psych exam revision

hereditary factors

characteristics being passed from parents to offspring through genes at the time of conception

environmental factors

all experiences, objects and events we are exposed to in our lifetime

attachment

the emotional bond that forms between an infant and another person

strange situation

a standardised test for measuring the attachment relationship between a child and their parent created by Mary Ainsworth

stranger anxiety

distress or uneasiness experienced by young children when they are around people who are unfamiliar to them. starts 8-9 months ends 2y

separation anxiety

distress or uneasiness when separated from the person of attachment. starts + ends typically 6-10 months of age

secure attachment

-balance between dependence and exploration

-uses caregiver as ‘home’ when exploring unfamiliar environment

-distress when caregiver departs; confidence they will return, enthusiasm when they return

75% of 1y

insecure avoidant attachment

-doesnt seek closeness with caregiver

-rarely emotion is displayed when caregiver enters/exits the room

20% 1y

insecure resistant attachment

-anxious even when caregiver is near

-upset when separated, seeks comfort but then squirms to get free

12% 1y

assimilation

taking in new information and fitting it into an existing mental idea (schema)

Stage 1: Sensorimotor stage

-0 to 2 years

-Infants explore and learn about the world though their senses and motor activities

Major accomplishments of sensorimotor stage

-Object permanence

-Goal directed behaviour

Stage 2: Pre-Operational Stage

-2 to 7 years

-children become increasingly able to mentally represent (imagine) objects and experiences. Ability to think in more complete ways.

Major accomplishments of Pre-operational stage

-symbolic thinking

-Egocentrism

-Animalism

-transformation

-centration

-reversibility

accommodation

changing an existing mental idea in order to fit new information

schema

a mental idea of what something is and how to act on it

Concrete Operational Stage stage 3

-7 to 12 years

mental operations are only applied to ‘concrete’ objects or events that are immediately present and can be experienced through the 5 senses

Major accomplishments of concrete operation stage

-conservation

-classification

stage 4: formal operational stage

-12+

more complex thought processes are evident, and their thinking becomes increasingly sophisticated through combined effects of brain maturation and life experience.

formal operational stage major accomplishments

-abstract thought

-logic

Harlows attachment experiment

To find out whether provision of food is more important in the formation of infant-mother attachment

Sensitive periods

a period during development when a person (or animal) is more responsive (‘sensitive’) to certain types of environmental experiences or learning.

Critical periods

a specific period in development during which a person (or animal) is most vulnerable to the deprivation or absence of certain environmental experiences.

erikson’s theory of psychosocial stages

human personality develops through eight sequential stages

trust vs mistrust

birth-18m

baby resolves whether the world is safe and reliable or not

autonomy vs shame + doubt

18m-3y

independence and self confidence vs insecure and inadequacy

initiative vs guilt

3-5y

sense of purpose vs self-doubt

industry vs inferiority

5-12y

a sense of competence and pride vs doubt in own abilities

identity vs role confusion

12-18y

finds clear sense of self vs unsure of yourself and feel disconnected

intimacy vs isolation

18-25y

form deep relationships vs withdrawal from others

generativity vs stagnation

25-65y

contributing to the world vs personal non-growth

integrity vs despair

65+

sense of fulfilment vs regretful

neurotypicality

people whose neurological development and cognitive functioning are typical and considered normal

neurodiversity

people whose neurological development and cognitive functioning are atypical and not normal

ADHD

a disorder involving a persistent pattern of inattention, and/ or hyperactive- impulsive behaviour that adversely affects development or everyday functioning.

Autism

autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects the way people communicate and interact with others and the world

dyspraxia

a condition that affects physical coordination and sometimes speech. It can be developmental (present from childhood) or acquired (due to brain injury or neurological conditions)

maladaptive behaviour

a behaviour that is detrimental, counterproductive or otherwise interferes with the individuals ability to fulfil their roles in society

3 types of attention

Sustained attention

Divided attention

Selective attention

What is sustained attention and example

Involves maintenance of attention on a specific stimulus or task for a continuous period of time without being distracted
E.g: Listening to a teacher.

What is divided attention & example

The ability to distribute our attention so that two or more activities may be performed simultaneously.
E.g: eating dinner while watching a movie

Is divided attention and shifting attention the same?

No, shifting attention is when we change our focus from one task to another whilst divided attention is distributing attention so 2+ activities can be performed simultaneously.

What is selective attention and example

Involves choosing and attending to a specific stimulus while at the same time excluding other stimulus.
E.g: studying in a noisy room

Top-down processing:

The perceptual process starts at the top with higher level processing in the brain and then works down from the whole to the details.

Guided by: past experiences, knowledge and expectations, and context is important

Bottom-up processing AKA: data-driven processing

The perceptual process starts at the bottom with raw sensory information progressively analysed and sent up to the brain for higher level mental processing.
Relies entirely on sensory data, with initially no prior knowledge or higher level cognitive processes required.

Binocular Depth cues

Requires the use of both eyes working together to provide information to the brain about depth and distance.

List the binocular depth cues

Retinal disparity
Convergence

Convergance

Involves the brain detecting and interpreting depth/distance from changes in the tension in the eye muscles when they turn inwards to focus on close objects.

Retinal Disparity

Refers to the very slight difference in the location of the images on the retinas, which enables us to make judgments about the depth or distance of an object. After 10 metres the difference is minimal.

Monocular depth cues

Requires only one eye, but also operate with both eyes. Most depth cues are monocular, so many daily activities can occur without difficulty if vision is lost in one eye.

Monocular cues

Accommodation
pictorial cues:
T texture gradient
H height in the visual field
R relative size
I interpostion
L linear perspective

What is accommodation?

The automatic adjustment of the shape of the lens to focus an object in response to changes in how far away the object is.

Linear perspective

Is the apparent convergance of actual/imagined parallel lines as they recede into the distance

Interposition

Occurs when one object partially blocks or covers another, and the partially blocked object is perceived as further away than the object that obscures it.

Texture gradient

Refers to the gradual reduction of the detail that occurs in an object or surface as it recedes into the distance, compared with an object or surface that is close and perceived in fine detail.

Perceived objects:
With fine detail and clear as being closer
With less detail, as being further away.

Relative size

Is the tendency to visually perceive objects that make the largest image on the retina as being closer, and the object that produces the smallest image on the retina as being further away.
The objects must be expected to be about the same size in real life.

Height in the visual field

Refers to the location of objects in our field of vision.
With objects located closer to the horizon perceived as more distant than objects further from the horizon

Gestalt principles

Refers to a way to organise the parts/features of a visual stimulus by grouping them to perceive a whole. The ‘principles’ are applied to visual information to assist meaningful perceptions. The parts individually lack much meaning.

We tend to automatically group visual stimulus and do so in the simplest way possible.

List the gestalt principles

F- figure ground

P- proximity
C- closure

 S- similarity

Figure ground

Gestalt principle
Organise visual information by dividing visual stimulus into a ‘figure’ that stands out from the ‘ground; (surroundings). The figure is the centre of our focus.
To achieve this we interpret contour, the contour belongs to the figure and defines it against the background

Closure

Gestalt principle
Perceptual tendency to mentality ‘close up’, fill in or ignore gaps in visual stimulus and percieve incomplete objects as a complete.

Similarity

Gestalt principle
Tendency to perceive parts of a visual stimulus that have similar features (size, shape, texture, colour) as belong together in a grope or ‘whole’

Proximity

Gestalt Principle aka Nearness
Tendency to perceive parts of visual image which are positioned close together as belonging together in a group

Psychological factors influencing Visual perception

perceptual set
context

motivation
past experience
memory

Perceptual set

psychological factor
Is a temporary readiness to perceive something in line with what we expect it to be. May also predispose us to perceive certain objects or events rather than others.

Context

Psychological factor
Refers to the setting or environment in which a perception is made.
Context has focusing role that enables quick and accurate interpretation.

Motivation

Psychological factor
refers to processes which activate and sustain purposeful, or goal directed behaviour.

Motives influenced by:
psychological factors (interests and desires esc)

Biological factors (such as bodily processes esc)
Social factors (influence of who we are with, money, our cultural background).

Past experience

Psychological factor:
refers to our personal experiences throughout our lives. This includes everything we have learned both intentionally and unintentionally.
Our visual perception relies heavily on past experience. 

Memory

Psychological Factor:

Memory is the process of storing and retrieving this perceived information for use when needed.

Visual perception and memory are closely interrelated, perceiving incoming visual information would be meaningless without the ability of recall and link to corresponding memories.

Top down processing would not be possible
bottom-up processing would provide inadequate information to visually perceive the world as we do. 

Visual agnosia

is the loss or impairment of the ability to recognise visual stimuli. This results in difficulty recognising familiar objects and possibly faces.
Not related to sight, loss of memory or language.

describe the brain injury of visual agnosia

Visual information starts in the primary visual cortex of the occipital lobe and travels forward through the ventral stream into the temporal lobe. Damage to these areas can cause visual agnosia.

Synaesthesia 

is a perceptual experience in which stimulation of one sense produces additional sensations in another

Spatial neglect

neurological disorder, unable to notice anything on one side even though there may be no sensory loss. Tend to behave as if the side affected does not exist.

neuroimaging

captures a picture of the brain

structural neuroimaging

techniques that produce images, or ‘scans’, showing brain structure and anatomy

functional neuroimaging

techniques that provide views of some aspect of brain function by showing images of the brain at work

neuroplasticity

the ability of the brain and other parts of the nervous system to change in response to experience (recover or compensate for loss of function)

split brain

a surgical procedure that severs the corpus callosum

corpus callosum

the thick band of nerve fibres connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres

wernicke’s aphasia

speech is easily produced and flows freely but the sentences don’t make sense. The person has difficulties understanding what is heard or read. sounds like word salad, no awareness of their condition

brocas aphasia

difficulties speaking clearly, often in short sentences with omitted words. Speech is effortful only inclusive of necessary words, can understand what is heard or read. proper grammatical endings of words, such as -ing and -ed are omitted.

experience- expectant plasticity

involves brain change in response to environmental experience that is ordinarily expected

experience-dependent plasticity

involves brain change that modifies some part of its neuronal structure that is already present

It depends on exposure to various environmental experiences that are unique to each individual and may occur at any time during the life span.

neuroplasticity- generation of new networks

brain function lost through injury is rerouted via new connections, stimulated through repetitive activity.

Neuroplasticity- reassignment of function

damaged areas of the brain can be reassigned to other undamaged areas of the brain to compensate for changing input from the environment

the relationship between age and neuroplasticity

brain plasticity peaks at young age and then gradually decreases as one gets older

stroke

occurs when blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted

ischaemic stroke

when blood supply is restricted or stopped in one of the blood vessels because it is blocked due to plaques (fatty materials)

hemorrhagic stroke

when a blood vessel supplying the brain becomes weak and bursts causing bleeding in the brain. Due to high blood pressure.

epilepsy

a neurological disorder involving recurrent, spontaneous seizures brought on by interference in normal brain activity

CTE

a progressive brain degenerative and fatal condition thought to be caused by repeated blows to the head and repeated episodes of concussion

biological changes of a person with CTE

-Abnormal Tau Protein Accumulation

-loss of memory

-mood changes

-personality changes

-increasing confusion

-difficulty thinking

three main areas of the brain

-hindbrain

-midbrain

-forebrain

hindbrain

-located at the base of the brain

-includes medulla, pons and cerebellum

-control various motor functions and vital, autonomic responses

The medulla roles (hindbrain)

-swallowing

-breathing

-heart rate

-blood pressure

-salivating

-coughing

-sneezing

the pons (hindbrain)

-sleep

-dreaming

-waking

-breathing control

-connects parts of the brain by relaying messages between celebral cortex and cerebellum and between medulla and midbrain

-coordination of some muscle movement

the cerebellum (hindbrain)

-fine muscle movements

-posture

-balance

-motor co-ordination

midbrain

-central part of brain

-contains neural pathways connecting upper and lower brain areas

-involved with movements, processing information and sleep + arousal

-contains reticular formation

The reticular formation

-helps screen incoming info

-alerts higher brain centres to important info

-maintains consciousness

-regulates arousal

-muscle tone (tension)

-can ‘highlight’ info of potential importance, directing our attention

forebrain

-largest part of the brain

-located above midbrain

-numerous neural pathways connect with structures in the midbrain and hindbrain to coordinate brain activity

-complex cognitive functions such as: thinking, learning, memory, personality, emotions