Cognitive Biases:

• Hindsight Bias: “I knew it all along” idea

• Overconfidence: overestimating your ability to do or make something

• Confirmation Bias: the tendency to gather information that confirms preexisting expectations

Experimental Design:

Elements of Research Design:

• Hypothesis

• Operational Definition (creating parameters for your study so it can be replicated)

• Reliability (consistency)

• Validity (accuracy)

• Population (people you’re taking from) and sample size (taken from population)

• Convenience Sampling 

Measurement Instruments:

• Qualitative (non-numerical data)  

• Quantitative (numerical data) 

• Survey Method 

Conclusions:

• Peer Review

• Replication

Non-Experimental Design: Non-experimental design lacks manipulation and control and has no cause-and-effect

Case Study:

• In-depth investigation of an individual or a small group who may have a highly unusual trait(s)

• Pros: details of subjects, unique quality or situation, unethical treatment

• Cons: no correlation data, no generalization, time-consuming

Meta-Analysis:

• Taking multiple studies that have previously been done and drawing your own conclusions

• Pros: accuracy, pose and answer questions

• Cons: applicability

Naturalistic Observation:

• Observing things in their natural habitat

• Pros: ecological validity 

• Cons: no manipulation 

Correlation:

• The extent to which to variables are related

• Pros: predict behavior 

• Cons: directionality problem, third variable problem 

• Illusory correlation: perceiving that a relationship exists when it doesn’t or that it’s stronger than it is 

Ethics:

Governance:

• American Psychological Association (governing body for psychology)

• Federal Regulations (harm to self or others)

• Institutional Review Board (local)

Animal Research:

• Have to have a purpose 

• Acquire legally

• Humane treatment

Ethical Guidelines:

• Informed Consent

• Protection from Harm and Discomfort 

• Confidentiality

• Debriefing

AAQ (Article Analysis Question):

Steps:

1. Identify the research method (1 point)

2. State the operational definition (1 point)

3. Describe the meaning of the differences in the means (1 point)

4. Identify at least one ethical guideline applied by the researchers (1 point)

5. Explain the extent to which it can or cannot be generalized (1 point)

6. Explain if the hypothesis is or is not supported by the study (2 point)

Interaction Of Heredity & Environment:

Nature vs. Nurture:

• Heredity = nature, genetics, etc.

• Environmental Factors  = nurture, experience, family interactions, education

• Nurture works on what nature endows

Evolutionary Psychology: How natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes.

Natural Selection:

• The best traits will be passed down 

• The unnecessary or negative traits will die off

• It's not the strongest species that survives, it is the most intelligent species

• Charles Darwin

Eugenics:

•  Limiting reproduction to only the healthy and desirable genetics

• Negative and positive versions of eugenics

Research Tools for Nature vs. Nurture:

• Twin Studies 

• Family Studies

• Adoption Studies 

Anatomy Of Neurons:

Neurons:

• Neurons are nerve cells (building blocks of the brain and nervous system)

• Glia cell protects and nourishes a neuron (50x more abundant than neurons)

• The nerve is a bundle of neurons 

Dendrites:

• Branch like structures that extend out of the cell body 

• Dendrites have the receptors on the ends that receive neurotransmitters to start the chemical signaling process

Soma:

• The cell body

• The life and support system of the cell 

• The nucleus 

• Determines if a neuron will fire or not

Axon + Myelin Sheath:

• Axon is long piece that acts a a pathway for electrical signals that will cause the neuron to fire

• Myelin Sheath is a coating that protects the axon and speeds up the electrical signal traveling

Terminal Branches:

• Root system of the neuron 

• Where all the neurotransmitters are housed and sent out of

• Vesicles are the sacks that hold the neurotransmitters

Synapse:

• Space between two neurons (neurons never touch)

• When a neuron fires, it sends neurotransmitters into the synapse, and the other neuron will pick those up.

Firing of a Neuron:

Resting Potential:

• Dendrites are waiting to receive chemical signals

• Neuron is polarized

• Potassium ions inside the axon

• Sodium ions outside the axon

Action Potential:

• When the dendrites have received enough neurotransmitters to reach the required level

• The soma initiates action potential and causes an electrical signal 

• All or none principle 

• Axon opens channels both potassium and sodium ions mix inside and create the electrical impulse that travels down the axon

• Depolarizes the Neuron

Neuron Fires:

• The neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic cleft to reach the other neuron

• Any leftover neurotransmitters will be reabsorbed (repute)

Refractory Period: 

• The neurons cool down time before they can be fired again

• lasts milliseconds-5 or 6 seconds, depending on the sense

Multiple Sclerosis:

• A disease caused by the deterioration of the myelin sheath

• Neurons don't function as well and are more susceptible to harm

• People who have this have difficulty moving and walking 

Myasthenia Gravis:

• Connected to muscles raptor sites for acetylcholine

• Autoimmune system problems that cause weakness in muscles

The Nervous System:

Functions of The Nervous System:

• Sensory Input: gather information

• Integration: processes information

• Motor Output: The brain sends signals to muscles and glands to respond

Central Nervous System:

• Brain: the boss of the nervous system

• Spinal Cord: highway from the brain to the body 

Peripheral Nervous system:

• Nerves: like wires that connect the brain and the spinal cord to the rest of the body

• Somatic nervous system: voluntary movements

• Autonomic nervous system: involuntary movements

Autonomic Nervous System:

• Sympathetic nervous system: fight, flight, or freeze response

• Parasympathetic nervous system: calms you down, rests, and digest

Types of Neurons:

• Sensory (afferent) neurons: take messages from sensory receptors

• Motor (efferent) neurons: transmit signals to muscles and other organs

• Interneurons: relay neurons (connectors) help translate information through a motor output

Reflexes:

• Reflex: automatic response to a sensory stimulus 

• Reflex Arc: when sensory organs direct the message to the spinal cord instead of the brain

The Endocrine System:

Endocrine System:

• Sending messages long-distance 

• Circulates and regulates hormones

• Hormones through the bloodstream 

Pituitary Gland:

• The master gland

• Sending signals to other glands of the body to release specific hormones

• Example: puberty 

Hormones to Know:

• Adrenaline: comes from the adrenal glands and increases heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar. (Long-term adrenaline can cause diabetes and heart disease)

• Ghrelin & Leptin (hunger hormones): Ghrelin tells you you're hungry, and leptin tells you you're full

• Testosterone & Estrogen (Sex Hormones): Testosterone does human sex drive/aggression, and Estrogen is important for reproduction.

• Oxytocin (Love hormone): plays a role in social acceptance needs and pregnancy/birth with baby bonding 

• Melatonin (sleep): regulates circadian rhythms, helps you sleep, produces in response to darkness

The Brain:

Brain Stem:

• Medulla: controls basic functions like breathing and heart rate

• Reticular Activating System: brain’s reward system, learning cognition, etc.

• Cerebellum: muscles movements and balance 

The Cerebral Cortex (Limbic system):

• Hypothalamus: a bridge between endocrine and nervous systems and the 5Fs

• Thalamus: directs traffic of senses (except smell)

• Pituitary gland: master gland that holds, controls, and releases hormones

• Hippocampus: memory base, converts short-term memories into long-term

• Amygdala: center for fear, triggers if a threat is posed, intense emotions, etc.

• Corpus callosum: connects the two hemispheres of the brain

• Gray matter helps keep your brain safe 

⭐️ The more brain wrinkles you have the more knowledge you have

The Cerebral Cortex (Lobes of The Cortex):

• Parietal Lobe: deals with all sensory information processing 

(Sensory Cortex in this lobe deals with touch)

(Wernicke’s Area understands/comprehends and processes speech) 

• Occipital Lobe: processes all the visual information

• Temporal Lobes: deals with auditory information

• Frontal Lobes and the Prefrontal cortex: deals with linguistic processing, higher-order thinking, and executive functioning. (Motor Cortex controls muscle and skeletal movements)

• Broca’s Area (only in the left hemisphere): responsible for speech production

⭐️ The Prefrontal Cortex doesn’t fully develop until 25 years of age

Eyes & Vision:

Transduction: conversion from environmental stimuli to neural-impulse so the brain can understand

Phototransduction: conversion of light energy (vision) to neural-impulse so brain can understand

Light Characteristics:

• Wavelength (hue/color): short wavelengths= bluish colors and high-pitched sounds, Longer wavelengths= reddish colors and low-pitched sounds.

• Intensity (brightness): great amplitude=bright colors and loud sounds, small amplitude = dull colors and soft sounds.

• Saturation (purity)

The Eye:

• Cornea: transparent tissue at the front

• Iris/pupil: iris is the muscle that expands and contracts the pupil

• Lens: tissue behind the pupil, focuses light rays to retina

• Retina: sensory receptors where transduction takes place and sends information to the brain (rods and cones)

• Fovea: central focus point of retina (only cones)

• (Can I Learn Reading Father)

Optic Nerve: 

• Carries now nerve impulses from the retina to the brain

• Goes to Thalamus first 

• Then the occipital lobe for information processing 

Photoreceptors:

• Rods and Cons

• More rods than cones in the high

• Cones are for color and rods are for light and dark

⭐️ Bipolar cells receives information rods and cones and transduction happens 

Theories of Color Vision: 

• Helmholtz thinks retina contains three receptors that are sensitive to red, blue, and green colors and light triggers certain amounts of each to blend/make other colors we see (Trichromatic Theory)

• Hering thinks we have opponent colors (pairs) that battle it out to see what light waves we are seeing (Opponent process theory)

Ears and Audition:

The Stimulus Input: Sound Waves:

• Acoustical Transduction: conversion of sound waves to information/neural impulses

• Sound waves are the compression and decompression of air molecules

Sound Characteristics:

• Frequency (pitch): short wavelengths= higher frequencies, longer wavelengths= low frequencies

• Intensity (loudness): great amplitude=loud, small amplitude=quiet

• Quality (timber/clarity)

⭐️ Prolonged exposure above 85 decibels starts hearing loss (cannot be fixed)

The Ear:

• Outer Ear: pinna, collects sounds

• Middle Ear: chamber between eardrum and cochlea. (Has three tiny bones: hammer, anvil, stirrup which concentrates vibrations to the cochlea’s oval window)

• Inner Ear: cochlea, semicircular, canals, and vestibular sacs

• Transduction takes place in the cochlea

• Cochlea is fluid filled and lined with tiny hairs (basilar membrane) converts the rhythm of vibrations to an electrical impulse which tells the auditory nerve information

• Auditory nerve takes information from thalamus and sends that to the auditory cortex

Theories of Audition:

• (Place Theory): different frequencies affect different parts/places of the membrane and triggers different responses/activations

• (Frequency Theory): entire cochlea is activated and the speed at which the frequency gives us specific sounds

Perception:

Types of Perception:

• Top-Down Processing: when we observe the whole image first and apply existing knowledge to give it meaning (shorter time, less accurate)

• Bottom-Up Processing: when we analyze the individual parts of a stimulus to gain meaning of the whole (takes longer, but more accurate)

• Perceptual Set (Top-down processing): perceives something in the way we expect it to be

• Schemas: impact/influence perception that are mental filler or mental models that organize our information about the world (accommodate or assimilate)

Perception Rules:

• GESTALT Principles: german word for pattern or whole that represents the rules of how we understand and organize information

• Proximity: how tendency to group things together if they are close to each other

• Similarity: we tend to see similar objects as the same thing (based on shape, color, and size)

• Closure: we mentally connect the dots or complete images because we know what's trying to be conveyed

• Figure & Ground: In everything we see there is a figure and a ground. We focus on the figure and ignore the ground.

Depth Perception:

• Binocular Cues: uses both of our eyes to figure out depth (retinal disparity: each of our eyes perceive different things but brain connects our image and convergence: when your lines of vision converge and you see double of something)

• Monocular Cues: use one of our eyes to figure out depth (relative clarity: the better the focus the closer it is to you, relative size: smaller objects are farther away, interposition: if one object is blocking another we perceive that object as closer, texture gradient: the closer we are the clearer the texture/gradient, Linear perspective: parallel lines appear to converge together as they get farther away)

• Visual Cliff Experiment: baby crawled across a clear table which a optical illusion drop to test babies depth perception

Visual Perceptual Constancies:

• Color constancy: the colors we are seeing are the same colors no matter if they are changed by light or other conditions but we perceive them as a different shade

• Size constancy: we perceive distance causing objects to change sizes but our brain knows they are the same size

• Shape constancy: we perceive shapes as the same even when they appear different

• Lightness/Brightness constancy: depending on how lighting and shadows impact an object changes how we perceive the shape/look of something

• Phi Phenomenon: an illusion of movement from stationary objects

• Relative motion: it looks like fixed objects are moving when you yourself are moving

Attention & Perception:

• Selective attention: when we focus on one particular stimulus (Cocktail party effect: the ability to attend to one voice in a room full of other voices)

• Selective inattention: lack of registering or perceiving a particular stimuli because your attention is on a different task (Change blindness: when we don't see small changes when we don’t expect the change)

Cognition-Thinking, Creativity, and Problem Solving:

Strategies:

• Algorithm: a rule that guarantees the right solution to a problem (impractical)

• Heuristics: rule of thumb for judgment, not guaranteed (quicker method to solve a problem)

• Availability Heuristic: judging a situation based on similar situations that come to mind (most recent information)

• Representativeness Heuristic: judging a situation based on prototypes (influences stereotypes)

• Creativity: little correlation between creativity and intelligence (convergent thinking: aligns with one idea, divergent: goes another through another idea)

• Insight: when the solution to the problem comes out of the blue

Overconfidence Bias:

• Belief Bias: people accept any conclusions that fit with their personal beliefs

• Belief Perseverance: maintaining a belief even after it has been proven wrong

Cognitive Problems:

• Functional Fixedness: the inability to see a new use for an object

• Confirmation Bias: we look for evidence to confirm our beliefs and ignore information that disproves our beliefs

• Framing: a way a problem is presented changes how we view it

• Gamblers Fallacy: when you predict random events based on previous random events

• Sunk Cost Fallacy: when you feel you’ve invested so much time, money, ex. into something that you have to stick with it

Cognitive Psychology:

Memory

• Memory: the persistence of learning overtime via the storgage and retrival of infromation

• Memory has three parts: encoding, storage, and retrival

• Encoding: putting things into storage

• Storage: short and long-term memory

• Retrieval: The process of bringing memory into ones consciousness

• Sensory memory: taking in stimuli and selecting one for further processing

• Iconic memory: stays for a tenth of a second then refreshes

• Echoic memory: stays for 3-4 seconds then refreshes

• Initial encoding: starts the creation of new neuron connections (occurs as soon as one stimulus is selected for processing)

Three Ways we Encode:

• Semantic Encoding: makes neural connections based on meaning

• Visual Encoding: makes neural connections based on appearance

• Acoustic Encoding: makes neural connections based on sounds and words

Automatic vs. Effortful Encoding:

• Automatic Encoding: we automatically encode information, unconscious encoding, well-learned information, parallel processing

• Effortful Encoding: requires attention and conscious effort

Short-Term Memory (Storage):

• Only stores 5-9 items

• The magic number is 7 (plus or minus 2)

• Working memory: takes 20-30 seconds

• Is concerned with only immediate processing

⭐️ Encoding gets short-term memory to long-term memory (the best way is semantics)

Long-Term Memory (Storage):

• Long-term Potentiation: long-lasting and strengthening the connections between two neurons through semantics, association, etc. (Strong emotions can make for stronger/longer memory) Drugs can block LTP and affect learning

• Long-term memory types: explicit and implicit

• Explicit: facts and experiences memory (Types: flashbulb ex. 9/11, episodic ex. wedding, and semantic ex. school facts)

• Implicit: procedural, muscle, or skill memory, and the cerebellum helps facilitate that response

• Prospective memory: remembering future things

• Retrospective memory: remembering past things

Retrieval:

• Retrieval: getting information out either through recall or regognition

• Retrieval cues: priming (association activation) and context (environment matches memory)

• State-Dependent memory: information is easily recalled when in the same “state” of consciousness it was learned in

• Mood congruent memory: the tendency to recall experiences consistent with one’s mood

• Hermann Ebbinghaus: did research on the capacity of verbal memory and he found practice makes perfect (repetition), the spacing effect (studying over a long period of time is better for memory than cramming), and the serial position effect (our tendency to best recall the first ex. primary effect and last ex. recency effect items in a list) *middle information is forgotten most often

Phobias:

What is a Phobia:

• A phobia is a disruptive/excessive fear of a particular object or situation

• Two types: specific and social

• Effects peoples work, school, and social life

• Anxiety that comes with phobias negatively impacts a person's life

Intelligence & Achievement:

What is intelligence and how do we measure it?

• Intelligence: the ability to derive information, learn from experience, adapt to the environment, understand, and correctly utilize thought and reason

• Historically we measure intelligence by your IQ score

Psychometric Principles:

• Standardization: uniform test administration

• Reliability: if a test yields similar results each time it’s measured

• Validity: measures what it’s intended to and anticipates a future measure

• Socio-Cultural Responsiveness: stereotype lift vs. stereotype threat

⭐ The Flynn Effect: the observation that IQ scores have been steadily increasing over time due to a combination of factors

Academic Achievement:

• Fixed Mindset: the belief that abilities and intelligence are fixed traits

• Growth Mindset: the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work