OpenStax Psychology 2e Study Guide: Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, & 6

1. Major Psychological Perspectives & Figures

• Structuralism (Wundt, Titchener): Deconstructs consciousness into basic elements using introspection (structured self-observation).

• Functionalism (James): Investigates how mental processes and behaviors help organisms adapt and survive in their environment.

• Psychoanalytic (Freud): Focuses on unconscious drives, repressed conflicts, and early childhood experiences.

• Behaviorism (Watson, Skinner): Rejects unobservable mental states; focuses strictly on observable behaviors and environmental conditioning.

• Humanism (Rogers, Maslow): Emphasizes free will, personal growth, and self-actualization.

• Cognitive Revolution (Piaget, Chomsky, Neisser): Studies internal mental processes, including memory, language, perception, and problem-solving.

• Biological & Evolutionary: Examines neurochemistry, brain structures, genetics, and adaptive survival traits.

2. Research Methods & Experimental Design

• Case Study: Intensive look at a single subject or small group; produces rich detail for rare cases, but has very low generalizability.

• Naturalistic Observation: Observes behavior in real-world settings; high realism, but lacks control over confounding variables.

• Surveys: Gathers large amounts of data quickly; prone to self-report bias and question wording effects.

• Correlational Research: Measures the strength and direction of a relationship ($r = -1.0$ to $+1.0$); correlation does not prove causation.

• Experimental Research: Manipulates an independent variable to establish definitive cause-and-effect relationships.

  • Independent Variable (IV): The variable manipulated or changed by the experimenter.

  • Dependent Variable (DV): The variable measured to assess the effect of the IV.

  • Experimental Group vs. Control Group: Experimental receives the active manipulation; control receives a neutral baseline or placebo.

  • Random Assignment: Gives every participant an equal chance of being placed in any group, eliminating systematic bias.

  • Blind Controls: Single-blind conceals group assignment from participants (stops placebo effects); double-blind conceals it from participants and researchers (stops experimenter bias).

3. Biopsychology: Neurotransmitters & Brain Structures

• Primary Neurotransmitters:

  • Acetylcholine (ACh): Motor movement and memory consolidation; degeneration linked to Alzheimer's disease.

  • Dopamine: Reward, pleasure pathways, and voluntary movement; excess linked to schizophrenia, deficiency to Parkinson's disease.

  • GABA: Primary inhibitory neurotransmitter; slows neural firing to produce calm.

  • Glutamate: Primary excitatory neurotransmitter; essential for memory formation and learning.

  • Serotonin ($5\text{-HT}$): Regulates mood, sleep, and appetite; deficiency linked to depression.

  • Endorphins: Natural pain relievers and euphoria inducers.

  • Norepinephrine: Increases alertness, vigilance, and physical fight-or-flight arousal.

• The Limbic System:

  • Thalamus: Central sensory relay hub; directs all sensory signals except smell (olfaction).

  • Hypothalamus: Regulates bodily homeostasis (hunger, thirst, body temperature) and directs the pituitary gland.

  • Amygdala: Processes emotional reactions, especially fear, anxiety, and threat detection.

  • Hippocampus: Vital for spatial navigation and converting short-term memories into long-term storage.

• Autonomic Nervous System (ANS):

  • Sympathetic Division: Fight-or-flight system; dilates pupils, accelerates heart rate, and inhibits digestion.

  • Parasympathetic Division: Rest-and-digest system; restores resting baseline, slows heart rate, and activates digestion.

• Cerebral Cortex Lobes:

  • Frontal Lobe: Motor control, abstract reasoning, decision-making, and speech production (Broca's area).

  • Parietal Lobe: Somatosensory processing (touch, pressure, pain, temperature).

  • Temporal Lobe: Auditory processing, memory access, and speech comprehension (Wernicke's area).

  • Occipital Lobe: Primary visual processing (color, shapes, movement).

4. Consciousness, Sleep, & Psychoactive Drugs

• Sleep Architecture:

  • $\text{N1}$ (Stage 1): Light transitional sleep; alpha waves transition to theta waves.

  • $\text{N2}$ (Stage 2): Baseline sleep; identified by sleep spindles and K-complexes.

  • $\text{N3}$ (Slow-Wave Sleep): Deep sleep; characterized by low-frequency delta waves, cellular repair, and growth hormone release.

  • REM Sleep: Vivid dreaming, brain activity resembling wakefulness, and voluntary muscle paralysis (atonia).

• Dream Theories:

  • Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory: Dreams contain manifest content (literal events) and latent content (hidden unconscious desires).

  • Activation-Synthesis Theory (Hobson): Brainstem sends random neural bursts (activation); cerebral cortex weaves them into a story (synthesis).

• Attentional Limits:

  • Inattentional Blindness: Missing a fully visible object because focus is absorbed elsewhere (e.g., gorilla experiment).

  • Change Blindness: Failing to notice a visual alteration across an interruption or visual break (e.g., door swap study).

• Psychoactive Substances:

  • Agonist vs. Antagonist: Agonists amplify neurotransmitter activity; antagonists block receptor access.

  • Depressants: Suppress CNS activity via GABA agonism (e.g., alcohol, benzodiazepines).

  • Stimulants: Excite CNS activity via dopamine/norepinephrine agonism (e.g., caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines).

  • Opioids: Mimic endogenous endorphins to block pain signaling and cause euphoria (e.g., morphine, heroin).

  • Hallucinogens: Distort sensory perceptions primarily via serotonin agonism (e.g., LSD, psilocybin).

5. Learning Paradigms & Reinforcement

• Classical Conditioning (Pavlov):

  • Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Innate trigger that elicits an automatic reflex (e.g., food).

  • Unconditioned Response (UR): Automatic unlearned reflex (e.g., salivation to food).

  • Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Previously neutral stimulus paired with US (e.g., bell).

  • Conditioned Response (CR): Learned response elicited by CS alone (e.g., salivation to bell).

  • Mechanisms: Acquisition (initial pairing), Extinction (weakening when CS is alone), and Spontaneous Recovery (reappearance after a delay).

• Operant Conditioning (Skinner):

  • Positive Reinforcement: Add a desirable stimulus to increase behavior.

  • Negative Reinforcement: Remove an aversive stimulus to increase behavior (e.g., silencing a seatbelt chime).

  • Positive Punishment: Add an aversive stimulus to decrease behavior (e.g., verbal reprimand).

  • Negative Punishment: Remove a desirable stimulus to decrease behavior (e.g., revoking privileges).

  • Shaping: Rewarding successive approximations toward a complex end goal.

• Partial Reinforcement Schedules:

  • Fixed Interval (FI): Reward after a set period; produces a scalloped pattern and is least resistant to extinction.

  • Variable Interval (VI): Reward after unpredictable time windows; yields steady, moderate output.

  • Fixed Ratio (FR): Reward after a set count of responses; produces rapid output with brief post-reward pauses.

  • Variable Ratio (VR): Reward after an unpredictable count of responses; produces the highest response rate and is most resistant to extinction (e.g., slot machines).

• Cognitive & Observational Learning:

  • Latent Learning & Cognitive Maps (Tolman): Learning occurs without immediate reward and remains hidden until an incentive is offered.

  • Observational Learning (Bandura): Acquiring behavior by modeling others (demonstrated in the Bobo doll experiment via vicarious reinforcement/punishment).

  • Behavioral Guidance: Prioritizes positive reinforcement, token economies, and structured time-outs ($1$ minute per year of age) over physical corporal punishment.