results when they assume typical behaviors in all cultures.

Sample Bias

If a particular group of participants does not accurately reflect the composition of the larger population from which they are drawn.

Single/Double Studies

offer additional safeguards, offering anonymous participation and other guarantees privacy and confidentiality.

Random Assignment

assigning participants to experimental groups using a change or random system, to prevent sample bias.

Psuedopsychology

Based on common beliefs, folk, wisdom, or superstitions are formed from unsupported information and don’t follow the basics of empirical testing/research.

“Proof” in Science

There is no absolute, binary “proof” in science; “proof” generally signals overwhelming consensus of the scientific community after many, many studies.

Origin of Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt (father of psychology) was interested in studying conscious experience and basic structures of mental life through introspection. He studies how the mind functions to enable humans and other animals to adapt to their environment. Emerged from a mixture of medicine and Philosophy

Glutamate

Brains main excitatory transmitter, learning and memory (Alcohol - antagonist: inhibits receptor)

GABA

Brains main inhibitory transmitter, sedation (Alcohol - agonist: activates receptor)

Acetylcholine

Movement, attention, memory, REM, sleep; Alzheimer’s disease (Nicotine - agonist: activates recpetor)

Dopamine

Movement, motivation, attention, Parkinsons disease, addiction, ADD, schizophrenia (Cocaine - agonist: blocks reuptake)

Norepinephrine

Alertness, stress, mood, dreaming, waking; mania, depression (Cocaine - agonist: blocks reuptake)

Serotonin

Mood, sleep, appetite, pain, impulsivity, depression (MDMA “Molly” - agonist: reverses reuptake)

Opioids (e.g., endorphins)

Mood, sleep, pain relief (Fentanyl - agonist: activates receptor)

Forebrain

largest and most prominent part of the human brain.

Motor Cortex

instigates all voluntary movement

Somatosensory cortex

receives information about touch in different body areas

Midbrain

It helps us orient our eye and body movements to visual and auditory stimuli and works with the pons to help control sleep and level of arousal.

Hyperpolarization

Counteracts depolarization and may prevent threshold from being reached, so there is no action potential.

Depolarization

a shift in a neuron's electrical charge that occurs when positive ions enter the neuron, making it more likely to fire an action potential

Empirical Questions

Falsifiability

Psychodynamic

Unconscious drives, motives, conflicts, and childhood experiences

Behavioral

Steers away from mental descriptions. Objective, observable, environmental influences, on overt behavior; stimulus-response relationships and consequences for behavior.

Humanistic

Reaction against pessimistic views of human psych. Free will, self-actualization, and human nature as naturally positive and growth-seeking

Cognitive

Thinking, perceiving, problem-solving, memory language, and information processing.

Biological

Genetic and biological processes in the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Far down the reductionist ladder.

Evolutionary

Natural selection, adaptation, and evolution of behavior and mental processes. Rooted in Functionalism.

Sociocultural

Social interaction and the cultural determinants of behavior and mental processes. High up on the reductionist ladder.

Neurotransmitter vs Hormones

They are like mass emails, they go out to many targets but still specific targets

Neurotransmitters vs Hormones

They are like public posts on social media, they go out everywhere but only those who care will respond.

Autonomic nervous system (involuntary)

controls involuntary basic life functions, such as heartbeat and response to stress.

Electrical recordings

Reveals areas of the brain most active during particular tasks or mental states, like reading or sleeping; also traces abnormal brain waves caused by brain malfunctions, like epilepsy or tumors.

PET (positron emission tomography) scan

Originally designed to detect abnormalities, now used to identify brain areas active during activities (reading, singing)

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

Produces high-resolution 3D pictures of the brain useful for identifying abnormalities and mapping brain structures and function.

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

Measures blood flow, which indicates areas of the brain that are active or inactive during ordinary activities or responses (like reading or talking); also shows changes associated with various disorders.

Cell body or tract (mylein) staining

Colors/stains selected neurons or nerve fibers.

Microinjections

Injects chemicals into specific areas of the brain.

Intrabrain electrical recordings

Records activity of one or a group of inside the brain.