exam2-guide

Mind-Body Unit

Dualism and Monism

• Monism: Suggests that mental experiences can be explained through physical processes of the body.

• Dualism: Proposes that mental phenomena are distinct from the physical bodies which support them.

Placebo Effect

• Psychological factors like ideas and expectations can influence physiological responses.

  • Experimental Evidence: Participants receiving a placebo painkiller experienced reduced spinal cord activity compared to others.

Biological, Cognitive, and Social Functions of Emotions

• Biological Functions: Emotions like fear trigger physiological responses that prepare us for action.

• Cognitive Functions: Emotions such as anger and fear can sharpen focus and guide memory and learning.

• Social Functions: Emotions inform social dynamics—fear can alert a group, while embarrassment influences behavior.

Role of the Autonomic Nervous System

• Function: Manages involuntary physiological responses.

• Branches:

  • Sympathetic: Activates the fight or flight response.

  • Parasympathetic: Promotes rest and digestion.

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

• Proposes that emotions are outcomes of physiological changes.

  • Issues: Does not account for non-emotional physical responses leading to emotions, and insufficient autonomic responses for a wide emotional range.

Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

• Suggests emotions are interpretations about the causes of physiological responses.

Stress Response Consequences

• Short-term: Same autonomic response for life-threatening and non-life-threatening stressors.

• Long-term: Prolonged stress leads to slower healing, reduced immunity, and higher risks of cognitive issues and heart disease.

Stress and Performance Relationship

• Low stress may impair performance; excessive stress also negatively affects performance.

Biopsychosocial View of Managing Stress

• Biological Influences: Include reactivity, regulatory control, and psychiatric medication.

Neurons & Nervous System Unit

Neurons

• Defined as the basic building blocks of the nervous system.

Types of Neurons

• Sensory Neurons: Relay sensory messages to the brain.

• Motor Neurons: Carry movement information from the brain to the body.

• Interneurons: Connect neurons and process information.

Parts of the Neuron

• Cell Body (Soma): Contains cellular structures and the nucleus.

• Dendrites: Receive signals from other neurons.

• Axon: Transmits signals along its length.

• Myelin Sheath: Insulates the axon, speeding up signal transmission.

• Axon Terminal: Part of the neuron that sends signals to other neurons.

Action Potential

• Definition: An all-or-none electrical signal traveling along the axon's length; involves a brief change in electrical charge.

Intensity of Stimulus and Action Potential

• Stronger stimuli lead to more frequent action potentials.

Neural Communication Steps

1. Action potential reaches the axon terminal.

2. Neurotransmitters are released into the synapse.

3. Neurotransmitters bind to receptors on the postsynaptic neuron.

4. If sufficient neurotransmitter binds, the postsynaptic neuron may fire an action potential.

5. Neurotransmitter action stops through enzyme breakdown or reuptake.

Drug Action

• Agonists: Enhance neurotransmitter effects.

• Antagonists: Inhibit neurotransmitter effects.

Nervous Systems

• Central Nervous System: Comprises the brain and spinal cord.

• Peripheral Nervous System: Comprises other nervous system components, including sensory and motor pathways.

Brain Regions Functions

• Brainstem: Manages basic life functions like breathing and heart rate.

• Thalamus: Acts as a sensory relay station.

• Cerebellum: Controls fine motor skills.

• Limbic System: Manages emotions and memory (includes amygdala and hippocampus).

• Cortex: Responsible for complex cognitive abilities; divided into lobes:

  • Frontal Lobe: Planning, personality, judgment.

  • Parietal Lobe: Attention and spatial sense.

  • Occipital Lobe: Visual processing.

  • Temporal Lobe: Hearing and memory.

Evolutionary Organization of the Brain

• Basic life function structures are the most protected and are less differentiated from other species.

Fusiform Gyrus

• Located at the base of the temporal lobe; crucial for face recognition.

Prosopagnosia

• Causes: Acquired or congenital.

• Symptoms: Impaired ability to recognize faces and associated social anxiety.

Capgras Syndrome

• Cause: Disconnection between the fusiform gyrus and amygdala.

• Symptoms: Patients recognize voices but not faces, leading to beliefs of imposters.

Specialization in Language Production

• Left Hemisphere: Specialized for language production.

Split Brain Patients

• Damage primarily occurs in the corpus callosum, affecting communication between hemispheres.

Sensation & Perception

Sensation vs. Perception

• Sensation: The detection of stimuli through sensory organs.

• Perception: The organization and interpretation of sensory information; it includes making inferences from ambiguous input.

Blindsight

• Experimental Evidence: Blind individuals can make guesses about stimuli, e.g., choosing a non-burning house.

• Damage Area: Typically involves the V1 area of the brain.

Transduction

• Definition: Converts physical stimuli into neural signals.

• Gustatory Transduction: Converts taste stimuli into action potentials via taste receptor cells.

Taste Pathway to the Brain

• Taste signals travel from the tongue through nerve fibers to the thalamus and then to the gustatory cortex.

Physical Stimuli for Senses

• Vision: Light waves.

• Sound: Sound waves.

• Taste: Food molecules.

• Touch: Pressure.

• Smell: Odorants.

Pupil Function

• Adjusts size (2mm to 8mm) to regulate light intake.

Rods vs. Cones in Vision

• Rods: Sensitive to light, enable night vision, low acuity, found mostly in the periphery.

• Cones: Less light-sensitive, function in bright light and color vision, high acuity, located mostly in the fovea.

Experience and Perception Evidence

• Ambiguous Face Experiment: Participants report seeing what aligns with their expectations (e.g., Group 1 reports a man more than animals).

Color Constancy

• Describes how lighting changes affect perceived color, maintaining stable color appearance despite shifts in context.

Illusions as “Principled Mistakes”

• Illusions arise from perceptual mechanisms that usually operate accurately but are misapplied in specific contexts.

Dress Color Perception

• People's perceptions differ based on assumptions about lighting; one group assumes shadows while the other perceives direct light.

Color Blindness

• Most caused by the absence of one or more cone types.

Psychopathology & Treatment

Atypicality Definition Challenges

• Determining "atypical" behavior can be difficult as what is a disorder in one person may be normal in another.

DSM-5 Overview

• A clinical manual listing mental disorders and associated criteria; it's not explanatory but descriptive.

Benefits of Standard Diagnostic Criteria

• Useful for quick evaluations, guides research, and facilitates insurance processes.

Polythetic Diagnoses

• Allow for various combinations of symptoms to yield the same diagnostic label.

Categorical Nature of Diagnoses

• Disorders are noted as present or absent, which can lead to insurance denial for non-diagnosed criteria.

Bias in DSM-5

• Noted biases concerning LGBTQ+ identities and racial groups could affect diagnosis.

Diathesis-Stress Model

• A theory explaining psychological disorders based on combined vulnerabilities and stressful circumstances.

Schizophrenia Symptoms

• Characterized by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behavior, flattened affect.

Genetic Component Evidence in Schizophrenia

• Higher concordance in identical twins than fraternal twins indicates a genetic influence, though not strictly genetic.

Environmental Factors for Schizophrenia

• Factors include maternal illness, traumatic pregnancy experiences, child abuse, head injuries, and lead exposure.

Evidence from Twins on Depression

• Studies indicate genetic and environmental components in developing depressions as seen in twin comparisons.

Types of Psychotherapy

• Psychoanalytic: Focuses on unconscious drives and early life experiences.

• Humanistic: Emphasizes self-esteem, self-direction, and a non-judgmental therapeutic relationship.

• Cognitive-Behavioral: Integrates thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, using self-identification of irrational thought patterns.

Psychoanalytic Approach Limitations

• Lack of representativeness, untestable claims, confirmation bias, and gender bias.

Antidepressants Benefits and Limitations

• Benefits: Modulate neurotransmitter activity and reduce relapse rates.

• Limitations: Varying effectiveness, time to see results, and potential side effects.

Schizophrenia Physiological Correlates

• Average observation of larger ventricles without establishing causation.

Treatment Additivity

• The approach of combining medication with talk therapy has shown greater effectiveness than either method alone.