1-6 (midterm)

1. Perspectives/History

• Structuralism — Wundt, Titchener: Mind’s structure via introspection.

• Functionalism — William James: Purpose of consciousness.

• Gestalt — Wertheimer: Whole > sum of parts.

• Behaviorism — Watson, Skinner: Observable behavior only.

• Psychoanalysis — Freud: Unconscious motives drive behavior.

Current Perspectives:

• Biological: Brain, genes, neurotransmitters.

• Developmental: Changes across the lifespan.

• Cognitive: Thinking, memory, perception.

• Psychodynamic: Modern Freud, unconscious focus.

• Humanistic: Growth, free will, potential (Maslow, Rogers).

• Behavioral: Learned behavior (conditioning).

• Sociocultural: Culture and society’s effects.

• Evolutionary: Natural selection and survival.

2. Research Methods

Scientific Method:

• Hypothesis → Operational Definitions → Collect Data → Analyze → Report

Types of Research:

• Experiment: Cause & effect.
  

  • IV: Manipulated.

  • DV: Measured.

  • Confounding Variable: Extra variable that messes things up.

• Control Group: No IV.

• Experimental Group: Gets IV.

Bias:

• Experimenter bias, participant bias, sampling bias.

Other Methods:

• Correlational Study: Relationship, not cause.

• Survey: Self-report data.

• Observation: Watch behavior.

• Naturalistic Observation: Unobtrusive, in real-world settings.

• Ex Post Facto: Study after an event.

• Longitudinal Study: Same group, long time.

• Cross-Sectional Study: Different groups, one time point.

• Cohort-Sequential Study: Cross-section + longitudinal combo.

Statistics:

• Mean: Average.

• Median: Middle number.

• Mode: Most common.

• Correlation Coefficient (r): Strength/direction (-1 to +1).

• Histogram: Bar graph.

• Statistically Significant: Not due to chance (p < 0.05).

Ethics:

• Deception: Allowed if necessary and ethical.

• Debriefing: Must fully explain after study.

Random Sample vs. Random Assignment:

• Random Sample: Fair selection from population.

• Random Assignment: Fair placement into groups.

3. Biopsychology

• Evolution/Natural Selection: Darwin — traits aiding survival are passed on.

• Genetics/Inheritance: Genes (DNA segments) influence traits and behavior.

Nature vs. Nurture:

• Debate: Are we shaped more by biology (nature) or environment (nurture)?

Neurons:

• Parts:
  

  • Dendrites: Receive signals.

  • Soma: Cell body.

  • Axon: Sends signal.

  • Myelin sheath: Speeds impulses.

  • Axon terminals: Send signal to next neuron.

• Types: Sensory, motor, interneurons.

• Neurotransmitters (NTs):
  

  • Dopamine: Movement, pleasure.

  • Serotonin: Mood.

  • Acetylcholine (ACh): Muscle action, memory.

  • Norepinephrine: Alertness.

  • GABA: Inhibitory.

  • Glutamate: Excitatory.

  • Endorphins: Pain relief.

Nervous System:

• CNS: Brain + spinal cord.

• PNS: Everything else.
  

  • Somatic: Voluntary movement.

  • Autonomic: Involuntary functions.
    

    • Sympathetic: “Fight or flight.”

    • Parasympathetic: “Rest and digest.”

Three Brain Layers:

• Brainstem: Basic life functions (medulla, pons).

• Limbic System: Emotions, memory (amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus).

• Cerebral Cortex: Complex thought.

Lobes of the Cortex:

• Frontal: Planning, decisions, motor cortex.

• Parietal: Touch, sensory cortex.

• Temporal: Hearing, language.

• Occipital: Vision.

Cerebral Dominance:

• Left: Language, logic.

• Right: Spatial, creative tasks.

• Split Brain: Corpus callosum cut; hemispheres can’t communicate.

4. Sensation and Perception

Transduction: Conversion of physical stimulus to neural signal.

Sensory Adaptation: Decreased sensitivity after constant stimulation.

Thresholds:

• Absolute Threshold: Minimum stimulation to detect.

• JND (Difference Threshold): Smallest detectable difference.

Signal Detection Theory: Detecting a stimulus depends on expectations, fatigue, etc.

Vision:

• Retina: Contains rods (dim light) and cones (color).

• Fovea: Focus point of retina, high cone concentration.

• Optic nerve: Sends info to brain.

Hearing:

• Cochlea: Transduction of sound waves.

• Hair cells: Receptors in cochlea.

• Place Theory: Pitch = location of hair cells.

• Frequency Theory: Pitch = rate of impulses.

Perceptual Processing:

• Bottom-Up: Start with sensory input.

• Top-Down: Use prior knowledge.

• Binding Problem: How brain combines features into a whole.

Perceptual Constancy: Objects look the same even when conditions change (shape, size, color).

Figure & Ground: Focused object = figure, background = ground.

Closure: Brain fills in gaps to perceive a whole.

Gestalt Laws:

• Similarity: Group similar things.

• Proximity: Group close things.

• Common Fate: Group things moving together.

Depth Cues:

• Binocular: Two eyes (retinal disparity, convergence).

• Monocular: One eye (linear perspective, texture gradient, interposition, etc.).

Perceptual Set: Expectations influence perception.

5. States of Consciousness

Conscious vs. Non-Conscious Processing

• Conscious: Active awareness of thoughts/environment.

• Non-conscious: Mental processes not in awareness (e.g., breathing, memory storage).

Levels of the Non-Conscious Mind

• Preconscious: Can be made conscious (e.g., memories).

• Unconscious (Freud): Hidden desires, fears, conflicts.

• Subconscious: Processing below awareness that affects behavior.

Sleep & Circadian Rhythms

• Circadian Rhythm: 24-hour biological clock (sleep/wake cycle).

• REM Sleep: Rapid eye movement; dreams; body is paralyzed.

• N-REM Sleep: Non-dream stages (N1 = light, N2 = spindles, N3 = deep sleep).

• Sleep Paralysis: REM-related; mind awake, body immobile.

Dream Theories

• Freud:
  

  • Manifest Content: Storyline of the dream.

  • Latent Content: Hidden, unconscious meaning.

• Modern Theories:
  

  • Activation-Synthesis: Random neural activity interpreted by brain.

  • Information Processing: Dreams help sort and store memories.

Hypnosis

• Altered state of focused attention and suggestibility.

• Useful for pain relief, habit change. Not reliable for memory recovery.

Psychoactive Drugs

• Depressants: Slow activity (alcohol, barbiturates, opiates).

• Stimulants: Speed up body (caffeine, nicotine, cocaine).

• Hallucinogens: Alter perception (LSD, marijuana).

• Addiction: Physical/psychological dependence; tolerance and withdrawal.

6. Learning

Learning vs. Instinct

• Learning: Acquired behavior through experience.

• Instinct: Inborn, automatic behavior.

Simple Learning

• Habituation: Decreased response to repeated stimulus.

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)

• Neutral Stimulus (NS): No response before conditioning.

• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Naturally causes a response.

• Unconditioned Response (UCR): Automatic reaction to UCS.

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Was NS, now triggers learned response.

• Conditioned Response (CR): Learned reaction to CS.

Key Terms

• Acquisition: Initial learning of CS–CR link.

• Extinction: CR fades when CS is no longer paired with UCS.

• Spontaneous Recovery: CR returns after extinction.

• Discrimination: Only specific CS triggers response.

• Generalization: Similar stimuli also trigger response.

Operant Conditioning (Skinner)

• Law of Effect (Thorndike): Behaviors followed by good outcomes are more likely repeated.

• Reinforcement: Increases behavior.
  

  • Positive Reinforcement: Add pleasant stimulus.

  • Negative Reinforcement: Remove unpleasant stimulus.

• Punishment: Decreases behavior.
  

  • Positive Punishment: Add something unpleasant.

  • Negative Punishment: Take away something pleasant.

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous: Every response is reinforced.

• Intermittent: Not every time.
  

  • Fixed Ratio: After set number of responses.

  • Variable Ratio: Random number of responses.

  • Fixed Interval: After set time.

  • Variable Interval: Random time intervals.

Other Concepts

• Shaping: Reinforcing closer steps to desired behavior.

• Primary Reinforcers: Satisfy biological needs (food, water).

• Secondary Reinforcers: Learned value (money, praise).

• Token Economy: Use tokens (secondary) to exchange for rewards.

Cognitive Learning

• Wolfgang Köhler: Chimps used insight to solve problems.

• Cognitive Maps: Mental layouts (Tolman’s rats in a maze).

• Latent Learning: Learning occurs but is hidden until needed.

• Observational Learning (Bandura):
  

  • Bobo Doll Experiment: Kids imitate aggressive adults.

  • Modeling: Learning by observing others.